???: “Where in the hell did he disappear to?!”

The young man was nowhere in sight, leaving the small crowd baffled as to how he had slipped away. It had been a short while after the group had begun its pursuit of the young man that they had lost him, and they were now standing in the middle of an empty crosswalk, angrily bickering with each other.

???: “I could have offed him earlier if SOMEONE hadn’t interrupted me!”

The boy from earlier, who had taken possession of a girl’s gun spoke in an arrogant tone as several of the masked figures’ eyes began to sharpen in anger. However, before they could begin yelling, a commanding voice boomed over them!

???: “Listen, all of you!!! We’ve made our contract with the goddess, she’s provided us with part of her domain so that we can hunt without worry, and I’m not letting any of you little sh*ts ruin it!!!”

The masked group hung their heads low, not noticing a blue hood, poking out from the side of a building. On the other side, the young man strained his ears to understand what they were saying while staying out of their line of sight…

Jack: “F***, what the hell are they saying? Goddess...hunt...contract? Whatever that means, I’m in a lot of trouble! I need to find some way to get hel…!”

Suddenly, the young man heard breathing from behind him. He quickly spun around, ready to swing his fist as hard as he could before running away!

???: “Woah, Woah, easy dud...Jack?!”

The stranger sounded confused…

Jack: “...Holy sh*t...Matt…?”

Before the young man stood a nervous-looking person of similar stature with slightly auburn hair. Both of them stared at each other, bewildered…

Matt: “...It’s been two years since we last met in person and you still look...actually, you look a bit different...what with the...bloodstained cloth wrapped around your hand...and the dust...dude, I think there’s a cut on your lip.”

Jack: “Dude, enough with the how sh*tty I look! I’m kinda in a life or death situation here and I’m not stupid enough to get caught fixing my hair while a bunch of masked douche-canoes is shooting at me! Also, how the hell did you get here?!”

Matt looked startled at the young man’s response but still seemed to calm, possibly indicating that he didn’t know what was going on.

Matt: “Dude, if you’re still making up this kind of stuff when you’re an adult, England did make you a headcase. Who the hell would be shooting at your dumb ass? Also, I don’t know how I ended up here...I mean, I know that I took a plane to get to this country, but that’s all I know!”
…

Meanwhile, the yellow slit inside the young man’s eye had begun to angrily stir…

『Starting to remember?~ It’s been more than four years now, but you’ve tried so desperately to stop yourself from going back to these memories, why?~』

Fate: “Send me the f*** back! I don’t want to see this, not again! No matter how many times you show me…!!!”

Fate suddenly felt something restrain his speech as if an invisible hand was cupped over his nonexistent mouth.

『No matter how many times I show you this it won’t make you face reality, eh? Interesting...I’ll admit that most of the drama played out rather slowly...and you’ll probably have time to adjust, maybe even become a better person for it... 』

The voice now sounded downtrodden. If Fate had his body, he’d probably have smiled...however, his upturned mood was soon shattered…

『Then, I guess...instead of having you be all melodramatic about it, let’s just get to the good stuff! After all, most people only watch shows for the big reveals and showdowns, right?!~ 』

Fate struggled to scream through the foreign pressure, being rendered a mere witness as he watched the shadow at the young man’s feet come to life! The shadow raised its arm…

[Click!]

And with a snap of its fingers, the world in Fate’s vision accelerated as a black fog began to shroud the rapidly changing background! Within mere moments, the smog lifted, revealing...the sky?

Fate’s eye squirmed, desperately trying to figure out which part of the memory he had been accelerated to! However, a masked figure slowly came into view, towering over him as the full moon was now entirely visible above them…

???: “See this? It’s a sign! The time is now for your demise, sacrifice!”

A fanatical shout came from the figure above. Fate could feel his younger self’s body struggling in anger and desperation, but it seemed that he was stuck!

Jack: “Seriously, how the hell did I end up here?! Where the hell is my friend, who the hell have you been praying to...and who the f*** are you assholes!?!”

A burst of raucous laughter erupted from outside Fate’s field of vision, prompting the stranger to begin laughing as well, but the collective laughter soon faded as the masked figure lowered themselves toward the young man’s head…

???: “That’s right...by now, I’m sure you should know our mission...but I can’t believe you couldn’t even identify a single one of us...especially me, truly, I’m hurt…”

The figure reached their arm up, inserting their fingers into the gap between the mask and their face, slowly removing it…

Jack: “Y-you…!!!”

???: "Surprised to see me? You really shouldn't be...After all, I couldn't think of a more fitting person for the sacrifice...than my big brother!"

The story had been completely skipped over, and the end seemed to be fast approaching. The moon was now fully risen, the acolytes of its patron goddess ready to fulfill their promises and Fate was unable to do anything but watch it unfold...
...