The lake water was colder than I expected.

As it poured down from above, drenching us all from head to toe, I couldn't help but question if this was the right way. I couldn't imagine mother or father ever doing something so… rash. Who knew what law enforcement had set up in the area? Who knew who was watching? Who was recording?

…I may have just exposed magecraft to the outside world…

Yet… it felt so good. So… right. For the first time in weeks, as the shock of the cold water numbed my body, I felt mental clarity. I felt… free… if that makes sense?

At last, the water subsided. In that moment, two figures emerged from the nearby tree line.

"You, child, may just be the stupidest magus I've ever had the displeasure of meeting" the Executor smiled as he approached, black key in each hand. "Yet, I only see Saber here. Where could Lancer be, I wonder…?"

"Why don't you wait and see" I tried my best to sound confident as Johnathan and Saber rushed over to my side, joining me in staring down Rider and his master.

"…Tempting as that sounds, I think I'd rather bring this to an end now" the Executor mused. "I believe it is time, Rider."

"Agreed, master" Rider drew his sword.

From atop his horse, Rider still managed to come off as an unstoppable force, despite us having clashed and survived multiple times already.

"It is time to reestablish a sense of civility to this land."

This was it then. Rider was about to deploy his army. From there, Nathan would take over, and we'd be going after Archer. Though I couldn't help but wish Nathan would spring the trap already; cutting it a bit close now, aren't we?

"Deploying Noble Phantasm."

A bright bluish-white orb of light to from in front of Rider immediately upon his declaration. It expanded rapidly, quickly coming to encompass the three of us. The light was so bright, I had to shield my eyes and look away. I could practically feel the magical energy radiating all around me as everything faded to white.

What the hell is this?! This isn't an army!

Then, the bright white light disappeared entirely. Yes, the darkness of the night didn't return. Instead, a more natural light took its place. Sunlight.

The temperature had risen too. It was hot. Like mid-summer afternoon hot. Maybe even hotter. I felt as if I could feel my clothes, once completely soaked, drying at a pace they by no means should have been drying at, considering it was the middle of a cool spring night.

Taking a rapid look at our surroundings, it became immediately clear that this wasn't Glenwood Park. The ground was cracked and dry. The grass, what little there was, was patchy and yellow. Dry and dead, instead of the dark green it should have been. The trees were nearly all gone, replaced by what seemed like an endless stretch of flat land. At the far end to the north, assuming we were facing north, was a hill.

…This… This wasn't an army…

"Sortiara" I could clearly hear the panic building in Johnathan's voice as he twisted and turned in place, as if completely unable to believe what he was seeing. "Saber?! What the hell happened?! Where's Rider?!"

"I can't say for certain" Saber spoke in a calm voice, pointing a sword towards the top of the hill. "Though if I had to guess, I would say the two figures standing atop the hill would be Rider and his master."

"What?! But that's so far away! They were, like, 25 feet away from us at most before!"

"...There's no way… I muttered, continuing to look around in disbelief. "He's not even a Caster…"

"What do you mean by that?! Sortiara, what is this?!"

"This… this is a reality marble…"

"…You're shitting me, right?! You're joking!"

"No" I simply turned to look at him, feeling completely numb. "I'm not. This… from everything I know from my parents about the subject, this… This is a reality marble. Rider's reality marble."

"That would make sense" Saber nodded in agreement. "Even just standing here, I feel my strength being sapped. We need to get out of here, immediately."

"…We can't" I muttered.

"What do you mean we can't" Johnathan demanded.

"I mean we can't. Rider controls this space. The only way out is-"

"Hear me, you who would spread chaos and conspire against the will of Allah!"

Despite not even being visible to anyone but Saber, Rider's voice carried across the expanse loud and clear. A voice that command respect. A voice that demanded attention. The voice of a true leader of men.

"In his name did I reclaim the holy lands. By his grace have I been granted this second existence! For he has willed it, so shall the world once again be cleansed of the corrupting influence! Heed my call, most holy warriors! Raise my banners, most courageous soldiers! Once again, we are called to arms! Once again, we shall find honor on the field of battle! In the name of Allah, let us ride forth, and claim a most glorious victory!"

From the moment Rider began speaking, small black dots, like pinpricks, began to appear all along the hillside. As he spoke, they swelled in numbers. Many grouped together into blocks. More still swarmed about the hilltop and hillside in a staggered, loose formation.

"Al-maharibin Al-muqadsa Minn Gron!"

With a final, triumphant cry, the rest of what I could only assume was Rider's army materialized. It must have numbered in the thousands. Perhaps even the tens of thousands. Even though they couldn't possibly be servants, this-

"Johnathan… how does Nathan plan on dealing with this…" I asked the question knowing full well Johnathan couldn't answer.

"…I don't think he did plan for this…" Johnathan muttered. "Hell, how could he have? He's not a magus. How would he have even known about reality marbles in the first place?"

…Then… this was it, huh? This was the end for us. No way in hell could Saber stop an entire army on his own. Not in a world of Rider's own making.

"Stay behind me, both of you" to his credit, Saber stepped forward, putting himself between us and Rider's army.

…The grim look on his face was unmistakable, though. Even he knew he couldn't to anything of note to stop this. This… inevitability…

…I'm sorry, Lancer. I'm so, so sorry...

"I did not want it to come to this" Rider called out across the vast expanse. "But for the sake of maintaining civility, I shall-"

"Oh, hell yes! This is what I'm talking about, people!"

…A new voice. His voice. Nathan's voice... But... how...?

All around us, Nathan's voice reverberated. Looking up, I could see a swarm of small orb-like objects spreading out across the skyscape. They fanned out in all directions, and from those orbs Nathan's voice rang out, just as loud and clear as Rider's.

"Hit the lights! Cue the music! Raise the curtains on this most grand of stages! It's showtime!"


A/N

That's right folks! The party's about to truly kick off!

Also, I want to address the name of Rider's second Noble Phantasm: Al-maharibin Al-muqadsa Minn Gron.

You see... it's supposed to be in Arabic, because, you know, it's Saladin. Thing is, I don't know Arabic. So, naturally, what do I decide to do? I turn to Google translate, of all things (I'm an arrogant dumbass, I know).

So, in English, it's supposed to be the following: Holy Warriors of the Horns (as in the Horns of Hattin; if ya don't know, look it up, don't really have the time to explain that here)

Anyways... putting that English into Google translate got me the above 'Al-maharibin Al-muqadsa Minn Gron' as the Arabic translation. Thing is... when I translated that back into English, it gave me, and I shit y'all not: Buy these two.

So yeah, I don't know what it is I actually got from Google translate, but I kinda got to go with it, because I can't think of anything better (hell, I still think my naming for Noble Phantasms is absolute shit)!

If anyone does actually know Arabic, and knows a) what Google translate actually gave me, and b) what I actually need it to say to get what I'm intending, please let me know!

Like, seriously, please let me know, so I can make the appropriate edit!

Outside of that though... I mean, are we really surprised I gave Saladin, of all people, a reality marble? Of course I was going to give someone of his level a reality marble for his army. How could I not?! Right?!

As a final note, UK viewership be popping off! Now that's the shit I do like xD

Back to Nathan's viewpoint tomorrow, now that the setup is done for this battle. See you all then o7