This punch came so fast that Gilgamesh took the full, solid force of it completely off guard.
In the various routes of the Fifth Holy Grail War, Mr. Gold's defeats were basically all rooted in his pride and negligence.
Like having his arm chopped off by Emiya Shirou, or during that time on the carnival getting himself knocked out while delivering a "takeout" service...
And like now.
He looked at the homunculus before him and didn't take her seriously at all. Although she looked strange in various ways, Gilgamesh was confident he could suppress her at will.
After all, how could a frail homunculus, no matter how powerful her Magecraft, compare to an Incarnated Servant?
In his eyes, while this homunculus showed no traces of Magecraft, she certainly wasn't a melee fighter. With those thin arms and legs, she clearly lacked strength.
This wasn't judging a book by its cover; it was simply a fact that without Magical Energy to augment it, such a physique would find hitting someone more akin to acting spoiled than attacking.
But he never imagined that the frail homunculus would dash forward a few steps and instantly transform into an armored warrior amidst the flames!
By the time Gilgamesh realized something was wrong, Xia Yu's fist was already imprinted on his face.
It had to be said, the Sam Armor's propulsion system was truly top-tier. Coupled with the fact that there was very little distance between them to begin with, the time left for him to react was simply insufficient!
Boom!
A figure flew backward accompanied by flames, smashing through two trees mid-way and skipping across the stone pavement like a stone on water, leaving several large craters behind. Finally, he was slammed into a giant boulder by the roadside.
Gilgamesh was still a bit dazed. He struggled down from the boulder, feeling something wrong in his mouth.
He reached out to touch his lip and spat out two large teeth stained red with blood.
He was Incarnated, after all. Having enjoyed the benefits, he naturally had to bear the costs—such as the fact that his teeth could actually be knocked out.
"How dare you..." He looked up in a rage. Before he could finish his sentence, he saw the armored warrior flying toward him with a kick, trailing boundless flames!
Gilgamesh's pupils shrank. He hurriedly threw himself to the side in a very ungraceful dive, narrowly avoiding the kick.
But the boulder wasn't so lucky. Xia Yu, in a standard Rider Kick pose with the roaring flames of her propulsion system behind her, struck the boulder, causing the entire mass of rock to instantly shatter into layers.
Seeing this, Gilgamesh knew he had encountered an opponent who didn't play by the rules. She didn't bother with any verbal sparring; she just came at him straight away.
This was Firefly's original personality. Despite her usually adorable and smiling appearance, the moment she entered combat, her soft features would instantly turn sharp.
Not to mention that after summoning Sam, she was a total man of few words and a ruthless enforcer.
Xia Yu didn't pause for a second, maintaining a relentless blitz. After the missed kick, she used her thrusters to force a mid-air turn, sending a flaming roundhouse kick toward Gilgamesh once more.
The latter wanted to seize the opportunity to regain the initiative. Just as the Golden Ripples began to ripple behind him, he saw that heavy strike coming for his face again. He could only helplessly stop his movements and continue to dodge backward.
One step slow, every step slow. Before this lethal blitz, he had no time to pull any weapons out to fight.
The roundhouse kick missed again, but Xia Yu wasn't frustrated. She shifted the kick into a downward stomp, and the moment her foot touched the ground, she lunged forward. Using the powerful reaction force of the stomp, she shot out like an arrow from a bow, charging her right fist for an uppercut straight at Gilgamesh's chin!
Having dodged several times in a frantic scramble, Gilgamesh was already at the end of his rope. He could only hurriedly place his palm between his chin and the menacing fist.
The good news: he blocked a bit. At least this time his teeth didn't fall out.
The bad news: he only blocked a bit. Before that massive force, any resistance was futile. His body took off like a rocket, breaking through the dust and flying straight into the sky.
At the moment of contact between fist and palm, the massive impact transmitted from his chin made Gilgamesh's brain go blank for an instant.
By the time he regained his senses two seconds later and tried to pull a weapon from the Gate of Babylon for an emergency, he looked up and saw the armored warrior. She had arrived before him at some unknown point.
This was the Superb Mobility of the Sam Armor. Especially with Firefly's evolved version, the "fist-to-flesh" combat felt truly exhilarating.
Acheron was certainly powerful, but being invincible was a lonely existence; who could withstand a single strike from her sword? Firefly was different. She was strong, but not so strong that she could crush everything instantly. Coupled with this style of attack... the fight was exceptionally satisfying.
