In Type-Moon, it all starts with adopting Sakura.

While this thing intrigued him, it was far from enough to awe or instill fear in him. There was only one truly formidable opponent—

"Enkidu!!"

Because he had always observed from a third-person perspective, Gilgamesh had already seen through the so-called army of kings when Assassin and Kiritsugu Emiya attacked, and gradually understood the karma created by humans.

"Hmph, a battlefield of yellow sand constructed from mental images? A great feat created by man, not too boring. I must say, you do have some skill, Conqueror King..."

"But it is precisely this level of achievement that brings me joy and delight, hahahahahahahahaha—!!"

Gazing at the terrifying, uniform, and imposing army sweeping towards them, and listening to the thunderous battle cries around them.

At this moment, Gilgamesh felt no emotional fluctuation whatsoever; instead, he couldn't help but laugh.

He calmly watched their charge and then uttered a sigh.

"To unite dreams and achieve great things—such willpower truly deserves my praise."

Then, a golden ripple appeared around him, and a golden portal opened, revealing a complex golden key that he held tightly in his palm.

"But, warriors, do you understand? So-called dreams are destined to end..."

He spoke calmly, then slightly turned his hand and gently twisted the bottom of the uniquely shaped golden key in his hand, followed by a burst of crimson light.

Boom—!!

As a terrifying aura rapidly rippled around him, Gilgamesh's figure was suspended in mid-air.

"If you don't want to wake up, then come on then. I'll let you witness the end of this so-called dream, and I will personally make you understand this truth."

He spoke calmly, then slowly raised the crimson light that was constantly flashing in his hand, aiming it directly at the thousands of troops that were still charging towards him. His scarlet eyes remained expressionless, devoid of joy or sorrow...

Chapter Seventy-Six: This place is where partners of justice are buried.

—I am a worm, a worm that crawls ceaselessly in the ground, devoid of volatile malice. I hold my head higher than the moon, until I can no longer see you poor wretches.

……

……

Meanwhile, in the forest on the other side.

Clang clang clang—!

The clanging sound of metal colliding echoed continuously under the night sky.

In mid-air, dazzling sparks flew from the friction of the dark forest.

Two figures of vastly different heights were moving with ghostly speed, one after the other, constantly traversing the dense jungle.

The young priest, running at the forefront, brandished two weapons resembling short swords, slicing through the night sky with chilling glints. The piercing whistling sound echoed in his ears, and with each swift attack, he flawlessly sliced ​​the insects that attacked from behind in two.

Although they are called insects, these insects, which are comparable in size to the palm of a hand, are insect familiars carefully cultivated by Zouken Matou over the past hundred years. Their hardness and strength are far beyond what ordinary familiars can match. Even the speed at which bullets are fired at high speed cannot match the attack speed of these insects.

This meant that Kirei Kotomine, who appeared younger and more powerful, was constantly being chased by the old man who looked like a mummy. He could only jump to the treetops to dodge while wielding the black keys in his hand to gradually deflect the incoming attacks, and then look for a suitable opportunity to counterattack.

However, Zouken Matou, who was right behind him, continued his relentless pursuit.

Despite being a decaying body like a withered tree, it suddenly unleashed an unimaginable and terrifying speed. Its originally aged face, which was already halfway into a coffin, became even more ferocious. While chasing after it at a speed no less than that of Kirei Kotomine, it grinned and let out an extremely terrifying laugh.

"Hohohohohoho—!! You little devil from the Holy Church, didn't you just say you were going to purify this vengeful spirit of mine? Where did your original arrogance and determination go?"

As Zouken Matou laughed wildly, black insects that emerged from his decaying body began to gather and swirl around him, quickly forming a dense, dark mass that completely enveloped his body and feet.

In an instant, his pursuit speed, which was already no less than that of Kirei Kotomine, increased even more.

"Um……"

Hearing the sinister laughter behind him, like that of a demon, and Zouken Matou's mockery and questioning, Kirei Kotomine did not respond and continued running through the forest at his own pace.

But to prevent being caught up by the old bug behind him, he suddenly flung his hand, which was gripping the black key, in mid-air.

With a blinding flash of cold light, a smooth, clean cut suddenly appeared on the towering tree beside them in the darkness. The next moment—

—Boom!!

A deafening roar filled the air as, under Kirei Kotomine's precise manipulation, the large tree that had been cut in half by the black key crashed down towards Zouken Matou's location, attempting to slow his terrifying speed.

"Heh heh heh, so you're trying to use obstacles to block my path and escape? All that useless cleverness. Tokiomi Tohsaka's apprentice, it seems you're just as incompetent as your teacher..."

Facing the massive tree that crashed down, Zouken Matou, who had been chasing after it, once again let out a sinister smile, his eyes filled with disdain, and his pace did not slow down in the slightest because of this thing.

In the brief instant the tree collapsed, the swarm of dark insects beside it began to move under his deliberate control.

Thousands upon thousands of densely packed black insects suddenly formed a giant black hand, which then held up the fallen tree and, with astonishing force, hurled it directly towards Kirei Kotomine's location.

--call out!!

"what?"

Hearing the ear-piercing sound of something cutting through the air behind him, even the usually calm Kirei Kotomine couldn't help but raise an eyebrow, and his previously composed expression underwent a slight change.

He had no time to think, nor any time to hesitate. He leaped and hid behind another tree, using it as cover to barely escape the devastating blow.

"He dodged it... What a lucky kid."

Seeing that Kirei Kotomine had dodged his throw, Zouken Matou's eyes gradually turned cold.

To be honest, this brat named Kirei Kotomine is indeed a very difficult guy to deal with.

