"Hahahahaha! Excellent! Very good! That's exactly how it should be!"
The corners of Gilgamesh's mouth stretched almost to his ears in exhilaration.
At the same time, a crimson vortex erupted around him, its power standing in direct opposition to the rainbow pillar of light and enveloping Gilgamesh within it.
No outsider could see Ultimate Kuuga Leon's expression at this moment.
But the frenzied, restless Ultimate Darkness radiating from him was already impossible for the rainbow pillar to conceal.
Gilgamesh raised Ea, the Sword of Rupture, high into the air.
"Recounting the beginning, when Heaven and Earth were first separated, even the void offered its congratulations to this creation. With my Sword of Rupture, I shall tear the world apart! The nebula shall be swept away, and what is called Heaven and Hell shall be revealed as nothing more than the end of the night before creation!"
Ultimate Kuuga Leon held the completely black God-Slaying Sword vertically before him.
One blade faced his enemy, while the other faced himself.
The silver-black blades reflected the rainbow radiance until their darkness became a dazzling kaleidoscope of colors.
"Through it, the sacred veins shall be connected."
"I shall walk alongside the world."
"Therefore, world—praise my descent!"
"Enuma Elish!"
(Star of Creation that Split Heaven and Earth!)
VS
"Bi—frost!"
(World, may you welcome the descent of a miracle!)
BOOOOOOM—
The rainbow bridge of light and the crimson vortex seemed to possess an uncanny understanding of one another.
Rather than colliding near Mount Enzō, they intertwined.
They twisted around each other like a colossal DNA double helix woven from rainbow and crimson, beginning above Mount Enzō and extending all the way to the end of the Throne of Heaven!
And finally—
BANG!!!!!!!!!
The shattering of space caused the sound itself to fracture.
The pitch-black exterior of the world swallowed all the light within.
Then, in the next instant—
The overwhelming power of the planet, Gaia, instantly restored the "scar" inflicted upon itself, returning everything to its original state.
Yet crimson lightning and rainbow radiance continued to shine brilliantly.
The two forces were like mischievous children rolling restlessly back and forth inside their mother's womb.
Ultimate Kuuga Leon and fully unleashed Gilgamesh stood facing one another.
"This exhilarating strength…"
"Since the death of that friend of mine, I have not experienced anything like it."
"Odinson, I truly wish I could fight you to my heart's content in the prime of my Heroic Spirit form!"
"Could you stop phrasing it in a way that's so easy to misunderstand?"
"And besides, I'm not dead yet!"
"What?"
Only a brief moment passed as they hovered within the space that was already on the verge of shattering.
Then the rainbow pillar and crimson vortex erupted once more.
The two forces were like two divine dragons stretching for tens of thousands of miles, constantly biting, devouring, and tearing into one another.
As though their battle had no end, they remained locked together in an endless struggle.
No outsider could interfere in the slightest.
They could not even tell who held the upper hand.
Ryūdō Temple, Mount Enzō.
After killing Kotomine Kirei, Kiritsugu Emiya hurried out of the underground space containing the Greater Grail and reunited with Artoria.
"Is that… Leon and Gilgamesh?!"
Kiritsugu stared into the distant sky.
Even though they were separated by tens of thousands of miles, the magnificent sight of a rainbow divine dragon and a crimson divine dragon tearing into and devouring each other could still be seen with perfect clarity.
His expression was somewhat blank.
He silently placed a hand against his chest.
Could Avalon – The Everdistant Utopia really suppress those two monsters who had already far surpassed all conventional limits?
Kiritsugu had never witnessed Avalon's true power.
At this moment, deep doubt began to take root within him.
"Artoria, what exactly happened?"
"Leon… what kind of existence is he?"
Kiritsugu turned toward Artoria, who was still visibly shaken and dispirited.
"Leon…"
"He revealed his True Name."
"The son of the All-Father Odin, the God of War of Asgard, the Eternal Guardian of the Nine Realms in the present and future…"
"Leon Stark… Odinson."
"Odinson?!"
Kiritsugu's black pupils contracted.
Although he had already harbored his suspicions, actually confirming this information still left him utterly shocked.
A Norse god who had never existed in human history or mythology—
Could that omniscient and omnipotent All-Father of the Gods, Odin, truly exist?
No.
If Leon existed, then Odin must exist as well!
But where?
In this present age, when the Age of Gods had long since faded into obscurity, where were those so-called gods now?
And why had they chosen to emerge at such an ambiguous moment?
If the gods truly intended to descend upon the human world once more, then everything he had done would be meaningless.
Before their absolute power and absolute wisdom, he—
Humanity—
would be nothing more than a group of ignorant children playing with sticks.
Perhaps only an existence like the Jewel of the Magic Tower, Zelretch, could respond to something like this.
Kiritsugu thought pessimistically, overcome by a deep sense of unwillingness and helplessness.
But then—
The information Artoria revealed next gave Kiritsugu hope while simultaneously deepening his confusion.
"Furthermore, Leon isn't Berserker's Master."
"He is Berserker himself."
"The Berserker we knew was actually a man named Matou Kariya in disguise."
"And Leon's Master is the girl he brought with him in the beginning."
"What?!"
"That girl…"
Only after Artoria's reminder did Kiritsugu notice the purple-haired little girl, Sakura Matou, hiding behind the Golden Grail and the Azure Rainbow Shield.
At this point, asking how she had gotten here was meaningless.
Kiritsugu's dark, hollow eyes narrowed slightly.
Anyone familiar with Kiritsugu could recognize the meaning contained within that gaze at a glance.
"!!!"
Sensing Kiritsugu's gaze falling upon her, Sakura became frightened and placed both hands against the shield body of Aegis Sigma.
She had obediently followed Leon's instructions the entire time and had never stepped outside Aegis Sigma's protective range.
Crack! Crack! Crack!
As though responding protectively to Kiritsugu's dangerous gaze, the sound of ice freezing suddenly rang out with an intimidating force, like a mother wolf defending her cub.
In the blink of an eye, an Ael ice clone appeared beside the trembling Sakura.
The clone took the form of a long-haired Rei Ayanami, its entire body crystallized from ice and surrounded by a faint rainbow halo.
A faint smile appeared upon Ael's cold, frost-like face.
She raised a hand and pulled Sakura's tiny body protectively into her embrace.
Her icy gaze met Kiritsugu's as he seemed poised to make a move.
"Don't lay a hand on this child."
Ael's cool, crystalline voice entered Kiritsugu's ears.
He instantly snapped back to his senses.
A wave of horror and shame surged through his heart.
Have I… really become this twisted?!
"Big Sister Ael!"
Sakura cried out happily, immediately feeling safe.
Although Ael's ice clone held her tightly in its embrace, Sakura did not feel the slightest bit of cold.
Because beneath Ael's frigid exterior was an equally warm heart.
"It'll be over soon, Sakura."
"Watch the battle carefully from now on. You don't need to be afraid, because Leon and I will always be by your side."
"Mm!"
Sakura grasped the hand Ael's clone had placed protectively in front of her and nodded with utmost seriousness.
Big Sister Ael was Mama.
Mr. Leon was Papa.
Without realizing it, Sakura began to indulge in such a childish fantasy.
"It'll be over soon?"
Kiritsugu turned his head toward the distant battlefield, where the two "divine dragons" were still locked in combat.
Judging purely by their outward displays of power, the two sides had remained evenly matched, with neither able to do anything to the other.
But then—
As though responding to Ael's declaration that the battle was nearing its end—
The struggle between the two "divine dragons" instantly tilted out of balance when an infinitely extending golden chain suddenly appeared!
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