Or Else, Find Yourselves Another Savior

He crouched down and held out his hand to Sakura. At the same time, Tokiomi prompted Sakura to go over.

"From today onward, I'll be your father." Xi Jianxi found it strange to say those words.

After all, he had somehow gained two daughters before even getting married. It would probably become difficult for him to marry in the future.

"..."

Sakura shrank back slightly and stopped in front of him. Rather than taking Xi Jianxi's hand, she turned back toward Tokiomi with reluctance and confusion in her eyes.

"Go on, Sakura." Tokiomi's resolute voice carried the same reluctance.

At that moment, Karen woke up. Xi Jianxi set Karen down and let her stand on the ground.

Tokiomi had already learned about Karen's circumstances from Father Rin Tohsaka, so he did not ask any further questions.

"Let me formally introduce her. This child's name is Karen, and she's a year younger than you." Xi Jianxi smiled at Sakura. "From today onward, you'll be Karen's big sister, Sakura."

"...Big sister..." Sakura repeated the word.

She unconsciously touched the ribbon by her temple.

It was as if something had lit up her emotions. Her previously dim eyes brightened again, and a shy, delighted blush spread across her face.

Sakura walked over to Karen and took her hand in greeting.

Seeing things proceed so smoothly, Tokiomi could not help smiling in relief.

Afterward, Xi Jianxi left the chapel with Tokiomi and Father Rin Tohsaka, chatting idly in the church courtyard.

"The next Holy Grail War will be in two years, right?" Xi Jianxi brought up the subject that interested him.

Tokiomi nodded. "Yes. However, any Magus who sets foot in Fuyuki will more or less receive the Grail's summons and obtain Command Spells."

"Unfortunately, there are still no traces of anything resembling Command Spells on me." Xi Jianxi raised his hand, showing them the flawless back of it as though proving his innocence.

He truly had not received Command Spells yet. He did not know whether it was related to his mindset, or whether the Grail was waiting for something.

Tokiomi made a joke. "Then at least I can assume that Mr. Xi Jianxi will not become my opponent in this Holy Grail War. That would be quite troublesome."

"It's too early to say that." Father Rin Tohsaka held a different opinion. "Mr. Xi Jianxi will settle down in Fuyuki. Until the Holy Grail War begins, there remains the possibility that he may obtain Command Spells."

Xi Jianxi looked rather surprised. "Then if I truly obtain Command Spells and become Mr. Tohsaka's opponent in the Holy Grail War..."

"Then we shall stake our honor as Magi and determine the victor." Tokiomi's expression shifted from that of a father to that of a Magus.

"But—" Xi Jianxi looked toward Sakura and Karen, who were playing on the grass. "How about this? Let us make a gentleman's agreement. If Mr. Tohsaka and I are forced to become enemies in the Holy Grail War, we will only fight until a victor is decided and will not plot against each other's lives."

Tokiomi understood Xi Jianxi's meaning. After thinking it over briefly, he made that gentleman's agreement with Xi Jianxi under Rin Tohsaka's witness.

Later, since Tokiomi and Father Rin Tohsaka still had other matters to discuss, Xi Jianxi drove Karen and Sakura away from the church first.

Just as he sat in the driver's seat and placed his hands on the steering wheel, a burning pain surged through him.

Xi Jianxi saw three separate yet interconnected patterns filled with magical power appear on the back of his left hand.

Command Spells.

Did they think the mission was over just because he had adopted Sakura Tohsaka?

How could that be? Mission objective updated: Participate in the Fourth Holy Grail War.

Struggle as hideously as you please until your final moment, rookie Magus who walked out of the Shadow Realm.

Chapter 2: Heroic Spirit Summoning

"Wake up, wake up, Dad?"

On a winter morning, even with the heater on inside the room, no one wanted to wake up and crawl out from beneath the blankets.

Xi Jianxi curled up under the covers, feeling a small force shake his bedding as someone softly urged him to wake up.

"Don't you have school today... Why are you up so early, Sakura...?"

