Original Author: Narita Ryohgo (成田 良悟)
Not for commercial use.
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Notes:
This is the 9th chapter of volume 1. It takes place after the two extra chapters and six prologue chapters. After this, there is one more completely new prologue chapter.
A lot of this was done on a smartphone/tablet, and most of the text has not been edited yet. If something confuses you, let me know and I will double check it.
Some credit to Food for his partial translation of the Gil vs Enkidu fights. I translated these scenes independently, but I can't rule out the possibility that my writing might have been influenced by reading his in the past.
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Chapter 1: The War Begins
What sort of being was Gilgamesh?
Tiné Chelc’s information on him prior to his summoning was cursory, at best.
However, with just that sliver of knowledge, she had been determined to stake her destiny, and the obsession she inherited from her ancestors, on this Heroic Spirit.
Gilgamesh, King of Heroes.
Eons ago, in what was later called Mesopotamia, there reigned a great king who would become the hero of the land. During the early days of an age in which the gods still lived, and people had greater power as individuals than they do now, this hero, born of a union between man and god, ruled over the fortress-city Uruk.
He was known as both a despot who destroyed his country, and as a king who stood on the precipice of history and brought the land into a new age. Regardless of what end he met, the fact remained that Uruk flourished as a nation of magnificent splendor under the rule of Gilgamesh. His vault was said to contain all of the works of gods and men, and it was rumored that they were the original versions of all Noble Phantasms used by heroes of later ages.
In the past, this Heroic Spirit, who possessed great divinity, was apparently summoned in the Holy Grail Wars of a land known as Japan. It was said that Gilgamesh’s power surpassed that of many other heroes, and that he had emerged as the victor.
From what Tiné had heard, he was a man of many skills and was competent in all areas, but more importantly his combat style was so overwhelming that it gave everyone else pause. The stories about raising the fortress-city and collecting countless treasures out of greed had caught her attention.
Once Tiné committed herself into this Holy Grail War, she was prepared to cast aside her integrity. Her side needed transcendent power in order to take back their land from the infringement of the greedy. In other words, she needed to be even greedier than the usurpers—
That was how Tiné had been raised.
So, she knew she had to be ruthless. If Gilgamesh was a tyrant who would trample on an enemy already laid low just to eliminate them, so be it.
It didn’t matter how much she tainted her honor.
Her people would chase the violators out of their land, and cleanse it in its entirety.
To fulfill the duty she had inherited from her ancestors, Tiné intended to abandon her girlish heart and offer her entire self to the powerful despot.
She wasn’t afraid of death. What Tiné truly feared was nothing other than the continued rape of her ancestral homeland at the hands of the magi outsiders.
However, she had miscalculated.
She wasn’t wrong about Gilgamesh’s quality as a hero.
Tiné, who lived in the modern era, simply did not understand the true significance of a hero who had been alive in an age when gods freely mixed with humans. It didn’t matter whether he was a tyrannical or a benevolent king.
She had utterly underestimated the magnitude of his power. Tiné had no inkling of the overwhelming might that the golden-armored Heroic Spirit was said to have displayed during previous Holy Grail Wars.
However, to the the Heroic Spirit Gilgamesh, these conflicts were dull affairs mired in conceit and foolishness, save for a brief moment.
So, what sort of being was Gilgamesh?
Right after Tiné swore her loyalty to him, she glimpsed a hint of the truth.
He was a man with the royal disposition of a king, and the heroic soul of a champion. When the garment that the King of Heroes had graced her with was torn away, she saw a torrent of pure power.
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Night — northern Snowfield — wide valley
“You are but a child, so act like one. While you are still ignorant in the ways of the world, simply rejoice in the brilliance of my kingship.”
“I shall endeavor to do so.”
When Tiné lowered her head at Gilgamesh’s words, it happened.
“...?”
An enormous flow of mystic energy blanketed the surrounding space and converged at a point beside Tiné.
“!?”
It was more than just energy.
The purest magical element she had ever seen in her life — no, it even had a divine aura to it — coalesced in the King of Heroes’ right hand, and materialized in the form of a dagger.
But, the object had too bizarre a silhouette to be called a simple dagger. It looked very similar to Gilgamesh’s summoning catalyst used by the magus that Tiné had eliminated earlier.
“A key… sword?” Tiné murmured without thinking.
Gilgamesh haughtily replied, “Do not speak of this in the same terms as the key in the hands of that clown.”
Grasping the key-sword, Gilgamesh turned its tip skyward.
“This is something like a contract I bound myself, given form.”
His tone seemed bored, but his expression contained a hint of joy.
“Pay attention, Tiné. And show me your proof.”
“...?”
Before Tiné, whose head was bowed, it opened.
The energy flowing from the key-sword surged into all of the space around it, and opened a portal in the world itself.
Tiné’s black-clad allies were sent into a clamor, but the voices of the crowd, which amounted to hundreds of people, were silenced by the trembling of space.
The dimensions themselves seemed to be shaking, and only Gilgamesh’s voice clearly reached Tiné’s ears.
“Know this — my subjects would never be shocked by a mere .”
