TYPE-MOON Universe, Earth, Japan, Fuyuki city.
*Clang!*
With little time to react, Lanser was forced to raise his spear to block a powerful overhead swing from Berserker's axe-sword. Despite the fact that he was prepared for the incoming attack, it came so quickly that Lancer had no opportunity to angle his weapon to diminish some of the force behind the impact.
As a result, Lancer was almost forced to his knees by Berserker's supernatural strength. Even so, Lancer's expression bloomed into a smile. A battle thirsty smile, but a smile, nonetheless.
"Oh, you're even faster than I expected." Lancer said as he pushed against Berserker's weapon with all his might. "At first, I just thought you were all brute strength, which would have made this boring. But this might actually be fun."
"Rahh~~~~~~!" Berserker only roared once again in response. He then quickly lifted his weapon to strike again, causing Lancer to throw off his own balance thanks to the removal of the counterforce…
Even so, Lancer righted his posture quickly enough,
*Bang!*
… before rolling to his left, avoiding Berserker's follow up attack.
At the same time, Lancer quickly sprung back onto his feet. Simultaneously, he thrust his spear upwards, aiming at Berserker's right shoulder, trying to disable his dominant arm.
*Clang!*
Unfortunately, Lancer's strength was not enough to even pierce Berserker's skin thanks to his constantly active [Noble Phantasm], [God's Hand]. Instead, only a shower of sparks was released when the tip of Lancer's spear brushed against the giant man's shoulder.
*Swoosh!*
"Oh, that's bullshit." Lancer said as he leapt backwards to avoid Berserker's counterattack.
However, Berserker had no intention of allowing Lancer to catch his breath after that attack. Swinging his axe-sword in a seemingly wild way, he pressed forward, every swing causing Lancer to devote all his focus to dodging or parrying, as he found out that blocking would quickly put him at a disadvantage thanks to their difference in strength.
*Clang!* *Clang!* *Swoosh!* *Bang!* *Boom!* *Clang!*
Despite the fact that he was being easily pushed back by Berserker, Lancer did not miss any opportunity to launch a counterattack of his own. Still, he found no success with any of his attacks, Berserker still yet to show any signs of damage.
"Yeah, definitely bullshit." Lancer muttered as he dodged another sweep from Berserker's axe-sword by sliding under it. "Fine, I guess I'll have to do this. Though, I really didn't want to."
*Clang!*
In the next instant, from his place on the ground, Lancer shot is spear upwards, aiming directly between Berserker's legs. To his surprise, however, When the tip of his spear landed on Berserker's manhood, the giant man came to an abrupt stop, with his eyes widening in both disbelief and pain.
"Well, I guess that worked." Lancer muttered to himself as he leapt backwards to create some space between himself and Berserker. "Kinda surprised that there's no blood, though."
*Roar~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~!*
A few moments later, the disbelief in Berserker's expression disappeared, leaving only rage on his face. He then stood up straight and threw his head back, releasing a roar that caused all the foliage in the area to tremble. He then lowered his head once again to look at Lancer with unbridled fury.
"Hmm… In hindsight, that wasn't the best idea I've ever had." Lancer said as he once again took his fighting stance.
And just like that, the battle continued with Berserker even more frenzied than usual.
Meanwhile, Illyasviel watched the ongoing clash with an innocent smile on her face.
"You were a fool to let your Servant face my Berserker." Illyasviel said to Bazett without even looking in her direction. "When you saw him, the first instinct should have been to run away."
"You're too confident in your Servant's power." Bazett replied. "Lancer will have no issue defeating him. Especially if I do this."
As she finished her sentence, Bazett raised her right hand, her [Command Spells] facing towards Illyasviel, who also turned to look at what Bazett was referring to.
"Oh, you're going to use your [Command Spells] to give him a boost, huh?" Illyasviel asked while tilting her head cutely. "Honestly, that's not what I expected. Instead, I thought you were going to attack me. Getting rid of the Master is the fastest way to deal with a Servant, after all."
"I'll admit, that thought ran through my mind." Bazett said calmly. "Because as powerful as your Servant is, I don't think I would lose to him. That said, I don't' think I have the firepower to defeat him, either. On top of all that, I can feel a small amount of his awareness focused on me. So, I know without a shadow of a doubt that if I were to attack you, he would abandon Lancer and come for me immediately."
