《A Not So Evil God In Fate/Grand Order》


 Chapter 1 - Prologue

    In a valley far away from civilization, an old man is seen walking towards what seemed to be a cave. The old man didn''t know why he was here or why was he attracted to this place. The only thing he knew was that his life was fading away and the comfort in death lied inside the cave.

    Once he entered, what greeted him was a long and a bit narrow passage. The cave was dark, so the old man couldn''t see the geoglyphs surrounding its walls. He just kept walking and walking for who knows how long, seconds felt like minutes, minutes felt like hours and hours felt like days. He just walked quietly as his life was slipping away.

    Eventually, he walked into a big room. The room was at least 50 meters big and looked to be in ruins wherever he cast his gaze upon. As the old man looked around he noticed a majestic throne at the very back of the room.

    Looking at it, the old man couldn''t help but praise the one who made such a piece of art. It was endowed with the finest jewel and by the golden color, the man suspected it was made of gold...not that it mattered anyway. After all, what use has a dying man for gold?

    The old man went silent for a second as if to contemplate what to do, after hesitating for a moment, he advanced until he was right in front of it. For some reason, the man felt nostalgic gazing upon it, as if he and the throne were meant for each other, without much suspense he rested his tired and almost lifeless body on it.

    Once he sat, the geoglyphs in the room lit in blue light, as if to welcome the arrival of the rightful owner of this "tomb". Looking up the man muttered "Death sure does its wonders huh? This seems so mythical, on a normal day I will question my sanity seeing all this but for some reason, it all just screams norm-...no, right will be the word?"

    The man couldn''t help but release a weak chuckle. It seemed that once he sat on the throne, the energy he didn''t know he had to reach this place even if his life should''ve already ended has mysteriously disappeared.

    As his eyes were closing for eternity, he couldn''t help but smile. For some reason, death didn''t seem that much scary to him, on the contrary, it felt like some sort of liberation. A liberation he felt he wanted but couldn''t get.

    He didn''t know why was he thinking about all this nonsense, this last few days had surely been weird. He thought as his life completely left him to rest in this forgotten place.

    After what felt like an eternity, the old-...no, he wasn''t old anymore. What appeared was a young man, dark hair, short on the sides and long in the middle which fell on both sides of his b.a.r.e c.h.e.s.t.

    Red eyes with strange black markings under them, the same markings that cover his arms and side of his torso, pointy ears like those of an elf, his gaze void of emotions. Around his neck, he wears some kind of fancy golden necklace and on his forehead, a black ruby-like thing seems to lie dormant. He has black arm pads on both sides and a black pants covered by a black robe. (A/N: I suck at descriptions, I know. He looks like full-body djinn equip Hakuryuu Ren for those wondering xd)

    The now young man set his gaze forward. He was standing in a calm ocean, by the little light around you could know that it was night. Looking upwards revealed a sea of stars, shooting stars passing occasionally. Whoever looks at this scene, only one word will come out of their mouth, and that is, beautiful. However, the young man didn''t have any reaction, he just set his gaze forward to meet a man, no, a creature who was calmy seating there looking at him.

    The creature looked like a man, but his head was akin to a dog or wolf perhaps. He had tan skin while his animal head was completely black. He didn''t wear anything fancy, same as the young man he was bare-c.h.e.s.ted and the only garment he was wearing was a simple white tunic that only covered the bottom half of his body. The creature was holding an Ankh and it didn''t seem he was going to let go of it by how tight he was holding onto it.

    "You have come again, huh? You sure took your time for someone like you" The creature said, even tho his words seemed cold and without any particular meaning, you could feel the happiness his voice contained along with...guilt.

    "..." The young man just looked at him with the same emotionless expression.

    The creature sighed seeing this, of course he understands, knowing what he went through is enough to feel that the young man has his reasons to be so void of emotions.

    After looking at the creature for a second, the young man started walking towards it...no, towards the giant door that was behind it, the door was simple, just a metal door with geoglyphs all around it but unlike normal doors, this one seemed to open from the middle separating it into two. Once he was in front of it he waited, 10 seconds...30 seconds...1 minute. Seeing the door not opening, the young man showed a reaction, and that was to frown. He looked at the creature and for the first time spoke.

    "What are you doing? Open the door, I don''t have all the time in the world unlike you." The young man said, but his voice lacked any emotion but irritation.

    "This time is different, you won''t be reincarnating to get punished again." Said the creature while showing a little happiness, like this was something for him to celebrate instead of the young man.

    "What do you mean?" The man narrowed his eyes, for who knows how many millennia he kept reincarnating and living a miserable life due to him rebelling against his fate. Something the higher Gods didn''t take to kindly.

    "This is a chance for you! Lord Ra has given you a chance to be free! He thinks that your punishment has been enough already and once you complete a task he has given you, you could finally return to the sides of the Gods, Fa-" The creature extended his hands to the side happily telling the young man but was interrupted by loud yell directed at him.

    "DON''T CALL ME FATHER, ANUBIS! YOU ARE NOT MY SON! EVERYTIME I LOOK AT YOU I''M REMINDED OF HOW I WAS CUCKED BY MY OWN BROTHER! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW SICK AND DISGUSTING I FEEL REMEMBERING YOU ARE THE OFFSPRING OF THAT S.L.U.T AND THAT RETARD?!" The young man screamed in an angry outburst completely out of his cold character, just listening to that word made him break his cold expression to transform it into an angry one.

    "...I''m sorry, uncle Seth..." The creature now Anubis said flinching a little at his father (he was allowed to call him that in his mind) yelling.

    After calming a bit from his outburst he sighed and went back to his expressionless face. "Continue...what does that old bird want?"

    "Yes...apparently, in a parallel world to ours, humanity is facing destruction and he wants you to save them" Anubis concluded exhaling the breath he didn''t know he was holding.

    The eyes of Seth twitched hearing this. Is this a joke? Was this a new kind of punishment? In what world does that old bird care about humanity? He never cared, never does and never will. That''s a fact. Second, while I''m aware parallel worlds exist, what does it matter to him? We only need to care for our world, not for others. Besides, I''m sure humanity will not go extinct, why you ask? Because the Gods will intervene (Not all of them of course, and not for selfish reasons that''s a given). It will have to be a rare case where Gods can''t freely intervene with humanity for it to be a problem worth mentioning but I don''t think that''s the case. Third and finally, I''m sure the part of setting me free is pure bullshit, he was the first to cast punishment on me when I rebelled, I bet the moment I save humanity he will cast my soul to Duat or use the sun he governs to burn my soul. (A/N: While Seth is cold or better said, expressionless on the outside, he can be quite the chatterbox in his mind!)

    Seth stopped this train of thought and looked at the brat, he was always so displeasing to the eyes "Speak, what do I need to know before I go there?" It wouldn''t hurt to go there and see if he could help. Although he would never admit it, he cares about humanity, but above all, he envies them. After all, they have the free will to do whatever they want, something a God like him lacks, he has (or had) a role and he needs (or needed) to fulfill, a role that was imposed onto him, even if he didn''t want it.

    The expression of Anubis brightened like the sun. "Yes! Lord Ra told me to inform you all the things related to that world so you could be prepared for whatever happened!" Anubis said while displaying a childlike expression. And let me tell you, it didn''t look cute.

    ''Disgusting. so disgusting. I don''t know if it is the fact that roasted chicken is "worried" about me or the happiness of this thing''

    After that, Anubis told Seth all he needed to know, about Gaia, Alaya, the Throne of Heroes (Something that for once he found interesting), the decline of Mysteries with the end of the Age of the Gods (this explained the fact why humanity couldn''t be helped by their Gods), about magi and many more.

    "Oh and one more thing, there is this organi-" Anubis added before he was cut again by Seth "Forget it, I don''t need that much information. I will just go, solve the problem and come to die here or something." Seth said while waving his hand dismissively.

    Anubis sighed and finally opened the door behind him, what was revealed was some kind of portal that had blue lines going to the center of the door, like some kind of interdimensional travel.

    Seth waited for it to open before entering it. As he was being s.u.c.k.e.d into the portal he heard a "Good luck" but he didn''t pay it any mind.

    Once he was gone Anubis muttered to himself. "Should I''ve told him he was not going there with his God body and with most of his abilities sealed otherwise the that world wouldn''t allow his entrance?" If Seth had heard him, he would surely punch him until not only his head was black.

    On the side of Seth, when he opened his eyes, all he could see was red, flames going wild everywhere, rubbles filled the places. This looked like the hell of that old man Yahweh.

    It took a little to get used to the sight, while it''s true he was (forced to be) the God of Evil he certainly didn''t expect to see this sight, but what bewildered him, even more, was the lack of life all around him. When he tried to spread his senses to get a more ample read of life signatures, he discovered he could sense nothing beyond a 1000 meter radius. He frowned, oh boy, he didn''t like where this was going. He looked at his hand, they were normal hand, he looked at his feet, they were normal feet. He sighed, his face the epitome of defeat.

    "How am I supposed to save humanity if I''m a human?" Seth said with his stoic face having traces of hidden grievances. ''Well, at least this body doesn''t seem that human either'' He mused, further inspecting his new body he discovered that there was a seal "making" his God body into a human one, it would take a while, but if he could break it little by little he would be able to regain his body and abilities which were apparently sealed at the moment.

    Seth proceeded to look at his right hand, he concentrated and called its name, the name of the loyal weapon that battled with him in every battle he did. Even tho it was a weapon of evil, he trusted it with his life.

    "Come forth oh weapon of evil, oh weapon of destruction. Let''s sink this world in despair and make even the Gods tremble! [[email protected]%[email protected]%^!#]" After he finished his chant a simple spear appeared in his hand, the only notable quality would be the crescent blade at the top end, making it look like a halberd instead.

    Seth frowned, it seemed that not only he was the one nerfed, his weapon too. But there was another reason for his frown. When he called the name of his spear even him, all he could hear were screeches. "The world is rejecting you too? Great, just great. This will be more troublesome than I thought." Seth sighed but then flashed a rare smile.

    "Let''s put the world upside again, partner." As if to agree with his words, the spear gave a little hum.

 Chapter 2 - Exploring and Action

    After evaluating his situation, Seth started walking in a random direction to see what he could find (Not that he was expecting to find anything amidst this flaming hell).

    Walking for a few minutes didn''t change a thing, still no signs of life. ''This is getting more and more complicated, with my powers being as weak as they are now I will take an eternity to find something useful''. Seth thought but just as he was about to stop for a moment he detected multiple presences in the distance.

    ''People? No...this looks like the soldiers from Duat. Did someone liberated spirits here? I don''t know. It could be the people that died from the flames came back to "life" as evil spirits to seek the life that was stolen away from them'' He thought as he followed the direction where he detected the presences.

    He took some time to get there, human bodies had their disadvantages after all. What awaited him where skeletons carrying either bows, swords or lances.

    His stoic face frowned at this. The dead weren''t his forte but he was sure that this was not normal. Not the part about the skeletons but the fact they were carrying weapons. Normally if people came back to life by their own "will" they will come as evil spirits/ghosts. On the contrary, if they were revived by someone, they will become zombies or skeletons depending on how much has their flesh decayed.

    Now this where the things get complicated, even tho he is a God from an ancient civilization that doesn''t mean he is someone who doesn''t know about the modern world, looking at the now-collapsed buildings around him it is clear as day that this is not an era where weapons like that are common.

    Seth sighed "Hah...I knew this was troublesome but like this? Summoning the dead from the past? This world keeps getting messier and messier" There was only one reason there could be this kind of monsters here and that was someone had summoned from the past or they were directly summoned here when whatever happened here well...happened.

    The skeletons seemed to react to the sound of Seth''s voice so they looked at his direction and with weird sounds coming from their joints dashed towards him. A brief look over the horde of bones told Seth there were approximately 70 skeletons.

    "I had to get used to this body anyway" Said Seth as he readied his spear against the group of skeletons. He noted that even tho their movements were a little fast they were stiff (They were skeletons after all).

    Wanting to test the limits of his body he reached the first skeleton who, like him, wielded a spear. The skeleton moved towards him while thrusting his spear forward, he evaded the thrust and went to the side of the skeleton before kicking him. The skeleton as if made of fragile glass cracked into pieces. ''Guess this body isn''t that useless after all''

    Following the fall of the skeleton, another one came to take its place. This time it was a swordsman. It raised its sword and did a vertical chop towards him, Seth just raised his spear with his right hand to meet the blow which was not heavy at all. He proceeded to punch the skull of the skeleton blowing it into pieces. Doing a rough assessment he was 3 times stronger than the weakest of his Palace Guards when he ruled Ancient Egypt. Not something to be proud of but compared to a normal human it will give him an edge. He isn''t sure how good he will fare against those Heroic Spirits Anubis told him about tho.

    Even if all he did was dodge 2 blows and attack two times he already got the feel of his new body. Before being a God he was a warrior, and before being a warrior he was a genius in combat. Now all that was left was making it accustomed to a fight. Fortunately here he had 68 punching bags left to practice.

    ''This body won''t stand even a second of my fighting style, I will have to create a new one. What a pain'' Thought Seth while scratching his head and dodging the arrows, slashes, and thrusts that came his way. Although he seemed annoyed, his eyes didn''t betray his enthusiasm. He missed this, the thrill of combat. How many years? How many centuries? How many millennia? How long has it been since his last battle? Even tho he didn''t regret killing his brother, usurping the throne and rebelling against old those decrepit Gods. He had to admit he missed battle above all else.

    Seth rotated his spear beheading three approaching skeletons while continuing to reminisce about his past. The Gods needed someone to take the mantle of an Evil God so the people of Egypt will fear them and never, absolutely never disobey them. After all, what better thing to keep people in check than fear?

    He dodged an arrow aimed at his head and backstabbed a skeleton that sneaked on his back. He then grabbed its rusty spear and threw it towards the skeleton archer impaling it in the head.

    He was chosen, he was the "sacrifice" the one who will have to carry the sins of the Gods. He always received the hate of the people, if they didn''t feel happy or they weren''t loved, they blamed him instead of Hathor. If the night lasted longer than the days, they blamed him, not Khepri. If the waters of the Nile weren''t enough to make the land fertile, they blamed him, not Anukis. He was made to carry all the blame, forever accepting that this was his fate and he couldn''t change it. That''s why he hated the Gods so much and favored Humanity over them.

    Stoping with his edgy and depressing past, he finally decided to put his focus on the fight. He needed to explore other places like this one if he wanted to reach the root of all of this. Getting a little serious, he started massacring the skeletons left and right for the next 2 minutes until the last one of them fell.

    Putting his spear over his shoulders he started walking again in a random direction until he could feel a presence again.

    ======================

    Seth has been here for a few hours already. He has fought over 4 hordes of skeletons after the first one. It didn''t seem there was something special to be found on them so he just massacred them all altogether.

    Currently, he was sitting on top of a demolished house doing nothing. He wasn''t going to lie, at first, his excitement shot through the roof at the chance of battling one again. But said excitement plummeted to the ground after only battling those weak a.s.s skeletons.

    ''I need to think about what I''m going to do. I can''t keep walking in circles, besides I don''t have any idea about what I have to do. Save someone? Kill someone? I honestly don''t know and Anubis didn''t know either'' He pinched the bridge of his nose. He definitely was going nowhere like this.

    While he was trapped in his thoughts he detected another pair of presences at the edge of his radar. Thinking it was just another group of skeletons, he didn''t bother with it and kept thinking what was he going to do with all of this when suddenly a big projectile of magical energy was thrown towards his direction.

    He got up, spun around and on reflex he swung his spear to meet the projectile but then his long-dormant instincts screamed for him to dodge instead of parrying, which he did. He inclined his body barely avoiding the hit. Despite this, he could feel the hit on his stomach as the now identified arrow grazed it.

    Not wasting any second he jumped in the direction of the arrow, gaining a 2 seconds before the arrow hit the ground creating an explosion. Even tho they were 2 seconds, they were enough for him to avoid getting any substantial damage.

    Getting up from the ground after being thrown by the explosion, he looked up towards the direction the arrow came from. There, on top of a building stood a shadow-like thing with what appeared to be a bow in his hands.

    "Tch" The figure clicked his tongue in annoyance, he had hoped to kill this strange guy without him noticing. While he was patrolling (He was not a gatekeeper like a certain blue dog) he found a guy killing a group of skeletons. Even tho he was corrupted now, that didn''t mean he simply lost his memories of the Holy Grail War before it became what it is now. And he was pretty sure this guy wasn''t on it. An unknown variable or anomaly so to say.

    Now that his plan failed he didn''t want to fight, after all, the now corrupted King of Knights hadn''t ordered him to do anything...yet. So, he turned around to leave when suddenly he heard the voice of the anomaly, a voice filled with disdain.

    "Hoh? I know that archers have it rough on a 1v1 but to sneak attack like that, you sure don''t have any pride to speak of" Archer could feel his eyebrows twitching. Why does everyone talk about pride?! Is it a trend nowadays?!

    "Pride won''t get you far, you would do well in remembering it" Archer spoke while giving him a last look.

    ''Interesting. Kid these days sure have it rough'' Seth thought while raising an eyebrow at Archer''s words. That''s all the reaction he was gonna get.

    "Don''t be in a hurry. You greeted me, so if I don''t greet you back it will surely leave a bad taste in my mouth" He said while moving his body into a throwing position. He extended his arm backward and then threw his spear with all the strength he had. As Archer was at the end of his range (roughly 1000 meters) he had to exert some effort.

