Chapter 23

During lunch, the cafeteria actually gets quite rowdy. The reason? Olga Marie revealed herself to be alive and living.

Most of the noise actually came from the staff of Chaldea since they are not aware about Olga's soul being preserved and waiting for revival. So, seeing her alive and well is quite surreal.

But other than the initial rowdiness about Olga. The rest of the lunch went quite normally.

After the lunch, Ritsuko and Adam were called over to the Summoning Room with their Servants tagging along to greet their new comrades.

"Wait. Why am I still the Acting Director?" Romani asked and was heard in the Summoning Room through the PA system.

"Why are you complaining? You should be honored that I allow you to keep this position." Olga said.

"Actually, you can take it back. No thank you. I am satisfied just being a humble Doctor without all these responsibilities." Romani replied without any hesitation only to regret it very soon.

"Wait! Calm down, Director! Let's talk, alright? Please put down my limited edition Magi★Mari coffee mug." Romani said in a panic before heaving a sigh.

Anyway, after the short drama was done. Romani runs through a few checks on the Summoning System and announces everything is all green and they are ready to summon.

"This time around, we have enough energy to summon up to eight Servants. So, four Servants per person." Romani announced.

The reason why they have double the number of Servants to summon is because the first Grail has been used to increase the energy output of the energy reactor and also the completion of the repair for the remaining broken power reactor.

Like before, Ritsuko went first to summon.

The first to appear was unsurprisingly Jeanne. Following the pattern from their previous summon, the Servants summoned seem to be Servants that appeared from the previous Singularity. Then followed by Marie, Siegfried and Amadeus.

"Oh, it seems all of us are summoned together." Amadeus said as he emerged from the Summoning Circle and then moved next to Marie as he stood in line with his fellow Servants.

"It's your turn next, Adam." Romani called through the microphone.

Adam nodded and approached the Summoning Circle before he paused, thinking of something regarding the Servant Summoning mechanic. Does it only summon from the place called Throne of Heroes? Is there a possibility to summon Heroes other than Heroic Spirits from the Throne?

Seeing his inaction, several people asked if he was alright. But Adam shook his head and said he is simply in deep thoughts.

"I actually wanted to try something. But I will do a few normal Summons first." He said.

Olga, Da Vinci and Romani in the Command Room are curious about what Adam would want to try. Their guess is perhaps changing the summon chant which is possible for example to narrow down to summon a Berserker Servant. But their guess is far from what Adam had in mind.

Adam's first Servant turns out to be a Servant from Japan, Kiyohime. Let's just say that their first meeting was interesting, with Kiyohime threatening Adam if he were ever to lie to her but Adam was not one to back down and said she could try before giving her a dose of his Psychic power laced intimidation. Then he ordered her to stand aside for him to summon the next Servant.

The next one is even more interesting as if fate was playing a joke on them. Martha was the next to be summoned and she immediately winced and recoiled in fear upon seeing him.

The third Servant convinced Adam that a greater force is at play here because he summoned Dark Jeanne. Although on her Saint Graph, her name was stated as Jeanne Alter.

While Jeanne Alter proclaimed her regret and intended to join Chaldea for her path to atonement, only Jeanne and Adam reacted positively at her while others still showed distrust.

Then lastly, the final summon. Adam wanted to try something and based on his understanding of the FATE Summoning System. A catalyst can help narrow down the summoned Servants to a specific Heroic Spirit or group of Heroic Spirits.

So, Adam reached to his Inventory and took out a certain staff with a golden eagle on top. One that he is quite fond of, the staff of the person he once hated but later accepted as his mentor and akin to his fatherly figure, Malcador.

While others are confused by the significance of the staff that Adam would use it as a catalyst. If Alina was here, she would definitely be surprised since that staff is an Incredibly sought after relic which vanished once Malcador died on the Golden Throne. Some said it was retrieved by the Custodian at the scene and stowed away in the Emperor's personal vault beneath the Imperial Palace. While some said it was fling far away from Terra by a Warp Rift caused by the chaos during the Siege of Terra. However, it turns out to be in Adam's hand.

There is a lingering regret in Adam's eyes when he gazes upon the staff. Regret of his failure, his inability to stop the machinations of Chaos and Erebus and the Horus Heresy. To be foolishly tricked and whisked away to the far end of the galaxy when the Imperium needed him and the Grey Knights the most.

Thus he begins the Summoning Ritual with the staff as catalyst. When he nearly finished with the chant, red light suddenly filled the Summoning Room and alert was blaring within the halls of Chaldea.

"Adam! Cancel the summoning immediately! The burden on the reactors was too much!" Romani shouted.

Adam ignored the warning and instead channeled the energy from the warp to fuel the ritual. Immediately, several Warp Rift appeared around the summoning circle with a dense cloud of purplish red energy bleeding out from the Immaterium and dyeing the blue magic circle red and purple.

On the PA system, Romani shouted that the energy had reached over ten times the normal summoning takes and it continues to climb and if it continues, the Summoning System might actually break. But Adam pressed on.

After five long and grueling seconds that felt like hours finally passed, the energy coalesces into one and surges forth as a beam of energy before it dies down in a shower of energy particles as a figure appears on the summoning circle.

The face of the figure is difficult to see. But his familiar black robe and another copy of the same staff in his grasp, Adam couldn't be mistaken. He did succeed.

"Odd, I recall I had died bearing the seal of the Emperor's Webway upon the Golden Throne…" The figure mutters in confusion about his present. Then his eyes lay upon Adam who looked back at him with expression of sorrow and also joy.

