Chapter Summaries

Horace and Lilith’s daughter Hötter was born with a powerful soul and fragile consciousness, so Horace sealed her soul and helped her create a moon to bear its weight. By age twelve, Hötter had mastered Moon True Magic, leaving Ranni resentful of her younger sister’s talent and height.

• Lilith explained that Hötter could control reincarnation and even decide whether new life could be born in the Lands Between.
• Horace welcomed Hötter, whose powerful soul repeatedly threatened to leave her fragile body, and sealed her soul inside with the power of the Great Runes.
• Horace helped Hötter manifest her own moon to bear part of her soul, allowing her to grow safely to twelve.
• Hötter mastered Rennala’s Full Moon, Rellana’s Twin Moons, Horace’s Blood Moon, and her own Empty Moon, so four moons shone over Caria.
• Ranni watched Hötter summon a moon and felt betrayed, remembering how she had once prized her younger sister for being shorter than herself.

Horace searched for a way to protect Hötter from the growing imbalance between her soul and body, and Dove offered him a mission in the Nasuverse in exchange for help. Horace agreed to cleanse the Holy City and chose Messmer to accompany him as an angel.

• Horace worried that Hötter's powerful soul would eventually overwhelm her weak body, while the Outer Gods admitted they had no solution.
• Horace found one of Dove's feathers beside the Gate of Myriad Laws and learned that Dove had gone to the Nasuverse, to the Holy City in the first century AD.
• Dove asked Horace to cleanse the Holy City, awaken its blinded people, and lead them to freedom before its destruction.
• Dove required an angel to accompany Horace and forbade heretics from taking part, leaving Horace to supply the angel himself.
• Horace chose Messmer, reasoning that the obedient fire god would burn wherever he was told.

Horace pulled Messmer away from Sellen’s stall and sent him to cleanse an ancient Holy City with heavenly fire while sparing those who prayed. Messmer began burning the city’s corrupt Temple, and the chapter ended before the full destruction was shown.

• Messmer haggled with Sellen over a limited-edition Melina doll, but Horace opened a rift and dragged him away before he could buy it.
• Horace told Messmer to act as an angel and burn a city’s temple, while sparing those who were praying.
• Messmer arrived above the first-century Holy City and saw a Temple corrupted by profiteering and injustice.
• Messmer summoned crimson flames, which passed over the faithful and began consuming the thieves and those who enabled the Temple’s corruption.

Messmer unleashed a supernatural fire that destroyed the holy city and judged sinners, while Dove watched without intervening. The flames reached Rome, prompting the Emperor to abandon the old faith and declare worship of the Lord; Messmer gained a place in Human Order, but the fire did not return.

• Messmer brought scarlet flames down on the Temple, its streets, and Antonia Fortress, sparing those who prayed as the city burned.
• Messmer impaled evildoers on spears of black iron and burned them, sensing that the judgment came from an anger he did not recognize as his own.
• Messmer sent a pillar of fire into the sky, and its glow spread from Judea to Rome.
• The Emperor saw the fiery sky and later heard that the Roman legions had broken down outside the holy city, so she decreed that the Rome Empire would worship the Lord.
• Dove achieved his goal of giving Messmer local registration in Human Order, while the Emperor waited in vain for the fire to descend again.

Melina worried that the Duchess might care for the Tarnished, whom she considered a pervert. Meanwhile, the player uncovered the troubling relationship between the giant Yhorm and his master Adam, the Fire Thief, and received Adam’s keepsake seal.

• Melina questioned whether the Duchess could truly love the Tarnished and recalled him sniffing her boots.
• The player found Yhorm pounding a rock with his bloody fists and learned that Adam had taught him the training method.
• Adam attacked the Tarnished, then stopped when the player weakened him and questioned him about Yhorm.
• The player found Yhorm crying and learned that he believed his weakness was making Adam angry.
• The player told Adam that Yhorm was crying, and Adam thanked him and gave him the Giants' Sacred Seal.

The Tarnished uncovered the truth about Yhorm’s giant heritage and the Fell God’s flame within him, after earning Yhorm’s trust and completing Adam’s task. Adam revealed that he was trying to protect Yhorm by making him a lord under another god, then offered to teach the Tarnished special incantations.

