34

As 5.0 got the circle up and running, I started the ritual on Risei. While Sola-Ui had been relatively simple to brainwash, he was more difficult.

It was not enough to stop me from brainwashing him, but it did cause me to take more time. Soon enough, he was standing in front of me, glassy-eyed and awaiting orders.

I went with a simple robotic personality; I didn't need anything fancy. Grasping his hand, I spoke to him. "How do I transfer the command seals?"

"You must say God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth, John 4:24."

Nodding, I repeated what he said, and as I finished, the seals dissipated from his body and appeared one by one of my bones crawling up and around my arm.

As each one appeared, there was a dull throb similar to that feeling when you poke a bruise; I used that to count how many seals I had.

By the time the last seal had transferred over, I had counted thirty-one, which meant I now had thirty-six command seals. That was insane; a single seal allowed a person to fight servants for a bit in addition to the ultimate commands they could give.

Looking down at them, I hummed; I knew that three could incarnate a Servant, which could be helpful. Their effectiveness also went down the broader a command was, and I knew that not even one hundred seals would allow me to give absolute commands.

I now needed to find Gilgamesh and kill him. Despite his power, he was not yet incarnated, which meant he had a little less than a week before he faded.

In addition, he would likely be running with less than a full tank of gas even if he ate a few souls. That, however, required me to find him first, which would be a hell of a task.

My best bet would be to hang around the Toshaka manor and wait to see if he popped up. That had other points of failure, but it was my best idea as of right now.

Gesturing for Risei to follow 5.0, I walked back inside and sat down in the kitchen. I settled back and was ready to counter my planning, but I started when I saw Komainu approaching.

I waited for her to speak as she clambered up next to me. "What are you planning on doing now?" She asked while resting her head on my shoulder.

Letting out a hum, I responded. "I plan on going after Gilgamesh. I need him out of the way; otherwise, he could fuck everything up. In addition, his soul is worth three times as much as the other Servants, so that would speed up the Holy Grail War."

That was another issue; by not summoning Caster, I had removed a soul from the running, which meant that I would have to face Iskander or Artoria at the end. They were not quite as powerful as Gilgamesh, but I couldn't fight an army alone, and Exclauber was on par with Ea.

I could theoretically tell Waver how to incarnate Iskander but left other issues, mainly because despite his charisma and personality, he was still a warlord and openly stated that he wanted to reconquer the world.

I was started out of my thoughts by Komainu giving me a tight hug. Coughing slightly, I endured the hug while giving her one back. Hopping out of the chair, she waved goodbye and ran off.

I needed to find something that could keep her occupied, she was fine with guarding my house, but she shouldn't be forced inside this pocket dimension all the time.

Standing up, I walked over to my minions and, one by one placed them in Castle Brunestud. I left out the pre-Grimoire me's as they would only be a discretion.

The plan so far was to find Gilgamesh and then distract him with my minions while I hit him from the back; if I put him down fast enough, he wouldn't pull out Ea.

If he used Ea, the plan was to run as fast as possible and hope he didn't have the anti-teleportation barrier up. That meant I needed to have him off-balanced and focused on fighting instead of thinking.

Strolling out of my home, I walked towards the Toshaka manor. I was not teleporting because I needed to conserve mana. Lancelot was floating behind me in spirit form as we traveled.

I frowned as I checked the moon's phase. It was easy to do, given my connection to Castle Brunestud, and it was not good. The phase was a waning crescent, which meant I would be at my weakest in a few days.

As of now, I was around threefold stronger than my base, which, while powerful, was a far cry from my most potent; during a full moon, I would be twelve times stronger, but that was weeks away and would be after the Grail War no matter how I tried to drag it out.

As I approached the manor, I saw a figure standing outside it looking inside. The figure was a bit hard to determine who it was at this distance, so I crept closer. I frowned as I saw that it was Kirei and he was walking inside.

Even if Gilgamesh was not here, I could still get the Hassans out of the war by killing him. Standing up, I walked up to the doorway and took a moment to conjure the melee Caldablog for Lancelot before stepping inside.

As I stepped over the shattered frame, I felt the Grimoire grow before it fell back with only the bubbling energy in my marrow.

