I can see Gilgamesh is suddenly deep in thought after hearing my name. She's making an expression I've never seen before, not even in the anime.
In the anime, Gilgamesh rarely made this kind of face anyway. The only time she ever really changed her expression was when Saber destroyed the Holy Grail after Kiritsugu ordered her to.
And now, here she is, making that same expression just from hearing my name.
'Am I actually not normal or something? This is like one of those manhwa plots where the main character thinks they're normal, until the sudden reveal at the end where they turn out to be a demon king, the daughter of a hero, or someone who never actually reincarnated but just had their memories sealed or regression...'
Whatever, that doesn't matter for now. I should get the hell out of here. Soon, Berserker is going to appear, and the situation will become really chaotic.
But the problem is, Gilgamesh still hasn't let go of my back collar, so I'm still dangling in the air.
I try to push my body down to break her hold, but no matter what I do, I'm still stuck.
"Excuse me, Your Majesty, but I really should go. Could you grant me the honor to leave?"
"Rikka..." But all I heard from her was just her muttering my name.
Welp, looks like I'm really stuck here. I hope when Berserker appears, Gilgamesh isn't going to throw me to the side for hindering her.
Thankfully, that didn't happen. Because the moment I decided to wait, I suddenly heard something from her.
"Hehe-HAHAHAHAHA!" Gilgamesh laughed so hard that everyone present could hear it.
I have no idea what the hell is going on, so I just let her laugh while I'm dangling here.
It took her a while to finally stop laughing. Her chuckles slowly faded into the quiet air before she looked at me and actually said something.
"So, child, how old are you right now?" she asked, a strange amusement still lingering in her voice.
"How old am I?" That was a really random question, but oh well. There was no harm in just telling her my age. "I'm eight years old right now," I said, tilting my head in confusion.
"Eight years old..." she echoed softly, her crimson eyes narrowing.
Suddenly, I felt my collar being pulled again. With an effortless tug, she yanked me closer, hoisting me up until I was dangling right in front of her face, forced to meet her piercing gaze.
Now dangling right in front of Gilgamesh's face, I was suddenly eye-level with the King of Heroes.
Since I still had absolutely no idea what was going on or what she was planning to do with me, my attention naturally drifted to the most striking thing about her those deep, ruby-red eyes.
It wasn't every day you got to see something like that. In fact, being this close to her felt like an impossibly rare opportunity, so I decided to just stay quiet and admire them.
Up close, they were breathtaking, like polished jewels reflecting the dim light of the docks.
But as I stared, captivated by the sheer intensity of her gaze, something shifted.
The crimson irises slowly began to glow. A deep, menacing light flared within them, radiating an overwhelming pressure that made the air around us feel heavy.
She wasn't just looking at my face anymore. It felt as though her gaze was piercing straight through my skin, digging into the very core of my soul and unraveling the hidden threads of my soul.
I couldn't look away even if I wanted to. I was completely mesmerized by that terrifying, beautiful crimson light.
Before I could even process the sheer weight of her power, my vision started to swim. The edges of the world blurred into a hazy smudge, and the distant sounds of the docks faded into a muffled hum.
My mind grew impossibly heavy, those glowing ruby eyes burning into my memory as the very last thing I saw before everything completely faded to black.
---
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---
The moment Rikka's consciousness slipped away, her limp body, still dangling from the golden King's grasp, suddenly stiffened.
The naive, confused aura vanished completely, replaced by a cold and calculating stillness. When her eyelids snapped open again, the frightened child from a moment ago was entirely gone.
Instead of their usual innocent hue, her eyes now glowed with a deep, radiant azure. They shimmered with an iridescent, multi-colored light, reflecting the very concept of mortality like fractured jewels. The Mystic Eyes of Death Perception had activated.
To her awakened sight, the overwhelming, menacing light of the King's clairvoyance was no longer just an abstract pressure. The invasive probe of Sha Naqba Imuru manifested clearly before her as jagged, fragile lines reaching directly toward her soul.
In a fraction of a second, a sharp surge of mana sparked in her small, empty hand. A projected knife materialized out of thin air, its blade solidifying with a faint, deadly hum.
Without a single wasted movement or flicker of hesitation, Rikka swung the blade upward in a swift, precise arc. She didn't aim for Gilgamesh's flesh. Instead, the projected knife slashed right through the intangible connection itself, cleanly severing the conceptual lines of the King's absolute vision.
"What!?"
The clairvoyance shattered instantly like broken glass.
Caught completely off guard by the violent, sudden backlash of her severed sight, Gilgamesh gasped.
The King of Heroes squeezed her ruby eyes shut in a sharp flash of pain, instinctively throwing her free hand up to shield her face from the unexpected strike.
Yet, despite the shock and the sudden flare of agony, her other hand remained locked tightly around Rikka's collar in a vice-like grip, absolutely refusing to let the child drop.
The pain wasn't a physical wound, not in the traditional sense. When the projected blade severed the conceptual threads of her absolute vision, it sent a violent, psychic shockwave directly into Gilgamesh's mind.
