"What a truly exhilarating Minotaur match!"
Jiang You himself had False Attendant's Writings, not to mention Ten Thousand Seals Must Answer: Breaking the Vow. When it came to minotaur behavior, he was no less than Matou Shinji.
(TL Note: "minotaur" is Chinese internet slang for a man who's romantically humiliated or cuckolded, often used mockingly to describe melodramatic or pitiful behavior.)
He figured that with Shinji-kun's current setup, there was a good chance he'd make it to the finals—and when that time came, they could see who was truly the King of Minotaurs.
[Let's congratulate Matou Shinji on yet another victory! With the number of stars he has now, he can safely reach the finals even by avoiding fights. Just like his cards—he's a record holder!]
Hundred-Faces had long gone down the path of commentary, with her clones running around carrying cameras, documenting the duels. Unbeknownst to her, her fame was growing—but not in the field of Assassin.
The audience was thoroughly entertained by the show, and gave Matou Shinji thunderous applause.
Shinji struck a flashy pose, basking in the attention. He relished the spotlight, and even earned some face in front of the other magi.
"Thank you all for your support! I'll definitely take the championship!"
"Championship? Did this king give you permission to compete with me for it?"
Gilgamesh gazed at the challenger in front of him, who was dueling him now. He looked down with disdain, his golden goblet swirling with amethyst-colored wine, the picture of relaxed arrogance.
"This king does not bow to others. If you surrender now, I might spare your life. Hand over your stars."
No magus who had come to claim the Soul Crystal would let such a chance to ascend in one leap go. Possessing supernatural power for too long bred arrogance. The challenger even dared spout bold words at Gilgamesh.
"You know the rules. If you want them—take them yourself."
"Then allow this king to show you the difference between us!"
Gilgamesh unfolded his field.
"First Noble Phantasm: Original Durandal!"
"Second Noble Phantasm: Original Blade of Undying Slaughter!"
"Third Noble Phantasm: Dawn of Destruction!"
"And now, this king's attack! Kneel before me, mongrel!"
Three successive Noble Phantasm activations followed by a direct attack wiped the opponent's field clean, dealing 1500 LP damage.
Challenger LP: 4000 → 2500
"Good. Still standing in the face of overwhelming power—this king shall offer you a tiny compliment."
Of course, there was no real praise in his words; Gilgamesh was still looking down at the man through his nose.
"You've got to be kidding! Cards this broken!? What kind of monster did the Holy Grail War summon!?"
The challenger's deck was like dirt compared to a Heroic Spirit's. He'd originally been steamrolling neutral spirits with his magus deck to harvest their stars, but now he was the one being steamrolled by Gilgamesh.
Still, the fight wasn't over.
"But the battle's not done yet! I still have a chance—Draw!"
Looking at the card in hand, the challenger's lips curled upward.
"My deck answered my call! Even the legendary Gilgamesh will fall before me! I activate the Spell Card Slicing Magic! Our house's trait is cutting—this card lets me target and destroy one card!"
"Die, King of Heroes!"
"Hmph."
Gilgamesh snorted coldly. "Useless. Useless! Useless! I am the strongest! I activate the effect of Original Dazetine! I sacrifice it to negate your effect—and thanks to Gate of Babylon, you take another 500 LP damage!"
A final Noble Phantasm launched from behind Gilgamesh and pierced the hand holding the card.
"AAARRRGHHHH!"
Pain coursed through his palm. The challenger let out a wail.
Challenger LP: 2500 → 2000
"This is cheating! This is straight-up cheating!"
To an ordinary magus, Gilgamesh's card effects were nothing short of a wall of divine judgment.
"Cheating? Are you accusing this king?"
Gilgamesh's gaze turned murderous. He flung aside his ornate golden goblet.
"You mongrel. What a disappointment. Aren't you going to end your turn?"
Overwhelmed by Gilgamesh's pressure—and constrained by the rules—the challenger placed one card each in his front and back row, ending his turn in a flurry of defeat.
But in his mind, he still had a chance. After all, Gilgamesh had used a lot of resources to summon himself. His next draw would only be two cards, and the challenger still had some defensive traps in play.
"My turn begins! Draw!"
Gilgamesh didn't even look at the card he drew. The path to victory was already complete.
"The effect of Gate of Babylon! I equip four more Equip Cards directly from my deck!"
In a flash, the field filled with Noble Phantasms. Gilgamesh's attack power shot up to 5000.
"W-what!? That many Equip cards… There's no way this deck doesn't brick!?"
The challenger collapsed to his knees in disbelief. Gilgamesh's resource burn rate was high, but his refill rate was just as fast. He didn't even need cards in hand to flood the field.
"Hahahahaha! Behold this king's radiance, mongrel!"
Another wave of Noble Phantasm releases wiped the board.
Challenger LP: 2000 → 1000
"UAAARRRGHHH!"
Before the challenger could even finish screaming, Gilgamesh declared his attack.
"Battle phase begins! To fall by this king's hand—take pride in it!"
Challenger LP: 1000 → 0!
The duel ended in total domination. Gilgamesh stood triumphantly at the center of the stage like a true king.
[What a battle fitting of the King of Heroes! No one has managed to even scratch Gilgamesh so far. How long will this record stand? Let's wait and see!]
Gilgamesh turned to Hundred-Faces Hassan who was filming the match, seized the camera from her, and motioned for another of her clones to hand him the microphone.
[Matou Shinji, listen well. Only this king may stand at the top. Though the finest wine should be saved for last, these mongrels have bored me greatly. So as an appetizer, come duel me—besides these weak magi, there are other Heroic Spirits here. Let's see which of us eliminates one first!]