As the oldest king and the father of a certain mushroom, Gilgamesh could use his clairvoyance at any time, but he despised doing so, believing it would make things uninteresting.
But in this situation, Gilgamesh had to take a look at Locke's future. If he could truly accomplish it, then it would be interesting.
Thinking this, Gilgamesh hesitated no longer. His gold-plated vertical pupils suddenly glowed with divine radiance, and the "Omniscient and Omnipotent Star" within him awakened. His eyes, capable of seeing all directions along the long river of time, were about to spread all the veins of the future before his eyes.
But this time, his vision was completely swallowed by boundless chaos. Some force, which he could not see through, had violently disrupted the veins of time and obscured the entire picture of the future.
No matter how hard he tried, he could not discern a clear line of cause and effect. In the end, all he could capture were vague fragments of the future that occasionally flashed and fragmented within the chaotic mist.
"Blood sacrifice, emperor, head sacrifice, golden throne! For the emperor!"
"Be the light."
"Take me to urge again, Mahoraga."
"This is the era of stars and night."
"Join the glorious evolution."
Fragments of a twisted, shattered, and terrifying future uncontrollably flashed before his eyes.
Cluttered information that transcended the logic of things and could not be broken down even by the Omniscient and Omnipotent Star, wrapped in a disgusting sense of filth, crashed into his mind like the black mud of a bursting embankment.
Gilgamesh seemed to have seen something even filthier than black mud and instantly cut off his connection with his clairvoyance, subconsciously closing his eye sockets, which still tingled physiologically.
The buzzing in his head rarely caused him to lose his kingly composure. He shook his head, enduring the dizziness and discomfort, and then leaned back on the leather sofa behind him with lingering hostility.
Seeing Gilgamesh in such a state, Locke couldn't help but feel a sense of anxiety, worried that his plan had gone wrong.
A few days ago, he had borrowed DC Locke's character card and used the skill of his Prismatic Trait.
[Skill: You can distort your narrative into reality]
[Double correction considering the probability of narrative distortion and the probability of reality distortion]
[Reminder: The higher the complexity of the narrative, the higher the probability of failure, and failure will deduct popularity points based on conversion]
It must be said that this skill was very twisted, but after numerous attempts, they discovered that it was also very limited. If they wanted to do whatever they wanted, they at least needed to overcome the probability of narrative distortion.
Especially when it involved important plot points, such as those related to the Holy Grail War, the probability of failure was extremely high, and the popularity point cost was also high.
However, if it was a reality distortion that seemed minor and to a certain extent consistent with future developments, and the requirements were relatively vague, the success rate was relatively high.
Therefore, after discussion, Locke and the others devised a plan together.
Ten years ago, shortly after they first awakened, Gilgamesh had come to see him and said many inexplicable things. To summarize, although he appeared human, the essence of his soul was closer to that of a god, but he was not a god, and he was curious about his future.
Moreover, soon after, the Counter Force came in person, asking if he would work part-time. After he refused, nothing happened. This also made him realize that perhaps he could do something bolder, but he saw that he couldn't use his golden finger yet, so he continued to wait.
Gilgamesh thought he was confused and didn't know how to deal with the future, but he didn't know that Locke couldn't use the system and was waiting for the day he could.
Now that he could use it, he also followed Gilgamesh's idea and "determined" his path from this moment on.
As for something like this, which was impossible to do at first glance, with Gilgamesh's proud personality, there was a high probability that he wouldn't be able to resist using his clairvoyance to look at his future.
This approach was beautiful and interesting, but to a certain extent abstract and requiring attention.
Therefore, for the next scene to continue, he needed to guide Gilgamesh's behavior and make him believe that Locke could truly succeed.
After countless trials and errors, Locke and the others finally completed the distortion of the world—that is, the "deception."
They had deceived the entire world, and what Gilgamesh saw was never a predetermined future, but a phantom of a "possible" existence that they had carefully woven for Gilgamesh.
"You... this is so interesting. I really didn't expect you to be able to give me such a big surprise."
The moment these words reached his ears, Locke's tense nerves suddenly relaxed, and the boulder hanging on the edge of the cliff in his heart finally landed securely.
Although his face still maintained its calm and composure at this moment, only he knew how happy he was, for the benefits this big bet would bring would be immeasurable.
However, he didn't notice that in Gilgamesh's gold-plated eyes, the discomfort caused by looking directly into the chaotic future had long since disappeared and was instead burning with an almost mad fervor and fanaticism.
He seemed to have discovered the only rare treasure in the world. His gaze was fixed on Locke, and the oppressive aura belonging to the oldest king instantly enveloped the entire private room, and even the air seemed a little stagnant.
Before Locke could open his mouth to respond, a dazzling golden radiance suddenly exploded. The ceiling above his head burst open in response, and the cold wind of Fuyuki in the middle of the night wrapped around the neon light and shadow.
