For Early/Extra Chapters : patreon.com/scoldeyjodxd
Already 30+ Chapters Updated + Daily Updates
"What do you mean I can't show off? Don't talk nonsense!"
Maverick had already fully bought into the game's setting — hearing the full breakdown of the Holy Grail War mechanics had opened up a dozen different directions he wanted to explore simultaneously. As long as the later stages had this much freedom, it was going to be incredible.
He glanced at his chat.
And his world collapsed.
The chat hadn't even had time to respond to his excitement. The white-haired elder had beaten them to it — one slow, deliberate eye-roll, the expression of a man who had been waiting centuries for a worthy Master and was reconsidering the entire arrangement.
Maverick stared at the NPC.
The NPC stared back with quiet, ancient contempt.
Did an NPC just look down on me?
"I have to say," Maverick said carefully, "the AI in this game is something else. If I didn't know better, I'd think there was actually an old man judging me right now."
[Agreeing]: there IS an old man judging you right now
[Accurate]: the NPC is correct to judge you
[Impressed]: he actually responded to Maverick's muttering, the interaction radius on these NPCs is insane
[Unexpected_Feeling]: that look of contempt is so well-animated I feel personally attacked
[Chat_Diversity]: I'm not going to explain what's happening to me right now but I will say this NPC model is exceptional
[Response_To_That]: bro what
The elder, having communicated everything he needed to communicate with a single expression, turned without another word and gestured for Maverick to follow. He led him around the back of the limestone statue — and there, carved into the stone floor, was a five-pointed summoning array, its lines precise and deliberate, waiting.
"Place the Holy Relic in the center of the array," the elder said, his voice carrying the patience of someone who had done this before and expected to do it again. "Stand outside the circle. Recite the incantation. The Heroic Spirit will answer."
He looked at Maverick.
"You don't remember the incantation."
It wasn't a question.
"...I was going to ask about that, actually."
The elder closed his eyes briefly. Opened them. Began to speak.
"Your body, under my command. My fate, on your sword. In response to the Holy Grail's call — those who obey this will and reason, answer me. Here I swear: I am the one who achieves all good in the world. I am the one who conveys all evil in the world. The three great Command Seals shall entwine you for seven days. Cross the World's End. Appear — Guardian of the Scales!"
He paused.
"That is the general incantation, applicable to all classes. If you intend to summon a Berserker — which you should not — you would insert three additional lines between 'evil in the world' and 'three great Command Seals':
May your eyes be clouded, your heart enraged. A prisoner held captive by the cage of madness. I am the Master who wields this chain.
But," the elder added, with the tone of a man saying something for what he hoped was the only time, "you would not be foolish enough to summon Arthur as a Berserker. This is the strongest Saber-class Servant."
A text backdrop with the full incantation appeared in Maverick's field of view.
[Chat]: THE INCANTATION IS SO GOOD
[Hype]: Maverick RECITE IT
[Recording]: I have my screen recorder open, this is happening
[Berserker_Cult]: SUMMON BERSERKER. BERSERKER IS THE STRONGEST. DO IT.
[More_Berserker]: BERSERKER BERSERKER BERSERKER
[Reasonable]: please do not summon Berserker
The elder turned and walked out of the church, leaving the summoning array, the Holy Relic, and approximately forty thousand live viewers entirely in Maverick's hands.
Maverick stood at the edge of the array for a moment.
Something about having the space to himself — the quiet of the church, the faint hum of the array waiting to be activated, the scabbard resting in the center — pulled at something he hadn't expected. A memory from fifteen years ago, staying up past midnight reading things he wasn't supposed to, feeling like the stories were more real than they had any right to be.
He'd been that kid. The chuunibyou phase had been significant.
He was not going to think about that right now.
He placed the scabbard in the center of the array, stepped back to the boundary line, straightened up, and looked at the incantation text.
The chat had gone very quiet. The kind of quiet that forty thousand people made when they were all holding their breath.
Maverick read the first line.
"Your body, under my command."
His voice came out steadier than he expected. The words had a weight to them that regular dialogue didn't — something in the rhythm, the construction, the way each line built on the last. The array responded immediately, lines of light tracing along the carved channels in the stone floor, soft at first, then brighter.
"My fate, on your sword."
Brighter still. The scabbard in the center began to glow.
By the time he reached the final lines — Cross the World's End. Appear — Guardian of the Scales! — he wasn't thinking about the camera or the chat or whether this was embarrassing. He was in it. The array was blazing, the church was filled with light, and the words felt less like a script and more like something he was actually saying to someone.
The flash of white light hit.
When it faded, the smoke cleared, and the summoning array was no longer empty.
She was tall. Silver armor, blue battle skirt, golden hair pulled back with a single strand escaping forward. She stood the way very few people stood — as if the ground were doing her a favor by being there.
She looked directly at Maverick.
"Are you my Master?"
The character panel materialized:
Artoria Pendragon (Arthur) Class: Saber | Gender: Female
Strength: B | Endurance: A | Agility: A | Mana: A | Luck: D | Noble Phantasm: A++
Class Skills: Magic Resistance A / Riding A Personal Skills: Instinct A / Mana Burst A / Charisma B Noble Phantasms: Invisible Air (C) / Excalibur (A++)
The chat took approximately two seconds to process the gender field.
Then it erupted.
[Stunned]: SHE'S A GIRL
[Historical_Accuracy]: how is Arthur a GIRL
[Counter]: Arthurian legend is mythology, not history, she can be whatever she wants
[Decided]: I support this completely, she should be a girl
[Claiming]: Artoria is my wife, effective immediately
[Also_Claiming]: she is MY wife, stand down
[Different_Opinion]: personally I prefer a sweet and soft little boy but I respect the design choice
[Ignoring_That]: THE STATS — everything at A, she really is the strongest
[Noticing]: wait there's a favorability system? does that mean—
[Yes]: yes
[Screaming]: YOU CAN DATE ARTORIA
Maverick, who had been staring at the character panel, looked up at the golden-haired knight standing before him.
Artoria looked back, composed, patient, somehow both ancient and completely present.
His face had gone slightly red. He was aware of this. He was choosing not to address it.
"Hello," he said. "I'm Maverick. And I'm from Wuhu."
Show Some Supports By Giving Powerstones
NEXT BONUS Chapters at 200 Powerstones