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# Fate//Origin Clash: The Summoning of Kaien no Tenmei
## Chapter 1: The Rift Beyond the Throne
The air in Chaldea's summoning chamber tasted of ozone and possibility, charged with magical energy that made the hairs on everyone's necks stand on end. The complex array of magical circuits etched into the floor pulsed with ethereal light, each intricate pattern feeding into the main summoning circle at the center of the room. This was no ordinary summoning ritual—they were attempting to reach beyond the Throne of Heroes, into a realm of pure divinity.
Dr. Romani Archaman's fingers danced across holographic displays, his face illuminated by their blue glow. Beads of sweat formed on his brow despite the chamber's cool temperature. "All systems are running at 120% capacity. The FATE system was never designed to handle this kind of load, Director."
Leonardo da Vinci stood at the primary control console, her normally playful demeanor replaced by intense concentration. Her eyes flicked between multiple screens displaying arcane calculations and energy readings. "The anomaly in the Root-layer is growing exponentially, Romani. Conventional Heroic Spirits simply won't have the authority to counter something that's warping causality itself."
Mash Kyrielight adjusted her glasses nervously, clutching her shield closer to her body. The gentle lavender of her eyes clouded with worry as she turned to Ritsuka Fujimaru. "Senpai, are you absolutely certain about this? The energy requirements for breaching into the Divine Spirit realm are..."
"Off the charts, I know," Ritsuka nodded, determination etched into their features despite the evident exhaustion from providing the magical energy for numerous previous summonings. "But if we don't try, reality as we know it might unravel completely. The reports from our field teams confirm it—entire sections of human history are beginning to overlap and contradict each other."
Around the perimeter of the chamber stood several Servants, each summoned from different eras and mythologies. They had been called to witness this unprecedented attempt, partly as protection should something go wrong, partly because their presence might help stabilize the immense energies being channeled.
King Arthur—Artoria Pendragon—stood with perfect posture, her invisible sword Excalibur held ready at her side. Her emerald eyes betrayed no emotion, but the slight tension in her shoulders revealed her concern. Beside her, Gilgamesh, the King of Heroes, leaned against a wall with apparent disinterest, though his crimson eyes missed nothing.
Scathach, the immortal warrior-queen and witch of the Land of Shadows, observed the proceedings with analytical detachment, her crimson eyes calculating possibilities and outcomes. Karna, the Hero of Charity, remained utterly still, his divine armor gleaming under the chamber's lights.
The chamber's luminescence began to flicker as the summoning circle spun faster, its glow intensifying to a blinding white spiral. The magical energy condensed into a vortex so dense it seemed to bend the light around it. The entire room trembled, and several monitoring screens cracked under the strain.
"Something's wrong!" Da Vinci shouted, her fingers moving frantically across the controls. "The summoning isn't drawing from the Throne—it's... it's piercing through it!"
The rumbling intensified, causing dust to drift down from the ceiling. Alarms blared throughout the facility, their urgent wailing adding to the chaos. A thunderous crack split the air as reality itself seemed to fracture, a sound like the universe protesting against violation.
"Shut it down!" Romani yelled, genuine fear in his voice as he stared at readings that defied all known magical theory. "The readings are impossible—we're breaching into something beyond our comprehension!"
"I can't!" Da Vinci's hands flew across the controls with desperate urgency. "The system's locked into a feedback loop. Whatever we've reached is forcing its way through!"
Mash deployed her shield, the massive structure materializing fully as she stood protectively in front of Ritsuka. The magical circuitry throughout the chamber began to overload, sending cascades of sparks across the ceiling and walls. Several researchers backed away from their stations as consoles exploded in showers of electrical discharge.
Then, abruptly: silence.
The lights died. The alarms cut off mid-wail. Even the constant background hum of Chaldea's systems seemed to hold its breath. In the darkness, the only illumination came from the emergency backup lights, casting long, ominous shadows across the faces of those present.
In the darkness, a single point of light appeared—not within the summoning circle where it should have manifested, but beside it. A hand, radiating golden power that seemed to come from within rather than reflect external light, tore through the fabric of reality as easily as parting a curtain.
And through that rift stepped Kaien no Tenmei.
He was tall, standing well over six feet, with broad shoulders and a warrior's build that suggested immeasurable strength held in perfect control. His hair moved like solar flares around a face that combined beauty and ferocity in equal measure—features that might have been sculpted by a master artist were it not for the predatory intensity that animated them. His eyes gleamed a molten gold, scanning the room with casual interest that somehow conveyed both amusement and assessment. He wore clothing that defied easy categorization—neither modern nor ancient, with elements that suggested multiple cultures and time periods, all in shades of black and crimson with gold accents that matched his eyes.
The pressure of his mere presence made the air heavy, like being suddenly submerged in deep water. Several of the researchers at the back of the room sank to their knees without even realizing they were doing so. Among the Servants, even those of divine heritage felt something they rarely experienced—the instinctive recognition of a predator far above their place in the natural order.
Kaien chuckled, the sound like thunder wrapped in velvet.
"You guys actually tried to summon me..." His voice carried no trace of anger, only genuine amusement tinged with something like impressed disbelief. He glanced at the smoking ruins of the summoning circle, then back to the assembled group. "Obviously it didn't work, so I helped you out. No need to thank me."
The lights flickered back to life, revealing the reactions of those present.
Artoria Pendragon had drawn Excalibur halfway from its invisible sheath before freezing in place. Her battle-honed instincts—the same instincts that had guided her through countless battlefields and supernatural encounters—screamed a single, unmistakable warning: *she wouldn't survive the first strike*. For the first time since being summoned to Chaldea, the Once and Future King felt the cold touch of genuine fear crawl up her spine. It wasn't just that he was powerful—it was that his power existed in a different category altogether.
Nearby, Karna the Hero of Charity stood unnaturally still, his normally impassive face showing the slightest hint of pallor. The Son of the Sun God, whose divine power could incinerate armies, sensed an almost infinite killing intent radiating from the newcomer—a pressure that made even his divine flames seem like candle flickers in comparison. For perhaps the first time since his legendary duel with Arjuna, Karna felt outmatched not by degree but by kind.
Scathach, the immortal Witch of Dun Scaith who had fought gods and sought death for millennia, looked on with widened eyes and unmistakable interest. Her lips parted slightly as she assessed the being before them—perhaps the first entity she'd encountered in countless ages that might actually be capable of ending her eternal existence. The thought sent an unfamiliar shiver through her that was equal parts fear and anticipation.
"That is no hero." The imperious voice of Gilgamesh cut through the tension, the King of Heroes narrowing his crimson eyes at Kaien. "It's a catastrophe wearing skin."
Kaien turned toward Gilgamesh with a widening grin, his golden eyes meeting the crimson ones of the ancient king without a trace of deference. "Pretty rich coming from you, blondie. At least I'm honest about what I am." He stretched lazily, seeming utterly unconcerned by the array of legendary heroes surrounding him. "So, this is Chaldea, huh? Smaller than I expected. Nice energy output, though—I felt your little summoning attempt from across... well, let's just say from pretty far away."
Da Vinci finally found her voice, scientific curiosity overriding her initial shock. "You... know of us? Of Chaldea?"
