Fate/Heroes - Chapter 55 Gray vs Lu Bu

“???? ???????? ???????????? ???????????????????????????? ???????? ????????????????????????????????????????. ???????????? ???????????? ???????? ???????????? ???????????????? ???????????? ???????????? ???????????????????????????? ???????????? ???????????????????????????????? ???????????? ????????????????. ???????????? ???????????????????????????? ???????? ???????????? ???????????? ???????????? ???????????????????????? ???????? ????????????????????. ???? ???????? ????ü ????????. ???????????? ???????????? ???????????? ???????????????? ???????? ????è????????????????ā????”.

All the eyes of the members of the Justice League widened at Berserker’s declaration. The massive hulk of a man who had slammed his even greater spear into the ground it left a huge indentation.

The aura the man exuded demanded respect. It wasn’t a royal demeanor like the one Lancer or Hippolyta possessed, but one that drove others to follow into battle. A fellow warrior, one that would be followed, not the aura of a monarch, one who was served.

Berserker’s strangely mixed eyes never left Gray’s and he watched as the latter extended out his hand and a electric green streak of lightning came flying down from the sky. [Diatrekhōn Astēr Lonkhē: Spear-tip of the Star Traversing Skies], was caught by Gray’s extended hand, and the Pseudo-Servant got into a charging position, noting that Berserker also got into a defensive posture.

He turned and faced the other members of the Justice League, his gaze lingering on Diana for a fraction of a second longer than the rest of the League members present.

“Don’t interfere. This is a battle between Servants”.

All frowned at the language Gray used as well as his tone. Hal Jordan wanted to retort the young looking man but was stopped from moving forward by Diana who just shook her head.

“He seems to know who Lü Bu claims to be. Let them fight, and if he falls, then we step in”.

This seemed to placate the Green Lantern and Hal returned to stand beside John Stewart and the Hawks. Superman and the Flash were heading back over and seemed to have gotten most of the civilians to safety.

They watched as Rider’s grip tightened on the spear, his eyes never leaving Berserker’s.

The moment he had seen the Servant on the television something inside of him dėsɨrėd to fight. A raw, primal feeling generated through countless years of combat and war. The Divinity within him wanted to run rampart and his blood boiled at the sight of the General of Repetition fighting the Man of Steel.

Rider wanted to fight him. Archer wanted to slay him. Shielder wanted to kill him. Lancer wanted to clash steel with him. Berserker wanted to test the might of China’s strongest general. Saber wanted to test his mettle against a hero from an age long since past. Alter Ego wanted to serve Gray and give everything in service of her Master.

He smiled.

Lü Bu grinned a maniacal smile.

“????e???? u???? ????i????h???? t???? t????e ????e????t????! A???? T????u???? S????r????a????t???? o???? t????e G????e????t ????o????y ????r????i???? W????r!”.

With those words Gray’s figure vanished in the eyes of the Justice League. There was no electric green streak, nor was their any flash of green or yellow as they were used to. The earth upon which Gray’s figure was once standing had shattered and two distinct footprints were left in the concrete.

Berserker adjusted his massive halberd meeting the overhead blow upon which Gray had tried to open with, the dirt beneath him sunk slightly under the immense weight carried behind the strike.

“!”.

With a powerful roar, Berserker pushed back Gray’s smaller body sending him flying back several meters. The General Who Pacified the East didn’t let up and charged towards the retreating figure of Gray, jumping up in the air and slamming his massive halberd down on the Pseudo-Servants, causing his body to shoot back dozens of feet, a thick dust cloud was kicked up from the trail that Gray left.

Diana wanted to go and check on Gray, but the Flash pulled her back as a figure cut through the dust cloud with a speed that even Barry Allen found hard to match, heading straight for the hulking figure of Lu Bu.

Gray arriving at the front of the Chinese Servant thrusting forward with a single thrust, being parried by the General before spinning around for a side ward slash.

Once more the blow was blocked, and the B+ agility Lu Bu possessed was something that a person of his size couldn’t normally possess. It was nothing in pure speed like Achilles A+ agility, but his skill with the Sky Piercer was emphasized by this agility.

Once more Gray’s figure vanished, like a ghost in the shadows and he reappeared once more behind Berserker. Using Archer’s technique, Gray went for a slash at the massive man’s thɨġh, before hearing the sound of steel and changing his position once more.

Strike to the windpipe, blocked.

Cut to the upper arm, deflected.

Upwards slash at the tėstɨċŀės, dodged.

