fate: devil of art

**Chapter Three: The Beginning of Tragedy**

𝘿𝙚𝙨𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙪𝙨 𝙀𝙧𝙖𝙨𝙢𝙪𝙨: "𝙉𝙤𝙬, 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙞𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙤𝙡𝙚 𝙡𝙞𝙛𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙝𝙪𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙨 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙖 𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙙 𝙤𝙛 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙙𝙮 𝙞𝙣 𝙬𝙝𝙞𝙘𝙝 𝙫𝙖𝙧𝙞𝙤𝙪𝙨 𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙨, 𝙞𝙣 𝙫𝙖𝙧𝙞𝙤𝙪𝙨 𝙘𝙤𝙨𝙩𝙪𝙢𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙢𝙖𝙨𝙠𝙨, 𝙬𝙖𝙡𝙠 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙚𝙖𝙘𝙝 𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙮𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙞𝙧 𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙩 𝙪𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙡 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙞𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙤𝙧 𝙧𝙚𝙢𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙜𝙚."

The metallic machine slid at a maddening speed through the twists and turns of the mountain road, its wheels occasionally screaming at the edge of cliffs. The endless night sucked at the car's glass frame, and the moonlight shimmered on its silver hood like a cold tear. Behind the wheel sat a woman with hair like molten silver and eyes as red as volcanic lava, as if the night itself had taken human form. Beside her, her companion—a blonde woman with green eyes that hid the depths of forbidden forests—clutched the seat with trembling fingers. Artoria, the weary-hearted knight, had cold sweat dripping from her golden hair; she wore a forced smile, as if trying to shatter the fear within her through this display of calm. Irisviel's driving was not unlike a dance with death—every turn, every sudden brake, scattered a rhythm of terror into the air.

"We're still alive... it's a miracle..." Artoria murmured under her breath as the car balanced on the edge of a cliff. Irisviel—her silver hair fluttering like a victory flag in the wild wind—laughed, as if this chaos was her favorite symphony. "It's fantastic, isn't it? I got this toy from Kiritsugu!" she shouted, pressing the accelerator to the floor. The car's body groaned as it was flung into the air, the seats howled, and the world turned dizzy for a moment. Artoria felt her stomach climb into her throat—even her legendary endurance couldn't withstand this steel hell.

A man appeared atop the peak. He sat on the branch of a withered tree—a figure like an angel with a face seemingly carved from moonlight. His gaze was cold and mysterious, a stretched smile on his lips... as if waiting for the beginning of a tragic performance. "The time for art has come..." Elias whispered, rolling down from the tree. A crystalline brush appeared in his hands, its tip gliding across the invisible canvas of the air. Each stroke created strands of white light, as if stealing reality and painting a new one. Suddenly, a thick white fog—thicker than milk, colder than death—rose from nowhere and swallowed the mountain. Sounds were muffled: crickets, leaves, even the wind—all vanished into a graveyard silence.

Artoria frowned. Her instincts screamed. Before her brain could command, her body acted—her hand landed on Irisviel's arm as swiftly as a blade. She flung both of them out of the car. At that moment, a slimy, purple tentacle—covered in spiky protrusions—burst from the fog and slammed into the car. A fiery explosion split the air, and molten metal rained down like a meteor shower. Artoria landed, holding Irisviel like a fragile doll—her silver hair now mixed with black smoke.

"An enemy attack..." Irisviel asked softly, as if watching the scene rather than burning in it. Her trust in Artoria was absolute—a blue light suddenly erupted from the knight's body. Shining armor replaced her usual clothes; her sword—Excalibur—slid out of its sheath with a devilish sound. The fog rippled, and a creature emerged from its depths: a humanoid figure of corrupted purple, black veins writhing beneath its skin, spiral arms ending in bony claws. Its faceless head—a twisted shadow of a thousand tentacles—turned toward them. A giant mouth opened within the fog, filled with teeth as sharp as frozen daggers...

"Yes... but it's not a servant..." Artoria growled, pointing her sword forward: "This thing... has come from beyond the boundaries of humanity." Her light paled against the monster, but her hands were steady—ready for a battle that reeked of blood and death.

Behind the white, toxic fog that seemed to breathe hell's breath onto the world's face, Artoria stood, her eyes glowing like molten steel beneath furrowed brows. Irisviel had fallen to her knees, her face pale and her eyelids heavy as lead. Her hands trembled, and a look of nausea crossed her face, as if contact with the monster had not only tainted her body but her soul as well. The Aldrich monster roared, shaking the ground beneath them, a roar mixed with the sound of breaking bones and tearing flesh. Its tentacles, like cybernetic blades coated in poison, shot toward Artoria with insane speed, splitting the air and igniting the sound of gunpowder.