"I know of everything." Kaien shrugged as if this were the most natural statement in the world. "I exist beyond your concepts of time and causality. Your little anomaly problem caught my attention—it's making quite the mess across realities. Ripples in a pond, except the pond is the fabric of existence itself."
The casual way he referenced concepts that even Chaldea's most advanced theorists struggled to define sent a collective shiver through the scientific staff. Romani stepped forward cautiously, medical training helping him maintain composure despite his evident anxiety.
"Then you understand why we attempted to summon you? The multiverse is—"
"Collapsing in on itself, timelines folding together, the laws of reality breaking down, blah blah blah." Kaien waved his hand dismissively, yet his eyes betrayed a sharper comprehension than his casual tone suggested. "Yeah, I get it. Interesting problem you've got. Might be fun to solve."
"Fun?" Mash echoed incredulously, lowering her shield slightly. "Reality itself is at stake!"
Kaien's golden eyes fixed on her, and his expression softened fractionally. Something about the demi-Servant's earnestness seemed to amuse him in a less mocking way. "What else would you call it, shield-girl? The greatest battle across all possible existences? The ultimate challenge?" He laughed, a sound both warm and terrifying in its confidence. "If that's not fun, I don't know what is."
Ritsuka, displaying the courage that had earned them the loyalty of dozens of Heroic Spirits, stepped forward past Mash's protective stance. They met Kaien's gaze directly despite the overwhelming presence he exuded. "Will you help us?"
The Omni-Slayer studied them for a long moment, his golden eyes seeming to peer not just at Ritsuka but through them, evaluating something beyond physical appearance. Then he broke into a dazzling smile that transformed his face from intimidating to almost boyishly charming.
"Sure, why not? I was getting bored anyway." He clapped his hands together with enough force to create a small shockwave that rustled papers across the room. "So, where do I sleep? And more importantly, what's for dinner? Tearing through dimensional barriers works up quite an appetite."
"You're not a Servant," Artoria observed, finally finding her voice as she fully sheathed Excalibur, though her hand remained ready on its hilt. "The contract... I don't sense a Master-Servant bond forming with anyone here."
"Perceptive," Kaien acknowledged with an appreciative nod. "No, I'm not a Servant. I'm not bound by your Throne of Heroes or your summoning system. Think of me more as... an interested party. A consultant, if that makes you feel better."
"And what do you want in return?" Gilgamesh demanded, suspicion evident in his tone. "Beings of your nature never offer assistance without price."
Kaien turned to the golden king with a smirk. "Who says I want anything? Maybe I just enjoy a good fight. Maybe I'm curious about what's causing these anomalies. Or maybe," his smile widened to show teeth that suddenly seemed too sharp, "I just want to see if anyone in this reality can give me a proper challenge."
Before Gilgamesh could respond, Da Vinci stepped between them diplomatically. "Whatever your reasons, we're grateful for your assistance. Romani, please arrange quarters for our... guest." She turned back to Kaien with a professional smile that barely concealed her scientific fascination. "Perhaps after you've rested, we can discuss the nature of these anomalies in more detail?"
"Sure thing, Renaissance Woman," Kaien replied with a wink. "But don't expect me to reveal all my secrets on the first date."
As Romani nervously led the way out of the summoning chamber, the assembled Servants exchanged glances ranging from wary to outright hostile. Only Scathach's expression remained contemplative, her ancient eyes following Kaien's departing form with speculative interest.
Behind them all, the damaged summoning circle sparked once more before going dark permanently, the system thoroughly burned out by whatever threshold it had momentarily breached—a threshold that had allowed something beyond heroes, beyond gods, to walk into their world.
Something that smiled too easily and carried the casual confidence of one who had never known defeat.
## Chapter 2: Divine Introductions
The grand cafeteria of Chaldea was designed to accommodate hundreds of staff members and dozens of Servants simultaneously. With its high ceiling, expansive windows overlooking the Antarctic wasteland outside, and long tables arranged in neat rows, it normally buzzed with conversation and activity at all hours.
But as Kaien no Tenmei entered, conversations died mid-sentence. The ambient noise level dropped so suddenly it was as if someone had muted the room. Staff members and Servants alike sensed his approach before he even appeared in the doorway, an instinctive awareness that triggered fight-or-flight responses in even the most composed individuals.
He strode in with casual confidence, surveying the room with that perpetual half-smile that never quite reached his predatory eyes. His presence seemed to fill the space entirely, as if the room itself had somehow shrunk to accommodate his existence.
"Don't stop on my account," he announced to the room at large, amusement coloring his voice as he noted the frozen expressions and halted conversations. "I'm just here for the food. And maybe the company." His gaze lingered appreciatively on several female Servants, causing a mix of indignation and uncomfortable fluttering among those caught in his attention.
For several long seconds, no one moved. Then, from the kitchen area, a tall figure with white hair and tanned skin emerged. EMIYA, the Counter Guardian turned chef, approached with visible caution but professional composure.
"We weren't expecting... additional personnel," he stated evenly, though the slight tension in his shoulders betrayed his wariness. "But there should be enough curry for everyone. It's today's special."
"Curry?" Kaien's grin widened with genuine enthusiasm. "Perfect. I haven't had a good curry in... well, time is a bit fuzzy from my perspective, but it's been a while. Lead the way, Archer."
If EMIYA was surprised at being recognized immediately, he didn't show it. He simply nodded and guided Kaien to the serving area, where he proceeded to pile a tray with food—not just curry, but portions of nearly everything available, creating a mountain that would have fed three people comfortably.
As he collected his improbable feast, a regal voice called out from a corner table. "Omni-Slayer. Join us."
Queen Medb sat with Cu Chulainn, Scathach, and several other Celtic Servants. Her invitation was delivered like a command, her pink-haired head held high with the confidence of one accustomed to being obeyed. Yet beneath that imperious tone, there was unmistakable curiosity gleaming in her eyes.
Kaien raised an eyebrow but sauntered over, balancing his overloaded tray with impossible ease. "Well, if the Queen of Connacht insists. Who am I to refuse?"
He slid into a seat directly across from Scathach, whose crimson eyes had not left him since he entered. Between them sat Cu Chulainn in his lancer form, looking distinctly uncomfortable at being caught between his former teacher and the newcomer.
"You intrigue me," Scathach said without preamble, her voice carrying the weight of millennia. "I sense neither the divinity of gods nor the humanity of heroes in you. What exactly are you?"
Kaien took a bite of curry, closing his eyes in exaggerated pleasure. "Mmm, that's good. Compliments to the chef." He opened his eyes again, meeting Scathach's gaze directly in a way few dared. "What am I? I'm what comes before categories like 'god' or 'hero' existed. I'm what remains when everything else ends. I'm battle in its purest form, given will and purpose."
"That's not an answer," Cu Chulainn growled, clearly uncomfortable with Kaien's presence near his teacher. His red eyes narrowed, spear-calloused hand tightening around his spoon until the metal began to bend. "It's mystical nonsense."
"Isn't it?" Kaien's smile took on a dangerous edge, the temperature around him seeming to rise slightly. "I could demonstrate, if you'd like. Nothing clarifies understanding like firsthand experience, Hound of Ulster."
The air between them thickened with tension, magical energy beginning to condense around Cu Chulainn's form in unconscious response to the threat.
