[FDJ]Chapter 41: Critical Moment

Relentless and intense collisions tormented the two swords that were familiar to each other. Gilles de Rais noticed for the first time that his once-mad friend possessed unimaginable destructive power.

In terms of swordsmanship, Gilles de Rais had an absolute advantage. However, every time he thought he had a chance to attack the gaps in Berserker's armor, the enormous sword would ruthlessly interrupt his swordsmanship. Berserker's strength was astonishing, and coupled with his ability to release magical energy, each seemingly ordinary swing forced Gilles de Rais to exert his full strength to defend against it.

It felt completely different from his fight against Jeanne yesterday. Berserker could easily send Gilles de Rais's sword flying and then strike his head with a single blow.

Gilles de Rais found the perfect opportunity and quickly closed in on Berserker. His sword pierced through the gaps in Berserker's chest armor, and after withdrawing the blood-stained blade, it struck Berserker's gauntlet. Gilles de Rais suddenly burst forth with an equal level of strength, managing to pierce through the relatively weak gauntlet and create another opening on Berserker's arm. Gilles de Rais also possessed the ability of madness enhancement, but he was only suppressing that madness within himself.

"Ah! Aaaaah!" Berserker swung his hand, attempting to counterattack, but his massive sword was once again blocked. Due to his injuries, Berserker's force was weaker than before. Gilles de Rais effortlessly blocked it with both hands and counterattacked.

The heavy blow landed on Berserker's chest plate, leaving a bright mark on the coat of arms. Berserker was forced to retreat repeatedly under Gilles de Rais's onslaught. In his rage, he seemed to recognize his opponent and hesitated for a moment before continuing to roar incomprehensible words.

The flowing blood was quickly staunched, and Berserker's armor returned to its pristine state. Gilles de Rais's exquisite swordsmanship combined with his equal level of strength surpassed Berserker's overall level, but it failed to yield substantial results against Berserker's regenerative abilities. As both of them were Servants, physical injuries had become insignificant, and even the question of whether victory could be achieved through swordsmanship or strength was no longer particularly important.

The wind began to swirl around them, and Berserker appeared even more furious than before. However, he began to change his strategy. In his irrational state, he made the most rational choice at this moment.

Gilles de Rais sensed the danger and immediately retreated, trying to move out of the range affected by the wind. However, the sudden gale still hindered his movements, causing him to pause for a moment.

The giant sword followed suit, sweeping Gilles de Rais and his sword more than ten meters away.

The mad roar continued to echo as a raging wind automatically surrounded Berserker as if magical energy disregarded any constraints. The consumption of using this method was no less than employing a Noble Phantasm.

As Gilles de Rais stood up again, his ribbed armor caved in, and he felt as if at least two bones had been broken. His left hand also lost its previous strength. He had no advantage in terms of regenerative abilities, and without a Master, he had no means to alleviate his injuries.

"La Hire, you're still as insane as ever," Gilles de Rais remarked without deploying his Noble Phantasm. He was prepared to retreat and hold out for a maximum of ten minutes, allowing his allied Servants to be ready to take over.

Naturally, Berserker did not respond to Gilles de Rais. Instead, after waiting for more than ten seconds, he chased after Gilles de Rais. The massive sword mercilessly descended upon Gilles de Rais, with each strike aimed at killing him. His anger overshadowed all other thoughts, and anyone who opposed him or his Holy Maiden needed to be annihilated.

Even if it meant replacing Gilles de Rais with the French king he once served.

Compared to the injuries inflicted by Berserker, Jeanne made no progress in her fight against Rider. Rider was more cautious this time, paying greater attention to Jeanne's holy sword and preventing her neck from being cut by the sword again.

Due to their initial disadvantage, Rider's Master secretly harbored some complaints. Before her engagement, he demanded that she defeat at least one enemy Servant, preferably the female Saber who had injured her last time.

Giving orders was easy, but executing them posed a challenge for Rider. It was already difficult for her to maintain a defensive stance, and the few occasional attacks she launched were insufficient to hit Jeanne. Using her Noble Phantasm again, she worried that her Dragon would be affected by the "evil" Holy Maiden's dragon-slaying abilities.

Rider lacked a good offensive strategy and tended to be cautious. On the other hand, Jeanne didn't believe in excessive caution. She only approved of suppressing the enemy through attack. Rather than defending against attacks from unknown directions, she preferred to make the opponent ponder that problem.

While Suzuki remained vigilant against other Masters approaching him, his primary focus was on his Servant. Meanwhile, Attila and Lancer Brynhildr fought on equal footing, and he couldn't assist Attila beyond revealing Lancer's true name. The information recorded in Chaldea about Brynhildr was quite comprehensive, but Brynhildr didn't possess any obvious weaknesses. Defeating Brynhildr required more brute force.

Perhaps due to the excessive anxiety of a certain Master paying attention to this area, that person made a more severe mistake than Suzuki. Just at that moment, Rider's movements suddenly halted. Under the control of a Command Spell, Rider activated her Noble Phantasm, and Tarasque, the dragon, was summoned between the two of them.

Jeanne had little time to react. After Tarasque appeared, it spun rapidly and charged directly toward her position.

Suzuki didn't use a Command Spell. Jeanne had already informed her yesterday that she could handle Rider's Noble Phantasm. Jeanne immediately dodged, evading the dragon's straight trajectory.

