Chapter 70 - Summoning...?
The snow around Fuyuki city stabilized slightly as the Holy Grail stopped sucking the mana like a black hole, even if this was temporary before the fighting started.
However, this period of calm was more like the tranquil before the storm. The Masters received that all the servants except two Sabers and one Caster has been summoned, which is good news.
To be chosen as a Master and not summon your servants is basically telling the other Magi to come and kill you before taking your command seals. This is a classic tactic in the Holy Grail War, but no Master was dumb enough to not summon his Servant, well, everything has an exception.
When everyone was thinking about the next moves and Assassins running around Fuyuki city as they attracted some hatred from some Servants. Something was happening at Mount Enzo, which is the closest to the Holy Grail core.
"Why? Why am I here? And why do I have to do this?!" Leo said while his eyebrow was twitching, he really didn't want to do this.
In the basement of the mansion, Leo was standing in front of an empty as Ritsuka and Fou were staring at him.
"C'mon, Caster, it's just summoning Servants, you should be more worried about which Servant will be summoned" Ritsuka said as this took her more than an hour to convince Leo to come to this place.
"Shut up! You don't know the horrors that I've seen. I've stared at the abyss and he threw me with black keys!!" Leo snapped as he said while his horns and eyes were glowing, which means he isn't calm at all now.
"I can even make thousands of Phantasmal Species or even tens of Divine beasts, so why do I need servants?!" Leo said as his necklace was glowing and he was ready to throw a god beast or something at these two.
"But Phantasmal species are still monsters and don't have enough wisdom to help in battle. Without a commander they'll become useless against strong enemies" Ritsuka said as she believed that servants that have fought in the past are better helpers than some monsters and beasts.
"My beasts can be smarter than all of you humans combined" Leo dropped the hard truth as Fou was getting bored by the situation.
"Fou~~" Fou was on Ritsuka's shoulder as he waved with his paw.
"Don't you dare to call me a coward, you don't understand what I know" Leo pointed at Fou that didn't care about him before he said " Fou~ Fou~"
"You!!" Leo squeezed his fist as he was burning with anger before he turned and said " Do you think as a Beast I'll be afraid of some servants?!"
"Fou~" Fou turned his head away while Leo was fighting for his dignity as a Beast.
"*Sigh*" Ritsuka held her forehead as she remembered the whole situation before they managed to get here.
The epic battle between these three ended with a draw as they weren't able to convince Leo of summoning servants, but they were able to bring him here. It was mostly Fou credits as he kept taunting Leo about his fear from servants, but for Ritsuka, Leo was more like that he didn't want to touch the summoning ritual than the actual servants.
"Caster, I know this might be something from your past, but please, summoning a servant isn't that hard" Ritsuka said as she made another attempt.
"Not that hard? Summoning ghosts from the past to fight to the death in a battle royal isn't hard? And especially by this cursed mechanism of summoning?!" Leo looked at Ritsuka with blank eyes before he said" Did you summon servants before?"
"Eh? No, I didn't summon any servant before, it was always me and Mashu…" Ritsuka said in panic before she stopped as she realized what she just said.
"Fou~" Fou tapped Ritsuka's face with his paw as he realized a quiet cry like he was comforting her.
"No, I'm okay, thank you, Fou" Ritsuka said as she patted Fou's head.
"Tch… Give me a break" Leo looked at this scene in front of him before he sighed and said " *Sigh* Fine, I'll summon, but… I'll do it just one time"
"Ah! Thank you, Caster!" Ritsuka smiled at Leo before she said " And please don't think about this so grimly, maybe you also want to meet one of those servants"
Ritsuka remembered what happened with Merlin and she felt from this period that Leo might know some servants or some are related to his past, so he might also want to meet them again. Even if 10 servants summoning is slightly ridiculous.
This also made her suspicious of Leo's identity if he's maybe a divine spirit and not just a servant from the age of gods, as for Satan thing? Who'd believe that Satan can sit next to you and have breakfast while complaining?.
"Someone I want to meet?... " Leo looked at the empty spot in the basement as he was thinking about this.
"I think there's someone that I want to meet…" Leo said as his eyes were lost in thoughts. Ritsuka and Fou stared at him as they felt this is very important, but then… He grinned.
"I want to summon DIO(Ozymandias)!!!" Leo declared loudly while Ritsuka and Fou had just one question.
(A/n: Ozymandias and DIO share the same voice actor)
"Who's Dio? God? Why do you want to summon god?!" Ritsuka was panicking, but Leo already walked towards the empty spot and put his hand on his necklace.
He didn't hear Ritsuka's words because he was already detached from the world and entered a realm no human shall touch or gaze upon.
His brain was rushing with calculations as his necklace was glowing green and all the data was circling in his brain like a spiral.
' The order has begun, judgment in process…'
*BOOM*
A gust of wind appeared around Leo as it made Ritsuka startled before she moved back.
'Analysing the timeline… Determining the output… Locating the target...'
"Caster…?" Ritsuka opened her eyes with difficulty to see Leo's eyes became blank like a machine and mana was flying around him as his necklace was glowing green.
'Target… Throne of Heroes… Desire is clear… Summoning… Sequence 1 has started'
*BOOM*
Another storm hit the place as the mana around Leo moved around to make a summoning circle in front of him.
