| abstract | - English | Japanese “The king is the one who collects the envy of all his heroes and stands as their guide; therefore, he is not alone - for his will equals that of all his followers combined!!” —Rider, Fate/Zero Ionioi Hetairoi: Army of the King (王の軍勢アイオニオン・ヘタイロイ, Ō no GunzeiAionion Hetairoi?) ("Companions" in Ionian) is the ultimate Noble Phantasm of Rider, an EX-rank "super Noble Phantasm" as described by Tokiomi Tohsaka that is said to rival Gilgamesh's. The trump card of the King of Conqeurors, it summons a Reality Marble that embodies Alexander the Great's dreams and philosophies as a king and the bond formed with his subjects, his life sublimated as a Noble Phantasm. Like how Saber's Excalibur can be called the physical actualization of her ideals as a king, Ionioi Hetairoi is the actualization of Alexander's commanding abilities and his kingship. It is an irregular Reality Marble compared to those used by others. Normally, only a magus or something beyond normal reality like Demons are capable of materializing the environment inside their minds, and as Alexander is neither, reproducing it alone is impossible for him. It comes about through the combined efforts of his personal guard, who all shared his dreams and pledged allegiance to him after many victories and defeats, even after death and becoming Heroic Spirits on their own as well. They and their king recreate the land in which they once marched and shared many joys and sorrows, as it is imprinted upon the heart of each soldier, allowing them to bring about a sand-filled expanse roaring with hot and dry desert winds under the scorching sun and cloudless, clear skies without anything to obscure the everlasting horizon. This Noble Phantasm drags the enemies into a terrain that has no obstacles on the desert battlefield. It also maximizes the Charisma of the King of Conquerors Iskandar. English | Japanese “Their bodies may return to ash, but their spirits still hear my call! These men are my legendary heroes – my loyal followers! They’re my true friends - breaking the rules of space and time to fight once more at my side.They are my treasure within treasures; they’re my right to rule! They make up Iskandar's mightiest Noble Phantasm – Ionian Hetairoi!!” —Rider, Fate/Zero Once fully materialized, the heavily armed cavalry of soldiers slowly appears as mirage-like images and completely manifests as a diverse fighting force with the fierceness of a true army. The entire fighting force is fully composed of a peerless array of famed and legendary warriors only heard reverently in legends, all of whom personally fought with Alexander on the battlefield. They swept across continents during life, and no matter what they faced, enemy or fortress, it was powerless before them. As a leader who only desired to become stronger and more magnificent, live more fully, and become a man more real than any other, he inspired them enough to leave upon them an impression of never-ending loyalty that not even death can conquer. They are able to break the rules of space and time to fight once more at the side of their king, and like him, they wager everything that they are on the king's dream. They are his greatest treasure within treasures that make up his right to rule, and more than mere followers and soldiers, they are his true friends. They display the violence that reveals Alexander's method of tyrannical kingship without restraint, and he only takes pride in it. Their thunderous cries and their spirit could split oceans, and even someone as proud and haughty as Gilgamesh is left silent upon seeing such a radiant army. The members that make up his army include the Lord of War, the Maharaorajah, the founders of many dynasties, and even his horse, the legendary charger Bucephalus. The Fate/Zero Drama CD introduced an illustration with a number of unique designs that were also given specific details upon Ionioi Hetairoi's deployment in the anime adaptation. It is unknown if someone like Waver Velvet, who pledged his eternal allegiance to Alexander during the Fourth Holy Grail War, will join its ranks after his death, or if it is limited only to those who pledged their allegiance during Alexander's lifetime. The nature of the Reality Marble is not something like simply summoning the soldiers as familiars, but rather the EX Rank of the ability comes from the fact that it is the consecutive summoning of multiple independent Servants. File:IH3.gif They are all Master-less Servants, but they each have the Rank E- equivalent of the "Independent Action" Skill, meaning that they cannot leave the Reality Marble under normal circumstances and can only remain materialized for "thirty turns." They lack Skills and Class designations due to being summoned through Rider's ability, making it unnecessary to assign them anything based on the rules of the Holy Grail War, and, due to the limit of Rider's abilities, their Noble Phantasms cannot be materialized. There are also some Heroic Spirits that are stronger than the summoner himself, as while his deeds were great, it is not a testament of his personal martial prowess. Aside from the several people who are stronger than Rider himself, there are also those summoned that has greater military power than Rider and there are those who have Charisma equivalent to Rank B for being the kings of their own countries. They come to Rider's aid regardless because during his lifetime, Iskandar is not a hero who made particular deeds of arms as an individual, but is a hero who fought by commanding armies. The army numbers in the tens of thousands, allowing them to easily overwhelm the less than one hundred Assassins without the bulk of them having to act. English | Japanese “Now, to the distant ends of the earth!""As long as our chests beat with ambition for the far horizon, the campaign shall never end. Raise your cries of war!""Ionion Hetairoi! AAAALaLaLaLaLaie!!” —Rider, Fate/Grand Order The generated land is Alexander's preferred battlefield due to the wide plains allowing him to best display his numerical superiority and his preference of facing enemies directly. He generally leads the army at the front of the vanguard while atop Bucephalus, but he can also freely use Via Expugnatio within the confines of the Reality Marble if he wishes. Their battlefield, sublimed into eternity, can be actualized anywhere, and if he were to again set forth in tyranny, all of his servants would hasten to him no matter his location. He believes that equipped with weapons from the Gate of Babylon, it would become the most powerful army capable of easily conquering the modern world. Tens of thousands of soldiers paired up with unlimited Noble Phantasms would produce a most ideal result. Its strength is great enough that simply thinking about it can cause even Saber to tremble, and she is uncertain of her victory against it even after going all out with Excalibur. Rider is prepared to face any threat that they may come against them, whether it is an Anti-Unit attack directed at destroying only him at the head of the army, or something large like an Anti-Army or Anti-Fortress attack, and overcome it so that they can easily trample the enemy before they can launch the next attack. He can freely organize the positions of those that enter Ionioi Hetairoi, grouping them to keep allies safe and align enemies directly before his army. He can also choose where to deposit them after releasing it, though only within one hundred meters. It is within the boundaries of ordinary space to summon a single soldier into the normal world without them being crushed by its corrective impulses. This allows Rider to summon Bucephalus without needing to deploy the Reality Marble, and if he needs to communicate with the outside after it has been deployed, he can send a single soldier, such as Mithrenes, outside of it briefly to receive and relay messages. It takes a great deal of energy to maintain it, and like most Reality Marbles, it can only be utilized for a few minutes at a time. Both the activation cost and the summoning of the Servants are taxing, but he claims that it wouldn't cost as much if most of the army isn't brought out. Due to Waver Velvet being unable to provide enough mana for its maintenance, he has to rely on his own reserves. Using it two nights in a row brings him to the point where he is forced to take spiritual form to conserve as much energy as possible, and even after receiving boosts in energy from three Command Spells, he still can only use it one more time. Once activated, it is maintained by the collective magical energy of the entire army, which means that it will not remain stable if a large portion of the army is destroyed in a single attack.
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