Lancelot / Arondight

"Hey, mad dog, what kind of fun can you possibly bring me?"

Archer's blood-red eyes fixed on the black, frenzied Servant, a cryptic smile playing at the corner of her mouth.

Some distance from Kariya and Tohsaka Tokiomi, Archer and Berserker faced off. The two Masters had deliberately kept away from the battlefield. They both knew full well that there was no room for them to interfere in the fight between these two. Staying here would only get in the way.

"Waaaaaaaagh!!!"

Berserker had long since lost his reason. Why would he listen to Archer's nonsense? With a furious, resentful roar, Berserker charged at the golden Archer.

"Tsk. A mad dog should know its place and prostrate itself on the ground, gazing up at its king's majesty!"

Those of low station had low, filthy eyes. To someone of noble birth, being looked at that way was an intolerable humiliation. To Archer, this insolent Berserker was even less forgivable than Tohsaka Tokiomi, who acted on the strength of her pity.

After spitting in disdain, Archer unleashed a three-hit volley of Noble Phantasms from the Gate of Babylon behind her. A gleaming axe, knife, and sword streaked forward like meteors, their trails of light meeting Berserker's charge.

The black Servant, consumed by madness, showed no fear of the Noble Phantasms flying toward her. She checked her stride, reached out with her right hand, and caught the first one—a sword-shaped Noble Phantasm of unknown origin. In an instant, the once-lavishly decorated longsword in Berserker's hand was stained black, and blood-red markings spread across its blade.

Holding the sword, Berserker struck the second axe against its haft. The impact knocked it off its original course and into the next Noble Phantasm. With its momentum gone, the weapon was easily knocked flying by Berserker. It spun down behind her, and the courtyard's paving stones burst into dust, scattering like a bomb had gone off and blotting out the view.

How could anyone believe that a black Servant who fought with such crisp, deadly precision had lost her reason and become a Berserker?

"Interesting. It's been a long time since I've had this much fun. A mere stray dog has managed to entertain me this much!"

Unexpectedly, Archer didn't erupt in the fury she had shown during the earlier battle in the warehouse district. Instead, she laughed out loud, utterly carefree.

"A stray dog begging for scraps still has a little ability, I see. But don't disappoint me, mongrel!"

Light shone around Archer once more. A new group of Noble Phantasms appeared behind her, surrounding her towering figure—sixteen in all.

There were not only spears and swords, but also axes, hammers, lances, and oddly shaped weapons whose purposes and properties were unknown.

Every weapon was polished to a mirror shine and brimmed with tremendous magical energy. Each radiated an aura of mystery no less potent than the others. They were all genuine Noble Phantasms.

"Let's see how long you can keep up that bad habit of stealing my prey."

Archer flicked her hand, and the Noble Phantasms floating in midair raced toward Berserker, each vying to strike first. Their thunderous impacts shook the night air, and the constant explosions seemed ready to illuminate the entire sky.

"Kariya, can you hear that? That's the strongest card in the Tohsaka Family's hand."

As the rumbling of the Noble Phantasms striking the ground outside reached them, Tohsaka Tokiomi spoke to Kariya, whom she had cornered. Her elegance and composure had returned once more. Every word and gesture was flawless.

"Heh..."

Matou Kariya leaned against the wall behind him, struggling to keep himself upright. He looked at Tohsaka Tokiomi and sneered.

"Your so-called trump card seems to want you to slit your own throat and atone."

Tokiomi's mouth stiffened for an instant at Matou Kariya's reply, but the expression vanished almost immediately.

"If it meant fulfilling my lifelong wish of reaching the Root, I wouldn't mind dying this very moment."

Then she shook her head and spoke with self-mockery.

"Apparently, I've lost my composure a little. To bring this up with a heretical, useless scrap of a magus like you... Still, even if I die, Rin will inherit my family's legacy. And if Rin can't fulfill it, then Sakura will."

"Sakura?!"

At the mention of that name, Matou Kariya looked up in shock.

"That's right. Come to think of it, I should thank the old man of the Matou Family. His request was undoubtedly a great help to the Tohsaka Family. Since both our families know of the Holy Grail's existence, the chances of reaching the Root are greater."

