Chapter 208: Shinji’s Life Begins

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Zouken Matou.

A powerful mage who had lived for over five hundred years.

He'd abandoned his original dream of eradicating evil, discarding his physical body to become a grotesque mockery of life, a puppet master manipulating worms, his mind consumed by a desperate, mad pursuit of immortality.

They called him—the Worm.

Haru looked at the man—the infamous mastermind behind the Matou family, a figure he'd heard of but never met—a playful glint in his eyes.

"Going somewhere, Gramps?…"

"Impossible—The barrier wasn't breached. How did you get in here?" Zouken's raspy voice echoed through the worm-infested chamber.

The Matou mansion, his lair, had been reinforced with layers of magical barriers over the past two centuries, transforming it into a pocket dimension. Even a True Magic user wielding the Second Magic shouldn't have been able to penetrate it so quickly.

A crackling sound, like shattering glass, filled the air.

"Why...why am I only hearing that now?" Zouken's mismatched eyes—one large, one small—widened in surprise.

As an experienced mage, he recognized the sound of a barrier breaking.

"Because I'm faster than the speed of sound," Haru quipped.

"What…?"

BOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMM!

The basement door exploded inwards as Kiyohime and Saber stormed in.

"Haru, you're too fast," Saber said, her voice sharp.

"Hee hee, my Clairvoyance skill is B-rank, you know. I can track Haru-sama anywhere," Kiyohime said, grinning at Haru, a hint of 'yandere' possessiveness in her eyes.

Then, she froze, the sight of the worm-infested basement filling her vision.

"KYYYAAAA!!!" Her scream echoed through the chamber.

"....."

The millions of grotesque worms, writhing in the pits that lined the basement walls, seethed and thrashed, their movements growing more frantic.

"So many—so many disgusting creatures…" Kiyohime's face was a mask of horror.

Even someone without a phobia would find the sight unsettling. The sheer number of insects, their writhing bodies piled on top of each other—it was nauseating.

"Truly disturbing…" Saber murmured, a bead of sweat trickling down her forehead. Even she, a veteran of countless battles, found the scene unpleasant.

"Thank goodness Illyasviel is waiting outside. I wouldn't want her to see this…" she thought.

"Just like last night—burn them all! Burn them! Fire! Fire! Fire!" Kiyohime's eyes were vacant, her voice a monotonous chant, as azure flames erupted from her mouth, engulfing the worms.

Haru's eye twitched. He'd been so focused on giving Zouken a scare that he'd forgotten about the worms. He looked at the seething mass of insects, fighting back a wave of nausea. "Yes—burning them—is probably for the best."

"Two Servants and a True Magic user. You're certainly taking me seriously," Zouken said, his voice raspy, his mismatched eyes gleaming with a hint of amusement.

Despite his words, his expression was one of calm confidence.

"Disgusting old man. Haru-sama, let's just burn him," Kiyohime said, her voice laced with venom, her hand covering her mouth with the sleeve of her white, gold-trimmed kimono.

"Wait. Do you hear that?" Haru raised his hand, silencing them.

"What is it?" Saber and Kiyohime, seeing his serious expression, closed their eyes, listening intently.

The room fell silent except for the worms.

"Eek—squeak—eek—ah—squeak—eek—uh—squeak…" A small, muffled voice, barely audible above the rustling of the worms, reached them.

"There!" Haru and Saber, their instincts honed through countless battles, instantly pinpointed the source of the sound. Their gazes locked onto a small figure in the center of the worm pit.

A child with blue hair, barely visible beneath the writhing mass of insects.

"A child…?" Saber and Kiyohime whispered, their eyes widening in shock.

The Matou's Crest Worms, their movements frantic, swarmed over the child's body, their bites eliciting another whimper of pain.

"No way—Shinji?" Haru stared at the child, recognizing the familiar face, despite its youth—the face of Shinji Matou.

He looked at the boy, a slow smile spreading across his face.... Shinji, the one who'd tormented Sakura in the original timeline, was suffering this torment?

How—interesting…

He noticed the sympathetic looks on Saber and Kiyohime's faces and turned to Zouken, his expression now serious.

"Why are you doing this to a child? Tell me. And I'll grant you a quick death."

"It's a necessary measure—to ensure the continuation of the Matou's Magic Circuits. To produce a suitable heir," Zouken replied, glancing indifferently at Shinji.

To him, the Matou were nothing more than tools, vessels to be used in the Holy Grail War. He felt no sympathy for their suffering. In fact, he seemed to derive a perverse pleasure from it.

"Burying a child in worms—for such a reason…" Saber's face darkened.

She gripped Excalibur, her knuckles white. If not for the child in the worm pit, she would have unleashed her Noble Phantasm, obliterating Zouken on the spot.

Haru raised his hand, his fingers curled into claws, and the power of the ley lines manifested as a giant, invisible hand, gently lifting Shinji from the pit and placing him before Saber and Kiyohime.

"Disgusting insects—disgusting old man, Haru-sama, how should we deal with him?" Kiyohime asked, her voice laced with venom, staring at Shinji, his eyes vacant, his body trembling.

"Burn him," Haru said, his gaze fixed on Zouken, who still seemed remarkably unconcerned.

Kiyohime opened her fan and waved it, two azure dragons materializing in the damp, worm-infested chamber.

The air shimmered and distorted as the dragons, their claws extended, lunged at Zouken and the worms, engulfing the basement in a sea of flames.

....

Outside the Matou mansion, Illyasviel looked at Shinji, his eyes still vacant, her face filled with pity. "Poor child…"

Saber and Kiyohime also looked at him with concern.

Meanwhile, Haru, unnoticed by the others, stared at a small, worm-like creature he held captive in the air Zouken's brain worm.

This was where Zouken stored his soul, his greatest secret, his insurance policy. As long as the brain worm lived, hidden deep beneath a garbage dump in Fuyuki City, Zouken couldn't die. Had Haru not accessed Gaia and Alaya's knowledge, he wouldn't have even known about its existence.

The worm's form shifted, its surface rippling and distorting as it mimicked Zouken's face, its voice filled with a terrified disbelief. "How did you find me…?"

"Take a guess." Haru grinned, then looked at Shinji, a mischievous glint in his eyes.

'Clink.' A beer bottle dropped to the ground.

"Shinji…" A middle-aged man, his breath reeking of alcohol, stumbled towards them, his eyes widening as he saw his son. He rushed forward, pulling Shinji into his arms, his voice choked with sobs.

"Daddy…" Shinji murmured, his vacant gaze flickering with a hint of recognition.

"I'm sorry, Shinji—It's all my fault... I was too weak, I couldn't disobey your grandfather…"

Haru gently patted Shinji's head.

The boy slumped, unconscious, in his father's arms.

"Zouken Matou is dead. And I've erased the boy's memories. Let him grow up—in peace." A subtle smile played on Haru's lips.

"How kind of you, Haru-sama," Kiyohime said, covering her mouth with her fan.

"Indeed. It's better for him to have a normal childhood," Saber agreed, nodding.

Shinji's father, stunned, bowed repeatedly, his voice filled with gratitude.

"Thank you... thank you…" Even after Haru and the others left, his heartfelt thanks echoed through the air.

....

Three hours later…

Knock, knock, knock.

"Who is it?" Kariya Matou, shirtless, opened the Tohsaka mansion's door.

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