The Ritual

Kojiro rejects Zelretch to touch his gun, He doesn't know what he will do with this kind of weapon. He can imagine Zelretch in front of the rubble of a mountain while laughing maniacally. No, he will not let Zelretch look or borrow his weapon.

"Where can I put Sakura?"

"Ah, Come with me. By the way, how big is your Pocket Dimension?"

"Big enough"

"Oh come on, You only give me a 10-meter cubic Pocket Dimension. That is not enough you know?"

"How can 10-meter cubic is not enough?"

"Well… I found some planets that have many jewels lying around."

"How big is it?"

"Well I need at least 15 meter cubic for all them"

"You can cut it you know?"

"But it so troublesome to do it"

He can only sigh and shake his head at Zelretch behavior. He doesn't know what kind of behavior Zelretch has if he interacted with other people other than him but to him, Zelretch has a childlike behavior.

After a few seconds of walking, they arrive at the door. As Zelretch opens it, he can see a magic circle in the middle of the room. There are also many jewels around the magic circle while shining a little, feeding the magic circle with magic.

"Place her in the middle of the Circle."

He slowly takes Sakura out from his Pocket Dimension and then places him in the middle of the Magic Circle. As he places it down, he sees Sakura open her eyes a little and then say.

"I-It hurt…"

"It's gonna be okay… Just hold a little bit longer okay?"

"P-Promise?"

"Yes, I promise"

"En"

As he sees Sakura close her eyes, he slowly walks toward Zelretch holding an Azoth Sword in his hand.

"Please make this quick"

"I can't promise about it. The ritual needs time so Sakura can be saved. Here, hold this. If a wraith appears from Sakura's body, kill it with this sword."

After tossing the sword, Zelretch walks in front of the circle and touches the edge of the circle and begins to say the chant. He ignores Zelretch chanting because as Zelretch begins his chant, he sees Sakura begin to scream in pain.

After a few seconds chanting he can see another magic circle appear on top of here. As the new magic circle appears, Sakura screams become louder. He grips the Azoth Sword in his hand hard enough that the normal grip can crack under the pressure. He hopes this will end soon.

Kojiro's face becomes pale as he sees another magic circle appear on top of the big Magic Circle. He sees 10 Magic Circle moving and creating a tower. Just like before, Sakura screams louder than before and her body convulses.

After a few seconds, Kojiro 'smells' foul magic all around the room.

Suddenly a black smoke came out from Sakura's body. Kojiro wants to go to her location and help her but when he sees Zelretch shake his head, Kojiro reluctantly stays still. He then looked at the black smoke slowly forming the face of Zouken Matou. When all the smoke is released from Sakura's body, Zelretch says.

"Kill It!"

Without thinking twice, Kojiro appears in front of the Wraith and swings the Azoth Sword. After slicing the wraith in half, he sees the wraith scream in pain while its entire body gets burned to ashes.

He slowly sees the Magic Circle begin to disappear and he sees Sakura sakura in the middle of the room. He slowly picks her up and sees if she is okay. Seeing that Sakura is okay, he sighs in relief. He looked at Sakura and opened her eyes a little and looked at him.

"T-Thank you… Big… Brother…"

He is shocked at the title Sakura gives him but he smiles in the end and says.

"Don't worry, your big brother is here"

He hugs Sakura a little and sees her smile before falling to sleep. He walks to Zelretch and says.

"Where can I put her down for this day?"

"Take her to your bedroom, you are her new big brother right?"

He nods at Zelretch and walks to the bedroom but he stops for a second and looks at Zelretch then says.

"Thank you"

"Heh, Don't worry about it"

After he put Sakura on the bed, he walked to the ritual room once more and saw Zelretch collecting the remaining jewel in the ground.

"What are you doing?"

"Collecting the jewel"

"What for? I thought you have many of them in the Pocket Dimension?"

"Do you know how long I've been creating this thing?"

"I don't know, maybe a few hours?"

"2 days"

"Seriously?"

"Yup, That is one of few downsides of Jewel Magecraft. You need time and concentration to create something like this. Not only that, but you also need a perfect magic control. I also…"

"Alright alright, you don't need to rub it in my face."

"Good"

"So, with this Zouken Matou is no more?"

"Yes, With you destroy his main worm production and lastly kill his last anchor in the world. Zouken Matou or formerly known as Makiri Zolgen is officially dead."

"What will you say to the Mage's Association?"

"The truth"

"What?"

"Yup, someone like Zouken should be hunted down by the Mage's Association and the Church a long time ago."

"So why don't they do it?"

"Because Zouken was a slippery bastard. He can cover his track perfectly and with his Rank as a Pride in the Mage's Association, he has many connections to the noble house."

"I see"

"Yup, hey can I have some of your sake?"

"Sure"

He takes two bottles of Sake and a pair of cups from his Pocket Dimension. Zelretch and Kojiro begin to pour sake into the cup and then drink it.

"Puah, I don't know how you do it but this sake is one of the most delicious things I ever drink"

"Thank you"

"So, What is your strategy in destroying the Grail?"

"I don't know, just wing it, I guess"

"HAH. I like your strategy. I suggest you wait until tomorrow before you begin to fight them."

"Why?"

"Tonight, Rider will do a banquet for the King in Einzbern castle."

"Very well"

They then stay silent while enjoying their sake in peace because tomorrow will be a mess. While enjoying the Sake, he hears footsteps coming to the living room. He sees the door to the bedroom open up and peeking from the door is Sakura.

"Nii-Chan?"

He smiles at Sakura and walks toward her then carries her to the sofa.

"How are you Sakura?"

"I'm good"

"Good, You don't need to worry about getting hurt anymore"

"Really?"

"Yup, The creepy old man will never touch you again."

"Thank you, Nii-chan"

"No Problem Sakura"

"Kariya Oji-san?"

He looks at her in sadness and says.

"I'm sorry but I can't save him"

"En…"

He looks at Sakura who becomes silent and sees that her eyes become wet because of tears. He slowly hugs her and says.

"Everything will be alright Sakura. I will never abandon you."

"Promise?"

"I promise, As long as you want me in your life, I will always be with you."

"En."

They continue to hug each other for a long time.

Zelretch looks at the pair Big Brother and his sister with a smile while enjoying his sake.