Aozaki Aoko Case File

Credits: Sai Manoj Nelavalli

How does the King of Heroes, Gilgamesh, view Magic and Magician?

 The answer: outsiders destroying his garden.

In the eyes of this ancient king, everything in the world—treasures, the Earth itself—belongs to him, and that claim holds until the end of time.

But Magic and Magician are different. Magic, drawn from the Root outside of the world, is not something of Earth. Therefore, even someone as arrogant as the Hero King cannot claim that magic is part of his treasure or that magicians are his subjects.

Thus, with the omniscience granted by the Star of All-Knowing, Mr. Gold instantly recognized what this woman standing before him was.

And yet, this woman dared to ally with his opponent right before his eyes? Did she not even see Gilgamesh, the King of Heroes?

If she disrespects him today, who knows what insolence she might commit tomorrow? Such impudence must be punished!

As Gilgamesh fumed and prepared to teach both Aoko and Artoria a lesson, a new participant entered the battle.

"Arrrrrrrrrrthurrrrrrr!!!"

A black-clad figure, perched atop a jet fighter, roared incomprehensibly as he charged toward Artoria.

All eyes turned to the bizarre sight—a medieval knight piloting a modern jet. The image was too absurd to ignore.

"Oh? Judging by his lack of sanity, is that a Berserker?" The King of Conquerors, Iskandar, stroked his beard with interest. "Little Master, can you see his stats?"

"...I can't. I can't see anything at all," said Waver Velvet in confusion.

"Oi, aren't you a Master? Shouldn't you at least see his strengths and weaknesses?"

Masters, after forging a contract with a Servant, are granted the ability to read their stats via the Holy Grail. Of all the Servants present, the strongest in raw stats was undoubtedly Saber, who sat proudly astride her horse. But the black Berserker remained unreadable.

"This must be a special ability or Noble Phantasm," said a grim Kayneth. "Because even I can't see Berserker's stats. This is a deliberate concealment."

Hearing Kayneth's assessment, Iskandar quickly grasped the situation. For now, though, he was content to watch and assess Artoria's strength. If her prowess proved formidable, he would respect her. But if she turned out to be overrated, he and Lancer would not hesitate to eliminate her.

Iskandar's strategies often seemed simple, but he always had a method. For instance, when he earlier provoked Gilgamesh and Solomon, it wasn't thoughtless—it was calculated. He knew that the King of Magecraft, Solomon, would likely ignore his provocations, while the arrogant, golden Hero King would be infuriated.

In Iskandar's eyes, even if Gilgamesh were strong, he wouldn't withstand the combined might of Iskandar and Karna, his ally. Solomon, already fighting Gilgamesh, would not interfere, as his energy would also be heavily depleted.

Divide and conquer—that was Iskandar's strategy. Take down Gilgamesh first, then deal with Solomon. A clear and logical plan.

But Iskandar hadn't anticipated that he wasn't the only one with near-unlimited reserves of energy.

While Iskandar schemed, Berserker and Saber's battle erupted.

Berserker, piloting the F-16 jet, unleashed a barrage from its Vulcan cannon. The magical reinforcement of the weapon created a storm of 20mm shells aimed directly at Artoria and Aoko.

However, Aoko, already deep in her Redshift state, had predicted the attack. She quickly conjured a semi-transparent forcefield—a perfectly square magical barrier—that blocked the assault effortlessly.

The display left the observing magi stunned.

This is what a Magician can do? What kind of method is this? Is it even Fifth Magic? Blocking a Servant's attack so casually... how is this possible?

But to Aoko, this was barely an inconvenience. If she were alone, she wouldn't even need the barrier. Her Redshift ability allowed her to shift along the time axis, instantly avoiding any attack and creating an impenetrable shield-like effect.

Berserker, though, didn't care about the spectacle he had caused. He roared, firing all six of his AIM-7 Sparrow missiles. The missiles, corrupted by his dark magic, trailed black-red flames as they smashed into the forcefield.

What the others didn't know was that Aoko's barrier was immune to all damage except for disintegration. Even the Black Barrel, held by a certain someone, couldn't breach it.

Aoko blocked the attack not because she needed to, but to spare Artoria from damage that might compromise her pride. While Artoria's Avalon could regenerate her quickly, it didn't completely nullify damage unless activated as a Noble Phantasm.

Seeing Aoko deflect the attack, Artoria knew it was her turn to prove herself.

She tugged the reins of her horse. Dyn Stallion leaped high into the air, placing Artoria above Berserker.

The King of Knights raised Excalibur high, the radiant light of the stars shining from her sword and illuminating the battlefield.

"Ex... calibur!"