Words Count: 4690

A/N: There was a mistake... I accidentally uploaded Episode 1 instead of the actual Prologue the other day so here…

Here's my usual spiel:

You can start reading up to Episode 38 of the Sequel – Fate: False Sovereignty in advanced. The Tier starts from as low as 1USD, check it out!

p(a) tr. eon(/) LiamThePoor

"I've taken your achievements." My fist landed squarely on the Apostle's wretched face- the manic smile which once occupied his lips was nowhere to be seen, replaced by a frozen look of horror. An expression which had essentially been welded into on him eternally, courtesy of yours truly.

"With this, I'll have stolen your hope for vengeance."

The floor glistened with freshly-spilt blood and the tattered corpses of his Ghouls, all of whom wore a sinister and uncanny grin that stretched their mouth from ear to ear. Unconcerned with the grisly sight, I stomped his limbs mercilessly until their appearance resembled the Apostle's personality- twisted and irredeemable. Looking at his broken form beneath my feet, I released a loud, mocking sigh. "And now, even your life shall be claimed by myself as well…"

Fingers sliding down Infernal Iris, I laughed a mirthless, hollow laugh, unable to find humor and satisfaction in the situation. "I'd say it's fitting end for a deplorable creature such as yourself, wouldn't you agree?"

"I'll–" The Apostle howled, its forehead pulsing red with both anger and embarrassment as it spat out a blob of blood near my feet. "– I will fucking KILL YOU, YOU HEAR ME?! No matter where you hide, I will find you and I will flay you alive, you damned DOG of Barthomeloi! That fucking whore too, I'llpersonally tear her limbs off one by one and–Arrgghhh!"

His rant was instantly interrupted by a tortured scream as I twisted his arm in its socket- as though I was toying with a cheap, plastic Ken doll.

"Like this you mean?"

I asked 'innocently', his bloody, amputated arm still held tightly in my hand.

There's no joy, nor any sadistic desire- I was merely going through the motions, forced to be cruel and vicious for I knew not another way. Wordlessly eyeballing the wounded Apostle, who was thrashing in a manic fit on the ground, I prepared myself to put it to rest should it try anything. Though seeing as it's clutching the bleeding stump and howling still- as if that'd do the lowly creature any good- I highly doubted things would come to that.

"You- Argh- YOU FUCK!"

"Such a dirty mouth on you." Raising my fist, I was about to strike the defenseless thing again when I felt the Gem in my pocket vibrate. "Oh-Wait, give me a sec…"

It was a certain Vassal of mine- the first in fact. "Sorry, I gotta take this. You mind staying still for a bit?"

"ARRGGGHHH!" Was its response.

"Terrific." Winking at the broken form of the Apostle, I walked into a corner. "What did you do to me? WHY AM I NOT REGENERATING, YOU FUCK?!"

"Sshhh!" I shushed, before mentally accepting the call clearing my throat with a vicious cough. "This is Leonis speaking, what's wrong Alice? Are the Glascheit making trouble for us again?"

Sadly, after Sven was put out of commission, his family- House Glascheit had again and again made attempts to retrieve his body, likely to collect the remaining half of their Crest.

They'd tried all means, be it fair or foul, and had succeeded in causing me an ungodly amount of troubles and financial losses, they had even offered me their fealty for the next twenty years, but I held strong against the temptation and rejected. I could hardly be referred to as an upright or good person, but I was no traitor.

There were still lines not even I'd cross. Besides, giving up Sven now wouldn't cool their anger, we were way beyond peace at this point.

The only path left was War.

"– Fortunately not, my Liege. I'm calling to inform you of–" She's just about to get into the meat of things when a wretched howl cut in. "You fuck! I'm talking to you! Answer me, what did you do?!"

Sighing, I glanced at the Apostle whose name I couldn't be bothered to remember and tried to calmly reason. "Have you no manners? Don't you see I'm on the phone with someone else? I will get back to you soon, so for now just shut up, be a good- quiet boy and obediently wait until it's your turn, okay?"

"– I'm sorry, am I interrupting something?"

