Saber, and Archer, the last question of the banquet – is the king lonesome?”

Rider shouted as he stood in the center of the raging desert wind. His cape danced atop his shoulders. Somehow, he had already changed back into the proper garb of the King of Conquerors.

Archer's mouth moved, and he sniggered. There was no need to answer. He replied with his silence instead.

Saber did not hesitate either. If her own beliefs were shaken, it would be a flat denial of her days spent as king.

“A king...has no choice to be lonesome!”

Rider laughed. As if responding to the laugh, the whirlwind grew stronger.

“Wrong, wrong!! That answer is almost as good as having no answers! Let me teach you two today what it means to be a true king!”

The unknown hot wind inverted, and eroded the reality.

In the strange phenomenon occurring tonight, distance and position had lost its meaning. The raging sandstorm changed all it touched.

“How-How could this..."

Waver and Irisviel gasped in surprise…only ones who understood magecraft could understand the phenomenon.

“A…Reality Marble-?!”

The earth-scorching sun; the cloudless, clear skies; stretching to the blurry end of the sandy horizon, there was nothing that obscured vision.

To think that the Einsbern castle could be changed suddenly meant that it was undoubtedly the illusion of something that eroded away the reality. It can be said that this is the uppermost limits of the miracles of magecraft.

“How could this be….you could materialize the environment inside your mind…You aren’t a – magus?!”

“Of course I’m not. This is not something I can do alone.”

Alexander laughed proudly as he majestically stood in the center of wide, everstretching field.

“This land is the land in which my army once crossed. It is imprinted upon the hearts of every single one of my warriors who shared in my joys and sorrows.”

As the world changed, the positions of the five who were initially surrounded also changed.

The Assassins, originally surrounding the group have been moved aside to one side. Rider stood in the center. In the other side stood Saber, Archer, and the two Masters. This is to say that Rider stood before the Assassins by himself.

– but, could it be said that Rider fought alone?

The eyes of everyone widened as they noticed the mirage-like images that appeared around him. One, two, four….there were more and more images, ever increasing. The colors become clearer and more solid.

“The reason why this world can exist again... is because it is printed upon all of our hearts.”

Under their expressions of total shock, heavily armed cavalry materialized beside Alexander. Though their faces and equipments differed, their muscular bodies and mighty chargers displayed a fierceness that could only be found in a true army.

Only one person present understood what this situation meant.

“All of these beings…are servants!”

He was the only Master here, and so he understood. Servant Alexander's trump card, his true noble phantasm, was now appearing before his eyes.

“BEHOLD, MY PEERLESS ARMY!”

The King of Conquerors stood before the lines of cavalry and raised both of his arms to the skies, shouting with immeasurable pride.

 
Ionian Hetairoi“Their bodies may return to ash, but their spirits still hear my call! These men are my legendary heroes – my loyal followers! They’re my true friends - breaking the rules of space and time to fight once more at my side!”

“They are my treasure within treasures; they’re my right to rule! They make up Alexander's mightiest Noble Phantasm – Ionian Hetairoi!!”

EX rank anti-army Noble Phantasm; the consecutive summon of multiple independent Servants.

The Lord of war, the Maharaorajah, and the founders of many dynasties – the peerless array of heroic spirits gathered here were only heard reverently in legends. All of the famed warriors standing here – all of them once fought beside Alexander the Great.

A riderless horse galloped towards Rider. It was a powerful and sleek steed. If it was human, it is probably just as impressive as any one of the Heroic Spirits standing before the king.

“Long time no see, pal.”

Rider smiled childishly as he hugged the neck of his horse. “She” was the legendary charger Bucephalus. Even the horse of the King of Conquerors became an Heroic Spirit.

Apart from shock and admiration, everyone was speechless. Even Archer, who also possessed a rank EX Noble Phantasm, was utterly silent after seeing such a radiant army.

These heroes rode alongside their king on the battlefield; their wager, like the king’s, was the king’s dream.

Not even death could stop their ending loyalty. The King of Conquerors turned it into a fitting Noble Phantasm.

Saber was shaken to her core. It wasn’t the strength of the Noble Phantasm that she was afraid of, it was the fact that such a Noble Phantasm had de-stabilized her beliefs. It shook the beliefs that she held in pride.

This flawless cooperation…

This bond with subjects that became a Noble Phantasm...

It was something that the idealistic King of Knights pursued for her whole life, yet even to the end, it was something she could not obtain.

“The King - lives to the fullest!! He needs to live more fully than anyone else! He is a figure of admiration to his people!!”

Rider’s voice boomed as he sat atop his beloved steed. The Heroic Spirits began smashing their weapons against their shields, shouting in unison.

“He gathered the will of every courageous being! He marched toward that dream and began his long conquest! That is our king! Thus-”

“The King is never lonesome! For his wishes are our wishes!”

"Indeed! Indeed! Indeed!"

The majestic cries of the Heroic Spirits pierced the heavens and flew among the stars. No matter what they faced – enemy or fortress, it was powerless before the King of Conquerors and his loyal friends. Such was their spirit they could cross the earth. With this spirit, they could split the very oceans.

And thus, the Assassins standing before them was as insignificant as clouds.

“Alright, Assassin. Let us begin.”

Rider's smiling eyes were full of ruthlessness and cruelty. To someone who ignored the king’s words and declined the king’s gift, he no longer cared to hold back.

“As you can see, my preferred battlefield is the plains. Sorry, but if it's about winning by numbers, I believe I have the advantage?"

The hundred faces among the Hassans had forgotten about the Holy Grail at this moment. Forgetting victory and the mission of the Command Seal, they had already lost sense of themselves as a Servant.

Some ran away, while some screamed fruitlessly. Some others stood dumbly on their spots. The panicked mob of skull masks were indeed just a group of rabble.

“Trample them!!"

Rider commanded without hesitation.

"AAAALaLaLaLaLaie!"

The collective roar of the Ionian Hetairoi echoed in response. The peerless army that once swept across continents once again thundered across the battlefield.

This was no longer a battle. It was a massacre.

The results of using a mill to grind a sesame seed would yield more response.

Wherever the Ionian Hetairoi rode, there was not a trace of Assassins remaining. Only a faint, faint smell of blood and some dust that was swept away remained in the air.

“WOOOOOOOAAAAAA!”

With a cheer of victory, the warriors gave dedications and praise to the king. Soon, with their mission completed, they returned to spirit form and disappeared into the distance.

And as such, the bounded field generated by these heroes also disappeared. Everyone vanished as if a bubble had been popped. The scene returned to the night air. The people present once again stood in the courtyard of the Einsbern castle.

The white, clear moonlight was silent. There was nothing in the night air.

The three Servants and two magi returned to their previous seats, raising their cups once more. The ladle – sliced to bits by the dirk – stood as a testimony to all that happened.

“—How disappointing.”

As if nothing had happened, Rider quietly murmured to himself as he finished the wine in his cup. Saber said nothing, and Archer smirked with the slightest hint of an unsatisfied expression. 　

“Indeed, no matter how weak the mongrels, it must have been quite the effort for you, the king, to take down this many, mm? Rider, you’re really a thorn in my eyes.”

“Of course, let’s get this straight, no matter what, we shall have a match to see which one of us is better.”

Not offended in the least, Rider smiled as he stood up.

왕은 고독한가?

그렇지 않다. 그 위대한 의지는, 모든 인민들의 의지의 총합이기 때문이다.

간지쩌는 라이더성님