CHAPTER 1: BROKEN GRAIL WAR : PROLOGUE

"How could this happen, Da Vinci ?"

If there was one thing Olga Marie Animusphere prided herself on, it was the immense propensity she held for learning, understanding, and keeping up to date on whatever situation she or the Chaldean team had found herself in.

She had managed to get a basic grasp of the group's new objective during her short time spent with Fujimaru — yet it seemed such information was about to be upended on its head. Da Vinci's head shook as she spoke with solemnity, the Heroic Spirit's bottom lip protuding slightly and her lips turned downwards.

"It shames I, the omnipotent genius, to say this, but…I don't know. What I am aware of, however, is that unknown effects have resulted in the forceful rewriting of the Lostbelts, replacing them with something much like a fusion between them and Singularities — at least, that is what I can gather from cross-referencing the data Ritsuka-chan's already collected."

The female continued to speak, reciting facts newly gleaned from the

The air was heavy with contemplation, but surprisingly (for the recently revived), the Shielder was the first to speak.

"If that's what's happening…I think Senpai and I can handle this. We just need to go there and make sure whatever anomaly's in it stops, right ?"

The former Grand Caster looked to the purple-haired girl with obvious worry in his tone. One didn't require precognition or telepathy to know what Romani was thinking.

"It would be risky, Mash. We can't afford to lose you or Ritsuka if this new…whatever it is turns unstable or collapses in on itself !"

"…No. Mash is right."

Chaldea's forty-eighth Master candidate met the eyes of each of the four in turn, her resolve visible in her orange orbs.

"I'll go. Do we…do we have the co-ordinates on the next one ?"

Da Vinci's nod was immediate.

"We've pinpointed the nearest one to here, and I can prepare the shifting in thirty minutes at most — though I can't say I'm not surprised. I thought we were long done with that place."

Her fingers tapped against the Shadow Border's complex mechanisms. Hexagonal pixels spread across the screen, giving forth the sigil of Chaldea before underlining it with a simple sentence.

𝔼ℕ𝕋𝔸ℕ𝔾𝕃𝔼𝔻 ℂ𝕀𝕋𝕐 𝕆𝔽 𝔽𝕀ℝ𝔼 : 𝔽𝕌𝕐𝕌𝕂𝕀

"Let silver and steel be the essence.
Let stone and the archduke of contracts be the foundation
Let ⁕⁕⁕⁕⁕⁕ be the colour I pay tribute to
Let rise a wall against the wind that shall fall
Let the four cardinal gates close.
Let the three-forked road from the crown reaching unto the Kingdom rotate."

Six sigils set themselves alight, mana flowing through a conduit provided by sanguine that had been poured with utmost care into mystic sigils carved into the ground. Six figures, bodies outlined by the glow of the circle and shadowed by the darkness of either the sable night or the private chambers where they were calling forth the spirits of the past to do battle, raised their hands as mana poured forth from them to assist in the formation of the Servant's physical body.

"I hereby declare.
Your body shall serve under me.
My fate shall be your sword.
Submit to the beckoning of the Holy Grail
If you will submit to this will and this reason…Then answer!

An oath shall be sworn here!
I shall attain all virtues of all of Heaven.
I shall have dominion over all evils of all of Hell!"

One deviated from the process then, lengthening the chant by a mere three lines — yet those three lines caused alterations irreversible to a Saint Graph and the consequential summoning.

Yet you shall serve with your eyes clouded by chaos.

For you would be one caged in madness.

But I shall wield your chains.

The beginning of a Grail War, twisted and bastardised by the higher powers that commanded fate. A truly disgusting dislocation, where not even all seven Classes were summoned and countless anomalies pervaded the process — all in all, something that would've made regular magi recoil in complete horror, for Heaven's Feel was surely unachievable now. But its participants did not care, could not care — even a warped chance was still a chance.

"From the Seventh Heaven, attended to by three greet words of power,
Come forth from the ring of restraints,
Protector of the Holy Balance!"

At once, six new entities manifested in sparkles of golden prana. A sentence fell from their lips as one, though some worded it in stranger or cruder ways.

❝ Aяє уσυ му Mαѕтєя ? ❞

"Fuyuki City again, huh ?"

"Indeed. Unfortunately, pre-emptive scans of the newly formed area — we've tentatively called them Deadspaces, if you'll pardon the weird name — suggest neither Caster nor Zhuge Liang will be around to help us, so you'll have to handle yourself, Ritsuka. Furthermore, while you've been tossed into a Grail War, at least that"

"Don't worry, Da Vinci-chan. Mash and I can do this."

"I hope so. Best of luck. Initiating Paper Moon…now."

Chaldea's Ace relaxed her tensed muscles as azure light engulfed her and her Servant companion, bringing them for a third time into the land where flame cloaked the idyllic-seeming area, and into the thick of yet another perilous situation.

…Why ?

The question stuck with her for the seconds it took to arrive within Fuyuki.

At night, the city's streets appeared desolate. The occasional insect might cut through the darkness in a flurry of fluttering wings, or the sound of a bird might eliminate the silence for brief moments, but in the area devoid of people and lit merely by random streetlamps or the orange glow from a lit window, Ritsuka felt chills clamber up her spine.

"You are of which Class ?"

"I'm Rider ! Ufufu, you're not a strong man, but you'll do !"

"If strong men is what you desire, there shall be aplenty waiting for you. You only have to follow my lead…so I can claim the wish I seek."

"Ufufu ! That's wonderful. Don't worry ~ they'll be mine, whether they like it or not."

"Good to hear, I suppose…enjoy yourself to the fullest, Queen Medb."

"I've got to say, this is the first time someone's called me forth in a state like this — some say Lancer is my best class, you know."

"I couldn't care less about those people. You will do well enough to assist me in my plans for this War — or whatever mockery of it still remains. Tsk, annoying…"

"Hmph ! You underestimate the strength of this Berserker. Though I'm but a measly Ulster warrior…upon my summoning, this war became merely a massacre."

"I'm pleased to hear that…Cú Chulainn."

"I am the man who rose to victory over countless others, and the glorious captain of the Fianna Knights ! Lancer has answered your call, Master. I'm counting on you."

"Perhaps something good…yes, I will surely be able to restore glory to the name that rightfully should be held above all others. Come, we must discuss plans for this war…Fionn mac Cumhaill."

"Oi, Master ! Glad you've called me in a proper class this time."

The jovial voice would do enough to shock Ritsuka during her temporary state of alertness as she scanned the empty lanes around her, trying to determine where she should first approach. Wheeling around, the magus' eyes met crimson orbs and soon filled with relief at meeing a familiar face for once. This version held not a plain brown staff but rather a red spear that glew with energy — the words the Caster had spoken in Fuyuki what seemed like months ago echoed in Fujimaru's mind.

"Lancer !"