The sand rolled, the water rippled, laughing and drifting free

On the ancient battlefield where sand and stones fly, the war belonging to the kings continues.

The once invincible army that swept across three continents —Eurasia and Africa— was now reduced to a few remnants. Their hands, which once wielded weapons, were now weak; their steps in following the king's had become hesitant; and their eyes, fixed on their target, were now blurred.

But their morale remained high, their shouts never waned, their charge never faltered, and their flags still flew high.

Because they have not yet failed, their expedition is not yet over, and their king is still guiding them ahead.

Moreover, their enemy is not as invincible as it was at the beginning.

The golden armor had lost its luster; it bore marks from weapon clashes and dust stains, but more often, it was covered in bloodstains that had been splattered there at some unknown time.

Even the treasures stored behind the Gate of Babylon could hardly remain intact under the fierce attack of the conquerors' army, which had been transformed into Heroic Spirit. Surprisingly, Archer, who should have been furious at the defilement of his Noble Phantasm —especially the armor he wore—did not care about this at all.

Is it because, in his eyes, the blood of those soldiers who fought to the death for their lord and were ultimately killed is not considered a stain, or is he simply too preoccupied to care about such things now?

The oxcart, treading on Divine Thunder, circled tirelessly in the sky—unlike soldiers, the oxen pulling the cart were themselves phantom beasts or even higher beings, and fatigue was a completely foreign concept to them—in the recent battle, the one who left the most sword marks on the arhcer's golden armor was none other than the rider holding the reins of the chariot.

Although the number of soldiers who used their comrades' bodies as shields to pass through the overwhelming rain of swords was large, none of them were a match for Archer. Moreover, at close range, the attacks of Gate of Babylon were not limited to the horizontal barrage of bullets. Portals connecting to other dimensions appeared from all directions: behind, above, and below. Legendary weapons poured in from multiple angles, clearing out Archer's surroundings in an instant—and then in the next instant, he was surrounded by a tidal wave of soldiers again.

Beyond this cycle lies the Rider himself, commanding the vast army. Thanks to the deep bond between him and his soldiers, even knowing they were being sent to their deaths, no one complained. They roared the names of Ares and their king as battle cries, surging forward relentlessly towards the enemy and towards death.

In the brief moment when Archer is trapped by the soldiers, Rider's chariot will charge down from the sky, bypassing the "Chains of Heaven" and striking Archer with lightning. The pure gold armor (①) becomes a burden to its master at this time, because of gold's excellent conductivity. After repeated strikes, the damage Archer suffers reaches a point that cannot be ignored.

If this cycle continues indefinitely, the ultimate victor in this brutal war of attrition should be Rider—but that premise is not so easy to maintain.

Gradually, the army surrounding Archer began to dwindle—the difference in strength between the two EX-rank Noble Phantasm finally became apparent in the war of attrition. The King's army was incredibly fierce, but the mana consumed to maintain those Heroic Spirit warriors was naturally much less than the mana consumed to simply launch the Noble Phantasm. Moreover, even if morale remained high, soldiers would eventually tire and die. The Noble Phantasm in the Gate of Babylon were all treasures recognized by the world, possessing a mystique, making them extremely difficult to damage. Furthermore, the launched Noble Phantasm would return to the Treasury after a period of time.

In a short battle, both "Army of the King" and "Gate of Babylon" may be able to exert similar power, but when the battle reaches this point, the treasure of the King of Heroes is indeed superior.

Rider, who was surveying the entire situation from high above, also realized his predicament. After a moment's thought, he ordered the soldiers to retreat.

"Well, Rider, do you now know which one is the true 'King's Noble Phantasm' —my collection or your army?" Seeing the soldiers surrounding him retreat, Arhcer stopped attacking and instead taunted Rider.

"Hahahaha, it seems you are indeed a little bit stronger!" The red-haired giant readily admitted his shortcomings, but he emphasized the word "a little bit," and this childish, competitive spirit made him even more humane.

"However," Rider changed the subject, "That's precisely why I want to conquer it even more!"

