The Berserk knight picked up the sword and held it to the side, growls rumbling from within his armor.
I leveled Mirage towards him. "Come."
He let out another vibrating roar and charged, shattering the earth with each of his malevolent steps. He swung the sword in his hand in a wide arc, forgoing any sense of skill.
I twisted my wrist and quickly jabbed the tip of my blade at his wrist, removing any power he had behind the blow as he had to reorientate his grip just to keep the blade within his grasp. However, he didn't stop and instead lowered his shoulder and attempted to run me over.
"That's not going to work." I hissed in annoyance, lowering the center of my gravity and took it head on. My Aura flared as he collided with me, and I felt my footing slip slightly, but I didn't budge from my spot.
It was a close thing as his strength right now was about the same as mine. A feat worth acknowledging if nothing else. Without the addition of any other weapons or abilities, he was matching my pure strength.
Aura, Reinforcement, and general enhancements from everything I've passively picked up.
A Berserker-Berserker indeed.
He grabbed the wrist holding my sword and tried to lash out at me again, but I simply grabbed his own sword arm. The Berserk Knight flailed wildly, growling with each erratic movement, trying to break free. Finally, he simply tried slamming his armored head into mine.
I did blink in surprise as his head smashed into my Aura, but I quickly recovered and returned the favor.
The stupidity of the action wasn't lost on me, but I allowed myself this moment to lower myself to his level.
Truthfully, I think the only other people I would hate from Artoria's past more than him were Gweneviere and Morgan. And her former Wife was by a very slim margin. Morgan didn't even need to be mentioned, however.
The Knight stumbled back a couple steps, but resumed his attack.
Almost like he was falling forward, his sword moved from overhead in a full arc. I took a half step to the side, letting the blade cleave a large chasm out of the ground at the spot I had been standing.
I slashed at his chest, my blade finding resistance against his Armor. I had to put a significant amount of force to push through the wafting curse that enveloped him and to dig into his armor before I felt it connecting with his flesh.
A large cut opened up along his midsection as bleed seeped outward.
However, I frowned in response.
Even as a Berserker, his skill shouldn't have been downgraded this far. His movements were so predictable, sure there was a shadow of something left behind, but it was a far cry from someone acknowledged as the most skilled Knight.
Was it a side effect of his summoner forcing another sequence of a Berserker Saint Graph overlaid on top of his own?
He was certainly stronger, physically, than his normal Berserker self if my memories of the Fourth Holy Grail War were anything to go by. Even Artoria couldn't casually bring the same amount of strength in each movement without utilizing a good chunk of Magical Energy to compensate.
He immediately tried to swipe his sword out again, but I merely took a step back with Shunpo, to avoid the strike and the following frenzy of slashes at my person.
He roared, leaping up at me, but once more, I took another step with Shunpo, appearing in front of him and drove my blade through his chest. Or rather, I attempted to, I got part way through him before he grabbed my sword with his own hand, and ignored his wound in favor of swinging his sword down.
I gathered my Aura to deflect it, avoiding any true damage, but he managed to tear out a good chunk, and even tearing part of my Holy Shroud up.
I opted to lash out with my leg, kicking him free from my attempt at impalement and sent him tumbling across the ground.
"It pisses me off." I flicked the blood off the tip of my blade. "Even Artoria acknowledged you as the better Swordsman. She had nothing but praise for your skill, and this is what you give me?"
The Berserker ignored the wounds on his body and stood back up, roaring in fury. I could feel the vibrations through the air.
Well, I guess I'd take a page out of Achilles' book.
If he was going to ignore his own damage to try and reciprocate, I simply wouldn't give him the chance.
I moved, dispersed air and lightning arcing across the ground in my wake.
His head slowly turned to barely keep up, but my blade was already grinding across his right side, slicing into his armor.
It was a shallow cut, but I didn't dwell on it.
