"Sister Mordred!"
As Berserker Mordred appeared, she immediately lunged at Sakura.
Meanwhile, Cu Chulainn forcefully resisted the Command Spell, causing him to freeze. Saber Mordred seized the opportunity, swiftly turning her King's Sword and sending him flying with a brutal strike.
With Cu Chulainn temporarily out of the fight, Mordred gave him a thumbs-up before charging at Sakura, who had been forced to activate her Defensive Mystic Code. Mordred's sword strike repelled "herself," and she saw the fury on "her own" face.
Without speaking, Mordred and the others couldn't possibly know the origin of this "Mordred" before them.
It was jealousy, it was rage—it was the burning question of why Saber's version of herself could bask in her family's doting love while she had to bear the name of the Knight of Rebellion, becoming a vessel for the accumulated malice of the masses.
Berserker Mordred was a fictional Heroic Spirit born from this collective malice.
"You... Die! Mordred!"
Unlike Clarent, Berserker Mordred wielded a Demonic Sword steeped in malice. Her Noble Phantasm Release was none other than Clarent Blood Arthur.
Red lightning clashed. Their sword skills were nearly identical, as if, when Berserker Mordred was summoned, everything about her—except for being steeped in malice—had been copied directly from her original self on the Throne of Heroes.
"You're a disgrace, other me! I don't remember ever being a mad dog bullying a little girl!"
Mordred cursed "herself" without mercy. She could tell that her other self had just struck with lethal intent, truly trying to ambush and kill Sakura.
This realization filled her with rage, making it seem as if both of them were Berserkers locked in combat.
At the edge of the battlefield, Cu Chulainn lay on the ground, gasping for breath. Mordred's sword hilt had struck his abdomen, possibly rupturing some internal organs. Amidst this agony, he continued to resist the Command Spell's effect, which urged him to fight to the death.
"Caster, why did you..."
"As a warrior, I refuse to engage in an unfair fight, and I certainly won't become a stepping stone for the despicable. As a Caster, I also have the trait of a guide. I simply couldn't stand by and watch a talented young girl die because of me—especially since she just showed you mercy."
Lying on the ground, Cu Chulainn watched Caren squatting beside him, poking his cheek with her finger. The little girl seemed to enjoy his pained expression.
However, after Cu Chulainn finished speaking, Caren seemed to sense his concern. The finger poking his cheek paused. She revealed her Command Spell again and declared:
"Caster, by the power of this Command Spell, I order you to rest well."
To an outsider, Caren's use of her Command Spells seemed far too casual. After just one battle, she was already down to her last one.
But that was just who Caren was. As Kirei Kotomine's daughter, she shared his inherently warped emotions. She delighted in seeing happy people fall into despair and harbored self-destructive tendencies.
Yet, she could still understand what it meant to be cared for, her mind recalling memories of her mother.
Her emotional abnormality was far less severe than Kirei Kotomine's. At this moment, before being violated by any "daemons," Caren still yearned for happiness.
It was precisely because she still held out hope for Kirei Kotomine that she hadn't immediately accepted Cu Chulainn's offer to surrender.
Back on the battlefield, as the two Mordreds clashed like thunder dragons shattering the earth, Sakura also began her attack on Kairi Sisigou.
Unlike her merciful treatment of Caren, Sakura showed no such kindness to the Necromancer who had displayed killing intent from the very beginning.
The shadow tide surged, lashing out like tentacles toward Kairi Sisigou. As she attacked, Sakura closed the distance between them until they were less than thirty meters apart.
Kairi Sisigou had deliberately maintained this thirty-meter distance, intending to maximize the effectiveness of the sawed-off shotgun in his hands.
"To think I'm being so underestimated... even a little girl dares to attack me head-on."
He threw a flashbang, seemingly hoping to disperse the shadows. He also adjusted his position to face the sun, casting his own shadow as far away from Sakura as possible.
But he made a fatal assumption. Sakura's Magecraft only looked like shadows; in reality, it was the extremely rare Imaginary Numbers.
The flashbang failed to disperse the shadows. It merely forced Sakura, who was already committed to her attack, to have the shadows envelop her in a defensive cocoon.
Unlike the prepared Kairi Sisigou, she lacked sunglasses to protect her eyes.
"Hmph..."
Thanks to his sunglasses, Kairi Sisigou saw the shadow continue its attack and quickly changed his tactics.
He abandoned the idea of stopping to aim and leaped backward fiercely. The shadow that had almost touched him suddenly materialized from the imaginary space, transforming into a shadow blade that stabbed into the ground.
Though the shadow appeared to move along the ground, it was actually a projection from the imaginary space. Sakura's shadows could manifest unconditionally anywhere—on the ground, in the air, anywhere at all.
"Well then, I guess..."
Kairi Sisigou had come for the Holy Grail and the wealth promised by Guinevere. Despite being a Black Faction Master, he had no intention of joining forces with the Yggdmillennia Family.
He had only intervened because he couldn't restrain Berserker Mordred's restlessness. His original plan had been to lie low for as long as possible.
"Berserker, your father's here!"
One moment, he was planning for a protracted battle; the next, he felt a meteor plummeting from the sky. Looking up and using his Clairvoyance Magecraft, he clearly saw the face of the King of Knights.
As a Black Faction Master aiming to snatch victory from the jaws of the tiger, Kairi Sisigou had gathered as much intelligence as possible. He had seen photos of the King of Knights, Guinevere, Morgan, Mordred, and others.
Not to mention, the King of Knights looked identical to his own Mordred. There was no way he could mistake her.
With his shout, he hurled a high-explosive 'Heart Grenade' at Sakura to suppress her. Besides the standard explosive effect, this weapon was imbued with the corrosive and corrupting power of Necromancy.
It was also foul-smelling and disgusting, making Sakura recoil rather than even think of 'eating' it.
Sakura retreated—partly because of the Heart Grenade, and partly because the King of Knights was descending from the sky.
However, while Saber Mordred rejected the King of Knights' acceptance, Berserker Mordred grew even more frenzied at her appearance. To deal with the sudden arrival of the King of Knights, another Master and Servant pair dropped their concealment Magecraft. The newly revealed Saber of Black charged directly at the King of Knights.
Their appearance likely stemmed from their Master assuming Kairi Sisigou was an ally simply because he was also a Black Faction Master.
"Hey! Who gave you permission to act on your own?!"
Swords were already clashing as the tall swordsman tested the specifications of the King of Knights' 'Invisible Sword'.
The swordsman's Master, a short, stout Mage, shouted at Kairi Sisigou with an arrogant, condescending tone.
Sisigou's appearance had somewhat disrupted the Yggdmillennia Clan Head's plans.
But...
No one responded. Sisigou, the one he had directly questioned, was still fighting Sakura and completely ignored him as if he were air.
The stout Mage was furious, the veins on his forehead throbbing. He desperately wanted to wipe out Sisigou and his Servant, but their arrival had once again shifted the battlefield.
Following the King of Knights, who couldn't resist descending, Guinevere also slowly floated down, now hovering above the battlefield.
However, Guinevere's gaze was fixed on a point farther away. She murmured, "It really is Jeanne... How many Lia-faces are there now...? Whatever, my Lia is still the most beautiful and heroic!"