What Holy Grail War? Let's Play Cards!

"Are you satisfied now?"

As the duel space vanished, Artoria and Sakura Matou returned to their original timelines. Lancelot, too, reverted to his Berserker Saint Graph.

Due to the effects of his Berserker class, Lancelot was unable to respond, but his silence spoke volumes.

"You may be satisfied, but this uncle here is about to die." Illyasviel, who had been maintaining a healing spell throughout the battle, looked speechlessly at Jiang You. After the fight ended, Kariya Matou appeared as though he had suffered a fatal blow. His already frail body was now hanging by a thread, and if Illya hadn't continuously supplied magic, he would have long since passed away.

"It seems that even without a Shadow Game, duels between opposing Masters in the Holy Grail War can still deal effective damage," Jiang You quickly understood the reason behind the situation.

"So, are we saving him or not?" Illya, whose magical energy was nearly depleted, urged Jiang You for a decision. "If not, I'm letting go!"

"I do want to save him, but how? I have no idea." Jiang You spread his hands. Kariya Matou, as one of the relatively normal participants in the Fourth Holy Grail War, had always tried to save Sakura in his own way. If there was a chance, Jiang You felt he should lend a hand.

"Hand over the Soul Crystal... What's with that look? I'm not going to steal it. With my experience in the Heaven's Dress state, I can guide the magic within the Soul Crystal to extend his life for a few more years. It's an easy task."

"You can use it like that?" Jiang You realized there were more ways to exploit the mechanics of this game than he had imagined.

"Why do you think the Einzberns have been trying to recreate the Third Magic?" Illya sighed deeply. "Also, aren't you supposed to be a Caster? How do you not know this? I really don't understand why something as precious as a Soul Crystal ended up in the hands of someone like you."

"Honestly, I think 'Dueler' suits me better than 'Caster.'"

"This guy has about five seconds left to live. Five—four—" Illya ignored Jiang You's nonsense and started counting down with a deadpan expression.

Time was running out, so Jiang You quickly pulled out the Soul Crystal.

Taking the crystal, Illya channeled its energy to cast a healing spell.

Kariya's breathing stabilized, though most of his magic circuits, once filled with Crest Worms, had been destroyed. The residual magic in his body was insufficient to sustain Lancelot's Saint Graph, causing a severe drop in Lancelot's parameters. Still, he was alive.

After returning the Soul Crystal to Jiang You, Illya wiped the sweat from her forehead. "Alright, let me remind you that I'm not particularly skilled in healing magic. I basically just used the immense magic power of the Soul Crystal to forcefully mend his wounds. He has about four or five years left to live now."

"Thanks for the hard work, Illya. As for you, Berserker, I'll leave your Master in your care. Take him far away from this Holy Grail War."

Hearing Jiang You's words, Lancelot pointed at himself. Jiang You quickly understood his meaning. "I already received your assistance, so don't go messing up my game now."

With Kariya's situation settled, Jiang You turned to Illya and gestured. "Come on, Illya, let's go get Sakura out of here."

"Yeah, yeah, I really don't know who's the Servant anymore."

When they reached young Sakura Matou, she simply stared at them with lifeless eyes, showing no reaction—like a porcelain doll awaiting its fate.

At this point, Sakura had endured years of torment. Her fragile heart was even more numb and submissive than her future self ten years later.

Jiang You crouched down, lowering his gaze to meet Sakura's. "Sakura, it's all over. I kept my promise and came to take you away from here."

"Sakura lives here. This is Sakura's home. There's no need to leave." She didn't recognize Jiang You and had long accepted her fate of falling endlessly into darkness. Naturally, she wouldn't agree to leave.

Jiang You knew she was afraid. According to the original timeline, when everything neared its end, Sakura would coldly watch Kariya die after all his efforts to save her and utter the infamous words:

"How foolish. Who told you to defy Grandfather?"

Having been abandoned by the Tohsaka family, she was left without a home or support. Rather than becoming part of the Matou family, she had been discarded and left to fend for herself. She couldn't resist Zouken Matou, nor could she bring herself to trust Kariya's attempts to rebel. To avoid further pain, she had built a thick shell around her heart.

"You don't have to worry. Zouken Matou is dead—completely and utterly dead." Jiang You reassured her. The battle results never lied.

"Grandfather... is dead?"

At last, young Sakura lifted her gaze to examine the young man before her. However, the flicker of light in her eyes quickly faded again. She had been passed to the Matou family from the Tohsakas, and now, with her legal guardian gone, she murmured in despair, "So... I don't even have a home anymore."

"This place was never your home. A real home isn't like this." Jiang You gently placed his hand on her head, softly stroking her hair. "A home should be warm. In a home, you can freely express what you like and dislike, share your grievances with your family, and find joy together."

Then, Jiang You knelt on one knee and extended his hand toward her, as if performing a knightly vow, though his tone carried a playful air meant to soothe a child.

"Princess, come with me. Tomorrow, I'll take you to see your mother—and then we'll go beat up your foolish father together!"

Sakura hesitantly raised her small hand, wanting to grasp his, but she was afraid of experiencing more of the same suffering.

"Can I trust you?"

"Of course, I swear it upon my honor as a knight!" Jiang You continued his roleplay with unwavering enthusiasm.

"You? A knight? Yeah, right." Illya finally couldn't stand it anymore. She grabbed Sakura's hand and stuffed it into Jiang You's.

"Sakura, I'll call you that for now," Illya said in a lecturing tone, like an older sister. "Listen up. This guy is Caster—the one who killed Zouken Matou. Even Zouken was no match for him. If he wanted to do anything to you, you wouldn't be able to refuse anyway. The fact that he's being so nice means he truly cares about you, so what are you hesitating for? Don't be stupid!"

Seeing that Sakura's body relaxed slightly, Jiang You picked her up in his arms. "You don't have to be so fierce. Don't scare her."

Jiang You's words made a vein twitch on Illya's forehead. This guy was the Servant of the Einzbern family, wasn't he supposed to be closer to her? "Why don't you treat me nicely? My life hasn't exactly been great either!"

"That's why I'm here to help, isn't it? With me around, your parents will be perfectly fine." Worst case scenario, he'd just reset the game and try again—Jiang You wasn't worried at all.

"Besides, I already promised you. Whether it's here or ten years from now, I'll be there to help. Always."

Illya's mood visibly brightened at those words, while Jiang You looked at his duplicate rewards with a slightly disappointed expression.