Chapter 2. Fighting with monster
Rin Tohsaka and Shirou Emiya had an extremely busy evening today. One had her first fight with an enemy Servant, saving the life of an unlucky magus, then wounded her own Servant and is currently fighting with a new opponent. The other had a temporary death, chasing and fighting for his life, summoned a Servant, gained knowledge about the Holy Grail War, and met a new enemy Servant.
But this evening continues to bring new surprises for the two magus, and what interests them most now is:
– Who is this guy? – They asked in unison.
In front of them stood a tall man with white spiky hair, wearing a red jacket with small steel plates on the sleeves. He was wearing a black hakama and red boots, also with steel plates. On his shoulder was a sword with a huge blade covered with a lot of scratches and cracks.
He half-turned toward the trio, looking with his green eye.
– Is everything alright? – he asked, turning to Shirou Emiya's Servant. – You'd better take a break and heal your wounds. I'll hold him off for now.
He removed his sword from his shoulder and hooked it onto the mount behind his back.
- I didn't think we'd have another guest join us today. - The albino girl said, with a note of displeasure. - Berserker, do you think we…
– Why don't you cut the crap? – replied the stranger in an unexpectedly rude tone. – I'm not here to make small talk with you! I've had enough of it.
– As I see it, you are in a hurry to die. Then let me introduce myself to you as well! Illyasviel von Einzbern. I am the Master of the Berserker, also known as Heracles.
– I'm Ragna. Ragna the Bloodedge. – looking at the giant again, Shinigami put his hand on the hilt of his sword – Can we part without conflict? It would be…
– Kill Saber… and that Ragna as well!
As soon as the order was given, the Berserker took off from his place, attacking the Grim Reaper first. Despite the fast, yet very heavy blows, he was able to barely deflect each and every one of them. Bloodedge uses not only his blade, but also his hilt, which was strong enough for such maneuvers. But to Ragna's surprise, Heracles managed to hit him from the right with one of his attacks, sending him into the wall and creating a large cloud of dust. The Berserker jumped into a cloud of dust to finish off its target… But he was sent flying, because of the black head sliding on the ground. Ragna came out almost unharmed, except for a cut on his right sleeve, which also touched the steel plate.
«He should have cut him in half!» wondered Rin.
– Shit, if I hadn't put my hand out, I'd be dead. So he's both fast and strong. One unblocked punch and I'm dead. Tsk, more problems.
Ragna had his sword ready and was heading for the monster when he was stopped by the knight. Only now did Bloodedge notice that the knight was a girl with blond hair and green eyes. Her armor covered her torso and arms, and in her right hand she appeared to be holding a sword that was probably made of compressed air.
– You can't beat him alone. No matter how strong you are, he will probably be stronger than you...
– Like I don't know! – Ragna quickly examined the girl for wounds and asked – Can you still fight?
– Yes, I think I can. – the knight, not expecting such a question, answered.
– Good. Then I'll rely on you. Oh, yeah. What should I call you?
– Saber. – the knight said it firmly.
«It wouldn't hurt to keep an eye on him. I don't want to put the Master in any more danger.» Saber thought to herself.
[Theme: Rebellion]
Ragna lunged at the Berserker, who had regained consciousness and was on the verge of tearing him to shreds. Heracles raised a huge cleaver over the Grim Reaper's head, but Ragna managed to slip under him and stab him in the stomach, leaving a huge wound on him. Saber jumped after Bloodedge and landed a few blows in a leap, sending powerful streams of wind from her sword as she landed on the ground. But the last attack didn't have much effect: the enemy Servant was left with only multiple scratches, which had already begun to heal thanks to his monstrous regeneration.
– Did you really think you could defeat him by joining forces? Heracles is the strongest Servant in this War! – Illya said mockingly.
With a roar, Heracles moved into the pair with renewed vigor. Jumping back, they began to strike from different directions, but the monster was even able to repel blows almost at the same time.
«Damn it, even if we teamed up, we couldn't move it. Maybe I can use…» Ragna looked at his right hand, but immediately rejected the idea «No, that would only cause more problems. But I could try something else."
– Can you distract him for a bit? I need time to prepare something.
– I'll try, but not for too long.
– Give me a few seconds.
Nodding in agreement, she once again attacked Heracles, who continued to launch heavy blows at the gradually weakening Servant. Meanwhile, Shirou and Rin stood watching the battle of two people against an invincible monster, unable to help in any way.
«Archer, I know you were injured when we faced Saber, but I could use your help right now! At least from a distance!» Rin shouted almost over the telepathic link.
«On my way to you.» her Servant replied stiffly to the message.
– Tohsaka, look! – Shirou said, drawing the girl's attention.
Rin noticed how Emiya's Servant fought back and dodged blows, while the man in the red jacket changed his grip to the right side and prepared to attack. The blade of his sword began to be covered with a dark aura that began to alarm and interest.
«This power... Is he going to use Noble Phantasm?»
