The Ultimate Lich King of the Multiverse

The night air in Fuyuki felt oddly nostalgic. The winter chill was just enough to cool her burning skin.

Rin innocently thought, If only I could find Kotone before the last train. But realistically, that left her with less than two hours—nowhere near enough time.

"So quiet…"

Rin wandered alone through Fuyuki's wide streets. What should've been a bustling night market was eerily silent, like a city of the dead.

First, I'll search Shinto. If I go to Miyama Town, the compass will just keep pointing toward the Tohsaka residence. Plus, if I go home, Father might notice I'm gone.

She opened the cover of her mana compass—and froze at the reaction.

"...What is this?"

Normally, the needle only quivered slightly. But now it spun wildly, like an animal gone mad. Rin had never seen this kind of behavior before. The chaotic movement sent a chill down her spine.

Then suddenly, the needle stopped. As if frozen, it pointed straight toward the source of a faint sound.

There's something there. Something emitting an unusual magical signature.

"…"

Wasn't this exactly what she was looking for?

To find a clue so quickly—this had to be a good sign. Rin decided she would check every suspicious location in Shinto one by one. And this first one—

She'd already found something.

Alright then—time to move in and see what was inside.

As Rin cautiously approached her discovery, Yoru and the others, following behind her, sensed it as well.

"Well, isn't this lucky. I thought we'd lost him."

Feeling the familiar magical fluctuation in the air, Yoru narrowed his eyes and smiled coldly.

"Is it Caster?" Irisviel asked, having sensed the same disturbance.

Yoru nodded. "No mistake. It's definitely Caster's mana."

The three of them quietly followed Rin into a pitch-black basement.

◇

Darkness. Darkness. Darkness. That was all Rin could see. Somewhere within it, she faintly heard crying.

That voice… it sounds familiar...

A terrible image flashed across her mind as she looked down at the compass in her hand.

The needle had stopped—pointing straight ahead, into the deeper darkness of the basement.

An underground bar? Looks abandoned… probably waiting for someone new to take over.

Hissssss...

A strange noise slithered through the air, like a snake crawling. A cold shiver ran down Rin's back.

"Kotone? Are you there?"

She mustered her courage and called out. Her young voice echoed far into the gloom.

"No… no… no… absolutely not…"

Something was breathing in the corridor ahead. A foul breath, thick with menace.

The crying continued—mixed with weak, dying moans. And the heavy stench of blood...

There was no sign of Kotone. Even if she was still in there, Rin doubted she'd still be the same Kotone she knew.

If anything, tonight she might not be looking for Kotone at all—

but Kotone's corpse.

"No…"

The moment the truth in the darkness revealed itself, Rin screamed in terror.

"Oh my… what an adorable little girl has come to visit me."

A voice, thick with self-satisfaction, echoed from the darkness. It sounded like a man who'd just finished killing a child—and enjoyed every moment of it.

On the bar counter, Rin saw Kotone's body lying still, blood pouring from her like a broken dam. Her small form had been torn open, and something long and stringy wrapped around the hands of a man, his face stained with blood.

"Ugh…" Rin gagged, tears spilling from her eyes.

"My, my. I was just trying out cat's cradle with intestines. Want to play too?"

The man grinned with a twisted smile, pulling the knife from the girl's body.

Perhaps she hadn't quite died yet. Her tiny body twitched, and her pale, bulging eyes locked with Rin's.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!"

A surge of violet light exploded from Rin's body. A stream of magical energy shot toward the man, who staggered back in surprise.

"Tch, what the hell…?"

A faint glimmer of light flickered on the device Caster had given him—the one for luring children. But even so, the sudden magical attack knocked him off his feet.

Run.

That was the only thought in Rin's mind. Without hesitation, she turned and sprinted for the stairs.

"Tsk tsk, little girl—running makes it no fun! You'll get eaten that way, you know!"

His lazy voice echoed from behind.

Suddenly, the compass in Rin's hand began spinning wildly. A massive surge of mana swept over her.

This feeling...

That crushing, paralyzing, hopeless sense of death. The kind that numbed your thoughts and robbed you of even the ability to scream.

At that moment, little Rin experienced firsthand what magecraft truly was.

Her body froze. She couldn't move, couldn't speak. The overwhelming fear alone would've broken a normal child completely.

Her ears began to ring. A cold despair sat heavy on her chest, as if her thoughts themselves were breaking her senses apart.

Then, she heard it—

The sound of something freezing over, then shattering.

She felt herself fall into a warm embrace—

Like being held by a father.

"Are you okay?"

A gentle voice whispered beside her ear. Somehow, it felt familiar. Rin looked up in shock—

"It's… you?!"

Of course she remembered him. The man holding her now—

He was the one who had taken her sister Sakura away.

Even though she knew it was her father's decision, and even though this man was far more bearable than that horrible old man, Rin still carried a grudge.

If it hadn't been for him… Sakura wouldn't have been taken away.

Right—he was a participant in the Holy Grail War too. Which meant...

He's my father's enemy.

As Rin processed this, the fear that had gripped her earlier began to melt away. She didn't understand why, but being in this man's arms made her feel safe.

Meanwhile, across the room, Caster's Master looked very displeased.

His prey had been stolen.

Scowling, he glared at the man who had interrupted him from atop the stairs and spoke with lazy disdain:

"And just who the hell are you, thinking you can interrupt Ryunosuke-sama's fun time?"

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