Chapter 1 ~ Reevent ~
Do you envy?
To Envy or be envied, it is the poison
Our eyes are meant to bear.
Curable it may be,
Or malice it may lead thee.
A woman's heart so fragile could be,
Be it love or hate,
Bless it with the dragon's poison,
And Curse it with purity.
Do you envy?
Kayo Sudou ~ SigmaIotaNu Academy's "Library" ~
I found an interesting book in the library that keep records of an event kept in secret by the church. How this record got into this library, I do not know. All I know is that this event occurs every 60 years and the 16th time will occur within a week. It is known as the Evil Holy Grail War.
This "evil grail" is the counterpart of the Holy Grail of Arthurian legends which grants its owner any wish. It is "evil" in a sense that its form came from the evil mana leaking from every person. Every 60 years, the accumulated evil mana takes shape in the form of the Evil Grail. This Evil Grail will only choose 7 masters who reek of a certain kind of mana and will be given a servant of heroic or anti-heroic status. Both the master and the servant will have their wish granted only upon the confirmation of the death of the other six servants. A servant without a master will fade away unless he could form another pact with a master who lost their servant.
Silly as it may be, I decided to research more about it as boredom has stricken me these past days. This could be all just a big hoax or somebody's fantasy gone wrong.
I mean really, if next week is the 16th time and 960 years had passed since then, then there must already been 15 people whose wish were granted and is now immortal today. Come to think of it, this book always mention something along the lines of (also tells that often, there is) having no winner and the Grail disappears like saying let bygones be bygones.
As I rummaged myself into this book, Nurse Clarith came by as if looking for something.
"Ah! There it is!"
She pointed at the book I was reading.
"Miss Kayo, thank you for finding this book. I was tasked by the head priest to move some books into the library's archive but this book was very heavy so I decided to lay it down and come back for it. But it was suddenly gone from where I left it."
(The head priest?)
"You do realize I tripped on this huge ass book lying on the floor while searching for something to relieve me of my boredom."
"I'm very sorry! Please allow me to take it away from you"
"Hold on a sec."
I grabbed some paper and a pen from Nurse Clarith's chest pocket and wrote down the symbol and enchantment inscribed on the next page of this book.
"Here."
"Thank you very much. I'm sorry for causing you trouble."
Nurse Clarith lifted and heaved the huge ass book all the way down the archive.
I went outside and headed for a certain place.
The enchantments and directions I copied off from that book were simple. To summon a servant, simply draw a magic circle made from blood and chant the summoning runes.
In summoning, to summon a specific servant, draw the magic circle as described in the book, perform a ritual or place an item that describes that specific servant's life and chant poetic lines that describes that servant.
Since I don't know if this will work (which most likely will not) but I don't want to summon just any kind of servant so I "borrowed" a random fictional book from library. Apparently, I got "Genji Monogatari(The Tales of Genji)". I haven't read it yet and I wouldn't either way because this is just an experiment. I went to the nursery and again "borrowed" some blood transfusions in the fridge. I then went home and tested it out.
I don't know any poetic lines so I'll just enchant my favorite lines from a certain book.
It leaves a glistening wake behind it;
One would think the deep had white hair.
Nothing on earth is its equal-
A creature without fear.
It looks down on all that are haughty;
It is king over all that are proud.
I hereby propose
Thou shalt come under my command,
Abiding by the summons of the Holy Grail,
If thou dost accede to this will and reason,
Answer me!
I hereby swear,
I will be all that is evil in the eternal world.
I will be the disposer of hope in the eternal world.
Thou, the seven days clad in the lowly trinity,
Come forth from the circle of constraint.
Guardian of the Hellish scales!
The bright, maddening moon was covered by clouds and casted darkness upon my backyard. I freaked out for a bit but as the moon was lit again, nothing happened.
"It was interesting anyway."
I scratched my head and headed inside. As I slid the door open, an unfamiliar shadow casted upon the paper walls.
(Weird, I don't remember inviting any guest this evening.)
