Marvel: Trading with Worlds

"Next, continue gathering information on the whereabouts of other Masters and Servants. Eliminate them immediately once found. The faster we speed up the catalysis of the Holy Grail, the better."

After returning to the Matou residence, Kain addressed Medea and Medusa. With the three of them, they could be considered the strongest faction in this Holy Grail War.

"Now Jeanne d'Arc, a troublesome wildcard, has appeared. She can command other Servants. If we don't end this war early, who knows what kind of interference she might cause?"

"In the next couple of days, I'll work on figuring out how to block the Command Spells in her possession. Medea, assist me by collecting magic gems and other materials. But don't use your usual methods — it's likely to attract Jeanne's attention."

"Medusa — or rather, Rider — continue monitoring the movements of other Masters and Servants. The Matou family still has money. If you notice suspicious people, you can hire private investigators or even call the police to probe them. Don't hesitate."

"This would violate the rules of the Holy Grail War," Rider reminded him. "Also, I am Rider, not Assassin."

"Your skillset suits any task. I'm also entrusting you with protecting Matou Sakura during the day. I'll support you when needed."

Praise first, then delegation, followed by vague promises — the classic three-step manipulation tactic. Low-level as it was, Rider didn't seem to mind. After all, her loyalty lay with Matou Sakura, her Master.

"As for Matou Sakura…"

Just as Kain spoke, he noticed Sakura, who had just served tea, standing timidly to the side like a frightened squirrel, radiating helplessness.

"Is there anything I can do?" she asked softly.

Kain sighed. "No, just live your life. If you're ever in danger, use the Command Seal to notify me."

Sakura nodded weakly. Though she still seemed ordinary, after devouring two Servants, her magical power had increased significantly. Coupled with the portion Kain provided her, the evil seeping from the Holy Grail fragments hadn't overwhelmed her personality.

Still, after spending so many days under Kain's influence, Sakura had grown used to following his orders. Perhaps she was simply conditioned to obey — she had no opinions of her own.

"Master—"

"Just call me Mr. Kain," he interrupted.

Medea acknowledged with a nod and corrected herself: "Mr. Kain, and Soichiro…"

"I have no interest in dealing with ordinary men. We can talk about that after the Holy Grail War."

With that, Kain shifted the topic. "Let's discuss sharing magic. What kind of magic did you master during the Age of Gods? I can also teach you some of the magic I use."

The strongest mage of the Age of Gods was still among the strongest in the modern era. Given a Master with sufficient mana, Medea could demonstrate divine-level magic talent.

Unfortunately, her power was always restricted by the magical capacity of her Masters — past and present. Soichiro Kuzuki had even drained Medea's mana, and if not for that, she wouldn't have lost to Kain so easily.

"Medea, the magic I study is fundamentally different from yours. Though there is a Merlin in this world, the system I use doesn't rely on magic circuits or magical crests."

Hearing this, Medea's curiosity was piqued. She had mastered countless spells, but her desire to learn strange and unknown magic remained as strong as ever.

And as for Mr. Soichiro... clearly, Mr. Kain wasn't interested in discussing him.

Medea turned her attention fully to this new "communication magic." The more she listened, the more intrigued she became with this wizard-style magic.

It was a system rooted in idealism — one that differed greatly from modern magecraft. Compared to traditional magic, it had a lower entry threshold but a much higher potential ceiling. Weak spells were weak, but the powerful ones were terrifying.

Over time, the power of magecraft had been restricted by the limitations of magical crests and circuits, weakening both its strength and potential.

This decline seemed to be a common theme in all wizarding worlds. The newer generations could never compare to their predecessors.

Even in the wizarding world, Dumbledore was considered a top-tier wizard — but when compared to the Legendary wizards Kain had discovered, he seemed lacking in both strength and magical legacy.

"Jie jie jie… What a fine body. If I modify it using this kind of bug, it should become a weapon comparable to a Servant. And with that appearance… it might even be enough to deal with the Caster who once belonged to you."

Inside a dark wormhole, a gaunt old man let out a cruel, raspy laugh. But after only a few moments of muttering to himself, he coughed violently and spat out a mouthful of blood.

