Fate/Heroes - Chapter 62 Summoning

Batman and Hawkgirl looked down at the ċhėst Gray was carrying, before looked up with a frown as they gazed into the pitch black eyes of the Pseudo-Servant in front of them.

“Affinity? Catalyst? I believe you neglected to mention such things before we decided to summon a Servant?”.

Gray sighed before rubbing his temples. He left his apple in the kitchen and he really wished he had brought it with him.

Pointing to the three objects in the ċhėst below, he spoke with a tone that reminded him of Scathach, as her manner of teaching was a form of teaching that was very much agreeable with the twenty year old.

“When summoning a Servant without a catalyst, the Servant with the most affinity towards is usually summoned. When summoning with a catalyst, you can narrow down the choices of the Servant summoned, to get a more powerful Servant. Any other questions?”.

The Flash tilted his head and frowned but couldn’t help but ask.

“Wouldn’t the Servant with the most affinity you have be the best choice? If you can work with that Servant the best, wouldn’t it be the better choice?”.

Gray shook his head and summoned the spear of Achilles instead. A wave of Divinity was let out by Gray, and it brushed through the superheroes like a gust of wind.

“Tell me, if you summoned Achilles for example, a hero with near invincibility, do you think he would still be able to fight equally with Ryougi Shiki? A woman who can cut through the unkillable? Who can cut through death?”.

The scarlet speedster looked as though he wanted to retort but the memory of the beautiful brunette cutting through Superman’s arm came to mind. Even Barry Allen couldn’t regenerate from something like that. Especially if Superman could not.

Gray turned towards the three catalysts in the box and spoke. The sword was taken out and placed on one of the circles.

He took out the book next, and the faint lettering on the spine read “Doyle”, causing Batman’s eyes to widen.

“Arthur Conan Doyle? As in Sherlock Holmes? How would he be able to be summoned. He’s fictitious. How would-“.

“And Chinese Immortals that can walk on clouds and Greek Heroes who legends are still retold today are not? It is not how true the legend is. It is how it affected the minds of humanity, as well as the Mystery behind their legend. In this day and age were Heroes, such as your selves, rely on technology to get things down, even if that technology is so advanced it may appear as magic, you could never ascend to the Throne of Heroes and become Heroic Spirits. Maybe Diana due to her heritage but that’s all”.

Batman stopped talking and rubbed his chin at Gray’s words.

Throne of Heroes? Heroic Spirits? Mystery? Terms that he had absolutely no idea about, but they filled in parts of the puzzle that was the man in front of them.

If he gave more pieces, they might be able to find out his powers if they were directed at some other mythological Hero.

Gray pointed to the final catalyst in the box, placing it down gently on the final summoning circle.

He spoke,

“This red garment belonged to a famous Chinese Martial Artist. His name was was Li Shuwen, and he was one of the greatest martial artists in history. His prowess with Bājíquán gave him the title of Demon-Fist Master, and his skill with the spear made many call him Divine Spear Li. Using this as a catalyst would almost guarantee him to be summoned. Whether that be as a Lancer or an Assassin that remains to be seen”.

“In a Holy Grail War, there are Seven normal Classes a Servant can be summoned under. Saber, the Servant of the sword. Lancer, the Servant of the spear. Archer, the Servant of the Bow. Rider, the Servant of the mount. Caster, the Servant of sorcery. Assassin, the Servant of killing. And Berserker the Servant of madness. That is the most general explanation on Classes I am willing to give. There are other classes but don’t worry about them, if you summon one, they’ll most likely kill you before you can get a chance to explain yourselves”.

The definitive tone in Gray’s voice revealed that he wasn’t messing around. The Seven Classes ran through the minds of the League, and Batman and Hawkgirl both looked at each other, communicating through the psychic link.

Gray saw them look at each other and watched as they gradually come to a conclusion as all the present members of the Justice League nodded.

Hawkgirl stepped forward and picked up the katana while Batman opted to use the the book written by the famous writer, a first edition of a Study in Scarlet.

Gray looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

“Really? I would’ve thought you wanted to summon without a catalyst. Can I ask why you chose to do so?”.

Batman looked at Gray without any hint of emotion in his voice.

“Just like you, I have absolutely no obligation to tell you my reasoning”.

Gray gave the Dark Knight a queer look before nodding his head thoughtfully.

Much to the ire of the caped crusader Gray stood up and walked away from the catalyst contained the garment of Li Shuwen, causing Kaldur to frown and point to the red robe belonging to the martial artist. A look of confusion was evident on his face.

“Will you not use the catalyst to summon Gray? I thought that-“.

