Tohsaka Estate.
The night was pitch black. Situated on high ground, the Western-style mansion resembled a slumbering beast, quietly overlooking the city.
To ordinary people, it was just a grand mansion, but in the Spiritual Sight of a magus, it was a heavily fortified stronghold.
Countless invisible streams of magical energy wove around the estate, forming a dense and deadly network of bounded fields.
The moment any unauthorized magical fluctuation touched this web, it would trigger a devastating counterattack.
However, in the dead of this silent night, a dark shadow infiltrated without a sound.
It was Assassin.
To be precise, it was one of the many personas of the Assassin, Hassan-i-Sabbah.
Wearing a pale skull mask, his figure darted through the shadows of the courtyard like a phantom.
Those sensory bounded fields, capable of reducing an ordinary magus to ashes, seemed practically nonexistent in the face of his high-ranking class skill, [Presence Concealment].
'Hmph, is this the defense of the Tohsaka, one of the Three Founding Families?'
Beneath the mask, he let out a silent sneer.
Too easy.
So easy that he even felt a hint of boredom.
His mission was to infiltrate this mansion and test the waters with that highly rumored Archer-class Servant.
Ideally, he would just assassinate Tokiomi Tohsaka directly.
He effortlessly bypassed two infrared magical traps, clinging to the mansion's outer wall like a gecko, and climbed toward the second-floor terrace that radiated a dense magical energy reaction.
As long as he vaulted over that railing, he could enter Tokiomi Tohsaka's magic workshop.
When that time came, whether it was assassination or sabotage, it would be effortless.
Just as he gathered his strength to flip over the edge—
"Who gave you permission to look up?"
A cold, arrogant voice, carrying a majesty that seemed to descend from the clouds, abruptly echoed above his head.
He struggled to lift his gaze.
Standing on that terrace was a man radiating a brilliant golden glow.
He wore a suit of gleaming armor, his golden hair fluttering slightly in the night breeze. Those crimson, snake-like eyes were looking down at him from above.
That gaze wasn't looking at an enemy, or even a human being.
It was the look one gave a filthy bug that had accidentally crawled into their garden and soiled the rug.
"Mongrel."
The golden man spat the word with utter contempt.
No incantation was needed, nor any movement.
In the empty space behind him, golden ripples materialized out of thin air.
Those were ripples in space, the doorways connecting to the ancient treasury of Babylon.
One, two, three...
Countless Noble Phantasms—swords, spears, blades, and halberds—slowly emerged from the golden ripples, carrying suffocating waves of magical energy.
They were aimed squarely at the Assassin clinging to the wall.
Assassin's pupils contracted violently. He let go, attempting to activate his Presence Concealment to flee back into the shadows.
"Since you are here, use your death to entertain me."
The man did not even move a single finger.
*Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!*
Several Noble Phantasms rained down like a meteor shower, their golden brilliance illuminating the night sky of Fuyuki City.
Every single weapon was a legendary Noble Phantasm, yet at this moment, they were treated as disposable projectiles.
*Shk! Shk! Shk!*
The first spear pierced through his shoulder, pinning him firmly to the lawn.
Closely followed by the second, the third...
*Boom! Boom! Boom!*
Deafening explosions echoed through the clouds, instantly turning the Tohsaka family's courtyard into a massive crater.
The smoke and dust cleared.
The once-agile Assassin had been reduced to an unrecognizable paste of flesh, pulverized into the dirt along with his skull mask.
Up on the terrace, Gilgamesh watched the scene with cold indifference, the red glow in his eyes gradually fading.
"Boring."
He turned around, not even bothering to spare another glance at the remains, as if he had merely swatted a mosquito.
Tohsaka Estate, underground magic workshop.
Tokiomi Tohsaka sat in a high-backed red velvet chair, swirling a glass of red wine in his hand as he watched everything unfold in the courtyard through a surveillance spell.
An elegant and confident smile curled the corners of his mouth.
"Perfect."
He praised softly, "As expected of the King of Heroes. Just releasing a fraction of his majesty is enough to reduce others to ash."
Sitting on the sofa opposite him were two men dressed in priestly attire.
One was his ally, the overseer from the Holy Church, Risei Kotomine.
The other was Risei's son, and the executor of this plan, Kirei Kotomine.
"Is this the power of the oldest king?" Risei nodded in satisfaction.
Although he had long known of this Servant's immense strength, witnessing this combat style—using Noble Phantasms as disposable items—still made his heart pound with trepidation.
"That Assassin... although just a clone, was still a Heroic Spirit after all."
"This is enough."
Tokiomi set down his wine glass, a calculating gleam in his eyes. "By sacrificing one of Assassin's clones, we make everyone mistakenly believe that Assassin has been eliminated."
"This way, Kirei's remaining clones can become our sharpest eyes and ears on this unguarded battlefield."
It was a flawless act.
Trading a pawn for absolute superiority in intelligence.
"However..." Risei hesitated for a moment before speaking up. "Tokiomi, although the operation went smoothly, those anomalies observed over the past two nights..."
He pulled out a parchment scroll detailing the data recently recorded by the crystal ball.
"That Avenger occupying the Caster slot, and the magical energy reaction that appeared at an altitude of twenty thousand meters... None of these were in our plans."
Risei's tone was filled with worry. "Especially that high-altitude reaction. Who is it? Is it a powerful magus beyond our expectations?"
"It matters not."
Tokiomi waved his hand, cutting off his old friend's concerns.
His face still bore that smile of absolute control.
"No matter what variables appear, they are meaningless in the face of absolute power."
"Gilgamesh is invincible. He stands at the pinnacle of all Heroic Spirits and is the 'absolute answer' against any Servant."
"We simply need to follow the plan step by step and wait for him to bring the Holy Grail back to us."
Tokiomi's confidence stemmed not only from his trust in Gilgamesh's strength but also from his blind faith as a traditional magus in the concept of 'Mystery'.
The oldest is the strongest.
This was the ironclad rule of the magical world.
Kirei Kotomine sat silently in the shadows, listening to the conversation between his father and his teacher with an expressionless face.
His eyes were hollow, like a pool of stagnant water.
He felt absolutely no resonance with Tokiomi's prideful and confident declarations.
Compared to all that...
The image he had just seen through his familiar echoed in Kirei's mind.
The look in the golden king's eyes when he executed Assassin.
It wasn't anger, nor was it murderous intent.
It was pure... boredom.
'Boredom, huh...'
Kirei chewed on the word in his heart.
Indeed, it was.