Chapter 59: Pleasure and Pursuit
“This gentleman…”
Tohsaka Aoi wanted to say something, but just an hour ago, she had witnessed Su Xiao severing someone’s limbs with her own eyes. The brutality of his methods was something she had never seen in her life. Now, with Su Xiao delivering her daughter to her doorstep, she found herself at a loss for what emotions to express.
Matou Sakura watched Su Xiao’s retreating figure. For some reason, she suddenly recalled the moment he had lifted her out of the insect pit.
“Thank you.”
Matou Sakura’s voice was so soft that even Tohsaka Aoi, who was holding her, didn’t hear it.
In truth, even if Su Xiao had heard, he wouldn’t have cared. The reason he had brought Matou Sakura to the Tohsaka household was simply because she was obedient enough—she didn’t cry or make a fuss when following him, ate whatever was given without being picky, and went hungry if no food was offered.
Su Xiao was indeed ruthless and merciless when killing enemies, but he wasn’t a murderous maniac. If someone wasn’t an enemy, killing them without reason held no meaning. Doing so would even cloud his mind, turning him into a killing machine.
Su Xiao was no killing machine. On the contrary, his will was very firm. He wouldn’t be seduced by slaughter into losing his sanity. When he killed, he didn’t use high-sounding excuses. If someone chose to be hostile, then it was a life-or-death struggle. If the enemy was strong enough, they could kill him too. It was that simple.
“Bubu, which area has the strongest smell of the sea?”
“Woof.”
Bubu Wang led Su Xiao toward the area where the sea stench was most pronounced.
…
A castle on the outskirts of Fuyuki City.
Inside the study, dim candlelight flickered. A young man dressed entirely in black, with a cross hanging on his chest, sat upright on a wooden chair.
The man held his forehead with one hand, his face twisted into a sickly, ecstatic smile. It seemed he had undergone some kind of transformation, and the beast within his heart had been fully awakened.
Golden specks of light flickered in the dim study as the King of Heroes appeared in casual attire. His severed arm had not yet healed.
“What, still immersed in pleasure?”
The King of Heroes chuckled lightly. He was no longer Tohsaka Tokiomi’s Servant but this young man’s. Although this guy had first killed his father and then his teacher, the King of Heroes found him far more interesting than Tohsaka Tokiomi.
“So I have this kind of hobby? Hahaha, how utterly evil, practically beastly. And someone like me is the offspring of Kotomine Risei (the old priest)? Hahaha.”
The young man, Kotomine Kirei, threw his head back and laughed. As he laughed, a faint pink glow flickered in his eyes.
“Kirei, that woman’s ability is still there. Are you sure you want to keep that energy inside you?”
The King of Heroes was also laughing. He didn’t really care much about the Holy Grail; he just didn’t want to be bored.
“Why should I remove that energy? It’s precisely what helped me see myself clearly. I’ve never done anything according to my own will before, and the first thing I did following my own will was kill my father? Maybe I was born a wicked beast capable of any evil.”
The pink glow in Kotomire Kirei’s eyes faded. If Su Xiao had been present, he would have recognized that energy—it was Butterfly’s Nen ability.
It seemed Butterfly had been quite unruly. While chasing down other Contractors earlier, she had also prepared to make some extra profit before leaving the Holy Grail War. She had planted a seed inside Kotomine Kirei. Once activated, this seed would allow her to control him.
What Butterfly never expected was that before she could activate the energy seed inside Kotomine Kirei, she had already died at Su Xiao’s hands. With Butterfly’s death, the seed inside Kotomine Kirei ruptured, releasing a charm ability.
The rupture of this seed awakened the beast within Kotomine Kirei’s heart. He no longer lived by others’ will but acted according to his own. So he went to find the old priest and had a long talk with him.
At that time, the old priest’s expression could only be described as stunned. He suddenly realized he didn’t understand his own 27-year-old biological son at all.
Thus, the old priest died. Before turning to dust, he said these words: “In the end, I still don’t understand you, my…”
The words the old priest left unsaid were: my own flesh and blood.
