[FMMISM] Chapter 8: Another Beast

At this moment, the stench of decay and moisture permeated the air, like the dark green depths of the ocean.

Here, hidden deep underground beneath the Matou residence on the hill in the remote mountain town, was a worm pit.

"G-Grandfather, what is this place... and what are these insects?"

Sakura covered her nose, her voice trembling as she looked upon the hellish scene before her.

Several meters ahead of the girl was a massive pit.

Within its depths, countless dark shapes writhed—grotesque in appearance, with suction-like mouthparts, a mixture of insect slime and human flesh.

Countless.

It was an ocean of worms, clustered together like a dark, velvety carpet.

It was a decaying place, emanating a strong, putrid odor of rotting flesh and chilling sounds.

All of these were the ugly and nasty worms nurtured by Zouken—creatures that craved human bodily fluids, brains, and marrow. Once these worms crawled upon a man, they would crush the spine and devour the brain, leaving them completely disabled.

If it were a woman, the worms would choose to parasitize within her body, controlling her nerves and turning her into a creature that craved pleasure. While burning away her rationality, her brain's nerves would be invaded, and her placenta would be consumed.

As a result, any woman taken over by the worms would have both her mind and body completely invaded and destroyed.

Now, the basement contained an accumulation of worms that spanned approximately two hundred years.

Under Ragna's request, tonight Zouken would reveal all the Matou family secrets he had painstakingly nurtured over the years, preparing a grand ritual for Sakura.

"Hehehe... Let's begin."

"Grandfather, please don't!"

After listening to Zouken's detailed explanation, tears welled up in Sakura's eyes, her hoarse voice filled with despair as she pleaded.

"If you must blame someone, blame your arrogant father who trusted his allies too much. Oh right, Tohsaka Tokiomi is no longer your father, is he? Hehehe..."

Zouken, chuckled eerily as he approached Sakura step by step.

"Go on, become the true Matou Sakura."

"NOOO—!!!"

Sakura screamed, her legs giving out as she collapsed to the ground.

"Oh dear, oh dear... Sakura, this won't do. Don't make this old man angry, okay?"

Zouken approached Sakura, grabbing her hair and dragging her to the edge of the worm pit in one swift motion.

"NO, NO, NO... KYAAAHHH—!!!"

With a gust of wind, Sakura's small body fell into the writhing hell of worms.

As soon as she fell into the pit, the voracious worms sensed their delicious prey and emitted a piercing, cacophonous noise.

In an instant, the grotesque sea of worms surged forward, tumbling and writhing, engulfing Sakura's petite body.

'Feel the pain, scream, cry, endure... and become the finest woman for the Matou family.' Zouken revealed a hideous smile.

However—

"...Huh?"

Suddenly, the smile faded from his lips as an eerie silence slowly crept through the air.

"Heehee..."

Suddenly, laughter echoed from the abyss of vile worms.

"Heehee, ahahahahahahaha—!"

More unsettling than the chirping and writhing of the worms was a girl's innocent laughter that filled the air.

In the next moment, the sea of worms suddenly trembled.

BOOM!

Shattered worm limbs erupted into the air like a tsunami, while the surrounding worms panicked and tried to flee.

"...Wh-What's happening?!"

Zouken stared intently into the depths of the worm pit in bewilderment.

From where Sakura had been thrown down, several blue-black ribbons shot out and spun centrifugally like propellers made of blades, shredding the surrounding worms to pieces.

"Sakura! What are you doing?! What is that?!"

Emerging from countless worms, Sakura's appearance had changed.

Although her stature remained the same, her black-brown hair had transformed into a violet hue, and her aqua eyes were now tinged with a crimson color.

"Humanity fallen to the depths holds no value in love... Well, even though I have no interest in you, I'll tell you anyway, out of gratitude for raising me this past year."

Saying this, Sakura, yet not Sakura, looked up at Zouken with a mocking smile on her face.

"..."

In the instant their eyes met, Zouken stopped breathing. 

Her gaze, he had seen it somewhere before.

Where was it?

Yes.

Her gaze was exactly like Ragna's.

"I'm the Demon King of the Sixth Heaven, Mara. Nice to meet you, Grandpa~"

Truthfully, Zouken's vision and knowledge almost reached the pinnacle of what a human could achieve.

With his keen insight, Zouken recognized Sakura's value and exploited her to the fullest extent possible. However, his downfall was not due to his extremely wicked acts, but rather because his vision, lofty though it was, remained within human boundaries.

