Ian transformed into a spirit body and accompanied Tohsaka, Shirou and Saber to the church to meet Kirei. The conversation went as he remembered in the anime.
Saber stayed outside, while Shirou learned the cruel truth about Holy Grail War inside and expressed strong dissatisfaction with the game, especially the rule that masters must kill each other to become the final winner.
He didn't want to participate in such a cruel competition, but Kirei took advantage of his desire to save others and convinced him that he was the best candidate to win the final and could prevent Holy Grail from falling into the wrong hands. After the conversation, the group set off on their way home.
Church:
"Why don't you say a word?" Kirei said to himself in the empty church.
"What do you expect me to say?" asked a dark figure that seemed to have always been here but no one noticed.
"The legendary Arcane Emperor participated in this war, and you still want me to believe that you have nothing to say?"
"Whether he is worthy of his legend remains to be verified," Gilgamesh said. He disliked that others often compared Arcane Emperor with him, the King of Heroes.
Kirei turned around to face him, "Is it my imagination, or is there a deeper reason for your dislike of Arcane Emperor?"
"I have nothing to hide," Gilgamesh replied. "It's because of [Netheril]."
"The legendary Floating City?"
"My King's Treasure contains all the powerful magic rituals created or used by any hero in history, but I don't have this city, and except for some of his early works, I don't have other masterpieces by Arcane Emperor," Gilgamesh explained. "I don't know how he did it, but I want to get back what is rightfully mine."
Arcane Emperor is famous for many achievements, one of which is his accomplishments in the field of Alchemy, specifically the field of magic costumes (magic Divine Artifact).
"You have to be careful when dealing with him," Kirei warned. "According to Lancer, he may have sensed something." Lancer's report pointed out that Arcane Emperor only used basic spells, which showed that he was guarding against prying eyes, so he decided not to reveal his true strength.
"Do you think I will lose?" Gilgamesh asked with a ferocious look on his face.
"I'm just reminding you to be more careful when dealing with opponents of this level." After Kirei said these words, he walked straight to his office and said no more.
Tohsaka and his group were forced to stop on their way home because a little girl with white hair stood in front of them, with a towering Giant standing next to her.
"Hello, big brother," Illya Sphire von Einzbern said. "Great, you are all here. Berserker, kill them."
Berserker, nearly three meters tall, followed the Master's order and slowly approached everyone. Ian suddenly appeared and said, "Saber, I will help you, but you must stop him."
Saber did not respond to him immediately, but looked at Shirou, "Master, what is your order? Do you have a plan?"
"We... follow his plan."
"As commanded."
"What about me? What should I do?" Tohsaka asked.
"You are responsible for dealing with that Master. Be merciful and don't kill her if you can."
"Why?"
"She is a girl with a rough fate. If possible, I don't want her to have any mistakes."
Tohsaka looked at him with a strange look, "It's up to you."
Ian raised the staff, and countless magic circles surrounded Saber. She immediately became alert. "Relax, I'm just improving your attributes so that you have a chance to fight against this Giant."
He was not lying, Saber felt a surge of power flowing through her body. Her defense, strength, agility, endurance, magic defense, and even magic capacity were greatly improved. She glanced at him, and then rushed towards Berserker.
"It's your turn," Ian looked at Shirou and said.
"Me? What can I do?"
"You need to learn the basics to better provide help and magic to Saber," Ian said before casting a spell. "As I said before, this will hurt."
Shirou immediately covered his head and groaned in pain. Ian secretly praised him for not falling to the ground and rolling around in pain.
He turned his attention to the battlefield. Despite his buffs, Saber was still at a disadvantage in the fight against Berserker, whose true identity was Greece Demigod Hercules.
He raised his staff and fired magic missiles, aiming at Berserker's weak point, forcing him to suspend many attacks. Saber would take this opportunity to fight back, but this Demigod's agility was completely out of proportion to his huge size.
In addition, although he lost his mind due to his status as Berserker, he still retains the combat experience and instincts he had when he was awake.
Suddenly, an energy weapon materialized in Berserker's free hand, and he began to fight with dual-wielding weapons. The pressure on Saber doubled instantly.
'Illya's familiar?' Ian recognized the magic that transformed the familiar into a weapon. He checked the battle situation on Tohsaka's side.
In the anime, she was once suppressed by Illya's magic, but now the situation is reversed. However, the white-haired little girl is very smart. She noticed Tohsaka's lack of control due to the surge in magic power, and used this to support herself in this battle.
'I can't continue to fight so passively,' Ian thought to himself. He could feel Gilgamesh's presence lurking in the dark, and knew that if he didn't show some strength, he might force the latter to take unpredictable actions.
After thinking briefly, he knew what to do. Saber continued to attack Berserker, but she was losing ground. The latter's basic attributes were higher than hers, and her combat ability was far superior to hers. Her only advantage was the support of Ian and her own sanity, because Berserker could only act on instinct.
Saber seduced her opponent with a feint, and after taking a sword blow on her shoulder, she created a flaw. She immediately released part of Noble Phantasm--Excalibur's power. She swung a huge slash, splitting Berserker's upper body in half.
"Get away," Ian shouted. Saber turned around and saw what seemed to be a cannon protruding from the Void crack above her head. She rushed forward and picked up her Master, who still had a splitting headache, and quickly dodged the attack range.
The cannon Blink fired with lightning and then opened fire. A deafening roar echoed through the neighborhood, followed by a violent explosion where Berserker had just stood. Many surrounding houses were razed to the ground in this attack.
"Is it over?" Tohsaka, who was blown away by the air wave generated by the attack, asked.
"No," Ian replied, and as expected, Berserker and Illya appeared in the center of the explosion unscathed.
"It seems I made a mistake," Illya said in a cute but creepy voice. "You are not as weak as I thought, especially you, Saber. I look forward to fighting you again."
She disappeared without leaving a trace, much to the relief of several members of the team.
"You seem to be hiding a lot of things from me," Tohsaka said to Ian.
"That's obvious," he replied. "You can ask when we're alone, but you have to know that some things have to be known at the right time."
She glanced at him and said nothing more. Shirou's condition was still bad, so they took him home and helped him recuperate.
"Why do you keep staring at me?" Ian asked, confused by Saber's every move since her return.