Army of the King.
Rider's ultimate trump card, a powerful Reality Marble forged from the shared wish of tens of thousands of soldiers.
Its Noble Phantasm rank was EX, a special rating that was sometimes stronger than the highest rank, A, and sometimes comparable to the lowest rank, E. It was filled with uncertainty.
At this moment, the battlefield and army manifested from a landscape of the mind displayed the immense power of this Noble Phantasm.
Rider stood at the very front of the army, facing the tens of thousands of troops. He raised the blade in his hand high and shouted, "My most esteemed comrades!"
His voice rang out like a great bell, echoing across the entire plain.
What answered him was an even more vast roar—
"Roar!!!"
The impassioned cries of tens of thousands surged in wave after wave, making the earth tremble. Standing atop the chariot, Waver could not help joining in, howling loudly with the same excitement.
Rider laughed heartily and swung his blade sharply. The army of tens of thousands fell silent in an instant.
He turned around with fiery enthusiasm, pointed toward the tiny black speck several kilometers away, and shouted, "Comrades, our enemy is the foremost knight of the Knights of the Round Table, a warrior unmatched by ten thousand men!"
"Roar!!!"
Tens of thousands of spears rose at once, as though declaring that their army was no less formidable.
Rider threw back his head and laughed. "That's right, my most esteemed comrades! Today, let us fight side by side once more and show the world the greatest strength of our empire!!!"
"Roar!!!!"
The most thunderous roar yet erupted, shaking sand and dust into the air.
Amid the howling gale, Rider flicked the reins, and the chariot slowly moved forward.
The massive army behind him swiftly advanced, soon overtaking him and forming the most magnificent and dazzling Macedonian battle formation ahead.
"Comrades, follow your king and slaughter the enemy!!!"
The earth shook violently as tens of thousands of troops charged forth at once. Warhorses neighed, cavalry led the charge, and infantry followed close behind.
They said that once numbers reached ten thousand, they covered the sky and earth. Much less an army formation made up of tens of thousands—viewed from afar, it was a vast black mass like storm clouds before a downpour, carrying an aura that threatened to swallow the enemy whole.
Faced with such an army, anyone would feel fear. Faced with such a powerful opponent, anyone would offer respect.
An army was precisely such a violent and powerful existence.
Yet Shiki, high in the sky, remained perfectly calm as he watched the army below.
There was no denying that Rider's Noble Phantasm was truly powerful and immensely intimidating to any enemy. Even Lancelot, a warrior unmatched by ten thousand men, was no exception. After all, quantity really could sometimes crush quality.
At last, the battlefield below clashed at close quarters.
The Black Knight was the first to collide head-on with nearly ten thousand cavalrymen.
The Demon Sword swept through the air, and the first enemies to charge him were instantly cut in half.
But before he could strike at the second enemy, the cavalrymen's spears from the side had already stabbed toward him.
The Black Knight dodged aside, only for even more lances to come at him.
These attacks posed little threat to the Black Knight, but if he did not want to be trapped, he could only retreat. Once he opened up some distance, more cavalry surrounded him from all sides. Here, sheer numbers became their greatest advantage.
Violent magical energy rapidly gathered on the Demon Sword as the Black Knight unleashed his Noble Phantasm without chanting.
"Boom!!!"
Sand was hurled high into the air, and dozens of cavalrymen within the Demon Sword's slashing range were severed at the waist.
But compared to nearly ten thousand cavalrymen, such losses were utterly insignificant.
After clearing out an area, the Black Knight did not dare linger for even a moment and immediately flashed away. Right afterward, the spot where he had stood was pierced by hundreds of flying spears, turning it into something like a hedgehog.
At this moment, the Black Knight's heart was as calm as Shiki's.
In terms of parameters such as strength and endurance, these cavalrymen were extremely weak, belonging to the lowest rank.
Yet with their overwhelming numbers, they could still threaten the Black Knight.
This was vastly different from the Noble Phantasms projected by Archer. Archer's Noble Phantasms mostly attacked in straight lines and were relatively easy to evade, while these cavalrymen had not only minds but combat skills as well, making them much harder for the Black Knight to dodge.
The Black Knight felt no fear. He swung the Demon Sword with all his might, and one enemy after another fell before him.
His immense strength, agility, and endurance gave him the power to break through the cavalry's lines. Inevitably, however, his speed of movement was dragged down.
Fighting an army was far more troublesome than dueling a powerful enemy alone.
"Boom!!!!"
The Black Knight unleashed his Noble Phantasm without chanting for the second time, clearing out another section of cavalry. This was already the two hundred and thirty-third enemy he had slain.
But he knew clearly, It is still far from enough!
More than two hundred men were merely a drop in the ocean compared to an army of fifty thousand.
The battle continued for a long time, and the Black Knight had already consumed nearly a tenth of his magical energy.
Although his existence was maintained by his Master's magical energy, and the Saintess was supporting him, allowing his magical energy to recover rapidly, he also realized that if he faced such an army alone, defeat would be inevitable.
Fighting Rider without a powerful anti-army Noble Phantasm was simply courting death.
He could suppress Archer and defeat a powerful enemy like Lancer, but that did not mean he could easily triumph against an army. Combat compatibility was displayed here in the clearest possible way.
Though the army was not as fast as the Black Knight, the cavalry's delaying tactics still brought him into battle with the infantry.
With a boom, shields proved utterly incapable of withstanding the Black Knight's Demon Sword. Spears were easily cut apart, and infantrymen were slain by the Demon Sword.
Yet more infantrymen surged toward him like madmen, as though they intended to drag the Black Knight to death alive, utterly disregarding their own safety.
Amid the densely packed infantry, the Black Knight once again unleashed his Noble Phantasm without chanting. This time, its destructive power was far greater than among the cavalrymen, and no fewer than a hundred infantrymen vanished beneath the blow.
Just as the Black Knight prepared to press the attack, a chariot charged at him from the side.
Rider stood atop the chariot, wielding his blade and unleashing the power of his Noble Phantasm, sending arcs of lightning flying.
"Lancelot!!!"
The furious roar raced through the desert alongside the current, striking the Black Knight and blasting him far away.
Rider roared as he drove the Divine Bull Chariot after the Black Knight. The power of this chariot Noble Phantasm was far greater than the army's weapons.
"A-la-la-la-la!!!"
Hundreds of flying spears attacked alongside Rider, rushing toward the Black Knight who had just climbed back to his feet.
Faced with such a wide-ranging attack, the Black Knight swung his Demon Sword and once again unleashed his Noble Phantasm without chanting, blowing all the weapons away. Yet he failed to harm Rider on the chariot; the distance was still a little too great.
The army was not foolish. When one barrage of flying spears failed, another immediately followed.
As long as they could make the Black Knight consume more magical energy, they would not hesitate even if every one of them died.
This was the embodiment of a numerical advantage. A warrior unmatched by ten thousand men was, in the end, still a rarity among those capable of facing an army of ten thousand head-on, and the Black Knight was not among them.
"Perhaps, in my current state, if I could switch to the Saber class, then with the power to use my Noble Phantasm infinitely, I might be able to deal with Rider."
Lancelot's heart was filled with regret. The restrictions of the Berserker class were simply too severe.
"However, I can still endure. I must reduce the army's numbers as much as possible for my Master. That is what I should do now!!!"
The Black Knight straightened his chest once more and charged without hesitation toward the tens of thousands of troops.
"Lancelot!!!"
The chariot and the Black Knight collided heavily.
"Boom!!!!"
Sand and dust surged high into the sky. The battle continued; it was far from over.
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