Before anything could happen, Rin pulled the trigger on her God Arc, sending a blast of Oracle towards Gilgamesh. It was easily blocked, but it probably wasn't meant to be an effective attack. In the moment Gilgamesh blocked with a segment, his head tilting upwards so he could look down on her, Shirou and Saber rushed directly at him. His eyes widened, before he regained his usual expression and swished his 'God Arc'. Segments appeared to match his action, and the two found themselves occupied.

The funny thing about the segments was how they were used. Some attacked in a shooting motion like arrows. These were the attacks that Shirou had been dealing with up to this point. Turns out, they could also be manipulated like actual swords, as they were currently being used against Saber, colliding against Excalibur in wide slashes. She should have been able to disperse the Segments, except they were all making up for each other's openings, striking from multiple points at once.

Shirou was still dealing with the segments being launched like arrows, but it seems Gilgamesh was too distracted to pull out more Buster segments. But Shirou knew it would take more segments than this to distract Gilgamesh and easily catch him off guard. This was demonstrated by how he was still blocking the occasional pot shot from Rin, the ones she got out between dodging segments in a smaller number than what Shirou was occupied with. Very quickly, the trio found themselves at a stalemate with the golden king once more, and this time Gilgamesh's prior weaknesses had been plugged up and he now had more to show off.

Beyond the clanging of metal, the grunts of exertion, and the panting of at least two of the trio, the sigh of boredom made its way to all of their ears. Gilgamesh still had his hands out, waving his 'God Arc' and gesturing with his off-hand. But his expression was flat, a slight tug pulling his lips downward. If his hands weren't occupied, he would doubtless have his arms crossed over his chest.

"I'm disappointed, Faker. I would have thought you would provide some modicum of entertainment, but I suppose I shouldn't have expected much from you. It is not every day that one can meet a King's expectation after all. But I believe it is time I bring this farce to an end."

At that moment, the segments struck all at once. The sudden change of pace was jarring, but it was still an easily dodgeable attack. While Shirou and Rin were left with some cuts that were a few inches short of debilitating, they were all alive. In their haste to not die, they didn't notice the sudden change to their surroundings. Everywhere around them were hand sized orbs sharing the same colour as Gilgamesh's new arm. They were all packed together, and Shirou knew that they were dangerous.

"This is the Absolute Territory of the King. Rejoice at the last sight you shall ever see."

He brought up his left hand, and snapped his fingers. At once, a ripple ran through the sea of orbs, and Shirou was filled with an overwhelming feeling that told him to dodge. So he jumped upwards, just in time to avoid imminent death as the orbs that were around him burst into spikes. They weren't large, but a second later and Shirou would have lost a leg at best. The next problem made itself known a moment later, when Shirou began descending. He had a moment to curse to himself, thinking he should have installed the Mobility Kit, but was distracted by a third problem.

Gilgamesh noticed Shirou dodging his Absolute Territory, and sought to rectify that. He brought out segments to attack him, both slashing and piercing, and went at it. Shirou didn't have fun. He was stuck blocking and attempting to twist his way around in mid-air, being launched backwards by piercing segments and being pushed downwards by the slashing segments. He was quickly making his way towards the orbs, and his senses screamed at him to get away. He had no way to move without touching the ground, and the ground was trapped. He had a few seconds, only two meters before he lands, to make a decision.

Spinning, he slammed his God Arcs together and twisted, activating Range Mode. Pulling back on the Oracle bow string, and charging his Oracle into the arrow, he released his shot a moment before he hit one of the orbs. An explosion occurred, sending him upwards and causing him some light damage to his torso, his shirt being torn and burnt. But more important than that, the orbs were gone. He quickly landed back on the ground, orienting himself to face Gilgamesh.

Gilgamesh was looking at him with a quirk to his mouth and a raised eyebrow, eyes glinting. Shirou kept his weapons ready and took a deep breath, ignoring tthe stinging from his torso. All at once, his eyes widened and he spun around, looking for his teammates which he had forgotten about in the past few seconds. Saber was still in the air, actually having equipped the Mobility Kit. Rin was...

Rin was...

"Rin!"

She was lying on the floor, her red sweater stained a darker shade of red from the oozing wounds in her sides. Shirou quickly made his way to her, but was blocked by the sea of orbs. He looked for a way across, seeing as if he used another Caladbolg he ran the risk of hurting Rin. Snapping his head back to Saber, he called out.

"Saber! Clear me a path!"

