Fate/Magus Path

177 Smoking Mirror

Boom!!

With Karna unleashing his full might, a terrifying blaze of light erupted across the vast plains of Mesopotamia.

Hundreds of colossal, ferocious magical beasts were reduced to ashes in an instant under the unrelenting heat.

They didn't even have time to scream.

Having eradicated every beast in the vicinity, Karna descended from the sky, landing beside Roy. He raised his lance and stood in silence, awaiting his Master's next command.

Roy couldn't help but feel a twinge of exasperation at the sight of Karna's stern demeanor.

He'd told him time and again to relax, that there was no need for such rigid adherence to the Master-Servant dynamic. They could simply be comrades who entrusted their backs to one another.

To this, the ever-dutiful Karna merely inclined his head. But Roy's intent? Not a shred of it seemed to sink in.

Karna remained steadfastly at Roy's side, obeying his Master's orders without question or hesitation.

Roy sighed, a mix of fondness and frustration tugging at him. Still, he nodded at the earnest little sun before him and offered his thanks.

"Good work, Karna."

"It's no trouble, Master," Karna replied evenly. "As a Servant, protecting you and fulfilling your commands is my duty."

Ever the model Servant, Karna brushed off the praise. To him, arriving a step behind his Master was already a failure. Wiping out the beasts had been a trifling act of atonement, nothing more.

He believed a Servant had no right to choose their Master... only to answer the call from the Throne of Heroes. This time, his Master was a man of noble character, exceptional ability, and rare quality. To be summoned by such a person was his fortune, and he was determined to live up to that honor.

"Master, do you have further orders?" Karna lowered his head slightly, his voice steady and grave. "Whatever you command, I'll carry it out, even at the cost of my life."

"There's no need to stake your life for me, Karna," Roy countered gently. "Yes, we're bound by the contract of Master and Servant, but I'd rather see us as partners. You're not a tool... you're a hero with your own will and spirit."

Karna's self-sacrificing words struck Roy as almost pathological, prompting him to correct the Servant's mindset. "Summoning someone as noble and powerful as you is my luck. So why not take a page from that Berserker's book? Think for yourself with that sharp mind of yours... what should you do, how should you act? You're a free hero, Karna. I won't chain you down."

The mention of his other summoned Servant, the erratic Berserker, brought a faint headache to Roy's temples.

Powerful, yes, but maddeningly unpredictable. That one had a deep-seated grudge against Quetzalcoatl... an enmity as incomprehensible as it was unshakable.

When Roy had conducted the summoning ritual at the leyline nexus beneath Ur, everything had started smoothly enough.

Drawing on the solar traits of Quetzalcoatl embedded in Ur's leyline, he'd successfully summoned his first Servant of this Singularity: Lancer Karna, son of the sun god Surya, the great hero of charity.

One of the golden trio of top-tier Servants, Karna was not only obedient but steady... leagues above the other two troublemakers of the trio, Ozymandias and Gilgamesh. In comparison, Karna was an outright angel.

His sole flaw was obvious: his techniques devoured mana at a staggering rate. But for Roy, a living Holy Grail thanks to the Third Magic, mana supply was never an issue. His reserves replenished faster than they could be spent, keeping him perpetually at peak capacity.