Maglad: No Ruler-class Servant ever appeared in the Fuyuki Grail Wars. And yet with Angra Mainyu inside the Grail, it could hardly be more irregular. In fact nothing in the description of Fuyuki's Grail (Fate Stay Night version) suggests that this Grail can invoke a Ruler-class Servant. I write in French and translate my work in English. BUT I retranslate all using my head after the first initial translation using an IA.
Darth Kyuubi Kurama: Thank you.
TerraBull: No, Shirou has only one Servant. Saber is Rin's Servant.
Eye of Eylor
The asphalt road went down a hill supported by a stone facing. From the road, one could see the sea transformed into an expanse of molten gold by the setting sun.
The students wearing the uniform of the Homurahara Academy went down to the city below. Most of them were moving in small groups, chatting and laughing. But three figures were clearly separate.
Two of them were dressed like the other students; Shirou had the male uniform and Rin had the female uniform... with her usual red jacket.
The Red Devil was busy lecturing the third member of their small band.
"... the role of a Servant is to protect his Master, and therefore to follow him at any time. Do you understand, Illya?"
Dressed in white and pink, llya... or, to be more exact, Sitonai... listened to the Magus with an irritated pout. She grabbed her Master's arm and clenched herself against him so possessively that Shirou had trouble walking.
Sitonai spoke to the Tohsaka Magus.
"But it was so much fun to run down the halls and discover a school. Besides, everyone wanted to talk to me... especially the girls... they said I looked like a porcelain doll. They even gave me candy!"
Shirou scratched his neck laughing in an awkward manner.
"You know, Rin, you have to understand Illya, she never went to school and...
Tohsaka crossed the arms on her stomach and looked away, with a sigh of exasperation. Then she suddenly turned towards the young Emiya, with her finger pointed at his chest.
"You moronic idiot, If I have begun to correct the behavior of your Servant, it is only to help you. You should support me rather than give in to every Illya's whim! Sitonai is supposed to protect you and...
"But Shirou was protecting Shirou."
Rin paused, looking at Illya bug-eyed.
"What? Of course, Shirou can defend himself alone, but not against a servant!"
"No, I meant THIS Shirou!"
In a prana shimmer, something materialized next to the trio, and... and cries of panic resounded all around them!. The other students watched the thing materialize, and then fled in all directions!
"A polar bear!"
Indeed, a huge bear covered with thick white fur had just materialized. It wore an Ainu necklace made of red balls holding a gold breastplate around its neck. At the sight of the immense animal, Rin leaps back, raising her arm, ready to shoot a burst of Grandr on the beast!
"What the hell is that?"
Sitonai climbed the bear's shoulder laughing and positioned herself behind its neck to rub her cheek against the coat of the huge plantigrade... and the bear responded by uttering small cries of satisfaction.
"This is... Shirou?"
The redhead was watching the bear... muttering his own name with understandable disbelief.
"Yes, I called him like you."
"What's that?" insisted Rin. "Your Noble Fantasm?"
illya put a finger on her lips and seemed to think.
"Well, Sitonai legend says she saved her tribe with the help of a sled dog. But as I am an Alter Ego-Class Servant... the legend was in consequence distorted... and my companion (a constantly active-type Noble Phantasm) has become a polar bear."
The Tohsaha heiress facepalmed.
"You let a polar bear stroll in a high school!"
"It was astralized!"
"'That's not the problem, runt!"
Classes had just resumed in all the schools of Fuyuki.
Regardless of the age of the students, the first day was remarkably similar for all.
The teachers had taught them the geography and history of Rifts Earth's Japan. Discovering that half of Japan was now nothing more than ruins inhabited by the Onis and Goblins was a shock for most students. But the worst was to explain that the nation occupying the largest area of the archipelago was a nation of samurai and Magi who shared their territory with Ryu (Japanese dragons) and Ayakashi (supernatural creatures of Japanese folklore).
As for what was happening outside Japan...
The Japanese of the year 110 PA knew as much about other continents as the Europeans of the Middle Ages that wrote on their maps "Here there are monsters."
The only known human nation outside Japan was the city-state of Hong Kong, one of the few technology-oriented populations to have survived the apocalypse. It was a trading partner of the Republic of Japan.