    The spear traveled as fast as the arrow that Archer has thrown previously. In seconds, the spear collided with the building archer was on. destroying it completely. Archer jumped from rubble to rubble as they were falling eventually landing on the ground. He managed to avoid any direct damage but his shoulder took a hit from a stone flying upon the impact of the spear. Archer looked at the direction of the Anomaly as the spear he had thrown previously returned to his hand as if nothing had happened.

    "It seems we are even" Archer spoke as he quickly disappeared from the place not even once looking back.

    Seth just stood there looking at the direction where the Shadow Archer was previously.

    "A being made out of mana with extraordinary powers and with rational thinking. I guess that was a Heroic Spirit" Seth contemplated as a small smile formed on his face. At least now he isn''t so in the dark anymore. ''Holy Grail War'' That name came to his mind. If the words of Anubis were to be trusted, there are 6 more Heroic Spirits. This certainly will be fun.

 Chapter 3 - An Unspeakable Bond

    Seth was walking through the fire. Killing the occasional skeletons (read pests) that came his way.

    Now that he met Archer, he was sure this hell was the responsibility of a Holy Grail War. But with the limited knowledge he has, what stands out the most for him is the fact that the war is fought in secrecy, far from human eyes. But, looking around and seeing all this fire doesn''t scream "secrecy" to him.

    As far as his information about this world goes, if a war escalated to the point of destroying all human life in the place of said war, Alaya would send something called a Counter Guardian or even a Heroic Spirit for the matter. A Counter Guardian is similar to a Heroic Spirit in nature but who are not worshipped, and are utilized as mindless puppets in exchange for power during their lifetime. In essence, Heroic Spirits are summoned by the hopes of men, while Counter Guardians are summoned by the despair of men.

    ''Something must be happening that I''m not yet aware of'' Seth thought while silently walking forward. If he needed to solve the problem, he had to do it fast. Coming to a halt to think of something he closed his eyes.

    10 seconds later he opened again, and clarity flashed through them. Without wasting any more time he started destroying all the buildings surrounding him.

    Finishing his weird actions, he started to look around him. All debris was now just a sea of "sand", just what he wanted.

    [O Sand. Ascend and bring forth the storm!] Seth chanted positioning his spear on top of his while spinning it.

    All the dust from the surroundings started gathering in his position and circling him. More dust kept coming and with it, slowly but surely a tornado was forming with him in the center.

    The tornado increased in height as more and more dust was acc.u.mulating, eventually reaching the clouds above that were so dark due to the smoke that was produced from the flames assaulting the city.

    Gold lightning started appearing in the clouds bringing with it a sound akin to the roar of a beast.

    In the distance, a certain Archer frowned remembering the incident that happened a few hours ago. Caster had a battle-hungry smirk "Hah. Another bastard joined the fun" He said while moving to the direction of the tornado. Lancer and Assasin had a little fear looking at it. Rider decided to wait and see what happened. In the forest surrounding the Einzbern Castle, Berserker roared for a moment before ignoring it and continuing to roam around the area. The Corrupted King of Knights, Saber Alter, couldn''t see anything as she was inside a large cave but she sensed the disturbance. "I don''t know who you are, but with power like that, you won''t be able to accomplish anything" She stated coldly from her position before closing her eyes and rest to recuperate from her fight with Berserker.

    Seth maintained the tornado for over a minute before making it disappear. After stopping, Seth fell to his knees panting.

    ''Even tho it was just to catch the attention of the Heroic Spirits and didn''t have any attacking power, that move sure took its toll'' Seth thought with a helpless tone. He sure loved the free will of humans but their weak bodies were something he didn''t appreciate much. Especially now that he had one.

    Catching his breath, he decided to sit on the ground to recover some of his energy in case some enemy arrived. He''s got to admit that 10 seconds of thinking didn''t bring him that many results. He should have practiced his abilities on those skeletons instead of only focusing on the physical aspect. Had he done that, he would have made a less but less energy-consuming move. Well, the past is the past, not time to think about it.

    Five minutes later he recovered seventy percent of his magical energy. It was the only perk he could think about having this pitiful amount. With little energy, the time to refill it was certainly shorter.

    Standing up, his body suddenly came to a halt. Looking at a certain direction he noticed someone approaching. ''Took him long enough'' Seth thought while reading his spear to meet his foe.

    What appeared before Seth was a tall man in blue robes. He had the same red eyes as him tho they seemed more feral. ''Wait to meet the lancer one'' A tan archer would say. His blue hair was tied into a ponytail revealing his silver earrings. He had a brown staff with runes here and there tugged into the crease of his arm. ''How lazy are you?!'' He complained inside his mind.

    Stoping a few meters ahead of Seth the man spoke. "Good grief, you sure did something flashy there. Who were you fighting? and why did you stay here in the first pl-" Caster stopped when his gaze went from the man to the spear on his hands. "Oh man, really? Why do you get to have a spear and I don''t? I swear to the Celtic Gods, this Grail is messing with me" Caster said while scratching the back of his head.

    Seth just looked to the weird man in front of him as emotionlessly as always. But in his mind, he just complained (This had become a habit). ''I understand now, meeting these weirdos is my punishment in this lifetime, I knew there had to be a catch, dammit''

    "You carry no spear, nor bow or sword so that narrows it. Your eyes reflect clarity so Berserker is out of the way, you certainly don''t look like an assassin so that leaves Rider and Caster. I don''t see any mount around you but you could summon it anytime" Seth analyzed out loud while pointing his spear at him.

    "Eh, you don''t have to think that hard. I''m a Caster, I know Riders have the most type of eccentric weapons but I assure you that I''m not one" The now confirmed Caster said as he waved his hands.

    ''He is telling the truth'' Seth thought, he certainly is not a living lie detector but people usually release some kind of "evil energy" when they lie, and who is better than him to sense Evil?

    Seth relaxed his stance and put his spear on his shoulders. "So? What do you want?" Seth asked Caster who was smirking complacently.

    "The original plan was to come and fight the ''Servant'' who produced that tornado. But looking at you, you are clearly not a servant. You don''t seem to be totally human either as they just disappeared suddenly and all that was left was us, Servants." Caster

    "Humans disappeared suddenly? What do you mean?" Seth''s eyes widened a bit hearing Caster''s explanation.

    Caster just shrugged his shoulders. "Beats me, even I don''t know what happened very well. One moment there was a city full of people and the next *poof* everything was gone" Caster sighed after saying this before continuing. "But more importantly, why did you do that? I don''t get it at all" He inquired.

    Seth just pinched the bridge of his nose. "After my encounter with that Archer Servant, I intended to eliminate all the rest before going after him. I thought if I killed you all the problem would have resolved itself"

    Caster just looked at him like he was an idiot which earned a glare from Seth. "Listen man, I don''t know from which cave you came but I assure you that just killing us won''t solve the problem. You will have to get to the crux of the problem. The Grail itself" Caster stated while closing his eyes in contemplation. But just then, something Seth said came to his mind.

    "Wait wait wait, you fought with that bastard Archer?!" Caster widened his eyes

    "More like he sneaked attacked me but yes, we exchanged one blow each" Seth said, a little surprised at Caster reaction. ''They seem to know each other'' He thought.

    Caster was silent from a moment before asking. "An arrow to the head from behind?"

    "An arrow to the head from behind" Seth affirmed.

    "..."

    They both looked at each other, at that moment, an unspeakable bond formed between the two. Like two people who were part of the same accident. Seth even started to view the man in a new light. ''It seems he is not such a weirdo after all''

    That thought came crushing down more quickly than a plane who broke its wings mid-flight with Caster''s next words.

    "So, that, now that we share common grievances against that weird Archer. Why don''t you lend me your spear? Man, I tell you. Caster class doesn''t suit me at all hahaha" Caster laughed.

    If he didn''t have certain to keep, he would have fallen comically to the ground. ''THIS GUY IS A WEIRDO AFTER ALL!'' Seth thought while the d.e.s.i.r.e to punch him was growing faster.

 Chapter 4 - Fighting Berserker

    Seth and Caster were sitting together on top of a building. Seth was looking ahead bored out of his mind while Caster just rested his head on top of his arms looking at the sky.

    "Now that I think about it. I''ve never asked your name" Seth said while casting a sidelong glance at Caster. Said man just raised an eyebrow but then sighed. He remembered this guy is clueless.

    "Saying our true name is kind of like a taboo, ya know?" Caster said while still looking at the sky.

    "Why? Is your name a girlish one?" Seth asked the blue guy.

    Now it was Caster''s time to want to punch him. "Idiot. It''s nothing like that, saying our true name will reveal our weakness if another Heroic Spirit knows who you are, then he can prepare to counter your abilities" Overlooking the insult, Seth understood now why would he want to keep his name a secret.

    "Anyway, it''s not like this is a normal Holy Grail War either, and if we wanted each other dead we had thousands of opportunities to kill one another. The fact we are still alive means I don''t want to kill you and you don''t want to kill me" Caster said to which Seth agreed.

    Getting up and removing the dust from his clothes Caster looked at him. "My name is Cu Chulainn. The Hound of Ulster. Although I would''ve liked to be summoned as a lancer, I will try to make the most of it as a Caster" Former Caster, now Cu Chulainn told him his true name. Just like that.

    Seth''s eyes flashed with surprise but in his mind, he smiled wrily. ''I guess he trusts me more than he lets on'' He closed his eyes for a moment, before opening them and looking at Cu Chulainn. "So you are the user of Gae Bolg? That''s surprising. My name is Seth. I''m what you folks would call a Divine Spirit, tho I''m not so Divine at the moment"

    Cu''s eyes opened wide. A Divine Spirit? How is that possible? Has the world become this messed up? "A Divine Spirit you say? That''s impossible! It''s been a couple of thousand years since one manifested in the world as far as I''m aware. And wait a minute, did you just say you were Seth? Like, that Seth? The one who killed his brother?" To say Cu was surprised would be an understatement. He didn''t like troublesome things, he just wanted to have a good battle and nothing else. Now he was stuck in a War that got messed up and in the company of a psychopath who killed his brother! Despite having D luck in his parameter instead of the E of his lancer counterpart, it seemed bad luck always followed him.

    Seth, for his part, just sighed seeing his reaction. It was always like this when someone knew his identity. "Yes, I''m him. Don''t worry, history is always written by humans, you never know what really happened"

    "So you didn''t kill and mutilate your brother?" Caster asked calming a little.

    "No no, that part is one hundred percent accurate." Said said. Cu just fell comically to the ground. Ignoring his antics he continued. "As for the part about me being able to manifest here, it''s because my divinity got sealed to the point I look like a human, just a little stronger. Besides, I''m not the Seth of this world, for all I know, he might be dead. I''m just a God from a parallel world to this one" He finished making Cu a little dizzy with all the information.

    Cu put his hands on top of his staff and rested his head on them. At this point, he was just too shocked to show a reaction anymore. "That for once explains why you can manifest but not why you did it." Cu said but added "Well, forget it. It will add troublesome things to my already troubled head and I doubt you would tell me even if I asked"

    Seth agreed with this. All it was going to do was get things more complicated. After standing up he looked at Cu and asked. "Do you know which of the other six Heroic Spirits excluding Archer is strong?"

    Cu seemed taken aback but the question but he still answered. "Well man, if I have to be honest I would say the only Heroic Spirits worthy of a fight would be Berserker and Saber. Berserker, even tho he lost to Saber and became that shadow-like thing. It''s still strong enough to wipe the floor with almost all the others even if they didn''t lose their Noble Phantasms after becoming a shadow" Cu said after contemplating for a bit.

    "Do you know where any of those are?" He asked again. Hoping he would give him a satisfactory answer, and he didn''t disappoint.

    "If we are talking about Berserker then he is in the forest surrounding the city. He keeps roaring and roaring so if you get close enough you will know his exact location" Cu said while flashing a smirk. It seemed he was not the only battle-hungry one.

    "What about Saber?" Seth asked after processing Cu''s information.

    The air around the Caster suddenly became deadly still. There was an atmosphere of seriousness that wasn''t there before. Even Seth was surprised at this.

    "Forget about Saber, trust me. I don''t know how strong you are but she is on another level" Cu said while giving the only rational advice when it came to that monster.

    Seth crossed his arms and looked at Cu for a second before asking the question he was dying to know. "Is she that strong?"

    "Yeah, you are probably going to fight Berserker right now, aren''t you?" Cu asked, Seth just nodded. "Then let me tell you this, even when Berserker was at his peak with Noble Phantasm and all she still could beat him. I''m not saying it was a walk in the park. But the fact remains, she won and Berserker lost"

    Suddenly, as if nothing had happened, the atmosphere returned to normal. Caster just scratched the back of his head. "Look, if you fight Berserker and win with ease, you may have a chance against her now that she is not at her best after their fight. Otherwise, forget it" This was the only thing he could say to him.

    "I understand, but what about you? What are you going to do now?" He didn''t think Cu would accompany him to fight Berserker. When it comes to having a battle, they were like-minded people. They didn''t like the idea of ganging up on someone. A fair duel where you put everything you''ve got is what they wanted.

    And sure enough. "I''m just going to try and find some Servants to kick their asses and see if I can thin out the competition." Caster said while looking at the giant bridge in the distance. Seth followed his gaze before asking. "Did you find anything?" to which Cu just gave a simple nod, smiling like he was anticipating something.

    Seth just turned around and started walking in the direction of the forest but was stopped but a shout of Cu Chulainn. "Hey, take this." He said before throwing a stone that was giving a faint blue light. Catching the stone Seth looked at Cu questioningly. "I engraved some runes in that stone. It will lead you to my general direction. If you come alive after your fight with Berserker be sure to use it to find me"

    Seth just nodded. "Will do"

    With nothing more to say, they went their respective ways.

    ========================

    After walking for half an hour. Seth finally heard what he wanted to hear, a roar. Increasing his pace. Killing the occasional skeleton he came across, he finally stopped when he stood before what looked like a giant monster. Even tho his features were covered by the shadow, it didn''t diminish his fear-striking appearance.

    Berserker was almost double his size, he was carrying a stone Axe-Sword. It was a brutish sword, more like a lump of rock than an axe. Even if Seth couldn''t see his face. He knew Berserker was piercing him with his maddened eyes, ready to strike him at any moment.

    Pointing his spear at the giant warrior he spoke, knowing perfectly well he wouldn''t respond or even understand. "Let''s see who will be standing at the end, will it be you? or will it be me? let''s find out, big guy." The response he got was a roar, not that he would get anything else.

    Seth inclined his body to dash forward. What he didn''t expect was for Berserker to suddenly disappear. His eyes widened a bit. ''Fast!'' Almost on instinct, he grabbed his spear with both hands and raised it to his left side, where a stone sword of Berserker was heading to.

    But, reality is often disappointing. As if to mock him from his words earlier, he was sent flying. Like his resistance meant nothing at all.

    *Cough cough*

    Seth threw the debris on top of him, getting up he coughed some blood into the ground. ''You''ve got to be kidding me. What''s with that physical strength'' he complained while reappearing on the streets where Berserker awaited him.

    His arms were shaking a little after he "blocked" Berserker''s swing. ''Strength will not work, not against him at least. I need to evade each one of his attacks. But even that will prove difficult, not only his strength is high, his speed is nothing to scoff at either''

    After seeing him back up, Berserker, flexing his leg muscles making the earth beneath him crack, made a high jump and then came crashing down at Seth.

    Having learned his lesson. Seth jumped to the side avoiding Berserker''s hit. This didn''t stop the shockwave from sending him further from his original position.

    This continued for several minutes with Berserker being the only one attacking. However, experienced eyes would be able to tell that with each passing moment Seth was starting to get used to Berserker''s fighting style, no, that''s not quite right either. He wasn''t just getting used to Berserker''s fighting style. He was copying it!

    Even tho Berserker''s fighting style didn''t suit a spear user, his agile movements were truly appreciated. Seth wasn''t aware of what he was doing. After all, his full concentration was on the fight.

    Suddenly, his ever so red eyes partially changed to gold for a moment. But at that moment, Seth evaded a swing from Berserker and did a vertical thrust against his b.a.r.e torso, creating a line that made blood flow out from him.

    Silence, total silence. For a second, both maintained their position as well as their stances. A second later both separated. Seth looked at his hands while Berserker looked at his wound.

    "haha...Haha...HAHAHAHAHAHAHA" His cold facade crumbled, replacing his face void of emotions was a hearty laugh. He couldn''t help it. How long has it been since the last time he enjoyed a fight like this? where the odds were against him? were death was around the corner? For a moment, he forgot all his troubles, all his past, all his worries. He just concentrated in the foe before him, who was even through his shadow veil, Seth could see the anger in his eyes.

    "It''s time for round two, BERSERKER!" He exclaimed with enthusiasm, ready to face his enemy one last time.

    Meanwhile, on the side of Cu Chulainn, he was looking at the battle unfolding in front of him. Shadow Assassin was persecuting a group of people he didn''t know. There was one clueless guy, who, if his vision didn''t fail him, was a Master if the Command Spells on his hands was anything to go by. A pink-haired girl carrying a big shield with her. The last was a white-haired woman who appeared to be a Magus.

    He watched as Assassin put the trio into a corner only for Lancer to show up too, making things even more difficult for them. The white-haired girl panicked seeing a second Servant appear. ''Man...seeing little girls making that kind of expressions isn''t to my liking'' Cu said in his mind while he continued to watch. Even tho he would have to eliminate those servants eventually, he wasn''t a charity. He wouldn''t help them out of the good of his heart, especially if they just run cowardly in fear.

    At first, he was going to give up on them. They were just frozen in fear. But then, against all thinking, the Master decided they had to fight to have a small chance of survival. Although little Magus girl was against the idea, the Servant backed his master.

