A gloomy room, the glow of a magic circle, and a small girl with red eyes and long white hair.

The little girl recited the incantation with determination. The flow of magical energy brought her immense pain, yet she seemed unaffected as she completed the entire recitation.

The magic circle erupted with dazzling light, followed by a blast of air from nowhere that nearly knocked the frail, small girl off her feet.

Fortunately, the gust did not last long. As the magical glow faded, the gloomy room gradually returned to calm. The surrounding lights were dim, but bright enough for everyone present to see clearly.

"Did it fail?"

Two distinct voices, both emotionless, echoed from the shadows in the corner, as if discussing something unrelated to them.

"The items we prepared in advance were suddenly damaged. It isn't surprising that a summon relying purely on luck would fail."

"What should we do then? Give up this opportunity?"

"Perhaps try again. We still have enough time to make preparations."

Vaguely, two figures could be seen in the dark corner. They seemed to have no intention of stepping out of the shadows.

"So, should we let her try again next time?"

"Let her try again. If it fails again, discard her as ordinary waste."

The two continued their conversation, while the little girl, the "subject" of their discussion, remained motionless and didn't turn to address them. She stood quietly, head bowed, looking at her hands.

"Strange..."

"What's strange?"

"I clearly felt the contract was completed..."

The little girl suddenly sensed something was wrong. The voices of the two people just now were emotionless and cold, but this new voice was full of doubt. That was not a tone anyone here would use.

She immediately looked up, her red eyes wide, and stared in the direction of the voice.

Not only her, everyone in the room fixed their gaze there.

Where the magic circle had just been, a tall young man stood. The mechanisms and traps meant to capture the summoned Servant instantly upon appearance were all shattered.

"This is bad!"

Seeing all their prior arrangements fail, the two in the shadows reacted at once, preparing to unleash magic to activate the backup mechanisms.

However, before one of them could act, his vision blurred. In the next moment, he was no longer in darkness but standing in the brightest part of the room, at the location of the original magic circle, and positioned exactly where the trap was aimed.

Before he could understand what had happened, a shattering sound came from the shadows, accompanied by the unfamiliar man's voice: "A bunch of idiotic trash."

He looked up and saw the unfamiliar man seeming to brush something dirty off his hands as he stepped out from the dark shadows where he had just been.

That was the last thing he saw, because he was then completely trapped by the activated mechanism, unable to move, his sight even sealed.

The next second, he felt nothing at all.

After casually dismantling another one, Ethan looked at these artificial life forms with disdain. He grabbed a wet wipe and vigorously cleaned his hands, then turned back to look at the little girl with long, slightly pinkish white hair.

"Was it you?"

Ethan had already learned from Madeleine that his arrival in this world, in order to reasonably use various powers, required choosing an identity more aligned with this world's rules.

Aside from that, this world's rules placed no restrictions on him. Essentially, he was the same as before, so the concepts of Classes and various restrictions targeting special beings like Heroic Spirits did not apply to him. For example, the rule that Divine Spirits could not descend directly as Heroic Spirits and had to demote themselves did not affect him.

As for Classes, if Ethan wished, he could call himself any Class, because for him, a Class was only a title.

Looking at the person in front of him, he already knew whose place he had taken and which Class he had occupied.

"Berserker?"

"Is that so..."

Ethan scratched his cheek with a finger, wondering whether he should call himself Avenger, which seemed to fit his identity better. However, considering that this Fifth Holy Grail War he had entered was just the traditional clash of the seven main Classes plus the Archer Gilgamesh, a remnant from the Fourth Holy Grail War.

After thinking it over, he decided it was better to go by Berserker, at least it would not be too out of place.

"You don't even know your own Class? With a head that muddled, you really are a Berserker."

"..."

"I am your Master, Illyasviel von Einzbern."

"Oh."

Ethan knew that this small girl who looked like an elementary schooler was actually someone whose real age was close to adulthood. Her physical development had stopped due to a special constitution, and her lifespan might be only a little over a year. It seemed implied that Illya had a way to solve that problem; it just depended on whether she wanted to continue living.

"Then state your True Name, Berserker."

"Ethan."

Illya frowned. Although she looked very young and was not that old in reality, she possessed extensive knowledge and had conducted detailed research on potential Heroic Spirits.

But no matter how hard she tried, she could not recall any historical hero with that name.

"A nameless hero?"

There were indeed heroes in history who accomplished great deeds yet remained unknown. Such figures could also become Heroic Spirits. She just had not expected to summon one.

"That doesn't seem like a bad thing."

The advantage of a nameless hero was anonymity. When fighting enemies, even if their identity was exposed, opponents could not respond in a targeted way, because they would not know any legends about this person, making it impossible to infer weaknesses from myths.

There were disadvantages too. As the Master, Illya also did not understand her Servant, making it difficult to fully utilize his strength.

Fortunately, the Einzbern family had performed this summoning two months early for this Holy Grail War. She had enough time to get accustomed to this Servant and figure out his true power.

"In that case, it isn't suitable to use Mad Enhancement immediately."

Mad Enhancement was a skill unique to Berserkers. After using it, a Berserker would lose sanity but gain greater combat power. The Einzbern family had planned to summon the legendary hero Heracles, then use Mad Enhancement to push his power to the limit and rely on his overwhelming strength to win the Holy Grail War.

However, something went wrong with the prearranged preparations, forcing Illya to change methods temporarily and attempt a general Heroic Spirit summon, which resulted in this unknown hero. Judging by the methods he used just now, his strength should not be weak, which was the one thing to be pleased about.

But what worried her was that this person did not seem very obedient.

Watching Ethan wander around the room and look at everything, especially when he glanced at the magic traps prepared to restrain Heracles, the disdain in his eyes was obvious even to the most insensitive person.

"There are traps like these everywhere here. So either obediently follow my orders, or be restrained and imprisoned."

"Imprisoned?"

Ethan had no good feelings toward the Einzbern family. They were a strange group, puppets created by mages who, after being abandoned by their master, continued their master's research tirelessly. The focus of that research was a ritual called the Holy Grail War.

The Einzbern family held a very important position in this world, but that meant nothing to Ethan. He had been displeased with them for a long time. Previously, he did not have time to bother with them, since he would not come to this world just to cause trouble for a group of puppets. But since he encountered them now, he would not show them a pleasant face.

If they were content to mind their own business, that would be fine. But if they wanted to treat him like Heracles, restrain and imprison him, then use Mad Enhancement to erase his intelligence and control him like a dog.

Then Ethan would let them understand what the wrath of a god meant.

He felt that Heracles also had the ability to break free from those restraints. It was just that for Heroic Spirits, the Holy Grail War was only sending down a projection, with a few exceptions being true bodies like a certain King. Restraint and imprisonment were irrelevant. At that time, Heracles only wanted to help Illya, who was trapped in hatred, so he allowed the Einzbern family to do as they wished.

Ethan was different. He did not come here to be locked up in a dark room.

Ethan circled the room. There was nothing else worth seeing, so he walked to the large door. Just as he reached out to open it, he immediately withdrew his hand and stepped back.

"The ones looking for trouble have arrived."

It looked like a single step back, but in reality, he instantly returned from the doorway to Illya's side in the center of the room.

Almost at the same time, the large door erupted with a strange fluctuation, destroying everything nearby and even corroding a large section of the surrounding walls.

Immediately after, a group of "people" rushed in carrying various tools. Seeing the chains clearly imbued with energy, it was obvious what they intended to do.

(To be continued.)