Chapter 23: Berserk
Before Su Xiao could speak, the Illya across from him took a small step back, her expression suggesting she was ready to have Berserker advance and engage the enemy at any moment.
Seeing this, Su Xiao first checked his own Charm attribute. Due to the effect of the Traveler title, his 28-point Charm attribute had been temporarily raised to 50 points. After completing one negotiation, the Charm attribute would return to 28 points and then begin accumulating again at a rate of 1 point per hour until it reached 50 points.
Confirming that the Charm attribute was fine, a smile appeared on Su Xiao's face.
"Rin's Servant, do you... have some business?"
Illya also had some confusion in her eyes. Just now, for some unknown reason, she had inexplicably taken that step back. It seemed to be an instinctive action.
"Regarding this negotiation, the Einzbern family seems to have some misunderstandings."
Hearing Su Xiao's words, Illya and the group of homunculus maids behind her all secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Although Su Xiao was covered in bloodlust, his tone was unexpectedly 'kind.'
However, when Tohsaka Rin heard these words, her heart sank, knowing the situation was bad.
"Considering the Holy Grail War currently underway, our positions are indeed different. So, please make your choice: kill me, or hand over the communication tool to contact the Mage's Association, or... I kill all of you."
As Su Xiao spoke, he grasped the hilt of Dragon-Slaying Flash. Tohsaka Rin's negotiation had failed, which basically meant this negotiation was a complete failure. After testing the effect of the 50-point Charm attribute, Su Xiao prepared to engage in physical negotiation, thereby ignoring the influence of the Charm attribute.
Bloodlust spread around Su Xiao. The dense bloodlust seemed to form a ferocious beast above him, sneering at the Einzbern family members.
Illya's expression turned serious. She looked at Tohsaka Rin behind Su Xiao, her gaze seeming to ask: 'Rin, is this the purpose of your coming here?'
What surprised Illya was that Tohsaka Rin was winking at her. From the mouth movements, Tohsaka Rin was likely saying: 'Agree, quickly agree, I can't control him.'
"Bold fool! Sella, protect the young miss."
Over a dozen homunculus maids stood in front of Illya, wielding various long weapons.
"Puppets."
The moment Su Xiao's words fell, the ground beneath his feet cracked inch by inch.
"Roar!"
The Berserker behind Illya let out a furious roar. This was a burly man over two meters tall, with knotted muscles and dark skin. He wore only a metal battle skirt, his upper body bare, giving a sense of ruggedness, or rather, savagery.
This Berserker was named Heracles, a demigod. In mythology, Heracles was more often called Hercules, the son of Zeus and a mortal, who completed the impossible Twelve Labors.
If this were Heracles after death, crowned as the God of Strength, then even Gilgamesh might not be a match. Clearly, the current Heracles was not from that period, and as a Berserker, he had been granted the Mad Enhancement.
Mad Enhancement didn't necessarily increase an Servant's combat power. For example, the current Heracles was weakened by it. Without the Mad Enhancement trait, he might even be the strongest Servant in this Holy Grail War.
However, even a maddened Heracles was a formidable existence. In the original story, when Emiya the Servant fought him, aside from his ultimate attack, his other strikes couldn't even break through Heracles' defense, and he was beaten quite badly.
Heracles wielded a massive blade. Although this was called an axe in mythology, it was actually a crude-looking greatsword. From the uneven blade edge, this weapon was made of stone.
Don't underestimate this stone giant blade. It was crafted from the foundation stone of a temple, worthy of the great hero Heracles.
When Gilgamesh fought others, he called them mongrels, and the Berserker class was universally referred to as mad dogs. Yet when he fought Heracles, he had to address him as the great hero Heracles.
Heracles' pitch-black eyes stared at Su Xiao, and Su Xiao stared back at him. However, Su Xiao only saw rage in the other's eyes, which disappointed him. Without the Mad Enhancement trait, this would be a very troublesome Servant.
"Berserker..."
Illya spoke urgently, clearly not wanting to start a battle with Tohsaka Rin right now.
Boom!
Soil and rocks splashed behind Illya. The girl gasped, instinctively raising her hands in front of her face. The homunculus maids near her staggered backward.
Heracles tore through the air like a black shadow, charging straight at Su Xiao, the black stone blade swinging down from above.
Clang.
The blade sang as Dragon-Slaying Flash was drawn. Su Xiao slightly spread his legs, one forward and one back, holding the longsword horizontally in front of him, his left hand pressing against the spine of the blade.
With a thunderous explosion, the black stone blade struck directly against Dragon-Slaying Flash. Su Xiao's right foot gradually sank into the earth. The force transmitted from Dragon-Slaying Flash passed through his body and was channeled from his right foot into the ground.
The muscles on Su Xiao's arms bulged slightly. He twisted the longsword in his hand, creating a suction that seemed to pull Heracles' black stone blade, guiding it along the path Su Xiao directed. It eventually swung past Su Xiao's left side and embedded itself into the earth.
The spot where Heracles struck looked like a bomb had exploded on the ground, with mud and debris scattering like flowers in the wind.
The edge of Dragon-Slaying Flash scraped across the black stone blade. Su Xiao slowly exhaled and delivered an ordinary side slash.
With a tearing sound, a massive head was severed. Su Xiao had actually decapitated Heracles. Seeing this, Illya was momentarily stunned, but the shock vanished the next moment because Su Xiao had already appeared behind her, one hand resting on her head.
Heracles was not a Servant that could be taken down with a single slash. His head rapidly regenerated, soon returning to normal. This guy could revive a total of 11 times, meaning he had 12 lives.
What was even more absurd was that due to the immense magical energy within Illya, Heracles could restore his revival count. In other words, unless Heracles was killed 12 times within a certain timeframe, his revival count would soon increase, returning to the maximum limit of 11.
Unfortunately, Heracles was of the Berserker class, essentially lacking rationality, which reduced his combat effectiveness by at least 60%.
Su Xiao had no intention of matching strength with Heracles. His previous slash was the best proof. Using Dragon-Slaying Flash as a conduit for force transmission, he channeled Heracles' powerful strike into the ground, using the force of the enemy's attack to throw him off balance, leaving the enemy wide open. Then it was simple: a decapitating slash. With Dragon-Slaying Flash's sharpness, cutting through Heracles' tough body was not difficult.
"Roar!!"
Heracles, whose slash had almost completely missed, let out a furious roar. Waves of sound spread, causing Tohsaka Rin, not far away, to stagger a few steps.
"Now, let's negotiate in a different way."
Su Xiao pressed one hand on Illya's head, holding Dragon-Slaying Flash against her neck. As the blade touched Illya's delicate skin, a trace of blood appeared. This proved that physical negotiation was more reliable.
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