"Th-this… is for me?"
"Aye. Thy very own steed, Mashu-Camelot. Tuned to thy soul—ride it like the wind. Wield it well."
"YES! Mashu, we're bikers now!"
"Thank you, thank you! I'll treasure it forever!"
—Good. She loves it. Now, then…
"Let the curtain rise! Fear not—the path to victory is already ours! All that's left is to dance the dance!"
"You're brimming with confidence. I believe in you."
"Fuhahahahaha! I permit it! Master—stand by at the Golden First Step!"
"E-eh?!"
"Lean in… [whisper] …Only thou canst pull this off."
—With this plan, Master can fight at our side.
Beside our irreplaceable treasure.
"You ready?"
"OF COURSE! My blood's singing—!!"
"HELL YEAH! Mount up!!"
"ALL HANDS—RISE!! This is the moment that splits light from shadow! Give EVERYTHING to blow Makiri's cursed fog to—FUHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"
"SHUT THE HELL UP!! You wrote the line, don't laugh at your own damn joke! It's cringe as fuck!!"
"If thou canst not grasp this refined humor, thou art no vessel for a king! Go reincarnate as the Clown-King of Jest and come back when thou art funny!"
"That's a bit harsh?!"
"Completely. I should have said it sooner: thou wast never cut out to be king."
"Dad, going from dad-jokes to denying my entire existence is TOO FAR—!!"
—Well, whatever.
Here we go!!
"Plan memorized?! Let's cut the curtain!!"
"OSSSU!!"
"Hold tight, Artoria!"
"Who art thou ordering around, Gil?!"
"Right, right! Still the same motor-mouth Artoria—!!"
—There! Full throttle!
DECISIVE BATTLE!! CAPTAIN ☆ NICOLA!!
"—They're here!!"
High above London, striding the skies over Buckingham Palace, Tesla threw his head back and roared with joy.
"At last! I waited! I STARVED for this! Ye who would surpass mankind's myths and forge a new legend—HAHAHAHAHAHA!!"
A golden voice boomed across the heavens.
"FUHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!! The star arrives fashionably late! I come to teach thee, Nikola Tesla, that sky-shaking laughter and the jeers that mock fools are MY patent!!"
The King of Heroes, proclaiming his dominion over the firmament.
"Wha—?! The heavens?!"
Tesla's hunch was dead-on.
What the pioneer of the stars beheld was—
"Traitor! Rampage exactly as planned! Unleash the unchained mad dog—show them thy fangs!"
"Leave it to MEEE!!"
Crimson steel bristling with spikes and ordnance—Red Prydwen, the crystallized spirit of rebellion.
"Mash! Cast aside stray thoughts when thou ridest! Trust thyself—and thy iron steed!!"
"Yes, sir! The king's gift, Mashu-Camelot—I'll master it!!"
White and violet streamlines, a bike so pure it looked molded from Mash's own heart. She nodded atop it, fierce and proud.
A king who acknowledged Mash's riding skill had barked, "You deserve to taste the wind too!" and custom-built her this beauty in a single imperial decree.
"A knight is nothing without her mount! In this age, the mount is the motorcycle! Praise my genius and my generosity as thou tear across the sky! That sultry armor of thine shall look magnificent—FUHAHAHAHA!!"
(By the way, I picked every material and curve myself. Fits her body like a glove.)
If she falls in love with biking, I'll call it a win.
"Yes, sir! Mash Kyrielight—will ride like the devil!!"
"Ohhh! Iron steeds galloping the heavens! Golden roads unleashed! I see it—I SEE it! Ye dare to raise a new myth right here and now!!"
"A new myth? Fool! This is MY spotlight, MY saga! I'll not sully it with the word 'god'—that alone dooms a tale to mediocrity! Listen well! The book that crowns my latest triumph already bears its perfect title!"
—If our gambit lands, Tesla falls tonight.
"Speak, then! What name doth this new history bear?!"
"Very well! Tremble and hear!! The tale that kicks tragedy to the curb and blasts 'inevitable endings' to oblivion—MY tale, by ME, for ME!!"
The reborn Gilgilstallion, reforged by knight-king and hero-king hands, roared beneath them.
