'Why is Rider here?'
Questions flooded Tokiomi's mind. He was utterly lost.
His gaze caught Risei's fawning smile. Incomprehensible.
Given the decades of trust between the Tohsaka and Kotomine families, betrayal should have been unthinkable.
The riddles compounded.
But one thing was clear: the reason he'd never found Rider's hiding place was that he'd never once imagined the enemy was inside the Church itself.
With Risei providing cover, the possibility had been invisible.
'Flee?'
'Summon my Servant?'
Two options. Neither fast enough to evade what came next.
"In the name of Lelouch Vi Britannia, I command you--"
"Obey me!"
Tokiomi's half-raised hand froze in the air. Red light ignited in his eyes. Under the watchful gazes of Risei and Waver behind them, the elegant head of the Tohsaka household dropped to one knee.
"By your will, Your Majesty!"
Every trace of his earlier composure had evaporated. Tokiomi was an entirely different man.
"All the pieces are in place now."
"Everything hinges on the battle to come."
Despite all his preparations, Lelouch harbored a sliver of anxiety.
Archer, he had the means to handle. But Berserker remained the final unknown variable.
Victory or defeat rested on this one gambit.
If Archer failed to apply sufficient pressure, Lelouch would need an entirely new contingency for Berserker.
"Hmph."
"Time and again, the King has been forced to endure such indignity."
"Every last one of you mongrels deserves death."
Standing atop a high-rise, gazing upon the city below, Gilgamesh spoke with venom.
"But it all ends today."
Reaching into the void, he withdrew his most powerful weapon.
Ea!
The strange, drill-like blade rested in his grip. Its presence alone signified absolute resolve.
The showdown with Berserker was long overdue.
Enough dancing around. Enough probing.
He descended toward his target with zero attempt to conceal his mana signature.
"Hmm?"
Berserker, mid-play with Sakura, felt the oncoming pressure and stilled.
"Berserker?"
He gently patted the girl's head to calm her unease, then looked toward Kariya, who had bolted out of the house.
"..."
A single nod. Kariya understood and rushed to pull Sakura behind him.
"Wait--"
Snatched away suddenly, Sakura's anxiety spiked.
But ahead of her, the "hero" had already donned his dark armor and drawn his greatsword.
"This brazenly?"
Before even leaving the estate, Kariya looked skyward and saw the attacker hovering above.
Mana rolled off Gilgamesh in undisguised, crushing waves.
If either of them were caught in it, they'd be obliterated.
"Come, Savior."
"Let us see if you can withstand the power of the Most Ancient King!"
Swinging Ea, Gilgamesh didn't hesitate for an instant.
Against a caliber of opponent like this, hesitation was beneath him.
"Speak of genesis. Heaven and earth, sundered. The formless void, parted. The world-severing blade is mine..."
The earth-shaking chant drew every eye in the city.
"This insane mana pressure... could it be--!"
Inside the church, Waver's face went white as chalk.
His legs quaked uncontrollably. He couldn't imagine what was about to land.
"Tch. Does Archer intend to erase this entire city?"
Even Lelouch hadn't anticipated Gilgamesh would go this far.
'The power will far exceed the version he used inside the barrier.'
"Rider?!"
"I have to get to the scene! There's only one window!"
"I can't let Archer derail the final stage of my plan."
Lelouch sprinted outside. Waver followed.
The escalating aura, the raging elements -- the strike that was about to fall would be cataclysmic.
"Stars, be ground to dust. The Hell above is the eve of genesis, the end of all -- to death, be subdued..."
The earth groaned. The clouds tore apart. Lightning slammed into the ground. Winds howled.
"!"
Even Saber, walking the distant streets, witnessed Archer's display in the heavens.
No ordinary Servant could withstand that.
The city itself shuddered.
"So this is your full power?"
"Archer!"
Having nearly completed the incantation, Gilgamesh gathered the blow -- and noticed Berserker standing below without a shred of fear.
"The first Heroic Spirit to remain composed before a fully unleashed Ea."
"But is that composure real, or mere bravado? Allow the King to find out!"
"Enuma Elish!"
The world-sundering strike descended, threatening to wipe the city from existence.
Kariya, halfway through evacuating with Sakura, froze ashen-faced in the courtyard. Staring at the incoming annihilation, he understood.
Running was pointless. No corner of this city was safe.
'I won't let you succeed.'
With that singular thought, Berserker swung his greatsword and unleashed every defensive ability in his arsenal.
[Dark Missionary!]
[Rampart!]
[Vengeance!]
[Shadow Wall!]
[Living Dead!]
[Oblation!]
[Darkest Night!]
[Provocation!]
Leaping skyward, Berserker charged directly at the descending blast.
"What?!"
Gilgamesh's hand, the one gripping Ea, felt an inexorable pull -- the strike redirected upward, drawn toward Berserker.
BOOOOOM!!
In the upper atmosphere, a world-shaking collision erupted. The shockwave radiated outward.
But because Berserker had launched himself skyward to intercept, the blast's devastation never reached the ground.
The cloud layer was completely obliterated, leaving an empty blue void.
As the violent winds settled, the city endured only natural damage. It had not been destroyed.
Thud!
Falling from the smoke-filled sky, Berserker landed in full view.
"..."
Kariya's eyes bulged. He couldn't believe it.
Not a scratch.
Not even a graze. Not a single wound.
"Hmph!"
"Fascinating!!"
A savage grin split Gilgamesh's face.
Tanking a full-power Ea without injury?
He understood what had happened. Berserker hadn't evaded, redirected, or negated the attack. He'd simply absorbed it.
And deliberately guided the blast's trajectory skyward.
Berserker possessed self-enhancement abilities -- damage reduction, from the look of it.
Under those extreme conditions, the King's full-power strike had been completely nullified.
"HAHAHAHA!!!"
His laughter pierced the heavens. Every Servant still alive could hear the sound -- impossible to tell if it was madness or ecstasy.
"Well done."
"You survived the first. But what about the second?"
"My mana reserves... are quite sufficient."
Raising Ea once more, Gilgamesh taunted.
The barely settled heavens erupted into chaos again.
"He's going to use it AGAIN?!"
Kariya's jaw dropped. The idea that an attack of that magnitude could be used consecutively beggared belief.
"It's fine! Berserker won't lose!"
Sakura stood firm, eyes locked on the figure ahead, believing with all her heart.
He would never lose!
Because he was the hero who saved the world!
[Translated and Rewritten by Shika_Kagura]
PS: All those skill names are damage-mitigation, shielding, and aggro-redirection abilities. In-game, damage reduction has caps, but in this setting's logic, there are no such limits. The Warrior of Light stacked every mitigation skill simultaneously then used Provocation to draw Ea's targeting onto himself, tanking it through pure shielding. The numbers: 10+20+10+30+20+10 = 100% damage reduction, with leftover shields that weren't even broken. However, these skills all have significant mana costs and cooldowns, so they can't be chained indefinitely.