[53] King of Heroes—My Dearest Friend, Where Exactly Are You?

On the streetlamp, the evening breeze brushed against Gilgamesh's cheeks.

His mood was exceptionally good at the moment.

He was about to reunite with a friend he hadn't seen in over four thousand years.

And he was also about to capture that nightmare child who understood pleasure but acted nothing like a human.

Now, he had unexpectedly discovered that Alaya had updated a fourth video.

Only three days had passed since the last one.

The exposure video, The Oldest King, had finally made Gilgamesh recall a fragment of lost memories.

That he could even forget a part of his past was proof that some cataclysmic event had occurred—likely a world-ending disaster that reversed time and reset the world!

"Nameless, what did you do during that calamity?"

Gilgamesh grew increasingly curious.

Even the mighty King of Heroes could forget him—this was clearly an erasure on the level of conceptual rules!

Not even the Primordial Mother Goddess Tiamat could achieve such a feat!

This meant that bastard of a friend had, unbeknownst to him, accomplished yet another miracle defying the heavens!

Back then, that man had sacrificed himself to unleash the full power of Ea, severing the connection between gods and humans in a single strike.

Freeing humanity from divine subjugation and securing a future for Uruk.

Now, that man had done something even more outrageous in places Gilgamesh knew nothing about.

"What did I do wrong to make you disrespect me so much—so much that you won't even call me your dearest friend?!"

Right now, Gilgamesh only wanted to find that bastard and have a proper face-to-face talk with him!

"The new video is called Unlimited Blade Works?"

He glanced at the title.

After hearing the opening narration, he completely lost interest.

Gilgamesh snorted coldly, "A measly broken cup isn't worth a thousand years of scheming."

The [Gate of Babylon] he wielded was less a treasury of his treasures and more the [Original Codex of Human Wisdom] itself.

It contained the prototypes of all human inventions and every treasure across time!

Given that, how could he possibly care about some broken cup?

"That petty Holy Grail has nothing to do with me. I'll go find Nameless and Merlin first."

Gilgamesh gazed at the distant Fuyuki Magecraft Academy.

Earlier, he had pretended to agree with Merlin's proposal to join forces against Nameless.

Once they actually met, he could turn the tables and capture Merlin to present as a gift to Nameless.

When that time came,

The dream demon child who enjoyed amusing himself with others would likely be forcibly transformed into [Magi☆Mari] by Nameless through some "surgical procedure."

The thought of this powerful dream demon child—who shared his Clairvoyance—being toyed with in such humiliating ways filled him with uncontrollable delight.

So, my dearest friend, where exactly are you now?

On the screen,

A tiny little loli, barely over 1.2 meters tall, was happily skipping through the winter forest.

She was playing a game of finding "walnut winter buds" with her father.

The little girl's soft, sweet voice and innocent demeanor lifted the spirits of countless viewers.

-[Ah, I'm dead! This is too adorable!]

-[Come here, let big sister hug you—this is the real "deceptive baby girl propaganda"!]

-[Officer, I swear I'm not a lolicon!]

-[Speaking of which, judging by the previous leaked videos, the sweeter the beginning, the more tragic the ending...]

-[Shut up, you prophet! I'll stab you first!]

...

"You really don't remember?" Roya asked again, unwilling to give up.

The little girl in the video was unmistakably her best friend's childhood self.

The first three leaked videos had all featured heroic spirits whose names echoed across the world—figures far removed from her reality.

But this video gave her an absurd sense of witnessing history firsthand.

"I don't remember..."

Illya's ruby-like beautiful eyes were filled with confusion.

What was the Lesser Grail?

What was the Holy Grail War?

Had she truly lost a portion of her memories?

The video continued playing.

As if confirming the prophet's warning in the comments,

The warm, playful daily life suddenly transformed into cruel torture.

The Einzbern family began preparations for the Holy Grail War by summoning a powerful heroic spirit in advance.

His name was—

[Heracles!]

A towering figure over two meters tall, his pitch-black body like forged steel, every muscle bulging with savage strength.

In his hands was a massive two-meter-long axe-sword, its brutal power radiating unrestrained.

After this Berserker's appearance,

The young girl in the video suddenly let out agonized screams.

Her petite body writhed in pain, blood streaming from her eyes and nose—a horrifically tragic sight.

Yet, the family members standing nearby showed no sympathy or concern.

They merely watched with cold indifference!

The uploader, Alaya, thoughtfully provided subtitles:

[Servants are normally powered by the Holy Grail's mana, but Heracles was summoned prematurely, forcing Illya to supply all his energy!]

[The Einzberns deliberately drove him into Mad Enhancement to make him easier to control, stripping away all reason!]

[The girl forcibly sustaining a Berserker with her own mana is no different from burning her life away...]

Each line of explanation was more shocking than the last.

"How could they do this to her!"

Roya's face paled.

Subjecting a little girl to such cruel torment was utterly inhuman.

She wasn't alone—every viewer erupted in outrage:

-[My God, this family is pure evil!]

-[Damn you Einzberns! Come at me instead, leave the angel alone!]

-[That's the demigod hero Heracles! It's too cruel for an ordinary little girl to try summoning him!]

-[Damn it, these guys are a bunch of heartless monsters! Why hasn't Nameless shown up yet?]

...

Roya couldn't bear to watch.

It was too brutal.

Illya, who should have been enjoying the prime of her youth, was being mercilessly tormented.

Unable to hold back, she hugged her best friend beside her. "Don't be afraid, I'll protect you!"

"You... are too weak."

Illya hesitated for a moment but still spoke the truth.

"...Ouch, sis!"

Roya felt as if a knife had been plunged into her chest.

Compared to this magical prodigy of a best friend, she was pathetically weak.

Now, all she could do was pray for Nameless to arrive soon and protect the Illya suffering in the video.

However, summoning Heracles was only the beginning of the torment!

The Einzbern family, in order to force Illya to fully master her Servant as quickly as possible, callously abandoned her alone in the Winter Forest.

Facing packs of savage, starving beasts and hordes of grotesque, terrifying undead corpses, her only chance of survival was to summon her Servant to her side.

But the monsters gave her no time to summon or control anything, swarming forward one after another in a frenzied assault.

The girl leaned against a tree, surrounded by snarling beasts and monsters.

The entire figure appeared utterly helpless and pitiful.

As if in the next second, she would be torn to shreds and devoured by a pack of monsters!

This scene made Roya cover her eyes, unable to bear watching any longer.

Why must Illya endure such cruel torment?

She couldn't help but cry out in her heart—

Nameless, where are you? Hurry and come!

In this situation, only Nameless could protect her pitifully vulnerable best friend.

Just like her, countless onlookers were all calling out for that miraculous man.

BOOM!

A figure descended from the sky, landing a foot squarely on the wild wolf's head, crushing it instantly.

A familiar silhouette stood before the lonely, helpless girl.

"I've come to make up for regrets."

Nameless gently wiped the blood from the girl's cheek and solemnly promised, "I won't allow anyone to harm you!"

***

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