(8) Berserker

"This church, something about it that bothers me... isn't this place a bit too clean?"

Entering the church, Alexander was a bit surprised that the whole place is clean. Like someone cleans the whole place every day. There is not one bit of dust that could be found which is suspicious.

Alexander observes the whole church and found a few anomalies. One, in the far left of the church, by the windows, he saw a burn spot on the ground. Secondly, he saw burn pieces of plastic. And lastly, there were clothes found laying on one of the long seats.

You don't need to be a genius to realize that someone has been here. The only thing Alexander could deduce is that the person is highly likely to be a male based on the clothes. But then again, it could be a female that likes to dress like a guy. But either way, male or female, their purpose of coming here is definitely not for a good cause.

"Found anything?" Olga asked him while glanced at every corner of the church.

Looking behind, he saw everyone entered the church and observe the inside like what he did. They also seem to notice the abnormality of this place.

"If you look over there, with your intelligence, I'm sure you will be able to find something," Alexander said while pointing to the burn marks he saw a few seconds ago.

"That's..."

She quickly runs beside the window and crouches next to the burn marks. She pinches some of the dust and realizes that it was still warm.

"It's warm! someone has been here not too long ago! Romani, quick, scan the whole place down and make sure you scan every corner of this place."

This caught the attention of everyone and they all gather around the burn marks on the ground. They all waited but received no confirmation from the Doctor.

"Well, did you find anything?" Alexander has taken the lead to ask what's on everyone's mind.

("Wait, just gimme a sec. Something is preventing me from scanning the area down... This will take a while, you guys just rest for some time, and I'll call you out when I'm done.") From the serious tone of his voice, It seems that their only option was to wait for a while.

"Just make it quick."

She then turns to face us and she loudly clapped her hands together to gather everyone's attention. "While we are waiting for that, let's achieve the reason why we came here."

Everyone nodded and they all split into two groups. the members of the first group were Tamamo, Olga, and Cu. Their objective is to fill this church with traps using magecraft (An: I just want to clarify that the Church is just a convenient and perfect place where they could set up their plan. Even if the church doesn't exist, they could just look for another place.)

The second group consists of Alexander, Ritsuka, and Mash. Their job is to clean up the remaining skeletons wandering around the perimeter of the church. If they left them be, they may cause a problem with their plan later on.

The cleaning of the surrounding area was going smoothly. Since they have already been fighting together for quite a while, each of them knows what their teammates' capabilities are. Because of that, their teamwork was superb compare to when they all just meet.

It didn't take long before they were able to eliminate all hostile entities 5 kilometers around the hill. It only took them 2-3 hours, mostly due to the Gate of Babylon. The two males stayed while Mash returns in the direction of the church. Since they mostly clean the surroundings, Alexander asked for Mash to inform the others.

"Eto, Alexander-san?" Ritsuka called out to Alexander, hesitantly.

Before answering, Alexander fired a weapon to the last skeleton and making sure they were safe before calmly answering, "What is it?"

"If you don't mind me asking, it's something to do where you came from..."

"So, it's about my origin?" He asked with a tint of sadness. The young master didn't notice it so just nodded ignorantly.

"I thought you already know about me. Since the director introduced me and all."

"But I want to know the real Alexander, not the Alexander that the director introduced to us that day. From afar, I notice an aura of sadness that surrounds you. It reminds me so much of Mash when we first met. That's why... I want to help you Alexander-san. I'm sure you already don't need any of my help since you are so strong but... I want to lessen the burden you're carrying at least by a little."

"..."

Alexander didn't say a single word but only stared at the Ritsuka. He could feel the determination and strong will. He wanted to reject the help of Ritsuka but looking at him now, if he rejected the kind will of this person, he had a feeling he would regret it later.

"...If we made out of this place alive. I promise that I will tell you everything related to my past..."

At first, Ritsuka thought that his request was rejected, but hearing his next words. His face brightens up, and he smiles brightly.

("Are you sure about this? Alex? You don't have to force yourself too hard.)

'It's ok, it's not like I'm going to reveal that I do not belong in this world. Im not going to lose anything if tell them anyway. I'm just going to tell them my horrible past. It will do us more good than bad since we will gain their trust and sympathy. Which is advantageous for us.'

("As long as your fine and happy with that, then I guess that's all that matters.)

'Thank you, Anna.'

"Anyway, this place should be safe for-"

As he was about to remind Ritsuka his body froze, every hair on his body started to stand up, and his body started to tense. Both of his instinct warned him a great danger is approaching their way. The tension in the air, thickened.

Ritsuka noticed the abnormalities in Alexander. He opened his mouth to ask no matter how much he tried to form a word, nothing comes out. Without him realizing it, his body started to sweat, his whole body is shaking. His primal instinct is telling him to run.

"Alexander-san, w-what should we do?"

"You have to go..."

"But..."

"Go! Don't worry. I would hold him back." Alexander said with authority.

Ritsuka tried to persuade Alexander one last time before being rejected harshly. He could grind his teeth and clench his hand a tight it became white. Taking one last look at Alexander's back, he started to run in the direction of the church.

Alexander looks back and he made sure that Ritsuka is out of his peripheral vision he look at the source of the unease.

'I regret sending Mash, her help will be useful right now... God damn it! Why am I such an idiot?!'

'Well, whatever, I just have to hold whatever creature will appear behind those trees.'

"Anna, what weapon should I use?"

Although he has the Gate of Babylon, he had a feeling that he would fight the creature in close combat.

