My Fates Codex in Type-Moon

"This is quite troublesome… I, Iskandar, am known throughout the world as the King of Conquerors."

"Foolish wretch. Heaven and Earth acknowledge only me, the true King of Heroes. All others are merely a rabble of mongrels."

With that statement delivered in a tone of absolute self-assurance, the golden Heroic Spirit lost interest in Rider and shifted his gaze. His blood-red, vertical pupils fixed upon the young man in loose, traditional Japanese clothing, standing apart from the others.

The killing intent that instantly permeated the air caused even Tokiomi Tohsaka, bound by contract to Archer, to gasp in astonishment.

"Did I not say, do not let me find you?"

Golden ripples spread through the void, revealing gleaming Noble Phantasms. Their blades pointed towards the golden-eyed youth's forehead, throat, limbs, and heart.

Without any further words, Archer waved his hand, and the Noble Phantasms behind him rained down like a torrential downpour.

"Die, mongrel!"

Swords, spears, sabers, halberds, axes, mallets, hooks, and sickles.

Without even a preliminary probe, the King of Heroes, in the prime of his arrogant youth, swung his hand, unleashing a full thirty-two Noble Phantasms towards Sakutsuki.

It's worth noting that in the original story, Gilgamesh had never unleashed his treasury to such an extent even when fighting Lancelot.

This action, this display of power, undoubtedly drew the astonishment of the others.

"To provoke such an arrogant fellow to this degree, that boy named 'Sakutsuki' must possess power beyond imagination…" Iskandar, who had sparred with Sakutsuki before, mused, stroking his chin thoughtfully.

"Is this the time to be concerned about that, Rider!" Waver grabbed his sleeve anxiously. "What's with that Archer? Those are Noble Phantasms he's throwing, aren't they? They must be Noble Phantasms!"

Meanwhile, the Saber team was also exchanging hushed words.

"Saber, can you recognize Archer's true name?" Irisviel asked softly.

Artoria gazed at the Noble Phantasms Archer had unleashed, then shook her head after a moment. "I'm sorry, Irisviel, I can only recognize some of them, and these Noble Phantasms don't seem to have any specific targets. They even seem to originate from different civilizations."

"Yes, out of the thirty-two Noble Phantasms, I only recognized Fragarach (The Reverse of the Sword), and its aura is different from what I've seen before. It feels more primal and pure."

Lancer naturally interjected into the conversation, and Saber didn't find it odd, nodding in agreement.

"I see, so Archer is using the original forms of the weapons…"

Under normal circumstances, no two Noble Phantasms in the world would be identical, as the deeds of Heroic Spirits were unique, and the Noble Phantasms that sublimated from them were also one of a kind.

However, there were two exceptions. First, if two heroes shared legends of using the same Noble Phantasm, they might manifest with identical ones. Take Hercules as an example; he once took Hippolyta's girdle. When Hercules and Hippolyta were summoned simultaneously, Hercules, bearing the "Twelve Labors," and the girdle's original owner both possessed the same girdle, even though the god of war, Hephaestus, who crafted it, only made one.

Archer's situation falls under the second exception: he possesses the original forms of all Noble Phantasms in the world. His Noble Phantasm, "Gates of Babylon," is the materialization of Archer's legend of "having collected all treasures of the human world and stored them in the golden capital of ancient Babylon." Because it is the oldest, his collection of treasures and technologies serves as the foundation of human development, the "original forms of human wisdom." As long as humanity creates something new, the prototype of that new thing will appear in the Gates of Babylon, meaning the Noble Phantasms within the Gates of Babylon are constantly increasing.

By the present day, a thousand years later, even Gilgamesh himself could no longer recall how many treasures he possessed.

It was precisely because of possessing the "Gates of Babylon" that Gilgamesh became one of the "Golden Three Targets," as he could produce a Noble Phantasm to counter any opponent, thus easily achieving victory—provided that this arrogant king was in a serious state.

"He's truly a broken Heroic Spirit," Diarmuid said with a wry smile. "If that boy doesn't summon his Servant soon, he's probably in danger."

Upon hearing this, Artoria pursed her lips and slowly nodded.

Although her intuition gave no warning, she didn't believe Sakutsuki could withstand such an onslaught.

Only Servants can defeat Servants—

This was the unchanging consensus of every Holy Grail War.

It should be like that… but it's not!

"I am the bone of my sword."

The youth's low murmur echoed through the chilling air.

"He's not using a Command Spell, he's chanting a magic incantation!" Waver's expression changed drastically. "Is he insane!"

