At the instant of inscription, both girls felt warmth on the back of their hands, as if a tenuous link had formed with some vast system. At the same time, their internal magic circuits stirredwidened and awakened.
"This" Rin stared at the power surging within her, astonished. To be granted Command Seals without being 'chosen'it was unheard of.
"Good. You now have Master status," Rei Ao said, withdrawing his hand. "Next comes the summoning. Normally you need a holy relic tied to the Heroic Spirit as a catalyst. For me, that's unnecessary."
He raised both hands, palms up. In his left, light gathered into a blazing orb like the sun, rippling with the authorities of the sky and the Morning Star. In his right, a deep violet sphere pooled like an underworld abyss, heavy with death and silence. At the same time, a thread of his will traced a strange sigil before him, heavy with the concepts of ancient petrification and the Earth Mother.
"As my lure, answer my callcome down into this world!"
He intonednot any known spell, but a direct exertion of his own power, piercing the world's boundary and reaching the Throne of Heroes beyond.
In the Tohsaka manor's workshop, Rei Ao had already laid a simple barrier. Mana roared to a boil; the summoning array blazed brighter than ever.
Rin and Sakura traded a glance and began the summoning chant together:
"Fill. Fill. Fill. Fill. Fill. Repeat five times in all. And when filled, the time of abrogation. The base is silver and iron. The foundation, stone and the grand Duke of Contracts. My ancestor is Schweinorg. Let the winds descend from the vault and be walled off. Let the four cardinal gates be openedthen all be shut. From the crown, come forth, and circle along the three-forked road to the Kingdom
"Proclaim it! Let thy body be under my command; my fate shall be with thy blade. By the summons of the Grailif thou wouldst obey this will, this reasonthen answer!
"Here do I swear: I shall accomplish all good in the world. I shall vanquish all evil in the world.
"Thou, clad in the three great words of power of the Seven Heavens Come forth from the circle of constraint, O guardian of the Balance, thou of the Counter Force!"
~~~
Patreon(.)com/Bleam
Currently You can Read 220+ Chapters Ahead of Others!
Chapter 984: Ishtar, Ereshkigal, and Medusa!
As Rin and Sakura recited the summoning incantation together under Rei Ao's guidance, the circle's radiance surged to its peak.
First to answer the golden orb was a figure as brazen as a falling star of gold.
"Heh-hehsummoned, I have come! I am the goddess of beauty, harvest, and warIshtar!"
"Huh? Wait! This feels wrong!"
The light cleared. Standing in the array was a tall woman dressed with extreme boldness: a white bra trimmed with gold, black hot pants, bare feet, and black hair tied into twin tailsa girl who was in truth the Mesopotamian deity, the Morning Star, Ishtar. Yet she stared down at her black-haired body in confusion, sensing a second, utterly different consciousness stirring within.
At the same time, the dark-purple orb flared, and a cool, death-tinged female voice spoke, annoyed:
"In the name of Ereshkigal, I answer this summons but what is this?! Why am I crammed into the same little vessel as this idiotand with her in control?!"
The mistress of the underworld, Ereshkigal, had awakened as well. She instantly grasped the situation: because of that peculiar catalyst and the Master's (Rin's) exceptionally high affinity, she and her sister/other half, Ishtar, were being forced to coexist inside Rin Tohsaka's body.
"Who are you calling an idiot, you gloomy shut-in of the underworld!"
"What did you say, you glittering, pesty Venus fly!"
Sharing one body, the two goddesses launched into a fierce quarrel. Rin's face and movements kept shiftingnow flamboyant and overbearing, now cold and somberleaving Aoi and Sakura Tohsaka staring, speechless.
"Rin is?"
Aoi glanced on, worried.
"It's fine," Rei Ao said evenly, calming her. One person summoning two Servantsboth highly compatible with Rinwas unexpected, but not outside his predictions.
Meanwhile, answering the call tied to the petrifying sigil, another figure appeared in a second summoning circle: tall, voluptuous, radiating a quiet, dangerous air. She wore her luxurious purple hair past her knees; a visorthe Mystic Eyes Killercovered her eyes. A skintight black outfit and over-knee boots traced a breathtaking, sinuous silhouette.
She was Medusa, the youngest Gorgon sister of Greek mythan Anti-Heroic Spirit. Upon appearing, she simply stood there, tilting her head as if to "look" toward her Master, Sakura Tohsaka, sensing a kindred reserve in the girl's bearing. She said nothingher silence a stark counterpoint to the chaos inside Rin.
