Seeing this, the four girls temporarily suppressed their curiosity about Artoria. After all, aren't they just Heroic Spirits? They can also be summoned!
"I'll go first!" Megumin stood up without hesitation.
Seeing this, Alice Nakiri and the other two also looked at her silently. Takumi did not prepare any holy relics for them, so Megumin started directly. Standing proudly, she stamped her wand. Her right hand, bearing the Command Seal, waved widely as she aimed at the magic circle.
"Declare!"
"Beyond the stars, lurking in the darkness, you who have a burning heart and an unquenchable will, answer this call! In the name of the Holy Grail, come forth!"
Megumin improvised, tampered with the incantation, and poured her heart into the output. Seeing this, Alice Nakiri and Asuna Yuuki couldn't help but feel a little envious. I have to say, although her chunibyo tendencies were showing, when those theatrics encountered real magic, she looked truly impressive. At least, if it were them, they would definitely not be as confident as Megumin. They would have to follow the steps and adhere to Takumi's instructions honestly.
Then there was another burst of magic power, shining in all directions. A young man appeared, holding a red longbow and wearing cyan plate armor, smiling as cheerfully as a big boy.
"Servant, Archer, has arrived in compliance with the call. Although I don't have much ability and can only shoot arrows, please give me some advice, Master."
"Oh! It's an Archer. What is your name? I am Megumin, the most powerful magician of the Crimson Magic Clan!" Megumin was quite satisfied with the fact that she had summoned an Archer, and she quickly started to gauge the quality of her servant.
"Are you sure you want to say this in front of so many people?" Archer couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed.
"Arash, the great hero who once divided two countries with one arrow and ended a war. To some extent, he is quite compatible with you." Takumi didn't stay silent; he spoke for the hero and introduced him to Megumin.
Arash looked at Takumi with some surprise and said with a smile: "I am actually recognized? Little brother, you know quite a lot. Но what does it mean to have a high affinity?"
Takumi looked at him with compassion and said, "Because you both specialize in nuclear-level explosions."
Arash's smile suddenly froze.
"Just a reminder, Megumin uses her explosion magic once every day. I wish you good luck."
Arash heard this and looked in horror at Megumin, who was staring at him excitedly. He couldn't help but offer a smile uglier than crying: "Well, if I go back now, is it still too late?"
"It's too late. Just accept your fate."
"No!!!" Arash almost shut himself down on the spot. He finally came to fight a regular battle, but he met a Master who was very dangerous to his survival! What kind of hellish beginning is this!
No longer caring about him, Takumi looked at the remaining three people. "Which of you is next?"
"Let me do it." Flora couldn't wait to join the team. However, her summoning was much more restrained than Megumin's. It was based strictly on Takumi's version.
"Cross the Wheel of Inhibition and appear! Guardian of the Scales!"
There was another bright light, and a gentleman with long, flowing golden hair appeared in the formation.
"Servant, Berserker. Are you the Master who came here and offered your blood to me?"
"Hm?"
"Vlad III, or in other words, the vampire Count Dracula. He is based on the deeds of the impaled archduke who terrified his enemies, extended by the imagination of later generations. But he is just called the Archduke for short."
Takumi once again played the role of the guide. At the same time, he was a little surprised. He didn't expect Flora to actually draw such a rare card. This is not FGO; it is very rare for the Archduke to be summoned in this mad vampire form. He originally thought that Flora would summon Carmilla, a Heroic Spirit related to blood, or Elizabeth in her younger form. But he didn't expect a vampire count would arrive directly.
"So that's it. Are there vampires in this world? It's no wonder." Flora nodded, understanding why she summoned him.
"As a vampire master, this is a novel experience." The Archduke here also accepted the fact that he was summoned by a vampire.
Takumi asked the two of them to step aside first, and then looked at Alice Nakiri and Asuna Yuuki. "Asuna, please go ahead and I'll watch."
Alice Nakiri gave way. Asuna Yuuki did not refuse. She stepped to the front of the formation, first opened the external magic device in her belt bag, filled it with magic crystals, and then started to summon. With the support of the device, she also successfully summoned a spirit.
