"So even the Einzbern family is meddling in this affair?"
Illyasviel's attack hadn't caused any real harm to Zouken Matou, but even with his rotten old mind, he could tell that facing three Masters with Servants left him with zero chance of victory. He was already preparing to flee.
"I honestly didn't want to get involved. After all, that old geezer Acht has never exactly been what you'd call a decent person,"Illyasviel said as she commanded the Stork Knights to encircle Zouken. Blasts of light were ready to fire. "But that guy is just too softhearted. After spending so much time with him, it's rubbed off on me."
"Illyasviel? You're here too?"
In the timeline from ten years ago, Sakura Matou had worked with Illyasviel quite a bit—in fact, it was Illyasviel's power that killed Zouken back then.
Hearing Sakura's words, Rin Tohsaka's heart sank. If Sakura knew Illyasviel, then what Illyasviel had been saying might really be true. She had still been clinging to a sliver of hope. Sakura had always been such a gentle, well-behaved girl…
"Sympathetic magi are never a good sign."
Zouken still couldn't comprehend why all three founding families of the Holy Grail War had decided to turn on him.
"You're one to talk. The old Zolgen Makiri once said he'd sever the evils of humanity,"Illyasviel smirked. Back when she was still with Jiang You, she had fought that timeline's version of Zouken directly—and she'd thoroughly enjoyed the show.
"Isn't that right, Mr. Zolgen?"
"Ah… such a distant name," Zouken replied. "I've nearly forgotten it myself. But no one else should know about that… who told you?"
A strange fear welled up in Zouken's heart. Even after hiding for over 300 years, it felt as if someone had peeled back his life like an orange, exposing all the vulnerable fruit inside.
"Well of course—it was our always-victorious and never-trustworthy Caster!"
Illyasviel made a grand welcoming gesture, mimicking what Jiang You used to do when he summoned her. She was just copying his style.
…But no one responded. The air grew awkward.
"Caster! What, are you too scared to show your face?"
Illyasviel raised her hand, and Minamoto no Raikou launched an attack in the direction of a magical signature. With a single swing of Dōjigiri Yasutsuna, violent purple lightning turned a whole swath of forest into scorched charcoal.
A Servant cloaked in violet leapt from the shadows—long, shining purple hair, a mask covering her eyes, and twin chain-blades dancing in her hands.
"Medusa?!"
Jason appeared behind Rin, instantly recognizing the Rider—after all, they were both figures from Greek mythology.
"Sakura, should I attack this Servant as well?"
Medusa crouched low, snake-like, in a venomous stance—though truth be told, she didn't have a bad impression of Raikou, whose voluptuous form was even more towering than hers.
Sakura shook her head. From Illyasviel's actions, she could tell the girl was looking for Jiang You—especially since his Noble Phantasm had already activated.
"Illyasviel must be mistaken. Caster isn't with me."
"A girl?!"
Illyasviel's eyes widened in shock—that wasn't the outcome she'd expected at all."Wait, so you didn't summon Caster either? Then where is he?!"
"I don't know," Sakura answered honestly. She'd assumed Illyasviel was the one who summoned Jiang You. Now it was all a mystery—who was Jiang You's Master?
"Maybe someone else summoned him…"
"That damn Caster!!"
Illyasviel grew angrier by the second. Jiang You had actually abandoned everyone he'd bonded with and gone off to some stranger?! Just like Kiritsugu adopting Shirou and tossing her aside—utterly unforgivable!
Rin, having overheard the conversation, breathed a sigh of relief. So the two of them were fighting over a male Caster Servant. Whoever he was, at least he wasn't involved in something ethically unspeakable.
Though now that she thought about it—Caster… that name rang a bell.
"You two aren't looking for a black-haired guy named 'Jiang You,' are you?"
"!"
"!"
Illyasviel and Sakura both reacted instantly. Illyasviel grabbed Rin's hand—she'd been waiting days for a lead.
"Rin Tohsaka, you saw him? Where?!"
Sakura didn't react as wildly, but Rin could still see the anxious urgency in her eyes.
"In the manor that burned down last night. Honestly, it's better that you didn't summon that Caster—he was slaughtering people indiscriminately and even turned his own Master into a living battery!"
"Slaughtering people? Torturing his Master?"
Illyasviel's eyes widened in disbelief. Could the summoned Jiang You have an Alter tag or something?
"Who? Caster?!"
"Yes! I saw it with my own eyes!"
Rin vividly remembered her encounter with Jiang You amidst a sea of corpses. The briefcase in his hand had been twisted with warped magical energy. She couldn't even imagine what kind of existence Atrum had inside that case—just the thought sent chills down her spine.
"That doesn't make sense. He saved 800,000 innocent lives. Even Kiritsugu had nothing but praise for him."
Illyasviel couldn't believe that Jiang You would do something like that. They had fought side by side in a war to save the world.
"I don't believe it either," Sakura said bluntly. She had seen Jiang You's sincere smile after reviving 800,000 people. A man willing to give up the Grail to save others couldn't possibly do such evil.
"Sakura, not you too… Fine. If you don't believe me, you can go check out the manor—or head to the Church. The Holy Grail War's supervisor doesn't take sides."
Rin extended the invitation. She was planning to bring Shirou Emiya there that evening anyway, to learn more about the Grail War's rules.
"Can we finish this conversation later?" Jason interrupted. "That stinking bug-ridden old man is trying to escape."
Zouken had already released some nearly-invisible insects to scout a path for his escape. If Jason hadn't noticed, he might've slipped away.
"There's no time! Let's finish this quickly!"
Rin hadn't slept in two days. Now that she'd found Sakura, the tension in her body loosened just a little. She would use the last of her strength to kill Zouken.
Under their Masters' orders, all three Servants attacked. Zouken was petrified by Medusa and then blown to ash by purple lightning.
As for Jason? He barely avoided both Medusa's Mystic Eyes and Raikou's thunder. Let's all congratulate him on surviving.