Fate/ I Am Humanity Last Hope!?

With that in mind, he walked towards a more isolated part of the forest.

After finding a good spot in the burned forest, he stopped walking, raised his hand, and moved it back. His right hand found the mouth of a creature that emerged from his body and coiled around his neck; this was his familiar.

Familiars are special assistants used by Mages. As it is natural for a magus to separate from society, the use of familiars capable of performing small and simple tasks is considered orthodox. Although they are a different entity, familiars are seen as an extension of the magus because there is a mental and physical connection between the two.

There are various ways to create a familiar.

The most traditional way is to place the remaining thoughts of a deceased soul, from a dead human, into the body of a dead animal. Then, the mage needs to fix the animal's corpse so it can move again and transfer a part of their body, which has a high concentration of Magical Circuits such as eyes, hair, blood, and various other things to the body of the dead creature to give it new life.

Primarily, the hair, which is burdened with years and thoughts, when used, can make the familiar considered a true copy of the magus, so when giving this kind of thing to resurrect a dead dog or cat, you obtain a familiar subject for the magus, and the older the hair, the more powerful the created familiar will be.

That worm-like creature coiled around his neck was the [Inventory Curse] he had created to store items inside; it had the ability to merge with his body and emerge when needed at the speed of thought. Despite its lack of combat power, its utility made it one of the best in the Modern Era.

His Curse spat out a cup full of liquid the color of red that he skillfully caught.

He looked at the cup before starting to draw a circle for the summoning ritual; he had learned to do this during his time at the Clock Tower, so it was not a problem. After drawing it, he settled into a still position while pondering whether he should use any catalyst to summon a specific servant or not...

In the end, he decided against it; if no specific catalyst is used, the servant summoned will be based on compatibility—the one most compatible with the user is the one that gets summoned. He was curious to know who it would be for him.

After checking for mistakes, he took a deep breath and fed the circle with his Magical Energy.

"Let silver and steel be the essence.

Let stone and the archduke of contracts be the foundation."

Along with his words, the magic circle began to shine.

"Attention to my words.

My will creates your body, and your sword creates my destiny.

If you heed the call of the Grail and obey my will and reason, then answer me..."

The light shone brighter, and the boy poured more magical energy into the magic circle as he raised the volume of his chant.

"I hereby declare!

That I will be all that is good in the world.

That I will defeat all evil in the world."

The winds swirled, and prana overflowed through the forest. He was shouting the incantation at that moment.

"From the Seventh Heaven, clad with the three great words of power,

Come forth from the bond's circle, Guardian of the Celestial Scales!"

The magic circle shone with a blinding light at this point. A pillar of energy rose to the cloudy sky at the same time as his left hand with the Command Seals burned. When the pillar disappeared, a small figure covered in smoke slowly rose before him. He guessed her height to be about one meter and fifty-three centimeters—not that it mattered, but it would be strange to imagine her walking at his side when he was one meter and ninety...

Looking up with blood-red eyes, wearing a confident and fearless expression, with a touch of indifference, as if she didn't care who stood in her way, gods or buddhas, were just dry bones to tread on, she asked: "Are you the fool who considers himself worthy of being my Master...?"

Her beautiful feminine voice possessed an indescribably diabolical charm, like a lord giving orders to her subordinates, which surprised Ryusei a bit. Even more after hearing the question she asked him, he could guess she was the type of person who was very proud or arrogant, but his servant didn't even give him a chance to respond.

She gave him a brief look before showing a slight surprise on her expression and answering her own question, pondering: "Oh? Not bad. I thought you, types of magician, were all weak and scholarly. This is starting to look quite exciting!"

With that said, her servant suddenly unsheathed her sword and swung it toward his neck with lethal intent. He wasn't worried about it, as it was extremely slow in his eyes. Just as she was about to hit, he deflected the blade with the back of his right hand before instinctively striking forward with his fist. Although this wasn't his maximum speed, it still caught his servant by surprise when his fist stopped just a centimeter from her face, blowing her hat off in the process and making the smoke covering her figure dissipate.

