[This is something you don't know.]
[Vivian didn't leave the Tohsaka residence without reason.]
[She was planning an important ritual—one that would ensure her victory in the Holy Grail War.]
[At this moment, the witch was incredibly fixated on the belief that only this could bring you back to her side.]
A few mornings ago, on a snowy winter street.
Vivian, having just left the mansion, wiped the corners of her eyes.
She knew everything, having witnessed Tohsaka Sakura taking Ian into her room.
There was only one possibility in such a situation: they were involved in something that required a replenishment of magical energy.
No, perhaps there wasn't even a need for it.
Judging by her husband's attitude, it was entirely possible that they were engaging in those kinds of acts under the guise of practicing magical energy replenishment.
By now, it was probably safe to say it had happened multiple times.
Thinking of this, Vivian felt even more regretful.
She didn't blame Ian for doing this.
After all, he no longer remembered her at all.
Therefore, as a Servant, it was natural for him to follow his Master's commands.
Besides—
Even in this situation, he still had the thought of considering her feelings.
Vivian knew she had made a mistake.
That happiness, which once belonged only to her, had now genuinely transferred to another person.
It hurt so much.
The witch clutched her chest, feeling as though her heart could tear apart at any moment.
She took several deep breaths before finally calming her restless emotions.
No.
She couldn't give up.
She had to get him back from Tohsaka Sakura!
With this conviction, Vivian felt herself gradually recovering.
Carrying a bag full of magical tools, the witch who had crossed a thousand years began her solo journey.
Although her heart was truly sorrowful, it was.
Realizing she had no retreat, Vivian felt her mind become much clearer than before.
She spent an entire night researching the essence of the Holy Grail War.
Finally, the new King of Britain realized the crux of the matter.
That is, the outcome of the Holy Grail War was absolutely not simply determined by the Master or the Servant alone.
If the Master was strong and the Servant weak, it would lower the combination's upper limit.
If it were the other way around—a weak Master and a strong Servant—it would turn into a burden.
As for situations where both were weak...
That was no different from cannon fodder.
Now, Vivian confirmed that she was a powerful magus.
So, what she needed to do was summon a powerful Servant.
This way, she could be in an extremely advantageous position in the Holy Grail War.
However, having said that, summoning a powerful Servant was not a simple task.
Even a magus of Vivian's caliber needed to carefully consider the practical situation at this moment.
After all, she hadn't originally planned to perform any summoning; instead, she had intended to replace Tohsaka Sakura as Ian's Master.
Therefore, she didn't have any Holy Relics.
Under these conditions, Vivian knew she could only try her luck and see if she could find anything in Fuyuki City that could serve as a Holy Relic.
However, this was not easy.
After all, there were quite a few magi lurking in Fuyuki City.
If there truly were any Holy Relics, they would have certainly been taken long ago.
Even after searching for several days, Vivian found nothing.
Feeling the pressure increasing, she finally chose a summoning method that didn't require a Holy Relic: affinity summoning.
Of course, although there was no Holy Relic, it didn't mean she could just start in any small corner.
Vivian used her prepared magic to detect two relatively active ley lines in Fuyuki City.
One was Mount Enzou;
The other was the forest outside Fuyuki City.
After some consideration, Vivian ultimately chose the forest, as fewer people would visit there, making preparations easier.
And to summon a sufficiently powerful Servant, this witch, who had traversed a millennium, even chose an extreme method.
Her summoning circle would encompass the entire forest!
This way, she would be able to completely envelop the ley line of that area within this summoning!
For this, Vivian spent a considerable amount of time arranging it, expanding the size of the summoning circle to cover the entire forest.
All preparations were complete.
The witch could finally get what she desired.
However—
Vivian overlooked a rather important matter.
She could choose a place with active ley lines for summoning, and naturally, other magi would also think of this.
Unfortunately, this quiet forest was the location of a castle that the Einzbern family had built long ago to participate in the Holy Grail War.
And even more unfortunately, due to the deaths of both Emiya Kiritsugu and Irisviel, no one knew there was still a Holy Relic here.
It was the legendary armor of King Arthur, now in the basement of this forest castle.
And it was covered by the summoning circle!
Blue light gathered.
The summoning circle Vivian had prepared began to take effect.
In the silent forest, magical particles began to float, forming like morning mist.
They flew towards the sky in a sudden gust of wind, converging into a radiant pillar of light.
Watching it, Vivian felt her breathing quicken a few times.
She felt Ian approaching her.
However—
When the light dissipated and everything returned to calm, in the center of the summoning circle, which was mostly destroyed by the fierce winds, Vivian saw an unexpected figure.
The Servant the witch had summoned was none other than King Arthur, Artoria!
But at this moment, she was different from her usual valiant appearance, leading charges with her blade.
The girl was not only without her heavy armor but also hadn't disguised herself as a man.
Riding a white horse, she wore a beautiful white dress.
She held a tattered sword, looking like a bride who had just escaped from some village.
This was indeed Artoria Pendragon, the legendary King Arthur!
But—
It was her as a Rider!
Only...
Vivian realized she had never seen Artoria in this state.
"I have answered your summons, may I ask..." Artoria's words trailed off midway, noticing that her Master seemed somewhat familiar. She immediately stopped, observed for a moment, and then finally confirmed the other's identity. "Morgan?! How can it be you?!" she exclaimed, clearly taken aback.
The same surprise applied to Vivian. She had never in her wildest dreams expected to summon Artoria. This was not her homeland, and she hadn't prepared any related Holy Relics. Why would she spontaneously summon her?
"That's what I should be asking you, isn't it?" Vivian replied with a bewildered expression to Artoria. "Why did you answer my summon?!" she questioned.
"..."
