On how PhDs become human evil

Standing still, Artoria held her sword upright in front of her, and the Wind King Barrier wrapped around the sword suddenly broke free, causing a raging storm to spread out in an instant!

"Boom!"

A thunderous roar echoed through the already ruined streets. A massive surge of magical power, shaking the very air, rose from the holy sword in Artoria's hand, accompanied by an incomparably brilliant holy light. Countless particles of light floated around Artoria like sprites, while at the same time, streaks of light inexplicably rose from the ground around them, wrapping around the blade of the holy sword.

"Buzz—!"

With a resounding boom, a dazzling light suddenly flared up on the golden holy sword, and a beam of sword light shot straight into the sky!

Seeing the beam of light, Illya immediately realized that Artoria was about to use her ultimate Noble Phantasm, and promptly ordered Berserker, "Berserker! Interrupt her! Don't let her unleash her Noble Phantasm!"

Upon receiving the order, Berserker instantly charged forward. However, before he could reach Artoria, dozens of layers of magic circles appeared around him, a purple light curtain silently descended, and a gravity restraint barrier enveloped Berserker's entire body. The gravity, amplified hundreds of times, caused Berserker to kneel heavily on the ground!

Behind Artoria, Bai Jie stretched out his left hand: "Stand there and don't move, big guy, just take this sword."

"Berserker!!!"

“AAAAArrrrrr!!!”

Berserker roared from inside the gravity barrier, bracing his arms against the edge of the barrier and slowly standing up despite the hundreds of times the gravity! The gravity barrier even developed tiny cracks under Berserker's violent hands!

At this rate, it's only a matter of time before the gravity barrier is destroyed by Berserker. But unfortunately, Bai Jie doesn't need the barrier to trap him indefinitely; trapping him for just a few seconds is enough.

Before Bai Jie, Artoria raised the Holy Sword and loudly proclaimed its true name—

"Oath (EX) - Victory Sword (calibur)!!!!

The dazzling sword light that reached the sky was like a divine sword of retribution, and it slashed down with a roar as Artoria swung it!

A torrent of light poured forth, and the aurora-like sword light devoured Berserker's body without any hindrance. The destructive power capable of completely destroying a castle in one strike was used on Berserker without any waste.

"Click-click-click-click-click-click-click—!"

The street shattered inch by inch under the sword's edge, and cracks spread outwards in all directions.

"Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang!"

Buildings were destroyed along the path of sword light, and structures made of steel and cement melted in the light.

Not long after, the sword light slowly dissipated, and just like two days ago, another ravine stretched across a large part of Fuyuki City, the lava-like ravine emitting scalding steam. At the beginning of the ravine, Artoria stood there, panting heavily, leaning on her holy sword, her face somewhat pale.

Even with the magical power provided by Bai Jie, releasing a Noble Phantasm once is still a considerable burden for Artoria, making it far from possible to use it repeatedly. However, thanks to the scabbard, this side effect will be recovered in no time.

Raising her emerald green eyes, Artoria looked at the mangled body of Berserker not far away. Having taken the attack of Excalibur head-on, the severed section of Berserker's body looked as if it had been cut by a high-temperature cutting blade, leaving a crimson cut on Berserker's calf.

In other words, Berserker's entire upper body, from the calves up, was completely destroyed by Artoria's sword strike!

This is a fatal wound that would kill you beyond any hope of survival, unless the Berserker is immortal—no, even immortality might not guarantee survival, since most forms of immortality require the brain or heart to remain intact. If the heart and brain are damaged, then immortality would most likely be ineffective.

"Glug glug glug glug glug..."

Suddenly, the cut surface of Berserker's lower leg emitted a sound similar to boiling water, and what happened next stunned both Artoria and Bai Jie.

First came the bones. Pieces of white bone emerged from the lower leg like building blocks, rapidly forming a skeleton. Then, muscle tissue grew on that skeleton, covering the entire body in the blink of an eye!

Eyeballs, internal organs, brain, skin... as if time had reversed, the Berserker, who had been reduced to only his calves, reappeared on the spot!

"AAAAAAArrrrrrr!!!!!"

Opening his eyes, Berserker let out a deafening roar! Every muscle on his body glowed with a red light like a red-hot iron, enveloping Berserker in a murderous aura and violence. Strands of red mist, like tangible smoke, continuously seeped out of his body, making a hissing sound.

Berserker has been resurrected!

"How is this possible! It actually came back to life!?"

"Oh dear, this is... a little troublesome."

Both Artoria and Bai Jie looked at the resurrected beast with expressions of disbelief.

His entire body was almost destroyed, yet he could still revive... If it weren't for the fact that Bai Jie's own immortality was even more outrageous, he would have thought that Berserker was cheating! Physical abilities that surpass all Servants, martial arts skills that can directly suppress Artoria, plus this resurrection ability... This is simply leaving no way for anyone else to survive!

"Hahaha! Were you scared, big brother, Saber?"

Ilya's face showed no trace of the panic she had just displayed, but rather a satisfied smile.

"My Berserker is the strongest, absolutely invincible! Not even Big Brother or Saber could defeat him! — Why? Because Berserker's true form is the Greek Hercules!"

P.S.: I bought Assassin's Creed, tried it out, and then deleted it. This game isn't for me. I prefer games with a clear main storyline and map, like Devil May Cry or Dark Souls. Assassin's Creed... it takes me forever to even look at the map! Finding someone in it made my head spin!

Section 486, Page 40: Heisei Knights Kick Warning

Hercules.