Good thing I always have my favorite scissors kept on my thighs. As I peeked inside, a woman was having a tea ceremony. She had her back turned and she had beautiful, long black hair and is wearing a furisode.
(Impossible! I should have sensed someone coming inside at least.)
Who is this woman? Why is she preparing tea in my house?
"Good Evening. Are you my master?"
(Master?)
"Would you like some tea?"
(Is she a servant?)
"…Who are you?"
"I have been summoned to this war as of the Assassin Class, Rokujo no Miyasudokoro."
"Assasin… Rokujo?"
"Please call me Assassin for now on. Come now, please have some tea."
I slid the door open and confronted her face to face… but what I saw was not what I expected.
She had a mask of Hannya on.
I was surprised but she doesn't seem to have any killing intent.
"May I know the name of my master?"
"I am SigmaIotaNu's Student Council President, Kayo Sudou. Why are you wearing a mask? How did you come in here?"
"Miss Kayo, pay no intention to my noble phantasm. Now please have some tea."
(Noble Phantasm?)
I gazed at the carefully prepared tea and took a sip.
"Hmm, this is good tea, assassin."
"My, thank you, my master. Now have a good night sleep."
"What do you mean-"
I lost consciousness. She had snuck poison in the tea. How shameful. I should have been able to sense her intentions. Well duh, she calls herself an assassin. I should have guessed.
I'm hearing the cicadas and a bright light shone on my face. I saw myself lying on the porch of my house and behind a kimono wearing woman sitting properly(seiza) while gazing at the birds.
"Good morning, my master. Would you like some breakfast?"
My body felt fuzzy and weird but in a good way.
"Assassin…what did you… do to me?"
"The initialization of my ritual. I have to know everything about my master."
"…and what did you find out?"
"You have a fruitless love that turned into chaos as you compelled yourself into the dragon's wrath, much like I did."
"…English please."
"You know very well what you did."
"I'm sorry but you're talking crazy talk. I don't know what you are saying."
"…I see. You have the ability to erase your own memories."
"Huh? Why would I erase my own memories?"
"That is for you to find out, my master."
She turned her face to me and I saw not the mask, but a beautiful face with gradient eyes as cold as the last circle of hell. She did say her mask was her noble phantasm. I have to research about her.
I have a summoned a weird ass servant. Wait a minute… If the summoning is successful, then… I quickly saw my scissors lying beside me and it had command seals, much like I saw in that book, embedded in it.
The Evil Grail War is about to happen.
Kayo Sudou ~ SigmaIotaNu Academy's "Classroom" ~
Upon reading about this bitch assassin, she was the first recorded Yandere of Japan. Over her grievance, she killed two of her rivals and got away with it because she cursed them to death. Upon coming back to reality, she decided to leave her lover and go away. I would say she would be better off as a caster if she can kill anyone just by cursing. But dirty killing is my specialty and I could use her to my advantage.
Apparently, she can change into spirit form and monitor the surroundings. Being of the assassin class, she can conceal her presence better than other servants. She also uses underhanded tricks rather this "code of honor" used by the Saber, Archer and Lancer class.
Also, since I have become a master with a servant, I must become wary of other masters. If only I could tell who they are. All I know is that their command seal will be embedded into their personal item. But What else?
As class ended, I went for the Student Council Room. There I saw a blonde brat with her blonde brat slave. They are of no concern to me right now for I have to know the whereabouts of the other masters.
"Don't just ignore me, crone."
"I have no time to talk to rascals who still wet their beds-"
The blonde brat's slave was somewhat polishing a hand mirror. It had command seals on it.
"It's no use, your highness. No matter how hard I scrub, it doesn't come off."
"THEN SCRUB HARDER!"
One of these blondes is a master.
Assassin who is still in spirit form is fidgeting over something. She's like fangirling over someone.
As I took a closer look at the hand mirror, an unknown student charges in.
"Rilianne! I sense danger is near."
"Saber! I told you not to associate with me when we are at school didn't I?! Also, didn't I told you to call me your Highness?!"
