Perhaps due to Association supervision being rather light in this small nation of the East, this Holy Grail War had repeated three times without drawing much attention. It was a poor joke to even suggest that an omnipotent wish-granting device could manifest in some Far East farmland - that was all the recognition the Association gave it.
However, that all changed by the third Holy Grail War. The Second World War likely had an effect, as due to the intervention of various nations, the Holy Grail War of Fuyuki ended in unusual circumstances. At the same time, information on the system behind this Grail War propagated throughout the magi of the world.
It was proof of how superior the Holy Grail War ritual constructed by the three great families of Einzbern, Makiri and Tohsaka was.
To pose a what-if question to this moment of history: what if the third Holy Grail War did not expand to such a scale? This Holy Grail War would likely remain a ritual unique to Fuyuki. The fourth Holy Grail War would likely have taken place just ten years before now. However, the Greater Grail having been lost, the Holy Grail War can no longer occur in Fuyuki.
Today, variations of the Holy Grail War ritual unfold across every continent. Of course, the majority of them are small in scale, with most only capable of summoning five Servants; even were the ritual itself established, it could not proceed to the point where it could grant any wish.
"Do you know the true purpose behind the Holy Grail War of Fuyuki?"
"That I don't know."
Belfaban looked at him with an unpleasant smirk. Shishigou frowned and urged him to continue.
"It was meant to pierce a hole to the Swirl of the Origin."
"What did you say?"
Shishigou was dumbfounded by the unexpected answer. According to what Belfaban said, what the ritual truly needed was not Masters, but Servants. In other words, the souls of Heroic Spirits.
The Lesser Grail would temporarily prevent the souls from returning to their throne. With the powerful souls of seven Heroic Spirits, they would open a path to Akasha. That was the true purpose of the Fuyuki Holy Grail War.
"So, basically, it's different from all those other Holy Grail Wars?"
Belfaban nodded.
"The essence of the ritual is unlike any other imitation which copied only the purported purpose of 'granting any wish'."
The ability to grant any and all wishes was only a torch with which to draw moths to the killing. Even the free-for-all between Servants was essentially meaningless. The format of the ritual was simply too excellent and had to be hidden, though it was ironic how the three great families ended up having to participate fairly as well.
It is true that Shishigou felt surprise. Surprise - but not much besides. Yes, perhaps that was the true meaning behind the Fuyuki Holy Grail War. However, there was no one left who truly knew this Holy Grail War. The Greater Grail having been stolen from them, the three great families did not conduct a fourth Holy Grail War.
While Shishigou is unmistakably a first-class magus, it is impossible for him to reproduce the Holy Grail War of Fuyuki. Even amongst the instructors at the Clock Tower, the core of the Association of Magi, just how many would be able to completely replicate such a system?
Basically, it is a precious piece of knowledge, but a worthless piece of information.
"So, Gramps... what am I supposed to do about it?"
Slow down - Belfaban held the impatient Shishigou in check.
"This is where the complications begin. The most important foundation of the Fuyuki ritual, the Greater Grail, disappeared from knowledge after the third Holy Grail War. You know this, don't you? Well... three months ago, we finally found it. Or rather, we finally found out where it was hidden."
"So... where is it?"
"Romania, in the city of Trifas on the outskirts of Transylvania. We believe it has been installed in the oldest building of the city - the fortress of Millennia."
"And you want me to secure it?"
"Hm, well, the request is something like that, I suppose - but before that, there is more troubling news. The one who brought this information to us was the elder of the Yggdmillennia clan, Darnic."
"...You mean that Darnic?"
"Yes - the 'Eight-Forked Tongue'."
Darnic Prestone Yggdmillennia - the elder of the clan of Yggdmillennia, supposedly having lived for over a century. He attained the rank ofGrand, the highest within the Association, and was a second-class instructor in elemental conversion, but his students had a rather low opinion of him. Rather than education, he exercised his true worth in politics.
Factional infighting, power struggles, competitions for budget - these were all ordinary occurrences within the Clock Tower. However, exhibiting extraordinary political skills, he manipulated and cheated anyone who trusted him, and even those who didn't, betraying and double-crossing - truly, a first-rate swindler.
"So Darnic is the problem?"
Knowing him, he likely wanted to involve some sort of transaction regarding the Holy Grail. However, Belfaban shook his head, and a very rare expression appeared on his face - one which twisted his features with displeasure, revealing his anger.
"The problem is not with Darnic, but the entire Yggdmillennia clan."
"What do you mean?"
