It's about time...
Aslan looked down at his watch, then at the magic circle before him. After aiming the Command Spell on the back of his hand at the summoning circle, his other hand quietly reached into the pocket containing his spatial Mystic Code. As for what he was doing, he was, of course, taking out a little gadget to collect some interest from Merlin.
After all, Merlin had far too many punchable points. He was genuinely worried that if he settled all the accounts at once, it might directly cost this magus his life. So, he could only let this fellow who was asking for a beating pay back his debt little by little. At the very least, when this old bastard made his appearance, Aslan wanted to go up and give him a full set of joint locks, then smack him hard in the face with his hammer. Feeling the magical energy within his body begin to be drawn towards the summoning circle, Aslan began his chant.
"Fill, fill, fill, fill, fill.
Let each be turned over five times, simply breaking asunder the fulfilled time."
Whether it was the people participating normally in the Holy Grail War, or those intervening in a special way like Kariya, all who had not yet summoned their Heroic Spirits raised their hands at this moment.
"I announce!!"
Following the chant, a violent surge of magical energy erupted within the entire magic circle.
A storm kicked up in the forest where Aslan was. The leaves rustled, and many withered leaves were directly swept up into the sky by the magical storm. Inside the rooms of the others, various pieces of furniture and trinkets were all blown about by this magical storm. At the same time, the massive flow of magic also brought pain to their bodies. Of course, this little bit of pain was nothing to Aslan. Let's not even mention the speed and force of the magic surging in his body when he fought his cheap old dad, which was far stronger than now. Just based on Aslan's physique alone, this was nothing.
As for the others, no one cared what changes were happening to their bodies, nor did they care what kind of abnormalities were appearing around them. To participate in this great war, the summoning had to succeed! After all, what a joke! If you participated in the Holy Grail War and couldn't even summon a Heroic Spirit, were you supposed to fight yourself?
"Thy self is under me, my fate is in thy sword.
In accordance with the resort of the Holy Grail, if thou abidest by this will and this reason, then answer.
I hereby swear. I shall be all the good of the world, I shall have vanquished all the evil of the world!
(Let thy eyes be clouded, thy mind be maddened.
Thou, who art a prisoner trapped in a cage of madness.
I am the one who holds this chain.)
Thou, seventh heaven, clad in the three great words of power,
Come forth from the ring of deterrence, O guardian of the balance!"
The powerful magical storm, accompanied by a dazzling light, made everyone involuntarily close their eyes. When it all dissipated, a miracle descended.
"Yo~ I'm Merlin, also known as the Magus of Flowers. No need for formalities, just call me Merlin is fine. I'm not a fan of being stiff. I never thought you'd be so persistent. What a delightful miscalculation. I'll do my best to live up to the name of Grand Caster... although that's something I can't do, I swear I'll try my best... ha... hahaha..."
Merlin stood in the center of the summoning circle, then slightly turned his head, deliberately not looking at Aslan, pretending that he had just come to the human world for fun on a whim.
Looking at the magus who had appeared before him, with his long white hair, holding a staff, a smile on his face, and flowers blooming at his feet, Aslan swung his forging hammer up with his backhand. "Don't play dumb with me! You've been peeking at everything I've been doing in the human world with your Clairvoyance, you old pervert!"
"Wait! Aslan! I can explain!! Didn't I come to help you? Gently, please be gentle, ah~"
Akuta Hinako had just finished dealing with her accommodation issues. When she came to the forest to ask about Aslan's Heroic Spirit summoning, she saw a shocking scene. A Heroic Spirit in white mage robes, holding a staff, was kneeling on the ground, constantly clutching his forehead with his hands, letting out strange wails and shouts. And behind this magus, Aslan was clearly holding an extraordinary forging hammer, bringing it down again and again on the magus's head, and on the other bones of his body, making a very crisp sound.
"Ah—! Wait! A little lower! Yes, right there! Ah~ harder!"
Aslan, hearing Merlin's shouts, increased the force in his hands, finally landing a heavy blow on Merlin's waist. Of course, he wasn't just getting his own revenge and venting his dissatisfaction. More importantly, he was giving this old bastard's body a good tune-up. This old bastard was different from him, who had experienced so many things since coming to the human world. Merlin was a shut-in, having stayed in his tower for 1500 years. The bones and muscles all over his body had probably atrophied a bit. They needed a good massage to recover. Come to think of it, in the Seventh Singularity, after that guy Merlin ran from Great Britain to Mesopotamia, he probably had to lie in bed for several days to recover from muscle soreness after returning to his tower. Otherwise, why do you think it took so long after the Seventh Singularity, and even after the Final Singularity, for Merlin to enter the gacha pool?
That old bastard must have been rubbing his own aching muscles and waist, while smiling and congratulating himself on leaving a good impression on the last Master of humanity, playing the hero for once and covering up his bastardly image.
If the world-ending crisis this time really did appear during the Holy Grail War, ensuring this old bastard's peak combat effectiveness was definitely an important matter. Even if the world-ending crisis didn't appear in this Holy Grail War, getting this old bastard back to his peak state was no loss for him, right?
"Ah—!! Aslan... wasn't that last one a bit too hard? I think I'll have to lie in bed for a day. My back, oh, my back."
Akuta Hinako looked at the Servant before her who was lying on the ground, rubbing his waist, and saying things that were easily misunderstood. Her cold expression couldn't help but crack a little. At the same time, her eyes, tinged with a hint of red, looked at Aslan. Her eyes even held a bit of pity, clearly asking if such an unreliable Servant was really useful.
Aslan looked at Merlin lying on the ground, and kicked him in the butt again. Ignoring Merlin's shouts, he put away his forging hammer.
"Don't mind his unreliability. But in terms of ability, he's top-class. Rest assured."