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Kisaragi Rin doesn't know the full extent of Gilgamesh's Time Zero, so how could Shinomiya Kaguya know about Medusa's Black Flash?
Perhaps Soichiro Kuzuki's intelligence told you that I possess a powerful Skill.
But how powerful exactly?
It's a magnitude to the power of 2.5!
Your Time Zero only dares to use 50x speed. Do you know what to the power of 2.5 means?
Moreover, the base number under that power is Medusa's A++ Strength, plus the fully unleashed A-rank Anti-Army Noble Phantasm Pegasus and the B-rank Anti-Personnel Noble Phantasm Immortal-Slaying Blade.
Stacked together, an Anti-World Noble Phantasm?
Do you really think the Special Effects of Black Flash, where a single elbow shatters space, are fake?
Pegasus's hooves stomped the ground, and space rippled outwards like water.
Medusa ignored Gilgamesh, who was talking to herself. Enveloped in a vortex of magic, Pegasus and Immortal-Slaying Blade achieved resonance.
On the other side, Esdeath also began to clear her mind, reaching her optimal state, because she had already sensed the timing for releasing Mahapadma.
Yes, the timing for releasing Time Stop.
Akhilleus Kosmos is designed to block all attacks that are not Anti-World Noble Phantasm level, while Mahapadma's Time Stop essence is actually freezing a region of time with absolute low temperatures.
To be honest, Kisaragi Rin wasn't sure if Esdeath's Time Stop could affect Gilgamesh.
And in an uncertain situation, Kisaragi Rin wasn't too keen on using up this once-a-day opportunity directly.
Another aspect was Gilgamesh's state.
Time Zero is not a bloodline; Gilgamesh didn't show obvious characteristics like Golden Eyes, so Kisaragi naturally couldn't know what kind of Skill Shinomiya Kaguya gave Gilgamesh to accelerate the flow of time.
Just by observing, Kisaragi Rin had a question about this somewhat naive Gilgamesh: "Since this Skill can turn Gilgamesh into Gilgamesh, can it also turn Gilgamesh into King Gilgamesh?"
Gilgamesh is the past Gilgamesh, while King Gilgamesh is the future Gilgamesh.
Although these three states of Gilgamesh don't have much difference in combat power in their settings—Gilgamesh is a three-star Servant, King Gilgamesh is a four-star, and Gilgamesh is the strongest five-star Servant—in terms of experience and personality, the future King Gilgamesh would definitely be the most troublesome one.
Perhaps they felt it was disgraceful for a Servant to use cheats in a Holy Grail War; from beginning to end, Gilgamesh and Gilgamesh never unleashed the power of Star of Omniscience and Omnipotence.
But King Gilgamesh is different. Kisaragi Rin felt that if it were her, she might not mind using a cheat.
To prevent King Gilgamesh from truly appearing, Kisaragi Rin needed to end the battle with Shinomiya Kaguya in an instant.
"Esdeath, the moment to release Mahapadma is approaching."
"As soon as Medusa's Black Flash hits and Akhilleus Kosmos shatters."
"Do not entangle with her any further. Immediately freeze the time in this space."
Upon receiving the command, Esdeath, under Noble Chariot, tightened her grip on her Rapier. The chill of Demon Manifestation: Demon Extract continuously compressed, ready to unleash Mahapadma at any moment.
Now there was only one problem: how to make Medusa's attack hit Gilgamesh?
Medusa knew that her Agility could not catch up to Time Zero's Divine Speed. Before shattering Akhilleus Kosmos, Cybele and Scream of Fear also couldn't exert control over Gilgamesh.
If Gilgamesh didn't want to take the hit, she could completely evade it with Divine Speed.
Given this, why did both Kisaragi Rin and Medusa feel that this one strike would definitely determine the outcome?
It was all just speculation.
No matter how many Noble Phantasms are in King's Treasure, or how powerful their functions are, Gilgamesh needs Shinomiya Kaguya to provide magical Energy to unleash them. Compared to Medusa, who still has ample magical Energy, Shinomiya Kaguya is the one who can't wait and desperately needs to determine the outcome.
The Master is like this, as for Gilgamesh?
She's a bit too polite.
If she were willing to accelerate her Age Ring to become the future King Gilgamesh, Kisaragi Rin would need to maintain more vigilance and use more traps to facilitate this strike.
But she is currently in the state of Gilgamesh.
According to the personality Gilgamesh is currently displaying, when Medusa charges, confident in her defense and Divine Speed, Gilgamesh will not evade. She will accept the invitation to battle.
When she thinks the battle has begun, the hit from Black Flash will teach her what a one-hit kill means.
Since a battle is anticipated, how can the method of battle be ensured?
That is, how to make Gilgamesh use Akhilleus Kosmos to directly take Medusa's attack and then retaliate, instead of first dodging with Time Zero and then retaliating.
Achieving this is also very simple: just have Esdeath stand here.
The strongest aspect of Time Stop is always the "nuclear deterrence" it creates when not released, and since Esdeath appeared, the threat of this Time Stop has taken root in the hearts of Shinomiya Kaguya and Gilgamesh.
Nikolaos Machiavelli once said that intelligence is the blood of war.
From the perspective of Shinomiya Kaguya and Gilgamesh, they don't know that Medusa's attack can reach the level of an Anti-World Noble Phantasm.
So, when Medusa charges forward, unleashing her Noble Phantasm without caring whether she can Lock-on to Gilgamesh in Divine Speed, what explanation will Gilgamesh and Shinomiya Kaguya think of based on their known intelligence?
Of course, that Esdeath is about to unleash Time Stop!
Kisaragi Rin herself isn't sure if Time Stop can penetrate the defenses of Akhilleus Kosmos, so how could Gilgamesh, who has never seen Time Stop, dare to gamble that she can block it!
If she doesn't want to break space and retreat... using Divine Speed to execute before Esdeath unleashes Time Stop is Gilgamesh's only way to victory.
Her hip-length hair swirled behind her. Medusa's expression was calm. She gripped the Riding Chain with her left hand, lowering her center of gravity to achieve the optimal Rider state, and softly said, "As for the direction, let's choose Esdeath."
The information game unfolded in an instant. As the battle resumed, Medusa, enveloped in a vortex of magical Energy, charged at extreme speed towards her teammate, Esdeath.
The distance between them was so close.
In this millisecond time difference, Gilgamesh, within Time Zero, stretched the flow of time fiftyfold.
At this moment, Master Shinomiya Kaguya still maintained the action of secretly peeking at Kisaragi Rin from Hayasaka Ai's embrace, and the expression of realizing Medusa was charging towards her teammate had not yet appeared.
"You're going to attack?"
"Even if I stand here and let you hit me, you won't be able to break Akhilleus Kosmos."
The domain of Time Zero spread. Under absolute Divine Speed, Gilgamesh carefully observed Medusa. Although her magical Energy was already considered immensely powerful among normal Servants, it was still far from reaching the level of an Anti-World Noble Phantasm.
This is due to Black Flash's Lv10 Special Effect - Formless, which allows it to conceal its aura when released.
Without this Special Effect, Gilgamesh would have run away as soon as she sensed the Energy fluctuations from Medusa. Not to mention hitting, she wouldn't even have a chance to get close.
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