For the rest, the inhabitants of the Republic knew only rumors spread by dolphins and whales (1). There would be humans in North America and Europe, but also in India and Australia. There would also be one or more kingdoms of fishmen in the Pacific... The fact itself was undeniable since the dolphins used aquatic power armors adapted to their morphology. But having neither hand - nor any technological knowledge- the dolphins obviously could not have built such hi-tech wonders. However, this advanced aquatic civilization of the Pacific had not yet been encountered by the inhabitants of Japan.
Certainly, it was reassuring to know that there were friendly nations around... because Japan was stuck between two regions that were hellish countries.
First the Devil's Sea, a sort of Pacific Bermuda Triangle where ships and planes disappeared without leaving any trace. It was the domain of the Lord of the Deep, a gigantic sea monster whose tentacles stretched across the seas... to thousands of kilometers away (without any exaggeration). That was the main threat to Fuyuki. Indeed, the Lord of the Deep did not tolerate the existence of human communities on the east and southeast coasts of Kyushu. This island of the Japanese archipelago was far too close to its lair.
Then there was China. The country had been conquered by armies of demons out of Chinese folklore. Human populations lived as slaves to these inhuman masters. Fortunately, China was surrounded by a magical barrier that humans could cross without even noticing... but which was an unbreakable wall for indigenous demons.
As a result, they posed no threat outside their territory...
Shirou had painfully managed to convince Illya that going back to the Emiya Residence riding Shirou (the polar bear) was perhaps not a very good idea... Sitonai has been sulking ever since!
The redhead turned to Rin, suddenly thinking that if Saber was patrolling the city and Rider was escorting Sakura, one of the Servants had not shown up since the morning.
"Tohsaka, where is Archer?"
"Oh, he's watching someone."
Emiya blinked...
"Is he watching someone? Who?"
"I didn't have time to tell you. But a young woman started to watch us with different technological gadgets and flying objects... I think that's what one call 'drones'. Archer decided to follow her in case she posed a threat."
"And she's a threat?"
Rin was dismissive.
"It looks like she's just a journalist working for a... what do you call it? A journal that you look at on these horrible phones where you have to touch the screen to change the things that appear?"
Tohsaka was totally allergic to technology, computers, mobile phones, and the Web. She ran away from all these things fervently.
"An online newspaper on a mobile phone" proposed Shirou... who did not know much more.
"Anyway, according to Archer, our spy's name is Shinoken Yuriko. She's a journalist from Hiroshima... and she's passionate about old cars."
"A lover of old cars?"
Rin shrugged her shoulders.
"According to Archer, the people of the Republic bought most of the cars for sale in Fuyuki... For us these are just ordinary cars and all the inhabitants of Fuyuki want those cars without wheels that float above the ground that are made in Hiroshima. But for them, they are pieces of collection more than a century old... or four centuries, for the other inhabitants of Japan."
Shirou smiled, saying that soon all the inhabitants will have exchanged their old-timers for futuristic cars and that the exchange will make people happy on both sides because everyone will have had the impression of having made a deal.
"I'm surprised Archer keeps following Shinoken-san if she's just a reporter."
"Well, there are two weird things about her. First, she has... a magical tattoo like Fujimaru Raiga's."
"A yakuza tattoo!"
"Exactly. Then she's followed by a bodyguard... a technological monstrosity..." The Magus had a pout of disgust; she repeated Archer's explanation, painfully articulating unfamiliar words. "He is a cyborg that has the appearance of a kind of dragon man. he has armor in mega-damage materials and integrated weapons. None of this would be effective against a servant, but he can slaughter a squad of soldiers. All this suggests that Shinoken-san's interest in us is perhaps a source of additional unwanted problems."
They stopped at a pastry shop where Shirou bought dango (rice balls covered with sweet icing) for Illya. The little girl was absolutely delighted with this initiative. Ceasing her sulking, Sitonai started frolicking in front of them, laughing and having fun with everything she saw.
With her bear buddy, Sitonai acted just like a little girl who found a kitten.
"He followed me down the street, can I keep him? Please!"
Except that Shirou was a polar bear... an adult polar bear. Well, it wasn't like it was the first time Saber tried to bring home a sabertooth tiger... Maybe he had to get used to these things right away. What did polar bears eat? Fish, right? How many pounds a day?
Emiya Shirou stopped in the street, frowning. Parked in front of Raiga's house, a beautiful hoverlimousine was waiting. Several cybernetized individuals were waiting, watching the surroundings with the vigilant air of bodyguards. They surrounded a character dressed like a CEO.
