Whether it was the Red Faction or the Black Faction, although some unexpected situations occurred after summoning the Heroic Spirits, fortunately, the final results were all achieved.
Souya reunited with Morgan, Sisigou drew a sufficiently powerful gold card, and the Yggdmillennia clan also obtained powerful Servants. Even in a distant village in France, a miracle occurred through the Holy Grail, and a young girl endowed with courage welcomed the descent of a Saint.
Calculating the time, this Ruler should have also arrived in Romania.
Correspondingly, the descent of the 14 Servants and the Ruler acting as the referee signaled that the curtain had been raised on this unprecedented Holy Grail Great War.
Tomorrow night would be the beginning of the clash between Red and Black.
As for tonight, of course, the night passed without incident.
The next day, when Souya slowly awoke from his sleep, the first thing he saw was Morgan, who was sharing his pillow, staring straight at him with her beautiful eyes.
Truly familiar yet strange...
Looking at this scene, Souya couldn't help but fall into a trance.
Back in Britain, there were many mornings when the first thing he saw upon waking up was Morgan's beautiful and charming face. The reappearance of this scene now couldn't help but make his heart flutter slightly.
"Good morning, my Lady Queen."
He instinctively spoke softly.
"Mhm."
Without returning a similar greeting, Morgan merely gave a soft "mhm," then leaned in and kissed Souya's lips.
Feeling the trace of sweetness and warmth from his lips, a smile couldn't help but surface on Souya's face.
How nice. This counts as a good morning greeting.
After sharing a tender moment with his lover, Souya got up, changed into his usual cassock, and prepared to head to the church with his summoned Caster to discuss the subsequent strategy with his brother, Amakusa Shirou, according to their previous agreement.
Incidentally, he also needed to meet the other Red Faction Servants.
As for Morgan, she was clearly uninterested in this so-called Holy Grail War and Servants.
Her goal from the very beginning was to see Souya, that is, Lamorak, again. Now that this wish had been fulfilled, her goal became accompanying Souya through this Holy Grail War—which would last at least seven days and at most two weeks—and then waiting for her main body to awaken from its slumber in Avalon, break through the channel between the Inner and Outer sides of the World, and come to Souya's side.
That's right. Although the current Morgan was exactly the same as the one in Souya's memory in both appearance and power, she was actually just a slice of a clone created by Morgan based on her British self and projected onto the Throne of Heroes.
After all, as the Lord of the Isle of Britain and the Master of Fairies, something like death was truly too distant for Morgan.
The current her was merely projecting her consciousness onto a clone to temporarily accompany Souya.
They had been separated for too long; meeting again now, she didn't want to be separated for even a moment.
Oh, right. Also because this current body was only a clone, apart from the most basic physical contact like kissing and hugging, Morgan did not allow other deeper and more "philosophical" matters.
So last night, the two of them really just slept while embracing each other.
Alright, back to the main topic.
After getting dressed, Souya didn't linger. He took Morgan, who was still wearing her blue-black dress, and left the villa, heading towards the church on the hillside outside the city.
"Say, Lady Morgan, do you not plan to try some modern clothing?"
Walking on the small city path in the morning, even though there weren't many pedestrians, Souya and Morgan's attire still attracted the gazes of passersby.
A young man dressed as a priest, wearing a black cassock and a cross pendant, alongside a woman in a gorgeous black dress, her beautiful face hidden by a mysterious black veil, naturally exuding the noble and coldly elegant aura of a Queen with every step.
Such a pair was already eye-catching, not to mention that Souya and Morgan were currently linking arms like a couple deeply in love.
This attire was truly too conspicuous, and Souya was a bit unaccustomed to it. As for Morgan, he didn't want to have her remain in spirit form by his side all the time like other Servants.
So after thinking about it, Souya tactfully asked.
Hearing this, Morgan turned her head and glanced at him.
"What, do you think this outfit doesn't look good on me?"
"Of course not. Your beauty makes even the stars pale in comparison. All clothing merely serves to further highlight your beauty. I only brought this up because your beauty is too dazzling. For us who are currently in a Holy Grail War, it's very easy to attract the prying eyes of enemies, just as fresh flowers attract bees and butterflies."
Even though he was no longer a knight, all the words of praise when facing Morgan had long been etched into Souya's heart, and such words naturally slipped out.
And Morgan was clearly very receptive to his words; the corners of her mouth beneath the veil unconsciously curved up slightly.
"Then, when we return from that church, you shall personally go and pick out clothes for me, Lamorak."
