Chapter 215
In Romania, on the highway leading from Bucharest toward Trifas, a lone young man walked leisurely along the roadside.
It was Kiriya.
After asking Hestia to update his Status, he had used another trip to the Dungeon’s deep floors as cover.
Once he found a deserted corner underground, he activated his ability and crossed into another world—Fate/Apocrypha.
His objective was simple.
The Holy Grail.
Originally, the Holy Grail referred to the cup Jesus was said to have used during the Last Supper, later associated with the blood shed during the Crucifixion.
To the Church and its followers, it was among the holiest of sacred relics.
In this world, however, the term meant something rather different.
Rather than a single artifact, the Holy Grail was better understood as the centerpiece of an enormous ritual system.
The Three Founding Families—the Einzberns, Tohsakas, and Makiri, later known as the Matous—had designed the ritual and constructed it over a powerful leyline.
For decades at a time, it absorbed immense quantities of magical energy from the land and stored that power for the eventual ceremony.
In a world where magecraft formed the foundation of the supernatural, magical energy was everything.
In theory, provided a magus possessed sufficient power, most feats permitted by the laws of magecraft could be accomplished.
More importantly, the Grail ritual offered the possibility of reaching the Root.
For magi, the Root represented limitless knowledge, ultimate truth, and the culmination of everything their craft had pursued for generations.
The enormous ritual foundation capable of making that possible was known as the Greater Grail.
Once the Greater Grail accumulated enough magical energy, it selected seven magi to serve as Masters and summoned seven Servants.
Heroes who had achieved great deeds throughout history, along with figures immortalized in myths and legends, could become Heroic Spirits after death.
Their records were preserved within the Throne of Heroes, beyond the ordinary world.
Normally, only the World itself could call upon such beings.
The Greater Grail system devised by the Three Founding Families circumvented that limitation.
By connecting to the Throne of Heroes, it copied a Heroic Spirit’s personality, abilities, and spiritual information into a temporary vessel and summoned that copy into the world.
Those manifestations were known as Servants.
Based on their fighting styles and principal abilities, Servants were generally divided into seven standard Classes:
Saber, the swordsman.
Lancer, the spearman.
Archer, the ranged fighter.
Rider, the mounted warrior.
Caster, the practitioner of magecraft.
Assassin, the killer who specialized in stealth.
And Berserker, the mad warrior.
Seven Masters and seven Servants would fight until only one side remained.
Once the ritual reached its conclusion, the Greater Grail would manifest and grant the victor access to its miraculous power.
The First and Second Holy Grail Wars had passed with relatively little attention, whether because of the secrecy maintained by the participating magi or simply because the events had occurred far from ordinary society.
The Third Holy Grail War had been different.
It took place during the Second World War, when the power of modern nations had reached unprecedented heights.
Nazi Germany learned about the ritual and interfered directly.
The magi involved could do little but watch as the Greater Grail was seized.
Germany did not benefit for long, however.
The Grail was stolen again by an unknown party, bringing their ambition of using it to reshape the world to nothing.
After the Third Holy Grail War, information about the ritual scattered across the globe.
Imitation Grail Wars began appearing in various regions.
Unfortunately, without the Greater Grail at their center, those derivative rituals were little more than pale copies and could never live up to the legend of an omnipotent wish-granting device.
What almost no one knew was that the Greater Grail had been secretly transported to Romania by one of the magi who participated in the Third War—Darnic Prestone Yggdmillennia.
For sixty years, Darnic had remained hidden while preparing for the day the true Holy Grail War would begin again.
Now that day was finally approaching.
He intended to use the ritual to declare the Yggdmillennia clan’s independence from the Mage’s Association and accomplish the great ambition pursued by magi since ancient times—
Reaching the Root.
Kiriya’s goal, naturally, was considerably less philosophical.
He wanted the Grail.
...
Shortly after arriving in Romania, Kiriya received an enthusiastic welcome from a local gang.
Being a reasonable man, he had naturally returned their enthusiasm.
Through exceptional persuasion, compelling arguments, and several demonstrations of why cooperation was the healthiest option, the gang eventually became extremely understanding.
They happily provided him with clean clothes, money, and anything else he required.
A few of them had even tearfully insisted on driving him anywhere he wanted.
Kiriya was waiting for someone, however, so he politely declined.
That was how he ended up walking alone along a quiet country road.
He wore nothing more remarkable than a white T-shirt and black pants, but his handsome features and unusual presence drew repeated glances from passing travelers.
Within only a few minutes, more than a dozen vehicles had stopped to offer him a ride.
Kiriya refused every one of them.
"Are you sure you don’t want to come with me?"
A tall woman, well over one hundred and eighty centimeters, leaned down beside him with an amused smile.
"It’ll be dark soon. Walking alone out here isn’t exactly safe."
She gestured toward her car.
"Why don’t you come back with me? I can give you something to eat and let you rest for the night."
She winked.
"My guest room is very comfortable."
Kiriya glanced at her.
His eyes lingered for half a second before he politely redirected them.
’Quite an imposing presence.’
"Come on."
The woman smiled when she noticed his reaction.
"I promise I’m good company."
Kiriya considered the invitation for another moment before reluctantly shaking his head.
"Sorry. I’m waiting for someone."
"Waiting for someone?"
She laughed softly and wagged a finger at him.
"You shouldn’t make up excuses."
Apparently, she had decided he was merely shy.
"I’m serious."
Kiriya smiled and pointed down the road.
"Look. They’re here."
A vehicle was approaching from the distance.
Kiriya immediately jogged toward it, waving one hand.
"Over here!"
A pickup truck came speeding down the road.
The driver apparently noticed him and slowed, bringing the vehicle to a stop directly beside him.
The window rolled down.
A middle-aged man with a narrow mustache leaned toward the opening and looked Kiriya over.
"Hey, kid. Need something?"