His blade only met empty air as I kicked off the spot again, moving to his other side. I dragged Mirage down, tearing into his left arm, and again, he moved to lash out at the spot I was in a moment before disappearing.
I gathered my Reiryoku and Lightning and with a thunderclap, I felt myself accelerate even further. Mirage dug into his back, and before he could turn around, I stabbed through his right thigh. Not allowing him to fall to the ground, my knee connected with the side of his helmet, sending him rolling across the ground.
I continued, turning into a streak of lightning, slashing all over his body without giving him the chance to respond. The small wounds accumulated to the point where blood was covering his black armor.
"I wonder how she would react if she saw this trash you became? She forgave you, y'know." I said, sending five Birds, at him with a flick of my wrist.
Lancelot trembled, his legs looked like they were starting to get weak from my constant attacks. He barely moved to deflect my attack.
"She still forgave you of any blame and took it all on herself."
He almost fell forward, but stabbed his sword into the ground to hold himself up.
I gave him a moment to catch his breath because I had another purpose for trying to rile him up.
"Nothing?" I questioned, and he didn't even react. "I guess I expected too much. I guess I'll have to tell Artoria that she was wrong, you were never worthy of her respect."
Again, there was nothing so I gave up.
Let's just end this, there was no point in dragging it out since he was lacking his true skill and his enhanced stats definitely didn't make up for that fact.
I moved again, my Mirage slashed through the air, aiming at his neck, but it stopped. I raised an eyebrow because it didn't budge an inch.
Lancelot was holding my wrist, catching my arm.
"AARrrrtHUrrrrr." For the first time, Lancelot spoke. It was distorted and sounded painful to hear, but he forced out a word under the effects of double Mad Enhancement.
"So you are in there somewhere." I looked into the glowing eyes of his helmet. "That's good, because you don't get to get off that easily." I clenched my free hand and swung at his armored-covered face.
His head snapped back and he was forced back half a step, but he barely reacted otherwise. A low growl was all that I got from him.
The blade in his hand swiped upward. It was notably crisper than his earlier movements. It lacked the wide arcs and immense strength forced into it.
I dropped Mirage out of the hand he was still clutching tightly, and caught it with my other, bringing it up to block his attack.
He immediately twisted his wrist the moment they connected and shifted to a stab. I was forced to tilt my own blade to deflect it to the side. Sparks flew, and with a roar, he pushed forward, releasing my hand and used his body to shift me off balance.
I was forced back a step and he pressed his new advantage, lashing out with sharp slashes at any opening I had. I met each of his attacks with a parry, regaining my own initiative and returning each strike with one of my own.
The flurry of blows sent off shockwaves, the clashing of steel was the only thing to be heard in the abandoned city.
And with each moment that passed, Lancelot's movements gradually became quicker and more precise. When he parried my attack, it took less and less of his own physical strength to achieve and instead his reactions were becoming gentler ironically.
He was no longer throwing around his significant strength but opting for consistency and forcing openings by dragging me to defend certain ways.
It was still far from what I would expect of someone who claimed superiority over Artoria, but this was a massive improvement from mere minutes ago.
And I felt like he would continue to improve if this continued.
But it was enough for my purposes.
Berserkers generally had poor Magic Resistance.
I gathered Lightning around my feet, and stomped.
With a thunderclap, all the lightning was discharged and Lancelot took the brunt of it. The Armored Knight lurched and was sent flying backwards. I caught up to him by moving with Shunpo, with a Magic Circle spinning around my hand, I poured in perhaps more Magical Energy than needed, but I was erring on the side of caution.
"Lightning Strike." I cast, calling upon a summoned bolt of Lightning to drop from the sky.
The Berserker was hit head on, the bolt of Lightning large enough that he disappeared completely within the light of the attack for the brief moment it actualized.
Steam and smoke simmered off of him and his body rocked back and forth, his arms limp and his sword dropping to the ground.
He was already pretty hurt, and continued pushing on, so I wasn't surprised when he collapsed to the ground without moving.
