After saying that, Artoria, standing atop a shipping container, looked toward the battlefield in the warehouse district.
On one side was Morgan's Master, Xi Jianxi.
On the other was the Servant Lancer.
The battle had not been one-sided. Before arriving here, Artoria had even thought the lightning magecraft from earlier had been cast by a Servant.
In fact, the opposite was true.
The warehouse district was covered in ice that should not have existed in this season.
Standing amid it, Xi Jianxi had several tears in his clothes but no obvious wounds. He looked somewhat disheveled.
But compared to Lancer, who was supporting his half-kneeling body with the longer Red Spear while holding the shorter Yellow Spear in a defensive stance, he was in far better shape.
Residual currents crawled across Lancer Diarmuid's body, and blackened burns marked his skin—the result of being struck directly by lightning.
When Xi Jianxi began casting the grand magecraft known as "Thunder Reign," Lancer's Master had immediately ordered him to release the seal on his Noble Phantasm.
Without the special ability of the Red Spear, Gae Buidhe, Diarmuid knew that even a Servant would not have had an easy time taking that bolt of lightning head-on.
"You can break and defend against magecraft, but you cannot completely interfere with magecraft that has already been cast... and you wield a pair of spears, one short and one long." Xi Jianxi brushed the dust from his shoulder. "And you recognize the Celtic warrior formation, Qualities of the Shallow Brook. Lancer, I already know your true name."
Lancer felt nothing about that. Once a battle reached a certain point, the danger posed by the enemy inevitably forced Noble Phantasms to be unsealed.
A Magus who had thoroughly prepared for the Holy Grail War could naturally infer Diarmuid's true name from those red and yellow Demon Spears.
More troublesome was the fact that Saber and Berserker, who had been fighting until just now, had stopped and arrived nearby to watch. From the way they stood side by side, Lancer worried that the two had reached an agreement to cooperate. That would be extremely unfavorable for him and his Master.
Just as Lancer prepared to advise his Master to retreat, Berserker suddenly summoned a weapon and threw it toward Xi Jianxi.
The weapon did not pierce Xi Jianxi's body. It merely embedded itself firmly at an angle in the hard, frozen ground.
"Borrow my weapon. Finish the battle quickly." Morgan's tone was utterly relaxed.
Lancer watched Xi Jianxi look as though he wanted to get angry but could not, then reach out, grip Morgan's weapon, and pull it free.
"Hey, hey, who exactly is the Master here—"
The Troublemaker Arrives
Besides Kiritsugu Emiya, Kirei, and Tokiomi Tohsaka's group, Rider Iskandar and his Master Waver Velvet were also seated atop a crossbeam above the Miyuen River Bridge, watching the battle from afar.
From there, they could take in not only the seaside park, but also the battle at the warehouses.
"This is bad." Iskandar's expression was grave.
"What is bad?" Waver asked, lying flat against the beam and shivering in the cold wind.
"That fellow who is probably Berserker's Master is going to win," Iskandar said. "At this rate, Lancer will be eliminated."
Waver had wanted to say that would be more advantageous for their side, but in the next moment, he was so shocked that he forgot his fear of heights. "Impossible! How could a Master defeat a Servant alone?!"
"That is why it is bad!" Iskandar's deep voice carried clearly through the night wind. "Saber and Berserker, who were fighting out at sea just now, have also stopped and headed over there. And he has even obtained the weapon Berserker lent him."
"Huh?" Waver was starting to lose track of what was happening.
"Without a weapon, he could suppress Lancer with nothing but his bare hands and magecraft. Now that he has a weapon, isn't that like giving wings to a tiger?" Iskandar laughed excitedly. "To think this era has such a fierce warrior! I wish I could take him under my command immediately and make him the foremost general in my conquest of the world!"
Meeting other Servants in the Holy Grail War, conquering them, and bringing them under his command was certainly what Iskandar desired.
But in an era where Mystery had already declined for over a thousand years, there was still a warrior comparable to those of the Age of Gods. If he wished to conquer this era, such a fierce warrior—whether enemy or capable general—was not someone he should miss.
"But weren't you planning to attack after they both suffered losses?"
"I had thought that clashing with heroes from different eras was already a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, even if it meant facing six at once. But if I can subdue useful talent before that, that too is the way of commanding troops."
