Chapter 2: The Moonlit World

-Japan, 2085-

Solomon dressed in his regal garb in his true form walk out from the research facility carrying a six years old boy with numerous dead and injured left in his wake. The King of Magic almost cry seeing the sleeping boy in his arm. If he had known that this kind of thing will happen, he would've eliminated magic entirely from the world during his original reign as King of Magic.

An injured member of the Yotsuba tried to cast a spell at Solomon. But he never managed to even start the magic sequence when a literal sword of light was stabbed into his back followed by Merlin appearing.

"You shouldn't let your guard down even if they can't really harm you."

The Magus of Flower told Solomon. He scour the entire area using his elemental sight and found no traces of any combat capable magician. The two of them have either killed or incapacitate anyone capable of fighting against them.

Yotsuba the invincible and untouchable. Merlin scoffed. For a clan with such mighty reputation none of them prove capable of stopping the two of them, although Maya herself had almost come close to actually harming him if it weren't for his barrier of Avalon. That Meteor Stream of hers is an impressive piece of magic to actually force him to defend.

Though Solomon just walk through those without any problem. Mortal magic had ceased to be even a nuisance for him. His title as King of Magic is not just for show after all. No mortal could kill him and those who has a chance to do so like the Magis of Flower himself is on his side.

In fact, it was actually Merlin who did most of the fighting. Solomon just walk in to the research facility in a straight line, not bothering to take any turn and just blast his way through. Only enemies directly in front of him are subjected to his wrath while the rest was taken care of by Merlin.

"How could they try to do this to a boy? Just because he doesn't have a power they recognize doesn't mean they should subject him to this."

Solomon lament. To operate on a boy with a magic that will erase his emotion for the sake of giving him false power because he doesn't have what they have, it's just rubs him the wrong way. Parents should love their children no matter what deficiencies they have.

"The two of them seems forced, Miya even more so than Maya. I saw Miya trying to hold back her emotion as she operates on her son."

Merlin said.

Solomon then look back to the destruction they (mainly Merlin) have caused. He sighs. Though the world had changed greatly, some things stayed the same.

"Most likely politics. Typical of families with power."

"So what are you gonna do with the boy now?"

"…I also wonder that myself. But, I think anything I could come up with should be better than what his fate would've been."

"Well… we just have to see about that."

The two magicians then vanish into the darkness of the night, leaving the facility behind them burning. This incident never got out to public or even to the other members of the Ten Master Clans but on that day, the Yotsuba learned that there are powers above them in this world and they have pissed off one of those powers. The survivors would have nightmares about a magician in white for many years to come.

-Tokyo, 2095-

The world had settled into an uneasy peace after the end of World War 3. All countries kept to themselves for the most part after a major rewriting of the world map at the end of the War that had cemented magicians as an effective living weapon with each country striving to further their research on magic. But even with all of the things happening all around them, rarely any of those matters bother the members of the Clock Tower.

Instead, all of them went on with their life doing what they are doing everyday even if most of their activities are technically against the law with how many times their magicians travel around the world without proper channel just to get to the site of their work.

For the members of the Clock Tower, their main purpose is the most important thing in their life; the protection of the whole world from the returning phantasmal species. They cannot be bothered by every little thing short of an all out war.

And currently, two of their younger members stationed in Tokyo are caught in one of their job when their local operator informed them of a breach near their vicinity and the duo immediately moved out.

Their location is an abandoned office building that's about to be demolished in a week. Two teens entered the building with weapons at the ready. One of them, the taller teen with black hair, wield a pair of gun-shaped CAD wit intricate design that has the name 'Trident' carved into their 'barrels'.

This is Shiba Tatsuya, a boy who ten years ago was taken in by Solomon after a short debacle with the Yotsuba. Until two months ago he had been living in London and before that he had spent at least three years in Vatican.

The other teen is the shorter of the two with slightly spiky reddish hair. Unlike Tatsuya, he doesn't carry any CAD with him. But that doesn't mean he is weaponless. His name is Emiya Tokita.

