The cold, clear, yet tense air was suddenly shattered by a thunderous sound.
Everyone inside and outside the battlefield was attracted by the sound and looked up towards the southeast sky. The source of the sound was clear at a glance.
I saw a flying object drawing a straight line in the sky and heading straight towards this side, sprinkling purple lightning sparks in the night sky.
This is a chariot!
Judging from its appearance, this is an ancient chariot with two fronts. The ones tied to the shafts are not war horses, but muscular bulls with rolling muscles like waves and strong bodies.
The cow's hooves stepped on the void, pulling the luxurious and magnificent chariot.
The chariot did not simply float in the air; its wheels rumbled and the bulls' hooves trod not on the earth but on lightning.
Every time the bull's hooves and the chariot stomped the empty sky, purple lightning flashed its spider-web-like tentacles, rolling up the atmosphere with a deafening sound. The magic power bursting out of the lightning was probably comparable to the attack launched by Lancer and Saber with all their strength.
Only a Servant's Noble Phantasm could be so strange and release such a huge amount of magic power. Without thinking too much, this must be the third Servant who wanted to intervene in the duel between Saber and Lancer, so he showed up.
Saber and Lancer both looked nervous and said nothing as they stared at the chariot that had suddenly appeared. Their masters also felt panicked by the appearance of the intruder.
If it is a heroic spirit with such a huge aura of thunder and lightning wrapped around it, it may be the other half of the Thunder God.
If it is Thor who is associated with the bull, the first person that comes to mind is the supreme god of Olympus.
Of course, this chariot cannot be called a Heroic Spirit, but even if it is an appendage of a Heroic Spirit, it is definitely a treasure that contains great power.
The chariot with lightning under its feet circled over Lancer and Saber with great momentum, then slowed down and landed on the ground. It landed right between the two Heroic Spirits who were confronting each other, blocking the swords and spears of the two. As it landed, the dazzling lightning disappeared, revealing the figure of a giant, standing majestically on the driving platform of the chariot.
For some reason, a famous quote from his past life came to Shinji's mind: "There was a loud bang in the sky, and I made a brilliant appearance."
"Both parties, put down your weapons before me!"
This leisurely roar was comparable to the thunderous sound when he appeared flying in the sky, and his piercing eyes seemed to have the momentum to force back the swords and guns that were confronting each other.
Lancer and Saber were both famous Heroic Spirits, so they could not be frightened by just a few roars. However, this new Heroic Spirit did not intend to attack them, but only to disrupt their duel. The two did not understand his intention, and chose to remain unchanged in the face of change.
After weakening Lancer and Saber's momentum, the burly chariot master continued with a stern tone:
"My name is Iskandar, the King of Conquerors. I am manifesting in this Holy Grail War as a Rider."
They were dumbfounded, everyone was dumbfounded, whether they were servants or masters.
On the battlefield of the Holy Grail, it is impossible for a Servant to reveal his or her true identity. The real name is the key to strategy.
But Rider did just that, openly and without hesitation, just like showing his cards when playing Landlord. The difference is that the stakes are doubled in Landlord, but there is no benefit in showing your cards in the Holy Grail War - those who do this are either fools or truly fearless.
"Even if I reveal my identity, you can't do anything to me." This is what Rider's subtext meant in the eyes of calm bystanders.
The most restless one was the short boy who was riding in the same chariot with Rider. The boy had short hair that reached his ears, a delicate face that eliminated gender, and trembling legs that made him look a little timid, like a prisoner captured by Rider's brute force. However, the Command Seal on the back of his left hand revealed his identity—one of the participants in the Holy Grail War and Rider's Master.
"What are you thinking about, idiot!"
Rider's Master was like a hamster challenging a big cat, questioning Rider with bravado while tightly grasping Rider's coat.
Unfortunately, the hamster's momentum was finally broken by a blow to the head from the big cat, and he fell silent.
Rider glanced at Lancer and Saber on his left and right and asked:
"I know you are fighting for the Holy Grail. Before we fight, I have one question to ask. Do you want to join my army and give me the Holy Grail? Then I can treat you as my friends and share the joy of conquering the world with you."
This was an extremely ridiculous suggestion. Saber was stunned without even getting angry, and Lancer, who was sitting opposite him, didn't know what to say and just stood there in a daze.
