"Mom!" said a boy.
"Yes, honey?"
"I'm going to school now. Can you save the TV program that I usually watch?"
"Oh, that one? Sure, honey. Walk safely to school."
The boy put on his shoes and exited the house.
The shining bright light of the morning sun rays reflected on the street.
The boy smiled while covering the light with his hand, looking at the blue sky.
"Guess this will be it."
This is Emiya Shirou. He lives normally with his two adopted parents and sister—a normal, average family.
As 15 years old, this is his first day of high school.
He can't wait for it.
Yes… there will be nothing wrong with this day.
As he exited his neighborhood, he finally stepped onto the streets of Tokyo.
The billboards, huge screens of commercial ads, games, and so on.
He then arrived at the train station. He bought a ticket and made his way to the platform.
"Oi, Emiya!"
He turned to his right and saw two of his friends waving at him.
They were his friends from junior high. He walked toward them.
"You two! Long time no see." He turned to Kudo.
"Especially you, Kudo. Where have you been? I couldn't even properly call you during the winter break. Heck, you weren't even in your own house."
That is Kudo Shinichi, a 15-year-old who somehow became a detective thanks to his father's background.
Though he has yet to tell Shirou how he can convince adults to listen to him.
"He's doing his detective work again, Shirou."
An orange-blond hair boy with aquamarine eyes looked at his smartphone.
That is his other friend, Aqua Hoshino. Not much to say about him other than him being popular with women.
"Are you for real, Kudo? Again? You didn't answer my calls because of that?"
"Sorry, Emiya! I always put my phone on silent."
Aqua then added, "I feel sorry for your girlfriend, Ran, for having a boyfriend that cares more about his detective work than the people around him."
"Hey, it's not just detective work! It's a healthy hobby! Also, didn't I say Ran and I are just childhood friends?"
Shirou was shocked hearing that. "For real? Didn't you two already basically go on dates?"
"Like what?"
"Mount Fuji, Akihabara—heck, you even brought her to Shinjuku to watch some fish without us," said Shirou.
"Hold on, that's just—"
Then Kudo stopped for a moment, trying to process Shirou's statement.
He put his hand on his chin and began to mutter something that sounded like a chant for dark magic.
"Oh, our train has arrived," Aqua said, then pushed Kudo into the train—with his consent.
He then walked back a little. "Shirou, come on, let's go."
"Ah, right, right."
Inside the train
Surprisingly, there weren't many people inside, Shirou thought.
Well, there was a reason for that—this train station usually isn't as crowded compared to the main stations in Tokyo.
There was another group of students who also seemed to be from his school.
"Come on, come on! Special week, you can do it!"
"This guy supports the wrong person. It's obviously Golden Ship that will win."
"You sure? Is she always throwing?"
Shirou murmured, "Huh, that Uma Musume race thing is surely popular."
"I don't understand, though," Aqua said. "It's just a pretty girl running on the field track while some old man bets on the dark web."
"People do that?"
"Humans are creatures that can bet on literally anything. Why do you think gacha became so popular these days?"
Kudo joined the conversation while putting his arm on Aqua's shoulder. "Said the guy who cares enough to know it."
"Oh, since when did knowing become a sin? At least I invited someone for New Year who ended up not coming because of his work."
"Hey, I'm sorry, okay?"
"Did I say it was you?"
"You bastard!"
"Hey, come on, you two! No need to make a fuss about it."
The train came to a gentle stop, and the three of them stepped onto the platform, beginning their walk toward their new school.
"Hey… did you hear? They're holding an exhibition near our city about the I.S. armor. Ran told me about it yesterday, and I was planning to bring her. Do you two know when it will be held?" Shirou asked, adjusting his bag strap.
"That thing? Well, if I'm not mistaken… this Saturday. And are you sure you really want to bring her there? Wanting is one thing, but breaking a promise? That's a no-no, Kudo," Shirou said, eyes narrowing slightly.
"Of course not! I'm not that kind of person. Why would you even think that?" Kudo defended himself.
Aqua, scrolling idly on his phone, smirked and held the screen out to Kudo. "Well… she said it on her Twitter."
Kudo's face went pale.
"W… well, that's for a good reason—"
"Quite the BS, Kudo," Aqua interrupted, his tone sharp and dominant, cutting through the afternoon chatter.
"Okay… okay," Kudo muttered, clearly defeated.
The three of them continued down the sidewalk, stepping past small shops and the occasional pedestrian. The city felt alive—sounds of construction, chatter, and the faint hum of distant traffic. Shirou's attention wandered, and he caught sight of a small dog darting across the middle of the street, leash trailing behind it.
Instinct kicked in. Without thinking, Shirou bolted forward. His shoes slapped the pavement as his legs pumped in full sprint. His mind was half-shouting warnings, half-calculating: "Slow down! Careful! Don't—"
A limousine, sleek and black, came into view at the intersection, moving faster than Shirou realized. Adrenaline flooded him.
"EMIYA!" Aqua's voice rang out, panicked.
"SHIR…OU!" Kudo screamed, stretching out his hand.