• The Tarnished showed Yhorm the Giant’s Sacred Seal, and Yhorm became emotional before accepting the Tarnished as a friend.
• Yhorm gave the Tarnished a flower garland, which the Tarnished showed to Adam and urged him to change Yhorm’s training.
• Adam asked the Tarnished to retrieve his stolen medallion from a Fire Prelate in an Evergaol in Liurnia.
• The Tarnished defeated the Fire Prelate and returned Iji’s Medallion to Adam.
• Adam revealed that Yhorm’s mother was a giant, that the Flame Guardians sacrificed pregnant giants, and that Yhorm now carried the Fell God of Fire’s flame.
• Adam explained that he hoped Yhorm could become another god’s lord to escape the Fell God, then offered to teach the Tarnished special incantations.

Horace learned that Messmer could not enter the Holy Grail War directly, so the dove proposed spreading an apocryphal account that would let Messmer be summoned. Horace chose Miquella to write it, despite Messmer’s concerns about what Miquella might produce.

• The dove urged Horace to seek the Third Magic through the Holy Grail War rather than seize it by force, warning that Alaya would react to direct interference.
• The dove explained that Messmer was too powerful to participate and that Horace would need someone to spread a story establishing a summonable aspect of the Serpent of Fire.
• Horace suggested Miquella as the writer, and Messmer questioned whether Miquella could handle the task.
• Horace and Messmer agreed that Miquella’s writing was likely influenced by Trina, and Horace decided to warn him to be careful.

Miquella sought inspiration for his writing and found it in Radahn caring for a frightened horse, which he misread as a lesson in romance. After questioning Radahn, Miquella left with a wealth of ideas for an “unparalleled masterpiece,” while Trina and Marika worried about his interpretations.

• Miquella interpreted a bird eating bugs as an expression of love, baffling Trina and impressing the secretly watching Marika.
• Miquella spotted Radahn gently soothing a frightened horse and declared their interaction the truest love in the world.
• Miquella asked Radahn about caring for horses, and Radahn enthusiastically explained patience, feeding, and petting.
• Miquella twisted Radahn’s advice into ideas about flirting and conditioning, while Trina and Marika reacted to his conclusions.
• Radahn finished sharing his horse-raising advice and left, while Miquella considered the encounter valuable material for his writing.

Miquella wrote a scandalous romance about Radahn and his horse, prompting Trina to plan an escape while pretending to enjoy it. Horace then asked Miquella to write Messmer’s biography, and Miquella instead planned to depict him as a woman, leaving Horace worried about the damage to Messmer’s reputation.

• Miquella pitched Trina a romance about a knight and his horse, then wrote the story with Radahn as its protagonist.
• Trina decided to flee at the Thousand-Year Contest but pretended to ask Miquella to continue writing so Radahn might punish him.
• Radahn rode with his horse on the Altus Plateau and missed Godwyn and Fortissax reacting to Miquella’s story.
• Godwyn decided to spread the story through the Lands Between, while Horace took Miquella away to write Messmer’s biography.
• Miquella proposed turning Messmer into a woman and produced his old women’s outfit, so Horace asked him not to go too far.

The player left Adam’s shop with a talisman and a letter about Yhorm, then found Sellen posing as a merchant at the Church of Elleh. After buying her dolls and learning several sorceries, the player agreed to become Sellen’s apprentice despite her warnings about the dangers of her pursuit of the Primeval Current.

• The player bought [Flame, Heal Me] from Adam, received the [Giant's Red Braid], and later found Adam’s letter entrusting Yhorm to his care in Caelid.
• The player returned to the Church of Elleh and found Sellen in Kalé’s place; she said Kalé had gone to visit his family.
• The player bought all three Melina dolls from Sellen, receiving a [Rebirth Flower] and gifts of a [Caria Glintstone Staff] and [Green Turtle Talisman].
• Sellen recognized the player’s basic aptitude and taught him [Glintstone Pebble], [Glintstone Arc], and [Starlight].
• The player agreed three times to become Sellen’s apprentice, and Sellen accepted him while warning that her strict training could get him killed.

Miquella departed for the Nasuverse while Godwyn secretly printed a scandalous story about Radahn and his horse. Marika’s rumor left Radahn facing his mother’s suspicions and another matchmaking date, and he swore revenge on Marika.

