[Noble Phantasm: Great Qin's Mystical Bird Banner]
[Rank: EX]
[Type: Anti-Army]
[A remnant shadow from the divine land's unified empire. Even among the countless famed generals of Qin, he was the most qualified to wield this banner.]
[By waving this banner and using the terracotta warriors from the First Emperor's mausoleum as vessels, heroic souls answer the call of the renowned general, galloping across the land once more.]
[Leading an army of tens of thousands to conquer mountains, topple temples, and purge gods and demons—even the lingering shadows of beasts spanning millennia were suppressed by this man and his forces for a hundred years.]
["How can you say we have no robes? We share the same garments with you."]
The advancing army resembled an iron tide. Bronze halberds wrapped in crimson cloth swayed together like a sea of red clouds, silent save for the thunderous footsteps echoing across the land thousands of miles away from the divine realm.
The white-haired general stood atop a small hill, staring blankly at the Qin army's war banners fluttering like towering clouds, stretching over a hundred miles.
"What's on your mind?" At some point, a young man in a suit and tie appeared beside him, snapping his fingers to light the cigar dangling from his lips.
The white-haired general turned, his voice calm yet weathered: "Is that you, Lord Zhuge…?"
Under the young man's surprised gaze, Sakatsuki blinked, a faint smile appearing on his face. "Or perhaps I should address you as Lord El-Melloi II—Mr. Waver?"
Seeing the now-familiar white-haired man, the youth—now one of the twelve Lords of the Clock Tower—let out a relieved sigh, his brows relaxing. "Really, don't scare me like that. My stomach isn't what it used to be."
"Surrounded by all those energetic students, you should feel rejuvenated, no?"
"I'm only in my twenties! I'm not that old yet!"
"Hahaha…" After laughing for a moment, Sakatsuki's expression turned serious again. "So, Waver Velvet?"
"Yes. Though it's unexpected, I am indeed the coward from that timeline—the one who fought alongside you in the Holy Grail War and ran home crying in the end." The long-haired young man shrugged, exhaling smoke. "Of course, now I've somehow ended up in first-century Rome as a 'lucky' Pseudo-Servant carrying Lord Zhuge Liang's Spirit Origin."
Indeed, the Zhuge Liang before him was also a Pseudo-Servant. The vessel chosen by the Sleeping Dragon was none other than Waver, who had participated alongside Sakatsuki in the Fourth Holy Grail War.
"You already know about the peculiarity of my existence, don't you?"
"Hmm, Lord Zhuge has already informed me. Frankly, it was shocking—extremely shocking. But looking back now, perhaps without you, that Holy Grail War would have been far more… logical."
"More logical, and far bloodier, right?"
"That's true. Only now do I understand your good intentions. But enough—let's not dwell on the past." Waver rolled his eyes helplessly. In front of someone who had seen him at his worst, he couldn't be bothered maintaining his dignified teacher persona.
"I thought after all the effort I put into sending you messages, we'd finally coordinate today. But you went and solved everything on your own… All that hard work last night for nothing."
"Alright, alright, I really do owe you for this one." Sakatsuki chuckled, clapping the young man on the shoulder hard enough to nearly knock him over. "['Death lies ahead, life lies behind']—if you hadn't relayed that message through the Eight Formation Diagram, I might have actually fallen for their trap. Not to mention, at the critical moment, you woke up and blocked the fleeing soldiers for me."
"Is this how the Stone Sentinel Maze is supposed to be used? The Spirit Origin of the great strategist is protesting!" Waver complained.
The Stone Sentinel Maze was a formation derived from the Eight Trigrams of Heaven and Earth, and the Book of Changes, the River Map, and the Luo Writings were originally methods of divination and fortune-telling.
From the moment Sakatsuki entered the Stone Sentinel Maze, Zhuge Liang had been subtly sending him messages.
