He looked as if he had fallen into a bottomless bog.
He dashed through the forest, cutting through the night as he went.
His actions could be described by the simple verb âfleeâ, but he did
We could well say that the reason he was âfleeingââ
He was impulsive, not rational.
forward and forward again, on and on.
With every step, his legs cried out in agony. The pain radiated
But he had to keep going. His body did not want to stop, nor did
Perhaps the endorphins had already cut out. Wave upon wave of
wended his way through the forest, it was like he had himself become
A magically-enhanced bullet pierced through the wind.
Before he could even feel pain, his body was overcome by shock.
battered his body. As if it were comeuppance for the way his legs had
level-headed, but beneath his calm veneer, there were clear indications
The man, who seemed like a mage, lowered his heavily-ornamented
and then he shoved the still-hot barrel of the revolver into the open
There was a hissing sound as the escapeeâs flesh was scorched. The
The escapee opened his mouth wider than should have been possible
âThis is absurd. Of all the things that could have happened, you
The escapee screamed noiselessly as he thrashed about. There certainly
you think I amplified your Magic Circuits to their utmost limit? Why
The mage quietly shook his head and kicked the escapeeâstill
â...To win the Holy Grail War, I must summon a being that transcends
He walked up to the escapeeâand stomped on his face again.
has such power as to be called a godâI cannot hope to defeat those
being more ancient than the first Heroâone of those of Egypt who
latent power of this land, do not suffice to call forth a being so powerful
god! Why would you refuse that honor!? You have repaid my kindness
The escapee could no longer even attempt to scream. He could see
Even if breathing itself had become painful for himâ
tried harder still to stand up.
escapee under his weight.
will return the Command Spells to me. Then, you will die. And you
your remains to build myself a new experimental subject.â
The escapee could not care less about the Command Spells and
He did not even know of the phrase âHoly Grail Warâ, let alone its
Even then, as the end drew near, those instincts had not waned an
live. live. live. live live live live
live. live. live. live. live. live. live.
livelivelivelive livelive livelive livelive livelive livelive live
livelivelivelivelivelivelivelive livelive livelive livelive
live livelivelive livelive livelive livelive live livelivelive
livelivelivelivelivelivelivelivelivelivelivelive
Not âI donât want to die.â
It was not a desire, but rather a simple instinct,
Had he himself noticed this distinction? Orâ
Out of all the living beings in the Snowfield area, his will was the
That the escapeeâs scream was his alone; that it was his own form
That, the mage did not know.
ravine to the north, andâ
summoning of Rider, the nature of the summoning ritual had always
But in any case, it was in that moment thatâ
A brilliant light shot through the forest, and a mighty whirlwind
The mage was tossed a few meters away by the strong wind. Startled,
magical energy, and so, strengthened his Magic Circuits.
Before his eyes, a being appeared, clad in a simple piece of cloth.
overwhelming magical energy that poured forth from it.
It looked far too plain to be a Hero.
and its clothing seemed rather shabby. Of course, itâs not like
even so, just what sort of Hero would be without even a single weapon?
It had lustrous skin and soft features.
wore. Its limbs alone extended outside the cloth, and they seemed to
N-no, wait... that might be a man.... ...? Which is it...?
making it easy to interpret as either a manâs face or a womanâs face.
could likely rocket forth in the same manner. That much was clear to
The mage felt a twinge of embarassment.
about it. He couldnât figure out how to describe it, but there
fect. There was nothing visually out of the ordinary about it, but its
though it were a puppet, in the magical sense.
garments. He became less and less certain whether the Heroic Spirit
That Hero was unbearably beautiful.
of mankind and the immaculacy inherent to nature.
Venus. It was as though the Heroic Spiritâs form defied classification as
With the forest behind it, the Heroic Spirit, a being of perfect harmony,
âAre you... the Master who called for me?â it asked of the wounded
Ah, what a gentle voice it was.
of wind that accompanied its appearance, but when he took one glance
The one who stands before me is not my enemy.
For a short while, he suppressed his urge to flee, and gazed intently
His eyes were ever so pure, as if he were imagining what lay within
It quietly knelt down as the escapee staggered to his feet, so that it
â â said it, with words that the mage
The escapee replied to it.
And then, the Heroic Spirit reached out and lifted the wounded
âThank you. We have formed a contract.â
He knew he would have to flee no moreâand at long last, he could
âIm... possible... impossible! This cannot be!â His shouts echoed
Unable to understand what he was witnessing, the mage waved his
âThis is preposterous! I will not stand for this!â he yelled.
And at the end of his barrel laidâ
are a mere chimera! And you are a Master!? I cannot believe this!â
the Heroic Spirit, quietly.
He was surprised by the politeness with which it spoke, but more
âAs if! What sophistry...â
not difficult to surmise what you have done to my Master.â
solemn expression on its face. âAnd yet, my Master does not wish you
With that, it turned away from the mage and began to slowly walk
âW-wait! Please, wait! You desire the Holy Grail, do you not!?
the Grail if I were your master, rather than that mangy cur?â
hand, he turned his back on the Heroic Spirit and the wolf and bolted
So awesome was the power of interdiction1 in the Heroic Spiritâs
harsh hue from its eyes and set forth towards the river, to heal the animal
It could neither hear the sound of running water, nor could it see
Even so, it could sense the presence of water off yonder. And
It kicked at the ground, gently holding the wolf to its chest, and\n1æćŠ
He, who had been the pursuer, was now being pursued, as he wove
Why was it that... that mangy cur!
