The winds were scorching.
Gone was the calm blue of the Japanese skies. In its stead, a desert reminiscent of the middle east's harshest dunes burned under the noontime sun.
Avenger found the heat of this desert quite annoying. The fires of her own hell were warm and comfortable, a pain she'd grown to come and love. The sun of Rider's world however was irritating to her. Like a sunburn being poked by the salt of one's sweat. A real pain in the ass.
"HAHAHAHAHAHA!" Accompanying the grating heat was the chortles of a bloodthirsty giant out for blood and conquest. "Avenger, for daring to threaten my subjects, for daring to usurp my title, I have answered your call!"
The King raised his voice, bellowing into the open fields for all to hear. Not just his challenger, but his entire army heard it all.
"So long as I breathe, none shall harm my friends and subjects! None shall insult my pride and honour! For it is not just mine and mine alone!" With a battle cry, the entire field of soldiers stamped their weapons in unison. "You have not only dared to spit on my name, but have dared to usurp those who brought me that title, to begin with! For the sake of your downfall, we bring our all!"
More cheers, more battle cries. From where she stood in the middle of the field, alone, Nobunaga admired the fervour of his army. The passion such noble soldiers carried in their hearts and on their shoulders. Had they not been her enemies, she might've spared them. Or, at the very least, she would've prepared a special place in hell for them all.
She could only smile voraciously at the thought.
"So long as our chests beat with ambition for the far horizon, my campaign shall never end. I, Iskandar, shall carry on the title as King of Conquerors!" The roar of his people, his kingdom, exuded the pseudo-Servant army's support for their liege. "To those who would dare attempt to take it, you're welcome to try! Now, raise your cries of war! [Ionian Hetairoi!]! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALALALALALALALALALALALAAAAA!"
The horde charged. As the vanguard, Rider took the lead with his chariot. Warriors of old roared mighty howls as they all prepared to throw all they had at her, their one and only foe.
But in the eyes of the daimyo, spears and arrows were nothing but relics. Toys from an age where gunpowder had yet to reign supreme. For those who were born well beyond the beginning of the Age of Man, such were nothing but outdated child's play.
Metal whizzed by her face. She'd stepped aside to avoid one of the first arrows fired her way. It did little apart from causing her hair to fray slightly. Nobunaga smiled. An obsolete attempt at her life was still an insult should it hit. And though she didn't need to lift a finger to stop them, it would be an insult not to go to her after demanding her foe do the same.
Her rifles appeared in the air around her, lining up and forming a barrier against any projectiles. Her attention never left the King of Conquers himself, however.
Iskandar didn't waste time and rushed forward. His chariot lined up at her directly. The bulls were ready to run over anything in their path. Onwards, in a reckless charge that would sow the seeds of his defeat.
'Pitiful fool.'
DAN DAN DAN
Her rifles gunned down all that tried to reach her. But Iskandar was a special target. His chariot gave him ample protection against her bullets. His bulls were wounded, being riddled with holes after bullet holes. But, of course, being divine beasts, they weren't going to go down like simple animals.
'Yes! Come closer! Come closer so you may taste led fresh from the barrel!'
It didn't take long for Rider to do just that. Not thirty meters away, just when he was assured of his win, Nobunaga was assured of his death!
"To the reckless fool who thinks his outdated tactics would work on me, taste the wrath of the Daimyo from hell!" The demoness smirked, revealing her fangs as she finally raised her katana and aimed at him. "[Without fail! Three Line Formation]!"
Three rows of arquebuses appeared before her. Three thousand rifles aimed at her enemies and, with a swing of her blade, it all fired, raining death and destruction to the army of Servants that dared defy her.
This was the strategy that won her numerous battles during the age of war. A death sentence to any army that marched headlong into battle without cover and with unreliable armour. Lead, fire, smoke, the explosions from each shot lose. All of that served to create a horrifying display. One where a comrade in front could be torn to shreds before your very eyes. Where one's allies to their side were turned to mush under a hail of metal. Where one's steed would fail and die, leading you to fall to the earth helpless.
The gruesome theatre was bathed with blood and smoke, with the dirt and innards of all the soldiers you fought alongside. And at the very forefront stood a woman, clad in red and black, bearing the devil's smile as she glared pitifully into your soul, mocking your folly at challenging her in the field of battle.
"For you to dare use cavalry against me, for you to dare tread your armies boots on my land, Rider! Face your death at the end of my barrels!" Swapping out her katana for a rifle in each hand, she let loose once more, sending wave after wave of lead shells everywhere. "Know thy folly in facing the greatest warlord of Japan herself! Know the might and fury of Oda Nobunaga!"
Iskandar's army was torn to shreds. One after another, they fell to the wall of shells.
Volley fire, while not her invention, served Nobu well enough in life that her legend was canonized with its gruesome display. It was a western concept that brought her armies glory in her great campaign. Being one of the most famed tactics that catapulted her story of conquest all across Japan, it was seared into her heroic spirit as another Noble Phantasm.
The famous battle of Nagashino was not the start of Nobunaga's great ambition of unification, but it was the start of the changes she'd brought to the fold. The very aspect of warfare within her nation bowed down to the might of the powder and flame.
