Prologue- The night when zero stopped existing

Warning: This chapter contains spoilers from Fate Zero. It's recommended to watch it first to understand it better… or not, I'm not your boss or anything, just enjoy!

The dim light of the flames at the dilapidated parking lot of the theater illuminated the path of a certain blonde knight, Artoria Pendragon also known as King Arthur, as she walked absently through the burnt floor, staring at the void while her mind was tormented by the thoughts her last battle had brought her.

During the course of the current Holy Grail War she had experienced several incidents that had put her mind at distress; being summoned by a disgraceful man like Kiritsugu Emiya and his insistence at using foul tactics, her meeting with the King of Macedonia Iskandar and the King of Heroes Gilgamesh and their clash of ideologies, the dishonorable outcome of her duel with Lancer Diarmuid and the pain of not being able to protect her Master's wife and dearest friend in this second life Irisviel, but even then those were nothing compared to the fact she just slayed the insane monstrosity who was once one of her most trusted knights, Lancelot du Lac and that maybe her actions were what caused the depravation of such a kind man. Was she doing the right thing? Was she a true king? Could she have done something better back then in Camelot?

"No, I don't have the time to be idling like this." Artoria slapped her face as she shook away those thoughts for the moment. "I need to go where Kiritsugu is and win this war once and for all!" She attempted to hasten her pace, but suddenly she lost her balance and fell face down on the floor. The blonde groaned as she turned to see the reason of her tripping only to meet with sight of her own feet fading in golden glitter. "What?! This is impossible! Did Kiritsugu- no, I can still feel the bond linking us! What on earth is happening?!"

Artoria dragged her body across the floor in order to get to her Master and finding out what was happening until she felt a sharp pain on her body. With her remaining strength, she turned over to find a rapier piercing her back and an unknown foreigner wearing white clothes holding it. "I'm truly sorry, but this is as far as you go, female Servant." The mysterious foreigner said and with a skillful spin, he twisted and tore apart the flesh of her back, making the regretful King of Knights disappear at once, silently cursing her fate and paying futilely for another chance to fight that will never come.

"Haha! What is this?! Is this all you're capable of, Holy Grail War Masters?!" Kiritsugu scowled at the mockery of the new attacker while double-checked what just happened.

First, he engaged combat with the priest and fellow Master Kotomine Kirei over what he had done to Irisviel; the battle had been incredibly intense with neither of the parts bulging one bit, but just as both fighters were about to finish each other off, another magus came by and, taking advantage of the temporal distraction and their wounds, he successfully decimated both Magus.

"Well, I can't exactly blame ya. After all, you're all beaten up and stuff… you sure don't know how to hold back, do ya?!" To say the unknown attacker was annoying would be an understatement. From his messily arranged white military outfit adorned with clownish items to his mocking expression and his weird orange dyed spiky haircut, there was not a single part of the man in front of him Kiritsugu didn't want to fill with bullets if his guns were still usable.

Despite his appearance, Kiritsugu was aware that the red haired was a very dangerous man. With only a couple of seconds on his side, he used an odd magic to make his guns explode from inside out and in a swift move he tore apart the right arm of Kotomine, who fell hard on the floor and hadn't move since then, with just sheer strength and just when the Magus-Killer was about to counterattack, dozens of cuts suddenly appeared in his body without him realizing how that happened. "Who are you?" The raven haired magus hissed, trying to gain seconds to formulate a plan to either fight off this new enemy or to flee as fast as possible.

"Oh yeah! I haven't introduced myself. Silly me! I am the one and only Faustus Vandercolle Yggdmillennia also known as The Gremlin, a true honor for you to finally meet me." The so called Faustus boasted as he made an awkward pose using Kotomine's recently ripped arm.

Kiritsugu had no idea of who the man was, but he recognized the Yggdmillennia name immediately as that of the magic clan famous for accept all sort of drop-out magus and granting them immediate wealth in exchange of their absolute cooperation and loyalty to the main branches, and realized that this was no random attacker nor the whim of a deranged freak but part of something much bigger and he needed more information immediately. "Never heard of you. Why is the Yggdmillennia's doing this?"

"Hmph! I guess the uncultured low-class pigs like you wouldn't know about the higher classes, but since I'm so forgiving I'll let this one slide." Faustus did an exaggerated gesture of displeasure but he quickly replaced if for an equally exaggerated grimace full of malice. "And about your question Magus Killer, I'm impressed you figured out the Yggdmillennia is behind this. Is my presence so iconic that you linked them with my gracious person? But you're right, the entirety of the Yggdmillennia family's forces have decided to come all the way here to make the Holy Grail ours while the three families are exhausted after all the fighting and then make our own war to reclaim the Root for ourselves!

