[Fuyuki City, Shinto, West Side of the Seaside Park]
A dense cluster of modular warehouses stretched along the coastline, forming a vast storage district. The area was equipped with full harbor facilities and also served as a barrier separating the western industrial zone from Shinto.
Every time night fell, the place sank into silence. Sparse streetlamps cast a weak glow onto the empty asphalt roads, their feeble light only making the desolation and loneliness more apparent.
In the darkness, unmanned crane arms stood in neat rows, facing the pitch-black sea. Their silent stance was like that of enormous dinosaurs suddenly turned to stone in ancient times, chilling to behold.
This barren, empty warehouse district seemed like a stage tailor-made for battles between Heroic Spirits.
At this moment, however, the district after battle was already unrecognizable. Warehouses that once stood in orderly lines were now a field of ruins, with shattered rebar and broken chunks of concrete scattered among the collapsed walls.
The asphalt road had been torn apart by immense force, revealing hideous cracks. Streetlamps leaned askew, some even ripped out entirely, leaving only dangling wires swaying in the wind. The air reeked of scorching heat.
Standing in the center of the ruins was a bold and dashing young man, his hair a vivid emerald green like jade, golden eyes flashing with sharp light. His features were extremely handsome, his sculpted face carrying a refreshing quality that inspired goodwill.
The half-god son of the mortal hero Peleus and the sea goddess Thetis from Greek mythology, Lancer Achilles.
Facing Achilles was a chilling woman. She had long deep-purple hair, strands twisting and writhing like snakes as though alive. Her beauty was tinged with something eerie, her cold eyes radiating magic that could freeze all life.
The beast goddess from Greek mythology, Berserker Gorgon.
Lancer Achilles had not the slightest desire for the so-called "Holy Grail." In his heart was only one pure wish, to cross blades with a true strong foe.
That desire drove him to be the one to open the Holy Grail War. Without hesitation, Lancer unleashed his magical energy, announcing his presence to all of Fuyuki City and sending out a challenge to every Heroic Spirit.
The first Servant to answer his provocation was Berserker Gorgon, perhaps drawn by the aura of a [Greek Hero].
The second-ranked hero of Greek mythology, Achilles, against the divine-class monster-woman Gorgon. These two top Servants fought for only three minutes, and the destruction was already like a natural disaster passing through.
And now, the two of them stopped their offensive at the same time.
Achilles looked with interest at the sudden intruder into the battlefield, the King of Conquerors, Iskandar. Gorgon slightly turned her head, her cold gaze locked warily onto the darkness before her.
Presence Concealment, Rank: A. This was the unique skill of the Old Man of the Mountain, capable of erasing all traces of existence.
However, this cursed swordsman, even when moving in perfect secrecy, would always be sensed by the "next opponent to be killed."
It was precisely because of this skill's peculiarity that Iskandar, being the Old Man's target, could sense the assassin in the shadows more clearly than the other two.
Iskandar's face was grave, his eyes sharp as he stared at the swordsman approaching him.
"Hey, Rider, what's going on?", Waver clutched tightly at Iskandar's cape, his voice full of tension and panic.
"Boy, use a Command Seal," Iskandar spoke in a deep voice.
"What?", Waver froze, then widened his eyes in shock at the suggestion. Instinctively, he looked at the Command Seals on the back of his hand, the three crimson markings glowing vividly in the night.
Command Seals were the embodiment of the pact between Master and Servant, usually engraved as three red marks on the back of the hand or elsewhere on the Master's body.
They were not only the Master's absolute authority over the Servant but also a vast source of magical energy. Each Seal could strengthen a Servant, force obedience, or summon the Servant instantly in times of peril.
But once used, they could not be restored, so Masters always used them with care.
"Use a Command Seal, let me release my Noble Phantasm!", Iskandar's thunderous voice shook the night sky.
"Yes!", Driven by Iskandar's unwavering will, Waver raised his hand, the Command Seals blazing with dazzling light.
"In the name of my Command Seal, Rider, unleash your Noble Phantasm!"
A sudden whirlwind swept across the battlefield. At this nighttime harbor, such winds were impossible, yet this one roared like the burning deserts, blasting against their ears.
Waver felt a sting on his tongue. The dust carried in the storm. He quickly spat several times.
Iskandar stood at the heart of the whirlwind, his crimson cloak snapping like fire in the gale.
This scorching wind of the extraordinary began overturning reality itself, eroding everything around. Distance and position blurred, replaced by an endless desert. The dry hot winds stirred up dust, blinding sight, transforming the battlefield into a searing wasteland.
"Im… impossible…", Waver's eyes widened, muttering in disbelief.
Meanwhile, in the distance, Kenneth and others witnessed it through magical instruments.
"This is a Reality Marble?", he murmured.
Within the storm, all the magi's familiars collapsed, unable to transmit further.
Now, within the Reality Marble created by Iskandar's Noble Phantasm, the blazing sun hung high, scorching the earth.
All the eye could see was vast desert, sandstorms stretching to the horizon. The sky was cloudless, as though even time itself stood still in this space.
Iskandar stood tall upon the boundless desert, his expression stern and majestic.
"Their bodies may return to ash, but their spirits still hear my call!", His deep, resonant voice echoed.
With the world transformed, even the relative positions of those pulled in were altered.