When Sakatsuki first broke through the "Gate of Life," its direction pointed back the way he had come—meaning Waver believed retreat was the only path to survival at that time.
After that, the maze continued to convey his trapped status through its shifting formations, even including a map of enemy defenses as a bonus, courtesy of the Eight Trigrams' ability to simulate a microcosm.
Last night, when Sakatsuki went scouting alone, the blood-red crystals he sent via birds contained magical energy capable of reviving Waver and restoring him to peak condition.
Waver's plan was to use the crystals to awaken that morning. While Sakatsuki led the army against the Beast's minions, he would absorb the energy and launch a surprise attack from within the city, creating a pincer movement to secure victory.
But as usual, Sakatsuki refused to follow the script. The legendary general fused with him was exceptionally fierce—armed with intelligence, he forced out the true forms of two Phantasmal Beasts and unleashed a Noble Phantasm rivaling "Ionioi Hetairoi," wiping out the enemy in one fell swoop.
Poor Zhuge Liang, the revered Sleeping Dragon, was reduced to playing gatekeeper at the last moment, earning no merits in battle. His Spirit Origin was still protesting Sakatsuki's solo act.
"...Fine, this was my miscalculation." Waver sighed, dropping the matter. His gaze shifted to the three Beast carcasses gradually dissolving into light, a flicker of pain flashing in his eyes before calm returned.
The king was gone. All that remained was vengeance.
At their feet, the mutated soldiers of the United Empire knelt in neat rows. Even though the Qin army had exhausted their magical energy and returned to the imperial mausoleum, the terrified soldiers dared not move, kneeling with heads bowed, awaiting judgment from the white-haired general.
"What now?" Waver asked pointedly. "These 'people'—or rather, fallen ones who have embraced the Beast's love—are all viral vectors. Leaving them near ordinary humans would cause chaos."
"Given the Roman emperor's temperament, she would undoubtedly take responsibility for them, keeping them under watch until a way to save them is found, right?"
Sakatsuki responded with a faint smile.
"Is there even a question?"
He turned away, not bothering to hide the thick bloodlust in his eyes.
"What is the most famous feat and legend of the general fused with me?"
Waver's breath hitched. He stared at the expressionless young man before finally lowering his head.
"I understand."
A general who beheaded 240,000 Wei-Han coalition troops and buried 400,000 Zhao soldiers alive was never one for mercy.
His "love" was vast—and ice-cold.
The grand strategist stepped aside, and the commander raised his hand. A crimson giant materialized, its halberd transforming into a shovel as it dug a massive pit before the crowd.
"Mass burial" was not as simple as shoving people into a hole and covering it. An army of millions could not be dealt with so easily—digging the pit alone would require unimaginable labor.
But in the world of Type-Moon, Servants with superhuman strength could accomplish this effortlessly.
Sakatsuki assessed the pit's size before nodding in satisfaction.
All that remained was herding the United Empire's soldiers into the pit.
Like driving sheep—simple, right?
As long as one didn't see the enemy as human, there was no psychological burden.
Under the commander's orders, the soldiers began moving, harshly urging the lifeless United Empire troops forward, pushing them into the pit one after another like dumplings into a pot.
Once the earth was packed over them, all sin and bestiality would be buried forever.
Yet at that moment, a flash of red burst into the battlefield, accompanied by an angry shout:
"What art thou doing? Cease at once!"
Recognizing the newcomer, the imperial soldiers froze, glancing at each other in confusion.
On the high ground, the white-haired general scoffed openly. "Why is she here?"
"It seems Her Majesty cares deeply for you," Waver remarked, fanning himself leisurely, clearly amused.
"Shouldn't you come clean about some things? Or do you plan to keep hiding them like before, until the very end?"
Sakatsuki paused, silent for a moment before averting his gaze.
"...I understand."
With that, he turned and strode toward the furious emperor.
"Your Majesty—"
"Call me not 'Majesty'! Explain thyself—what is the meaning of this?!"
***
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