A Villain's Journey Begins in the Type-Moon World

"Honestly, you only cause trouble... Atalanta, how are things on your end?" Semiramis ignored Sajou Aika and turned to Atalanta, who was resting nearby, and asked.

“No problem. Gilgamesh can’t do anything to me, but I can’t do anything to him either. My offensive methods were countered by the Noble Phantasm he used. Master was right after all. Gilgamesh is indeed no match for Servants like us who have received the power of the Master’s baptism when he underestimates us. But if we can’t defeat him in a short time and he gets the rhythm of the battle, I’m afraid it will be very difficult to defeat him.”

Atalanta slowly spoke, “However, it’s not without a way to deal with him. Just as Master said, Gilgamesh relies most on his Noble Phantasm—Gate of Babylon. Therefore, as long as my arrows are fast enough and numerous enough, and I can knock them back before he can take out his Noble Phantasm, then he will be no threat at all. It’s not entirely impossible to defeat him.”

“Sealing his Gate of Babylon before he unleashes a weapon capable of countering us? That’s a good strategy. But… you do have a good idea for defeating Gilgamesh,” Semiramis said slowly.

"What's the idea?" Atalanta asked curiously.

"First strike... If we have a Noble Phantasm that can kill with a single blow, then no matter how powerful the opponent's Noble Phantasm is, they won't be able to use it." Semiramis said slowly, "If it weren't for Master's insistence that we keep him alive, I would have used my other Noble Phantasm to kill this Servant completely right now."

"Speaking of which... how are Kiritsugu Emiya and Tokiomi Tohsaka doing?" Atalanta asked curiously.

"The two sides... are already very close, only one room apart. I believe they will meet soon, and a good show is about to unfold." Semiramis said with a smile, "Perfect, let Mordred's attack become even more intense, so that Gilgamesh will have no time to pay attention to his Master. Even if he senses some danger, as long as Tohsaka Tokiomi doesn't use a Command Spell, Gilgamesh won't rush towards Tohsaka Tokiomi."

……

On the other side, just as Semiramis had said, since Kiritsugu Emiya and the others had been walking through the rooms that Tokiomi Tohsaka had set up along the way, even if they were walking carefully, it wouldn't be long before they caught up with Tokiomi Tohsaka.

“These magical beasts… look, these burn marks don’t look recent. There must have just been a battle here; the air is still quite hot. It seems that Tokiomi Tohsaka is already in the room not far ahead.” The mysterious servant picked up another corpse and examined it again before speaking.

"So? Are you planning to make your move now, or how?" the mysterious follower asked.

"Make your move... but you must do it only after the other party has just finished clearing the next room. Are you sure you can successfully ambush Tokiomi Tohsaka right under the nose of that King of Heroes and then cut off Tokiomi Tohsaka's hand with the Command Seal?" Kiritsugu Emiya asked repeatedly.

"Of course, that's if you can keep Tokiomi Tohsaka's attention. So this time, you need to think carefully about how to deal with that seasoned magician. Just a heads up, you hit his shin once before, and he already knows the secret of your bullets. I'm afraid it will be difficult to use the Origin Bullet to be effective like you did with Kenneth," the mysterious Servant said.

"Let's go. No need for further words. As long as you can sever his Command Seal Hand, I have a way to hold him off." Kiritsugu Emiya didn't say much. This time, his pace was much faster than before, perhaps because he knew he was about to kill Tokiomi Tohsaka, and thus became somewhat anxious.

Hisayu Maiya silently pushed Kenneth's wheelchair behind them, just as before.

Chapter 257 The Death of Tokiomi Tohsaka

"Ha...ha..." Tokiomi Tohsaka was panting heavily, feeling quite unwell. With the increasingly unreasonable demands of the rules room, Tokiomi felt that his magical power had been almost halved, and his physical strength was almost gone.

Especially now, the rules of this room are that he has to keep running the whole time, killing those poisonous bee monsters that are constantly rolling around, and he has to do a somersault every time he kills a poisonous bee monster. This is really exhausting for Tokiomi Tohsaka. If his apprentice Kirei Kotomine had done this, it would have been fine, but he is just a magician and has never experienced this kind of physical training. Just doing somersaults is almost killing his old back.