Having achieved the ‘achievement’ of patricide, Kotomine Kirei felt immense pleasure. So he set his sights on his next target: Tohsaka Tokiomi.
With the King of Heroes’ help, Kotomine Kirei stabbed Tohsaka Tokiomi in the back, smoothly completing the ‘achievement’ of killing his teacher. With ‘dual achievements’ under his belt, Kotomine Kirei was thoroughly delighted.
It was at this moment that Matou Kariya, tracking the King of Heroes’ aura, arrived. This guy wasn’t looking for Tohsaka Tokiomi; he was following the King of Heroes’ scent. The King of Heroes initially planned to deal with him on the spot, but after meeting Kotomine Kirei, he changed his mind.
When Matou Kariya saw Tokiomi’s corpse, he lunged forward immediately. The result was what Su Xiao had witnessed: Matou Kariya was decapitated, and his body was thrown into a fountain pool, creating the illusion that Matou Kariya and Tohsaka Tokiomi had killed each other.
“Do as you please, but…”
The King of Heroes spoke.
“Find out where Berserker is. He must die by my hand.”
“Agreed.”
Kotomine Kirei stood up.
“Kirei, you’ve satisfied this king. But don’t become the next Tokiomi.”
The King of Heroes narrowed his eyes. Kotomine Kirei paused mid-step.
“King of Heroes, I still have many doubts. But as you said, someone like me can never stop.”
Kotomine Kirei rolled up his sleeve. His arm was densely covered with Command Seals—ones he had taken from the old priest.
“Hahaha, Kirei, you really are…”
The King of Heroes shook his head with a smile. Although Kotomine Kirei wasn’t as groveling as Tohsaka Tokiomi, he preferred this guy. Because he was far more interesting than Tokiomi, who had his head full of the Holy Grail.
“If there’s nothing else, I’ll go find Berserker’s trail.”
“Don’t let your guard down. With your abilities, once he discovers you, it’ll be your death.”
The King of Heroes had lost an arm to Su Xiao, so he wanted to fight Su Xiao again.
…
Drip, drip.
Sewage dripped beside Su Xiao’s foot. He was currently inside Fuyuki City’s sewer system, surrounded by a foul stench.
“Bubu, are you sure this is the place?”
Su Xiao frowned. Although he didn’t care about the filthy sewage around him, the smell in the sewer was unbearably pungent.
Bubu Wang snorted, rolling its eyes from the stench. With its sensitive sense of smell, Bubu felt like it was in a ‘stench hell.’
Su Xiao took out a gas mask. The foul odor in the sewer had exceeded what an ordinary human could tolerate. This was definitely not normal.
Man and dog put on gas masks and ventured deeper into the sewer.
As they gradually went deeper into Fuyuki City’s sewer system, Su Xiao noticed that the walls were stained with some kind of biological fluid. The fluid had faint traces of Servant energy and a strong sea smell—one he could detect even through the gas mask.
“No mistake. Those two weirdos should be nearby.”
Su Xiao was looking for the Master of the Caster faction. This guy was named Uryū Ryūnosuke, a teenager who enjoyed experiencing death by killing others. Because of this, he had inadvertently summoned a Servant of the Caster class.
Although Uryū Ryūnosuke was a Master, he had no understanding of the Holy Grail War and barely participated in it.
Following the trail of fluid left by the unknown creature, Su Xiao soon found a dead end in the sewer. Scattered inside the dead end were several dismembered corpses—a crime scene of dismemberment.
“Already left, huh.”
Su Xiao took off his gas mask and examined the area around the corpses. Since Uryū Ryūnosuke had been here and dismembered bodies here, finding something with his scent wouldn’t be difficult. After searching for a while, he spotted a purple jacket stained with large patches of blood in a corner. Based on the position of the blood spatter on the jacket, it definitely didn’t belong to the dead people on the ground.
The Slaughter Shortsword appeared in his hand. Su Xiao cut a piece of cloth from the purple jacket, then turned and retraced his steps.
Uryū Ryūnosuke wasn’t very cautious, and his Servant, Gilles de Rais, wasn’t reliable either.
