"It's time to prepare for the physical transformation."
In the basement deep within the Western-style house, a gaunt, hunchbacked old man with an abnormal appearance let out a sinister laugh, watching the wriggling insects he controlled form a sea of bugs. The old man was Matou Zouken, and this Western-style house was naturally the Matou Family residence. Matou Zouken saw that all preparations were complete, and now he planned to bring Sakura, who had been adopted from the Tohsaka Family, over to thoroughly adjust her body and magical attributes to his satisfaction.
"Hmm…?" Suddenly, Matou Zouken's expression changed. The bugs he had hidden outside the mansion for surveillance instantly lost contact with him. Clearly, all these bugs had been eliminated.
Not a single one was left; all the bugs on the periphery died without exception. The last piece of information Matou Zouken received from the dead bugs was that they had all encountered a strange black mist.
"What kind of magecraft is this?" Even the well-informed Matou Zouken couldn't identify what this strange black mist was. However, Matou Zouken clearly knew that someone had targeted him.
"Hmph!" Matou Zouken was well aware of the cruelty of conflicts between mages. Although he didn't know which short-sighted fellow had set his sights on him, Matou Zouken wouldn't be easy to kill, especially now that he was within his own magecraft workshop.
So Matou Zouken immediately began activating the magic circles arranged throughout the house, and he also rushed towards the direction of the main hall.
…
"Ding! You kicked down the door, destroying private property, which aligns with villainous behavior. Reward: 10 villain points."
At this moment, Wang Chong, in his Viego form, kicked open the door of the Matou Family residence. As for the magic circles in the courtyard, they had all been corrupted and collapsed by Ruinous Power the moment they touched the black mist.
"Only 10 points? Looks like I need to do something bigger. Tsk tsk tsk, so many magic circles activated. This is someone's hard work; if it's all destroyed, that old worm must be hurting. Desolate Earth!" With that, Wang Chong waved his hand, and an endless black mist began to destroy the magic circles throughout the entire mansion, one by one.
"Ding! You wantonly destroyed a private magecraft workshop, which aligns with villainous behavior. Reward: 50 points."
"Ding! You intimidated innocent personnel, leaving psychological trauma, which aligns with villainous behavior. Reward: 10 points."
"Ding! You intimidated a heaven's fate female lead, leaving psychological trauma, which perfectly aligns with villainous behavior. Reward: 100 points."
"Wait? Heaven's fate female lead? What the hell?" Wang Chong was stunned, then he sensed his black mist and found that in one room, a purple-haired female passerby… no, a black-haired little girl was hiding in a corner of the room, trembling as she looked at his black mist, from which mournful spirits constantly wailed.
"So it's Sakura. Looking at her hair color… good, good, it seems she hasn't undergone that inhumane transformation yet. System, explain why the reward points for intimidating Sakura are so generous?" Wang Chong asked.
"Host, since we are villains, what kind of powerful villain is it to bully ordinary people? True great villains naturally have to outwit and outfight those heaven's fate protagonists. Therefore, when villainous acts are carried out against these heaven's fate protagonists, the reward points are naturally very generous. And Sakura is one of the three female leads of the future Fifth Holy Grail War, so she also counts as a heaven's fate female lead," the System explained.
"Oh, I see… Hmm, since that's the case." A brilliant idea popped into Wang Chong's mind, and he immediately enveloped Sakura in black mist, scaring Sakura into screaming for help.
"Don't be afraid, Sakura, I'm here to give you a blessing. Come on, accept it obediently, and soon you won't be afraid anymore." Wang Chong used the black mist to soothe Sakura's mind. Soon, Sakura stopped screaming and struggling, her eyes only a little clouded, her consciousness in a hazy state.
Then, the black mist entered Sakura's body. Under Wang Chong's careful adjustments, it did not overly modify or corrupt Sakura, nor did it allow the Ruinous Power to erode Sakura's mind. It merely enabled Sakura's body to adapt to the black mist and draw power. Of course, Wang Chong was not entirely selfless; he subtly influenced Sakura's consciousness to make her utterly trust and be loyal to him.
He also dyed Sakura's hair purple; it felt more familiar that way.
"Ding—You have forcibly altered the heaven's fate female lead's perception, making the heaven's fate female lead submit to you and disrupting the heaven's fate female lead's original destiny! You are truly a super villain! Reward: 1000 Villain Points! Reward: One Epic Gacha Draw! Reward: One Skill Upgrade Card!"