"Three of them, two nekomata and one kitsune."

"I see them. Four tails, it will take several shots but I should be able to defeat it."

Tatsuya said. He then pointed his CAD upward. With a single pull of a trigger, the ceiling disappear, creating a hole that will lead them to where their targets are. This is Tatsuya's power, Decomposition, the ability to break apart any object from the information dimension.

The two of them, using technique taught by their teachers, jump up through the hole until they reach an office filled with chairs, desks, and computers. A normal person and the majority of the magicians in this world, even if they see everything carefully or even use sensory magic, wouldn't be able to see anything wrong. But for Tatsuya and Tokita, they saw them as clear as day.

The creatures that lurks in the darkness of the world, those who should no longer exists but had started walking among humans once again. To them who possess special eyes, they can see them, two cat-like monsters with two tails each and a fox monster with four tails. Tatsuya point his CAD at where the kitsune is and pull the trigger. A low growl and a reaction from the kitsune is enough to tell Tatsuya that he can't immediately use Decomposition on this level of opponent but the fact that it immediately gave a reaction also told him that it won't take too long for him to destroy its defenses.

"No instant win?"

"No, though we should expect as much, a kitsune is one of the stronger youkai in Japanese lore."

"Then I'll take the two nekomata while you take the kitsune?"

"Fine with me."

At the corner of their eyes, the phantasmal species began to move. And so does Tatsuya and Tokita.

Tatsuya ran straight at the kitsune with both his CAD ready. He shot a bullet of pure psion at the kitsune. This spell is a non-systematic type modern magic that fell under the counter magic category called gram demolition. It is usually used by magicians to break apart magic sequence using pure psion and is a purely counter magic technique though it is one of the strongest.

But Tatsuya is not just an ordinary magician. Normal magician manipulate psion to influence phenomenon to cast what they call as magic. For Tatsuya, he can make it into something more due to his power.

Phantasmal magic, a higher category of magic that deals with higher mystery and the more unnatural aspects of the world. It is the magic supposedly sealed by Solomon at the end of the Age of Gods with only very few practitioners left. It is magic possessed by the phantasmal species and gods and humans from the Age of Gods.

It is a magic that cannot be learned as you have to be born with it because it is related to blood or miracle. Only those with blood from a phantasmal species running through their veins or those touched by miracle could utilize it. For Tatsuya, he had been touched by a miracle, the miracle of Solomon's Ring. And through this phantasmal magic, he gained a power that is only available to a select few even among the small amount of Phantasmal magicians, the manifestation of Origin.

The ordinary gram demolition which could only target psion now carry in it the property of Tatsuya's Origin, and one of his dual origin is destruction. The moment the gram demolition hit the kitsune, it explodes and blast the youkai backward.

Normally, gram demolition cannot touch any living being as it is pure psion and although it is called magic it does not manipulate any phenomenon and therefore it is unable to target any physical being.

But the phantasmal species are not beings that can even be said as physically present in the world. They are not made up of flesh and blood, they are not even made up of pushion which is what spirits under the ancient magic system are said to be made of.

They are made out of mana, or supernatural energy with a composition no different from air, fire, earth, and other basic elements. Tatsuya himself cannot explain it well.

Normally, magic depending on the manipulation of eidos, which is what modern magic is, will be severely weakened when facing anything made out of mana. This is caused by an 'element x' or simply called 'mystery' which is the only part of anything mana-based that is impossible to decipher even with elemental sight. It is the core of anything phantasmal related.

After all, nobody can tell what a 'mystery' is and how it will react.

But Tatsuya can use gram demolition to blast back the kitsune. It is because he had infused his 'nature' into the psion he is manipulating. It is a difficult technique that requires mastery of his Origin and great finesse in magic.

Psion is said to be the particle manifestation of intention and thought. So he put in his 'intent' into his own psions while activating his Origin. By that point though, what he had shot had ceased to be psion by textbook definition but as particle blast supercharged with his Origin.

