Fate: A Dragon's Journey

"Spend the night in this room. We'll talk tomorrow."

Semiramis frowned at Haruki's words. "Only for today. I won't spend more time in this house."

Haruki agreed with a shrug. He was going to move to the Greater Grail either way. Ryuudou Temple will fulfill her 'royal urges' for the duration of the war.

"Don't try to poison me, okay?" he asked.

Semiramis squinted and traced her thumb on her lips. "My Master, your blood is too delicious to be poisoned."

"Your seductions won't work."

She had no idea how many situations like this happened with his mother. She crawled into his bed half-naked, or accidentally entered the bath with a single towel. He was surprised he didn't gain any charm resistance skill.

'Those were all acts to seduce me to the dark side!'

He should've let go of his moralistic hesitations and pounced on her. She might've shared her secrets with him. There might have been a chance to save her before that.

'Fuck.'

He shook off the regrets. Semiramis smiled and closed the door in his face.

"Witch," Medea muttered and poked my shoulder. "Master, you're ready to learn magecraft?"

"Give me ten minutes. I gotta do something."

"I'll wait in the living room," Medea said and walked downstairs.

She became a bit more talkative today. His efforts weren't in vain. He rechecked Medea's status, finding her relationship status at 23/100. Her current status was kinda funny — Finding ways to stop the black witch from betraying Master. It was kinda cute to see her worked up over Semiramis. Though it still surprised him that she remained silent about Sakura even after he described her past with extravagant details.

'Sakura's circumstances aren't tragic enough to earn her pity.'

Medea was the only one who could help Sakura with her Noble Phantasm by severing the connection between Sakura and the worm crest. He chose to bring it up after their study session.

He checked Semiramis's status.

Semiramis: The legendary queen of the Assyrian Empire and your current Servant, tied to you by the Fuyuki Holy Grail System.

-Current Status — Considering whether to turn you into her puppet or not.

-Relationship Status — 8/100

-Species — Spirit

-Age — Uncountable

-Gender — Female

-Height, Weight — 167cm/51kg

-Alignment — Lawful Evil

-Parameters

Strength: 10 (E)

Endurance: 20 (D)

Agility: 20 (C)

Magical energy: 50 (A)

Luck: 40 (B)

-Authorities

None

-Noble Phantasm

Hanging Garden of Babylon [EX]

Description: An anti-world Noble Phantasm which manifests as a flying fortress capable of casting EX-rank magecraft within its confines.

Sikera Ušum [B+]

Description: An anti-army Noble Phantasm which turns the surrounding air and mana itself into poison. Phantasmal Creatures can be summoned within the boundaries of the Hanging Garden of Babylon.

-Skills

Double Summon [B]

Info: Grants Class skills of both Caster and Assassin classes.

Item Construction [C]

Info: A skill inherent to the Caster Class. Semiramis can only use this to create her special poison.

Territory Creation [EX]

Info: A skill inherent to the Caster Class. Semiramis can create the Hanging Garden of Babylon by gathering a certain amount of earth and stone from historic ruins in the vicinity of Baghdad.

Presence Concealment [C+]

Info: A skill inherent to Assassin Class. Semiramis can hide her presence. The effect is considerably weakened when preparing an attack,

Divinity [C]

Info: Semiramis is the offspring of a Syrian fish-goddess and a mortal. Her divinity manifests as defensive scales on her body.

Familiar (Dove) [D]

Info: Semiramis can direct and control doves through her thoughts.

'Turning me into a puppet… this woman is dangerous.'

He just worked so hard to earn Medea's trust, now a new backstabber popped up.

'Give me a break!'

He took a deep sigh and tossed the problem to the back of his mind. He went to his mother's room and plopped down on her bed.

'Arch, gacha please.'

A wheel popped up in the air with the 'Premium Gacha Wheel' text shining above it. Different sections showed loot boxes with various background colors. The text under the wheel revealed information about the different grades.

