After the Caster before him floated into the air, Waver immediately felt a palpitation of the heart.
Waver was well aware that he was far inferior to the Servant appearing before him in terms of both magecraft and combat ability. Having already mentally prepared himself, he should have been able to suppress his fear of the Servant.
Yet now, merely by gazing at that high and mighty Servant, Waver found that he...
—Actually felt instant terror toward that existence.
There was no change in the opponent's equipment, but accompanied by the faint lightning appearing around that woman, it wasn't just Waver—even Iskandar felt a sense of oppression.
"Oho, I felt a bit bad about leaving a strong enemy to Saber earlier, but looking at it now... the enemy we have to face doesn't seem so easy to deal with either."
Iskandar, who had ordered his warriors to halt their charge, looked at the Herrscher of Thunder looking down on him from the sky and frowned slightly.
Caster. A Servant from the Class of mages. Normally, they wouldn't possess powerful close-combat capabilities.
Of course, the Caster before them wasn't normal, but no matter what, her taijutsu might be enough for a one-on-one, but expecting her alone to cut down every Servant in the Army of the King... that was obviously asking for the impossible.
Therefore, Iskandar determined that she was either a support-type Caster who [Enhanced Attributes] or a Caster possessing a large-scale offensive Noble Phantasm.
If it was the former, he would win for sure.
But if it was the latter...
Giving her the initiative didn't matter. As long as the opponent played their trump card, he would always be able to find an opportunity.
After all, Noble Phantasms with large range and high lethality usually required a massive amount of magical energy to support them.
Iskandar's [Army of the King] was an exception.
If not for the trait where [the magical energy used to maintain the Reality Marble after deployment is shared collectively by the entire army, and all army personnel possess the 'Independent Action' skill equivalent to Rank E-], given Waver's capacity for magical energy support, Iskandar would never have easily deployed this Noble Phantasm.
The reason was simple: if his Noble Phantasm lacked that trait, the sheer consumption of massive magical energy alone would be enough to drain the magical energy within Waver dry in a short time.
And now, although Caster was clearly different from a moment ago, Iskandar, while feeling the pressure, wasn't scared off by it.
As the King of Conquerors, he had faced plenty of strong enemies.
If his heart began to retreat just because the enemy displayed unexpected strength, what kind of King of Conquerors, Alexander, would he be!
Danger was also opportunity. Although Caster's lightning strike just now appeared to activate instantly, the range of that lightning wasn't excessively absurd.
She definitely had a more terrifying trump card. And if they could force out her trump card... Heh, as long as survival was guaranteed, then handing over the initiative was no problem at all.
Rather, as long as her Noble Phantasm didn't kill him and his little Master, they would have a significant chance.
Furthermore, as long as her Noble Phantasm required consuming a large amount of magical energy, then once she released it, the man outside would inevitably be affected.
As a Master, regardless of what that man's fighting style was or how ridiculously high his combat power might be, he should reasonably be a powerhouse who relied on magical energy to fight.
After a Servant releases a Noble Phantasm, the Master's magical energy reserves will inevitably be impacted.
If handled correctly this time, heh, not only Caster here, but even her Master might be defeated by Saber seizing the opportunity, right?
It was worth a try!
"Waver, have you calmed down?"
"...Yeah. Her basic stats haven't changed at all from before."
After calming down slightly and discovering the opponent's attribute values hadn't changed, Waver just wanted to burrow directly under the sand.
Speaking boldly just a moment ago, only to be scared nearly immobile after Caster released a bit of magical energy...
Humiliating!
This was simply too humiliating!
"Haha, then that means her Noble Phantasm must be truly frightening."
After thinking for a moment, Iskandar issued a command to the warriors behind him.
"Comrades! Charge in scattered formation! Disperse her fire, then find an opportunity to knock her out of the sky for me!"
Hearing this command, the warriors behind Iskandar immediately began to spread out in an orderly fashion while charging.
However, the Herrscher of Thunder floating in the air watched the soldiers below without a shred of vigilance or wavering.
"Ha. Boring. I don't know what you were thinking just now, but in the end..."
*BOOM!*
Slightly raising her right hand, the Herrscher of Thunder manipulated the energy within her, directly creating countless lightning bolts to bombard the battlefield.
Perhaps there were some powerful Servants within Iskandar's Army of the King.
But those powerful Servants were ultimately a minority. For the majority of Servants, the lightning created by the Herrscher of Thunder through her Authority was already enough to halt their movements.
Originally, according to Iskandar's thinking, the enemy's attacks would either be frequent but with small range, or large range but with long intervals.
But now, Iskandar knew without even looking back that the falling lightning was not only full of destructive power but also a rapid-fire, instant attack.
The theoretical rule of 'high power and large range equals high mana consumption' seemed not to exist at all for the Caster before him.
"Rider... what do we do now?"
"Hmph, it's not like there's no way. Besides, Waver, did you notice?"
On the *Gordius Wheel*, Iskandar became unusually calm after discovering something.
[She has been attacking our comrades with lightning since the beginning—with her attack method, she has countless ways to attack us directly.]
[...You mean, she's playing?]
[Yeah, she probably feels she can finish us off at any time, so she plans to use those attacks to wipe out our comrades first and let us die in despair.]
[But what a pity. That mindset will only lead her into a desperate situation she shouldn't have fallen into. However, we can't be careless, as we don't know when she might wake up. So Waver, we must seize this opportunity—the opportunity while she is still being careless.]