Fortunately, with the help of magic, Tokiomi Tohsaka gritted his teeth and persevered to complete the task, successfully deciphering the room's rules. Just as Tokiomi was about to rest and recover his strength, a strong sense of crisis suddenly arose within him. Instead of constructing a spell, he immediately dodged away.

"boom!"

Sure enough, a gunshot rang out, and Tokiomi Tohsaka was stabbed in the hand, leaving a bloody gash. Tokiomi Tohsaka felt the pain at first, but his reaction was even faster; he already knew who he had encountered.

"Emiya Kiritsugu... he's actually here?" Tokiomi Tohsaka felt that the situation was very bad. He was all alone and had just exhausted too much energy. Now he was facing Emiya Kiritsugu, who had the ability to counter magic circuits. He was afraid that if he was not careful, he would die here.

"I don't even know if Kiritsugu Emiya has any Servants with him! I have to force Gilgamesh to come here!" Tokiomi Tohsaka made a quick decision, intending to use a Command Seal.

"Rat-a-tat-tat-tat!" But then the sound of countless bullets rang out from the shadows, seemingly giving Tokiomi Tohsaka no chance to use a Command Spell.

Faced with the hail of bullets, Tokiomi Tohsaka, while constantly shifting his position, also made a decisive move, taking out a pre-prepared gem from his pocket and activating it. A golden barrier immediately rose from Tokiomi Tohsaka's body.

"Bang!" Then, a sound of something cutting through the air rang out, as if anticipating Tokiomi Tohsaka's use of magic. The special bullet struck the barrier, easily shattering it.

"As expected... you've been waiting for this moment, Emiya Kiritsugu!" However, although the magic was shattered by this special bullet, Tokiomi Tohsaka did not instantly cough up blood and suffer severe injuries like Kenneth before him. Instead, he reached out again, took out a gem, and activated it once more, creating another earthen-yellow barrier in front of him.

"It was worth spending almost all my savings to buy these five gems that can be used to store magic. As long as the magic is stored in the gems in advance, the magic level after activation will not be connected to the magic circuit, and your strange bullets will no longer be effective!" Tokiomi Tohsaka thought to himself.

"Huh?" Emiya Kiritsugu, who was hiding in the shadows, had obviously noticed this as well, realizing that his bullets were having no effect on Tokiomi Tohsaka. But he quickly remembered the information about Tokiomi Tohsaka's Jewel Magic and immediately understood everything.

"By Command Seals, King of Heroes..." At that moment, Tokiomi Tohsaka didn't hesitate much. He immediately activated his Command Seals, preparing to summon Gilgamesh to the battlefield. Kiritsugu Emiya thought to himself, "This is bad." He had finally gotten lucky and stumbled upon an opportunity when Tokiomi Tohsaka was alone. If Tokiomi Tohsaka were to summon Gilgamesh, killing Tokiomi Tohsaka and seizing the Command Seals wouldn't be so easy.

"boom!"

"Khronos Rose (Gather ye rosebuds while ye may)"

But at that moment, the mysterious Servant suddenly made a move. He first pulled out a gun wrapped in tattered cloth, but whose appearance was very familiar to Kiritsugu Emiya. Then, his body suddenly accelerated, and at a speed that was imperceptible to the naked eye, he actually rushed in front of Tokiomi Tohsaka. Then, he raised his hand and fired the shot at the barrier on Tokiomi Tohsaka's body.

"Crack—" The sound of shattering glass suddenly rang out. Before Tokiomi Tohsaka's pupils could show any panic again, the mysterious Servant raised his hand and slashed off Tokiomi Tohsaka's arm, which was engraved with Command Seals and emitted a red glow, cutting off Tokiomi Tohsaka's ability to forcibly summon Gilgamesh using Command Seals.

"This was clearly the best opportunity, I never expected you to miss it. You could have just taken care of it by using firepower as cover and getting close to it." The mysterious Servant's cold voice came from ahead, but at this moment, Kiritsugu Emiya seemed extremely shocked.