His combat experience and combat intuition are outstanding. Even though he has lived for so long, there are very few people among those he has met who can consistently surpass him in combat intuition and instinct.

How could this guy be sent to the Eighth Secret Site?

In Zouken Matou's view, Kirei Kotomine's talents were better suited to be deployed to Western Europe, the main battlefield between the Church of Christ and the Dead Apostles, rather than to appear in the mysterious and barren countryside of the Far East.

His talent is absolutely top-notch among the agents of his age. If he undergoes special transformation by the Holy Church and accumulates enough merit through enough battles, he will have the opportunity to enter the monster gathering place called the Burial Agency in the future and become a minor priest there. Moreover, he has taken the useless mediocre Tohsaka Tokiomi as his teacher, which would be a huge waste.

As for Tokiomi Tohsaka, that brat with no combat experience, dying at the hands of such an opponent without the protection of the King of Heroes, he wasn't surprised at all.

The gap between them is just too big...

If the distance is close enough, and the opponent is unprepared, Kirei Kotomine killing Tokiomi Tohsaka would be as easy as killing an ordinary person; there would be no pressure at all.

After a period of intense struggle, Zouken Matou, who had been relentlessly pursuing Kirei Kotomine, had roughly figured out the true level of his strength.

A top-tier mortal, proficient in all the combat skills of the Holy Church's agents, whether using black keys for melee or ranged combat, he is impeccable. With his current mummy-like decaying body, if someone gets close to him, they might actually be pinned to the ground by a set of black keys.

However, knowing this, Zouken Matou never engaged in close combat with Kirei Kotomine from beginning to end, and would never give him the chance to turn the tables on him.

Therefore, Zouken Matou, realizing that Kirei Kotomine intended to draw him into close combat and then counterattack, revealed a sinister smile. Immediately, the insect familiars beside him began to gather in greater numbers, quickly forming a dark mass. Then, under his deliberate control, they split into two different streams, one flowing from east to west and the other from west to east, intending to completely trap Kirei Kotomine in the forest and eliminate him completely.

Realizing this, Kirei Kotomine did not sit idly by. Taking advantage of the moment when Zouken Matou stopped to control the swarm of insects, he suddenly turned around and threw a black key he was holding as a flying sword directly at Zouken Matou's head.

--clang!!

However, this action naturally caused no harm to the old insect. He simply released his right hand, which was controlling the weapon, and then raised his cane to knock the black key that Kirei Kotomine had shot from mid-air directly to his feet. Taking advantage of Zouken Matou's distraction, Kirei Kotomine leaped into the forest on the right and disappeared completely from sight.

"Hmph, you cunning brat! But do you think you can get away with this?"

As Kirei Kotomine's figure completely disappeared into the forest, Zouken Matou's withered face suddenly bulged with veins. Although Kirei Kotomine had long since vanished, he still wasn't going to let him go.

After all, the ominous aura he had sensed from Gilgamesh still lingered in his heart. Just recalling it made his heart, which had long been replaced by insects, groan with unease.

A strange thought crept into Zouken Matou's mind: even if those three top-tier Servants joined forces, they would still be annihilated by Gilgamesh. Therefore, to be on the safe side, he had to capture Kirei Kotomine, Gilgamesh's new Master, no matter what, before making any further plans.

Thinking this through, Zouken Matou bent down and picked up the black key that had just fallen from Kirei Kotomine's hand, then threw it into the swarm of insects behind him.

"Tracker, detect the scent on this and lead me to him! For the final victory, I must capture that proxy brat no matter what!"

His tone was ferocious as he gave orders to his familiar.

Upon receiving the order, the originally dense swarm of insects began to stir and thousands of them suddenly spread out from behind him to search the forest, reducing their massive size by half.

Zouken Matou gripped his withered wooden cane tightly, mocking it coldly, like a demon in the forest, relentlessly searching for the scent of the living.

……

……

Not long after...

Squeak—!

A dark wooden door was pushed open from the outside with a jarring sound. The church was completely dark, and even the faint candle on the altar was extinguished by the cold wind that rushed in from outside when the door was pushed open.

Rotten strings, a broken chair, and a statue of the Virgin Mary that is half-crushed...

This is undoubtedly a church that has long been abandoned. It was originally located in this forest, but it was moved and abandoned because it was too inconvenient to visit every day.

At this moment, everything inside, from the items to the decor, bears the marks of time.

Da da da—!

Footsteps echoed in the church as Kirei Kotomine, who had just returned, walked past the collapsed pews on either side.

suddenly……

--boom! !

A chilling gust of wind suddenly swept past my ears, then slammed the wooden door behind me shut.

Kirei Kotomine frowned slightly, but remained calm. He looked at the broken statue of the Virgin Mary in front of him and heard the rustling of insects crawling in his ears. He already had an answer to the current situation in his heart.

"How wretched you are, Kirei Kotomine..."

That voice, hoarse like withered wood and shrill like a demon, slowly echoed through the church.

At that moment, he softly called out the other person's name: "...Matou Zouken".

"Oh, I see. You actually came to me so quickly."

"Heh heh, after all, you made a fatal mistake, Agent."

The old voice continued to echo in his ears, followed by—

clang!!

With a crisp metallic clang, a jet-black short sword gleaming with a cold light suddenly fell from above, its blade embedded directly in front of Kirei Kotomine, flashing with several wisps of cold light.

"I see..."

Upon seeing this, Kirei Kotomine smiled slightly, already understanding why the other party had been able to find this place so quickly.

"Behave yourself, Kirei Kotomine. The curtain is already falling. Just accept your fate."

The aged voice rang out again, but this time it carried a hint of murderous intent. Accompanied by the sound of a cane striking the roof, a series of rattling sounds began to ring out in my ears.