A/N: This Chapter is pretty hard, i keep going to wiki to check how bounded field works and how the system works etc etc etc. Took me a week just to write this but at least it's done...
It's should be few days later the holy grail war actually start with the summoning starting but with no Caster as Ryuunosuke already dead.
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A few days had passed, and I had spent every one of them watching the Tohsaka house.
Right now, I was hiding nearby, using my magecraft to make my body invisible while I waited for Tokiomi and his wife to bring Sakura to the Matou household.
The anime never mentioned the exact date when it happened, but I knew it was just before Tokiomi summoned Gilgamesh.
It should be happening soon.
"Wouldn't it be better if you just kidnapped her right now instead of waiting?" Lady Ava's voice came from behind me, probably projecting herself like she always did.
"If I do that, she won't want to come with me," I replied. "I need her to be let go by her family first, so she chooses to come with me on her own."
"I didn't expect you to say that."
It couldn't be helped. I needed Tokiomi to believe Sakura had been handed over to that old man properly. After he died, I could bring her back without raising suspicion.
Aoi Tohsaka never wanted Sakura to be adopted by the Matou family in the first place. But blinded by her love for her husband, she followed his decision anyway.
Once Tokiomi was gone, that wouldn't matter anymore.
Remembering the story made my blood boil. I knew most magus families weren't normal by any standard.
I clenched my teeth and fists, the urge to slice him apart flashing through my mind even though Gilgamesh was still his Servant.
"No, calm down… I need to focus on my current objective."
Lady Ava disappeared after that, but not before reinforcing my illusion magecraft one more time. Even so, she warned me to be careful. Infiltrating magus territory was dangerous, no matter how prepared I thought I was.
I already knew that. Especially because of the bugs. I had to be careful, more careful than usual.
I waited until nightfall, but there was still no movement from the house. Just as I decided to leave and try again tomorrow, I finally saw them.
The car parked outside the house started moving.
"That's Sakura."
I could see her clearly through the window, sitting beside her mother. She wore a gentle smile, her black hair shining softly under the streetlights.
Seeing her hair still black instead of purple made me feel relieved. That change only happened after the abuse in the Matou household. I still in time.
"I need to catch up to them."
I focused on my magic circuits, reinforcing my body while making sure my illusion remained stable.
"My body is strong and fast"
Warmth spread through me as my circuits briefly surfaced across my body before fading again, strength filling my limbs.
Just like in the story, Tokiomi let Sakura go with that old man without any hesitation. The only one who wavered was Aoi. I could see it clearly—the way her hand lingered on Sakura's shoulder, the way her eyes followed her for a second longer than necessary. But in the end, even she let go.
That old man said some meaningless, polite-sounding nonsense before leaving. Hearing it made my stomach twist in irritation. I already knew what was going to happen next, and that made it worse.
Sakura and the old man went back inside the Tohsaka mansion together.
Now I only had a few hours at most. Before Sakura was taken to that basement filled with worms. Before everything crossed the line.
That old man would need time to prepare the basement, so Sakura would be left alone in her room on the second floor for now. That was my window.
I took a deep breath and steadied myself before moving closer to the mansion.
"Sharingan."
The moment my eyes activated, the world shifted. I could see it immediately—layers of magecraft spread across the mansion like invisible walls. A bounded field, complex and tightly woven, wrapped around the entire property.
…Good thing I didn't just walk in blindly. If I had, that old man would've noticed me the instant I crossed the boundary.
Lady Ava's words echoed in my mind. Every magus protects their territory in some way. That meant the first obstacle wasn't that old man bugs.
It was getting inside without being noticed.
I can see layers upon layers of lines covered the mansion like a web. Some were thick and steady, anchoring the bounded field into the ground. Others flowed like streams, carrying mana through the structure. There were detection lines, thin and sharp, stretching outward like nerves waiting to react to anything foreign.
There were far more than I expected.
The anchors were buried deep, tied to the land itself. The mana flow connected everything together in a tight system. If I cut the wrong line, the whole thing might react.
I swallowed.
Calm down.
I didn't need to destroy it. I only needed to cut one part.
The recognition.
The condition that decided whether something inside the field was "foreign."
Slowly, I raised my hand and used projection.
A simple knife formed in my grip. Hollow inside, imperfect, nothing like a real weapon. Just a fragile imitation made of mana. Any proper magus would laugh at it.
But I didn't need durability.
I only needed something to trace the lines.
The knife trembled slightly as I brought it closer to the web of threads.
The recognition lines weren't isolated. They were tangled together with the mana flow and detection system, woven tightly like knotted threads. If I sliced too fast, I might cut something else and trigger the entire field.
Sweat rolled down my temple.
Careful.
Slowly, carefully, I slid the blade between two lines and separated them just enough to see which one reacted to my presence. The thread pulsed faintly when I moved closer.
That was the one.
My breathing grew shallow. My hand felt heavier than usual, as if the air itself resisted me.
Cutting logic wasn't the same as cutting fireballs.
I steadied my wrist and pressed the blade against the thin, pulsing line.
For a moment, nothing happened.
Then I pulled.
The line split silently.
No flash. No sound. No ripple across the mansion.
It simply… stopped.
The thread lost its tension and faded away like it had never existed.
I froze in place, waiting.
The anchors remained stable. The mana flow continued uninterrupted. The outer barrier didn't react.
After a few seconds, I let out the breath I didn't realize I was holding.
It worked.
But my vision swam slightly, and a dull ache throbbed behind my eyes. My palm was soaked with sweat, and my fingers felt numb from how tightly I'd been gripping the knife.
