A dazzling fireball kept expanding between the two of them. Yet though this place could have killed an ordinary person on the spot, the two responsible for it merely smiled at each other, letting the raging wind buffet their bodies.
"What's wrong, Enkidu? Are you holding back because of your Master?"
Gilgamesh stood in the sky, looking down at Enkidu on the ground, and laughed aloud.
"Ah, I was only just summoned, and you already came looking for me, Gil. It would be rather rude to go too far."
Enkidu gathered up his hair and smiled at Gilgamesh, who stood above him in golden armor. Then he held out his hand.
"But it looks like my Master really is a powerful person."
His words piqued Gilgamesh's interest. The oldest king in the world turned to look in Li Ke's direction. His red, serpentine eyes narrowed, and his hand instinctively tightened around his sword as he brought forth the Noble Phantasm that could cleave heaven and earth.
But before using that world-destroying treasure, he first made use of another ability.
Star of Omniscience and Omnipotence, a skill that let him see the truth of all things, and even the future.
Ordinarily, he would deliberately shut this skill off for the sake of amusement. But the moment he sensed Enkidu, eager to reunite with his friend, he had forgotten about it.
And he had unleashed an attack equal to his friend's.
So, after using that equally fearsome Noble Phantasm, he relaxed. A smile touched the corner of his mouth, and he turned his gaze back to his friend.
"Just as I'd expect of you, Enkidu. You actually managed to meet someone like this... mongrel... It looks like this so-called Holy Grail War will come to nothing."
At that moment, Gilgamesh had no doubt that this Holy Grail War would ever take place as intended. The moment Enkidu's Master joined the battle, the so-called Third Magic and the magi's supposed long-cherished wish had all become boring.
Or rather, utterly meaningless.
To face Enkidu with a Master like that, he would have to go all out. As for the Heroic Spirits of other eras, they were nothing before them.
"Though this will damage the natural world, Gil, I haven't seen you like this in a long time!"
Enkidu's fighting spirit continued to surge. Heroic Spirit Summoning was fascinating: summon the same person in a different way, and the result would be different.
You could summon someone in their innocent, ignorant childhood, full of goodwill toward the world and endless potential. You could summon them as a driven, energetic young adult, or as a middle-aged person who had accepted reality but kept striving all the same. Or you could summon them in old age, having seen through everything and returned to simplicity.
Their state of mind, class, thoughts, and ideals could all differ, and so could their appearance, Noble Phantasms, and abilities!
The wonder of Heroic Spirits lay in meeting people from history and battling them in the eras when they were most compelling. It was about having heroes fight other heroes at their peak, showing everything they had in their strongest forms and deciding who was the most powerful, clever, and tenacious. That was the beauty of the Holy Grail War!
Everything else was just an accessory, mere window dressing!
And the Gilgamesh before him was precisely the one Enkidu most wanted to fight: the Gilgamesh of the era when he ignored the advice of gods and men alike and stubbornly did as he pleased—the tyrant!
This battle was a reenactment of myth!
Enkidu knew full well that his Master didn't care about the Holy Grail. A mere Holy Grail couldn't fulfill the wish of someone like him, and the burning will he carried represented something far beyond the feeble wishes of magi!
Besides, one look was all it took for Enkidu to know that he and Li Ke would make excellent companions!
"Master, sorry for the trouble. I'm going to use all my strength."
Enkidu reached out to Li Ke through the bond between Master and Heroic Spirit and made his request.
Li Ke didn't hesitate. The moment he saw the explosions, he forgot his fear and everything else. An unfamiliar thrill stirred in his heart.
"Of course! Enkidu! Can I join in?!"
Li Ke had no idea how extraordinary it was for a Master to join a Heroic Spirit's battle, but—
"Oh dear, I'm sorry, Master, but I'll have to disobey you. My fight with Gil is mine. If you join in... Gil will get angry."
Enkidu smiled as he turned him down. A feeling of disappointment rose in Li Ke's heart, then quickly subsided as he sensed other Heroic Spirits arriving.
