Chapter 11

TN: Revised to make more sense, a lot of people were pointing out that I was being too vague on how exactly Berserker keeps getting up again. Hopefully it makes more sense now.

The battle had come to an unexpected end. Archer, who had looked to be on the verge of victory, had been forced to flee once Berserker revealed that strange phantasm of his which hung about him even now. It wasn't the outcome that Saber had hoped for, but with Berserker still severely damaged from the fight it was a better chance than any she was likely to get in the future.

"Shirou, I will -."

"Oi! Rinc! Stay there for a second. I want to talk to you!" Her master shouted as he stood up.

Saber froze as her master walked past her, out into the open where he could be spotted by Berserker and his master. She didn't know what to think of it. Why had Shirou just thrown away their advantage of surprise?

"Shirou, what are you doing?" Saber cried.

Ignoring her Shirou kept walking towards Berserker's wounded master. Saber could see a strange smile come across that tired face as she rushed out to restrain Shirou.

"Shirou! We have to finish off Berserker, now!" Saber shouted at her master.

Shirou gave her a look she couldn't understand before walking ahead again.

"Shirou? What - ... Argg!"

Giving up trying to dissuade her master, Saber fell behind him, sword raised to meet any threat. She could see Rin walking up from behind as well, her bejewelled wand at the ready. When Saber glanced at her, it was plain to her eyes that Rin shared the same misgivings about Shirou's action as she did. But seeing as Rin wasn't trying to stop Shirou, Saber decided she would stay silent too.

Berserker leapt down from where he had been standing, coming up to back up his master. Saber narrowed her eyes. That constantly shifting white cloud around Berserker, was it his noble phantasm? A defensive type then. Nothing to worry about since she had Excalibur to fall back on if she needed it, but something about that strange mist told her to stay alert. Archer had run away once it had appeared, so there had to be more to it then met the eye.

Come to think of it. Berserker himself was a mystery. Traditionally, Berserkers were the one class that even masters had a good chance of killing. This was due to their hopeless magic resistance. This Berserker though hadn't been fazed by the impact of a greater spell that even the Knight classes would have had trouble with. A rank magic resistance was implied, so just what mythical figure had such powers to his name? Saber could think of a few but none of them fit with that monstrous longsword Berserker carried.

Saber was still pondering over Berserker's identity when his master ordered him to attack. Pretty soon all such petty concerns went straight out of her mind as she began struggling to stay alive.

Shirou was shocked when he heard Rinc order Berserker to kill them, Rin less so. They had each had their own experiences with the man. Shirou knew him as a friend he could always rely upon, a rare thing between mages. Rin on the other hand knew him as someone who would always carry out what he had decided upon, no matter what it cost him. The similarity between him and a certain idiot by her side was what had made her extend a rare hand of friendship to this cheerful blue-eyed mage.

"Damn it Rinc. Why are you doing this..." Rin muttered as Berserker charged towards them.

That white cloud that had been surrounding Berserker began expanding, sending out tendrils that reached for Shirou and Saber. It was with alarm that Rin watched Saber fall to her knees after being enveloped by the fog. Berserker was almost upon her with his sword ready to take the other servant apart.

"Saber! Ah, zueberinfeuer!"

A wave of fire rolled outwards from Rin's wand as she aimed at Berserker. With his crazy magic resistance even this B rank attack wouldn't harm him but at the least-.

"No way!" Rin exclaimed.

The flames hit the white wall between them. And faded away as into nothingness. What in the world was that thing?

Rin got her answer as more tendrils broke off from the main body and darted towards her. These were...

"Ghosts?"

When he heard Rinc's order to Berserker Shirou was frozen with shock.

Did Rinc just tell Berserker to kill us? Rinc?! One of my best friends?!

In the end only the eight years of training he had received from one of the most unforgiving masters of the combat arts saved him from an ignoble death at the hands of Berserker's ghost army.

"... Ah!"

Leaping back from a clawing hand Shirou stared incredulously at the air around him.

What they had thought to be a mist was in fact a horde of ghosts.

Thousands of them.

They hung around him, as if just waiting for an opportunity to come in pull his body to pieces. Shirou had accompanied an Association Extermination Squad once as they destroyed a particularly vicious pack of ghosts that had taken up residence in a countryside town. A common sight around the world, ghosts were individually much weaker than a normal human, but in numbers they could overwhelm even a fully trained combat mage. Fortunately for humanity it was rare to see ghosts with motivation to harm people.

