Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg was a Rank 9 Ancestor Dead Apostle.
That meant He was among the very pinnacle of Dead Apostles, above the Successors, who not even True Ancestors could lay a finger on.
The single greatest feat of His life was to repel Crimson Moon — the True Ancestor — the strongest Deep One of the Fate Bubble, using Second Magic.
After repelling Crimson Moon, He had faced off a third of the Twenty Seven Dead Apostles Ancestors singlehandedly as well.
Later, He rose to the status of a Deep One, achieving true Immortality.
But this also brought its own problems, which were also eternal in nature.
After becoming a Deep One, Zelretch had decided not to hold any timelines under His wing, surprising all Ancestors.
Instead, He had proposed to be an Observer of all timelines, infuriating all Ancestors.
Bubble Entities thrived on the concept of Infinity by seeping Their authorities into a Bubble's timelines.
Death the Artificer, the lone Bubble Entity of the Harry Potter Bubble, did the same.
However, for a Bubble as large as Fate, having so many Deep Ones, the concept of Infinity itself was twisted.
In the end, eons ago, and before indulging Themselves with the Great Old Contract, the Ancestors had decided to divide the entire Bubble into as many sections as Their numbers.
In this way, They would have complete control over Their timelines, becoming the prime Deep One.
Meanwhile, the rest of the Deep Ones' authorities could be included as a token of friendship — or to not tick each one off — as well.
Most of the Deep Ones chose this route, of course.
Not all, though.
The Great Spider, notorious for raging Wars on different Bubbles, refused to let any Deep One even glance at His timelines.
The only good thing was that He remained in a state of slumber most of the time, giving other Deep Ones a breathing space.
The second Deep One who went against norms was none other than Zelretch.
And the only reason He didn't limit Himself to any section of timelines, despite being pressured by others, was because They couldn't stop Him.
Second Magic allowed Zelretch to observe any timeline within the Fate Bubble and be anywhere He wished.
The only way to keep Him out of a timeline was to lock it entirely.
But such an act would then go against the Grand Old Contract that They had willingly, and greedily, accepted — like almost all Deep Ones of different Bubbles.
And that gave Zelretch the biggest advantage of not owning any timeline, while simultaneously having token authorities over ALL of them.
It didn't make Zelretch the strongest Deep One.
It did make Him the most troublesome.
But, as pointed out, this came with a caveat.
Zelretch could freely observe any timeline He wished.
Due to His Magic and status as a Deep One, the mere fact of Zelretch observing a single timeline among many instantly made that timeline His only timeline.
Zelretch called it selecting a Protagonist.
This caused Him to choose the worlds He observed with great consideration, only intervening when necessary — such as a timeline on the very brink of birthing the nastiest Deep One — Angra Mainyu.
After being killed, Angra Mainyu, remembered by the title of Type Curse by the other Deep Ones, took the form of a Concept, plaguing the Bubble ever since.
Generally, all Deep Ones remained on guard against a timeline where the route was advancing toward His incarnation through the Greater Grail.
So, Zelretch chose not to interfere in many of those cases.
However, this time it was different.
This particular timeline, which Caubac had shown Him, was heading insanely fast toward birthing Angra Mainyu.
Even with Ruler-Class Servant being summoned by the Counter Force, Zelretch couldn't see the end deviating from its ill faith.
As if that wasn't a tragedy already, this timeline belonged to Type Mercury — ORT.
If Angra Mainyu's incarnation led to completion, then He would have to come out of His slumber to take care of It.
Not only that, but He would also learn that the cause of this disaster lay in an intruder, who had arrived from the Harry Potter Bubble — whose Deep One His incarnation had recently fought for unknown reasons.
The Great Spider wouldn't think twice before declaring a Multiversal War upon the Harry Potter Bubble, then, thinking of it as a grand scheme of Death the Artificer.
Zelretch couldn't let that happen.
So, taking the risk, He decided to go to that timeline Himself.
…
Tohsaka Mansion,
After thousands of years, Zelretch found that crossing timelines with his real body was impractical.
He also had mastery over Jewel Magecraft, though, making him known as The Father of Jewel Magecraft.
It was the same Magecraft that he had bestowed upon the Tohsaka Family.
These days, instead of using his true body, Zelretch preferred to create a Jewel Golem in the timeline he wished to descend before transferring his soul into that Golem.
This wouldn't be considered a true encroachment over other Deep Ones' territories, either, giving Zelretch a much-needed point to justify Himself, if needed.
And, as for the jewels, the Tohsakas had been gathering them for years in all timelines — as directed by their… Benefactor.
In the secret room of the Tohsaka Mansion, where Rin had carried out the ritual to summon the Heroic Spirits just days ago, a gust of wind surged.
From all around, the gust of wind unlocked all magically sealed chests and picked up different jewels, carrying them to the center of the room.
Hissssssss!
Blinding rays of multicolored lights erupted from the jewels as they melted and fused, taking a humanoid shape.
Then, the space itself blurred.
It was like someone had placed two mirrors on either side of the Jewel Golem, its reflection reaching infinity on either side.
Suddenly, the mirrors shattered.
CRACK!
Shards of space scattered around the Jewel Golem.
And, in the very next instant, the Golem took the appearance of a tall, white-bearded old man in a purple suit.
"Now…" Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg mumbled, smiling with his bloody eyes. "… Let's decide who's the Protagonist of this timeline…"
*****************
AN: Up to 60 more chapters are available in advance across three Tiers. [Use the link in my webnovel profile to access all options]
You can even subscribe Trial Tier for just 1 dollar to have an experience of exclusive chapters for an entire month. I hope a few of you will consider supporting the work.
100 Power Stones: +1 Bonus Chapter