A World Where Heaven and Earth Vie for Supremacy

Very well, damn Merlin...

How dare she play me for a fool? What do you mean she'll understand everything after watching it? This is clearly handing over all the work to me.

Thinking of this, Rovey sighed helplessly, but since he had already come this far, he had no intention of abandoning them.

"Hey, Saber, actually, the problem isn't with your wish. After all, everyone has regrets in their life, and things that make them feel remorseful, which is why they yearn for a miracle to make up for those regrets. You're just too deeply trapped and haven't been able to get out."

Rovey calmly said, "The King of Conquerors does not intend to use the Holy Grail to return to his own era and start conquering again, but focuses on the present. The King of Heroes does not intend to use the Holy Grail to resurrect his deceased best friend. Similarly, Scáthach will not use the Holy Grail to wish for death. They are not bound by their past selves. In this Holy Grail War, only you have not been able to get out of it."

"... You mean my wish wasn't wrong?"

Looking at Rovey, who had completely transformed into a spiritual mentor, Artoria asked a question.

"There's nothing wrong with that, but only for you. After all, everyone wants to make up for regrets. The only mistake is that you've already done your best, so there's nothing left to make up for."

"As your spiritual mentor, let me give you a suggestion. You are currently in a state of being half-dead, which means you are on the way to returning the Holy Sword, right? In that case, after you return to your own era, don't rush to return the Holy Sword and wait for death. Instead, take the Holy Sword and travel around the world. You can go to Rome, Egypt, India, or even the East. Travel to different countries and see the rise and fall of different dynasties."

"The longer you live, the more you see. I believe that the different customs and cultures of this world, as well as many completely different things, will give you different experiences and insights. When you truly understand or get tired of it, then return the Holy Sword."

"Working for the Counter Force is actually the stupidest thing to do. The heartless boss Alaya has ripped off all those fine young people who became his guardians. So, enjoy your life to the fullest. Your first half of life belongs to Britannia, but your second half should be for yourself."

As he finished speaking, Rovey stood up and dusted off his clothes.

Then she threw the Golden Sword and the Excalibur together in front of Artoria, letting her make her own choice. She then left with Scáthach, who had listened to the entire lesson with a thoughtful expression, leaving Artoria sitting there alone, quietly waiting to disappear.

"Hey, Master, I just realized you're quite the charmer when it comes to bewitching people." Scáthach, who had been waiting for a long time, raised an eyebrow at Rovey upon his return and teased him.

"Your mouth is probably no less powerful than that of the devil who tempts people to fall."

"What do you mean by bewitching people? How is that related to the devil? I'm clearly a spiritual mentor, okay?"

"..."

Scáthach didn't answer, she just looked at him calmly.

"But is that all you're going to do? Why not just end it here?" Scáthach glanced at the distraught Artoria and continued, "Or perhaps try to comfort her a little more?"

"Come on, she's much older than me. Even though the King of Conquerors always calls her 'little girl,' she's almost forty, older than all of us."

"Since you're all grown up, you might just be a bit stubborn, but you're not really naive. It would be impolite to continue."

Rovey pulled out the staff he had gotten from Merlin, then unceremoniously hoisted it onto his shoulder and looked up at the night sky.

At that moment, a shooting star quietly streaked across his head.

He made a silent wish in his heart, and then left with Scáthach.

Meanwhile, Saber, still amidst the ruins, gazes at the pure white figure on the golden sword, silently reaching out her finger to touch it.

"To start the second half of my life anew, to embark on an final journey..."

"This does seem like a good option."

She murmured to herself, then raised her head and looked up at the endless sky.

Chapter 75 The World of Heaven and Earth Struggle for Supremacy (6,500 words)

The night was already deep.

This battle that transcends time and space is now coming to an end.

It wasn't just a battle between the King of Knights and the Magus.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the battlefield...

After Kirei Kotomine and Matou Zouken ran off to some unknown place and engaged in a fierce battle.

"Assemble here, my army—!!"

With a resounding roar from the King of Conquerors, terrifying magical power erupted, engulfing the area where everyone was. The next moment, the world around them changed. The pitch-black night and the dense forest vanished, replaced by a sandstorm and a vast army seemingly capable of ravaging the heavens and earth.

In the blink of an eye, in a world of endless yellow sand, countless battles raged.

Accompanied by a resounding battle cry, a vast army slowly emerged from the horizon of the yellow sand.

In the desert, the scorching wind whipped across their faces, and the blazing sun beat down relentlessly on Kenneth and Weber, leaving them drenched in sweat.

However, at this moment, what terrified Kenneth even more than the extremely harsh weather was the terrifying and awe-inspiring Ionian Hetairoi behind him. The vast, terrifying army was marching towards them in a mighty, unstoppable force.

