"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGRRRRRRRR!" Berserker bellowed as he rushed at the Servant before him.
Gilgamesh glared at the black knight as he shot another volley of weapons at him. "To be reduced to using reserves—DIE!"
A great wall of golden light enveloped half of the courtyard as tons of metal flew at the raging madman like falling stars. Those that he launched were nothing but mere spares. Swords and spears of the greatest make, but nothing in terms of myth or legends to hamper him should they be turned against their owner. The King of Heroes was forced to resort to this tactic for the last few minutes, trying to slow down the mad Servant who could care less about his vain attempts to buy time as he continued to charge.
Annoyingly, he was still equipped with Kirei's inferior Black Keys, using them to parry and deflect every single weapon that should've outclassed the Church's blades. The corrupted black smoke that enveloped the holy accessories protected them enough while encouraging the beast to persist with his violent charges.
Berserker knew as well as Archer did that he needed to close the distance between them before he could throw them effectively for a decisive blow. Any attempts outside of a certain range would have said Keys shattering against any of Archer's royal reserves once Berserker's noble phantasm lost effect.
It was why the king had kept firing at him nonstop in an attempt to keep the hound at bay. Gilgamesh wouldn't allow anyone to make him fall back anymore, even if that was what he was doing still. But this dog didn't stop his advance. Archer's relentless barrage had yet to even wound the mutt he so desperately wanted to slay.
"Sit still, you little—!"
"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGR—" BADAM BADADADAAAAAAAAAM
Their fight had ruined the entire front of the church. With how erratic the dog had been moving around, Gilgamesh had been forced to retreat further into the grounds, ending up standing atop the tallest tombstone in the cemetery. Berserker remained low to the ground, now utilizing the cover of other headstones to mask his approach as he slowly but surely closed the distance between them.
"Is dancing around all you're good for?" when he didn't get a worded response, Archer simply opened fire. "Then dance for me, mongrel!"
Gone was the king's usual snark as the black knight ran circles around Archer. Every now and then, a flying spear or axe would hit close to home, but then the charging Berserker would simply use the dust explosion as cover to change direction or move ever closer.
Gilgamesh didn't want to fight this animal in close range. He wouldn't allow it. Never would he admit fear for the mutt was simply beneath him for a great king to fight as an equal!
However, he hadn't forgotten about his second problem this night.
Avenger. She'd been quiet for some time now, but she was somewhere out there, somewhere. Likely waiting for an opportunity while her attack dog distracted him further. Once Gilgamesh let his guard down, she will strike. Of that, there was no doubt.
Too bad for her, the King of Heroes was above such paltry tricks and was ready for what may come. Although admirable of them admit weakness and rely on one another to defeat him, the demigod wouldn't allow their disgrace to persist!
"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRR!" Berserker howled with maddened fury again, as if to cry out its premature victory in achieving the needed range to hit its target.
"Do you know anything besides incessant snarling, mongrel? I called you a dog in the first place for that is how you displayed your insolence. But now, I'm starting to think you are less than a beast!"
"GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" Was the only response apart from flinging his corrupted weapons at the king.
Gilgamesh frowned at even giving the crazed fool a chance before opening his Gate of Babylon. A giant sword arose from below, protecting its owner as well as blocking him from view. But Berserker wasn't about to let up just because he didn't have a weapon.
Leaping into the air, black tendrils sprouted from his back. Each emanated the same corrupted aura as the weapons he'd stolen before. But more than that, they seemed alive and made to reach out towards Gilgamesh's treasures.
"Insolent fool." The king smirked as he snapped his finger.
A flood of clinking metal and more golden light basked the falling knight as golden chains shot out of the golden portals. Berserker couldn't avoid all of them midjump. Despite how acrobatic he was all throughout their exchange, the Chains of Heaven easily caught the mongrel who thought he could fly.
"GRAAAGRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" The black knight howled as he tried to get out. The blackened tendrils he'd brought out attempted to struggle against the chains, but if the insane Servant knew what they were, he wouldn't have bothered trying.
