Chapter 1 : A king's answer

"No cost too great.No will to break No mind to think.No voice to cry suffering."

- The Pale King

After all the efforts he made,he finally did it.
But, something made him unsatisfied.
His Perfect, Hollow Vessel, failed.
That shows how much he was the one to blame.

He is a failure. Thanks to his thirst of knowledge,he destroyed his kingdom.

And now,even if everything was put to an end, something was missing.

And that was.

Purpose.

He failed as a King,millions are dead.

All thanks to him.

Even if he was a King,he can't do anything now.

And his purpose vanished.

Funny. To think,that how he gave the Vessels only a purpose to follow,and that now he doesn't even have one.

Maybe, Nothing matters anymore.

Maybe,just maybe

He stood over the Abyss.

He fell.

Something was calling to him... Throne of Heroes?

Yeah,like he was any hero.More like a failed king.

But,he still,answered the call.

-----------------------------------------------------------

"Come on...Come on..." Olga was losing herself.She looked down at the shield.The summoning ritual was stressing to make,since they were in a place full of enemy servants. And the fact that the summoning took a bit longer,it was another weight.

"What is happening? Isn't taking it's time?"Ritsuka was new to this stuff. But by seeing the Director's reaction,this wasn't good

"We don't have a catalyst,Senpai.And without one, there's a less chance that a Servant will answer the call." Mash clarified. Ritsuka was still confused.

•
•
•

"So,the Servant will come to help?"

"I think...yes?Maybe?"Mash wasn't sure about that.

"Oh.Ok then. Well,we'll be fine with just you.You are honestly good at protecting us."

Mash gave a sad look.

"Thank you Senpai,but maybe-"

"Wait."Olga,interrupting the two,said. The two turned down to stare at the shield, watching as a ring of glowing spheres sprang to life just above the centre of the cross-shaped shield.

The spheres began to rotate rapidly until they became a central ring, soon shooting inwards as a pillar of light shot up into the sky. The trio covered their eyes at the sudden brightness before lowering their hands.

Standing atop Mash's shield was a man.

Ritsuka could only guess they were of royalty.They had medium silk white hair.They had a long platinum cape,that covered a white shining light armor.The face was covered by a mask with two holes for the eyes to see through.Then there was a long white crown on his head.
After a few moments, no one said anything. Then the man spoke.

"I am Ruler. King of Hallownest.Who needs my aid?"

Ritsuka raised his hand.

"I see." The man nodded,then getting off of the shield, which the Shielder took.

Olga remembered some old legends about a land called Hallownest,but right now,it isn't the right time to think about this things. "Master Candidate 48." she barked, Ritsuka stood to attention "What are their stats?"

"Stats?" He asked, blinking at her, Olga let out a groan before palming her face, remembering just how inexperienced he was.

"You are his Master, so you will be able to see what the stats of servants are. Focus on him and try to visualise them. They will appear as letters around him."

"They will?" Ritsuka blinked, turning to Ruler. The servant simply stared at him.

The Man stood there,with it's piercing gaze.It was honestly menacing.

Ritsuka nervously looked at him, before squinting his eyes and after a few moments he noticed the letters and words Olga had spoken of "Alright so...Strength is C ...Endurance is A...Agility is A...Mana is B and his Luck is D." he shrugged "He's got a Noble Phantasm, which I have no clue what that is, which is ranked at EX and it's Anti-Army ." he turned to Olga "Uuuuh...what does this mean."

Olga looked back at the Ruler, through stats alone he was honestly good for a Ruler class. His Noble Phantasm was one of his greatest strengths.

"His skills?"

"Well...Magic Resistance is B."

Not bad

"True Name Discernment is A"

Good.

"God's Resolution is A."

Ok,this Servant is a strong one.

•
•
•

This is awkward.

"I can feel something that pulls me over you." he stepped towards the young man "I assume you are my summoner?"

"Um...Yes." Ritsuka responded, looking the Ruler up and down "I'm Fujimaru Ritsuka..."

"...I am here to assist you then, as a King..." he responded.

"-ere is a servant signature behind you!" Ritsuka blinked and stared down at his wrist, holding it up as Romani's face popped up "You need to get out of there right-" the Doctor cut himself off as he saw the Servant in question standing right next to the boy, staring blankly at him through the mask. Romani let out a squeak "They're right behind you Fujimaru!"

