Chapter 61

I missed episode 3 of Kado because of overtime. I also had to work today on a holiday.

Work is really a bad thing.

"Nooooooooo?!"

Yukino's scream echoes throughout the room.

It's only natural, seeing the person he loves lose his life right before his eyes.

Her face was pale, she was on her knees and holding her head.

As I watched her, I moved carefully so as not to provoke the golden Servant - Yukino-chan had called him Gilgamesh.

I know I'm being too calm, but it's nothing to be surprised at, let alone proud of. This calmness is the result of Medea's hypnotic suggestion. But on the other hand, it also restricted my movements.

I have no wish to abandon Hikigaya, but his composure and the role he has been assigned require an immediate retreat.

It's my job to give the signal to retreat. After all, I'm the one in the safest position operationally.

If I sensed danger, it would mean the operation itself had failed. So in that case, those who couldn't move were to leave behind and only those who could escape would flee. However...

(But that doesn't mean I can abandon you...!)

Knowing Hikigaya, he would have been the first person he thought of to discard. But he couldn't admit that.

Hikigaya's strategic abilities are indispensable to this team, and above all, Yukino would be sad if Hikigaya were to die.

I sneaked around close to Hikigaya and the others, trying not to make any noise. Luckily, Gilgamesh didn't notice me. Well, he probably did. But he didn't seem interested in me.

"Hikigaya..."

His blood goes cold when he sees the fallen Hikigaya.

It was a terrible state.

Both of his ankles were clearly shattered, and his exposed arms, with his clothes torn, were stained black with internal bleeding, but the damage to his torso was so severe that even that didn't seem to matter.

Damage. There is no other way to describe it.

Gilgamesh's stray bullet most likely hit him in the right side of his abdomen.

I say "probably" because it's impossible to tell with precision, since most of Hikigaya's torso below the chest had been wiped away.

A hole so big that it's ridiculous to even call it a hole.

There was almost nothing left of Hikigaya's abdomen, with the small amount of flesh remaining on the left side barely connecting his upper and lower body from his chest.

The word ambulance comes to mind, but I quickly dismiss it. No matter how I think about it, this is not a condition that can be saved by conventional medicine. So...

"Hey you!"

"Hii?!"

I grabbed Wakame-head, who was standing there in a daze, by the collar. Perhaps due to the effect of my physical strengthening, Wakame-head's feet left the ground surprisingly easily.

"Wh-what is it?! I'm telling you, it's not my fault!"

"That doesn't matter! Let me use my command spell to heal Hikigaya!"

If normal means are not enough, then we have to resort to extraordinary means, in other words, to relying on magic. In that case, it would make sense to turn to Medea, but her command spells have been stolen by this man.All the signs that should be brokenRule Breaker" has been destroyed, so we have no choice but to let this man do it.

Wakame blinked as if taken aback by my words, then her face turned red and she began yelling.

"Huh... Don't mess with me! Why would I give my important Command Spell to someone like that!?"

In the middle of his lines, he headbutts Wakame. He grabs her neck with both hands, blowing a nosebleed and remaining silent, and gradually applies more pressure while she is still hanging in the air.

"Ah... ugh...!?"

"Hurry up. I'll break your neck right now."

"Huh...?!"

When he threatened her in a completely serious tone, Wakame turned pale and stopped resisting.

Seeing Wakame lifting her trembling left hand, I relaxed my grip a little so that she could speak.

"I... I command you with my Command Spell..."

incantationcommandWakame's left hand glowed in response. There was no way she could relax knowing that it wasn't a bluff and that he was going to use the Command Spell. The problem began here.

Wakame took a deep breath, held her breath for a moment, and then opened her mouth as if she had made up her mind.

"Help me!"

"Dammit!"

There was a sound like shattering glass. I pushed Wakame away, then used the momentum to throw myself back.

As he fell, sparks flew in front of me, slightly blinding me. Archer's sword was pulled back by the power of the Command Spell, but Bazett, who had stepped in between them, deflected it with her fist.

"Are you okay, Hayato?"

"Yes, but..."

Using her momentum, Wakame rolled backwards and stood up, but Archer and Medea were already standing in front of her. Even with Bazett's strength, it would be impossible for her to overtake the two Servants.

Wakame crawled over to Tohsaka, picked her up as she was immobile due to the curse, and turned to face the Servants.

"Hey! Let's run!"

"Shinji, you've got to be careful already...!"

"Shut up you idiots! Hey, you guys hurry up!"

Wakame strangled Tohsaka, who was about to say something, silencing her, and with foam coming out of the corners of her mouth she gave an order to her Servant. The Command Spell on his left hand once again shattered and shattered. At the same time, Medea made a hand seal, and they turned into black particles and scattered into the night sky.

"Damn it!"

He looked up at the night sky where the four had disappeared and cursed.

It ended up being the worst possible outcome.

He had lost his comrades, his means to save Hikigaya, and his ability to fight. All of these were fatal, but he redirected his thinking resources to the most important thing at the moment. That is, how to overcome the threat of Gilgamesh. If he didn't do something about this, he wouldn't be able to save Hikigaya.

He hasn't made a move since Yukino-chan stopped him. Or rather, he looks like he's had enough and wants to go home, but I'm sure that's just my imagination.

Judging from Yukino's words and actions, it seems that they appeared here because of Gilgamesh's rampage. It's a relief that, as her master, she doesn't seem to have any intention of annihilating us...

"I command you with my Command Spell! Save Hikigaya-kun, Gilgamesh!"

Then, Yukino suddenly stood up and used a command spell. Considering the content of the command, this in itself was not that surprising. However,

"Oh?"

