Darnic: "Parallel worlds… do they truly exist?"

  Kayh: "I didn't expeany people to join the group at ohings are about to get much livelier now."

  Darnic: "Indeed! Wait a moment… You are Lord El-Melloi, correct?"

  Kayh: "Hmm? Oh? Do we know each other?"

  Darnic: "…I am Darnic Prestone Yggdmillennia, the head of the Yggdmillennia ."

  Kayh: "Yggdmillennia? Darnic?"

  Kayh: "I'm sorry, but I 't say I've heard that name before."

  Darnic: "…Really?"

  In the hall of a grand and ornate castle, a man sat calmly. His appearance was elegant, with sharp features and a anding presence.

  The man had long, dark green hair, striking violet eyes, and wore a pristine white military-style coat. A matg cloak flowed behind him as he rested his hands on a ruby-tipped e.

  If he had added a hat to his attire, he might have been mistaken for a war general from the early 20th tury.

  And, to some extent, this wasn't far from the truth.

  He was Darnic Prestone Yggdmillennia, the current head of the Yggdmillennia family, known as the Tree of a Thousand Realms . Though he appeared to be in his te twenties, Darnic was actually nearing his tennial year.

  Tree of a Thousand Realms was another name for the Yggdmillennia , and Darnic had built the family into a powerhouse over the decades.

  Now, as he stared at the floati in front of him, his expression remained unreadable.

  Darnic: "It seems this Lord El-Melloi must be from a parallel world."

  Darnic had asked Kayh directly in the group to firm whether this was the same El-Melloi from his own world.

  But Kayh's answer had been decisive: he did nnize Darnic or his .

  Darnic had oaihe position of "Grand" at the Clock Tower, serving as a sed-css instructor.

  But regardless of which timeline or world he was in, faal power struggles were an unavoidable reality at the Clock Tower.

  Darnic had maniputed these fas skillfully, pying both allies and enemies against each other. His rise to prominence was achieved by remaining in the shadows, carefully trolling his reputation.

  That was before he openly defied the Mage's Association.

  No one had foreseen his betrayal, not even those who trusted him the most.

  A mere week ago, he had decred war against the Mage's Association, orchestrating the deaths of fifty magi sent to subdue him.

  This Q&A group's appearance during such a critical time in his pns made him uneasy.

  "What do you make of this, Darnic?"

  The voice came from the orhrone beside him.

  It beloo a stern and dignified older man, dressed in royal armor with a crimson cloak draped across his shoulders.

  This man was Vd III, also known as the Bck Lancer.

  Darnic had summoned Vd two months ago to serve as his Servant in the Holy Grail War.

  Along with Vd, Darnic had also summohe Bck Caster, Avicebron.

  Together, these two Heroic Spirits had given Darnic the fideo defy the Mage's Association ht.

  The fifty magi who had beeo retaliate were swiftly dealt with by Vd III himself.

  Now, Darnic stood on the precipice of realizing his ambitions.

  But this mysterious Q&A group was a wild card, a variable he could not trol.

  "I apologize, Your Majesty," Darnic replied humbly, turning to Vd. "I ot yet dis the nature of this… group."

  To Darnic, the Q&A group had initially seemed like some sort of advanced Mystic Code.

  But the ability to ect people across parallel worlds and evehrone of Heroes was well beyond the capabilities of ventional magecraft.

  This was something else entirely.

  His unease alpable.

  Seventy years ago, during the Third Holy Grail War, Darnic had uncovered the location of the Greater Holy Grail hidden in Fuyuki.

  Exploiting his es within the military, he had orchestrated a daring operation to seize it.

  Uhe guise of an "act," Darnic had betrayed and eliminated his own allies, seg the Grail for himself and hiding it beh Yggdmillennia Castle.

  In the decades since, Darnic had expanded his influence, abs smaller, struggling mage families into his fold.

  Now, after decades of preparation, the Yggdmillennia oised to challehe Mage's Association itself.

  All Darnieeded was the power of the Holy Grail.

  But this Q&A group… This was something he hadn't ated for.

  ---

  As Darnidered his move, the Masters of the Yggdmillennia fa gathered around him.

  Each had their owion to the group's sudden appearance.

  The first was Gordes Musik Yggdmillennia, a burly, arrogant man with blond hair and a haughty expression.

  Then there was Fiore Fe Yggdmillennia, a kied girl fio a wheelchair.

  Beside her stood her younger brother, Caules Fe Yggdmillennia, a shy boy with gsses who pushed her wheelchair.

  The sultry and dangerous ike Icecolle Yggdmillennia stood to the side, smirking as she observed the situation.

  was Roche Frain Yggdmillennia, a bright-eyed, e-haired boy full of youthful enthusiasm.

