Chapter 36

*THOOM, THOOM-THOOM*

Swerving and spinning away from the crimson blades of Berserker, Kuzuki sent his hands whirling through the gaps in her defense to strike her, each blow carrying the force of over ten humans combined. With the augmentations granted to him by Caster, one could call his fists iron clubs, capable of crushing even steel.

Raised from birth as the perfect assassin, Souichirou Kuzuki was the master of the fighting style called "Snake". A style that targeted the weak points of the body, with each blow fatal. The style required him to keep his arms as flexible as ropes to allow him to strike from unexpected right angles, a formless style that was difficult for the opponent to grasp. While holding his stance, he was like a steady rock, unreadable and unassailable. Yet once the opportunity showed itself, he would move into striking range without alerting the enemy, and swiftly striking with either his fist or his "mountain-like" fingers, the serpent's fangs. If the blow was still somehow anticipated, like with Berserker's Instinct, he could still change course midway and use "the body of the serpent", his elbow, to strike.

*SCHWIP*

"Guh!"

The fingers that had originally been aiming for her windpipe was deflected by the blade that threatened to cauterize his fingers, but his elbow suddenly diverted from its original course as he twisted his body as well, the reinforced bone of his elbow striking her shoulder blades.

Her left hand reached backwards as electricity gathered in her palm to fire at Kuzuki, the red lightning reaching him before he had a chance to react.

"Hng."

He stumbled backwards, even with the shields of Caster dulling the shock, but his natural breathing and deeply instilled training allowed him to recover in an instant, quickly returning to peak mental condition.

Berserker tried to press the advantage against Kuzuki, but the humming golden blade of Assassin prevented her from doing so.

*Vuo-BZZRKKK*

The two energy blades clashed against each other, one golden and one red, trails of light flowing from each blade as the crimson and gold weaved intricate patterns into the air, the speed they were going at making more and more light trails stack with each other until it was actually difficult for them to see each other through the trails.

Assassin disengaged, leaping back up as she swung her blade with force, knocking aside Berserker's blade, then reached into her jersey to press the calling device.

*Ching*

Multiple portals opened in the air, blue saucers that formed a dome in the air above Berserker.

She raised her saberstaff and charged it with mana, red mana shooting out of it as the blade grew even brighter.

Then the hail of laser fire came raining down on her.

"SEI!"

The double bladed lightsaber spun with grace and speed, the two blades keeping death at bay as she twirled and dodged amidst the rain of fiery death. Holes were blasted into the floor as stone melted and sloughed, ozone filling the air. Ducking under one bolt, she spun in place as she jumped while arching her back, switching hands after deflecting one to her left for it to twirl the saberstaff and deflect two more above her, before doing a handstand and somersaulting away from the rest, tucking into a roll at the end to avoid the horizontal portals that shot the air right above her, grazing her cape.

She barely had any time to get back up before the heavy blows of Kuzuki descended on her, rapidly striking one after the other. Gritting her teeth, she immediately tried to dodge the fists coming at her, but it was in vain. Like a living snake, his arms changed paths the instant she shifted her body to dodge, the blows "biting" her body and numbing her mind with pain. Without a doubt, if he managed to land a surprise attack on the opponent and it was their first match, he would be able to win. Without landing a single decisive strike, he slowly whittled down Berserker with the poison of pain packed in his fists, her body and movements growing duller and duller as she was repeatedly struck all over despite being able to dodge the crucial blows that would defeat her.

Yet, Kuzuki wasn't unscathed either. His body was minutely trembling from all the shocks he had received, scorch marks on various places all over his suit. His movements had also gradually slowed down, numbness and tingling through several muscles hampering his movements, but Berserker's numerous injuries from his blows helped even the field for him, allowing him to continue striking her even with his injuries.

Berserker was unsettled by the fact that a human could actually match her blow for blow, her strikes barely scratching him at all. This was also in part due to the Protection of Fae cast by Caster, the fate manipulation inherent in the blessing granting luck which, coupled with his own training, allowed him to avoid the lightsaber by a hair each time. In addition, the close range they fought at nullified some of the advantages the saberstaff gave her, forcing her to fight on Kuzuki's terms as his fists packed more power at the range they fought at, with her saberstaff unable to complete the full swing for maximum power due to how close he was.

But she had fought many enemies through her time in the Servant Universe, from eldritch horrors to swashbuckling space pirates that possessed whole armadas, and she didn't once seriously consider that she would lose. Instead, she quietly bided her time, waiting for his final strike to come.

Assassin stood above them, watching the two battle. On the one hand, she was allied with Kuzuki to help protect Gray. On the other, Berserker was her best friend, and no one else was allowed to defeat Ecchan besides her. Clutching her Secretcalibur, her ahoge trembled as she watched the fight, her blue muffler fluttering in the wind caused by their shockwaves.

She could help Kuzuki and fight Berserker with him, but they were both unfamiliar with each other's combat styles, and would likely hinder each other instead of effectively combating Berserker, especially with Kuzuki's strange "Snake" style. Hence, she chose to remain at the back as to reinforce him when he fell, using a tag team tactic to allow both of them to fight to their full potential without holding each other back.

Berserker's movements gradually reached the point where her bruised muscles swelling hindered her speed significantly, the pain radiating from half a dozen non-vital spots on her body hamstringing her ability. Her muscles swelling prevented fluid transitions, no longer able to jump and spin like before. Her grip on the saberstaff gradually loosened, the rate they were spinning at slowing down until Illya could almost keep track of them with lightly reinforced eyes.

