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

[Kuangxinzi] Attack power 1000 → 2500

The Madman's fighting prowess ranked among the best of all the Hassans. Her sharp dagger danced like a sprite in her hands, each swing precisely aimed at Atram's vital points. Her movements were fluid and deadly, like a meticulously choreographed dance. From her eyes and temples to her philtrum, throat, heart, and kidneys, no crucial area escaped her attack.

As Fanatic's dance gradually reached its climax, her steps grew swifter, each attack as fierce as a violent storm. With the final step, the wounds on Atram's body instantly blossomed, like a rose blooming in the desert, a scene both beautiful and cruel.

Atram LP900→0

Atram lost all consciousness before he even had time to wail.

The Dark Game began according to the rules. Atram was flattened like minced meat by a large black hand that stretched out from the shadows. Under the constant kneading of the hand, Atram's body was reshaped into a piece of meat with magic circuits. Under the influence of the Dark Game, this piece of meat exuded a strange and powerful vitality.

"Master, here are the things you need." Bai Mao handed Jiang You a silver-white suitcase inlaid with gold, and a medieval Victorian-style swallowtail dress. The suitcase was just the right size to fit the piece of meat named Atram inside.

The eye that remained on the surface of its flesh shed tears of blood as it watched Jiang You close the suitcase. It might have wanted to beg for mercy, but it had lost the organs that could make a sound.

"Don't worry, it won't last long. You'll be free when the Holy Grail War ends." Jiang You wasn't some kind of devil; he would turn Atram into a soul crystal. "This is for those innocent lives that were used as currency."

Chapter Sixty-Seven: Why don't you use up your Command Seals and let me leave?

"Master, I have counted them. There are a total of 232 boys who were sacrificed. They are between 8 and 16 years old and are mainly of East Asian descent, with a significant proportion of native people as well." Hyakuma reported the information he knew to Jiang You in detail.

Atram couldn't have brought these children himself, otherwise they wouldn't be mostly from nearby areas. It could only be the result of a trade with a local organization.

"Looks like it's best to stick to the nearest source." Jiang You looked at the boys lying on the ground and noticed that their tongues had been cut out to prevent them from making any noise. Jiang You had never felt such intense disgust when facing Atram's chunks of flesh. This game setting was too realistic; he had only come here to play cards.

But now that he was here, Jiang You felt it would be unreasonable not to do something. With the quest already right in front of him, there was no reason not to do it.

"Did those magicians say where these sacrifices were bought?" Jiang You shattered the central furnace with a punch; the residual magic in the pipes seemed to still carry a bloody smell. He wondered how much mana this furnace had produced before Jiang You arrived.

"There's a contact in the black market of Fuyuki City, Master. What do you intend to do?" Although they hadn't known each other for long, Hyakko had a general understanding of Jiang You's character. He was a Servant who had used the Holy Grail to save a city's 800,000 inhabitants. A true Heroic Spirit. It was impossible for him to ignore such an atrocity; the answer was self-evident.

“That’s right, I want to see how big their business is.” Jiang You planned to meet the owners here and see what color their hearts were. “Medea has also done things like plundering magic from ordinary people, so let her help me see how much magic these people can extract.”

"What should we do with these children?" Bai Mao tried to adapt his thinking to Jiang You's personality. These children couldn't simply be left here to fend for themselves.

"Go and grab a few reporters. There will always be some fearless ones who dare to leak information." Jiang You stroked his chin. He only intended to deal with the people who caused the problem and then blow things out of proportion. The cleanup would naturally be left to the negligent decision-makers. "Remember to assign a clone to protect the guys who dare to leak information. Don't let them die too soon."

Recently, we received an urgent report that police have successfully rescued dozens of teenagers from illegal detention at a remote estate in Fuyuki City. Preliminary investigations reveal a large-scale, secretive testing facility beneath the estate, where serious illegal human experimentation is taking place.

Upon receiving the tip-off, the police acted swiftly and, through careful planning, successfully stormed the estate and rescued the kidnapped teenagers. All victims have been properly accommodated and are receiving necessary medical assistance and psychological counseling.

