Counter Guardian EMIYA was less than pleased. Actually, he was extremely angered. Less than pleased summed up his sentiments towards his existence. Right now, he felt genuine burning hatred towards a certain entity that controls his wretched life.
For the first time in months, years, possibly even centuries he had felt a small amount of hope that he could escape this torment.
He had been summoned into the 5th Holy Grail war. If he could end his younger self, which he most certainly had the capability to, he could finally escape. But no, this was probably merely another game. Another trial he had to endure due to his foolish dreams.
Dreams he had forsaken long ago. Dreams he now saw the futility in.
If he was honest with himself, he still felt a small burning feeling of hope in his chest. It was still possible he could escape this hellish life.
After all, his memories were extremely blurry. He could recall certain things, but others were just out of reach.
A scowl crossed his tanned features.
He couldn't remember the Servants that had participated in this War, barring Saber.
Saber was the only one he couldn't forget. He'd even forgotten the name of the person who had mistakenly saved his worthless life at the beginning of the War.
Another streak of light brought him out of his musings.
If he couldn't remember the Servants, then why did the flashes of lightning being brought down bother him so?
No doubt it was the Caster of this war, most likely trying to deny a Rider or Lancer entry to their territory with the frequency the bolts were being called down.
EMIYA shook himself free of doubts, his honed mind focusing and sharpening.
It didn't matter. EMIYA had one goal and one goal only. To reach his goal, he could and would dispatch every Servant should the need arise, even Saber.
All it would take is a moment in his Unlimited Blade Works.
Even the might of King Arthur would not stand before him long in his world.
"Archer! Get in here!" A feminine voice all but screeched at him.
EMIYA felt a flare of amusement. At least his Master was a source of entertainment. No matter how short lived it would be.
Cú Chulainn had a fierce grin on his features as he immediately dashed to the side after avoiding a broad swipe of the simply massive weapon being aimed at him. A grimace shortly followed as the static of lightning jolted his right arm.
Annoyingly enough, his opponent could seemingly infuse her weapon with lightning. And what a weapon it was. The damn thing was almost as large as he was.
He had been simply patrolling the area as his new Master had let him when this Servant and her Master had just walked into his view.
Really, he had wished the fiery young woman had stayed his Master, but right now he couldn't help but feel glad with his current circumstances. So early on in the War, and he had already found a worthy opponent.
He could only grin harder at how the rest of the War would pan out, if this was anything to go by.
Using his speed to his advantage he quickly swooped in and aimed a jab at the Servant's stomach. The first attack he had actually launched at his enemy in their brief encounter. His red eyes widened in surprise as it simply had no effect on the woman. Immediately dashing back out, he escaped to a safe distance.
A soft laugh brought him out of the battle centered state of mind he was in. Quickly glancing off to the side, he took in a little girl. A blue brow was raised by the man as he assumed a relaxed posture, as his enemy wasn't making a move. Gae Bolg resting lazily on his shoulder, he called out to the girl.
"Something funny here little girl?" The question came out easily, she was no threat to him.
The albino girl just smiled innocently at him.
"You. Thinking you can even hurt Berserker." The smile turned mocking, and her eyes shifted.
Cú grimaced in his mind, a little girl shouldn't be capable of an expression like this. And to further his discomfort, he felt his Master observing the situation.
'Find out why she thinks you can't hurt Berserker, Lancer.' His Master's voice echoed throughout his mind.
"You're most likely a Lancer from your speed and weapon. I was considering Rider, but you have no mount. Assassin could have been possible too, but you're far too up front about it."
Cú simply shrugged in response. The girl had him figured out alright.
"So I'm a Lancer, why's that make me not able to kill your servant? I'm one of the three knight classes, right?" His question held a bit of mocking at the end. Even if his Master hadn't asked him to, he wanted to know anyway.
The enemy Master narrowed her eyes at him in irritation, no doubt sensing the mockery. But that irritation quickly shifted into amusement as she gazed down on him.
Cú's own irritation flared up. Who was this little girl to look down on him like this?
"I suppose I can tell you, it doesn't make any difference in the end. You're going to die after all." It was said like a fact, she was so sure of herself that Cú couldn't help but be impressed.