    "We must fight. I will find a way for us to get out of this alive!" The Servant girl said with determination. Cu just smiled, this was what he wanted to see.

    As Assassin jumped towards the Master, I chanted a quick fireball and sent it directly to his face. ''Ha. Servers you right'' Cu said in his mind.

    "I thought you were just some girl, but it looks like you''ve got some fight in you. Then I can''t leave you like this." He said as he appeared before the group of Shadow Servants and the strange trio.

    Tonight, there will be two Servants less in this cursed Grail War.

 Chapter 5 - The Mad Warriors death

    Me: DORO! CHAPTA CADO!

    Social Life: YAMETE!

    **********************************************************************************************************

    While Cu Chulainn was helping the trio from the future. Seth was slowly approaching the mad Berserker. He was going to give his all in this battle, not as someone who needed to stop all this chaos. But as a warrior who was fighting another warrior.

    Berserker roared and dashed forward, in a mere second, he was in front of Seth. He raised his weapon in the air with both hands. Even if he could do it fine with just one, and slashed diagonally at Seth. Said man inclined his body to the side to avoid the hit.

    Despite doing his best to evade Berserker''s swing, his right shoulder was slashed ever so slightly. Bearing with the pain he went for a stab in the head. But then, Berserker''s sword hit the ground making it unstable. Seth lost his footing and instead of impaling the mad warrior''s head, he impaled his shoulder.

    "My luck sucks as always" Seth couldn''t but smile wrily as he retreated just in time to avoid an angry swing from Berserker.

    ''I can''t keep losing time like this. I need to step up the game'' He thought as he looked around noticing all the acc.u.mulated dust after Berserker''s rampage. Although dust was not sand, they shared the same principle. It was not as easy as controlling sand but he could do something with this.

    ''He is just fighting on instinct. I don''t know if I can trick him but it''s worth a try'' Thinking till there. Seth raised his spear and hit the ground with as much force as he could, creating a layer of smoke and dust that covered him from Berserker''s vision.

    The mad warrior roared, ready to charge into the smoke. Just then, "Seth" appeared from the cloud of dust and smoke and run towards Berserker. Said man, angrier than his normal self due to the injuries he sustained, raised his weapon with all the strength he had ready to chop the man in front of him in two.

    "Seth" didn''t evade, he just kept moving forward, like he had a death wish. When the fast approaching axe-sword collided with his head, he just turned to dust.

    After Berserker''s weapon struck the ground, another Seth appeared behind the previous one. He climbed the fallen weapon and jumped closer to Berserker''s head ready to decapitate him with the blade on the top part of his spear.

    What he didn''t expect, however. was Berserker letting go of his weapon and doing a movement that modern people would recognize as the classic evade from Matrix. Seth''s eyes widened seeing this. Not letting him any time to think, Berserker put his hands on the ground and started a mad spiral of kicks which Seth barely managed to avoid just for him to be sent flying after Berseker''s got up and did a spinning kick followed by another one at him.

    Fortunately for him, this time he didn''t hit a building. It was just his back kissing the ground for a few meters.

    Getting up clutching his stomach (He really needed to find a way to equip his armor on) he looked at Berserker incredulously. It would be a lie if he said he was expecting those moves from a mad man that was further tainted with whatever that shadow-like thing was.

    ''I''ve got to admit it tho, his moves were cool'' Seth praised Berserker''s quick reaction inside his mind.

    "This is dragging too long, Berserker. Let''s end this with one last cross of weapons" Seth said spinning his spear and charging at Berserker who responded in kind.

    As their clash drew near, Seth commanded the dust near Berserker''s feet solidify as much as possible and making him lose his balance. He didn''t try this before because Berserker would just bulldoze it like it wasn''t even there. To create something which could trap the mad warrior he would need some time, something he didn''t have.

    The reason why this option was viable now was simple. He could feel it, Berserker was tired, as much as he was. He could guess that normally, Berserker would be able to fight for many hours, even days. But not in this state. He was just a shadow (no pun intended) of his former self. Besides, all the mad rampage he has done in their almost 2 hours battle would obviously tire him out. Even tho he was the only one attacking most of the time, so in consequence, he didn''t waste much energy evading. Each of his hits was done with all his strength. That is a barbaric way of fighting. Good for short battles, bad for large ones.

    When Berserker hit the solid dust on his feet, he bypassed it. As much as tired as he was, his strength was abysmal as always. But Seth got what he wanted. Even if slightly, Berserker lost his balance, his hit barely missing Seth''s head.

    "THIS IS THE END, BERSERKER!" Seth screamed as he slashed horizontally with his spear, creating a large wound on Berserker''s neck. Not yet finished, with his back facing him, he spun his spear and stabbed his back. The spear entered the body of the now kneeling Berserker and escaped from his front.

    "Rest in pace, mad warrior. If there is a chance, let''s fight again" Seth said, still not looking at him.

    "I normally don''t like doing this, but if Cu Chulainn and I are going to fight Saber, I will need to be at top condition" After Seth finished speaking, his spear glowed with gold-brown light, the dark motes of light that were being released from Berserker''s body to the sky came to a halt. With a slight pause, the specs of light started going to Seth''s body.

    Something strange happened, all his wounds and bruises from his fight with Berserker were being healed as Seth absorbed the motes of light, slowly restoring him to his peak condition.

    Finally looking at where Berserker''s body used to be, he sighed. Taking the stone Cu gave him, he started pointing it to random directions until it started to glow in a particular direction. Having confirmed his general destination. Seth set to meet Cu once again.

    Meanwhile in Caster''s side. He just helped the trio to defeat Lancer and Assassin. ''This certainly was a walk in the park'' Cu thought, happy that he eliminated two servants, and disappointed they were so weak. ''Life is sure full of conflicted emotions'' He couldn''t help but sigh internally.

    The little girl with the shield approached him slowly, he didn''t know if she was nervous or just cautious. "Um, excuse me...thank you very much, for saving us from danger..." the pink-haired girl said with a little timidness.

    "Hey, good work. You don''t owe me for this, so don''t worry about it." He said. After all, he could see a good spectacle. Cu then added. "You should be more worried about your body. That damn Assassin kept targeting your b.u.t.t like a pest!" The girl blushed and cowered a little. (A/N: I''m going to throw up, I hate this girl so much. The disgust is real)

    Cu put his hand on his chin and ogled her body like he was contemplating the meaning of life. "Hey, you look fragile but you have a pretty nice body! Icing on the cake!" The only thing his words did was making the white-haired magus recoil in disgust.

    They were interrupted by the voice of Dr.Roman who proceeded to greet the Servant only for Cu to call him a weakling, making the poor Doctor recoil in depression.

    After pulling himself together (He was definitely not yelled at by the white-haired magus) Roman told Caster all about them, about Chaldea, and what they were trying to accomplish.

    Caster just told them what he knew about the situation, even if it was not that much.

    "Archer, Lancer. Rider. Berserker and Assassin were all defeated by Saber, later transforming them in something like a shell of themselves" Caster said.

    "You mean they became that shadow-like thing like Lancer and Assassin?" Asked the white-haired girl, now introduced as Olga Marie.

    "Yep" Caster plainly said.

    Wanting to assess the situation as much as possible, Olga inquired further. "Without taking into account Lancer and Assassin who we just defeated. How many servants are left?"

    "Well, as far as I''m aware, everyone else. But that could change or remain the same. It''s up to fate" Caster cryptically said

    "What do you mean by that?" This time was the turn of Dr.Roman to ask.

    Caster just sighed while scratching the back of his head. "Being honest with ya''ll, there is another person coming from a different place than this flaming city" Cu said making all of them surprised, but not more than Olga.

    "That''s impossible! The technology to Rayshift is exclusive to my Chaldea. How is there another person here?!" This was disturbing for her. If her wild theories were proven to be true. Then, someone has copied their technology to Rayshift, or worse! they have stolen it in some way!

    Caster was surprised at her outburst, so he decided to clarify. "I don''t know what do you mean with Ray-...something. But I assure you that his circ.u.mstances are special. I don''t think he used the same way you did to come here"

    This at least managed to placate Olga''s worries, if ever so slightly. But she could wait, there was always the possibility of questioning the guy himself! Now that she thinks about it...

    "Where is he?" Asked the magus, he needed to know his location and interrog- *cough* politely ask how he came here.

    "Last time I saw him, he went to fight Berserker" Caster said, making them surprised.

    "So, is he a servant?" Mash, the pink-haired girl asked. Fujimaru was just there, standing. Without a single clue of what they were talking about.

    "Nop, that guy is...human" Cu decided to hold the information of his real identity, he wasn''t one to tell other''s secrets. Especially when he was trusted with them.

    "Is he brain-damaged?! why would he go and fight a Servant, a Berserker no less, being just a human?!" Olga was about to lose her mind. How could he know about how he got here if he was dead?! This was getting from bad to worse, she missed Lev so much. If he was here, he would know what to do.

    "I assure you, my brain works just fine" A cold voice resounded in the surroundings. Everyone except a certain Caster tensed at the sound of the voice.

    Looking upwards towards a mountain of debris, a topless man was sitting while looking at them with no emotions.

    "Kya!! Roman! Why didn''t you tell us that a stripper was approaching?!" Olga shouted with a red face making Seth''s eyes twitch and Cu to roll on the ground laughing his a.s.s off.

    "I....rry....am...so..." The voice of Roman was coming from the distance and getting louder as he was coming closer to the command room. "I''M SORRY DIRECTOR, I JUST HAD A BATHROOM BREAK!" Dr.Roman defended himself.

    ''I''m surrounded by useless people'' was the thought of Olga as she covered her eyes from looking at the stripping pervert.

 Chapter 6 - Noble Phantasm, Unlocked!

    After the charade was over. Cu looked at Seth smiling a bit. "So you managed to beat Berserker eh? I knew you had it on ya!" It would be a lie to say he wasn''t worried -not that he would say it- but seeing him in one piece relieved him a bit. Although he didn''t expect Seth to win without sustaining any injuries.

    Seth closed his eyes and grabbed the back of his head. "It wasn''t easy, I nearly died a couple of times. Plus, he threw me around like a ragdoll and almost chopped me in two." Just remembering that fight gave him a headache.

    Caster raised an eyebrow at his words. "You look fine to me." he said. And indeed, if one looked at Seth''s body. They would think of him as the epitome of health.

    "I just healed myself with the help of my weapon. I don''t have any external or internal injuries but I can''t do anything about the pain." It hurt like hell but it was nothing he couldn''t handle.

    Olga, being ignored, couldn''t help but interrupt their chat.

    "Wait a minute! I need to question you about how is it that you got here! But first of all, have some shame and cover your c.h.e.s.t!" She shouted indignantly.

    Seth could feel a headache incoming. "Listen, kid. This is the only thing I have with me right now and besides, I don''t remember ever becoming your subordinate. I don''t think you can order me around."

    Olga''s face went red, from embarrassment or anger, that was unknown. "Listen here you stri-.." She was about to continue before being interrupted by Roman.

    "It''s okay, Director. Calm down a little, we won''t be getting anywhere fighting like this." He tried to reason with her. Fortunately, it worked.

    Taking a long deep breath, she sighed. "You are right Romani, there are more pressing matters at hand."

    She then looked at the Caster servant who was on the sidelines enjoying the show. "What do you think we should do to stop this, Caster?" She hated asking other people for help -except Lev- but giving the circ.u.mstances, she didn''t have a choice.

    "Well, for starters, we should kill the remaining Shadow Servants before facing Saber. We have defeated Assassin and Lancer, Se-...he defeated Berserker, there are only 2 Servants remaining, Rider and Archer. I don''t know the location of Rider, but Archer is going to be wherever Saber is. We share mutual interests so we should fight together until all of this is over." Caster stated concisely, avoiding calling Seth by his name.

    "Makes sense. But if we do that, who will be your master? Him?" She pointed at Seth.

    Caster shook his head. "That kid there, of course. It doesn''t seem like you have the aptitude to be a Master. And him? well, he is a special case so I don''t think it would work." He didn''t forget to add salt to the wound though, "You have top magic circuits but not the aptitude to be a Master, is it a curse? Tough luck there, young lady."

    "Oh shut up! Why do you care?" She exclaimed. That was a sore spot for her.

    Despite remaining silent, Olga could see how much the stripper guy was enjoying her misfortune (He definitely was).

    Turning to the Master she said, "He is in your hands, Fujimaru. Make sure to use him well."

    After everything was over. Caster looked at his new Master. "Then it''s settled. The contract is only temporary, but I''m counting on ya."

    Fujimaru just smiled. "Hm. Even tho I don''t quite follow everything that''s going on, let''s work hard together." (A/N: Shounen protagonist aura is strong with this one.)

    "Well, with that out of the way, what you are probably looking for is the Greater Grail." Caster said making the trio and doctor confused.

    "Greater Grail? What is it?" Dr. Roman asked. To which Caster replied, "It''s this land''s true "heart", that would be what you are looking for. The thing is, Saber is around it. If you want to get it, you will have to defeat her."

    "I see. Mister Caster, please lead the way" Roman said causing an exasperating sigh to drop from Cu''s lips.

    "Drop the ''Mister''. I will lead you there, but the kid will decide when to make a move." Caster said and then looked at Seth. Which at this point had faded into the background. "You are okay with that right?" "Yeah, I don''t have any problems."

    After confirming their target, they departed.

    =========================

    Currently, they were taking a detour. Apparently, the servant with the shield was depressed because she couldn''t unleash her Noble Phantasm. A Noble Phantasm is the embodiment of a legend belonging to a Heroic Spirit, the fact this girl couldn''t use it puzzled Seth but he ignored it. Not his problem, he thought.

    Caster said he was going to help her unleash it. After all, having half the war potential is like having none at all. He started by adding misfortune runes on the annoying kid''s coat. ''Nice one, Cu Chulainn. I knew you were someone I could trust!'' Seth gave a mental thumbs up to the man.

    Not long after, a horde of skeletons appeared before them. He decided to stay in the sidelines like Cu and let the shield girl solve everything herself. Otherwise, she won''t accomplish anything.

    The Servant girl raised her shield to meet her enemies. "D-Director, get behind me! You too Senpai, prepare for battle!"

    ''Her personality is fit for a shield, at least.'' He thought after seeing her actions.

    This time, Caster spoke, "To put it simply, a Noble Phantasm is part of a Heroic Spirit''s instinct. It''s hard to use it if you think too much. Therefore, you must first use up all of your energy,

    young lady! Man, I''m a genius!" Caster laughed feeling a little proud inside.

    The trio fought with all they''ve got. The Servant slamming her shield onto the skeletons, the annoying kid providing support with her magic and occasionally attacking while the Master just gave the orders -if a little clumsily-.

    "I can''t, go on����Any more back-to-back, battles����I''m sorry, Caster����" The Servant spoke between breaths. It seemed she exhausted all her energy.

    Did Caster seem...disappointed? He couldn''t tell. But he was sure he wasn''t pleased his plan didn''t work. Gone was now his playful attitude, now he was serious. The only time Seth remembered Cu like this was when he told him about Saber and Berserker.

    "You just don''t get it, do you? It seems I must kill your Master to see if you can unleash it." Caster spoke while rising his staff.

    "...!" Mash''s eyes widened at Caster''s words

    "What are you talking about? Are you crazy? What does Fujimaru have to do with this?" Olga asked, feeling a little fearful, but most of all, angry.

    "A Master and a Servant share the same fate. If one dies, the other is next. That simple" Caster stated. Damn, he got acting skills. Seth thought while watching the event unfold.

    "Master please get behind me, I...I won''t be a hindrance to Senpai!" She exclaimed, determination oozing from her.

    "That''s what I wanted to hear! Now, let''s have a real Servant battle!" Cu shouted while raising his staff and preparing to chant.

    ======================

    They have been fighting for over 10 minutes, considering how tired the girl was after fighting the group of skeletons, it was impressive. That and Caster wasn''t serious, even if he looked that way.

    Suddenly, magical energy started gathering around Caster. ''So he is using it huh?'' Seth watched as Cu Chulainn was preparing to unleash his Noble Phantasm. He was curious he''s got to admit. Everyone he has fought so far had only been Shadow Servants, incapable of using their Noble Phantasm. This was the first time he was going to see one.

    His eyes focused as much as he could on Cu, hoping to learn something. To possess a Noble Phantasm, he had to be a Heroic Spirit. But, if he could find a way to bypass this requirement, he would be able to unleash his various legends in the form of mysteries and even a Noble Phantasm. (A/N: Think of it like Merlin''s case, the d*ck wizard -Who never bothers to show up in my Chaldea btw- possesses the qualities of a Heroic Spirit even tho he is still alive.)

    ?My spell is the coffin of flames, a giant of verdant thorn.

    Retribution, the forest that will purify human misery��

    Befall the Wicker Man!

    And behold. as both good and evil bite the dust����!?

    Flames covered the already hellish place. From the ground, A wooden arm shot towards the sky, followed by the rest of the body. What appeared before them was a giant made out of good. Caster commanded it to go forwards, with each step it took, the earth trembled.

    ''It''s power is amazing.'' Seth thought while looking at the giant

    As Caster Noble Phantasm was approaching, Mash started to panic.

    "I must protect... I must unleash it, or everyone will����

    Even if it''s fake, even if it''s just for now...l have to unleash it properly, or everyone will

    disappear����!" Ever so slowly, determination was showing on her face.

