[FMMISM] Chapter 7: God Is Dead

"At this time, Sakura is outside playing with other children and won't be back until dinner, so you'll have to wait here for a bit."

Zouken spoke with a creepy smile, changing the subject slowly.

"Speaking of which, Kariya visited me again yesterday."

He continued in his usual repetitive manner, talking about how his second son, Matou Kariya, wanted to participate in the Holy Grail War as a representative of the Matou family, just as it was depicted in 'Fate/Zero'.

Nearly a year ago, Kariya had already heard the news about Sakura being adopted by the Matou family.

As the second son of the Matou family, Kariya was well aware of the nature of their magecraft. For this reason, he sought out Zouken and volunteered to represent the Matou family, on the condition that if he succeeded in obtaining the Holy Grail, Sakura would be released from their grasp.

Naturally, there was also an underlying desire for revenge against Tohsaka Tokiomi in his motivations.

Unfortunately, the current trajectory of the Matou family was nowhere near what it used to be in 'Fate/Zero'. Since Zouken had already formed a contract with a foreign mage (Ragna), he no longer had any need for someone like Kariya, dismissing his request without hesitation.

Since then, Kariya had persistently stood at the Matou residence's front gate every few days, hoping that the old man would change his mind.

During this time, Kariya had encountered Ragna once and even had a brief conversation with him.

...

"Are you a mage?" Ragna asked calmly.

"I guess... I am..." Kariya replied with a hesitant tone.

Upon hearing this, Ragna shook his head and then turned to enter the Matou residence, ignoring Kariya.

...

"Ragna, what do you think? Even though my unworthy son has never been trained in magecraft, he meets the minimum qualifications to be chosen as a Master by the Holy Grail. Plus, since he agreed to have Crest Worms implanted in him, this makes our victory somewhat guaranteed."

For Zouken, this could be considered his closest approach to obtaining the Holy Grail. Lately, he had been seriously contemplating the strategy for the Fourth Holy Grail War.

"Having Kariya join the Holy Grail War can reduce a competitor and he could serve as your shield. Isn't this a decent plan?" Zouken continued in a leisurely tone.

Listening to him, Ragna impatiently crossed his legs.

"Matou, are you retard?"

"Huh?" Zouken trembled.

"Think, Matou, think! In the Fuyuki Holy Grail War, how many generations of insect users from your family have gone through as Masters? Has anything really changed? Any improvement? It's just the same old thing!"

Ragna sat upright on the sofa, his expression looked disdainful.

"Now, who do you want me to bring again? Kariya? Are you fucking serious?"

Zouken was inwardly shocked right now.

The usually gentle and somewhat frivolous boy suddenly did a 180-degree turn in attitude, sharply rebuking and cursing him without holding back at all.

"What stage is the Matou family at now? Not only does your family only have a few people, but all of them are also worthless..."

Ragna sighed deeply, then continued with a somewhat furious tone.

"You said your son wants to be a Master? Just because he says he wants to be one, he can be one? He can't! Do you even realize he doesn't have the ability to do that?"

"Ahem... Originally, my plan was to prepare and focus on the Fifth Holy Grail War—"

Thud!

"Are you fucking serious?!"

As Zouken began to explain his plan, Ragna interrupted him by banging his clenched fist on the couch armrest, looking at him with a mix of anger and pity in his eyes.

"Do you still not understand? Your Matou family's mage lineage has long since been declined. Can you guarantee that your Matou family will win in the Fifth Holy Grail War?" Ragna asked grimly, then continued inside his mind. 'Just relying on those insects, how can you win?'

"..."

Zouken fell silent and couldn't help but agree with Ragna's statement.

Indeed, attaching himself to Ragna's thigh was perhaps the luckiest thing to happen to him in the past hundred years. Although his family was insulted as worthless, he didn't dare make a sound.

Glancing at the somewhat dejected old man, Ragna sighed heavily.