"No, no…" I denied, glaring at the Apostle as it screeched like a harpy. "Some people just don't have any manner, I'll discipline it later, but if it screams again–"

I trailed, my warning clear. "Now, what were you saying?"

"– There have been rumors of weird red-marks appearing on people's hands. While I have not checked the validity of these claims, I believe it to be true." So it had started… Eyelids closing shut, my thoughts began to wander to the City of Fuyuki. Logically, I should be happy to return and yet! Yet, I dreaded the meeting that was to come with the girls. I doubted they'd greet me with a smile, considering I basically abandoned them in favor of works.

It's not like I didn't want to see the girls per say… It's just- I was afraid, I supposed? I was afraid they'd see the man I had turned into and feel disgusted. Not that I was much better years ago, but I hadn't been this bad. Tethering between the line of Good and Evil, I was at best Chaotic-Neutral then. It's funny really, I had always loved to make jokes about being a filthy capitalist, yet I had never expected to actually become one.

Ironic how things oftentimes turned out, huh? "– It is as you suspected, My Liege. The Filth Grail War has started four decades early…"

"I see… Have the Elites relocate to Fuyuki, I'll need them in the War– Urgh?" My instruction was interrupted by a low groan as the back of my hand's suddenly lit on fire. It's a pain which burnt me deep to the bones, causing me- even with my ridiculous pain-tolerance- to grimace. "Wha- What?"

"– My Liege, are you alright?" Eyes narrowed, I did not deign to respond, instead my gaze shot towards the back of my right hand, which's shinning with a deep, neon-crimson shaped into the head of a large, snarling lion. "This is… Command Seals?"

In hindsight, this shouldn't be too surprising, especially when I had Angra(Ahriman) backing me, but– "ArRggHh! I'M GONNA KILL YOU–"

Okay, that's it! Spinning around, my leg lashed at his temple at a speed so fast the Apostle himself couldn't react, lopping off his head in one clean strike. Blood and brain-matters soon coated the wall, "Dumbass, if you'd just stayed silent, you might have survived for a bit longer."

I muttered disappointedly, then spoke into the Gem. "I'm alright, my Command Seals have just appeared, that's all…"

"– My Liege, did you say you have Command Seals?"

"I did… Why? You sound surprised?" I inquired in confusion. While the Holy Grail had three guaranteed spots for the Einzbern, Matou and Tohsaka, the other Masters had always been selected at random. Me getting my own set of Command Seals out of billions wasn't exactly expected, but it was well-within the bounds of possibility. "– I- No, it's just that discounting the Founding Families, there should only be four sets left, all of which have been accounted for if our spy-network is to be believed."

"What are you saying?" A foreboding began to drill a bottomless pit in my stomach. "– If the rumors prove true, you'd be the eighth Master, my Liege. But that can't be… Maybe there has been a misunderstanding of sort?"

"Perhaps." I didn't buy that excuse, not one bit. Having experienced so much bullshits in the short decade since my transmigration, I could confidently say most of the coincidences in the Moonlit World were rarely coincidences at all. "Send someone to check on these characters. I fear something troubling is coming…"

"– Understood, my Liege. Oh-I forgot, Lord O'Connor has asked for you. He said he has located the person you're looking for." After all these years, had Wilson finally discovered the person responsible for the sacking of Enkidu's Temple? "We should still have time to mobilize troops, send the Elites there to meet with the Fujimura Group. Remind them to not provoke those guys, they're on our side. And remember to keep an eye on the Einzbern. I want to know every move they make before they even make it, understood?"

"– I'll do so at once. Stay safe, my Liege."

"I will." Turning off the Gem, I wordlessly massaged my head. "Angra, you there?"

'What's up, Leo-tan?' What's up, really?!

"This isn't the time for jokes, what is going on here? Why are there eight participants in the Grail War?" My voice was even, betraying none of my emotions, which were practically boiling over as I inquired. Let's hope I was just made an exception to the Seven Masters rule, else things were going to go to shit real quick. I did not need a fucking Grand Grail War right now. 'About that… Yikes, we don't know, Leo.'

"The fuck do you mean you don't know?!" I growled in irritation. "Don't you guys control the Holy Grail?"

