Although various unforeseen events had occurred, to the extent that this Holy Grail War had become somewhat unrecognizable—even Iskandar understood that to seize the treasure known as the Holy Grail in this war, he would need to exert his utmost effort.
But even so, there were some things he would still do.
Just like how he appeared on the first night to help Mordred, who was entangled by Lancer—besides his intolerance for taking advantage of others' predicaments, it was more simply to ask those two Servants if they were willing to submit to him.
It sounded incredibly foolish, but this was what the King of Conquerors, Iskandar—the renowned Alexander the Great recorded in history—would do. The result was clearly regrettable.
Although Mr. Lancer still didn't get along well with his Master, he would still uphold his loyalty as a knight.
And Mordred…
Even after learning of her reputation as the Knight of Treachery, the Great King still unhesitatingly tried to recruit her. Honestly, this made little Mo feel somewhat conflicted. Clearly, they were both kings, but compared to this man, that Arthur fellow was far too lacking!
If not for having a Master like Sisigou, whom she had to entrust her life to, she might really have been tempted.
Although it was regrettable that the initial recruitment ended in failure, the Great King was the type to never give up. Thus.
On the second night of the Holy Grail War, that man, as always, did what he had done before.
"Servants who have joined the battle, heroes whose names are recorded in history! If you are unwilling to be known as nameless rats, then show yourselves here!"
"In the name of Iskandar, the King of Conquerors! If you only dare to hide your heads and show your tails, lurking in the shadows, then it is only natural that you accept my contempt!" Thunder that pierced the night, powerful magical energy fluctuations swept through almost the entire Fuyuki City. At this moment, Iskandar's location was as conspicuous as a spotlight in the dark night. Those words, manifested through magical energy, were also enough to reach the ears of any Servant.
Little Illya, in Illya's house, naturally heard it too. Covering her ears, which were somewhat deafened by the noise, she couldn't help but complain: "This uncle is so ostentatious... But no one would fall for such an obvious provocation, right!"
"That's not necessarily true."
"For normal people, it's fine; saying such things is meaningless. But... those who can be summoned by the Holy Grail War are almost all heroes whose names are recorded in history." The silver-haired girl sighed, "Most heroes are beings who place immense importance on honor and dignity."
With the Great King shouting like that, how could those heroic Servants hiding in the dark still remain hidden? Don't they want face?
"Although it's a very simple and direct method, the effect will be surprisingly good." [Illya] didn't stingy with her praise.
Although the Great King's actions seemed quite foolish, almost like walking into a trap, in reality, this King of Conquerors also had his own calculations. By doing this, most Servants could no longer hide in the dark.
They would inevitably reveal themselves, making much unclear intelligence become much clearer. At the same time, this was also conducive to muddying the waters, then waiting for an opportunity to find suitable partners for cooperation.
For combinations that weren't particularly strong, this was undoubtedly the wisest strategy.
"Eh, this uncle is so meticulous!"
Learning of the Great King's calculations, little Illya, who originally thought it was rather lame, couldn't help but exclaim in admiration as she looked at the red-haired giant in the magic mirror.
"After all, that's Alexander the Great. Rulers like him don't show their true intentions."
"Then, should we go?"
"Theoretically, it's unnecessary. We're not the type to care about that kind of honor and dignity anyway. If we're just considering how to better hide ourselves, then staying hidden is the most correct choice. But... after all, such a scene is really rare. For you, Illya, it might even become a 'once in a lifetime' precious experience. So, you should still go."
"Mmm... Okay... Wait, you're not going?"
"I'd like to go too, but it seems a very troublesome yandere has been searching for my traces. Hiding in the magical workshop is fine, but if I go to that kind of place, I might get caught red-handed. It would be very troublesome to escape then. It's more likely that I'll be turned into the 'center of attention' by that impossible woman. A willful and obsessed beautiful girl can be somewhat exasperating."
"But don't worry about me. Because we're both Lesser Grails, and due to the Servant-Master relationship, even from the magical workshop, I can connect to your perspective through our link. Assisting with magecraft and such is also completely fine."
"...Are you really making me go alone..." Although it seemed there was nothing to worry about, the thought of going to such a dangerous place crowded with Servants made little Illya somewhat worried. Could I be inexplicably drawn in and then made into 'Illya-chan (minced meat)'?
It seemed that even after releasing the functions of the Lesser Grail and having Chloe's part to assist, the JS (elementary schooler) part of little Illya still seemed to occupy more of her.
"It's not like you're alone... Mom, you go with her too. Here, this is a 'forged Command Spell' I made. Theoretically, apart from the connection to the Servant, the effect is pretty much the same. Though, with Illya's abilities, even using this kind of thing is meaningless... Well, generally speaking, it's possible to use this thing to 'disguise a Master' like Kiritsugu did."
"Although I don't intend to look for opportunities like Kiritsugu, this way, it should be much more convenient to act... Mom."
"Alright, then Illya will be in Mom's care!"
Putting down her eager hands, Irisviel, acting particularly domineering for her daughter, propped up her chin and nodded.
Honestly, she didn't really want to take Illya to such a dangerous place. If possible, withdrawing from the Holy Grail War would be for the best.
But Illya was a Servant, after all... And considering Kiritsugu would probably also be there, although his choice had disappointed her somewhat, the kind-hearted Irisviel still worried if he might encounter some misfortune.
However... speaking of playing Master, honestly, Irisviel was somewhat 'interested.'
After all, for her childish nature, this kind of 'role-playing' was clearly a rather novel game.
When she was with Saber, she found it very interesting.
After Saber left with Kiritsugu, Irisviel felt somewhat lonely and wistful.
And now, it seemed she could continue—and... her Servant being her own dear daughter Illya, this was simply unbearable for the young Mama-chan, wasn't it?