"Oh, so how will you conquer him?" Arhcer wasn't annoyed; instead, he asked curiously—he was also secretly hoping that Rider could bring him some more pleasure.

"The king must set the direction for the people!" Riker turned the Gordius Wheel around, facing Archer directly. "I was forced by circumstances to resort to a life-or-death tactic just now. Now that you are not at your full strength, I will challenge you myself!"

Oh! Oh! Oh!

The remaining few soldiers mustered their last bit of strength and shouted loudly to cheer for Rider.

"Hmph," Archer snorted coldly, "Rider, you must understand. I held back earlier because you said you wanted to compare my treasure with your army. But if you take this to the level of challenging my concept, my judgment against madmen who offend the dignity of a king is never merciful."

"Just what I wanted!" Rider's chariot charged again. "You were holding back even then! I'm increasingly eager to see your full power—if my army could gain such a powerful ally as you, then conquering to the ends of the earth wouldn't be a dream!"

Facing the chariot charging towards him, Archer made no move to dodge. He simply waved his left hand, and a huge portal appeared behind him. What flew out of it was not swords, spears, or halberds, but a winged throne made of emerald and gold— Vimana!

"I only condescended to stand on the ground to fight your army head-on. Now, Rider, I will make you understand that even the sky is my domain!"

--------------Almost simultaneously------------------

The battle at the Tohsaka Residence is nearing its end.

"Kariya Matou," Tokiomi Tohsaka addressed his opponent by name for the first time, a sign of respect for him, "You truly—"

"Enough with the nonsense, Tokiomi!" This show of respect was met with ingratitude. "If you're just trying to boast about your victory, you're doing it too early!"

Tokiomi was annoyed by the rude interruption, but he held back for the sake of elegance.

"Was the Magecraft you used specially developed by your Matou Family to train Sakura?"

Since Sakura had been mentioned, Yanye couldn't continue with his harsh words. "That's right, as her biological father, you know what kind of qualities Sakura possesses, don't you?"

"Yes," the Imaginary Element —Shadow—possesses a rare and exceptional talent, but it doesn't align with the Tohsaka Family's expertise in barriers and elemental Magecraft. "So, in other words, if Sakura were to use it, she would demonstrate even greater skill than you, right?"

Tokiomi Tohsaka knew that Kariya Matou had considerable Magecraft talent, but had not received systematic Magecraft training. The fact that Kariya, at this level, could fight him to a standstill was due to the Magecraft system he was currently using.

Even Tokiomi considered himself well-informed, had never heard of a similar Magecraft that manipulated shadows—in fact, he only learned a little about the existence of the Imaginary Element shadow because of Sakura—but there was no doubt that it suited Sakura perfectly. If Sakura could learn the essence of this Magecraft, it wouldn't be a dream for her to achieve the same level as her ancestor Nagato Tohsaka, and she might even create a new Magecraft School herself.

Although she was adopted into the Matou Family, she was still his own bloodline. How could Tokiomi suppress his excitement after seeing her limitless potential? Of course, whether it was more paternal love or the curiosity of Magecraft that drove him was something no one could say for sure.

That said, whatever future Tokiomi saw in this new Magecraft, one key point is that Sakura must have the opportunity to be educated—according to the intelligence they obtained, Yanye had already overthrown Zouken Matou and taken the position of head of the family at the very beginning of the Holy Grail War.

In other words, only Yanye can teach Sakura, and if he kills Yanye here, Sakura will have no teacher.

It wasn't that Tokiomi Tohsaka was worried about Sakura being left without anyone to take care of her, but rather that he was anxious because Sakura couldn't learn Magecraft and utilize her talents. This was Tokiomi Tohsaka's thought process.

At this moment, Yanye was not yet in sync with Tokiomi's thoughts. Otherwise, if he knew that Tokiomi was considering killing him, he would definitely lose his mind and charge at full speed.

"Of course," Yanye nodded, also taking the opportunity to rest for a moment. "This was originally a Magecraft trick that Sakura was supposed to use."

