"Is this SABER's MASTER? This approach is simply an insult to heroic spirits..." The Conqueror King watched the information transmitted from the monitor and spoke with displeasure. That man was simply cold-blooded.
Except for that old geezer Zouken Matou, who was hiding in some unknown corner and couldn't be found, every single Master in Fuyuki City was under the surveillance of Meruem's micro insect reconnaissance drones.
Putting himself in her shoes, if he had been summoned by someone like that, he would probably have fallen out with them before long.
Unlike Artoria, who rigidly adhered to chivalry, the Conqueror King pursued the kingly path of conquest—he wouldn't let himself be manipulated by a Master.
"Let's go, Conqueror King. The others have already taken the stage. It's time for us to set out," Meruem said. Because that old worm Zouken was still lurking in the shadows, he had no choice but to bring Sakura along.
Although Meruem had laid layer upon layer of barriers around the Matou family's new residence, he still couldn't guarantee they would stop Zouken's intrusion. Abe no Seimei wasn't a simple opponent. Meruem could sense that when they fought earlier, the guy still had hidden tricks he hadn't used. If Meruem hadn't gotten close due to the opponent's carelessness, it might very well have been a bitter fight.
And what onmyoji excel at most really is barrier arts...
At the entrance of the Einzbern castle, a man wearing silver-white armor and carrying a huge sack on his back was slowly advancing toward the interior.
The man radiated a thick stench of blood from head to toe, which could be smelled from far away. The edges of his armor were stained with a dark red hue—the color of dried blood.
"He's here. But I haven't found the opponent's MASTER. SABER, please defeat him." Following Irisviel's request, Artoria ran toward Berserker with Excalibur in hand.
"Maiya, proceed as planned... If it's only Berserker alone, just take him out." Kiritsugu picked up his specialized sniper rifle.
"Yes."
"Jeanne! Jeanne!" In the open space outside the castle, Bluebeard—now Berserker—became extremely agitated upon seeing Artoria appear before him. However, having almost completely lost his ability to speak, he could only repeat that name over and over like a roar.
Like presenting a treasure, he put down the sack he was carrying on his back.
"Berserker, are your weapons inside?" Artoria watched him warily. She hadn't lost her sense of smell, and the stench on him kept pricking at her nerves. That was the blood of innocent people...
"Clink clank..." It wasn't the Noble Phantasms Artoria imagined—the sack was filled entirely with gold coins.
"Jeanne... Jeanne..." Berserker pushed the gold coins toward Artoria as if trying to curry favor.
Bluebeard was already mentally unstable to begin with, and after becoming a Berserker, his reason had hit an all-time low. Only when he saw Artoria, who looked very much like Saint Jeanne, did he recover a tiny shred of sanity.
But judging by the current situation, that recovered shred of sanity didn't seem to work quite like normal human thinking.
Probably some fragments of memory remained from what he did before his death in his previous life—alchemy—so he kept slaughtering children.
Hoping to use gold coins to please his "goddess."
"Berserker, are you insulting me?" Artoria looked at Berserker in fury. Her self-esteem had already taken quite a hit because her Master treated her differently for being a woman and because she disagreed with her Master's methods.
And now Berserker's actions were simply agitating her heart once again.
With a swing of her sword, Artoria slashed open the sack under Berserker's dazed gaze, and coin after coin scattered across the ground.
One gold coin happened to roll right to Berserker's feet.
"Jeanne!" Berserker seemed unable to believe what was happening in front of him and cried out in utter grief.
"I'll say it again, Berserker—I am not the Jeanne you speak of!" Artoria pointed her sharp sword at Berserker. "Take out your weapon, or even if you are unarmed, I will swing my sword at you."
"Jeanne..." Berserker growled in a low voice. tendrils of black aura began to emanate from his body. His eyes turned blood-red, and his silver-white armor seemed to be dyed with a layer of gloom.
The pure white cross on his chest also turned pitch-black.
A long bone sword with a ruby embedded in the center appeared in Berserker's hand.
"Fight me fair and square! Berserker, you will pay for the crimes you have committed!" Artoria swung her holy sword, wrapped in Invisible Air, and launched an attack at Berserker.
"Roar!" Wrapped in black aura, Berserker's entire body suddenly swelled up enormously like an inflated balloon.
His originally gaunt, skeletal appearance rapidly transformed into a monstrous figure of black muscle. Not only that, but the slender bone sword was also wrapped in black aura and turned into a gigantic greatsword.
With just a light swing toward Artoria, he blocked her full-power strike.
Non-CASTER Bluebeard—although he lost the formidable grimoire "Prelati's Spellbook," and his parameters weren't particularly high even after the Berserker class boost.
But he possessed a very powerful Personal Skill—Mad Enhancement: EX, which significantly boosts parameters.
And his current state was the final product of Mad Enhancement. Of course, the price of Mad Enhancement is the loss of all reason, leaving only instinct to attack any moving unit nearby.
However... since Berserker Bluebeard was already a mental patient with low sanity to begin with, lowering his reason further didn't really make much difference.
"Such strength..." Artoria slid several meters across the ground before dissipating the force of that terrifying attack.
Yet the opponent had done it casually.
"The wound on my left wrist from before... I can't apply force." Of course, part of it was due to the unhealable wound caused by Gáe Buidhe. In short, after the first clash, Artoria was at a complete disadvantage.
"SABER, let me lend you a hand!" Just then, a crimson spear joined the battle.
______
(≧◡≦) ♡ Support me and read 20 chapters ahead – patreon.com/Mutter
Every 100 Power Stones = 1 extra chapter on Saturday.
Every 5 reviews = 1 extra chapter on Saturday.