[In a basement, a blond man leaned against the wall in fear, only to be stabbed to death by a woman in a purple robe.]
[The blond man was Atrum.]
Waver: "So this is how Atrum died?"
Kayneth: "That woman looks like a Servant. But where is Atrum's Servant? Why isn't she protecting him?"
Mother C: "..."
What's going on? I'm Caster, why would I be doing this myself?
[The scene shifts. The woman collapses in a forest, and a cold-looking middle-aged man passes by, taking her back to his home.]
[The scene changes again. Two figures are fighting fiercely on the street.]
[One of them is the middle-aged man from earlier. The other is Artoria.]
[Surprisingly, Artoria is being suppressed in the fight. Then, with an unnatural movement, the man's left arm swings like a whip, striking the back of Artoria's head and knocking her to the ground.]
Gawain: "King!!!"
Mordred: "Impossible! How could my father be defeated by a mere human?"
Lancelot: "...Calm down. Something is wrong with the king."
Though the fight lasted only a few seconds, Lancelot, with his unparalleled martial prowess, noticed that the Artoria in the video was significantly weaker in both speed and strength.
Kay: "Indeed. It looks like she's been weakened."
Lancelot: "Even so, that man is incredibly strong."
Li Shuwen: "Hmm. It's a completely new technique—seems like something he developed himself."
Li Shuwen: "Hahaha! I'd love to fight him."
House Cook: "Wait… this person is—"
Emiya Kiritsugu: "Shirou, do you know him?"
From what he could see, this middle-aged man was just like him, either a mercenary or an assassin.
He hadn't expected such a powerful individual to exist in the Fifth Holy Grail War.
House Cook: "He's a teacher at our school. His name is… Soichiro Kuzuki!"
Irisviel: "Taiga, don't you also work at the school? Do you know him?"
Fujimura Taiga: "Oh, yeah, I think there's someone like that. But he's cold and barely interacts with anyone. He's like a block of wood."
[The scene changes again. This time, Shirou is pinning a blue-haired young man down, threatening him to deactivate a barrier.]
[From the surroundings, it's clear they're at their school.]
[Everyone recognizes the blue-haired young man—Shinji Matou.]
[Of course, the one they all know is from the Moon Cell War.]
[Faced with Shirou's threat, Shinji Matou has no choice but to give in, allowing the tall, long-haired purple-haired woman beside him to touch the barrier.]
Harmless: "What the hell?! Emiya, what are you doing!?"
House Cook: "Hmm? Shinji?"
Harmless: "Of course it's me! What the hell are you doing!?"
House Cook: "I..."
Shirou himself was confused, but from the video, it was clear that Shinji Matou had done something. That meant stopping him was the right move.
After all, that glowing red magic circle looked incredibly dangerous.
Harmless: "Hey! Emiya, you bastard! Answer me!"
Tohsaka Rin: "Shut up, you're so loud. You actually let Servants set up a magic circle at school? I should be the one asking what the hell you're doing!"
Harmless: "How should I know?! Maybe I'm being framed!"
Tohsaka Rin: "Haha, do you even believe that nonsense yourself?"
Tohsaka Rin: "I don't know why the system gave you this name. 'Harmless to Humans and Animals'? What a joke."
Harmless: "You—!"
Zabiko: "Ahem, is this the Shinji from your world? He seems a little… edgy."
Drake: "Ah, he feels like a completely different person."
Tohsaka Rin: "This guy is just plain irritating, especially at school. He always acts like he's better than everyone else. I don't even know who he's trying to impress."
House Cook: "Well, I think Shinji-kun isn't a bad person."
Tohsaka Rin: "Hmph. Only a nice guy like you would say that."
[The scene changes. Matou Shinji, now in a panic, flees to the church, seeking refuge with Kotomine Kirei. Under Kirei's persuasion, Gilgamesh reluctantly signs a contract with Matou Shinji and becomes his Servant.]
[Afterward, Gilgamesh storms into Einzbern Castle. Illya commands a towering man to charge forward, roaring as he faces off against Gilgamesh.]
Gilgamesh: "Hah! Kirei damn you!"
