Chapter 161: Chapter 154
Minamoto-no-Raikou (Berserker of Red) POV.
"Insect." I scowled, looking at the trash that dared to raise his blade against my Master(son).
Our blades met, he was perceptive enough to respond the moment I revealed myself. His footing was steady, even as he retreated with each step, he did not forgo the initiative as our battle began. He absorbed each of my blows into his own movements, to minimalize the force.
An endurance fighter.
Annoying.
I glanced to the side to see Master(son) start a fight with the other servant. The golden one with the strange spear, he made me feel something odd. A sense of rivalry that swelled up when I gazed at him. I did not know where it came from, and a part of me wished to fight him, to prove my superiority. I ignored it, following Master's(Son's) commands, to engage this warrior.
I would chastise him when the fighting was over. He should not be putting himself in harms way to fight a servant, even if he is not a normal human. My Kintoki was the same too, the similarities are truly great when comparing the both of them.
Perhaps I will have to dote on him in the same way.
His mother is all he needs.
"Such strength." The Saber servant commented, feet buried in the ground to block my attack.
I clicked my tongue as he swiped his greatsword at me, his style swordsmanship not something I was used to, but I adapted rather quickly. Readjusting himself, he trust with great power and speed, momentarily taking me by surprise as I twisted my body to dodge, my battle suit being torn, but no blood drawn.. I summoned my Divine Lightning in return, discharging everything in a quick burst.
"Impressive." The Saber Servant waved his hand, clearing away the remnants of my attack as I took a step back.
I could press him, but often discretion is the better answer, especially in a situation where we do not know what enemies may be watching. "I do not enjoy the prattling of insects, merely accept being crushed."
"Haha." He let out a self-deprecating laugh. "Well, if there's one thing I'm confident in, it's my durability." With a quick swing of his sword, the ground was torn asunder.
I burst through the upturned earth, my Mana Burst enveloping me as I Slashed down at him once again. His feet dug deep, and his blade still held true. I could only click my tongue in annoyance again, increases my speed by another level.
Twisting my wrist, I changed the direction of my blow, slashing upwards after another deflection. He didn't react in time, my blade digging into his skin and my Divine Lightning churning out increased force.
Instead of retreating, he grit his teeth, holding his sword up high and swinging down and I was forced to side-step, his blade destroying the ground beneath us.
"I was sure I cut you deeper than that." I looked at the blood dripping from his chest. I am positive my blade went in much further, yet...it was more like a paper cut than anything.
The Saber Servant ran a thumb down his chest, wiping away the blood revealing that the wound was already gone. "As I said, I am confident in my durability." He paused looking over to the side. I followed his gaze, landing on his unconscious Master if I had to guess. The lard of a man should be happy that my Master(son) didn't kill him.
"You take your eyes of me in the middle of a fight?" I narrowed my eyes at him. An insect actually looks down on me like this. My sword shot out, piercing into his chest, his momentary lapse costing him dearly, or so I would like to say.
No, it was barely two fingers worth inside him, his hand gripped around the edge and stopping me from going further. It's not that his strength is greater than mine, it was the combination of his strength and his overall durability.
{Berserker.}
Master suddenly called through the link, I forgot my foe and turned my head as a massive amount of magical energy suddenly enveloped the area and I immediately disengaged to go after him.
***
Wilhelm POV
"What is this!?" Lacer's expression changed drastically for the first time. His flames, his divine fire was being devoured and destroyed.
Our weapons locked, My Sword of Destruction pushing against his Golden Spear, his Fire bursting out in all directions and my Power of Destruction Crackled and Arced out, intercepting the flames that sought to harm me. They didn't stop, there were times it moved and wrapped around him, his skin destroyed at the mere touch before his Flames snuffed it out.
My Aura visibly surged to feed into my Power of Destruction to fight against his relentless flames. My bloodline, it was almost like it was eager to fight against the divine, to reach out and strike at those who dwelled above.
