[202] Bestowal of the Command Spell

London—

The Greater Grail.

The Greater Grail, filled with magical energy, emitted a faint glow, illuminating the underground space in London.

Barthomeloi Lorelei, one of the Clock Tower's Lord, walked slowly on a platform next to it, observing the situation below.

Behind her was the contemporary head of the von Einzbern family, Jubstacheit von Einzbern.

"It seems that the Command Spell bestowal is almost ready," Lorelei said, her tone firm and unyielding.

Though she wasn't an expert magus in this field, she was still the Lord of Clock Tower. In terms of magical abilities, she believed she wouldn't lose to anyone.

Even though personally tampering with the Holy Grail might be a bit challenging, she had a general understanding of the structure of the Greater Grail now.

"Yes, precisely," Jubstacheit replied. "Now, we can proceed with the Command Spell bestowal at any time. According to the prepared backdoor, the precise manipulation of who gets the Command Spells is possible. However, if we want to start the Heroic Spirit summoning, it will still take about a year to accumulate enough magical energy."

"A year? That's sufficient! Let's begin now!" Lorelei commanded.

With her order, seven magus took their positions.

Dozens of other magus, almost all from the Department of Policies, surrounded them. Among them were Mevis Clara and Hishiri Adashino.

As usual, Hishiri Adashino stood there in a traditional Japanese kimono, watching the selected magus like a snake...

These people were mere experimental tools...

Even if abandoned, there wouldn't be anyone to stand up for them—

"Begin!"

With the command of the Queen of Clock Tower, the mystic codes on the side connected to the Greater Grail—

Red light rose beneath the feet of the seven magus.

Command Spells appeared in their hands.

"We did it!"

Someone excitedly shouted.

"Now the leylines can be successfully continued."

Barthomeloi Lorelei slightly smirked. After all, this was the field she was responsible for. How could it not go smoothly? How could it not be perfect?

"We did it..." Noel Layard looked at the Command Spell on the back of his hand, knelt down slowly, and kissed the ground. "We did it..."

The Command Spell was obtained. Next was the Heroic Spirits...

As long as they could complete this mission...

Then he could get financial support from Clock Tower.

Noel Layard, from an ancient magus family with a heritage of thirteen generations and a history of hundreds of years, was like the Tohsaka family in the Far East.

Their family had already declined long ago.

Their assets were almost non-existent.

However, in a turn of fate, a genius appeared in the Laëdel family in this generation—that was his younger sister.

Originally, this was a good thing.

However...

During the fusion, an accident occurred!

The technology to leave the body intact or to reintegrate was not nonexistent, but the tuning specialist with this technology... they couldn't afford it.

So the Laëdel family could only keep his younger sister in a state of perpetual sleep. Although it wouldn't worsen, there wouldn't be any progress either.

Now...

Three years had passed.

If they didn't make a decision...

Their family would be completely doomed.

So he participated in this ritual, taking a gamble! If successful, he could help his sister recover with the money from Clock Tower. Moreover, in his heart, there was an even deeper ambition...

Now, they finally succeeded in the first step.

"No... something's wrong! What's happening?"

A voice suddenly rang out, startling him. He quickly raised his head to look. "The Greater Grail? It's glowing?"

The Greater Grail, referred to as a cup but not actually one, was wrapped in clay soil, a special magical block with unique patterns on its surface, depicting traces of souls inside.

"How... could this happen?" Barthomeloi Lorelei frowned and looked at Jubstacheit von Einzbern beside her.

"I don't... know! The magical energy in the Greater Grail is continuously decreasing! 9, 7, 4, 3, 1... Nearly half of the magical energy in the Greater Grail has disappeared..."

"Investigate! Find out what happened!" Barthomeloi Lorelei said discontentedly. "With me overseeing the ritual, such a situation has occurred. Do you want to die?"

"Yes!"

The magus were startled and began a thorough investigation.

After a while, about an hour later, the conclusion was reached.

A hidden mechanism within the Greater Grail had been triggered just now...

"Oh... the Greater Grail. Has it changed from a seven-man Holy Grail War to a seven-versus-seven? In other words, the total number of Heroic Spirits has become fourteen?"

Lorelei smiled.

Facing such a mistake, she laughed again. "Very well! This makes it interesting!" Saying that, she jumped down from the platform, landing lightly on the ground like the wind. She walked to one of the magus with a Command Spell on the back of their hand and said, "Since we have enemies now, we can't let you inexperienced ones take the stage. Your Command Spell, give it to me."

With that, she took off her right-hand glove.

"Huh? Wha—"

Before the magus could say anything, the Command Spell in his hand disappeared!

Command Spells slowly appeared on Barthomeloi's back of the hand, stroke by stroke.

"So, this is the Command Spell."

Barthomeloi looked and smiled. "Perfect—Mevis!"

"Here."

"Notify the other Lords. It's time for a meeting. Since enemies may appear, we can't let these rookies participate. Use the backdoor to reselect candidates from Clock Tower. My Squad will take three slots, the remaining slots will be for them... Oh, right, from the von Einzbern faction, do you want one slot?"

"Yes, please, be sure to." Jubstacheit von Einzbern's eyes lit up. This old woman noticed the opportunity.

"Then, give you one." Barthomeloi said indifferently. "So, I'll take one myself, three for the my Squad, one for von Einzbern, and two for the other factions."

"Yes." Mevis bowed slightly and asked with some confusion, "Is this okay? Giving them two..."

"Just get lost if you don't like it!" Barthomeloi put on her gloves and said, "Anyway... in the Holy Grail War, I alone am sufficient."

Mevis was slightly stunned. After a moment, she bowed and said, "As you wish." She knew... the queen was serious. She was truly planning to end this Holy Grail War by herself...

Others... were just a sideshow...

"Wait—!" At this moment, a shout came from behind Barthomeloi.

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