On a battlefield strewn with blood and fire, a king clad in a blood-stained blue cloak and gleaming silver armor stood leaning on a sword, silently gazing at the remnants of this battlefield.
The king appeared to be only fifteen or sixteen years old, with a petite form and a single golden ahoge atop her head, yet the expression on her face was sorrowful beyond what a girl of this age should bear.
The country to which she had devoted her entire life had ultimately failed to escape fate's cruel jest.
The once incredibly powerful nation had fallen apart in this civil war, soldiers were all dead or wounded, and the people could not escape slaughter either. It was foreseeable that this country would inevitably be invaded by foreign enemies and completely destroyed.
Had she done something wrong? Was there any other way to salvage the situation?
Just as the young girl was questioning herself in her heart, a great will descended, telling her that as long as she signed a contract, she could be given a chance to make amends.
About two thousand years from now, a Holy Grail War would be held, and the victor would obtain a chance to make a wish.
"Able to grant the victor one wish..."
The girl who would later be praised as King Arthur finally showed a light in her holy blue-green eyes upon hearing these words.
She indeed had a wish she wanted to fulfill.
If back then, it had been someone else rather than herself who pulled out Caliburn, the sword of selection, perhaps Britain would not have had to suffer such anguish?
After making up her mind, the girl heard the chanting voice of a young man.
Thus, she responded to the summoning.
"Servant Saber, responding to your summons. I ask, are you my Master?"
A dignified tone, proper attitude, petite body, and a blue cloak that looked somewhat like a comforter.
"Artoria Pendragon?"
To the girl's surprise, the Master before her had immediately seen through her name, and didn't show even the slightest surprise about her being female.
"Yes, does Master know me?"
Her ahoge twitched as Artoria asked in confusion.
"Mm."
Ryuga nodded.
"The famous King Arthur, naturally I have an impression."
It's just that even he was somewhat surprised—he hadn't expected that his successful summoning would actually be the Comforter King, praised as the Primordial Saber.
These days, even web novels don't write about these old characters anymore.
However, he hadn't used any catalyst, so why was he able to summon her?
If speaking of compatibility, Ryuga felt that the resonance between himself and Artoria wasn't that high.
After pondering briefly, he thought of something and immediately asked Artoria.
"May I see your sword?"
"If it is Master's request, yes."
Although somewhat puzzled, facing the Master she would soon fight alongside, Artoria did not refuse.
The invisible great sword appeared in her hands. Artoria dispelled the Invisible Air barrier that concealed the blade, reversed the sword, and handed the hilt to her Master.
"So this is Excalibur? How magnificent!"
Seeing this beautiful blade, Rin beside them exclaimed in admiration.
Although she was also surprised that King Arthur was actually female, since Ryuga had said so, there would be no mistake.
And if the opponent was King Arthur, then apart from the already broken Caliburn, her weapon would naturally be the legendary steel-cutting holy sword—Excalibur.
"No, it's not just Excalibur."
Hearing Rin's words, Ryuga shook his head after examining it thoroughly.
"It's also the Star Holy Sword capable of saving the planet."
He roughly guessed the reason why Saber was summoned.
Ordinary Servants were useless to him; their proudly held Noble Phantasms were at most at the level of Conceptual Armaments, and even the few strong ones only possessed Divine Construct weapons. For someone who had mastered the technique of Heroic Spirit summoning, they weren't particularly precious.
But the Star Holy Sword before him was different—it was a holy sword created to oppose enemies capable of destroying planets.
Not man-made, not god-made, but planet-made.
If unleashed at full power, this sword might even reach planet-busting levels.
"Master, you actually know about the holy sword?"
Hearing Ryuga reveal the greatest secret of the Star Holy Sword, Artoria couldn't help but be shocked.
Wasn't this a secret that only the Lake Fairies would know?
If not to urge her to return the holy sword in time, those Lake Fairies probably wouldn't have told even her.
"I just happened to know."
Ryuga waved his hand and directly returned Excalibur.
A planet-busting holy sword naturally had great research value, but now was not the time to study this.
At this moment, they were standing at the entrance to the cavern beneath the Hollow.
After successfully summoning Artoria, Ryuga stepped into the interior of the Greater Grail while casually asking the puzzled Artoria.
"Speaking of which, you chose to respond to the summoning for the wish you placed in the Holy Grail, right?"
"Yes!"
Mentioning her wish, Artoria immediately became serious.
To fulfill her sorrowful wish, she had to win the Holy Grail War. With this mysterious and powerful Master, their chances of victory were very high.
Just as she was rejoicing in her heart, feeling that this time she might succeed, her Master threw a sentence at her.
"Then you might be disappointed. The current Greater Grail cannot fulfill your wish."
"Ah?"
Artoria was immediately stunned.
What?
She had agreed to sign the contract to become a Heroic Spirit and come to this era to participate in the war precisely for the chance to realize her wish.
If the Greater Grail couldn't fulfill her wish, wouldn't Alaya be committing fraud?
"Master, why do you say that?"
Artoria's expression became slightly agitated.
Before even starting to fight, she was told she'd been duped—how was this supposed to work?
Rin also showed a puzzled expression. Although she knew the chance to make a wish was bait, this bait shouldn't be fake!
"You'll understand if you look ahead."
Ryuga didn't explain further, just told them to look forward.
At this moment, they had entered deep into the Greater Grail's interior, where it was pitch black, with only the faint glimmer of magic circles visible.
But as Ryuga spoke, a strand of crimson flame ignited in the air, illuminating everything around them.
After seeing their surroundings clearly, they finally understood why Ryuga had said what he did.
Black mud—countless amounts of black mud accumulated at the center of the Greater Grail, writhing like a living creature. The moment the flames ignited, this black mud seemed to be burned, immediately retreating to the shadows dozens of meters away.
"This is all... curses?"
Artoria instinctively realized the malice contained within this black mud, but surveying the surroundings, she felt a chill.
"What vast curses! So the so-called Holy Grail... is actually this kind of thing?"
"To be precise, it's All the Evil of This World."
"If you make a wish to such a Holy Grail, all wishes will be twisted and ultimately fulfilled in the way you least hope for."
Ryuga corrected her, then cast his gaze toward the depths of the Greater Grail.
"Still won't come out? Chief of evil gods—Angra Mainyu, or should I say, his substitute?"
Ryuga's other purpose in coming to the Greater Grail was precisely this Evil of This World.
This existence that others saw as nothing but curses was, to Ryuga, a key component for completing the Zoroastrian mythological technique system.
To be continued…