SentinalSlice: Your surprise about the survival of the King of Heroes is surprising (no pun intended). I described Gilgamesh's escape in chapter 3 and warned that he would not be seen for a few chapters. You also have no reason to expect the worst. Gilgamesh's reason for releasing Angra Mainyu was his distaste for the twenty-first century's world. The consumer society and the plundering of resources to satisfy the laziness of humanity revolted him. He wanted to provoke a catastrophe to "regenerate humanity to his perfect state" (under his reign... of course). His plan in the Fateverse was to save humanity once the catastrophe was underway and then take its "rightful place" (king of the world, of course). Except that on Rifts Earth, the catastrophe has already taken place. So, Gilgamesh will rather move on to the second part of his plan. At least that's what he would have done... But you can imagine that between his amnesia and the meeting of an Enkidu look-alike, things will go in another direction...

The King of the Onis

Kyoto, New Empire, Japan, 110 P.A.

Kyoto was the capital of the New Empire. Vast, populated, superb with its Buddhist temples and Shinto monasteries, it was surrounded by ramparts dressed overall by the purple standard, adorned with a golden chrysanthemum flower, and patrolled by samurais in lacquered armor. Seen from the sky, one had the impression that the buildings of Kyoto were tightly frozen at the foot of the imperial palace, so it dominated them with its imposing ramparts and its buildings higher, larger, and much more decorated. The streets were filled with the flood of passersby, humans, and D-bees mixed. Here and there, sedan chairs closed by curtains of red gauze carried the daughters of rich merchants or noble ladies. On horseback, surrounded by their escort, the Daimyos paraded as their guards advanced to the sound of the drum.

The presence of thousands of Ayakashi objects endowed with life sharing the houses of the inhabitants or Kodama (spirits of the trees) dancing in the gardens transformed the capital of the New Empire into a magical place as out of an ancient legend.

However, despite the magical lights in the streets or the "Living" Katanas (1) that the samurais wore to the side, the majesty of the city was overwritten by the huge tree that stood behind the palace of Tennō. It was so high that it looked more like a mountain than a plant and its branches extended around the trunk to hundreds of yards.

The strange "fruits", carried by these branches, had many windows and served as dwelling places. There were two Shinto monasteries in the Kyoto Millennium Tree but also the most important magic school of the New Empire.

With its rounded shapes, the piece did not resemble the traditional architecture of Japan. There was no angle. The floor and walls were made of wood but not of assembled boards, no, the room was a single cavity inside one of the "fruits' of the Millennium Tree. The humans who had designed it for their needs had added a fusama (sliding door formed by a lacquered wood panel), tatamis, amado (sliding wood panels), and shojii (rice paper panels also serving as interior separations) to the windows. The room was arranged like a zashiki, a lounge serving to receive audiences and centered on a low table where the host and his guest talked while they were served tea. The furniture was of course minimalist with some rice paper panels on which we had painted colorful miniatures, a brazier heated the room, and some shelves supporting decorative trinkets and a carefully arranged flower bouquet created an intimate setting.

Sitting in front of Tohsaka Rin, the old monk rested his cup of tea with the elegant gestures of a man accustomed to this kind of situation. His face as wrinkled as an old apple was adorned with a smile.

He seemed so friendly, so peaceful... Except that its appearance was the result of an innate faculty proper to all dragons: the ability to take the form of another living creature. In fact, Lo Fung was a chiang-ku dragon, the classic "Chinese" dragon with a snakelike body, a goatee, a mane, and long whiskers... Although Tohasaka never saw him in his true form (and did not particularly want to), she could not forget his true nature and this explained his nervousness. Besides the dragons being among the rarest and most intelligent Phantasmal Species, Rin had learned much about their real power, beyond what the legends told. A dragon of the age of Fo Lung was as resistant as a destroyer of the Republic of Japan, capable of flying and maneuvering like a combat helicopter, also capable of teleporting instantly (including to other worlds!) not to mention the magical knowledge accumulated over millennia. Needless to say, an ancient dragon deserved all the respect given to him.

Tohsaka had thought long and hard. She needed help because Fuyuki did not survive four Grail Wars every year. But asking for help from people she didn't know was tricky... even dangerous. The power promised by the Grail would have tempted any Magus. Moreover, the Kyoto Magic Guild was directly at the service of the Tennō. Calling them for help would have been politically awkward since Fuyuki had just joined the Republic of Japan.

That's why Rin has figured on Lo Fung.

