Rider's words are cut off. Rider of Red and Saber of Black both stare at each other, shocked into silence. The blood that trickles down is not Saber's. Rider of Red, who had shrugged off any attacks and was ready to even block a Noble Phantasm, actually had blood flowing out of his shoulder.

"Ooh, ah..."

In that instant, Black Berserker dashes out, as if synching with the arrow. Her target is not Rider, but Red Archer, who has not yet revealed herself.

Meanwhile, Rider grabs the arrow that had pierced his flesh and pulls it out. He presses his hand to his wound, as it to confirm that his pierced shoulder was not an illusion. Soon after, he asks in a small, quiet voice.

"Who's there?"

In his eyes, neither Saber nor Berserker mattered anymore.

As for Berserker of Black, she forces her prana to blast out behind her, closing the distance between her and Archer of Red with her sheer momentum. A clear difference from before. Her motions can better be labelled as air propulsion rather than walking. Her feet almost do not touch the ground, and as she heads forward, she kicks at trees to gain more acceleration.

The main reason for her acceleration is her Noble Phantasm, Bridal Chest.

Her Noble Phantasm is not a simple bludgeon. At the very most, using it that way is but a secondary function. The true power of her Noble Phantasm is mana absorption. In the Holy Grail War where Servants and magi fight among each other other, warped prana flies in every direction, and quickly disappears via dissolving into the air.

Her Noble Phantasm, which acts as Frankenstein's "heart", can also absorb the mana left over after prana usage. The accumulated mana is then taken into Berserker's magic circuits through her heart. It allows her the ability to imitate "Prana Burst." Though it definitely is not a Noble Phantasm that can kill in one hit--but for her, who appeared as a Berserker, there is no better weapon. With it, Berserker, who would use up all her prana fighting at full capacity, can continue fighting like a perpetual motion machine.

Though it seems like she is just dashing through the air with no purpose, Berserker had been given a clear reason that she must head to Archer of Red's location.

Just then, right before Rider of Red took an arrow to the shoulder, Berserker of Black received a telepathic message.

"Listen. I'll handle those arrows and Rider. You focus on striking down the enemy Archer."

Uuuuuu. She refused with her grunts. Berserker of Black was saying that it was useless. That Rider was impervious to anything.

"No. My arrows have an extreme effectiveness on that man. Though it would be somewhat difficult to act as his opponent and distract him--please trust me."

Hearing this, Berserker stopped her resistance. No matter what, her choices were limited. So she can only trust Archer of Black now.

In the very instant Rider of Red's shoulder was pierced by an arrow, Berserker charged forward with no reservations.

"Naaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa--oooh!"

Berserker is roaring, advancing, and rushing.

Her target is the Archer who, taking a makeshift shelter in darkness, aims her arrows at this place. Let me tug you underneath the moonlight and smash your skull to bits--!

***

Sword, Lancer, Riding, Madness, Magecraft, Assassination--the various skills Servants have been given are numerous, and among them are strengths that are secretly held by only Archers.

Though that is what is said, it is but "archery," a skill that anyone of the Class will definitely hold. There is no need to add it into Class Skills, as it is an obvious right held by all.

That is a simple thing where the more a bow is pulled back, the more the strength increases.

But Archer of Red holds a celestial bow given to her by Artemis, goddess of the hunt. Praying, aiming, opening the bow with all her might, if she pulls it past its limits--the arrows will fly with god-like strength.

The original sin of humanity. That is a fate that not even a saint can fight against. At the same time, it is a natural action that goes unnoticed by beasts. For a hunter like her, a bow and arrows exists for that.

She was the expert hunter who was born under the blessing of Artemis. Her archery technique could count as god-level and no man could catch up to her speed.

Her true name is Atalanta. She is the strongest female hunter in Greek Mythology.

But now, she is not pulling her bow as hard as that last blast. At this point, her main concern is speed. The question is how quickly she can perform the string of movements of opening the bow, nocking the arrow, and shooting.

Berserker of Black is not like that Saber. Berserker has no protection from gods, demons, or whatever else. If shot at with arrows, they will pierce her should they hit.

"Moron. Has she entered her madness?"

Looking at the Berserker closing in, Archer of Red spits out such worthless words. No matter how quickly she runs, she still has long to go before she reaches this place. Without the support of the command spell, she cannot arrive here in an instant.

