Illyasviel von Einzbern

The towering Servant had long, black, seaweed-like hair cascading past his shoulders, a crimson pupil in his right eye with a black sclera, and a golden iris in his left.

His dark skin was bare above the waist, his muscles knotted and powerful, with wrist guards bound tightly around his forearms.

He wore a tattered battle skirt and stood barefoot.

In his hand, he gripped a weapon that resembled a giant axe.

Or rather, it was less of an axe and more of a jagged slab of rock that could be held.

Sasuke Uchiha's Sharingan could clearly perceive the Servant's immense magical energy; in every sense, this Servant was on an entirely different level than the Lancer he had just faced.

The silver-haired, red-eyed girl bowed her head slightly, lifting the hem of her purple dress with both hands to offer Sasuke a graceful curtsy.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Illyasviel von Einzbern."

"Illyasviel von Einzbern."

"Since you are a magus, you must understand what the name Einzbern implies, right?"

Sasuke looked at Illyasviel von Einzbern with an expressionless face, his tone flat as he replied:

"Sasuke Uchiha."

"I don't understand. I am not familiar with the structure of you magi."

"However, I have heard Emiya and Tohsaka mention your name."

"The Master of Berserker."

Upon hearing this, Illyasviel von Einzbern's expression remained unchanged, a smile still gracing her lips:

"Is that so..."

"But you were the one fighting a Servant just now, weren't you?"

"And you even dodged the attack from Lancer's Noble Phantasm."

"If I fight you, I should be able to attract other Servants, right?"

Sasuke was not surprised that Illyasviel von Einzbern had seen everything; after all, magi had their own ways of monitoring the area.

"And so?"

As Sasuke spoke, the surrounding atmosphere seemed to drop to freezing.

Cold winds were already howling through the forest, and the breath of those present condensed into white mist.

Yet Illyasviel von Einzbern continued to smile, hands clasped behind her back, closing her beautiful eyes with a tone that sounded almost adorable:

"Then let's begin~"

"Go, Berserker~"

Berserker, who had been standing still like a small mountain, appeared before Sasuke in the very next instant!

It was as if a sleeping beast had suddenly awakened!

His speed was in no way inferior to Lancer's as he swung his massive axe, aiming to cleave Sasuke's skull in two!

But Berserker did not succeed; his axe was firmly blocked by a purple skeletal arm that had erupted from Sasuke!

[Susanoo!]

Sasuke activated his Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan once more!

Although he had consumed a vast amount of magical energy during the fight with Lancer using his Shadow Clone, he could still hold on for a while longer thanks to the brief recovery period and his remaining reserves.

Sasuke controlled the skeletal arm of the Susanoo, forcefully pushing back the downward pressure of Berserker's strike!

Berserker showed no signs of stiffness or even the slightest hesitation; using the momentum of being pushed back, he spun around and unleashed a horizontal slash at Sasuke!

In an instant, Sasuke's Susanoo grew to form a half-body, the skeletal hand blocking the horizontal strike and gripping the giant axe tightly!

The other arm of the Susanoo swung down heavily toward Berserker!

Pinned down, it should have been impossible for Berserker to dodge the attack.

But Berserker decisively released his giant axe and leaped high into the sky, evading the strike of the Susanoo!

However, Sasuke had expected that this attack would not succeed.

In fact, Berserker leaping into the air was exactly the outcome Sasuke had intended!

Sasuke's eyes tracked Berserker in the air, blood vessels bulging in the sclera of his left eye as crimson blood began to trickle from the corner of his eye.

While the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan did not carry the side effect of blindness, it still exerted a negative toll on the user's body.

Currently, this Shadow Clone possessed less than one-tenth of Sasuke's true strength.

The strain of overusing his eyes combined with the limited magical energy left in the Shadow Clone meant his body was already reaching its limit, though to Sasuke, this level of burden was nothing.

[Amaterasu!]

[Flame Style: Kagutsuchi!]

As both ocular techniques were unleashed simultaneously, scorching black flames transformed into dozens of arrows, shooting toward Berserker in mid-air!

The rapid-fire attack left Berserker, still suspended in the air, with no room to dodge, and the arrows of black flame struck his body in their entirety!

The searing pain of the black flames made Berserker roar in fury!

At this moment, the surrounding air was trembling!

However, the black flames did not consume him...

Because Berserker, that guy, actually tore off his own flesh and skin to rid himself of the black flames' consumption!

Berserker even went as far as to twist off his own arm that had been stained by the black flames!

The entire process took only the blink of an eye, and the black flames had already been completely stripped away by Berserker!

Moreover, Berserker's recovery ability was truly astonishing; the flesh and skin he had torn off were fully restored in an instant.

Yet, Sasuke did not feel surprised by this, his expression remaining calm and unhurried.

Shirou Emiya's Servant Saber had once fought Berserker, and the opponent possessed a regenerative ability that transcended the self, appearing more like a reversal of time.

A curse of resurrection.

But every technique has a weakness; even the abilities of Heroic Spirits cannot be invincible.

It was just that at this moment, the whites of Sasuke's eyes were bloodshot, and it was clearly impossible to kill Berserker using a Shadow Clone.

The amount of mana the main body had shared with him was simply too little.

Forget it, let's just treat this as gathering intelligence.

Thinking this, Sasuke dispelled the Susanoo the next moment, and the Mangekyo in his eyes receded back into the Three Tomoe.

At this moment, Sasuke could be said to have no defense whatsoever.

Seeing this, Illya temporarily had Berserker cease his attack and asked with a hint of curiosity:

"Do you intend to give up?"

"Can you tell me what kind of relationship you have with Emiya?"

"Depending on your answer, I might spare your life."

Emiya?

Shirou Emiya?

Sasuke did not understand why Illya was asking about Shirou Emiya, but he was in no mood to answer questions posed with a threat to his life.

To this, Sasuke stared at Illya, who was standing not far away, and sneered:

"Are you so certain that you can kill me here?"

Illya realized something was wrong instantly; this was no bluff.

But Illya did not know what Sasuke was planning to do.

Did he have an even more powerful attack?

Or was he planning to run away?

Illya felt that Berserker could handle both possibilities; even if Sasuke ran, she could have Berserker chase him down!

However, something unexpected by Illya occurred.

Under the joint gaze of Illya and Berserker, Sasuke slowly raised his hands as if to weave hand seals.

"Berserker!"

Illya loudly reminded Berserker to pay attention to Sasuke's movements.

Berserker naturally understood and stared at Sasuke without blinking.

Looking at the serious-faced Illya and Berserker, the corners of Sasuke's mouth curled up slightly.

That's right, the seal Sasuke was weaving was merely to dispel the Shadow Clone.

As Sasuke actively dispelled the Shadow Clone, it instantly turned into a puff of white mist and exploded, dissipating completely in the wind.

Illya was stunned for a moment; there was no longer a trace of Sasuke's presence in the surroundings.

Had she been played by him?!

For a moment, Illya clenched her hands in anger and shouted loudly into the forest:

"You... you damn guy!!!"