Fate/Tower of God - Climbing the Tower as/with Mordred (fanfic)

Test Director's office. *major canon spoilers ahead

Lero Ro sat in front of Yu Ha Sung as two cups with hot water were laid down on the table in front of them.

"So what did you want to discuss, Mr. Lero Ro?" Yu Han Sung asked as he poured instant coffee out of a stick into his cup.

After doing the same with his instant coffee, Lero Ro looked up expressionlessly and got straight to the point, asking, "Supervisor… Could you tell me the real purpose of the Crown Game?"

"It was Quant."

"... I already know about Quant's mistake. I'm not asking about that, I'm asking about your intentions."

Lero Ro already heard how Quant administered a free for all 30 minute deathmatch as the first test in another testing area, and by the time he returned to it, only three out of 400 Regulars were left alive.

He knew from Quant that the original purpose of the Crown Game was to quickly send the troublesome team of three to the Third Floor before Evankhell found out about that spectacular failure.

However, that plan failed.

The team of troublemakers in question never even showed any intentions of going for the crown.

In addition, even though the plan failed, the Test Director also seemed to not care about it.

This made Lero Ro be filled with suspicions and doubts.

"What are you trying to say?" Yu Han Sung asked.

"Apparently, one of the Regulars from the other area had known one of my examinees. This disrupted the flow of the test and caused one of them to die. The rules state that acquaintances cannot participate in the same test. I wonder what was the purpose of having-..."

"-Mr. Lero Ro, why do you think we gather all the Regulars on the Second Floor and test them?" Yu Han Sung interjected, cutting Lero Ro's sentence short as he suddenly stopped stirring hsi coffe.

Lero Ro was taken aback for a moment by the simple question, then gave an obvious reply, "Well, isn't it to test if the Regulars are qualified to go up the Tower?"

"... No. The reason why we test them is because..." Yu Han Sung slowly said and paused as he lifted the stick he stirred his coffee with to eye level, causing droplets of coffee to slowly drip down from it.

If he's going to educate Mr. Lero Ro, he might as well be dramatic and cool about it.

After a moment's pause, Yu Han Sung continued: "... Our job is to expel those who have dangerous thoughts or powers that could bring harm to the Tower. The tests are not meant to find 'Outstanding Candidates'. They're meant to find the 'Black Sheep, those who are a threat to the Tower. Do you understand now?"

Lero Ro frowned. "Why are you bringing this up now?..."

Yu Han Sung said, "Mr. Lero Ro. Does anyone among your current examinees meet that criteria? Who do you think are the most dangerous amongst the Regulars taking the test this time? Didn't they lose the Crown Game? Because of the team from another area?"

Lero Ro's eyes widened.

Who were the most dangerous ones?

Guessing who Han Sung was talking about, Lero Ro's expression turned cold. He raised his cup of boiling hot coffee and gulped it down in one go.

After that, he stood up. "Thank you for the coffee, Test Director Yu. I should go now."

Before leaving the room, Lero Ro paused his footsteps and turned back toward his Supervisor one more time. "Test Director Yu."

"Yes?"

"Have you ever seen someone who hasn't formed a contract with an Administrator or who isn't from the Ten Great Families, but can still freely use Shinsoo without restrictions?"

"No, this goes against the rules of the Tower. But I've heard there are individuals like that... Like Urek Mazino, an Irregular."

"I see."

As Lero Ro left, the sliding doors automatically closed.

Yu Han Sung took a sip of his coffee, then formed a small smile on his lip as he made a mental note, 'Mr. Lero Ro is a bit hard to handle. Unlike the silly Mr. Quant.'

He slowly put down his cup of coffee. As he looked at his drink's surface, a much more complicated expression appeared on his face as he thought of the Irregulars participating in the test.

In truth, this Crown Game had two purposes.

The primary one was to merge the team of 'Michelle Light' from another contestant area into this one while preventing the team of Bam from going up. It was to make these two attend the same tests without breaking the rules.

The second one was to test Bam and see if he was really the child of the prophecy. After all, if he can't even survive a bit of danger, how can he be their destined avenger that will turn the Tower upside down with his own hands?

What FUG seemed to want to rely on the most when it came to the child of the prophecy was exactly his destiny that would allow him push through anything standing in his way to achieve vengeance, not necessarily on his power.

The second purpose, however, spectacularly failed.

The boy that was believed to be the son of V, who should bring forth their goals and dreams, died during a bonus game on the second floor of the Tower. It was almost like a joke.

'According to the Guide, the other Irregular was now the vessel of this destiny. She said it was an unexpected twist, but it should make no difference in the end…'

Their Guide told them that the boy would have survived if he was the destined one which only means he wasn't the one.

But although Yu Han Sung was aware of this, he noticed that neither the Guide nor their superior Grace Mirchea Luslec had accepted this information lightly; after finding out that the boy died and was devoured, they were disturbed at a glance.

Yu Han Sung himself learned about the prophecy related to the return of the son of V long ago when he was still a Regular.

To put it shortly, what he knew was that: Jahad has turned his back on loyalty and justice, and is ruling the world as the King of the Tower. God will send a disciple to punish Jahad for that, and he will cause a stir in the Tower.

That disciple sent by God was supposed to be the son of V.

The boy that took up the name of 25th Bam was supposed to be exactly the son of V. The person that he and some others in FUG waited for a long time, the Fated Kingslayer.

But that boy died soon after entering the Tower. How was that fine?

And instead someone else, another Irregular, had inherited this destiny?

As such, it wasn't strange that the people in FUG were shocked.

But in truth, to Yu Han Sung it didn't quite matter whether the Irregular on their son was the son of V or someone else, as long as they were capable and had a good moral character. He only felt that there were clearly things that FUG was hiding from him.

