Hey guys and gals it's me Bylackbre with a new story. I have been toying around with this idea for a while now and have finally found the time to write this down. This isn't going to be a normal Holy Grail War simply because a certain "hijacking" of sorts messes with the rules a just little. I will explain what exactly the changes made by the hijacker was in the ending author's notes.
Finale of the Third Holy Grail War,
The injured magus was hiding behind some rocks as the monster he had unintentially summoned continued to march towards where the Greater Grail was starting to form. The magus was only wanting to study the Greater Grail as it was forming but had no intention of summoning whatever it was that came out of the weird writing he touched. Saber, Angra Mainyu, and one of the other servants were still active from what the lone magus heard before he was forced into hiding from what was in the same area as him.
The magus heard boots running to the room he and the 'guest' were both in at the moment. Taking a peek from his hiding spot, the magus took a glimpse at the 'thing' making its way to the slowly forming Greater Grail. The being looked like a human wearing a heavily burnt suit of armor except he was taller than humanly possible and its body looked like a dying fire took a human form since even with the armor the magus could tell that the creature's body was burning and embers were being released from its body. When the knight first appeared, the magus thought it was a servant at first but him issuing orders to the knight only resulted in him barely avoiding death thanks to a coiled sword wreathe in an fire that seemed unnatural. The poor magus tried to defend himself but the knight in the red and black armor creating a ball of fire out of thin air and shot it at the magus. The only reason the magus was alive instead of instantly vaporized by the great fireball was because he had put up several barriers that barely allowed him to survive.
So now that burnt red knight was walking down the tunnel when the German soldiers that were in Japan at the time arrived without the red knight noticing. "Wirf die Stielhandgranate," the leader of Germans said after he fired his pistol and the bullets did almost nothing to the knight except get its attention. The captain's men threw a few Stielhandgranate while a MG-34 was being set up in hopes of killing what already massacred half the Nazis present for the Third Holy Grail War. The hand grenades exploded around the red knight and actually caused the being to stagger for a moment.
"Öffnen Sie Feuer!" The German Captain barked as he ordered his soldiers to open fire with the MG-34 as well as several more grenades were thrown. The hiding magus watched in amazement as the Soul of Cinder unleashed a massive Wrath of the Gods miracle that caused the grenades fly back towards the Germans and the MG-34 gunners to get shredded by the fire of their own machinegun. The German Captain was bleeding heavily but was still alive after being smashed into a wall thanks to the knight's attack and the grenades exploding. The German looked himself over and saw his body peppered with shrapnel and he was going to be dead in a few minutes before any help could get him to safety.
A second patrol heard the explosions and were quick to attack the burning knight upon seeing it. Both the magus and the injured German wanted to call out to the foolish soldiers to run but both were watching the knight change the grip on the sword to where it was held reverse grip style with what looked like blue energy gathering at the sword's hilt. The giant knight then held the sword with the gathered blue energy in front of it before thrusting forward hilt first. A beam of blue and white energy was unleashed which not only consumed most of the hall but disintegrated the second German patrol. Once the knight was finished using soul stream it then moved to where it was hearing the dying German officer was coughing.
"Go to hell burning knight," the dying man said in English with a heavy accent as he fired the last few of the bullets in his pistol straight into the knight's face. The bullets didn't faze the giant as it held its sword normal again before plunging it into the German's chest. "You are unfit to be kindling," the knight replied as it set ablaze the German's inside before swinging the sword with the impaled German in such a way that the human flew off the blade and into another wall. The magus who was hidden and had somehow survived watched the German's body explode into ashes upon impact with the wall.
"Humanity's darkness will soon taint this kindling, the First Flame will have this before the humans ruin it." the red knight said as it walked towards the almost completely summoned Greater Grail. The magus watched as the knight plunged the coiled greatsword into the ground which created a bonfire of sorts in front of the Greater Grail. All the Greater Grail needed to be capable of granting a wish was the death of two more servants but the gathered power was enough for the knight's task. An earthquake started on the surface after the red knight placed a hand on the Greater Grail and started to transferred its power to the newly created bonfire.
As soon as the power the Greater Grail needed to manifest was drained from it, the magical artifact disappeared with the Third Holy Grail War ending with the remaining masters being unaware of what happened and their summoned servants quickly disappearing. Satisfied with using the Greater Grail to power the dying First Flame back in its home dimension, the Soul of Cinder walked over to the bonfire and away from the newest link to the First Flame. The magus watched as a fog spread from the bonfire and it disappeared along with the Soul of Cinder.
Start of the Fifth Holy Grail War,
"What were those things from earlier?" Shirou Emiya asked as he started to wake up from his near death experience. The boy looked down at his shirt and noticed the large amount of dried blood over his heart. "That thing didn't nearly kill me, it actually did kill me." Shirou closed his eyes and tried to remember what exactly happened.
The thing that had 'killed' Shirou was one of two identical beings that clashed with a swordsman in silver armor with a blue armored hood that also served as a shoulder cape. The duo that attacked the swordsman had what looked like skeletal armor on but said armor was in a condition that looked like it would shatter with strong wind due to old age. The lone swordsman had a giant sword and shield while his two opponents only had a sword as well as a strange shield made of some kind of magic to help protect themselves.
