Aozaki Aoko Case File

Credits: Oguro Ryuya

"Who would've thought an Overseer would meddle in my affairs!" Makiri Zolgen grumbled angrily. He had just learned through his insect familiars that the Overseer of Fuyuki had issued a wanted notice for him.

"Probably Father Risei Kotomine, colluding with Tokiomi Tohsaka to use me as a scapegoat!"

After thinking it over for a moment, Makiri Zolgen quickly understood the situation.

During the previous battle, the destruction caused by several Servants had been far too severe. The Church and the Tohsaka family had likely expended significant effort to cover up the traces and erase the memories of ordinary people.

So, who would take responsibility for all this? Naturally, it would fall on the Master of Berserker, who had yet to reveal himself—Makiri Zolgen.

"It seems I'll have to employ some unconventional methods…"

Makiri Zolgen muttered to himself as part of his clothing transformed into a black liquid. The liquid writhed and churned as if chewing on and expelling something.

Moments later, a golden, radiant chalice floated out from within and landed in his hand.

"I hadn't wanted to draw Chaldea's attention…" Makiri Zolgen said, "But now there's no other choice. The Greater Grail of Fuyuki is essential for both the Clock Tower and our undertaking…"

As if making a great sacrifice, Makiri Zolgen let the "Holy Grail" slide from his hand and sink slowly into the ground.

Then, eight massive, ominous summoning circles appeared on the ground.

From these circles, one after another, strange humanoid figures began to emerge. They stood silently, staring at Makiri Zolgen as if waiting for him to provide an explanation.

"Barbatos, what is the reason for summoning us in this era…? They reminded us not to casually use the Holy Grail in this timeline…" said one of the humanoid figures, a being with a halo composed of numerous diamond-shaped eyes.

"Paimon, do you think my memory is that poor?" Makiri Zolgen replied irritably. "If it weren't for the fact that my operations in this era were on the verge of failure, why would I ever use the Holy Grail to summon you all?"

"What happened?" asked another humanoid figure. "Even if that person has been summoned in this era, as a member of the Three Families, surely you had the opportunity to claim the Greater Grail in advance? With this Greater Grail, the starting point of Chaldea would disappear!"

"It's not as simple as you think, Gusion," Makiri Zolgen said gravely. "I just discovered that in the 'original' history, Caster Gilles de Rais and Ryuunosuke Uryuu, who were supposed to be eliminated, were killed prematurely. And the one who has now taken their place on the Church's wanted list… is me and Berserker!"

"So what?" said a third humanoid figure. "You're not saying you'd lose to a few Servants without even Grand, are you?"

"What do you understand?" Makiri Zolgen retorted. "One of the participants replacing Ryuunosuke Uryuu in the Holy Grail War is a Magician! Do you think you can defeat a Magician alone, Buer?"

"Enough, Barbatos, Buer, stop arguing!" a more composed humanoid figure intervened. "Since there's been an unforeseen occurrence at this point in time, summoning all eight Pillars of the Control Tower here was a prudent move, Barbatos. We need more information!"

"All nine Pillars of the Control Tower are now gathered here. We shall aid you in suppressing the Greater Grail, Barbatos," said the humanoid figure named Gusion. "Which Magician are you referring to? The Second or the Fourth?"

"The Fourth, Aoko Aozaki," Makiri Zolgen replied with a frown. "Logically, both the Observatory and the Star-Gazer should have detected this possibility, but they didn't."

"Aoko Aozaki didn't appear in the observation results of any timeline, yet here she is, participating in the Holy Grail War."

"Well, there's no point in overthinking it," said another humanoid figure, named Beleth. "Right now, our priority is to take control of the Greater Grail as quickly as possible. Otherwise, forget about Magicians—we won't even be able to handle someone with an ordinary foundation."

"You're right," Barbatos—Makiri Zolgen—took a deep breath and said. "Once Berserker is repaired, we'll head to the cavern beneath Mount Enzou and bring the Greater Grail under our control!"

...

"Spiritron Transfer, complete!" said a young girl with lilac hair, wearing slightly revealing armor. "So this is Fuyuki City before it was burned?"

"Fou! Fou!" A small white creature with long ears, resembling both a fox and a dog, leaped out of the girl's enormous shield and onto her head, looking curiously around.

"Wow? It looks so peaceful," exclaimed another girl with orange hair, dressed in a white blouse with a restraint-like design, a pleated skirt, and tights.

"It looks like such a lively and peaceful place, Senpai!" the lilac-haired girl smiled. "For some reason, it feels very comforting."

"But when I think about how, ten years from now, this place might become Singularity F…"

"There's no need to dwell on that, Mash," said a mature man with black hair and a red coat. "Because starting from Singularity F, it's not just Fuyuki City that burns—it's all of human history."

"Even so… it's still hard to accept, Mr. Second," the orange-haired girl said sadly.

"Appreciating peaceful days is fine, but don't let such thoughts weigh you down," the man, referred to as "Second," said. "If we fear battle and tragedy too much, we'll lose the courage to move forward."

"You always say such philosophical things, Lord Second," the orange-haired girl said with a playful smile. "Is it because you're a teacher?"

"My apologies, my bad habit of lecturing has come out again," the man said. "But I must say, while everything around us appears silent and peaceful, with no sense of danger…"

"Hmm!" the lilac-haired girl said cheerfully. "I like this peaceful atmosphere!"

"…It's nothing more than an illusion masking the underlying crisis, Mash," Second's expression suddenly turned serious. "Among the battles of the Magi, you must always question what you see. For instance…"

"Eight Gates Golden Lock Formation!"

As Second spoke, golden lightning and a strange magical array appeared. However, to his surprise, his sudden attack yielded no results.

"Huh, Lord Second, did you find an enemy?" Mash quickly raised her shield, positioning herself to protect the orange-haired girl, her eyes scanning the surroundings warily.

["An enemy appeared?!"] A voice came from the orange-haired girl's communication device, sounding anxious. ["I didn't detect any Servant signals. Could it be an Assassin with Presence Concealment?!"]

"No, it seems I was mistaken," Second said awkwardly. "But it's strange. This shouldn't be the case."

"What do you mean?" the orange-haired girl asked curiously. "Was there supposed to be an enemy ambushing us here?"

"Our Spiritron Transfer would've been very obvious to Servants," Second said, frowning. "I originally thought that this Holy Grail War's Assassin would have arrived immediately to monitor us, but that doesn't seem to be the case."

"Something feels off," Second paused, his expression growing serious. "This Holy Grail War seems different from what I remember. Could it be that our Spiritron Transfer happened at the wrong point in time?"

"Mash, Ritsuka, we'll need to pick up the pace," Second said firmly. "We'll move as we talk, and I'll explain the priorities as we go."

PS: Oh! The Grand Beast and the beloved eggplant is here! Nice!