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What she saw was inexplicable. The form Berserker took seemed to have come straight from the darkest and most shadowy depths of hell.
It was the Demon, yes, Berserker was that Demon. She was certain of it.
His scaly snake tail emerging from the ocean with slimy tentacles at his waist… his leather-like skin with bursting veins and sharp hair spikes protruding from it, and his eight… legs? And on his back, a pair of bat-like wings? Were those bat wings?
And worst of all, his head with red eyes that seemed to see everything in the universe with powerful divine omniscience. But that head of Berserker was…
… The head of a fly!
Death and Disease followed that form of Berserker wherever he walked. The Pestilence.
The Einzbern Forest seemed to have died and been ravaged by countless plagues just by being in the demonic presence of that Demon.
What was that form? To Irisviel, the form Berserker took was inexplicable and terrifying. To her, it could only have one name: Demon. The form Berserker took was that Mysterious Demon from biblical legends.
No, Berserker didn't take that form. He disguised himself as human and waited for his prey to come to him. That's what Irisviel thought in the face of… the Demonic Monster that was Berserker's true form.
Irisviel told Berserker everything he wanted to know. To survive in the presence of the Demon, she hid nothing about her Mystery. It was like an instinct she didn't understand why it reacted so strongly to survive. As a non-human, a homunculus, Irisviel knew she shouldn't possess the human instinct for survival. But she didn't understand why this instinct she didn't have was reacting. Demon… it was because of the Demon. Irisviel was certain it was because of Berserker, the Demon of incomparable Mystery.
Even though revealing the secrets of her Mystery would weaken her Magecraft, Irisviel hid nothing from the Demon.
There was a good reason no mage revealed how their magic worked. Just disclosing minimal information would weaken the mage's Magecraft, making it common and mundane, because that Magecraft would no longer be a powerful Mystery known and understood only by the mage.
Irisviel felt her Magecraft weaken. The eagle that once had the speed of a bullet now had the speed of a normal eagle in the presence of the Demon.
Her transmutation ability also became extremely weak.
What would become of Illya? Irisviel thought of her daughter, Illyasviel von Einzbern. Her little daughter who would inherit her Magic Crest and Thaumaturgy.
Now that her Magecraft had become almost obsolete by revealing the Mystery, was it worth her daughter inheriting her Magecraft now? With this question in mind, Irisviel closed her eyes and waited to see what the Demon would do with her after she told him everything.
"Hm. I see. There are many physical principles in what should be Magic. Though that's because of the current era."
Berserker calmly commented on everything he had heard. Although it was far more information than he wanted to know, the knowledge about how Magecraft worked would be useful for him to try learning after the Holy Grail War.
As a non-human being, it should be easy for him to learn Magecraft. Though he was counting on the Magical Energy he currently had in this world to try using Magecraft in the future after this Holy Grail War.
But in the end, what he was interested in were Irisviel's Vibrations.
Vibrating Magic Circuits. It was strange. But Berserker understood that it worked with Magical Energy vibrating the Magic Circuits with all the changes in the Bounded Field. The Magical Energy itself seemed to move like Kinetic Energy in the Magic Circuits. That was what caused Irisviel's Vibrations that Berserker wanted to know about from the start.
It was an answer to the changes in the Bounded Field.
In the end, he didn't know if this would help him develop his own Vibrations. He didn't have Magic Circuits like modern mages, so he could only find another way if he managed to take something from what he learned from Irisviel.
Suddenly, Berserker heard footsteps approaching rapidly. Without a word, an aura of Magical Energy moved against him in front of Irisviel like a gale.
A skull-topped staff materialized in Berserker's hand, and he raised it to his side, stopping an invisible sword that clashed against his shield. The young woman with shining golden blonde hair had an expression of fury on her beautiful, delicate face.
"Have you lost your pride, Saber? Attacking someone when they're unprepared… I can only think you've lowered yourself, Sa…"
"What are you doing to Irisviel?! Berserker!!!"
Saber pressed her sword against Berserker's shield, but that shield seemed even more powerful than the one Berserker had used against Archer. Saber knew it was because of Berserker's Noble Phantasm, the staff with the human skull.
"Just some questions. No big deal."
"Don't lie to me. Look at her state. What did you do to her?"
"Questions."
