For Early/Extra Chapters: patreon.com/scoldeyjodxd
Already 30+ Chapters Updated + Daily Updates
Max's current situation was actually quite similar to Sieg's circumstances in the upcoming Fate/Apocrypha expansion.
Yes, I'm talking about that Sieg—the male protagonist who literally starts with nothing and gets all his equipment handed to him by other people like the world's luckiest charity case.
After obtaining the literal heart of the hero Siegfried and having the electrical current from Frankenstein's Noble Phantasm flow through his entire body, Sieg gained the temporary ability to transform into Siegfried himself by using a Command Seal and Siegfried's transplanted heart as a magical catalyst.
Of course, the transformation duration was the classic three minutes.
This wasn't quite the same as Chaldea's pseudo-Servant system that would be developed later.
Because a true pseudo-Servant essentially applies all of a Heroic Spirit's combat abilities to a living human host while merging their personalities and creating a new hybrid existence—a fusion of mortal and legend.
However, Max's current situation involved directly transforming into the other party entirely.
Therefore, Max—or rather, Medea acting as his Caster-class Servant—had not actually failed the summoning ritual at all. She'd succeeded perfectly.
It was just that the summoned Heroic Spirit had chosen not to remain manifested on the battlefield as a separate entity. Instead, they'd deliberately dissipated after entrusting their core spiritual essence and power directly to Max.
The intention behind this sacrifice was genuinely noble and tactical.
But the problem was that Max had already completely exhausted all three of his Command Seals earlier.
So there was no other viable option available—he couldn't launch a premature attack or reveal his trump card too early. He could only wait patiently for Maverick to arrive and help him deal with their opponent.
Now, as the crimson light of a borrowed Command Seal erupted from Max's hand with unprecedented brilliance, bathing him in magical energy—
Under the fascinated gaze of everyone watching both in-game and via livestream—
Max became enveloped by the same brilliant blue light as an active summoning circle.
And in the very next second, Max completely disappeared from his original position.
To be more precise: Max in the form of Emiya Kiritsugu vanished from that spot.
And Max's true appearance made its grand debut at this exact moment.
Long white hair paired with crimson-red eyes that gleamed like rubies. A flowing green trench coat that billowed dramatically in the wind. A bright red tie that stood out like fresh blood against his shirt.
The living embodiment of vengeance itself—Avenger Edmond Dantès, the Count of Monte Cristo—emerged from the depths of profound resentment and burning hatred!
The chat absolutely lost their minds:
[HolyCrap]: HOLY SHIT! HOLY SHIT! HOLY SHIT! HOLY SHIT!
[TooMuch]: MAX YOU ABSOLUTE MADMAN! How can you just PUT YOURSELF into the game as a playable character?!
[Transformation]: WHAT IS THIS, A MAGICAL GIRL TRANSFORMATION SEQUENCE?!
[NewHusband]: Oh my GOD, new husband acquired!
[Sorry]: Sorry Achilles, I don't know you anymore. Please don't contact me again—I'm afraid my new husband might misunderstand our relationship.
[Charming]: This look is popular in LA too!
[GayMen]: Gay men, ASSEMBLE!
[GetOut]: Straight people, GET OUT! This is OUR moment!
[SelfInsert]: You actually modeled a Heroic Spirit after your own appearance?! Max, you narcissistic GENIUS!
[Explain]: Stop reading chat and EXPLAIN THIS RIGHT NOW! If you can't give a proper explanation today, don't blame me for breaking into your house!
[CounterKilled]: Wait, Max's physique is built different though. Even if you really broke in, you'd probably get counter-killed. It's not certain who'd end up getting wrecked.
[Thought]: Is it possible that's exactly what they were hoping for?!
[Bonk]: BONK! All of you to horny jail!
The chat surged wildly because of Max's dramatic transformation, and the on-screen action was equally chaotic and lively.
One could only say that Max's earlier decision to reveal his real face during the previous stream had been absolutely the right strategic move—it created this explosive reaction and maximum entertainment value at this critical moment.
So, facing Maverick and Chen Ge who immediately stepped forward to demand answers, plus Lester who stood off to the side looking completely stunned, Max provided a brief explanation:
"Holy shit, Max, what kind of technique is THIS?!" Maverick's voice carried genuine shock.
"Is this some kind of hidden Command Seal usage we didn't know about?" Chen Ge asked analytically.
"Oh my~ Is this your true form, Master? You're so devastatingly handsome that this humble servant can barely contain herself~" Shuten-douji purred suggestively.
"Wait wait WAIT, you can TRANSFORM?! That's the coolest thing I've ever seen! I want to transform too! Astolfo, can we do that?!" Astolfo bounced excitedly.
"Hmph. Nothing particularly special about it~" Medea muttered from where she was definitely not peeking from behind a pillar.
Max cleared his throat. "You could call it a hidden usage of the Command Seal system, yes.