King Iskandar of Conquerors is a heroic spirit second to none in the entire world history. The land he conquered ranks second among all the kings of ancient and modern times, second only to Genghis Khan Temujin and above "Scourge of God" Attila. He has an unparalleled legend of conquering the largest empire in the shortest time.
What he left behind in his short life of thirty-three years was the legend of endless conquest. In human history, no one was as eager as he was to realize his ambition of conquering the world.
Even so, so what
He suddenly showed up, openly stated his real name, and demanded respect from others before even fighting them. All of these actions made people feel that he had no intention of joining the Holy Grail War. This was the first time such a thing had ever happened.
"Has the world ever been conquered by such a fool?" More than one person had this thought.
"He's not stupid, he's just straightforward. I admire people like him." This is Scathach's evaluation.
"I admire your courage in introducing yourself, but I cannot accept your proposal."
Lancer shook his head with a wry smile, but there was no smile in his eyes. His eyes, as powerful as a sword, collided head-on with the King of Conquerors' eyes that he disdained to look at, and sparks flew.
"I will only offer the Holy Grail to the new monarch to whom I swear my allegiance, and not to you, Rider."
"By the way, are you here to interrupt my duel with Lancer just to say these nonsense?"
Saber asked, following Lancer's words. The expression on her face was different from that of the beautiful Lancer, and she didn't even smile. For her, who was serious by nature, Rider's suggestion itself was extremely unpleasant.
"King of Conquerors, your joke has gone too far. This is an intolerable insult to a knight."
Lancer and Saber both cast hostile glances at Rider. Rider seemed to be in trouble and kept mumbling while digging his ears with his little finger unconsciously. There was a sense of helplessness in his unruly behavior, but his majestic posture did not waver at all. This great emperor was such a heroic spirit who exuded an amazing presence at all times.
After a long while, Rider finally put down his finger and said something reluctantly.
"Is the salary negotiable?"
"That's enough!" Lancer and Saber refused in unison.
Rider's face was filled with disappointment, and Saber was even more disappointed than him.
"I repeat, I am also the King of Britain. No king from anywhere else can bow down to me."
"Oh? The King of Britain?" Rider may have become interested in Saber's declaration, and raised his eyebrows. "This is very surprising to me. I didn't expect that the famous Knight King would be a little girl."
"Then, King of Conquerors, would you like to try the sword in the hands of a little girl like this?"
Saber lowered her voice and raised her sword. Her left hand was still too weak to hold the sword, and the four fingers of her left hand were just supporting the hilt, but the fighting spirit that swayed from the sword was more majestic than when she fought Lancer.
"It seems that the negotiations have broken down. What a shame. What a pity."
Rider frowned, sighed, and at the moment he was mumbling with his face down, he noticed the resentful eyes staring up from his feet.
"Ah, it hurts, ah."
Due to the pain from his swollen forehead and the regret that was even more miserable than the pain, the boy's cry was low and passed through the sky.
"What should I do? You keep talking about conquering others, but in the end, aren't you just annoying them? Do you really think you can beat Saber and Lancer?"
The burly Servant did not show any guilt in response to the Master's question, but instead laughed heartily.
"No, there's a saying that goes, 'Nothing is better than trying once.'"
"A hundred talks are better than a single try. Is that your real name?" The young man, dizzy with anger, used his two powerless fists to repeatedly hit the chest armor of the upright Rider, crying as he did so.
Regardless of the content of the conversation, just looking at the picture, it is easy to think of a scene where a girl loses her temper at a boy. No wonder so many people call the boy "Princess".
Because of the boy's actions, the tense atmosphere inexplicably relaxed, but it solidified again because of a certain complaint that was heard close to the ground.
"Is that so? I see. I was wondering who stole my relic for no apparent reason, but I never expected that it was you who wanted to participate in the Holy Grail War, Waver Velvet."
It was Laer. Previously, he had only spoken twice, once to urge Lancer to use his Noble Phantasm, and once to treat Lancer. This was the third time, asking Rider's Master what Waver's purpose was.
The tone was completely different from the previous one. This time, the voice was mixed with immense anger and undisguised murderous intent.
Shinji knew the inside story very well.
Rider's Master Waver is a student of Lancer's Master Kenneth, but unlike Kenneth, who comes from a long and prestigious family, Waver comes from a grassroots background, and the Velvet family has only three generations.