"Enough," Scathach interrupted, placing one pale hand on the table between them. The simple gesture carried enough authority to make both men pause. "We're allies for now. There's no need for posturing."
"Is that what I was doing? Posturing?" Kaien laughed, the sound genuine and warm despite the underlying menace that had filled the air moments before. "Sorry, it's been so long since I interacted with others that I forget the social niceties. Eternity can make one... rusty at small talk."
Medb leaned forward, deliberately drawing attention to her décolletage, her eyes sparkling with mischief. "So you've been alone all this time? How terribly sad. Perhaps Chaldea can provide you with more... stimulating company now."
Cu Chulainn rolled his eyes at her obvious flirtation, while Diarmuid, sitting nearby, looked away in embarrassment.
"You're kind to offer," Kaien replied with a knowing smile that suggested he understood exactly what game she was playing. "But I've found that queens often have more complicated expectations than I care to navigate. I prefer relationships with clearer parameters."
"Such as?" Medb pressed, not easily deterred.
"Such as battle," Kaien answered simply, turning his attention back to his food. "Nothing is more honest than the clash of wills through combat. No politics, no hidden agendas—just skill against skill, strength against strength."
"You sound like a certain King of Conquerors," came a new voice as a massive, red-haired man approached their table. Iskandar, the King of Conquerors himself, carried a tray laden with almost as much food as Kaien's. "He would appreciate your philosophy, I think."
Kaien looked up with interest. "Alexander the Great. Your conquest stretched across the known world in your time. Impressive for a human."
"And yours?" Iskandar asked boldly, pulling up a chair from a nearby table and joining them without invitation. His booming voice carried none of the caution that others showed around Kaien.
"My conquests?" Kaien's eyes glinted with memories of things the others couldn't comprehend. "Let's just say I've fought on battlefields that exist beyond your conceptions of space and time. I've clashed with entities that make your gods look like children playing at divinity."
"Is that a challenge?" The new voice belonged to one of the divine Servants—Quetzalcoatl, the Feathered Serpent deity, who had approached without anyone noticing. Unlike the others, she showed no fear, only vibrant curiosity. "Because this goddess loves a good lucha match!"
Kaien's expression brightened considerably. "A wrestling goddess? Now that's something I haven't encountered before." He gestured to an empty chair. "Please, join us. The more divine beings to disappoint, the merrier."
If Quetzalcoatl was offended by his dismissive attitude toward her divinity, she didn't show it. Instead, she laughed brightly and dropped into the offered chair. "Big words from someone who hasn't faced me in the ring yet."
"Yet," Kaien emphasized with a wink. "I look forward to it."
The gathering was beginning to attract attention from around the cafeteria. Other Servants drifted closer, drawn by curiosity despite their instinctive wariness.
"They're like moths to flame," Scathach observed quietly, watching the others approach. "Your presence calls to the warrior spirit in all Heroic Spirits, whether they recognize it or not."
"It's my natural charm," Kaien replied with mock modesty, though his eyes revealed he understood exactly what she meant. "But you—you're different, Witch of Dun Scaith. You recognize what I am because you've walked closer to my realm than most. Your pursuit of death, your eternal existence... you understand what it means to exist outside normal boundaries."
Scathach's eyes widened fractionally—the equivalent of open shock for someone of her composure. "You know of my curse?"
"Is it really a curse to transcend mortality? To evolve beyond the limitations of humanity?" Kaien leaned forward, lowering his voice so only she could hear. "Some would call it ascension."
"Some would be fools," she replied sharply. "Eternity is not a gift."
"No," he agreed, surprising her. "It's a battlefield of its own. The longest, most solitary battle anyone can fight." For just a moment, something ancient and tired flickered in his golden eyes. "One that can never be truly won."
Before Scathach could respond to this unexpected moment of sincerity, a new presence approached the table. The conversation quieted as Artoria Pendragon stopped beside them, her expression carefully neutral despite the wariness in her emerald eyes.
"Kaien no Tenmei," she addressed him formally. "The Director requests your presence in the command center once you've finished your meal. There are matters regarding the anomaly that require discussion."
Kaien's serious demeanor vanished as quickly as it had appeared, replaced by his usual mischievous smile. He looked at the King of Knights with undisguised appreciation. "Artoria Pendragon. The Once and Future King. Your legend echoes across more timelines than almost any other." He gestured to the empty seat beside him. "Care to join us for a while? I promise I don't bite... unless requested."
A faint blush colored Artoria's cheeks, but she maintained her composed demeanor. "I must decline. There are preparations to be made."
"Is my presence at this meeting an order, King of Knights?" Kaien's tone remained light, but something dangerous flickered in his golden eyes—a reminder that he acknowledged no authority above his own.
"It is a request," Artoria replied evenly, meeting his gaze without flinching despite the pressure his presence exerted. "One I hope you will honor, given the severity of our situation."
Kaien studied her for a long moment, then nodded. "For you, I'll consider it. I like your style—all honor and steel wrapped in that regal bearing." His grin returned. "Plus, that sword of yours is quite impressive. I'd love to see it in action sometime."
"Perhaps you shall," Artoria said, turning to leave. "Though I doubt you would find me much of a challenge, given what you claim to be."
"Don't sell yourself short," Kaien called after her. "Legends become legends for a reason. And yours burns brighter than most."
After she departed, Medb leaned forward, her expression coy. "My, my. The great Omni-Slayer has a soft spot for blonde knights?"
"I have a soft spot for warriors with conviction," Kaien corrected, turning his attention back to his food. "Something increasingly rare across the multiverse."
"And what of Servants who lack your approval?" Scathach asked, her keen eyes missing nothing. "I noticed how you dismissed Gilgamesh earlier. He is not one to forget such slights."
Kaien's expression darkened momentarily, the temperature around him dropping several degrees. "Gilgamesh calls himself the King of Heroes while looking down on everyone around him. At least when I battle, I acknowledge my opponents." His voice took on an edge that made several nearby people step back instinctively. "I may be beyond most beings I encounter, but I never deny them the respect of recognition. Every warrior who stands their ground deserves that much, regardless of power difference."
Cu Chulainn snorted, either too brave or too foolish to be intimidated. "That's rich coming from someone who radiates 'bow before me' energy with every breath."
Instead of taking offense, Kaien burst into laughter, the tension dissipating as quickly as it had formed. "I like you, Hound of Ulster! Straight to the point and fearless, even when you should know better." He raised his glass in a toast. "To fearlessness—the true mark of a warrior."
Hesitantly, the others raised their glasses as well, a moment of camaraderie forming despite the underlying wariness.
As they drank, the cafeteria doors burst open with enough force to dent the reinforced metal. Gilgamesh himself strode in, his golden armor gleaming under the lights, his expression one of barely contained fury. His crimson eyes immediately locked onto Kaien.
"So the abomination graces us with his presence," the King of Heroes announced loudly, his voice carrying throughout the now-silent cafeteria. "Pretending to be a Servant when you are nothing of the sort."
The room went deadly silent. Even the kitchen staff froze in place, sensing the imminent clash of powers that could level the entire facility.
Kaien slowly set down his glass, his smile never wavering though it took on a predatory quality. "Careful, King of Heroes. Your treasures are impressive, but I've shattered divine authorities for breakfast." His tone remained conversational, but the air around him began to shimmer, like heat waves rising from sun-baked stone. "I have no quarrel with you unless you start one."
