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"Did he wipe them all out?"
"I don't know~"
"Then why did you attack and give away our position?"
"Because I needed them to move!" Vritra's voice was warm with the specific enthusiasm of soone who had been waiting for this conversation. "What's the point of everyone just standing around talking? The most important thing is for them to co up here and overco the challenge I've set! That's the whole point!"
"..."
"I love trials so, so much~" She sighed with what could only be described as romantic contentnt, her massive tail sweeping lazily through the harbor water. "Because trials give people a reason to push past the things that have been holding them back. Those who find enlightennt through hardship — they achieve sothing permanent. Sothing real."
Her Master said nothing.
Vritra continued, warming to the subject.
"Whether they're ordinary people or heroes — when they're struggling, when they're grinding forward under the weight of sothing almost too heavy to carry, that expression they get—" A pause, savoring it. "And then when I'm the final boss and they see what they're actually up against, and the hope flickers and nearly goes out, and then they find it again—" Another pause. "It's simply wonderful. And this ti, these are heroes. Actual heroes. Nas written in history. When they see what I've prepared, they'll be breathing hard, barely holding on, reaching for that one last thread of possibility—"
She made a sound that was difficult to categorize.
"My brain is trembling just thinking about it."
Zach — currently operating under the Kenneth build like most players — took a mont to appreciate the specific challenge of having a Servant whose enthusiasm for the enemy's success was genuine and bottomless.
"As long as we win," he said, mostly to himself.
Zach was a technical player in the sa vein as Chen Ge — thodical, research-oriented, with a focus on the Asian mythological catalog rather than the European one. He'd spent two weeks preparing for this summoning. He'd wanted Karna. The Hero of Charity, son of the sun god Surya, hero of the Mahabharata, possessor of an armored Noble Phantasm that was essentially invincible while active. The plan had been airtight.
The problem had been the catalyst item.
An NPC at a relic dealer had described an item as "the wooden staff Karna used during his early training." When he'd looked at it, the wood had been visibly damp. Freshly cut damp. Ancient legendary training weapons did not retain moisture across thousands of years. He knew this. He'd bought it anyway because the other options were worse.
He'd gotten Vritra.
In retrospect, looking at the item again after the summoning, he was fairly sure it had been fished out of a river.
It didn't matter. Vritra was — as his very extensive research had established — among the most powerful beings that could appear in a Holy Grail War. The magic consumption was eye-watering, but El-lloi's Magic Furnace handled it. The three Command Seals he'd spent to modify the furnace's output capacity before Vritra even fully manifested had been painful. The fact that he now had no Command Seals left, facing a Servant who delighted in making things as difficult as possible for everyone including him, was a situation he'd made peace with.
Vritra had promised not to lose.
Zach chose to believe this.
[NewStrear]: Wait, is this Zach?? Vritra's Master is from Chen Ge's stream??
[YesThatsHim]: Zach is Vritra's Master. This is the crossover of the century.
[TacticalNote]: He wanted Karna and got an evil dragon god instead. I respect the adaptation.
Back in the ruined comrcial district, the chat was catching up.
[ExposedByMax]: Max imdiately recognized that blond guy. Which ans he's important. Very important.
[LancerNews]: THE WANTED BULLETIN SAYS LANCER. Who is a blond Lancer?
[ThinkingHard]: Blond, expressionless, arrived dramatically by falling from the sky, talked about granting death wishes, imdiately vanished in spirit form—
[KnowsHim]: I know who this is. I'm not saying it yet. Watch.
[VritraQuestion]: Okay but can we talk about the dragon. Six hours. We're already twenty minutes in.
Max was already walking.
The chat had been asking questions the whole way — about Vritra, about the plan, about the Matou family gates now visible at the end of the street — and Max answered them while moving, because standing still felt wrong with the temperature still climbing.
"The Holy Grail War has more freedom built into it than most players realize," he said. "Those of you who've run the story mode already know so of this. The war was originally constructed by three families — the Tohsaka family, who provided the land and ley lines. The Einzbern family, who created the Holy Grail's vessel. And the Matou family — previously called the Makiri family — who developed the Command Seal binding system."
He paused at the gate.
"During the Third Holy Grail War, the Einzbern family decided the rules were optional. They summoned an eighth Servant — outside the standard seven classes, from what's called an Extra class. The class was Avenger."
[ExtraClass]: An eighth Servant?
[Avenger]: Avenger sounds incredibly cool.
[GamingContext]: Wait so if they did it once, the chanic exists in the system—
[MaxContinues]: He's about to do exactly what you're thinking.
"dea is a Magician from the Age of Gods," Max said. "If we can find the original ritual docuntation — the thodology the Einzbern family used — she can analyze it and replicate the process. Which ans we can perform an additional summoning."
He looked at the gate.
"Which is why we're raiding the Matou family's house."
The gate opened.
The man who stepped through it was old in the specific way of sothing that had continued existing long past its natural endpoint, each year accumulating not wisdom but simple persistence. He looked at Max with the patient, calculating attention of soone who was accustod to waiting and to winning.
"The Matou family has no intention of participating in this Holy Grail War," he said pleasantly. "May I ask the purpose of your visit?"
[Recognition]: OH. Oh no.
[StoryModePlayers]: I knew this was coming and I'm still upset.
[NewPlayers]: Who is this? Why does he look like that?
[Veterans]: He did sothing unforgivable. That's all you need to know right now.
[EvenMoreVets]: "Laid hands on a cute girl" is the polite version.
[FullSpoilers]: When the Heaven's Feel route drops, everyone's going to understand.
[AvoidingSpoilers]: I don't know what he did but I already don't like him.
Max looked at the old man for exactly as long as necessary to confirm his identity.
Then he extended his remaining left hand and made a gesture.
The international kind.
Matou Zouken stared at it.
dea's staff tapped the ground.
The magic circles opened.
The arcane missiles that followed were efficient, thorough, and entirely unsentintal. Matou Zouken had no opportunity to respond. What had been an old man at a gate was, in short order, significantly less organized than that.
The worms attempted an exit. dea addressed that too.
Max walked forward, looked down, and spat.
[Journalism]: BREAKING: Famous content creator, in broad daylight, forces entry into elderly resident's ho, dismbers hoowner, desecrates remains. Is this moral decay or sothing worse? Full report at eleven.
[UCHeadline]: THE UC BREAKING NEWS ENERGY OF THAT COMNT—
[dicalAnalysis]: The diagnosis is justified.
[LorefanDefense]: For those asking why Max did that — there are people in story mode who know exactly why. It's justified. Trust the lore.
[Unspoiled]: What DID this guy do?
[GalacticLaw]: He violated the Galactic Justice Statute. Specifically, the clause about cute girls. That's all I'll say.
[GradStudent]: That reply had real ter and rhy to it. Are you studying literature?
Max stepped over the remains without comnt and walked into the house.
dea followed, already pulling out materials to begin her analysis.
The Eighth Servant wasn't going to summon itself.
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