Seeing Saber like this, for some reason, Mordred didn't feel as angry anymore.
Although the resentment for her refusal to acknowledge her still lingered, and though she still hated her cowardly actions, but... seeing the idol of her past, the noble and great Knight King in the eyes of the Knights of the Round Table, reduced to this state, even though they were now on opposing sides, she couldn't help but feel a wave of sadness, a sense of frustration at her lack of fight.
"Arthur, you..."
"Enough talk, Mordred."
"The only way I can communicate with a rebel is through the blade."
Facing the frost-faced Saber, who held her blade, Mordred said no more. She merely enveloped herself in crimson lightning and drew her radiant royal sword. At this moment, the unfinished battle from the first night seemed to reignite in the latter half of the second night of the Holy Grail War.
However, before the two could clash...
The next moment, a crazed, hoarse, and desperate voice cut through the air first.
"ARTHUR!!!"
This threw Mordred off a bit.
Who stole my line?
The next instant—a slight shiver ran down her spine—she saw a mad figure, wreathed in pitch-black magical energy, swinging a sword towards them.
The terrifying magical energy instantly tore a chasm in the ground where the two stood.
Both Mordred and Saber dodged in succession.
"Berserker?!" Seeing this figure, both were startled, somewhat bewildered.
"Shouldn't this guy have been eliminated last night?!" Mordred couldn't help but curse.
Undoubtedly, this was the question on the minds of most Masters who had discovered Berserker's whereabouts.
After all, no matter how you looked at it, Berserker's Master, Kariya Matou, had indeed been eliminated in the duel against the head of the Tohsaka family last night.
And Berserker, although he could be sustained for a while by the magical energy of three Command Spells, should have undoubtedly exhausted his magical energy and disappeared after fighting Mr. Goldie.
In such a short time, without a source of magical energy or a new contract, it was impossible for an energy-depleted Berserker to remain.
As for whether someone had "scavenged" him...
While that was a possibility, there was no need to pick up something like this, was there?
Even if Servants were valuable assets, and Berserker was a top-tier combatant, capable of contending with that Gilgamesh, but... the Berserker class itself was notoriously uncontrollable, especially a Berserker who had lost its Master and gone berserk. Such a thing was practically a walking time bomb, almost solely manageable through Command Spells.
Besides, Berserker's magical energy consumption was quite demanding for an ordinary magus...
"This guy... he's actually going for Arthur?!"
After creating some distance, Mordred was initially wary, but when she noticed that Berserker kept chasing Saber after she and Saber separated, she couldn't help but feel surprised and astonished.
"...Wait, could this guy be Arthur's enemy too?"
Recalling that crazed shout of 'Arthur' just now, which was no less intense than her own, she couldn't help but make such a guess. "And this feeling..."
"...It's you, Mother!" Suddenly turning her head towards a surge of magical energy in a certain direction, Mordred was startled and stood ready with her sword.
"Hmph, we meet again so soon, Mordred."
The silver-haired Winter Witch, the Fairy Queen Morgan, held her staff, looking down on Mordred with a hint of disdain in her voice. "I didn't expect you to find that detestable red dragon first."
"...What are you planning, Mother?!"
"Isn't it obvious? To wash away Britain's shame, of course." She glanced askance at Saber, who was being hard-pressed by Berserker and in a precarious situation, her words laced with a hint of disgust and coldness.
Just as Mordred would search high and low for Saber the moment she left the banquet, how could Morgan possibly let this detestable red dragon go? She already hated her for usurping her throne—and now, that creature had further sullied the Britain she loved. Such a being, there was no reason to let her live, was there?
Reviving Britain by reviving King Arthur or some such nonsense... Recalling all her painstaking schemes in personally orchestrating Britain's downfall, Morgan felt a wave of nausea at this moment.
"Although that creature herself is a disgrace, isn't it rather fitting for a disgrace to wash away Britain's shame?"
"That guy..."
"Indeed, is Berserker also someone Arthur and I know?"
"Oh? You didn't recognize him? Hmph hmph, in that case... then..."
"Berserker, let them see your true face."
