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[Chat]:
[Arriving]: hehehe, here they come~
[Anticipating]: I can't wait to see Northern Star get absolutely wrecked
[Uncertain]: wait — is this actually going to go the way we think?
[Certain]: this is absolutely going to go exactly the way we think
[Strategic_Question]: what is Black side's plan here? why did they leave William defending the center alone? how is he supposed to hold this?
[Also_Noticing]: Max hasn't said anything in a while. as the commentator shouldn't he be talking?
[Max_Status]: he's watching. smiling. not saying anything. this is ominous.
The Flying Hooves Thunder Ox descended from the sky with the sound of a small thunderstorm.
Conqueror Iskandar and Northern Star arrived above Plains City.
From altitude, the city looked exposed in all the ways the strategist had predicted — no natural defensive features, approaches from every direction, the kind of position that invited attack rather than discouraging it. Iskandar surveyed it with the practiced eye of a man who had assessed more fortifications than most historians could name, one hand stroking his chin thoughtfully.
Then something crossed the air at extreme speed.
A short halberd. Heavy, carrying the kind of force that came from a throw with full body weight behind it, aimed directly at Northern Star's head.
Clang.
Iskandar's hand was already moving when it registered consciously. The Cyprus sword cleared its sheath and met the halberd mid-flight. The impact rattled up through his arm with enough force to make his hand tremble.
B-rank Strength. Not a famous warrior by any measure, but capable of outpressing most second-tier Heroic Spirits without difficulty. That throw had almost gotten through.
He looked at his still-vibrating hand.
His expression didn't go to fear. It went to interest.
"It seems we're not welcome here, kid."
Northern Star, who had experienced approximately three seconds of total terror, had already made herself as small as possible inside the Divine Chariot. Not hiding behind Iskandar exactly — more like making herself structurally part of the chariot in a way that kept her within the protective radius without being underfoot.
[Chat]:
[Corn_Position]: she found the exact spot in the chariot that says "I am present but not a problem"
[Iskandar_Reaction]: his hand is still shaking and he looks EXCITED about it
[Identifying]: that was a halberd. a SHORT halberd thrown by hand with enough force to push through B-rank Strength—
[Getting_There]:
[Almost]:
[Waiting]:
Iskandar straightened up and addressed the city below with the volume of someone who had spent decades making himself heard across battlefield distances.
"I am Iskandar — the Conqueror of Macedon. I have witnessed your bravery." He meant it completely. "Will you submit to me? Become my subject? If so, you will know the pleasure of conquering the world together."
A beat of silence from the city walls.
Then a laugh — big, unself-conscious, the kind that didn't perform amusement.
"Hahaha! You foreign bear, you really can talk!"
The strongman appeared on the wall in full view, and even at this distance the scale of him was difficult to process. The black armor he'd put on before the battle caught the moonlight and gave nothing back.
"There is only one King in my heart. But—" he paused, and some quality of professional courtesy entered his voice, "—since you've already declared your true name, it would be poor form for a warrior not to do the same." He looked sideways at William. "Master. Your call."
William didn't hesitate. "Do as you like, Uncle."
The strongman grinned.
"Have you heard of the Ancient Evil — Dian Wei?"
[Chat]:
[DIAN_WEI]: DIAN WEI
[CONFIRMED]: I KNEW IT I KNEW IT
[For_Those_Who_Don't_Know]: Dian Wei — Cao Cao's personal bodyguard. saved his lord three separate times. died at the Battle of Wan Castle holding off an entire army alone so Cao Cao could escape. bare-handed, surrounded, and still held the line until he was dead.
[Historical_Weight]: he's not a famous general in the conventional sense. he's famous for dying right.
[William_Luck]: William summoned the man who died protecting his lord rather than abandoning him. and William's wish was for parents to stay with their children. these two deserve each other.
[Conqueror_Response]: Iskandar's face right now—
Iskandar's expression had shifted. The recruitment energy faded into something more genuine.
"That is truly— truly disrespectful of me." He meant that too. "He who saved his lord three times and gave his life for that purpose — recruiting such a hero so casually was presumptuous." He looked at Dian Wei directly. "Then let us make it a proper contest. If I defeat you in a straight fight, consider joining me. And—" his gaze moved to William, crouching at the bottom of the chariot, "—kid. Stop hiding. You're about to embarrass Conqueror."
"You don't need to say anything more about my Master." Dian Wei's voice was flat and final. "He is someone who will become a King. As for your bet — there's nothing to discuss. Because you won't be leaving here."
Iskandar considered this.
Then he laughed — full, genuine, delighted.
