To Rin Tohsaka's surprise, after she pushed open the old iron gate, there was still no movement from the villa beyond, only the faint, eerie creak of metal gate opening.
Logically, stepping into a magus's workshop should have triggered the detection wards instantly. Yet the house before her remained silent, motionless.
"...Haa—"
She was now officially trespassing in someone else's workshop. Even if the Matou family didn't kill her outright, they could certainly make her regret it, and her father wouldn't have grounds to defend her.
There was no turning back. The biting winter wind whipped at her twin ponytails, but it couldn't snuff out the fire burning in her chest.
If her sister was in danger, she had to confirm it no matter the risk.
"There's no danger perceived right now. Let's just go inside."
Ishtar's voice cut through her resolve like a sudden gust.
"You are this goddess's Master. Shouldn't you be saying something more fitting before barging into another magus's workshop? We're not here to steal, we're here to check on your sister."
"Hmph. I don't need you to remind me!"
Though she had often found the goddess unbearably overbearing, in a moment like this, Rin was secretly grateful for the presence at her side. With a flick of her ponytails, she strode toward the villa, the crisp click of her small leather shoes echoing on the stone path. She placed her hand on the front door and gently pushed it open.
To her surprise, the interior was nothing like the eerie, oppressive façade. The Matou home was bright, even welcoming, if a little old. Not frightening at all.
Still, Rin didn't let her guard down. Even her father, an established magus, had no guarantee of survival if he stepped into a centuries-old workshop uninvited, much less she, still just an apprentice. If not for Ishtar's power at her back, she would never dare such a thing.
She searched through several rooms, yet found no sign of life, no people, not even traces of recent activity. It was like walking through an abandoned house, untouched for years.
After hearing about how Uncle Kariya's body was infested with crest worms, she had half expected the Matou home to be crawling with insects. Instead, it seemed… normal.
Then again, the Tohsaka residence was similar, daily living quarters above, workshop below.
It didn't take her long to find something unusual.
The staircase leading down reeked of decay. A suffocating stench wafted up from the depths, pulling her toward the underground like the breath of an open grave. She descended quickly, but halfway down, a faint, creaking chorus reached her ears, like the whisper of countless tiny mandibles.
At the bottom, she pushed open a heavy door.
A wave of foul air and damp heat rushed out. The room beyond was choked in darkness, thick with writhing, turbid movement, like a black tide of mud boiling beneath the steps.
The chittering, crawling, and wet, sticky friction of countless insects overlapped into a sick, distorted symphony.
"Is this… the magical path Sakura is supposed to inherit?"
Rin clamped a hand over her mouth, forcing herself not to gag, tears pricking her eyes from the stench and the sight.
Even seeing this swarm made her feel suffocated with despair. If she fell in and those things bored into her flesh, she would break, body and soul.
"Sakura…"
She couldn't imagine the kind of torment her sister had endured… nor the state she might be in now. And in that moment, a shameful, vile thought flickered through her, relief that their father had not chosen her instead.
Even if it lasted only a heartbeat, Rin hated herself for it.
Her body trembled, not from fear alone, but from anger, grief, and self-loathing.
From within the seething swarm, the worms shifted. Slowly, a thin, withered figure emerged.
"What a rude little girl," croaked a hoarse voice. "The Tohsaka heir, invading the Matou home without so much as a greeting, and straight into the heart of our workshop's inheritance."
Matou Zouken's sunken eyes gleamed as his lips twisted into something that might have been a smile.
"But this way… even if I teach you a lesson, your father will have no grounds to complain, will he?"
He had been brooding over that fool Kariya and his lost pawns. The chance to vent his irritation had simply walked into his lair.
The swarm around him churned, restless. Even prepared, Rin shivered at the sight, a cold spike shooting up her spine.
His gaze, sick with malice and greed, was worse than the swarm.
But she didn't back down.
"Where's Sakura? What did you do to her?" Her voice shook, but she forced the words out.
"Sakura?" Zouken rasped, his grin sharpening. "Still so attached to a member of the Matou family? It seems Tokiomi hasn't taught you the first thing about the rules of magi."
He spoke with the placid warmth of a kindly old man, but every word dripped venom.
"It's late to be asking after her now… but I suppose I can tell you, she's no longer one of us."
"What do you mean?" Rin's pupils contracted sharply. Fear burned away beneath her rising fury.
"She failed to inherit the Matou arts. She is no longer a Matou."
"Failed? Where is she?"
The pressure in her chest was unbearable. She stopped trying to hide it, her desperation, her dread were laid bare.
"Why… she's right at your feet."
His grin widened with perverse anticipation. Tapping his cane, he parted the living carpet beneath them. From the churning tide of worms, fragments of small, pale bones surfaced, gnawed, unfinished.
Rin's expression shattered. Her knees weakened as tears spilled freely, unstoppable.
Zouken's smile warped into something more rotten, more hideous.
A flash of violet-black light punched through his skull.
Without thinking, Rin had raised her hand, firing one of her best curse bullets. For someone so young, her talent made even basic spells strike with the force of a real bullet.
"Oh? Even the simplest curses have such bite… You show promise. Perhaps it would've been better if you had been sent here." His tone slithered, mockery and interest intertwined. "But since you've attacked, little girl… I'll carve the true meaning of the Matou arts into your body before I let you go."
The hole in his head filled instantly with worms. Behind him, the swarm writhed in disciplined waves, an army at his command.
Bang!
The door behind Rin slammed shut, sealing her in.
She didn't flinch. Her eyes remained fixed on the bones. Wiping her tears, she spoke in a low, trembling voice.
"Ishtar. Destroy this place."
"At your command, master."
Gleaming divine attire shimmered into being as Ishtar rose into the air. In one hand, she grasped a strange, massive bow; in the other, she crushed three gemstones, flooding the weapon with an overwhelming surge of mana.
Power erupted outward, blasting through the villa's roof. She gazed down at the insect pit below.
"A Servant…? Wait, this is a misunderstanding! The Tohsaka heir, Sakura is still—"
[T/N: Guys, If you need another mass release, please donate atleast 10-20 PS by this Saturday. I am not even asking for much, neither do I wanna appear on the rankings, I just ask for some support and motivation.]