Tonight, Fuyuki City was shrouded in a thick, oppressive fog of magical energy.
The gears of the Holy Grail War had begun to turn.
In the shadows unseen by ordinary people, the rituals of miracles were detonating one by one, ignited by the rising and falling chants of incantations.
In the suburban forest.
The scrawny young man, Waver Velvet, stood trembling before a crude altar.
As a student of the Clock Tower, he should have been burying his head in magical theory during class. Instead, driven by constant questioning and doubt, he decided to take a desperate risk.
"Professor Kayneth, I'll prove it to you! Even a weak magus can reach the top through sheer effort!" Waver muttered through gritted teeth.
He tightly gripped a piece of red cloth in his hand. It was said to be a fragment of the mantle worn by the King of Conquerors, Alexander the Great, during his life. Under tonight's moonlight, it felt exceptionally heavy, as if it still retained the heroic ambition of conquering the world.
This was the [Sacred Relic] he had stolen from Professor Kayneth's laboratory, the catalyst needed for the Servant summoning ritual.
"Let silver and steel be the essence. Let my master Spinoza be the foundation!"
"Let the descending wind become a wall. Let the gates in all directions be shut, coming forth from the crown, and let the three-forked road to the kingdom cycle endlessly."
"Fill! Fill! Fill! Fill! Fill!"
"And let it be filled across five stages!"
As the incantation was chanted, the magical energy in the atmosphere began to run wild. Gale-force winds swept up fallen leaves, forming a massive vortex.
In the center of the vortex was the summoning circle he had meticulously drawn with silver powder and his own blood, now shimmering with a faint blue light.
The magic circle consisted of three concentric rings. The outer ring was inscribed with runes to bind the Heroic Spirit, the middle ring served as a bridge connecting the World of the Living to the Throne of Heroes, and the inner ring was the placement site for the sacred relic.
The mantle fragment was secured in the center, trembling slightly as Waver poured his magical energy into it.
Waver's voice trembled at first, but as the incantation progressed, his tone gradually grew firm:
"I am the one who shall achieve all the good deeds of the world. I am the one who shall exact all the evils of the world."
"And you, clad in the Great Trinity of Words, come forth from the ring of deterrence, O Guardian of the Balance—"
Magical energy surged from his circuits like a tidal wave, pouring into the magic circle.
The silver powder lines lit up, first a faint blue, then shifting to a searing crimson.
The sacred relic mantle fragment began to heat up, its edges even emitting wisps of blue smoke!
The fabric was awakening, calling out to the king of the past!
"Answer, my summons!"
Boom—!
As his words fell, a majestic storm of magical energy erupted from the center of the magic circle!
Lightning struck the center of the circle without warning. The earth cracked amidst the tremors, sending dust flying into the air.
Waver was blown backward by the shockwave. He stared intently at the magic circle, where a crimson light pierced the sky, and the thunderous sound of galloping hooves rolled out from the depths of the void.
Immediately after, a towering, muscular figure appeared before Waver.
He wore a bright red cloak, his eyes as sharp as a falcon's, and a majestic, wild aura wrapped around his body.
"Boy, are you my Master? You look awfully frail!"
Meanwhile, in a luxurious mansion in Fuyuki City.
The magus Tokiomi Tohsaka elegantly smoothed the wrinkles on his suit.
His gaze was calm and confident. As a lecturer at the Clock Tower and the current head of the Tohsaka family, his mastery over magecraft had reached the pinnacle of perfection.
A golden mist slowly dissipated before him.
A figure clad in golden armor, bearing an expression of supreme arrogance, slowly stepped out from the golden light.
Short golden hair gleamed in the light, and crimson eyes sparkled like jewels. He exuded a sense of detachment that transcended the mortal realm, as if all things in the world were merely his playthings.
"I shall ask this. Who gave you permission to look directly upon me?"
Elsewhere, in the Einzbern Castle on the outskirts of Fuyuki City.
A man in a black trench coat with cold, stern eyes stood before the summoning circle in the grand hall.
"Kiritsugu, is this really enough?"
"You say we are summoning a Heroic Spirit, but won't using such a simple ritual cause problems?"
The speaker was the man's wife, a silver-haired, red-eyed homunculus—Irisviel von Einzbern.
And the man standing before the magic circle was the renowned Magus Killer, Kiritsugu Emiya. "Actually, summoning a Servant doesn't require a massive spiritual evocation ritual."
He casually pointed at the magic circle before him, his tone indifferent. "In reality, it is the 'Holy Grail' that summons the Servant. As a Master, I am merely responsible for supplying magical energy so the Heroic Spirit can firmly anchor themselves in this world."
"Begin, Iri."
Following his command, Irisviel placed the sacred relic she held in her arms, [Avalon], onto the altar ahead.
Then, Kiritsugu Emiya began his firm and calm incantation:
"Your body is entrusted under my command, my fate is entrusted to your sword..."
As the incantation proceeded, the magical energy surged forward.
Avalon, the legendary scabbard of the King of Knights, began to emit a soft glow.
The flames on the candlesticks turned blue, and the magic circle bloomed with a pure azure light.
Ripples of magical energy spread outward, causing the castle walls to tremble slightly.
"...Cross the ring and manifest here!"
Hum!
A blue rift opened from the center of the magic circle, and a noble, sacred aura poured out from within.
From the rift, a young woman clad in silver armor slowly stepped out.
Her short golden hair was tied into a ponytail, and her green eyes were clear and solemn.
"I ask of you, are you my Master?"
At this very moment, the three kings crossed the void with the power of the Third Magic, descending upon the territory of Fuyuki City as Heroic Spirits.
The King of Conquerors, Iskandar. Class: Rider.
The King of Heroes, Gilgamesh. Class: Archer.
The King of Knights, Artoria. Class: Saber.
The arrival of the three kings heralded that this Holy Grail War would stage the most brutal slaughter and struggle.
But at the same time, almost simultaneously, the three kings looked toward the horizon.
Iskandar, who was listening to Waver's introduction to modern knowledge, suddenly furrowed his brows. He looked toward the Shinto district of Fuyuki City, a battle-hungry smirk appearing on his lips. "Oh my... It seems the opening ceremony of this era is much more explosive than I imagined."
Inside the Tohsaka residence, Gilgamesh didn't even spare a glance for the humble Tokiomi Tohsaka. Instead, he tilted his head slightly, a flash of displeasure and curiosity crossing his crimson, snake-like eyes.
"Such a chaotic, filthy, yet anomalous presence... Did this unpleasant Holy Grail actually drag in such a lowly wild dog?"
And Artoria, the legendary 'King Arthur', instinctively tensed her body the moment she answered the contract.
"Master, please be careful! An extremely powerful magical reaction has appeared in the southeast..."
"Is that a Servant? It feels like an amalgamation of malice intent on destroying the world..."
From the very first second, this Holy Grail War had derailed from its predetermined tracks.
The perspective shifted back to that blood-scented basement.
Ryunosuke Uryu's body stiffened.
It wasn't that he wanted to stiffen, but rather that he was currently being lifted into the air, a strong, powerful hand gripping his throat.
"Kid, why do you look a bit familiar to me?"
Asuka looked at Sumire Kamado, who was still slumped weakly by his feet, and asked in confusion.