Fate/chaos divergence

***Fate/chaos divergence*** (フェイト/カオスヂバーゲンッ, *Feito/kaosu dibāgentsu*?) is a light novel series written by Minato Yatsushiro, detailing the story of the Second Holy Grail War. It serves as a technical sequel of Hikaru Sakurai's ***Fate/Prototype: Fragments of Sky Silver***, however, it is actually a sequel to ***Fate/Intercession*** as well as the prequel of ***Fate/chaos revival***, both light novel series written by Minato Yatsushiro.

## Story

### Setting

Taking place across a two-week period from Saturday, July 10, 1999, to Sunday, July 25, 1999 (with Saturday being Day 0) in Tokyo, Japan, the story details the Second Holy Grail War, just eight years following the First Holy Grail War. With the exception of Kiritsugu Emiya summoning Assassin in Sapporo, the story mostly occurs in the streets of Tokyo.

### Plot

The story follows the footsteps of a young magus, Ayaka Sajyou. Having narrowly escaped death eight years before by her own sister's hands, she refuses to prepare for her participation in the Holy Grail War. As such, her retainer, Kotomi Shiratsuyu, disobeys her master's wishes and prepares the ritual for her. Unfortunately, Kotomi is killed by Lancer which causes Ayaka to summon her Servant, Saber, out of grief. Resolving to end the Holy Grail War once and for all, she proceeds to wage war on all other Masters with one goal in mind: winning.

## Characters

### Masters

Reines Sutlynn Archisorte
The new Master of Rider, Reines is the fiancée of Waver Velvet and the current Lady Sutlynn of the Sutlynn clan. She was chosen as a new Master forty-eight hours after the passing of Aro Isemi, inheriting both his Command Spells and his Servant.
Kiritsugu Emiya
The Master of Assassin, he is a freelance magus from the Emiya family. Joining the conflict so that he can protect his family, he earnestly participates in the Holy Grail War for the ideal of saving the world.
Kasumi Hiiragi/Mashiro
The Master of Berserker, she is an unintended addition to the Holy Grail War. Despite receiving the Command Spells while in a comatose state, her family still wishes for her participation. She commands her Servant through her *shikigami* while her siblings provide her Servant with magical energy should her own not be enough.
Aro Isemi
The Master of Rider, he is a barely-surviving human experiment. Forcefully kept alive through medical means, he is miraculously chosen to be a Master. However, knowing that he cannot survive the estimated duration of the Holy Grail War, he uses all of his Command Spells for one request: incarnating Rider with a material body and giving him a proper chance at the Holy Grail before passing on.
Sancraid Phahn
The former Master of Archer, he is the Overseer of the First Holy Grail War and the would-be Overseer for the Second Holy Grail War before being forcibly releaved of his post by Luíseach and having his rights as a Master stolen. He managed to retain a few of his Command Spells which he used to forcibly corrupt Saber after stealing him and annulling his contract with his Master.
Misaya Reiroukan
The Master of Lancer and the deuteragonist of *Fate/chaos divergence*, she is a first-rate magus. She summons Lancer after receiving the Cherubim Master Degree. Out of spite, she orders her Servant to attack and kill her adoptive sister, which fails. She later charges Lancer to assist her sister once the curse placed on her finally kills her.
Ayaka Sajyou
The Master of Saber and the protagonist of *Fate/chaos divergence*, she was raised in the Reiroukan household after narrowly escaping being killed by her sister in the previous Holy Grail War. One night, she was assaulted by her adoptive sister's Servant and survived by a hairbreadth when her retainer sacrificed herself. Filled with grief, she summons her Servant and resolves to participate in the Holy Grail War.
Manaka Sajyou
The Master of Beast and the main antagonist, she was the near-winner of the First Holy Grail War until she was betrayed by her Servant who is now the Servant of her sister. Now one of the souls within the Grail, she waits for a chance to return and claim true victory.
Waver Sutlynn Velvet
The Master of Caster, Waver Velvet is an up-and-coming talent in the Mages' Association. Participating in the Holy Grail War on the orders of the Association, Waver possesses the Fourth Master Degree, Dominions.
Luíseach Talulla Wirth
The new Master of Archer, she is an Executor, sent by the Holy Church in order to investigate the actions of the Overseer, Sancraid Phahn, and after discovering his nefarious plans, hijacks his contract with Archer and became his new Master as well as the new Overseer.
### Servants

Archer
Heracles, the Strongest Hero.
Assassin
Jack the Ripper, Murderer on a Misty Night.
Berserker
Theseus, the Minotaur-Slayer.
Caster
Gilgamesh, the Sage-King of Uruk.
Lancer
Sétanta, the younger form of Ireland's Child of Light.
Rider
Perseus, the Gorgon-Slayer.
Saber
Arthur Pendragon, the King of Knights.
Saber
Charlemagne, the Holy Knight Emperor.
#### Manaka's Servants

Archer Alter
Arash, Great Hero of Persia.
Assassin Alter
Hassan of Serenity, Wielder of Deadly Poison.
Beast
Tomegatherion, the Beast of Revelations or Beast 666.
Berserker Alter
Kriemhild, the Bride of Fafnir.
Caster Alter
Paracelsus von Hohenheim, Alchemist.
Lancer Alter
Brynhildr, the Valkyrie.
Rider Alter
Ozymandias, Rameses II, Great Pharaoh.
### Other Characters

Kirsikka Edelfelt
The sister of Rin, she is mentioned in Kasumi Hiiragi's dialogues.
Shirou Emiya
He is the son of Kiritsugu Emiya and Irisviel von Einzbern.
Illyasviel von Einzbern
Kiritsugu and Irisviel's daughter and Shirou's little sister.
Irisviel von Einzbern
The Einzbern heir and the wife of Kiritsugu Emiya.
Honoka Sajyou
Ayaka's mother and a Dead Apostle Ancestor.
Kotomi Shiratsuyu
Ayaka's personal attendant, assigned to her by the Sajyou's vassal family, the Shiratsuyu. She is the one who disobeys the wishes of her mistress and prepares her for the Holy Grail War. She is also seemingly killed which is the spark needed for her mistress to resolve to participate in the Holy Grail War but is actually revived as a vampire by Honoka.
Rin Tohsaka
Eldest daughter of Tokiomi Tohsaka, she is mentioned in Kasumi Hiiragi's dialogues.

## Development

Based on Kinoko Nasu's *Fate/Prototype*, the series was conceived in June 2016 by Minato Yatsushiro and Dokuhisei Hatsuyo with the first volume written and nearly completed by September of the same year. Due to having flashes of inspiration for plot points further into the course of the Holy Grail War, both authors decided to put the writing of the first volume on hold and proceed to start on the second volume which had also neared completion. However, writing has been stopped indefinitely as of July 2017 due to increasing time constraints from the lives of both authors.

In January 2020, the primary author decided to take complete control of the series due to multiple outside influences that have given reviews to the current incarnation of the story and have called it less-than-satisfying. Restarting with a clean slate, the story has been reworked from the bottom up with the old texts discarded and rewritten.

Not long after the author decided for a complete rewrite did his friend suggest that the series be also renamed entirely due to the extremely glaring differences it has with canon as well as the mountain of inconsistencies and plotholes in the Prototype universe. As a result, the author made the decision to completely remove any mentions of canon to make the story original, only borrowing some aspects from "canon". Due to this change, the author is unable to connect this story to *Fate/Prototype: Fragments of Sky Silver* and instead, opted to write *Fate/Intercession* as the proper prequel to the story.