"Damn you. Did you torture her?! You despicable!"
"Don't jump to conclusions, human."
With a cold tone, Berserker pushed his shield, and Saber felt a strong energy passing through her sword and…
"What?"
The energy from Berserker's shield that passed through the sword struck Saber's body. Saber felt every gram of her body tremble violently from within. Her body shook, as if a powerful earthquake was happening inside her at that exact moment.
Saber stepped back from Berserker and that shield. But she didn't lower her guard; Saber kept her hand on the invisible sword while supporting herself with her hand wounded by Lancer's cursed spear.
'Making contact with the shield is dangerous.' A trickle of blood ran from Saber's lips. She had suffered some internal damage, not much, but enough to hinder her slightly. Her body ached after the powerful earthquake that struck her.
Saber prepared herself. She looked at the Servant Berserker, who wasn't in a battle stance. But she knew he didn't need to be; it was all about moving a hand to defend with a shield or attack with a sword.
"Stop, Saber."
Berserker spoke as Saber moved a foot to flank Berserker and his shield, which he could summon at any moment.
"I'm not here to fight you in that state. I only came to ask this woman something… since I already have my answers, I'm leaving."
Calmly, Berserker spoke, gesturing toward the woman he had questioned, Irisviel.
"You expect me to believe you?"
Saber glanced sideways at Irisviel and Maiya on the ground in the Einzbern Forest before delivering her decisive words to Berserker.
Irisviel's condition didn't look good. She had no visible injuries, but her ruby-red eyes were lifeless, no longer holding the light they once had. Irisviel's beautiful doll-like white skin was now pale, faded, and cold, like that of a dead corpse. She no longer had the glow from the previous day that Saber vividly remembered on the beach.
There was also Maiya on the ground, the woman who had arrived with her Master, Kiritsugu. Maiya was injured, severely injured. If she wasn't treated soon…
Maiya had fainted when she lost the strength to fight a Servant. When and how she fainted, no one knew. Perhaps when Berserker let Kirei pass to go after Kiritsugu in the castle. What was known was that Maiya fainted after losing the will to fight, and weakness overtook her beautiful, exhausted, and wounded body.
"You really expect me to believe you after what you did to them, Berserker!"
Saber flanked, attacking Berserker so his shield wouldn't block her strikes. But Berserker didn't stand still, and as his shield formed, he blocked the attack from Saber's invisible sword.
"Your attacks are weak, Saber."
Berserker pushed his shield and Saber's sword, unbalancing Saber with the shield's unyielding force.
With a blade in his right hand, Berserker attacked Saber, aiming for her chest but avoiding the heart—a non-lethal downward strike meant to tear through Saber's chestplate and armor was Berserker's goal.
But Saber recovered and blocked Berserker's blade with her sword in a disadvantaged and unbalanced position.
Berserker narrowed his eyes. That block from Saber wasn't normal.
A metallic sound of metal being cut came from Saber's invisible sword, but her sword didn't yield against Berserker's sharp blade. The sound of metal being cut startled Saber for a moment with shock and momentary surprise. Berserker's blade wasn't normal. That was Saber's conclusion from the start.
Saber pushed Berserker's blade and counterattacked swiftly.
Berserker quickly reacted and struck with his blade, generating a small shockwave of wind that swept the surroundings of the two Servants with enough force to cut two nearby trees like butter sliced by a hot knife.
The two trees fell, causing small tremors in the clearing where the two Servants, Saber and Berserker, were battling in a clash of swords.
"It could be dangerous for them if we continue."
Berserker and Saber exchanged a blade strike, and with fierce sparks between them, both stepped back. Berserker commented on the safety of the two women on the ground, Irisviel and Maiya, after the trees fell from the clash of their blades.
Saber looked at Irisviel and Maiya on the ground; both were unharmed, as the trees she and Berserker had knocked down didn't fall near them.
Saber felt relieved, relieved that her and Berserker's battle hadn't affected Irisviel and Maiya lying on the ground.
Saber turned her fierce eyes back to Berserker.
With a sigh, the red blade in Berserker's hand grew and became sharper. He didn't understand why Saber was so foolish as to ignore his goodwill.
Berserker attacked, and Saber retaliated with equal force with her invisible sword.
Their blades clashed, a sharp sound spreading around them.
