Chapter 8: The True Red

Words : 889 Updated : Sep 12th, 2025

Atop the Alps. "So, can you tell me about him now?" As soon as the duo reached the peak, Ryuunosuke Uryuu ignoring his aching legs turned to ask Sakatsuki about the man. Sakatsuki casually glanced at the patch of grass beside Ryuunosuke and spoke. "Of course." There, lay a faintly visible black backpack with various things inside it. This along with Ryuunosuke's overly familiar climbing process, confirmed Sakatsuki's suspicions. With this realization, Sakatsuki's smile turned cold and ruthless. "Trace on." It wasn't Shirou Emiya's beloved Kanshou and Bakuya, the black and white twin swords, but a simple short sword appeared in Sakatsuki's hands. Before Ryuunosuke could react, Sakatsuki closed the distance between them, in his though weakened but still superhuman speed compared to an ordinary human, and stabbed him. The blade mercilessly pierced through Ryuunosuke's abdomen. The wind on the peak seemed to stand still, with only the clear sound of blood leaving Ryuunosuke's body. "Look." Scooping a handful of the blood flowing out, Sakatsuki brought his hand close to Ryuunosuke's eyes and spoke in a devil's whisper. "This is my answer. This is what you were looking for in your life, Ryuunosuke Uryuu." Ryuunosuke widened his eyes, staring at the crimson liquid slowly dripping from Sakatsuki's hands. "Cool..." Red. A pure, vivid red without a speck of impurities. This was the primal colour he had been searching for, radiant and dazzling. This was it—Ryuunosuke suddenly realized, a smile curling on his pale lips. This was the true Red he had been searching for all his life, the colour he had searched for in countless places without ever finding. The red gradually faded. And not just from the hand; even Sakatsuki, the devil, had already walked away without any signs of regret. But Ryuunosuke had found his answer. Lovingly, he gently embraced his bleeding abdomen. "I see... no wonder I never realized..." As the saying goes, what you seek far and wide is often right in front of you. Ryuunosuke, intoxicated by the hormones flooding his brain, felt as if he were ascending to heaven. Trembling, he knelt on the ground, pulling his backpack, which was lying beside him. With an exhilarated shout, Sakatsuki leapt from the 4158-meter-high peak! Behind him, a kneeling figure collapsed in despair. The blood around him gradually dried in the sunlight, like a smashed red pomegranate. The animal-loving serial killer was dead. And a newborn fledgling bird dove from the peak, letting out its first resounding cry to the beautiful world. "Leap of—Faithhhhh!!!" *** Five days later, near Zugspitze The north wind howled, snow filled the sky, and the temperature hit a record low. In this harsh weather, intolerable even for German border guards, a lone figure crossed the Austrian-German border into a desolate area. This was a rarely visited wilderness, located between the mortal world and the mysterious. Here stood the structure known as the Winter Castle, the headquarters of the Einzbern family. One of the factions participating in the Fourth Holy Grail War and one of the Three Founding Families of the Holy Grail War. The abnormal magical flow dissipated, dismantling the last magical barrier. Sakatsuki stood up, wiping away nonexistent sweat from his face. "Phew... Finally solved. As expected of the Einzbern family, with their millennia of heritage, likely even the head of the family can't remember how many defensive barriers were set here." Indeed, after making a Leap of Faith from the Alps, Sakatsuki followed the leylines to the area near the Winter Castle and began a stealthy infiltration. For someone who had watched the Fate/Zero plot, how could he not be interested in the Einzbern family, and Emiya Kiritsugu, who was currently residing here? After all, this was the original Emiya Shirou's adoptive father, the ruthless man who destroyed the Grail in the Fourth Holy Grail War. As for why he didn't storm into Winter Castle but chose such a troublesome infiltration method, there was a reason. Sakatsuki looked up, at the ethereal blue panel displaying the records. It was the reward received after fulfilling Angelica's hidden condition. [Hidden Condition Reward: Displacement magic(Modified)] [Displacement Magic: A+] [Though a basic and low-level spell, based on the fundamental rule that the replacement will always suffer from degradation, only a few use it. But in the hands of the Ainsworth family, who specialize in it, the scale, accuracy, and application range of their displacement deviates from the common sense of magecraft, even touching upon abstract concepts like space and spirit.] Under some mysterious forces, Sakatsuki can use the Displacement magic as if carrying a portable magic workshop with him, allowing extraordinary uses. Even touching upon the elusive concepts. Compared to the original Displacement Magic, the modified version not only had significantly improved power and precision but also transcended the "knowing how to use" to the "understanding how it works" level. In other words, the centuries of magical knowledge, theory, and techniques of the Ainsworth family had all been transferred to Sakatsuki's mind. At this point, Sakatsuki's knowledge of Displacement Magic was on par with the Ainsworth family's patriarch, Darius, except for a lack of practical experience. And the Winter Castle's impregnable magical barriers were the perfect practice ground for Sakatsuki.

Chapter 8: The True Red

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