"Cough, cough..."
Tatsumiaino coughed softly, his mouth tasting especially bitter, as though he had taken some kind of medicine.
"What's wrong, Tatsumiaino?"
Berserker tilted his head slightly, looking at him with concern.
"It's nothing."
Tatsumiaino suddenly spotted a vending machine standing on a street corner not far away. His eyes lit up, and he walked over, fed in two hundred-yen coins, and bought a bottle of purified water.
As he took the water from the dispenser, a white figure suddenly entered his field of vision, staggering along the intersection ahead. If he was not mistaken, it was the girl who had attacked the Dead Apostle earlier. However, she seemed to be in poor condition now, as if she had been injured.
Noticing someone staring at her, the slender homunculus girl abruptly turned around and followed the gaze to Tatsumiaino. Their eyes met.
"Unknown Master detected. Commencing elimination procedure."
The girl murmured as a two-meter-long heavy battle axe appeared in her hands. Then she charged at Tatsumiaino.
"Tatsumiaino, watch out!"
Berserker gripped the glass bottle containing his liquid Noble Phantasm. At the same time, he stepped in front of Tatsumiaino and opened the cap, ready to drink it and activate his Noble Phantasm at any moment.
But before he could drink it, the fierce-looking girl suddenly collapsed face-first onto the ground, her battle axe falling away from her hands.
After a brief silence...
"This..."
Tatsumiaino scratched his head in confusion. "What happened?"
"Uh... I'm not sure either. Maybe it's an enemy feint? They deliberately lured us over to investigate, then planned to attack when we let our guard down?"
Berserker racked his brains and could only come up with that explanation.
"Why do I feel like you're talking nonsense with a straight face?"
Tatsumiaino curled his lip. An awkward smile appeared