A guttural roar shattered the tense stalemate, broken by Kingu and Berserker.
The black knight fixed a bone-chilling gaze on Kingu, standing not far away. Kingu, keenly aware of the stare, gave a light chuckle. "So, I'm the target, huh?"
"Quite the nerve!"
To an enemy's provocation, Kingu had only one response...
Another deafening roar erupted from Berserker, his magic-infused voice reverberating through the warehouse district. Waver clutched his ears, feeling as if his eardrums might rupture.
Berserker wielded a longsword cloaked in the same dark mist, charging toward Kingu. Black magical energy swirled around him, lending an eerie terror to his advancing figure.
"Hmph!"
Kingu scoffed contemptuously, flicking his wrist to send a chain lashing toward Berserker. The chain shimmered with sacred golden inscriptions, its strike like divine judgment.
Clang!
In an instant, Berserker's sword deflected the whip. The golden chain crashed into the ground, exploding like a bomb, asphalt turning to dust and scattering, obscuring all vision.
Everyone held their breath. From the haze, a long, dark silhouette emerged, swaying. In a flash, he burst through the dust, his charge carrying an airflow that swept the haze into his momentum.
"Oh?"
This time, Kingu's chuckle gave way to surprise. That brief exchange had revealed a glimpse of Berserker's caliber.
Clearly, it was enough to catch Kingu off guard.
Kingu grew serious. His right hand gleamed with metallic light, his feet shifting into a stance to gather power. He was preparing to meet Berserker head-on.
Boom!
Kingu's fist slammed into Berserker's sword. Despite Berserker's charging momentum, Kingu's punch sent him flying. Berserker tumbled through the air, landing on his feet, the impact carving two deep tracks into the ground.
"No way!"
Waver shouted in disbelief. In that fleeting moment, he glimpsed Kingu's Strength parameter spike to A+ upon contact, only to revert to "—".
His shock stemmed from the fact that Kingu's class was typically the fastest among Servants. Yet, his Strength had reached A+, near the limit for a Servant. What, then, could his Noble Phantasm be? Surely no less than A+!
This was Transfiguration, one of Kingu's formidable abilities inherited from his vessel's former owner. He could freely redistribute his parameters, normally balanced at A. By sacrificing other stats, he could boost one to A+. Of course, he couldn't push all parameters to break their limits; his Master's strength set his ceiling. With Tokiomi Tohsaka as his Master, A+ was the maximum—a monstrous being capable of reaching A+ across all attributes!
"No surprise from Tokiomi Tohsaka's trump card. He's got some skill."
In the courtyard, a single eye hovered in the air, spying on the battle.
Kariya Matou had undergone a complete transformation. His combat prowess now rivaled a top-tier Servant, with uncanny methods.
Yet, despite his newfound strength, his spiritual senses had sharpened. He hadn't attempted to "rescue" Sakura from the Matou estate because he sensed an overwhelming danger there. His instincts screamed that going there meant death.
Thus, he chose the path of seizing the Holy Grail.
A great entity had told him that the being capable of crushing him effortlessly wouldn't use its power outside the Matou estate. If he could claim the Grail, he could redeem Sakura—or even use the Grail to gain the strength to challenge that entity.
He speculated it was a Servant summoned by his "father," bound by territorial restrictions.
So, he adopted a strategy to seize the Grail.
And since the Grail was his goal, Tokiomi Tohsaka was an enemy. Conveniently, Kariya harbored no small amount of hatred for him.
Thus, this battle came to be.
His Berserker, Lancelot, was a renowned knight of Britannia. With Mad Enhancement and a terrifying supply of magical energy, his parameters were maxed out. Every attribute influenced by mana surged to A+, forcibly elevating him from a top-tier Heroic Spirit to a pseudo-ceiling level.
In terms of Strength, he even surpassed Kingu.
His earlier retreat was only due to lacking leverage in midair, putting him at a disadvantage in that strike.
ARRRRHHH!
Berserker bellowed furiously, charging at Kingu again. His crimson eyes blazed brighter, his frenzied killing intent crashing toward Kingu like a tidal wave.
Bang!
Kingu stomped, shattering the ground, displaying agility at the Servant limit. Both moved at blinding speeds, their clash reducing the world to a single moment of impact.
Boom!
The near-limitless Servants collided fiercely, sword and fist meeting in a gust of unimaginable force.
"Are these two Berserkers fighting? And is that Berserker really a maddened Servant?"
Rider exclaimed with incredulous. The battle was staggering. Though he had witnessed the thrilling clash between Assassin and Kingu, Berserker and Kingu's fight still shocked him.
Berserker's combat skill was no less than Assassin's in his bout with Kingu, yet his base parameters were far superior. From their clash, it seemed both their Strength and Agility were A+, with Endurance at least A. Their mana was impossible to gauge.
Clang!
Berserker and Kingu clashed again, the surrounding area a ruin. The air thrummed with sonic booms, echoing relentlessly.
Yet, Fuyuki City's residents, with their remarkable mental fortitude, slept soundly through the commotion, undisturbed.
Ha!
Kingu suddenly kicked Berserker, using the force to leap back and create distance.
Rage flared on his face. A faint black substance clung to his chains—Berserker's magical energy, attempting to invade them. Though the inscriptions repelled it, the audacity enraged Kingu.
"Mongrel! How dare you!"
Kingu had always seemed quick to anger, but that was against old rivals or ambushers—his irritation was justified.
Back then, it was mere displeasure.
Now, even a blind man could hear the fury in his voice!
***
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