Chapter 47: Zod and the 5th Holy Grail War (13)

Whirrrrrrr...... KABOOOOM!!!!

A powerful beam of Heat Vision erupted from Zod’s eyes, striking Gilgamesh directly. It seemed to be blocked by a shield-type Noble Phantasm drawn from the treasury, but the metal quickly warped and melted under the intensity. The beam narrowly grazed the side of Gilgamesh's head as it dissipated.

"Ho...?"

THOOM!!!

With a thunderous step that left a massive crater in the earth, Zod lunged forward. He threw a heavy punch, only to be met by another Noble Phantasm flying out of the treasury. Upon impact, it was the Noble Phantasm that shattered under the force of the blow.

"Hmph... intriguing. Even if you are a subspecies of the Greater Grail and have absorbed the Lesser Grail, to think you could shatter one of This King’s B-rank Noble Phantasms... You are quite the specimen for a mongrel."

"Phew... fine. I’ll admit it... you’ve actually managed to irritate me. So, I’m going to kill you, you blonde monkey."

"Ho? You dare refer to Us, whom you should look up to like the heavens themselves, as a monkey? Have you grown weary of your own life?! This is the presence of the King! The one you face now is the supreme Heroic Spirit of humanity—the King of Heroes! The first and absolute sovereign of all heroes and kings!"

"The first hero... the King of Heroes... You're Gilgamesh, aren't you?"

"Sigh... You finally realize This King's venerable name after such impudence? We shall forgive you, mongrel... for This King is magnanimous."

"How arrogant."

"Hmph! How can one be a King without being overconfident!"

The pinnacle of arrogance—a man who looked down upon all things in existence, even the great gods themselves, with the sole exception of his one and only friend, Enkidu. That was the man known as Gilgamesh.

"Don't get so full of yourself... Just who do you think you're standing before? I am a god! I am different from things like you! I am stronger, smarter, and far more superior!"

As Zod soared into the air and charged with a swung fist, Gilgamesh opened the Gates of Babylon, unleashing a relentless barrage of armaments.

"Do not overstep, lab rat! To think a creature born from the hands of common mongrels would dare call himself a god... there is a limit to how much disgust We can tolerate!"

Zod's fists personally pulverized each and every Noble Phantasm launched at him. He threw punches, fired Heat Vision, and struck again. There was no technique involved, only raw power—overwhelming violence and strength used to shatter high-ranking Mysteries with bare hands.

Having absorbed the Sub-Greater Grail and the Lesser Grail of Fuyuki City, his reinforced power rivaled that of the strongest superhuman alien from a certain comic book.

"Kneel..."

Zod attempted to use his mental suggestion to forcibly subjugate Gilgamesh, but...

"Foolishness! Such a clumsy trick?! Did you think a low-grade technique that only works on mongrels would ever affect Us?!"

Naturally, it failed. Normally, a Magic Resistance rank of A allows one to resist the Grail's brainwashing, and a sufficiently strong will can also withstand it. Gilgamesh’s natural Magic Resistance was C during the 4th War and plummeted to E after his incarnation—effectively non-existent. However, among his treasures, he possessed numerous anti-thaumaturgy artifacts. Even the golden armor he wore possessed a Magic Resistance rank equivalent to A.

"Fine then, I'll just submit you through force!"

"Then try it, mongrel!!"

Gilgamesh widened the Gates of Babylon further, firing an even greater storm of Noble Phantasms.

"Why can't you see that it's useless? You truly lack the capacity to learn."

Zod batted away another Noble Phantasm with his fist, but this time, a wound appeared on his body.

"A wound?"

For a moment, Zod could not comprehend it. He possessed a body that could now withstand a direct hit from a nuclear weapon without a scratch. To see blood drawn was a logical impossibility to him.

"Divine Constructs... armaments forged by the gods... and Noble Phantasms imbued with Divinity... If the tools of human civilization do not work, then This King merely needs to face you with the treasures of the gods. You became conceited, thinking that because the weapons of man failed, you were invincible. How typical of a mongrel."

Zod was internally stunned by Gilgamesh’s words.

The hero Gilgamesh was a being who even possessed Noble Phantasms forged by the gods themselves. He was the first person to ever truly inflict injury upon Zod’s body.

Zod had indeed become arrogant, believing himself immune to the greatest disasters of mankind—nuclear weapons, which were simultaneously the worst catastrophe and the final bastion of human logic.

And that pride was shattered by the wounds inflicted by the Divine Constructs Gilgamesh had casually fired.

Looking up at Gilgamesh, who gazed down at him with such arrogance from behind his gates, Zod felt a sensation for the first time: tension.

"Struggle harder... mongrel!!"

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.

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The Matou Residence.

"Saku...ra... Ugh!"

"You're quite persistent, Rider. I'd appreciate it if you'd just give up about now..."

"I have a duty to protect my Master... It is a mystery why that old worm-user Matou Zouken suddenly died, but that doesn't mean my Master is safe from threats..."

Ignoring the Assassin who had vanished upon Zouken's death, Altria Alter had clashed with Rider. It was Rider who stood on the brink of defeat.

She had attempted to suppress the Lancer with her Mystic Eyes of Petrification, Cybele, but Altria was protected by her status as a Pseudo-Divine Spirit and her skill, 'Blessing from the End of the World.' Petrification was useless. Against such a foe, an Anti-Hero who had fallen into the state of a monstrous beast—leaving her Divinity at a mere E– rank—stood no chance.

"At the very least, I will take you with me! Come! Pegasus, born from my own blood!"

"Is that so? Then I shall meet you with my full power... Holy Lance, Anchor Release!"

The Noble Phantasms of a Divine Spirit fallen to monstrosity and a Fallen King who had become a Divine Spirit were unleashed.

"I shall kick you down gently. 『Bellerophon: Bridle of the Chivalrous Spirit』......!"

"Pierce! Devour! The thirteen teeth! 『Rhongomyniad: The Spear that Shines unto the Ends of the World』!"

Upon activation, all parameters increase by one rank. Durability +100. A physical attack that uses a Divine Beast to pulverize the target with an ultra-high-speed charge. Its maximum speed is said to be 400 to 500 km/h.

The Holy Lance clashing against a Noble Phantasm that increases defensive capability via the Pegasus's protection. The Anchor of the Storm that binds the planet—the tower that pinions the texture of the world—erupted, obliterating the Matou estate and the surrounding area. The earth split, trees and boulders were uprooted, and the very atmosphere was displaced. It was a scene of true cataclysm. Where the Matou mansion once stood, only a massive crater resembling a meteor strike remained. In its center was Rider, Medusa, fading into motes of light.

"Sakura........"

Lancer, Altria Alter, watched with indifferent eyes as Rider tearfully faded, worrying about her Master until the very end.

"At the very least, if she becomes my Master's woman... she will live in happiness, so do not fret. Though she may be toyed with sexually... it will be a far happier existence than the life she has now."

Leaving those words behind, Altria Alter set off toward Ryudou Temple.

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