In a dim workshop guarded by homunculi, Darnik Prestone Yggdmillennia stood in solemn silence, his cold eyes scanning the space.
Nutrient tanks were scattered like chess pieces across the room. One artificial human after another floated silently within senseless, their bodies repurposed as magical energy batteries.
This was one of Darnik's greatest achievements after founding the Yggdmillennia clan. Though the original family behind the technology had long since declined, their research into artificial humans remained remarkably advanced. With his financial support, Darnik had successfully resurrected their craft, and it had become one of his most powerful assets in the Holy Grail War.
As he stood in the center of the ritual circle, surrounded by eleven homunculi chanting in unison, a massive surge of magical light radiated from the floor. The supply of mana, unrestricted by the consumption of human limits, was enough to fuel a first-rate Heroic Spirit at full power with energy to spare.
Darnik gritted his teeth, struggling to contain the titanic flow of magic. The workshop's barrier helped stabilize the ritual, but to any outside observer, the scene would have been bizarre. Danik, a magus renowned across the Western world, was now forming a Rooster Seal mudra and chanting in a flawless, archaic language.
"Come on!!!! Open up!, open!..."
Despite his fluent incantation and the enormous amount of magical energy, the circle gave no response. The light flickered and died. Danik's expression twisted into a scowl. He had no choice but to proceed with the next step, infusing the accumulated mana into the object placed at the circle's heart.
The workshop exploded with light before everything fell into silence.
Danik stumbled, groaning as blood seeped from the corners of his mouth. The backlash had taken a toll on his body, but even worse, the object at the center of the circle remained unchanged.
A simple stone. No reaction.
"Sixty years... and it's still like this. I did it easily back then," he muttered.
Sixty years ago, during the Third Holy Grail War, Darnik had commanded the Heroic Spirit Finn and used his Noble Phantasm to uncover the location of the Greater Grail. Attempting to claim it, he'd been confronted by the ancient monster of the Matou family, Zouken. A series of bloody battles followed, culminating in a chaotic final clash that ended with the Holy Grail shattering.
No one had expected it.
As the Heroic Spirits' souls returned to the ruined Grail, the ritual space of Fuyuki, charged with sixty years of accumulated energy, reacted unpredictably. In the center of that vortex, both Danik and Zouken were struck with a deluge of incomprehensible knowledge. Their mouths moved on their own, reciting ancient chants in a language they had never studied.
Then it happened.
The accumulated mana was consumed in a single instant. And from the smoke, each of them emerged with a strange item.
Danik looked down at the object now lying cold in his hand: an octagonal rune stone, each face carved with a different animal.
He had later discovered what it was.
"The Sheep Talisman... why won't you reveal your true power?" he growled.
Just carrying the talisman had protected his mind from mental interference and stabilized his soul. Relying on that power, and the knowledge that had poured into his head, Danik had made rapid progress in soul studies and was even considered a potential candidate for the Grand ranked magus.
But he knew the talisman could do more. What he'd unlocked so far was only the surface.
Over the years, Danik came to understand the issue: the talisman was dormant. To awaken it would require something akin to infinite mana, or the presence of its original owner to nourish and empower it, just like a sacred relic.
But no matter what he tried, it refused to stir. Even the power of the Holy Grail was insufficient.
After countless trials, Danik had reached a bitter conclusion: the talisman's origins were unknowable, and its creator unreachable. His only hope lay in the Greater Grail.
And time was running out.
He had underestimated the soul's corrosion. Like a Heroic Spirit consuming others to extend his life, Darnik's personality was slowly eroding. Without the Grail, in another hundred years, he would be nothing but a hollow shell, a living embodiment of the "Thousand Worlds Tree/Yggdmillennia"
To make matters worse, his interference had drawn the attention of other powerful magi. He had accidentally provoked someone of equal caliber, Kenneth El-Melloi Archibald and as if that weren't enough, one man in Fuyuki City worried him more than any Master.
Zouken Matou...
That monster had extended his life by other means perhaps even before Danik had. Worse still, he, too, possessed a talisman.
"Damn him... I have no idea what the one he possesses does."
Zouken might abandon this war entirely, content in waiting for Darnik to destroy himself. He had time on his side. Darnik did not.
"But I have no way out," Danik hissed.
Determination hardened his gaze as he kicked aside the depleted homunculi.
"Stand up, you defective pieces!"
He would no longer wait. It was time to summon a Servant.
He moved swiftly. Drawing the summoning circle, he produced the sacred relic he'd kept hidden, prepared to use it one final time before these artificial bodies were discarded.
Magic roared through the workshop, a declaration of Danik's resolve.
---
In a warm-lit office far away, Kotomine Kirei handed a fax to his master.
"Master. This is the latest intelligence from my father."
Tōsaka Tokiomi accepted it with calm interest.
"Oh? The second Servant summoned in this war is Lancer, is it? I wonder which faction managed that...well it matters not."
There was visible satisfaction and confidence in Tokiomi's expression. Seeing Tokiomi's attitude, Kirei raised an eyebrow.
"Has the relic arrived?"
Tokiomi smiled.
"As astute as ever, Kirei."
He turned to a polished table and revealed his relic, a fossil, ancient and sinuous, shaped like a coiled serpent.
Even in his excitement, Tokiomi maintained an air of elegance. He poured two glasses of red wine and handed one to Kirei.
"It may be early, but I feel confident enough to say it now. This Holy Grail War is ours to win."