"As you command, my Lady Queen."
Hearing this, Souya smiled gently.
Perhaps because they were both Holy Church properties, Souya's villa wasn't too far from Amakusa's church. After just twenty minutes, he brought Morgan along and pushed open the church doors.
"Good morning, Brother."
"Up so early, Souya."
Hearing the voice of his little brother, Amakusa Shirou, who had his back to the door, instantly had a smile on his face. He instinctively turned his head to look at Souya, only to be surprised to see a noble and mysterious woman following beside him.
This is...
As if sensing something, accompanied by a gathering of spirit particles, the tall and graceful figure of Empress Semiramis appeared beside Amakusa. The moment she manifested, her gaze locked straight onto Morgan, as if a poisonous snake had spotted another of its kind in its territory.
And Morgan clearly noticed Semiramis's gaze carrying strange emotions, but her eyes didn't change at all. Because of the veil, the other two couldn't see her expression either.
Her only movement was to tighten her grip on Souya's arm slightly.
"Souya, this is..."
Even though, combined with what Souya had said yesterday, Amakusa already had a guess in his heart about the identity of this woman who was clearly a Servant, he still asked with some disbelief.
To this, Souya merely smiled faintly. He first gave a comforting look to Morgan, who was leaning closely against him, then explained to Amakusa.
"Brother, let me introduce you. This is the Servant I summoned, and also the Caster of our faction. Her True Name is Morgan le Fay, the great Queen who led Britain to brilliance."
It's actually her!
Despite having guessed it earlier, upon truly hearing that Souya had summoned Morgan, Amakusa's pupils couldn't help but contract, feeling somewhat shocked.
One must know that this was the Servant Morgan, whom no one had been able to summon since the Heroic Spirit summoning ritual was invented.
Inherently a great emperor, shrouded in the blessings of legends involving fairies, elementals, and nymphs, and furthermore a renowned Grand Magus in history. To think such a powerful and mysterious Servant was actually summoned by Souya.
Is my little brother this badass?!
Instinctively, driven by his meticulous nature, Amakusa used a skill he had retained from his time as a Ruler on Morgan.
[True Name Discernment (B)]
And the moment the skill activated, Morgan, whose gaze had been on Souya the whole time, seemed to sense it. An icy, chilling stare instantly shot towards Amakusa.
Involuntarily, the latter shuddered coldly.
"Master, look out!"
Before the Empress beside him could warn him, Amakusa, who also possessed an effect similar to the "Mind's Eye" skill, seemed to have sensed it in advance and suddenly rolled to the side.
The next moment, a thick pillar of shadow flame violently erupted from where Amakusa had originally stood. The chilling yet scorching black flame incinerated the church's lectern almost instantly.
At the same time, sensing Amakusa was attacked, Semiramis didn't hesitate at all. Her eyes turned sharp, and several deep purple chains emerged from behind her, thrusting towards Morgan.
All of this happened in a flash. By the time Souya realized a misunderstanding seemed to have occurred, his body had already instinctively stepped in front of Morgan, catching the incoming chains with his bare hands.
Squish—
Because the toughness of a human body ultimately couldn't compare to a Noble Phantasm, Souya's palms were inevitably cut by the chains. But with his powerful Strength C grip, fortunately, he ultimately managed to control the chains.
"Lamorak!"
Seeing her husband injured for her sake, Morgan's expression instantly turned furious. She instinctively opened her palm towards the Empress.
Almost instantly, several blue Lances of the End appeared around Semiramis, their tips burning with pitch-black shadow flames.
"Stop! Semiramis!"
"Wait! Lady Morgan!"
Just a moment before the magical energy was about to erupt, Souya and Amakusa's voices calling for a halt rang out simultaneously. Finally, right before the conflict worsened, they stopped the two furious princesses.
"Hey! Master! Get it straight that it was that woman who attacked you first. I was saving you!"
Hearing Amakusa's words, the Empress immediately said indignantly. But she did indeed listen to Amakusa; she retracted the highly toxic Noble Phantasm she had been preparing to release, as well as the "Scales of Basmu" she had brought out for defense.
And Morgan sneered coldly, also waving her hand to dispel her magecraft.
"Although this was a misunderstanding, I must thank you first, my dear Imperial Majesty."
Seeing Semiramis getting truly angry, Amakusa hurriedly comforted her. He breathed a sigh of relief only after seeing her blush slightly at the word "dear" and the air pressure around her begin to slowly drop.
Then, Amakusa hurriedly apologized to Morgan and Souya.
