The common rule is that peace never lasts past the third act.
Outside, the sun shines brightly, birds sing atop leafy branches, and the world seems shrouded in a tranquil, gentle atmosphere.
Steve's satisfied smile was genuine. He took deep pleasure in having built this peace with his own hands.
But beneath this satisfaction lay a vast, terrifying scheme that only he knew about.
This seemingly perfect scene of peace was itself built on a carefully constructed lie.
At the root of that lie was the massive underground altar remains of the Ryuudou Temple—which should have been dismantled but remained untouched—and the Great Holy Grail of Fuyuki City.
Ten years ago, when the Fourth Holy Grail War ended miraculously with the wishes of every Master and Servant fulfilled, Kiritsugu Emiya repeatedly voiced grave concern over the continued existence of the Greater Grail.
From his experience as the "Magus Killer," he realized that so long as this "all-powerful wish machine" existed, greedy magi would continue to be drawn to it, and Fuyuki would once again become a battlefield.
"...Don't worry, Kiritsugu."
Patting him gently, Steve remembered reassuring him: "I have completely purified 'All the Evils of This World' from here. Now it's nothing but a pure wish-granting engine."
Furthermore, the Grail's magical energy would need a very long time to accumulate; at least sixty years before it could be reactivated.
"There's little chance that even we—or even Illya—will ever see another war in our lifetimes."
This was a lie, crafted half from truth and half from deception.
The Grail had indeed been purified, and under normal circumstances, would require a sixty-year cool-down.
But at that anomalous moment, Steve tampered with it using even subtler mysteries.
For the past ten years, Steve Weis—a new era's King of Magecraft, descending from a distant Universal Century—had frequently landed quietly in Fuyuki's Enzou Mountain leyline at midnight.
He used no techniques comprehensible to modern magi, stepping directly into the domain of "cosmic magecraft."
To his eyes, Fuyuki's leyline was no longer just a path for magical energy; it had become like the distorted light of a galactic body, bent by gravitational lensing.
What he did was simple, cruel, and astoundingly efficient:
By interfering with the very causality of the leyline, he forced all the magical energy that would have flowed into the Grail slowly over sixty years to compress and rush in within only ten years.
The price?
The "mystery" density and quality of Fuyuki's ley-minerals would drop permanently and irreversibly. Like a planet overly exploited, the surface remained lush, but the heart had begun to wither.
For Steve, who no longer relied much on leylines for daily supply, it was a worthwhile trade.
Now, in 2004, the Greater Grail's power had accumulated to the point it could fuel a new Holy Grail War.
This, truly, was the haze that would soon descend upon them all.
This age of darkness was all orchestrated by Steve.
…
On the Other Side of the World, London
Within the Clock Tower, office of the Lord of Astromancy—one of Magi's Twelve Lords—a sharp-eyed, white-haired man reviewed the newest eastern report.
His name: Marisbury Animusphere.
He sits at the pinnacle of modern magus society—a practical idealist whose sole goal is to "secure the future survival of humanity."
The office brimmed with the scent of expensive tea and the inky aroma of old parchment. As Marisbury scanned the report, he tapped his obsidian table lightly.
[Final Investigation Report: Current Status of the Greater Grail, Fuyuki City]
Report No.: CLK-AST-2004-03-J01
To: Lord Marisbury Animusphere, Astromancy Department
From: Clock Tower Field Investigator (Codename: Orion)
Subject: Status Investigation: "Greater Grail" ritual site left after the 4th Holy Grail War, 10 years ago.
In compliance with directives, our team infiltrated Fuyuki, conducting secret observation and analysis of the Grail System for three weeks. The findings:
Pollution Status: Multiple technical tests indicate the system's internal mana is pure, initial conditions as per theory. It's speculated some unknown "complete purification" phenomenon occurred during the last war.
Mana Reserves: System's mana reserve has reached a staggering 98%, greatly exceeding the theoretical accumulation rate for a 60-year cycle. Cause unclear, but possibly related to abnormal leyline activation. At this rate, full charge triggering will be reached within months.
System Integrity: The Greater Grail is entirely functional and fully intact, containing all features necessary for a "wish-granting machine." No distortion nor risk of malicious inversion; output will be pure as intended.
Overall assessment:
Fuyuki's Greater Grail is a "high-level ritual device, safe, efficient, and ready for immediate use." Value is extremely high. The Association is advised to restore top-level management and begin aggressive preparations for participation in the next ritual.
[]
"All clear... one could make a wish right now..."
Marisbury quietly murmured the report's conclusion, lips curling with intrigue.
Just then, a searing, stabbing sensation ran across the back of his right hand.
Raising it, he saw three deep crimson command seals shimmer into being, exuding an aura of undeniable power.
They had arrived.
The Grail had chosen its Master.
Steve's "cosmic magecraft" was not limited to accelerating the Grail's mana. He worked, in effect, like the system administrator, directly rewriting the slot assignment algorithm for Masters.
He forcibly "appointed" the two slots usually assigned randomly to the Association to those bearing the concept "Heir to the Animusphere Family."
Staring at his own Command Seals, Marisbury's eyes gleamed even brighter.
A perfectly pure wish-granting machine, about to activate; an official recognition as a Master.
It was as if fate itself had extended him an olive branch.
His grand plan—the "Chaldea Security Organization," recruiting vast funds and the best talents in the wizarding world to safeguard humanity's future—had been crippled by lack of funding.
Now, with the chance to "wish for anything,"
he needed money. Enough money to silence all the enemies.
Marisbury's gaze fell to his left ring finger: there glittered a simple gold ring projecting a sacred aura—a family treasure of the Animusphere lineage, supreme evidence of his noble celestial magus blood, the highest-class Saint Relic.
—Solomon's Ring
Legend says the wise King Solomon of Israel was gifted ten rings by God, which he used to command the seventy-two demons.
The Animusphere family owned one.
"Fuyuki…"
Marisbury rose, moving to the floor-to-ceiling windows to overlook rainy London below.
"A local ritual, true, but with untold potential…
Seems I must go myself."
A confident, cunning smile danced across his face—the look of a Lord Magus weighing every contingency.
Bearing the title Animusphere head and the highest-class relic,
he would soon set foot in that distant land.
He aimed to summon the strongest Servant and win this Holy Grail War by overwhelming force—
and then, wish on the Grail.
For the future of humanity.
…