Shock... The scene before their eyes was simply beyond description.
When the light screen broadcasted Sakura's current situation, everyone felt a wave of disgust and revulsion rising from the depths of their souls.
Insects. Insects. And more insects.
In a massive, sewer-like basement where darkness and dampness were the main themes, there were countless writhing, worm-like creatures. They had two antennae on their stomachs, and their heads were shaped like some unnamable organ. These blackish-gray, monstrous insects were interwoven in a dense mass, frantically squirming and burrowing. The walls were also covered in them, leaving slimy, nauseating trails wherever they crawled.
A single glance was enough to make one's skin crawl, inducing an extreme psychological and physiological aversion to the scene.
For any normal person, it was an unbearably disgusting image.
However, even that wasn't what made it a true portrait of hell. What truly transformed this place into a hellscape was what lay in the middle of those insects. A small, purple-haired girl lay within the swarm, her body completely submerged by the repulsive creatures, with only her head remaining visible. The rest of her body would flash into view as the insects moved over her.
The insects crawled all over the little girl, while she lay as if dead, her eyes utterly devoid of light, staring blankly at the ceiling. Her hair was a mess, making her look as though she had already passed away.
Only the involuntary twitches and spasms of her body, a visceral reaction to the intense pain caused by the crawling insects, proved that this child was still alive.
The comment section fell silent. This was not like the previous silences; "deathly" was a more appropriate word.
For a long time, no one spoke. The vile image had successfully shocked everyone into speechlessness.
People stared, dumbfounded. Even a king like Gilgamesh fell silent upon seeing such a scene.
That girl... that was Sakura, right? Or rather, Sakura Tohsaka, Tokiomi Tohsaka's daughter. According to the previous conversation between Kariya and that old worm, it was Tokiomi who had given this child to the Matou family.
At this moment, Gilgamesh felt an anger unlike any he had ever known. This rage was even more violent than when he learned of Tokiomi's betrayal. Children were the treasures of the world; even a tyrant like Gilgamesh held an unexpectedly immense tolerance for them.
And now... something that not even those disgusting gods would stoop to was happening right under his nose.
Gilgamesh: "Tokiomi... it seems I now have another reason to kill you."
After a long silence, the King of Heroes was the first to speak. Meanwhile, the man in question, Tokiomi Tohsaka, trembled all over, kneeling on the floor as he stared at the light screen in disbelief.
Was it a case of mistaken identity? How could those eyes, devoid of any light, belong to his daughter, Sakura?
Tokiomi Tohsaka no longer had the time to care about Gilgamesh's words. All his elegance was gone, his face a mask of disbelief at the reality before him.
"Sakura... how could..."
Beside Tokiomi, Aoi Tohsaka covered her mouth, tears flowing uncontrollably down her cheeks.
Although it was just the light screen, and the Sakura of their time had not yet been given to the Matou family, Tokiomi had already made plans to do so. The future shown by the light screen was not wrong. Was her daughter going to suffer such abuse at the Matou household?
At this thought, Aoi Tohsaka couldn't withstand the shock and collapsed to the floor, unconscious.
In another timeline—
BOOM!
Rin Tohsaka slammed her fist onto the table before her, instantly shattering its wooden surface. Archer, standing beside her, watched with a jolt of alarm. Such strength... she truly was Demon Muscle Rin.
Ordinarily, he would have teased her about it, but in this situation, even he could barely restrain his urge to go to the Matou household and flay that old worm alive. How could Rin be expected to hold back?
At that moment, Rin Tohsaka said nothing, her face like frost, her eyes looking as if they could either breathe fire or murder someone on the spot.
---o---
Otto Apocalypse: "A scene like this... even I have never witnessed its equal. Tokiomi Tohsaka, you truly find new ways to lower my perception of you—"
Eriri Spencer Sawamura: "I originally thought Kariya Matou was the obvious villain, and while Tokiomi wasn't a hero, he was at least a neutral party. But now, it seems I was completely wrong."
Artoria Pendragon: "The Matou household? Master, if possible, please permit me to use my Noble Phantasm on that location."
Emiya Kiritsugu: "Hmph... A Noble Phantasm is meant to conceal one's True Name, but now... Saber, do as you wish. Just keep it within reason."
Iskandar, the King of Conquerors: "In that case, unlike that rat Tokiomi Tohsaka who hides in the shadows, Kariya Matou is more like a hero! Hahahaha! I am somewhat tempted to recruit him into my army. But before that, Saber, do you mind if I join you?"
Artoria Pendragon: "Of course, King of Conquerors. Your chariot is more than enough to raze that place to the ground."
Iskandar, the King of Conquerors: "Hahahaha! That's for certain! King of Heroes, what about you? Care to join in?"
After watching the spectacle on the screen, almost everyone developed a murderous intent toward that old worm, Matou Zouken. King Arthur, plus the King of Conquerors, and possibly the King of Heroes... Matou Zouken was likely the only person in history to be targeted by this alliance.
No matter how heaven-defying his worm magecraft was, there was absolutely no way he could escape from these three.
Faced with the King of Conquerors' invitation, Gilgamesh did not reply. Instead, he addressed the ultimate perpetrator of this all—Tokiomi Tohsaka.
Gilgamesh: "Tokiomi, give that girl to me. You have already lost the right to be her father. As a condition, this king will spare your life. From now on, this king will take responsibility for raising this girl to adulthood. As for you... spend the rest of your life in endless regret, Tokiomi—"
Gilgamesh's words were truly unexpected. Setting other things aside, handing Sakura to him... wasn't that just escaping a wolf's den to enter a tiger's?
A child raised under Gilgamesh's care would likely inherit his headache-inducing personality.
And besides that, the Holy Grail War only lasted for seven short days. Afterward, the mana required for a Servant to remain in the modern era was unimaginable. It was impossible for a Servant to remain with a spiritual body. Was Gilgamesh only going to look after her for seven days?
Faced with such skepticism, the King of Heroes responded with disdain, "This king has said it many times, mongrels. This king's treasures span all of history. A simple matter like mana supply is trivial; even obtaining a physical body to live as a human is an easy feat."
Well, that settled it. Although entrusting Sakura to Gilgamesh posed its own significant problems, it was still better than her staying with Tokiomi only to be sent to the Matou household...