144 Evil Rider and Evil Berserker
"I... couldn't... kill... so, in the end... I was killed, huh..."
Brynhildr looked at Artorius, her consciousness seemingly muddled.
"My beloved... It's not so bad if you're the one who killed me..."
The next moment, her head tilted down and motionless.
Lancer, Brynhildr, died.
And so it happened, the woman who seemed pitiable and tragic yet exuded a peculiar charm, died in the embrace of Artorius.
It was inexplicable.
She had uttered a jumble of words before her death, but he paid it no mind.
The once beautiful woman had transformed into mud emitting a scent of blood and foulness after her death, making him feel uneasy.
'Blackening, huh?'
'We must utterly destroy this kind of nonsense.'
As the emperor entertained those thoughts, the corruption of darkness and chaos in the world grew stronger.
Even though Gilles had already perished, those entities resembling bioengineered monstrosities and anything connected to outer gods had been eradicated. However, the corruption of darkness and chaos hadn't lessened; in fact, it had intensified.
The entire Tokyo had become like a realm of demons. Everything was in a state of confusion.
Astonishingly, Artorius sensed that, apart from their current location within the Tokyo Hotel, which served as the emperor's palace, there wasn't a single living being reacting throughout the city of Tokyo, or even within the entire metropolitan area!
This was a population of fifty million, or even more!
Despite the Empire's preparations and the two conversations he had with Agravain, Artorius couldn't help but feel a shiver down his spine when this realization hit him.
"In the face of adversity, oddities, and war, human life appears so fragile..." Artorius sighed and muttered, "Kotomine Kirei, is this the attitude you and your gang of villains wish to convey to me?"
"Just some noisy and impatient annoyances, Your Majesty."
A woman's voice resounded, snapping Artorius back to reality from his thoughts.
Two new Servants had appeared before him.
The woman who spoke to him was one of them.
She possessed divinity and gazed at Artorius with a suggestive look in her eyes, a beautiful woman.
With a gentle and compassionate expression, a perfectly matured figure, avian wings, legs covered in snake scales, and a tail and beast-like talons.
Upon closer inspection, her beautifully flowing lavender hair swayed without wind, and her mouth gaped open in a fearsome manner, resembling a serpent's kiss.
Merging divinity and devilry, evil and holiness, chaos and order, all of them coexisted within her.
She was worthy of the title 'Goddess of Demonic Beasts'.
As the woman locked eyes with Artorius, she revealed a smile so perfect that it could make any man in the world skip a heartbeat.
A monster girl.
'I bet, those with a peculiar fetish for monster girls will surely go wild and dance in ecstasy upon seeing her, yearning to rush forward and 'smash' her.'
Artorius thought like that mischievously.
Very strong.
God-like in strength.
That wasn't just a mere adjective, that was a fact.
Observing her appearance, Artorius immediately understood her true identity.
Medusa, known as Gorgon—one of the most famous monsters in Greek mythology and part of the famous trio of Greek mythological monsters alongside Minotaur and Harpy.
Appearing before Artorius as Rider, unabashedly casting flirtatious glances at the Dragon Emperor, she was undoubtedly not a mere by-product or anything else, but the real deal.
In this state, she hadn't completely transformed into a monster yet; she still retained some semblance of a goddess. Originally, with a little care, she could have been saved. However, after being corrupted and blackened, she was beyond salvation.
The same applied to the other Servant, a monster beside her—Berserker.
Unlike Medusa, the newly arrived Servant hardly retained a human form and had turned into a massive bat.
Sinister bone spurs protruded from its back, its crimson eyes glinted with a thirst for blood, its muscles were knotted, its skin was tinged with a bluish hue, and its head's hair was a bloody crimson.
This monster had utterly lost its humanity and transformed into a vampire monster thoroughly.
Nevertheless, even in this state, Artorius immediately recognized him.
"Dracula."
Under this appearance and circumstance, he couldn't be referred to as Vlad III anymore.
In the original story, even when summoned as Vlad III in his vampire form, he still possessed handsome golden hair, a charming appearance, and a noble bearing, at least before combat.
But the present Vlad...
As the corrupted Berserker, he had lost all of those attributes. Even the most basic semblance of dignity had disappeared, turning him into a mere controlled monster corrupted by evil.
And thus, three of the seven Servants from the vampire's side were already defeated.
Aside from the two Servants that just appeared before Artorius and Kirei as Assassin, whose location remained unknown, the true main characters of the vampire, the so-called 'Dead Apostle Ancestors', had yet to appear.
The battle would continue.
"How tragic."
"Though a hero, you have fallen so far."
Artorius commented on Vlad in this manner. The bloodthirsty vampire monster showed no response, continuing to gaze at Artorius with greedy eyes, thirsting for the Dragon Emperor's blood.
Meanwhile...
"!"
"Ugh!"
A blue figure flashed past them at a speed of 299,792,458 meters per second. The sound followed closely, reaching the ears of Artorius.
"It's not working? But these are chestnut-filled sweets!"
X's infuriated voice resounded but was ignored by Artorius.
It was evident that, unlike Scathach's easy defeat of Brynhildr, X hadn't gained the upper hand against Ex in her battle.
Even if X had employed her super special move against Ex, presenting those delicious chestnut-filled sweets, Ex didn't show any sign of stopping.
"Maybe I should just kill X-san." Ex uttered chilling words in a calm tone.
Simultaneously, Ex casually passed by the ongoing confrontation between the two monster Servants and the Dragon Emperor, as if she had no interest in Artorius whatsoever.
Clearly, despite both being Artoria Species, while X constantly cried, complained, and acted helpless, deep down, she always saw Artorius as her own child. Yet, Ex seemed utterly indifferent about him.
"In the end, Saber is destined to be my enemy huh..." X muttered to herself.
In the next second, a blue and red light accelerated approaching each other, marking the commencement of a battle between Justice and Evil, Jedi and Sith.
While X's battle remained unresolved and unable to assist Artorius, Scathach was different. After Brynhildr's death, she remained quietly by his side, not speaking a word.
Of course, there was also Shuten-douji.
A moment ago, she effortlessly took down a bunch of vampire underlings. It didn't even seem like she was breaking a sweat, and she didn't use any Noble Phantasm either. It makes one wonder if she was just goofing around or really giving it her all.
Afterward, Shuten seized an opportunity to position herself behind Artorius, flanking him alongside Scathach, openly enjoying the pleasure of an up-close view.
Mash, on the other hand, remained on the front lines, steadfastly enduring the Dead's onslaught. Together with the Imperial soldiers, she held the line, guarding the last bastion.
This increased Artorius's fondness for Mash slightly, while his respect for Shuten slightly diminished.
That was understandable.
Any boss would appreciate hardworking employees and detest those who shirk their duties, wouldn't they?
Upon Shuten's arrival, Artorius casually cast his gaze in her direction. She responded with an ambiguous smile, leaving it uncertain whether she had caught onto his intentions.
