"The fight down there is really intense."
At a café in the Shin-to shopping district, Touko and Shiki sat by the window, casually observing the scene in the sky. Thanks to far-sight Magecraft, even from here, both could clearly see the situation unfolding above.
"Leaking some info about that kid and Aoko to Riddell turned out to be useful. This way, at least one will definitely be eliminated, though whether they're eliminated or not doesn't really matter."
Touko sipped her coffee. "Berserker was taken out by that kid last night, and with Archer possibly going down tonight, that leaves four opponents? Rider, who do you think we should face next?"
"Caster."
At a table behind Touko and Shiki, Odysseus, disguised as a civilian, answered.
"It's just my intuition, but after observing all the Servants, Caster and Archer pose the greatest threat to me. Eliminating them first might not be the best choice, but it's definitely not a bad one. Of course, how to execute it depends on Master's decision."
"What about you, Shiki?"
"Doesn't matter to me, anyone's fine." Shiki replied indifferently. To her, it really was that simple—enemies were divided into two categories: those she could kill and those she couldn't, and most fell into the former.
As long as they could be killed, it made no difference to Shiki. She'd win as long as she could cut them down. With Odysseus as backup, she could take on anyone—and even one-on-one, she wasn't afraid.
"Then… let's go with Rider's thinking. You're the expert in warfare, and us two amateurs won't meddle too much."
Odysseus was the cunning strategist who conquered Troy. In mythology, he was a renowned general, an 'expert' of sorts. Touko and Shiki, the 'amateurs,' generally didn't interfere with his decisions.
And to a Master who trusted his judgment so fully, Odysseus nodded with gratitude. If he'd had a commander this trusting during the Trojan War in his lifetime, it might not have dragged on for over ten years.
Finishing her coffee, Touko stood. "Alright, let's go. No need to keep watching tonight's situation. We'll prepare our strategy against Caster. The first step is gathering information."
The most critical task was determining Caster's true name. Though they'd seen Caster from a distance, it was hard to pinpoint which region or mythology the Servant came from based on appearance alone. Ideally, they could get Caster to reveal their fighting style and abilities.
(With that in mind…)
After coming up with some ideas, Touko pulled out her phone and called someone.
"Hello? Merry? As the overseer of this Holy Grail War, I have an offer that might interest you—Huh? No way? Don't hang up…"
Touko stared at the disconnected phone, tilting her head in confusion.
Merry… has she turned over a new leaf?
◆━⊰✧⊱━◆
Just as Touko prepared to move against Caster, on the battlefield between Naoki and Gilgamesh—
*BOOOM!*
Crashing hard from the sky to the ground, Gilgamesh, his golden armor shattered, staggered to his feet in disarray. He looked up at Naoki, still floating in the air, his excitement uncontainable as he burst into laughter.
"Hahaha! Interesting! Truly interesting! The you now is far more satisfying to this King than you were on the first night, Fairy Magus!"
The state of their battle could be summed up simply—Gilgamesh was struggling to hide his decline.
Though they were evenly matched at first, as time went on, Gilgamesh increasingly felt Naoki's pressure, especially after the battlefield shifted to the sky!
Previously, one key reason Gilgamesh could fight Naoki on equal footing was that Naoki refrained from using Imaginary Manifestation. Back in the city, even though repairs were possible, Imaginary Manifestation would have caused significant damage to the streets.
But in the air, it was a different story.
*SRRTTTT!*
A barely audible tearing sound reached Gilgamesh's ears, and the moment it did, without hesitation, he vacated his position at full speed!
The next second—
*KRAK!* *KRAK!* *KRAK!* *KRAK!*
The entire area where he'd stood was sliced apart and shattered into pieces!
Imaginary Manifestation: Vacuum Domain.
Through countless layers of vacuum, everything within was obliterated beyond repair. If Gilgamesh had stayed in place, he'd now be a puddle of blood.
Landing on the rooftop he'd repaired himself, Naoki's gaze fixed on Gilgamesh. At some point, he'd removed his Mystic Eye Killer, using no protection, and once again directed his Mystic Eyes at Gilgamesh.
This was the second reason.
Though Gilgamesh had prepared Noble Phantasms to counter Mystic Eyes, in the face of Naoki's Mystic Eyes' effect—
*KRAK!*
The cracked necklace hanging around Gilgamesh's neck suddenly shattered into pieces. Quickly pulling a new Noble Phantasm from the Gate of Babylon, he sneered. "Such revolting Mystic Eyes! Staring directly at this King without respect is a capital offense deserving decapitation, Fairy Magus!"
*SWISH!* *SWISH!* *SWISH!*
Dozens of ripples surrounded Naoki. Countless Noble Phantasms struck and fell!
But—
*BZZZZZZZ!*
Numerous prismatic mirrors appeared silently around Naoki. As the Noble Phantasms touched the mirrors, they vanished inside.
Then, behind Gilgamesh, the same number of mirrors suddenly appeared, and all the hidden Noble Phantasms burst out at once!
Displacement Magecraft.
The pride of the Ainsworth family.
Recalling all the Noble Phantasms into the Gate of Babylon, Gilgamesh couldn't help but stare at Naoki. "One little trick after another…"
"Only brought out because I had to. If anything, it's just a poor imitation." Naoki smiled. "By the way, let me remind you, King Gilgamesh, you can only swap out three more Noble Phantasms to counter my Mystic Eyes."
"…"
Though there were Noble Phantasms to counter Mystic Eyes, when one broke and a new one was drawn, there was inevitably a brief gap. Naoki's Mystic Eyes wouldn't miss that gap. They would relentlessly exploit it, 'stealing attacks' bit by bit, gradually wearing down Gilgamesh's 'HP (Saint Graph).'
*KRAK!*
The Noble Phantasm drawn less than two minutes ago shattered again. The power of the Mystic Eyes struck Gilgamesh once more.
Feeling the constant invasion, Gilgamesh sighed in resignation. "Just as this King relentlessly uses Noble Phantasms targeted at Spirits and Fairies to fight you, your Mystic Eyes keep returning the favor."
Though both were specialized attacks, Naoki's side clearly had the upper hand in results.
*WHIRRRR…*
A ripple appeared beside Gilgamesh's hand. Grasping the golden hilt of a sword, he drew it—a 'sword' composed of three cylindrical segments.
"Ea, the Sword of Rupture. You're using your prized treasure here."
Seeing the sword, Naoki sighed with slight regret. "I'm honored you consider me a true enemy, King Gilgamesh, but unfortunately, you can no longer wield that sword."
"Your Saint Graph's limit has been reached."
*CLANG!*
As Naoki's words fell, the Sword of Rupture slipped from Gilgamesh's hand and hit the ground. Dark spots began appearing on his body, and a sensation of being relentlessly eroded assaulted him.
*THWACK!*
A golden blade suddenly pierced Gilgamesh's chest.
Glancing at the weapon impaling him, Gilgamesh gave a wry smile. "Drawing it at the last moment… Damn Holy Sword User, you've got some guts."
"I win, King Gilgamesh."
Holy Grail War Night Three.
Archer, the King of Heroes Gilgamesh, exits the battle.