Lancer of Fianna

** At Fuyuki Cty **

Suzuki was able to find a suitable place for his hideout in Fuyuki City a few weeks before the start of the Holy Grail War. It was an old abandoned mansion in the south of the city. There were rumors about the place being haunted, so only few people ever visited this place.

Using the magic, Suzuki ensured no human entered the area. He even set up anti-spy and anti-information barriers around the mansion to stop anyone to get any information on him.

In addition, he had used summoning scroll to assign low level undead to guard the mansion. Judging from the level of mages in this world, undead skeletons would be enough distraction from them. There is no use of wasting resources on a high level undead when low level ones were just as effective.

Compared to Demiurge, he was just an amateur but Arch-Devil would still smile, shook his head in a 'no' and think of this truth as nothing more than a lie and a way of him testing the Guardians.

"Still even without any help, I may have obtained more of these" said Suzuki looking at his hand.

He removed his human looking illusion and showed his true form. A walking undead in majestic dark robes with golden embroidery and edges. On his hand, he could feel that he was chosen by the Grail.

After his world domination, which was never his own idea, he decided to take a break from everything and went to his treasury. While there were many things to use for a vacation, he took a newly discovered WCI called [Two Worlds Mandala]. An item that could bypass any location he wanted to. Though he wanted to reach his dystopian planet Earth, his knowledge about the said item was unfortunately very low that he had never used it and due to his own miscalculation, he found himself in this completely new world.

At first, he was afraid of not going back to his tomb. He was in a totally different multiverse. While [Gate] was something he would try to use, the lore of the spell said that it was only for moving to the location where he had once travelled. But to travel into a completely unknown or dimensionally locked area, he needed a WCI.

So he studied and figured out the way this world worked. This world had magic in it and a literal wish granting device. He understood that if he wanted to go back, he first needed to surpass the spatial-temporal barriers that separated this multiverse and his own multiverse. It was a tough task. But he was ageless and had enough time. Even if the 2nd True Magic could not send him back, Ainz had many options to use. He shooked his thought about that and walked inside the mansion.

After walking in the middle of the main hall, Suzuki drew the summoning circle and placed the relic in the center.

"Alright, everything is in order. Let's start the summoning ritual." And with that he began his work. It took less than a minute to his surprise, it worked. At first, Ainz was worried about his defenses and immunities to become a hurdle, but it now seemed like a normal summoning magic he knew of. He hid his features away with his items and waited there.

An explosion of power and light originated from the center of the summoning circle casting the room into a shadowy smoke. Finally, the smoke settled down and a humanoid figure was standing in the circle.

It seemed the summoning was successful since Ainz felt some of his mana being drained from his body.

The person was a remarkably handsome man with quirky long hair combed backward in a rough fashion that has a strand hanging down his face. He wore a dark teal outfit possibly belonging to Celtic mythology.

The man locked eyes with Suzuki before saying

"I ask of you, are you my master?"

(Diarmuid POV)

Fate was cruel to him at every turn in his life. He was given a charm to woo any woman, which most men would consider a blessing but to him, it was a curse. He was denied loyalty to his king, declared as a traitor, thought to be forgiven by his king only to be betrayed and left alone to die.

Such was the life of Diarmuid Ua Duibhne, son of Donn and Knight of Fianna.

But thanks to Holy Grail, he got the chance to fulfill the loyalty that was denied of him in his pervious life. He never had any wish to ask from Holy Grail, but the duty to serve his master and won the Holy War for him.

The masked man who summoned him was silence for some time when he asked if he was his master.

"You didn't answer my question. I ask of you again, are you my master?" asked Diarmuid.

The man in front of him was still silent. Only looking at him with no movement. And then he replied.

"Ah, forgive me. I was just making sure the summoning was a success. I was checking your parameters and noble phantasms. As for your question earlier, yes, I am your master." told the masked man.

Diarmuid smiled a little before falling on one knee and bowing down.

"Diarmuid Ua Duibhne, the knight of Fianna, at your service. Your wish is my command." told Diarmuid with utmost sincerity, "May I know who do I serve?"

"Is revealing my name important?" asked the man.

"Yes! In order to take my vow as your loyal knight, it is!" replied Diarmuid looking at him with hope in his eyes.

His master snorted at his answer.

"Forgive me, but the word 'loyal' is very ironic and hypocritical given your status as a servant.", told his master.

"Yes, we servants might be mere dead memories for this world and its people but many of us still hold our dignity and pride." said Diarmuid.

"I am not even talking about that . Let me ask you what happens if someone took my command seals by force and make you their servant? The answer is simple. You will, by the rules of Holy Grail War, become their servant. Hence, making me your enemy in the process. You will have no choice to either kill me on own accord or forced through command seals." told his master.

That was true. By nature, servants were mere tools to win war. As a knight, he knew war was anything but fair. However, he was different than the rest of the servants. Unlike others, he held his loyalty more than anything else.

"If that happens, I will kill myself! Even if I'm forced to harm you, I'll kill the one who orders me to perform such a cowardly act! Serving my king is what matters to me the most!" told Diarmuid.

"I see. While it seems only time will tell how likely you stay true to your words, I admire your determination nonetheless." said his master with a smile, "Anyways, still for such determination I will grant you my name. My name is Ainz Ooal Gown."

A smile formed on Diarmuid's face as he finally knew his master's name.

