I, Wang Ha, the Three Red Unparalleled Assassin

"Old Man of the Mountain, it was a great honor for me to have fought against someone like you before."

Diarmuid pointed the tips of his twin pistols at the ground and performed a textbook-perfect knightly salute to the Old Man of the Mountain.

"This matter was my fault. If you wish to wash away your shame through a duel, Diarmuid Ua Duibhne swears in the name of a knight that he will accept the challenge!"

Diarmuid, as a knight, believed in justice, while Artoria's identity was first and foremost that of a queen, and only then a knight.

But she, who is hailed as a paragon of chivalry, would not allow herself to remain silent after making such an obvious mistake.

Artoria held the invisible sword in her right hand, her left fist clenched on the armor in front of her chest, and bowed her head slightly.

"I feel the same way, and I deeply apologize for any unintentional offense. If you wish to settle this through a duel, I have no objection!"

Faced with the apologies from the king and the knights, the old man of the mountain stopped in his tracks, but the pressure that had been condensed to the extreme did not diminish in the slightest.

Although he is currently a Berserker, that does not mean his sanity will be affected.

The old man of the mountain considered himself a reasonable person, and since the other party had already lowered his stance, he would not pursue the matter relentlessly.

As the top-ranked player, he wouldn't stoop to arguing with juniors who haven't crossed his bottom line.

“I can accept your apologies, but each of you must take one of my blades, and then this matter will be over.”

The magnanimous Old Man of the Mountain chose to forgive Iskandar and the others for their rudeness and made an extremely simple request: to accept one of his basic attacks.

"Hahaha, very well, I am willing to accept this friendly offer."

Iskandar was the first to respond. As the King of Conquerors, he had his own pride and was not afraid of the Old Man of the Mountain.

It was just one slash; that kid who was wielding a gun had taken countless hits during the fight.

How could a conqueror like him be weaker than someone who just grinds guns?

After consulting with their respective Masters, Diarmuid and Artoria both agreed to the Old Man of the Mountain's request.

In the eyes of Kenneth and Kiritsugu Emiya, it was a great deal to learn the true identity of a Servant at such a small cost.

Just as the atmosphere on the field had eased somewhat, a golden light appeared in mid-air, and the golden-haired, red-eyed Servant broke free of his spirit form, revealing his long-hidden figure to everyone.

"Clap!"

With the sound of gold soles striking aluminum, Gilgamesh stood firmly on the lamppost, arms crossed, looking down at everyone present with utter disdain.

"Hmph! I didn't expect that two of those rats who call themselves kings behind my back would come out in just one night."

"Hmm? That's a statement I really can't agree with."

Iskandar looked up and stared directly at the suddenly appearing Gilgamesh, a glint of light flashing in his eyes, and said in a deep voice:

"I am, after all, a world-renowned conqueror. If you also call yourself a king, then surely you wouldn't be afraid to announce your name?"

"joke!"

Upon hearing this, Gilgamesh rebuked him without hesitation, stomping on a lamppost and unleashing a torrent of murderous intent.

"The true hero who can be called king is the only one who reigns supreme in heaven and earth; the others are nothing but bastards who are just pretending to be kings."

As Gilgamesh spoke, golden ripples spread through the space around him, revealing countless divine weapons gleaming with a chilling light.

"Besides, if someone has the honor of seeing the king's true face but still doesn't know who I am, then that kind of foolish bastard has no reason to continue living in this world!"

Gilgamesh unleashed his domineering aura, intending to completely subdue everyone present.

When Gilgamesh appeared, the Old Man of the Mountain transformed into a wraith and instantly returned to Matou Sakura's side, the young girl facing the Servant's unbridled and oppressive aura.

The Old Man of the Mountain wasn't particularly concerned about Gilgamesh's arrogance; after all, he was just a low-tier version that couldn't withstand a serious blow.

If Gilgamesh really wants to exchange a few blows with him, he should probably activate the power of his eyes first.

"Grandpa, Grandpa..."

Hiding behind the old man, Matou Sakura called out to him while tugging at his clothes with her little hand.

"What is it, contractor?"

The old man of the mountain lowered his head, and then he saw Matou Sakura extend her little finger and point at Gilgamesh.

"That golden-haired guy looks like a servant of the Tohsaka family. I was adopted into the Matou family by my father, no, by Tokiomi Tohsaka."

"Oh? Then what does the contractor mean by this?"

The old man of the mountain was puzzled by this, so he asked Matou Sakura again.

"Hmm, I want Grandpa to give him a good beating. I want Tokiomi Tohsaka to know that Grandpa is the strongest! His so-called strongest Servant, which he so confidently summoned, is no match for Grandpa!!"

"This is the first time you, my contractor, have asked me for a favor. In that case, I will accept this task."

After sighing, the old man of the mountain casually agreed to Matou Sakura's trivial wish.

At this moment, Gilgamesh, controlling the Gate of Babylon, directed his attacks at Iskandar, who dared to speak so rudely, his crimson serpent eyes narrowing slightly.

If Iskandar doesn't obediently submit, Gilgamesh will directly punish him as a king, forcing him to withdraw from the Holy Grail War.

Just as Gilgamesh was about to question the Conqueror King, he caught a glimpse of Matou Sakura pointing a finger at him out of the corner of his eye.

For Gilgamesh, even being allowed to pay homage to him was a great favor, so how could he tolerate others showing no respect for him as king?

In an instant, the direction that the Gate of Babylon was pointing at changed, and the astonishing magical aura surged even higher.

"Hey, you over there pointing fingers at me, do you have some grievance against me?"

Chapter Twenty-Four: The Greatest Madman of All Ages

Sakura Matou, who was already timid, immediately withdrew her small hands and hid them behind her back after Gilgamesh's stern rebuke, and moved her petite body further behind the Old Man of the Mountain.