After all, Enkidu was a weapon made to trap even the gods. An Anti-Divine weapon that could ensnare those with strong enough legends and divinity. Granted, the Knight of the Lake had none. But even against mere mongrels consumed by Mad Enhancement, it was still nigh unbreakable when wrapped around him en masse.
It was a weapon without equal. As to be expected of Gilgamesh's most trusted partner and treasure. Something like an animal that corrupts all it touched wouldn't be able to escape Enkidu's grasp so easily.
"Look at you, unhinged yet restrained. Quite the fitting image for a rabid dog," Gilgamesh spat out a laugh as another shimmer rippled the space near his hand.
Pulling on a blade's hilt, he drew a vulgar sword that exuded as much murder and bloodlust as the Berserker he trained it on. For a weapon that sprouted a legend of a tyrant who revelled in torture and suffering, it would suffice as a disciplinary tool for a thief even Gilgamesh found worthy of its hunger. As a start, he stabbed an inch of the blade into the back of the knight's knee joint, eliciting another angry howl.
"Don't think I will grant you a swift death, pest." Gilgamesh withdrew the blade. Despite it being not much of an injury, the legend of the blade itself would cause its victims to experience days, if not weeks, of torturous agony all throughout their body. Such was the potent poison of this gruesome weapon. "Thieves must be made an example of, and you will pay dearly for having touched my treasures without permission. But first, sit still while I kill that barbarian woman."
BADADADADADADAN BADADADADADADAN
Gilgamesh didn't turn around when he heard the sound of multiple gunshots. Without looking, another giant sword intercepted the double volley. Also without looking, he fired a couple of his own in retaliation.
BOOM BADAM BLAGADOOM
With the thief chained up, there would be no need to hold himself back and resort to reserves with his next foe. "Took you long enough, you bitch."
Appearing from behind the dust cloud, he glared at Avenger who had the audacity to smirk back despite the insult. "You missed."
"I could say the same of you, impudent knave," he snapped back to the woman who stood in the distance. In the air above her, Avenger's rifles formed two lines on either side. All of them were aimed at him. But unlike the trapped Berserker, Avenger didn't instil the same unease in the arrogant king. "Or did a fool like yourself think such cheap weapons would be able to scratch my great armoury?"
The redhead merely smiled as she narrowed her eyes. "How arrogant. Do you think yourself the only one worthy of being my target, blondie?"
"What was that—?"
"GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRR!" Before Gilgamesh could snap back, the growl behind him had his eyes widening. It was the golden fragments falling like snow that had his crimson eyes in rage as well as adamant shock.
"What—?!" Avenger's shots had shattered the Chains of Heaven, freeing Berserker in the process. Using the brief opportunity, the unrestrained mad knight didn't waste a second before going for Gilgamesh's head. "Damn y—!"
"RRRRYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!" the vengeful bellow was accompanied by a balled and blackened gauntlet to the king's face.
Even without stolen weapons, Berserker was a force to be reckoned with. In such close proximity, Archer wasn't fast enough to react to the vicious haymaker. Forget retreat, even intercepting it with any of his already deployed blades didn't come to mind.
Not when the image of the divine chains shattering burned itself into his mind.
Yet, despite being sucker-punched and dirtied by the madman's filthy fist, despite flying back into his own sword that acted as a shield against Avenger, the only thoughts in Gilgamesh's head was that of disgrace for a king like himself to be sullied so. That and furious rage.
"Keh!" Gilgamesh spat to the side. Freezing up as he saw the blood, he then realized. The wild dog had gotten him to bleed. "You—?!"
"REEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYGH!" Berserker didn't even give him the time to speak. Seemingly pumped by the success of the first, he went for a second haymaker like he hadn't had enough.
Unfortunately, Gilgamesh was at the end of his patience. "YOU THINK I WOULD ALLOW YOU ANOTHER CHANCE?!"
