As he fell toward the Berserker, Altair extended his hand to his staff, which instantly shrank. "Ruyi Jingu!" he exclaimed, and the staff reappeared in his hand at its normal size.
Spinning the weapon deftly, he swung it at the creature; simultaneously, the muscular giant raised his axe-sword toward the small warrior.
The stone weapons clashed violently, generating a shockwave that reverberated through the area, shattering the few windows still intact.
Taking advantage of the impact, Altair spun his body, striking with the Ruyi Jingu toward the giant's torso.
The Berserker, surprisingly agile for his size, reacted quickly, grabbing the staff firmly.
"Rrrauuughhh!" roared the colossus, hurling Altair away with great force.
The wild monkey boy spun in the air and landed, sliding across the ground and leaving a trail of dust. A mischievous smile spread across his lips as he steadied himself.
The moment he stood up, the Berserker disappeared in a blur, causing Altair's eyes to widen.
"He's fast!" he muttered. Guided by pure instinct, he spun the staff with both hands, thrusting to the left just as the giant's weapon clashed against his own.
Even with his strength boosted to A+ by the Monkey King's Robe, his unsteady stance sent him flying once more. His body spiraled out of control, stopping only after crashing into a building, which collapsed on top of him in a cascade of rubble.
"Cough! Cough!" he choked, emerging from the dust that burned in his lungs. "This is going to be tougher than I thought," he said, scratching his neck with a smile he couldn't quite suppress, his eyes falling on the Berserker.
For a moment, he furrowed his brow—Hercules still bore visible wounds from their previous clash. He hadn't been sure before, but now he couldn't deny the truth. For some reason, this Hercules lacked his Noble Phantasm, [God Hand]. He was just like Medusa, who had also lost her Noble Phantasm.
"This sucks," Altair muttered, feeling a bit cheated by the whole thing.
Meanwhile, upon seeing the small warrior rise, the Berserker flexed the muscles in his legs, cracking the ground beneath his feet, and leaped in a massive arc toward Altair. Ignoring the shockwave from the landing, the young Monkey King faced the attack head-on.
"Rrraugh!" The giant raised his axe-sword, delivering a brutal strike. Altair blocked with the staff, and the weapons collided repeatedly, creating a symphony of destruction that echoed through the devastated landscape.
The Berserker swung his axe-sword in wide, devastating arcs, while Altair, with fluid movements, dodged, blocked, and counterattacked, exploiting every opening to strike the creature. Dust and debris flew with each impact, and the sound of blows echoed through the burning city.
Minutes passed in the frenzied exchange of blows, and a maniacal smile spread across Altair's lips.
Unlike other forms of [Mad Enhancement], Altair's didn't suppress his reason—it transformed it into warlike ecstasy. It was a euphoric madness, celebrating battle as a divine feast. The more formidable the opponent, the more intense his compulsion to fight became. The battle engulfed him in an intoxicating frenzy, a delirium that threatened to consume him. One moment of surrender to that impulse, and he'd lose himself completely in the lust for war.
For now, Altair kept control.
Clack!
The sound of his arms breaking under the impact of the axe-sword echoed across the battlefield, but, consumed by euphoria, he ignored the pain entirely.
Activating the [Eyes of Fire and Gold], Altair, now wielding the staff with only one hand, began to turn the tide. His eyes gleamed, analyzing the flow of battle and anticipating every move with supernatural precision.
Crouching swiftly, he dodged a thrust from the axe-sword that passed just inches from his eyes. Taking advantage of the opening, he spun his body and thrust the Ruyi Jingu, striking the giant's torso. Blood spurted from the wound, staining the ground.
"Rrrauuughhh!" The Berserker countered with a devastating punch, but Altair, using his freshly regenerated hand to push off the ground, leaped back, narrowly avoiding the blow. The giant's fist smashed into the earth, cracking it open in a burst of debris.
As Altair landed a few meters away, a tense silence hung for a moment. The two warriors stared at each other, unmoving, studying their foes. Then, in the blink of an eye, they burst into motion, charging at each other with ferocious speed.