"I know..." The boy slowly nodded his head "This is Ruler...I summoned him..." sending a slightly questioning glance over to Mash "I did summon him...yeah?"

"Yes, Senpai." Mash nodded, shifting her gaze over to the Ruler servant.

"..."The servant in question was awfully quiet.

•
•
•

"So, where are we?"

"Forget that right now." Olga stepped towards the hologram "Romani, find out what we can about this Heroic Spirit."

"Eh?" Romani blinked, then casted a look towards Ruler, the servant's posture remained mostly relaxed, with the white mask hiding the emotions of the King. "Eh? What's their true name?"

"I don't need one. People called me King,Your Honour,Monarch and many other things.But you can call me...The Pale King."

"Hmmm.So, Romani,try to find something on The Pale King-"

"Director." Romani interrupted them "I'm sure you can discuss this later, but right now I think you need to move. A servant summoning would have attracted the attention of the nearby skeletons."

"..."The Kings stands there,still motionless. "So,Master,when will we start going?"

"You can call me Ritsuka if you like." The boy replied with a small, somewhat relieved, smile before he turned to the Director "So...when do we move to?"

Olga bit her lip, struggling to think of something before she abruptly turned away "Right now we need to move to find cover, this street is too exposed."

Ritsuka and Mash nodded their heads in unison while The Pale King,still,stands motionless.

All unaware of the set of eyes that were observing them in the distance.

Ruler swung his Spear down on one skeleton,making them puff in dust particles.

Turning around, he caught a glimpse of the shielder servant slamming her weapon at her own opponent, the skeleton easily being shattered before she ripped the shield free from the ground, lashing out with the bottom of the metal instrument and uppercutting another opponent.

The King was judging her fighting style,which was sluggish and incompetent.Maybe she was new to this thing.

Although he can't say anything,as he never used a shield in his entire life.

Ritsuka watched Mash and Ruler make short work of the Skeletons with an almost awed expression; he hadn't actually seen anything like this before. Ruler suddenly turned towards the pair,with masked intentions,making it difficult to see what he was doing.

"Eh?" Ritsuka let out a confused noise as the Ruler servant suddenly kicked off the ground towards the pair in a burst of speed which he could barely even keep track of. The Director let out a sharp gasp of surprise as she widened her eyes in alarm, throwing her hand towards him to try and grip his collar and pull them out of the King's path.

The Pale King swung the Wyrm's Spear in a parring motion, going directly over the heads of the Masters. There was a clanging sound as the spear made contact with something. A thud soon followed, Ritsuka and Olga slowly lowered their gaze to see a small black knife embedded in the ground.

The King stared up at the nearby building as Ritsuka and the Director ripped their gaze away from the dirk in the street and towards the same direction the Ruler was glaring in.

"It's useless to hide."Said the King without any true emotion.

"Eh?" Mash turned around from where she had finished off the Skeletons to see Ruler talking to no one. Romani's panicked voice soon came up on the communicator.

"You have a servant signature nearby, it looks a little weird but its there." The man called out "It wasn't there previously, so I assume it's an Assassin Servant."

Ruler continued to glare up at the building "Very well then." Swinging his arm out,a shadow tentacle shot out of the ground,towards the house.Then,it completely demolished it.

Mash rushed in front of Ritsuka and the Director, covering the pair with her shield as pieces of debris rained down onto them, the pangs of bricks against metal continued on for a few seconds before ceasing.

Only to be replaced by Olga's panicked cry "What are you doing!? Launching Magic around like that? What if your Master had gotten injured?"

"..."The Ruler didn't respond

Suddenly,three dirks were sent towards him. A white spike got out of the ground and protected the King, which sent a shadow tentacle towards the direction of the launched dirks.

"Oh,sorry for interrupting your nice talk." The Assassin mocked, his body was wreathed in a dark shadow, save for the white skull mask present on his face.

"Mash!" Ritsuka called out "Do your best to support Ruler!" he really didn't know how she would be able to do that, but the Director had been trying to hammer into him the idea of commanding his servants. Although he wasn't exactly keen on 'commanding' anyone.

"Yes, Senpai!" Mash nodded her head, standing just behind the Ruler servant and in front of the two Masters.

"Another Servant signature is closing in on you!" Romani called out, Ritsuka and Olga paled at the mention, and the Assassin let out a chuckle.

