Fate: How About a New Savior?

The clouds had cleared at some point, and moonlight now bathed the church grounds.

Like creatures dragged from the pages of a storybook, their long shadows stretched across the earth—like demons torn from a fairy tale. In the eerie, bluish glow of the dim city, stood something cruel, something that shouldn't exist.

"…Berserker…" Cold sweat formed on Rin's cheek.

While Sakura was speaking with Einzbern's Master, Rin had already identified the towering figure—he was a Servant of the Berserker class.

"Sister, take your Servant and fall back. Saber and I will hold the line," Sakura said, her eyes trembling slightly. "Einzbern's Berserker... his stats are off the charts."

In the Holy Grail War, Masters were granted the privilege of viewing their Servants' class and parameters—unless a special ability masked that data, just a glance was enough.

This Berserker had all attributes rated A or higher, with Strength at A+, and only Luck at B. That alone put him above even the best Knight-class Servants.

Normally, the Berserker class was used to enhance the abilities of weaker Servants by way of Mad Enhancement.

But if a Servant who was already powerful was summoned as a Berserker...

That was clearly the case now.

"Don't be ridiculous! You want to take that thing on by yourself?" Rin shouted, staring at her sister standing ahead of her. There was no way she could just turn and run, leaving Sakura behind.

This wasn't like their earlier scuffle, where there had still been room for restraint. The Einzbern before them now was clearly here to eliminate both sisters.

The pressure in the air was suffocating, filled with lethal intent. One wrong move and they could be crushed in an instant.

"That monster might be able to take on the other six Servants all at once," Archer muttered, eyes locked on Berserker, calmly analyzing the massive difference in strength.

"Agreed."

As Saber spoke, she charged forward, donning her helmet and entering full combat readiness.

"I'll take your presence here as a declaration of war, then?" Sakura asked, eyes fixed on the homunculus. "Einzbern?"

"Surrender if you want. If you use your Command Spells now to make your Servants self-destruct, I may consider sparing your lives," the girl replied in a voice as cold as ice.

Sakura drew a deep breath. "Do you believe that, Sister?"

"Are you kidding? Without our Servants, we'd be nothing but meat on a chopping block," Rin replied.

"Then we're good." Without turning around, Sakura asked, "So, Sister, do you still want to fight me, or do we deal with this together?"

"Obviously the latter." Despite the tension, Rin forced a smile. "There's no better teammate than you, Sakura."

As she said this, she whispered to Archer, "The odds are four to one. We can't take them head-on. Archer, stick to your usual tactics."

She meant for Archer to fall back and provide long-range support, true to his class.

There was no need for further discussion—the plan was already set.

Saber would engage Berserker head-on. Rin and Sakura would watch Einzbern and assist Saber with Magecraft as needed.

Without another word, Archer turned spirit form and retreated, searching for a vantage point to snipe from afar...

"Fighting that kind of monster alone isn't easy. I'm counting on you, Saber." At that moment, Sakura reached out and placed her hand against Saber's cold armor.

"What is this...?" Saber felt power surging through her entire body.

"A temporary Rune enhancement that boosts all your stats," Sakura explained. "It'll last about five minutes. After that, you're on your own."

"Five minutes is more than enough!"

With a shout, Saber charged forward just as Berserker leapt into the air. His massive frame soared unnaturally fast, closing the ten-plus meters of the slope in an instant. He collided with Saber, who shot forth like a white meteor, and the violent impact unleashed a shockwave that blasted outward from their clash.

Crimson lightning crackled from Saber's body, pushing back against Berserker's overwhelming might.

It was Mana Burst—Mordred's innate skill.

With the reinforcement Sakura had hurriedly applied, even a Berserker with superior Strength could be forced back, at least for now.

"Out of my way!"

Saber roared, swinging her silver longsword with force. She knocked Berserker and his stone blade aside, slamming him into the grassy square where their earlier battle had just ended.

She didn't immediately follow up. Instead, a volley of black arrows rained down from outside the visible range, targeting the just-recovered Berserker.

Despite being mindless, he still swung his stone sword with shocking agility, batting away most of the arrows. Still, one found its mark, detonating with a thunderous boom.

As the smoke curled upward, Rin stared at the scene, trying to gauge the result—but Sakura had already raised her staff.

"Ice Wall!"

A clear, towering wall of ice erupted from the earth without warning.

Berserker, charging straight from the smoke in an attempt to rush the Masters, had no time to change course. He crashed into the several-meter-high wall. It cracked under impact, but the spell hadn't finished. Berserker was caught halfway through, locked in the ice.

Saber seized the chance and rushed in, her sword wreathed in red lightning as she struck down—but her blade was blocked by Berserker's stone weapon.

The Ice Wall spell had finished, but the bind was only temporary. No longer expanding, the ice around Berserker began to splinter outward in a spiderweb of cracks.

"Run wild—Crimson Lightning!"

Saber unleashed all the Mana in her body in a single burst, cleaving both Berserker and the ice apart, slamming him hard into the ground and leaving a crater half a person deep.

As she leapt back, a second wave of arrows came down, striking the exposed back of the Berserker. The resulting explosion was even more violent than before.

But when the smoke cleared, he was still standing—completely unscathed amid the ruined terrain.

"Damn it, he's seriously tough," Saber muttered, lowering her body and readying for another strike.

From his new sniping position, Archer let loose another arrow, this one whistling through the air aimed directly at Berserker's temple.

Even Saber had to admit—if she took a hit like that to the head, it'd be game over.

Yet...

Almost as if he were exposing a weakness on purpose, Berserker made no attempt to block or dodge. He could have, but he didn't.

And he remained completely unharmed.

Einzbern stood atop a platform overlooking the field, gazing down coldly without a word—completely unmoved by the overwhelming power gap.

"It's like he's showing off on purpose," Sakura murmured. "I never expected a mindless Berserker to be this strong."

As she spoke, she drew a massive surge of Mana, spun her staff, and opened a gate above Berserker into Imaginary Number Space.

A torrential storm of dark-purple magical spears came crashing down.

And this time, the expression on the homunculus girl finally changed.

...

(100 Chapters Ahead)

p@treon com / PinkSnake