The time for the Holy Grail War finally arrived.
But before the real fighting started in the city, Elias spent his time deep inside the dark, endless Shadow Realm.
He was busy learning how to fight with a spear.
He and Scathach stood facing each other on the barren, rocky ground.
They both held long, sharp red spears.
Scathach lowered her weapon and wiped a drop of sweat from her forehead.
She looked at Elias with wide, amazed eyes.
"You are absolutely incredible, Master,"
Scathach said, shaking her head in pure disbelief.
"It took me hundreds of years to perfect my spear arts. But you? You watched me move, and it took you only a few days to master every single technique I know."
Elias calmly spun his spear in his hand and rested it on his shoulder.
"My body adapts to everything,"
Elias explained simply.
"Once I see a move, my muscles just understand how to do it perfectly."
Scathach smiled a rare, bright smile. She looked at him with deep, honest respect.
"You are truly worthy,"
Scathach praised him.
"You really deserve to be Lady Death's spouse. I have never met a warrior like you."
They didn't just practice basic moves.
When they fought, they fought to the absolute limit.
Because Elias was immortal and Scathach could not die, they did not have to hold back.
They actively tried to kill each other during every single sparring match.
It was violent, fast, and incredibly dangerous.
But to them, it was extremely fun.
However, Elias noticed a problem.
As he kept adapting and getting stronger, Scathach was starting to fall behind.
Elias walked over to her. He held out his hand, and a small vial filled with dark, glowing red liquid appeared in his palm.
"What is this?"
Scathach asked, looking at the glowing liquid.
"It is my pure blood essence,"
Elias answered softly.
"I gave my family a tiny drop of my blood before, but it only gave them a talent boost. This is different. If you drink this, you will temporarily gain my actual Adaptivity power."
Scathach's red eyes widened in shock.
"I can adapt just like you?"
"Yes,"
Elias nodded.
"But because you are not me, there is a limit. You will not adapt as fast as I do. And the power will slowly fade away. If you want to keep up with me and be my sparring partner for a long time, you will have to constantly consume my blood essence before we fight."
Scathach gently took the vial from his hand.
Without hesitating, she drank the glowing blood.
Instantly, a massive wave of raw, burning power exploded inside her body.
She could feel her muscles getting stronger, her senses getting sharper, and her body preparing to overcome any damage.
A fierce, joyful laugh escaped Scathach's lips.
Her red eyes burned with a pure, happy thrill.
"This is amazing!"
Scathach laughed loudly, gripping her spear tightly.
"For the first time in thousands of years, I can fight with absolutely everything I have! I can try to kill you, and you can try to kill me! We can fight forever!"
Elias smirked, readying his own spear.
"Come on, then,"
Elias challenged her.
"Show me what you can do."
They clashed again, their spears moving so fast they looked like red lightning.
They were having the time of their lives in the dark realm.
But suddenly, the empty space tore open.
A pale girl wearing a simple jacket stepped right into the middle of their deadly battlefield.
"Time out!"
Dee called out happily, clapping her pale hands together.
Elias and Scathach instantly stopped their weapons, freezing right in place so they wouldn't hit her.
"You two have been playing in the shadows all day,"
Dee giggled, looking at them with her sweet smile.
"It is time for dinner. Come back to the house."
Elias chuckled and let his spear vanish.
"Alright, Dee. We are coming,"
Elias smiled.
"Oh, and you should hurry,"
Dee added, turning around to walk back through the portal.
"Rin and Luvia just arrived at the mansion. They are waiting for you in the living room."
Elias raised an eyebrow in surprise. Rin and Luvia usually argued every time they saw each other.
"Did they break the living room again?"
Elias asked.
"No,"
Dee smiled brightly.
"They are actually sitting together nicely! The Tohsaka family and the Edelfelt family decided to stop fighting. They have officially become allies for the Holy Grail War."
Elias and Scathach walked out of the dark portal and stepped into the bright, warm living room.
Rin and Luvia were sitting on the couch, drinking tea from fancy cups.
But the second they looked up and saw the tall woman with purple hair standing next to Elias, they completely froze.
