Preface: Originally this animation was well done, and it didn't matter whether I posted the original text or not. Later, I thought about it and decided to post it since there were a lot of abandoned animations. After all, it's not the well-known "Fate zero". I also made some modifications along the way, which wasted more than an hour of my time. This kind of thing really shouldn't be done too often. Not only does it waste time, but it also makes no money.
Fast forward half an hour, Lion Jie was taking the spiritual form of Red Saber Mordred to the mountain church in Sighişoara as agreed on the note.
Compared to the enemy's base camp Tolifas and the distant Bucharest, this is the most suitable city for the Red Army's stronghold.
Although she didn’t know the status of the other Servant, she seemed to be able to sense whether the Servant of her own color—the red Servant—had been summoned. Saber had already determined that the remaining six classes had all been summoned.
The Thousand World Tree Clan had prepared early, and they had probably already summoned all their servants. In other words, it didn't matter when the battle started, so they would go to the designated location first.
Thinking this way, Lion Jie climbed up the stairs with a canopy step by step.
Saber, who had transformed into a spirit, suddenly spoke to Lion Jie.
"Master, I have a favor to ask of you."
"Oh, what's up?"
"Buy me some clothes."
This request was really too unexpected, and it left Lion Jie speechless for a moment.
"Why?"
"Being a spirit always makes me feel itchy. I feel uneasy without my feet on the ground. And I can't go shopping during the day like this."
It was just as Saber said. Speaking of her clothes, it was impossible for her to be exposed in front of everyone in full armor. Of course, since the Holy Grail War usually took place at night, it was true that she didn't need clothes. But -
"Please, Master. I believe my Master is not the kind of miser who is reluctant to spend money even on clothes."
What a willful fellow, Lion Jie sighed. But it was nine o'clock in the morning, and no clothing store would be open at this time. The two decided to go shopping for clothes after the meeting.
Climbing to the top of the stairs, Shizijie made sure that there was no one around and reached out to the church door. It was now nine o'clock, and he checked again to see if it was on time.
After opening the heavy door and stepping inside, I saw a man standing in front of the altar opposite the central hall. He was not surprised to see Shishi Jie, so he must be the host.
"-welcome."
Lion Jie raised his hand gently, a smile appearing on his face.
"This is the agreed location, and you are the one who called me here, right?"
"Yeah, sure."
Shishi Jie nodded, and as he walked through the central hall, he whispered to Saber in spirit form:
"Saber, is there a Servant here?"
"No, I can't detect it. But I have a bad feeling about this. Be careful, Master."
He couldn't detect it, but he had a bad feeling. The servant's answer made Lion Jie have doubts in his heart, but he didn't have time to think about those things.
He sat down on the bench in front and observed the host from a closer distance. He found that the host was younger than he had imagined. Judging from the monk's robe, he should be the priest sent by the cathedral. He spoke with an innocent face and a mature smile:
"Nice to meet you. I'm Shirou Kotomine, and I'm the supervisor of this Holy Grail War."
The moment he heard the name, something flashed through Shizijie's mind. But it was too subtle, just a sense of disobedience that could be ignored, so he didn't think much about it.
"I'm Shishi Jie Jie Li. I'll skip the self-introduction. Anyway, you've done the research, right?"
"Yes, as you said."
What a suspicious smile, thought Shizijie. The expression on his face was a philosophical smile. This was not a smile that a person under the age of twenty should have.
"You don't allow your followers to materialize?"
"No, it's not—"
"Let me materialize quickly, Master. I have a bad feeling about this."
After hearing this, Shizijie immediately connected.
Immediately, along with golden particles, the "red" Saber, Mordred, appeared. She began to look around vigilantly, protecting the lion.
"oops."
Shirou glanced at Saber who suddenly appeared, put his fingers against his eyes, and wanted to laugh but didn't.
"What's wrong?"
"No, nothing. Then, I will let you see my Servant in person, assassin."
"I understand, my Lord."
The sudden sound startled Shishijie so much that he stood up suddenly. Next to the bench where he was sitting, Assassin materialized.
"Huh, is it an assassin?"
When Assassin is in the physical world, he can obtain the class special ability "Breath Concealment". If "Breath Concealment" is used in the spiritual body state, as long as he does not enter the attack posture, this side will not be able to detect it.
"I am the Red Assassin. Please take care of me. My name is Lion Robbery."