Kiritsugu's face paled after hearing the crazy man's explanation, but the red haired magus continued. "Nonetheless, that had me thinking: if we're gonna have a war on our own, then I need a certain advantage to make sure I'm the winner. So I thought long and hard about it until it finally came to me, what could be a greater advantage than a bunch of Command Spells from the other Masters? And by the looks of it, it seems like I hit jackpot here!" Faustus joyfully exclaimed as he removed the sleeve of the severed arm covered in Command Spells and then staring greedily at the Magus Killer. "With this, I'm sure to have a strong head start in the next war, but why stopping here when I can also have the Kiritsugu's Magic Crest and their powerful Time Control Magic!"

Faustus approached dangerously at the black haired man who put his guard up until he saw with the corner of his eye a shadow and reacted just fast enough to avoid a slash cutting his neck.

"Tch. My balance is completely thrown off without an arm." Kotomine, who used the time Faustus spend chatting to stop his bleeding, said as he readied the Black Keys on his remaining hand. "I will not allow that, buffoon. Kiritsugu Emiya's life is only mine to take."

"You damned swine, I'm gonn-off!" The arrogant Magus was interrupted by a powerful punch in the face caused by the Accel of Kiritsugu who took advantage of his distraction to attack him. "You talk too much."

Faustus shook his head, still dizzy of the hit he just received and growled at the two wounded men who took in their stances, making a silent truce until the Yggdmillennia Magus was defeated. "Fine. Have it your way. I'll rip off whatever's worthy of your corpses after I deal with you two!"

And thus it started what would be the last Magus Battle of the Fourth Holy Grail War.

To Darnic Prestone Yggdmillennia, getting the Holy Grail was only a matter of time.

Seventy years ago, the three main families had put a better fight than he expected and his very life almost ended back then after his Lancer was defeated by the Tohsakas, but this time it was different. He waited patiently for the war to develop, watching carefully every move, battle and tactic pulled by the seven Masters and then, when the final stage of the fight started, he summoned his whole army to seize the Greater Grail and get rid of all the remaining Masters at any cost. Some people might argue he's overusing his forces for such a small task, but he vowed to not spare any effort to achieve his goal this time.

"All squads, report the situation." The blue haired demanded at his men who were controlling the whole operation from their base at the roof of one of the hotels near the center of Fuyuki.

"First squad reporting: The retrieval teams have just arrived at the designed location; we will now proceed with the extraction. The Grail still hasn't been activated."

"Second squad reporting: Everything in the theater is proceeding accordingly. Faustus is currently dealing with Kiritsugu Emiya and Kotomine Kirei and the Saber has been successfully suppressed. Archer has not been spotted yet."

"Third squad reporting: Currently in hot pursuit of Waver Velvet. Confirmation shall be delivered once he has been captured!"

"Forth squad reporting: The ceremony to remove the Einzbern vessel from the Holy Grail System presented some… unexpected complications, but it shouldn't be something jeopardizing to our plans."

"Fifth squad reporting: Nothing worth mentioning."

The leader of the Yggdmillennia let a smile adorn his face after hearing the reports of his men. Sure, there were some concerns about the forth squad, but in general, all his objectives had been taken care of, there was nothing that could ruin this moment for him, his lifetime dream was finally within his grasp-

"So you are the mongrels who dared to ruin my entertainment." Darnic felt a shiver as he heard an ominous voice behind him. Cold sweat run down his back as he turned to greet the sight of the King of Heroes Gilgamesh, arms crossed and a murderous look that showed no sympathy for those in that room. His body was also starting to fade in golden glitter just like the other Servants, but somehow his disappearance was significantly slower than the one from the King of Knights. "Not only messing with my time on this world and laying your filthy hands on my property, but also daring to put a hand on the woman I decided to take as my wife… you lot have quite the gall but nothing more!"

"W-wait!" The Magus pleaded at the golden Servant. From what Darnic had saw of him, Gilgamesh was an arrogant and egomaniacal man who only sought after his own entertainment, so he rationalized that if he humbly offered him a deal where he could enjoy himself even more, then the King of Uruk wouldn't attack them and even helped them in their labor, but before he could even open his mouth, several swords ruthlessly pierced his chest. "H-Huh?"

"A mere pleasant incurred into my wrath and then telling me to wait? How arrogant do you think you can be?!" Gilgamesh released his full power, shooting his powerful Noble Phantasms at Darnic's forces, killing them effortlessly. "Listen well, impertinent fool! I might disappear in a brief moment, but before that happens I shall make sure to slaughter thoroughly each and every single one of the mongrels who accompanied you until there is no longer anyone left. That is a promise I make as the King of Heroes!"