'Think of the Holy Grail as a house, and we're the inhabitants. Sure, we can redecorate the whole place, modify it with paints…etc. But our influence is ultimately limited.' The Daemon shrugged innocently. "But you would have felt something if a huge change- for example: The rules being altered- occurred, correct?"

Clamping on my emotions, I asked patiently. 'Yeah-About that…'

"Correct?" I repeated threateningly. 'We're a Collection of Spirits jumbled into one, Leo-tan. Believe it or not, we have better things to do than to observe a clump of Mana shaped into an oversized, glorified grail.'

"So what you're saying is: You have no idea what's going on with the Grail?" Growling, I slammed a fist on the column of the building, causing the whole place to shake as entire chunks of the walls came crashing down on us. At the abrupt disturbance, the Runes I had carved in the paint prior to the battle all burst into a raging fire, each spreading in a different direction, ensuring no evidence would be left untouched by its relentless destructiveness. 'Sorry?'

Sadly, I'd not be around to see the result, for the second that last chunk fell off, I was gone already- having teleported elsewhere.

"Fantastic–" Note the sarcasm. "– Can you at least go check on it, please? I still have a few things to handle at the Tower."

I was in no hurry to summon a Servant of my own. With my current combat-capacity, I was more than capable of fending off one Servant- two if they're non-combative types, and should push come to shove, using [Blink] to put some distance between us was always an option. I was curious too, what if a Master just refused to summon a Servant and hid? Would it render the War futile, since victory wasn't be possible? Or would the War continue indefinitely until that Master died?

Obviously, I wasn't gonna go that route, but it's still a thought-provoking question.

But, back to the topic at hands, the War shouldn't start before a new Overseer had been assigned anyway, which given the Holy Church's track records, should take at least another week or two- plenty of time for me to both cut off loose ends here and allow the Elites- a Magi mercenary group of mine- to relocate and get comfortable in Fuyuki. 'Alright, let me ask the others.'

Sensing my seriousness, Angra did not dilly-dally and disappeared, only to show up a moment later. 'Okay, I have a bad news and a worse news, which do you want to hear first?'

'Oh-Gods…' Defeated, I closed my eyes in a futile effort to distance myself from the situation and pretend- for a precious second- I was someone else and not Leonis Magnum right now. "Just give it to me straight."

'Well, the bad news is: The Grail has gone rogue- Or more precisely, the personality governing it has.' What did that even mean? Did it mean no Wish could be obtained? Or had the rules changed completely? What the fuck was going on?! 'The worst news is: Rather than the initial three or four you anticipated, you're probably gonna have to deal with eleven Servants… I've checked, Sakura does not possess Command Seals- which means she isn't a Master.'

That's impossible! The Grail was designed to grant descendants of the Founding Families Command Seals! Mutated or not, it's written in the original coding which shouldn't have been tampered with given Rin's status as a Master. Then again… Was Sakura still a Matou? The taints of Zouken's familiars marred her body no longer, and she didn't even identify as a Matou.

"Wait, what the fuck do you mean by eleven?!"

'Well…' The Daemon trailed. 'I noticed other sets of Command Seals being distributed aside from the usual seven. Rin hasn't summoned hers, and neither has Shiro.'

Eleven–?! I nearly fell on my arse, shell-shocked by the changes. This made no sense! Unlike Apocrypha, this Grail had never been stolen and modified by Darnic, it shouldn't be capable of this! "DO YOU- Do you know why?"

I tried to stay calm, yet snippets of my anger managed to seep through anyway. 'Sadly no. There's one of us there when the Grail started to experience mutations, but he doesn't seem to know why. Nobody even put a finger on it. He said it just mutated on its own.'

"And why haven't you guys tried fixing it?!" I raised my voice ever so slightly. 'We would if we could, but we don't even know what's wrong with the System... And the mutated code is always on the move to avoid termination- like it's sentient almost.'

"Great…" Again, note the sarcasm. "What a fucking mess."

