In the end, upon seeing Ludwig take to the skies, even Gilgamesh couldn't help but be momentarily dazed. The sight of a youth soaring through the heavens relying solely on himself, rather than a Noble Phantasm, reminded the Heroic King of his dearest friend, Enkidu.
"A rare hunting expedition indeed. Do not disappoint this King," Gilgamesh murmured, a cold, joyous smile spreading across his face as he watched Ludwig suspend himself alone high in the heavens to face him after letting Merlin go.
Though separated by several hundred meters, Ludwig could have heard Gilgamesh's words had he wished, but he had no interest in listening to the golden heroic spirit's nonsense. Once Merlin's figure had vanished amidst the clouds below, he leaned forward and suddenly accelerated like a missile, charging toward Gilgamesh on the Vimana.
"So you choose a frontal assault? Then come!"
Ludwig's response delighted Gilgamesh for a moment, but in turn, he instantly opened dozens of treasure portals, firing a dense hail of Noble Phantasms. These weapons traveled with extreme velocity, appearing as almost a solid beam of light. Due to the varying natures of the treasures, each beam possessed a different color.
Having already witnessed Ludwig's extreme speed and knowing that even with Vimana's engines at full throttle, it would be difficult to catch him, Gilgamesh decisively chose a wide-area saturation attack with a dense rain of Noble Phantasms, locking down any routes the youth might take to detour for a flank attack.
"Now, what will you do?" Gilgamesh watched with keen interest as Ludwig, with nowhere left to dodge, charged on.
Violent explosions erupted in the sky. Shockwaves rippled outwards, and thick smoke obscured their vision. Gilgamesh slightly adjusted Vimana's flight path, intending to witness the sight of the youth plummeting from the sky.
"Not just anyone is qualified to soar in the skies where royalty rides. Let this King see if you truly possess that right—"
Seated upon the Vimana as it swerved past the center of the explosion, Gilgamesh was grandiosely delivering his verdict. Yet, before he could finish his sentence, a white shadow shot out from the smoke and dust, as fast as lightning. Ludwig's head was slightly lowered, his white hair whipping in the wind, momentarily acting as a reaper's mask to veil his expression.
A sharp longsword thrust straight toward Gilgamesh's throat, but its trajectory was disrupted by a Noble Phantasm fired from the side. Upon seeing Gilgamesh dawn his armor, Ludwig had instantly shifted his combat logic; he wasn't sure what level of attack would be needed to pierce the armor, but there was no need to ponder such questions for the areas the armor failed to protect.
This time, Gilgamesh finally saw Ludwig's attacks clearly. Those Noble Phantasms hadn't hit him; rather, they had been struck down or destroyed by the longsword in the youth's hand before they could impact. Even though the sheer number of treasures in his treasury exceeded his own comprehension, seeing his wealth destroyed like this caused a vein to throb on Gilgamesh's forehead.
However, rather than being enraged by this, he was now far more interested in the sword in Ludwig's hand. An utterly unexceptional-looking azure longsword, yet it possessed the power to clash with, and even destroy, Noble Phantasms. Was it this brat's own power, or was it the sword itself?
Throughout his high-speed detours and barrages of treasures, his gaze remained fixed on that sword, unable to look away. One thing was certain: that sword was no Noble Phantasm, yet it was also no piece of crude junk that could be picked up anywhere. Even Gilgamesh, who had seen countless treasures, was momentarily unable to distinguish the sword's true nature.
But he had no desire to activate 'Sha Naqba Imuru' to peer into the truth of that sword. Previously, it was only because Merlin was by this brat's side that Gilgamesh had, on a whim, briefly activated that Noble Phantasm to glance at Ludwig's origins. In Gilgamesh's eyes, even if this brat was a 'New Primate' capable of continuing to survive in the hell after the planet's end, he had not yet reached the point where he warranted the repeated use of that Noble Phantasm.
"Interesting. Once I have cut off your head, this King shall take that sword as minor compensation for these destroyed treasures."
With that, Gilgamesh made a grand sweeping gesture, and even more treasure portals opened.
Ludwig suddenly raised his head, an excited smile flickering across his face and into his azure eyes, blue as the sky itself. The azure longsword in his hand suddenly exploded in size with the speed of thought, its blade transforming from a longsword into a titanic existence that blotted out the sun.
"What?!" Gilgamesh was stunned.
The instant Heroic King increased his frequency of attack, his flight speed dropped slightly as a result. Seizing this opening, Ludwig swung the massive magic sword, striking toward Gilgamesh's position. Despite the enormous size of the blade, the speed of the slash was not delayed in the slightest, rivaling that of an ordinary-sized sword.
Gilgamesh was forced to release two equally enormous Noble Phantasms to block. 'Ig-Alima', the Mountain-Cutting Sword, and 'Sul-Sagana', the Sea-Burning Sword. Noble Phantasms that were, in truth, divine constructs, now became shields to block the attack.
The three colossal blades crashed together, causing a massive tremor, yet it also bought time for Gilgamesh to dodge out of attack range. Following the clash, Ig-Alima and Sul-Sagana plummeted toward the ground below, being reclaimed by Gilgamesh's treasury during their fall, but he himself had no time for that.
Due to the massive volume of the two Divine Constructs obscuring his vision, Ludwig, having failed with his initial strike, rapidly retracted his magic sword and closed the distance. While the sheer number of Noble Phantasms was somewhat beyond Ludwig's comprehension, the means of attack were singular; those treasures were merely physical means of attack, akin to arrows or missiles.
Thus, when Gilgamesh glimpsed Ludwig emerging from the clouds below, he was deeply taken aback by this unnatural speed.
"Damnable Merlin, she still had a hand in this after all."
Gilgamesh cursed softly. He realized that this was one of the trump cards Ludwig had deliberately hidden earlier; before the Magician had descended, she had bestowed magical support upon the youth. A top-tier magus paired with a top-tier warrior—Gilgamesh had underestimated his enemy after all, deceived by Ludwig's previous performance into believing that was the youth's limit.
But Gilgamesh only had time for that single curse. Ludwig swung his sword upwards from below; with nowhere left to dodge, Gilgamesh could only attempt to adjust his flight posture, only for the emerald wing on the right side of his ship to be sheared off by a strike of the sword.
Unable to maintain its posture with half its wing missing, the Vimana rapidly lost balance. Gilgamesh was forced to abandon the Vimana, relying on the power of other Noble Phantasms to remain suspended in the air, facing off against Ludwig who had temporarily pulled back to a distance.
Crimson eyes locked with azure eyes for several seconds before this battle in the skies erupted once more.
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