Time seemed to slow. The dog yelped. The city sounds faded into a tunnel of rushing air. The street, the car, the sun… everything collided into a single, overwhelming flash.
Then—darkness.
--
---
In the main timeline.
**6th Holy Grail War, Snowfield.**
---
"RIN! Send Saber to assist Karna!"
"On it!"
Shirou was fighting False Lancers one by one, while Karna and Saber were now clashing with the False Archer.
"It's quite a mockery for me, for your friend to be in this Holy Grail War."
Shirou sent a barrage of swords toward the Lancer nonstop.
The Spear of Heaven appeared behind the Lancer, their clashes creating explosions one after another.
The city of Snowfield had become nothing more than a battlefield.
Out of the eleven Servants inside this 6th Holy Grail War, only two had been eliminated.
The True Archer had died fighting False Rider before he completely faded.
"Oh? Are you blaming me, young master?"
"No. Trace on!"
Shirou summoned Balmung and shouted its true name.
"BALMUNG!"
A low mana burst fired toward Lancer, a pure shining ray of energy blasting into the sky, which Lancer managed to dodge.
While preparing for another attack, he used the Master–Servant link to speak to Karna.
"Karna, what's the status?"
"Bad. Really bad."
Right now both Karna and Saber were dodging a barrage of high-level Noble Phantasms raining down on them.
"Why is the King of Heroes even in this Holy Grail War!? Didn't you say he was already summoned in the 5th Holy Grail War? The chance of him being summoned again should be low!" Karna said while deflecting Nine Lives with his spear.
He and Saber were now leaping from building to building to avoid the attacks.
"The system of this Holy Grail War is different from the past wars! Maybe that's the reason why!" Shirou shouted before releasing another mana burst toward False Lancer.
"Damn it! We cannot continue running around, Master! Brahmastra Kundala!"
He launched it at the False Archer—the False Archer, or rather Gilgamesh, countered with a Noble Phantasm of equal rank, neutralizing it.
"Amazing, amazing. You two really know how to entertain the King," Gilgamesh said mockingly, as expected, not yet pulling out his final card.
He enjoyed showing his dominance even in a two-versus-one situation.
"You King of Heroes… you truly show the sheer power of the strongest Heroic Spirit, not even using your ultimate card."
Karna pointed his spear.
"However, it's not just you who hasn't pulled his final card. If you think you will win, then prepare to face something that can destroy concept itself!"
"Oh? Are you approaching me, Son of the Sun God Surya?"
"Hmph. I cannot beat you without coming closer."
"Well then—prove your worthiness, mongrel!"
---
"I need to end this fast," Shirou thought. His mana was depleting.
He saw Karna in the sky, preparing to use his final Noble Phantasm.
"Well then… I need to gamble it."
Fake or not, the sword in his hand was still the one belonging to the dragonslayer Siegfried.
He needed to defeat Lancer.
---
**Karna —** "Therefore, I need an attack that will bring your absolute destruction!"
Huge flames appeared in his hand.
The sky turned into a ring of fire.
Some buildings melted into molten rock from the heat.
"KNOW THE MERCY OF THE KING GODS!"
**Shirou —** "The evil dragon… shall fall!"
Shirou charged toward the False Lancer, who was now on the ground.
The ground began to crack beneath him, magical energy bursting around him like a storm.
But nothing stopped him.
Not when this was what he had to do.
"With this single strike, I shall inflict extinction!" Karna roared.
"And the world will reach its sunset!"
**"Be reduced to cinder!" / "I bring you down!"**
**Vasavi Shakti! / Balmung!**
Red and blue lights flashed across the two—Lancer and Archer.
But both of them had already prepared their final move from the start.
"Let's do this, Gil!"
"RIGHT."
**ENUMA ELISH—**
--
The Master of True Lancer had been eliminated by Gilgamesh.
The Master of False Berserker died after tripping on a pothole.
The Master of False Caster died after being mysteriously drained by… something.
Six Masters remained.
…
A massive crater split the center of Snowfield.
There was nothing left—only a void slowly stitching itself back together as reality tried to correct the destruction.
Floating above the silent ruin, Gilgamesh looked down with a disappointed expression.
"I expected better," he muttered.
He turned his gaze to the figure beside him—his old friend, Enkidu.
"Looks like the final stage is between you and me," he said quietly.
But then he paused.
Something felt wrong.
His mana still flowed.
His connection to his Master remained unbroken.
By all logic, he was perfectly fine.
Yet—
Something was off.
He scanned the crater again.
The two mongrels were dead.
He was certain of it.
No one survived Ea.
No one.
So then…
"Where is—"
SHHHUUBBB!
A sacred blade burst through his chest.
Gilgamesh's eyes widened.
Ex—calibur.
He slowly turned his head.
Behind him stood the King of Knights—armor cracked, face smeared with ash, and tears running down her cheeks.
Her voice trembled, but her resolve did not.
"This… is for Shirou."
Light surged through the holy sword.
And the King of Heroes finally fell.
Master of Gilgamesh has been eliminated from the competition.
Prologue end.
Thank you for watching.