It felt as though a raw nerve behind her eyes had been brutally snapped. Her physical sight remained intact but the unnatural, forceful rejection of Sha Naqba Imuru left a blinding, throbbing ache radiating through the King's skull and magical circuits.
Gritting her teeth against the intense sting, the King of Heroes refused to falter.
A familiar golden ripple instantly materialized in the air just beside her free left hand.
From the glowing portal of her treasury, a small, ornate vial dropped perfectly into her waiting palm.
With Rikka still suspended securely in her right grip, Gilgamesh brought the potion to her face. She clamped her teeth down on the stopper, wrenching it free with a sharp jerk of her head, and immediately downed the soothing elixir.
While Gilgamesh's injury slowly healed thanks to the soothing elixir, Rikka's eyes gradually faded back to their usual, innocent black color.
Her cold, emotionless demeanor melted away, and the heavy, terrifying atmosphere that had surrounded her completely dissipated, returning her to the harmless state from before.
"Huh?" Rikka yelped as she suddenly regained consciousness, her body jerking slightly as she blinked and looked around in a daze.
She saw that, for some reason, Saber, Lancer, and even Irisviel were staring at her in absolute shock.
Their mouths were hanging so wide open in disbelief that it only made Rikka feel even more confused.
She then turned her head to look back at Gilgamesh, only to find the golden King still rubbing her ruby eyes with a pained grimace.
"What's going on?"
---
---
---
I really wanted to ask what was going on, especially to Gilgamesh, because I was incredibly confused right now.
But before I could ask anything, I saw Gilgamesh suddenly smile. It wasn't the same polite smile she had given me when I first greeted her.
"So, you really are the same person," Gilgamesh said, slowly lowering her left hand from her eyes.
She looked at me with eyes full of intense interest, gazing at me like I was a rare treasure she didn't yet own.
It was the same way she looked at Saber in the anime, but for some reason, this gaze felt even more intense...
"The eight-year-old you is truly interesting, Guardian," Gilgamesh said. She sounded like she was speaking to someone else, but I had no idea who.
There was no mention of any 'Guardian' in the anime, so I was completely lost.
"Your Majesty... could you grant me the knowledge of what you mean?" I decided to ask her as politely as possible.
"There is no need for that anymore, chi- Rikka. Just speak to me in your usual manner."
Yeah, everything was definitely getting weird now. Something major must have happened with her and the others while I was unconscious.
"Huh?" Before I could say anything else, I suddenly felt it.
A creeping sense of dread washed over me as an incredibly heavy, suffocating atmosphere suddenly descended on the area.
"Tch." Gilgamesh clicked her tongue in annoyance. She shifted her arm, moving me so I was dangling right beside her rather than directly in front of her face.
Thanks to that new angle, I could see behind me. Over in the corner of the docks, something dark was rising straight out of the ground.
He emerged from the shadows-a hulking figure clad in dark, jagged armor that seemed to vibrate with restrained madness.
His arrival was silent yet completely palpable, a wave of raw, feral power washing over the docks that made me shudder in Gilgamesh's grip.
'Berserker!' It seemed like I was officially too late to escape at this point...
"▂▂▃▃▄▄▅▅!"
The moment he fully appeared, he let out a loud, ear-piercing scream so distorted and high-pitched that my mind couldn't even process what he was trying to say.
I instinctively clamped my hands over both of my ears, wincing as I tried to protect them from the sheer, overwhelming volume of his roar.
And then, not a second later, I heard a massive crash as Berserker instantly launched himself forward, hurtling straight toward Saber.
"What?!" Saber gasped.
Caught off guard by the sudden assault, she immediately raised her still-invisible Excalibur to protect herself, desperately parrying Berserker's clawing arm as he reached for her throat.
CLANG!
With a deafening shriek of metal, the invisible blade of Excalibur slammed into Berserker's dark, armored arm.
Even from where I was dangling, the sheer force of the impact rattled my bones. It sounded exactly like two massive slabs of heavy steel colliding.
Saber didn't stop to let him recover. Pushing forward with incredible momentum, she stepped directly into his guard, twisting her body to unleash a vicious, horizontal slash aimed straight from right to left.
SWOOSH!
But Berserker was terrifyingly agile for his size. He easily leaped backward, executing a flawless, gravity-defying backflip out of the invisible blade's deadly path. He landed perfectly in a low crouch right beside a tall steel street lamp.
Without missing a single beat, his armor-covered hand quickly reached out.
CRACK!
With terrifying ease, he snapped the thick iron pole completely in half. As he hoisted the jagged steel into the air, something bizarre happened.
Ominous, blood-red lines began to crawl up the length of the metal, violently pulsing with dark mana as the ordinary street lamp was instantly corrupted into something demonic.
In the blink of an eye, he rushed forward again, swinging the heavy, corrupted pole down at Saber with lethal intent.
KRA-KOOM!
Saber instantly raised Excalibur to parry the heavy strike, but I could clearly see the shock written all over her face as sparks flew between them.
