Chapter 4: Mission from the Wizard
"I will go back home."
The words slipped from Riya's lips before he could stop them, barely louder than a whisper. But Zelretch heard. Of course he did.
There was a silence—heavy, deliberate.
"You can't," the wizard said without turning.
Riya's jaw clenched. "Can't? Or won't?"
Zelretch sighed, the kind of sigh that carried centuries. "Both. Let's not pretend this is about capability. I could open a path back to your world right now… drop you in your bed before the sheets cool. But I won't."
Riya's eyes narrowed. "Why not?"
"Because you're the reason history hasn't collapsed already," Zelretch said, finally facing him. "You didn't ask for it, I know. But the Saint Graphs are part of you now. You've become a stabilizing node in a dying system. Pulling you out would be like removing a keystone from a crumbling tower."
"So I'm a prisoner," Riya muttered.
"You're humanity's last line of defense," Zelretch corrected.
"A reluctant one. But you don't get to walk away from fate when fate hands you the keys."
Riya looked down, fists clenched at his sides. "...I'm not staying gone forever."
Zelretch nodded once. "I wouldn't expect you to."
"Once the timeline is completely fix I will send you back"
The silence after Zelretch's declaration is deafening.
Riya doesn't say anything. He just stares at the floor, like it might open up and swallow him. Part of him wishes it would.
He runs a hand through his hair and takes a breath that feels like it doesn't want to stay in his lungs.
So I realy don't have a choice huh...The center of everything? Me? What a joke.
I should go home.
Mom's probably freaking out. Sis too. And Dad...
His chest tightens.
He imagines stepping through the front door, explaining all of this. Laughing about it.
He feels like a guy who just woke up from a dream where he bonded with a myth, only to be told he's carrying the shattered pieces of history inside his chest.
His gaze drifts to the tall rune-etched windows. Beyond them, the swirling London sky feels alien. Cold. Empty.
"Sigh*...alright Then tell me what you want from me, old man. Why dump this on me? Why not save the world yourself?"
Zelretch steps closer, hands folded behind his back, voice dry as paper. "Because I can't. The moment those Saint Graphs fused with you, the Root shifted. Now you are the only fixed point strong enough to hold the weight of restoration."
He gestures toward a silver, gear-shaped device embedded into the wall. It pulses once, and a projection flares to life—an unstable map of multiple timelines flickering like fire. One of them glows violently red.
"There," Zelretch says, pointing. "A singularity has formed. One of the worst I've seen. The world of Fate/Apocrypha."
Riya squints at the projection. "Was that one of those anime timelines? Kinda forgot after the fifth parallel universe showed up."
Zelretch ignores him.
"The Great Holy Grail War there is spiraling. Without the female Servants, the balance has collapsed. The factions are disoriented. Reality is warping."
"And let me guess," Riya says, arms crossed. "I have to fix it."
He steps closer, and for the first time, Riya hears something different in his voice. Not cold command. But urgency.
"You have the power to sync with the Saint Graphs inside you. Use them. Wield them. Learn their memories, their strengths. Then—enter that singularity. Win the war. Claim the Grail. And with its power, you will begin constructing Chaldea from the ground up."
Riya frowns, his arms uncrossing as his brow furrows. "Wait, wait. What the hell is Chaldea?"
Zelretch's expression doesn't change, but a glimmer of something almost like pride flashes in his eyes.
"Chaldea is the organization that will guide humanity through the storm you've just walked into. It was founded to protect humanity from anomalies in time—Singularities—like the one you're about to face. It's a collection of the brightest minds, the strongest mages, and the greatest heroes, all focused on preserving the human race's future. A war machine of the highest order, built to ensure that the flow of history can be corrected, no matter the cost."
"It is something you need to create and make sure that while you are there everything goes accordingly"
Riya processes this, his mind spinning with questions. "So... you're telling me I'm supposed to build this... thing? And then make sure that there are no problems with it?"
Zelretch gives a sharp nod. "Yes. But first, you must survive the war. And only then can you use the Grail's power to restore what's been lost."
Riya stares, the gravity of the situation pressing down on him. He opens his mouth to speak, but Zelretch's next words cut him off.
"You'll learn how to wield the power within you, and you'll build what the world desperately needs. There's no other way, Riya Riot."
Riya sighs, his frustration mounting. "So I'm supposed to take this mess on all by myself? Fight in this war, get the Grail, and build Chaldea? Just like that?"
Zelretch doesn't flinch. "Yes. You are the only one who can."
Riya takes a moment to breathe, and then his gaze drifts toward the shimmering portal opening before him.
The swirling light of the dimensional gate pulses with chaotic energy, beckoning him forward. The tension in his shoulders eases slightly, though not entirely.
The path ahead is uncertain, but there's one thing he knows: standing still won't help anyone.
"Fine," Riya says, stepping forward. "I'll go."
"But only because it is the only way for me to be reunited with my family"
"I promise you the moment the timeline is completely fixed I will sent you back"
"You better"
Zelretch lifts a hand. A portal opens. A swirling, jagged gate of distorted colors—red, gold, black. The scent of war and mana wafts out like smoke. The magic there feels wrong, volatile.
"Good," the wizard says. "Then take your first step. Into battle. Into legend. Into everything."
Riya steps forward, one foot from the edge. The light reflects in his eyes. His hands tremble, just a little. His voice is low but clear.
"sigh* Let's go fix a broken world."
And with that—he vanishes into the singularity.