Light Screen Danmaku——
It has to be said, because of Elysia's relentless roasting of the Outer God's appearance, the originally tense, exciting, and desperate scene now seemed rather dramatic.
At the very least, the children who had been frightened by the Outer God were no longer so scared to watch the light screen projection.
Fate/kaleid liner Prisma Illya World—
[Magical Girl Illya]: "That's right! That Outer God is just a big ugly monster! Big Sister Elysia will definitely destroy it!"
Illya shouted loudly in her room. After seeing an Outer God more terrifying than anything in a horror movie, she probably wouldn't be able to sleep tonight.
On the desk beside her, Ruby, with her two wings folded in a crossed-arm posture, was silently staring at the names in the light screen danmaku. This was incredible... Besides Illya and Miyu, were there really so many other magical girls in the world?
Subarashii—this was simply too subarashii! It seemed there was another world called Puella Magi Madoka Magica, where a considerable number of magical girls existed. Kukuku, when would Illya be chosen by this light screen to travel to that world? The meeting of magical girls from different worlds would be just too exciting!
"Lady Miyu, is something wrong?" At the Edelfelt residence, Miyu stood by the window, her gaze distant, as if lost in thought.
Seeing this, Sapphire was very confused. It seemed that ever since that red Archer had appeared in the light screen projection, Lady Miyu had been like this.
Who was he? Was he an ally of Lady Miyu? Or... was he connected to Lady Miyu's unknown past?
Miyu glanced at Sapphire, then lowered her head again. Although his appearance was different, and his height and weight were completely wrong, but... that red Archer's abilities, and that vaguely familiar voice.
There was no mistake—Emiya Shirou. Her brother. Although it was most likely an alternate world counterpart, just like Illya's brother, that was definitely Emiya Shirou!
---o---
[Light Screen Projection——
The battle between the Outer God and Elysia's group of three continued.
The strength of both Saber and the Ruler were undoubtedly at the level of top-tier Servants, but even so, it did not make the battle any easier.
Don't be fooled by how easily the King of Heroes seemed to have wounded the Outer God. As a Servant, Saber's qualities were in no way inferior to the King of Heroes, but even so, it was difficult for her to inflict damage on the Outer God's body as he had.
At this moment, Elysia was relentlessly firing beams of light from the sky, providing cover for Saber and the Ruler on the ground while attacking.
Without Elysia's help, Saber and Jeanne on the ground would likely have been instantly killed.
In the distance—Lancer was nowhere to be seen. He had most likely been submerged in the tide of monsters, his fate unknown. Now... no one could help Elysia.
"What a troublesome fellow..." Dodging another of the Outer God's attacks, Elysia couldn't help but frown. Due to the Outer God's unseeable and incomprehensible nature, the Herrscher of Origin's Authority had a hard time affecting it.
When her Authority hit its body, it was like hitting a wall. No matter how hard she pushed, it wouldn't budge. The feeling was extremely uncomfortable, making it impossible for Elysia to adapt.
Elysia was constantly thinking of a way to break the stalemate. The Counter Force wouldn't have said she could save the world for no reason. There had to be another method of resistance she hadn't found yet. Honestly, to deal with this kind of giant monster, they should have gone to find Kevin or Kalpas, not the delicate and pitiful Elysia. This Counter Force was really annoying!
Even as such thoughts ran through her mind, the speed of Elysia's attacks did not slow in the slightest. Honkai energy poured out of her continuously. In this other world, where there was no Honkai energy in the atmosphere to replenish her reserves, the supply within Elysia's body seemed as bottomless as an abyss. Perhaps this was one of the benefits of becoming a Herrscher...
"BOOM—"
A golden light once again struck the Outer God's massive body. Below it, Saber had unleashed her Noble Phantasm again with her holy sword. It was impossible to know how many times she had already done so.
Unfortunately, the unawakened Sword of Promised Victory could hardly harm the Outer God. She could only inflict damage by repeatedly striking the hole left by the King of Heroes. But even so, such damage was limited.
To deal a fatal blow, she would have to unleash the full power of the holy sword. A full-power release of the Star-forged Holy Sword would be enough to crush the god before them.
However... as King Arthur, summoned as a regular Servant, just undoing a few seals was already a strain. If she were to release all thirteen seals, she would probably dissipate into the air before she could even fire the attack.
She wasn't the King of Heroes, who possessed so many strange and wonderful items that allowed him to exist briefly even with a broken Spiritual Core. If she fully released the holy sword and it hit the Outer God, that would be one thing. But if she missed, the consequences would be unimaginable.
"Miss Saber! Above you, be careful!" Just as King Arthur was pondering, Saint Jeanne, with her Ruler-class perception, detected a gradually approaching Spiritual Core entering the battlefield.
"Above?"
Saber froze for a moment, and it was because of that moment's hesitation that a missile exploded right in front of her.
Relying on the conditioned reflexes forged through years of battle, Saber raised her sword to block a split second before the explosion. Although she deflected most of the damage, she was still wounded by the shrapnel.
Looking up, she saw an aircraft. Based on the modern knowledge granted to her by the Holy Grail, it was a fighter jet twenty meters in length!
However... something was very wrong with this jet. Not only was it completely black, but even its missiles were carrying a dense magical energy! Masaka...
A dark figure clad in titanium armor with a leaden glint suddenly appeared on the back of the jet... Only Berserker could do such a thing. Knight Does Not Die with Empty Hands! One of Sir Lancelot's Noble Phantasms, one that could even take control of modern technology!
At this moment, the blackness on Lancelot's armor was spreading like ink, bit by bit, corroding the jet's fuselage.
"————————!"
