BOOM!
Without room for testing or hesitation, accompanied by a shrill whistle that sliced through the night, a dazzling holy spear emitting golden light was launched from the Gate of Babylon!
Even if it was merely a normal attack from the Gate of Babylon rather than a Noble Phantasm activation, the terrifying kinetic energy it carried was something ordinary Magus or lower Servants could not withstand.
However, just as the golden spear was about to pierce its target…
In the darkness ahead, the ground suddenly rippled as if melting. Immediately after, in the deathly silent night sky, a strange sound like deep-sea currents swirling violently suddenly echoed.
Without any earth-shaking collision, the unparalleled sharp sacred relic was quietly swallowed by a bottomless black sea that appeared from nowhere, completely severing its magical connection to the Gate of Babylon.
Sensing that his absolute control over the Noble Phantasm had instantly vanished, Gilgamesh—who had been about to turn and leave—finally stopped completely in his tracks.
"Oh?"
He slowly turned around. The anger in his crimson snake-like eyes vanished, replaced by pure interest.
"My attack was just a light blow, yet you erased it so easily… Nameless one, you certainly possess remarkable ability."
He raised his chin high and spoke slowly in an arrogant tone that seemed to dominate all living things. "State your name, you wretch."
The night wind blew across the desolate desert, and a brief silence enveloped the area.
A moment later.
"Ah…"
The reply to this arrogant king was not a powerful declaration, but a soft, melodic song filled with bewilderment and pure innocence.
Hearing that voice, Gilgamesh's expression grew slightly stern. The previously faintly arrogant calm on his face was completely overtaken by intense rage.
"Not only did he ruin my reunion with my best friend like a rat in the gutter, but furthermore—"
Veins bulged on his forehead. Killing intent blazed in his crimson snake-like eyes, enough to incinerate the entire desert and the night sky above it. Violent golden mana overflowed uncontrollably, crushing the surrounding gravity until it groaned under the weight.
"At this very moment, as your king, I am bestowing upon you, lowly one, the supreme honor of announcing your name with great mercy—yet you dare mock a king above you with beastly, filthy, foolish screams!"
"You are an unforgivable defective product that has openly blasphemed the dignity of a king! Even if this land is completely destroyed, your thousand deaths will never atone for your sins!"
To the enraged eyes of Gilgamesh, the opponent's indifferent reply—which hadn't even formed complete syllables—was the ultimate provocation and humiliation toward the Hero King.
After all, who in this snow-covered city tonight did not know the unparalleled majesty of the Hero King's descent?
Approaching his hunting grounds at such a time was already reckless and arrogant in itself.
With a heavy metallic clang, golden combat boots mercilessly crushed the sand.
The Hero King turned and focused his killing intent completely on the shadows where the two figures stood before him.
Enkidu, standing beside him, seemed to have sensed something. His usually gentle face changed abruptly, and he spoke anxiously, "Gil, wait—that woman is—"
"My beloved friend," Gilgamesh suddenly cut Enkidu off, turning his face aside with an arrogant smile on his furious features. "You should know you cannot stop me."
"No matter what decision a king makes, all subjects must unconditionally kneel and obey… even if that is… you!"
As he spoke, Gilgamesh suddenly raised his hand. Before Enkidu could take a step, multiple golden Noble Phantasms flew out from the Gate of Babylon with a roar and crashed down in front of him, forcibly blocking his movement.
Then, a dazzling light tore through the night sky.
The sacred vessel the heavenly ark Vimana—suddenly emerged from the boundary of imaginary numbers and settled firmly at the golden king's feet.
Gilgamesh took his seat upon the throne.
BOOM!
The next instant, carrying overwhelming killing intent, he rode Vimana and charged straight toward Matou Yuu and Tiamat!
Behind him, the void swirled like boiling water. Hundreds of golden gates suddenly appeared, illuminating the entire night sky as brightly as daylight!
Almost simultaneously, Matou Yuu noticed the golden meteor wrapped in destructive aura falling from the sky and shouted in panic, "Watch out, it's coming from above!"
But clearly, when faced with such ultra-high-speed maneuvering in space, any human warning was already too late.
"Ignorant Mongrel, turn to dust in this nameless wilderness!!!"
The Hero King roared fiercely from on high, and countless golden weapons rained down like a torrential storm.
And right at this moment.
Tiamat looked up toward Gilgamesh with a slightly puzzled expression.
The night wind blew, and her long blue hair drew extremely gentle waves in the air like a waterfall.
Her clear, flawless ruby-like eyes, engraved with an intricate cross pattern, quietly gazed at the tyrannical golden king reigning far above.
Almost instantly, the countless royal treasures that had been about to rain down behind Gilgamesh came to an abrupt halt.
His pupils contracted sharply as if he had realized something.
This feeling… was truly wrong.
He realized that the figure who had originally appeared to his eyes as nothing more than a Mongrel had, in this moment, infinitely expanded her presence, appearing as if she ruled the entire world.
It was neither a Servant nor a magi…
It was… the Sea.
It was the most primordial sea that nurtured all things and, in the end, swallowed everything!
Even the Hero King, who considered himself superior to all gods, felt a primitive shiver, like a newborn infant facing the vast starry sky.
"This aura… this nauseating yet inescapable sense of regression…"
The true name that Gilgamesh believed could never appear in this era pierced his confused mind like lightning.
"Who are you—!!!"
But before his brain could fully recover from the shock…
Tiamat seemed enraged by the Hero King's attack.
She slowly opened her mouth.
Under Gilgamesh's terrified gaze, a song that was mysterious like a siren yet seemed to come from the end of history echoed across the desert!
"Aaaaaah—!!!"
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