As the Masters had to be human, the dragon could not be tempted by a power that was clearly forbidden to him. And since he was not a citizen of the New Empire, this considerably alleviated political problems. The last reason was of course the reputation of the chiang-ku dragons. They were not only powerful, but they were also well-intentioned towards humans, often taking on the role of teachers or counselors of fragile humanoids.

The silence continued.

The Tohsaka's heiress had just spent half an hour explaining the functioning of the Fuyuki Grail, the purpose of the ritual, the rules of the Holy Grail War... and her theory as to the changes undergone by the Greater Grail in the Rifts Earth environment. She was now waiting for an answer from the ancient dragon.

Lo Fung massaged his chin and finally nodded.

"I understand the problem. I'm not going to lecture you on the dangerousness of the Grail itself or the danger of playing with forces beyond your control. You are not the creator of this ritual, and given your recent experiences, you have understood that the Grail is more dangerous than useful."

The monk paused and frowned:

"As for your immediate problem, the solution is simple: open a Rift."

Tohsaka Rin beat her eyelids, thinking she had heard wrong:

"Sorry?"
Lo Fung smiles:

"The energy of the Grail is accumulating too fast, yes? So, use the Greater Grail Mana to perform an Open Rift ritual. You can compare Rifts Earth to a bathtub about to overflow. The Rifts are the equivalent of a drain. They evacuated excess magic energy."

Tohsaka remained to reflect for a moment:

"But isn't that dangerous, sensei?"

Lo Fung had a slight smile when he heard himself called 'sensei' (teacher/ master) but he nodded seriously:

"Of course it's dangerous. But if you open the Rift to your homeworld, the danger will be reduced."

Rin jolted:

"Is that possible?"

"Well, sure, otherwise you wouldn't be here."

Rin shook her head:

"Excuse me, sensei, I meant is it possible to open a Rift to a specific destination? I thought the phenomenon was random."

"Each Rift is a unique case, Tohsaka-san, but there is a consistency, a Nexus is... how shall I put it? Like Rift Earth, your Earth is in the solar system in the Milky Way. Rifts Earth and your Earth are therefore alternative versions of the same physical universe in the same space. At certain cosmic events, the crossing of two Leylines - a Nexus - becomes a place of passage between the universes, which is called a Rift. But a Rift only opens to worlds with which the Nexus is aligned. To use an image, a Nexus is like a radio station capable of picking up certain frequencies. Each alternate world has its own frequency. In the case of an opening controlled by a ritual, it is possible to open specifically to a world. Fuyuki's Nexus having given birth to only one Rift communicating with only one world - yours- any Leyline Walker could reopen that Rift on the first try."

Seeing the Earth of her time was an attractive idea but... At that moment, Lo Fung interrupted the course of her thoughts:

"The only problem is, you're going to have to find someone who can open a Rift to your Earth."

"Can't you teach me the Open Rift ritual?"

"The Open Rift ritual just opens a Rift, randomly. Only Leylines Walker and Geomancer, thanks to their affinity with leylines, can open a Rift to a specific destination. The Atlanteans had a different and more practical method. They were building pyramids that controlled the leylines around, preventing foreigners from opening a Rift from the outside."

"You could teach me Stone Mastering?"

The old dragon looked at her with a sad expression:

"Oh, I could, besides you already practice an imperfect and limited variant of this art."

As Rin looked at the old dragon with a surprised look, he had a little laugh:

"What you call 'Jewel Magecraft' is part of the ancient art of Stone Mastering magic. Unfortunately, I never teach this kind of magic for ethical reasons. You'll have to find help somewhere else."

"Ethics? Why open a Rift would be..." Then Rin paused leaving her sentence unfinished. She had learned enough about the history of Rifts Earth to get an idea of the reason behind this kind of interdiction: "Atlantis?"

Lo Fung nodded:

"The Atlanteans were once a people of great wisdom. They used their knowledge of the Rifts only peacefully. They wanted to explore, discover, learn, and make new friends. Yet, in their hands, this art has caused more death and devastation than the most powerful weapons ever forged by humanity... and my people, the chiang-ku dragons, have helped the Atlanteans improve their knowledge of Rift magic. We have a share of responsibility in the state of the world. Since then, this has been part of the knowledge we refuse to teach or use." He smiled again: "Believe that I am aware of the ambivalence of my behavior. On the one hand, I advise you to open a Rift and, on the other, I refuse to give you the means. But advice, even if it is always a dangerous gift, is nothing more than words. There is a line here that I cannot cross."

