"Dead? Seeing your dead friend walk out of the underworld with your own eyes, Archer, and facing his decayed body—don't you have anything to say?"
Before the others could react, Medea looked straight at the golden Heroic Spirit and spoke.
"This is all your fault! If you hadn't rejected Ishtar's proposal, if you hadn't killed the Bull of Heaven, would Enkidu have ended up buried in the underworld?"
Ishtar, the Bull of Heaven, Enkidu...
After Medea named them all, and seeing Archer's gritted-teeth expression, his true identity was plain.
The oldest king—Gilgamesh.
"Oh, I knew it! You're the only king more arrogant than me, Iskandar!"
Rider said with sudden realization. Saber nodded in understanding, too.
As the oldest "King of Heroes," Gilgamesh had every right to be arrogant.
"Woman, you are unworthy to speak my friend's name."
Archer's voice suddenly turned calm, but everyone present could sense the murderous intent hidden beneath that even tone.
"Unworthy? Who, exactly, is unworthy?"
Medea didn't seem intimidated. In fact, after seeing Archer put in his place, there was a hint of delight in her voice.
"Is it me, standing here and talking big? Or is it you, who returned home in despair after a snake stole your immortality, then threw yourself into governing your country and loving your people, only to die of overwork?"
"..."
"Are you still basking in the praise of the people? King of Heroes, has your Clairvoyance, which sees the distant future and pierces the stars, ever shown you the moment your friend died because of you? Did it show you how ugly you became after losing him? You've been numbing yourself with your work, and you still haven't realized it? Without Enkidu, you're nothing."
"Once you lost the shackles that bound you and made you great, your glory was no different from the dust shed by that snake."
Archer wore an unusual expression unlike any he'd shown before, as if he were listening, or perhaps thinking. Compared to his usual mocking expression, he seemed more... human.
"Go on, keep using those self-deceiving words to entertain yourself, Gilgamesh. Half of everything recorded in your book of accomplishments belongs to Enkidu. But the so-called path of kingship you insisted on drove the two-in-one 'King of Heroes' completely apart. Do you still think you have the right to stand here and lecture everyone?"
"Woman, I have received these words as counsel. But are you not being rather presumptuous, speaking them as though you were my subject?"
He wasn't so angry that he'd lost his reason, nor did he resort to vile mockery. Archer's tone was calm, but everyone present could clearly tell that something about him had changed.
"A subject who risks her life to offer counsel like this..."
The king's lips curled into a smile. His crimson eyes blazed with the fiercest fury, but his voice was slow, as though pronouncing a death sentence.
"Truly makes my blood surge!"
"A subject?"
Medea suddenly laughed at Archer's words.
"Your Majesty, have you still not realized? Your most loyal subjects have been standing by, ready to serve, for quite some time."
The moment she finished speaking, the strange change in the air made everyone's expression shift.
Pale, strange figures appeared at both ends of the bridge beneath the moonlight. One after another, their pallid faces bloomed across the bridge like flowers. With their stark-white skull masks and black robes, they gradually surrounded the group in the middle of the bridge.
—Assassin.
On Kirei Kotomine's orders, they had begun their final probe against the Heroic Spirits gathered there!
Please buy the first volume!
By the way, I went to defend my thesis QAQ.
If I add more chapters, it'll be tonight or tomorrow.
That's all!
Chapter 58: Ionioi Hetairoi (two chapters owed)
In an instant, countless dark figures appeared, surrounding the entire bridge. At a glance, it was impossible to tell how many there were. They all wore masks and black robes, but their builds varied. Some were hulking giants, others slender; some were as short as children, while others had the figures of women. The only things they shared were their ashen skin and bone masks. Their expressions were cold as they stared at the people present.
—Assassin.
One of the Tohsaka side's trump cards, they had always operated in the shadows, gathering intelligence for Tohsaka Tokiomi.