"You are not an ordinary human." Lancer looked at me, less perturbed by my power. "I see it.....you are something strange."
Does he have an ability that allows him to glimpse into my true nature?
I grit my teeth, pushing every last bit of Aura I could output and he shuddered under the sudden intensity of my Destruction. He almost reeled back as it jutted out towards his body. "I'm just a normal human~" I grinned, mentally calling forth my other blades to swing down on him.
The flames around him increased several fold, the ground under us turning to molten rock, my swords forced away at the sudden explosive power.
My eyes widened as my Power of Destruction was overtaken in sheer output. I held back a sigh, forcing Whisper into the air. No, I shouldn't have expected to win a fight like that. If I had more practice, more time with my bloodline ability then maybe...
There were no 'ifs' in a fight.
Noticing my lack of reprisal, Lancer's weapon pushed forward, destroying my guard and slashing into my side. My Aura had gone critically low, his weapon tearing into my skin, but it also triggered my defenses in my clothing. a Divine weapon is a Divine weapon.
The Dust that Jinn had woven into my shirt activated, a burst of elemental power exploded out from the wound.
"What?" Lancer looked surprised at the sudden retaliation, forcing him back.
"Is this the time to be losing focus?" I smirked, holding my arms out, the sky having gotten a bit cloudy in the last few moments.
The Servant looked up, unable to keep that bewildered look off his face.
"Hammer of Thor."
The massive lighting figure that conglomerated had raised its hammer into the air, lighting up the night sky. My new attribute, my additional element that I had been imbued with had once again further increased the power of this spell.
It swung down onto the unsuspecting servant as I retreated away with full speed, grabbing a shocked Ruler Servant with me. "Eeeeh!?" She sputtered out as I threw up several shields I could in that brief moment, and they all broke at the sudden cataclysmic force.
The earth scorched, the ground sundered, and a huge gorge was now where a highway used to be.
"Magnificent" The voice of Lancer echoed out as everything settled. I held back a growl as he floated out of the new cavern I made. He was hurt, my spell had managed to reach him, that was something not many mages could boast about. "If I did not have my Armor, I would have been grievously injured." There was blood dripping from several places, and even charred parts of his body, but nothing I could call critical.
The Golden armor around his body. No doubt it was also divine in origin, otherwise I couldn't guess how he managed to walk off my attack. "You bastard." I couldn't help but laugh. "What a monster."
"Your name." He held out his spear, pointing towards me. "I wish to hear the name of the living person who was able to wound me."
"Wilhelm. I will refrain from giving my family name as it would reveal something I wish to keep secret for now."
"Wilhelm." He nodded in understanding. "I will follow my orders, but I will offer Noble Phantasm in thanks for this wonderful battle." His lance ignited in fire, but it felt much different. A chill ran down my spine, as if death was descending on me.
I looked back at Ruler who looked ready to defend herself, but I doubt she would be willing to extend that to me.
{Berserker.} I could out through the link.
Should I use a command seal?
I clenched my fists and let out a laugh. I had my own pride. I withdrew The Staff of Magnus from inside my storage, and the Boosted Gear appeared on me left hand as a precaution.
My swords were floating around me protectively.
"O'Brahma, Curse Me." The world shifted, as his spear ignited in a much denser flame. It dyed the entire area in a red hue, my throat burned, and even my skin began to dry at a noticeable rate.
Runes spun around me. The strongest shield I could make, the completed form of it. I wasn't finished, My Primordial Runes appeared, interlaying with the spell itself. Forming a conceptual level of defense that further increased the bulwark, all amplified by my Divine Construct.
"Brahmastra Kundala!" He threw his spear, and the space around it was burned away.
Even as my vision filled with nothing but his Divine Fire, I slammed my Staff down. "Shield of Asgard!"
My vision became fire, as if the sun enveloped me, my shield. I could feel the initial impact, my spell shuddered under blow. I saw nothing but fire, of this heat that pushed down and threatened to burn me alive.
