[In the Clock Tower, a burly man strode down the halls, his heavy footsteps eg through the corridor. The passing students g him nervously, their faces pale with fear.]

  [The man had three deep scars across his face, his features weathered and fierce. He wore a bck jacket that g to his muscur frame, hinting at his raw physical strength. His dark sungsses and imposing presence made him seem more like a street thug than a magus.]

  Zhang Jiao: "This man…!"

  Zhang Jiao's expression shifted slightly as he reized this man in the Neancy card.

  Lio: "This person is me. Do you know me?"

  Zhang Jiao: "No… no, I don't think so."

  Tohsaka Rin: "This guy… is he really a magus?"

  Tohsaka Tokiomi: "You 't always judge a magus by appearances."

  It wasn't hard to uand Rin's rea. Sisigou's rugged and merary-like demeanor made even someone like Kiritsugu seem refined in parison.

  Tohsaka Tokiomi: "Ah, five me. That's not what I meant."

  Lio: "It's fine. I'm used to it. People always say things like that."

  [As he walked through the hallway, Sisigou bumped into a blond-haired young man at a er. Instead of fling or avoiding him like the others, the young maed him with enthusiasm.]

  ["Are you looking for something? You seem a bit out of pce here."]

  [Sisigou didn't waste any time. "Where I find the office of Rocco Belfebay director of the Spirit Evocatioment?"]

  [The young man nodded eagerly. "Oh, I'll take you there!"]

  El-Melloi II: "Wait… Ft?" (T/N: The Goat)

  Waver: "You know him?"

  El-Melloi II: "You'll meet him eventually. You 't not meet him…"

  ["Ah, the neancer has finally arrived," a voice greeted as Sisigou stepped into the office.]

  [Inside was an elderly man with white hair and round gsses. He wore an immacutely pressed suit, his demeanor calm and weling. This was Rocco Belfeban.]

  ["What do you want from me?" Sisigou cut straight to the point, his tone dired unbothered by pleasantries.]

  [Roiled faintly, as if he had anticipated such bluntness. "Tell me, how much do you know about the Holy Grail War in Fuyuki City?"]

  [Sisigou frowned. "Of course I know about it. But that system colpsed long ago."]

  ["Yes, during the Third Holy Grail War…"]

  [Rocco proceeded to ret the events of the Third War in Fuyuki City. His tone grew serious as he reached the key details.]

  [Sisigou listened quietly, and when Locke was finished, he asked, "So, what exactly do you wao do?"]

  [Rocco folded his hands together, his expression irely serious. "Don't be impatient. I'll get to the point."]

  ["Three months ago, the Greater Holy Grail was finally located."]

  [Sisigou's eyes narrowed. "Located? You mean someone found it?"]

  ["No… it would be more accurate to say it was announced by the person who had been hiding it all along."]

  [Rocco handed a file to Sisigou. It tained detailed information, along with a photograph of Darnic Prestone Yggdmillennia.]

  Kayh: "Darnic?! So it's you, that Nazi magus!"

  Darnic: "That's right."

  Tohsaka Tokiomi: "You stole the Holy Grail that my family has protected feions!"

  Darnic: "The victor is king. That's aernal truth throughout history."

  Tohsaka Tokiomi: "You…"

  [Sisigou examihe photograph a out a small, bitter chuckle. "Darnic, huh? That man hasn't ged at all in sixty years."]

  [Rocco leaned back slightly. "He's delving into immortality—fusion with the souls of infants, for example."]

  [Sisigou's face darkened. "That's madness. No soul, especially one so young, could retain its inal personality after such a process."]

  [Rocco sighed heavily. "Darnic doesn't care about that. As long as he maintain his position as the head of the Yggdmillennia , he's willing to sacrifiything—even his own humanity."]

  Irisviel: "Soul fusion… immortality… is something like that even possible?"

  Darnic: "It is. This is the Third Magic—Heaven's Feel. It's a process perfected by the Einzbern family."

  Kayh: "You're insane. Do you have any idea what kind of monster you might bee?"

  Darnic: "For the sake of my ideals, losing a bit of my humanity is a trivial price to pay."

  [Rocco's voice grew grave. "Darnic's annou wasn't just about possessing the Greater Grail. He's decred ht rebellion against the Clock Tower. He's f his own anization, indepe of its authority."]

  [Sisigou leaned back, stunned. "…What?!"]

  Kayh: "What arrogance… Darnic, do you think the Holy Grail gives you the right to act without sequence? You're asking for death."

  Darnic: "The Clock Tower is a stagnant, corrupt institution. Repg it is only natural."

  [Rocco tinued calmly, "Darnic may have been dismissed as a sed-rate magus in the past, dabbling in shallow disciplines like Kabbah, alchemy, and witchcraft. But he's mastered each to a first-rate level, making him extremely dangerous."]

  ["The Yggdmillennia isn't a family bound by blood. Instead, they've absorbed anyone willing to join their banner. Quantity over quality—that's their approach. It makes them uable."]

