Servant Without a Master

"That guy is a Servant!?"

Olga Marie, tightly hugging the black wolf beneath her and being carried away from the battlefield, shouted at Luo Zhen.

"Why is there a Servant here!?"

It's no wonder Olga Marie would have such a question.

Chaldea had only successfully summoned Servants three times, yet a Servant was appearing in this 2004 Fuyuki City? That was completely abnormal.

Faced with Olga Marie's question, Luo Zhen merely curled his lip.

"Didn't I mention that we were immediately attacked by a Servant after the Spiritron Transfer?"

That statement earned him Olga Marie's fury.

"You didn't say that!"

Olga Marie shouted, incredibly angry.

Although Mashu had told Olga Marie the reason she was a Pseudo-Servant and mentioned that they had been attacked, she hadn't specified that their attacker was a Servant.

To this, Luo Zhen only had one thing to say.

"Even if I didn't say it, couldn't you have guessed?"

Luo Zhen didn't look at Olga Marie, simply urging his Familiar onward while speaking.

"That's a product of the Holy Grail War."

A single sentence widened Olga Marie's eyes.

…The Holy Grail War.

It was an extremely rare ritual in the world of magecraft, considered a miracle comparable to magic itself.

The purpose of the ritual was to obtain the Holy Grail.

It was a wish-granting device with incredible magical power, capable of fulfilling the holder's desires.

The so-called Holy Grail War was a battle fought over this wish-granting device that could fulfill the holder's desires.

In this battle, seven Masters would participate, using the ritual's power to summon seven Heroic Spirits with different classes from the Throne of Heroes, fighting each other until only one Master and Servant pair remained. At that point, the wish-granting device known as the Holy Grail would descend, allowing the holder to use its terrifying magical power to achieve miracles beyond human capabilities.

This was not a secret in the world of magecraft.

Many prestigious families knew of the ritual's existence and coveted the Holy Grail's value.

Fuyuki City was the birthplace of the Holy Grail War.

Therefore, when Olga Marie mentioned that the Singularity was in Fuyuki City in 2004, many mages from prestigious families reacted.

Because…

"According to Chaldea's records, a Holy Grail War was indeed being held in Fuyuki City in 2004."

Olga Marie said, her face pale.

"Could these Servants be the Servants summoned in the Fuyuki City Holy Grail War?"

That was why Servants not summoned by Chaldea were appearing in this city.

That was why Luo Zhen had been attacked by Archer.

"They must have mistaken me for a Master participating in the Holy Grail War?"

Luo Zhen solved the puzzle.

A ritual unfolded to obtain the Holy Grail, a battle between seven Masters and seven Servants.

In such a situation, it wasn't hard to imagine that a Servant would see Luo Zhen and Mashu as enemies also participating in the Holy Grail War, leading to the attack.

After being Spiritron Transferred to this era and attacked by an unknown Archer, and learning that the attacker was a Servant, Luo Zhen had already made this guess.

Therefore, Luo Zhen wasn't surprised at all that there were Servants in Fuyuki City and that he had been attacked.

"If the Fuyuki City Holy Grail War is still ongoing, it's not strange that there are Servants here."

Luo Zhen had a good understanding of the Holy Grail War.

Since the Holy Grail was a well-known miracle capable of fulfilling the holder's desires, the boy, who cherished miracles, had unintentionally discovered its records in Chaldea's archives several years ago and developed a great interest in it.

Thanks to this, Luo Zhen had a very high understanding of the Holy Grail War. Even Mashu had learned about the Holy Grail War's existence and Fuyuki City's special nature from Luo Zhen.

As for Olga Marie, her understanding of the Holy Grail War was no less than Luo Zhen's.

"To think that Chaldea would face Servants summoned in the Fuyuki City Holy Grail War…"

Olga Marie couldn't express her bitterness.

Perhaps others didn't know?

In fact, Chaldea's Heroic Spirit Summoning system was initially perfected by referencing the Fuyuki City Holy Grail War.

Fuyuki City was the birthplace of the Holy Grail War and the birthplace of Heroic Spirit Summoning.

Before that, people could only summon a portion of the Heroic Spirit's power for utilization through profound grand magecraft. Summoning and employing Heroic Spirits as Servants had become almost a luxury in the modern era, where mystery was sparse.

It wasn't until the Holy Grail War in Fuyuki City caught the eye of the magi that people quietly began to understand the system of 〈Heroic Spirit Summoning〉.

Chaldea's 〈Fate〉 was born from improvements made to the summoning system of Fuyuki City.

Thinking of this, Olga Marie changed her mood.

"If that monster is a Servant summoned in the Holy Grail War, then it should have a Master, right?" Olga Marie said quickly, "While Mashu holds Berserker back, we'll go find the Master!"

There was no doubt that Berserker was an opponent they couldn't defeat head-on.

The opponent was a top-tier Servant.

On the other hand, Mashu, although she had obtained the power of a Servant, was merely an upstart. She had absolutely no experience in directly fighting Servants, and her personality made it impossible for her to win.

If Mashu hadn't been specialized in defense, and her weapon wasn't a shield meant for defense, then even if she couldn't defeat the opponent, she could at least block their attacks. Perhaps, with Mashu's strength, she wouldn't even be able to hold the opponent back.

In that case, they could only target the Master.

"As long as we defeat the Master, Berserker, having lost their contractor, will no longer be able to continue fighting!"

Olga Marie could only choose this method.

Servants, after all, are beings that don't belong to this world. Their essence is spiritual, and they need a contract with a Master to obtain magical energy and a vessel to continue existing.

Therefore, as long as they defeated the opponent's Master, then unless the opponent possessed a special skill, they would have no choice but to disappear.

Unfortunately…

"That won't work," Luo Zhen said, pouring cold water on her plan. "If I'm not mistaken, that Servant doesn't have a Master at all."

"No Master?" Olga Marie was stunned.

But that was Luo Zhen's thought.

"Haven't you noticed that since we arrived in this town, we haven't found a single person?" Luo Zhen said, "I also sent out a flock of Familiars to explore the town, but they didn't find a single person."

In other words, there were no living people in Fuyuki City.

"I'm afraid that something abnormal has happened in this Holy Grail War, causing Fuyuki City to be destroyed and all humans to disappear, which is why human history is facing a crisis of extinction."

Luo Zhen guessed.

Luo Zhen didn't yet know what this abnormality was.

But the appearance of this abnormality should have changed the nature of the Holy Grail War, and the Servants had become special existences that could continue to operate even without a Master.

"Then… then what should we do!?"

Olga Marie was at a loss.

"Don't be noisy! Let me think!"

Luo Zhen glared at Olga Marie, his mind racing anxiously.