At least it wasn't all bad news. O'Connor had located Enkidu's stuffs at last- stuffs which I could use to summon the 'Mud Man'. Surely, the Golden Queen would be happy to see her friend once more- Even if it's just a weakened copy summoned back upon this World from the Throne? "This is not the ideal scenario, but I'll adapt like I always have."

Reminding myself, I felt the weight of anxiety and fears starting to decrease ever so slightly. "All who stands in my way will fall."

Servants, Magi and Apostles- it did not matter. They'd surrender or die. The sudden surge of confidence was immediate and effective as my insecurities were seemingly washed away. For over a decade, I had prepared- I had trained my body 'till it broke, 'till I could hardly walk and breath, 'till I went from a somewhat respected and feared First-Gen to the prestigious Lord I was now. This was naught but a hiccup in my path, and it'd be dealt with appropriately. "This is not the end of me."

'That's the spirit, Leo-tan!'

"You shut up, I'm still angry with you."

— [Fate: DML] —

In their basement, Rin and Sakura stood before a Summoning-Circle. "Preparations, ready. Time, good. Wavelength, ideal. By performing the summoning at 2AM, when my Mana is at its peak, I'll get Saber even without a Catalyst! Just watch me, Sakura! Watch how cool your nee-chan is!"

"Nee-san, I don't want to burst your bubble, but aren't you being too optimistic?" The younger Tohsaka asked, her whisper barely above the wind. Her goal's not to put her sister down, but Sakura was a realist at heart. There're a total of seven Masters in a Holy Grail War, the odds of Rin successfully summoning Saber without a Catalyst were low at best, and utterly abysmal at worst. "It'll be fine! Anfang.Silver and iron to the origin. Gem and the archduke of contracts to the cornerstone."

Confidently, Rin began to chant.

"The ancestor is my great master Schweinorg. The alighted wind becomes a wall. The gates in the four directions close, coming from the crown, the three-forked road that leads to the kingdom circulate." Soaked with Mana, the Summoning-Circle began to glow an ominous red in response as mercury filled its carved-outline. "Shut (fill). Shut (fill). Shut (fill). Shut (fill). Shut (fill).

Repeat every five times.

Simply, shatter once filled.

―――I announce!"

The air itself seemed choked by the converging Mana. Frozen in her spot, Sakura couldn't help but widen her eyes in curiosity, her gaze strictly remaining on the Circle while Rin's voice slowly and gradually rose in volume. "Your self is under me, my fate(doom) is in your sword."

The foundation of their Mansion started to shake wildly as lights spilt forth. "In accordance with the approach of the Holy Grail, if you abide by this feeling, this reason, then answer. Here is my oath. I am the one who becomes all the good of the world of the dead, I am the one who lays out all the evil of the world of the dead.

You, seven heavens clad in three words of power, arrive from the ring of deterrence, O keeper of the balance―――!"

Burning bright, the Summoning-Circle suddenly exploded, forcing both girls to back off rapidly as they're covered in a layer of soot and ashes. "*Cough*– Di- Did I succeed? Where's Saber?"

The curtain of dust was swept away with a wave of the older Tohsaka's hand, yet different from their expectations, no ancient Hero stood to greet them in the Circle. All that's there was the dashed hopes and dreams of Rin. "Gods, I failed, didn't I…? Why- Just why can't I ever do anything right?!"

Seeing her crestfallen sister, Sakura consoled, patting Rin on the shoulder.

"Nee-san, don't be too disappointed. It's your first time doing this, you can always try again–" That's when they both heard and sensed the disturbance on top of their heads- the loud and obnoxious sound of furniture colliding with one another. "Okay, what was that sound?!"

Neither girls knew who did it first, but they raced towards the upper-floor in search of the source to find their living room in complete shambles. Clad in black and red, the culprit sat with his legs crossed, his piercing, steely-grey eyes zooming in on the girls like a hawk. The stranger appeared casual and easygoing, yet Sakura experienced an attraction to him- a call similar to what she often felt when thinking of her beloved senpai– Shiro Emiya.

Perhaps it's the lights playing a trick on her, but Sakura could have sworn he recognized her and Rin too. "Real sorry 'bout the mess. I saw a cockroach, so I threw the table at it, but it's able to escape, thus I then decided to throw a cupboard… The circle went on until the room became how it is now. Although, you should be careful still, I don't think that killed it."

