Chapter 789: Ryuudou Temple

"Wait a minute..." Rin Tohsaka couldn't hold back any longer after hearing Fang Mo's serious explanation. "I can somewhat understand the first three stages, but what's with the 'turning into a cute girl to satisfy people's fantasies'?"

"Just take a look at the most popular games on the market," Fang Mo spread his hands and continued, "My subordinates collected some intel on modern video games. And do you know what trend I noticed?"

"What trend?" Rin asked instinctively.

"Everything's about cute girls!" Fang Mo suddenly slammed the table, frustrated. "They've got games about cute guns, cute ships, cute horses, cute students, even animals—and the most absurd of all, games where foreign men take the girls. Damn NTR! Do you know how I felt when I saw this?"

"Uh..."

"Outrage! Pure outrage!" Fang Mo shouted, passionately. "These pathetic modern losers see a 2D cute girl, and their hearts itch! Itches so badly that they just want to grab a stick and beat her with it!"

"..." Rin could feel a headache coming on.

"And that's not even the worst part," Fang Mo continued, ignoring everyone else. He glanced at Black Saber. "Because I even saw games with historical figures…"

"?" Black Saber frowned, noticing his glance. "Why are you looking at me?"

"Nothing, just offering you a snack," Fang Mo said casually. He pulled out a bag of snacks from behind him and handed it over. "Here."

Black Saber, always interested in food since her blackened transformation, grabbed the bag without hesitation. As she opened it, a savory, sweet aroma filled the air. "Is this... squid jerky?"

"Oh, it's roasted shredded squid," Fang Mo replied with a straight face. "A Munich classic snack, made with natural ingredients imported from Israel. I used to eat so much of this as a kid that my right arm stayed at a forty-five-degree angle all day."

"..." Shirou Emiya nearly dropped the food he was preparing in the kitchen.

Black Saber didn't care much about the conversation and took a bite. Her face showed surprise as she examined the jerky, noticing some tender, chewy bits inside. "What's this inside?"

"Shrimp," Fang Mo grinned. "The roasted shredded squid might lack humanity, but at least our roasted shredded squid has stuffing."

"..." Rin couldn't help but cover her face with her hand.

"Thanks, it's really good." Black Saber nodded, enjoying the snack immensely. Ever since her blackened transformation, she had developed a fondness for high-calorie foods like fried chicken and burgers. She ate with great satisfaction, her eyes narrowing in delight as she devoured everything on the table.

"Actually, I think I have a clue about what's going on with Saber," Fang Mo suddenly shifted the topic, looking at both Rin and Shirou.

"What?" Shirou immediately poked his head out from the kitchen. "So, is Saber going to be okay? Is she in any danger?"

"The problem isn't with Saber," Fang Mo shook his head and then pointed at Sakura. "It's with her."

"Huh?" Sakura was stunned. "Me?"

"Sakura?" Both Rin and Shirou looked at her in confusion. She didn't seem to have anything wrong with her, did she?

"It's probably due to the Axis Mundi," Fang Mo began to fabricate a plausible explanation. "I can reverse time to some extent using my Noble Phantasm, but Sakura's situation is unique. I had to reverse time through her body while avoiding her memories. However, the small Grail inside her seems to have interfered with the process."

"Wait, what did you say?" Rin's expression changed. "Did you just say that Sakura has a small Grail inside her? Are you referring to the heart that was taken from that homunculus in Einzbern?"

"The principle is different, but the function is similar," Fang Mo replied, recalling what he knew. "That thing inside her… it was probably made from a fragment of the Greater Grail. I'm guessing it's the work of Matou Zouken."

That assumption wasn't far off.

Matou Zouken, whose real name was Zolgen Makiri, had once been a brilliant mage. Centuries ago, he harbored a grand ambition to eliminate all of humanity's malice. To realize this goal, he convinced the Einzbern and Tohsaka families to establish the Holy Grail War system in Japan, far from the Mage's Association. Unfortunately, due to various mishaps, his wish was never realized.

In the long years that followed, his idealism eroded, leaving behind only his obsession with survival. His wish changed to one of eternal life.

In pursuit of this goal, he salvaged a fragment of the Greater Grail after it was damaged in a previous war and used it as a medium to create new Crest Worms. He implanted one of these worms into Sakura, turning her into a vessel for a smaller version of the Holy Grail.

His plan was simple: with his Crest Worm parasitizing Sakura's heart, once she became the Holy Grail, Zouken could be reborn as All the World's Evil, achieving his dream of immortality.

So Fang Mo wasn't wrong.

Sakura's blackening was directly or indirectly caused by Matou Zouken.

"That cursed old worm!" Rin's face twisted in fury. "He did all of this to Sakura! That monster!!!"

"Then… Archer," Shirou anxiously looked at Sakura, "Is Sakura in danger? Can we remove that Grail fragment at the hospital?"

"In theory, it should already be gone," Fang Mo rubbed his chin, not fully understanding how it worked himself. "But there's a chance it's fused with her by now."

"Is she in danger?" Shirou asked again, more urgently.

"Relax, she won't die," Fang Mo said reassuringly. "At worst, we could always have her undergo a secret surgery with my personal doctor—he'll amputate everything below the scalp. Guaranteed to fix it."

"How is that a treatment!?" Rin yelled. "That's more like a death sentence!"

"Hey, don't underestimate my personal doctor!" Fang Mo retorted confidently. "He's from the depths of the Qinling Mountains, known as the King of Poisons, Xiong Fengshan. In his decades of practice, he's only ever cured one person…"

"So only you survived, right?" Shirou's face darkened.

"…A tragic accident," Rin sighed, massaging her temples. "Honestly, he should have just gone a bit further and poisoned you too. Then the world wouldn't have suffered from all the wars."

