After a quick and rather destructive game of tag through the forests surrounding Fuyuki, which left several acres of trees splintered and large sections of earth carved apart from their skirmishes , Edward and Scathach finally returned to Ritsuka's place.

The faint scent of burnt wood and displaced soil still clung to them, a lingering reminder of their brief but intense clash.

Edward was lounging on the sofa now, whistling innocently, as if their earlier chaos had been nothing more than a playful stroll. Scathach, however, had her crimson eyes fixed on him like a predator patiently waiting for the right moment to strike.

Edward exhaled heavily and leaned back. "It was an accident! Get over it. Why are you acting like some violent tsundere high school girl?"

Her tone was cold enough to freeze the air between them. "You dare act as though nothing happened? In all my immortal years, you are the first to defile my body like that."

Edward immediately sat upright, waving his hands defensively. "Whoa there, phrasing! When did I ever defile you? It was just an accidental boob grab! It's not like those aee the best pair..... Uh, ignore that last part." He cut himself off, realizing he was about to dig himself into a much deeper hole.

Scathach turned her head away, her expression unreadable beneath the curtain of her long violet hair. "So you are saying I'm undesirable?" She spoke coldly.

Edward glanced toward Ritsuka for support, but the young Master had suddenly found the wall very interesting, clearly pretending she had not heard a single word of the exchange.

He sighed, rubbing his temple. "No, you are absolutely stunning and very desirable. Now can we please forget this topic?"

Before Scathach could reply, an irritatingly cheerful voice broke the tension.

"Ara ara, Adam-san, someone's been active. To think even the Celtic queen herself was defiled…Uh.... Adam-san and Scathach-san are the paragons of virtue, sharing such pure and innocent moments. I, Merlin, curse any who would dare slander them of anything inappropriate! "

The so-called Magus of Flowers froze instantly and changed his tune as both Gáe Bolg and Rhongomyniad were suddenly materialized and aimed directly at his head. The deadly aura from both weapons made even Merlin's smug smile falter. " I suddenly feel it's not healthy for me to stay here."

Edward, clearly annoyed, asked, "So, did you find anything useful, or did you just waste the whole day peeking at girls?"

Merlin placed a hand over his heart as though deeply wounded. "I'm hurt you would think so little of me. I merely disguised myself as a woman and entered the female section of the onsen and...."

He stopped himself mid-sentence, raising his hands defensively when Scathach's spear twitched dangerously. "I was just joking! Sheesh! Nobody has any humor these days. Here I am busting my back trying to figure out what's going on, and I get threatened with violence."

Edward cracked his knuckles slowly. "You know what they say, Merlin. Violence is the best solution. And if it's not working, you're probably not using enough of it."

Merlin's eyes widened slightly. "Oi! That's not what the Father of Humanity and the so called kindest human should say."

Edward shrugged, his tone flat. "My kindness and mercy are for humans. You don't qualify, succubus."

Merlin quickly switched to pleading. " It's Incubus! And I do have important news! I saw your kid while I was wandering around the city."

Edward blinked, his brows knitting together. "…My what?"

Ritsuka gasped , and Scathach narrowed her eyes.

Merlin coughed awkwardly. "Yeah, my bad, should've been more specific. I saw your son, summoned as a Servant. And a Grand one at that. You might want to mentally prepare yourself for a reunion."

The lightness in Edward's face drained instantly. He sat forward, his eyes narrowing with an intensity that made even Merlin straighten his posture. "…Are you going to spill the name, or should I shove a spear up your ass?"

Merlin delivered the answer without hesitation, but there was a faint smirk tugging at his lips as if he knew the weight it would carry. "It was the new Grand Assassin, Cain."

The words hung heavy in the air.

Edward's groan wasn't one of simple annoyance; it was deep, almost pained, as though the name itself struck a wound buried in his soul. "This doesn't make any sense. How can three Servants of Grand status be summoned in a single Grail War? And wasn't that old man the Grand Assassin?"

