There could not possibly exist a servant capable of defeating him.
He had that kind of absolute confidence.
And in fact, he truly was the pinnacle among servants.
So why was it that at this moment, an uneasy feeling rose in his heart?
Gilgamesh quickly cut off his inner distractions and fixed his furious gaze on Alvin,."You will pay for your arrogance… mongrel!"
The EA in his hand released ever stronger waves of magical energy and light.
Alvin still did not move at all. He only stared at the slowly rotating EA in Gilgamesh's hand, took a deep breath, and then shouted a syllable that Gilgamesh could not understand.
"Mom!"
———
It was early winter in the city. Distant cold winds mixed with goose-feather snow, drifting down in thick flurries.
That incomprehensible syllable Alvin shouted echoed through the quiet street corner, making even Gilgamesh freeze for a moment.
His arrogant crimson eyes stared at Alvin in confusion. For an instant, the King of Heroes even wondered whether something was wrong with Alvin's head.
To show how seriously he regarded Alvin and the master behind him who could supply him with limitless mana, he had even used his strongest Noble Phantasm.
Enuma Elish, the Star of Creation that Split Heaven and Earth.
By all logic, even if the opponent wanted to hide their true identity, it should have been impossible.
After all, no servant could hold anything back when facing EA.
Yet the servant before him was doing exactly that.
When he realized this, a trace of rage finally appeared in Gilgamesh's eyes as he shouted, "Saber, you will pay for your arrogance!"
As he spoke the final words, he raised the EA in his hand high.
And at that moment, above the pitch-black sky, it seemed as though an enormous shadow was silently descending.
That shadow was far too massive. Accompanied by surging tides of black chaos, it blanketed the night sky. Then, almost in an instant, the mana inside Alvin's body was completely drained.
Even the small face of Sajyou Manaka changed slightly as she instinctively looked toward Alvin.
'That saber… what did he just do?'
You had to know that even in a servant state, with the support of the White Dragon Core, Alvin's regeneration ability and mana reserves far exceeded those of ordinary servants.
Yet he had only shouted a single word, and all the mana in his body had been siphoned away in an instant.
If Sajyou Manaka had not been born connected to the Root and possessed Magic Circuits EX that ordinary magi did not have, she probably would not have been able to endure the special Noble Phantasm Alvin had just used.
The EA in Gilgamesh's hand, whose mana had been frantically gathering, was forcibly halted at this very moment.
With a look of shock and uncertainty, he stared at the black-robed servant on the ground.
He had originally thought the other party was holding back when facing him, but now it seemed, this mysterious servant had been telling the truth. He really had responded with full respect.
Even Gilgamesh had never seen a Noble Phantasm that could drain all of a servant's mana in an instant.
At this moment, as if sensing something, Gilgamesh slowly raised his head to look at the sky.
The snowflakes that had been falling from above had somehow silently frozen in midair.
A few seconds later, the dark clouds in the night sky began to churn violently, thunder roaring.
From within those rolling clouds, the special black mud known as the "Chaos Tide" poured down from the sky like a waterfall. Within the clouds, a mysterious creature flickered in and out of view, its massive shadow enveloping the entire city of Fuyuki.
The black clouds trembled violently. Within the Chaos Tide, a powerful presence seemed to surge straight toward them.
Inside Fuyuki, the civilians felt nothing. But every magus and servant secretly observing tonight's great battle felt an inexplicable fear rise in their hearts, their bodies trembling slightly.
It was a pressure born of instinct.
Kayneth, who had just settled his fiancee in a specially prepared building, seemed to sense something. His expression changed as he rushed out of the living room and looked up.
All he saw was an incomparably vague yet colossal figure forming above Fuyuki.
She, or perhaps it should be said it was a dragon that existed only in myths, and in its most primal state.
It was like a supreme god descending, looking down upon the human world, shaking the soul.
———
BEEP!
Inside Einzbern Castle, Kiritsugu Emiya's phone suddenly rang.
The man whose emotions were usually as calm as still water was staring at the distant sky, his fingers trembling slightly.
Before the person on the other end could speak, Kiritsugu spoke first, "Maiya, withdraw for now."
Though he tried his best to keep his voice calm, the faint tremor still revealed the violent turmoil in the heart of the Magus Killer.
["S-sorry…"]
With a trembling voice, Maiya Hisau lowered her head and looked at her slightly shaking legs, ["But… I can't move right now…"]
Only by witnessing this special Noble Phantasm used by that mysterious servant up close could one truly feel how terrifying it was.
It was a fear that came straight from bodily instinct. When she saw that colossal being in the sky, she did not even have the courage to move.
'What was that?'
'A familiar?'
But she had never heard of any familiar with such absurd power.
And this familiar was clearly not even in its complete form.
———
At the Tohsaka residence, Tokiomi Tohsaka received a phone call at the same time.
It was from his disciple, Kirei Kotomine.
["Teacher… Assassin has already withdrawn from the scene. He said that thing is not something a normal servant can deal with."]
"I understand."
Tokiomi hung up the phone, stood by the window, and closed his eyes.
Although Kirei had already put it that far, the head of the Tohsaka family knew very well that the King of Heroes would never obey his orders.
Perhaps right now, he was already fired up, preparing to fight that unknown servant to the death.
"There's no choice, for the victory of the Holy Grail War and our long-held wish…"
Tokiomi gently touched the Command Seals on the back of his hand and slowly exhaled.
"By the name of a Command Seal, please withdraw your anger, noble king."
