He was imprisoned in Nibelungen for a thousand years, only to find out upon his release that he was

Fadius didn't care whether Francesca had truly vanished or was just playing a prank on him; what he really cared about was the whereabouts of the Lesser Grail!

If the Lesser Grail is truly gone, the Holy Grail War is going to be in a very awkward situation.

The Masters would absolutely never agree to temporarily halt the Holy Grail War.

You've already summoned your Servants, and you're telling me you're going to call a truce right from the start? Are you kidding me?!

But what if we pretend nothing happened and continue with the event? That would create new problems—

If a Servant were to leave the battlefield, and their soul wasn't retrieved by the Lesser Grail, it would return directly to the Throne of Heroes. Wouldn't the entire Holy Grail War have been fought for nothing? This would lead to severe reprimands from superiors.

America's behind-the-scenes executives: Hey! Commissioner Fadius, are you short on cash lately, feeling stifled by your salary, even trying to steal the Lesser Grail?

What a joke!

In short, this situation has become a dead end, with one thing stuck in the middle and the other blocked.

“I shouldn’t have relied on that old man; he didn’t lighten my workload at all,” Fadius rubbed his temples and called over his assistant, Adela.

"Does the intelligence department have any new leads regarding their disappearance?"

"A newly dispatched team of specialists has gone to the scene. Based on the records and the initial comparison with the actual situation, they have not found anything unusual or any noteworthy traces of magic."

The female assistant, dressed in formal attire, replied.

"Is that so? This is indeed unusual, a more troublesome situation than expected. But the Lesser Grail cannot simply disappear for no reason. We must find it, even if we have to dig three feet into the ground!"

Fadius coldly emphasized that he had defined the nature of the matter.

"Let's have an emergency meeting to discuss this and see if there are any other directions for the investigation."

"You must give me a feasible plan before dawn, including three directions besides the current on-site investigation, and at the same time, dispatch your subordinates in advance to carry it out and see the effect of the pre-treatment."

When Adela's assistant heard this, she almost fainted on the spot.

It's true that the boss only needs to say a few words, but the subordinates have to run themselves ragged.

If they really play like that, the entire department won't be able to slip away tonight; everyone will have to work overtime like crazy to serve them.

Fortunately, Adela was capable enough to climb to this position, and she quickly came up with a contingency plan to block Fadius's increasingly outrageous demands:

“Mr. Dioran, we already have a plan. We suggest starting with the Grail system, using the connections between the ley lines, the Greater Grail, and the Lesser Grail to track the flow of energy and closely observe the origins of any anomalies.”

"Currently, the Lesser Grail has not been disconnected from the Greater Grail system; it is merely 'out of contact.' We suspect that the Lesser Grail has not left Snowfield City but is simply in a state of 'isolation from another dimension.'"

"But no matter how the 'otherworld' is constructed, as long as it is located nearby, it will inevitably be deeply connected with this land and spiritual veins."

"Testing from this angle? That's a good idea indeed. There's readily available equipment at the Great Hollow (where the Greater Grail is located)." Fadius breathed a sigh of relief once he had a direction.

It's much better than wandering around like a headless fly and then disappearing one after another.

At a single command, the entire monitoring center sprang into action.

Although Fadius and his group are officially classified as magicians, they are also under the command of the American military, making them far more efficient than the old guard of the association.

So, in less than twenty minutes, new progress was quickly made.

It wasn't that his subordinates were particularly capable, but rather that the traces were too conspicuous.

“A shockingly large-scale unstable (magical) reaction has been detected at this location!” reported several men disguised as maintenance workers.

When the weary Fadius arrived at the scene, the distorted magical reaction had already expanded to a terrifying degree, with sharp, piercing explosions and flashes of electricity even appearing in the air.

It was as if an invisible thunderstorm was descending from the sky and crashing down on the ground.

Several flying familiars that did not belong to their own network also appeared nearby.

It's likely that the other Masters are also observing the situation.

