Starting in Type-Moon, but a Mage from A Certain Magical Index

"Because you're my Servant, Rider." The girl smiled. It was a beautiful smile, and Rider, the Servant hidden in the shadows, froze slightly. Inside that Matou family house, she had never seen her wear such a smile before.

The girl was Sakura Matou, Rider's Master and a participant in this Holy Grail War, representing the prestigious magus family, the Matou family.

Yet unexpectedly, Sakura Matou intended to destroy the Holy Grail War. Moreover, she seemed to have been preparing for this for many years!

She could have wished upon the Holy Grail and gained a chance at happiness, so why had she chosen to destroy it? Rider found it difficult to understand.

"I'm already very happy, Rider."

Sakura Matou smiled and gently touched her chest. Through her clothes, she could feel the necklace inside—the treasure that had changed her tragic fate.

"I've always been acting. No one can see through me, but soon, I won't have to anymore. Do you know why, Rider?"

As Sakura Matou spoke, her steps grew lighter and lighter, like a little bird spreading its wings, about to take flight.

"Because you came, I can show part of my true self!"

"Is that so?" Rider said, unable to keep herself from smiling.

Sakura Matou's heart was full of secrets, the kind no one could see through. Yet because Rider was bound to her by contract, Sakura had instead entrusted her with those secrets.

Still, remembering the people she had just seen, Rider knew they all possessed magical energy. Even though they had concealed it and seemed like ordinary people when they entered, magical energy had undeniably surged within them while they prayed!

She was curious. Just how had her Master gathered so many magi with magical energy?

"Oh, that's simple!" Sakura Matou smiled and gave Rider an answer that left her stunned. "Because I once saw what the world looked like when it was born, I learned some special magic!"

"You saw what the world looked like when it was born?" Rider found the meaning hard to grasp. The word "world" alone could be interpreted in several ways.

But based on the magi's understanding of such things, Rider thought of a possibility.

"You mean you witnessed the birth of the planet, the moment heaven and earth were created?" Rider asked. If that were true, then Sakura Matou had indeed encountered an extraordinary opportunity.

Simply witnessing such a mysterious scene once could grant tremendous power!

Among the Heroic Spirits recorded in human history were exceptionally powerful ones whose Noble Phantasms had been born from the concept of "witnessing the birth of the planet"!

But Sakura Matou shook her head.

"No. I saw the birth of the entire world. In more scientific terms, I saw the birth of this universe—the sacred power descending from above, the process of something coming into being from nothing!"

It was impossible to understand, even impossible to determine whether it was true or false, yet Rider sensed no intention to deceive from her.

The words sounded absurd, but somehow, they also felt believable.

Unable to judge whether Sakura's words were true, Rider ultimately gave up and asked the question in her heart.

"Which god does this organization of yours worship?"

But Sakura Matou shook her head again, wearing a mischievous expression. "That's a secret. A secret I can't tell!"

Privately Investigating

Mephistopheles examined the state of his body. Though he was neither a Servant nor a Heroic Spirit, perhaps because he had appeared here by borrowing the Holy Grail's power, he possessed several unusual traits.

Just as he had told Rin Tohsaka earlier, his class was Archer, and he was qualified to participate in the Holy Grail War.

Furthermore, he possessed abilities exclusive to Servants, such as Spirit Form. It was like a grand spell engraved upon his physical body, forming rules unique to this world itself.

Additionally, the Archer class bestowed upon him by the Holy Grail had strengthened his abilities as an archer, as though it had forcibly enhanced the abilities associated with his profession to fit that class's characteristics.

Lastly, there were Rin's Command Spells.

Command Spells were originally crystallizations of grand magic bestowed by the Holy Grail upon participating Masters, allowing them to completely control their Servants. They could compel Servants to fulfill orders, and the more explicit the command, the stronger its effect. They could even allow a Servant incapable of teleportation to cross space and appear beside their Master.

Yet these powerful curse marks, which practically treated Servants as slaves, had only a negligible degree of control over Mephistopheles. If he had to describe it, they had become a line connecting him and Rin Tohsaka, clearly establishing the contractual relationship between them.

The Command Spells could still affect Mephistopheles when activated—for example, by making him teleport instantly to Rin Tohsaka's side—but he needed to agree to that control. Otherwise, the Command Spell's order would simply fail.

However, because the Command Spells existed, Mephistopheles, who had no need to draw magical energy from anywhere else, could directly draw magical energy from Rin Tohsaka and use it to replace his usual consumption.

"This is practically all rights and no obligations..." Mephistopheles muttered softly as he washed the bowls and chopsticks in the sink.

Magic could clean them too, but he still preferred doing such things himself. Relying on magic for everything could easily make someone lazy.

After dealing with the dishes, Mephistopheles looked out the window. Fuyuki City was very quiet at night.

