"There is no end to this at all, Master. What should we do now?"
Among the vast numbers of the King's Army, Arash and Megumin were surrounded, facing the continuous attacks of the soldiers with visible fatigue. It could only be said that although Iskandar's King's Army was limited in this game and could not exert its full strength due to the rules, it was still very difficult for most players to handle.
Even if these armies could not launch heavy attacks and could only be killed passively, the sheer numerical advantage was there. They could defeat their enemies simply by trading lives, exhausting the other players to death.
As for using a large-scale AOE attack to wipe them out in one wave? Arash and Megumin wanted to do exactly that.
But Iskandar was not a fool. He had anticipated this, so he did not give the two of them a chance to make a move. His method was very simple: he remained hidden within the army at all times.
Iskandar was also a player and was protected by the rules of the game. If he mixed in with the army, Arash and Megumin would be afraid of accidental injury. Fearing they might hit him by mistake, they hesitated, throwing the rat-avoidance weapon, so to speak, and did not dare to attack the army with full force.
Of course, this method is only suitable against indiscriminate bombardment. If it were something like Vlad III's stakes or Nero's magic cannon, which could target specific areas, he would have to worry about mass attacks. But against pure explosive AOE, he was safe.
"The army cannot be fought head-on, so what about this space?"
While maintaining a protective shield to isolate the soldiers a few meters away, Megumin frowned and thought, "If this space is shattered, these armies will also disappear, right?"
Arash quickly drew his bow and released arrows, killing the surrounding troops. After hearing this, he thought for a moment and shook his head.
"If this space is broken, these armies will definitely disappear with it. But it won't work. Although the Reality Marble is just a space, it possesses the concept of a world. Unless there is an attack that targets the concept of boundaries, or an Anti-World Noble Phantasm, we can only destroy the entire space at once with brute force. But in that case, it will still cause accidental damage to Iskandar, and we will also be in danger."
The Reality Marble is a space formed by the projection of mental images onto reality. Once unfolded, it is equivalent to a small area separated from the real world, which can be called a mental world. Therefore, destroying a Reality Marble is very difficult. In addition to killing the owner of the Reality Marble, using an Anti-World Noble Phantasm, or employing spatial manipulation, the only option is to destroy it violently.
But in the current situation, violent destruction was obviously not advisable due to the rules.
"Then we can only eliminate these troops without causing any accidental damage."
Megumin rolled her eyes and looked at the army with a smirk, spotting Iskandar riding a big black horse with Waver behind him.
"Master, do you have an idea?"
Arash nodded, agreeing to the plan, and then looked at her inquiringly.
"It's simple, just give them a shield," Megumin said. She picked up an arrow from the ground, began to infuse magic into it, processed it, and handed it to Arash.
"Archer, when I finish chanting, you shoot this at their feet. But be careful, its effective diameter is only three meters, don't miss."
Arash smiled heartily and took the arrow. "Leave it to me."
Then, Megumin started humming the chant for her explosion magic.
"Darker than black, darker than darkness..."
After a theatrical chant invoking gods and demons, she shouted, "Now!"
Arash, who had been pretending to shoot at the army casually, suddenly looked stern. He turned around abruptly and shot the arrow directly at Iskandar. The arrow passed through the sea of people and went straight for the horse under Iskandar.
Iskandar reacted and tried to control the horse to avoid it, but it was too late. With a pop, the arrow penetrated deeply into the horse's shoulder.
"Hiss~!"
"Bucephalus!"
Iskandar exclaimed heartbrokenly for his beloved horse. But the next moment, the arrow burst out with a flash of light, and a circular shield enveloped the black horse and the two riders.
"Oops! The whole army, disperse!"
Iskandar instantly understood what the shield was for, and his expression changed drastically. He quickly ordered the troops to flee, but as soon as he shouted the order, his vision was drowned by a burst of blinding light.
"Ex——plosion!" Boom~!!!!!
A huge fireball enveloped the entire area. Except for Megumin and Iskandar, who had shields for defense, the rest of the King's Army was instantly vaporized.
