Honkai Star Rail: I Started as the Great Iron Tomb

Chapter 273: Chapter 273: Attempting Summoning

Deep into the night, the moonlight was blocked by thick clouds, with only sparse specks of light spilling into the room through the broken windows.

This was an old house that had long since been abandoned.

On the floor, a crooked pattern—which could vaguely be identified as a summoning circle—was drawn with a dark red liquid, though it was unclear whether it was paint or something else.

Beside the diagram, a young man with greasy hair and wild, unfocused eyes knelt on the floor, muttering to himself while occasionally letting out neurotic, low chuckles.

He was one of the masters in this Holy Grail War and had summoned a Servant of the Caster class, but clearly, his mental state and conduct were more like a "Berserker" than his Servant.

In the corner, a little boy who looked to be in his early teens was bound with rough hemp rope and gagged with a rag, already drifting into a semi-conscious state due to fear and exhaustion.

This was one of the "materials" the man had conveniently snatched to complete a certain "ritual."

The man was completely immersed in his own world, failing to notice a grey figure that slipped in through the broken window like a ghost, landing without stirring up a speck of dust.

Jack stood in the shadows, her golden eyes calmly scanning the scene in the room: the crazed man, the summoning circle on the floor, and the bound boy.

Her gaze lingered on the boy for a second, confirming that he was still alive with weak but steady breathing, before refocusing on the man.

(Objective: Seize the command spells and acquire the qualification of a master.)

(Secondary: Eliminate potential threats.)

Jack did not hesitate in the slightest.

Like a cheetah that had been waiting for the perfect moment, she pushed off with her feet, her figure instantly darting out from the shadows, moving so fast that only a grey afterimage remained!

The man heard the wind behind him and turned his head in a dazed, frantic motion—

Thud!

A muffled sound.

The baseball bat in Jack’s hand struck the back of the man’s head with precision.

The man couldn’t even let out a cry of surprise; his eyes rolled back, and he collapsed limply to the ground, the dagger he had been clutching clattering onto the floor.

Without even glancing at the fallen man, Jack walked straight to him, crouched down, and grabbed his left hand.

On the back of his hand, three bright red command spells were particularly striking in the dim light.

Jack extended her right hand and placed her palm over them.

A few seconds later.

The command spells on the back of the man’s hand vanished.

Jack turned her own left hand over—three brand-new command spells slowly appeared on the back of her fair hand.

She nodded in satisfaction, a hint of relief flashing in her golden eyes.

Then, she stood up, walked over to the unconscious little boy, nimbly untied the ropes with her baseball bat, and gently patted the boy’s cheek.

The boy opened his eyes groggily, saw Jack’s expressionless face, froze for a moment, and then burst into tears with a "wa," but soon passed out again due to excessive fright and weakness.

Jack: "..."

She lifted the little boy by his collar with one hand and placed him in a relatively cleaner corner.

After doing this, she turned her attention back to the summoning circle that had already been drawn on the floor.

(Acquired the qualification of the Caster master... Now this summoning circle is ownerless.)

(Can attempt to summon a Servant.)

Jack walked up to the summoning circle, carefully examined the dark red traces on the floor, and even leaned in to smell them.

(It’s blood, mixed with other things; the smell is terrible.)

She didn’t know much about magecraft, but some basic information regarding the "Holy Grail War summoning ritual" seemed to automatically surface in her mind.

(Need to chant the incantation, inject magical energy, and establish a connection.)

Jack thought for a moment.

She wasn’t sure if she possessed something called "magical energy," but she had something else—the energy of a Stellaron.

(Let’s give it a try.)

She raised her left hand, and the command spells felt slightly hot.

Her right hand gripped the baseball bat, and she gently touched its base to the edge of the summoning circle on the floor.

Then, she closed her eyes and began to recall fragments of the summoning incantation, while simultaneously attempting to channel the power within her body, along the baseball bat, and into the diagram at her feet.

"Proclaim—"

Her voice was calm, devoid of any emotional fluctuation, as if she were reading an instruction manual.

"Thy body... shall be under my command, my fate shall be in thy sword..."

The dark red traces of the summoning circle at her feet began to glow with a dark red and pale golden light.

"If thou wilt submit to this will... to this law... then answer my call..."

The light grew stronger, and the diagram seemed to come alive, its lines squirming slightly.

"Entwined... by the seven days of the three great words... come forth from the ring of restraint..."

Jack wasn’t sure if she was chanting it correctly, but the reaction of the diagram was real.

She could feel a vague presence responding to the call, "descending" toward these coordinates.

"Guardian of... the scales—"

The final line of the incantation fell.

Hum—!!!

The summoning circle erupted with a light far more intense than any previous summoning!

It was not the common gold or silver, nor the deep red from when Long Night Moon summoned, but a purple halo!

The light shot into the sky, almost tearing off the dilapidated ceiling!

Jack had to raise her arm to shield her eyes.

The light lasted for several seconds before slowly subsiding.

In the center of the diagram, a tall figure gradually became clear.

System Space

Black Herta was staring at another split screen—which showed Long Night Moon and March 7th—feeling a bit of a headache.

"System,"

She rubbed her temples, "Tell me, if we take Sakura away directly, will it attract an investigation from Tokiomi? That guy should be busy preparing for the Holy Grail War right now, but with his daughter missing..."

"The probability is lower than 17%."

The System hovered to the side, data flowing through its inverted cross pupils, "According to intelligence from this world line, Tohsaka Tokiomi has already adopted out Sakura to the Matou Family and believes this is a good arrangement for his daughter. During the Holy Grail War, he is highly unlikely to have the time to investigate the ’internal affairs’ of the Matou Family. Zouken Matou has disappeared, and Matou Kariya will be in a long-term coma. From the outside, the Matou Family is simply ’temporarily closing its doors to guests’."

"That’s good then."

Black Herta nodded and turned her gaze back to another screen—the abandoned house where Jack was, "Jack should be almost done over there, right? She got the command spells of that murderer, and now..."

Her words trailed off.

On the screen, the summoning circle in front of Jack was erupting with extremely abnormal light.

"This light effect..."

Black Herta frowned slightly, "Why is it so... a bit familiar..."

The System analyzed rapidly, "Energy spectrum is abnormal, inconsistent with conventional Heroic Spirit summoning fluctuations, and exhibits high-intensity external interference characteristics. Interference source spectrum matched... Elation, confidence level 99.8%."

The corner of Black Herta’s mouth twitched, "Did Aha interfere again?"

She watched as the light in the screen gradually subsided, and a figure wearing a large witchs hat slowly took shape.

When the figure became completely clear, revealing an exquisite face that was extremely similar to Black Herta’s own—

Black Herta’s expression froze.

She blinked, and blinked again.

In the screen, the "Servant" that had been summoned was also using those eyes, which carried obvious displeasure, to survey the surrounding environment, and finally, her gaze landed on the expressionless Jack, who was holding a baseball bat.

Time seemed to stand still for a few seconds.

Then—

"System."

Black Herta’s voice was very soft and steady, but if one listened carefully, a trace of trembling (from anger) could be detected, "My eyes aren’t playing tricks on me, are they? That... person summoned by Jack... is it Herta?"

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