Gilgamesh, who had also come to a halt, stood across the flower bed, scrutinizing Ludwig and Merlin.
"Boy, now that you've heard so much about the Holy Grail War, do you intend to retreat, or do you plan to try your hand at competing for it?" Gilgamesh asked, before immediately continuing in his self-centered manner, "Not that your choice matters. I certainly won't let an opportunity like this pass by."
Accompanying his words, golden ripples spread across the void like waves, and Noble Phantasms of various designs began to poke through them.
"I haven't even done anything yet, and you're already labeling me a thief lusting after your treasure? Merlin wasn't kidding about you at all."
Ludwig could tell from the weapons emerging from the golden portals that none of them were ordinary, but he didn't so much as bat an eyelid.
"This has nothing to do with the Holy Grail War. It is merely a warm-up to kill some time," Gilgamesh said, lifting his chin slightly in a display of utter disdain. "Everything in this era is far too tedious. It is rare to see something that piques my interest, so naturally, I must enjoy myself. Besides, this is something that creature has taken a liking to."
Ludwig ignored the comment entirely. He retracted his gaze, giving Gilgamesh nothing but the bored view of the back of his head. "If you want to fight, go do it somewhere else. You're looking for Merlin, not me."
"I am the one who decides who I look for first." Gilgamesh slowly raised his hand, and the weapons already protruding from the ripples extended a bit further.
Then, without any warning, they fired, hurtling straight toward the bench where Ludwig and Merlin were sitting.
The bench and the surrounding ground vanished in a series of explosions. Dust and smoke billowed into the air as a large crater opened in the earth. Shattered stone tiles flew in all directions, some splashing into the river.
"Oho... quite the reaction speed you've got there." Merlin's voice rang out.
She was currently clamped under Ludwig's arm. Despite being the target of the attack, she looked perfectly nonchalant, shading her eyes with one hand like a visor as she looked down at the scorched earth.
Ludwig, carrying Merlin, had escaped the blast radius before the strike landed. He was now perched atop a nearby streetlight, looking down at Gilgamesh from his vantage point.
"Even when faced with certain death, you chose to drag that nuisance along instead of simply saving yourself. Hmph," Gilgamesh sneered.
Merlin also tilted her head to look up at Ludwig. "Honestly, you could have just left me behind and dodged on your own. The Noble Phantasms fired from the 'King's Treasury' don't really pose a threat to me."
"I know that now," Ludwig replied, rolling his neck with a casual air. "But look, whether it's an incubus, a human, or a hybrid of both, I'd still have nightmares if a cute girl died right in front of my eyes."
"Hahahaha!" Gilgamesh's laughter grew even more unrestrained. "You call that thing 'cute'? You think that qualifies as cute? You haven't been bewitched by a succubus's Mystic Eyes, have you? Hahahaha!"
Merlin whispered to Ludwig in a mock-confidential tone, "Actually, the male ones are called incubi. Since I'm female, 'succubus' would be more accurate."
"...Is now really the time to discuss the finer details of racial classification?" Ludwig felt a surge of helplessness, though his eyes never left Gilgamesh.
Even though more Noble Phantasms remained poised within the golden portals, Gilgamesh didn't seem in a hurry to strike again. Instead, he maintained a nonchalant posture. The golden Servant's expression seemed to suggest that a prey that wouldn't fight back was no fun to hunt.
"Well, let's talk about what needs to be said then," Merlin said, completely unbothered by being carried under his arm as she got straight to the point. "The Heroic King has already made the first move, even ignoring the rule that the Holy Grail War must be conducted in secret."
Of course, when she had led Ludwig here earlier, she had already used illusions to clear the park of people. No ordinary person would witness the current situation. The so-called rule of preventing "Mystery" from being exposed to the public wasn't really a concern here.
"Are you going to hit him back? If you want to fight, I can make an exception and help out," Merlin said, puffing out her cheeks before playfully sticking out her tongue. "Despite appearances, I do have some talent in magecraft."