Pulling aside the covers that hid his face, Xi Jianxi opened one eye and looked sleepily at the girl.

Sakura Tohsaka... Or rather, she should now be called Sakura Xi Jianxi.

Two years had passed since he adopted Sakura from Tokiomi Tohsaka, and her surname had long since been changed.

Compared to her initial timidity, after settling down in Fuyuki and spending every day with him, Sakura had gradually accepted that she had become his daughter.

The fact that she now dared to run into his room on winter mornings and wake Xi Jianxi from his lazy sleep proved that Sakura had grown accustomed to living in the Xi Jianxi household.

"But it's already noon!" Sakura explained, sounding both excited and nervous. "And I finished the homework you gave me, Dad."

Xi Jianxi immediately woke up a little more. He sat up from beneath the covers, rubbed his messy hair, and looked at Sakura standing beside the bed.

Homework.

It was not schoolwork, but the knowledge and abilities Xi Jianxi had taught Sakura that were required of a Magus.

The past two years in Fuyuki had been remarkably peaceful. Raising two children while living without worries over food or clothing had made Xi Jianxi somewhat lazy.

He could cook, do housework, and drive Sakura and Karen to and from school, but sleeping in on days off had become a brand-new tradition in the Xi Jianxi household.

At least Karen had integrated perfectly into that tradition. Sakura had not yet.

And the homework Xi Jianxi had recently assigned Sakura was to use magical materials in his workshop to draw the summoning circle needed for the Holy Grail War that would soon begin.

"Ah... Right. It's about time to begin summoning a Heroic Spirit and have a Servant descend." Xi Jianxi took a deep breath, using the cold winter air to wake both body and mind. "Then let me see Sakura's homework and give it a grade."

Sakura was delighted to see Xi Jianxi awake. After nodding in agreement, she ran out.

After washing up and eating lunch, he took Sakura to the magecraft workshop beneath the house.

Karen was only five years old, younger than Sakura, and she did not possess Sakura's exceptional talent as a Magus. Xi Jianxi planned to wait until Karen was a little older before teaching her about Magi and the Holy Church.

"Actually, Dad, I've already memorized how to use the Runes you taught me." As they went down the stairs, Sakura happily told Xi Jianxi.

"Oh? That's truly impressive. Once you become a little more proficient, I can teach you about the Primal Runes." Xi Jianxi smiled knowingly.

"Primal Runes..." Sakura repeated the words and tried to recall what she knew. "Were they something your teacher... taught you, Dad?"

Sakura already knew that they differed somewhat from the Runes used by modern Magi.

They were the magecraft foundation discovered by Odin, the great god of Norse mythology.

"That's right." Xi Jianxi placed his hand on the stone door, and it opened in response.

Primal Runes.

Xi Jianxi had never expected that the place where he had first ended up would be the Shadow Realm, known as a foreign realm and a realm of demons.

It was probably

a test given to him by the 'system,' forcing him to try surviving in such a place.

Then, without realizing it, Xi Jianxi had managed to do so. When he was on the verge of death, he met the queen of that place—Scathach.

She accepted him as a warrior and taught him.

Xi Jianxi did not know how much time had passed since then, nor could he calculate his own age.

In the end, as a compromise, he counted the year he entered the Mage's Association as the year he turned eighteen.

"Dad, tell me that story again sometime, okay?" Sakura raised the lantern, trying to illuminate the darkness of the underground workshop. "It's so dark down here."

"Have you forgotten what you should do again?" Xi Jianxi asked.

Sakura seemed to suddenly remember. "Oh, right."

She held out her hand and gathered magical power at her fingertips, trying to snap her fingers and activate the lights.

But after several attempts, she still could not make a snapping sound.

Seeing Sakura begin to look dejected, Xi Jianxi suppressed the urge to laugh and snapped his fingers. The magic crystals installed throughout the workshop lit up with pale blue radiance, illuminating the entire room.

Xi Jianxi could clearly see the pattern on the floor. It was the summoning circle needed for a Master to perform the summoning ritual.

