Like a King

By Icura

~o~

Was this what it's like to fade away?

He knew the fate that awaited him, the same one that awaited all Servants. Nothingness.

He had been cloned from his real body—which was safely tucked away within the containers of the Heroic Throne—a mere copy fated only to vanish completely from the world like a piece of scum.

There was a reason why his legend was the first recorded in the history of mankind. He couldn't stand the thought of passing on without the records of his deeds, his hardships, and ultimately, his accomplishments disappearing along with him. It was possibly the only reason for his resurrection, one that was only granted by the powers of the Holy Grail, a polluted but powerful treasure that had been his. He had it within his grasp!

The world had been his to do as he saw fit. To be struck down by that which should have been his...it was humiliating, it was demeaning…

It was beautiful.

She was beautiful.

Despite the thousands of treasures that he had, none compared to her, the one that he could not attain. Why was it only at the end that he could understand such a simple fact?

Even as lost in his fading thoughts as he was, he felt a pulse. In this realm of darkness, where there shouldn't have been anything else, the sliver of energy was like a long bell, ringing across the sea of darkness. As if reaching out for a lifesaver, he reached out his hand. In the midst of the white, he could see a blurry figure reaching out for him—one that his mind barely recognized.

"Sa…ber…"

Gilgamesh grasped the energy.

~o~

The first thing that assaulted his senses was pain. Smoke clouded everything, and his body ached from the wounds attained in a battle that felt like it was only a few minutes ago. No matter how much he wanted to deny it, the pain was excruciating, more so as he had not felt even a pinch of agony before then. He nearly fell to his knees, but that would not be fitting for one of his stature. Instead, the King of Heroes gritted his teeth and spaced out his stance, holding himself up by strength of will alone.

As the smoke cleared, a gaggle of common humans—most of whom were children—and monsters could be seen gathered in front of him, most being young children not even having passed their teenage years. One of these brats had summoned him? Impossible. He was about to speak, but a stinging pain stifled the words before it could form in his throat. Looking down, he found a long gash crossed his bare chest, bleeding profusely down his naked body. Whereas lesser men would have long fallen into cries of pain and agony, he withstood it all in silence; his pride and ego demanded no less.

"That can't be…" Louise stared at the figure with her mouth agape.

"A naked, dying commoner? Fits you perfectly, Zero."

"Maybe we should call you negative two instead. You just seem to make things worse."

"Way worse. It's bad enough that you got a commoner, did you have to kill it too?"

"Shut up!" Louise screeched. Just when she succeeded, this had to happen. She was nearly to the point of crying when she turned to Professor Colbert. "Please, let me try again. I'll do better next time."

"No, Ms. Valliere." For his part, the teacher looked sternly but not unsympathetically at his student. "The spring time summoning ritual is sacred. You can only summon one familiar. Please complete the ritual."

Louise looked conflicted but with no solution coming to mind, she sighed and relented. Walking over to her new familiar, she tried to keep her gaze dignified and above his waist, holding back a small blush of both indignation and embarrassment.

Gilgamesh pointedly stared at Louise, taking in the features of the approaching girl. Unremarkable. In every way, he could tell that the girl was insignificant, but she had somehow summoned him, and that was a glorious achievement in and of itself. However, right now, he had no time for idle thoughts and gawking.

"Are you…my master…?" The question had been choked out through labored breathing and overwhelming pain. If it had been any other time, he would have lorded over and mocked this girl, but right now, he was in a precarious position. It was humiliating to be seen like this, but this second chance at life…he was not willing to let it part so easily. This was not something easily done by the King of Heroes, but he would repay this humiliation a hundred-folds in return. That thought alone kept him sane in his anguish.

Louise scowled but nodded nonetheless.

"Then get…on with it…" The contract was incomplete. He needed more prana—more energy—to sustain his life, and he needed it fast. Waiting for the oath of the Holy Grail War to be said, he was unprepared for the actual words that came from her mouth.