"Exactly!" Gilgamesh opened even more golden portals. "Come at me, Magician of Flowers. Otherwise, this Holy Grail War will have no joy to speak of."
"Normally, if someone provokes me like this, I should hit back," Ludwig said, letting out a yawn. "But unfortunately, I don't have time to waste on a guy who just talks to himself."
The moment his words fell, Gilgamesh fired his Noble Phantasms again. Once more, the weapons missed, hitting nothing but air.
In the blink of an eye, Ludwig had ascended high into the sky—an altitude far beyond the reach of Gilgamesh's projectile Noble Phantasms.
"My, my... I didn't expect you to be able to fly without relying on magecraft or Authority," Merlin remarked with great interest. "Have the humans of the distant future worked so hard to adapt to their harsh environment that they've reached this level?"
"Technically, Humans... or rather, Human-types, can't fly without machinery. I'm—"
As he streaked through the air, Ludwig was about to correct Merlin when he suddenly felt a cold wave of killing intent from behind. He swerved sharply, dodging a Noble Phantasm that came whistling past him.
"Oh dear, oh dear," Merlin remarked, unperturbed.
Maintaining his altitude and speed, Ludwig glanced back. He had thought he'd left Gilgamesh behind on the ground, but the golden Archer was now seated upon a flying vessel made of gold and emeralds.
Not only that, but the Servant was now clad in golden armor, radiating an aura of extreme extravagance from head to toe.
"He actually chased me... and he's sitting in some kind of epoch-making spaceship," Ludwig muttered in surprise, continuing to weave through the air as Noble Phantasms were fired at his back. "What exactly was the situation like in the Age of Gods?"
Because both were flying at equally high speeds, Gilgamesh didn't seem to have a clean shot. Or perhaps, he was intentionally not aiming precisely, treating this chase as a leisurely hunting game.
"Vimana, one of Gilgamesh's Noble Phantasms," Merlin explained. "You're quite something to be able to match the flight speed of a treasure like that, Lutz."
"What kind of nickname is that...? If you have time to make up pet names, why don't you reflect on the fact that you're the one who caused this mess for me?"
That said, no one usually called him that; others generally just called him "Lud."
"So, what's the plan? Do you want to keep playing hide-and-seek with the Heroic King?" Merlin asked with a smile.
"I was hoping to put some distance between us and avoid a pointless fight," Ludwig said, shaking his head. "But since he's chased us all the way into the sky, it would be embarrassing to keep hiding."
He suddenly pulled a sharp turn, changing his flight path, and used his free hand to punch an incoming Noble Phantasm right out of the air.
"Barehanded?" The look in Merlin's eyes was priceless.
Ludwig's flight path carved a wide arc as he began to circle back, closing the distance between himself and Gilgamesh's flying vessel.
"No matter how strong I am, I can't really fight with someone tucked under my arm. If I let you go now, can you land safely?" he asked Merlin.
"Of course. Don't worry about a small thing like that. I'm just not very good at aerial combat; even with magecraft, I might not be able to keep up with your speeds."
As she spoke, Merlin reached out and pressed her hand against Ludwig's chest. This wasn't a tease or a flirtatious gesture; in an instant, an exceptionally powerful surge of magical energy enveloped him.
"You—"
"Since I'm the one who started this, consider this magical support a small, trivial token of my apology..."
Merlin gave him a wink and then patted his arm, signaling him to let go. Ludwig obliged, and she began to plummet toward the ground.
"I'm very much looking forward to your battle, hehehe—"
She laughed softly as she fell, her nimble figure disappearing into the layers of clouds below. Ludwig didn't have time to check if she would actually land safely; she said she'd be fine, so he took her word for it.
"What 'token of apology'? She just gave me a buff because she wants me to fight with everything I've got."
Ludwig clenched his fist, suddenly accelerating and charging straight toward Gilgamesh on the Vimana.
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