Fate in Bleach: Unlimited Blade Works!-Chapter 455: Victory

"Hahahaha, Berserker, you've certainly surprised me."

Although severely wounded, Iskandar remained boisterous. Freeing himself from the support of his soldiers, he approached Ailin.

"Since being summoned to the Throne of Heroes as a Heroic Spirit, because of the countless soldiers who follow me, I believed that among the countless Heroic Spirits in the Throne of Heroes, I was also the strongest."

"However, after seeing you, I realized I was arrogant. But, Berserker, you've also underestimated me. In my life, the word 'surrender' has never existed."

"There is only plunder, plunder, and more plunder!"

"Do you desire my divinity?"

"Then come!"

"I am here."

"Defeat me, and you can seize my divinity!"

With that, Iskandar spread his arms wide and shouted, "Comrades, standing before us now is a powerhouse from another world, aiming to become a creator god."

"It is our honor to fight against him. Although the disparity in strength is great, we cannot allow him to look down upon us. Now, are you willing to join me in one final charge against this powerhouse from another world?"

"OOOOOH!"

"OOOOOH!"

"OOOOOH!"

Following Iskandar, the King of Conqueror's, words, the remaining ten thousand-plus soldiers gathered behind him, charging towards Ailin and his forces.

"Hahahahaha…"

"Berserker, come!"

"Insolent!"

The Zanpakutō behind Ailin, seeing a group of defeated foes daring to charge at them again, were enraged.

If not for Ailin-sama's orders, they would have already annihilated these foes.

They hadn't expected that these soldiers, instead of appreciating Ailin-sama's mercy, would actually dare to launch another attack.

Truly, they were courting death!

Seeing the captain-level Zanpakutō under his command wanting to charge out, Ailin waved his hand.

"Alright, everyone, stand down. Since the King of Conquerors wishes to fight me again, I will be serious. King of Conquerors, I will use this next attack to send you back to the Throne of Heroes!"

With that, Ailin placed his hand on the Zanpakutō at his waist and slowly drew it.

This time, when Ailin descended with the Berserker class, he had brought a Zanpakutō with him.

This Zanpakutō had descended alongside Ailin as his own Noble Phantasm.

Its true name was "Ailin."

This was a Zanpakutō Ailin had created based on himself from a certain point in time.

"Burn, Ailin!"

As Ailin called out the true name of the Zanpakutō in his hand, immense spiritual pressure instantly erupted from his body.

This spiritual pressure formed a pillar a hundred meters in diameter.

Everyone within this range felt immense pressure, finding it difficult to stand, and falling to their knees.

In fact, this powerful spiritual pressure even caused distortions in the surrounding space.

This was a sign that Iskandar, the King of Conqueror's, Reality Marble was beginning to crumble, unable to withstand Ailin's spiritual pressure.

The ability of the Zanpakutō "Ailin" was extremely overbearing.

After its Shikai release, it could concentrate all of Ailin's spiritual pressure, releasing it completely within one minute.

How strong was Ailin's spiritual pressure?

In a one-on-one battle, it could support Ailin in combat for ten days and half a month without running dry.

Concentrating such an immense amount of spiritual pressure to be completely consumed within one minute allowed Ailin to elevate his strength to a terrifying level within that minute.

Seeing that his released spiritual pressure was about to crush Iskandar's Reality Marble, Ailin took a deep breath, forcing himself to retract the overflowing spiritual pressure around him.

There was no helping it. Even with Ailin's powerful control over spiritual pressure, in a situation where his spiritual pressure had suddenly increased dozens of times, it was impossible to control it perfectly.

Ailin suspected that if he completely unleashed his spiritual pressure now, he might not only shatter Iskandar, the King of Conqueror's, Reality Marble, but also cause terrifying damage to Fuyuki City.

It was only because this was a Reality Marble, a space independent of the real world, that Ailin dared to unleash the Zanpakutō "Ailin" here.

Ailin compressed the violent spiritual pressure into his Zanpakutō, then swung it.

WHOOSH—

An endless torrent of spiritual pressure was directly unleashed by Ailin's slash.

