C86

"What exactly happened in Fuyuki City?" The captain of the Self-Defense Fleet stood on the deck, gazing at the distant mountains through his binoculars.

Since receiving the orders, the captain had been leading his fleet toward Fuyuki City. Intelligence reports indicated that a giant, similar to those of mythological tales, had emerged there. The captain initially believed that the individuals with superhuman abilities in the country were causing chaos and thus he brought weapons to restore order. Yet, he couldn't shake off a sense of unease.

As an ordinary naval officer, the captain was aware of the existence of mysterious powers, albeit to a limited extent. He knew that those who possessed these powers were typically high-ranking individuals, who wouldn't readily unleash them, such as his superior, Admiral Muto. This pattern was not unique to Japan but was prevalent in other countries as well.

Humans who possess mysterious powers occupy high positions and hold substantial influence, with some non-human entities even infiltrating the upper echelons of some nations and exerting significant control.

This is the reality of the world. Nevertheless, his superior had once informed him that even those with mysterious powers tend to avoid using them in public. Most individuals who possess such abilities prefer to live in solitude, devoting themselves to pursuing the mysteries.

The captain understood the information but found his superior's words to be cryptic and philosophical in nature. Nevertheless, from what he was told, individuals who possess mysterious powers were unlikely to take drastic actions or make moves that would have a significant impact.

However, what was the cause of the current situation? The entire Miyama city district was in ruins, with towering black smoke and a blazing sea of fire visible to the naked eye. The captain was at a loss, unable to comprehend the events unfolding before him.

He furrowed his brow, contemplating the giant from the intelligence reports and the black hole in the sky. Just then, a soldier exclaimed, "What in the world is that?"

The captain looked up and saw a golden and black light entwined, appearing like a meteor streaking across the night sky.

In the next instant,

The meteor slammed into the distant ocean.

"Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom----!!!!"

A thunderous roar echoed, causing the sea to explode and massive waves to rise. The warship, thousands of miles away, was nearly capsized by the heavy waves.

"Enemy attack! Enemy attack!"

The captain yelled. "Fire air-to-air missiles! Launch air-to-air missiles!"

"Negative, Captain! The opponent's movement speed is too high, we can't get a lock on them!" the soldier reported back.

"What! What happened to the air force? Where did they go?" the captain demanded.

"Captain, all fighter jets dispatched to Miyama have lost communication..." the soldier reported.

"Oh my God! What are they...what are they trying to do?" the captain muttered to himself.

The soldier was unsure of whom the captain referred to as "they," but he didn't dare to inquire further.

"Set a course for Fuyuki City immediately and stand by!" the captain commanded.

"Yes, sir!"

...

Two beams of light shot through the night sky, accompanied by loud, explosive sounds.

The black mud war machine, powered by sixteen small magic propulsion engines that emit intense magical energy with Shirou as its magical furnace, was in hot pursuit of Gilgamesh's Vimana.

The Vimana, a sky warship from Indian mythology, was fueled by a solar crystal and burned mercury as fuel. It defied the laws of physics, traveling at speeds faster than thought and outstripping modern jet planes. Equipped with a range of weapons, including ancient nuclear warheads, the Vimana posed a formidable threat.

At that moment, the Vimana was engulfed in a golden light, and a barrage of bright, shining Noble Phantasms was fired at Shirou.

"Ssssss!!!"

With a flick of his mind, Shirou's black wings transformed into two massive hands that swept forward, devouring the incoming Noble Phantasm.

The weaker Noble Phantasms were immediately consumed by the curse, while the stronger ones that broke through the mud defense were blocked by the shield that Shirou had copied from Gilgamesh.

At the same time, he also projected countless swords and shot them toward Gilgamesh.

In response, Gilgamesh erected numerous shields to block the sword barrage, while also drawing Ea and gathering magical energy. But to his surprise, the delicate, shining shields were suddenly swallowed by the mud and crumbled to ashes in the wind. It turned out that these swords were not just projections from Shirou, but also mud swords that cursed and polluted the shields.