The man had just bowed to Raiga. And the yakuza's Oyabun also responded ceremonially. Around him, members of the Fujimura Group surrounded their leader. There was great tension between the two groups despite the ceremonial politeness they displayed.
As the limo was moving away, floating on its air cushion, Shirou approached his adopted grandfather.
"What's going on?"
Raiga put both hands on the knob of his katana, looking thoughtful.
"It was a Friendly Takeover Bid..."
"Friendly?"
"For starters anyway... but since I just declined, I guess the new offers will be less friendly." Raiga sighed and shook his head. "Have you heard of Ichto Robotic?"
Shirou nodded.
When Hiroshima crossed Limbo to reappear on Rifts Earth after the end of the Apocalyptic Age, five other smaller cities reappeared in its suburbs. One of these cities was Ichto... a city that won over the sea in 2050 and was entirely devoted to high technology, in particular, robotics, Artificial Intelligence... and energy weapons. Ichto was wholly owned by the megacorporation of the same name.
When the Republic of Japan was founded, Ichto refused to join the new state... becoming an independent city, run as a corporation. The worst was that the leaders of Ichto Robotic sold weapons and construction robots that could easily be turned into war machines to... well, anyone. Literally anyone: slave traders, pirates, and warlords that were building baronies among the populations that survived outside the archipelago's main states.
Even the Otomo Shogunate was offended by Ichto's commercial practices...
"What did they want?"
"Well, they wanted to become a majority shareholder in the Fujimura Group," replied Raiga. "As you know, I own the best part of the port and the commercial buildings in Shinto. The Fujimura Group actually controls all the trade in Fuyuki. They offered me a good price but... I don't need to explain that having Ichto as a majority shareholder would be the opposite of good news for my group and even less for Fuyuki."
Shirou replied with a simple nod.
"You know me," continued the yakuza's Oyabun. "I will not be intimidated, but if half of what the Republicans tell about Ichto is true and well... I must expect to see more and more problems: warehouses burning without reason, insurance refusing to pay, various legal problems, scams, and legal imbroglio. I'm going to fight, but you can't say this is good timing for this kind of problem."
"Senpai!"
Sakura turned to the entrance to greet Shirou, Rin, and Sitonai. She was gorgeous in her pink apron. In front of her, several pots and pans let out mouth-watering fumes. The lovely Matou prepared a meal that promised to be tasty.
After taking their shoes off, the trio entered the dining room. Saber was sitting in her usual place drinking tea, while Rider was leaning against the wall.
But there was a stranger... a beautiful woman, at least if your taste in women was geared toward two-meter-high Amazons with the musculature of a dancer or Olympic swimmer. Her eyes stared at the void... lusterless eyes. She was blind!
The Amazon rose at their entrance and Sakura made the presentations.
"Atis is at the service of a... god who lives on the island of Atlantis. This god knows the existence of Fuyuki Grail and Angra Mainyu. He would like to help us."
Atis bowed without her beautiful face showing any emotion.
"My lord, the mighty and noble Splynncryth honors you with an audience."
Taking out a small glass sphere from under her clothes, she dropped it. Strangely, the object did not fall but remained suspended in the air. Looking at the object, they saw that the transparent globe was three-quarters filled with an oily translucent liquid in which an eye was floating... a huge eye.
The strange artifact began to radiate and a young man's voice, warm and slightly mocking, was heard.
"Ah... I finally see you: Rin Tohsaka, the Magus who exercises control over the Fuyuki Ley Lines. Shirou Emiya, the Magus with Thousand Swords, and Matou Sakura... who would probably prefer that I don't talk about her. I salute you. Accept, above all, my sincere admiration for your exploits. People like you are the reason I'm so attached to humans. I never get bored hearing about your latest achievements."
Surprised, Rin and Shirou exchanged uncertain looks. The scene was strange and they instinctively felt that they were talking with a very powerful and very dangerous being... For now, he was friendly. But could they trust it?
Rin cleared her throat and smiled, turning to the floating eye.
"Thank you, Lord Splynncrynth. I must say that I did not expect your visit and that we had prepared nothing to receive a distinguished guest such as you."
A burst of laughter rose from the sphere.
