"Magi have long coveted the fabled "Akasha" or the swirl of the root. Ever since the age of gods ended, the agility to reach the root has gone from an achievable goal to a fabled art, forever locked away from the hands of humans. It became something that many of them wanted to reach, yet was something that was not possible."

"While ancient Magi did not give any importance to the root, modern Magi sought the root as their one and only goal. For modern Magi, whose magecraft and traditions were rendered nothing more than fables and trickery, reaching the root was the only goal worth devoting their lives towards."

"Thus began the world of magi, a world of magic, mystery, and lies."

"Our story takes place about thousand years after the forming of the "clock tower" or the centre of modern magi."

"After the end of the age of gods, a family calling themselves the "Einzburn" were born, formed by the disciples of the third magic, who sought to preserve their craft and bring salvation to all of humanity."

"The family sought to give birth to a homunculus that would be a replica of their master. In essence, they wanted to create a perfect replica of their master, to revive the lost craft."

900 years after that, the magi finally succeeded in producing a homunculus that was more or less the perfect model of their master. They should have been elated, but they despaired instead. The homunculus Justeaze Lizrich von Einzburn was born not through their skills or abilities but rather as an accident that should not have occurred. Not only was she a reminder of their failure, but she wouldn't even be a proper wielder of the third magic. If she achieved its usage, she will only be able to save one human at a time."

"The magi were forced to reach the conclusion that their efforts will never beat fruit. Regardless of their 900 years of effort, their most successful creation was born through accident. Most of the magi committed suicide; others abandoned the factory altogether. It seemed that the third magic would be as lost as the age of gods."

"But something unexpected happened, the homunculi the magi abandoned did not stop the construction of new homunculi, neither did they abandon the goal of salvation that their creators had sought for so long."

"To this end, the Homunculi, now led by Justeaze made a pact with two other mage families. The two families were the Makiri and the Tohsaka."

"The Makiri had long been associated with the Einzburn family. Their leader, Zolgen, shared the same desire for salvation that the Einzburn possessed. In contrast, the Tohsaka had no real interest in the salvation of mankind. However, their leader was a kind individual who would willingly sacrifice himself for the sake of a better tomorrow.

"The three families, Tohsaka, Makiri and the Einzburn created the system known as the greater grail system. Their goal was to use "heroic spirits" as conduits to reach the root."

"Afterall, the throne of heroes was located near the root. Byy using summoning facsimile's of heroic spirits, they found it possible to reach it by using the heroes of the past."

"Everything was going great, the Makiri and Einzburn would be able to reach the root for their shared goal of mankind's salvation, whereas the Tohsaka would be able to reach the root and create a better world."

"They did not know the true extent of the consequences to their actions."

"At the advent of the first holy grail war, a shocking discovery was made. Only one family will be able to reach the swirl of the root, meaning the three families will never be able to achieve the shared goal that they possessed."

"The first holy grail war was an argument with no winner. While the three families were still on good terms, tensions began to rise."

"The second holy grail was a disaster. All masters and servants died, with no one left to reach the grail. This grail war was the breaking point for the families alliance; the Einzburn and Makiri changed their goal from reaching the root to winning the holy grail war and achieving immortality. These events pretty much destroyed the relationship between them and the other two families."

"The third holy grail war seemed to be the first proper "holy grail war." Lacking the relative chaos of the second or the inaction of the first, the church had been called as mediators due to events of the second holy grail war."

"But just like always, things quickly got out of control. Two Saber class servants getting summoned, the Einzburn creating a custom class container in order to increase their chances of victory, and the imperial Japanese army and Nazi German army trying to steal the grail, the events of the Holy Grail War were best described as chaotic. It all culminated in the destruction of the lesser grail."

"The events of the grail war completely destroyed any traces of the alliance once possessed by the three families."

"By the time the fourth holy grail war arrived, the three families were bitter rivals. The Makiri (now going by Matou) were still amicable with the Tohsaka, though that was mostly just to get help in case of necessity rather than any actual loyalty."

"All their grievances would culminate in the fourth holy grail war."

"In most worlds, the fourth holy grail war ended in tragedy. An innocent wish would rain death upon the innocent due to its master's mistakes."

"Yet, in this one, things happened differently; a third party decided to intervene and alter the course of its events."

"Thus, would start the story that would forever alter the course of many people's lives."

"This is the story of the fourth heaven's feel."