The ground was crushed into shallow craters by the dragon, but it didn't stop; it continued to spin rapidly, chasing after Jeanne. Moreover, as the dragon's rotation persisted, its power slightly increased compared to before.

Dodging once again, Jeanne felt that the speed of the second attack was faster than the first, unlike yesterday when she was directly hit by the first strike. Rider's Noble Phantasm was not as straightforward and mindless as it seemed.

Just at that moment, Berserker gave up on Gilles de Rais, whom he had injured himself, and instead headed straight for Jeanne and Rider. Brandishing his giant sword, he absorbed the full force of Tarasque's third crushing charge. His armor immediately shattered, and his entire body was wounded and bleeding from the impact. The hands that held the sword became a bloody mess upon contact with the dragon's scales. For a human, the survival rate with such injuries would be less than 60%, and even if they survived, they would likely be left permanently disabled.

But Berserker could still fight. His roar drowned out the dragon as he used his mangled hands to support Tarasque and threw it back in Rider's direction.

"Ah!" The furious roar of Berserker not only intimidated Rider but also deeply moved Jeanne, who was under his protection. It felt as if they had both returned to the battlefields of their past lives, fighting together.

Jeanne proactively used her holy arts to accelerate Berserker's self-healing. Her attention was completely focused on the front, so she didn't notice that Gilles de Rais, whom Berserker had ignored, was approaching.

Berserker injuries and armor visibly recovered at a rapid pace. He raised his giant sword and charged toward the now-stationary dragon. The sword struck the thick, scaled back of the dragon, shattering several pieces of scales that surpassed the hardness of ore. The dragon let out a mournful cry, as even Rider might not have been able to deliver a single blow that could crack open the toughest armor on Tarasque's body.

The dragon refused to back down and suddenly lunged at the nearby Berserker. Neither side yielded to the other, and the difference in strength was minimal. However, the dragon's equally sturdy jaws played a decisive role at that moment. It clamped its mouth around Berserker's left shoulder, causing the silver shoulder armor to crack immediately, and blood began to seep from the edges of the dragon's mouth.

Rider circled behind Berserker, striking him squarely in the head with a punch that left the Berserker unable to advance or retreat.

To rescue the reckless Berserker, Jeanne swung her sword to drive away Rider and stabbed the blade into the gap between the scales on Tarasque's claw, causing the dragon to feel a sharp pain.

With Jeanne's assistance, Berserker focused all his strength on lifting the Tarasque dragon that was biting into his shoulder. He forcefully tore the dragon away from himself, completely disregarding the fact that a piece of his shoulder was missing.

The bloodied Tarasque managed to break free from Berserker's grasp and proudly displayed its "spoils" in its mouth as if it were Rider's pet.

"Hehe~ You should still use your ability to control dragons. Otherwise, without your companions, you won't stand a chance against my dragon," Rider remarked, not probing further into the matter of Berserker's Master using a Command Spell. In terms of the outcome, it was rather perfect, and her Master had made the right choice in assisting her.

Gilles de Rais, who witnessed the battle unfolding before him, finally understood why he couldn't defeat Berserker. Berserker still retained his foundational swordsmanship skills, and whenever he encountered an enemy he hadn't faced in his lifetime, he would rely solely on brute force or follow orders from his Master.

Gilles de Rais was certain that Berserker's Master was nearby. He was convinced of this, as otherwise Berserker wouldn't have been able to accurately use his magical release just now, instead of continuing the sword duel.

Without resorting to a surprise attack from behind, Gilles de Rais walked openly towards Jeanne, without needing Suzuki to remind her. Jeanne, who had been focused on the front all along, also noticed someone approaching.

"Jeanne, do you find satisfaction in fighting for the invasion of our ancestors' territory?" Gilles de Rais was still trying to find the image of Jeanne in his memories, but unfortunately, those were just his fantasies or exaggerated results.

The real Jeanne was right in front of him, and she could be afraid and make mistakes too. He knew very well how Jeanne would respond to him.

"I've already said it before. It is now the 5th century AD, and this place has almost no connection to the France of our original world in the 15th century AD. It is more in line with our ancestors' needs to drive out the Romans who exploit the future lands of France."

Turning around, Jeanne continued to use her holy art to alleviate Berserker's injuries. It would have been better if she could confront Rider together with Berserker, but now that Gilles de Rais had approached her, Jeanne had no choice but to focus on stopping Gilles de Rais from flanking her.

"Jeanne, watch out above!"

Suzuki's shout made Jeanne suddenly notice the objects appearing above her head, including Berserker. Multiple explosive bugs with metallic shells suddenly appeared.

No sooner said than done, Jeanne quickly dodged the falling explosive bugs, and Berserker decisively swung his sword, smashing all of these explosive toys in one strike.

The explosions continued incessantly. Jeanne was fortunate enough not to be affected, but Berserker's armor was severely damaged by the explosions, and blood flowed from his head.

Jeanne realized that Berserker couldn't keep up with the high-intensity continuous attacks due to his current healing speed. She needed to buy him some time to recover.

"It seems like you've lost this time," Gilles de Rais said, not attacking Jeanne. He stood aside, neither advancing nor retreating, "enjoying" the pitiful state of his former acquaintance, La Hire.