Akatsuki groaned, slamming a fist onto his mattress as he struggled not to yell. If he had to use volume to express how he was feeling, he would have screamed.

But as his mother had so kindly informed him, his sisters must not be disturbed. Besides, if either of them came in and saw him writhing in agony, the two of them would definitely run for their parents, like the innocent ten-year-olds they were. Then their parents would kick up a fuss about how much trouble he was causing them.

"I need you to shut up," he spat angrily. Despite being alone, his voice still traveled to the intended recipient, even if it fell on deaf ears.

Unseen in its spiritual form, Berserker growled with feral rage. Sensing the clash between two Servants close by, it was practically intoxicated with the urge to battle, to kill, to destroy. Even without taking a physical form, its bloodlust and ferocity were overwhelming. Whose idea had it been to summon something like this?

"We're… Just… Observing," Aka grunted, a shaky gasp escaping his lips. "You're not going to fight them…"

His control may have held out, if not for the sudden spike in Lancer's killing intent. It was not something Aka could pick up on – especially not while in pain – but to the ravenous shark that was Berserker, it was blood in the water.

Before Aka could even cry out in pain, Berserker was already gone.


Archer stood his ground, observing his new adversary. His phone was still by his ear.

"Does it look good, Master?" he asked.

"I-I don't know," Ran replied, clearly shaken. "I thought it was something Lancer did at first, but this guy's the same – I can't read his stats."

"But you can still read mine?" Archer prompted.

"Yeah, but just yours," Ran replied. "I can't read Berserker, and I couldn't read Lancer's-"

"Calm down," Archer cut across him. "You already said that. Leave it to me."

Without waiting for a reply, he hung up.

"Thanks for waiting," he said to the mad enhanced Servant. "That was really nice of you."

Berserker showed no signs of having understood that sentence. It just growled at him, without backing away or advancing. It was as though it was confused, unable to discern if it was indeed Archer who had called it here with that intense fighting spirit.

Archer, whose senses were on edge, watched, every fiber of his being ready to react to the slightest movement. He had no room for tardiness, and he had merely been lucky earlier when Berserker had let him talk on the phone. He did not have the luxury for mistakes; there was no misreading the sheer presence of this Servant, and the slightest misstep could spell his doom.

Clad in what appeared to be dark gold armor, Berserker's face was concealed in an old-fashioned winged helmet. Not an inch of skin was visible, and its eyes were masked by shadows cast by the helmet's opening. The gauntlets on its hands, while not holding any weapon, had sharp ends on the fingertips, as though they were fashioned to be claws. Even though that made it practically unarmed, the Servant of madness nonetheless looked capable of destroying everything in its path.

"Is conversation out of the question?" Archer asked.

What met that reply was an inhuman bellow, followed instantly by Berserker's deranged charge.


Aka gasped for breath, clutching onto his windowsill like a lifeline. Berserker was draining him immensely, and it had barely moved yet.

"Aka-nii?"

He flinched. Turning around slowly, Aka came face-to-face with a dreaded face – that of his younger sister Akemi. Maybe coming home while still in the Holy Grail War was a bad idea.

"You," Aka panted, trying to act normal. "Should be sleeping."

"I heard noises," Akemi said timidly. She had never been able to speak up with confidence like her twin Akari – a trait she might have mirrored in Aka's low self-esteem. "Did something happen?"

"N-nothing's wrong," Aka replied hastily. Berserker suddenly drained a whole lot more prana at once, and Aka had been unable to adjust, leading to an involuntary twitch. "G-go back to sleep, Akemi."

She may have been young, but Akemi Ishida was no idiot. However, even if she did understand that there were secrets in her brother's life to which she was not privy, she just could not shake the strong feeling of unease.

"C-can I sleep in your bed tonight?" she asked meekly. It was a trick she had used far too many times before, and it had succeeded far too many times to count. "Just tonight, I promise…"

Aka could feel all the nerves in his body screaming in agony. Just keeping a straight face was taking all the willpower he had.

"Well, no," he said with forced bravado. "But I can stay with you till you fall asleep."