Darnic Prestone Yggdmillennia tried to say something but his mouth was filled with blood and, just as the golden Archer disappeared to comply with his promise, the leader of the Yggdmillennia perished without even being close to accomplish anything.

The full moon shone dimly through the clouds at the Ryuudou Temple in Fuyuki City as a dark ritual was performed. A group of twenty black robed Magus were forming a circle, muttering perfectly coordinated an ancient chant, while an unconscious little blonde girl not much older than a preschooler and what looked like the mummy of a woman glowed in a purple gleam at the center of it.

From afar, a silver haired woman watched the scene with a bored expression when she saw another robed man approaching her. "Is something wrong, Celenike-sama?" Celenike scoffed at him and resumed watching the ceremony in front of her attempting to ignore the robed man, but he continued speaking to her. "I understand that waiting for the sacred ritual to be completed is a dull matter, but please bear with it for a little more. This is an important task that must be handled with the utmost care."

"Shut up. Who told you you could speak to me so freely?" The woman snapped at the man annoyed. Celenike was very aware of how important this ritual was for the plans of the Yggdmillennia and she certainly didn't need a nobody to remind it to her.

The ceremony had the purpose of alter the conditions of the Holy Grail, firstly to disconnect the Grails from each other, destroying the anchors of the Servants and forcing them to return to the Throne of Heroes, essentially making the current war null. And secondly and most important, to replace the Einzbern lesser Grail, using the Third War's dead vessel as sample, with their own lesser Grail who would be the girl in the middle of the magical circle, making it impossible any of the three main families to participate in any other war from now on.

It had been a true strike of luck to have found a girl with such an extraordinary Magical Circuits capable of perfectly substitute the lesser grail in an almost extinct lineage and they had accepted so readily to give her away for just a handful of money. No wonder they went extinct to begin with Celenike thought as the light of the circle finally stopped shining. But just as the woman was about to deliver her orders to retreat, she saw a dark flash at the ritual circle and then everything around her went dark.

Before anyone could say a word, the entirety of the Ryuudou Temple was swallowed by a black orb and, without a sound, it disappeared without a trace left behind.

Waver Velvet was never a very athletic person, but right now more than ever he wished he was. After Rider's defeat, the young magus wandered through the city, not quite sure of what to do or where to go now that he was no longer a Master and not wanting to impose himself to his fake grandparents, until he encountered some unknown white clothed Magus who started to fire magic spells at him as soon as they spotted him. He was barely capable to send a minor spell as diversion to make his escape, but just as one could expect from him, Waver's legs didn't get him too far and he had no choice but to hide behind a filthy dumpster in the nearest alleyway.

"Get outta there and face us as a man, you low-rate rat!" One of his pursuers yelled, taunting him to come out cautious of whatever trap Waver might have put on his way there.

Live. That was the order Rider gave you, you can't just defraud him and die here! The boy repeated for himself as he desperately tried to think in a way out of his current situation. I'll survive this, return to London and become the best Magus who ever existed!

Gathering all his courage, he came out of the dumpster, ready to fight against whoever was outside only to find that there was no one left for him to fight. The men who were pursuing him were all dead, scattered in the floor with their bodies stabbed by several swords. "W-what? Could it be- Archer?!" The boy looked around searching for Archer, fearing that he might have regret sparing his life and came back to finish him off for good, but he failed to find the golden Archer and instead found an even more bizarre sight in the sky. "WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT?!"

There are very few things in the world that can make a 'person' like Zouken Matou feel fear, but he had to say one, that would be losing the Holy Grail for good just like he was doing right now.

The view of several helicopters carrying his most sought goal, the Greater Grail, through the nightly sky and flying away truly filled the old vampire with dread like nothing had ever before. His first instinct was to go where those accursed vehicles were taking his precious prize and take them all down before they could ruin his plans for the following war, but just as he transformed into insects to give chase to them, several crows came out of nowhere attacking fiercely and forcing him to take human form once again.

"You won't put a single step outside of this place, Zouken Matou." The old man turned to see who dared to stop him only to be greeted with a surprise. An odd man with black feathers instead of hair and pointy eyes, wearing a white pristine suit was carrying by the arm to the dying vestige that was his son Kariya, both escorted by an enormous flock of crows whose eyes closely followed every single one of the Matou patriarch movements. "Hand over the girl named Sakura and we can end this peacefully."

Zouken clenched his teeth in enraged of the words he just heard. "Kariya, you treacherous failure. What have you done?!"

The white haired man barely had any strength left in his body to speak, but the feathered man answered for him. "He made a deal with us, Yggdmillennia. In exchange of our help at rescuing a certain girl from her suffering, he would give us all the information and actions of the War we couldn't get on our own. The higher-ups didn't intend to fulfill the agreement, but I'm a man of word so here am I. So what will it be? The easy way or the hard way, Zouken Matou?"

