Fate/Apocrypha - Volume 1 Page 4

  "What you're saying is, if the Yggdmillennia have already got seven Masters and seven Servants, then..."

  "...then we will also assemble seven Masters and seven Servants, wage war upon the Yggdmillennia and claim our victory."

  "What happens to the Grail if we win?"

  "We will take it for safekeeping, naturally. Well, it is difficult to say how the surviving magi will be able to remain calm when faced with something that can easily lead them to the Root."

  ...So that's how it is. In other words, 'whatever happens after the Yggdmillennia are destroyed is your own responsibility'. You can make a wish upon the Grail, or you can prevent others from doing so - you can even destroy everything. Of course, this old fox will obviously be ready and waiting. A retrieval team is probably set to move in as soon as the war ends.

  But, still, if he manages to get around them... he will surely have the chance to have his own wish be realized. A shiver ran up Shishigou's back, making his heart race. Seeing this clearly, the old man nodded in approval, as though this was what he had expected.

  "So you will accept?"

  However, Shishigou did not reply immediately. Agreeing so readily would only reveal his own weakness.

  "I still have a few questions left. I'll decide after that."

  "Very well."

  "First, about the Masters on this side."

  "Ah, yes. The remaining six Masters have all been decided on and sent to Trifas already - Rottweil Berzinsky, the 'Silver Lizard'; 'Storm Treads' Gene Rum; the 'Gum Brothers' of the Pentel family; and our own Feend vor Sembren, a first-class instructor. These are the five who we've sent."

  Shishigou agreed with this selection as well. They are all magi known throughout the world - monsters specialized in combat who remove the opposition without mercy. He has worked with all of them before except Sembren. He should have no problem fighting on the same side as them.

  "The last Master, and the overseer, will be sent from the Holy Church"

  "...A Master acting as the overseer?"

  "Indeed."

  Due to its naming, the Holy Grail War will inevitably draw in another force, the only one in the world which can oppose the Association of Magi - that is, the Holy Church. Although it is almost certain that the Holy Grail in this case is a fake, they can hardly sit by and watch in silence as magi compete over a treasure crowned with its name. It is said that the Church had intervened during the third Holy Grail War of Fuyuki. According to some, it is in fact the three great families of Fuyuki that had began the tradition of Church intervention, but the truth has long been lost in the haystack of conflicting theories.

  "But... do we even need an overseer for this war?"

  The Holy Grail War of Fuyuki had need of an impartial judge between the three great families and outside Masters. It stood to reason that they chose the Holy Church, which had to be involved in some way regardless.

  However, this war is different. This is a struggle between the Association and a force which opposes it, and a neutral overseer who would judge this conflict between magi is completely unnecessary. If anything, the Church would only be needed for the task of concealing the war, but the Association is not exactly lacking in terms of human resources.

  "Well, we can hardly exclude them. It would only trouble us further if they sided with the Yggdmillennia instead. We should use this opportunity to proclaim ourselves as the only legitimate thaumaturgical organization."

  As a result, the Holy Church will support the Association... for the time being. Of course, from the eyes of the Church, this is just another way to keep the Association in check.

  "Second question: a holy relic is needed to act as a catalyst in summoning a Servant. Have you got something prepared?"

  Belfaban nodded. Strictly speaking, a catalyst is not absolutely necessary. When summoning a Servant without a catalyst, a Heroic Spirit will be chosen, not based in any way on the summoner's power, but similarities with his or her own nature. However, most Masters would avoid this in favor of summoning a particular Servant using a holy relic as a catalyst.

  Of course, having such a catalyst does not guarantee that a certain Servant will be drawn. Suppose that a magus uses a remnant of the Argo, the ship which bore many a Greek hero, as a catalyst. Who would answer the call? The unparalleled Heracles? Captain Jason? Medea, the witch of betrayal? Or perhaps the 'god of medicine' Asclepius? None would know until the summoning. But it is possible to narrow the choice down, if you use a catalyst which was only ever connected to a single Heroic Spirit - for example, the skin of the first snake in the world to shed its skin, or a scrap of cloth from the mantle once worn by a certain king. With such relics, it would be possible to summon the exact Heroic Spirit you wish for regardless of affinity.

  Then again, summoning without a catalyst is not without its merits. As the summoner and the spirit summoned will be similar in nature, it becomes easy to build trust with the Servant in a short time. In the Fuyuki Holy Grail War, poor affinity between Master and Servant would have been as fatal as carrying a time-bomb. It could invite tragedy if, in the very end, they did not have complete faith in one another. However, with a single misstep, it is not impossible for hate and distrust to surface due to that very same resemblance.

  While affinity is certainly a matter which cannot be overlooked, the possible loss from such a high-stakes gamble as summoning without a catalyst is too great.

  A catalyst would solve all these problems. This being the Association of Magi, they should be able to prepare holy relics with connections to the majority of Heroic Spirits.

