Chapter 16: The True War Begins
The ground rumbled.
From the eastern hills, an army approached — the Red Faction, led by Shirou Kotomine himself.
At his side marched his stolen Servants — Karna, Arash, Achilles, Shakespeare — and towering above them all, the Grand Servant, Tezcatlipoca.
And behind them, an endless sea of pale bodies: Einzbern Homunculi, bought and repurposed for war.
The Black Faction had answered the challenge in kind.
Golems, crafted by the hands of Avicebron.
Homunculi, born in the labs of Castle Yggdmillennia.
And, of course, their five remaining Servants — each ready for blood.
The Holy Grail War had truly begun.
The first clash was a storm.
Arash and Karna struck like twin meteors, hurling themselves at the heart of the Black defenses.
There, waiting for them, was Vlad III, spear in hand, armor glinting in the blood-red dusk.
Even facing two legends, Vlad stood firm, the prince of Wallachia refusing to give even an inch.
Nearby, Achilles laughed as he collided with Beowulf.
Steel rang against steel — a duel of monstrous speed and brutal strength.
High above, Astolfo mounted his Hippogriff, charging recklessly toward Tezcatlipoca, a controlled Spartacus at his side.
But even together, they were outmatched.
Astolfo's lance barely scratched the Grand Servant's hide, and Spartacus, mindless and roaring, was easily battered aside.
It wasn't a battle. It was a slaughter.
In the chaos, Riya and Muramasa arrived at the battlefield's edge.
Riya cursed under his breath.
"Seriously? You call this a war? It's more like a damn apocalypse," he muttered.
Before they could even advance, they were surrounded — dozens of Einzbern Homunculi closing in like a white tide.
Muramasa clicked his tongue and drew his blade.
"Tch. Figures."
Riya rolled his shoulders.
"Well... no point whining about it now."
Together, they plunged into the fray.
Meanwhile, not far off, Sieg stood among the carnage.
He cradled a wounded Homunculus girl, her pale body trembling in his arms.
"It's okay," Sieg said softly. "I'll help you. I'll help all of you."
He looked toward the looming silhouette of Castle Yggdmillennia.
His path was clear.
Just as Astolfo and Siegfried had once saved him, he would now save others.
No matter what it took.
Above it all, the clash between giants reached its brutal end.
Spartacus, bloodied and broken, roared one final time before Tezcatlipoca's obsidian blade tore him in half.
Astolfo, battered and bleeding, watched in horror.
There was nothing he could do.
With a strangled shout, he turned his Hippogriff around and retreated into the night sky, trailing smoke and blood behind him.
The battlefield fell into chaos and fire.
And in the distance, the night deepened — heavy, silent, and merciless.
The true Holy Grail War had begun.