"Is that a threat?" Gilgamesh's voice was dangerously soft, the gates of Babylon beginning to shimmer into existence behind him, golden portals rippling into reality.
"Just a historical fact." Kaien's posture remained relaxed, though everyone present could feel the immense power gathering around him in response to Gilgamesh's challenge. "I've encountered beings who considered themselves the pinnacle of existence. I've walked away from those encounters. They haven't."
The standoff intensified, magical energy from both beings making the air crackle with potential violence. Those nearby began to slowly back away, recognizing that being caught in the crossfire would be fatal.
Before the situation could escalate further, Da Vinci's voice came over the intercom, cutting through the tension. "Attention all personnel. Emergency protocols are now in effect. Multiple reality fractures detected. All combat-capable Servants report to deployment stations immediately."
The golden portals behind Gilgamesh vanished as he turned away with a scoff. "This isn't finished, aberration."
"It never is with your type," Kaien replied, rising to his feet with fluid grace. His easy demeanor shifted, and for the first time, those present glimpsed what lay beneath his casual facade—an ancient hunger for battle that made the air itself seem to tremble, a killing intent so vast it felt like standing at the edge of an abyss.
"Well," he said, cracking his neck with a sound like distant thunder. "Looks like I get to show off sooner than expected. This should be interesting."
As he strode toward the exit, the crowd parted before him instinctively, many averting their eyes as he passed. Only Scathach watched him go with unwavering attention, something like recognition dawning in her ancient gaze.
"What is he?" Cu Chulainn asked her quietly once Kaien had left.
"Something older than heroes," she replied thoughtfully. "Something older than gods, perhaps. And far, far more dangerous than either."
"Is he an enemy?" Diarmuid questioned, his dual spears materializing unconsciously in his hands.
Scathach's crimson eyes remained fixed on the doorway where Kaien had disappeared. "That remains to be seen. But if he is... I fear not even all of us together would be enough to stop him."
## Chapter 3: Fractured Realities
The deployment chamber of Chaldea was a marvel of magical engineering—a vast circular room with multiple rayshift platforms arranged like the petals of a flower around a central command console. Normally organized and efficient, today it buzzed with barely controlled chaos as Servants and support staff rushed to prepare for emergency deployment.
Da Vinci stood before the main console, her expression grave as she briefed the assembled teams. The usual sparkle of mischief was absent from her eyes, replaced by analytical focus as she manipulated the holographic display showing multiple red indicators across a global map.
"The anomaly has manifested physically in three locations simultaneously," she explained, gesturing to the pulsing points on the map. "Paris, France, circa 1793; Fuyuki, Japan, 2004; and Alexandria, Egypt, 48 BCE—all critical nexus points in human history. Reality is fracturing along historical fault lines."
Ritsuka stepped forward, still looking tired from the earlier summoning attempt but determined nonetheless. "What exactly are we facing, Director?"
"That's the concerning part," Romani interjected from a nearby console, scrolling through data screens with growing alarm. "Each manifestation appears to be an impossible fusion of multiple historical and mythological events. In Paris, the Trojan War is overlapping with the French Revolution—we have reports of Greek hoplites fighting alongside revolutionaries against French aristocrats mounted on pegasi."
"That shouldn't be possible," Mash said, adjusting her glasses nervously. "Those events are separated by thousands of years."
"Exactly," Da Vinci nodded grimly. "In Fuyuki, aspects of the Holy Grail War are merging with events from the Age of Gods. Modern buildings are transforming into ancient temples, and civilians are manifesting partial divine authorities."
"And Alexandria?" Artoria asked, having arrived directly from the cafeteria and positioned herself as far from Gilgamesh as possible.
"The Great Library burns eternally while simultaneously existing intact," Da Vinci answered, expanding that section of the map. "Scholars both ancient and from various future periods are trapped inside, creating a knowledge paradox that's tearing the local reality apart. The implications for the foundation of Western thought are catastrophic if we don't stabilize it."
"Three teams, then," Ritsuka decided, already mentally assigning Servants based on their compatibility with each scenario. "Who goes where?"
Kaien, who had been leaning against the wall observing the proceedings with an expression of mild interest, suddenly straightened. The movement, though subtle, immediately drew all eyes to him—an effect of his overwhelming presence rather than any deliberate attention-seeking.
"I'll take Alexandria," he stated, not a request but a decision already made.
All eyes turned to him, many with surprise that he would volunteer so readily.
"The burning library is the nexus point," he continued, surprising everyone with his immediate grasp of the complex situation. "It's where the temporal paradox is strongest. I can sense it from here—a wound in causality that's bleeding historical possibilities."
Da Vinci looked skeptical, her scientific mind struggling to accept his claim. "How can you possibly know that without seeing our complete analysis?"
Kaien merely tapped his temple with a knowing smile. "This isn't my first reality crisis, Renaissance Woman. I've seen universal constants shatter and timelines collapse. I know the pattern." His golden eyes gleamed with ancient knowledge. "Trust me or don't, but that's where I'm going."
Before Da Vinci could respond, Scathach stepped forward from where she had been observing silently. "I'll accompany him," she volunteered, drawing surprised looks from several Servants. "My knowledge of primordial runes may help stabilize the area. I have experience with temporal distortions through my domain in the Land of Shadows."
"As will I," added Artoria, her decisive tone brooking no argument. "If this threat is as severe as described, having Excalibur's power may prove necessary. Its nature as a crystallization of humanity's hope makes it particularly effective against threats to human history."
Kaien looked between the two powerful female Servants with undisguised appreciation. "Well, if I'd known saving reality came with such excellent company, I'd have volunteered sooner." He gave an exaggerated bow. "Ladies, I am honored by your confidence."
Scathach ignored his comment, though her lips twitched slightly in what might have been amusement. Artoria merely sighed, already appearing to regret her decision.
"Very well," Da Vinci conceded after consulting quietly with Romani. "Team Alexandria will be Kaien, Scathach, and Artoria, with Ritsuka as Master. Team Paris will be Jeanne d'Arc, Marie Antoinette, Achilles, and Hector—their combined knowledge of both the Trojan War and French history should prove invaluable."
"And Team Fuyuki?" Mash asked.
"EMIYA, Cu Chulainn, Medea, and Hassan of the Hundred Personas," Da Vinci decided. "All veterans of Holy Grail Wars who understand the spiritual topology of Fuyuki."
As the teams assembled on their respective rayshift platforms, Kaien stretched languidly, the movement drawing attention despite its casualness. "Fair warning—I don't take orders well. Think of me more as an independent contractor than a soldier." His golden eyes fixed on Ritsuka. "I'll protect you because it seems interesting to do so, not because I have to."
"Just try not to destroy the city while saving it," Ritsuka replied with surprising assertiveness. "We've seen enough Servants with god-complexes to last several lifetimes."
Rather than ## Chapter 3: Fractured Realities (continued)
Rather than take offense at Ritsuka's directness, Kaien laughed delightedly, the sound echoing through the deployment chamber with unexpected warmth. "I like you, Master of Chaldea. You've got spine." He gave an exaggerated bow. "I promise to limit collateral damage to... let's say sixty percent of the city?"
