Ionioi Hetairoi, Iskandar's most powerful Noble Phantasm, was beyond question.
Every soldier within it was qualified to be a Heroic Spirit.
Though Alvin had seen this scene in the original work, witnessing the boundless battlefield and the vast army in person sent a surge of exhilaration through him.
But he quickly noticed something off.
Despite being his strongest Noble Phantasm, Iskandar's aura weakened noticeably upon deploying Ionioi Hetairoi.
..Insufficient mana supply!
The strength of a Servant is closely tied to that of their Master, and the Master of the King of Conquest, Waver simply couldn't support a sufficient supply of magical energy in the first place.
However, just as Alvin had this thought, he suddenly faintly sensed a very unique magical power quietly seeping through the inherent bounded field of 'King's Army,' surging into the body of the King of Conquest, and making his originally weak aura gradually become fuller.
Outside the inherent bounded field, Waver activated all three Command Seals!
The King of Conquest was stunned for a moment, then his gaze softened for an instant.
Then he slowly raised his head, a bold and unrestrained smile on his face, as if he were about to trample all obstacles in their path.
"Saber, are you ready to face us?!"
The group of Heroic Spirits behind him all stepped forward one step, their momentum extraordinary, as if they had become a single entity.
Alvin didn't make a sound, but a golden light seemed to quietly shine in his hand.
Then, the sword of the star that symbolizes 'salvation' quietly coalesced in his hand.
Immediately after, faint low and sacred voices seemed to emanate from the blade.
—Round Table Conference!
The next moment, the King of Conquest let out a low roar while riding his horse, leading thousands of troops charging toward Alvin.
However, the latter remained standing motionless in place.
The holy sword in his hand only grew brighter.
Countless golden particles seemed to quietly gather around his body.
The radiance of the holy sword gradually rendered him golden, accompanied by an immensely sacred chant.
Each seal unlocked in the holy sword made the magical power of the blade surge a bit stronger.
"King of Conquest, as a sign of respect to you and the warriors behind you... I want you to see the song of praise from the Knights of the Round Table of Ancient Britain."
Alvin slowly opened his eyes, his pupils already rendered golden.
Thump thump...
The magical power of the White Dragon's furnace heart also surged into the holy sword at this moment.
Facing the thousands of troops and horses, he raised the holy sword high.
"EX—"
"Calibur!!!"
...
At the outskirts of Mount Enzou, at this very moment, a woman was walking step by step up the stairs toward the mountaintop.
She wore an ornate and lightweight dress, a crown on her head, a thin veil covering her face, and her figure was tall and alluring.
Even without seeing the features beneath her veil, it was easy to imagine what a supreme beauty she was.
This woman was none other than Morgan le Fay.
Just as she reached the midpoint of the mountain, she paused slightly, lifting her head to gaze toward the mountaintop.
A flicker of unusual color passed through her clear, cold eyes, and she said softly. "Servants are already clashing, it seems?"
"I wonder where Alvin is right now..."
Suddenly, a woman's crisp and pleasant voice came from beside her, faintly laced with worry.
At some point, the figure of the golden-haired Knight King had quietly appeared beside Morgan le Fay.
Not long ago, they had just left the Matou residence, but they hadn't expected Manaka Sajoyou to secretly stir up trouble, even seemingly manipulating the Greater Grail.
Though she wasn't particularly interested in victory in the Holy Grail War, Alvin might be here... It was with this thought that they had come to this place.
In the end, they hadn't expected Servants to already be fighting.
Who could it be?
With such thoughts, the two sisters quickly made their way from the mountainside to the mountaintop.
As soon as they entered the front courtyard of Ryuudou Temple, they saw the figure of a young boy.
He looked worried, yet also filled with determination.
"Rider's Master...?"
Morgan said instinctively.
Waver also noticed the two's presence and looked up accordingly, his expression changing abruptly.
"Caster?!"
His heart instinctively went on alert, but thinking of Rider still being here, he ultimately suppressed the urge to flee.
On the other side, Morgan quickly reacted, examining Waver with interest and asking in a casual tone.
"This magical aura... it must be that someone has deployed an inherent bounded field, right?"
"Who is Rider fighting?"
Though her tone was quite casual, it carried an air of unquestionable superiority, filling Waver with an involuntary pressure.
After a brief silence, he said in a low voice: "Saber."
The woman, who had been composed just moments before, suddenly changed her expression and instinctively looked toward the direction where the inherent bounded field had been deployed.
Alvin...?
Why would he be fighting Rider...?
The thought had just flashed through her mind when Morgan quickly turned her gaze to a certain spot behind Ryuudou Temple.
There, she could faintly detect another unique magical fluctuation.
Undoubtedly, in the Fuyuki of today, there was only one Master who could emit this kind of magical wave.
—Manaka Sajoyou!
But why would Alvin be fighting Rider...?
Morgan's eyes flickered slightly as she looked toward the direction of the back courtyard, vaguely realizing something.
It seems like it's to protect Manaka Sajoyou...
At this realization, a strange twist stirred inexplicably in Morgan's heart.
...A girl who hasn't even known Alvin for a few days...why would he go so far out of his way to protect her?
For a woman like Morgan le Fay, the notion of a Servant owing loyalty to their Master didn't exist at all.
In her view, Alvin's actions seemed more like he simply liked Manaka Sajoyou, and thus was willing to clash with Rider for her sake.
"You've used up all your Command Seals?"