"The Eye of Eylor is just a communication tool... I'm not here, I'm talking to you from the mud lake that serves as my throne... Do you wonder what I look like? Well, imagine... my body is a huge eye surrounded by a crown of smaller eyes and I have a lot of tentacles... I don't know why, but when humans stand in front of me they suddenly turn pale, before fainting. Oh, I nearly forgot, I would never enter the Emiya Residence, I'm bigger than this building.
Rin blushed and convulsively squeezed her hands. Once again the Tohsaka curse had struck. She had just made a big mistake in front of everyone.
Her reaction made Splynncryth laugh again.
"You don't know anything about me, do you?"
The heiress of the Tohsaka lineage sighed.
"Nothing more than what Sakura already told me, Lord Splynncryth. You contacted her two weeks ago. You had already talked about offering your help."
"That's right. It's a good thing you haven't heard of me beforehand. My reputation is... let's just say they say a lot of bad things about me."
Splynncryth remained silent for a few moments. Then he spoke again, slowly, he chose carefully his words.
"I'm probably the worst person to talk about 'Lord Splynncryth', I see him every day, you know! It's hard to be a good judge of yourself, isn't it? What you need to understand is... I'm a god, a god from a very ancient divine dynasty who knew its golden age several million years ago. I'm the youngest member of my kind... the equivalent of one of your teens. I am the king of the island of Atlantis and the god of these residents. For you, most inhabitants would be likely monsters... First, you would find them physically hideous, but even more so their behavior, their eating habits, or their goals would be abhorrent to you. But the truth is that we are neither friends nor enemies of humanity... Personally, I love you very much, by the way... We're just too different from you. You can't understand us because we don't quite exist in the same space-time as you do. We also have needs that you would find abominable... That's how nature made us. We can't change that any more than you could suddenly decide to feed on mineral salts from the soil, like plants."
He paused for a moment.
"I belong to the Splugorth race. Humans see us as evil and disgusting monsters. I'm not saying you're wrong... That's your point of view, but a very reductive point of view about older beings, wiser, and having an infinitely broader perception of things. One is never wrong in giving one's personal opinion. But the universe is not a personal matter, and other truths are equally true. I apologize for the long presentation. To sum up, I am what you call a 'monster', but this 'monster' wants to help you because he fears that the Grail of Fuyuki will destroy everything he has built over the last few centuries and also because he fears that humanity will destroy itself-even using this Grail."
Artoria Pendragon laid her cup in front of her in an elegant gesture and then turned to the Eye of Eylor.
"Thank you for coming to visit us, Lord Slynncryth. However, I must confess some impatience. Would you forgive me if I asked you the reasons for your visit?"
"You are Saber, aren't you? A dragon incarnated in the appearance of a young human... know that the Splugorths respect dragons. You will always be welcome on the island of Atlantis, especially in Dragcona, the City of Dragons."
The eye moved towards Saber. After a brief pause, the voice rose again... much more serious.
"I have visions of the future when I dream. That's how I discovered the Fuyuki Grail. I immediately decided to send an expeditionary force to prevent any ill-intentioned individual from using the Grail, by force... if necessary. I immediately thought about what would happen if someone like Lord Dunscon became a Master. I couldn't imagine worse and... Lord Dunscon has arrived in Japan and has summoned a Servant. Cleopatra, an Assassin-class Servant! Sometimes it's a real curse to be so perceptive... this time I really wish I'd worried unnecessarily. He's just the worst possible Master! If Lord Alistair Dunscon ever seizes the Grail he will wish to become the new Emperor of the Coalition... the most powerful state in North America... which is a military and oppressive dictatorship. And he won't stop there... Dunscon is a complete madman, crazy for revenge, crazy for power.
Rin, Saber, and Shirou reflected while staring at the eye floating above the table. At length, the god of Atlantis had answered their questions.
Tohsaka rubbed her chin, and a drop of sweat slipped down his temple. She wanted to appear calm, but her concern was obvious to those who knew her. She spoke again.
"So, to sum up... a perfect madman, a psychotic lunatic who wants revenge on the entire universe because his dad died because of the dad of the current Emperor of the Coalition States... came to Japan to use the Grail and make a wish to become the Emperor of the Coalition... since this is his rightful place (according to him)."
"What a magnificent summary of Alistair Dunscon's life and ambitions," Splynncryth laughingly replied. You could almost hear it appalling.
"And he arrived with several hundred Magi..."
"... including necromancers and demon summoners! He also made an alliance with some survivors of an army of sub-demons called 'Daemonixs'. So he must be busy raising an army to conquer Fuyuki right now."
