Vol. 2 Chapter 57: Kariya: Tokiomi, Take This Fist!

Rewinding a bit in time—before the sea demon had exited the stage, while the Black Knight was still wreaking havoc in the skies over the Mion River—a different battle was unfolding atop the rooftop of a high-rise apartment by the riverside. A clash not just of fists, but of ideals: a grudge between former friends, a collision of perspectives—one of ordinary people, the other of magi.

Despite having witnessed Kariya Matou's right arm erase all phenomena born of magecraft, Tokiomi Tohsaka stubbornly persisted in fighting the magus's way. He instinctively assumed that Kariya's feat was some kind of trick—a sleight of hand unworthy of a true practitioner.

"Intensive einascherung—(Let My Enemy Burn in Merciless Cremation)!!"

With his incantation completed, fiery serpents slithered forth from Tokiomi's array, winding toward Kariya. Flames potent enough to incinerate a man in seconds—but Kariya didn't so much as flinch. He simply raised his right hand slowly, shielding himself.

Fwoosh—

The magical fire shattered like a dream upon contact.

"Tokiomi!!"

Kariya surged forward, right arm held firm in front of him. Every magical attack Tokiomi hurled—fireballs, force blasts, high-level spells with multi-step chants—all vanished like illusions the moment they touched Kariya's right hand.

Suppressing his growing awe and gratitude toward Dracula, Kariya clenched his fist and launched a punch at Tokiomi's smug face.

Splat!

The punch blew through Tokiomi's reinforced barrier like bursting a soap bubble and struck his cheek with full force.

Smash!

The impact was real. Tokiomi, flustered, managed to block with his gentleman's cane—an elegant thing inlaid with a crimson ruby—but Kariya's punch landed with such power that blood instantly seeped from his knuckles.

Tokiomi shoved him back, straightened his tie, and spun his cane with practiced flourish, regaining his composure.

"You see now. Your arm seems ineffective against physical objects imbued with magecraft."

He smirked, glancing at Kariya's bleeding hand, fully convinced that the fight was his to win.

"Tokiomi!"

Kariya ignored him. The fury in his chest had reached a boiling point—he was no longer fighting as a man, but as a berserker. He charged again, fist raised high.

Tokiomi thrust the ruby-tipped cane forward.

Crack—

The gem met Kariya's fist—and shattered.

"Wha—?!"

Smash!

Before Tokiomi could react, Kariya followed up with a brutal hook to the jaw, sending him flying. Blood and spit flew from his mouth. Two of his front teeth went airborne. His once-dignified face was smeared with blood.

"Haa—hahahahahahaha!!" Kariya howled with maniacal glee, watching his rival tumble across the ground. "I guess I didn't hit hard enough the first time! Tokiomi! You finally got what's coming to you!"

Clenching his bloody fist, he approached step by step, his voice low and venomous.

"Tokiomi… what you owe Sakura, what you owe Aoi, what you owe Rin—today, I'm collecting every last debt!"

Tokiomi coughed and rose shakily to his feet. His hand glowed faintly with magical circuit light—his family's prized heritage.

It was body reinforcement magecraft.

"…So be it. I'll break the house rules just this once." Kicking up a shower of gravel, Tokiomi accelerated with inhuman speed toward Kariya. "Let's see if your arm can erase magecraft directly applied to flesh and blood!"

Kariya didn't back down. He met him head-on.

Thump!

Kariya's fist struck, and the glow in Tokiomi's circuits dimmed to nothing. The body reinforcement magic had been nullified.

But the sheer speed Tokiomi had built up—driven by that very magic—worked against him. The momentum of his own charge made the blow even more devastating. Kariya's fist sank deep into his gut.

"Uuuaahhh—!" Tokiomi's vision went black.

Kariya wasn't finished. From who-knows-where, he pulled out a brick—a real, red brick—and smashed it into Tokiomi's face.

Crack!

The brick broke in half. Blood streamed down Tokiomi's face, and his nose was crooked. He collapsed—no longer able to stand.

Kariya mounted him and rained down punches.

"This one's for making Aoi cry!"

"This one's for handing Sakura to Zouken!"

"This one's for letting Rin wander alone into danger!"

Each curse came with a fist. Tokiomi had long since lost consciousness. His face was swollen, bruised, battered beyond recognition.

Just as Kariya prepared to strike again, a hand grabbed his arm from behind.

"Enough!"

It was Heroic Spirit Emiya. "If you keep this up, he'll really die. And do you really think Aoi—Mother—would be happy about that? She'd only be more heartbroken."

With a powerful tug, Emiya pulled Kariya off of the unconscious magus.

[Between Sakura, Rin, and Kiritsugu… I'm really caught in the middle here…]

He sighed, crouching beside his future father-in-law to check his injuries.

Just then, a red comet blazed across the sky—radiating immense magical energy as it barreled toward them.

Emiya turned sharply and raised his hand.

"Rho Aias!"

With a single shout, his projection magic flared—manifesting the ancient shield of legend. Layer upon layer of petal-like barriers unfurled.

The crimson comet pierced through one layer… then another… and another—

At last, just before the final petal, the comet burst apart into scattered motes of fire.

"Phew! That was terrifying—thank goodness it was just residual force."

Letting out a breath of relief, Heroic Spirit Emiya picked up Tokiomi Tohsaka from the ground and slung him over his shoulder.

"Well then, goodbye, Mr. Kariya. Please take good care of little Sakura!"

Leaving those words behind, Heroic Spirit Emiya vanished into the night.

Panting heavily, Kariya Matou finally calmed himself. Thinking it through, he found Emiya's words did have merit. So, using a Command Spell, he ordered his other Servant:

"Rider, go retrieve Berserker."

好的,以下是"你很怠惰呢,德古拉"第80章的全文英译,依然保持轻小说风格并针对剧情语调进行润色处理,同时按照你的风格偏好,仅在重点处加粗:

Chapter 80 – Dracula Loses Motivation Once More

"…So," Dracula asked, "Who the hell are you, handsome?"

"I am the most loyal follower of Her Holiness the Saint—Gilles de Rais."

The Caster with sunken eyes gave them a peace sign with a gentle smile.

"Farewell, my saint, the mysterious gentleman, and the nameless NPCs A through D. Thank you for your guidance. I, Gilles de Rais, sinner that I am, shall now repent and atone for my sins…"

Still holding the peace sign, he dissolved into particles of light and returned to the Throne of Heroes.

"Let's go." Dracula stretched with a big yawn as he opened a portal in the air. "Time to head back. After dealing with all this nonsense the past few days, I'm completely drained. I doubt I'll leave Castlevania again until the Holy Grail War is over…"