"By the Emperor… Is that truly you, my boy? Look how you have grown." Malcador said with a fatherly voice and then a realization struck. A magic circle and dense remnants of warp energy. "What have you done? Don't tell me you made a pact with the Dark Gods to revive me?" His visage turned stern and grim.

Adam found words choked in his throat, unable to say anything and Malcador took it as admittance to his deed.

"You fool! What had caused you such desperation to seek a pact with the Dark Gods? You of all people should know nothing good ever came from them!" Malcador continued with his misunderstanding and angrily marched up to Adam intending to scold and discipline him.

Then came Mash trying to resolve this misunderstanding like a kind sweetheart she is.

"Uhm, sir. Perhaps you might have misunderstood something. Adam Senpai did not make a pact with any god to summon you."

"Hmn?" Malcador turned to Mash and looked at her for a moment to verify the truth in her words and then looked at the others in the room too.

Malcador did sense something was strange with this place, especially so with the Warp. The Warp felt too calm and the corruptive force was non-existent.

"Summon? Not resurrection?" He wondered at the choice of words.

Mash then with the help of Romani and some older Servants explain to Malcador that he isn't alive but is in fact a Heroic Spirit summoned as a Servant.

"So, I wasn't alive. But merely summoned as a physical ghost? That is interesting indeed." Malcador commented before turning back to look at Adam.

"Does that mean you finally succeeded in your mission, Adam?" Malcador asked with a much calmer state of mind right now and Adam nodded in response.

"I see. I and on behalf of the Emperor are sorry to burden you with such a heavy task. But since you have succeeded, I can finally feel relieved. Humanity and the Imperium will prevail this time in the hand of his chosen successor."

Adam nodded again, still overwhelmed by his emotion. He can sense that Malcador's gaze softens as he looks at Adam.

Since the summoning has ended, they all are free to leave. But no one interrupted Adam and Malcador as they two left together. They all felt that the two might need their time alone to catch up with a lot of things.

———

In Adam's room, when Adam and Malcador returned. It was empty which meant Sif was probably hanging out with Fou again and Alina doing whatever she had been up to in secret.

"So, what happened next?"

"Well, I had come to the conclusion that the Imperium alone has no chance against the Chaos. They lost previously because of their extreme view on other races other than humanity. They forgot that in the galaxy, Chaos is a common enemy to others and only by banding together can we win."

"So you actually made an ally with other Xenos?" Malcador asked despite already knowing the answer.

"Yeah. First I offered the Eldar protection against Slaanesh which laid down the groundwork for the alliance as I got the opportunity to meet their gods and was eventually tasked to save one of the Aledari Goddess from Nurgle's garden. After I saved their Goddess Isha and somehow became her blessed champion, I secured alliance with Khaine and Cegorach which in turn gained alliance with their worshippers." Adam said while offering Malcador a seat and he sat on his bedside.

Malcador nodded along, making no comments yet as he took in the story Adam told about how he completed his mission.

"Don't tell me the next person you allied with is the Silent King?" Malcador had an amused look on his face when he guessed.

Adam shook his head helplessly. "I wish I could. But no, I could hardly meet him much less gaining a friendly audience. Instead, I made a deal with Trazyn, secretly stealing the C'tan under the surface of Mars and selling it to the Necron Overlord for their Warp Suppression technology and his personal aid." He answered.

To say Malcador was amused was an understatement. He was laughing his ass off, a sight he could never see on his fatherly figure who is constantly pressured by his duty back in the Imperium.

"You are a cheeky one indeed. To think you would actually steal the god those demented machine worshippers and sell it to a Necron Overlord. Hahahaha!" Malcador was in tears as he laughed.

After all those laughter subsided, Malcador stared at Adam who was looking back at him with a content and faint smile.

"You had indeed grown into a splendid man. A far cry from the time I last saw you. Filled with doubt and hesitation. It's a shame I couldn't be there to watch you grow."

"Me too." Adam whispers.

"So, did you manage to get any woman for yourself? I might not look like it. But I am looking forward to holding a grandchild in my arms." Malcador said with a small smile and in a manner that Adam couldn't figure out if it's a joke or not.

"I haven't. Not like I had time when I was busy keeping the Imperium intact. But now… who knows. Maybe I might. The prospect of retiring and having a family while running a farm might not be bad." Adam shrugs as he doubts he could, considering a certain god sees his life as entertainment.

"A prospect, huh?" Malcador mutters understandingly and decides not to pry further.

"Is that girl, Alina, still with you?" Malcador suddenly changed the topic.

But suddenly, the door to Adam's room opened and, speaking of the devil, Alina appeared along with Sif.

"L-Lord Malcador…" Alina quickly greeted with a bow.

"Oh, you actually do." Malcador mutters while rubbing his chin in deep thoughts for a moment. "There's no need to stand in ceremony, Alina. This is not the Imperium anymore." He said and beckoned the two to enter.

"Yes." Alina answers and enters to allow the door to close.

Malcador looked at Alina. Then at Adam. Silent looking back and forth a few times. Then he wanted to say something but Adam interrupted him which made the old man smile even wider, knowing something is going on between the two but acted gentlemanly to not mention it. But that didn't stop him from enjoying himself, smirking at Adam's expense while Alina looked confused at what was happening between the two.

"Well, I had taken enough of your time. I wish to explore this place a little." Malcador stood up from his seat with the help of his staff and walked towards the door. But before he left, he turned around one last time and looked at Adam and said, "I hope you can honor this old man's last wish, my son." Malcador said before leaving while laughing before he swiftly made his way out while Adam covered his face with his hand and sighed at the old man's newfound antics.

"I didn't think he was this kind of person." Adam sighed while Alina and Sif looked confused at him.

—————

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