"Zero percent would be preferable," Artoria stated firmly, her tone leaving no room for negotiation.
"Where's the fun in that?" Kaien winked at her, golden eyes gleaming with mischief. "But for you, King of Knights, I'll aim for thirty percent. Best offer."
Before Artoria could respond, the rayshift sequence initiated. A cascade of blue light enveloped them as reality dissolved into a kaleidoscope of fractured possibilities. For most, rayshifting felt like being unmade and remade in an instant—disorienting and vaguely nauseating. But as the light engulfed Kaien, those watching saw something unexpected: he appeared completely unaffected, as if merely walking through a doorway rather than having his existence temporarily deconstructed.
---
The team materialized in ancient Alexandria, but the scene before them defied comprehension. The Great Library of Alexandria stood intact, its magnificent marble columns gleaming in Mediterranean sunlight—yet simultaneously, flames consumed the structure, smoke billowing into a sky split between day and night. Stars and sun shared the same impossible heavens.
Scholars and citizens moved through the streets in stuttering motions, some walking normally while others flickered between positions like damaged film. In the harbor, ships both sailed and sank within the same space, creating ghostly echoes of wood and water.
"By the gods," Artoria whispered, taking in the impossible scene, her hand instinctively seeking Excalibur's hilt.
"The gods have nothing to do with this," Kaien replied, his playful demeanor momentarily absent as he surveyed the paradox before them. "This is what happens when foundational narratives collapse into each other. History becoming unmoored from its timeline."
Scathach traced glowing runes in the air, her expression concentrated, crimson eyes narrow with focus. "The fabric of reality is thin here—I can sense multiple timelines trying to occupy the same space simultaneously. The possibilities are... bleeding into one another."
"The library," Ritsuka pointed toward the massive structure at the city's heart. "That seems to be the epicenter."
A thunderous crack split the air as part of the library simultaneously collapsed and rebuilt itself, the paradox intensifying with each passing moment. From within the impossible structure, a roar echoed—something ancient and fundamentally wrong, a sound that shouldn't exist in ordered reality.
"What was that?" Artoria drew Excalibur, the invisible blade distorting the air around it.
Kaien's eyes narrowed, and for the first time since his arrival, they glimpsed something beyond casual amusement in his golden gaze—a predatory focus that made the air around him vibrate with potential violence.
"That," he said, his voice dropping an octave, "is what happens when history tries to correct itself and fails. The paradox has manifested physically—given itself form to defend its broken existence."
As if summoned by his words, a creature emerged from the flaming-yet-intact library. It resembled a chimera, but its components shifted continuously—lion becoming sphinx becoming philosopher becoming soldier. Ancient scrolls and codices orbited it like satellites, pages fluttering with equations and incantations that warped reality wherever their shadows fell.
"The Library's Guardian," Scathach identified, her crimson spear materializing in her hand. "A conceptual entity formed from the collective knowledge destroyed and preserved here."
The creature's multiple heads turned toward them, countless eyes focusing on the intruders. It spoke with a chorus of voices in dozens of languages simultaneously.
"INTERLOPERS. YOU DO NOT BELONG IN THIS CONVERGENCE."
Ritsuka stepped forward with remarkable courage. "We're here to help stabilize this reality fracture."
"STABILITY IS IRRELEVANT. THE NEW NARRATIVE FORMS. ALL HISTORIES BECOME ONE." The creature's form expanded, absorbing elements of the surrounding reality. "YOU WILL BE INCORPORATED."
Artoria moved protectively in front of Ritsuka, Excalibur raised. "Stand back, Master. This entity threatens all of human history."
Scathach readied her crimson spear, runes glowing along its length. "Its existence violates the natural order. It must be eliminated."
Throughout this exchange, Kaien had been uncharacteristically quiet, studying the paradox entity with an expression of almost scholarly interest. Now, he stepped forward, cracking his knuckles with a sound like distant thunder.
"Ladies, if you don't mind, I'd like first crack at this one." He rolled his shoulders, and the air around him began to shimmer with power—not the magical energy of Servants, but something older and more fundamental. "Been a while since I've had a proper workout."
The Guardian roared in response, sending a wave of reality-warping energy toward them. Books transformed into projectiles, their contents manifesting physically—fire from treatises on alchemy, lightning from studies of the heavens, blades from military texts.
Artoria raised her sword to block, but Kaien was suddenly there, moving faster than even Servant eyes could track. He didn't dodge the incoming assault—he walked through it, each step leaving momentary footprints of golden light. Where the attacks touched him, they simply... ceased to be, as if encountering something they fundamentally could not affect.
The Guardian paused, its many eyes widening in what might have been shock.
Kaien's smile returned, but it was different now—the smile of a predator seeing worthy prey. "Now that I have your attention... let me introduce myself properly."
He didn't draw a weapon. He didn't need to. Instead, he raised one hand, and reality itself seemed to hold its breath.
"I am Kaien no Tenmei. I walked the void before concepts had names. I've slain entities that thought themselves eternal." His voice resonated with power that made even Scathach and Artoria step back instinctively. "And you, fascinating as you are, are merely today's exercise."
With blinding speed, he closed the distance to the Guardian. His open palm struck the creature's central mass—a simple, almost gentle touch that belied the power behind it.
The effect was catastrophic.
A shockwave of golden energy erupted from the point of contact, not destroying the Guardian but *unmaking* it. Where the energy passed, the paradox entity simply unraveled, its composite histories separating and dissolving like mist under strong sunlight.
The Guardian gave one final, multi-toned scream as its form collapsed. "IMPOSSIBLE. YOU ARE... OUTSIDE THE NARRATIVE."
"That's what I've been trying to tell everyone," Kaien replied with a wink.
As the entity dissipated, the immediate area began to stabilize—the library settling into its intact form, the timeline anomalies receding. But in the distance, new fractures were already forming, reality still struggling to maintain cohesion.
Kaien turned back to the others, brushing nonexistent dust from his hands. His expression was bright, energized—like someone who had just enjoyed a brisk warm-up exercise rather than battled a reality-bending monstrosity.
"Well, that was fun! But I'm afraid it's just a symptom, not the disease. Notice how new fractures are already forming?" He gestured to the horizon, where the sky was beginning to crack like glass. "This'll keep happening until we address the source."
Artoria stared at him, her composure momentarily shaken. "You... unmade it. Not destroyed—unmade."
"Of course." Kaien looked genuinely puzzled by her shock. "You can't destroy a paradox with conventional force—you have to resolve the contradiction at its core." He shrugged as if this were obvious. "Basic ontological hygiene."
Scathach's eyes narrowed thoughtfully. "You truly do exist outside the rules that govern the rest of us."
"Finally, someone who gets it!" Kaien clapped his hands together. "Now, shall we head deeper into the library? The entity was just a guardian—the real temporal anchor will be at the center."
Ritsuka nodded, recovering their composure. "Lead the way, but... please try to be less destructive if possible. We're trying to preserve history, not erase it."
Kaien gave an exaggerated bow. "As you wish, Master. I'll use a gentler touch." He winked at Artoria and Scathach. "Though I can be quite gentle when the situation calls for it."
Artoria sighed deeply. "Is everything a jest to you?"
