[FMMISM] Chapter 77: Curiosity

"Saving the world? Hahaha, ridiculous! You're not even a king anymore. You're just a lion in a circus cage for people to gawk at."

After a few rounds of drinks, Gilgamesh suddenly laughed and coldly mocked Artoria.

"Think whatever you want, Archer. However, even if I am no longer a king, I will not allow anyone to question my identity as one." Artoria said coldly, her face expressionless.

BOOM!

As soon as she finished speaking, however, a loud explosion suddenly resounded from several dozen meters away.

"?"

As everyone in the courtyard looked toward the source of the sound, a black-haired boy emerged leisurely from the swaying shadows of the trees.

"Iri, you should head back to the castle now."

Ragna walked up to Irisviel's side and whispered in a volume only they could hear.

"Head back? Now? When exactly is 'now'?"

Irisviel, still unsure of the situation, whispered back.

"…"

Ragna didn't respond, instead meeting Gilgamesh's and Iskandar's gazes.

"Oh? Lancer's Master, is that kid your little servant from the castle? You know, this isn't exactly a place for kids."

Iskandar displayed a surprised expression as he spoke.

Meanwhile, Ragna sneered inwardly, thinking how they still didn't understand their situation.

Across from Iskandar, Gilgamesh, with his crimson eyes gleaming with a sly light, stared at the black-haired boy's face, revealing a serious expression for the first time.

"I see… So you’re the clown, the companion of this circus lion?"

As the King of Heroes spoke, narrowing his eyes and growing serious, the cold air in the courtyard became exceptionally tense.

"Whatever, I'm on a tight schedule and not in the best of moods now..."

Ragna spoke in a tone far more solemn than his small boy would suggest, addressing the speechless kings.

"Let's cut to the chase. King of Conquerors Iskandar and King of Heroes Gilgamesh, please die here quickly."

"..."

"Guhahaha! Am I hearing it right? Kid, are you saying you want to kill both me and Archer?!"

Iskandar let out a hearty laugh without any malicious intent.

"That's right, I'll be your opponent for the both of you." Ragna nodded.

"...Hmm, looks like you're not joking." Iskandar scratched the back of his head, looking quite troubled, wondering if he should take a child seriously.

"Do you have any last words?"

A voice suddenly came from above.

Ragna calmly glanced at the source of the voice.

At this moment, the King of Heroes, Gilgamesh, suddenly appeared on the castle wall's eaves, looking down at Ragna with a calm expression.

In Gilgamesh's eyes, anyone who dared to challenge his majesty, even if the opponent were just a child, would have to pay with blood. Such was his principle, for he saw himself as supreme.

Even though Gilgamesh issued a death threat, Ragna did not respond. He just silently glanced at Irisviel, who was frozen beside him.

"I told you to escape back to the castle, really..."

Ragna muttered and then contacted Artoria telepathically.

[Lancer, take Iri away.]

[Huh? But what about you, Master? Are you planning to face Archer and Rider alone? That's too reckless—]

Ragna smiled and placed a finger to his lips, silencing her.

[Lancer, don't you want to see who I really am? Just watch my fight.]

[...]

Artoria's face grew serious as she grabbed Irisviel's wrist and retreated a dozen meters.

[Don't die, Master.]

'Hmph… Seriously, can't these same-face sisters stop saying the same things?' Ragna grimaced wryly and wondered to himself. [What am I going to do if I call out the wrong name in bed from now on?]

In the distance, Artoria shot him a frosty, goddess-like glare.

[Master, you've let your thoughts slip.]

Meanwhile, Gilgamesh's eyebrow twitched.

"How dare you ignore me, mongrel..."

He glared fiercely at Ragna, his voice a menacing whisper.

"If you have no final words, then just die."

With this cold declaration, Gilgamesh used the Gate of Babylon, causing the void behind him to twist and create many golden ripples like those on a lake, releasing countless weapons.

Like arrows shot from a fully drawn bow, numerous weapons sped toward Ragna's location.

It seemed Iskandar had sensed the danger in advance and had already left the center of the courtyard, carrying Waver in a princess carry to a corner.

At this moment, the vast courtyard only held the standoff between Ragna and Gilgamesh, along with countless supersonic weapons aimed at Ragna.

Fully aware of the situation, Ragna's expression remained unchanged.

"Final words are something only those who are about to die say, right?" Ragna stood his ground, smiling cheerfully as he raised his right hand.

Surprisingly, he didn't even draw any weapon and simply faced the torrent of deadly weapons launched at him with his delicate, pale hand.

In the face of this scene as if he were calmly accepting death, everyone held their breath.

They all knew that every weapon shot by the King of Heroes was genuine Noble Phantasm. Even from a distance, the immense magical energy wrapped around his weapons could be felt.

At that point, the courtyard's ground would be blown into the sky, and Ragna, at the explosion's center, would surely be reduced to nothingness.

"..."

Irisviel couldn't bear to watch any longer and covered her eyes.

Although Ragna had defeated Kiritsugu and was perhaps the strongest Master in the history of the Holy Grail War, everything about him seemed insignificant in the face of such a storm of powerful Noble Phantasms.

Yet, what appeared before everyone next was completely contrary to their expectations.

Instead of the devastation caused by Gilgamesh's Noble Phantasms, the scene showed only a boy standing unscathed in the moonlight and the vanished Noble Phantasms of Gilgamesh.

"What?"

Gilgamesh's expression froze.

"..."

Those watching this supposedly one-sided battle, whether openly or from the shadows, were all elites from various fields.

Among them were Tokiomi, renowned at the Clock Tower, Irisviel, Einzbern's greatest creation, and Kirei, the battle-hardened former Executor. There were also kings who had established vast domains and armies, like Artoria and Iskandar, hailed as legendary rulers.

Yet, no one understood what had happened.

Dozens of Noble Phantasms launched by Gilgamesh had disappeared without a trace just as they were about to pierce the boy's body.

Rather than 'Magecraft' or 'True Magic', it was more like a magic trick.

"Well, my evaluation for you is... boring!"

Ragna looked up at Gilgamesh with a nonchalant expression, then retracted his right hand as if in provocation and shoved both hands into his pockets.

"Show me what you've got, brat. Bring out Ea."

If people who knew Gilgamesh heard this, they'd probably think Ragna was out of his mind.

Ragna, who looked barely in his teens, actually called the Oldest King of Heroes a 'brat'.

"…What did you just say?"

Gilgamesh should have been seething with rage. However, perhaps because his anger had surpassed its threshold, he found the current situation somewhat amusing.

"Meh, is this all the king of Uruk amounts to? Seems like the quality of Babylonia has really diminished." Ragna added.

At the same time, Artoria stared in shock at her Master, seeing him mock the King of Heroes with blatant disdain.

"After all, coming from the Age of Gods to the Age of Man just to beat some small fry—it's not really worth being so smug and arrogant. Brat, I'm here to teach you a lesson on behalf of my mother."

"…"

As Ragna mentioned the Age of Gods, Gilgamesh narrowed his eyes.

In an instant, the King of Heroes' thoughts shifted from 'anger' to 'curiosity'.

Moreover, the boy had mentioned 'mother'.

Gilgamesh couldn't help but wonder if this boy and his 'mother' were someone he had encountered in his lifetime.