"Enough," Rei Ao said with a slight frown, watching Ishtar and Ereshkigal hurling barbs while using Rin's body. He stepped forward and, under the astonished gazes of both goddesseseach wearing a mature form unlike Rin'slifted his hand and gently cupped Rin's cheeks.
Then, before everyoneAoi with eyes wide, Sakura covering her mouth, and Medusa quietly "watching"Rei Ao leaned down and kissed her.
Nomore precisely, through the kiss he poured into her a tide of mana so vast it beggared belief, so pure it surpassed the very concepts of this world. The power split cleanly in two, surging into the core of Ishtar's and Ereshkigal's consciousnesses.
A deep hum rang out as that oceanic, root-pure mana flooded Rin's bodyso immense, so pristine it was far beyond the grasp of ordinary magi or even Servants; nobler and nearer the Root than the divine power they'd once wielded as goddesses.
With that unbelievable power supporting them, the two spiritual foundationscramped and mutually repellent from sharing one vesselwere as though injected with the strongest possible "separator" and stabilizer. They quaked, reshaped
Light burst from Rin againthis time, the light of separation.
A golden radiance and a violet-black radiance shot out of her, coalescing at her left and right.
On the left, the gold faded: still the black-haired, twin-tailed, boldly dressed Ishtarbut now in a fully independent, solid Servant body. She sensed the vast mana within herstamped with Rei Ao's presenceand the body completely under her own control; disbelief flashed across her face.
On the right, the violet-black dimmed, revealing a stunning blonde goddess adorned with golden ornamentsthe queen of the underworld, Ereshkigal. She too felt her independent existence and that colossal mana, her eyes full of shock and wonder.
Both goddesses turned almost in unison to stare at Rei Ao, whose expression remained as placid as still water.
"Y-you just who are you?!" Ishtar couldn't help exclaiming. That magnitude of power made even a goddess's heart trembleand crave? No, more than anything, it inspired awe.
Ereshkigal said nothing, but her tightly pressed lips and flickering gaze betrayed the turbulence within. To grant them, so easily, the immense mana needed for separate, stable existencethis man's level was far beyond anything they'd imagined.
Only then did Rin snap back from that sudden kiss. Her face blazed scarlet like a ripe apple, steam practically rising from her head. She clapped a hand over her lips, eyes flustered, her heart pounding as if it might leap from her chest. Along with the surge of power had come a cool, reassuring sensation that defied words
So embarrassing!
Chapter 985: Partners! Einzbern Family!
Tohsaka Sakura's face was just as red; she lowered her head shyly, yet couldn't help sneaking glances at her sister and Rei Ao-nii.
Though Medusa wore the Mystic Eyes Killer, she seemed to sense everything that had just happened. She tilted her head slightly; a faint confusion flickered across her otherwise impassive faceor perhaps it was simple uncertainty about how to handle such a scene. Was she supposed to do that as well?
Rei Ao looked at Rin's flushed cheeks, then at shy Sakura, silent Medusa, and the two still-shocked goddesses, and couldn't help but chuckle. The smile, like a spring breeze skimming a lake, dispelled some of the awkwardness and tension.
"Looks like the summoning was a success," he said, not mentioning what had just occurred, as if it had been the smallest thing. "For now, get to know your Servants. Understanding one another and building trust is the foundation of fighting side by side."
He paused, letting his gaze pass over Ishtar, Ereshkigal, and Medusa. "Ishtar, Ereshkigal, Medusaplease look after the sisters for the time being."
With a nod to everyone, his figure slowly faded into the air of the Tohsaka living room.
"He he just left like that?" Ishtar still hadn't caught up, her feelings a tangle as she sensed the very real, immense mana Rei Ao had bestowed on her.
"Hmph. At least he has some skill," Ereshkigal said, unwilling to concede anything aloud, though the curiosity in her eyes only deepened.
Medusa, meanwhile, stepped silently to Sakura's side. Her tall silhouette conveyed a wordless sense of protection.
Rin-chan touched her still-warm lips. Staring at the spot where Rei Ao had vanished, her heart was a storm of emotions: shyness, gratitude, aweand boundless longing for what lay ahead.
The manor's atmosphere turned subtly lively and delicate: two goddesses glaring at each other yet calling a truce for now because of their shared experienceand that unfathomable man; two bashful Master sisters; and a taciturn, dangerous Servant. Their preparations for the Holy Grail War began in that peculiar mood.
While the Tohsaka sisters and their very different Servants started learning to work together for the battles to come, far away in Germany, the Einzbern castleshrouded in snow and ancient wardsreceived a visitor in search of power and miracles.