This Berserker must be something.
"You see, Berserker has a personal skill, or rather two that work in conjunction quite well. First, Strength of a Lord. Berserker has a ridiculous amount of resistance to damage. Even if you take her heart out, Berserker will simply keep fighting."
The girl had to take a pause, exhaling and inhaling. Her little lungs probably running out of breath to continue talking.
He wondered what this Lord business was. The Berserker wasn't some stuffy noble type from her appearance. Hell, it even looked liked the armour on the woman was made from some animal she had killed. Cú could approve of that. His attention was brought back to the girl as she began speaking again.
"And next, Born of Embers. Berserker can quite literally come back from death." Her smile took a razor sharp edge.
"Good luck, Lancer."
'Lancer. End this fight, use whatever it takes. I want this Berserker killed. If you can't, then retreat.'
Finally his Master was giving him something nice. He bet his previous one would've been far more giving than his current one.
Cú Chulainn smiled. He would enjoy this.
Rather than looking horrified or awestruck by her Berserker's capabilities, the Lancer simply grinned like an animal. Illyasviel was questioning the man's sanity at this point. But then he began simply oozing this feeling.
This feeling of violence, of death, of pain. Berserker moved forward to the enemy Servant in response to Illyasviel's emotions. Flinching back, Illyasviel had wide eyes as the Lancer disappeared from her eyesight. A burst of wind the only thing signifying he had even been there.
A flash of sparks in the corner of her eye made her snap to Berserker's right, where a blue and red blur was. Another flash and her eyes were drawn to the opposite side, where she barely caught the blur again.
This was a fight between Servants? Even her homunculus eyes couldn't keep up with the pace of Lancer. Somehow Berserker was managing to keep track and respond to the agile enemy, sweeping her weapon in strikes that forced Lancer to retreat or go under.
A flash of red again and Lancer was almost on top of Berserker who couldn't respond in time. His weapon dug into Berserker's shoulder, but there was no response from the woman who simply brought her hand up, grabbed Lancer by the arm holding his spear in its thrust and threw the man away and into a tree.
Not even a second later, Lancer was back on the offensive, dashing at Berserker.
Illyasviel couldn't comprehend it. This was something beyond her realm of understanding, how two former human's could possibly reach this level of combat.
She formed a mental link with Berserker, and all she found was an odd sense of calm. Due to the Mad Enhancement, even when resting Berserker was usually just simply angry. But now, she was completely calm.
The Swordspear of her Berserker was suddenly enshrouded in pulsating lightning and brought down in a quick smash. The lightning arced out and around Berserker, forcing Lancer back a few metres.
Even knowing he couldn't possibly win, knowing he couldn't even damage his enemy the Lancer still had a wolfish grin of excitement and enjoyment.
Eye contact was made, red meeting red and Illyasviel stumbled away, almost falling to the ground out of fright.
That look in his eyes, it simply wasn't human. There was nothing but bloodlust and violence in that gaze. Just looking at him made Illyasviel want to run all the way back to Germany. To hide, to never see the man again.
"Be- Berserker, end this!" Her voice shook as she issued the order. Illyasviel didn't want this man one step closer to her or Berserker.
Lightning flashed in the swordspear again, Berserker's weapon coming down in an arc. Lancer nimbly dodged to the side, but was caught off guard when a bolt of lightning came down from the sky and nearly hit him. His stumble of surprise cost him, as he was hit right in the ribs by a thankfully flat side of the weapon his opponent wielded.
Rolling away for a few moments, he coughed and laughed as he felt blood escape him. A single proper blow, and he was already this injured.
Too bad for them, this was nothing to him.
Continuing to laugh, he slowly stood as blood flowed out of his mouth and down his chin. He bared his teeth at the enemy master and was amused as the girl looked like she was about to faint.
"This is one hell of a Berserker you summoned. Wasn't expecting her to call lightning out of the sky. Can she talk?" Cú wanted to know. He could respect this opponent after all. The Grail had informed him the basics of Servant capabilities, and most Berserker's couldn't talk.
A small shake of the girls head answered his question. He sighed to himself and leisurely strolled a few metres back of where he was standing.
