Fate/Irregular Summons

Chapter 11: Unchanging Norms

FATE/IRREGULAR SUMMONS

Chapter 11: Unchanging Norms

In the dead of night, Kirei remained standing in his favorite spot before the altar of his church. He held a rosary to his chest as he recited some prayers in his mind. Soon though, the immense silence was disrupted when he sensed magical energy flowing behind him. He didn't turn around to acknowledge what was happening, but based on the raw purity of this magic, he had a good idea of who was making such a surprise visit.

"Caster..." he whispered.

"How do we do, good arbiter of this barbaric ceremony?" Medea coldly greeted him.

"Have you forgotten? This place is supposed to be inviolable neutral territory. No Servant is allowed to enter this sanctuary."

"Oh, dear. Are you taking me for a fool? I know just as well as you do that the rules have no meaning any longer. Your Servant must have told you about my actions by now."

The corner of Kirei's lip curled in consternation. Medea knew that he had broken the rules as well. It was rather inconvenient for him that he couldn't hide behind them while in her presence. This also meant that she could use that information as a bargaining chip to make some kind of deal with him, or else she could inform the other Masters about his illegal participation.

"Good, good. I'm glad to see we're on the same page now," Medea smiled. "Then I will get to the point. You and I both know that the outcome of this war is decided. With my victory assured, I have come to obtain my prize a little earlier than expected."

"That's impossible. The Holy Grail will not appear until only one Servant remains. You must have been made aware of this during your summoning."

"You're right about that. The Grail did order me to hunt down the other Heroic Spirits and slay them in order to activate its powers. However..."

Her grin grew even more malicious than before.

"That refers to the Greater Grail, doesn't it?"

Kirei inhaled deeply. The tension was almost unbearable for him.

Indeed, there were actually two Holy Grails that everyone was fighting over; the Greater Grail, and the Lesser Grail. One could consider them two halves of a whole that were necessary for activating the Third Magic, allowing for a wish to occur. The Greater Grail was more of an intangible concept than a physical object, which was responsible for choosing the Masters and their Servants. It also acted as a gateway to the Root, an imaginary place where the events of all timelines were recorded, and thus contained an impossibly vast amount of knowledge. Accessing that information was the penultimate goal for a Mage, and this was why they would go to extraordinary lengths to preserve their legacies. If a Mage couldn't achieve this goal themselves, they would rest their hopes on one of their descendants accomplishing it on their behalf.

In contrast, the Lesser Grail was the material form that collected the souls of the defeated six Servants, and then would be used by the surviving seventh one to make the wish on their Master's command. Despite it being called a 'Grail', that was actually a misnomer. It didn't manifest as a chalice, but was actually a human being that had been prepared as the vessel to collect the spirits. They would have a magical construct placed in their body that functioned as their 'heart', and they would be given limited mobility and fighting strength to protect themselves. The Einzberns were responsible for preparing the vessel in each Grail War, and they utilized homunculi that were inferior copies of the very first Lesser Grail, Justeaze Lizrich von Einzbern.

Now, Medea had approached Kirei demanding to know where the current Lesser Grail was. She knew that the overseer would be aware of who was constructed to fulfill the role of a sacrifice. He certainly did know who the Einzberns had created. However, he absolutely refused to tell Medea. His intent was to activate the Lesser Grail himself. Sharing this knowledge with the sorceress would ruin everything he had worked for over the last decade.