The Prince Of Magic

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Once everyone had gathered together at the bridge, Hugo led Hadrian to the couch that was directly behind the control station of the yacht.

In front of the station were glass windows, which has the clear view of the front deck and the sea. The view of ocean might be beautiful, but there was a peculiar phenomenon that was hindering it.

In the distance, there was a vast mist in sight while there are ominous dark gray clouds gathering and rumbling in the sky, all of which were rotating in a slow, circular motion.

"Is that fog? A fog in the middle of the ocean?" Hadrian asked, narrowing his eyes as he looked upwards. "And what is going on with those clouds up there? They don't feel natural."

Indeed, what he sensed from the mist and clouds were telling him that the strange phenomenon was not in any way normal, due to the amount of magical energy he felt from that location of where the mist and the clouds are.

That, and the Moon Cell was also helpful enough to inform him of something dangerous was lurking behind the mist.

Hadrian doesn't need to be a genius that that was where the Spider's nest is located.

Nevertheless, it was quite weird to see a random mist and dark clouds in the middle of the ocean when they had just left the port a few hours ago and everything was still bright and normal.

Also, as the 85 meter yacht gets closer to the mist, Hadrian began to notice that the temperature was beginning to get a lot colder than usual.

He doesn't feel it since the yacht was well-equipped with some type magecraft that can resist weather conditions (he checked earlier), but on the windows, he can see the frost crawling up the surface of the glass.

The process was slow but steady, and it slowly spreads the closer they get to the mist.

Hadrian wondered why that is, but his musing was interrupted as he heard Hugo speak.

"Hmm, I'm not surprised that you noticed it, young master." Hugo smiled, impressed by his observation. "As I'm sure you know, the mist and the clouds were created due to a vast magical energy. But what is so interesting about it is that source of that magical energy does not come from something ordinary."

"Oh, where did it come from then?" Charlie asked, also looking at the mist as he stood by his liege's side.

He was not the only who was curious. The others were either standing or sitting around the bridge near Hadrian, but all of their attention was also upon the mist in the distance.

Hugo was about to answer, but Hadrian had beaten him to it.

"Not where, but from whom." Hadrian said, his expression calm and regal.

Inside though, he was feeling apprehensive. Not due to the magical energy, but he was feeling like he was about to walk into a lion's den, and he was one of its preys, which was understandable since this was the Spider he was thinking of.

Anyone, no matter how powerful they are, would feel nervous in walking into that thing's territory, and Hadrian was no exception, regardless of his experience.

"Right again, young master." Hugo nodded, his smile widening a bit. "The source of that great magical energy comes from the Spider itself, who is officially known as Type Mercury."

The retainers turned to Hugo in surprise, clearly shocked by the revelation.

Scáthach though gained her composure faster than any of them, probably due to her own experience in the past.

Admittedly, she has not got into a fight with an Ultimate One before, but she was a bit excited in seeing one and perhaps gain a chance to do so during their visit.

Unbeknownst to her, Hadrian sensed her anticipation through Empathy, causing him to sigh in resignation.

Arturia, who sat beside him and saw his reaction, tilted her head slightly in confusion.

Ryu and Fou, who was on his left shoulder and on his l.a.p respectively, were also looking at their master in curiosity.

"Um, isn't the Spider an Ultimate One?" Charles asked nervously.

An 'Ultimate One', also known as the 'Aristoles', was the official term that the Mage's Association had used to describe beings from other planets, differing significantly from both creatures of earth and each other biologically and in appearance. They do not have the same self of sense as humans, nor do they have the concepts of damage or death.

They require something above the existence of common sense of the planet in order to be harmed or destroyed, though the resulting 'death' was not necessarily permanent.

Also, it is possible for some to acquire the planet's concept of 'knowledge' and several of them were able to contact humans, such as the Spider for one.

In short, they are the ultimate hidden bosses from other heavenly bodies, embodying the will of the planets themselves and with the support of Gaia herself.

Which, in turn, caused Hadrian to wonder how his grandfather managed to survive in a battle against one and even came out victorious.

Granted, the old Magician got turned into a Dead Apostle in return (which was the one thing that really irritated his grandfather the most), but other than that and being almost drained of prana, Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg came out of the one-on-one fight against an Ultimate One, who was known as Crimson Moon, mostly unharmed.

Back in the Holy Grail war, Hadrian nearly experienced the same thing as his grandfather.

It was after a few days that Rin Tohsaka and Rani VIII fought.

The two was about to let their servants fight to the death, and both had equal chances in winning against the other. But, their fight came to an abrupt end when a certain enemy Master with a dark-blue coat tried to sabotage the battle between them.

The enemy Master in question sabotaged the fight by setting up a death-trap with the sole purpose of trying to kill the two girls, so that a fellow Master he knows would not have to bother fighting them in the future.

It was only by chance that Hadrian saw him entering one of the classrooms and followed him inside, but he did not expect him to try setting up a trap during the two girls' battle.

Normally, such a thing would not be possible since the Moon Cell's security measures would have prevented it from happening, but the guy was resourceful and smart enough to discover a weak link in Automaton's firewall.

It was a small sliver of chance, but he took it and had been rewarded with success.

Both the girls' servants were close to ending the battle by activating their Noble Phantasm at that time, but the enemy Master swooped in and took advantage of the timing.

With powerful traps placed on both servants, he had managed to weaken their defenses and overwhelmed them after he had powered up his servant with a Command Spell.

The enemy Master had been nearly successful in his goal, considering as he had been close to killing both Rani and Rin with both of their servants near death's doorstep.

It didn't help that the enemy's servant was barely visible and quite powerful in their own right, which can be a dangerous combination during the Holy Grail war.

What he did not expect was for Hadrian to step in and interfere.

Julius B. Harway was the name of the enemy Master, and he was one of the most persistent and dangerous participants that Hadrian had to fight in the war.

Not only was he ruthless and calculative, he was persistent and determined in taking out his competitors except for one, his brother, Leonardo B. Harwey.

Long story short, Hadrian and Arturia fought Julius and his servant to a standstill. Although, the reason for doing so was not because Hadrian wanted to beat them, but to stall for time until the Moon Cell stopped the battle officially.

Fortunately, Hadrian, Rin and Rani managed to live through it and even pushed Julius and his servant back throughout the fight.

But in return, Hadrian was forced to sacrifice one of his Command Spells to amplify Arturia's parameters to counter the enemy servant's attacks. It was also thanks to the girls' servants' assistance that they had kept Julius and his servant at bay by sacrificing themselves, despite their weakened state.

What happened after was a blur, but Hadrian can still remember how Rani and Rin reacted to the result of the close-encounter.

They both lost their servants, but they survived from Julius's trap because of him.

After being thanked (by Rani) and scolded (by Rin) for saving them, they had decided to help him win the war from then on since he still had Arturia, and they continued to lend their assistance to him every week since their survival depends upon his chances to win the battles.

After that incident, Hadrian got immediately pitted against a peculiar Master and Servant pair.

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