The reason for this was that he was astonished to discover that the opponent's method was strikingly similar to his own! Without a doubt, this was a forced high-speed movement achieved by accelerating his own body over time.

"Why...why would you use this..."

"Alright, stop dawdling. That King of Heroes should have already noticed something's wrong. If he's nearby, it could be bad if reinforcements come. Now, hurry up and use this time to transfer Tokiomi Tohsaka's Command Seals as well, then kill him. That way, you can become Gilgamesh's new Master." The mysterious Servant urged Kiritsugu Emiya, as if he didn't intend to discuss this topic at all.

Kiritsugu Emiya remained silent for a moment before finally stepping forward. The mysterious Servant repeated the same words, transferring the Command Seal from Tokiomi Tohsaka's severed arm to his own.

"Ah—ah!!!" At this moment, Tokiomi Tohsaka finally felt the pain of his severed arm, letting out a bloodcurdling scream as he collapsed to his knees. All elegance and composure vanished. Things had happened so fast that Tokiomi hadn't even noticed what was happening before he had already failed and lost his Command Seals and right arm.

Losing the Command Seals means he can no longer summon Gilgamesh, so now he can only rely on himself if he doesn't want to die...

"Gem Magic—Ugh!!"

"boom!"

Just as Tokiomi Tohsaka gripped his cane, preparing to unleash a devastating magic trick, a gunshot rang out, and from the shadows, Maiya Hisau slowly emerged, holding a sniper rifle.

Tokiomi Tohsaka had a large hole in his chest, and that's how he died—a very abrupt and haphazard death from gunfire. Incidentally, he was shot in the back. In a sense, it was no different from being stabbed in the back, and in a way, it was the same manner of death as in the original story.

……

"Huh? Damn it..." Gilgamesh also realized that his magic power had suddenly stopped. Although he was very unhappy with Tokiomi Tohsaka, and even thought that Tokiomi Tohsaka deserved to die, he should never have died so hastily when he was in the middle of a fierce battle.

"Damn it, I want to see who killed him." Gilgamesh felt a binding force from the Command Spell acting on him, which originally intended to transfer him to Tokiomi Tohsaka's location. Unfortunately, Tokiomi Tohsaka seemed to have died before completing the Command Spell's command, so the binding force did not completely pull him over.

However, this does not prevent Gilgamesh from finding the right direction and acting independently: the A-rank Gilgamesh will not disappear directly due to the death of his master, and can even act for a considerable period of time and use a considerable amount of magic power.

"Insects, get out of my way! I have no time to waste on you!" A large number of golden Noble Phantasms appeared behind Gilgamesh and bombarded Mordred. Then, Gilgamesh began to disengage from the battlefield.

Mordred, who had initially intended to rush forward and deliver a fatal blow to Gilgamesh, seemed to receive some prior warning. She glanced at Gilgamesh with slight displeasure, then used her sword to defend against the Noble Phantasms. Under the bombardment of these Noble Phantasms, she was no longer able to stop Gilgamesh from leaving.

Chapter 258 Gilgamesh Under Force

As night fell, in the Zenjo family's room, Aoi Tohsaka, who was dozing off, suddenly heard a terrible scream. The sound seemed to be that of her beloved husband, Tokiomi Tohsaka, and it instantly woke Aoi up.

"Ha...ha...is it a hallucination?" Tohsaka Aoi touched her forehead, not paying much attention to it. This wasn't the first time she had experienced something like this. Ever since she was forced by a stranger who suddenly appeared, Tohsaka Aoi had been prone to hallucinating her husband's voice.

She was terrified that one day Tokiomi would discover the shameful thing she had done, and that piercing scream of terror was like the scream of someone who had been caught in the act of adultery. Whenever her guilt accumulated to a certain point, she would hallucinate hearing such a voice. Sometimes, even in the height of her arousal, this phenomenon would occur, tormenting her with a mixture of fear and pleasure.

