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"No reason to let a coward spoil our moods, right? As the one and only true Queen of Humanity, I hereby officially declare today a day of reunion and celebration!" Throwing her hands forth exaggeratedly, the Golden Queen proudly announced.

I wasn't going to lie, it's sort of embarrassing, especially when all the other customers turned to give us odd looks, but compared that to the cuteness-overload I was experiencing in this exact moment. Subconsciously, I reached my hand to her head, feeling gorgeous and silky-smooth blonde-locks tickling my palm. Almost instantly, Gil shot me a stink-eye, not one of those you'd use on an enemy or anything too hostile,

But it's playful, kind of like the whole 'batting her eyelash from across the bar' sort of deal… And I was soaking up every moment of it as if I was a man stranded in the Sahara and Gil was the last few precious droplets clinging to the bottom of my emptied wineskin. Pinching my chin, the Queen snorted. "How bold of you, to pat a Queen on the head without asking for her permission first. Your guts sure have grown a lot since we last met, Little Lion."

Unfortunately, our moment was interrupted by a light giggle- the sound was so hollow, so emotionless and alien… Yet simultaneously so full of life. It was the sort of noises people only made when they were with their friends, their family and loved ones. "Never thought I'd see the day, my friend. Have you finally decided to settle down?"

Usually, I'd have shot him a glare, but Enkidu's words pleased me, thus instead I joined him in laughter. The Golden Queen scoffed, though that did not fool us one bit,

Not when an uncharacteristically happy smile was dancing on her lips still as she rested her chin on the back of her hand. "Enkidu, so you have chosen to join forces with Leo and gang up on your old friend? If I wasn't me, I might've been hurt."

Gil stressed, the toothy, cat-like grin on her lips widening as the Queen stirred her coffee. After all these years, one thing I had learnt about her was: And don't tell anyone I told you this, but Gil had a ginormous sweet-tooth,

Though if you tried to ask, the Golden Queen would vehemently deny it. Hence, unlike mine, the Gil's coffee was a diabetes-inducing thing with tons of sugar-cubes and a frankly unholy amount of condensed milks. No idea how she could stomach it, but the Golden Queen called it her own little way to live life to the fullest. It sounded like something straight out of all those cheesy transmigration / reincarnation stories, yet it worked.

I had never seen Gil truly unhappy- bored due to her weird need for entertainments involving, but wasn't limited to people duking it out to the death for their- oftentimes- naïve and juvenile ideals.

Thankfully, Lancer had the foresight to converse as he was rather than exiting the Astral Form. I'd have to order a takeout for the guy once we're back from our… Date? Did this even count as a date? I meant, what kind of date had three participants? "It's a good thing you aren't then, Gilgamesh."

Looking at her now, seeing the gentle smile gracing Gil's face, I could not muster up the strength to care. I watched as the Queen took a sip from her foam-filled coffee, and grabbed a napkin to wipe what little remained stuck to her lips and chin, only to stop myself. Why was I using a napkin when I had something much, much better? Thus, I shelved the paper and directly reached out with my hand.

Carefully, I cleaned the mess with my fingers and stuck those mofos in my mouth, "This is more delicious than I had expected."

'Fucking lying simp.' Angra drawled at me, though he didn't appear luckily. How dared you use my own Spells against me, Mr. Pottah!

It's true though, the beverage was too sweet for my taste, one or two sips might be easy, but an entire cup would have filled my quotas for sweets and sugary things for the whole day. To be fair, it's not the reason I called it delicious… That had more to do with whose lips I wiped the foams off. 'Remind me to stop teaching you modern slangs, Angra. Besides, if it's Gil, I'm more than happy to be a simp.'

'Oh-Gods… You don't even care! Has the day finally come for me to put you down like Old Yeller?! Don't worry mommy, he's mine, I'll do it.' Faking a sad tone, the Daemon dramatically ranted.

'Shut up! Don't think I don't know about all the visits you paid Anne-Marie!' Internally, I was wearing the meanest scowl I could manage, yet my face from the outside was the picture-perfect of calmness and composure. 'Yeah… That's right, motherfucker. I tailed you when I saw your dumbass try to sneak out after you specifically told me you're going to take a nap. What a nice nap it was.'

Triumphantly, I continued with no regard to his feelings. 'So shut your hole this instance. I don't want to hear a peep from it.' There was no need for Angra to say anything, his stunned silence was more than enough to satiate my sadistic hunger. "Little Lion, you can lick the foams directly from the source if you want, I am no blushing maiden, nor do I mind."

