In a certain land, there once lived a person of profound faith.
A cloaked figure standing in the middle of a white landscape.
That was all. That was the whole story.
"What the hell? Is it trolling us?" Gabby questioned with upset.
"Gabby, please calm down, it did not troll us, but it was the start of a narrative," Mashu assured Gabby as she was worried that she might destroy Da-Vinci out of her rage.
Gabby sighed. "Alright, maybe I was too quick to judge, but I wondered who that figure is?" She pointed at the screen.
"A Servant, Gabby," Da-Vinic answered as she became interested in seeing the figure on the screen. "I think it will give us basic information about that person."
The devout person was so pious that it deviated from normalcy, and so was by the people as a zealot.
Worse still, those who worshiped the same God gave the same words of contempt.
"How terrible…" Jeanne mumbled as she recalled back to her past when she was declared guilty as she was charged with heresy by the pro-English Bishop, and burned alive on the stake. She could not put it aside because of the narrative but she had to focus on the future, not the past.
"Jeanne, are you alright?"
Jeanne snapped out and turned to look at the concerned Sieg. "Nothing wrong, Sieg."
Sieg sighed, affecting Jeanne to be a little guilty about dismissing his concern, but continued, "If you have something on your mind being worried, I will be there, My dear Jeanne."
Jeanne became flustered at Sieg as her face became red. It was too easy to fall for him and his word because he was too pure. She was glad that he was her boyfriend and liked him with all of her heart. Unexpectedly, she received a kiss on her cheek from him and was shocked.
"Sieg!"
"Sorry, was it too early?"
Jeanne was about to protest but noticed some of the servant's mixture of expressions including Marie's happy smile, Astolfo's smug face, and her Alter counterpart's disguised face. She swiftly covered her entire blushed face in embarrassment and began to wish that everyone should forget about it and focus on watching.
But the zealot did not hate the people.
The reason for their despise was because of inexperience.
Zealot's faith was lacking. It was as simple as that.
"I cannot understand the previous era where people hated anyone for lacking faith?" Gabby wondered aloud.
"I know what you're feeling, Gabby, it's very common before my era," Da-Vinic agreed with Gabby.
The zealot forged on, pushing even harder.
Pursuing after the miracles created by the predecessors, recreating every last one of them.
Cursed Arms raised his eyebrow in confusion underneath his mask as he suddenly remembered the word back in his era. 'Where have I heard that word before? I cannot figure out where?'
The world continued shouting at the Zealot.
It was still lacking, But it was lacking.
At least, that's what the zealot heard, as the world screamed at her.
Every man of faith began to censure the zealot.
Lacking, Lacking, Lacking, Lacking, Lacking…
The cloaked figure falls.
In the end, the zealot was unable to do anything. She lived as a zealot and died as a zealot.
Not as a martyr. She lived a life of nothing, and then, she was gone.
"What a poor soul," Martha said, feeling condolences for the figure who tried to continue to have faith but was still despised by the people for a lack of faith. This angered her a little, but it was too late to punch them because they were already dead a long time ago.
"She indeed is, Martha," Kojiro agreed with Martha.
And yet, the zealot did not begrudge the world.
She was ashamed of her weak faith and gave herself over to the maelstrom of faith once again.
The zealot felt no hate for the people. Only the gods of the heathens drew her ire.
So lived the zealot, irredeemable in the eyes of the ordinary people.
"So that Zealot does not hold a grudge towards people but she hates herself for a lack of faith…" Mashu said with a sense of unhappiness for the Zealot.
"She honestly should be angry at the people for shunning her," Ritsuka replied, feeling upset before realizing that he was talking to Mashu. "I'm so sorry, Mashu."
"It's alright, Senpai, I understood what you're feeling," Mashu dismissed Ritsuka's apology and placed her hand on his to relax but affecting them blushed.
"Heh, typical couple," Gabby and Da–Vinci commented with their smirk simultaneously.
That was the whole story.
That was where her story was supposed to end.
—until the moment when the false Grail chose the zealot.
"I don't know why it tells us about her. She seems to be boring," Medb commented, feeling bored.
"Come on, it's a start… wait, you know that person's gender?" Gabby asked in shock.
"Yes, Gabby. I know the shape of the body that Zealot or whatever has because I slept with few women," Medb replied proudly with a smile as if she had a great achievement.
"What are you and master talking about?"
Medb turned around to see Scathach's Lostbelt Counterpart, Scathach-Skadi, who was looking at her in curiosity.
