"Alright, from now on, as long as a Master performs a Heroic Spirit summoning, if their relic holds the concept of 'valuable items' like gemstones or gold, or if they lack a relic altogether, that guy will be the one summoned."
Medea withdrew her hand from the great leyline, confidently reporting her success to Jiang You.
As a Duel Spirit, Medea couldn't have her own deck, but as the first to appear, she could still find other ways to meet familiar faces.
"That fast?"
Jiang You had expected the Holy Grail ritual analysis to take a while—he'd even stationed Hundred-Faces outside the hall as a lookout. Yet, in just a few minutes, Medea had already completed it.
"Of course. While the core of this ritual is interesting, it was still constructed by modern magi of this era. For me, deciphering it is as effortless as breathing."
As a mage from the Age of Gods, Medea may not have left behind any grand achievements, but compared to modern magi who had never touched the Root, she was on an entirely different level.
"Besides, the materials you provided match the core composition of this ritual exactly."
Medea toyed with the artifact of the Third Magic—something exceedingly rare, even in the Age of Gods.
"So, what era's Heroic Spirit are you exactly? You possess Noble Phantasms beyond the ordinary, casually produce such precious artifacts, and despite manifesting as a Caster, you lack any understanding of both ancient and modern magecraft."
As expected, Medea was curious about Jiang You's origins. Magi, after all, were naturally inquisitive creatures.
Jiang You had no way to answer her. His true name didn't even exist in the history of the Moonlit World. He had even tried calling out "Atum" while holding the blank card he had received as an event reward—nothing happened. He had no idea how to use it.
Seeing his hesitation, Medea was both intrigued and slightly dissatisfied. However, given her status as Jiang You's Duel Spirit, even if she wanted to rebel, she couldn't harm him.
"If you don't wish to say, I won't pry. However, I discovered something else while analyzing the summoning ritual—Assassin's class is still vacant. Meaning, your Servant, Miss Hundred-Faces, isn't actually part of this ritual. What a pity—if the vacant spot had been Caster, things would have been even more interesting."
"She isn't?"
Jiang You looked at the female core of Hundred-Faces, who had been following him as a relay unit. Seeing his Command Seals fully restored, he had assumed that she had been officially summoned. Having an expert for advice was definitely beneficial.
"So, what does that mean?"
"Exactly what you're thinking. Since you possess Command Seals recognized by the Holy Grail, we can exploit the system and summon another Assassin-class Servant connected to Miss Hundred-Faces. Fascinating, isn't it? Adding this new Servant to the ones you've already summoned—Lancelot and myself—we now have five Servants while only occupying two class slots."
Medea immediately began carving a summoning circle. Thanks to Jiang You's direct possession of Command Seals, she didn't even need to circumvent the Holy Grail to perform a cheating summon.
"Even if all the enemy Servants oppose us, in a 5v5 battle, we already have an overwhelming advantage. Congratulations, my Lord—you practically have the Holy Grail in your grasp."
"If they all oppose us, it'd actually be 5v6. There's still a leftover Servant from ten years ago."
Jiang You thought of this timeline's Gilgamesh. After being incarnated by the black mud, this Gilgamesh was arguably the most vile of all versions of himself.
"A Servant from ten years ago? The Holy Grail War only started recently, and given the enormous mana requirements of a Servant, sustaining one for ten years would demand an absurd amount of magical energy."
Medea's remark reminded Jiang You—according to the original story, the church's basement held a number of children kidnapped by Kirei Kotomine to serve as "batteries" for sustaining Gilgamesh's mana.
Back then, Gilgamesh and Kotomine were clearly written as villains, so their committing atrocities wasn't surprising.
However, considering the later expansion of the lore, with Gilgamesh's incarnated state and the vast reserves in his treasury, he theoretically wouldn't need these "batteries" at all. This was another discrepancy, much like what had happened with Jason and Medea.
Jiang You decided to investigate Fuyuki Church after capturing the human trafficking ringleader. However, given the deck strength of Hassan cards, his direct attack power was too low to secure victory in a single turn. Against Gilgamesh, who had cards resembling [Monster Reborn] to revive himself, he would be at a disadvantage. He needed to gather more cards—part of his in-game growth.
Fortunately, since Gilgamesh wasn't an official participant, he wouldn't be forced into a duel. Medea could assist Lancelot in holding him back.
"Alright, have you decided which Hassan to summon?"
Medea worked quickly. With her mastery of magecraft, she had the summoning ritual prepared in just a few strokes.
"If possible, I'd naturally want to summon that esteemed individual, but I doubt that's possible."
Jiang You took out the mask originally belonging to Hundred-Faces. As the symbol of the Hassan-i-Sabbah lineage, it was a fitting catalyst.
"Let's see who we get."
Darkness, like a living liquid, flowed across the summoning circle's markings. It weaved through the mysterious symbols, coalescing and gradually forming a human shape.
"Hassan-i-Sabbah answers the call. As per your will, I am here."
Standing within the summoning circle was a small-framed Hassan with strikingly bright violet hair.
"Hassan of Serenity, huh?"
Hundred-Faces immediately recognized this former leader of the Order of Assassins. With the guild's distinctive ritual, she solemnly performed a deep bow—a gesture of utmost reverence. "I am the Nineteenth Hassan-i-Sabbah, Hundred-Faces. It is my greatest honor to meet you, my lord!"
"…No, the honor… is mine."
Serenity swiftly returned the gesture with a polite bow of her own. If not for the mask obscuring her face, her gentle demeanor and reserved posture could have easily led one to mistake her for an ordinary, bashful girl. And yet, this seemingly unassuming young woman had once been the fearsome leader of the fabled "Old Man of the Mountain."
"I will serve you, Master. You are my lord. However… please be careful… not to touch me."
Her movements displayed the perfect balance of respect—neither overly familiar nor excessively distant. She carefully maintained a safe distance, ensuring that she could demonstrate her reverence toward Jiang You without unnecessary physical contact.
"Even if you say that…"
Jiang You understood Serenity's nature, but he still wanted to test the situation. After all, if she could be physically touched, she was one of the easiest Servants to win over.
[Hassan of Serenity has initiated a Duel Challenge. Accept?][Duel/Battle]
"As expected… but I feel like there's another way."
Jiang You grasped Serenity's hand and waited for the countdown to end before withdrawing and selecting "Battle."
Before Serenity could even process her emotions, Jiang You immediately issued another Duel Challenge. From his previous fight with Gilgamesh, he had learned that as long as the opponent accepted, duels could be initiated repeatedly.
"…?"
"Hold on, in one minute, accept the battle again."
"…!!!"
And so, Jiang You successfully obtained a large number of Serenity's cards.