"My name is Louise Francoise Le Blanc de La Valliere. Pentagon of the Five Elemental Powers, bless this humble being and make him my familiar." With that chant completed, Louise rose on her tiptoes and kissed the Servant on the lips. Any words that he was about to say were cut off by a burning sensation on his right hand. Added on to the pain of his wound, the agony was near blinding, but he gritted his teeth and bore through it with all a king's dignity. When it ended, he blurrily looked down and saw the black outline of a command seal forming on his right hand.

"You better appreciate that I'm letting a commoner like you be my familiar." Louise's haughty gaze turned down to stare at the bleeding wound, her eyes softening at the sight. It looked even worse up close. Was this her fault? "We need to get you bandaged up."

"The contract…is complete…?" There was no prana, no connection to ensure his survival. Nothing at all! All he'd gotten was a pitiful tattoo. Was he to slowly succumb to his wounds like a mere mongrel, grasping at a false hope? To be cast low and made a laughing stock in his final moments?

Confusion gave way to anger. Before Louise realized it, Gilgamesh had his blood-stained hands around her throat. Ignoring the loud cries of alarm that rose up around him, he began to crush his master's slender throat.

"You miserable whelp!"

"That's quite enough!"

A burst of flames slammed into Gilgamesh's chest, sending him flying away from his new master. He fell roughly to the floor, skidding across the dirt. Gritting his teeth, he stared balefully at the blurry image of Professor Colbert. If he hadn't been weakened so much, he would have massacred such a pitiful magus; however, as it was now, he was the pitiful one. Disgrace upon disgrace. It was almost as if all of this was all a cruel joke, to take the glorious end he had received from Saber and replace it with such a humiliating one as this. Lying wretchedly on the floor, his consciousness fled him.

~o~

Siesta stirred the soup gently, swirling it with practiced ease. She brought silver spoon up to her lips and took a small sip, licking her lips as she contemplated the taste. It was a bit plain, but she supposed the patient won't mind, seeing as how he's asleep. It was time for dinner, and it wouldn't do to be late on her duties. Picking up the tray, she carried it into the one of the school's clinic's private rooms.

The patient in question was lying on a bed in the middle of the white room, his blond hair splayed out on the pillow and his chest bandaged heavily. It was small room, especially when compared to a Noble's, but she supposed patients weren't in any position to be picky. The curtains on the windows were spread open, allowing her a view of the afternoon sky.

Siesta sat down in a chair besides the bed and set the tray holding the bowl onto the drawer night stand besides her. There was no denying that the man had a handsome face; he would have probably made a good husband for some lucky girl if it weren't for these nobles interfering with his life like this. She couldn't imagine what it would be like, to be suddenly teleported here and nearly killed. Taking a spoonful of soup, she carefully opened the man's lips with her other hand and tipped the spoon's contents into the slightly gaping mouth.

"Open wide—oops."

A drop of soup spilled out of the corner of the blond man's mouth, dripping down his cheek. She quickly wiped it up with a napkin. That was careless. She'd thought she had gotten used to doing it after doing it all week, but it seemed she was still making mistakes.

"This will be a secret between you and me," Siesta whispered with a cheerful air, as if there were people spying on them. She could dream, right?

An idle thought drifted across her mind; maybe he already did have a wife and child. Vanishing in the middle of broad daylight, they might be searching for him even right now. If he woke up, would he rush back to his loved ones?

Siesta placed a hand on the side of her warm cheek and sighed longingly.

The thought of a man trying to get back to his loved ones was so very romantic, but a stupid one. She'd already checked his hand. While he wasn't wearing a wedding band, and there was no tattle-tell tan-marks that said otherwise. Though she did notice that he had pierced ears, but there were no actual earrings. Maybe he was a thug or a gangster? A roguish, rebellious fighter, fighting to save her from—

Stupid. What was she thinking about now? Sticking out her tongue, Siesta playfully knocked the side of her head with her knuckles in punishment. She needed to get back to work. Scooping up another spoonful of soup, she raised it to the patient's mouth.

"Here comes another—ah!"

The man stared up at her with annoyed red eyes, his hand having caught her wrist.

"Don't feed me any more of this filth, woman." With a careless swing of his arm, Gilgamesh sent Siesta tumbling to the floor, ignoring her pained and surprised cry. He sat up and stared around him. Where was he?