Rin almost dropped her teacup. Her blue eyes went as wide as saucers.
"No way,"
Rin gasped, her voice barely a whisper.
"Is that...?"
Luvia stood up slowly. Her usual proud smile was completely gone, replaced by absolute shock.
"Scathach,"
Luvia breathed out, staring at the Servant in awe.
"The Queen of the Shadow Realm... She is easily one of the strongest Servants in all of human history! Elias, how in the world did you manage to summon a legendary god-slayer?!"
"I just used the old piece of broken spear Dee gave me,"
Elias answered simply, walking over to the window.
He didn't seem to think it was a big deal at all.
He casually looked out the large glass window, staring directly at an empty branch on the big oak tree in the backyard.
"By the way, Rin,"
Elias said calmly, keeping his eyes on the empty tree branch.
"Is that man your servant?"
Rin blinked in pure confusion.
She ran over to the window and looked outside, but she couldn't see anyone.
"Wait,"
Rin said, completely surprised.
"You can actually see him? But he is in his spirit form! He is completely hiding his presence. You shouldn't be able to spot him at all!"
A deep, heavy sigh suddenly echoed from the corner of the living room.
Golden light sparked in the air, and a tall man wearing a red coat slowly appeared inside the room.
He had white hair, dark skin, and a very serious expression. It was Archer.
"There is absolutely no reason to keep hiding,"
Archer said, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Not if he can see right through my stealth like it is nothing."
Archer looked over at Scathach. He could instantly feel the terrifying, heavy warrior aura coming from her.
She was incredibly dangerous.
Then, Archer slowly turned his sharp eyes toward Elias.
Archer was a veteran hero. He had seen many powerful monsters and gods in his life.
But as he looked closely at the calm, dark-haired boy standing by the window, a drop of cold sweat ran down his cheek.
He could sense the endless, broken Adaptivity power hidden deep inside Elias's body.
"You..."
Archer muttered, shaking his head in absolute disbelief.
"You are not a normal Master. You are a complete monster."
Archer let out another tired sigh and looked at Rin and Luvia.
"Listen to me, Rin,"
Archer said dryly, his voice full of dark humor.
"We shouldn't even bother fighting in this war. We should just call the Church right now, tell them to wrap the Holy Grail in a nice gift box, and hand it directly to him."
Rin crossed her arms and frowned.
"Don't be lazy, Archer!"
Rin scolded him.
"We are allies now! We are supposed to fight together!"
"I am not being lazy. I am being realistic,"
Archer replied flatly, pointing a thumb at Elias and Scathach.
"Just look at them. If we actually have to fight enemies, this monster and his immortal Queen are going to destroy everyone in five minutes. Fighting alongside them is just going to be a massive waste of our time."
Luvia blinked and looked at Archer.
Then she looked at Elias and Scathach.
Deep down, Luvia knew that Archer's words actually made perfect sense.
Elias was a monster who could adapt to anything, and Scathach was an immortal god-slayer.
If those two fought together, they could easily defeat all the other Masters and Servants at the exact same time.
But Rin firmly shook her head. She refused to let her guard down.
"No,"
Rin said seriously, looking at her Servant.
"We cannot think like that, Archer. We should never be careless."
Rin crossed her arms and looked at Elias.
"Raw power is not everything in the Holy Grail War,"
Rin warned him, her blue eyes very sharp and focused.
"There are many cunning and evil mages out there. They do not fight fair. They will almost never fight you head-on in an open field."
Scathach nodded slowly, agreeing with the young mage's wisdom.
"They will hide in the shadows,"
Rin continued.
"They will lay deadly traps. They will use dirty tricks, cast curses, and maybe even target innocent people to distract us. In a war like this, even the absolute strongest warrior can lose their life just from one moment of carelessness."
Elias listened quietly. He completely understood her warning.
"We need to be smart,"
Rin said, letting out a soft sigh. She walked closer to Elias.
"So, as our strongest ally, what is your grand plan, Elias? How do we find the enemies and win this?"
Elias looked at Rin, and then he looked at his own hands. He smirked slightly.