Why...

Watching Tohsaka Tokiomi expound on her so-called magus's creed as though she were doing what was best for Sakura, Matou Kariya felt lost.

Why was this man standing here, spouting all this nonsense?

Did he know what Zouken had done?

Did he know the pain Sakura had suffered?

If he didn't...

Then what gave this man the right?

What qualifications did he have?

To say such things here?

"But it's all your fault, Matou Kariya!"

Tohsaka Tokiomi's angry voice interrupted Kariya's thoughts.

"Because you did nothing! Because you defected! The Matou Family's line of Magecraft has been severed, and Sakura, its heir, has lost the chance to continue pursuing Magecraft!"

Kariya looked up at Tohsaka Tokiomi, who was raging like a lion. He had never seen her lose her composure like this before. But to Kariya, her anger looked utterly ridiculous.

Kariya gave a quiet laugh. "To you magi, children are nothing more than tools for reaching the Root, aren't they?"

Tohsaka Tokiomi answered coldly.

"Magi are born with power, and one day, they will obtain even greater power. Before they become aware of that destiny, the responsibility is already in their blood. That is what it means to be the child of a magus."

"Heh. Destiny? Responsibility? A magus's child?"

The three questions grated on Tohsaka Tokiomi. She swung the cane in her hand again and, after chanting two short phrases, sent a blazing fireball toward Kariya.

Kariya, barely managing to hold himself upright, watched the Magecraft rush toward him and twisted his lips into a vicious grin.

"Then I'll smash your damn destiny to pieces!"

At the same time, the three Command Spells on Kariya's hand, which he had not used until now, glowed blood-red.

"By the name of the Command Spell, Berserker, remove your Mad Enhancement!"

Lancelot

[Kariya, listen. Some Berserkers are strongest when they're lucid. Your Berserker is one of them...]

Wang Xiaoming's offhand remark surfaced in Kariya's mind. He didn't know how Wang Xiaoming had learned such a secret. And judging from his expression at the time, he seemed to have already known Berserker's true identity.

But there was no time to worry about that! All Kariya could do now was—

After barely dodging Tohsaka Tokiomi's Magecraft, Kariya revealed the three red Command Spells on the back of his hand and recited the words to command his Servant.

"By the name of the Command Spell, Berserker, suppress your madness!"

The Holy Grail War was a contest in which magi summoned Servants to fight for the Holy Grail, the Omnipotent Cauldron. But that didn't mean the course of the war could be decided by the Servants' skill alone.

To survive until the end, a Master needed more than a powerful Servant. They also needed the ability to make the most of what they had. This did not mean their ability as a magus.

It meant knowing how to use the three miracles in their hands, how to take such a gamble, and how to judge the situation so that it turned in their favor...

Though Kariya had never wanted to become a magus and despised Magecraft, at that moment he made the choice that was best for him.

Meanwhile, on the battlefield between Archer and Berserker—

Watching Berserker gradually fall behind under her barrage of Noble Phantasms, Archer wore an expression of sadistic delight. From the very beginning, she had never regarded her opponent as an equal. Enemies deserved to be toyed with and humiliated, and that was especially true of this mad dog.

She would use her strength to teach this insolent dog to fear her. After making it feel pain, she would grant it death.

"Hmm?"

As Archer watched Berserker struggle helplessly against the bombardment of Noble Phantasms, she keenly sensed a change in the mad dog before her. She raised an arm, and the Gate of Babylon behind her stopped firing.

"..."

A brief silence fell over the battlefield—

The cool night breeze swept away the smoke hanging over the battlefield, revealing Berserker's transformation.

The black haze that had shrouded the knight swirled around her and rapidly contracted. The blood-red tint in the resentful eyes beneath her helmet gradually faded...

Under the effect of the Command Spells—the greatest achievement of Matou Zouken's life, magical crystals capable of briefly bringing about a "miracle"—the mental influence of Berserker's class skill, Mad Enhancement, was being dispelled.

And that was only Kariya's first Command Spell. He looked up at Tohsaka Tokiomi, who still wore that same elegant expression, and gritted his teeth.

"By the name of the second Command Spell, Berserker, restore your full strength!"

