Is It Too Late to Leave the Chat Group?

Book 2: Chapter 12: Alliance Formed

“Fou, stop! Come over.”

Fou stopped when it heard Mash calling. It looked at Mash, then at Merlin. Eventually, it decided to jump back into Mash’s arms. After all, as He Who Knows Fate said, there was a lot of time.

“You evil beast!” Merlin’s eyes filled with envy when he saw Fou jump into Mash’s arms.

“Alright. Merlin, are you happy to see me?”

“Not. Happy. At. All. Did you have to do this? You spent so many extremely precious materials just to summon me.”

“How can you say that? The materials are precious, but life is even more precious. However, I can toss both away for friendship.”

“Like I believe you. You are an awful guy!”

“Cough! Cough! Caster, Merlin, answering the summons. Might I ask if you are my Master?” Merlin walked over to Fujimaru Ritsuka and said the words every Servant would say after being summoned.

“Ah! No, I do not sense a contract with you.”

A terrible thought occurred to Merlin. “No! It can’t be, right?! Could it be…” Then, he slowly turned his head and looked at Chen Heng.

“That’s right. I’m your Master. Don’t tell me you thought those materials were just to summon you successfully? You already said it; those materials are extremely, extremely precious.” Chen Heng showed Merlin the three crimson Command Spells on the back of his right hand.

“…”

Queen of Ice and Snow: Beautifully done! Merlin, did you really think I would spend so much resources just to summon you?

17-Year-Old Beautiful Young Lady: There are even three command spells? Now, we just need to figure out how to cause trouble.

Magus of Flowers: Can you be more humane?

Queen of Ice and Snow: You should be more humane yourself first.

Efreet: The fact is, Merlin’s mouth is indeed vicious.

I Have a Strong Presence: I recall saying that Merlin would eventually die because of his mouth.

Umaru-chan: Many people have said that. This is something widely agreed upon.

After the group rushed about the entire day, it was already almost dusk, and everyone did not intend to travel any farther. Instead, they planned to rest at the ley line for the night. The purpose of the ley line was to set up a summoning ritual. Later on, Chaldea sent some materials to Mash and the rest.

However, since He Who Knows Fate joined the group, Mash’s and Fujimaru Ritsuka’s appetites had increased. Now, the summoning ritual’s purpose changed to sending Chen Heng’s cooking to Chaldea, as Doctor Roman complained about not being able to eat Chen Heng’s cooking, which Mash evaluated as B-ranked.

At dusk, Chen Heng started preparing food. High-quality food ingredients just needed the simplest cooking methods. However, he did not have any high-quality ingredients. He also did not know how to prepare the wyvern meat. Furthermore, he was not sure if it was poisonous. Short of high-tier cooking, he could only use the ingredients he had previously purchased from the supermarket to cook.

This time, there were more people, seven now, six of which were Servants. Hence, Chen Heng took out four electric rice cookers. The diesel generator was of outstanding quality, providing steady current. That allowed him to use these electric rice cookers. As for the Japanese cuisine requested by Fujimaru Ritsuka, Chen Heng had already prepared that for lunch. Fujimaru Ritsuka had expressed great satisfaction with lunch.

This time, Chen Heng specially prepared an extremely sumptuous dinner for Fou as a reward. After all, it was not convenient for him to deal with Merlin directly; he could only rely on Fou to make Merlin suffer more.

When everyone sat at the table and saw Fou’s sumptuous dinner, which was even more than theirs, they all fell silent—especially Merlin, who felt targeted.

After eating, the group went into the special training phase as before. This time, Jeanne d’Arc and Mash faced five flying swords while under a gravity field.

As for the dishes, Fujimaru Ritsuka and Marie took charge. Actually, Chen Heng felt that Marie just felt a passing interest. He did not think that she would really wash them. He was already prepared for all the dishes to end up broken.

When the sun set, Saint Martha finally showed herself, no longer able to resist. In reality, Chen Heng had noticed her while cooking. However, he did not expose her. He only told Doctor Roman and Fujimaru Ritsuka about her in secret.

“My mission is to monitor you. However, my remnant rationality made me decide to test you. The one in your way is the Dragon Witch, and she is riding the ultimate dragon, the crystallization of calamity. If you cannot pass me, you cannot possibly defeat her. Defeat me first; stab your weapon into my chest without hesitation. My true name is Martha! Come out, Tarasque, the Giant Iron Armored Dragon!” Then…she delivered her head on a platter to the group.

[TL Note: Tarasque’s profile: /wiki/Tarasque.]

Actually, Martha did not literally deliver her head on a platter. After all, she was truly strong. This was especially so for her punches, which were incredible. She fought against four and nearly overwhelmed them. Fortunately, Mash’s shield provided a strong defense; otherwise, they might not have won.

Chen Heng and Merlin did not help in dealing with Martha. Chen Heng did not help because it would end the moment he did; thus, he did not even lay a gravity field. As for Merlin, he was purely lazy.

Before Martha died, she even revealed information about the evil dragon Fafnir. At least she did something good before dying.

“Sending a saint to kill, this is simply too much!” Martha vanished after saying this final line.

Chen Heng felt deeply moved as he watched Martha disappear. When he turned his head, he saw Mash and Fujimaru Ritsuka staring at him. “Hey, why are you staring at me?”

“He Who Knows Fate, I recall you have an A-Ranked Dragonslayer personal skill, right?” Fujimaru Ritsuka pulled out Chen Heng’s Servant status screen and saw “Dragonslayer: A” under his personal skills.

“That’s right. I recall telling you about it from the start, that I’m here to deal with Fafnir?”

“At first, I thought that Fafnir was in a weakened state. Who knew that it is in its ultimate form?”

“Rest assured, with the A-ranked Dragonslayer, it is easy to defeat Fafnir. Furthermore, the most important thing is that they are not wary of me, as they do not know I am a dragonslayer.

“Alright, alright. Stop staring at me. I sense three Masterless Heroic Spirits drifting about. Catch some sleep tonight. We will search for allies tomorrow. Then, we will work together and crush the other side.”