After watching part of the battle between Tobio and Kouki, Drako returned home again.
Drako's intention was to observe Nico's improvements at Grigori and then see how Shirone had improved with Mordred's training. However, there was a small problem, as neither of them was at Grigori.
As Natsume had told Drako, it seemed that after giving the morning theory classes, Zoe had brought Nico to the residence to do joint training with Mordred and Shirone.
Drako soon arrived using the teleportation circles that connected the two locations.
"I really should learn how to create these magical circles," Drako reflected as he used them.
Previously, Drako had not bothered to learn how to use them because he lacked sufficient magical power. And, naturally, this was no longer the case. It had been several months since Drako had evolved into a Dragon King, and he might have been able to use them since he was a Dragon.
Fortunately, Drako hadn't needed to use these teleportation circles for anything other than going to Grigori. However, now he could put them to good use with his possible future trips to the U.S. He could even use them to get home from anywhere, so this magic was very convenient.
Once he arrived home, Drako looked for the three girls' presence and the boy he was looking for. Interestingly, they were in the room next to the one he had used to investigate the Sephiroth Graal with Lavinia and Valerie.
Upon entering, they seemed to be in the midst of a break.
"You must be careful how you use your powers, Nico," Zoe was saying to the ten-year-old. "It can't be that every time you use them, you end up this exhausted."
The boy in question, Nico di Angelo, was lying on the floor. He was pale, paler than usual, although that was something to expect from a son of Hades. As Drako could deduce from Zoe's words, this extreme pallor stemmed from the overuse of skills on the boy's part.
A pity, since it seems that Drako was not going to be able to see how Nico had improved after all these weeks. He really wanted to see the fruits of the young demigod's training.
With a quick Inspect Status, Drako could see that Nico's MP had indeed reached 0. This was something really dangerous, which Drako had more than once experienced. Being a dragon, Drako had always been able to resist it with relative ease. However, Nico was a fragile child, who was just beginning to understand what it meant to be a demigod.
Nico was still a human.
On the other hand, Shirone was drinking water from a bottle that Mordred had given her. Unlike Nico, she was barely sweating.
"Master!" Mordred shouted when she noticed Drako's presence.
"Hello," Drako greeted everyone in the room.
"Drako..." Nico tried to get up from the ground, but Zoe stopped him on the floor. "Don't get up yet. Rest for a while."
Shirone did approach Drako, wagging her only tail as she joyfully walked towards the dragon.
"Nii-sama, what are you doing here," Shirone asked with a smile, obviously happy for Drako's presence.
"I had intended to watch you both train, to see how much you had improved." Drako could hear a whimper from Nico, and Zoe had to keep him on the floor to force him to stop moving. "As far as I can see, Nico, you're in no condition to continue training."
"Yes, I can!"
Once again, Nico tried to get up, but Zoe had him well secured.
"Calm down. Even if you try, you won't be able to use a drop of magic," Drako said.
Disappointment could be seen on the face of Nico, who wanted to show Drako all that he had achieved in his training, both at Grigori and with Zoe. But, this didn't seem to be his day, and he was going to have to wait for another day to show Drako his improvement.
"Sigh, you're too impulsive," Zoe couldn't help but sigh.
"Well, it's not bad to be impulsive," Drako said. "Being willing to get better is the most important thing when you're training, the first step you have to take. The fruits of your effort may take a little while to come, but they will come. I can assure you of that."
Drako's words didn't just reach Nico, who Drako was addressing, but they also reached Shirone, Mordred and Zoe.
Shirone was in a similar state to Nico, although she had been training for over two years. She still had a lot to grow and mature, so she could gradually approach the level of her Nee-sama and Nii-sama.
Or at least that was her goal.
Zoe and Mordred were already very strong, their effort had already shown results. Before becoming the Servants of Drako, they were among the most powerful of their respective generations. Mordred was the young talent at the round table, while Zoe was the most powerful Hunter. These words from Drako reminded them of all the effort they had had to make to reach these places before they met Drako.
Leaving Nico aside, Drako focused on Shirone.
He hadn't noticed it before, as Shirone hadn't had it in her hand before. In fact, he had never seen it before.
I'm talking about the two-meter-long greatsword that was leaning against the wall.
