Conception/Zero (Fate/Zero x Shin Megami Tensei Crossover)

[Siriel]

Except that the guy in Digital Devil Saga is the same guy who can defeat Lucifer's demon form. (And the random encounter thing is just a joke that came from the fact that Nocturne's regular battle theme is playing.)

Kariya isn't Naoki. Just being a Demi Fiend (which ultimately just means being a human with demonic essence) doesn't make you that strong.

- - - Updated - - -

What I'm saying is that it's silly to say "Oh shit now they're in trouble" just because someone got turned into a Demi Fiend in a story that already directly involves the likes of Lucifer, the angels and possibly Cain.

[Duncan Idaho]

Except that the guy in Digital Devil Saga is the same guy who can defeat Lucifer's demon form. (And the random encounter thing is just a joke that came from the fact that Nocturne's regular battle theme is playing.)

Kariya isn't Naoki. Just being a Demi Fiend (which ultimately just means being a human with demonic essence) doesn't make you that strong.

- - - Updated - - -

What I'm saying is that it's silly to say "Oh shit now they're in trouble" just because someone got turned into a Demi Fiend in a story that already directly involves the likes of Lucifer, the angels and possibly Cain.

And the Demi Fiend starts weak and gets stronger, just saying Kariya killing some Mid Level demons with no help is pretty impressive, if he is like this already i wonder how much potential he has?, iirc there was some interview i read somewhere where one of the devs that they did not bother to swap the music track in order to make the players feel intimidated.

[Grant]

iirc Tvtropes had for some reason Arahabaki under "Game Breaker", and if something is put under Game breaker it usually means that it's pretty good.

I was never able to progress on Nocturne due to the FAQS being total crapshots, the issue was mostly centered around FAQS pointing i should have both fusion and compendium at the point i was but the game simply did not acknowledged that and so i was stuck with an Uber Fairy and nothing else to brag so i was under the impression of Arahabaki being pretty good.

If a single demi fiend thinks of a group of Shape Shifters who by all means are pretty dangerous in DDS as a random encounter as shown here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zb3nIH7E9Z0 i shudder to think what a fully realized one would be like.

If it's the SMT I version, it makes sense. Later versions of Arahabaki Null physical attacks so Kariya could only do it either to an early version or with the Pierce skill. And Arahabaki's not much of a game breaker (not sure where that entry would be on TVTropes or why) unless you've got it fused to Null/Drain/Repel everything (which is possible).

Anyway Kariya hasn't gone through the same battles that Naoki does to get to the True Demon end. He's not the general of the demon armies yet.

[Shinogu]

“Room service!”

As Sola-Ui answered the door to get their dinner, Kayneth was preoccupied with processing what he had just witnessed on the news. Of all the ways for the Holy Grail War to commence, he certainly wouldn’t have chosen such an explosive beginning. Wasting your powers on the first day of combat? Threatening the secrecy of the world of Magic? The other Masters were showing themselves to be rank amateurs.

Wasn’t this supposed to be a sequence of honorable battles between Magi? Instead, the Tohsaka Magus squandered his pathetic charity from those Church Exiles on the heretic, and his Servant was merely an avenue of escape. Meanwhile, that mystery heretic Master threatened the secrecy of the world of Magic with his grandiose, utterly excessive display of power!

Truly, Japan was a land of barbarism, and it was plain as day just what they thought of Magic. The Lord El-Melloi would have to teach them a lesson... The mood threatened to ruin his appetite, but Kayneth decided to set aside thoughts on the War in his head as he sat down to eat dinner.

“Kayneth dear, aren’t you going to offer anything to our guest?”

Kayneth gave Sola-Ui an annoyed look and sighed as he called out, “Servant Lancer, would you like any dinner tonight?” Actualizing into existence, the Servant Lancer that he had summoned stood before them. The Servant looked like an older man than his Master, but by no means was he feeble or unfit for combat. He stood up straight with confidence that could only have come from countless victories in war. His long white hair was well-groomed, and he wore what seemed like casual clothing for a royal family. If that didn’t make him stand out compared to the ones seated, then the eyepatch along the Servant’s face was the biggest red flag to his nature.

