Lin Luo decided to divide everyone into two groups: one being himself, and the other comprising everyone else; there was something they absolutely had to do before this night ended.

The reason lay with Tohsaka Rin.

In her childhood, Rin had a very close friend, a girl as fragile as Sakura, who trusted Rin implicitly. During those sorrowful days when she was separated from her biological sister, that friend was like a sister to her, sharing everything and offering the greatest comfort. But that friend, named Kotone, died soon after.

Kotone died in the Fourth Holy Grail War.

In the "previous timeline's" Fourth Holy Grail War, Rin was merely a seven-year-old girl with only a slight understanding of magecraft, so she didn't know how Kotone died. However, she knew perfectly well why Kotone died. Thus, in the "previous timeline," she had attempted to go to Fuyuki City to save Kotone, but ultimately failed, nearly losing her own life in the process, only being saved by Kariya Matou at the last moment.

Now, after hearing the bulk of what Lin Luo told her about the Fourth Holy Grail War, Rin finally understood how Kotone died and who was responsible for her demise.

Therefore, she had to go save her.

It wasn't naive idealism about saving the unfortunate; it was because Kotone had trusted her, respected her. Going to save her was Tohsaka Rin's pride, Tohsaka Rin's responsibility, Tohsaka Rin's self-respect.

Lin Luo couldn't stop her, nor did he have any reason to. So, he instructed everyone, including Mikoto, to go with Rin—to save Rin's friend, to fulfill her duty.

"And you?" Upon hearing his arrangement, Rin couldn't help but ask.

"I have other matters to attend to. I trust dealing with that individual will be more than enough for you all," Lin Luo said with a smile. Although the backer behind the enemy they were about to face was terrifying, with Lily by their side, coupled with the fact that Mikoto and Mugino were not weak in the slightest, he wasn't overly worried about their safety.

"You alone?" Rin's expression immediately showed concern. Lin Luo had become the focal point of the Holy Grail War, the "Eighth Man." If other Masters discovered he was alone, Servants would surely attack him.

"Relax. I said I am the Eighth Man; I absolutely am," Lin Luo said confidently, extending his hand to display the unique Command Seals clearly visible to everyone. "I have one hundred percent faith in my Servant."

...

The streets were pitch black, the night utterly silent, as four girls sprinted through the small city of Fuyuki.

Must catch up, must catch up, Rin prayed, her lips tightly pressed. According to her memory, Kotone went missing on the first official day of the Holy Grail War—which was tonight. Arriving this late might already be too late, but in the "previous timeline," she found the body on the third night. So, perhaps she hadn't been killed yet. If only they could find her...

"Stop," Just then, Mugino suddenly held out her hand, halting everyone.

"Did you find something?" Rin immediately asked, her expression tinged with tension.

"I smell blood," Mugino said, her face darkening as she lowered her voice. As a former operative in the dark, she was accustomed to murder, making her keenly sensitive to the scent of blood. She had just noticed a faint metallic aroma nearby, very similar to the ones she associated with her past kills.

Rin's heart immediately leaped into her throat.

"Over here," Mugino gazed in one direction—a path even darker than the rest, lending an air of mysterious gloom.

Hearing this, the group immediately moved toward it. But before stepping onto the narrow lane, Rin’s brow furrowed. "A Barrier."

"A Barrier... Can it be broken?" The question came from Mikoto. Over the past year, besides improving their own strength, they had gained some understanding of this world's power systems.

"Breaking it is easy; it’s not a very powerful Barrier, just a defensive one meant for warning. But..." Rin frowned as she spoke. If she were to break it using her usual method, it would certainly alert those inside. Stealthily entering would be impossible.

"Is there no other way?"

If possible, they still wished to enter without alerting the perpetrator. After all, he was a murderer; if he knew someone had infiltrated his stronghold, there was no guarantee he wouldn't kill everyone captured.

"Wait a moment, if it's a Barrier..." Suddenly, Mikoto seemed to recall something, her eyes lighting up. "Isn't Kuro Neko very skilled with Barriers?"

"Right, how could I forget?" Prompted by Mikoto, Rin slapped her forehead in annoyance. She then retrieved the jeweled pendant hanging from her chest. After reciting a few incantations, a black cat materialized before them—a creature with three eyes, a pair of wings, four tails, a single horn, and an expression filled with humanlike emotion.

This black cat was Gokitoku Kuro Neko, who had been captured by Lin Luo previously and was now serving as Rin's familiar.

Although this black cat was a life-form familiar, perhaps due to its unique abilities, it could inhabit any gemstone. Since becoming Rin's familiar, it had taken a liking to residing in Rin's ruby pendant.

That ruby was a gem gifted by Tohsaka Tokiomi, holding ten years' worth of magic power. Rin had already exhausted its magic back in the A Certain Magical Index world, carrying it now only as a memento. Since the black cat wished to reside there, Rin naturally didn't refuse—it was convenient for carrying and a good way to recycle something unused.

"Kuro Neko, can you unravel this Barrier? And, preferably, without alerting anyone inside," Rin squatted down and asked. Just like its expression suggested, the black cat possessed high intelligence. Though it couldn't speak, it displayed rich emotional variations... simply put, it was a cat that only responded well to compliments.

"Meow meow meow..." The black cat immediately tilted its head back and let out a few triumphant meows. Then, under the expectant gazes of the group, it lightly tapped its horn against the Barrier.

Instantly, the Barrier seemed to corrode, a layer of its dim, ethereal light peeled away.

"This... what is this..." Rin was dumbfounded. She knew the cat's abilities were highly specialized—it could absorb its master's magic and produce magic stones—but she never expected it could use a technique like this.

Mikoto and the others might not understand, but as a genius magus, Tohsaka Rin knew exactly what the cat had done... It was eroding the Barrier.

