In the midst of his battle with Berserker, Archer maintained distance as he launched attacks, preparing to activate his Noble Phantasm.
But just as he began his incantation, Berserker's movements suddenly halted.
"What's going on?"
The unexpected change caused Archer to hesitate. He watched Berserker closely, wondering if Rin had defeated the Einzbern Homunculus. Without a Master, perhaps Berserker could no longer sustain himself.
After all, Berserkers consumed far more mana than other Servants.
"Archer! Watch out!"
Rin's voice rang out from afar, snapping Archer to attention.
"Servant Archer, continue preparing your Magecraft."
Another voice followed—calm, composed—as a figure descended gently to the ground, issuing the command.
"You're..." Archer turned toward the newcomer.
Dressed in deep blue-black, wielding a jet-black magical spear, and bearing a face strikingly similar to Mordred's.
Before Archer could ask anything more, Saber landed behind her.
He had already seen Saber unleash her Noble Phantasm during the earlier clash—now it was clear she had defeated Rider. With one enemy Servant down, the battlefield had become that much easier to manage.
"Wait a minute! Mother!"
Saber reached for the unfamiliar woman, but her hand was easily brushed aside.
"Why are you here—"
"There's no time for idle chatter, Mordred," Morgan cut her off, tone detached.
"So, you're the infamous Witch of Britain—Morgan le Fay," Archer said, instantly understanding.
Morgan didn't respond. She raised her magic spear and aimed at Berserker. A beam of bluish-green light descended from the sky, striking Berserker—but it didn't harm him at all.
"Just as I thought. This level of force isn't enough anymore," Morgan muttered.
Even as she spoke, Berserker's body began to undergo a terrifying transformation.
Archer and Saber immediately turned their full attention to him.
Berserker, already over two and a half meters tall, began to swell with ominous mana. Chains of red and black mana coiled around his frame, binding him.
His heavily muscled body started to crack open. Crimson markings spread across his flesh like flowing blood, burning with a fierce glow.
In mere seconds, Berserker's size more than doubled. Now towering over five meters, he looked as if he could blot out the sky.
His stone axe-sword was transformed under a surge of magic, morphing into a massive battle axe—its red blade glowing like molten lava, radiating raw menace.
"What... is that...?" Archer stood frozen in shock.
He hadn't imagined Berserker could shift into something like this.
"So that's it... the Einzbern's contingency plan," Morgan concluded. "They've burned through all their Command Spells and mana to turn Berserker into a living embodiment of slaughter. He won't stop—not until he dies or his enemies are destroyed."
Saber instinctively turned to press further, but as Morgan had said, there was no time.
In less than twenty seconds, Berserker's transformation was complete. Now a monstrous killing machine, his massive frame vanished from its position and reappeared before them in a blur.
He struck first.
Before the axe could fall, Morgan thrust her spear upward, intercepting the blow mid-swing.
But it was only a brief delay.
Morgan was never known for her physical strength, and in that moment of resistance, signs of strain began to show.
Had she been alone, she would have been in grave danger.
Saber and Archer lunged in, striking the axe Morgan had held back with overwhelming force.
Even under such powerful impact, Berserker didn't take a single step back. Only his upper body shifted slightly, thrown off balance.
Seizing the opening, the three broke away from his immediate range, scattering in different directions to split his focus.
Magecraft and arrows rained down on Berserker like a violent storm, the resulting explosions sweeping away everything around the castle.
Even Rin, who had just arrived at the battlefield's edge, had to use a gemstone to conjure a defensive barrier, shielding herself from the shockwaves.
From here on out, the battle was completely in the hands of the Servants.
She didn't know who the woman who appeared so suddenly was—but she was clearly a Servant.
And not just any Servant—she was a Berserker!
That was what truly shocked Rin.
A woman with an aura like ice and snow, clearly skilled in magecraft.
Putting those traits together, Rin could only recall the person her father, Tokiomi, once mentioned when talking about the Fourth Holy Grail War's Berserker.
The Witch of Britain, the Fairy Queen Morgan.
But the Fourth Grail War had been ten years ago—how could that person be here now?
Rin didn't have time to make sense of it.
Right now, Morgan wasn't an enemy—she was an ally.
With Morgan and Archer providing support, Saber finally had an opening to go on the offensive against Berserker.
But seizing that chance... wouldn't be so easy.
Berserker—Heracles—had undergone a sudden transformation, and all his parameters had skyrocketed.
His Strength, already at A+, had risen to A++. Endurance, Mana, and Agility had each jumped from A to A+.
Without Morgan and Archer attacking from afar to distract and suppress him, Saber—still drained from using her Noble Phantasm—wouldn't have lasted long under Berserker's relentless assault.
Morgan frowned slightly and raised one hand. From afar, she made a motion as if holding Berserker in place—and countless chains erupted from the void, binding his massive body and locking him down.
"Ten seconds, at most," Morgan said. "Archer—if you want to finish this, use your true magecraft."
Though her Fairy Eyes had lost their ability to discern absolute truth, they still held mysteries beyond human understanding—enough to instantly see through the essence of most Magus spells.
Archer was no exception. Even if he bore the title of a Heroic Spirit under the Archer class, it didn't change the fact that he was a Magus at his core.
Morgan had seen through him instantly—that was why she gave the command without hesitation.
She had also realized something else: Berserker had undergone a qualitative leap. Even if his remaining life was short, Heracles now possessed comprehensive resistances, and with every revival, he would become harder to defeat.
"Classic great witch—always so good at bossing people around."
Archer muttered to himself, smirking faintly, before resuming the incantation he had been forced to interrupt.
"I am the bone of my sword..."
At that moment, Morgan turned her gaze toward the forest.
It should be just about time.
Her husband would soon finish things over there and arrive—with Sakura in tow.
She calculated quietly in her mind.
...
(100 Chapters Ahead)
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