If it were only a matter of facing a powerful enemy, he would have felt excited, then crushed them head-on with the dignity of a king.
But when he saw the woman before him, he clearly felt a sense of deja vu.
As if, he had seen this woman somewhere before.
And at that moment, the woman slowly opened her crimson-red eyes.
She seemed unable to understand the situation in front of her yet. With a confused look, she tilted her head toward the King of Heroes standing on the streetlight.
"Aaa?"
That beautiful singing voice echoed in Gilgamesh's ears, as if it stirred up some distant memories.
Gilgamesh stared intently at the woman before him. Then, as if recalling something, his pupils suddenly shrank.
"..."
After a long silence, Gilgamesh stared blankly at Tiamat, his lips trembling slightly.
"Mother?"
On the streetlight, Gilgamesh stared blankly at the woman standing in front of Alvin. For a moment, it felt as if his brain had slightly short-circuited.
After an unknown amount of time passed, he forced out the words with difficulty.
"Tiamat?"
Even now, Gilgamesh still felt an unreal sense of disorientation.
Tiamat, the primordial mother goddess of creation in Mesopotamian mythology. To Gilgamesh, even calling her "mother" at this moment was not wrong at all.
Of course, that was not the main point right now. The real issue was…
'Why is she appearing in a place like this?'
After his mind spun at high speed, Gilgamesh seemed to think of something. He suddenly turned his gaze to Alvin, his voice low.
"What exactly did you do?"
There was no doubt about it. It was saber's special Noble Phantasm just now that had caused "Mother" to manifest.
Not only Gilgamesh, but even the enemies hiding in the shadows seemed completely dumbfounded at this moment.
Maiya Hisau observed the scene through military binoculars. Then, trembling, she quickly took out her phone and dialed Kiritsugu Emiya again.
"There's new information…"
She immediately explained what had happened here in broad strokes.
A mysterious servant clad in black robes, a master whose Magic Circuits seemed far beyond normal, and the special creature that this mysterious servant had ultimately summoned.
A woman whose form looked very much like a "dragon".
What did that mean, exactly?
That night, everyone secretly speculated about this servant's identity.
"Answer my question, saber!"
"Who are you?"
At this moment, Gilgamesh finally snapped out of his incomparable shock. The look he gave Alvin grew even colder, filled with killing intent.
In his view, this servant was desecrating the primordial mother goddess.
After all, he had summoned her in the form of a "familiar".
Tiamat raised her head and looked at Gilgamesh on the streetlight, then glanced at Alvin behind her, letting out an incomprehensible question.
"Aaaa? (Is he an enemy?)"
She was a familiar temporarily condensed from Alvin's mana and could not maintain this body for long. But before leaving, if she wished, she could directly fire a beam of light at Gilgamesh.
"Yes," Alvin answered.
Although Alvin did not know what Tiamat had just said, the moment he uttered that single word, Tiamat turned around and let out a beautiful song.
"Aaaaaa!"
In that instant, the Chaos Tide surged toward Gilgamesh on the streetlight like a tsunami.
The chaotic tide was like a vortex that devoured everything, almost instantly swallowing the streetlight along with its glow.
Gilgamesh had no choice but to leap down from the streetlight. When his feet hit the ground, he raised his crimson eyes, filled with unprecedented fury.
"To make this king stand on the same ground as you, you mong—"
Before he could finish, the moment he saw Tiamat, the words were inexplicably swallowed back down.
Even when facing the gods, Gilgamesh would not show any respect. But this woman was different.
The primordial mother goddess Tiamat.
She was the existence that gave birth to all living things. If he cursed her, wouldn't that be cursing himself as well?
What was more, Gilgamesh did hold a sense of reverence toward Tiamat, even if he did not show it openly.
At this moment, Gilgamesh's heart was filled with intense curiosity toward this mysterious black-robed servant before him.
A Noble Phantasm capable of summoning Tiamat.
That clearly meant he was also a servant from Mesopotamia.
'Who exactly is he?'
Gilgamesh silently gazed at the black-robed servant, his expression finally growing more serious.
Perhaps having received news from this battlefield, Tokiomi Tohsaka, after hesitating, clenched his teeth in secret and used his second Command Seal.
"Please put away your anger and return, noble king!"
The instant those words fell, before Gilgamesh could speak again, he faintly felt an irresistible "force" descending upon him.
Gilgamesh was startled for a moment. Then he looked down at his hands as they gradually turned into golden particles of light, a cold smile quickly appearing on his face.
"Using two Command Seals before the Holy Grail War even begins, hm. I may have underestimated you a little, Tokiomi."
Each master only had three Command Seals in total. Once they were all used up, if the servant wished, they could completely ignore their master's orders.
'This Tokiomi Tohsaka…'
'Should he be called someone who lacked careful consideration, or someone decisively resolute when faced with events?'
But under today's circumstances, it really was not suitable to continue fighting saber.
After all, Gilgamesh raised his head and cast his gaze forward.
Tiamat looked at him with a puzzled expression.
Gilgamesh directly shifted his gaze past her, toward the black-robed servant behind her.
"Saber, you really gave this king quite a surprise tonight. But next time, I will definitely tear that mask off your face."
"I hope you can last until the end of the Holy Grail War."
With that said, Gilgamesh prepared to leave.
At that moment, from the corner of his eye, he saw Tiamat had already turned around and hugged her child, pulling him into her arms in an affectionate manner, rubbing against him like a clingy kitten.
