The agitated Sakatsuki naturally didn't know someone was following him, but that didn't stop him from using magecraft to traverse space at incredible speed, arriving in Sighișoara.
There was another reason for his lack of vigilance—within Sakatsuki (Assassin)'s mind, someone was mercilessly mocking him.
"To think you'd doubt your own physical and mental state? How dense can you be?"
At some point, a blazing sun had risen within the rainbow-blue sea of his soul. The young man from across time and space sat cross-legged, slapping his thigh in amusement.
"Never thought you'd be such an idiot."
"Shut up. This has nothing to do with you. Stay quiet and keep to yourself."
"No way~ Nyeh nyeh, not only will I watch the show, but I'll also watch it with my little red dragon—snuggled on the couch, sharing popcorn, enjoying a top-tier action movie..."
"..."
"Oh? Someone's getting salty. Wonder who it could be~~"
"Then don't say it." The Assassin's tone suddenly calmed. "Don't forget, our comprehension of the Third Magic is the same. Mere words aren't enough to accelerate the assimilation between us."
"In that case, let me give you some advice too, Assassin-me." Sakatsuki countered coldly. "Human abilities have limits. That's something I learned in my lifetime. The more one schemes, the more likely they are to fall into unexpected predicaments, undoing all their efforts."
"Wait, that line sounds familiar..." The Assassin paused.
"So give up on being human, Sakatsuki-chan! Hahaha..." Just as expected, uproarious laughter echoed in his mind before the Assassin angrily muted it.
Who'd believe that? His plan was flawless—there was absolutely no way it could go wrong!
Due to the recent conflicts, the residents of Sighișoara had long turned off their lights and gone to sleep. Sakatsuki didn't mind the quiet. With a flick of his black robe, he took a seat at an outdoor café table.
The vintage oil lamp beside him ignited on its own, casting warm candlelight across his face—yet it couldn't soften his cold, sharp gaze. Like his fluttering black robes, he melded into the fathomless night.
The Assassin's whisper reverberated through the ancient, mottled streets.
"Don't underestimate me—and don't underestimate yourself, Sakatsuki. Unless I willingly give up, you'll never replace me. All you can do is hide there and play your petty little tricks..."
"I must obtain the Holy Grail. That is why I exist. For that purpose, I can betray anything... and kill anyone."
It was less a warning and more a vow. The rainbow-blue tides surged as the platinum sun plunged into the sea, devoured by his own darkness.
When Artoria's group arrived at the rendezvous point, all they saw was a single candle flame in the darkness. The handsome young man leaned back in his chair, eyes closed as if asleep.
"Ah, it's Sakatsuki-mama."
"How many times do I have to say it? Stop calling me 'mama.'" Sakatsuki opened his eyes, exchanging glances with Artoria and Reika Rikudou before deliberately looking away.
"Now that everyone's here, let's begin."
With less than two days left until the decisive battle, why did the main forces of the Blue faction gather in Sighișoara instead of making preparations?
The answer was simple—it was because of the issue with little Jack.
Jack the Ripper, who manifested as an Assassin, was an amalgamation of countless vengeful spirits. This inherently made her behavior chaotic and simplistic—essentially, she would kill anyone who showed hostility while obeying those she felt close to.
This beast-like logic, more akin to an animal than a human, deeply worried her mother, Reika. Thus, she asked Sakatsuki for help in guiding little Jack. After considering Artoria's input and his own thoughts, Sakatsuki agreed.
As for why they chose to act at this critical moment, the reason was equally straightforward.
From the moment the Black and Red factions clashed, little Jack had fully utilized her stealth and mobility: first assisting Sakatsuki in eliminating the Red faction's Master, then assassinating the Black faction's Master and restraining their Servants to create an opportunity for Sakatsuki to secretly rescue the giant Adam. Immediately after, she cooperated with Sakatsuki in a staged act to remove Siegfried. In terms of contributions, little Jack had even surpassed Artoria.
With all missions successfully completed, the remaining tasks could be handled without her assistance—otherwise, Sakatsuki wouldn't have agreed to Reika's request so readily.
Another reason was that Sakatsuki himself wanted to see whether little Jack, as recorded in the Throne of Heroes, could undergo changes due to his experiment.
"My plan is as follows: First, I will release the resentment within little Jack. My king will then implant the scabbard Avalon into her body to preserve the extracted conceptual information. Reika will then use a Command Spell to gather the resentment, which my king and I will purify. Throughout this process, I will monitor little Jack's condition using the Third Magic, intervening immediately if any issues arise. Finally, Reika will use another Command Spell to restore little Jack's state."
"I have one question—why Sighișoara?"
"Because this place has the second-strongest leyline after the Fortress of Millennia. Conducting such a large-scale operation would consume an amount of magical energy I can't afford."
