Shinji Matou At Your Service

Chapter 36: Rampaging Lancelot

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Archer's departure brought relief to many, but it was still not a time of relaxation. Berserker, who was equally as threatening as Archer, now stood in front of everyone.

His eyes emitted an infinite radiance within the gaps of his armor. Perhaps having lost his initial opponent, he aimlessly wandered into the void and then discovered new prey, igniting once again.

His eyes, filled with resentment, locked onto Saber, causing a chill to run down her spine.

"Ah!"

It was a voice that seemed to surge from the ground. It was like a monster wreaking havoc and cursing. It was a mournful groan filled with resentment, devoid of meaningful words.

Everyone had heard Berserker's voice for the first time.

"Ah—"

The Black Knight, like a human-shaped curse, swelled with killing intent and charged toward Saber, clad in silver armor.

"Rampage!"

Witnessing this scene, Shinji's complexion turned slightly pale, as he rapidly contemplated.

The existence of Servants in the present world relied entirely on the supply of mana from their Masters. Among them, the spiritual form consumed the least amount, while materializing and performing actions and battles gradually increased mana consumption. Berserker, being one of the seven Servant classes, consumed the most mana. Even if his uncle had prepared rune stones to store mana in advance, it might not have withstood such consumption.

The contract between the Master and Servant in the Holy Grail War was extremely demanding. If the Master could not generate enough mana, it would forcefully drain the master's vitality until exhaustion.

Lancelot's devotion to his liege, Artoria, was extraordinary. His uncle had only recently graduated as a novice and could barely manage him. If things continued like this, his uncle's body—

Thinking up to this point, Shinji knew he could no longer stand by and watch.

"Lady Justeaze, go to my uncle's location and help him suppress the out-of-control Berserker. You should be able to do it."

"There is a way... but," Justeaze's voice carried obvious hesitation.

In his youthful state, Shinji displayed a decisive demeanor that matched his appearance. He gently raised his hand behind him and said, "That's enough. Once you regain control of Berserker, immediately take my uncle and leave. We can talk when he's rested."

"I understand. As for Einzbern—"

"I will ask my Sensei to follow them."

In response to Justeaze's concerns, Shinji calmly replied by silently adding a sentence to his mind.

There is more than one act in tonight's grand spectacles. How could I miss it?

"Understood."

Justeaze's distinctive voice, along with her presence, quickly receded and disappeared from Shinji's perception.

...

Kariya smiled in a warehouse on the side of the battlefield.

Despite looking exhausted and worn, with a face that lacked the usual freshness and cleanliness, it did not dampen his soaring spirits.

The fruits of his desperate efforts and the release of years of suppressed resentment and anger made Kariya's mind tremble.

"Hahaha," he chuckled.

I did it.

"Hmph, hahaha," he laughed dryly.

Finally, I made an arrogant magus, a person who looked down on ordinary people, made a fool of himself.

"Ahahahaha," he burst into laughter.

This was the beginning. I will slowly shatter your arrogant facade Tokiomi Tohsaka!

The unrestrained and excessive laughter triggered protests in Kariya's lungs, and the tingling sensation in his nerves gradually restored his calm.

At this moment, he realized that something was wrong. It was not just his lungs protesting his brain; every part of his body was protesting, rebelling against the draining of his life force. The few traces of magical energy within his body had long been depleted, and the master–servant contract had begun to extract his life force.

The battle for tonight ended with the retreat of the archenemy Archer. There was no reason to endure the pain and continue fighting when other servants were free to kill each other.

Just as Kariya was about to let out a sigh of relief, Berserker locked onto his next target, Saber, and charged towards her.

At this moment, Kariya himself was in the most wretched state.

"Stop! Come back, Berserker!"

Kariya shouted to his Servant, conveying his worry and anxiety.

Such a simple command, issued from the position where Kariya stood, could easily reach Berserker. However, the Black Knight showed no reaction and instead became more excited, thirsting for his master's magical energy.

"Berserker! Stop it!"

Trembling, Kariya reached for a rune stone to replenish his magical energy and regain control over Berserker, but the intense pain rendered his hands powerless. He was unable to manage a simple squeezing motion.

