Nobody knows how to be a villain better than me.

"So, how should I address you?"

The knight blinked and smiled.

"Arthur the Nameless Swordsman..."

Then, as if he had thought of something, the man added with a smile.

"Of course, following the custom of the Holy Grail War, you can also call me Pretender."

Upon hearing this, Tokiomi Tohsaka paused slightly, his expression becoming somewhat bewildered.

The Imposter isn't one of the seven major classes?

Generally speaking, the seven knights who descend in the Holy Grail War will appear in the world as the seven classes: Saber, Lancher, Archer, Rider, Berserker, Assassin, and Caster.

In addition to these seven regular classes, there is the eighth class, Avenger, and the Ruler, who maintains the order outside the arena.

But this was the first time I had ever heard of or seen the existence of the "Impersonator".

Arthur the Nameless Swordsman? I've never heard of that name before.

What kind of being did I summon?

After a conversation, Tokiomi Tohsaka, who was still completely clueless about his own Servant identity, became increasingly frustrated.

"Alright, Tokiomi, maintaining this form is very tiring. Could you please arrange some accommodation for me first? We can discuss anything else later."

The nameless swordsman pointed to the crescent moon sinking in the night sky, raised his hand to interrupt Tokiomi Tohsaka's questioning, and smiled as he made a suggestion.

Faced with such an unpredictable and mysterious Servant, Tokiomi Tohsaka also intended to take some time to digest this information. So he nodded and humbly led the Heroic Spirits behind him into the guest room to rest.

As the door closed, the nameless swordsman took off his hood and looked at his blond, blue-eyed self in the mirror, feeling both amused and exasperated.

Damn, I forgot about the snakeskin in Tokiomi Tohsaka's hand. It's not only connected to Gilgamesh, but their bond is even deeper.

He made a pact during the new Holy Grail ritual, and as a result, his bug was also counted as one of the summonable ones.

Now, things are going to get interesting.

Chapter 142 Non-European Can't Beat European (4.3k)

Tohsaka Residence, Guest Room.

Samael, standing in front of the dressing mirror, patted his cheeks. As a cloud of black mist surged, his short golden hair gradually turned into a deep, inky color, his golden-red eyes became dark and deep again, and his silver-white knight's armor transformed into a Greek-style golden battle armor. A pair of magnificent golden wings quietly unfolded.

The ancient serpent held a loose grip in its hand, and a golden bow and arrow appeared between its fingers.

The goddess's personal guard—Sagittarius Theseus.

Samael looked at his even more dashing reflection in the mirror and nodded in satisfaction.

This is the characteristic of the "Impersonator": the ability to freely switch between different appearances and disguises, and to use the corresponding abilities; it can also disguise itself to a certain extent, concealing the characteristics of a Servant and walking in the form of an ordinary person.

Currently, the only alt accounts he can create are: Snake Stealing Elixir (a blank character with immortality), Star Swordsman Arthur (without a sword), and Sagittarius Theseus (Goddess's Guard).

As for other powerful figures such as Samael the Angel of Death, Satan the Demon King, Messiah the Son of Man, Apophis the World-Destroying Serpent, Chronos the First Incarnation, Ophion the Chaos Serpent, and Jormungandr the World Serpent, even if ten Tokiomi Tohsaka were drained, they could not provide enough magical power for their manifestation.

It's important to understand that the summoning and descent of spirits in the Holy Grail War is primarily powered by the Greater Grail itself, with the Master providing a small amount of Aether to materialize the summoned Servants.

Even so, he still managed to squeeze every last drop of gems accumulated by the Tohsaka family over generations before he could barely activate three usable avatars.

Of course, he could flip the table at any time and simply give up.

But when playing games, you must follow the rules.

The class of [The Pretender] is undoubtedly the most suitable for his situation.

I am now essentially a suited figure hidden under the empty shell of a Servant, which is a bug in itself.

Samael had a vague feeling that if he could use his Master's magic power to exchange for a suit, but if he used his own power beyond the limits, then the suit would break open, and his identity as a Servant would most likely be stripped by the Holy Grail system, and he would be kicked out of the game.

At that point, as the GM, I'll only be able to obediently maintain the backend operation or stay in the audience and watch the show.

This is also a self-protection mechanism of the Holy Grail system to maintain its normal operation.