Seeing that Rin seemed discouraged, Lo Fung said a few words to cheer her up:

"I have lived thousands of years and witnessed many events. I can assure you that fate is never blind. If a problem arises, there is always an answer. I have seen heroes carry out quests and endure great trials. By comparison, you just have to learn a ritual or find someone to perform it for you. You will get there, Tohsaka Rin. In time, everything will be in place for you to achieve your destinies."

Fate indeed was not blind.

Had Tohsaka Rin and Archer been brought to Kyoto to find the help they were going to need, or, conversely, had this need only been the bait for them to be motivated to fight to save the New Empire?
Still, in the great puzzle of destiny, the two pieces were perfectly assembled.

Iriku Ō, king - self-proclaimed- of the Onis was not himself an Oni, he was an Arch-fiend... a Deevil of Dyval, one of the so-called demons.

He was sent to Rifts Earth as part of the Minion War, an eternal confrontation between the Deevils of Dyval and the True Demons of Hades.

Since the opening of the Rifts and especially since the failed invasion of Dyval by the legions of Hades, the eternal war putting the netherworld to fire and the sword had reached a new peak. Control of Rifts Earth had become the priority of True Demons and Deevils, because, from this world and its thousands of Rifts, you could strike almost everywhere. Rifts Earth was not nicknamed the "Megaverse Crossroads" for no reason.

Everywhere there were brutal clashes between the two infernal armies. All the inhabitants of the planet were more or less involved, humans and D-bees were attacked by bands of both armies, reduced to slavery, or forced to serve in their ranks. Only the most powerful nations managed to protect themselves from this supernatural invasion and even the gods feared being involved.

Until then, the Japanese archipelago had not been directly attacked.

Ironically, the Japanese had to thank their less friendly neighbors.

To the west, the Yama-Kings, king of the underworld in Chinese mythology, had taken advantage of the opening of the Rifts to invade China and transform her into a demonic kingdom reflecting the eternal torments inflicted on the damned.

To the southeast, the Dragon Triangle, a gigantic convergence of three Leylines that crossed into a Nexus triangle, was the domain of the Lord of the Deep, a terrifying Alien Intelligence with obscure intentions to say the least.

The Deevils and the True Demons, very busy with their war, had cautiously opted to stay as far as possible from these two potentials threats, wisely thinking that it would be time to take care of them when they had defeated their hereditary enemies.

Of course, the infernal creatures were not limited to the use of brute force alone.

Iriku like all Arch-fiends was a cunning manipulator, a black-hearted villain who loves nothing more than inflict torture and cause sorrow. His superior, Lord Sathalus, had sent him to Japan to take control of the Onis (a race of independent demons) and use them to open the Hell Pit (a permanent gate) to Dyval to allow the invasion of Japan.

Approached by Lady Nadeshiko's agents, Iriku immediately understood the opportunities offered by an alliance with Otomo. The arrogance of the shogun Tietsin Otomo, his wounded pride, and his childish goals made him a most useful tool. While the humans fight among themselves, Iriku could open a door on Dyval without them noticing. And war would divide humans, weakening them and leaving them unable to resist the invasion.

A perfect plan.

It was also ironic to see that Otomo thought he was using Iriku as a diversion in his plans of conquest... when in fact it was he who was being duped by the Arch-fiend.

The Tennō Palace was governed by its own laws and regulations. It was a sacred place, but also a place where government decisions were made. As a result, the palace was divided into two zones. The outer palace was accessible to accredited envoys, Daimyos, and even - very rarely- foreigners. Here also lived the ordinary servants and samurais of the imperial guard.

But the inner palace was a temple.

Only the Tennō, his wives, concubines, children, and servants from among the nobility and the Shinto priests had the right to enter.

The Tennō - descended from the goddess Amaterasu- was a living god, his sight and approach were a privilege. In addition, the three sacred treasures of Japan were kept in this sacred enclosure: the Kusanagi sword, the sacred mirror, and the magatama pendant. As these divine gifts were used for the enthronement of a new emperor, they represented not only the legitimacy of the reign of Tennō but also the protection that the Kamis extended over the New Empire.

As a result, there was no more sacred, meaningful treasure in all the New Empire.

The young woman in a kimono was a servant of the outer palace. Her role was to serve the servants of the inner palace, who had the privilege of serving the Tennō. Like every day, she washed and dried their clothes, a long and tedious work that had given her early the hands of an old woman.

As she returned from the laundry room with the laundry washed, dried, and ironed, she witnessed a strange phenomenon. A luminous form had just appeared on a wall. Surprise, the woman stopped. But suddenly, beings came out of what was in fact a Mystic Portal, a teleportation spell opening a door between two places... and a group of humanoid monsters had used this spell to cross the defenses of the palace.

