Chapter IV

There were quite a few possible reasons for Shinji's sudden appearance, but I pushed thinking about that aside. That could come once he was dealt with. Leysritt looked at me. I nodded to tell her I was okay. She nodded back, got out of the car and fearlessly faced Rider, wielding her halberd.

I bit my lip. I was worried, but I didn't let it show. As a combat homunculus from the Einzbern family, Leysritt was on a whole other level compared to normal humans. She had incredible, inhuman strength, the same strength as Rider had without her using Monstrous Strength. However, mere strength didn't necessarily meant anything against a Servant. Even against Shinji's Rider.

Speed, precision, range. That was what composed Rider's combat style. She had be easily killed by Kuzuki in Unlimited Blade Works, but still, some part of me was worried that Leysritt couldn't take her on here. That lasted until they clashed. My breath stopped for a moment. It was one thing to read about it, to see it in anime, but this was a battle of two individuals beyond humanity, raging right in front of my eyes. Moreover, these two had never fought each other, so there was that, too.

Rider's chain spear sought Leysritt's neck, forehead, upper arm, collarbone and all her weak points. Leysritt blocked, parried or weaved through all the attacks flawlessly. Unbelievable. It really was unbelievable, but Rider was no losing any ground and no matter how well Leysritt could defend against her attacks, that meant she could only fight a defensive battle. Even if she could somehow turn the tables, the fact of the matter was that Rider wasn't serious yet.

Lancer had said it, too. A battle for Heroic Spirits was a battle between their Noble Phantasms. Rider's eyes weren't Noble Phantasms, but it was still one of her trump cards, so the same thing applied. If Rider foresaw her own defeat, she would just take off that blindfold and end it all right there. No matter how strong, how fast Leysritt was, she couldn't shake off those eyes. Even forewarned, if Rider revealed her mystic eyes that would surely meant her defeat. All of that, of course, supposing Rider wouldn't strike Leysritt down before Berserker could arrive.

In other words. If Berserker didn't come in time, it was over for us.

I crawled out of the car. Sella approached me. There was a small cut on her forehead, but otherwise she didn't look any worse for the wear.

"Let's escape to the castle." she said. I hesitated. Certainly, that would be the best for me, but. Even though Ilya didn't show it, she must have a certain attachment to Sella and Leysritt. She would be hurt if Leysritt was killed, regardless that for all appearances it seemed that she wouldn't care. And. I didn't want to just leave her out of there, fighting and risking her life.

But the only way I could possible stop the fight surely meant pulling things into the most dangerous route. It hurt. It gnawed at me, but I couldn't afford to put things on the path of Heaven's Feel. I would help Sakura, of course. That kind of things couldn't be compared, but she had suffered a lot, and for far too much time. She deserved to be saved just as much as Ilya did. However, that would have to come after the War. If I was even alive by then, of course.

I was about to run.

Then a blood chilling howl echoed in the distance, making my whole body tremble. It was raw, primal roar of an animal. Berserker was approaching. That giant could cover a distance of thirty meters in less that two seconds, and that had been after everything else. At that time, he had be killed, wounded heavily and blackened. But he wasn't now, so I couldn't even guess at his speed.

He would tear through the forest at menacing speeds, and would end Rider and Shinji as if they were made of paper.

Despite myself, I turned back.

"Shinji, give up." I said.

"Ah. That's a funny way to beg for your life. You should put more effort on that."

"No. You're the one who should start begging for your life. Even Rider should have realized that by now, right? Heracles is not a Heroic Spirit she can defeat… especially with somebody like you as her master."

The mad giant's howl echoed, this time closer, much closer. It wouldn't be long before everything ended.

"T-that's a bluff! And anyway, how dare you insult me like that?! I will make you shallow your words before letting Rider kill you."

"As you wish. Then please die."

A few seconds later, the mad giant burst through the threes like they had never be there, in the first place. The rumbling of the ground, the scatterings rocks and dust. Above the fallen, broken tress was Berserker, standing up as if to obscure the heavens, his great axe-sword in his hands. He howled. Even though he was on my side, I still feel a deep sense of irrational terror upon hearing that, and so close to me.

Leysritt got out of the way of the giant, and Rider quickly tried to do just the same. Anybody could clearly understand that it wasn't a battle she could win. She evaded the first swing of the axe- sword. Shinji quickly stepped back, and fell down on the ground. He was clearly absolutely terrified. His body had started to tremble. No wonder. Even my own body was trembling.

This was Heracles.

A great hero protected by a law of immortality, a gift bestowed by the gods, granting him eleven extra lives, so he had to be killed as many times as the tasks he had accomplished. The strongest Servant summoned in this War, and somebody who Gilgamesh had to lower himself to use dirty tricks to defeat him, forcing him to defend his Master and taking on his attacks so Ilya wouldn't be killed.

I was witnessing a legend in the flesh. A real legend. Compared to Berserker, Rider seemed dull and dying like a fading spark. Berserker wouldn't take long to finish her off. She was surviving for now, but she couldn't even put on actual battle, and none of her attacks did anything. Moreover, with Shinji as a Master, and without the magical energy she would have gained from the Bloodfort, I doubted that she could use Bellorophone. This was already over.

Shinji screamed, and started running. I understood what I had to do. I couldn't let an enemy get away. So I ran after him. I… I didn't know what would I do, what I could I do once I caught up to him, but I could leave thinking about that for later. When I had got him. Unnecessary thoughts like that could only serve as distraction. I couldn't afford to be distracted.

I tackled him into the ground. It was easy. He wasn't even looking at me. I doubted he even realized that I had be running after him. The only thing that was filling his head now was terror, and the desperate need to get out of there. On the ground, he turned around. I straddled him, got my hands around his neck and clenched.

He had to die. He would go to Kotomine if he got out alive, he would give him Gilgamesh, and everything would be worse for me. For both of us. He had to die right here. I didn't have any reason to felt bad about it. To begin with, this guy didn't deserve to live. He had be raping Sakura for so much time and, as a whole, he was a horrible person. He was broken, beyond fixing. There was no helping it.

I clenched, clenched, clenched. He gagged, struggled for breath and tried to get me out of him. But it was no use. He couldn't even push me out of him. The way he looked… it struck me that this was how a person died. I felt sick. A sudden dizziness. I felt so badly I almost though I could puke my guts out. Just…

kill him

I have to

kill him

There's no reason to not

kill him

So why can't I do it?

Then, I realized that tears were streaming down my cheeks. Why? Why? I hated him, and he didn't even deserve to live, yet all I could think about is that I would be killing a person. That I would make somebody disappear if I did this. But I had to do it. Ilya wouldn't want somebody who could let her enemies escape due to compassion. Killing, fighting. That's not my role. But now, it is. So I have to kill him.

A hand upon my shoulder. Dimly, I realized the sounds of battle had ended. Leysritt pushed me away, stepped forward over the fallen Shinji and raised her halberd.

"Wait!" I screamed, without thinking.

She didn't wait, of course. She would only listen to Ilya. Shinji's horrified scream was cut cleanly, along with his head. It was so quick, so sudden, so easy, that I could only stare. At the blood. At the head rolling with wide eyes, that snapshot of the terror that had be his last moments. And the blood coating the halberd, falling on the ground. Drip, drip, drip. Like drops of water.

I bent at the waist, put one hand over my mouth and tried to hold it in. It was impossible. I puked. I puked again in the span of not even three full days, crying even harder that I had be crying before. I didn't know how much time I was like that. I only knew that eventually, it stopped.

I stood up on my shaky legs, and I tried to pretend I could put this behind me.