Aozaki Aoko Case File

"Huh? Can't we negotiate the treatment?" Rider scratched his head, looking troubled. "I had no intention of insulting you heroes."

"Hmph!" The Hero King was no longer interested in entertaining this inexplicable fool. With a casual wave of his hand, dozens of divine weapons materialized from his golden portals and shot toward Rider, who was driving the chariot.

In the original timeline, the reason the King of Conquerors on horseback couldn't evade the Hero King's rain of Noble Phantasms was primarily due to his iconic Gordius Wheel being destroyed early on by Saber.

Now, however, Rider opened his eyes wide, gripping the Cyprus Sword in his right hand while tightly holding the reins of the thunderous Divine Bulls in his left. With the two Masters aboard, he accelerated the chariot in place, narrowly dodging the barrage of Noble Phantasms.

Still, since many of Gilgamesh's projected weapons possessed tracking capabilities, Iskandar had to drift his chariot while striking away the incoming weapons with the Cyprus Sword.

Although the rank of the Cyprus Sword was not particularly high, Iskandar's natural magical energy supply and divine blessings allowed him to contend with the barrage of Noble Phantasms effectively.

Meanwhile, on the chariot, Waver had nearly curled up under the seat, lying flat and refusing to look up. By contrast, Kayneth remained relatively calm, having prepared his Volumen Hydrargyrum the moment Gilgamesh began his attack.

Still, given that Volumen Hydrargyrum was a modern magecraft artifact, whether it could withstand the Hero King's barrage of weapons remained questionable. However, it was better to be prepared than not, and Kayneth's current mindset was simply to "do his best and leave the rest to fate."

Before the battle, Kayneth had allocated the output from the three magic furnaces he had brought to Fuyuki. Knowing his Servant, Karna, was "extremely powerful but also extremely costly," he had assigned two furnaces to Karna. The remaining furnace's output was given to Waver's Servant, Rider Iskandar.

Although Waver was panicking, as usual, Rider displayed his true prowess. Supported by the magic furnace, the fully equipped Iskandar raced his thunderous, bull-drawn chariot around the battlefield, dispelling Gilgamesh's Noble Phantasm barrage.

Meanwhile, after confirming his Master's safety, Lancer Karna effortlessly neutralized Gilgamesh's Gate of Babylon with his superior martial skill and his divine Spear.

Gilgamesh was furious with the racing fool, but even in his anger, he immediately recognized the power and extraordinary nature of the golden-armored Servant standing before him.

Taking advantage of the Hero King's pause, Rider charged back into the fray.

"Impressive skill, Lancer!" Rider praised Karna sincerely, noting that he remained unharmed.

Karna, however, paid no attention to Rider's flattery. Instead, he looked toward his Master, Kayneth, and gave a small nod to indicate that everything was under control.

Kayneth steadied himself and glanced toward Marisbury Animusphere, who remained floating in the air with a smug, detached look as if enjoying a good show. Kayneth couldn't help but feel irritated. What is this guy doing? That golden idiot is such a huge threat. Shouldn't we team up to take him down first?

In reality, Marisbury was more than happy to see Kayneth, with his two Servants, wear down Gilgamesh. After all, aside from Gilgamesh, no other Servants or magus could locate him or Solomon's workshop.

As long as Gilgamesh refrained from stirring up trouble, Marisbury could bide his time until Solomon completed his grand temple. At that point, defeating the remaining enemies would become trivial.

"Hey, you flashy golden guy over there," Rider called out. "You look like an extraordinary king. Surely, you're not so cowardly as to withhold your name?"

Though Rider often appeared to be a muscle-headed brute, Iskandar was a brilliant strategist. He had already deduced the golden king's arrogance and decided to provoke him into revealing his identity.

"You mongrel are unworthy of knowing my name!" Gilgamesh said haughtily. "Across the heavens and earth, from ancient times to the present, I alone am the rightful King! That is all you need to know!"

"Oh?" Rider stroked his beard thoughtfully. Being a lover of books and a scholar of history, he immediately picked up on the implications of Gilgamesh's words.

In this world (the Fate universe), if there were a single king who was utterly unique and unmatched, one would have to look back to the Age of Gods. In that era, the most renowned figure would undoubtedly be the one who served as a "wedge between humans and gods" yet rejected the mission bestowed upon him by the divine.

"Wait a minute… Could it be that you're the Hero King described in the Epic of Gilgamesh?" Rider boldly voiced his guess, causing everyone present to light up with recognition. The shrewd King of Conquerors was attempting to leverage this revelation to rally others against the golden king.

"Hmph. Though you're a mongrel pretending to be a king, your eyes are sharp." Gilgamesh was unfazed by the exposure of his identity. In his mind, revealing his name mattered little—after all, he considered himself invincible.

The reason Rider had pressed Gilgamesh for information was that he'd sensed another presence observing their battle.

At that moment, three separate groups were covertly watching the fight unfold.

The first group, which Rider had noticed, consisted of the "ordinary humans" Emiya Kiritsugu and Maiya Hisau. Their concealment was easily the weakest of all the forces involved.

Upon overhearing the battlefield conversation via his familiar's listening device, Emiya Kiritsugu immediately became alert. Yet, with the situation unclear, he couldn't rule out the possibility that Rider was merely bluffing to draw out hidden observers.

"Maiya, fall back," Kiritsugu whispered into the communicator. "Our position may be compromised. I'll stay behind to observe."

Lying atop a high building near the battle, Maiya was already drenched in cold sweat. Watching the earlier clash between Solomon and Gilgamesh had felt like brushing past death itself, and now Kiritsugu was ordering her to retreat under these conditions...

"Kiritsugu, if I move now, I'll expose our position." Maiya tried her best to remain calm and report quietly, but Kiritsugu immediately sensed her distress. Reluctantly, he abandoned his order.

"Just stay alert..."