Ever since I awoke in an alley on that rainy day, I had faced one fantastic ordeal after the other, joined the supernatural, learnt that which deceived the very world and climbed steadily towards the top.
Fighting until I almost died became second nature. It was what my brain obviously expected every time I felt that familiar surge of mana course through my circuits. By all rights, my heart should have grown numb towards such great spectacles then.
And yet,
Thump.
I sucked in a cold breath, hand pressed against my chest.
Thump.
Light rain poured from moody skies in some failed attempt at assuaging nature. The great forest around us trembled. Ancient trees swayed and keeled over, exposing great roots to the air for perhaps the first time in decades. What lived cried. What lived fled.
Thump.
The rain shimmered. The earth exploded.
Heracles roared mad as all around him erupted, as swords tore through his muscled flesh and spears impaled his very bones. He still moved. He never stopped moving. The earth under him bent and groaned with each heavy step.
"Good, good! Entertain this king with your final throes, mongrel!"
Gilgamesh only smiled when the Berserker brought down his abomination of an axe-cleaver upon his neck. He merely flicked his wrist, and the Chains of Heaven burst forth from the Gate of Babylon to hold Heracles in place.
The distance between his neck and the cleaver primed to remove it had only been that of a hair's then.
He was unbothered.
I clutched my heart.
This really was far more exciting than it had any right to be.
Truly, I wanted to be one the receiving end of that. It wasn't right, I knew that now, but still, I wanted to go up against the King of Heroes as I was right now. I felt that even if I lost my life that way, it wouldn't be a bad way to go out at all-
No.
There were people who wanted to see me live. I cared enough to do it for them.
Shaking my head, I curiously poked the Bounded Field around us.
"Why do we have to stay here?" Rin finally spoke out, hands at her hips.
I glanced at her from the corner of my eye.
"Cause it's cool."
Because every time King Gilgamesh opened his treasury, my understanding of it grew more and more complete. Every time he used the Chains of Heaven, I came closer and closer to stealing their Mystery. Still, Divine Constructs were a handful, even if their function was simple.
"Mhm," She nodded with a sigh, "And pray tell, what happens if he decides he doesn't want to wait anymore? What happens if Gilgamesh chooses to attack us now?"
"Then I fight him."
"Henry, don't you understand? He wants to make you into the Lesser Grail. You might die-"
I remained unimpressed by her urgency.
You could die from a stray brick.
"-and you don't care." Her shoulders slumped. But then, Miss Tohsaka furrowed her brows as though she were in deep thought. After a good minute, she closed her eyes.
Apparently, she was thinking really hard.
"Look, Henry. The Lesser Grail is a vessel. It's supposed to hold the energy from any servant that dies for summoning the actual Holy Grail we're all fighting for."
"We're fighting for a Holy Grail? Could never have guessed." I chuckled. "I thought Holy Grail War was just a cool name."
"I will hit you."
"Kinky~"
Momentarily, the roars and explosions from beyond grew quiet. I wanted to imagine even the two servants stopped to stare at Rin with how loud she groaned... sadly, I could still make out Gilgamesh slowly driving a blade into Heracles' chest.
"Who knows how your body will react to that much energy. For all we know, you might just explode." Rin grabbed my forearm, hard. "And the vessels are designed to expire once the ritual is enacted. Do you understand now?"
I stared at her soft fingers wrapped around my arm and nodded idly.
"He'll use your body to make a wish."
"Rin."
"...What?"
"Why do you think I'll let him get that far?"
If he wanted to use me, he'd have to do it after defeating me. While I held no delusions regarding where either of us stood, I was still meant to be the strongest. He needed to fight me to use me. I wanted to fight him for that place he stood upon.
The conflict was an inevitable one.
And loss... was not something I feared.
Medusa stood in silence beside me, but her head shifted from the 'fight' towards my eyes. She'd not removed that blindfold of hers still sadly.