"It's nothing, Skadi. We're just talking about girl stuff," Medb lied to Scathach-Skadi while Gabby giggled at her. She was scared that Scathach-Skadi would be disguised by her action and left her for the rest of the time. She wished that she should be her best friend to her for the rest of her life.
Nighttime
Marsh District, Eastern Snowfield
The marsh district unfolded to the east of the city center. It was home to many crystal-clear Lakes. In between the lakes were countless swamps. A network of roads was knitted through the district. Out of all the land surrounding the city, the eastern region—the Marsh District—was likely the most developed; even so, there was not much in the way of civilization save for a few fishing spots and vacation homes.
"Huh, It does not look bad for fishing. maybe I should go there," Cu mused after seeing the scene in the District.
And on one particular plot of land, there was an enormous vacation home.
A Bounded Field had been established there. Even if an ordinary man were able to detect the home, he would be unable to bring himself to worry about it. Architecturally speaking, it was really in bad taste. Compared to the lakeshore boarding house a little to the west, it was a bit too Gothic, designed with black and gray motifs.
"It's a good place like an abandoned house for a mage to do some experiment or summon a servant," Holmes stated before wondering out, "Although that place should be renovated and remade into a beautiful house for everyone to stay there."
"I much agree with you, Holmes. I really wanted to live there if the house wasn't too gothic and it was very nice to live there to fish and relax in the breeze of wind outside," Helena agreed with Holmes about the abandoned house.
"Unfortunately, that house is already too late," Holmes sighed in disappointment.
"Yeah, it was," Helena replied, feeling downcast.
In the basement of the house, a number of magi were present. They had just completed a summoning ceremony.
The summoning was a success.
All that remained was to answer the Servant's query in the affirmative, thereby completing the contract.
'This is strange.'
The summoner, a mage by the name of Jester Karture, stared quizzically at the Heroic Spirit he had summoned. Around ten of his disciples were also present. And in the center of the summoning circle stood one other figure, clearly neither human nor mage. An air of intimidation, infinitely deep and pure, emanated from a solitary woman, clad in black robes. She seemed quite young, but it was difficult to be sure since she kept her face turned to face the floor.
"Who the hell named someone Jester is like telling your children that their name is Clown?" Gabby questioned.
"Seriously, Gabby? You're asking that question?" Ritsuka asked Gabby with her raised eyebrow.
"Hey, at least, 'Gabby' is a short name for my real name 'Gabrielle'," Gabby replied.
"Anyway, Why was Jester surprised to see her summoned?" Mashu asked about Jester's confusion at the servant.
"Maybe he didn't expect the unforeseen error to summon her or he was not hoping that he didn't get a class servant that he wanted," Ritsuka replied with a guess.
Right then, Jester felt a severe sense of foreboding.
The summoning should have brought forth an Assassin.
For the most part, it is impossible to pick the class into which a Heroic Spirit is summoned. But there are exceptions. With the appropriate preparations and incantations, one can choose to summon either Assassin or Berserker, each of which has a special characteristic that makes this possible.
Accordingly, Jester chose to summon a Servant of the Assassin class. By their very nature, only a small number of Heroic Spirits can be summoned as Servants of the Assassin class; and at first glance, the being at the center of the summoning circle seemed to be one of those Heroic Spirits.
'I was under the impression that Assassins always wear a white skull mask…'
"That mage was intended to summon a Hassassn like us," Hundred Faces stated, referring to her, Cursed arms, and Serenity. However, she noticed the particular Zealot and could not figure out how she looked familiar although she never met her.
"You're right and I felt a little pity for her for serving in the fake war," Cursed arms replied.
Heroic Spirits of the Assassin class all clad themselves in black robes and hide their faces with skull masks. Jester knew that much from his earlier research.
"Huh, he was researching me and you in the Fuyuki Wars. It's understandable," Hundred Faces said, a little surprised at Jester's research of the Holy Grail War.
"You're right, but he was foolish to think that he believed that we, Hassan, are very strong servants to be able to win the fake war but we have some flaws and disadvantages," Cursed Arms replied with a disappointed look at Jester.
However, the woman before him, though wrapped in black cloth, did not wear a white mask. Her actual face was visible from between the layers of fabric.
'In that case, am I supposed to pose the question...?'
This was Jester's first time actually experiencing the Holy Grail War. Of course, this Holy
Grail War was an imitation from the beginning. It was impossible to anticipate the ways in which it would differ from the War in Japan.
