Download App
80.33% Reincarnated as a dragon egg in DxD with a Fate System! / Chapter 237: Fuyuki Holy Grail War

Chapter 237: Fuyuki Holy Grail War

This chapter is for the people who doesn't know anything about the Holy Grail Wars, so here you have the basic information about them. You can skip if you have already watched the show, as this is just copy-paste from the wiki.

The Holy Grail War.

The Holy Grail War is a competition that decides the ownership of the Holy Grail through intense Battle Royale. While there have been many conflicts over supposed Holy Grails in the past, this term refers to those specifically based around Masters, usually proficient magi, summoning Servants, Heroic Spirits brought forth as familiars, and meeting in battle until only one pair is left to claim the Holy Grail.

The Holy Grail is the Christian holy relic that received the blood of Christ, considered to be a Noble Phantasm. There have been many claims of its existence, 726 of which were investigated by the Church, and many conflicts for such artifacts have happened around the world throughout history. The name is utilized in the various Holy Grail Wars as the name of an artifact purportedly capable of granting any wish to whomever comes to claim it, rather than the real artifact, though the Church often gets involved simply because of that reason. Its advent is the ultimate goal of the various Holy Grail Wars.

There are various Holy Grail Wars in the multiverse known as Nasuverse, but the important one right now for Drako and his Servants is the Fuyuki Frail War.

The Fuyuki Holy Grail War, also called Heaven's Feel, is a ritual that has been ongoing for two hundred years and a central element of the Fate series since Fate/stay night. Established by the Tohsaka, Matou, and Einzbern families, the Three Founding Families, as a means to reach Akasha, it is currently thought to be only a competition for something recognized as a possible Holy Grail. Seven magi are chosen by the Grail as Masters and, with support from the Grail, allowed to summon seven Servants to do battle. The winning pair is supposed to be able to claim the Holy Grail and utilize it to grant a wish for each of them. Its true purpose is to actually utilize the seven Servants returning to the root as a way to form a hole directly to it.

At the time there was also a serious flaw in this system, As the Grail required the energy of all seven Servants to help activate the Greater Grail and open a hole to Akasha, it would mean that all Servants including the victor Servant would have to be killed, and since the Grail can only be held by a Servant, activating the Greater Grail, let alone retrieving the Holy Grail, cannot be achieved, as Masters are incapable of doing so without a Servant. This flaw made the Grail capable of only granting wishes to Masters and Servants.

There has yet to be even one true winner who actually claimed the Grail in all five wars, and due to Angra Mainyu being summoned in the Third Holy Grail War, it would be impossible for a winner to have their true wish granted in most cases. The Grail, which is normally "colorless", was corrupted and turned into a manifestation of All the World's Evils. It cannot grant wishes without also causing great destruction, though only the Einzberns are directly aware of this fact. Overall, it is a minor event in the magi world. The stakes could be considered the highest up until the Second War, as the Church became involved afterward. The preparation and decision-making were done by the Mage's Association. The Association also held most of the power over the matter. However, since the "Holy Grail" was part of the name, the Holy Church would not remain silent. "Fake or not, we must control all the Holy Grails" thus the Holy Church sent Arbiters to Fuyuki City, plotting to confiscate the Holy Grail when the opportunity emerged.

The original purpose of the ritual was to recover the Third Magic lost by the Einzberns, the "Cup of Heaven." Around 1790, Justizia Lizleihi von Einzbern, Nagato Tohsaka, and Zouken Makiri created the system in order to create a gate leading to Akasha. At that time, the Mage's Association and the Church were locked in a battle to the death, so a land in the Far East, where the Church could not monitor, was chosen. The Einzberns provided the alchemy to create it and prepared the vessel for the Grail, the Tohsaka provided the necessary land and called forth the Servants, and the Makiri assembled the magecraft to stabilize the starting materials and designed the Command Seals that command the Servants. Back when the Tohsaka were developing the ritual of the Heaven's Feel along with the Makiri and the Einzbern, Nagato's daughter played a greater role in the completion of the Holy Grail War system than her father.

The Holy Grail War itself was devised by Justizia, and she was to become the key of the ritual. The Great Grail was created through forming a large circuit from many multi-layered Crests carved onto a bare rock over fifty meters in diameter. It was covered in multiple layers of circuits, while its many geometric figures turned in place. Justizia stood in the center of the it, and became the key to reenacting the Third Magic. The Holy Grail would have only been just a Holy Grail without her, as her will was required for Heavens Feel. Kishur Zelretch Schweinorg acted as a witness to the event.