As I approached, I was cautious not to alert Kirei. I peeked around the corner and spotted two figures conversing in the living room.

The first was Gilgamesh clad in his resplendent gold armor; he was lounging on the couch and sipping from a glass. The other figure was Kirei, whose back turned to me and seemed twitching.

"Why have you approached me?" Gilgamesh asked, his tone bored as he swirled around the wine in his glass before taking a sip.

"I wished to form a contract with you, your majesty," Kieri said in a submissive voice with his head slightly bowed, awaiting an answer.

Gilgamesh looked at Kieri as he spoke and frowned; he was clearly mulling the idea over. He placed the glass down and spoke. "Very well, I will permit you to contact me."

Nodding, Kieri reached out a hand, and at that moment, I knew I had to interview. I couldn't attempt to wear down Gilgamesh if the contract was formed.

Reaching my hand out, I simultaneously sent white magic flying toward the duo and focused on one of the burning sparks that crawled up my body.

"Berserker, by the power of my command seal, kill Kieri!" As I spoke, Lancelot blurred past me and towards Kieri as I stepped out of the doorframe.

Snarling, Gilgamesh forced himself to his feet, all talk of a contract forgotten as the Gate of Babolyn opened and weapons started pouring out.

Empowered by a command seal, Lancelot reached Kieri before he could do more than take a step back, or the Gate could hit him. A single thrust through the chest, followed by Caldabolg cutting his head off, killed him.

Noble Phantasms promptly slammed Lancelot into the wall as he had left himself open. Screaming, he emerged from the wall, the altered Caldabolg in one hand and a plank of wood in his other.

Scowling, Gilgamesh was forced back as Lancelot started swinging and would not stop. It was fairly even until Gilgamesh opened the Gate wider, throwing out more weapons.

While Knight of Owner allowed Lancelot to grab the Noble Phantasms that were being fired out and use them for batting the others away, he still only had two hands, and the new deluge of attacks forced him back.

As I stepped forward, that changed. I opened the Gate on my end and threw out weapons of my own. It was much less effective as the Gate did not grant knowledge of its contents, so I was forced to pick randomly.

That meant I could throw Gram or a dagger that would shatter from hitting the air. I was able to mix in weapons from Unlimted Blade Works to force Gilgamesh on the defensive, but I was still at a massive disadvantage.

As he opened more portals, I teleported out of the way of another attack as I raised a hand. "Berserker, by the power of my command seal, unseal Arondight!!" I cried, which was followed up with another shout. "By the power of three command seals kill Gilgamesh!"

The mist and blackening corruption that infected Caldabolg faded as he dropped the wood plank. A sword was unsheathed from his waist; at one point, it could have been a wonderful holy weapon, but now it was a tainted blade.

Moving so fast even I couldn't see him, Lancelot hit Gilgamesh over a dozen times in a second. As more weapons flew out, I could see that his armor was dented, and he was bleeding from a few cuts.

His armor could stand up to Excaluiber, so it was not surprising that a lesser weapon was not as potent. However, the command seals helped to even the playing field.

Charging again, Lancelot slammed into Gilgamesh again and again in a self-destructive charge in an attempt to kill him. At the end of each clash, Gilgamesh worsened; that was not helped by the fact that he was forced to fend off my assaults.

However, Lancelot was harmed as well; in his maddened state, he followed the command seal's orders, which meant trying to kill Gilgamesh no matter what, which meant he was heavily wounded.

Abruptly Lancelot slowed down and was promptly hit by half a dozen blades forcing him to the ground bleeding from several dozen wounds. As this happened, Gilgamesh flicked a wrist, and a spiked golden chain slithered out of the Gate and swirled around Lancelot, binding him in place.

That was Enkidu, and I knew Lancelot was not getting out in his wounded state. Raising my staff, I sent a salvo of Eldritch Blasts towards Gilgamesh, forcing him to look towards me and pull a shield out of the Gate. As he opened his mouth to speak, I sent another Eldritch Blast his way.

As the shield blocked the magic, his eye twitched as he opened his mouth and started to shout at me. "You dare! You have not only stolen from the King but dare to attack me with stolen implements, mongrel!"