"Ow, ow." Siesta had fallen on her side, but besides that, she seemed okay for the most part. Rubbing her sore arm, she was about to complain until she saw Gilgamesh start to rise from his bed. "Wait, wait, you shouldn't move. You'll reopen your wound."

Ignoring the maid, Gilgamesh stood up from the bed and tore off his chest bandages to Siesta's utter dismay—or at least, that was until she noticed that the life threatening wound was mostly healed. In its place was a large scar, marring his otherwise statue-like body. He traced a finger over the edges of it not with disdain but a trance-like gaze. This flesh body was the exact same one created from the black mud; it wasn't hard to notice the corruption that ran through his veins, trying desperately to mold his mind, even as futile as it was. It would take five times—no, ten times the amount to even blacken one iota of his thoughts. However, it brought to the forefront of his mind what happened earlier.

Siesta, for her part, blushed and turned her head away. In a part of her mind, she worried over how he seemed to quickly recover from such a grievous wound, but there was a more pressing matter. Didn't the man notice that he was completely naked?

"I-I will go inform Miss. Valliere that you're awake. There is a set of clothes in the drawer. Please be dressed before then," Siesta rose to her feet, her back still turned to Gilgamesh. She practically ran through the door, not waiting to hear any response.

However, Gilgamesh ignored her. Instead, he was facing the window, staring out into the clear skies. Or rather, towards the faint impression two moons. It was a bit difficult to see in the daytime, but there was no doubt what those two were. He tapped his chin rhythmically as he contemplated the oddity.

"This isn't my world."

It was only now that the fallacies that he'd witnessed came crashing down on him. Two moons were simply just the start of his troubles. The tattoo on his hand was another. Now that his vision wasn't blurry and his life wasn't at stake, he saw that it was runes and not the familiar image of a command seal that he was accustomed to. Whatever it was, it had nothing to do with the Holy Grail War. Also, when Servants were summoned through the Holy Grail system, they would be given enough information to blend into that era. However, he'd received nothing. No information or knowledge at all. Not only that, but he kept his flesh body and the memories of the years he spent in Fuyuki.

All these facts led to only one thing.

"This world has no connection to the Holy Grail War."

This was a new world and new possibilities. As the king of everything, he had experienced most of the pleasures of the world, and they bored him. Even the many battles that he had been invited to before he ascended to the Heroic Throne were mostly farces, trifles not even worth mentioning in the same breath as his name. The few that had merit were inscribed into his legend—one that had survived past the ages as the oldest. Only in the Holy Grail War did he truly have more battles and enemies worthy of his attention. Only in the war did he find something worth seeking.

Saber. There was probably another way in this world to grant his wish. Excitement rose within his as his curiosity and ambition began to rise, but he squashed it down. To over-think things at such an early stage was to invite disaster.

Spreading out his arms, he summoned forth clothing from his vault. There was no need to check the drawers for anything; it was probably just peasant clothing stored in there. A red shirt, a white robe, and black pants materialized on him, decorated with lacquer—befitting for one of his status. It was flamboyant and extravagant, and while it would have looked ridiculous on a normal man, it completely fit his confident aura and arrogant gaze.

His capacity for prana was nearly charged from the week of rest, but it wasn't enough to simply rely on his magic circuits. To overcome this limitation of capacity—a problem unique to a living body as his previous spirit form in the Fourth Holy Grail War had no such limits—and fill him over his maximum, he had to drain the converted prana from those survivors of the black mud in the aftermath of the fourth war. Unlike when he was a spirit, he couldn't simply kill to gather prana either; it was more complicated than that. He needed to stockpile energy for his purposes, but that worry would've to wait until later.

"And here comes my Master now."

He could feel—through a sliver-like connection between them—that she was near. The feeling emanated from the tattoo; he hadn't noticed any function to it until now, but perhaps, it had more purpose than a simple decoration. He would need to find out more about the system that brought him here. This was only the beginning so he would stay his hand; haste would only lead to regret. Hadn't he found that out firsthand on his journey for immortality?