Artoria didn't even blink. She stomped her foot on the ground, as if Mount Everest had been moved on the chessboard of war. The ground cracked, and shockwaves deflected the tentacles. The attack hit the empty road, causing a massive explosion that sent ten square meters into a pit of collapsing concrete and fire. When the dust settled, Artoria was no longer there. In the blink of an eye, with a speed that even light couldn't follow, she appeared in front of the monster. Her sword emitted a cold, merciless light, slicing the monster vertically from head to groin. The monster's body split like soft butter on a hot blade. Thick purple blood, like demonic wine, splattered on Artoria's face. She didn't even blink. The monster's corpse fell to the ground, and Artoria said coldly, "Child's play."

But the ground shook again. This time, not one, but two Aldrich monsters were born from the fog. The first was taller than buildings, its skin a mass of black, coal-like scales that made a grating sound with every movement. Its mouth opened, a cavity of thousands of dagger-like teeth, emitting the stench of a rotting graveyard. Its spiral horns were like branches of a demonic tree, and its slimy tentacles writhed like hungry snakes. The second was a spider-like monster with eight legs, each tipped with bony blades. A stone armor clung to its body, as if it were a moving mountain. Its stomach was transparent, and inside, pulsating veins could be seen, pumping a green liquid with a gurgling sound to the monster's heart. Its eyes were small and countless, like black spots on a rotting cloth, darting in every direction.

And this wasn't the end. An army of monsters, one after another, emerged from the fog. Some were like mutated octopuses with toothed suckers, others a nightmarish combination of wounded animal limbs. Even the wild hunters of nature, lions with flaming manes, were nothing but scared cats in front of these creatures. Humans? Prey. Only the sound of their bones crunching in the endless throats of the monsters echoed.

"Saber... I'm... not feeling well..." Irisviel's breath was shallow, her hand pressed to her forehead. The white fog was no longer just fog; it was a toxic blanket that numbed the brain. Her eyelids grew heavy, as if weighted with lead. "Stay awake... stay awake..." But her efforts were futile. Her body bent and collapsed to the ground like a lifeless doll. Only Artoria remained standing, her anti-magic like an invisible shield around her, a gift from the "Saber Class" that had now become her only lifeline.

"Irisviel! Damn it, Irisviel!" Artoria's voice carried fear for the first time. In the blink of an eye, she knelt beside Irisviel, but before she could reach out, her instincts screamed. She turned and saw: a massive dog with a coat of yellow, lidless eyes, attacking her from behind. Her sword swung and severed the monster's head, but as the blood hit the ground, more monsters took its place. A sea of claws and teeth.

Suddenly, her intuition struck like a dagger to her brain. She turned and saw: an unknown shadow, ghostly, emerging from the fog, holding the unconscious Irisviel in its arms. The shadow's face was hidden in a haze of fog, but the outline of its body suggested a man in a robe woven from pure darkness.

"Damn it!" Artoria ran toward them, but the monsters formed a living wall of flesh and bone. Her sword swung relentlessly, purple blood flowing like a river down the ruined road, but for every monster she beheaded, two more emerged from the fog. It was an endless battle... and the shadow, slowly, disappeared into the fog with Irisviel.

The heavy fog hung like a mourning veil over the empty streets, a deathly silence permeating the air. Artoria, with eyes red from rage and fingers clenched so tightly they drew blood, charged forward. Each step she took left a mark of despair on the ground. "Irisviel...!" Her scream was lost in the fog, as if the universe itself swallowed her voice. The ghostly smile of the unknown man stabbed like an icy dagger into her heart—a devilish mockery celebrating her defeat. When the fog lifted, even the shadows of the Aldrich monsters had vanished. All that remained were the ruined streets and a river of ruby flowing over the cobblestones. Artoria bit her lip until it bled; the taste of iron reminded her of her incompetence. *If only I were faster... if only I had been more alert...*