The light lit up, and a figure appeared in the formation. She had a Saber-face, short pink shoulder-length hair, amber pupils, and wore a pink kimono on top with a red skirt on the bottom. She was a girl with a sword hanging at her side.
Then she spoke with full energy: "Servant, Saber, captain of the Shinsengumi 1st Division, Okita Souji, reporting for duty! Are you my Master?"
"Okita Souji? Why is it a girl again?" Asuna Yuuki looked at the girl opposite her and couldn't help but feel a little confused. She felt that if she stayed in this world, her view of history would be subverted by the time she returned.
"This is really rude. Is there anything wrong with Miss Okita being a girl?" When Okita heard this, she couldn't help complaining and protesting.
"Ah, sorry! I didn't mean that. It was just a bit unexpected." Asuna Yuuki reacted, apologized quickly, and introduced herself: "My name is Asuna Yuuki. Please give me your advice."
"Since it wasn't intentional, I'll forget it. I'd also like to keep a close eye on... cough!" Okita Souji also forgave Asuna, but just as she was about to laugh off her grudges, she suddenly spat out blood. She became so weak that she started to sway.
"Ah? What's wrong? Are you okay?" Asuna Yuuki was startled and quickly stepped forward to help her.
"I'm sorry, Master. I may have to live up to your expectations. Miss Okita is a sickly person, and I may suddenly become ill like this at any time." Okita Souji said with a wry smile.
Asuna Yuuki shook her head and said with a worried look: "That's not important. The important thing is how you feel now. Are you okay?"
"Oh, actually it's not a big deal. I just need to take a rest." Seeing this, Asuna Yuuki took Okita Souji to the side to rest.
Seeing that she was the only one left, Alice Nakiri came to the magic circle without Takumi's reminder and started to summon. As usual, there was light, and then a figure appeared in the formation. She had blonde hair, blue eyes, and a Saber-face. She was not tall, with a figure about the same as Alice Nakiri.
She was covered in a layer of gorgeous gauze, with a red dress looming underneath. It was an opaque and wonderful combination, with two turrets floating next to her. Not only was the skin different, but it was also double-layered!
When Takumi saw this, he couldn't help but have a question mark on his face, a little confused as to what these Heroic Spirits were doing.
"Servant, Caster, Nero Claudius! I come upon this call to cheer for the arrival of my debut!"
Seeing this, Alice Nakiri was also interested. She didn't worry about Nero's identity and cooperated: "Your Majesty is welcome to come."
"Hmm! You are very good. I like you very much. Please give me more advice in the future, Master."
"OK, Your Majesty."
"But then again, are there too many Servants here?" Nero looked at the Heroic Spirits in the room. Counting her, there were five in total. What was going on? Did she come to the wrong set? This isn't actually the Holy Grail War, but a gathering of Heroic Spirits?
"I'd also like to know what's going on." Arash, who had hidden in a corner to reduce his presence and avoid being targeted by Megumin again, silently raised his hand to express that he also wanted to understand.
The Archduke quietly closed his eyes and leaned against the wall without asking anything. The main reason was that Flora was just curious about vampires from another world and had been asking him various questions, which annoyed him. Okita Souji, on the other hand, was lying on the sofa under the care of Asuna Yuuki. She hadn't recovered yet. Artoria stood silently behind Takumi, looking at the four pairs of Masters and Servants with him.
"Ahem." When Takumi saw this, he came over. "Let me explain. Actually, there is something wrong with this Holy Grail War." He spoke about the evil situation in this world and said: "Therefore, it is actually useless to fight this war. You don't have to think about winning; just do whatever you like while you still have time. After the remaining three groups of people have arrived, I will gather everyone together and perform a formality at that time."
"If that's the case, then I'm relieved." Arash nodded and breathed a sigh of relief at the same time. Since he can't fight this time, he doesn't have to worry about using his ultimate Noble Phantasm.
"Boring." The Archduke said lightly, and then he turned into a spiritual body and hid. Because he felt that Flora was really annoying. He didn't know the situation just now, and out of the duty to protect his master, he had endured Flora's entanglement. Now that the situation was clear and the other Heroic Spirits were not enemies, there was no need for him to care about Flora anymore.