The thrusters behind her began to flare up. Once again, she assumed the Rider Kick pose, sending a flying kick through the flaming sky toward the still-dazed Gilgamesh in mid-air!
By the time he reacted, it was too late. This flying kick landed solidly on his abdomen. At the moment of impact, Gilgamesh shot toward the distant forest like an arrow from a string.
Xia Yu even saw a vapor cone around him—a sonic boom cloud.
Boom!
This single kick sent Gilgamesh flying from the foot of Mount Enzou straight into the deep, old forests far from Fuyuki City.
This was also part of her plan. Once she and Gilgamesh started fighting, it was bound to be a massive scene. Doing this in the urban area would be far too unscrupulous.
"Hey, what's that?"
At Homurahara Academy, Emiya Shirou looked curiously in the direction his classmate was pointing.
In the distant mountains, a flare of fire was faintly visible, accompanied by the occasional sound of rumbling.
"Is it a fire?" He watched for a few moments and reacted immediately. "No, I have to find the teachers and have them call the fire department!"
He was just that kind of helpful youth.
Meanwhile, on the rooftop, Tohsaka Rin looked at the massive Magical Energy reaction in the distance, completely stunned.
This scale... it's a Heroic Spirit?! But hasn't the Holy Grail War not even started yet?
Who exactly is fighting?
Get it together, Tohsaka Rin! she encouraged herself internally. You are the Manager of the Spiritual Land of Fuyuki City. This is something you must do...
Before she could finish making her decision, another boom sounded from over there, clearly audible even from this distance... She even saw two massive objects of unknown nature falling from the sky through her Magecraft...
No... it's impossible... This was clearly not something she could handle. Maybe she should ask Kirei first.
As a member of the Holy Church, his years of experience were surely more extensive than hers.
Our Miss Tohsaka was already having second thoughts. Just listening to the sheer scale of the battle told her this wasn't something she could get involved in.
Asking her to stop it... she truly had no confidence at all.
"Manager of the Spiritual Land" sounded nice, but without strength, no one would take you seriously. Her father had passed away early, and the Tohsaka family had been declining over the years...
While she was agonizing, the battle on Xia Yu's side was in full swing.
Gilgamesh was injured.
And the injuries weren't light.
After all, it was a full-power strike from Sam in its normal state, sending him flying several kilometers. No one would feel particularly good after taking that.
But he was the King of Heroes, after all; he wasn't about to be defeated by injuries of this level.
However, being left in such a disheveled state was far too humiliating.
Fortunately, the opponent didn't keep clinging to him with a constant blitz. Although he was heavily injured by that strike, it had at least created some distance.
The opponent's sharp methods and incredible speed had truly caught him off guard. If he had been even slightly prepared, he wouldn't have fought so pathetically.
Opening the Gate of Babylon took time. Although taking out a single weapon didn't take as long as unfolding the entire Noble Phantasm, it still required a second or two.
Under the lethal offensive of that armored warrior, he didn't dare take a second or two to pull out a weapon. If he dared to try, the person opposite him would dare to take half his life.
In truth, he had been dazed by the sequence of attacks. Before the fight started, he was just habitually foul-mouthed and hadn't intended to move.
Who could have expected the opponent to be so unscrupulous.
Now that distance was established, he finally had time to think.
Tsk, I should have just endured an injury and used Enkidu to block her. Even if she lacks divinity, as a divine construct, Enkidu could have bought me time regardless.
"You dare... to make me look so pathetic!" Gilgamesh pulled a great axe from the ripples beside him. If he were this enraged normally, he would have pulled out Ea directly. But the opponent's speed was too fast and she was cunning; liberating Ea required time, and Gilgamesh didn't think she would give him that chance.
He could only pick up the axe and fight.
At the same time, the Golden Ripples in the sky grew more numerous. Strangely, she didn't continue using that violent blitz to interrupt him this time.
Instead, it was as if she were waiting for him to make his move.
Gilgamesh couldn't figure it out, but he had no time to think. He believed that as long as he regained the initiative, playing a warrior who was merely fast and strong to death would be a small matter!
Within those golden ripples, two massive weapons suddenly manifested above her head.
Ig-Alima (The Green Horizon that Cuts the Thousand Mountains) and Shul-shagana (The Dawn Horizon that Burns the Ten Thousand Seas).
The massive blades were of a size that perhaps only a hundred-meter-tall giant could wield. When they fully emerged, they were like two small mountains casting immense shadows as they crashed down toward Xia Yu.