"I will serve only you from now till the end of Holy Grail War, Lord Ainz Ooal Gown! I promise you that I will bring the grail to you!" vowed Diarmuid.

"Umu. Good. Now tell me, Knight of Fianna, what do you seek from the Holy Grail?" asked Lord Ainz.

"I seek nothing from the grail, my lord." replied Diarmuid.

"Come again?" frowned Lord Ainz thinking he might have misheard him.

"I seek nothing from the grail, my lord. I only exist in this war to fight honourably, serve you and win the grail for you. My only desire is to devote myself to you." replied Diarmuid bowing again.

"Seriously, you sound just like them." muttered Lord Ainz to himself rubbing his forehead.

"What do you mean?" asked Lancer.

"Nevermind that. Just remembering something not relevant to our situation." dismissed Lord Ainz.

"Lord Ainz, I have a request. When we are on the battlefield, please refer me to as 'Lancer'" requested Diarmuid.

"Hmm? Why is that?"

"The reason is that the name of a servant reveals their origin, their Noble Phantasm and also their weakness. Noble Phantasm is an ultimate ability of a servant. So if the name is revealed-"

"Then it's half the battle won." Lord Lord Ainz completed the line before, "Thank you for informing me that. It seems I'm a complete novice in this war. I am counting on you, Lancer."

Diarmuid couldn't help but smile at his master's humble behaviour. His master was quite a character. Not only, he was smart but he had a certain aura around him that could impress people. Only certain people had such an aura.

Could it be? Was he really a...? That would explain his gestures he made earlier.

"Forgive me for being direct, master, but I want to ask you something. Are you by any chance a king or a royalty?" asked Diarmuid looking at Lord Ainz who raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"Oh? And how did you reach that conclusion?" asked Lord Ainz in an impressed tone

"The way you carries yourself. Your way of speaking. The charismatic aura around you. It's all too similar that of a king" replied Diarmuid.

"What if I am a king? Will it effect your duty to me in any way?" asked Lord Ainz.

Yes! He knew that he was right about it ! As a knight, he had served loyalties for his entire time. No way he was not going to notice a king when he saw one.

"Not at all. On the contrary, I'm very happy to serve a king again." smiled Diarmuid.

"Is that so? " asked Lord Ainz to which Diarmuid nodded, "There is something I would like to ask. How strong are you compared to other servants?"

"Honestly I don't know, master. We don't know the identity of other servants so it is hard to gauge them." replied Diarmuid before continuing, "Then there is the matter of my power."

"Is there a problem?" asked Ainz confused.

"I mean no disrespect but as you know, the servants are supported by the mana from their masters. Your mana reserves are not very high, hence I couldn't afford to use my full strength without killing you." told Diarmuid.

Hearing this, his master raised his eyebrows as if he realized something important.

"Ah, I see. You used detection magic. Sorry about that."

Saying that, Ainz pushed his mana. Suddenly, Diarmuid felt the waves of mana surging through his body. The mana reserves that were left empty were being refilled.

The amount of mana that was transferred to his body was sufficient to bring him back to his true strength.

No, it was more than sufficient. With this amount of mana, he was sure that he had surpassed himself from his previous life. It seemed his master was purposely surpassing himself and surprisingly, was a talented magus.

Diarmuid sighed in relief. Now he would be able to fight without holding back knowing his master would not be in danger because of him.

Suddenly, another wave of mana passed through him. This one was way more powerful than the previous one. No, comparing the previous ones to this one was as if comparing grass to a castle.

His eyes widened in shock as he realized the source of such monstrous mana was none other than his master, Lord Ainz.

But how?! No modern magus should possibly have such an absurd amount of mana! This was beyond the reach of normal magecraft! Not even a normal Caster class servant could compare to this level of magic let alone modern magi!

If one were to describe Lord Ainz based on his mana alone, the term 'monster' would be perfect.

(Ainz POV)

Judging from the reaction of Lancer, it was easy to deduce that he wasn't expecting his master to be that powerful. But there was one thing he wanted to know.

Was that reaction because he is stronger than modern magi or servants? At what level did he stand compared to other servants?

He had no idea where his own servant stood when compared to other servants. Still, he needed to find a better strategy to allow Lancer fight at his fullest. But it was really difficult at the moment considering he didn't knew the servants he was fighting against.

For now, he could just hope this servant of his would do some miracle in the battlefield.

"Master, I didn't realize you were hiding such power." said Diarmuid as he broke out of his initial shock.

"You really think so? Will it be enough to provide with mana if you were to fight a servant?" asked Ainz.

"No." replied Diarmuid instantly.

Eh?! That wasn't enough?! Were servants that powerful?! This was really bad news!

"It is way more than enough! With this amount of mana, I can fight far more effectively than I ever before!" told Diarmuid with a smile.

"I-I see. It's good to hear that you are in full condition to participate in the war." said Ainz as he regained his composure, thanks to to his emotions regulator.

"But master, isn't it dangerous for you to openly show your power to other enemies? They might be able to find our location because of that." asked Diarmuid.

Ainz merely smirked at this. He had already casted various defensive spells and anti-information spells around this mansion. His world also had various mana-covering spells. While he had studied about the magical energy and Od of the Gaia, the will of the world.

He was excited about this war and what surprises were out there. His inner PKing or PKKing mind was ready for this war.