  ["In fact, it's highly likely that members of the Yggdmillennia are already operating undercover in the Clock Tower."]

  ["In other words, it'll be nearly impossible to act against them without tipping them off."]

  [Sisigou frowned. "Then the solution seems obvious, repce the Masters they've selected before the war begins."]

  [Rocco shook his head. "We thought of that, but it's too te."]

  ["We sent fifty elite magi from the Punishment Force to deal with them. Only ourned alive."]

  [Sisigou froze. "…They were killed by Servants, weren't they?"]

  [Roodded grimly. "Yes."]

  Waver: "This is why magi 't pete with Heroic Spirits. In the face of legends, we're just… human."

  [Sisigou exhaled slowly. "I see. So you wao bee one of the Masters?"]

  ["No," Rocco corrected. "We want you to lead the Red Fa and fight against Yggdmillennia's Bck Fa in the ing war."]

  ["Wait… what?" Sisigou blinked, fused.]

  [Rocco expined, "The Holy Grail has a safeguard against what Darnic has do won't allow one fa to monopolize all seven Servants. When this happens, the system activates a reserve meism—summoning seven additional Servants to oppose them."]

  ["So… fourteen Servants?" Sisigou muttered. "That's unpreted."]

  [Roodded. "Yggdmillennia already knows about this. They've agreed to a new set of rules. The winning fa of this 'camp battle' will cim the right to duct the Holy Grail roperly."]

  ["A Holy Grail War between fas…" Sisigou mused. "That fits."]

  [Rocco leaned forward. "So, what do you say?"]

  [Sisigou's expression turhoughtful. "I have two questions first."]

  ["Go ahead," Rocco said, gesturing for him to tinue.]

  ["First, summoning a Servant requires a relic as a catalyst. Do you have one prepared?"]

  ["Of course," Rocco replied fidently.]

  [He reached into a draulled out a carefully ed object, which he handed over to Sisigou.]

  [Sisigou uned it and revealed a fragment of wood. His eyes immediately narrowed.]

  Rebellious Knight: "This…!"

  La: "It's unmistakable…"

  Artoria: "Fragments of the Round Table."

  [As Sisigou held the reli his hand, a tense siletled over the room.]

  Artoria's gaze lingered on the piece, her expression solemn.

  Memories of the Round Table—onited but eventually broken flooded her mind. It wasn't just the table that had fractured; it was the ideals, the bonds, and the trust between its knights.

  La: "My King…"

  Kayh: "Fragments of the Round Table? Do you realize how valuable such a relic is? Even my request to use it was denied."

  Artifacts tied to the Knights of the Round Table were sidered some of the rarest and most sought-after relics within the Clock Tower.

  [Sisigou let out a small grunt of aowledgment, carefully reing the fragment. "This will do. It's certainly potent enough."]

  [He g Rocd tinued, "Sed question—who are the other six Masters on our side?"]

  ["Don't worry," Rocco assured him. "They are all top-css magi."]

  ["The first is Feend vor Sembren, a first-css lecturer at the Clock Tower."]

  [" is Rottweil Berzinsky, known as the 'Silver Lizard.' Although unemployed, his magical capabilities are undeniable."]

  ["We also have the Pentel brothers. Despite their etricities, their teamwork is unparalleled."]

  ["Then there's the Windwheel Magus, Jean Rum."]

  [Rocco paused, raising a finger. "These five have already bee ahead."]

  [Sisigou frowned. "That's five. What about the st one?"]

  ["The final Master is a supervisor sent by the Holy Church. This time, the Church is fully aligning itself with our fa," Rocco expined.]

  [Sisigou raised an eyebrow. "Iing."]

  [Rocco tinued, "So, what do you say? Are you willing to take this on?"]

  [Sisigou scratched the back of his neck, pretending to think it over. He reached into his pocket, briefly pulling out a cigarette, but stopped wheiced Rocco's subtle grimace.]

  [He smirked and tucked the cigarette away. "I'll need some time to sider. Let's say… three minutes."]

  [As he leaned back, his eyes wandered over the items dispyed in Rocco's office. His gaze stopped on a peculiar object—a young Hydra preserved in formalin, sitting on one of the shelves.]

  ["That Hydra spe," Sisigou said abruptly, pointing at the bottle. "If you give it to me as colteral, I'll agree immediately."]

  [Rocco's eyes widened slightly. "That's a rather steep demand for a deposit."]

  ["Well," Sisigou said with a grin, "I'm not sure if I'll even survive tomorrow, so I might as well secure something now."]

  [Rocco stared at him for a long moment before letting out a resigned sigh. "…Fine. I'll arra. I'll also notify the other Masters and the Church's representative."]

  [Sisigou stood up, stretched, and gave Rocco a small wave as he headed for the door.]

  ["By the way," he said just before stepping out, "who's this supervisor exactly?"]

  [Rocco looked up from his desk. "I only know what rovided," Roitted. "His name is Kotomine Shirou—he's a priest."]

  Junkdog