Fate's Grand Gamble, a 500-Year Obsession

The outsider, Hyde, was the first to speak. Having already given up completely, he now saw hope again. Even if there was only a thirty percent chance, he wanted to try.

Red A spoke up. "Who doesn't want their wish granted? But if we fail, it could lead to humanity's destruction. No one can afford to take that kind of gamble."

Red A was a working man; there was nothing wrong with him wanting to play it safe.

Most people thought the same way. King Solomon said, "Even if we fail, humanity will not be destroyed. The principle of the formation is that the seven of us Servants will stand at seven positions and supply mana."

Then a Master will stand at the center of the formation. At that time, all evil will be transferred into that Master's body. The Master will battle that evil within their mind, while we assist from outside with mana.

If we succeed, the evil intent will disappear. If we fail, the Master may lose their mind at best, or die on the spot at worst.

Solomon's words immediately caused an uproar. Most people found a gamble that cost only one life acceptable.

There were sixteen people present. The minority who opposed it were Rin, Sakura, Gray, Reines, Red A, Shirou, and the Spiky-Haired King.

The other eight besides me were Iskandar, Scathach, Stheno, Illya, Heracles—Illya said Heracles agreed—Waver—because Iskandar wanted Waver to follow him—Hyde, and Solomon.

Now the pressure fell on me. If I agreed, it would pass. If I opposed it, the vote would be tied. Everyone looked at me.

After pondering for a moment, I said, "Solomon, given the current situation, the Greater Grail can be destroyed, right?"

Some people were delighted, thinking I was refusing to participate. Solomon said, "Under the current circumstances, we can indeed destroy the Greater Grail completely."

After receiving a clear answer, I said, "I agree to this gamble. But I need to stand at the very center and have the final confrontation with this evil intent."

Hearing me say that, Rin, Sakura, Gray, Waver, and Shirou Emiya all tried to persuade me not to take the risk. I smiled. "If you amateurs could handle it, of course I wouldn't want to go. But who else here can?"

I was willing to bear the cost of this gamble. Then I whispered something into their ears, and I made a point of speaking to Illya as well. "Solomon, set up the formation."

Solomon explained the formation's layout and the required procedures. As someone with some knowledge of formations, I studied it carefully for quite a while. Wasn't this formation just like the star chart of my great Celestial Dynasty's Azure Dragon's Seven Mansions? My great Celestial Dynasty really was awesome.

The Azure Dragon's Seven Mansions were also known as the Eastern Seven Mansions. They were called Horn, Neck, Root, Room, Heart, Tail, and Winnowing Basket. They represented the Azure Dragon's horns, throat, forelegs, chest, Dragon Heart, tail, and the whirlwind formed by its swaying tail. Their attributes were wood, metal, earth, sun, moon, fire, and water.

The formation was ready. All that remained was the timing. Activating it at the most favorable moment would weaken the evil intent's power.

I casually examined the item: SS-rank item, Heart of Courage. Once equipped, it granted immunity to all fear-based entities and allowed one to look directly at unseen things without being assimilated or altered. Was this item prepared for this very moment?

If it was, wouldn't that mean I could clear this without taking any damage again? With the Heart of Courage, I wouldn't be corrupted. As for death, unless my luck was utterly terrible, that wasn't going to happen. No matter how I gambled, I couldn't lose, could I? I could even earn a wave of goodwill. The thought made me feel pretty pleased.

Now it depended on whether certain things would happen. Hopefully I was just being paranoid, but it was still better to take precautions.

Soon, the time came. Everyone took their positions as Solomon had instructed. Each Master and Servant stood in their assigned place.

Solomon said, "I will activate the formation now. Pour your mana into it. Remember, the flow of mana must not be interrupted midway, or the Master at the center of the formation will be in danger. Remember that!!!"

As mana flowed into the formation, it lit up. The other pairs began pouring in mana as well. Everything seemed to be proceeding smoothly.

Just then, a voice rang out. "With so many people gathered here, surely you don't mind if this old man joins the fun?"

No one recognized the newcomer, because his appearance had become so distorted that his face could no longer be made out. But I was certain that he was Zouken Matou, and that the body he occupied should have been Kariya Matou's.

Sure enough, a five-hundred-year obsession could not be resolved so easily. After the last Holy Grail War, I had arranged for people to investigate, but we could find neither Zouken Matou's whereabouts nor proof of his death. Since that was the case, I assumed he was still alive.

Once he fully emerged, everyone unleashed their attacks. Solomon set up a barrier to prevent him from escaping. Though he transformed into insects several times in an attempt to flee, Red A ultimately shot him dead. Before dying, he was still muttering, "Why did this happen? The Holy Grail was right before my eyes."

Solomon confirmed, "He is dead. Good thing Master had us put on an act to lure him out in advance. Otherwise, if we had truly activated the formation, it would have been troublesome. Master, how did you know he existed? Even I never noticed him."

I didn't know whether he was really there or not. I only knew that he had been desperately clinging to life for five hundred years because of the Holy Grail. I was merely guarding against him. After all, obsession was the most terrifying thing of all.

"Let's continue. Success or failure will be decided today."

As the formation truly lit up, everyone began pouring in mana. The Greater Grail started trembling, and as I stood at the center of the formation, I felt the aura flowing from the Greater Grail flooding into my body.

Then my consciousness entered the Holy Grail, like the dream Kiritsugu Emiya had experienced back then.

Justeaze Lizrich von Einzbern, dressed in black, appeared before me.