His hands trembled slightly, but he couldn't stop a smile from spreading across his face.
"Then make sure you don't lose."
As his words fell, vast quantities of magical energy poured into Enkidu's body. The nine Magic Circuits inside Li Ke worked constantly, turning his immense life force into magical energy and granting him power beyond that of an ordinary person.
Scathach stood beside Li Ke, watching the magical energy radiating from him. She fell silent for a moment. But Li Ke didn't notice at all; his eyes were fixed on the battlefield.
"Understood, Master. I'll do my best, but please get away from this mountainous area... The map here is about to change."
After speaking, Enkidu used Li Ke's magical energy to launch an attack on Gilgamesh across the land—
Over an area several thousand meters wide, golden points of light welled up from the ground. Buds emerged from them, each one containing violent magical energy. Seeing this, Gilgamesh laughed and spread his arms wide. Countless golden portals appeared in the sky, completely covering half of it!
At the Tohsaka Residence, Tokiomi Tohsaka dropped to his knees. He raised a trembling hand and stared at the Command Spell on it.
He had simply forgotten to cut off the magical energy supply to Gilgamesh, yet the life force inside him had nearly been drained in an instant!
Even so, he could see the golden ripples spreading across the sky and feel the violent magical energy in the wilderness far away.
The magi's habit of keeping their activities secret made him want to persuade Gilgamesh to come back. But it was obvious that Gilgamesh wouldn't obey him now, so he placed all his hopes in the Command Spell.
However, the moment he activated it, countless points of light fell from the sky, while countless others shot up from the earth. Thunderous explosions erupted across the sky and the ground.
A rumble like muffled thunder rolled through the sky. Raging golden flames lit it up, and blasts of hot air spread in every direction. The storm stirred up by the surging magical energy was even strong enough to shift the clouds overhead.
All of Fuyuki City could see the scene, as if it had been attacked by a rocket force. Some of the older residents even recalled being bombed by the American military and screamed in terror.
That was what a Heroic Spirit was like. Their attacks were no more than a greeting, yet everyone else thought a war had begun!
Faced with the enormous disturbance, people were at a loss. Some stared blankly at the explosions blazing across the sky and the slopes of Mount Enzo gradually collapsing under the barrage. Terrified, they tried to flee their homes, rushing out into the streets in panic.
That was why Enkidu had taken Li Ke into the wilderness the moment he sensed Gilgamesh. Once the two of them started fighting, the land itself would change.
If they fought in the city, the casualties would be enormous!
But the two combatants knew perfectly well that this battle was nothing more than a game between friends. If they truly wanted to defeat each other, there was only one way!
"Hahahaha!!! Enkidu!!"
Gilgamesh kept summoning his treasures, and at some point a sword like a massive cylinder appeared in his hand!
His armor had long since shattered. Red patterns wound across his bare upper body.
Tokiomi Tohsaka's magical energy supply was of course no help to him. But his other Noble Phantasm, the Gate of Babylon, contained the original models of countless achievements of human ingenuity.
Put simply, his treasury held every treasure from across the ages. Even an atomic bomb would be inside it, so long as it was recognized as a treasure!
That was the enhancement Heroic Spirits received: the more widely known they were, the more powerful they could become!
And so, at that moment, Gilgamesh used the Holy Grail—which magi participating in the war considered the ultimate prize—to supply his magical energy!
Enkidu, meanwhile, spent the magical energy Li Ke sent him without restraint. He could feel that the more he used his Master's energy, the more vigorous and healthy his Master's body became!
It felt so wonderful!
Being able to do whatever he wanted without worrying about dragging anyone else down, and watching his Master grow stronger with his own eyes...
It felt so wonderful!
"I never thought we'd be able to continue our old battle like this, comparing our abilities... This is wonderful, Gil. I'm going all out!"
Seeing the red light that still shone brilliantly amid the sea of golden points, Enkidu knew his friend had finally brought out his full strength. So he unleashed his own power as well.