Her eyes started flickering back and forth between Kuzuki's fists and body, a hint of panic entering them as she relied more and more on her instinct to dodge every consecutive blow. For Kuzuki, the critical moment was getting closer and closer.

*schwick*

Momentarily, her saberstaff went wide as it slipped slightly in her grasp, cutting the air instead of towards Kuzuki's arm. Her eyes widened in surprise as his fingers suddenly entered her entire field of vision, about to gouge her eyes out. Without hesitation, she threw her saberstaff at him with a wild, unpredictable spin. Instead of dodging, he reached out and grasped the saberstaff, perfectly predicting where the handle would be, and redirected it behind him. In that same moment, he stepped forward without any warning signs, instantly entering into her space as his arm reached forward like a lance, seeking to strike her temple and crush it in one blow.

The moment stretched for what seemed like hours as his hand slowly pierced through the air, generating a mini-tornado around his arm at the speeds it was going, the winds warping the light around his hand until it was blurry, blue mana streaks hovering next to his arm. It crossed the distance as it got faster and faster, accelerating towards her temple like a missile.

But it missed.

*vuon-vuon-vuON-VUON*

"HAH!"

Berserker ducked right under the fist, skimming past the length of the arm to get close to Kuzuki as two fists crackling with electricity came shooting at him from her sides. At the same time, her saberstaff suddenly switched directions like a magnet and came flying back at him from behind, trapping him.

She had used her telekinesis to pull Kuzuki's fist forward, the amount of strength behind the blow leaving him unable to redirect it as it was pulled forward with even more force. He could only harden his arm and tense his muscles to stop himself from being pulled forward. But this locked his arms in place and made it rigid, effectively destroying his style as he became unable to follow up with an unpredictable attack, allowing Berserker to close in on him.

"No!"

Assassin moved forwards once she saw the lightsaber change course, but it was ready too late, the sword moving faster than she could catch up to it. Desperately, she reached into her pocket to activate the cannons, but the bombardment was unable to hit such a small target moving so fast and erratically.

Acting quickly, he threw a kick that snaked through the air to her ribs, aiming to throw her back before her fists reached him.

*CRACK*

"Guh!"

His eyes widening in pain, his face turned a shade pale as his right knee was crushed by Berserker's left foot planting itself on his leg, her instinct allowing her to predict it and capitalize on it, essentially using his own kick against him. The force of her energy and his momentum combined pierced through, cracking the bone and ligaments while tearing the flesh surrounding the area as well, blood almost instantly flooding the area as veins were pierced by the internal bone fragments.

Without pausing, her fists hammered into his body as electricity entered through the fabric and coursing into his naked flesh, the energy stimulating thousands of nerves throughout his body as scorched flesh appeared on the areas of contact from the discharge. However, that wasn't the end.

Even as his body shook uncontrollably, his muscles spasming and twitching, her right leg sank into his stomach using her left foot still standing on top of his knee as leverage, dealing further damage to his knee and stomach simultaneously. Spittle flew out of his mouth as vomited out bile, two droplets of water appearing in the corners of his eyes on pure reflex. His eyes bulged comically, a gurgling noise emitting from his throat from the four blows dealt to him by Berserker's four limbs.

Then the saber staff reached him, slicing off his left arm at the elbow as the stink of cauterized flesh filled the air, the lifeless flesh dropping to the floor as steam trailed from the charred end.

*BANG*

He flew into the stairs with the force of Berserker's punches and kicks, knocked unconscious the instant he hit the stairs as blood trailed from his mouth and the numerous scratches caused by the impact. His suit was now torn up and bloody, his left leg bent at the knee to an inhuman angle as his head lolled to the side, hair in disarray. Intermittently, certain muscles spasmed unconsciously as an after effect of the heavy shock he just received.

Despite all the punishment he had just received, he was still breathing, albeit barely. Flat could tell from the slight rise-and-fall of his chest, even as he supported Gray with his magecraft. At this point, Gray was kneeling on the stone steps, body trembling in exertion as the burden of keeping Rhongomyniad in it's released state burst her blood vessels and heated her up to an abnormal degree, her entire body flushed and sweaty in spite of the winter chill.

Inside the temple, Caster sensed her Master pass out, and worry filled her heart. Yet, she was powerless to do anything, and could only trust Assassin, the killer of her former Master, to protect Kuzuki because Caster was the only one who could prevent Rhongomyniad from running haywire and killing Gray.

Assassin wordlessly stepped forward, taking her place in front of her fallen ally as she readied her sword.

"You fought well for a non-Saber, human. Now's it's my turn to protect our Masters."

Her emerald eyes gleamed with determination as the golden sword emitted a brighter glow, mana swirling around it as her ahoge seemed to straighten, pointing straight at Berserker.

"Ecchan, I won't hold back against you."

Berserker stared at her new opponent as she shook off the pain and fatigue from her previous fight, her saberstaff now back in her hands as red mana burst out from her body, prepared to fight once more.

"Neither will I."

Raising her saberstaff, she flicked it downwards with a flourish, indicating her readiness to do combat.

"May the Star of Saber watch over and protect me. / May the Saber Star give me strength to crush my enemy."

With those words, they dashed towards each other, clashing on the steps of the temple as the second battle of the night unfolded beneath the starless sky.