The Servant Lancer turned to Kayneth and gave a warm smile as he answered, “That will not be necessary, Lord El-Melloi. Your successful modification of the summoning ritual means that your fiancée is doing an exemplary job of keeping me sustained in this world. I am also operating outside of combat, so I am able to keep from being a drain on your resources.”

Satisfied with the situation, Kayneth was about to dismiss Lancer for the night before Sola-Ui cut in. “What Kayneth meant was that he would like you to join us for dinner tonight.” She shot an impatient look at her fiancé before turning back to Lancer and going on, “As the Holy Grail War has finally begun, the two of us would like to receive a summation of your abilities in order to draw up preliminary battle plans.”

Lancer merely kept smiling and said, “Your logic is sound, Miss. Sophia-Ri. However, I am sorry to disappoint the two of you, for such a course of action is not necessary. I am the Servant summoned by the Lord El-Melloi and yourself, Miss Sophia-Ri, and it will only take one battle in this Holy Grail War for the other Masters and Servants to realize how utterly they have been outclassed.”

“Well said, Lancer,” Kayneth said with his eyes still on his dinner, quick enough to cut off Sola-Ui before she could insist. “You may return to the roof of the Hyatt and continue your surveillance duties.” Once he felt Lancer’s essence fade back up to the roof, Kayneth looked up to see that his fiancée had a very disgruntled look on her face.

“Now before you begin your tirade, I will have you know that it is exactly as Lancer says,” Kayneth began to explain himself. “The first night of the war has come, and two of the Masters have made flashy gestures that merely exposed themselves as novices in this conflict. Expending any sort of serious thought into the war this early in the game is a useless gesture.”

A pause to devour a piece of this succulent steak, and Kayneth continued. “It will take one battle. One show of power from our Servant Lancer, one of the principal deities of Norse mythology himself, and I guarantee you that one more battle will be all it takes to finish this war off for good, and then we can head back home.”

“I can’t wait,” Sola-Ui decided to end their conversation, and Kayneth was quite satisfied with that response. As she got started on her own dinner, Sola-Ui hoped that for his sake, Kayneth was right about how things would progress. If he was wrong, then it wasn’t like he could turn to her for any advice.

~

‘Just my luck,’ Kiritsugu Emiya thought, ‘I get off my flight to Fuyuki City and somebody bombs the Hell out of it.’

Kiritsugu was still at the airport, waiting for his luggage and for a news update on the airport lobby’s TV about the location of the supposed bombing. He did some light research on the current events of Fuyuki City before departing from the Einzbern home capital, but outside of that serial killer (who he would deal with one way or another outside of the war’s proceedings), nothing grabbed his attention.

With nothing else to do as he waited for his luggage to roll down (He could have smoked, but the airport lobby prohibited smoking and he didn’t feel like hanging around outside at the moment), he reviewed the plan in his head. Tomorrow, Irisviel would arrive at Fuyuki alongside the Servant Saber, and the other Masters in the war would believe that she was the Master. Saber would engage other Servants in battle, and he would eliminate the enemy Masters in the midst of the fight, taking down the Servants as a consequence and bringing them one step closer each time to ultimate victory.

The Servant Saber, being one of the Knight classes and the renowned King Arthur herself, wouldn’t approve of these dishonorable tactics. On the other hand, the endgame for Kiritsugu’s role in this war was to rid the world of evil. Honor and chivalry had no place on the battlefield when you were doing battle with the dark forces of the world.

After their encounter with the Fiend Matador last year, there had been no more incidents with demons. Acht didn’t have anything meaningful to say to them after Saber gave the report on her battle, and it wasn’t Kiritsugu’s place to prod the old man for more information. The most that he could do over the year’s time was keep up his marksmanship for the impending battle, and to spend as much time as possible with Iri and Ilya before-

“We are bringing you this Special Report!!”

Kiritsugu shifted from “Wistful Reminiscence” mode to “Information Gather” mode as he concentrated on the breaking news bulletin:

“Approximately half an hour ago, an earthquake triggered a gas line explosion that rocked Miyama Town, the southern end of Fuyuki City. Merely one year after Matou Manor was suddenly demolished, it seemed that it was time for the Tohsaka family’s mansion to follow suit. Residents in the immediate area are unharmed, but the status of Tokiomi Tohsaka, one of Fuyuki City’s most secluded yet prominent socialites, is unknown. Local residents are outraged at this repeat incident and are calling for closer scrutiny towards the city’s gas lines...”