Even before he'd finished his howl in anger, the moment Berserker got within a meter of him, a new golden chain struck the black knight. But unlike the mass he'd used to restrain the beast, the new chain was not only thicker but had a spearhead the size of a man's head striking at Berserker's heart.
"GRRAAAAAAAAAGH!" The madman was only saved at the last second by his own adaptability. The haymaker turned into a two-handed grapple that held the chain's spearhead at bay. The golden blade scraped against black armour, but just barely. "RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGHH—!"
"DO YOU TAKE ME FOR A FOOL?!" cutting off the cur's victorious cry, Gilgamesh summoned a second chain. Similar in girth as his earlier restraints, it snapped around the knight's leg. But instead of dangling him up like before, this one snapped like a whip and threw the mutt into the earth with a sharp crack.
"GRAAAAAAAAAAAGH—!" BOOM
Berserker roared as he disappeared into a crater several meters deep. And yet still, Gilgamesh wasn't done. "For marrying a king's face, I shall be lenient. A hundred lashes for your impertinence!"
BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM
More chains had appeared, the same size and thickness as the spearhead. But instead of stabbing at the man in the hole, they all whipped him with their massive links. Gilgamesh had opted to beat the mutt down. Successive flaying and whip cracks caught Berserker all over as the Chains of Heaven lashed out a beating no man would ever survive.
The silence, stillness of the body, and size of the impact crater's aftermath was pretty telling in the state of the maddened beast. He'd managed to beat one into submission. For now, at least.
"Remember this day, mongrel." Gilgamesh spat down into the crater he made. Blood is still mixed with saliva. "For it is but the first of the hellish eons I shall put you through—!"
"This is what you call hell?" Before he heard her, Gilgamesh felt Avenger's presence. A rush of wind to his side had him dodging back, away from a slashing katana that left a trail of murderous red in its wake. Avenger clicked her tongue. "Tch. I missed. Ah, what a shame. I could've silenced that babbling mouth of yours once and for all if I'd just kept mine shut."
The fearlessness in how Avenger just shrugged her failure caused Archer's gaze to narrow on her. Not only was she taking him lightly, but she was also carefree enough to act so relaxedly.
This… wasn't good. Gilgamesh had a good idea of what her noble phantasm was. From the swipe to his head that he barely avoided, he'd felt it. Anti-Divine. Not just her blade, the crimson aura that enveloped her form, her weapons, her bullets reeked of it.
That explained why his chains had been shattered earlier and had the king even more on edge than any opponent had the right to force him. Had he blocked the surprise attack with Enkidu, she would've cleaved through it and him like butter.
The King of Heroes would never admit it, but his hairs were standing on end.
But he wasn't going to shame himself further by standing down.
Multiple portals opened in the air above them, as he activated his Gate of Babylon. Avenger did the same, summoning more ancient rifles and lining them up towards Archer himself.
However, her weapons couldn't be compared to Archer's arsenal. No armoury could compare to his collection. Offensive wise, she had lost in range and firepower. But considering she wielded a katana, Avenger could very much attempt the same as Berserker and close the distance between them.
He wouldn't let that happen! He'd already been insulted once! That was one too many!
"DIE, YOU HERETICAL WHORE!"
"Quite the dirty mouth!"
Archer fired his treasury. Avenger's rifles attempted to shoot the weapons down in response. However, unlike the mad hound who troubled him by being a difficult target, mere magic bullets weren't able to so much as taking out the originals of every legendary weapon. Only deflect a few.
Had they continued this mode of fighting, Archer would've won decisively, no matter how many more lines of rifles Avenger summoned. Even with her Anti-Divinity, none of her attacks would pierce a weapon that had its Mystery birthed from mortal hands.
Blades of famed warriors, spears of renowned soldiers, axes, glaives, chakrams and more, all powerful treasures individually, rained down like a cataclysmic barrage of golden death on the redheaded woman who struggled to fend them off with a smile.
It only turned more vicious when one legendary spear managed to strike the ground where she stood.