The next moment, pitch-black magical energy surged.
Accompanied by a heaven-shaking roar.
The face hidden beneath the dark magical energy and armor was revealed.
"How can this be... It's actually that guy?!"
"...Sir Lancelot?!!"
"Eh... Lancelot?! Is it that Lancelot?!"
Irisviel, witnessing this scene through the familiar's eyes, couldn't help but exclaim in the magic channel.
Illya was a bit confused. "Is there something strange about Lancelot?... Mom's reaction is so exaggerated."
"No, no... Illya, that knight is among the most virtuous of the Round Table, the knight most trusted by King Arthur... The Knight of the Lake. According to legend, he shouldn't even have an affinity for the Berserker class."
Irisviel explained that Servants also had so-called class affinities. Just as most kings could hardly manifest in an underhanded class like Assassin, the lower four Knight classes had quite strict limitations.
"Only those with legends of losing their sanity and going mad can possibly become a Berserker."
Lancelot becoming a Berserker was, just as Saber and Mordred's incredulous shock upon seeing his true face indicated, something quite beyond ordinary reason.
[Illya] said faintly, "When Mom says 'virtuous,' does she mean 'colluding with another man's wife'?"
"That 'virtuous' knight has legends of colluding with the Queen, betraying King Arthur, and killing his fellow knights."
"...Er."
Irisviel blinked.
It seemed that was indeed the case.
Almost instantly, Irisviel's favorable impression derived from Lancelot's rather good reputation vanished completely—after all, one of the few things Irisviel disliked was 'men who seduce other men's wives.'
Such things were truly bad!
[Illya] gazed at the somewhat chaotic battle scene, watching Berserker entangled with Saber, her tone subtle:
"Although I had my suspicions, I didn't expect Berserker to actually be taken by her."
Lancelot... King Arthur... Mordred, and Morgan... Well, this whole scene, she almost wanted to drag that little cinnamon roll from next door (Katsura from Gintama) over to join the fun.
But then, that little cinnamon roll would probably be extremely embarrassed after learning the details~
"If nothing unexpected happens, it seems Kiritsugu's Servant is about to be eliminated," she said.
"Eh? Really?!"
"After all, that's Berserker. His base stats alone are above Saber's. As for martial arts... King Arthur wasn't the strongest martial artist among the Knights of the Round Table, but that man, Lancelot, was undoubtedly the foremost martial artist of that era."
The reason Saber could win in the original story was purely due to Lancelot's own issues and problems with his magical energy supply. Otherwise, in a pure melee fight, how could the mere "Quilt King" (Saber) possibly defeat "Sir Long River" (Lancelot)?
She could barely hold her own thanks to comparable stats and Eye of the Mind. But now, with her Spirit Origin damaged and one hand crippled, for her to withstand Lancelot's onslaught like this, even Mr. Jiang Qiao had to marvel at how useful the Eye of the Mind truly was.
"...In that case, perhaps it's a good thing for Kiritsugu." Regarding this conclusion, although Irisviel felt somewhat regretful about Saber's departure—after all, though their time together was short, she genuinely liked this Knight King—if his Servant was gone, Kiritsugu might be able to let go of that excessive obsession.
[Illya] retorted, "That's impossible. Kiritsugu is the type to do anything to achieve his goals. Even if Saber is eliminated, he'll just try to lie low in the shadows and then seize another person's Servant to continue participating in the war."
"...That certainly sounds like Kiritsugu."
"Besides, rather than worrying about Kiritsugu's Servant, I'd actually suggest you pay more attention to your own surroundings."
"Eh?"
The Banquet of Kings had already ended. Although the initial purpose of the banquet was to debate the Way of Kingship and subdue other Servants, regarding the latter, every Servant had their own wishes and objectives, so they certainly wouldn't submit easily.
What's more, the remaining two were Enkidu and Ishtar—one was Mr. Goldie's best friend, and the other was the Goddess of Venus, the Mistress of Heaven.
Nevertheless, the emergence of a Philosopher King like the 'Empress of Glamoth' had somewhat caught those "Mr. Kings" off guard.
