"You boy..."
Iskandar shook his head. He knew that Waver did not understand his thoughts.
He was not regretting.
A true king never regrets.
Or rather, if he had truly reached the end of the world before dying, Iskandar would have been filled with endless regret.
Because that would mean his journey had reached its destination.
It wasn't that he didn't want to go forward, but that he couldn't go forward.
For a conqueror, an explorer, a life where one could no longer adventure was boring.
Reaching the end of the world, returning to his homeland, and then watching himself slowly grow old.
That kind of ending was the sorrow Iskandar could not accept.
A true man should die on the battlefield, wrapped in a horse's hide, not in a bed!
The moment Rin declared war on him.
Iskandar knew that he had met a kindred spirit.
A conqueror had met another conqueror.
Regardless of victory or defeat, it would put a perfect end to their adventure.
The loser would become the victor's achievement.
And the victor would carry the loser's ambition to witness a broader world.
"Rider?"
"Hmm?"
"Would you lose?"
Waver vaguely understood Iskandar, understanding his true desire for descending as a Heroic Spirit.
"Ah."
Iskandar flicked the reins, driving the rolling thunder forward: "I will win!"
Leaving aside the supremely confident King of Conquerors.
Rin had already returned to Ryuudou Temple.
He first inquired about Sakura's condition, and upon learning from Shuna that the girl was recovering well, he felt relieved.
"Rin-sama."
In the Cardinal World, within the village, Rin withdrew his consciousness from the Heroic Spirit.
He gathered the Goblins, Starfang Wolves, and Ogres who were participating in the war, and from them, selected the captains who were already in place to discuss tomorrow's battle.
"This war will be overseen by Violet as the general commander."
"Snow Empress, Ogerpon."
Rin instructed: "You two can participate in the battle, but do not display overly strong abilities."
"Poniii!"
"I know the limits."
The two women were Rin's two strongest trump cards, it would be too wasteful to use them on Iskandar.
If it came down to comparing combat power.
Snow Empress alone could, like Gilgamesh in the anime, shatter Iskandar' Bounded Field with a single world-breaking Noble Phantasm.
But such a thing was meaningless to Rin.
What he wanted was not victory, but to analyze Iskandar' King's Army as much as possible.
Therefore, he had assembled a massive army of monsters.
This battle was for that purpose.
"This battle is crucial."
Rin said: "I also expect you to display a sufficiently brilliant performance."
As soon as these words were spoken, the monsters instantly became filled with passion.
They were not there to make up the numbers.
But important combat power!
"I will do my best to find an opportunity for Violet to analyze!"
Seeing the serious expressions on everyone's faces, Rin was very satisfied: "Then I'll leave it to you. Let the other Heroic Spirits feel the power of us monsters."
Time passed quickly. With the sunrise and sunset, it was already the night of the second day.
A vermilion steel bridge spanned the two banks.
Under the lights, Artoria, who had arrived early, and Irisviel, disguised as her Master, were nervously watching Rin, who was resting with his eyes closed.
"Lancer!"
"Please don't worry, Master."
It wasn't just Saber and Gilgamesh who knew about this battle, Diarmuid did as well.
"You've come too, Lancer."
"Ah, to come uninvited is truly rude."
Diarmuid: "But for such a grand event, I cannot bear not to come and witness it with my own eyes."
"I wonder if I might have the honor of witnessing it?"
"You may."
Rin opened his eyes and casually accepted Diarmuid's request.
"Thank you."
Diarmuid nodded slightly, then came to Artoria's side and stood shoulder to shoulder with her.
This scene inexplicably made Diarmuid's new Master, Kayneth's fiancée Sola, a little jealous.
Enchanted by Diarmuid's charm magic, she felt a sense of crisis whenever any woman appeared near her Servant.
The reason Sola was not left at the hotel was naturally because no place was safer than being by Diarmuid's side.
Instead of finding a place to hide her, it was better to keep her close.
Diarmuid would not make the same mistake twice!
"Lancer..."
"My apologies."
Diarmuid was also very helpless, this was the curse that entangled him.
He truly did not want to covet his lord's woman.
"Thump! Thump! Thump!"
Suddenly, footsteps approaching from afar interrupted their conversation.
They turned their heads and saw Gilgamesh, clad in golden armor, slowly approaching.
"What?"
"Has that guy not come yet?"
"Tsk!"
Gilgamesh said discontentedly: "To make this King wait, he deserves ten thousand deaths!"
"He's here."
Soon, Iskandar, riding his Divine Chariot, descended from the sky like a bolt of lightning, striking the bridge.
"Have you arrived already?"
Iskandar: "I was delayed slightly to handle some matters."
"No matter."
Rin looked up, directly at Iskandar and Waver, whose mental state had clearly changed.
Evidently, they had experienced an untold journey of the heart.
"So, have you made all your final arrangements?"
Rin: "If not, I don't mind giving you some more time to clarify things."
"How sharp you are."
"You're actually angry, aren't you?"
"Well, don't be so petty. Even kings occasionally have inconvenient moments."
Iskandar appeared foolish, but in reality, he was trying to provoke Rin's emotions in this way.
Unfortunately, he miscalculated.
Not to mention that Rin had Violet assisting him.
Even he himself wouldn't lose his temper over such a small matter like Gilgamesh.
"That's enough, Conqueror."
Rin said calmly: "Let's begin, our war."
Seeing that Rin had discovered his little trick, Iskandar stopped playing around.
"Whoosh~"
Mysteriously, everyone standing on the bridge vaguely felt a whirlwind blowing towards them.
It was a hot, dry, scorching whirlwind.
Gradually, whether it was an illusion or not, everyone seemed to hear the roaring wind sweeping across a scorching desert.
"Hmm?"
Waver felt tiny, stinging grains of sand on his tongue and quickly spat out a few mouthfuls of saliva.
"Sand?"
"Why?"
Diarmuid was very puzzled. Like Artoria, he instinctively shielded his Master behind him.
This strange wind carried hot sand that could not possibly exist here.
They all turned their gaze towards Iskandar.
The magical energy on his body was boiling.
Clearly, the changes before them were his doing.
(To be continued.)