067, A Beautiful Ending

"Gilgamesh... our objective is the Lesser Grail. While Lancer holds them off..."

"Shut up, Kirei." Gilgamesh immediately rebuked him. "I do not need you to tell me what I should do."

Though his words were exceedingly domineering...

Just as everyone assumed Gilgamesh would go after Rimuru, the red eyes that had been tightly fixed on Rimuru swiftly locked onto the others once more!

Everyone froze, their hearts sinking.

Gilgamesh was an exceedingly self-centered king, prone to acting willfully when angered or carried away, but that did not mean he would not heed his retainers' advice.

He understood perfectly well—

The Lesser Grail was his objective. There was no need to rush into fighting Rimuru; after all, Lancer could not possibly be Rimuru's match. Besides, seizing the Lesser Grail would make Rimuru and the others suffer even more, and the enemy's suffering... would please him.

"Saber, protect Illya. Give me two minutes." Rimuru's voice came as he tangled with Lancer, pressing forward step by step and suppressing him almost completely one-sidedly. "Now that you have sufficient mana after changing Masters, surely you will not disappoint me?!"

"..." Saber gripped her sword tightly. After silently glancing toward Rimuru, she stepped in front of everyone—

"Hmph..." Gilgamesh watched the scene and faintly curled his lips. "Yo, Saber... I truly am... growing fonder of you by the moment."

On the other side, Lancer revealed a somewhat helpless expression. "Two minutes, huh... Looks like I have been underestimated."

"I have not underestimated you, Child of Light." Rimuru smiled lightly. "More precisely, those two minutes are actually my sign of respect for you."

"Oh?"

"Because of your orders, you did not fully release your Noble Phantasm last time, did you?" Rimuru calmly raised his head. His golden eyes were tranquil and unruffled, his unconcerned appearance