• Miquella set off for the Nasuverse carrying fragments of Messmer in women’s clothing provided by Melina.
• Godwyn and his servants printed copies of “The Red-Haired Knight and His Beloved Horse-A Forbidden Love Across Species” while Fortissax kept watch.
• Rennala summoned Radahn and questioned him about whether he had an unconventional attraction to horses, repeating his own comments about his warhorse.
• Radahn insisted he only liked horses normally, and Rennala agreed to believe him but required him to attend another matchmaking date.
• Marika revealed herself as the source of the rumor, and Radahn vowed to remember the grudge against her.

Messmer tried to buy a Melina Doll but lacked the Runes, while Horace reassigned him to Volcano Manor and sent Rykard to help Mohg at Stormveil. Rykard began suspecting Messmer or Horace was his father, and Mohg-te asked Horace for permission to dye his hair green for Tricia.

• Messmer counted his Runes at Sellen's stall, found he could not afford the latest Melina Doll, and ignored Mohg's calls for help when Sellen asked about him.
• Horace assigned Volcano Manor to Messmer and sent Rykard to Stormveil Castle to assist Mohg with its workload.
• Rykard wondered who his father was, guessed Messmer might be, and received a slap from Rennala when he questioned her.
• Uriel told Rykard that Horace had once had red hair, leaving Rykard convinced he had uncovered the truth.
• Mohg-te asked Horace to let him dye his hair green because he liked Tricia, a perfumer who had tried to cure the Omen.

Kiritsugu Emiya summoned Proto Saber to win the Holy Grail, but the king warned him that the Grail could not grant the salvation he sought and urged him to abandon the war. Kiritsugu refused and used a Command Spell to make Proto Saber participate, leaving the two bound to pursue the war despite their disagreement.

• Kiritsugu Emiya summoned Proto Saber beneath Einzbern Castle with Avalon as the catalyst.
• Proto Saber warned Kiritsugu that he was wavering and urged him to give up the Holy Grail War.
• Proto Saber said the Holy Grail could not grant Kiritsugu’s wish, while Jubstacheit von Einzbern claimed its power came from the souls of six Servants.
• Kiritsugu rejected Proto Saber’s warning, and Proto Saber revealed he had seen the Holy Grail corrupted.
• Kiritsugu used a Command Spell to order Proto Saber to fight in the war and obey him until the end.

Kirei Kotomine, Tokiomi Tohsaka, Waver Velvet, and Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald summoned Servants as the Fourth Holy Grail War began, while King Hassan warned that an angel was about to descend. The chapter ended with Vlad III refusing Kayneth’s demand for complete obedience as Kayneth prepared to use a Command Spell.

• King Hassan appeared behind Hassan of the Hundred Faces, killed her, and warned Kirei Kotomine that an Angel Who Judges All Humanity was about to descend.
• Gilgamesh told Tokiomi Tohsaka that King Hassan had arrived as a watchdog sent by the Counter Force and ordered him to keep Kirei away from the old man.
• After Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald mocked Waver Velvet’s research, Waver stole a relic and summoned a red-haired man who greeted him as an old acquaintance.
• Kayneth summoned Vlad III with a backup relic, and Vlad identified himself as Kayneth’s spear rather than his servant.
• Kayneth prepared to use a Command Spell after Vlad refused to obey his orders completely.

Kayneth backed down from using a Command Spell, while Cú Chulainn appeared in Fuyuki, killed Ryunosuke, and met the boy Shirou. In the Matou workshop, Sakura’s prayer summoned Messmer, who destroyed the Crest Worms and appeared before Zouken.

• Sola stopped Kayneth from wasting a Command Spell, and Kayneth lowered his hand as the Grand Duke approved.
• Ryunosuke summoned Cú Chulainn and offered him a child as a sacrifice, but Cú Chulainn killed Ryunosuke instead.
• Cú Chulainn spoke gently with the surviving boy, who said his name was Shirou.
• Zouken sent Crest Worms toward Sakura in the Matou underground workshop, and Sakura silently pleaded for help.
• Sakura’s flames destroyed the Crest Worms and summoned Messmer, who appeared in black armor before her and Zouken.

Messmer rescued Sakura from Zouken Matou and burned his worm-filled body, though she sensed he had not been completely destroyed. She took Sakura away and learned from Horace that her summoned class was Berserker, while continuing to plan revenge on Miquella.