While he spoke, the distortion in space converged on a single point.
A single sword emerged from the distortion in front of Gilgamesh. It was nothing like the earlier key-sword, but it was certainly no normal weapon. The sword had a strangely shaped blade.
As if enjoying himself, Gilgamesh spoke directly to the sword.
“O Ea. It may be unpleasant to wake from your slumber, but I shall soon provide you with a feast.”
An instant later, the King of Heroes moved.
“No, you won’t be bored. No one will.”
He was graceful in every gesture, and arrogant in all respects.
Then, taking a stride filled with unconcealable jubilation, Gilgamesh’s figure suddenly vanished from sight.
With a single step, he had gone somewhere else.
That was all he did, but even to Tiné who was learned in magic, Gilgamesh’s gesture was imbued with an overwhelming fire she had never experienced before, and perhaps might never again.
Leaving a Master’s side was an unthinkable act for a Servant to commit. The workings of the Holy Grail War were engraved in the brains of all Servants at the time of their summoning. Gilgamesh couldn’t have been unaware of the risks of leaving his Master alone.
Yet, Tiné, stunned by the heat of the moment, could find no fault with his actions.
She had to burn into her memory everything that happened from now on. This was the premonition Tiné felt as she was flooded with Gilgamesh’s power.
The feeling that welled up in the heart of the young girl, who was supposed to have abandoned all emotion, was a fear of the unknown. Or perhaps…
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Seconds earlier — western Snowfield — large forest
“Master, I’d like you to wait here… just for a little while.”
Enkidu brushed the cheek of the silver wolf, who looked at him with anxious eyes. Then, he knelt on one knee before his Master, and softly splayed his fingers in the earth.
“It will be all right.”
As Enkidu smiled, the surrounding trees began to rustle.
“The forest will protect you.”
They were suddenly concealed from the sky by a frantic movement of branches and leaves, and powerful mystic energy began to flow into the earth. It was completely as if the forest had a will of its own, and deliberately formed a natural magical Barrier.
“I have to go. If I meet him here, the forest would be killed, and I’d have no way to protect you. Can you forgive me?”
“-------”
Enkidu hugged the silver wolf as it gave a feeble howl.
“Thank you, Master. As long as life beats within this breast of mine, I swear to return to you.”
At the same time that Gilgamesh had disappeared from the company of Tiné and her allies, Enkidu also made a single stride on the earth.
He was as modest as the wind, and as pious as a spring. Having said that, the joy expressed in Enkidu’s powerful footsteps was no less than that of the King of Heroes.
“...This is bad. Let’s leave the forest.”
Faldeus, sensing an anomaly, ordered his men to retreat over the radio.
“What’s going on?”
“The flow of mana has changed. It is likely that the woods are now under its control.”
As he said this, Faldeus felt an enormous power streaming through the forest. Silently, without harming the woods, it moved as if gliding upon the earth. One could even call it the wind.
In awe of the presence of this Heroic Spirit that had become one with the forest, Faldeus confirmed its bearing, and then issued orders to his subordinates.
“...As you withdraw, stay as far away from the desert as possible. We’ll deploy UAVs and familiars in that area.”
Then, in the skies high above Snowfield, a great force seemed to disrupt the atmosphere, and something of equally monumental power passed through.
Faldeus felt this flow of power several seconds after he issued the order to retreat.
“Could it be?”
Was something happening there?
After calculating the possibilities, Faldeus came to a solution, and rejected it..
Or rather, he hoped that it wasn’t true.
“We haven’t even begun to grasp their power… do they intend to start already?”
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In the city — a cheap motel
In a cheap motel that was old even by midtown standards, Flat woke up, though he had been sleeping soundly just a moment ago. The motel was situated along a highway a short distance from the center of town.
As the young man rubbed his eyes and rose, his Servant Jack spoke.
“What’s wrong, Master? Are you having trouble sleeping? If you need to use the toilet, just say so. I will turn into spirit form and wait here.”
“...I just noticed, but being spoken to like this right after I wake up reminds me of those cartoon character alarm clocks.”
Flat was speaking to his left wrist.
On that wrist was a steampunk-styled antique wristwatch, and Jack’s voice came from it.
“Normally I would already be in spirit form, but you’re the one that said ‘it’d be awesome if I looked like a spy,’ so here we are.”
Jack was currently Flat’s personal wristwatch.
After leaving the park, Flat decided to test Jack’s power of “transforming into anything,” making him turn into everything from people to plants and animals, and then eventually inanimate objects.
At first, he thought, “there’s no way Jack the Ripper’s true identity was an inanimate object.” But according to Jack, there were apparently many romance novels in which “Jack the Ripper was actually a person possessed by a cursed item,” and then he had shown Flat how he could transform into a surprising variety of objects.
After testing out a wristwatch transformation, Flat took a liking to its design, and the topic had turned to planning for his personal safety by wearing it regularly.
He always wore the watch except when he was showering or on the toilet, and the two initially communicated via telepathy until Flat uttered something very unlike a magus:
“This is kind of tiring. It’s more fun to talk normally.”
And so they spoke out loud when no one was watching.
