Lancer.
One of the three Knight classes in the Holy Grail War, characterized by generally having abysmal E-rank Luck.
In the Fifth Holy Grail War, which is the classic inaugural work of the Fate series, FSN, the protagonist Emiya Shirou also stumbled upon triggering the Heroic Spirit summoning circle while being chased by Lancer, thereby summoning the Saber, King Arthur.
Suke didn't know what Fujimaru Ritsuka, who possessed the same hair color as Emiya Shirou and was likewise being chased by Lancer, would summon.
After clearly seeing the Shadow Servant Lancer, Cu Chulainn, wrapped in black mist, chasing closely after Fujimaru Ritsuka from behind the collapsed wall...
Rather than being astonished, Suke's first reaction was to immediately look around, paranoidly confirming there were no other strong enemies hiding behind the scenes.
"Ritsuka, is that blue lancer the guy you mentioned chasing you?"
"That's him! Ireland's Child of Light, Cu Chulainn! Don't you recognize him too, Boss?!"
"No, I thought it was Albion. Scared me for a second."
"Albion?"
But clearly, the result disappointed Suke greatly.
Facing Gudako's confused gaze behind him, aside from the Cu Chulainn before him, he didn't discover any other enemies. No, he shouldn't put it that way; he wasn't a masochist.
Suke just didn't know how to describe it.
Wait, this is it?
Clang!
Drawing the Galaxy Sword, he casually extended it to block the thrusting Gae Bolg demonic spear.
Suke followed up with a horizontal sweep, directly bending the tip of Gae Bolg and sending the spear-wielder, Cu Chulainn, flying back ten meters from the shock.
This Shadow Servant Lancer chasing Gudako obviously hadn't reacted to what happened in that brief exchange. He had intended to reset his stance, but froze after seeing the Gae Bolg in his hand with its tip bent halfway.
He revealed a trace of doubt that a ruthless Shadow Servant shouldn't possess.
Lancer: ?
If he remembered correctly, Gae Bolg was his Noble Phantasm, and also a divine artifact bestowed by the Queen of the Land of Shadows, right?
Could it be that he grabbed a paper-mache one by mistake when he came down from the Throne of Heroes?
"Ritsuka, I have to say, you're a bit embarrassing."
Glancing at 'Old Yuki' who was still refurbishing the summoning circle, Suke looked at Gudako with some disdain:
"You, a dignified Cause-rank Magus, being chased around by an initial version of Old Cu... are you worthy of your title as the Chaldean Emperor?"
"Hey, hey, what do you mean, Boss? Who is the Chaldean Emperor? Haven't I just not summoned a Servant yet?!"
Although she didn't understand what Suke meant by 'Old Cu', Fujimaru Ritsuka still roughly understood Suke's sarcasm towards her.
"My Cause-rank Magus status is entirely an honorary title! It's not like I haven't told you, Boss, that I don't know any magecraft... Also, that Lancer is the Child of Light, Cu Chulainn, from Celtic mythology! He's a solid first-rate Servant, okay?!"
First-rate?
Oh right, it seems he really is first-rate.
Looking at the red-faced Gudako, Suke indeed recalled something. The correlation between Servant combat power and star rating in FGO didn't seem to be very large.
Look, this is the downside of giving up the 'rabbit head' (meta-knowledge/guides).
Having watched too many high-end plays in top-tier matches every day, he had truly started to believe he had purely relied on being a 'kept man' to get by.
Suke looked again at Cu Chulainn, who looked somewhat comical holding the bent demonic spear. Although he didn't know why Cu was in the form of a Shadow Servant, for the first time, he felt that the other party's simple and honest face was so affectionate.
My goodness.
BB actually didn't add any custom mods!
You have to know, when Suke saw 'Old Yuki' pop out of the summoning circle as a Pretender, his heart had skipped a beat for a second.
He had this illusion that the Servants summoned by others would all be monsters and demons.
Lancer Albion, Saber Logres, Archer Tiamat... these were the imaginary enemies Suke had preset.
A scene of 'vigorous vitality, all things competing for freedom' was about to unfold before his eyes!
After all, this wasn't the pseudo-Holy Grail with limited carrying capacity in the real Fuyuki City, but BB's Simulated Universe. It wouldn't be strange for her to pull any stunt.
It seems he misunderstood BB. After he goes back, he must reward her fiercely!
"Um, Little Cu, although I don't know if you can understand."
"Come on, activate your Noble Phantasm directly. Otherwise, I'm afraid you won't get the chance. You don't want to be kicked to death like a dog on the roadside, do you?"
Suke crooked his finger at Cu Chulainn. This extremely provocative act caused Lancer to fly into a rage on the spot!
A hero can be defeated, but never humiliated!
Although he could understand Human Order taking away his original Spirit Origin and downgrading him to a Shadow Servant level Spirit Origin to fight against the great enemy, even so, he wasn't a pushov—
Snap!
