Chapter 260 - Kariya's Own Hell

"Gilgamesh is serious. He plans to open the Gate of Babylon even more," Kotomine Kirei told Tohsaka Tokiomi through the communication jewel.

Kirei was watching the battle from Assassin's eyes as he conveyed what had happened to Tokiomi.

Both were surprised by Drako's power when he killed Lancer, but were now a little worried because of his power to defend himself from Gilgamesh.

Tohsaka Tokiomi held his head after hearing Kirei's comment,

The bas.e.m.e.nt of the Tohsaka mansion had nothing of the mess of the distant warehouse district that had become the battlefield. Kirei, manipulating Assassin brought the results. The conditions were perfect.

The only thing that was not part of the calculations was that, leaving aside Drako and Mordred, Gilgamesh had come to the present time as the Archer class.

It would not be an exaggeration to say that the Archer class's characteristics are the power of its Noble Phantasm; for Gilgamesh, who possessed an extraordinary one of the EX range, it could have been inevitable. But in the end, the Independent Action skill of the conceited King of Heroes was too high rank, which was certainly the biggest miscalculation.

Tokiomi respected the King of Heroes' great prestige as much as he could, and as much as he deserved. But to think that his tolerance would be tested so much, and so early...

Gilgamesh was to be the last to act. Right now, it's still Assassin's turn to act and gather information. Something so reckless as to expose the Gate of Babylon again to everyone, and throw all his strength against the mysterious Drako, this simply cannot be overlooked.

For a Servant with the ability to Independent Action, who does not trust his Master, the only way to give him orders are the Command Spells. This grants the right for only three absolute commands. To return a Servant to Gilgamesh, who does not have an ounce of respect for his Master, they are the most precious thing Tokiomi had.

Always maintain your elegance; this is a family precept passed down through generations in the Tohsaka family. For him, who keeps it in his heart, being urged to waste a Command Spell before all other Masters...

"Teacher, your decision?"

Kirei urges him with a harsh voice from the other terminal of the communicator.

Gritting his teeth, Tokiomi stared at the back of his right hand.

Just as he was about to use one of them...

"Wait."

Kirei's voice stopped Tokiomi's movements.

"What's going on?"

"Gilgamesh has retreated, he has closed the Gate of Babylon on his own."

…

"Drako, a good name. Worthy of someone of your race. Although it is very unoriginal."

Gilgamesh nodded, looking satisfied for some reason. His crimson eyes had already lost the flame of the assassination attempt.

"You avoided death by a hair, you mad dog," he said as he looked at Berserker, who had not moved while watching the battle between Archer and Drako.

With his steady arrogance, the golden Archer glanced down the row of Servants.

"You commoners. Lower the crowd next time. I will tolerate nothing but a true hero."

With this last carefree warning, Gilgamesh canceled his materialization. The golden armor lost its physical state and disappeared, leaving only the remains of its radiance.

The confrontation between the two knights, gold and black, reached its conclusion in a way that no one expected.

"Hmph. This Archer is too reckless," Rider exaggerated with a bitter smile.

However, everyone else figured this was not the time for a sloppy comment. Both the mysterious Berserker who had defended himself so well from Archer's attacks and the boy who had even managed to be recognized by the King of Heroes were still there, standing in front of them.

Berserker's burning eyes wandered through the empty space, having lost their target... Then, finding new prey, they lit up again.

Pointed by those eyes tinged with the color of malice, Saber felt a chill run down her spine.

"...Ur..."

The voice seemed to boil from the ground. Like a spell, like a curse, it was a m.o.a.n full of malice that hardly resembled human speech.

This was Berserker's voice; it was the first time that the others had heard it.

"...Ar... Ur... h!"

Like a spell with a human form, inflated with murderous intent, the black knight charged toward the silver King of Knights.

…

Prana is consumed not only to keep the Servant materialized but also for all the efforts he makes. Thus, in battle, the rate of consumption is higher. The prana is extracted from the Master's Magic Circuits and supplied to the Servant.

And the activation of the Magic Circuits, in Kariya Matou's case, means the hell of the pain of seeing his body consumed by the Worm Crests.

When dematerialized, the consumption of prana is minimal. But even in that state, Kariya was tortured by palpitations and dizziness.

But when Berserker was materialized, the agony was beyond imagination.

The foreign body awakens and begins to eat his flesh, crunching his bones. Acting like Kariya's pseudo-Magic Circuits, the Worm Crests delivered the absorbed prana to Berserker without any concern for the host's limits.

Talk of agony is not half the story. Being corroded, plundered by a living creature inside his body, the pain of being eaten alive is doubled by fear and disgust.

"Guh... Ga, gwa...hh!"

Hidden in the darkness, Kariya drowned out his cry of impending death, tearing his throat and chest. When his skin broke and began to spill blood, he began to bite the nails off both hands.

And worse, the consumption of prana required of the Master by the Berserker class is even greater. When Zouken had Kariya use the formula for insanity during the invocation to make him stronger, perhaps that was already a plan of the old mage to tyrannize him.

The worms were biting his spine. The worms are melting his nerves. The worms are nesting en masse inside Kariya's body, the worms are the worms are the worms are the worms are the worms are the worms...

"Gaaaaahh..."

He was unable to contain his scream, but only an emaciated groan erupted. The intense pain strangled him, and he could not get out of his throat. When he began to sob, Kariya continued to abuse his body in anger.

He could not even observe Archer and Berserker's fight on the main street; he had not even noticed that Berserker was not even fighting. When the storm of pain finally subsided, Kariya took some time to recover his ability to think and understand the situation.

"... Haa... Haa..."

Breathing harshly in the last traces of his agony, Kariya continued his observation of the battlefield through the vision of his familiar. There are still three Servants left. Archer could not be found anywhere. The battle is over.

The battle - has not been won. Perhaps Tokiomi made Archer escape by understanding his disadvantage.

Kariya's Berserker did not step back from the overwhelming Golden Archer. With a magical art trained in one year, Kariya was able to rival the magic of Tohsaka polished for generations on his own.

"... Fuhu, hahaha..."

Emaciated, Kariya laughed roughly at his theory.

He succeeded. That conceited magician was finally splashed with mud by an ordinary man like Kariya, after always making those like him less. Kariya mocked Tokiomi and Zouken enormously in his heart, thinking, "Did you see that?"

I am not a loser. No one will call me a failure or a bug anymore. I can fight you. I will let you know what fear is...

That's enough for tonight. There is no reason to continue a battle that will only torture you now that your sworn enemy, Archer, has retreated. Just let the other Servants kill each other as they wish.

When he formed his conclusion, Kariya was the most terrified of all those who saw Berserker take Saber as his new target and lash out at her.