In the first place, it was bizarre that the parties behind this entire war—the stars of the
show—had yet to reveal themselves. Jester assumed that a clan at least as renowned as the Einzberns would have been involved in the creation of something so grand and elaborate as this Holy Grail War, but he did not sense the presence of any magi fitting that description. Perhaps they were hiding themselves well, or perhaps they were watching from afar.
"Unfortunately, Mister Karture, it was a Faldeus and his organization along with an American government," Helena said to the screen.
Jester set all of his doubts aside and waited for the Servant to make a move. The black-clad woman slowly raised her head. Jester's form was reflected in her pupils. "I ask of you..."
Her gaze was as powerful as she was intimidating: deep and infinitely black, pure and unpolluted.
"Mommy, why is that lady scary?" Jack asked Atalanta, being afraid of seeing Zealot.
"Nothing is scary about her, Jack. She was just shy…" Atalanta comforted Jack.
Looking at the screen, Scathach could not help herself but sensed a dangerous presence from Zeolet when she was gazing at Jester sternly. She could tell from Zeolet's gaze that it was similar to a knife pointing at the person as if she was planning to kill her master when she looked at him. She wondered how she pulled it off when she was in the room filled with a few mages who could potentially injure her.
Jester unwittingly let out a quiet murmur as he chuckled softly, waiting for the Servant to continue speaking.
"Are you... the mage... who has summoned me... to attain the Holy Grail?" The Servant rubbed the black cloth wrapped around her mouth and spoke deliberately and delicately.
Relieved that she had finally spoken, Jester stepped forward. Brimming with newfound
confidence, he spread his arms as if to welcome her into this world. "Indeed, I am. I shall ‒ ‒ ‒ ‒ ‒"
"Delusional Heartbeat."
The moment she spoke, time stopped.
Jester felt something brush against his chest. He lowered his head to look at it.
'What's thIs?'
And tHen—he saw somethINg Red in frOnT of his torso, and he NÖTICeDThaTiTwAs ïn facT HÒlDing ontO soMeThInG rEd, ANd HÉ realiZe d Th hINg iT WASh OL d iN g Ẅ As A Lͅ Ly HIS he ā rT,A nd He did not raise his head back up. Jester's body collapsed to the ground.
Almost everyone was shocked to see that Zeolet had killed her master out of nowhere with her Noble Phantasm. Some had their face drained while others had their mouth gaped. However, the most surprised servant was Hassan, whom they were familiar with because that Noble Phantasm belonged to their predecessor.
"Is that…"
Serenity was speechless and unable to finish her sentence, but the other two understood what she was going to say.
"Impossible! How did she acquire my Noble Phantasm?!" Cursed Arms asked loudly with a mixture of his anger and surprise. He was furious at Zealot for using his Noble Phantasm because every Hassan before and after him must have their own Noble Phantasm, not copy from others.
Hundred Faces was silently agreed with Cursed Arms as it was forbidden to copy other Hassasns' Miracles, which was their Noble Phantasm.
"How...!?"
Seeing their master's body suddenly turn utterly immobile, Jester's disciple-mages panicked. Their eyes grew wide as they looked at the situation unfolding before them.
A third arm, red in color, had sprouted from the woman's back. It extended all the way to Jester's body, and where it brushed against his chest How strange. That red hand came to hold a heart—and then crushed it.
Ritsuka and Gabby's face was drained to pale from witnessing Zeolet crushing Jester's heart.
The remaining mages looked at their master's body and at the woman, their gaze flitting back and forth. They cried out, frenziedly.
"Y-you rogue!"
"What did you do to Lord Jester!?"
"Are you not a Servant!?"
As they panicked and shouted, the mages armed themselves with weapons and intensely
focused their magical energy.
"They're very foolish to attack her to average her master," EMIYA stated, knowing that Jestor's disciples would be dead in a second whether they were weak or powerful.
"Indeed, Emiya, but I was a little impressed for them to have guts but knowing that they would be killed just like you said," Scathach agreed with EMIYA.
"Yeah, I give them a point for being brave but stupid…" Cu added.
As she looked upon Jester's disciples emotionlessly, the black-robed woman said just one thing.
'Indeed, it was ephemeral.'
"Our god most-compassionate... has no chalice..."
Perhaps they heard her, or perhaps they didn't. Either way, one of the men drew a magical-seeming dagger and leaped towards her, trying to impale her through her back. However, a wet, aberrant sound echoed around the chamber as her shoulders began to warp. Her left arm reached backward at an abnormal angle and ever-so-gently touched him.