Kiritsugu had already told them that Assassin wasn't just the one who'd been killed at the Tohsaka estate. But when Saber and Irisviel saw the outrageous number of Assassins...
"Does that mean... we've been watched by these people this whole time?"
Irisviel murmured painfully. Saber clenched her teeth without realizing it.
To Saber, these Assassins were nothing more than a rabble relying on their numbers. If she faced them head-on, she had no chance of losing.
But—
Saber didn't think these uninvited guests who'd disrupted the banquet would refrain from attacking Irisviel, who stood behind her.
And...
Even if they were a rabble, Assassins were still a serious threat to ordinary people. Irisviel, an Einzbern homunculus capable of using first-rate Magecraft, couldn't fend them off with Magecraft alone.
The same went for the other Masters.
Yet at this urgent moment, it seemed there were still people who hadn't recognized the "crisis."
"Hey, King of Heroes, this doesn't seem like the sort of thing you'd do."
Even after hearing Medea's words, Rider still leisurely held his wine cup, ignoring Waver's frantic "What's going on?!" and "Rider, hey!" and similar cries.
He looked at Archer beside him and asked with a hearty laugh.
"Tch. This King has no interest in figuring out what those rabble are thinking."
The emotion he'd shown earlier seemed to have faded. Archer wore his usual cold sneer.
If so many Assassins had been mobilized, then this couldn't have been Kirei Kotomine's order alone. It was probably the intent of his teacher, Tohsaka Tokiomi.
Archer was growing ever more displeased with his subject's underhanded conduct.
[Causing trouble at a banquet attended by this King deserves punishment.]
Meanwhile, Wang Xiaoming, who'd been silently watching, gritted his teeth slightly and gave Medea a look. Then he did nothing further.
"Hey, hey, kid. Calm down."
Facing the panicked Waver, Rider laughed and patted him on the shoulder. "They're just a bunch of latecomers. If you lose your composure over that, it'll make your king look bad!"
Archer said impatiently, "Do you intend to invite that rabble to join us, King of Conquerors?"
"Of course! I've already said this is a grand banquet of heroes! If I refused them a seat simply because they're surrounded by a ghostly aura, then I'd be a biased king!"
Rider scooped a ladleful of wine from the barrel and called out loudly, "Come on, don't be shy! Whoever wants to join us in discussing heroes over drinks, come take this cup! It's one with your blood!"
A flying blade cut through the ladle, and red wine splashed across Rider's broad shoulder. The skull masks seemed to laugh at him mockingly.
"—Don't say I didn't warn you."
Rider's voice remained calm, but everyone present could clearly feel it—his aura had changed. The fighting spirit around him began to surge.
"I said, 'This wine' is 'your blood,' didn't I? Since you've carelessly let it spill onto the ground, then I'll just..."
Before he could finish, Rider stood up. Suddenly, a violent gale swept through.
"Take your lives without holding back!"
The scarlet cloak billowed across his shoulders. At some point, the King of Conquerors' appearance had transformed into the original battle garb of a Servant. Standing in the heart of the swirling wind, Rider spoke.
"To be honest, Iskandar lived only thirty-three years. There were so many dreams I never fulfilled, so many sights I never saw. But I yearned for them!"
The wind instantly rose to its peak, as if ready to sweep everything away. The people present instinctively narrowed their eyes.
Then, everything fell still.
When they opened their eyes, their pupils contracted.
The boundary between sky and earth had warped. Before them lay a vast, boundless plain of yellow sand. Anyone standing there seemed so small.
"I yearned to fulfill my unfinished dream—to conquer this world to its very ends!"
Rider spread his arms with a hearty laugh. Mirage-like images appeared around him. One, two, four—the images multiplied, taking on the shape of an army. Their colors gradually deepened.
"I yearned to see what I'd never seen—to know what lay on the shores of that boundless sea!"
Under the astonished gazes of those present, the cavalrymen gradually took physical form around Iskandar. Their races and equipment varied, but their powerful bodies and valiant bearing all displayed the might of the army.
