King of Heroes in Marvel and multiverse

"That's enough. I am the one and only Gilgamesh—any other is nothing but a fraud."

Gilgamesh's brows twitched violently, his irritation spilling over without the slightest attempt at restraint.

Then he raised his hand and waved it.

In the next instant, the air behind him warped into dozens of golden ripples.

Weapons emerged—and were fired indiscriminately.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

Without hesitation, Arthur responded just as naturally.

As if he were merely repeating a familiar gesture.

His own Gate of Babylon opened, with multiple golden ripples appearing around him.

"I've completely lost interest in pretending to be someone else. What a terrible plan." Arthur muttered in disgust.

His weapons fired, perfectly intercepting every projectile launched by Gilgamesh.

Metal clashed against metal as explosions echoed across the area.

The impact of their attacks was devastating.

Within a radius of 250 meters, everything was reduced to rubble.

Even so, two areas remained untouched.

The streetlamp where Gilgamesh stood—and the spot where Arthur, Artoria, and Irisviel were.

As if both had, consciously or not, defined a battlefield between them.

Iskandar did not attempt to block the attacks.

With a firm pull on the reins, his divine chariot surged forward, dodging the rain of weapons with astonishing precision.

He soared into the sky at high speed, escaping the first wave with mastery.

The second came immediately after—denser and far more aggressive.

Even so, he broke through, paying only the small price of having a corner of his red cloak torn.

"What a terrifying number of Noble Phantasms!"

Even amid the chaos, Iskandar still found time to comment, clearly impressed.

Waver, clinging to the chariot as if his life depended on it—and it did—was on the verge of collapse.

"I'm going to die… I'm definitely going to die…"

His eyes were wide.

For a moment, he swore he saw his late great-grandmother waving at him.

But fortunately, it was just a hallucination… or perhaps not.

---xXx---

"Thank you, Arthur."

Irisviel leaned slightly closer, carefully examining him for any signs of injury.

Finding none, she let out a sigh of relief.

Artoria also relaxed—if only slightly.

For a brief moment, she had almost revealed herself to protect them—but Arthur had acted first.

Shielding them both from Archer's Noble Phantasm with his own, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

To Artoria, that felt… strange.

The sensation of being protected, of not having to carry everything alone—of, for a moment, setting aside the burden of being a king and simply trusting someone—was something she had never experienced before.

And precisely because of that, it was impossible to ignore.

"We need to have a proper conversation about your true identity." Artoria said to him.

Arthur, in turn, simply rotated his wrist slightly, dispersing the last golden ripples around him.

"I'll answer all your questions once we're done here." Arthur replied.

At the moment when Gilgamesh, Arthur, and Iskandar stood in a tense stalemate, Kiritsugu's calm voice echoed in Arthur's ear through the communicator.

{"It seems Saber's Master was watching everything and is now planning to retreat. Maiya and I are keeping an eye on the Assassin."}

"I see… Iri, summon Berserker."

Arthur spoke without even turning his head, keeping his full attention on the battlefield.

"Understood."

Irisviel nodded softly and immediately extended her hand toward her own shadow.

For a moment, the shadows at her feet shifted—and a female figure slowly emerged from the darkness.

She had long white hair and wore light armor along with a Hannya mask, whose demonic smile contrasted with the absolute silence of her presence.

She held a massive two-handed sword.

"Berserker?"

Iskandar frowned.

"Boy, how strong is she?"

He patted Waver's head as he asked, studying the newcomer with great interest.

"I don't know… There's no way to tell."

Waver shook his head quickly.

Iskandar clicked his tongue—but then his pupils shrank.

Below, still standing atop the shattered streetlamp, Gilgamesh pulled something from his treasury.

"Who gave you permission to stand above me?"

Gilgamesh's voice echoed, filled with contempt.

"Get down here!"

Instead of targeting Berserker, who had just entered the battlefield, Gilgamesh—now thoroughly fed up—aimed directly at Iskandar.

The sword in his hand began to spin.

A crimson spiral opened—and then a massive wave of energy was unleashed toward Iskandar.

Seeing that, Iskandar had no choice.

He grabbed Waver instantly and leapt off the chariot.

The next second, his chariot was completely annihilated.

Reduced to dust by a single attack.

The two sacred bulls died before they could even unleash their full power.

Boom!

Iskandar landed heavily on the ground, still holding Waver in his arms.

But in the blink of an eye, he summoned another chariot.

It was smaller and less imposing than the previous one.

Still, it was clearly no ordinary vehicle.

This was merely a practical measure.

Iskandar needed maximum mobility—and Waver needed to survive.

"Rider… you can put me down now."

Waver said, completely pale.

"Ah, sorry."

Iskandar set him down and scratched his head with a carefree smile, as if nothing particularly serious had happened.

Nearby, when Arthur saw that Gilgamesh had actually drawn Ea, his expression finally became more serious.

After all, no one present understood the true power of Ea better than he—and Gilgamesh himself.

"This situation is getting quite bad…"

Iskandar commented, watching the crimson energy begin to gather.

