The summoning of Heroic Spirits required by the Holy Grail War mainly depended on the Greater Grail linking to the Throne of Heroes beyond the world, calling forth a record in the form of a "Servant" and sustaining their manifestation through the massive magical energy flowing from the ley lines.
Therefore, the magical energy provided by the Master was only part of what was needed. Even if the Master wasn't a magus but just an ordinary person, they could still participate in the Holy Grail War. The only difference would be a downgrade in their Servant's stats due to the Master's inadequacy.
As for which Heroic Spirit could be summoned—two factors were decisive: the holy relic and compatibility.
Having a relic didn't guarantee summoning a specific Heroic Spirit. It was like playing a gacha game—even if the next pull is a guaranteed rare, it could still end up being the wrong character.
For example, Zero might have redeemed an heirloom from the Romanova family, but there was no guarantee that this relic hadn't passed through the hands of many family members. It could very well correspond to several different Russian royal family members. At that point, it came down to compatibility again.
"Anyway, since we're allies, I'll give you a heads-up about the Holy Grail War system. That Hunter website didn't explain everything. So you need to be careful when redeeming relics," said Su Enxi.
"Wow, you're so reliable!" Su Enxi said with a grin as she pulled out another thick wad of checks and a pen. "I've decided to add another '0' to the land acquisition price from yesterday!"
"Huh?" Shirou was baffled. How did saying a few extra words multiply his worth tenfold?
"Come on, Emiya-dono, you handle so much! Unlike me—just one order from the boss and I've got to gather intel on the Holy Grail War. It's exhausting."
Su Enxi suspected her boss already knew the secrets of the Holy Grail War but chose to say nothing, forcing her to dig it up herself.
"Now even those 'Ancient Grails' of uncertain authenticity and rare tomes that mention the 'Legend of the Grail' have surfaced on the black market. Their prices are through the roof!"
"Even a single rumor about the Holy Grail War from some scalper sells for over a hundred million dollars! So shady! Honestly, I'm fuming. Why didn't this Huginn guy coordinate with me first? We could've made money together!"
Su Enxi dramatically clutched her chest like she'd lost a fortune.
"But since you already know this stuff, Emiya-dono, that's perfect! Just take the money. Don't worry—I'll earn it back in no time!"
Shirou didn't bother exposing the clear scheme behind Su Enxi's generous offer. He had figured it out: she was going to repackage and sell the info at a markup.
She called the scalpers shady, yet she was doing the exact same thing.
Still, when she mentioned the name "Huginn," something clicked for Shirou.
Huginn... that had to be tied to Norse mythology and Odin. So that guy was back again?
Shirou had a bad feeling that he'd be going up against Odin once more. They'd already fought once—would he step onto the field again this time?
After parting with Su Enxi, Shirou returned to tidy the living room and reset the coffee table. Before long, Eriri came back in. He expected her to fixate on her anime again, but instead, she raised her notebook:
"Su Enxi onee-san—is she from the family?"
"No, but she's related. You could say... she's your family's creditor. In other words, your family owes her a lot of money. If she gets angry, your family might have a hard time."
"Money..." Eriri, still unclear on financial concepts, nodded blankly. "So the family has to listen to her because of money?"
"Not exactly. She won't command them directly. But the family will listen to her on some matters."
Eriri's eyes lit up. "Then can I ask her to make my family stop bothering me?"
Shirou: "…" Ojou-sama, you still haven't given up on your runaway plan, huh.
———
Inside the cavity where the Greater Grail resided, a majestic alchemical array shimmered with flowing magic. Energy, almost like physical liquid, moved along its twisted curves and channels, converging into a growing torrent.
"Norton, don't you think this is weird? That post I made with the account 'Huginn' is still up. Odin's people didn't take it down?"
Standing outside the vast array, Xia Mi's smooth skin glowed under the magical light like mother-of-pearl.
She had recently used her Attila alias in a mock battle—not only to test the persona but also to ride the fame wave of Shirou, the dragon-slaying "God-Slayer," and pump up the hype for the "Holy Grail War" and Heroic Spirits.
After all, fighting nobodies wouldn't attract attention. Shadowboxing with air looked fake. Only by clout-chasing the "strongest dragon-slayer alive" could the spectacle really sell.
Then she had Kamaitachi record the match, edited out the moments where Attila got beat up, and left only the highlights. Voilà—a shiny promotional PV for the Holy Grail War!
"Come see the awesome Heroic Spirits you can summon! Just join the Holy Grail War for a preview of this power! Tempted? Then act now!"
"Yeah, that is unexpected," Norton appeared within the Mercury Curtain, alongside a silver, mercury-like construct. "You and I both know that Hunter.net is clearly Odin's intelligence-gathering front."
"I even prepped a bunch of dummy accounts for you. But Odin's just ignoring them? Maybe he's still dormant in his cocoon and hasn't woken up yet?"
The mercury construct was an alchemic computer Norton had made while dabbling with the tech behind Hunter.net.
He'd discovered, unsurprisingly, that the ghostly website was a fusion of dragon alchemy and human computer science. Hunter.net did have servers, just with layers of complex alchemy wrapped around them.
He was planning to test the computing power of his prototype, but for now, he was just using it to mass-produce burner accounts for Xia Mi's marketing blitz.
"This has nothing to do with whether Odin's awake or not!" Xia Mi rebutted. "We've confirmed that Odin is deeply entangled with human factions. There must be others handling site moderation."
"Odin might hoard the top-level intel, but day-to-day management? Humans do that. They must've seen our posts—but they're choosing to ignore them!"
Norton frowned. "So our Holy Grail War scheme might actually align with Odin's plan?"
"Isn't it obvious?" Xia Mi scoffed. "Think—who was the first to set foot on the White King's territory? Not us, but Odin."
"Hmm...?"
"Look at his Heroic Spirit collection—it includes Eastern figures, even people from this island country. That means he's had his eyes on the hybrids here and even the White King for a long time."
Xia Mi's words triggered a disturbing, yet very plausible idea in Norton's mind—
Yes...
If Odin dared to infiltrate the White King's territory, where even other dragons instinctively stayed away, it meant he had long-term designs here. He may have even been the first to capture the soul of the awakened White King—i.e., Frigg Zero!
In other words, it wasn't impossible that Odin had planted traps here ahead of time…
But neither of them could confirm that now.
Which made things far more complicated.
"Ugh, you're right, Norton. We should really be more cautious. The problem may not be the White King's soul—it's Odin."
Xia Mi looked at her reflection on the alchemy array, her flawless collarbone glowing faintly as she sighed wearily.
"What are you saying? Of course the Greater Grail is a risk too!" Norton snapped. "If something goes wrong, the Servants could go berserk!"
"They can?"
"You know that the Grail System grants every Master three Command Spells, right? But have you ever studied what those are?"
"Some kind of forced contract? Like our blood pact?"
"Kind of. They're soul contracts crafted with the White King's authority over 'Spirit.' She is a natural sovereign of the soul. The Command Spells are replicas of her power."
"But that also means if the White King escapes and uses her authority, she could override them and take control of the Servants."
Norton gave a grave warning. "Jormungandr, whether it's Odin or the White King, we can't afford to let our guard down—not even a little. One slip-up, and forget fighting the Black Sovereign—we might not even make it halfway."
"Yeah, yeah, I get it," Xia Mi muttered. Then she turned to the hulking figure lurking in the corner.
"You hear that, Fenrir? Your job is important! Less TV, more focus!"
(End of Chapter)
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