~o~

Louise was nervous as she followed behind Siesta. Why wouldn't she be? She was going to the school's clinic to visit her familiar—the same one that tried to strangle her. There had been some bruises, but it'd been a week since then so they had all faded away. Nonetheless, occasionally, she still felt the fingers around her throat, tightening ever so slowly. It had been hard at first to deal with the stress and nightmares, but she had gotten used to it. She was a Valliere, and it wouldn't do for her to show weakness like this.

Though, nobody mocked her about having a commoner for a familiar anymore. Even Montmorency the Flood didn't talk about it, not after what happened in the classroom. It had been a moment of weakness, but she knew that the story of it had circulated across the whole school. By now, everyone was looking at her with pity; it was a feeling that she couldn't stand. It was so much better when they were simply mocking her with the nickname Zero instead of giving her those silent pitying looks, as if she were some fallen Noble or something.

"I can't show any weakness," Louise mumbled, trying to raise her confidence. "I have to show him who's the master and who's the familiar."

She was strong. What would her mother do if she saw that she was afraid of some commoner? She had to do this. Taking a deep breath, she raised her eyes with renewed determination and strode through the hallway with a gait that belied her anxiety.

Around the corner, Kirche leaned against the wall, watching as Louise passed by.

"So Louse the Zero is going to see her familiar, huh." She had heard the small mumbles of her classmate, and despite herself, she had to admit that she was worried. The Zerbst family and the Valliere family had always been at odds, especially since their lands were bordering each other and their allegiance were to two separate countries. There had been a lot of bloodshed and controversies between the families, breeding hatred and rivalry. Of course, she was superior here, but Louise had never faltered, even when everyone disliked her for being such a failure.

Until that girl started crying in the classroom. That was certainly an eye-opener to see someone that proud become a mess. Kirche had even laid off on the teasing for awhile because of it.

This wasn't any of her business. Zero was back to normal so the little girl could deal with any trouble that happens. Nothing to worry about at all—

Ah, who was she kidding? That was a lie.

She couldn't let something like this go; she couldn't stand the fact that Louise was acting so weak and helpless from something other than the Zerbst's superiority over the Valliere.

Kirche shrugged her shoulders with a sigh.

"I guess I better check up on her. Things always go bad around Zero. Isn't that right, Flame?"

Sitting on the floor besides her was a red salamander that snorted a small burst of flames in response.

~o~

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Louise enter the room, though cautiously. The girl kept a distance, obviously remembering his attempt to strangle her. He had to admit, it had been disgusting to use his bare hands on a weakling. Had he been in the right state of mind, he would have simply sent one of his swords to end her life.

Louise boldly—and naively—strode up to him with an air of confidence and arrogance, though that did little to hide the fear she hid behind her facade. She'd told the maid to leave so that she could do this in private, but now that she was in this situation, she almost wished she had asked the maid to stay. However, it was now or never. She had to show him who's the boss around here.

"You should be thankful that I'm so merciful," Louise said haughtily, trying to fill her voice with authority. "If it weren't for me, you would have been left to die or locked away in prison for what you did."

"A trifling issue. I'd simply lost control." Gilgamesh glared at the girl. " There's a more pressing problem at hand. Why have you stifled my energy supply, magus?"

He had no patience for weaklings and traitors, but he had even less for those that disrespectfully restrict his power. If this girl purposely kept him weak, her death would be guaranteed.

"What are you talking about?" Louise quickly regained her mannerism. She'd been stunned by his strange statement, but he must have said that to throw her off. She was the master here, and it wouldn't do to show weakness to a familiar, even if he was human. "Know your place, familiar."

"Do you expect that I, Gilgamesh, would allow a mere mongrel like you to leash me like a dog?" Gilgamesh walked closer. What need did he have of a Master anyways? The life threatening situation before necessitated it, but not any longer. He had a body of blood and flesh, containing its own set of magic circuits to produce prana. It would take much longer to stockpile enough energy for his purposes, but what use is the magus if she could not expedite that process? "Why should I submit to you?"

Despite herself, Louise took a step back but not before raising her wand threateningly.

"You stupid familiar! What do you think you're doing?"

With a casual backhand, Gilgamesh slapped the wand out of her hand.

