It was a brilliant light that could only be unleashed when one bore the hopes of an entire era's people, and a dreamy young girl thus bore the shackles of an entire era.
"Oh, that overly grand ideal in her heart! Only the tears she shed at her death were the sweetest!" The King of Heroes spoke with such self-satisfaction.
"Hmph, I really can't stand you, the oldest king of Babylon!" Rider's gaze was serious as he looked at Gilgamesh.
"Oh? Have you finally realized it?" Gilgamesh chuckled, thinking that at least one Servant had seen his glory.
"So, shall we resort to force now? Hmm?"
"Haha! While that would be a good idea, if my opponent is you, I don't have the strength for it right now!"
Rider said his current shortcomings without a care, then continued, "Of course, if you don't want to miss the opportunity and want to fight now, I'd be happy to oblige!"
"No matter, Rider, just run away for now! I wouldn't be content if I didn't defeat you in your full state!"
"Is it because of the damage caused by that mad dog?" Rider suddenly asked, having long noticed that the King of Heroes was not as unharmed as he appeared, still having sustained injuries in his battle with Berserker.
Gilgamesh fell silent, staring at him with killing intent. "...You're truly humorless, Rider!" The killing intent in his words was clear.
"Hmph! We'll settle this next time! The outcome of our fight will determine the victory of this battlefield!" Rider declared, driving his chariot away. For him, even if he admired Lancer or disdained Saber, in his heart, his true opponent was probably only the King of Heroes.
Gilgamesh said nothing more and didn't stop him, because for Gilgamesh, that recently dazzling Heroic Spirit was actually more of his concern. Gazing at Saber, the King of Heroes' thoughts drifted back to a distant past... A time when heaven and earth were still one, a time when Gilgamesh ruled all. There was a man, created by the gods, who knew no bounds, who angered the gods, and thus, his life was taken by them.
Before he vanished, he was in tears. Why was he crying? The King of Heroes asked, confused. Was he finally regretting it?
No, it wasn't like that—
After I die, who else will understand you, who else will walk with you? When I think of you living on alone, I can't help but cry!
He said so.
He took his last breath, and only then did the King of Heroes understand that this man's way of life, a human who dared to transcend humanity, was more precious than all of his collections!
...His consciousness returned to the present, and the King of Heroes couldn't help but think of that guy, Ryougi Raku, who also tried to transcend everything. In this regard, their ways of life were so similar... "...But, for me, the only one in the world who understood me, my only friend, was you!" The golden light disappeared, but the King of Heroes' thoughts gradually drifted away... Kirei Kotomine walked silently on the road, the police cars and fire trucks roaring past him unnoticed.
The reason he came here was to help his master, Tokiomi Tohsaka. He also naturally saw Kariya Matou, who was fleeing.
Kariya Matou, scorched by the flames, eventually fell unconscious, but Kirei Kotomine did not kill him. Archer and Ryougi Raku's words always echoed in his mind, leaving him unsure of what to do.
Kariya Matou's injuries were severe. When Kirei Kotomine intended to treat them with emergency magic, he discovered that his wounds were mysteriously healing, with no magical fluctuations whatsoever. Kirei Kotomine was perplexed by this power, but he didn't think much of it, simply taking the unconscious Kariya Matou to the Matou family's doorstep... This act could be said to be a complete betrayal of Tokiomi Tohsaka, saving his master's enemy.
On his way back, Kirei Kotomine became even more confused, unsure of what to do. The heaviness in his heart made him exhausted. He now felt that perhaps, talking to his father and speaking his true feelings, even if it might disappoint him, might also bring him new insights.
Thinking this, he quickened his pace, heading towards the small chapel... Kirei Kotomine was mentally exhausted, but for Risei Kotomine, it was a double exhaustion of body and mind. Caster's actions had caused too much trouble, and as the supervisor of the Holy Grail War, he had the right and obligation to resolve the consequences of this matter.
He was indeed busy, so busy that he didn't notice the figure approaching in the shadows of the church... Ryougi Raku spent this entire night doing many things to prepare for the future. Now, he was about to do one last thing...
"Risei Kotomine? The supervisor of the Holy Grail War?" A soft voice floated into Risei Kotomine's ear.
"Who!" Risei Kotomine was startled. For him, being old, he couldn't handle such a fright.
"You are..." He turned his head and saw Ryougi Raku standing silently behind him, but he didn't say his name.
"Didn't you already know?" With a false smile, Ryougi Raku spoke very softly.
But for Risei Kotomine, it brought a cold sweat to his brow. He naturally knew Ryougi Raku's information; this guy's way of thinking was too strange, and Risei Kotomine simply couldn't understand it. Now that he had come here, what was he here for?
"God is fair, isn't he?" Ryougi Raku suddenly asked.
"Naturally, if you faithfully believe in God, God will naturally grant you glory!" Risei Kotomine didn't know what Ryougi Raku meant, but this answer came out naturally.
Ryougi Raku took a few light steps, his footsteps echoing in the church, making the silent church, illuminated by candlelight, eerily quiet... "If you do something wrong, you should be punished, right?" Ryougi Raku's question was still nonsensical.
Risei Kotomine frowned, not understanding his meaning, but still nodded in response.
Ryougi Raku's eyes suddenly turned cold. "Then, as the supervisor, you, who should be fair, selfishly helped the Tohsaka family. You have violated God's teachings!"
"You..." Risei Kotomine retreated a few steps in horror. He didn't know how Ryougi Raku knew such things!
Ryougi Raku pressed on, continuing, "God has no time to deal with you now. So, how about I, on behalf of God, punish you?"
This blasphemous statement made Risei Kotomine furious. He was indeed a devout believer, and his previous panic had vanished. Just as he was about to speak righteously, he suddenly felt a pain in his body. The pain wasn't great, but he could feel the strength and life in his body gradually fading, and he even lost the strength to speak... "...The punishment I can inflict is to grant you a painless death!" Silently drawing the small katana named Oni Cry, Risei Kotomine's body fell, and just as he said, his single strike did not cause Risei Kotomine any struggle or pain... He simply vanished so easily... The knife wound made it easy to know who did it, but Ryougi Raku didn't care. Since he did it, he should bear all the consequences. Framing someone was only necessary when the benefits were great enough.
Since Risei Kotomine did not properly fulfill his responsibilities, then in this war, he should have been prepared to be exposed for his sordidness and die... Because this was war, and people always die in war... Squatting down, he pulled up Risei Kotomine's sleeve, and with a casual swipe, blood-red flames erupted, burning silently.
Ryougi Raku easily obtained Risei Kotomine's methods of concealing Command Spells and transplanting Command Spells. The power of this origin was indeed powerful, the power to analyze all things... Following the method, Ryougi Raku transplanted all those Command Spells onto his arm... The dense Command Spells looked eerie and full of mystery.
These Command Spells were not to be used on Lancer, or even on the current Servants. Ryougi Raku felt an unseen force telling him that these Command Spells would be useful in the future.
And the more powerful a person was, the more they believed in their own unknown premonitions.
With the task completed, Ryougi Raku stood up and left the dimly lit church without looking back...
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(˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶) ‹ (TL : More Chapters @patreon.com/c/Gooberilla)