"Behold—GORGEOUS ☆ GILGAMESH EPIC!! FUHAHAHAHA!! Praise it! Praise the cutting edge of this age! Offer body and soul in worship! From this moment, we RE-ENACT LEGEND!!"
With the king's decree, countless golden highways burst from the Gilgilstallion, weaving a Milky Way across London's sky.
"My roads! My laws fill the heavens! My will drenches the earth! On this star that is my garden, no path is beyond my tread! ALL RULES = ME!!"
Three heroes thundered across the celestial circuit!
"Even the heavens bow to my conquest! I'll trample and humiliate the sky where gods once strutted! Gnash thy teeth, Ishtar—thy glory is dust! FUHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!"
The king's laughter heralded the final battle—
"DIE, NICOLA TESLA!!"
Red Prydwen's arsenal flared—crimson lightning, mystic Gatlings, missiles rained down.
"Vanguard Captain, Traitor Mode Red!! Come on, drop dead!!"
Mordred flipped the bird, rebellion incarnate charging straight at Tesla.
"HAHAHAHA!! Mankind's myth versus Gorgeous Epic!! Which will history remember?!"
Yet the unshaken genius parried every blow with electromagnetic lances, hurling lightning back.
"Lightning is MY monopoly! Behold—LIGHTNING!!"
"Tch—flashy bastard!!"
"Myth unbreakable! The heart of this battle is the golden road forged by the King of Heroes' machine—yes, YOU!!"
Tesla's thunder, and—
"Tell me, then! The power source of that splendid, manly Gilgilstallion! Spill it!!"
"A question?! Hah—gladly!! True Aether from the Age of Gods courses through her frame—the primordial fuel that once propelled my Vimana, lost to this era, owned solely by kings! And—"
"With my custom generator installed—Dun Stallion II—producing the dream energy Altritium needed for item swaps! And—"
In perfect sync, they finished together:
"NO RISK! NO TESLA'S DREAM ENERGY!!" (Super eco-friendly!)
"UNFORGIVABLE!! I refuse on principle!! Name it Nikolarium!! Origin Aether? Altritium? Are you mocking meeeeeeeee!!"
The lightning sage raged harder than ever before; bolts fell like judgment.
—Perfect. Right on cue.
"FUHAHAHAHA!! Of course that's the trigger!! As expected of the genius who etched his name across history—laugh, I shall!!"
True, the golden roads were theirs—if the Gilgilstallion fell, they'd plummet miles to the ground.
"Mash Kyrielight!"
"NEVER!!"
Defense absolute. Artoria batted away thunder; Mashu-Camelot blocked the rest.
"Grr—!!"
"Even protection is my domain! The meaning of 'I prepared every countermeasure'—learn it with thy soul and despair!!"
(Insulating materials triple-checked. Lightning-deflecting treasures on standby. Worst case, causality-warping treasures to snuff the bolt before it forms. Threat neutralisation is MY job.)
"Hey, thunder geezer—eyes front!!"
Mordred closed in, Clarent flashing.
"You ain't got a shot unless you can wipe us all at once!!"
"—I DO!!"
—Got him!
"Indeed I do!! The true thunder that manifests my mankind's myth—IT EXISTS!!"
"Show me, then! Unveil thy myth!!"
"Our bikes won't be caught anyway—they're Gil's and mine!"
"Oh? Care to bet, unladylike lady?!"
"Gil! Swerve—I'm murdering that captain!!"
"Take it as praise for thy chastity! She's my type, at least!"
"Fine, I'll cry and allow it! Show us, then! Cornered villains always fire their desperate nuke—drag Mordred into the blast!! Every story needs a redshirt!!"
"Don't suggest assassination, Father!!"
"Assassination?! Nonsense—this is public solicitation of murder! Every Altria besides me is surplus to the universe!!"
"Everybody calm down!! PLEASE!!"
Laughter, lightning, murder, and panic filled the sky.
"Behold! A new myth! The manifestation of new thunder!!"
Tesla's body surged with mana, converted by Galvanism into city-swallowing voltage that shook the air itself.
The vessel grinned.
"—CHARGED!! FEAST YOUR EYES!!"