(The Selfish Mage)

The Tohsaka were a line of Magi that had long tried to reach the swirl of the root. Though their lineage had humble beginnings, their status and worth as Magi had greatly increased in the past 200 hundred years.

Originally the Tohsaka were non-magi, hidden Christians, who had escaped the wrath of the Tokugawa shogunate and its anti-Christian laws. They hid themselves among a group of sympathetic townsfolk and were simply content to live their lives in peace.

It all changed, however, when a strange man appeared before them and taught them the ways of magi. The then-current head of the Tohsaka family, Nagito, was greatly interested in the world of magecraft. He dedicated himself to practicing various kinds of martial arts, believing that by continuous practice, he would be able to achieve the state of Musen, or becoming one with the universe. While his way of ideas of reaching the root was rather unorthodox by magi standards, it was still a valid method of reaching the root.

The Tohsaka have changed a lot since the ages of Nagito. Now they sought the root by using the holy grail, constructed by the alliance between their family and two others.

The current head of the family was Tokiomi, who, while he lacked the quality of magic circuits possessed by his ancestors, still prided himself as an ideal mage.

Currently, he was communicating with Father Risei, who, while officially a neutral party, was secretly allied with the Tohsaka to win the Holy Grail War.

While the land of Fuyuki had been thought of as a "backwater uncultured city" by the magi of the magus association. It was actually a place that had a very large number of leylines, and with the sacrifice of the Einzburn clan during the construction of the grail, it would allow one of the three to achieve the goal of magi, to achieve the impossible. To say he was nervous would be incorrect, since he prided himself on being the perfect mage and refused to allow things like doubt or fear to seep into his heart. He was the ideal image of a mage, something all magi tried to be.

He had specifically chosen the king of heroes as the heroic spirit he would summon, mostly due to his overwhelming power. While most magi would commit horrors beyond human comprehension if they had a chance to command the strongest heroic spirit even. Tokiomi was smart. He had read the ancient text pertaining to the great king of heroes, and one thing that became increasingly clear was the arrogance of the hero. He was someone who thought about himself as the greatest of all beings and refused to acknowledge those he considered less than himself. Tokiomi was fully aware of what would happen if some random mage decided to summon the king. They would treat him as a lesser being, and they would get betrayed without a second thought. That was the king's inherent nature.

While Tokiomi wished to win the holy grail war, he was not desperate; desperation was for the commoners and non-magi; he was neither. Besides, to be a mage is to walk between life and death. His plan was simple: treat the king like the leader and present himself as the servant; that way the king would at least treat him like a source of entertainment and try to be a little cordial. He will entertain himself by attacking the other servants, and once the two reach the grail, Tokiomi would use his command spell to force the king to commit suicide. Even if he was summoned in a knight class and possessed high magic resistance, he would not be able to resist a direct command from a command spell. Tokiomi will win the war and reach the root, even if he has to kill all other masters to do it. If he reached the root, then that would make him the first modern magi to reach it. Tokiomi will destroy all opposition and become the first magus to achieve Akasha, the swirl of the root.

(The Outsider)

The El-Melloi clan, one of the lord factions of the clocktower. They possessed a long and varied history, with nine generations behind them; they were considered the fourth best among the lord families.

Their current head was Kayneth "El-Melloi" Archibald, a prodigy who had produced a supreme-level mystic code and ascended to the rank of brand despite being only in his twenties. He was capable of many great things; with his rich background and his deep understanding of magecraft and its workings, he was considered the "cream of the crop" in regards to being a mage.

Kayneth was currently going over everything he had prepared to participate in this "holy grail war" for the sake of the magus association, as it was tradition to at least send one member of the association to the war. While he thought the entire thing was mere child's play, a lot of magi seemed to think the opposite; while the prospect of getting your wish, any wish granted, was quite tempting, he doubted that this "holy grail" would actually grant any wish a person might have. With that being said, winning this war would no doubt be a major boost towards his popularity, and he would be able to achieve great things.

It was for this reason that not only had he taken a massive loan to construct a "magical fortress" inside of a hotel building, but he had also requested a catalyst to summon the great king of conquerors, Alexander the Great, but due to unforeseen circumstances, someone had stolen the catalyst. Kayneth considered dropping the war then and there, but due to all the boasting and his status as a lord, it would be quite an embarrassment if he simply dropped it just like that. He needed to win the war to uphold his pride and to punish the miscreant, who dared to steal his property.