"That story?" Xi Jianxi asked Sakura while crouching down to carefully inspect whether the summoning circle was complete.

Sakura nodded. "The myth about Odin, the great Norse god, sacrificing himself to obtain the Primal Runes."

"Didn't I tell you and Karen about it before you went to sleep that time?" Xi Jianxi asked in confusion.

"I want to hear it again." Sakura made an adorable plea.

"Then I'll tell it again, but not tonight." Xi Jianxi said, "Tonight, we'll conduct the summoning ritual. Sakura, you can either go to sleep first or come watch the Heroic Spirit summoning ritual."

Sakura tilted her head and thought for a moment. "I want to watch."

"Then go back and take a nap now. Wake up again in the evening." Xi Jianxi stood up. "I still need to make some preparations."

"Okay."

Although she could occasionally be a little willful, Sakura was actually very obedient to Xi Jianxi.

Even at her young age, she could understand that her new father cared for and cherished her. Therefore, no matter what Xi Jianxi said, Sakura was willing to do it.

After setting down the lantern, Sakura prepared to turn around and leave the workshop. Only after climbing the stairs did she remember there was still something she had not asked.

"Dad... You still haven't graded it."

Xi Jianxi was also taken aback. He gave an OK sign. "Do you even need to ask? Of course it's full marks."

Sakura happily ran out.

Only after watching Sakura leave the workshop did Xi Jianxi stand up and glare irritably at the summoning circle.

He truly wanted to forget about the Holy Grail War and slack off completely.

But whether it was the Command Spells that had been clearly visible on the back of his left hand from the very beginning, or the 'system,' which had reminded him every day since a month ago as though urging him to his death, it was even more relentless than a loan shark collecting high-interest debts.

"Shit! Fine, I'll do it!"

Xi Jianxi viciously cursed at the invisible 'system.'

There was neither much nor little preparation to do. Before long, it was deep into the night, time for the summoning ritual.

"By the way, Dad, don't you need to prepare a catalyst for the summoning?" Sakura asked Xi Jianxi.

"No... I thought it over carefully. I still want to prioritize the compatibility between Servant and Master, then add the incantation for Madness Enhancement and summon the Berserker most suitable for me and easiest to control."

And as a trump card, unknown to the Mage's Association, he possessed eighteen truly complete Primal Runes, unlike the few analyzed by Touko Aozaki—eighteen that had originally vanished in the Age of Gods.

Using magecraft on the level of the Age of Gods to support the summoning of the Berserker most compatible with him without relying on a catalyst, Xi Jianxi's tactics and strategy were already clear.

"It's time, Sakura. Step back against the wall."

"Okay."

At Xi Jianxi's reminder, Sakura stepped back against the wall to watch the ritual.

She had personally helped Xi Jianxi draw that summoning circle, and Sakura had memorized the sequence after doing it only once.

Within the erasure was retreat. After drawing four retreating circles, they had to be enclosed within the summoning circle. The order could not be wrong.

Xi Jianxi extended his left hand, marked with Command Spells, and recited the incantation:

"Let silver and iron be the foundation. Let stone and the Archduke of Contracts be the cornerstone.

Let my ancestor be my teacher, Scathach."

He added his teacher's name to the summoning incantation to increase the Heroic Spirit's recognition and ensure that he summoned a sufficiently powerful Servant.

A similar example was the Tohsaka Family mentioning the Marshal of Magecraft during their summoning, Zelretch Schweinorg, the teacher of their ancestor.

"Let the wall rise against the wind that arrives. Let the four gates close. Come forth from the crown.

And cycle again and again upon the three-forked road leading to the kingdom.

Close off. Fill. Close off. Fill. Close off. Fill. Close off. Fill. Close off. Fill.

Repeat this five times.

Yet when filled, cast it aside.

—I hereby declare.

Your body shall serve beneath mine, and my fate shall be bound to your sword.

If you heed the Grail's call, if you obey this will and this reason, then answer!

I swear here.

I shall be the one who accomplishes all good in this world.