In his hand, he gripped a weapon carved from a single block of stone, brimming with primal savagery, something better called an "axe-sword" than a "sword."
Berserker... Heracles.
"Saber!" Rin Tohsaka shouted into the communicator. "Stick to the plan, draw him out!"
She didn't need to say it. Saber had already moved.
Faced with that massive figure bearing down like a landslide and tidal wave combined, Saber didn't try to meet it head-on.
Her petite frame, like a willow leaf in the wind, slid to the side with unbelievable agility, dodging by the narrowest margin a blow that could have split mountains and cracked stone.
A thunderous crash rang out.
Berserker's axe-sword smashed into the spot where Saber had been standing, and the earth instantly fractured, leaving behind a terrifying crater.
"Now! Ar~cher!"
High above, a sharp glint flashed in Archer's eyes.
The bow in his hands was already drawn taut.
An arrow shaped like a spiral sword, packed with explosive magical energy, flew from the string, carving a silver trail across the night sky as it streaked precisely toward Berserker's eye.
Fake Spiral Sword... Caladbolg II!
Yet against this arrow, capable of piercing steel, Berserker didn't even attempt to dodge.
He merely raised his arm on instinct.
A metallic clang rang out.
The arrow struck his arm, ringing like clashing metal, and then... was deflected.
It left only a faint white scratch on his skin.
"What?!" Rin cried out.
"Useless?" Even Waver shot to his feet in shock.
"No, it's not useless." Inside the command vehicle, Seiji Fujiwara's voice remained calm.
"[System Analysis: Attack assessment complete. One effect of Berserker's Noble Phantasm, God Hand, nullifies any attack ranked below A. Archer's attack just now, though immensely powerful, did not reach rank A in the Noble Phantasm assessment.]"
"Data received."
Seiji's fingers flew across the keyboard, recording this valuable intelligence.
On the battlefield, Berserker, having missed his strike, grew even more frenzied.
He took great strides forward, like a runaway war chariot, chasing after Saber.
Saber used her advantage in agility, weaving through the tangled woodland, constantly evading his devastating attacks while trying to lure him toward the designated open ground.
For a time, the forest echoed with one crash after another.
Great trees, each so thick it would take several people to encircle, were felled as easily as fragile matchsticks under Berserker's axe-sword.
"This won't work!" Saber's voice came through the communicator, edged with urgency. "He's faster than we imagined! If this keeps up, he'll catch me!"
"Archer! Cover her!" Rin shouted anxiously.
"Tch, what a pain." Archer drew his bow again.
This time, he loosed several magical arrows carrying a "tracking" property, each aimed at Berserker's limbs in an attempt to pin down his movements.
But the result was the same.
Every attack was effortlessly deflected by that rock-like body.
"It's no good! Our attacks are completely useless against him!"
"We have to use Noble Phantasms! Only a Noble Phantasm has any chance of wounding him!"
Just as everyone fell into a state of frustration, a laugh like a silver bell, yet carrying a sickly, innocent cruelty, suddenly rang out in everyone's mind.
It was a kind of... magical communication that acted directly on the spirit.
"Hehehe... Big brothers, big sisters, are you having fun in my forest?"
A little girl in a purple dress, with long silver hair and bare feet, had appeared at some point beneath a tree at the edge of the battlefield.
Her face wore an innocent, guileless smile, but those ruby-red eyes shimmered with a chilling coldness that didn't match her age.
The maiden of the Einzbern family... Illyasviel von Einzbern.
Berserker's Master.
"Now!" Seiji's voice rang out abruptly. "The enemy Master has shown herself! Saber, Archer, execute the second plan! Retreat!"
"Retreat?" Saber faltered.
"That's right!" Seiji's tone left no room for argument. "We've already gathered enough data! There's no point in fighting any longer! Conserve your strength and retreat immediately!"
Saber gritted her teeth, but in the end she chose to obey the order.
She feinted, then turned and rushed toward the edge of the forest.
Archer, too, had no attachment to the fight; his figure flickered a few times and vanished into the shadows of the treetops.
"Eh? They're leaving?" Illya watched their retreating backs and tilted her head, disappointment crossing her face.