Akemi's face lit up at that, and she nodded, dashing back to her room with her brother in tow. Pouncing onto her bed and snuggling her stuffed toy panda, she smiled at him so happily he almost forgot about the War. Almost.

"You don't think you're too old for this by now?" Aka asked, poking the doll. Of all the things he had picked up before being forced into learning magecraft, acting might have been the most useful for situations like this. The pain wrenching at his muscles was a significant challenge, though.

"You can't outgrow what you like," Akemi replied, sticking her tongue out at him. She must have picked it up from her cheeky twin.

"Okay then," Aka replied, sitting on the floor next to her bed. "Since you can't outgrow that one, I don't need to buy you a new one for your birthday, right?"

"That and this are two different things," Akemi insisted. "A lady can never have too many stuffed animals."

"Yes, yes…" Aka sighed, before wincing painfully. Berserker was a real pain in the neck (and just about everywhere else, too) right now.

"Are you alright, Aka-nii?" Akemi asked, a look of genuine concern flooding her face.

"Y-yeah, of course," Aka replied feebly. "What makes you ask that?"

"It's just that… you seemed kinda distant lately…" Akemi said. Thankfully, she seemed to have missed the wincing in the dim illumination. "Did something happen? You had that face you only ever make when you're very stressed or when something bad happens…"

Aka opened his mouth to speak, but his voice got caught in his throat for a bit. Recovering hastily by clearing his throat, he put on a playful smile instead.

"I'm not distant," he assured her. "I've always been this tall. You're just too short, lil' sis."

A tiny fist struck him on the arm. She was channeling Akari more and more every day.

"Alright, time to sleep," Aka chuckled, swearing internally as the weak punch sent violent shockwaves throughout his body. "We don't want you to be a slob and wake up late, now do we? That's my job."

Mumbling something inaudible under his breath, Aka gently stroked his sister's hair. Akemi, who evidently had no intention of falling asleep, yawned, her eyelids suddenly heavy for unknown reasons.

"Whatever you're doing… don't push… yourself… too hard," she mumbled sleepily. "You… can't… take care of… yourself… properly…"

"Goodnight, Akemi," Aka whispered, having finished his hypnosis spell. "Sorry about that."

He was lucky that Akari slept in a separate room, because he was certainly in no state to cast another spell; his magic circuits were searing with white-hot pain, and his bones were simultaneously catching fire. Casting a simple spell like that was not a problem, but doing it while Berserker was on a rampage was genocide to his nerves. And Berserker just had to be on a rampage right now, because Aka had clearly ordered a side helping of uncontrolled rage in addition to the extra-large serving of pulsating bloodlust.

"I'll be right back," he promised. He may not be the most likeable or honest guy around, but he always kept his promises.


Archer leapt into the air, narrowly avoiding Berserker's monstrous blow. The mad Servant, having missed its target, simply continued its movement and slammed its claw into the ground, creating a small crater.

Unable to come up with a snappy comeback, Archer retreated, seeking refuge behind a stack of steel girders. The moment his boots touched the ground, however, Berserker was already in his face, plowing through the stack of steel like a battering ram against paper. Before he could reach Archer, however, the smashed pieces of metal glowed and flew towards it, sticking to its body like glue as the girders on the ground wrapped themselves around its legs.

Berserker struggled, but to no avail; not only were the steel pieces firmly stuck, they were actively pressing against its body, trying to crush it. If that was not enough, they were getting progressively heavier and heavier as well, eventually forcing the Servant to its knees.

Whatever it may have looked like to the spectators, the trap had not been made possible by some Noble Phantasm. It was just simple magecraft, but was not Ran's handiwork; it was Archer who had set it up. It might have been capable of heavily injuring or crushing a normal Servant, but Berserker was extremely sturdy.

And gravity usually works on the big ones, too, Archer thought, whipping out his crossbow.

Lancer had been unfazed, but Berserker was definitely different. It was clearly insane, and left no doubt that his arrow would do more than just pierce should it connect. Taking a few steps back for precaution, Archer let loose a barrage of glowing white trails.

