"Fill, fill, fill, fill...
Repeat four times... wait, was it five?
And... discard upon filling...
Ugh... Is that right?"
The Holy Grail War was originally a magecraft ritual created by three mage families to reach the Root, based on the Spirit Evocation Ritual: Heroic Spirit Summoning.
They established a large-scale magic circle in the Far Eastern city of Fuyuki, accumulating mana over sixty-year cycles. Each time the mana was fully gathered, a deathmatch between seven mages and their seven Heroic Spirit partners would begin.
Legend has it that only the final victor can claim the 'Holy Grail' forged by this magecraft ritual and make a wish to this omnipotent wish-granting machine.
Thus, since the First Holy Grail War, mages have been continuously drawn by the Grail, only to become its fodder.
But now, in the Fourth Holy Grail War, there has still been no final 'victor'.
In the living room of an ordinary house in Fuyuki City, a television broadcasted news of a serial killer. A magic circle, drawn in fresh blood, overflowed with the artist's malice.
"Fill, fill, fill, fill, fill...
That's five times now..."
The only man standing in the living room held a thread-bound ancient tome in one hand while counting on the fingers of the other. His tone was flippant, his face beaming with satisfaction. His orange hair was matted with half-dried blood.
He was an ordinary man, one who found no joy in life and turned to murder for amusement.
Not long ago, after discovering a magecraft book in his warehouse and mistaking its contents for a demon-summoning ritual, he began using human lives and blood to attempt the summoning.
This was his third attempt in Fuyuki City, and he had already annihilated two families.
"You know, I might've gotten a little carried away lately..."
On the living room sofa, the master and mistress of the house sat upright, their blood having already filled an entire bucket. The crimson liquid had been used to draw a complete magic circle. They were as dead as dead could be.
Beside them, their child was bound like a trussed shrimp, mouth gagged. As the demon who had annihilated his family leaned closer, the boy could only squirm in terror, his muffled whimpers choked with sobs.
"Hey, if I actually manage to summon a demon, could I ask you to let it kill you? I mean, if you want to chat with a demon, you've got to bring a gift, right?"
The man's smile was bright, his features handsome—the kind of face that would surely make him a top host.
Just as the child began to tremble even more violently, a crimson pattern resembling 'half a key' materialized on the back of the man's hand.
As an ordinary person, he didn't know this was a Command Spell—proof that a mage had been chosen to participate in the Holy Grail War.
While he stared in confusion, the magic circle drawn in human blood began to glow. Without him needing to chant any further incantations, a surge of mana erupted into a dance of light. When it subsided, a slender figure with grayish-white hair appeared before him.
"A woman? Or... a nun?"
Fury contorted Ryuunosuke Uryuu's features. He reveled in slaughtering women and children, and at this very moment, he longed to disembowel the beautiful nun before him.
But in the next instant, he saw the woman frown. He saw a sword, glowing with a soft, gentle light, materialize in her hand. He felt a searing pain in his arms.
Before he could even process what was happening, both his arms were severed at the shoulders, followed swiftly by his legs.
In just two seconds, he was reduced to a limbless torso, writhing and twitching on the ground as he let out a reflexive, agonized wail.
He saw... his own severed hands, marked with strange patterns, being picked up.
He saw... the woman walk over to the child, who was frozen in terror.
She untied the child, stopping him just as he was about to rush into her arms.
He heard...
"He killed your parents, didn't he? I'll lend you a dagger. Go ahead, slice him up, piece by piece."
The child, however, lacked the courage. The words seemed to shatter what little hope he had left.
The next second, noticing the child's mind was on the verge of collapse, the woman in the nun's habit put him to sleep.
"The Fourth Holy Grail War? But why am I in this attire... and as a Caster, no less? Could it be the influence of the apocryphal tales passed down through later generations?"
Yes, the woman in the nun's habit was Guinevere. She appeared to be around twenty-four years old, a stage of growth she had only reached after abandoning her Replica Scabbard.
Even now, as a Caster, she still possessed her Replica Holy Sword.
Muttering to herself, Guinevere first sliced off Ryuunosuke Uryuu's noisy tongue. As long as he remained alive, their contract would hold, and she wouldn't have to worry about being swiftly returned to the Throne of Heroes.
As she pondered, the modern knowledge infused by the Holy Grail System—information granted to every summoned Servant—naturally surfaced in her mind.
"So, this is indeed Fuyuki City, and the Holy Grail War is truly underway. But if I've replaced the original Caster, have the other Master-Servant pairs changed as well? If Lia really was summoned by the House of Einzbern..."
To this day, the Founding Three Families of the Holy Grail War still directly occupy three of the participant slots. The House of Einzbern, which Guinevere had just mentioned, was one of them.
And in Guinevere's memory, it was the Einzberns who had summoned the King of Knights during the Fourth Holy Grail War.
"Speaking of which, didn't they use the Scabbard of the Holy Sword as their Holy Relic? But using that to summon a Heroic Spirit... couldn't it just as easily summon Mordred now? In terms of possession time, Mordred held it for longer."
Guinevere scratched her head, uncertain. She still didn't know how her historical reconstruction had altered the modern records of the King of Knights.
I'll look it up later, she thought, deciding to first check her own Servant Status.
True Name: Guinevere Pendragon
Gender: Female
Height: 165 cm
Weight: 49 kg
Three Sizes: ???
Class: Caster
Alignment: Lawful Good
Origin: Ancient Kingdom of Camelot
Parameters:Strength: B
Endurance: C
Agility: B
Mana: A+
Luck: B
Noble Phantasm: EX
Class Skills:
Territory Creation: E - A characteristic of the Caster class used to create a territory for gathering Mana. This rank is merely a class-based bonus.
Item Construction: E - ...Merely a class-based bonus.
Personal Skills:
Jewel Magecraft: E - Jewel Magecraft taught by Morgan. Only the most superficial basics are known.
Martial Arts Discernment: A++ - A special ability honed through countless real battles, allowing one to predict an enemy's moves with an effect akin to Future Sight.
Innocent Monster: A - Due to her own historical reconstruction, she has been branded by later generations with titles such as "Wicked Queen" and "Seductress." This allows her to freely alter her appearance toward greater beauty and exerts an additional attraction on married individuals.
Noble Phantasms:
[Sword of Destined Judgment]Rank: A++ Type: Anti-Fortress Noble Phantasm Range: 1-99 Maximum Targets: 1000 people Description: The companion sword to the Sword of Promised Victory. As long as the Sword of Promised Victory's restraints remain sealed and its true brilliance as the Holy Sword of the Planet is not unleashed, this sword possesses equal power.
Noble Phantasm II:
[Deception of Human Order, Falsification of the World]Rank: EX Type: Anti-World Noble Phantasm
Attack Range: Depends on the Mana consumed per activation.
Maximum Targets: Depends on the Mana consumed per activation.
Description: Among Mages, the true history of the King of Knights' era is still recorded. And you, the one who deceived Human Order and created the sole happy ending for the King of Knights—Mages of later generations call you...
The Greatest Mage of the King of Knights.
When this Noble Phantasm is released, the world will change according to your will, becoming the reality you desire.
When unreleased, it can overlay truth with falsehood within a small area. This falsehood will persist indefinitely until dispelled by specific anti-magic measures.
-
For a long time, Guinevere remained utterly stunned. But once she calmed down, she realized that if victory was the goal, her Servant Status was far from invincible in this war.
"So, the grand feat of deceiving Human Order became a Noble Phantasm, granting me Caster-class affinity.
But why was I summoned by this scum based on compatibility?"