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I recognised her too, of course I did. My memory may not have been the best, but a show I watched turning into my new reality had naturally jogged it up. Those same memories told me that I was in immense danger right now, along with everyone else here.
"Ah, what a pleasant coincidence." The murderous loli leaned forward and tilted her head cutely. I didn't even notice the switch from Japanese to English. "I only wanted to take a tiny little peek at my big brother but this is even better."
Illyasviel von Einzbern.
After the Matou, and the Tohsaka, she was the representative of the one founding family I was yet to encounter. Her servant was, beyond any reasonable doubt, the strongest heroic spirit summoned in the Fifth Holy Grail War. That wasn't an issue. The problem lay in the fact that she was cruel and mad, for circumstances I did not have the luxury of considering. There was no way of negotiating with the child in front of me.
"Einzbern...?" Bazett murmured faintly, placing one foot in front of the other, a hand raised to her waist defensively.
"Correct~!" Illyasviel clapped her hands together excitedly, "Do you want a reward for that? Ah, but I'm sorry, I don't think you'll be capable of receiving it once Berserker is done with you."
...
Right, she didn't give two shits about the rules.
Bazett seemed to glean that almost immediately. She frowned beside me.
The air grew colder and colder, and tendrils of white mist that reached my knees crept along the ground.
With a sigh, I ran a hand through my hair.
"Is there any chance we can all leave?" I asked shamelessly.
She straightened her back, shaking her head from side to side. "No, I don't think I can let this opportunity go. With not two but three masters out of the picture, I can really just take my time with my beloved big brother."
At those words, it occurred to me that Shirou Emiya was going to be targeted by her regardless of whether or not he had a servant. In taking away his command seals, I had doomed him. That... that did not sit right with me at all. I'd been so consumed by my own desperate need for survival...
It wasn't even a matter of being sad.
It was that... this was a second chance... was I really pathetic enough to get a sixteen year old killed just so I could live?
My mind told me I was, that nothing else mattered.
My heart refused.
"Just to preface this, I don't like pain. I like being alive. Like a lot lot."
My ancestor was probably grinning like an idiot right now, wherever he was.
"What's this?"
She naturally grew confused. I was just blubbering shit randomly after all.
The reality of my actions began settling in.
"But I don't think I'd be able to really enjoy being alive if I let a kid die."
"You think you can kill me, mister?"
I cast a glance at Bazett.
"Oh, I'm definitely going to kill you."
Her eyes shimmered. An excited smile lit up her little face.
"How funny! Berserker!"
The very world came to a grinding halt. My breath hitched, as though all the air in my lungs had been forcibly sucked out. My vision grew hazy. My hands trembled. Behind Illyasviel, a giant came stepping out of the mist. His steps were like the beat of drums, his breath was that of a beast's.
The son of Zeus was a monstrous black creature with blood red eyes. Eight-and-a-half feet of pure muscle, thrumming powerfully, with arms and legs as thick as tree trunks. His long black hair fell down his back, wild like the man of a great lion.
He wore only a lamellar kilt laid with steel plates and nothing else. Only an ill-shaped club like a cleaver or axe with a long sharp side resembling a sword.
The greatest hero of Ancient Greece, who overcame twelve legendary labours and rose to godhood himself needed naught else.
His very being froze me in place.
Despite the cold, a sudden onset of sweat made my shirt cling to my back. I raised both my trembling fists.
There really was only one option against him.
"With this treasure..."
"Yo lad, nobody told you to fight that lunk by yourself." My thoughts broke when Cu suddenly placed a hand on my shoulder, "You sure you know what you're doing here? Even we servants know damn well it's us that gotta fight with our lives."
I stared at him in confusion.
"Besides, I've always wanted the title of Giantslayer!"
"Godslayer." I corrected.
"The Holy Grail shouldn't be capable of summoning Gods." Bazett finally spoke up. She had been quiet all this time, probably considering the situation in her own way. "I don't think he should be able to fight off two servants."
...He definitely could.
"And, she's made it clear she wants to harm both of us."
Illyasviel finally got fed up. "Get them all, Berserker!"
Heracles raised his head and let out a mad roar, powerful enough to freeze my legs. Then, he was gone, faster than a being of his size had any right to be. Cu Chulainn shot forward to meet him midswing.
He intercepted the axe-sword with the shaft of his lance. Their clash was so immensely powerful that sparks and torrents of wind exploded all around them. The ground underneath cracked where they stepped.
Cu grinned wider.
"That's all ya got?!"
Heracles roared madly and swung madly, faster than I could hope to track with my eyes. The surprise came when Cu met him blow for blow, thrusting his crimson lance at odd angles to deflect the clearly stronger blows Heracles' physical might allowed him.
Shuwen... Shuwen just stood and watched, hands held behind his back.
"I am proud of your decision to stand your ground, Master. Bravery and bravado become you."
I chuckled half-heartedly, "Bravado?"
The old man shrugged easily, "The greatest of legends are born of what was mere bravado at one point."
Suddenly, Heracles lashed out with a kick. Cu was fast enough to put his spear in the way, but the sheer raw power behind him dragged him back several feet. Heracles did not halt. He pressed onward, and cut at him from the side before he'd recovered. The blow launched him through a wall, into a white two-storied suburban home.
"Lancer!" Bazett gasped.
Her worry was entirely needless.
A flowerpot struck Heracles' head, exploding into a million pieces against his form. Cu shot out as a red haze, mana coalescing within his spear. When he thrust, it was far faster than before. Heracles did not even deign to avoid the spear that tore through his tendon.
He needed not care for such paltry wounds.
No, he twisted the wounded arm and wrapped his fingers around the barbed lance. A mad howl escaped his lips as he pulled Cu to him and smashed him into the earth behind him with his own spear. The neighbourhood shook and quaked but when the dust cleared, the legendary irish spearman was nowhere to be found.
"Alright, you're something, I'll admit it."
I was certain I would have died a hundred times over if I was in his place right now.
Instead of dwelling on that, I shook Bazett.
"We need to clear off."
"Right." She nodded seriously, "We're only hindrances this way. Lady Einzbern, it's still noon. You're breaching the rules."
The mad master of Berserker let out a high-pitched laughter that made evident her stance on the accusation.
"It won't matter if there's no left to see it, right?"
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