"That guy's a Servant, right!?"
Clinging tightly to the black wolf beneath her, Olga Marie shouted at Luo Zhen as the wolf carried her away from the battlefield.
"Why is there a Servant here!?"
Olga Marie's question was perfectly understandable.
Even Chaldea had only managed to summon Servants three times. For a Servant to appear in this Fuyuki City of 2004 was completely abnormal.
Faced with Olga Marie's question, Luo Zhen merely curled his lips.
"Didn't I tell you that we were attacked by a Servant immediately after being transferred here via Spiritron Transfer?"
Those words earned him Olga Marie's fury.
"You never told me that!"
Olga Marie shouted angrily.
Although Mashu had told Olga Marie why she had become a Pseudo-Servant and mentioned that the two of them had been attacked, she had never explained that their attacker was a Servant.
To that, Luo Zhen had only one thing to say.
"Even if I didn't tell you, couldn't you have figured it out?"
Luo Zhen did not look toward Olga Marie. He simply urged his Familiars onward as he spoke.
"It was a product of the 'Holy Grail War.'"
Those words made Olga Marie's eyes widen.
----The 'Holy Grail War.'
It was a grand ritual that was exceedingly rare even in the world of magecraft, a miracle said to rival magecraft itself.
The purpose of the ritual was to obtain the 'Holy Grail.'
It was a wish-granting device with astonishing magical power, capable of fulfilling its owner's desire.
The so-called Holy Grail War was a battle fought over this wish-granting device, which could fulfill its owner's desire.
Seven Masters would participate in this battle, using the ritual's power to summon seven Heroic Spirits of different Classes from the 'Throne of Heroes.' They would then fight one another until only a single Master and Servant pair remained. At that point, the wish-granting device known as the 'Holy Grail' would descend, allowing its owner to use its terrifying magical power to accomplish miracles beyond human ability.
This was not exactly a secret in the world of magecraft.
Many ancient magus families knew of the ritual's existence, and they also knew how precious the 'Holy Grail' was. Naturally, they coveted it.
Fuyuki City was precisely the birthplace of the Holy Grail War.
For that reason, when Olga Marie had mentioned that the Singularity was located in Fuyuki City in 2004, quite a few magi from ancient families had reacted.
Because...
"According to Chaldea's records, a Holy Grail War was indeed being held in Fuyuki City in 2004."
Olga Marie spoke with a grim expression.
"Could these Servants be the ones summoned by the Holy Grail War in Fuyuki City?"
That was precisely why Servants not summoned by Chaldea had appeared in this town.
That was precisely why Luo Zhen had been attacked by Archer.
"They mistook me for a Master participating in the Holy Grail War, didn't they?"
Luo Zhen solved the mystery.
The ritual conducted to obtain the 'Holy Grail' involved seven Masters and seven Servants fighting one another.
Under such circumstances, it was hardly surprising that a Servant would regard Luo Zhen and Mashu as enemies participating in the Holy Grail War and attack them.
After being transferred to this era via Spiritron Transfer and attacked by an unknown Archer, Luo Zhen had formed this conjecture as soon as he learned that his opponent was a Servant.
Therefore, Luo Zhen was not at all shocked that a Servant existed in Fuyuki City and had attacked him.
"If the Holy Grail War in Fuyuki City is still ongoing, then it's not strange for Servants to be here."
Luo Zhen knew quite a bit about the Holy Grail War.
Because the 'Holy Grail' was a famous miracle capable of fulfilling its owner's desire, the boy, who cherished miracles above all else, had stumbled across records of it in Chaldea's archives several years ago and developed a strong interest in it.
Thanks to that, Luo Zhen had gained an extremely deep understanding of the Holy Grail War. Even Mashu had learned of the Holy Grail War and Fuyuki City's special nature from Luo Zhen.
As for Olga Marie, her knowledge of the Holy Grail War was no less extensive than Luo Zhen's.
"I never imagined Chaldea would end up facing Servants summoned by Fuyuki City's Holy Grail War..."
Olga Marie had no idea how to express her bitterness.
Perhaps others did not know this.
In truth, Chaldea's Heroic Spirit Summoning System had initially been perfected by using Fuyuki City's Holy Grail War as its model.
Fuyuki City was not only the birthplace of the Holy Grail War, but also the birthplace of 'Heroic Spirit Summoning.'
Before that, people could generally only use profound grand magecraft to summon and utilize part of a Heroic Spirit's power. Summoning and commanding a Heroic Spirit as a Servant had nearly become an unattainable dream in the modern age, when mystery had grown so thin.
It was only after the Holy Grail War in Fuyuki City came to the attention of magi that people quietly came to understand the system of 'Heroic Spirit Summoning.'
Chaldea's 'Fate' was created after improving upon Fuyuki City's summoning system.
Thinking of this, Olga Marie steeled herself.
"Since that monster is a Servant summoned by the Holy Grail War, it should have a Master, right?" Olga Marie hurriedly said. "While Mashu keeps Berserker occupied, we'll find the Master!"
There was no doubt that Berserker could not be defeated head-on.
That opponent was a top-class Servant.
Mashu, on the other hand, had obtained a Servant's power but was merely a nouveau riche by comparison. She had no experience whatsoever in directly fighting a Servant. In addition, given her personality, she had no chance of defeating her opponent.
If Mashu had not specialized in defense and wielded a shield meant for defense, allowing her to block the enemy's attacks even if she could not defeat him, then with her strength, she might not even have been able to keep him occupied.
In that case, they could only target the Master.
"As long as we defeat the Master, Berserker will lose its contractor and be unable to continue fighting!"
Olga Marie could only choose this method.
Servants ultimately did not belong to this world. They were fundamentally spiritual bodies and needed the contract with a Master to obtain magical energy and a vessel, allowing them to continue existing.
Therefore, as long as they defeated the enemy's Master, the Servant would disappear unless it possessed some special skill.
Unfortunately...
"That won't work." Luo Zhen poured cold water on her. "If my guess is right, the other side doesn't have a Master at all."
"No Master?" Olga Marie froze.
But that was precisely what Luo Zhen suspected.
"Didn't you notice that ever since we arrived in this town, we haven't found a single person?" Luo Zhen said. "I also sent a flock of bird Familiars to search the town, but they didn't find a single person."
In other words, there were no living humans in Fuyuki City at all.
"I suspect that something abnormal happened during this Holy Grail War, causing Fuyuki City to be destroyed and all humans to disappear, which in turn led to human history facing the crisis of annihilation."
That was Luo Zhen's conjecture.
He still did not know what the abnormality was.
But its emergence should have altered the nature of the Holy Grail War, turning the Servants into special beings capable of continuing to act even after losing their Masters.
"Th-Then what are we supposed to do!?"
Olga Marie was completely at a loss.
"Stop shouting! Let me think!"
Luo Zhen glared at Olga Marie while his mind raced anxiously.
Before you continue