Might have been harder if he wasn't conceptually aligned to be more susceptible to Lightning as an element due to his relation to Water.
Knight of the Lake was more than just a title in his case.
Regardless, I didn't care to think about it any longer. I grabbed his leg and began dragging him back to where the others were.
Let's see if we can't remove the Mad Enhancement on him between the three of us.
[***]
Jeanne POV
"Shouldn't we go help him?"
"Master can handle it himself." Minamoto-no-Raikou replied, focusing on Saint Martha instead. "Master implied that there may be another Servant, I will handle this woman."
"B-but, that Knight was dual classes! His stats were all wrong! I know he fought Servants before – "
"Master recently fought my father and walked away unscathed." She said dismissively.
"Your….father?" I tilted my head in questioning until realization set in.
The Grail filled my mind with knowledge on who she was and who her father was….
"Oh…"
…how strong was he now?
I remember him fighting multiple Servants before and being awed that he was capable of that but….
"You sure you don't want to fight me together?" Saint Martha asked politely.
"I am enough." Raikou replied.
Saint Martha sighed helplessly at Raikou's insistence. "I have to go all out when I encounter a Servant, so I apologize ahead of time." She stated, raising her hand forward. "A Miracle!" She declared, and her Magical Energy surged. "O' Traig Drake who knew naught of love….like a star!" The shadow behind her distorted and two massive eyes shone within it.
The ground rumbled as a massive leg stepped outwards, and a roar accompanied it that collapsed the nearby buildings.
"Tarasque." Saint Martha named the beast.
A Dragon.
Why was a Dragon Slayer able to summon a Dragon? That shouldn't be correct, right? Why would Saint Martha be able to summon the Dragons she defeated instead of having a Noble Phantasm to fight against dragons!?
And why did it look like it was part turtle!
It even had a massive shell on its back.
"Impressive beast." Raikou said, making me snap my head towards her as she wasn't disturbed at all! "I suppose I will be slaying another dragon today."
….what's happened to her since the last time we met?
Saint Marth didn't reply, instead, she leaped up into the air, reeling back her cross-shaped staff and…..slapped the Dragon with it.
The Dragon recoiled into its shell, and fire was let loose from the hole where its head retreated as it spun at high speeds, shooting towards Raikou.
I think we were both utterly shocked at the means of attack that we sort of both just stood there.
Raikou did eventually move and I was forced to as well. She shot off as the creature's spike shell tore through the surroundings, spinning through the streets full of half-destroyed buildings and bouncing around until it came flying back at high speeds.
Saint Martha didn't stay put and watch, she was already colliding with Raikou, both of whom clashed weapons right in the middle of the street.
I was surprised to see the Saintess not lose out in terms of strength. I could see her ridiculous stats, but to see someone who shouldn't have had much combat experience in life match Minamoto-no-Raikou was….odd.
The Dragon's body reappeared, and its head was still spewing flames outward as its legs now carried it through the falling buildings towards us once more.
I hesitated slightly before moving myself. I used my banner to smack the Dragon as hard as I could. It barely moved, more like it was nudged to the side gently in comparison.
However, it turned its head towards me in anger.
"Please don't attack me?" I asked politely.
….I think that made it even angrier because the flames suddenly spewed forth from its mouth again.
I ducked and dashed to the side to avoid the worst of it, but the heat was intense, enough that I felt threatened even through my Magic Resistance.
All I saw was a purple blur as Raikou slammed into its side, making it fly into another building, the rubble collapsing on it.
"You don't need to interfere." She stated, looking back towards Saint Martha who was running at her.
"I want to help!" I declared.
I wasn't the regulator of a Grail War, that meant that I could fight too!
And I wanted to help Wilhelm and Berserker.
She smiled. "The dragon would be difficult to deal with on my own. I feel as if it is about the strength of the one I fought previously and during that encounter, I had someone to aid me."
"I may not be as good a fighter, but you can count on me."
"Then I will leave my back to you."
