-37- The unavoidable battle

To overcome the Berserker-class Servant, Rozen estimates that their chances of winning are less than ten percent as it stands.

(If he summons that familiar, perhaps they can gain an additional ten percent chance of victory.)

Rozen rapidly calculates various scenarios in his mind.

(Fortunately, I had already anticipated this situation.)

Rozen has always been very self-aware of his role as a Master, which is to command and support rather than personally engage in frontline combat. Hence, he carefully selected his three intermediate familiars from various types. While lower-level familiars can only match ordinary beasts or wild animals, the intermediate familiars have special abilities.

For instance, the "Ant Summoning" familiar summons giant ants that are the size of large dogs but possess extraordinary strength. They can lift elephants with ease, and in terms of physical strength, they surpass some higher-level familiars, proving useful in many situations.

Rozen chose this familiar not only for its incredible strength but also because of its cost-effectiveness. Ants are highly social creatures, and with the "Ant Summoning" skill, Rozen discovered that numbers are its strength. He can summon ten ants with the same magical energy it would take to summon one of the other intermediate familiars.

Rozen's second intermediate familiar serves as a protector for himself.

"As a summoning magician, my first priority is to protect myself."

A summoning magician, being the user of the "Summoning Ritual," is inherently vulnerable. If enemies ignore the familiars and attack the summoner, no matter how many familiars or how strong they are, it won't matter once the summoner is defeated.

Therefore, the second intermediate familiar Rozen can summon doesn't possess combat abilities but has excellent protective capabilities. In certain situations, it can even outperform Mash.

The third intermediate familiar is designed to have some restraints against Servants.

Rozen is well aware that he will undoubtedly interact with Servants in the future.

On the path of saving humanity, humans are often small and insignificant. The only indispensable protectors of the era are the heroic spirits that exist in legends and fantasies.

The essence of heroic spirits is that they are the world's defensive mechanism, the weapons to protect the world.

As such, if he wants to interfere with human history, traveling between all eras, it's inevitable to interact with and even fight against Servants.

Therefore, Rozen's third intermediate familiar has some restraint against Servants, or more accurately, it has some restraint against spiritual beings.

(If he uses that familiar, even against such a monster, they should be able to gain an additional ten percent chance of winning.)

(However, summoning "that" familiar requires an extraordinary amount of magical power.)

(Should he use it here?)

On the bumpy backs of the wolves, Rozen struggles to maintain his balance while racking his brains.

At that moment...

"Boom—!"

With a tremendous noise, the shockwave swept away the asphalt surface, shattering the glass of the buildings on both sides of the road. It created an explosive roar, resembling the aftermath of a hurricane passing through.

A figure shot out like a cannonball from the blast, catching up with Rozen and Olga Marie, who were bouncing on the wolf's back. Carrying a powerful gust of wind, the figure crashed into the ground not far ahead of Rozen, causing the ground to break apart and billowing smoke and dust to rise like a mushroom cloud.

"Cough... Cough, cough..."

Mash, holding her shield, struggled to stand amidst the smoke and seemed to have suffered considerable damage.

"Mash!"

Olga Marie exclaimed instinctively.

Even Rozen was on the verge of shouting, but he managed to suppress it.

Behind them, extreme violence was rapidly approaching.

The massive man descended from midair like a meteor, crossing a distance of almost a kilometer in an instant. He landed right where Rozen and Olga Marie were riding the wolves.

"Senpai...!"

Mash cried out.

But before that, Rozen had already given orders to the familiars he controlled.

"Avoid!"

Without any hesitation, the two wolves let out a loud howl and dodged to the left and right under Rozen's magical guidance. The burly man landed heavily in the spot where the wolves had separated.

Then came the explosion.

With a "thud," the impact lifted debris, rocks, and concrete into the air, shaking the ground.

The force of the explosion sent Rozen and Olga Marie flying, rolling on the ground for some distance.

"Ugh..."

Olga Marie seemed to be dizzy from the impact, struggling to get up from the ground.

Rozen, on the other hand, had already anticipated this situation and had his familiar positioned underneath him to cushion the impact, avoiding a direct hit.

However, the poor wolf, after running for such a long time and serving as a cushion for Rozen, had lost consciousness.

After climbing back to his feet, Rozen gasped for breath while keeping his gaze forward.

"Roarrrrrr—!"

In the sonic boom, the Berserker-class Servant howled to the sky.

His enormous figure stood exactly between Rozen and Mash.

With their eyes meeting across that fiercely imposing figure, Rozen and Mash shared a decisive look.

"There's no other choice..."

Rozen wiped the sweat from his forehead, a fearless smile appearing on his face.

Mash understood without words and tightened her expression.

Then...

"Let's do this! Mash!"

"Understood!"

Their magical power surged within them, reaching for the skies.