That's right. A magical reaction of that scale is visible to anyone who isn't blind, even a fool could see it.

"Is the equipment started? How is it operating?" he asked in a low voice.

"Over there in the Great Hollow, the operators are analyzing the direction of the ley lines at the target coordinates, but..."

The subordinates' faces were grim. It was clearly a normal investigation, but after touching the abnormal fluctuations, some of the magic formulas became abnormally chaotic and out of control. Terrifying fluctuations trembled violently and even spread to the outside world through the visual formula link...

Just what?

Fadius instinctively wanted to ask more questions, but he froze the next moment.

Without warning, a massive thunderbolt descended from nowhere.

Rumble!

Like an endless white ribbon falling from the heavens, it exploded into a dazzling sea of ​​light. Skyscrapers collapsed and crumbled instantly, and the flying debris was annihilated by the thunderstorm in a flash.

Two figures sped across the scorched earth interwoven with electric grids. The laws of the inherent barrier trampled reality and dispelled mystery. Their soaring spirit and divine imprints intertwined, creating a dazzling spectacle!

"It's so noisy in the middle of the night, could it be another natural gas explosion like yesterday?... Oh my god, this thunderstorm is terrifying!"

"Wait, there's someone over there? Are they filming a movie?!"

"Coooool! The virtual imaging technology these days is amazing!"

"Wow, is that Odin from Norse mythology with the gun? And is that Wolverine? Deadpool? Could it be... that Marvel is starting a new movie series?!"

Battle scenes that should have been confined to another world were thus recorded by the out-of-control reconnaissance spell and openly displayed in the void.

As a result, it was exposed to the public eye in the real world.

Fadius's mind went blank.

They seemed equally stunned by this battle that spanned worlds.

It's completely over... the cover-up for the Holy Grail War...

Book 1: Chapter 12 Please be aware that Odin has been successfully slapped in the face.

"Hahahaha! I never imagined that in this era, there would be foolishly brave warriors straying onto the battlefield and becoming enemies with unrelated gods... My dear friend, this Holy Grail War is even more interesting than we ever expected!"

Crystal Hill, the highest building in the entire Snowfield City, in its penthouse suite, Gilgamesh, the Archer Servant—a blond man in casual clothes—raised a glass of red wine and laughed heartily while gazing at the ethereal image.

Beside her stood the dark-skinned little girl Master, Tini Chirk, who cautiously asked:

"Your Majesty, that deity seems to be a major god in Norse mythology... Are you saying they are unrelated figures who did not participate in the Holy Grail War?"

Gilgamesh finished his red wine and put down his glass. "Hmph, of course you're questioning my judgment?"

"I'm sorry, Your Majesty! I..."

“Raise your head, Tini. I have no interest in punishing confused children.”

"Listen carefully. The so-called high and mighty gods have no interest in the mere Holy Grail ritual and the Third Magic. Besides, the Holy Grail is rightfully mine, do you understand?"

His words were filled with the confidence that victory was within his grasp.

"Understood…"

……

Forest on the outskirts of Snowfield City.

The man who was being talked about by someone, Lancer, the green-haired, white-robed Enkidu, was holding his Master—a shivering, gleaming synthetic wolf—and looking worriedly into the void.

"To fight so fiercely against a great master, he is truly an unparalleled warrior! I think Gil would agree, but..."

Fair hands caressed the earth.

"The aura of the land has become chaotic... Someone used some medium and magic to draw in the aura of that other world."

Enkidu bent down and sniffed again, then his heart skipped a beat.

"...The scent of the remnants of the Age of Gods, though not in large quantities, is more complex than ever before... What exactly is that 'other world' over there?"

There were also faint traces of familiar faces mixed in.

Is it just my imagination...?

……

"Wow! Mr. Jack, did you see that? Incredibly powerful cross-platform video delivery! That kind of spectacle is something you only see in mythological battles!"

"And another thing, could their runes be the legendary primordial runes? I remember it being mentioned in the textbook for all the basic courses! Wow, that man's self-healing technique is amazing, I can't understand it at all..."

