In a dark basement, two men were setting something up.
Due to the dim lighting, it was difficult to discern what they were doing at first glance, but with the faint light from surrounding candles, one could vaguely make out what appeared to be a silver-white magic circle on the ground, almost like some kind of cult ritual.
If some offerings were arranged, such as human heads or internal organs, then it could truly be said to be a cult scene.
"Everything needed for the summoning ritual is ready, Kirei." One of the refined men, named Tokiomi, confirmed this before approaching the summoning circle.
Seeing that Tokiomi seemed ready to perform the summoning, the man named Kirei, standing nearby, appropriately stepped back a few paces.
"Finally, the moment has come. The Holy Relic is also ready." Tokiomi smiled and stroked the several Holy Marks on the back of his right hand, looking at the small box placed on a small altar not far away. "The time is just right."
He had waited for this day for far too long. Now, as long as he summoned Hero King Gilgamesh with this most precious Holy Relic, he would surely win the Holy Grail, and then peering into the Root would no longer be an impossible feat.
Foolproof! This was his assessment of this summoning.
Tokiomi calmly extended his right hand towards the silver-white summoning circle, placing his left hand on his right arm, and chanted loudly:
"Its base is silver and iron."
"Its foundation is stone and the great duke of contracts."
"Its ancestor is my teacher, Schweinorg."
"The wind descends from heaven to form a wall, the gates open in four directions and all are closed."
"From the crown it emerges, to circle repeatedly at the three-way crossroads leading to the kingdom."
"Declare—"
Pure white light manifested from every line of the summoning circle. At the same moment, the Holy Marks on the back of Tokiomi's right hand also emitted a faint, subtle glow.
"Thy body shall obey my command, my fate shall be with thy sword."
"In response to the Holy Grail's call, if you are willing to follow this will, this reason, then respond."
"Here I swear."
"I shall achieve all good in the world, I shall eliminate all evil in the world."
"Thou, clad in the Seven Heavens of the Three Great Command Spells, come from the Wheel of Inhibition, the Guardian of the Scales!"
The white light suddenly intensified at this moment, instantly engulfing the basement, forcing the two men present to squint slightly, unable to clearly see the situation before them.
However, this white light came quickly and left quickly. After a mere two or three seconds, the light vanished without a trace in a blur.
And in the center of the summoning circle, a slender figure appeared.
"Servant Saber, I have come forth in response to your summon." A golden-haired, blue-eyed girl in silver-white armor said to Tokiomi, "I ask, are you my Master!"
"..." Tokiomi remained silent for a long time, looking at the girl before him.
No matter how he looked at her, she had absolutely no relation to the world's oldest Hero King Gilgamesh, right?
His first thought was to check his right hand. Command Spells had indeed appeared on it, meaning this Servant was indeed summoned by him.
Tokiomi then walked to the stand where the Holy Relic was placed, grabbed the small box containing the Holy Relic, opened it, and confirmed that it was indeed the world's oldest snakeskin he had prepared; it had not been swapped.
Tokiomi looked back at Saber, who was looking at him in confusion, then at the shed snake skin in his hand. Sadness welled up in his heart. "Did I… buy a fake?"
The same thing was happening elsewhere.
In an ancient castle in Germany, a man in a black trench coat had just completed his summoning.
As the dazzling light from the summoning circle gradually faded, a man with long white hair appeared before him, holding something resembling a staff.
"Kiritsugu, is this… King Arthur?" Irisviel stood behind Kiritsugu, looking at the white-haired man summoned from the magic circle, asking with uncertainty.
No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't connect the person holding a staff in front of her with the legendary King of Knights, Arthur Pendragon.
Before Kiritsugu could respond, the white-haired man spoke first, "I am certainly not King Arthur."
"Then who are you?" Kiritsugu asked upon hearing him, "Introduce yourself."
"I am Merlin, known as the Flower Mage, and also the Merlin who assisted King Arthur. No need to be polite, just call me Merlin." As he spoke, Merlin tapped the ground with the staff in his right hand, and a circle of glowing flowers bloomed at his feet.
"Did the summoning go wrong? I actually summoned King Arthur's court mage." Kiritsugu took a puff from his cigarette, thinking on the bright side, "But it doesn't matter, as long as he can fight."
"Ahaha, this Master is quite a joker."
Merlin chuckled, rubbing the back of his head with his left hand, and then said with extreme confidence, "No joke, besides being first-rate at escaping and preserving my life, I'm a completely unrecyclable waste when it comes to combat!"
"…Kiritsugu, can Servants be returned?" Hearing Merlin's thoughtless words, Irisviel couldn't help but lean into Kiritsugu's ear and whisper, asking.
——————
Back in Fuyuki, the sky had already completely darkened.
It was only then that Haku and Tom finally found a temporary base, or rather, a place to stay. To sound more impressive, calling it a magical workshop wasn't out of the question.
It was a single-family home that hadn't been lived in for at least 20 years. Just observing it from the window gave off a rather terrifying feeling, making one wonder if there were ghosts living inside.
However, Haku didn't have much of a problem with this. After all, he used to work part-time at a haunted house, so his courage wasn't small.
Even if he got scared, wouldn't Tom be there to take the damage for him?
Honestly, Haku was originally planning to smash a window to get in, but before he could execute it, he suddenly remembered that Tom should be able to squeeze through a door crack. Although he would temporarily turn into a flat sheet, a quick scene change would restore him to normal.
However… when Tom heard this request, he immediately curled into a ball out of fear.
"Hey… Tom, why are you hugging my leg?" Haku looked at Tom, who was hugging his calf with all four paws and his tail, and tried to pull Tom off with a bewildered expression. "Tom, what are you doing, Tom?"
No matter how Haku tried to pull Tom off, it had no effect. Instead, Tom's limbs became as soft as octopus tentacles, wrapping around Haku's calf like ropes.