Why bother with the Holy Grail War? Let's play cards!

Chapter Sixty-Two: Are You My Master?

“Miss Illya, are you sure you don’t need to use the prepared relic?” Sera asked with some concern as she watched Illya step into the bath. “Besides, you’ve already submitted the crystal of the Third Law to the head of the family. Our Einzbern family has already obtained what we hoped for. We can rely on this crystal to deduce the Third Law. In fact, we no longer need to participate in the Holy Grail War.”

“Sera, I’m not participating in the Holy Grail War for the sake of victory.” After Ilya handed over the soul crystal given to her by Jiang You to the head of the family, the Einzbern family decided to fully support Ilya in summoning Jiang You. Ahad believed that Jiang You must be a Heroic Spirit with a deep connection to the Third Magician, and even prepared to remove Jiang You from the Holy Grail War.

“I am doing this of my own volition, wanting to see my mother again.” Ilya slowly sank herself into the water, having long awaited this moment. “The legendary Hercules must be incredibly powerful, but the Heroic Spirit I am about to summon has already won a Holy Grail War that far surpasses all others; he is the strongest.”

“Since Miss is so confident, I won’t say anything more.” Sera lowered her head and slowly backed away, beginning to prepare materials for Ilya’s summoning ritual.

In fact, the summoning ritual had been prepared long ago. The Einzbern family had originally planned to have Illya use the body of the Lesser Grail in conjunction with a large number of Command Seals to control the powerful Berserker. However, it was put on hold for some reason until Illya suddenly proposed to summon Caster.

Ahad did not agree, but after Illya showed him some of the flow she felt from the Heavenly Clothes state, Ahad agreed to her request.

After showering and changing, Illya arrived in front of the summoning circle. Under the puzzled gazes of her maids, Sera and Lijelite, she walked to the spot where the holy relic should be placed.

“Don’t be surprised, this is the contract I made with that Servant.” Ilya placed her hand on her chest, feeling the flow of magic within her body. “Mother, I’ve come to see you.”

Illya began her summoning, and Servants answered the call amidst flashes of lightning!

Upon seeing the Servant appear before her, Illya's pupils dilated slightly, and she let out a cry of disbelief. "Berserker!? Where's my Caster?!"

Under the moon, in the woods outside Fuyuki City.

The hooded girl walked through the mottled shadows of the trees, occasionally burying black magic balls wherever she passed.

The girl was Sakura Matou. After hiding for several days, she finally collected the magic materials needed to set up the summoning formation.

After the soul crystal restored her original magic circuits, the accuracy of her magic control was nearly twice as high as before, but the special nature of her magic prevented her from using the corresponding moves systematically. Those black spots were the magic methods she had figured out.

The magic ball composed of imaginary magic power will shoot out small-scale spikes around it after activation, and has certain spatial properties.

It's more than enough for attack, but too crude for defense.

The magic circle was carved out, and Sakura did not prepare the corresponding holy relics. Instead, like Illya, she placed herself in the center of the formation. Matou Sakura originally wanted to use the soul crystal as a catalyst to summon Jiang You, but the soul crystal had already merged with her body and could not be removed.

“Caster has the ability to kill Grandpa head-on... What I could do ten years ago, I can do now too. Please help me one more time!” After experiencing the power to change her destiny, Matou Sakura felt a slight craving for power, and summoning Servants was the shortest shortcut to gaining power that she knew of.

This is a pure compatibility summoning, without any blessing of holy relics. Sakura Matou, who has left the Matou family, has no way to find a channel to obtain holy relics.

As the summoning spell concluded, the summoning circle lit up. A sinister, ominous magical power, like a venomous snake, spread through the formation.

"Servant Rider has come in response to the call. If you wish to find a living sacrifice, please send me at will." The purple-haired Servant appeared.

"Isn't it Caster..." Although Matou Sakura did want to summon Jiang You, whom she was quite familiar with, she hadn't made a promise with him, so she wasn't too expecting it. She quickly accepted the result.

Medusa looked at her master, and for some reason she saw a shadow similar to herself in Sakura Matou, which made her feel a little familiar.

“Rider, this is not a good place to talk. Please come with me.” Matou Sakura did not directly reveal her intention to kill Matou Zouken to Medusa. She needed to understand her Servant better.

Sakura Matou was walking through the woods with Medusa. Her way of moving was too ordinary. It was not that she did not want to improve efficiency, but after the reconstruction of the magic circuit, her previous magic was difficult to perform.

"Master, are you still not familiar with your magic?" Medusa noticed Matou Sakura's discomfort and stepped forward to pick her up in her arms. "Excuse me!"

Earlier, after finishing get off work, Jiang You quickly washed up and went to bed early in his travel device. After completing Fate/Zero, the Fate/stay night world option had appeared in his login menu, and a countdown of less than two hours was ticking across the options screen; a new scenario was about to unlock.

Jiang You's only complaint was that testers couldn't play the game on the official server. Although the Fate collaboration was very well-made, the card-playing frequency was too low; it felt more like an RPG game most of the time.

