The night was bleak and solemn. The cool moon hung like water in the sky, and a strand of clear moonlight passed through the silent forest, spilling onto the grass. The blades of grass were crystal-clear, their intricate and astonishingly complex veins plainly visible.
In the next instant, those veins seemed to come alive, blooming with brilliant azure light. The radiance spread endlessly in every direction, intertwining and overlapping. In the darkness, an intricate magic circle formed from mana was engraved upon the church floor. At the center of the circle rested an elegant and luxurious blue-and-gold scabbard.
It was a quiet church. Moonlight filtered through the stained glass and illuminated the interior. The pure glow revealed floating dust motes, and soon tiny azure lights began mixing among them, growing brighter and more numerous. They became increasingly dense until every corner of the church was illuminated.
The scene was so dreamlike that the silver-haired woman standing before the magic circle could not help but marvel at it. She extended her hands, wanting to touch the almost tangible mana.
The other person standing before the circle, a stern middle-aged man, remained silent. Once the magic circle was fully constructed, he raised his right hand. On the back of his hand were clearly engraved crimson Command Seals.
He began to chant a solemn incantation. All the floating azure spheres trembled before being drawn into the magic circle by an invisible force.
"—I hereby proclaim.
Your body shall be under my command, and my fate shall rest upon your sword.
Respond to the Holy Grail's call. If you would obey this will and this reason, then answer me!
I am the one who shall accomplish all good in the world.
I am the embodiment of all evil in the world.
Bound by the seven heavens of the three great words of power.
Cross the wheel of restraint and appear, O guardian of the scales!"
The stern middle-aged man's chanting grew faster and faster. Violent mana surged into the magic circle like boiling water. A blinding blue light erupted outward.
When he uttered the final line of the incantation, the raging mana suddenly dispersed. The turbulence in the air mixed with the chaotic mana to form white smoke.
Within the smoke, standing upon the magic circle, was a young knight who did not belong in this place.
She wore an elegant blue dress armor. Her youthful face radiated heroic dignity and solemnity.
When the girl opened her eyes, her dreamlike emerald-green gaze fixed upon the stern middle-aged man before her. Her voice was as resolute and straightforward as her appearance.
"I ask of you—are you my Master?"
······
"War has begun."
"A battle among magi centered around an omnipotent wish-granting machine."
"Seven Heroic Spirits from ancient times, freed from the constraints of time and space, gathering together for a banquet to determine the victor."
Scene after scene flashed by. One ancient Heroic Spirit after another appeared on screen—some handsome and elegant, some imposing and powerful, some gazing down upon all living beings with unmatched pride. Each declared their ambitions for this Holy Grail War.
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The promotional videos for 'Fate/zero' were officially released on the homepage of Yosuganosora Animation Studio.
There were two versions: the main promotional trailer and a promotional video for Kamiyā Yuu's novel. The former focused on the content of the 'Fate/zero' anime itself, while the latter was longer and presented fragments from a character's life story.
At the same time, Kamiyā Yuu released the personal biography of Saber-class King Arthur, Artoria Pendragon, on the company's website.
The biography consisted of three volumes totaling two hundred thousand words.
It was a story written by Kamiyā Yuu after researching the experiences of the historical figure. Based on Artoria Pendragon's characterization, he further expanded her background. Though only two hundred thousand words long, the novel included more than forty exquisite illustrations documenting the life of the young Knight King, telling the entire story from her perspective.
Born as the child of King Uther of Britain, she was nevertheless unable to inherit the throne because she was female. To protect her safety, King Uther entrusted her to the household of a knight retainer, where she received instruction in the virtues of knighthood and was granted wisdom by the mage Merlin.
After Uther's death, the kingdom's knights sought to select a new king through the one who could draw the Sword in the Stone. At that moment, Artoria—who should have had no right to inherit the throne—drew the sword and became the new ruler of the kingdom.
The Knight King, Artoria Pendragon.
The era in which the Knight King lived was one in which the kingdom, having lost the protection of the empire, was declining day by day. Internal conflicts over royal succession were rampant.
Without question, she was a wise ruler. At that time, she was the sharpest sword of the entire kingdom.
Leading knights such as Lancelot and Gawain, she achieved countless military accomplishments. Over twelve years, she won twelve major campaigns, and under her leadership, the kingdom prospered.
Perhaps because of the circumstances of her birth, Artoria was destined never to have a happy ending.
The royal path she adhered to drifted further and further from reality. Her decisiveness and composure were interpreted by others as emotional coldness. The glorious achievements she secured for the kingdom instead became evidence that the king was distant and inhuman.
Gradually, she was isolated by the other Knights of the Round Table.
Even so, she had no other choice. Silently bearing everything, she continued to protect her kingdom as its king.
Then rumors spread of an affair between Lancelot, the Round Table knight she trusted most, and Queen Guinevere.
King Arthur remained unmoved.
Rumors and gossip flooded the kingdom, and the Knight King's silence came to be seen as tacit approval.
From that point onward, the story steadily descended into tragedy.
Many of the Round Table knights departed. The Knight King's cousin, Morgan, seized the opportunity to create a duplicate of the Knight King—Mordred.
Using Mordred, she manipulated public opinion throughout the kingdom and instigated a rebellion.
At the time, Artoria was compelled by public pressure to lead an expedition against Lancelot in France. Upon her return, she confronted Mordred at the Hill of Camlann.
The Knight King slew her own son.
Yet having lost the protection of the sacred scabbard, Artoria Pendragon also collapsed upon the Hill of Camlann from grievous wounds, gazing upon her kingdom as it approached destruction with overwhelming sorrow.
The entire background story maintained an extremely rigorous tone.
Kamiyā Yuu employed a mixed narrative style that alternated between third-person and first-person perspectives.
Through the eyes of the young girl, readers witnessed her confusion, her suppressed emotions, and the disappointment she felt when her hopes went unanswered.
The Knight King fulfilled her duties as king with all her strength, yet received no response from the kingdom she protected.
······
Kamiyā Yuu held a very favorable impression of this young Knight King.
In his view, the Knights of the Round Table and the citizens who abandoned her were simply creating problems where none existed.
During the Banquet of Kings, Saber's royal philosophy was rejected. People argued that such ideals were inappropriate for a young girl. Even her wish to return and alter history became a subject of ridicule, being interpreted as a denial of everything she had experienced.
In Kamiyā Yuu's opinion, the verbal debate during the Banquet of Kings was itself flawed.
The arguments against the Knight King revolved almost entirely around her identity as a young woman.
Kamiyā Yuu believed that during the Knight King's reign over Britain, the ones who failed were not the king, but her subjects.
If the Knight King had continued to uphold her ideals, then she would still have been a wise ruler.
However, as was said during the Banquet of Kings, deep within the Knight King remained the tenderness of a young girl.
She had been forcing herself to play the role of a king all along, obsessively clinging to the obligations of kingship.
This was not born from her own convictions.
And that, precisely, was the Knight King's greatest failure as a king.