• Messmer pulled Sakura to her feet and shielded her from Zouken Matou, who demanded that Sakura bring him the Holy Grail.
• Messmer impaled Zouken Matou and burned him and the worm pit, but sensed that the disgusting presence had survived.
• Messmer spoke with Horace, learned she was a Berserker, and asked where Miquella was so she could burn him.
• Messmer took Sakura out of the filthy place, introduced herself, and led the girl onward.
• Horace reviewed Messmer's parameters and skills, teased her about her appearance and luck, and ended their connection when she threatened to burn him too.

Kiritsugu Emiya and Proto Saber awakened from dreams that revealed the past and a mysterious girl’s trust. After Tokiomi rejected Sakura as an enemy, Messmer took her back to the Matou residence to seek money and information about Zouken, where Byakuya revealed Zouken’s body changes and the worm he kept underground.

• Kiritsugu Emiya woke from a dream of a blonde girl entrusting something to Proto Saber, while Proto Saber awakened after witnessing Kiritsugu’s painful past.
• Tokiomi Tohsaka called Sakura his enemy and shut the door on her, so Messmer comforted her and carried her away.
• Gilgamesh told Tokiomi that he had planned Sakura’s adoption to preserve the Tohsaka inheritance, and Tokiomi admitted that he was a mage.
• Messmer brought Sakura to the Matou residence to get money and asked Byakuya Matou where Zouken was and what he knew about him.
• Byakuya Matou said Zouken could change bodies and kept an important worm underground, then revealed that his son was underground with the worms and that he had helped him after finding him no longer human.

Messmer burned the Matou worm pit and helped Horace extract and seal part of Zouken Matou's soul. The sealed memories revealed that Zouken had once been Makiri Zolgen, one of the Holy Grail War's founders who had shared an ideal of eradicating evil before five centuries of survival corrupted him.

• Messmer set the worm pit ablaze, forcing Zouken Matou's true body to emerge from the ashes.
• Horace used the Great Runes and Sellen's knowledge of souls to separate and seal part of Zouken's soul in a book.
• Messmer covered Sakura's eyes while Zouken's worms burned and his soul was divided.
• Horace identified the sealed figure as Makiri Zolgen, one of the Three Founding Families who established the Holy Grail War with Nagato Tohsaka and Lizrich Justeaze von Einzbern.
• Makiri remembered that the founders had once vowed to eradicate evil, but his pursuit of survival had consumed his ideals.

The player met Eleonora and Yura, then joined them in hunting the corrupted Flying Dragon Cosmil in the Bloodcrystal Plains. After a long battle, they defeated Cosmil and obtained two dragon hearts, but a cutscene began as the camera pulled back.

• The player traveled east toward Caelid and met Eleonora and Yura, who invited him to hunt Flying Dragon Cosmil.
• Eleonora explained that dragon hearts could grant power through dragon communion, while Yura warned that the ritual could turn its practitioners into something inhuman.
• The player reunited with Eleonora and Yura at the Bloodcrystal Plains Outpost and summoned them to fight Cosmil.
• Cosmil attacked with crystals, fire, charges, spikes, and blood-filled roars as Eleonora drew its attacks and Yura dealt most of the damage.
• Yura severed Cosmil's tail, and the dragon fell; the player received two dragon hearts before a cutscene began.

Makiri Zolgen regained his conscience and began teaching Sakura basic magecraft, while Messmer burned Zouken Matou’s evil for magical energy and struggled against its influence. At Kirei Kotomine’s home, Caren refused the Hassans’ attempts to train her and remained hostile to their kindness.

• Makiri Zolgen remembered Lizlaixi, mourned the monster he had become, and admitted to Sakura that Zouken Matou was his own corrupted self.
• Sakura suggested that a bad person could become good again, and Makiri agreed to teach her basic magecraft, beginning with Butterfly Magecraft.
• Messmer burned Zouken Matou’s evil to gain magical energy, but the sin and impurities intensified her urge to burn things.
• Sakura worried about Messmer, who reassured her and took her along as they left.
• At Kirei Kotomine’s home, Caren rejected the Hassans’ offers to teach her assassination skills and dismissed their concern for her.