Chapter 51: Day 10 ⑤

Floating in the air were twenty-seven noble phantasms without wielders.

Each one was a crystal of mystery capable of becoming a legend—objects that should have been accompanied by anecdotes in later generations.

Originals (Prototype) that permitted no second existence. They were projected as shadows containing slight flaws, standing in opposition to the King who owned them.

My mind was white-hot with fever. Ignoring it, I readied Excalibur in both hands and sprinted toward Gilgamesh, who still remained motionless.

"——Continuous Multi-Layer Projection: Sword Barrel - Full Open."

With that single command, the swords behind me took aim at the target before me and were launched.

With the swords beginning to fire at my back, I leaped forward, taking the vanguard and racing through the battlefield.

A surging volley of sword-arrows. An all-out bombardment of overwhelming quantity from which there was no escape. This march that tramples the individual is a miracle and power that only the Oldest King should possess.

——And yet, of all things, it was being deployed right before the eyes of the original owner.

Only those watching gasped at this impossible, forbidden sight. The act of summoning a massive number of armaments was already in a league of its own, but Rin’s eyes widened at the fact that I—who had only shown a glimpse of such power before—was now deploying something equal to his.

However, the opposing Gilgamesh showed no agitation; he simply allowed a terrifying wrath to overflow from his being. It was precisely because he collected and possessed the Originals that he could understand that these floating objects were "different," despite leaving almost no discernible disparity to distinguish them.

——That they were Fakes, exquisite copies made of the "counterfeits" he so despised.

"Do... not... mock me, you mongrel—!"

As Gilgamesh swiped his right hand with eyes bleeding rage, numerous swords appeared behind him and were fired just as I had done.

Leaning my body forward, I took the incoming weapons into my field of vision.

Compared to Rule Breaker or Gae Bolg, which have built up Mystery over years and legends—regardless of their scale—these things were easy to reproduce. They lacked experience; that alone made them simple to replicate.

"——Trace, Reload."

Sparks flew. Swords were repelled.

The metallic sound of clashing blades echoed. The storm of sound, layering infinitely and filling the castle, recreated an ancient war between armies.

Gilgamesh’s Originals and my Fakes were fired with the intent to destroy the other's master, and every single one was intercepted. The noble blades, possessing extraordinary power, stood in equilibrium, colliding head-on until both succumbed to gravity.

However, neither he nor I had a limit to our "soldiers"—to the number of swords we could pull out.

Behind me, more noble blades appeared as shadows, freshly fired to kill me.

And behind him, new swords were being produced without end.

Before the second wave behind us could be launched, I had Gilgamesh within my range.

About five meters left to Gilgamesh. I stepped in deep and twisted my body. Heat pooled in my legs, my arms, and this body.

Passing Prana, raging power. I could understand the movements of my entire body as if holding them in my hand. Charging power. With this body, this distance can be covered in a single bound——.

I saw his face over my shoulder. He was no longer relaxed. But there was no panic either.

His sharply glowing eyes were honed; the passion born of anger was gone. Only a cold, ruthless hue remained.

——It burst.

Like a handgun firing, the accumulated energy exploded.

the surrounding scenery blew away. My vision was cropped to the front—only Gilgamesh existed.

I swung Excalibur up toward my back right and twisted my entire body. Utilizing this extraordinary physical ability to its fullest, this was my first and lethal strike.

Carrying a blow that converted even propulsion into power, I closed the distance. Then, I swung down and followed through.

The scream of iron echoed through the vast space.

The impact traveled from my hands to my arms. A pleasant feedback that seemed to vibrate the core of my body. ——Gilgamesh was blown back, crashing into the castle wall.

The demonic sword Gram had appeared in his hand at some point, but he hadn't managed to strike back; he had only managed to block.

——No, that’s not it. He had completely blocked a full-power strike from me... from Saber, who was receiving a proper supply of Prana, even if he was blown back.

Despite the significant weight of the impact, I couldn't finish him. As the origin of Caliburn and the bearer of the name "Dragon Slayer," Gram was truly the natural enemy of this body.