Shirou had witnessed the fighting for just a moment before accidentally drawing the attention of the dark armored knights who quickly started to chase the young man. As he was running away, Shirou could almost swear he saw a woman in a black dress and a full head covering mask hiding in the shadows watching the events unfold. Eventually one of the pursuers caught up with Shirou and impaled him through his heart on the killer's sword before leaving.
The high school student didn't remember anything of what happened after his stabbing but an bell that served as an alarm told him one specific group didn't do it. Shirou barely rolled out of the way as one of the skeletal armor wearing knights from earlier dropped down from the ceiling and plunged its sword where the boy's head previously was.
"Our master wishes for your death and we shall obey," the dark spirit in the skull helmet said as he drew his sword from the floor and stared down Shirou who was using trace magic to enhance a pipe he had just grabbed. Shirou managed to block the swing of the sword but his guard was broken by a swift kick to the gut. The would be assassin was obviously not used to the thin walls that made up the building Shirou was in as the kick made the boy go through more walls than the assailant expected.
Shirou barely had time to recover before his attacker's partner made its presence known by missing with an upward swing. The second attacker followed Shirou until he made his way to the main courtyard by jumping through a window to dodge a slash from the attacker's dark sword. Shirou took a look at his surroundings and figured he might be able to make a break for the nearby shed without either attacker seeing only for both attackers to come charging towards him.
Shirou suddenly felt himself getting punched in the back and fell to the floor a few feet within the shed. "Not many people nor hollows could survive against one of us for so long, much less when there are two of us," the attacker that spoke earlier said as he gathered energy in his left hand so that he can use the dark hand's life drain on Shirou.
"I am not going to be killed that easily. I have things that I have to do that can't be done if I am dead so I am not going to die here for no reason at all. It is going to take a lot more than just you two to kill me." Shirou declared as the man who previously spoke lunged at the boy with his left hand opened. The would be executioner was too slow to react as his left arm was slashed and broken by an invisible sword.
The injured assailant looked at his broken arm and readied his sword to finish the boy and his protector. This woman has silver and blue armor just like the Saber from earlier. Our master said that there can only be one Saber in each Holy Grail War so happened to cause this mistake? Both of the people who tried to kill Shirou thought as they took a step towards the exit.
"Are you worthy of being my master?" The newly summoned Saber asked the boy who summoned her while the attacker with two fully functioning arms held up their dark hand as a shield to cover its partner who was drinking an estus flask to regain lost energy. Shirou was even more confused than his attackers but Saber could tell from looking at the boy and his would be killers just what do to.
The injured and uninjured attacker barely avoided Saber's strike by rolling out of the way and assuming a defensive stance in the area outside. The injured killer dashed forward swinging his sword and hoping to just weaken his foe. Saber stepped to the side of the man and then gracefully backstabbed him. The second attacker saw watched as its partner crumbled on the ground a few feet away after Saber pulled her invisible sword out of the dead man.
Her sword is invisible like the blade of Lady Yuria's Darkdrift, the surviving attacker thought as it alternated between blocking Saber's sword with the dark hand while missing her opponent when she swung her dark sword.
Saber could tell that while her opponents were stronger than most humans, they were not servants as evident by how quickly she cut down her second foe after studying the individual's fighting style. "These two weren't Assassin, then who were they?" Saber asked herself aloud before both she and Shirou heard clapping come from roof of one of the buildings.
"I must congradulate you Saber and Master of Saber, it is not everyday someone survives and single-handily slays a darkwraith," the masked woman Shirou thought he saw earlier said as she jumped from the roof and landed safely on the ground. It was only now that Shirou noticed that besides having a sword on her hip, the woman also had a strange red orb that made the boy feel a little uneasy.
"So you are the master of these two?" Shirou asked as he looked at the two corpses that were trying to kill him just moments before.
"I am indeed the mistress that those two darkwraiths served. I belong to the servant class known as Assassin in this Holy Grail War though thou may call me Yuria of Londor if thou wish. You will gain no advantages by knowing my name so it is safe to share with thee," Yuria said with a dignified bow. "I was merely testing these two darkwraiths and seeing how worthy young Master Emiya is of being a participant in this war. My task at hand is complete and I promise to not threaten your lives again until our next meeting."
Saber saw an opening while Yuria was bowing but missed as the assassin servant seemingly teleported out of the reach of Saber's sword. "My master wanted me to return after this task was complete so I do wish you two a safe night," Yuria calmly said as she used presence concealment and vanished into the night.
While Shirou was left alone with his new servant to discuss what will be happening from that point on, other similar things were happening across the city related to the other summoned servants.
A young pale looking girl had several dozen armored individuals with pointed helmets kneeling before her in her mansion. The leader of these berserkers stood next to the master of the Abyss Watchers while using a large portion of his concentration to just keep his fellow Abyss Watchers from trying to cut each other down. The captain of the Abyss Watchers was the only one not completely driven by madness but just keeping them from massacring each other strained him enough to cause near constant headache. The headache was the price he paid to be able to command the Undead Legion of Farron into obeying their new master's orders and being the sole Abyss Watcher capable of using their Noble Phantasm.
