Fate: Hero of Justice Takeover-Chapter 225: [] The Land of Steel, UO, and the Magicians

Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg.

In the modern world, his name is obscure, but in the world of mystery, he is a legend known to all.

This name itself represents a legend. People either admire, fear, or, for various reasons, bestow upon him numerous titles: the Second Magician, the Highest-Ranked Magus, Zelretch the Wizard Marshall, Old Man of the Jewels, the Third of the Twenty-Seven Dead Apostle Ancestors. He is truly a man standing at the pinnacle of the mystical world.

In Fate/Grand Order, he is also a top-tier Craft Essence—those who have experienced the joy of starting a battle with a Noble Phantasm ready to fire understand his value all too well.

"This axis is off."

The old man slid his right finger through the air, causing the celestial bodies projected on the surrounding walls to rotate.

"Is this polarized light also completely extinguished?"

"Oh, this cut is quite good."

Then, the pages of the book floating before the old man flipped rapidly in response to his movements, recording various "intel" in real-time.

The title page of the book was adorned with strange patterns, resembling countless concentric circles layered upon each other, with dense lines radiating outward from the center.

Some of these lines extended to the outermost circle and continued to diverge, while others stopped at a certain layer.

The thickness of the book was roughly equivalent to that of a standard encyclopedia.

Despite its enormity, every time the old man slid his finger, thousands, even tens of thousands of pages would appear and disappear.

The elderly man continued this work for some time until the figure before him became clear and finally opened those golden eyes.

Without needing to speak, both understood each other's identities.

"The Second Magician."

"Greetings, candidate for the Third Magician."

In the room reflecting the cosmos, an inexplicable pressure made Sakatsuki tense. Accompanied by a flash of platinum light, the boy's form gradually transformed into a tall, handsome young man, who projected a chair and sat down.

"The Third Magic, such a long-lost radiance," the old man's wrinkles relaxed slightly, revealing a faint smile.

"So, the esteemed Marshal of Magecraft has singled me out—what is it that you wish to tell me?" Sakatsuki leaned back against the chair, appearing relaxed but remaining on high alert.

After all, his soul did not belong to the world of the Moon Cell, and he felt somewhat inadequate before one of the top figures of the Nasuverse.

"No need to be nervous, young magician," Old Man of the Jewels clearly knew something, speaking calmly. "No matter where you come from or where you will return to, this old man has no intention of interfering with you. My eyes are only on the continuation of magic and how to reverse that shared end."

At this point, the old man's deep gaze fell on the young man, whose expression had slightly changed.

"It seems you already understand what I want to say."

Hearing this, Sakatsuki pursed his lips and nodded, uttering the end that had been written from the very beginning.

"The Land of Steel."

Merely uttering those words brought forth an overwhelming aura of apocalyptic despair.

A city barely clinging to life atop the remains of a defeated UO.

Relentless attacks from UO. The desperate struggle of the A-Rays to survive. The sky drowned in blood—both enemy and their own—shrouding the sun.

It was not an official name, but rather the common term used by those who persisted on a dying world. A world at its very end.

A planet, in some sense, is a form of life. Though its lifespan far surpasses that of humans, it is not immortal—it too will one day face death.

With the Earth nearing its end, the planet's Counter Force—Gaia—vanished. Before its demise, it summoned its brethren—the UOs of other planets in the Solar System—to annihilate all life upon it.

UO—Ultimate One. The strongest lifeform of each celestial body.

They bore no names of their own. The term UO was coined by the last remnants of humanity—just as they had named their world The Land of Steel.

Compared to such destruction, Gilgamesh's treasured Ea, with its so-called "mythological genesis," was laughably insignificant.

This was an utterly dire conclusion.

And it was not just a singular fate—it was the inevitable end of all parallel worlds.

Individuals like Zelretch and Night of Wallachia, the greatest figures of the Nasuverse had all foreseen this ending.

"The Night of Wallachia" tried endlessly to calculate a way to escape this fate, exhausting every possible method to no avail. In desperation, he placed his hopes in the mythical 'Sixth Magic' and fell into vampirism.

And now, standing before Sakatsuki, The Old Man of Jewels was likewise in pursuit of an answer.

"This ending is not absolute." The aged Magician spoke firmly. "Among the nine planets of the Solar System—at least, as of 1999—Earth is not the oldest. Its death is clearly unnatural. If that's the case, then it should be possible to prevent it."

"That is what I have been seeking."

With those simple words, the conversation ended. But for Sakatsuki, the weight of those words was immense.

Because in this room, in these countless books, all the knowledge, all the records—everything before him was the result of this elder's tireless efforts.

Through the Second Magic—Parallel World Interference, he had endlessly traversed timelines, conducting countless experiments. Endless failures, countless revisions, ceaseless reiterations. The accumulated data and reports could fill an entire library.

Marie Curie performed tens of thousands of experiments to extract a mere fraction of a gram of radium, earning her place as the most outstanding and renowned woman in history.

Yet the Marshal of Magecraft, a man who could have wielded supreme power, had instead locked himself away in the cracks of time and space ever since his battle with the Crimson Moon in 300 AD. For over a thousand years, he had repeated this fruitless process—unyielding, unwavering.

This was the Second Magician.

The disciple of the King of Magecraft, Solomon.

A pioneer who had devoted himself to forging a future.

"Those who bear fire for others must not be left to freeze in the snow. Those who carve a path for freedom must not be abandoned in the thorns."

Sakatsuki straightened his back, his gaze burning with resolve as he looked at the elder before him.

"What can I do for you?"

It was a declaration of his stance. He did not know why the Fifth Magician, Aoko Aozaki, had not appeared, but in this moment, Sakatsuki had unequivocally chosen to stand alongside Zelretch.

"I have no requests for you," the old man said, gazing at the spirited young Magician with a faint, weary smile. "I am old. I have lost the right to grow. But you are different—you can still move forward, as a human."

Pausing, he continued, "The world you are heading to—I have abandoned it. The Ainsworths were a mere piece I left behind. Their fate no longer concerns me. But since you have ties to that world, I will offer you some advice."

"First, that world is doomed. The planet's Mana has dried up. Their attempts to simulate the Land of Steel will only push humanity further into the abyss."

"However, if it's you, there is still a chance. If you use the Holy Grail to fill the void, you can at least prolong their survival for a time."

And so, the fate of a world was decided.

"Go forth," the old Magician declared. "Bear your sins and continue onward."

"I, the Marshal of Magecraft, the Second Magician, the Savior of Worlds, declare:"

"I grant you permission to destroy the world."

"To shatter the stars."

"To trample upon hope."

"To betray humanity itself."

"All sins shall be mine to bear."

"For everything we do—"

"—is for the sake of hope."

***

Note: Ultimate One (UO). The strongest life forms of other celestial bodies in the solar system. For example, the Type: Moon (the origin of the term "Type-Moon"), Crimson Moon, whom the Jewel Mage killed in his youth, is the prototype of Princess Arcueid and the UO of the Moon. Additionally, the giant spider ORT that appeared in the 2.7 Lostbelt is not from Mercury but from the Oort Cloud (the collection of all comets in the solar system). It replaced Type: Mercury (the UO of Mercury) after preying on it and was summoned by Earth, but it arrived at the wrong time and landed in modern-day South America.

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