Chapter 1614: The Nightmare Begins

In the old residence of the Tohsaka family, as one of the three great magical families, even though their lineage has dwindled, they naturally still have their foundations—just like Tohsaka Rin, this second-generation mage, who fights with gemstones, using various rare gems as consumables; her extravagance is easy to imagine, and if her family were poor, she wouldn't even be able to use magecraft.

"This is my home, not bad, huh?"

Tohsaka Rin stood in her own courtyard, the night wind blowing past, leaves rustling, behind her was a Western-style villa, the courtyard filled with flowers and plants, vines covering the iron railings of the fence—this was clearly not a residence one could simply buy with money, but one requiring several generations of accumulation.

"Last time I came here, I still charged in."

"You……charged into my house?"

Tohsaka Rin opened and closed her mouth, finally letting out a sigh.

Following Tohsaka Rin into the villa, since it was already approaching the late night, the interior was pitch black, yet spotless; the wooden staircase leading upstairs was antique, with several famous paintings hanging on the walls.

"You can stay on the second floor—this place is only mine to live in, and after 10 PM, the third floor is absolutely, absolutely off-limits. If you have any improper thoughts toward a poor high school girl who's lost both parents, then there's nothing I can do."

Tohsaka Rin casually put her backpack by the shoe cabinet and then changed into bear slippers before going upstairs.

Su Xiao didn't go upstairs, but instead came to the courtyard and began setting up defensive devices.

One hour later.

"Bai Ye, where are you? Honestly, do heroic spirits not need to sleep?"

Tohsaka Rin, wearing a beige nightgown, came down from the third floor; upon reaching the turn of the stairs on the first floor, she saw Su Xiao arranging something at the doorway, and through the light, she could faintly see the fiber threads in his hands.

"From now on, don't loiter in the courtyard."

"What's wrong with the courtyard?"

Tohsaka Rin suddenly had an ominous premonition.

"I only buried 170 anti-gravity landmines."

"..."

Tohsaka Rin's mouth twitched violently; after a moment, she slapped her own face, turned around, and went upstairs—she was definitely dreaming.

Su Xiao rested on the sofa on the second floor of the villa during the late night; the next morning at 7:30 AM, a dazed Tohsaka Rin got out of bed, her tea-colored hair somewhat messy, her whole appearance dazed and confused.

"Good morning~"

As Tohsaka Rin passed through the second-floor living room, she greeted Su Xiao, then went down to the first floor to wash up; after finishing, she ran back up to the second floor.

"I'm going to school; as for you, forget it—anyway, you wouldn't listen to my orders."

"School?"

Upon hearing Tohsaka Rin say she was going to school, Su Xiao couldn't help but be slightly surprised, then thought to himself that he seemed to have indeed seen her going to school before.

The Masters of the Fifth Holy Grail War aren't particularly capable, yet they're all experts at seeking death—this girl actually thought about attending school during the Holy Grail War; I don't know whether to say she's bold or just extremely enthusiastic about school.

"If you don't want to die, take a temporary leave of absence."

"This……"

Tohsaka Rin instinctively stepped back a few steps; unbidden, a thought entered her mind: that her heroic spirit might be trying to imprison her, and various inappropriate images flashed in her brain.

"During the day, heroic spirits probably wouldn't act against their Masters."

"..."

Su Xiao said nothing, merely standing up in silence; two minutes later, the beige-nightgown-wearing Tohsaka Rin had her wrists and ankles bound and was thrown onto the sofa.

In the near future, Su Xiao won't actively appear—reason is simple: the Blood Gate people will surely search the world for him, and now, waiting for the right moment is all that's needed.

Su Xiao sat cross-legged on the sofa, immersed in the game; seeing this, the Tohsaka Rin lying on the sofa nearby felt her worldview collapsing—already astonishing enough that a heroic spirit plays games, and on top of that, the other party seems even more skilled at it than she is.

Tohsaka Rin was forcibly put on leave by Su Xiao, stopping this self-destructive behavior; that morning, Su Xiao brought her to change residences—a ordinary civilian house on the edge of Fuyuki City.