"Ah!" Suddenly without any defenses, Louise was at a loss to what to do and backed up fearfully, her eyes darting between the fallen wand and her approaching familiar. It was only when she was pressed with her back against the wall that she summoned up courage. She was about to kick in between his legs, but as if anticipating that, the blond man shifted his leg forward to block it. Glaring at Gilgamesh, she said, "Are you trying to do something to a noble? If you lay a hand on me, you'll be executed."

"Is that the extent of your bravados? An insipid threat?" Gilgamesh scoffed, pressing his hands against the wall to either side of her to prevent escape. "I'd expected more out of one that was able to summon me. You disappoint me, whelp."

"Don't call me that, you commoner!" Louise screeched, her fear erased by her anger. She slapped her familiar's cheek, though the man didn't flinch at the hit.

Gilgamesh's eyes narrowed. His patience was running thin. However, it was still too early to slay this worm; he needed to gather more information. He would allow her some leeway simply for the fact that she summoned him into this new world, but that wouldn't stay his hand for long. He needed to quickly dominate her mind and extract the information by force.

"You should know that her name is Zero."

Those words didn't come from either of the two, causing them both to turn their heads towards the sound of the voice. Standing in the open doorway, leaning against the frame was Kirche, her red hair flowing down along her shoulders. Her arms were crossed under her chest, seeming to emphasize her large breasts.

"Louise the Zero. She can't even cast a single spell right."

"Shut up, Kirche!" Louise slipped under Gilgamesh's outstretched arm and marched up to the red-headed girl, having seemed to have forgotten completely about her familiar. "What are you doing here?"

"I was bored," Kirche said calmly, holding up a curled hand to examine her fingernails. Inwardly, she congratulated herself on defusing the situation, not that Louise would ever know.

"Well, nobody wants you here!"

"Seems so. It looked like you and your familiar were having a romantic moment."

"Who was?"

While the two argued back and forth, Gilgamesh stared down at the tattoo on his hand. A magus that can't cast a spell correctly? Things were starting to make sense. Had he been summoned purely from the luck of a moron?

Laughter erupted from Gilgamesh, causing the girls in the room to stop their argument and stare at him. Like the meaningless nonsense of a jester, this joke dawned on him. Only the truly great have summoned him, yet there was an infinitely small chance that a true fool could call him forth; to think that this simplistic girl was of the latter was simply hilarious.

"What are you laughing about, commoner?"

Despite the insult, Gilgamesh smiled at her, as if he were smiling at the antics of a jester. And truly, wasn't this analogy the same as reality? Only one conclusion came to his mind.

Her very existence, to have luck that defied the realm of gods in order to summon him, was truly miraculous. Even if it was an accident, the odds were on a scale of billions—no, trillions. For her to succeed despite that was truly something praise-worthy. Despite her plain exterior, perhaps she held within her something exceedingly rare. There was simply no other explanation as to how such a weak individual managed to summon the King of Heroes—and from a completely different world at that.

"Be honored, mongrel. I've decided to let you live."

Kirche laughed. "Even your familiar thinks that he's better than you, Zero."

"You…you…" Louise gritted her teeth. "You stupid familiar! You're the one who should be grateful to be alive!"

"Hoh?" Gilgamesh smirked mockingly. "And why is that?"

"I'm Louise Francoise Le Blanc de La Valliere of the Valliere family. You assaulted a Noble! If I didn't tell them to save you, you would be dead right now."

"Is that all?" Gilgamesh scoffed. "Know now that you summoned the King of Heroes, Gilgamesh, the greatest of all Servants. All else are pitiful trifles beneath me."

Both Louise and Kirche's jaws dropped at the statement, and a single thought ran through both of their minds. He's insane. King of Heroes? To say that one was the king of a country was ridiculous, but the king of all of the heroes in the world? That was just a new level of crazy.

Not only that, but wasn't it contradictory to introduce oneself as a king and a servant?

"Hoh?" Gilgamesh crossed his arms over his chest and grinned confidently. "Are you awed by my majesty?"

"I'm certainly awed by something," Kirche mumbled. She was still gaping at the sheer ridiculousness of the situation. "That's one interesting familiar you've there."