A purple sword light flashed. Before Cu Chulainn could unleash his Noble Phantasm, he felt the spirit core in his heart pierced straight through by the Galaxy Sword!
"?!"
"Lied to you. You'd be a dead dog on the roadside even if you used it."
"So better not use it, it wastes my time for opening Servant blind boxes... Oh right, you belong to the dog sign anyway, so these words don't really count as an attack on you."
Suke kicked away Lancer's dissipating Servant body, put the Galaxy Sword back into his backpack, and dusted off his hands.
One must know that previously in the Deep Sea Cyber Paradise, Cu Chulainn belonged to the type of minion cleared out by a single AOE blast from 'Old Yuki', not even having time to say a fierce line.
"So amazing, Animus~"
Pretender, having finished refurbishing the summoning circle, clapped her hands in praise from the side.
Suke: "..."
How should he put it? He naturally knew Pretender wasn't being sarcastic.
But these words coming from her mouth gave him the feeling of a mother encouraging a child learning to walk.
If you don't know how to praise, you don't have to praise, okay!
"Hmm?"
"Little Yuki, where is your hat?"
But immediately after, Suke felt something was wrong.
Turning his head to look towards the old storehouse, he saw that Pretender's 'main body' (the hat) was gone. Her recognizability instantly dropped a level.
Looking from a distance, one might estimate she was the Anastasia from the neighboring Lostbelt.
"I lent it to Little Fujimaru," Pretender blinked.
"She said that in order to summon some powerful Servants, she must have a Holy Relic, so she borrowed my hat to use for a bit."
"?"
No, wait, didn't you tell her you are also a Servant?
Using a Servant's item to summon a Servant—what on earth do you want to summon?
Wait, the main point isn't this. Do you not have hands and feet to draw it yourself? Using his summoning circle to summon your Servant!
Taking three steps as two, he ran to the side of Fujimaru Ritsuka, who had already started the Heroic Spirit summoning ritual. As expected of the Chaldean Master who frantically clicks ten-pulls, the chanting was fast!
"Ooooh!!!"
"Boss, I got a single pull rainbow!"
Dog barking?
In the next moment, the magical energy sphere spinning on the Heroic Spirit summoning circle burst with brilliance. Even five-colored halos like fluttering butterflies appeared, leaving Suke confused.
He thought those were just game effects; turns out they exist in reality too?!
No, this place doesn't seem to be reality; it's the Simulated Universe.
He can't tell the difference, he really can't tell!
"Huu... ah, so sleepy..."
"Ruler... coming in response to the Lord's revelation... What kind of troublesome job requires a figure of my level to head out..."
A petite girl wearing a casual shirt, her two small feet in white socks resting ungracefully on a floating table, and sporting a village-girl style blonde braid appeared in the summoning circle.
Of course, there was also the marble chair covered with soft sofa cushions she was sitting on.
That familiar face also allowed Fujimaru Ritsuka to immediately recognize who the other party was.
Jeanne d'Arc.
The Saint of France, the self-destructing truck of the Moon World, the one whose facial features were similar to Artoria.
The other party's age looked quite a bit younger than the normal Spirit Origin Jeanne d'Arc, completely appearing as a loli.
Her appearance also had a trace of subtle incongruity, such as the headphones on her head she hadn't taken off in time, and a look of not being fully awake, along with the chair that was summoned together with her for some reason.
However, Fujimaru Ritsuka didn't mind.
"Jeanne? Turns out you can summon a Ruler? That's not bad!"
Battle-hardened in Chaldea, she had seen plenty of all kinds of strange Servants.
Although she looked just like a loli, being associated with that Saint Jeanne, she shouldn't be weak no matter what!
"But looking at this appearance, could it be Jeanne Lily? Does Jeanne even have such a subspecies Spirit Origin?"
Fujimaru Ritsuka searched through her knowledge, which could only be described as impoverished compared to Mash, in her mind, defining the other party as a Jeanne who hadn't grown up yet.
Although she didn't look very reliable, the class was Ruler, and she was the renowned Crimson Saint.
She should count as having drawn a good card, right?
"Which one of you is my Master... uh, looks... looks completely like an ordinary human. I can't feel any faith either."
"That's not right. I remember seeing the guy who summoned me before I came down was clearly a man dressed as a priest, muttering something about letting me come down to reclaim the Lord's glory..."
The loli 'Jeanne', lying on the sofa cushions, took off her headphones. Her lazy gaze first looked at Fujimaru Ritsuka, whose aura was connected to hers as a Master. After carefully looking her over, she found there didn't seem to be anything special.
She felt she had gone to the wrong place. But can Heroic Spirit summoning be intercepted halfway?
Could it be that because she just woke up, her mind wasn't clear, and she answered the wrong person's summons?
Sigh, in this regard, heaven just can't compare to the Throne of Heroes; everything requires manual operation...
"...Hmm?"
But immediately after, 'Jeanne's' lazy gaze landed on the man and woman standing beside Fujimaru Ritsuka, and she froze.
The expressions of these two people were different.