Wind howled, whipping up drifts. A man in a long black coat, his face weathered, his eyes as still as dead water yet hiding an almost fanatical flame, trod through the snow into the secluded magus fortress.
He was the "Magus Killer," Emiya Kiritsugu.
Inside, the castle was as cold as the world outside, heavy with medieval Gothic oppression. Guided by servants, Kiritsugu entered the parlor and met the eighth head of the Einzbern family, Jubstacheit von Einzbern (Ahad). The old man's hair and beard were white; his face was puppet-stiff; his gaze held no human emotiononly a centuries-long obsession with one goal.
"Emiya Kiritsugu," Ahad's voice grated like rubbing ice. "You claim you have the qualification to enter the Holy Grail War."
"That's right." Kiritsugu showed the Command Seals on the back of his hand, gained by chance.
After scrutinizing them, Ahad looked away. "The Seals are genuine. Tell mewhat do you seek from the Grail?"
Kiritsugu raised his head. His timeworn eyes met Ahad's without flinching. He spoke slowly, voice low and hoarse, yet carrying an unmistakable resolve. "World peace."
Four simple words, and the cold parlor seemed to grow quieter still. A flickersomething like the faintest absurditypassed through Ahad's placid eyes.
"World peacethrough a ritual soaked in killing and conflict?" There was a trace of irony in his tone.
"Exactly," Kiritsugu said, firm. "Because ordinary means can't achieve it, we need a miracle. The Grail is an omnipotent cauldron; it grants the victor's wish. If I win the Grail, I will wish to eradicate all war and strife. For that, I will stop at nothing."
The cold ruthlessness in his words gave Ahad pause. To shoulder any sin for a grand goal so distant it borders on the unrealthere was, in that stance, an eerie kinship with the Einzbern family's centuries of obsession with restoring the Third Magic.
After a long moment, Ahad spoke. "The Einzbern aim to use the Holy Grail War to fulfill our millennia-long vow: to re-enact the 'Heaven's Cup'the Third Magic. Yet repeated failures have proven our homunculi ill-suited to be Masters. We require an outsiderone truly skilled in combat and well acquainted with the magus world's cruelty."
He paused, his clouded gaze measuring Kiritsugu. "You, Emiya Kiritsuguyour history and your methodsfit our needs. We can provide support: catalysts to summon a powerful Servant, and the Einzbern family's accumulated knowledge and resources concerning the Grail War."
Kiritsugu felt a faint stirprecisely what he had come for. But Ahad's next words exceeded his expectations.
"However, cooperation requires a stronger bond," Ahad said, brooking no dissent. "A mere alignment of interests won't suffice. To ensure your objectives remain one with oursand so that you truly represent the Einzbern family in battleyou must marry into our house."
"Marry?" Kiritsugu frowned. His life had long been filled with the ideals of justice and revenge; love between man and woman was a distant, unnecessary luxury.
"Yes." Ahad rose. "Come. I'll have you meet your fiance."
~~~
Patreon(.)com/Bleam
Currently You can Read 220+ Chapters Ahead of Others!
Chapter 986: I'm Taking Her...
Ahad, leaning on his staff, led Kiritsugu Emiyawhose heart was filled with doubt and resistancedown the castle's cold, interminable corridors.
They finally stopped before an ornate door carved with ice crystals and runes.
"She is one of our finest homunculi, the perfect inheritor of the 'Holy Maiden of Winter,' Justeaze's bloodline and visage.
"Her name is Irisviel von Einzbern."
With that, Ahad pushed open the heavy door.
The room was arranged more warmly than the rest of the castle. Flames danced in the fireplace, pushing back a measure of the chill.
Even so, the scene inside made both men at the threshold freeze, pupils constricting in shock.
A woman with long hair like flowing silver, skin pale as snow, and features so exquisite they hardly seemed of this world, was nestled lightly in a man's arms.
The womanIrisvielwore a shy, blushing expression as she rested her head on the man's shoulder.
And the man, his back to the door, was none other than Rei Ao, who by rights should have been in Fuyuki City.
Perhaps he heard the door open. Rei Ao slowly loosened his embrace. Irisviel lifted her head, a faint mist still clinging to those beautiful, ruby-like eyes.
She looked toward the doorway and saw a livid Ahad and Kiritsugu Emiya, whose gaze was as sharp as a hawk's.
Rei Ao turned around. His calm, sea-blue eyes swept over the two men as if their appearance were no surprise at all. His gaze paused on Kiritsugu for a beat, as though seeing through the justice-warped soul within him and the dubious origin of the Command Seals on the back of his hand, then returned to Ahad.