"Alas, why is this happening? I still have many questions to ask." Flora couldn't help but feel a little disappointed when she saw that the Archduke had actually escaped. Okita Souji just nodded without saying anything more and accepted the situation by default.
"Hmm! Do you have any ideas about the formality once all the people are gathered?" Nero's eyes lit up. She came over to Takumi and asked a little impatiently.
"Not yet. Do you have any suggestions?" Takumi looked at Nero and vaguely guessed her intent. Speaking of Nero, what would a fan think of first?
"No need to ask! Of course, it's the Nero Festival!" Nero didn't hide anything and said straight to the point: "If you haven't prepared yet, then leave it to me. Regarding celebrations, I am a professional. It's a rare opportunity for heroes from all eras to gather here. It would be a pity to rush it. It's better to let me take care of it and make it an exciting celebration!"
As expected, it's you. Takumi understood in his heart, and then thought about it seriously. It seems there is nothing wrong with leaving this matter to Nero. It makes things even easier, as he doesn't have to worry about the logistics.
"Okay, I'll leave it to you then."
"Hmm! Just leave it to me. I guarantee you will have a memory you will never forget!" Seeing that Takumi agreed, Nero happily accepted.
But hearing her words, Takumi couldn't help but worry... Could she be preparing to sing on stage then? Thinking of Nero's vocal weapon, Takumi couldn't help but feel a little concerned. I hope he was just worrying too much. Otherwise, I can't even imagine that scene.
After that, it was just a matter of waiting for the remaining three Masters to arrive. In the past few days, the four girls also began to get familiar with each other's Heroic Spirits.
The consensus was this:
Megumin's Team:
"My contractor, join me in letting the brightest light in the world bloom!" Megumin took a special magic card from Takumi, which was a necromancy card suitable for Heroic Spirits. She chased after Arash and invited him to go to the daily explosion practice together.
"Don't come over here!" Arash ran away quickly with a look of horror on his face. Megumin's explosion only left her out of power, but his explosion was fatal! Even with necromancy magic that could resurrect the dead on the spot, you still have to experience death first. Why would he look for death?!
Flora's Team:
"Grand Duke, please give me some cooperation. Just let me try one more thing." Flora held various experimental props and looked toward the top of the castle, where the Archduke was hiding in spirit form.
"I won't fall for your tricks again! Give up this idea!" The Archduke sat alone at the top of the castle. No matter what Flora said, he refused to come down. Flora was getting more and more excessive. Originally, she was just asking questions, but she was so persistent that he had answered for a moment. He thought it would be over, but she insisted on his cooperation for an experiment to study the differences between vampires in other worlds. After being tortured for a whole day by her tests, he refused to cooperate in any request except fighting.
Asuna's Team:
Compared with the first two, Asuna Yuuki and Okita Souji were much more harmonious. The two went shopping and bought things together, and cooked and chatted together after returning home, steadily cultivating their relationship. At the same time, Asuna Yuuki also asked Okita Souji for swordsmanship lessons, and Souji was happy to teach her. Therefore, one could often see two beautiful girls wielding swords in the courtyard of the castle, which was a pleasant sight.
Alice Nakiri's Team:
Because Nero had taken over the preparations for the Nero Festival, the two of them had been busy with mysterious plans. After asking Takumi for a mana supply device and magic crystals, they rarely appeared except for meals. But the relationship between Alice Nakiri and Nero became closer. Alice, who has a quirky and lively personality, got along very well with Nero. In addition, with the war cancelled, they just focused on having fun.
As for Takumi himself and Artoria:
Takumi also tried to bond with Artoria, but it didn't go smoothly. Oh, he did see her dressed in the bunny spirit dress, which was very nice... Ahem, the rest is better left unsaid. But after that, there was no more progress. Artoria was willing to let Takumi look, but if he wanted to get closer? She would resist! Even with Takumi's strength, he didn't want to use a Command Seal to force her. That would only cause disgust and prevent him from completing his goal of winning her over. However, Takumi found a breakthrough. Artoria, in her Ruler-class form, actually liked playing cards with him. Whether he won or lost, it increased their intimacy bit by bit.