"Sigh... Tokiomi, what should I do... If this continues, I'm really afraid... I'm really afraid I'll become someone I don't recognize at all." Compared to auditory hallucinations, Tohsaka Aoi has recently found that her longing for her husband is fading. On the contrary, her mind is filled with that man's wicked words and deceptive sweet talk.

Not to mention, when lying in bed, one's body can't help but crave those things.

"I should get some rest. Maybe I should go and have a good talk with Tokiomi tomorrow." With a sigh, Tohsaka Aoi turned off the lamp, her face clouded with gloom. This was the only time Tohsaka Aoi had left, hoping to see Tokiomi tomorrow. She really... really didn't want to change her mind.

But Aoi Tohsaka could never have imagined that from this night onward, she would never hear her husband's voice again.

……

Tokiomi Tohsaka, one of the three founding families, fell "magnanimously" into a pool of blood, his face still filled with resentment and anger. Hisau Maiya slowly walked to Kiritsugu Emiya and said with a hint of apology, "I'm sorry, I just killed him."

“It’s alright. Even if you didn’t do it, I would have finished him off myself. Tokiomi Tohsaka is no longer of much value… Keeping him around would only be a burden to us.” Kiritsugu Emiya shook his head slightly, then looked at the mysterious Servant who was still chanting, transferring the Command Seals and the contract to his arm.

"God is a spirit."

"Therefore worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth" (John 4:24)

After the chant was completed, blue light emanated from his hand once again. The two Command Seals on Tokiomi Tohsaka's severed arm, as well as the contracted Servant that originally belonged to Tokiomi Tohsaka, now belonged entirely to Kiritsugu Emiya.

From this moment on, Kiritsugu Emiya once again had his own Servant and became the Master of this Holy Grail War once more.

"The King of Heroes' strength is undeniable... but you must also be careful, as he is extremely difficult to control; at the very least, your compatibility with him is very poor. If possible, I suggest stabilizing him first, and then using your armful of Command Seals to forcefully control the King of Heroes," the mysterious servant said.

"Wait a minute, you haven't explained what happened yet!" However, after obtaining the Command Seal, Kiritsugu Emiya immediately distanced himself from the mysterious Servant and turned his Thomson rival to question the mysterious Servant.

“The sudden acceleration, and the effect of that bullet you just fired. You can’t fool my eyes.” After saying this, Kiritsugu Emiya took a deep breath, staring intently at the mysterious Servant as if trying to see the face clearly in the shadows, and said, “Who—are you?”

"Does this matter? Kiritsugu Emiya... When did you become someone who can't even see what you're supposed to do?" The mysterious Servant said coldly, and then suddenly appeared in front of Kiritsugu Emiya in the next instant.

“! Inherent Time—” Kiritsugu Emiya was about to activate his magic to speed himself up, but he was too slow and was kicked to the ground.

"Kiritsugu—!" Upon seeing this, Hisayu Maiya immediately aimed her sniper rifle at the mysterious Servant's head.

"Don't move, Miss Maiya. If I have any murderous intent, neither of you will survive." At that moment, the mysterious Servant took out the cloth-wrapped gun she had just taken out, pointed it at Kiritsugu Emiya lying on the ground, and said.

"So you understand now, Emiya Kiritsugu? Who I am has never mattered. We both have important things to accomplish. You want to kill Tokiomi Tohsaka and end the mastermind behind the Holy Grail War. And I also only want to kill the true mastermind behind this Holy Grail War. We have the same goal, so we just need to work together to achieve this result."

After saying this, the mysterious servant put the gun back into his pocket and then said, "Consider this a warning. Let's stop wasting each other's time and wearing down each other's patience. Tokiomi Tohsaka is dead now, and there's no change in the surroundings, which is enough to prove what I said before. Let's go and kill the real mastermind behind this Holy Grail War—Wang Chong."

"..." Kiritsugu Emiya stood up and gestured to Maiya Hisau to put down the sniper rifle. Maiya Hisau had no choice but to obey Kiritsugu Emiya's words.

