[FGO]: 185 

The raging sea of fire surged toward him, but Gilgamesh stood firm like a rock, unmoved.

In front of him, several Noble Phantasms radiating a holy brilliance blocked the way like a dam. The flames, fueled by hatred, were indeed terrifying, but to the King of Heroes—who possessed the prototypes of all the world's treasures—it was merely an inconvenience, nothing more.

Due to the unique nature of this Holy Grail War, the Heroic Spirits were not bound by their Servant forms but had descended to their true forms, unburdened by magical energy restrictions. For the King of Heroes, with his inexhaustible mana, this made his power even more fearsome.

Seeing that the water demons serving as shields could not break through, Gilgamesh's temper flared, and the number of Noble Phantasms fired from the Gate of Babylon multiplied. The cold gleam of countless Noble Phantasms rained down in a storm.

When the King of Heroes got serious, how could someone like Gilles de Rais possibly stand a chance? The endless army of water demons was quickly obliterated, their destruction visible to the naked eye.

As the storm of Noble Phantasms threatened to pierce through the wall of demons and strike his beloved Saint, Gilles de Rais was consumed with rage.

"Damn you, dog of the gods! You always come to interfere with me! But this time, I won't let you!"

With a furious cry, he pulled out his own Noble Phantasm—a vile magic book bound in human skin, Prelati's Spellbook. He merged into the shadow beneath him and instantly appeared beside Jeanne Alter, pushing her back.

"Gilles, you—?!"

Jeanne Alter's shock and fury were palpable as she noticed the book in his hand, immediately realizing his intent.

Before she could act, a dark portal suddenly appeared behind her. Jeanne Alter was sucked into it, the whirlpool shrinking and vanishing into thin air.

Gilles de Rais had made his decision. Realizing their combined efforts were no match for Gilgamesh and escape was impossible, he chose to send Jeanne back to their original world, leaving himself behind to face the King of Heroes alone.

Even Ryou, observing from the sidelines, couldn't help but nod in approval.

"Dude, I salute your bravery."

It was clear the former Marshal of France was obsessed with Jeanne, worshipping her like a goddess. But... the man had no idea how being green his situation had become.

Out of kindness, Ryou decided not to enlighten him.

As he pondered, Gilles de Rais faced Gilgamesh directly.

"Damn you, dog of the gods! Every time, you interfere! This time, I will drag you all into the abyss!"

He raised his magic book high and screamed maniacally.

"Hmph!"

Gilgamesh scoffed, unimpressed. He doubled the output of the Gate of Babylon, unleashing a relentless barrage of Noble Phantasms.

As a king who ruled over the heavens and earth, Gilgamesh didn't need anyone's approval.

The storm of Noble Phantasms soon shattered the water demons, scattering them like debris. Gilles de Rais, on the verge of annihilation, held the magic book aloft, and it emitted a dark, sinister light.

Suddenly, an unspeakable entity was summoned.

A dense mist began to spread, severing the area from reality. Massive tentacles—deep purple and covered with grotesque spots—emerged from the fog.

"Look! This is my revenge against the gods! You will all die!"

Gilles de Rais' crazed shout echoed as he was swallowed by the writhing tentacles.

Ryou looked down at the eldritch abomination with disgust. The monstrous tentacles resembled those of a massively mutated squid—utterly revolting.

'Medea, you should probably stay away from that thing,' he mused telepathically to Medea.

'Master, why?' she asked, confused.

'From a certain point of view, that thing is a magical girl's natural enemy.'

'Master, please be serious!'

Medea responded, exasperated by his bizarre sense of humor.

'Sure, sure.'

Ryou's casual reply left Medea no less puzzled.

Meanwhile, Gilgamesh was seething with anger. The giant squid was just as repulsive to him, but under the compulsion of the Command Spells, he was forced to deal with it before turning his fury on Gilles de Rais.

He had two options: bombard it with a relentless storm from the Gate of Babylon or draw EA and obliterate it in one strike. However, neither option appealed to the King of Heroes.

To use the Gate of Babylon would mean discarding any Noble Phantasms tainted by the abomination's filth. Killing such a massive creature would require at least a thousand high-level Noble Phantasms—an unacceptable loss, even for one as wealthy as Gilgamesh.

As for using EA?

That would be a disgrace. To waste EA on such a revolting creature would tarnish the King's glory.

Ryou and Gilles de Rais had earned his eternal hatred.

"King of Heroes, go get them," Ryou taunted, his sarcasm only fueling Gilgamesh's rage.

Yet, under the power of two Command Spells, Gilgamesh had no choice. The Gate of Babylon opened wide, and a storm of Noble Phantasms rained down on the sea monster.

Flesh and ichor flew everywhere as the grotesque creature writhed and shrieked. Its regeneration was evident, but even hundreds of high-level Noble Phantasms couldn't easily bring down the eldritch horror.

Such was the resilience of an abomination from the Cthulhu mythos.

However, under the relentless bombardment of thousands of Noble Phantasms, the sea monster slowly melted away like ice and snow, shrinking in size. Soon, the core of the creature was fully exposed.

At its center was Gilles de Rais, entangled in countless red, fleshy tendrils that writhed like tiny worms, his face contorted with madness.