To this end he requested a new catalyst, and thankfully, some mage from Ireland possessed a catalyst to summon a hero. Initially Kayneth was ecstatic; he had expected that the catalyst would be connected to a great Irish hero. Cu Chulainn or Fergus Mac Roich from the Ulster Cycle or Fionn Mac Cumhail from the Fenian Cycle (who had apparently been summoned in the third holy grail war and had made it to the finals).

When the catalyst arrived, however, he soon realized that his excitement might have been a little extreme.It was the remnants of a sword with a yellow hilt and part of a blade still attached to it. According to the notes that arrived with the catalyst, it was the broken sword of 'diarmuid ua duibhne,' beageltalch, a sword that raised his defensive capabilities and was a gift from his foster father along with another sword, mortalch. When Kayneth did some research on this "Diarmuid Ua Duibhne," he learned that he was the greatest warrior under the command of the leader of the Fianna, Fionn Mac Cumhail. He didn't do too much research, mostly about his powers and weaknesses. He had four weapons: mortalch, a sword that guaranteed victory when unsheathed; beageltalch, the sword that raised his defensive capabilities along with his magic resistance; and two spears, gae death and gae buidhe, both of whom would leave wounds that will not heal. While Kayneth was somewhat disappointed that he was unable to summon Fionn himself, he decided to make do with his underling. He wanted to summon him as a saber, as his two swords seemed a lot more impressive than his spears. In any case, he packed his things and decided to leave for Fuyuki at once.

Before leaving, however, he decided to make some adjustments to his plan. His original plan had him bring along his soon-to-be-wed fiancée, Sola Nuada-Re Sophia-Ri. When he thought about it, however, it had one major flaw. He knew that having her around would make her an easy target for the other magi to take advantage of; while she would be safe in the hideout, some of the other magi may try to attack her or try to capture her. Not only would such a scenario leave Kayneth at a disadvantage as he planned on altering the summoning process to make her the one to give the servant mana, but Kayneth didn't want to see her get hurt, so he decided to instead approach one of his students.

His name was Daniel, a transfer student from America, who had arrived last year. He told him everything about the grail war and asked if he would like to join. Now you might wonder why Kayneth wanted him specifically; you see, he had a unique mutation where he had an unusually high amount of magical circuits but could only use half of them to cast spells, while the other half only provided magical energy that overloaded his spells, which meant he had a harder time casting spells. While only average in terms of being a spellcaster, he would be able to provide mana that would easily power a servant. While he still had the same issues as Sola in regards to him accompanying Kayneth, the fact was that he was an outsider and was thus disposable when compared to the daughter of a major family; his parents had died, and he had no relations to speak of, making him an ideal pawn. He was, of course, ecstatic and quickly agreed. Kayneth was pleased; it seemed he didn't have to worry about this war after all.

(The Scion of the Matou)

The Matou manor was, to put it simply, magnificent to the eyes of the people who saw it with their own eyes. Grand and ancient, for many people, it was a place that they could only ever own in their dreams. The outsiders would give a lot of things to be the owners of the mansion.

The people who lived inside would rather rot in the streets.

You see, the people inside were living lives that would best be described as "a living nightmare.". Even that term fails to describe just how horrible the life of a member of the Matou family was and still is. A nightmare is something that scares you, but it never hurts you; it keeps you up at night and might give you a bad day, but you will be the same person; you will always go forward and forget that you had a nightmare in the first place.

The people of the Matou family are not that lucky; they are under the command of a horrible, horrible man, who would throw away their lives like it was nothing. The man only cared about himself and sacrificed the lives of his offspring like they were objects to be used and thrown away. The worst part was that they could escape; they could easily escape the EVIL called Zouken Matou, but he knew that, and that is why, from the moment they are born, an idea is instilled into their heart. They are told to never ever oppose the man known as Matou Zouken, and that if they ever did anything like that, then he would completely ruin them and everyone they cared about.

Thus, the members of the Matou family made sure to always follow him and never oppose him, regardless of his many atrocities, but there was one person who managed to do it, one person who managed to do the impossible: he defied him; he defied Zouken Matou. Who was this brave soul who managed to defy the person, the people of the Matou family saw as their infernal chains? Who was he?

His name was Kariya Matou.

