"Look at all these mongrels with their flashy antics... it's revolting... to think that they'd struggle this much against a group of mongrels... unless of course, you're the only mongrel here... in any case, it seems like our battle is over."
Gilgamesh commented as he looked at Okita, her breathing ragged and her sword no longer up and ready.
"You think you have me beat so easily?"
"I had no expectations regarding you, so I'd say you held your own pretty well for a mongrel. It seems like your robe has some special properties that enhance your strength and resistance, but in the end... you're still just a mongrel and a mere copycat of my beloved Saber."
"I'm not anyone's copycat! Your mockery will only earn you a painful demise."
Okita manifested a flag in her hands and planted it on the ground. Around her, a group of swordsmen appeared, ready for combat. They looked from the same time period as her, and each seemed to have a different reaction to being summoned.
"Flag of Sincerity!"
The group charged at Gilgamesh with killing intent.
"I see... a Noble Phantasm that calls forward your companions from the afterlife... like that daring King of Conquerors... however, compared to his, yours is merely child's play. It seems like everything you do is just a cheap copy of things I've seen before... You are of no entertainment."
And with that, Gilgamesh opened several portals with high-ranking Noble Phantasms and precisely struck each of Okita's guards in a vital point, ending their charge with one swift counter. Behind him, Okita readied her sword and was about to use her skill "Reduced Earth" to close in the distance enough to stab him; however, before she could do that, her Weak Constitution was triggered, causing her to cough up blood and kneel down.
"You truly are pitiful... You pushed yourself too hard and this is the result... take it as a sign of your own limits..."
Okita Souji died in her mid-twenties. However, having contracted tuberculosis for an unknown amount of time, the Throne of Heroes had summoned her in her older teen years, nearly at the height of her physical peak. As such, her personality had been affected too. Despite retaining cool-headedness bordering on coldness, when pushed enough to the edge, it was only natural that she would react like any youngster when they're denied something. And that something, this time, was her dignity.
"Limits? You know nothing of limits, you inhuman monster... you hide... behind your gold... in the security of your power... never daring to get too close... afraid you'll get cut... you say I'm pitiful, and yet you refuse to fight me like a man. You may call me mongrel, but the weak one, the one with no honour... is you!"
To be challenged so openly was inevitably going to make Gilgamesh's blood boil. However, this was no mere insult. It was a challenge. And as King, he felt he should respond accordingly.
"No honour? You say I'm hiding, mongrel? That I'm not man enough to face you? Even in your half-dead state, you cannot see the gap between us? Fine, have it your way."
Gilgamesh wielded a golden katana similar to Okita's and summoned to his side what appeared to be a giant key.
"This key can open and close my gate... so, to show you how seriously I'm facing you..."
With a twist of the key, all of Gilgamesh's portals immediately closed. He then proceeded to throw it away and remove his armour.
"Here you go, I made it as easy as possible for you, mongrel."
"As a token, I'll cut you down swiftly."
Gilgamesh refused on principle to use his future sight. Despite this, he still received automatically premonitions of an imminent danger, giving him something akin to the fake version of Mind's Eye. This, combined with Okita being weakened by her Weak Constitution triggering, made it possible for Gilgamesh to momentarily keep up in a close-up confrontation.
Self-conscious enough to know this wasn't his forte, but stubborn enough to not see the difference in skills between himself and his opponent, the King of Heroes perservered, sure that he could force the girl in a corner and perhaps cause her to have another attack.
After all, everytime she attempted a dangerous strike, he could perceive it a second before and adjust accordingly. For some reason, even though he knew that this memory was fake, he kept thinking of a time where he could keep up with Saber. Although this didn't feel real, unlike the feeling of being defeated by that Faker, he reasoned that if he could envision that in his mind, then he had nothing to fear.
Meanwhile, Okita observed attentively, waiting. Her taunt hadn't been a strategic decision, but a declaration in the heat of the moment. To have her entire existence insulted in such a way, it was too much for the young Servant. However, having regained her calm now, she fully intended to make good use of her enemy's blunder. And so she waited. And waited. And waited. She kept on waiting for the right moment... the moment in which Gilgamesh's guard was at its lowest...
"LIGHTLESS - Three-Stage Thrust"
Even if Gilgamesh had been using his future sight, what he would have seen would have been Okita making three steps toward him and then slashing at him three times. But that never happened. It was as if that distance, that gap in space, had been erased and Okita had instantly teleported in front of him. And that wasn't whole. Instead of three separate slashes, coming at him almost simultaneously from different angles, they all came from the same direction at the exact same time.
