My Fates Codex in Type-Moon

"This truly puts me in a difficult position... I, Iskandar, am the world-renowned King of Conquerors."

"Fool. Under heaven and earth, I alone am the true King of Heroes. Everyone else is nothing more than a rabble of mongrels."

After casually delivering those words as though they were only natural, the golden Servant lost interest and stopped paying attention to Rider. Instead, he shifted his gaze toward the young man standing apart from the others in a loose kimono.

The killing intent that instantly filled the air shocked even Tokiomi Tohsaka, who was bound to Archer by contract.

"I believe I said not to let me find you?"

Golden ripples spread through the void, and sharp Noble Phantasms emerged from them. Their blades aimed at the golden-eyed young man's brow, throat, limbs, and heart.

Without another word, Archer waved his hand, and the Noble Phantasms behind him poured down like a torrential rain.

"Die, mongrel!"

Sabers, spears, swords, halberds, axes, battle-axes, hooks, and forks.

Without even the slightest attempt at probing, the Hero King, at the height of his pride and arrogance, waved his hand, sending a full thirty-two Noble Phantasms hurtling toward Sakutsuki.

It had to be known that, even when fighting Lancelot in the original story, Gilgamesh had never unleashed his treasury to such an extent.

Naturally, such an act and such a display stunned everyone else.

"To anger that arrogant fellow so badly, this kid called Sakutsuki must be far stronger than we imagined..." Iskandar, who had sparred with Sakutsuki before, stroked his chin thoughtfully.

"Is this really the time to worry about that, Rider?!" Webber nervously clutched at his coat hem. "What is with that Archer? What he threw out were Noble Phantasms, right? They had to be Noble Phantasms, right?!"

Meanwhile, the Saber group was also speaking in low voices.

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

Artoria watched the Noble Phantasms Archer had fired, then shook her head after a moment. "I'm sorry, Irisviel. I can only recognize a portion of them. Furthermore, these Noble Phantasms have no common origin. They even come from different civilizations."

"Yes. Out of those thirty-two Noble Phantasms, I only recognized Fragarach. Its aura also differs from the one I have seen before. It seems more primitive and pure."

Lancer naturally joined the conversation, and Saber did not find it strange. She nodded.

"I see. So the weapons Archer used are prototypes..."

Under normal circumstances, there could not be two identical Noble Phantasms in the world. The feats of Heroic Spirits were unique, and the Noble Phantasms elevated from those feats were likewise unique.

However, there were two exceptions. First, if two heroes had legends of wielding the same Noble Phantasm, they might carry identical Noble Phantasms when summoned into the world. Hercules was one example. He had once seized the belt of Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons. If Hercules and Hippolyta were summoned at the same time, Hercules, who bore the "Twelve Labors," and the belt's original owner would both possess the belt. They would be completely identical, even though Ares, the god of war who created it, had made only one.

Archer belonged to the other exception. He possessed the prototypes of every Noble Phantasm in the world. The Noble Phantasm he wielded, Gate of Babylon, was materialized from the legend that Archer had "collected all the treasures of mankind in the golden city of ancient Babylon" during his life. Since he was the oldest, the treasures and technology he had collected formed the foundation of human development. They were the "prototypes of human wisdom." As long as humanity created something new, the prototype of that new creation would appear within Gate of Babylon. In other words, the Noble Phantasms within Gate of Babylon were increasing every moment.

By the present day, thousands of years later, even Gilgamesh could no longer remember exactly how many treasures he possessed.

It was precisely because he possessed Gate of Babylon that Gilgamesh became one of the Golden Three Targets. No matter what kind of opponent he faced, he could produce a Noble Phantasm that countered them and easily secure victory—provided that this proud and arrogant king was serious.

"What an utterly unfair Servant." Diarmuid smiled bitterly. "If that kid does not summon his Servant soon, he will be in danger."

At those words, Artoria pressed her lips together and slowly nodded.

Although her Instinct had not warned her, she did not believe Sakutsuki could withstand such a bombardment.

Only a Servant could defeat another Servant—

That was the unchanging consensus of every Holy Grail War.

Or at least, it should have been... except that was nonsense!

"I am the bone of my sword."

The young man's murmur rang out through the grim air.

"He isn't using a Command Spell—he's chanting a spell!" Webber's expression changed drastically. "Is he insane?!"

"No!" Iskandar suddenly slapped the side of his chariot and widened his eyes. "He blocked it!"