That was only natural. The Tohsaka Estate was not located within the city, but at the highest point of Deep Mountain Town in Fuyuki City, neighboring the Matou family.

This was a district of Western-style mansions. The house itself was large, with its own spacious grounds, swimming pool, and more. But places like the pool had already fallen into disrepair, while beneath the house, the basement area served as a magus's workshop.

That was only natural as well. The current caretaker of this home was merely a high school girl. She had to attend school and study magecraft, so without servants, how could she possibly maintain such a large building?

It being neglected was perfectly normal.

Mephistopheles first checked whether Rin Tohsaka had fallen asleep. Once he saw that she had, he left the Tohsaka Estate and headed elsewhere.

He wanted to take a look at Ryuudou Temple.

Ryuudou Temple was located on Mount Enzou, and Mount Enzou was actually where the Holy Grail's main core was located.

If his memory was correct, there was currently a witch there—a witch named Medea, who had occupied the place and secretly summoned Sasaki Kojirou as Assassin.

At the same time, Medea had already killed her first Master. Her second Master was Souichirou Kuzuki, a former assassin working as a high school teacher—an obviously suspicious middle-aged man who had somehow become a teacher.

"This is a little troublesome. The era I came from should have been the Age of Gods in Fate/Grand Order's Pan-Human History... Hmm..." Mephistopheles thought, falling into deep contemplation.

"No, I can't be certain that the Age of Gods I came from was the Age of Gods from Fate/Grand Order's Pan-Human History. It could have been the Age of Gods from another Type-Moon World, and that would affect everything. I can't determine what happened during this world's Age of Gods, or which versions of the characters from this Fifth Holy Grail War will appear."

Thinking of that made Mephistopheles' head ache even more.

"So how exactly does Type-Moon's Throne of Heroes work? Are all parallel worlds merged together under one independent Throne of Heroes, or does every parallel world have its own separate Throne of Heroes?

"If it's the former, then the Heroic Spirits on that Throne of Heroes should be made up of The Infinite... Are Type-Moon's parallel universes infinite? Probably not... I remember there was a setting about pruning. The reason was apparently insufficient energy..."

As a casual player, Mephistopheles desperately searched his memories, trying to recall the settings of the Type-Moon World.

"Forget it. Whether the parallel worlds are finite or infinite, as long as the Throne of Heroes stands independent of all parallel worlds, then the Heroic Spirits upon it are equivalent to a collection of every timeline.

"Whether it's the Medea I know, the Medea from the Type-Moon stories I know, or even a Medea who became Queen of Earth, they would form a collection on the Throne of Heroes encompassing every possibility of the person named 'Medea.'

"If every parallel world has an independent Throne of Heroes, then there would be countless different Medeas. Every world would have its own Medea. Some would become Heroic Spirits, while others might never achieve deeds worthy of becoming Heroic Spirits at all.

"Hmm, behavior like in the original story—taking revenge on her husband, killing his new lover, then killing her own children—would count as deeds worthy of becoming a Heroic Spirit, right...

"But if that's the case, then encountering the Medea I know would be incredibly unlikely. I came to this world purely because a gem connected to me arrived here through a spatial-temporal disturbance, giving me the chance to participate in this Holy Grail War...

"As for Medea, there was no such opportunity... So the Medea I meet here will most likely be the one who was with Jason..."

Thinking that, Mephistopheles arrived at Ryuudou Temple, only to find everything perfectly normal. There was no obstruction whatsoever.

The legendary old man guarding the gate did not exist. The place was as normal as an ordinary temple.

Seeing this, Mephistopheles fell into confusion.

"Did I come too early? Or is this world's Holy Grail War not actually the Fifth Holy Grail War I know?"

He felt that something seemed to be out of place.

So he made another trip into the city and arrived at the Emiya Residence.

It was quiet. There was no sign of a Servant.

"That doesn't prove anything. In the original story, Rin summoned the future Shirou Emiya relatively early, while Shirou Emiya summoned Artoria at a comparatively late point.

"At this point in time, Sakura Matou had already summoned Medusa, while Illya had already summoned Heracles...

"Should I just go take a look at Heracles? Or should I visit the Matou family?"

Once that thought surfaced, it became hard to suppress, but Mephistopheles still tried his best to force it down.

"No. The Matou family and the Einzbern Family castle both have bounded fields protecting them. I could break through them and enter, but the other side might notice me, which could cause unnecessary trouble.

"And let me count the tragedies in this world. Sakura Matou, tragedy number one. Illya, tragedy number two. Then there's Bazett, the sister of my counterpart from another world. Kirei Kotomine had already severed her arm and taken Cú Chulainn from her."

Mephistopheles sighed as he thought of that. He gently rubbed the corners of his eyes, feeling that things had become rather troublesome.