Through sheer instinct, he parried the first hit, the second strike broke through his weapon, and the third thrust, which he could have blocked had he worn his armour, sliced right through him.
In less than a second, it was all over. The King looked down in disbelief as a deep cut started painting his clothes blood red. He tried moving, but his legs weren't responding. Further attempts only caused him to collapse.
"This is what you really are. This is you, King of Heroes."
Okita waved around her blade in the air, cleaning it from the blood of her adversary. She then slowly walked away and, with a powerful swing, destroyed the golden key.
"This is how you'll always be from now on. This is what your true strength amounts to, without all your tricks. King of Heroes... please...
So weak."
She moved in for the killing blow, when suddenly an invisible force pushed her away to a side, sending her flying.
"Tricks? Don't make me laugh... though what you said doesn't amuse me at all... on the contrary, it really angers me."
"How did you-"
"Presence Concealment."
"So you are an Assassin."
"No, I'm just someone stronger than you. Just like Big Bro is."
Galter appeared as he summoned a katana in his hands and prepared himself to fight. Possessing the prototype of every skill, Galter could use both Mind's Eye (True) and Mind's Eye (Fake) to their highest degree, possessing greater instincts than any other fighter. As such, he started to easily overpower a weakened Okita while he kept scolding her.
"What you call 'tricks' is the true extent of Big Bro's legend. You complain about unfairness, and yet you pretend that others to fight handicapped. You have one sword because that's all you could obtain, Big Bro has thousands because he earned them. And yet you want him to lower himself to your level because you're too stubborn to admit your mediocrity. You act like a child throwing a tantrum, and yet you believe to have the moral high ground. If this is what you believe justice and fairness are... if this is your honour... using your hardships as an excuse for what you lack... then...
you're the one who's weak."
Just as Okita struggled to keep up, Gilgamesh's broken katana slowly began to repair itself. Galter kept having the upper hand as each of his hits was laced with anger, but it wasn't a lash-out due to his pride, but it was more akin to a parent scolding a disobedient child and a sibling protecting his own kin mixed together.
Okita wanted to use Lightless again to finish off this new opponent, but before she could even hope to find an opening, she felt her illness resurging, its power crippling her completely and making her fall to the ground. Galter ended his assault.
"It's OK to be weak... but you should never use it as an excuse to drag others down or to stop improving. Let your weaknesses empower you and not demoralise you."
All of a sudden, Gilgamesh appeared by his side, wielding his katana, ready to slash at Okita's neck, his future clearly showing her beheaded body laying on the ground.
"Big Bro, wait!"
A long time ago...
"Gil, would you care to explain something?"
"That depends on the level of foolishness of your question."
"Then I'm afraid it's very foolish, but also something that I find quite intriguing... why do humans often say, whenever there's a peril or an obligation regarding a young individual, that 'he's just a child'? What's the reasoning behind that?"
"And here I thought you were going to propose an interesting dilemma... they do that because they believe that children are not ready to face the hardships and struggles of the world and that therefore they should be sheltered and be under less obligations than adults. It's a mongrel's thought, really. There's no other deeper or more meaningful explanation."
"I see, I get it now... but it can't be a mongrel's reasoning... after all... that's how you behave."
"Excuse me?"
"Yeah, you think I didn't notice? You said that children shouldn't face hardships, and you tend to avoid them. And when you interact with them, you show far less severity and much more leniency in their regard. I'm not sure if you do that instinctively due to being part-human or intentionally, but I have no doubt that you do. You don't want them to see the real you, the judge of humanity?"
"..."
"I suppose even you have a soft side..."
"Don't mock me, you fool. I would never show such a weakness. However... I do believe that if more people acted like children, then perhaps I would have more mercy on mankind."
"Or maybe, just maybe... it's because children exist that you still have faith in mankind."
Back to the present...
"No... she's just a child."
Gilgamesh whispered as he hit Okita with the handle of his weapon, knocking her out and gently placing her body on the floor. He observed her ragged and difficult breathing as her eyes squinted in pain, as he could only touch her forehead, which was burning up.
"Is she okay, Big Bro?"
Gilgamesh got up, still looking down at her.
"I'll decorate my throne room with the remains of that woman."
"Hey, that's not a very nice thing to say..." Alaya commented as she chewed on her popcorn while watching the scene.
"The kid will make it, she won't die from this. Now, let's join up with the others. I can sense that the egg is about to hatch."
"Sure, let's do that."
"Hey."
"Yes?"
"Thank you, you saved my life."
"Don't mention it, Big Bro."
Meanwhile...
"Damn it... this was supposed to be easy... reach the egg and destroy it... simple... well, naturally, I didn't expect someone like you to be here..."