"Also, I am not a Caster."
"Huh?"
Damien's words stunned the group.
Especially the Saber team.
Their guesses were wrong... not only about Solomon's true name but even his class.
"No way!"
But the next moment, Waver spoke up, questioning, "If you're not a Caster, then who are you?"
So far, the classes of Saber, Rider, Archer, Lancer, and Assassin were clearly accounted for.
If Damien wasn't a Caster, the only remaining class would be Berserker.
"That woman who appeared that night, wielding a giant hammer... she's the Berserker, isn't she?"
Waver had observed Fran's attributes, and her Berserker class was unmistakably clear, impossible to fake.
If Damien wasn't a Caster, then the Caster must be someone else.
And that meant...
"This Holy Grail War has an eighth Heroic Spirit!"
Waver's revelation shocked everyone, and they quickly realized he was right.
"Exactly."
Damien nodded, confirming Waver's deduction. "In this Holy Grail War, I have descended as a Voyager."
"Voyager, the traveler?"
In fact, beyond "traveler," the term could also be understood as "adventurer."
In the Nasuverse worldview, adventurers often refer to Servants associated with the Lovecraftian.
Damien had no connection to Lovecraftian.
But his nature wasn't much different from that Outer Gods.
"The Caster is already dead, killed by me."
Damien didn't hide this, openly revealing the information about Ryunosuke Uryuu and Caster to the group.
Hearing that the Caster team was a pair of murderous maniacs, Irisviel and Waver breathed a sigh of relief.
The early elimination of such rule-breaking threats, who could endanger ordinary people, was a great relief.
"No one made a move?"
After his introduction, Damien scanned the surroundings but detected no trace of Assassin.
In the original plot, during this Banquet of Kings, the Assassin, Hundred-Faced Hassan, would have attempted to ambush Iskandar.
Without Damien, Iskandar would have been the most prominent Heroic Spirit.
To gather more information, Tokiomi would have sent Kirei Kotomine to test Iskandar.
And the result, of course, was a success.
Iskandar revealed his Reality Marble, the Ionioi Hetairoi, with over 30,000 Heroic Spirit soldiers, which had left Damien quite shocked at the time.
"It seems Tokiomi's death has altered the plot."
With Tokiomi dead, Kirei Kotomine was now completely under Gilgamesh's thumb.
Despite Gilgamesh's arrogant demeanor, his understanding of human hearts was undoubtedly top-tier among Heroic Spirits.
And given Gilgamesh's personality, he would never allow a group of "filthy bugs" To tarnish this banquet of kings.
"Though Hundred-Faced Hassan's strength isn't great, if used well, they could still provide significant support."
Damien had initially thought that, given Kirei Kotomine's magical capacity, he wouldn't be able to sustain both Gilgamesh and Hundred-Faced Hassan.
But now, it seemed he had overlooked some details.
"The Command Seals preserved by the Church?"
Damien recalled the arm full of Command Seals from the original story.
With Command Seals as a mana source, it wouldn't be surprising for Kirei Kotomine to keep Hundred-Faced Hassan.
Even if split into dozens, they could be sent out one by one for intelligence gathering, far more efficient than deploying them all at once.
"King of Conqueror."
Damien sat back down. "Does our previous agreement still stand?"
Agreement?
What agreement?
The others were puzzled, and even Waver was confused.
He didn't recall Iskandar making any agreement with Damien.
"Ah."
"Of course."
Iskandar swirled the fine wine in his golden goblet. "The King's Q&A is over. Apart from that Saber girl, you two are undoubtedly kings with sufficient caliber."
"Hey! Rider!"
"What's that supposed to mean?"
Artoria, repeatedly belittled, was itching to draw her sword and cut down the three infuriating figures before her.
"Calm down, Saber."
"If, after hearing what I say next, you still want to fight us, I don't mind kicking you out of the game first."
"You..."
Ignoring Artoria's darkened expression, Damien continued, "Here and now, King of Conqueror, in the name of the Demon King, I formally declare war on you!"
"Declare war?!"
Waver's heart nearly skipped a beat at Damien's words.
"This is a clash between kings."
"Gilgamesh, Artoria."
"I also invite you to witness my duel with the King of Conqueror!"
Yes, Damien's primary target was Iskandar.
Noble Phantasms were, at best, a means to grant Damien greater power.
But powerful methods? Damien had no shortage of those.
What he truly needed was a way to bypass the familiar contract and bring people back to his Cardinal World!
Through his recent research on Time Alter, Violet had given him good news.
A Reality Marble did indeed have the potential to transport others.
"And the prerequisite for all this is awakening my own Reality Marble!"
Damien was highly confident in awakening his own Reality Marble.
"You're planning to go that far?"
Iskandar's expression grew serious. Truthfully, he had no reason to refuse.
In fact, Iskandar was thrilled, so thrilled he wanted to laugh.
"A war between kings... it's been a while."
And if Iskandar's guess was correct, Damien likely possessed abilities similar to his own.
His Ionioi Hetairoi and Damien's army of Majins.
"Hahaha!"
Iskandar let out a hearty laugh. "Fine! I accept your challenge!"
As his words fell, Iskandar shot a glance at Gilgamesh, his look practically saying, "See that, Goldie? He chose to challenge me first, not you!"
"Tch!"
Gilgamesh glared at Damien, irritated. This damned guy dared to humiliate him to this extent!
"I'm starting to really want to crush you..."
"And your answer, Gilgamesh?"
Damien's invitation was, in a sense, a call for the two to take a stance.
Would they refrain from interfering in this war and stand by as spectators, waiting for one side to fall?
***
Bonus Chapter:
100 Power Stones = 1 BC
300 Power Stones = 2 BC
500 Power Stones = 3 BC
700 Power Stones = 4 BC
1000 Power Stones = 5 BC
***
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