"Damn you, dog of the gods! You keep interfering with me! Why haven't you gone to hell yet?!"

In response, dozens of Noble Phantasms, gleaming with cold light, pierced through him instantly.

"Shut up, fool! You're too loud!"

Gilgamesh stood with his arms crossed, gazing down at the dissolving core of the sea monster where Gilles de Rais was being reduced to pure magical energy. His expression was one of haughty indifference.

"Dog of the gods? I am the King of Heroes, who reigns supreme over heaven and earth. Who dares to command me?!"

But just then, a voice filled with fury echoed in his ears.

"By the power of the Command Spell, Gilgamesh, I order you to commit suicide."

"By the Command Spell again, Gilgamesh, obey my commands."

Bound by the control of two Command Spells, Gilgamesh, burning with indignation, summoned EA from the Gate of Babylon and ruthlessly plunged it into his own heart.

The King of Heroes, like a noble warrior at the end of his journey, mustered all his strength to slowly turn and face Ryou.

"You mongrel! How dare you humiliate me like this! I will remember you! I will come for you! Definitely!!!"

His bloodshot eyes blazed with fury, tears of blood streaming down his face. He stared at Ryou with such venom that it seemed he wanted to etch his image into his memory forever.

Even as his heart was pierced and his body slowly dissolved into pure magical energy, becoming more transparent by the second, the King of Heroes refused to fall. He used EA as a cane to support his weakening body.

In the end, Gilgamesh met his demise with an upright and dignified posture.

Ryou couldn't help but feel a flicker of respect. Even though they were enemies, he admired Gilgamesh's bravery.

At that moment, the two marks of the Command Spells on the back of his right hand slowly disappeared. He had used five Command Spells in total—four of them on the King of Heroes alone. This was why he had targeted Gilgamesh first. The ancient king was too troublesome, and Ryou wasn't confident he could withstand Gilgamesh's EA under his invincible state, Last Stand(The Revenge Barrier Thing). Combined with the flood of Noble Phantasms, once Gilgamesh got serious, he became the most difficult enemy to face.

Thus, Ryou had preemptively taken the initiative to eliminate him.

[Ding!]

[The host has killed the King of Heroes through strategy and earned a special gacha draw.]

Ryou casually pressed the draw button, expecting little since he hadn't fought an intense battle and had defeated the King of Heroes with strategy. To his surprise, the system rewarded him generously.

[Congratulations, host! You have obtained the 'Gate of Babylon'...!]

Just as he was about to raise his arm in celebration, he noticed two small words at the end—Craft Essence.

Oh no...

A bad feeling swept over him. He quickly redeemed the Craft Essence called "Gate of Babylon."

[Name: Gate of Babylon—Gilgamesh]

[Rarity: 5 Stars]

[Attributes: Increases Luck by 5 points]

[Skills:]

[Golden Rule: Doubles the energy points obtained each time.]

[Gate of Babylon: Randomly generates one C-rank Noble Phantasm per day, one B-rank Noble Phantasm every ten days, or one A-rank Noble Phantasm every hundred days (selectable).]

Ryou's emotions were mixed as he examined the Craft Essence. If there was one thing he had wanted most from Gilgamesh, it was the actual Gate of Babylon—powerful, versatile, and most importantly, incredibly cool.

As the saying goes—being strong is temporary, but being cool is for life.

Since there was no turning back, he accepted the Craft Essence. Despite his disappointment, its effects weren't bad. Increasing his Luck stat was always useful. Luck often trumped basic attributes—good fortune could smooth the way, while bad luck could cause everything to crumble.

The two skills that came with it weren't bad either, especially the ability to generate an A-rank Noble Phantasm every hundred days. However, as the difficulty of world dungeons increased, Ryou found B-rank and lower Noble Phantasms becoming less useful. Most of what the Craft Essence produced would likely be consumed by his weapon, Apocalypse.

After equipping the Craft Essence, the system notified him that a C-rank Noble Phantasm had been added to his storage. A magic book appeared in his hand with Märchen Meines Lebens printed boldly on the cover.

As expected, C-rank items were nothing special.

To use this Noble Phantasm effectively, Hans Christian Andersen himself would need to wield it. In anyone else's hands, it was merely a collectible storybook—good for display, but practically useless.

Ryou casually fed the magic book to Apocalypse, and with a flash of light, the weapon devoured it. He checked Apocalypse's evolution progress—now at 4%.

A headache began to form. At this rate, it would take 25 C-rank Noble Phantasms to evolve Apocalypse to B-rank, 250 days to reach A-rank, and an astounding 2,500 days to reach EX-rank!

The crux of the matter was that the Gate of Babylon could only produce one level of Noble Phantasm at a time, meaning it would take over 7 years to evolve Apocalypse fully. This was a long and tedious process, but Ryou would have to find another way to expedite it.

...

Meanwhile, the aftermath of the Gate of Babylon's overwhelming display had drawn attention. The colossal sea monster's appearance had been impossible to miss. Various factions had dispatched familiars to investigate, but by the time they arrived, the battlefield was nothing more than a ruin. The combatants had already fled.

All that remained was Father Risei, clutching an enormous repair bill, on the verge of tears. He had lost a powerful ally and was left to clean up the mess. Even someone as composed as Father Risei couldn't help but feel the urge to say something at this moment.