---
No wonder no matter how hard he pushed her, that final 1% of affair progress wouldn't increase.
So it was because she had always been concerned about Tokiomi Tohsaka!
What an unexpected reason.
He really had to thank Kirei Kotomine for this!
Hahahaha!
Haruka Kasugano immediately hid to the side and watched what would happen next.
With the effect of **Presence Concealment**, as long as he didn't blatantly show himself, even the King of Heroes, Gilgamesh, wouldn't be able to detect him hiding there.
---
Inside the church, the atmosphere was unbearably awkward.
"Aoi… you… what is this…" Kariya Matou didn't know what to say.
In that instant, he had imagined hundreds of possibilities.
Aoi cursing him to die.
Aoi forgiving him but being disappointed.
He had even imagined her committing suicide.
But he had never expected… this situation.
"Hahahaha!" Aoi was still laughing.
Kariya felt like he didn't recognize her anymore.
Where had the gentle, refined classical beauty gone?
"Aoi, why aren't you sad? Tokiomi is dead! He was your husband!" Kariya asked anxiously.
For a moment, he seemed to forget he was Tokiomi's rival in love.
Aoi slowly stood up, her face flushed, wearing an expression of strange enjoyment.
Her legs trembled slightly as she fantasized about openly, shamelessly being with Haruka Kasugano in the future.
Just thinking about his youthful, vigorous body excited her.
She was already deeply immersed.
Unable to control herself.
"Sorry, Kariya~" Aoi touched her face and restored her usual gentle expression.
"I was just too excited… no, too emotional. I lost my composure."
Seeing her return to normal, Kariya immediately perked up.
"Aoi, so you reacted like that because the shock was too great… I'm sorry, but I didn't do this to Tokiomi!" he hurriedly explained.
Aoi shook her head and smiled.
"It doesn't matter whether it was you or not. If it was, I should thank you."
"Aoi…" Kariya felt something was strange, but his mind was completely filled with her praise. He didn't have room to think.
He simply believed the misunderstanding had been cleared and that she wasn't angry.
He smiled foolishly.
"Disgusting," Gilgamesh muttered from the second floor.
Kirei stared down in disbelief.
Impossible.
According to his investigation, Aoi should have assumed Kariya killed Tokiomi and angrily scolded him.
Then Kariya, humiliated, would strangle her in rage.
Why was she so calm facing her husband's corpse?
Kirei had lived with the Tohsaka family for three years. Had her affection been fake?
She shouldn't be this calm.
No — she wasn't just calm.
She was happy.
She was happy that her husband was dead?
As if a shackle had been removed, she laughed so freely…
He had wanted to watch their tragedy.
Yet somehow, he felt like the clown instead.
Kirei couldn't accept it.
He leapt down to the first floor and threw a dagger at Aoi.
Bang—
Lancelot suddenly appeared and deflected the blade.
"Who? You! Priest?" Kariya was stunned.
"Why are you attacking Aoi?"
"Wait… you killed Tokiomi, didn't you? You murdered your own teacher!"
"Heh… I didn't expect you to have moments of clarity," Kirei sneered.
Gilgamesh descended and said, "Kirei, why waste words? Since we're exposed, let's end Berserker here."
Behind him, more than a dozen golden portals opened.
"Berserker! Kill Archer!" Kariya shouted, shielding Aoi.
"ROOOOAR—!" Lancelot charged like a mad beast.
---
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Gilgamesh's **Gate of Babylon** unleashed a barrage like carpet bombing. Explosions roared across the church grounds.
Yet Lancelot relied on his skill, **Eternal Arms Mastery**, to block them with extraordinary technique.
It was just like their first clash at the docks.
He cut down the first Noble Phantasm with Arondight, caught a spear with his left hand, and used both weapons to deflect the incoming storm.
He even hurled captured weapons back at Gilgamesh while seizing new ones mid-flight.
Amid the chaotic rain of blades, his movements resembled an elegant dance.
Because his other Noble Phantasm, **Knight of Owner**, allowed him to turn any object he wielded into his own Noble Phantasm.
Thus, while Gate of Babylon normally retrieved its treasures, the ones converted by Lancelot could not be reclaimed.
Whether due to his overwhelming close combat skill or this ability to steal and repurpose Noble Phantasms, Lancelot was a natural counter to Gilgamesh.
That was precisely why Kirei had plotted against Kariya — to eliminate this threat to Gilgamesh.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
They clashed for minutes.
Gilgamesh couldn't overpower Lancelot. Worse, he had to dodge weapons thrown back at him, fueling his fury.
He increased his output — thirty-six portals opened at once.
The barrage intensified.
Still, Lancelot held firm.
But behind him, Kariya was in agony.
Though technically a magus, Kariya's aptitude was poor.
Zouken Matou had implanted him with Crest Worms to serve as substitute magic circuits to sustain Berserker's mana.
But every movement Lancelot made consumed mana.
In battle, the drain skyrocketed.
The Crest Worms gnawed at Kariya's flesh to compensate.
He writhed in pain, blood vessels bursting.
"AAAAH!"
Aoi stood helplessly nearby.
This was Gilgamesh and Kirei's confidence.
Even if Lancelot countered Gilgamesh, Kariya couldn't sustain him.
They only needed to outlast him.
Kariya's suffering amused them.
"How delightful," Gilgamesh smirked.
Kirei smiled. "I have other matters to attend to. I'll leave this to you."
"You're going to speak with that homunculus, aren't you? Very well."
Kirei left.
Outside, Haruka Kasugano watched in concealment.
Aoi was still inside.
He had to save her.
Even if her affair progress was 100%, who knew whether her death would count as mission failure?
Besides, he wasn't done with her yet.
Should he call Circe?
No.
Everyone believed Caster was already dead. Revealing another Servant would raise suspicion.
He had to handle this himself.
Fortunately, Kirei had left.
Their arrogance would be their downfall.
Haruka Kasugano enhanced his legs and dashed to Aoi's side in an instant.
"Haruka!" she called him intimately, instinctively touching her belly as if feeling the fruit of love.
"Don't be afraid. I'm here." He patted her head.
He cast **Heal** on the bleeding Kariya, easing his suffering.
"Thank you…"
Before Kariya could finish, Haruka Kasugano grabbed his collar.
"Give me Berserker! Your mana is too weak! If this continues, we'll all die!"
"No!" Kariya refused immediately.
He still needed Berserker to fulfill his promise to Zouken.
"You idiot! You took Berserker because of your agreement with Zouken, right?"
"Zouken's already dead. What agreement are you still clinging to?!"