"Too bad, wouldn't have minded exchanging names. Now, you said she could survive her heart being taken out? Let's put that to the test."
Lancer's spear began oozing an ominous red glow, the colour of blood pulsating around his weapon. Bloodlust on another level from before held Illyasviel stiff in fright as Lancer poured more power into his Noble Phantasm.
Was this was the weapon of a Hero? This weapon, that simply oozed death and destruction from its very existence? Her eyes snapped to Berserker, who hadn't moved a step since she had hit Lancer.
"Berserker, mo-" Her cry was drowned out by the yell of her enemy.
"Gae Bolg!"
An otherworldly sound was emitted as Lancer thrust his weapon, the spear seemingly turning into pure energy that arced towards Berserker at in incredible speed.
Berserker simply took the hit, not moving a step as the energy plunged into her chest, through her heart.
Illyasviel watched in horror, she knew the skill of her Servant, but her panic overrode rational thought as she watched the energy solidify itself and throw Berserker into a light pole that was immediately bent from the force of Berserker hitting it.
Berserker tumbled to the ground and her form was still.
Lancer's weapon returned to his hands in a bolt of red as he watched with raised eyebrows.
"I thought you said she could take hits to her heart? Were you lying?" The man so casually questioned.
Illyasviel watched the monster in front of her twirl his spear in an idle movement.
She couldn't call him a man anymore, not after seeing what she had. He didn't even seem tired or exhausted from using his Noble Phantasm.
Just how many times could he invoke that damage? How could any Servant hope to defeat Gae Bolg? Illyasviel knew of the weapon, the one that when used was always a fatal hit.
Her panic and Lancer's questioning stare were interrupted by a stirring. Berserker had moved.
"Oh? Maybe you weren't lying to me girly." Lancer's voice took on a excited tone as he settled into a stance once again.
Berserker stood up, and to her full height. Which to Lancer's chagrin, he noticed was more than his.
A low hiss escaped the woman as she brought a hand to her chest. Her golden eyes widened and quickly narrowed in rage.
A sudden burst of movement and the swordspear was brought down on him faster than it had before, and it was imbued with more lightning. A crash signified the weapon hitting the ground as Lancer had jumped out of range, and a bolt of lightning fell onto his current position.
Lancer, now aware it could happen, rolled out of the bolts damage but was caught off guard once again by his opponent as a bolt of lightning was thrown from her position to him. It hit his side, sending him skidding along the ground as he jolted in the pain of it surging through his body.
His eyes widened as he noticed that this time, Berserker was following her attacks up as she dashed towards him in a smooth run before bringing her weapon down once again. Finding purchase with his feet, he quickly dived out of the weapons immediate range and rolled a second later, also avoiding the consequential bolt that fell.
He let out a savage laugh as he dashed towards his enemy. He could hear his Master telling him to retreat, but how could he? This was just so much fun.
He would find Berserker's limit of her apparent immortality, even if it meant his own death too.
Emiya Shirou was enjoying his rather pleasant evening. Taiga had been fed, Sakura had left to go home after enjoying dinner with him. He had helped out at the school, living up to his reputation.
All in all, it was a nice day.
Although he did wonder why there was so much lightning suddenly occurring. There was only one cloud he could even see!
AN: This is just the encounter between Berserker and Lancer. It did happen, even if it wasn't in the anime. Like I said in the previous chapter, I am not a Fate expert so any issues that could be pointed out would be nice. I'm not too sure if I'm really following a particular route, I'll just write what I write haha.
I also really like Cú if you couldn't tell.
I imagine that there might be some thoughts about the Ashen one being too similar a servant to the originals Berserker, Heracles.
I'll try to explain my view on it. The Ashen one linked the fire in my game. She defeated the amalgamation of all previous Lords of Cinder, that being the Soul of Cinder. Game wise, it was kind of disappointing to me. Lore wise however, it means quite a bit.
So yeah, Ashen One beat the boss of all bosses, and as such becomes the boss herself. She absorbs the Soul's souls and as such, wouldn't the Ashen One be as powerful as a boss in Dark Souls now? You know, the ones who just ignore any damage until their health is completely empty. Her resurrection skill is a remnant of her time as unkindled.