“Matou Manor, and now Tohsaka Mansion... Shit,” Kiritsugu muttered to himself as he dialed a number on his cell phone then immediately hung up the call. Gas line explosion, what bullshit. Somebody was targeting the Three Families that started the Holy Grail War ritual. The absence of Tokiomi Tohsaka was also troubling, as he was one of the confirmed combatant Masters in this war. Everything was pointing to one conclusion:

Einzbern Castle was not safe.

Whether it was the enigmatic man called Cypher, those Gaean Cultists screaming for Mother Earth’s return, or some other unknown party, they were able to bypass all the magical wards that the respective family heads had set up and terminate the homes with extremely volatile prejudice. Going to Einzbern Castle couldn’t be a more obvious death sentence.

The moment that his luggage peeked out of the conveyor system, Kiritsugu snatched it off the conveyor belt and left the airport. His partner, Maiya Hisau, was decked out in black clothing and waiting for him in front of a car. “I’ll tell you on the way, for now just go to the northwest end of Fuyuki,” Kiritsugu said to her as he loaded up the luggage in the car and got in. As soon as Maiya started driving, Kiritsugu called a number that he hadn’t expected to call for some time.

“It’s Emiya. I’m calling in a favor.”

...

I'm constantly slapping myself in the forehead for having sat on these two parts and not considering posting them together as one big update, rather than having writer's block on how to advance the two points of view and stretch out things that probably said just what they needed to say.

Sorry if you expected some more big action, but for at least the first act, things will be moving along on the same beats as original Fate/Zero before things get seriously derailed.

[Xamusel]

Is that so?

...still, I'm liking what you portrayed here, to be honest.

[Grant]

Well things seem to have been derailed already.

[Shinogu]

…

First, the sounds of a breeze…

A chilling wind that carried the scent of death…

Ravens cawing in the skies, and their beaks rending what little flesh they could get from the fallen…

Her mouth was so dry, she almost felt her teeth eroding as she clenched them together.

She knew what this was, and she fought to keep her eyes shut to stave off the inevitable…

And like a flickering flame from a lone candle in the dark, the light of the setting sun bled through her eyelids.

No matter how much she tried to steel her soul, Arturia Pendragon couldn’t fight the torrent of emotion that threatened to overcome her at remembering the Battle of Camlann. It was the purest symbol of her failure to lead her people and her country…


Wait.

Saber looked down at herself and saw that she was wearing her black suit that Irisviel had tailored for her, not the blood-stained battle dress that she could never forget. Saber stood up straight to take in the surroundings, and it was indeed the aftermath of the Battle of Camlann… but something was amiss. It was like the moment had been frozen in time, as if it had been plucked from her memory.

King of Knights…

Saber watched as a cloud of blackness in an indigo cloak suddenly manifested before her. She tried to demand that it identify itself, but she was frozen in place and found herself inexplicably mute.

Time and again, this vision, of one mere battlefield among countless more, is the stain upon your soul…

The wind that seemed to blow with no end suddenly stopped. The clouds froze where they seemed painted into the sky, ravens became as still as the dead they fed from.

It drives you to this day, to undo the greatest failure of your life… the Rule of the Failure King…

Upon those last words, the scene around them did something unimaginable. The ravens were vomiting out the flesh that they had torn up, clouds drove back as the sun returned light to the land, the dead became living once again, blood that was let returned, mortal wounds were undone-

Before her eyes, Saber watched as her legend was rewinding before her eyes. Mordred’s rebellion… The moment she found out about him and Guinevere... Sir Gawain and Sir Bedivere, all of the Knights of the Round Table… Her first battle as the King of Britain…

It has molded your wish… the very reason you fight in the Holy Grail War…

A burst of wind made Saber shield herself in reflex, and she found herself alone in that field once again, with the Sword in the Stone before her.

Your wish… to save your Kingdom and your people… to become the King Eternal of Britannia...

The cloaked being blinked into existence, equidistant to Caliburn as Saber stood. Without preamble, the being slowly walked toward the Sword in the Stone and reached out...

And the cloak drew back to reveal a hand of bone, dripping with the presence of evil.

