Chapter 49: Zod and the 5th Holy Grail War (15)

Ryudou Temple, Fuyuki City. The Great Cavern...

"Hmph... Is this the Greater Grail? However... its condition is far from optimal..."

Zod observed the situation through the Clairvoyance he had plundered from Gilgamesh's corpse.

"The Einzberns committed an irregularity by summoning an Avenger instead of a Ruler. It just had to be Angra Mainyu of Zoroastrianism—though not the actual god, merely a nameless youth bearing the curse... Having been eliminated in the shortest duration, the curse placed upon him—to 'be the essence of evil'—has completely polluted the Grail..."

Once the full story became clear, it was truly absurd. To make matters worse, the Ruler summoned back then had deserted and gone into hiding. That runaway Ruler was the man known as Shirou Kotomine during the Holy Grail War... more accurately, the Japanese Saint, Amakusa Shirou Tokisada.

"Is that why? This curse is quite substantial. I like it."

"You're truly not in your right mind... You intend to take that?"

Sakura looked at Zod with eyes full of loathing as he stared greedily at the Greater Grail, which was spewing out the filth of corruption and curses.

Heedless of her gaze, Zod approached the corrupted Greater Grail and began to absorb it.

"Guh...!!!! Keu-ghhh!!!!"

A world-class curse—engraved by Zoroastrian fanatics upon a single youth to represent 'All the World's Evil'—seeped into him. It clashed with the clean Prana of the Sub-Greater Grail and the Lesser Grail already within him. Furthermore, it began to forcefully remodel his body, which now possessed Divinity after absorbing Gilgamesh's remains. The process involved a level of agony akin to having his flesh shredded and his soul ground down. Zod writhed in unrelenting pain, his screams echoing through the cavern.

The omnipotent wish-granter, capable of reaching the Root and granting any desire, was transforming his body into something that was neither human nor demigod. An near-infinite supply of magical energy catalyzed this metamorphosis.

After an hour of frantic writhing and screaming in agony, Zod's body underwent a profound change.

His radiant gold hair, once like a brilliant sun, became silver-white like the cold moon in a night sky. His aquamarine eyes, once clear as the heavens, transformed into a gold that looked like molten metal. His skin turned deathly pale, like that of a corpse.

"Ah......"

【Advent of the Evil of Humanity (人類悪 降臨)】

"My name is Zod... the Evil of Humanity, bearing the principle of Wickedness..."

A Greater Grail polluted by a curse rivaling an Evil of Humanity had merged with an exceptionally wicked human, a Sub-Greater Grail, a Lesser Grail, and the Saint Graph of a demigod. The result was the birth of the ultimate catastrophe. On this land of Fuyuki City, a new Beast had been born.

"Ah... Aaaah..."

Witnessing Zod's rebirth, Sakura's legs gave out, and she collapsed. Immediately, the Pseudo-Lesser Grail inside her heart, crafted from a fragment of the Greater Grail, began to throb. It recognized the being created by the absorption of the Greater Grail as its absolute Master.

The instinct of the Pseudo-Lesser Grail, which viewed the entity born from the Greater Grail as its lord to be followed, clashed violently with Sakura's waning reason that tried to reject him.

"Pitiable thing... You are mired in such foolish hesitation..."

A low, baritone voice—seductive enough to put a human heart at ease yet deceptive enough to lead it astray—echoed in Sakura's ears.

"Accept it... your instinct..."

"No... I, for Senpai's sake..."

"Shirou Emiya... would that boy even accept you? How long do you intend to wait while your heart wastes away? Come now... take my hand..."

It was a voice far too sweet... a viscous and mesmerizing temptation that burrowed into the brain to melt the heart. A devil's whisper capable of deluding not only humans but even gods.

"It is alright now... for I am here."

An overwhelming charisma, an allure that could command legions, and a wickedness that knew no bounds... these had become the powers of the newly born Evil of Humanity—Zod.

"Everything exists for my sake (All For One). Become mine... Sakura."

Before she knew it, Sakura reached out and took the hand he offered. The Pseudo-Lesser Grail's imperative—that a fragment must obey its master's command—crushed her reason. Grasping his hand, Sakura accepted the power of the wicked shadows Zod unleashed.

It was an experiment to completely corrupt a human being by planting his own power within her. An experiment to divide and distribute a portion of his power as a Beast. Having become a true Demon King, Zod wished to test his reach.

Since she already carried a Pseudo-Lesser Grail made from a fragment of the corrupted Greater Grail, resistance would be minimal. Thus, Sakura was the perfect test subject. He decided to claim her as his collection and simultaneously use her as his laboratory for corruption.

"Receive it... and become a being like me."

"Yes......"

The filth of the black mud enveloped Sakura. Thanks to the shard of the corrupted Grail within her, she absorbed it easily without any rejection response. Just like Zod, her appearance began to transform.

Her hair changed to the same silver-white as Zod's, and her eyes were dyed a blood-red. The dark shadows (power) emanating from her body surged back into her, coiling like a massive serpent.

"How does it feel to be reborn, Sakura?"

"Ah... it's the best. I feel so... ecstatic."

The voice of the pure and innocent Sakura was gone. In its place was a dangerously seductive, bewitching voice intended to allure men. She knelt on one knee, showing her reverence.

"My Master."

Sakura took the posture of absolute obedience, like a vassal swearing loyalty to a king. Zod looked down with satisfaction and stroked Sakura's hair.

"Everything exists for me (All For One)."

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