"So you are the rats who killed my subjects and stole the contract while I was away?" At that moment, a sense of oppression came from above, and many golden particles re-aggregated. Gilgamesh appeared on a broken pillar, looking down at Kiritsugu Emiya and the others.

Of course, Gilgamesh still glanced at the motionless Tokiomi Tohsaka, a hint of disgust flashing in his eyes. Although Gilgamesh had already decided to kill Tokiomi Tohsaka, he hoped that Tokiomi Tohsaka would die in a suitable place, in a meaningful way. For example, dying because of his disciple's betrayal would bring him pleasure.

Now, not only did Tokiomi Tohsaka die rather hastily, but Gilgamesh also felt that his contract partner had become this man in black before him. This greatly displeased Gilgamesh. Since when did his contract relationship have to be dictated by others?! And this act of stealing without permission had undoubtedly stepped on Gilgamesh's sore spot.

"You rats, have you thought about how you're going to die?" With that, dozens of golden halos unfurled behind Gilgamesh, the cold light reflecting off his Noble Phantasm with a chilling sharpness. Gilgamesh didn't care whether his opponents possessed Command Seals; those who dared to provoke him would pay a terrible price.

"Tsk..." Kiritsugu Emiya knew very well that the other party was not the type to listen attentively, and he himself was not good with words. Therefore, it was no surprise that he would have to use this Command Spell.

"In the name of Kiritsugu Emiya, by the Command Seals..." Kiritsugu Emiya rolled up his sleeves, revealing the entire Command Seals next door, which emitted a red glow.

"Hmm!?" Gilgamesh couldn't help but take a surprised look after seeing the numerous Command Seals on the other's arm.

"King of Heroes, you shall not do anything to harm your Master today," Kiritsugu Emiya commanded.

Soon, Gilgamesh felt a powerful restraining force that stopped him from using his Noble Phantasm to kill Kiritsugu Emiya. It also caused his Noble Phantasms to be returned to the Gate of Babylon.

Gilgamesh sneered. Clearly, Kiritsugu Emiya's actions had once again truly enraged Gilgamesh. In this situation, Gilgamesh would not continue his arrogant and irritable behavior; instead, he would calmly wait for an opportunity to strike, like a hunter waiting for its prey to make a mistake.

As for Kiritsugu Emiya, he didn't care. With so many Command Seals, he could at least freely command the powerful Servant, the King of Heroes, until the Holy Grail War ended.

As for why Kiritsugu Emiya restricted it to today, rather than directly saying he couldn't do anything to harm his Master, it's because Command Seals also have some limitations.

Command Seals have high enforcement power when issuing instantaneous or specific commands. However, their effectiveness decreases if the execution period is too long or the scope too broad. Therefore, commands like "obey everything I say" are practically ineffective. Similarly, commands like "do not do anything to harm your Master" have too broad a scope and too long a duration, so their effectiveness is almost negligible.

Therefore, Kiritsugu Emiya needed to add "today" to shorten the deadline and enhance the effectiveness of his command.

"So, Gilgamesh, can you now calm down and listen to our explanation?" At this moment, the mysterious servant spoke up.

Chapter 259 Sophistry

"Heh, and what are you? This guy only ordered that you not be harmed, not that you two can't be killed." Gilgamesh glanced at Kiritsugu Emiya and said with a sneer, "Of course, if you have the guts, then use two more Command Seals on me. I'd like to see if you have enough Command Seals in reserve."

Upon hearing this, Kiritsugu Emiya took a deep breath. He had finally witnessed how troublesome these Servants were, one after another. They were just Servants, a kind of alternative familiar, merely projections of Heroic Spirits from the recording tapes. They weren't even fully Heroic Spirits, let alone the original ones.

Why are these guys so brazen as to commit patricide and rebellion?

The mysterious servant standing nearby was clearly aware of the potential danger. If Gilgamesh completely refused to cooperate, he wouldn't be an ally, but rather a dagger that could stab them in the back at any moment. Therefore, he slowly said:

“King of Heroes, it is indeed shameful that we stole your power… but it was also out of admiration for your strength, and we needed to borrow your power, which is why we resorted to this desperate measure. Besides… in fact, King of Heroes, you also wished for Tokiomi Tohsaka’s death, didn’t you? We have also solved a troublesome matter for you, King of Heroes.”