"That is the King of Heroes, you idiot." She pointed at the golden-haired Archer laughing in the distance. He laughed as his treasures carved up a legend and walked forth, dragging Illyasviel behind him by her hair, "My father summoned him. He is the strongest servant. He's mankind's oldest hero. No magecraft will ever hurt-"
Honestly, Gilgamesh really looked like he was enjoying himself. I wanted to bother him, but something more pressing came to mind the moment I heard Rin's words.
I held up a hand, halting her spiel.
"One, that's clearly lies. I'm the strongest. Second, if he is what you say he is, why'd your father die?"
After all, if the King of Heroes was the strongest servant, the victor should have been Tokiomi Tohsaka. Instead, my professor was the only magus who walked away from that conflict ten years ago unharmed... no, even greater.
"That-" Rin froze, her lips parted as if to say a rebuke but no actual words came out. "I don't... He was-"
I scratched the back of my head, "Sorry."
"The fact that Gilgamesh is alive right now means it clearly wasn't because his servant lost."
"And how is Gilgamesh alive right now?"
He was indeed 'alive' in the truest sense of the word. With servants, I could tell that they were familiars, summoned and bound. That feeling did not exist with Gilgamesh. He truly was a living and breathing person.
Reincarnation?
That brought up an interesting idea.
"The world reincarnated him just so I could beat him."
"You were born merely to entertain this King, mongrel."
Rin let out a startled yelp as she backed away when the King of Heroes suddenly appeared behind us. I wasn't even surprised. When I turned around to face him, I noticed his hand was bloody.
He was holding a heart.
An actual heart.
"So, she's dead." I closed my eyes.
He scoffed. "An unamusing brat. Struggle more when your time comes. You have caught my eye, so I expect a show."
To his lackadaisical provocation, I raised a brow. "Acting like I won't fold you."
He threw back his head and laughed aloud.
"The delusions of mongrels never cease to entertain."
When he stared at me again, his red eyes sharpened considerably. The very air grew choked, and an abrupt silence fell upon the world. From the corner of my eye, I saw Medusa tense up, readying herself for an attack.
Gilgamesh noticed too, "Know your place, snake. Slither within the dirt as you please, but do not dare raise a finger in my presence when I have not permitted such."
Damn.
Her head turned to me. I felt her stare.
"When?" I questioned the King of Heroes.
He pursed his lips, letting his head fall to the side just a bit.
"Three days. I allow you three days to say your farewells."
Grinning, I raised two fingers. "I decide. Two weeks. That's about enough for you to have some fun before I end you."
"Hahaha," He laughed once more, tossing the heart into the Gate of Babylon, "You over-reach, boy. Ten days, as I am a magnanimous King."
That was... actually a decent amount of time. Only, that meant negotiations would end on his terms. That simply wasn't happening.
"One week."
"It is decided." He grinned wider. "You may live another week."
...
I pursed my lips.
A shorter time period was what he wanted to begin with.
When the realisation hit, the King of Heroes laughed once more. He ran a hand through his hair, and walked away. As before, he had the gait of someone out on a leisurely walk, not someone who had just slaughtered the greatest hero of Ancient Greece alongside his master.
Only when he was gone did Rin finally breathe. Her knees buckled, and she crumbled to the wet earth as all strength left her.
"Rin, you alright?"
Her expression then was one of such terrible frustration and grief that even I stumbled for a moment, unable to understand.
Why was she making that face?
Why was she so against fighting Gilgamesh that she could make such a face?
"...I can't-"
My phone began ringing.
Thoughtlessly, I put it to my ear.
"Heya Master."
I looked between Rin and the phone, unable to decide between them. Fortunately, Nobunaga wasn't one to wait.
"I found Assassin. And hm, trust me. You'll regret not seeing this all your life."
"Rin-"
"Just go."
"We'll talk after. I promise, I'll listen."
I owed Rin Tohsaka nothing.
Yet, that thought felt so oddly bitter for some reason.
-
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