Saber leapt forward to grab the sword before the other-

Would you endure the fires of Hell, and beyond, to be granted your wish?
We will meet again… King of Knights…

-and found herself sprawled on top of Irisviel von Einzbern, but for her hand planting the fair head of the Lady Einzbern into the carpeting of the aircraft they were flying in.

Utterly mortified at the scene she inadvertently made, Saber hurriedly got off of Irisviel and helped her up. “Irisviel! My sincere apologies, are you hurt?”

Irisviel could only giggle as she watched Saber fuss over her in a way that she couldn’t have done back home. “Not at all, Saber. I only meant to check up on you with something Kiritsugu told me, and I found that you were having a fitful sleep. Although…” Irisviel gave Saber a flirty glance, “It must not have been that bad for you to set yourself upon me. Try aiming a little lower next time, though.”

Saber really should have been used to this by now, but it didn’t stop her cheeks from getting a little pink. “It- It wasn’t what you think.” What little embarrassment she felt quickly melted away as she remembered the contents of that dream. A being that emanated the same evil that she felt from the Matador, with full knowledge of her wish for the Holy Grail War… Detecting Irisviel’s inquisitive look her way, Saber changed the subject. “So what did Kiritsugu have to say?”

Irisviel sat back down in her own chair facing Saber and replied, “We’re meeting up at another location once we touch down in Fuyuki City. Apparently the Tohsaka family home was attacked, and after Zouken’s demise, Kiritsugu wants us away from the Einzbern Castle as much as he can help it.”

Irisviel saw Saber’s expression change back to the one that she remembered when Kiritsugu had those meetings, and she went on, “It’s nothing like a temporary stay at a hotel like one of the other Masters is doing. Kiritsugu reassured me that it’s a place that we can trust, and he’s making fortifications for the new base. He’ll be done by the time we arrive.”