"Cyber Fantasy."
His head burst into flames and splattered everywhere, accompanied by an explosive noise, as if his head had itself become a bomb.
"She had another Noble Phantasm?!" Gabby shouted in shock.
"Holy crap, that was overkill!" Astolfo yelled, disguised at the mage's exploded gruesome death. He swiftly turned to the Hassans with his feared expression. "Did you all always significantly kill your target in that way?"
"No, we're not, Rider, although our method was different but same brutal in each of our eras," Hundred Faces replied to Astolfo before glancing at Zealot with both interest and disappointment.
Hearing the blast and seeing a flash of light, the mages all cowered in fear. Only two of them had perished—but that was enough to convince them that they were dealing with a real, honest-to-god Servant: a being against which they were utterly powerless.
"I shall cleanse... the heretic magi..."
"Holy Shit, that girl is very hardcore," Angra said, being impressed that Zeolet had committed to killing every mage in the basement without hesitation and a second thought. She had earned his respect.
As she spoke deliberately, she stood still, not moving for a few seconds. It seemed like she was allowing the magi time to flee—but they did not. In unison, they took a great leap backward and unleashed the full force of their magical energies on the women.
Witnessing this piteous sight, the black-robed Servant slowly shook her head, an almost-despondent look in her eye. And yet, without a trace of mercy, she spoke words of power.
"Ichor of Reverie."
And then—silence descended upon the chamber.
The black-clad Servant was surrounded by the corpses of magi. All of the mages that had tried to release their magical energy upon her had —for some reason— been consumed by their own mighty flames. Their remains were strewn about the floor.
Some of the Servants including Ritsuka, Gabby, and Mashu were very astonished to watch Zealot's doing. They have witnessed her capable of activating her three Noble Phantasm which belonged to the other Hassen and learned what it does to the target. Both Ritsuka and Gabby would have a nightmare for a moment when they thought of themselves being killed by their scrambled Magic Circuits.
"Oh my lord…" Jeanne muttered in shock as she cannot find a word to describe it.
"If she were ever summoned at our war, we'll be dead in second if we're not careful," Artoria said with a sense of fear.
For the first time, EMIYA and Cu would agree with Artoria as they felt the same way as Artoria does.
The Hassans were speechless towards Zealot for not only have two but three noble phantasms of their predecessor and successor. They wondered how she acquired their Zabaniya.
The only one who had any idea what happened was the Servant. She hastened up the stairs out of the basement, still silent. She reverted to her spirit form, and, was unseen by anyone. She raced off into the darkness of the night. She, who once had no direction in her life, had finally found a definite purpose.
The zealot sought proof. A proof that she was truly a person of faith; proof that she was one of Allah's people. Nothing more. It was not until much, much later that she realized that her search for proof was itself evidence that her faith was weak.
"So, that's how she earned that title 'Zealot'. She wanted to prove that she was a person of faith but ended up being despised by her people by proving her faith." Mashu said sadly.
"Indeed, Mashu, but we haven't heard her entire story," replied Holmes.
When she was young, she honed herself, so as to earn a name—a name that would serve as a proof of her faith. In order to attain that name, which would evidence her piety, she would have to attain power enough to perform a divine miracle.
However, only a particular, special sort of miracle would suffice. It had to be a miracle that could bring death, swiftly and reliably; a miracle greater than any known to a zindīq or mohareb. She was a member of a sect that pursued such miracles: the Hashshashin, a cult that was zealotic by its very nature.
"So She was one of many candidates of our cult to obtain our title," Cursed Arms mused as he learned from her history and wondered how did Zealot earn her title in the first place for the lack of her faith despite knowing that she must have copy other Hassan's noble phantasms which were her downfall. He was nevertheless curious to know.
"Miracles as in Noble Phantasm when you three and gramps were servants?" Gabby questioned three Hassens.
"Yes, Gabby. Many of us were selected to obtain miracles to become Hassans like us," replied Serenity.
Even in the innermost circles of the cult, however, she was scorned as a zealot among zealots. The past grandmasters of the cult had all performed a miracle bearing the name of Shaytān, and in doing so earned their titles. Each and every one of them was shocked by her deeds. None of them was prepared to believe what they had seen. She was but a young girl, a mere lamb.
'How could she master all the miracles performed by the preceding 18 grandmasters?'
"She had Eighteen Noble Phantasms of Hassans before her?!" Gabby screamed in shock.