"Yes, more! More, Berserker!" Altair shouted, his face consumed by a mix of ecstasy and fury, a maniacal grin spreading across his lips.
At that moment, he lived for the fight. The feeling of his bones breaking, the adrenaline surging through his veins—it was indescribable, a frenzy beyond words.
"Hahahaha! Let's go for round two, monster!"
"Rrrauuughh!" The Berserker's furious roar was his only response. In an instant, he appeared before Altair, towering and relentless.
The giant raised the axe-sword with both hands and delivered a diagonal strike so powerful the very air seemed to shudder. Holding the staff firmly, Altair blocked the blow, but the sheer force dislocated his shoulder. Ignoring the pain, he retracted the staff and struck toward the Berserker's head.
"Rrrauuughh!" The giant stomped the ground with such force that the ground trembled, momentarily unbalancing Altair. The strike, meant for the head, landed on the creature's shoulder, drawing more blood but failing to inflict a critical wound.
"My luck sucks," Altair grumbled, slamming his lower body against the ground to push himself backward, narrowly dodging a devastating punch from the Berserker. The fist collided with the ground, raising a thick cloud of dust.
He didn't know if the dust would slow the giant, but he couldn't waste the chance. Sliding along the ground, Altair rose with a swift movement and, without hesitation, hurled the Ruyi Jingu upward, instantly increasing its weight.
As the staff spun in the air, he flexed his legs, preparing for the next strike.
The Berserker blew away the dust with a sharp motion of his arm and, noticing Altair in attack position, pulled his axe-sword back. With a powerful throw, the weapon spun like a helix, cutting through the air toward the young warrior.
Altair, eyes locked on the deadly weapon, planted his left foot firmly and channeled all his strength into his right. As the Ruyi Jingu, now weighing tons, began to fall, he spun his body and delivered a circular kick to the base of the staff, launching it like a cannonball.
In the next moment, the Ruyi Jingu collided with the axe-sword. A deafening boom echoed, followed by the sound of stone shattering. The staff destroyed the Berserker's weapon and, like a cannonball, pierced through the giant's torso, tearing through and smashing into a building behind, which collapsed in an explosion of rubble.
"Rrrauuughh!" The Berserker roared in pain, still standing, even with a gaping hole in his chest, proving that such a wound wasn't enough to bring him down.
Altair let out an exhausted sigh, sweat dripping down his face, but a mischievous grin formed on his lips. "Now it's your turn."
From above, Nobunaga watched with a confident smile. With the Berserker in that state, she wouldn't need to expend much magical energy.
"«Show your corpse to the Three Thousand Worlds…»" she murmured, releasing her mana. A blood-red circle formed around her. "«Demon Descent!»" Three thousand matchlock rifles materialized, all aiming directly at the giant. "«Behold, the Demon King's Three Line Formation!»" she cried, a twisted smile on her face, as the rifles fired in unison.
An apocalyptic rain of fire fell upon the Berserker. Amplified by the [Unification of the Nation by Force – Innovation] ability and the giant's weakened state, the barrage destroyed his body. Arms, legs—everything disintegrated under the relentless assault. There was no escape.
Not even his [Battle Continuation] could endure that storm of gunfire. When the light faded, nothing remained of the once-mighty son of Zeus.
"It's over," Altair murmured, feeling his body grow weak.
Even with Hercules far from his prime, defeating a monster like that was exhausting.
"Seems like it," said Nobunaga, descending beside him and placing a hand on his shoulder. "Are you alright?"
"Hehe! Yeah, just a bit tired. My magical energy reserves are still decent." He opened his hand toward the staff. "Ruyi Jingu!" he called, and the staff instantly reappeared in his hand.
"We don't have time to rest," Altair said, narrowing his eyes as he looked ahead.
"Unfortunately, no," replied Nobunaga, adjusting her hat. Since she hadn't used her Noble Phantasm at full power, she'd conserved magical energy, easing the pressure on Altair.
"Next target is… Saber!" he exclaimed, with a tired smile, but one burning with a crazed gleam.
••• ••• •••
Don't forget to throw power stones and leave a review to motivate me.