Chapter 24 : Encounter

Sensing it from above, I raised my head in the darkness of the narrow passageway.

"...I see. You used it?"

This wave of magical power is a holy sword. I remember it from 10 years ago. Although the output is on a completely different level now.

"So you admit it, Saber."

Saber's release of the holy sword meant that she truly recognized Shirou as her master.

A smile wells up in my face with joy.

"...Fufu. You've finally become my enemy, Shirou."

He had been too weak a target for his revenge up until now, so there was no point in doing that.

But now, having been recognized by Saber, he finally gained the power to rival her.

This is how revenge must be. Only by taking down a violently resisting prey can he exact revenge on his father who abandoned him and his mother.

Now, let's get ready.

Let's set the stage for my revenge and that of my mother.

As I was pondering what kind of situation I should create, a man with a head like seaweed appeared, stomping around and making a lot of noise, as if to interrupt my thoughts. I remember him being Rider's master.

"Dammit...! Dammit...! What do you mean my Noble Phantasm is overwhelmingly superior to the others?! You were defeated so easily you're useless!"

Apparently he lost his rider and ran away. How ugly.

"What?! Wh... What the hell?! Why is there a wall in a place like this?! Shit! Shit! What an idiot!"

He bumps into my Servant and lets out some misguided abuse.

My Servant is huge.

A giant over three meters tall. His body was covered in rock-like muscles (although in reality he was far stronger than rock) and in the darkness it was no wonder he was mistaken for a wall.

But even so, the sight of the man yelling and punching the Servant was nothing short of hilarious.

Without realizing it, I let out a sigh.

"?! Wh, what?! Is someone there?!"

He seemed to hear it and became hilariously flustered.

"W-Who is it?! Come out!"

I'm not hiding or anything.

Even though I was in the Servant's shadow, it shouldn't be so obvious that I'd be overlooked. However, Rider's Master seemed confused and didn't notice me.

…It looks like he's lost his Command Spells, so there's no point in killing him. But there's also no reason to let him go. Above all, this man is unpleasant to look at.

"Berserker"

He gave a single command to his Servant, Berserker "Hercules."

"Ah... Aaaahhh!?"

Berserker took a step forward, finally realizing the situation and letting out an ear-splitting shriek. I instinctively wanted to cover my ears, but it seemed a little inelegant to do so.

Rider's Master had forgotten about even fleeing and just stood there, but when he saw Berserker raise the axe-sword in his right hand, he screamed again.

"I... I... Ah... Whaaaaaaaat?!"

It's so noisy...

Berserker brings his axe sword down.

Anyway, that's it. I feel a little sick. I'll go home and take a bath to freshen up.

Thinking that, I turned around and noticed something.

"Y...hi...ah, what?"

Rider's Master...is alive.

Did you avoid it? No way.

So Berserker missed? That's simply impossible.

The Rider's Master was slumped over, his face covered in tears, and his collar was stretched out in an unnatural shape.

The space directly behind Rider's Master began to shake.

"...Why did you suddenly jump out? I had taken the trouble to not notice you."

"Well, I can't just leave him to die."

Seeping out of the swaying, a man and woman appeared.

"So, what are we going to do from here? Are we going to defeat it?"

A woman with short silver hair wearing a milky-colored coat with fur, a jeans miniskirt, and a large sports bag slung over her shoulder asked the man with an accusing look on her face.

"Don't be ridiculous. Even if you haven't done anything wrong, you'll end up kneeling down and apologizing."

The man (...undead?) with dead eyes and wearing a black jacket with wide cuffs, grabbed the Rider's Master by the collar and pulled him backwards while standing up. The seaweed-headed creature lost its balance and tumbled backwards, yelling "Pugya."

It seems he was hiding using magic to hide his presence and appearance. I didn't notice him at all... Although I'm sure Berserker would have reacted if he'd been tricked.

Although she was dressed in a modern style, the woman was a servant.

Shirou must have recently made Caster his ally, so this must be the traitorous witch.

His magical skills were as expected. The master, a man who looked like a living dead, began to speak.

"Um, just to be sure, would you be willing to let me off the hook?"

"?"

What is this guy talking about?

It's true that Caster is a weakling, and her Master isn't even a magician, but that's no reason to ignore the enemy right in front of them.

"...No, it's a bit troubling when you act so puzzled. Is there something off about this loli girl?"

…She was making fun of me somehow. I do look young compared to my age, but what's with the loli thing? I'll just get revenge and defeat her quickly.

Make Berserker take a step forward.

"...I feel like I'm starting to get motivated."

"You're not so much motivated as you are willing to kill me...Do you think you can get away with it the normal way?"

"That's impossible."

"That's right."

The zombie took a step back and took a half-body stance, and the casters were exchanging joking words. They seemed pretty relaxed.

"...You brought your 'insurance', right?"

"Yes, of course. Are you going to use it?"

"It's a shame, but it can't be helped. I never thought I'd have to use it so soon."

...What is his intention in deliberately speaking loud enough for others to hear?