Flat got off the bed, and checked Jack’s time against that of the motel room’s clock.
“That’s amazing, though. There’s no difference at all.”
“Well, let it be said that punctuality is a quality of the English gentleman. At least, that would be true if I actually was a gentleman.”
“So even gentlemen can be serial killers, huh?”
“......”
After unmindfully trampling on Jack’s feelings, Flat went to the bathroom, stoppered the sink, and began to fill it with water.
“What are you doing?”
Flat wet his fingers while answering Heroic Spirit Wristwatch's question.
“Don’t you feel anything?”
“Mrgh…”
While Jack choked on his words, the young Master placed his finger on the bathroom mirror and started drawing a simple magic circle.
“Two conspicuous sources of magical noise, heading southward.”
At that, Jack spoke in a somewhat embarrassed tone.
“I’m not proud of it, but basically, my abilities as a magus are poor. They would increase if I were to take the form of a mage, but attempting to sense abnormalities of mana while in this form is an impossible task.”
“Oh, so if you turned into a radar dish, your sensing powers might go up!”
“...Are you really a magus from the Clock Tower?”
Ignoring Jack’s doubts, Flat casually kept moving his finger until he completed the magic circle. Then, he spoke some incantation at the mirror… and the water in the sink changed.
There were a series of ripples on the water’s surface, and then it displayed some kind of vision.
Seeing an image of a desert in the water, the wristwatch’s hands ticked.
“What is this?”
“Some people are using familiars to monitor the desert, so I’m just taking a little peek,” Flat replied nonchalantly.
“...What?”
“If I sent a familiar out now, it wouldn’t make it in time,” Flat explained offhand.
Although Jack wasn’t a specialist in magic, he had some essential knowledge transmitted from the Holy Grail system.
From that knowledge, Jack understood that “taking a peek at someone else’s familiar” was no trivial feat.
It would make sense if Flat was a neophyte in magic, but coming to the Holy Grail War as a tourist, or interfering in the spells of a Master magus that was actually fighting in the war, was something no sane person would do.
And if it were so easy, would it not mean the collapse of this entire system that ran on familiars?
As doubts swirled in his head, Jack spoke.
“Can you really do something like that? No, I mean, even if it were possible… isn’t it risky? If they trace it, our location could be compromised.”
“Mmm, I did it in a way that I wouldn’t be found out… though I can’t say for sure that we won’t be detected. The Professor wouldn’t be able to, but he’d probably have a hunch and hunt me down later… oh, but someone of Luvia-chan’s level might just cause an energy backflow and blow up this entire motel…”
Murmuring some rather unsettling things, the young man refocused and kept talking.
“Well, if they do find us out, I’ll just apologize as hard as I can!”
An icy wind buffeted Jack’s heart, and he muttered to himself as Flat laughed innocently.
It wasn’t completely accurate, but it was still a sentence that, just a bit, described the essence of his Master.
“I’m terrified that you’ll still be saying such things after you’ve killed someone.”
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southern Snowfield — desert region
There was an expansive desert to the south of the city.
It wasn’t as large as the deserts of Colorado or Arizona, but it continued as far as the eye could see from the city, and someone who wandered in carelessly could easily be stranded.
In the middle of this desert, they faced each other.
From here, the forest and the city were no longer visible, and there was nothing but sandy ground, save for some sparse desert-adapted flora.
The Lancer
Heroic Spirit of the spear
There, a golden figure hovered in the air, as if to smother the countless twinkling stars. Archer
The Heroic Spirit of the bow
Enkidu knew exactly what was in the floating man’s hand.
He also knew that the man was floating thanks to the power of a special Noble Phantasm.
And, of course, he knew who the man was.
Heaven and Earth.
The distance between the two was roughly 120 meters.
The Heroic Spirits met each others’ eyes.
One set of eyes looked down upon the ground, while the other stared into the night sky. But each gaze was neither condescending nor reverent to the other.
Once they had identified each other, they exchanged no words.
But an instant later, both of their lips curled at exactly the same time… and they laughed.
They laughed, as if to express that everything was now enough.
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meanwhile — somewhere in urban Snowfield — rooftop
The nameless Assassin stood on the rooftop of the tallest building of a section of the city, the casino hotel "Crystal Hill."
She was there to get the lay of the land, and to feel out the presence of those people involved with the Holy Grail War.
It was a conspicuous move, but if someone came to target her, that would just speed things up. She was perched on that rooftop in a tactlessly straightforward tactic, observing the city—
Until something caught her attention.
It was south of the city. There was only desert on the horizon.
“...”
But the zealot did not avert her eyes, intently scowling at the valley between Heaven and Earth.
“Oh… has the party begun?”
Observing Assassin from the rooftop of a different building, the bloodsucking magus, Jester, also sensed the anomaly.
His powers of perception were not especially strong. Nonetheless, a tingle ran up his spine as he sensed the presence of… something.
Perhaps it was the instinct of someone who had lived so long on the margin between life and death.
Right now, somewhere in that desert, something was happening.
Noting this premonition of a sense other than that of magical perception, he smiled a dastardly grin and sneered.
