"Was there such a figure in the Holy Grail War of 2004?"
Looking at Nikaido Hiro, who had revealed the Command Spells to her, Rin Tohsaka fell into deep thought.
Regardless of whether such a person existed, the Command Spells on the back of the girl's hand were not fakes. However, the other party didn't look like a Magus at all. Was she really reliable?
"Since you seem to have some understanding of the Holy Grail War, I won't waste my breath on superfluous details."
In a deserted area on the back hill of the school, Rin Tohsaka crossed her arms, putting on a mature and composed front.
Ultimately, she wasn't a 'pure' Magus in the ruthless sense. She still possessed compassion for this girl, who was only high school age, getting dragged into the Holy Grail War. She believed that her current self possessed enough power to protect others and reverse regrets.
"I don't reject allying with others, but Student Nikaido, you must understand that the Holy Grail War is no game of house!" Rin stated sternly. "An alliance is fine, but who takes the lead will be decided by our respective strengths. Come on, let me see what you're made of."
Rin Tohsaka took a gem from her bosom and flicked it lightly. The gem shattered into powder, and an invisible Bounded Field that would prevent ordinary people from entering unfolded.
Although her body had returned to its youth, the knowledge and techniques studied at the Clock Tower were deeply imprinted in her mind. Using the exact same gem serving as a Mystic Code, the effect produced by her current self was completely different from her past self. Although funds for buying gems were just as tight, at least the utilization efficiency was much higher.
'Her psychological fortitude is quite a bit stronger than I thought.'
Rin Tohsaka observed Nikaido Hiro's expression. The other party showed no emotional fluctuation upon seeing her use Magecraft. It seemed the other party was indeed aware of the existence of Magi. This would make subsequent cooperation more convenient.
Rin Tohsaka watched as Nikaido Hiro removed the bandages wrapped around the long sword she carried. Before long, a seemingly ordinary western-style sword cast from black iron appeared in her hand.
"Are you ready? I'm going to..."
Rin Tohsaka was just intending to use a binding-type gem spell to test the other's ability.
Schwing!
But immediately following that, accompanied by the screech of a blade unsheathed, the sound of breaking wind whistled sharply past Rin Tohsaka's temples!
Boom—!
A small hillside, several people high, had a deep pit cleaved into it by invisible sword energy. Amidst the roar of falling mud and stone, the entire structure was shortened by a section. If not for the soundproofing Bounded Field set up by the gem magic, this would surely have attracted attention!
"?!"
Rin Tohsaka's hand, pinching the gem, froze stiff.
She turned her head somewhat mechanically, looking at the deep pit behind her where the sharp weapon had almost bisected the entire low hill. Then she looked at the black iron longsword in Nikaido Hiro's hand. She pinched her own face to confirm she wasn't dreaming.
What was that? Sword energy?
Just one beam of sword energy split the mountain rock... Was she sure the girl before her was a Master, and not a Servant wearing a Master's skin like that Caster?
No, even Caster couldn't achieve this level purely with physical strength without relying on magical energy!
It was confirmed. Such a guy definitely did not exist in the Holy Grail War she experienced back then. Just based on that slash just now, if the other party claimed to be Saber, Rin Tohsaka would have believed it without a doubt! With this kind of strength, was there really a need to find someone to ally with?!
As long as she didn't summon the weakest Servant like Assassin, Rin Tohsaka would bet that, excluding external factors like Gilgamesh, she had the Holy Grail War in the bag!
Of course, Rin Tohsaka did not know the thoughts in Nikaido Hiro's heart at this moment.
[Fortunately, although [Death Simulation] has been restricted to once a day, it seems the Zanpakuto can still be used normally.]
Feeling the Zanpakuto in her hand, which she could still command as easily as her own arm, and the will belonging to the Zanpakuto itself pulsing within it, Nikaido Hiro breathed a sigh of relief.
That's right. After entering this battlefield known as the "Simulated Universe · Holy Grail War," Nikaido Hiro had already triggered her own magic once. A death message from a future deduced via possibilities had automatically flooded into her mind.