"No!" Iskandar slammed his hand on the chariot seat, his eyes widening. "He blocked it!"

Under the gaze of all the Heroic Spirits, seven pink petals unfurled layer by layer, transforming into a conceptual shield that stood before the rain of Noble Phantasms.

"That's from the Trojan War, the shield of Telamonian Ajax…" The knowledge bestowed by the Holy Grail allowed Lancer to immediately recognize this famous Noble Phantasm.

It was precisely because of this that he couldn't suppress his astonishment.

"Could that be the shield that blocked Hector's spear?!" The shockwave from the Noble Phantasm barrage ruffled Saber's golden hair, but she stepped forward, a flicker of disbelief in her golden eyes. "How does he possess something like that? That shield should have been destroyed!"

Despite being a Master, a mere mortal, the abilities he displayed stunned all the Heroic Spirits.

As if sensing the shock of those around him, Sakutsuki's lips curled slightly as he slowly revealed the name of this shield of flowers—

"Rho Aias!"

Emiya's only proficient defensive armament, each petal capable of matching the defensive power of ancient city walls.

Excluding unreasonable armor-piercing rounds and other scientific weaponry, Rho Aias's defense was sufficient to counter most magical attacks. Even a full volley of Noble Phantasms would require B-rank or even A-rank Noble Phantasms to break through its defense.

Unfortunately, no matter how enraged Gilgamesh became, his pride would not allow him to use high-rank Noble Phantasms for an attack—such an action would be an insult to him.

When did it become necessary to sully the precious artifacts in my treasury to deal with a mere magus?

Sakutsuki could imagine Gilgamesh saying such words with his usual arrogant expression and couldn't help but smile.

Pride is the original sin, Gilgamesh.

Just then, Sakutsuki sensed a bug-like familiar within his clothes stiffen, then shatter and disappear.

This was a magic akin to a disposable transmitter. The shattering of the bug meant… Kariya was ready.

If that's the case!

Sakutsuki clenched his fist, and the incomplete but still functional chrysanthemum shield slowly retracted, disappearing after blocking the last few Noble Phantasms.

Looking at Archer, whose face was contorted with rage, Sakutsuki gave an indifferent smile. He then raised his left hand and shouted:

"King of Heroes, Gilgamesh, your opponent is not me!"

"Who gave you permission to call me by my name, mongrel!"

Gilgamesh didn't care that his true name had been exposed. Instead, he became furious at Sakutsuki's disrespect. Just as he was about to launch his next attack, a dark shadow suddenly descended from the sky.

To be precise, it fell from a great height as if committing suicide.

"Bang!" With a dull thud as his body hit the ground, bright red blood splattered out, quickly dissipating into mana.

This phenomenon could only mean one thing—

"Another Servant!" Still recovering from Archer's true name being revealed, Waver was shocked by the Servant who appeared in such a pathetic manner. "The class panel is... Wh-what? This is impossible!"

As the only true Master present, Waver, with a hoarse voice, revealed the Servant's class:

"Servant, Assassin!"

"Didn't he already die?" Before Waver could finish speaking, Iskandar slapped his shoulder. "Kid, didn't you say Archer killed Assassin!"

"I, I don't know either!" Waver stumbled from the blow and explained in a flustered manner, "The images fed back by the familiars wouldn't be wrong! Assassin was indeed pierced through the body by a Noble Phantasm and died! Unless..."

"Unless the scene captured by the familiars was fake, and this was just a play staged by Archer and Assassin's Masters," Sakutsuki's seemingly casual remark enlightened everyone.

Lancer said in a deep voice, "So, Archer and Assassin have formed an alliance?"

"But Assassin requested asylum from the Church, and the Church agreed!" Irisviel asked in confusion. "The Holy Church, acting as the supervisor, should have been able to detect the Servant's presence!"

Sakutsuki, who orchestrated all of this, smiled without saying anything, not revealing the alliance between the Holy Church and Tokiomi Tohsaka.

If he were to expose this secret, all of Tokiomi Tohsaka's animosity would be directed at him.

In other words, he would be drawing a lot of hatred.

His preparations were not yet complete, and his objectives had not been achieved. It wasn't time to completely flip the table. Exposing the fact that Kirei Kotomine and Tokiomi Tohsaka were allied was enough to make the other Masters vigilant and prevent them from withdrawing before Sakutsuki made his move.

Standing behind everyone, trying to minimize his presence, the young man's golden eyes flickered as he looked at the figure slowly emerging from behind Assassin.

As for the hatred of the peeping Assassin being exposed... someone else would naturally bear it for him.

