"Saber, Berserker..."
"Your choices sicken the King."
"Entrusting the Dragon Balls to this mongrel... do you truly believe he can defeat me?"
Rage boiled. Gilgamesh's mood was foul beyond measure.
No -- this was the greatest humiliation of his existence.
The Most Ancient King, less respected than a "pretender"?
Saber he could dismiss. But now even Berserker had done the same.
What had Rider done to earn such trust?
"..."
Berserker said nothing. He simply soothed the fussing Sakura in his arms.
The act of surrendering the Dragon Ball had clearly upset the girl. She sniffled with indignant tears.
"Doesn't that just prove I'm above you?"
"Only those who earn acknowledgment can inspire others to follow."
"And that's something you'll never manage, Gilgamesh!"
One hand swept outward. Zero fear. Lelouch faced the King head-on.
"Mongrel! You have no right to speak the King's name!"
Burning with fury, Archer raised Ea overhead.
Tap...
"Just in time, it seems."
Soft footsteps below drew everyone's attention.
"Tokiomi!"
Kariya gaped at the approaching figure, baffled by his timing.
"Tokiomi. You wouldn't be foolish enough to obstruct the King?"
Gilgamesh naturally noticed his Master. But having always dismissed Tokiomi as disposable, the man barely registered.
"No. I've come merely to celebrate my King's victory."
Elegant poise. Impeccable courtesy. Tokiomi spoke with grace.
"Hmph. So only when facing death have you learned your proper place?"
The double meaning sailed past Gilgamesh entirely.
"Indeed. I was blinded by falsehood for so long, unable to recognize the true sovereign I should serve."
"But that changes now."
"I pledge my absolute loyalty!"
The solemn declaration bewildered both Gilgamesh and Kariya.
"For the sake of my King's victory..."
"Therefore--"
"Kill yourself, Archer!"
Words that stopped hearts. Kariya stared in disbelief.
"Do you understand what you're saying, mongrel?"
Face darkening, feeling a Command Spell's pull, Gilgamesh's voice seethed with agitation.
"You misunderstand, Gilgamesh."
"The King I serve has only ever been one man."
"The King of Britannia! His Majesty Lelouch!"
The second remaining Command Spell blazed. Tokiomi's conviction was absolute.
"Kill yourself, Archer!"
"You bastard!!"
Ignoring the stunned onlookers, Gilgamesh focused everything on resisting the Command Spells' compulsion.
His EX-rank Magic Resistance afforded him some immunity against Command Spells' enforcement.
A mere two would never be enough to restrain him.
At the same time, Gilgamesh finally understood where Rider's confidence originated.
The red glow in Tokiomi's eyes -- unmistakably, he'd been manipulated.
"You were so fixated on a king's glory that you overlooked what was happening to your pawns."
"You didn't even notice when they were turned against you."
"Lost in the radiance of your own past..."
"You treated even your enemies as trash not worth a second glance."
From below, Lelouch dissected Gilgamesh's psychology.
"You possess the power to discern any enemy's identity, yet you never bothered using it on anyone but Berserker."
"Had you exercised even a fraction of vigilance, no one in this war could have stopped you. Except Berserker."
"And even he might have faltered, given his Master's limitations."
"To let such an overwhelming advantage collapse into this--"
"Gilgamesh."
"It is your arrogance!"
Every word struck deep. Gilgamesh could not deny it.
Had he paid even slight attention, the anomalies in Tokiomi and the Kotomine father and son would have been instantly apparent.
Even Rider's hidden Noble Phantasm would have been discovered.
But his towering ego had rendered everyone beneath Berserker invisible.
He'd been too contemptuous to even engage with his own Master, gifting Lelouch the perfect opening.
'Archer, sooner or later, your arrogance will be your undoing!'
Saber's recent prophecy echoed through his mind.
"Don't think you've won!!"
"A mere two... Command Spells!"
"Can't kill me!"
Straining against the bonds, Gilgamesh roared defiantly.
But what came next shattered his composure entirely.
"By Command Spell, I order you..."
"Kill yourself, Archer!"
"By Command Spell, I order you..."
"Kill yourself, Archer!"
"By Command Spell, I order you..."
"Kill yourself, Archer!"
"If two aren't enough..."
"Then how about twelve more?"
As Lelouch spoke, Tokiomi pushed back his sleeve, revealing an arm covered in an absurd density of crimson marks.
"Those are--"
Kariya's eyes went wide. Every one of those tattoos was unmistakably a Command Spell.
But where had so many come from?
Gently holding Sakura, Berserker understood perfectly. Through his "Echo of Beyond," he'd witnessed Rider's interactions with Risei. The plan had been transparent from the start -- and this was precisely why he'd trusted Rider to kill Archer.
As the Church's overseer, Risei had stockpiled Command Spells from previous Holy Grail Wars.
When Lelouch had dominated Tokiomi, the purpose was to have Risei prepare the transfer.
The King of Heroes? Lelouch wasn't foolish enough to underestimate him. Two Command Spells from Tokiomi might not be sufficient.
So he simply stacked the numbers.
Two plus twelve.
Fourteen Command Spells of absolute compulsion. No Servant in existence could resist that.
A scenario no one -- absolutely no one -- had predicted.
"By Command Spell, I order you..."
"Kill yourself, Archer!"
"Damn you! Damn you!! DAMN YOU!!! Mere MONGRELS!!"
Ea was already raised high -- but it was now turning, its point driving toward Gilgamesh's own chest.
Rage consumed him. But the King of Heroes had no means to resist.
This was undeniably the gravest crisis Gilgamesh had ever faced.
One or two Command Spells? He could have fought those off. But the successive weight of twelve additional spells crushed every ounce of defiance.
Glaring downward at the architect of his ruin, the slender figure filled his vision.
With a deliberate, theatrical gesture, Lelouch raised his hand and delivered the final line.
"In the name of Lelouch Vi Britannia, I command you--"
"Kill yourself!"
"Gilgamesh!!"
[Translated and Rewritten by Shika_Kagura]