Artoria didn't rush to answer the question.
Sitting on the white horse, she looked around and found that the surroundings also seemed familiar.
"Morgan... where is this?" she wondered aloud.
Feeling that Artoria had noticed something, Vivian didn't bother to hide it and immediately provided the answer. "This is a forest outside Fuyuki City," she stated. "Have you... heard of this place?"
"Fuyuki..." Artoria murmured the name, then suddenly recalled something. "I see," the girl began. "This is where I was summoned last time." She added, "Hmm... or rather, its vicinity would be more accurate."
"..."
With Artoria's explanation, Vivian quickly understood why she had been summoned. It turned out she had stumbled upon a place where Servant summoning had previously occurred. There must be some reason here that allowed for Artoria's summoning, but she hadn't discovered it yet.
However, dwelling on such matters was meaningless at this point.
Vivian looked at Artoria before her, her expression gradually becoming serious.
The witch realized that there was too much unknown information in the other party's words.
"Last time?" she probed. "Have you already participated in a Holy Grail War?"
"Yes," Artoria nodded, then elegantly dismounted her horse. "If my intuition is correct—" The girl extended her hand, pointing towards the depths of the forest. "I remember there should be a castle up ahead." She then asked, "Morgan, shall we go take a look?"
"Call me Master!" Vivian corrected Artoria's form of address. "However—" She added, "Yes, we can certainly go take a look. After all, if you still remember, it must mean that place left a deep impression on you, right?"
Artoria didn't pay much attention to Vivian's attitude. "Alright then, let's go, Master," she said simply.
And so, the two ventured deeper.
Because they had reconciled by the Holy Lake, Vivian and Artoria were no longer considered enemies. Of course, their relationship hadn't recovered to the point where they could call each other sisters. Now that they had met again due to various coincidences, the atmosphere naturally felt a bit subdued.
However, neither Vivian nor Artoria wanted to waste precious time.
Almost simultaneously, both spoke at once:
"Master!/Artoria!"
The new and old Kings of Britain looked at each other, and finally, Artoria was the first to give way.
"Master, you go first," she offered.
"..."
Vivian thought for a moment and decided not to be polite; after all, she indeed had many questions for Artoria.
Firstly, and most importantly, what was the current level of Artoria's strength? This would directly influence Vivian's decisions in the Holy Grail War.
"Artoria," Vivian said, looking at the girl who was leading the white horse beside her. "If I didn't misunderstand... you should be a Rider, right?"
"Yes, that's right," Artoria nodded. "In this Holy Grail War, I am indeed a Rider."
"Wasn't that the case last time?" Vivian pressed, seeking clarification.
"No," the girl shook her head, denying it. "That time I was a Saber."
"I see," the witch's gaze slowly shifted to the docile white horse beside Artoria. "Then this horse is your mount, correct?"
Rider is a rather special class. Its overall abilities are slightly lower than the high-ranking Three Knight classes (Saber, Lancer, Archer). However, as compensation, Riders generally possess legendary means of transportation, including but not limited to mounts. If Artoria was indeed summoned as a Rider, then confirming the horse's power level would be equivalent to confirming her abilities.
"Yes," Artoria glanced at the white horse beside her, a hint of a girl's characteristic shyness appearing in her expression as she seemed to recall something. "It is indeed my mount," she confirmed.
"What's its name then?" Vivian threw out another question. "Can you tell me?"
"Dun Stallion," Artoria replied.
"..."
Hearing the name, Vivian's expression became somewhat complex.
As the new King of Britain, she knew that Dun Stallion was indeed Artoria's mount.
The day she left Camelot, she rode this very horse.
However—
Vivian had felt from the very beginning that this horse looked very familiar.
No, it wasn't just familiarity.
The witch could sense that this old king's mount had an intricate connection to her.
After a moment of thought, Vivian once again made her request.
"May I touch it?" she asked.
"Huh?" Artoria hadn't expected the other party to want to do that. But, it seemed it wasn't unacceptable. "Of course, no problem," Artoria assented to Vivian's request.
Soon, the girl made Dun Stallion stop.
Vivian took the opportunity to reach out and touch the white horse.
As soon as she made contact, the witch felt the magical energy emanating from Dun Stallion—it was an incredibly immense intensity.
But she wasn't surprised.
After all, this was indeed the legendary King Arthur's mount.
However—
Vivian kept feeling that the texture of this white horse was incredibly familiar.
To be precise, she had definitely encountered this horse before.
This isn't just imagination.
Because Vivian noticed something else: Dun Stallion clearly recognized her.
But here's the problem!
In the past, she and Artoria were practically at odds.
Forget discussing mounts; they barely exchanged more than a few words.
When did this sense of familiarity with Dun Stallion develop?
Vivian was completely perplexed.
Finally, unable to find an answer, she could only "ask for help" from Artoria.
"Artoria... how did you get this horse?" she inquired. "I just feel like it's so familiar."
"Well—" Artoria stroked the beautiful mane of the white horse before them, her eyes showing a hint of a maiden's characteristic shyness. "Perhaps you've ridden it before?"
"Ridden it?" Vivian frowned slightly. "What do you mean by that?"
"Because—" Artoria pulled on the reins, as if pulling on the past itself. "This is the horse Mr. Ian gave me."
"..."
Vivian's eyes widened instantly.
The thousand-year-old witch suddenly realized something: the reason for Ian's gift alone could absolutely not be enough for this to become a Noble Phantasm for the Rider class.
Unless it held extraordinary significance for Artoria herself.
Thus, the answer was obvious.
The Rider Artoria summoned now held extremely deep feelings for Ian.
That was why this white horse was exceptionally elevated to become her Noble Phantasm!
So, did she just summon another love rival?!