“This war will be our wedding aisle. Do try to show us some fireworks.”
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Snowfield — desert region
After taking the time to exchange a smile, Gilgamesh moved.
The strange sword in his hand — the Sword of Rupture, Ea — activated, and unleashed its true form as a Noble Phantasm.
Noble Phantasms.
They were possessed by Heroic Spirits, and made up a part of their concept as heroes.
Some were weapons wielded by heroes throughout their lives. Some were parts of a hero’s body. Some could be considered the soul of the hero itself, a spatial artifact that painted over reality. Noble Phantasms came in countless forms, and they varied from hero to hero.
To Gilgamesh, who had obtained every treasure there was, mediocre Noble Phantasms were mere trinkets to be tossed into his vault. But this sword was one of the few exceptions that was especially prized among the Noble Phantasms that Gilgamesh owned.
Yet, the sword bore no inscription.
Though it was called Ea, this was merely a nickname of convenience he had given it.
In fact, it might not even be a sword at all.
After all, this was something that had existed long before swords and spears had appeared in history.
It hailed from an era more ancient than humans, older than even the planet itself.
It was a rarity among rarities, a pure manifestation of the power wielded by gods to enact Genesis.
It was the beginning of all on this planet. It was that which clove apart Heaven and Earth.
It rent the void and created the sky, then pierced the sky and returned it to the void.
This power symbolized the Beginning and the End, and only Gilgamesh, who inherited the essence of the gods, was permitted to wield it.
Therefore, when Gilgamesh swung the sword with all his might, it was defined as...
Anti-world Noble Phantasm.
Offensive Noble Phantasms were classified into tiers such as anti-personnel, anti-army, anti-fortress, and so forth.
In many cases, an anti-personnel Noble Phantasm was more appropriate to a one-on-one battle between Heroic Spirits than an anti-army or anti-fortress Noble Phantasm. But when it came to the sheer power of an anti-world Noble Phantasm, considerations such as compatibility and applicability went out the window.
It was absolute power — the power to destroy the World itself.
Regardless of whether the opponent was an individual or a group, it simply broke the world they existed in.
Such was the attack which Gilgamesh unleashed with all of his strength.
Against a single Heroic Spirit, Gilgamesh attacked without hesitation. This was neither play nor negligence. The King of Heroes discarded his usual arrogance and put everything he had into a single attack.
On the ground stood the Heroic Spirit Enkidu.
This attack was a message to his oldest, only friend. It was a song of pure joy for their reunion, conveying everything he felt as a king, as a hero, and as the man Gilgamesh.
“O Ea, sing to thy heart’s content.”
Gilgamesh spoke these words not to the Heroic Spirit below him, but to the sword in his hand.
As if in response, the cylindrical sword twisted the air while spinning like a tunneling drill. The whirlwind grew and drew in even more air, and a small tornado formed.
The two cyclones combined and created an even greater distortion in the air — all of this was drawn and compressed in the sword.
The layers of wind grew even denser and exceeded the physical laws, quickly turning into a lethal weapon that ripped apart all of Creation, and began condensing into a fissure in space itself.
Sound and light converged in the distortion, and silence and darkness encircled the sword. As if to excite the howls of the seemingly living weapon, Gilgamesh gripped it even more strongly, and swung it down at his long-lost friend without hesitation—
“ENUMA ELISH
Star of Genesis — Separate Heaven and Earth
The distortion ruptured.
The entire universe that had been compressed beyond limit focused around Ea, and was released by its wielder’s slash. The resulting pressure wave sundered the nearby space. The World itself was sucked up by the chasm of the Void, and turned inside out.
Who would believe that this scene was caused by the swing of a sword?
The Void emerged from the chasm, rupturing space further. The World eroded, giving way to countless fissures in reality.
The sands cracked like clay. The sky and clouds were shredded like so much paper.
It was a hellish landscape, as if a painting of the desert had been thrown into a blender.
The “slash” of the sword twisted and tore the planet, sending a wave of destruction at the Heroic Spirit standing on the ground.
Then, Enkidu…
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Police station
Chief of Police Orlando Reeve — acolyte magus that he was — sensed the swirling auras south of the city.
“Even within town, we are detecting countless, minute energy sources. It is likely that the magi who have infiltrated Snowfield have deployed familiars to the desert.”
Orlando was quiet for a few seconds after hearing his aide’s report. The police chief silently looked out the window.
Earlier, he had finally received news that six Servants had been gathered.
However, he hadn’t predicted that the situation would accelerate this quickly.
He suspected it to be a plot of Faldeus and that meddling old fool, but there was no point in investigating it now.
Far away, there was a power so terrible as to make him tremble.
Even if the clash was happening tens of kilometers away, it could no longer be ignored as someone else’s problem.
It was a wave of power just enough to cause slight discomfort, but every hair on Orlando’s body stood on end.
What he felt now was very similar to witnessing an F5 tornado looming down on his hometown as a child.
Fighting down turbulent, gut-wrenching emotions, Orlando calmly commanded his subordinate.
“...Call the entire field team. I’m going to brief them.”