"The Holy Grail War is so interesting to be able to see so many things in person!"

Inside a cheap motel, the blond teenager Flat was so excited that he was gesturing wildly and talking incessantly about the watch on his wrist.

Master, calm down. I understand your excitement, but please restrain yourself and don't call me by my real name.

"The true nature of the watch," Berserker Jack the Ripper uttered helplessly.

If I remember correctly, Master, you went to America to participate in the Holy Grail War without your teacher's permission, right? If what happened tonight is also reported back...

"Oh, right! Mr. Jack, you've reminded me!"

Flat remained enthusiastic, as if his ears had automatically blocked out any persuasion. "I promised the teacher before I left that I would find Tohsaka-senpai, who went missing near the city! I absolutely cannot go back until I find her!"

This is a legitimate reason for him to travel to America, besides participating in the Holy Grail War! This way, he can continue his carefree lifestyle with a clear conscience!

Although his teacher, El-Melloi II, disagreed with none of these reasons.

"Now that I think about it, Tohsaka-senpai's unusual disappearance must be related to this manifested 'otherworldly battlefield.' To gather clues, we need to use spiritual veins and land..."

"...Hmm, this seems like a lot of work. It would be great if I could hack into and modify some existing equipment and tools."

So, you've finally decided to do this? Did you forget about it before because you were so excited about the Holy Grail War?

"hey-hey."

……

Crack!

The lightning went out.

The duel between Lu Ming and Odin was abruptly interrupted. The intense atmosphere of battle on the battlefield thus came to an abrupt end.

He didn't actually know why Odin stopped fighting, nor did he know about the extremely absurd 'citywide movie-watching incident' that had occurred outside.

Lu Ming saw Odin suddenly freeze, as if he had encountered an unforeseen and program crash.

If it were someone else, they might be tempted to ask a couple of probing questions or take the opportunity to rest, regulate their breathing, or secretly heal themselves.

But with such a rare opportunity to kill his decades-old enemy right in front of him, how could Lu Ming allow himself to miss it?

Before the war, I said I would take Odin's dog head. Now, taking advantage of your weakness, I will chop off your dog head without hesitation!

The swift blade slashed down, bypassing Odin's exquisitely shimmering full-body armor, aiming straight for his neck.

Ding!

As if some emergency measure had been triggered, a rune suddenly lit up, and the distorted space abruptly tore through the ground, covering the battlefield.

Lu Ming's blade was also torn off his neck and struck Odin's face—or rather, his mask—his head trembled violently from the force of the blow, and the silver mask covering his face fell off!

"Grass!"

Better to be slapped in the face than to be beheaded?

Lu Ming knew that this was Odin using the technique of "space creation".

The assassination attempt is now doomed.

With the attitude of never wanting to be taken advantage of, he reached out and grabbed Odin's mask, stuffing it into his pocket.

The spatial collapse became increasingly severe. When they looked up again, Odin's figure had vanished.

Lu Ming sensed a tearing force similar to spatial teleportation and cursed inwardly, wondering what Odin had suddenly gone mad for.

He had to abandon the search for the other party's whereabouts and go back to find Ai Lei and the others, lest they accidentally enter some spatial passage and cause the team to get separated.

……

"Ouch!"

Ishtar stumbled and nearly fell, hitting her head and wincing in pain, her expression contorting slightly.

She began to consider whether to separate the small Holy Grail from her body; this useless thing kept acting strangely. It had done the same before, causing her to lose focus during battle and almost getting hit by the enemy.

Covering my head and looking up again, a dark and dilapidated corridor came into view.

This place looks like a research institute, but I didn't find the full name at the main entrance. There was only a string of English letters and numbers, plus an address footnote—"Area 51".

This is another temporary base that Lu Ming and his group found after the battle. When the battle ended, the group was not separated due to the spatial disorder, but after leaving, they found that they had been teleported a long distance.

They didn't have time to investigate the reasons; they needed to make repairs, so they chose this place nearby.