The Tarasque burst through the rubble, and Martha ran down the street on the other end.
Raikou looked at me and then to the Dragon and I got the hint. We both broke up towards our own foes, and I moved towards Martha.
"Please forgive me, Lord." I quietly prayed as I attempted to fight one of his favored.
"You will not defeat the Dragon Witch with that lacking resolve." Martha shouted, and she punched towards me.
I brought up my banner to block, but it was heavy. I almost fell over just from the strength behind her attack.
Was this because she was a dual class!? Her Mad Enhancement was ranked B++ that I could see with my ability. Yet she was so lucid, it didn't make sense!
She stomped on the ground and shattered the earth beneath us and continued to swing her fists at me, each one strong enough to send that massive Dragon flying like before.
"Why are you punching me!? Don't you have a weapon?" I squeaked out, ducking below one of her fists.
"Are you implying that I should use the Lord's Cross as a weapon?" She looked at me with mild amusement despite the fact that she continued trying to kill me.
"T-that's not what I meant!" I swung my Banner at her, but she blocked it with her arm easily.
"Hehe, you're quite cute." Saint Martha smiled, summoning her staff from its Astralized state. "It's the first time I'm fighting another Saint, please show me everything you have."
….strangely, I didn't want to embarrass myself in front of her. I felt weird about fighting her, someone who I revered, but her words were oddly encouraging despite the strange circumstances.
"I will defeat you." I lifted my banner up, accepting her challenge.
Martha continued to smile, and she reeled her arm back and threw her staff like a spear. I moved out of the way of the obvious attack, confused at her actions, but I realized the folly of that only as she ran past me.
I jerked my head back to see Raikou in the air, dodging out of the way of the Dragon's breath, and the staff sailing through the air at her.
She deflected it away, but Martha jumped off of the Dragon's head, and caught the staff in the air, swinging it towards Raikou.
Wilhelm's Servant managed to block it time, but she shot to the ground, with the Dragon spinning again, threatening to run her over with its spiked shell.
I looked down at my own banner, and looked up at the oncoming dragon.
…..if Martha did it, then it shouldn't be blasphemous….right?
I didn't think about it again, and copied her, throwing my Banner with all my strength at the oncoming Dragon.
The Holy Power around my banner collided with the rampaging beast, and it halted his advance, stunning it in place.
Raikou grabbed my Banner and retreated back to me, gratitude shined on her face even if no words were spoken.
"Impressive." Saint Martha landed on the Dragon's head, making the beast whine.
She was being very mean to her Dragon….
"You were able to wound the Tarasque." Saint Martha stated, pointing down to cuts running at random points on its body. "I didn't think I would meet an enemy in this place that was able to pierce through its mighty defenses. Perhaps there is hope if you're able to do this much."
"Ruler." Raikou spoke, gripping her blade with her Lightning flowing around her. "Get ready, we will end this fight by slaying the dragon."
"Are you able to?" Martha tilted her head. "The small cuts you've made are nowhere near enough."
"Leave it to me." I stepped in front of her, guessing what she wanted me to do.
Martha leapt into the air again. "Then let's see if you're able!" She shouted, swinging her staff down and hitting the Tarasque, sending it flying at high speeds in our direction again.
"Our Lord is with us!" My banner unfurled. "Oh flag of mine, protect our comrades," I planted it into the ground, standing unwavering in front of the rampaging dragon with destructive fire spewing in all directions. "Luminosite Eternelle!"
The spinning dragon collided with my barrier, but I had faith that it would stand.
"If you command it so….then I Raikou shall become an Oni." I felt the Magical Energy fluctuate as her Noble Phantasm was invoked. "Ox-King Storm Call – The Inescapable net of Heaven!"