("For your safety, I would recommend a weapon that has a long reach like a spear or a helberg.")

"Spear, huh? Anna, search for the best spear I could summon right now without the need to burn most of my mana."

("Alright")

It only takes a few seconds before a golden portal appears on Alexander's right. what appears is a red spear. Its entire body is blood red. It has a snake-like handle that allows the user to have a tight grip on the weapon.

Alexander grabs the weapon, the moment he did so, the blood aura that the weapon release slowly covered his entire body. The moment it did so, his entire aura changes. The blood-red aura surrounds not only his body but the air around him, combine with red eyes, it gave him a terrifying look. It perfectly suited his taste of a weapon. A weapon that will bring fear to his enemy.

"Gáe Bolg..." He mumbles the name of the weapon. The moment he did so, the weapon glow red even more. (An: This Gáe Bolg is the original, it doesn't have a name. The reason why Alexander called it Gáe Bolg is because of the memories from Alaya. For those that don't understand, go read the wiki for more information.)

He crouch, he holds the weapon in a charging position. His stance made him look like he experienced thousands of battles with Gáe Bolg. (Lancer's battle stance)

Seconds passed by and when he is starting to become impatient, he heard a loud footstep that shook the earth. The loud stomping becomes closer and closer. What made added to his unease is that he heard trees falling in the distance. Alexander clenched Gáe Bolg unconsciously.

When Alexander saw the enemy, he couldn't help but curse at Cu.

"Damn you, Caster! What do you mean 2 meters tall? That fucking monster is 3.5 meters tall!"

What appears behind the trees is a humongous human. Just like his past enemy servant, the monster is shrouded in black mist making his face unrecognizable. His large build made Alexander look like a kid in front of a bodybuilder. Although Alexander is tall for a human, that thing isn't a human at all.

He is dragging an Axe-sword made of rocks, creating a big line on the ground.

They stared at each other for a few seconds before the beast opens its mouth and roar.

*RRRROOOOOOOOOAAAAAARRR*

Its roar pushes the wind so hard it made Alexander take a few step backs.

its roar travel to the whole through the whole forest reaching even the cities.

The Chaldeans who are 5 kilometers away were alarmed by the roar.

"What was that?!" Olga asked in a panic.

("Oh no! You guys have to get out of there! The reading informs me that whoever causes that roar is beyond everyone's league!")

"What!? That direction was where the others are! we can't just let them handle the thing alone!"

"I'm going." Tamamo impatiently said. However, she was stopped by Cu.

"What are doing! My master is endangered!"

"Calm down will you, we need to finish this spell. Even if you go there, you will only hold him back. If my guesses are correct, the one who caused that roar is our target. If we fail to finish the trap, we will all die here."

Tamamo didn't say anything, she only holds her hand together and prays for her master's safety...

They were not the only ones who heard the roar, Mash, who is running toward the church also heard the roar. She stops and looks in the direction of the source, chills run down her spine.

"Senpai!" She shouted worriedly while running back in the direction where she came from.

As for the 'senpai' himself, the moment the roar reached his ears, his unease turns to fear. He stops on his tracts and contemplates whether he should return or continue running. He then remembered what Alexander told him, he gripped his hand even more to the point blood started to appear between his fingers. Apologizing to Alexander in his mind, he continued running...

While everyone has an unease look on their face. Alexander, the one who is facing the beast, has a calm and collected look. Well, at least he tried to appear to be. But in reality, he is panicking more than anyone else. Can you blame the poor guy? Although Gáe Bolg gave him a huge boost to his strength and power, his instinct only lessens for a bit.

As the beast stops roaring, he firmly grips the Axe-sword on his right hand... and disappeared.

Alexander's eyes widened as he saw the Axe-sword suddenly appear in front of his face. His instinct saves him once again as before the sword cut him in half, he was able to block the cleaver using Gáe Bolg. As the two weapons clashed, Alexander realizes the big difference in their parameters as just a swing from the beast already made him kneel on the ground. The force transfer to the ground creating a spiderweb-like crater below Alexander.

He counter-attacks by summoning 3 golden portals behind the beast and firing 3 weapons targeting the back of his neck. The weapons hit the mark causing a small explosion from the impact. Alexander takes this opportunity to jump to safety.

As he lands 30 meters away from the beast, he couldn't help but cough blood. He swiped the remaining blood on his lips as he stared at the smoke...

The beast swung his Axe-sword lightly and the smoke scattered. Alexander's was grim as he started the unscathed beast. The beast leans his neck from left to right, cracking it.

Alexander knows the purpose of that behavior, it's mocking him.

"This Bastard..." He quietly mumbles as he tightly grips Gáe Bolg once more to the point, vain is starting to appear in his hand.

("Alex! You're losing yourself to your anger once again! Calm down, your anger will only lead to your demise. In this situation, you have clear your mind.") Anna harshly reminds.

Alexander takes a deep breath and nods.

'Anna, look for any potions, or herbs that will temporarily increase my strength or speed in the treasury.'

("Just give me a few seconds")

'Alright'

"Hey, you damn ogre. Your strong I'll give you that... But this is just the beginning. So don't be cocky you bastard!"

*RRROOOOOAAAAR*

And with that, the earth trembled as they continue their battle once again.

[An: Just a quick question, can Gilgamesh entered the Gate of Babylon? if so, can he used it as a way of travel? I do know that the Gate of Babylon can contain living beings. But would they be affected by time? would they even age at all? if you have any answers to these questions, let me know.]