Rin ultimately won her battle against Sakura, and Sakura was saved by Shirou using Caster's Noble Phantasm, Rule Breaker.
But during the fight, the things Sakura said made many viewers feel even more sympathy for this tragic girl.
She was born into a prestigious family, yet because of her father's ideals as a magus, she was given away to another family.
Being sent away could have been bearable if her new family had truly raised her well, but Zouken turned her into the broken person she was now.
Thrown into a pit of darkness, she was used as a plaything every day, forced to eat poisonous creatures, and endlessly tormented both physically and emotionally.
Meanwhile, her sister got to live a much better life.
The imbalance between their circumstances, both mentally and physically, naturally bred deep resentment within Sakura.
To be fair, from a logical standpoint, her father, Tokiomi, had acted with good intentions. After all, both daughters were born with exceptional magical talent.
But the family's lineage only had one set of inherited magic circuits.
No matter which daughter he chose, the other would feel left out. So, he sent his younger daughter, Sakura, to another renowned family of magi.
However, he never imagined that this other family would be so rotten to the core.
It's clear that while Tokiomi may have acted with the right intentions, the outcome was disastrous.
"Everything was Tokiomi's fault!" Daniel murmured to himself.
And he wasn't the only one who thought so. Almost anyone familiar with the Type-Moon universe would probably reach the same conclusion.
Soon after, Daniel saw something that surprised him—though perhaps it shouldn't have.
Kirei reappeared!
Just as Shirou was about to destroy Angra Mainyu, the priest stepped in to stop him!
However, Kirei was in just as bad shape as Shirou, like a flickering candle.
After all, he had already been killed once by Dark Sakura.
His reason for blocking Shirou was simple.
"If you destroy everything and reduce it all to nothing, leaving only it behind, can you really forgive yourself? I want to know. Is it a crime to be isolated, surviving in perpetual loneliness, cut off from the rest of the world? I want to judge its truth."
Yes, Kirei wanted to unleash a world-ending monster like Angra Mainyu just to answer this twisted question!
In the entire Heaven's Feel route, if the old worm Zouken was the most hated, then Kirei was a close second for being pure evil from start to finish.
Their fight wasn't a battle of magi but a brutal, hand-to-hand clash between two men.
It almost felt like Naruto and Sasuke's final battle in the Valley of the End.
But the camera soon shifted to another location.
A young girl in white entered a dark cave, where she encountered Zouken.
"This guy still isn't dead?"
"Seriously, old monsters never die!"
Watching Zouken, who had seemingly been killed countless times but still clung to life, the audience couldn't help but comment on his uncanny resilience.
It was no wonder he'd managed to survive for centuries.
However, through his conversation with Illya, the truth about Zouken's past was finally revealed.
The audience had always wondered why the Saint of Winter and Tohsaka's ancestor had agreed to work with this evil creature to create the Holy Grail War. Was there no one else available?
But after seeing Zouken's flashback, they understood.
In the beginning, Zouken's pursuit of immortality stemmed from a noble desire—to eliminate all evil.
He aimed to transform his soul into something beyond its physical limits, turning his finite body into a vessel of vast intellect and spiritual potential.
It was for this vision of the future that Zouken allowed his once-handsome body to transform into a grotesque shell, extending his life by any means.
However, time erodes all things, and centuries had warped his soul into an obsessive drive.
"Heh, over five hundred years… in retrospect, just a fleeting desire…"
"Finally! He's dead!"
The audience let out a collective sigh of relief as a giant stone crushed Zouken.
While his original goal may have seemed noble, it couldn't erase the hatred the audience felt for him.
So, when they saw him die, smiles spread across their faces.
After Zouken's death, the focus shifted back to the battle between Shirou and Kirei.
The fight seemed to be nearing its conclusion.
Kirei had Shirou on the ropes, relentlessly beating him down.
After all, Kirei was a man who could fight Servants bare-handed.
At this point, Shirou was essentially a punching bag, unable to land a meaningful counterattack.
"No way…"
Seeing Kirei ready to deliver the final blow, some viewers instinctively clenched their fists.
Even though they knew Kirei would eventually lose, they couldn't help but worry.
"Is this the end? Just a matter of timing, huh…"
"You've won, Shirou. Even if your body only lasts a few more seconds, if you have a goal, go and see it through, last Master."
Just like in the Fate/Zero war, Kirei fell once again.
But this time, there was no black mud to bring him back.
With Kirei defeated, Shirou staggered forward, preparing to project the strongest sword he knew, intending to destroy the Great Grail.
But as he was ready to sacrifice himself to stop Angra Mainyu, Illya appeared, wearing her celestial attire.
"This is the scene from the teaser, isn't it?"
Daniel found it hard to watch.
If the teaser was accurate, it meant Illya would die at the end.
And possibly, Shirou too, if the Porter had decided to draw such a tragic conclusion.
But Shirou didn't know the outcome. He was almost delirious from the effects of the arm's curse, struggling to remember even Illya's name.
"…" Trying to speak, Shirou opened his mouth repeatedly, wanting to call out to her but failing to recall her name.
At that moment, Illya turned to him with a gentle smile. "Didn't you say that a big brother's job is to protect his little sister?"
"Yes, and since I'm your big sister, I have to protect my little brother!"
Illya's words echoed the sentiment from earlier, when Shirou had faced Berserker.
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