The Servants of the Red Faction were summoned by the Mages' Association only after the Black Faction had first summoned Lancer Vlad III and Caster. And in terms of the choice of Servants, even if the Yggdmillennia clan had been planning for this Holy Grail War for nearly 60 years, and the preparations they had made were very thorough, in the end, in terms of comparing foundations, they definitely couldn't compare with the Mages' Association, which was one of the two major organizations in the world at the time.
This could be seen at a glance from the Servants summoned by the Red side. The following are the magi carefully selected by the Mages' Association to serve as Masters and the Servants they summoned.
Lancer of Red, Karna. The son of the sun god Surya in the Indian epic Mahabharata, the Hero of Charity. He was a flash-level Servant of the same specification as the Hero King Gilgamesh. As a Lancer class, he had even brought with him the legendary god-slaying spear, that is, Vasavi Shakti, 'O Sun, Abide to Death', when he came down from the Throne of Heroes this time. His summoner was Feend vor Sembren, a first-class lecturer at the Clock Tower, of the same level as Lord El-Melloi II.
Rider of Red, Achilles. A hero from Greek mythology who was one of the few who could be compared with the great hero Heracles. He was famous for his invincible strength and immortal body, and was also the commander-in-chief of the Greek army in the Trojan War. His career was like a gust of wind, and at the same time, he had a dazzling brilliance that was not unworthy of the name of a hero. This time, descending as a Rider class, he was undoubtedly also in his strongest form. His Master was one of the 'conjoined twins', the younger brother, who was a powerful freelance magus specially recruited by the Mages' Association.
And Archer of Red was Atalante, a famous archer and huntress from Greek mythology. She was a person who was blessed by both the sun god Apollo (in the Type-Moon universe, the sun god was him) and the moon goddess Artemis. From an archer's perspective, as a hunter of the Age of Gods, she was undoubtedly innately superior to the vast majority of Archers. Her Master was Rottweil Berzinsky, a very famous strong person in the wars of magi, also known as the Silver Lizard.
And setting aside these normal-range classes, even the generally recognized weakest class, Assassin, and the most difficult to control and backlash against the Master class, Berserker, the ones summoned by the Red side were the oldest poisoner, the Empress Semiramis, and the heroine and protagonist of the second part of the famous epic, the Nibelungenlied, the avenging princess Kriemhild, who held the magic sword Balmung.
Even because of her own specialty, as a Berserker class, the summoned Kriemhild, while being endowed with 'Mad Enhancement' and obtaining powerful strength and panel values, still maintained her reason, and could communicate with people and obey commands, reaching the most terrifying "sober madness."
Without a doubt, just from the fact that all the Servants on the Red side were from the Age of Gods and mythology, one could see the strength of the Red side, and the importance the Mages' Association attached to this Holy Grail War.
With such a high level of combat power, neither the Mages' Association nor the summoned Servants knew how to lose. After all, it was comparable to a dragon riding their face.
And it was precisely because of this that, after learning about his own side's almost perverted configuration, Rider of Red, Achilles, was convinced that the victor of this war would definitely be them, and thus had a somewhat boring thought. Of course, this did not mean that he would be passive in battle. As a proud warrior of the swift meteor who enjoyed the process of fighting with the strong, even if he knew that the other side would probably not have an opponent that interested him, he would still maintain respect and expectation for them, and would laugh during the process of fighting and killing them. It had nothing to do with mockery and contempt. This was just the great hero Achilles's respect for his opponent.
Then, since there was no opponent that interested him, why not turn his gaze to his comrades, that is, the other few Servants this time?
To this, Achilles, who had not seen his Master since the summoning and was thus not constrained, began to size up his comrades. Lancer seemed to be a hero from another place. Although his aura was strong, his personality was rigid. Because he had not received his Master's order, even if he took the initiative to attack him, he would not fight with him. He was a boring but very strong person, but Achilles did not dislike him.
Saber and Caster had not yet been summoned. Although Berserker looked very strong and could communicate normally, her aura was too strange and dangerous, as if she would destroy everything around her at any time. As for Assassin... Achilles frankly said that he did not like her at all. Such an insidious woman who was skilled in murder and poisoning, if possible, he would definitely not want to work with her.
And setting aside all this, the only remaining one that could interest Achilles was Archer, who was of the same Greek pantheon as him. Although because of the era, they had no interaction in their lives, but he had heard her name from his father more than once when he was a child—Atalante. A powerful and independent woman. According to his father's description, in an era where heroes were everywhere and demigods were as common as dogs, a woman like her who was listed among the heroes as a mortal and with a bow and arrow was undoubtedly the most dazzling and curious.
Recalling how his father, who was always timid and submissive in front of his mother when he was a child, would only show a look of admiration as if he had seen an idol when he talked about her, thus, after seeing that the Archer who had descended on the same side as him this time was her, he had been secretly paying attention to her.
And with this attention, he had discovered many problems. Why was the first thing she did after descending not to observe her Master and the environment, but to first look around, and then close her eyes as if she were sensing something? Was she looking for someone?
Achilles, who had already learned about the later generations and all knowledge from the Holy Grail, couldn't help but guess secretly.
Is it Hippomenes? The man who caused her not to be watched by the gods and to lose everything?
With this question, in the subsequent mission dispatched by the priest who called himself a substitute for their Masters, Achilles began to intentionally or unintentionally approach her and call her "big sister." He had learned this from Hector, who was both a rival and a friend. According to him, such an address could pull the relationship between a strange woman, especially an older woman, closer, especially if the other party had strength.
Thus, after calling her this for the first time, he was chased and shot into a hedgehog by the furious Atalante. Yes, she had shot him into a hedgehog. The arrows she had shot, even a casual one, actually contained the blessing of a god. Although because it was just a blessing and the divinity was not high, he had not been seriously injured, but to be able to break his immortal body, 'Andreias Amarantos', the divine blessing on her was definitely not low.