With each clash of their blades, a powerful soundwave spread through the forest like maritime waves from a fierce high sea. The very space rippled with each blade clash, and reality bent at the edge of their blades.
Saber attacked ferociously—left, right, left, up, down, right, up, left. Berserker didn't stop either, matching all of Saber's attacks and retaliating in kind.
It was a deadly clash of blades, where a single mistake could lead to death.
Saber and Berserker paused, with a fierce blade clash. Deep black eyes and celestial green eyes locked onto each other, and a tremendous, dangerous Magical Energy swept through the forest.
But the clash of the two Servants didn't stop there; they continued attacking each other, Saber's invisible sword and Berserker's blade formed of red energy in his right hand.
Saber blocked each of Berserker's attacks, just as Berserker blocked each of Saber's attacks with his sharp blade.
But…
"That's enough, Saber…"
With a brief statement from Berserker to Saber, Saber felt the attacks from the Servant of Madness become stronger and much faster than before.
Saber gritted her teeth, feeling the pain in her hand wounded by Lancer's curse. Berserker attacked with renewed strength and speed, each strike pressing Saber. But Berserker didn't stop there; he continued his ferocious assault.
Berserker attacked faster and faster, his speed increasing abnormally in mere seconds.
Berserker's tremendous speed surprised Saber, leaving her shocked by the sudden surge in the lucid Mad Servant's raw speed.
That speed wasn't normal; Saber realized this when she felt not a drop of Magical Energy being released by Berserker.
But against Berserker's ferocious assault, Saber surprisingly kept up and blocked his attacks with her invisible sword.
'Where is all this power coming from? This strength?...' Saber, confused by the increase in Berserker's capabilities, couldn't help but wonder where Berserker was drawing more and more power from. '…Was he not fighting seriously?'
With her questions in mind, Saber struggled to block Berserker's blade. But Saber wasn't just blocking the attacks; she was scanning Berserker's body for the source of his power.
'Maybe it's like Caster. Berserker must have a Noble Phantasm that boosts his physical parameters. But which one? The staff shows no change… so it must be…'
For Saber, who had a wound in one hand, it wasn't easy to fight another Servant without being at one hundred percent capacity. So she could only block the attacks and wait for a chance to counterattack with an idea of what was fueling Berserker's strength.
'…A second Noble Phantasm. Berserker is hiding another Noble Phantasm.'
Berserker attacked, with the red energy in his right hand, relentlessly striking Saber.
But no matter how much Berserker attacked, Saber managed to block his attacks even with one wounded hand.
'I know I'm not as good at fighting as she is, but this is strange…'
Berserker, attacking Saber, found it a bit odd that Saber was blocking all his attacks, no matter how much he pressed her with each strike of his vibrating blade; she blocked even at a disadvantage.
'…Is she relying solely on her…?'
Berserker narrowed his eyes as he attacked Saber faster and more ferociously with his vibrating blade.
'…Yes, there's no other explanation for her keeping up with my attacks at this speed with one hand.'
Berserker already had an idea of how Saber was managing to keep up with him even with one hand.
'That skill is unfair in a battle; it's a cheat.'
Berserker cursed the skill Saber possessed, which allowed her to block all his rapid attacks with one hand.
While Saber blocked the attacks, she noticed a strange Magical Energy in Berserker's chest when his attacks became stronger and faster than before, with that nearly imperceptible Magical Energy spreading through Berserker's body, strengthening him.
'So, that's Berserker's second Noble Phantasm? In the left chest. It's a type of Noble Phantasm like Caster's book, but instead of summoning demons, it makes Berserker stronger.'
Saber blocked each of Berserker's attacks, even as they grew stronger and faster; Saber blocked. It wasn't easy for Saber to block all of Berserker's attacks, which were getting faster over time, reaching a critical point where Saber could barely keep up.
'I need an opening… just one opening is enough!'
Saber blocked Berserker's ferocious attacks, always scanning him from head to toe for an opening to counterattack the fierce Berserker and his relentless strikes.
It wasn't easy—quite the opposite; finding an opening in Berserker was extremely difficult when he could block attacks with his other hand holding the staff with the human skull.
But Saber wouldn't give up; she knew she had a chance to defeat Berserker. That's what her Instincts told her.
