Chapter 189: Firefly's Home Run
"Let me show you, the Gate of Babylon!"
Gilgamesh's arrogant voice cut through the night. Behind him, the very air shimmered and tore open, revealing dozens, then hundreds, of golden, rippling portals. They pulsed like liquid gold, opening countless doors to his treasury.
[Inorin's Note: The Gate of Babylon is Gilgamesh's primary Noble Phantasm. It connects to his treasury, which contains the prototypes of all Noble Phantasms and treasures created by humanity.]
In an instant, the night sky was dyed a blinding golden. From within those portals, the tips of legendary weapons emerged—swords, spears, axes, and weapons of shapes you couldn't even name. With a lazy wave of his hand, they were unleashed.
Countless legendary divine weapons poured down like a torrential, glittering rain of death, each one howling as it cut through the air.
"Saber! Archer! Cover!" Rin Tohsaka and Shirou Emiya ordered loudly, their voices tight with panic.
Saber, her face grim, thrust her invisible sword forward, conjuring the Wind King Barrier (Invisible Air). Archer materialized several layered, petal-shaped shields—Rho Aias—to intercept the barrage.
Explosions rocked the clearing. The impacts were deafening. Saber's barrier shimmered and cracked under the sheer weight of divine power, and Archer's shield shattered, layer by layer. Even more Noble Phantasms, an overwhelming flood of them, crashed down.
"Hmph, mongrels," Gilgamesh stood proudly in the air, his arms crossed, watching the pathetic defense with a bored expression. "Tremble before the King!"
Just then—a new voice cut through the chaos. "SAM!"
BOOM!
The silver-white mech burst from the trees with astonishing thrust, its thrusters igniting the ground. It didn't try to dodge. It soared straight up, a silver comet climbing against the golden, descending river of weapons!
"Oh?" Gilgamesh's arrogance shifted to mild curiosity. "A mere hunk of iron dares to challenge the King's majesty?" He sneered, and more portals opened, redirecting a fresh volley of Noble Phantasms directly at the charging mech.
However— "Haaaaah—!"
Firefly's roar echoed from within the mech. SAM's fists ignited with scorching, green-hot flames. It didn't just block. It punched.
Bang! A legendary demonic sword, wreathed in dark energy, was shattered into a dozen pieces by a direct hit.
Boom! A divine spear, glowing with holy light, was snapped in half over SAM's armored knee.
The mech was a blur, its movements a brutal dance of destruction. Even A-rank Noble Phantasms, items of immense power that could decide a war, shattered like glass under SAM's relentless, flaming iron fists!
[Inorin's Note: Noble Phantasms (NPs) are powerful, conceptual weapons or abilities owned by Servants. A-rank NPs are among the most powerful.]
"This… how is this possible?!"
Gilgamesh showed a shocked expression for the first time. His arrogance cracked. His treasures, the pinnacle of human creation, the prototypes of all legends… how could they be so easily destroyed by a crude, mass-produced machine?
"This much isn't even enough for a warm-up!" SAM's voice taunted. The mech's hand shot out, not to punch, but to catch. It snatched a magnificent, flying halberd from the air—the legendary Fangtian Huaji!
[Inorin's Note: Fangtian Huaji is the famed polearm wielded by the Chinese hero Lü Bu.]
"Let me borrow your toy!" SAM bellowed. The mech, a pinnacle of futuristic technology, then wielded the ancient, divine polearm like a colossal club, sweeping it in all directions! A single swing sent a dozen other Noble Phantasms flying off course.
"Damn mongrel! How dare you desecrate my treasures!" Gilgamesh was truly enraged. This wasn't a battle; it was an insult. The sheer audacity of a machine touching his collection, let alone using it, was unforgivable.
His crimson eyes burned. "Know your place!"
Thousands of golden portals ripped open, filling the entire sky. This time, it wasn't a rain; it was a solid, inescapable wall of divine weapons, all aimed simultaneously at SAM!
However, as everyone's attention—including Gilgamesh's—was drawn to the overwhelming spectacle in the sky, you had already quietly approached.
While SAM was the thunderous distraction, you were the silent blade in the shadow. You moved through the undergrowth, your presence completely masked by the chaos.
In your [Mystic Eyes of Death Perception], the world was a web of black lines. But on the arrogant, golden-armored King... you saw it. The clearest, most inviting Line of Death. It was perfect.