"So, will you teach her this Magecraft without reservation?" Tokiomi asked again.

"Why are you pretending to care about our daughter again now?" You're the one who sent her to that hell.

Answer my question first.

"Hmph, that's only natural. Sakura will inherit everything from the New Matou Family."

"Oh?" Tokiomi asked in surprise. He really hadn't expected Yanye to choose Sakura as his successor. After all, Shinji was still among the next generation of the Matou Family. Although he didn't have the talent for magic, he was still a bloodline inheritor.

According to Tokiomi's understanding, Zouken wanted to use Sakura's talent to improve the Matou Family's bloodline. Nominally, he was taking her in as an adopted daughter, but in reality, he intended for her to be a child bride—a marriage alliance with the Matou Family wasn't unacceptable to Tokiomi. But now, hearing Yanye's words, his pure Magecraft's brain calculated the following:

"Should we make Sakura the heir? The Matou Family values Sakura so much, could she be hiding some secret from me? If so, sending Sakura away in the first place seems like a mistake. At the very least, I need to figure out what potential and value she still possesses—"

Subconsciously, Tokiomi uttered those words.

Of course, he quickly realized this and stopped talking. It seemed that the mental fatigue caused by the Magecraft battle had made him slack off. Just as he was reflecting on this, suddenly, a strong spiritual pressure or aura burst out from the garden of the Tohsaka Residence.

"Tokiomi! Aa ..."

At this Kariya Matou's expression was completely distorted, because Tokiomi's words had detonated the deepest hidden storm in this man's heart.

"Are you still thinking about how to use Sakura? Do you only see her as a valuable Props? Just a means to pass on the magic? You're a father, yet you don't care at all about your daughter's happiness?"

A heart-wrenching roar, accompanied by fluctuations in magical power, forced Tokiomi to retreat.

"I got everything I'd always dreamed of, yet I didn't cherish it at all. I only did it because Aoi felt happy with you... If that's the case, then what was my motivation in the first place...? What have I been all these years...?"

Yanye was so overwhelmed with emotion that he was incoherent, his reason long gone. All his emotions erupted, a torment from all these years, the suffering Sakura had endured this past year, Aoi's pain, the conversation he overheard between Rin and Sakura—a multitude of thoughts converged, ultimately coalescing into a heartfelt, soul-stirring cry:

"It's all Tokiomi fault, Tokiomi!!!"

-----------Notes----------

① Theoretically speaking, the golden armor has no defensive function, is bulky, and makes the wearer extremely conspicuous; anyone who actually uses it would be an idiot. However, Gilgamesh's armor, being Noble Phantasm, possesses an air of mystery, so it barely qualifies as armor and is difficult to damage by ordinary attacks. However, the Gordius Wheel is also Noble Phantasm, and the Gilgamesh it generates is far more powerful, so it's very scientific... I mean, very True Magic, that it dazzled Gilgamesh wearing the golden armor.

Also: Gold is indeed a very strong conductor of electricity.

-----------ps---------

P. S. 1. Finally, Yanye said those words. All my efforts over the past year have truly been worth it.

P. S. 2. Honestly, did I really try? It's so embarrassing to say that.

P. S. 3. You guys always say my profile picture is a dog, okay, I won't complain about your eyesight anymore, I'll change it now, okay? Now it's a cat!

PS4. Anyone have some free time and want to guess what Magecraft Jizi gave to Yanye, or rather, to Sakura? It's from a very famous game, so please try to solve it based on Sakura's Magecraft attributes. If anyone guesses correctly... there might be an extra chapter! The deadline is Tuesday.

P. S. I never use WeChat. Those strange things are all Tencent's shady dealings, so please ignore them.

pspgo. Tencent has kidnapped my beloved Dian Niang... My proud and arrogant Dian Niang has finally become its advertising platform... Damn it!

PSV. So lonely... Even if you say you want to eat dog food (a Chinese idiom for being fed dog food), the book review section is still so deserted. I don't need to discuss the plot, at least let me vent!