Saber nodded as she looked out the window. The sun was setting, though it looked nothing like it did on that day. Really, it was foolish to dwell on that dream. “Endure the fires of Hell,” for the sake of her people, her country? It wasn’t even a question worth asking. Saber vowed in her heart, she would face all the evil of the world if it meant granting her people salvation.

~~~

IT'S MY BIRTHDAY, so naturally I finally post something. My God, I'm 25.

I neglected to update the links in the OP because I wasn't sure if I should count what I posted recently as a separate update, I might as well after this one too. Please to read and talk?

Speaking of OPs, toying with the idea of posting a "play-for-play" list of things that play out in my head whenever I listen to the song that would be the OP for this story if it were animated, which is a thing that happens with all sorts of things that I listen to as I write. Anybody interested in such a thing?

[burningclaw2]

Happy birthday

[The Green Flame]

Hmmmm Red Rider? I bet it's Red Rider.

And go for it I say. Also, Happy Birthday.

[Grant]

Well Red is the Rider associated with swords.

And go with what you find interesting.

[Shinogu]

OP post will have to wait because it kinda goes through the whole song, not a hypothetical TV-size version, so that would be more of an Image Song maybe? Eh, whatever. A bit shorter update than usual, at least by my reckoning:

~

“... This is the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”

Gilles de Rais, the Servant Caster to Ryuunosuke Uryuu and the Cult of Gaea, was very pleased with his new Master. He had such an earnest exuberance at the vision of the battle that started off the Holy Grail War earlier that night. Ryuunosuke had asked to watch the battle over and over from his crystal ball, and he politely obliged each time.

“I mean- DUDE The way he freakin’ just ENDS those demons and- This isn’t freaky Hollywood special effects like that dinosaur movie, right?! Hey Master Bluebeard, can you do anything like this?”

Caster was stunned for a short bit before realizing why Ryuunosuke said what he said. It was his own introduction to Ryuunosuke and his Cult leader Gotou where he gave the title “Bluebeard,” though why it even took a little bit to remember his own name was a curiosity in itself. As for his combat prowess…

“Well, my dear Ryuunosuke, though I have been summoned into the Caster class, which is traditionally one of the weaker ones by physical standards, I was quite adept with a sword back in my day! And failing my own capabilities as a physical fighter, THE ABOMINATIONS THAT I CAN BECKON INTO THIS WORLD WILL REND THE LIMBS OFF OF MY FOES BEFORE THEY CAN EVEN THINK TO TAP-DANCE ON THEIR OWN GRAVES!!!!!!!!!!”

With each other shouted word, Caster’s eyes bulged larger and wider and he made grand sweeping gestures with his arms and long-nailed hands. Ryuunosuke took in every word like gospel, stars shining in his eyes and clapping like he was a little kid at a circus. “Oh man, I need to get my toolbox back from my apartment! Or at least, ask Gotou if we’ve got anything I could use…”

With impeccable timing, the Cult General walked right into the room with his flunkies by his side, one of them holding a box labeled “Uryuu” in his arms. While Ryuunosuke busied himself with the mook holding his unmentionables, Gotou went to Caster. “I hope your Master has not been any trouble, Caster.”

Caster bowed down and wore a polite (yet still slightly demented) smile on his face and replied, “Not at all, General. In fact, his mood is quite invigorating to my spirit. I think we will get along just fine for the duration of this conflict. Would you like to review the battle that transpired tonight as well?”

Given that was the sole reason that he had come down to this office, Gotou nodded and walked over to the crystal ball while Caster began to work his magic. Any information about the combat tactics of magi would be helpful on this warfront.

Gotou scrutinized each phase of the encounter in his head, ‘Messians are counting certain demons among their own, so long as they bend to the Great Will… The Tohsaka Master certainly didn’t believe it necessary to get his own hands dirty… But this man, he fights like one of the Asura-crazed, with brutality tempered by efficiency… and now the Servant arrives-’

“Wait,” Gotou called out, and he motioned for Caster to come over. “Could you repeat this section, after the Asura initiates the earthquake. And make clearer what Tohsaka is saying.” It was a more-flowery way to ask if he could rewind and enhance audio, but Gotou didn’t want to take any chances with Caster’s interpretation of his words.

…

“Kariya-kun!! you have to stop this, right now!!”

A million thoughts sparked in Gotou’s mind, and they all exploded like fireworks when Kariya Matou shouted to the sky.

“THE WAR HAS BEGUN!!”

Caster dismissed his crystal ball at that line and bowed to Gotou. “The fight ends at this point, and I would wish that your eyes not be damaged by the flare of the explosion-” The General was not one to look dumbstruck, but he did seem to be staring off into space. “General, is everything alright?”

Gotou blinked once and nodded. “Yes, that will be all for tonight Caster, Ryuunosuke. I shall be making preparations for our front soon enough. Get some rest, good night.” Caster bowed and faded away, while Ryuunosuke made a big show of yawning and wishing everybody good night. As soon as they exited the chamber, Gotou ordered his flunkies, “Get Byakuya.”

[Grant]