Before the eyes of the Servants, seven pink petals unfolded layer by layer, transforming into a conceptual shield that stood against the rain of Noble Phantasms.

"That is the one belonging to Ajax, son of Telamon, from the Trojan War..." The knowledge granted to them by the Holy Grail allowed Lancer to recognize this famous Noble Phantasm at once.

That was why he could not suppress his amazement.

"Could that be the shield that stopped Hector's spear?!" The shockwaves from the Noble Phantasm barrage tossed her golden hair, yet Saber took a step forward, disbelief showing in her golden eyes. "How could he possess something like that? That shield should have already been destroyed!"

He was clearly a Master, clearly an ordinary human, yet the abilities he displayed shocked every Servant present.

As if sensing the astonishment around him, Sakutsuki's lips curled slightly as he slowly spoke the name of the flower shield—

"Rho Aias!"

Emiya's sole defensive armament, each petal was enough to rival the defensive strength of an ancient city wall.

Other than absurd scientific thermal weapons like armor-piercing shells, Rho Aias possessed enough defense to deal with most magecraft attacks. Even a coordinated volley of Noble Phantasms would require B-rank or even A-rank Noble Phantasms to break through it.

Unfortunately, no matter how furious Gilgamesh became, his arrogance would not permit him to attack with high-rank Noble Phantasms—such an act itself would be an insult to him.

Since when did dealing with a mere magus require me to sully the precious treasures in my treasury?

Sakutsuki could practically picture Golden Sparkle wearing that arrogant expression while saying something like that, and he could not help but smile.

Arrogance was the original sin, Golden Sparkle.

At that moment, Sakutsuki sensed an insect-like familiar inside his clothes suddenly stiffen before shattering and vanishing.

It was magecraft similar to a disposable transmitter. The insect's destruction meant... Kariya's side had finished preparing.

In that case!

Sakutsuki clenched his hand. The incomplete but still intact chrysanthemum shield slowly closed, blocking the last few Noble Phantasms before disappearing.

Looking toward Archer, whose face had twisted with rage, Sakutsuki gave him a carefree smile. Then he raised his left hand high and shouted:

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

"Who allowed you to call my name directly, mongrel?!"

Gilgamesh did not care in the slightest that his true name had been exposed. Instead, Sakutsuki's disrespect sent him into a towering rage. Just as he was about to unleash another wave of attacks, a black figure abruptly fell from the sky.

More accurately, it looked as though it had committed suicide by falling from high above.

"Bang!" With the dull impact of body striking ground, bright red blood splattered out before quickly dispersing into mana.

That phenomenon could only mean one thing—

"Another Servant!" Before Webber had even recovered from Archer's exposed true name, the Servant who had appeared in such a miserable manner shocked him again. "The class panel is... wh-what? That's impossible!"

As the only true Master among those present, Webber spoke hoarsely and revealed the Servant's class.

"Servant: Assassin!"

"Wasn't he already dead?!" Before Webber had finished speaking, Iskandar slapped a hand onto his shoulder. "Kid, didn't you say Archer killed Assassin?!"

"I-I don't know either!" Webber staggered from the blow and explained awkwardly, "The images relayed by my familiar could not have been wrong! Assassin was indeed pierced through the body by a Noble Phantasm and died! Unless..."

"Unless the scene captured by the familiar was fake, and this was merely a performance staged by Archer and Assassin's Masters." Sakutsuki's seemingly casual words enlightened everyone.

Lancer said solemnly, "So Archer and Assassin formed an alliance?"

"But Assassin's Master requested the Church's protection, and the Church agreed!" Irisviel said in confusion. "The Holy Church, acting as supervisor, should be able to detect the existence of a Servant!"

Sakutsuki, who had orchestrated all of this, merely smiled without speaking. He did not reveal that the Holy Church and Tokiomi Tohsaka had joined forces.

If he actively exposed that secret, Tokiomi Tohsaka's hostility would be fully focused on him.

In other words, he would draw all the aggro.

Preparations were still incomplete, and his goal had yet to be achieved. It was not time to overturn the table completely. As long as the alliance between Kirei Kotomine and Tokiomi Tohsaka was exposed, it would be enough to make the other Masters more vigilant and prevent them from being eliminated before Sakutsuki made his move.

Standing behind the others and trying to reduce his presence, the golden-eyed young man's eyes gleamed as he looked toward the figure slowly emerging behind Assassin.

