Illyasviel von Einzbern

The towering Servant had long, black, seaweed-like hair that fell past his shoulders. His right pupil was crimson, set against a black sclera, while his left eye was golden.

His dark skin was bare from the waist up. Both wrists were wrapped in bracers, and his powerful muscles bulged.

He wore a battle skirt below and went barefoot.

In his hands, he held a weapon that looked like a giant axe.

Though rather than an axe, it was more like a rock that could be held in one's hands.

Sasuke's Sharingan could clearly see the enormous magical energy within this Servant. In some ways, this Servant was in a completely different league from the Lancer he'd just faced.

The silver-haired, red-eyed girl gave a slight nod. Lifting the hem of her purple dress with both hands, she gracefully curtsied to Sasuke.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Illya."

"Illyasviel von Einzbern."

"Since you're a mage, you must know the Einzberns, right?"

Sasuke regarded Illya expressionlessly and replied in an even tone:

"Sasuke Uchiha."

"I don't. I'm not familiar with how your mages are organized."

"But I've heard your name from Emiya and Tohsaka."

"The Master of Berserker."

Illya's expression didn't change at his words. She kept smiling.

"I see..."

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

"And you even dodged Lancer's Noble Phantasm."

"If I fought you, I should be able to draw the other Servants over, too, right?"

Sasuke wasn't surprised that Illya had seen everything. After all, mages had their own ways of keeping tabs on things.

"So what?"

As Sasuke spoke, the atmosphere around them seemed to drop to freezing.

The forest was already swept by icy winds, and everyone's breath emerged as white mist.

Illya, however, continued smiling, clasped her hands behind her back, and closed her bright eyes. Her voice was sweet and adorable.

"Then let's get started~"

"Go, Berserker~"

Berserker, who had been standing there like a small mountain, appeared in front of Sasuke in the very next instant!

Like a sleeping beast awakening!

He was every bit as fast as Lancer. He swung the giant axe in his hands and brought it down toward Sasuke's head!

But Berserker's attack didn't land. His axe was firmly blocked by the purple skeletal arm Sasuke had raised!

[Susanoo!]

Sasuke activated his Mangekyō Sharingan once more!

He'd expended a great deal of his Shadow Clones' magical energy fighting Lancer, but after a brief recovery and with what little energy remained, he could still hold on a while longer.

Sasuke controlled Susanoo's skeletal arm and forcefully pushed back against the downward force of Berserker's blow!

Berserker showed no sign of being staggered. He didn't even pause for an instant. Using the force of the parry to turn himself around, he swung horizontally at Sasuke!

In an instant, Susanoo had grown into a half-body. Its skeletal hand stopped Berserker's horizontal slash and seized the giant axe in his hands!

Susanoo's other arm smashed down toward Berserker!

With Berserker pinned in place, he should have had no chance of dodging the attack.

But Berserker decisively released his axe and leapt high into the sky, evading Susanoo's swing!

Still, Sasuke had expected this attack to fail.

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

Sasuke's eyes tracked Berserker as he soared into the sky. Blood vessels appeared in the white of his left eye, and crimson blood ran from its corner.

Though the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan wouldn't cause blindness, it still had adverse effects on the user's body.

But this Shadow Clone had less than a tenth of Sasuke's true strength.

Overuse of his eyes, combined with the Shadow Clone's scant remaining magical energy, was beginning to strain his body. But to Sasuke, it was nothing serious.

[Amaterasu!]

[Flame Style: Kagutsuchi!]

As the techniques in both eyes activated at once, searing black flames took the form of dozens of arrows and shot toward Berserker in midair!

The attack came so fast that Berserker couldn't dodge in time. Every arrow of black flame struck his body!

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

The air around them trembled!

But the black flames didn't consume him...

Because Berserker had actually torn off his own flesh to escape being consumed by the flames!

He even went so far as to wrench off his own arm, which had been stained with black flame!

The whole process took no more than a blink. Berserker had completely stripped away the black flames!

And Berserker's ability to recover was astonishing. The flesh he had torn off had already healed in an instant.

Sasuke wasn't surprised by this. His expression remained calm.

Saber, the Servant of Shirou Emiya, had once fought Berserker. His ability went beyond mere regeneration; it was more like reversing time.

A curse of resurrection.

But every technique had a weakness. Even the abilities of a Heroic Spirit couldn't be invincible.

At that moment, however, Sasuke's eyes were bloodshot. It was clearly impossible to kill Berserker with a Shadow Clone.

His true self had given him far too little magical energy.

Fine. He'd treat this as gathering intel.

With that thought, Sasuke dispelled Susanoo, and his Mangekyō Sharingan reverted to the Three Tomoe.

Sasuke had no defense at all now.

Seeing this, Illya temporarily ordered Berserker to stop attacking and asked with some curiosity:

"Are you giving up?"

"Can you tell me what your relationship with Emiya is?"

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

Emiya?

Shirou Emiya?

Sasuke didn't know why Illya was asking about Shirou Emiya, but he had no inclination to answer a question posed with his life as the stakes.

Sasuke stared coldly at Illya, who stood some distance away.

"Are you really so sure you can kill me here?"

Illya immediately realized something was wrong. He wasn't bluffing.

But she had no idea what Sasuke was planning.

Did he have an even more powerful attack?

Or was he going to run?

Illya thought Berserker could handle either possibility. Even if Sasuke ran, she could have Berserker chase him down!

But then something happened that Illya hadn't expected.

As Illya and Berserker watched, Sasuke slowly raised both hands, as if he were about to form Hand Seals.

"Berserker!"

Illya shouted a warning, telling Berserker to watch Sasuke's movements.

Berserker understood and kept his eyes fixed on Sasuke.

Watching Illya and Berserker looking so serious, Sasuke's lips curled into a faint smile.

That's right. The Hand Seals Sasuke formed were simply to dispel his Shadow Clone.

As Sasuke dispelled the Shadow Clone himself, it burst into a cloud of white smoke, then vanished completely in the wind.

Illya froze for a moment. There wasn't the slightest trace of Sasuke left nearby.

Had he just played her for a fool?!

Illya clenched her fists in a fury and shouted into the forest:

"Y-You damnable bastard!!!"