"It would be better if I went alone!"
"Wuwu... Is Illya-chan disdaining Mom..."
Irisviel showed her true dramatic colors, looking heartbroken, which made little Illya somewhat flustered. "...This isn't safe at all!"
"Don't worry, Mom will protect you."
"That makes it even less reassuring!"
[Illya] said with a smile:
"So, you have to protect Mom, okay~ Because Kiritsugu is really irresponsible, I can only entrust her to you, Illya~ You wouldn't want anything to happen to Mom, right?" This is definitely putting pressure on me! This is absolutely putting pressure on me!
At this moment, little Illya felt her stress bar was completely full. However, the outcome seemed to be set in stone.
And the Great King's invitation welcomed its first guest, a guest somewhat unexpected by [Illya].
She had originally thought that the ones who would be most unable to tolerate this provocation would either be that Goldie or that arrogant, useless goddess.
After all, both of them were the type with excessively strong self-esteem, unable to tolerate provocation and contempt.
But then…
"Here they come!"
One could see that undisguised, flamboyant magical energy at a glance. Whether it was the Great King, or the Masters and Servants who were paying attention to this place and rushing here, the moment they saw that thing, their hearts all skipped a beat.
Like gold, adorned with jewels, an incredibly luxurious flying device. Most people's impression of this type of product should be the "Vimana" piloted by a certain golden fellow—an ancient flying device from Hindu mythology, created by the artisan god, with ancient nuclear warheads loaded inside.
However, [Illya] recognized the true form of this ship at a glance.
"Mesektet, the Barque of Ra."
"I see... So the last Servant was you." Through this iconic Noble Phantasm, [Illya]'s gaze fell on the black-haired, golden-eyed man in Egyptian attire standing on Mesektet in the magic mirror, and she slowly spoke:
"Rider—Ozymandias."
The pharaoh of the Nineteenth Dynasty of ancient Egypt, and also the most famous and talented pharaoh—Ramesses II.
"Well, if it's him, it indeed fits the hidden rules of the additional seven Servants."
The silver-haired girl nodded.
Although the summoning ritual for the additional seven Servants was almost uninfluenced by Jiang Qiao, just as he told Kiritsugu—the significance of the additional seven Servants wasn't just to satisfy his own wish to participate in the Holy Grail War. Their more important duty was to correct the polluted, derailed Holy Grail War.
Only noble souls could wash away the filth of All the World's Evils.
Therefore, 'noble soul' was the only rule for summoning the new seven Servants, basically locking the summoned targets to the good alignment.
Although Mordred was the Knight of Treachery, she was not an evildoer, just a confused child who hadn't received proper guidance.
Enkidu, needless to say, his divine nature already spoke for itself.
And Ishtar... although that goddess's personality was terrible, and she could hardly be called a good person, she was indeed of the good alignment.
Morgan could hardly be called good, but Morgan's other side was the Fae of the Lake, Vivian. By virtue of that aspect, she could descend with a good alignment.
And Kama... the god of love, how could she be called evil?
The final Rider. Honestly, with the example of the previous two goddesses, Jiang Qiao had always thought the most likely candidates would be 'Quetzalcoatl,' 'Martha,' or Saint George. The former was the pinnacle of good gods, the latter a Christian saint.
But it turned out to be Ozymandias... (Lit. "ham sausage," a pun on his Chinese nickname "La Er," meaning "ham," which sounds like Ramesses.)
"Hmm... At this level, without a suitable demotion target, a being like Quetzalcoatl indeed couldn't appear." [Illya] roughly understood what was going on.
Something like Quetzalcoatl could only appear in a situation like the Absolute Demonic Front. For the scale of a Holy Grail War, even with demotion, it couldn't support the advent of such a main god-level entity. Vessels capable of hosting a peak good god like Quetzalcoatl were also extremely rare.
And the reason a Saint like Martha didn't appear was probably due to so-called 'compatibility.'
Her gaze slowly fell on the rather unremarkable figure on the golden ship.
Similarly, on the summit of Mount Enzou, the doll-like blonde girl standing beside Morgan had a slight curve on her lips.
"Ah... I didn't expect even you to come, Ayaka~"
—Undoubtedly, that was the second daughter of the Sajyou family, her rather mediocre, untalented, but surprisingly likable gloomy younger sister.
Ayaka Sajyou.
Manaka Sajyou was quite happy to see her; after all, she was still very fond of this younger sister.
Although quite useless, she occasionally brought her some fun—and in this Holy Grail War, for this situation where they might have to face a 'sisters fighting each other' scenario, Manaka, as the older sister, was also particularly looking forward to it.
However, that Servant... seems a bit troublesome...
"Hoho, looking at this imposing manner, you must also be a king." Iskandar looked at the figure standing on the sun boat and couldn't help but laugh heartily, "If so, then announce your name!"
"A king does not hide his face."
"Meaningless provocation, King of Conquerors. Though you are a king, you are but a person of faint light. To behold my countenance yet not know my name." He said coldly, with a hint of displeasure, but the next moment, he laughed heartily again, his chest swelling with pride:
"But that matters not."
"In the name of Pharaoh, I forgive your ignorance. Listen attentively with your heart—not just you, King of Conquerors, but also those heroes and rats rushing here."
"Gaze upon the sky, prostrate upon the earth. The brilliance of the sun you look up to is precisely I."
"My name is Ozymandias! King of Kings! The Sun God who illuminates the earth is my incarnation! Bow down and submit, for I am the Pharaoh who rules all in this world!"
Undisguised magical energy swept through the entirety of Fuyuki. This commotion was even greater than the Great King's, as dazzling as the sun in the night sky.
And its source was precisely that flamboyant Sun King.
Ramesses II!