Chapter 202: Squeeze the Holy Grail, Drain the Curse

“Purpose?”

Hearing Gilgamesh’s solemn words, Lin Yu chuckled softly.

“Could it not simply be for the Holy Grail?”

“Surely you wouldn’t say such things before me?”

Gilgamesh said coolly, “I refuse to believe you cannot see the true face of this Holy Grail.”

Lin Yu nodded, “Indeed, I know its true form—but even so, it still holds immense value to me as a collection piece…”

Gilgamesh’s heart sank, displeased: “You intend to steal my treasure?”

Lin Yu glanced at him: “Your treasure is merely the prototype. What does it have to do with this Greater Grail?”

Speaking, Lin Yu turned to look down at the crowd and said coolly, “I originally planned to let you decide your own victor—but unfortunately, I’m short on time. You’ll have to be the final one to fill the Grail.”

As he spoke the final words, Lin Yu’s gaze settled on Kirei Kotomine.

Kirei Kotomine’s pupils shrank sharply; he immediately shouted: “Lancer, take me—”

“Puff!”

Before he could finish, Kirei Kotomine’s body exploded, instantly bursting into a mist of blood.

Lancer stared in shock at the blood mist, helplessly watching Kirei Kotomine’s soul drift free, transforming into a blue-green streak of light that flowed into Lin Yu’s palm.

Normally, a Master’s soul would be insufficient as Grail contents.

But Lin Yu had already established contact with the Throne of Heroes—he could harvest from it, converting souls into Heroic Spirits to qualify as Grail fillers.

Soon, Kirei Kotomine’s soul was transformed into a Heroic Spirit form and cast into the purple-black heart.

At the same time, Bai Zeming’s hand glowed silver, releasing four immense streams of magical energy.

Once all the energy flowed into the purple-black heart, Lin Yu turned his head, surprised, to gaze down at Gilgamesh, who stood atop his flying vessel, face dark.

“I’m surprised you didn’t try to stop me.”

“To oppose the world is the delusion of mortals.”

Gilgamesh said coolly, “I have already seen your true nature. Why would I waste effort on such a futile act?”

Here, Gilgamesh paused, fixing Lin Yu with a stare: “Moreover, I am curious—how exactly do you intend to resolve the Grail’s problem?”

“I see.”

Lin Yu’s expression cleared; he smiled: “If that’s your assumption, then I’m sorry—my method will likely disappoint you…”

Before he finished speaking, he hurled the still-beating purple-black heart.

Normally, summoning the Grail requires far more than this—such as a living sacrifice as the core, or knowledge of the Third Magic’s Celestial Chalice array.

But for Lin Yu, none of these were necessary.

Because fundamentally, summoning the Grail is meant to open a passage to the Root.

And Lin Yu knew the Root’s exact location—so he needed none of those cumbersome steps.

As the purple-black heart landed at the center of the stone pillar’s array, the entire array suddenly flared crimson.

Vast magical energy surged through the red runes, rushing violently toward the central Grail.

In the next instant, a terrifying magical disturbance erupted—a vast, deep hole tore open, like a black single eye opening in the sky, plunging the entire heavens into gloom.

Infinite abyssal energy spilled forth; the atmosphere grew unbearably heavy.

Below, the ruins of Ryuudouji Temple, including Bai Zeming, all stared in stunned silence at the hole in the sky.

In their varied eyes, the hole’s darkness mirrored the depth of the cosmos.

“Whoosh!”

Amidst a roar like a rushing river, countless red-black, scorching fluids burst from the hole, forming a bizarre waterfall of black mud that poured endlessly onto the stone pillars inscribed with magical runes.

“Ssshh—”

Where the black mud dripped onto the pillars, it instantly corroded them, spewing thick black smoke.

Everyone gasped, hair standing on end as they stared at the ominous black sludge oozing down the pillars.

“What is that?!”

“...It’s a curse!”

Bai Zeming said grimly: “Inexhaustible curses!”

Gilgamesh, standing atop his Vimana, glanced at them and said coolly:

“Correct. This is the true face of the Holy Grail!”

“...You’re joking, right?!”

Rin Tohsaka and Shinji Matou stared in disbelief at the black mud.

Saber frowned deeply and asked: “You knew this all along?”

“Of course.” Gilgamesh smiled lightly. “Actually, this is your doing, Saber.”

“Ten years ago, I was one step away from obtaining the Grail—until you stopped me. Your Holy Sword cleaved the Grail in two right before my eyes…”

“What?! Saber cut the Grail?!”

Rin and Shinji were stunned again, glancing involuntarily at the silent Saber beside them.