Saber looked down at him, confusion playing across her face, before her eyes flew to Rin's slumped form. Nodding, she charged Excalibur with Oracle, remembering the brief flash and explosion that occurred a moment ago. With a cry, she let out a blast, missing Rin and Shirou but creating a path connecting the two.

Shirou breathed out a thanks before sprinting over to Rin, hoping that she had a Restore Pill. As the sounds of further clashing could be heard above, he knelt by Rin, bringing her head up and checking her pockets for any items. The shifting caught her attention, and she began to speak, but she was too quiet. Instead, Shirou hushed her and told her to focus on his voice as he began to whisper reassurances, eventually finding some Restore Pills in a pouch on her hip.

Pulling out two of the red and white pills, he coaxed them into Rin's mouth, keeping an eye on Gilgamesh, who was distracted by Saber's mid-air performance. As the pills went down, Shirou saw a faint glow and heard the familiar noise of a surplus of Oracle being produced and then healing the body. When the glow faded, the blood puddle beneath them stopped growing, and Rin was looking much better. She let out a groan before looking to see Shirou close by, flinching and blushing a bit. Shirou stood up, pulling Rin with him, but she stayed silent, face still red.

At the same time, Saber landed on the ground near them, breathing only marginally heavier. Gilgamesh still stood opposite the trio, none the worse for wear, smiling. The trio needed a plan, and fast. Their ability to move around was now restricted, and the Absolute Territory didn't appear to impede on Gilgamesh's combat ability. Their best bet was--

A crash halted Shirou's line of thought. Looking to his right, beyond the Absolute Territory, he saw eight people. Eight familiar people.

"Hey, you three! You sure did get into trouble when I wasn't looking, huh?"

"Kota?"

It was the 1st and the 3rd Unit, all of them standing in a formation Shirou wasn't familiar with. Kota smirked, his orange God Arc trained on Gilgamesh.

"It's been a while, hasn't it Shirou? So, who's the blondie?"

A sputtering could be heard, before it was quickly followed by a growl and then yelling. Something along the lines of 'How dare you' and 'You dare mock a King'. Shirou couldn't be bothered, feeling appreciative of the backup. Kota smiled at him, before his eyes widened and he reached into his jacket and threw something small to Shirou. Catching it, Shirou saw it was an earpiece. Raising his eyebrow, he put it in and was surprised to hear Kota speaking.

"The Professor figured you forgot your earpiece since you weren't responding to orders. This earpiece is on the same wavelength as everyone else's, so tell us what you got."

As Shirou heard that, he felt a smile creep up his face. It looked like he finally found his answer. And if that smile seemed cutthroat and similar to Gilgamesh's, no one said a thing.

Kirei slowly stood up from his position in the sand, dusting off his hands. With a hum, he looked to the sky in contemplation, a slight smile on his face.

"It appears I have company."

Looking to the direction of the Fenrir Gate, Kirei saw several God Eaters running out of the gate and towards him, God Arcs raised. With a sigh, he turned to face them, hands behind his back and a sinister smile on his face. When they eventually reached him, they came to a stop, spread out with their God Arcs all levelled at him. When a few of their eyes widened at what was behind him, he felt his smile widen in kind.

"W-What is that?"

One of the God Eaters, a girl with pink hair, asked with a shiver. Kirei could understand why, of course. It wasn't a particularly pretty sight, but wasn't that how it normally is? The true beauty of something being belied by their external appearance? That's how it is with the things Kirei appreciated, at least.

"Good morning, God Eaters. My name is Kirei Kotomine, but you are likely aware of that. A pleasant day today, isn't it? What can this priest do for all of you?"

"Sorry sir, but we need you to put your hands in the air and come with us."

Another God Eater, one with fairly plain features, said that. He wore red and seemed to be a squad leader of some sort, judging by his stature and the way most of the other God Eaters seemed to defer to him. He looked at Kirei with what seemed to be an innocent expression, but Kirei could see the calculating look in his eyes. Slowly, Kirei brought his hands out from behind his back, raising them upwards. But as they reached chest level, they stopped, palms upward.

"I must kindly refuse. But rejoice." He shifted his hands, bringing his right hand as a fist near his waist and his left hand pointing straight ahead of him, palm facing the God Eaters. "You shall witness the beginning of your end, soon. For now, you will have to content yourselves with me." He bent his legs slightly, and then was gone in the next moment.

Gilgamesh was irritated. This was not an uncommon occurrence, as he usually shifted between the three states of pride, annoyance, and boredom. But his irritation was currently compounded by the annoying barks of the mongrels that suddenly appeared outside of his Absolute Territory. It was already pretty high from the lackluster performance of the Faker, but this was pushing it.

