Change does not exist in this world.
No day or night, no sunsets or moonrises.
My entire existence is nothing but remembrance and flashback.
It's boring, but easy.
It just takes a bit of a while.
The whole concept of time fades into the distance.
But eventually...
Awaken.
I heard a voice that jolted me awake.
It was...
You are now—
an insignificant promise buried in the abyss of time.
Jaden Brechen!
Jaden—
You fake.
And you still call yourself a Saber-class Servant?
A fake can only go so far.
Show me the way, O sword.
Your Noble Phantasm?
As you wish. I have my master's permission.
I shall answer in kind.
You shall perish as befit of an imitation!
Fall, Saber of Black!
Come, Saber of Red!
Die!
Let the tyrant tremble with fear! Let the tyrant repent!
What?
Clarent...
Balmung!
Blood Arthur!
This is no tale of servants,
nor is it a tale of masters,
neither yet a tale of saints.
This is a tale of people fulfilling their wishes.
You done with the mineralogy assignment?
Not yet.
Did you fill in a dorm application?
Outta the way, it's time for our big bang!
Sorry.
Hello, youngster.
I'm looking for the office of the head of Summoning, Rocco Belfaban.
Any idea which way that might be?
Professor Rocco? Sure thing.
Follow me!
Your name is Sisigo? How do you write that?
"Sisi" is Japanese for lion. The "go"—
Wait, let me guess!
It's the "go" from "let's go!"
Close enough.
This is Professor Rocco's room.
See you around, Go Lion.
Mage students are so carefree these days.
Come in.
I've been waiting for you, necromancer.
Tales of your deeds precede you.
You've done work for the Clock Tower too.
How may I help you now?
I'm sure you are familiar with Fuyuki's Holy Grail War.
Who isn't?
Masters summon ancient heroes for them to command,
and fight until only one is left standing.
The winner is granted all their wishes.
But that system is supposed to have collapsed long ago.
Correct.
During the Third Holy Grail War, a master called in the German army
to seize the Great Grail, an indispensable cornerstone of the ceremony.
Back in those days, the Germans were tracking down arcane artifacts in hope their powers would help them win the war.
Quite a bold plan.
Too bold.
They were tricked by the master they thought they were helping.
The Great Grail was stolen while in transit and disappeared.
And that's how the Fuyuki Holy Grail War ended.
That was the beginning of everything, right, professor?
Yes.
Its concepts became public knowledge and spread far and wide.
Today, pseudo-Holy Grail Wars are being waged all across the world.
I wanna tr—
Crawl and beg as much as you want, the answer is no.
So is this related to why Sisigo is here?
No.
He's not here to join a pseudo-Holy Grail War.
What?!
The artifact of immense divine power of the Fuyuki War era, the Great Grail, was recently found.
The Fuyuki Grail was found?
To be more precise, it was declared found.
The Yggdmillennia clan that controls Romania declared they have it.
Yggdmillennia?
Yes. One of the masters who fought in the Third Holy Grail War, Darnic Prestone Yggdmillennia.
He's kept the Great Grail hidden for six decades now.
I'm familiar with his face.
Did he not age in 60 years?
He was researching eternal youth.
They say he fused his soul with a baby's.
That's insane.
If he did that, he'd lose his self.
I figure as long as he is the head of Yggdmillenia, the state of his self is a secondary concern to him.
He didn't only announce he had the Great Grail, though.
They announced they were seceding from the Association and forming their own organization.
Wow! Just like in the movies!
They're an unusual family who do not try to create one unified bloodline,
but seek a wide and loose alliance of separate crests.
They try to control multiple magical circuits and each family keeps their own crest.
They aren't even a single magus family in the strict sense of the word.
Plenty of magi would answer their call.
But why would they do this?
Because they founded their organization.
I guess they want to announce it with fanfare.
They can use kabbalic, alchemic, and witch crafts, but most are second-class.
Few match the caliber of Darnic.
They have already infiltrated the Clock Tower.
So they know what you're doing?
But if we're engaging in a Holy Grail War, disposing of the Masters would be the swiftest course to take.
We've of course considered that already.
We sent out 50 elite magi to retrieve the Grail.
All but one of them was slaughtered by a single opponent.
A Servant.
This means that Yggdmillenia has summoned at least one Servant already.
You'll be my messenger.
This is Yggdmillenia's declaration of war.
So you want me to become a Master and fight in the Holy Grail War?
No.
You'll become a Master of Red and fight the Yggdmillennia Masters.
What do you mean?
This Holy Grail War is a little different from the others.
Seven Masters face off against seven others.
We are the Masters of Red, and Yggdmillenia are the Masters of Black.
A seven-on-seven Holy Grail War.
It's an emergency system in the Greater Grail.
If seven Servants are controlled by a single power, seven more are summoned.
One, two, three... Fourteen total?
Precisely.
Yggdmillenia called this Holy Grail War the Great Holy Grail War.
Great Holy Grail War?
Of course once it's over, the side that's left would have to fight their own Holy Grail War again.
What do you say?
Two questions for you.
To summon a Servant, a catalyst is needed
Do you have such a relic?
Of course.
What is that?
A fragment of the Round Table from the Arthurian myth.
A rare treasure even among the artifacts held by the Clock Tower.
This should allow you to summon a famous hero as a servant.