*Clap!* *Clap!* *Clap!*
"Wow! You're not a member of the Sealing Designation Enforcement Unit for show, huh?" Illyasviel asked, genuinely impressed with Bazett's instincts. "But you're right. If you had attacked me, Berserker would have come running right away."
"I thought so." Bazett replied.
"Though, that makes me wonder, why didn't he come when that woman, Elicia, attacked me at the cemetery? Illyasviel asked herself.
That question gave Bazett a moment of pause. During that moment, she thought back to everything she knew about Elicia. And from what she remembered, she was just as skilled, if not more so, as her Servant in stealth. So, perhaps Berserker could not perceive her while she fought with Illyasviel.
Deciding that now was not the time to contemplate such a thing, Bazett shook her head. Then, she glanced at the battle again. And what she saw was that nothing had changed. Lancer was still being pushed back. He had even sustained a few minor injuries, a testament to just how skilled he was, as most Servants would be in much worse state by now when facing a monster like Berserker.
"Lancer, by this [Command Seal], I grant you the power to overcome this adversary." Bazett said in a sonorous tone.
As Bazett's voice sounded out, the [Command Spells] on her right hand began to glow. Then, a moment later, one of the symbols making up the [Command Seal] disappeared into a flash of red light. At the same time, Lancer's entire body began to glow for a moment, as well.
"Ha! Nice!" Lancer said as all of his parameters shot up temporarily.
Then, as Berserker swung his axe-sord from above, Lancer sidestepped, leaving the large weapon to tear into the sidewalk. Then, in the same motion, Lancer struck out with his spear, its tip aimed at Berserker's shoulder joint.
*Squelch!*
And unlike before, the tip of the spear pierced into Berserker's shoulder with little issue, leaving his right arm hanging lifelessly, his fingers barely closed around the hilt of his weapon.
"Berserker!" Illyasviel shouted, her toen mixed with fear and disbelief.
Yet, Lancer had no intention of letting the opportunity slip. With Berserker's right arm out of commission, Lancer continued to thrust his spear into the giant man's right side, repeatedly stabbing him in the torso, arm, leg, and neck. And in the process, he managed to kill the Greek Hero three times.
Then, before [God's Hand] could activate, Lancer maneuvered himself to Berserker's front and pulled his spear back to land yet another strike.
"You wish for the cursed crimson spear?" Lancer asked as he drew his spear back. "I'll have your heart. [Gáe Bolg]."
In the next instant, Lancer's spear shot forward, looking like a streak of crimson light. Meanwhile, Berserker, understanding that Lancer was aiming for his heart, raised his left arm to intercept the spear tip.
However, as if the spear had a mind of its own, its tip avoided Berserker's arm, moving at unbelievable angles to find its way to the heart of its target.
*Squelch!*
And once again, the sound of flesh being pierced sounded around the area. At the same time, Berserker's head dropped, hanging low as a number of barbs shot out from the spear head, destroying his insides quite thoroughly and taking four more of his lives in the process.
*Roar~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~!*
Berserker once again roared. This time, pain was clearly mixed into his roar, as he threw his head back.
Realizing that something was wrong, Lancer quickly pulled his spear from Berserker's chest. At the same time, he could see all the damage that would have taken Berserker's life healing at a speed visible to the naked eye.
However, Lancer also noticed that all the wounds that did not result in a lethal blow were not healing.
"So, he's got more than one life, huh?" Lancer asked himself as he once again flourished his spear. "Well then, I guess I'll just have to keep on doing this until he kicks the bucket, won't I?"
As soon as Lancer's rhetorical questions ended, all of Berserker's lethal wounds closed up. However, he was still unable to move his right arm freely, thanks to all the wounds that did not close up. Even so, that did not deter him in the slightest, as he picked up his axe-sword with his left hand before charging toward Lancer once again.
"Damn…" Lancer groaned as he barely avoided one of Berserker's strikes. "I guess he can use both hands at the same level."
Immediately after saying that, Lancer was forced to evade another blow. And this one forced him to take a step up the temple's stairs. Berserker, on the other hand, kept up the pressure, continuing to swing his weapon violently as he followed Lancer up the stairs.