He ran away from the family; he was, in a way, Zouken's last hope. He was born with magical circuits, something that the people of the Matou family had been failing to receive in their last few generations. Kariya's birth was Zouken's last hope; he made little Kariya befriend a girl called Aoi, who came from a family with no magical power but great potential to bear children that were magi, due to their heritage as former magi. He thought that by marrying into the Zenjou family through Aoi, he would be able to rejuvenate the Matou family from ruin as a magus.

While Kariya wanted to indeed marry her, he soon realised that marriage would mean his beloved wife would be subjected to the worm pits, the matou magecraft will bring her great pain and suffering and it was not something that he wanted to force on her. He gave up the chance to marry her and instead let his rival Tokiomi gain her hand in marriage. He knew that Tokiomi would be able to make her happy, while he would only give her sorrow. After that, he ran away from the family, while Zouken had come to the realization that it would take a lot to break Kariya, thus he had a backup plan in the form of Byakuya's son.

He had him marry into a family with an inheritor trait; he thought that this might be enough to produce an heir with functioning magic circuits, but Byakuya's son was born with barren circuits, not even capable of casting a single spell. This angered Zouken greatly; he had Byakuya's wife fed to his crest worms as a twisted form of punishment for her, for failing to give him an heir; this act caused Byakuya to despise his "father," even more than he already did. Zounken did not care for the feelings of his oldest child and sought a way to somehow, someway, preserve the magecraft of the Matou clan so that he can achieve his goal of immortality.

Eventually an opportunity presented itself. The Tohsaka family had been gifted with two children. Since the head of the family, Tokiomi, didn't wish for one of his two daughters to be left in the shadow of her sibling, he proposed that as long-time allies, the Matou family can take care of Sakura, his youngest child, who had a rare elemental affinity of imaginary numbers.

Zounken immediately agreed; he immediately started her "training," and at first she was resistant; she screamed for the first three days, but she stopped on the fourth. After that, Zounken started to train her every day. Once, he went as far as seeing how long she would be able to survive her training, and she had made to almost half the day, Zounken was pleased, "it seem's that that the tohsaka material isn't defective after all", he thought to himself.

That was when something unexpected happened. His son Kariya returned to question him about his adoption of Sakura. It seemed that he had somehow gotten word about his involvement in Sakura's adoption. He was furious; he demanded that Sakura be immediately released. Zouken did not budge; it's not like he had any reason to do either. Kariya did not have the ability to cast spells, nor did he have any allies who could help him. That's when Kariya made a proposal: he would participate in the Holy Grail War and would give the Holy Grail to Zouken; in exchange, Zouken would let Sakura go. Zouken was bewildered, to say the least, but he saw this as an opportunity to make his son suffer for the crime of defying him.

If it had been a few decades earlier,Zouken would have hired a professional to teach Kariya magecraft, and he would have procured him an artifact that would guarantee at least a chance of victory; it would not be out of kindness, but rather pragmatism in case he won the war. If he did, then Zouken would keep his word; if he failed, he would be dead or wallowing in despair, but Zouken has changed; the years had removed whatever good or even simple reason remained in his soul. Now he didn't care at all about Kariya's chance of victory; he wanted him to suffer, to rot, to wallow in pain as death neared him; he wanted him to suffer.

For that reason alone, he forced Kariya to endure the crust worms, as they slowly started to eat him alive. He went out of his way to make him suffer and laughed all the way through.

Then, when the time came to procure an artifact, he acquired a piece of Sir Lancelot's armor. Once upon a time, he would have had Kariya use the catalyst to summon him as a Saber in order to increase his chance of victory. Now he was going to have Kariya summon him as a berserker to destroy any chance of victory he might have left; he knew that Kariya in his current state would likely go after Tokiomi's servant, and he had a feeling who that servant might be. If he summoned a sane servant, they might try to dissuade him from attacking, but a berserker would simply do as told and inevitably drain him of mana and lead to his slow and painful death. The old man would make him learn the consequences of defying him.

(The Outsider's student)

Nobody had ever understood Waver Velvet.

He was neither born of a famous family nor lucky enough to be given a good master. Mostly self-taught, he finally got himself accepted to the Clock Tower. One of the three components of the Magus association.

Waver was very proud of his "talent. "I am the most capable student of the Clock Tower since its founding; everyone should have to respect me," Waver thought. In truth, the lineage of the Velvets was only three generations old.

The number of Magic Circuits and the quality of crests only increase and expand through time. Most students that received a scholarship from the Clock Tower were from families with more than six generations.

