The Prince Of Magic

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In the West Wing of the Clock Tower, there lies an office owned by one of the most well-renowned individuals in the Moonlit World.

The room itself was consisted of things that were typically seen in a private office of someone with wealth; two black leather couches for visitors to sit on that faced each other, a moderate-sized knee-high table, a few bookshelves filled with large tomes with no titles on the covers situated on the left and right walls, a large dark brown mahogany desk and a black chair.

Inside the room, two men were currently deep in conversation.

Seated comfortably on the black leather sofa, was a man in his early thirties with long loose black hair and dark gray eyes. With the height of 186cm, he has a pale skin tone and bears the features of someone of European descent. He wore a long red coat with golden ornamentations on its shoulders, a black t-shirt beneath a charcoal long-sleeve shirt, dark blue pants and black shoes.

What stood out the most about him was the tremendously sour expression on his face that was, interestingly enough, lacking in its usual intensity.

Although, the main cause for its lack of intensity was probably due to the other man standing by the large glass window of the office that was behind the large desk.

Said male was tall, broad-shouldered and has short silver gray hair that was slicked back wildly with a few short strands falling over his face. He was dressed in an all-black custom-made suit with a short cape with gold ornaments on its shoulders. The garment was held together by a thin piece gold ornament to keep it from slipping off his shoulders. He was also wearing a pair of white gloves.

To most observers, the man has the appearance of a rough-looking gentleman in a dapperly suit.

The man with silver gray hair has his back facing the long-haired man with his hands folded behind him, and via the reflection of the window was a pair of crimson eyes with vertical slits, looking at the other male occupant in the room with a steady and focused gaze that can make even a brave man to pause and sweat.

The crimson eyes looked almost as if they were glowing, thanks to the dim lighting of the chandelier hanging in the center of the room, nearly obscuring his features from the other man.

Fortunately, the long-haired man had seen much worst in his younger years. Therefore, he remained unperturbed by the somewhat eerie gaze that was currently locked onto him.

Lord El-Melloi II spoke after a few moments of silence in the room, placing the white folder on the table with a hint of disgust and frustration.

"This is the sixth time now. Six locations in two months, and countless of people dead. A few of them were even Magi. First, it was on our soils, then France, Germany, America, Russia, and Japan. The Root only knows how many more of these nonsensical murders had happened around the world."

He glared at the folder that contained recent reports of his investigation, some which came from his sources, but information of the identity of the instigator of the case still remained unknown, which is something that bothered him the most.

Taking out a cigarette out of his coat's inner pocket, Lord El-Melloi II turned his gaze to the other man in the room as he lit the cancerous stick and smoked.

"This is all that I can find without risking the lives of my sources further. Have you found anything new on your end, Lord Schweinorg?"

The man with silver gray hair, Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg, turned to face the long-haired professor.

He walked around the desk to the rear of the other couch with an unusually solemn expression upon his aging countenance. He did not sit on the couch, but simply remained standing behind it with one hand laid on top of the head rest.

"On some account, I may have." The Wizard Marshall answered, voice slightly gruff and nonchalant.

"These incidents seems to have a purpose to them. Other than appearing as a series of murders with a touch of an occultist to the normal masses, I know better, and the others in the Mage's Association agrees with my view on this case."

Curious by this answer, Lord El-Melloi II asked with a frown. "What do you mean?"

Dark gray eyes widened slightly in realization, he tensed. "Does this mean th-"

"No." Zelretch shook his head.

The long-haired professor sighed in relief.

But, it was short-lived by the next words that was uttered.

"But, there is a chance that it might. However, based on the ritual designs, the number of sacrifices, and the locations. They are all connected. I know it. Hadrian knows it as well. This is not the work of a Magus trying to reach the Root. No... this is something different."

A tense silence reign the office as the two Magi imagined what the perpetrator of the murder cases that occurred around the world was planning in the future.

Both men's faces were grim, and they remained silent, lost in their own thoughts.

The long-haired professor sighed, feeling stressed and drained from the recent news that he was informed of lately, but then he remembered what the Wizard Marshall said.

By the mentioned of the Schweinorg heir, Lord El-Melloi II followed up another question.

"Speaking of which, where is he? I haven't seen that boy around since that event."

And by 'event', Lord El-Melloi II was referring to the one that lead to the young man's rapid ascent in reputation as a new and upcoming Magician.

In the 1970's, there was a certain major incident that rendered the world's mana to start drying up, causing it to split off into its own separate universe.

Around the time of 2030s, the world's mana was completely gone.

Then, when the year of 2032 came, a group of Magi from the Mage's Association and the Western European Conglomerate made a discovery about a unique massive collection of photonic crystals within the Moon that comprises a giant super-computer of sorts.

Through their discovery, the Magi from the two factions found that the Moon Cell's photonic crystals are shown to had been created 4.6 billion years before the Age of Man, making it a construct formed roughly around 100 years ago before even the formation of the Earth.

It holds the 'Moon Cell Automaton', which was a spiritual computer system built on the lunar surface by a pre-human civilization.

The Magi of that time had also discovered that it can affect the outside world with its calculations.

It has the power to 'grant wishes'.

In this way, it can be thought of as a Pandora's Box that promises a god-like power to intelligent lifeforms, who have become technologically advanced enough to scan the interior of the moon.

It was then officially named as the 'Moon Cell'. It was also known by other names, such as the 'Eye of God', the 'Divine Automatic Recording Device, and last but not least, the 'Holy Grail'.

Then, the start of that 'event' happened. A Holy Grail War on the inner side of the Moon had began.

After it was discovered by the Magi of that time, it had managed to hack into every computer system around the world and connect to them within two seconds of contact.

This had rendered all internet security systems useless, as anyone could get into any other computer via the passageways through the Moon Cell as long as one could connect to the internet.