"Just who is that Servant?" Bazett asked as she watched the ongoing fight, taking a step towards the stairs so that she could stay at a distance to offer Lancer some assistance should he need it.
"That's a secret." Illyasviel said, her playful demeanor returning now that Berserker seemed to be more or less alright. "But even if you knew, it would not make a difference. Your Servant will still die here, after all. I'm still not gonna tell you, though. It's more fun that way."
Bazett only shot Illyasviel a glance in return, not dwelling on something that did not matter too much in the long run. Then, once the two Servants made it a considerable way up the stairs, she began to follow them, Illyasviel following after her from a safe distance.
Though, it should be noted that before Illyasviel started making her way up the stairs, she created a few of her bird creatures to protect her.
At the same time, at the top of the mountain, just outside the cave where Tatsuo and Elicia were working, Caster put on an irritated expression.
"Those [Bounded Fields] took so long to set up." Caster said in an annoyed tone. "And now, those two are just destroying them without a thought for all the effort I put into making them."
While Caster spoke, Souichirou, who she had been leaning against not too long ago, stood up. He then reached down, offering his hand, to help her stand up, as well.
"Then, do you think we should take care of them before they cause too much damage?" Souichirou asked in his usual flat tone.
Accepting Souichirou's hand and allowing him to pull her up to her feet, Caster hesitated to answer his question. Instead, she glanced at the cave with a bit of worry in her tone.
"I'm not sure." Caster replied. "If we leave, there's a chance that they could make it up here before we can stop them. And if that happens, the ritual might be interrupted. We have no idea how much more time they'll need, after all.'
"Then, should I go alone?" Souichirou asked calmly. "I could go down and deal with their Master's while you defend this place. Your [Bounded Fields] are set up so that they won't affect me, right? So, I can circle around behind them before making a sneak attack."
Stopping to consider Souichirou's idea for a moment, Caster eventually shook her head.
"No, it's too dangerous." Caster finally replied. "Although I have faith in your skills, that woman with the fuchsia hair is powerful. And I'd rather not put you in unnecessary danger. Instead, we shall face them together. Having the high ground is to our advantage, after all."
Agreeing with his Servant's plan, Souichirou started walking towards the stairway leading down the mountain with Caster following closely behind him. And by the time they reached the top of the stairs, although they could not see the figures of either Lancer or Berserker, they could feel the tremors, both magical and physical in Caster's case, from their battle.
"They aren't just destroying the [Bounded Fields]." Souichirou said calmly while adjusting his glasses. "They're destroying the stairway, as well. And if that happens, neither the visitors of the temple or the monks will be able to climb the mountain safely."
Though Souichirou said that, he did not truly care about the well-being of either the temple visitors or the monks. However, because the monks of the Ryuudou Temple had taken him in and given him a place to stay, he felt that he owed them a debt of gratitude. And because of his own personal code of ethics, he would not do anything that would bring them harm until that debt was repaid.
"Not to worry, Souichirou." Caster said as she started to levitate over the stairway. "I'll make sure everything is returned to normal after all of this is over. For now, we only need to stop those fools from interrupting a ritual that will benefit everyone."
As she finished her speech, Caster floated forward a few feet. And as she did, many magic circles appeared behind her, each set to fire a different spell down the mountain, directly at where she could feel Lancer and Berserker fighting.
However, instead of aiming at the two Servants directly, her volley was aimed at the stairway beneath them. Because although she hated to admit it, she was objectively the weakest Servant in this Holy Grail War. And she knew that her Magecraft would not be able to do too much damage to either Lancer, with is high [Magic Resistance], or Berserker, who she did not have much information about.
*Swish!*
In the next moment, spells of all kinds streaked down the mountain towards the fighting Servants. And before long, an explosion could be heard even from the very top of the mountain where Caster and Souichirou were located.
*Boom~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~!*
*Rumble!*
And that explosion led to a land slide that rolled down a little less than half of the mountain with great force.
Meanwhile, Caster and Souichirou watched the devastation with impassive gazes on their faces, just hoping that it was enough to buy Tatsuo and Elicia enough time to finish their ritual.