The first Servant to break the silence was none other than Gilgamesh.
"Hmph. To think there are two others besides this King who dare call themselves kings in my presence. Such insolence is truly without limit."
"Hey now, I have no intention of picking a fight, but I am the King of Conquerors, a name quite widely known, is it not?"
"Worthless words. Under the heavens, the only true King is this one—the First Heroic King! All others are merely rabble who followed in my wake!"
"…If you speak with such conviction, why not reveal your name first? If you are indeed a King, surely you feel no hesitation in declaring your own majesty!"
Gilgamesh merely scoffed in response.
"You dare pose a question to me? A mongrel addressing this King? To be granted the glory of beholding my royal presence and yet fail to recognize me—that sin alone is worthy of death!"
"It would be best to stop there, King of Conquerors."
I cut in before Iskandar, who seemed visibly annoyed by the King of Heroes' arrogance, could speak again.
"Hmm? You are certainly the Master of that Archer. Why do you interfere? I, the King of Conquerors, am in the middle of a discourse!"
"Regardless of what you say, King Gilgamesh over there will not react the way you expect. He is, after all, a King who exists solely for the sake of his own pride."
"Oh! To think that man truly is King Gilgamesh! I did not expect to meet the supreme King of Heroes in such a manner…"
While Gilgamesh observed me with a peculiar gaze, Iskandar paused to reflect before opening his mouth once more.
"Listen, King of Heroes! Would you not consider joining forces with me? The first kingdom you established combined with the supreme army I have built! If we were to unite, the feat of world conquest would be well within our reach once again!"
"Hoh, you speak with quite the impudent tongue, King of Conquerors… It is not a bad offer, but I refuse your friendship. This body already has a friend—a single, most precious existence is more than enough. And you… you are quite something. To recognize who I am so easily… Or is it simply to be expected?"
…As expected, he was aware of me.
I had roughly guessed as much. I assumed he would already know of my existence regardless.
But at the very least, this confirmed the identities of all the Servants.
The last Berserker was a bit confusing, but she was definitely a Servant I knew.
Salome, the daughter of Herod—the temptress who orchestrated the death of the Apostle John through treacherous wiles and carried his head upon a silver platter.
Her Noble Phantasm is likely… the crystal skull she utilizes, if I recall correctly.
"…The atmosphere has turned quite cold."
"Mm, indeed. Very well… Then I shall ask you all once more! Even you, the Berserker over there. Is there anyone who will join my military ranks and share the joy of world conquest by riding alongside me? If so, I shall welcome them as a friend and share the delight of galloping across the vast plains together!"
As expected, no one responded—not even Salome—and the King of Conquerors retreated with a dejected air, driving his chariot away.
Not long after, Gilgamesh made his move as well.
In the original history, Tokiomi Tohsaka would have made a misjudgment and forced Gilgamesh to withdraw, but here, the King of Heroes departed of his own accord.
The Golden King surveyed everyone once before his eyes lingered briefly on me and Artoria Pendragon; I quickly averted my gaze.
'…Ugh, that Clairvoyance of his feels like being dissected alive.'
Lancer likely received a mental transmission from Kayneth, as he turned and leaped away. Assassin also deemed further assassination attempts impossible in this situation and vanished. Though I couldn't see them directly, the faint presence that had been lingering finally dissipated.
Once Salome, who had been surveying the surroundings with a coquettish gaze, also retreated, Irisviel and King Arthur finally turned their heads to leave.
* * * * *
Tristan and I—as the Master, Pain—returned to the workshop we had prepared in advance. Setting down his bow, Tristan sat quietly and waited for me to speak.
"First… the Servants are as expected. With one exception."
"You mean that woman? What is her identity?"
"I'm not entirely certain, but it's likely Salome, daughter of the Tetrarch Herod. The woman who claimed the head of the Apostle John."
"…Then her actual combat capability shouldn't be much. What about the others?"
"They are all according to plan. Gilgamesh was summoned as Caster… the rest are identical. Simply put, it's as if Tristan's class and Gilgamesh's class were swapped."
If he is the 'Wise King' I know, he must have already noticed the malignancy festering in Fuyuki by now.
Furthermore, since the Grail won't go berserk until all Heroic Spirits have entered it, there's no need for me to step in from the very beginning…
"I think it's best to strike one of two locations first."
"Hmm? Wasn't our plan to save Kayneth El-Melloi and put him in our debt?"
"…Originally, yes. But an exception has already occurred. An unidentified Berserker has appeared, and there's no trace of her Master anywhere."
"Master, could it be that the man you were wary of, Zouken Matou, summoned that Servant?"
"No, that shouldn't be it. Sister Aoko was monitoring Zouken Matou the entire time she was in her workshop. For anyone—even Zouken—to perform a Heroic Spirit summoning right under the gaze of the Fifth Magician is… impossible."
The 'gaze' of a Magician is akin to a form of Clairvoyance.
While it may not match the level of the Jewel Old Man, who observes parallel worlds, or the 'Clairvoyance Trio' who can see the past, future, and present, it is at least enough to monitor what a single person is doing.
"It's definitely not Zouken Matou. I can guarantee that much."
"Besides, eliminating the Berserker carries its own risks… The Holy Grail currently has many issues. If Heroic Spirits continue to flow into the Grail and the resource load builds up, it will eventually explode."
"…So, you intend to make a preemptive strike?"
"Yes. If we can force a surrender from a Master, it will give us the justification we need to pressure the Overseer."
Currently, the Overseer is Risei Kotomine, but he forms a faction with Kirei Kotomine and Tokiomi Tohsaka.
In other words, even if I were to borrow the prestige of the Fifth Magician to request the suspension of the Holy Grail War, the word of a single Master wouldn't hold much weight. They have two on their side, and furthermore, the Grail is one of the paths to the Root. If I were to use Aoko-neesan's name to forcibly stop it, I might end up facing a backlash from the Department of Law or the Clock Tower.
After all, Rin Tohsaka was once hauled before the Clock Tower for destroying the Grail.
"Tristan, based on your estimation, what is Lancer's level of strength?"
"He is a significantly powerful Heroic Spirit. I do not know the extent of the Master named Kayneth El-Melloi's power, but assuming there is no outside assistance between Masters, the win rate between him and me would be… roughly fifty-fifty."
"Fifty-fifty, huh…"
Those are rather ambiguous odds.
Of course, we have Aoko-neesan on our side, and if all else fails, I could just blow up the hotel the way the Magus Killer did… but I don't particularly want to go that far. Moreover, while I'm fighting Kayneth, there's no telling if Kiritsugu might stab me in the back.
"Alright."
"Oh? Have you decided how to proceed?"
"First, we take care of the Einzberns. That would be more favorable for you as well, wouldn't it? Archer?"
"…Naturally."
The Magus Killer's team, who will likely be the most troublesome opponents in this war.
The first target has been set.