"For a young girl, I'm really impressed that she had earned them with the strength of heart, mind, and faith," Scathach commented on Zealot, being impressed by her abilities.
"Oh no, I don't think I can survive her attack," Robin said grimly as he imagined himself in the battle with Zealot and the outcome was gruesome with his thought of dying.
"I agree, Robin. Even if I can quickly draw my pistol at her in a second, she would nevertheless kill me with one of her Noble Phantasms," Billy agreed with Robin.
"She is the most dangerous assassin servant that I have ever seen. I'm really amazed and I wanted to meet her when she is summoned here," Moriarty stated as he prayed for Zealot to be summoned here to make friends with her because of her ability.
"I don't think that she will be friends with you but silently took you out," Holmes said, puffing his smoke pipe.
"I will take my chance, Detective," Moriarty replied with his smirk
The Hassans were utterly shocked to their core by Zealot's ability to have achieved eighteen miracles from each Grandmaster. They however witnessed the people being afraid of her on the screen and understood their fear towards her as if she was a monster. She would be a great grandmaster if she developed her own miracles.
There was no question that she had honed herself with the most Herculean of efforts. It went without saying that she had spilled much of her pure, uncorrupted blood in the process. And yet, the people of her sect would not recognize her as a grandmaster.
"What have you accomplished? You have imitated miracles already performed. That is naught but rote. It is because your faith is weak that you are unable to bring forth a miracle of your own contrivance."
She was certainly talented. That is to say, she had talent enough to master the abilities of all the grandmasters of the past. She had the strength to bear the pain she went through as she mortified her flesh. She had the fortitude to face any hardship through strength and willpower.
But she was not endowed with the talent needed to bring about a miracle of her own invention. That was only half the problem. Her ability to master so many miracles, when mastery of a single one would take an ordinary person a lifetime—that was the other half. The people may well have feared her, knowing that she was able to achieve those miracles in a matter of years.
"And thus, you are weak of faith. We cannot bestow the title of grandmaster unto one such as yourself."
Everyone in the theater room understood the cult's reason for not giving Zealot the title of the grandmaster because they believed that she would endanger them to be exposed to the enemy due to her abilities and she does not make her first created miracles as she copied others because her eighteen miracles did not belong to her but many Hassan before her. They were unsure if she was on the throne of Heroes and if she was, they wanted to know the reason for her existence.
That argument was mere sophistry. And yet, she accepted it wholeheartedly.
'I see. My faith is not deep enough. How much I have yet to learn. I have brought shame upon the miracles of the former grandmasters.'
She did not resent anyone else. She merely continued to hone her own abilities.
And when a new grandmaster—the Hundred-Faced—was selected— She saw that he was capable of all manner of things, things she could not do herself, but she did not envy him. She only felt shame at her own impiety. In the end, the zealot found no proof of her faith and vanished into the mists of time.
"So, she was there in my era and I might be one of the others who were afraid of her," Hundred Faces mumbled as she does not know whether she was sympathy for Zealot and desired to comfort her by asking her to be her advisor or be grateful that she was selected as a Grandmaster.
"Such a disgrace for her to replicate mine, her and others before you," Cursed Arms said, referring to his and Serenity's Noble Phantasm and Hundred Faces. He however sighed, "Although I felt sympathy for her not earning its title."
Or so it should have been—
But, what a quirk of fate! When she was summoned by the man called Jester, she was given knowledge of the world by the Holy Grail, and immediately came to know her destiny. She had to bring the Holy Grail—that emblem of heresy—unto naught. That was all she desired. And though she was not unaware that the past grandmasters had all sought it— she felt only sorrow.
She did not resent those grandmasters. Neither did she revile them.
Their faith was, without a doubt, deeper than hers. Even now, they were worthy of her respect.
"Zealot is very devoted to our cult and respects the grandmasters despite being denied by them…" Serenity exclaimed in awe at Zealot's attitude.
"She never looked down on them or stood above them. Her faith was huge but led to her downfall by proving it," Cursed Arms commented on Zealot's faith.
Her hatred was directed at that which had led them astray: the Holy Grail War. She had to put an end to it. She tore through the dark of the night, hastening forth in search of the Holy Grail. Given that she had slain those magi, she would soon lose her supply of magical energy. She was still receiving magical energy, but it was a mere trickle.
When the flow of magical energy came to a complete stop, she would vanish.
'Would that happen after a few days? A few hours? A few seconds, even—? But it didn't matter.'