In that future, having been assigned the identity of a transfer student in this world, she was attacked while returning home at night and was miserably eliminated before she could even summon a Servant. She didn't even see the attacker's face clearly. She hadn't even had time to activate her Witch-transformed state or her Zanpakuto to fight back.
This left Nikaido Hiro holding back a stifled rage!
It wasn't that she couldn't accept her own failure, but she couldn't accept failing so sullenly! She was Nikaido Hiro, the one destined to correct all incorrectness in the world!
However, this death message was not without gain. At the very least, it allowed Nikaido Hiro to confirm some information, such as Rin Tohsaka, a fellow Master who was attacked alongside her on the way home from school. This was also one of the reasons she proactively contacted the other party and proposed an alliance as soon as she arrived.
"Ahem, Student Nikaido, your strength indeed exceeded my expectations."
"Then I agree to the alliance with you, acknowledging that you and I are allies of equal standing."
Rin Tohsaka adjusted her mindset and coughed twice. Although she lost in strength, she couldn't lose in momentum!
"By the way, Student Nikaido, what kind of Heroic Spirit do you intend to summon? And what is your purpose in pursuing the Holy Grail? With your strength, if you summon a Saber, that would be ideal. Though I'm not sure if the summoning will go smoothly..."
Rin Tohsaka recalled the Holy Grail War of 2004. The Servant named Saber was summoned by a boy named Emiya Shirou in this school. That awe-inspiringly righteous boy had some fate with her; she had saved his life once, and they had cooperated in the Holy Grail War.
Of course, that fate ended there.
After defeating the King of Heroes, Gilgamesh, and winning the Holy Grail War, the boy left Fuyuki without saying goodbye, going who knows where. Perhaps he went to pursue the justice in his heart? This was Rin Tohsaka's guess.
However, speaking of which...
Rin Tohsaka looked Nikaido Hiro up and down. For some reason, she had an intuition that the transfer student girl before her was the same type of person as the boy in her memories.
Especially after Nikaido Hiro spoke her purpose for pursuing the Holy Grail, verifying Rin Tohsaka's intuition:
"My purpose in pursuing the Holy Grail? I pursue the Holy Grail to obtain power. I must become strong enough to eradicate all incorrectness in the world."
Nikaido Hiro's gaze was burning, making even Rin Tohsaka feel a bit apprehensive. This was no longer at the level of a "Partner of Justice"; Rin Tohsaka felt the other party wanted to be the "Biological Mother of Justice"!
"As for the Servant, naturally, the stronger the better. I heard that summoning powerful Servants requires specific Holy Relic catalysts. Do you have any, Student Rin? I can buy them with money or exchange items for them."
Nikaido Hiro thought about the informational data automatically poured into her mind after entering the Simulated Universe and obtaining an identity in this world. She knew some details about Servant summoning, such as the fact that Holy Relics were indispensable if one wanted to summon a powerful Servant.
Of course, drawing a summoning circle directly worked too, but that would only summon a Servant with good compatibility with oneself. But compared to compatibility, Nikaido Hiro chose raw power. As long as the summoned Servant wasn't some great villain, she could actually accept it. At worst, she would personally beat the Servant up to correct their incorrectness.
"A Holy Relic? This... I don't have one either..."
Hearing Nikaido Hiro's words, Rin Tohsaka was also in a difficult spot. Back then, she had performed the summoning "naked" (without a catalyst). After all, the Tohsaka family was no longer as glorious as it once was. Being stingy even with jewel magic, she was merely maintaining a facade of dignity.
"You don't?"
"...Never mind. Anyway, let's proceed with the Servant summoning first."
Hearing that Rin Tohsaka didn't have a Holy Relic, Nikaido Hiro was somewhat disappointed. And to think the introduction info of the Simulated Universe stated that the Holy Grail War was jointly created by the Tohsaka, Einzbern, and Matou families of Fuyuki City. She had thought that Rin Tohsaka, as an important NPC descendant of the Tohsaka family, would have some foundation. Her alliance was partly based on that intention.