"I dare!" I shouted as my mind raced; he was wounded and angry, but Lancelot was out of the fight, and I couldn't face him alone. As he threw more weapons at me, I teleported inside his guard, slammed my staff across his face, and pulled us into Castle Brunestud.

As he stumbled back and his eyes flicked around, I sent my minions forward. They would only stall them, but I needed the time to keep him off balance; if he used Ea, it was all over.

As he fought off the minions, I started to chant as I pulled out the Mini-Hakkero. All I needed was to get off a blast, and with the massive boost from being under a full moon, I could kill Gilgamesh.

"The Ray of Destruction, a Master Spark. Stolen Spells, impervious lies. Ancient Machinery empowered, Magitek anew. Magical might grows as mountains fall under Love. This is a Ray of Destruction: Master Spark!"

As I finished the rushed chant, I held out the small device and expelled a large beam of magic. I saw Gilgamesh's eyes widen as he held up his right arm, pulled out a flowering shield, and braced himself. It was incredibly bright, so I shielded my eyes; if this didn't work, I had a few more backup ideas, but even in the seat of my power, I was still burning through mana at a prodigious rate.

As the glow faded away, I swore Gilgamesh was heavily wounded; he was missing his right arm, most of his armor was burned off, and burns covered his body.

"So you have forced me to use this mongrel. Know that you are lucky that your death will be swift." Gilgamesh snarled out as his remaining hand slammed into the air, causing a crack in reality to appear.

From this crack, he pulled out something that caused my eyes to twitch and my brain to hurt. It was a long 'sword' covered in twisting red sigils with a golden hand guard.

I knew this was Ea, meaning he was winding up for his most powerful attack. The Grimoire grew as I raised my hand to send out another salvo. I was distracted for a brief moment as the power faded away, but it was enough to disrupt my concentration.

"It is time for judgment. My Sword of Rupture tears apart the world. Emma Elish!" Gilgamesh cried as the blade spun, he was spinning it up quickly, so it was less powerful, but I didn't have anything that could defend against it.

As I stared down the oncoming store, my mind flitted back to something I had heard about long ago. Excalibur was equal to Ea and could be produced by Unlimted Blade Works. I didn't know if it was true, but there was no harm in trying.

I held a hand and focused on the swirling winds I had seen that masked Excaliber and the rod of light I had seen through a screen. In only the most deluded fantasies could I replicate something never seen, but that is what I could do, Fantasy.

As I focused on the impossibility I was trying to forge; I felt my magic circuits rupture as the unstable energy poured through them and demanded more.

The ruby in my skull fractured and exploded as it poured more energy into my floundering circuits. Collapsing on one knee, I saw the sword form in my grip; swinging the immaculate blade, a beam of light exploded towards the howling Genisis.

However, I knew it wouldn't be enough as Excaluber shattered into a million pieces. Castle Brunestud was cracking as Ea tore it to shreds. As the energy poured over me, I charged forward in a desperate attempt to at least take Gilgamesh out.

Feeling it rip me to shreds, I attempted to call upon my magic only for it to spasm as my remaining circuits quivered, and the vast pool that flowed from my ruby was gone; blackness overtook me as Emma Elish washed over me.

When reality returned to focus, I felt the full moon peering down on me. Around me, I could see the sky overcome with red pulsing cracks as the real Castle Brunestud that could only exist here kept itself intact.

Raising my staff, I could feel the toll reforming my body had taken on my soul gem. It was almost overflowing, and I had only the barest cantrips left in me. I was unable to use my other magic as the best mechanism to filter the energy; magic circuits were writhing about and dying.

As four Eldritch Blasts flew out, Gilgamesh looked up, surprised. He was wounded and almost on death's door, but he still dodged the first two.

The third skimmed his leg and caused it to buckle, allowing the fourth to take him in the chest, blowing a hole in it. Stumbling, he grit his teeth, and the Gate reopened for a moment, only for it to flicker and vanish as gold trailed off him and his mana ran dry.

"You dare?" He rasped as he collapsed, his body fading. "I.. am... the... King," Hitting the ground, his body exploding into golden particles. Seeing this I stumbled back, Castle Brunestud fading around me as I arrived back in the destroyed Toshaka manor; as I hit the ground, blackness surrounded me as my soul gem failed to reach across the distance to support my soulless form.

Powers Gained

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