"I won't give you a chance to release Ea!" Shirou declared with determination in his eyes. By exploiting the properties of mud, as long as he kept Gilgamesh suppressed and prevented the release of Ea, he could win.

"Tsk!" Gilgamesh growled in anger, forced to temporarily abandon his plans to release Ea.

He activated Vimana's weapons system, unleashing magical bullets that rained down like machine gun fire. But Shirou was not afraid, projecting numerous shields while manipulating the black mud to split into countless hands that reached out to grab Vimana.

Gilgamesh wielded the controller, directing the magical bullets at mud's grasping hands to prevent capture. Meanwhile, he opened the ammunition chamber and fired an ancient warhead directly at Shirou.

Despite the ancient warhead being only Noble Phantasm-level, not the real deal, Shirou did not dare face it head-on before gauging its power. Instead, he manipulated the black mud to form a massive fist from the war machine platform, using it to strike the warhead towards the distant sea surface.

"Boom boom boom boom boom!!!"

The impact echoed with a series of booms, causing the waves to become turbulent and the seawater to surge. The force of the blow was enough to send shockwaves through the ocean.

Shirou estimated the warhead's power to be around the level of an A-rank Noble Phantasm's Broken Phantasm, which was within his acceptable range.

When the Vimana once again released the ancient warhead, Shirou quickly acted and shot out a large mass of black mud, wrapping it up.

"Rumble, rumble, rumble!!"

The sky lit up with dazzling fireworks.

The shattered mud transformed into dust and merged back into the evil mud.

Gilgamesh furrowed his brow. Such a limited attack against the infinite, a tangible attack against the intangible, was foolish from the start. But he couldn't deny that he was now at a disadvantage.

His only option was -

He gazed at the Sword of Rupture in his hand.

"Should I unleash Ea?"

Gilgamesh fired off dozens of Noble Phantasms.

"It's no use. No matter how many times you do it, it's futile. I am now your natural enemy!"

The wings once again formed the hands of mud, clutching those Noble Phantasms.

Just as it was about to curse and consume them -

"Rumble, rumble, rumble!!"

The Noble Phantasms exploded, blasting the mud hand away!

"You detonated your Noble Phantasms?" Shirou was stunned.

"Hmph! To have forced me to this extent, you scum have reason to be proud!" Gilgamesh said contemptuously before infusing magical energy, ready to unleash Ea.

"Don't even think about it!" Shirou yelled as the mud wings transformed into a machine gun, firing black bullets at Gilgamesh's shield. Shirou waited for the erosion to open and used [Projection] to penetrate it with his sword.

However--

"Boom boom boom boom----!"

Gilgamesh detonated the shield, clouding Shirou's vision with smoke. In the next instant, dozens of swords aimed for Shirou.

Anticipating this familiar trick, Shirou intended to deflect them with the mud giant hands, but before they could make contact with the Noble Phantasms, Gilgamesh detonated them.

"Boom boom boom boom----!!!!!!"

The continuous explosions, like a beautiful fireworks display, illuminated the dark sky.

The detonation of dozens of high-level Noble Phantasms created a disturbance of magical energy, causing Shirou's black war machine to lose stability.

At that moment, the king, who was fixated on acquiring treasures, mercilessly transformed them into bombs and targeted Shirou with them. The sole purpose of this shocking act was to buy time and gain the chance to unleash his Ea.

The king's seriousness was beyond doubt.

"I can do this as well!" Shirou yelled, ready to project a sword.

In the distance, amidst the smoke, a crimson light flickered, indicating the accumulation of tremendous magical energy. A massive wind, sharp as a blade, began to rip through the fabric of space.

Shirou's eyes narrowed. "Not good!"

"For a mongrel like you to push me to this extent is commendable, but in the end, you can only go so far!" The king standing atop the Vimana, wielding the Sword of Rupture, pointed at Shirou and declared, "Mortar of the stars, split the heavens and the earth!"