Or with someone directing them.

The first one rushed Shirou from the back. Detecting the movement Shirou met it with a swipe from Kanshou. He then had to quickly turn and decapitate a second ghost with Bakuya as it tried to slash his arm with a hazy igladius/i. Those two were the trigger for the avalanche and it was not long before Shirou was being cut at from all sides. Already his arms and legs were a mass of shallow wounds, and protecting his face got harder by the minute. Time to change the odds.

"I am the bone of my sword."

The ghosts kept coming. Kanshou and Bakuya flickered in the moonlight as they met the mist-like claws and weapons they carried.

"Steel is my body, and fire is my blood."

A particularly big ghost slipped past Shirou's defences, and Shirou grit his teeth in pain as the ghostly broadsword cut into his left shoulder. Kanshou flashed by to rip that ghost in two but now Shirou had just one arm with which to work with, his left arm hung useless by his side.

"I have created over a thousand blades.
Unaware of loss.
Nor aware of gain.
"

In the midst of the incantation Shirou wondered how Saber and Rin were doing. He wasn't too worried about Saber, his servant was strong enough that these lesser spirits would be more of a hindrance than a threat. Rin however didn't have as much combat experience as himself, and Shirou was worried about what would happen if the ghosts managed to surround her.

Another full-on attack slipped through. This time a spear in his side. No time to be distracted with thoughts for others. He had to trust that his companions would survive on their own.

"Withstood pain to create many weapons.
Waiting for one's arrival.
I have no regrets, this is the only path
."

Just one more line to go. One more line before he could get rid of all these annoying ghosts and go to Rin's aid.

Shirou noticed a sudden decrease in the number of ghosts bearing down on him. Had he killed so many of them?

A dark shadow appeared over his head. Berserker.

That gigantic longsword came screaming down. Shattering Kanshou as if it were made of glass. Stunned by the impact Shirou was unable to speak that last crucial line, the trigger to overturn reality. Almost immediately a second attack came at him from the side. With a painful effort Shirou raised Bakuya. Not enough. Although he managed to block the attack he was flung aside by the sweeping sword. Smashing through a shopfront Shirou ended up lying tangled among a display of the latest winter fashion for women. His breath had been knocked out of him. It was getting hard to just breathe. One line, that's all he needed in order to save himself. But he couldn't say it. And where was Saber? Had Berserker managed to wound her so heavily that she couldn't continue fighting? That was the only explanation that he could think of for her not being here to save him.

Shirou could see Berserker's eyes from here. Deep crimson orbs that glowed in the darkness. Berserker was acting just as his name suggested. The mad enhancement had turned him into a mindless killing machine, with its only purpose being to destroy what it was set loose upon. He probably wouldn't even feel anything upon killing his opponent.

Faced with impending doom it wasn't death Shirou was thinking about. For a while now one little fact had been niggling at him from the back of his mind. Now that he was stunned and unable to move, it came roaring out to dominate his thoughts.

Fake.

Fake.

Fake.

That servant. His sword. They are fakes.

Shirou didn't know why he felt this way. In fact it was a little comical that this was his only thought as Berserker came closer and closer. But as a faker himself Shirou knew for sure that Berserker and his sword were not 'real'.

"..."

Shirou tried to say something. Anything. But nothing would come out. Tears of frustration gathered at the corners of his eyes. He was going to die. He would die without even knowing why a friend was trying to kill him. His servant and his most treasured person would die as well, because once he was gone Saber would disappear, and Rin would never run away after seeing somebody kill her lover.

"Grrrr."

Berserker lifted his weapon. Shirou's mind was still screaming 'Fake, it's a fake!' as he watched the moonlight gleam off the sharp point of the longsword. Just what was this servant. That was another question that he would be taking to the grave.

The sword came down.

Clang!

The pure tone of steel striking steel. A strong wind blew across Shirou's face.

Shirou opened his eyes, and froze.

Berserker's sword was stuck in the wood just next to his useless arm. An inch to the right and...

Shirou gulped and looked up. Standing there was...

"Sa-ber..." He managed to croak.