Magecraft of any kind could be completed within one generation. Thus, the results of a whole life of research and hard work are passed by magi down to their children; only through this method could their magecraft become more refined and sophisticated. The increased quality and quality of magic crests in older families was proof of that. Compared to the child of a well-renowned mage family, Waver's Crest quality and Magic Circuit quantity paled by comparison.

Furthermore, since a mage's Magic Circuit quantity is determined at birth, there are some ancestral mage clans that deliberately "breed" their offspring in a specific way in order to increase the amount of Magic Circuits in an offspring, thus distancing themselves from new mage families and marrying into older families. Basically, how good of a mage you are is determined at birth. This is the most commonly accepted point of view.

But Waver did not see it that way.

Even without exceptional magic circuits, the difference between quality caused by birth could be bridged through deep understanding and a skilled usage of magecraft; Waver had always believed in this deeply. He believed that even first- or second-generation mages could be able to rival older families by expanding their understanding of magecraft.

He believed himself to be an excellent example of that and had made sure to be a perfect example of this concept.

But, reality is cruel. The workings of the Clock Tower are determined by those who have ancestral bloodlines and those who endlessly fawn over them and want to be like them.

The lecturers, supposed to help and nurture young magi, were no exception. They only expected anything from those with great lineages while ignoring those of younger generations. To a "proper researcher like Waver, they were reluctant to even let him into the library to look through books, let alone teach him the foundations of magecraft.

Why are the expectations of a mage's future dependent on their lineage?

Why is the credibility of a theory dependent on the experience of one's lineage?

Nobody cared about his questions. The lecturers used specific language to trick Waver, when presented with his research thesis, then acted as if Waver had changed his view on the subject. Some even laughed and joked about it.

It was truly unbelievable; anxiety drove Waver over the edge.

To expose the Magus Association's outdated system, Waver wrote an exposition, "An Inquiry of Magecraft's Path In the New Century."

It was the result of three years of conceptualization and one year of writing; it viciously attacked traditional views; it was written with passion and painstaking effort, presented clearly and with a flawless sense of personal experience. If seen by the Inquisitors, it would have definitely caused a big scandal.

The Department of Eulyphis's lecturer tore it up after casually reading through it just once.His name was Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald. He was the heir of the Archibald family with nine generations of magus lineage, a very popular man whom everyone called "Lord El-Melloi." Engaged to the daughter of the principal, a lecturer at such a young age, he was the best of the best.

He was also the representation of authority that Waver despised.If he had just thrown it out, that would have been humiliating enough, but he went the extra mile and proceeded to humiliate Waver in front of his whole class.

"Shouldn't a child learn to speak before questioning its parents, Waver Velvet?".

In the nineteen years of Waver's life, he had never been humiliated worse.

If Kayneth had the talent to be a lecturer, it should have been impossible for him to not understand Waver's potential. No, he was probably jealous precisely because he understands. He was probably afraid of Waver's hidden potential; having become jealous of him, he treated Waver as a threat to his own position. That is probably why he treated Waver's work in such a manner. To purposely rip apart and humiliate his work was a sign of his jealousy.

Unforgivable.

His talent, which could cause the world to tremble and shake, was actually arbitrarily written off by an authority. There really is no justice, but not one mage sympathized with Waver. The Magus Association was actually run with an iron fist by the older families. While living through the infinitely frustrating days, Waver heard a rumor.

The rumor was that the reputed Lord El-Melloi, for the sake of adding an entry to his resume for his vanity, had decided to join the nearby thaumaturgical competition in the far east.

Waver began researching the details of this 'Holy Grail War' overnight. He was deeply mesmerized by the horrific details. With the wish-granting 'Holy Grail,' summoning Heroic Spirits into the present world and magi commanding them, resulting in a battle to the death among them.

Title, authority, everything lost its value.

Skill was the only factor that mattered.

For an unrecognized and ignored genius, this was an excellent opportunity, a perfect stage to present himself.

This was the perfect opportunity.

It began with the financial department's negligence. Kayneth's requested holy relic from Macedonia was delivered to Waver to give to his teacher along with normal parcels when it should have been a parcel opened only when Kayneth himself was present.

Waver immediately realized that this was a catalyst used to summon Servants in the Holy Grail War. Finally, Waver had the means to finally show his true strength.

