"What!"
Kariya hurriedly asked, "Is Aoi really saved?"
"Would I lie to you about this?"
Tokiomi replied coldly, his tone full of disdain. "But you, do you even have the right to call Aoi so affeately now?"
Kariya was left speechless.
He waue, but the events revealed in the video earlier had crushed any grounds he might have had. With all that had been exposed, how could he still cim to love Aoi?
Just as the awkward silence dragged on, there was a sudden noise.
"Ding ding ding…"
Several dark shadows flickered across the forest. It was Hassan of the Hundred Faces g with anure— Heroic Spirit Kiritsugu.
It seemed that the two had stumbled across each other by act. The resulting frontation had escated into an impromptu battle.
Surprisingly, Heroic Spirit Kiritsugu was caught off guard.
Hassan of the Hundred Faces, often regarded as mere on fodder, was now showg ued strength. Four of Hassan's es worked in perfeison, their coordirikes putting Heroic Spirit Kiritsugu on the defensive. Even a Heroic Spirit like Kiritsugu found it hard to ter multiple simultaneous attacks.
This sudden advantage was thanks to the exclusive Item Hassan of the Hundred Faces had acquired earlier. The enha signifitly improved their bat capability.
If not for this new advantage, even four of Hassan's es bined would have been uo suppress a Heroic Spirit like Kiritsugu.
Still, the gift had e too te. Hassan's dwindling number of es made it impossible to capitalize fully on this newfound power.
---
"What are all of you doing here?"
Zhang Jiao, who had just rushed back to the battlefield, was stunned by the chaotic se before him.
He had only been away for a short while, yet the forest had already desded into chaos.
"Hahaha! It seems everyone has arrived!"
Iskandar bellowed as he forced Darius III back, his booming voice carrying a sense of excitement.
Indeed, except for Qin Shi Huang, who remained a spectator, and El-Melloi II and Ishtar, who had stayed behind at their respective strongholds, the rest of the Holy Grail War's partits had now gathered in this forest.
"Now that everyone's here, let's settle things properly!"
The pitch-bck forest uhe night sky suddenly transformed. The ground turned into a vast, sunlit desert, and the scorg heat was almost palpable.
Iskandar had unleashed his Ionioi Hetairoi: Army of the King, pulling everyoo his Reality Marble.
"There's no need for tricks anymore," Iskandar roared, his voice brimming with enthusiasm. "Let's have an all-out battle!"
---
"Haha! You truly are a willful king," Chihiro said with a smirk.
After days of strategieuvers and schemes, he had grown somewhat weary. Now that the opportunity for a direct frontation had preseself, he wasn't about to shy away.
"Alright, names. Let's settle this with raw strength!"
Zhang Jiao and Sigurd exged determined smiles before stepping behind Chihiro.
Hassan of the Hundred Faces and the other allies regrouped, taking positions to act as a defensive line in front of Chihiro.
Chihiro then turo Tokiomi, who had been standing silently at his side.
"I have no objes," Tokiomi replied calmly. "The Holy Grail War ends tomorrow anyway. If this is iable, the happen now."
His meaning was clear. He had no iion of retreating.
"I agree as well!"
Artoria stepped forward, her voice ringing with resolve. "e at me with all your strength!"
Beside her, Kiritsugu the Heroic Spirit Assassin looked exasperated. An Assassin-css Servant was ill-suited for a direct battlefield frontation, but there was no avoiding it now. Relutly, he braced himself for the impending fight.
Meanwhile, La, who had been wild aients ago, suddenly regained his posure. Like a knight standing at attention, he moved to stand solemnly behind Artoria.
Even in his Berserker state, La's loyalty to Artoria remained unshaken. The prospect of fighting alongside his king momentarily suppressed his madness. Without hesitatioook his pce, awaiting her orders.
Watg this, Kariya sighed i. Knowing his own bat abilities were the weakest among those present, he retreated to the back for safety.
---
"Hahaha, excellent!"
Iskandar climbed onto his chariot, his army already assembled in perfeation behind him.
This time, he did not mount his horse but drove his Gordius Wheel into battle.
---
"DARIUS!!!"