But as Kayaba Akihiko, a well-known figure in game development, said, as a game designer, it's naturally more enjoyable to be personally involved.

Therefore, Samael was very interested in participating as a member of the Holy Grail War and playing along with the other players.

After all, this is a pretty good pastime.

Moreover, he designed this game to be quite interesting.

Ancient Serpent recalled the Holy Grail system, which he had long since altered beyond recognition, and a pleased smile appeared on his lips. He eagerly awaited the day when the Holy Grail War would officially begin.

Just as Samael was lost in thought, there was a soft knock on the door.

Are you asleep?

"not yet."

The ancient serpent answered casually, then rolled out of bed, opened the door, and invited its master in.

"I apologize, Your Excellency. The unexpected situation earlier caused me to lose my composure, and I even forgot the etiquette for entertaining distinguished guests."

Tokiomi Tohsaka, dressed in a dark suit, bowed humbly, carried a tray, and entered the house. He served the prepared tea and snacks one by one and patiently explained the contents.

"These are some spiritual plants and foods cultivated in the Tohsaka family's spiritual land. They are rich in a certain amount of magic. Although they are meager, they can at least replenish your consumption."

"Thank you for your thoughtfulness, Tokiomi."

Samael pulled up a chair, sat down, picked up the fragrant teacup, and slowly savored the tea.

It must be said that although the concentration of ether has decreased, the quality of human beings' appetites and their ways of enjoying life have improved.

Across from him, Tokiomi Tohsaka stared blankly at the handsome young man in front of him, dressed in a stylish black trench coat, with short, blond hair and deep, bright red eyes, who was leisurely drinking tea with his legs crossed.

Although the costumes of Heroic Spirits are materialized from magic and can be changed at will.

But somehow, this servant seemed even more fashionable than him, almost seamlessly integrated into today's society, just like the young people in London he had seen when he was studying at the Clock Tower.

At this moment, noticing the strange gaze that lingered on him, Samael gently swirled the teacup in his hand and couldn't help but roll his eyes.

"Tokiomi, although you are my master, I have no interest in men."

"I'm sorry, I've lost my composure in front of you again."

Tokiomi Tohsaka snapped out of his daze, gave an awkward smile, lowered his eyes, and looked at Tokiomi with a hint of unspoken words on his face.

The ancient snake gazed at the swaying tea in the cup, its eyes deep and its lips slightly pursed.

"What, are you still worried about me because of what happened before?"

"How could that be? I believe that as long as you take action, we will be invincible, win the Holy Grail, and achieve our goals together."

Tokiomi Tohsaka smiled subtly, placed his right hand on his chest, and bowed his head in flattery toward the nameless Heroic Spirit, but his blue eyes inadvertently narrowed.

The servant before him was far more perceptive than he had imagined, a difficult and unstable factor to grasp.

"To achieve our shared goals?"

Samael smiled, glancing at the respectful and humble Master before him, a hint of amusement in his eyes.

Don't be fooled by Tokiomi Tohsaka's current respectful demeanor; a man capable of leading a magical family to rise to power is no stranger to cunning.

According to the tradition of the Holy Grail War, the Holy Grail ritual requires the sacrifice of the souls of seven Servants.

Moreover, the Holy Grail can only grant the wish of one person.

However, the Master and the Servant are actually two different people, and they probably cannot agree on how to use the Holy Grail.

The so-called shared Holy Grail is generally just a pretext used by Masters to lull Servants into a false sense of security and make them obedient.

So, if I'm not mistaken, this old guy is still thinking about getting back at him after everything settles down.

Of course, these problems disappeared after he modified the Holy Grail spell.

However, for the sake of the game's fun and immersion, let's wait until the necessary conditions are met before officially announcing the new rules.

Seemingly realizing that his servant was not easily fooled, Tokiomi Tohsaka bowed slightly, adopting a more humble posture.

"Since this is a collaboration, could you please tell me your true identity and capabilities so that we can formulate a strategy for our next steps?"

"The essence of an imposter is secrecy and falsehood. There's no need to insist on finding out my identity. I will naturally let you know what I need to say."

Samael put down his teacup, glanced at his Master who was trying to outsmart him, and spoke calmly.

Having received no useful information, Tokiomi Tohsaka was somewhat disappointed, but wisely refrained from speaking further.

