harleyscars Page 63
Page 63
The atmosphere at dinner was more harmonious than ever before. Sayuri kept putting food on Gu Chuan's plate, her words subtly implying that they were now family. Eriri, too, completely abandoned her haughty and aloof demeanor, considerately serving Gu Chuan rice and handing him tissues, perfectly embodying the role of "hostess."
After dinner, the mother and daughter did not stay. In Sayuri's words, Eriri's "body has not fully recovered" and she needs to rest.
After seeing the two off, Gu Chuan sat cross-legged on the carpet in the living room. With a thought, a seemingly ordinary, standard-issue samurai sword—the Asauchi—appeared in his hand.
He closed his eyes, his entire being immersed in communicating with the "Zanpakuto".
In an instant, his soul seemed to be ripped from his body and transported to an endless, chaotic void.
In the center of the illusion, an unimaginably large hand composed of pure, supreme golden light slowly extended a finger toward him.
The instant that finger touched his soul, a grand and majestic name resounded deep within his soul!
——[Dominator]!
This is the true name of his unique Zanpakuto!
Om-! ! !
In the real world, the [Asada] sword in Gu Chuan's hand suddenly burst forth with an incomparably dazzling golden light! Its blade rapidly decomposed and reassembled, ultimately transforming into countless golden particles, like stars, which all surged into his golden eyes!
[Ding! S-rank ability [Zanpakuto] (L4), Shikai awakened—[Dominator]!]
[Ability Effect: Your eyes have gained the power to "dominate" all things! You are the law, you are the ruler!]
Gu Chuan slowly opened his eyes.
The whole world became completely different in his eyes. He could "see" the most basic rules and concepts that make up everything.
He turned his gaze to the air in front of him.
Then, in a tone that was like that of a god and left no room for doubt, he issued the order.
"Submit to me."
In that instant, the air in front of him seemed to possess an independent will; it frantically converged and compressed, forming an invisible hand filled with absolute power!
Gu Chuan turned his gaze to the dining table and chairs not far away.
"--rising."
The next second, the heavy solid wood dining table and chairs defied all the laws of physics and, with a tooth-grinding creak, were slowly lifted into the air by that invisible "hand of air"!
This is a power that is completely different from [Vector Manipulation], a more domineering and unreasonable one!
Vector manipulation is the process of calculating and manipulating the vector of "force" to achieve a goal.
The "Dominator," on the other hand, issues supreme and inviolable commands directly to "all things" themselves!
"It's only L4 initial release, and it can already achieve this level of performance...?"
Gu Chuan stared at the unbelievable scene before him, feeling the terrifying, new power in his eyes that could be described as "words becoming law," and his eyes shone with an unprecedented, fervent light.
He had a premonition that if he could elevate this Zanpakuto, named "Dominator," to its final "Bankai" form, then he would truly evolve into... a supreme being capable of "dominating" all things in the universe!
112 The Irreversible Past and the Miracle of Reversing Time
Just as Gu Chuan was feeling the new, all-powerful force within him, the shock brought about by Esdeath's domineering declaration in the Doomsday Chat Group gradually subsided.
However, one wave has not settled, and one wave has risen again.
Rin Tohsaka, who has always presented herself as a "tsundere young lady," suddenly sent a message filled with frustration and distress.
[Jewel Magician]: Sigh... My relationship with Sakura has gotten worse again lately.
[March 7th]: Huh? Rin's sister? What's wrong? Did you two have a fight?
[Gem Magician]: ...It wasn't exactly an argument. It's just...how should I put it, when we were little, we were actually sisters. But later, for some reason, we separated.
Rin's words were filled with complex emotions that were difficult to describe.
[Little Cat Thief]: Sisters? You broke up? Why?
[Jewel Magician]: Because… our magician family has some… very rigid rules. The lineage of magic is generally passed down to only one heir. And the Matou family, the family Sakura currently belongs to, happens to lack an heir… so…
Rin didn't continue, but the girls in the group sensed an unusual, cold, and cruel feeling from her intermittent words, a feeling that belonged to the world of magicians.
In the apartment, Gu Chuan frowned slightly as he read Lin's words.
Sakura Matou?
