The dry winter made the forest highly flammable.
For any Magus, setting fire to the Einzbern Forest wasn't difficult—the so-called forest barrier offered no protection against fire.
Standing in the center of the blazing woods, Sakura remained unshaken by the thick smoke and searing heat, calmly watching Shinji Matou engulfed in flames before her.
Sakura Shiomi was pristine, not a speck of ash on her, forming a sharp contrast to Shinji's charred and disheveled state.
He glared at her with venom in his eyes, a blend of envy and hatred toward those born with talent in Magecraft, who had trained since childhood. Even the Magecraft Shinji specialized in posed no threat to her.
If insects were weak to fire, then fire would be her defense and retaliation. Sakura's strategy was simple—and devastatingly effective.
"You should really surrender now," Sakura said pleasantly, trying to reason with him. "For Uncle Kariya's sake, if you use a Command Spell to make your Servant self-terminate and withdraw from the Holy Grail War, I'll let you go."
"Kariya, Kariya, Kariya!" Shinji shouted, each repetition louder than the last. "Why should I care about someone who betrayed the family? I inherited the Matou lineage! I'm the one worthy of seeking the Holy Grail!"
The Crest Worms used to alter his aptitude writhed violently inside him. Rider and Saber were already locked in battle. Although the flawless Greek hero was restraining the magic power siphoned from Shinji, for someone born without functional Magic Circuits, every moment of channeling mana brought agonizing pain.
Until now, Shinji had treated that pain as proof of his nobility, a mark of distinction from ordinary humans—his badge as a member of a Magus Family.
But that supposed nobility was built on sand. To real Magi, it earned no admiration. At best, it only drew pity—like the way Sakura now looked at him.
"Is this kind of life-devouring Magecraft really worth pursuing?" Sakura couldn't understand it.
Her father always said the path of a Magus was a hard one, and if it ever became too tiring or troublesome, she was free to quit. With her ability, she would never have to worry about the burden of magical talent attracting unwanted consequences.
To Sakura, Magecraft was a passion and a dream—something she enjoyed and willingly pursued. But never something she'd trade her life for.
"With power like yours, and you still don't love Magecraft..." Shinji's voice was bitter. "Why do people like you get to be Magi?!"
His jealousy and frustration twisted into hatred and rage, triggering a surge from the Crest Worms that replaced his Magic Circuits. Pain and chills wracked his body—but he embraced it. To him, it was bliss.
Devour me. Devour this body. Shinji howled inside.
As long as he achieved the Holy Grail and became a true Magus, he didn't care how much he had to suffer. So long as he had even one breath left, he'd pay any price.
Even Perseus—that eternally fulfilled, idealized hero—had said his wish was to grant his Master's. Shinji welcomed that. This way, the Holy Grail would be his alone.
From the dark corners of the woods and behind the burning trees, the swarm surged forward like a tsunami.
The grotesque worms, resembling oversized maggots as large as fat rats, had all been implanted into Shinji by his grandfather, Zouken. Each was a "fang" of his transformation.
"Maybe this is just fate's cruel joke," Sakura murmured, raising her staff and aiming it at Shinji.
He showed no sign of surrender, and she had no intention of wasting any more words.
She would apologize to Uncle Kariya later—for failing to save the nephew who had lost himself completely.
Between them, reconciliation was impossible. They were two irreconcilable kinds of Magus.
Sakura had once wondered: if she'd been born an ordinary child, maybe she would have stayed with the Tohsaka family and remained by her sister's side.
But then, she wouldn't have become her father's daughter.
That contradiction was always there in her heart. And yet, sometimes, it didn't seem to matter.
Like now—when she and her sister stood side by side.
They needed to finish off the enemy before them.
And then, they'd deal with the even bigger threat—Berserker.
"Hey! Where the hell are you looking!" Shinji shouted.
He'd realized it—this woman had never taken him seriously. She hadn't taken this fight seriously from the start.
I'll kill you. I'll kill Tohsaka. I'll feed your corpses to that hero who always wears that fake, compassionate look.
Defile. Mock. Curse.
Shinji Matou wanted to slaughter everything within sight.
Sensing their master's hatred, the insects began to writhe, as if in painful spasms. Straight cracks split open along their backs, revealing hard, metallic black shells and wings that gleamed like polished steel.
One after another, enormous beetles burst from their larval forms, spreading their wings with a loud buzz. They circled around Shinji, forming a formation, quickly gathering into a massive swarm.
These were Blade Wing Insects—one of the few lethal techniques Shinji had managed to master from the Matou family's insect Magecraft.
His true specialty lay in attaching insects to human bodies, allowing them to devour flesh and vitality, converting that into his own mana.
But it was useless. His insects couldn't even get close to Sakura before being reduced to ash by her Magecraft flames.
So he had to rely on numbers. Fire-based Magecraft that could sweep through a forest came at a heavy mana cost. Shinji was sure she couldn't use it repeatedly.
As long as just one Blade Wing Insect broke through her defense, it could shred even yak bones to dust.
Faced with such a swarm, Sakura merely furrowed her brow—not in fear, but in revulsion.
Thanks to her mother's influence, she'd never liked dealing with bugs.
"So that was the vanguard, and these are the reinforcements," she said, raising her wand—refined and tempered over years of accumulated mana.
If she kept using fire spells, the risk of a forest-wide blaze would skyrocket.
That was her first concern. So she changed tactics.
The gentle winter breeze that had been brushing her clothes suddenly whipped into a strong wind, sending the forest trees into a rustling sway. The hem of her Homurahara uniform—bought as a temporary exchange student outfit—flapped wildly against her slender legs.
"After fire, now wind..." Shinji's eyes were filled with venomous rage. He had waited for the moment his opponent revealed the ability to wield multiple elemental attributes. "One after another... just how far do you people plan to look down on me?!"
At his roar, the Blade Wing Insects surged forward.
Ordinary bugs would've been disoriented in the wind, unable to fly properly. But these weren't ordinary—they were a Magus's familiars, entities imbued with mana.
Not even a gale that scattered clouds would stop their flight.
Unless, of course, the wind itself had become a blade—capable of shredding anything foolish enough to enter its domain.