'Finding the progress… Mistakes, sins, and flaws… Found…'
'The Beginning… Already existed… A part from human history… The Hidden Link is established'
'The End… Not needed…'
In Leo's brain, a spiral of data manifested about summoning servants before it was linked with something.
The light went back to Leo's eyes before he raised his hand and said " For I, who witnessed this spiral of mistakes… Second Noble Phantasm, partial deploy!"
With those words, Leo's necklace shone with green light before the summoning circle stabilized and was waiting for the command to summon servants.
"Done and the summoning ritual is connected to the throne of heroes" Leo said as he wiped the non-existing sweat from his forehead.
Making sure his Noble Phantasm doesn't affect Ritsuka or the timeline was very hard because he usually only destroys things. He felt that he was holding a thin line and his Noble Phantasm wasn't even allowed to reveal itself or its concept.
Well, it was worth it to make a summoning ritual completely separated from the Holy Grail system, especially with his low knowledge about Magecraft from this world.
"...." Ritsuka was speechless as she saw something that touched the level of true magic. Leo was able to do what Chaldea was struggling to achieve all those years in mere seconds.
"Hm? Don't be surprised, this is just me taking the achievements of others and nothing more" Leo waved his hand before he said " Now, let's get done with this"
"I just want Dio, I don't care if it's Egyptian Dio(Ozymandias) or small Dio(Hans Christian Andersen).... just give me something good… Please" Leo said as Ritsuka saw his words change from confident into suspicious, then into almost crying like he gave up in less than a second.
The summoning circle was glowing as its light increased more and more before light blinded everyone.
"Hm? This is indeed an expected way to be summoned, having a personal ritual…" A voice appeared from the light before a person appeared in front of Leo, Ritsuka, and Fou.
"What?!" Ritsuka pointed at the new guest as the expression of shock was clear on her face.
"Fou? Fou?" Fou was having an identity crisis as he was looking at the newcomer.
"Huh?" Leo widened his eyes at the servant he summoned as his brain wasn't able to function probably for a second.
"It is a pleasure to meet you, my new Master" A woman with white hair and a long staff looked at Leo before she said " My name is Merlin. Merlin, the Magus of Flowers"
{No, no, this is fishy} This was the thought in both Leo and Fou heads before they looked at this servant closely.
"As you can see, I'm a gorgeous big si-..." However, before she completed her words, Leo and Fou jumped and punched her to the face.
"DIE MERLIN!!!" Leo and Fou screamed as Merlin was punched to the face and a curtain of flower's petals appeared before her shape changed.
Ritsuka almost fell on the ground while watching this scene. First, Fou can talk and she just witnessed a punch that changed the gender of someone.
"Hahahaha!! Hello, it's your favorite friend, Merlin!!" Merlin revealed his 'true form' as he smiled at everyone in the room, but two weren't happy at all.
"Do you have any last words" Leo said as he grabbed his spear and pointed it to Merlin.
"Now, now, let's not rush in our judgment, Leo, isn't that right, Cath Palug" Merlin said to Fou, but he only received a growl for him.
Leo stared at Merlin with blank eyes as his spear was flashing with mana before he said " I don't care how you're able to access my summoning, but how dare you trick me… Especially in that way"
"That was because Avalon is closer to this place than the Throne of Heroes" Merlin said proudly, but then he saw Leo walking towards him before he said in panic" Trick you? That's a false accusation!! How do you know that I'm a man or a woman?!"
"...." Leo stopped before he looked at Fou that tilted his head before he said " Fou~ Fou~"
Fou said that Merlin's true form is one of this world's biggest secrets and no one knows his true form, so there's a possibility that he isn't lying.
"See? Then you should accept the fact that I'm a gorgeous big sister" Merlin said as his form became his Proto shape.
"I'll kill you" Leo's eyes darkened again while Fou was already showing his fangs and Merlin was feeling that her life was in a big crisis even if this wasn't her true body.
Ritsuka already gave up on this summoning ritual and felt that Leo was right about this… She really doesn't understand the horrors in the summoning Servants.
However, then the Ritual flashed again because Leo didn't stop the link with his mana as another servant was summoned... And because Leo wasn't looking, this summon was the closest thing to him.
"A private summoning ritual? Umu! I accept this wonderful greeting!" the new servants said before she looked around to see Leo and Fou attacking Merlin while Ritsuka standing there.
"Ah?! Another servant, welcome" Ritsuka saw the woman with blond hair and red dress before apologize " I'm sorry for what's happening now, but as you see…"
However, Ritsuka stopped as she saw the new servant staring at Leo with turning her eyes away.
"Fufufu, to think this is happening. Umu! This Emperor with join!" the servant had a wide and bright smile on her face before Leo felt a chill down his spine and a familiar aura, but he didn't care because Merlin ran away!.
The Roman Emperor found her target as she joined the chase with the trio.
"JUST WHAT'S GOING ON!!!" Ritsuka screamed as the whole mansion was in a state of chaos.
Leo and Fou were still chasing after Merlin and the new servant joined them, but she was chasing after Leo. Ritsuka decided to go back to her room to rest a little while the whole mansion was shaking… Like usual.
Meanwhile, A man was staring at his summoning Ritual as he put one golden ring on it as fate was repeating itself again.