***

𝙀𝙡𝙞𝙖𝙨 𝘾𝙡𝙞𝙛𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙙: "𝙄𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙯𝙚𝙣 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙡𝙙, 𝙝𝙪𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙨 𝙛𝙡𝙚𝙚 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙛𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙛𝙪𝙡 𝙨𝙝𝙖𝙙𝙤𝙬𝙨, 𝙪𝙣𝙖𝙬𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙘𝙧𝙚𝙚𝙥𝙨 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙠𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙞𝙧 𝙜𝙖𝙯𝙚. 𝙃𝙪𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙨, 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙣𝙖𝙞𝙡𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙡𝙞𝙚𝙨, 𝙘𝙖𝙧𝙫𝙚 𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙧𝙤𝙧 𝙤𝙣𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙠𝙞𝙣 𝙤𝙛 𝙚𝙭𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚; 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙚 𝙢𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙧, 𝙬𝙝𝙤𝙨𝙚 𝙫𝙚𝙣𝙤𝙢 𝙤𝙛 𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙛-𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙪𝙢𝙥𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙧𝙤𝙩𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙧𝙨. 𝙄𝙩 𝙞𝙨 𝙖 𝙗𝙞𝙧𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙗𝙪𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙨 𝙞𝙩𝙨 𝙬𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨 𝙞𝙣 𝙨𝙝𝙖𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙙 𝙢𝙞𝙧𝙧𝙤𝙧𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙗𝙞𝙣𝙙𝙨 𝙞𝙩𝙨 𝙝𝙤𝙬𝙡𝙨 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙥𝙧𝙖𝙮𝙚𝙧 𝙗𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙨... 𝙉𝙤 𝙙𝙚𝙫𝙞𝙡 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙝𝙚𝙡𝙡 𝙞𝙨 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙨𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙣 𝙝𝙪𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙞𝙩𝙮."

The underground was a realm of darkness where breathing felt like swallowing suffocation. The stench of rotting flesh and the sharp sweetness of blood poisoned the air. The corpses of children—torn apart, as if a legendary hyena had passed through them—hung from rusted chains. Their blood dripped like aged wine from broken goblets onto the ground. Dozens of lifeless bodies, like discarded dolls, were scattered across the stone floor. Elias lounged on a wooden chair, his amused gaze sliding over the "Third Order." "Ryunosuke... is skilled at collecting trash, just a bit noisy." The city's news was filled with the screams of victims, but here, in the underground realm, only the whispers of death could be heard.

His gaze fell on Irisviel, lying on a cold, lifeless marble slab. Six other prisoners, like wilted flowers, were arranged around her. Twelve hours had passed since her abduction. Elias sighed: "The magus of this era... are a disgrace." His voice hid a deep regret. "Without any ability or merit, with only foolish pride, a simple bullet is enough to knock them down... Well, at least they're useful for *my purpose*."

Suddenly, the iron door opened with a devilish creak. Ryunosuke—a man with disheveled hair and eyes gleaming with the thrill of slaughter—entered. His left hand, missing three fingers, moved as if the absence was a trivial detail. "Elias-chan! This new doll of yours is so beautiful!" He pointed at Irisviel with childlike greed. "With that necklace, hunting has become paradise! By the way... I caught three more today!"

Elias raised an eyebrow: "Did you play with your drugs again? I told you not to play with toys like a naughty child." His tone was a mix of scolding and pity. Ryunosuke, without answering, turned with a mad laugh. Elias stared after him: "Ryunosuke is such a naughty child..."

Then his gaze fixed on Irisviel—the seemingly unconscious woman whose eyelids trembled. "Enough pretending. I know you're awake." Irisviel opened her eyes; her gaze was filled with suppressed anger and fear. Irisviel clenched her teeth: "I didn't expect the owner of that booth... to be a *servant*. Should I call you 'Caster'? Why did you kidnap me?"

Elias continued: "Kiritsugu Emiya... sent his beloved woman to the battlefield? What a cruel man! But does that make him beautiful?" Elias's face reddened, as if speaking of a sickly love. Irisviel stared at Elias with a strange look. To her, Elias was either a homosexual or a pervert. She clenched her teeth: "Don't try to threaten me with him! He—"

"—He won't do anything. I know." Elias interrupted. "But the reason for bringing you here... well... the Einzbern family always has interesting secrets."reason was the *small Holy Grail* within you. The Einzbern family created you beautifully... but extracting it takes time. So..." raised his hands gently. An Aldrich creature—a mass of black tentacles and countless yellow eyes—appeared in the air. "I'm sorry... I have to use this *beautiful* creature."

The tentacles attacked Irisviel like hungry snakes. One slithered into her mouth, two others gripped her wrists. The creature spread over her body with a strange vitality, melting her clothes like wax. The tentacles violated every orifice—vagina, anus, mouth—and Irisviel let out a muffled scream. Elias watched with eyes gleaming with amusement: "Look, it looks like two people are having fun."