[Wait for me to use the Command Spells to increase my speed and impact force. I will release the Gordius Wheel, and then...]
[And then?]
[Then use a Command Spell to strengthen my personal ability—that woman has already sheathed her tachi. In other words, after my close-combat ability is strengthened, it will be too late even if she wants to draw her blade to parry.]
[I see. I understand.]
[Very good. Then, hold on tight!]
After confirming the tactic, Iskandar let the chariot float into mid-air and launched a final charge toward the Herrscher of Thunder.
"AAAALaLaLaLaLaie!!!"
Seeing the enemy issuing a war cry before her, the Herrscher of Thunder finally chose to focus her attention on him.
"It seems that as long as I deal with you, I can break this boring barrier, correct?"
"Then... I should get a little serious too."
Lightly brushing back her hair, an incredibly intense killing intent suddenly erupted from the Herrscher of Thunder's eyes.
Even from a distance, Iskandar could feel an oppression and malice far exceeding before from the twin pupils beneath the opponent's mask.
[Heh, finally getting serious? Waver, are you ready?]
[The distance... is close enough. Then!]
[By the name of the Command Spell, I order you—Rider, accelerate the charge!]
[By the name of the Command Spell, I order you—Rider, strengthen yourself!]
[Finally, by the name of the Command Spell, I order you—Rider, go seize victory!]
[Good! I have indeed received your orders, Master!]
As all three Command Spells on Waver's hand vanished, Iskandar felt endless power erupt within his body.
The *Gordius Wheel* he unleashed began to sprint toward the Herrscher of Thunder at a speed far exceeding before.
And during the sprint, Iskandar, having already drawn the Sword of the Cypriots, stomped heavily on the chariot while under the state of massive self-enhancement. Borrowing the inertia from the chariot's forward charge, he rushed directly at the enemy before him.
It would take less than a second. Iskandar could swing the short sword in his hand to cut down the enemy before him—Iskandar, strengthened as he was now, possessed exactly that confidence.
It was just regrettable—before he made his attack, the Herrscher of Thunder had already prepared.
The Herrscher of Thunder still hadn't gotten serious, but for some reason, she felt her intuition telling her not to continue being careless this time.
Originally, as an apostle of 'God,' she shouldn't believe in strange things like so-called 'intuition.' However, seeing Iskandar leap up, the Herrscher of Thunder felt reminded of certain things.
Last time, it was in mid-air... where she was hammered from the sky to the ground and thoroughly beaten by that man!
After unpleasant memories were triggered, the Herrscher of Thunder immediately covered her right hand in lightning and, using the power of Magnetic Field Rotation, compressed the lightning in her hand to the extreme.
"Die for me! Human!"
In that instant, as Iskandar prepared to swing his blade, he crashed into the Herrscher of Thunder's electromagnetic barrier.
Enduring the pain of electricity coursing through his body, Iskandar swung his weapon down.
Regrettably, before he could complete the slash...
—The lightning condensed on the Herrscher of Thunder's right hand had already transformed into a lightning spear, directly piercing through Iskandar's body.
Iskandar, his body pierced, wanted to continue moving, but the paralysis brought by the lightning attribute attack caused this King, who had fought with all his might, to begin falling directly from the sky toward the ground.
[This is bad... looks like... we didn't succeed.]
"Rider!"
"You... actually dared!"
The Herrscher of Thunder, shaken by the King of Conquerors' chilling killing intent, only now realized what had just happened.
She had made preparations to attack, even preparing to adjust her attack angle.
But just now, the moment Iskandar leaped into the air preparing to swing his short sword, this King who galloped across sandfields suddenly erupted with a killing intent and an incredibly thick scent of blood that hadn't been there before.
Clearly, the Herrscher of Thunder should be an apostle of 'God' looking down on humans from high above, yet in that moment just now, she actually...
—Actually felt a stronger sense of fear than before because of this man's aura???
And the reason the Herrscher of Thunder managed to complete the attack in time wasn't that she adjusted the angle instantly, but because...
—Because she was intimidated by the enemy before her, so subconsciously, to protect herself, she threw out the attack in her hand directly.
Otherwise, that strike could have directly hit Iskandar's head—provided she had time to complete the attack.
Realizing she had been saved by her own fear, the Herrscher of Thunder immediately felt her mood become even worse than before.
She had intended to deal with the enemy before her with ease, then leisurely go find the man who beat her last time to settle the score.
But now...
The Herrscher of Thunder was no fool.
Although in the original world line, as a Herrscher manipulating electromagnetic forces, she somehow couldn't deal with a heart bomb, she really wasn't a fool.
Precisely because she wasn't a fool, the Herrscher of Thunder understood just how embarrassing she was right now.
Watching the yellow sand before her gradually disappear due to Iskandar's heavy injury, the Herrscher of Thunder deftly dodged the incoming *Gordius Wheel* and allowed incredibly terrifying lightning to condense on both hands.
"...Clearly just two insects, yet you dare make a fool of me!"
"You lot! Die first!"
Accompanying an electromagnetic cannon blast of up to 3200 HW intensity combined with Magnetic Field Rotation, the Herrscher of Thunder thoroughly killed Iskandar and Waver Velvet before either could react.
At this moment, having dealt with the enemies before her, she finally calmed down a little.
*Right, I just felt a trace of carelessness because I obtained new power.*
* Compared to when I just woke up, the current me is much stronger in both energy control and internal energy intensity.*
*I won't lose to that man again. So now...*
—*The time for reckoning has come, Human!*
.....................