Until her last moment,
Even if her body was a mere apparition—
The nameless Assassin would not question her purpose. Believing that the piety of at least those who, like herself, had been faithful would be rewarded, She, without a moment's hesitation, made the Holy Grail War itself her enemy.
"So she is going to take as many mages who were involved in the fake war especially Faldeus and his government-related organizationbefore she disappeared," said Gabby.
"That's a suicidal even though I understand her intention but she might accidentally cause collateral damage and a massive scene in the city," Ritsuka added with a worry in his tone.
A few minutes later.
In the basement of the lakeside cottage where the nameless Heroic Spirit was summoned, there were no men; only corpses. By the time Assassin departed, this became an even more certain truth.
"Kha!"
A pristine laugh rang out.
Some of the audience jumped in fright at the scary laugh including the child servants.
"Holy Fuck, that scare the shit of me!" Modred shouted in surprise as she tried to calm down.
"I can't blame you, Modred," Gawain replied with Lancelot and Tristan's nod.
But the truth was what it was.
In that room, there were no men; only corpses.
"Khaa! Ha ha ha ha ha ha!"
A peal of laughter echoed. It sounded like the laugh of a child, jubilant from the bottom of its heart; but at the same time, it was warped but somehow perverted. But the truth was still what it was.
In that room, there were no men; only corpses.
"Wow, that was a surprise! To think that the Holy Grail would bring me such a kooky little maverick!" The man bounded up like a jack-in-the-box, the Command Spells on his right hand still gleaming. "How beautiful..."
"What the hell?! How is he alive!? His heart was ripped out!" Gabby shouted in disbelief.
"He's not a human, in the beginning, Master," Jeanne replied grimly, causing Sieg and her friends to be worried at her expression. "I do believe he is a manifest of evil."
"You're correct, Saint. I felt an evil emitting out of him," Amakusa agreed with his serious expression.
"I knew it…" EMIYA mumbled as he knew Jester's existence. He first sensed his presence when he first appeared on the screen and it was filled with death and destruction which was very hidden but not to him. He knew his kind and considered them as a calamity to humanity because he fought them before and met a friendly but annoying person similar to them.
'I was planning on awakening the Spider with the power of the Grail and living to see this
tiresome world be destroyed, but... I had no idea I still had "emotions"—those vestiges of humanity!'
He trembled, beset by emotions— and the truth remained what it was.
Da-Vinic, Holmes, and Sion's expressions became grim at Jester mentioning 'Spider' and knew what he was referring to and its capabilities. They knew it from the various notes that were written by Mage Associates, Clocktower, and Atlas Institute. The notes were important as it was filled with many important details about the 'Spider'. It was at an extinction-level that would destroy the entire human race. Fortunately, Jester threw his plan away for good but took interest in Holy Grail.
Angra, however, sighed as he was glad that Jester decided not to awaken the 'Spider' because he wanted to see what the outside of Chaldea had provided him to see. Despite his evil nature, he desired to enjoy as much as he could until humanity became extinct. He would be damn angry if someone decided to awake primal murder or others to destroy the current world to ruin his experience.
In that room, there were no men; only corpses.
Given that the truth was what it was, it could only mean one thing. The mage Jester Karturei, now choked with emotion, was, at this point, a corpse.
"What pathos! What pulchritude! How bewitching, resplendent, dainty, picturesque, cute! Oh, what a tragic mistake I have made— when I once had so much time and so little to do, I should have mastered the Ars Poetica! I cannot find the words to describe her piety!"
"He is giving out a yandere aura and it creeps me out," Osakabehime said as she felt a shiver in her spine and felt her hairy arm stand up by him.
"Yeah, and I'm not taking him as my husband because he is like a walking destruction to everyone!" Taemo declared loudly, wishing that she would not take any of her masters like him as her husband.
"I wished I could burn him alive because he might be a threat to my master," Kiyohime said with a sense of duty as a servant, not his sort of declared wife.
Jester was having the time of his life. Paying no heed to the corpses scattered around the room, he began to unbutton his shirt. Magical-looking emblems appeared on his bare chest— emblems that were entirely unlike Command Spells. It was a ring of six red marks, similar in form to the cylinder of a six-shooter.
"What the hell…" EMIYA exclaimed in disgust towards Jester and his revolver cylinder emblem tattoo with his glare. He never got used to his kind's cruelty when he was a Counter Force guardian or magus before becoming it. It was inhuman for them to treat many lives as the ingredient for their magic or killing sport although few were not like them, yet it was their nature to become one.
