Down in the basement, the sharp stenches of blood and mercury blended together in the damp air.
Kariya Matou squatted on the cold floor, clutching a specialized goat-hair brush as sweat poured down his forehead.
He painstakingly drew the final strokes of the summoning circle.
To procure this high-purity thaumaturgical mercury and gem dust, he had stayed up all night buying out the surrounding black markets at exorbitant prices, taking a devastating blow to his wallet.
“Hey, bro, could you be any slower?
I’ve already finished two slices of pizza.”
Yoru Hayashi sat on the wooden steps leading down from the first floor, holding a half-empty cup of iced cola.
He let out a satisfied burp, watching Kariya stick his rear in the air while frantically drawing lines.
As for Sakura, Yoru had not let her come down.
Summoning a Heroic Spirit was too disruptive, and it would not do to frighten the little girl.
He had put on *Tom and Jerry* on the living room television and told her to wait quietly upstairs.
“What the hell do you know?!” Kariya wiped the sweat from his brow, cursing without turning his head.
“This is a grand spiritual invocation array meant to summon a top-tier Heroic Spirit!
A single fraction of an inch off, and everything falls apart!
If I botch even one rune, we might summon some maimed, deformed monster—or worse, trigger a magical backlash that blows you sky-high!”
“Fine, fine, you’re the pro.
Take your time.”
Yoru pulled out the fossilized snake skin he had intercepted from the Tohsaka family, casually tossing it back and forth like a pair of walnuts.
The sight made Kariya’s heart skip a beat, terrified that this reckless ancestor would slip and shatter the priceless artifact.
Ten minutes later, Kariya finally let out a long breath, supporting his aching lower back as he stood up.
“It’s done.
I’ve also laid out the warding array.” Kariya looked at Yoru with a grim expression.
“Yoru, did you memorize the incantation?
This is your first time summoning a Servant.
You cannot lose focus for a second.
You must channel your magical energy evenly…”
“Memorized, memorized.
Isn’t it just that whole ‘Let it be declared, your body shall be under my command’ deal?
I know it so well I could rap it in a karaoke box.”
Yoru casually set the cup of cola on the steps, strode into the center of the array, and tossed the snake skin fossil directly onto the focal point.
Kariya quickly retreated to a safe distance outside the perimeter, nervously swallowing his saliva.
Even if Yoru constantly ran his mouth, this was still the ultimate catalyst prepared by Tokiomi Tohsaka.
The entity about to descend was very likely the legendary, most ancient King of Heroes!
“Ahem.
Well then, time to witness a miracle.”
Yoru cleared his throat and extended his right hand, which bore the Command Seal shaped like a fist raising a middle finger.
The forty Magic Circuits in his body instantly roared to life at full capacity, and pale blue magical energy flooded into the mercury circle on the floor like a raging tide.
“Let it be declared!”
“Your body shall be under my command; my fate shall be with your sword!”
Just after chanting the first two lines, what had started as a solemn atmosphere took a sudden nosedive.
The bastard actually drew a blank!
“Uh…
In accordance with the Holy Grail’s call, if you abide by this will and reason, answer me!
And then, what was it…
I hereby swear!
I am the one who achieves all worldly whims, I am the one who orchestrates all worldly pranks…”
Standing nearby, Kariya’s forehead was covered in black lines, his blood pressure spiking through the roof.
What in the absolute hell was he chanting?!
Was an incantation something you could just make up on the fly?!
Did this kid think summoning a Heroic Spirit was like a fill-in-the-blank test where you just made up whatever words you forgot?!
“And finally!” Yoru gave up trying to remember the original lines altogether.
He simply threw caution to the wind and roared at the top of his lungs, “Stop lounging around in the Throne of Heroes and get your ass out here to work, Goldie!”
*Rumble—!*
On the contrary, the fossilized snake skin erupted with a brilliant golden light a thousand times more dazzling than the sun!
A violent storm of magical energy instantly swept through the basement.