"Don't threaten me with a good time, your Majesty." I joked, but didn't take her words too seriously. A lot of women flirted like that, it's best you waited for clearer signs… Then again, this was Gilgamesh we're talking about, so maybe I was just overthinking things? "Let's wait until we're home at least, I doubt Hibiki and the customers will like it if we start sucking lips in public."

I doubted Enkidu will want to see it either, given his inability to procreate. Might be a tad insensitive of us to indirectly poke fun at the guy's… Disability. Not to mention, I was never someone to display affection in public, it just seemed fucking weird to let other people watch me trade spits with. It'd be fine in a closed-off environment like inside a bar / pub or even a cinema, but in a relatively classy café such as Ahnenerbe where we got no privacy?

Nope… Absolutely not.

Laughing along, Gil paused for a second and asked. "How was your excursion in the British Empire, Leonis?"

The Golden Queen took a look at my outfit and added. "Pretty well, I'm guessing?"

I wasn't one to waste my money on Brands, but the three-pieces suit I was wearing did cost a sizeable sum, coupled with the Mystic Codes I had on my wrists. My outfit's resale value lied somewhere around seventy-to-eighty thousand dollars range- anything more and I wouldn't've bought them at all. Yes, it might look expensive but my clothes were all Mystic Codes, weaved with Ancient Runes into every tiny, minute fiber and my suit was even lined with multiple layers of Kevlar- John Wick's style.

Of course, these weren't much compared to what Gil gave me for Christmas,

Still, they provided adequate protection without drawing unwanted attentions in public.

If- Nay, when faced with a Servant or someone- anyone who could put up a decent challenge against me, I'd obviously ditch them in favor my best equipment, but in this instance these should do just fine. "As well as could be. You are talking to one of, if not the richest man on Earth, your Majesty."

My networth broke into the billions-range years ago and I practically owned the entire potions-market in the Moonlit World. People- both old and young, male and female- were buying my stuffs at a frankly exaggerated pace. I had had to open several new factories just so I could meet their demands a month prior to news of the Grail War. A majority of my assets hadn't been liquefied yet, but it was nice to know I had money to throw around if the need ever arose.

"Beyond that- my finance, I meant- relationships between me and most of the Lords of the Tower are… Strained, to say the least. Although in exchange, I receive a lot of public approvals." Funny how that worked out. Before his death, I remembered the Tates growing popular by saying controversial shits on the Internet, and I believed I might know the reason behind their quick rise to fame.

Most of what they said might- and that's a big 'might'- be offensive to others' ears, but it's somewhat true. They appealed to the spirits of men everywhere, the sheer frustration of being beaten down, insulted, disrespected in our own homes and overall treated like dungs by the very society which, by the way, relied on them almost entirely to survive and thrive. I… Well, I did something similar.

Rousing people's hatred was always the quickest way to gain supports, hence why I abused the shit out of this. Men or women- as long as they're First-Gens- would be treated badly by the Clock Tower. It's just a simple fact, even in the so-called 'Democratic Faction' who were filled with Magi so righteous, so kind as to give these poor souls mere scraps, they also had this sort of Caste-System installed…

And of course, only those originated from ancient Noble Houses would receive privileges in full. To sum it up, Trambelio sold people a beautiful dream, unfortunately that's all it ever was- a dream forever out of reach. I did things differently, everyone who came into my stores was equal to everyone else. It didn't matter if you're wearing rags or expensive suits, didn't matter if your parentage was less impressive than others,

As long as you're there to buy, my employees had been instructed to handle you with the utmost care… And all the First-Gens were simply eating it up like crazy. I couldn't blame them either, with how badly they're looked down upon in the Tower, even a smidgen of equality and respect were enough to just ever-so slightly tilt all the First-Gens to my cause. "It's not much when compared to Barthomeloi, but at a certain point, quantity does become a sort of quality on its own."

Shrugging nonchalantly, I added. "Doesn't hurt I'm essentially amongst the Top 20 Magi in the Clock Tower."

Although that didn't look like much, you must remember nearly all the Magi in the Ranking were old- like 'biblical time' kind of old. Zelretch and the Director- Lord Brishisan were actually both as old as King Solomon whom Christ was said to descend from. "Of course, there are the occasional troublemakers here and there, but they're nothing I can't deal with my connections and, if needed, lethal-force was available as an option."

