The drops of blood, one after another, fell into the ocean. His hands were stained with blood and the millions of souls watched him with piercing gazes.
Alone in that abyss, he could no longer see the souls standing there. He could no longer hear them whispering to him.
Their laughter was distant.
The voices faded long ago.
When was it that he stopped seeing and hearing them?
...
...
Uh... yes... it was at that time...
...
He landed on the stone floor after jumping from the roof. He clenched the hilt of the daggers with all his might and let out a cold sigh. The X in his eyes throbbed, as if focusing on the scene in front of him.
Then Rider, rising calmly from the ground, said:
"I think you misunderstood what I said, boy. The wine was your blood, so if you insist on spilling it, I have no problem."
Suddenly, a strong wind, warm and dry, roared loudly around Rider. It was as if the wind came straight from the desert. Even Waver could feel the sand hitting his face.
Toru watched this calmly. He knew he was stepping into the lion's mouth. But there was nothing he could do anymore. He could no longer resist the Command Seal's command.
"To end the banquet. Saber, Archer, let me ask you a question."
The wind intensified, and began to cover the surroundings with sand.
"Must a king be alone?!"
Saber replied instantly.
"Of course. A king has no choice but to be alone!"
But this made Rider laugh loudly.
"Wrong! Very wrong! Let me teach you both what it is to be a true king!"
Knowing the history of the King of Conquerors, Alexander the Great III, Toru already knew what this guy's Noble Phantasm is. With the sand covering everything, with the distant footsteps echoing at the hint of wind. The answer was obvious. And that was what made Toru think that running away was the best strategy, but he couldn't move.
'He who had the greatest army of all...'
He thought coldly. This was what was known as Reality Marble. Rider projected a memory from his mind in a physical form to change the environment. It was as if everyone present was travelling back in time, seeing the desert that Iskandar's army once crossed.
"Behold my glorious army!"
And followed by that shift in reality, the distant echoing footsteps intensified. The cheers of the soldiers rose to the sky like a legendary chorus. They all looked out over the horizon of the place, that gigantic army.
They were the ones who fought at Iskandar's side.
Those who gave their lives and sacrificed their bodies for their king.
Their souls echo in the history of this world.
All of them, as different Servants throughout history, showed themselves as an armed ocean in the vast wilderness.
"They are my greatest treasure of all. My rightful ruler... Iskandar's mightiest Noble Phantasm!"
Toru clicked his tongue as he saw it with his own eyes.
"Ionian Hetairoi!!!"
That king raised his sword as the soldiers chanted in praise of the king.
"This is not something I can deal with alone..."
With no escape, Toru put his plan into action. He looked Rider in the eye, who, at that moment, had been reunited with his equine companion, Bucephalus. Rider looked at him for a second and then Toru's eyes did something strange.
The X in his eyes moved and the plan began.
"The time has come to begin, Assassin. Prepare yourself."
Toru said nothing, instead starting to walk slowly towards the army.
Saber, who had fallen silent after seeing Iskandar's magnificent army, thought that this is suicide. Fighting against such a massive Noble Phantasm was utter stupidity, but...
'What are you planning on doing, Assassin?'
The moment the eyes of those present fell upon the Assassin, the stage curtain for this buffoon rose and the show began.
"Let there be none of him left! Charge!"
The army chanted as they approached the Assassin with seriousness on their faces. Bloodlust flooded their veins and the passion for loyalty to their king rumbles the very space created by Iskandar's Noble Phantasm.
Toru quickened his pace. A short walk, jogging with the daggers in his hands and then, he began to run towards the army with overwhelming speed.
Rider recognised Assassin's bravery, for instead of running away or trying to use cheap tricks, the boy threw himself into the battle head on.
...
Within a few feet of hitting the army, Toru threw the daggers at two of the soldiers, which went straight through their skulls, killing them instantly. He then crossed his fingers in front of his face and said:
"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"
Boom! Nearly fifty clouds of smoke exploded in the faces of the front of Iskandar's army. The smoke dispersed instantly as the wind caused by the waves of soldiers moving, revealing over fifty exact copies of Toru.
"It can't be..."
Waver trembled at the sight. If only one Assassin was strong, there were now fifty Assassins. And they didn't seem to be mere illusions, for, when Assassin clashed weapons with one of the soldiers, the other clones did the same, hitting and killing some on the spot.
Irisviel was also stunned. It was the first time she had seen such perfect magic. However, this was only the beginning.
The original Toru approached the soldiers who died to retrieve their daggers, but ten other soldiers appeared with spears and swords. Toru then clasped his hands together once and then slapped the ground hard. This caused the earth to rise up forcefully forming four large rocks around him, lifting the soldiers up as if they were rag dolls.
With that, he pulled the daggers out of the corpses and assumed his combat stance. His eyes looked directly at the golden lines of death on all the attacking Servants and a couple of words came out of his mouth.
"Dansu Gyakusatsu."
The ninja art of killing many targets with great efficiency.
...
Like a bolt of lightning, he propelled himself so hard that the sand beneath his feet exploded. His daggers ignited, lighting up the field as if the sun had descended to earth. Two bright trails glowed as he moved across the battlefield with agility and force. As the trail moved, many of the soldiers fell lifeless.
And the same was happening to the other fifty clones.
Rider frowned as he watched this. Although it seemed that Assassin would soon be overwhelmed by the numbers of his army, it was defending itself quite well. He was fast, strong and smart. He didn't understand how someone like that could be an Assassin.
By the same token, Saber was also puzzled. Toru had shown such power before, but now he used his abilities on the battlefield, where his eyes and his ninjutsu shone like never before.
Soon, the three kings present realised that Iskandar had put Assassin in his natural habitat.
