"Magus" – Talking
'Master' – Thoughts
"Monster" – Duel Spirits and other beasts talking
'Spirit' – Duel Spirits and other beasts thinking
"Magecraft" – Spells
[Spell Casters] - Bond speak
Disclaimer: I don't own the Fate series, the Yugioh series, or any of their characters. I only own the plot of this story and Desmond Blake.
Holy Grail War Saga
Fourth Holy Grail War Arc
Chapter 1 – A Most Unexpected Reincarnation
Unknown Date, Unknown Location
"Rise and shine, Mr. Blake!" I heard a voice yell at me. Startled, I open my brown eyes and look around my surroundings. Instead of seeing my bedroom though, I find myself at a bar of all places.
"Merlin's beard, where the hell am I!?" I yell and am rewarded with a chuckle. Following the sound, I double-take at the brown-haired man standing on the other side of the counter. "What hell did you come from?" I ask since I'm pretty sure there was no one there a second ago.
"Heh, if you must know, I just came back from watching an SI winning a Ranting Game against one of the many Naruto Phenex in the DxD Omniverse," the brunette replies with a chuckle.
"Eh?" is my genius answer to his statement. "What do you mean? Who are you?"
Smiling at me, his green eyes filled with mirth, the brunette motions to the bar with his finger. "Take a look around, Mr. Blake. Don't you recognize this bar?"
Ignoring how this stranger knows my name, I take another look around and try to remember if I have seen this bar somewhere else.
The counter seems to be lavishly decorated with several shelves stocked with wine and alcohol behind it. In the center is a beautiful centerpiece with a circular design. Below the shelves are drawers and an oven. The bar itself is rather dark and spacious with not much lighting and uses dark colors such as purple and red. There are tanks filled with water and fish behind me, dark purple couches to my right along with a piano with a mannequin. A tall and elegant chandelier rests above in the ceiling and the tile floor features red tiles that form a path.
"Wait, this is…" I start, finally recalling where I have seen this place before. "This is the bar from Death Billiards and Death Parade! Quindecim!" Looking at the man in front of me with wide eyes, I ask, "Does this mean I'm dead!?"
"You're half correct, Mr. Blake. This is not Quindecim, but a bar that I made based on Quindecim," the brunette reveals.
"Not Quindecim? So I'm not dead, then?" I repeat my question.
"Oh, you are very much dead, Mr. Blake," he tells me with a smile.
"What!? How!?" I demand to know, scared out of my wits. It is at this moment that the memories start to come back to me. "Wait, I…I remember. I was… I was robbing the Fifth Third Bank with my crew when… I got shot."
The green-eyed man gives me a nod. "Yes, Mr. Blake, it was a clean shot; right through the heart. You died in seconds."
"I see," I say as my eyes grow a little moist. "Should have made sure the guard was down. Bastard." Swallowing throatily, I then ask. "What about my crew? What happened to them?"
"After you were shot, Fabio shot the guard in retaliation. Danny then grabbed the money and all of them ran away."
"I see." I nod. That is what I expected would have happened. Taking a deep breath, I look at the brunette in the eyes. "Who are you and how do you know my name?"
Grinning, the brunette replies, "Those are two questions, Mr. Blake, that I'm pretty sure you already know the answer to."
"I have an idea of what you are, not whom you are. You're a ROB, aren't you?" I ask. I've read enough fanfics and seen enough Isekai anime to be pretty sure that the man in front of me is indeed a Random Omnipotent Being.
"You're half correct again, Mr. Blake. I'm a ROBB, not a ROB. Name is TM11. Nice to meet you," the ROBB introduces himself.
"Noted," I reply. 'So, he is a Random Omnipotent Bored Being. Don't know if that's better or worse than a ROB.' "Where am I being sent?"
"Right to business, uh? Very well. You, Mr. Blake, will be sent to the Nasuverse." TM11 informs me.