This obviously did not belong to Mordred, since she was using Clarent, nor did it belong to Zoe or Nico, since neither of them used this kind of weapon (I doubt that Nico could even lift it). So, without a doubt, this sword belonged to Shirone.
Moving away from Shirone, Drako took the weapon in his hands.
"Ah, Nii-sama!" Shirone exclaimed as she saw Drako take the weapon.
"Is this yours? It's pretty heavy. Can you really use this greatsword?" Drako asked out of curiosity.
In fact, the greatsword was quite heavy. This one should weigh a lot more than Shirone, so it was not uncommon for Drako to think this was too much for a girl of just 12-13 years old.
However...
"Of course!"
Shirone approached Drako and easily snatched the sword from him. Although she had to hold the sword in two hands, it was a sword that was designed to be used like this from the start; Shirone had almost no difficulty lifting it.
That was her natural strength, the same one that caught Rias Gremory's attention and decided that the crimson-haired princess should use a piece of Rook for Shirone. Although she still had some difficulty carrying the sword, it was something incredible that she could use a weapon that was two or three feet bigger than her.
"Look, Nii-sama!" Shirone screamed as a white aura began to surround her.
Yes, how could Drako have forgotten?
Shirone was a Nekoshou; making use of senjutsu was easy for her, like breathing or walking. With the use of touki, she had no problem using such a large sword.
Drako looked at Mordred and asked, "That sword is of good quality; where did you get it?"
"The Pendragon family is very rich," Mordred said as she shrugged.
Basically, she had taken advantage of her descendants once again.
Drako smiled as he looked at Shirone. A light shone on his right hand, and Laevatein appeared.
"Well, Shirone, why don't you show me how much you've improved over the years?"
"You are too strong, Nii-sama," Shirone said between heavy breaths. "Even after all this training, I can't even hit you properly."
The youngest of the Nekoshou sisters rested on her greatsword, looking terribly exhausted.
Drako had not attacked once, but had dedicated himself to defending each and every one of Shirone's attacks. It made no sense for him to attack, as Shirone would obviously not be able to defend herself. Drako only wanted to see how much Shirone had improved, so defeating her made no sense at all.
And so, Drako more or less got used to the idea of Shirone's fighting power (stats aren't everything).
And she's... stronger than Drako expected.
Shirone was not at the level of Tobio or Kouki in terms of fighting power, but she might not lose to Natsume (depending on the circumstances, Shirone cannot defeat the true form of Natsume's Sacred Gear). Her skill with the sword was similar to that of Mordred. It was not a conventional style, but it was one that worked perfectly for Shirone.
Like her teacher, the Nekoshou did not hesitate to throw her weapon away in order to gain an advantage over her opponent. Since her melee skills were not inferior to her greatsword ability, along with the great power in her touki-enhanced body, she was able to use this surprise attack tactic quite effectively.
"I am a Great Dragon King. In theory, there are only nine living dragons that are stronger than me," Drako said as she stroked Shirone's head. "In practice, I think only four of them can really defeat me in a fight. Don't worry about not being able to beat me right now, you still have a lot of growing up to do."
Of the six original Dragon Kings, Vritra is sealed in numerous Sacred Gears, so only Tannin, Fafnir, Yu Long, and Tiamat are theoretically stronger or at the same level as Drako. In practice, Drako could most likely defeat them all, the unknown Tiamat is an exception, since her real powers are unknown.
Of the Evil Dragons, only Crom Cruach and Niðhöggr are still alive (even if the rest of the world thinks they are still dead). In theory, the Evil Dragons are more powerful than the Great Dragon Kings, but Drako was already able to kill Ladon. Therefore, Niðhöggr shouldn't be a problem either now that his strength has increased so much after killing the Greek Evil Dragon.
Crom Cruach and Tiamat, along with Great Red and Ophis, are the only dragons that are actually more powerful than Drako and could defeat him in battle. Of course, if Drako manages to release more Laevatein seals, only Great Red and Ophis may become stronger than him.
The same goes for 90% of the gods. Perhaps only the Hindu gods, along with some loose god from another pantheon, can actually defeat, or at least not lose, a battle against the current Drako.
Zeus with his definitive bolt, Poseidon with his trident, Hades, Thor with his legendary weapons, Odin with his spear, Shiva, Brahma, Indra, Ra, Lugh...
