Darius Ainsworth.
The progenitor of the Ainsworth family—a spiritual concept of a magus who had survived since a thousand years ago, resurrected through Displacement Magecraft that defied common sense.
Five years prior, when the darkness of Fuyuki City emerged and the previous Ainsworth head (along with Angelica) perished, Darius' spirit ultimately chose Julian as its vessel.
In a sense, Darius was the father of the entire Ainsworth lineage—Ainsworth itself.
Only he could fully unleash the power of Ainsworth Castle—a level of Displacement Magecraft even Sakatsuki, with his workshop-level enhancements, could not reach.
After all, not all workshops were equal. What was a millennium-old magical fortress compared to ordinary ateliers?
As for why Sakatsuki had suddenly ceased hostilities—
The Ainsworths possessed a nuclear option.
"Pandora's Box... So you know of it."
Seated in the chamber, Darius' expression was grave. Across from him, the casually dressed young man smiled faintly.
"I'm not Shirou. Just because he didn't know doesn't mean I don't. Oh, and—how is Emilia?"
Darius' face darkened instantly, like storm clouds gathering lightning.
"She is... well." He forced the words out through gritted teeth.
"Huh?" The golden-haired girl tilted her head in confusion. "Emilia? That name sounds familiar..."
"It doesn't concern you, Erika." Darius cut her off flatly. Sakatsuki, unfazed by the murderous intent thickening in the room, continued recounting ancient secrets.
Emilia. Erika.
They were the same person—yet neither was her true name.
Who would have thought, looking at this innocent girl, that her real identity was the harbinger of calamity?
Pandora—the Gods' "Gift" to mankind.
The first woman created by the gods as punishment for Prometheus' theft of fire.
Hephaestus crafted her resplendent golden robes; Aphrodite bestowed upon her charm to ensnare men; Athena adorned her like a bride; Hermes granted her the gift of speech.
And Zeus gave her a sealed jar (later mistranslated as a "box") containing all the evils of the world—only for her curiosity to unleash them upon humanity.
Only Hope remained trapped inside when she slammed the lid shut in panic.
Thus was born the myth of Pandora's Box.
But in this world, the box had never been opened.
Unable to fulfill her purpose, Pandora became ageless and undying. Terrified by her human appearance yet inhuman nature, people burned her, dismembered her—yet could not kill her. Finally, they buried her deep beneath the earth.
Until centuries later, when Darius Ainsworth I discovered her and vowed to open the box.
But how could a post-Age-of-Gods magus hope to unravel a divine curse?
"The first Darius devoted his entire life, exhausting all worldly wisdom, yet failed to decipher Pandora's Box. In his old age, unwilling to let her witness more death, he embraced her—promising she would never be alone again—before dissolving into a pool of blood."
"Thereafter, Darius usurped his descendants' bodies to reappear before her, maintaining the lie."
Sakatsuki recounted the Ainsworths' ancient secrets as casually as discussing the weather, his smile never wavering as he regarded the man who had displaced Julian.
"When Julian was young, while his father and sister still lived, Pandora—under the name 'Emilia'—attempted suicide with a fork. To prevent recurrence, Darius erased her memories, reducing her to a clueless child named 'Erika'."
"Enough!"
Darius slashed his hand through the air, forcibly ejecting the now-trembling Erika from the room before fixing Sakatsuki with a venomous glare.
"What do you want?!"
"Isn't it obvious, Darius?" Sakatsuki licked his lips, his polite smile tinged with hunger.
"I want Pandora's Box."
***
Darius had no choice but to comply.
By now, he understood the reality: this young man, who had defeated both Gilgamesh and Magni/Thor's Class Cards, was beyond the Ainsworths' ability to oppose.
The only reason Sakatsuki had stopped was because the box remained in Darius' hands.
Whether out of fear of mutual destruction or simply to avoid a protracted search, Darius had to offer the box to preserve even a sliver of his family's survival.
Moreover... no one understood Pandora's Box better than he did.
With a flicker in his eyes, Darius led Sakatsuki to a barren clearing within Ainsworth Castle. A snap of his fingers ripped away the illusion of blooming gardens, revealing a desolate wasteland dominated by a single structure—
A jet-black cube, resting atop a stone pedestal.
This was not something meant for human hands.
Even a genius like Darius had struggled with it for a thousand years.
"Pandora's Box..." Sakatsuki murmured, craning his neck.
It was colossal—so vast it seemed to blot out the sky, so immense it could prop up heaven itself.
Then—
[Target detected: "Pandora's Box" (Critical Artifact). Absorb?]
It worked!
Though he'd only been testing a theory, the Fate Compendium had responded!
Just like Moon Cell, the box was a treasure the Fate Compendium could assimilate!
Moon Cell's absorption had granted Sakatsuki access to the Moon's surface and the "Phenomenon Recording" ability (which allowed him to preserve Orion's bow).
So what would Pandora's Box—the vessel of calamity and hidden hope—bestow?
Almost unconsciously, Sakatsuki stepped forward—
Only for the ground to vanish beneath his feet!
"Heh... Ahahahaha!" Watching the young man plummet into a dimensional rift, Darius clutched his face and laughed wildly.
"Did you truly think I studied Pandora's Box for a millennium without making progress?"
"Perish within the Jar of Calamity, brat!"
***
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