Rider and I moved with uncanny symmetry, our stake-chains crashing against one another.
Clang. Clang. Clang.
She swung her stakes from the side. Mine moved to intercept, blocking and intersecting hers with mechanical precision.
My eyes were closed. Rider's were hidden beneath a blindfold.
Neither of us used sight.
The speed of her stakes continued to escalate, countless variations introduced mid-exchange.
My own followed her new movements with that same flawless accuracy.
Uncountable simulations of her possible actions ran through my mind—cross-referenced against air displacement, sub-audible muscle locks, and the subtle tremors her movements left across the ground.
Even so, I could only match her monstrous instincts. Not overwhelm them.
If copying only Rider was not enough, then...
Clang.
Mid-impact, I allowed her strike to overpower mine, letting her force the stake away from my grip.
It spun aside from my hand, drawing a faint twitch at the corner of her lip.
Yet...
BOOOM!
Black and crimson flared across my glove as the magic circles woven into it released their accumulated force.
My fist buried itself in her stomach, my motion reminiscent of Artoria's [Mana Burst].
Her instincts allowed her to tense her abdominal muscles a fraction of a second before impact, dissipating half the force. The other half still landed like a battering ram.
Crack.
She was pushed back regardless, her heels skidding against asphalt, a choked grunt escaping her throat.
I was about to press my advantage when...
CRAAASH.
A crash resounded beside us. Dust and smoke erupted from that point of impact, forcing all parties to disengage.
Artoria and I regrouped in an instant.
My gaze locked onto the unidentified form beside us while Artoria kept her guard up against both Lancer and Rider.
Wind swept through, clearing the smoke and dust, revealing what lay within.
Four pairs of eyes landed on it simultaneously. Artoria inhaled sharply. Lancer's eyebrows rose. Rider said nothing, but her stance shifted.
It was... Heracles.
His hand and leg had been severed cleanly, blood spurting from his stumps at an alarming rate.
Even then... he tried to crawl away, his remaining intact hand wrapped securely around that white-haired child Master from earlier.
She appeared unconscious, her face bloodied, her eyes shut.
Master! Is that Heracles? The Berserker you told me about? Artoria's voice resonated through my mind via our connection.
Yes. It's him. I replied back in a heartbeat.
But, Master... who could do something like this to a Berserker? A thread of caution wove through her tone.
From all the data I have collected on the participating Servants thus far... I paused deliberately.
It can only be him.
Sound of footsteps followed my conclusion.
Thud.
At the first sound, my [Ultimate Precognition] screamed—not with vague dread, but with a cascading avalanche of death flags. Every possible future branch within the next three seconds ended in annihilation.
Retreat left. Death.
Retreat right. Death.
Stand ground. Death.
Attack. Death.
Thud.
At the second footstep, nerves of every Servant present went taut. Myself included. But where their instincts could only scream danger, mine had already mapped its radius, calculated its intensity, and concluded that survival hinged entirely on distance from its source.
Thud.
By the third step, sky above us vanished beneath hundreds upon hundreds of golden portals.
Noble Phantasms, crystallizations of countless heroes' legends, peered out from within each gate. Their sheer presence made gravity intensify, air grow heavy, and the earth beneath us quake.
"Mongrel. It seems you're doing quite well. Have you forgotten this king so soon?" An arrogant, disdainful voice rang out from behind Heracles.
"Last time, you were an ant. Now... you're a slightly bigger ant." He continued, utterly unconcerned.
His gaze then shifted to Artoria, a single eyebrow raising.
"Saber. It seems you were summoned once again by the Grail. How long has it been? Ten years?"
Artoria froze for a moment as recognition set in.
Do you know him, Artoria? My question cut through her mind at that instant.
...Yes, Master. He is the King of Heroes—Gilgamesh. She replied after composing herself.
Gilgamesh? King of Uruk? Mesopotamia? I sought confirmation.
Yes. She affirmed.
"So... What do you say, my dear? Have you changed your mind about my proposal from ten years ago?" Gilgamesh pressed.
Before she could reply, another voice cut him off.
"Hey, Archer. I was having a duel with Saber, you—"
Lancer broke off mid-sentence, throwing himself sideways with sudden urgency.
BOOOM!
A moment after his evasive maneuver, a Noble Phantasm tore across the sky and detonated at his previous position—erasing it from existence entirely.
"Hound... did this king give you the right to open your mouth?" Gilgamesh's voice followed a beat later, his disdain palpable.
Everyone present went on edge. Eyes turned toward Gilgamesh, an unspoken realization settling among them...that they might need to fight him together.
I could see it plainly. Rider's weight shifting toward Lancer's flank. Artoria's grip tightening on her sword hilt. Lancer's stance abandoning offense entirely for evasion.
Three Servants, none of whom trusted each other, instinctively gravitating toward a shared threat axis.
My analysis painted the picture in colder terms: a temporary alliance of convenience with a projected cohesion window of approximately four minutes before self-interest fractured it.
At that, the disdain in Gilgamesh's eyes only grew.
"Ignore these buzzing flies, Sab—"
He was cut off once again, this time by a gravely injured dragon falling toward us...the same one I had sicced on Tohsaka earlier.
Gilgamesh's jaw tightened at the continuous interruptions.
"Mongrels... Has no one ever told you to not interrupt this king when he's speaking?"
Dozens of golden portals diverted toward the falling mythical beast.
Shockwaves shook our surroundings as Anti-Dragon Noble Phantasms screamed toward it, each one powerful enough to devastate everything within a kilometer radius.
BOOOOOOM!
Sky dimmed. Space shook. Earth cried.
Everything went white.
...
My senses returned one by one—first sight, then scent, hearing, touch, and taste.
It took a moment for me to process my surroundings.
I had been thrown back from the impact, colliding with R1 nearby. Three of my left ribs were broken. My barely healed hand had taken severe damage once again.
All these injuries were sustained even after Artoria took the brunt of it by positioning herself ahead of me a moment before impact.
As for the dragon?
It had already disintegrated into nothing.
Silence fell over our surroundings.
It was broken seconds later by a grumbling voice.
"Archer, why did you launch that dragon in this direction after using Caladbolg? We could've finished it off with just one more attack." Rin Tohsaka walked toward us, looking worse for wear.
Archer walked beside her with minor injuries across his form, nothing life-threatening, though his face twisted into a grimace the moment his gaze snapped toward Gilgamesh.
Gilgamesh looked back with equal parts scorn and haughtiness.
"Faker... You're here too. Guess that only means Caster and Assassin are missing. Oh wait... a rat is scurrying around here."
Several golden portals diverted toward a specific area near me—exactly where Medea lurked in her spirit form.
Archer crossed his arms over his chest, observing with a hint of curiosity.
Master, should I show myself? Medea asked through our connection.
No. Stay hidden for now. I replied while pulling myself up from the ground.
Before Gilgamesh could continue, my magic circuits crackled to life. An intersecting mesh of emerald lines emerged across my body.
His gaze snapped toward me in response.
"Mongrel..."
I ignored his words.
My steps continued toward him.
Without pause.
Without tremble.
[Ultimate Precognition] still screamed. Every future it showed me ended in death.
I kept walking anyway.
Unknown to Struggle.
Nor known to Failure.
...
..
.
***
[200 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter]
[5 chapters ahead on P@tr3on = [email protected]/Not_Aaryan]
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[Author's Thoughts]
Enjoy.
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I'll also inform you all that there will be no chapter releases on Sunday, since even your boy needs some rest to gather new ideas.