The intense shift in atmospheric pressure nearly blew Kariya’s black-rimmed glasses off his face.
He could only shield his face desperately.
In the presence of a divine majesty that felt as though it could crush the human soul, his legs went limp against his will, dropping him straight to his knees.
*So powerful…
This overwhelming pressure…
Is this the King of All Heroes?!* Kariya groaned despairingly in his heart, lacking even the courage to lift his head.
Golden motes of light slowly coalesced at the center of the array.
Accompanied by the crisp clinking of metal armor, a proud, towering figure radiating a suffocating aura of regal dominance materialized in the center of the basement.
He wore an extravagantly lavish suit of golden armor.
His golden hair stood upright, blazing like the noon sun, and within his ruby-red eyes lay an aloof, towering disdain for all creation.
The oldest King of Heroes in human history, Gilgamesh, had descended!
“Which insolent mongrel dares summon this King with such vulgar words?”
Gilgamesh tilted his chin up slightly, his crimson, serpent-like pupils sweeping coldly across his surroundings.
When his gaze fell upon the cramped, crude basement and the trembling Kariya Matou kneeling on the floor, an undisguised look of disgust flashed across his eyes.
However, when his eyes landed on the youth standing less than two meters away in the center of the array—wearing a worn-out short-sleeved shirt—the King of Heroes’ brows furrowed deeply.
Not only had this youth failed to prostrate himself like the other vermin, but he was also looking at him as if examining a rare zoo animal.
“Oho, shiny gold armor, flashy red eyes.
Not bad, not bad.
Old man Tokiomi’s taste is pretty solid after all.” Yoru crossed his arms, casually circling halfway around Gilgamesh like a haughty lord, clicking his tongue in admiration.
“Though the hairstyle’s a bit chuunibyou—looks just like a Super Saiyan.”
The air in the basement froze completely.
Kneeling on the ground, Kariya felt as though his heart had stopped beating.
He swore that all the cold sweat he had shed in his entire life could not compare to this single moment.
Madness!
Yoru had gone completely insane!
That was the legendary sovereign with the shortest temper, the most inviolable king in history!
And he had dared to mock his hairstyle right to his face?!
Gilgamesh’s rage boiled over into laughter.
“Heh…
Hahahahaha!”
The King of Heroes let out a cold, manic laugh, entirely devoid of warmth.
“This King thought he might encounter a magus who understood basic propriety this time.
To think I would summon a deranged mutt who lacks even the qualifications to look upon me.
Not only do you fail to recognize your station, but you dare to spout such insolence before this King.”
“Mongrel, who gave you permission to look at this King while standing?”
Before the words had finished echoing, golden ripples spread across the space behind Gilgamesh.
The Gate of Babylon opened!
Two lances, gleaming with chilling Noble Phantasm light, shot forth from the golden ripples at blinding speed, hurtling mercilessly toward Yoru’s chest without leaving even an afterimage!
In the eyes of the King of Heroes, granting death to a piece of vermin that dared to offend his majesty was an act of absolute mercy.
*Squirt—!
Squirt—!*
Without the slightest suspense, how could a mortal body block a direct strike from a Noble Phantasm?
Yoru did not even manage to attempt a dodge.
The two lances pierced straight through his chest, pinning him dead against the basement’s load-bearing wall.
Blood instantly soaked his poor shirt.
“Urgh…” Yoru’s eyes widened, blood pouring from his mouth, and his head slumped forward as his life completely extinguished.
“Yoru!!!” Kariya let out a desperate shriek.
It was over.
Everything was completely ruined.
They had spent so much money and made such a huge scene, only for the Master to be executed on the spot by his own Servant the very second he was summoned.
What kind of Holy Grail War was this?!
He might as well just bash his head against a wall and end it all!
Gilgamesh cast an indifferent glance at the corpse pinned to the wall.
With a dismissive wave of his hand, the two lances dissolved into golden light.