"Wait, Student Nikaido? You're summoning a Servant now???"
Watching Nikaido Hiro's Zanpakuto emit a ghostly blue glow, using the sword as a pen to directly outline a Heroic Spirit summoning circle on the spot with an unknown substance spilling from the blade's tip, Rin Tohsaka was dumbfounded.
Leaving aside what that unknown substance used to outline the circle was, let's assume it had the magic-conducting properties necessary for a magic circle. The sun was high at noon right now. The mana tide was at its lowest, and the barrier between reality and the other side was at its thickest. Furthermore, this place wasn't even a leyline!
Was it necessary to be in such a rush to summon a Servant??
Rin Tohsaka felt it necessary to give her powerful ally some education on basic Magecraft common sense. It was also because of this that she confirmed Nikaido Hiro could definitely not be a Magus! A qualified Magus always pursued rigor and perfection, eliminating situations where the ball might be dropped!
"Yes, I know summoning now isn't very suitable, but I have a reason why I must summon immediately."
Nikaido Hiro recalled the attack encountered after school in the [Death Simulation]. Although she had been off guard at the time, being instantly killed was a fact.
"I suggest you'd best perform your summoning now as well. It's inconvenient for me to reveal the specific reason. I can only say that otherwise, you might be in mortal danger soon."
Nikaido Hiro warned Rin Tohsaka, though she didn't know why she was warning an NPC about mortal danger. Perhaps it was because everything was too realistic. It was like she had truly come to another world, and the NPC's every move was no different from a real person.
Nikaido Hiro raised her head. Out of the corner of her eye, she swept a glance at the blue cubic moon hanging high in the sky, which seemingly only she in the entire school could see. Rin Tohsaka and the others were completely unaware of it.
Following the information poured into her mind, she finished outlining the Heroic Spirit summoning circle. Nikaido Hiro began to chant the summoning incantation.
[—] [Declare—]
[Thy body shall be under my command, my fate shall be with thy sword...]
I'm in mortal danger?
Everything was happening too fast; Rin Tohsaka hadn't reacted yet.
[Submit to the beckoning of the Holy Grail... If you will submit to this will and this reason, then answer!]
The circle outlined by the Spiritrons released by the Zanpakuto possessed extraordinary magic conductivity, compensating for the lack of favorable timing and location.
Amidst Rin Tohsaka's shocked gaze, spiritual light bloomed, and the figure of a Servant manifested within!
But it wasn't over yet!
Perhaps because she was too close to the summoning circle, Rin Tohsaka suddenly felt, in an inexplicable way, that her own aura had actually connected to it as well! Before the spiritual body of the first Servant had even solidified, the Spiritron sphere of gathered magical energy on the magic circle spun again, and a second Servant was actually summoned directly in succession!
"Servant, Archer. Responding to the summons and reporting for duty."
"I say, Master, please don't call me away via Servant summoning when I'm busy in the kitchen... Hmm?"
The red Archer appeared in the summoning circle. He was still wearing a Chef's Apron, holding a spatula in his left hand and a soup ladle in his right. After seeing the environment clearly, his expression froze.
It wasn't just the black-haired, twin-tailed girl in the red sweater before him—whom he knew incomparably well—staring at him with wide eyes, her aura connected to him as his Master. There was also someone beside him: a beige-haired girl dressed like an elementary school student, carrying a backpack and appearing no different from a mortal.
No one knew what happened when this girl appeared.
Only the Nameless King, who stayed behind—or perhaps was trapped in the reincarnation of this place—wearing ten rings on his palms, slowly opened his eyes in the haze. For the first time, a trace of clarity appeared in his eyes, as if a great dream had passed.
But now, only in the back hill of this Private Homurahara Academy, the beige-haired girl spoke timidly to the red Archer beside her:
"Are you... Big Brother?"
"?"
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