Merlin shook his head slowly. "I don't know what games Alaya is playing, but he is most definitely another Grand Servant. It's not impossible, considering his tale is known even among the youngest children."

Edward didn't reply immediately. A sharp, uninvited pain lanced through his chest

, the echo of Adam's own soul bleeding into his current self. Memories flashed unbidden: the warmth of a son's smile, the bitterness of betrayal, the impossibility of erasing that first bloodshed in human history.

Even if countless millennia had passed, the wound had never healed. Facing Cain, his son, in a life-or-death battle was the last thing Adam would have wished for.

His voice, when it came, was quieter. "…Well, it is what it is. Thinking about it won't change anything. I'll handle him when the time comes. What about the other Servants?"

Merlin took the cue to move on, counting on his fingers in a theatrical manner. "Alright, let's see. We've got Cain as Grand Assassin, Solomon as Caster, the Hero King and the Counter Guardian as Archers, don't even ask me how that makes sense—and, of course, our lovely Scathach-san as Lancer."

" So Goldy is here too. Just great. Imagine if He launches EA at me for staring wrong." Edward muttered softly. Merlin chuckled nervously.

"Rider and Saber have been difficult to track down. Saber is commanded by someone you might know—the mage killer, Kiritsugu. Rider is under the Matou family… but that place gives me the creeps." He visibly shuddered at the last part.

Edward slumped back into his seat, running a hand down his face. "This is a mess. I have no idea what's going to happen next. I was hoping to thin their numbers by letting them fight each other, but if these guys went at it freely, Japan would be toast. Hell, it might make Hiroshima look like a kid-friendly disaster."

He looked to Merlin, his tone grim. "Tell me the Grail is at least fine?"

"I can't say for certain," Merlin admitted with a shrug. "But there's a good chance it's corrupted. The good news is that you and Solomon could purify it, assuming, of course, you can get to it in one piece."

Ritsuka's voice broke the brief silence that followed. It was hesitant, almost afraid. "The future has been destroyed… and now this timeline looks set for the same thing. If even the Grail is also corrupted, Is it truly not possible to change our fate?"

Edward looked at her, the sharp edge of his expression softening. He reached out and gently patted her head.

"You can never know until the very end. Never lose hope, or doubt your resolve. Even if failure is certain, who's to say we can't die fighting? Don't underestimate the will of humans. And never give up Hope."

His words hung in the room, grounding them all in a resolve they would desperately need in the days to come. But inside his mind, Edward was nearly close to Nuking the world and going back to DC to protect his remaining brain cells.

*****

After learning more about the current Grail War's situation from Merlin, Edward found himself too restless to stay indoors. The information weighed heavily on him, and for once, the constant banter and noise from the others felt suffocating. He told Merlin to stay behind with Ritsuka and Scathach.

His voice had been calm, but his eyes had carried a quiet finality.

"Stay with her. If Ritsuka dies, the timeline may shatter beyond repair. That's not a risk we can afford."

Scathach asked calmly," what are you going to do?"

Edward didn't look back. " Honestly, I don't know. Probably something stupid."

He didn't wait for Merlin's protest or Scathach's piercing questions. He simply left, his boots crunching softly against the pavement, letting his feet take him wherever they pleased. There was no destination—just motion, just distance from the room and the faces inside it.

But no matter how far he walked, the conversation about Cain followed him like a shadow.

His son. Well, Adam's son.

The name carried a history too heavy for any lifetime, much less one shared between two merged souls.

He wasn't sure what to feel—joy at the thought of seeing Cain again, even in this strange, summoned form? Disappointment in himself, for failing to prevent what had happened all those ages ago? Or maybe it was grief, for how it had all ended the first time. A complicated storm of emotions churned quietly in his chest, refusing to settle.

Eventually, without thinking, his wandering brought him to a small park not far from the church. It was deserted at this hour. no children playing, no couples strolling, only the gentle rustling of leaves under the night breeze. The lamplight cast warm, solitary circles across the paths.