The man was looking at her as if he had seen a ghost, muttering something about "jumping down the mine elevator shaft as soon as I get back".
The woman was smiling at her.
'Jeanne', who was lazily lying on the sofa cushion chair, sat up slightly straight and rubbed her eyes, suspecting she was hallucinating.
What did she see?
She actually saw her Boss, whom she had never met and who hadn't come to check the post for who knows how long.
Does this make sense?
What a ghost story. It must be that she stayed up late watching live streams last night, leading to sleep deprivation and hallucinations.
...Haha, it must be a hallucination, right?
"Tell me about your Class Skills and Noble Phantasm, Jeanne."
"Although I already know enough about you, as an excellent Master, I should ensure nothing goes wrong! What is the difference between this Spirit Origin and your normal Spirit Origin?"
Gudako threw a confident look at Suke, who was doubting life, signaling that she would handle everything next and carry him to victory.
She was, after all, the most excellent Master in human history according to Mash and the others. In the past, she only needed others' protection because she didn't have Servants.
Now that she had a Servant, wouldn't she be slaying left and right?
As long as the Servant wasn't a disposable item like Arash!
"Lo... oh no, Boss!"
But what happened next exceeded Fujimaru Ritsuka's expectations.
"Haha, why are you here, Sir? You didn't even notify us in advance?"
"I was saying, why was that guy Gabriel blowing the trumpet at the door all day today? Turns out you came back!"
The Ruler-class 'Jeanne' she summoned ignored her.
"Look at how tired you are standing, Sir. Come, sit, sit, sit!"
"Oh my, I was wondering why I didn't see a Holy Relic. It turns out you used your... Here, you keep it safe, don't get it dirty!"
The loli Orleans village girl stood at attention!
'Jeanne' flipped up from the sofa cushion chair she was sitting on with a thud, hurriedly wanting to dismantle the sofa cushion from the chair.
But after thinking about it, 'Jeanne' put the soft cushion back and respectfully made a 'please' gesture to Pretender.
She also incidentally returned the sun hat that served as the 'Holy Relic' to Pretender.
Fujimaru Ritsuka: "?"
Fujimaru Ritsuka couldn't quite understand. Is this Jeanne? Why does it feel weird somewhere?
Ruler class, Jeanne face—it should be Jeanne, right.
"Boss, she is..."
Gudako looked at Suke with pleading eyes. Although she didn't know why Suke knew more about Heroic Spirits than she, the savior of Human Order, Mash wasn't here so she had nowhere else to ask.
"She is Metatron. The Archangel, Scribe of God, recorded in the Biblical Apocrypha, the Book of Enoch."
"You weren't wrong; you indeed drew a good card. However... it's hard for me to say."
Looking at Pretender being respectfully invited onto the throne by Ruler, Suke kept a straight face as he explained to Gudako.
Metatron Jeanne.
Known as 'No Conscience Mei, Fairness Jeanne'.
Even more 'Jeanne Fair' than the love-struck Jeanne in FA.
An Archangel manifesting in Jeanne's shell. In terms of strength, she had a beauty where summoning her in an ordinary Holy Grail War would mean you could directly be declared the winner.
Provided she listens to your orders.
"The Archangel in the Bible?!!"
Gudako automatically ignored the word 'Apocrypha' Suke mentioned, her eyes lighting up:
"Haha, then haven't I definitely won this Holy Grail War competition? The chance to grant a wish is in the bag!"
"Sigh, really. If I could summon her in Chaldea too, what would that Goetia count for?"
"Of course, before clearing out the other contestants, I'll keep covering you, Boss!"
"Boss, you probably haven't summoned a Servant yet, right? I think you don't need to summon any Servant anymore. Why not just transfer the Command Spells to me, and let me, this strongest Master, carry you to fly..."
As the saying goes, give her a little sunshine and she beams; give her a little rain and she floods.
This phrase couldn't be more appropriate to describe Gudako.
In a sense, she was quite a match for 'Mei-Jeanne', who was currently expressing flattery to Pretender sitting elegantly on the throne to cover up her own guilty conscience.
"Ritsuka, did I tell you that Little Yuki is also a 'Servant' here?"
"Her class is Pretender. I don't know if you've heard of it, but that's the fact."
Suke ruthlessly shattered Fujimaru Ritsuka's fantasy.
Actually, intuitively, he felt that Pretender's stats were far inferior to Ruler's, but what did he say earlier? Something about the Heavenly Emperor's fruit of the path.
"Huh? Miss Tsukishiro Yuki is a Servant?"
Hearing Suke's words, Fujimaru Ritsuka, who was ready to deliver her victory speech, had her smile freeze on her face.
She turned her head to look at Metatron Jeanne, who clearly as a Servant was not communicating with her, the Master, but was instead single-mindedly sucking up to Pretender on the throne, and finally realized something was wrong.
Wait, what happened to the fair competition of the Simulated Universe Holy Grail War?
What do you mean the head coach has finished warming up and entered the field!!!
____
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