A few days later.
Marisbury Animusphere walked down the spiral stone stairs that seemed to have no end.
The echoes of his footsteps collided and layered through the narrow passage.
The magecraft crests on the walls lit up one after another as he approached.
The dim blue light illuminated his bloodless face.
Soon.
He raised a hand and touched the gold watch in the inner pocket over his chest.
This watch had been left behind by the first head of the Animusphere Family.
There were no gears inside, only a sealed miniature nebula slowly rotating.
The long-cherished wish of the Animusphere Family—the grand proposition known as "Grand Order"—would finally be brought to completion in his generation.
To ensure humanity's continued existence.
It was a goal that sounded so grand it was fundamentally unrealistic.
The resources required to achieve it were far beyond what a single mage family could bear.
It was a bottomless pit that could only be filled by exhausting the power of a great nation, or even consolidating the resources of the entire planet.
He had once placed all his bets on that small city in the Far East.
The Holy Grail of Fuyuki City.
It was the legendary omnipotent vessel said to grant any wish.
For that war, he had even drawn upon the Family's deepest reserves and found the Holy Relic of that ancient King of Mages.
That ring, representing the highest wisdom, had been locked in a temperature-controlled case, ready to be taken aboard a plane at any moment.
He had planned to make a wish upon the Greater Grail beneath Fuyuki City and obtain endless wealth to complete Chaldeas.
But what happened?
Marisbury shook his head.
Several years ago, that Lord of El-Melloi, Kenneth El-Melloi Archibald, had barged straight into Fuyuki City.
Rather than