He remembered the girl with beautiful long purple hair who always followed Rin timidly, and whose fate was incredibly tragic.
He pondered for a moment, then used his "observer" privileges to upload a long-forgotten true record of "Matou Sakura's ordeal" to the chat group's public space in the form of a file.
[System notification: Administrator Observer has uploaded the file — [The Tragedy of the Holy Grail: The Truth of Matou Sakura].]
[The Gem Magician]: !!!
Almost instantly after the file was uploaded, Rin Tohsaka clicked on it!
Immediately afterwards, lines of cold, emotionless text, like the sharpest daggers, pierced her heart!
[...Sakura Tohsaka, the second daughter of Tokiomi Tohsaka, was adopted by the ally, the Matou family, due to her rare "imaginary number" attribute magical aptitude, becoming their magical heir.]
[...On the night of the adoption, Zouken Matou, in order to realize his ambition of "eternal life," pushed Sakura into a cellar filled with Crest Worms, using her body as a seedbed to cultivate a false Holy Grail...]
For over a decade, Matou Sakura endured hellish torment day and night, with countless demonic insects devouring her flesh, violating her mind, and altering her magic circuits...
boom--! ! ! !
When Rin Tohsaka saw the words "marking insects," "insect cellar," "gnawing," and "humiliation," her mind went completely blank!
An unprecedented torrent of terrifying emotions, a mixture of shock, rage, regret, and heartache, suddenly overwhelmed all her reason!
[Gem Magician]: No…no…this…this isn’t real! It’s a lie! This is absolutely a lie!!!
[Little Cat Thief]: ...Oh my god! This is too cruel!
[Butterfly Dance]: ...Absolutely...worse than a beast!
After reading the record, all the girls in the group were plunged into a deep, soul-stirring shock and anger! They could not imagine that a girl who looked so gentle and quiet could have endured such inhuman, hellish torture for ten years!
[Jewel Magician]: ...It's all my fault...If...if I had been braver...If I could have stopped Father...Sakura...she wouldn't have...
Rin Tohsaka's voice was filled with heart-wrenching regret and self-blame. How she longed... how she longed to go back to that time, back to that cold night that had decided her sister's fate!
Seeing Rin's almost collapsing statement, Gu Chuan remained silent.
After a moment, he slowly closed his eyes, which were shimmering with golden divine light.
The power of the [Dominator] within him and the system privileges of the administrator resonated quietly at this moment.
[System Announcement: Administrator observer privileges upgraded; task system temporarily modified!]
[Ding! Detected strong obsession from member Gem Magician. Special mission [Back to the Past] has been activated!]
[Mission Description: Member Gem Magician will consume 5000 points to perform a "Consciousness Shuttle," returning to a designated time point—"the night before Matou Sakura was adopted." You will have 24 hours to try and change your predetermined fate.]
[Task Hint: In the past timeline, you can try to seek help from the Observer.]
These successive, almost miraculous, system notifications caused the entire chat group to erupt in excitement!
[March 7th]: Wow! Going back in time?! Is it even possible to do something like that?! Brother Chuan is amazing!
【Alicia】: Single-handedly, she reverses time and space and interferes with fate... Hehe, our observer is really becoming more and more like a true god.
Rin Tohsaka, the person directly involved, was so overwhelmed with emotion upon seeing the system notification that she burst into tears.
[Gem Magician]: ...Gu Chuan...thank you...thank you...
Type-Moon world, Fuyuki City, Tohsaka family mansion.
Rin Tohsaka felt a sudden darkness before her eyes as a powerful and irresistible force of spacetime instantly enveloped her consciousness!
When she opened her eyes again, she found herself standing in a familiar, warm children's room. Her body had transformed back into that of a seven or eight-year-old girl with pigtails!
She really... came back!
"cherry!"
Without the slightest hesitation, she turned around and rushed towards her sister's room next door!
However, when she pushed open the door, what she saw was not her sister's cute sleeping face, but her mother, Aoi Tohsaka, silently packing Sakura's clothes and toys into her suitcase, one by one, with a lonely back view.
"Mom?!" Lin Yi's heart sank suddenly. "Where's Sakura? Sakura's luggage... What are you doing?!"
