...
Enzō Mountain, Ryūdō Temple.
Tap! Tap! Tap! Tap! Tap!
Accompanied by the crisp sound of footsteps striking the stone stairs like clashing metal, Gilgamesh, clad in golden armor, slowly emerged from below.
Step by step, he ascended the stairs.
And in his hand was Ea, the Sword of Rupture, which Gilgamesh had continued to wield ever since he used it to impale and kill Iskandar.
The final battle was about to begin.
There was no longer any reason to put it away.
Originally, Gilgamesh had intended to use one of his teleportation Noble Phantasms to arrive directly at his destination and make a suitably grand entrance.
However, the torrent of sin and corruption that had surged forth earlier had blocked his path.
Moreover, the closer he got to the mountaintop, the stronger that inexplicable resistance became.
As a result, he had been forced to stop at a lower platform near the summit and walk the remaining flight of stairs.
The first thing that entered his sight was the azure-rainbow shield floating outside Ryūdō Temple, with the Golden Holy Grail suspended above it.
Then his gaze shifted.
Leon was sitting leisurely in front of the temple's main entrance.
And in his arms was Artoria, still dressed in her ordinary clothes.
She was panting heavily, her cheeks flushed crimson as though she were drunk.
The sight immediately ignited an inexplicable fury within Gilgamesh.
But before he could say a word—
Leon casually ran his fingers through a strand of Artoria's golden hair, lifted it to the tip of his nose, and deliberately inhaled its fragrance.
Then he teasingly addressed the visibly enraged Golden King:
"You're awfully slow, King of Heroes."
"What?!"
Gilgamesh's brows instantly furrowed.
Countless golden ripples appeared in the void behind him.
Without another word, he unleashed a volley of Noble Phantasms at Leon.
Yet—
What happened next was completely beyond Gilgamesh's expectations.
An equal number of seemingly identical silver ripples appeared before Leon.
Silver Vibranium weapons collided violently in midair with the golden Noble Phantasms from Gilgamesh's treasury.
For a moment—
The two sides were evenly matched!
With the exception of the Golden Holy Grail and the Holy Grail summoning ritual protected by Aegis Sigma, the entire area outside Ryūdō Temple was instantly filled with all manner of Vibranium weapons and Noble Phantasms.
After colliding in midair, the weapons quickly transformed into golden and silver motes of magical energy before dissipating into the air.
As projected manifestations of Noble Phantasms, the "projectiles" fired by Leon and Gilgamesh could not remain in the physical world indefinitely.
Even if additional magical energy was supplied to maintain them, they could only exist temporarily.
It was much like the Wild Hunt Armor that Matou Kariya had worn.
Once Leon stopped supplying it with magical energy, it would soon dissolve into pure motes of magical energy and disappear.
Unless—
Leon could obtain that miracle.
"Heh~"
After the first exchange, Gilgamesh narrowed his eyes and temporarily halted his assault.
He stared at Leon with unconcealed surprise.
"How many more surprises are you planning to give me?"
"Not only is the true name you revealed to the world a false one, you also possess the Holy Sword of the King of Knights."
"You have that shield overflowing with Divinity."
"And now, you can even imitate my treasury?"
"Interesting~ Truly interesting!"
Gilgamesh's grin widened with excitement.
He pointed at Leon and shouted:
"Come, you damned mongrel counterfeit!"
"I shall show you through the cruelest of facts what fate awaits a counterfeit!"
The moment his words fell—
The golden ripples in the void behind Gilgamesh began appearing endlessly.
More and more.
Until they completely covered half the sky above Enzō Mountain.
Countless Noble Phantasms emerged from the Gate of Babylon, transformed into projectiles that seemed ready to ignite at the slightest touch.
They were all waiting—
Waiting for their master, Gilgamesh, to pull the trigger of destruction.
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