Rushing towards the main gate of Ryuudou Temple, the small blonde girl's recently forced resolve wavered.

Quivering at the humiliation she was about to undergo, the notion of fleeing encumbered her mind.

The thoughts of turning back from such an outrageous plan was so alluring that she would have succumbed to it had it not been for a soothing voice cutting through her thoughts.

At the top of the stairs of Ryuudou Temple, stood Kojiro Sasaki. His long sapphire hair danced casually in the gentle night's breeze.

"Assassin..!"

"Indeed Saber, no doubt you came here to settle unfinished business?"

Saber gripped her sword regally as an illuminating force of gold poured forth from her body. In that instant her silver armor materialized reflecting the gaze of the moonlight. Her elegant blue dress swirled through the night's air elegantly like that of a ballerina.

Her gauntleted hands tightened around the invisible Excalibur; inching herself towards the enemy servant.

She mysteriously felt at ease, in the thrill of a fair honorable match, she felt as though all prior worries were washed away.

Unfortunately her calm aptitude was nothing more than a fleeting moment. Assassin had been quickly defeated. At the last moment of their duel his signature technique failed. Assassin's nameless katana chipped from an earlier clash against Saber; ultimately resulting into his death.

He died happy, he died smiling.

Saber sighed, seeing his dying smile.

Who was the real victor here? He had his joy of finding an admirable foe, in a pure contest of swordsmanship no less. But now to Saber, she may have won but the burden of what's to come next will forever weigh down on her mind and soul.

To win and sell herself out.

"What a joke…" muttering in detest under her breath, she wasted no time in homing in on Gilgamesh.

In that brief moment, a breadth of a second, she came to a dilemmatic stop. She had not realized it yet but her sword was already out swinging.

I could kill him right now…!

The same sentence ran through her mind over and over again in that millisecond; if she launched a concentrated beam of energy from her Invisible air, surely it will kill him. Even the King of Heroes is not invincible if he is caught off guard.

But in the end she dropped her battle stance, halting herself right between Shirou and the Golden Archer.

Turning her head a bit she inspected the damage inflicted on her former master. Who was visibly bleeding and tired, clearly battered badly.

Mentally sighing, she hated to admit it but Rin's plan may have to come to fruition if they want a chance of surviving.

Dematerializing her armor, Saber walked forward.

From amusement to confusion; Gilgamesh demanded to know what the King of knights was doing, "Are you absurd Saber? What is this mockery to face me unarmored, are you perhaps enamored with death like your master?"

Saber bit her lower lip softly, just as she thought all the prior attraction he had for her is gone.

His current self seems only fixated on the extinction of humanity.

Closing her eyes, mustering all courage, mentally reciting what Rin told her to say. Her face lit up in a soft and tenderly way.

"I don't want to fight you King of Heroes."

Her voice was surprisingly pleasant… surprisingly meek.

Gilgamesh's eyes widened, but quickly recomposed himself into his usual indifference. The shock was there, even if only for a bit, it was still there.

He broke out into laughing fit before directing his imposing gaze onto the blonde knight.

"You do not have to Saber, you can just watch this miserable civilization of dullards die."

Saber sucked in her breath. Mentally commanding herself to take deep breaths. She almost felt like shouting it out quick and loud like Rin would.

But she managed to rein in her flustered mind.

"King of Heroes, were you not the one who asked if I would surrender the Grail and become your bride?"

Gilgamesh's golden eyebrow twitched a bit. It was not the words that surprised him but her continued passive voice. A stark contrast to her usual knightly tone that she addresses him with.

"What of it?" his voice remained impassive leaking only a small hint of curiosity.

Her face darted to the side, in whispery voice barely audible she mumbled, "How can I take you up on that offer if you destroy the world…?"

Silence.

A breezy wind blew by; no one moved an inch, not the blonde knight or the golden king or the red haired boy.

Shirou swallowed hard, that was… quite cringe worthy in his mind. He could not believe what he just heard.

…It…Just did not fit at all what he envisioned Saber to be. Actually not even envisioning, his experience with Saber just did not make her seem remotely close to the girl in front of him.

What did Rin tell this poor girl!

Shirou swallowed hard again.

Yet she must be some good actor to not be going berserk right at this moment.

Or it's just her natural behavior if she was in love. Which makes it even more amazing if she managed to force herself to believe she's in love.

Gilgamesh closed his eyes but quickly reopened them in a crazed manner. Crackling into a laughing fit, he shook his head in a continual chuckle.

Saber glared down at the cracked desecrated ground. Her mouth trembled from rage and embarrassment. It took every restraint she had to not cleave his head off right then and there.

"I see, so that's why you didn't fight me. Is the King of Knights so undignified that she has to sell herself out to save the world?"

His voice laced with mockery. Cocking his head slightly up his smile was nothing short of condescension and arrogance.