He reached into his trench coat and pulled out a deck of cards.

They were obviously Tarot cards. He had bought them from Britain for several pounds. Their exquisite lines had been industrially produced, and their edges reinforced with brass to prevent damage.

Though he had never used these cards, and they were merely imitations without truly becoming Spirit Dresses, as imitations, they still possessed faint power.

Mephistopheles laid them out before him and began a form of magic he was not especially skilled at. As a mage of the Golden Dawn lineage, it was practically an embarrassment to his entire system.

Divination!

Yet no matter how poor his skill was, he still possessed genuine ability. He was not comparable to the charlatans on street corners.

After performing a round of divination, Mephistopheles finally confirmed what he wanted to know.

"Bazett really is still alive, and for now, her life isn't in danger. But judging from the divination, she's in a rather unusual state... She's unconscious and awake at the same time. Does that mean her body is unconscious, but her mind is active?"

The answer was exceptionally vague. With no other choice, Mephistopheles performed another divination. Having the result of the first reading, he adjusted the direction of this one and obtained some new information, though not much.

"A special power is protecting Bazett and keeping her from dying, but she's still recovering slowly... I need to find her at the right opportunity... And that opportunity is deeply connected to Fuyuki City itself... An opportunity containing tremendous power..."

After divining this far, Mephistopheles tried to continue, only to discover that it was difficult to gain any more information.

Giving up on the futile effort, Mephistopheles stroked his chin and roughly organized his thoughts.

"It's related to Fuyuki City. Powerful energy. That powerful energy is the opportunity... So it's connected to the Holy Grail?

"This feels troublesome. If I knew more about this world's original setting, I wouldn't be so passive right now."

As Mephistopheles thought this, his gaze gradually turned cold as he looked into the distance. That was the direction of New City, where there was a church.

His eyes were filled with undisguised killing intent!

An Unknown Dream

The earth wailed, and the mountains trembled without end!

Across the vast plains, enormous monsters advanced continuously!

They were giants—or perhaps merely monsters with humanoid appearances!

Yes, they were beings that could only be called monsters!

Simply seeing such terrifying creatures filled Rin Tohsaka's heart with fear!

Hundred-meter-tall trees were casually gripped in the hands of those enormous beings like spiked clubs.

The flames burning atop the giant trees made them resemble torches held by humans, but the fire blazing upon them was incomparably fierce. It could easily burn a person to ashes, rather than taking a long time like an ordinary torch.

Enormous mountains were pushed by the giants, colliding and piling atop one another to form stairs far beyond human imagination, leading toward an even higher peak where a magnificent palace stood, sacred and mysterious.

"Gigantes!"

"This is the war between the gods and the giants!"

Rin Tohsaka recognized the place almost instantly. This was the battle recorded in Greek mythology, the war between the gods and giants. With Heracles' aid, the gods had defeated the giants known as the Gigantes. It was also one of Heracles' legends.

Then she saw a god flashing with lightning. Divine radiance descended from the Firmament and struck the giants, yet even such a powerful attack had no effect on them. It could not even break their defenses!

The attack of Zeus, king of the Greek gods, was actually useless against them?

Even though the myths said that the gods could not kill them and required a mortal's help, seeing it with her own eyes still shocked her.

The power of that lightning was so terrifying that it might have blasted apart an entire mountain, yet it did nothing to the giants?!

How could humans fight such powerful monsters? Even Heracles—could he resist them merely because of a prophecy?!

Then Rin Tohsaka saw a roaring young man. His body was powerfully built. Though he was nothing compared to the giants, among humans, he was absolutely enormous.

He raised his weapon and slammed it fiercely into a giant. The sight was as ridiculous as a mouse swinging a wooden stick at a human.

Yet the giant was wounded by his attack!

Then the attacks of the gods followed. Along that wound, their violent power tore through everything, erasing the giant's life along with it!

At that moment, a realization emerged in Rin Tohsaka's heart.

"So humans actually broke through the Gigantes' special defenses first, and then the gods attacked through the breached area, using their own power to destroy them?"

As she thought this, she felt her deduction was correct.

Just then, she suddenly noticed a sword in her hand. A sword of light. Looking at the greatsword, a weapon that absolutely should not have existed in Greece's Age of Gods, she felt the violent power contained within it.

Magical energy erupted from it, forming a dazzling pillar of light. Like a particle beam, the torrent of magical energy blasted forward and directly erased several Gigantes giants blocking the way!

The giants grazed by its attack had their outer skins split apart by that force as well, exposing the flesh beneath.

Not far away, a young girl surrounded by countless magic circles swung the staff in her hand. Magical energy became a barrage of spells, bombarding those giants whose defenses had been breached with the firepower of a Vulcan Gatling gun.