Shirou, who returned from the Fairy Kingdom

There are many Servants who possess multiple Noble Phantasms, and there must be great heroes who possess more than twelve Noble Phantasms.

However, no one can engage in Noble Phantasm battles with almost no cost like Gilgamesh.

This is why the King of Heroes is a Servant Killer; any Servant who enters into a tug-of-war with him will be defeated.

Although not specifically aimed at Gilgamesh, Shirou has managed to achieve the effect of engaging the King of Heroes in a prolonged battle.

—Using the inexhaustible and inexhaustible "Lake of the Holy Sword" to counter the equally inexhaustible and inexhaustible "Gate of Babylon".

In other words, as long as the King of Heroes continues to have this playful attitude, he will never be able to defeat Shirou.

Even if it were a genuine Thousand Treasures, Shirou would still be able to contend with it if it were simply "thrown" down without any rhyme or reason.

Of course, the reverse is also true.

If only Gilgamesh could transform his current feelings into the same serious attitude he had towards Shirou Amamiya (the King's Command Spell ver.) that night.

From the "leisure" of the Hero King, it transformed into a "judgment" conducted by the oldest king—

Then the red-haired boy would be torn to pieces and die on the spot the instant Archer changed his mind.

...If Shirou doesn't take any action...

However, before Gilgamesh took the lead in making changes—

A golden flash that tore through the night sky shot towards the lamppost above where the Hero King stood with his arms crossed.

At the same time, several bolts of lightning suddenly appeared around Gilgamesh.

The lightning bolts moved swiftly, forming a defensive barrier that transformed the golden sword flashes aimed at the archers into boiling, scattered magic.

It was not Shirou who launched the surprise attack on the King of Heroes; he had not made any further moves since liberating the "Lake of the Holy Sword."

At the same time, Shirou also realized that although the King of Heroes seemed to be unprepared, he had actually already set up an automatic defense Noble Phantasm, which was why he did not launch any unnecessary counterattacks.

"King of Knights, what do you mean by this?"

Archer turned to the blonde girl beside him with a displeased expression.

The one who intervened in Shirou's battle with the King of Heroes was none other than Saber, who wielded the invisible sword.

"That's enough, Archer. Did you think I would just stand by and watch you attack children at will?"

The King of Heroes let out a mocking sneer: "You call this guy a child?"

Well, if we're talking about children, they really are children.

This arrogant and ignorant false king dares to pretend to be an ignorant and powerless child in front of the true king—

"Step back, Saber! Once I've dealt with this suicidal brat, I'll come back and play with you again."

"This is not okay."

Saber struck a majestic pose.

Archer's face darkened with annoyance: "You clueless little girl, I told you not to interfere with the fight between men."

You may think your actions are righteous, but in my eyes they are nothing but rudeness and utter stupidity.

Before the game between this king and that brat ends, just put away your sword and chivalry.

Am I right? The king of counterfeits.

Gilgamesh said this as he turned to the red-haired boy, and then—

Shirou gripped Saber's hand tightly and said happily:

"Don't listen to his nonsense! We don't need chivalry when dealing with this kind of guy, Saber, let's defeat Archer together!"

Gilgamesh: "…………"

Volume 1, Chapter 74: Shirou: Ah! I can't take it anymore, I need Saber to hug me to feel better.

Past, present, Future.

In an infinite number of parallel worlds, countless Holy Grail Wars have occurred, are occurring, and will occur.

Even among the countless Holy Grail Wars, as numerous as the stars in the sky, the current situation is extremely rare—

The oldest hero-king, Gilgamesh, was actually suppressed.

The holy sword projected from the shimmering blue lake behind the boy knocked all of the Golden King's weapons off.

With the magic of wind enchantment, Saber broke through the numerous attacks and defenses from the Gate of Babylon thanks to the enhancements of "Intuition" and "Magic Release".

She even stepped on the holy sword shot by Shirou, blew away the lightning shield summoned by the King of Heroes, and finally approached Archer.

"Drink————!"

When Saber swung her invisible sword at Archer at point-blank range, even the once composed King of Heroes had to summon his golden armor to avoid being killed on the spot.

Although some people say it's an unfair two-to-one score, is that really the case?

One of the forces that suppressed the King of Heroes was not even a Servant, but a Master.

They weren't even adults, but children.

Although they are not bound by a contract, Saber and Shirou are indeed a combination of a Servant and a Magician.

When suppressed by this standard combination, the King of Heroes' majesty has already fallen to the ground.

Despite this, Archer's expression showed no annoyance; on the contrary, he seemed to be thoroughly enjoying it.