Swallowing an emotional outburst, her sister crossed her arms. "Saber, I assume?"

"Archer, actually." The man replied mirthfully. "So I'm guessing you're my Master then? You weren't here when I was summoned. Who is the tagalong?"

But Rin didn't seem to hear him, too occupied with having a full-blown nervous breakdown as she tore at her twin-tails. "No, no! Why Archer? I wanted Saber!"

"… Well, that's surprisingly hurtful." Archer muttered, glancing at the younger girl, who's giving him an unnerving stare. "But thanks for that I suppose. Now I'm happy to inform you that you'll have the honor to be ordered around by me for the duration of this War. You'll do as you are told, and I will bring victory to us, got it?"

The tsundere looked up from her feet, eyes glassy and unfocused as she mumbled. "Self-centered, prideful and destructive… I know your identity!"

His heart dropped to his stomach hearing that. "And who am I?"

"You're Satan, aren't you?!" Caught off-guard by the sheer ridiculousness of her answer, the Archer in Red stumbled forwards, the look on his face schooled in a cautious, contemplative expression. "Wha- I- What? What are you on about?! Walk me through all the steps, how did you even arrive to that conclusion?!"

The worst part was: She seemed unexpectedly proud of the guess. "Please, you don't have to lie to me. Red and black clothes, irritatingly prideful, you're obviously the infamous First of the Fallen– Lucifer Morningstar himself. I hope your Wish does not involve the destruction of Mankind, else I'm afraid this relationship won't work out for us."

"Yes Rin! Because I'm obviously the Devil!"

"Ah-Hah! So you admit it!"

"Nee-san, I don't think he's being serious."

Archer shot to his feet. "SARCASM, WOMAN! Have you not heard of it?! And I am not Satan."

"Pffftt… Filthy liar. But I can't have my own Servant defy my every order… So,

Anfang: By order of my Command Seals!"

"No–" Archer said warningly as the tsundere raised her fist, "– Don't you DARE!"

"I demand your absolute obedience, Archer!" Like that, Archer fell to his knees, feeling the Command Seal settling in his Spiritual Core- pathetic and weak due to the vague nature of the Command itself- yet it's nevertheless there. "Are you for REAL?! Are you that stupid?! I can not believe you just wasted a Command Seal on that!"

"Now you know not to fuck with me." Rin pointed her nose smugly upwards. "There are brooms and cleaning supplies in the closet two rooms down from here, take those and clean your mess up. My sister and I need a bath. We will set out immediately once we're done, so stay near."

With that said, the tsundere/Tohsaka Head resolutely marched off to their shared bathroom alongside her younger sister, leaving a perplexed Archer by himself.

"What the actual fuck?!"

.

.

.

"Nee-san, that was mean."

"It's necessary though, I can't have my Servant doing his own things without my inputs."

"No." Sakura shook softly. "I meant the 'Satan' thing. You do realize he's not actually–"

Rin snorted as she cut in. "Of course, I'm not that stupid. If he's really Satan, do you honestly think I'll treat him like that? I'm careless, not mentally-challenged. Shame though, I wanted Saber really badly…"

They continued forth in silence, when a thought occurred to Sakura all of a sudden. "Nee-san, you haven't introduced yourself to him, right?"

Blinking owlishly, Rin tilted her head. "No, I'm pretty sure I haven't. Why?"

"Then how did he know your name is Rin?"

Both girls stopped dead in their tracks, minds whirling with thoughts. "You're… Right. Archer called me by my name, didn't he?"

"Should we question him?"

Eyes narrowing, Rin rejected. "No, I doubt he will tell the truths and I can't afford to lose a second Command Seal. We'll deal with it later. From what I've heard, Masters can experience the lives of their Servants through a dream-cycle. I can get all the information I want to know there."

— [Fate: DML] —

Bluish-purple hair matted and knotted with filths, the teenager raved manically as he drew the Summoning Circle using the crimson liquid powering his body. Around the teen, corpses littered the ground, and the blood which spread all over the ground shone- reflecting the beauty of the moonlights. "Those bitches… They took everything from me! But I'll have my revenge!"