The world was devastated by a nuclear-level blast. Without the magical energy of the army to sustain it, the Reality Marble quickly dissipated.
The four returned to the construction area in the arena.
With a plop, Waver slumped to the ground, his face pale. Iskandar also looked shaken. The two of them now understood why Nero said, when Megumin was introduced, that her strength and hobbies were quite explosive.
It was literally true!
"How am I supposed to compete with such a monster?" Waver muttered to himself with a despairing expression. He almost thought he was going to die just now. Moreover, this experience of facing a nuclear explosion and being right in the center of it would probably be a nightmare for him for a long time.
Iskandar's mood was not much better. The army he was so proud of was wiped out in one move. This was a major blow to him. At the same time, the King's Army, his last trump card, was useless in front of Megumin's team. They had lost the ability to resist. Even if he could use it again, it was meaningless; it would just be bombed again.
As for Megumin, after taking a few breaths and sipping a recovery elixir, she was back on her feet. Her current strength had improved a lot compared to the beginning. Although using explosion magic was still taxing, and the consumption of magic power was significant, at least she wasn't completely paralyzed by fatigue, and her magic power was still relatively abundant.
After Megumin recovered, she looked at Iskandar and Waver.
"Wait, stop fighting, we surrender."
Before Megumin could open her mouth, Iskandar surrendered very wisely.
Megumin nodded, accepted the surrender, then raised her eyebrows and said, "Points."
"Well, let's talk about it. Can you leave some for us? Like, we surrender and lose half or something?" Iskandar readily took out the strap but was a little reluctant, trying to bargain.
"Half? You're dreaming."
"Hey, you girl, if you don't want to leave any, then don't. Why are you attacking me personally?"
"I'm not wrong."
"Yes, you are. You have no discernment. Back then, I was quite a handsome man, very popular."
"Really? I do not believe it."
"Humph, forget it if you don't believe it."
The two of them argued back and forth, but Megumin still unceremoniously took away all the points from Waver's team.
Well, all of them on the surface. Iskandar was very crafty and secretly hid a small part of the point flags before taking them out. However, because he was afraid of being discovered, he didn't dare to hide too many, keeping just four.
So in the end, Megumin only got twenty-five point flags. Although Megumin felt that this number was wrong, as the results of the other groups and Waver's group did not add up perfectly, she was suspicious. However, Iskandar fooled her with the excuse that it was impossible to get them all.
Seeing this, Megumin was too lazy to press the issue or have Arash search their bodies, not wanting to waste time for a small profit. Moreover, she had almost enough points now. She had received twelve points from Emiya Kiritsugu, the initial seven points, and the current twenty-five points.
You know, the total number of points across the seven groups is only one hundred and ten, and the ones she has in hand are already a significant portion. Megumin even felt that in this wave, she had completely won—it was a guaranteed victory!
However, Megumin's FLAG worked against her. In the following games, except for Emiya Kiritsugu and Kayneth coming back online—who planned to fish in troubled waters but caught nothing—it was basically the show of the three groups: Megumin, Nakiri Alice, and Yuuki Asuna.
Megumin met the foursome and, as expected, was tricked by the substitute tactic. Although Megumin tenaciously resisted due to her strength and was not robbed of points, the problem was that the remaining bulk of the points ended up in the hands of Nakiri Alice and Yuuki Asuna!
At the final moment of the countdown to the race, seeing that they couldn't beat Megumin in a direct confrontation, the two of them discussed it and pooled their points together. They overtook her on the curve in a different way and won first place.
"Can it still be done like this?!"
Megumin looked shocked. She didn't expect that she would eventually lose the first place like this.
"The rules don't say it's not allowed." Nakiri Alice raised her eyebrows at Megumin proudly.
Megumin was so angry that she retreated to a corner and drew circles to curse Nakiri Alice. Nakiri Alice didn't care about this; she just wanted to avenge the shot from the first game.
The final results were announced.
Yuuki Asuna took over Nakiri Alice's points and ranked first with a super high score.
Megumin ranked second.
Waver's team ranked third with the four points intentionally kept hidden.
Nakiri Alice ranked fourth with two points intentionally left behind.