For a second, all was silent. Then, a swift shadow with crimson flair flew off to the side, circling around him, much to the chagrin of the King of Heroes.
"You… damned woman!" She was repeating Berserker's tactic of being as much of an annoyance as possible, biding her time as the rabid mutt had wasted his. Only this time, she seemed more eager, more ravenous as she, ducked, evaded, even slapped his weapons out of the air. All the while, she got ever closer and closer. "Why… Why won't you keel over and die, you bitch?!"
"Hoh? So this is the fair cadence of what had been called the 'King of Heroes'?" she snidely remarked as she slipped behind a shattered gravestone to barely avoid a flying axe overhead. "Gotta say, I'm impressed a royal brat grew up with quite the foul mouth!"
"Be silent!" Gilgamesh shouted with anger. "Mongrels like you do not deserve such respect. After the shame you've wrought on me this day, I'll make sure you understand you are undeserving of life as well!"
Avenger merely smirked, seemingly finding amusement in something as she earned even more of his ire. "'Mongrel' this, 'mongrel' that? Don't you get tired of referring to other mortals like so? Or is it a simple attachment to your own humanity, Gilgamesh, the 'one-third mongrel' of a demigod?"
"SILENCE, INSECT!"
His Gate opened even wider. It was practically the courtyard's sun at this point as it spouted even more of his treasures, making it more difficult for the mocking Avenger to dodge perfectly. It was getting hard so fast that one of the many haphazardly flying knives clipped her slightly, scratching her cheek.
"You… are nothing but another trash who calls herself a King!" Crimson eyes filled with fury glared into the second crimson pair whose expression smiled with glee. "A pathetic barbarian like you… don't deserve such a title! If you wish to persist with it, I shall eradicate you and send these backwards islands into oblivion!"
"What's wrong, Giggles? Do you find something you don't like about Japan?" Avenger barely dodged the giant axe that flew for her neck just at the mention of the nickname. Even while avoiding death, the devilish smirk never left her. "And here I thought you of all Servants would've appreciated how far humanity has gone. The wonders of what people have achieved since our age, don't tell me you envy these mortals, Mr. Mongrel Demigod—!"
BAMM BOOM DAN
Yet another spear or ten nearly made a pincushion out of the woman as Gilgamesh's blood boiled. Recomposing himself, the king steadied his breathing, realizing the woman was just wasting his time.
However, he wasn't against voicing his complaints.
"Nothing but a waste of resources. Humanity has grown weak and lazy. Millennia to evolve and for what?! Only to regress into barbarians such as yourself and that thief of a knight!" Venomous and spiteful were his words. With the souring of the woman's expression, his hate was certainly conveyed. "Without my guidance, this world cannot achieve anything meaningful. It is all but a stain compared to the kingdom that I built with my own hands."
"So you say, but then your kingdom never attempted to reach out beyond the stars." Avenger's smirk widened when Gilgamesh's brow twitched in annoyance.
"Arrogance, such arrogance in trying to reach that which they cannot attain. Even if what they achieved is great, such conceit and self-importance in their own race makes them just as filthy and imperfect as the ants they tread over!"
"Well, aren't you a total prick, blondie?" she asked. Hand on her hip, she scoffed at the king who'd stopped his barrage but had yet to lose his Gate. "Here we have humanity, simple humans trying to achieve the impossible, attempting to improving and create new things. We should be amazed by what they can do with their own ingenuity, without relying on sorcery and magic. And yet, there's you, a fallen king who keeps whining about how well they're doing for themselves without him. I'd dare say someone seems to be feeling petty and jelly, aren't they, O King of Heroes, Giggles~~~—!"
"CALL ME THAT AGAIN AND I SHALL CUT YOUR TONGUE OFF MYSELF!"
"AHAHAHAHA!" Avenger didn't respond, only sticking her tongue out while laughing haughtily. "My, my! How easy it is to break your patience, O ancient king. One would think, having been a monarch 'til your death, you'd have the patience and understanding to remain composed and graceful at all times, especially in dealing with us 'mere mongrels'."