Darius III, standing atop his undead war elephant, roared furiously.
Blue fmes erupted from the peculiar horn-like structures on his head and from the axes he wielded. The grouh him trembled as his Noble Phantasm activated.
"Athanatohousand: Immortal Ten Thousand Soldiers"
The earth split open as soldiers armor and wielding shields and spears cwed their from the ground. They surrounded Darius III in a fearsome dispy, f an unholy legion.
Beh Darius III, a massive war elephant draped in purple cloth emerged from the depths.
This was the true power of his Noble Phantasm: summoning an undead army of 10,000 immortal soldiers and his monstrous war elephant to overwhelm his enemies with sheer numbers.
---
"Hahaha! That's more like it!"
Iskandar gazed at Darius III's undead legion with her fear nor hesitation. Instead, his face lit up with exhiration.
At this moment, he felt as if he had returo the glory days of his quest, when he had faced armies otlefield.
This was the kind of battle that stirred his blood.
"Charge!!!"
Standing atop his war elephant, Darius III raised his axes high and roared, leading his undead soldiers forward.
The undead legion surged like a tide, their roars eg as they charged toward Iskandar's forces.
---
"Hahaha! This will be a glorious battle!"
Iskandar roared with ughter, raising his sword high.
"Forward, my army! Show them the strength of the King's Army!"
"OUUUHH!!!"
The soldiers of Iskandar's army shouted in unison, their battle cries reverberating across the battlefield as they advanced.
In perfect synization, they formed a Maian phanx, l their three-meter-long spears as they marched forward.
The sight was nothing short of magnifit.
---
Uheir previous enter with Gilgamesh, where they had abandoned formatioo their oppo's overwhelming firepower, Iskandar's army now faced an opposing force that could be challenged head-on.
The disciplined phanx moved with precision, their spears ag as reaping scythes that effortlessly cut down the advang undead soldiers.
The cavalry units oher side fhe undead horde, cutting off any attempts at a pitack.
This was the same formation that had enabled Iskandar to quer vast territories aablish his empire.
---
Watg this, Artoria tightened her fists.
"This… is the strength of Iskandar's army."
Her calm demeanor betrayed a flicker of unease. In this battle, her side was at a disadvantage.
For now, all she could do was observe.
---
But just as the tide of battle seemed to favor Iskandar's army, the undead soldiers began to rise once more.
"What?! Impossible!"
The soldiers Iskandar's forces had sin stood back up, their broken bodies moving with eerie precision.
Even those decapitated tio attack as though ued by their wounds.
The once-disciplined phanx began to crumble uhe relentless assault. The undead legion advanced, exploiting every gap to wreak havoc.
Iskandar's forces, for the first time, found themselves at a disadvantage.
---
"I see now… these soldiers are immortal," Waver excimed from the safety of the Gordius Wheel.
He watched as one of the undead soldiers, decapitated by Iskandar himself, tio fight as though its head were merely an accessory.
"They're like puppets," Waver tinued. "They 't be killed. If we want to win, we'll have to defeat their ander!"
He poio Darius III atop the war elephant, signaling the key to victory.
"I see. I was careless," Iskandar admitted, his tone losing its earlier mirth.
He had assumed Darius III's Noble Phantasm funed like his own, a summoning of troops that would retreat upo. But he had uimated his oppo.
"In that case, it's time for a csh of kings!"
Wielding his sword, Iskandar urged the Gordius Wheel forward, aiming directly for Darius III.
But before he could close the gap, a radiant light intercepted him.
---
Chihiro had stepped in, activating his css card and summoning the God Force to block Iskandar's advance.
"Go!"
Zhang Jiao handed Sigurd a talisman that lightened his body. Sigurd leaped toward Iskandar with incredible speed, his bde gleaming with deadly i.
"My love, please five me," a sorrowful yet determined voice rang out.
At that moment, Brynhildr desded from the sky atop her Pegasus, interposing herself between Sigurd and Iskandar. With her nce burning in blue fmes, she deflected Sigurd's strike, f him back.
Brynhildr's expression was unwavering as she raised her nce. "Sigurd, if you must die, it will only be by my hands!"
***
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