Gilgamesh certainly didn't think that with the opponent's speed, this attack would hit her. But it didn't matter; he only needed to delay her for a second or two.
Xia Yu, meanwhile, looked at the two mountain-like Noble Phantasms above her head with eyes full of appreciation.
Good stuff. Truly good stuff.
Yes, she had intentionally given Gilgamesh time to unfold the Gate of Babylon.
After all, if he didn't use them, how could she achieve her goal?
Facing the crushing weight of the two mountain-like Greatswords, Xia Yu simply took a deep breath.
Like fireflies to a flame—life begets death!
Two pale cyan swords manifested in her hands. Sam's faceplate shifted to reveal the eye sensors, and cyan energy formed a soft, veil-like cape behind her...
Then, aiming at the two Greatswords, she charged straight up!
Boom!
The abundant energy provided incredible power. Though Ig-Alima and Shul-shagana were massive, they were ultimately unmanned and were directly knocked aside by her!
"Come!" She flew in the air, her Greatsword pointed at Gilgamesh. "Continue!"
"Humph! You have some courage!" The latter's Noble Phantasm was fully deployed. The sky was densely packed with golden ripples, and countless famous or nameless weapons slowly emerged from within.
"Die!" At Gilgamesh's command, countless Noble Phantasms trailing brilliant gold light poured down toward Xia Yu like a torrential rain.
The latter's eyes were filled with battle intent. Under the superb mobility provided by Sam, she swung the twin swords in her hands to cleave through a sword shooting toward her, then flicked her right hand to knock away a spear-like Noble Phantasm.
Boom boom boom!
Countless legendary Noble Phantasms poured down with a momentum that could destroy everything, but they were constantly parried and dodged by that Knight with incredibly refined combat skills!
Xia Yu was like a traveler moving against a tsunami, stepping toward Gilgamesh one pace at a time against the assault of countless Noble Phantasms!
It had to be said, such a chaotic battlefield was exactly what Firefly was best at handling; the pressure of an attack from the Propagation Swarm was no less than this.
"Such martial skill..." Looking at the figure who was stubbornly walking toward him through the rain of Noble Phantasms, even one as arrogant as Gilgamesh couldn't help but take notice.
The anger in his heart from being insulted and offended faded slightly. After all, being ambushed by such a powerful knight—even if she was unscrupulous—wasn't exactly a disgrace.
Of course, only slightly.
He was Gilgamesh, after all; arrogance was etched into his very bones.
"A fine show indeed," a manic smile appeared on the corner of Gilgamesh's mouth. "You can block these, but what about what comes next!"
Under his direction, the rain of golden Noble Phantasms accelerated again. More and more ripples began to appear, and the frequency of the attacks rose visibly to the naked eye!
Amidst the flashes of blades and shadows of swords, Xia Yu didn't dare to be the least bit careless. Who knew what foul things were hidden among these Noble Phantasms? Hadn't Saber been tripped up by Gáe Buidhe and Gáe Dearg?
There was no telling which Noble Phantasm might carry some vile curse.
Of course, this only made her more excited.
This feeling of dancing on the edge of a blade was exactly what she wanted!
For some reason, ever since becoming Firefly, she always felt like her body was restless, which was why she had been throwing that Tergeo everywhere.
She just wanted to vent this excess energy... She suspected it was because she hadn't inherited Firefly's Entropy Loss Syndrome, or rather, hadn't inherited such a severe case of Entropy Loss.
Just as the erosion by Nihility on Acheron's body had only just begun, the Entropy Loss in this body of Firefly had likely just started manifesting.
And what was Firefly's situation? Even if she wanted to stay in the outside world for a bit longer, she could only achieve it within the dream of Penacony.
Perhaps... this was a physical instinct? Was the body cheering... wanting to enjoy this world under the sun to the fullest? Just as she had inherited Firefly's combat experience?
Xia Yu hypothesized as much.
This instinct was so intense, filled with a craving for life... a yearning for freedom. But for Xia Yu, these were things she already possessed.
These instincts had accumulated bit by bit without an outlet. While it wasn't a huge problem—she could suppress it with some patience, and it was a minor matter compared to Acheron's Nihility Erosion—Xia Yu always felt restless.
Finally, today, she could vent it all through combat.
Even while still inside Sam, Xia Yu could feel that instinct cheering. It was urging her to burn everything, to let life bloom completely!