Chapter 79: Slaying the Golden King
"Saber, you remember, don't you? How Gilgamesh can arrogantly fire off a massive amount of Noble Phantasms like arrows, shooting them as he pleases.
That actually stems from the legend in the Epic of Gilgamesh where he acquired all the treasures in the world, which was then sublimated into a Noble Phantasm.
Similarly, in the era when Gilgamesh lived, the small number of humans were also a type of 'treasure' to him.
But in the modern era, where the human population has exploded, humans no longer have the value of 'rarity is precious.'"
Emiya Shirou spoke of the information he had obtained from his past-life memories. This included the differences between the Gilgamesh manifested in the Caster class in FGO and the one in the Archer class.
But in reality, they were the same. Or rather, the only difference was that one manifested in the 27th century BC, and the other in the 21st century AD.
Because the Archer-class Gilgamesh once said that he had selected ten slaves in Uruk, intending to kill those who were valueless, but in the end, he couldn't bring himself to kill even one. It was simply because he felt that in Uruk, even a slave had the value of existence and was an irreplaceable treasure.
And the refusal to let anyone snatch his treasures... was the law Gilgamesh set for his country and himself.
Therefore, in an era where humans were treasures, Gilgamesh would work himself to death to protect them. This wasn't a difference in personality; it was simply that as a King, Gilgamesh would carry out his law.
In other words, when humans—the original treasures—ceased to be rare due to their sheer numbers:
"To prevent the treasures from losing their original value, there is only one thing Gilgamesh will do: purge humanity and restore the population to the scale of Uruk in the 27th century BC.
Summoning the Holy Grail and letting the curse within it descend upon this world... that is the reason Gilgamesh remains with Kotomine Kirei even after obtaining a physical body."
Shirou summarized: "It's not the status of a Servant that binds Gilgamesh to Kirei as his Master; it's that Gilgamesh, as a King, needs subjects to manifest his majesty."
Indeed, although he planned to destroy the world, Gilgamesh didn't intend to do it personally. In fact, in the various routes of the original story, if Caster hadn't fixated on Saber—who had long been "reserved" by Gilgamesh—and tried to steal a "treasure" right in front of him,
Gilgamesh might have continued playing the role of "Mr. Gold" passing through Fuyuki City for a while longer. He wouldn't have intervened in the Holy Grail War so quickly.
"You think you understand, mongrel?"
Just as Shirou was about to share more intel, a voice forcefully cut in.
"Since that is the case, surely you understand, mongrel?
Whether it is Saber or the Holy Grail, they are the property of this King. Knowing full well these belong to me, you still dare to covet my treasures..."
At this point, Gilgamesh—who had been the subject of their conversation—appeared before them at some unknown moment. Standing atop a large tree and looking down at them, he watched with an extremely dangerous gaze.
Specifically, he looked at Emiya Shirou.
"What should your crime be, mongrel!?"
"I didn't expect our battle with Berserker earlier would attract you," Shirou said to himself after seeing Gilgamesh appear, ignoring the King's question.
"That truly was a miscalculation.
Or perhaps, Gilgamesh, you came here on Kotomine Kirei's orders to investigate why Lancer's Command Spells vanished from his hand, and just happened to run into us?"
A performance. On the surface, his words seemed like a compliment, but in reality, they were laced with barbs. Of course, hidden within these words was Shirou's attempt to probe for information.
By saying "our" battle instead of "my" battle, Shirou wanted to know exactly when Gilgamesh had arrived. At the same time, this served as a reminder to himself.
While the Mind's Eye (True) projected from Archer and Saber's Instinct were useful, those skills were mostly reflected in combat to perceive danger. When it came to detecting and scouting the surroundings, they were still not as useful as the life-detection flames of [Pseudo-Magician's Red]. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been oblivious to Gilgamesh's arrival until now.
As for the latter half of his sentence, Shirou simply wanted to provoke and agitate the relationship between Gilgamesh and Kirei.
Did Gilgamesh see through these traps in Shirou's words? He most certainly did!
After all, [Sha Naqba Imuru (The Star Which Sees All)], the Noble Phantasm that sees through all creation, is the sublimation of Gilgamesh's psyche. Even if he actively deactivated the Noble Phantasm, its nature still allowed him to see through many things.
So, would Gilgamesh fall for it? He most certainly would!
Because more than being deceived, Gilgamesh found it harder to accept someone misunderstanding that he had come here because he accepted an order from Kotomine Kirei.
"Hmph! Very well, mongrel, you have successfully enraged this King!
Originally, I only wanted to see what interesting things Kirei would pull out after losing that mad dog, but the result was just this uninteresting drivel.
Even if you mongrels hadn't criticized me to my face and planned to trample the laws I set, I wouldn't have bothered with you ignorant mongrels! But now..."
Golden ripples spread behind Gilgamesh. Countless Noble Phantasms radiating exaggerated fluctuations of magical energy appeared before Shirou and the others alongside Gilgamesh's reprimand.
"This King has changed his mind!
Feel honored, mongrels! You have forced this noble King to step onto the field early to play with you mongrels!"
However.
[Gate of Babylon]!!
Someone was faster than Gilgamesh.
"Countering by striking first—
[Fragarach (Gouging Sword of the War God)]!!"
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