A Different Fate - [Rewrite]

Chapter 26:The Grail ritual

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The King of Knights walked to the altar where Sakura was lying. Gilgamesh remained behind her, while Kirei was on one side, impatiently observing her every move.

Arturia's invisible sword disappeared from her hand, and she extended both of them over the girl's body. Calling forth the gems that the Einzbern family had given her in Germany several years before and which she had continued to fill with mana, she allowed them to fall from her hold.

The precious little stones shone with the enormous quantity of magical energy that was inside them, and they positioned themselves around the girl, who still had her eyes closed. Kirei had not been informed of it, but Sakura had told the two kings that she was going to put herself into an enchanted sleep, from which she hoped to never awake again, in order to not feel anything as the Grail took possession of her body.

Hiding her sadness about the girl, Arturia began to use the proper symbols she had prepared.

They were ancient and mysterious, engraved into amulets that Kirei had provided, and they were placed around Sakura as well.

The energy that was being amassed around and on the girl was so powerful that light began to emanate from it, and the priest, still on one side of the room, had to cover his face from the intensity that originated from the centre of the room.

The time had come for the ritual to begin. Seven years had passed since the last Holy Grail War had ended… and the cup's energy, still fuelled by the lives of five Servants and four Masters, had grown enough to be accessible from the world of the living.

With correct symbols, a suitable vessel and a massive amount of mana, all in a significant place in the centre of the city of Fuyuki, something was bound to happen.

And it did.

Little by little, the light coming from the gems and the symbols began to increase, as their power was being transferred to Sakura's body. Her skin began to glow, and her form was lifted from the altar slightly, beginning to float in the air.

She didn't open her eyes, still in her unnatural sleep, and Arturia was internally very grateful for that. Both she and Gilgamesh could feel the colossal amount of magical energy that was going to her body, and they knew it would have been extremely painful, had she been awake.

The glow from her form began to intensify, and a strange dark substance began to drip from her to the floor.

Kirei was fascinated by the scene, not having been witness to what had happened seven years earlier because he had been fighting Kiritsugu. But he did not know what was happening to the girl's figure, whose radiance continued to increase.

But the kings realized what was going on. The Grail was using Sakura's energy to begin to have a physical form… but to do that, it was purifying her body to make her a worthy container, killing all the Matou worms and the traces of the abuse she had had to go through her whole life.

Slowly, the contour of the girl's form began to be more translucent as more and more mana flew into her… and the tremulous image of a golden, richly decorated chalice became visible.

The Grail was beginning to materialize itself in the world of the living, its physical and spiritual form starting to merge and become a single identity.

And that was Kirei's cue to act.

Without warning, he turned away from the almost blinding light coming from the middle of the room, and opened the door.

Arturia and Gilgamesh turned abruptly towards him… and a person they had no desire to see appeared in front of them.

Surrounded by a dark cloud of insects, Zouken made his entrance, a cruel and satisfied smirk on his contorted face. It was obvious that he had an agreement with the priest.