A blood-red light flashed in the eyes of the solemn old man of the mountain, and the ghostly blue flames wrapped around the greatsword, crackling and igniting the air.

Although he and Gilgamesh were old acquaintances, he still found it hard to tolerate the boy's foul mouth that couldn't produce anything decent.

However, the Servants who appear in the Holy Grail War are only one aspect of each Heroic Spirit, that is, a certain form of their short life at a certain period.

According to the old man of the mountain, Gilgamesh, who was standing in front of him at this moment, was arrogant and spouting nonsense, and this was the worst time of his life.

Even in other periods, there seems to be a bad habit of speaking of mixed religions and mongrels.

"I can tolerate the rudeness of children, after all, for a country, children are the hope for the future."

"However! My leniency is only extended to my own subjects, and it has its limits. The foolish are not worthy of the king's mercy."

Gilgamesh seemed oblivious to the impatience of the Mountain King, who was on the verge of exploding, and continued to expound on the laws he, as king, had established and followed.

"Considering that you are a participating master and still young, as long as you sincerely kneel down and apologize to me, this great crime of disrespect can be forgiven."

Sakura Matou glanced fearfully at Gilgamesh, who had a look of 'this king is unusually merciful,' and then turned her head to look at the old man of the mountain.

The little girl was already a bit frightened. In her opinion, if an apology could resolve the matter, then there seemed to be nothing wrong with it.

Of course, that's assuming Grandpa tells her to do it.

The old man of the mountain raised his hand and patted Sakura's head to comfort her. The red light in his eyes grew stronger, and the cold, oppressive aura made the air silent.

"Gilgamesh, it seems that what has descended in response to this summons is still the form you were in before you truly awakened."

At this time, Gilgamesh and Enkidu had just become close friends and had not yet been guided to transform into wise kings.

They had not yet experienced the pain of losing their best friend, nor had they embarked on the long journey to the Valley of the Underworld to find the immortal herb.

In order to make life more interesting and avoid spoilers, he also chose to seal away the "Omniscient and Omnipotent Star" cheat.

In other words, he has not yet encountered the old man who gave him guidance on his journey to find the immortal herb, nor does he know the true identity of the Old Man of the Mountain.

"You scoundrel! How dare you, a coward, address me by my name so casually?"

Gilgamesh's crimson serpentine eyes suddenly widened, and visible veins bulged on his forehead as his savage killing intent was unleashed without restraint.

"Such disrespect deserves the death penalty! You bastard standing there, I will slaughter you without leaving a single one of you alive!"

"All of them are Noble Phantasms! Those, all of them are Noble Phantasms!"

Waver nudged the Conqueror standing beside him and exclaimed, while Iskandar stroked his beard and stared at the golden spatial ripples.

"Is that the one who killed Assassin? I can't tell his background, but he seems like a tough opponent."

Accompanying the Hero King's roar was a piercing sound as the air was torn apart. The divine weapons, which had already emerged from the King's Treasury and were poised to strike, shot towards the Mountain Elder like spears.

In the blink of an eye, a total of sixteen B-rank Noble Phantasms arrived in front of the Mountain Elder, but he did not panic at all. He simply raised his hand and rolled the black cloak draped over his back to his front.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

Under the tense gaze of everyone, the treasures rained down on the old man of the mountain, who had not taken any defensive measures.

Those Noble Phantasms that missed their mark tore the earth apart, leaving behind craters comparable to those left by bombs, and raising a cloud of rubble and dust.

The Masters present couldn't see what was happening, but the Servants all showed a hint of shock, their expressions very solemn.

"Hoohoo!"

Wang Hassan flicked his cloak, sending it back behind him. The resulting breeze dispersed the dust, revealing him as completely unharmed.

Forget about white scratches or dents; even the cloak used to block the magic weapon didn't have a single pinhole-sized hole.

What just happened?

Irisviel paused, then asked Kiritsugu Emiya beside her, but Kiritsugu shook his head, indicating he didn't know.

Artoria, who was standing guard in front of the two with her sword raised, turned her head slightly to the side after hearing Irisviel's words, and described the situation while remaining on guard.

"The attacks from that golden-glowing fellow were all easily blocked by the Mountain Elder with his cloak. I didn't sense any strong magical fluctuations, so the cloak shouldn't be a defensive Noble Phantasm."

"Those are all B-rank Noble Phantasms, and there are even several B+ rank ones. How come they can't even break through that thin, tattered cloak?"

Diarmuid was the first Servant to experience the terror of the Mountain Elder in this Holy Grail War, but even so, he did not expect that the Mountain Elder could remain so calm when faced with the baptism of Noble Phantasms.

"No wonder my spear couldn't do any damage to you, Elder Mountain. This level of durability is already exceptional, isn't it?"

Gilgamesh's face was now as black as the bottom of a pot, so somber it seemed as if water could drip from it.

"Looks like a rather high-level bastard. Although I'm not happy about it, I'll really need to use some high-level treasures to deal with you!"

The shimmering spatial ripples behind Gilgamesh suddenly multiplied, from sixteen to forty-eight, each a unique A-rank Noble Phantasm, dazzling and eye-catching.

But for Gawain Gorilla, who can stand still and maintain three times the daytime power, and for the Mountain Elder, whose defense is so high that even eight slashes from Natsume's Rotating Victory Sword, which is rated A+, cannot be broken, this is a different story.

Gilgamesh's seemingly unstoppable attacks were utterly ineffective.

Moreover, the old man of the mountain couldn't just stand there and take the beating without fighting back; he hadn't yet fulfilled his promise to the contractor to teach this glittering golden fellow a lesson.