He no longer had any sort of love left for the corrupt Clock Tower. The glory of graduating from it was utter trash compared to the honor brought by Fuyuki's Holy Grail. The moment Waver Velvet became victorious in the war would be the moment when those insignificant members of the Magus Association would understand their mistake.

That day, Waver left England, heading for the island country of Japan.The Clock Tower probably realized who stole Kayneth's parcel; if they did, they did not chase after him for it. Nobody knew Waver was interested in the Holy Grail War.

There was something Waver didn't know, however.

Everyone knew that he had stolen the relic, though they thought he did no more than hide it from Kayneth for the sake of revenge. Nobody thought he was brave enough to knowingly risk his life to participate in a life-or-death competition. In that aspect, the Clock Tower really had underestimated Him.

In the Japanese village, Fuyuki City, Waver tried to hide his laughter as he hid in his bedsheets. The golden sun illuminating him through the cracks from the curtain.With the relic in his hands, himself in Fuyuki, and enough quality as a magus, how could the Grail turn a blind eye to someone like him? The pattern of the Command Seal had clearly materialized on Waver's right hand last night, proving that he was chosen as a Master, one who can summon a heroic spirit.

Waver would prove to the world of magi that even someone like him could achieve greatness.

(The Executor)

Kirei Kotomine was not normal.As the son of pious Risei Kotomine, he was someone who seemed to be the perfect example of a devout child. He had upstanding morals, a kind and honest personality, and started doing church work from when he was pretty young.

This, however, was not the whole truth.While he did understand that he was living up to his father's expectations, he did not "love" his father. It was unrelated to having to meet expectations, and he grew up healthy.

However, Kirei eventually realized something: what his father wanted from him was not just expectations; his father wished for him to be "a good person." Kirei knew all the qualities that came with being a good person, yet he did not understand the concept of "goodness."

Understanding that he was not in accordance with the world and its teachings, he worked hard to correct this mistake, attempting to be pure and pious, free of sin.All throughout his teenage years, he did everything he could to overcome this defect; he suffered alone, writhing in agony, though he did not even know whether what he was feeling was true agony, considering he was searching for something that didn't exist.

He came to the conclusion that he was a sinner by nature, thus he harmed himself in order to punish the wickedness that resided within him. He dislocated bones, ripped flesh, and tortured himself.He turned to his religion with vigor, trying his hardest to become a priest and attain some form of normality, yet that did not happen. He eventually came upon a realisation, he could only feal pleasure from the despair of others and that was his true self.

He felt no anguish at this realization because he had always sought after something that never existed.

There was nothing lost, so there was nothing to grieve.

He silently rose through the ranks of the church; while he could have become a cardinal, he instead ended up in the assembly of the eight sacraments alongside his father.

Despite accepting his inner evil, Kirei was stubborn; he wanted to live a normal life. He thought that by marrying and living with a woman and raising a child, his inner evil would be killed.

He met and married a woman called Claudia Hortensia. She was terminally ill and had no future. He did not know if that was the reason he married her or if she was his only choice.

He tried to love her; he tried his hardest; he abandoned all his achievements and his path to become a priest. She loved him and understood him better than anyone; she bore him his daughter, Caren, and the three of them lived together.

Alas, Kirei was unable to change; he was happy, certainly, but it was due to the suffering of his wife and his daughter. He felt pleasure when she suffered and when his daughter cried.

Kirei felt absolute despair.

He did not know whether what he felt was true despair. Yet, if in his short and twisted life there was a single moment where he felt true despair, it was that moment.

As her death neared, Kirei came to the conclusion that his birth was a mistake; thus he felt the only ending he deserved was death. He knew what awaited him on the other side, or so he thought.

He appeared before her to say goodbye; it was only fair that he met her at her final moments. His final words to her were, "I was unable to love you."

It could have all ended there; his wife would die, and he would die, with their daughter growing up and despising him for abandoning her.

But Claudia had other ideas; she wanted to prove that he truly loved her. Thus, she replied to him, "No, you do love me, see."

She said those words as the knife in her took her life.

Before her life left her body, she saw her husband with tears in his eyes; she died content, with proof that he truly loved her.

But, just like always, there was more to it than that.

Kirei had indeed felt sad when she died, but it was not because he saw her die; rather, it was because he wished that he had ended her life.

"If she was going to die anyway, why couldn't I kill her myself?". His feelings were loud and clear.

