A pitch-black mist rose into the sky and solidified into a towering figure clad in armor, a knight who appeared beside Matou Kariya, giving him a moment to catch his breath.
As the restlessness coursing through his body gradually settled, Kariya raised his eyes to look at the man Sakura had called her "Lord" and the robed magus standing quietly behind him.
Recalling the ornate charm Sakura had carried earlier, Kariya, though far from a seasoned magus, wasn't so foolish as to miss the implications. As a participant in the Holy Grail War, he quickly put the pieces together.
"The Master of Caster… Damn it. So that old bug gave Sakura to you."
Kariya gritted his teeth. The strange leniency Zouken had shown began to make cruel sense.
"What kind of deal did you make with him? Just tell me what you want anything just give Sakura back!"
"What a shame," Roland replied, his gaze calm as it pierced through Kariya. "My belongings aren't up for negotiation."
His voice was soft, but every word carried a weight that made Kariya freeze.
"And besides," Roland continued, "the moment you laid a hand on something that's mine, you lost any bargaining power. What exactly do you think you have to offer?"
Kariya's eyes darkened. "So that's how it is, then. We settle this with blood."
It was as if he'd already forgotten the thrashing he'd taken from those eerie black shadow ninjas. He shot a glance at the towering Berserker beside him. Though the Servant had failed against the infuriating Archer, Tōsaka Tokiomi, he had still displayed power formidable enough to be relied on.
A mere Caster wouldn't be able to match Berserker in direct combat, or so Kariya believed.
"Even if it's daytime, and innocents might get caught in the crossfire, I don't care. I have to take Sakura back."
"Oh, that's no problem." Roland waved a hand casually. "Caster's already raised a bounded field. But tell me, what's your reason? You don't care about the Holy Grail so why go to such lengths?"
He tilted his head slightly and glanced down at Sakura, who was happily clutching his hand.
"I've been nothing but good to her. She wants to stay. Even if we ignore all else, this life is a thousand times better than what she had in the Matou house. So why insist on dragging her back? Are you truly acting on her behalf, or just indulging your own impulses?"
"Because…" Kariya's voice trembled. He knew the man in front of him was his enemy, and yet… this was the first time someone had asked what was in his heart since his descent into this nightmare.
As if to justify himself or perhaps in desperation to hear someone affirm his pain his shoulders began to shake.
"Because I have to create… a world where Aoi, Rin, and Sakura can all be happy!"
His voice cracked, eyes filling with fury.
"This world is rotten with magi twisted by their own ambition! As long as they cling to their connection with the Root, they'll keep discarding everything else! Tōsaka Tokiomi, that damned bug Zouken they only see people as tools! When they're done, they throw them away!"
The hatred in his gaze was black and bottomless, a storm of bitter resentment.
"The moment I saw Sakura sent into that house, I knew I had to act. No, it had to be me! Even if it means tearing apart their false peace even if I must become a villain only I can correct this!"
"I'll do anything. This is my mission!"
His breathing was ragged, his frame trembling. His voice rose to a fevered pitch as he stumbled into movement turning, arms spread wide, then whirling back to face Roland with a contorted face twisted into a beast-like snarl.
"Who else could do it?! WHO ELSE?!"
"Oh…" Roland gave a slight nod, expression unreadable. He calmly isolated the core of the madness in Kariya's tirade:
"So, you're going to kill Tōsaka Tokiomi?"
Kariya choked. The words died in his throat.
His eyes wavered, falling under Roland's gaze.
"N-No… I just…"
"Then what?" Roland's tone was colder now, slicing through the room like a blade. "Everything you just said boils down to this one point. You spoke of saving Sakura, Aoi, and Rin. All of them are Tōsaka's family and yet you never once mentioned him."
He narrowed his eyes.
"Because you don't care what happens to him, do you? You believe that only in his absence will those three be happy."
"Without him," Kariya snapped, "they'll finally be free of this hell!"
"Will they?" Roland replied flatly. "Will Aoi and Rin really be happy after the murder of their husband and father?"
"Wake Up to Reality, Matou Kariya"
Kariya's breath caught in his throat.
Roland stepped closer.
"This conclusion of yours is warped. Deranged. You brandish words like justice and happiness, but all I see is a man who wants to remove his rival not for their sake, but for your own."
Kariya took a trembling step back, swallowed by those deep crimson eyes that seemed to strip away his soul.
"You say Tōsaka Tokiomi is the reason Sakura suffered. But it was Matou Zouken who threw her into the worm pit, wasn't it? Get your facts straight."
"If you truly wanted to save her, you had every opportunity. You had a Servant that made you more powerful than Zouken. You could have refused him. You could have made deals with other Masters. Or hell, you could've tried talking first instead of attacking Archer the moment you summoned your Servant."
Roland's voice darkened.
"You didn't try to save Sakura. You just wanted power, a chance to finally stand as an equal to Tōsaka Tokiomi."
Each word hit like a hammer. Kariya's teeth chattered. His voice caught in his throat.
"And so, Matou Kariya," Roland said, now standing just steps away, his tone low and merciless, "you are nothing more than a pitiful man, using Sakura as an excuse to disguise your selfish vengeance."
"You dress your hatred in the robes of justice, and hide your resentment behind the face of kindness."
The sound of Roland's footsteps echoed loud in Kariya's skull closer, heavier, unbearable.
And then, despite Berserker looming beside him… it was Kariya who stepped back first.
The thread of reason inside him snapped.
"Don't come any closer—AHHH!"
Roland's lips curled slightly.
There it was that satisfying crack in the soul.
To kill someone physically was one thing. To strip them bare, shatter their illusions, and grind their heart beneath your heel that was art.
Kariya let out a guttural cry of rage and despair, and screamed his last desperate command:
"BERSERKER! KILL HIM!!"
The shadow, which had long been primed for battle, let out a guttural roar and charged forward.
A Servant's assault instantaneous, devastating would crush any ordinary magus before they could even think to defend themselves.
But Roland was not ordinary.
Before Berserker could land a blow, Roland raised his hand far too fast for the human eye to follow.
—And in that palm, an orange-red flame ignited.
In the next instant, an explosion of light surged forth.
The heat spiked in a flash, the compressed blaze amplifying its energy a thousandfold a beam of incandescent power roared from Roland's palm, so bright it threatened to blind even in full daylight.