"Hmph. Patience is wasted on your lot! Even on you, who has ascended to being a Servant, are the same as them! They who forgot the struggles of old, who understood what it cost the common man to even be given the opportunity to bloom. All humans were nothing but cattle, mere fodder for the gods until I separated the world!" The arrogant and self-righteous glare he gave her was akin to a star looking down on the dirt. "Neither you nor the humans of the modern age can understand what sacrifice I and my kingdom had to suffer. What price we paid to beget your future… I see now that it was all not worth it."
Gilgamesh saw it in the woman's eyes. The same ineptitude. The same lack of purpose he found in all others. Avenger, like all the other humans that had survived until now, were as worthless as this conversation. He decided to end this meaningless exchange.
"I had joined this war to see if anyone was truly worthy of my Grail, but I see that neither fighters, bystanders, nor the world itself has the right to be bestowed my treasure. Even mortal heroes such as yourself, though blessed with being inscribed onto the Throne, are the mere rabble and are not worth the honour."
Despite not having closed them, a ripple echoed along his Gate. With Gilgamesh himself at its centre, the golden space about him drew all of his greatest weapons, regardless of whether their use would end up causing more than a mere crater this time.
Even in the face of such a fearsome arsenal, Avenger didn't so much as wilt. "How presumptuous of you to continue claiming any judgement of yours would be followed by the world."
"Do not insult my hegemony, Avenger. No matter what filth has taken over, this world is still my property. Anything I say can and will be taken as the one true judgement!" The king held his head aloft and proclaimed it thusly. "Therefore, in my greatness, I have decided to wipe out every last one of you. To start over, to save my garden from the rot that is humanity, to save this world from itself! So, as my last command to you, stay still, mongrel."
"Hmph." With a flick of her wrist, Avenger straightened her dust-covered hair. "I refuse."
"You would still dare defy me?!" his gaze, irked to no end yet trying its best to remain as regally composed as possible, stared daggers at the woman who stood boldly before him.
"Giggles—Heh, no." She stopped herself so as to make sure he was taking her seriously. "King of Heroes, Gilgamesh. As the Demon King, I hereby declare you to be a blind fool!"
"What was that?!"
"Your nation is gone. The kingdom you've so proudly raised has been reduced to nothing but dust and memory by the flow of time. Your reign has long expired, ended millennia past and can only be found in books. Humanity hasn't and will not ever need you anymore for they have moved on. If you can't see the progress around you, then I must declare you to be a blind fool."
"Unlike the mutt who couldn't stop his howling, the drivel that escapes your mouth is quite something else, isn't it, you red bitch?!"
"Heh! Is that all you have to say? Not admittance to the truth or denial of what has eluded your oh so magnanimous gaze? It hasn't eluded me or any other Servant in this war, Gilgamesh. Bar one, we who have already played our roles in history have come to accept the end result and don't wish for it to be destroyed. Unlike you and that naïve Saber."
"You would dare compare my great ideal to a wishful child's dream?"
"What is a dream but an ideal yet to be attained? Until now, all your words have been filled with claims of lordship over all. I thought it nothing but a fool's bragging, yet it holds some truth for you are one of the world's oldest Kings." It was at this point that Avenger's smirk vanished, replaced by a disappointed stare at the king annoyingly glaring down upon her. "But that high-and-mighty attitude doesn't give you an eternal right to call yourself the ruler of the world. You… you reigned over a nation, but all else, you didn't make to conquer. You only claimed that which you separated from the influence of gods. You may have sacrificed many for the sake of creating your ideal kingdom, but you didn't spill the blood of billions that made the world what it is today."
"You… would deny my right?" Another ripple travelled across the Gate's opening. More great weapons peaked out, ready to execute their owner's enemies. "You would continue to trample on my gracious patience, you inept fiend?!"
"Hoh? 'Fiend', huh." Avenger licked her lips. "Not exactly as prestigious as a 'demon', but considering you acknowledge my defiance, the threat I pose for you, I would see this as an absolute win!"