He quietly left the room and never turned back; his daughter was handed to her mother's relatives, and he simply shut himself up and just followed the path of the executor.

He did not kill himself; perhaps he felt that it would be an insult to his wife, or he just lacked the strength to do it himself.

A few days later, he found strange sigils on his hand. He had been chosen as master for the holy grail war. While he lacked any wish and was confused as to why he was selected by the grail, he decided to ally himself with Tohsaka, as per his father's wish.

Perhaps this grail war will show him a path for salvation.

"Thus, the fourth holy grail neared as the descendants of the Tokiomi, Matou, El-Melloi, Velvet, and an executor joined its ranks."

"Other than them, the magus killer, a peculiar and odd individual, had joined its ranks as well."

"The six of them would have been the 'main attraction' of sorts for this war, though due to unforeseen circumstances, stances, and remnants of some old mage family, a serial killer joined the war as its final participant."

"In most timelines, the events of the war would be the same, with some differences here and there, but it would go the same way each time."

"The serial killer fell first, his mind finding true euphoria as it felt the joy of death."

"The outsider was next, losing everything and dying by the hand of the king of knights.'

"The selfish mage was next, killed by his own student."

"The scion of the matou was next, his body degrading into a rotten pile of death and decay."

"The velvet's first true mage, the mage killer, and the executor would survive."

"The latter two would die in the next decade, one killed by all the world's evil and the other would die at the hand of various beings depending on the world."

"The fourth holy grail war was a tragedy; ultimately, only one person gained anything from it, and perhaps another would find some meaning from it, but ultimately it ended in utter tragedy."

"Yet, in this world, things happened differently; an outsider from beyond the universe saw the events of the Fuyuki Grail Wars and sought to alter the course of history for their own sake."

"Who is this entity? Are they good or evil? Does the concept of good and evil even mean anything to them?"

"All questions will be answered throughout the fourth holy grail war, or more accurately,

"The contradictory Holy Grail War."

In the distant castle of the einzburn clan, Kiritsugu Emiya was examining the completed summoning circle drawn on the floor of the special ceremony room.

"Would such a simple ritual really be able to summon heroic spirits?"

Irisviel asked as she looked at the summoning circle; it was rather surprising to her that the preparations were so normal.

"It may be a little disappointing, but the summoning of a Servant does not require an extravagant spiritual evocation ceremony."

Kiritsugu explained as he carefully checked for imperfections on the pattern drawn with mercury.

"Because no Magus is powerful enough to summon a heroic spirit, only the grail is capable of something like that. As a Master, my duty is to connect the Heroic Spirit with the world; after that, merely provide them with the prana necessary for materialization in this world."

Satisfied with the completed form of the summoning circle, Kiritsugu stood up. The holy relic was placed on the altar, the sheath of the legendary holy sword Excalibur.

"With this, victory should be within our grasp."

"Have you accurately memorized the summoning incantation?"

Zouken reminded Kariya again and again for "safety's" sake. The latter nodded in the darkness of the basement.

"That's good. Only, midway through the incantation, add two more lines of incantations."

"What do you mean?"

Zouken smiled ominously towards Kariya's confused expression.

Tokiomi smiled as he saw his handiwork, the summoning circle drawn perfectly with mercury. His two allies from the church stood next to him, their face a mixture of neutrality and intrigue.

Tokiomi smiled; everything had gone perfectly; now all that was left to do was the summoning itself.

He raised his hand, his mind and body united as one.

Tokiomi Tohsaka will achieve victory.

"Have you done everything perfectly?".

Yes, sir. I have checked and triple-checked; everything is right.

Kayneth saw his student's handiwork; the circle was drawn perfectly, with no noticeable mistake.

"You have done a superb job. Now watch as I bring forth a heroic spirit."

Daniel merely shook his head, a note pad held in his hand.

Kayneth nodded back, his hand raising to connect with the circle.

Little did he know, this ritual would take a lot more from him than just his prana.

On that day, incantations from different countries and aimed at different beings were chanted almost simultaneously, a harmony so coincidental it can hardly be regarded as an accident of chance.

For all the magi had the same hope.

A hope about a miracle. The words pronounced for the heroes, whose name echoed through the annals of history. These humans, who will brutally slaughter each other to achieve a miracle, their voices rang out from the earth at the same time.

"Finally, I can start this ritual!".