The old man stood silent for a moment until he finally answered. "Fine, take her. I don't have time to waste here either way." Immediately the door opened and a purple haired girl came out looking slightly worried until her eyes made contact with his uncle and walked towards him. The man in question also reacted immediately gaining strength and running where she was as fast as his battered body allowed him. Unbeknown for them the elder magus prepared all his Blade Wing Worms to dispose of the two man who tried to ruin his plans and then hurry to stop the helicopters that were gaining more distance with every second, but it didn't work as he expected because just as he released them, they were mercilessly devoured by the crows surrounding them.

"It seems like Kariya Matou was correct in assuming you aren't one to be trusted, but it doesn't matter because I never had any plans to let you live anyway." Zouken felt fear for second time in the night as he stared at the man's black pitch eyes and saw no speck of compassion in them as he directed at his familiars and said a single word. "Eat."

The crows charged swiftly towards the old man and ate the insects that composed him in less than five seconds and then flew violently towards the Matou mansion, shattering every window and breaking every door, disposed to the sole goal of devour even the last worm in it. The feathered man then approached at the white haired who had already fell to the floor, closed eyes but with a warm smile plastered in his face.

"So this was your limit, huh?" Then he put his attention at the little girl he just rescued who kept looking at him with empty eyes. "It's okay, Sakura Matou. I'll fulfill the agreement your uncle made."

"Eh?"

And with a single motion, he pierced Sakura's chest with hand, crushing her heart and pulled the worm located in it, killing her immediately. "You will no longer suffer, Sakura Matou. Now rest in peace and go where Kariya Matou awaits for you." Then, the crows came out of the mansion and started eating the worms located in the two corpses as one of them landed on his shoulder and the Magus fed him with the worm in his hand before withdrawing from the scene where the three generations of the Matou family and its five-hundred-year legacy were completely eradicated.

"How odd, there are still no news from the base of operations" Gordes Musik Yggdmillennia wondered as he commanded the helicopters transporting the Greater Grail. "Well, it doesn't matter. We will move along with the plan no matter what!"

The plan was easy: instead of moving the Grail directly to Romania in a direct flight through Asia, they would fly through the Pacific Ocean to America where they would move in scales to avoid the detection of the Mage Association and then advance to Europe following the same method. I was a foolproof plan!

No! I want to born now!

A deep voice resounded in the mind of all the helicopters' crew, but before Gordes had the chance to ask the person beside him where it came from, he saw from the window of the helicopter how black mud poured from the Greater Grail and fell to the ocean, killing all the fishes that came in contact with it. As if that wasn't enough, he noted how that black mud was slowly climbing the harness that had it clinged from the helicopters.

"Attention to all units! Release all the hooks drop the cargo in this very moment!" The obese Magus ordered alarmed to all the helicopters though a walkie-talkie.

"Sir? What about the orders?"

"They're overruled!" No matter how he saw it, the thing they were carrying couldn't possibly be the miraculous wish-granter object Darnic had promised them. He could feel his instincts screaming him to get rid of that up-to-no-good mole at once! And as if confirming his suppositions, the mud managed to climb one of the cables connecting to one of the helicopters and, like a snake devouring its prey, it wrapped the aerial vehicle and swallowed whole, making the poor Magus wanting to puke right there and then. "G-get rid of those damned hooks at once!

The crew in the helicopters worked desperately to release the cables, some succeeding at doing so and others not being fast enough and being eaten by the mud until the Grail was finally released in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, with only less than half of the float surviving it. However, their relief only lasted for so long because, as if god was mocking their efforts, large black tentacles appeared from where the Grail drowned and dragged all the remaining helicopters to the bottom with it.

Back in Fuyuki, a certain kid was deeply slept, lost in his sweet dreams. His name or the content of his dreams are not important. He's just an ordinary child who will have an ordinary life, unaware of the nightmare that will no longer torment her nights or the terrible but meaningful life he could have had.

He's not important or relevant for the course of actions the world is about to take. After all, he's just a kid who won't become a hero of justice.

Hello and welcome to my blood fest!

First of all, I want to thank those who have been sending me your reviews, they have been very meaningful to me. I also want to thank to those who have sent me your OCs, they have been very helpful (though you might want to tone it down with the German Masters who want Assassins. Seriously, I received like ten of those!) and with that I want to say the reception of OCs is OFFICIALLY OVER!

That's right! No more OCs, I already got all the ones I'm gonna slaughter- I mean use, thanks for participating!

If you sent me your OC and I still haven't answered, don't worry. It means I'm still working on how I'm gonna handle it, so unless I say you were rejected, you still have hope to be in this fic.

Next chapter will be the first official introduction of the factions and the setting of the world, so look forward for it!