"—Then, this time, We shall truly make you Ours!"
"...What did you just say, you wretched cur?"
At Gilgamesh's words, I could not help but doubt my own ears. What nonsense was he spewing?
Stunned for a moment by the sheer audacity of his claim, I felt the blood rush to my head as the weight of his words sank in.
My mind is shielded, a vessel where Mad Enhancement should find no purchase, and yet—in this singular moment, I felt as though I could truly descend into madness.
I was ready to lose myself, to lung forward and tear the throat out of the Golden King standing before me, but a hand reached out to steady me.
It was Artoria. With the hand not currently gripping her blade, she took mine firmly.
"Do not let yourself be swayed by such shallow provocations, Eli. I shall never, under any circumstance, belong to the likes of him."
"...."
Beholding the gentle, firm smile Artoria offered me, my own anger softened into a reciprocal grin. I raised her hand and pressed a lingering kiss upon her knuckles.
Softly.
"—Eh...?"
"I know. I believe you, of course."
"...Hngh!"
Artoria's face flushed a deep crimson at my words. Watching her reaction with a small smile, I then turned my gaze back toward Gilgamesh.
"—Onore! Onore, onore, onore, onore! How dare you... how dare you lay hands upon We's Saber!"
"You have it wrong, Gilgamesh. Artoria is not your Saber—"
I leaned in, pressing a sudden kiss to her cheek.
"She is mine."
"....!!!"
At my sudden declaration and the accompanying kiss, Artoria's face went from mere blush to a radiant, burning crimson, as though the sun itself had taken residence there.
I curled the corner of my lip upward in a mocking smirk. Seeing this, Gilgamesh's eyes bulged with a fury so pure it seemed as though they might burst. He roared with a voice that shook the very air.
"Onoreeeeeee! That insolent spirit that dared touch what belongs to Us! I shall erase every trace of you, down to the last shard of bone! I shall— Cough!"
The King of Heroes, his veins bulging with wrath, suddenly doubled over, clutching the deep, jagged laceration upon his chest and groaning in agony.
Even with the treasures within his vault, it seemed the wound I had dealt him was not so easily mended. The injury was far more grave than I had initially hoped.
Yet, even as his face contorted in pain, his ominous red eyes never left me, burning with a murderous intent.
Behind him, countless golden ripples began to manifest. They multiplied, shimmering in the air like a tide of celestial gold.
Both Artoria and I tightened our grips on our blades, watching those ripples intently, bracing for the inevitable storm of Noble Phantasms that could be unleashed at any heartbeat.
But as the second round was poised to begin, a voice that did not belong to any of us cut through the tension.
"—My word. You are a sight for sore eyes, Gilgamesh."
Every head turned toward the source of the interruption.
Standing there was a man garbed in the vestments of a priest. Gilgamesh narrowed his eyes slightly as he recognized the newcomer.
"—I did not expect you to show yourself here, Kotomine."
"If he is Kotomine... then is he the Overseer of this Holy Grail War?"
"Indeed. That would be me, Einzbern."
The priest nodded in response to Illyasviel, who had spoken as if recognizing his name from her records.
"Allow me to introduce myself formally. I am Kirei Kotomine, the Overseer dispatched by the Holy Church for this Grail War."
"I knew that already. More importantly, you—what is your relationship with that Servant?"
Illya's voice was thick with suspicion. Kotomine offered a simple nod.
"Indeed. In the Fourth Holy Grail War, that Servant's Master was my mentor. We are... old acquaintances, let us say."
"Then dispose of that Servant immediately! Because of him, Sella and Liz are...!"
Recalling her lost friends and maids, the victims of Gilgamesh's cruelty, Illya gritted her teeth in a silent rage, turning once more to glare at the golden king.
As the attention of the group shifted back toward Gilgamesh, Kirei began to walk toward Illyasviel.
Step, step.
"Yes. That would be the logical conclusion. However, Master of Einzbern... my purpose is—"
Thwack.
A sickening, wet sound of tearing flesh echoed through the clearing. My head whipped toward the sound, and my eyes widened in sheer disbelief at the sight before me.
Through the very center of Illyasviel's chest, a hand emerged—clutching a heart that pulsed with a fading rhythm.
"—Wha...?"
"The Lesser Grail."
Schlick.
As Kirei withdrew his blood-stained hand, Illya's small frame collapsed, crumbling like a marionette with its strings cut. I found my voice and let out a desperate cry.
"—Illyaaaaaa!!"
"—Master!"
I lunged forward with a murderous intent directed at the man who dared harm her, while Medea unleashed a barrage of magecraft at Kirei.
"—Useless!"
"—Gilgamesh!"
However, the spells never reached Kirei. They were intercepted by defensive Noble Phantasms that surged from the golden ripples of the Gate.
In the blink of an eye, Gilgamesh had moved to Kirei's side, clutching his own Master, Matou Shinji, by the scruff of the neck.
While we were pinned down by the relentless bombardment of treasures, Gilgamesh summoned Vimana. The golden vessel descended from the heavens, and with Kirei and Shinji aboard, it soared back into the sky.
I stared up at them, my teeth grinding together in a white-hot fury. From the prow of the golden barge, Gilgamesh looked down upon me with those crimson, mocking eyes.
"We shall withdraw for now, having attained Our goal... but the next time our paths cross, We shall sever that insolent pride of yours along with that life—as hollow and fragile as a doll's."
"GILGAMESH!!!!!!!!!"
Realizing his 'doll' was none other than the dying Illya, I roared his name, but the golden ship callously vanished into the horizon.
I watched the vessel fade into the distant sky before collapsing to my knees beside Illya's fallen form.
In that place, there was no victory—only the bitter chill of defeat and the suffocating silence of a Master lost.