"I knew you were ready to give up your life for worthless mongrels, but to give up your body too?"

Casually he walked over to Saber. Her face was still down glaring at the nothing in particular. Her once tidy hair now in a mess veiling her face.

Inching closer to the knight-king, he pulled her chin up to face him.

She remembered what Rin had said the day before, smile and act submissive, but at that point she was far too gone to keep up the facade. Her honor as a knight and a king was trampled; her dignity denied and her pride destroyed.

She glared at him defiantly and slapped his hand away.

She was going to run her sword straight through Gilgamesh's abdomen. It would be so easy. The King of Heroes was too arrogant, getting so close.

At this range she could easily behead him on the spot before he could defend himself.

Gripping her sword tightly, moving her arms up; she was ready to strike like a venomous snake rearing its head back.

"Hmm... you seem like you're going to cry."

Gilgamesh pointed out in a matter-of-factly tone. His finger brushed a stray tear threatening to escape, in a surprisingly gentle manner.

His lack of a mocking tone eased her a bit but it did not erase her prior humiliation. All it served to do was delay her attack.

She mentally scolded herself for being taken by surprise. The opportune time to kill the arrogant king presented itself in the sweetest and most alluring manner and yet she mentally paused herself when he did something she did not expect.

Still her brows furrowed furiously her emerald eyes flared in great defiance.

Gilgamesh continued to study her in a deadpan manner before backing away

Saber bit her lip once more; the chance to kill him decreased dramatically, however there was still a great chance she could slay him at this range.

Her feet slightly inched forward; her arms moved a bit backwards, reeling herself for an attack.

"Was that your plan Saber?"

Once again she stopped herself.

"What?"

Mentally scolding herself again, she wanted to slap herself.

It was imperative that the threat of Gilgamesh is neutralized but she could not do it without delaying herself.

I cannot damage my pride any further if I attack him while he's unprepared…

She repeated this thought incessantly.

But in the end it was just an excuse.

"I did not expect you to use such a cheap tactic."

"What are you suggesting Archer!?" Saber demanded in an almost desperate manner.

Nodding his head over at the direction of the grail monstrosity, Saber turned and found Rin carrying Shinji through the curse mud.

Shirou peered at the same direction; he found his body on full automatic mode when he ran towards Rin to help. It wasn't like Shirou could do much to help Rin when he cannot cross the grail mud himself. Ultimately his excuse for helping Rin was just an attempt to escape the awkward situation between Saber and Gilgamesh.

Seeing this, Saber sighed in relief.

The plan worked, without Shinji the grail has no vessel to channel the curses. All that remains was to destroy the cursed artifact.

But still it did sting a bit being accused of the virulent act of deceit.

If it was up to Saber herself she would have fought Gilgamesh to the very end. But it was her master's choice to come up with such a bizarre and humiliating plan.

"I guess you forced my hand."

Gilgamesh's voice turned to a much darker tone.

Saber instinctively assumed a battle position. No doubt he was pissed, and now Saber can finally avenge her pride that had been shattered to pieces.

But then something surprising happened. Instead of summoning innumerable golden portals in a fit of rage, Gilgamesh's lips curled into a wicked smile.

"Remember the day you sold yourself for humanity Saber."

His voice dripped with sarcasm, it was hard for Saber to quite understand what he was insinuating but it did successfully fluster her.

"W-What are you suggesting Archer!?" her voice was in a disheveled mess.

"Don't tell me not only are you going to lie in battle but you are going to backtrack on your words as well? Surely that denies your title as the Knight King."

Saber blinked stupefied. The plan was, according to her master, seduce him, get him unguarded and kill him. Saber rejected such notion during the discussion, so it became sort of stall until Rin can sabotage the grail.

The plan was successful.

She repeatedly muttered.

"I-I…"

Then why is she obligated to do anything? She should reclaim her glory by fighting Gilgamesh, win or lose she can still save face fighting him to the death.

But then-

"Are you going to backtrack as well? Lie? Are you a king or a common thief?" Gilgamesh chuckling voice laced with sarcasm.

That was their plan, stall long enough until the King of Heroes has to give up because the grail vessel is detached from the abomination.

He would have nothing left to destroy humanity with.

Was it a lie? Saber repeated through her mind, it would be a lie if she refused him now, that's for sure.

"How dare you accuse me of being a common thief, Archer!"

Lightly laughing, the golden king casually walked over to the trembling girl.

"Is that not what common thieves do? Lie and deceive?"

"I-I did not lie!" she protested with child-like eyes.

Gilgamesh opened his mouth to say something but he quickly retracted when the silhouette of Rin and Shirou closed in from a distance.

"Then I expect you to prove it, wife."

The golden king leaped through the night air leaving the blonde girl to her own thoughts.