Shinji Matou at Your Service

He is a half-blood of incubus and human, a wanderer of paradise.

He is a court magician bearing the dual roles of mentor and seer.

He is one of history's foremost sages, who guided, troubled, and sometimes helped King Arthur, who had overcome countless enemies and hardships.

It is said his mother was a princess of Wales, and his father was an otherworldly incubus born between the moon and the earth. In his youth, he made many prophecies, the most famous being the slumbering red and white dragons beneath Snowdon and their subsequent battle upon awakening.

The red dragon symbolized Britain, and the white dragon symbolized the Saxons. Under the leadership of a great king, Britain would unite and ultimately rule over Gaul and Rome.

He also left many other prophecies, including those concerning wars and the death of kings.

He facilitated the marriage of Arthur's father, Uther Pendragon, to his queen and took a keen interest in Arthur even before his birth. Legend has it that he taught the young Arthur many skills, playing a foster father role and thus earning the title "King Maker."

He possesses the highest level of Clairvoyance, having foreseen the fall of the Round Table and the crises of Britain. Yet, he left Britain without revealing these visions to King Arthur.

In the end, he went to Avalon and secluded himself in a tower to avoid a certain woman, according to the legend.

He cannot die until the world ends, witnessing the rise and fall of mankind as an observer.

He is—

"Yes, I am Grand Caster Merlin, the magus among magus, the chosen Caster. Other magus, especially those in the Caster class, can only envy me, and in the end, they have to admit defeat and retire. This inevitable scenario has already unfolded."

The man with white hair and white robes spread his arms wide, delivering an extremely narcissistic self-introduction, leaving Semiramis speechless.

Artoria, expressionless, swung her holy sword, sending a brilliant sword light through Merlin's body without causing any harm.

"Hahaha, it's useless, Artoria. My true body is still in the Tower; this is just an illusion I created."

"I know. I'm just used to shutting you up this way."

Artoria glanced at Merlin, her eyes as if looking at a pile of garbage.

"Oh dear, oh dear, what a rough habit. Where has the cute Artoria gone?"

Merlin shrugged nonchalantly, his handsome features transcending gender.

"Ah, I know. It must be that bad boy named Shinji Matou who corrupted you. Listen up, that guy is no good. He even called me an old rogue. How could a handsome and elegant big brother like me be an old rogue?"

"But I think he's right," Artoria said seriously. "I trust my master more than an untrustworthy magician like you."

"Ugh, the blow... Artoria has turned bad... As her mentor, I am heartbroken."

Merlin trembled as if struck by lightning, and the grand image of the top magus painstakingly created by the sea of flowers was utterly shattered.

"Enough! If you want to perform comedy, do it outside. Don't waste my time," Semiramis ordered.

"Oh dear, don't be like that, beautiful Empress. Would you destroy such lovely flowers?"

Semiramis's face darkened as she summoned crimson flames, burning the flowers to ashes. But soon, new flowers bloomed from the scorched floor, even denser than before.

"So, this is your magic?"

"Indeed, I am famed as the Magus of Flowers," Merlin said proudly.

"How about it, beautiful Empress? Would you like to have a cup of tea and chat with me? Sharing magical insights wouldn't be bad either. Though you are a bit behind a Grand Caster like me, you are still an excellent magus."

"I want to see just how strong a Grand Caster!"

Provoked multiple times, the once-dominant female magus of an era could no longer hold back.

With a series of intricate incantations, countless magical arrays unfolded behind the Empress, each one surpassing A-rank grand magic.

Simultaneously, Merlin began weaving his spells. He used the same language as Semiramis, a divine language from the Age of Gods that modern humans could not produce. His chanting was rhythmic and swift.

The increasing magical energy in the atmosphere indicated that he was creating magic as powerful as the Empress's.

However, just as the two top magus were about to unleash their spells, Merlin's chanting abruptly stopped.

It wasn't that he had finished; he stopped midway. Even someone with no magical knowledge could tell the incantation was incomplete. Visibly, the rapidly forming magical arrays behind Merlin dissipated into nothingness.

"..."

Semiramis was momentarily stunned, almost interrupting her incantation.

Merlin sheepishly stuck out his tongue and let out a series of pained sounds: "Ouch, ouch, ouch, I bit my tongue."

"..."

Chanting incantations is fundamental for the magus. Biting one's tongue while chanting is something that typically only happens to novices. For it to happen to Merlin's caliber... if she hadn't checked her state multiple times, Semiramis would have thought she had fallen under an illusion.

Fortunately, she had already finished her incantation by then; otherwise, she might have ended up in the same situation as Merlin.

Regardless of the reason, she had completed her spell, and now it was her turn to attack.

The Empress uttered a few more syllables, and the arrays behind her all activated simultaneously.

"Oh no, there's no time."

Seeing the imminent storm of magical power, Merlin shrugged helplessly and hid behind Artoria.

"There's no choice. Let me show you my ultimate move—Artoria, go... no, I mean, go ahead, Artoria."

Artoria glared at Merlin in annoyance but said nothing due to the urgent situation.

Once again, the radiant magical power of the Holy Sword, originating from the Inner Sea of the Stars, fanned out and obliterated the incoming magic.

"Is this your ultimate move?"

Semiramis's expression could be summarized in one phrase: Are you kidding me?

Merlin earnestly replied that he was not.

"That's right, this is my ultimate move. Honestly, I'm not very good at chanting because it's easy to bite my tongue and it's quite troublesome. In comparison, it's faster to just punch through. I forgot to mention, besides being the Magus of Flowers, I also hold the title of Sword Saint of Britain. Artoria's swordsmanship was taught by me."