Artoria, Cu, Ishtar, Ereshkigal, and Parvati saw EMIYA's glare and felt his bloodlust coming out of him.
However, one of the six marks—the one closest to his left breast— had turned dark. "She crushed my concept-nucleus with such ease! I was as careful as I could be! And it didn't even matter! With her arm, she could return even a being far stronger than me to naught!"
Jester touched the darkened mark with a finger, whereupon his fingertip was sucked into the skin of his chest. Strangely, not a drop of blood fell from the mark. He shoved his hand up to the wrist into the muddy flesh-colored morass and squelched at his own innards. "My mage-soul has been utterly destroyed."
Some of the audience became disgusted at Jester's action but the information about him shocked everyone.
"Jester has six souls within him," Gabby said in shock.
"Now he has five since the first one was crushed by Zealot," Ritsuka gulped with a sense of dread.
"Urgh, it's gross that he had human souls to eat," Circe remarked, receiving a strange look from everyone. "What?! I heard from my friend that it's gross!"
"Regardless, I would believe that he had a unique body which made him dangerous," Merlin responded. "Especially he desired a grail to wish for the entire world to be destroyed because he simply boards."
"How beyond sick he is," Martha said, gripping her hand into a fist as she wanted to punch Jester's handsome but horrible face to a pulp.
"I know violence is not an answer, but I will let you do that if we come across the kind of person like him," Jeanne responded, surprising Martha with her smile.
"Thank you, Jean…"
"But I will supervise you because you're going to go overboard."
"Oh man," Martha pouted at Jeanne, causing Kojiro to laugh heartily.
Then, like a gear, or indeed, like a revolver, the six marks rotated, almost as though they were wriggling. The darkened mark shifted to his left flank, loading a new red mark on his left breast. "In that case, I had best put on a new face from here on out."
And then, somehow—just as those six marks had moved, his body and face pulsated. A moment later, he had the appearance of an entirely different man.
He withdrew his finger from his chest and placed it on the darkened seal at his side. He was in a state of ecstasy as he rubbed his finger around it.
"That concept-nucleus was shielded by countless layers of protective magic. And despite that, she made all of that as unto less than nothing with that red arm. Her fingers reached the very core of my being... An arm so simple, and yet ever so fiendish! And yet—nay, thus!—it is beautiful! A Noble Phantasm—what a thing!" He continued to speak to the corpses strewn around him, with a clear, resounding voice.
Of course, they did not respond.
"That's truly remarkable but menacing that he changed his entire physical appearance with his tattoo on his upper body," Medea complemented Jester's shapeshifting magic with an observed gaze. "I'm not surprised that Assassin's version of Cursed Arm's Noble Phantasm had broken through protection to crush his heart."
"Indeed, Caster, My Noble Phantasm can kill the person even with breaking through the protection in a second," Cursed Arms responded, feeling grateful for Medea's compliment but before frowning. "However, I'm not pleased that Jester wasn't killed, but I can't blame Zealot for thinking that he's already dead with his heart ripped out and crushed."
"I am surprised that she was able to use that fearsome technique without hesitation, and so many times at that. Had she accessed only the energy of any other mage—an ordinary one, unlike myself... she surely would have run out almost right away."
He flashed his unusually-sharp canines at the altar of corpses. He continued to talk to himself in a booming—and almost bewitching— voice.
"I suppose I need not tire of the world quite yet... That beautiful assassin! Her piety! Nary
could I allow her to vanish without a name!"
That—was a statement that could only be made by those who had seen her memories. Via the linkage of magical energy that connected a Master and Servant, the former could view the latter's thoughts and memories as though they were dreams. "Of course not! Who would dare let such a thing go to waste!?"
If Jester spoke true, it would mean that he had learned of her faith through a dream he had while he was dead.
"I shall grant you a name! Your beautiful face; your beautiful soul; your beautiful power; your beautiful faith... I will desecrate them and defile them and derogate them and debauch them and degrade them all! What greater pleasure could there be!?" He laughed heartily. His visage gradually took on a wicked color.
"O pleasure! O impermanence! O beauty! I will make that beautiful Servant kneel before
me and I will destroy her faith, and when I have drained the last of her power, what a sight that will be!"
"Oh my god, Zealot will be horrified to learn that she would not vanish due to Jester's mana and he is still alive," Gabby commented with sympathy feeling for Zealot.
"He entirely took a liking to that girl way too much that he wanted her to fall to despair and suffering because he was killed by her Noble Phantasm. Gosh, he's going to make me vomit out all of my lunch" Medb said with her disgusted expression.