Waver's voice was filled with an energetic tone. He tossed the dead rooster corpse aside. It was dirty work, but it was necessary for the summoning.

Waver had taken the rooster from the Mackenzie's. He felt bad about doing it, but he had no other choice. He told himself that he would repay them later.

But now wasn't the time for that; now was the time to prove that one's lineage does not define one's chances of success.

He closed his eyes for a split second and opened them the very next; he raised his and...

"Fill(Shut),Fill(Shut),Fill(Shut),Fill(Shut)."

His voice rang out.

"Repeat five times,but when each is filled, destroy it."

It continued to ring.

"For the elements silver and iron."

Kayneth voice rang out with confidence, he was assured of his victory.

"The foundation of stone and archduke of pacts and for my great master Schweinorg."

Tokiomi spoke the words as clearly as he can his catalyst on the table beside him. Kirei was standing beside him, it was time to show him the pride of the Tohsaka family. "Raise a wall against the wind and close the gate of four directions. Come forth from the crown and follow the forked road leading to the kingdom."

"Heed my words. My will creates thine body, and thine sword creates my destiny(Doom)."

Kariya said as blood dripped from his mouth. His body was reacting violently to each word he said, but he did not mind it. He was focused on protecting Sakura, this pain was temporary and he had to bear for the time bebeing. He clenched his teeth hard to avoid the pain.

"If ye heed the grail's call, and accede to my will and reason, then answer my summoning!."

Waver's heart raced. This is it, no turning back now. He was officially a master, even though he had already been designated as one when he earned his command spells, for him, now would be time he had truly achieved success.

Kirei watched as his teacher Tokiomi summoned his servant, he watched intently, trying to understand every part of the ritual. The summoning circle, the chant, the glow of mana, it was all new to him. He remembered how he had summoned Assassin, using the same ritual, though with an extra word added to specifically summon Assassin.

"I hereby swear that I shall be all the good in the world and I shall be all that defeats evil in the world!."

Tokiomi said as he neared the finishing of the summoning, while the words spoken meant little for him, for kirei they held a lot more meaning, or so he liked to believe.

"But let thine eyes be clouded by turmoil and chaos."

Kariya spoke the extra words his father had taught him; according to him, it would allow Kariya the ability to control a powerful servant, who would be able to easily defeat any other servant. It was quite the gamble at Kariya's end, as he was putting his chances of victory in the hands of the person he despised most, but Kariya knew that Zouken wanted the grail, and there was no way he would sabotage his only current chance of getting it."

Thou, trapped in a cage of madness and I the summoner, holding thine chains!".

Zouken smiled; the fool was about to kill himself, and he didn't even know it.

"Seventh Heaven clad in the great words of power."

Kayneth glanced at the broken sword placed at his side and his student, who stood next to him, watching intently; he seemed almost mesmerized by the summoning process as he scribbled notes into his notepad. Kayneth himself was less surprised, though the process was indeed impressive for a ritual made by these eastern magi. It seemed they had some potential after all.

"Come forth from the circle of binding, Guardian of the Heavenly Scales!".

The five masters finished.

Now it has finally started. It had officially started 8 years ago, but only now will it take its final form. A battle that will decide the fate of the seven masters, who had heeded its call.

The fourth holy grail war of fuyuki had begun.

Taiga Fujimura happily danced her way home.

After school finished, she and her friends stayed behind to decorate the classroom for an upcoming event. Taiga had suggested the idea to her friends and had asked for permission from their class teacher. Their teacher accepted her request, and she and her two friends stayed behind to decorate the classroom.

'Everyone is going to be so surprised,' thought Taiga as she happily made her way home.

"-?"

Taiga shifted her gaze. She could swear there was something that was standing between the trees.

"Is anyone there!?" shouted Taiga as she stared at the trees.

"It's probably just my imagination."

Taiga swung her bag a bit in annoyance before leaving.

Inside the dark shadow of the trees, there stood a figure. He was hard to spot for anyone human. Only a magus would be able to discern his existence.

His face was completely covered in darkness; his lower body was slightly more visible, but it was still covered by the shadows of the trees.

If one were to see his figure, they'd notice the traditional Japanese kimono and the saya that was by his hip with a blade contained within it.

"Has it finally begun?"

The figure asked the question as more of a form confirmation, rather than as a genuine question.

Who was this figure?

Was he responsible for the events that took place the following days?

Perhaps it would be best to wait and see.