"——!?"

I slammed on the brakes as I tried to step forward for a follow-up attack, stopping in my tracks and involuntarily clutching my chest as I crouched down. With a clatter, the twin Excaliburs fell from my hands to the ground.

Inside my body, a pulse was beating violently. My heart was racing out of control. Something is wrong with my body.

Saber’s Prana—no, this body, which is a living Prana Reactor (Magic Core), is starting to activate—?

In rhythm with my heartbeat, Prana is being generated without limit. It floods my circuits, surging through my entire body. But with this vast amount of power, I realize the fragility of the "Magic Circuits wielded by Emiya Shirou"; it is utterly impossible to contain it all. Such a reckless feat is like trying to fit all the water from Ryuudou Lake into a single kerosene tank.

Pain raced through my body. My nerves grew hot. Had the limiters that were unconsciously saving me been stripped away?

Unable to be contained, Prana leaked from my entire body. I forcibly compressed it, keeping it within. However, even doing that, there was Prana to spare. The generation of Prana would not stop.

"Ga——!?"

Crack—the sound of something breaking. An agonizing pain as if my entire nervous system were being toyed with——the act of trying to force something massive through a tiny hole.

I bit my lip and endured. But my eyes wouldn't focus. My consciousness started to slip.

"Kuh——ga, aaAAAHHHHH——!"

Dormant paths opened. Existing circuits were expanded. The illusion of my five limbs being torn apart. The taste of iron spreading in my mouth. My thoughts turning white.

"…! …………!!"

The sound of iron clashing. A sword pierced the ground right in front of me. The fraying thread of my consciousness was tied back together by that sound and the moving object reflected in my eyes.

Even during that interval, swords clashed and blew away. Though my thoughts had stopped and my consciousness had almost let go due to the intense pain, my body was moving on its own. The swords behind me, drawn by the intent to "fire," were shot accurately toward the incoming projectiles.

In response to images that hadn't even been processed by my thoughts, my defensive instinct had reflexively pulled the trigger.

Gradually, my recovering consciousness began to grasp the current situation. Without realizing it, I was down on one knee. A sword was stuck in the ground right before me. It was Gilgamesh’s.

I didn't know how much time had passed, but Gilgamesh had stood up at some point and was advancing toward me with Gram in one hand.

Expression had vanished from his face. But his wide-open eyes were piercing me as if they could kill me with a stare alone. Step by step, he walked without any sign of haste, and even during those strides, Gilgamesh’s Treasury continued to fire like bullets.

Whether he had stopped caring about appearances or not, the formation—which had centered on longswords—was now endlessly producing anything with lethal potential regardless of type: daggers, axes, spears. The number was incomparable to before. Until now, there were at most thirty weapons waiting behind him, but now it was closer to over a hundred.

I tried to stand up, but realized I couldn't put strength into my body. It was a sense of collapse similar to the high fever I had when Tohsaka made me swallow that gemstone.

Added to that this time, pain continued to race through my entire body. No, it was also true that the pain was helping me now that my consciousness was about to fade.

"——Trace, On. Continuous Projection."

I forced strength into my eyes, which wouldn't stop blurring, and read Gilgamesh’s swords from the edge.

Even in that moment, thirteen pieces of his "Treasury" came flying. ——I struck them down with identical copies projected on the spot.

There was no time for idle thoughts. Gilgamesh’s stride did not stop, and his "Treasury" did not stop.

In that case, the only thing I could do was strike down the "Treasury." Unlike my disobedient body, for some reason, the rotation of my Magic Circuits was abnormally good.

The supplementation of Prana into the blueprints went smoothly. To use an analogy, if I had been pouring water from a tap into a cup one by one until now, it was now as efficient as dunking the cup directly into a water vat to scoop it up.

By releasing the overflowing Prana in the form of Projection, I was able to suppress the stagnation in the flow of the circuits throughout my body, albeit slightly.

"…Is that your full power?"

However, even with projections using the now high-speed Magic Circuits, I couldn't stop his feet.

Gilgamesh had already closed the distance to a hair's breadth—a distance where he could strike if he felt like it.

