Is It Too Late to Leave the Chat Group?

Book 6: Chapter 24: Saber: Root Shiki Enters the Fray!

Book 6: Chapter 24: Saber: Root Shiki Enters the Fray!

He Who Knows Fate: So, the Holy Grail War starts today, huh? Ah! No, it’s the Holy Grail Carnival now.

Herrscher of Pufferfish: Not so fast, Elder Brother. In the original Holy Grail War, we would have had the upper hand due to our overwhelming combat prowess force. However, now that it’s a Holy Grail Carnival, we had to use the Servant summoning slots we previously did not use.

He Who Knows Fate: Why?

Time Witch: The Holy Grail Carnival is a team game. A full 7-on-7 battle is crucial. Missing even one person would be disastrous.

He Who Knows Fate: But after I left…

Vengeance Witch: When you left, we were down to six, so I stepped in. Since the Holy Grail War turned into a Holy Grail Carnival, Root also appointed Jeanne d’Arc as the referee. Furthermore, this is a Jeanne d’Arc with memories from the Singularity in France. The moment she saw me, she hugged me; how irritating. I suspect Root did it on purpose.

Vengeance Witch: What’s more, she claimed to be my elder sister! Me, the Dragon Witch, burning with the flames of vengeance? How could I be her younger sister? She should call me Elder Sister instead.

He Who Knows Fate: So, what’s our lineup?

Herrscher of Pufferfish: Here’s our roster:

Saber: Ryougi Shiki

Archer: You

Lancer: Ereshkigal

Rider: Medusa

Caster: Queen of Sheba

Assassin: Old Man of the Mountain

Berserker: Minamoto-no-Raikou

Ruler: Jeanne d’Arc

[Author Note: Actually, Jeanne d’Arc Alter has always been a Ruler; she became an Avenger only in the Shinjuku Singularity.]

[TL Note: The Old Man of the Mountain is the First Hassan. Here are the profiles of all the Servants new to the story: /wiki/Ereshkigal, /wiki/Medusa_(Rider), /wiki/First_Hassan, and /wiki/Minamoto-no-Raikou.]

He Who Knows Fate: That lineup feels like a weird mix. I have so many critiques but don’t know where to start.

Self-Centered Elder Sister Shiki: What’s there to critique? It’s all pretty standard.

He Who Knows Fate: Standard? How did you summon a Grand Servant like the Old Man of the Mountain?

Self-Centered Elder Sister Shiki: I summoned him. As a world consciousness, shouldn’t I have some perks?

He Who Knows Fate: Fine, I’ll buy that. But what about Ryougi Shiki? Is that you?

Self-Centered Elder Sister Shiki: You guessed it. (u.u)

He Who Knows Fate: Why are you fighting personally?

Self-Centered Elder Sister Shiki: Have you ever watched Sword Art Online? Do you know why Kayaba Akihiko entered the game as Heathcliff to clear the game himself?

[TL Note: Sword Art Online is a popular anime about a virtual reality game where people could not log out and would die in reality if they died in the game. Kayaba Akihiko was the creator of this game and played a character called Heathcliff. Here is more information on the anime and the character: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sword_Art_Online and /wiki/Kayaba_Akihiko.]

He Who Knows Fate: So, you’ve taken to the battlefield as a world consciousness and even summoned a Grand Servant?

Self-Centered Elder Sister Shiki: Any issue with that? Besides, if we win, you guys get the Holy Grail, not me. Isn’t it a good deal? This is free labor for you.

He Who Knows Fate: I’m guessing that if not for the fact that the other side’s roster was already complete, you might have joined the other side.

Self-Centered Elder Sister Shiki: How’d you know? The more competitive, the more fun.

He Who Knows Fate: Whatever. As long as you’re happy, I have nothing to say. Who summoned the four Heroic Spirits, by the way? Besides Medusa, they are all 5-star Servants. That’s pretty lucky.

Herrscher of Pufferfish: Aside from Medusa, Luo Li summoned them all.

Efreet: Luo Li, you’re pretty lucky. Three 5-star Heroic Spirits, including a Grand Servant and a world consciousness.

He Who Knows Fate: Which unfortunate person summoned Medusa? Seems out of place among the 5-stars. Eresh-chan was summoned by Tohsaka Rin, right? I remember giving her a Lancer summoning slot.

Herrscher of Pufferfish: Elder Brother, that unfortunate person is me…. As a Master, I need a Servant, right? So I tried summoning and drew Medusa. However, Medusa ended up being closer to Sakura than me! It’s infuriating!

He Who Knows Fate: Ahem! Ahem!

Flat-Chested Chinese: Little Heng, time to hit the books.

He Who Knows Fate: Yes, Master. I understand, Master.

I’m grateful for your kindness, Master, for saving my life despite our past conflict. From now on, I will not defy you, but a little backtalk is fine, right? After all, I’m still going through my rebellious phase.

Chatting in the group isn’t an option anymore. I finally broke free, thanks to an excuse from Master, so I can’t just waltz back in.

Now that I can’t chat online, all that’s left at home is just my master, Fu Hua. I wish I’d brought Fafnir or Bella home so that I’d have someone to chill with.

My next-door neighbor Mo Qingtong had to return to the Mo Family’s mansion for family matters. That’s why Qingtong didn’t go to the other world.

Because the Dimension Administrators Association keeps time consistent for all members, and there’s also Ryougi Shiki in my world, the time in the Fate worlds and my world flows at the same rate, so poor Qingtong has no time to go to the Fate worlds.

I do worry about her memories getting altered without the protection of the Dimension Administrators Association.

But surely the Re:Life Chat Group would take some measures to protect its own, right? Furthermore, Luo Li and Mo Qingtong are in the same group; Luo Li should have given her a heads-up, right?

Wait, Luo Li didn’t initially know about the world merger.

Oh, well, I’ll deal with that tomorrow; it’s not urgent.

With nothing else to do, Chen Heng started cultivating the Chiliad Sword Conception. He already possessed four Will Energy Swords, one of which represented his Will Energy, known as the main sword or the main node.

These swords weren’t just for show; once formed, they could be lethal against enemies.

The Will Energy swords launched soul attacks, catching enemies off-guard and inflicting damage using their inherent sword conceptions.

What if a Will Energy sword shattered? No worries! As long as he had enough Will Energy, he could instantly repair it and resume fighting.

Just imagine a scene where the Chiliad Sword Conception’s thousands of swords, each containing a high-grade sword conception, attacked an opponent. Furthermore, these would be attacks on the soul. It would be awesome.

High-grade sword conceptions! These high-grade sword conceptions Chen Heng chose were all from intricate sword techniques that could cause bloody storms in his supreme-martial world.

Otherwise, why would he fret over gathering a thousand different sword conceptions?