I tried to avoid such conflicts as best I could, but sometimes it was simply not worthwhile to make peace when war would bring about more benefits. Some Magi needed to die, they were practically begging for it… Who was I to reject their request? "I'm something of a King myself, Gil-chan."

There was Lorelei- the Queen of the Clock Tower,

Then there was me- the King.

Whether we wanted it or not, the two of us were often associated with one another due to our past. Apparently, many had thought I was just Lorelei's new 'boy toy' until I had to prove to them- with blades and fists more often than not- I was more than a pretty-face.

The fact that I frequented her Office even more than O'Connor did might have contributed to spreading this piece of misinformation too. To make it worse, neither Lorelei nor I'd attempted to correct the rumors- we just felt it's a waste of everyone's time, though I could assure you, we had absolutely no romantic or sexual attraction to each other.

Our relationship was strictly business-only, though I supposed we could be called friends on a good day- And that children, was how I came to possess the grand and overbearing Title: [King of the Clock Tower]. The Game even made it official too, people just figured since we're in a relationship- which we weren't- and Lorelei's the Queen, it would make me the King.

Truth was, I did intend to stop the rumors eventually… But what could I say? I was a gloriously vain and egotistical bastard, and being referred to as a King made my limbs tingle. Plus seeing as Gil was a Queen herself, it would only make sense for her on-and-off lover to be King too, right? "I very much doubt my 'Kingship'–"

I made a quotation mark with my hands and laughed proudly- almost too proud, "– Will be recognized anywhere else but the Association and the Clock Tower, but it's a start. One step closer to–"

Purposefully, I mumbled the rest of the sentence, though I had a feeling the message was loud and clear to all in the vicinity. The Golden Queen smiled brilliantly, her smooth hands cupping my face, "And what makes you think you haven't earned my affection, Little Lion?"

Narrowing my eyes, I muttered. "Does it really only take that much?"

"Perhaps?" Gil playfully scratched the stubbles under my chin. I refused to believe it, there was no way the Queen of Heroes would relent this easily. "Would you not want to wait until after I have won the Grail War? Even that's more of an achievement than gaining grounds in the Clock Tower."

With all the resources, connections, plus the decades of foreknowledge I had at hands, becoming another powerhouse of the Tower was nigh guaranteed. Wouldn't Gil want to witness something more challenging than this to properly evaluate my progress? "Are you really turning down my offer for free, no string-attached sex?"

After thinking for a bit, I resolutely replied, "Yes…"

Then, hearing how stupid I sounded, I hurriedly made to correct. "But don't misunderstand, it's not because I don't think you're attractive or don't want to have sex with you! I just- I mean, I don't feel like I've done a lot to earn this and- Well, actually earing something is basically half the fun of it."

Gil snorted, pushing me back on the chair. In her eyes, I saw a glimmer of disappointment, though the most pronounced emotion must be pride and given the context, I dared say it was directed at me. Wordlessly, I self-congratulated and hid a smirk. 'I knew it… I just fucking knew it!' Judging by her reaction, the Golden Queen did want to sleep with me, but that's all there was to it- the sex was going to be us just going through the motions-

Her desire was genuine, yet it started from a different place than mine. She hadn't seen me for years, and now that we had reunited, Gil felt curious at my new form. Maybe she wanted to see how much of me had changed- Ehem, my dick-size- unfortunately, while I did not want to call Gil fickle, she was indeed.

Newer things might excite her for a period, but it'd never be enough to keep her with me. What I needed was stability,

A feat so big she'd feel genuine admiration for me, and winning the Grail War was that feat. "And here I thought you'd jump at the chance… I suppose I've underestimated you, Little Lion."

"We can still cuddle and kiss, I've been told I make for a great cuddle-buddy." Chuckling along, Gil tapped me on the forehead- similar to what I used to do to Rin and Shiro- and then let out a blinding smile. "I guess that's fine, we can 'seal the deal' once you've won the grand prize.

"Any idea what you're wishing for?" The Golden Queen threw an arm over my shoulder, pulling my face closer while simultaneously putting her legs on my lap as the other guests in the café squirmed in discomfort at the public display of affection- I did notice some guys' stares aimed towards her toned legs, but a tiny glare from me and they're back to behaving like good 'little boys'.

Couldn't blame them, I stood to an intimidating 6'4 and was continuing to grow.

My biceps did not look like the ballooned mess often associated with steroids-use, yet were still a third of their waist-size when flexed. Even I'd not want to fight me, let alone these people whose sole experience with combat was your typical highschool bullies. Despite my projected confidence, I wasn't going to lie and say I was not the slightest bit bumped out by the stares, yet a single whiff of her scent felt so calming I could just drown in it.

