The anime began, only to stutter and lag almost immediately. After waiting several seconds, Kamiyā Yuu finally saw the video—and found the entire screen smothered beneath a dense flood of danmaku, making it impossible to see any of the anime itself.
Only after a while did the number of danmaku on the screen begin to decrease.
It was not that the actual number of comments had decreased. Rather, the video's protection mechanism limited how many danmaku could appear simultaneously during any given period.
[Kids, what place from the bottom did you get on today's exam?]
[First!]
[Second!]
[Third!]
[It's finally starting! I'm so excited!]
[Click me to skip the OP!]
...
"By my Command Spell, I order you, Lancer—win this battle by any means necessary!"
In a shadowed corner of Einzbern Castle, Kayneth sensed that his Servant, Lancer, had already entered the Reality Marble [Ionioi Hetairoi]. He extended his right hand and issued the command.
One of the three crimson Command Spells on the back of his hand disappeared.
"Cough! Cough! Cough!"
The flow of magical energy made Kayneth cough painfully several times. When he opened his right hand again, his palm was already covered in blood.
He had suffered a crushing defeat in his confrontation with the Magus Killer, Emiya Kiritsugu. After being struck by an [Origin Bullet], he could no longer provide even the most basic supply of magical energy. He could only rely on the Command Spells, crystallizations of grand magecraft, to support Lancer's actions.
The command he issued through his Command Spell was relatively simple.
Winning this battle did not necessarily mean killing the King of Conquerors, Iskandar. This was the caution of a magus at work.
If he had used a Command Spell to explicitly order Lancer to kill Iskandar, then the spell's compulsory force would inevitably have driven the two Heroic Spirits into a fight to the death.
"Waver... In the name of the Archibald family, I guarantee you this: it's time I taught you some proper respect for your teacher."
Before disappearing into the shadows, Kayneth revealed a vicious smile.
Unlike the original, the revised 'Fate/zero' had given Director Kayneth a little more intelligence. Furthermore, Lancer Zhao Yun did not possess the same knightly straightforwardness as his original counterpart, so not a single Command Spell had been wasted thus far.
There was an amusing point worth mentioning.
In the original, Waver had used all three Command Spells at once in an attempt to help the King of Conquerors, Iskandar, win his duel against the King of Heroes, Gilgamesh.
[My Servant, I, Waver Velvet, command you with my Command Spell.]
[Rider, you must achieve ultimate victory.]
[Again, I command you with a Command Spell—Rider, you must seize the Holy Grail.]
[Finally, I command you with my Command Spell.]
[Rider, you must conquer the entire world. Failure is not permitted.]
According to what Archer had told Tohsaka Rin when they first met in the previous work, 'Fate/stay night', the effectiveness of Command Spells was greatly diminished when used to issue such long-term objectives. It was the sort of wasteful behavior that achieved half the result for twice the effort.
According to Gen Urobuchi, however, this wasteful use of the Command Spells happened to perfectly complement Iskandar's condition, putting the King of Conquerors into peak form.
Put even more simply, Waver's three Command Spells merely refilled Iskandar's mana bar...
Director Kayneth's Command Spell ordering Zhao Yun to win this particular battle, on the other hand, constituted a short-term objective.
Not only could it refill Zhao Yun's mana bar, but it could also comprehensively enhance his abilities as a Servant.
...
[Ionioi Hetairoi]
Across the boundless desert, an army of a million soldiers was charging forward.
The thunderous pounding of horses' hooves rumbled like muffled thunder across the heavens.
Watching soldiers streak past all around her, Saber protected Irisviel while tightly gripping the invisible sword in her hand.
She was not preparing for battle.
She had been shaken by the scene before her.
Could it really be as the King of Conquerors, Iskandar, had said?
Was she truly unworthy of being called a king?
Never before had she experienced such intense doubt.
"As entertainment to accompany a banquet, this is a rather fine performance."
The King of Heroes, Gilgamesh, glanced at Saber with amusement before leisurely pouring himself another cup of wine in his golden goblet.
The million-strong army had only one enemy.
Lancer Zhao Yun stood on the opposite side of the desert.
"Throw!"
A powerful command rang out from the rear of the army.
The forces in the back abruptly halted.
Hundreds of thousands of javelins soared from the soldiers' hands, densely packed together until they became a dark cloud blotting out the sun.
"Interesting."
Far across the desert, Zhao Yun chuckled as he watched the black rain formed by the javelins.
Kayneth's Command Spell took effect. An endless torrent of magical energy surged violently through his body.
Lancer Zhao Yun spun his spear in a beautiful flourish.
Then, in the next instant, he charged straight toward the million-strong army.
"Shields!"
Boom!
Another dull impact thundered out.
The vanguard raised a wall of shields before them. Spears gleaming with a cold light thrust through the narrow gaps in the formation. Any living creature that charged into it would be mercilessly impaled.
The troops arriving from behind automatically filled the gaps on both sides of the shield formation, gradually forming a U-shape intended to encircle and annihilate the charging Lancer Zhao Yun.
A hundred thousand javelins fell like torrential rain.
Zhao Yun whipped his Silver Dragon Spear forward.
Under the force of his terrifying strength, the silver spear transformed into a bolt of lightning that pierced straight through the distant shield formation.
Zhao Yun darted through the dense rain of javelins, occasionally "plucking" one out of midair and hurling it back into the tightly packed army.
Each javelin would pierce through dozens of soldiers before finally losing momentum.
Even in the face of such terrifying attacks, the soldiers' gazes remained cold and unwavering.
Every soldier who could appear here was an elite who had followed the King of Conquerors, Iskandar, through campaigns across the world.
As long as it was an order from Iskandar, then even if only a single soldier remained, he would continue fighting until the last drop of his blood had been spilled.
In the blink of an eye, Zhao Yun had already plunged into the million-strong army.
Just as he prepared to retrieve his silver spear, atop a dune far behind the army, a long-haired Heroic Spirit slowly drew the longbow in his hands.
Eyes sharper than an eagle's pierced through the million soldiers and locked onto Zhao Yun.
Whoosh!
The arrow flew.
It streaked past countless soldiers, anticipating Zhao Yun's next movement as it shot directly toward his head.
Among this million-strong army, there was no shortage of individuals whose martial prowess surpassed even Iskandar's own.
They were restricted by Iskandar himself and unable to display their full strength, but that did not mean they were mere foot soldiers.
The excitement in Zhao Yun's eyes intensified.
The [Mind's Eye] skill he had developed through countless battles detected the lethal arrow.
His right hand seized the soldier in front of him and hurled him forward.
Thud!
The arrow pierced straight through the soldier.
However, the soldier's body altered its trajectory slightly, causing the arrow to instead pierce several more soldiers surrounding Zhao Yun in succession!
There was not even a moment to catch his breath.
With no time to savor the results of killing his enemies, Lancer Zhao Yun evaded the fatal arrow and reclaimed his Silver Dragon Spear from the soldier's corpse.
His hands shifted across the shaft.
The dancing spear swept out a silver-white arc that instantly tore through every enemy around him.
This was a battle of attrition in the truest sense.
Would Lancer's magical energy be completely exhausted by [Ionioi Hetairoi], causing him to collapse?
Or would he break through the blockade of the million-strong army before his magical energy ran dry, with enough strength remaining to claim the head of the King of Conquerors, Iskandar?