There was probably no need to assemble them here. Until several minutes ago he had actually been thinking that individual comms would have been enough.
But, after feeling this massive flow of mana, he reconsidered. It was time for a slight change of plans.
At this point, it was no longer possible to think of the Holy Grail War as “a war between magi.”
Now, there was all the more reason to speak to the field team, face to face. He had to tell them that the flag of justice was already flying behind them, as they stepped into this foreign battlefield.
Orlando wasn’t so naive as to think that this war could be won with complacence. In a truly pressing battle, that mindset could be the difference between life and death.
It was all or nothing.
The chief felt space itself warp in the desert, and reaffirmed his conviction.
Justice.
They had to trust that the power of that word would protect them. The enemy was just that formidable.
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Desert region
The blow that declared the start of the False Holy Grail War could well have been the final attack that ended a Holy Grail War.
Many Heroic Spirits would not even warrant the use of Ea.
Most Heroic Spirits whom the King deemed worthy to wield his sword against would be awed at its power, yet challenge the King anyway.
Heroes that witnessed the power of Genesis would feel a variety of emotions.
Resignation, determination, terror, fear, horror, hatred, or perhaps joy.
But there was only one Heroic Spirit who would smile with nostalgia in the face of hell on Earth, the amalgamation of Death and the Void.
Ah, yes.
While a vast power trampled Heaven and Earth and smashed the World on its path toward him, Enkidu smiled an expression of deep relief.
It was an attack devoid of deceit or subterfuge.
Though it lacked the sheer magnitude it had during the Age of Gods, the nature of his power was exactly as it had been.
"—I’m happy, Gil.
...So happy that I can test my powers against yours like this again…"
There was no one more human than him, though he hated humans — no one more divine, though he denied the gods.
The King of Heroes, who stood upon the apex of Creation, was fighting him seriously as an opponent.
In that case, Enkidu could only respond in kind.
As he thought this, the Heroic Spirit turned with a gentle motion.
“Adjusted for this era… I think it’d be something like this.”
The Void shattered the earth as it made its way towards him. The Heroic Spirit smiled, and smiled, and smiled—
“I’ll fight with everything I have too, Gil.”
Then, the world went into flux.
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Northern Snowfield — wide valley
“What on Earth…?”
Tiné Chelc was confused.
She had sent her condor familiar after the Heroic Spirit, but it couldn’t keep up at all.
But she knew immediately that something was happening, based on the ground tremors coming from the south.
Right before Gilgamesh had departed, he had said, “This battle has become worthy of my true might.” In other words, the source of the earth-shaking howling was probably her Servant, who had gone off to fight seriously.
An enormous quantity of od — her body’s internal mystic energy — was flowing away.
The power supply to a contracted Servant was provided by the Holy Grail established in the land and the Master’s own energy.
While she was on this land, Tiné could draw upon the mana gushing from its leylines and convert it to od as she pleased, but now she felt as if her body would be sucked dry if she lost her focus. Tiné’s magic circuits jarred as she converted energy at a shocking rate.
Still, the girl let no discomfort show on her face, and bore the burden. She would show no weakness in front of the comrades who had placed their faith in her.
Besides, if she faltered at a trifle such as this, she would be unworthy to be a subject of the King, as Gilgamesh had said.
As these thoughts went through her head, Tiné embraced a single conviction.
There was a Noble Phantasm that destroyed the World itself.
Gilgamesh had shut off the shared perception and telepathy that linked them as master and familiar. So, Tiné didn’t know what was actually happening at the battleground, but this energy flow told her enough.
Tiné was convinced that no Servant could clash with this much power and hope to survive.
Should she rejoice in the removal of a chess piece so early in the game? Or should she lament tipping their hand to the other Master camps? As the girl doubted herself, something happened that bewildered her even further.
“...?”
Because Tiné used a unique brand of magic that shared energy with the earth, she felt it even at this distance.
“Impossible!”
Enough power was flowing to the desert to oppose Gilgamesh. And it wasn’t from the leylines.
It was as if the planet itself had come into that location, and funneled a gigantic amount of mana into it.
It was enough to delude one into thinking that Gaia
the Counter Force of the planet
Then, she understood.
Right now, the Heroic Spirit fighting Gilgamesh in the southern desert was at least as powerful as he was. It was a being outside the rules of the game.
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Desert region
Enkidu’s manifestation as a Lancer
spear-wielding Heroic Spirit
However, it was not quite accurate to call it a Noble Phantasm.
It was a Chisel to tie the bond between gods and men. This was Enkidu’s true nature.
According to one tale, in an attempt to cling to their power, the gods had placed Gilgamesh upon the earth as a chisel to ensure that humans would continue to worship the gods as gods.
However, he did not fulfill that duty, instead reigning in such a way to personally drive humanity away from the gods. Perhaps the King of Heroes had forgotten his charge, or perhaps he simply ignored it.
A spear was made to question, investigate and discipline the King of Heroes, who had failed in his duty. Namely, Enkidu was born as the concept of a god-forged weapon to pierce Gilgamesh’s hostility and return the Chisel to the gods’ own hands. Thus, the likelihood was high that he was chosen by the Holy Grail for the Lancer class.