Mental exhaustion,

Sored muscles,

Dumbass subordinates who couldn't do shit without me around,

It's all washed away by her presence and for the first time since coming back to Fuyuki, I did not feel… Burdened. Gilgamesh never nagged, she never played with words and most of all, she's kind- kinder than anyone'd give her credit for. Nearing her ear, I whispered- perhaps a bit too sexual than I intended, but I didn't care and neither did Gil.

"I'm glad you're back."

"Back in Fuyuki, or back in your arms?" Gil joked.

"Can't it be both?"

"I don't see any problem with it." Slowly, she crept on my lap, her ass grinding on me as my breaths grew heavy. "Are you sure you want to turn down this?"

She gestured at her body, and for a brief second, it's almost like I could see past her clothes.

"Ehem- Master, Gilgamesh, people are looking."

'Who cares? Let them watch and be jealous.' Was my response as I leaned in closer.

Instinctively, I realized refusing her advances for the next few weeks while the War had not been won was going to be the hardest thing I had ever done… And I was fine with it. As long as she was there, nothing else mattered.

At last, I had been recharged!

Time to show these noobs who the real victor was going to be!

[Fate: FS] —

After the sort of date, I started ordering my subordinates to spread out and cover the entire City. Three of the major spots of Fuyuki: The Ryuudou Temple where Caster was supposed to hijack; Homurahara School where Shinji- Urgh, just thinking his name made me want to vomit- would have forced Rider to use [Blood Fort Andromeda]; and the Bridge leading into the City.

Of the thirty people I brought along, only Illaoi stayed to take care of our needs, the rest had- as you might have guessed- been split into three groups to watch these locations in shifts. After that, I called my remaining forces in the Tower to keep an eye out for potential Masters. Unfortunately, not a trace of Medea's Master had been found, which meant she might have murdered him already, or yet another Master had been changed from Canon. It's troubling news indeed,

Rule Breaker was too overpowered, if Medea had truly been summoned, it's either death or compliance from her… There could be no in-between. Thankfully, it's not just all bad news. Apparently, a few of Taiga's agents were found murdered in the forest near Ryuudou Temple- a female and male each-

The latter had been blown to smithereens by the time personnel- a blow which experts in her Ranks concluded must have been self-inflicted. Mr. Takashi was his name, and according to words from his colleagues, the guy's one tough sonuvabitch. If he self-destructed using Ki, he must have been left with no other option. As for his partner- Himari's corpse was discovered a good distance away from the explosion.

Written in blood next to her rotting carcass were words which I was hoping might clue us in to the identity of the Servant responsible for their demise: 'Disciple, Betrayal, Heavenly Kingdom and Silver.' The instance I saw that, my mind immediately jumped to Christianity. Literally no other religion referred to Heaven as the Heavenly Kingdom, combined with Silver, Betrayal and Disciple? The Servant's identity was clear to all-

Judas Iscariot: The Betrayer, the Great Sinner and alleged Arch-Demon in Hell's Ranks.

Of course, there was also the risk that this was meant to distract us, though I highly doubted it. Why? [Future Calculation]. The odds of Judas having been summoned was at a staggering ninety-percent, all that's left was to track him and his Master down, which really should not have taken this long. Most Servants- Nay, most Supernatural had a certain tell to them. It could be their colored hair, their eyes or even their very presence- being clump of Mana and all.

Met with a dead-end and armed with this knowledge, I marched to the Church alongside Shiro and unsurprisingly, Saber. Usually, I'd have reveled in the opportunity to spend time with the waifu I was obsessed with, though the judgy looks, the suspicious glances and biting remarks regarding my relationship-status with Gil did to get on my nerves. "For the last time, I have NO intention to harm your Master, so do stop with the glares. It is very impolite."

"I was not looking at you, Lord Magnum."

Her answer was curt to the point some might consider it rude, but knowing Artoria, I was sure she's just upset at being called out. "Want to hear a secret? I have eyes on the back of my head, you can't lie to me Saber."

It's actually Spatial-Awareness, but close enough, right? "Saber, what did I say about trust?"

Ignoring Shiro's slightly patronizing tone, I voiced the question that had been on my mind for nearly ten minutes. "Pardon me for being unable to trust this person. Besides his clearly questionable taste in women, he has yet to give me a reason to lift my suspicion."

