In Type-Moon, it all starts with adopting Sakura.

Clutching her chest where the demonic spear had pierced her, Artoria, supporting herself with her sword, struggled to her feet and looked at Scáthach before her, speaking with a grave expression.

'It wasn't just a near miss, it practically hit. If someone hadn't interfered, you would already be dead...'

Scáthach shook her head slightly at Artoria's sentiments, then spun her spear and looked at the heavily wounded sword spirit before her, a hint of hesitation creeping into her heart.

Should I take care of her myself?

Logically speaking, in a battle, the loser should obediently accept death, and the Master's order was to eliminate her, but that succubus...

She did indeed owe him a favor. Even her ability to establish contact with Lovi in ​​the real world was partly due to his help. Now, he was clearly asking her to spare Artoria, which really put Scáthach in a difficult position.

"What's wrong? Lancer, has something happened?"

Lovi, who was observing from the shadows, also noticed Scáthach's hesitation through her familiar. Seeing that she had not eliminated Artoria as he had instructed, he directly asked her why.

“It’s nothing, Master,” Scáthach said calmly, shaking her head slightly upon hearing Rowe’s familiar voice.

"I'd like to let Saber off this time. What do you think?"

"Let...Saber go?"

Upon hearing Scáthach's answer, Rowe, who was standing in the shadows, was clearly somewhat surprised.

However, he did not get angry at Scáthach's behavior, nor did he criticize her from the perspective of a Master or use Command Seals to forcibly control her to launch an attack. Instead, he patiently inquired.

Can you explain your reasons?

"The reason is complicated. If I had to summarize it, it's because I owe a guy a huge favor, and now that guy wants me to repay him, so I'm going to let Saber go."

"Do I owe someone a favor, so I'm going to let Saber go?"

After listening to Scáthach's incoherent narration, Rowe fell into deep thought.

First, considering Saber's identity, and then thinking about those few people with whom she had a distant relationship, he suddenly understood many things.

Moreover, he was well aware that his relationship with Scáthach was not simply that of Master and Servant. Therefore, he did not regard Scáthach as a familiar or a weapon, but rather tried his best to follow her wishes, to achieve a mutual understanding and tacit cooperation.

Based on his past life experience and his interactions with her recently, Rowe could clearly understand Scáthach's personality. Since it was her decision, no one could force her to change it, not even him, her Master. Even if he tried to force her, she would definitely let her go.

So Rowe simply went along with it and answered Scáthach.

"Since he is your opponent, then you shall decide, Scáthach."

"Have you agreed, Master?"

Scáthach was visibly surprised that Rowe had so readily agreed to her capricious idea. She dispersed the runes hidden in her hand and smiled. She had even been prepared to disobey the Command Spells.

But I never expected my Master to be so understanding...

This surprised and pleased her.

Sure enough, it saves a lot of effort to have a smart and compatible partner. Clearly, her Master is the kind of compatible person she was looking for.

"Cough cough..."

As Scáthach relentlessly closed in, the heavily injured Artoria coughed up several mouthfuls of blood. Her injuries were severe, and she was clearly cornered.

"Gathering star breath..."

Gritting her teeth, Artoria opened her mouth, intending to abandon everything and fight with all her might using her Noble Phantasm. Just as she was about to reveal the true name of her Noble Phantasm...

"Arrrrrrr——!!!"

A furious roar suddenly burst onto the battlefield.

Saber, who was about to activate her Noble Phantasm, and Scáthach, who was about to leave, were both stunned. Then, a dark figure crashed into the battlefield like a cannonball.

—BOOM!!!

The pitch-black figure, the violent aura, and the ear-piercing roar that echoed across the battlefield caused the two people present to experience ringing in their ears. Then, a terrifying figure, like a hunting dog, suddenly emerged from the thick smoke, lying prone on the ground.

Berserker.

"...Lancelot, what's he doing here? Is he going to attack King Arthur?"

Looking at the suddenly appearing dark figure in front of her, Scáthach's expression was somewhat puzzled, and she also secretly felt that something was wrong.

She had taken Lancelot's hatred for King Arthur and his relentless, berserk state to heart.

Having just taken a hit from her own Noble Phantasm, King Arthur was no match for the Lake Knight's ferocious, rabid attack; she had to intervene.

"It's Berserker! Has a new enemy appeared?"

Dragging her already heavily injured body, Artoria took a few steps back, her face growing increasingly grim. With Lancer and Berserker both gathered here, along with the other two Heroic Spirits on the other battlefield, she was now completely surrounded, making a safe retreat impossible.

