"To be able to reach this level—what a terrifying ability. But has that golden punk lost his mind? Does he plan to wipe out everyone here? Or is this all just a conspiracy?" Before Meruem could even say anything, everyone else—Servants and Masters alike—turned pale in shock at the situation.
Because once Goldie fired the King's Treasury directly, everyone present would be swept into it, including Kayneth hidden in the dark and Kiritsugu Emiya crouched on a rooftop.
A volley of three thousand Noble Phantasms was no less wide-ranging than a catastrophic missile carpet-bombing—its power was even greater. At the very least, most heroic spirits would be fine even if a missile hit them head-on, but if they were struck by these Noble Phantasms, even if they didn't die, they'd be crippled.
And with three thousand Noble Phantasms packed that densely, even if you tried to run now, it would probably already be too late.
"Do I have to use that now?" Even the usually brash King of Conquerors grew serious. Looking at the weapons filling the sky, his throat went dry and he swallowed.
Waver was even worse—he was so scared he hid behind him and hugged the King of Conquerors' thigh, hoping it would make him feel safe. So this is what they mean by "hugging a big thigh," huh?
"Damn it. I didn't expect that Tokiomi Tohsaka to have a heroic spirit this powerful! If I'd known, I should've chosen him as my sniper target from the start." Kiritsugu aimed his sniper rifle at Goldie's head, but he knew that even if he fired, he might not be able to do any real damage.
Or rather, even if he used his final method—the Origin Bullet—he still might not be able to kill that gold-shining heroic spirit.
He was simply too strong. Just when Kiritsugu thought summoning the famous King Arthur gave him some control over the situation, the enemy went and summoned a heroic spirit this powerful.
This was beyond anything he'd imagined—he'd miscalculated. He never expected the other party would be Gilgamesh, the oldest king.
"Oh? You want to test my limits? But that's a shame... your cheat might be overwhelmingly strong and basically unsolvable in front of others, but in front of me, it won't work at all. You can try." Among everyone present, perhaps only Meruem maintained a calm attitude. The King's Treasury? Sorry—my Other-Dimensional Space can completely shut down that ability.
What, you're saying Goldie's treasury definitely contains Noble Phantasms that can break through dimensions and space? Of course it does. But it's still the same point: without releasing True Names, Meruem's Other-Dimensional Space won't be afraid of Goldie's King's Treasury.
How much power can a simple barrage of Noble Phantasms bring out? If it could have that kind of power without releasing True Names, then those Noble Phantasms would be at least EXEXEX-rank—or Goldie's King's Treasury would've been exposed long ago.
"In the name of my Command Spell, O King of Heroes—calm your anger and withdraw." Just as a full-scale battle was about to erupt, Tokiomi, sensing things were going bad, used one Command Spell.
Choosing to retreat at this moment was, for the current situation, the correct move.
But what he didn't know was that his retreat at this moment—and his use of a Command Spell—was the key factor that would later lead Goldie to betray him. Originally, Tokiomi had always displayed submission to Goldie. Even though Goldie was a tyrant, he wouldn't have developed the thought of killing him.
Even if Tokiomi was indeed boring in Goldie's eyes, what Tokiomi did now was effectively a command—forcing Goldie to leave.
Blame it on the fact that from the very start, the positioning between Tokiomi and Goldie was that of subject and sovereign. What use is a subject who doesn't know his place?
This kind of behavior is something that perhaps any king, aside from Artoria who follows knightly ideals, would never forgive.
It's like the old idea of "removing the evil ministers from the emperor's side"—once the emperor regains control of the situation, the first person to be killed is the one who proposed it, or the ringleader. Even if the emperor knows the action was correct, because a king's authority cannot be trampled.
Anyone who offends a king must die.
"Because a nobody like you sought an audience, you want me, a king, to withdraw? Tokiomi, you've got some nerve." The moment Tokiomi made that decision, he was already a dead man in Goldie's heart.
He really brought it on himself. Goldie isn't just a chess piece. He's a sharp double-edged sword—use him wrong, and the one who gets cut might be you. So, Tokiomi really was too naive.
Goldie was extremely displeased, but he had to obey the Command Spell. With a sweeping wave of his hand, the Noble Phantasms that had dyed half the sky vanished into the silent night.
"Hm? Mongrel, those few Noble Phantasms—I'll give them to you. You got your life back, trash." Sensing that the Noble Phantasms absorbed by Meruem's Other-Dimensional Space could not be retrieved into his King's Treasury, Goldie looked at Meruem and said.
Annoying as it was, this fight had been forcibly interrupted.
"You rabble—next time we meet, you'd all be better off disappearing on your own. This king only wants to see true heroes." Even as he was leaving, Goldie still didn't forget to draw aggro.
"Mongrel... the only one I acknowledge is you. Next time we meet, don't die. Your life can only be taken by this king." As his body turned into spirit form and dispersed, Goldie said to Meruem.
"That annoying guy finally left. This farce should end too. Everyone—what do you say?" Meruem spread his hands and looked toward the others.
Suddenly, Meruem sensed something and leapt backward, quickly retreating more than ten meters. An orange-red laser struck the spot where Meruem had been standing.
"There's someone else? And they actually managed to slip past my perception. Interesting..." Meruem said with a smile, but his eyes were filled with dangerous cold light.
"Rin, Pyo, To, Sha, Kai, Jin, Retsu, Zai, Zen—destroy!" Along with a strangely accented chant, a red, dome-like barrier covered Meruem.
And it continuously contracted inward, determined to crush Meruem inside into a pulp.
"A mere barrier dares try to trap me? Break!" Meruem's iron fist slammed into the dome, and that seemingly extremely sturdy barrier didn't last even one second before it shattered into fragments.
Meruem's terrifying A+A+A+ strength was on full display. You have to know that even Heracles, summoned as Berserker, only ranked at AAA.
"Heh, you actually broke my barrier arts. You really aren't a simple opponent." At this time, the one who attacked Meruem finally revealed himself. A fox-eyed man holding a folding fan and wearing an onmyodo robe (kariginu) stepped out from the shadows. A pure white fox was perched on his shoulder.
"Then how about you try this?" The young-looking man pulled a talisman paper covered in strange sigils from his wide sleeve.
"Tengshe, Liuhe, Gouchen—manifest!"
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