Chapter 36 : Return

"!"

Together with an indescribable cry, another Berserker life was lost.

It was a one-sided battle.

Saber takes on Berserker head-on, and Tohsaka Rin takes advantage of the opportunity to attack.

Even though he tries to kill Tohsaka Rin first, he is stopped by Saber.

There are very few beings that can penetrate Berserker's defenses. So normally, you just ignore the enemy's attacks. But now, you can't do that.

Berserker's master, the Einzbern homunculus, was providing support with all his might, but this only served to buy time.

In card game terms, Berserker is a deck of pure power.

Berserker is the strongest unit. The basic tactic is to crush the enemy with it. Therefore, it is not expected that it will be surpassed in power, and the support cards in the hand are filled with cards to ensure that Berserker is not lost.

In other words, if they were to be overpowered in overall strength, they would not have the cards in their hand to overcome that.

"Saber!"

Rin Tohsaka.

The girl who is currently my temporary master.

A powerful magician with great aptitude as a master and exceptional combat skills.

In her hand she holdsSword of Promised VictoryExcalibur'.

Granted by the spirit of the lake, and blessed by the moon, it is mankind's strongest holy sword.

"I'll match it!"

Saber.

A servant with immense fighting power.

The master of the holy sword, King of Knights, Arthur himself.

In her hand she holdsRolling Sword of VictoryGalatine'.

Blessed by the sun, it is the sister sword of Excalibur and is also known as another holy sword.

The two holy swords held by the two girls cut Berserker's chest in a cross shape.

" "The crossing of moonlight and sunshineZwei Calibur"!"

The simultaneous attack from the two holy swords finally brought even the Berserker to a halt.

"Berserker..."

Berserker turned around in response to Illyasviel's weak voice. No, perhaps calling him Berserker was no longer the appropriate name.

"I never thought my life would be taken away in less than half a day."

What came out of Berserker's mouth was not a meaningless roar, but a voice that could even be described as calm.

Berserker turned his eyes, eyes filled with obvious intelligence, to Saber.

"It was fun. I'm grateful that you guys were the ones I was able to fight in the end."

"Great hero. I am proud to have had the opportunity to cross swords with you."

He nodded in satisfaction at Saber's words, then turned his gaze to me.

"I'm sorry, Caster. If I had stayed on the Argo, I wouldn't have allowed such atrocities to happen."

"You have no reason to apologize. It is the arrogance typical of a warrior to think that if only I had been there I could have accomplished something."

"I see... I suppose so. Maybe so."

The great hero gave a wry smile and continued.

"I'd like to pass on a message to that brave boy."

"What?"

"Excellent," he said.

"Understood."

Then he turned his face to Emiya Shirou.

"Berserker..."

Illyasviel murmured helplessly, so he smiled gently and said just one thing.

"I'm counting on you, Ilya."

"Yeah, leave it to me."

Berserker nodded in response and turned away. And then,

"Goodbye."

Leaving behind just those words, he disappeared into particles of light.

At the same time, Illyasviel collapses.

"Ilya!"

Without even a glance at Emiya Shirou who ran towards me, I ran off into the depths of the forest.

"Hachiman-sama!"

Scream while running.

"Hachiman! Please answer me!"

Berserker said he would pass the message on to her.

Unlike Iason, he is a true hero, including his mentality. If so, he wouldn't give people false hope for the sake of pointless harassment. In other words, the Master is still alive...!

Ignoring the fact that I was out of breath, I continued calling out my Master's name.

Snap

"Hachiman-sama?!"

I turned around at the sudden sound of someone stepping on a dead branch.

There was the Blue Knight.

A slender, yet lean, sharp body covered in toned muscles.

A beautiful face with a carefree smile.

And in his hand was a crimson magic spear.

It matches the characteristics I had heard from Tohsaka Rin.

"Lancer?!"

Before I could panic and become wary, I noticed what he was carrying on his shoulder. It was tattered and stained black and red in places.

"You bastard! What did you do to Master!?"

His anger instantly boils over and he leaps at her in a fit of rage, but, naturally, he is literally brushed off.

Lancer called out in exasperation as I was sent flying by a spin kick and slammed into Itsuki on my back.

"What's the point of a magician engaging in hand-to-hand combat with a spear soldier?"

"Let go of...Master...!"

Lancer shrugged his shoulders as I ignored him and glared at him.

"My goodness, what incredible loyalty. Is your master that important to you?"

"Shut up! Let go of my master!"

"I meant it as a compliment. I'd return it even if you didn't ask, that's why I brought you here."

Lancer said, tossing the Master he had been carrying on his shoulder.

"Master!"

He crawls over to his Master, who is lying helplessly on his back.

His whole body was covered in blood, his clothes were in tatters, and his right arm was completely missing from the elbow down.

But still, he's alive. He's still alive...!

Tears of joy well up in my eyes, but I can cry later.

He shielded his Master with his back and glared at Lancer once more.

What should we do?

Not only was he already exhausted, but he was already within Lancer's range. Even if you ignore the power of his true form, there was no way he could win.

Does it matter?

Even if I have to bend the laws of the world, I will protect this person at all costs.

"...Don't glare at me like that. Just so you know, I didn't do anything to that idiot."

As he secretly resolved to die, Lancer simply turned his back on him.

"Well, I've finished my business, so I'll be off now."

As Lancer turned to leave after saying that, I couldn't help but call out to him.

"What are you imitating?"

"What? It's just a token of my gratitude. Thanks to you guys, I think I'll be able to achieve my goal."

"the purpose?"

"That's what I'm talking about, don't worry about it. Make sure you heal that little brat. It would be a shame to let him die here."

Saying that, Lancer waved his hand and disappeared into the depths of the forest. I remained on guard for a while, but there was no sign of him returning.

I checked my master's condition again.

"Master..."

At first glance it looked pretty bad. Well, it was in pretty bad shape, but there were signs that it had been lightly treated, so it wasn't as bad as it looked.

But it's still a tragic condition. If they receive treatment, they can be saved, but if they are left untreated, they will surely die. That's the condition they are in.

The bleeding has stopped, but the blood that was lost will not return, and bones are damaged here and there. The left arm is particularly bad, and even if it heals, there may be some residual damage. I won't know until I get examined, but there seems to be some damage to the organs as well. But still.

"Master...!"

I hold his hand and cry.

There's no response. But there's a warmth there. And that's enough.

A voice came from far away. It seemed Saber and the others were following us.

As I listened to it, I muttered just one word.

"Welcome back, Master."