    "Ahhhhh!!!" With a final shout, a big, green magical shield former on top of her, stoping the punch that was coming from Wicker Man, Caster''s Noble Phantasm. Seth, who was watching the girl attentively, closed his eyes. A smile forming on his mind. ''So that''s how it is...''

    Watching Cu unleash his Noble Phantasm has been helpful to figure out how to create his own. But watching the girl do it was even more so. After all, it was simpler to watch a student learning how to solve a math problem, than the teacher resolving it without explaining anything.

    *********************

    Listen to Seigi Shikkou from Min. 2:40 for dramatic purposes.

    *********************

    Caster told him the real identity of Saber. The King of Knights, Arturia Pendragon. He was a bit surprised knowing she was a girl, but the situation didn''t improve even if they knew her true name. At least, not then...but now, things changed. While Seth couldn''t form a Noble Phantasm yet even if he had the ability to do so. Watching the girl forming her Shield, he managed to make something. Make something like Cu''s Protection from arrows...the information appearing in his mind like some sort of magical thing.

    - Kingslayer : EX �� Damage and defense against enemies with the "King" trait increased by 50%

    This was starting to get interesting.

 Chapter 7 - An Anticlimatic Fight And Facing Archer Again

    ***************************************

    I got NP4 Gil and NP3 Eresh! I''m so happy. Birthday catalyst worked like a charm.

    I avoided Purple Rare Prism aka Medusa like a boss. She never showed up (thankfully)

    I''m so happy I think I will release 3 chapters today instead of the usual 2.

    ***************************************

    Once Mash and Cu fought one more time (Really, this guy is a battle maniac), the group departed in direction of the cave where, by Caster words, Saber was located.

    Battling the occasional skeletons who never stopped annoying. Olga questioning Seth, which he ignored, and with Mash, Fujimaru and Caster talking and getting to know each other better. The five-person group continued on its way.

    Out of nowhere, they heard the shout of Roman who informed them of an approaching enemy. "Quick, get ready. I detect a signal of magical energy, a Servant is nearing your position!" Just as he finished speaking, the sound of rattling chains was heard by the group.

    The guys were soon trapped in a cage of chains in all directions except upwards. Suddenly, from the rear, a chain shot towards Fujimaru. By the time Mash, who was in front of Master trying to protect him from a frontal attack realized the impending danger, the chains were too close to comfort.

    "Senpai!" The girl screamed, turning her body ready to dash in his defense. ''I will not make it in time...!'' The girl thought with dread.

    *Clank*

    "Listen, shield kid. If you are going to protect your Master from future harm, concentrating on one direction is a big mistake, you must expect an attack from everywhere and anyone, even...a friend." Seth materialized his spear just in time to block the chains heading for Fujimaru while taking the opportunity to give her a piece of advice for future battles, even if he faltered a little saying the last part.

    "T-thank you u-um..." She felt really embarrassed right now, not only did she fail to protect her Master but she didn''t know the name of one of his companions.

    Noticing the girl''s plight, Seth thought for a second, remembering someone who he shared good memories with, before responding, "Apophis, that would do."

    "I-is that your real name?" The Shielder girl asked. She knew a little about mythology from other countries so it''s no wonder the name Apophis would bring her slight fear.

    "No. But it is everything you guys are going to get for now." Seth replied without much emotion, Caster just rolled his eyes.

    "Tch. I planned to destroy you as fast as possible but I guess that impossible now." Interrupting them was a voice filled with hate and scorn.

    A woman figure covered in shadows appeared in front of them. Hair dancing like snakes and a weapon that made even Seth tremble a little. ''Chains, snake-like hair, and a weapon capable of killing immortals...'' Seth analyzed looking at the strange-looking scythe. ''So that means she is Medusa and that weapon...Harpe? but wasn''t it returned to the Gods after she was slain? No matter, what I have to do doesn''t change.''

    "Leave this one to me, Caster. I have to test the gains I''ve got from fighting Berserker. Shield girl, protect your Master well this time, and the annoying kid too" "Hey!" Olga shouted but was quickly ignored. Caster just smiled and let the guy do what he wanted.

    "Don''t you think you are underestimating me a little?!" Rider shouted with crazed eyes. At first, she wanted to let the group and the other servants kill each other, something that proved useless as they weren''t even injured! She needed to attack now or it would be too late. After every battle, they were getting stronger. if she let them be any further, she wouldn''t have a chance anymore.

    "Not at all. In fact, I don''t plan to play around" Seth replied with a disinterested tone in his voice -which was his normal one- making Medusa further enraged, she felt this guy was mocking her.

    ''The troublesome thing is not her, but her weapon. I will need to be careful, getting hit by that is no joke, especially in this body.''

    It was time to see his own improvements after the fight with Berserker, he was going to replicate the first attack the mad warrior did against him, the one which sent him flying (Bad memories) after a failed attempt to block the hit.

    Medusa kept her sight focused on the arrogant boy in front of her. Even tho forgetting there was Caster her could prove fatal for her, but she trusted he will not interfere, she hoped. That was the only way for her to come on top. If not, she was going to lose.

    One second, just one second. Medusa blinked for one second and then the boy was not there anymore. For some reason, she could see her body...falling to the ground. Medusa opened her eyes wide. Memories, memories of her last moment when she was alive flashed through her mind. Tears started to form on the corner of her eyes. An indignant "Why...?" was all she could say before disappearing in purple light.

    The thing was, she was not the only one not believing this situation. Even Seth, the one who committed the kill, was surprised and at the same time...disappointed. ''What was all this hype for?! Bullshit! At least put some resistance, will you?!'' He stood frozen in place. This...this...it was just too anticlimactic!

    Olga Marie and Mash were surprised. To tell the truth, they didn''t believe it when Seth said he killed Berserker but looking at this. It seems he was not lying after all.

    Caster was also surprised. Recovering for a moment of shock, he smiled. Their future started to brighten.

    Fujimaru was just throwing all he has eaten for the past week seeing a decapitation live right in front of him.

    There was a moment of awkward silence before Caster coughed gaining the group''s attention. "Well...how to say it...let''s get going?" Even the poor Cu didn''t know what to say.

    They nodded in affirmation, except Fujimaru. That guy was still throwing up.

    Continuing their way to the cave, the group had an uneventful journey. Olga took advantage of this to ask Caster a question that was bugging her ever since she knew they had to face Saber.

    "Caster, do you know Saber''s True Name?"

    Cu Chulainn nodded in affirmation. "Yeah, anyone unlucky enough to face her Noble Phantasm will know that bastard''s true name." He then added, "The reason for the other Servants'' defeat is because her Noble Phantasm was that powerful."

    Mash chimed in. "A powerful Noble Phantasm? What''s it like?" She asked, curiosity written on her face.

    "It''s the most famous Sacred Sword in your time period, its name is-" Before Caster could finish, a voice interrupted them.

    "The Sword of Promised Victory, Excalibur. Wielded by the King of Knights, Arthur Pendragon. Together with his voice, an arrow came their way ready to pierce the Master. The poor guy was always the focus of the enemy, Seth couldn''t help but pity him.

    This time, it was Caster''s turn to stop the arrow. Drawing some runes in mid-air, he was able to make the arrow lit on fire before it hit the intended target.

    "Archer!" Olga exclaimed, looking at the Servant with a bow in his hand.

    "Hoh? So you''ve decided to show up? As loyal as always I see." Caster said, laughing a little. "This time is my and the little girl''s battle, don''t interfere." Cu informed his intentions to Seth, who simply nodded. As disappointing as his fight with Rider was, Cu DID let him fight her alone. He had no qualms letting him settling this, besides, the girl needed experience if she was going to fight the strongest Servant in this war.

    "I don''t know what you are talking about, I''m just here to chase away the dogs that come barking to this place." A tick mark appeared on Caster''s face. "Don''t call me a dog!" Despite his face being covered by shadows, Seth could see the mocking smirk on Archer''s face. ''These guys have more in common than I thought.''

    "Hey! Why are you just standing there, young lady? He''s an Archer so I will need your shield to cover me while I cast spells." Caster turned towards Mash and reprimanded her.

    "Y-Yes...! Sorry, I was spacing out a bit." The Shielder class Servant said, a little embarrassed.

    Now with more determination, she positioned herself in front of Caster. "I can do this. When it comes to guarding, leave it to me!" She exclaimed, gaining a small smile from Cu.

    "Now you are talking like a real Servant, little girl! I''m counting on ya. You better not disappoint me." Caster said while preparing a set of runes that lit on fire before going to the direction of the Archer Servant.

    Archer jumped from his position, an explosion occurring behind him, and fired an arrow at Caster which Mash stopped with her shield.

    "Yes! I won''t!" With a passionate shout. The Servant girl put her whole focus on protecting Caster and her Master. She may be a Demi-Servant, but she will show them that she could protect her Senpai just fine!

    "That''s the spirit! Don''t think and just act. If your instinct is to protect, then with enough determination you will become the strongest shield!" As he kept sending fireballs towards the Archer who was evading like a monkey, he didn''t forget to encourage and give his heartfelt advice towards the little young lady protecting him.

 Chapter 8 - Evil Meets Corruption

    Archer fired arrow after arrow but Mash blocked them all. Seeing as he was not getting anywhere and Caster kept firing spells at him, he decided to change his approach. Dematerializing his bow, he projected Kanshou & Byakuya. His trusted weapons and the ones who were with him for the longest time.

    Cu smirked seeing this. "Are Archers supposed to use swords?" He mocked him knowing already Archer''s fighting style. He wanted to insult him for the comment about him being a dog. The nerves of the guy.

    Archer just snorted, he ignored his comment and dashed forward, slashing his blade against the Shielder girl.

    This proved to be a good decision as, with him in close range, Caster couldn''t carelessly fire spells less he wanted to injure the young lady.

    Mash was hard-pressed fighting the Archer at melee range. She was surprised that he was giving her more troubles fighting with swords instead of bows but she decided to not think about it. She needed to concentrate on this fight or she would surely lose.

    As Archer kept hitting her shield from different angles, Mash''s arms started to get tired. Suddenly, Archer dashed backward, throwing Byakuya to the side of Mash, barely missing her. Said sword shot into the distance. The Shielder Servant, believing Archer just made a mistake, pursued him. ''This is my chance...!'' Shield forward, ready to impact Archer with a heavy blow, a trace of happiness flashed through her face. With this, they would win!

    "Get back, you blockhead!" Caster shouted in a mix of panic and desperation. This girl was a newbie through and through!

    The reality, oh the reality. Harsh and disappointing. Once Mash got close enough to Archer, she could hear a small sound coming from Archer''s mouth. The sound one made when he/she smiled, confident in victory.

    At that point, she realized, Archer was setting her up. From behind her, Byakuya was spinning ready to slash her back.

    She was in a tight position. If she continued her attack, the spinning sword would slash her and if he faced the incoming weapon, her back would be exposed to Archer.

    "Mash!" Fujimaru shouted, worried about his friend and K��hai. Olga just clenched her fists looking at the situation. It looked grim.

    Caster clicked his tongue. ''Troublesome.'' He thought. This wouldn''t work so well given the distance but it was worth a try. He spun his staff and then proceeded to hit the ground with it. "Don''t worry and keep moving forward, I will do something about your back!" He shouted in a hurry.

    Mash hearing this didn''t hesitate and continued her charge. The ground behind her opened and giant roots started going upwards but due to the distance with the user, their growing speed was not that fast.

    Archer blocked the shield with Kanshou but was still pushed back by the weight of it. The spinning Byakuya collided with the roots and cut them in two but its spinning speed and direction were altered slightly. Even so, it still managed to cut Mash''s arm. Said girl winced a little at the pain.

    With enough distance between Mash and Archer, Caster could attack again.

    "You are wide open!" Caster said and smashed his hand on the ground.

    Archer, who was still in mid-air due to being hit by the shield, saw a circle of fire forming around him. He did a spin and managed to land on the ground. When he was preparing to jump to avoid whatever Caster wanted to throw at him, a wooden arm appeared from the circle of fire, catching and clutching him in a fist before slamming him on the ground.

    After the wooden arm dematerialized, Archer was seen on the ground, burn marks could be spotted on his whole body. "Gh..." With a little effort, he looked at them. "I commend you all, except Caster, of course. Now go." Archer said as he was fading in blue light.

    "Ha! Sore loser as always, Archer." Caster spoke to the dying man with a mocking smirk.

    "Enjoy your little victory, Caster. Next time I will make sure to project a dog whistle" He said before disappearing.

    "It seems he got the last word." Seth, who was silently watching everything, said. Patting Cu on his shoulders, no sympathy was found on his voice though.

    "Tch. Annoying until the end." Cu said before facing Chaldea''s trio. "It''s time for you to take a hike! We three are going to take down the Sacred Sword."

    "I''m glad you trust me but...do you think I can guard against it? I easily fell for Archer''s trap in the previous fight and just thinking of facing King Arthur my hands start to tremble" Shielder said, feeling a little disappointed with herself.

    While Mash was looking down in shame, Cu did a karate chop on her head.

    "O-Ouch...!" The little girl held her head while tears were forming on her eyes, she looked totally like the image of a wronged puppy.

    "Listen. You need to have courage, if you falter, your master will die. You don''t need to think about beating Saber, that''s my and that guy job." Caster said pointing at Seth. "You just need to protect your Master and we will do the rest."

    "B-But" Mash wanted to protest but was stopped by a hand on her shoulders, looking back she saw her Master looking at her with the brightest smile she had seen him do.

    "Don''t worry, Mash. I know you can do it. I trust you!" Fujimaru said without hesitation. Their time together might have been a bit short but everything they experienced together made him trust her with his life.

    Mash expression brightened. "Yes, Senpai. I will do my best!"

    ''She is so easy to read...'' Was the thought on the mind of everyone present.

    ===========================

    The group stopped a little before their final destination.

    Resting his back against the wall, Caster asked the group, "Are you guys tired? If it is so we can rest. We need to be at our best to face Saber after all."

    It was Olga who answered. "Yes, resting wouldn''t do us any bad." She then looked at Fujimaru. His face had a little whiteness that wasn''t there before.

    Facing the hologram where Dr. Roman was seen eating an apple, she asked. "Romani, are you checking Fujimaru''s vitals? He looks paler than usual."

    "Huh? Oh...yeah. The state of his body is not good, it must be because of the unexpected contract. It is the first time using your Magic Circuits and now they are working overtime providing mana to two servants." Roman concluded his report.

    "We should set up a camp here. Mash, prepare some tea with honey and give it to Fujimaru, that will help." Roman advised to which Shielder nodded.

    Fujimaru thanked the Doctor and Mash for their efforts helping him while Seth returned from patrolling the area, in case they were attacked by something.

    "Did you find something interesting?" Cu asked after he saw him approaching.

    "I didn''t find any enemies but I did discover something." Seth said looking at the trio in the distance preparing the camp.

    "Ho...? And what is it?" Caster asked with curiosity in his voice.

    "You have probably realized already, but this place reeks of Evil like there''s no tomorrow. The thing is, I can feel something apart from Saber ahead of us. That ''something'' has more Evil inside it than everything we had faced so far put together." Seth finished telling Cu.

    His eyes widening for a moment, Caster asked again, "Do you mean there is another enemy than Saber?"

    Seth just shook his head. "I''m not sure, it could be a living thing or just an object. As I''m now, knowing its general location and the amount of Evil it emits is the only thing I can do."

    "Man, why do things keep getting harder and harder?" Cu scratched the back of his head. Luck was not on his side, as always.

    "Sometimes I ask myself the same" Seth said with exasperation. He decided to worry about it when the time came.

    "Hah...let''s go and join the kids. They may look strong mentally speaking but it''s plain as day how scared they are" Cu said removing his back from the wall and walking in direction of the recently set camp.

    Seth maintained his position for a moment. He wasn''t a guy who liked to socialize much but if they were going to fight together, there mustn''t be any awkwardness.

    They were together in a circle, the only space free was between Caster and Miss Annoying Kid 2019, which he took. Despite the occasional perverted joke of Caster, it was quite peaceful...not.

    "Why are you sitting next to me?! What are you planning to do?!" Olga jumped like a startled rabbit seeing Seth standing next to her.

    He closed his eyes, trying not to get irritated by her, something that was proving difficult. Opening them again, he looked at her.

    "This is the only space available." A concise answer that left no room for arguments.

    Mash and Fujimaru giggled at this which earned a glare from the Director.

    After that "incident", they enjoyed tea and fruits that Olga had brought with her. ''At least she was useful as a moving fruit market'' Seth thought before receiving an elbow to his side. Looking at Olga with a questioning gaze, the Director seemed to have an angry expression -More than usual-. "What?" "You were thinking something rude, weren''t you?!" Seth just rolled his eyes. "I was just eating my fruit, what do you expect me to do?" But inside his mind, he cursed women''s instinct until even his brain felt tired.

    She looked at him for a second before setting her gaze on Fujimaru. Said Master felt a little uncomfortable being gazed by her so he asked the first thing that came to his mind, "Would you like seconds, Director?"

    Olga, with a red face, shouted. "No, I''m full! Just remember that I like coffee more!" She said, but as if regretting her words she clarified, "N-No...that''s not what I wanted to...Oh, forget it!" Olga stuttered before continuing. "Wh-what I mean is, you have done a passable job so I have to give you credit. If you keep going like this you might even hear praise from me." The Director finished acting all tsundere.

    Dr. Roman couldn''t help but tease her. "Did the Director eat something sweet, admitting Fujimaru did a good job?"

    Olga gained a tick mark on her forehead. "Romani, if you have time to speak nonsense, then you have it to send Fujimaru some supplies, I would feel bad if we failed our mission because he was ill-equipped."

