[297] Spiral
The Holy Grail War.
If it were just hearsay, not many people would care. If it were just a ritual from legends that could grant wishes, not many would be concerned.
However...
The recent incidents that occurred a little over a month ago unequivocally confirmed the feasibility and brutality of the Holy Grail War.
The leyline was successfully continued.
Proving that the Holy Grail indeed possessed the ability to grant wishes.
However, as a consequence, much of Cairo had already vanished, providing ample evidence of the cruelty of the Holy Grail War.
A single careless move could result in the death of countless people.
But...
How many cared about the second point?
Araya Souren didn't know.
But there probably weren't many. Among magus, those who feared death were only a minority. For the sake of reaching the root, many were willing to sacrifice their lives, even if it was just a one in a million, one in a billion, or even one in a trillion chance...
Araya Souren was the same... as long as there was hope.
Kurokawa Kazuya.
This name, once again, gained widespread fame in the entire mystic world due to this Holy Grail War.
Countless people purchased his manga.
Just to see, how was this Holy Grail War that happened in the parallel world? What kind of existence were the Servants...
Although there was already a huge disparity with this world, there were still some aspects that could be used as a reference.
At the same time...
A magical marketplace began selling in the underworld of this world.
The underworld, generally used for selling drugs, military supplies, and other illegal items—places that went against ethics and laws.
In the underworld, it was similar. It sold things prohibited by the Mage's Association.
Among them was a magical marketplace—
"The False Holy Grail."
That was the name of the magical marketplace.
In the world of magus, geniuses were never in short supply. Since the Holy Grail War had been exposed, there was a possibility that it could be researched.
Although it couldn't achieve the precision of a Holy Grail capable of granting wishes, there was another function.
That was the summoning of Servants.
As long as magical energy was injected into the "False Holy Grail," it was possible to summon one to three Servants. Of course... through experimentation, it was far from the Servants in the regular Holy Grail War, who could wipe out half of Cairo from the map.
Due to the incomplete nature of the summoning ritual, the strength of the Servants not only greatly decreased but also to the extent that powerful magicians could potentially defeat them. Often, there were cases of memory confusion and attacks on allies.
Some Servants, upon arrival, didn't even have memories and were just puppet-like entities.
Of course, they couldn't use Noble Phantasms.
Summoning a Heroic Spirit like "Gilgamesh" was a jackpot because his Noble Phantasm could be used without releasing his true name.
Summoning a Heroic Spirit like "King Arthur" was a loss because this type of Heroic Spirit couldn't use Excalibur, let alone the Invicible Air.
As for command spells...
Although they still existed and could force Servants into obedience, forget about spatial transfers and the like.
The reason for being able to command a Servant is simply because, although the level of command spells has severely declined, none of the three may necessarily be better than the one before, and it also has a certain amount of damage to the body.
However... the level of the Servant has also declined.
Nevertheless, regardless of that, a Servant is still a powerful familiar, arguably the strongest kind of familiar.
However, this kind of familiar also has another significant drawback, it can only exist for seven days—
However, that is already sufficient, especially for testing someone.
Araya Souren placed his hand on the magical marketplace he had bought: "My origin is still. Respond to my origin, awaken from the balance, respond to my summon, manifest—!"
Chirp——————
The light instantly stole the realization of his eyeballs, and by the time he turned around again, something had already appeared in front of him.
An entity emitting an abnormal aura.
In an instant—
He felt the magical energy in his body being pulled up, forming three command spells on the back of his hand: "So, the strength of command spells depends on the magical energy intensity within my body."
His body swayed a little, but immediately stopped.
The magical marketplace turned into powder.
This thing is disposable and can only be used once.
Who made these things is unknown, and there's no need to know. He just purchased and used them.
In front of him was an entity, a Servant.
"So, who are you? What is your class? What is your true name? Tell me everything."
Saying that, he didn't hesitate to use a command spell.
Anyway, it can only be used once, and something that will be discarded later, there is no need to be frugal with command spells.
"I... I... who am I?
"...Don't you know your own true name? It seems like your consciousness isn't very clear." Araya Souren's face remained unchanged, just like his origin.
It seemed like everything had frozen.
"But it's okay. Come with me—"
Swoosh——
In the next moment, the constantly opened bounded field for precaution was cut open—
However, after all, it's just a pseudo-Servant. This time was already enough for Araya Souren to react: "I command you—do not lay hands on me."
Two remaining command spells once again dissipated, leaving only the last one.
Looking at the unknown Servant stiffening there.
Araya Souren took two steps forward: "Is it because your magical energy is depleted? If the bounded field cannot be sustained, or should I say—even if it is weakened, you are still a Servant, right... Let's test it out first. Follow me, Servant."
Not knowing the class, not knowing the name, Araya Souren just referred to this summoned familiar as "Servant."
After a while.
He arrived at a place not far from the Ryogi residence, then slowly concealed himself, and used the last command spell to say: "Do not leave this place, kill everyone passing through here."
"Roar——————!"
"That's good." Araya Souren nodded: "Other people are not a concern, but that Kurokawa Kazuya... the time he spent with both Ryogis is too long. If he were just an ordinary person, it wouldn't matter, but he possesses strength... leaving him alone is too dangerous. Kill him first."
After setting up the Servant, he left.
He has been collecting materials lately, preparing to set up a temple for later use against the counterforce!
At the same time, he also wanted to verify the contradictory spiral.
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