Without turning his head, Sakatsuki led Reika, Artoria, and little Jack into a safehouse, gesturing for Jack to lie down on a bed covered in mystical sigils and magecraft circles.
"Mom…" Though she obediently lay down, little Jack clung tightly to Reika's arm, her silver-gray eyes flickering with unease—like a child resisting a shot at the hospital.
Reika sat beside her, gently comforting her as the Command Spells on her hand flickered. Artoria, meanwhile, drew out her Noble Phantasm, Avalon, its radiant light illuminating the room more effectively than any surgical lamp.
With the Red faction in retreat and the Black faction holed up in their fortress, Sakatsuki and Artoria were certain no one would disturb tonight's "operation."
"Let's begin."
Taking a deep breath, Sakatsuki steeled himself. His Mystic Eyes of Death Perception activated as the glow of the Third Magic gathered at his fingertips, slowly merging into little Jack's chest.
The moment the Third Magic touched her spiritual core, the young girl on the bed stopped struggling, stiffening like a doll. Her vacant eyes gleamed like beautiful silver-gray crystals.
"Little Jack is…"
"Stand behind me, Reika." Artoria's hair stood on end as a sense of danger compelled her to shield Reika Rikudou, her wary gaze fixed on the figure on the bed.
Jack the Ripper, summoned as an Assassin into this world, was essentially an amalgamation of vengeful spirits. In other words, she was merely a temporary manifestation in the form of a young girl, composed of the discarded fetuses from Whitechapel.
Now, Sakatsuki's magecraft had freed her from the shackles of "Jack the Ripper."
The toy doll on the bed opened its mouth, spewing forth a turbid stream of black matter—a condensed mass of countless vengeful spirits. Upon contact with the air, it transformed into a thick fog, instantly surging toward the nearby living beings in an attempt to engulf them.
But before it could reach them, a bony, well-defined hand grasped the intangible mist of resentment.
Hiss— It was as if the hand had been plunged into highly concentrated aqua regia. Artoria and Reika clearly saw Sakatsuki's hand begin to rot away. Even as a pale golden light flickered within, it could only barely slow the rate of corrosion.
"How could this...?" Artoria's expression changed instantly, and Reika gasped in shock.
"Mr. Sakatsuki, you never told us this would happen!"
Had they known this would harm Sakatsuki, they would never have agreed to his plan!
Faced with the women's concern, Sakatsuki showed no extra emotion on his face. It was as if the pain brought him some strange solace.
Once the smoke dissipated, the body of little Jack, now devoid of the resentment that sustained it, began to fade. At that moment, Sakatsuki raised his eyes.
"Now, my king."
Seeing the determination in Sakatsuki's gaze, Artoria hesitated no longer. Without a second thought, she unleashed her Noble Phantasm's true name.
"Go forth, Avalon!"
The utopia detached from the world transformed into a stream of light, merging into little Jack's body. Her previously crumbling form stabilized instantly, allowing Sakatsuki to withdraw his hand and focus entirely on dealing with the black mist she had expelled.
"By the power of my Command Spell, converge!"
Without needing further instruction, Reika intuitively activated her Command Spell. In an instant, the mist-like resentment was forcibly condensed, reverting to a solid form. Seeing this, Sakatsuki let out a sigh of relief.
The plan had proceeded smoothly thus far. Now, all that remained was to purify the resentment, and little Jack would be reborn anew.
But as if fate itself were conspiring against Sakatsuki, two familiar yet entirely unexpected young women burst through the door, their faces filled with urgency!
"Are you alright, Sakatsuki?!"
"You two—?!" Sakatsuki was stunned. As he stood frozen, the saintly maiden rushed toward him, while the cat-eared archer nocked an arrow, launching an attack at the Red Faction's Servant and Master—Artoria and Reika!
From the two women's perspective, Sakatsuki had not only been "imprisoned," but his arms were also corroded by resentment, with King Arthur looming nearby—clearly, it was time for a classic damsel-saving-hero scenario!
Yet they failed to notice the pie chart that appeared in Sakatsuki's eyes the moment they acted: three parts touched, three parts aggrieved, and four parts sheer disbelief...
You two?
It's really you two?
Why... why am I not even surprised?!
"Mom, look out!"
The voice came from none other than little Jack, lying on the bed under Avalon's protection. Under her intense emotional turmoil, Sakatsuki's arm erupted in excruciating pain as the barely solidified mass of grudges burst open again, transforming into a monstrous maw that swallowed everyone whole!
"Human abilities have limits. That's why... I reject my humanity! Hahahahaha..."
Amidst the shameless laughter echoing from the depths of his soul, everyone in the room vanished from Sighișoara