Gilgamesh's reaction was slow. He only showed a slight interest in her. Yukino was annoyed and yelled at her Servant.

"What are you doing?! Hurry up!"

"Hmm... well, okay."

Gilgamesh muttered a word and snapped his fingers. At the same time, several golden magic circles appeared around us and around Saber, who was standing motionless some distance away.

Before he could even think, "Oh no!", chains shot out and entangled Hikigaya's body. His hand quickly reached out, but it cut through the air without touching Hikigaya, and Hikigaya and Saber, along with the chains, were sucked into a mysterious space.

"Well then, shall we go, Yukino?"

"Eh... Kyaa?!"

Turning his attention to the scream, he saw that Yukino-chan was also wrapped in chains. Gilgamesh continued speaking in a mocking tone to his shocked and flustered master.

"Why are you so surprised? Are you going to help that man? If so, you don't have time to relax here."

"What's the connection between that and this...!"

"Well, if we were to match it to the feet of a living human, it would take up unnecessary time. So thisII"I'll carry it for you. Be grateful."

"Wait... Kya...!"

Yukino let out a small scream as she was swallowed up into the magic circle, just like Hikigaya and Saber.

Without even showing any sign of checking it, Gilgamesh turns his back on us and prepares to leave.

I watch them go in silence. I'm still feeling uneasy, but there's nothing I can do about it.

We don't have the means to treat Hikigaya. So it would be best to leave it to them. Regardless of Gilgamesh, it's certain that his master, Yukino, wants to help Hikigaya.

I have no choice but to believe that he will definitely help me since he used the Command Spell. Above all, we are no match for that Servant.

So, it would be best to just let this go. Apart from the emotional factor, everything else would be a bad move.

"Wait!"

A voice called out to him. It was Emiya.

Gilgamesh stopped and cast a glance over his shoulder at Emiya. He wasn't even paying attention to me, but just that made my skin tingle.

"Give me back Saber."

However, Emiya, who should be the one directly facing that pressure, doesn't flinch at all. What kind of mental strength does he have!?

Gilgamesh didn't respond to Emiya's voice, but simply narrowed his eyes slightly.

… This is bad. I have a feeling that this is really bad.

To begin with, this Servant is too strong. Even in his best condition, he's not an opponent he can stand up to without some countermeasures. Fighting him now would be more than just reckless; it would be a joke.

"...Hey, stop it, Emiya."

I had no choice but to intervene. If I continued like this, I would probably be killed. I thought about running away, but that would only provoke him.

Emiya looked like he might leap out at any moment, but when I grabbed him by the shoulders, he surprisingly easily shifted his center of gravity back from his leaning forward position. Even though his blood was rushing to his head, it didn't seem like he didn't understand the difference in our strength.

"Khh."

Suddenly, Gilgamesh let out a laugh. It was more of a sneer.

"You should be grateful to that man, mongrel. Normally I would have torn him to shreds, including his unpleasant abilities, but...II"I'm in a good mood right now. Let's make an exception and allow him to return alive."

True to his own words, Gilgamesh was chuckling in a good mood.

"I thought it would be a complete waste of time, but it's turned into an unexpected pleasure. Hehe... it's a great way to kill time until I incarnate Saber.

Now, Saber's Master. In recognition of your achievements in keeping Saber in this world until now,beforetipI'll pretend I never heard what he said.

Well, she's such a woman. I can understand why he doesn't want to let her go.IIYou belong to me. Know your place."

Emiya's body suddenly fills with strength. I put more strength into my hand that was gripping his shoulder and held him down.

Gilgamesh didn't even glance at us as he turned his back and walked away.

"I can only appreciate the eyes that understand Saber's value.II"I will allow you to attend Saber's wedding. Of course, that is if you survive until then."

Leaving those words behind as he departed, the Golden Servant finally vanished from the night park.

With Gilgamesh gone, only three people remained: myself, Bazette-san, and Emiya. If we add in the people who had joined us along the way, there were a total of eleven, so that meant we were down to less than a third of our former numbers.

"Emiya, are you okay?"

"Ah, yeah. Sorry. Thank you for helping me out earlier."

When I called out to Emiya, who was just standing there, he thanked me. It must have been in reference to my earlier conversation with Gilgamesh.

Even so, Emiya seems to be quite a kind person.

Even though I say I helped, I only stopped Emiya. And that was just the natural course of events.

Generally speaking, we are enemies, but it's like he has completely forgotten that fact.

Well, I was about to call for a ceasefire anyway, so it's a good time. I'm not in a position to fight anymore.

"Let's move to another location for now. It's not good to stay here."

I said, urging Emiya on. Seeing as Bazette-san nodded at my words, it seemed like it wasn't over yet.

"Move to where..."

"I'm not letting you go anywhere."

A new voice rang out, interrupting Emiya's words.

Looking around, he saw countless white masks floating in the darkness surrounding the square. One corner of the assassins broke away, and a figure stepped forward.

"What…?!"

Emiya seemed to hold his breath, but Bazette and I had already expected this to happen.

The pale man approached, walking as if he were taking a stroll.

If I had passed him on the street in normal clothes, I'm sure I wouldn't have paid him any attention. That's how normal he was.

But I sensed an ominous presence from him that was no less than that of Gilgamesh. Perhaps it was a murderous intent.

Maybe, but I think this is his way of showing sincerity. At the very least, he won't sneak up on me or anything like that.

Of course, that's just my own fantasy. Besides, I don't know the man well enough to imagine anything.

If there is anyone who can guess his feelings...

"...Hey, Bazett."

"So you've come, Lancer?"

The words exchanged between master and servant, who had not met for a long time, were very brief.