Even now, Gilgamesh still maintains a "playful" attitude.

"……snort."

Archer gracefully dodged Saber's attack, leaping from one lamppost to another.

Just then, something caught the eye of the King of Gold.

Behind the battlefield, the silver-haired, red-eyed puppet stood there completely unsuspecting.

Because Saber joined the battle, and Shirou also did his best to resist the "Gate of Babylon".

No one noticed that Irisviel was all alone.

"........."

A sly glint flashed in Archer's arrogant eyes.

The King of Heroes never felt there was anything wrong with attacking the enemy's Master during battle.

After all, this oldest tyrant had only one code of conduct—

"I am the rule."

Thus, one-tenth of the next round of the Thousand Noble Phantasms, during their loading, quietly turned their attention to Saber's Master.

However, just as Gilgamesh was preparing to let Shirou and Saber experience what "the king's unconventionality" meant.

The next moment, perhaps tonight...

No, to be precise, for the first time since the start of the Holy Grail War, Gilgamesh sensed danger quietly approaching.

"!!!"

Archer narrowed his eyes in surprise and turned to look, only to see an arrow hurtling toward his brow at near the speed of light.

That arrow seemed to be imbued with the Assassin's signature move, "Scent Concealment."

Moreover, even the arrow itself was forged using the holy sword as a base.

A fatal arrow hidden among a thousand swords—this is probably what the saying "hiding a tree in the forest" means.

If Gilgamesh hadn't possessed the highest level of clairvoyance, he probably wouldn't have noticed until his forehead was pierced.

"you--"

At the end of the Hero King's gaze, the red-haired boy held a jet-black bow in his hand.

The one who forged the sacred sword of the lake into an arrow and shot it was none other than Shirou Amamiya.

Archer remained calm and instinctively summoned the defensive artifacts erected in the void, however—

The Lightning Shield had already been completely destroyed during the Knight King's charge earlier.

Gilgamesh looked surprised: Was this also part of your calculations, you bastard!

The thousands of holy swords dulled the enemy's vigilance while disrupting the flow of magic in the surrounding area.

Saber's participation diverted the enemy's attention and simultaneously destroyed the surrounding autonomous defensive Noble Phantasms.

It's possible... that even deliberately leaving the area around Irisviel empty to attract the enemy's attention was part of their plan.

All the groundwork laid up to this point has been for this one strike.

The final step is to use masterful technique to complete the final strike, from drawing the bow to releasing the arrow.

Even after the arrow left his hand, the red-haired boy, still holding his bow high and maintaining his stance, whispered to himself.

"Let me see how you dance, King of Heroes."

"——————!"

Arrows imbued with the magic of the holy sword surged forth with lightning speed.

Although Gilgamesh sensed the attack in advance, it was difficult for him to make the perfect evasion.

He could only barely dodge the silent yet deadly arrow by leaning back as far as possible and turning his head sharply.

Because the arrows are forged from holy swords, they also have a slashing effect during their advance.

When Archer dodged the arrow, blood trickled from a scrape on his forehead.

Thousands of years later, the ancient son of God once again tasted the bitterness called "pain" and the humiliation called "wounding".

"Nice dance moves. Not only is Wang a talented performer, but he's also very gifted at dancing."

Shirou lowered the black bow that had vanished in the wind, and with a slight smile, he offered his assessment:

"...To be honest, I thought you were going to fall off the lamppost."

……

……

Crimson blood flowed down Gilgamesh's brow, then down his high nose bridge to the left and right.

Even so, the oldest king of mankind remained unfazed.

Gilgamesh stood calmly with his arms crossed, looking down sharply at the red-haired child below.

"Answer me, you fake (Faker)... why didn't you detonate it just now?"

These are words that only the questioner and the respondent can understand.

Shirou's arrow was absolutely perfect.

Even the result of not hitting the target directly is perfect.

Because at the moment of brushing past the enemy, Shirou will use a technique called "Fantasy Collapse".

—The exploding arrow of the holy sword will also engulf the head of the King of Heroes.

However, Shirou did not do that.

The arrow pierced the King of Heroes' forehead, leaving him with a graze.

Why not use "Fantasy Collapse"?

Gilgamesh wanted to know the answer.

Shirou: "..."

Would you believe me if I said I was out of mana?

Even after receiving enhancement magic from Lady Avalon before leaving home, Shirou's magical power was only enough to unleash one "Holy Sword Lake".

After he finished using it, there wasn't a single drop left.

In this situation, he certainly couldn't use the extremely costly "Fantasy Collapse".