This action has received widespread attention and support from all sectors of society. Relevant departments have stated that they will maintain a zero-tolerance attitude towards such criminal acts and resolutely crack down on any form of illegal human experimentation to protect the lives and health of the people. At the same time, they urge the general public to be vigilant...

The TV station was broadcasting horrifying news. Fujimura Taiga scratched his butt subconsciously and shouted to the orange-red-haired boy who was busy in the kitchen.

"Shirou, did you hear that? Things are not peaceful lately! Remember to stay at home at night and don't run around!"

As she spoke, she seemed to suddenly remember something, and jumped up, revealing a terrified expression: "You mean Sakura's sudden disappearance might be because she was kidnapped? I heard from Shinji Matou that Sakura hasn't been back to the Matou family lately. Should we call the police?"

Emiya Shirou tapped Fujimura Taiga with the plate as if he were chopping him up, looking helpless: "Fujimura-nee, you're overreacting. Sakura is such a thoughtful person, you don't need to worry. Besides, she's already back at school today."

Shirou Emiya recalled what happened today. Sakura Matou, who returned to school, was no different from usual. If you had to say, she was a little more confident?

And it seems that Shinji Matou is also avoiding his own sister Sakura Matou, which always feels a bit weird.

"Why didn't you say something sooner? I missed out on a bowl of rice!" Fujimura Taiga rolled on the ground, throwing a tantrum, completely lacking any sense of responsibility as a guardian. "Shirou, you owe me!"

"Alright, alright! I'll make your favorite sukiyaki tomorrow, Fujii-nee." After Matou Sakura left, Emiya Shirou took over the cooking duties again.

After settling his young adult, Emiya Shirou went to his own warehouse. He took the abandoned water pipe in his hand and habitually opened his magic circuit.

“Alright, time to start training! Trace on!” The magic circuits spread magic from his arm to the entire water pipe.

"Basic bones, explained."

"Composition and materials, explanation"

"Basic bones, change."

"The materials used to make it..."

Shirou Emiya tried hard to maintain the input of magic power, beads of sweat dripped from his forehead, and the blue-green magic power in the water pipes, which represented stability, began to change color. The yellow and red colors, which represented disorder and collapse, intertwined on the water pipes. In the end, the strengthening magic failed. The water pipes exploded under the excessive and unstable magic power input, and threw Shirou Emiya into the pile of debris.

"I can't even do this simple magic trick right..." Shirou Emiya raised his hand, looking at the magic circuits on his arm glowing from the flow of magical energy, feeling somewhat disappointed. "When will I ever become a champion of justice like this!"

At this moment, the summoning circle under Emiya Shirou responded to him, and the fluctuations of magic power rolled up the debris in the warehouse into a small hill.

"What... what's going on?" Shirou Emiya had never dealt with the Heroic Spirit Summoning Circle left behind by Kiritsugu Emiya, and with his knowledge of magic, he had no idea what it was.

"What a headache, Master." Just as Shirou Emiya was having a headache because he needed to reorganize the messy clutter in the warehouse, a large bronze hand reached out from the mess, and a tall, white-haired man wearing a red and black bodysuit and coat emerged from it.

For some reason, Emiya Shirou, who has always been warm and cheerful towards others, has for the first time developed hostile feelings towards someone.

"Who are you?" Looking at the tall and muscular man, Shirou Emiya cautiously gripped the wooden stick on the ground as a weapon. "Breaking into people's homes at night is not a good habit."

"Did you think I was an intruder?" The white-haired man sighed, rubbing his forehead. "Thanks to you, I can't even remember my own name. But you can call me Archer."

The red Archer smiled at Shirou Emiya, revealing a set of white teeth: "If you join this war without knowing anything, you'll die on the roadside like a stray dog. Why don't you use up your Command Spells and then voluntarily withdraw from this battle, my master?"

Chapter Sixty-Eight: A Woman Who's Easy to Handle (But Not the Best)

"It's fine now. As long as a Master performs a Heroic Spirit Summoning, if the artifact they possess is considered a 'valuable item' like a gem or gold, or if they don't possess any artifacts, that guy will be summoned." Medea withdrew her hand from the Great Spirit Vein and confidently replied to Jiang You.