Gilgamesh ignored their reactions and continued:

“...When the Grail shattered, its contents erupted as flame, burning every street around to ash. I, standing directly beneath it, was drenched in that flood. From then on, I gained this body that endures in this world—and from then on, I learned the Grail’s true face.”

The Grail’s contents became flame and destroyed the surrounding streets?

Shinji stared blankly at Gilgamesh, those words echoing in his mind.

If this man wasn’t lying, then the arsonist behind that fire ten years ago was the Heroic Spirit standing beside him now.

Seeing Shinji’s stunned expression, Saber’s face darkened with guilt; she opened her mouth but said nothing.

Rin, beside her, didn’t notice their expressions—she herself was lost in shock and confusion.

“If the Grail is this… then our Tohsaka family’s lifelong dream… has always been a joke…”

Hearing Rin’s whisper, Bai Zeming glanced at her and shook his head: “The Grail wasn’t always like this. It was corrupted.”

Rin’s eyes flickered with renewed light: “Corrupted?”

“Yes.” Bai Zeming nodded. “This ties back to the previous Heroic Spirit with a special class.”

“In the Third Holy Grail War, the Einzbern summoned the first Heroic Spirit outside the Seven Classes—his true name is Angra Mainyu, the primordial dark god of Persian myth, a terrifying embodiment of absolute evil.”

“Did He corrupt the Grail?”

“Yes and no.”

Bai Zeming shook his head: “As the symbol of all evil in this world, Angra Mainyu should never have been summonable. What was actually summoned was a real human from history—someone whom ignorant villagers had branded with the name ‘Angra Mainyu,’ forcing him to bear the burden of ‘all evil in this world.’”

“...”

Rin frowned, recalling similar infamous events from European history.

Bai Zeming continued: “Since he wasn’t created by his own or others’ wishes, Angra Mainyu only gained enhanced skills for killing humans—his true power was extremely weak.”

“When he died, his soul, burdened with ‘all evil in this world,’ entered the Grail and completely corrupted it.”

“Since then, the Grail has never been the same.”

“It now holds billions of curses and has amplified its ability to kill humans—once released, every human on Earth will be slain by these curses…”

How could this be?!

Rin staggered back two steps, staring blankly at the black sludge on the pillar.

At that moment, Lin Yu—who had remained motionless until now—finally moved.

He lightly stepped on empty air; the space within a kilometer instantly twisted.

Streams of silver light erupted, rapidly weaving into a complex eye formed of dozens of silver threads.

The moment this silver eye appeared, a vast, profound will surged forth—oceanic and abyssal—blanketing the entire sky over Mount Yuancang.

Instantly, the black mud pouring from the hole churned, as if weightless, forming floating clumps.

The next second, a terrifying suction exploded—the floating mud accelerated violently, like an inverted black mud waterfall, surging furiously toward the silver eye.

What?!

Gilgamesh’s pupils shrank sharply; his face showed astonishment.

He finally understood why Lin Yu had spoken those words earlier—

Because this man had no clever method at all. He intended to use the most brutal, direct way possible: to drain every last curse from the Grail.

…This is insane!

In Gilgamesh’s stunned gaze, all the black mud pouring from the hole was dragged upward, transforming into countless black ribbons that surged wildly toward the silver eye.

Perhaps feeling the speed was too slow, the silver eye suddenly swelled—within a blink, it became a monstrous eye a kilometer long, like a celestial curtain sealing the hole.

An invisible force didn’t just absorb the leaking mud—it surged upstream, flowing into the hole itself.

Gradually, the flow of mud slowed; the red-black scorching fluids dwindled.

Until, at last, no more molten black mud poured from the hole. The entire sky covered in silver light held only one thing: Lin Yu’s palm, still glowing with faint black light.

All looked up to see Lin Yu cradling in his hand a pulsing black heart.

The moment they saw it, every human present felt a chilling, bone-deep malice—so profound it made their scalps crawl.

“This is ‘all evil in this world’!”

Lin Yu gazed at the black heart with satisfaction.

At that moment, the previously still hole trembled violently.

Lin Yu frowned slightly—he knew his actions had disturbed the Root.

Without hesitation, he activated his authority and clenched his fist.

“Hum—”

In an instant, the space within a hundred li exploded into chaos.

Invisible ripples surged forth, tearing through space and crushing in from all sides.

Countless pitch-black fissures spread like spiderwebs across the sky, and in a single moment, they destroyed the magical array’s stone pillar radiating red light and burst the floating black vortex.

But this was far from over—the torn spatial fissures continued to spread in every direction.

In the blink of an eye, the sea of clouds within a hundred li was swept clean, everywhere filled with dense, black cracks, as if the entire sky had become a shattered mirror…

(End of Chapter)