Louise didn't bother to respond.

"Sorry, Zero, you're on your own." She patted Louise on the shoulder. Without waiting for a reply, she walked out of the room.

Louise was about to stop her from leaving, but she bit back the words. Why would she ever need help from the Zerbst family? She could take care of this herself. Turning back to her familiar, she was faced with Gilgamesh's silent stare, as if he was staring into her soul.

That actually wasn't too off from the truth. He was trying to see what exactly made her so special, though nothing was coming to mind.

Anxiety started to build up in her as she wondered how to break the silence that had fallen between them. As if to stall for time, she walked over and picked up her wand. However, the oppression of the gaze didn't leave her. Just as she was about to try to break the ice, there was a loud sound.

Gilgamesh's stomach growled.

Outside the window, a red salamander raised its head to peek in. Seeing that everything was alright, it ducked its head once more and disappeared from sight.

~o~

Gilgamesh stared at the bowl of rice gruel that Louise was holding. They were in the cafeteria, and there were plenty of students milling about, eating their luxurious food at the three long tables that could seat at least a hundred each. As it was in the afternoon, there were not as many people as there would be if it were lunch or dinner. A few people were looking at them, especially considering Gilgamesh's strange clothing, but most were minding their own business.

"Well, aren't you going to take it? I thought you were hungry." Louise held out the bowl. "We'll head outside since you can't eat in here."

"Do you understand what you're saying?" Gilgamesh's eyes narrowed. He'd come here for food, not for slop. "This is food unfit for a sow."

"Well, it's the only food you'll get." Louise sighed exasperatedly. Why did she have to deal with a crazy familiar who thinks he's royalty? Why couldn't she simply get a griffon or a dragon? She would even settle for a hawk. "Only Nobles can eat in the Alvis Dining Hall so you've to go back."

Nobles? Gilgamesh glanced around the cafeteria for a moment, but he saw no Nobles. Only fools. Certainly no one above the King of Heroes.

"If I must eat lower than plebeians." Gilgamesh placed his foot on the edge of a table. "Then you mongrels must eat off the floor!"

With a shove of his foot and in spite of the table's massive length, he flipped the entire table over, shattered the bowls and plates as well as scattering their contents across the floor. The students that had been sitting at the table had quickly moved out of the way, and they were now standing there, glaring daggers at the two.

"What do you think you're doing, you stupid familiar?" Louise was enraged, but seeing the number of faces that were looking angrily at her, she quickly started giving out apologies. He was about to slap the bowl of rice gruel out of her hands when his own hand froze up.

Stop.

Gilgamesh stared down at the tattoo on his hand. It was glowing and somehow seizing up his hand. Was it reacting to his intent to do harm unto her? The feeling was escalating to his wrist and forearm, and he had no doubt that it would soon spread throughout his entire body.

Foolish.

He gripped his fingers into a fist, breaking the feeble control the tattoo had over him. They could paint his body black with these runes, but he would still not succumb even then. However, the audacity of branding him with a geis; that insult was something he couldn't ignore.

"You branded my body with a slave's geis? You worm!" He held out his hand, palm upward, and in that hand appeared a key-shaped sword.

"What are you talking about?" Louise back away. She was perplexed by his sudden anger, but the appearance of the sword out of nowhere confused her even more. "How?"

"For the crime of defacing the king's body, there is only death." With the key in hand, Gilgamesh unlocked the Gates of Babylon, letting the key-shaped blade vanish in the act. One weapon would be enough. The air shimmered in front of him as a diamond shaped weapon came into existence. Golden in color, four beast nails surrounded the diamond, each originating at the connection point of the handle. Its appearance alone spoke of age and majesty as if it were a king's crown.

Vajra, once owned by Hindu gods after Gilgamesh's death, was a weapon that did a fixed amount of damage no matter how much prana was infused into it. That suited him well now. Though it was only a B-ranked Noble Phantasm, it would be more than enough to end the life of a single worm.

By this time, the other students had scrambled out of the way, and even Louise had backed up until there was a considerable distance between the two.