They were deformed with counterfeit bodies, the legs were usually arched, and most had horns, they were small.

They were Onis!

The servant only had time to scream in terror before being killed by a plasma discharge fired by the gun of one of the monsters.

In an instant, panic spread over the entire imperial palace. Samurai ran in all directions, we fought in the courts. Onis continued to appear in the outer palace as Mystic Portals continued to open in the walls. Of course, the Tennō and his family were immediately evacuated by the samurai of the guard.

Except this attack was just a diversion.

Another gate, of a different nature, opened in the inner palace. There came out a samurai with a noble and grandiose aspect. It was the daimyo Watanabe Ito, one of the faithful of the Tennō... or to be more exact, it was the Deevil Iriku assuming the appearance of Watanabe.

Walking along the corridor, he stopped in front of a door guarded by 'servants' of the inner palace, that is to say, nobles and high-ranking priests. Armed with magical weapons, they seemed to want to deny him access to the room containing the treasures of the coronation.

"Open the door, we must evacuate the divine heritage of the Tennō before the Onis reach here."

Recognizing the Daimyo, the guards hesitated.

Iriku Ō emphasized his advantage:

"There's no time to lose. Don't you hear the sounds of battle? The enemy is closing in."

"Watanabe-sama, you have no right to approach the sacred treasure. Even high-ranking priests and ministers can only see it when the Tennō is consecrated."

Iriku feigned anger with the talent of an Oscar nominee for best actor of the year:

" Do you think we really have time for this debate? If I commit sacrilege, I would honorably seppuku myself to redeem my fault. But I will not let these monsters defile the most sacred treasures of our Empire. Open, quickly, before the Onis do it!"

The priests looked at each other, undecided. Then one of them turned to the door and began to whisper the words of an incantation. Touching the wood, he made appear complex magic circles of various colors. Each of them was a supernatural lock prohibiting the opening of the door. Ikiru despite his powerful magic would have had great difficulty in forcing such a magical defense designed specifically to prevent an evil being from approaching the treasure. But Ikiru was much more than a simple spell caster, it was the embodiment of cunning and the power to manipulate. It would have been enough for one of the priests to cast a spell like Detect Evil to discover his true nature... but Ikiru had immediately taken control of them by giving orders as someone who had every right to be there.

In crisis situations, humans naturally turn to a superior to take orders and instructions, a weakness that the Arch-fiend had exploited to his advantage.

As the door opened, Iriku smiled:

"I thank you for your devotion to the Kamis and the Tennō, I hope you will be rewarded in the afterlife."
The words could pass as a compliment, but the icy and mocking tone immediately made the servants understand that they had been deceived. But Iriku reacts before them:

"Magic Net!"

A net appeared out of nothingness, enveloping the servants always grouped in front of the door and immobilized them. As the men screamed and struggled in vain, Iriku cast another spell:

"Fire Ball."

The fireball that burst out of his hand horribly burned the men and threw them to the ground in a terrifying explosion. Without worrying about the flames that were burning and began to attack the wooden floors and beams, the Arch-Fiend entered the treasury room to seize the sword, the mirror, and the pendant.

Of course, the explosion had attracted people and he was already hearing the sound of a large troop heading towards him. He raised his hand to the charred corpses:

"Animate Dead."

As the corpses rose mechanically, Iriku focused on another spell:

"Cloud of Smoke."

Immediately vapors invaded the corridor, reducing visibility. As the samurai finally reached the end of the corridor, he cast one last spell:

"Shadow Melt"

He immediately seemed to blend into the shadows and disappeared.

As the guards slowed down, hampered by the supernatural fog that limited their field of vision, Iriku led his little troop of undead slaves against the defenders of the palace.

The attack caught them by surprise and as the walking dead held magical weapons, the first blows wounded the guards despite their magical armor. One of them fell to the ground, while a second had a nasty wound to the arm.

As the battle began in the corridor and the fire grew stronger, a Magus, one of the protectors of the palace, appeared. Immediately he began to whisper an incantation and raised his hand in an imperious gesture:

"Negate Magic."

Immediately, the walking dead collapsed like puppets whose wires had been cut. As for the magic fog, it dissipated. Only the spell that allowed Ikiru to merge with the shadows resisted the counter-attack.

Nevertheless, the Magus has a good understanding of magic:

"You can't control a puppet you can't see! Be careful, look around, the enemy is in close proximity."

Ikiru murmured a new incantation:

"Circle of flame."

Immediately the flames surrounded him... at the same time the shadows dissipated revealing the Deevil still under the appearance of the daimyo Watanabe Ito. While the guards recognized him - or rather thought they recognized him - he smiled:

"If you'll excuse me, I'd be happy to play with you, but I have something more urgent to do."