The blonde brat calls this woman "Saber" and this woman seems to be protective of the blonde brat. She had loose short blonde hair with a long braided ponytail. She gives off an aura of maturity with her curves and straight gaze.
Oddly enough, she is wearing our school uniform and yet she is "Saber"? Well of course you can always dress up your servant or you can keep them in spirit form.
Assassin's fidgeting is getting annoying. What the hell does she want?
"Master, why is fate cruel? Just when I have forgotten about my Hikaru Genji, he appears yet again!"
"Hikaru Genji of Genji Monogatari? Why would he be here?"
"That blonde boy with those two harlots is my Hikaru Genji!"
"Allen Avadonnia is Hikaru Genji?!"
"Who is this Allen you speak of? I only see my dear Hikaru Genji."
She is delusional over/in a delusion that the blonde brat's slave is Hikaru Genji the playboy? He was blonde? He was always depicted as the perfect prince of Japan with black hair and tall stature but this?
No way.
"Genji was always attracted with harlots with bless-filled bosoms and unique charms, while I had justice for havens and the curse of age. UNFORGIVABLE."
Wait. This could be a good thing. If assassin curses them now, I would be one step ahead of the game!
While assassin is preparing her curse, "Saber" and the blonde brat was still quarrelling.
"Shut up already, both of you. Blondy, who is this intruder of my haven?"
"Who are you calling blondy, you biddy? This is Jean-"
"Shhhh! Your Highness! You aren't supposed to speak of her nam-"
"I am Jeanne d'Arc, your presidency. I am sorry for barging in without consent but I had sense evil intent near my mast-"
The blonde slave was holding unto both of these blonde's mouth. A group of blondes eh?
(Jeanne d'Arc? The saint?)
The blonde slave hurriedly carried both those blonde idiots, while biting on the hand mirror, out of the room. Why is Assassin taking so long?
"I'm very sorry my master but I had already tried several times but I couldn't curse those two harlots. They are under a protection jutsu/spell of some sort."
Given that Jeanne d'Arc was a saint, she must have protected her master and herself with divine protection. That book did say that Saber classes have high magic resistance.
"Fear not my master, cursing may be my forte but it is not the only tool under my sleeve"
"Could we not strip her off of her divine protection instead? If she has no divine protection, she and her master are as vulnerable as a kimono waiting to be tailored by my scissors. They don't know we are enemies anyway, so we can research about her servant more freely."
"An applaud for such a great idea, my master. But I sense that it will be no easy task."
I agree. But it is possible as long as they don't know what is happening. It will go on smoothly.
While assassin was in a state of equilibrium between happiness and grief, I kept wondering… why is a saint brought into this evil war?
***************Earlier this morning**********************
Allen Avadonnia ~ Lucifenia Kingdom's "Palace • Rilianne's Room" ~
For he has chosen
To rebel against his beget.
Satisfied he was not
For he was the first
And yet he was not chosen.
Punishment befall unto him
To bless those like him
To teach those who are unfamiliar
And to begotten those like Him.
This morning was like any other mornings, except there was woman calling herself a knight intruding in Princess Rilianne's room. I couldn't restrain her for she had high mobility and flexibility. She calls Rilianne her "master" and she was the servant, "Saber".
She claims to be Jeanne d'Arc, the maid of Orleans. As if a saint of long ago could be alive. She was wearing a circlet that covered most of her nose, gauntlets and armor that protected her stomach and thighs. She spouted non-sense like "Evil wish granting grail" and "six other masters with their servants trying to obtain it". She also says that she is confused to be summoned by an evil artifact. She reasons out that the abnormal kind of summoning done was the reason a divinely heroic spirit was summoned in the Evil Grail War, where mostly evil heroic spirits or anti-heroes are summoned.
Rilianne testifies by saying she had a nightmare about being called for arson. She was tied up and burned at the stake. As she was dying of dolor and calor, she enchanted words she did not know herself and her ashes made a magic circle. As she woke up, there was a woman kneeling beside her bed asking if she was her master.
Weird, right?