"Ahem... It seems I don't have much time left. Even with the support of human lives, I won't last long. The Holy Grail War must end within this time frame if I'm to survive…"

Matou Zouken looked with satisfaction at the creation before him.

His previous body—once hidden inside Matou Sakura—had been completely crushed and destroyed by Kain. The one he now inhabited was a backup—a body composed of worms. Though it retained his soul and consciousness, it was rotting and unstable. It wouldn't last much longer.

In less than two months, Matou Zouken would die entirely. Within a month, even his consciousness would begin to rot. No amount of magecraft could stop it.

"According to what the Saint said, the number of summoned Servants has increased significantly. If I use a proper holy relic, I should be able to summon a suitable Servant. But the relics… they're all still at the Matou house."

Zouken glanced down at his hand, observing the faint traces of Command Seals. They were shallow, but if he performed a summoning ritual, these marks would become true Command Seals. Magi qualified to participate in the Holy Grail War often displayed such faint signs.

Once the necessary number of Masters and Servants was reached, the traces would vanish from all other unqualified magi.

"That relic should work just fine…"

Suddenly, Zouken remembered a certain holy relic he had once seen by chance. It was a perfect relic—perhaps the best one he could obtain.

There were still many potential Master candidates in Fuyuki City and beyond. Even some of the existing Masters could attempt to summon another Servant.

However, most avoided this option. Even Illya, the vessel of the Holy Grail, had not summoned a second Servant.

For her, one Berserker was enough. Summoning another would only split her mana reserves. Even skilled magi struggled to sustain the mana demands of two Servants. In intense battles, the magical consumption would spike dramatically. If divided between two, the result might be that both Servants were lost in combat.

"Be filled… be filled…"

"Silver and iron to the origin. The Grand Duke of contracts, my cornerstone—"

…

After returning to the Tohsaka estate, Rin Tohsaka immediately began the ritual to summon a Servant.

She had retrieved the Tohsaka family's most treasured holy relic—one said to be capable of summoning the oldest Hero King: Gilgamesh.

As her incantation neared completion, the summoning circle beneath her feet began to glow brilliantly. But the light didn't last long—her magical energy suddenly surged out of control.

Rin's face turned pale as the magic spiraled out of balance.

"Crap…!"

Boom!

The summoning circle erupted. A powerful shockwave blasted Tohsaka Rin back, slamming her into the wall.

Fortunately, she had reacted in time, using defensive magic to shield herself from most of the blast.

"Ow… ow… ow…"

Rin groaned and forced herself to stand. After a few moments, she returned to the magic circle and examined it, frowning in confusion.

"How could it fail? The ritual was flawless, and the incantation was accurate. It worked when I summoned Archer…"

Yet there were no Command Seals on her hand—she hadn't succeeded.

"Was the relic a fake? No… this was left by my father, and he used it successfully in the last Holy Grail War. It shouldn't be the problem."

Still convinced she was right, Rin decided to try again.

But the second attempt also failed. Thankfully, this time she had made extra preparations, and the resulting explosion didn't injure her.

But Rin Tohsaka angrily grabbed her twin ponytails, stomped her feet, and shouted, "Ahh!! I'm so pissed off! Why can't I succeed!? Do I really have to try another summoning method? But what if the Servant I summon isn't strong enough?"

After considering it for a while, Rin decided to take the risk.

"Fine—if I summon a powerful enough Servant, I might still have a shot at winning this Holy Grail War."

With her resolve firm, Rin Tohsaka began preparing for the new summoning ritual.

As she chanted, the summoning circle grew increasingly brilliant, the golden light becoming so intense she could barely keep her eyes open. With a surge of magical energy, a figure materialized in the center of the circle.

As the light and mana dissipated, Rin finally saw the person standing before her. A third Command Seal had appeared on her wrist—proof that the summoning had succeeded.

The figure had golden hair braided into two long plaits, pale skin, and striking white eyes. Her outfit was simple and hard to place by era, though the stylish high-heeled sandals on her feet suggested she was a modern Heroic Spirit.

Before Rin could speak, the Heroic Spirit tilted her head, touched her chin, and said with a sigh,

"So this is where I ended up. The Holy Grail War, huh? Then that makes you my Master… what unfortunate news."

"Wha—what!?"