Iskandar, who had been standing beside them, had somehow moved to the front of the army. He gripped the reins tightly and drove his Gordius Wheel at the front, guiding his troops forward like a compass through the vast, sandy world.

"I am Iskandar, the King of Conquerors! Warriors gathered under my banner! Now is the time to demonstrate our kingly way! Tell me, what is conquest?!"

Immediately afterwards, Iskandar, who was standing at the very front, suddenly stopped the wheels, then drew the Cypros sword hanging at his waist, a symbol of conquest and victory, and let out a resounding question and shout.

The loud voice startled Kenneth and Weber. They looked closely and saw that Iskandar was no longer the idiot he had been when they were together. His original roughness was now completely covered by his domineering aura.

At this moment, he resembled a victorious general commanding thousands of troops, leading his army to march across this land, and indeed, that was the case...

The King of Conquerors signifies conquest.

Unlike those hereditary kings who inherit the throne through the blessings of their ancestors, Iskandar's life was filled with death, slaughter, and conquest. His feet trod the flames of war, his hands gripped destruction, and his path was unstoppable from beginning to end. For him, it was a path of war and dominance leading to conquest.

Everything he has is not given to him by anyone; he has earned it all through his own hard work. He started from nothing, conquered everything, and ruled over all until he became a king. This is his way of conquering.

At this moment, the endless army and warhorses that appeared behind him were the warriors who shared the same ambition and had been with him all the way.

Faced with Iskandar's questioning, they raised their weapons and followed his steps, shouting as they advanced.

"The best course is to conquer the whole country, the next best is to destroy it, and the last best is to conquer it!"

"The best course is to conquer the entire nation, followed by destroying it, and then there is conquest!"

The soldiers marched in perfect unison, their voices shattering the heavens and earth.

Their wills were aligned, and together they sang the praises of the kingly way and the true meaning of conquest.

"Is this what he calls the way of the king?"

Kenneth was completely shocked by the scene before him. Although he had been pulled in by Iskandar once before to avoid Emiya Kiritsugu's bombing, the rush of that time prevented him from witnessing the full view of this desert world.

This time, when he saw the Macedonian army that had once traversed this desert, even he, who was usually arrogant, was so shocked by its imposing presence that he involuntarily took several steps back.

Just like the feeling Weber had when he first entered and faced this scene, a sense of vastness and immensity, and of humanity's insignificance, and of who truly controls destiny, enveloped his ordinary heart, and for a moment, his heart was filled with surging emotions.

Is this the complete view of Iskandar's Reality Marble, also known as the "Ionian Hetairoi"?

Such a magnificent world, such unimaginable miracles, are now being performed by a Rider who knows absolutely nothing about Magecraft.

"Hahahahahaha—!!" Hearing the soldiers' response, Iskandar laughed loudly, "My warriors!!"

Tell me, where is our ultimate realm located?!

There was no time to concern himself with Kenneth's feelings. The towering Iskandar stood atop his chariot, raising his sword and pointing it directly at the heavens. He once again roared from the depths of his soul, "What do we seek—?!"

"The Sea at the End of the World!"

"The End of the Sea!!"

"The Sea at the End of the World—!!!"

At this moment, every soldier present moved in perfect unison, their wills resonating. They raised their weapons, shouting the name they had chased in life, their eyes filled with fervor as they looked at Iskandar standing before them. The resounding voices seemed to shake the entire desert landscape.

This place is a mental world constructed by King of Conquerors the Iskandar and his former warriors. It is a manifestation of Noble Phantasm of overriding reality and distorting the world, and it is also his trump card that he is proud of.

Iskandar believed that as long as he stood once again with the soldiers who had helped him create his empire, he would conquer whatever lay ahead, whether it be the abyss or the stars!

"This is the King of Conquerors's trump card, such a magnificent Reality Marble... Amazing, truly amazing..."

Even Fionn mac Cumhaill McCool, who lived in the Age of Gods, experienced countless battles, and witnessed the miracles of the gods, was deeply moved when he saw this terrifying army that seemed to swallow the land whole.

If we're talking about heroes with immense personal strength, he's seen countless like them in his life.

His knightly order, and himself, were all such figures—heroes capable of taking on a thousand men single-handedly.

But this was the first time I had ever seen a scene like Iskandar's, where he raised his arm and summoned an army of ten thousand men, so perfectly aligned, with their will reaching the heavens and their shouts shaking the firmament.

Whether it was him, King Arthur, or Queen Scáthach, the great deeds created by the King of Heroes were all imbued with a magical quality and divine influence, because the deeds they created were not merely human deeds, but divine deeds.