That changes things (some more). And there are two 1's among your !'s.

[Shinogu]

The 1's are intentional, but I might edit them out anyways. It does look weird.

~

‘...Shit.’
‘Shit shit shit. It still hurts.’

On some level, what little training that he had prior to the operation certainly didn’t help matters, but using up that much of his own energy to create that explosion wasn’t the brightest idea.

‘It’ll be a strategic move, a scare tactic on the mere human magus fuck Tokiomi. Great plan Kariya. You’re such a damn genius. Ow.’

Kariya Matou limped up the stairs to his new apartment, the last bit of charity from Cypher when he decided to fight in the Grail War. For a first battle, it certainly felt like Kariya had spent way too long in a gym and was suffering for pushing himself too far.

It was a small comfort that he probably still didn’t feel as grotesque as if he had ever trained under Zouken.

Kariya stopped at his door and pulled the keys out of his pocket. He was trying to remember which key went with which lock when he heard footsteps on the other side and the door was opened.

“Welcome home, Uncle Kariya.”

Kariya sighed and walked in with the first smile that he could muster in a long time. “I’m home.” He slumped in his chair and didn’t even feel hungry anymore. The happiness that his ward emanated was enough for him.

Although…

“...Sakura, you don’t have to wait up for me. I’m fine, see? Your Uncle Kariya can take care of himself.”

Sakura sat down in the chair across from him and nodded, though she didn’t look him in the eye.

“You’re going back to school tomorrow, remember? Get some rest, okay? You never make a first impression twice, after all.”

“... I was...”

Kariya opened his eyes to look more carefully at Sakura, who didn’t look happy with whatever was on her mind.

“I had a bad dream, Uncle Kariya… I was here, but everything outside, it… It was burning and falling… People weren’t moving but… there were demons everywhere…”

Now wide awake, Kariya got up from his chair to kneel by Sakura as her eyes started to tear up. “It was only a dream, okay Sakura? Come here,” he hugged Sakura to try to calm her down. “It was only a dream, Sakura.”

He felt her nodding into his shoulder and carried her into her sparse bedroom. The desk had her bookbag with school supplies, and he didn’t even remember reminding her to get ready. Good girl.

Kariya tucked Sakura into her bed and patted her head softly. “Good night, Sakura. Don’t worry about the bad dreams. I’ll be there to keep them away.”

“Promise?”

Kariya smiled and replied, “Always.” He kissed her on the forehead and left the bedroom to rest in his own quarters again.

Sakura slept at ease, her thoughts drifting into her dreamland with wonder of what she would be doing at school, what new friends she would make… and away from that city of death, lit with a dark sun, a lone man standing at the center.

~

I would like to say something about quality and quantity, but I feel like I don't write that great to say something about that.

In any case, next update is the last one for Chapter 1, and it's a new day!

[Grant]

I'd think it was foreshadowing, but demons everywhere and things on fire is par for the course in SMT.

[Shinogu]

…

“… Is he still alive?”

“Of course he is. He’s a Tohsaka, one of the Three Families behind this conflict, not an ordinary Magus.”

“The being that led the Makiri family was no ordinary Magus either… and we can only speculate as to what The Fallen One did to him.”

“Then we are certainly lucky to have chosen to sponsor the Tohsaka family, aren’t we, Wise Men?”

…

“If you would please excuse me, it seems Tokiomi Tohsaka has regained consciousness.”


~

His first breath entered like nectar in his lungs, and Tokiomi Tohsaka awoke in a black chamber lit by dancing, iridescent cubes of light. They seemed to spin all around him at varying speeds, without any consistent pattern yet all clear white as the light shined out from within them.

Tokiomi got up to check himself, his clothes, equipment, goatee… Everything seemed to be intact. He hadn’t gotten into the scuffle with Kariya back at the mansion, but he had to be sure. The atmosphere just seemed so ethereal… Of course, everything made sense once he turned around.

His Servant, Archer, was at a makeshift desk made of cubes, wearing white robes and writing into a book with his trusty quill. As Tokiomi walked over, he saw that three more books were already stacked beside his Servant. Peering over Archer’s shoulder, he was met with the sight of an ancient religious script that he could only barely comprehend.

Before he could get more than a sentence into his head (A comment about the humanoid demon, most likely Kariya), Archer seemed to notice his Master was awake and closed the book as he stood to face him. Relief was the emotion of the day on Archer’s face, and as always his silence was left to speak volumes.

“Thank you, Archer, for bringing me here to the Messian headquarters,” Tokiomi said to his Servant, who only smiled and bowed a little in response. Archer’s already-floating hair stood up a bit more than usual, and a crackle of static heralded what, or more specifically, who was to come.

With a flash of lightning, Thorman burst into existence and landed near the duo. Looking at them side-by-side, Thorman could have been mistaken for Archer’s older brother if he were in classical battle attire rather than the white suit that he was wearing. “Tokiomi, glad to see you are awake. Excellent work, Archer. I shall take it from here.”