Not cracking it, not destroying it, but utilizing a wondrous technique that seemed vaguely similar to the great sorcery of a Conceptual Reality—a Conceptual Reality eroded reality through the manifestation of inner thoughts, but this black cat was directly launching erosion upon the Barrier.

While it was impossible to judge which technique was superior, one thing was certain: this black cat's power far surpassed Tohsaka Rin's.

Being overshadowed by her own familiar dealt a blow to Tohsaka Rin's pride. However, with an important task at hand, she couldn't dwell on it. She gently shook the pendant. "Come back, Gokitoku Kuro Neko."

...Well, Gokitoku Kuro Neko had turned into a Pokémon.

"Shokuhou, are you coming in too? I think it's better if you stay here," Rin suggested before entering the Barrier.

But Shokuhou refused the offer. "Don't underestimate me. If the opponent is just an ordinary murderer, dealing with him might be easier for me than for you. Besides, what if I run into Caster in here? That would be even more dangerous."

Right. The three women conceded the point. It was safer for everyone to stick together rather than leave the defenseless Shokuhou behind.

Following this, the four entered the Barrier. Based on Rin's understanding of magical structures, she knew their entry had gone unnoticed by the caster.

"The smell of blood is stronger in here..." As soon as they stepped inside the Barrier, Mugino wrinkled her nose.

"Really? I don't really smell anything," Shokuhou sniffed, unable to detect it. "But speaking of which, Mugino, that’s impressive of you. You could even smell the blood inside the Barrier just now."

"It's nothing, just experience," Mugino replied nonchalantly.

However, after looking around, Mikoto's face darkened. "I sense a very evil power here." As the host of the Heart of Goodness, she possessed an almost instinctive sensitivity to 'evil.'

Rin immediately lowered her voice. "Then there's no mistake. This has to be the place. Lin Luo also said Caster is an evil magus. Everyone, be careful. Even though Caster's Master is just an ordinary murderer, we still need to prioritize our safety."

Even without Rin stating it, everyone knew that although none of them were weak, their enemy might be a Heroic Spirit. Facing an unknown foe for the first time left a hint of tension in their hearts.

The area covered by this Barrier wasn't large, just a small block, and it appeared deserted. After searching briefly, the group located the strongest concentration of the blood scent emanating from a very ancient house. A faint odor of decay could also be detected wafting from within.

"This smell... many people must have been killed," Mugino stated grimly. At this point, specks of white light had gathered on her right hand as she prepared for battle.

"That murderer," Tohsaka Rin ground her teeth, praying desperately that Kotone hadn't been killed yet.

Creeping closer to the house, the group finally focused their attention on an earthen shed in the backyard. That was the source of everything.

"What do we do now..." As they reached the shed door, Rin started to speak but then froze. She heard a sound coming from inside—a girl's voice, extremely faint. It wasn't that the sound was low; it was more like a pained moan suppressed by something, a sound on the verge of escaping but unable to be fully released.

The faces of the four girls changed slightly; they had all clearly heard it.

"Blast it open!" With virtually no hesitation, Mugino unleashed her ability. A white ray struck the door, instantly shattering it into powder that flew apart like confetti.

The moment the door was destroyed, everyone winced as a pungent smell of blood surged out. Then, when they saw the scene inside, they were momentarily stunned... How tragic was it? Indescribable, utterly beyond description.

Inside the room, lying on a cross constructed atop a long table, was a young girl. Her limbs were bound, and her lower abdomen had been sliced open. Her intestines had been pulled out and laid side-by-side on the table.

Sitting beside the table was a refined young man, currently observing the entrails before him with an intensely focused gaze. In his left hand, he tapped a tuning fork against the corner of the table. When the fork emitted a clear tone, he quickly tapped various points along the section of intestine held in his right hand while muttering, "Excellent, so this point is 'mi' [E]."

Nodding with immense satisfaction, he used a drawing pin to affix a small marker to a point on the intestine as he spoke. The constantly trembling organ was already dotted with numerous such musical note markings.

It was clear that this intestine was still alive—or rather, its owner was still alive.

The girl, bound and ceaselessly sobbing from the pain, was being treated like a living organ for a cruel instrument, so wracked with agony that she could barely make a sound. She was indeed still alive.

Upon witnessing this scene, Mikoto and the others were instantly shocked rigid. Even Mugino, the assassin from the dark, could not have imagined such cruelty existed in the world. Following a brief moment of shock, intense vomiting ensued. Except for Mugino, whose complexion merely shifted slightly, the other three nearly retched up their stomachs.

The man in the room, perhaps too engrossed in his "experiment," only noticed the intrusion now, turning his gaze toward them. When he saw the group, he too paused. However, he quickly reacted as if discovering a new continent, gleefully dropping the girl's entrails he had been manipulating.

"Oh, my God, thank you. You have bestowed upon me such lovely children."

"Bastard, die!" Mikoto attacked first. Possessing an inherent sense of justice, she could not bear to witness such a thing. Once the nausea subsided slightly, she immediately fired an Electro: Railgun at the man.

However, whether due to overwhelming rage or the lingering effects of intense nausea, the Railgun missed widely, passing several centimeters wide of the man's head.

"Uh," the man seemed startled, but there was no fear on his face, only surging excitement. "Are any of you interested in becoming my experimental subjects?"

Swish.

The moment the man finished speaking, a white ray shot toward him. This beam did not miss; it struck his right hand directly.

"Mmm..." The man seemed to feel the pain, his brow furrowing deeply as he looked down to see that his entire hand was gone.

"I intended to kill you instantly, but for someone like you, death shouldn't come so easily," Mugino Shizuri stated, holding her right hand slightly forward, a cruel smile gracing her lips as she looked at the man before her.