White - Common

Green - Uncommon

Blue - Rare

Red - Super Rare

Purple - Epic

Golden - Legendary

Rainbow - Mythic

'Spin!'

The wheel spun, weaving a colorful trail. It slowed down, the pointer creeping from golden to rainbow to white, and stopped on the red loot box.

SR item!

[Congratulations! You have acquired 1 x 'Key to the Land of Dead.']

[Key to the Land of Dead]

[Description: The key to open a portal to the Land of Dead. Each use consumes 10 points of your mana.]

[Rank: Super Rare]

'The Land of Dead? What's that place? Could it be a place crawling with undead monsters?'

He only knew of a place like this in the Nasuverse.

The Land of Shadows.

The domain of Scathách. They had different names but gave a similar impression.

'Arch, is this place safe?'

"The first floor should be good for you. You wanted battles, the Gacha gave you the battles!"

'Is this like a dungeon?'

"Yeah. Try it if you want to awaken more."

'I will. Thanks.'

How could he let go of a chance to become stronger?

"Don't thank me… why am I even talking to you?"

The goddess seemed to be going through some existential crisis.

Sakura reached her home—a western-style mansion located in the southern end of Miyama Town, also known as the foreigner's district. Not too far from Tohsaka residence, which had become known as a haunted house by the neighbors. Sakura knew better not to trust any rumors when it came to a Magus Clanhouse.

Sakura quietly slipped into her room and locked the door. Sitting on her table, she gazed out of the window. Yesterday, she lost her only mother-figure in her life, and today, her only brother-like figure wanted to jump in the blazing fire of the Holy Grail War.

Kariya Matou, her uncle, reached out to her before Haruki, promising to free her from this cursed family. Yet, the fire of war swallowed him. She had completely lost every hope until that day.

'I'm not letting it happen again.'

She clenched her fists, and the command spells on the back of her right hand sparkled.

"I have to confront him."

"Sakura~."

The devil showed up at her door. Sakura gulped down the rising premonitions in her chest and opened the door. Shinji's broad smile further bolstered the bad feeling.

"Dear Sister, you went to him, didn't you? That guy who always puts his nose in our family affairs."

Sakura ignored his question and awkwardly raised her hand to greet the woman behind Shinji. Rider, the woman whose purple hair went beyond her knees. Despite having a violet eye cover over her eyes, she acknowledged her real master's greeting with a nod.

'Please, bear with it until I burn the book.'

Sakura eyed the scarlet book in Shinji's left hand. The Book of the False Attendant. Created by Sakura to temporarily grant Shinji Rider's ownership. Until the book burned from overuse or Rider died, Sakura couldn't regain any command over the Servant she summoned through the Fuyuki Grail System, or formally known as Heaven's Feel.

"Answer me," Shinji spat, grabbing Sakura's throat with his right hand. "Where did you go?"

Sakura couldn't understand this hatred Shinji harbored for her. She never said anything unnecessary, never did she go against him in any other way. Yet, his eyes held an enmity as if she was an enemy, not his adopted sister.

Sakura clutched Shinji's hand. "Stop it, or I will tell Grandfather."

Zouken's name ignited fear in his eyes. He glared back with even more hatred, squeezing her throat with even more force. Sakura just smiled, knowing all too well about Shinji's limits. As she expected, he let go and shoved her.

"I will deal with you after the war."

Leaving a warning, he left with Rider in tow.

"And I'll deal with you before the war," she muttered.

She returned to her room and noticed the insects chirping a bit too loudly today. Shaking her head, Sakura pulled out her notebook and scribbled down her next steps. No matter what she thought, everything came down to someone pushing Rider until the Book of the False Attendance burned from Rider overusing her mana. It was easier said than done against Rider, the youngest of the Gorgon sisters in Greek Mythology.

If only the worms spared her magic power, she could've helped Haruki just a little.

"I'll have to ask for her help," she muttered, recalling the black-haired honor student everyone adored in her school. "I will not let anyone harm Senpai."

She made her resolve to approach her only living blood relative in this world.