"Among all the heroic spirits and Masters present, maybe only the Conqueror King and Waver's pair is the least threatening. My power is restricted far too much in this world. If the other Servants really gang up on me, even I won't be able to hold. Just one Goldie is enough to wear me down." Don't be fooled by how easily Meruem seemed to fight two at once earlier. In reality, he was only taking advantage of the fact that Diarmuid was being forced by a Command Spell to attack. Otherwise, if Diarmuid went all out and teamed up with Seimei against him, Meruem would still have to pay a price to win.
And don't think that because Meruem's Other-Dimensional Space completely counters Goldie's Gate of Babylon, that means Goldie's strongest moves are nullified and he's no longer scary. That only means you're too naive. If he doesn't have protagonist plot armor, a serious Gilgamesh being called one of the strongest heroic spirits isn't just talk.
When Goldie goes all out, Gate of Babylon can reach at least the level of firing three thousand Noble Phantasms at once. That move alone is enough to eliminate at least 90% of heroic spirits.
So here's the problem: can Meruem's Other-Dimensional Space swallow a three-thousand-weapon barrage? Earlier, because of Tokiomi, the Gate of Babylon vs. Other-Dimensional Space clash never actually happened. So even Meruem himself has doubts about whether he can gulp down that many Noble Phantasms in one go.
This world's restrictions on him are simply too heavy. Even the Gold techniques in Meruem's hands are restricted. Otherwise, even if Goldie himself showed up in front of Meruem, he'd just be a dish on the table.
And don't forget—Goldie has more than just Gate of Babylon. Goldie's strongest method is the EXEXEX-rank Anti-World Noble Phantasm, "The Star of Creation That Split Heaven and Earth." The War God's Spear artifact in Meruem's hands is only A+-rank. Just from that, you can see how extraordinary Goldie's divine weapon is.
Meruem has no interest in getting stabbed by that. In some other work, Goldie used Ea to wipe out enemies by the tens of millions in one go.
And Goldie also has ancient nukes. Among the Noble Phantasms he collects, Vimana is equipped with everything from ancient machine guns to ancient nuclear bombs.
Meruem doesn't think that, weakened to this extent, he can tank an ancient nuke head-on.
His Strength is only AAA, after all.
Finally, Goldie's own combat ability isn't weak either. If you strip away the cheats and make him fight Artoria or Diarmuid, the outcome is honestly hard to say. It's just that because his opponent isn't Enkidu, he's been in a "messing around" state the whole time. A non-chuunibyou Goldie? ┑(￣Д￣)┍ Heh.
So Meruem needs allies. Ryuunosuke, Zouken, Tokiomi, Mapo, Kiritsugu, and Director Kayneth—none of them are suitable as allies.
Because you never know when they'll stab you in the back, and several of them have zero goodwill toward Meruem—or even outright grudges.
And although the Conqueror King is also one of Meruem's enemies, at least as an ally, he's far more reliable than those so-called aristocratic magi. What, you say Waver is the Master? If the Conqueror King agrees, then we'll just ignore the queen's opinion.
"So you're saying you want to form an alliance with us?" In the second-floor room of the elderly couple's house that Waver had put under with a hypnosis spell, the Conqueror King, wearing a "Grand Strategy" T-shirt, stared at Meruem with his big round eyes.
Meruem is already fairly tall, but compared to the Conqueror King he looks much smaller. The Conqueror King's body is at least over 9′10"9'10"9′10".
"That's right. Until we eliminate the other participants, we maintain a cooperative non-aggression relationship. After only our two groups remain, we'll have a decisive battle to determine who the Holy Grail ultimately belongs to." Meruem tried not to pay attention to the room being a total mess, with game discs and leftover snacks piled everywhere.
This so-called Conqueror King is really filthy.
"Hey, why should we believe you? What if it's a trap? Conqueror King, don't agree to this!" Before the Conqueror King could speak, Waver made a big fuss at the side. He didn't object to an alliance itself, but if the target was Meruem, that was a different story.
Up to now, the power Meruem displayed was simply too strong. An "alliance" only makes sense when both sides are roughly comparable. Waver had no confidence in the Conqueror King's strength, so…
He'd spent some time with the Conqueror King and thought he understood his temper somewhat. If he said it outright, there was an 80%80\%80% chance he'd get slapped in the face.
"Kid, I know what you're thinking. Relax. I still haven't used my final secret method yet." Even so, Waver still received a loving slap from the Conqueror King. Just as Waver thought he understood the Conqueror King's temper, the Conqueror King also knew Waver's temper very well.
This duo's chemistry is second only to the Ryuunosuke-and-Bluebeard pair, and if you factor in Waver's image ten years later, their compatibility might even surpass that Ryuunosuke-and-Bluebeard combo.
"Hey, Conqueror King. Don't just say secrets out loud." Waver looked like he was about to cry. He sincerely felt that communicating is hard.
"Then let me put it another way. I hope that if something happens later and I lose, you can look after my MASTER—at least, do your best to keep her safe until the Holy Grail War ends. In exchange, if you, Conqueror King, are defeated, I'll also do my best to ensure your MASTER's safety." Meruem's real purpose in coming here was only one thing: leaving Sakura a way out.
As for his own life and death… it didn't matter. It wouldn't count as a true death anyway—he just wouldn't obtain the Ninth Sense. But if Sakura died, that would be real death.
"Oh? KING, you mean that little girl who's with you? I see… Kid, agree to it. At least give yourself an extra way out." The Conqueror King thought for a moment, then spoke. He was very satisfied with his little Master. Sure, the nagging can be annoying sometimes, but at least the kid respects his will. If possible, he didn't want Waver to meet with an accident. Having an extra way out is always a good thing. "Then the alliance is established. Since we're allies, I'll be candid too." Meruem told the two of them how he was monitoring all the Masters.
Micro insect reconnaissance drones.
"Oh, wow, that's amazing. So there's a method like this too." Unlike Waver, who broke into a cold sweat upon hearing it, the Conqueror King let out wholehearted admiration.
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