BAMN: Chapter 113/114

Chapter 113: The Best Stage, Ionioi Hetairoi

"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.)

Chapter 114: Otherworldly Shock

"Is this your path of kingship?"

If anyone was shocked by the scene before them, it was undoubtedly Artoria.

She was not afraid of the power of Iskandar's Noble Phantasm.

Rather, it was because this Noble Phantasm itself had already shaken the very foundation of her honor as the King of Knights.

Unadulterated and wholehearted support.

The profound and boundless emotional bond with subjects, reaching even the realm of a Noble Phantasm.

As an ideal King, this was a Noble Phantasm the King of Knights could never obtain throughout her life until the very end.

'If only, if only I could also...'

Artoria thought of her own Knights of the Round Table.

She was not without followers.

But compared to Iskandar, she couldn't even unite her subordinates.

"The so-called King!"

As if responding to Artoria, Iskandar roared: "Refers to one who lives more freely than anyone else, a figure whom all revere!"

The rows of mounted Heroic Spirits echoed his words, striking their shields in unison and cheering.

"One who embodies the aspirations of all brave warriors, standing proudly as an example, is a King."

"Therefore!"

Filled with overwhelming confidence and pride, Iskandar, though standing below, seemed to be at the highest point, looking down upon all Heroic Spirits.

"A king is not alone."

"For his will equals that of all his followers combined!"

"Yes! Yes! Yes!"

The Heroic Spirits' unified roar shook the entire battlefield.

No matter how powerful an army or how thick a city wall, they could not withstand Iskandar's comrades, their surging battle intent was enough to cleave heaven and earth.

"Charge!!!"

"Show your path of kingship before me and my heroes!"

"Oh Demon King from another world!!"

'That's right!'

Perhaps Iskandar's Ionioi Hetairoi was simply too shocking.

Artoria suddenly realized.

Rin also possessed the power to summon strange Servants.

Before, she didn't understand how he did it.

But now...

With Iskandar setting the precedent, the existence of Shion and Ice Empress found a reasonable explanation.

"Indeed, a captivating declaration, Iskandar."

Rin still stood alone on the other side of the desert.

However, his voice reached everyone's ears without delay.

Especially Iskandar, his declared opponent.

"I must thank you."

Rin slowly raised his right hand, then clenched it: "Thank you for providing me with such a magnificent stage."

"Crack!"

As Rin's words fell.

A sound of shattering glass came from above everyone's heads.

"What?"

The sky, it cracked.

This phenomenon startled Iskandar.

He wanted to repair the Bounded Field, but found that the Bounded Field didn't need repairing at all.

"What's going on?"

"Crack, crack crack crack~"

Even though the Bounded Field was undamaged, the spatial cracks grew more numerous and larger.

"Bang!"

Finally, after a crisp shattering sound, a large amount of crystal-clear snowflakes fell from the sky, instantly covering the boundless hot desert.

"Snow?"

"It's snowing?"

However, before everyone could express their surprise, more changes appeared before their eyes.

The desert churned, thick tree roots broke through the earth, shooting skyward.

Green shoots sprouted from the tree roots, and in the blink of an eye, the color of life covered the entire desert.

"Boom!"

Yet, it wasn't over!

Flames surged, sand dunes began to melt, and a volcano spewing thick smoke rose from the distant ground.

There was also strong wind, sudden rain, thunder, shadows...

All sorts of different, even contradictory, magical attributes suddenly appeared within Iskandar's Bounded Field.

Then, they bloomed like flowers on someone else's territory.

"Crack! Bang!!"

Behind Rin, a slender, delicate jade hand swept across, violently shattering the endless desert landscape.

"Crack crack crack crack~"

This crack did not stop there, but extended to both sides.

This scene was as if someone had torn the distant heaven and earth in half with some great power, splitting it into two!

"How, how amazing."

"Are these the opponents Rin-sama encountered in the other world?"

At the same time, in the Ogre village of the Cardinal World, all the residents were looking up, gazing at the scene of another world reflected in the sky.

When Iskandar displayed his Bounded Field, not only were Artoria and the others deeply shaken, but even the monsters from the other world felt the heroic spirit of warriors from an ancient era.

It was admirable and inspiring.

Though in different worlds, their hearts resonated with this loyalty.

"Thump, thump, thump!"

Within the Bounded Field, from the shattered spatial rift behind Rin, figures surged out like a tide from that dark world, then spontaneously gathered around Rin, forming thousand-man phalanxes.

"The enemy's numbers exceed 30,000!"

"Every single one of them possesses combat power no weaker than a C-rank Heroic Spirit, and among them are elites comparable to B-rank, and even peerless heroes on par with A-rank!"

5,000 Goblins versus 30,000 C-rank Heroic Spirits—our side is clearly at a disadvantage.

But!

He also possesses an advantage that Iskandar does not!

"Rumble~"

The ground began to shake, and the first to change was the distant volcano.

A colossal creature stepped out from within it.

It was fifty meters tall, covered in sharp, crimson fur, with lava flowing across its body like veins, pulsating like a heart. This was Homura, one of the Eighteen Wolf Guards personally named by Rin!

And behind it, dozens of equally massive wolves brought unprecedented pressure to Iskandar's army!

"Woosh~"

A long wolf howl, and the sun, high in the sky, suddenly had a piece missing.

Darkness began to descend.

The biting cold wind, Yukina through the ice, like Fenrir, the giant wolf from Norse mythology, its scarlet beast eyes greedily gazing at the heroes from ancient times.

"Another one!"

Looking at these continuously appearing ancient beasts, Artoria had no reaction, but Gilgamesh's expression grew increasingly grim.

As a Heroic Spirit from the Age of Gods, Gilgamesh understood the terror of divine beasts and demonic beasts better than Artoria.

(To be continued.)