Arriving at Ryuudou Temple, we were met with a scene of utter desolation, a landscape stripped of its sanctity.
A rift had torn open the heavens, pouring forth a deluge of curses that pooled into a river of filth. At its center sat a grotesque, pulsating mass of flesh—the festering heart of this calamity.
Rin scanned the surroundings, her gaze falling upon the withered remains of every living thing the curse had touched. She spoke, her voice trembling with gravity.
"Prana has achieved physical form. This... this is indeed the Holy Grail. The vessel was far too small; it has shattered under the pressure, and now its contents are hemorrhaging into our world."
"...The core is likely that seaweed-haired brat. He must be tethered somewhere within that nightmare... there, at the summit."
I gestured toward the top of the fleshy mound, where a vague human silhouette was visible. Rin nodded in grim agreement.
"This Grail seems to be using a human body as its engine, but even so, the container is mismatched. It's on the verge of complete collapse."
Once that happened, there would be no Grail to speak of.
"That hole in the sky will widen, and the mud—whatever that formless horror is—will drown everything."
"...Then we must extract the brat immediately."
Clang, clang.
The sound of my armor echoed as I stepped toward the mass of flesh. Rin, panicked, reached out and caught my arm.
"Wait! Stop! That mud is a curse given physical form!"
"There is no other choice—"
I looked back at Rin with a troubled expression, but my words were cut short. Behind her, golden ripples tore through the air. Sensing the sudden surge of lethal intent, I instinctively drew my blade.
Clang! Splash!
"—!! Berserker!"
I succeeded in parrying the launched sword, but the sheer momentum of the impact threw me backward. I plummeted, vanishing beneath the surface of the cursed mud.
Rin cried out my name, her mind racing with the realization of what that mud did to a Servant.
Gritting her teeth in frustration at my disappearance, she whirled around at the sound of a mocking, arrogant laughter.
"Ha ha ha ha ha! To think you would fall after so paltry a blow!"
"—Gilgamesh...!"
The speaker was a man with golden hair and eyes as red as a dying sun. Rin didn't need an introduction; she knew instinctively who stood before her.
This was the King of Heroes, the one Saber and Berserker had warned her about. Her eyes widened as she shouted.
"How are you here?! Who is standing against Saber, Archer, and Assassin?!"
"Hmph. It seems you have underestimated your opponent, Tohsaka girl. We possess the originals of every wonder in this world. That being the case..."
He tilted his chin up, his arrogance absolute. "Is it not natural that We would also possess the prototypes of battle-golems capable of restraining a mere Servant?"
"What... did you say...?"
Rin stared at him, her face a mask of disbelief.
"That's impossible. No mere golem could ever hope to stop a Servant—!!"
"Ha! Do you truly believe We would permit such low-grade scrap to occupy space in Our treasury? They are more than enough to handle those third-rate Heroic Spirits."
At his declaration, Rin bit her lip in fury. They were in a desperate predicament. Berserker was submerged in the river of curses, and if Gilgamesh was telling the truth, Saber, Archer, and Assassin were currently being held at bay.
Watching her glare at him, Gilgamesh curled his lip into a smirk.
"We considered ending you instantly, but there is little sport in a simple execution. We shall grant you a momentary reprieve."
"...A reprieve?"
"Shinji would be lonely if he had only Us to bid him farewell. If you wish to offer your last respects to that lump of meat, perhaps your life still holds a sliver of meaning."
"...You fool! Do you have any idea that if that Grail fully awakens, it will lead to a global genocide?!"
Gilgamesh let out a sharp, mocking laugh at Rin's heated cry.
"Hmph. How could We not know? This era is bloated, overflowing with the formless trash of humanity. It is a dire sight.
In the world where We once walked, nothing was without purpose. Even a slave had his use; every life possessed its own inherent meaning."
He gestured broadly at the world around them.
"But look at this age. It is filled with those who possess neither role nor value. You think it too, do you not? That your kind has grown too numerous... that you have become a plague upon the earth. We are simply taking it upon Ourselves to prune these mongrels.
Ten years ago, it was a mere five hundred souls. This time, the calamity shall be sown across the entire world.
The excess shall be culled. Does it not excite you to see how many humans are worthy of survival?"
"The only person excited by such a depraved vision is a degenerate like you!"
Rin shouted, her face contorted in disgust.
"I was a fool to even listen! I'll stop your Grail right now!"
"Kuh—hahahaha! And how, precisely, do you intend to do that?"
Gilgamesh covered his face with one hand, his laughter echoing with malice.
"The Servants are bound by Our treasury, and your Berserker has been swallowed by the curse. How could a common girl like you hope to halt the Grail?
Surely, you aren't clinging to the hope that Berserker will emerge from those depths?"
"......"
Struck where it hurt most, Rin fell silent. Gilgamesh laughed again, louder this time.
"Hahaha! Truly a masterpiece! Do you remain ignorant of the mud's true nature?
That filth is the incarnation of All the World's Evil; it is effectively a Servant itself. Naturally, it is lethal to any Heroic Spirit. Surely you feel it, girl."
He paused, his eyes gleaming. "The fact that your contract with him has been severed."
Rin clenched her fists. She knew. She had felt the prana path snap the very moment Berserker sank. As she squeezed her eyes shut in grief, Gilgamesh spoke his final judgment.
"In the end, even he was nothing more than a mongrel."
"—Don't you dare! Berserker is still alive!"
"Believe what you wish if it offers comfort. However... do you truly believe you have the right to raise your voice to Us?"
Golden ripples manifested behind Gilgamesh once more. Rin's instincts screamed—if those weapons were launched, she would die.
...I'm sorry, everyone. I suppose this is as far as I go.
Rin forced a bitter smile as a blade shot out from the golden gate, screaming through the air toward her.
Accepting her fate, she braced for the impact. But then—
Clang!
The screech of metal meeting metal echoed. The pain never came. Instead, a familiar voice reached her ears, and Rin slowly opened her eyes. Standing before her was the back of a knight who would never let her fall.
I stood my ground, having deflected the blade, and met the King's gaze.
"...Tell me, Gilgamesh. Who is it you dare call a mongrel?"
"—You...!"
"Did you truly think I would be buried by such a trivial curse? If so, you have graveled miscalculated."
I would weather a thousand such curses before I yielded.
Gilgamesh glared at me, his eyes burning with cold, murderous intent.
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