  Standing up, Belfaban took out an ebony case from the desk's drawer, opening it carefully - inside is a piece of wood with signs of having been worked on. There is nothing remarkable about it... but when Shishigou opened his mouth, his voice became strangely shrill. There is some sort of heat within the wood.

  "What's this?"

  "The Round Table. The greatest of knights once talked with one another at this table. To protect Britain, their home, they fought not with swords, but with words."

  "The Round Table of Britain... as in, King Arthur's?"

  Without thinking, Shishigou reached out and attempted to take the catalyst, but checked himself just in time. The Knights of the Round Table - no introductions are needed for the followers of King Arthur. The Round Table was proposed by the King himself as away to remove the distinction between lord and subject.

  Every single knight who sat at that table was a hero sung of in legends. King Arthur himself, of course, and also Lancelot, Galahad, Gawain, Tristan, Percival... any one of them summoned as a Servant would boast indisputable fame and strength.

  "But... it cannot be known which knight will be summoned. It would unmistakably summon a Heroic Spirit based on your own nature."

  "That's not a problem. Any Knight of the Round Table summoned as a Servant is a pass in my books."

  "I see. By which you mean, you will accept?"

  Shishigou gave himself some time to think. Everything has been set for him to summon a Servant. The Yggdmillennia will likely take full advantage of their location in Romania to draw the strongest possible Servant in that country. However, when it comes down to it, that is not such an overwhelming disadvantage.

  After all, it is seven versus seven - they are numerically even. And most importantly, Shishigou also has a wish which can only be granted by relying upon an omnipotent wish-granter - Belfaban knows this.

  ....It's decided, then.

  Shishigou nodded, and lit a cigarette. He breathed in the smoke deeply, relishing the poison filling his lungs for a moment. There was irritation on Belfaban's face - the man hated cigarettes.

  "Then we have assembled seven Masters. The Yggdmillennia clan possesses seven; now the Association shall send seven. In other words, fourteen Servants will take form in this world. Never before in history has a ritual of such scale been conducted. This is not merely another Holy Grail War - but the Great War to all Holy Grail Wars." />
  "'The Great War', huh..."

  Seven Servants versus seven Servants. In the past, it has always been a free-for-all between all seven until only one is left standing, but this time - it will truly be total war between Servants. Having become the stage for this conflict, one dreads to imagine what state Trifas will be in after the war.

  "I want half up-front. If you're okay with that, then let's sign on it."

  Belfaban frowned at Shishigou's words.

  "Is the contingency fee not enough?"

  "This job doesn't have a very high survival rate. I'd prefer to take what I can right now."

  "Oh? Do you already have something in mind?"

  Standing up from the sofa, Shishigou walked over to the display case without any sign of hesitation and picked up the preserved juvenile Hydra.

  "This."

  "...And you are fine with a forgery?"

  Shishigou gave his assent without a second thought. Belfaban's expression turned grim in the blink of an eye. But of course, for the Hydra was very much the genuine article. You could sell off every asset owned by the Shishigou family, and the amount would almost certainly not reach a third of its selling price.

  "I'll take that as a yes, then."

  Shishigou happily carried off the Hydra with one hand, and took the catalyst's case with the other.

  "Off with you to Romania, then. I will be in touch with the overseer and the other Masters. They should make contact with you as soon as you pass the border."

  "Oh, right. What's the name of this overseer?"

  Shishiou asked offhandedly just as he was leaving. This war would likely warrant an assignment from the Assembly of the Eighth Sacrament. It might even be someone well known.

  "I haven't met him personally, but, yes... it was a priest called Shirou."

  Not a name he was familiar with, unfortunately.

  ---

  Chapter 1-3

  ---

  Shishigou Kairi immediately boarded a flight from London to Romania. Luckily, as soon as he was contacted for the job, he considered the possibility of it being another 'hunt'; all of his combat equipment were fully prepared, so he did not lose any time returning to his home.

  During the flight, Shishigou perused the document on the Holy Grail War that Belfaban handed to him - regarding the seven basic Classesthat Servants are assigned to, and their characteristics; the Command Spells whose authority the Servants obey, able to enforce even an order to commit suicide; the only surviving account of the circumstances of the Third Holy Grail War -

  Just as he finished reading all of this, the plane landed in Romania. There are strict travel regulations to Romania for magi at the moment, to prevent Command Spells from manifesting on a weak third-rate magus, however unlikely that may be.

  When he left the plane, he felt a numb sort of pain coming from his hand. When he checked it, there was a pattern carved on the back of his hand, like a tattoo. The Holy Grail had recognized Shishigou as a Master and allowed the Command Spells to manifest.

  Although he had been expecting this in a way, Shishigou still felt some relief. If the Command Spells had refused to appear no matter how long he waited, there would have been no choice but to wretchedly drag himself home.