'Regardless, all I want is change. If that Irregular can bring a positive change to the Tower, it's all that matters to me. Personally, I'm quite fond of him so far…' Yu Han Sung thought as he took another sip of his coffee.

People in FUG all had their own objectives and agendas, and naturally so did he.

...

In the meantime, Lero Ro slowly walked through the corridor outside with an expressionless face. This job was not as simple as he thought it would be.

A young boy with monstrous Shinsoo Resistance that surpassed even Princesses of Jahad; he died because of the interference of the team from another test area.

An abandoned son of Khun with outstanding scheming ability and possible thoughts of rebellion.

The daughter of Anak Jahad, the stain on the Jahad Empire, holding the Green April.

All these troublesome Regulars gathered in one testing area.

And most importantly, there was the Regular called Isaac Ainsworth, possessing a powerful body despite mysterious origins, monstrous Shinsoo resistance and dangerous powers.

Lero Ro had already carefully gone through all of the recordings related to Isaac before this several times.

In particular, he carefully re-watched the last scene of the Crown Game.

After the Regular called 25th Bam died from blunt force to the head, Isaac who stood nearby devoured him whole.

'That was far beyond simply controlling Shinsoo. It was as if Shinsoo itself moved of its own volition… The way it happened is very disturbing. And that ability to turn a person into Shinsoo, and absorb their body and soul. I've never heard of anything like this in a human. This really is a dangerous power…'

If there was a Regular who could bring a serious threat to the Tower among all those it was certainly Isaac Ainsworth. He was dangerous.

'Ah?' Lero Ro's eyes suddenly widened in realization. He let out a sigh. 'Lero Ro, you fool… You fell for the Test Supervisor's words so easily. He is just a Regular. All Regulars have the right to climb the Tower. And was the other boy killed because he was also deemed dangerous? I really don't like this.'

…

While this was happening, Hwa Ryun, was expressionlessly half-laying in the bed of her room assigned to her as a Regular.

At that time, her eye was already secretly healed and was covered with an eyepatch.

She thought back to everything that happened and gently wrinkled her eyebrows.

The boy from the prophecy disappeared, ending up devoured by another Irregular after she killed him.

It was a result that no one had foreseen.

She was one of the most skilled Red Witch Guides. Although her powers had limited effect on Irregulars, she never thought the boy would die. She also didn't even know this path existed.

Having known the prophecy well, having waited for the son of V for so long, as a Guide she was the most shocked among everyone, since it was even her who had killed their fated God with her own hands.

Even so, with that final sword strike that cut her face Hwa Ryun experienced a change related to her curse as a Red Witch, and the vision of her predetermined fate blurred.

Isaac Ainsworth's destiny was also clearly even more powerful than the boy's. He had the power to bend Fate with his mere presencere, and the boy and V were both swallowed by him.

As far as she was concerned, Isaac was now her God.

'Luslec was angry, but V is now inside that Irregular. The boy is gone. He'll have to accept this. Isaac Ainsworth… He wanted to reach the top of the Tower, right? Without going against Jahad, he won't be able to reach the true top. Hopefully he'll be the one to shoulder this destiny of being the child of the prophecy and the Destined Avenger. '

…

While all this was happening, the Regulars that remained all received a three minute break to rest after the Crown Game. They all received a personal room.

For Regulars that were severely injured, their teammates received rights to visit and nurse them.

In one of those rooms was Isaac who laid unconscious on the bed.

Khun Aguero Agnes sat on the bench beside the bed with a gloomy and complicated expression.

At one point, he heard some rustling sounds behind the door as if someone was trying to clumsily spy on him.

"Who's that?!" Khun suddenly stood up. He then walked out and hurriedly opened the door. Looking around the corridor, he noticed a large crocodilian beastman scurrying to hide behind a corner. "Crocodile?"

Being suddenly caught, Rak slowly turned around. He awkwardly said, "Haha, Blue Turtle! What a coincidence! I'm not worried about the Iron Turtle or anything… But… is my prey okay?"

"... What?" Khun was flabbergasted by this reaction.

"He's my prey! He isn't dead, right?" Rak clarified, raising his voice.

"Aaah?" Khun raised his eyebrows, but then got the idea, smugly smiled and said, "So you're just worried about him? Sure, you can go ahead and see him."

"No, you got it wrong! I'm not worried! I'm coldhearted!!!" Rak raised his voice as he began to walk forward anyway.

Khun opened the doors wider and allowed Rak in.

After seeing Issac on the bed, Rak immediately raised his voice as he approached him in a few large steps, "What's wrong with him, turtle?! You ripped off his shell!!! Is he going to be fine? Open your eyes, turtle! If not, I'll eat you! Turtle!!!"

"Stop shaking him!!! And he's a human, not a turtle! Humans don't have shells!"

Slightly sensing the commotion around him, Isaac gradually awoke from his sleep after having a quite enjoyable dream.

It was a dream in which he won the Holy Grail War, transmigrated inside the Tower of God with great powers and a transformed body, met Yuri, Bam, Khun, Rak and all the other main characters, took tests…

But it all ended during the Crown Game.

'Too bad it was so short. It felt like it was a nice dream,' Isaac thought as he slowly opened his eyes.

"Turtle, you're alive!!!"

"Aaah?!" Isaac suddenly opened his eyes fully in shock and fright as the first thing he saw was a crocodile's giant head staring straight at him, so big it could swallow his head whole in one bite.

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Note: Possible alternate story is that Bam's body wasn't absorbed during the Crown Game, only that white energy, and he would later revive, already taken in by FUG to reappear in S2. I haven't yet decided.