This was an extremely silent and vast space. Dust permeated the cold winter air, and all around were only abandoned, cold mechanical devices, obscured by the dim night like gigantic, terrifying ancient beasts.
This abandoned mechanical factory, located in the eastern suburbs of Fuyuki City's Shinto (New City), a place that should have been deserted, welcomed new visitors after a long time.
First-grade lecturer in the Spiritual Evocation Department of the Mages Association headquarters, ninth-generation head of the Archisorte family: Kayneth El-Melloi Archisorte. It was hard to imagine a noble scion like him hiding in such a dilapidated place.
But the truth was, he had no choice. If he remained in Fuyuki City, the heavily wounded Kayneth would have no hope of escaping again. Out of necessity, Lancer had to take his Master back to the abandoned factory where they had hidden after the hotel building was bombed last night.
Now, having just regained consciousness from his coma, he sorted through his jumbled memories.
He had faced Saber's Master in a duel alone, sustained a chest injury, and then... Soon, he noticed something strange about his body. After waking up, he had no sensation in his limbs, yet his limbs were not bound by anything.
"Wha—what's going on…?"
His mind was enveloped by doubt and fear, and his body was unable to move. He lay on a makeshift bed, his upper body and waist tightly restrained by leather straps.
If it were just an inability to get up, that would be one thing, but what was with the complete lack of sensation in his limbs?
Only his body was bound; his limbs were unrestrained, yet—he felt nothing, as if they weren't his hands and feet.
How could this be!?
Then he discovered something even more terrifying had happened to him... He couldn't feel the presence of magic, not even the Magic Circuits. He was like a quadriplegic ordinary person. As a Magus, he was completely It's ruined (finished). "I… I…"
Tears flowed uncontrollably. This man, once called a "child prodigy," wept.
He completely failed to understand how he had encountered such a thing. In the past, the whole world seemed to bless Kayneth; he was a genius, destined for an unlimited future and glory.
Everything Kayneth once believed in was mercilessly destroyed, crumbling before him with a shattering sound. Faced with this cruel reality and incomprehensible situation, he could only cry timidly. The current Kayneth was like a toddler who had just experienced the meaning of terror.
"Son of man, why do you weep! Are you lamenting God's injustice?"
A strange, eerie voice suddenly rang out from the darkness. At this moment, Kayneth, who was more helpless than a child, was instantly gripped by a chilling fear. He used the only fully functional part of his body, his vocal cords, to shout in panic:
"Who is it?! Stop playing games!"
His shout was only to buy even a second of time. Even if his Magic Circuits were completely messed up and burned out, as long as his consciousness was clear, the command spells would function normally. Just as Kayneth was about to use a command spell to instantly summon Lancer—
"I might be your only chance to recover. Do you really want to do this? Abandoned Magus, if you summon that knightly dog who upholds God, then we truly will have nothing more to discuss."
Instantly, Kayneth hesitated. No one understood his current physical condition better than he did. This was the end for a Magus, absolutely incurable. Even if his bodily functions gradually recovered, the destroyed Magic Circuits could never be healed.
Magic was Kayneth's entire life and pride. He was a magical genius, a child prodigy. Countless halos and praises were brought to him by magic. Without magic, without all of this, Kayneth was no different from dead.
Seeing Kayneth's hesitation, the owner of the voice knew his objective had been achieved. A tall, dark figure emerged from the depths of the dark factory and walked a few steps into the moonlight. Kayneth was terrified out of his wits when he saw the person's appearance.
"Caster!?"
Indeed, the prominent skull patterns on his abrupt face made him appear unusually gaunt and grotesque. His exposed eyeballs were as large as incandescent light bulbs, as if they had no eyelids to cover them. His brown face, which suited him well, made one think of Munch's paintings. His attire was also peculiar and strange; he wore a loose, old, wide robe stained with blackened blood, with a thick collar around his neck, and held a grimoire emitting an ominous aura. Was this not Caster?
"Good evening, Magus, as Lancer's Master. My name is Gilles de Rais, and I have manifested as Caster in this Holy Grail War to resurrect the great and pure Holy Maiden, Joan of Arc."
"Gilles de Rais…"
As a Magus, Kayneth was familiar with this famous figure from France's Hundred Years' War—both a French national hero and a notorious black sorcerer who retired to his domains in Machecoul and Tiffauges to study black magic, torturing to death approximately 300 or more children, and subsequently being burned at the stake for it.
Being sought out by such a demonic entity could only mean trouble.
"Magus of the present age, please do not be agitated. I have no intention of harming you. Without a doubt, you too are a pitiful soul, toyed with and then abandoned by God."
Caster spoke a lot of insane nonsense that Kayneth couldn't understand. As a Magus, he didn't believe in the existence of any gods.
"What exactly do you want to say!?"
Kayneth again intended to summon Lancer. After all, he himself had previously dispatched Lancer to hunt down Caster, and he didn't believe the other party came to him with any good intentions.
"Magus, I know there have indeed been some unpleasantries between us, but I will not hold it against you, for you, too, are merely misled and enticed by God's dogs, just like my Holy Maiden. Think about it, if it weren't for the proclamations issued by those dogs of God, would you have met such a tragic end?"
Upon hearing this, Kayneth couldn't help but grit his teeth and secretly resent the Church. If it weren't for the Church's declaration of rules to encircle and annihilate Caster, he would have absolutely stood by and watched the battle between Saber and Caster. If Lancer had been with him when he attacked Einzbern Castle, he would never have ended up like this.