Had he not stepped back, he might have won.

Kill him, Berserker.

Complying with its Master's orders, Berserker howled, tearing off the pieces of steel with sheer brute strength as more and more prana flowed into it. Leaping into the air to avoid the flurry of arrows, the mad Servant charged like a meteor, plummeting towards Archer from mid-air.

Leaning against a nearby streetlamp, Aka gasped for air. Supplying Berserker with even more prana had been an arduous task, and possibly downright suicidal, but he had to. If he dropped out because his Servant – the strongest of all Servants, mind you – lost to some metal girders, he would have to kill himself.

"I thought your Noble Phantasm was a passive thing," he panted, talking to himself. "But you couldn't just throw me a bone, could you? Little prick…"

As far as raw strength was concerned, Berserker had no equal. With its Noble Phantasm further augmenting that strength, the other Servants would not even come close. However, while the Noble Phantasm did increase Berserker's strength passively, the level of increase changed depending on how much prana Aka could supply. As he understood it, it was because of Berserker's Mad Enhancement getting in the way of it using its Noble Phantasms.

"Crush him," he said. "Show them just how strong you are."

Whether it had heard him or not (or if it could even understand those words), Berserker continued its merciless onslaught, clawing fiercely at his retreating foe. For a Heroic Spirit supposedly stripped of all sense and reason, Berserker's movements were… actually pretty fitting; while it possessed incredible speed and power, the Servant's movements were not those of one who has honed their skills in life. However, what it lacked in skill, it made up for several times over with power.

Archer, unable to keep up with Berserker's agility despite being able to read his movements, found himself easily backed into a corner. Unable to escape, he stood his ground, facing it in close combat. Keeping his crossbow and pulling out a wooden stake, he scraped it against the ground as he ducked to avoid Berserker's claw.

Berserker, whose rage was already boiling over, grew even more furious as Archer proceeded to dodge every blow. Even if the occasional swing grazed his skin and clothes, the Servant of the Bow was just not going down.

Archer, on the other hand, relied on all his senses to predict Berserker's next move. Oddly enough, Berserker seemed to be getting stronger as they fought, and was starting to catch on to his movements. Sidestepping to avoid the falling two-handed smash and somersaulting over the backhand that followed, Archer continued dragging his stake across the ground, leaving scraping noises in its wake.

"Alright; time out!" he yelled, stabbing the stake all the way into the ground. "Vliegen!"

As soon as he chanted the word, the ground beneath him lit up – or rather, the marks left by his stake did. The crudely carved symbols gave off a faint light, and Berserker was instantly sent crashing into a nearby building, disappearing from view.

Whipping out the pistol and crossbow once more, Archer held both weapons in his hands and fired them at the same time. The bullet hit a random support column, causing a light blue magic circle to manifest from the hole it just made upon impact. Shortly after that, the arrow made contact with the exact same spot, striking the dead center of the magic circle and causing the color of the glow to become red. Instantly, several copies of the magic circle appeared out of nowhere on the other support columns, their scarlet glow getting brighter and brighter until the columns themselves shattered.

With a terrible rumble, the building collapsed, crushing Berserker under its immense weight and filling the entire construction zone with a huge cloud of dirt and debris. The building was empty and there had been an assortment of different traps he could have utilized inside it, but Archer figured it was not worth the risk of letting Berserker bring the building down on him instead.

Extracting his stake and holstering his gun, Archer sketched a much more elaborate magic circle on the ground. If need be, he could pull raw mana from the leylines underneath London and fire it like a cannon, but the backlash would be worrying. While his condition made the spell usable at all, he would rather not take such chances this early on in the War.

Unless he makes me, he added in his head.

But Berserker did not emerge from the rubble. Retaining its murderous intent and uncontrollable bloodlust, the deranged Servant left the scene in spiritual form. Its anger was rising even higher – assuming that was possible at all – likely due to being unable to finish the fight. However, with its Master unwilling (or unable) to supply more prana, it had no choice but to retreat.

"Mein Gott," Archer sighed, sitting down on the ground. "I'm too old to be doing this."