"Assuming one such as I would risk an open engagement with a strong Servant and an unknown Servant is equally foolish." His left hand came out from underneath the dark cloak he wore, flicking around to reveal three blades gripped between his fingers. Something crashed into the rooftop near them, Ruler allowed his eyes to briefly flicker up.

It was a woman, wearing a dark grey cloak with long purple hair, in her hands she held what appeared to be a spear with a curved tip at the end, perhaps it could have been mistaken for a small scythe.

"I'm surprised, Lancer." Assassin rumbled "I thought you did not leave your hunting grounds."

"I sensed another Servant." She replied with a gentle tone "I had thought it was him...but this is very much an improvement." snake like eyes flickered onto the Shielder and the two masters "Ah...such young supple skin you have..."

Mash backed away, moving to stand closer to her Master while The Pale King remained where he was, emotions hidden by the mask.

There was a beat.

Then they both lunged towards the group.

A/N :

As you may noticed,this chapter was heavely,a lot, inspired by the Famous fanfiction "Souls and Singularities" (Mostly the structure).

Don't worry,this is just to help me write,this is my first fanfiction ever. I'm not the creator of the original work.

So, please, don't say that to me,as i already know. Just,see the progress i will make.

The Pale King

Class:Ruler

Stats:

Strength:C
Endurance:A
Agility:A
Mana:B
Luck:D
NP:EX

Weapon: Wyrm's Spear

A strong spear,made from Void and The original Colossal Wyrm shell. Can withstand attacks from most servants and harmed the Goddess of Light ( Hallownestian Myths).

Class Skills:

True Name Discernment:A
God's Resolution:A
Magic Resistance:B

Personal Skills:

Pale Authority:C
Can telepathically talk to anyone that is weaker than him,and can control the minds of people with weak minds.

Everlasting Monarch:A++
As being the Ruler of Hallownest,he can absorb the Souls of his people and harness the Void,making him Semi-immortal.But this ability will strain the Master's Mana reserves.

Wyrm God:A+++
Originally,The Pale King was known as the Collosal Wyrm,a higher being with immense power.
With this ability,he can turn into the beast,making it a ruthless opponent.Again,the Master's Mana reserves are strained.In a more suppressed form,he can summon the Wyrm's Teeth.

Abyssmal Void:B
By mastering and working with the Void for ages, The Pale King knows how to harness it's power into the form of tentacles.

Noble Phantasm:EX

'Pale, Cruel Fate'

The Pale King will summon a dusty and ruptured Throne Room,where he will stand in the middle like a standing lifeless being.
The Opponent offence and defence will be nullified, making useless to attack or to parry.
Can hold Multiple opponents.
The only way to escape this is to be a Divine Servant or to be really strong. Even if the enemy managed to escape,they will be badly hurt.

Summoning Dialogue:

"Welcome, Master. I am the Pale King, the ruler of the kingdom of Hallownest. I offer my strategic mind and my dedication to my people. I hope to serve you well."

Master Dialogue:

"How can I assist you, Master? I am willing to offer any advice or tactics to help strengthen our team. My ultimate goal is to see our victory in the Holy Grail War, but I also wish to ensure the safety and well-being of all involved."

About Other Servants:

"I have observed some of our fellow Servants and have made assessments on their strengths and weaknesses. Would you like me to share my findings? Remember, proper knowledge of our enemies is essential in warfare."

Likes and Hates:

"I am indifferent to most material possessions, Master. However, I have a great appreciation for literature and knowledge. In terms of dislikes, I despise ignorance and apathy towards one's duties."

Wish for the Holy Grail:

"My ultimate wish for the Holy Grail is to provide a just and fair ruling for all people, regardless of their status or backgrounds. I believe that everyone deserves equality and a chance to live a fulfilling life."

Relationships:

"I have formed strong bonds with many of the inhabitants of Hallownest and have great respect for them. However, due to my position as the Pale King, it was necessary for me to maintain a certain level of distance from them. As for my relationship with you, Master, I hope to form a strong and trusting bond in order to achieve our shared goals."

Ascension:

"As I ascend, I feel a greater connection to my roots as the White Palace's ruler. I hope to harness this power to aid us in battle and assist in the preservation of humanity. Do not hesitate to call upon me if you require my assistance."