They are the most powerful gods in every pantheon, but until Drako faces them, he will not know what the real difference in power is between them.
At that moment, Drako felt a presence appear in front of his house.
"Speaking of gods..."
…
The next day, Drako gathered his three Servants.
He had called them together for something important, though they were waiting for this day.
Facing Drako were the three: Zoe on the left, Mordred on the right and Kuroka in the center.
Archer, Saber and Caster.
Drako already had three of the seven conventional classes at his disposal.
"I think you all know why I have gathered you here," Drako said. "But I'm going to say it anyway. I've given you a few days to spend quality time with the people you trust the most, or think you'll miss the most. Zoe, I gave you the opportunity to go back to Artemis for a few days, but you turned it down."
"I've been living with Artemis for millennia on a day-to-day basis, spending a few more days with her will only increase my reluctance to work with you," she said candidly.
"I understand," Drako nodded.
"As you know, we are going to travel to another world, where the holy grail wars are celebrated. As I have explained to you several times, these are wars in which usually seven Masters fight alongside seven Servants," Drako summarized briefly. "Our aim this time is not the Holy Grail, for it is corrupt, but to kill as many Servants as possible, for then we will become stronger, and we need that strength."
"Drako, you are already so powerful; why do you want more strength?" Kuroka asked.
"In a few years, very powerful enemies will come, some even at the level of Great Red and Ophis. When those enemies come, we need the strength to finish them off, or we will be the ones to die."
"Can't we just avoid them?" Mordred asked.
Drako shook his head. "I am their target."
The chosen one of the Order, Drako was the enemy that Chaos wanted to eradicate. Although Drako didn't really care that the Chaos did what it wanted for the multiverse, they are going to go for his life.
A good example of this is the weak explorer they sent three years ago, who was helping with the experiments in Kuroka. From what the old man told him at the time, he was among the weakest of the weak, and there were hundreds of thousands of them, even millions.
Those numbers were terrifying, millions of T3 were capable of provoking a crisis in this world if they really decided to invade with all their power. And then there were also the really powerful, the real powers.
Could this world resist them?
Of course not.
They could barely cope with the bad guys of this world, how could they defend themselves from the outside world?
"That's a problem," Zoe said.
The three Servants understood the gravity of the situation.
Even with powers on the level of Great Red and Ophis, Drako sensed that they would not be enough to save this world.
Someone had to step forward.
[Opening a portal to Nasuverse, I need specs]
Sage's voice sounded in Drako's head. He had already started the preparations.
"Fate/Zero-Unlimited Blade Works universe, year 1993, Fuyuki."
[Data successfully obtained, using a Fate Point, preparing portal.]
A few seconds later, the atmosphere became turbulent. Before the astonished glances of the Servants, a black hole opened up in front of Drako, positioning itself between him and the three girls.
[Portal successfully created.]
[I remind you that only you and the Servants can use this portal. Once you cross it, time in this world will stop].
"Perfect."
Drako looked at the girls and said, "Come in."
They seemed to hesitate a bit, but finally they trusted Drako.
Mordred was the first, entering with determination and confidence. This was going to be an important place for her, Drako had said it many times and she trusted him.
Zoe followed her. From the moment she entered the portal, all doubts she had about being Drako's Servant were over. She had already made up her mind, and she was not going to back down.
Kuroka had the most doubts. She understood that, by crossing that portal, she was going to leave her sister behind for ten years. When she returned from that world, she would not be the same person she was before, while Shirone would continue to be the same innocent little girl.
But one look into Drako's serious eyes was enough to give her courage. Kuroka knew that Drako was leaving behind much more than a sister, but a whole family that he had created with effort and patience. If he could take that step forward, why couldn't she?
When Drako saw that all the girls had come in, he did the same.
At that moment, Sage spoke in his head again.
[Your power and that of your Servants is greater than the difficulty of this world.]
"I know,"
[I can increase the difficulty of this world. Don't worry, I won't increase it to the point that you can't overcome. It's just so you don't feel like you've wasted your time].
"What do you give me in return?"
[Twice the experience for each kill]
Drako did not hesitate.
"Do it."
Drako was confident in his abilities.
So what if the difficulty increased?
With the new weapon Aphrodite had given him, there was no way he would not overcome this world.
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