The legendary boat of radiance, Vimalkirti, broke through the clouds and hovered in the air under a spiritual pressure that shook heaven and earth. Its golden hull reflected half the night sky.
He raised his hand to lift Locke's collar, leaped, and landed securely on the boat. Vimalkirti instantly exploded into great speed, dragging a golden trail and galloping through the night into the distance.
"Let's go! Let's see how many surprises you can come up with!!"
---
In the deepest part of the basement of the church where Kirei Kotomine was located, there was only a flickering kerosene lamp, casting swaying light and shadow into the damp air, illuminating the complete Holy Grail War Summoning Matrix painted with mithril and blood on the floor.
Locke stood in the center of the matrix. The ceremonial dagger held by his fingertips carefully cut his palm, and crimson blood instantly gushed out, splashing onto the cold runes drop by drop, staining them with a dazzling red.
Not far behind him, Gilgamesh and Kirei Kotomine stood quietly, their gazes simultaneously falling on him, watching as he used his own blood as the sole sacred relic to perform this nearly impossible summoning, violating the rules of the Fuyuki Holy Grail War system.
"Can such a thing really be done?"
Kirei Kotomine's voice echoed in the empty stone chamber, low and hoarse.
He had followed Gilgamesh's orders and, with the special authority of the church's overseer, used the contract ceremony provided by Gilgamesh to transfer all the remaining command spells of the Fourth Holy Grail War to Locke. Then Gilgamesh himself took the field and, at a small cost, forcibly opened a connection to the Greater Holy Grail and granted him the official qualification of a Master.
But these shocking operations in the eyes of ordinary people were never what truly concerned the fake priest.
What truly interested him was what Gilgamesh insisted on—allowing Locke to use himself as a sacred relic to summon a heroic spirit from the future, one that should not have been captured by the Fuyuki Holy Grail War system.
"Under normal circumstances, of course not."
Gilgamesh leaned against the cold stone wall, his fingertips casually twirling a gold wine glass. His gold-plated vertical pupils reflected the blood on the summoning matrix, with a hint of contemplation.
"The incomplete Fuyuki Holy Grail War system can only read information registered in Valhalla up to the year 2004 on this timeline. Summoning future heroic spirits is a foolish dream."
"But there is only one situation that is not bound by this: heroic spirits not belonging to this timeline respond to the summoning with their own unconventional bodies, transcending the barriers of time."
His gaze fell again on Locke's back within the matrix, and the light in his eyes grew brighter. For him, whether or not Locke could be summoned would determine his next course of action.
If he succeeded, it would mean that he had truly changed the world and the tragic end of the original Earth and humanity. But it also couldn't be said whether it was for better or worse. Therefore, once he understood, he would either kill him or change the world according to his own plan.
If he couldn't, it would mean that either the future he saw was not as important as he had imagined, or that only this world could do all this, which would be a very big problem.
Because of this, it would mean that the modern world had become an anomaly, similar to a singularity or an irregularity, and it would also be an "evil" that he, as the king, had to deal with.
In other words, no matter what happened, his fate for Locke was already predetermined. He would surely die when he let Gilgamesh see that future.
However, Gilgamesh didn't know that for Locke, death was not terrifying; what was terrifying was that his popularity points would be directly wiped out. In that case, Locke would have to explain physics to Gilgamesh.
Mixing his blood with the magic, Locke closed his eyes and used the False Sleep technique to return to the dream world. He exchanged character cards with Detective Locke and activated the reality distortion skill again.
But he didn't expect to succeed after just one use.
— Declare.
Your cause and effect have the same origin as mine, and your existence is connected to me.
I rely on your support, and your sword protects my wishes.
In response to the Holy Grail's summoning, following this bond of homogeneity and shared will, we answer here.
I swear.
I take my soul as the contract and my existence as the witness.
We will walk toward the good and evil of the road ahead and together uphold the vow of this heart.
You are a heroic spirit entangled in the thread of cause and effect, emanating from the Throne of Heroes outside the timeline, a spirit of the future of the same origin as me!"
As the summoning ritual continued to progress, Locke's prayer wrapped around his long-held dreams and followed the magical path of the Greater Grail to Valhalla beyond the timeline.
The ideal of burning everything and rewriting the desperate situation resonated strongly with countless heroic spirits. But unfortunately, when they saw Locke's request, they finally suppressed the idea of responding and returned to silence.
Seeing that the magic circle had not moved for a long time, Amakusa Shirou Tokisada was moved by this obsession with salvation, which had the same origin as his own, and was about to respond to the call. But then he was caught off guard and kicked hard from behind, and he was directly sent flying.
"You were calling yourself, so you came? Get out of here!"
The magical waves in the center of the magic circle suddenly subsided, and the smoke and dust were swept away by the wind.
A giant figure in sinister, heavy armor stood in the center of the magic circle like a mountain. His crimson eyes looked at Locke before the matrix through his visor, and he understood his opponent at a glance.
"Berserker, in response to the summoning. Are you the Great Omnissiah?"
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