Tohsaka Tokiomi, you threw Sakura into that hellhole for the sake of your so-called Magecraft, then never looked back or once cared how she was doing. You don't deserve to be her father!

For Sakura's suffering, and for my revenge, Tohsaka Tokiomi, you and your ideals can go to your graves together!

"By the name of the third Command Spell, Berserker! You must win this battle!"

The three Command Spells, unleashed in quick succession, released their hidden magical energy. The energy whipped up a whirlwind and then vanished. Kariya, who was only half-trained in Magecraft, would probably never again wield such immense power in his life. Even so, deep down, he felt that this was the most satisfying thing he had ever done. He had no regrets.

On the battlefield

The black armor covering Berserker lost its ominous color and returned to its original gleaming sheen. Silently, she reached up and removed the helmet that had concealed her face, revealing flowing purple hair and a face once adored and envied by countless noblewomen.

"What an appalling act of disrespect... to raise a hand against the King..."

Berserker's melancholy voice was thick with remorse, and that meant—

"The mad dog has regained her reason?"

Archer looked at the downcast Berserker, her face openly mocking.

"You should know that a muzzled mad dog is worth less than a watchdog. You're no King of Knights, so why not go back to barking like you used to?"

Archer's words seemed to touch a forbidden place in Berserker's heart. The knight, now restored to reason, looked up at Archer. Her eyes were as calm as a lake, and Archer found the sight deeply unpleasant.

"Mongrel, you dare look up at me with such insolent eyes? It seems that even your reason hasn't made you understand your lowly station!"

The Noble Phantasms rained down again, more numerous, faster, and more ferocious than before. Archer seemed to be venting her fury through their relentless assault.

Facing the rain of weapons, Berserker calmly caught the first sword that came at her, then seized a spear with her right hand. The Noble Phantasms that had belonged to Archer now quietly served their new owner, shielding her from the next wave of attacks.

Unlike her wild, sweeping movements while mad, Berserker now displayed the full extent of her former martial skill. Like flowing water, she deflected one incoming Noble Phantasm after another.

Berserker could also switch between the weapons in her hands at will. Blade, spear, sword, and even weapons whose purpose was impossible to identify—she brought out the full power of each one. In the hands of this knight, the limitations of weapons seemed not to exist at all.

The relentless bombardment once again shrouded the battlefield in smoke. Then a cold glint suddenly cut through the haze and shot straight toward Archer's face!

It was the Noble Phantasm Berserker had captured earlier, now turned against Archer. The irony was hard to miss, and Archer had never imagined that Berserker would still have enough strength to counterattack under such an assault.

"Simply increasing the number of Noble Phantasms means nothing to me, Hero King of Mesopotamia. Your Gate of Babylon is indeed powerful, but it won't win you this battle on its own."

Berserker's calm voice made it sound like a foregone conclusion.

Archer lightly brushed her right thumb over her cheek. A long, narrow cut marked the spot—the work of Berserker's attack just now.

Looking at the blood on her finger, Archer suddenly laughed. Her laughter was like a boulder crashing into a still lake, sending ripples across its surface.

But beneath that laughter lay a fury capable of burning everything to ashes.

"Mongrel, tell me your name. I've decided to grant you a dignified death!"

"One of the knights of the Knights of the Round Table under the former King Arthur—"

Facing Archer's surging fury, Berserker remained neither humble nor arrogant as she gave her name.

"Lancelot."

And a note about bonus chapters.

The next bonus chapter will come when the average number of subscriptions reaches 2,000. We're just a tiny bit short...

(And, by the way, Violet Evergarden is the best!)

Arondight

"One of the knights of the Knights of the Round Table under the former King Arthur—Lancelot."

After Berserker revealed her true name, Archer suddenly doubled over with laughter. Her earlier anger seemed to have vanished completely as she clapped her hands again and again.

"Hey, hey, mad dog—are you deliberately trying to make me laugh? What kind of third-rate play is this?"

"My code does not permit me to lie." The white knight's voice was calm, but the melancholy hidden deep within it could not be concealed.

"Mad dog—no, Lancelot. Tell me, what does it feel like to turn your blade against your own King?"