    "What''s this? ''feel bad''? Did you finally open your hear Director?" Dr. Roman laughed on the other side.

    At this point, Olga was as much embarrassed as she could be. "Wh-what are you talking about Romani?! That''s not what I meant at all!"

    "I will never go tired of seeing young men and women interact. Although when it comes to young women, Director, you are not really..."

    ''This guy was writing his death sentence without a care in the world.'' The former God and Caster servant thought.

    You could see Olga shaking, this was not going to end well for the whole party so Seth came to the rescue.

    "She is not old, though. To me, Olga is a very young and charming lady." Seth said, successfully avoiding an angry shout that would burst many eardrums. Listening to this, the Director went red.

    Inside Seth''s mind, however. A chibi version of him was rolling on the ground clutching his neck like he just had eaten poison. He didn''t know what was more difficult, his fight against Berserker or saying those words.

    "T-thank you..." The Director muttered in a very low voice. ''Don''t do that. I will feel worse than I already feel''

    "Agghhhh" A weird sound came from behind Olga. Looking there, they saw a group of monsters heading their direction.

    "Eeeeek!" She released a girlish scream, quite unfit for her strict personality, and jumped like a rabbit into the arms of the person who was closer to her, Seth...

    He looked at her, as expressionless as always. This girl was messing with him, definitely.

    After eliminating the pests, the group was finally ready to fight Saber.

    Reaching the end of the cave, what awaited them was a large space. About the size of a football field. (A/N: Don''t mind me, just bullshitting here...)

    At the very back, on top of a big rock wall, they could see this land''s heart. Fuyuki''s Greater Grail. Seth has to admit, describing it as evil comes short when it comes to that thing.

    "The Greater Grail...It''s an ultra-superior Magical Reactor. What''s it doing on this island of the Far East?" Olga asked.

    "According to our data, it was built by a family of alchemists, the Einzberns." The Doctor responded.

    "Enough talking..." Caster told them as he looked ahead.

    "...she has noticed us" Seth continued, summoning his spear and preparing for battle.

    Everyone tensed. They were facing the strongest servant in the war. The one who has defeated every Servant except Caster.

    "Her magical output is extraordinary..." Mash said with a grave tone.

    "There is no doubt about it, she is the King of Britain, Arthur. Her gender may be different than the legend but that''s not important right now! Do everything you can to win this fight, humanity is counting on you!" Roman chimed in.

    "I see...you have an interesting Servant with you" The cold voice of Saber resounded on the cave, her gaze set on Shielder.

    "And..." Her gaze went from Mash to Seth. Remembering the word a certain purple-haired girl used to call her former master. She spoke, "My senpai in kingship" Even though her voice was cold and unfeeling, the sarcasm in her voice was very noticeable.

    Chaldea''s group didn''t understand Saber''s words, only Caster did.

    The air became suffocating all of sudden. The temperature dropping several degrees. A shadow covered Seth''s eyes, as a cold voice, even colder than his default one, came out of him.

    "What...did you say?"

 Chapter 9 - Evil Fights Corruption

    ======== 5 hours ago ========

    Seth and Cu Chulainn were on the lookout for enemies while the trio from Chaldea just rested after fighting more monsters.

    "Hey." Cu said to gain his attention.

    "Hm?" Seth looked at him, waiting for him to continue.

    Caster scratched the back of his head. "Well, how to say it. There''s something that''s been on my mind ever since you told me your identity."

    By the tone of nervousness on his voice, Seth could guess what he was going to say was going to be a bit...intrusive. "Go on." He said.

    Receiving the green light. He finally decided to ask the question he wanted to ask. "Do you...regret killing your brother?" Cu Chulainn found it weird, even knowing who he is and what he did, he couldn''t hate the guy. Call it his guts or whatever but something told him Seth was not a bad guy, even if he looked like a robot with no emotion most of the time. He was sure if he found another guy who did the same thing Seth did, he would kill him out of repulsiveness. But for some reason, he couldn''t get himself to hate the person in front of him.

    Seth looked at him for a second before facing forwards, he didn''t respond for a while. The awkward silence was maintained for two minutes that were really agonizing for Caster before he answered, "No." A plain, simple answer that left no room for more chat.

    "Is that so? I apolog-" He felt a little bad inside for asking so he was going to apologize but Seth cut him before he could.

    "But..." Seth gazed at the sky, even if his face didn''t show anything, his eyes were reminiscing.

    Stopping for a moment, he returned his gaze to Cu Chulainn. Looking at him dead in the eyes.

    "I do regret my reign. Or should I say, I regret the way I treated people when I reigned." His tone containing traces of sadness, he continued. "At that time, I was blinded by anger. Anger at the Gods that made me their scapegoat and anger at the people who despite having done anything to them, hated and feared me. In my rage, the fear and hate of the people became my amus.e.m.e.nt."

    Feeling his legs shaking a little, Seth decided to sit down before continuing. At this point in time, he just needed someone to listen. He didn''t know if it will help with his guilt or not, but it was worth a try.

    "I created storms that destroyed the little food my people could produce on the fields, I set fire to their homes, I created demons that entered my people''s houses and ate them alive, I..." "It''s enough." Caster said, placing a hand on his shoulders. He shouldn''t have asked, he shouldn''t have. Looking at the state of Seth now, it was clear how much regret and guilt he felt towards humanity. But if there was a reason Caster wanted to stop him from speaking any more than this, was the tears that were streaming down his face.

    A man who barely displayed emotions, a man who''s voice was cold as ice, a man that despite everything wrong he has done, cared deeply about humanity, a man who he respected as a fellow warrior. Such a man was crying in front of him. If he didn''t stop such sight, he wouldn''t be able to call himself a...friend.

    "Yes...you are right." Pulling himself back together, he got up. Looking at Cu Chulainn, his crying face now displayed a serene smile. "Thank you Cu Chulainn, I really needed that."

    Caster just smiled. "Don''t worry, will ya? That''s what friends do."

    ''Friends, huh?'' That word didn''t taste that bad anymore.

    Inside Seth''s soul, there was a red metal door. The door looked old and rusty and was surrounded by chains, preventing something from going out. At Caster''s words, the door shook. One of the chains closing the door broke. But that was something Seth was going to realize later.

    ======== Present time ========

    Seth was angered at Saber''s words. The meaning of them clear as water to him, "From one ruthless tyrant to another, you have my respect and admiration." While Saber''s words were sarcastic in nature, and she didn''t have an ounce of respect from him. The fact she made him remember those painful memories was enough to make him angry. He didn''t know how she uncovered his identity. But that could wait until she was on the ground with his spear piercing her heart.

    "Calm down, Apophis. Don''t let her get your head." Cu decided to use Seth''s fake name to refer to him, advising him to keep his head cool.

    Seth, hearing Cu Chulainn, calmed down. He was right, he shouldn''t let his dark emotions take over him like that less he wanted to become his former self.

    Looking at the side, he saw the shivering form of Olga and Fujimaru, they weren''t shivering because of fear but because the temperature literally dropped to freezing levels. Mash was fine as she was a Servant so she wasn''t affected that much.

    Feeling apologetic he conjured a small fireball, it didn''t have any attacking power but it could keep them warm. "Sorry for that, here, let me make it up to you." He said as he commanded the fireball to go towards them. Once it was near them, their shivering significantly stopped.

    "You know I could have done it myself, you didn''t have to do anything." Caster remarked from the side, Seth shook his head.

    "No, you are more magic oriented than I''m. You are gonna need every bit of your mana." Caster didn''t have anything to say to that.

    After that, each one of them took their positions. Mash in front, Caster in the middle and Seth in the back. If you are wondering why a melee fighter is not fighting face to face with Saber, the reason was simple. Seth''s new ability, Kingslayer. It only worked on the presence of a King, that''s why he couldn''t practice the instant activation of the skill. As he was fairly new to how abilities in this world worked, he needed some time to know how to activate them.

    "Five minutes will do, Cu Chulainn, Mash. Do the best you can till then!" Seth spoke while closing his eyes to prepare the activation of Kingslayer EX, wasting no time.

    "Yes! Leave it to me!" "You got it!" Both replied.

    "Hmph...I care not about what you are planning." Saber said coldly as ever. Her gaze shifting to Mash before speaking again, "Be ready, strange girl. This sword shall test the truth of your shield".

    Speaking till there, Saber dashed forward. Her sword clad in dark purple light. She hit her shield time and time again. Each hit heavier than the last.

    "Now, little girl!" At Caster''s shout, Mash used the force of the hit from Saber''s sword to move to the side. As Mash was blocking her vision with her big shield, Saber couldn''t see the fireballs behind the little girl until it was too late. However, putting more energy into her sword he blocked the incoming attack.

    Unfortunately, the only thing they managed to do was making Saber slide backward a little. Beyond that, no damage was done.

    "I admit, you improved since your fight against Archer. However, no matter what you do, it''s pointless." Saber stated while slowly walking forward.

    "Hoh? You were watching our fight with Archer and you didn''t help him? He will be sad if he finds out." Caster asked in a fake voice of surprise.

    "He was just doing his duty, if he serves no purpose then I don''t need him." Saber said, completely unaffected by Caster words.

    Cu Chulainn smiled, Saber halted in her tracks. "Now, kid!" He shouted, Fujimaru, who was waiting for his signal, raised his right hand. Showing his Command Spells, he did a mental image and then, with his gaze set on Mash, called out to her. "Mash, return to me!"

    Shielder, who was getting up after being thrown by Saber, turned into light and reappeared next to Olga, Fujimaru and Seth.

    Saber''s instincts screamed at her to get out of there, something he tried but couldn''t do.

    With everything ready, Caster slammed his right hand in the ground.

    ? I''ll use my ace up my sleeve. Burn them completely, giant of all trees. "Wicker Man"! ?

    First, a giant hand made out of wood shot from the ground, clutching Saber in its hand. It didn''t end there, however. More parts of the giant kept appearing, eventually revealing its whole form. A fifteen meters wooden giant covered in flames with a cage for a stomach. Squeezing Saber in its hand as much as he could for a moment, the giant proceeded to throw her towards the cage in its stomach.

    After that was done, the flaming giant burned himself even more. Damaging Saber in the process. However, She never once screamed, gritting her teeth, she endured all the pain. A Ruler couldn''t show weakness in front of the enemy.

    After Wicker Man, the giant made to burn the offerings presented to the ancient Gods in Celtic mythology, burned itself out, Caster fell to his knees.

    Panting, he looked at where Saber was at. Burnings of varied degrees covered her pale skin but even so, she was standing.

    Her cold face was now reflecting fury. "I will give it to you all. That was a well-thought strategy." Though her words said prises, the tone of her voice meant another thing.

    "What kind of monster are you, bastard? Can you even be killed?" Caster was as frustrated as he could be.

    Mash quickly approached Caster. Now that he exhausted his mana, defending against Saber attacks was going to be difficult.

    Raising her shield, she stubbornly met Saber''s gaze. She was going to protect everyone, she was going to protect Caster who was behind her, she was going to protect the Director, she was going to protect Apophis -Even though he was a bit cold- but above all else, she was going to protect her Master!

    Seeing this, Saber squeezed her sword tighter. Raising it into a slashing motion she spoke. "I will answer your gaze, your d.e.s.i.r.e to protect your Master..." Saber''s aura rose with each passing second, ready to attack she chanted.

    ? Cry out. It is time to fall to the ground. Hammer of the Vile King. Overturn the aurora. Swallow the light! "Excalibur Morgan"! ?

    With that, she slammed her sword to the ground, sending an energy beam to Shielder and Caster place. Mash prepared her shield to meet the incoming attack.

    Once the attack and the shield collided, Mash found herself hard-pressed to keep up. Seeing this Caster spoke, "Hang in there, young lady! If that attack hits us, the best scenario is us burning to a crisp. Otherwise, our top halves will get blown off!" She had to admit those words weren''t very encouraging but she would have to do with them.

    As the attack from Saber was fading, so was Mash''s resistance. She needed to keep blocking for a little longer and they would have successfully repelled the attack.

    Sadly, before Excalibur Morgan faded completely, the girl''s shield gave in. With no protection, they were sent flying backward.

    The only good thing about this was that Shielder blocked most of Saber''s blow so they didn''t receive much damage but they wouldn''t be able to fight for a while.

    "Mash!" Fujimaru shouted worriedly, he wanted to go to her but was stopped by Olga. "Stop it, you are her Master, have trust in her." To tell the truth, even she didn''t believe in her own words but she had to keep him alive at all costs. Fujimaru just clenched his fist, feeling powerless in this situation.

    Saber looked at the Master for a second before resuming his walk towards Shielder and Caster.

    "I commend you, you fought well. I shall give you an honorable death." When she was in front of Mash and Cu, she raised her sword, ready to end their lives.

    "What do you think you are doing?" Just then, a cold voice sounded behind her. The voice sent shivers down her spine, it was the same voice, the same tone. But...something was different, something that produced an innate fear in her.

    ******************************

    Next chapter is the end of Fuyuki, yay!

    Review so we can share this tumor-inducing story with other people.

 Chapter 10 - Evil defeats Corruption

    Man. I was watching Lostbelt V stream and damn that Orion looks ripped.

    I''m going to roll for Europa tho. They need to stop using Musashi for everything btw.

    ********************************

    As Saber heard the voice, she turned around just in time to block an incoming attack directed at her head. Sparks flew by at the impact of sword and spear.

    To say Saber looked surprised would be an understatement. As she parried the furious attack of the man in front of her, she took a second to look at his new form.

    Nothing had changed in his appearance. The only noticeable thing would be the red and yellow aura coating him like molten lava.

    Putting a little bit of strength on her sword, she managed to create distance between the two. Lowering her sword to the side, she spoke. "You did not show much potential facing Rider. What changed?"

    Although she didn''t want to speak with him, she needed to gain as much time as possible to recover her magical energy. She hates to admit it but Caster attack damaged her pretty badly.

    "Nothing much." Slowly, Seth raised his spear to the side of his head. Like he was preparing to do a horizontal slash. "It''s just..." Saber''s instincts went on full alert. Without hesitation, she raised her sword to protect her head. Just in time to hear Seth''s voice beside her. "...your death became clear."

    *Boom*

    A loud sound like that of an explosion was heard when Seth''s spear and Saber''s sword clashed. However, without much resistance, Saber was sent flying. Rolling and tumbling on the ground.

    Doing a backflip, she managed to stabilize herself, not before leaving deep marks on the ground though. ''What is that strength?! He looks like a second Berserker, dammit!'' Saber couldn''t help but curse inside her mind.

    Meanwhile, Fujimaru and Olga moved to where Caster and Mash were lying on the ground. Olga helped Mash and Fujimaru helped Caster, moving them further back where Mash''s shield was.

    Caster eyelids trembled, slowly opening his eyes, he was greeted with the face of the kind and the magus. Looking to the side, he could see Seth''s coated in what looked like a cape of magical energy.

    "What happened when I was out?" He asked particularly no one.

    "Saber was going to finish you off but he intervened just in time. Now he is fighting Saber by himself, he needs to win otherwise everything will be over." Olga spoke, worry in her tone, something unusual for sure.

    They were fighting in close range so Seth couldn''t use the full potential of his spear, even so, he was pushing her back.

    They exchanged blow after blow. "What happened? Weren''t you on the offensive earlier?" Seth spoke with disdain on his voice. Between hits, he managed to land a kick on Saber''s stomach, sending her flying.

    Using her sword to stop the momentum of her fall, she noticed the fast approaching Seth. Raising her weapon, she hit the ground creating a cloud of smoke. Seth put an arm in front of his eyes to prevent as much smoke from blocking his vision. If he just closed his eyes, he would be stupid.

    Saber did a jump and came crashing down on him. Seeing the incoming attack, Seth grabbed his spear with two hands and put it in front of him.

    Although he managed to block the hit, the ground under him cracked before forming a hole with him as the center. ''Damn!'' He could feel how heavy the attack was. If he didn''t have Kingslayer active he was sure his arms would have become something unrecognizable.

    Despite blocking, he could feel his bones cracking. Using Saber''s momentum, he lowered himself and his spear to minimize her strength on him. Once he felt he could push Saber off of him, Seth pushed his spear upwards. The knight slowly flew in the air but her cold gaze never left him.

    Smirking a condescending smile. Still in mid-air, her sword was coating in purple light. Positioning herself in the best angle possible, she shouted. "Excalibur...Morgan!"

    A black and purple beam was shot towards Seth, said man didn''t expect Saber to have enough energy to throw another Noble Phantasm at him.

    He managed to successfully get out from the point of impact. However, the explosion threw him flying, impacting a wall.

    "Agh...!" The collision DID hurt, very much so. Blood sprayed out of his mouth, his back wasn''t better off.

    Using the wall behind him as support, he shakily stood up. Looking at Saber''s position, she wasn''t better off. Not taking into account the burns on her body, she didn''t have much damage. Even so, she was on her knees panting, using her sword to prevent herself from falling.

    They maintained this state of just panting and recovering their energy as much as they could for ten minutes. The audience just watched in expectation and nervousness.

    In synch, they gazed at each other, reaching a mutual understanding. Seth put his hands off the wall and Saber got up.

    Seth walked towards Saber and the knight towards him. What started as a walk became a jog and then a run at full speed.

    He went for a stab while she went for a slash. As the clash grew near, Seth''s right arm holding his spear, his human arm, gave in. It was a miracle it endured this long. His eyes widened.

    Taking this as an opportunity, Saber crashed his falling spear beneath her feet and went for a slash on his head.

