Tohsaka Tokiomi began frantically searching his memory, yet he could not find a single clue about ever becoming Saber's master.
He was still in college before he transmigrated, so how on earth could he be Saber's master?
He stared at Saber before him, his heart full of confusion. At that moment, Saber spoke up: "Do you truly not remember? You were once the one who taught me swordsmanship and guided me onto the path of kingship."
Tokiomi shook his head, looking completely bewildered.
"Then I have no other choice..." Saber condensed a spherical object using mana and handed it to Tokiomi.
"My master said that one day I would meet him again. He entrusted me to give this to whatever master I encountered..."
Tokiomi looked at the spherical object, turning it over and over, but could not make heads or tails of it.
Just as he was puzzling over it, a massive surge of mana suddenly erupted around Tokiomi, giving everyone nearby a huge fright.
"This can't be..." Tokiomi had just wanted to throw the orb away when, with a sudden *pop*, he vanished right on the spot.
"?!?"
Gilgamesh and Rider both stared at Saber with question marks all over their faces, while Saber herself was utterly astonished.
Why did absolutely nothing happen when I was holding it, but the moment Caster held it, he straight-up vanished into thin air?
Meanwhile, inside Einzbern Castle.
Ryunosuke was teasing Kiritsugu, saying, "Kiritsugu-san, how is it that you kill people? Earlier, I was..."
Kiritsugu listened to Ryunosuke's chatter with a look of utter despair, thinking to himself why he hadn't aimed a bit more carefully and blown the guy's head off right then and there.
If he weren't an ally, he really would have wanted to shoot him dead on the spot!
When Kiritsugu finally finished his thought and turned his head, his mind went completely blank.
Wait, buddy, where the hell did you go?!
Looking at Ryunosuke, who had vanished without a single trace left behind, he was deeply shocked. Could the man possibly be a top-tier mage who could even use teleportation?
"Ouch!" Ryunosuke fell out of the sky, crashing heavily onto the ground.
"Where on earth has this sent me?"
Ryunosuke was filled with confusion. What on earth had just happened?
Wasn't he just chatting with Kiritsugu-san about murder techniques a moment ago? How had he ended up in this barren, godforsaken ghost town in the blink of an eye?
All around him was a desolate wasteland with yellow sand swirling through the air.
Ryunosuke stood up and patted the dust off his clothes, his eyes filled with bewilderment.
Suddenly, he spotted a figure in the distance. As he looked closer, wasn't that his dear Servant, Tokiomi?
"Hey, bro, why are you..."
Right then, he noticed something else. Why were there suddenly two identical Tokiomis?
What kind of situation was this?
On the other side, Tokiomi was equally puzzled. The person standing before him could not simply be described as looking like him—there was literally not a single difference between them.
"Buddy, I know I'm handsome, but please don't infringe on my portrait rights, okay?"
"Pfft—" The man facing Tokiomi couldn't hold it in and spat out a mouthful of blood right on the spot.
"You idiot, I *am* you!"
With a single slap, the man sent Tokiomi flying hundreds of meters away, instantly adding a shooting star to the sky...
"Nooooo! Bro, how did you disappear again?!"
Looking at Tokiomi, who had just vanished for the third time, Ryunosuke felt a deep sense of regret.
Suddenly, Tokiomi came hurtling straight down from the sky, and his trajectory was heading directly right above Ryunosuke.
"Don't come over hereeee!!" Ryunosuke turned and bolted in terror, never expecting that Tokiomi seemed to have a built-in GPS tracker, locking onto him and following him relentlessly.
With a deafening *crash*... Tokiomi stood up and looked apologetically at Ryunosuke, who had passed out for the third time, expressing a deep sense of guilt.
Ryunosuke, I will definitely avenge you!
Tokiomi charged toward the imposter who claimed to be him, rolling up his sleeves.
"Don't think that just because you're as handsome as me I won't dare hit you. When I get vicious, I'm even scared of myself!"
The "imposter" wore a dark expression, muttering under his breath, "Why was my past self such an absolute moron..."
Hearing those words made Tokiomi even angrier...
How dare you still call me a moron! If I don't wipe you out today, I'll change my name to Tohsaka Tokiomi!
Tokiomi lunged forward with a fierce punch aimed at the imposter, only to have him easily dodge out of the way.
"Ho ho, with that pathetic little bit of skill you still dare to try and hit me? Why don't you look in a mirror and see how much you're worth?"
"I seriously suspect you're taking a dig at me..."
Many years later...
"Bro, I'm begging you, stop dodging! Just let me land a single punch!"
"Are you brain-dead? Who in their right mind would just let someone hit them?"
Tokiomi threw countless punches, yet the opponent didn't take a single shred of damage.
This drove Tokiomi to the brink of a breakdown. How is anyone supposed to play this game?
The imposter gently patted Tokiomi's shoulder.
"Do you still not believe that I am your future self?"
Lying flat on the ground with a look of utter defeat, Tokiomi replied:
"Why on earth should I believe you... Unless you can tell me something memorable that I've done."
The imposter fell silent for a moment before speaking up:
"Entering the women's restroom in college?"
"?!?"
"Playing FGO in class and getting caught by the teacher?"
"?!?!?!"
"Doing something to Jeanne..."
"Stop! You know way too many things. I admit you're my future self, please don't say another word."
Tokiomi felt like crying without tears. Other people's future selves just made things difficult for their fathers, but you're out here sabotaging yourself!!
Outside.
Seeing that Tokiomi still hadn't arrived after such a long time, Saber and the others had no choice but to sit back down in their chairs and continue discussing the king's path.
At that moment, murderous intent suddenly erupted from all directions.
Figures wearing skull masks appeared one after another, their bodies tightly wrapped in black robes. A horde of black-clad individuals in peculiar attire kept converging, completely surrounding the four people in the courtyard.
"Assassin..."
Waver was utterly shocked. He never imagined that the number of Assassins would be so staggering.
Although every single one of them wore a mask and a black robe, their physical statures varied wildly.
Some possessed the towering builds of giants, others were frail and slender, some were even as short as children, and there were also those with graceful, feminine figures.
"Is this the flawless plan you had in mind, Gilgamesh?"
Rider asked with evident dissatisfaction. Gilgamesh merely shrugged with an innocent expression and replied:
"Who knows? This king has no intention of bothering with what those mongrels are thinking inside their heads."
Despite saying that, Gilgamesh had already completely lost faith in Tohsaka Tokiomi in his heart.
To mobilize Assassins on such a massive scale—this was likely not a decision made by Kirei Kotomine alone, but rather carried out under the instructions of his master, Tohsaka Tokiomi.
Yet, even though Tokiomi's move was intended to force out Rider's Noble Phantasm, he could never have anticipated that it would also indirectly shatter Gilgamesh's dignity as a king.
After all, what king would ever be willing to have a meeting interrupted halfway by a swarm of black-spandex-clad assassins suddenly bursting onto the scene?