Every master who participated in the Holy Grail War possessed three Command Seals. Each one could forcibly command a servant. Of course, if the servant had high enough mana resistance, even two seals might not be enough.
After Tokiomi used the Command Seal, one of the three bright red sigils on the back of his hand quietly faded.
———
Just as Tokiomi had expected, when Gilgamesh saw the incomparably massive shadow in the sky, he froze for a moment. Then, a wildly arrogant grin spread across his face.
"So that's it. This is your trump card, saber."
"A special creature summoned by consuming all of your own mana as nourishment. But in the end, it's nothing more than a familiar."
"If you think you can defeat me with a mere familiar, then you truly underestimate me, saber!"
Gilgamesh raised EA high. Blood-red mana gathered on the Sword of Rupture in his hand, "Let this strike be your farewell."
"I speak of the primordial. Heaven and earth split, nothingness opens, the sword of rupture that cuts the world is mine—"
"Grinding the stellar millstone, the hell of heaven and earth marks the end of the night before creation. Bow in death…"
As Gilgamesh's chant grew ever more resounding, a violent wind exploded outward from him as the center.
At that moment, all enemies hiding in the shadows seemed to realize something. Their instinct for survival overcame their fear as they dragged their trembling legs toward the outskirts of the battlefield, trying to flee.
This battle on the eve of the Holy Grail War had completely exceeded the expectations of the Three Founding Families of Fuyuki. Even Kiritsugu Emiya, famed for his calmness, had never imagined that a servant would use full power before the war even began.
The Sword of Rupture.
If one faced a Noble Phantasm of that level head-on, was survival even possible?
At this moment, nearly everyone secretly observing near the battlefield shared the same thought.
———
Meanwhile, inside the Church of the Holy Church, Father Kirei Kotomine quietly closed the Bible in his hands, shut his eyes, as if pondering something, or perhaps mourning someone.
Archer, the power this man displayed tonight had far surpassed the limits of what they could imagine.
It could only be said that saber might be strong, but his luck was simply terrible.
Whether saber had gone out tonight with his master to "fish" or for some other purpose, running into this Golden King before the Holy Grail War even began, could only be called extremely bad luck.
"Enuma Elish, the Star of Creation!"
When the mana finished gathering, Gilgamesh swung the Sword of Rupture in his hand toward the mysterious creature in the sky.
BOOM!
Fiery red mana tore through heaven and earth, like a beam piercing the stars, instantly shattering the pitch-black clouds.
Tokiomi Tohsaka's Command Seal could not calm the Golden King, because at this moment, Gilgamesh was not angry at all. He was excited.
Tokiomi's Command Seal instead became nourishment for Gilgamesh's mana.
The ancient King of Heroes had collected all the treasures of the world. His participation in the Holy Grail War was less about any wish and more about entertaining himself.
Now, saber had summoned a mysterious familiar with everything he had, and Gilgamesh shattered it with his strongest Noble Phantasm, that alone was pleasure.
As if thinking of something amusing, a delighted curve appeared at the corner of Gilgamesh's mouth. He looked up at the mysterious creature in the sky and watched as EA's mana slammed into it.
"Aaaaaa!"
As EA's power struck, a song like the ethereal singing of a siren at sea seemed to echo from within the clouds.
Then, the creature's figure seemed to grow a little more unreal.
The overwhelming pressure it had displayed when it manifested also seemed to weaken slightly.
Sajyou Manaka's eyes darkened as she silently watched the Golden King and the Sword of Rupture in his hand.
She had known from the moment she first saw Gilgamesh that his mana was extraordinarily powerful, yet the Noble Phantasm he used still exceeded her expectations.
Archer, he truly was the most troublesome enemy in this Holy Grail War.
Soon, Sajyou Manaka turned her gaze to Alvin and whispered,
"Saber, are you feeling better?"
Even with Magic Circuits EX, she could not instantly supply all her mana to Alvin. Like charging with a cable, it still took time to fill him back up.
"I'm fine, just heavily drained on mana," Alvin said with a smile as he shook his head.
He knew that the special Noble Phantasm to summon Tiamat consumed massive amounts of mana, but he had not expected that even with the White Dragon Core, merely summoning a heavily weakened Tiamat would almost drain his heroic spirit body dry.
"So this is your full strength, saber?"
At that moment, Gilgamesh's cold, condescending voice came from atop a streetlight.
The EA in his hand had slowly stopped rotating. He lifted his proud head and looked down at the black-robed servant on the ground.
"But don't feel regret. The greatest reason for your defeat is not yourself, but the fact that the one you met was me."
Trying to restrain him with a familiar, that was laughable in itself.
"Don't say that too soon, King of Heroes," Alvin said calmly.
He raised his head toward the sky. The Chaos Tide now poured down from the clouds like a waterfall, and descending along with it was an incomparably slender and illusory female figure.
The woman had long dark-blue hair. The Chaos Tide willingly crawled at her feet. Her graceful body was shrouded in black mana, and on her head was a pair of massive horns symbolizing a dragon.
Gilgamesh narrowed his eyes and examined the woman standing in front of Alvin. A trace of doubt soon appeared in the depths of his crimson gaze.
'Strange. The Sword of Rupture clearly struck this woman head-on just now, yet she is completely unharmed?'
'No, her presence seems slightly weaker than before?'
Even so, Gilgamesh was filled with disbelief.
'What servant in the Holy Grail War can take EA head-on and only suffer a slight weakening of presence?'
'What in the world is this thing?'
For some reason, a faint sense of unease suddenly rose in Gilgamesh's heart.
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