My hands were shaking. But I could somehow grip them, albeit loosely—

Even though the time lag had decreased, I could only project a maximum of twenty-plus at once; even if I projected the moment I saw the "Treasury," I couldn't keep up with the opponent's volume.

Furthermore, while swords were fine, the processing was delayed if spears, axes, or blunt weapons were mixed in. Even though both of us could produce them almost infinitely as long as our Prana held out, the difference in the amount we could manifest at one time was too great.

"GaaaaH—!"

The moment Gilgamesh took a step toward me, I fired the twin swords I was most used to projecting—Kanshou and Bakuya. With my thoughts occupied by countering the "Treasury," these were the only ones I could project in excess.

"A futile struggle. How unsightly. Scatter quickly!"

Gilgamesh glanced at the incoming objects and swung Gram in his right hand in a diagonal downward strike. With that single swing, both of the Kanshou and Bakuya blades were blown away into the distance.

——Damn it, just one swing? While thinking, I opened and closed my hands to check them. The reaction was dull, but they weren't immobile.

It’s not about whether I’ll make it in time! Make it in time!

I used both hands to pick up Excalibur, which had fallen to the floor. I stood up using it as a support.

By the time I stood up and readied the sword, Gram was already being raised.

I had seen the scene where Gilgamesh swung Gram before. I expanded my thoughts. Matching that movement with the one in my memory, I inferred the next sword path.

——A horizontal outward swing aimed at the torso from the position where he had swiped Kanshou and Bakuya. I can block this. But the problem is the impact. With no strength in my body right now, how far can I endure?

In that case, I might as well——.

"Ha!"

Gilgamesh stepped in along with that short, exhaled shout.

I instantly switched my right hand to a reverse grip and thrust Excalibur into the ground. While lowering my posture, I pressed my left gauntlet against the blade to brace for the impact.

"Gu——!?"

Gram followed through regardless of my movement. The target was exactly as I had read.

But even though I knew where it was coming, I couldn't fully kill the impact. The legs I used to brace myself weren't functioning.

The impact sent my body flying through the air. If this continued, I would be blown into the wall, but since my stance hadn't completely collapsed, it wouldn't be a disaster.

But it didn't end there. Gilgamesh’s swords swarmed from the sky toward me while I was unable to move.

"What!? ——Tra... ce..."

Seven longswords closing in before my eyes. I immediately began the Synchronization with the seven swords.

I read them. They didn't have particularly complex structures; projection was possible. But——even if I prepared the same number of swords, I couldn't strike them all down at this close range.

With a mass of rock pierced into the ground behind him, Gilgamesh twisted his mouth into a smirk while following through with Gram. So this was the plan from the start—!

Having only seen Gilgamesh’s one-sided tactic of pushing through with sheer volume, I had completely forgotten the possibility of a two-stage plan. My reaction was completely delayed by the unexpected tactic.

But, not yet! If a similar level of Mystery won't make it in time——then use mass!

I returned the Excalibur in my hand and thrust both hands out in front of me to solidify the image.

"On...!"

What appeared before my eyes were three masses of rock. Forming a triangle, those super-heavy objects overlapped to become a shield.

"What!?"

——Berserker’s Axe-sword.

Even if the "Treasury" contains noble blades, their sharpness is no different from a normal sword unless a wielder swings them. Furthermore, this axe-sword—which had clashed with Saber’s sword despite the lack of Prana—should be able to block them.

Perhaps because it was a desperate projection, the noble blades easily pierced into the body of the axe-sword. The tips of the pierced blades approached my eyes, but stopped just a few centimeters away.

The punctured axe-swords began to be pulled by gravity, their role finished as their existence grew faint. Peering at Gilgamesh through the shadows of the three blades, Gram was no longer in his right hand, and the hilt of that sword called 'Ea' was newly beginning to appear.

If he uses that, I can't win——! I mustn't let him use it!

"——Trace, on!"

Just as the axe-swords had been a shadow and I could only be seen for a brief moment from here, most of my figure should be invisible to Gilgamesh as well.