"W-what do you plan to do with that? Y-you stupid familiar!" Despite her words, Louise was desperately trying to hold back her fear. She tried to move, but her feet were frozen in place. The dangerousness of the weapon and the killing intent that rolled off Gilgamesh was immense; even from this distance, it felt like he had his hands across her throat, tightening ever so slowly.

"How could a weak fool like you've ever summoned me? Begone from my sight, vermin."

~o~

"Professor Colbert! Professor!"

Professor Colbert placed a bookmark between the pages with practiced fingers before he shut the book. He had been walking through the hallway from the library to the lavatory, but he was simply at too good of a passage to put the book down. If what he read was true, then things would be more interesting around here. However, no one could say that he wasn't a good teacher. Looking up from the book, he frowned sternly at the female student running through the hallway towards him.

"Ms. Zerbst, please refrain from running in the hallway." He adjusted his glasses and tried to keep the blush off his cheeks as he watched the red-headed girl's chest bounce. It was really quite distracting.

"There's no time for that!" Kirche stopped in front of the professor. "There's trouble in the cafeteria."

"What kind of trouble?"

"It's Zero's familiar. You have to hurry!"

At any other time, Colbert would have reprimanded Kirche for referring to another student like that, but he understood the severity of the situation. Dropping the book, he ran at full speed towards the cafeteria with Kirche following at a much slower pace.

From around the corner, Ms. Longueville stepped out of the shadows. She'd overheard the conversation, but she wasn't interested in seeing some dispute between a student and her familiar. She walked over to the fallen book and picked it up. Opening the book to the bookmarked page, she quickly skimmed its contents.

"Tips for asking a woman out?"

How disappointing.

Ms. Longueville carelessly threw the book over her shoulder as she walked away.

~o~

"Wait!"

However, Gilgamesh was in no mood to listen to any more of his Master's words. With a wave of his hand, Vajra rocketed forth from its portal, its diamond tip piecing through the air at high speed towards the girl like a thrown spear.

Even Louise could tell that death was inevitable. She squeezed her eyes shut and awaited her fate.

"Fire shield!"

The sound of a diamond's edge hitting a crystal wall echoed through the room. Louise tentatively opened her eyes.

"Professor Colbert?"

Standing protectively in front of her, Colbert held out his wand, grunting with the strain of his efforts. An oblique red wall was in front of him, the square edges of the shield lit by fire. The diamond pounder had pierced its tip through the center of the fire shield, sending periodic shockwaves through the red wall as it dug deeper and deeper.

However, it wasn't called the fire shield for nothing. From the point of contact, flames spread over the golden diamond, lighting Vajra on fire.

"Fools." Gilgamesh laughed at the sight. "Vajra is called the Indestructible Diamond Pounder, because it cannot be harmed that easily. Writhe around like worms and die."

Vajra was lit into a flaming torch, but in spite of this, it continued to drill ever so slowly through the shield.

"Ms. Valliere." Colbert gritted his teeth as he poured more energy into the spell, strengthening the shield beyond its limits. He knew that the moment that he slacked in even the slightest was the same moment that the diamond weapon would run him through. "Get out of here!"

Louise was shivering as she stared, frozen at the sight. Only one thought ran through her mind. She was going to die. It would be an utterly meaningless death, having gained nothing and achieved nothing. Why did this have to happen to her?

"Hoooh? Aren't you the one that humiliated me when I was summoned here?" The King of Heroes stared more closely at Colbert. "I'd wanted to torment you further, but I'll settle for simply your death. Be glad of the king's mercy."

"Valliere!" Was this the end for him? Despite the sweat that rained down from his forehead, Professor Colbert was grinning. He'd done so many things that he wasn't proud of, killed so many people that didn't deserve death, but for him to save a life in the end...it brought tears to his eyes. This wasn't much, but at least, he would redeem himself a little more. This was the type of ending that he'd hoped for; it was the type of ending that he dreamed of. Feeling vigor return to his body, Colbert reinforced his falling knees and stood up straighter as he poured even more magic into his fire shield. "Louise Francoise Le Blanc de La Valliere, move!"

Louise's head snapped up at the call of her full name. For a moment, she'd thought her mother was here, standing in front of her. But she wasn't here.