"How... dull these guests are."
She clapped her hands.
"Berserker, let's go home too."
That demon-like giant, hearing her voice, miraculously halted his pursuit and, obedient as a child, turned and walked back to her side.
A harrowing skirmish had drawn to a close.
And inside that box van disguised as a survey vehicle, Seiji looked at the screen, at that full page of combat data on Berserker, and a smile of deep satisfaction spread across his face.
Tonight's "feast" had brought him a rich harvest.
...
...
The retreat was a close call.
By the time Saber and Archer returned to the Emiya Residence, their temporary base, a faint pale light had begun to break across the horizon.
The atmosphere in the living room was suffocating, oppressive enough to choke on.
Both Rin and Waver wore grim expressions.
Though no one had been killed or injured, Berserker's overwhelming, unreasonable strength had still placed enormous psychological pressure on them.
Shirou Emiya's face was full of worry and self-reproach.
Looking at Saber's armor, smeared with dirt and bits of grass, his heart filled with helplessness.
He hated that he could only watch his Servant risk her life while he could do nothing himself.
Saber, meanwhile, stood silently in the corner of the living room, wiping down her invisible sword. No expression showed on her face, but the air around her was colder than ever before.
"...Well done."
In the end, it was Waver who spoke first, breaking the stifling silence.
"It was a sorry sight, but... at least we got out in one piece. And we obtained valuable intelligence."
As he spoke, he glanced at the figure walking in from the command vehicle, carrying a laptop.
Not a trace of exhaustion showed on Seiji's face. There was even a glimmer of excitement in his eyes.
"Yes, sensei." He set the laptop on the table. On the screen were densely packed data and analytical charts.
"Based on tonight's combat data, I've made a preliminary analysis of the characteristics of Berserker's Noble Phantasm."
He pointed at the screen and explained to everyone.
"The Noble Phantasm is named God Hand. One of its effects is a conceptual defense. Any attack ranked below A, no matter how powerful, cannot harm him. Which means Miss Saber's and Mr. Archer's ordinary attacks are essentially useless against him."
"The second effect is resistance. Once he's endured a certain attack, the same attack a second time has its effect greatly reduced, or even nullified entirely. This means we can't count on using the same Noble Phantasm to kill him repeatedly."
"The third effect, and the most troublesome, is resurrection. He possesses eleven extra lives. In other words, we have to use twelve different attacks, each ranked above A, to kill him twelve times before we can truly defeat him."
Seiji's analysis was cool and precise.
But every word of it pressed down on everyone's hearts like a boulder.
Twelve times... with attacks ranked above A... killing that monster twelve times?
This... was simply an impossible task.
"Is there really... no other way?" Shirou couldn't help asking.
"There is." Seiji nodded, his gaze settling on Saber once more.
"Miss Saber's Noble Phantasm, Excalibur, is an anti-fortress Noble Phantasm ranked A++. Its power, without question, is enough to kill Berserker."
"However..." His tone shifted.
"With your current magical supply, Emiya... how many times can Miss Saber swing Excalibur?"
"Once? Or... can she not even complete a single release?"
The words stabbed like a sharp knife into the hearts of both Shirou and Saber.
Shirou's face went deathly pale in an instant.
Saber gripped the sword in her hand and lowered her head.
This was her greatest pain. To possess the strongest Noble Phantasm, yet have no Master capable of sustaining its release.
"So..." Seiji's tone grew weighted with meaning.
"In a conventional fight, we have almost no chance of winning. To win, we must... abandon conventional thinking."
"For instance..." His gaze swept over everyone present.
"We could use the other Masters to wear down Berserker's lives. The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind."
"Or, we could attack his Master directly. That little girl named Illya doesn't seem to have any combat ability. As long as we can get around Berserker and take her out directly..."
"Stop!"
An angry, indignant cry cut off Seiji's words.
It was Saber.
She jerked her head up, those emerald-green eyes blazing with the flames of anger and disappointment.
"That isn't a battle! That's assassination! It's the act of a coward!"
"A knight's honor will not permit me to turn my sword against an unarmed Master! Much less when she's only a child!"