The pain intensified and his body trembled uncontrollably. Kariya could not maintain his stance and fell to his knees; the rune stone slipped from his grasp and hit the ground, producing a crisp impact.

"No, I must use a Command Spell."

There is no room for hesitation. Before being engulfed by the torrent of pain, Kariya desperately concentrated on his fading consciousness.

"By the Command Spell, I order—"

However, the characters he struggled to squeeze out were interrupted by a sudden surge in magical energy injected into his body.

The rune stone did not hit the ground; instead, it was picked up just before impact and crushed.

The magical energy generated and stored by Kariya returned to his body, replenishing the consumption of Berserker and gradually alleviating the pain in the Master's body.

Kariya, who had finally regained control of his body, struggled to lift his head and looked towards the familiar figure.

"Justeaze-sama?"

...

Berserker, with the ferocity of a wild beast, kicked the asphalt on the road surface and advanced towards Saber. His eyes focused solely on Saber, his entire body filled with a dark aura of killing intent.

Needless to say, Saber did not dare careless and immediately gripped her sword, assuming a defensive posture.

"Shoo!"

Berserker, with his terrifying momentum close to the ground, threw his weapons towards Saber's head.

Fearlessly, Saber blocked Berserker's attack with her invisible sword. However, when she saw the true nature of the weapon, she was dumbfounded.

It was an iron pillar, the remnant of a street lamp near Archer's previous location, picked up by Berserker, and used as a weapon.

By grasping approximately two-meter-long broken pieces of iron, Berserker pressed them against Saber's sword with astonishing force, as if holding a spear. However, what was truly surprising was not Berserker's strength but the fact that the so-called weapon was nothing more than a pile of iron scraps.

Saber's hidden sword, concealed within the Wind King's barrier, was the pinnacle of all Noble Phantasms, an unparalleled and supremely powerful weapon capable of cutting through iron-like mud.

If there were any weapons with the strength to contend against Saber's sword, they would only be the Noble Phantasms of other Heroic Spirits.

However, Berserker was now facing Saber, with nothing more than this iron pillar.

The iron pillar had already turned black, and red streaks resembling the veins of the leaves wound around it spread layer by layer.

The ink-like black and branch-like red colors originated from Berserker's hands. Starting from the areas gripped by the black armored hands, the black and red colors spread throughout the entire iron pillar, like a spider's web.

This was Berserker's magical energy infused with murderous intent and hatred–the magical energy of the Black Knight.

This type of magical energy permeated the entire iron pillar using Berserker's hands as a medium.

Saber, Lancer, Rider, and Assassin understood Berserker's Noble Phantasm effect simultaneously.

"Obtaining ownership of a Noble Phantasm is just one use of 'Knight of Owner.' Another use is to bestow the attributes of a Noble Phantasm of Rank D onto an object in hand, achieving a qualitative change known as 'Reinforcement Magecraft' taken to the extreme."

Although there was no audience, Shinji continued to mutter himself and his imagination ran wild. If Shirou Emiya's attribute was not a sword but reinforcement, he may have reached this level.

"In theory, with infinite magical energy, Lancelot could invert and grab Earth, turning the entire planet into his Noble Phantasm. That's why he's one of the Four Heavenly Kings of Type-Moon."

Indeed, even with the limitations of magical energy, Lancelot still possessed nearly infinite Noble Phantasms and martial skills to wield them, which was his strength.

The second strike.

The third strike.

Berserker continued to press Saber relentlessly using his beautiful spear-throwing technique.

Saber could only defend passively, her left hand gripping the sword hilt devoid of strength.

The wounds were caused by Lancer's Noble Phantasm, Gáe Bolg, once again throbbed with pain. With only her right hand swinging the sword, Saber fought back with great difficulty supported by magical energy. However, her swordsmanship was far less agile.

However, in the face of Berserker's fierce and relentless attacks, Saber, in her weakened state, found it increasingly difficult to sustain herself, let alone counterattack.

"Saber!"

Irisviel called out urgently. Beads of anxious sweat appeared on the forehead of the King of Knights.

--*--

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