Gilgamesh's body stiffened slightly.
Then, the Golden King finally departed.
The dazzling golden light on the street faded away, as if everything had returned to normal.
Tiamat still looked extremely intimate with Alvin. Ignoring Sajyou Manaka beside her, she hugged her child affectionately for a while longer, until the mana sustaining her body gradually dissipated.
"Aaaaaaa! (If you need anything, remember to call me!)"
She gently patted Alvin's head one last time. Then she quietly closed her eyes, her figure gradually turning unreal, until she finally disappeared from the street.
In the darkness of night, those enemies who had been secretly observing the battlefield also quietly withdrew.
Although saber and archer had not decided a victor tonight, the combat power they displayed had already sounded alarm bells deep in everyone's hearts.
The Noble Phantasm the Golden King used tonight was terrifying in itself.
Yet even such a powerful Noble Phantasm had still failed to destroy the special "creature" summoned by saber.
What exactly was that?
The same question lingered in the minds of masters from all sides.
Compared to everyone else's heavy mood, Sajyou Manaka looked especially relaxed. One small hand tugged at Alvin's clothes as she smiled.
"Let's go back first, saber."
Alvin nodded lightly and gave a soft "Mm", quietly glancing at Sajyou Manaka's profile without saying anything.
The two walked along the street on their way back. After an unknown amount of time, Alvin finally could not help but speak.
"Manaka, aren't you curious about what I summoned just now?"
"Tiamat is both the primordial mother goddess and the Beast of regression. Even if you don't explain it, I already know everything," Sajyou Manaka said calmly.
Omniscience and omnipotence only did not work on Alvin. They were not ineffective against everyone.
At the very least, Sajyou Manaka knew a fair bit about Tiamat.
If there was anything she did not quite understand, it was probably why Alvin's Noble Phantasm was so bizarre.
Other servants' Noble Phantasms were either overwhelmingly destructive or involved deploying their Reality Marbles.
Yet when it came to Alvin, it turned into summoning "mom".
Of course, that was not really a big deal. For Sajyou Manaka, as long as she could enjoy this Holy Grail War together with Alvin, that was enough.
Thinking of this, she hugged one of Alvin's arms, her steps light as she left together with him.
The two did not speak along the way. After an unknown amount of time passed, Sajyou Manaka suddenly said,
"Saber, what are you thinking about?"
"Are you thinking about that flashy golden guy from earlier?"
Alvin came back to his senses and shook his head with a smile.
"It has nothing to do with him, I was just thinking about how to find my teacher."
He did not know which servant Kayneth had summoned after the timeline changed. Also, in the original story, Kayneth died at the hands of Kiritsugu Emiya.
So in this timeline, would Kayneth still come into contact with Kiritsugu Emiya?
No matter what, he had to think of a way to find his teacher as soon as possible.
"Don't worry. He'll be fine. And with the commotion we caused tonight, he's probably already gotten the news. He might have even deduced your identity by now," Sajyou Manaka said with a smile, gently reassuring him.
"Hopefully," Alvin replied, though he still felt a bit uneasy inside.
Just as the two were about to leave the street, he suddenly caught sight of a small figure vaguely visible in a corner alley.
Logically speaking, after the fierce fight between him and Gilgamesh just now, even if there really were people around, they should have fled long ago.
Why would someone still be here?
And, coming out alone on a snowy night like this.
Sajyou Manaka also clearly noticed something and instinctively turned her head to look at the black-haired little girl in the alley.
She bent her knees slightly and spoke with a gentle smile.
"Little sister, it's so late. Why are you out here all by yourself?"
The little girl looked less than ten years old. Her lips were pale from the cold winter night, and her bare, delicate feet stepped directly on the snow.
If not for Alvin's exceptional perception, he might not have noticed her curled up alone in the alley.
"What's your name?", Sajyou Manaka continued.
The little girl glanced at Sajyou Manaka's bright, delicate face and said timidly,
"Matou Sakura."
Alvin's eyes flickered, and he instinctively looked at the black-haired girl a few more times.
'She is Matou Sakura?'
No wonder Alvin had not recognized her identity at first glance. In his impression, Matou Sakura should have had purple hair.
'Wait…'
The thoughts in Alvin's mind suddenly stalled. He asked subconsciously,
"What did you just say your name was?"
'Matou Sakura?'
"Aren't you Tokiomi's child? Why is your surname 'Matou'?"
For some reason, a bad feeling suddenly rose in his heart.
Perhaps because she heard the name "Tokiomi", Matou Sakura instinctively raised her head to look at the young man. In her originally timid eyes, a hint of confusion and curiosity appeared.
"White Dragon, Alvin?", she said subconsciously.
Alvin and Sajyou Manaka looked at each other, both seeing shock in the other's eyes.
How could such a young girl recognize his identity at first sight?
The sky grew heavier, cold winds raged, and snow fell thickly.
After a brief moment of thought, Sajyou Manaka said, "Why don't we take her back with us first?"
It was already very late. Although she did not know why the girl was out on the streets alone at this hour, seeing how concerned Alvin was, there was no way he would leave her here alone.
Besides, showing a bit of "kindness" in front of him was not a bad way to score some extra points.
Alvin nodded gently. He reached out and patted Matou Sakura's head, speaking softly.
"Sakura, it's too late today. I'll take you home tomorrow, okay?"
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