To be fair, traveling back in time to Shinji Matou was not a good start.
Shinji Matou, nicknamed Erye. He is the eldest son of the Matou family, a family of magicians, but he is a waste without the qualifications of a magician. Due to the influence of his family environment, he grew up to be a fake magician with distorted self-esteem and vanity. He is self-centered and often despises others. In the "Fatestaynight" written by Mushroom, he did not have a good ending. He died in two world lines and was injured in one world line. He is a typical pitiful, hateful and sad character.
There is no doubt that Shinji had his own fault for ending up like this, but the culprit who caused him to become like this was his grandfather, Matou Zouken.
Matou Zouken, nicknamed Bug-sama, is a twisted old monster who has transformed himself into a bug and survived for 500 years by constantly devouring the bodies of others.
When I was young, I also had a grand dream and worked tirelessly for it, but later I realized that this dream would take a lot of time, and I was almost out of energy. In order to witness the future with my own eyes, I did not hesitate to turn my body into a worm to prolong my life.
Sadly, the long years eroded his soul, and eventually, he forgot his original dream and became a monster who would do anything to achieve immortality. He also became the shadow that has shrouded the Matou family for 200 years, and the biggest mastermind behind Fuyuki City where the Matou family is located.
As a time traveler and a lunar chef (Type-Moon Chef), Shinji knows very well that as long as Zouken is still alive, the Matou family will have no future, and the world line will eventually become one of the three written by Fungus. All people will be bound by his five hundred years of obsession and sink deeper and deeper into the vortex of darkness.
If you want to have a bright future, Master Chong must die! He must truly, completely, and disappear from this world without leaving any residue.
However, how could a six-year-old child plus the soul of an adult kill a great magician who was famous for his long life and was good at extending life? If Shinji was still an ordinary person like in the original work, then the new Shinji would have only one choice, to run away from home like his uncle Matou Kariya, hide his identity, and live a stable life.
Fortunately, there is gain in loss. Fate gave him a bad start, but also gave him the possibility to break the impasse. It was this possibility that allowed Shinji to finally stand in front of Zou Yan and strike a blow that cut through the darkness and led to the future.
Zang Yan's head split into two, then quickly turned into a stone sculpture, and finally turned into powder.
Vast, cold mist emanated from the fragments of Zang Yan's body, drifting out of the basement. The human body is just a shell that can be replaced at any time, and this mist formed by the soul is the key.
Just before the spiritual mist floated out of the basement, Shinji took out an inconspicuous cloth bag from somewhere and unfastened the buckle on the bag.
"The Serpent Scythe has no effect on spirits? Then—"
The cloth bag opened its mouth, and an invisible force swept through the petrified basement. The spiritual mist was pulled by this force and sucked into the cloth bag without any resistance.
"—This is the only thing I can use. This bag used to hold monster heads is a good way to seal your alien soul."
Shinji fastened the buttons again and carefully put the bag away before gently patting Sakura's shoulder.
Sakura lowered her hands from covering her ears and opened her big jewel-like eyes.
Shinji smiled as he did when they first met: "It's over, let's go upstairs and have a good sleep. Tomorrow will be another beautiful day."
Sakura didn't answer, just looked at him quietly.
"What's wrong?" Shinji asked softly.
"There's blood on my brother's face." Sakura stretched out her hand and tried to wipe the stain off Shinji's face.
Shinji took a step back and shook his head, "Don't touch it, it's dirty."
"It's not dirty, brother is not dirty at all." Sakura didn't know where she got the courage from, she stepped forward and wiped the blood off Shinji's face, not caring at all that her hands were stained with blood.
"Little fool." Shinji rubbed Sakura's head, "Come on, brother will take you back to your room."
"Yeah." Sakura grabbed Shinji's clothes and left the basement with her, which brought her nightmare-like memories but was not so scary.
The footsteps faded away, and an inconspicuous brown flying insect flew out from the corner where Sakura was hiding. Its two pairs of compound eyes looked in the direction where the brother and sister left, and a hint of relief and mockery flashed in the insect's eyes.
A hoarse, deep voice sounded from the void: "You are still too young, my grandson. Never underestimate the survival ability of an old man. Haha, you are more suitable to be my descendant than that waste because your existence is similar to mine."
That was Zouken's voice. The old magus who should have been killed by Shinji with lightning speed was still alive.
Of course.
The defeated Matou Zouken just now was nothing more than a collection of insects.
Zouken's real body, the spirit that keeps his soul in the world, is sleeping in a bug nest in the deepest part of this mansion, which is inaccessible to humans.
Even if it is the Scythe that can kill the undead and the Demon Bag that can seal the monsters, it will be impossible to destroy Zou Yan unless the insects that are the true body are defeated.
"My hands and feet are all broken. I can't even generate magic power now. I'd better go out and find a suitable body."