Oh, Iriku could kill them without much effort. But since they would testify that the thief was the daimyo Watanabe, the guards were more useful alive than dead. There is nothing he loved more than to smear the reputation of the innocent, to spread doubt among the faithful allies, to sow the seeds of division among friends...

The Arch-fiend cast a spell:

"Fear."
Immediately a terrible terror overwhelmed those present. Unable to attack, the samurais and the Magus retreated. By the time they regained their senses, Iriku had resorted to an innate faculty of the Arch-fiend... teleporting back to the dark dimension from which he originated.

Of course, the authority tried to hide the Onis' attack from the people of Kyoto. There was talk of a simple fire in the inner palace. And of course, the disappearance of the most sacred treasures of the New Empire was hidden, for fear of triggering a panic.

Except the Arch Fiend didn't want his exploits to be silent. He had not stolen the most sacred objects of the New Empire just for the pleasure of humiliating the Tennō (though...). It was just a prerequisite to unleash more chaos, more betrayals, more suffering...

While the guards were still busy fighting the Onis, the image of Iriku appeared, projected into the sky.

The real appearance of the Deevil was that of a humanoid wrapped in a black monk's robe. Under the hood, there were only shadows, oblique eyes burning like embers and a tear-like mouth.

"I greet you, people of Kyoto and the New Empire" thundered a voice that resounded among the wooden houses and temples." I am Iriku Ō, powerful ruler of the Onis. Listen and understand. This day, I proclaim, marks the end of your pathetic empire. Yes, I Iriku took the Kusanagi sword, the sacred mirror, and the magatama pendant, treasures offered by the goddess Amaterasu to the first Tennō."
The image of the Deevil disappeared, replaced by the vision of a room decorated with black and hideous gargoyles. On an altar of obsidian lay an ancient bronze sword, a green jade pendant in the shape of a comma, and a large mirror of polished brass.

"Your emperor failed the Kamis, proving unworthy of the gifts that were given to his ancestors. He has lost all legitimacy in the eyes of both Kamis and mortals."

The image of Iriku reappeared in the sky, he held out a hand as black as at night and as made of solidified mists. With a finger finished by a long claw he pointed to Kyoto and the crowd listening terror-struck:

"Listen to me daimyo and samurais of the New Empire, shogun of the other nations of Japan, the Tennō having failed; it is time to found a new dynasty more worthy of the throne. And you can claim it. What do you need to become the new Tennō will you ask me? You just need the strength of the arm that holds your sword. A new era begins, an era where valor and strength of armies will become law. You have been oppressed for too long by the fallen dynasty. They just proved that they were unworthy. Remove the Tennō from the throne that he usurps and settle in his place. Fear not, no one will accuse you of treachery. For, after all, without the sacred treasures and the blessing of the Kamis, the Tennō is nothing more than an ordinary man unworthy to hold his office. Come to Kyoto, take the city, and defend against those who think they are more worthy to rule than you and prove to all that they are wrong! Yes, come and make yourself king with your own hands! I offer you all the freedom to satisfy your highest ambitions!"

The frontier between the Freeland and the New Empire, Japan, 110 P.A.

They had been waiting for several weeks, 200,000 mercenaries armed and equipped by H-Brand. Scattered between several camouflaged camps, they trained to pass the time and do not get out of practice.

That morning, in all the camps, the mercenary guard in front of the radio stations received a short coded message:

"The Sakuras are in bloom."

That was the signal for the invasion of the New Empire.

Phase 2 of Shogun Tientsin Otomo's insane plan had just begun... The archipelago would sink even deeper into violence, chaos, and betrayal.

(1) A living katana is a Japanese saber having attained the status equivalent to that of Noble Phantasm in the Fateverse. Living katanas are unique to Japan. However Rifts are full of magical weapons, and the equivalent of Noble Phantasms outside Japan is Runic Weapons. They are weapons that derive their power from magical inscriptions... and empowered by human sacrifices or pacts with superior entities. Note that living katanas are some sort of Runic Weapons but their way of creation differs. Most of these "living" weapons are very ancient having been forged long before the opening of the Rifts and regained their power after the disaster. The new weapons were built by "awakened" blacksmiths, that is to say, having received a divine help or curse. Note that living katanas are obviously katanas... and somewhat wakizashi, but only in a daisho (katana + wakizashi paired set). These weapons having a consciousness, intelligence, goals, and being able to communicate with their carrier by telepathy truly deserve the name "living katanas".