"I suppose I'll have to find a moment to explain the situation to them eventually."
Sitting within the quiet interior of the church, Shirou Kotomine let out a thoughtful, quiet sigh.
"Hmm?"
Semiramis looked at him with a look of confusion, not entirely sure what her Master was referring to.
Explain?
To whom?
"I'm not worried about Lancer, but Assassin... Minato... has already realized that there's something unusual about his Master."
"To avoid any unnecessary misunderstandings, it would be better to be completely transparent with him."
"As long as I provide a sincere explanation for my actions, I believe he'll understand."
Hearing the confidence in his voice, Semiramis still couldn't quite grasp the source of his conviction.
"He belongs to the Assassin class. How can you be so certain he doesn't harbor his own secret agenda?"
"Under normal circumstances, that might be a valid concern. But I've chosen to place my trust in him."
"?"
"After all... I don't believe I've given him a reason to loathe me just yet."
Aside from the lone wolf, Kairi Sisigou, the Red faction needed to ensure that all of its Servants were unified.
Otherwise, in a conflict of this scale, they would likely be overwhelmed by the challenges and dangers that lay ahead.
"It seems the Black faction isn't exactly having a smooth start either."
"That certainly works in our favor."
"The first step to victory is internal unity, after all."
***
BOOM!
The castle of the Yggdmillennia family was already engulfed in a Series of roaring fires. A few homunculi lay scattered on the ground, the unfortunate victims of their attempt to restrain a Servant.
"Sister!"
"Caules! Why are you here?! This place is too dangerous!"
"No, I'm one of the selected Masters too. I have a responsibility to stop this!"
The Masters of the Black faction were currently facing a crisis of significant proportions.
Immediately after the summoning, one of their supposedly allied Servants had gone into a state of uncontrollable rage.
White-hot flames roared throughout the castle corridors, and a staggering amount of magical energy radiated from the source of the disturbance.
However, the Master of this particular Servant, Fiore Forvedge Yggdmillennia, was finding it impossible to exercise any form of control.
"Have you already used your Command Spells?"
"I've used one, but it didn't seem to have any effect at all."
Wasting a Command Spell before the war had even truly begun was a devastating blow for any Master.
"Caster's mental state is clearly abnormal. If we can just get him to calm down, the situation should stabilize."
"CASTER?! You mean he isn't a Berserker?!!"
Caules looked toward the monster-like entity in front of them, his voice filled with shock.
Pink, short hair, a white scarf wrapped around his neck, and hands that had transformed into something resembling dragon claws... his eyes were completely devoid of pupils, a clear sign of a total lack of reason.
Caules swallowed hard, his mind struggling to classify what he was seeing.
The sheer volume of mana being radiated suggested a Caster-class Servant, but why did he look like a Berserker in the throes of a "Mad Enhancement" rampage?!
"Archer, I'm counting on you!"
Caules turned toward the figure beside him, his voice frantic as he realized they didn't have time to debate the entity's identity.
SWISH!
In a blur of motion, the figure launched himself forward, delivering a powerful kick directly to the Caster's chest. The impact was enough to send the rampaging entity flying out of the castle walls.
"Does the temperature of his flames really exceed that of lava?"
Archer looked down at his leg. The fabric of his pants had been incinerated, revealing the charred, metallic surface of his artificial limb.
"Please, stay back! A normal human likely would have melted just by standing next to him!"
Hearing Archer's evaluation, Caules felt a cold sweat break out on his forehead.
Higher than lava... the hottest natural substance on the planet?
Lava typically ranged from 900 to 1400 degrees Celsius.
To be hotter than that...
Who exactly was this Caster supposed to be?!
"With this level of heat, a reckless approach is going to be problematic."
"I'll have to use a slightly more aggressive method to restrain him."
Archer extended his arm, and a series of mechanical panels slid aside to reveal a powerful cannon. An intense, orange glow began to gather within the opening.