"Lancer, I'm here to help you."

As the Black Knight appeared, a young man with a somewhat silly-looking face appeared behind him amidst the billowing smoke.

The person who arrived was none other than Matou Kariya...

……

About an hour ago.

The Matou family.

During the time when the Assassins were besieging Kenneth, Zouken Matou received a phone call from Loewy.

After thinking for a moment, he called Matou Kariya to the living room.

"Have you roughly understood what happened?"

After explaining the situation over there in general terms, Zouken Matou asked calmly.

He hadn't expected that brat Tokiomi Tohsaka would actually join forces with the Einzbern family to bombard Kenneth and send out multiple Servants.

Coincidentally, Kenneth also has multiple Servants helping him, so a three-on-three melee is very likely to occur next.

In that case, it's quite necessary for him to get his Berserker involved.

Although he was allied with Luo Wei, he had his own ulterior motives and specifically instructed Matou Kan to come over for a while at night.

Let the situation become a three-on-three battle. Once some Servants are injured or killed, then let the Berserker enter to clean up the remaining enemies, thereby expanding your advantage. If possible...

Ideally, Tokiomi Tohsaka's Heroic Spirit, along with the powerful Heroic Spirits from Kenneth and Loewy's side, should fight to the death, resulting in mutual destruction...

In this way, his Berserker can easily clean up the mess and take the victory.

'That damned old bug, he's still plotting against others even now, how insidious...'

After hearing Zouken Matou's instructions, Kariya Matou cursed his despicable behavior in his heart, and felt even more disgusted with his actions.

"I understand, clean up the mess and take out Tokiomi Tohsaka's Servants, right?"

However, at this moment, others are under someone else's roof and have no choice but to bow their heads and continue to endure and wait for the right opportunity to arrive.

Matou Kariya patted his chest confidently and said that he would take care of everything from now on.

Ultimately, isn't it just about making things difficult for Tokiomi Tohsaka? That's what he likes the most.

No matter who it is, if they go to fight Tokiomi Tohsaka, Kariya Matou has to lend a hand!

……

And so, this scene unfolded.

Upon arriving at the scene, Matou Kariya looked around but couldn't find Assassin or Archer, which surprised him.

After exploring the surroundings for a while, Berserker, as if sensing something, immediately pulled him towards them at top speed.

You won't know until you see it, and once you do, you'll be shocked.

Scáthach and the heavily injured Artoria appeared on the battlefield at the same time.

Although Kariya Matou knew that this Saber was not Tokiomi Tohsaka's Heroic Spirit, he also knew that Scáthach was his ally, so rounding up, Scáthach's enemy was also his enemy.

So he gave the order to Lancelot beside him without hesitation.

"Then go for it, Berserker. Haven't you always wanted to deal with this Saber? Now your chance has come."

Kariya Matou pointed imposingly at Saber in front of him, and then Berserker turned and charged towards Scáthach.

The jet-black body fiercely protected Artoria behind it, causing the people present to pause in surprise.

Matou Kariya looked puzzled: "Huh?"

Then he hurriedly shouted at him, "Come back here right now, Berserker! I told you to attack Saber, not Lancer!!"

However, Lancelot, undeterred by the command, charged straight at Scáthach.

Is this out of control?

This scene left even Artoria, who was already in dire straits, stunned.

She looked up at the black knight's retreating figure and felt a strange sense of familiarity.

Could it be...?

Just as she was about to come up with a possibility, the communicator in her sleeve crackled to life with Kiritsugu Emiya's urgent voice.

"What are you still standing there for? Saber, take advantage of their infighting and get out of here! I've already had Maiya prepare transportation nearby!"

"Oh...oh, okay."

Hearing Kiritsugu Emiya's urgent call, Artoria couldn't even think about the question in her mind.

He quickly got up from the ground, then released his magic to increase his speed, and ran towards the ruined street without looking back.

Before leaving, she even made sure to thank Berserker, who had helped her hold off Scáthach.

"Arrrrrrr——!!!"

This thank you made Berserker, who was already mentally unstable, even more violent.

This scene left Kariya Matou somewhat speechless, and he hurriedly waved to Scáthach to show his innocence.

"No, it really wasn't me! I'm not with that Saber!"

"And Berserker, what exactly do you want? Get back here right now!"

Seeing Berserker in front of him who had ruined everything and allowed Saber to escape, Matou Kariya was even more furious and let out a string of angry curses.

However, spurred by Saber's recent serious injury, Berserker was clearly not calm and still regarded Scáthach as an enemy.

...Has he completely gone mad?

"This is really troublesome."