"And so, here!"

"Saber, Archer, and Lancer!"

"What does it mean to be a king? To stand alone in grandeur?"

Iskandar stood at the center of the swirling hot winds, his crimson cloak billowing on his shoulders.

"Grandeur..."

Before, Artoria would have said that a king must be solitary.

Only one who stands apart from the world can become a king!

But now...

The King of Knights does not understand the human heart.

This painful realization reminded Artoria of the knights who followed her.

"Finally showing your true power, King of Conqueror."

"Come, let me see the power you possess, the same as mine!"

The same power?

What did he mean?

But they didn't need to ask.

In the next moment, a transformation beyond imagination left everyone speechless.

A scorching wind from nowhere began to disrupt and erode reality.

Distance and position lost all meaning.

In their place came a blazing sun and an endless desert ravaged by dry, fierce winds.

"How... how is this possible!"

"This kind of thing..."

"How could this happen?!"

Shocked voices came not only from Waver and Irisviel but also from Sola-Ui.

As someone from the Clock Tower, she understood better than anyone what this scene signified.

"A Reality Marble?"

If Kayneth were here, he would have been obsessed with it.

A Holy Grail War created by a third-rate magus family in Japan had achieved such grand magecraft!

The scorching sun burned the earth, the horizon stretched endlessly to where violent sandstorms obscured the skyline, and the cloudless sky extended far beyond.

Waver had never been so awestruck by his Servant's might as he was now.

If he had held little hope for Iskandar's clash with Damien before, now...

"We can win!"

"We really can win!"

Waver excitedly looked at Iskandar beside him, asking, "You materialized a mental landscape, and you're not even a magus?"

"Of course not."

"This isn't something I could do alone."

Standing tall in the vast desert battlefield, Iskandar's face bore a proud smile as he dismissed Waver's question.

"This is the land my army once galloped across, the vision etched deeply in the hearts of the brave warriors who shared my triumphs and hardships."

As the world transformed, even the relative positions of those drawn into it shifted.

Waver remained with Iskandar.

Damien, however, was transported to the other end of the battlefield, facing them from afar.

The remaining spectators... Artoria, Gilgamesh, and the others... were isolated on a towering sand dune outside the battlefield.

The vantage point was perfect, offering a clear view of the entire battlefield.

Heroic Spirits with keen eyesight could see the upcoming battle in vivid detail.

"Hey, hey, hey."

Diarmuid's eyes widened in disbelief. "Are you kidding me?"

"This kind of thing..."

Artoria stared intently at the mirage-like shadows appearing around Iskandar.

There wasn't just one shadow... two, four...

The hazy figures of mounted warriors multiplied, forming ranks.

The shadows gradually took on color and depth.

"This world, this landscape, can take form because it comes from the collective mental image of us all."

Under the astonished gazes of the onlookers, the cavalry materialized one by one beside Iskandar.

Though their races and equipment varied, their physiques were robust, their gleaming armor adorned with heroic splendor, each vying to outshine the others in magnificence and strength.

Without exception, every one of them was a Servant!

"All of them?!"

Diarmuid looked at Sola-Ui, incredulous at her observation.

He considered himself formidable, a legendary hero.

But...

The number of Servants before him was beyond counting.

No matter how skilled Diarmuid was, how many could he face?

A few dozen?

A hundred?

Against such an army, the only outcome for Diarmuid would be utter annihilation!

"Behold, this is my unparalleled army!"

Iskandar raised his arms, his voice brimming with pride as he boasted of the assembled cavalry.

"These are heroes whose bodies have perished, whose souls were summoned by the world as Heroic Spirits, yet still pledge their loyalty to me."

"They answer my call across time and space, my eternal comrades."

"The bond with them is my greatest treasure! My path as a king!"

"This is my proudest Noble Phantasm... Ionioi Hetairoi!!"

An EX-rank Anti-Army Noble Phantasm, continuously summoning numerous independent Servant entities.

Generals, maharajas, and founding monarchs of later dynasties.

As many heroes as there were gathered here, so too were their legends.

Each was a supreme Heroic Spirit.

Beyond their individual renown, they took pride in their shared origin... warriors who once galloped across battlefields with Alexander the Great.

A single riderless horse approached Rider, a particularly robust and fierce steed, worthy of being called a beast.

Though not human, its valor was no less than that of the other Heroic Spirits.

"It's been a while, partner."

Iskandar, with a childlike grin, wrapped his arms tightly around the horse's neck.

This was the legendary steed Bucephalus, later revered and deified.

In Iskandar's ranks, even a horse had ascended to Heroic Spirit status.

"Kid, come here!"

Iskandar pulled Waver from the Gordius Wheel onto the horse, riding together.

"Huh?"

"Why, Rider?"

Waver didn't understand, especially since the Gordius Wheel was so powerful.

"Moo!!"

But soon, Waver got his answer.

The unmanned Gordius Wheel, pulled by the majestic Divine Bulls, soared into the sky.

Boom!

Thunder roared, lightning crackling.

Countless blue-purple bolts illuminated the sky, adding an apocalyptic solemnity and severity to the battlefield.

"..."

At this moment, everyone was too stunned to speak.

Faced with such a magnificent army, even Gilgamesh, with his own EX-rank Noble Phantasm, set aside his usual mockery.

These were heroes who entrusted everything to their king's dream, who once followed him across the earth.

Iskandar had transformed their unyielding loyalty after death into this Noble Phantasm.

***

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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