The first generation's grandmother was just a magician's mistress, and they only learned basic magic from her pillow talk. The second generation's mother also inherited magic with the awareness of "cherishing the important memories of mom". It was Weber's generation that really started to explore magic seriously, so both the number of magic circuits and the quality of magic engravings were extremely crude. However, Weber was very fascinated by magic, and after his parents passed away, he spent all his family property to raise enough money for admission, and entered the Clock Tower penniless.
A magician's magic circuit is largely determined by his bloodline, and the strength of the magic imprints passed down from generation to generation is generally proportional to the number of generations passed down. Waver Velvet was very dissatisfied with the current situation in the magic world where bloodline is the most important, and spent several years writing a paper on this. However, his mentor, Kenneth El-Melloi, who was known as a "genius", tore up the paper after just glancing at it.
This incident dealt a heavy blow to Waver's self-esteem and became his motivation to participate in the Fourth Holy Grail War. By chance, Waver stole the "Iskander's Cloak Fragment", a heroic relic prepared by Kenneth, and went to Fuyuki City to summon Rider.
Waver had no specific desire to participate in the Holy Grail War, he just wanted to gain recognition from everyone for his achievements.
However, Weber did not expect that even if the "holy relic" was stolen, Kenneth, the magic noble, still got a new holy relic, summoned Lancer, and stood on the opposite side of Weber.
"What a pity. I wanted to make this lovely student happy. Waver. A mortal like you should have a stable life that only mortals can have."
The harsh voice seemed to carry a magical power that made Weber dizzy and dazed. The mentor's long-standing prestige and dazzling halo oppressed Weber so much that he couldn't breathe.
"It seems that I should give you a special extracurricular lesson, which is what it means for magicians to kill each other. I will give you this horror and pain without reservation. It will be your honor."
The murderous gaze made Waver, who was still in the ivory tower and had illusions about the future, realize for the first time the cruelty of the world of magicians.
Waver was already trembling with fear, and didn't even have the time to care about the humiliation this sentence brought him.
At this moment, something gently but powerfully embraced the boy's small shoulders, which were trembling alone with fear.
"Hey, magician, it looks like you want to replace this boy as my Master."
Rider asked Laer who was hiding somewhere, but he actually had a malicious smile of pity on his face, which made his face crooked.
"If that's true, it's ridiculous. The one who can become my Master must be a warrior who can fight on the battlefield with me. A coward like you who doesn't even dare to show up is not qualified at all!"
Silence fell, and the atmosphere became very awkward. Only the anger of the Master who had not appeared spread in the night air. Of course, Shinji's snickering was inevitable: "What a great emperor protecting his concubine."
Rider suddenly burst into laughter, this time facing the empty night sky, laughing at the top of his lungs.
"I say, there are others, right? Someone spying on us in the dark."
Saber and Lancer both showed surprised expressions.
"What's going on, Rider?"
Facing Saber who was asking him a question, the King of Conquerors smiled broadly and gave a thumbs up.
"Saber and Lancer, your unreserved battle was truly magnificent. I am not the only Heroic Spirit attracted by the clear sound of swords and halberds."
Rider wanted to send the deafening sound to every corner around him, and shouted loudly again.
"Poor! How pitiful! The heroes gathered in Fuyuki. Seeing the courage displayed by Saber and Lancer here, don't you have any feelings? You have real names worth boasting about, but you just peek in the dark. How cowardly! The names of your heroic spirits are crying!"
After laughing loudly, Rider tilted his head slightly with a fearless expression on his face, and finally looked around with a provocative look.
"Gather here now, all the heroic spirits invited by the Holy Grail. Those cowards who are still afraid to show their faces will inevitably be humiliated by me, the King of Conquerors, Iskandar!"
"Offending everyone, taunting at maximum level." Shinji complained silently.
"I'm sorry, Shinji." Scathach suddenly cut off the empathy between the two. Whether as a king or as a warrior, she could no longer stand by and watch.
Shinji opened his eyes and gave Scathach a trusting smile: "No need to apologize, I never intended to let you fight like an assassin. Go, Master, don't weaken the momentum of the Queen of the Shadow Kingdom."
"As you wish, my little Master." Scathach's peerless elegance blended into the night.
PS: However, Emperor FEX lost to Attila, because Attila was a cute girl. Rough men have no human rights.
PS2: At this time, the Emperor can really destroy Saber and Lancer without any pressure.