The sky was so grey.
When Artoria finally took in her surroundings, her first impression was of the sky above—a suffocating expanse of grey clouds, layered one upon another in an endless, heavy ceiling. Though it should have been daylight, the atmosphere was thick with a gloomy, dim haze.
In stark contrast to this gloom were the streetlights, which burned with a brilliance that turned the surrounding area as bright as high noon.
It was an unfamiliar city, a white jungle of steel and concrete. The urban environment was far more advanced than that of Fuyuki City, where the Holy Grail War was currently unfolding. In a word, it possessed a pervasive sense of "futuristic technology."
Drawing upon the knowledge granted to her by the Holy Grail, Artoria was familiar with the world of 1994 AD and could understand everything built in that era. Even so, she found the sight before her staggering.
In this brightly lit city, the beings living there could hardly be called "human." There were "people" with the heads of fish, "people" who resembled upright beasts, and of course, no shortage of "people" who looked identical to humans but possessed exquisite features and magnificent wings.
Massive armored vehicles glided silently along the roads, but they had no tires; instead, they moved via levitation. In the sky, mechanical crafts—perhaps best described as fighter jets—hovered motionless.
Everything operated with absolute order.
"Is this... a military camp?" Artoria looked around, whispering to herself. "No, more like a military base."
She had never been here—never visited this strange, somewhat surreal world.
"Ludwig, you skipped today's training again."
Hearing a familiar name, Artoria turned around. On the edge of a training ground a dozen meters away, she saw her Master—the youth whose fierce combat prowess stood in such stark contrast to his refined appearance.
"Training? I told you I wasn't doing it," Ludwig said, sitting atop a stack of metal crates, cradling a digital screen in his hands. "I still have documents to finish reading."
Unlike the others, who were fully armed and armored, Ludwig was in casual clothes, looking completely out of place.
An argument quickly followed. Faced with the accusations of the others, Ludwig maintained an air of complete indifference.
"This is our responsibility. You should understand why we, as hybrids of the Human-species and other A-Rays, have formed this squad." The leader—a young man who appeared to be of the same race as Ludwig but carried himself with far more gravity—reminded the white-haired youth with righteous indignation. "There are very few 'Aristoteles' left. Our battle against them will surely reach its end soon."
"..." Ludwig didn't even look up, nor did he offer a response.
The young man turned to the other companions behind him. All of them possessed human-like forms but bore characteristics of other species. There were humans with beast ears and tails, humans with wings, humans with scales upon their skin...
Witnessing this, Artoria realized that this was Ludwig's memory—the era in which he had originally lived. He had mentioned before that he was not a human of the Holy Grail War's era; in fact, to humans, he was practically a different species entirely.
"In the past, a great war broke out between humans and the Hundred A-Rays. Humanity was pushed to the brink of extinction. It was the successive emergence of the Human-species and the Knights, along with the appearance of the 'Aristoteles,' that brought the war to a temporary halt, a stalemate that lasts to this day," the young man began to preach in a clear, ringing voice. "But once the 'Aristoteles' are all eliminated, should the war—where one side must utterly fall—continue? Is the Human-species not also one of the Hundred A-Rays?"
The people around him listened intently to his speech.
"Therefore, as those who carry the blood of both the Human-species and other A-Rays, are we not the bridge to the next era? We have a duty to become strong enough to be the power that prevents the war from restarting and ensures the continuation of peace."
His demeanor was earnest and his tone provocative; he was a natural-born leader. Even Artoria, as the King of Knights, could sense the other's talent from just these few words. He was a young man with ideals and a clear understanding of the world he inhabited.
Except... beneath that impassioned face lay an undisguised ambition. He hoped to gather the hybrids born of the Human-species and A-Rays, to ascend to a position akin to a mediator, and to hold the power that balanced the world.
"And all of this requires sufficient strength. That is why we gather here to tra—"
"Is that a 'grand ideal' I hear?" Ludwig suddenly interrupted. "I'm not particularly fond of grand ideals."
"What?" The young man's expression stiffened.
"At the end of the day, attaching reasons and 'responsibilities' to power is something only the weak do." Ludwig made a gagging face at the young man. "Don't spout so much scripted nonsense that you actually start believing it yourself. Blegh—"
The atmosphere turned hostile in an instant. The mixed-blood A-Rays behind the youth began to whisper amongst themselves. The young man's brow furrowed, his anger unconcealed.
"Then, as you say, let our strength do the talking," the youth challenged.
It was more than just a matter of face; it was a conflict of ideologies. To have ideals without power was nothing more than empty talk.
"Just you? Why not use all those supporters of yours? Why don't you all come at me together?" Ludwig swung his legs down from the iron crate, his right hand still holding the electronic screen.
The verbal clash quickly escalated into a group brawl.
However, no one came to stop it. Other people nearby merely watched from a distance, observing the scene with scrutinizing eyes.
But though it was called a "brawl," it was really more of a one-sided beating.
The hybrids led by the young man had clearly undergone rigorous training; their movements were disciplined and tactical. Yet, their advantage in numbers could not bridge the gap between them and Ludwig.
Consisting of dozens of mixed-blood A-Rays, they were essentially a small elite unit—but they were quickly laid low. Even as their numbers dwindled until only one person remained, their assault never grew messy. Each of them possessed strength comparable to a Servant.
Artoria estimated that if she were surrounded by so many people, she might find herself in dire straits if she didn't have the chance to release her Noble Phantasm's True Name. She certainly wouldn't be standing there unscathed as Ludwig was.
He held a cyan-colored longsword in his hand, pointing it at the young man whose own weapon he had just shattered.
"...A Magic Sword..."
"That's how it is." Ludwig opened his hand, and the Magic Sword vanished. "So stop wasting my time. You guys go ahead and stay busy; I have my own plans, after all."
With that, he turned and walked away from the training ground without a second glance. Just as he had been before, he was a total outlier.
The eyes of the A-Rays he had defeated changed. They no longer held the previous resentment, but rather a profound sense of awe.
—A hybrid of the Human-species and the Angel-species, and the first "Knight" capable of manifesting a Magic Sword... and he's only sixteen.
—If it is a "Knight" such as him, he will surely lead the future of this world in an entirely different direction.
Speculations like these rippled through the crowd.
In contrast to the heavy atmosphere, Ludwig's voice drifted back as he engaged in lighthearted conversation with a woman.
"The plan for the next operation has been finalized. You are the core of the entire mission."
"It's about time."
"Even though you are a one-man army, the military has already deployed support units... I'm looking forward to your performance."
Leaving the training ground, Ludwig chatted intimately about business with a blue-haired, short-cut woman of the Angel-species whom he addressed as "Instructor." The two walked away together.
Possessing such formidable power... what is it that you wish to achieve?
Hearing those words, Artoria couldn't help but gaze at Ludwig's retreating figure in the dream, asking the question silently in her heart.
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Type-Moon: The A-Ray Knight's Holy Grail Journey(80 Chapter - Ongoing)
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