Aboard the golden flying craft, Gilgamesh settled back upon his royal throne and casually tossed Kirei Kotomine a jade-green gemstone. Set into its center was a golden button, resembling the trigger of some kind of remote detonator.
"Since this was your idea, you may have the honor of raising the curtain on the final act."
"Very well. Leave it to me."
Kirei caught the gemstone and looked down toward the barely visible Tohsaka Mansion through Vimana's long-range Noble Phantasm surveillance system.
"Lord Tokiomi... consider this my graduation gift."
"I do hope you'll enjoy it."
A delighted smile spread across Kirei's face as he pressed the golden button without hesitation.
Hummm—
The invisible Vimana hovering high above instantly shed its veil of concealment, revealing itself like a brilliant golden star suspended in the night sky.
Within Gate of Babylon are preserved the prototypes of every treasure that has ever existed—and every treasure that will exist in the future.
Naturally, that included Noble Phantasms capable of concealing one's presence.
Compared to relying on Assassin, such tools were both far more practical and far more reliable.
And among those countless treasures...
Even humanity's greatest achievement in military technology—
The ultimate weapon in the history of modern warfare—
The forbidden weapon feared by every nation—
The nuclear bomb—
Was no exception.
That's right.
Even something as conceptually modern as a nuclear weapon had been recognized as a "treasure" and stored within Gate of Babylon.
At this very moment, one of those weapons rested inside Vimana itself.
Hummm—
As Kirei activated the device, the underside of Vimana unfolded like the bomb bay of a strategic bomber.
Golden ring-shaped magical arrays expanded around the craft like a radiant crown.
They served simultaneously as defensive barriers...
And as launch mechanisms that accelerated the coming destruction.
"Raise your eyes to the heavens."
"The fires of annihilation have already gathered."
"The time has come to bid farewell, my beloved teacher."
Spreading his arms wide, Kirei joyfully recited the final lines of his proclamation.
Below the golden magic arrays—
Within the opened hull of Vimana—
A colossal golden projectile slowly emerged.
It resembled both a gigantic spear and an enormous missile warhead.
Its length far exceeded the dimensions of Vimana itself, defying all common sense as gravity pulled it toward the earth.
Whoosh—
The instant it passed through the golden launch arrays—
Its descent accelerated explosively.
Like an arrow released from a bow, it instantly surpassed the speed of sound.
Then it accelerated even further...
Until it became completely invisible to the naked eye.
"...What is that?!"
Iskandar's pupils contracted sharply.
Without hesitation, he yanked the still-confused Waver into his arms to shield him before shouting toward Leon as fast as he could,
"Saber! Get over here! I'm deploying my Noble Phantasm again!"
"It's useless!"
Leon immediately invoked the Round Table Judgment.
As radiant light gathered around Excalibur – Sword of Promised Victory, he warned everyone,
"A Reality Marble may be the manifestation of its owner's inner world, but both the caster and that miniature world still exist within the real world."
"If the anchor point in reality suffers an overwhelmingly powerful impact, the shell containing this world will shatter."
"When that happens, the resulting spatial collapse will tear every one of us apart!"
"Seriously?!"
Waver's face turned pale.
He couldn't fully grasp what was about to happen, but merely sensing the overwhelming magical energy descending from above was enough to make him tremble uncontrollably.
"D-Don't panic, boy!"
Iskandar declared.
"At worst..."
"We'll all die together!"
"...What?!"
"Can't we not die?!"
"I'm still young!"
Waver cried in despair.
"Leon..."
Supporting Irisviel, Artoria looked toward him with concern.
Nearby, Aoi held Rin tightly in her arms.
All of them fixed their eyes on Leon.
Irisviel had even begun considering whether she should remove Avalon – The Everdistant Utopia from within her body and return it to Artoria.
But Leon had already made the decision for her.
Using the Bifrost to teleport the "nuclear bomb" away...
Would inevitably carry the weapon somewhere else.
Not an option.
Retreating into the Shadow Realm...
Would expose his connection with Berserker (Matou Kariya ).
Now wasn't the time.
The Round Table Judgment was already underway.
However...
"So this is my only choice."
Leon smiled reassuringly at Artoria and the others.
Then...
He silently halted the seal-release ritual.
If he prematurely detonated the ancient nuclear weapon in the sky...
He himself would undoubtedly survive.
But with his current Servant body, he couldn't guarantee the safety of Irisviel or the others.
"Heh... Gilgamesh."
"You really got me this time."
Leon raised his head toward the golden "star" hanging high above.
From the perspective of Gilgamesh and Kirei's surveillance Noble Phantasm, Leon appeared to be staring directly at them—
As though his vision were truly sharp enough to pierce a distance of ten thousand meters.
"Oh?"
"Now this is interesting."
Gilgamesh's crimson eyes gleamed with amusement.
His curiosity only deepened.
How exactly would Leon respond to this divine punishment?
Leon did not raise the holy sword in his right hand.
Instead...
He slowly clenched his left fist and placed it over his chest.
A sacred white radiance gradually began to emanate from the silver armor covering his body.
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