And with that, as abruptly as they had begun, the first day's battles drew to a close.


Shizuku was silent as he ruminated over the battle he had just witnessed. Archer's quick thinking and wit were impressive, certainly, but the worrisome one was Berserker. He had really believed it to be dead, until Caster ever-so-kindly pointed out that it was still very much alive. Its endurance was not only impressive; it was downright terrifying.

Caster, on the other hand, appeared more interested in the crystal ball she was using to watch the fight.

"What a pain," he muttered. "Hey, Caster-"

"I'm not Caster; I'm Assassin," Caster replied casually.

"… What."

"I said I'm Assassin," Caster repeated. "Geez, Master, you could get your Servant's Class right at least."

"… Right," Shizuku sighed. As if a young white-haired girl could pass off as an Assassin. If she wanted to copy Archer, she was doing a horrible job. And why did she have to pick up the most useless things? "Now, Caster-"

"I said I'm Assassin!" Caster exclaimed shrilly.

"Stop it," Shizuku said firmly, causing Caster to pout. "I'm going to make a plan for Berserker, and I need to know to what extend you can follow through with it. You have an advantage over it because of your Class; Berserkers don't have a high level of magic resistance, so an Assassin-Class Servant-"

He paused. The few seconds of silence that followed were broken only by Caster's breathing as she tried desperately not to laugh.

"Stop confusing me," he said at last, in a last-ditch attempt to hide his mistake and embarrassment.

"You seem to be doing a fine job confusing yourself without my help," Caster pointed out.

"… Do I need to use a Command Seal to make you take things seriously?" Shizuku threatened.

The Pied Piper of Hamelin fell to her knees, wiping nonexistent tears from her eyes as she sobbed.

"Y-you would force a weak, fragile little girl to bend to your will?" She said pitifully. "I-I understand… You are my Master, and as such I have no choice but to surrender to your tyranny…"

She then proceeded to cry softly, wiping away imaginary tears as Shizuku's brain threatened to explode. He was angry as all heck, sure, but a part of him berated himself for hurting such a delicate child's feelings.

He had not understood what that skill of Caster's had been at first, but he knew fully well now that it was indeed a dangerous weapon. Regardless of their thoughts and the situation at hand, Caster's Innocent Charm could make anyone exposed to her face drop their guard and think of her as a normal, innocent child. Granted, it would not stop them from killing her if they wanted to, but it was, however ineffective, still a deterrent to decent people. And right now it was driving Shizuku up the wall.

"That being said," Caster said suddenly, getting to her feet. "You should calm down, Master. You're focusing too much on the Servant at hand. Berserker's display was interesting and all, but if we put all our effort into eliminating it right away, we'll be taken out along with him or after him by the Servants who watch in on the battle."

"So you want to leave it be, is that it?" Shizuku snapped, evidently annoyed. He was pretty sure his Servant merely wanted to slack off and not do any work.

"No; I'm saying we should wait," Caster replied patiently. "Berserker's going to be after Archer now, so we can use him as bait. And after seeing that battle, no doubt the other Masters would be trying to get rid of the other one once either falls. We can then use Archer as bait, or we can swoop in and kill whoever kills Archer or Berserker after their duel. Wouldn't it be easier that way?"

Shizuku took a few moments to consider her words. Frankly speaking, she actually had a point, which not only infuriated him, but also made him feel so stupid he wanted to find a hole to jump into.

"… You're right," he admitted begrudgingly. "I was distracted and got reckless in my thinking. Thanks."

Caster's expression was so smug Shizuku was sure he could channel Berserker just then.

"So, what's our next move?" she asked sweetly. Shizuku sighed.

"We find a Master who wants both Archer and Berserker gone, and form an alliance," he said. "Then we'll backstab them once they are gone."

"Sounds good to me," Caster replied. "Who do you have in mind?"

"Lancer's Master," Shizuku instantly answered. "And I never thought I'd say this, but that appearance of yours might actually come in handy against the Masters…"

Caster tilted her head in confusion. She had no doubt her Master was competent, seeing how he had chosen their base – by hypnotizing a small family into going on vacation and using their house in their absence. The location was decided at random, making it perfect for hiding out. Shizuku was not one to make stupid mistakes, so she trusted him.