  Shishigou did not immediately head from Bucharest, the capital of Romania, to Trifas, judging that the summoning of the Servant should come first. Trifas is the territory of the Yggdmillennia. Attempting to infiltrate it alone, without a Servant, will be nothing but suicide.

  Fortunately, Bucharest possessed nearly six hundred years of history, and many spiritually powerful leylines existed in the city. Shishigou had a look around as soon as he arrived in the afternoon, and fixed the candidates which would be compatible with him. The best choice would be one of the corners of a cemetery managed by the Stavropoleos Church - but of course, to a necromancer like Shishigou, a placed stuffed with corpses would naturally be most fitting.

  "Though I doubt a Servant would enjoy waking up next to a gravestone..."

  Once the sun had set and the curtains of night descended upon the city, Shishigou got to work straight away. To start with, he laid out a bounded field around the graveyard to turn people away; the ritual for the field was not very complex, as it only needed to hold until the summoning was complete.

  Next, using a chalk distilled from the dusted bones and blood of magi, he drew a magic ward: a ring of purification carved around a ring of four purging circles, surrounding a ward of summoning. In the center, he placed a crystal ball. It was an all-or-nothing ritual, but Shishigou nodded in satisfaction at the quality of his work.

  The only things left now are the the catalyst to be offered and the incantation for the spell. At first glance, this may appear all too simple for a ritual meant to evoke a Heroic Spirit. However, as the Master is nothing more than the string which ties the Grail and the Servant together, this will not prove to be a problem.

  As he finished the preparations for the ward quicker than he had expected, Shishigou had some free time until the prana in his body was at its peak.

  Unconsciously - probably because of boredom - he lit a cigarette. It was a Taiwanese product, but terribly rare. It was practically a miracle that he managed to get this one box from another magus. And yet, it tasted awful. However, it was this clash of rare status and foul taste that could make him clearly feel the transiency of the world.

  Breathing in the smoke deliberately -almost mournfully, regretfully - Shishigou found himself a moment to reflect. The Holy Grail War is the smallest and yet the biggest war in the world... with only one winner. The situation is quite different this time around, but in any case, what stood in his way were utter monsters - Heroic Spirits against which no thaumaturgy would work.

  Vaguely, his mind turned to his own wish for the Holy Grail. What he wishes for is not really so excessive. To Shishigou Kairi, it is not even that urgent of a matter. In fact, he has lived his life so far believing that his hopes had already expired. Leaving the Clock Tower, choosing to become a bounty hunter and a freelancer, it was all because of this. And yet, the hope that he was sure he had thrown aside so long ago is right before his eyes, within his hand's grasp.

  "...Can I really reach it, though?"

  He does not know - not with this Great Holy Grail War. He might be heading to his death. Actually, that chance was extremely high. But...

  - This is stupid. If I'd wanted to back out, I wouldn't have accepted this in the first place.

  He knows this. He knows that there is no longer any place to run, for the bridge he crossed was burned by his own hands. Even if he turns back, there is no longer any place for him to return to. Shishigou is fine with that.

  He stood before the magic ward.

  It will soon be two o'clock. Even in Japan, it would be the dead of night. No other time could be more appropriately suited to Shishigou Kairi as he presides over death.

  "Let's get this started."

  Traces of tension tainted his voice - a good sign that he was maintaining a favorable mental condition, he analyzed himself. At last, he confirmed once more the color he would belong to. Apparently, the camps of the Servants for both sides have been decided; Black for the Yggdmillennia clan's Servants, Red for the Clock Tower's Servants.

  "Let silver and steel be the essence.

  Let stone and the archduke of contracts be the foundation.

  Let red be the color I pay tribute to.

  Let rise a wall against the wind that shall fall.

  Let the four cardinal gates close.

  Let the three-forked road from the crown reaching unto the Kingdom rotate."

  He began the incantation, and at the same time, he felt dull sense of discomfort, as though the hands of another were playing with his organs. The activation of his Magic Circuits converts the mana in the atmosphere, and his Thaumaturgical Crest awakens to support this.

  His entire body is being turned into something human, yet inhuman. A piece of equipment bearing the miracles
of the world, a component of a machine, or perhaps a gear - that is what he has become. Aware of this, Shishigou steps down on the pedal even harder, further accelerating the prana circulating within his body.

  The summoning circle glows red; but now is not the time for Shishigou to be paying attention to what will finally be the realization of a miracle.

  "Let it be filled. Again. Again. Again. Again.

  Let it be filled fivefold for every turn, simply breaking asunder with every filling."

  * * *

  Transylvania, Romania

  Trifas - a small city north of Sighisoara, the birthplace of The Impaling Prince.Kaziklu Bey Its walls, built to defend against the invasion of the Turks during the Middle Ages, is still perfectly preserved, surrounding the citadel and one part of the city.