“Rin?” Aoi Tohsaka turned around, saw her daughter, and forced a gentle smile. “Sakura… is going to a new home. From today onwards, she will be a child of the Matou family.”
"No!" Rin shouted excitedly, "I don't want Sakura to leave! Mom, where is Sakura now? Is she still downstairs?!"
She remembered that at this time, Sakura should have been in the magic workshop downstairs, receiving cold, emotionless magic etiquette education from her father, Tokiomi Tohsaka.
"Rin, calm down." (Li Zhao's) Tohsaka Aoi crouched down, trying to soothe her agitated eldest daughter. "This is for Sakura's own good..."
"For her own good?!" Rin shook off her mother's hand, her ruby-like eyes filled with an almost desperate rage that shouldn't be in her age. "If... if I could stop Father's decision! Mother, would you let Sakura stay?!"
Faced with her daughter's questioning, Aoi Tohsaka's smile vanished completely. She slowly stood up and answered in a cold yet resolute tone that Rin had never seen before:
"No, Rin."
"This is the fate of the Tohsaka family, as magicians. No one can change it."
Rin's heart sank to the bottom after hearing her mother's resolute, almost heartless words.
She knew that relying on her mother was no longer an option.
Without saying another word, she turned around and rushed downstairs!
She's going to see Sakura!
She wanted to tell Zhi herself!
No matter what, she was determined to save her from that hellish abyss called the "Matou family"!
113 The Magician's Fate and Final Plea
Rin Tohsaka, lifting her skirt, stumbled down the stairs. Her hurried footsteps sounded particularly jarring in the empty and cold mansion.
As soon as she rushed into the lobby on the first floor, a dignified male voice, devoid of any warmth, blocked her way like an invisible wall.
"cold."
The man dressed in a red suit and sporting an elegant mustache—Tokiomi Tohsaka, the head of the Tohsaka family—stood at the entrance of the magic workshop. His expression was completely calm, but his deep eyes, like the strictest ruler, scrutinized his "out-of-control" eldest daughter.
"As the heir to the Tohsaka family, your words and actions represent the family's reputation. How can you be so flustered?"
Her father's cold reprimand made Rin's body stiffen abruptly. She subconsciously stopped in her tracks, lowered her head, and replied softly with an almost instinctive, standard etiquette instilled in her from childhood, "...Yes, Father. Rin knows she was wrong."
Out of the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of the small figure standing behind her father.
It is a cherry blossom robe ⊙= weeping flag} martial Liu 逡j.
She wore the same bright red dress as herself, and her purple, always timid eyes became even dimmer and more downcast after seeing her sister being scolded by their father.
Seeing her sister's appearance, an unprecedented surge of courage welled up from the bottom of Rin's heart!
She raised her head, meeting her father's stern gaze, and mustered the greatest courage of her life. In an almost pleading tone, she cried out, "Father! I beg you! Please... don't send Sakura away!"
Without waiting for her father's reply, she eagerly offered the only solution she could think of.
"The family's magical crest...we can each have half! I...I'm willing to share it equally with Sakura! As long as...as long as Sakura can stay!"
Divide the engraving evenly?
Hearing her sister's innocent yet sacrificial words, Sakura, who had been keeping her head down, suddenly raised it! Instantly, a glimmer of hope rekindled in her dim, dust-covered purple eyes!
However, Tokiomi Tohsaka did not fly into a rage as Rin had imagined.
A gentle, helpless smile even appeared on his face, as if he were looking at a child who didn't understand such things.
He shook his head slightly.
"Rin, your thinking is too naive."
"The Tohsaka family's magic crest, passed down for centuries, is the crystallization of the family's history and glory. It is a unique and complete mystery. To dismantle it is to desecrate our ancestors and to defile the magic path itself."
He paused, then continued in an even more unquestionable tone, as if stating a truth:
"Moreover, sending Sakura to the Matou family was not abandoning her; on the contrary, it was... for her own good."
"Sakura's talent is the rare imaginary attribute. This aptitude cannot be fully utilized within our Tohsaka family's magic system. Only in the Matou family, which is also a prestigious magic family and possesses the water attribute, will her talent not be wasted and will be able to shine the brightest."
“But…” Rin pressed on, unwilling to give up, “But what if… what if the Matou family treats Sakura badly?!”