"At the very least, entertain me with your death, mongrel."
With that cold declaration, the sound of spears and swords cutting through the air was heard.
To be precise, they were being launched, and their power was greater than that of a cannon.
Any powerful Servant would be fatally wounded by that attack, but Berserker, with footwork that defied the realm of madness, dodged the weapon barrage. He then grabbed the weapons around him and swiftly blocked the launched projectiles, showcasing a technique that seemed to be a collection of various sword and spear skills. Everyone couldn't help but be in awe of this technique, which had reached the realm of art.
But Artoria, who was watching, was certain.
'He doesn't fight with his bare hands... It's Sir Lancelot. The only knight with such diverse martial arts, including spear and sword techniques, is Sir Lancelot.'
Every time Artoria looked at Lancelot, she began to feel a sense of guilt.
Whipping herself with the thought that it was all her fault that her retainer had become like this, she began to desire the Grail even more.
However, if she could subdue Lancelot, there was a high chance that Caster would later become his Master and use a Command Spell to remove his Madness Enhancement.
Honestly, if Lancelot resented her, she wanted to hear it. Artoria, believing that she could set things right again with the Grail, no matter what his complaints were, just stared at him.
"...Is that guy really a Berserker?"
To Lancer, who had muttered in a displeased tone, Rider replied with a voice full of admiration.
"For someone who has lost his reason to madness, he's quite a capable fellow."
A Noble Phantasm is a dedicated weapon specialized for its user, a Heroic Spirit, from the very beginning. It's not something another Heroic Spirit can handle satisfactorily just by picking it up.
The god-like swordsmanship of deflecting a pursuit that came in a hair's breadth was, by all accounts, impossible to replicate.
But Berserker had done it.
"──To touch my treasures with those filthy hands... Do you wish to hasten your death that much, mongrel!!"
Once again, a glow appeared around Archer. Like a halo decorating his back, a new host of Noble Phantasms unfolded around the golden majesty──sixty-four in number.
Not just spears and swords. There were axes and hammers too. And there were weapons of strange shapes, and some that resembled the weapon Lancer used.
"Is that!? Gáe Bolg!"
At Lancer's words, they all realized that all those weapons were Noble Phantasms.
"That's... impossible..."
Rider's Master looked completely stunned. Irisviel felt like she was about to lose consciousness at the sight of this mythological scene, but she forced herself to keep her eyes open.
"Let's see how long you can last with those impertinent hands of yours──now, show me!"
As the weapons were launched into the air, Berserker did not stop, swinging his weapons.
When a weapon broke, he would pull one stuck in the ground and block the launched projectiles. The blocked weapons would get stuck in the ground, and when the next turn came, he would use them to quickly block the launched weapons, showing a truly overwhelming skill.
"──It seems that golden pika's pride is in the number of his Noble Phantasms, but in that case, his compatibility with that black one is the worst."
While the two Servants were silently bewildered, Rider, who had been watching with a leisurely posture, muttered with a triumphant face.
"The black one gets stronger the more weapons he picks up. If the golden one just keeps throwing them around so indiscriminately, he'll just end up in a quagmire. What an inflexible fellow."
As the King of Conquerors had coolly pointed out, Berserker did not take a single step back in the face of the onslaught of Noble Phantasms launched by Archer. On the contrary, every time a more powerful Noble Phantasm came flying, he would throw away the one he was holding and snatch a new one, constantly changing weapons.
With an even more ferocious roar, the last of the sixty-four Noble Phantasms fell.
In the vacuum-like silence, the only one standing in the thick dust was Berserker.
The surrounding streetlights and structures were almost completely torn apart; in other words, it was a scene of utter devastation.
Berserker had blocked all the launched weapons with numerous other weapons. Even when several were launched at once, Berserker blocked them all with a weapon in each hand.
The broken weapons disappeared, and he immediately discarded the broken ones for new ones, protecting his body.
Gilgamesh, who had seen this, glared at Berserker with a very displeased expression. But Berserker just silently threw a weapon and knocked down the streetlight Gilgamesh was standing on.