It could also be said that his Noble Phantasm — an attack that used his own body as a weapon — was best personified by a .
He would simply puncture the World and stitch it back together.
If a wall existed in the chasm between Heaven and Earth, he existed to pierce that concept.
But, the gods miscalculated again, as they did with Gilgamesh’s hostility.
The weapon gained knowledge of its own after descending to the earth and interacting with humans. It then tried to bridge the worlds of gods and men in its own way. The Chisel would indeed be returned to the gods — in other words, by approaching the gods.
That is, gods would not rule humanity. And humanity would make its way to the realm of the gods.
Thus, Enkidu chose to become a system.
He chose to be a weapon wielded by the King of the Earth, a pathway that would be fully expended for the evolution of the World.
And, he made a decision as a human.
He would be someone that rid the King of his solitude, and would always stand by his side.
In the instant that an attack to destroy Eternity drew near—
The planet sang.
A gigantic amount of mana gushed forth at Enkidu’s feet, and moved to swallow Enuma Elish
the Star of Genesis Separating Heaven and Earth
“Don’t hold back.”
Those words were not directed at the Heroic Spirit he was facing.
As the King of Heroes had spoken to Ea, so too did Enkidu speak to the massive mana engulfing the Void cracks in space. He spoke directly to the planet.
“I am a weapon. Wield me as you please.”
Instantly, enough mana surged forth to make the earlier flow seem like a mere trickle. Several times more mana geysered from the earth’s surface, becoming a cyclone of energy enveloping Enkidu’s body.
Then, the energy became a titanic lance of light to pierce Heaven and Earth, with the Heroic Spirit as its core.
It was a concept that once propagated life.
It was the fiery coals that had been used to overcome mankind’s first fears.
It had walked alongside mankind through hell, and now, it sang of Paradise.
The Separation of Heaven and Earth was of little consequence.
From the past to the future. From the future to eternity.
It would link the land and sea to the heavens.
Terror was etched in the karmic endeavor of Life. Thus, with time humanity would rewrite it down to its genes.
Both a weapon and a tool, a mud doll without form.
Walking among humans, it, who had acquired the joy of friendship, shouted.
As this world was already Hell, humanity would create Paradise on its own, and comprehend the Beginning.
Enuma Elish
O Humanity, Bind Thy Gods
Whilst destruction had been loosed upon the earth, a mighty strike hurtled toward the sky.
Enkidu
The Chisel of the Gods
And then…
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In a dream
“...What’s that?”
In bed, Kuruoka Tsubaki opened her eyes as she felt something like the ground shaking.
With sleepy eyes, she turned toward the window, but everything seemed the same as usual.
As soon as she thought that, a brief flash light the far-off sky, and soon after that, she heard a dull noise that seemed to tear at the atmosphere.
“Thunder!”
A chill ran down the girl’s back, and she rolled up into a ball. She pulled the covers over herself, and began trembling.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry…”
It wasn’t clear what she was apologizing to. The young girl continued mumbling words of apology at each peal of thunder.
She was used to being the subject of magical experiments by her parents from an early age, and she didn’t fear the spirit that bore her no ill will. Yet, it seemed that she was terrified of natural phenomena such as thunder and earthquakes.
“Thunder is so scary…”
At that, the Darkness in the back of the room stirred, and gently encircled the bed, shielding the girl from the light and sound.
Then, the Darkness divided into a second Darkness, and slipped through a crack in the window, exiting the house.
It was a world within a dream.
There were no signs of people.
Tsubaki’s parents were neatly lined up on the bed, sleeping like the dead.
The fragment of the Darkness — the Pale Rider — used its own energy to ride the north wind blowing towards the south of town.
This strange realm was a psuedo-world created by linking Tsubaki’s mystic energy and dreams to the foundation of the Holy Grail War embedded in the land of Snowfield. It was something approaching the incarnated mental worlds called Reality Marbles by magi, but as a space born of the convergence of many conditions such as the mana-rich land and Tsubaki’s innate skills, it obviously could not persist without limit.
The surroundings of the world were limited to the Snowfield region that was the foundation of the Holy Grail War, and the world was bound by many rules — but Tsubaki, who had unconsciously manifested this phenomenon, had no way of knowing that.
Her only wish was to spend happy days with her beloved family.
As long as its Master wished it, the Pale Rider would only use its power to make Tsubaki’s wish come true.
It had no emotions, nor did it desire the Holy Grail. It only functioned as an indifferent system to fulfill its Master’s wishes, like a Holy Grail
wishing machine
Nor did Tsubaki have an outrageous wish to make of the Holy Grail. If she did, it would be to keep living as she did, into old age. In this regard, her team could be considered the victors of the Holy Grail War.
The Pale Rider silently continued to protect her. It acted to rid Tsubaki of her troubles.
For example, thunder and lightning had appeared in the dream world, so the Pale Rider was wriggling its way into the real world, to dispel the distortion in reality.
The Pale Rider had no emotion, just as humanity’s fear of disease would never die.
Therefore, she had no concept of destruction. Therefore, she had no fear.
