Chapter 82: Killer Queen - The Fourth Bomb

"Master!"
Even after receiving the order, Saber held his breath. From his vantage point, it seemed Roland had not even tried to resist. He simply stood there, as if calmly accepting death.
Even at a distance, Saber could sense that the shot fired by Archer was a genuine Noble Phantasm, crackling with immense magical energy.
Even without considering the weapon’s inherent properties, such a projection would cause a terrifying explosion by itself—no human could possibly withstand such an attack; nothing would remain of them but scorched fragments.
Saber had never doubted that Roland was the strongest Master in this Holy Grail War. He could easily manipulate multiple teams and always win whatever he desired with effortless poise. Yet, compared to the power of Servants, human strength seemed so insignificant.
However, what appeared next before Saber was a sight he could not comprehend at all.
Roland stood quietly where he was, utterly unharmed.
The crimson magical spear had vanished mid-flight, as if erased by some invisible hand.
"Impossible!"
For the first time, Gilgamesh’s expression changed—not because his attack had failed, but because he could not understand what had just happened.
His wisdom allowed him to see through all things; no matter the situation, he could always grasp the truth in an instant.
But not now. This was not magic or magecraft, but something far more inscrutable.
Whether it was blocking, deflecting, or even fighting back by defiling his own Noble Phantasm, as that mad dog had done before—it would make Gilgamesh furious and lose his composure, but those were inevitabilities, possibilities that existed between the cycles of the world.
But this time, even the possibility seemed to have been erased, as if it had never happened at all.
"I told you, didn’t I? The law of victory has already been set," Roland said, a playful smile curling his lips as he looked at the speechless Gilgamesh before him.
"Still, since you’ve worked so hard to let me test my new ability, wouldn’t it be cruel of me not to show some mercy? Otherwise, it would look like I’m bullying a child."
He smiled, tapped his chin with a forefinger, feigning a troubled look, then grinned widely.
"How about this," he said, his voice dropping lower, rich with malice and barely concealed delight.
"If you flee like a beaten cur, I’ll let you go."

"Bastard! What nonsense are you spouting!"
The blatant mockery drove Gilgamesh into a rage. With a sweep of his hand, golden ripples spread behind him in the void, sweeping across the deep black sky in a dazzling display.
One after another, polished, radiant Noble Phantasms emerged, their rare brilliance gleaming as they took aim at Roland, but none were fired immediately.
For at that moment, their owner’s attention had shifted to something else.
Gilgamesh turned his head in a daze. He had never felt his expression so rigid, for the scene before him was simply too bizarre.
In the nearest golden ripple beside him, a crimson magical spear quietly emerged, as if it had never been fired at all.
Of the countless treasures stored within the Gate of Babylon, Gilgamesh did not recall each one, usually allowing the treasury to select its own treasures as he demanded. But the spear he had just chosen for a killing blow—he could not possibly have forgotten it so soon.
With disbelief, he examined the pristine spear at his side, and upon confirming its authenticity, his gaze toward Roland grew grave.
"Who are you, really?"
Such a display of lost composure from Gilgamesh greatly delighted Roland’s wicked sense of amusement. Nonchalant, he snapped his fingers.
"Before you question anyone, you should first learn respect. —Who gave you permission to look down on me, mongrel? Get down!"
At Roland’s command, Gilgamesh’s body plummeted, accompanied by ripples of white waves, until he crashed into the ground like a meteor, leaving a deep crater.
Saber stared in shock, his pupils contracting.
During Gilgamesh’s abrupt, face-first fall, Saber had not detected any trace of an attack. Yet, across Archer’s back, a wound appeared, as though he had been run clean through.
One after another, these inexplicable events left Gilgamesh unable to maintain his usual composure, plunging him into a rare fury.
"To think you would dare make me stoop to this foolish stage, to stand on the same ground as you actors. No matter what tricks you use, I will sever your future here and now!"
In an instant, the air exploded; dozens of Noble Phantasms shot forth, blinding golden beams tearing open the atmosphere, sending ripples of pale light spreading endlessly outward.
Lances, swords, heavy hammers…
Noble Phantasms of legend rained down, their metallic clangor ringing out. But Roland watched impassively, unmoved.

Just as the Noble Phantasms were about to pierce him, they vanished into thin air.
"It’s useless. No matter how many times you try, the result will always be the same."
Killer Queen floated quietly at Roland’s side as he strode step by step toward Gilgamesh.
Looking at the king, who was struggling to rise, Roland spoke calmly.
"Perhaps you haven’t realized it yet: you are trapped in the past, endlessly repeating futile cycles. Every attack you launch, every Noble Phantasm you release, truly strikes home—yet you can never reach the {future} where those results actually occur."
"Because as that outcome is realized, time reverses. How could an attack from the {past} possibly strike me, who already stands in your future?"
"The moment you bore me ill will, the result was already set. Each time you achieve a result, it merely triggers a new cycle.
—It’s not a reversal of the entire world, but a loop for individuals. No matter how powerful the opponent, no matter how desperate the means, as long as I deny it, they exist only as unfulfilled realities in the river of time."
Roland gazed coldly at the unfolding events before him, extending his hand and slowly clenching his fist.
"This is my Stand, Killer Queen: Fourth Bomb—Egoism."
This was neither requiem nor the sublimation of reaching heaven; rather, it was his soul and character awakening Killer Queen’s latent power—a growth that could alter everything. The Door to Heaven was now one step away.
A single soul was not enough; a catalyst, a ritual, was still needed for him to truly rule this world.
Even without DIO, Roland understood another key condition had already been fulfilled.
One of the requirements for reaching Heaven: my Stand, {Killer Queen}.
(End of chapter)