Black mist swirled, and the knight clad in bizarre armor roared, revealing his form within the shadows under everyone's gaze.

"Berserker!"

The rank of the Sword of Unreturning could indeed be considered A-rank, but the problem was that this sword arrived later. That is to say, if it were simply thrown out, its power would not be great. It was written this way to prove that Gilgamesh was carelessly throwing Noble Phantasms.

Fifteen kilometers southeast of the increasingly chaotic warehouse district.

The Fuyuki Church was shrouded in the quiet night. A robed man sat in the darkness of the basement, his eyes closed.

To outsiders, Kirei Kotomine seemed to be meditating. But who would have thought that his ears were currently listening to the howling of the sea breeze, and his eyes were watching the sparks of clashing metal?

However, the man was not in good condition at the moment. Cold sweat beaded on his forehead, and his hands were tightly gripping the armrests, almost crushing the steel pipe chair.

"Kirei? Kirei! Kirei Kotomine!"

On the table was an old phonograph with a traditionally styled morning glory horn, but the turntable and needle that should have been below the horn were missing. In their place was a large gem supported by iron wire.

There was no doubt that this was a magical artifact modified by magecraft, and in all of Fuyuki City, only the Tohsaka family possessed such skill to use gems for resonant transmission.

Tokiomi Tohsaka's slightly anxious voice was coming from the brass speaker horn.

Stimulated by the external sound, the man grunted and finally opened his eyes.

"I'm fine, Teacher."

"Phew, that's good," Tokiomi Tohsaka's relieved voice came from the horn. "What happened, Kirei?"

The man, with a pained expression, said, "Assassin was discovered. The one who discovered him was... Berserker."

Tokiomi Tohsaka: "Ah..."

An eerie silence descended. Assassin, the most skilled in stealth, was caught by Berserker, who lacked the most reason. Such a shock was no less than Lancelot, wearing a dangerous beast costume, finding Mashu...

No one can bear the humiliation of being killed by a pink fluffy bunny.jpg

After taking a deep breath, Tokiomi Tohsaka finally reacted, "Kirei, hasn't your empathy been dispelled?"

"Yes, Teacher," Kirei replied truthfully.

Empathy, or rather, shared perception.

This was the result of Kirei's three years of training, allowing the contracted partner whose magic circuits were connected to share the perception of their sensory organs. In the Holy Grail War, this technique was highly practical as it allowed for complete monitoring of a Servant's actions from a long distance. If the Servant under one's command was Assassin, who was skilled in reconnaissance, it would be even more advantageous.

The only drawback was that this ability could only be exercised with the consent of the contractor, that is, the object of shared perception. Tokiomi himself, who passed this skill to Kirei, was now being refused by Archer. To the arrogant King of Heroes, peeking at him was an utterly unreasonable act, even if the other party was his Master.

And Kirei, who was sharing empathy with Assassin, naturally, like Assassin, endured the pain of having his limbs torn off by Berserker, being thrown from a high altitude, and then crashing heavily onto the ground.

If an ordinary person suffered such injuries, they would only die. However, Assassin was a Servant and would not die. But because of this, the pain that surpassed death was unbearable even for the seasoned Executor.

"I see, you've worked hard, Kirei," Tokiomi Tohsaka's tone softened. "Then get some good rest. I'll personally monitor the battle in the warehouse district."

"Thank you, Teacher."

Kirei Kotomine ended the communication and slowly closed his eyes.

The moment his vision plunged into darkness, residual terror, pain, and despair washed over the priest like a black tide.

Under emotions that could drive a person mad, Kirei Kotomine's expression was no longer troubled, but rather, the corners of his mouth turned up slightly.

He was smiling.

After ending the communication, Tokiomi Tohsaka rubbed his brow and couldn't help but sigh.

The warehouse district now had Saber, Lancer, Rider, Archer, Berserker, and Assassin – a total of six Heroic Spirits gathered. This was a scale never before seen in previous Holy Grail Wars.

Six heroes and powerful individuals from different eras and with different personalities were gathered together. He wondered how chaotic things would become.

If he dispatched familiars now, there would inevitably be a period of intelligence gap, leaving him no time to react promptly.

What was even more vexing was that the matter of their alliance had also been exposed, and Assassin had been thrown before Gilgamesh... Was Berserker's Master trying to make Archer hesitate?

However, given that King's personality...

Warehouse District

Under the astonished gazes of everyone present, the churning magical energy gradually solidified, forming a tall, slender figure—yes, that unusual appearance could only be described as a "shadow."