"We have to stop it," said the redhead.
The eye turned towards him, and Splynncryth's voice sounded... full of feigned enthusiasm.
"But what an extraordinarily relevant remark, Emiya Shirou. I just had to explain for an hour the danger that Lord Dunscon represents for you to understand that you must absolutely not let him win the Grail War. I'm impressed by your quick wit, young man."
Putting down her cup of tea, Saber looked at the Eye of Eylor, and scold it! "Lord Slpynncryth, be kind enough to behave politely towards your hosts... your sarcasm hardly helps my Masters! They are shocked by the current situation and that is understandable. Please curb this kind of behavior in the future, thank you."
The eye remained for a moment speechless, betraying the surprise of the god of Atlantis. For the first time in his very long life... someone had dared to scold him as a child!
"Um... I admit I'm pretty sarcastic... I probably went a bit over the top... you're right, Saber, although I'm very amused by the whole situation, I admit it's a disaster for you."
Atis appeared surprised... utterly surprised. The Blind Warrior Woman (or Altara) was one of the many slave-warriors of Atlantis. She had never heard that her god had ever been... scolded... and still less that he acknowledged being wrong.
Lord Splynncryth spoke again.
"The important thing is that I prepared my forces for an intervention and that..."
He suddenly stopped.
"Excuse me someone else wants to talk to me."
The luminous aura around the eye disappeared for a few minutes and then reappeared. This time there was no more amusement in Splynncryth's voice. The god of Atlantis was deadly serious.
"A Reacher of the Deep is approaching Fuyuki!"
A Reacher of the Deep... one of the tentacles of the Lord of the Deep.
Rin was the first to react, rising from her pillow.
"What?!"
"You'll have to defend yourself, I can't help you."
"Yet you were just talking about your fleet," Shirou recalled.
"By tacit agreement, I never oppose the master of the Devil's Sea. And in return, he does not attack my ships. Sorry, but apart from warning you of danger, I can do nothing more... Don't waste a single second! The Lord of the Deep wants to destroy the city. Prepare to fight to protect your lives... non... your very souls!"
Off the coast of Japan
The Mirakumo was a Soyakaze-class nuclear frigate. The white ship was of conventional construction. Except that her hull was made of mega-damage materials, she looked like ships built since the end of the 20th century. The vessel was essentially armed with two 127mm naval guns and an MK41 tactical 16-cell VLS.
When the Nitō-kai-i (Navy Lieutenant 2nd Class) Yamada saw the image on the sonar, he thought for a moment that his equipment was broken. He put his hand on his earpiece; listening to the noise... it wasn't a motor it was...
He stood up suddenly, his face as pale as death.
"A Reacher of the Deep!"
The Nitō-Kaisa (2nd class captain) Saito forgot all his dignity to run to the post of sonar officer. Lieutenant Yamada put the sound he heard on the speakers and all heard... a horrible din, a mix of marine animals' cries that reflected madness and violence but also human voices that clucked stupidly... the background noise was even more impressive... the movement of a gigantic creature that swam around twisting.
Suddenly, the sea forced, and the waves shook the Mirakumo. In response, the frigate accelerated, while the helmsman quickly veered away from...
The grey sky was illuminated by lightning that illuminated the night. Lightning struck the sea as the wind gained speed.
"Commander, "the first officer turned to Saito, holding his binoculars in his hand. "Look over there!"
On the port bow, a few nautical miles away, the sea was rising... in the high-magnification electronic binoculars, they saw a sort of gigantic arch coming out of the sea... the radars gave more precise information, and the object had a cylindrical shape, and formed a kind of huge bridge coming out of the water and climbing far above the surface before diving back into the sea... several kilometers further.
It was a partial view of a Reacher of the Deep emerging from the waves...
On the damp surface of the immense tentacles swarmed hordes of disgusting monsters. Some were mixtures of men and octopus, or men and sharks. There were also women whose legs were replaced by fishtails... the famous mermaids.
And it was the mix of crazy screams and bewitching voices that the sonar of the Mirakumo had heard.
"Sir, if the Reacher stays on course, it will reach Kyushu Island within two hours."
The commander has trouble remaining calm.
"Where exactly is it headed?"
"It's headed straight to... to Fuyuki!"
(1) In case you've forgotten, dolphins and whales became smart after the Rifts opened.