Then, the ancient serpent paused for a moment, then looked at its master with a meaningful gaze.

"However, I can tell you something: you're very lucky."

Tokiomi Tohsaka, who had thought it was some secret information, was somewhat disappointed upon hearing such a teasing remark. He smiled casually and nodded in agreement.

Tsk, see? Often, the truth is not believed.

Samael turned the cup in his hand and shook his head to himself.

In the Holy Grail War, luck is really important.

Take the most basic thing like summoning a Heroic Spirit as an example. Relics are only one aspect. The actual operation and result really depend on luck.

As far as Samael knows, in the future, a Holy Grail War will break out in Tulipas, forming two major factions, one red and one black, led by the Clock Tower and the other by the Yggdrasil family.

Each side has seven Masters, and each summons seven Servants using Sacred Relics as catalysts.

However, the inexplicable bad luck of the Thousand World Tree family, who are on the black side, has seriously affected the course of the battle.

First, the Black Master Fiore prepared a relic stained with the venom of the blood-stained Hydra, originally intended to summon the Greek hero Hercules, but instead summoned the centaur sage Chiron.

Although both heroes died from Hydra's venom, there was a huge gap in their strength.

Hercules was an early Greek hero-king who possessed absolute power enough to overwhelm the red faction's follower, Achilles.

Secondly, the relic prepared by the Black Master Serenique is the Bottle of Reason, which is said to have been retrieved from the moon. It restored the rationality of Roland and Astolfo, so theoretically it could summon the Paladin Roland. However, the result was Astolfo, a disruptive force in team battles whose rationality had evaporated.

Roland's combat strength is hard to judge. He probably doesn't have as many Noble Phantasms as Astolfo, but his combat strength on paper should be stronger. Even if he is not the best Saber-class, he should still be at a first-class level.

After all, it's hard to imagine that Roland, the chief paladin, who originated from the "Paladin" and possesses one of the four great holy swords of Europe, the "Eternal Sword" Durandil, would be easily defeated.

Finally, the most unlucky Master on the Black side originally intended to reenact Jack the Ripper's crimes as a medium to summon the killer from the Mist City, but the sacrifice turned out to be the Master himself, and he was unexpectedly and successfully killed. He gave up his head before the battle even started.

Originally, the ideal lineup for the seven classes of the Black faction should have been:

Saber - Siegfried;

Lancer – Vlad III;

Archer – Hercules;

Rider – Roland;

Caster — Avisbro;

Assassin – Jack the Ripper;

Berserker – Frankenstein.

In this situation, against the red team's seven riders, while not a guaranteed win, they would definitely have a significant advantage.

But the result was that Archer and Rider's two most crucial cards were drawn incorrectly.

Moreover, Astolfo, whose rationality had evaporated, let go of the core that the logistics director had his eye on—a certain android—and thus caused Siegfried, a top-tier fighter, to be sent to the heart.

Immediately afterwards, logistics director Avisbro turned against him, placed a strategic weapon, "The Primal Man (Adam)," in his own territory, and then died.

That's not all. Assassin Jack the Ripper, who has a special attack on women, is not only a fake Heroic Spirit, but has also betrayed the cause, committing atrocities in the territory of the Yggdrasil family.

See? Before they even really fought, three of the black side's seven Servants were already killed.

It's nothing short of a miracle that the Yggdrasil family managed to hold out until the very end.

In contrast, the bounty hunter Lion Catch Jie Li, commissioned by the Clock Tower, used a fragment of the Round Table to summon Mordred, a rebellious knight capable of fighting King Arthur to the death.

It's important to know that during Camelot's heyday, over two hundred Knights of the Round Table sat at the table, and many of them were knights in name only.

Even if we only count the first twelve seats, nearly half of them are Knights of the Round Table whose fighting abilities are hard to describe, such as Gareth, Gahoris, and Kai.

From so many cards, they directly drew Mordred, who has the best synergy with them and is very powerful. The red team's luck is simply amazing.

That's why the Holy Grail War is a game where you absolutely can't beat the Europeans.

Tokiomi Tohsaka is clearly unaware of his good fortune. In this Heroic Spirit Summoning, he failed to summon Gilgamesh but instead drew Samael, who was a more suitable and even more overpowered hero, which was a stroke of luck in itself.

Otherwise, let alone the Holy Grail, they wouldn't even be able to save their own lives.