"Heh, then I'd like to hear why you think I want Tokiomi dead." Gilgamesh snorted coldly. Being able to see through his thoughts meant he wasn't a complete fool. If the answer was correct, he would spare him for now and keep him by his side as a potential Master candidate.

"It's clear that you, King of Heroes, utterly despise being forced into command by Command Seals. Tokiomi Tohsaka did the same thing once before, and last night, despite representing your honor, he reached a truce with the opposing forces, disregarding the insults you, King of Heroes, suffered at the hands of that Fallen Ancestor. Shouldn't such a Master be killed?" the mysterious Servant said.

"Hehehe... Hahahaha. Good, well said. That fool Tokiomi truly deserves to die." Gilgamesh was indeed somewhat satisfied with the mysterious servant's words, and couldn't help but laugh loudly a few times before turning his cold gaze back to the mysterious servant, saying, "But Tokiomi is ultimately my subject. How he dies is my business! Disrupting my plans, killing my subject without authorization, and even attempting to exonerate himself with sophistry... How do you think I should punish you?"

"That is why we have taken Tokiomi Tohsaka's place as Your Majesty's subjects. In this way, we are not killing Your Majesty's subjects out of personal motives, but rather sharing Your Majesty's burdens and fulfilling the duties of a subject," the mysterious servant said.

"To replace Tokiomi Tohsaka as my subject? Did I give my permission?" Gilgamesh raised an eyebrow.

"Of course you allowed it, otherwise why punish us? Isn't this treating us as your subjects?" the mysterious follower said eloquently.

"...Hahahahaha!" After hearing the mysterious Servant's words, Gilgamesh was first stunned, then burst into laughter, as if he had heard a funny joke. After the laughter stopped, Gilgamesh continued:

"Very well, very well, what a fine saying, 'To punish us is to treat us as subjects.' Just because your words please me so much, I will forgive your disrespect."

"As for you..." Gilgamesh glanced at Kiritsugu Emiya and said coldly, "You should be glad that your accomplices have appeased my anger for the time being. Don't think that just because you have so many Command Seals, I won't dare to do anything to you."

After saying that, Gilgamesh landed on the ground and said, "I don't care what you want to do or what kind of power you need from me, but you'd better tell me honestly! Also, what you do should be something that pleases me enough."

The mysterious Servant exhaled, knowing he had temporarily appeased Gilgamesh. His eloquence stemmed from a skill he'd borrowed, to some extent, from his superior, the Counter Force—the inherent ability to use sophistry. Without it, he feared he'd have to waste countless Command Seals later.

"My lord, let's talk as we walk... The stench of blood here is too strong; it's not a good place to converse." The mysterious servant didn't intend to waste any more time here. He just wanted to get to Wang Chong as quickly as possible and then have Emiya Kiritsugu use the power of his Command Seals to immediately unleash Ea to destroy Wang Chong.

“That’s true.” Gilgamesh turned around and walked towards the passage door with the mysterious Servant. Kiritsugu Emiya and Maiya Hisau had no choice but to follow after them, keeping a distance. Maiya Hisau was responsible for pushing Kenneth’s wheelchair, while Kiritsugu Emiya was trying to compose himself.

Not long after they left, a man dressed as a priest entered the room. He looked down at the already dead Tokiomi Tohsaka and a strange smile appeared on his face.

"Teacher...you finally died." The person who came was Kirei Kotomine, who had been teleported by Semiramis. He waved his hand, and several Hassan appeared beside him.

"Teacher, let your corpse give one last boost." Kirei Kotomine smiled eerily as Hassan took Tokiomi Tohsaka's body away.

……

On the other side, Wang Chong listened to the information coming from Semiramis while slowly withdrawing the black mist.

"The time management master is truly amazing. I felt like I had been exercising all night, but according to the information from Semiramis, only a dozen minutes have passed outside," Wang Chong thought to himself.