"Hahahahahahahaha!"
Gilgamesh's arrogant, unrestrained laughter rang across the heavens.
The three segmented blades of Ea, the Sword of Rupture, gradually unleashed their maximum output. Within the spiraling, tearing space, every trace of rainbow light was devoured, leaving behind nothing but pure black and white—a void stripped of all color.
"Odinson, this is the final strike of the night. If you survive this blow, I will acknowledge that you are more worthy of my respect than those hypocritical gods!"
"I don't need your acknowledgment. I am still the strongest god in the world, without equal!"
"Is that so?"
The corners of Gilgamesh's lips curled into a mocking smile as he laughed.
Their words fell.
The bodies of the Rainbow Divine Dragon and the Crimson Ape Divine Dragon suddenly expanded to an utterly terrifying size, their length and bulk reaching an unprecedented scale. Within the void, an indistinct presence could no longer ignore this troublesome "child" comparable to a thorn in its side.
BOOOOOOM!!!!!!!
From the Moon, looking toward Earth, the darkened hemisphere of the planet appeared as though an utterly malevolent crimson eye had opened upon its surface, surrounded and framed by magnificent, sacred rainbow-colored lashes.
Space silently roared.
It was as though Mother Earth herself were helplessly whispering beneath her breath.
From Emiya Kiritsugu's perspective—
After the two Divine Dragons finally collided at the limits of their respective powers, the golden chains became the final straw that broke the Rainbow Divine Dragon.
And then—
A rainbow meteor came hurtling from the distance, rapidly descending toward Mount Enzō.
BANG!!!!!!!
RUMBLE!!!
A violent gale swept across the mountain!
The entire mountainside shook violently!
Nearly half of the mountaintop was instantly erased!
RIP—
A bottomless fissure split across the remaining section of Mount Enzō. It was like a cake that had been sliced cleanly in two by a single blade, the two halves tilting away from each other.
The destruction exposed the cavern deep within the mountain where the Greater Grail was hidden.
And Ryūdō Temple, already on the verge of collapse, was reduced to dust by the shockwaves of this cataclysmic disaster. Only the area where Aegis Sigma had established the Holy Grail summoning ritual survived.
However, with the mountain beneath it gone, that surviving section of land began slowly drifting downward like a feather-light patch of duckweed, until it finally reconnected with solid ground.
Artoria and Emiya Kiritsugu had also been protected by Aegis Sigma and survived the catastrophe.
They were the most crucial pieces of Leon's subsequent plan.
Even the possibility of betrayal had already been incorporated into Leon's calculations, so none of that mattered.
As long as that child remained safe, everything was fine.
"Cough, cough, cough!"
As the dust settled, Emiya Kiritsugu, whose complexion seemed to have grown somewhat ashen, coughed as he looked toward the enormous crater that appeared to have been created by Leon's impact.
"Mr. Leon?"
The first person to see him clearly was Matou Sakura, the person currently closest to Leon.
She had already sensed Leon's present exhaustion and the restrictions placed upon him.
"That's—!"
Within Emiya Kiritsugu's field of vision, Ultimate Kuuga Leon was kneeling on one knee at the center of the enormous crater.
His limbs were bound by chains that had materialized from the void, each radiating a mysterious golden light.
He was completely unable to move.
The next moment—
Gilgamesh teleported above the crater.
But the instant he appeared, he plummeted straight down like a powerless drone.
THUD—
The golden armor covering his lower body had already been shattered. Only several pieces of red cloth hung from his waist like a skirt, while his body was covered in wounds bleeding profusely.
He could barely use Ea as a crutch to pull himself back to his feet.
"You—cough, cough, cough!"
Leaning against Ea and dropping to one knee, Gilgamesh had only just tried to speak when he violently coughed up a mouthful of dark blood mixed with fragments of his internal organs, spraying it onto the ground.
"Hahahahaha! Leon Stark Odinson! I must admit that, among every opponent I have encountered throughout my life, you are the only one who has fought me to this extent and forced me to assume such a wretched appearance!"
"Enkidu—Chains of Heaven are the divine laws of restraint. You are peerless in strength because you are a god, yet precisely because you are a god, you are also subject to these laws. This is the truth that even you, a god, cannot defy!"
"Accept it!"
"This is the—greatest respect I can offer you!"
Gilgamesh struggled to his feet and walked before Ultimate Kuuga Leon, who was completely immobilized by the Chains of Heaven.
He raised Ea.
Just as he had executed Iskandar, he intended to drive the sword straight through Leon and kill him.
"No! Mr. Leon!! Berserker!!!"
Matou Sakura tried to rush forward and protect Leon, but Elle held her firmly in place, completely unmoved by her struggle.
Unable to do anything else, Sakura let out a heart-rending scream.
She had already lost too much.
She did not want to lose Leon—the most important "family" she had left.
The girl's desperate wish was transformed into reality by her final Command Seal.
"Sakura..."
Having heard Matou Sakura's cry—and sensing the Command Seal's forced rescue effect—the originally dim black eyes of Ultimate Kuuga Leon suddenly blazed with a blood-red light!
"What?!"
Gilgamesh's crimson pupils contracted sharply.
Ultimate Kuuga Leon should have been completely immobilized.
Yet he suddenly moved like a beast that had been resurrected.
Ignoring everything, he violently resisted the restraining laws of the Chains of Heaven and lunged straight at Gilgamesh, who was only inches away!
More than a dozen golden ripples instantly appeared in the air.
A barrage of A-Rank Noble Phantasms rained down upon Ultimate Kuuga Leon.
But none of them could stop his advance.
Not until Leon, covered in an exoskeletal armor that was already on the verge of shattering, reached Gilgamesh and seized the blade of Ea with both hands.
Only then did Gilgamesh realize how serious the situation had become.
"You bastard—PUH!!!!"
Enraged and humiliated, Gilgamesh attempted to forcibly activate Ea and crush Ultimate Kuuga Leon's hands around its blade.
But at that very moment—
A long sword radiating golden light pierced straight through Gilgamesh's chest.
And then, without encountering the slightest resistance, it continued onward and pierced through Ultimate Kuuga Leon's chest as well.
One sword. Two kills!
Artoria, who had already switched into her Servant Spirit Form, had absolutely no idea what had happened.
By the time she realized it—
Everything before her had already happened.
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