After returning to Fate/Zero to visit his righteous comrades who were involved in the reconstruction of Fuyuki, Jiang You tried to summon Matou Sakura to raise his affection level, but was told that the character was already in the story. He had no choice but to log out and clicked the Fate/stay night icon out of boredom.

Suddenly, the progress bar started running.

"?"

Jiang You's consciousness seemed to have fallen into an ocean. "I'm in? What kind of bug is this?"

He had no choice but to swim towards the light.

Atram Gariasta was troubled. He spent a lot of money to buy the Golden Fleece as a catalyst to summon Caster from the Age of Gods in order to fulfill his wish to summon a dragon.

But for some reason, the position of Caster seemed to be occupied by something, and he could not successfully summon it no matter what. However, the information he received from the supervisor of the Holy Grail War was that no Master had summoned Caster yet.

"Damn it, could this thing be a fake?!" After more than ten failures, Atram angrily threw the Golden Fleece on the ground. Although his lineage of magic was only a hundred years old, he had extraordinary confidence in his magical skills. He had also checked the summoning ritual several times and found nothing wrong.

The moment the golden fleece fell into the summoning circle, the ritual was successfully initiated. A vast magical force swept everything around it into the air, and the Servant appeared within the vortex of that magical power.

A black-haired oriental youth stood in the center of the magic circle.

"Caster Jiang You, I have responded to the summons. I ask you, are you my Master?"

Chapter Sixty-Three: I also know a little about the Price Magic.

“Jiang You…? Was there ever such a person as the holder of the Golden Fleece?” Atram looked at his follower. Judging from his appearance, he was not Greek at all, and his name did not match up.

He used the power of the Master to check Jiang You's panel. This Servant was not very powerful. Even his main attribute, magic, was only C. The only bright spot was his Gundam EX Noble Phantasm.

"Are you a Heroic Spirit from the Age of Gods?" Atram asked again, still somewhat unwilling to give up. He really hoped to summon a dragon-type familiar.

"Damn it, it's not Illya!" Jiang You looked at his Master, who had Middle Eastern features, with a headache. He really hadn't expected to be summoned by the normal class assignment. He thought this time his Master would finally be an attractive girl.

Now it will be picked up by Soichiro Kuzuki.

Jiang You's disappointed expression made Atram feel slighted. He had participated in the Holy Grail War to win honor for his family that matched his status. It could be said that he was fighting for his own dignity, and he was particularly concerned about such matters.

"Mere familiar?" Atram swallowed the disgust that had risen to his lips. He resumed his kind and elegant demeanor. "Caster, don't get me wrong. As your Master, I am naturally prepared to suppress any opponent."

Atram waved to Jiang You, indicating that he should follow him.

"War is essentially a contest of resources, and the adequacy of logistics determines the balance of victory." This was a luxurious villa, lavishly decorated, and with astonishingly high security. In the short time it took Jiang You to walk with Atram to the door, he sensed magical fluctuations from more than ten people.

In other words, Atram has at least a team of nearly twenty magicians to serve him.

But as for the quality... it's just that Baimao is unparalleled among them.

“Our family’s magic system uses a cost to generate magic power, which is efficient and primitive.” Atram directed his men to remove the disguise magic, and a hidden elevator door appeared in front of Jiang You.

Stepping inside and into the underground, incandescent lights light up one after another like ceremonial guards. The white room full of technological sense is almost completely different from the word magic.

This place looks like the command room of a research institute. In the center, there are six half-human-high nutrient troughs, each with a boy and girl who are obviously underage curled up. They surround the central furnace like sacrifices waiting to be offered.

These people were trapped in this jar which was even narrower than a cage and could not move. If Jiang You had not been able to sense some magic power from them, he would have thought that these people were already dead.

“A living sacrifice, this is the original curse I used.” Atram looked at his work with great pride. “However, this workshop is more modern and efficient than that one. I’ll make one now with these fresh materials; it will only take a short while.”

Jiang You remembered the specific plot of Atram, but because his presence was too weak and he had already left the stage before the plot began, Jiang You couldn't remember it for a while.

“Then there’s no need.” Jiang You grabbed the arm of the magician who was about to start the ritual. The words “living sacrifice” already explained the fate of these young people. A strange smile appeared on Jiang You’s face. “As far as I know, this ritual takes a month to condense Mana, right? I suppose Master has put a lot of effort into trying to improve it to this extent?”

“It seems you know your stuff, Caster.” Atram thought he had found a kindred spirit when Jiang You explained the original procedure and timing of the ceremony. His tone became much more cheerful. “Magic is the result of magicians exploring its roots generation after generation. To say it’s a labor of love is an overstatement.”

“You’re worried about Mana’s consumption, right? This amount is negligible.” Atram snapped his fingers, and the exterior connecting to the command room was illuminated by lights.

Densely packed young bodies were hung from the ceiling like cargo, waiting to be used by the magicians.

Atram showed Jiang You his wealth as a magician: "Life is a resource, and this resource can be inexhaustible as long as you control the channels and pay money. Don't worry, I won't get materials from Fuyuki, and I don't want to get into unnecessary trouble."

"I see. Actually, I know a little about the Price Magic." Jiang You's smile deepened. "Have you ever heard of Soul Crystals?"

