"Mr. Zuke! I've uncovered intel on a new participant!"
Not long after Zuke entered the world of Fate/Stay Night and appeared in Reines' base, the young magus burst into the room, clearly alerted by some form of bounded field she had set up to detect intruders.
The moment she saw Zuke, Reines eagerly shared her newly acquired information, a hint of pride on her face.
"The last descendant of the Matou family—a man named Matou Shinji—has joined this Holy Grail War and summoned a Servant!"
"Oh? Matou Shinji?"
Zuke, who had just arrived in this world and hadn't even caught his breath, was momentarily taken aback by the bombshell Reines dropped.
Of course, he knew who Matou Shinji was. In the original Fate/Stay Night, Shinji was infamously portrayed as a despicable character, leaving a strong impression.
However, Shinji lacked any magical aptitude in the original story. The only reason he obtained the Rider-class Servant Medusa was because he stole her from Matou Sakura—he hadn't summoned her himself.
But in this timeline, Sakura and Shinji had never even met. Moreover, Sakura hadn't endured the same suffering as in the original, so she wouldn't meekly submit to anyone.
There was no way Shinji could have taken a Servant from her. So where did he get one? The Holy Grail wouldn't choose someone with zero magical potential, right?
"It seems the Matou family's magical lineage had completely deteriorated by his generation, but he must have used some forbidden magecraft to forcefully grant himself magical circuits."
Reines quickly clarified Zuke's doubts, explaining the details she had uncovered.
"I'm not sure exactly what magecraft he used, but from my observations, the man looks emaciated—like he could drop dead at any moment."
Hearing this, Zuke immediately understood how Shinji had gained his magical aptitude.
Emaciated, on the verge of death…
Wasn't that exactly like Matou Kariya's condition?
Clearly, Shinji had somehow recreated Zouken Matou's Crest Worm magecraft. Just like Kariya, he had replaced his own Magic Circuits with the worms, allowing them to devour his life force in exchange for temporary magical energy.
By doing so, Shinji had gained just enough magical aptitude to be recognized by the Holy Grail.
"It must be the Matou family's worm magecraft."
Zuke smirked, noticing Reines' puzzled expression. He then briefly explained the nature of the Matou family's insect-based sorcery.
Upon learning about it, Reines' face twisted in disgust. As the heir to a prestigious magus lineage, she naturally found such vile magecraft beneath contempt.
While many magi engaged in unspeakable acts in pursuit of the Root, the Lords of the Clock Tower would never stoop to such methods.
"Where did you even find him?"
After explaining the Matou family's techniques, Zuke grew curious about how Reines had located Shinji in the first place.
"That idiot seems to know nothing about how magi operate. After becoming a Master, he strutted straight into Fuyuki Church to report to Risei Kotomine."
Reines' lip twitched in exasperation as she recounted Shinji's blatantly foolish actions.
"My familiars near the church spotted him immediately, confirming his participation in the war."
Indeed, with Zouken's death, the Matou family's magical knowledge had been completely lost. Even if Shinji had somehow recovered the Crest Worms, he remained ignorant of even the basics of magus society.
Had he possessed any sense of caution, he would have checked for familiars before approaching Kotomine and used interference magecraft to avoid detection.
But given the Matou family's current state, Shinji likely didn't even know such spells existed—his magical energy was probably just barely scraped together by the worms.
"So, who's his Servant?"
Zuke had zero interest in Shinji himself—the man was likely weaker than Kariya had been, someone he could crush without effort.
What intrigued him was which Servant Shinji had summoned. If it was someone with unique abilities, they might be worth devouring.
It had been a while since he last used "Blackbird Requiem" to absorb a new power, and he was starting to crave something fresh.
Of course, if the Servant was worthless, he wouldn't bother.
"...That, I don't know. He didn't summon his Servant at the church. All I know is that his Servant's class is Archer."
Reines shook her head helplessly.
"Archer...?"
Zuke chuckled thoughtfully.
Could Shinji have somehow summoned EMIYA by accident?
Even though this timeline lacked Shirou Emiya (who would have been adopted by Kiritsugu), summoning a Heroic Spirit could still pull a counterpart from a parallel world.
Given Shinji's twisted connection to Shirou in the original story, it wasn't impossible for him to summon Archer.
And if it was EMIYA…
Then Zuke would have to devour him.
The man's Reality Marble, "Unlimited Blade Works," was quite fascinating.
Since Zuke's previous absorption of "Ionioi Hetairoi" had resulted in an anomalous mutation, he was curious whether "Blackbird Requiem" would trigger a similar reaction with another Reality Marble.
If Shinji really had summoned EMIYA, this would be the perfect opportunity to test it.
"Alright, today's objective is to eliminate Matou Shinji."
With that casual declaration, Zuke sentenced Shinji and his unknown Archer to death.
Hearing this, Reines silently mourned for Shinji in her heart—though she had no doubts about Zuke's ability to follow through.
After all, just last night, Mordred had proven that Zuke's strength far surpassed that of an ordinary Servant.
As for Shinji's life being forfeit…
Well, Reines wasn't the compassionate type. The last descendant of a fallen magus family?
If he died, he died.
To be continued…