At this moment, Kariya Matou could no longer even be called human.
He was more like a walking corpse, a shell hollowed out by Crest Worms, burning only with the fuel of a single obsession.
Sensing the resentment in his master's heart—a hatred enough to set the world ablaze—Berserker, who had been standing behind him like a pitch-black iron tower, moved.
"Roar—!!!!"
A black mist of resentment, almost tangible, erupted from the gaps in his black armor. Two intimidating red glows ignited in the dark knight's eyes as he threw back his head and let out an inhuman roar.
Though he had lost his sanity, the combat instincts belonging to Lancelot of the Knights of the Round Table allowed him to instantly lock onto the man radiating an aura his master intensely hated.
Boom!
The frozen earth beneath his feet shattered instantly. Like an arrow from a bow, Berserker turned into a streak of black light, charging straight at Hansen with a devastating momentum!
Even without any weapon in hand, this killing machine was the most terrifying weapon itself.
Those iron fists, wrapped in pitch-black magical energy, were enough to smash the armor of a main battle tank in an instant!
Facing this collision that resembled a runaway locomotive, Hansen frowned slightly, a flash of impatience flickering in his burning platinum eyes.
"Too noisy."
In the next second, the image reflected in Kariya's single eye caused his twisted smile to freeze instantly.
There were no flashy movements, nor any world-shaking explosion of magical energy.
At the moment Berserker approached at high speed with violent momentum, Hansen raised his right leg as if in slow motion and delivered a front kick!
An action that seemed casual, yet the moment it contacted Berserker's breastplate, it erupted with a terrifying kinetic energy comparable to a rocket booster's ignition!
Boom—!!!!
A conical sonic boom erupted with a dull, heavy roar, sounding like a heavy hammer smashing into rotted leather.
Berserker, who had been charging so aggressively, was instantly sent flying backward at twice the speed he had come!
"What?!" Kariya Matou's eyeball nearly popped out of its socket.
The black knight drew a pathetic parabola in the air, snapping over a dozen fir trees as thick as a man's embrace!
Finally, he crashed into a snowdrift hundreds of meters away, kicking up a cloud of snow that filled the sky!
"D-Damn it...! Damn it, damn it, damn it!!"
Kariya Matou clutched his head, his fingers digging deep into his ulcerated scalp.
He didn't understand. Why was this man so strong?
Why was even the strongest Berserker kicked away with a single blow?
It's not fair!
I paid the price too!
I even sacrificed my lifespan... sacrificed everything!
"Berserker! Get up!"
The red veins in Kariya's eyes were nearly bursting. He raised his withered arm, and the command spells on the back of his hand flickered with an eerie red light.
"In the name of the command spells, I order you... Kill... Kill him!!!"
Hum—!
One command spell vanished instantly, transforming into a terrifying torrent of magical energy that was forcibly poured into the ruins in the distance.
"Roar-aaaaah—!!!!"
Accompanied by a more shrill and violent howl, a storm of black magical energy rose into the sky.
Berserker crawled out of the ruins. Although his black armor was somewhat dented, under the Kaji of the command spells, his aura was more terrifying than before, his body emitting black smoke as if from the depths of hell.
"Quite the obedient mad dog." Hansen curled his lip, preparing to end this farce once and for all.
Just then, a silver-blue figure galloped from the direction of the castle like a bolt of lightning.
Clang!
Saber, Artoria Pendragon, landed heavily in front of Hansen, her combat boots shattering the ice.
The invisible Invisible Air whistled around her blade, blowing away the surrounding snow.
"Hansen! I won't let you fight alone!"
Although the King of Knights had her reservations about this man's various actions, as comrades who had eaten together, her spirit of chivalry would never allow her to stand by at a time like this.
However, when she clearly saw the Berserker radiating an ominous black aura in the distance, a trace of imperceptible shock and doubt flashed through her originally firm green eyes.
That figure... that stance that revealed peerless martial arts even while lost in madness... Why was it so familiar?
So familiar that her very soul felt a faint ache.
"Oh? My King intends to share my burdens?"
Hansen stood behind Saber, looking at her back—not broad, yet exceptionally upright—as a playful arc curled at the corner of his mouth.
"However, facing this mad dog, are you sure... you're up to it?"
Saber took a deep breath, her fingers tightening around her sword.
"No matter who he is, as a knight, I must stop this slaughter that holds no honor."
Saying this, Saber turned her head and looked at Hansen solemnly, a hint of plea in her eyes that only she understood.
"Please... let me handle this battle."
This was not just a battle; it was some instinct driving her to confirm a cruel suspicion.
Hansen tilted his head, looked at the righteous King of Knights, and suddenly smiled.
"You say let you, and I just let you? Wouldn't that make me lose face?"
Saber was stunned for a moment: "Eh?"
She clearly hadn't expected this man to be in the mood for jokes on such a tense battlefield.
"But..."
Hansen stepped forward, leaned down slightly, and whispered into Saber's delicate, elf-like ear: "Since you're so persistent, then you'll just owe me a favor."
"Remember to pay it back, My King."
Warm breath hit her ear, causing Saber's body to stiffen suddenly, and her earlobes were instantly dyed crimson.
"...Y-You insolent man! I understand!"
Saber gritted her teeth.
As if to hide her shame, she turned abruptly and focused all her attention on the enemy in the distance.
"Berserker! Your opponent is me!"
Responding to her was the black knight's even more violent charge.
Only this time, as Berserker passed through a patch of building ruins, he casually grabbed a massive collapsed iron pillar.
Sizzle—!
Under Saber's shocked gaze, that originally rusty piece of ordinary iron was rapidly eroded and covered by a network of pitch-black veins the moment it touched Berserker's hands.
In the blink of an eye, that iron pillar turned into a demonic spear radiating the aura of a D-rank Noble Phantasm!
"That is...!" Saber's pupils contracted.
The ability to turn anything held into a Noble Phantasm... this ability... Anti-Unit Noble Phantasm, 'Knight of Owner', effect: allows the user to recognize any weapon held as their own Noble Phantasm and dominate it.
The wielder: Berserker, the First of the Knights of the Round Table, Lancelot.
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