But she did wish he would take her to the park or something.


Rei Morikawa was feeling the heat. It was not a figure of speech, either; he could literally feel the temperature rise as he sat on a nearby crate. The source of said heat, who just so happened to be the reason why most of the warehouse they were in was wrecked, was glaring straight at him.

"For the last time," he sighed. "You're not going in until we have a plan."

But of course, his words fell on deaf ears.

His conversation partner, a child approaching his teenage years, laughed derisively. Clad in a red-and-gold garment embroidered with phoenix embellishments, the little brat was supposedly a deity, and a powerful one at that. The Gods had a really twisted sense of humor.

"Plan?" The boy mocked. "Plan?! How about going in and beating them up?! How about letting me go all-out right now and win the War in one day?! Those thoughts ever cross your mind, Master?! Or are you too stupid to see just how superior your Servant is?"

"You're not going anywhere," Rei told him firmly. He had to use a Command Spell the night before just to stop Rider from crashing in on Archer and Berserker, and it had been a real waste. "You have no idea how strong they are, Rider. You can't take them on all by yourself."

"And why not?!" Rider demanded. "I have felled even the Dragon Kings; there is no Hero – past, present or future – who can beat me! Do you not understand that your best course of action is to let me obliterate them in one go?! Do you have any idea how strong I am, my 'Master'? Are you not after the Holy Grail?"

"Of course I want it," Rei said exasperatedly. "But there are-"

He was interrupted by an electronic ringing sound, which caused Rider to instantly assume a defensive stance. He had no weapon out, but it did not matter right then.

"Hello?" Rei answered tiredly, putting his phone to his ear. "Yeah, I- I mean, yes mom. I'm fine. I'm a little busy now so… Yeah, okay… Tell dad I'm sorry. Yeah. Bye."

"Wuss," Rider scoffed. "To act like a frightened rat in front of your parents… What happened to that energy you had when you stopped me, Rei?"

"Try me," Rei challenged, raising his hand and showing Rider his remaining four Command Seals. "I will make you obey every command without question like a dog. How's that sound?"

"You're more than welcome to try," Rider laughed. "Such vague commands won't bind me; your capacity as a magus isn't remotely enough for such a command to be anything but a suggestion. You overestimate yourself, Master."

Rei gnashed his teeth.

"Your parents must be so proud of you right now," he jabbed.

"My father tried to kill me," Rider spat, his tone dangerously low. "Pride was never something he felt whenever I'm concerned."

Rei flinched. He was not unfamiliar with Rider's legend, but he had got caught up in the heat of the moment. If Ran had been there, he would probably have made a lame joke about it. Instead, Rei faced his Servant earnestly.

"Sorry," he said at last.

"Mark my words, Master," Rider said, returning to his spiritual form. Something in his voice was different, but Rei could not tell exactly what. "There is no one in existence who can defeat me. I am the strongest Servant, and I will prove it to you.

"And I will show you that true strength spawns from hate."


Akemi woke, stifling a yawn as she slowly sat upright. Moving to get off the bed, she stopped, having been blocked by something on the side of her bed.

Sitting on the floor and resting his head on the edge of Akemi's bed, Akatsuki Ishida was soundly asleep, his breathing gentle as he showed no signs of waking up anytime soon.

"And you wonder why we worry so much," Akemi sighed. However, she did not wake him up right then. He had stayed by her side all night; it was her turn to ensure that he would sleep soundly now.

Aka mumbled something as he slept, his brows furrowed. Even though he was clearly having a bad dream, Akemi could not help but smile. He had always been the one acting all strong and dependable in front of them, playing the role of the big brother, but right now, as he slept, he felt so small and vulnerable. Perhaps that was who he was supposed to be. Reaching out to pat him on the shoulder, Akemi smiled.

"It's okay, Aka-nii," she whispered. "We're all here for you; that's what family's for, isn't it?"

Lost in the world of dreams, Aka shed a single tear.