"As everyone knows, large-scale magecraft is incredibly powerful, but it requires an extremely long incantation time, making it very difficult to use practically in one-on-one combat."
The Mana Blaster Wand, a classic weapon from the Magic mod. The wand's appearance resembled a classic life-sized wooden staff, with a flawless red gemstone embedded in the center of its rounded head.
The wand itself possessed three attack modes: light projectile mode, beam blast mode, and grand explosion mode. The grand explosion mode, in particular, had extremely exaggerated visual effects and overwhelming power, even capable of affecting the weather to a certain extent.
Rumbling thunder echoed. The moment Zenith raised the staff, a torrential downpour followed, and terrifying thunderstorms wove through the clouds. Countless massive magic circles materialized in the sky, and a heaven-piercing red beam of light looked as if it were about to punch right through the earth.
"You've got to be kidding me! This level of mana will blow this entire district into ruins! Rho Aias!!"
EMIYA didn't have time to overthink. He abandoned Lancer and quickly dashed in front of Rin Tohsaka, deploying his strongest defense.
'Aren't a Heroic Spirit's mana reserves supplied by their Master? Where the hell is this kid getting this level of mana?!'
EMIYA felt like he had encountered a fake high schooler in Shirou. Just what was going on with this timeline? Was this a damn Singularity?!
Rin Tohsaka also looked at the boy beside her as if seeing him for the first time, but she couldn't afford to worry about that right now. "Shirou, hurry up and use a Command Spell to make him stop!"
Command Spells were contracts capable of forcing a Servant to obey orders. Every Master possessed three Command Spells at the beginning of summoning a Heroic Spirit, branded onto their bodies in various shapes.
"Stop! You're going to hurt innocent people!"
The temporary tattoo Command Spell obviously didn't provoke any special reaction, but that shout snapped Zenith back to reality. He had gotten too caught up in the heat of the moment and subconsciously wanted to show off with a massive attack.
The massive backflow of mana caused Zenith to let out an incredibly long burp. It was far too uncomfortable; holding back a skill halfway through casting was just like edging.
"My bad, I got a little carried away. What do you guys think, should we keep fighting, or call it a day here?"
Lancer was sweating bullets. Unless he caught Zenith off guard and unleashed his Noble Phantasm to pierce his heart, he had no chance of winning. Only a guaranteed-hit attack bound by the laws of causality could pull that off.
He temporarily lost his will to fight. Although his Master's orders were important, assessing the situation and observing the battlefield was an essential quality for a warrior. Attempting the impossible when knowing it was futile was simply unwise.
Watching the spearman leave, neither Zenith nor EMIYA pursued him. Dismissing Rho Aias, EMIYA maintained a high level of vigilance toward Zenith. "Rin, this Heroic Spirit is extremely dangerous. My recommendation is to prioritize taking out his Master and forcing this guy to bow out first."
"You're overthinking it. You young Heroic Spirits only know how to fight and kill. Use your brain, alright? Just because I said I'm a Heroic Spirit, does that make it true?"
Zenith walked over to Shirou Emiya and spoke with earnest gravity. "Nephew, you have to remember: mix truth with lies, and reality with illusion. The strength of Heroic Spirits is far greater than that of humans. If you want to stop the Holy Grail War, you have to rely on your brain, not just your brawn."
As he spoke, he peeled the temporary tattoo off Shirou Emiya's hand. "Look, I said I was a Heroic Spirit, and that goofy spearman bought it, because he believed that only a Heroic Spirit could unleash that level of magecraft."
"What do you mean? Uncle, you aren't a Heroic Spirit?"
Shirou Emiya felt like his brain wasn't quite keeping up tonight. The plot had twisted and turned, and his uncle's identity kept changing back and forth.
"Of course not, that was an illusion. You're still too weak. Even with your Stand ability, you aren't a match for these Heroic Spirits just yet. That's why we need to figure out who among the Heroic Spirits are our enemies and who are our friends."
An illusion? Whether they believed it or not, Zenith certainly did. "That blue-haired spearman obviously isn't a good guy. This white-haired archer is different. Even though he doesn't look like a good guy either, his Master is a different story."
Zenith looked at Rin Tohsaka, then at Shirou Emiya. Not bad, they really did look like a married couple. "You two should just get married. That way, EMIYA will be our teammate."
She blushed. Even someone with a tsundere young lady persona like Rin Tohsaka instantly overheated. She did indeed have feelings for Shirou, but having an elder say it out loud in public was far too embarrassing.
Rin Tohsaka decided to crash at Shirou Emiya's house. Of course, that didn't mean they were getting married on the spot; it was to protect Shirou. Only Shirou would actually believe the claim that the earlier magecraft was just an illusion. Both Rin Tohsaka and EMIYA leaned more toward the theory that Zenith was an unfathomably powerful magus.
Due to Zenith's unreliable remarks, Lancer's Master would, at least for now, mistakenly believe that Shirou had an extremely powerful Heroic Spirit. There was no telling when they might return with allies to make a comeback.
Therefore, she had to stay close to protect and instruct this half-baked magus, Shirou Emiya. It was absolutely not for any other reason.
If she said so, then so be it. Zenith wasn't going to object anyway. But since Rin Tohsaka was already moving in, there was no time like the present—they might as well summon Saber while they were at it.
In Shirou Emiya's storehouse, the summoning circle was clearly carved into the floor. Zenith attempted to release his mana to connect with the formation. Soon, the scabbard Avalon inside Shirou's body, acting as a catalyst, triggered a chain reaction with the summoning circle.
The power of the Holy Grail connected to the Throne of Heroes. In that moment, a soul of the highest purity from a Heroic Spirit poured into the framework of the class. Saber descended.
"Are you my Master?"
As the Command Spell markings surfaced on the back of his hand, Zenith smirked. "Rejoice! The king who once ruled Great Britain, the knight who pulled the sword of selection, the Ahoge King, Artoria Pendragon, has descended before us at this very moment!"
Rin Tohsaka gulped and discreetly nudged Shirou Emiya. "Is he always like this?"
It was too embarrassing. Shirou Emiya facepalmed with one hand. "Yeah. Aside from liking to say weird things, he also really loves bossing people around."
"Nephew, go make some food, I'm starving. Remember to make enough for Saber and Rin. EMIYA doesn't need any; I'm guessing he's not hungry."
Actually, Saber didn't need any either. While it couldn't be ruled out that she was a foodie at heart, she primarily ate to replenish her mana. From Zenith, she could feel an ocean-like reserve of mana—an amount so vast that she could fire off Excalibur ten times in a row without even breaking a sweat.
"If you want to stop the Holy Grail War, why summon a Heroic Spirit instead?" Shirou Emiya expressed his confusion.
"Because the 'Hole' connecting to the Root will only manifest once the conditions of the Holy Grail War are completely fulfilled. When I say stop it, I don't mean simply preventing a single Holy Grail War. I mean ending it completely by dismantling the Greater Grail."
Zenith cleared his throat. "There's an old Chinese proverb that says it well: 'Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will win a hundred battles.' Understand Heroic Spirits, defeat Heroic Spirits—only then can we end the cycle of the Holy Grail War. Shirou, your adoptive father was known as the Magus Killer. If you want to become an ally of justice, start by becoming a Heroic Spirit Killer."
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