Saber looked majestic in the silver moonlight as she confronted Berserker. Wind whipped around her as she glared at the being who had dared harm her master. A throng of ghosts floated around her, but the furious gales that surrounded the servant of the sword stopped them cold whenever they tried to approach.

"Berserker..." Saber said through clenched teeth.

The mindless fury that was Berserker turned its attention towards Saber. Berserker's long dark hair whipped about in the roaring wind. Unfazed the staggering amount of prana that Saber was extruding Berserker opened his mouth to roar at his enemy. His muscles bulged, straining the dark leather armour he wore. The very picture of a wild beast, the servant of rage jumped towards Saber to finish the job he had started.

"Buster!"

"Drei - Panzergeist!"

Another explosion shook the streets of Shinto. Rin came hurtling out of the smoke to roll behind a nearby bench. Bullets came buzzing out to smack into the wood and she soon had to move again to escape being hit.

Rinc walked out of the black smoke. With his long trench-coat streaming out behind him Rin couldn't help but think of some movie villain walking out of the devastation caused by his enemies.

"We don't have to do this Rin!" Rinc shouted. He looked around to try and spot her. "I'm just after Shirou! You can just walk away without any worries!"

"Idiot!" Rin screamed back. "Do you really think I would leave that idiot behind and run away you, you, idiot!"

"Then you leave me no choice Rin."

Rin saw him load his gun. Uh oh. If this was what she thought it was...

"Lead shall burn through steel.
My bullet cannot be stopped.
For this is the hunting gun!"

"Eek!"

Rin raised her jewel wand, the weapon she had created after a experience five years ago had taught her the virtues of having a powerful weapon on hand that didn't get destroyed after one use. She was relying upon the prana she had poured into it now as she guarded herself against one of Rinc's most powerful spells.

The crack of Rinc's hand cannon firing. A bullet streaked upwards into the night sky, a flaming green speck of light that left a shimmering trail in its wake. Then, with the suddenness of a firework exploding, it shattered into nine pieces that began falling to the earth.

Straight towards Rin.

"Vier - Steinschild!"

A blue diamond formed around her, just in time to intercept the nine green sparks that slammed into the shield.

It was a clash of the ultimate defence against the ultimate attack. Both spells represented years of work on the part of their caster. With their pride as well as their safety on the line neither of them were going to back down now.

The green sparks drilled into the glowing blue panels around Rin. Rin was starting to get worried when one by one they began fading away. Eight, six, five, three, finally one. It seemed to be an eternity before that last fragment too disappeared, leaving the shield intact.

"Whew, zerstoren."

The blue diamond faded away. Coming out from under its protection Rin looked around for her opponent. That spell just then had demanded all her concentration to keep up against Rinc's attack and she had lost track of him.

"Game over, Rin." Came the familiar voice from behind her. "Now, drop the wand and put your hands up."

Rin felt the gun barrel being placed against the back of her head but she was too busy berating herself to take much notice. Just how had she been so lax as to let him sneak up behind her! Stupid, stupid. Could she-.

"Don't try anything Rin, or I will put a bullet in your head before you turn around."

Rinc cut off the line of thought she had been about to pursue.

Sighing Rin dropped the wand. She heard Rinc hum in approval.

"That's quite sensible of you Rin. Now, just stay still for a second. I'm just going to put you to sleep for a second."

The gun barrel moved off the back of her head. No doubt because Rin had just raised his hand to knock her out. Taking advantage of the split second gap that had been created Rin spun around, her foot slamming straight into Rinc's chest.

"Urk!" Rinc was thrown backwards into a lamp post. He dropped his gun as his body hit the steel pole, the pain he was feeling told him that a rib or two had been broken.

Rin straightened up from the stance she had been in. A smirk was on her face as she picked up Rinc's .306 and cocked the hammer.

"You should know better than to get that close to me Rinc. Didn't I beat you up a few times when we were still studying?" Rin boasted.

Ah. That was right. He remembered now. Rin took some kind of Chinese martial arts. Back when they were all still students back at the clock tower she had used what she knew to incapacitate him every once in a while when his pranks got out of hand.

"Now, why don't you stay still for a while Rinc?" Rin told him. She had a very nostalgic expression on her face. The one that had earned her the nickname of 'Scarlet Devil' back in the student dorms.