"As my Master, do you really think that's appropriate to say?" Fang Mo shot back.

"You started it!" Rin gritted her teeth. "You know I care about Sakura's safety. I've already failed as her sister all these years, but I won't let her down again!"

"Sister?" Sakura seemed surprised when she heard Rin call herself that.

"Alright, everyone, let's calm down," Shirou awkwardly stepped in as the peacemaker, holding a tray of fried chicken. "Tohsaka-san, why don't you have some food? I'm sure Archer was just joking. He's not exactly like the history books described, right?"

"As I've said before," Fang Mo spread his hands, "history is written by the victors. I lost, so those lousy Jews smeared my reputation…"

"Hmph!" Rin pursed her lips, but didn't argue any further.

Before long, they all gathered around the table to eat dinner. Though the food was mostly high-calorie fried snacks, no one complained.

Once dinner was finished, Rin decided not to return home with Fang Mo. Instead, she stayed at Shirou's place, just as she had the night before.

Of course, they slept in separate rooms. As mentioned before, Shirou's house was surprisingly large, with plenty of spare rooms. Rin tidied up one room for herself and brought Sakura along to rest as well. It seemed they had a lot to discuss.

As for Shirou, he continued preparing more food for Saber. It felt like her appetite had grown even more terrifying after she blackened—no matter how much he fed her, she wasn't satisfied.

Most people become three times stronger after blackening.

In Saber's case, it seemed even her hunger had tripled.

Fang Mo, however, wasn't concerned. After eating his fill, he returned to his room and lay down on the tatami mat, contemplating his next moves.

Thanks to today's events, Lancer and Rider were already out of the game. The real Archer was still locked in the dimensional prison, ready to be dealt with at any time, and Berserker had been seriously injured by Fang Mo.

Since Saber was on his side, that meant only Caster and Assassin were left.

His next destination was clear—Ryuudou Temple. Once he dealt with Sasaki Kojirou and Medea, this Holy Grail War would be practically over.

Just as Fang Mo was thinking about this, he suddenly heard light footsteps outside the door.

"Hmm?"

Glancing at the mini-map, Fang Mo saw that it was Sakura.

The wooden door slid open, and Sakura, still in her childlike form, entered the room. She was dressed in oversized pajamas, the moonlight casting a soft glow on her youthful face, giving her an ethereal beauty.

"Adolf-sama..."

"Ahem." Fang Mo quickly rubbed his forehead. "Just call me Archer, alright?"

"Okay, Archer-sama," Sakura agreed, her tone respectful. "May I ask you a question?"

"What is it?" Fang Mo asked, seemingly uninterested.

"Why?" Sakura suddenly asked, catching him off guard.

"Huh?" The abruptness of her question left Fang Mo confused. "Why what? What are you talking about?"

"About my sister," Sakura elaborated, looking down. "Does Archer-sama not want to be my Servant?"

"Oh, that." Fang Mo finally understood. "Do you want the truth?"

"Yes," Sakura nodded, biting her lip.

"It's not that I don't want to be your Servant, but your sister's reactions are just too funny," Fang Mo replied, stroking his chin thoughtfully. "Have you ever heard of a 'pleasure-seeker'? Someone who feels immense satisfaction when they see others in pain? That's me. Honestly, every time I see your sister in agony, like she's about to lose her mind, I get a real kick out of it."

"..." Sakura looked up at him, surprised, before lowering her head in disappointment.

"What, not happy?" Fang Mo asked.

"Not really…" Sakura admitted, turning her head to the side. "Why… couldn't it be me?"

"What?" Fang Mo was taken aback.

"Ever since I can remember, only my sister has been treated so specially," Sakura said softly. "Whether it was Father, Mother, or even you, Archer-sama, I've always been the one left out."

"Uh… what now?"

Fang Mo sat up from the tatami mat, unable to comprehend what he was hearing. "So, you're telling me that instead of feeling entertained by watching your sister suffer, you're upset that it's not you going through the pain?"

"Yes," Sakura nodded, then added quietly, "But no matter what you do to me, I won't feel any pain."

"This…" Fang Mo felt a headache coming on. "I can't believe this is happening to me…"

Sakura's story was, in a way, even sadder than it seemed. She had grown up with no one caring for her—her father chose Rin as the heir, sending her off to the Matou family and effectively abandoning her to a life of misery. No one in the Matou family treated her with any real concern, either.

It was no wonder her mind had become so twisted. Watching Rin get all the attention made her jealous, even if that attention came in the form of torment.

It was heartbreaking.

But her reaction made Fang Mo realize just how lonely Sakura must have been all her life. Despite her twisted feelings, she still longed for someone to care about her, even if that attention came in the form of mockery or suffering.

Fang Mo sighed deeply, realizing how much this poor girl had endured.

"So, you really want to be my Servant that badly?" he asked, rubbing his chin. "No matter what, you're determined to become my follower?"

"Yes." Sakura nodded, her eyes filled with a stubborn determination.

"Alright, then," Fang Mo replied after a moment of thought. "If that's what you want, I'll give you a secret mission. If you complete it, I'll become your Servant."

"Huh?" Sakura's eyes widened in surprise. For a moment, her once empty gaze sparkled with hope.

"Ryuudou Temple is located in the suburbs of Fuyuki City. It's the focal point of the city's ley lines and the core of the Holy Grail system," Fang Mo explained. "Right now, it's occupied by a witch—Caster, one of the participants in this Holy Grail War. Her Noble Phantasm, Rule Breaker, can sever the bond between a Servant and their Master..."

As he spoke, Fang Mo gently patted Sakura's head.

"…You understand what I'm asking, right?" he asked with a smile.