But this shouldn't be the case? According to his memory of her, although there was a story of her being given power by both the sun god and the moon goddess, but in that case, shouldn't it be the effect of a Noble Phantasm? Why would a casual strike have a divine strike attached to it? Was this really the big sister Atalante in his memory?
Involuntarily, his doubts about her deepened. But fortunately, whether in battle or in other aspects, Achilles's spirit was extremely tough. Thus, in the end, under his tireless chatting (harassment) and one after another "big sister," she finally paid attention to him.
"Are you sick or something!"
That was during a reconnaissance mission to the Black side. Because of his disturbance, she had missed the scene of the Black side's Caster setting up magic, which was why the other party had spoken to him for the first time. Although her tone was not good, and could even be called annoyed, at least she was willing to talk, right?
On the point of persisting in something, Achilles was very confident. Back then, he had relied on this tenacity and shamelessness to successfully marry his beloved wife, that is, the princess of the island of Scyros, Deidamia. As expected, after that, although she was still very annoyed with him, she would sometimes answer some questions.
For example, her cat ears and tail (actually a lion's) were not because of some disgusting person and story, but because she had prayed to the moon goddess to become a constellation in the sky after she died, and after getting the approval of the king of the gods, Zeus, she had become a symbol of the constellation Leo.
And for example, why she was so repelled by him was because she had witnessed the disgust and hypocrisy of too many Greek men. It wasn't until she met that one person that she was convinced that there were still a few slightly better men. And he, Achilles, although very annoying, was very similar to that person in a certain point, which was why she was willing to pay attention to him later.
Then who was that person? Hearing this, which was completely different from his own cognition, Achilles couldn't help but become extremely interested in the 'him' she mentioned. Looking at her complicated expression and eyes when she talked about that person, could it be her lover?
Thus, because of the deviation in cognition and information, the puzzled Achilles finally decided to ask directly. There was no method more suitable for him, the hero of the meteor, Achilles, than to ask directly.
With this thought, on one occasion when she had climbed a tree again to look into the distance, he asked, "Hey, big sister, who on earth is that person you're talking about? Can you describe him to me in detail? I'm very curious."
Achilles remembered asking this. "Why are you asking this? What does it have to do with you." Her voice was as cold as ever, as if all her feelings had been given to that person. When facing others, especially other men, she was always very cold.
"It's just that from what you said, he sounds like a very good person. For such a person, I always want to get to know him."
Having long been accustomed to this, he did not give up because of the other's indifference and continued to say with a grin. "Hmph, how can that guy be good? He's just a liar."
As if his words had stirred up a memory, she subconsciously retorted this sentence. And hearing this, his eyes immediately lit up. He felt that he seemed to have found a way. "A liar? What did that guy lie to you about, big sister?"
To make his words sound not so deliberate, he quickly added after this, "If he bullied you, tell me. I'll definitely teach him a lesson when I see him in the future."
"Heh." Hearing this, she immediately chuckled lightly. "Forget it. Although I can feel that you are very strong, and your aura is already no less than Heracles's, but for him, you should just give up. You won't be his match."
"Oh?" Hearing this, he couldn't help but raise his eyebrows. As a hero who had made the choice to rather choose death than to live a life that was not as brilliant and fleeting as a meteor, he was very confident in his own strength. He didn't think that in Greece, besides Heracles and a few other great heroes like Hector, he would lose to anyone.
Seeing his clearly disbelieving and unconvinced look, a smile couldn't help but appear on her lips. It was both like persuasion and like talking to herself, "That guy is not an ordinary person. He always says he's not a hero, just a singing minstrel. His purpose is just to record the stories of others, and then compile them into a book to make his name go down in history. But in fact, a long time ago, he was already the word 'hero' itself..."
"'Hero', the word itself?" Hearing her words, he couldn't help but be stunned for a moment. He subconsciously searched in Greece for a person with such a title, but was stunned to find that there was no such person. Whether it was his memory or the knowledge given to him by the Holy Grail, there was no such person.
Involuntarily, he subconsciously asked a question: "This person... this hero, who is he?"
Hearing this, she looked back at him, and after a slight silence, she still left a name. "Orpheus."
"Orpheus? He... who is he?"
Time flew by. When he heard her say this name again, and at a time when he was about to see the priest Shirou, he couldn't help but be stunned. When he subconsciously followed the cat-eared girl's fixed gaze and looked at the strange man's figure in the church, he couldn't help but be stunned again.
Because that guy was not a Servant, but a real modern magus. And beside him stood a woman in a formal dress whose whole body was shrouded in a mysterious aura. That aura should be the last summoned Caster. Then without a doubt, that priest who was dressed the same as the priest Shirou should be Caster's Master, right?
How could such a person be Orpheus? Big sister, you must have seen wrong.
Just as he was about to explain to the Atalante beside him, he was shocked to find that at some unknown point, a black and gold longbow that was shining with a strange brilliance had appeared in her hands.
That was big sister's Noble Phantasm, 'Tauropolos'!!!
Seeing that her expression had become狰狞, and her originally lush-green-forest-like eyes were also for some reason dyed with a trace of gloom, he instantly felt that something was wrong.
"Big sister! Calm down!"
But before his voice had fallen, the next moment, the cat-eared huntress had shot a powerful and heavy arrow at the priest-like youth.
"You... how dare you appear before me again, Orpheus... you bastard... liar..."
"Enough talk!"
"Let's go and see Lord Hades together! Orpheus!!!"
In an instant, a golden light shone. The green magic arrow, mixed with the divine power from the sun, like a galloping scorching sun, attacked the bewildered Souya.
....
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