"Not everything," Kaien replied, his smile dimming slightly. "But when you've seen as many endings as I have, you learn to find humor where you can." For just a moment, something ancient and tired flickered in his golden eyes. Then it was gone, replaced by his usual mischievous gleam. "Besides, have you tried being serious for a few million years? Absolute bore."
With that, he turned and strode toward the Great Library, where time and knowledge hung in precarious balance.
## Chapter 4: The Heart of Knowledge
Inside the Great Library of Alexandria, reality fractured more severely with each step they took. Corridors stretched impossibly long before suddenly compressing. Scholars from different eras occupied the same spaces—toga-clad Alexandrians arguing philosophy with Renaissance thinkers while modern researchers typed frantically on devices that shouldn't exist in this time.
"This is worse than I expected," Scathach murmured, her crimson eyes tracking the flow of temporal energies. "The barrier between possibilities is nearly nonexistent here."
Artoria kept Excalibur ready, its invisible blade occasionally glinting when they passed through particularly unstable patches of reality. "How do we stabilize it?"
"We find the nexus point," Kaien replied, moving with absolute confidence through the chaotic landscape. Unlike the others, who carefully navigated the unstable floor, he walked as if on solid ground regardless of how reality shifted beneath him. "The spot where all these timelines converge."
They passed through a reading room where books flew like birds, their pages fluttering as they soared between shelves. Ancient scrolls unwound and rewound themselves in hypnotic patterns. At the center of the room, a lone figure sat at a table, seemingly unaffected by the chaos—a man in simple Greek robes, writing calmly on a papyrus.
"Eratosthenes," Ritsuka identified with surprise, recognizing the third head librarian of Alexandria from historical records. "He shouldn't be here—he died nearly two centuries before the library burned."
The ancient mathematician looked up at them with eyes that held too much knowledge. "Visitors from beyond the fracture. How interesting." His voice echoed strangely, as if coming from multiple throats. "Have you come to witness the convergence?"
"We've come to stop it," Artoria stated firmly.
Eratosthenes—or whatever wore his appearance—smiled sadly. "Why stop the inevitable? All knowledge, all possibilities collapsing into a single, perfect understanding. Isn't that the dream of every scholar?"
"Not at the cost of reality itself," Ritsuka argued.
The mathematician's form flickered, momentarily revealing something else beneath the human guise—something vast and many-angled. "Reality is merely consensus. We are creating a new consensus."
"We?" Scathach inquired, runes glowing at her fingertips.
"The Keepers. The Preservers. Those who guard knowledge across all timelines." The figure gestured around them. "We have brought the library back from its many deaths. Alexandria burns in a thousand histories—but here, now, we have made it eternal."
Kaien, who had been unusually quiet, suddenly laughed—a sharp, dangerous sound that made the flying books falter mid-air.
"I've heard this speech before," he said, golden eyes fixed on the mathematician with predatory intensity. "Different words, same meaning. 'We broke reality, but it's fine because we had good intentions.'" He stepped forward, and the floor beneath him cracked with each footfall, golden light bleeding through the fissures. "Let me tell you something, 'Keeper'—intentions are worthless. Results are what matter."
The mathematician's form flickered more violently. "You do not understand. The knowledge—"
"I understand perfectly," Kaien interrupted, his casual demeanor giving way to something ancient and terrible. The temperature in the room rose dramatically, pages beginning to brown at the edges from the heat radiating from his form. "You're not preserving knowledge. You're hoarding it. Removing it from the flow of history where it would inspire and transform. Dead knowledge is just trivia."
"How dare—"
Kaien moved. One moment he stood meters away, the next he was before the mathematician, one hand wrapped around the entity's throat. "I dare because I've seen the ruins of civilizations that tried what you're attempting. Perfect, unchanging preservation is just another word for death."
The mathematician's form shattered completely, revealing a writhing mass of temporal energy barely contained in humanoid shape. "WHO ARE YOU TO LECTURE US? WE ARE THE PRESERVERS!"
"And I," Kaien replied, his smile turning vicious, "am the Omni-Slayer."
With that declaration, he plunged his free hand directly into the center of the entity. Golden energy and temporal force clashed violently, sending shockwaves through the library that nearly knocked the others off their feet. Books exploded from shelves, scrolls unraveled in mid-air, and reality itself buckled under the strain.
"We need to help him!" Ritsuka shouted over the cacophony.
Scathach caught their arm. "No. Look."
Kaien was laughing—not his usual mocking chuckle but a wild, exhilarated sound that spoke of pure battle joy. His form blazed with golden light as he fought the temporal entity on its own terms, his bare hands tearing through its defenses like paper.
"Come on!" he taunted, even as reality warped violently around him. "You claim to preserve all knowledge—show me something I haven't seen before! Give me a real fight!"
"HE... HE IS ENJOYING THIS," the entity howled, its many voices discordant with disbelief.
"Of course I am!" Kaien's grin was feral now, his eyes blazing like twin suns. "Battle is the purest expression of existence! SHOW ME YOUR TRUE FORM!"
The entity screamed—a sound that transcended time and space, echoing through every era simultaneously. The library around them began to collapse as the Preserver abandoned its attempt at human resemblance. Walls dissolved, floors vanished, and the ceiling opened to an impossible sky filled with mathematical equations and celestial charts.
What rose before them defied description—a being composed of living knowledge, its body formed from interlinked books and scrolls, its limbs trailing equations, its many eyes composed of whirling astrolabes and orreries.
"THE ARCHIVE AWAKENS," it thundered, its voice shaking the foundations of reality. "YOU CANNOT STAND AGAINST THE SUM OF ALL HUMAN KNOWLEDGE!"
Artoria raised Excalibur, its golden light pushing back against the chaos. "We must help him! That thing is beyond what any single being can face!"
Scathach began inscribing complex runes in the air, preparing a binding spell of immense power. "Together then!"
But Kaien turned to them, his expression one of pure, savage joy. "Stay back! This one's mine!" He cracked his neck, and the sound was like reality itself breaking. "Finally, something interesting!"
Before they could protest, he launched himself at the monstrous Archive, moving so fast he left afterimages in the air. His first strike connected with the center of the entity—a simple, open-handed blow that nonetheless carried enough force to create a visible shockwave. The Archive reeled backward, parts of its knowledge-form disintegrating on contact.
"IMPOSSIBLE!" it boomed. "YOU CANNOT HARM PURE KNOWLEDGE!"
"I'm not harming knowledge," Kaien replied, flowing around a counterattack with impossible grace. "I'm putting it back where it belongs—in the flow of time, not frozen in your twisted preservation!"
What followed was less a battle and more a dance of destruction. Kaien moved through the entity's defenses as if they weren't there, each strike precise and devastating. When the Archive lashed out with tendrils of living text, he severed them with bare hands. When it conjured weapons from military treatises, he caught them and turned them against their creator.
"Is this really all you have?" he taunted, standing momentarily on a floating platform of his own creation as the Archive gathered its strength. "The sum of human knowledge, and the best you can do is throw books at me? BORING!"
The taunt had its intended effect. The Archive howled in rage and contracted, pulling all its dispersed knowledge into a single, concentrated form—a perfect sphere of pure information density, glowing with power.
"AT OUR CORE, ALL KNOWLEDGE BECOMES POWER!" The sphere pulsed, and a wave of pure force radiated outward.