It didn’t matter that the obstacles were so powerful they could well be the trials described in the Book of Revelation.
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Reality — desert region
Power and power.
Noble Phantasm and Noble Phantasm.
Divinity and weaponry.
When the two extremes crashed into each other, the spatial distortion blasted the surroundings asunder.
In the interstice between the two attacks, an immense struggle of energies commenced.
In the distant past, the Sacred Prostitute watched the heroes clash from the ancient city of Uruk, speaking these words in a daze:
“I felt as if the World was born seven times, and destroyed seven times.”
In the midst of such swirling power, the two Heroic Spirits never ceased smiling.
It was not as if they could spare a moment to laugh. If either one let his guard down for even a moment, his body would be rendered unto oblivion. Both of them knew that.
Nonetheless, it was but a trivial matter. To these two, this was mere child’s play. A childish contest of wits.
Still, neither could afford to restrain himself nor give the other any ground.
They only wanted to compare their powers. They wanted to struggle, and bash fist against fist.
That they were technically enemies in the Holy Grail War was little more than happenstance. It simply the fastest way for each to feel for himself that his friend was there.
Their friendly battle just happened to involve everything around them.
Besides, the energies of the two Noble Phantasms cancelled each other out, and dispersed into the surroundings.
Though, this “dispersion” left tornadoes that ripped and tore their way into the surrounding landscape.
“I’m relieved.”
As the winds howled, the two descended to the ground, and Gilgamesh finally spoke.
“I was puzzled by the remarkably nostalgic form you’ve taken, but it seems that you haven’t regressed on the inside.”
Somehow, Enkidu appeared to have taken on the form that he had when the two met for the first time. Enkidu’s original form was that of a shapeless mud doll, so he had probably taken many shapes over time.
The King of Heroes was haughty to the end, but he still spoke with an attitude clearly different from the one he showed to others.
“Still, to come all the way out to the desert to receive me… you’re a selfish one, as always. Only you would be foolish enough to prioritize your concern for a forest over welcoming me.”
He had not actually expected Enkidu to come greet him, and spoke with casual sarcasm.
“Dreary land that this is, I even notice sand worms and rats. Are you finally enough that you can distinguish between lives?”
His words were pointed, but there was no hint of hostility.
While the avatar of arrogance criticized his friend's selfishness, Enkidu shook his head, replying,
“I don’t have the right. As a tool, how I ought to be depends on the will of my . Ah, but I do make the final judgment. It’s better if I'm the only one the desert resents.”
Gilgamesh sighed with exasperation.
“Are you going on about that again? You haven’t changed, even in death.”
“Meanwhile, you’ve been reborn as a living tyrant.”
The retort to Gilgamesh, who had been called a wise king in his youth, was equally sarcastic. But it too contained no animosity.
“Indeed. If my childhood self knew of my current state, I daresay he’d commit suicide.”
Gilgamesh spoke so casually compared to the time when he had manifested in the cave that one might wonder if he was a different person. If the magi that knew his usual attitude saw this now, they would probably be wondering why the androgynous Heroic Spirit hadn’t been killed yet.
The reasons were many, but there was one objective factor in particular that a skeptical magus would probably accept — though, this reason actually didn’t even register in Gilgamesh’s mind.
Even for the King of Heroes, this opponent could not be easily killed.
Such was the strength of this Heroic Spirit.
Anyone who had observed their clash would agree.
And, the still wasn’t over.
Still in Gilgamesh’s hand, Ea’s blade once again began rotating, and the space behind Gilgamesh began lighting up as if in response.
“Is that so? In your youth, if you were the boy that Shamhat described, I think you would have chosen to live. Not for the future, but for the citizens of Uruk who were still alive in that moment.”
Countless tentacles stirred from the sand, as if they were a part of Enkidu’s body.
In response, Gilgamesh again used his Noble Phantasm to float into the sky. Then, his treasury — the King’s Treasures
Gate of Babylon
Simultaneously, the ends of Enkidu’s earth tentacles transformed into countless different weapons, from spears, to swords, to bows.
One breath later, over a thousand projectiles thundered into each other.
The cacophony of clashing metal rang out over the windy battlefield.
Only two Heroic Spirits stood there.
Still, the clash between the two Heroic Spirits, each an army unto itself, was so violent that it could only be called a battlefield.
The collected Noble Phantasms of the most ancient hero, said to be the prototypes of all Noble Phantasms, were innumerable.
Weapons that would be the ultimate trump cards of ordinary Heroic Spirits were hurled forth without reserve.
To counter this, Enkidu became one with the earth, transformed the body given to him by the gods, and created countless divine weapons.
It was a furious, inexhaustible exchange of ultimate attacks.
The paradoxical scene illustrated the how well matched their friendship was.
The conversation had been cut short again, but neither was upset by this.
It was enough for them to be here together, in this place.
Whether it was a match of wits through words, or a fight to draw blood, all were worthwhile “conversation” to both of them.
This was all the more why Gilgamesh found it unforgivable that someone would dare to throw cold water on their joyous reunion after thousands of years.
A chill wind blew behind Enkidu.
