The Grail War of Sacrifice: Kirei Kotomine's Gaze Upon Ruin - The Curtain Rises on Ruin — The Overseer's Longing

The Fuyuki Church at night was like a coffin that had sealed away all sound. The stone walls held the cold deep within them, and every exhaled breath turned white and turbid. In the front pew of the chapel, Kotomine Kirei sat alone, gazing up at the crucifix on the altar. A faint throbbing pulsed at his fingertips. Were the countless Command Seals carved into the back of his left hand reacting to the night's chill? Or were they stirring awake at the scent of the approaching battle? Kirei's lips twisted, just slightly. (Ah, here it comes again.) The great Fuyuki fire of ten years ago — he remembered that night with every cell in his body. The mud of the Holy Grail had swallowed the city, and over a thousand lives had vanished without a trace. The screams, the fleeing footsteps, the crumbling buildings. And, as he watched it all unfold, the thing that had welled up from the depths of his chest. It had been joy. Kirei slowly closed his eyes. Floating behind his eyelids was the image of Emiya Kiritsugu. That man, too, had vanished into the mud, clutching his shattered ideals. But to Kirei, Kiritsugu was no mere enemy. He was the one who had given him an "answer." The mud of the Holy Grail was no curse. It was an awakening. That mud had taught him the truth — that he could only truly feel alive when gazing upon the suffering and despair of others. " Soon now." The voice dissolved into the chapel and vanished at once. Kirei rose to his feet. His jet-black cassock, draped over his massive 193-centimeter frame, swayed heavily with the movement. The golden cross at his chest gave off a faint, delicate sound. Even through the fabric, his broad, rigorously trained shoulders and thick chest were unmistakable. He was the overseer dispatched by the Holy Church, a man who was supposed to preside over the Fifth Holy Grail War in Fuyuki City from a neutral position. Seven magi — Masters — would summon heroes from history and myth as Servants and fight to the death in a secret ritual. As its mediator, Kirei's ostensible duties were to protect defeated Masters and conceal information from the general public. But all of that was nothing more than a facade. Kirei began to walk. His footsteps on the stone floor echoed with a steady rhythm. Through the chapel windows, the lights of Fuyuki City were visible in the distance. The buildings of Shinto, the lights of Fuyuki Bridge, the residential streets of Miyama Town stretching beyond the Mion River. And Ryuudou Temple atop Mount Enzou — deep beneath it, the Greater Grail lay dormant. Fuyuki City rested upon a vast magical foundation, constructed two hundred years ago by the magus families known as the Three Founding Houses. Tohsaka, Matou, Einzbern. These three families had manipulated the ley lines and initiated a battle to the death — the Holy Grail War — to claim the Holy Grail, the omnipotent wish-granting device. Kirei stopped by the window. He looked at his own face reflected in the glass. His deep brown eyes were lifeless, yet they emitted a gleam that bordered on madness. He himself could not quite tell whether his mouth was smiling or twisting. Having lived for nearly forty years, Kirei had long since accepted his own distortion. What was right, and what was wrong. Such things no longer mattered to him. Only one thing was important — how much beautiful despair he could bring forth in this war. " The stage is set." The basement of the Tohsaka mansion was thick with the mingled scents of jewels and ancient grimoires. On the shelves lining the walls, mana-infused gems collected over generations lay scattered without much care. On the floor, a summoning circle of complex geometric patterns had been drawn in chalk. Tohsaka Rin stood at its center. Her lustrous black hair, long enough to reach her waist, was tied up in twin tails, the ribbons swaying with her every movement. Her large, clear aquamarine eyes were utterly serious. Though small in stature at 159 centimeters, her entire being radiated the pride of the current head of the Tohsaka family. " There's still time." Rin was sensing the flow of the ley lines, trying to determine the precise timing for the summoning. She sharpened her senses as a magus, reading the surges of magical energy that filled the underground space. But the harder she tried to concentrate, the more a certain man's face surfaced in her mind. Kotomine Kirei. Ten years ago, her father had died. He had been killed in the Fourth Holy Grail War. And the one who had appeared afterward as her guardian was Kirei. Rin bit her lip. Kirei's teachings were precise and practical for a magus, and they had certainly strengthened Rin's abilities. He never taught her anything incorrect. Every time she honed her skills, Rin was forced to admit that his guidance was genuine. But. Those eyes. The cold, quiet delight Kirei occasionally revealed, as if looking down on human suffering. That alone was something Rin could never, on a visceral level, accept. A revulsion like insects crawling over her skin. " To think I'd be fighting with that bastard's teachings..." It was humiliating. But it was also reality. Rin clenched her fist. A small fist. But deep within it, the Tohsaka Magic Crest was firmly engraved. " I absolutely won't let you have your way." She looked down at the summoning circle. Once this circle activated, the Holy Grail