A fierce, dangerous growl rose from Iskandar's throat, like the low roar of a lion, yet the upturned corners of his lips made him seem as though he were smiling.
"If they fall into a melee now and someone dies, that would be far too regrettable."
"Wouldn't death be perfect? Whether Masters or Servants, isn't the Holy Grail War all about killing each other—wah!"
Waver tried to scold Iskandar in a half-hysterical state, only to be interrupted when the latter flicked his forehead.
"Win without destroying them; rule without humiliating them. That is true 'conquest'!"
Iskandar drew the sword at his waist and slashed through empty air, cutting open space itself.
Surging magical energy poured forth, and a radiant Noble Phantasm chariot emerged with the current of mana. Waver flattened himself and desperately clung to the bridge's steel framework to keep from being swept away by the raging wind.
"The show ends here. Let's go, boy!"
"Idiot, idiot, idiot! What you are doing makes absolutely no sense!"
"Hm? If you are unhappy, stay here and watch?"
"I am going! You idiot! Take me with you!"
"Excellent, that is my Master!"
Iskandar grabbed Waver by the collar, leaped onto the Noble Phantasm chariot—Gordian Wheel—and raced toward the battlefield at the waterfront warehouses.
Meanwhile, elsewhere.
Xi Jianxi held Morgan's weapon in his hand, quietly marveling at its weight distribution. As a weapon, it was already of the highest quality.
He casually spun it one-handed, his left hand forward and his right hand drawing the spear back behind him.
A bead of sweat ran down Lancer's cheek.
With only one glance, he could tell that this young man was skilled with the spear, perhaps even proficient in archery and horsemanship.
The thought of retreating was temporarily cast aside. As a fellow spearman, Diarmuid truly wished to test the spear techniques of this age.
The fierce wind whipped at their clothes, making them snap and flutter.
"Magecraft or spear technique—which one do you want to die to, Lancer?"
"A lord forced onto the front lines by a Servant is the one who will die without a burial ground, nameless Magus."
Diarmuid returned Xi Jianxi's provocation, carefully observing the killing move that would come next while cautiously closing the distance.
He could see that Xi Jianxi excelled at rapidly casting large-scale magecraft, which must consume tremendous magical energy. Otherwise, he would not have picked up the weapon Berserker had thrown to him.
So he needed to close the distance until even if magecraft were cast, both of them would be caught in it. That would force his opponent to prioritize close combat.
What a strange weapon. Was it a spear, an axe, or a wand? Diarmuid studied the weapon and guessed inwardly.
Both sides tensed, ready to strike at any moment.
Just then, the cold, crystalline pressure was shattered by a sudden thunderous boom.
"That is!"
Artoria, observing the battlefield, looked toward the southeastern sky.
An object flashed with crisscrossing violet lightning in the night sky as it rushed from above toward Xi Jianxi and Lancer.
"A chariot?" Morgan narrowed her eyes slightly. Rider?
The chariot was pulled by two bulls. As they charged forward, their hooves ran upon empty air, violet lightning spreading like a spiderweb as booming thunder shook the atmosphere. The immense magical energy released with every blast was enough to rival the pressure Morgan and Artoria had generated when they fought.
A bull chariot capable of such an effect had to be a Noble Phantasm.
And the Servant who possessed a chariot Noble Phantasm was most likely a Rider-class Servant.
"Vacuum Wave."
Diarmuid heard the words leave Xi Jianxi's mouth. His fingers wrote through the air, and runes flashed past. A towering tornado rose at once, blocking the chariot's unavoidable path of approach.
"Woooooo—!!"
Rather than stopping, Rider snapped the reins and charged straight into the tornado.
The collision of the two forces exploded in an instant. The blast generated at the point of impact forced the observing Masters and Servants to resist with all their strength, while numerous shipping containers on both sides were overturned.
After the two forces contended briefly, the chariot scattered the tornado and stopped on the frozen road between Xi Jianxi and Diarmuid.
"Ho ho—using such a method to welcome the arrival of a king. Such courage is worthy of praise. It truly makes me even more reluctant to let you go."
Rather than becoming angry, Iskandar saw through Xi Jianxi's magecraft as a signal.
If he wanted to intervene in this battle, he would have to pay the corresponding price.
"Truly magnificent wind-controlling magecraft. Even among my retainers, I have no one with such talent." Iskandar spared no praise. "Well? Why not come under my command? I will appoint you as a court Magus, second only to me and above all others!"
