Once all the Heroic Spirits had been summoned, everyone temporarily withheld their introductions.
At the gesture of the white-haired man, they stepped aside. Darnic then turned, pointing his palm toward the corner where Shirou Emiya stood.
Those gathered on the side watched the white-haired, one-armed youth with curiosity.
They had long heard that Darnic had picked up a Master from the Red Faction, but due to the severity of his injuries, none had met him before.
Naturally, they were eager to see this mysterious Master who had managed to evade Vlad III's attack, dodging a fatal blow.
Such prowess would make him exceptionally powerful among the Yggdmillennia magi.
No magus could withstand a single strike from the Grand Duke without dying immediately—much less remain conscious through such intense pain.
The Grand Duke's spear carried with it a curse of piercing agony. Once struck, the victim would be continuously impaled by stakes emerging from within, leaving them to suffer helplessly until death claimed them.
No magus present wished to experience firsthand the grim torture of the Impaler Prince, nor the agony of being struck by a Servant.
Yet Shirou Emiya displayed no embarrassment. He swiftly memorized the incantations spoken earlier and stepped behind the summoning circle, just as they had done.
"Fill, Fill, Fill, Fill, Fill."
Shirou closed his eyes, recalling the summoning words from his memories.
"Repeat Five times but when each is filled destroy it."
"Set."
"Wait, what's going on? Those summoning words he's chanting—!"
The Masters standing to the side murmured restlessly upon hearing Shirou's words.
They recognized these lines as the official summoning incantation of the Holy Grail War.
However, with such an invocation, it was impossible to discern the summoned Servant's faction beforehand. Nobody knew whether Emiya's Servant would belong to Red or Black.
Especially considering their Assassin had yet to be summoned.
If Shirou summoned Black's Assassin by accident, it would represent an enormous loss of power to their faction.
From a simple numeric perspective, if Shirou summoned Black Assassin now, their faction would instantly lose two Servants—the Red Servant originally taken by Black would return to the Red side. No matter how they thought about it, this was a massive disadvantage.
Darnic stepped forward, intending to halt Shirou's summoning.
But the white-haired man beside him stopped him.
"Let him continue. I'm sure he'll bring us quite the surprise."
Shirou Emiya was completely unaware of the commotion his chanting had caused.
Eyes still shut tight, he continued speaking according to his heart's desire.
"Heed my words, and answer if you accept this will and this logic."
"Here, I vow."
"I wish to save all goodness in this world."
"I wish to bear all evils of this world."
"That's not how the incantation goes."
The heavy-set man with short hair frowned.
"I distinctly remember: it should be 'That I shall defeat all Evil in the world.' and 'That I shall defeat all Evil in the world.' Can a Servant really be summoned with such a careless alteration?"
He deeply doubted whether this white-haired boy had received any formal training in magecraft.
His weak magic circuits and feeble output were clearly those of a second-rate magus employing third-rate magecraft. It baffled him how Darnic valued such mediocrity.
"Hmph."
He snorted coldly, openly disdainful toward Shirou Emiya. With his own powerful Servant, he had no need for concern.
Yet Shirou's incantation continued, uninterrupted.
"Seventh Heaven clad in the Great Words of Power."
"From the Binding Circle vow Guardian of the Scales."
As Shirou's voice faded, intense golden light surged from before him.
All present felt a powerful presence erupt from the center, sweeping outward.
The oppressive aura forced even the seated white-haired man to rise to his feet.
Everyone present understood instantly that this was an extraordinarily powerful Heroic Spirit.
Cough—!
Only Shirou felt his mana plummet violently, drained nearly instantaneously. A sudden weakness washed over him, causing him to collapse forward.
But at that moment, a steady, broad hand caught Shirou, gently supporting him upright.
"Are you alright, Master?"
The voice was elegant, gentle, and comforting. Shirou sensed genuine worry from its tone.
Immediately after, a golden warmth flowed into his abdomen, gradually mending his damaged body.
"Thank you."
Only now did Shirou open his eyes clearly, gazing upon the Servant he had summoned.
The man before him wore armor and possessed short golden hair, smiling gently like a knight from a child's fairytale dreams. All Shirou could feel from him was an endless warmth.
"I am Vlad III, King of Wallachia. Unknown Servant, may I ask your name?"
The Grand Duke recognized the familiar presence—not because he knew the knightly man personally, but from the shared aura of kingship he radiated.
"Since you've offered your true name, it's only proper I do likewise."
The knightly man then quietly asked Shirou:
"Master, may I?"
He had not been designated to any faction. He understood it was a Holy Grail War but found it puzzling that his Master was surrounded by so many other Servants.
Yet, after a brief glance, he quickly assessed that these Servants were allies rather than enemies.
They remained calm, aside from a certain lively, pink-haired man. No signs of battle lingered in the air, making it clear these Servants were on amicable terms.
Still, he courteously deferred to his Master for permission.
Shirou, still dazed, merely nodded absently. For reasons he couldn't explain, he felt an instinctive admiration toward this man standing before him—as though the knight embodied what it truly meant to be a "hero of justice."
"I am Arthur Pendragon!"
Arthur plunged his invisible sword into the ground beside him, straightened his posture, and boldly responded to Vlad III's inquiry, exuding an aura of supreme strength from within.
"Arthur?! That's impossible!"
A certain heavy-set man cried out in disbelief.