Unfortunately, no one picked up on the "not enough room for all those titles" joke.
"So that's why."
Semiramis finally understood why Bašmu had betrayed her. Previously, she had been confident because Bašmu was Tiamat's child. She never imagined the Beast she was facing would be Tiamat herself. With this realization, she finally made peace with the situation.
Using Tiamat's child to fight Tiamat... In hindsight, she had been far too naive. But who the hell could have predicted that a Beast would appear, and that it would be Tiamat of all beings?!
"Utterly useless."
Darnic seized the opportunity to belittle his rival. His perspective had always been rather narrow.
"All you've done is bolster the enemy's strength."
Semiramis gritted her teeth. If not for the greater good, she would have deployed the Hanging Gardens right now and nullified Vlad III's home-field advantage. Then he wouldn't have the chance to act so smug.
Jiang You glanced at Darnic. He seemed to have overlooked this guy when compiling his kill list earlier. Darnic's mindset was similar to Old Man Worm's, but his specialty was a Soul Transfer-type Spell. The body he currently inhabited was his third. Such a heretical Magus definitely needed to be eliminated.
"Darnic, do not be so harsh on our ally. The great enemy is before us; let us focus on the task at hand."
The Lord spoke up in Semiramis's defense. Who could have foreseen such a perfect affinity counter?
"Understood."
Darnic complied verbally, but his heart held a different opinion. For now, however, he still needed the Lord's strength, so he maintained a humble demeanor.
"Saber of Black and I will handle the Beast," Karna volunteered, taking on the enemy's strongest combatant. As for Siegfried, they had already discussed his Anti-Dragon Special Attack. Pitting him against Tiamat, who possessed the Demonic Dragon attribute, would maximize his effectiveness.
"King from a foreign land," Karna continued, addressing the Lord, "we entrust the Eastern Servant to you."
Aside from Karna, the Lord was the strongest among them. Assigning him to face the unknown power of Jiang You was the most logical distribution of forces. The Lord had no objections to Karna's plan. He understood that without unleashing his strongest Noble Phantasm, he lacked overwhelming burst damage—though, in truth, Kazikli Bey, boosted by his home-field advantage, already surpassed the burst power of an average servant. He simply nodded.
"Then we're counting on you. I shall face this uninvited guest!"
"Tch." Mordred clicked her tongue in frustration, seeing that the strongest opponents were already taken.
"Fine, I'll reluctantly take this 'Saintess.' Just looking at her face pisses me off!"
"Ah, hold on."
Jiang You, who had effortlessly tanked the Lord's impalement with his unique trait, wore an expression of nonchalant ease. Ignoring the Lord, he fixed his attention on Little Mo. Since I've run into Mordred, how can I pass up the chance to torment her? "I have a more suitable opponent for you," he said with a grin. "I guarantee you'll be satisfied."
"?"
Mordred suddenly had a bad feeling. This was the same gloating tone he'd used when speaking to the Bašmu earlier. But surely this man couldn't have any connection to someone she knew? The legend of King Arthur had nothing to do with Mesopotamian mythology.
"Saber of Red, are you wavering over a single word from the enemy?"
Seeing that his Noble Phantasm couldn't pierce Jiang You's flesh, the Lord retracted his weapon. He glared at Mordred, who had abruptly halted, and reminded her sharply. This time, the Lord opted for close combat, thrusting his black, thorn-like spear toward Jiang You's eyes. Though he didn't know which Hero Jiang You was, he believed that every Hero had a weakness, like an Achilles' heel. An absolutely invincible servant was impossible.
"Haven't you realized I'm a Summoner yet?"
The Duel Invitation only worked once within a short period. Having finished his bluff, Jiang You wasn't about to tank another hit. With the Lord's current stats, it wasn't impossible for him to be killed.
So he snapped his fingers.
"I wasn't kidding. Take a look at who this is."
The Lord's attack was blocked by a golden lance. A tall woman in office attire (I didn't expect White Lancer Artoria to be just over 170cm) stood before Jiang You, holding a lance and with a double-decker hamburger dangling from her mouth.
"Didn't you say you wouldn't eat this kind of junk food?"
Since Jiang You hadn't briefed White Lancer Artoria beforehand, she was unprepared for this situation. Seeing her hypocrisy, Jiang You couldn't resist teasing her.
"High-calorie food is more efficient for replenishing energy..."
White Lancer Artoria's cheeks flushed slightly. She had indeed claimed such food was unhealthy, but damn it, this was dimensions better than Gawain's mashed potatoes. She just couldn't resist. Quickly suppressing her embarrassment, she changed the subject. "Let's focus on the battle for now. What's the situation here?"
"Same old story. Someone wants to destroy the world and turn all of humanity into stone."
This time, it truly was a crisis threatening all of humanity, so Jiang You summoning White Lancer Artoria didn't count as breaking his promise.
"Are all these Servants...?"
White Lancer Artoria's gaze turned sharp and cold. "Have the Heroic Spirits fallen as well?"
Her eyes swept over all the Servants of the Black and Red Factions before locking onto Mordred. The intense stare made Mordred's hair stand on end. Because White Lancer Artoria was in her adult form, Mordred didn't recognize her at first, but she felt an overwhelming sense of familiarity—the kind of feeling you get when you're caught misbehaving by a parent.
"Not exactly," Jiang You explained. "Remember the trouble Nero caused before? When Tiamat and I went to deal with it, we got thrown into this world. Her Beast identity was exploited by someone to stir up trouble. It's mostly a misunderstanding, but we'll have to beat some sense into these guys. As for the mastermind, I've already notified their family to handle it."
Jiang You's roster of summoned characters had grown quite large. Whenever multiple Servants showed up, he could always turn it into a family drama.
"Is that so?"
White Lancer Artoria nodded. After seeing Mordred, she understood what Jiang You meant.
"Am I to deal with that child?"
"Yes."
It was a relief that White Lancer Artoria was so cooperative; Jiang You didn't have to waste any more words.
"I'll leave it to you, then."
"This is an internal matter for the Knights of the Round Table. It's no trouble at all."
Since Mordred wasn't part of the group trying to destroy the world, White Lancer Artoria breathed a small sigh of relief.
With that, she bypassed the Lord and charged straight toward Mordred.
"It seems that female Servant has some connection to the Knights of the Round Table?"
The Lord didn't try to stop her. His primary target was still Jiang You.
"More than just a connection. That's King Arthur herself. This is a classic father-son showdown."
This was exactly what Jiang You wanted to see.
"Father-son?"
The Lord looked utterly confused. He didn't know much about the Knights of the Round Table. "Isn't it mother-daughter?"
"Hah! You don't need to understand the details of King Arthur's story."
Jiang You admitted he couldn't explain it either.
"So, you can summon Servants related to your opponent?"
The Lord stared at Jiang You. This guy showed no intention of attacking, yet his defensive capabilities were overwhelmingly strong. He must be some famous Summoner, the Lord thought. This situation seemed tricky, but it also piqued his curiosity.
"In that case, who would be the Servant corresponding to me?"
"Sorry, my summoning pool is limited... Wait, does Elizabeth Báthory count?"
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Spy-Well I ran outta raws, the story has around 50ish chaps left before being complete, but its a real pain and takes money to get. If theres enough demand I can figure something out, but idk if people are even reading this.