    Feeling his impending doom, Seth''s brain overworked trying to come up with something. Fortunately, it did.

    Remembering the move Berserker used against him, he copied it without shame. After all, shame was not going to save his life.

    He inclined his head backward, which proved to be difficult due to the momentum he had. Even though he avoided getting his head cut from his shoulders, Saber managed to make a slash wound on his neck.

    Paying it no mind, he used his only good arm for support and kicked Saber on her chin, sending her flying a few meters upward. He was not going able to do more, less he wanted his left arm broken too. He decided to land on his feet again, he picked his spear with his left arm this time.

    His muscles screamed, his bones screamed, his back screamed. He was in tatters before but after doing those taxing moves he was worse. On the bright side, pain is better than death. In this case at least.

    Slowly he raised his head, meeting the falling Saber eyes, and with a quick thrust, he stabbed her. His arm didn''t have any strength left so he couldn''t keep her impaled in the air. She fell to her knees, the force of her fall bringing Seth to his knees too.

    Saber''s head was on top of his shoulders and his head on hers. Only centimeters prevented touch. Both stayed like that for a few seconds before Saber opened her mouth. "I don''t understand...why deny yourself? Sometimes...an iron fist is needed...to rule a nation." She said with difficulty.

    "I''m not meant to be a King. The people won''t accept me as one, and a King is nothing without the support of his people." Seth responded. Both smiled at each other, they may have many differences but they managed to understand each other in the end, if only a little.

    "It''s hard to light a candle, easy to curse the dark instead, huh...?" She mused.

    Caster and Chaldea''s trio, seeing it was all over, heaved a sigh of relief and approached the kneeling duo.

    Caster needed Fujimaru''s support to walk, he was really out of energy. Mash was better off and could walk by herself albeit with a little difficulty as her class gave her more endurance than anything.

    Saber rose her head a little, looking at the people nearing, she couldn''t help but smile self deprecatingly to herself.

    "No matter how my fate changes, I will always meet the same end if I''m alone." The King of Knights said, slightly melancholic.

    Caster, who was now in front of them, asked. Irritation present in his voice. "What''s that supposed to mean? Bastard, what do you know?"

    "Eventually, you too will realize it, Ireland''s Child of Light. Grand Order. The battle to obtain the Holy Grail has only just begun." Saber��Arturia said, fading into motes of light. Not before annoying Seth one more time. "Goodbye Senpai, may we meet again."

    "..." Seth was just too tired to care.

    "Hey! What you mean by��Whoa! I''m fading too?!" Cu wanted to question Saber more but his time had also come.

    "Dammit! It''s not my style to leave a half-finished work, but it''s all in your hands now. Next time try summoning me as a Lancer, though!" He then turned towards Seth who could barely move.

    "This is a farewell gift, may we meet again friend." If he was going to disappear anyway. Might as well do something with the little energy he had left. Drawing runes in the air, a light enveloped Seth and healed him a little, just enough to move. "Sorry, that''s as much as I can do"

    Getting up, Seth looked at the disappearing Caster. "No, it''s enough. Thank you, Cu Chulainn."

    Caster just waved like saying it was nothing before he faded completely.

    Mash''s voice was heard, "Confirming the disappearance of Caster and Saber. Does that mean we won?"

    A hologram of Dr. Roman then appeared, confirming Mash words and congratulating them. Seth got up in time to see Olga muttering something to herself with an expression of disbelief on her face. He raised an eyebrow at this but otherwise paid it no mind.

    "Is there something wrong, Director?" She was brought out of her state by Fujimaru''s words.

    "Huh? O-Oh, right. Congratulations, there is much that is not yet known to us but let''s call this mission complete." She said, snapping out of her trance.

    She continued, "First, let''s retrieve that crystal. It''s clearly the reason why Saber became abnormal and this war went astray."

    Seth frowned, the evil "thing" he detected earlier was here. And it was eviler than he first thought.

    "Well, I didn''t expect you''d get this far. Beyond my plan''s expectations and my own tolerances." A voice reeking malice came from the position of the Grail.

    Looking up, he noticed a person��no...a demon. That thing was clearly not human.

    "Master Candidate #48. It was my mistake to naively overlook you as an improbable child." He said, before turning to Seth.

    "And you...it was certainly not on my plans to have a foreign existence come here. Fate is truly a disgusting thing." If he couldn''t hear the despise in the demon''s voice, he would be an idiot.

    Dr. Roman''s voice was then heard, "Lev? Professor Lev, you say? He''s there?" Surprise evident in his tone.

    "Hm? Is that Romani I hear? So you didn''t die. I told you to come to the command room immediately, but it seems you didn''t listen. Honestly...humans are such pests."

    "Lev... Oh, Lev! Lev! You''re alive! What a relief, without you I wouldn''t know what to do!" Olga said, happiness oozing out of her, she started walking towards Lev but was stopped by a hand on her shoulders. Turning around, he noticed Seth grabbing her. "What are you doing?! Let me go!"

    "Listen, kid. I don''t know if the stress is taking its toll on you, but can''t you see he is not the same guy you are familiar with? He isn''t even human!" He said, his voice dead serious.

    "No! Lev is Lev, now that he is here everything will be okay, everything will��" Before she could continue, Seth knocked her out. She was not making any sense.

    "Quite the rough guy there, she only wanted to meet with her dear Lev, that all." Lev said, sarcastic till the end.

    "Hmph, don''t think I can''t see through your intentions. A painful death was the best thing she would get approaching you." He may not have divinity anymore but trickery and evil were one of his fortes. He would shame himself if he didn''t see his intentions, though one just needed to be a bit perceptive to know that getting close to that guy was a bad idea.

    "So you have an idea of what I''m. Impressive, very impressive." He clapped slowly as if he didn''t mind if they found out his real identity or not. Not that it mattered, he was going to present himself anyways.

    Continuing, he dropped a bomb. "However, I''m most sorry to say that little Olga there isn''t alive anymore." He said with a dark chuckle as if it was not his fault at all.

    "Wha��?!" Mash''s, Fujimaru''s and Romani''s eyes widened at his statement.

    ''So it was true after all?'' Seth said as he put his gaze on Olga. He had his suspicions, but he couldn''t form a concise answer since he didn''t understand how Rayshifting worked. He felt the same towards Fujimaru and Mash, but the feeling wasn''t as big as with Olga.

    Now he knew why. Olga was dead while they weren''t, of course. The bodies of Fujimaru and Mash weren''t exactly alive either.

    Delighting in their horrors, Lev spoke again. "Let me reintroduce myself, I''m Lev Lainur Flauros...In charge of the year 2017 to dispose of you humans" (A/N: This was written taking into account the NA version to avoid confusion.)

    ''Flauros? Is it related to Solomon''s book? No...I can''t jump to conclusions, I need more information''

    Lev then proceeded to explain the situation about the state of the world, about the incineration of humanity and how they didn''t have a future past 2018.

    "The magnetic field around Chaldea may be protecting it from ending like the outside world, but that won''t last long! HAHAHAHAHA" He released a burst of creepy laughter that sent shivers down Mash''s and Fujimaru''s spine.

    Suddenly, like glass, the world around started to crack.

    "So this Singularity is reaching its end? Well, no matter. You are going to meet your end soon anyway" Lev said in a matter of fact. "Though...I would have liked to make Olga disappear as much painfully as possible." Saying till there, he shot a hateful look at Seth who returned one of his own, before disappearing.

    "Doctor! Perform an emergency Rayshift!" Mash shouted.

    "I''m already on it! But I don''t know if I can make it in time!" Romani responded from the other side.

    Soon, the ground beneath their feet cracked but instead of more ground, there was darkness instead.

    Seth pulled Olga closer to him while Mash and Fujimaru held hands. ''Get a room already!''

    Looking at the unconscious Magus in his arms for a moment, he sighed. With his free arm, he touched the golden necklace hanging around his neck.

    ''Let your soul find comfort on the desert''s sands.'' Golden light illuminated Olga before she disappeared. It was a temporary solution, but trapping her in there would keep her alive, for now at least.

    Fujimaru and Mash were surprised at the Director''s disappearance but with no hesitation, they both extended their hands toward Seth. ''Kids are too trusting these days.'' Despite his words, he still grabbed both their hands. Moments later, everything faded to black.

 Chapter 11 - The Situation

    "Urgh...what happened?" Seth woke up with a big headache.

    Remembering the hectic events, he looked around for the kids but found no one.

    Everything around him looked desolated, the earth was black and the sky dark, there was no sign of life. This place looked like the end of the world.

    Getting up he noticed something different. He was in his true form. Skin as black as charcoal, dog paws for feet, long ears pointing upwards and a large snout like that of a horse but thinner. Golden armor covered his arms except for his elbows. Said armor also covered his waits and upper part of his c.h.e.s.t, leaving his stomach b.a.r.e. On top of it, he wore a blue and red Usekh collar, a type of jewelry used by Deities and people of high society in Ancient Egypt. His head was protected by a strange helmet that took the form of his head, letting a hole for his ears to not get covered. Additionally, two horn-like blades extended from his cheeks to the back of his head. His lower half was covered by a tunic while the only armor was on his shin. (A/N: That''s a long axx description right there.)

    "Where am I...?" He was so confused. First, he was falling into the darkness with the other two kids. Now, he was a strange place with his real body, which didn''t make sense.

    ''Sigh...I''m too old for this.'' Knowing he won''t find anything standing there he decided to walk in a random direction.

    Wherever he walked by, everything was the same. A land abandoned by life itself.

    After doing the same thing for an hour, he found something for the first time, a lone tree. It was charred black like it was hit by a thousand bolts of lightning. C.a.r.e.s.sing it slightly, he could feel how despite death was all around, this tree still had life left. A mystery he thought.

    Suddenly, a cold gust of wind blew on his position. Looking past the tree, he saw a person sitting on a boulder, his/her back facing him. He couldn''t tell the gender of the person nor its features as he/she was being covered in some kind of dark fog.

    "Were you the one who brought me here?" Seth asked the figure.

    "..." The figure opened its mouth but no words came out, it was weird, he couldn''t guess anything like this.

    "You can''t speak?" Seth asked. The figure, still not facing him opened its mouth again but like last time, no words came out again.

    Even though he couldn''t see anything more than a silhouette, he got the feeling that he/she was talking, just that he couldn''t hear.

    Scratching the side of snout, he spoke again, "You know I can''t hear you right?"

    The fog started disappearing as the figure sighed, something Seth could hear this time. Turning its head to meet Seth''s gaze, for the first time, He heard its voice. "When are you going to summon me?"

    Once the figure finished speaking, the world went black again.

    =====================

    Raising his back from the bed like a startled rabbit, Seth woke up panting. Looking around he seemed to be in some kind of medical facility.

    Setting his gaze back on his body, he noticed his hands drenched in sweet. Not just his hands, his whole body was. Remembering the weird dream he had, Seth could recall the final words of the figure but for some reason, its voice and face were a big blank for him. Even if he was able to hear and see them before losing consciousness.

    "Oh? You finally woke up?" From his left, a strange woman with a mechanical arm and a puppet bird on her shoulders appeared.

    "Yes..." Seth wasn''t sure what to do in this situation so he just answered her question.

    "Hm..." The woman put a hand on her chin and observed him from different angles. "You look a little pale, you are sweating too..." Saying till there, the woman distanced herself from him before speaking again, "I will call Dr. Roman, wait for a bit." And with that, she left.

    Seth was left alone in the infirmary, with nothing to do, he just lied on the bed.

    Soon the doors were opened, it was Dr. Roman who entered this time.

    "Hi! How are you doing? Da Vinci told me you were feeling a little bad so I came to check." Romani said with a smile as he approached Seth.

    "I''m good Romani, it was just a nightmare." Seth told the Doctor.

    "Even so I should check the state your body is in, you fought Saber almost by yourself after all." Roman said, checking something on a computer nearby.

    "Hm...everything seems fine, you are exhausted, that''s all." Romani informed Seth.

    "I told you so. Anyway, how are the kids?" He could guess they were fine, otherwise Romani wouldn''t be grinning like a fool right now.

    "Kids? You don''t seem that much older than them to me though. Well, setting that aside, they are fine. They were here in the infirmary until five days ago." Roman replied.

    Hearing this, Seth was surprised. "five days ago? How many days was I out?"

    Roman put a finger on his chin and looked at the ceiling. "Let me see...today will be eight days since you arrived here back at Chaldea."

    "Eight days?!" His eyes widened, he couldn''t have slept for that long long, could he?

    Dr. Roman crossed his arms and nodded like a chicken. "Yup! Your wounds healed fast, even the one on your neck, it didn''t even leave a scar, that''s surprising considering Saber''s slash almost separated your head from your shoulders!" Roman said, surprise evident in his voice.

    Continuing where he left, Romani added, "But it''s strange though...your wounds healed the third day you were here but you kept sleeping till now." He said with puzzlement. Considering his abnormal regeneration, he shouldn''t have taken much time to wake up.

    Realization hit Seth like a truck. ''So I was there for five days?'' To him, it felt like he was there just for a few hours, but by Romani''s worse, it seemed it was not that way.

    "Well, now that you are here let me formally introduce myself, my name is Romani Archaman. You can call me Dr. Roman, Romani like how you''ve been calling me in Fuyuki or just Doctor."

    Seth nodded "I will call you Romani, then."

    Romani then proceeded to explain their situation more in detail, about how they were an organization created to avoid the certain extinction of humanity, about their four big "Inventions", L.A.PLACE to monitor the past and help Masters with Rayshifting, CHALDEAS to observe the future, SHEBA to understand with more precision the information given by CHALDEAS. By Romani words, CHALDEAS needs SHEBA to observe detailed time-space locations, such as Fuyuki, the place where they were before. And lastly, FATE. A system that permitted Masters to summon Heroic Spirits as Servants, to date. Only three Heroic Spirits were successfully summoned. One of them being the woman who was here before, Leonardo Da Vinci. ''This world is messed up...''

    "Who are the other two?" He just mentioned one, that excentric "woman".

    At Seth question, Romani turned to look at the computer behind him and started typing random buttons making it seems like he was concentrated in doing something

    "We don''t know, only the old Director knew." Sweat started falling down from his forehead. ''Please believe it, please believe it...!''

    "I see..." ''Fuuu'' Roman did a mental sigh, but then he remember something.

    Turning to face him, he asked. "What happened to Olga��The Director?"

    He pointed at the golden necklace hanging on his neck. "I put her here, it was the only option I had at the time��I have at this time. For the time she stays there, she will be sleeping. If we manage to secure a body for her to inhabit, then I can put her soul in it.

    Roman seemed surprised at the necklace''s ability but he wanted to clarify, "I want to make sure. She will not suffer while she''s there, will she?"

    "She already suffered enough...I don''t plan to make her suffer more. As I said, she will be sleeping, she won''t feel a thing." He said looking at the Doctor in his eyes.

    Romani heaved a sigh of relief. "With that out the way, I wanted to ask you a question. What''s your real objective?" With the question, his tone became serious.

    "I was asked by someone to prevent humanity''s destruction. What does that person plan with this, I have no idea. But I will at least promise you this, I will do everything to ensure humanity''s survival, at all costs." Seth finished speaking. He didn''t lie, Ra''s task aside, he would protect them. Consider it the atonement of a +100.000 years old man.

    The Doctor decided to take his sincerity seriously. "I will take you up on that. For now, rest. Even if it doesn''t look that way, it''s already night. Tomorrow in the morning I will come to check how you are doing"

    Before he turned off the lights, he heard the bedridden guy speak one last time. "You should sleep too, you have bags under your eyes."

    He just smiled, "Will do." and the room went dark.

    ======================

    The next morning, Seth woke up at the sound of the automatic door sliding open.

    "Looks like you are already awake." Romani said as he entered with a medical kit on his hands.

    Seth threw the blanket covering him to the back of the bed and proceeded to sit.

    Romani took a chair next to the bed and opening his kit, he prepared to examine his patient. Using a stethoscope, he checked for any abnormalities, fortunately, they were none.

    Removing his instrument, he smiled. "Well, there doesn''t seem to be any problem." Seth just nodded in thanks.

    "You should head to the kitchen, your body needs nutrients after all the time you were sleeping. I will guide you there." Romani said and got up.

    Seth followed and did the same. Walking by the hallway with Romani beside him, he noticed they were deserted.

    Seeing Seth confusion, Romani clarified. "It was Dr. Lev��Lev Lainur Flauros. The bomb he planted cost the life of the majority of Chaldea''s staff, only nineteen are currently active, forty-seven Masters are in critical condition and were put into cryofreeze on their coffins, only Fujimaru was safe as he wasn''t in the command room.

    "Your situation seems pretty dire." Seth said. A tone of sympathy could be found in his voice.

    "Yeah...but the situation won''t wait for us. We need to do with what little we have right now��Oh! Here we are." Roman said with determination before realizing they were already in front of the kitchen.

    Entering, he noticed a large space filled with tables and chairs, the bigness of the room amplified by the absence of people.

    "Follow me." Romani said as he guided him towards the counter on the side of the room.

    Getting near, he noticed a woman on his sixties together with a tan man with white hair, the only thing he could see was some kind of tight black bodysuit. But what surprised him the most was the familiar presence he was giving. ''Archer? What is he doing here?''

    Noticing steps coming their way, Archer EMIYA looked up to see a black-haired, bare-c.h.e.s.ted man together with the Doctor approaching them.

    He flashed a smile. "Hello, would you like to have breakfast?"

    Seth felt weird. Were he and the Archer he fought in that city even the same? They looked like a different person!