This caused a real torrent of hair to fall from the woman's head, followed by her laughing loudly before shouting: "Cool! Even if I still need to observe you for a while, I can say you have some guts, boy. Not bad! I won't find myself calling you Master, but I don't mind following your orders. Of course, unless you're an idiot."

Seeing that his servant showed no perceptible signs of fear after nearly taking a hit to the face, combined with her way of speaking, he realized she was the type to throw herself into battle without a second thought—not much different from him.

Getting a better view of her, he noticed she was wearing a black military outfit that didn't seem to come from a distant past.

Completing the outfit, she had a blood-red cape cascading down to her ankles, while her calves and feet were adorned with peculiar golden greaves embedded with black gems at the knees.

Much like the cap she wore, these stones were surrounded by a chrysanthemum pattern, which was evidence of her close ties to Japan, although this could easily be verified by her basic constitution and facial structure. She also had long black hair that extended beyond her hips, possessing a somewhat wild quality while looking elegant at the same time. At the same time, it shone with a subtle red glow, almost as if it had been washed in blood, if the 'aura' radiating from her was to be believed. This, combined with her sharp eyes that practically screamed 'confidence', gave him the impression that his servant was a force to be reckoned with.

Just as he was evaluating her, the servant continued to look at him with a scrutinizing gaze that seemed to penetrate deep into his flesh. The more she looked at him, the wider her smile grew, revealing two prominent canines when she showed her teeth.

At a speed much faster than when she unsheathed her sword, she pulled what looked like a musket pistol before pointing it at his head and pulling the trigger. Instead of a regular bullet, a black-red laser attempted to pierce his skull.

Ryusei merely raised two of his fingers, the [Mugen] froze the bullet before his eyes, and he then used the [Flash Air] to send the attack elsewhere, several dozen meters away. In the same movement, he stepped forward and flicked his servant directly on the forehead, saying: "Stop trying to test me..." in a stern tone.

While rubbing her forehead with her gloved hand, the servant laughed in a mischievous tone before saying.

"Relax, I'm just trying to keep you on your toes. If you couldn't avoid attacks like this, it wouldn't qualify you to be my Master. I don't give a damn about the Holy Grail, so it doesn't matter if I get sent back because you were too weak to pass the evaluation. If my actions disturbed you, feel free to use a command seal to force me to obey your will."

At the end of her words, she looked at him with challenging eyes.

"Your attempts to test me didn't disturb me enough to do that..." Ryusei stated indifferently: "But don't force me..."

Fortunately, it didn't matter much if Nobunaga was truly loyal to him; even if she had a high level of [Independent Action], she still had to follow the rules of the Holy Grail War. Although the ability to act independently without depending on the support of a Master is useful, reducing the expenditure of her magical energy to sustain her outside of combat, she still needed him to remain in the world.

So, that ability of the Archer Class was somewhat useless in some aspects.

Sure! Here is the text translated into English without any alterations:

---

He felt his magical energy flowing into the Heroic Spirit, the amount needed to sustain it was so small that he didn't even feel a difference in his reserves.

"Oh? Was that a challenge?" The Servant smiled as she stared at him with eyes shining with a fire that threatened to consume everything.

"I guess this isn't a good time for that." Ryusei resigned himself; it seemed that his Servant would be complicated to deal with. Making a gesture with his hand, he asked, "Have you taken a look at where we are?"

It was then that the short woman fixed her gaze on the environment around her; her master had captivated her attention with his unique characteristics that pleased her greatly, enough to ignore such an apocalyptic place...

She was surprised to find herself in the midst of a burnt forest and under such a dark sky, she could see the city burning on the horizon.

"Oh? I never thought it would be so interesting. Is this the Legendary Yomi? Are we going to hunt demons or something like that?!" She wondered with a smile on her face, her eyes seemed to sparkle with her words, meditating, "This is getting exciting!"

"I see you would love it to be that way, but unfortunately, it's much more complicated." Ryusei walked to his Servant's hat on the ground and picking it up, he began to explain the situation to the girl: "Basically, I am part of a secret organization that has the sole purpose of preventing human extinction through its technologies. We are in a Singularity, a point in history that has diverged from the original and caused a massive butterfly effect..."