"I apologize, Your Highness the Queen. My subconscious action just now offended you. I apologize to you here, and I hope you can forgive my reckless behavior."
"Heh."
Hearing this, Morgan merely sneered, but she didn't answer Amakusa's words. Instead, she turned her gaze to Souya, grabbed his still-bleeding hand, and frowned.
"You are injured, Lamorak."
"I'm fine, Lady Morgan. It's just a minor scratch."
Hearing Morgan say this, Souya finally noticed that both his palms had been cut by Semiramis's attack, and blood was currently flowing out.
"A minor scratch? Don't underestimate me, little priest. All my weapons are coated with my poison. If you don't want to die of poisoning, quickly let me extract the poison."
Hearing Souya's words, Semiramis instantly chuckled lightly.
This wasn't her boasting. As the Empress Semiramis, the oldest poisoner, due to a setting similar to Gilgamesh's "Oldest Bully" (crossed out), "Oldest King," she possessed all the toxins recognized by humanity from the past to the future.
Therefore, even that seemingly ordinary strike just now carried potent, deadly poison due to Semiramis's trait.
If she wasn't mistaken, if Souya didn't quickly seek her treatment or simply chop off both his arms, he would die of poisoning in at most two hours.
"What?!"
Hearing this, both Morgan and Amakusa were startled. But before the former's eyes could turn icy again, Souya raised his hand to stop their movements.
"It doesn't matter. I am immune to poison. There's no need to worry about me."
"Hm?"
Hearing this, the three of them were stunned again, especially Semiramis. In her view, how could Souya, a mere human Master, possibly be immune to her highly toxic Noble Phantasm?
But when she saw that the wounds on Souya's raised palms were already close to healing, and the color was a normal bright red, she was instantly astounded.
"How is this possible!"
Why!
How could my poison be dealt with by a mere human Master? What method did he use? Or did his Servant, Morgan, do something?
To this, Souya could only say he got lucky like a blind cat catching a dead mouse.
As mentioned earlier, having transmigrated to this world through Spiritual Evocation, he possessed Stigmata and was favored by the pigeon. He was an "Incomplete Saint" containing miracles.
And aside from the most basic abilities to walk on water, touch withered plants to give them new life, and heal others, another miracle was this near-abnormal poison resistance.
Leaving aside whether this poison resistance could match Gudao's "Poison Resistance EX," Souya was confident that as long as the Empress didn't bring out her trump card poisons—like the venom of the famous Hydra or Basmu—he could be immune to ordinary poisons.
Clearly, it was successful this time.
Seeing that Souya was fine, Morgan finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Then she looked coldly at Amakusa and the Empress—especially the latter, who had a look of disbelief—and said coldly:
"I will treat this time as merely a misunderstanding. If you dare to hurt my husband again next time, I will absolutely kill you."
Husband?
My little brother?
Hearing this, Amakusa couldn't help but freeze. But seeing Semiramis wanted to say something more, he hurriedly spoke up first.
"Of course. All of this was just a misunderstanding. I am Souya's brother; I certainly wouldn't hurt him."
"That is good."
Hearing this, Morgan didn't say anything more. This farcical misunderstanding was finally over.
"Alright, since it was all a misunderstanding, let's not dwell on it. By the way, Brother, since we're going to discuss strategies for the war, why is it only us? Where are the other Servants?"
Seeing the atmosphere becoming strange, Souya hurriedly stepped in to smooth things over.
After all, with his wife on one side and his brother and sister-in-law on the other, being caught in the middle was truly awkward.
And Amakusa clearly understood Souya's meaning, immediately answering with mutual understanding.
"We indeed need to discuss the upcoming action plan. It's just that for certain reasons, I sent the other Servants out in advance to scout for information on the Black Faction and familiarize themselves with the battlefield terrain. Calculating the time, they should be back soon."
Before he finished speaking, the church doors were suddenly pushed open from the outside. Accompanied by the falling morning light, four figures of varying sizes appeared in the glaring sunlight.
"Yo, Priest... oh, it's two priests and two beautiful ladies. Good morning."
Accompanied by the laughter of a young man carrying a long spear among them, due to the sunlight, Souya instinctively narrowed his eyes slightly, trying to clearly see the true faces of the four Servants.
But before he could see clearly, a petite figure in the middle of them suddenly shuddered violently the moment she saw him. Then, the young girl's melodious voice, filled with disbelief and strange emotions, abruptly rang out.
"Orpheus?! Why are you here!"