    Noticing Seth''s confusion, Romani decided to enlighten him, "While they share the same Spirit Origin, they are fundamentally a different person. The Archer you fought in Fuyuki is not the same than him"

    With this, even if it was a little confusing, he understood the general idea.

    Archer gained an apologetic look. "I''m sorry for the problems that me caused you all."

    "Don''t worry about it." Seth just shook his head, not minding it at all. He knew better than to blame someone else for other''s mistakes, even if that other was you.

    "I would like something with as many nutrients as possible. I haven''t eaten anything in the past week." Seth said, EMIYA just nodded, aware of his situation. His master has already informed him about his circ.u.mstances before.

    "I would like a light breakfast please." Romani said from the side, he had not eaten lunch yet.

    "On it." EMIYA smiled before going back to prepare the food.

    Seth and Romani greeted the old lady too as they went to pick a seat for themselves.

    Ten minutes later, EMIYA came with what looked like a tower of food on one hand, and a sandwich on the other. Placing the food on the table he told them to enjoy their lunch before going back to the counter.

    Roman was surprised by the amount of food. "Are you sure you can eat all that?"

    "I have been to a banquet or two, I can manage." Seth said cryptically.

    "Okay...if you say so..." Roman wasn''t sure but he let it be. Finishing his sandwich he got up.

    "I''ve got to go, I have work to do in the command room and preparations to do for the next Singularity when we detect it." He said before going with his empty plate towards the counter, thanking EMIYA and the old lady, the Doctor left.

    Now that he was not here, Seth looked at his right hand. Ever since he was face to face with Archer. a burning pain assaulted the top of his hand. Looking at it, there didn''t seem to be any injuries or the like. For some reason, though. It made him remember that place, or should he say, the words the figure said before he woke up.

    After finishing his food he did the same as Romani, he left the plate in the counter and thanked the staff. As he was nearing the door, he thought, ''Well, there is no use thinking about it. I''m sure I will find out very soon what is this all about.''

    Before he could go out of the kitchen, the door opened and someone he really didn''t want to meet again, appeared.

    "Oh...look at that, Senpai is here too" A cold, sarcastic voice was heard from the figure.

    As they said. When a nightmare ends, another begins.

 Chapter 12 - The next Singularity

    "You..." In front of him was the same Saber they fought in Fuyuki, and by the hate at first sight. Different from EMIYA, she was the same as the one in that Singularity. However, she was wearing casual clothes this time. Black mini short, a camisole with a jacket over it and stockings with the same color. ''She really likes black, huh?''

    Why was she here?...don''t tell me�� "You were summoned here too?!" Seth asked, not wanting to believe it one bit.

    "Did you get hit in your head that you became dumb, why else would I be here?" Saber retorted.

    "You don''t have a filter, do you? Well. What could I expect from a brute woman?" Seth said, causing Saber to grab his collar and slam him into the wall next to the door.

    "What did you say?" She was not happy with his words, that much he noticed.

    ''I can play that game too, you know?'' He raised his hands and touched her cheek, leaning his face closer to hers till their noses almost touched, he whispered. "This position is a little ambiguous, don''t you think?"

    Saber''s eyes widened. Quickly releasing him, she raised her voice. "What''s your plan, bastard?!"

    Hearing the commotion, Archer came to see what was the problem. However, when she saw who was causing it, his tan skin became white again. Turning around, he escaped as fast as possible. Sadly, this time it didn''t go his way

    Saber noticed Archer approaching and her expression became...exited? Seeing that expression the dread in EMIYA''s face became more apparent. "Archer, make me ten��no, twenty hamburgers. That should calm my hunter a little."

    ''A little?'' The corner of Seth''s mouth twitched. Forget it, better not get involved. He silently left the cafeteria. Not knowing what to do, he kept walking in the hallway waiting to find someone who could tell him where is the Command Room where Romani is located.

    ''Again that pain...'' Looking at this hand, there was a little redness that wasn''t there before. It seemed like whatever was happening right now, it wouldn''t be long for it to complete. Shaking his head he resumed his search.

    He didn''t manage to find anyone sadly. With how big Chaldea was and how little staff they had, it wasn''t strange. Fortunately, opening random doors he got the right one at the 34th try. Not something to be proud of, though.

    From the door, he could see Dr. Roman together with Mash and Fujimaru, there were also three other staff members working and monitoring data in the computers.

    As he approached, the group of people noticed him. Romani was the first to greet him. "Hi again, how was your lunch?"

    "It was good, I didn''t expect a crazy Saber in my menu, though" Seth replied, making Fujimaru scratch his head in embarrassment.

    "Sorry about that, Kuro-san. I''m not that good of a Master yet to keep Saber in check." He said, making Seth almost fall to the ground. "Sorry? I didn''t hear you well, what did you call me?" Seth wanted to make sure he didn''t go deaf with all of Saber''s shouting.

    "Ahh...sorry. It''s just that you told us the name you were using was fake so Mash and I decided to come up with a new one. We thought it was suitable as you are wearing all black." Fujimaru explained. Mash on the side nodded at her senpai words.

    "Whatever, do what you want." He is not that young to care about how people called him. Facing Romani this time, he asked. "So? Any news on the next Singularity?"

    "Not yet, we were planning to summon another Servant before getting to it." Romani said.

    "Another one? How many do you plan to summon?" Seth asked. it couldn''t be that good to summon that many servants. Fujimaru was practically dying having to supply mana for two servants back in Fuyuki after all.

    Seeing through his worries he responded, "Just one but don''t worry. CHALDEAS provides magical energy here so Servants can stay manifested. Fujimaru only needs to supply with mana the Servants he brings with him to the Singularities."

    Seth nodded at his explanation before further asking, "How is that you summon Servants?"

    Romani took a weird multicolored stone, showing it to him. "With this." Saying till there, he went to something that looked like a mini altar with Mash''s shield on top of it. Putting the weird stone in a slot that was around the shield, he returned to his original position.

    Looking at the staff, he gave them a nod, which they returned. Suddenly, the slots around the shield started to spin in white light, white lightning also came out from the shield.

    While this was happening, the pain returned to Seth''s hand. But this time, red markings were forming on his skin. They started becoming more visible with each passing second.

    Romani who was gazing at the shining shield noticed Seth looking at this hand, following his line of sight his eyes widened. Weren''t those command spells?!

    As the markings were finally completed, Seth could see the shape they formed. In the middle, there was the head of a horned serpent, including part of its neck. On both sides of the head were wings that looked broken, like they were pierced and burned. (A/N: CHALDEAS will link the Servant to the Master who is closer to the summoning circle. Meaning that if Fujimaru is closer, the Servant will form a contract with him, and vice-versa. I just wanted to avoid confusion in the future.)

    ''Isn''t this...?!'' Seth was brought back from his reverie by a familiar voice.

    "Oops! I guess this time I am materialized as a Caster? Oh, it''s you guys! We met before right?" The voice of Caster was heard from the summoning circle.

    Looking up, he met Caster''s gaze. "So you are here too, huh? Man, I didn''t know we would meet again so soon" Caster smiled at Seth.

    Seth nodded, a smile forming on his face. "It''s good to see you again too, Cu."

    The Sage of the Forest descended from the altar before putting his arm around Seth''s shoulders. "I tell you, you should show some enthusiasm. It''s a big reunion, y''know?"

    ''You know who I''m, what enthusiasm do you expect from me?'' He rolled his eyes at Cu''s antics. However, he couldn''t say he didn''t miss them.

    Turning to the Master, Cu hit Fujimaru''s head with his staff. "I told you to summon me as a lancer kid, what are you even doing?" Although he sounded angry, he was just messing with the poor guy.

    As they were bickering, Romani approached Seth. "Hey, aren''t those command spells...?"

    Looking at Romani before turning his gaze back to his hand he responded, "It looks that way" ''So this was the pain I was feeling...does that mean that person I met in my dream was a Heroic Spirit?''

    Returning from his moment of shock, Dr. Roman showed a happy smile. "This is great, now our fighting potential has increased. Now resolving the Singularities will be easier if only a little."

    "So? What do we do now? Summon another Servant?" Seth asked, to what Romani shook his head.

    "Unfortunately we don''t have any more Saint Quartz. CHALDEAS generates a couple of them per week, that was the last one." (A/N: The life of a f2p. I''m making it so CHALDEAS actually makes SQ, because there isn''t a "lore" version of them. It''s just in-game currency.)

    Seth nodded in understanding. The voice of Cu was then heard, "So you ended up becoming a Master? I knew you had it on ya!" He said, approaching with Fujimaru and Mash in tow.

    "You are Master too, Kuro-san? That''s great! Let''s work hard together from now on!" Fujimaru said as he extended his hand with a radiant smile.

    Seth looked at Fujimaru''s hand for a second before extending his own, shaking it. "Mhm."

    Suddenly, a staff shouted making everyone present look at him. "Dr. Roman, we found the next Singularity!"

    "Really?! Where is it located?" Romani asked, urging the staff to continue.

    "Yes! Please wait a minute..." The staff said as he processed all the information.

    "Singularity location confirmed to be in France, judging by the time period it is in the middle of the Hundred Years War!" The staff continued.

    "Great, now we know where to go." Romani said before turning towards Seth and the rest.

    "I will repeat it again. Our objective is the protection and recovery of human history. Our search target will be each era''s relic and Grail. Many heroes of legends will stand against us but we must face them if we want to have a future. As proof of our determination, we will abandon the name of the first mission, First Order. From now on, this mission will be called The Grand Order" Roman said while looking at them.

    "Go rest in the meantime while we prepare the Rayshift. We will meet again here in two hours." The group nodded at Romani''s words.

    Seth decided to show Cu around, even if he just knew where the infirmary and the kitchen were. Mash and Fujimaru went somewhere else.

    "I didn''t expect to see you here, what happened after I disappeared?" Cu asked Seth as they were walking on the hallways.

    "I didn''t either, this is as much as a surprise to me as it is to you." He said before proceeding to tell him about the events that happened after Cu was returned to the throne. About that guy Lev, how they fell into the darkness after the Singularity collapsed and how he woke up after a week in the infirmary. He also told him about the strange dream he had, Seth needed an "expert" on the matter to know exactly what was going on.

    Listening to his story, Cu whistle. "Man you sure had it rough. About your dream, it certainly is strange. The usual is for a Master to have dreams about a Servant''s past and vice-versa, we call this the dream cycle. I''ve never heard of a Master dreaming about someone who he doesn''t have a contract with."

    "So no leads, huh?" Seth sighed.

    Slapping his back a couple of times, Cu said, "Cheer up! I''m sure you will eventually find more about it. Maybe when you make a pact with a Servant more information will be revealed. I''m a genius, I tell ya!"

    ''Are you trying to cheer me up or flatter yourself? And stop with hitting my back!'' They keep talking until they were in front of the kitchen.

    "This is where the kitchen is, it seems Archer was summoned and is now working here as a chef." He said making Cu''s eyes open wide like sausages.

    "You kidding right? That damn Archer here as a chef?! It would be good enough if he didn''t poison my food!" The world was giving him injustices after injustices!

    "What are you worried about? You are a Servant, you don''t need food. If you don''t want to eat, don''t eat." Seth retorted to Cu''s complains.

    Eyeing him like he just had been betrayed, Caster spoke. "You don''t understand! It''s true that we don''t need food, but eating something delicious once in a while is the key. A full stomach makes for a happy heart!"

    Rolling his eyes he decided to ignore him and enter the kitchen. However, once he was inside what greeted him was an Archer that looked like his soul was drained from him. Looking closer you could see a little ghost coming from his mouth.

    Caster who was behind also saw this. "What happened to him?"

    "He met his nemesis." Seth cryptically replied. Setting his gaze to the counter, he could see the old lady was fine and still working. He guided Cu to her and asked if she could prepare food for him. Sitting in one of the hundreds of empty tables, they talked about many things before it was time to assemble in the Control Room once more to start their mission.

    Reaching the door he noticed that Caster wasn''t following him. "You are not coming?" Seth asked to which Cu just shook his head.

    "Nah, this time I will pass. I want to explore Chaldea. Be sure to have fun!" Cu waved his hands.

    ''Fun? if you are not going and EMIYA looks dead, who do you think will have to go with us?!'' This guy was unreliable as always.

    Without saying anything more, Seth parted to the Control Room. Once he was inside, he could see that Mash and Fujimaru were already there with Romani and the devil herself.

    Seeing him coming alone, Romani asked, "Isn''t Caster with you? and where is Archer?"

    Shaking his head, he replied, "Cu said he was going to look around Chaldea, while Archer..." He said before shooting a venomous look at Saber who just avoided his gaze. "...is resting due to overworking himself."

    "Oh...I see. Then it will be you four this time." Romani said before continuing, "I want you to do something after you arrive there. I want you to find a Leyline and make a summoning circle. That way we would be able to send supplies to you should you need them."

    They nodded in understanding.

    "How long are you gonna keep me waiting?" A voice came from behind them. Seth recognized her as the woman he met when he woke up, Leonardo Da Vinci.

    "You were silent so I forgot you were there. Fujimaru, let me introduce him...no, her...er, it? Um, who?" Coughing awkwardly, Romani continued, "Standing here is Chaldea''s pride and joy, the head of our Engineering department, Leonardo."

    Mash instantly recognized her as a Servant.

    "You can just call me Da Vinci-chan. You don''t get to see many pretty ladies like myself around here right?" She said.

    ''Are you really calling yourself a pretty lady...''

    After they discussed Da Vinci''s gender, a thing he and Saber by the look of it was not interested in, they decided to start the Rayshift.

    Looking at both Fujimaru and Seth, Romani spoke. "We have a coffin ready for you two this time. The Rayshift will be safe and quickly. Remember to establish communication with us as fast as possible. That''s all, good luck."

    With Romani''s words, both Masters entered the coffins. In regard to the Servants, they would be automatically summoned once they reach the Singularity.

    Announcement A

    Unsummon Program start.

    Spiritron Conversion start.

    Announcement A

    Rayshift starting in 3, 2, 1...

    Announcement A

    All procedures cleared.

    Grand Order commencing operation.

    And with that, everything went black.

 Chapter 13 - The Appearance of The Saint

    In a throne room, there was a woman in black armor. She had short blond hair, golden eyes and pale skin like that of a dead corpse. Next to her, a big man with fish-like eyes and a strange robe observed as the woman started a strange chant.

    By the looks of it, it was a summoning one because after finishing, five figures appeared. The eyes of these figures seemed to shine with madness, though.

    As the five people appeared in front of her, the woman in black armor spoke. "Thank you for answering my call, fellow Servants. I''m your Master. You know the purpose of your summoning, don''t you? It is destruction. I want you to destroy everything in front of you."

    Deep resentment oozed from the woman, the now summoned Servants just stared at her without saying a word.

    Turning towards the man who was quietly seeing the events from the side, she ordered, "Gilles, please bring him here." The man now named Gilles just nodded and went out of the room, moments later he returned dragging a scared priest.

    "Wh-What''s going on? Who are you, people?! What do you plan to do with me?!" The priest screamed in false bravado.

    As he kept screaming, Gilles gave him a kick in his stomach to silence him.

    "Oh, Pierre! Bishop Pierre Cauchon! How I have missed you! A day has not gone by when your face has not crossed the mind of Jeanne d''Arc!." The woman spoke as if he was reuniting with an old friend. However, the hate in her voice said something different.

    Bishop Pierre''s eyes went wide. "No, no, no, no. It can''t be! You can''t be her!" He screamed as if to comfort himself that this was a dream, that it was not reality.

    "I killed you! I thought you burned at the stake, you should be��" He hysterically said before being interrupted by the pale woman.

    "��In hell? Maybe I already am." Despite saying such sad things, the woman showed no outward emotions but hate and scorn.

    "This is a nightmare, a nightmare!" The Bishop trembled while his eyes started losing their light.

    "He started to flee from reality, this won''t do. We must snap him out of it." Gilles said with a smile forming on his lips, his tone gentle like he was trying to comfort a child. His tone and actions did not match, though. Again, he kicked the Bishop in the stomach making him recoil in pain.

    "What will you do, Your Grace? The witch Jeanne D''Arc is right in front of you. Will you pray to God? Will you insult, trample or scorn me? Tell me, what will it be?" The woman asked the Bishop who was trembling on the ground.

    The Bishop started muttering something in a low voice which was gradually getting higher. "Spa��"

    The black woman raised an eyebrow. "Spa? Spa what? Did the fear get to you?" she spoke with disdain.

    "Spare me!! Please! I will do anything, just spare me!" Tears and snot were falling from his face, making it into a disgusting sight.

    "..." Silence. Absolute Silence.

    "...Hahahahaha. Did you hear that Gilles?" Jeanne laughed with madness. But soon her laugh faded and was replaced by a hate-filled voice.

    "He is telling me to spare him. The man who mocked me and burned me alive, that with kind eyes told me I would be killed. He is asking me to spare him! If this isn''t laughable then what is?!"

    "Oh...how sad." She continued, "You realize you begged for the forgiveness of a witch, don''t you? Your faith is too thin. Begging a witch for their lives is a sin befitting of a Heretic! Now... Do you know the punishment of a Heretic?" She was enjoying the situation, how the little hope the Bishop had was slowly turning into despair.

    The priest begged one last time but his pleas fell on deaf ears. "I''m sorry but I ran out of salvation already. Now should we start at your feet?" Jeanne asked as flames formed on her hands before throwing them away at the Bishop''s feet.

    As his scream filled the room, he heard the voice of Jeanne one last time. "If I was burned by ''Holy Flames'' then you will burned by the flames of Hell itself!"