Now! "SAM!" you shouted.
With a telepathic connection forged in countless battles, Firefly instantly understood your intent. She didn't hesitate, didn't question.
"I will—ignite the sea of stars!"
She abandoned all defense, all evasion. SAM's thrusters flared to their absolute maximum, transforming the mech into a burning, green-and-silver meteor. It wasn't an attack; it was a suicide charge, straight at Gilgamesh!
"Foolish!" The King of Heroes sneered, seeing the desperate, final move. He redirected all thousand Noble Phantasms to intercept and annihilate her.
But he didn't notice. The moment SAM attracted all the firepower, the moment his full attention was on the sky, you had already rushed from the shadows, directly behind him.
"When did—"
Gilgamesh suddenly turned his head, his crimson eyes widening with an astonishment that bordered on panic. You were too close.
On his divine, golden armor, a single, perfect Line of Death extended from his neck down to his heart. It was a flawless, conceptual flaw, inviting you to cut it.
Your sword moved.
Pfft—
The blade didn't clank against his armor. It slid across that Line of Death with the horrifying, effortless ease of a hot knife through butter.
Gilgamesh remained frozen in his turning posture, his golden pupils slowly widening. He looked down. Black, spiderweb-like cracks began to spread from where you had cut. His golden armor, the strongest in the world, began to flake and disintegrate.
"Why... my immortal body..." he stammered, his voice filled with disbelief. "You... in this world, there is actually an existence more perfect than me... Truly... unpleasant..."
Before disappearing, he suddenly let out a small, arrogant smile. "However... to be defeated by such a sword... it doesn't disgrace my reputation."
He looked at you, the "mongrel" who had bested him. "Remember... mongrel... I acknowledge you..."
As his voice faded, the King of Heroes, the oldest king, completely vanished into particles of light.
"Oh my... what a pity."
A new voice, slow and laced with a false, theatrical sorrow, emerged from the shadows of the nearby church ruins. Kirei Kotomine, dressed in his dark Executor robes, walked into the clearing, a strange, disturbing smile on his face.
"The King of Heroes was killed so easily... truly astonishing." He looked at you, his dead eyes gleaming with a twisted, analytical pleasure. "An existence capable of slaying the oldest king... what exactly are you?"
He licked his lips, and a dark, foul-smelling black mud—the corruption of the Grail—began to seep from the ground around his feet.
"What I seek is not some noble 'joy'," he mused, his voice a monotone of pure malice. "I just want to see... the ugliest side of humanity. Watching them struggle in despair, cry in pain… That is the purest pleasure!"
He spread his arms, and ten long, black-bladed daggers—Black Keys—appeared between his fingers.
[Inorin's Note: Black Keys are the standard conceptual weapon used by Executors of the Church, designed to combat heretics and supernatural beings.]
"Come on," Kirei sneered, his body tensing as he dropped into a predatory stance. "Let me see what kind of expression you will show when you are on the verge of death!"
He charged, his speed inhuman, crossing the clearing in an instant!
"Be careful! That black mud is very dangerous!" Rin warned, but she was too far away.
You gripped your sword, your Mystic Eyes already flaring to life, ready to meet his attack.
Just then.
"What are you mumbling about, so much nonsense!" SAM's synthesized voice boomed from the side, full of annoyance.
Kirei only managed to glimpse a massive, silver-white figure out of the corner of his eye.
The next instant—BANG!
An iron fist, wrapped in roaring propulsion flames, slammed into Kirei Kotomine's cheek at supersonic speed.
Time suddenly seemed to slow. Kirei's perpetually calm, cruel face twisted and deformed in a grotesque, comical ripple from the sheer force of the impact.
His entire body, no longer bound by gravity, was sent spiraling upwards into the night sky.
Boom... boom... boom...
His body smashed through several stone walls of the ruined church in the distance, each impact a dull explosion. He finally embedded himself deep into the ruins, leaving only a series of perfectly Kirei-shaped holes in the ancient stone.
"..."
The entire clearing was silent. Saber, Rin, and Shirou stared, their jaws slack, at the human-shaped holes in the distance.
"Sorry," SAM casually shook its massive, smoking hand. "I didn't control my strength well and accidentally one-shotted him..."
Firefly's voice emerged, sounding genuinely sheepish. "This... this should still be within the script's allowance, right?"