Currently, only the Tohsakas want to reach Akasha, while the Einzberns and Makiri only want the completion of the Grail, that is, the revival of the Third Magic. However, this is impossible as there was never a victor for the past four Heaven's Feels and the Grail became corrupted by Angra Mainyu after the Third War.

The Great Grail requires sixty years in order to amass enough mana to summon Servants, making the planning period span over generations. If the Grail is unable to utilize its energy, that which is leftover can reduce the time to as little as a decade, such as in the case of the period between the Fourth and Fifth Wars.

The Grail selects potential Masters anywhere from years in advance to right before the start of the Holy Grail War. It favors those from the three founding families and then picks out suitable magi through a mostly unknown process. There can be more than seven potential Masters, but only the first seven who manage to summon Servants gain Command Spells and the right to act as a Master. It is possible for other unchosen people to gain the right to act as Masters by contracting with Masterless Servants.

The Servants can be summoned in advance as well, but more than two months, such as in Berserker's (Herakles) case, is an anomaly. They can be summoned far away from the site of the ritual, allowing them to be initially summoned in Europe and then brought to Fuyuki. While played off as only a battle royal where the winner is granted a wish, the real point is to fill the vessel of the Grail with the souls of all Seven Servants. Defeated Servants revert to being pure energy and, while they would normally disappear from the timeline by returning to the Throne as information for the true Heroic Spirits, the Grail stops that process temporarily and collects them.

It is possible to make a wish upon it with only the power of five Servants, allowing it to grant most wishes. It is still incomplete, and will take at least six to bring it into form. Its true purpose, opening a hole to the Root, requires all seven Servants. Once the vessel is filled, the energy of the Heroic Spirits returning to the "Throne" is used by the Great Grail in a ritual to open a "hole" leading to Akasha. Due to the corruption of the ritual, most wishes will require great destruction. Kiritsugu Emiya realized the Holy Grail had been corrupted when it presented him a revelation of how it would grant his wish - instead of saving humanity, it showed him a utopia would exterminate all of humankind besides him, his wife, and his daughter; as a result, Kiritsugu rejected the Grail and attempted to destroy it. Within a decade his adopted progeny Shirou would complete this mission and ensure the malice within the tainted artifact would never threaten the planet again.

Though the maximum number of Servants is seven, there is an auxiliary reserve system within the Greater Grail to distribute Command Spells again to allow the summoning for seven more Servants. This was developed for the highly improbable situation that all seven Servants were to cooperate, but it would likely exhaust the leyline of Fuyuki. It is to be used only as an emergency measure to have seven more Servants to oppose those that have joined up.

Supervision

The First and Second Wars went unsupervised, but the chaotic Second Holy Grail War caused them to rethink the position. Japan had been in its period of civilizing at the time, so the possibility of witnesses spreading the serious damage occurring needed to be controlled even in such a remote area. It is a conflict between magi, so there is no one in the Mage's Association suitable to act as a mediator because of the political implications. They instead sought out the Church, enemies to the Magi, an external authority, and, as it utilized the name of the Holy Grail, one of their most sacred artifacts, it was not possible for them to let its name be used lightly.

The Church acts under the pretense that they cannot ignore the possibility that it actually is the cup that received the blood of Christ, but they already know that it is not related to it. They still send a supervisor because it is too powerful to ignore because they didn't want someone to use the Grail for their selfish desire. They are not concerned about Magi reaching the Root, but someone affecting the actual world is too large a threat. They wish to instead guide a magus seeking the Root towards victory to keep such a possibility from happening.

The Holy Grail War is unknown to the general populace. The Church is responsible for the cover up work in which they manipulate information by modifying the memories of victims and covering up the battle damage while the Mage's Association handles the media. The Association has the Einzberns cover the cost of any collateral damage. They will punish the landowner should it get too out of hand, such as in the Heaven's Feel scenario.


Chapter 238: It has started

In a clearing among a series of bushes somewhere in the small mountain town of Fuyuki, Waver Velvet began his preparations for the invocation ritual after making sure he was completely alone.

Waver's nerves were completely strained all day by the chickens' incessant squawking, so much so that a ritual for the purification of the mind was necessary before the main ritual could be performed.

The shape of the magic circle had been drawn on the floor when the blood of the chickens was still warm. He had practiced this procedure on several occasions, drawing the four patterns of the game within the circle of invocation.