“What a tedious jester.
Lingering in such a filthy place for even another second is a pollution to this King’s lungs.”
Gilgamesh turned around, preparing to dematerialize and depart.
Though losing a Master was troublesome, with his Independent Action skill, staying in this era for a few days to find a tolerable substitute Master would be trivial.
Just as the King of Heroes was about to dissolve into motes of light, a familiar and utterly infuriating voice suddenly echoed through the dead-silent basement.
“Holy crap, dude, where’s your sportsmanship?
I wasn’t even done talking and you dropped an ultimate on me?
Pierced me straight through, cold as ice!”
Gilgamesh’s dematerialization froze instantly.
Within those crimson eyes that were perpetually as calm as still water, an unprecedented shock and disbelief flashed.
He whipped his head around.
There, Yoru—who should have been thoroughly dead with his heart torn to shreds by lances—had somehow scrambled up from the floor.
Not only was he alive, but the two gaping, bowl-sized holes in his chest closed instantly in a flash of eerie white light.
Even the bloodstains on his clothes vanished without a trace, as if everything that had just occurred was nothing more than an illusion.
“You…” Gilgamesh narrowed his eyes slightly.
Even with his vision, he could not see through the method this mongrel had used to resurrect.
This was neither healing nor time reversal.
It was a phenomenon he had never witnessed before, operating entirely outside the laws of this world.
“What do you mean, ‘you’?”
Yoru patted his chest, silently checking the freshly updated system notification in his mind:
[Death Count: 17] [Cause of Death: One-shot by Gilgamesh’s Noble Phantasms due to running his mouth.] [Rewards: Noble Phantasm Piercing Resistance +10%!
Magic Circuits +20!
Gained Anti-Goldie Passive: As long as I don’t feel awkward, you’re the one who’s awkward!]
“Hey, Goldie,” Yoru grinned, flashing a smile even more arrogant than the King of Heroes himself.
“Did you think squashing me was as easy as crushing an ant?”
Gilgamesh’s face darkened.
No one had ever dared to test his patience twice in a row.
The Gate of Babylon deployed once more.
This time, over a dozen Noble Phantasms poked their tips out, locking onto Yoru.
“Regardless of what foul sorcery you employ, mongrel, the consequence of defying this King is singular: you shall be ground to dust!”
*Swish, swish, swish—!*
A torrential barrage of Noble Phantasms engulfed Yoru.
Blades, spears, swords, and halberds instantly turned Yoru into a gruesome pincushion.
*Thud.* Yoru collapsed once more into a pool of blood, dead as dead could be.
Kariya, utterly terrified, had already curled into the corner, covering his eyes and not daring to breathe.
[Death Count: 18] [Reward: Reinforcement Magic upgraded to Mastery]
Yet, less than three seconds later:
“Hey, I’m back again!
Surprised?
Shocked?”
Yoru popped back to full health on the spot, lively and energetic.
He even pulled a comb out of nowhere and casually combed through his hair, which had been left looking like a bird’s nest.
The expression in Gilgamesh’s eyes finally shifted.
If the first time could be dismissed as a fluke, the second time, he was certain he had pulverized the mongrel’s soul alongside his body.
Yet this piece of vermin stood before him once again, completely unharmed!
“Mongrel, what kind of creature are you?!” Gilgamesh demanded coldly.
“Me?
I’m just a big bad villain.”
Yoru sat down on the steps, crossed his legs, and pointed his thumb at himself.
“I know you’ve got that passive skill called Sha Naqba Imuru that can see through the past and future.
Go right ahead—open those bloodshot eyes of yours and see if you can read my thread of fate.”
Yoru paused, the smirk on his face growing wild and unbridled.
“Believe me, even if you throw out every last piece of scrap metal in your Gate of Babylon today and slice me into ten thousand pieces, as long as I don’t feel like dying, you—the so-called oldest King of Heroes—won’t be able to harm a single hair on my head!”