I nod in agreement – not that my agreement is necessary, of course. "I can work with that. Am I replacing a character of Fate/Zero? Am I being reborn as Shirou Emiya? Or maybe you'll be original and have me be reborn as someone else like Waver or a male Rin."
TM11 grins. "Can't tell you that, Mr. Blake. It will ruin the surprise. I do guarantee that you've never heard of anything like what you'll be experiencing." The brunette then reaches to his breast pocket and takes out a card. "Here, take this."
Looking at the card with suspicion, I take it from his hand. The back of the card is completely black and gives nothing away. Looking at the front, however, my eyes widen in shock. The front of the card is mostly colored with a light-brown with the exception of a square picture in the middle of it. The picture is that of a shadowed figure dressed in black and gold medieval knight-esque armor with six tendril-like spikes, two jutting out of the armor's back, and four jutting out of the shoulders, a headdress with a tall collar and a floor-length red cape. The figure also wears a black helmet that functions as a crown.
"I recognize this guy. This is-" is all I manage to say before I'm blinded by the bright light that suddenly comes from the card. Last thing I hear is TM11's voice.
"Hope you have fun, Desmond Blake! I know I will!"
12:12 AM, October 1st, 1994, Fuyuki City, Japan
Once the strange feeling of what Desmond believed to be teleportation through dimensions stopped, he opened his eyes to a strange sight – the second one in minutes. To start off, his peripheral vision was limited by something – the weight he could feel on his head, Desmond assumed. His head wasn't the only part of his body being weighted though; all of Desmond's body felt like he had gained 20 or so pounds in weight. Moving his arms and opening and closing his hands, Desmond found that he could move surprisingly well despite the weight. Looking at his hands, the twenty-three years old man found them protected by black gauntlets with gold-trimming, same for his forearms and what he could see of his feet.
'This helmet sure is bothersome,' Desmond thought to himself. He had a suspicion of what he was wearing and, if he was right, then Desmond was really looking forward to his time in this world.
"That armor is so COOL! Can I get one too?" Desmond's thoughts were interrupted by a voice strange to the young man, but that he still found familiar. Focusing back on the present, Desmond found himself once again shocked at the strange sight.
The room around Desmond was simple and average; a sofa, a couch, a television, a dining table and chairs, all signs of it being a living room. It all looked average enough, except for the blood on the wooden floor and the buckets filled with the red liquid of life near the couch in front of an old TV. On said couch were the dead bodies of the couple that Desmond assumed once lived happily in his house alongside the currently bound, gagged, and terrified child laying on the floor behind the couch.
Standing in front of Desmond and the child was the one that interrupted the young man's thought process. He was male and possibly in his early twenties like Desmond himself. His hair was orange, his eyes black and his skin fair. For clothes, the redhead wore a purple dress shirt left open and unbuttoned, showing the white shirt he wore underneath. He also wore a pair of violet jeans with a chain on the right pocket and secured by a light-grey belt. For some reason, he only had his left brown shoe on while his right one was stained by blood – the couple's most likely. For accessories, the young man had an earring on each ear and a ring on his right pointing finger.
"What is your name?" Desmond asked the redhead. He was pretty sure that he already knew who the man standing in front of him in awe of his armor was, but Desmond wanted to be sure.
"Uh… I'm Uryuu Ryuunosuke. I'm currently a Freeter, and I like killing people, pretty much. Especially kids and young women." The now revealed Ryuunosuke introduced himself, confirming Desmond's suspicions.
"I see," Desmond replied. 'Yep, just like I thought. Seems like I've taken Gilles' place as the Caster of the Fourth Holy Grail War. Not only that but, if the information that just popped into my head is true, then I also have the powers of the Supreme King.' He thought as, while Ryuunosuke had been introducing himself, information about his new status as a Servant, along with his Stats, Class, Skills, and Noble Phantasm had suddenly transferred into Desmond's mind. 'Considering that the Evil HERO arch-type is my favorite, I'm quite happy with my Noble Phantasm. Let's see how it works.'