Gilgamesh was so angry that he laughed. Kotomine Kirei had actually convinced him to serve a piece of trash like Matou Shinji. Was this a joke?
More importantly… he actually agreed to it. What kind of insanity was that?
Irisviel: "Illya!"
Seeing Gilgamesh attack Illya, Irisviel's heart clenched in worry.
However, Illya herself didn't seem concerned. Instead, she stared at the two-meter-tall figure in the video with stars in her eyes.
Illya: "Is that my Servant? He looks so strong!"
Illya: "It's all Kiritsugu's fault. If it were me, I would've summoned a Servant this powerful."
Emiya Kiritsugu: "..."
Uncle B: "Ahhh!!!"
Illya: "Hey! Is that you in the video?"
Uncle B: "Hmmm."
Illya: "I'm sorry I couldn't summon you this time… Can you tell me your name?"
Uncle B: "Ahhh!!!"
Illya: "Uh..."
Irisviel: "Haha, looks like it's Berserker. He can't speak, but he seems to like you, Illya."
Illya: "Of course! Illya is the cutest—who wouldn't like her?"
Uncle B: "Hmm..."
"Hey, hey—"
Watching the conversation unfold in the group chat, Olga Marie turned to Heartless, looking astonished.
"Heartless, are you sure this is the same guy I summoned?"
Heartless smiled faintly. "Isn't it obvious?"
Olga Marie frowned. "Look at how he acts around that girl in the group, then look at how he treats me. How could they possibly be the same?"
Heartless: "..."
How was he supposed to respond to that? Should he tell her that the Berserker she summoned had a soft spot for little girls?
That said, Berserker did seem to treat this girl differently.
Chiron: "Hmm... Are you Hercules?"
Uncle B: "Hmm?"
Chiron: "It really is you. I almost didn't recognize you. After all, you've become a Berserker, and you're quite different from when you were alive."
Chiron: "It's me, Chiron. Do you remember?"
Uncle B: "Ahhh!!!"
Achilles: "Teacher Chiron, you're saying this guy is the Hercules?"
Chiron: "Yes, that's him."
Chiron: "What a pity… he was summoned as a Berserker."
Tohsaka Rin: "Hercules! The Hercules from Greek legend?!"
Iskandar: "Hahaha! I didn't expect him to show up."
Waver: "I can't believe someone this strong appeared in the Fifth War."
Uncle B: "Ahhh!!!"
Tohsaka Rin: "What's wrong with him? Is he feeling off?"
Chihiro: "Have you forgotten the history between Hercules and Chiron?"
Tohsaka Rin: "Isn't it just a master-disciple relationship...? Oh—!"
Chihiro: "Yeah. Chiron was indirectly killed by Hercules."
Uncle B: "Aww..."
Chiron: "Don't worry, I don't blame you."
Chiron: "It's just unfortunate that we can't have a proper conversation now."
Achilles: "Hercules? Hahaha! If I get the chance, I definitely want to fight you—to see which of us is the strongest hero!"
Illya: "Berserker is the strongest!"
Uncle B: "Ahhh!!!"
Achilles: "Hey! You little—"
[In front of a temple gate, a young man with blue hair, dressed in a purple kimono, sat on the ground, holding a long naginata in his hands.]
[At the foot of the mountain, Artoria steadily approached, sword in hand.]
[The scene shifted to the temple itself, where a skull-masked Hassan with an abnormally long arm was engaged in combat with Artoria.]
[The scene changed once more, showing a frail old man being cut down by Red A.]
Fujimura Taiga: "Oh! That guy looks like a really powerful samurai!"
Gatekeeper: "Thank you for the compliment."
Fujimura Taiga: "Huh? Is that you? I practice kendo too! Can you tell me your name?"
Gatekeeper: "Haha, I am Sasaki Kojiro."
Fujimura Taiga: "Sasaki Kojiro?! The legendary swordsman?!"
Gatekeeper: "Yes, that would be me."
Fujimura Taiga: "Oh!!"
(To be continued.)
***
Bonus chapter. Eid Mubarak ✨️ to my Muslim readers.