Four Purple Lightning Bolts fell from the sky, materializing four copies of her, each wielding a different weapon. The one holding a bow shot an arrow of wind at the Dragon, dispersing its flames. The Spear was like water, flowing through the defenses of the Dragon, piercing deep into its hide, forcing the beast to roar in pain. There was another with a sword covered in flame that attacked from the front, blinding the beasts even if the heat was ineffectual to a Dragon. The Fourth was a Golden Axe that carried with it the weight of the earth, smashing down on its armored-back, cracking the shell beneath.
Lastly, Raikou herself summoned Divine Lighting, It wrapped around her blade and she swung it. I waited in anticipation, but I nearly fell over once I saw it miss.
The large discharge of Lightning went right past the Dragon, and even the disastrous beast nearly squawked in confusion.
I turned back to look at Raikou, but she too was no longer there.
It was only when the Dragon slumped to the ground and dissipated that I realized what happened. Looking forward, I could see Raikou with her sword impaled through Saint Martha, the remnants of the Lightning arcing across the ground.
"Berserker!?" I ran up to them as she pulled her sword free. "What happened!?"
"What a silly trick I fell for." Martha chuckled with blood leaking from her mouth.
"It is obvious to remove the dragon by defeating the summoner." Raikou simply replied. "I simply used my Noble Phantasm as a distraction and hid inside it to strike you without the beast's interference."
…..how clever.
She hid inside that burst of Lightning and followed along it to reach Martha without her noticing.
"I guess it doesn't matter, a defeat is a defeat. You would have probably beaten me either way. I only needed a few exchanges to see how strong you were, it was merely a matter of how long it took." The Saintess slumped. "I disobeyed her Orders a few days ago and hid away the Dragon Slayer that resided here. That's why I was forced to burn the town away, she forced me to attack after learning about his existence."
"Who's the Dragon Witch?" I asked.
"I can't say, I'm sorry." She smiled helplessly. "Something happened about a day ago, and she suddenly became more erratic. She tightened the leash around us out of paranoia." Her hand started to turn into Mana and drift away in the wind. She turned to Raikou. "Thank you for defeating me. I didn't want to do this, to hurt all those people…."
"I would have liked to fight you properly." Raikou smiled wryly.
"I'm not really much of a fighter." She waved her remaining hand dismissively.
"I'm sorry you had to go through that. It must have been difficult to be forced to hurt so many people against your will."
Saint Martha looked at me and laughed happily despite her disappearing. "You are a sweet girl, come here." She held her arm out and pulled me into a hug. I was surprised, but I didn't feel any malicious intent. "Don't let your faith waver with what you see. Believe in yourself no matter what, alright?"
"I-I will do as you say?" I didn't know what she was talking about.
She laughed again as her body mostly disappeared, her remaining hand cupped my cheek. "He would have adored you." She spoke one last time before finally returning to the Throne of Heroes.
"I only caught the end of that, were you two fighting a giant turtle?" Wilhelm's voice entered our ears as we turned around to see him dragging the unconscious body of the Servant he disappeared fighting earlier.
"Master!" Raikou smiled brightly, going over to greet him. "Are you hurt?" She inspected every inch of him.
"I'm fine, I'm fine." He reassured her. "It's funny, actually. He was less dangerous because of the additional Madness added on. It sort of covered his actual skill as he was just throwing around raw power most of the time."
"You know who this is? I can't see their name, it's hiding from my ability even as a Ruler." I asked.
"I just happened to see him before." Wilhelm stated. "He's Lancelot Du Lac."
"….oh." Raikou's expression changed and she didn't have a kind look in her eyes as she stared down at him.
"Uh…why did you bring him here?" I asked in confusion.
"I'm glad you asked!" He clapped his hands. "We're going to conduct an experiment and attempt to remove his Mad Enhancement."
"W-what?" I blinked.
"Don't worry, he volunteered."
Why did that make it sound worse!?
"And worst case, he dies." Wilhelm shrugged. "Nothing of value would be lost."
"Master, are you saying that because of Artoria?"
"Actually, I was saying that because he's French."
I don't know why, but I felt the sudden desire to hit him with my banner.
[***]
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