"Let the enemy know the greatness of their king! Shout out loudly! Give up your spirits! Let your bodies be one with the desert!"
At Iskandar's words, the soldiers chanted once more. With shields protecting them, with arrows that began to cover the sky like a dark cloud of death, they advanced with all their might.
Puff! One of the clones was killed by five spears, two swords and multiple arrows that pierced his body and turned it into smoke.
It was at that moment that victory for Iskandar and his army was assured.
"Do not retreat!"
And with that, Iskandar also began his advance.
There are too many of them. If this keeps up, they will definitely kill me...'
Toru continued to defend and attack. With one of his clones protecting his back, he used teamwork with himself to defend further.
Still...
Puff! Another one of the clones died.
...
...
Then the drops of blood echoed in the emptiness of the crimson ocean. The souls began to whisper, but Toru could not hear them.
...
As he fought, the expression on his face slowly transformed into a weary face.
While the clones were a great help in not dying at the beginning, this turned against him in terms of mana drain.
Although he had already foreseen this, he calculated the amount he would need to survive without wasting mana or disappearing under the same conditions.
Without a Master, there was no way to recover the lost mana. So, if he made it out alive, he had to find a way to sustain himself until he won.
"Katōn: Gokakyu no Jutsu."
He inhaled the air sharply and spat it out as a large fireball that expanded and impacted against the front of the army.
But...
Puff! Yet another clone perished.
With this, he increased the effort and the amount of mana used. Lightning flashed. Waves of water rose. Mounds of earth struck all around. Even soldiers came to be pushed by waves of wind and burned by murderous flares.
Waver and Irisviel could not believe that an Assassin was a master at controlling the elements as well as being extremely agile and powerful. He was a perfect warrior and Iskandar admitted as much.
However, that soon came to an end.
Puff! ×8. Again Toru's small squadron dwindled in number.
He raised his daggers and boosted his mana to transform it into the flames of the Shakuton. In doing so, his daggers turned into Shakuton swords.
He raised both swords and unleashed two gigantic slashes that burned and slashed in their wake.
...
Puff ×30. Toru's reinforcements again vanished. With nine more clones remaining, they desperately tried to get rid of the soldiers at the front, but arrows still covered the sky. Swords and spears continued to slash and stab. The war cries of the soldiers rose up to the sky and...
As the clones were wiped out, leaving only the original, Toru's hope began to fade from his eyes.
He was left alone on the battlefield, covered in the blood of his enemies.
Before his hope was extinguished, he screamed loudly as a spear managed to pierce the side of his torso.
He stiffened his body to avoid being knocked down. He gritted his teeth hard to suppress the pain.
As he was surrounded by soldiers, the voice of that crying child alone echoed in his mind.
...
Watching as Assassin desperately tried to recover, seeing how fiercely he clung to life, advancing in his own struggle, Saber's gaze slowly declined.
'He is alone...'
Alone, fighting against the world, with no one by his side.
Advancing slowly despite the pain.
Artoria Pendragon's eyes saw something in Assassin, something she knew all too well.
She saw her own ideology embodied in that desperate fighting boy.
...
Rider was approaching. Archer was amused by this spectacle, but she only saw the world in slow motion. A world of depressing shades of grey.
Something so empty and lonely.
And something similar was going through Toru's head at that moment.
One of the soldiers managed to stab Assassin in the eye. Another managed to make him fall by slashing his knees. Some arrows hit his right shoulder and torso. Blood flowed crimson all over the boy's body.
...
That crying boy suddenly appeared in the ocean of blood.
Toru saw him. That boy was on his knees in the blood, with shackles and chains holding him immobile, bound by his arms and legs, and even his neck.
The boy's face was full of tears, but although he was crying, he made no sound. The tears simply streamed down his face, bruised by the wetness of his own wailing.
Toru bent down and looked at him.
He saw himself...
...
Then Rider's voice suddenly stopped the soldiers who were about to kill Toru.
The voice of that king, who was still far away from the Assassin, said to him:
"In this war... what is your wish, boy..."
That wounded Toru looked up slowly.
Artoria for some reason felt that she did not want to see this, but still did not look away.
Looking at Toru, she saw the girl who called herself the King of Knights holding the sword over the hill full of lifeless bodies, she saw herself.
...
What is my wish...'?
What this child's heart craves most.
What this teenager's broken soul desires most.
That boy who cried. That boy who looked at him in disappointment.
No more crying.
No more mourning.
You're a coward.
You hide under the regrets of your past.
You ignore what you really want and embrace what hurts you most.
You lock yourself in your own world to cry, tied to the past that tortures you so much.
'My desire...'
...
The dying Toru lowered his gaze. He touched his forehead to the ground as tears streamed down his face.
A fervent desire burned within his heart. The determination to never again be the same child who cries alone.
The desire to know what it means to live.
That is his desire.
That is what he wants.
...
The boy looked up and looked at the teenager in front of him.
He smiled with kindness. A pure angel without evil suffering for the evil of others.
But that was not his fault.
It was time to stop blaming himself for everything that happened to the boy who became the messiah of that rotten world.
No more tears.
No more regrets.
No more suffering.
Everything he wanted...
Everything he wants right now. No matter the obstacles. No matter if he has to get blood on his hands.
Nothing matters.
Absolutely nothing.
Even if the whole world turns against him...
[All it takes is to destroy the World]
...
Then the dying Toru clenched his fists tightly.
The energy of nature began to enter his body. His wounds were closed by the glow of his own flames and, as his hair waved to the sound of the flames covering his arms and legs, a black mark appeared on the left side of his face.
His wish...
"What I wish..."
The wind intensified. But this time it was something different from what Rider did before. It was something more mysterious coming from this boy.
"I want to live."
And he looked up with his tears evaporating from the high temperature of his body.
To be continued...