A foolish magus was slowly and covertly being corrupted into losing his will as well as humanity after he accepted a fancy ring from his servant whose face was hidden but weapons were clearly visible. Pontiff Sulyvahn stood with the Deep tainted Greatsword of Judgment in one hand and the fiery Profaned Greatsword in the other while looking out a window. This Caster's territory creation skill was ranked EX and was clearly visible since a large section of Fuyuki City was being temporarily terraformed into Irithyll of the Boreal Valley. That is until either Sulyvahn won the Holy Grail War and used the Grail's power to start the Age of the Deep or until the servant was killed off. Already Sulyvahn's Pontiff Knights and Fire Witches were patrolling for threats while Sulyvahn kept the Outrider Knights hidden away to deal with other threats posed against the Pontiff. The magic of Irithyll mixed with Caster's to create a illusionary barrier around the transformed section of the city so that anyone outside the barrier would be unaware of any changes while also being unable to enter without certain objects that Sulyvahn was using to stay safe by not letting intruders in.
A lancer in a set of golden armor with a lion motif stood on a skyscraper looking down at the human city below. Ornestein always held disdain for humanity but watching these humans had somewhat impressed the captain of Lord Gwyn's knights since what humanity had achieved since they abandoned their equivalent to the age of Fire impressed him. Ornestein continued to watch those he considered beneath him until the human who claimed to be his master called out to him. Ornestein had felt three presences being summoned after he was and while the power of their spirits were great and familiar, the Lancer with the moniker Dragonslayer was unable to identify them.
Rider was thankful his armor and the other attire he wore hid his expressions as well as they did. The Nameless King was not used to taking orders, especially orders from small humans who had the idea that because he was the one to summon The Nameless King as Rider that the former god would be an obedient slave to his new master. It was taking all the willpower within the Nameless King just to not cut down this pathetic excuse of a master and find someone who would be more worthy of being able to fight alongside a dragon riding war god of lightning like himself. This is why I prefer the company of dragons over that of Humanity and the citizens of Anor Londo.
While Rider was unhappy about serving a human, Archer felt as if fate was playing some kind of cruel trick on him by making him a servant to a human. Gwyndolin had manipulated Humanity for centuries back in Anor Londo by working with Frampt to have the humans seek out to link the first flame without a majority even learning of his presence. Now here Gwyndolin was serving in the Archer class for some war between humans over some holy relic known as the Holy Grail. Archer was a master of Illusions, actually he was currently using one to hide his snake legs, and so he could feel and strangely familiar feeling coming from what he could tell was a massive illusion elsewhere in the city.
Lastly the first Saber to be summoned, Sir Artorias the Abysswalker, was patrolling the area around his master's residence because he felt a few things that made the servant nervous. Artorias could sense that there were seven other servants making the total eight instead of the seven it was supposed to be. The knowledge that there are darkwraiths in the city made Artorias aware that forces of the Abyss were already active and it reminded him of his fight with Manus. Lastly while Artorias could tell that all the servants had been summoned, he couldn't tell their presence apart from a long distance though that didn't stop him from sensing three servants that had a power that made the knight feel nostalgic but a fourth servant gave the Abysswalker an odd feeling of curiosity and nervousness at why this servant felt off somehow. Either way Artorias continued to keep guard around the Tohsaka Estate while wishing he had either Sif or Ciaran to keep him company.
Now that all the servants had been summoned, it was time for the Fifth Holy Grail war to truly commence.
So the First Flame took control of the Greater Grail before Avenger could be absorbed and that somewhat changed a few things with the Holy Grail Wars. I know it was Avenger's corruption of the grail that allowed for less than heroic servants to be summoned and so servants like Pontiff Sulyvahn, Yuria, and possibly The Nameless King shouldn't have been able to be summoned but that is probably the main change brought about by using the Greater Grail to link the First Flame though I might mention another major change or two as the story progresses. To justify why both Sir Artorias and Arturia Pendragon (going to use this spelling instead of Artoria since it looks more like Arthur and to help differentiate the name of the two Sabers) were summoned as Saber is because the Greater Grail already chose Arturia Pendragon to be Saber before the First Flame pulled a harbinger and started "assuming direct control" by choosing its own champions from its world that had powerful souls no matter if they were good or evil so long as they had power. Also the First Flame isn't without corruption itself if you guys who have played Dark Souls remember how a certain someone could have corrupted the First Flame with very few realizing what happened. This corruption is the reason why the First Flame manipulated the servant choosing process into selecting Yuria and Sulyvahn both of whom were against the age of fire and wanted the Age of Dark and Age of The Deep instead. So what will happen when Shirou and Saber confront the individuals whose reputations make them known as the Dragonslayer, the Knights of the Wolf Blood, the Tyrant of Irithyll , the Sun's Firstborn, One of the Three Sisters of the Sable Church, The Wolf Knight of Farron, and the Last God of Anor Londo? I will see you guys when I have the next chapter finished and hope you leave a review or favorite this story if you like it so far. So until next time this is Bylackbre signing out.