He and Scáthach killed gods, Gilgamesh King Arthur was a descendant of dragons, a mysterious favorite. Their deeds were not only human deeds, but also contained a considerable magical element.

And what about Iskandar in front of us?

His great achievements, along with the magnificent army behind him, are the work of man, not a legacy of the Age of Gods or a blessing from the gods, but the work of man that he himself created.

He led his army across the most chaotic central region, unifying the entire Greece territory. He then marched towards the Middle East, conquering the Egypt Empire, then the Persian Empire, and finally his army reached Mesopotamia in India, creating such a magnificent epic.

This is a great achievement accomplished by humankind, not created by the hands of the gods, and its merits are enough to awe the gods.

And at this moment, in this mental world known as the Reality Marble, this great achievement reappeared before their eyes.

Now, the epic unfolds once more!

Seeing this scene, witnessing such a magnificent spectacle, and seeing the army that had once swept across the world, even he and Lancelot beside him couldn't help but feel their hearts surge with emotion.

"Arrrrrrrrr——!!"

Feeling the boundless fighting spirit emanating from this army, Lancelot couldn't help but let out an incredibly exhilarating battle cry. He was almost unable to wait to join this army and begin his own battle.

"Haha, Berserker, you can't contain your fighting spirit anymore? Very well! I can feel your determination!!"

Hearing Lancelot's loud battle cry, Iskandar, who was leading his army in Gordius Wheel, also felt the emotion he was conveying and couldn't help but laugh heartily.

He then proudly looked at Fionn mac Cumhaill, who was also feeling sentimental, and began to proudly show off his Noble Phantasm, displaying the powerful Noble Phantasm that he and his companions had built together.

"See that? Fionn mac Cumhaill, Lemon Head, Lancelot, and, Weber—!!"

"This is my most precious treasure, my kingly way and pursuit, and also the strongest and most prized Noble Phantasm of Iskandar, the King of Conquerors— "

"—The Ionian Hetairoi!!"

Iskandar raised his arm, and the warriors behind him immediately raised their weapons and shouted Iskandar's name.

"King of Conquerors!"

"King of Conquerors!!"

"The King of Conquerors!!!"

Tens of thousands of Heroic Spirit soldiers shouted in unison, those wielding spears pounding the ground with the butts of their spears, while those with swords and shields clashed them together with a thunderous clang.

Honestly, Fionn mac Cumhaill couldn't help but feel a little envious watching this scene.

There was a time when he dreamed of being able to reunite with his partners and create such a scene together.

He bit his finger, his eyes suddenly lighting up. He glanced at Iskandar before him, then surveyed the incredibly imposing army, seemingly understanding something. He couldn't help but exclaim in admiration:

"Truly remarkable, King of Conquerors. As expected of the Noble Phantasm you called your trump card, are they all Heroic Spirit after all?"

At this moment, Fionn mac Cumhaill had already figured out the trick to this Noble Phantasm.

The soldiers appearing in this Reality Marble called the Ionian Hetairoi are not just ordinary people; they are all outstanding warriors from history, and some of them are even true heroes who have created their own legends.

This means that...

They are not low-purity things like phantoms or puppets, but heroic Heroic Spirit just like themselves. However, unlike others, these Heroic Spirit soldiers did not respond to the constraints of the Wheel of Restraint. They simply heard the call from the kings of the past and returned to this battlefield where they once appeared.

The King of Conquerors then jumped off the chariot, tossed Kenneth and Weber, who were not particularly combat-capable, onto it, and ordered a young man with short, white hair to protect them.

"Ptolemy, I'll leave my Master and Lemon Head in your care for now. Next, I'm going to have a showdown with that King of Heroes!"

With that, Iskandar mounted a black horse and turned his gaze toward the King of Heroes, who was thousands of meters away, arms crossed, coldly watching them.

"Yes, Your Majesty." Upon hearing this, the white-haired youth named Ptolemy readily nodded, then leaped onto the Gordius Wheel, taking Iskandar's place in wielding this glorious and powerful Noble Phantasm.

"Ptolemy... Ptolemy I?"

Kenneth and Weber were slightly taken aback when they heard the name, as they were naturally familiar with it.

After all, he was a figure whose fame was in no way inferior to Iskandar's, and he was the founder of the Ptolemy dynasty.

And what's truly shocking goes far beyond what's currently being discussed.

After all, those who could gather around him were all talented enough to become Heroic Spirit.

The warriors gathered under the King of Conquerors's command are all exceptional heroes, like...

Before me stood Ptolemy, and his seven legendary attendants, all renowned figures. Without exception, each of them could be summoned individually, yet they were all gathered together now.

At this moment, Kenneth had a new assessment of the King of Conquerors's strength.

Who knows, this rough and reckless guy might actually be the strongest being in this Holy Grail War...