When the mongrels stopped barking, and began to move to surround him in a wide circle, Gilgamesh felt his annoyance boil over. With a loud faux sigh, he decided to mock the mongrels to relieve some of his annoyance.

"I tire of this. No matter what, you mongrels cannot defeat me. Your dull claws won't even scratch me, the King!"

He threw in his best sneer for extra effect, then brought his Ea up. It began to spin and thrum with red Oracle, before his Absolute Territory began to retract. The orbs flew from their place on the field towards Ea and were absorbed into it. The mongrels all looked confused, and the Faker himself seemed to go still, his mouth setting in a firm line. He could feel his sneer become a bit more genuine at the sight, but decided to focus. Feeling all of the Oracle in his Ea being replenished, he created more of the Orbs, creating a new Absolute Territory to surround all of the mongrels.

There were collective gasps and even some mongrels barking in confusion, but Gilgamesh was almost hyperfocused on the Faker. Instead of fear, or anger, his expression was calm. But slowly, the edge of his mouth turned upwards, and Gilgamesh had to restrain the newfound anger blazing in his chest. Clicking his tongue, Gilgamesh brought his Ea back to chest level, before bringing his off-hand upward and putting his thumb and middle finger together. Shooting the Faker another sneer, he snapped his fingers, and sent his Oracle throughout his Absolute Territory, willing them to burst into blades.

The Faker's expression bloomed into a true smirk.

"Are you sure about this, Shirou?"

"Not really, but it's the best chance we've got."

Shirou watched as Gilgamesh sighed, before taking the Orbs of his Absolute Territory back into his 'God Arc' and creating a new Absolute Territory that captured all of the God Eaters. While the recreation of the Absolute Territory wasn't outside of expectations, it still meant Plan A went down the gutter. However, the fact that he had to retake all of the Orbs proved a potentially useful opening. But now wasn't the time for that. As Gilgamesh looked at him and sneered, Shirou felt a tug at his lips.

"Do you remember the signal?" Shirou whispered, his mouth barely moving.

"When he snaps his fingers, right?"

When Gilgamesh's face contorted in anger, and he snapped his fingers, Shirou could feel a smile bloom on his face.

"Now!"

He jumped, and at the same time, so did all of the other God Eaters from Fenrir. And then the plan began. At once, every God Eater with a ranged option destroyed some of the orbs below them, before focus firing on Gilgamesh, while the God Eaters limited to just close combat made their way to the closest safe space. Shirou himself pulled back on his drawstring and released a regular Oracle arrow, clearing a much smaller area than earlier. But when he landed, he spun towards Gilgamesh and charged up a Caladbolg.

Simultaneously, other God Eaters were taking pot shots at Gilgamesh, keeping him blocking from various angles. As Shirou was about to release Caladbolg, Saber beat him to the punch.

"Excalibur!"

A wall of golden energy ripped through the field of black, and was intercepted by a black slab. With a small chuckle, Shirou followed suit.

"Caladbolg!"

A beam of neon green energy followed suit, and met the same fate as the wall of gold. But the damage had been done, and Shirou could now move on to the next stage of his plan. He ran forward, the now parted sea of orbs leaving him a path to Gilgamesh.

"Keep up the pressure!"

His fellow God Eaters continued to fire at Gilgamesh, forcing him to either surround himself in Buster segments and limit his sight or constantly readjust his segments while taking a few retaliatory shots back, and even those were blocked by the few God Eaters. But he was so distracted by the number of combatants and the amount of blocking, that he ignored the real reason why he was here, believing his Buster segments to be enough.

As Shirou got closer, he began to charge Oracle into his God Arc. He never had a particularly large stockpile of Oracle, so he was running on a bit more than half after using two Caladbolgs, and his next few moves probably weren't going to do his Oracle stockpile any favours. When he had charged enough, he brought his God Arcs up above his shoulders, before flicking them forward, twin green blades flying towards the wall of Buster segments. They cut through, but not entirely, leaving two parallel vertical cuts in the segment, which was within Shirou's expectations of the segment's endurance.

Then he charged more, still a fair distance away from the barricade. When he was only a few meters away, he brought his God Arcs to their opposing sides, one held high and one held low, before flicking them again, another two neon-green blades flying towards the barricade. Like the last pair, they pierced through but were unable to reach Gilgamesh. But they did leave two parallel horizontal cuts, which met up with the vertical cuts. While they didn't meet up properly to allow a hole to firm in the barricade, Shirou was hoping that his next move would finish this.