Artoria moved instantly, placing herself before Ritsuka with Excalibur raised defensively. Scathach completed her runic array, creating a barrier of ancient magic.
But Kaien—Kaien simply smiled and spread his arms wide, welcoming the attack.
The wave struck him with enough force to shatter mountains. For an instant, he disappeared completely within the blinding light of the blast. The library shook to its foundations, columns collapsing and shelves disintegrating.
"KAIEN!" Ritsuka cried out, genuine concern in their voice despite having known him for only hours.
When the light faded, what they saw defied expectation. Kaien stood exactly where he had been, completely unharmed. More than unharmed—he looked invigorated, his golden eyes blazing brighter than before.
"Now that," he said, satisfaction in his voice, "was almost interesting."
The Archive pulsed again, its sphere form wavering. "WHAT ARE YOU?"
"I told you already," Kaien replied, raising his hand. Golden energy began to gather around it, not like magical power but like reality itself condensing into his palm. "I am battle made flesh. I am the end of all contests. I am Kaien no Tenmei—and you are done preserving."
With that declaration, he launched himself directly at the Archive's core. His hand, wreathed in golden power, plunged into the sphere of knowledge. For a moment, everything froze—time itself seeming to hold its breath.
Then, Kaien spoke a single word: "Release."
The sphere exploded outward, but not in destruction. Instead, the knowledge it contained flowed back into the proper timelines, books reforming on shelves, scrolls returning to their proper eras, scholars fading back to their own times. The fractures in reality began to seal themselves as history reasserted its proper flow.
The Archive's consciousness remained briefly, a fading echo in the air. "YOU HAVE DOOMED ALL THIS KNOWLEDGE TO EVENTUAL DESTRUCTION. THE LIBRARY WILL BURN."
"Yes," Kaien acknowledged, his expression suddenly solemn. "It will burn—because it must. That burning inspires humanity to preserve knowledge in new ways, to value it more highly. Without loss, there is no appreciation of what's gained."
As the last vestiges of the Archive faded, Kaien turned back to the others, his usual irreverent smile returning. "Well, that was a decent warm-up! Where to next?"
Artoria stared at him, speechless. Scathach's expression was calculating, reassessing everything she thought she knew about their mysterious ally. Ritsuka simply shook their head in disbelief.
"A warm-up?" they finally managed. "You just fought the collective consciousness of the greatest library in ancient history!"
"Exactly—ancient history," Kaien replied with a wink. "Not exactly cutting-edge opposition. Now, if it had been a full divine manifestation, that might have been worth breaking a sweat over."
Before anyone could respond, the communication device Romani had given Ritsuka crackled to life.
"Team Alexandria, report! We're detecting massive energy fluctuations from your location!"
Ritsuka raised the device. "Situation contained, Doctor. The Alexandria fracture is stabilizing."
"Excellent work! But we have a problem—Teams Paris and Fuyuki are encountering stronger resistance than anticipated. They're requesting immediate backup."
Kaien's eyes lit up with renewed interest. "More fights? This day keeps getting better!"
Artoria stepped forward. "Which team needs assistance more urgently?"
"Fuyuki," came Romani's immediate response. "They're facing what appears to be a fusion of multiple Servants into a single entity. EMIYA is injured, and Cu Chulainn can't maintain his Noble Phantasm much longer."
"Then that's where we're headed," Ritsuka decided. "Can you rayshift us directly?"
"Coordinates locked. Preparing emergency rayshift now."
As the blue light of the rayshift began to surround them, Kaien's expression shifted subtly. Gone was the casual amusement, replaced by a focused anticipation that made him seem even more dangerous.
"A fusion of multiple Servants?" he mused, cracking his knuckles. "Now that might actually be interesting."
Scathach observed him with narrowed eyes. "You truly live for battle, don't you?"
"Live for it? My dear Scathach," Kaien replied as the rayshift light intensified, "I *am* battle. Everything else is just waiting."
The world dissolved around them, carrying them toward a new battlefield and new challenges for the insatiable Combat God to conquer.
## Chapter 5: The Fused Divinity
The rayshift deposited them in what should have been modern Fuyuki, but like Alexandria, reality here had fractured beyond recognition. Skyscrapers twisted into impossible shapes, some merging with ancient Japanese temples. The sky above was split in thirds—night, day, and a blood-red twilight that belonged to no natural cycle.
The air itself tasted of magical energy so dense it was nearly solid, crackling with competing spiritual signatures and divine authorities.
They materialized directly in what had once been the city center but was now a battlefield of devastation. Craters pockmarked the ground, buildings lay in ruins, and the very fabric of space rippled with aftershocks of immense power.
Cu Chulainn spotted them first, holding his position atop a half-destroyed parking structure. Blood streamed from multiple wounds, but the Celtic hero's eyes still burned with battle fury.
"About time!" he called down, Gáe Bolg glowing with barely contained power. "We're not exactly having a tea party up here!"
Nearby, a bloodied EMIYA maintained a defensive perimeter of projected swords while Medea cast rapid healing spells on both herself and a severely injured Hassan, whose multiple bodies were reduced to just three.
"Where is it?" Ritsuka asked, scanning the devastation. "The fused entity?"
As if in answer, a pressure wave of pure divine energy washed over them, so intense it drove ordinary humans in the vicinity to their knees. Even Artoria and Scathach braced themselves against it.
Kaien, however, turned toward the source with an expression of pure delight.
"Now that's more like it," he breathed, his golden eyes reflecting something approaching respect.
From behind a warped office building, it emerged—a being that should not exist. It stood fifteen feet tall, its form constantly shifting between distinct Heroic Spirits and divine beings. One moment it bore the aspect of Zeus with thunderbolts crackling around a bearded visage, the next it wore Amaterasu's radiant glory, then shifted to Odin's one-eyed grimness.
But worse than these recognizable forms were the moments in between—when multiple divine essences occupied the same space simultaneously, creating impossible hybrid aspects that hurt to look upon. Divine authorities that should never interact were forced into unholy communion.
"What is that thing?" Artoria whispered, Excalibur humming with agitation in her hands.
"A convergence point," Scathach answered, her voice tight with tension. "The fractures in reality have allowed divine spirits from different pantheons to merge. Each alone would be a formidable opponent—together, they're an abomination."
The entity focused on them, its attention palpable as a physical weight. When it spoke, its voice contained multitudes:
"FRAGMENTS REUNITE. THE FINAL SERVANT ARRIVES." Its gaze fixed specifically on Kaien. "YOU. THE ANOMALY. YOU DO NOT BELONG IN THIS HARMONY."
Kaien stepped forward, rolling up his sleeves with exaggerated casualness. "Harmony? Is that what you call this mess? Interesting definition."
Cu Chulainn landed beside them, breathing heavily. "We've thrown everything at it. Nothing sticks. Even Gáe Bolg's causality reversal can't find its heart—because it has too many hearts, constantly shifting position."
"It absorbs magical attacks," EMIYA added, joining them with his bow drawn. "And physical strikes barely register."
Kaien's smile widened. "Finally. A genuine challenge."
The fused divinity swept a hand through the air, and reality tore along the path of its motion. From this tear poured weapons of legend—Zeus's thunderbolts, Poseidon's trident, Gungnir, Vajra, and dozens more divine armaments, all aimed directly at them.