The kitsune blown back immediately regain its footing as it lunge at Tatsuya who had to vault over a table to dodge its attack. Just a mere charge from it blew back the tables and chairs all around and almost blew Tatsuya away if he did not plant his feet firmly on the ground.

The kitsune stopped on the wall, creating cracks just from its landing. It then start creating several fox fire with its tail. It launch one at Tatsuya which he dodged. Two more was launched but Tatsuya intercept with gram demolition infused with the concept of 'destruction'.

The last one was launched the moment Tatsuya pulled the trigger and struck him just after he finished intercepting the last two fires. When the fox fire hit Tatsuya, his whole body explode.

The kitsune landed on the ground, satisfied with its victory over the human… until two more gram demolition hit it and Tatsuya reappear looking like nothing had happened.

Tatsuya quickly close in on the fox who tried to claw his face. It managed to get a scratch but Tatsuya force back the pain and shoot the fox at point blank range with another gram demolition. The kitsune though had lashed out with two of its tail and destroyed Tatsuya's whole head and made a giant hole on his chest just as it was sent flying away by Tatsuya's own attack.

But soon Tatsuya went back on the offensive when his body miraculously recovered from his fatal injuries that should've killed him. Tatsuya was about to pull his trigger when Tokita suddenly appear and shove three swords right down the recovering kitsune's throat. With one last yelp, the Kitsune's whole body disappeared like it was just an illusion, leaving the two teens behind.

"Two deaths?"

"I was about to finish it when you arrived."

Tatsuya's reply to Tokita's question sounds more like an excuse more than anything. Tokita shrugs. Not his problem anyway as long as the job is done. Although…

"We better get out of here fast. The police would be here soon. After that we report to miss Enfield. I want to sleep early since tomorrow is a big day."

Tatsuya nodded and the two of them jump down the same hole they came from. With their job done, there's no more reason to stick around and risk questioning from the police. Not when tomorrow they'll start attending high school, and not just any high school but a magic high school.

Merlin sure gives very bright ideas for them.

Finally done with another chapter of this damn thing. I just skipped the whole infiltration thing and did a small flashback since I really have no idea what to write there. This chapter is just an introduction to the magic I use here. Again, I should mention before anyone ask about magic circuits or nasuverse magecraft. Solomon NEVER invented magecraft as we knew it in Nasuverse so magecraft never exists. The Age of Gods ended with him sealing the phantasmal species away in the Reverse Side but the circumstances gave birth to two new magic system, the human and phantasmal magic system that originate from the two separated world with Modern Magic coming from the human world while Phantasmal Magic came from the Reverse Side (in a certain point of view). Details will be in the future. Some concepts are still retained though like Origin and Noble Phantasm.

Anyway, a short introduction of the two protagonists, Shiba Tatsuya and Emiya Tokita. Tokita is an OC I created because I need a proper magus who is both like Shirou and Kiritsugu in some ways. Tokita is actually Shirou's descendant. I will not tell this in the story so I'll just say this now. Tokita is a descendant of Shirou. Because there are no Grail War because the magecraft system does not exist, Shirou was just an ordinary magician who graduated high school and marry Tohsaka Sakura. Again, because magecraft doesn't exists, Tokiomi has no reason to give out his daughter making Sakura still a Tohsaka. Since FSN happens around the 90s or the start of the millennium, that means Shirou was alive around the time when magic first came to light and lived to see WW3.

Next chapter will be the boys entering First High and… rejoice shounen/shoujo, because Merlin will appear again as a constant recurring character.

Now for the revs.

A New User: I wasn't even planning for this to be a Fate crossover originally, even though it is just loosely.

Ruki: It's a moot point because magecraft doesn't exist here and Phantasmal Magic is basically superior even to modern magecraft because it is essentially magic from the age of gods.

Undefinedforever: There is no such thing as overkill.