"Boy, hold on tight!"
Iskandar shouted his warning.
Crack—!
The golden sands ahead split apart as a pitch-black spatial rift tore through the earth. Tightening the reins, Iskandar urged Bucephalus into a mighty leap, clearing the abyss in a single bound.
"!!!"
Faced with such an apocalyptic scene, Waver was too stunned to speak.
As Bucephalus soared through the air, he glanced downward.
The black rift resembled some indescribable beast opening its jaws to devour the world itself.
Within it lay endless darkness.
A single glance was enough to fill one's heart with terror and despair.
Thud.
After landing, Bucephalus charged onward.
But now the sky itself began to fracture. The collapse of the world suddenly accelerated, as though someone had pressed the fast-forward button.
Everything within Waver's sight was crumbling beyond recovery.
His vacant gaze settled upon the solitary King ahead, Gilgamesh, who stood with Ea, the Sword of Rupture, leveled calmly before him.
"...That sword..."
"It is an Anti-World Noble Phantasm capable of tearing apart reality itself. From the very beginning... we never had any chance of winning..."
His voice was filled with despair.
By now, every soldier of Ionioi Hetairoi had already been swallowed by the collapsing earth.
Yet there was not the slightest trace of panic or confusion on Iskandar's face.
His calm composure embodied what it meant to be a king.
However—
Bucephalus's charge gradually slowed.
Because...
The endless battlefield of Ionioi Hetairoi—the desert where king and steed had once ridden together—had finally collapsed completely.
As azure lightning wailed through the disintegrating Reality Marble, the surrounding scenery quietly reverted to the dark foothills of Mount Enzō, where everything had begun.
"Whoa!"
With a tug on the reins, Iskandar brought Bucephalus to a halt.
Only then did it become clear—
In the real world, the distance separating them from Gilgamesh had never changed.
Yet it felt as though an invisible, insurmountable chasm stretched between them.
So close...
Yet forever beyond reach.
"Hmph."
As Iskandar's Reality Marble completely disappeared, Gilgamesh slowly lowered Ea, the Sword of Rupture, and looked upon the Master and Servant before him with the same arrogant disdain.
"Rider... why...?"
Waver's emotions were in complete turmoil.
Fear of the King who seemed forever beyond anyone's reach caused his entire body to tremble.
Why was he so overwhelmingly powerful?
Why had they been defeated so utterly?
Why did it have to be this man standing in the way of their conquest?
Why...
Why could they never defeat him, Rider?!
Countless questions raged within Waver's heart.
But the courage to voice them had long since left him.
He could only stare blankly at that proud, peerless king and silently witness the end.
"..."
Meeting Waver's questioning gaze, Iskandar remained silent.
At this moment, he understood that his destined end had arrived.
After a long pause, he finally spoke.
"Come to think of it... there's something I've wanted to ask you for a long time."
"Huh?"
Waver blinked in confusion.
With complete serenity, Iskandar looked down at the trembling, slender youth in his arms and asked solemnly,
"Waver Velvet... will you become my subject?"
"Wha—"
By the time Waver realized it, tears were already overflowing from his eyes.
Crying openly, he shouted,
"You... You are my one and only King!"
"I am willing to serve you!"
"I swear my loyalty to you!"
"Please guide me forward!"
"Please... let me share the same dream as yours..."
By the end, sorrow had robbed him of the ability to continue speaking.
"Good!"
Iskandar answered with his usual booming laughter.
Grabbing Waver by the back of his collar, he effortlessly lifted him from Bucephalus's back and set him on the ground.
Looking into Waver's grief-stricken eyes, he declared,
"It is the duty of a king to show his subjects a dream."
"And it is the duty of a subject to witness that dream... and pass it on to future generations."
"So listen well, Waver."
"As your king, this is both my first... and my final command."
"Live."
"Live on, Waver."
"Witness everything."
"And tell those who come after you what kind of king you served."
"Tell them how I—"
"Iskandar, Alexander the Great, the King of Conquerors—"
"—charged across the earth!"
Though every fiber of Waver's being wished to refuse, all of that reluctance became a solemn act of fealty.
Dropping to one knee, he bowed deeply.
"Your subject, Waver Velvet, humbly obeys the command of King Iskandar."
"I shall uphold it for the rest of my life."
"Excellent."
Iskandar nodded in satisfaction.
Then he fixed his eyes upon the solitary king bathed in crimson and golden radiance.
Raising his voice to the heavens, he roared,
"Now then—"
"Forward!!!"
"Bucephalus!!!"
"NEIGHHHHH!!!"
Bucephalus answered with a thunderous cry.
After taking one final look at Waver, the faithful steed carried its master into one last charge against the mighty enemy.
"Rider!!!"
Waver cried out in anguish.
"Hahahahahaha!"
"Glory forever lies beyond the horizon!"
"It is because something cannot be attained... that it is worth challenging!"
"Sing the praises of kingship!"
"Proclaim the path of conquest!"
"I do all of this—"
"—for the subjects who watch my back!"
Iskandar's magnificent battle cry carried boundless momentum.
It scattered the storm clouds hanging over Mount Enzō, allowing the pure, brilliant moonlight to pour down upon both him and Waver like divine salvation.
No matter how far apart they stood...
They gazed upon the very same moon.
At that moment, Gilgamesh had no need for words.
Holding Ea, the Sword of Rupture, diagonally in his hand as the final witness to this battle...
He raised it high.
The very sky that held the moon shattered apart beneath its power.
Without speaking a single word...
He declared his own kingly path.
Then—
Behind Gilgamesh, countless golden ripples unfolded across the void one after another.
The radiance of gold arrogantly shut out every ray of silver moonlight.
He himself became a sun.
Illuminating the night.
Illuminating the world.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
An almost endless torrent of Noble Phantasms erupted from the Gate of Babylon.
Each weapon was launched with perfect timing—just enough for Iskandar to cut it down with a swing of his sword.
It was as though an invisible swordsman stood before him, crossing blades with him at every instant.
Even as Iskandar devoted every ounce of his concentration to resisting the relentless barrage from the Gate of Babylon, Bucephalus never ceased charging at full speed.
Until—
At one moment...
Iskandar suddenly realized he was no longer on horseback.
He was sprinting forward on his own two feet.
Bucephalus had already burned through the last of its strength...
Falling heroically beneath the concentrated bombardment of the Gate of Babylon.
"My deepest thanks... my comrade."
A grateful smile appeared on Iskandar's face.
He never looked back to witness the death of his beloved steed.
Instead, carrying forward Bucephalus's indomitable spirit...
He continued charging straight into the storm of Noble Phantasms.
Until victory was reached...
There would be no turning back.
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