"No need. It sounds like a deadly hassle..."
In stark contrast to his battle style, which killed as effortlessly as art, Xi Jianxi's attitude was remarkably lazy.
Looks like I will have to stay up late tonight, he thought.
King of Conquerors Iskandar
Rejected so decisively, Iskandar, the founder of the empire once ruled by Alexander the Great, rarely experienced the illusion of doubting his own charisma.
Of course, that illusion vanished in an instant.
Rider muttered awkwardly and rubbed his temples with a knobby fist. Though the gesture looked ninety percent ridiculous, it did nothing to diminish his imposing bearing.
He was truly someone with an exceptionally peculiar presence.
Only someone like that could stand above tens of thousands and rule an entire nation.
"Perhaps I did not explain the compensation clearly enough. Young people in this era all worry about making a living—" the King of Conquerors continued.
Xi Jianxi lightly tapped the frozen ground with Morgan's Demon Spear. "A Servant whose true name I do not even know suddenly rushes up and says he is hiring people. How am I supposed to know whether this dramatic entrance is meant to scam me out of my magical circuits and crest?"
"Hahahaha!" Iskandar burst into a hearty laugh.
Xi Jianxi ignored his laughter, slowly stepping around the chariot's obstruction to look at Lancer. Though someone had intruded, he gave off the air that it would not interfere with his battle against Lancer.
"Hmph..."
Although the arrival of a new Servant on the battlefield made Lancer wary, the pure intent Xi Jianxi conveyed toward battle made him feel pleased enough to let out a quiet chuckle.
"Both sides, put down your weapons! You now stand before the King!"
Seeing that both sides intended to ignore him and resume fighting, Rider called out unhurriedly.
The obvious intent to interfere made both Lancer and Xi Jianxi stop once more.
After all, if they truly resumed fighting, there was a Servant nearby with a Noble Phantasm already drawn. At any moment, he could drive that bull chariot over and attack.
"My name is Iskandar, King of Conquerors! I have manifested in this Holy Grail War as the Rider-class Servant!"
Everyone present was even more shocked this time. On the battlefield of the Holy Grail War, a true name was the key to defeating one's opponent. No Servant would ever reveal it themselves. Yet the most shocked of all was Waver, crouched beside Rider in the driver's seat.
"What, what are you thinking?! You idiot~~~~~~~~~!"
Overwhelmed by terror and confusion, Waver had forgotten his fear of Rider. He grabbed Rider's cloak and shrieked.
"King of Conquerors... Iskandar?" Xi Jianxi paused slightly. "Oh, Alexander the Great."
After confirming his identity, he once again held the spear in one hand behind his back and looked up at Iskandar atop the towering chariot.
"So? The renowned King of Conquerors charges into someone else's battlefield just to announce his true name and post a job listing?" Xi Jianxi could tell the other man had no clear hostility, so his attitude softened as he teased him.
Iskandar seemed somewhat embarrassed. "No, I wish to recruit more than just you. But you are a person of this era with strength no weaker than a Servant. I could not contain my desire for talent, so I asked you first."
"Haaah?" Xi Jianxi immediately let out a sigh.
"My proposal is not only for the Master here, Lancer, or Saber and Berserker watching over there! If you are interested, I welcome you all to serve under my command!" Iskandar displayed the thirst for talent unique to those heroic rulers of history.
"I cannot say what that Lancer over there will do, but I think that Saber definitely will not accept such an invitation." Xi Jianxi laughed knowingly. "As they say, kings do not meet kings. I would not think one king would submit to another without any conditions whatsoever."
"Ho ho... You already know Saber's true name? Then could you tell me—"
Iskandar was quite easygoing and had already begun humbly seeking Xi Jianxi's advice.
"Why not ask her yourself?" Xi Jianxi gave no answer.
"They say hermits are usually proud and aloof, but even my teacher Aristotle was not this difficult to communicate with." Rider muttered with feeling. As he lowered his gaze, it met Waver's eyes looking up at him from beside his feet.
"Rider—!!!!" Waver's voice had become hoarse.
First, he had rushed in for no reason. Then he had revealed his true name without warning. And now, he wanted to bring not only the other Servants, but even the other Masters under his command.
"Is that so? So it was you—"
Before you continue