Obviously, Tohsaka Rin is much easier to handle than Emiya Shirou; aside from being a bit tsundere, she doesn't consider herself an ally of justice, and more importantly, her magecraft level is not weak.

One day, two days, three days passed quickly; Su Xiao still hadn't done anything this long in the derived world; if the situation truly deteriorated to a certain extent, he might even consider not completing the hunting mission—at most, being reassigned to act as a temporary arbiter in the war world.

Su Xiao can afford to wait here, but the Blood Gate adventuring team cannot; their main mission isn't survival—three days of doing nothing, and while Stan, Nai Luo Yi, and the old smoking gun can hold their composure, the lower-ranking members are growing increasingly dissatisfied; the team's main mission hangs over them like a mountain.

When the morning of the fourth day came, Stan in the half-collapsed building on the outskirts of Fuyuki City no longer wanted to wait, because they truly couldn't afford to—if they didn't complete the team's main mission, they would all die.

"Stan, wait two more days—I don't believe that guy will never show his face."

Nai Luo Yi spoke from within the half-collapsed building; her expression wasn't good, and time was becoming increasingly hard to endure.

"Let's lure him out ourselves—if the team mission fails, we all die."

"But……"

"No 'buts'—I never wait to die."

Stan stepped toward the exit of the half-collapsed building, because they truly couldn't afford to wait.

That evening at six o'clock, a loud bang shattered the several days of tranquility in Fuyuki City.

In the civilian house on the edge of Fuyuki City, Su Xiao was watching the video feedback from Bubu Wang's remote return—it was a church engulfed in roaring flames; this is the Kotomine Church, although long abandoned, this centrally located church remains a place Kotomine Kirei frequently visits.

"You guys finally couldn't hold back."

Su Xiao closed the video on the miniature computer, stepped toward the outside of the civilian house; seeing Su Xiao about to go out, Tohsaka Rin became energetic.

"Is it starting now?"

"You don't need to appear for now—as the ace, just stay here."

"Tch, if you think I'm dragging you down, just say it straight."

Actually, if it weren't for fighting heroic spirits, Tohsaka Rin couldn't appear at all—the contractor has too many ways to kill her; Su Xiao is staying in this world as a heroic spirit's identity, and once Tohsaka Rin dies, he'd need to find another mage in a short time—which is no simple task.

Su Xiao quickly headed toward the city center; compared to him, Bubu Wang, who had been wandering around the city, had already arrived at the scene—these past few days, Su Xiao hasn't been idle, but rather memorized the terrain of Fuyuki City inside and out, which relates to one of his plans, a plan that would keep every member of the Blood Gate adventuring team awake at night.

Before the burning church, Bubu Wang's nose twitched as it searched for something.

Soon, Bubu Wang detected a suspicious scent in the air—the smell of intense explosive flames; following the pungent odor, it quickly fixed on a plain-looking boy who wouldn't stand out in a crowd.

Bubu Wang began tracking—not long-distance, but staying two meters behind that boy.

Bubu Wang followed for three full hours before the boy left the vicinity of the church, appearing somewhat disappointed.

On an old clock tower in Fuyuki City—this thing should have been demolished long ago, but due to its significance, it has been preserved to this day.

On the top floor of the clock tower, Su Xiao pulled the bolt of the Duke of Annihilation's gun; his plan is both simple and brutal: let Bubu Wang infiltrate the Blood Gate's main force, and once it successfully penetrates the enemy's interior, it will provide Su Xiao with real-time coordinates—Su Xiao will then conduct long-range sniping; with his sniping skill plus the Duke of Annihilation's performance, eliminating a target 3.5 kilometers away is no problem, as this gun's maximum range is 4762 meters—any farther and the bullet trajectory would severely deviate.

After Su Xiao fired a shot, he would immediately withdraw, while Ignoring Bubu Wang would continue to lurk, thereby providing Su Xiao with the coordinates of Blood Gate, a distance of 3.5 kilometers, which Blood Gate could not counter unless they had collective teleportation, unable to simultaneously defeat all of Blood Gate's members, Su Xiao chose to slowly nibble away.