Su Xiao jumped out of the sewer exit. With Bubu Wang’s disgusted expression, he brought the piece of purple cloth to its nose.
“Track the smell on this cloth.”
“Ugh~”
Bubu Wang dry-heaved, tears welling up in its eyes. Seeing this, Su Xiao’s mouth twitched.
With tears in its eyes, Bubu Wang began tracking the smell on the cloth. It knew time was pressing and couldn’t afford to be picky about the stench. Man and dog started circling around Fuyuki City.
After a full two hours of searching, Bubu Wang led Su Xiao to a somewhat remote area of Fuyuki City, stopping in front of a small wooden house by the street. This wooden house seemed to be a small warehouse.
Swoosh, swoosh~
A sound came from inside the small wooden house, like the sound of cutting meat.
Su Xiao closed his eyes and sensed the surroundings. There were no Servants nearby, only a faint trace of Servant energy inside the small wooden house—so weak it could be ignored.
Su Xiao violently pushed open the door of the wooden house. Inside, a teenager holding a scalpel was ‘dissecting’ a little girl. The girl’s hands and feet were tied to an iron bed, and she was already dead.
The teenager was startled by the door breaking open, but he quickly calmed down. The scalpel flipped in his hand, glinting coldly.
“Oh? I’ve been found.”
The teenager was Uryū Ryūnosuke.
“Since you’ve found me, you’ll become my next toy. Although I prefer dissecting children.”
Uryū Ryūnosuke revealed a sinister smile, sizing up Su Xiao. His gaze seemed to be searching for a suitable place to cut. Who knows where this guy got his confidence.
A white snake quickly crawled toward Uryū Ryūnosuke. It was a snake shaped from an Alchemy Bomb.
The white snake sprang up from the ground, its triangular head plunging into Uryū Ryūnosuke’s mouth. Uryū Ryūnosuke was a Master, but he was just an ordinary person. Killing this guy, Su Xiao didn’t even deign to use his blade.
“Ugh!”
Uryū Ryūnosuke fell to the ground in agony, clutching his throat with both hands. His body convulsed like a fish out of water. The white snake shaped from the Alchemy Bomb had completely burrowed into his mouth—an extremely painful experience.
Su Xiao turned and left. Uryū Ryūnosuke, a Master with no vigilance at all, was the easiest to deal with. Even if his Servant had been nearby, Su Xiao could have handled him.
Time was pressing now. The truly troublesome enemies were still ahead. He couldn’t afford to waste time on small fry like Uryū Ryūnosuke.
Boom!
The small wooden house by the street exploded. Wood chips flew, and flames shot into the sky. A scalpel was blown away, eventually landing diagonally on the ground.
Su Xiao glanced at the hidden mission’s status. Current number of surviving Masters: 3. Remaining Command Seals: 33.
Su Xiao could have used Uryū Ryūnosuke to lure out the Servant Gilles de Rais, but the mission was time-sensitive. He needed to find the hiding spots of the other Masters as quickly as possible.
He took out a tablet computer from his storage space. Don’t underestimate this tablet Su Xiao used for playing games—it was a high-tech product. Using it to hack into the Holy Grail World’s network was as easy as child’s play.
Su Xiao scrolled through the data on the tablet. The second Master he needed to find was named Waver Velvet, the Master of the King of Conquerors.
According to the original work’s information, Waver Velvet had used magecraft to hypnotize an elderly couple, posing as their grandson and staying at their home.
Based on Su Xiao’s memory, the elderly couple lived in a remote countryside area, aged around 70 to 80, and their residence wasn’t far from Fuyuki City—otherwise, it would affect participation in the Holy Grail War.
This made the clues clearer. The troublesome part was that the King of Conquerors and his Master Waver Velvet were almost inseparable.
“Found it. A small village near Fuyuki City, huh.”
For someone like Su Xiao who knew the original work, defeating all Servants was somewhat difficult, but using clues to find the locations of some Masters wasn’t hard. Of course, old yinbi like Emiya Kiritsugu weren’t included.
As long as he found Waver Velvet, he could use the temporary skill to track the remaining two Masters. The probability of completing the hidden mission would greatly increase.