The massive Berserker opted to dodge the last hit instead of blocking it with his immense strength. His speed was lower than Gray’s so blocking or parrying would be more effective than just dodging….

Gray’s eyes widened and the corners of his mouth raised slightly.

The memories of Archer, one of the most famous Heroes in all of history flowed into his mind. His technique, Nine Lives was originally developed as an archery technique to slay the hundred heads of the Lernaean Hydra in and instant. It shot a hundred arrows in the time it took to blink, killing the Divine Beast in an instant.

It was redeveloped for Saber and Lancer’s to use once he died, and legends of him using his spears and swords were born.

Gray let out a deep breath before exploding forward with untold speed, causing Superman of all people to raise an eyebrow as deep cuts embedded themselves in the Earth, cuts that appeared when Berserker dodged Gray’s blows, causing the twenty year old to cut straight through the concrete.

Countless sparks bounced off the others weapon every time steel clashed with steel. And the massive Berserker had to make an effort to dodge Gray’s blows to his nether regions, never once opting to block a blow to his tėstɨċŀės.

Berserker roared in response to Gray’s actions, but never once denouncing them as the Servant charged forward with newfound vigor and hatred towards the smaller Pseudo-Servant sending waves upon wave of slashes, cuts and thrusts towards Gray, the latter parrying them at the last moment, causing several cuts to appear on his clothing despite no blood being drawn.

The Chinese Servant frowned as his spear strikes did no actual damage, spinning one more time to gain enough momentum for the massive man to smack Gray with the flat side of the Sky Piercer. The twenty year old was sent flying backwards once more, and noted the strange posturing that Lu Bu was taking.

The giant of a man slammed the blunt end of his halberd into the ground once, causing the sharp end of the blade to burst into a red and yellow colored flame. The heat of the tip was nothing to scoff at either. The concrete had already started to bubble under the sheer heat coming from the giant weapon.

“!”.

Another roar escaped the Berserker Class Servant. The black parts of his eyes turned red with bloodlust, and the power contained within the flames grew even stronger as a result.

Gray’s eyes widened at the familiar looking skill and shouted,

“Berserker! You would use Madness Enhancement here!? That is an Anti-Fortress Noble Phantasm! You could kill everyone in the vicinity of the blast!”.

He was met with another meaningless grunt. Berserker, under his Madness Enhancement gained a boost to his stats. His strength, endurance and agility all exceeded Achilles, and due to the Servants honor, he didn’t want to use another Servants Noble Phantasm.

Gray turned around and noted a somewhat familiar looking redhead with a camera man standing behind her. The redhead started talking the moment her eyes met with Gray’s and he gestured for the woman to get to safety.

She shook her head causing Gray’s eye to twitch.

He let out a deep breath and Gray watched as Berserker’s spear turned into a bow. The tip of the spear transformed into an arrow, still covered in a bright red colored flame.

Gray let [Diatrekhōn Astēr Lonkhē: Spear-tip of the Star Traversing Skies] dissipate, and reached out towards another one of his Class Cards, the image of a saint carrying scales on the back could be seen.

“!”.

Berserker let out another roar as he noticed the change in Gray’s demeanor, as did Kara and Wonder Woman, who had spent more time with the Pseudo-Servant than any other person present. Kara in particular was shocked by the sudden change, and noticed the shift in eye and hair color after she noticed the change in aura around Gray.

Memories of thousands of years long since passed flowed into Gray’s mind.

Searching during the final years of his life for the elixir of life would would supposedly grant one eternal youth…. “In the North there is the Great Wall, in the South there is the Lingqu Canal”, both feats accomplished by the First Emperor of China….

He was Huangdi of the State of Qin. His rule was absolute right up until the day he died.

Gray’s body flashed a bright white light and his Greek armor was replaced by a Chinese garment whose name eluded the members of the Justice League. None were familiar with Chinese history or Chinese mythology. Even Diana who specialized in ancient relics and artifacts.

His hair grew longer and took on multiple shades of blue. Being darkest at the base and lighter at the ends of the strands. His eyes grew red, but not with bloodlust, with arrogance and absolute authority. Long flowing robes covered his body, reaching down to the ground, yet no dirt marred the beautiful looked robes, even as they were dragged along the dirt.

Gray seemed to have grown taller, more dignified as he placed his left hand behind his back and held a decorative sword in his right. He looked at Berserker’s figure, who let go of the bowstring, sending a massive blast of fiery red mana towards Gray, who merely waved his left hand and spoke,

“[The Dominating Beginning: The First Emperor]”.