Chapter 61: Arondight and the Knight of Regret
"That's... Berserker!?"
Stepping out of the car onto the highway, Saber couldn't help but cry out in surprise.
Berserker, now facing them, held two modern firearms—machine guns—in his hands. Saber stared at the sudden appearance of the Black Knight, not daring to let her guard down for a second.
The black armor showed no defining characteristics or personality; there was nothing to suggest the identity of the person wearing it. Or rather, the more one looked, the less clear it became, as if the image were perpetually out of focus. The silhouette of the black armor blurred constantly, sometimes appearing as double or triple overlapping shadows. It felt like an illusion that didn't just affect vision, but made it difficult to even gauge his true strength.
This was likely an "Inherent Skill" of this Berserker that obscured his identity—at least, it wasn't an ability typical of the Berserker class itself.
However, Berserker's ability to hide himself was meaningless to Shirou. The advantage of his foresight was playing a perfect role here.
"Saber, listen to me."
"What is it?" Saber asked, her eyes locked on Berserker.
"One of the Noble Phantasms Berserker possesses is called 'Knight of Owner' (A Knight Does Not Die with Empty Hands). This allows him to turn anything he holds into a D-rank Noble Phantasm..."
Shirou's words caused Saber's pupils to contract. She immediately recalled the battle at the warehouse district a few nights ago, where Berserker had caught the Noble Phantasms thrown by Assassin with his bare hands.
"I see! But if they are only D-rank Noble Phantasms, I have no reason to fear." Saber spoke with confidence.
"Berserker's power is more than just that. He also has..."
Shirou wanted to inform Saber of the rest of the intel, but Berserker gave him no chance to continue. The pitch-black armored figure was already charging toward them at high speed. Every step of his steel boots kicked up stone fragments from the ground, and the clanging of his armor rang out continuously. From the throat of the charging Black Knight came a voice filled with deep hatred—hysterical and rasping to the extreme.
"......!"
Berserker had only one target: Saber!
Simultaneously, the two light machine guns, now turned into Noble Phantasms, roared at Saber.
DABADABADA!!!!
Saber reacted instantly, her body blurring as she dodged. The spot where she had been standing was now peppered with deep bullet holes in the hard concrete and asphalt; white smoke from the friction between the lead and the ground swirled upward.
Saber smelled the pungent scent of gunpowder, her brow furrowing.
"How annoying...!"
The next moment, the fires of a red lotus bloomed again in the depths of the darkness. Berserker's shadow, illuminated by the muzzle flashes, stretched out behind him like a clawed beast. Saber leaped without hesitation, raising her golden sword amidst the baptism of bullets to strike at Berserker's body.
In that instant, Berserker stopped firing and used the machine guns themselves to meet the descending blade.
Clang—!
The holy sword easily sliced through Berserker's steel firearms. Seeing the opening, Saber immediately followed up on the momentum, swinging her sword down toward Berserker's defenseless head!
However, what happened next far exceeded her expectations.
Berserker, who she thought should have been struck down, caught the blade of the sword she swung with all her might using his bare hands—exhibiting a dizzying reaction speed.
"What!?"
Under the concealment of Invisible Air, the trajectory of the sword should have been impossible to see. Yet, Berserker had caught it empty-handed as if he were intimately familiar with the weapon in her hand.
As Saber froze in shock, Shirou's voice reached her ears.
"Hey! Saber, don't let that guy touch your weapon!"
At Shirou's warning, Saber suddenly realized what it meant for Berserker to make contact with her weapon. Looking at Berserker's hands gripping her blade, a chill ran down her spine! She shoved her shock aside and kicked out with all her strength at Berserker's chest.
Because his hands were occupied with the sword, Berserker could not defend; his body was sent flying back.
Thump!
Kicked back more than ten meters, Berserker twisted his body mid-air at an incredible angle and landed steadily on the ground. With Berserker at a distance, Saber finally felt free of the danger of having her weapon stolen. She realized just how vital Shirou's warning had been.
"Thank you for the warning, Shirou!"
After giving Shirou a grateful look, Saber turned her attention back to Berserker. As the dust settled, Berserker stood still, the scarlet eyes visible through his helmet fixed solely on Saber.
Being stared down by those eyes full of hatred made Saber feel a deep sense of unease. Unable to bear this baseless hostility any longer, she stepped forward, pointing her sword tip at him.
"You! From your skill, you are clearly no nameless knight. I ask you!"
Saber frowned as she addressed the pitch-black knight. "I am Artoria Pendragon, King of Britain. Since you are also a knight, you should report your name out of knightly honor! Challenging while hiding your identity is no better than an assassination!"
Hearing her words, Berserker's body began to tremble. The black aura surrounding him seemed to go berserk.
"......!"
This sound, though still suppressed to the extreme, didn't just contain hatred; it was something more complex, carrying a faint trace of reverence.