King Arthur of course, but also possibly Lancelot, Gawain or Tristan for example.
Very well. This should work as a catalyst.
My second question is who the other six Masters are.
They're all extremely capable.
First-class Clock Tower instructor Feend vor Sembren.
Freelance magus Rottweil Berzinsky.
The Pentel brothers and Gene Rum.
And the seventh?
A Church supervisor. This time they are on our side.
Do you accept?
Give me a moment.
If you're unsure, I'll just hire someone else.
Just give me three minutes.
Can I have that as advance payment?
Quite expensive for an advance payment.
Who knows if I'll see another day.
I'll talk to the supervisor and the other Masters.
Oh right. Who's that supervisor you mentioned?
I only know his name. Some priest called Shiro.
Shiro, huh?
Do you know him?
No. Doesn't ring a bell.
Have you ever felt that everything so far was only for this moment?
Darnic, my life has been filled with nothing but misfortune.
I wish I knew the feeling you describe.
It was prophecized by the Clock Tower that my bloodline would die off.
Bound for glory I was, but those foolish words made me an outcast.
I died once as a Magus.
But I joined the Fuyuki Holy Grail War,
and gained the Greater Grail for myself.
In the sixty years since, I've been preparing here in Trifas.
This makes me different from those who fought in previous Holy Grail Wars.
I see.
Summoning me, a Caster, was part of those preparations too.
Indeed.
Avicebron, you are an unparalleled master of the golem arts.
You are an army by yourself.
It takes time to create my golems.
Utilizing your powers in a usual Holy Grail War would be difficult.
Here and now, though, the situation is different.
Using homunculus to provide magical energy instead of draining yours was a wise choice.
First-class Servants require immense amounts of magical energy.
It's only logical to offload that burden to someone else.
You can wield your craft as you please,
and so can we use Noble Phantasm freely.
I would not declare our victory so soon,
but we could not have been more prepared than this.
Every magus seeks the True Magic from the Root, and I will be the one to reach it.
Checkmate.
Well done.
Darnic, Professor, the ceremony preparations are complete.
Shall we?
Professor, we've finished gathering all the ingredients.
Everything is ready for your Noble Phantasm.
The ingredients are ready, but one more thing is required.
What is it?
A core.
That golem requires a living heart to drive it.
It needs a creature with the suitable magical circuits to serve as its core.
That will complete my Noble Phantasm, Golem Keter Malkuth.
That's why you were testing the homunculi?
They're artificial humans born with magical circuits.
With so many around, there are bound to be a few suited to serve as a core.
My dream is the original giant of the legends of my people.
The Greater Grail does not interest me.
Completing my Noble Phantasm is all that matters to me.
As a fellow golem user, I look forward to seeing your dream fulfilled!
Indeed.
What is it, Master?
Earlier I got word that the final red Master has arrived in Romania.
The other side will begin to act, then.
Our war begins now.
Can I grasp it?
Gotta give it a try.
Silver and steel, the essence.
Stone and the archduke of contracts, the foundation.
Red, the color I pay tribute to.
A wall, to harbor against the raging wind.
Let the four cardinal gates be sealed,
and tread the three-forked road from the Crown
reaching unto the Kingdom.
I hereby propose.
Swear your fealty to me, and my life shall be your sword.
If you abide the Grail's summons and follow the laws, then heed my call!
I hereby swear.
I shall be all that is good in the world.
I shall ward off all that is evil in the world.
From the Seventh Heaven, wielding Three Words of Power,
come forth from the ring of control, Guardian of the Heavenly Scales!
Your summons have been answered.
I am a Servant of Black, and my fate is one with Yggdmillennia.
My sword is your sword.
My King!
These are the Servants our Masters of Black have summoned.
They are yours to command.
You have responded to the summons seeking the Grail.
First we must rise to victory as the Black Faction!
As the summonings conclude, we Yggdmillenia have started walking the path of war from which we cannot turn back!
Eternal glory comes to those who attain victory!
Fear not! We already control the legendary vessel, the Greater Grail!
Who are you?
I am Mordred, the one and true heir of Arthur Pendragon.
So I ask of you.
Are you my Master?
Apocrypha: The Great Holy Grail War
Episode
This is a tale of immortal heroes
sore wa oroka naru natakai toki wo motomu
seeking glory in vanity
fukutsu no eiyuu sono monogatari wo
The quiet words of love are lost in the cracks of time
chiisaku kanadeta ai wa hazama samayou
and the mean fate they fail to move just sneers
todokanai unmei ga azawarau
Stare at the world from the outside, remembering the tune
hedateru sekai wo mite ano uta ni oitai
they try to follow until the love burns them to ashes
mi wo kogasu sono ai ga wakatsu made
The people cried for justice
hito wa sakenda: seigi wo
and rose its banners high
sono hata wo takaku kakage
rejecting the destiny from the past
kako no unmei tate
Keep banishing the darkness to the bitter end
yami wo harai susume kono mi ushinatte mo
I'll be the victor who knows no fear
osore wo hirefuse watashi ga hasha to naru
Head for complete victory while your breath lasts
sei araba susume kanzen na shouri wo
Wait for the dawn when the sun ends the rule of night
akatsuki tabitate yoake wa mou sugu
The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of His hands.
Day after day they pour forth speech;
night after night they reveal knowled—
Yes, allow me, Jeanne d'Arc, to help you.