Archer showed only the slightest bit of concern as he bowed to Thorman and vanished, and Tokiomi bowed as well before he stood before his teacher. “Let me guess: The Wise Men’s Committee has yet another big idea for me to try out for the Holy Grail War?”

Thorman chuckled a bit before clearing his throat and said, “I wouldn’t be so dismissive of them this time, Tokiomi-kun. After all, Cypher seems to have outfitted your former friend with some very controversial abilities.” Thorman conjured his hammer out of nothing and thrust it forward, and in response the whole wall of cubes morphed before them into an archway to a massive chapel.

“Indeed, Thorman.”

The voice came to Tokiomi not by his ears, but as a sensation that radiated in his head. He immediately flinched, because it was impossible to prepare for conversing with the Essence, and sometimes it seemed almost useless to try to keep your thoughts hidden from them.

“Rest assured, Tokiomi, we are still not omniscient.”

And it would help too if they would stop trying to allay fears that apparently shouldn’t be had.

At the end of the chapel, facing Thorman and Tokiomi, was a massive stained-glass mural depicting four angelic figures, the Wise Men’s Committee. It was to this mural that the Messians prayed night and day, and the Essence within was what led them throughout the last 60 years.

The voice rumbled through the hall as it came to Tokiomi and Thorman. This time he was ready for it.

“Tokiomi Tohsaka, you should have known better than to think that this Holy Grail War could escape the machinations of the Fallen One. An artifact with untold power as the prize to the war’s victor? What greater boon is there for the Fallen One to bring his world of unchecked chaos to fruition?”

Tokiomi tried to get over his headache at being reprimanded by four divine presences speaking as one and replied, “I must reassure you, Wise Men, we were taking all precautions against Cypher getting involved in his War again. Particularly after the… incident with my daughter.”

“Your daughter… Rin, is it? Or do you mean Sakura?”

Tokiomi looked up suddenly at the mural, lost for words and breath. His eyes subconsciously set upon the angel Gabriel in the mural, whose eyes were closed with an expression of grace. “I… I have no right to call myself anything like a father to Sakura. It was… Cypher’s deception that claimed my daughter Rin’s life, a life that I swiftly took back.”

“But can you so quickly cast aside the memory of the young girl Sakura, to which the Matou Heretic pledged his Right of Vengeance against you?”

It was the last thing that he wanted to remember at the moment, but Tokiomi’s encounter with the demon that he had once called a friend came back far too easily now. “Kariya Matou… He rejected the Path of the Magus, and now he thinks that he can wield the power of a Demon like a madman swings a knife.”

“Yes, the Fallen One… He has his means to twist the sinful to his own ends. The Matou Heretic is showing signs of becoming a Fiend, or worse. You know what must be done.”

It was still vivid in his mind, the look that Kariya gave him. Drunk with unknown power, his yellow eyes no longer showing a hint of humanity, a horrifying grin that could only come from a wicked soul… There was no hope left. No mercy to grant him.

“Kariya Matou is only a man playing at power beyond human reckoning.”

Tokiomi stood up straight, and took out a jewel from his pocket. He held it out on his palm, then turned his hand over.

“I am Tokiomi Tohsaka of the Tohsaka family of Magi, and First Lieutenant of the Messian Order.”

The jewel fell about an inch from his overturned palm, and seemed to fold outward and grow as a cane sprouted from the bottom tip of the jewel.

“I will eviscerate his demon body and wretched soul with all my might, and with his dying breath, he will know what True Power is when wielded by One Blessed with the Light.”

CHAPTER 5 END

---

Good lord, this took way too long to finally just get done. Sorry!! Good news is, with Chapter 5 done I can finally move on with the next day! If you recall the regular course of events in original Fate/Zero, that should say enough as to what you can generally expect.

[Duncan Idaho]

... So i shat a brick, i havent read this in a while but the Wise men are involved? fuck, Toshaka is now the Law puppet much like Kariya is the Chaos puppet.

Shit is going to hit the fan on ch 6.

I also find odd that when Tokiomi was questioned about Sakura he went off to rant about Kariya.

[FlameStrike]

"Is he still alive?" What a hilariously in context quote to start this chapter with hahaha.

Welcome back Shinogu! I defiantly missed this fic.

[Shinogu]

I've got a question for you all: Would you prefer that you get the chapter as I've been doing it lately, in separate parts that I post as they're done? Or would you prefer to get one big post that is the entire new chapter? I'm asking because I feel kinda bad about the moments when something in life comes up or I hit a roadblock, and then there's only a part of a whole chapter done.

[Xamusel]

I would prefer it as the whole thing, if you can manage that, Shinogu.

[Duncan Idaho]

I've got a question for you all: Would you prefer that you get the chapter as I've been doing it lately, in separate parts that I post as they're done? Or would you prefer to get one big post that is the entire new chapter? I'm asking because I feel kinda bad about the moments when something in life comes up or I hit a roadblock, and then there's only a part of a whole chapter done.

Full chapter, Would You kindly.