"In our case, we are in Fuyuki in 2004, during the Fifth Holy Grail War..."

He extended the hat to his Servant and finished his explanation.

"I need your help to resolve this Singularity..."

His Servant had been evaluating him throughout the explanation; it was impossible to know what she was thinking. However, after his explanation, she laughed; her laughter was so intense that she had to hold her stomach.

"What's so funny?" Ryusei raised an eyebrow and asked.

His Servant stopped laughing, but the mocking smile on her face was evident.

"Well, it's ironic given who you summoned to assist you on this heroic journey. I am Nobunaga, the Demon King of the Sixth Heaven. It seems you summoned me as a servant of the Archer class, so don't expect me to fight on the front lines unless you are beside me. Don't worry; I'll make sure not to shoot you in the back if you want to get to the front lines yourself, kukukuku..."

Ignoring the creepy laughter at the end of her words, Ryusei couldn't help but be surprised to have summoned Oda Nobunaga. It was very rare for someone born so late in the Age of Men to become a Heroic Spirit, but that wasn't what surprised him. The fact was that he never expected to be compatible with a person who had been considered insane by society, not that he cared...

"Archer, huh? At least that confirms my suspicions that the Grail is seriously messed up. Even more so for summoning a Servant from the East when it is prohibited by the ritual, as you would gain an unfair advantage from the privilege of being in your own territory."

Ryusei pondered as he recalled information about the Fuyuki Holy Grail War in his memories.

He took a quick glance at his command spells that, curiously, had changed into the shape of a bow with a cross-shaped arrow passing through it.

He didn't know if this was the result of summoning a Servant of the Archer Class or if any method the Grail used to 'scan' potential Masters had somehow detected his own skill with a bow and arrow, which had been elevated to the highest level due to his training with the Magecraft of [Kagutsuchi's Arrow], but he seriously doubted the second option...

He snapped out of his thoughts when his Servant took the hat from his hands and spoke.

"Your luck is that I find this quite interesting. If not, I would have set aside this whole situation. I'm too lazy to deal with heroic actions."

"I don't think you are the type to just step aside and abandon your duty, especially since you already claimed to recognize me." Maintaining eye contact, Ryusei asserted indifferently. He still didn't know her well enough, but he felt that she was the type who dedicated herself to everything she decided.

The girl before his eyes, whom he had thought was a man, had been a great revolutionary in her time, and although her reputation painted her as an evil and malicious force, he felt that this opinion was more in line with historical embellishment.

After all, the policies that Nobunaga adopted during her time, combined with the efforts she made to try to help her people thrive, painted a different picture of how she was commonly portrayed in the media... He had read some books about her during his past life, enough to have that opinion planted in his mind.

As he gained a greater understanding of his Servant, he introduced himself.

"I haven't formally introduced myself yet; I am Shiba Ryusei. Until we resolve everything, we are partners in crime..."

"Shiba Ryusei...?" Nobunaga pondered, she smiled at his words and spoke maliciously: "Very well... I will allow you to be my partner in crime for now...."

"So, what are we going to do now? Depending on your answer, I can follow your orders, but if you are a fool, I will follow my own path." Nobunaga raised an eyebrow and directed her red eyes at him as she asked with a slight smile.

She was intrigued by the lack of visible emotion in the beautiful pupils that stared back at her; he seemed the type of person who had been through a hell greater than anyone could imagine, although she wasn't empathetic or felt pity, especially since she didn't know him well enough, her flexible way of thinking, which loved new things and wasn't limited by conservatism and common sense, stirred within her to know more about the boy...

Somehow, she felt he was different from the moment she saw him— a "charisma" he had that was truly intriguing. Him passing her initial tests intensified that even more...

That's why she took the trouble of waiting for a proper conversation with him when she wanted to explore the city on her own.

Ryusei did not respond verbally; he used the spell that every Master possessed to look at the [Parameters] of Oda Nobunaga.

... ...