Before Rin could even ask for her name, that single dismissive line had already gotten on her nerves.

"What do you mean, 'unfortunate'!? You don't even know me! That's just rude—we just met!"

"Relax, relax. You really haven't changed at all. I was just making an offhand comment."

The blonde female Servant waved her hand nonchalantly, then her tone turned slightly more serious.

"Anyway, let's get to the point. What's the current situation?"

"Huh? Why did you suddenly get serious?"

Caught off guard by the abrupt shift, Rin blinked in surprise. Still, determined to act like a proper Master, she started explaining the status of the Holy Grail War.

"There was a bit of an accident. Right now, there are up to fifteen Servants participating. But before you, I had already summoned another one."

Rin began seriously recounting the details of everything that had happened. But halfway through her explanation, the blonde Servant let out a yawn right in front of her.

Rin clenched her fists. "You… you jerk…"

"Don't get mad. Your explanation was too long-winded, and you didn't organize the info well."

"So I have to apologize now?"

"No need. Just do better next time."

Rin groaned and ran both hands through her hair in frustration as the blonde Servant casually headed upstairs.

"Hey! Don't you still need to hear about the Holy Grail War?"

"Of course I do. But there are other ways to gather information. You can take your time explaining it to me."

Huff…

Jeanne d'Arc sighed softly.

Due to the special nature of the Holy Grail War, she had been summoned as a Ruler, a unique class. Connected directly to the Grail, she could sense things other Servants could not.

"How did the Holy Grail become this corrupted? In this state, even if someone wins, I doubt the Grail will grant a true wish…"

Very few could perceive the contamination of the Grail—Jeanne was one of them.

It seemed that two or three new Servants had been summoned overnight. As long as the number of Servants met the minimum required by the Grail, the war would continue.

But the more Servants that were wounded or killed, the faster the tainted Grail would manifest.

As Ruler, Jeanne's duty was to oversee and maintain the Holy Grail War. Yet, in her heart, she harbored doubts: Was the coming of the Grail truly a good thing anymore?

Though the Grail was said to grant wishes… a corrupted Grail could only bring tragedy.

She shook her head, dispelling the thoughts.

The sun was rising, casting warm light across the city. Strangely, despite everything that had occurred the previous night, the world remained quiet. Anyone who passed by the mountain road near the church would likely dismiss the damage as an earthquake—or perhaps a gas explosion.

Tohsaka Rin walked into the school with noticeable dark circles under her eyes. She was clearly in a foul mood, yawning repeatedly as she made her way through the gates.

"Tohsaka!"

A voice called out from behind. Rin turned around to see Emiya Shirou jogging toward her.

"Oh, it's Emiya-kun. Good morning," she greeted, raising a hand lazily.

As Shirou caught up, he noticed Rin's exhausted face and asked, "Tohsaka, did you not get any sleep last night?"

Rin yawned again before replying, "It's not just that I didn't sleep well—I didn't sleep at all. I summoned a very troublesome Servant. I have a bad feeling I'm in for a world of pain."

"You already summoned your Servant? What class is it?"

Realizing he might've been too forward, Shirou quickly waved his hands in apology. "Ah—sorry, if it's private, just forget I asked."

"It's fine, Emiya-kun. We're still allies, after all. And with all the changes happening in this Holy Grail War, it's only natural to share some info with each other."

She frowned slightly and continued, "The problem is… I don't know much about her. She didn't tell me anything useful last night. All I know is that her class is Berserker, and she's supposed to be a close-combat expert."

"Wait—so you don't even know her name?"

"Nope. She wouldn't tell me. She's hiding it, just like the last one. Honestly, she looks down on me as her Master—it's so frustrating!"

Rin clenched her fists in irritation, and the sudden spike in her aura made Shirou instinctively take a step back.

"But," she added, crossing her arms, "she did claim that few can match her in battle… and that she could literally break a mountain with a single punch."

Shirou's eyes widened. "That strong? Sounds like you've summoned a real powerhouse."

Rin sighed deeply, thinking of the blonde girl who was still snoring away in her bed like she hadn't a care in the world. Despite her claims, Rin couldn't help but feel very uncertain about her chances in this war.

"…I really hope so."

…

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