He laughed madly, his sanity long lost in the years he spent wandering the streets as a homeless orphan. "Ha-Ha! I will have them bouncing on my dick by the end of this War!"

Exhausted and scared, the tightly bound woman tried to crawl away while his attention's not on her, but her efforts ultimately proved unfruitful when his foot came crashing down on her hands and legs. "Stay still, you WHORE!"

Gagged, she could do nothing to defend herself, nothing but moan in pain as her blood was spilt and with it, her tears. "Let silver and steel be the essence.

Let stone and the archduke of contracts be the foundation.

Let [faction color] be the color I pay tribute to.

Let rise a wall against the wind that shall fall.

Let the four cardinal gates close.

Let the three-forked road from the crown reaching unto the Kingdom rotate.

Let it be declared now; your flesh shall serve under me, and my fate shall be with your sword.

Submit to the beckoning of the Holy Grail.

Answer, if you would submit to this will and this truth.

An oath shall be sworn here.

I shall attain all virtues of all of Heaven;

I shall have dominion over all evils of all of Hell."

Fueled by the sacrifices of his victims, the Circle shone. "From the Seventh Heaven, attended to by three great words of power, come forth from the ring of restraint, protector of the holy balance!"

Shapeless Mana began to take form.

Mouth widened into a smirk, eyes covered under a simple and dirtied rag, the man wore clothes which were perhaps precious and expensive once, yet stained and ripped up, they were worth little more than the rags Shinji was wearing. The most eye-catching feature of the man must be the pouch on his waist, containing a large pieces of glimmering silvers. Logically, with how wide the opening of the pouch was, the metals should have dropped out,

Instead, an invisible force kept it all in somehow.

But the man wasn't finished forming, his lower-torso still a faded, see-through mess of colors. "You should feel honored you get to be a part of this miraculous event!"

Shinji laughed, before standing over the helpless woman with a knife pointing directly at her chest. Then, without naught a notice, the knife came slamming into her stomach, piercing every internal organ she might have had. Not satisfied, Shinji continued to stab her over fifty times, and didn't stop until her organs became minced mush. Hair, face, clothes- The last of House Matou was caked crimson, yet the smile on his lips never once faded as his Servant knelt and said politely, his voice slick with an undercurrent of something.

"Servant Assassin greets Master."

But Shinji didn't respond, too ecstatic with his successful Summoning to care, shouting to the empty woods.

"I'll have my revenge!"

— [Fate: DML] —

All around the World, people were preparing- or summoning their Servants,

Some were searching for a suitable Catalyst,

Others had already begun to bond with their overpowered familiars,

Yet rather than a Servant, one was instead granted something else- A Card- glimmering with a pretty blue lights- it beckoned to her, asked her to grab it and together, they would become one. With her Luck, she knew she shouldn't listen to it. It's probably nothing good, yet Bazett Fraga McRemitz couldn't find it in her to reject. Wordlessly, she approached the Card and with a simple touch, it turned to streams of Mana particles which flowed into her Core…

The dirt-poor Enforcer groaned in satisfaction as strength filled her body in ways she couldn't describe and– "This is…?"

Gone was her suit, replaced by a skimpy, skin-tight purple outfit as she stretched, feeling unusually confident. Next to her, a crimson, barbed spear stood proudly erected, its lust for blood made known by the aura which coated it. Then, memory of another began to pour in her mind. Bazett was not a good spearwoman by any stretch of the word, having trained in hand-to-hand mostly, but in those precious few secs, she thought she could take on the World with Gáe Bolg in hands.

Biting her lips, she forcefully clamped on that feeling of Invincibility, knowing it to be false. So what if she had the physical capabilities and experiences of a Servant? It would do her no good if she lost herself and had her personality rewritten by the Servant's. Sensing her irritation, the weight in her mind subsided, as though the Servant in question had heard her worries and decided to lower the intensity of her thoughts. At last, Bazett could relax, moaning out a question as knowledge of the Card appeared in her head.

"I see… So this thing is a Class Card?"