140: Chapter 140 Partners of Justice

Moonlight spilled through the dilapidated skylight of the warehouse.

The summoning circle on the ground erupted with a blinding light, blowing away all the surrounding clutter.

Amidst the dancing dust and the cold moonlight, a beautiful girl knight clad in silver armor, with dazzling blonde hair and emerald eyes, held an invisible sword and slowly stood up.

Her clear, firm voice, like a heavenly melody, echoed leisurely under the night sky of Fuyuki City and in the ears of all the players experiencing this plot:

“I declare. Your body shall be under my command, and my fate shall be at the tip of your sword.”

“—I ask you, are you my Master?”

This breathtakingly beautiful summoning scene, accompanied by the melodious exclusive BGM 'Knight King's Pride,' sent the audience in the live stream into a collective climax!

“Holy crap!!! Saber! It's our King Artoria!!!”

“So cool, so cool! So this is how our King was summoned back then!”

“The immersion of this plot performance is simply invincible! The sense of despair from being hunted by Cu Chulainn, versus the sense of security the moment Saber descends—Old Thief Gu really knows how to build up the tension for a payoff!”

With the descent of Saber, this immersive story mode titled 'FSN' slowly unfolded its grand and cruel tapestry before the players of Blue Star.

In the first route, [Fate Route], PD experienced the ultimate romance and sorrow of 'Boy Meets Girl' through the eyes of Shirou Emiya.

To protect that girl knight who seemed strong but actually bore the heavy burden of her country's downfall, Shirou Emiya repeatedly threw his mortal body in front of the Servant's blades.

And players finally, through repeated death matches, truly entered the heart of 'King Arthur,' seeing how the girl who stood alone with her sword at the end of the Age of Gods longed to use the Holy Grail to erase her past of becoming king.

When facing the arrogant Hero King Gilgamesh, who held the Sword of Rupture, Shirou and Saber manifested the legendary absolute defense in their desperate situation—[Avalon: The Everdistant Utopia]!

The light, sufficient to withstand the sword of creation, shocked everyone's eyes.

And at the ending, when Artoria smiled and confessed her love to Shirou Emiya under the morning sun, then turned into golden light and dissipated to sleep eternally in the quiet forest, countless tough guys in the live stream who had been tormented by the Sixth Singularity broke down in tears.

However, before the players could recover from the emotions of the Fate Route...

The second route that followed, [UBW Route] (Unlimited Blade Works), completely ignited the blood of players across the internet, while simultaneously revealing the cold truth of the 'counter force (Alaya)'!

In this route, players were shocked to discover that Archer, who liked to cook and was soft-hearted despite his sharp tongue in FGO, was actually the tragic future of Shirou Emiya after he signed a contract with the world to save others!

They finally caught a glimpse of the cruelty of the 'counter force' in the Type-Moon worldview—

Heroic Spirits who become Guardians are merely killing tools used by the world to clean up human karma.

Archer betrayed his ideals amidst endless slaughter, seeking only to return to the past and kill himself.

When the 'Guardian' from the future, betrayed by his ideals, had a fierce clash of philosophies with the current 'Shirou Emiya' who still held onto them...

“Hey, what lies ahead is hell.”

“Even so, I was not wrong!”

When that classic chant 'I am the bone of my sword' echoed across the battlefield, and the red and black gears meshed above the wilderness, the moment the Reality Marble [Unlimited Blade Works] fully unfolded!

“It's hype! Holy crap! It's so hype!!!”

PD shouted himself hoarse in the live stream, and countless veteran FGO players suddenly realized the true meaning of Archer's hidden lines and frequent sighs in the game.

Finally...

When players full of anticipation opened the final hidden route, [HF Route] (Heaven's Feel), the style underwent a scalp-tingling transformation!

The originally hot-blooded shonen plot was instantly dragged into an extremely oppressive, dark, Cthulhu-esque horror atmosphere.

Sakura Matou's suffocatingly tragic experiences, the blackened Saber (Saber Alter) corrupted by black mud, and the disgusting, twisted true face of the Holy Grail—Angra Mainyu (All the World's Evil)—hit the players' hearts like heavy hammers.

And Shirou Emiya, in order to protect the junior before him, resolutely gave up the hypocritical ideal of being an 'Ally of Justice,' choosing to become a hero solely for Sakura.

The climax of the story was simply one sensory bombardment after another!

Not only was there the [Nine Lives Blade Works] where he removed the shroud to protect Sakura and tore through the Berserker-class Herc; there was also the world-destroying beam clash between Rider Medusa and Saber Alter in the cave.

Even more hair-raising was the tragic fist-to-fist brawl in the final abyss flowing with black mud between Shirou and that fake priest full of 'rejoicing'—Kirei Kotomine—where even their souls were burning!

“Proclaim the birth of All the World's Evil; what a delightful miracle that is.”

Kirei Kotomine's twisted and fanatical lines in front of the black mud made all players sensitive to the Type-Moon worldview scent a hint of a horror conspiracy even deeper and more indescribable than the 'Incineration of Humanity'!

“Holy crap... Old Thief Gu is sending out blades again!”

“Is this the truth of the Holy Grail War? That priest is simply a lunatic! And what kind of monster is that clump of black mud?!”

“Shirou is a real man! Fighting the whole world for Sakura!”

By the time PD, sporting two massive dark circles under his eyes, finally finished all three routes of 'FSN,' a week had passed since its release.

In these seven days, major forums across the net had been completely submerged in discussions about the 'FSN' plot.

The characterization of every individual, the causality of every world line, and even the deep-seated foreshadowing like the counter force, black mud, and the 'rejoicing' priest gave players an incredibly clear and shocking understanding of the Type-Moon universe.

“So that's how it is... This is the true Holy Grail War.”

PD took a deep breath and wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes. The cold sweat from experiencing the fist-to-fist brawl in the HF route hadn't dried yet, but his eyes had become incredibly fanatical.

Recalling himself from seven days ago, PD couldn't help but give a bitter smile.

He had originally just wanted to casually breeze through the prologue, unlock the multiplayer mode, and go on a rampage.

Who could have imagined that this single-player story, which he treated as a prerequisite task, would have such terrifying magic!

The ups and downs of the entanglements of fate and the ultimate audio-visual shock made him completely immersed, and before he knew it, he had grinded for an entire week to finish all three routes in one go!

Just then, the system notification sounded again.

[You have completed the full experience of the 'FSN' plot and established a deep understanding of the underlying rules of the 'Holy Grail War'.]

[Now, you may proceed to the multiplayer lobby.]

[The large-scale asymmetric survival competitive PvP mode—[Holy Grail War], has been officially unlocked for you!]