"Hoh, as expected of the female lead, she's certainly worth it. To get so many rewards at once… Hmm? Looks like the main character has arrived too." After hearing the system's reward feedback, Wang Chong nodded with satisfaction. However, he quickly sensed a killing intent locking onto him. Looking up, he saw the old man with a head as big as an ET at the corner of the second floor, glaring at him with a fierce look.
"System, the newcomer isn't friendly," Wang Chong said playfully, looking at Matou Zouken, who was staring with murderous eyes.
"Host, you are the newcomer," the system retorted.
"Who exactly are you, sir? Why have you trespassed into my humble abode?" To Wang Chong's surprise, although Matou Zouken's eyes gleamed with malice, his tone was somewhat restrained.
Matou Zouken couldn't be blamed for this. Although he now wished he could flay the exposed man who had trespassed into his home, the strength and strangeness the other party displayed made Matou Zouken tremble uncontrollably. In an instant, his magic workshop, which he had managed for many years, was completely paralyzed, and the entire mansion was enveloped in the opponent's black mist.
Where did this monster come from? And this black mist… Possessing such ominous power, could it be a monster that escaped from the mysterious side? But why target him? Too many questions plagued Matou Zouken's mind, and he dared not show it. Matou Zouken's soul had completely decayed in his pursuit of immortality, losing the ideals of his youth. Therefore, he was very afraid of death, afraid that his 500 years of painstaking effort would turn into a fleeting illusion.
Don't look at him facing Wang Chong directly; in reality, this was merely a delaying tactic. After witnessing the opponent's formidable strength, he had already used his wormcraft to manipulate his worms, frantically escaping towards various pre-arranged exits. He even had many worms left outside years ago; as long as one worm survived in the world, Matou Zouken could be resurrected.
"Who am I? Hmph! Thousand-Year Wail!" Wang Chong did not answer Matou Zouken's question. Instead, he directly threw out a black mist with his hand, which instantly touched Matou Zouken. Matou Zouken's entire skin ignited with ruinous flames, and a shrill scream immediately erupted. But before he could scream more than once or twice, a black claw clamped down firmly on the neck of Matou Zouken, who was burning with green fire.
"Too noisy." Wang Chong used a skill to teleport directly to the second floor, grabbed Matou Zouken by the neck, and lifted him like a chick, saying indifferently, "Makiri Zolgen, if it were 500 years ago, I would have respected you as a figure. As for now? What right does a noisy worm have to question me?"
Although Matou Zouken was enduring the pain of being corroded by flames and Ruinous Power, his expression changed upon hearing Wang Chong's words. He hadn't expected the other party to know his identity so clearly, which meant the other party had been after him from the very beginning.
"This… this old man… where… where did I… offend… Your Excellency?" Matou Zouken manipulated the worms in other parts of his body to emit hoarse sounds, while he himself tried hard to recall who he had offended over the past few centuries.
"Ding—You have burned and tormented an old man. Such conduct perfectly aligns with the excellent virtues of a villain. Reward: 20 Villain Points."
"Only 20? I specifically tormented him like this, and it's not even as good as a single hair from Sakura. I thought this guy would yield some good stuff, but this is it?" Wang Chong almost rolled his eyes. Coupled with Matou Zouken still foolishly asking him questions, Wang Chong immediately decided not to waste any more time on Matou Zouken and prepared to kill him directly.
"Die." Wang Chong directly used Ruinous Power to completely decay Matou Zouken's body, turning it into ashes. Suddenly, a sharp glint flashed in Wang Chong's eyes. He abruptly reached out his hand in one direction, and black mist surged along with Wang Chong's swing towards his arm. Subsequently, a transparent spirit body was mercilessly grabbed by Wang Chong. That spirit body was Matou Zouken, who was now staring at the man before him with extreme terror.
"Your wormcraft is indeed peculiar. As long as even one of the worms you created exists, you can be reborn through it. This must be the art of immortality you've researched for most of your life. It's a pity, you met me. Souls? Hahahaha, no soul can escape the control of Ruinous Power!" Saying this, Wang Chong injected Ruinous Power into Matou Zouken's soul.
Subsequently, deep underground, some worms that were frantically crawling out suddenly stopped moving. A wisp of black mist emerged from their bodies, and that wisp of black mist, carrying a trace of transparent light, flew away in a certain direction. As for the worms, after the black mist left their bodies, their bodies decayed and putrefied into a pool of blood.
Not only here, but many other places also saw wisps of black mist drift out, all flying towards the Matou Family mansion, entering the main hall, and finally returning to Wang Chong's hand. The transparent specks of light enveloped within those black mists also converged into a single pearl at this moment. Upon seeing that pearl, Matou Zouken's eyes filled with despair.
"All your souls are here. Did you truly think you could escape alive, Matou Zouken?"