Questioning

In the basement, the skinny old man stared at the little girl slumped on the ground jokingly, and smiled: "Aren't you going down yet?"

Matou Sakura shook her head with all her strength and resisted fiercely: "No! This kind of thing is not magic at all! I don't want to go down!"

Matou Zouken walked to her, put his hands on the crutches, and said jokingly: "So, do you want to go back?

Go back to the Tohsaka family who abandoned you and beg your parents to let you stay. Is it possible?

Didn't you do that before you were sent here?

The Tohsaka family leader made up his mind to send you here.

You have no place to go back to."

"There is no place to go back to." Hearing this, the little girl bit her thin lips.

The warm memory before she was sent to Matou's house had long faded.

The fact was just as what Matou Zouken said.

She had indeed resisted being sent to the Matou family, but in the end, she was still cast aside.

Just like a discarded pawn, unable to control her fate.

The complicated thoughts diluted the fear in her heart, and in the end, an empty numbness came out of it.

She curled up and muttered to herself: "What should I do?"

"Accept the secret Magecraft of the Matou family and become the successor of the Matou family."

"Don't... I don't want to be insect food."

"You have no choice."

"Why am I going through this."

Matou Zouken said in a persuasive manner: "Sakura, you know no one

will save you."

"······"

Matou Sakura raised her head, her eyes dull as she said to herself: "Father...sister, is this the result they hope for?"

"Of course, this is your only home."

After a long moment of silence, Matou Sakura stood up staggeringly while holding on to the wet wall.

Standing on the top of the stairs, she looked down at the nest covered in insects.

It was twisted and disgusting.

She couldn't imagine what would happen if a person fell into this nest.

Being eaten one by one by thousands of bugs?

There was only one staircase leading to the insect nest, and she took the next step tremblingly.

The strength in her body was instantly drained, and she almost fell directly into the insect nest, sobbing softly.

She was a little girl, after all, and she didn't have the courage to step into the insect nest.

But when she flinched due to fear, the voices and smiles of her former family members, her father's doting smile, her mother's warm palms, and her sister's gentle voice came to mind.

All the memories seemed to turn into iron walls blocking her way back.

She lost all this, everyone discarded her and sent her here.

She had no choice, whether intentionally or not, she was a credit to the Tohsaka family just by standing here.

This was the path her father, Tokiomi Tohsaka, wanted her to take.

She turned back to look up at Matou Zouken, and her small voice was numb and desperate: "Grandpa, will I be eaten by insects?"

The latter's brisk tone did not conceal his bad taste: "You will only feel a slight pain; just be patient, and it will pass."

"No...it shouldn't be like this..."

Matou Sakura wiped away her tears with both hands, unable to control her overwhelming emotions and fear.

As she cried, she misstepped on the staircase, losing her balance and tumbling into the nest of worms below.

"Ahhhhh~"

The little girl screamed in despair and had no time to get up.

The insects swarming around her came into contact with the girl's skin and squirmed around her body as if they had taken stimulants.

They flooded Matou Sakura's body, and the sound of the wave became louder.

Matou Zouken chuckled as he admired the little girl struggling in despair: "I wonder how long you can hold on? One day? Or two days? Your body will be played with and eaten by bugs from head to toe and finally become a breeding ground for bugs. You will become the masterpiece I created...

Aha, is there anything more joyful than this!"

It's just after a brief period of silence the smile on his ugly face froze.

He felt a strange aura from the thousands of insects covering Matou Sakura's body, and the life breath of a large number of insects disappeared.

"What happened?" Matou Zouken looked at the center of the insect nest in shock.

A glimmer of light shone there, quickly breaking through the blockade of the insect swarm.

"boom!"

The insect swarm covering Matou Sakura's body was blown away, and a wave of heat accompanied by dazzling light filled the entire underground insect nest.

The worms that were only suitable for survival in moist and dark corners were frightened and disappeared like a tide, but it was too late to escape, and the insects who were exposed to the light died within seconds.

As for the girl, well..she was lying on the ground with a confused expression.

She had no obvious trauma except for her messy clothes.

The light came from the necklace she wore around her neck, briefly protecting her safety.

"When did that guy Tohsaka Tokiomi give her such a gift?"

The old bug looked ugly.

It was not easy to cultivate the worms and

imprinting worms in the insect nest.

This necklace was activated by Matou Sakura's emotional breakdown and protected her from bugs, but that was all.

The necklace had no more functions and would return to its original state when the magic power stored in the gem gets consumed.

Due to the poor quality of the gems, this process could not even last ten seconds.

"Brother..." Matou Sakura stared at the glowing necklace on her chest, recalling the days she lived with Matou Shinji after she adopted the Matou family.

And now, this memory became her only comfort.

She did not expect Shinji to come to save her because the person who brought her here was the person in charge of the Matou family, an existence that even her brother could not disobey.

She just held the gem in her hands to protect it.

This was her only remaining treasure, and she promised him that she would cherish it.

"Thank you for staying with me in the end..."

The light emitted by the gem gradually weakened, and the insect swarm hiding in the shadowed corner was ready to move again, squirming in the direction of Matou Sakura from all directions, preparing to devour the girl's body again.

"Um?"

Above the insect nest, Matou Zouken made a sound of surprise and turned to look at the dark and damp basement passage behind him: "Who has come in, is it Byakuya... Not quite right... Shinji!"

It was Matou Shinji who entered the basement of Matou's house.

After Sakura's magic ritual was activated, he immediately felt the fluctuation of magic power and hurriedly found this place.

Previously, he had learned the location of the basement where insects were raised through alchemy.

Just as he rushed into the basement in a hurry, the first thing he saw was Matou Sakura, who fell in the center of the insect nest below so, he jumped directly from the stairs, trampled several insects to death, picked up Matou Sakura and said concernedly: "Are too okay? Sakura?"

He was really glad that he developed the habit of being easily awakened by disturbances in "Fullmetal Alchemist."

Otherwise, things would have been very serious if he failed to save Sakura tonight.

The review of the clearance would definitely not be that good, let alone he himself would also feel very uncomfortable.

Except for some twisted scum, who would let this gentle little girl get tortured...if he had the power to save her?

Matou Sakura, who was preparing to face a desperate fate, raised her head, her eyes suddenly brightened, and she stared at the approaching boy in surprise: "Brother...brother?"

Seeing Matou Shinji, most of the uneasiness and fear in her heart disappeared.

Why did my brother appear here?

Are you here to save her?

"Shinji, what are you doing here? This is not the place you should be!" Someone asked this from her above the insect nest...well Matou Zouken's hoarse voice could not conceal his anger.

Next..

Sakura Matou must be saved, and Mr. Bug must be killed, though not now.

Shinji Matou kept his composure; it was time for the best actor to step up.