His large hand came down on Northern Star's back with the force of someone who had not recalibrated for a person significantly smaller than his usual companions. Northern Star stumbled forward and scrambled out of the chariot entirely, landing on her feet and moving immediately to stand beside Dian Wei's position on the wall.
Iskandar's expression improved noticeably.
"Good. Now we're fighting properly."
[Chat]:
[Northern_Star_Survived_The_Pat]: she took the Conqueror shoulder-pat and walked it off. impressive.
[Dian_Wei_Assessment]: "you won't be leaving here" — zero diplomatic window. he's just telling the truth.
[Conqueror_Fans]: the thing is Conqueror is going to deploy King's Army. unless you have something on the level of Ea, how do you fight tens of thousands of Heroic Spirits?
[Someone]: what's Ea?
[Someone_Else]: the sword that split the world. don't worry about it.
[Back_To_Point]: Dian Wei is strong but King's Army is a Reality Marble. you can't outfight a Reality Marble with one man.
[Counter]: can't you though?
[Silence]:
"Kid." Dian Wei didn't look away from Iskandar. "He's going to use that Noble Phantasm."
"Use whatever you need," William said. "I'll keep your mana supplied. Command Seals are ready if it gets there." He paused, then added honestly: "He's strong, Uncle. By Chinese historical standards — genuinely one of the strongest."
Dian Wei accepted this.
"Not bad, kid." He glanced back once. "Your eyes look like Conqueror's Master's eyes — before he lost his way. A man should be that broad. Not small."
William processed this compliment.
He decided to accept it.
[Chat]:
[Conqueror_Complimenting_William]: Iskandar is complimenting William through Dian Wei and William doesn't know how to receive it
[The_Cyprus_Sword]: Iskandar is raising the Cyprus sword. here we go.
Magic surged.
The plain under moonlight ceased to exist.
In the space between one breath and the next, the landscape transformed entirely — moonlight replaced by blazing afternoon sun, the cool night air replaced by dry desert heat, the empty fields of Romania replaced by an endless sun-baked expanse that had no horizon. Not a summoned field. Not a spell. A Reality Marble — the inner landscape of Iskandar himself, externalized. The land where he and his army had marched together, made real.
Iskandar was no longer in the Divine Chariot. He was on Bucephalus, his beloved horse, the transformation happening naturally as his own landscape surrounded him.
Dian Wei looked around.
"...Where did this old man take us? Is this still our territory?"
"It's his Reality Marble," William said. "His inner world. The land he conquered with his army."
"I see." Dian Wei turned this over. "This foreign Conqueror is a regional lord, I'll give him that. But the scale—" a dismissive noise, "—the Prime Minister would do better."
[Chat]:
[Dian_Wei_Scale_Assessment]: he looked at Iskandar's inner world — the externalized landscape of a man who conquered half the known world — and said "the Prime Minister would do better"
[Devotion_Level]: this man's loyalty is beyond quantification
[William_Face]: William has stopped trying to react to anything Dian Wei says about Cao Cao
The war drums came from everywhere at once.
The sound of them moved through the ground before it reached the ears. Then the horizon — what passed for a horizon in this desert — filled.
An army.
Tens of thousands. Each warrior fully armed, fully equipped, the kind of soldiers who hadn't been conscripted but chosen — heroes who had answered Iskandar's call across time, who had stood beside him not because they were ordered to but because they had chosen to follow where he led. The Noble Phantasm King's Army in its full deployment. The military force of legend, made present.
Dian Wei stared.
His massive frame went completely still.
Then, very slowly, he began to shake.
Not fear. Every person watching could see it wasn't fear. It was something different — the specific reaction of a warrior who recognizes true military power and responds to it at a level below conscious thought.
"Gh—"
His voice came out wrong. Too quiet. Too rough.
"It's—"
He looked at the endless army filling the horizon of Iskandar's inner world, every face a hero, every banner a campaign.
"Tens of thousands of peerless warriors."
[Chat]:
[DIAN_WEI_IS_SHAKING]: HE IS SHAKING
[Understanding]: he's not scared. he's moved. he's a warrior recognizing an army worth fighting.
[What_Comes_Next]: William has two Command Seals. Dian Wei is standing alone against ten thousand heroes.
[Watching]: I cannot look away from this
[Conqueror_Fans]: this is what King's Army does. this is the Noble Phantasm that bends other heroes to Iskandar's side. Dian Wei is FEELING it.
[But_Also]: Dian Wei said "there is only one King in my heart"
[Will_He_Hold]: ...will he hold?
[End of Chapter 166]
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