Sneak Peak: Original Sin (Patreon)

The tale began many millennia prior, when mankind was younger than it was even now and in a age where the phenomena itself had thoughts. 

In a long-gone village, some long-forgotten villagers were faced with a horrible tribulation…

Good fortune.

Their land was fertile, the sky blessed them with regular but soft rain, and animals immigrated to their territory to be hunted down and skinned for pelts.

The villagers whose lives were always a monotony of work day in and day out, were given the most dangerous thing they could obtain, free time.

When civilization was so young, that was no blessing, especially for such an isolated village.

And so, those idle hands became the workshop of the devil.

Vandalism, theft, rape, and even murders took place despite all of the populace's need being met, and the villagers grew unhappy with their leadership for their lack of solutions.

Unable to stop the crimes, the village head scrambled for a way to justify themselves and they selected One. Random.Person.

With such a thought, an innocent villager was proclaimed the source of all Evils, and for their existence, they were punished.

An eye was gauged out, but one was left so they’d see what was done to them.

An ear was ruptured, but one was left so they’d hear the jeers sent their way.

Their tongue was cut out, bit the back of it was left so they could only taste the bitterness of the poison fed to them.

On their skin, a symbol for every evil was carved.

On and on, every pain they could inflict, was inflicted.

Despite this, the torturers were careful so that “Angra Mainyu” would only die decades later, to old age.

Through their haze and agony, through the villagers’ belief… a wraith lingered even as the flesh passed.

The wraith then did as it was claimed to have done in life, corrupting the mind of men and bringing woes to the village.

And in doing so, it saved them.

Those innocent who saw proof of the demon could again trust their neighbors, knowing their sins to not be from a depraved mind of a man, but the machinations of a demon. 

The King of Daemons, All the World's Evils! The Prototype of The Devil!

Angra Mainyu.

Despite that, a wraith could only be a wraith. Something as weak as it could be used as a scapegoat, but never truly become an entity on the level it was claimed to be.

At least, not by its own power.

Four days.

In a mere four days, the Servant Avenger was killed. The supposed evil deity could not win even a single battle and was swiftly killed in the Third Grail War.

Had that been the end of it, such a remarkable event would not be worth remembering. However…

…As it was collected into the Holy Grail, something horrible happened.

But rather than a legend like Heracles or a historic fact like Leonardo Da Vinci, Angra Mainyu was a ‘wish’. 

A useful entity that humans deeply desired to exist.

This difference went as deep as the very energy which made up its body. The mana that constructed Angra Mainyu was tainted with a will of its own, unlike the normal mana of the land that could be used for spells without problems.

Thus, when a drop of that, the embodiment of humanity's wish for an absolute evil, met the colorless magical energy that would function as the ultimate wish-granting device-

The Holy Grail was forever altered, as a wish that could not be taken back by itself was made upon it.

Outfitted with an intelligence of its own, the Holy Grail was a sophisticated program designed to make many decisions on its own- though of course, none of the magi who made it would describe it in such modern terms.

Which Magus should be the Masters?

How to ensure the Holy Grail War ends in a timely fashion, so as to not draw the stored away energy before a victor was found?

Which Servants fit the criteria for who could be summoned, regardless of catalyst used- were they from outside of East Asia? 

Were they of good or neutral alignment?

And if regulation was needed- which Ruler to summon?

That is to say, the entity brewing within the Grail was forced to choose, having subverted the grail and still merely a fetus, even though it could not ‘think’,  its survival Instincts were first-rate, so, faced with a situation it didn’t understand why, but it knew it must find a solution.

But what Ruler would look upon the cursed Grail, and allow it to be used?

Among the catalyst built into the Grail, no Heroic Spirits could be found that would follow these rules, and allow for Angra Mainyu’s birth.

But!

But…

Records of a fitting entity existed…

In the safehouse was a converted storage room, Irisviel von Einzbern sat in the center of the room, was calm , that of someone who had accepted their fate, who had made peace with the inevitable.

Maiya did not share that peace.

She stood by the door, her posture rigid, her hand resting on the holster at her hip. Her eyes never left Irisviel, watching for any sign of change, any indication that the transformation had begun after the death of any Servant.

It had been hours since Kiritsugu had left. Then the sky had turned black and the shadows had begun to move with a purpose that was not their own.

Then Irisviel's body began to glow.