Edward lowered himself onto a bench, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees, and let out a long, tired breath.

"What a mess…" he muttered to himself. "Who do I even focus on? Solomon, Gilgamesh, an unknown Saber and Rider…"

His tone was somewhere between irritation and resignation. "I don't care about winning this damn war. I just want to finish my job, make sure humanity isn't erased, and… let them find their own future."

His gaze drifted upward to the sky, the stars glimmering faintly through the city's light pollution. But his mind was elsewhere—drawn into memories that were not originally his, yet felt as real as any he had lived.

Adam's memories.

Laughing with his children. Working alongside Eve. Feeling the warmth of their small hands in his own. Those moments were untainted, pure, yet they always led to the same inevitable point.

The body of his son, Abel, lying still and cold.

The sight burned itself into Edward's mind, as if he had seen it himself. The moment when love and family had been shattered by blood and betrayal. Even now, Adam's soul inside him recoiled from the memory, the ache sharp and deep.

Edward's fists clenched unconsciously, but he forced himself to breathe evenly. The emotions were strong, dangerously so. But giving in to them now would help no one.

He stayed like that until darkness fell fully over the city, and the night air grew cooler.

Gradually, the city's magical undercurrent shifted, he could feel the Masters beginning to move. Familiars skimmed through the streets, their presence like faint ripples in the air. Edward ignored them for now and rose slowly to his feet.

In an instant, his casual attire shimmered away, replaced by the divine garb of his Servant form. The shroud wrapped around him, a silent symbol of his true nature.

"Tonight's sky is beautiful…" he murmured, glancing upward once more. "…A shame nobody has the time to appreciate it. Everyone's too busy trying to kill each other."

He straightened his stance, his voice losing its softness. "I guess I should get going."

But just as he was about to move, he felt it, a familiar, sharp presence. Someone was watching him.

Edward didn't bother to turn around.

"It's rude to stare from the shadows," he said quietly, the corners of his lips twitching in faint amusement. "Then again… I suppose you are an Assassin for a reason. Guess old habits die hard."

The figure said nothing. They didn't leave either. The silence stretched between them, heavy and charged, as if the watcher themselves was uncertain.

Edward let the shroud dissolve. His divine garb faded away, replaced once more by his casual clothes. He spread his arms slightly—not in challenge, but in deliberate vulnerability.

"If you wish to kill me," he said plainly, "now's your best chance. No defenses. No tricks."

There was a blur of movement. In an instant, the shadow materialized behind him—a tall, imposing man cloaked in darkness, a jagged blade fashioned from an animal's jawbone held steadily at Edward's neck. The cold of the bone brushed against his skin.

Still, Edward's eyes remained closed.

Inside him, Adam's soul stirred violently—pleading, almost shouting. Don't harm him. Help him, Grant him freedom. He is my son.

Edward's jaw tightened. This was the problem. he could end the threat here and now, but it wouldn't just be killing an enemy. It would mean killing Cain.

He weighed his options.

He could just walk away from all of this. This wasn't his original world; the Grail War's outcome wouldn't affect his own existence. But abandoning the mission would condemn countless lives. His conscience wouldn't allow that. It would go against everything he stood for.

He could fight… but to win without holding back would mean unleashing one of his own Noble Phantasm. An act that could level Japan, perhaps even part of Asia. Not an option. His Land of Steel was much more horrifying than Beast VI.

So, he made a decision. He would gamble with Adam's will.

If Cain chose to strike him down, Edward would know that mercy and sentiment were liabilities, and he would cast them aside in future. He would never listen to any requests of Adam. But if Cain chose not to harm him… then Adam's wish for his son's redemption would be honored.

The bone blade at his neck trembled slightly. The Assassin's muscles tightened… then loosened. A rugged and hollow face similar to his own appeared from the shadows.

"You're still the same as always," Cain's voice came low, and tinged with sorrow. " Always Too kind. Too forgiving. Too loving for your own good. Even if I could kill every human and animal in this world… I could never harm you....Or Mother."

