Chapter 154

Minamoto-no-Raikou (Berserker of Red) POV.

“Insect.” I scowled, looking at the trash that dared to raise his blade against my Master(son).

Our blades met, he was perceptive enough to respond the moment I revealed myself. His footing was steady, even as he retreated with each step, he did not forgo the initiative as our battle began. He absorbed each of my blows into his own movements, to minimalize the force.

An endurance fighter.

Annoying.

I glanced to the side to see Master(son) start a fight with the other servant. The golden one with the lance, he made me feel something odd. A sense of rivalry that swelled up when I gazed at him. I did not know where it came from, and a part of my wished to fight him, to prove my superiority. I ignored it, following Master’s(Son’s) commands, to engage this warrior.

I would chastise him when the fighting was over. He should not be putting himself in harms way to fight a servant, even if he is not a normal human. My Kintoki was the same too, the similarities are truly great when comparing the both of them.

Perhaps I will have to dote on him in the same way.

His mother is all he needs.

“Such strength.” The Saber servant commented, feet buried in the ground to block my attack.

I clicked my tongue as he swiped his greatsword at me, his swordsmanship not something I was used to, but I adapted rather quickly. Readjusting himself, he trust with great power and speed, momentarily taking me by surprise as I twisted my body to dodge, my battle suite being torn, but no blood drawn.. I summoned my Divine Lightning in return, discharging everything in a quick burst.

“Impressive.” The Saber Servant waved his hand, clearing away the remnants of my attack as I took a step back.

I could press him, but often discretion is the better answer, especially in a situation where we do not know what enemies may be watching. “I do not enjoy the prattling of insects, merely accept being crushed.”

“Haha.” He let out a self-deprecating laugh. “Well, if there’s one thing I’m confident in, it’s my durability.” With a quick swing of his sword, the ground was torn asunder.

I burst through the upturned earth, my Mana Burst enveloping me as I Slashed down at him once again. His feet dug deep, and his blade still held true. I could only click my tongue in annoyance again, increases my speed by another level.

Twisting my wrist, I changed the direction of my blow, slashing upwards after another deflection. He didn’t react in time, my blade digging into his skin and my Divine Lightning churning out increased force.

Instead of retreating, he grit his teeth, holding his sword up high and swinging down and I was forced to side-step, his blade destroying the ground beneath us.

“I was sure I cut you deeper than that.” I looked at the blood dripping from his chest. I am positive my blade went in much further, yet……it was more like a paper cut than anything.

The Saber Servant ran a thumb down his chest, wiping away the blood revealing that the wound was already gone. “As I said, I am confident in my durability.” He paused looking over to the side. I followed his gaze, landing on his unconscious master if I had to guess. The lard of a man should be happy that my son didn’t kill him.

“You take your eyes of me in the middle of a fight?” I narrowed my eyes at him. An insect actually looks down on me like this. My sword shot out, piercing into his chest, his momentary lapse cost him dearly, or so I would like to say.

No, it was barely two fingers worth inside him, his hand gripped around the edge and stopping me from going further. It’s not that his strength is greater than mine, it was the combination of his strength and his overall durability.

{Berserker!}

Master suddenly shouted through the link, I forgot my foe and turned my head as a massive amount of magical energy suddenly enveloped the area and I immediately disengaged to go after him.

***

Wilhelm POV

“What is this!?” Lacer’s expression changed drastically for the first time. His flames, his divine fire was being devoured and destroyed.

Our weapons locked, My Sword of Destruction pushing against his Golden Lance, his Fire bursting out in all directions and my Power of Destruction Crackled and Arced out, intercepting the flares that sought to harm me.

My Aura visibly surged to feed into my Power of Destruction to fight against his relentless flames. My bloodline, it was almost like it was eager to fight against the divine, to reach out and strike at those who lived above.

“You are not an ordinary human.” Lancer looked at me, less perturbed by my power. “I see it…..you are something strange.”

Does he have an ability to allows him to glimpse into my true nature?

I grit my teeth, pushing every last bit of Aura I could output and he shuddered under the sudden intensity of my Destruction. He almost reeled back as it jutted out towards his body. “I’m just a normal human~” I grinned, mentally calling forth my other blades to swing down on him.

The flame around him increased several fold, the ground under us turning to molten rock, my sword forced away at the sudden explosive power.

My eyes widened as my Power of Destruction was overtaken in output, like a candle swaying in the wind compared to his raging inferno. I held back a sigh, forcing Whisper into the air. No, I shouldn’t have expected to win a fight like that. If I had more practice, more time with my bloodline ability then maybe…

There were no ‘ifs’ in a fight.

Noticing my lack of reprisal, Lancer’s weapon pushed forward, destroying my guard and slashing into my side. My Aura had gone critically low, his weapon tearing into my skin, but it also triggered my defenses in my clothing.

The Dust that Jinn had woven into my shirt active, a burst of elemental power exploded out from the wound.

“What?” Lancer looked surprised at the sudden retaliation, forcing him back.

“Is this the time to be losing focus?” I smirked, holding my arms out, the sky having gotten a bit cloudy in the last few moments.

The Servant looked up, unable to keep that bewildered look off his face.

“Hammer of Thor.”

The Massive lighting figure that conglomerated had raised its hammer into the air, lighting up the night sky. My New attribute, my additional element that I had been imbued with had once again further increased the power of this spell.

It swung down onto the unsuspecting servant as I retreated away with full speed, grabbing a shocked Ruler Servant with me. “Eeeeh!?” She sputtered out as I threw up every Shield I could in that brief moment, and they all broke at the sudden cascading force.

The earth scorched, the ground sundered, and a huge gorge was now where a highway used to be.

