Bonus for 1000 PS xD, we hit 1000 PS a little early this week, thank you so much.
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"Then, here!"
"Saber, and Archer, and Lancer!"
"Is a king truly solitary?"
Iskandar stood in the center of the swirling hot wind, his crimson cloak billowing and flapping on his shoulders.
"Solitary..."
If it were before, Artoria would have said that a king must be solitary.
Because only those who stand aloof from the world can become king!
But now...
The King of Knights did not understand human hearts.
Such painful memories made Artoria think of the knights who followed her.
"You're finally going to show your true abilities, Iskandar."
"Come, let me see the power you possess, the same as mine!"
The same power?
What did that even mean?
But they didn't need to ask.
Because in the next moment, the unimaginable changes completely robbed everyone of their ability to speak.
The hot wind, coming from who knew where, began to subvert and erode reality.
Distance and position lost their meaning.
In their place were a scorching sun and an endless desert ravaged by dry gales.
"H-how is this possible?!"
"This kind of thing..."
"How can such a thing exist?!"
The astonished voices came not only from Waver and Irisviel but also from Sola.
As someone from the Clock Tower, she understood better than anyone what this scene truly meant.
'Bounded Field?'
The scorching sun burned the earth, the view was immensely vast, stretching to the horizon obscured by raging sandstorms, and beyond to the cloudless azure sky.
Waver had never before been so awestruck by the mighty power of his Servant.
If he had not held much hope for the confrontation between Iskandar and Rin before, then now!
'He can win!'
'He can really win!'
Waver looked excitedly at Iskandar beside him and asked, "You're making a mental landscape materialize, but you're not a mage."
"Of course not."
"This isn't something I could do alone."
Standing proudly in the vast battlefield, Iskandar's face was filled with a proud smile as he negated Waver's question.
"This is the land my army once galloped across, a scene deeply etched in the hearts of the brave warriors who shared hardships with me."
As the world underwent this strange transformation, even the relative positions of those caught within it changed.
Waver remained with Iskandar.
Rin, on the other hand, was teleported to the other end of the battlefield, facing them from afar.
The remaining spectators, Artoria, Gilgamesh, and others, were isolated outside the battlefield, on a towering sand dune.
The view from there was excellent, allowing them to survey the entire battlefield from a distance.
Heroic Spirits with good eyesight could clearly take in the upcoming battle!
"Hey, hey, hey."
Diarmuid's eyes widened, filled with disbelief: "You're joking, right?"
"This kind of thing..."
Artoria stared intently at the mirage-like shadows appearing around Iskandar.
There was not just one shadow, two, four...
The hazy mounted figures multiplied exponentially as they formed ranks.
Those figures gradually gained color and three-dimensionality.
"The reason this world, this landscape, could take concrete form is precisely because it originates from the mindscape of all of us."
Under the astonished gazes of everyone, the cavalrymen materialized one by one beside Iskandar.
Though their races and equipment varied, their physiques were robust, and their gleaming armor radiated extraordinary heroism, as if competing for splendor, magnificent and formidable.
Without exception, all of these individuals were Servants!
"All of them!!"
Diarmuid looked at Sola, finding the observation results she provided unbelievable.
He considered himself exceptionally strong, a legendary hero.
But...
The number of Servants before him was in the tens of thousands.
No matter how skilled Diarmuid was in fighting, how many could he defeat?
Dozens?
Hundreds?
Facing such an army, Diarmuid would only have one outcome, to be utterly crushed!
"Behold, this is my peerless army!"
At this moment, Iskandar raised his arms, boasting loudly about the thronging cavalry with immense pride.
"Their bodies utterly destroyed and their souls offered to the world as heroic spirits of old, and still these legendary heroes pledge their loyalty to me!"
"They are my eternal comrades, who have answered my call and transcended time and space to come."
"My bond with them is my greatest treasure! My path of kingship!"
"This is I, Iskandar's ultimate Noble Phantasm, Ionioi Hetairoi!"
An EX-rank Anti-Army Noble Phantasm, continuously summoning numerous independent individual Servants.
There were War Gods, Maharajas, and founding monarchs of successive dynasties from later generations.
As many heroes gathered here, so too were there as many legends.
Each of them was a supreme Heroic Spirit.
And all of them, besides the destiny of their own renown, also took pride in their common origin, all were brave warriors who had once ridden across the battlefield with Alexander the Great.
A horse, the only one not ridden by anyone, walked to Rider's side, it was an exceptionally strong and brave steed, majestic enough to be called a giant beast.
Although not in human form, its formidable might was no less than that of the other Heroic Spirits.
"It's been a while, partner."
Iskandar wore a childlike, innocent smile, embracing the giant horse's neck tightly with both hands.
She was the legendary steed Bucephalus, later revered and deified.
In Iskandar's camp, even horses had been elevated to Heroic Spirits.
"Boy, come over here!"
Iskandar pulled Waver from the Gordius Wheel, onto the horse's back, riding together with him.
"Ah?"
"This, why, Rider?"
Waver didn't understand, even though the Gordius Wheel was so powerful.
"Moo!!"
But soon, Waver knew the answer.
The unridden Gordius Wheel, pulled by the majestic and powerful Thunderous Hooves, flew into the sky.
"Rumble~"
In an instant, thunder rolled, and roars resounded.
Countless blue-purple lightning bolts covered the sky, adding a sense of doomsday solemnity and harshness to this battlefield.
At this moment, everyone was too astonished to speak.
Facing such a magnificent and powerful army, even Gilgamesh, who also possessed an EX-rank super Noble Phantasm, put away his usual sarcasm.
They were a group of heroic figures who had entrusted everything to the dreams of their King, once following their King across the land.
Iskandar materialized the undying loyalty of his subjects even after their deaths, transforming it into this Noble Phantasm.
(To be continued.)
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