"Is this... the Greater Grail capable of realizing the Third Magic?"
Walking forward along the dim, flickering light, Yuu reached the end of the path. There stood a flat rock wall, and atop it sat the altar housing the Greater Grail.
Because it lacked a Lesser Grail to act as a medium for its manifestation, sixty years of terrifying, accumulated prana overflowed within the vessel. The moment Yuu stepped onto the altar, he felt a filth and malice as vast as proof of an abyss.
Yuu came to a halt several dozen meters away from the Greater Grail, quietly observing the massive container forged from gold. To create a vessel capable of holding such immense magical energy, the Einzberns had used their own stores of the Gold of the Rhine. Though legends claimed this gold cursed its possessors with misfortune and failure, as a thaumaturgical material, it was undoubtedly one of the top-tier substances of the modern era—a perfect carrier for the Greater Grail.
Looking at it now, however, the side effects of the Rhine Gold seemed far more terrifying than its material value. After all, in every Holy Grail War, the three founding families inevitably met with various accidents that led to their downfall.
While Yuu observed the Grail, Odin wandered off toward another section of the cave. His crimson eyes shimmered with a rainbow luster, as if searching for something specific.
Soon, his gaze locked onto a corner of the altar. A look of surprise crossed his face, and he murmured softly, "How unexpected... to find the remains of that one here."
"Heh... Is it coincidence, or a fluke of fate?" Odin chuckled, seemingly struck by a thought. He raised his wooden staff and lightly thrust the tip into the ground.
Deep blue prana flowed from the staff, carving a set of peculiar runes into the earth. The murky soil suddenly lit up with intricate Magic Circuits, and a blood-red light pulsed outward.
But the phenomenon vanished in an instant, as if it had been an illusion.
"By isolating this section of the earth temporarily, the ritual's integrity won't be compromised..." Odin nodded in satisfaction, retracting his staff. "This will make the rest of the work much easier."
The key to the Holy Grail War's foundation lay in Justeaze Lizrich von Einzbern, the wielder of the Third Magic. She had sacrificed her own flesh and blood to the Greater Grail, transforming herself into a human-scale universe of thaumaturgical formulas. Over the subsequent two hundred years, the Winter Saint's Magic Circuits had proliferated and expanded, eventually forming a terrifying network a kilometer in diameter, blanketing the volcanic crater like a layer of skin.
Odin's plan to excavate what lay beneath could potentially damage these circuits, which might provoke the consciousness of Angra Mainyu sleeping within the Grail to wake early. If that happened, Odin's workload would increase significantly. To avoid such a hassle, he was taking precautions.
"Senior Disciple? Is there a problem?" Yuu asked, his thoughts interrupted by the sudden flash of light. He walked over to Odin's side.
"It's nothing, just some necessary preparations," Odin replied, shaking his head. He pointed a finger at the soil beneath their feet. "Speaking of which, the thing down here has quite a deep connection with you, Little Junior Disciple."
"Eh?"
Yuu was stunned for a moment. Then, as a realization struck him, he asked hesitantly, "Could it be... that my family's 'Divine Body' is buried here?"
In the Far East of Japan, there existed a system of magecraft known as "Old Shinto." Local magi would transplant fragments of gods—known as "Divine Bodies"—to execute a degraded form of Age of Gods magecraft. Hundreds of years ago, Yuu's family, the Kamitani, was an Old Shinto clan that governed one such Divine Body.
During a past battle, the Kamitani Divine Body had been heavily damaged and nearly shattered. Strift of its power, the family was forced to flee Kyoto. Eventually, the survivors reached Fuyuki and received aid from the local spiritual administrator, Tohsaka Nagato. In return, after the first Holy Grail War, the Kamitani used their Onmyōdō to help Nagato refine the Grail ritual while simultaneously using the leyline's prana to repair their Divine Body.
The Kamitani ancestors had recorded these events, leaving a testament that "after three or four rituals, the Divine Body should be fully restored."
"Divine Body?" Odin raised an eyebrow, looking amused. "Is that what you call the remains of a True Body? It's a fitting name, I suppose."
Remembering his ancestor's final instructions, Yuu hesitated. After a moment, he asked, "Senior Disciple, do you plan to pull it out of the leyline?"
"Correct," Odin admitted frankly.
"But my ancestor's records say it's still in a damaged state. If you pull it out prematurely..."
"Don't worry," Odin interrupted before Yuu could finish. "It's nearly impossible for it to repair itself through the leyline's power alone. Without external interference, even in another few hundred years, these remains wouldn't return to their original form."
"I see. I understand," Yuu nodded. He didn't press further. To him, the power of Old Shinto wasn't particularly overwhelming; it merely allowed compatible magi to use Age of Gods magecraft on Japanese soil. To a genuine Age of Gods magus like himself, it wasn't an irreplaceable treasure. Even if Odin broke it, it wasn't the end of the world.
"In that case, leave the rest to me."
With Yuu's tacit approval, Odin used his staff to carve a new set of Runes into the ground. As prana surged, the soil ahead split open from the center.
After a short while, the "Divine Body" buried beneath the earth gradually surfaced. Metallic surfaces shimmering with a silver-white luster emerged from the yellow soil. By the time the power of the Runes was exhausted, a pit roughly two and a half meters in radius had been formed.
When Yuu finally saw the full appearance of his family's Divine Body, his eyes widened in utter shock.
"Is that... a mecha? Why is the Kamitani Divine Body a mecha?!"
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Note: Rhein/Rheine/Rhine Gold
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