Seeing Ryunosuke Uryu slowly slip from the arm of the Killer Queen and fall to the ground like a tattered doll, Roland walked around him gently and took a look around the living room.
"It's truly a tragic scene. If this were exposed, I'm sure it would make the news. Though it wasn't given much attention in the original, I suppose that's what happens when you work in the same store I do."
For Roland, whose spirit had already become somewhat unnatural, this scene, akin to an abyss of hell, was quite unsettling. He carefully stepped around the body, and behind the nearby sofa, he spotted what he was searching for.
It was an incomplete magic circle that had long since dried up. From the traces left behind, it seemed that the dosage had been improperly measured, resulting in a lack of fresh blood and causing the ritual to be cut short.
Had this magic circle been completed, considering Ryunosuke's usual approach, he wouldn't have left such traces lingering for so long.
Upon realizing this, Roland examined the circle, then quickly grabbed the unique ancient book beside it. It was riddled with holes, and the binding had an unmistakably personal touch. It appeared to be a private journal.
Flipping through it casually, Roland was surprised to find that a significant portion of the text was written in Japanese characters, though the contents were descriptions of Western magic.
It seemed that Ryunosuke's ancestors must have held a prominent status during the final years of the Tokugawa period, well-versed in Japanese, which was not entirely unexpected given the status of his family's magician lineage.
"Well, I guess it's a fortunate find for me," Roland muttered to himself.
After putting away the dilapidated ancient book, Roland turned around and approached Ryunosuke Uryu once more. He wasn't sure whether it was due to the latter's tenacious desire to survive, but the man still hadn't died.
Ryunosuke couldn't even manage a full sentence. His body instinctively tried to take a deep breath, but with his lungs pierced by the hand knife, all he could expel was blood foam, which looked oddly comical.
"It hurts... ha, haha, so beautiful..."
Ryunosuke wore an expression of clear joy, though his convulsed muscles and the blood spurting from him made him resemble a ghoul. But he felt nothing but ecstasy.
The ability to summon invisible evil spirits, the detached attitude toward human death, this was what he had longed for! The companion he'd been searching for had arrived.
The person with supernatural power had shattered the conventions of the world, able to kill in ways that ordinary people could never imagine. If he could follow this being and witness his art, he'd be willing to die like this.
You see, even though it was their first meeting, this person had shown him the most beautiful death. It was hidden within him, wasn't it?
Though his eyeballs had become a blurred red from the blood, and his brain could no longer control his body, Ryunosuke, as if to prove something, managed to utter a final whisper.
"Ro...Land..."
With great difficulty, he raised his hand, and just when he could barely feel anything, a searing pain shot through his arm.
When the dying murderer still held onto his desires, the Holy Grail faithfully descended, bestowing its miracle.
"Command Seal... it's truly frightening. So, it turns out you're just a lucky one who was used to fill the vacancy..."
Roland glanced at the murderer lying on the ground like a heap of mud, spat out a cold remark, then without hesitation, severed his wrist with a clean cut.
Though it was technically impossible to summon heroic spirits without completing a magic circle, Roland wasn't one to strictly follow rules. He knew that those who took the Holy Grail War's guidelines too seriously usually didn't end up well.
"By the way, even though it feels a bit out of place in the current situation, I doubt there will be any future chances. I don't like owing anyone."
With that, Roland took out a 500-yen coin, flicked it lightly onto the unconscious Ryunosuke, who was barely hanging onto life.
"Keep the change, please."
After collecting the loot, Roland gently closed the entrance door, burying the darkness inside with the murderer who had just discovered the meaning of life and then plummeted from heaven to hell.
He walked a certain distance, never once intending to look back. The Killer Queen, closely following him, pressed her thumb lightly.
"Boom--!!!"
Explosive flames surged, rolling up the wind and waves. The terrifying light and heat impacted everything around them, reducing the house to ruins. The strong wind even made Roland's coat rattle.
Roland turned around, looking at the desolate scene. He sighed poetically.
"Today's Fuyuki City is as peaceful as ever."
With the removal of the man who had been drawing magic circles everywhere to kill, and with the exception of Emiya Kiritsugu, most of the remaining masters still held to their principles. It seemed that the days ahead would be much calmer.
As long as the so-called gravitational force doesn't turn on me again.
"Alright, now it's time to deal with this."
Roland took out the last remains of Ryunosuke Yusheng and blew him up. His obsession with hands aside, Roland had no interest in collecting such a thing. A man's hands weren't worth keeping.
Then, he saw something strange.
On the severed hand, three bright red Command Seals glowed faintly, exuding a dark red light.
At the same time, Roland began to feel a slight tingling sensation on the back of his hand that had held the severed hand.
Roland froze for a moment, then turned his hand over. There was still nothing there. He wasn't even a magician, so it was impossible for him to have received a Command Seal.
But the burning sensation that felt like being scalded didn't fade, and the red glow of the Command Seal grew brighter and brighter.
The Command Seal is the ticket given by the Holy Grail to a Master, granting them the right to participate in the Holy Grail War. When the Master dies or loses a Servant, it is taken back immediately and redistributed.
Thus, to capture a Command Seal, the Master must be alive, or else the Holy Grail will act much faster than any magician. After all, it's essentially a crystal of immense magical power, an almost irreplaceable resource.
Even the Command Seals left over from the Church were only stripped when the previous masters voluntarily withdrew.
So, what is going on?
Roland eyed the ruins, now reduced to charcoal. The power of the same Stand in the hands of different people changes slightly due to differences in mental strength and personality. In Roland's hands, the explosion of Killer Queen was far more powerful, much bigger than Yoshikage Kira's.
In the center of the explosion, Ryunosuke's body had completely vanished, not even the smallest fragments remaining.
Though deeply shocked, Roland quickly regained his composure and began to think.
The Holy Grail chooses its favored Master, with the fixed three masters being an exception. The rest are judged according to the Holy Grail itself. This time, the Holy Grail was tainted with black mud, meaning it would likely favor more sinister choices.
"Although I don't have a Command Seal, has my quality been recognized?"
Even if magic power is unnecessary, the contract is the determining factor for who the Master is. After all, heroic spirits can also gain magic power by devouring human souls.
Roland sneered, "But I refuse! My favorite thing to do, is to say NO to those self-righteous people and reject them!"
"Killer Queen!"
With a light touch of the Killer Queen's fingertips, the ashes that remained from the severed hand slowly dissipated in the wind.
"I even wiped out your last carrier. Let's see what the Holy Grail can do to me!"
Roland clapped his hands, his face smug with satisfaction.
But as the ashes blew away, the fixed magical power at the location of the severed hand didn't return to the Holy Grail. Instead, the disappearance of the hand seemed to release them.
In an instant, the Command Seal transformed into a red shadow, piercing straight into the back of Roland's hand!
When the familiar burning sensation hit, it felt as intense as a soldering iron, and only slowly dissipated. When it was over, Roland turned his hand over, his expression twisting into one of disgust.
Three intertwined marks had appeared on his skin, mocking him as if they had always been there.
At this point, it was pointless to say anything more. Roland, now chosen by the Holy Grail, gritted his teeth and muttered his greeting to the Holy Grail, word by word.
"S·H·I·T!"