The closer she gets, the greater the likelihood that Berserker will walk into her own death.

"For your lack of sense..."

The aim has already been set. The bow is not operated by the hand, but by instinct. No matter how agile the prey, the arrow will surely pierce the heart.

"...Pay the price in blood!"

The arrow shot out has been painted black. It is to eliminate all possibility of the arrow being detected at night.

Besides, her arrows move faster than sound. In an instant, all that is engraved in memory is the result of an arrow spouting out of the heart. And then it all ends.

--But.

"What...?"

Archer of Red knew and experienced it for the first time. In the Great Grail War, there is two of every Class. That is to say, there is a possibility that the enemy side has an Archer with abilities equal to hers.

--It was intercepted!?

Faced with something so hard to believe, Archer of Red could be forgiven for forgetting herself for a second. I see, they escape on occasion. When targeted animals suddenly crouch to the ground, that too is a normal occurrence. Being intercepted is also not too unimaginable. Hunters being attacked by their prey is also quite common in hunting.

But, her arrow being intercepted and struck down was no coincidence. Nor was it done by her prey. It was the action of a third party who had no relation to the hunt. That is to say, the arrow was intercepted by Archer of Black, who stands a great distance behind Berserker of Black.

"They actually managed to intercept my arrows...!!"

This is a shame that had never even existed in her life before. How could an arrow she fired on a target be struck down by a third party!

"...AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

"Bastard, so quick..."

She quickly tucks her shame into the back of her mind. What she needs to do now is to bury the pursuing Berserker. In the face of that artistic counterattack, Archer of Red chooses a barrage as her tactic.

In her single hand, there appeared three arrows at once. She aims at the approaching Berserker of Black with all three arrows.

As long as the arrows themselves are not Noble Phantasms, they will have no functions like automatically tailing the opponent. In other words, this is a competition not of quality, but of quantity.

...Of course, so long as one of the arrows hits the enemy, then the opponent is sure to be defeated. The three nocked arrows are expertly aimed at the chest, head, and feet. Berserker of Black's vital areas.

It would not matter even if she were not killed. As long as her movements slow, Archer has the time to prepare a second volley. Dismissing all possibilities of defeat Archer shoots the arrows, assured she has thought of everything.

However, thinking of everything is a tricky thing. A plan that lulls someone into being complacent with having considered all is, from another angle, just a half-assed plan adopted because of fear of failure.

"...Uu, gyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

Two arrows strike home, and only the last one has been struck down by Berserker of Black. But the arrows in her legs and chest did not slow Berserker's movements.

She is, after all, an artificial human (Frankenstein). Controlling her pain senses is her specialty. Because she feels no pain, and her wounds do not affect her body's movement, her advance goes undisturbed.

"...Hmph."

At this point, Archer of Red readily abandons the fight. If it was a prouder Heroic Spirit, perhaps they would stay here to fight it out. As well, Archer has the confidence that she can beat Berserker even if she does that.

However, for her, who thinks like a beast, that pride is something best fed to the dogs. She had already decided to retreat early on. This was supposed to be an opening skirmish. Her duty was to aid Berserker, who had dived into enemy territory. Since she was not able to complete her task, there is no more reason for her to stay here.

Even if she does not concern herself with Rider of Red, he could recover under his own strength. She carries the bow on her back and speaks to the still pursuing Berserker of Black.

"--See ya later, Black team mad warrior."

She turns and rushes away. This is a full-speed run made after she predicted that Berserker of Black had no ranged attacks. Atlanta was, in ancient Greece, a hunter who took pride in the fact that she never lost to anyone in a race. She announced to those who, charmed by her wild beauty, proposed marriage to her that she would "marry and spend old age with any who would defeat me in a race. But the punishment for losing is death." She shot and killed all suitors who could not catch up to her. She truly had incredible speed.

Even with the added prana from Bridal Chest, their basic difference in speed is too great.

Archer of Red disappears in front of Berserker's eyes in a second. Even so, Berserker, unsatisfied, circled around the surrounding areas for a good while after. However, she finally accepted the truth of the enemy's escape and made unhappy moans.

However, no matter how she roared, she could not see Archer of Red's form. Berserker gave up and quickly retreated.