"SCATTER!" Artoria commanded, but there was nowhere to run from such an omnidirectional assault.
Scathach slammed her spear into the ground, frantically inscribing a protective rune circle. "This won't hold against divinity of that magnitude!"
"It doesn't need to," Kaien said calmly. Before anyone could stop him, he walked outside the protective circle, directly into the path of the oncoming divine barrage.
"KAIEN!" Ritsuka shouted in alarm.
What happened next defied comprehension. Kaien didn't dodge or block the weapons—he walked into them, meeting each divine armament with his bare hands. But rather than being destroyed, he caught them. Zeus's lightning he grabbed like a physical object, crushing it between his fingers. Gungnir he snatched from mid-air and snapped over his knee. Vajra he caught and absorbed into his palm.
With each weapon he intercepted, his form seemed to grow more radiant, more substantial—as if the divine energies weren't harming him but feeding something insatiable within him.
"Is this the best pantheons can offer?" he called out, genuine disappointment in his voice. "I've faced mountain cats with more coordination!"
The fused divinity roared in outrage, the sound shaking the foundations of the city. It abandoned its ranged assault and charged directly at Kaien, divine power condensing around its form into a corona of destructive energy.
"NOW YOU'VE DONE IT!" Cu Chulainn yelled. "It's going into manifestation overload!"
"Everyone back!" Scathach ordered, expanding her protective barrier. "That level of divine manifestation will level what's left of the city!"
But Kaien stood his ground, watching the approaching divine monster with the calm assessment of a true predator. As the entity closed the distance, he finally, deliberately, took a stance.
It was nothing like the martial arts or swordsmanship forms the others had witnessed across countless battles. This was something older, purer—a stance that spoke of battle as primal force, a position that seemed to resonate with violence itself.
"Void of the First Blow," he murmured, and the air around him distorted, reality bending away from something it fundamentally could not contain.
The entity hesitated, its charge faltering as instincts from a dozen divine beings simultaneously registered danger.
"What... what is he doing?" EMIYA asked, his archer's eyes struggling to track the subtle shifts in Kaien's form.
"I don't know," Artoria admitted, "but whatever it is..."
Scathach finished her thought: "It's making divine beings afraid."
Kaien hadn't moved, yet somehow he seemed to be everywhere at once, afterimages bleeding off his form like ghosts of possible movements. His golden eyes had gone incandescent, and his smile—his smile was something feral and ancient that belonged on battlefields where concepts themselves fought for dominance.
"Let me show you," he said to the hesitating entity, "what true combat divinity looks like."
He moved.
Later, none of the witnesses could agree on exactly what happened. Artoria would describe it as a single perfect strike faster than light. Cu Chulainn insisted he saw hundreds of blows landed simultaneously. EMIYA claimed Kaien had somehow struck the entity's past, present, and future simultaneously.
All they knew for certain was that one moment Kaien stood in his stance, the next he was behind the fused divinity, his back to the monstrous entity, one hand extended in a completed strike.
For a heartbeat, nothing happened.
Then reality caught up.
The fused divinity didn't explode or disintegrate. Instead, it simply... separated. The divine essences that had been forced together unraveled from one another, each distinct god and goddess briefly visible before fading back to their proper domains and pantheons. There was no violence in the separation—only the sense of something unnatural being gently but firmly corrected.
As the last divine essence faded, Kaien turned back to the others, rolling his shoulders as if working out a minor kink.
"Well," he said with casual disappointment, "that was somewhat better. Still not what I'd call a real fight, but at least they had some interesting techniques."
The assembled Servants stared at him in stunned silence. Even Scathach, who had lived for thousands of years and seen the deaths of gods, seemed at a loss for words.
Cu Chulainn was the first to recover. "What... what the hell are you?" he demanded, his voice a mix of awe and accusation.
Kaien chuckled. "I told you already. I'm Kaien no Tenmei. The Omni-Slayer."
"That's not an answer," Artoria said firmly, finding her voice. "We just witnessed you unmake divine beings with a single strike. That's beyond any hero or anti-divine weapon I've ever encountered."
"Because I'm not a hero," Kaien replied simply. "And I don't use weapons. I am the weapon." His golden eyes swept over them. "I exist in the space between concepts, in the moment of decision between life and death, victory and defeat. I am battle itself, given form and will."
"That's impossible," EMIYA stated flatly.
"Is it?" Kaien raised an eyebrow. "In a world where human belief creates gods, where legends become reality, why is it so hard to accept that the concept of combat itself might develop consciousness?"
Before anyone could respond to this philosophical bombshell, Ritsuka's communication device activated again.
"Team Fuyuki! The readings from your location have stabilized dramatically! Whatever you did, it worked! But—" Romani's voice became urgent, "—Team Paris is in critical condition. The anomaly there has evolved into something we can't even classify. It's consuming the entire timeline!"
"We're on our way," Ritsuka confirmed, looking to the others for agreement.
Cu Chulainn grimaced, leaning heavily on his spear. "I'm spent. That thing drained almost everything I had before you arrived."
"Same here," EMIYA admitted. "I've got maybe one Unlimited Blade Works left in me, if that."
"Stay and help stabilize this area," Scathach instructed them. "We'll handle Paris."
As Romani began the rayshift sequence again, Kaien looked at Artoria and Scathach with unexpected seriousness.
"The pattern is escalating," he said quietly. "Whatever is causing these fractures is learning, adapting to our counters. The next one will be worse."
"Can you handle it?" Artoria asked bluntly.
Kaien's serious expression dissolved into his trademark grin. "Oh, King of Knights, I'm counting on it being a real challenge this time." He cracked his knuckles as the blue light surrounded them. "Maybe I'll even have to use two hands."
The world dissolved around them once more, carrying them toward their most dangerous challenge yet—and for the first time, even Kaien seemed genuinely eager for what awaited.
## Chapter 6: Shattered Paradigms
Paris was no longer Paris.
Where the City of Light should have stood, reality had fractured beyond recognition. The Eiffel Tower stretched upward infinitely, piercing multiple layers of sky that shouldn't exist simultaneously. Notre Dame Cathedral burned with white flames that froze anything they touched rather than consuming it. The Seine flowed backward, occasionally splitting into multiple rivers that defied geography.
But worse than these physical impossibilities was the temporal chaos. Revolutionary-era citizens marched alongside ancient Greek warriors. Marie Antoinette's execution played out in endless loop atop a Trojan horse. Napoleon rode through the streets alongside Achilles, both leading armies against shadowy figures that changed identity with each blink.
"This is worse than Alexandria and Fuyuki combined," Artoria whispered, her eyes wide as she tried to process the impossible scene.
Scathach's expression was grim. "The fractures have progressed beyond mere overlap. Entire causal chains are intermingling." She pointed to where soldiers from World War II fought alongside medieval knights. "History isn't just mixing—it's completely unraveling."
Ritsuka activated the communication device. "Doctor Romani, we've arrived in Paris, but the situation is catastrophic. Where is Team Paris?"
Static answered for several seconds before Romani's voice broke through, fragmented and distorted. "—near the—central anomaly—Eiffel—can't maintain—losing—"
The transmission cut off completely.
"We're on our own," Ritsuka concluded grimly.
Kaien had been unusually quiet since their arrival, his golden eyes