The blade slipped from Cain's hand, clattering softly against the pavement.

"…I'm sorry, Father. For everything."

Edward's eyes opened slowly. A small, tired smile tugged at his lips, and perhaps, somewhere deep within, Adam smiled too.

Without hesitation, Edward relinquished control to Adam. He deserved it m

Adam turned around, his movements deliberate, and pulled the sobbing man into a firm embrace. Cain's body shook against him, the weight of centuries of guilt breaking through his composure.

"It's been a long time, hasn't it?" Adam's voice was warm, but carried the gravity of everything unsaid. "I hope… all these years of suffering haven't taken away your hope for redemption, my son."

Cain didn't answer immediately, his voice was lost in the quiet night, his shoulders trembling as he gripped his father tighter, as if afraid that letting go would make him vanish again.

*****

While Adam and Cain were having their heartfelt exchange elsewhere, the Holy Grail War raged on across the city. Skirmishes erupted in multiple districts, with explosions of mana and Noble Phantasm activations lighting the night sky.

In a corner of Fuyuki, the battle unfolding was unlike any other. Zouken Matou himself had stepped onto the battlefield—a rare occurrence for the ancient magus. His decision to represent the Matou family came after the failure of his descendants to inherit proper magic circuits.

There would be no reliance on incompetent heirs tonight. Zouken had taken matters into his own, withered hands, and his choice of Servant reflected his twisted nature.

The figure he summoned was not a hero, nor even a person in the traditional sense.

Instead, it was a swirling, amorphous black cloud—a spirit of death and disease, given form. Its presence radiated the chill of the grave, the stench of rot, and the oppressive inevitability of decay. The spirit's already malignant essence had been warped further by Zouken's influence, taking on a cruel, predatory cunning.

This was Pale Rider, a Servant that represented Pestilence itself.

Opposing them was none other than the King of Magic, Grand Caster Solomon—the man who bore the full authority of the seventy-two demon god pillars, a being who had already transcended the limits of ordinary Heroic Spirits.

The two Masters themselves could not be more different. Marisbury Animusphere, Solomon's Master, was absent in will. his body controlled entirely by the Grand Caster's power. His mind was silent, his eyes dull, merely a vessel to fulfill Solomon's plans.

Zouken, on the other hand, lurked unseen, a maggot in the shadows, his worm magecraft constantly slithering and burrowing around the battlefield, searching for an opening.

The Servants clashed in the open, the air thick with both plague and holy incantations. Solomon's spells were barely harming Pale Rider due to its condition.

Sensing the affect on the surroundings, Solomon didn't waste much time and activated his Noble Phantasm Ars Paulina, pulling them inside his reality Marble Workshop. The 72 demon god pillars appeared one by one as the world was overwritten.

But He knew it might not be enough, as he possessed divine wisdom. So he decided to take it a step further.

Solomon chanted emotionlessly. " The Time of Birth hath come, I am the remedy of Eternity.

The Time of Coronation hath come, I am the beginning of Eternity.

-Ars Almadel Salomonis! "

Particles of light started floating around and condensing gathering an incredible amount of heat value. Soon, the particles of light shaped around the planet like ring of light in sky. Solomon was prepared to activate the ritual using the 5th true magic, and take Pale Rider and Humanity with him back to the beginning of Everything.

This was the perfect king Solomon in his rational mode. No emotions or hesitation. Just a pure result driven force.

Solomon stood within the radiant boundary of his temple Ars Paulina , layered over with Ars Almadel Salomonis, his command over time and space bending the battlefield to his will. Pillars of blinding light, the forms of the seventy-two demon gods, rose and fell, firing beams and torrents of magical energy into the black cloud.

Pale Rider answered in kind, not with spells, but with a deadly assault that could not be stopped by barriers alone. The black cloud dispersed into a swarm of airborne pathogens and mutagenic plagues, each particle carrying a unique death.

Those caught within its reach convulsed, their flesh warping into grotesque shapes as they became mindless thralls, tools of infection rather than living beings.