Once more, Shirou channeled Oracle into his God Arcs, but instead of letting it out in Oracle blades he pooled it in the God Arcs, reinforcing them. As he finally reached the barricade, Shirou put all of his God Eater-enhanced strength into lunging forward the last metre and thrust both God Arcs forward, colliding and then piercing through the black substance. The initial collision jarred his arms before his reinforcement made itself known. But that wasn't all. The force of his full weight and strength forced the segment to give, wrenching the square from the whole and moving him closer to Gilgamesh.

Shirou heard a muffled cry of "What" before forcing his Oracle out of his God Arcs and onto it as extensions.

His first inclination something was wrong appeared when he heard a whistle, hidden by the sounds of firing and deflecting. But he would recognise that whistle anywhere. It came up in some of his less enjoyable dreams (they were not nightmares, no matter what any sadistic priests might say). Of course, he wouldn't let that distract him from the mongrels' desperate assault, but the actual inclination appeared when he heard a thunk. It wasn't particularly loud, but since it was right behind him, it was impossible to not notice.

Turning his head while still keeping the other mongrels in sight, he saw a familiar neon-green blade sticking through his segment barrier before it faded, along with the other neon-green blade piercing his barrier next to it. That was a matter of some concern. Gilgamesh decided he would keep an eye on it, and have some segments trained on the spot, before turning back to the mongrels still seeking his attention.

The second pair of thunks followed almost immediately after, surprising Gilgamesh and causing him to look again. The two blades were in different locations than the last two, but Gilgamesh couldn't really see the plan. Instead of turning to the mongrels, he kept his focus on his barricade, and was rewarded by seeing the barricade pierced by twin blades of black and white, before a section of his barrier just burst away from the whole. His eyes widened in realization, before he let out a surprised cry.

"What!?"

From the blades, neon-green burst forth, extending their reach and allowing them to cut both of Gilgamesh's sides. The sudden pain caused a brief lapse in concentration, causing his segments to misfire and allowing the mongrels pitiful attacks to actually reach him. To be fair, most of them only scratched him because he stumbled back, but the mongrels still caused him harm.

And they will be met with harsh punishment.

But first, the Faker.

Ignoring the pain, which had now dulled, he called down the segments he had positioned above the Faker. As the Faker stumbled due to his God Arcs being in the door, Gilgamesh could watch as some of the segments cut through his body, causing blood to spurt from some of his wounds and even causing him to cough some up. But some of the segments were intercepted by stray fire from the other mongrels that missed him. Even so, he looked down on the Faker and felt a smile begin to bloom, before he raised his Ea and produced a few more segments to finish the job.

But as he did that, the Faker forced himself to his knees, his hands still on his God Arcs. His expression was calm, and his eyes held no signs of fear. Gilgamesh could feel his smile sour a bit at the lack of terror, but it stood proud on his face.

"Goodbye, Faker."

He brought his hand down, the newly formed segments descending on the Faker. Suddenly, his mouth quirks upwards.

"Goodbye, King."

The Faker reversed his grip on the blades, pulling them out of the floor and revealing that the neon green extensions were still intact, before saying something that made Gilgamesh freeze.

"Burst."

All Gilgamesh could see was white.

As Kirei dusted off his hands, he looked over to the Far East Branch, where he just heard a loud explosion take place. It seems Gilgamesh was done toying around. Although, he didn't remember Gilgamesh displaying any explosive abilities. No matter. Truly, Kirei just hoped that Shirou Emiya was still alive. If he was anything like his father, then Kirei wanted him to see what would come next.

Bending down, and taking the catalyst in his arms, Kirei made his way to the open gate, leaving behind the unconscious God Eaters on the hill. They would live, to see the end, and to despair. And Kirei would watch their despair with a smile.

Thanks for reading. This is Cee and, sorry for not uploading last week. I kinda just couldn't write, so then I read fan fiction. When I wanted to write, I forced myself to read more. When I exhausted my fan fiction, I began to write some more. So, try that next time you have writer's block.

Note, when thinking about Gil's segments and the second way they attack, imagine Dante from Devil May Cry using Summon Swords. For that matter, the way Gilgamesh and Archer from regular Fate can shoot weapons is kinda similar to how Vergil uses Summon Swords.

2nd Note, Kirei is meant to be in the pose for Bajiquan, the fighting style he used in proper Fate. I think it's right, but I'm basing his stance off of my memory from playing Li Shuwen in Fate/Extella.

Thank you to grimmzapdos, The Kingdom of Ruby Luxuria, LoneBearKun, erick.123, BlackFanglight, GonzalotheChaldean, and Kirito2015 for favouriting or following.

Goodbye.

Word count: 3595