MMMS 8

The smell of rot and dampness filled the air, with a darkness as green as the deepest ocean. This was the worm pit buried far underground beneath the Matou mansion.

Staring at the hellish scene in front of her, Sakura covered her nose, her voice shaking. "...Grand-Grandfather, what is this place... what are all these worms?"

Just a few yards ahead of the little girl was an enormous pit. In its depths, countless black shapes twisted and squirmed. They were horribly ugly creatures with sucker-like mouths, a revolting mix of worm slime and what looked like human tissue. Packed together tightly, they formed what looked like a black, fuzzy carpet—a rotting city of worms that gave off a strong, sickening smell of decay and made bone-chilling sounds as they moved.

These were the lust worms created by Matou Zouken—magical creatures that fed on human bodily fluids and vital essence. Once these worms attached to someone, they would cause unimaginable suffering. For men, they would attack the spine and brain, turning victims into helpless invalids. For women, the worms would burrow inside the body, taking control of the nervous system and turning her into an animal-like being with uncontrollable cravings.

The worms attacked on two fronts—overloading the brain's pleasure centers until they burned out, while simultaneously invading and consuming the body from within. Anyone affected would be completely broken, their mind and body utterly violated.

The basement currently held about two hundred years' worth of these creatures. At Ryuuto's request, Zouken had brought out all the family "assets" he had painstakingly collected over the decades, preparing what he called a grand ceremony for Matou Sakura.

"Hmm. Well then, let's begin."

"...Grandfather, please don't."

As Zouken explained everything in gruesome detail, the little girl's eyes filled with tears, her desperate voice barely more than a hoarse whisper.

"If you want to blame someone, blame your arrogant father who put too much faith in his allies... Oh wait, Tohsaka Tokiomi isn't your father anymore, is he? Hahaha, hehehehehehe." Zouken cackled as he moved closer to the girl. "Go on now, become a true Matou Sakura."

"No!!!" Sakura screamed, her legs giving out beneath her as she collapsed to the floor.

"Come now, Sakura, don't make this harder than it needs to be." he shuffled over, grabbed a fistful of her hair, and roughly dragged her toward the edge of the pit.

"No, no, no... Please!!!" With one push, the girl's tiny body tumbled down into the writhing mass of worms below.

The moment Sakura hit the swarm, the worms sensed fresh prey and let out high-pitched squeals. The hideous mass surged, twisting and rolling to swallow her small body.

Suffer, scream, cry, endure... and then become the Matou family's perfect vessel. Zouken's face twisted into a grotesque smile.

But then—

"...Hmm?" The smile disappeared from the old man's lips as an unnatural silence slowly spread throughout the entire chamber, giving him a sudden sense of unease.

"Heh."

Out of nowhere, laughter rose from the disgusting worm pit.

"Heh heh, ahahahahahahaha!"

The girl's laughter was somehow even more chilling than the squirming worms and their awful sounds.

The revolting mass suddenly began to tremble. Bits and pieces of shredded worms exploded into the air like a tidal wave, while the surrounding creatures desperately tried to scramble away and escape.

"What? What the hell is happening?!" Zouken leaned forward, staring hard into the depths of the pit.

From the spot where Sakura had fallen, several blue-black ribbons burst outward. They spun like deadly propeller blades, slicing through the repulsive worms in every direction.

"Sakura!" the old man shouted. "What are you doing? What is that?!"

When Sakura emerged from the mass of worms, she wasn't the same. Her body was still small, but her short black hair had changed to a watery purple, and her eyes now glowed a deep crimson.

"People who have fallen this low aren't worth loving anymore. I don't really care about you, but I'll tell you this much as thanks for taking care of me this past year." The girl, who both was and wasn't Sakura, looked up at Matou Zouken with contempt.

The moment their eyes met, Zouken froze. That gaze—he'd seen it somewhere before. Where was it? Ah, right. Her eyes were identical to Ryuuto's. Both as cold and endless as the deepest abyss.

Sakura gave a small curtsy. "The Demon King of the Sixth Heaven, Mara. Pleased to make your acquaintance."

...

Zouken's insight and intellect had pushed the boundaries of what humans could achieve. His keen eye had spotted Sakura's potential and he'd done everything to fully develop it. His downfall wasn't because his methods were wickedly cruel—it was because his vision, impressive as it was, remained confined to the human realm. Sakura's potential went far beyond what the old magus could possibly imagine—she existed outside the category of humanity altogether.