Her voice rang out, firm and resolute, echoing through the living room.
The whole room fell into dead silence once more.
Both Rin and Waver frowned. Though they too felt attacking a Master was somewhat dishonorable, in the cruel reality of the Holy Grail War this was undoubtedly the most efficient tactic.
A flicker of agreement crossed Shirou's eyes. This was exactly how he imagined a legendary hero should be.
Seiji, meanwhile, watched Saber quietly.
He didn't argue, nor did he grow angry.
His face even wore an expression that could be called... "pity."
He walked slowly to stand before Saber and, in an exceedingly gentle tone, as though afraid of startling her, said:
"Saber, I understand your honor, and I admire your chivalry."
"But please, tell me."
"Can this honor of yours defeat that undying monster?"
"Can this chivalry of yours win you the Holy Grail and fulfill that tragic wish of yours to save Britain?"
"Have you forgotten how that monster chased you into a desperate, undignified retreat last night? In the face of absolute power, your honor is worth nothing."
"To cling to some illusory honor that no longer applies to this battlefield, and throw away your best chance at victory..."
His voice, like a devil's whisper, bored into Saber's ears word by word.
"...is this your kingly way?"
Saber's body trembled violently.
She wanted to argue back, but found she couldn't get out a single word.
Because what he said was the bloody truth.
Her ideals, her convictions, looked so pale and powerless before last night's overwhelming defeat.
And Seiji, watching her wavering, anguish-filled eyes, felt nothing but the gratification of a plan unfolding exactly as intended.
What a wonderful expression...
King of Knights...
...welcome to the first stop of despair.
...
...
After that oppressive meeting at the Emiya Residence broke up on bad terms, the fragile alliance entered a brief period of regrouping.
Saber, her convictions shaken, shut herself away in the dojo, spending her days in meditation and training, trying to steady her inner self once more.
Rin took her disobedient Archer back to her own estate, seemingly studying some new tactic.
And Seiji used this rare lull to once again slip away from the Emiya Residence without a sound.
His destination was that estate steeped in decay and despair... Matou Manor.
This time, he didn't choose another "chance encounter."
Instead, he went straight around to the back door of the estate and, using an extremely ancient rune that only a magus of the Matou family could read, gently knocked three times.
This was the "signal" he'd agreed upon with Zouken Matou.
Soon, the door was pulled open a crack from inside.
The one who opened it was Sakura Matou.
After a few days apart, she seemed even more haggard.
Those purple eyes were as hollow as ever, but in the moment she saw Seiji, a faint ripple, one called "Hope," spread across that lifeless, stagnant pool.
"Mr. Fujiwara..."
"I'm here, Miss Sakura." Seiji smiled, his voice gentle as a spring breeze. "Take me somewhere... we won't be disturbed."
Sakura nodded silently and led him into that estate that looked like a haunted house.
She brought him to her own cramped, gloomy room.
The room had almost no decoration, only a bed, a desk, and an old wardrobe. A faint, musty smell hung in the air.
"Please, sit." Sakura's voice was thin as a mosquito's hum.
"That won't be necessary." Seiji shook his head, his gaze sweeping over the girl's body, slightly curled in on itself from fear and pain.
"Let's begin the treatment."
At the word "treatment," Sakura's body visibly trembled. There was anticipation, and also a fear that ran bone-deep.
"Will... will it hurt?"
"At first, a little." Seiji's voice was full of enchantment. "But soon, you'll feel an ease you've never known before."
He stretched out a hand and placed it on the girl's forehead.
"Close your eyes, relax, don't resist."
Sakura obediently closed her eyes, her long lashes trembling continuously from the tension.
The next second.
A stream of utterly pure magical energy flowed slowly from Seiji's palm into her body.
[System Command: Initiate Crest Worm purification program, phase one.]
[Objective: Suppress the activity of the Crest Worms within the target's body, and establish a preliminary mental connection.]
Seiji's magical energy, like an army made of countless tiny probes, precisely bypassed the girl's own Magic Circuits and acted directly on those hideous Crest Worms coiled within her body.
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