As a duel elf, Medea cannot have her own deck, but as the first to appear, she can still meet her acquaintances in other ways.

"So fast?" Jiang You thought the analysis of the Holy Grail ritual would take a long time, so he had arranged for Bai Mao to keep watch outside the hall. He didn't expect Medea to finish it in just a few minutes.

"That's true. Although the core of this ritual is somewhat interesting, the ritual itself was constructed by magicians of this era, and it's as simple to me as breathing." As a magician from the Age of Gods, Medea may not have left behind any great achievements, but she is still far superior to modern magicians who have never been exposed to the Great Source. "Moreover, the materials you provided are the same as the core of this ritual."

Medea toyed with the product of the Third Law, something extremely rare even in the Age of Gods. "So, what era are you from, Heroic Spirit, that you possess such extraordinary Noble Phantasms, able to casually produce such precious items? You manifest in the world as a Caster, yet you are completely ignorant of magic from both the Age of Gods and the modern era."

Medea was indeed a little curious about Jiang You's existence. It could be said that magicians are a group of curious creatures.

Jiang You truly couldn't give an answer. His real name couldn't possibly exist in Moon World history. He'd even tried calling out "Atum" on the blank card he'd been given as a reward, but there was no response at all. He had no idea how to use it.

Jiang You's hesitant look made Medea curious but also a little dissatisfied. However, she currently existed as Jiang You's duel spirit, and even if she wanted to rebel, she couldn't harm Jiang You. "Since you don't want to talk about it, then forget it. I also discovered something when analyzing the summoning ritual. The Assassin class is still empty, which means that your Servant, Miss Baimao, is not the Servant for this ritual. What a pity! It would be better if the empty class was Caster."

"It's not?" Jiang You looked at the female entity that had been following him as a relay for the Hundred Faces. Seeing the Command Seals replenished, he had assumed the Hundred Faces were officially summoned. Having a professional provide advice certainly had many advantages. "So, you mean..."

"Just as you thought, because you possess a Command Seal recognized by the Holy Grail, we can use the rules to summon another Assassin Servant related to Lady Hyakko. How interesting! Adding Lancelot and myself summoned by your Noble Phantasm, we now have five Servants on our side, occupying only two class slots." Medea immediately began inscribing a summoning circle on the spot. Because Jiang You directly possessed a Command Seal, she didn't even need to avoid the Holy Grail to cheat in her summoning. "Even if the entire enemy force is hostile to us, in a 5v5 situation, we already have an absolute advantage. We can congratulate you in advance on obtaining the Holy Grail."

"If it's all enemies, it would be 5v6. There's also a Servant who survived from ten years ago." Jiang You thought of Gilgamesh in this timeline. After being fleshed out by the black mud, this Gilgamesh was arguably the most wicked of all Gilgamesh.

"For the servants who stayed behind ten years ago, the Holy Grail Ceremony should have only recently begun. Considering the magical power requirements of the servants, the magical resources consumed in ten years must be a considerable amount, right?"

Medea's words reminded Jiang You. According to the original novel, there were many children kidnapped by Mapo in the basement of the church and used as "batteries" to maintain Gilgamesh's magic power.

At that time, Gilgamesh and Kotomine Kirei were indeed portrayed as villains, so it was not surprising that they did evil things.

However, after the world unfolds, Gilgamesh's incarnated state, coupled with the reserves in his treasury, shouldn't require these "batteries." This is another situation similar to Jason and Medea.

Jiang You decided to wait until the human traffickers were apprehended before raiding Fuyuki Church to see how things were going. However, considering the strength of Hassan's deck, his RPG was too low to win in one go. He was at a significant disadvantage against Gilgamesh, who had a card similar to the Resurrection of the Dead [Elixir], and needed to gather some other cards. This was considered a bit of in-game growth.

Gilgamesh is not a regular Servant and will not be forced into a duel. Medea can assist Lancelot to hold him back.

"Alright, have you decided which Hassan to summon?" Medea was extremely efficient. With her superb magic skills, the preparations for the summoning ritual were fully completed in just a few moments.