My current transformed state will actually be fully explained in the upcoming Fate/Apocrypha expansion content that I'm still developing.
To put it as simply as possible: I had Medea, acting in her capacity as my Caster-class Servant, perform an illegal summoning of an eighth Servant—which shouldn't be possible under normal Holy Grail War rules.
However, when that Heroic Spirit successfully manifested, they made an immediate choice not to remain on the battlefield as a separate combatant. Instead, they entrusted their spiritual core—their heart—directly to me.
Therefore, I can now consume a Command Seal to temporarily transform into their appearance and inherit their complete combat capabilities. So it wasn't actually Medea stalling for time to let you all arrive—it was me in transformed state.
Of course, the active transformation duration is only 10 minutes maximum, so we need to move fast."
Yes, three minutes had felt a bit too restrictive for gameplay purposes. Max wasn't running some kind of tokusatsu Ultraman show here—there was no need to be that strict with arbitrary time limits.
So he'd made a slight balance adjustment, changing the transformation duration to match a certain other game's ultimate ability cooldown next door.
After listening to Max's technical explanation, everyone present was once again plunged into shocked silence.
One could only conclude that humanity's exploration and understanding of the Holy Grail War's full mechanical possibilities was still less than 1% complete.
The chat, which had previously been a uniform stream of "HOLY SHIT" spam, now began sprouting all kinds of wildly imaginative speculation:
[Invincible]: I originally thought that illegal summoning—having TWO Servants simultaneously—was already the most broken strategy possible. But I never expected you could literally TRANSFORM YOURSELF into a Servant!
[Ideas]: Max you madman, did you consult with some kind of game design wizard? How do you come up with so many creative mechanics?!
[Demanding]: This technique has pretty strict requirements though. First, you yourself can't use this ability—you need to summon a Caster-class Servant specifically. But that Caster also needs sufficiently high-level magecraft, not just any random support character like Edison.
[True]: Facts.
[WantIt]: But regardless of the requirements, it's SO COOL! I also want to transform into a Servant! I want to be Gilgamesh standing on a streetlight raining weapons on everyone!
[Mongrel]: Oh? You mongrel dare covet the King's lamppost throne?
[RealGil]: Wait, is that the ACTUAL Gilgamesh player typing that?
[Reality]: Forget it, stop dreaming. Max said the Servant has to WILLINGLY give you their heart, and one Command Seal only gives 10 minutes. Three Command Seals total would only be 30 minutes of combat. Honestly, it's more efficient to just summon a normal Servant.
[JustWant]: You're right, but I don't care about efficiency—I just want to GO UP AND FIGHT MYSELF!
[Terrifying]: This guy only thinks about beating people up personally.
[Shameless]: Max is truly shameless though—he actually modeled a Heroic Spirit after his own face! By the way, WHO even IS this Heroic Spirit? They're so unlucky to have their identity stolen by Max!
[DontCare]: Who cares about lore? As long as it looks cool! Lady, I've already taken 4K screenshots. This is my new desktop wallpaper forever.
[Share]: Sister upstairs, SHARE THE IMAGES PLEASE!
[CloneLaser]: HOLY SHIT WHAT KIND OF CLONE LASER ATTACK IS THIS?! This is TOO COOL! What Heroic Spirit even HAS this ability?!
Amidst the absolute chaos of chat commentary, the assembled group began taking action under Max's urgent prompting.
So, without wasting another second—
Except for Lester, who firmly stated that as a Master his job was to let the Servants do the actual fighting while he observed from a safe distance—
And Medea, who would provide magical artillery support from an aerial vantage point while maintaining telepathic magical communication for the entire team—
The remaining combatants, after receiving protective talismans from Medea to maintain their body temperature in the freezing altitude, all mounted Astolfo's hippogriff.
And with Max taking point position—
The raid battle against the evil dragon Vritra officially began.
Max's transformed figure suddenly vanished from everyone's field of vision once more, moving at speeds that defied normal perception.
The very next second, as their vision adjusted and refocused, the viewers watching Max's livestream were absolutely shocked to discover that the mountain-sized dragon Vritra was now within literally arm's reach.
But what happened next was even more incredible.
To put it simply: it was like Mizuki-sensei watching Naruto use the Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu for the very first time and having his entire worldview shattered.
With a fierce battle cry from Max that echoed across the frozen peaks—
Dozens of identical Maxes suddenly appeared simultaneously in various strategic positions surrounding the dragon, materializing from thin air.
Immediately, they all raised their left hands in perfect synchronization with the original Max and unleashed massive torrents of azure-blue flames!
"HAHAHAHAHAHA!
My journey lies beyond mere vengeance!
TIGER! BURN BRIGHT AND BLAZING!"
The flames converged on Vritra from all directions.
The battle had truly begun.
Show Some By Powerstones
Next BONUS CHAPTER at 200 powerstones