[Status]

Name: [Oda Nobunaga]

Class: Archer

Age: Ageless

Race: Human

Strength: B+

Endurance: A

Agility: B++

Mana: A

Luck: B

Noble Phantasm: [Three Thousand Worlds: Formation of Three Lines: E~A]

Origin: Anti-Divine, Purpose

Skills: [Tenka Fubu: A], [Demon King: A], [Strategy: B], [Magic Resistance: B], [Independent Action: B]

... ...

Ryusei was quite impressed by Nobunaga's status, but considering she was a Heroic Spirit recognized by the Throne of Heroes, it wasn't hard to believe she must have been very powerful during her lifetime. Although the legend surrounding a person could indeed make their Heroic Spirit more powerful than the original, especially for more recent Heroes, that really didn't matter to him.

The mere fact that Nobunaga's [Good Luck] was something he could never have in his life showed great promise. It shouldn't be easy for Nobunaga to further promote her strength, but with the supplement of her Magic Energy, he felt that she would be a nightmare for other Servants in her preferred range...

What Ryusei was curious about was the power of Nobunaga's Noble Phantasm because, unlike other skills and abilities, there was no information about its function within her Status given by her master's spell. Since the Noble Phantasm of each Servant was generally their strongest means of attack or defense, he couldn't help but wonder what Nobunaga's did. The fact that it showed an unseen variable like E~A seemed to indicate that it had variable effectiveness or was entirely dependent on luck. He assumed it was the former, as it would be a significant weakness if Nobunaga's Noble Phantasm was based solely on her Luck parameter...

"Are you done staring at me with that voyeuristic spell, boy?" Nobunaga huffed at the lack of response to her question, her face displaying indifference to the boy's rude act.

Ryusei simply nodded and asked, "Before we decide our first step, Nobunaga, can you explain the functionality of your Noble Phantasm? I need to know exactly what you're capable of if I want to incorporate it into my plans."

Even though he would finally be handling battles alone, he still wanted to know if Nobunaga could be useful for providing supporting fire.

Nobunaga crossed her arms and looked in his direction for a moment; it was hard to tell what she was thinking, but after a few moments of silence, she smiled and replied, "My Noble Phantasm allows me to summon as few as a single musket or as many as three thousand. As long as you can provide me with an adequate amount of mana, I can even destroy entire armies in your name. However, if you expect me to work that much for you, expect to owe me a great debt afterward. You better prepare some strong sake and a full banquet if you want me to defeat your enemies in your name."

As he began to feel he had a notion of Nobunaga's nature, Ryusei's expression remained unchanged as he responded, "I don't demand others to fight my battles for me. If you want to sit back and watch me do all the work, feel free. And by the way, I don't need the Holy Grail to have something like a wish granted, as I am perfectly capable of achieving my goals without such things. As I said before, our goal is to destroy the cause of this singularity and put an end to this farce, nothing more, nothing less."

For several seconds after he finished his words, there was only silence in response. When Nobunaga finally replied, there was a slightly provocative tone in her voice: "You won't catch me idle, boy. If that's your true desire, don't think I'm going to pass up the fireworks. Stay alert, or I might send one flying up your butt...!"

After saying that, Nobunaga laughed loudly before disappearing, transforming into her Spirit form that could pass through all obstacles unhindered. This was a way for the Servants to conserve their Mana when out of combat or, in this case, a means by which they could move when and wherever they wanted...

As this seemed to be a peculiarity of her nature, he decided to ignore it and simply began to walk back towards the center of the burning city while creating a mental connection with his servant and adding in his mind: (*Make sure to return to my side as soon as possible. You don't seem the type to be caught off guard, but it's better to be safe than sorry. Even though I don't need your help to achieve my goals, losing someone who should be my ally would leave a bad taste in my mouth.*)

Ryusei could imagine Nobunaga waving her hand dismissively while responding nonchalantly, (*Yeah, yeah, don't worry. Contrary to what my appearance might lead you to believe, I'm a big girl. Just make sure to call me if you have any problems you can't handle. If you call me Big Sis, I might lend you a hand.*)

With those parting words, the connection that Ryusei had established with Nobunaga was cut off abruptly. As this fell within his expectations, he did not let it bother him and instead shifted his complete focus back to walking towards the center of the city.