That's right, it's all because of the Church, the Church that secretly colluded with Tohsaka Tokiomi, that caused me to become like this!
"Precisely so. God loves no one. He merely stands high in the heavens, looking down upon all beings, toying with humans as if watching a joke, and then abandoning them. Everyone in the world is an object of God's manipulation. And seeing you, sir, similarly mocked and then abandoned by God, I feel it is my duty to extend a helping hand."
"Why help me? Aren't you also pursuing the Holy Grail?"
Kayneth questioned Caster, unable to comprehend.
"No, sir, you misunderstand. The so-called Holy Grail holds no meaning for me anymore, for my wish has already been granted! The great and pure Holy Maiden has been resurrected in this era, but alas, her spirit is still under the manipulation of the wicked God. Even after rebirth, God has not let her go!"
Caster's voice became agitated with anger, and he roared at the sky. Perhaps he had already cast a sound-isolating barrier, which was why Lancer wasn't drawn over. Of course, if Kayneth used a command spell to summon him, no barrier could stop it.
"Therefore, I originally intended to commit a shocking evil deed to tell that poor girl that God does not love people! But if it were just that, then there is still one person I cannot tolerate. I never imagined that a child of god would come into the world, to personally torment the world in God's stead, to offer a series of ridiculous jokes to God!"
"A child of god?"
Kayneth looked at the mad Caster with incomprehension. Caster then directly took out a crystal ball and held it in front of Kayneth. Images were then projected from the crystal ball, showing Tohsaka Rin.
"Feel it, my pathetic sir. Look at your current predicament, then look at her incomparably dazzling figure. Do you feel God's favoritism and doting love for her? She is clearly just a seven-year-old child, yet she possesses the most perfect body and strength comparable to a Heroic Spirit. It's as if God has given her all the good things in the world in one go."
Her first battle was astonishing. She single-handedly fought against King of Conquerors Rider, then double-teamed Archer with Berserker, displaying strength that was not inferior to any Heroic Spirit.
"Even more ridiculous, like a scene mocking you, sir, is this. Besides God's prank, there's truly no other explanation."
Next, there was the battle between Tohsaka Rin and Kiritsugu Emiya. Kiritsugu Emiya, whose single shot had doomed Kayneth, was toyed with like an ant in front of Tohsaka Rin. The bullet that had ruined Kayneth's entire life was like a joke in front of Tohsaka Rin; even if she did nothing and allowed herself to be hit, it couldn't penetrate her body's defense.
Kayneth no longer cared about the subsequent scenes. He only felt that the battle between Tohsaka Rin and Kiritsugu Emiya was like the world's malice directed at him. His glory and pride of over twenty years lost all meaning in front of this girl. Halos like child prodigy and genius felt like mockery to him.
Kayneth's genius was a complete joke compared to Tohsaka Rin's!
Over twenty years of self-confidence and pride were utterly shattered. The enemy who had doomed him could be extinguished with a flick of her hand. There was no need for any argument.
Envy, jealousy, hatred... all these negative emotions of a subordinate towards a superior surged forth, filling Kayneth's mind.
"See! She is the messenger sent by God to mock the world, to crush the confidence and pride of all those who struggle for the future. And the only one who could understand the true nature of God, my Master Ryuunosuke Uryuu, also suffered at her cruel hands! She used malicious means to keep him alive, only for him to die right in front of me when I found him... Ah ah ah—! My Master, who else in this world can understand true art..."
Caster buried his face in his hands and burst into tears. It was clear he was genuinely mourning the death of Ryuunosuke Uryuu.
"I no longer have any expectations for this world, so I am going to do something to destroy this world mocked by God! However, I cannot guarantee whether this can kill the child of god doted on by God. Therefore, I wish to entrust this important task to you, sir. As long as you still need the Holy Grail, you will inevitably have a battle of life and death with her. Having been played with by God to this extent, your hatred for God must be no less than mine."
If a third person were observing closely at this moment, they would notice a wisp of jet-black color swirling in the deepest part of both Caster's and Kayneth's eyes.
"Then how do you plan to help me?"
This was undoubtedly what Kayneth cared about most.
"Don't panic, Magus, sir. Perhaps even the best doctors are helpless with your injuries, but aren't the devil's methods always more numerous than humans'? As long as you pay a sufficient price, the devil is omnipotent!"
"Clap, clap."
Caster clapped his hands twice, and dozens of children with vacant expressions slowly emerged from the dark shadows of the factory.
"Come on! Children, it's your time to shine!"
Caster enthusiastically greeted these children like an old man from an orphanage. If it truly were an orphanage, then its location must be in hell.
"This is the sincerity and gift I have prepared for you, sir. Each of these children possesses a certain degree of Magic Circuits aptitude, and with..."
"And with her, it is enough to reshape your Magic Circuits system. And the most important thing to kill the child of god is powerful strength, but exchanging power for a price is precisely the devil's specialty. This grimoire I hold, obtained from my former allies, contains enough methods to enhance your and Lancer's power. Magus, sir, are you willing to embark with me on this magnificent path of resisting God?"
Without a doubt, this was a one-way ticket to hell, with no turning back. Sacrificing Sola, who was for a political marriage, and privately undertaking forbidden magical modifications meant that neither the Clock Tower nor his family could tolerate him anymore; he might even face a sealing designation.
However, at this moment, Kayneth's heart was completely filled with jealousy and hatred for Tohsaka Rin. No emotion or will could suppress this impulse. All he wanted was to ruthlessly trample the girl who had stripped away and shattered all his pride!
"I accept..."
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