“If I could, I would naturally like to summon that person, but I suppose that’s impossible.” Jiang You took out the mask that originally belonged to Bai Mao. As a symbol of the identity of the successive Hassan-i-Sabah, it was undoubtedly very suitable to use as a sacred relic. “Let me see which one I can summon.”

Shadows, like living liquid, slowly spread across the lines of the formation. They weaved between the mysterious symbols, gradually converging and eventually solidifying into a clear human form.

"'Hassan-i Sabah' has come in response to the summons, and everything is in accordance with your will." Hassan, who has bright purple hair and is slightly petite, stands obediently in the summoning circle.

“Senior Tranquility?” Bai Mao recognized the former Hassan Sabah at a glance. She immediately performed a very important ceremony with the unique ritual of the Order. Bai Mao’s actions revealed her respect for her senior. “The nineteenth Hassan Sabah—Bai Mao, it is an honor to meet you, my lord!”

"...No, it is I who feel extremely honored..." Jingmi immediately returned Baimao's polite bow. If one ignored the mask on her face, her gentle appearance and demeanor would easily lead one to mistake her for an ordinary, slightly shy girl. However, this seemingly ordinary girl was once the leader of the fearsome "Old Man of the Mountain" organization.

“I will serve you, Master. You are my master. But… please be careful… do not touch me.” Her movements conveyed just the right amount of respect, neither overly intimate nor too distant. She carefully maintained a safe distance that allowed her to express respect for Jiang You while avoiding any unnecessary physical contact.

"Even if you say that," Jiang You understood the nature of Tranquility, but he still wanted to test the waters. He knew that if Tranquility could be directly approached, she would be a very easy Servant to win over.

[Jingmi has invited you to a duel. Do you agree?]

【Duel/Battle】

"It was expected, but I always felt there was another way." Jiang You held Jingmi's hand, waiting for the countdown to end, before withdrawing his hand and choosing to fight.

Before Jingmi could feel the surprise, Jiang You invited her to a duel again. From the previous battle with Shanshan, it can be seen that the duel invitation can be repeated as long as the other party agrees.

"...?"

"Don't worry, you can choose to fight in a minute."

"...!!!"

Then Jiang You successfully obtained a large number of Jingsi's cards.

Chapter Sixty-Nine: The Most Popular Male Hero of Ancient Greece (Self-proclaimed)

"That fake priest is urging us again, saying that today is the final deadline and only Saber and Archer haven't been summoned yet." Rin Tohsaka struggled to move the heavy desk to clear enough space to build a Heroic Spirit summoning circle.

"That's good. Because of the relic of my father that I found, the clock is an hour fast today. I've already readjusted it. It was really dangerous; it almost broke down. So, the time is OK... the wavelength is good. Even without a medium, I can summon Saber for you to see!" Rin Tohsaka stepped into the summoning circle, took out a handful of gems, and recited the incantation for the Heroic Spirit Summoning Ritual.

Just as the summoning circle lit up, an unknown magical power surged out from the spiritual vein and rushed towards the gem in Toosaka Rin's hand.

"What...what's going on?!" Uncontrollable magic surged wildly in Rin Tohsaka's hands, causing the summoning circle, which had already lit up successfully, to dim again, before lighting up once more as if taking a deep breath.

Then the summoning circle exploded.

"Whoa!" The sound of flesh hitting the ground, accompanied by a scream, echoed in the basement, but it wasn't Rin Tohsaka who made the sound.

"Ouch! What kind of summoning method is this? Be a little more professional!" The blond, blue-eyed Servant, who should have displayed the nobility and composure of a Heroic Spirit, was kneeling on the ground in an extremely unseemly posture. He looked rather disheveled. He rubbed his injured face without regard for his image, seemingly trying to alleviate the pain. "If you're going to summon, just summon properly! You've taken up the area where the Servant is anchored in the real world, causing me to be ejected. It would be terrible if I were disfigured."

"No, as a Heroic Spirit, you shouldn't be disfigured so easily, right?" Rin Tohsaka used her Master's authority to see her Servant's stats panel.

Except for the strength which is only C and the magic which is only D which is not required for swordsmen, all other stats are above B. Although it cannot be called strong, it can be considered excellent.