Her eyes widened in pure disbelief that a mundane piece of modern steel was actually holding its ground against her legendary sword without instantly shattering into dust.
Watching him wield a broken street lamp with such insane, flawless technique, something immediately flashed through my mind.
"Eternal Arms Mastership..." I muttered under my breath, completely mesmerized by the chaotic clash of Servants in front of me.
Suddenly, I felt the tight grip on my back collar shift slightly.
"Is that, that dog's Noble Phantasm?"
Gilgamesh asked casually, her ruby eyes glancing down at me. She had somehow heard my whispering right over the roaring chaos of the battle.
"No, Your Majesty... That's just one of his abilities. If I remember correctly, his Noble Phantasm is Arondight, The Unfading Light of the Lake."
"Arondight is the sister sword to Excalibur. It was forged by fairies and granted to Lancelot as the greatest, bravest, and truest knight of his time... Because it's a Divine Construct, he should be able to match Saber. Especially since her hand is injured from Lancer's spear, he could even overwhelm her..."
Then I realized exactly what I had been saying and immediately snapped my mouth shut.
Half the things I just said were never even mentioned in the anime, so I shouldn't logically know about them! The lore just kept popping into my head out of nowhere.
And now I was casually blurting it all out to Gilgamesh. What the hell was I doing?!
"Arondight? So that mad dog is Lancelot," Gilgamesh muttered, suddenly seeming far more interested in Berserker.
The King of Heroes turned her head back toward where Saber and Berserker were furiously clashing.
Saber was at a severe disadvantage, just like I thought. Her arm was still injured, and to make matters worse, Lancer's Master had just used a Command Spell to force Lancer to fight alongside Berserker. Against both of them attacking at once, she definitely couldn't survive this fight alone.
This should be the part where Rider charges in to rescue Saber, forcing Berserker and Lancer to fall back.
"Heh."
THUD!
"Ow!"
Suddenly, Gilgamesh completely let go of my collar. I plummeted, my back hitting the hard concrete of the docks with a painful thud.
But as much as it hurt, this was my chance. Now that I was finally free from her grip, I should be able to slip away using my illusion magecraft.
"Thank you, Your Highness. I should take my leave now," I said quickly, scrambling to my feet. I gave Gilgamesh another respectful bow before turning around to make my getaway.
"Where do you think you're going?"
Of course. Gilgamesh's authoritative voice instantly froze me in my tracks.
'What the hell does she want from me now?!' Of course, I didn't dare say that out loud. I kept my panicked screaming entirely inside my own head.
"Yes, Your Majesty? Is there something else you need?" I slowly turned back around, forcing my polite, perfectly respectful tone back into place like usual.
"Leave?" Gilgamesh let out a low, amused chuckle. "You dared to sever the King's absolute vision, forced me to consume a precious elixir from my treasury, and you think you can simply walk away?"
A shiver ran down my spine.
'Wait, what?! Sever her vision? Elixir? What in the world did I do while I was unconscious?!' I screamed internally.
"Your Majesty, I honestly have no idea what you're—"
Before I could even try to defend my innocence, a brilliant golden ripple manifested in the air right next to her.
A beautifully ornate spear shot out from the portal like a bullet, aimed directly at the chaotic clash between Saber and Berserker.
The spear flew out from the gate at a speed my eyes couldn't even track.
But Berserker seemed to sense it.
He seamlessly adjusted his position, immediately reaching out to grab the projectile flying toward him.
But Gilgamesh didn't aim to hit him.
BOOM!
Just before the spear could reach Berserker's grasp, Gilgamesh deliberately detonated it. A violent explosion of golden magical energy erupted in the air, forcing the black knight to skid backward.
He couldn't use his Knight of Owner ability to grab the weapon because there was nothing left to grab.
Instead, the explosion completely shifted his aggro.
"▂▂▃▃▄▄▅▅!" Berserker let out another terrifying, distorted roar. He slowly turned his dark, menacing helmet away from Saber, locking his glowing red visor directly onto us.
"You possess knowledge far beyond an eight-year-old, and eyes that can kill a King's sight," Gilgamesh said, her voice dripping with absolute amusement.
I turned to look at her, only to feel a sudden gust of wind as she effortlessly leaped high into the air.
She landed with perfect grace on top of a nearby street lamp, looking down at me with a haughty smirk.
"Prove your worth to me, little Guardian," Gilgamesh commanded from her throne above. "Let us see how you survive the mad dog's fangs. Entertain the King!"
'Wait. WHAT?!' I panicked as Berserker's suffocating killing intent fully locked onto me.
Berserker suddenly dashed in my direction. I could hear Saber, Rider, and even Lancer gasp in shock as they also immediately lunged toward me, i assume they probably desperately tried to save me from him.
But since Berserker moved first, there was no way they were going to reach me in time.
Not even a few seconds passed before Berserker was already right in front of me, viciously swinging his corrupted, red-lined steel.
THWACK!
I felt something impossibly hard slam into my side as I was violently thrown through the air. The impact was so severe it felt like it have snapped my entire spine and completely crushed my insides.