War would begin in earnest. Seven Masters, seven Servants, would commence their battle to the death. Kirei, as the overseer, would surely be watching it all. But Rin did not know. She did not know that Kirei was no mere overseer. She did not know that the man concealed Command Seals on the back of his hand, and that he commanded the mightiest of Servants — Gilgamesh. Trusting only in her own magecraft and her pride, Rin simply waited for that moment. The Emiya residence in Miyama Town was having an ordinary night. The storehouse in the detached wing of the spacious Japanese-style house. That was Emiya Shirou's magecraft training ground. " ...No good, huh." Shirou sat on the floor, staring at his own hands. His short, reddish hair was unkempt, and his amber eyes still held no hint of resignation. At 167 centimeters, his body was still developing, but his daily training had given him a decent amount of muscle. However, his talent for magecraft was utterly nonexistent. The only thing he could do was "Reinforcement." And even then, his success rate was less than fifty percent. Shirou stood up and looked at the old heater placed on a shelf. It was still broken. He had been trying to fix it earlier, but it hadn't worked out, so he had tossed it aside. (Kiritsugu would probably have fixed it right away.) The face of his adoptive father surfaced in Shirou's mind. Ten years ago, that winter. The great Fuyuki fire. A section of the city had been engulfed in hellish flames, and hundreds of people had died. Shirou should have died in that fire too. But one man had saved him. Emiya Kiritsugu. Shirou still remembered it. Cradled in the man's arms amidst the collapsing buildings, surrounded by the wail of fire engine sirens and the screams of people, Kiritsugu had been crying. *"I wanted to be a hero of justice."* Saying that, Kiritsugu had smiled. As if to say that he was the one who had been saved. " I'll carry on... for the you of that moment." Shirou looked at the broken heater once more. (Never abandon someone in need.) That was Shirou's creed. Whether he could use magecraft or not was irrelevant. If someone was asking for help, he would reach out his hand. Kiritsugu had taught him that. That being a hero of justice was cool. Shirou still knew nothing of the Holy Grail War's existence. He remained completely unaware of what was about to unfold in Fuyuki. He had no way of knowing that his own innocent sense of justice would become the object of someone's twisted delight. The basement of Fuyuki Church. Descending the stone steps, the chill air clung to the skin. The atmosphere was different from the chapel. This was no sanctuary. " Gilgamesh." A figure emerged from the darkness. Golden hair, crimson eyes that looked down upon all creation. The King of Heroes, Gilgamesh, swirled the wine glass in his hand and looked at Kirei with an expression of utter boredom. " Oh? You're still alive, Kirei?" " Continuing to supply you with magical energy is quite taxing, you know." " I did not ask that. State your business." Kirei's lips twisted. Gilgamesh was as he always was. But that was fine. " The Holy Grail War is beginning." " Hmph. That farce where seven mongrels kill each other?" " It's not just a farce. This time is special." Kirei took a step closer to Gilgamesh. " Matou Sakura. Inside that girl, a black Holy Grail lies dormant. All the World's Evil, tainted during the Fourth War — if we use that, it won't be a mere battle to the death. We can stage a far grander, far more beautiful ruin." Gilgamesh's crimson eyes narrowed slightly. " Matou... the worm-user's?" " The Tohsaka daughter who was given up for adoption to Zouken. Eaten away by worms for ten years, she is now nearing completion as the vessel of the Holy Grail." Kirei's voice carried a resonance that was almost prayer-like. " If she manifests the true black Holy Grail, the city of Fuyuki will be filled with the curse of Angra Mainyu. Masters and Servants alike will be swallowed up indiscriminately. How will humans change within a vortex of suffering and despair... I want to witness it." Gilgamesh was silent for a moment. Then, he slowly took a sip of wine. " You are, as ever, twisted beyond all measure." " I won't deny it." " But it seems it won't be boring. It's worth witnessing." Kirei smiled with satisfaction. If he could pique Gilgamesh's interest, that was enough. He left the basement and climbed the stone steps. When he returned to the chapel, the statue of the Virgin Mary on the altar gazed down at him in silence. Kirei clasped his hands together in a gesture of prayer and pictured the participants scattered throughout Fuyuki City. Emiya Shirou. That innocent sense of justice. Tohsaka Rin. The loneliness and guilt hidden beneath the mask of a proud magus. Matou Sakura. Still unaware. Unaware of what she was being made into a vessel for. They were all actors on the stage that was about to unfold. Kirei's prayer was no confession to God. It was a reverence for the art of ruin. " The curtain rises." The bells of Fuyuki Church sank into the darkness of the night. The cold winter wind rattled the windows. In the distance, he thought he faintly heard a sound like someone crying, or perhaps laughing — but to Kirei, it was all the same.

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Episode 1

Name: The Grail War of Sacrifice: Kirei Kotomine's Gaze Upon Ruin
Author: Novelia

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