Gray gave the Atalantean a smile before shaking his head. Gray pulled out a small piece of paper with a Norse Rune inscribed on it. The quality of the paper was high, indicating that the catalyst was a modern one.

He put the rune in the center of his summoning circle, not caring to look at the annoyed gazes of Batman or Hawkgirl as Gray’s catalyst wasn’t any of the three that he offered them.

“The thing about Servants is that they need magical power to help sustain them. Despite the Age of the Gods still being around, meaning that the mana in the air is still at a high quality and quantity, you as Masters do not possess the power to sustain Servants with high Mana Parameters. If Diana or Aquaman were Masters, then we might be able to discuss some compensation in exchange for high level catalysts”.

Batman looked down at the book and Hawkgirl grasped the handle of the blade tightly as the two accepted Gray’s reasoning. Neither had any idea what they were doing. And if Gray decided that he didn’t want to help them, there was nothing they could do.

The rune on the center of Gray’s piece of paper looked esoteric in the eyes of the Lord of Order. It was just a simple line on a piece of paper, representing “ice” out of all the other Norse Runes, but there was something about it that screamed power.

Traces of Divinity could be felt from the Norse Rune, but Dr Fate couldn’t think of what Servant Gray could possibly summon from such a catalyst.

Gray smiled and raised his Command Seals over the summoning circle. Batman and Hawkgirl repeated this action as the rest of the superheroes stood at the side in wait.

The red tattoo on Gray’s hand started to glow, and the jewels he had placed around the edges of the circle started to melt, and travel along the lines of chalk that he had created. Batman and Hawkgirl both watched as the jewels did the same on their circles, and watched as their hand glowed with a strange power.

“Let silver and steel be the essence.

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

“Let white be the color I pay tribute to.

“Let rise a wall against the wind that shall fall.

“Let the four cardinal gates close.

“Let the three-forked road from the crown reaching unto the Kingdom rotate”.

A bright red light appeared from the summoning circle beneath the three Masters, and a crackle of red magical power burst out from beneath them. Gray looked at Batman and Hawkgirl, who both nodded for the Pseudo-Servant to continue and he did.

The level of Mystery contained within each of the catalysts bloomed in the circle, and in the eyes of Dr Fate and Zatanna, a doorway was being formed between here, and another dimension, somewhere in the vast multiverse.

your flesh shall serve under me, and my fate shall be with your sword.

“Submit to the beckoning of the Holy Grail.

“Answer, if you would submit to this will and this truth”

The words caused many of the people present to frown but none tried to stop or discourage Gray or their team members. Across the country, several figures perked up and looked in the direction of New York City, all with a smile on their faces.

Even Saber, who was standing beside her Master in Metropolis showed a small smile as she trailed behind her Master in her spirit form. The two red Command Seals on her Masters hand caused the beautiful brunette to frown but she followed her Masters orders.

All Servants knew how to by their time. Even Berserker was not that rash.

“An oath shall be sworn here.

“I shall attain all virtues of all of Heaven;

Red colored lightning crackled as it created several scorch marks on Gray’s rooftop. The two Green Lanterns created a barrier to block the magical power, but had to keep replacing it in order to stop more cracks from forming.

In the mind of Hawkgirl, an old sounding voice resounded out, and memories of countless battles filled her mind. Through the eyes of a warrior she saw the deaths of her friends and enemies as she continued cutting down all those who opposed her. A single sword slash was all that was needed to kill.

The pinnacle of swordsmanship. A stage of Zen and One….

Batman similarly heard the voice of an older man. His thick British accent gave away his origins, but the tone he used was completely unlike the logical and rational reasoning he knew. It was twisted, still emotionless and rational, but the smile behind the glasses sent shivers up the spine of the Dark Knight.

The Napoleon of the Criminal World. A complete opposite to Holmes….

“From the Seventh Heaven, attended to by three great words of power,

come forth from the ring of restraint, protector of the holy balance!”

In Gray’s mind, a beautiful visage came to mind. A goddess, in every sense ruled over a land of ice and snow, completely opposite her other version, the Queen of the Land of Shadows. She was the winter rose that all the other gods sought to obtain, yet, she was forgotten, and even in the progression into the Age of Man she remained.

At the end of the day she was neither a god nor a ruler. Even if her title “the Mother of Scandinavia” falls off, she is still a girl.

The bright crimson light vanished and three Servants stood tall in front of their Masters.

Hawkgirl’s unsheathed his sword and knelt down on his knees, placing the blade in front of her.

Batman’s gave a horrifying charismatic smile before bowing with one hand on his ċhėst and another behind his back.

Gray’s stood tall and motionless as they all spoke in unison.

“We are the Servants of White….. Now…. Are you the one, who I shall call Master?”.