"The clan owns the fortress of Millennia... and they have elected to secede from the Clock Tower."
---
Chapter 1-2
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In a way, this piece of news was far more shocking than the previous revelation of the Fuyuki Holy Grail War's true purpose. After all, it just should not be possible.
Generally speaking, the Association of Magi is divided into three groups. One is the Atlas Academy - an organization centred around alchemy, having existed since before the Common Era and based in the Atlas Mountains of Egypt. Another is the Wandering Sea, which roams the coastal lands of Northern Europe, and can be said to be prototypical thamaturgical organization. Last is the Clock Tower, the central pillar of the Association and the newest and greatest research institute.
Even within the Association, there are certainly those who defect due to heresy... or perhaps, due to being so powerful that they had to be designated for sealing. The act itself is not so rare. However, that is not the case when an entire clan secedes.
"They all defected at once? What the hell?"
"You know that the Yggdmillennia clan are not Lords."
The quality of a magus is influenced by how much time they have spent with thaumaturgy - in other words, their history. One of the oldest of the royal families, those who have studied thaumaturgy since ancient times, is said to have a history which dates back over two thousand years.
There are three royal families, with twenty clans related to them. But the clan of Yggdmillennia does not belong in nor has any connections with either groups. The reason for this is not certain, though they certainly did not have a short history. It is rumored that they lost a power struggle in the past and have been on poor terms with the three royal families ever since. Others say that they were estranged from the others due to the poor quality of their magic circuits.
Whatever the case, they are often not recognized as a noble thamaturgical family. But they did not sit down and take this without a fight.
The clan abandoned the common methods among magi of thickening the blood of thaumaturgical potential over generations, and mastering the thaumaturgical system chosen by the first generation. Instead, they scraped together all the magi who had the faintest of connections to them from all over.
They aimed for the clans who had little history and possessed weak magic circuits. Or clans which have begun to decline, their magic circuits becoming weaker with every generation. Clans which have been defeated in power struggles and were forced into ruin. Or those magi who had a price placed on their head as punishment by the Association. In other words, those who have strayed from the core of the Association and yet refused to give up the path to the Root.
The Yggdmillennia
whispered to them. Do you not wish to leave behind the legacy in your blood? Do you not wish to proclaim ownership over the fruits of your own research? Do you not wish for your clan to leave its mark upon history?
The middle name of each Yggdmillennia comes from the names of the clans they have absorbed. Even their thaumaturgical crest is not unified. The family crests of past clans continued to be passed down.
As for thaumaturgy, the area of their study is also broad: Western alchemy, dark arts, witchcraft, astrology, Kabbalah, runology, even the Onmyodo of Japan - each has one member of the clan pursuing it.
Be that as it may, they are in the end simply a loose alliance of the new, the weak and the dying. The Lords laughed and let them be with their trivial, insignificant arts.
On average, most Yggdmillennia magi can only reach second-class, except for those rare cases of first-class. They are many in number, but pose little threat. Of course, it was mostly due to Darnic's political finesse that they were left at large, but in the end, the only merit to their clan was that of quantity - or so it should have been.
"It is not known to us how much anguish it had meant for them, but one day, they came forward saying that they would secede from the Association - that they would form a new Association of Magi around their own clan."
What a sorry lot, sighed Belfaban. Shishigou agreed. Clearly stating your defection from the Association is essentially a declaration of war. They might as have thrown their gloves and spat on their faces.
It is true that, as long as they remain in the Clock Tower, the chance of the Yggdmillennia clan being added to the Lords is close to non-existent. Without a major revolution, they would never be rescued from their supposed inferiority in a hundred or even a thousand years.
But that did not mean they must resort to secession. At the very least, it would be impossible for an entire clan to defect unless they had something exceptional on their hands.
Then again... speaking from another perspective, if they did possess something significant, it could be more than enough of an incentive to begin a secession. Yes, for example - an omnipotent wish-granting device, a Greater Grail which could show them the path to reaching Akasha.
Shishigou's expression showed that he had reached the answer. Seeing this, Belfaban nodded satisfactorily.
"Yes, the Greater Grail of Fuyuki is to be the symbol of their new 'association'. The surviving magus brought this message to us."
"...The surviving magus?"
Belfaban scratched his head and took out a piece of parchment, tapping it with one finger. It activated a thaumaturgy which played images from the past. Shishigou would not have minded a photo or video, but to an old man like Belfaban, even video camera technology would probably be unacceptable.
What appeared in the image was something that Shishigou was fairly used to seeing. A man showing clear signs of having been tortured was sitting in a chair, staring into space and muttering something with an empty expression.