The wind howled as the king unleashed his Ea. The light from the Sword of Rupture blazed like a scarlet sun, slicing through the air and tearing apart the earth. The wind pressure from the strike became a spatial fracture, crushing Shirou with the force of the sun.

Countless mud hands stretched out of their own accord, but they were unable to get close and were instantly crushed into nothingness.

It was a force that not even evil could withstand, the original morning star, the power of creation.

Faced with this seemingly insurmountable power, Shirou once again felt the sense of oppression he had experienced when he first became aware of it. The feeling of life and death. The feeling of despair seemed to grip his heart.

"Don't give in to those thoughts! My flower is not a fleeting show!"

Shirou yelled and used the Sword Scabbard he obtained from Kiritsugu, which was said to have the greatest defensive power, as a bullet to counter the might of Ea's devastating attack that split the very fabric of heaven and earth. A column of mud rose behind the scabbard and more mud quickly coalesced into a solid ball, encasing Shirou and shielding him from harm.

"Boom-boom-boom-boom-boom-boom--!!!"

The full force of Ea's attack hit the Sword Scabbard, touted as the strongest defense, without mercy. The mud ball that housed Shirou was mercilessly slammed into the seabed.

"Splash-splash-splash-splash--"

The sea boiled and surged upwards like a towering wall.

It was all over.

The king had emerged victorious.

With his formidable power of splitting heaven and earth, he had succeeded in killing the thief that had dared to defy him.

Yet, this trial had been a complete failure. The individual chosen to undergo the trial, who had been appointed by the king himself, had fallen to the king's wrath. It was time to put the weapon, Ea, away.

However-

Suddenly, with a deafening sound that echoed across the entire ocean, a black line shot up from the sea floor, its gleaming blade arcing through the sky like a bridge connecting heaven and earth.

As Vimana was engulfed in a single, thunderous blast, the king was flung from his warship and careened through the air, crashing onto the rooftop of a towering tower in the Miyama district. His once-gleaming golden armor was now shattered and twisted from the sheer force of the impact, a symbol of his defeat and humiliation.

The sea was rent asunder by the black sword, its waters parting and forming towering walls that stretched into the distance. From within the divide, a solitary figure emerged, his movements slow and deliberate, as if he were a deity rising from the depths.

No, it would be more accurate to say it was a humanoid. The intense heat that had been unleashed had rendered the figure almost unrecognizable, with only his bright eyes shining like fiery embers. He stepped forth from the sea floor, carrying King Arthur's sword sheath.

As he progressed forward, a trail of mud gradually appeared beneath his feet where there was once nothing but emptiness. The dark, slender pathway was infused with the sweet aroma of flower blooms. With each step he took, the black mud enveloped him, absorbing his pain and mending his injuries.

Emerging from the sea, Shirou approached the Golden King with slow, deliberate steps. He spoke with a resolute voice, "Your heart has been clouded by wrath. Allow me to clear the path to freedom for you."

The Golden King recoiled, his hand within the armor shaking. He glared at Shirou with a menacing expression, yet he had to acknowledge the truth -

"You... this monster!"

All else vanished from his sight as the figure approached him from the distance, filling the Golden King with a sense of impending rage that threatened to consume everything he had.

And in that moment -

"Cha!" A sharp, resounding noise echoed as a short knife plunged into Gilgamesh's abdomen through his back.

"Hehe! Who would have thought, Gilgamesh. My Master has long--" The assailant was eager to gloat over the fallen Golden King, whose tragic end had come at his hands. But there was no response.

The Golden King didn't even spare the new person a glance, as if he hadn't noticed the wound in his abdomen. Gilgamesh couldn't take his eyes off the figure slowly approaching him from the distance sea, and then, with a swift motion, he swung the sword of rupture in his hand.

"Pa Ta!", the sound echoed as the sword instantly crushed the attacking thief behind him.

"Thud!"

The skull mask clattered against the ground.

Gilgamesh's eyes burned with intense fury, his chest wound still bleeding as black mud flowed from it, gradually covering his entire body.

...

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