A sweet fragrance wafted in the air, and a decadent beauty in a heavy dress smiled and trembled her slender fingertips.
"I am."
Shishizō walked away from her with a stiff smile. Speaking of assassins, the one summoned in "Fuyuki's" Holy Grail War was always Hassan Sabbah. So, was she one of them
Shizi Jie intuitively made a negative estimate. The old man in the mountain (Hassan) is a pure assassin. He uses the skills acquired through physical and mental training to kill his targets. The girl in front of him has a very weak impression of this. What suits her is not assassination, but murder. A word, a glance, can easily kill a target.
"—What a disgusting woman."
After hearing Mordred's whisper, Lion Jie agreed from the bottom of his heart.
"Assassin, Mr. Lion Zed is in trouble."
"I know. I know."
Laughing, Assassin left Lion Robbery.
"Well, I will report the current situation as soon as possible. The Thousand World Tree Clan has retained six Servants. Saber, Archer, Rider, Berserker, Caster, Berserker. It seems that Lancer is the only one who has not yet joined."
"Who knows the real name?"
"Unfortunately, I can't grasp even one of them right now. However, since we haven't fought directly, this is understandable. I can confirm information about the attributes of the six people."
Shirou took out the file from his arms. Shizijie thanked him, took it and glanced through the contents. It only contained the attributes of the six servants, and the most important information such as inherent skills and treasures were not recorded. Even so, it was still possible to make a certain degree of judgment based on the attributes.
After reading the last file, Shizijie's hand suddenly paused. He remembered the information he got from Belfebon.
"Wait, you said Lancer didn't make it? But—"
"You mean the foreseeable hero?"
Lion Jie nodded in agreement: "This is Romania, it's impossible not to bring out the heroes of this country, but that one, shouldn't Grand Duke Vlad III of Wallachia be a lancer?"
"Indeed, the best role for him is lancer. There are almost no anecdotes related to swords and bows. The possibility of assassin and caster is also zero. With the fame correction, all attributes of rider are low, and there is no need to increase attributes at the cost of losing sanity."
Shirou scratched his head in annoyance.
"However, I can confirm that he is not a lancer, so the answer can only be a berserker. Look at his attributes. Even with the improvement of berserk, it is too exaggerated. Only the most famous and high-level berserk can reach this level."
As Shirou said, the attributes of the Black Berserker are terrifying. Except for Luck, none of its attributes are lower than A, and its strength and durability are likely to have reached EX.
"However, according to the Magic Association, the Servant suspected to be Vlad III does not seem to have fallen into madness, and his speech and behavior are not much different from ordinary people."
At this point, Lion Jie had no intention of keeping the secret for the Magic Association. Anyway, with the ability of the Church, it was able to collect information that the cleanup team was almost wiped out by the Servants.
"Then there are only two explanations. First, everything has its own opposite. Going crazy to the extreme may be calming down. Our berserker is at level EX and can communicate, but it is limited to talking. We have no way of understanding his thoughts, and he has no way of understanding ours. With such a precedent, it is not impossible for Vlad III to go a step further."
"A sensible madman... I always find it a little hard to imagine." Lion Jie's face twitched, making the already hideous scar look even more terrifying. "What about the second one?"
"Regional factors. Although he is very famous as the prototype of Count Dracula, in Romania, his heroic side is emphasized. In this land, even if he goes crazy, he will not lose his lord's demeanor. This is probably what the so-called superior is like."
"That makes sense. What if the two explanations overlap—" At the end, Shizijie himself couldn't continue.
Shirou rubbed his temple and continued: "Then we may have to face a Vlad III who is more powerful than ever before. A crazy lord who possesses the power of a top servant and is absolutely rational."
"This is really-" Lion Jie shuddered, "Forget it, let's not talk about this uncertain thing, let's talk about our servants."
"Let me start with the conclusion. The enemy is strong, but we are not weak either. Mr. Lion's Saber is excellent, and it can be asserted that Lancer and Rider also have the strength to compete with Vlad III."
"-Oh."
The Magic Association seems to have discovered a very powerful Heroic Spirit. Since Shirou asserted this, it must be quite famous, or its strength is beyond its fame.
"Could it be, Father..."
Saber whispered quietly in a voice that no one else could hear.
"Don't worry, it's impossible... probably."
—I really hope so. If that happens, it goes without saying that a fight will break out before the battle. (In fact, your father has already arrived and is on the other side.)
