"Rustle—"
Just then, the bushes nearby suddenly began to shake. Shirou reflexively turned his head, and his breath instantly caught.
More precisely—it was because he saw a figure emerge from the darkness.
Standing there was a half-naked gray giant, densely wrapped in restraint belts.
The giant's entire body was covered in armor-like muscles. Countless scars marked his corpse-pale skin, recounting the miserable past and brutal training this man had endured.
More than a dozen stakes pierced his arms, which were as thick as a crocodile's body, and his thighs, which were as sturdy as an elephant's hind legs, yet they did not affect his movements in the slightest.
Although the giant stood only a little over two meters tall, Shirou had a momentary illusion that he had reunited with Fuyuki City's sea monster in a foreign land. The man's presence was simply that overwhelming.
A dazzling smile that no one could make sense of hung across the giant's face, adding even more to his eerie presence in the night.
"Are you the Berserker rampaging around here?"
Shirou's words drew the giant's attention.
When he turned around and looked down at the red-haired boy, the smile on his face somehow grew even brighter—
"I finally found you, oppressor?"
With that, the Berserker charged toward Shirou and Astolfo like a derailed train.
The earth trembled. It was definitely not an illusion.
The giant was merely running, yet the forest itself seemed to let out a mournful cry.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! HAHAHAHAHA!"
Laughing all the while, the Berserker raised his right hand high.
Shirou's peripheral vision caught sight of the short sword in his hand.
Not only was the sword not a Noble Phantasm, its edge had been chopped blunt and curled. Yet Shirou had no doubt that, relying solely on his monstrous strength, this