She proves herself by calling forth her "noble phantasm" La Pucelle: The Crimson Holy Virgin, a holy sword that manifested her death. She swung it and fire came blazing out. The teddy bears and carpet decorated in Rilianne's room caught fire and I had to extinguish it immediately.
No matter how hard Rilianne tried to disown her, "Saber" kept saying that because Rilianne is her master, she had to protect her as her aide, whenever, wherever no matter what.
This woman sure is persistent.
As she thought that words will not persuade her anymore, she turned to me and explained everything. I couldn't refuse her and as she finished, I explained it to Rilianne.
(Saber does look a lot like Rilianne with added features.)
She does say she is only 19 years old, only 5 years older than us.
I explained to her that we had to go to school but she still exclaimed that she has to be nearby for other servants might already be targeting her.
I know all this seems none sense but we just couldn't shake her off. She "magically" changed her form into a high school student and pretended to be a senior in our school.
When Rilianne took out her favorite hand mirror, there was a weird scribble on the mirror. It looked like runes from a fantasy game. Rilianne couldn't simply dispose of it and just ordered me to clean it up.
****************************PRESENT**************************
Of all people, Kayo-san is the last person I want to associate with especially with these two. If Kayo-san got hold of all the twaddle this woman says, I don't know what she would do.
I stopped running when I was near the stairs. I let go of both of them and asked for forgiveness while holding the hand mirror behind my back.
As Rilianne got on and on with her sermon, Saber seems to have noticed the scribbles on the mirror.
"Master's twin, be more careful with handling that hand mirror. The contract that was formed between my master and I is inscribed on that mirror. They are called 'command seals'."
"Command seals?"
"Yes. They can be used to compel me to do an order even against my will. It can be used only thrice, once it's gone, my master is no longer a master eligible to obtain the evil grail. I, on the other hand, will have limited time before fading away."
Then that would also mean that if I destroyed this hand mirror, the contract between them will be severed. But this is Rilianne's favorite hand mirror and it was also passed down to her by our grandmother.
"You still couldn't erase the doodles on my hand mirror?! Fine, I don't need it anymore. Throw it away and get me a new one."
"But this was a present from Queen-"
"I don't care. It's just an old mirror and I don't want to own anything old. Get rid of it."
"But your highness-"
"Silence, Allen. If you don't dispose of it right, I'll take care of it personally."
Rilianne snatched the hand mirror and tried to forcefully throw it to the ground. Fortunately, Saber caught her wrist just when she gained initial velocity.
"Let go of me you dumb fuck!"
"I cannot allow anything that will cut off my chance to get my wish granted."
(Wish granted?)
"Let go! I order you to let go of me!"
One of the scribbled marking on the mirror disappeared and as Saber said, she was compelled to follow her orders. As she let go, darkness formed around her and transformed her. Her form was that of torn wings and a broken halo. Her outfit became all red and her armor all black. A fallen angel.
Her eyes were blank and the feathers of her torn wings fell off, leaving only black burned bones. She stomped once and scorched earth surrounded her.
"DE. VO. UR."
She reached out to the now unconscious Rilianne with her demonic hands and tried to devour her.
Even when the floor is scorched, I had to protect Riliane. I blazed(?) through the scorch and went up in front of Saber. In surprise, she stopped and her hand which was reaching out started to point at my forehead.
"KNEEL."
Short spit fire comes out of her mouth every time she utters a word.
"I will not! For I only kneel to Princess Rilianne!"
"WHY. WHY KNEEL TO SUCH INFERIOR BEINGS!?"
(What is she talking about?)
"YOU. ARE. DOOMED."
Her finger pressed hard on my forehead. It was hot, very hot as if I was being branded. After a few moments of pain, her whole hand gripped on my face and pulled me over near her face.
"DOOM'S KISS."
She kissed my forehead then pushed me over.
When I regained my balance, I saw Saber lifting her flaming sword up high and swung it, beheading me.
My severed head tumbled and as fate would have it, I was able to take a last look at Rilianne's sleeping face before blacking out.