The Dimensional Engine was a terrifying tool.
It wasn't limited to a pre-selected list of safe universes. It could pierce the veil to any dimension across the infinite multiverse. Simply speaking a keyword into the void was enough to generate a coordinate.
If I had been careless, I could have easily dropped myself into a reality where the ambient atmosphere was made of superheated plasma, or into the jaws of a cosmic horror.
Fortunately, I am a creature of logic. I plan, I calculate, and I minimize risk.
[Sensor modules operational. Initiating wide-area scan...]
The golden gate vanished behind me, leaving me in the dark. As my optical sensors adjusted to the gloom of the dense forest, my internal radar swept outward, mapping the terrain for hundreds of miles in every direction.
"Query: Are there other humanoids present?"
In the dead of night, in a desolate, overgrown forest, my scanners had picked up a distinct biological signature. It was located in a dilapidated graveyard just a short distance away.
What is a lone human doing in a graveyard at this hour?
Before I could form a hypothesis, a massive surge of unfamiliar energy erupted from that exact location. It wasn't the mana I had grown used to in the previous world. It was denser, older, and smelled faintly of ozone and blood.
I didn't need a visual feed to know what was happening.
The Holy Grail War.
It was the defining ritual of this specific universe, and one of the few pieces of trivia I had retained from my past life on Earth.
A secret war fought by seven "Masters", human magi, who each summoned a "Servant." These Servants were Heroic Spirits, figures of legend, myth, and history pulled from the Throne of Heroes and granted physical vessels to fight a deathmatch. The last pair standing would claim the Holy Grail, an omnipotent wishing machine.
But I didn't care about the Grail. I had no wishes to grant.
My objective was the Servants themselves. Or, more specifically, their Noble Phantasms.
A Noble Phantasm was the crystallized mystery of a hero's legend. It was their ultimate weapon, a physical manifestation of their greatest deed or defining trait. In gaming terms, it was their ultimate attack.
To an entity driven to collect and analyze weapons and magic, a Noble Phantasm was the highest tier of loot. My goal in this world was simple: gather as many of them as possible.
Crunch.
I stepped over a fallen branch, moving silently toward the graveyard. As I walked, I pinged my internal database.
"System check: Pseudo-Rasiel."
[Connecting to world root... Analysis in progress: 50%]
My steps faltered for a fraction of a second. Fifty percent? Already?
I was genuinely surprised. In the previous world, Rasiel had started at near zero and taken over a decade to fully map the fundamental laws of reality. Yet here, the moment I arrived, half the world's data was already unlocked and readable.
Perhaps the underlying structure of this universe was rigidly categorized, making it easier for an archiving Angel to parse.
Since the function was available, I didn't hesitate.
"Endo Armament: Activate"
"Pseudo-Endo: Rasiel"
My eyes flared with a brilliant golden light. Streams of data cascaded through my visual feed as the book poured its half-completed analysis directly into my neural network.
Oh?
As the encrypted information unspooled in my mind, a rare spark of excitement flared in my core logic. The standard rules of the Holy Grail War did not apply here.
"Query: Seven versus Seven. Fourteen Masters. Fourteen Servants. A total of twenty-eight participants... a Great Holy Grail War?"
A standard war offered seven targets. This anomaly offered fourteen.
The amount of available Noble Phantasms had just doubled. My hypothetical harvest had grown exponentially.
As I approached the edge of the tree line, I analyzed the residual waves of the summoning ritual echoing through the air. I systematically recorded the frequency and density of this new energy type, Od and Mana, prana and ether.
Just as the recording finished, an unexpected voice chimed in my head.
[Notice: Third unique energy signature recorded.]
[Prerequisites met... Initiating module unlock...]
[Protocol approved. Module unlock successful... 'Enhancement' feature is now available.]
Hm?
This was the third time since my arrival that I felt a genuine sense of confusion. The system, which usually remained dormant unless prompted, had spontaneously unlocked a new function. What did 'Enhancement' mean in this context?
I filed the query away. Analyzing the system update was not the immediate priority.
Because as I stepped out from the cover of the ancient trees, I found myself face-to-face with the newly formed Master-Servant pair.
…
Kairi Sisigou was a man who looked like trouble.
A freelance necromancer and a former student of the Clock Tower, he was thirty-two years old but carried the weathered, cynical aura of a man twice his age. He favored heavy leather jackets, carried a sawed-off shotgun, and wore tinted sunglasses even at night.
To the average civilian, he looked like a hardened criminal or a mob enforcer. To the Mages' Association, he was a dirty, untrustworthy rogue. Cops frequently stopped him on the street, and students crossed the road to avoid him.
He had long since resigned himself to the misunderstandings his appearance caused.
Currently, Kairi found himself standing in a damp, overgrown graveyard, having accepted a highly unusual, highly lucrative commission from the Clock Tower. He had joined a Great Holy Grail War.
The summoning circle at his feet had just ceased glowing. The smoke and ozone were still clearing. Standing in the center of the graves, clad in heavy, silver-and-red armor, was his newly summoned Servant.
Saber of Red. Mordred.
He hadn't even had the chance to exchange a proper greeting, to confirm her class or establish their contract, before the situation violently derailed.
BOOM!
The ground shook violently. Crimson lightning arced through the graveyard, shattering tombstones and splintering the nearby trees. The air pressure spiked, heavy with killing intent.
Kairi had thrown himself behind a massive, ancient oak tree the moment the killing intent flared. He pressed his back against the rough bark, clutching his shotgun, his heart hammering against his ribs.
He peeked cautiously around the trunk, his sunglasses reflecting the chaotic bursts of light.
"Why does this always happen to me?" he groaned, rubbing his throbbing temples.
….
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