  Finally, there was Avicebron, the Bck Caster, who stood apart from the group in his peculiar golden mask and blue-striped robes.

  "I thought I was just imagining things," Roche murmured, narrowing his eyes, "but I guess this is real."

  "Well then," ike said, crossing her arms, "has anyone figured out what this is yet?"

  "Not yet," Darnic replied, his gaze turning to the hulking figure nearby. "Caster, do you have any insights?"

  "This does not appear to be a produagecraft," Avicebron stated ftly, his tone devoid of emotion.

  "Obviously," ike scoffed. "This thing screams teology."

  "Should we be ed about how this might interfere with our pns?" Gordes asked, his voice tinged with unease.

  "For noill observe," Darnic said decisively. "Let's see where this leads."

  ---

  [Ding! The first question is about to begin.]

  The sound of the system annou drew everyone's attention.

  [This will be a three-part multiple-choice question. Please watch the video that follows carefully. Each question will have three possible answers. You will have five mio answer each question.]

  [A correswer earns 3 Saint Quartz. A wrong answer deducts 1 Saint Quartz.]

  [If no one answers correctly within five minutes or if two secutive wrong answers are given, that question will be voided.]

  [The video will now begin. Please pay attention.]

  ---

  The s fshed, beginning with a familiar introdu:

  ["The Holy Grail War is a ritual where seven magi summon Heroic Spirits to fight for the ultimate wish-granting device—the Holy Grail."]

  Ses of the Fourth Holy Grail yed across the s.

  There was Iskandar's Ionioi Hetairoi, Artoria's Excalibur, and Gilgamesh's Gate of Babylon.

  ["But history is not always set in stone. What happens wheions occur?"]

  ["Even the smallest ripple lead to airely different future."]

  The video shifted to events from the Third Holy Grail War.

  ["On the eve of World War II, the Third Holy Grail War unfolded in Fuyuki City. Due to an unforeseen act, the Lesser Grail was destroyed, leaving the war without a clear victor."]

  ["But then… a deviation occurred."]

  The se ged again, showing Darnic leading a military operation to seize the Greater Grail.

  ["The three great families—Einzbern, Tohsaka, and Matou—fought desperately to thwart this spiracy, but due to their severe exhaustion from the Holy Grail War, they were ultimately defeated."]

  ["The Holy Grail, which the three great families had poured all their efforts into creating, was stolen."]

  [The se briefly showed Darnic leading his forces in battle against Matou Zouken, Ahad, and a young man who bore a striking resembo Tohsaka Tokiomi.]

  Tohsaka Tokiomi: "Father… I didn't expect to see you again."

  Kayh: "So the Holy Grail was taken by the Nazis? This deviation is extreme."

  Waver: "And it looks like the Three Families were wiped out."

  Emiya Kiritsugu: "The world truly works in uable ways."

  They had never seen what Darnic looked like and didn't realize that the mage in the video was him.

  In the Apocrypha world, Darnic's as were no longer a secret and didn't stir up any signifit rea.

  ["There is no written record of this battle, no video footage, and no living witnesses outside of the military and mage fas involved."]

  ["Then, the Nazis, who possess the Holy Grail, rule the world?"]

  ["No, that future has not e."]

  ["On the way to Germany, the Holy Grail mysteriously disappeared."]

  ["Whether it was stolen by the Imperial Army or destroyed by Allied forces, no one knows."]

  ["What is certain is that the Holy Grail, inteo bee a symbol of the Third Reich's supremacy, vanished without a trace."]

  ["Disappearing alongside it was the mage who spearheaded its retrieval."]

  ["Time passes, and now it is the year 2004."]

  Kotomine Risei: "2004? Has your world reached that year already?"

  Kotomine Shirou: "Yes, what year is it over there?"

  Kotomine Risei: "Here it is 1995."

  Kotomine Shirou: "1995? Nine years ago? It seems that time flows differently between our worlds."

  ["Roughly ten years ago, the Fourth Holy Grail War should have taken pce. Yet for reasons unknown, it was deyed by a decade."]

  ["In the meantime, subspecies Holy Grail Wars have sprung up across the globe. These smaller-scale flicts typically involve no more than five Servants, with weaker rituals incapable of granting omnipotent wishes."]

  ["The truth of these flicts remains hidden, as does their futility. Even if the Servants are defeated, the so-called wish-granting is but a hollow dream."]

  ["Yet the system's brillias very design, has es tinued survival."]

  The video shifted to ses of various battles, some of which seemed familiar, while others depicted entirely new Holy Grail Wars.

  One se showed Waver and Iskandar g with a man resembling Kayh, while anhlighted an unfamiliar Master summoning a beast-like Berserker.

  Kayh: "…"

  Waver: "…"