"How about I show you a taste of my power, Ryuunosuke?" Desmond rhetorically asked the redhead as he prepared himself to summon his first REAL Duel Monster.
"Really? Sure!" Ryuunosuke agreed with a bright smile at the thought of witnessing the power of a real demon.
Smirking behind his helmet, Desmond started. "Come forward, Incarnation of the Ultimate Nightmare. She who stands beside the Supreme King; his fiendish guardian! I summon you, Yubel!"
As Desmond chanted, a magic circle appeared in front of him and to his right before a ball of light formed inside it. The ball then took the form of a winged female before the light faded and revealed the figure's appearance.
The being summoned by Desmond could only be described as demonic. Female in form, Yubel's most noticeable features were her sickly-pink skin, large black wings and her third vertically placed eye. Her hair was a spiked mess, one half of it gray and the other a purple-blue. She also had blue lips and pointed teeth. Yubel's clothing was also bizarre; one of her legs was completely covered while the other was mostly exposed and her top half was covered in black, hiding her average-sized breasts.
Opening her eyes – and thus showing their heterochromatic color with the right being orange and the left teal-colored – Yubel looked at Desmond before dropping to a knee and bowing in servitude.
"I, Yubel, have answered your summons, my king. How may I serve you?" She asked Desmond, ready to make any wish that her king desired true to the best of her capabilities.
Pointing at Ryuunosuke, who was staring at Yubel in awe, Desmond gave his order. "Send Ryuunosuke here to Death. He has more than earned himself the right to meet her."
At the mention of Death, the redhead serial killer looked at the Servant that he unknowingly summoned, shock clearly expressed on his face. "Wha-," Uryū Ryuunosuke didn't even manage to finish his inquiry before Yubel impaled him, her clawed hand going through his chest and coming out through his back.
Looking at the serial killer's dead body as Yubel let it fall to the floor, Desmond found himself feeling quite nonchalant about it. Desmond himself had been a criminal in his past life, which to him was literally minutes ago. He was guilty of many a crime, murderer included, so seeing a dead body or ordering someone's death wasn't new to him. He had ordered the death of many a serial killer and rapist that came by his part of town. Uryū Ryuunosuke was just another name added to his list.
"I've done as ordered, my king. Do you require anything else?" Yubel asked as she once again knelt in front of him.
Instead of answering her immediately, Desmond spared a quick look at the child to see that he had passed out. Looking at the boy's parents, Desmond decided to try one of his Personal Skills.
"Erase that boy's memories of the last two hours, Yubel," Desmond ordered as he moved towards the couch. In doing so, he failed to see the small smile on demoness' lips as she stood up and went to do as ordered.
Standing before the corpse of the boy's parents, Desmond brought his hands up, palms facing the couple. "Monster Reborn!" He called out the name of the spell he wished to perform and his hands glowed a soft blue. The couple's dead bodies soon started to glow the same soft blue too as their injuries healed and color returned to their skins. Once the glow faded from them and Desmond's hands, both of the boy's parents were breathing again.
Nodding to himself, Desmond brought his hands down and looked at Yubel to see that she had already finished her task and was looking at him with a smile.
Scoffing softly at her amusement though he too was smiling behind his helmet, Desmond turned and moved to leave the living room and the house. "Come, Yubel. Time is of the essence."
"As you wish, my king," the demoness replied as she followed after he liege, the smile still on her lips.
Once outside the house, Desmond took a quick look around and deduced that they were somewhere in the suburban area of Fuyuki. Specifically, looking by the architecture of the houses, in the foreigners' district. Seeing no one around at this time of the night, Desmond decided to use one of his Noble Phantasms.
Concentrating on his powers, Desmond called forth the Supreme King's power of Gentle Darkness and shaped it into an aura wrapped around himself. Nodding to himself, Desmond smirked to himself while looking up at the sky before flexing his knees and blasting off into the heavens.