Thinking of his new companion, Enkidu called Gilgamesh's name!
"Gil!!"
Their Noble Phantasms appeared once more!
Golden and red lightning gathered rapidly in the atmosphere. All of Fuyuki City trembled, and a typhoon formed from the vortex of magical energy began to spread above them, bringing the natural disaster Japan feared most to this place!
Red and golden light churned with a heavy, immense presence. To make their attacks even more resolute and powerful, both of them revealed a seriousness beyond compare.
Gilgamesh held Ea and looked at Enkidu, reciting the origin of the sword in his hand.
"Recite the primordial beginning, the moment of creation. Even the void offered its congratulations. With my Ea, I cleave the world; fortune sweeps across it. What are called heaven and hell are, in truth, the end of the night before creation..."
Violent magical energy gathered around him, transforming the sky into a scene straight out of hell!
Enkidu was just as resolute. Looking at Gilgamesh, he spoke slowly.
"What I reveal here is the breath of the stars. I will walk alongside all people..."
Countless flowers bloomed around Enkidu. The golden light was the manifestation of life!
And then, in the next instant!
"Enuma Elish!!!"
"O people, bind the gods! Enuma Elish!!!"
This time, the result was completely different from before. The instant the two unleashed their Noble Phantasms, Scathach stepped in front of Li Ke and extended her hand. Countless Rune symbols appeared at once as she tried to fend off the shock waves from their attacks.
The violent impact produced an effect like a nuclear explosion, only far more destructive.
The waters of the Mion River were flung into the sky, while more than half of Mount Enzo was shaved away in an instant. From the space station in orbit, the typhoon clouds and the reddish glow of the explosions were unmistakable!
An unprecedented force crashed into the land of the island nation, triggering a chain reaction in the already unstable earth and sky.
A violent typhoon took shape, and the ground beneath their feet began to shake from the impact! An earthquake erupted as well.
Even several small volcanoes erupted beneath the sea, making the waters churn even more violently!
But—
"By the Command Spell, I beseech you! Hero King, cease your hunt for now!"
Tokiomi Tohsaka used a Command Spell to issue what he called an admonition. In that instant, Gilgamesh's body stiffened.
It couldn't make Gilgamesh, who was fighting at full strength, return to Tokiomi Tohsaka. But that brief interruption stopped the flow of Gilgamesh's magical energy for an instant.
In that brief instant, the golden light overwhelmed the red torrent. After tearing it apart, the golden torrent curved around Gilgamesh, surged into the sky, and tore through a patch of the planet's atmosphere.
But it wasn't because he had held back. Even if that attack had struck Gilgamesh directly, it wouldn't have posed a fatal threat to him once he got serious. Besides, that wasn't what his Master wanted.
Still, it was highly unusual for Gilgamesh to act so strangely.
So Enkidu looked at Gilgamesh, whose rage had twisted his handsome face beyond recognition, and asked him:
"What's wrong, Gil? Is something the matter?"
Gilgamesh had been about to curse, but when he looked at Enkidu, his anger eased a little. Even so, anyone of sound mind could see his towering fury.
"I've merely had the misfortune of encountering an insolent, lawless rogue who doesn't understand the value of a king's reward, yet dares to call himself my subject! Enkidu, let's settle our duel after we've eliminated the other meddlers... It seems this so-called Holy Grail is nothing but a pointless game, apart from letting you and me meet again!"
He glanced at the exposed Greater Grail, snorted, then slowly vanished into points of light, returning to punish his subject.
His mood was truly foul. And because he had lost face in front of his friend, he couldn't even catch up with him! Someone would have to pay for his anger!
Far away, in the Holy Church, which was responsible for dealing with the disturbances caused by the Holy Grail War, Kotomine Kirei watched the scene that looked like a nuclear blast. Holding the phone he used to contact the officials in one hand, he turned to his astonished father and asked:
"Are we still going to explain this one as a gas explosion?"
Before you continue