“Soul materialization, the legendary product of the third magic, I’ve naturally heard of it. Caster, you can’t make such a thing with living sacrifices, that would be too…” Atram thought Jiang You was joking with him, testing his knowledge of magic, until Jiang You threw him a dazzling crystal.

Atram didn't understand what soul crystals were; he simply knew about them. But he could sense the nearly infinite magical power within them, a power even greater than the mana he would generate if he sacrificed an entire city.

"How...how is this possible? Who exactly are you?!" Atram finally realized that Jiang You wasn't joking. His magical achievements were like fireflies compared to the moon in front of him. No, not fireflies at all, but humble dust!

Atram felt a little fear. Could he really control this Servant?

"Don't you want to know how this thing is generated?" Jiang You maintained his smile, while Atram felt a chill run down his spine.

"How was it generated?" Atram wanted to escape, yet he also coveted the great achievements of the Third Law. If he could glimpse even a fraction of it, the accomplishments he could gain would be many times greater than what he was currently experiencing. Ultimately, greed made him temporarily halt his thoughts of using Command Seals.

“A living sacrifice naturally requires a magician with a magic circuit.” Jiang You kept getting closer to Atram, each step feeling like a heavy stomp on Atram’s heart, filling him with immense fear! His legs went weak, and he fell to the ground.

"By my Command Spell, Caster is forbidden to use his Noble Phantasm on me!" Before his team's magicians could provide support, Atram used his Command Spell. He had seen Jiang You's stats and knew that the thing he needed to be most wary of was Jiang You's Gundam EX Noble Phantasm—this Servant relied too much on his own Noble Phantasm!

"No matter how great a magician you were in life, or even a mage of the Third Law, you're just a familiar now!" Atram breathed a sigh of relief as one of his Command Seals faded. He clutched the Soul Crystal and let out a wild laugh. Regardless of whether Jiang You's words were true or not, this crystal was a priceless treasure in the Underworld.

“Now, my family lineage is qualified to embark on the path of the Third Law! Thank you so much, Caster!” Atram looked at Jiang Yousheng, who had threatened him earlier, and felt a surge of anger. He swung his arm and punched him.

He wanted to avenge his previous shameful behavior. It was impossible for a Servant to resist him who possessed the Command Seals.

His fist, thrown with all his might, was blocked by an unknown force, which meant that Jiang You's Noble Phantasm had taken effect. He showed an incredulous expression: "How... how is this possible! The Command Seal has taken effect!"

Jiang You accepted his duel challenge, and the duel space opened up: "The Command Spell took effect but wasn't counted as an attack, probably because I didn't actually designate you to activate your Noble Phantasm. Of course, there's another possibility: the description of the Noble Phantasm might be outside the text?"

Chapter Sixty-Four: This card seems to want to come to my side.

"Ugh! Command Spell... Damn it!" Atram stubbornly used the Command Spell in his hand, but how could he possibly break the rules of dueling that even Beasts and Grands had to follow?

"This duel is a game of shadows! -- Actually, you don't need to be nervous. After all, I don't have any 'solo action' skills, so I won't just kill you outright." Jiang You reassured Atram, this time his smile was genuine. "I'm just planning to do something similar to what you did, using people like batteries. By the way, do you have a briefcase here?"

"Suitcase?" Atram couldn't understand why Jiang You would suddenly mention this thing, as it had absolutely nothing to do with the current situation.

“Speaking of portable batteries, it has to be a briefcase, and oh yes, we’ll have to have one of those tuxedos too.” Jiang You said to himself, his eyes fixed on Atram, looking at it like he was looking at an object, without a trace of emotion. “Aren’t you sure you’re not going to choose one? After all, that’s your home for life.”

"The price of the Dark Game! If you fail, you'll be turned into a portable battery and put in a box." The Dark Game can actually specify the price, but killing the soul directly is the most efficient method. Jiang You still planned to have some fun here, so naturally he wouldn't let Atram leave so easily. "Speak, you can also specify an equivalent price. The duel is fair. Are you afraid? After using so many living sacrifices, why are you crying now?"

"How could I be afraid of a mere familiar!" Atram braced himself against his trembling legs. He had never realized that even summoning a Servant in the Holy Grail War was such a dangerous ritual. "If I win, you will hand over all your magical knowledge and commit suicide right here!"

"My knowledge of magic?" Jiang You thought about it carefully: Did he really have that kind of knowledge?

After hesitating for a while, Jiang You nodded and agreed to his request. As for suicide, it was too common for him.

"I agree, you're bound to lose anyway." Jiang You took out his deck.

Jiangyou LP4000

Atram LP4000

Atram carefully studied the knowledge brought by Jiang You's Noble Phantasm, his expression gradually improving. "Familiar! What are you so arrogant about? Your Noble Phantasm Servant and Master use the same deck of cards; our win rate is equal!"

"The front row has a message that I only have one copy of this card right now, so you can't even use it." Jiang You's card that ignores summoning restrictions is usually not found in the deck. Currently, it can only be obtained through a guaranteed draw. Maybe drawing all the cards in the deck can save it.