Fate: Hero of Justice Takeover

Swords, spears, sabre, halberds, and axes.

Without any unnecessary probing, the heroic spirit at the height of his arrogance waved his hand, sending out thirty-two noble phantasms, flying toward the new moon.

It should be noted that in the original work, during his battle with Lancelot, Gilgamesh did not release his treasure vault to such an extent.

And this action, this display of power, undoubtedly brought astonishment to others.

"To make such an arrogant guy so furious, this 'Sakatsuki' kid's strength must be beyond imagination..."

Iskandar, who had sparred with Sakatsuki, stroked his chin, deep in thought.

"Is this really the time to be worried about that, Rider?"

Waver nervously tugged at his cloak.

"What's going on with that Archer? Those must be noble phantasms, right? They must be!"

Meanwhile, the Saber faction was also whispering among themselves.

"Saber, can you recognize Archer's true name?"

Irisviel asked softly.

Artoria watched the noble phantasms fired by Archer and shook her head after a moment.

"I'm sorry, Irisviel. I can only recognize some of the noble phantasms, and these do not have any particular directionality. They even come from different civilizations."

"Yes, among the thirty-two noble phantasms, I only recognized Fragarach, Gouging Sword of the War God, but its aura is different from what I've seen before. It seems more primitive and pure."

Lancer naturally joined the conversation, and Saber nodded, acknowledging the point.

"I see. So, Archer is using the original weapons from their respective legends..."

Normally, there wouldn't be two identical noble phantasms in the world, because the deeds of heroic spirits are unique, and the noble phantasms derived from them are also one of a kind.

But there are two exceptions. First, if two heroes have a shared legend involving the same noble phantasm, they might both possess it when summoned. For example, Heracles once took the War god's Military Sash, of the Queen of Treacher, Hippolyta. When both Hercules and Hippolyta are summoned, the one carrying the Sash could be either the hero or its original owner, and the Sash remains identical, even though it was originally crafted by the God of War.

Archer's case is different. He possesses the original versions of all noble phantasms in existence. His noble phantasm, "Gate of Babylon," is the result of Archer's life of collecting all the treasures of humanity and storing them in ancient Babylon. As the oldest, these treasures and techniques represent the foundation of human development and the "originals of human wisdom." Whenever humanity creates something new, its prototype appears in the Gate of Babylon. This means that the noble phantasms in the Gate of Babylon are constantly increasing.

Even after a millennium, Gilgamesh can no longer remember how many treasures he has.

And because of the "Gate of Babylon," Gilgamesh is known as one of the "Golden Three Targets." No matter what opponent he faces, he can always pull out a noble phantasm that counters them, ensuring an easy victory—provided, of course, that the proud king is serious.

"Truly a cheating heroic spirit."

Diarmuid said with a bitter smile.

"That kid will be in danger if he doesn't summon a Servant soon."

Hearing this, Artoria pursed her lips and slowly nodded.

Although her intuition hadn't warned her, she didn't think Sakatsuki could withstand such a bombardment.

Only Servants can defeat Servants—

This has been the unchanging consensus in every Holy Grail War.

Or rather, it should be... but that's not the case!

"I am the bone of my sword."

In the deadly atmosphere, the youth whispered.

"He's not using a command spell; he's casting a spell!"

Waver's face changed dramatically.

"Has he gone mad?"

"No!"

Iskandar slapped the chariot, his eyes widening.

"He blocked it!"

Under the watchful eyes of all the heroic spirits, seven pink petals slowly unfolded, forming a shield of concepts that blocked the oncoming storm of noble phantasms.

"That's the shield of Aias, son of Telamon from the Trojan War…"

Lancer, with the knowledge granted by the Holy Grail, immediately recognized the famous noble phantasm.

It was precisely because of this that he couldn't help but gasp in awe.

"Could it be the shield that blocked Hector's spear?!"

The shockwaves from the noble phantasm impact blew through her golden hair, but Saber stepped forward, her golden eyes showing some disbelief.

"How does he have something like that? That shield should have been destroyed!"

A Master, clearly a mere mortal, but the abilities on display were enough to leave all the heroic spirits stunned.

Sensing the shock of those around him, Sakatsuki slightly curled his lips and slowly spoke the name of the shield—

"Rho Aias, The Seven Rings that Cover the Burning Heaven!"

The only defensive equipment Emiya was skilled at using, each petal was as strong as an ancient city wall in terms of defence.

Excluding unreasonable Anti-Armament projectiles and other advanced scientific weapons, Rho Aias' defence was sufficient to withstand most magical attacks. Even a full barrage of noble phantasms would require B-rank or even A-rank noble phantasms to break through.

Unfortunately, no matter how angry Gilgamesh became, his arrogance wouldn't allow him to use high-ranked noble phantasms to attack—such an act would be an insult to him.

When did a mere magus warrant the use of precious treasures from my vault?

Sakatsuki couldn't help but laugh, imagining Gilgamesh's arrogant expression when uttering such words.

Arrogance is the original sin, Gilgamesh.

At that moment, Sakatsuki sensed a familiar magical energy—one of his insect-like familiars suddenly stiffened, then shattered and vanished.

This was a one-time communication spell, meaning... that the preparations on Kariya's side were complete.

In that case!

Sakatsuki clenched his hand, slowly retracting the broken but still intact shield. After blocking the final few noble phantasms, it disappeared from view.

He glanced at Archer, whose face was twisted in fury, and gave a carefree smile. Then, raising his left hand, he shouted aloud.

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

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

Gilgamesh didn't care that his true name had been exposed, instead raging because of Sakatsuki's disrespect. Just as he was about to launch another attack, a shadow suddenly fell from the sky.

More precisely, it looked like it had fallen from a great height as if it were committing suicide.

Bang!

The dull sound of impact echoed as the body collided with the ground, sending splashes of bright red blood, which quickly dissipated as mana.

This could only mean one thing—

"Another Servant!"

Before they had recovered from Archer's true name being revealed, Waver was once again shocked by the Servant's dramatic entrance.

"What... What?! This can't be!"

As the only true Master present, Waver rasped out the Servant's class.

"Servant... Assassin!"

"He's already dead!"

Before Waver could finish his words, Iskandar slapped him on the shoulder.

"Boy, didn't you say Archer killed Assassin?"

"I... I don't know!"

Waver staggered, struggling to explain.

"The familiar's visions can't be wrong! Assassin was indeed pierced through by a noble phantasm and died! Unless..."

"Unless the vision captured by the familiar was fake, and this is just a show staged by Archer and Assassin's Masters."

Sakatsuki's seemingly casual words woke everyone up.

Lancer said gravely.

"So, Archer and Assassin have allied?"

"But Assassin's Master sought refuge from the church, and the church agreed!"

Irisviel asked in confusion.

"The Holy Church, which is in charge of overseeing, should have detected the presence of the Servants!"

The mastermind behind it all, Sakatsuki, smiled without answering, keeping the alliance between the church and Tokiomi a secret.

Revealing that secret prematurely would cause all the animosity to focus solely on him.

In other words, it would be a full-blown enmity.

His preparations were not yet complete, and his goals had not been achieved. It wasn't time to flip the table just yet. Revealing the alliance between Kirei and Tokiomi would be enough to make the other Masters wary, preventing them from retreating before Sakatsuki took action.

Standing behind the others, trying to minimize his presence, the youth's golden eyes shimmered as he watched the figure slowly emerge behind Assassin.

As for the grudge exposed by the spying Assassin... well, someone else would take the blame.

Black mist enveloped a knight clad in eerie armour, who roared as he revealed himself from the shadows.

"Berserker!"

***

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