After all, in the face of the ultimate form of kingship, any kind of king would seem somewhat lackluster.
Those three could only engage in internal struggles.
Since there was no way to argue, the banquet didn't need to continue.
Considering that something lively seemed to be happening outside, and Miss Illya didn't want to stay in that high-pressure pyramid any longer—she felt that if she stayed any longer, she might be spun like a top by those strange uncles until she couldn't stop—so, all things considered, she left quickly.
She had originally intended to return to the magic workshop, but then...
"It's that big sister from the pyramid!"
Alerted by [Illya], Illya and Irisviel instantly noticed the golden-haired lolita girl standing in the distance, who had appeared at some unknown time.
—Manaka Sajyou.
She was smilingly staring at Illya, her gaze hard to define... Although there was no malice, Miss Illya felt inexplicably flustered being stared at like that, as if her whole being was about to be stripped bare and seen through.
Come to think of it, she had this feeling in the pyramid too, but now, being alone, it seemed even stronger.
Remembering [Illya]'s assessment of Manaka Sajyou—that she was a very troublesome beautiful girl—Miss Illya, trusting this feeling, thought that seemed quite reasonable.
"Um, excuse me, big sister, do you need something from me?"
"Mm-hmm~ Nothing much."
"It's just that I caught a very interesting scent on you..." Lightly stroking her skirt, Manaka walked slowly and unhurriedly, gradually approaching under Irisviel's somewhat wary gaze.
Although a height of 1.6 meters wasn't particularly tall, unfortunately, the comparison was with Miss Illya, who was still in her growth period. As a fifth-grader, she too would feel a sense of oppression from being 'looked down upon.'
She was about to say something, but Irisviel stepped in front of her first. This made Manaka's eyebrows raise slightly, and a hint of trouble appeared on her innocent face: "Apologies... I'm really not interested in dolls like you... Could you please have a little self-awareness about not being liked?"
"...What a pity. I am Illya's mother, you know."
"As a mother, I can't let someone with an unknown identity and unclear motives get close to my daughter."
"Well... is that so..."
"Then allow me to introduce myself briefly."
"I am the eldest daughter of the prestigious Sajyou family of magi from Tokyo, Manaka Sajyou~"
"Right now, well, I'm Berserker's Master, a participant in this Holy Grail War."
"You don't need to... After all, a replica made in imitation of that Winter Holy Maiden, Justeaze, a vessel for the Holy Grail, such uninteresting things are obvious at a glance."
"..."
Irisviel fell silent for a moment.
Miss Illya, however, exclaimed with some dissatisfaction:
"Mom is not some replica!"
"Well. If you're bothered by that point, then I can apologize, but... even if I don't say it, Miss Irisviel here probably knows it full well, right?"
Unable to refute, because it was indeed the truth, and for an elementary schooler like Miss Illya, refuting such a thing was rather difficult. Besides, by that definition, Miss Illya herself was the same kind of existence.
Another Justeaze replica after Irisviel, a more complete 'finished product.'
"You sought us out, is this all you wanted to say?"
"Of course not. I just... on this child... hmm, it's Illya, right? I smelled a rather interesting scent on her... And Illya herself has piqued my interest somewhat... I have to say, participating in this Holy Grail War was absolutely the right decision, to be able to see such interesting things."
"As a pet, say, like a cat, she'd be quite suitable."
"But that's all there is to it."
The Princess of the Root, directly connected to the Root, couldn't be called a young girl, but rather 'omnipotence' presented in the form of a young girl. In a human state, this kind of omniscience where you could see the end at a glance, really couldn't make one happy.
Therefore, in her past life, she could hardly find much meaning in living.
Familial affection? She felt nothing of the sort.
The Root that magi pursue? Wasn't that thing right within reach?
The only things that could pique this Princess of the Root's interest were the unknown and surprises.
Of course, if possible, she still hoped for a little more love in it.
After all, Miss Manaka Sajyou was quite fond of Mary Sue-ish girlish romance.
And in this Holy Grail War... she smelled it.
That scent...
Yes, undoubtedly.
It must be a 'Prince'~