"Phew!!"
Watching Medusa vanish, Cu Chulainn let out a breath he'd been holding. The reason they went through all this trouble instead of just using a Noble Phantasm came straight from Lancer advice:
'Every trump card we keep hidden until the final showdown increases our win rate. Even if it's only by 0.000001%, it's worth it.'
Looking at the results, the plan worked like a charm.
"Mr. Monster!! We're pulling out!!"
Mash saw Cu signal and shouted over to Lancer.
If she'd previously thought Lancer was just a bit "eccentric," she now had total respect for him. The "intel" he'd shared had been a literal lifesaver.
She remembered Lancer specifically telling her and Cu to "watch out for the Mystic Eyes of Petrification."
Because of that, she had spent the entire fight focused on Medusa's eyes to telegraph her moves. Without that tip, she probably would have been caught off guard long ago.
She couldn't be blamed, though. Even though the Demi-Servant project was a success, giving her the Noble Phantasm and combat experience of the Heroic Spirit within her, it wasn't her experience. She hadn't fully internalized it yet. To truly master those skills, she needed time to sync up.
On the other side, Lancer heard the shout and felt a massive wave of relief. Soloing Berserker was no joke. The guy had lost his mind, but that only meant he was fighting on pure, unadulterated instinct.
This was just a "shadow" Servant; Lancer couldn't even fathom how terrifying the original Heracles would be.
During the fight, Lancer had used the distraction provided by his spirits to launch a "Shadow Spear" made of raw "Time Energy" at the giant's heart. The spear had actually gotten stuck in the giant's chest—his physical defense was beyond logic.
Actually, the highest-level circuit in Lancer "Orbment" was the "Death Blade," but it felt like he had almost never triggered an "Instant Death" effect...
The good news was that Mash call meant he could finally bounce. But Berserker, sensing his prey was trying to run, went into an even deeper frenzy. Lancer couldn't find a window to disengage. Every time he tried to turn and bolt, he felt the cold hand of death on his neck. If he hadn't parried a follow-up strike in time, he would've been sliced clean in half.
Cu was low on mana and Mash was okay, but Lancer didn't think bringing Mash into this mix was a good idea. Coordinating two melee fighters is way harder than one melee and one ranged; they'd probably just get in each other's way.
"Yuugi, Suika, Kasen! I'm counting on you!"
Even though they were just magical "puppets," it still felt bad asking his "friends" to hold the line...
However, the three of them lived up to the name of Great Oni. While these phantoms didn't have the unique abilities of the originals, they perfectly inherited the monstrous strength of the Oni race.
CLANG!
Hoshiguma Yuugi, horn held high, actually caught Berserker's axe-sword with her bare hands. The ground shattering beneath her and the blade slowly inching closer to her shoulder showed she was struggling, but at that exact moment, a small figure leaped into the air. A right hook slammed into Berserker's face, while a slender figure appeared to his left, delivering a bone-breaking whip-kick to his leg.
BOOM!
CRACK!
Under the heavy impacts, Berserker's knee buckled and his body tilted. He recovered almost instantly, letting out a roar of pure fury.
"ROAAR!!!"
But by the time he looked up to slaughter the three interlopers, they were gone. The annoying man had vanished too. The trio had only bought a split second, but for Lancer, that was more than enough time to vanish.
KABOOM!!
With no target left, Berserker began smashing the earth, venting a rage that seemed like it would never end...
As Lancer sprinted over, Mash had already scooped up Ritsuka in a bridal carry. Lancer didn't hesitate; he slung Olga Marie over his shoulder like a sack of grain and bolted.
Olga Marie, currently draped over Lancer shoulder, was still in a daze. When Cu had told her to retreat earlier, she'd insisted on staying to wait for Lancer—after all, he was facing the most dangerous enemy. But Lancer "professional" kidnapping technique was so fluid it left her speechless.
Because he was holding her by the ankles, her upper body was bouncing around. Her stomach felt awful, but just like before, she felt like she needed to throw up but couldn't. Her expression soured.
It wasn't just because of Lancer total lack of chivalry; it was because this seemed to prove what Lancer had said earlier.
She had just eaten, yet she had nothing to throw up?
The only explanation was that the food had already been converted entirely into magical energy. But then, she noticed the bouncing was slowing down.
"Are we safe?"
Lancer set her down. She looked around and could still see the collapsed buildings in the distance—they weren't that far from Berserker. She gave him a weird look.
"Not yet. But you didn't have a reaction this time, so I thought it was weird. I wanted to ask what's up."
No reaction? Thought it was weird?
Olga Marie suddenly remembered the last time he'd carried her over his shoulder at high speed. Not knowing what he was doing, she had spent the whole time punching him in the lower back and screaming things that made her blush just thinking about them now. With Lancer bringing it up again, her face went bright red.
"Is it only 'normal' if I'm screaming at you? Are you some kind of masochist?!"
Thanks to Lancer redirection, she temporarily forgot to worry about the state of her own body...