"Hahahaha!" Desmond as he rose higher and higher, giddy at finally realizing a small wish he had had ever since he was a child – to be able to fly like Goku. Dismissing his helmet once high enough, Desmond closed his eyes as he levitated in place, feeling the wind strike his face and caressing his brown hair. Opening his eyes, Desmond looked down at the city of Fuyuki; it looked like a sea of light from this high up.
Looking at Fuyuki from up in the sky, Desmond never felt as peaceful and calm as he did in that moment.
"Having fun, my king?" he heard the amused voice of Yubel behind him; he could see the grin on her face even without turning around.
"Yes, I am." He answered, a happy grin on his lips. Refocusing on his objective, though, he took a look around at the landscape and quickly found his next destination: Mount Enzou.
12:35 AM, October 1st, 1994, Ryuudou Temple, Mount Enzou, Fuyuki City, Japan
Arriving at the mountain in seconds, Desmond and Yubel, the former knowing of the barrier against spirits around the mountain, landed at the bottom of the staircase leading up to the Ryuudou Temple after making sure no one was around to see them.
Dismissing his armor, Desmond now wore Jaden Yuki's Slifer uniform of a black shirt, dark-red jacket, black pants, a black belt, and red sneakers with black trimming. Looking at his clothes, Desmond grinned before starting the climb up to the temple, Yubel following behind him.
Reaching the top, Desmond and Yubel were met by a pair of closed gates.
'Too bad I can't turn into darkness,' Desmond thought before chanting, "I call upon you, Elemental Hero Necroshade and Evil Hero Sinister Necrom! Come before your king!"
Like with Yubel, two magic circles appeared in front of the brunette and from them came two monsters. Similar in appearance, the two looked like red male humanoid beings in skeletal armor. One, though, looked much more sinister than the other with his jagged and spikier armor.
""I've answered your call, my liege. What is thy command?"" the two monsters asked in unison as they knelt before Desmond. Looking at them, the Supreme King ordered, "Open this gate for Yubel and me; discreetly."
""Yes, your highness,"" Sinister Necrom and Necroshade replied in unison before turning into shadows. The two then passed underneath the gates and soon after the gates were open. Entering the temple grounds, Desmond smirked before looking at his monsters.
"Good work. I want you to guard this temple all night from anyone that may try to infiltrate. Inform me if you sense a mage or familiar approaching," he ordered. The two Dark-attribute monsters nodded in understanding before turning into shadows again and leaving to patrol the temple.
Going to the temple proper, Desmond used his control over darkness to pick the locket and open the front door. Making his way inside, Desmond and Yubel went about finding the monks living at the temple and turning them into the former's loyal servants; Yubel using her mind-controlling powers and Desmond using the Brain Control Spell Card.
Half an hour after breaking into the temple, Desmond is laid out on a futon in one of the free rooms the monks have for guests and new members. Looking up at the ceiling, Desmond loses himself in his thoughts.
'This is so surreal. I'm shot by a guard while robbing a bank and next thing I'm meeting a ROBB that sends me to the Fourth Holy Grail War as Caster with the powers of the Supreme King.' Desmond summed up his situation. 'This all sounds like the premise for a fanfic. I wonder if someone is reading this. Hm, better not to think about it much. If there is someone reading about my actions and thoughts, then great for them; hope they have fun. If not, not my problem.'
With a potential breakdown avoided, Desmond continued with his thoughts. 'Now, what to do? I want to win this war of course, but with opponents like Gilgamesh and Iskandar, I have to be careful. Can't face them head-on and fortunately, I won't have to; not when I have the Evil Heroes on my side. I can't underestimate Kiritsugu and Saber, though. Thankfully they don't have good chemistry; same with Lancer and El-Melloi. Speaking of those two, Diarmuid should be making his open challenge tomorrow night if I'm recalling the timeline correctly. Should I show myself like many others in my position do, or should I stay hidden and watch from afar? Decisions. Decisions.'