Ultimate lightning tore reality—
"System Mythology: Mankind—"
—WE'VE BEEN WAITING!!
"—NOW, MASTER!!!"
"Thunderfall—" "—WHAT?!**"
Myth manifestation—canceled.
Tesla froze mid-trigger, not a finger twitching.
"HELL YEAH!!"
Mordred victory-pumped.
"Success!!"
Noble Phantasm activation isn't instant. Charge → fire = fatal stiffness. Our job: bait that gap at Mach speeds.
"A curse—no, a goddess's blessing?!—"
"Fool. I made an amateur play decoy—seize the opening!"
—Just the victory lap left!
"Shine, mother's watching! MASTER!!!"
—We're counting on you!
Ground Level – Golden Step One, miles below
"Bullseye!"
Rikka struck a finger-gun pose, her right index arrow nocked on the Moon Goddess's Bow.
"No way, boss?! That's a golden mile straight up!"
"When I draw this bow, Artemis's blessing lets me see anywhere moonlight touches, shoot anywhere unobstructed, and turns arrows into moonlight beams at night! I fired a Gand wrapped in moonlight—nailed Tesla!"
V-sign! Peace flash!
"Greek goddesses are busted… Tsukuyomi-san's kinda forgotten in Japan, huh…?"
"Obviously! She's my precious goddess buddy! Thanks, Artemis—let's chat again!"
"—HELL YEAH! Thunder god's turn! Golden DRIVE, baby!!"
Kintoki's usual wild look was gone—spiked golden pompadour, muscle-bulging leather jacket, driver-belt custom-ordered by Rikka, and the star attraction:
A giant bear transformed into the lightning-charged Golden Bear-Gou, a steel bear that crossed a thousand miles in a heartbeat. Kintoki front, Rikka tandem rear—pure rock 'n' roll touring style.
No berserker pretty boy—Golden Rider, thunder god on wheels!
"LET'S GO!! RIDER GOLDEN!!"
"Floor it!!"
Sakata Kintoki—Rider class—had entered the golden race!!
"Full throttle!! …But first, boss."
"Hm?"
Hugging his waist, Rikka listened.
"Trust Lady Raikou. I know it's a shock, but she's dead serious. Dead serious about becoming your mom."
"Mm-hmm!!"
"She'd never betray her kid. She ain't some monster even Enma-daimyo would punch a hundred times and still not get bored of. She loves you, loves you, LOVES you to death—best boss lady ever. So—"
"I already love Mama Raikou! For the first time ever, someone wrapped me in gentle arms and held me like I mattered! No one else ever did!"
"..."
"I get it now, Golden! Those soft eyes, that warm hug—that's 'Mom'! I'm so glad I'm alive! I thought I'd never feel it, but someone taught me! I'm never letting go!"
"—Yeah! That's it! Raikou-san's Japan's #1 mom—and now she's YOURS, boss!"
"Yup!! Let's roll, Golden!"
Arms tight around his waist.
"'I'll save this world overflowing with these amazing feelings!' I'll overcome anything to bring back every warm heart out there—with everyone!!"
Her voice rang with hope, a child beaming under parental praise.
"Golden—I'm so happy to be alive!!"
"Hell yeah!! You're Raikou-san's daughter, my little sis! Let's show her—GOLDEN RIDING!!"
"GAAAAA—!!!"
"Bear-Gou's pumped! Damn right—only a legend gets a free ride on your back! Tandem approved!!"
"Let's party, bro!!"
"Hold on—Roar, Bear-Kou: BEAR HOWLING!!"
"GAAAAAOOOOOOOO!!!"
A gorgeous road unfurled from the Gilgilstallion right in front of them.
"Come! The finishing stroke is YOURS!"
"Roger!!"
"Boss, scream it!!"
"NIGHT WOLF NINE—GOLDEN DASH: GOLDEN DRIIIIIIIVE!!"
Ignition slam—Golden Bear-Gou morphed into hyperspeed mode. Thunder-drum wheels spun, shattering sound barriers, a lightning god incarnate.
"ROOOOCK 'N' ROOOOLL!!"
"HIYAAAA—!!!"
Charging straight into the monk who'd flirted with every god in the book—time to pay the tab!!