"I don't really have a specific plan,"
Elias answered honestly.
Rin almost choked on her tea.
"You don't have a plan?!"
Rin yelled, throwing her hands in the air.
"No,"
Elias chuckled, dropping his hands into his pockets. He looked completely relaxed.
"I don't care about their traps or their tricks. I just want to step outside, meet the other Servants, and fight them."
"Are you crazy?"
Luvia gasped, equally shocked.
"Maybe a little,"
Elias smiled calmly.
"These Servants are legendary heroes from ancient history. They have weapons and magic that no one has seen in thousands of years. I just want to fight them, experience their power firsthand, and learn all of their new techniques."
Archer groaned loudly. He leaned his head back against the wall and rubbed his eyes.
"Unbelievable,"
Archer muttered, sounding completely exhausted.
"He isn't trying to win a magical war. He is just using the deadly Holy Grail War as his own personal training ground."
Elias turned his attention back to the white-haired Servant.
He smiled, his dark eyes sparking with excitement.
"Since you are already here, Archer,"
Elias offered smoothly.
"Why don't we step into the garden and spar? I really want to see what a legendary archer can do."
Archer closed his eyes and shook his head immediately.
"Absolutely not,"
Archer flatly refused.
"I gain nothing from fighting a monster who learns my moves instantly just by looking at them. I passed."
Elias just shrugged. He never liked forcing people to fight if they didn't want to.
"Alright,"
Elias said calmly.
"I will let you be for now."
Elias then looked over at the blonde girl in the elegant blue dress.
"What about you, Luvia?"
Elias asked curiously.
"Who did you summon for the war? Where is your Servant?"
Luvia's proud face suddenly turned bright pink.
She awkwardly looked away, playing with her golden ringlets.
"Well... um,"
Luvia stammered quietly, refusing to make eye contact.
"The summoning ritual is a very complex and delicate art, you see..."
Rin couldn't hold it in anymore. She pointed directly at Luvia and burst into loud, hysterical laughter.
"She messed it up!"
Rin laughed so hard she had to hold her stomach.
"The great, rich Luvia Edelfelt completely failed her spell! She doesn't even have a Servant yet!"
"Shut up, you fake mage!"
Luvia yelled, her face turning as red as a tomato.
"My catalyst was simply defective! It wasn't my fault!"
"Whatever helps you sleep at night!"
Rin teased loudly.
Immediately, the two girls were yelling and pointing fingers at each other, starting their usual loud, heated argument.
Elias and Dee just watched them bicker and smiled.
The sun came up brightly over Kuoh town. Rin and Luvia had stayed over in the mansion's fancy guest rooms.
When they woke up, an incredibly delicious smell filled the hallways.
Elias had woken up early to prepare a large, traditional Thai breakfast for everyone.
The air smelled amazing, full of savory rice porridge and sweet grilled pork skewers hot off the grill.
Rin and Luvia followed the wonderful smell all the way to the large dining room.
But when they walked in, they both stopped dead in the doorway.
The giant dining table was completely full.
Elias was sitting at the head of the table.
Dee was happily sitting right on his lap, eating a piece of grilled pork.
Around the rest of the table sat a very large, very beautiful group of girls.
Rias and Akeno were gracefully drinking their morning tea.
Koneko was happily chewing on her food.
Asia and Gasper were chatting quietly.
Xenovia was eagerly eating a huge bowl of porridge, and little Kunou was giggling happily right next to them.
Rin and Luvia slowly walked in and sat down in the empty chairs.
They looked at Elias, and then they looked at all the stunning, powerful girls surrounding him.
Rin leaned over to Luvia and whispered, her blue eyes wide with absolute disbelief.
"Luvia..."
Rin whispered, completely amazed.
"Did he seriously build a massive harem?"
Luvia nodded slowly, looking around the table in total shock.
"It certainly seems so,"
Luvia whispered back, her voice full of awe.
"He isn't just a monster on the battlefield. To gather this many beautiful, strong women under one roof... he truly is a monster in every way."
[email protected]/jelopy_jelopy