Mara, also known as Beast III/L. One of the Seven Evils of Humanity, the embodiment of corruption itself. The name Mara was just another face of the love god Kama, two aspects of the same being. Some even referred to the entity as both Kama/Mara.

A year ago, Ryuuto had managed to summon a Servant using Matou Sakura as a vessel. The young girl's soul turned out to be incredibly compatible with Kama and Mara's Spirit Origin, which is the only reason such a reckless summoning even worked in the first place. Since Kama wasn't a regular Servant summoned by the Holy Grail War and never formed an actual contract with Ryuuto, she existed merely as a weakened Servant, surviving on her vessel's magical energy and her own "Independent Action" skill.

To save energy, Kama had been hiding deep inside the girl's body all this time, completely undetected—even by Matou Zouken's watchful eyes. Until today, that is—when Zouken basically served up his entire life savings to his "granddaughter".

Those worms he'd been collecting for over 200 years were filled to the brim with magical energy, making them nothing short of a gourmet feast for the Demon King. It was more than enough energy to keep her physically manifested for quite a while.

The blue-black ribbons danced wildly through the worm pit, rolling up flames as they went and harvesting souls everywhere they touched. Even though the lust worms desperately tried to escape from Kama, the high walls of the pit made that impossible. What followed was nothing short of a massacre—the girl completely dominating and destroying the writhing mass.

"...Hahahahaha! This is amazing, who knew Grandfather was hiding so much delicious magical energy! I'm so happy!" she exclaimed with delight.

"No, noooooooo!"

Watching two centuries of his hard work being demolished right before his eyes, Zouken screamed in panic. "Wait, stop it, Sakura! Stop this right now!"

"Oh. Has it started already? Makiri, I thought I told you to wait for me before starting the show."

A voice came from behind Zouken, making him whirl around in fright. There stood Ryuuto—his supposed ally and the mastermind behind this whole ceremony—casually munching on a rice ball while strolling toward the edge of the worm pit.

"Ryuuto! What the hell is going on here?!" the old man shouted.

"Hmm? This?" Ryuuto glanced down at the rice ball in his hand. "Just a homemade rice ball my mom made for me. Salmon filling."

"...!?!?"

"Look, I don't care how much you glare at me... I'm still not sharing it with you."

"That's not what I'm asking! Why has Sakura turned into... that?!"

"Well, Makiri, you did say I could 'cultivate' Sakura however I wanted for the past year," he shrugged. "Sorry about that—guess I went a little overboard and accidentally brought out her hidden side."

"What—what kind of sick joke is this?! What the hell did you do to her?!" Zouken roared, completely losing his composure.

"I already said I was sorry, didn't I? Stop glaring at me like that. What do you want me to do, do you want me to go 'Ehehe☆~' for you?" Ryuuto casually walked to the edge of the pit and looked down. "Wow. That's pretty brutal down there."

He took another big bite of his rice ball, watching with mild interest as the girl danced joyfully through the mass of dying worms.

"Oh, Senpai, you made it." Kama paused her worm torture and looked up at Ryuuto with a smile. "Want to come down here and join the fun?"

"Not. A. Chance. In. Hell." Ryuuto stepped back from the edge with visible disgust. He walked over to Zouken, who seemed out of it, and gave his shoulder a casual pat. "Hey Makiri, is this seriously all you've got after two hundred years of collecting worms? This is way less than I was hoping to see. It isn't enough."

Matou Zouken snapped back to reality and started shouting frantically. "Wait, wait, hold on, wait a minute! Ryuuto, no—stop! We had a deal, you can't hurt me—I've done everything you asked..."

"That's great, Makiri. The Matou family has produced such an exceptional child. You should be proud. Now it's time to perform your final duty as a grandfather." With that, Ryuuto planted his foot on the old magus's back and kicked him straight into the worm pit.

He laughed as he watched the old man fall. "There you go! Why not feed your adorable granddaughter with your own flesh and blood?"

"Ooh, look who's here~ It's Grandfather~" The young Demon King smiled sweetly as she raised her delicate wrist. Several ribbons shot up from around her feet, instantly wrapping around Zouken's body and binding him.

Rip!

Before he could even scream in agony, the old magus's body was torn to shreds in midair, raining down as bloody chunks among the dead worms.

And just like that, only two Demon Kings remained in the depths beneath the Matou mansion.

"Heh haha, hahahahahahaha!"

The black flames dancing above the sea of worms seemed to celebrate, marking the birth of another Beast.

...

Get the latest chapters up to Chapter 24 on my Patreon: patreon.com/bcloud