"What am I doing?"

The diamond weapon was nearly halfway through the fire shield, so what was she doing, freezing up like this? Was this how a Valliere should act?

Swallowing down her anxieties and fears, Louise squashed her hesitation. If she faltered here, before this stupid familiar, what would her mother say? If she ran away, what would her sisters say? If she allowed someone else to die in her place, what would her ancestors say?

Looking back on it all, what could she say about herself?

The pitying looks; the tears that she cried, waking up from nightmares; and her teacher, trying desperately to save her—all of it ran through her thoughts. These weren't anything to be proud of. If she didn't do anything here, this wouldn't be a memory that she could stand shamelessly before. This wasn't what she wanted.

The chant of the spell flowed into her mind. She raised her wand and pointed it at the diamond weapon that refused to stop. It was now or never.

"Valliere, what are you doing?" Colbert strained to hold the shield even as he glanced at his student out of the corner of his eye. "Didn't I say to run—"

"Light shield!"

A powerful explosion erupted at the fire shield, sending Louise and Colbert flying backwards from the force of impact. Black smoke filled the room, blocking everything from sight. The spectators that had crowded the cafeteria's walls, standing out of the line of fire, were screaming and rushing about in panic.

It took a few moments before the smoke dissipated, revealing Gilgamesh standing in the same spot as he was before. Having been a good distance away from the impact, he'd not been stained by soot or char like Louise and Colbert, but he was affected nonetheless. Piercing into his abdomen was the diamond pounder.

To deflect it was a worthy accomplishment, but to send it spiraling back to him as a weapon was truly praise-worthy.

"You're starting to show your worth now." Gilgamesh grabbed the handle of Vajra with one hand and ripped it out of his abdomen carelessly, a sickening squishing sound accompanying the brutality. However, he neither flinched nor acknowledged the wound; instead, he stood tall and upright, crossing his arms over his chest as he stared arrogantly at Louise. Around him, the air shimmered. Where there were none, twelve weapons made themselves known, each possessing a glorious and majestic appearance that awed even the most ignorant of eyes. Hammers, scythe, swords, spears, and sickles were floating at ready, waiting to be unleashed in a rain of death.

"By the Great Founder Brimir…" Professor Colbert—sitting against the ruined cafeteria's wall—was in both awe and despair. It had taken all of his effort to stall even one of those weapons, but twelve more? He could only hope the Headmaster and other teachers get here quickly enough to stop this monster.

"You stupid familiar. Don't you know who your master is?"

Despite everything, Louise wasn't about to give up. Her spell had worked—not quite how she imagined, but it saved her anyways. She wasn't about to waste the life that she just regained. She stood up from the messy debris, not bothering to brush off the soot, as she faced Gilgamesh. Even in the face of the killing intent he emanated, she gritted her teeth and stood without shaking.

Gilgamesh stared speculatively at the soot-stained girl. "But are you worthy of being my Master?"

"I am." She gripped her hands into fists.

"Hoh? I was only keeping you alive before, because you are interesting." Gilgamesh smirked. "What makes you think I won't kill you in the future?"

"I won't die even then." There was no hesitation in her voice.

"If I say for you to prove your immortality, would you?" Gilgamesh waved Vajra at the assembled weapons, uncaring of the fact that it aggravated his wound.

"I won't fall here." Louise couldn't. The pride and expectation of her family and ancestors were behind here. If she were to falter now, she wouldn't be able to face them in this life or the next. There was too much to do, but even if she died now, she would be remembered.

This was her legacy.

She raised her wand towards Gilgamesh fearlessly.

"I will make you my familiar!"

"Hmph." The weapons in the air faded away as Gilgamesh closed the Gates of Babylon. He arrogantly strode over to Louise, unmindful of the blood trail he left in his wake. Stopping at a short distance away from her, he stared down at soot-covered girl and raised the tip of his blood-covered diamond pounder toward her. She met his gaze with an impudent glare, her own wand pointed towards him.

Even now, he could see the fear in her, squirreled away from sight. But that was also called courage.

He didn't dislike brave women.

"What is your wish, Master?"