To Become a King and a Magician

Naoki had a dream.

The scene in the dream was a city engulfed in flames, a black sun hanging in the sky, and a thick black waterfall flowing from the sun.

Naoki was very familiar with this scene; he had seen it many times through the dimensional wall. After absorbing the Mana and souls of six Servants, the Holy Grail finally appeared, and All the World's Evil overflowed from it, turning everything it touched into a sea of fire.

This was a scene worthy of being called "Doomsday." At least according to Naoki's poor imagination, he felt that Doomsday must look like this.

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At some point, the city in the sea of fire disappeared, the black sun and All the World's Evil also vanished, and in their place appeared a large underground cave filled with skeletons. In the center of the cave, atop a mountain of corpses, stood two figures—one holding a sword and stabbing it into the heart of the other.

Naoki couldn't clearly see who these two people were. His vision seemed to be covered by a mosaic thicker than that of a low-budget film. The more he tried to see the two clearly, the thicker the mosaic became.

The only thing he knew was that both of them had golden hair.

Then, the thick darkness erupting from the two men surged toward Naoki like a raging wave, and along with it, a word that seemed to be shouted by an unknown person also enveloped his consciousness.

"Give me back my Saber! Outsider!"

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"AHHHH!!!"

At 8:30 in the morning, in a cheap apartment rented specifically to singles in a corner of Fuyuki City, Naoki woke up on his tatami mat.

The window had been opened at some point, and the cool morning breeze blew into the room, while the bright morning sunlight shone on him.

Another beautiful morning—if this had happened in the past, Naoki would have felt the same and sighed deeply, but now, he had just woken up from a nightmare and only felt his hands and feet cold, his entire body chilled, and his clothes soaked in cold sweat.

"Master!"

Beside Naoki, Arthur immediately appeared upon hearing his cry. He looked at his frightened Master, crouched down, and asked worriedly, "Are you okay? Master, what happened?"

"It's nothing, just a nightmare."

As he stood up, Naoki lowered his head and remained silent for a moment, then asked: "Saber... have you ever killed someone?"

"Yes. Of course."

"Then add a few more conditions—a large underground cave, a blonde woman, a stab from behind... Have you ever killed someone under these circumstances?"

"...."

Unlike usual, Arthur, who had been almost open with Naoki over the past half month, did not immediately give an answer this time.

"Yes." Arthur nodded again, "That was... the Holy Grail War in a parallel world, in Tokyo."

"Who did you kill?"

"My Master." At this point, Arthur quickly added: "But I hope you can trust me, Master. Although I made a mistake in the past, I will bring you victory this time."

"I need to take a shower."

Without responding to Arthur's pledge of loyalty, Naoki stood up and quickly walked to the bathroom.

Then, he sat down on the floor, his breathing uncontrollably ragged.

"Haa..."

If another Master had the same dream, they would surely hold a grudge against Arthur. A Servant who had killed their Master would definitely be a ticking time bomb for any Master. After all, they wouldn't know if they would be betrayed and killed one day. There might even be a possibility of using a Command Spell to restrict the Servant as a precaution.

For example, the original Medea Master in the Fifth Holy Grail War.

However, Naoki knew Arthur's character. He had read the novels, background collections, and game storylines. As a Master for five years, he knew that Arthur was a noble Knight King. As long as there were no conflicts in ideals and positions, he would never betray him.

What truly unsettled Naoki was Arthur's former Master, who was stabbed from behind in his dream.

If Naoki remembered correctly, that person should be the one known as Sajyou Manaka. She had been connected to the Root since birth and was the true Root Princess. She was the strongest human Master to appear in all the main and side stories of the Holy Grail War—Sajyou Manaka.

After a Master and Servant sign a contract, it's possible for them to dream about each other's past experiences. This is a normal thing, and Naoki had prepared for it, but he never expected that he would become the target of Sajyou Manaka!

This was truly fatal! Manaka was a genuine yandere, a woman who could destroy quantum records and disrupt the Human Order to fulfill Arthur's wish of "recreating Britain"! A beginner like Naoki, who didn't even have magic circuits, would be finished if he became her target!

"Master."

Arthur's voice came from outside the door.

"Are you really okay? The nightmare you mentioned... were you dreaming about Manaka?"

"Manaka... Is that girl's name Manaka?"

Turning on the shower, the hot water washed away the cold sweat on Naoki's body. Glancing at Arthur standing outside the door without saying anything, he sighed, "Arthur, help me get a set of clothes from the closet, the ones I wear to school."

"Ah... Okay."

"If you don't want to talk about what happened between you and Manaka in the past, I won't ask. I only have one request for you—protect me in this Holy Grail War. I don't need victory; all I want is your protection. Can you do that?"

"Understood, Master."

Arthur outside the door breathed a sigh of relief.

"In the name of the Knight King and the Holy Sword, I will defeat all enemies and protect you."

"No, no need to defeat everyone... Never mind, I'll leave everything to you, Arthur." At this point, Naoki suddenly became curious and said half-jokingly: "Oh, by the way, if your ex-girlfriend comes to kill me, who will you help?"

"Master, Manaka and I did not have the kind of relationship you're imagining! And I will definitely protect you as I said earlier!"

"Really?"

"Absolutely!"