Anyone who has ever been exposed to mythology will surely be familiar with this name.

He is the greatest hero in Greek mythology. He is also the son of Zeus, the chief god, and is also known as Hercules.

He was incredibly brave and strong, and later completed twelve tasks that even the gods considered impossible. After his death, he ascended to Mount Olympus and became Hercules.

Myths about Hercules punishing evil and fighting bravely have always been a favorite theme for artists. In the Western world, the word Hercules has become synonymous with strongman and giant, used to describe heroes with immense strength and unparalleled bravery. It has even become a synonym for Hercules. In the world of god-slayers, almost every Hercules is associated with Hercules.

Such a hero, having become a Heroic Spirit, must be a being of the highest rank. This explains why Berserker's stats are ridiculously high, as he is almost the strongest hero in Greek mythology!

"Also, let me tell you something else."

Ilya said with a smile, as if she had taken a liking to Bai Jie and Artoria's performance.

"Berserker's Noble Phantasm is called 'God Hand,' which represents immortality. With that Noble Phantasm, Berserker can nullify all attacks below B-rank and has the ability to revive eleven times. So, unless you kill Berserker twelve times, he cannot be destroyed. Oh, by the way, this Noble Phantasm also has a third effect: once it has been attacked once, it will not work a second time. Even if you defeat Berserker once with the Noble Phantasm, it will be useless after he revives."

Upon hearing this, Artoria's face immediately darkened.

Immune to attacks below level B? Resurrected eleven times? Previous lethal methods are no longer effective?

Let alone the effect of a single Noble Phantasm, it would be more than enough to use even if it were split into three Noble Phantasms.

According to legend, Hercules did indeed complete twelve impossible tasks, thus earning the title of great hero and Hercules.

Now, that achievement has been upgraded to Hercules' Noble Phantasm, transforming this chariot-like creature, who existed only to charge into a being capable of charging into battle and not being shot down.

That was a hopeless reality for the enemy.

For Artoria, this also has another layer of meaning—

"That's right, Saber, your most prized Noble Phantasm, that holy sword... is no longer a threat to Berserker! Berserker is invincible!"

"Go! Berserker! Take down Saber!"

With brimming confidence, Ilya gave the order to Berserker, pouring a massive amount of magic into his body, causing his already overpowered physical abilities to surge once more! This brought almost all of his stats to A+++! Now, Berserker was practically an unstoppable weapon of mass destruction!

"AAAAAArrrrrrrr!!!"

With a roar, Berserker charged toward Artoria, the violent gusts of wind nearly blowing her away, and in that wind, the massive axe-sword crashed down like a small mountain!

This attack was completely different from the previous ones, whether in terms of power, speed, or momentum.

(They can't stop them—we can only rely on Avalon!)

"Hyper undergoes a major transformation!"

Just as Artoria was about to activate the sword sheath, Bai Jie behind her shouted, took something out of his pocket, pressed it, and put it on his waist. Incredibly dazzling golden light instantly burst forth!

“Bakkan!”

"MU——TE——KI——!!!"

"Dazzling! Like a shooting star! The strongest Gamer in Gold! Hyper Muteki Ex-Aid!"

Amidst a burst of incredibly rousing music, the invincible golden knight appeared before Artoria and the others.

"Invincible? Let me show you what true invincibility is!"

With a flick of his hand, in a flash of light, Bai Jie instantly teleported in front of Hercules, delivering a dazzling punch that pierced through him completely! After pulling his hand away, he kicked Hercules high into the air!

"Take this delayed kick!"

“Hyper Critical Sparking!!!”

His body transformed into a shooting star, Bai Jie swiftly rushing towards Hercules, whom he had kicked high into the air, and in the instant they brushed past each other—

“Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang!!!!”

In an instant, thousands of kicks powerful enough to shatter a small mountain struck Berserker, shattering his body into countless fragments!

With the belt and invincibility cassette disappearing, Bai Jie quickly conjured a new belt and took out a new transformation item.

"Drive! Type speed!"

"Run a lap with me at full speed, Hercules!"

A red sports car appeared out of thin air around Hercules, speeding around him. Bai Jie, transformed into Drive, rushed into the circle formed by the sports car and, the instant Hercules revived, unleashed an incredibly fast six-kick combo, the second strongest in the Heisei era! This killed Hercules once again!

"How is that possible!?"

Seeing Hercules die twice in a row, Ilya's confidence immediately wavered. She never imagined that Hercules could be killed so easily twice!

"Nothing is impossible. If you could revive an infinite number of times, that would be a bit troublesome, but you can only revive eleven times... Heh, to me you're just a punching bag that's a bit more durable."

After deactivating Drive, Bai Jie took out two more memory modules and tossed a belt to Artoria.

"Let's go, Saber."

"it is good!"

【Cyclone! Joker!】

A black and green whirlwind rose up on the spot, and the wind in Fuyuki City became incredibly turbulent in an instant. The violent hurricane forced Ilya to hold onto a nearby lamppost to keep her balance.

A knight, half green and half black, emerged from the wind, and Bai Jie's voice rang out from the green part on the left: "By the way, Saber, remember to say a famous line to me later."

"Lines?" Artoria's voice came from the black half.

“That’s right, I plan to greet the guy who’s disrupting the peace of Fuyuki City with this sentence.”

Pointing their fingers at Illya and the newly resurrected Hercules, Bai Jie and Artoria's voices rang out simultaneously: "Now, let us recount your sins!"

Ilya: What is this guy talking about?

Section 487, Chapter 41: Prisma Illya Collaboration with FSN