Are they trying to make us wary and slow us down? Or are they the type that doesn't care if we ask, or are they a trump card that only works if we know about it?

Well, it doesn't matter which one it is. They're all equally powerless against my Berserker.

I don't have time. I have to hurry and get home and think about my next step. Just as I was about to give an order to Berserker...

"Jump!"

The zombie-like man shouted before I could react, which delayed my reaction a little.

Hearing this, Caster took action. He hoisted the Rider's Master onto his shoulder and ran backwards. Up ahead was a small window.

Without hesitation, Caster, still carrying one man, broke through the window and jumped down.

Meanwhile, the zombie man shouted and at the same time swung his left arm, which was hidden behind his back, and threw something.

It was a bottle with some kind of liquid inside, and a cloth-like object stuffed into the opening was on fire.

A Molotov cocktail, huh? What a stupid thing to do. He probably hid it on his own body and had Caster prepare it.

Berserker slammed it against the wall with his left hand, like squashing a mosquito. The fire didn't spread and was quickly put out.

I didn't give the order to Berserker to pursue him because Caster was the only one who escaped, and the most important thing was that my Master was still there.

"...What are you planning?"

"Well, what could it be...?"

As he spoke, the man took out a baton from the cuff of his right sleeve and, without a moment's hesitation, threw it at me. At the same time, he crouched low and charged forward.

Reckless.

Is this what they call heroism? From saving Rider's Master to letting Caster escape, he seems to be driven by a ridiculous desire to be a hero.

Berserker tried to swat the baton that was slipping past his side with his left hand - but then it stopped moving, and a beat later he slashed it away with the axe-sword in his right.

The giant Berserker swung his weapon sideways in the narrow passage, causing the axe-sword to get stuck into the concrete wall.

Looking closer, he saw something viscous mixed with shards of glass bottles connecting Berserker's left hand to the wall.

Bird...! Is the fire fake?

The man didn't slow down and headed straight towards me.

Berserker's arms are bound. That's an opening to restrain me, his Master.

(Or so they thought.)

Berserker could simply let go of his weapon in his right hand, and even his left hand was not enough to hold him back.

Even if this adhesive was something that even Berserker couldn't tear apart, the wall itself would not be able to withstand Berserker's physical strength.

What's also annoying is that people think they can do something about me.

Sure, I may look a little young, and I'm undoubtedly weaker than Berserker, but I'm still not so powerless that I can be dealt with by a mere human who has only been slightly strengthened.

So, what should we do?

It would be easy to crush him, but it's annoying that I couldn't see through this guy's tricks the normal way.

So, I decided to intercept him in a way that he probably wouldn't have expected.

It seemed the man was planning to sneak under the axe-sword stuck in the wall on Berserker's right side and approach me.

For Berserker, a simple punch from his fist surpasses an average Noble Phantasm. Therefore, the theory would be to let go of his weapon and attack with his bare hands. However, this time I will ignore that theory.

Berserker obeyed my orders and forcefully swung the axe-sword that was still stuck in the wall.

Seeing the axe-sword approaching him, gouging out the concrete and tearing apart the rebar, the man's rotten eyes widen in shock. He frantically applies the brakes, but it's too late.

The man put up his left arm in a defensive stance, but it was merely a reflex; he probably didn't think that it would be enough to block the attack.

Naturally, Berserker's right arm was swung out without any regard for this.

After the axe-sword passed by, the body was torn apart from top to bottom, its contents scattered mercilessly - a stuffed animal.

"!?"

Immediately after.

The explosion shook the building.

The thick black smoke makes me cough. My ears hurt, but my eardrums don't seem to be ruptured.

There was a whitish object stuck in the rubble nearby: a nylon rabbit ear, nearly melted by the heat.

He picks it up and groans.

"Kahhh... Reverse Doll, you can do it...!"

I was caught completely off guard. If Berserker hadn't protected me, I probably would have been defeated.

Dolls were originally made to substitute for humans. That's why magic and sorcery using dolls exists all over the world. In this country, the midnight visit to the dead is probably the most famous. It's the one with the straw doll and the five-inch nail.

Reverse Doll is the reverse of the curse of such dolls, and is a general term for magic that makes a doll take on the harm suffered by a human.

The previous one was a high-level arrangement that combined teleportation magic, a remarkable feat that would replace the Master with a doll the moment he was injured. What's more, it seems that a bomb had been planted inside the substitute doll.

Just when you think you've defeated him, he takes you by surprise and counterattacks. It's an incredibly nasty trap. What kind of mentally unstable person could come up with this?

The reason why the Master stayed behind was to buy time to carry the doll farther away. It would be difficult to catch up now.

The hallway had been completely destroyed by the explosion.

That sound could have shattered all the windows in the building. There must have been a lot of commotion outside. Shirou and Saber would have noticed.

...The two of them are exhausted right now. It would be easy to defeat them if they fought. But that would be a very dull end to their revenge.

"...Very well, I'll step aside for now. I remember your face."