I assembled the blueprint in my mind. Instantly corrected the weak points in the assumptions. I spun the now high-flow circuits and finished the projection all at once. The Prana consumption was likely more intense than usual, but being in a semi-berserk state now, I felt no collapse from the loss of Prana.

I readied that with both hands and simultaneously began the Prana supplement, scooping up Mana from the atmosphere.

The axe-swords fell away from my front. My field of vision opened, and I glared at Gilgamesh.

Gilgamesh, who had been wearing a light smirk, now showed pure shock the moment he took in my appearance.

He must have intended to settle the match already; a blank space was born in the exact moment he was about to grasp the hilt of Ea.

My body was still drifting toward the wall without stopping. In this posture, if I did things normally, nothing I threw would hit. But with this thing——!

"…I shall have that heart——!"

I drew back the object held in my right hand as if aiming with a bow. My gaze was fixed on the heart covered by Gilgamesh’s golden plate mail.

Because it was a projection, the accuracy was significantly dropped. To at least ensure I didn't miss that mark, I visualized its trajectory and set my aim.

"『Gae——"

"Why do you know the True Name of the Noble Phantasm——!?"

This crimson spear in my hand has the "Experience" built up along with its legend.

And I can "sympathize" with that "experience," temporarily mimicking the movements of the owner. Of course, a Noble Phantasm produced by projection cannot equal the skills of the person themselves.

"——Bolg』!!"

This difference is something Gilgamesh, who only collects and possesses, does not have; it belongs only to me, who creates shadows.

I understand the intent of the manufacture, trace the path it has been handled, and project the owner onto myself.

It will never be identical to the original owner. Even if I could release the True Name, someone like me might only produce an effect equivalent to a curse.

But the spear, the sword, should respond to that at least slightly——.

With all my might, I threw the Prana-laden spear.

The Prana it wore was quite unreliable compared to what Lancer had released. Even so, the thrown spear charged in a straight line toward Gilgamesh.

"Tch—!"

Letting go of Ea, which he had been about to take, he leaps far back and grabs the Original of the sword Caladbolg. Simultaneously, the surrounding "Treasures" dash toward Gae Bolg, which is tracing a crimson trail of light.

Dozens of noble blades opposed the Gae Bolg I had thrown, only to be repelled. Before a Noble Phantasm with its True Name released—even if by a temporary wielder—even noble blades were inferior in Mystery, effect, and power.

However, the Gae Bolg thrown by me, who was not the original wielder, did not manifest its trait of "piercing the heart." If it had activated correctly, it would have slipped through the incoming "Treasury" due to the 'Reversal of Causality' and pierced the heart without losing momentum.

——Yes, Gae Bolg’s Prana was being shaved away by the repeated collisions with the noble blades. The 'Reversal of Causality' did not occur, and it had degenerated into a simple homing projectile that only continued to track the enemy's heart.

Finally, when it reached Gilgamesh after knocking away the original of Gae Bolg, every bit of the Prana it contained had completely evaporated.

"Fu… hahahahahaha! It is a fake after all! With this, even its owner who became a legend would not be able to rest in peace!"

Laughing loudly, Gilgamesh effortlessly struck down the Gae Bolg closing in on him with the Caladbolg gripped in his right hand. The Gae Bolg, its blade chipped and cracked by the impact, vanished without a trace.

"Gah!? ——Cough, Gah!"

The moment I witnessed that, an impact traveled through my entire body. My vision shook.

I collided with the wall from my back and slid down to the ground. By throwing Gae Bolg, I had used up the leeway I would have had to break my fall.

My breathing stopped for a beat. While coughing, I moved my body, which had become somewhat better, and knelt on one knee to look ahead.

In front. The previous smile had vanished from Gilgamesh, but there was no color of passion from anger either. Instead, he was piercing me with eyes of utter coldness.

I stood up while receiving that gaze. Whipping my trembling legs, I confronted Gilgamesh as he glared at me.

"Well then, what will you show me next? Clown."

"Dam...mit............"

"If the show is over, then leave the stage quickly. ——You are an eyesore."