Even with her injured hand, Saber gripped her invisible sword tighter while gathering Magical Energy in her blade and body simultaneously. Saber would only have one chance; if she missed, it would be over.
Berserker continued his ferocious assault, and Saber still blocked with her invisible sword, even at a disadvantage.
Saber, blocking all of Berserker's attacks, struck, generating cutting wind waves with the clash of their blades. Saber gritted her teeth, and with renewed strength, she attacked, not giving Berserker time to continue his ferocious strikes.
But…
Berserker still matched Saber's attacks and retaliated with even greater power than hers. But Saber didn't fall back to defense; she was determined to defeat Berserker—no, Saber needed to defeat Berserker at all costs, now or later, to win the Holy Grail and fulfill her Wish for the Almighty Grail.
Saber attacked, and Berserker attacked; Saber put more strength into her invisible sword and gritted her teeth in pain. A wave of wind spread with the clash of their blades.
'Now!' Matching Berserker's strength for an instant, Saber managed to halt Berserker for a moment, which she needed to counterattack the Mad Servant and defeat him with a fierce and rapid counter.
Then, the instant Berserker's blade moved away from the invisible sword…
… "?!" Berserker heard a wild roar.
"Strike Air!"
The Magical Energy accumulated in the invisible sword exploded like the Roar of a Dragon, while a gale struck Berserker with a powerful and destructive air pressure.
However, Saber knew that wouldn't be enough to bring Berserker down. So, amidst the air pressure of her Noble Phantasm, with a shout, she charged with her radiant golden sword, and Magical Energy burst through Saber's body as she advanced with all her strength against Berserker.
Berserker, caught in the air pressure of the Invisible Air Noble Phantasm, was surprised. He didn't expect Saber to perform such a reckless attack when Irisviel and Maiya were unprotected so close to their battle. Could Saber only be mad?
The holy radiance reached Berserker's black eyes; this was Saber's Holy Sword, Excalibur.
It was too fast, a speed unattainable by normal means. It was swift and direct, as if her body had become an Arbitrary Vector.
The holy radiance reached Berserker, who tried to block and resist the attack, but the speed was too fast, and Berserker was struck by Saber's Holy Sword with a destructive wind explosion that roared like a Furious Wild Dragon.
Trees were destroyed, and a path was cleared in the forest by Saber's Noble Phantasm.
Blood dripped from the tip of Saber's sword, a bright red blood with a strange smell, not even resembling the scent of human blood. Saber didn't know what that blood smelled like, but it wasn't like the blood of the soldiers she had felled on the battlefield.
"Your Instinct is a cheat, Artoria."
Amid the dust from the destruction of Excalibur's airwave, Berserker's voice could be heard by Saber in a calm but very dangerous tone.
'How does he know my true name?'
It felt as if the entire atmosphere had changed drastically. Saber tensed and didn't lower her guard when Berserker uttered her true name, not the name King Arthur by which she was known.
Two red dots emerged in the dark forest, and Saber saw him, rising from the decay in all his majestic glory.
"De… Demon?"
In an instant, Saber felt a sharp pain in her stomach, and the last thing she noticed was a throbbing pain in her back.
Her armor fell from her torso, shattered and in pieces.
Slow footsteps approached Saber. It was Berserker, with a calm expression. His shoulder was bleeding after being cut by Saber's Excalibur.
Saber gritted her teeth in pain and raised her sword against Berserker, but before she could take a defensive stance, her back hit a tree again, and her hand holding Excalibur was pinned and grabbed above her head by Berserker.
"My Saint Graph hurts a lot after forcing a third of the speed of light. How did Dioscuri endure that pain at the speed of light? I feel like I could vanish at any moment."
Terrifying words came from Berserker's lips.
"Don't you think so too, Artoria?"
"What are you…?"
Deep black eyes and green eyes locked onto each other up close.
While Berserker held and pinned Saber's hand with Excalibur, with his other hand, Berserker grabbed Saber's chin and lifted her face.
"You know, Artoria, I actually like you."
"Huh?" Saber, surprised by Berserker's words, couldn't respond immediately, not understanding what Berserker had said.
"But…"
Berserker smiled, and his deep eyes, darker than the deepest abyss of hell, gleamed with a bright, bloodthirsty red.
"Your stubbornness is annoying."