Sky
"—They come! Thunder comes! YES! HAHAHAHAHA!!"
Bound by moonlight-blessed Gand, Tesla understood.
"Myth ends—by the same lightning that crowned me! Of course! Lightning IS god, IS truth, IS the judgment that punishes the wicked! Naturally it claims me—"
"Idiot."
"?!"
This battle allowed no divine meddling.
"No judgment. I simply refuse to forgive. Gods don't weave the future—living souls do."
"——"
"Thy destroyer is no whim of heaven."
"Then—?!"
"It is inevitability seized by human hands. Overcome every obstacle with mortal grit—like the pioneer thou once wert."
The girl who embraced every shadow, every vow to save the world, and still ran at the front—Rikka.
So long as her light burned, defeat was impossible.
"...I see."
Tesla closed his eyes, accepting all.
"We'll meet again in another form—Servants are like that. When thou dost, knock on paradise's gate and lend thy genius. Chaldea still has holes; that 'middle-aged virus' aired our digital laundry."
"—A rematch! With the great Nikola Tesla?!"
"If fate allows."
"Here they come, Gil."
The golden thunder dragon charged.
"Farewell. Die cleanly—thou who bore mankind's myth without losing reason."
—Oh, right…
"One thing bugged me. 'System Mythology: Mankind'—never heard the term."
The vessel asked the innocent question…!
"Fine!! I'll vanish proclaiming its meaning!! System Mythology: Mankind is—"
The thunder dragon's jaws closed.
"—A word I made up!!!"
In a flash, the lightning doctor was gone.
"Farewell, Captain ☆ Nicola. Altritium reigns supreme."
Cap lowered in salute.
Sparks, drift, hard stop.
Cigarette lit with a flick of Golden Bear-Lighter, smoke exhaled.
Sunglasses slid on from nowhere.
Together, they delivered the curtain call:
"Good night."
The golden road erupted in flames—Nikola Tesla's staircase, burned into legend.
Chaldea Control Room
"KYAAAA!! WE DID IT WE DID IT!! Rikka did it! Did you see?! My Rikka DID IT—!!"
"Calm down, Rikka-chan… You were basically Heracles tonight… Sorry for joking 'girl Heracles'… Heracles had parent issues too…"
"I love Rikka! I love her SO MUCH!! Even without knowing love, she wished happiness for us! She hurts, she cries, but never hates—Rikka I love youuu!! Darling loves her too, right?! RIGHT?!"
"Ouch-ouch-ouch YES I love her she's insane off-the-charts no myth has that orichalcum spirit!!"
"Cheating~~!! You said you love another girl~~!!"
"You're being completely unreasonable—!!"
"Keep shining, Rikka! I'll shower you in blessings! Oceans of happiness—hey Orion, should we gift her parents a plague or a boar?"
"Please don't sound dead serious, that's terrifying."
"sniff Rikka… Rikka…"
SweetS Jeanne Lifetime Free Pass
"Come anytime… I'll bake you sweets forever… I'll always be by your side… sniff…"
"We must protect… Rikka-tan's kindness, her nobility… 'Tis our duty…"
Drake's Top 100 Nudes
"What're you muttering, kid? …Heh, wanna learn how to fleece bastards blind? Everything they own."
(No parental bond… huh. Never thought I'd find common ground like this.)
"Something wrong, Doc?"
"Worried?"
"No… just, maternal love is one thing I can't teach."
""?""
"Natural is best for Rikka-kun. Her mental data proves it. Limit disclosure to trusted allies only."
Ultra-Premium Sweets Assortment
"Finally a job for medical staff! I'll be her counselor—her heart won't shatter while we hold it!"
(Come home safe. No enemies here—only family.)
"Already charting mental rewards… Whoa?! This graph—'Rikka-kun is permanently relaxed AND hyped?!' That's beyond positive—she didn't break; she forged a soul that was crumbling into a blade reborn! Scars remain, but the steel will never snap!"
(A spirit this tempered at her age… The stress markers are impossible. 'Any normal heart would have shattered.' Who on earth saved you, Rikka? In what shape? From parents who never loved you—who?)
And the golden roads kept burning, lighting the way home.
----------------------------------
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