Having taken complete control of the twenty-meter-long aircraft, Berserker clung to its back like a legendary dragon rider, his resentful roar echoing through the night sky.
"To appear at a time like this, Lancelot! Do you hate me that much!" Saber said helplessly.
Any other time would have been fine. She wouldn't have even minded dying at Lancelot's hands. But... they were in the middle of a battle with an Outer God!
To be interfered with while fighting a god... the consequences were simply unimaginable. And the Lancelot before her... influenced by the powerful, bizarre aura of the Outer God, had become even more frenzied.
"Arrr—thurrrr—!"
Paying no mind to what his king was saying, the increasingly frenzied Berserker only wanted to completely obliterate the figure he was so obsessed with!
The sudden appearance of Berserker broke the stalemate of the battle. A continuous stream of fire was directed at Saber on the ground.
It was worth noting, however, that although Berserker had gone completely mad, Lancelot still recognized King Arthur perfectly. All his firepower was concentrated on Saber. If this had been Bluebeard, he would most likely be attacking Saint Jeanne beside Saber right now.
---o---
At this moment, the Lancelot outside the light screen had turned to stone. Attacking the king while she was completely focused on a battle? And a battle with an Outer God, no less?
God! Just kill me! I, Lancelot, no longer have a reason to live! If anything happened to the king, or if the world was destroyed by the Outer God because of him, what face would he have to continue living?
Beside him, the gazes of Gawain and Tristan were growing increasingly unfriendly. If they weren't sure they could beat him, they would have probably already jumped him, tied him up, and dragged him before the king to face judgment.
Lancelot could only silently condemn himself and secretly swear that in the next Holy Grail War, he would never again be summoned as a Berserker, not even if it killed him.
Even if he were summoned as a Caster or Assassin, classes with the worst compatibility for him, he would not appear as a Berserker.
But... even with these thoughts, his disgraceful display in the light screen projection had already spread across the multiverse. His, Lancelot's, reputation was likely already in ruins...
Light Screen Danmaku——
[Kiana Kaslana]: "You bastard! Why did Berserker have to show up now? And he's attacking Miss Saber! This is big trouble."
[Gilgamesh]: "Does that mad dog even know what's going on right now? Damn it, this King should have just killed him decisively before! If my garden suffers any damage, then this King will hunt that mad dog to the ends of the world and show him the wrath of a king!"
[Conan Edogawa]: "Now this is a complete disaster. Elysia's chances of winning weren't high to begin with, but now we can only pray for a miracle!"
As expected, Berserker already had a low presence, and the only impression the audience had of him was already bad. Now, by pulling a stunt like this, Berserker could replace Caster Bluebeard as the most hated guest of this Holy Grail War.
But despite their hatred, as viewers, there was nothing they could do but silently watch how things unfolded.
---o---
[Light Screen Projection——
Just as Berserker was about to fire another missile at Saber, a sudden explosion rang out.
"BOOM—"
"BOOM BOOM—"
Not one, but many continuous explosions. They weren't from Berserker's missiles, but... swords?
As the camera panned out—fifty meters, one hundred meters, two hundred meters, five hundred meters, and even further away—the first part-timer summoned by the Counter Force appeared on screen.
The red Archer, thought to have fled mid-battle, was now using his bow and arrow to block Berserker's attack.
The Archer was finally using a bow! Congratulations were in order. But... what was with that explosion? Wasn't he just shooting ordinary arrows? How could they cause an explosion?
Several hundred meters from the center of the battlefield, the red Archer revealed a mysterious smile. "I've always been protected by you. I suppose this is me repaying the favor. But still... Berserker, huh? Lancelot of the Round Table. To fight a guy like that up close... at my level, I wouldn't last three moves..."
Speaking such self-deprecating words, Archer's gaze shifted from Saber to Elysia. That woman's perception was astonishingly sharp. Although he didn't have a concealment ability like an Assassin... he was extremely far from the center of the battlefield, which was also filled with the dense, interfering aura of the Outer God.
To still be able to pinpoint his position so quickly under these circumstances... truly worthy of being the savior chosen by the Counter Force.
After meeting Elysia's gaze, the red Archer marked her as an existence he absolutely should not provoke.
He had left the group earlier to search for his 'self' from this era. The result, of course, was that he found nothing. Most of the citizens of Fuyuki had been transformed into monsters. His 'self' was likely no different.
But if his 'self' had really been turned into a monster, then shouldn't he, his current self, have disappeared? Or... were there other reasons that would prevent his disappearance even if his 'self' died...?
This was getting confusing. The audience outside the light screen was a bit lost at this point. What was going on? Was this Archer's brain okay? What path was he on? A Heroic Spirit from what era? How was he looking for himself in Fuyuki?
And from the sound of it, it seemed he even wanted to kill himself? What was that called? "I kill myself"?
In short, this Archer's behavior was a bit too abnormal. He seemed extremely dissatisfied with the Counter Force's actions, so even though it had ordered him to assist Elysia, he was only paying lip service.
A Heroic Spirit with a lot of personality—this was the audience's first impression of him. But that was a given. Which Heroic Spirit didn't have personality? The King of Heroes, a fellow Archer, couldn't just be called 'having personality'; his personality was overflowing and ascending to a new plane.
Compared to the King of Heroes, the red Archer's actions seemed much more normal.
However... there were too many suspicious points about this Archer. From the very beginning, his feelings toward Saber were strange, as if he had known her for a long time. Could he be a Knight of the Round Table, like Lancelot?
But he didn't wear similar armor, and Saber didn't recognize him.
Saber could recognize Lancelot even in that pitch-black form; it made no sense that she wouldn't recognize the red Archer.
So... what was this Archer's true purpose? And what impact would his dispatch by the Counter Force have on the Holy Grail War?