17:08 PM, October 3rd, 1994, Mount Miyama, Miyama Town, Fuyuki City, Japan
"I'm so bored," Desmond sighed as he walked through the streets of Mount Miyama, the shopping district of Miyama Town in Fuyuki City. "I thought that Diarmuid made his challenge the day after Caster's summoning, but no! Two days and that pretty boy still hasn't shown himself. Damn fanfiction for screwing with the timeline," Caster grumbled before taking a bite of the taiyaki in his hand, a bag of the treat in his other hand. "Thankfully Assassin was 'killed' yesterday, so Iri and Saber should already be here, same for Kiritsugu."
[Patience is an important virtue to have, Master Desmond,] Yubel told him. She was currently in her spirit form so as to not attract attention and send everyone into a panic.
[One I'm running out of.] Desmond replied mentally through their bond. As her summoner and king, he can talk telepathically with Yubel and any other Duel Monster Spirit he summons.
Speaking of Yubel, the day after his summoning as Caster, Desmond spent his time talking with the Duel Monster Spirit that functioned as the guardian of the Supreme King. He learned quite a few things about his 'ancestor' from her. Oh yeah, apparently, Yubel was of the opinion that he was the descendant of the Supreme King sent to this world as a way to test himself and gain power. He wasn't about to correct her on that one; besides, that was kind of right. Desmond indeed planned to gain a lot of power – and other things – by the end of this war.
Moving on, Desmond spent the last two days touring Fuyuki and talking with Yubel. Through her, he learned that the Supreme King's original name was Jovian and that, as a matter of fact, Jovian was not born in the Spirit World, but on Earth and as part of the Roman Empire. Born to Erebus the primordial God of Darkness, Jovian was a demigod and the new chosen host of the Gentle Darkness, and therefore the heir to the throne of what was then known as the Monster World.
Son to a mother of some nobility, Jovian was later adopted by Julius Caesar during his rise to power. Later, he gained a brother birthed by Nox, the primordial Goddess of Light, and Aurelius had been the inheritor of the Light of Destruction.
Awakening his birthright at the age of nine, Jovian took three years to become well used to using the Gentle Darkness and calling up his Spirit Guardian – Dark Gaia. At fourteen, Jovian was finally prepared to be sent to Monster World. Accompanied by Yubel and a platoon of soldiers, Jovian conquered the various kingdoms and tribes that populated the Monster World at the time. He was not alone in doing so, for his brother Aurelius sent out with his own forces with the same goal in mind.
Eventually, the brothers and their forces came to blows in a battle for total control of the Monster World. Jovian won the battle and the war, thus uniting the Monster World under one ruler for the first time in millennia. Aurelius, beaten and humiliated, retreated with the small number of followers that survived the battle.
Following the confrontation with his brother, Jovian became known as the Supreme King of Monsters, ruler of the Monster World.
As a ruler, Jovian was of the belief that he had to be feared, liked, and respected in equal amounts. With that in mind, he governed the Monster World with an iron fist and fair judgment. Quite frankly, the way Yubel described Jovian as the Supreme King made Desmond think of Caster Gilgamesh from the Babylonia Singularity.
Tragically, Jovian remained in power for only five more years. At the young age of twenty-one, Jovian suffered an invasion of his kingdom by his brother and they once again met in battle. The result was much the same with Jovian coming victorious over Aurelius. He who commanded the Light of Destruction, however, had the last laugh for, in his last moments, he placed a curse on his brother. Said curse would lead Jovian to slowly lose his sanity until he became known as the Mad King of Monsters. His descent into insanity made Jovian highly paranoid and distrustful of everyone except for Yubel. However, not even his trust in her survived the effects of his increased paranoia for long. In the end, the Supreme King turned Mad King, in a last bout of sanity, took his own life, incapable of living in a world where he could not trust anyone.
[What ails your mind, Master?] Yubel asked, bringing Desmond out of his thoughts.
[Nothing to worry about.] He recalled quite well the pain he felt from Yubel as she recounted the tale of the Supreme King. Desmond did not want to make her relieve such pain if he could help it. [Just thinking about my plans for this war.]
