"Berserker, go test this guy's strength," Li Zihan's voice came from the owl.
The black giant burst from the mist. Over two meters tall, he was a brutal mass of thick, steel-like flesh, yet he was no lumbering ogre. Madness radiated from his blood-red eyes as he swung a massive, heavy obsidian battle axe and charged toward the church at a speed no slower than Lancer's.
Sensing Berserker's killing intent, the Sea Monster reacted at once. Countless tentacles stretched out from the church ruins, looking from afar like countless ugly, grotesquely deformed pythons.
But its strangeness and ugliness could never halt Berserker's advance. Driven by immense strength, the unnamed Great Axe easily tore apart the tentacles striking at him from the front, sending the Sea Monster's bizarre blood splattering through the air.
At the same time, a piercing whistle suddenly rang out. Countless tiny tentacles drilled up from underground, turning into chains that wrapped around Berserker's limbs. Then huge tentacles transformed into spears and shot straight at him.
If that blow landed, even a Servant might suffer grievous injury—or even die.
That was assuming it could hit him.
The muscles across Berserker's body bulged high as he violently spread his arms. The tentacles strong enough to bind magical beasts snapped apart one after another, like hemp ropes tied around an elephant.
He stomped hard, crushing the ground beneath his feet along with the tentacles hidden underground. Berserker leaped up and viciously swung his stone axe at the incoming massive tentacle.
A dull impact shook the air in that instant. A huge section of tentacle and Berserker fell from the sky at the same time.
The tentacle wriggled painfully on the ground. Berserker was completely unscathed.
"Hey, hey. This guy's absurdly strong," Rider clicked his tongue. The monstrous strength with which Berserker had so easily broken free was simply unbelievable.
Watching Berserker rampage across the battlefield, Rider laughed heartily. "I can't let him steal all the glory for himself." He pulled on the reins and drove his chariot toward the Sea Monster. Lightning flashed between the wheels and the bull's hooves, and Rider's laughter was soon drowned out by the deafening roar of thunder. Web-like bolts of lightning danced through the air around the chariot.
The rampaging chariot sped through the air. The tentacles struck by it were reduced to char under the lightning's scorching heat, completely losing all activity. It crashed heavily to the ground, blasting a deep crater into the earth.
"Master, please allow me to join the battle," Lancer requested of the crow perched on his shoulder.
The sight was truly strange: an unmatched knight respectfully asking permission from a crow on his shoulder. But it could not be helped. Kaineth and the other two Masters were still far away, using themselves as bait to lure Caster out. For now, communication between Master and Servant could only be conducted through familiars.
"Go, Lancer. Don't disgrace me," Kaineth quickly issued his order through the familiar.
"Yes." A smile spread across Lancer's face. After so many years, he had finally waited for the chance to fight alongside his lord. The handsome man, beautiful as some wicked spirit, spun his spear and solemnly said, "I will never bring shame upon my lord."
Holding a spear in each hand, he stepped onto the battlefield once more.
The Sea Monster's tentacles burrowed out of the ground. Wielding his spear like a sword, Lancer drew a crescent through the air with the tip of his red spear. Like a knife and fork slicing through butter, the monster from another world had no means of resisting before this spear.
Gae Dearg (Rose of Purity) was a roughly two-meter-long spear inscribed with runes such as "Yew (Sacred Tree)," "Binding," "Gift," "Birch (Abundance)," and "War God (Victory)." It was a sharp spear capable of nullifying defenses formed from magical energy. This Noble Phantasm's anti-magic nature was especially vicious against the Sea Monster, whose entire body was permeated with magical energy.
Yet even with two Servants restraining it ahead, the Sea Monster could still spare the attention to attack Lancer. The tentacles that had just been cut apart gathered together, regenerated, and struck toward Lancer's heart.
"Ha!" Lancer would naturally not be struck by such a clumsy attack. With an angry shout, he swung the yellow short spear in his hand and, with lightning speed, severed a tentacle seemingly formed from countless protruding lumps of flesh and sticky feelers.
The severed tentacle collapsed limply to the ground, unable to regenerate again.
Gae Buidhe (Rose of Annihilation), a demonic spear gifted to Diarmuid Ua Duibhne by the sea god Manannán mac Lir, possessed the ability to prevent opponents wounded by it from recovering.
P.S.: In the earliest settings, the Sea Monster seemed ridiculously overpowered.
A true demon—wasn't that on the same level as Kishinami? Thinking deeply.
Just how much of the setting had that mushroom eaten?
Chapter 15: Sea Monster Subjugation Battle
Before you continue