"You fool... you dare to make I, who should be looked up to like the heavens, stand on the same ground as you! That disrespect is worthy of ten thousand deaths. You there, mongrel. Now I will not even leave a single piece of your flesh behind!"
At the sight of the overwhelming number of Noble Phantasms, more than 128, or even 256, the Servants and Masters present were horrified.
They couldn't help but be horrified, as each and every one of them was a Noble Phantasm.
Even Caster, who was watching, was shocked, but Akira and Tiamat watched without any change in expression.
『Artoria, please collect some of those Noble Phantasms later~』
Artoria, who had received the telepathic message... wanted to hit her head. It was as if she had met Merlin, completely oblivious to the mood.
She was witnessing a serious scene, but that seriousness was fading away with the telepathic message. Artoria was on the verge of thinking she might need some stomach medicine.
Just then, Gilgamesh paused and muttered to himself.
"You think to quell the wrath of I, the king, with the counsel of a thing like you? You have a lot of nerve, Tokiomi... You've saved your life, mad dog."
His face was still full of anger, but the flame of killing intent in his eyes disappeared as he turned into golden dust and vanished.
"Mongrels. Thin out the riff-raff by the next time we meet. The only ones who may have an audience with me are true heroes, or my friend and my friend's Master."
In a form no one had expected, the confrontation between the golden and dark knights ended anticlimactically.
"Hmph. It seems that one's Master is not as rigid as Archer himself."
As Rider finished speaking, Berserker began to glare at Saber.
Saber seemed to know who Berserker was. Her eyes began to tremble.
"Saber, do you know who that Berserker is?"
"..."
Saber just remained silent and stared at Berserker.
Meanwhile, Lancer's Master was lost in thought, maintaining his silence.
"It seems everyone was stunned by Archer's appearance."
"...Ar...thur...!!"
With those words, Berserker shouted a cursed name, filled with killing intent, and charged at Saber.
Seeing this, Artoria, with a pained expression as if her heart was being torn apart, had no choice but to block Berserker's attack.
There were more than 30 intact Noble Phantasms that Archer had dropped. And every time they clashed with Artoria's sword, a metallic clang echoed.
Artoria could only block the attacks.
In a battle of Noble Phantasms, Artoria would have had the advantage, but at this range, there was no time for that.
Against Berserker, who wielded numerous weapons with both hands, there wasn't even a second to use her own, and blocking was the limit of what she could do.
"Did you resent me so much!"
Artoria did not say his name.
Because she didn't have the right. She couldn't say it.
Every time Artoria blocked Berserker's sword, she was forced to retreat.
The unorthodox martial arts of the numerous weapons were disadvantageous for Artoria, and Berserker's onslaught of throwing weapons like javelins for long-range attacks did not stop.
Meanwhile, Rider was planning to prevent Lancer from interfering, but Lancer's Master just remained silent.
Lancer was like a knight awaiting his Master's command, whether to defeat Saber or to watch. But honestly, Lancer preferred to watch.
The way she fought against her acquaintance looked so painful, and her expression was filled with guilt, so he thought it was a fight with a story and just watched.
"Kuh..."
She was pushed back until she hit a container. Just before Lancelot's sword could reach her neck.
Lancelot scattered like black mist.
"Eh?"
"Huh?"
"?"
At his disappearance at the decisive moment, everyone just stared at the spot where Berserker had been with bewildered expressions.
"?"
Artoria was also momentarily surprised, but seeing that it was a spatial transference, it was clear that his Master had made him retreat.
"It was a decisive moment, though."
"Hmm... it seems Berserker's mana couldn't hold out, so he was recalled with a Command Spell."
"What!? He used a Command Spell for such a trivial reason?"
"Hmm... in any case, I have seen the fight between Saber and Berserker. Rest well today and prepare for the Holy Grail War tomorrow. This Iskandar shall take his leave!"
And with the roar of the bulls, thunder echoed, and the only one left was Lancer's Master.
"Master, what will you do?"
『Hmm... Master of Caster. Will you not meet with me?』
At those words, the remaining Servants and people were said to have looked at Lancer with surprised expressions.
『Why?』
『Will you not make a deal with me?』
『Well, alright.』
I didn't know what Lancer's Master was thinking, but it didn't matter if we met.