While continuing to control countless weapons of sand, he looked to the north.
“It’s coming.”
“Oh?”
Sensing that it was no bluff, Gilgamesh also turned his attention northward, but he could feel nothing.
It was probably because Enkidu possessed the highest level of Presence Detection that he was able to pick up on the subtle presence.
Originally, neither Gilgamesh nor Enkidu would have paid such a feeble aura any mind. In fact, they had completely ignored the familiars spread out across the area.
But this was different.
It was far fainter than the birds and insects that served as familiars. A strangely weak presence.
Enkidu instinctively felt a bizarre pressure from the aura.
“...Something terrible is coming. It’s probably the sort that’s my natural enemy.”
Gilgamesh raised his eyebrows at that.
Enkidu had no weaknesses. Gilgamesh knew this fact well.
If there was one exception, it would be the death that hounded him — Ruin itself, none other than the curse of death that the gods had placed on him.
“...I see. I lost myself in our celebration. I’d completely forgotten that there are thieves about who intend to lay hands on my .”
“Do I count as one of those thieves?”
“You don’t need the likes of the Holy Grail, do you? You yourself are capable of becoming a flawed wishing machine.”
At Gilgamesh’s strange, offhand remark, Enkidu replied,
“I can only imitate it at best. Well, my wish has already been granted anyway, and it’s not as if my Master desires the Holy Grail.”
Casually speaking of forfeiting the war, Enkidu focused an intense gaze northward while he kept talking.
“But, I’m obligated to protect my Master. I can’t disappear because of some interference here. I’m going to run away for now, so let’s continue this another time.”
As Enkidu said “run away” with a smile, Gilgamesh frowned.
“What sort of is your Master, that you would go to such lengths? If it is of such worth, let me judge it myself.”
If it bored him, he would end the Master right there.
Such was the implication in Gilgamesh’s words, but Enkidu shook his head, chuckling,
“No way. You only know how to judge gods, humans, and wine, right?”
“?”
Gilgamesh’s face was full of question marks, though he wasn’t actually that interested in Enkidu’s Master. He let out a very un-kingly sigh, and said,
“In that case, let us continue the party after I execute the insurgents.”
Raising his head, Gilgamesh’s eyes contained quiet rage at the curs who had dared to interrupt him.
While continuing to shoot down the torrent of Noble Phantasms with his tentacles as if nothing had changed, Enkidu tried to soothe the irritated king.
“You can’t do that, Gil. A king isn’t supposed to make a gloomy face like that. When a king worries his subjects, it upsets them even worse than the fear of a tyrant.”
“You're lecturing me on the way of kings right after deciding to turn tail? A thousand transformations you might have, but you really haven't changed.”
With a broad grin, Gil raised Ea again. In response, the Noble Phantasms scattered about the area roared. Ea, strengthened by the power of the Noble Phantasms, twisted the World once more.
“This will be my final blow tonight. Accept this in place of a contract for our reunion.”
“Of course.”
Enkidu fused with the earth again, and spoke while gathering power in his body.
“I’ll run away right after that. Though I feel bad for Ea, using it as a smokescreen.”
“Don’t jest. Is not all of Creation blinded by my power?”
Then, the two smiled again, and in the next instant—
With even greater power than before, the two Enuma Elish
Creation Epics
The sight left scars on this desert land, and in the hearts of most of the watching magi, that even time would find difficult to heal.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Several minutes later…
The raging tornadoes had delayed it greatly, but the the fragment of the Pale Rider finally arrived in the middle of the desert.
But, everyone was already gone, and there was no spatial distortion to be found.
For a short while, it rode the wind and circled the area, and then the Pale Rider allowed that body to dissipate from the world.
It would not pursue the Heroic Spirits that had disappeared.
After all, it had come to eliminate the sounds of thunder that had frightened Tsubaki — and those sounds were now gone, so there was no need to do anything else.
All traces of Heroic Spirits were finally gone from the desert, and it returned to silence.
The bodies of of some that had grazed the Pale Rider as it moved lay comatose on the desert floor. The moonlight illuminated the land, as it always had.
Hence, the first battle of the False Holy Grail War drew to a close.
Assassin, who had felt the enormous powers, hardened her hostility and her caution, while the bloodsucker was wide-eyed at the strength of the King of Heroes and his opponent.
“Incredible! Beyond all expectation! Is this not the power to violate my Servant!?” he muttered in admiration.
The magi in the city reacted in various ways. Some who sensed the danger fled, while others embraced their ambitions now that they had witnessed the miracle of Heroic Spirits, and began forming schemes to keep their rights as Masters from being stolen.
The epicenter of the fierce clash between magical energies was observed in a far-off country — it was noted in the Clock Tower, headquarters of the Magic Association.
No one had died this time, but both the Magic Association and the Holy Church, who had planned to only quietly observe the ritual, revised their plans. This flow of mana had been outside of their jurisdictions.
This conflict could no longer be ignored.
An unspeakable war between magi had ignited in the land of Snowfield.
In light of this, the genuine and the spurious were no longer concepts that mattered.
Originally Posted by You
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