When mere peasants lined up alongside one another, firing round after round in organized unison brought down an elite, well-trained cavalry's charge, her infamy grew. Embodying the reaper that brought down even the most trained of soldiers, it enhanced her status as a Servant, working its way up alongside her monk-slaughtering aspect. Together, her skills and legend carried anti-Divinity and anti-Riding status.
For a demigod like Iskandar, the son of Zeus and Servant of the chariot, it was a death sentence.
Which was why her smile only grew when she'd yet to hear the oaf's death wails amongst the masses of his men she continued to mow down.
"What's the matter, 'King of Conquerors'?! Don't tell me this is all you've got!" Try as his soldier's might, none could stand against a rain of lead. Spears and arrows flew past here and there, but they were the misfires and failed throws of dying men. The shots that could've actually wounded her were shredded mid-flight by the rest of her arquebus fire. "Send them all! Men, women, children! Your pets and steeds, deities and guardian spirits! No matter who they may be, for accepting my challenge, I shall not rest till all of them burn in hell!"
More died over her demand for blood. And yet, despite the heavy losses, many more took their place. Ionian Hetairoi was a force to be reckoned with. For it didn't matter how many she dropped, at first sight, they didn't stop charging her en masse. Nor did their King show his back as a sign of retreat. The ancient warriors continued to fall, following their king's demand for her head.
In the ensuing mess of fallen bodies, behind it all, a chariot had been overturned and used as cover. The divine bulls that once pulled said chariot were all but spent, bleeding out as their master consoled them with a hand.
"You two can rest now." Rider said with a hearty smile as they vanished into motes of light. Knowing that his loyal steeds' parting would be temporary as they were inscribed forever in his legend, he merely chuckled at his own ineptitude for ordering a full-on assault. "Heh… Still, as expected, Oda Nobunaga's one hell of a number to pick a fight with. Now I see why Goldie was so shaken by her presence." He glanced over at the Avenger who continued to massacre his forces. "This is bad. Being the self-proclaimed bane of gods, I might be at a disadvantage at this point."
Waver, who'd kept his solemn composure through it all, raised his hand. The red tattoos on it glistened under the Reality Marble's faux sun. "I can use Command Seals to boost your abilities and give you a chance to strike her. But… considering they will only give you as much as they could before dissipating, we will need to act fast."
Iskandar met his Master's firm eyes with a confident smile. "Very well. We spent the entire war without using these little marks. Time to see what they can do!" With a hearty laugh, he stood up, ready to charge on his own. "At your command, boy!"
Waver nodded and raised his hand, With more confidence in his tone than ever before, he stated. "By the power of my Command Seals, I order you, Iskandar! Strike down, Avenger! Ignore her bullets, for they will not pierce you! Take her head and win this fight, King of Conquerors!"
The first two marks flickered and faded from Waver's skin. And though nothing changed in his person, Rider could feel the surge of power the magic flooded through his core. With the newfound strength, Iskandar felt like he could take on an entire army—Nay. An entire country!
But as tonight, he only had one foe, it would do perfectly. With a demon as ruthless as she was battle-hungry, the King of Conquerors knew he had enough power to slay the beast killing his men.
"Stay here, Master." Iskandar jumped from his temporary shelter and glared at Nobunaga. "It will be over soon." At the snap of his finger, Bucephalus was with him and ready to ride. "Apologies, old friend. But I must have you work a bit of overtime before the night is done!"
The horse neighed as if to disregard his allowing Saber to blast him with Excalibur once before. In truth, it had taken a lot out of Rider to manifest his steed again so soon. But, to gain the upper hand, he couldn't be stingy with what reserves he had left. Even if it meant he couldn't call on his Reality Marble for the third time.
Waver couldn't stay silent and shouted as the King took his steed's reins and rode on. "Don't you dare to lose, Iskandar!"
"ON MY HONOR!" Iskandar smirked before howling madly. "AAAAAAAAAAALALALALALALALALAAAA!"
Upon hearing their king battle cry, his friends and subjects shouted in unison before joining their king at his charge. Many bled like mad, from their mouths, the bullet holes in their chests, or maybe a severed arm or shoulder. But all able-bodied soldiers strode forth with the same fervour as they always had.
It was always the same, their king would run at the danger without a care in the world and they, admiring his unrelenting back, would follow him to the end no matter what. This is how it was. How it always will be.
In the face of the demon of war, it was a final challenge. Many a time, she'd done the same as Iskandar. Leading her warriors at the forefront. Manoeuvring to cut off her enemies. Tearing through their sworn foes and traitors alike, shoulder to shoulder with those who shared her ideals.
War was not always about death. But death was revealed in war.
As the most powerful Daimyo in the Sengoku Era, and the one said to have killed as many as ten thousand souls, she was to be their ferryman to the world beyond the grave.
'You don't win wars by dying for your ideals, you win wars by killing anyone who will oppose them. Tonight, only one conqueror will leave this false world of yours. And it won't be you, Iskandar!' Nobunaga closed her eyes and contacted her beloved. With a low tone, she uttered her signal. "Now, Lelouch."
He was in the real world, fighting his own fight and yet he answered her call as he said he would. 'By the power of my Command Seal! I, Lelouch Vi Britannia beseech you, Oda Nobunaga! Burn away all who dare challenge us! Send our foes to hell!'
"Yes, your highness!"