"This is the magus who delivered the message. He was already in this state when we found him; the surgery was successful and he is now in deep sleep. It will likely take six months before his mind is fully cleansed."
"What's he saying?"
"We of the Yggdmillennia have freed ourselves from the petty political bickerings of the Association of Magi and aim to establish a new association here in Romania, a true place of inquiry for the pursuits of thaumaturgy. For we possess the 726th Holy Grail, and when it is brought to life with the souls of seven Heroic Spirits, we shall be one step closer on the path to brilliant glory... just that, over and over again."
The 726th - that was the Holy Grail observed in Fuyuki. If they can activate it, then even as a rough estimate, they will have free access to an enormous source of prana which will not run dry for several centuries. It might even be possible to reach the Root.
"Can I just ask something? You said he's the surviving magus. So there were deaths?"
"As a matter of course."
"How many died?"
Belfaban hesitated somewhat before answering frankly.
"Forty-nine. We had sent fifty specialized 'hunters' in an assault, but only one returned alive."
"..."
There was a sigh. It is difficult to say who it belonged to.
Specialized hunters - in other words, magi in the same line of work as Shishigou. Of course, these were not freelancers and belonged to the Association, but fifty was still far too large a number. From this alone, one can infer that it was a force meant from the start for extermination.
It was only natural, considering the scale of the defection. It would dishonor the Association to simply laugh it off. And above all, the trampling of two thousand years of thaumaturgical history was an insult that required no less than the most severe of retribution. Fifty would have been suitable for such a purpose.
And yet, it was not enough.
"It was not even a matter of numbers. They were on another scale entirely. They met the attack with a Servant, of all things."
After Belfaban's words, the annihilation of the fifty magi made clear sense.
"...So that's it. They didn't stand a chance."
It would have made no difference whether there had been fifty magi or a hundred. Whoever it was, it had become an existence known as a Heroic Spirit. To someone like that, all modern magi might as well be infants.
"The familiar we sent there saw everything. The Servant suddenly appeared before the magi, waved his hand with a smile - and it was over. In an instant, every single magi save one was impaled on long stakes."
"Stakes in Romania. You don't say..."
In any case, it seems they have already summoned a Servant, although this might actually be to their advantage.
"So Gramps, if the Yggdmillennia have summoned a Servant, doesn't that mean we can just join in as Masters?"
If the Greater Grail has been activated, other magi should be qualified to become Masters as well. The Association can send magi there to summon Servants which can oppose the Yggdmillennia.
"It's too late. They have already assembled seven Masters. The summoning might not have taken place just yet, but the Grail will never brand Command Spells onto any magi we send."
"...So are they planning on killing each other?"
"Perhaps. Or perhaps one of the clan will lead the rest and command the other Servants to commit suicide. Whichever it may be, the fact remains that we have no way to thwart them."
"I'll just say this now, but I'm not going to be fighting any Servants."
Shishigou declared, just in case. You could assemble strategies and organize tactics, and have all the luck and miracles in the world on your side, and the odds would still be against your defeating even a single Servant. Defeating seven would be a true miracle. Yes - that would truly be something worth requesting from the Holy Grail.
Seeming very pleased with himself, Belfaban smirked.
"I won't ask that much of you. What I want you to do is fight using a Servant you summoned."
"...You lost me."
What are you even saying? Shishigou thought. Under the system of the Fuyuki Holy Grail War, the maximum number of Servants is seven, and so is the number of Masters.
"That is the most intriguing aspect of this Holy Grail War. The number of Servants that can be summoned is twice the norm - fourteen."
"What...?"
"The last surviving magus discovered the dormant Greater Grail in the depths of the fortress. He managed to unlock the reserve system."
"Reserve?"
"Depending on the situation, the Greater Grail could support the Holy Grail War by once again distributing Command Spells. It was an auxiliary prepared as a countermeasure for the highly unlikely situation of all seven Servants joining forces."
"So basically... summoning another seven Servants to oppose the original seven Servants."
That makes fourteen in total. Shishigou understood the significance of this number.
"Exac
tly. The land of Trifas is positioned on the best leylines of Romania to begin with. Quite likely, it has been stockpiling prana at a higher speed than Fuyuki, to the point that it now possesses an inexhaustible amount of prana with which it can summon even fourteen Servants."
In Fuyuki, such a system would certainly have been an emergency measure. If worst came to worst, such an act might even have exhausted the leyline itself.
Fate/Apocrypha - Volume 1 Page 3