Neither the Heroic Spirit nor the silver wolf was chasing him.
point, exited the forestâand remembered that his atelier was close by.
And then, when he had come to a complete stop, he turned to face
âJust... what was that Heroic Spirit!?â he wondered, talking to himself.
to create that chimera. Its body contained far more Magic Circuits
offering and as a living beingâwas extremely short, but that was alright,
And yet, it, of all things, received the Command Spells.
how a mere beastâone that did not even understand what the Holy
âWas that a Hero with some connection to animals...? But that was
was a Hero with some connection to... chimeras...?â
the possibility that the Servant could have been the hound of
fierce warrior with what he saw of the Heroic Spirit.
No, actually, anyoneâs Command Spells will do. I had best get started.
ought to be able to make off with that cur, at the least....â
He truly was worthy of praise as a mage.
âNo, sir, we sure canât have that.â
âWe really would prefer not to have any more sources of uncertainty.
his throat came not words, but warm, red blood.
any Command Spells. Itâd be a real pain if you went around causing
Church are trouble enough. We canât afford to make an enemy of the
Upon hearing him speak, the mage realized that the man standing
Rohngallâa man of the Association by the name of Faldeus.
was the question of how to stop his neck from spewing blood.
desire answer your questions, nor do I plan to let you live. As such, I
Faldeus slowly twirled a Swiss Army Knife in his hand. Drop after
typically used by magi, but rather, an ordinary knife, of the sort one
âTut-tut. Even if you werenât expecting this to happen, you shouldnât
â . .â A wheezing sound came from the mageâs throat, but
He was rapidly losing consciousness
you can answer me anyway,â said Faldeus.
he slowly waved his right hand.
And that was the end. The mageâs consciousness left him, never to
When Faldeus waved his hand, innumerably many bullets flew
Faced with that gory sight, Faldeus remained emotionless.
stray bullet would hit him, he did not even breath harder as the bullets
Just like when he had Rohngallâs puppet destroyed, the gunshots
down on a nearby boulder. His expression finally softened some.
I never know when Iâm going to leak confidential information, so I
courteously said to the lump of flesh, which, of course, could not hear,
âI must say, Iâm a bit concerned about what the Kuruokas summoned....
I just had a look through your atelier, and... well, Iâm astonished
a foul against the system. Didnât you know that? Wars have rules
to a corpse. His former reticence had vanished altogether.
need you folks to have a bit of self-control.â
an army of underlings surrounding him. Also, he was speaking at a
âI had a look at the footage we took in the forest... And, well, itâs
any case, itâs amazing that it could be summoned as a Heroic Spirit. If
gained the power of a god that you so desired.â
face. âWell, the system shouldnât allow for that sort of thing, but seeing
put too much faith in that. By Jove, someone might have even summoned
Then again, that thing that your pet summoned is quite unspeakable
to an old friend. With a corpse on the ground before him, he spoke to
âTo begin with, it was never so much a Hero...\nHowever, it was not human.
the earth to appear within a forest. That doll was neither male nor
It lacked human knowledge, and so, it gamboled about the forest
However, it had power that surpassed human understanding. When
a certain kingdom at the time.
be compared to that of a beast,â said he, refusing even to lay eyes upon
The king believed his power to supreme; that there could not be a
When that beast met a certain celebrated hierodule, however, their
When that genderless mass of clay met that woman whose beauty
As they spent six days and seven nights together, sharing meals
imitate that beautiful prostitute.
that prostituteâs beauty.
much of its strength. In exchange, it gained human wisdom and reason.
Its power still far exceeded that of man.
of a human, stood before that mighty king.
the battle was over, each acknowledged the otherâs strength.
Surely, there could be no beings further apart than they. Nonetheless,
countless many adventures, sharing their pain and their pleasure with
And then, millennia after those golden-and-earthen daysâ\ntreated the wounds of the silver wolfâits Masterâand laid him
âI must say... I am relieved. I was worried that the whole world had
It looked at the vast wilderness before it. Using the language of
However, its Master had already fallen into a deep sleep, and did
Laughing softly, it sat down, and gave itself over to the sound of
Suddenly, it turned to look northwards.
far, far to the north. A very familiar presence.
Spirit walked out of the cave
Unable at first to believe what fate had wrought, it opened its eyes
It was sure that the presence it sensed to the north was none other
And finallyâoverwhelming joy.
afforded them another opportunity to engage in mortal combat.
Even if it took his head, and he took its heart, what of it?
Nay, even if they slew one another a thousand times over, they
of the land that reached every part of the Snowfield area.
And it was also a signal to commence battle.
Grail War was a false one.
They fought not for the Holy Grail, but for their convictions
That was the spark that began the war.\n