"Anyway, Mr. Shishizhe summoned Saber, and all seven of us are here. So - could you please tell me Saber's real name?"
After hearing Shirou's words, Assassin burst out laughing. At the same time, the atmosphere around Saber also revealed a discordant hostility. Shirou hinted, "Tell me your real name quickly," and seemed to be very annoyed by Assassin's laughter.
"Ah, does it have to be made public no matter what?"
"Huh. I hope you can give me a reason why I can't reveal it. This time, we are companions. Since we are trusting each other with our lives, wouldn't it be better to reveal our real names beforehand?"
"But... even if we trust each other with our lives... Real names..."
After all, the true name is the most important information of the Servant. It cannot be disclosed rashly. Knowing the true name will definitely reveal what the Noble Phantasm is, what the weakness is, and conversely, even what the Servant is good at.
"And since we are on a common front, you must explain what kind of Noble Phantasm you are using. But then there is a high chance that your real name will be revealed. It's all the same after all."
Shirou's suggestion made sense. Despite this, Shizijie still felt strongly that it would be extremely terrible to form a common front with Shirou and the assassin.
He felt an inexplicable chill, a smell of conspiracy that was not present in the heat of the battlefield.
Shishi Jie turned his back to the two of them and conducted telepathic communication with Saber face to face. This level of communication between the Master and the Servant can be achieved without making any sound.
"Master. What are you going to do? I don't want to, by the way."
"I agree. But why?"
"... intuition."
"Your intuition is really accurate. Okay, it's decided."
Shizijie picked up the file and walked towards the central hall with his back to the two of them.
"Hey, where are you going?"
"Ah, we can go wherever we want. Luckily, my Servant is Saber. It's no problem to go alone."
She is considered the best Saber among the seven Servants. In terms of attributes and attack power, no matter which Servant she fights against, the chances of her losing are very low.
"Well, then you don't intend to form a common front?"
"Aren't all six servants here? And you said that Lancer and Rider are excellent, so there shouldn't be any problem."
"It's really hard, but you're right."
Shirou scratched his head in confusion. Assassin raised his eyes slightly, revealing a hint of displeasure.
"—So, you mean you don't need our help? We can collect all the information about Tuliface."
"No way. I want all the information, no matter how much it is. If necessary, I can buy it with money."
These words made Assassin's eyes lift even higher. Shirou gently stopped her.
"I will provide you with information regularly. I wanted to fight alongside you, what a pity."
Shirou murmured with a look of regret.
As soon as Shishi Jie left the church, he immediately made Saber spiritual. He walked straight towards the stairs, eager to leave here as soon as possible.
"Saber, are there any pursuers behind us?"
"No, but the assassin might become a spirit and follow us, so don't let your guard down. If she dares to attack me, I will kill her instantly."
"But it's daytime now, I don't think it's possible... I have a very bad feeling, I'd better leave here early."
"Can I say one thing?"
"Go ahead."
"I feel the same aura from the Red Assassin as from my mother. It would be fine if she betrayed us. But I always feel that I might not realize that I was betrayed until the end, and end up dead in the wilderness."
Mordred's mother is, of course, King Arthur's sister, Morgan. She is a magician who is as good as Merlin. It was she who instigated Mordred to usurp the throne and overthrow King Arthur.
Since Saber said that she is "the same as the queen mother", this person must be an unfathomable conspirator.
"In any case, it's better not to get close to the assassin."
After walking down the stairs, Shizi finally breathed a sigh of relief. He asked Saber to confirm that there was no trace of a Servant around.
"Master, it's better than this."
"What?"
"Well, how should I put it? I feel relieved that my master will not flatter evil people. Just a little bit? I just feel a little bit, relieved."
She said the compliment with a slight hesitation. At least, rejecting their suggestions still has many benefits. Of course, the premise is that the servant trusts his master.
"That's true, thank you very much. Next, we will go to Tulifas. In the worst case, we may have to fight against all the Servants. Is that okay?"
After hearing what Shishizhe said, Saber announced loudly:
"Leave it to me, Master. I, Mordred, am the only knight who surpasses my father!"
So that's how it is, Shishi Jie secretly understood. The Servant's summoning seems to really choose the Heroic Spirit with similar spirituality to the summoner. She is indeed very similar to herself.
—Especially the overconfidence.