Under this violent torrent of spiritual pressure, Iskandar and the ten thousand-plus soldiers behind him were like pencil drawings on paper being erased by an eraser, unable to leave even the slightest trace.

And this Reality Marble, under the power of Ailin's single strike, twisted and shattered.

BOOM! 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

A blazing white torrent burst through Iskandar, the King of Conqueror's, Reality Marble, appearing in the real world and shooting straight into the sky.

Without the resistance of the Reality Marble, Ailin's slash directly cleaved through the night sky, soaring out of the Type-Moon world's Earth, striking a small asteroid beyond the planet and shattering it.

After Ailin's attack, with a single strike, he had completely crushed and annihilated Iskandar, the King of Conquerors.

After Iskandar's Reality Marble shattered, Ailin and the others instantly reappeared in the real world.

Because the space of a Reality Marble was independent of the external space, although in the Reality Marble, Ailin and the others were several thousand meters away from Waver, after the Reality Marble shattered, Waver, riding Bucephalus, appeared less than twenty meters in front of Ailin and the others.

Clearly, even though Ailin had tried his best to control it, the power of his slash had still far exceeded the limits of what the King of Conqueror's, Reality Marble could withstand.

Therefore, before that power could reach Waver, it had already shattered the Reality Marble, the residual power spilling into the outside world, allowing Waver and Bucephalus to escape unscathed.

However, as a Heroic Spirit within Iskandar's Reality Marble, although Bucephalus hadn't been struck by Ailin's attack, after the Reality Marble collapsed, the magical energy constructing Bucephalus's body began to dissipate.

After appearing in the outside world, Bucephalus lowered its body, safely placing Waver on the ground, then dissipated into a burst of white light.

Slowly dissipating his spiritual pressure, and releasing the Zanpakutō "Ailin's" release, Ailin sheathed the Zanpakutō.

A golden light coalesced in the void, radiating a powerful pressure, giving the impression of supremacy, sanctity, and nobility.

This was Iskandar, the King of Conqueror's, divinity!

Before Iskandar and Ailin began their battle, they had made a vow.

If Iskandar won, he would plunder Ailin's Reality Marble. And if Ailin won, Iskandar would have to give up the divinity within the body that had descended upon this world.

Now, Iskandar had been defeated by Ailin, withdrawing from this Holy Grail War, but the vow he had made with Ailin, under the witness of the Counter Force, forced the Greater Grail to strip the divinity from his body, even though he had died, and deliver it to Ailin.

Similarly, if Ailin had been defeated, the Greater Grail would have stripped Ailin's Reality Marble, Unlimited Blade Works, and delivered it to the King of Conquerors.

Ailin reached out and took this divinity, storing it temporarily within Unlimited Blade Works.

Although absorbing divinity would further enhance Ailin's strength, Ailin hadn't forgotten that this Holy Grail War wasn't over yet.

The strongest enemy, the powerhouse at the very pinnacle of Heroic Spirits in the Type-Moon world, Gilgamesh, the King of Heroes, possessed an "Anti-Divine Noble Phantasm."

The Chains of Heaven were Gilgamesh, the King of Heroes', most trusted Noble Phantasm. Its status in Gilgamesh, the King of Heroes', heart was even higher than the Anti-World Noble Phantasm, "Ea."

As an Anti-Divine Noble Phantasm, the Chains of Heaven had a very powerful characteristic.

The higher the divinity of the bound target, the stronger its binding power.

If Ailin had no divinity now, and was bound by Gilgamesh, the King of Heroes, using the Chains of Heaven, he could rely on his own strength to break free from the Chains of Heaven. Or rather, while the Chains of Heaven could bind him, they couldn't truly restrain him.

If Ailin wanted to escape, he could drag the Chains of Heaven and move, engaging in a contest of strength with Gilgamesh.

But if Ailin absorbed the divinity now, while it would increase his strength somewhat, he would be restrained by the Chains of Heaven.

This would be very detrimental to Ailin.