[Incineration Cannon]!!
BOOM!!
As the shockwaves of the blast rippled through the castle, the other Masters were also assessing the situation.
"Doctor, you're truly an incredible individual. To be able to create such a convenient device in such a short amount of time..."
Roche Frain Yggdmillennia, an adolescent Master of only thirteen years, spoke with a look of profound admiration toward the woman beside him.
She had been summoned as a "Caster," but she possessed almost no direct combat capability. In fact, her physical stats were no different from that of an ordinary human.
However... when it came to [Item Construction] and [Territory Creation], her abilities were nothing short of miraculous.
As long as she was provided with the necessary materials, there was seemingly nothing she couldn't build.
"A [Dragon Ball Radar], was it?"
"Master Darnic will surely be pleased. After all, we had no way of determining the locations of the spheres until now."
"Having this will make our objective much easier to achieve."
Roche looked at the woman with a look of pure worship, feeling as though he could learn a lifetime's worth of knowledge from her.
"Ehh? You mean the Servant rampaging in the hall?"
"Oh, don't worry about that. Master Darnic has already sent Saber to handle the situation."
***
"What a useless bunch of fools. They can't even maintain control over their own Servants!"
Goredolf Musik, the Master of Saber, watched the exchange between Caster and Archer with a look of intense annoyance.
In his eyes, Servants were nothing more than specialized familiars. The idea of one being uncontrollable was a sign of incompetence on the part of the Master.
"Saber, what's your assessment?"
"There shouldn't be a problem. I can sense 'Dragon' attributes coming from the Caster."
"Dragon? Then that's perfect! Go and restrain him! We can't have him causing this much of a mess before the fight even starts!"
Siegfried didn't respond. He simply began his advance toward the conflict.
There was one more thing he hadn't mentioned to his Master.
He didn't just sense a "Dragon" attribute... he also sensed a "Demonic" presence radiating from the pink-haired boy.
A hero who shared both draconic and demonic characteristics...
Siegfried couldn't recall a single legend that fit the description.
***
"Honestly... I never expected such a pathetic display before the war had even begun."
Darnic Prestone Yggdmillennia stood in a darkened study, staring out at the chaotic scene through a reinforced window.
A cold, detached voice responded from the shadows behind him.
"It doesn't matter. You could call it a pre-war warm-up exercise."
Darnic glanced back at the man who sat in the armchair, an "Unknown Conqueror" whose identity still eluded him.
The man wore a suit of ancient armor over a black combat uniform, and his long, black hair reached all the way down to his waist. A large war fan rested against the back of his chair.
He seemed completely indifferent to Caster's rampage.
Darnic had intended to use a specific catalyst to summon a legendary "Great Hero" from this region's history.
But something had gone wrong during the ritual. The summoning had deviated from the intended path, resulting in the manifestation of this mysterious "Rider."
With two other "Caster" class Servants already within their ranks, he supposed he could take some comfort in the fact that they at least had a heavy hitter.
While he hadn't successfully summoned "Vlad III," he could still feel an undeniable sense of overwhelming power radiating from the man in the chair.
The Rider's lips curled into a faint, predatory smirk.
"Let's see them dance..."
***
"Hey, Master. This is a three-way war, right?"
"Yeah. It's different from a conventional Holy Grail War. We have five pairs on each side, but the usual class restrictions have been completely discarded."
Kairi Sisigou sat with his Servant in a quiet corner of the town, sharing a casual conversation.
Mordred, the Knight of Treachery.
"So, aren't we going to regroup with the others?"
"Well... I was planning to at first, but that priest's history... it gives me a bad feeling."
"It's going to be dangerous, but I think we're better off acting on our own for now."
"Oh? I like the sound of that. It certainly makes things more interesting."
The two of them seemed completely unbothered by the looming conflict, their exchange carrying a note of easy-going confidence.
[Translated and Rewritten by Shika_Kagura]