Still, the bounded field no longer recognized me as foreign.
Now I could go in.
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The room prepared for Sakura was larger than the one she had in the Tohsaka mansion, yet it felt strangely empty.
After bringing her inside, Zouken had only given a few vague instructions before leaving her alone. His footsteps had faded down the hallway, swallowed by the heavy silence of the Matou estate.
Now, Sakura sat quietly on the edge of the bed, her small hands resting on her lap. The sheets were clean, but the air in the room felt old, as if no sunlight had truly entered for years.
She glanced around anxiously.
The walls were unfamiliar. The ceiling felt too high. Even the shadows seemed darker here.
Mama had said she would visit often.
Rin had said she would come rescue her once everything that was "complicated" was over.
Sakura didn't fully understand what that meant. Adults always used difficult words when they didn't want to explain things properly.
Her fingers slowly rose to her hair, gently touching the red ribbon tied there. Rin had fixed it for her before she left, carefully adjusting it with a confident smile.
"You'll be fine," her sister had said.
Sakura believed her.
She trusted that smile more than anything.
Holding the ribbon gently, she lowered her gaze, trying to be brave like Rin would be. If she cried now, Rin might scold her later for not being strong enough.
So she waited.
Waited for Mama.
Waited for her sister.
Waited for someone to come.
Outside the window, the evening sky darkened little by little, and the Matou mansion remained silent.
But unfortunately for her, that rescue would never come — at least not in the story that was meant to unfold.
In the path where events followed their original course, Sakura would remain in this house for many long years. In some futures, she would return here again after the fifth holy grail war finished. In others, she would endure everything until someone finally reached her. She would one day leave this place behind and find happiness at someone's side.
But right now, none of those futures mattered to the small girl sitting alone on the bed.
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Without wasting any more time, I decided to choose a random window to get in.
The one I picked was near a thick tree branch close to the mansion wall. It was high enough, but not impossible to reach.
I climbed the tree first, gripping the rough bark carefully before stepping onto the branch. The wood bent slightly under my weight, but it didn't break.
With reinforcement running through my body, this much was easy.
Slowly, I walked along the branch, balancing myself as I moved toward the window.
The night air brushed against my face, cold and quiet.
In no time, I was already standing on the narrow edge outside the window, looking inside the window
At first, I was tempted to just open the window and slip inside. It wasn't locked, and with reinforcement running through my body, getting in would take less than a second. But that was exactly why it bothered me. Nothing in this mansion was that careless. I couldn't afford to lower my guard just because something looked convenient.
I activated my eyes again, letting the world peel back into lines and structures. The glass shifted under my vision, and faint threads revealed themselves woven across the frame. There it was — a thin barrier layered directly onto the window. Subtle, almost elegant. If anyone tried to open it from either side, the disturbance would travel straight back to the caster.
I clicked my tongue quietly. Of course he wouldn't forget something this obvious.
Just like before, I didn't need to dismantle the entire thing. Destroying it outright would only invite attention. What I needed was precision. I focused until I found the strand connected to the recognition condition — the part that defined "intruder." It was tangled among other lines, brushing against the mana flow like a nerve hidden inside muscle.
Carefully, I projected a knife into my hand and positioned the edge against that single thread. My vision throbbed faintly as I steadied my breathing. One wrong cut and I might trigger it myself. Slowly, deliberately, I drew the blade across the line.
The strand split without a sound.
The barrier remained. The structure stayed intact. But the barrier no longer knew how to recognize me.
'Hehe… I'm getting good at this.'
The projected knife dissolved the moment I stopped supplying it with mana, fading into faint particles before disappearing completely. Slowly, I slid the window open just enough to slip inside.
My invisibility spell was still active, clinging to my body like a thin layer of mist. I maintained it carefully while stepping into the room. This was still enemy territory. There were crest worms scattered throughout the mansion, and if I wasn't careful, I might alert something unintentionally.
I chose not to deactivate my eyes. The strain was there — a dull pressure behind my temples — but lowering my guard here would be stupid.
With my Mystic Eyes active, hiding was pointless. Even if someone used concealment magecraft like I was, the lines of the spell would still be there, woven into the air and clinging to their body. Magecraft always left structure behind.
I scanned the bedroom carefully.
No hidden traps. No immediate magical reaction. Just furniture, curtains, a neatly made bed.
But the lights were on, which meant someone was using this room.
I took another quiet step forward, listening closely.
I shouldn't stay here too long.
If someone came back now, things would get troublesome.
I was about to walk toward the door and start searching the rest of the mansion when something at the corner of my eye made me pause.
Near the side of the bed, a small head was peeking out.
For a second, I thought she was staring straight at me — but no. Her eyes were fixed on the window behind me.
So someone had been in this room the whole time.
For a second, I considered knocking her out so she wouldn't scream.
But when I looked closer, my steps stopped on their own.
A little girl.
Black hair. Small shoulders. Thin arms gripping the edge of the bed.
It was her.
'Sakura.'
I didn't expect to find her this fast. I thought I'd have to search half the mansion first.
…Well, that saves me the trouble.
Before saying anything, I quickly set up a small sound barrier around the room, just enough to keep our voices from carrying outside. It wasn't anything complicated — just a thin layer to block noise. As long as that old man wasn't standing right outside the door, we'd be fine.
I checked the room once more out of habit, then let the invisibility fade.
The air around me shimmered slightly as I stepped fully into view.
Sakura's eyes widened the moment I appeared.
"Hello."