With the first exchange, Kiritsugu gained a decisive advantage.
Tokiomi clutched his stomach, forcibly suppressing the wound with magic, then fled, triggering the alarm.
Kiritsugu pursued Tokiomi.
With his superior skills, he easily evaded the ordinary security guards.
He quickly followed the trail of blood Tokiomi left behind, through the villa and into a garden.
He saw Tokiomi shouting, "Rin, run!"
"Go find your mother!"
Then Tokiomi turned to face him.
Kiritsugu sneered and was about to shoot Tokiomi in the leg.
Suddenly, a pretty young girl rushed out from the garden.
"Who are you?"
"Don't hurt my father!" Tokiomi's eldest daughter, Tohsaka Rin, stood in front, arms spread wide to block Kiritsugu!
Kiritsugu, without hesitation, grabbed the little girl.
He then said to Tokiomi:
"Tohsaka Tokiomi, surely you don't want the future head of the Tohsaka Family to die here, do you?"
He had clearly done his research.
"You despicable bastard!"
"Despicable? As long as it achieves world peace, any means, no matter how despicable, are forgivable." Kiritsugu stated firmly.
Indeed.
This was a man who, to prevent greater casualties, had personally shot down the plane carrying his only family with a surface-to-air missile.
What was an unfamiliar girl to him?
It was simply a routine choice.
Tokiomi said hatefully, "Bastard! What do you want?"
"Simple. I want you to use your Command Spell to make Gilgamesh commit suicide."
"What? Impossible!" Tokiomi shook his head. "Gilgamesh is the most powerful Servant."
"You want me to force him to kill himself?!"
Kiritsugu immediately threatened, "Heh, as long as the Tohsaka Family continues, you can prepare for the next Holy Grail War."
"But if she dies, the direct line of the Tohsaka Family ends."
Tokiomi fell silent.
Although he had another daughter,
He had already promised to adopt her out to the Matou Family.
She wouldn't be the heir.
He was left with no choice.
He couldn't risk Rin being killed.
He could see that if he didn't comply, this man, Emiya Kiritsugu, would definitely shoot his daughter.
Helpless, he began to use his three Command Spells.
"By the power of my Command Spell, I order you, Servant Gilgamesh, to end your own life!"
At that very moment.
In the valley, while fighting three opponents single-handedly, Gilgamesh was about to unleash even greater power when he felt the force of the Command Spell compelling him to commit suicide.
"Damn you!"
"Curse you, Tohsaka Tokiomi! You should have been killed by your own disciple long ago!"
He transmitted his furious words back.
"If that Assassin hadn't betrayed your disciple, he would have become my Master, and you would have died by his hand!"
"I will break free from your control!"
"I, Gilgamesh, will no longer be anyone's Servant!"
With that, his body swelled, his golden armor began to shatter!
Blood seeped from his body. He was resisting the power of the Command Spell!
Even three Command Spells could not make him complete the act of suicide.
At that moment,
Sora watched with interest.
Because what Gilgamesh was trying to do aligned perfectly with his own goals.
Generally, if a Master died, their Servant would soon run out of magical energy and their soul would be reclaimed by the Lesser Grail.
Once four Servants' souls were absorbed, the process to activate the Greater Grail would begin.
Sora noticed Gilgamesh seemed to have other means.
He signaled Merlín to retreat.
He said to Artoria: "Taking advantage of another's predicament is not the way of a knight."
"I, Sora, disdain such a victory."
Hearing this seemingly foolish statement, Artoria was instead quite pleased.
She even raised her sword in salute to Sora before stepping back herself.
Relieved from the three's attacks, Gilgamesh was given a precious moment to recover.
Otherwise, he would have died three times over just then.
"I will remember your actions. I, the King, hereby declare that you are no longer mongrels, but people I acknowledge."
"I will spare each of you three times."
Even in such a crisis, Gilgamesh remained arrogant.
"Heh, I'm sure both your younger and older selves would despise you for saying that." Sora chuckled.
It was just bravado.
After a period of struggle, Gilgamesh, true to his A-rank Luck parameter, succeeded.
A Noble Phantasm absorbed the backlash of the contract on his behalf.
He had successfully resisted the three Command Spells without killing his Master, and successfully broken free from his Master!
He even managed to sustain his own existence.
After breaking free, despite having no Master to supply magical energy, his body did not dissipate.
He could prevent himself from being reclaimed by the Lesser Grail.