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[FMMISM] Chapter 12: Summoning Ritual
🕑 Added 2024-06-27 02:06:04 +0000 UTCAfter bidding farewell to Kama with great enthusiasm, Ragna began preparing for the Servant summoning ritual.
Ultimately, this was the purpose of his journey.
To summon a Servant for the Holy Grail War in Fuyuki, one usually needed to be within the city, except for the Einzbern family who always cheated and managed to be the first to summon a Servant.
Despite spending three years in the prestigious mage family, Ragna, who was deeply immersed in indulgence and pleasure, obviously had never thought of learning any magecraft.
At this moment, Ragna pulled out a little notebook Manaka had prepared for him. Written in cute fonts were the instructions for the proper summoning ritual.
Establish a bounded field.
Place an offering.
Finally, place a catalyst in the summoning circle drawn with white chalk.
His catalyst was the relic he had unearthed half an hour ago from Zouken's magical workshop—the one originally used in Fate/Zero to summon Lancelot.
As long as he used this, it should get the job done.
Although there might be disadvantages against Iskandar and Diarmuid, Lancelot was still a powerful Heroic Spirit.
Ragna didn't care whether the Servant he summoned was strong or not—after all, none of them were as strong as him.
With that said, if the Fourth Holy Grail War unfolded exactly like the original work's storyline, it would be too boring.
For Ragna, who saw the Holy Grail War as entertainment, some change was necessary.
"Hmm... Let's skip the Berserker incantation and summon Saber Lancelot instead."
Placing the catalyst on the ground, Ragna stepped away from the summoning circle and walked to the wall of the Matou mansion's basement.
And so, the summoning ritual officially began.
"—Let it be declared now."
"Your flesh shall serve under me, and my fate shall be with your sword."
Suppressing his smile, Ragna quietly extended his arm, focusing all excess thoughts and emotions into a single point. In this way, the artificial magical energy reactor within him was soon awakened.
"Submit to the beckoning of the Holy Grail."
"Answer, if you would submit to this will and this truth."
His shoulders trembled slightly as magical energy flowed ceaselessly from the reactor through his artificial magic circuits like hot water.
While reveling in the sense of omnipotence flooding his mind, Ragna continued to chant the incantation.
"An oath shall be sworn here."
"I shall attain all virtues of all of Heaven; I shall have dominion over all evils of all of Hell."
At this part, Ragna chuckled.
"From the Seventh Heaven, attended to by three great words of power, come forth from the ring of restraint, protector of the holy balance!"
Whoosh—
With this conclusion, a whirlwind swept up from the summoning circle.
A dazzling azure color painted the walls of the entire basement with a shimmering lake-like blue.
Soon—
A chilling and noble voice echoed through the mansion's basement as if sweeping away the stench of insects.
"Servant... Caster, Morgan, I respond to your summons."
"O humanity's enemy, are you my summoner?"
With platinum-like long hair and ivory-colored skin, draped in extravagantly magical attire, a seductive witch of exquisite beauty asked expressionlessly.
"..."
'Motherf*cker...'
Ragna couldn't help but curse inside his mind.
'I definitely put in Lancelot's summoning catalyst. How did Morgan appear?'
Ragna left the newly summoned Servant aside and pondered with his chin resting on his hand.
'Hmm, I see... so that's possible?'
He wondered if the catalyst he used could summon not only the Knight of the Lake but also the Lady of the Lake?
After all, Lancelot was known as the Knight of the Lake because he was raised by Vivian.
In the history of the Nasuverse, Morgan existed as three different personas.
She was a character stitched together from King Arthur's two sisters, Morgause and Morgan le Fay, as well as the Lady of the Lake, Vivian.
Morgan le Fay, the half-sister of Arthur, was portrayed as the primary antagonist in the Arthurian legend.
Morgause, also a half-sister of Arthur, similarly an antagonist, was renowned as the heroic mother who gave birth to five knights of the Round Table.
Vivian, known as the Lady of the Lake, was Lancelot's foster mother, Merlin's disciple, and the fairy who bestowed Excalibur upon Arthur.
Nasuverse's Morgan had all these experiences and was regarded as having triple personas.
Within Morgan, her strongest persona—or rather aspect, was undoubtedly the vengeful witch side.