Waving his hand, the captain-level Zanpakutō surrounding Ailin instantly manifested blackish-red spatial ripples around them, returning the materialized Zanpakutō to the Reality Marble.

Then, Ailin turned, preparing to leave.

Although he was somewhat disappointed that he hadn't been able to fight Artoria tonight, the battle with Iskandar had also been satisfying.

"Hey, Berserker, aren't you going to kill me?"

Waver, who had dismounted from Bucephalus, thought he was doomed, and was waiting for Berserker to attack him. But to Waver's surprise, Berserker had no intention of killing him.

"Oh? Do you want to die that much? Rider's Master."

Hearing Waver's words, Ailin stopped in his tracks and turned to look at Waver.

"If you want to follow Iskandar I can send you on your way."

"I did have the impulse to follow His Majesty."

Waver shook his head. "But His Majesty is, after all, a great figure of the post-mythological era. My following him now wouldn't have any meaning."

"For me, a more meaningful form of loyalty is to go back and compile His Majesty's life, to spread His Majesty's deeds and myths throughout the world…"

The strength of a Heroic Spirit was closely related to their "legend."

Heroic Spirits who were praised by the world would receive a great boost to their own strength.

And Heroic Spirits who were forgotten by the world would also have their strength weakened.

Iskandar, the King of Conqueror's, era was too far removed from the present, with only some myths and legends remaining.

In terms of the degree of spread throughout the world, the legends left behind by Iskandar were far inferior to those of Artoria, the King of Knights.

Therefore, Artoria as a Saber-class Servant participating in the Holy Grail War, needed to use "Invisible Air" to conceal her Noble Phantasm, to hide her true identity.

After all, the King of Knights' Noble Phantasm was simply too recognizable.

Anyone who saw it would know Artoria's true identity.

Diarmuid was like this.

By breaking through Artoria's Invisible Air with Gáe Dearg, the "Crimson Rose of Exorcism," he saw the true form of the Sword of Promised Victory, instantly knowing Artoria's identity.

And he said that being able to fight with Artoria was his honor.

On the other hand, Iskandar?

When he appeared, if he hadn't revealed his own identity, who would have known who he was?

It was precisely because of this that Waver decided to collect the myths and legends of Iskandar and spread his renown throughout the world.

As epic poems of human history, if a large number of myths and legends were still circulating in the modern world, the Heroic Spirits in the Throne of Heroes would also receive the blessing of the legends from the present world.

"Since that's the case, why do you still want me to kill you?"

Ailin raised an eyebrow. "Boy, don't confuse me and my Master with other Servants and Masters."

"For me, killing you or not killing you makes no difference. Your existence poses no threat to me. As for my Master…"

Thinking of Sakura, Ailin shook his head.

With his intervention, this world might become another parallel world of the Type-Moon universe.

What Sakura would become in this world, Ailin really couldn't say.

But the Matou residence still contained the magic notes of Makiri Zolgen, no, it should be said, of Zouken Matou.

With Sakura's talent, reaching the level of Makiri Zolgen in the past was not impossible.

However, before that, Ailin had to first consider how to allow Sakura to learn and cast Makiri Zolgen's water-based magic with her own Imaginary Number magic attribute.

The method of directly using Crest Worms to transform like Zouken Matou was impossible.

Zouken Matou used Crest Worms to change Sakura's magic attribute not because he wanted to teach Sakura his own magic, but because he wanted to use Sakura as a vessel, to allow Sakura to give birth to a child with outstanding water-based magic talent, to serve as his body for his next life.

But regardless of whether Sakura could learn Makiri Zolgen's water-based magic, Ailin didn't believe Waver could pose any threat to Sakura.

In the original timeline, the reason Waver could grow into "Lord El-Melloi II" was because Kayneth had been struck by Kiritsugu Emiya's "Origin Bullet" in the Fourth Holy Grail War, causing his own magic circuits to become a jumbled mess, losing the ability to cast magic, and passing his magic crest to Waver.

But in this world, Ailin had snatched Kayneth before Kiritsugu Emiya, fulfilling Lancer Diarmuid's complete wish, and ultimately not killing Kayneth.