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It could only be said that the timing was perfect.
Just enough to explain everything in one go.
So after adjusting his mindset, facing Medea and the others' panicked expressions, Max cleared his throat and began explaining the lore.
That's right—in order to prevent the Holy Grail War from being too cruel, where only one person can ultimately claim victory, the thoughtful Max had added a co-op win option in this ranked match update.
Of course, only a small one.
Because this option was directly related to the quality of the Servants in the current Holy Grail War.
According to the rules of the Holy Grail's manifestation, if the Servant quality was too low, you'd need to feed it six sacrifices before it would truly appear.
But at that point, there would be no co-op option left. Because the Holy Grail War would have already concluded with a single winner.
However, if the quality of the Servants in the current match was high enough—divine beings, top-tier Heroic Spirits, that sort of thing—then the Holy Grail would manifest after consuming only three or four.
And once it appeared, players would have another choice.
Option One: Work together to eliminate it. All players who participate in its destruction receive three holy grail fragments as drops.
Option Two: Conclude the Holy Grail War before it eliminates all of you. This way, you can obtain a complete Holy Grail, plus five points toward your rank.
As for what this thing actually was...
That required explaining the entire ritual of the Holy Grail War from the beginning.
The Holy Grail War actually involves two Holy Grails.
One is the Lesser Holy Grail. The other is the Greater Holy Grail.
The Greater Holy Grail is buried underground in Fuyuki City—a massive system designed to collect magical energy from the underground ley lines. The manifestation of the seven Servants, the magical energy for the Command Seals—all of it is provided by this thing.
It can be filled once every sixty years.
The Lesser Holy Grail, on the other hand, was created by the Einzbern family. It was specifically designed as a soul container for the six Servants who die during the Holy Grail War.
The entire Holy Grail War is about using the souls of these Servants to connect to the Throne of Heroes outside the world—piercing through reality itself.
Then, using the massive magical energy accumulated in the Greater Holy Grail to stabilize this hole, thereby creating a gate to step outside the boundaries of the world.
In the words of these obsessed Mages, it can connect to the Root.
And in fact... it truly can.
This is also why pseudo-Holy Grail Wars have sprung up all over the world since the original Fuyuki Holy Grail War was exposed. Everyone wants to connect to the Root through this method.
But this created a very interesting phenomenon.
Theoretically, six Servant souls are enough.
However, in the minds of most Mages, one more soul means one more connection. The hole can be opened wider, more securely.
So many Masters' initial strategy was: three Command Seals, use at most two.
Save the last one to let their Servant perform Lancer's traditional skill.
You know the one.
Therefore, the Holy Grail War is also known as a large-scale Heroic Spirit honey trap.
[Horrified_Harry]: Wait, so they're basically catfishing legendary heroes into getting slaughtered?!
[Realization_Rita]: So the entire Holy Grail War is just a pig-butchering scam for Heroic Spirits?
[Lore_Master_Larry]: "Corrupted Holy Grail" damn, that's such an obscure term
[Cynical_Carl]: Suddenly, I feel like none of these Mages are good people
[Story_Mode_Steve]: You clearly haven't played the story campaign. After you finish it, you'll realize that Kenneth, that cuckold, is actually one of the better ones
[Confused_Connor]: Huh? Kenneth? Why is that guy a cuckold?
And besides connecting to the Root, the Lesser Holy Grail also contains massive amounts of magical energy. It can also fulfill wishes.
The Holy Grail grants your wishes through magical means.
Although... the results might be a bit different from what you imagined.
And on top of this already problematic foundation, the misguided operations during the Third Holy Grail War made this wish-granting mechanism even more messed up.
As is well known, the Einzbern family conducted an illegal summon in the Third Holy Grail War. They summoned an eighth Servant—the Heroic Spirit Angra Mainyu, of the Avenger class.
However, its appearance was not what the Einzbern family had delusionally imagined—the chief evil god from Zoroastrianism.
Instead, it was just an ordinary young man with the same name.
There was no other way around it. In the dualistic doctrine of Zoroastrianism, Angra Mainyu is the sum of all evil in the world. The chief of evil gods.
All evil deeds in the human world are attributed to Angra Mainyu.
Whether you ran out of toilet paper at the worst possible moment, or were kidnapped by five criminals and taken to a rainforest for three months of continuous humiliation, or discovered your wife cheated and the kid isn't yours—
In Zoroastrianism, all of that was done by Angra Mainyu.
Therefore, in a village that believed in this doctrine, the villagers decided to prove that everyone in the world possesses inherent goodness.
Their solution?
With great ceremony, they branded an ordinary, blameless young man as Angra Mainyu.
They dumped all the evil in the world onto him. Then they cruelly and unjustly sacrificed him.
However, although this method was absurd, it did indeed "save" some of the villagers—at least in terms of their faith.
So after his death, this young man became the ultimate Anti-Hero.
And in the Third Holy Grail War, the Einzbern family summoned this Anti-Hero.
But here's the thing: this young man was just an ordinary person onto whom countless evils had been forcibly imposed. He didn't actually possess Angra Mainyu's true power.
So on the fourth day of the war, he was eliminated by a Heroic Spirit of the Saber class. Treated like a stray dog on the roadside. Forgotten almost immediately.
But his story did not end where it should have ended.
The Holy Grail recovers the souls of Servants who die in the Holy Grail War.
And Angra Mainyu is a collective embodiment of wishes.
It is the embodiment of all evil in the world.
Therefore, when he was absorbed by the Holy Grail and entered its interior... he made a wish.
And that wish stained the colorless Holy Grail with malice.
From then on, the so-called "Holy" Grail could no longer properly and beautifully grant the user's wishes.
Once someone attempts to make a wish to it, the Grail will present the worst possible interpretation of that wish.
For example: someone wants world peace.
Normally, the way to achieve this should be helping people understand each other. Diplomacy. Communication. Growth.
But the corrupted Holy Grail would choose to kill all humans in the world. After all—no humans, no war. One hundred percent peaceful.
Another example: you want to wish for immense wealth.
Although the corrupted Holy Grail will give you immense wealth, it will certainly impose various conditions.
For instance, you possess so much money that you could buy anything... but you're now a vegetable, unable to use it. Or you're directly imprisoned, never to be released in this lifetime.
In short: your wish will definitely be granted.
But how it's granted? What the cost of fulfillment is?
It won't tell you.
So when Max finished explaining all of this, the chat immediately exploded.
[Mind_Blown_Mike]: Holy crap, isn't this just tricking Heroic Spirits into a slaughterhouse?!
[Pig_Butcher_Pete]: So the entire Holy Grail War is a Heroic Spirit pig-butchering scam?!
[Vocabulary_Victor]: "Corrupted Holy Grail" damn, that's some deep lore terminology
[Disillusioned_Dan]: Suddenly I feel like none of these Mages are good people at all
[Campaign_Veteran]: You clearly haven't played story mode. After you finish it, you'll realize Kenneth, that cuckold, is actually the most decent one
[Lost_Larry]: Wait, Kenneth? Why is that guy a cuckold?
[Philosophical_Phil]: Unjustly acquired power through unjust means will eventually bring unjust calamity! Wow, Max's game design is so profound!
[Skeptical_Sally]: Is it possible Max didn't actually think this deeply about it at first?
[Reality_Check_Rachel]: Exactly! Max is just a game developer, what the hell does he actually know about Holy Grail War lore?!
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