Yet another time of death and torment approaches. The Grail War arises yet again. Despite the efforts to prevent it, it is above and beyond the ability of the humans who would disturb the regular course of things. They tried their most valiant to stop or stall the war, but that is the way of magic, it doesn't obey human laws, no matter how much they try. The abolished the practice of hosting the Grail Wars in Fuyoki City, but the mages don't really care. Their methods were above, and the world wished for it to be.

Denied by the Mage's Association, the Church, even some among them deny it as well, the mages still plan to participate. The magic has built up, grown to be enough to give rise to the servants for a long time. The two organizations still denied them, and foiled the efforts given to raise servants. They were in for a rude awakening however.

It turned out that the magic being built up for the summoning of the servants by the mages was grown to be too much. They had thought that they were saving humanity by preventing the war, they were really causing much ails to befall the human species. Sickness grew rampant, in proportion to how the black plague had struck long ago. And all because the planet was building up mass amounts of prana to be used, but there were no outlets.

Finally the organizations relented, they honestly had no choice. People were dying, and quickly. They finally joined in, giving way under the oppression of the people. The mages used the dying screams as fuel.

After the relenting wave, with some quick research, they found that much more than the usual amount of energy had gathered. There was usually only enough for seven servants to rise under seven masters. Now, it seemed like the entire Throne of Heroes was being emptied out for the purpose of this new war.

Mages were found wherever they could be located. Where before the war involved only those who lived in Fuyoki City, now it was much more widespread. All of the other Grail Wars that would usually serve this same purpose in other locations were integrated, making this a truly one of a kind experience.

The Mage's Association sent missives around the world to inform all mages around the world to the new format of the war. They responded, and the masters began their work.

In total, thirty-six servants were summoned. Some of whom were summoned before the actual war, some long before, even years before, just hiding in wait. But now they could come out and begin the true war. The first and last of its kind. Never again would the Association allow for this much prana to build up again.

So everybody wanted to participate. It was a great honor to just be in it, without coming anywhere close to victory.

Finally, the time has arrived. The time of the first and only, when heroes who have never been called into service before join in. The all encompassing war, spreading from horizon to horizon. From Japan, to America, to Europe, Africa, India, no matter where one came from, the war had some influence on them.

The Mage's Association called together the masters. with this much power coming to be, each servant would hold a massive amount of power beyond anything any servant held before. Thus when these servants died and went to give that power to the Holy Grail, it would result in an abominably more powerful end product.

(This story does not take into account the fact that Arturia finished her contract with the world. Neither some of the other ending types from the games/animes and other stories. Also noted should be the fact that she is still in this and the war is still on, despite her using her wish to abolish it.)