There must have been no mistake.

"Closing. Closing. Closing. Closing. Closing. Five perfections for each repetition. And now, let the traced symbols be destroyed instead of me!"

Waver carefully spread the blood of the chickens on the floor while reciting the incantation.

----------------------------------------------

In the subway workshop of the Tōsaka residence in the same small mountain village, the same preparations were being made for the same ritual.

"You first, O silver, O steel. O foundation stone. O Archduke of the Contract. Hear me in the name of our great master, Archmagus Schweinorg."

"Let the descending winds be like a wall. Let the gates in all directions be closed, rising above the crown, and let the roads that divide in three directions to the Kingdom change position."

Tōsaka Tokiomi recited the spell loudly as he drew the magic circle, using not the blood of a sacrificed victim but the melted essence of the magic gems. To prepare for this day, Tōsaka had deliberately used all the prana-infused gems stored in its treasury.

Besides him was the Kotomine family, father and son - Risei and Kirei.

Kirei was intensely observing the sacred relic placed on the altar. At first glance, it looked like a broken fragment of a mummy, but in fact, it was said to be a fossil of the skin left by the first snake in the ancient world several eons ago.

Kirei could not help but feel a wave of fear at the thought of the Heroic Spirit that would be invoked.

The reason for Tokiomi's trust could finally be understood. No servant could defeat the Heroic Spirit that Tokiomi had chosen.

----------------------------------------------

Simultaneously, in the distant Einsbern Castle, Emiya Kiritsugu was examining the complete state of the invocation circle engraved on the floor of the ceremonial room.

"Will such a simple ritual be enough?"

For Irisviel, who was standing aside watching the procedure, it was quite surprising that the preparations were so simple.

"It may be disappointing, but to invoke a Servant, it was never necessary to have an extravagant evocation ceremony."

Kiritsugu began the explanation while carefully checking that there were no broken or wrong lines in the patterns drawn with the mercury.

"The reason is that, in fact, it is not the power of the magician that invokes the Servant, but the power of the Holy Grail. As a Master, I only acted as the cord that connects the Heroic Spirit to this world in which we reside, and merely provide it with the prana necessary for its materialization in this world".

As if satisfied with the state of the invocation circle, Kiritsugu nodded and stood up. The sacred relic was placed on the altar - the sheath of the legendary sword.

"According to this, victory should be within our grasp."

----------------------------------------------

"Have you properly memorized the incantations necessary for the invocation?"

Matō Zōken kept reminding Kariya over and over again for security reasons. The latter nodded in the midst of darkness.

It was filled with the horrible smell of rot and dampness, darkness as green as that of the depths of the ocean. This was the warehouse of the worms hidden deep beneath the floor of the residence of the Matō, which stood on the hill of the small mountain town.

"That's right. Just, halfway through the ceremony, add two more lines to the incantation."

"What do you want to say?"

Zōken smiled sinisterly at Kariya's confused expression.

"Kariya, you should know by now that as a mage, your abilities are not only below one or two positions of the other masters. This will affect the basic abilities of the Servant."

"If that is the case, it can only be remedied through the Servant Class, and we must improve the parameters from the root."

"Predetermine the Servant Class by altering the summoning spell."

"Usually, the assignment of Servant Classes is inevitably decided by the attributes of the Heroic Spirit invoked. However, there are exceptions; two Classes can be designated by the invoker beforehand."

"One of them is Assassin. The Heroic Spirit belonging to this class can be assumed to be one of the groups of assassins who have inherited the name of Hassan I Sabah."

"And the other class is for all Heroic Spirits and can be manifested as long as the summoner incorporates the necessary external ingredients. Therefore -"

"On this occasion, we will give the Servant the attribute of 'Madness Enhancement'!

Zōken declared this with a face full of joy as if welcoming the disastrous implications that were contained in it.

"Kariya, like the Berserker Master, fight for me with everything you have."

----------------------------------------------

On that day, incantations from different lands and addressed to different beings were recited almost at the same time, a harmony so coincidental that it could hardly be described as an accident of chance.

Because all the magicians had the same hope.

Hope about a miracle. The call of these humans to the Heroes on the other side of the universe, who would brutally murder each other to achieve this miracle, began to resound on the earth at the same time.