"You're right, Medb. He is ultimately a horrible person. I wanted to freeze him and break him into tiny pieces of ice cube," Scathach-Skadi agreed with Medb about her desire.
'Ooohhh, I like her other side though I need to be careful not to anger her, or I will be a tiny ice cube,' Medb thought happily but with an important reminder that she needed to remember when talking to Scathach-Skadi.
"Poor her…" Serenity mumbled in sorrow as she could imagine terribly if she summoned and partnered with her worst master like Jester.
"Although I dislike that assassin, I despised her master more because he's not a human at all." Cursed arm groaned in anger towards Jester.
Jester's heartbeat to a euphoric rhythm as a shadow extended from the ground beneath his feet. It was a red shadow—a red as supremely deep as the emblems on his chest.
When the shadow finally wrapped itself around the bodies of all of Jester's disciples, it divorced itself from the ground and became a crimson wave that engulfed the countless corpses.
And then, right away, the shadow withdrew back into Jester's body. As it did, it was a yet deeper red than before. In just seconds, the bodies had been reduced to mere skeletons by that inexorable shadow.
"Did he just absorb his disciples' bodies by turning them into blood?" Circe asked dumbfoundedly.
"Yes, he did, and it made me wonder what species
"The Holy Grail? The destruction of the world? Those, too, are wonderful! This, I grant! But what trifles they are! They are mere dreck before her despair!"
He, a living corpse—a vampire —climaxed from envisioning the taste of the Servant's blood, as his dead eyes glowed brightly with life.
"As fellow heretics in this land, let us be the best of friends! Khaa… Khahahahahahahahaha- hahaha!"
And so, with nary a proper contract binding them—
Assassin's Master infused the Holy Grail War with toxic darkness. Laughing and laughing and—
"So Jester is a freakin' vampire?!" Gabby shouted in shock before realizing that Vlad was within the room. She swiftly turned around and apologized to him with petrified, "I'm sorry for saying that word you hate!"
"Apologize, accept, Master. I can't blame you for it," Vlad dismissed Gabby's apology although the word 'Vampire' made him irritated.
Camila chuckled at Vlad's irritated state as she silently enjoyed seeing him annoyed even though she had great respect for him. She frowned as she thought about Jester, but it made her want to vomit due to his disguising personality. She wished to put her in her iron maiden coffin to make him suffer slowly.
"Not a vampire, Master, but a Dead Apostle," EMIYA corrected Gabby with his grim expression.
"What is a Dead Apostle?" Asked Ritsuka.
"A Dead Apostle is a human becoming a bloodsucker by the use of Magecraft such as Nrvnqsr Chaos or by the actions of another vampire of similar nature like true ancestor or their kind, Furijma-San," Sion explained the basics about a Dead Apostle. "The difference between them and vampires is that they're half-vampires and their mind is still intact, not lost, and they can eat normal food and drink normally without digestion for blood."
"I thank you for oversimplifying about the Dead Apostle, Miss Sokaris," Holmes appreciated Sion.
"Your welcome, Holmes," Sion responded to Holmes in return with her smile.
"Still, the fake war had revealed a King of Heroes, identity crisis Jack the Ripper, and the assassin who had eighteen noble phantasms in her arsenal!" Gabby exclaimed loudly. "Are we going to get the strongest servants that are capable of destruction?"
"Right, and something tells me that that world's Holy Grail War doesn't have its system," Ritsuka added.
"You're right about that, Ritsuka," Da-Vinic replied before explaining. "Every Holy Grail War must have its system to control it while trying to minimize the collateral damage and not be exposed to the public. Since Snowfiled's Holy Grail War had broken all the rules, every master will summon a high-tier or divine servants by irregular leyline."
"Well, it is going to be a wild ride," exclaimed Gabby. "Oh well, let's continue to watch to see the next servant."
"It's fortunate that our great founder isn't here with us in the theater," Cursed Arms sighed in relief as he and others did not see the First Hassans somehow in the room. They presumed that he was not interested in watching them.
A bell rang, shivering the Hassans with fear and forcing them to turn around. They then saw First Hassan standing tall and menacing while looking down at them as if he was glancing through their souls. He was too quiet while his gaze locked on them and waited for any of them to speak first. He desired to know what they were watching.
Hundred Faces and Serenity turned their heads to Cursed Arms with their disappointed and infuriated looks.
"Me and my big mouth," Cursed Arms sighed in regret.