"Don't worry!" Rin said in an overly cheerful tone, telling Rinc to do exactly the opposite. "I will just be shooting you in the leg. You should be fine."

Still smiling, Rin pointed the gun at his leg and pulled back the trigger.

Nothing happened.

"Eh?"

Rinc leapt up off the ground, he had been expecting this and he now took advantage of Rin's momentary confusion to slam a reinforced knee into her stomach, finishing it off with a reinforced elbow to the forehead.

Rin collapsed, the two blows from Rinc having knocked her unconscious. The Magnum fell out of her hands to clatter onto the pavement. Seeing this Rinc frowned and picked his gun up.

"Tut, tut. You should treat other people's possessions better Rin," shaking a finger he told her off. "By the way. I was out of bullets. It was a bit funny to watch you though. Ugh-."

Rinc bit off a curse. All that jumping around had made his wounds worse. His left arm hadn't been in the best of shapes to begin with, and the pulling in his chest was telling him that those ribs were going too. It was lucky he had brought those healing charms. At 3000 a pop they were expensive but well worth it.

"Damn, as violent as always aren't ya," Rinc complained as he swallowed the carbuncle. "By the way, did you really think I wouldn't have done anything in the last four years? I took some Muei Thai to get revenge on you the next time we met."

Rin wasn't responding. That was hard for a human to do when they were unconscious.

"Oh," Rinc lifted an eyebrow. "Okay then. I suppose you being knocked out like this is okay too. Now then, to finish off Shirou."

Leaving Rin where she was Rinc turned to go back towards the plaza where his servant had been engaging Shirou and Saber. Taking care of Rin had led him a few streets over from that place but Rinc wasn't worried. When he had left Saber had been struggling to fend off Berserker, and Shirou hadn't been doing much better against Berserker's ghosts. Confident that he would find his servant standing victorious Rinc made his way down Fuyuki's main street.

A flash of light.

For a moment Rinc thought the world had ended. Light, brighter than his eyes could bear. Heat and raging wind that knocked him onto his back. The violent shriek as the overheated air screamed in protest. Then, it suddenly ended.

Getting back on his feet Rinc stared at the... Gouge? Crevasse? Whatever you called the scar that had just been burnt onto this city. Stretching out from where the plaza was it extended through two skyscrapers and across the street, the nearest edge of the destruction zone not ten metres away from him.

Shrieking alarms could be heard everywhere. Fire alarms, security alarms, all triggered by the violent release of what Rinc suspected to be Saber's noble phantasm. That meant...

"Oh, shyt..."

Rinc began running, ignoring the pain it was causing his healing body. He could sense that Berserker was heavily wounded, only one thing would let him come out of this fight alive, and for that Rinc needed to get closer to the fight.

Not to mention. He didn't want to be anywhere near this place when the police arrived.

"Saber..." Shirou said in a trembling voice.

"Ahh..." Saber sounded a bit sheepish as she stood in front of Berserker.

Shirou was staring at the destruction his servant had just caused. A deep wound burnt into the surface of his home city by Excalibur. One building he could see was leaning on its side, it's wall taken out by the blast. Still others had disappeared altogether.

"Ah... Uh..." Shirou was frozen with shock. What the hell had they just done? Who knew how many people had been caught in that attack!

"Saber! You... You... !"

His servant gave him a look that said 'I'll explain later'. It was a bit hard to accept that there was any plausible explanation for this outrageous use of her noble phantasm but Shirou decided to keep quiet for now. First they needed to finish the fight with Berserker.

The dark servant was still standing. Scorched in places, ragged in others, but still standing. He had taken a direct hit from Excalibur, and he was still standing.

There was a reason for that of course. All those ghosts that had been harassing them until now. Having realised that Saber's noble phantasm was one that normal protections wouldn't work against, Berserker had called them all back to act as a wall against Saber's attack. It had saved him, but now he had lost his army.

Shirou knew that one-on-one Saber would win. Berserker was good, very good in fact. Against most servants he would be able to overwhelm them with his monstrous strength and speed. Saber was a different story.