“Magnificent” The voice of Lancer echoed out as everything settled. I held back a growl as he floated out of the new cavern I made. He was hurt, my spell had managed to reach him, that was something not many mages could boast about. “If I did not have my Armor, I would have been grievously injured.” There was blood drip from several places, some even coming out of his mouth, but nothing i could call critical.

The Golden armor around his body. No doubt it was also divine in origin, otherwise I couldn’t guess how he managed to walk off my attack.  “You bastard.” I couldn’t help but laugh. “What a monster.”

“Your name.” He held out his Lance, pointing towards me. “I wish to hear the name of the  living person who was able to wound me.”

“Wilhelm. I will refrain from giving my family name as it would reveal something I wish to keep secret for now.”

“Wilhelm.” He nodded in understanding. “I will follow my orders, but I will give offer my this in thanks.” His lance ignited in fire, but it felt much different. A chill ran down my spine, as if death was descending on me.

I looked back at Ruler who looked ready to defend herself, but I doubt she would be willing to extend that to me.

{Berserker!} I could out through the link, but I didn’t know how long she would come.

Should I use a command seal?

I clenched my fists and let out a laugh. I had my own pride. I withdrew The Staff of Magnus from inside my storage, and the Boosted Gear appeared on me left hand.

My swords were floating around me protectively.

“Boost!” I activate the gauntlet, doubling my physical abilities.

“O’Brahma, Curse Me.” The world shifted, as if his spear became a second sun. It dyed the entire area in a red hue that burned burnt my throat just from being near.

Runes spun around me. The strongest shield I could make, the truly completed form of it. I wasn’t finished, My Primordial Runes appeared, interlaying with the spell itself. Forming a conceptual level of Defenses that further increased the bulwark, all amplified by my Divine Construct.

“Brahmastra Kundala!” He threw his spear, and the space around it was burned away.

I slammed my Staff down. “Shield of Asgard!”

My vision became fire, the sun enveloped me, my shield. I could feel the impact, my spell shuddered under the weight of his Noble Phantasm. I saw nothing but fire, of this heat that pushed down and threatened to burn me alive.

My shield, it continued to hold, but cracks could be seen forming. “Haah!” I let out a shout, forcing more magical energy through me into the barrier, to maintain it. The strain was bearable, but I wouldn’t be able to maintain this for long.

The force of the attack almost made me buckle to my knees, and I wasn’t even directly hit.

“Transfer” I grit out, pushing the effect of the Boost onto my own barrier.

Suddenly, the translucent golden shield exploded out, increasing size as it visibly pushed away the Noble Phantasm. The fire cleared up, what felt like an eternity was only a few breaths worth of time.

I used the Staff to push myself full up, staring at the servant who didn’t move, even as his gaze landed on me. “You withstood my Noble Phantasm.” He said with no small amount of awe in his voice.

I let out a long breath, gathering my magical energy to begin once again.

{Master!} I heard Berserker’s voice through the link, followed by a crack of thunder, her signature purple lightning crashing down into Lancer’s unsuspecting face.

He moved his spear up to block, and my eyes widened as his arm holding his weapon went flying through the air, severed clean from his body.

“Arjuna!?” Lancer blurted out, seemingly more concerned by Berserker’s appearance than the fact that he just lost an arm.

Berserker landed on the ground, about to attack again but Lancer’s body was enveloped by a burst of magical energy, and he was suddenly teleported away.

“A command seal.” I grunted, falling to my butt. It was the correct play to make from the other side. I looked to the side and his weapon also was gone, but his arm turned into magical energy and dissipated.

“Master!” Berserker was on me immediately.

“I’m fine.” I couldn’t help but pat her head as the atmosphere changed instantaneously. She looked exceedingly happy to receive my touch. I showed her the white light in my hand as it was already working on healing my wound. Granted, it would only deal with the outside, but it would at least calm her down for the moment.

“Who’s this?” Her face turned dark again, her sword gripped tight, staring at Ruler.

I forgot about her in that moment. But she survived without much effort. Ruler Servants really are busted when moderating a war.

“I’m Ruler.” She hesitantly introduced herself. “I’m the moderator for this Grail War.”

“Master, I’ll remove this woman, just give me a moment.” Berserker was about to move, and Ruler looked a mite bit scared.

“Berserker, stop.” I pulled on her. “Her being alive is good for us.” I briefly explained. And it didn’t matter if I called her Berserker since a Ruler servant could identify any other servant by just a glance.

“But Master, how can an insect like that help us at all?”

Ruler’s eye twitched slightly again as she stood up straighter. “Attacking the moderator is against the rules, if you persist, I will have to punish you.”

“Ohoh.” Berserker let out a little a laugh. “Master, just let me crush this little harlot, it won’t take long.”

“H-harlot!?” Ruler squeaked out

“Raikou.” I called her by her real name, which actually caused her to pause and give me her full attention. “Lets just get back to our hideout so I can rest.”

“Mou~ Whatever my Master wants.” She quickly changed tunes.

I stood up steadily enough, putting everything away but Mirage. It appears that Saber of Black took his Master away at the first opportunity. I looked at Ruler one last time she was a bit on guard, but also looking at me as if trying to give me an appraisal.

For some strange reason, I had the incessant need to bully her, and I just couldn’t figure out why. With a sigh, I opened a new portal up and pulled Berserker through.

The last look at this place was the sun peaking above a mountain range. Or rather, what was left of it after Lancer’s attack, because I’m pretty sure there were three peaks in total before tonight, and I could only count two now.

***

So i'm thinking a Shirou POV and Siegfried POV next chapter along with some other stuff. 

MC blocked the magical equivalent of a Nuke that took out a literal mountain. Something, something, gas leak. It's actually kind of amusing how many servants have defensive noble phantasms. Karna, Siegfried, Achilles. They can all pretty much tank certain kinds of damage.