The flying insect flew along the shadow to the door, ready to fly out of the basement along the door frame.
At this moment, a hand as white as milk stretched out from the air and accurately grasped the flying insect carrying Zang Yan's last soul.
"How sad." An ethereal voice sounded, like the sound of nature, but also like the whisper of death.
"What?"
He raised his eyes.
In the shaking sight.
There is a female figure.
Long hair that was silver without a single color, eyes like rubies, a delicate face that was not like that of a human, and a gorgeous pure white dress.
Zang Yan raised his head in fascination, looking at this woman, who existed in his distant memory and would never fade no matter how time passed, always remaining in his heart, like a goddess.
Two hundred years ago, he was a compatriot who sacrificed himself in pursuit of great ideals.
From that day on, she never aged, and had the eyes that he longed for so much.
"Justissa Rizleich von Einzbern."
"Two hundred years have passed, Tōsaka Nagato is dead, and I am left with this little remnant. Why don't you want to die? You are willing to transform yourself into an alien, contrary to your original wish, just to die." The voice that I missed so much sounded again, "Answer me, Machiri Zorgen."
Why
Why
Why
Why don't you want to die
Enduring pain every day, unable to bask in the sun, living in this inhuman way is more painful than death.
Why do we keep holding on to all the pain and clinging to life when we know that we can be free from the pain if it ends
I remember.
That's right. Initially, it was for a noble purpose.
Grasp everything in your hands. Understand all truths and reach a place no one has ever been before. Go beyond the limited body and reach the infinity of the soul.
The species called human beings. Confined by pre-defined boundaries, they want to escape from the endlessly spinning spiral of the brain. All hatred and pain are for healing and elimination.
—I remember now.
After learning the sorrow that there is no paradise, if this world is empty, if even the creation of a physical body is not allowed, then rise up and head for a place where it can be allowed.
It's not about creating a completely new world, but about transforming ourselves and human life into something new.
That's right.
As long as you raise your head, you can reach that universe, that end, and be born again, to a horizon that no one has ever imagined, to an utopia that we cannot describe.
-to this end.
Seek the Holy Grail for this purpose.
Seeking miracles beyond human power.
Until it is achieved, there is no reason to disappear.
No matter how many times you are defeated, no matter how many times you realize that you cannot reach the destination with a physical body, as long as you are still alive, you will never give up.
—Yes, there is only one dream object.
To abolish all the evil in this world.
We risk our lives for an unattainable ideal.
So, we have to survive.
Even after all the enemies have disappeared, knowing it is meaningless, one can only keep searching.
I believe that existence has its meaning. As long as it exists, one day, I may be able to cultivate someone who will inherit my will.
So keep surviving.
Even if you understand that you are in endless pain, there is no reason to die.
Even if I have to change myself, I want to overturn the immature lamentations of my youth.
This is my way of survival, and it is also the answer I cannot give.
That's right.
Even in the future ahead, there will be no reward.
This was the original wish.
This kind of pain.
Compared with constantly challenging impossible wishes, the wish of not wanting to die seems insignificant!
"That's right, that's it, Einzbern." Zōken whispered, more to himself than to the Golden Saint.
"You remember now, don't you?"
There were many things that Zang Yan did not say, but Yustisa understood them in her heart, because they were the original companions, the companions who sacrificed their lives to save the world, but -
"The length of time has eroded your soul, and even your original wish has been forgotten, so it's time to end it."
"Yes, it's time to end. Our wishes, our suffering, Makiri's mission—all will end here."
Under the gaze of those eyes, Zang Yan became extremely calm. It was not a bad thing for her to end this endless journey that started because of her.
"Will you continue to fulfill the wishes I'm waiting for?"
"Yes." Yustisa nodded solemnly.
"Really? Then I wish you success, Einzbern." The worm closed its eyes, waiting for its own end.
"Goodbye, Machiri Zolgen." She clenched her hands, and the flying insect turned into a pool of meat paste. The soul that survived in the world by obsession lost its support and left the world.
The shadow that had shrouded Fuyuki City for two hundred years finally dissipated.
The golden saint walked out of the basement, and walked out of the corridor that was the biggest taboo of the Matou family.
At the junction of light and shadow, a child who looked somewhat like Machiri Zorgen in his youth was waiting against the wall.
"it's over?"
"It's over. I have fulfilled my promise to you. It's your turn now." Yustisa looked into the boy's eyes without blinking.
"Don't worry, I will keep my promise." The boy's face was pale, but his tone was firm. "But even if the Greater Holy Grail is completed, I don't think I can achieve my wish to save humanity... Besides, do humans really need help?"
"Whether I can or not, I have to try. That is the only obsession I have left." Justisa closed her eyes and stopped talking.
"As you wish, 'Winter Saint'; Your Highness."
After saying this, the boy seemed to lose all his strength and fell to the ground.