Zouken's cruelty had amplified Pale Rider's lethality to terrifying levels. Both of its Noble Phantasms had been pushed into EX-rank territory under his influence. Even for Solomon, whose strength was unparalleled , this was not an opponent to take lightly.

Solomon's expression, as always, was unreadable, eyes fixed on the mass of disease before him. His voice was calm, almost mechanical, as he spoke to his Master.

"Master, I require you to locate Rider's Master while I contain this disease. Although this era of humanity is beyond salvation, I will not permit this creature to interfere with my ritual."

Marisbury's lips moved automatically, his tone devoid of life. "Understood." He began to channel his Astromancy magecraft, threads of celestial energy spiraling from his fingertips, tracing patterns across the night sky in search of Zouken's hidden location.

Zouken, hidden far from the direct blasts of Solomon's demon pillars, smiled in the dark. His voice, raspy and mocking, carried through his link with his Servant.

"With this Command Seal, I order you. Rider, activate your first Noble Phantasm at full strength."

Pale Rider's form twisted and convulsed, its voice a distorted wail that resonated through the air like the cry of a dying world. " Come to Me, Realm of the Dead,Come to Me . Doomsday Come!"

From within the black fog of its body, a thicker, darker miasma began to seep out, spreading in all directions.

The cloud expanded rapidly, swallowing the edges of Solomon's temple and consuming everything it touched. The ground beneath it corroded into nothingness, the air became unbreathable, and an oppressive weight settled on the souls of all within reach.

Solomon narrowed his eyes, his hands moving in precise, measured gestures. Time magic surged outward, forming a temporal loop around his temple. Within this loop, every destroyed structure or ward reappeared as it had been moments before, effectively stalling Pale Rider's corruption. Still, the effort was taxing, even for him.

The Noble Phantasm—Doomsday Come, was a manifestation of inevitable death. It created a Bounded World, a pseudo-Underworld anchored to the existence of its Master.

Within it, the very laws of life and death bent toward finality. The form this world took was determined by the Master's own impression of the afterlife. Under Zouken's twisted mind, it became a place of unending decay, a vision of Hell as a rotting womb, teeming with worms and the stench of corpse-flesh.

The Bounded Field pulled at the physical forms of anything caught within, dragging them toward oblivion. Normally, the Noble Phantasm's range would have been limited—but here, under these conditions, with Zouken's deep mana reserves and the battlefield's unstable magical density, its reach was vastly expanded.

Inside the corrupted zone, mutated thralls screamed as they hurled themselves at Solomon's temple, their bodies collapsing into infectious sludge upon death. Pale Rider's black fog continued to press against the edge of the temporal loop, testing it for weaknesses.

Solomon's voice remained even, but there was a slight tightening around his eyes as he reinforced the loop. "Containment is possible, but only if the source is removed. Calculating the mana output for containing the bounded field."

Marisbury's search spells swept across the city, brushing past wards and illusions until they struck something unnatural, an aura of crawling, hungry malice. His voice came through in a monotone. "Target located."

Zouken's grin widened, though he made no move to retreat. "This time," he hissed, "I will not fail. " He had waited a long time for this moment.

Solomon's Temple of Time was clashing fiercely with the harbinger of Death. It was truly a battle between two of the oldest concepts. Time, facing against Death.

*****

My eyes are giving me some trouble, so might have to take some break from writing for a day or two. Hopefully not going blind, that would suck 💀

Anyway, I'll upload the Servant Profile for Cain and Pale Rider in next chapter. I don't think there's anyone doesn't know Solomon. If you have questions feel free to ask there. I know I have changed a few things which might seem different from canon stuff.

I mean, It's AU after all. No point following same stuff from canon that has been repeated in hundreds of fanfics. Every action has consequences, and Characters change personalities due to it, cz they are not robots 🤷 saw someone getting pissed about it lol

And yeah, this arc won't have a happy ending. So prepare tissues in advance. I'll be using a vpn just in case for my safety.