BAM
The earth near her shook as dust and dirt were thrown into the air. Space had ruptured as soon as Archer fired a warning shot that could have easily shredded anything in existence even if the blade so much as passed by them.
"I tire of your blathering, Avenger," he said with a not-so-subtle hint of annoyance. "I've made my decision. You shall join the impudent thief in eternal suffering!"
"I doubt you'd even have an idea of what hell really is, Giggles." She neither cared nor bothered with hiding her mirth. Katana raised against him, Avenger shouted back with as much hate as she had mockery. "If you can't accept this future, then I suggest you win that Grail and use it to return to your pitiful past. Stay in stagnation while I march to the future. For I, the Demon King will forever aim to conquer the world you had no right in claiming, King of Fools!"
As Avenger said it, hundreds of rifles formed lines before her. She didn't even give him a moment to respond as she opened up with a relentless barrage of bullets. Gilgamesh quickly summoned his treasures to defend. But despite being under constant fire, he hadn't lost his cool.
He wasn't going to allow the insulter to remain standing. The demigod was already beyond furious.
"Be crushed by the dirt as I grind you to dust, Mongrel!"
At his command, the army's worth of weapons he'd summoned rained hell down on the self-proclaimed Demon King. The entirety of the cemetery was reduced to rubble as even more of the earth was gouged out. Scores upon scores of weapons, divine and ancient, flew at and obliterated the many rifles not even half a millennia old in their legend, seeking the demise of their summoner.
For her part, Avenger did well slipping back and avoiding the assault. Not as impressive as Berserker who was quick to avoid and dance around the hail of blades, but the tenacity behind her swiping away the many treasures was not lost on the King of Heroes.
'This… isn't enough!' He grit his teeth. Knowing full well the woman wouldn't be so easy to defeat, Gilgamesh summoned the golden key to his strongest weapon. 'But… I've run out of my patience to hold back on this insolent savage.'
There was only one way the King of Heroes could show his superiority compared to mere plebeians. And, with how he'd finally deemed this woman a true threat, he couldn't afford to hold back.
However, as he started to call upon the Sword of Rupture, Archer felt something. There was a noticeable cut in his connection to Kirei that had him turning his gaze towards the ruined church. His new master was wounded but Gilgamesh was sure in the ability of the priest to survive against a mere worm of Matou… But he felt only one thing. Kirei no longer lived.
For the second time in this war, he'd felt the loss of a Master, his anchor to this world, once more.
This momentary freeze had him hesitating. Without an anchor, a mana source to call his own, summoning Ea would more than exhaust him of his now limited reserves. The World itself rejected that sword and would fight back, ensuring the need for more mana spent simply to call on it.
His Independent Action would help him hang on for a little longer, but upon using his greatest weapon, how long could that skill buy him time for?
But despite maintaining all his focus on the foe before him, even knowing he'd lost his main battery, another interloper had gone forgotten in the king's frantic mind.
"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGRRRRRRRR!"
"Dammit—GAH!" BOOM
Having a tree slammed against him wasn't a new experience for Archer, but Gilgamesh was hardly prepared for the trunk hardened by its corruption to send him flying off to one side. The darkened tree wasn't enough to kill or wound him, but it had caught him by surprise, giving his attackers a chance to exploit his sudden opening.
Avenger especially didn't waste such an opportunity and moved forward, her katana aimed for Gilgamesh's left side. In the midst of summoning Ea, the curved blade managed to clip his shoulder and sever bone and flesh as if it was silk. But the unlocked compartment of his Gate remained open, allowing the king his chance.
'If only that damned priest would've stayed alive a little longer!' Snatching the hilt of the divine blade with his right hand, Gilgamesh readied to destroy them both. 'So long as I can just kill them, I—'
But just as the King of Heroes readied his gambit,
"Every me from the past, present and future shall gather. Unfold:『The Hajun Reborn・Demon King of the Three Thousand Great Thousand Heavens』!"
The world around himself and Avenger went red.