"A lot of unexpected things happened."
After Red Hare carried Feng Xi away from the docks, Zhang Jue revealed himself and cast an illusion on Red Hare again.
"Yes."
The appearance of Heroic Spirit Kiritsugu and Lord El-Melloi II had indeed been beyond his expectations.
Now this Fourth Holy Grail War was going to get interesting.
"Damn it, that mongrel..."
Meanwhile, Gilgamesh had already returned to the Tohsaka Family residence and begun treating his severed arm.
Although he did not know healing magecraft, his treasury contained plenty of magical potions.
He took the severed limb the Gymnastics Troupe had brought back, attached it to his arm, and applied a magical potion. His arm soon returned to normal.
There was no denying that Gilgamesh had plenty of good stuff.
"Whoosh!"
Once he had recovered, the first thing Gilgamesh did was kill the Hassan clone who had brought back his severed arm with a single sword strike.
"Hmph. A rat who can only hide in the darkness dares to touch this king's arm?"
As he spoke, he kept wiping his arm with a handkerchief, as though something disgusting had gotten on it.
Tokiomi Tohsaka said, "Your Majesty, what should we do next?"
"Tokiomi, put those petty schemes away."
Gilgamesh snorted and took two treasure chests from his treasury, one gold and one bronze.
He had never opened a treasure chest, because he felt that no matter how good the contents were, they would be of little use to him.
However, after what had just happened, Gilgamesh had changed his mind slightly.
It seemed treasure chests could yield interesting things.
"Ding! Congratulations to group member King of Heroes on obtaining 'Mystic Code - Unarmed Shinji-kun'!" "Ding! Congratulations to group member King of Heroes on obtaining 'Heroic Spirit Summoning Card - Chaldea Version'!"
"Were those fellows summoned using this?"
Gilgamesh tossed the Mystic Code straight to Tokiomi Tohsaka, then picked up the summoning card and examined it.
"Is this... that boy from the Matou Family?"
Looking at the Mystic Code's contents, Tokiomi Tohsaka soon recognized the person in the picture.
Still, the thing in the picture looked more like a figurine.
Curious, he activated the Mystic Code, and a chibi Shinji doll with an oversized head appeared in his hand.
Its ability was to gulp down a vicious, bright-red stew in one go...
What use was that effect?
"Little girl, you can use this."
Just then, Gilgamesh tossed the Heroic Spirit Summoning Card straight to Loli Rin.
"Huh? You're giving it to me?!"
Loli Rin looked utterly bewildered, and very suspicious too.
Would this arrogant Chuunibyou Gilgamesh really be so kind?
"Hmph. Do not try to fathom this king with your shallow mind."
Gilgamesh could naturally tell what Loli Rin was thinking, and snorted.
The main reason he gave the summoning card to Loli Rin was that he could not use it himself.
Heroic Spirits could not summon Servants. After all, the summoning card was not the Holy Grail.
He did not give it to Tokiomi Tohsaka because Gilgamesh thought nothing of him.
He gave it to Rin Tohsaka because he wanted the girl to return to her true nature.
A Rin Tohsaka who did not bicker with him was no fun at all.
"Hmph, don't regret it."
After learning what the summoning card did, Loli Rin finally gained some confidence.
Ever since this Chuunibyou Gilgamesh had arrived last night, her days had been anything but pleasant.
Not only did she have to behave obediently in front of Gilgamesh, but her own father had also forbidden her from speaking. She felt ready to burst.
"Use!"
Loli Rin immediately used the summoning card, worried that Gilgamesh might change his mind in a moment.
She completely forgot about a catalyst.
The summoning card turned into white light and vanished, and a summoning circle appeared out of thin air in the hall.
Please, let it be a Heroic Spirit who can deal with this Chuunibyou Gilgamesh!
Loli Rin kept repeating those words in her mind.
All she wanted now was a powerful Servant, so she would no longer have to walk on eggshells around Gilgamesh.
"Oh, you want to deal with that fellow Gilgamesh?"
As though she had heard Loli Rin's thoughts, a woman's voice rang out in her mind.
But why did that voice sound so familiar?
It seemed to be her own voice.
"Although I have no interest in the Holy Grail or anything like that, since you want to deal with Gilgamesh, this goddess will lend you a hand."
Then the summoning circle blazed with light, and a figure familiar to everyone present appeared.
That face and those twin tails-wasn't she a grown-up Rin Tohsaka?
Except this "Rin Tohsaka" was dressed revealingly, wearing nothing but a bikini, and was sitting on a strange object that resembled a bow.
"The goddess Ishtar has answered your summons."
This "Rin Tohsaka" said haughtily, "You must properly revere me, the goddess of beauty who rules over Venus, and who also rules over harvests, battle, destruction..."
Chapter 31: Divine Servant
(Ishtar)
"All right, shut up."
Gilgamesh cut off Ishtar's unfinished introduction and snorted. "I wondered who this girl would summon. To think it would be you, you useless goddess."
"What?! Damn you, Gilgamesh!"
Ishtar immediately jumped down from the celestial boat Maanna, pointed at Gilgamesh, and declared aggressively, "This goddess descended here to finish you off! Accept your death!"
"Ha, you?"
Gilgamesh smiled disdainfully, and the Chains of Heaven immediately shot out, trussing Ishtar up.
"Ah! If you've got any guts, don't use that thing!"
Unable to break free, Ishtar stamped her feet in fury.
There was no helping it. The Chains of Heaven were practically the bane of gods; the higher one's divinity, the harder they were to escape.
"But why did you descend in this form?"
Gilgamesh studied Ishtar curiously and asked in puzzlement, "And your personality seems to have changed quite a bit."
"The old you would probably have attacked the moment you saw me. You would even have summoned that stinking bull of yours to help."
Ishtar said irritably, "What I'm like is none of your business."
"..."
Off to the side, Loli Rin was already looking utterly dumbfounded.
At first, she had been stunned by Ishtar's appearance. Then, when she heard that this was a goddess, she had been absolutely delighted.
Since she was a goddess, surely she would be stronger than this Chuunibyou Gilgamesh?
And this goddess even looked exactly like her. Wouldn't that be the same as defeating Gilgamesh herself?
Unfortunately, reality dealt her a heavy blow.
This Goddess of Venus had actually lost so easily.
In fact, if they really fought, Gilgamesh could not have won so easily, even with the Chains of Heaven.
The main reason was that Rin Tohsaka's consciousness inside Ishtar was at work, making Ishtar reluctant to fight in the Tohsaka Family residence, so she had not put up much resistance.
Otherwise, Ishtar's Bull of Heaven alone could have razed this place to the ground.
"This is... a Pseudo-Servant!"
Standing off to the side, Tokiomi Tohsaka quickly understood Ishtar's situation.