"Ready -"

----------------------------------------------

This was the moment that would present itself as his greatest test as a magician. If he lost, he would even lose his life. Waver knew this, but he was not the least bit afraid. A passion that desired strength. A determination that pursued its goal relentlessly. Based on these qualities, Waver Velvet was definitely an amazing magician.

"- Ready"

"Let your body rest under my rule; let my destiny rest on your sword."

"If you submit to the call of the Holy Grail, and if you obey this mind, this reason, then you must respond."

The sensation of prana surrounded his body. This malevolent cold and the agony caused by the whistling and circulation of the Magical Circuits within one's body was something that no magician could escape.

Waver clenched his teeth as he continued to recite the incantation.

"- I take my oath here. I am the person who will become the virtue of all the Heavens. I am the person who is covered with all the vileness of the kingdom of Hades."

----------------------------------------------

The view of Kiritsugu was darkened.

The family crest of the Emiya, which had been passed down through the generations and had been engraved on their back, began to recite the incantations as if it were an individual entity as an aid to the thaumaturgical method of Kiritsugu. Kiritsugu's heart, in a dimension that was beyond the control of his mind, began to beat rapidly as if it were the hasty hand of a clock.

His flesh, which was tormented by the prana that gathered in the air, had already forgotten its functions as a human being; instead, it had become a component of the mysterious ceremony, a circuit that simply connected the ethereal with the material.

Kiritsugu paid no attention to the severe pain created by this, which was enough to make one scream at full power, and concentrated on pronouncing the incantation. Even the presence of Irisviel, who stood beside him holding her breath, was no longer present in his consciousness.

----------------------------------------------

Adding the forbidden alien ingredient to the summoning spells, Kariya included the two lines of spells that would rob the summoned Heroic Spirit of his sanity and degrade the hero to the level of a Berserker.

"- But, you will serve with your eyes covered by chaos. You, bound within a prison of madness. I am he who commands those chains -"

The difference between Kariya and the other magicians was that his magical circuits were made of organisms that lived inside him as parasites. The anguish necessary to incite them and activate their circuits was incomparable to that suffered by other magicians. As he recited the incantation, his limbs moved in spasms, and blood gushed from his shattered capillaries.

Tears of blood flowed from his right eye, down his cheek.

Still, Kariya did not lose his concentration.

Thinking about the task he was carrying on his back - then he would be unable to turn back at this moment.

----------------------------------------------

"You seven heavens, wrapped in a Trinity of words, come beyond the rings that hold you back and be the hands that protect the balance -"

With this concluding his prayers, Tokiomi felt that the acceleration of the prana that ran through his body had reached its greatest limit.

Thunder and lightning resounded, accompanied by clouds carried by a powerful wind. In the pressure of a blizzard that even prevented people who watched, like Kirei, from opening their eyes, the patterns of the circle of invocation shone with a bright light.

Finally, the Magical Circuits had connected with the plane to which man does not belong... from the dazzling light that shone endlessly, the golden silhouette of a standing man emerged. Marveling at the great solemnity, Father Risei murmured in his sleep without realizing it.

"...We have won, Kirei. Our battle has been won..."

----------------------------------------------

That desire was transferred to them in this way.

Arriving from the other side and arriving here, a legendary illusion wrapped between the tornado and the lightning.

Originally of human origin, but separated from the mortal plane. Raised to the level of elementals through powers beyond man. The place where early supernatural beings were gathered... from the Throne of Heroes that possessed the suppressed power of the Gods, Heroic Spirits woven from dreams of countless ordinary men had descended to earth all at the same time.

Then -

In a forest in the middle of the night, in a stone warehouse surrounded by darkness, at each of those locations someone now asked a question in a majestic voice:

"I ask you, are you the Master who has called me?

----------------------------------------------

Drako smiled.

"So it has started, huh."


Load failed, please RETRY

Weekly Power Status

Batch unlock chapters

Table of Contents

Display Options

Background

Font

Size

Chapter comments

Write a review Reading Status: C237
Fail to post. Please try again
  • Writing Quality
  • Stability of Updates
  • Story Development
  • Character Design
  • World Background

The total score 0.0

Review posted successfully! Read more reviews
Vote with Power Stone
Rank 200+ Power Ranking
Stone 0 Power Stone
Report inappropriate content
error Tip

Report abuse

Paragraph comments

Login

tip Paragraph comment

Paragraph comment feature is now on the Web! Move mouse over any paragraph and click the icon to add your comment.

Also, you can always turn it off/on in Settings.

GOT IT