Elsewhere—

Tokiomi Tohsaka, who was monitoring everything remotely, reached the exact same conclusion.

Gilgamesh's greatest trump card had been revealed far too early.

Even someone as confident as Tokiomi was taken aback.

But then, something unexpected happened.

Berserker charged directly toward Gilgamesh.

Gilgamesh smiled.

A smile filled with disdain.

To a mere "rabid dog" that dared to appear before him, simply witnessing the power of Ea was already an honor beyond what it deserved.

Gilgamesh raised his hand slightly—and dozens, no, hundreds of golden ripples appeared behind him.

The Gate of Babylon opened fully.

Countless Noble Phantasms were unleashed.

The golden rain was not aimed solely at Berserker.

It also fell upon Arthur, upon Iskandar, and upon anyone present.

Gilgamesh could understand why the so-called Lancer claiming to be him, and Iskandar—two figures he already considered beneath him—could partially withstand the Gate of Babylon.

But this… made no sense.

What was wrong with that rabid dog down there?

All he could see was Berserker blocking each sword, one after another, with ease.

Every Noble Phantasm fired was intercepted as if she knew the exact timing and angle of every attack.

The sword Ea in Gilgamesh's hand began to tremble restlessly.

The crimson spiral expanded further, and an overwhelming amount of energy began to concentrate at the center of the vortex.

I have been offended repeatedly by this group—Gilgamesh's patience finally ran out.

The attack that had destroyed Iskandar's chariot earlier had been nothing more than a casual gesture.

Now would be different.

Now he would be serious.

"It is time for this farce to end…"

Gilgamesh raised Ea above his head.

"EA—this place has become a stage worthy of you."

"I feel a bit embarrassed admitting that I used to be like this… anything would irritate me." Arthur let out a low, almost imperceptible sigh.

"Should I act now?" Artoria asked.

"No. I'll handle this myself." Arthur replied without hesitation.

"Why?" Confusion filled Artoria's eyes.

"Because I need someone to protect Iri while I deal with my younger, more irresponsible self." He turned his gaze to her. "Trust me."

"Arthur…"

Irisviel placed a hand over her chest, clearly worried. Still, seeing his unwavering determination, she took a deep breath and spoke firmly:

"Artie, let's trust him."

"…Alright." Artoria replied, though not without resistance.

Her fingers moved, almost instinctively summoning Rhongomyniad—but she stopped.

She didn't want to stay behind.

She didn't want to merely watch.

She wanted to fight beside him—to share that burden.

Even so, she stepped back—because he asked her to.

"Move back, Artie and Iri. Things are about to get chaotic."

Above Arthur, a golden ripple opened.

From within it, a sword identical to Gilgamesh's emerged.

Its form did not correspond to what would normally be called a sword.

It was something that existed before that concept.

Something that existed before the very idea of a "blade" took shape in the world.

Though it had a hilt and guard, and the length of a longsword, its "blade" was not a blade.

It was a cylindrical pillar—edgeless and without a tip.

Three segments formed its structure, slowly rotating in opposite directions.

Inscribed with crimson characters, the rings rotated against each other—the central segment spinning clockwise, while the other two turned in the opposite direction.

The greatest and most reliable treasure of them both.

EA: The Sword of Rupture.

"Two can play this game, Goldie." Arthur said as he raised EA above his head.

On the other side, Gilgamesh watched him, his scarlet eyes fixed on Ea.

"It seems you truly can stand against me." Gilgamesh said.

There was satisfaction in his voice.

As if, at last, he had found something worthy of his attention.

---xXx---

"Oioioi~ Those two are insane!"

Even Iskandar, who rarely faltered, couldn't help but comment.

"Rider! Let's get out of here! Those two are crazy!"

Waver practically screamed, clinging to him in desperation.

"Are you kidding me?!"

Iskandar replied, giving him a strong slap on the shoulder.

"How could I—the King of Conquerors—simply run away from this?!"

Then Iskandar smiled.

"Listen carefully. This is not a retreat."

He pulled the reins.

"It's merely a tactical withdrawal, understand?"

"Yes! A tactical withdrawal!"

Waver nodded frantically, with no dignity left whatsoever.

"Hold on tight, Master!"

Boom—

A blue bolt of lightning descended from the sky, enveloping them—and both vanished as if they had never been there.

---xXx---

Iskandar's retreat drew no attention from Arthur or Gilgamesh.

Both were completely focused on each other.

At that very moment, Gilgamesh's smile froze.

"Tokiomi… do you truly believe you can order me to retreat with something like this?"

His expression changed instantly.

The crimson energy forming around Ea dissipated.

"Are you mocking me?"

The anger in his eyes was sudden.

...

Two and a half minutes earlier—

At the Tohsaka residence—

Tokiomi Tohsaka, in communication with Kirei Kotomine, frowned deeply.

Gilgamesh's reckless behavior…

Was gradually slipping completely out of control.

---

(End of Chapter)

While I was browsing for information about the arc, I ended up discovering that both Gilles de Rais Caster and Zouken Matou have a rather large fanbase.

Now I can't complain anymore about the famous misinformed fanboys of our beloved Gil.