My shield, it continued to hold, but cracks could be seen forming. "Haah!" I let out a shout, forcing more magical energy through me into the barrier, to maintain it. The strain was bearable, but I wouldn't be able to maintain this forever.
The force of the attack was something else, the Conceptual Weight of a Noble Phantasm baring down on me.
My translucent golden shield fought back, my Magical energy pouring in. My Primordial Runes Shined bright, even under the intense light of his Divine Fire. Cracked, and barely whole, my shield still stood once his Noble Phantasm dissipated.
I used the Staff to steady myself from the sudden exertion, staring at the servant who didn't move, even as his gaze landed on me. "You withstood my Noble Phantasm." He said with no small amount of awe in his voice.
I let out a long breath, gathering my magical energy to begin once again.
{Master!} I heard Berserker's voice through the link, followed by a crack of thunder, her signature purple lightning crashing down into Lancer's unsuspecting face.
He moved his spear up to block, and my eyes widened as his arm holding his weapon went flying through the air, severed clean from his body.
"Arjuna!?" Lancer blurted out, seemingly more concerned by Berserker's appearance than the fact that he just lost an arm.
Berserker landed on the ground, about to attack again but Lancer's body was enveloped by a burst of magical energy, and he was suddenly teleported away.
Well, I was going to do something similar, but I guess Berserker doing it is fine too.
"A command seal." I grunted, falling to my butt. It was the correct play to make from the other side. I looked to the ground and his weapon also was gone, but his arm turned into magical energy and dissipated.
"Master!" Berserker was on me immediately.
"I'm fine." I couldn't help but pat her head as the atmosphere changed instantaneously. She looked exceedingly happy to receive my touch. I showed her the white light in my hand as it was already working on healing my wound. It wasn't very deep, I was more concern with the Divine Nature of his weapon, than the wound itself. I hope there are no lingering effects like the weapons from the Abrahamic cosmology.
"Who's this?" Her face turned dark again, her sword gripped tight, staring at Ruler.
I forgot about her in that moment, my shield having protected her as well.
"I'm Ruler." She hesitantly introduced herself. "I'm the moderator for this Grail War."
"Master, I'll remove this woman, just give me a moment." Berserker was about to move, and Ruler looked a mite bit scared.
"Berserker, stop." I pulled on her. "Her being alive is good for us." I briefly explained. And it didn't matter if I called her Berserker since a Ruler servant could identify any other servant by just a glance.
"But Master, how can an insect like that help us at all?"
Ruler's eye twitched slightly again as she stood up straighter. "Attacking the moderator is against the rules, if you persist, I will have to punish you."
"Ohoh." Berserker let out a little a laugh. "Master, just let me crush this little harlot, it won't take long."
"H-harlot!?" Ruler squeaked out
"Raikou." I called her by her real name, which actually caused her to pause and give me her full attention. "Lets just get back to our hideout so I can rest."
"Mou~ Whatever my Master wants." She quickly changed tunes.
I stood up steadily enough, putting everything away but Mirage. It appears that Saber of Black took his Master away at the first opportunity. I looked at Ruler one last time she was a bit on guard, but also looking at me as if trying to give me an appraisal.
For some strange reason, I had the incessant need to bully her, and I just couldn't figure out why. With a sigh, I opened a new portal up and pulled Berserker through.
The last look at this place was the sun peeking above a mountain range. Or rather, what was left of it after Lancer's attack, because I'm pretty sure there were three peaks in total before tonight, and I could only count two now.
***
For those who don't know, Brahmastra Kundala is an Anti-Country Noble Phantasm that basically says -- fuck everything in that direction. Not to be mistaken with Vasavi Shakti that he loses his armor from using.
Sorry for the late chapter, took a nap when i got home from work. Just a reminder, i'm not posting this weekend, so i'll see everyone on monday.
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