In order to determine who was truly worthy of using its power, the Moon Cell started the Holy Grail War, where 'Spirit Hackers' who had hacked themselves into the SE.RA.PH. (Serial Phantasm) fight for the right to use the Moon Cell's tremendous power.

When the Holy Grail War began, countless of participants had died and, for some unknown reason, none were chosen as the victor.

999 participants of the first Holy Grail War in the Moon fought and died, due to an unknown reason that they had yet to uncover at that time.

No one was chosen as the victor, and none had survived.

The wars did not end, and it had continued on for several years.

When the Western European Conglomerate and the Mage's Association realized the oddity, they had issued a temporary peace treaty between their factions to investigate the grave situation.

The two factions had to set aside their differences for the sake of bringing order with their respective groups, due to a lot of greedy Magi who were trying to take advantage of the confounding situation.

During that time, they had to prevent a lot of people from reaching the Moon Cell, by prohibiting all space travel from around the world. The two factions also made a pact to work together and keep its existence a secret from the average humans.

After a few years of forcing order and discipline in their own groups, the two factions had began to let other magi participate in the Holy Grail War again, including the ones from their own factions.

Before they did though, they had to issue a strict set of rules and requirements that the candidates must meet first before they can enter the war, leaving no exceptions.

It was also worth noting that they did not let outsiders with no relations in the moonlit world to participate in the Holy Grail War. But, they were unable to prevent the ones with great hacking skills to enter the battle on the Moon, much to their chagrin.

Lord El-Melloi II had been one of the participants in the previous Grail War.

He had been young and brash, too naive to know exactly what he was getting himself into.

After his professor, Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald, had publicly humiliated him in front of the class and told him that his radical thesis concerning increasing magical potential was laughable.

Caring little for his feelings, Kayneth had decided to tear up Waver's manuscript after he had publicly humiliated him during a lecture.

Waver, in retaliation, stole Kayneth's artifact and entered the Holy Grail War on the Moon, which led to the death of a great Magus by the name of Arin von Aelfryth.

The war had been brutal and cruel, forcing each 999 participants to kill one another in order to be a part of the 128 candidates that will be in the tournament.

Week after week, he was forced to kill his opponents via elimination.

Defeat was not an option. To survive the battle is to win, and death is the reward for those who lost.

In his case, it had been a close call with death.

He had been against his former mentor, Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald, and was about to be defeated when someone managed to interfere in the battle.

Lord El-Melloi II can still remember it clearly.

His former mentor had caught him in a trap, forcing his Servant, Rider, Alexander the Great, to take a defensive stance and try to help him, but the enemy Servant kept him at bay.

In the end, it was not to be.

His Servant had been close to being defeated, and Kayneth was already upon him. He was prepared to move in for the kill after having injured Waver with a spell.

Even today, the long-haired professor of the Clock Tower can still feel the phantom pains of the scar that his former mentor left him with on his c.h.e.s.t.

He had been scared at that time. The fear of death was real, and he truly felt it.

Then, as if answering his prayers, someone had hacked into the fight and joined the battle, saving him from the blow that would have definitely killed him.

What made him even more confused was the sudden appearance of a certain Magus that he only knew by name. The person who saved him was Arin von Aelfryth, much to their surprises.

It was widely known in their society who the man was.

Arin von Aelfryth was a highly respected Magus in the Mage's Association and in the Clock Tower, due to his research on a unique magical system.

Not only that, the man became rather famous when it was officially announced that he was married to the only daughter of a certain Magician. Him being the younger brother of the user of the First True Magic, who had recently passed away ten years ago, was also widely acknowledged.

There were even rumors that the man was eligible to be the next Magician, considering as the user of the First Magic had passed on their research to him, but whenever someone had asked Arin that question, he would simply laugh it off and dismissed it as a mere jest.

Lord El-Melloi II took note that the man didn't deny the inheritance rumor though.

Still, he owed the man his life. If not for his actions, he would not even be able to survive and leave that cruel place in one piece. So, he returned the favor by helping the man on the sidelines.

His Servant had been killed during that battle though. Rider went down fighting to the bitter end as his former mentor tried to finish the job by disposing of him quickly.

But, due to Arin's interference and the Moon Cell's putting the match to a stop, he had managed to leave the arena alive with Arin and his Servant ensuring his safety.

From then on, he had dedicated most of his time in assisting the two to win the tournament.

Waver may still be considered as an eligible Master at that time, but he had no intention to continue in participating in the tournament any longer.

Simply put, he had enough of it.

It was fortunate that the Moon Cell did not forcefully deleted him from the system. Otherwise, Waver would not had been able to leave that place alive.

Of course, his former mentor had been quite enraged by the interference.

It was also worth noting that Kayneth had often considered Arin von Aelfryth to be his arch-rival, due to their near similar backgrounds and achievements, though the latter was more accomplished than Kayneth could ever be in Waver's opinion.

Kayneth directed that rage upon Arin, and the two men had gained the chance to settle their scores in the battlefield when they were both paired to fight, courtesy of the Moon Cell's bidding.

In the end, Arin von Aelfryth was the one who came out of the battle victoriously. Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald did not managed to win against him, and he was left to die below the Arena.

From then on, week after week, he had worked with Arin and his Servant, supporting them from the sidelines with vital information on the next opponent and among other things.

When the last battle was done and Arin came out as the only Master left with his Servant by his side, it was finally time to see what was truly happening with the war.

Why did the Holy Grail War had continued for so long?

Why had there been no victors that was announced back then?

These were the questions that kept going through their minds as they walked upon the path that the Moon Cell had provided for them.

When the three of them went inside the area where the core of the Moon Cell was located, they had been shocked to find out the truth of the strange war that has no victors for many years.

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