As for the resentment from Assassin's exposed spying... naturally, someone else would bear it for him.

Black mist coiled around the knight in strange armor as he let out a roar. Under everyone's gaze, he revealed himself from the shadows.

"Berserker!"

Fragarach was indeed worthy of A-rank, but the issue was that the sword struck only after its target attacked first—in other words, simply throwing it out would not make it very powerful. This was written merely to show Gilgamesh carelessly tossing around Noble Phantasms.

Fifteen kilometers southeast of the increasingly chaotic Warehouse District.

Fuyuki Church lay shrouded in the quiet night, while a man in priestly robes sat in the darkness of the basement with his eyes tightly closed.

To an observer, Kirei Kotomine seemed to be meditating. But who could have imagined that his ears were currently hearing the roar of sea winds, while his eyes watched sparks fly from clashing metal?

However, the man was far from well. Cold sweat streamed down his temples, and his hands gripped the armrests so tightly that he nearly crushed the steel chair.

"Kirei? Kirei! Kirei Kotomine!"

An ancient phonograph sat on the table, complete with a traditionally shaped morning-glory horn. Yet the turntable and needle that should have been beneath the horn were absent. In their place stood an enormous gemstone supported by iron wires.

There was no doubt that this was a magical device modified through magecraft. In all of Fuyuki City, only the Tohsaka Estate possessed such expertise in using gemstones for resonant transmission.

Tokiomi Tohsaka's slightly anxious calls came from that brass speaker horn.

Stimulated by the outside voice, the man gave a muffled groan and finally opened his eyes.

"I'm fine, Master."

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

The troubled-looking man said, "Assassin was discovered. The one who discovered him was... Berserker."

Tokiomi Tohsaka said, "Ah..."

An eerie silence descended. The Assassin best at concealment had actually been caught by the Berserker with the least reason. The shock was no less than Lancelot, dressed in a dangerous beast costume, going after Mash...

No one could endure the humiliation of being killed by a pink furry rabbit.jpg

After taking a long time to compose himself, Tokiomi Tohsaka finally reacted. "Kirei, have you not released your shared senses?"

"Yes, Master," Kirei answered truthfully.

Shared senses—or rather, shared perception.

This was the result of Kirei's three years of training. He could share the sensory perception of a contracted target connected through Magic Circuits. In the Holy Grail War, this technique could completely monitor a Servant's movements from afar, making it extremely practical. If the Servant under one's command was an Assassin skilled in reconnaissance, it was even more useful.

Its only drawback was that it required the consent of the contractor—the person sharing the senses—to activate. Tokiomi himself, who had taught Kirei this skill, was currently being refused by Archer. To the proud and arrogant Hero King, even if the other party was his Master, being watched was an utterly unreasonable matter.

And Kirei, who remained connected to Assassin through shared senses, naturally endured the same agony as Assassin: having his limbs torn off by Berserker, being thrown down from high in the air, and smashing heavily into the ground.

An ordinary person would have simply died from such injuries. However, Assassin was a Servant and would not die. Yet because of that, the pain that surpassed death was more than even a battle-hardened Executor could bear.

"I see. You have worked hard, Kirei." Tokiomi Tohsaka's tone softened. "Then get some proper rest. I will personally monitor the battle in the Warehouse District."

"Thank you, Master."

Kirei Kotomine ended the communication and slowly closed his eyes.

The instant his vision fell into darkness, the lingering terror, pain, and despair swallowed the priest like a black tide.

Under emotions powerful enough to drive anyone mad, Kirei Kotomine's face was no longer troubled. Instead, the corners of his mouth lifted slightly.

He was smiling.

After ending the communication, Tokiomi Tohsaka rubbed his brow and could not help sighing.

The Warehouse District now contained six Servants in total: Saber, Lancer, Rider, Archer, Berserker, and Assassin. This was a scale never seen in previous Holy Grail Wars.

Six heroic figures from different eras, each with a different personality, had gathered in one place. There was no telling how chaotic the situation would become.

If he sent a familiar there now, there would inevitably be a period without intelligence. By then, he would not be able to react in time at all.

Even worse, the alliance had been exposed, and Assassin had been thrown before Gilgamesh... Was Berserker's Master trying to make Archer hesitate to act?

But with that king's personality...

Warehouse District

Under the astonished gazes of everyone present, the surging mana gradually solidified and took shape, becoming a tall, slender shadow—yes, that bizarre appearance could only be described with the word "shadow."