– Hey, big freak! Did you forget about me?! – Ragna shouted at the top of his voice, now taking all of Heracles' attention to himself.
With one blow, Berserker forced Saber to block his massive fist, and then, the monster headed at the Grim Reaper at great speed and almost hitting him with his huge cleaver, Ragna grabs his sword with his left hand and with a quick blow cuts off the Servant's arm with a huge stone sword, which falls to the ground a moment later.
– The time has come... – immediately after the blow, Ragna transforms his right hand into a small paw with five large bloody claws and makes a second blow. – ...And you're going to die, bastard!
Ragna began a large series of blows with a sword covered with dark energy and a transformed arm. A series of vertical and horizontal blows rained down on the Berserker's body, who despite attempts to resist, was unable to interrupt any of them. Ragna finished with a cross punch that caused the Servant to fall backward, crashing into several trees. Bloodedge returned his arm to its original state and put his sword behind his back, shaking the remnants of the seithr off of it.
– Still alive? – Ragna asked with a touch of mockery in his voice.
Despite the fact that Illya was confident in the strength of her Servant, she was surprised to see how the wounds from Bloodedge's attacks were healing much slower than before.
A loud whistle came out of nowhere and a red beam crashed into the Berserker at full speed, causing an explosion that engulfed Heracles.
Illya took their attacks as an underestimation of her Berserker's strength. After all, he was the strongest Servant in this War. It only made her angry.
– What are you waiting for, Berserker? Destroy them! Did they dare to mock the greatest hero of Greece?! Tear them to pieces! – the girl screamed at the top of her voice.
This scream seemed to awaken Heracles, and with a loud inhuman roar, he jumped out of the smoke and attacked the Grim Reaper.
«Shit! Has he become even faster? My damn luck!»
Ragna didn't have time to finish his thought as Heracles' restored hand punched him in the face with all its might, sending him flying through several trees. Ragna managed to land on his feet, but once again had to fend off the monster's blows, which were much faster and stronger than his earlier blows. Each blocked blow made every bone in his body scream, and knocked him out of his strength faster. Just as Berserker was preparing another series of blows, he was interrupted by another bright red beam that made a hole in his shoulder. Following this, Saber appeared, using the wind stream released from her sword to push him away from the Grim Reaper. She gave him a hand and helped him to stand on his feet.
– This bastard has become even more dangerous. Shit, I guess I'll have to use it.
Ragna was about to raise his hand to activate the Grimoire when Saber pushed him aside, saving him from Hercules' blow. But she didn't dodge in time, and the cleaver's blow threw her into the air, where she rolled over, only to fall to her feet and start bleeding. She could barely stand on her feet, but she kept herself upright, holding on with dignity to the end. Berserker instantly jumped towards the girl, intent to end her life. Bloodedge also rushed forward, starting to activate the Barrier, but at that moment Saber was pushed away by a teenager who put himself under attack instead. The Servant hit him with such force that almost all of his stomach disappeared in a flash. He was grabbed just in time by a knight, who still didn't understand what had happened here.
[Theme end]
– Why? – silver-haired girl asked in surprise, continuing to stare in wonder.
Calling the giant back to her, Illya decided to leave.
– Enough. Boring. – the girl started to walk away, but she half-turned to look at Ragna and Rin, also adding: – Rin, if I see you again, I'll kill you. And as for you, Ragna the Bloodedge, wait for your turn too.
When they disappeared from view, the Grim Reaper looked back at the lying teenager. And as Saber with Rin were surprised to find that the wounds were disappearing right before their eyes and after a couple of minutes they were gone. After activating the Idea Engine, Ragna scanned Shirou, but it didn't give him anything: the guy's body was completely fine, and the cause hadn't been determined yet.
– He is breathing. Although he is not regaining consciousness, I think he will live. – Rin stood up and quickly turned towards the Grim Reaper, pointing her hand at him with an attack spell ready. – Now I curious to know: who are you?
Saber followed Rin's example and pointed an invisible air at Ragna.
– You can't escape: my Servant has already seen you and if you do anything wrong, he'll kill you where you stand.
The only thing Bloodedge could say now was the new curses of his fate.
But could he have known that this night would change not only his life, but also the lives of everyone here?
When Ragna managed to agree to explain his appearance to the girls, they decided to continue their way to the house of the unlucky magus. What they could not have realized was that they were already being watched from afar. The creature known as the Crest Worm was looking for the cause of the sudden surge of mana that had occurred the day before and seemed to have found its source. Approaching the black fire burning down on the grass, the worm discovered a huge amount of mana coming from the fire. So huge was the fire, having finished with the grass, that it quickly jumped onto the worm itself, which was in close proximity to it. Before the worm could even react, it was consumed by the fire, leaving no ashes behind.
It was a small problem for Matou Zouken. What mattered to him was that he had finally found something that could power the Grail his granddaughter carried. And that gave him a reason for further action.