"Let's be realistic here... I'll be responsible for handling the Fourth Holy Grail War this time. You just need to sit back and wait for the results."

"Um, I understand... Next time that kid shows up here, I'll throw him out."

In the end, Zouken accepted Ragna's proposal, nodding his head obediently.

"Did Big Brother Ragna come today?"

Suddenly, a pleasant girl's voice echoed down the hallway into the reception room, accompanied by the sound of old wooden floorboards creaking underfoot.

Shortly after, a cute girl with short black-brown hair and aqua eyes pushed open the door.

Seeing Ragna, the girl's face lit up with a sweet smile, then happily reached up to adjust a pink satin ribbon tied to one side of her hair.

Truthfully, the ribbon was a birthday gift from Ragna several months ago, usually kept in her drawer and treasured. With a touch of cunning, the seven-year-old girl guessed that Ragna might visit the Matou residence soon, so she had been carrying it around these days, trying to attract his attention with her age-inappropriate cuteness.

"Sakura, mind your manners."

Zouken sternly reprimanded, causing Sakura to stiffen slightly at his words.

"Yes, Grandfather... Good evening, Sir Ragna."

"Oh, come on, Sakura is just a child, old man. You know, this isn't Tohsaka. You don't need to be so formal with all those formalities or whatever." Ragna chimed in, waving his hand casually.

Leaning on his cane, Zouken rose.

"Very well, then. I'll go prepare in the basement."

"No, Matou. Take Sakura down to the basement with you first. I'll be five minutes late."

After saying this, Ragna approached Sakura and crouched down to place his hand on her shoulder.

"Sakura, starting today, you'll officially begin learning magecraft. Are you scared?"

"Learning magecraft? Big Brother, you're going to teach me magecraft?" Sakura blinked her large eyes, asking curiously.

At her age, she had some vague understanding of the family's affairs. She knew that Ragna was Zouken's colleague, a super-powerful mage who didn't fit his young appearance.

If it was Ragna teaching her magecraft, did that mean she would get more chances to play with him in the future?

With such a thought, Sakura felt somewhat excited.

"No, I'm not the one to teach you magecraft, but I'll stay by your side."

"That's okay! Big Brother, I'll do my best!"

"Oh, you're such a good kid. Work hard at learning magecraft, and when you grow up, you can make your sister proud."

Ragna smiled warmly as he stroked Sakura's head.

At the same time, behind Ragna, Zouken watched their interaction with cold eyes, busy pondering.

'Hmm, I see...'

'First, let me lead Sakura into the worm pit and tell her about the fate that awaits her. After that, you come to her rescue when she falls into despair. By then, she'll surely think you've appeared to save her, right?'

'But that's not the truth at all since the brother she admires isn't an angel who's come to rescue her, but a devil who's arrived to pass judgment on her and revel in her tragic fate.'

'Falling from grace, seeing heaven in hell, and then plunging into the deepest abyss of hell...'

'Hehehe, what a superb plan...'

Zouken chuckled sinisterly, quite satisfied with the script Ragna had woven.

'If only this boy were my grandson...'

Zouken sighed wistfully as he pushed open the door of the reception room.

"Let's go, Sakura."

"Yes, Grandfather. See you later, Big Brother!"

"Yeah, until next time." Ragna smiled.

As Sakura skipped out of the room cheerfully, Zouken closed the door behind him, catching a murmured remark from the room.

"Ubermensch, the philosophy of the superior human known as the overman, as proposed by Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche in his work, Thus Spoke Zarathustra..."

Ragna murmured as he strolled leisurely to the window, gazing at the orange-red sun sinking below the horizon.

"Nietzsche believed every species creates something greater than itself, and humans are destined to evolve into the overman. They surpass humans just as humans surpass animals, and humans are merely a transition between the overman and animals."

"God died from excessive mercy, and thus the overman is the god of the new world..."

"This is also known as... God is dead."