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The sound of the jeep faded into the distance.
The Marble waited another thirty seconds, then slowly got to her feet. She confirmed the fields were empty in all directions. She confirmed no one was coming back.
Then she took the summoning paper — which had been painstakingly recovered and was now thoroughly soaked in something that had been milk at some earlier point in the evening — and dropped it on the ground.
The summoning circle activated.
The Marble burst into tears.
Then, in the emotional aftermath of completing the circle after two hours of agricultural tribulation, she registered something.
The Holy Relic.
She hadn't placed it.
To be more precise, she hadn't retrieved it. The farmer who'd confiscated her belongings had apparently mistaken the yellow ceremonial dagger — Moralltach, prepared specifically to summon Diarmuid — for a stolen weapon and hidden it somewhere in the farmhouse she was no longer in any position to reenter.
The summoning circle was already active.
The Marble watched the blue light of the magic circle extinguish and the white mist spread across the field and thought about what this meant for her.
A purple figure stepped out of the mist.
"Coming from the Shadow Land — my name is Scáthach. May I call you Master?"
The Marble stared.
Max, who had switched to her feed at approximately this moment, also stared.
"Wow," The Marble said. "It's a 2000-year-old old la—"
The spear was at her throat.
The tip stopped 0.01 centimeters from contact.
"If you finish that sentence, I will kill you where you stand." Scáthach's voice was completely measured. "Additionally — commenting on someone's age is very rude. Particularly when the person in front of you is a young and lovely beautiful maiden."
The Marble did not finish the sentence.
[Chat]:
[SCATHACH]: SCÁTHACH
[HOW]: how did she summon Scáthach without a Holy Relic
[Random_Roll]: no Holy Relic means fully random summon. she accidentally rolled Scáthach.
[Marble_Luck]: she spent two hours being hunted by farmers and accidentally summoned one of the most powerful Heroic Spirits in Celtic mythology
[Glove_Mom]: it's Glove Mom
[Valorant_Reference]: every woman gets called Mom now regardless of context
[Counter]: more accurately Glove Grandma
[Dangerous_Counter]: the spear is RIGHT THERE
[Immortal_Question]: wait. Scáthach is supposed to be immortal. how was she summoned at all? Max?
[Max_Response]: Max is also staring at the screen
[Outfit_Question]: she has two shoulder pads as primary equipment. what is the design philosophy here.
[Honest_Answer]: naturally to please me
[Calling_Out]: you're just—
[Spiritron_Dress_Memory]: wait. isn't she the one with the Spiritron Dress that goes over the bunny girl outfit? she has her face completely covered with that mask. interesting strategic choice.
[Begging]: Marble use the Spiritron Dress I am on my knees
[Enough]: stop talking about a person's age
[Counter]: a 2000-year-old calling herself a young and lovely beautiful maiden is a statement that invites scrutiny
The Marble had survived the interaction. Just barely, but survived.
Scáthach, to her credit, was reasonable — or at least operating on a definition of reasonable that included not killing Masters over unfinished sentences. She took one look at her new Master's current condition — thoroughly exhausted, covered in field debris, limping on two legs that had spent the evening meeting bear traps at high velocity — and made an assessment.
"As my Master, you'll need some endurance."
She looked at the worm familiars.
"You've been stuffing these things into yourself indiscriminately. This won't do." She raised her hand. "I'll remove them and heal the damage. You don't need to thank me — this is simply what a Servant should do for their Master."
The Marble, who had been feeling a small surge of gratitude, registered something in Scáthach's tone that suggested the following procedure might not be comfortable.
She was correct.
Celtic medicine operated on the principle that keeping the patient alive was the goal and pain was an acceptable method if the outcome was achieved. The worm-removal process involved Scáthach pressing Gáe Bolg directly against each affected area and drawing Rune Magic in the air with her free hand — pale blue flames igniting on The Marble's body in sequence, each one burning out the worm familiars from the inside.
She did not draw a pain-suppression Rune.
This, Scáthach would maintain, was a form of training. An opportunity for her Master to develop resilience. Definitely not petty revenge for the sentence that had nearly been completed at the start of their acquaintance.
[Chat]:
[SCREAMING]: THE MARBLE IS SCREAMING
[Watching]: she's rolling on the ground
[Pain_System]: every time a streamer praised the game's pain system in the first week I think about this moment
[Marble_Realization]: she used to say the pain feedback was immersive and good for atmosphere
[Now]: she is reconsidering this position
[Also_Practical_Problem]: Scáthach just burned out all the worm familiars. that's the entire Kariya Matou kit. she has no skills left.
[Scáthach_Status]: completely calm. watching her Master roll around. nodding slightly as if this confirms something.
[Max_Status]: Max has his hand over his face
When the process was complete — the worms gone, the wounds closed, The Marble lying in the field breathing heavily and reassessing several life decisions — Scáthach stood over her with the composure of someone who had just completed a routine task.
"Better. Now stand up."
The Marble stood up.
She moved carefully, like someone checking whether the floor was still flat.
"You said your name is—"
"The Marble. Guide creator. I know everything about this game." She paused. "Or I thought I did."
Scáthach considered this.
"You summoned me without a catalyst. That suggests either exceptional luck or a complete absence of preparation."
"It's a long story."
"We have time." Scáthach looked at the farmhouse visible in the distance, the fields, the general terrain. "This location is exposed. Tell me the situation while we move."
The Marble started walking.
"Okay. So — there was a fence. And a bear trap."
[Chat]:
[Scáthach_Is_Going_To_Hear_Everything]: Scáthach is going to learn about two hours of bear traps and rope-rubbing and she is going to have thoughts
[Celtic_Mentor]: "you summoned me without a catalyst" said with exactly zero judgment. she just wants the facts.
[Marble_Standing]: she stood up. she's moving. she explained the situation in nine words.
[Diarmuid_Mention]: she prepared a Holy Relic for Diarmuid and accidentally rolled Scáthach instead. Diarmuid's teacher. this is either fate or the cruelest possible joke.
[Actually]: Scáthach is Diarmuid's teacher's teacher's teacher by lineage. the Celtic chain goes deep.
[Max_Commentary]: Max has recovered enough to speak. he's saying something. chat wait—
[Max_Talking]: "I genuinely did not plan this one."
[Believed]: we believe him
[End of Chapter 177]
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