From that sound, Saber sensed something was wrong. Her face flooded with disbelief, and her green eyes shook. At that moment, the black mist surrounding Berserker gradually dissipated, and the black armor was finally revealed.
It was an excellent set of armor—neither gaudy nor crude, but a perfect blend of beauty and majesty. The blacksmith had put forth every effort into its meticulous casting, making it look both powerful and refined. Even the countless scars upon it served as decorations of his distinguished military service, adding to his brave appearance. It was the ideal combat attire that any knight would envy.
Saber could never forget that armor.
"How can this be..."
—Lancelot.
Under any other circumstances, encountering this knight again would have filled Saber with joy. But now, seeing that pitch-black figure eroded by the curse of madness, Saber felt only disbelief.
"...?"
She couldn't believe her eyes. She even hoped she was mistaken, but her reason told her that what she saw was no lie. The knight who was once pure in her eyes was now consumed by insanity.
The Black Knight let out a pained roar while reaching for the hilt of the sword in his scabbard.
"That is... Arondight?"
The black longsword he drew had a design remarkably similar to Excalibur. Seeing Lancelot draw that sword, Saber's pupils shrank. The sharp blade reflected the moonlight like shimmering lake water—it was the holy sword that would never break, no matter what it struck.
There was no mistake; seeing that sword, Saber remembered the True Name of that Noble Phantasm. It was a holy sword entrusted to humanity by the Lady of the Lake, just like her own Excalibur. Because they shared the same origin, its durability was equal to the Sword of Promised Victory.
Crackle!
The knight's helmet began to shatter with a mechanical clicking sound, revealing a darkened face. The handsome face of the past was gone, replaced by a distorted countenance. His eyes released a light of pure hatred directed straight at Saber.
"Lancelot... why have you become like this...?"
Looking at her former friend lost to madness and hate, Saber's sword-hand began to tremble slightly. "Do you hate me that much... Knight of the Lake!?"
The once-handsome face was now as hideous as a demon's. The eyes that once shone with spirit now burned with resentment.
Saber's hand shook even more.
"Why... my friend... why have you become like this...?"
She felt her knees weaken, nearly collapsing to the ground. Lancelot, however, did not hesitate; he charged at her with his sword raised. Saber hurriedly raised her sword to parry, but faced with Lancelot's current strike filled with raw power, she stumbled back.
From the throat of the knight locked in a stalemate with her, a voice emerged that made Saber's heart tremble:
"I am... the one who was shunned... the one who was mocked... the one who was despised..."
The black mist surged again—the power of "Mad Enhancement" was flaring up. Lancelot's eyes turned a deeper crimson. Saber felt the knight's strength growing even greater than before; her spirit shaken, she began to fall back.
"I am the shadow beneath the radiance of the Heroic Spirits—the darkness born from dazzling legends—"
Like a miasma rising from the earth, the sighs of resentment surrounded Saber from all sides.
"Therefore—I hate—I resent—feeding on the sighs of those who linger in the darkness, I curse those of the radiance—"
Watching the "confessing" knight before her, Saber's expression became pained.
"This is my shame—because of your immortal glory, I shall be forever belittled—"
Hearing these words, Saber's lips trembled.
"You... do you hate me that much? My friend... even in that state... do you hate me that much? Knight of the Lake!"
Saber's knees gave way, but she suddenly felt someone supporting her from behind. Instinctively looking back, she saw the boy had appeared beside her. The grieving Saber allowed Shirou to help her up.
Shirou felt her soft, slender frame, but his face remained serious as he spoke to the girl.
"Saber, Lancelot does not hold hatred for you."
Hearing this, Saber looked at him in confusion. Only then did Shirou notice that her green eyes had already begun to turn red.
"What Lancelot craves is salvation. To be killed by you is his only wish. Because he believes he committed a sin but was never given the punishment he deserved, he has lived his life in regret."
Having said this and thinking of the tale of the "Knight of the Lake," Shirou sighed softly.
The Queen, the adultery, the rebellion... specifically the Battle of Camlann, where he finally arrived only to witness Britain's destruction—these events had haunted Lancelot for eternity.
Saber fell into a brief silence. After several seconds, she whispered in a trembling voice, "Such a thing... how could it be..."
She had never imagined that her decision to let the Knight of the Lake leave out of kindness would lead to such a result. Saber believed that Lancelot and Guinevere's affair was her own fault for hiding her gender. She felt only gratitude and guilt toward them for the burden they carried. The fact that it was exposed as a scandal was the work of traitors. No one was truly at fault, and because of that, it resulted in this tragedy.
"Saber..." Shirou looked down into the girl's green eyes. "Go and kill (save) him."
Hearing this, Saber took a deep breath of the cold winter air. As if having made her final resolve, a clear light ignited in her eyes.
"I understand."
The girl nodded, her hands gripping her sword tightly. When she raised her head again, the hesitation was gone.
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