[Your worry is for naught, my king. Your plan is sound and well thought. If events go as you foretold, then you have nothing to fear,] the fiend assured him with a smile.
[I have told you more than once, Yubel.] Desmond sighed mentally. [Until I have land to rule, I'm no king. Call me Desmond or at most Master Desmond.] He reprimanded her and she nodded with a quiet apology. [And you're wrong to assume that what I've seen of this world will happen exactly as I recall. The future is ever-changing and, more importantly, we were sent here by a being that only cares for his entertainment. It would not surprise me if he threw some curveballs my way just for kicks.]
[You are right to be cautious of such a being, Master. Nonetheless, endless worry will do you ill,] Yubel warned. [You should relax before the time for battle comes.]
[I suppose you are right, Yubel.] Desmond agreed with a sigh. Looking around his current surroundings for something to distract him from his worries, Desmond stopped short upon noticing bookshop in the corner of the street he was on.
In his past life – and it was still strange to think of it like that – Desmond had been as much of a geek and otaku as he was a gangster. Liking manga and anime hadn't made him popular among his brothers and sisters, but he allowed no one to disrespect him and always made sure that others knew to keep their opinions of his hobbies to themselves. That being said, that he had been in Japan – the country on the top of his list of countries he would have liked to visit – for two days and had still not gone to visit a bookstore to check out their manga and anime collections was equal parts a miracle and a crime in the mind of all geeks/otaku in any world.
Walking faster and with purpose, Desmond made his way to the bookstore and went in. As soon as he stepped foot inside the store, he was met with rows of bookshelves, all filled to the brim with books. Asking the clerk on the counter to his right where the manga section was, Desmond made his way to the rightmost corner of the store.
Looking through the various titles – he was so thankful that TM11/the Grail saw fit to give him knowledge of how to read and talk Japanese – Desmond spotted some works that he was familiar with, such as Case Closed, Neon Genesis Evangelion and Captain Tsubasa. He also spotted Mobile Suit Gundam, a series that he knew of but never really got into since there was so much content to go through once he learned of it.
Buying all of the available volumes of Case Closed, Evangelion, and Captain Tsubasa, Desmond used Brain Control to make the clerk believe he paid for the manga – after making sure that there were no cameras or people around or looking at him, of course. That done, he left the bookstore and went in the direction of the beach facing the harbor on the other side of the bridge. He would wait there until the fireworks started.
Give or take five hundred words shorter than my normal quota, but I thought this was a good place to stop at.
Hello, everyone. TM11 here, bringing you yet another story. I know, I know. I didn't update any of my stories for three years and now I'm posting another? Yeah, well, inspiration struck me in those three years with no updates and I came up with a lot – and I mean A LOT – of ideas for fics. If you haven't noticed it yet, check out my profile for the fics that will be coming out soon.
Now, about this story. As you can see, this is an OC Self-Insert story, a genre that I've found I like to write and read about quite a lot. The premise of Desmond being sent to the Nasuverse as a Servant in a Grail War came to me while reading NeonZangetsu's "Most Unlikely Servant" series, so prompts to him – and you should check out his work too. I have yet to read anyone doing something like this and wanted to give it a try. Why did I give him powers based on those of the Supreme King from Yu-Gi-Oh GX? Well, I was on a Yugioh fringe at the moment, searching for any kind of Yugioh fic that drew my attention and most of those that did had the Supreme King involved. Admittedly, I do like his character and find him cool, both him and his Evil Heroes. The Hero archetype is my favorite because of all of the possibilities it brings and the Evil Heroes are the ones that I prefer among the Hero sub-archetypes.
Oh, and before I forget, the backstory for Jovian came mostly from SaphireMoons' "Three Kings". I didn't copy the whole of it, of course; just the name for the Supreme King, his parentage, and him being the brother of the host of the Light of Destruction.
Well, that's all I have to say, for now. Hope you liked this chapter. Follow, fav, and leave a review, would you kindly?
Ja ne.
