Chapter 7: Mongrel
Night, within the courtyard of the Tohsaka residence.
As one of the three great mage families, the Tohsaka family, though few in number, held a high status among both ordinary people and mages alike.
The courtyard, while not extravagant, appeared quite solemn. Under the moonlight, beside the pond in the yard, a pool of blood and a white mask were particularly conspicuous, with various Noble Phantasms stuck into the ground. Just a few minutes ago, a battle had taken place here—a battle between Servants. Due to the vast disparity in strength, the fight lasted only a very short time.
Deep within the courtyard, a Servant clad in golden armor, with short golden hair and crimson eyes, stood at a high vantage point, looking down at the pool of blood in the yard.
Behind this Servant were rippling golden spatial distortions, as if he had just summoned Noble Phantasms from some space.
This Servant was Gilgamesh, also known as Golden Sparkle. Once a demigod and the oldest Hero King, he now served as Archer. His Master was Tokiomi Tohsaka.
Gilgamesh looked down at the 'dead' Servant Assassin below, his eyes filled with disdain, but also a hint of confusion. He was puzzled—though it was an act, the opponent was far too weak.
Sensing Tokiomi Tohsaka's gaze from the castle behind him, Gilgamesh raised his chin slightly and began to speak to Assassin's corpse, or rather, to mock it.
"You are not worthy to look at me. Becoming a corpse is the only form befitting you. Insects should crawl on the ground and die like insects, mongrel."
Gilgamesh's personality was arrogant, domineering, and self-centered. He habitually referred to others as 'mongrels.' In his own words: "What kind of king would I be if I didn't act arrogantly?"
Though Gilgamesh seemed merciless, he followed two principles when killing: first, 'the enemy has an ugly soul,' and second, the enemy harbored murderous intent toward him.
The second point was easy to explain. As for the first, 'the enemy has an ugly soul,' it was quite interesting, because whether the enemy's soul was ugly was entirely determined by Gilgamesh himself. Whoever he disliked had an ugly soul.
In summary, this guy was a tyrant who was good at governing his country. Compared to other Servant kings, Gilgamesh wasn't particularly wise, but his kingdom was the most stable.
After gazing for a while at Assassin's slowly dissipating remains, Gilgamesh's body began to gradually turn transparent and eventually disappeared. This was an ability common to all Servants—spiritualization. If there was one 'Servant' who lacked this ability, it was Su Xiao.
Inside the Tohsaka mansion, Tokiomi Tohsaka watched the scene in the courtyard through the window, a smile spreading across his face. It was just as he had anticipated—Gilgamesh was indeed the strongest Servant in this Holy Grail War. He was already assured of victory.
Although this battle had been prearranged with another Servant's Master, the 'killed' Servant was unaware of this. The whole affair was meant to mislead the other Masters.
"Tokiomi, I can't believe you made me do such a trivial thing."
Gilgamesh materialized in the room, his expression slightly displeased.
"My sincerest apologies, King of Kings, Hero King Gilgamesh. Tonight's action was to demonstrate the Hero King's deterrence and to formulate future strategies."
Tokiomi Tohsaka, holding a glass of red wine, bowed to Gilgamesh. For a Master to bow and submit to their own Servant was extremely rare.
However, while Gilgamesh was undoubtedly strong, his arrogance made him extremely difficult to serve. It was more accurate to say Tokiomi had summoned a 'father' rather than a Servant.
Most of the time, Gilgamesh simply ignored Tokiomi's commands. If Tokiomi had any 'requests,' he had to negotiate with Gilgamesh, and whether he agreed depended entirely on Gilgamesh's mood.
When Tokiomi first realized this, his heart was in shambles. But to win the Holy Grail, he chose to endure it.
Don't be fooled by Tokiomi's current groveling; he had long planned to use a Command Spell to kill Gilgamesh. The Holy Grail belonged to him alone. What Hero King? King of Kings? Under the binding of a Command Spell, he would still be forced to take his own life.
"Please, Hero King, calm yourself. Everything is for your Holy Grail."
Tokiomi maintained his bowing posture, spilling a bit of wine from his glass.
"Hmph, very well. It seems I can only pass the time by taking a walk for now. But fortunately, this era is quite interesting."
Hearing Gilgamesh's words, the bowing Tokiomi was somewhat surprised.
"You find the modern world tolerable?"
"Ugly beyond imagination. However, it does have its merits. The main issue is that there are no treasures here to increase my wealth. If there isn't even a single artifact I fancy, then summoning me here is a grave sin, Tokiomi."
Gilgamesh glanced sideways at Tokiomi, who was still looking down and didn't notice Gilgamesh's gaze—a look that saw through something.
As a former king and demigod, how could the Hero King not detect the malice Tokiomi inadvertently exuded?
"Rest assured, my King. The Holy Grail will surely satisfy you..."
"Whether it satisfies me is for me to decide. By the way, Tokiomi, what was that explosion earlier? Though it was somewhat pleasant to the ear."
Gilgamesh gestured for Tokiomi to straighten up, no longer needing to bow.
"The previous explosion has been investigated. It was the Matou family's castle being destroyed. Based on the traces at the scene, it was likely the work of a Servant."
"A Servant's doing? So soon?"
Gilgamesh's interest was piqued.
"Yes. From the known intelligence, an unknown Servant fought with Zouken Matou. The result was Zouken Matou's death. However, what's puzzling is that the summoning array beneath the Matou residence still has residual magical energy, indicating that the Matou family was also a participant in this Holy Grail War. Through magical investigation, only one Servant's magical energy was found at the scene."
Tokiomi's expression was grim. From the current situation, there was only one possibility.
"The Servant summoned by the Matou family destroyed the Matou family?"
Gilgamesh seemed to have heard something amusing, a rare smile appearing on his face.
"Nine times out of ten... that's the case."
"Interesting. If it wasn't an internal conflict within the Matou family, then the Servant killed its Master. Simply..."
Gilgamesh didn't finish his sentence. A smile curled at the corner of his mouth as he gradually spiritualized. Although he too wanted to kill his own Master, he dared not do so. The Command Spell was something he couldn't resist. Having finally come to the modern world, Gilgamesh didn't want to disappear just yet.
Nevertheless, Gilgamesh's interest had been piqued. If that unknown Servant hadn't disappeared yet, he would very much like to ask him how exactly he had killed his own Master.
When Gilgamesh spiritualized and left the mansion, Tokiomi drained the wine from his glass and slumped back onto the sofa.
"I can't stand this. Of all things, I had to summon Gilgamesh, an Archer-class Servant capable of independent action. A Servant that attacks its own Master—what a madman. And where did all those unknown mages running rampant in Fuyuki City come from?"
Tokiomi had a headache, not just from Gilgamesh, but also from the current situation.
...
On the outskirts of Fuyuki City, on a stretch of wasteland.
Su Xiao held a map in his hand. The painted Command Spell on the back of his right hand was particularly conspicuous. Behind him followed Bubu Wang, behind Bubu Wang was Sakura Matou, and behind Sakura Matou was the 'Berserker' Kariya Matou.
"Why have we come to the outskirts? The map marks Ryuudou Temple as being nearby."