Only Waver and Wang Xiaoming understood what these strange sights meant.
"Every one of them... is a Servant..."
Only a Master who had completed a formal contract possessed the ability to see through and assess a Servant's spiritual standing. Waver understood that the true trump card of the Servant Iskandar—the form of his ultimate Noble Phantasm—was unfolding before his eyes.
"Even though my homeland has fallen and my body has rotted away, I still yearn for it! And the treasure that supported me as I pursued those things is right here before you!"
At the King of Conquerors' hearty laughter, everyone turned around.
In the distance, countless warriors carrying weapons marched toward them. If the Assassins surrounding them had made their scalps tingle, this uncountable host of Servants pushed the limits of what the mind could comprehend. An army! An army of tens, even hundreds of thousands! It stretched as far as the boundless plain, with no end in sight!
"Behold! My unrivaled army! Though their bodies have perished, their souls have become Heroic Spirits and still follow me! I am their leader, guiding them onward. They fight alongside me and obey my will! Our bond is my greatest treasure, my path as a king! Behold the strongest Noble Phantasm of Iskandar, King of Conquerors—Ionioi Hetairoi!"
A deafening shout answered Rider! It was the voices of Heroic Spirits from a thousand years ago, still pursuing their king without regret. Even if they had never seen the ends of the world, even if the homeland they'd sacrificed for had crumbled to dust, they might grieve and weep, but like their king, they had no regrets! It was their will, their resolve, the road they'd chosen—the path their king had shown them!
There was no need to describe the rest in detail. Against this unrivaled army, how could the Assassins escape their inevitable destruction?
"—Wooah!"
Cheers of victory rang out. The Heroic Spirits offered their triumph to their king and praised his glory. Having completed their task, they returned to spirit form and disappeared into the distance.
Then the bounded field sustained by their combined magical energy was dispelled. Everything crumbled like a bubble, the scenery returned to the original night, and the group found themselves standing on the solid bridge again.
The moonlight was bright and clear, and the air carried the dampness particular to the seaside.
"—What a disappointment."
Rider muttered as if nothing had happened and drained the rest of his wine. Saber didn't reply, while Archer gave a derisive snort, looking somewhat displeased.
"I see. They're all mongrels, but managing so many of them has made you conceited. You think that makes you a king... Rider, you really are an eyesore."
"Say what you like. One day, I'll face you in battle myself."
Rider laughed, unconcerned, and got to his feet.
"Though we didn't get to finish saying everything we wanted tonight, we did hear some truly thought-provoking words. It was well worth the trip!"
Rider's words drew everyone's attention back to Medea. Caster's group had truly been a surprise tonight. But as the center of this whole affair, Medea didn't seem to realize it.
"Hey, woman—I like you!"
The golden Servant held his wine cup, his tone as mocking as ever, but the desire hidden in his eyes was unmistakable.
"Once I've stripped away that poisonous-snake exterior of yours..."
Medea didn't even spare Archer a glance. Her eyes were still half-closed as she leaned against Wang Xiaoming's shoulder.
"Archer, Rider has announced the end of the banquet. If you still don't intend to leave..."
Before the golden Heroic Spirit could finish, Wang Xiaoming—who'd been relegated to the sidelines until now—suddenly spoke.
"Then why not stay a little longer?"
The moment Wang Xiaoming finished speaking, every Servant present felt it:
—the faint connection between them and their Masters
had suddenly been severed.
Today's update... At least yesterday's thesis defense went well.
I saw the first-volume sales figures. I didn't expect them to be this good—they've already passed 1,500.
So that makes two extra chapters owed. I'll try to make them up today!
And thanks to everyone who cared about me and worried about my grades~
I'm a wage slave in real life, after all. There's nothing I can do about that.
Enough talking...
Time to write.
Chapter 59: King Arthur (extra chapter one, one chapter owed)
Before you continue