In the last war Saber had gone head to head with what was possibly the strongest servant to ever be summoned in terms of physical strength. Hercules. Even though she was low on mana, unable to use the full range of her abilities, she had managed to hold Hercules off for more than ten minutes. Now, fully charged and ready for battle, the Saber before him was in the prime of her power. No everyday servant would be able to stand against her in a straight forward duel.

"Uooooooooooooh!"

Ignoring that fact, or perhaps oblivious to it, Berserker charged forward. Saber raised her golden sword, no longer hidden behind its sheath of wind, and darted forward to meet him.

Even from the initial exchange it was obvious who had the advantage. The slim figure of the golden haired maid didn't step back a inch as her sword clashed with Berserker's. In fact it was Berserker who staggered back, the force of the blow against his sword knocking him off balance. Saber pursued him, and it was not long before Berserker was on the defensive. He was managing to hold his own for now but looking at the way things were going Shirou knew it wouldn't be long before Saber would overwhelm him.

"Berserker," a clear voice came ringing across the plaza. "Mars himself shines upon thee!"

"Eh?" Shirou turned to find Rinc standing across the plaza. He looked a bit dishevelled, the long trench coat he wore was burnt on the edges. But it was Rinc, in the light of the fires still flickering where Excalibur had torn apart the earth, that face was unmistakable.

"UUUUOHHHH!"

Shirou turned back to the duel. A weird red light had surrounded Berserker and he was now pressing forward. To Shirou's amazement Saber was being pushed back with every attack, or rather, she wasn't trying to meet Berserker's attacks at all. Instead she was trying frantically to avoid even been brushed by his gigantic sword. After watching for a moment it was easy to see why. Berserker's attacks were ripping apart the stone underfoot just by scraping the ground. Strength on the level of Hercules, combined with speed and skill that rivalled Saber's. This was no longer the same Berserker as had faced Archer beforehand.

"Ugh." Saber was forced to meet Berserker's sword with hers. The impact was great enough that she was nearly decapitated as she staggered back.

"Damn it." Shirou muttered. He glanced at Rinc. Rinc hadn't moved an inch since the last time Shirou had looked. Standing there with arms crossed he had a smug smile upon his face as if he was confident of victory.

"Shit! Saber we are leaving!" Shirou told his servant.

"What? But Shirou -." Saber jumped to avoid another swing of Berserker's sword.

"Go!" he screamed. "Find Rin and bring her back to the house. I will provide the distraction!"

Saber looked to see seven glowing lights form around Shirou. The attack he had used on Archer's summon before. Yes, that would be enough to stop a servant for a while, even a monster like Berserker.

With one last swipe to force Berserker back Saber leapt up into the air. Landing twenty metres away she began running. She didn't have that much time within which to find Rin. If she took too long Berserker would come after her.

Saber heard a series of detonations behind her. Shirou had released his attack. She sped up.

Shirou had started running as soon as he finished casting 'Sevens of Swords'. With the partial realisation of 'Unlimited Blade Works' he had incanted before he had been able to cast it just by forming the required images in his mind. He wasn't sure how many of the weapons had hit though, so he was running away as fast as he could.

A thought came into his mind as he passed a familiar bar. Actually it was more like a complaint.

Why are all the Berserkers I meet so ridiculously strong?!

Rinc removed the arm he had raised to protect his face, another red sign was fading away from the back of his hand. Across from him, Berserker was kneeling on the ground with numerous wounds across his body. His right arm was gone, the top of his head was a pulsing red scar, and Rinc couldn't even bear looking at the wounds on the lower parts of the body. This was all the fighting they would be doing for a while. Even a minimum recovery from this amount of damage would take them at least two full days.

Shirou and his servant were nowhere to be seen either. A good thing too he supposed. The forced release of Berserker's true nature had already expired, if Saber had stayed around until now Berserker wouldn't have been able to put up much of a fight unless Rinc used his last Command Seal to fully awaken him from the mad enhancement. Tipping his hand this early on was not something Rinc wanted to do.

"Heh, so my prediction didn't come true." Rinc said to himself.

He was referring to the words he had spoken to Shirou back at the church. Where he had told him that only one person would be walking away when they next met during this Grail War. But in a way this outcome was good too. He really hadn't wanted to kill his friends.

"Berserker! Stand up already. We are going too."

His servant stood up with no more protest than a small rumble. Rinc heard police sirens approaching from afar and began running, Berserker followed suit.