Ouch… "To make it worse, I can sense vile malice radiating off his pores. Exca–"

Realizing her mistake, Saber corrected. "– My weapon seems to agree with my assessment. He's the traitorous sort."

Now that's just a low-blow… When had I ever betrayed anyone?! Sure, I took great effort to word my sentences in a way which allowed me to take advantages of others, but every Magi did that! There might be honor amongst thieves but not to the corrupted Magi. "For the love of– Can we get this over with so I don't have to deal with your cutting remarks? I thought King Arthur was supposed to be good with a sword, not his tongue?"

There were at least three different sexual innuendos in those two sentences, but voicing them was beneath me… Plus, I doubted it'd endear Artoria to me anytime soon. "Oh-Look, the Church! Fucking finally."

I ignored her scowl, pushing open the familiar doors. Once upon a time, this was the closest thing I had to a home in this Universe, and now here we were- bot changed by the passage of time. Only difference was while I had received a glow-up, the dilapidated, abandoned Church had definitely seen better days without Kirei to take care of it. The moment I stepped in, Black Keys were shot towards us,

The two women clearly hadn't expected to be attacked the instance they set foot in the Overseer's temporarily Residence.

As for me… Unlike Shiro or even Saber, I was already prepared. Loath as I was to admit it, getting dragged in a certain Doomsday Cultist's machinations had definitely left unresolved traumas in me- traumas which acted up every time I was in presence of the Church. "Leonis? Excuse me, the previous Master hasn't made the best first-impression."

"That's your best excuse for nearly shish-kabobing us?" I drawled.

"It is the best I can come up with, and before you ask. No, we can not reveal the identity of the Master who came." Like a predator, Caren stalked down the isle- a move which reminded me so much of Kotomine, thankfully I was able to shrug off the discomfort and focused on the talk. "Why have you come to our humble abode Lord Magnum? It can't possibly be to confess your sins."

"No… Of course not." My sins- however numerous they might be- were my own. No God or some schmucks who could barely even comprehend the struggles of Mortality should have the right to judge it, and I'd be damned if I allowed a scam to dictate my life. "I'm here to register our Servants and break the news to you. But, before that, I was hoping you could tell me the Holy Church's policies on a certain historical figure."

"And this… Figure is?"

"Judas Iscariot- the man who betrayed Christ."

Immediately, I noticed her arms tense. "That's impossible."

"Is it? Is it really?" I rolled my eyes.

We lived in a World of Magecraft, Martial Arts and Supernatural of all kinds, and a Servant summoned being a major, albeit unpleasant part of Christianity was 'impossible'? She had got to be joking, right? "The Founding Families have made a Geas with the Church to install a failsafe which would prevent any Demon from crawling out of Hell, Lord Magnum. If Judas is really here–"

"Then it means the Ritual is fucked and the failsafe isn't as safe as they made it out to be." I interrupted, paying no heed to the soft snort and a condescended, "… Such vulgarity's truly unbecoming of a Lord."

"Precisely." Caren's stare seemed to penetrate my very being as she walked down the stairs. "May I ask if you have proofs of this atrocity to Mankind?"

I wouldn't call it an atrocity per say… It's a mere Demon, what's so scary about that? Could Judas be more terrifying than the likes of Gaunter O'Dimm and the Cosmic Terrors known as Night-Gaunts? "We do not. Both of the witnesses have been found murdered, all our search discovered was a cryptic mess of words: Disciple, Betrayal, Heavenly Kingdom and Silver. I don't know about you, but the only person who comes to mind is Judas."

"Are the sources trustworthy?"

"As trustworthy as can be." I shrugged as another voice joined us- commanding and very clearly feminine. "In just a week, the Demon has stolen dozens of lives. We beseech you to put the War to a halt until we've dealt with the situation."

Oh-Look! Artoria just saved me a few words! That must be the kindest thing she did for me since her summoning… "What she says. What do you say?"

Letting loose a loud sigh, Caren shook. "Unfortunately, father Francesco and I can't help, not unless you have concrete evidences to prove the Servant in question is indeed the Betrayer."

"But–!" Both Saber and Shiro made to protest, worried about the innocents, though their outrages were soon silenced by me with a wave. "And if we have evidences, will you aid us in the search at least?"

It's a 'yes or no' question, but apparently Caren had also inherited her father's dramatics. "The policy when met with such Heretics is to kill on sight."

"That's all I need to know."

I nodded and turned to leave, gesturing for my companions to follow along. "By the way, our little Faction is consisted of Lancer, Saber and Archer. Write that down, won't you?"