Despite Morgan being the rightful king inheriting the primeval black power of the island and being loved by the British Isles, her father, Uther, chose her sister as the kingdom's new king.
Hating her father, hating her sister, and hating 'human history' that hadn't chosen her, Morgan changed into a witch queen consumed by a lifelong desire for revenge.
'Tsk, tsk, tsk... this is quite something...'
Clearly, the catalyst prepared by Zouken was probably something Morgan historically gave to Lancelot, so summoning either of them was possible.
Considering the compatibility between Master and Servant, Ragna would undoubtedly summon Morgan instead of Lancelot. After all, he himself carried the blood of Britain's witch inherited from his mother, Manaka.
'Come to think of it, Morgan should still be alive, right?'
Her main body seemed to reside in Avalon, having lived since the 5th century to the present day, occasionally active in Wales and known as the 'Black Madonna'.
If that was the case, was the reason she could be summoned due to the 'Independent Manifestation' skill?
"Master, are you dissatisfied with the outcome of my summoning?"
Morgan's voice suddenly interrupted Ragna's thoughts.
It dawned on him that he had been silent for too long, feeling somewhat rude.
Looking up, Ragna saw Morgan's elegant face still expressionless, revealing no joy or anger.
He scratched his cheek and offered a sheepish smile.
"Ah, sorry, sorry, it's not that. It's more like... summoning an exceptionally outstanding Servant caught me off guard, y'know... Oh well, who would've thought my Servant would be the legendary Fairy Queen Morgan... Isn't victory already assured then? Caster, how about celebrating tonight with a couple of bottles of champagne?"
Ragna's mood was quite good, not because he had summoned a super beautiful Servant, but because an interesting character had arrived. Just thinking about the combination of Anti-Messiah and Black Madonna, it looked like the Holy Grail War would be a fun one.
Ragna's mood was quite good right now.
"Although the victory is inevitable... more than that..."
Not particularly paying attention to her Master's flattery, Morgan raised an eyebrow as she continued speaking.
"Master, may I ask you a question?"
"About my girlfriend? Nope, not yet. But mistress? I've had quite a few actually..." Ragna responded without thinking.
In a dark basement, Morgan stared silently at the black-haired boy with her blue eyes for a while before continuing.
"What I want to ask is, how many Servants do you want to kill?"
Her voice was crystal-clear, like transparency, devoid of any emotion as if she had understood everything.
"Huh?" Ragna raised his eyebrows. 'What kind of nonsense is this woman talking about, the number of Servants is definitely six—wait...'
His expression stiffened instantly.
After a long silence, his stiff expression turned into a loud laugh.
"Hahahaha! So that's how it is... You actually asked me whether I want to kill six or seven? You've figured it out, haven't you?"
"I see now... the moment you saw me, you analyzed my body structure and then understood the truth hidden deep within the Holy Grail War system. Morgan, you're truly a genius."
After a hearty laugh, suddenly, Ragna's eyes shot out a sharp gaze, his deep black pupils projecting intense murderous intent toward the witch.
"Your speculation is spot on, Caster. The winning group that eliminates the other six Servants gets the chance to make a wish, that's what the Holy Grail tells you, right? But there's more to it than just that."
"The three founding families have hidden the most important fact, that is... if they gather the souls of seven Servants, they can open the path to the Root. For this reason, a Master who knows the truth will use a Command Spell to kill their own Servant after defeating the other six."
"From the beginning, these Servants have never had the chance to wish upon the Holy Grail."
Finished explaining, Ragna held his breath, marveling at Morgan's astounding intellect.
By observing his Holy Grail-like body, she deciphered its structure and calculated that it could contain not six, but seven Servants. With this alone, she deduced the true nature of the Holy Grail War.
"..."
Meanwhile, after hearing Ragna's words, Morgan slightly lowered her head, a faint smile appearing on her lips—a smile not easily noticed.
Was it because she was praised by him? Or was it the joy of meeting someone who understood her after so long?
Perhaps it was a bit of both.
"…"
Morgan shook her head slightly, suppressing the smile at the corner of her mouth, and spoke in a cold, icy tone.
"Please answer my question, Master... Do you want to kill six, or seven including me?"