Artoria suddenly asked.
She had seen that the three Command Seals on the back of Waver's hand were very faint in color, which usually was a sign that they had all been expended.
Hearing her words, Waver's expression shifted slightly, and he instinctively covered the spot on the back of his hand where the Command Seals were engraved.
Morgan's eyes narrowed imperceptibly as she gazed at the young man before her.
Soon, the corners of her mouth curved into an amused arc: "In most cases, the Master is the key to supplying a Servant with magical energy.
Once the Master dies, the Servant vanishes along with them..."
"If you were the first to be eliminated in this Holy Grail War, what would happen to Rider?"
Feeling a surge of killing intent lock onto him, Waver's heart surged with a chill, and he instinctively took half a step back.
However, he quickly realized that his body had suddenly become immobile!
This woman... she suppressed him just with her magical power?!
Waver's pupils slowly widened, and he could only watch helplessly as Morgan le Fay slowly extended her hand toward him.
Whoosh!
But at that moment, in the darkness of the night, a golden light descended from the sky!
Before that Noble Phantasm could even fall, Artoria had already raised the Staff of Selection in her hand.
Boom!
A beam of magical energy blasted toward the Noble Phantasm in the sky, and in the night, the explosion of magic resembled brilliant blooming fireworks.
Morgan casually glanced toward the rooftop behind her, where, at some point, a golden kingly figure stood imposingly.
His arms were crossed over his chest, arrogantly looking down at the beings on the ground, as if overlooking all creation.
"Archer, aren't you meddling a bit too much?"
The expression under Morgan's veil was filled with chill, and as her gaze shifted, it seemed to burst with dangerous killing intent.
Gilgamesh swept a glance over the three people on the ground and sneered. "This King has no interest in whatever goes on between you and Rider's Master."
"However, do you think Saber would want him to win in this manner?"
Hearing his words, Morgan's brows furrowed imperceptibly as she stared intently into Gilgamesh's eyes.
It wasn't until an unknown amount of time had passed that she lightly waved her right hand.
Waver collapsed onto the floor with a thud, gasping for air in big gulps.
He felt a stroke of luck like surviving a disaster, and looked incredulously toward this Golden King.
He was well aware of how capricious Archer could be.
Before tonight, Waver would never have imagined that the one saving him would be this Hero King.
Equally incredulous was Artoria as she looked at Morgan le Fay with some surprise.
If it had been in the past, once Morgan le Fay had set her mind on something, no one could possibly change it.
In the past, even Alvin's suggestions— this woman would still decisively refuse if she intended to.
Unexpectedly, now...
With Alvin's personality, he would indeed prefer to face Rider head-on in battle.
'I didn't expect that she would consider Alvin's own feelings...'
Artoria thought silently to herself.
And when he saw that Morgan had actually stopped, Gilgamesh instead grew a bit more interested.
He examined Morgan a few times and said: "Caster's Master, it seems Saber is quite important to you, huh? Aren't you worried he'll die at Rider's hand?"
"If he really loses, I'll personally avenge him afterward."
"Not to mention..." Morgan lightly glanced at Gilgamesh, her red lips parting slightly, her voice filled with calm certainty. "He won't lose to any of you."
"Is that so?"
Gilgamesh soon revealed a faint smile.
"Then let this King see with his own eyes what kind of caliber the Saber you believe in has to withstand Rider's Noble Phantasm—"
No sooner had the words fallen than this space suddenly trembled violently.
Crack...
Faintly, it seemed as if the sound of something shattering could be heard.
Gilgamesh narrowed his eyes, staring intently at this space.
He soon heard increasingly dense cracking sounds.
Until finally, the inherent bounded field known as King's Army shattered with a boom!
..
...
Manaka Sajyou naturally had no idea what was happening outside
At this moment, the back courtyard seemed to be completely covered by some kind of ominous "black mud."
The petite, pure and fragile-looking blonde girl was quietly standing in the center of the black mud, eyes closed, sensing something.
The structure of the Greater Grail involved the "Third Magic," so even the omniscient and omnipotent Manaka Sajyou couldn't easily analyze, let alone modify its rules.
But if it was just purifying the black mud within the Greater Grail... that wasn't too difficult.
After all, the Greater Grail had been corrupted because of the pollution caused by Avenger's death after the previous Holy Grail War.
In other words, as long as all the black mud was extracted from the Greater Grail, it would be done.
Of course, it sounded simple, but even for Manaka Sajyou, it would take quite some effort.
As more and more black mud flowed from the Greater Grail into the back courtyard, the deep and pitch-black magical power grew more and more potent.
If any Servant were to enter the back courtyard and witness this scene right now, most would be struck with fear.
Because the amount of this 'black mud' was far too enormous.
If these things flowed from Mount Enzou into the heart of Fuyuki City... the consequences would be unimaginable.
And while Manaka Sajyou was still focused on analyzing the structure of the 'black mud,' she seemed not to notice that in the darkness behind her, a figure had slightly distorted.
Immediately after, an Assassin wearing a skull mask and holding a dagger quietly emerged from the darkness.
Even the Servants outside probably hadn't expected that in this Holy Grail War, a Servant who had been overlooked by everyone for so long and whose combat power was extremely weak would silently infiltrate the back courtyard of Ryuudou Temple!
He stepped closer and closer behind Manaka Sajyou, slowly raising his dagger.
Then, he thrust it fiercely toward the girl's back!
.
.
.