Assassin, the Old Man of the Mountain, was shifted far across the wilds. Lancer Achilles, Berserker Gorgon, and Waver were scattered to the side.
Iskandar now stood alone before Assassin.
A one-on-one clash between two Heroic Spirits.
No, was Rider truly alone now?
Waver stared in disbelief as phantasmal figures appeared around Iskandar. At first faint like mirages, they multiplied, gradually forming into orderly ranks. Their outlines sharpened, until they became real warriors.
"These men are my legendary heroes – my loyal followers! They're my true friends - breaking the rules of space and time to fight once more at my side," Iskandar's voice rang again.
One by one, cavalrymen materialized beside him. Though their races and arms differed, all had powerful frames and gleaming armor, dazzling in their vigor, splendid and sharp.
Waver's pupils shrank, his voice trembling, "These people… each one of them is a Servant…"
Only Masters in formal contracts possessed the vision to discern and judge a Servant's rank.
As the only one present with this ability, Waver alone could see the truth of his Servant Iskandar's ultimate trump card, the astonishing Noble Phantasm.
"They are my treasure within treasures; They're my right to rule!"
"They make up Iskandar's mightiest Noble Phantasm – IONIAN HETAIROI!"
[Ionioi Hetairoi], an Anti-Army Noble Phantasm of EX rank, summoned independent heroic existences, manifesting legendary Heroic Spirits into reality.
Among them were war gods, lords who shook the four corners of the earth, and founders of dynasties.
All were proud not only of their own renown but of the shared origin of once riding the battlefields alongside Alexander the Great.
They were heroes who entrusted everything to their king's dream, once roaming the world at their sovereign's side.
The King of Conquerors made even their undying loyalty after death into reality, forging it into a fearsome Noble Phantasm.
A riderless steed approached Iskandar. Massive, muscle-bound, emanating raw power and dignity.
Though not human, it was no less magnificent than the Heroic Spirits.
"It's been a while, partner," Rider grinned innocently, hugging the great horse's neck like an old friend reunited.
This was the famed steed later revered and deified, Bucephalus.
In the King of Conquerors' ranks, even his horse had become a Heroic Spirit, part of the legend.
Bucephalus lowered its head, gently nuzzling Iskandar's face in reply.
Waver stared without blinking, his chest surging with indescribable emotion and newfound confidence. Only one thought filled his mind: We've won.
The Holy Grail War was a clash of Servants, and its heart was the confrontation of Noble Phantasms. To Waver, Iskandar's [Ionioi Hetairoi] was undoubtedly the strongest weapon of all.
'Rider is the strongest!', Waver cried in his heart.
"This fight, thirty thousand against one, we have the advantage!"
The corners of his mouth lifted. Fear and unease were gone. Never before had he been so certain: he and Iskandar would claim victory in the Holy Grail War.
Iskandar, however, wore a surprisingly grave expression. He spoke slowly, "Now then, let's begin, Assassin."
———
"It's over."
"Rider will withdraw."
"To end in such a way is not unworthy of a king."
Molten gold, emerald, crimson, three pairs of eyes turned away.
The second half of the battle was no longer worth watching.
The owner of the last pair, Archer Gilgamesh, sat loftily within the Tohsaka estate, overseeing it all.
At the sight of that grand army, even he, possessor of an EX-level Noble Phantasm, set aside his usual cold smirk.
"As a king, Iskandar at least has some merit," For once, Gilgamesh offered a shred of praise.
Gilgamesh, fifth king of Uruk in ancient Mesopotamia's Sumerian Early Dynastic period, protagonist of humanity's oldest epic, the Epic of Gilgamesh, the world's oldest Hero-King.
Two-thirds god, one-third man, a proud and arrogant tyrant who believed none could equal him.
This Holy Grail War, he was summoned by Tohsaka Tokiomi with the fossil of the first shed skin of the world's first snake, his Class being Archer.
Since Tokiomi treated him with the deference due a sovereign, he acknowledged him as Master.
Like Lancer Achilles, Gilgamesh had no interest in the so-called Grail or in wishing.
Achilles longed for strong battles; this supreme king only sought to proclaim his majesty, to display his unmatched might and station.
Yet now, Gilgamesh restrained his arrogance. Realizing the peculiarity of this Grail War, he did not act recklessly.
He constantly wore golden armor, maintained autonomous defensive weapons, even kept [Sha Nagba Imuru(The Omniscient Omnipotent Star)] fully active.
Not only that, shortly after being summoned, he contemplated briefly, then drew a potion from [Gate of Babylon] and drank it without hesitation.
The potion's effect: to change his Class from Archer to Caster.
This meant his Strength and Endurance dropped by one rank, and his prized [Enuma Elish] was weakened.
But Gilgamesh chose without hesitation.
The reason was simple, he could not endure being watched by "those two pairs of eyes" without being able to gaze back.
As Caster, his Clairvoyance rose to the highest level.
This Grail War, there were two other such pairs of eyes.
He speculated: Caster's true form was Solomon or Jiang Ziya(Taigong Wang), and Saber was most likely Merlin.
And now, since all three had no intention of interfering, Rider and Assassin's fight flowed to its destined end.
The angel of death tolled the bell of fate.
Rider Iskandar became the first to fall this night.
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