[Mass Update: 8/8]
[T/N: That's all for this week guys. ENJOY!]
In the pitch-black cavern beneath the surface, the Holy Grail silently carried out its designated functions.
It was supplying mana to the Servants to sustain their contracts with their Masters, and swiftly reclaiming Command Seals the moment a Master was defeated...
As the cornerstone of the Holy Grail War, based upon the Third Magic, the "Heavenly Grail" its mechanisms far exceeded the framework of the standard Grail system. This complexity often misled foreign magi into misjudging its true nature.
To this day, very few knew the true location of the Greater Grail, and even if they did, they could do nothing about it.
Because it had already been dyed black.
Within the Greater Holy Grail, submerged in a dark tide of pure magical energy, a cursed shadow stood silently at its core.
This realm had become a domain of its own. In the center of the churning waves stood a mountain of dried corpses. The sky above, a bleeding red, cast an eerie, baleful glow.
Cries of agony and despair echoed through the hollow abyss, and in the midst of it all stood a hypocritical god of evil.
"No one's died yet? Not a single Servant down in our first round? Tch…"
Angra Mainyu, the embodiment of humanity's collected malice, dubbed the Evil of the World had twisted the Greater Holy Grail with his corrupted nature upon entering it. What he longed for was rebirth… and humanity's destruction.
"This won't take long. I forced the final participant into qualification, completing the lineup. They've all been drawn into this spiral of cruelty, and I can already feel his malice surging… there's no chance they'll stop fighting now."
Remembering the whim that led to that fateful manipulation, Angra Mainyu's lips curled into a twisted grin. He'd originally picked the seventh Master on a whim, but who would've expected such talent? Even with so many elements missing, the Master managed to summon a Servant quickly and eliminated a contestant before the war even began in earnest.
Though lately, he'd felt the bond between himself and the Holy Grail growing faint, the spiritual link weakening ultimately, it was a trifling issue. As the core of the Greater Grail system, Angra Mainyu held supreme authority within it. Neither Servants nor Masters posed a threat to him.
His concern lay elsewhere.
He turned to face a stone altar standing across the chamber, where ten gray, octagonal rune stones were arranged in a circle.
Though his power as a nameless Heroic Spirit, born with the title "Evil of This World" was pitiful compared to other Servants, and he'd been quickly eliminated in the previous Grail War, his soul had fallen into the Greater Grail, tainting its magic with his curse. By leveraging the Third Magic, he took form once again, becoming a part of the Grail itself.
Originally, he was meant to slumber here, waiting for a victor to make a wish at which point he would twist the outcome, be reborn through the corrupted Grail, and fulfill his role: the annihilation of acursed mankind.
But when he began corrupting the Grail, he made a startling discovery:
There was already a powerful being entrenched within.
Thankfully, it seemed to have lost all will. During the Grail's moment of instability, it manipulated two fortunate Masters through their contracts, used its unfathomable power to distort the system, and summoned twelve special talismans.
Each of the twelve was extraordinary, unique in form, formidable in ability. Together, they formed a power that took even Angra Mainyu by surprise.
What puzzled him most was that the entity vanished shortly after summoning the talismans. What had drawn its attention away?
Still, this unexpected turn had given Angra Mainyu a golden opportunity. He no longer had to wait for some eventual chance. If he could use these talismans and the power of the current Grail to make a wish, he could be born not as a shadow of humanity's malice… but as a true god of evil.
"They've taken two more… Hmph. No matter—they'll deliver the rest themselves."
Even he coveted that power. How could the cursed ones resist it?
Though the talismans remained intact, the long journey had drained them. Their magical signatures were weak.
Even using all his strength, Angra Mainyu couldn't activate them, let alone restore them. But that didn't matter. After sixty years of accumulation, Fuyuki's leylines had reached the critical threshold for wish-making. By channeling that power and the Third Magic, the talismans could be awakened again. He was confident the current wielders wouldn't waste such an opportunity.
All he had to do now… was wait.
These ten talismans had been tainted by his essence for long enough. He was sure that the two who currently possessed them couldn't have fully mastered them.
When he was resurrected, he would take the talismans for himself. Unless they were the rightful owners, true inheritors, Angra Mainyu had no reason to fear any challenger.
Though his soul knew only hatred and malice, when he imagined the moment the talismans were reunited, his expression twisted into a grotesque excitement.
"My soul is trembling…"
And from the pitch-black Holy Grail, came a terrible, echoing laughter.
---
"Hmm?"
Roland sat at the dining table, carefully carving a gemstone with a small knife.
"That's right, Master. Good job. This definitely has nothing to do with me…"
Medea, watching from the side with admiration and a hint of exasperation, muttered, "Honestly, the way you make magical tools… sometimes I'm not sure who the real Caster is."
"Well, this is technically my first real gift. I figured it's safest if you give it a once-over, just in case I missed anything."
Roland replied absentmindedly, eyes focused as he gave the piece its final touches.
"By the way, where's Sakura?"
"She went out grocery shopping early this morning… Damn it, how is a kid better than me at household chores?!"
Medea pouted, clearly annoyed.
"You let a child go out alone?"
"A kid?" Roland chuckled. "With the protection charm you gave her, even an average magus would have a hard time breaking through her defenses. Plus, I sent some of the shadows to watch over her. What could possibly—"
He paused mid-sentence.
His pupils glowed crimson, brighter than ever, as if they were about to burst.
"Someone from the Matou family has come knocking."
"Matou Zouken?"
Medea's expression tensed.
"No. Berserker's Master."
Roland stood up and flicked the finished talisman into the shadows.
"Perfect. Let's go ask him if he knows anything about the destruction of the Matou estate. And while we're at it, let's make sure he understands the price of touching what's mine."
"And take the chance to get rid of that Berserker too."