Emiya Kiritsugu and Kayneth tied for fifth with zero points.
Flora... because of the foul, her score was cleared, placing her directly at the bottom.
Then came the awards session.
Each person received a commemorative medal. Of course, the top three were pure gold, and the remaining four were just consolation iron medals with different styles. The source of the awards was Takumi, who created them casually.
The rewards after that were the highlight. Takumi generously allowed them to freely choose from the list. According to the ranking order, from lower to higher, they could choose the corresponding number of prizes.
Flora took a research magic material without hesitation, prepared for use in her research.
Kayneth chose two precious materials he needed, which were worth the price.
Emiya Kiritsugu did not hesitate to ask for the right to participate in the next Holy Grail War. Takumi then gave him the right to participate under the Matou family name, wanting to see what would happen if Emiya Kiritsugu participated in the Holy Grail War as the representative of the Matou family.
Nakiri Alice, after communicating with Takumi, asked for an export share of enhanced food ingredients, planning to bring more local products back to her hometown.
As for Waver, he chose the most expensive item. After all, he borrowed money for his trip to Fuyuki, and he had to consider how to pay it back after he returned. At the same time, he also gave Kayneth a share as an apology. In addition, he returned the stolen Holy Relic, successfully making Kayneth drop the issue of the theft.
Megumin, like Nakiri Alice, exchanged her reward for an export share of enhanced food ingredients to bring back to her hometown. Anyway, she did not lack materials to improve her life in the Dimensional City, so she might as well take the opportunity to do something good for her family. Enhanced food ingredients were beneficial to her sister's growth and could also be exchanged for money. It was hard currency.
When it was Yuuki Asuna's turn, she also made a request.
"Well, can I have the same power as everyone else?"
Yuuki Asuna asked Takumi with some anxiety.
Yes, she wanted to obtain the Divine Path System. But it was not out of a desire for power or to become a god. Mainly, she felt that she was only in the Dimensional City because of her connection to others, and the gap between her and everyone else was too big.
Everyone in the Dimensional City had extraordinary powers, but she was the only one who didn't. Sometimes it was really difficult to fit into the circle. Not to mention the general population, just looking at those around her like Nakiri Alice and the others made the difference clear.
Even though her physique had reached an extraordinary level after long-term consumption of fortified ingredients, she was still too weak compared to others, which also caused some generation gaps. For example, when Nakiri Alice and the others practiced magic or discussed skills, Yuuki Asuna could not participate.
In addition, the gap between strength and weakness was vast. When she practiced swordsmanship with Nakiri Alice and others, it was often Nakiri Alice who had to suppress her strength to practice with her.
Although it is good to be taken care of by others, and one can feel the warm human care, for Yuuki Asuna, who has a relatively strong personality, being taken care of all the time made her feel uncomfortable. It made her uneasy, so much so that she was now a little afraid to interact with Nakiri Alice and the others.
That's why Yuuki Asuna wanted extraordinary power. She didn't necessarily want to become stronger; she just wanted to be the same as everyone else.
"Do you want this?" Takumi glanced at Yuuki Asuna with some surprise.
"Yes, I hope the City Lord will make it happen." Yuuki Asuna nodded and said sincerely.
"I can do that."
Seeing this, Takumi thought about it and did not refuse. After all, the current version of the Divine Path System was hugely different from the previous one; essentially, the more people who had it, the better. Therefore, Takumi no longer strictly controlled it.
Since Yuuki Asuna had requested this, there was nothing wrong with doing her a favor and increasing her loyalty.
Takumi reached out and gently stroked Yuuki Asuna's head, granting her the Divine Path System.
"Thank you, Lord City Lord." After Yuuki Asuna received it, she happily thanked him quickly.
"Great, Asuna, congratulations." Seeing this, Nakiri Alice also came up with a smile and congratulated Yuuki Asuna.
"Thanks." Yuuki Asuna responded with a smile.
It was obvious that Yuuki Asuna was much more confident than before. Clearly, obtaining extraordinary power gave her that confidence. After the rewards were distributed, it was time to get down to business.
"Let these seven Servants return to the Throne of Heroes!"