Abnormal Type-Moon

Over the skies of Mount Enzou.

Due to the distance, not many people heard Roy's earlier words. Even Rin, who was underground, hadn't caught them. Only Gilgamesh had fully taken those heartfelt declarations into his heart.

"Magecraft is a broken system… and your wish is to reset it and create an entirely new sorcery framework, is it?"

Gilgamesh lowered his head thoughtfully, seemingly sinking into deep contemplation over that wish.

At the core of that wish wasn't hatred for magecraft itself, but rather a desire to mend humanity.

"Heh… hahahahahaha! Fine, this king shall admit it—this has indeed been the most delightful minute of this king's latest incarnation! You hear me? You've brought this king the greatest joy!"

Gilgamesh bellowed with hearty laughter, giving Roy what he considered the highest form of praise.

What he praised was not the righteousness or wickedness of Roy's wish, but the pleasure it brought him. After all, he was the King of Heroes, long since seen through the nature of humanity and the futility of most things. Whether a grand ideal or a fool's delusion, it held no intrinsic meaning to him. He judged by one measure alone: his own amusement.

"What a thoroughly awful personality."

Taigong Wang's face maintained its usual genial smile, though his lips twitched slightly in distaste.

Gilgamesh's uproarious laughter carried easily for several kilometers. Even the magi hiding in the distance could hear it clearly.

"But you know, brat Roy—there's no way you'll be realizing that wish of yours now."

After laughing his fill, Gilgamesh's expression turned unusually gentle.

"After all, none of you can defeat this king here. And now that the Greater Grail has been successfully reactivated, it cannot be stopped. Even if it drains the world's leylines dry of magical energy, it will execute the wish it has received. Even your Mystic Eyes cannot interfere once the curses are fully unleashed!"

Roy's expression darkened slightly.

What Gilgamesh said was, unfortunately, true.

His Mystic Eyes could indeed overwrite the Holy Grail's settings—but only while the Grail remained dormant. Now that it had reactivated, Roy could no longer control it.

It wasn't because his Mystic Eyes were insufficient.

It was because of the curse.

The Greater Grail had accumulated the conceptual malice of "All the World's Evils." Even while it slumbered, Roy had suffered greatly during the adjustments he made, enduring its torment for three years. Now, with the Grail awake and the curses fully unleashed, no one short of a being capable of withstanding the aggregate of all human malice could even approach it.

Even Gilgamesh—famed for his excessive sense of self, though initially set to be completely immune to the curses of the Black Mud, had his nature altered in later timelines, becoming more extreme and tyrannical, as seen in 'Unlimited Blade Works.'

Roy, up until now, had resisted because the curse's presence was limited.

Now that the Grail had been fully reactivated, with its curse completely liberated—Roy would drown in it.

In other words, now that the Greater Grail was active, Roy could no longer interfere with its operations.

"I suppose there's no harm in telling you—this time, Kotomine Kirei's wish was to annihilate all of humanity."

A cruel, eerie smile surfaced on Gilgamesh's face.

"It's a way of testing just what the hell happened to this world. But now, if you want to realize your wish, you've only one path left—destroy the Grail. And with this king standing here, you can forget about that!"

Of course.

This damned bastard was still the same radical lunatic as ever.

"A tyrant through and through!"

Taigong Wang's expression darkened visibly.

Since his summoning, this was the first time his fists had itched like this.

A ruler like this deserved to be cast into the deepest level of hell alongside King Zhou of Shang.

"Not necessarily."

At this moment, Roy suddenly curled his lips into a confident smirk.

"Hm?"

Gilgamesh's smile froze, his eyes narrowing.

Suddenly, his vision blurred and his head spun.

He immediately grew wary, inspecting himself—yet no abnormalities were found, no mysticism affecting him.

What the hell?

"King of Heroes—I knew Kotomine Kirei was your Master from the start. But tell me, why do you think I didn't kill him before the Holy Grail War even began? You weren't always with him."

Seeing the discomfort on Gilgamesh's face, Roy smiled even wider, as though savoring a successful gamble.

That's right.

Though Gilgamesh was Kirei's Servant, his penchant for wandering meant he rarely stayed by his Master's side. Roy had ample opportunities to assassinate Kirei.

With Roy's strength, taking out a third-rate magus like Kirei was entirely feasible, especially with sufficient preparation.

Yet Roy had left him alive.

Even knowing the potential threat he posed.

"…What are you getting at?"

Gilgamesh's face stiffened.

Those dangerous, serpent-like eyes locked onto Roy, as though trying to pierce through his thoughts.

"You were all so eager to see the Grail reactivated, for Kirei to make his wish—yet you never realized that was precisely what I wanted."

Seeing even the Hero King fail to see through his trump card, Roy's grin only deepened.

"From earlier, you've been feeling dizzy and lightheaded, haven't you? Perhaps you suspected some immortal arts at work. But the truth is—no such spell was cast on you. The problem lies within yourself."

"I've spent three years here in Fuyuki—and if you think I only tampered with the Greater Grail fifty times, you're sorely underestimating me. Even with Angra Mainyu trying to stop me, how much do you think a non-magus Servant like him could really do? The reality is—I've altered the Greater Grail far more deeply than you ever realized."

To be honest, Roy had been apprehensive at first. After all, Gilgamesh did possess a measure of omniscience. If he saw through it, Roy would have been doomed.

But reality proved otherwise.

Though Gilgamesh might have grasped many truths about this world, his understanding remained an illusion, like a reflection upon the surface of water.

That's right.

Over the past three years, Roy had interacted with the Greater Grail dozens upon dozens of times.

On the surface, he'd only made superficial tweaks—enough to fool Angra Mainyu, who knew nothing of magecraft. But unknown to them, Roy had, through those repeated contacts, deeply and radically reworked the Grail's inner mechanisms.

That was Roy's second trump card.

—He had altered the Greater Grail's activation mechanism.

He'd changed the condition for its operation to require not only vast amounts of magical energy—but also the souls of the Servants.

***

Hey readers!

Want to read ahead? 📖 Join my Patreon for early access to 30+ advance chapters! Your support helps me write more and bring the story to you faster.

🔹patreon.com/aarvan🔹