"Let thy body dwell under my command, and thy fate rest upon my sword."
"Answer the call of the Holy Grail, and shouldst thou heed this will and reason, respond."
"Hereby I swear: I shall become the one who accomplishes all good in this world, and I shall become the one who eradicates all evil in this world."
"Thou, clad in the Three Great Words, come forth from the ring of restraint—guardian of the Scales!"
There was no difference from Reines' summoning chant—Rin Tohsaka also recited the incantation to summon a Servant before the glowing magic circle.
Mana surged within the basement. [The summoning circle erupted with intense light]—the sign of a successful summoning.
Rin felt her Magic Circuits being strained by the Holy Grail system, the pain unbearable, yet she endured, pouring her mana into the ritual.
Even though the majority of the summoning's mana was shouldered by the Grail, the Master still had to provide a portion as a catalyst.
Finally, as the agony in her Circuits faded, the radiant light of the summoning circle dimmed, revealing a figure clad in heavy armor.
This time, unlike the original timeline, there was no bizarre mishap where the summoned Servant appeared on the second floor.
The armored figure stepped forward, gazing at the panting Rin before lifting its helmet to remove it.
Beneath the horned great helm was not the face of a battle-hardened knight, but a girl with a mischievous grin.
Staring at the stunned Rin, she spoke in a carefree, almost delinquent tone:
"Servant Saber, answering your summons—so, you're my Master?"
The appearance of her Servant caught Rin completely off-guard. When the armored figure emerged, she had assumed it would be a male Heroic Spirit.
Yet beneath that helmet was the face of a tomboyish girl, her demeanor more like a rebellious high schooler than a legendary warrior.
If not for the unmistakable armor marking her as a Servant, Rin might've mistaken her for some delinquent who'd snuck out of school.
But... more pressing than her gender was the title she had just announced.
"You said... you're Saber?"
Rin's eyes lit up with excitement. In the Holy Grail War, the Saber class was consistently among the strongest.
While other classes might occasionally produce Servants surpassing Saber in raw stats, on average, Saber remained the optimal choice.
In the original timeline, Rin had wanted to summon a Saber—but failed. This time, however, she had succeeded.
"Ahem... can't get too excited."
She quickly composed herself.
Under normal circumstances, drawing a Saber would've been cause for celebration... but this war had an outlier.
Zuke's strength was something Rin knew all too well—she had been his Master in the previous Grail War, witnessing firsthand how he crushed the competition.
She studied her Servant, deciding to first confirm her identity and abilities before formulating a plan:
"Alright, Saber—what's your True Name?"
"The name's Mordred."
The female Saber grinned, her tone brimming with confidence.
"Leave the fighting to me!"
---
"It seems the summoner was Rin Tohsaka."
After cross-referencing the crystal's guidance with a map of Fuyuki City, Reines quickly deduced the location.
Given the direction, the most likely suspect was the Tohsaka residence—meaning Rin had summoned her Servant before her optimal state.
Unaware of the Tohsaka family's penchant for blunders, Reines shot Zuke a puzzled look, as if expecting him—Rin's former Servant—to explain:
"Why would she summon early? Did she find some powerful catalyst?"
Summoning before peak condition usually had a reason.
For instance, like Reines herself—she had secured the "catalyst" to summon Zuke and acted preemptively to claim him before anyone else could.
That way, no one else could summon a second Zuke.
Another example was the Einzberns, who summoned two months early to allow Illya time to sync with her Servant's combat rhythm.
(Of course, the Einzberns' underhanded tactics weren't new—they'd pulled similar stunts in the Third and Fourth Wars, only to finally pay the price this time.)
"I think she just... misread the clock."
Zuke shrugged. Despite the massive deviations in the timeline, Rin's trademark screw-up had still occurred.
Though this time, even if she had messed up, she probably hadn't summoned EMIYA... so who had she gotten?
"...The Tohsaka heir wouldn't make such a basic mistake, right?"
Reines sounded doubtful.
While she wanted to take Zuke's word for it, the idea of the Tohsaka successor being that incompetent seemed absurd.
Thanks to the Mage's Association's intel and Sakura's (the "former Tohsaka heir") performance, Reines had a fairly positive impression of Rin—assuming she was a competent magus.
But Zuke didn't seem to be lying...
"Well, I guess Rin isn't much of a threat then."
Reines sighed in relief.
She'd been worried about what kind of trap Rin might set if she targeted her... but now, she felt far less concerned.
However, before she could discuss scouting Rin's Servant with Zuke, Trimmau—who had been silently standing by—suddenly spoke up:
"Apologies for interrupting, Master... but we have a guest."
"A guest? Who?"
Reines blinked. If Trimmau deemed it worth mentioning, it couldn't be just anyone.
"It's Miss Sakura Matou."
The moment those words left Trimmau's mouth, Reines' face paled.
She knew exactly why Sakura had joined the Grail War—to summon Zuke.
But he was already hers.
Was she here to confront her?
Panicking, Reines grabbed Zuke's arm and hissed:
"Zuke, hide! Don't let Sakura see you!"
Zuke couldn't help but laugh.
Why did this feel like a lover's tryst being interrupted by the wronged wife?
To be continued…