Sakura's excellence surpassed the expectations of Zouken and even exceeded human boundaries.

Mara, also known as 'Beast III/L', was one of the Seven Evils of Humanity, governing the aspect of 'Lust' and 'Corruption'.

Mara's alter-ego was the God of Love, Kama, viewed as different facets of the same existence, some also treat them collectively as Kama/Mara.

A year ago, Ragna, using himself as the Holy Grail and Sakura as the vessel, summoned a Servant—

A Divine Spirit, Kama.

Sakura's soul miraculously resonated with the Saint Graphs of Kama and Mara, enabling this bizarre summoning to succeed.

Since Kama was neither a formal Servant summoned in the Holy Grail War nor contracted with Ragna, she existed as a weak Servant relying solely on the magical energy of her vessel and her skill known as 'Independent Action'.

In order to conserve energy, Kama had lurked within Sakura's body, hidden even from Zouken's gaze, until today, when he prepared his entire savings of worms accumulated over two hundred years for his granddaughter.

With so many poisonous worms filled with magical energy, it was undoubtedly a supreme feast for Kama, enough to sustain her manifestation for quite some time.

Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish!

Several blue-black ribbons curled amidst the sea of worms, dancing wildly within the pit, harvesting evil souls. Even if the worms wanted to escape, they were helpless against the towering walls of the pit.

In the end, instead of a girl ravaged by worms, it became a scene where the girl ravaged and humiliated the worms.

"Hehehe! Grandpa has hidden so much delicious magical energy! I'm happy!"

"Ahhh... Aahh..."

Watching his two hundred years of hard work being completely destroyed, Zouken cried out in chaos.

"Wait, wait, Sakura, stop it!"

"Hou? Has it begun already? Matou, I told you to wait for me, didn't I?"

A voice suddenly came from behind Zouken, making him turn around in panic.

Over there stood his supposed ally and the mastermind behind all of this, Ragna, munching on a rice ball as he leisurely walked toward the worm pit.

"Ragna! What actually happened?!"

"Hmm? Oh, this? It's a rice ball my mom made for me, filled with salmon."

"You—!!!"

"Even if you glare at me like that, I won't share with you, y'know?" Ragna raised his eyebrows, covering his rice ball.

"I'm asking why Sakura turned out like this!" Zouken yelled in anger.

"Matou, you said I could look after Sakura this past year. Sorry, I might have gone a bit overboard and unintentionally brought out her dark side."

"Are you fucking kidding me?! How can this be the result?!" Zouken shouted hysterically, clearly on the brink of madness.

"That's why I apologized to you. Jeez, don't glare at me like that, will ya? Want me to show you a little peek-a-boo?"

Ragna shrugged and walked to the edge of the worm pit, peering down below.

"Man... this is quite miserable."

Enjoying his rice ball with relish, he watched Kama joyfully dancing among the swarm of worms.

"Ahh, Lord Satan! You're here!"

Noticing someone gazing at her, Kama paused in her slaughter of worms and looked up at Ragna.

"Want to come down and have some fun with me?"

"Hell no."

Ragna grimaced and stepped away from the pit, walking over to Zouken who had already given up thinking, gently patting his shoulder.

"Matou, these worms aren't even close to two hundred years, right?"

Realizing Ragna standing behind him, Zouken snapped out of his daze before shouting incoherently.

"Wa-Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait! Ragna, wait, stop! We already made a contract, you can't harm me, I've done everything you asked..."

Seeing Zouken's panicked expression, Ragna smiled.

"It's really wonderful, Matou... Your family has brought forth such an outstanding child. You must have no regrets now... Well, it's time for the grandpa to do his final job, yeah?"

With that, Ragna kicked Zouken in the back, sending his body tumbling down into the worm pit.

"Come on old man, feed your dear granddaughter with your own flesh!" Ragna added.

"Waaah~ it's Grandpa!" Kama smiled cheerfully, raising her slender wrist.

In the next second, several ribbons extended from her feet, tightly binding Zouken's limbs.

Pu-chi!

Not even a scream could escape as Zouken's body instantly fragmented in midair, raining down as a shower of worm corpses.

Just like that, deep beneath the Matou residence, only two children remained.

"Hehehe... hahahaha—!"

Amidst Kama's laughter, the flickering black flames above the sea of worms celebrated the birth of another Beast.