    Once his screams receded, only ashes remained. Seeing this, Jeanne turned towards Gilles. "Sorry for taking up your time, Gilles."

    Said man just smiled a kind and understanding smile. "What do you mean? This was a necessary punishment. There is nothing to apologize for."

    Now, facing her servants, she spoke. "You only need to do trample and destroy this mistake that is France. No matter who you were, now you just need to kill no matter if it is a child or an a.d.u.l.t, no matter religion or gender. Everything you need to do is kill them equally, that will be my only order as your Master. To reach that end, I summoned all of you with Madness Enhancement. "

    "Berserker Saber, Berserker Lancer, Berserker Archer, Berserker Rider, Berserker Assasin, Berserker Caster and him, whom I summoned instead of a Berserker and myself." (A/N: The him she is talking about is Fafnir.)

    "As this world''s Ruler, I shall pass down judgment on Humanity. They have no value for they couldn''t prove their love towards our Lord. They are sinners. So we shall kill them all, I won''t tolerate a single one escaping!"

    Gilles from the side was happy. "Oh Jeanne, you have truly been reborn! Then I too shall rise again as your general! But we need a symbol, our army must have a flag!" He exclaimed throwing his arms in the air and arching his head back a little, causing his eyes to bulge out of their sockets. If any normal people were here, they find suck a sight really creepy.

    "Then let''s make it a Dragon. By a twist of Fate, the summoning brought forth many Heroic Spirits with close ties to Dragons." Jeanne said after giving it some thought. "In the name of the Dragon, the symbol of catastrophe, we will burn this whole world to the ground. So laugh, laugh like you were enjoying it from the ''bottom of your heart''." She said before falling into a peal of mad laughter.

    ========================

    Waking up, Seth noticed they were in some kind of hill. ''It seems we got sent to the countryside.'' He thought. Looking beside him, he saw Fujimaru standing with his eyes closed. It seemed he hadn''t woken up yet.

    Energy signatures started forming around them, it seemed that Mash and Artoria were going to appear soon.

    "Hm?" Setting his gaze to Fujimaru again. He noticed that Fou, the little beast, had followed them. "You sure do love being in the midst of chaos, don''t you? What would you gain following them?" He asked the beast in front of him. Different from others, he could see what hid behind that mask of a squirrel that liked to play around. ''Perks of being half-animal I guess...''

    "Fou! Fou Fou Fou." (Hmph! I could ask you the same) The beast said to him.

    "Fair point." He decided to end the conversation as Fujimaru was waking up just in time as Mash and Artoria materialized.

    "It seems we made it safely this time, Senpai." She said before noticing the little white creature. "You are here too, Fou?" She seemed surprised.

    "It must have entered one of the coffins." Fujimaru said.

    "Right, don''t worry. When we are sent back he will return too." Mash affirmed before taking out a device. She made some things with it before turning to the rest of the group.

    "It seems the year is 1431. It should be in the middle of the Hundred Years War." She said before pausing as Saber and Seth weren''t giving her any attention.

    "Um...Is something wrong?" She asked a little timidly. Both just pointed at the sky.

    Both Fujimaru and Mash looked at the sky just to see an enormous ring of light covering it. They opened their mouth wide in astonishment.

    Dr. Roman''s voice interrupted their moment of shock. "Yes, we are connected! The video feed is a bit blurry but it will do." He said before noticing the faces of Fujimaru and Mash. "Huh? What''s wrong with you too? Did something happen?" He asked before facing the other Master and Servant, they too were looking at the sky, just that their expression remained the same as always.

    Snaping out of it. Mash said, "Wait a minute Doctor, I will send you visuals."

    Once Roman saw the ring in the sky, he was surprised. "This is..." Taking a moment to recover from his shock she spoke again. "It seems to be some sort of Magecraft cast over the atmosphere. It seems to be the size of North America. We will analyze it on our end, you guys just concentrate on finding a Leyline."

    Mash and Fujimaru nodded, Saber didn''t say anything and just followed them. Seth, however, was standing still. He kept his gaze in the ring of light. ''Where have I seen this before...?'' He was sure that he had seen this ring in the past. He just didn''t remember when or where.

    Artoria, noticing he was not following them, shouted at him. "Oi bastard, what are you doing standing there like an idiot? Hurry up!" (A/N: She uses < Kisama > in this sentence.)

    Coming out of his trance by Saber''s shouting, he just nodded and caught up to them. He was too busy thinking about that ring to fight with her.

    Artoria seemed surprised he took her insult without doing anything but she brushed it off.

    After walking for twenty minutes, they came across a group of soldiers that seemed to be patrolling the area.

    "What should we do? should we make contact?" Mash asked, unsure of what to do.

    "Won''t it be dangerous?" Fujimaru followed up with another question.

    "I think it will be alright. Wait for me here, I will speak to them." Seth said before marching forward. However...

    "Wait, I''m sure I can speak with them too. Let me do it!" Mash said before dashing forward. ''Slow down, they will think you are going to attack them''

    "Sigh... Do what you want, but make sure to speak in Fr��" "Hello, excuse me. We are travelers...huh?" ''And there she goes speaking English...'' Sometimes the d.e.s.i.r.e of the little girl to be useful only brings them trouble.

    The eyes of the soldier sharpened. "Enemy attack! Enemy attack!" He shouted before unsheathing his sword, followed by the rest of the soldiers.

    Just then, the voice of Romani came to make things worse. "Hm? How is it that you are surrounded by soldiers? French elites even!" He asked in surprise. Seth and Artoria looked at Mash with their ever so cold eyes. Said girl just shrunk behind her shield from embarrassment.

    "What is that? I hear a strange voice from somewhere! Soldiers, ready your weapons. They are too suspicious!" What looked to be the leader of the group spoke, preparing to engage.

    "It would be bad if we hurt the locals, we should just hold them back!" Mash said, gaining a little disp.l.e.a.s.u.r.e from both Saber and Seth. They were warriors! This was not a defensive battle so they shouldn''t fight just to "hold them back"!

    Seeing as the situation was going anywhere, Romani said the stupidest thing he has said to date. "Just hit them with the back of your blade, minimize the bloodshed to a minimum."

    It was Saber''s time to speak, "Me and that guy aside, how do you expect the strange girl to do that with a shield, Romani Archaman?"

    Romani just coughed in embarrassment.

    "I-I''ll think of something. For now, let''s fight!" Mash said. Agreeing with her words, Seth and Saber prepared their weapons.

    As if reaching a mutual understanding, both sides dashed at each other at the same time. Seth was jumping from place to place, knocking the soldiers in the head with the back of his spear, occasionally hitting them with his fists on their stomach. They were normal soldiers, he didn''t have to do much.

    Saber was also knocking soldiers left and right with the back of her blade, using the handle from Excalibur from time to time to knock the air out of the attacking soldiers.

    Mash was having it the hardest out of the three. She didn''t know how to fight properly yet so she couldn''t accurately measure how much strength was needed with each blow just to knock them down. Sometimes she hit them too hard they were sent flying with broken bones and sometimes she hit them with little strength making them come closer to hurting her.

    Noticing an incoming soldier, Mash rammed her shield against him. What she didn''t expect, however, was that the sword of the soldier rebounded back from the impact of the shield. The sword hit the soldier, creating a slash wound on his upper c.h.e.s.t, below the shoulder.

    The little girl was shaken at the event. Taking advantage of this, another soldier went for a slash but before he could complete his attack Saber appeared in front of him blocking his sword. Kicking the soldier in the stomach she turned towards the girl, she spoke. "The battlefield has no place for doubts. If your resolve isn''t enough you will not only get yourself killed but your Master too, remember that." After saying that, her tone became a little softer. "Just hit them with the side of your shield on their side. That would minimize the damage."

    Mash gave her a thankful look before getting back to the fight.

    "Oh? I didn''t take you for the kind type." An annoying voice came from behind her, Seth was clutching the head of a soldier before throwing him towards another soldier who was approaching from the side.

    "Don''t you have anything better to do than annoy me?" Saber asked as she knocked another soldier.

    Seth just shrugged his shoulders. "Not at the moment, the fight was pretty boring." He said before looking as Mash defeated the last soldier.

    Once it was all finished, Mash couldn''t help but complain. "Physical fatigue aside, mental fatigue is really something." Fujimaru nodded at her words.

    "Good work, guys!" Romani''s words came from the communicator, congratulating them for their job.

    "Some soldiers escaped while we were fighting, though..." Mash said in a downcast tone before turning towards Saber and Seth, inquiring softly. "Why didn''t you stop them? You could have done that, right?"

    "And who was going to guide us to their fort?" Both replied at the same time. They hated to be in synch if the look they were giving each other was anything to go by.

    Mash and Fujimaru came to a realization. "Oh! So that is how it was! Then we need to hurry or we will lose them" Mash said ready to start the chase.

    "Wait a minute." Seth stopped her in her tracks before going to a soldier that was lying to the side of a tree. It was the same soldier that was wounded when Mash impacted his blade with her shield.

    He put one leg on top of the soldier''s stomach to prevent the floundering that was going to come. Raising his finger, a small flame was formed at the tip. Slowly, he started to move his finger on top of the wound, being careful to not burn healthy skin tissues.

    The soldier who was unconscious woke up screaming in pain, he tried to move but was held in place by Seth''s foot.

    Once he was finished cauterizing the wound, the soldier had fainted again because of the pain. By this point, the smell of charred meat floated in the air, making Mash and Fujimaru a little sick.

    "Well, this is enough. A crude work but at least it stopped the bleeding." Seth said, removing his foot from the unconscious soldier.

    "Oh? I didn''t take you for the kind type." Saber repeated the same words he had said to her. Seth just gave her the middle finger.

    =======================

    After the events, they finally started running to where the soldiers had retreated.

    Making sure they maintained a safe distance, the group kept this up for fifteen minutes before seeing a fort at the distance...no. This wasn''t a fort anymore, just ruins are what was left.

    As they got close to the fort, a soldier at the gates stopped them preparing to fight.

    This time Mash made sure to speak in French. "Bonjour, We are travelers. Please put down your weapon, monsieur."

    "You are not...the enemy?" The soldier seemed relieved and let his sword fall to the ground. Seth and Artoria frowned seeing this but made no outward comment.

    "That seemed a bit easy. Maybe they became more rational? Or..." Roman whispered to avoid alerting the soldier before Saber continued his sentence, "...they don''t have the will to fight."

    The Shielder Servant then decided to press for more information. She asked if King Charles VII hadn''t signed a peace treaty with England yet, to which the soldier responded that the King was dead, burned to death by the Evil Witch flames.

    "Burned? By the Evil Witch''s flames?" She asked, perplexed.

    The soldier sighed, recalling the events. Fear was present in his voice. "It''s Jeanne D''Arc, she has risen again from the dead as the ''Dragon Witch''." The soldier said.

    "England retreated long ago, but where can we run to? This is our home and there is nothing we can do." He added with sadness.

    "Jeanne D''Arc is a witch...?" Mash couldn''t believe it, according to historical records, she was a Saint. Even if history wasn''t always right, proven by Artoria''s gender, there was no way a Saint could be a witch!

    Suddenly, the soldier released a scream. "Here! They are here!" Along with his shout, skeletons soldiers started appearing from every direction.

    "This time it''s just undead, you can go as wild as you want!" Romani said to them.

    Without waiting for a signal, all dashed to help the soldiers fight against the army of undead. As there was no reason to hold themselves back this time, the fight was over in a minute.

    The soldier from before approached them, relief clear on his face. "I can''t believe you took those skeletons on by yourselves. Thanks for the help"

    "We are kinda used to fight them at this point. Anyway, can you explain the situation from the start? Is it true that the Saint has been resurrected?" Fujimaru asked.

    The soldier nodded. "Yes, her hair and skin color are different but she is definitely Saint Jeanne. I was there when she was burned at the stake. But...she was resurrected and formed a pact with the Devil!"

    "The Devil?" Mash asked, surprised.

    Just then, multiple roars came from the sky.

    "Here they are! Soldiers, engage them. If you don''t resist, the Dragons will eat you!" The soldier shouted to the others who were resting after the battle with the skeletons.

    "Those are...!!" Mash and Fujimaru were astonished.

    "Wyverns..." Saber said, setting her gaze into the sky. Hundreds of Wyverns plagued the sky so much that was difficult to see its blue color.

    "Master, this time we have to respond with full force. This is nothing compared to those bones earlier!" Mash said gritting her teeth.

    Saber jumped to the top of a roof and then to the back of a Wyvern. Stabbing it, he jumped to the back of another repeating the same process.

    Meanwhile, Seth threw his spear through the air, piercing the neck of five Wyverns in succession before it faded into sand, returning to his hand.

    As Mash didn''t really have a method to counter aerial enemies she stayed behind attacking the occasional Wyvern that came flying down to bite a soldier.

    This was maintained for a while before a voice resounded on the battlefield.

    "Soldiers, douse yourself with water, that way you can at least protect against their flames if only a little!" A blond woman in blue armor with her hair tied into a braid carrying a flag made her appearance. Turning towards another soldier, she spoke again. "You there! Please pick up your weapon and fight! Follow me!" She said as she raised her flag in the air with a valiant air around her.

    It seems the Saint has arrived.

 Chapter 15 - The First Servant

    After the appearance of the woman in armor. The battle became easier for Mash as her pressure she was under receded if only a little.

    Meanwhile, Seth and Saber kept slaughtering their way into the army of Wyverns in the sky. For them, it was a walk in the park.

    Seth even let himself get hit by a fireball from a Red Wyvern. It didn''t do much damage, just some scorch marks. He managed to gain something from this, though.

    Again, he allowed the Wyvern to shot a fireball at him. This time, however, it didn''t leave any damage. It seemed he took the right path to unlock a new ability and by the looks of it, it was related to fire.

    It didn''t appear on his mind so that meant it was still incomplete. It still needed some sort of catalyst to become complete. At the moment it just provided resistance against flames but it would be enough considering that if there were even more Wyverns than the ones here, a Dragon would most likely appear.

    Although his measly fire resistance won''t work against a Dragon, he wouldn''t be THAT defenseless.

    Finishing the last of the Wyverns that were hovering high in the sky, Artoria and Seth came down to help the soldiers who were still struggling against the leftovers of the Wyvern''s army.

    It didn''t take more than a couple of minutes to finish all the remaining Wyverns. While Mash was arguing with Romani because he was eating some sweets that were supposedly for Fujimaru. Seth approached the same soldier who they talked to earlier.

    He noticed they were being wary and fearful of the girl who suddenly showed up on the battlefield. Getting closer, he asked. Not forgetting to use French. "Hey, what''s the matter? You seem to be on guard with that little girl over there" He said, pointing at the woman with light armor.

    "Huh? Oh...you are one of the travelers from earlier. Let me tell you, that''s the Evil Witch! There is no mistake!" The soldier said while pointing his sword at the woman.

    "So she is Jeanne D''Arc?" He asked again for confirmation, even if the aura she was emitting gave her identity away. ''Furthermore. she has the old man''s blessing...'' He will never understand Yahweh, he was too pragmatic for him. ''Really...making a little girl endure all that. As heartless as always.''

    The soldier didn''t respond and just ran for his life, fearing the wrath of the "Evil Witch". Jeanne, who heard their conversation, sighed. Sadness reflected on her face.

    "Don''t mind it." Seth said to her before walking in the direction of Chaldea''s group. She just forced a smile and followed him.

    Once they were all together, Jeanne said her thanks for helping the soldiers defending what little was left.

    "It''s nothing. But before that, are you a Servant?" Mash asked and Seth had the urge to facepalm. Wasn''t that obvious already? But he kept his thinking to himself.

    "Yes...I''m a Ruler. My True Name is Jeanne D''Arc." She said, surprising the rest.

    "I thought you were dead." Fujimaru said with confusion.

    "Let''s talk about that later, I don''t think we should speak in front of them. I''m sure it would create more panic." Jeanne said, pointing at the soldiers who still remained who were shooting her looks of hate and fear.

    After saying that, she walked in the direction of the fort''s gates.

    "Should we follow her, Senpai? What about you, Kuro-san? What do you think?"

    "I assure you, she is not evil in the slightest. I''m not fully aware of the situation yet but I at least can tell you that much." Saying till here, he followed the Saint.

    "I hate to admit it but if he says that girl is not evil then I trust his judgment." Saber said from the side, awaiting her Master''s response.

    Fujimaru nodded. "At least we will know a little about the situation if we follow her." With that, the whole group abandoned the fort, following the Saint to a nearby forest.

    Finding a good spot, they stopped. "I think we can settle down here. First, please tell me your names."

    Mash was the first to respond. "Understood, my name is Mash Kyrielight." Pointing at Fujimaru she said, "And this is my Master, Fujimaru Ritsuka." now pointing at Saber, she added, "She is Ar��" "Saber" Artoria interrupted before Mash could finish. They knew very little about the situation to start revealing True Names left and right.

    Deciding to get this over quickly, Seth spoke this time. "I don''t have a name, but you can call me Kuro like those kids for some reason are doing."

    Jeanne understood their concerns so she wasn''t angry, not that she would ever be anyway. Noticing the markings on the hands of Seth and Fujimaru she said, "So there are Masters even in this Holy Grail War."

    Mash shook her head. "No, it has nothing to do with a Holy Grail War. What''s more, there isn''t one, to begin with."

    Jeanne seemed surprised hearing this. "It seems we need to clear things up first. I''m indeed a Servant, I belong to the Ruler class. I understand that but...information I should have about the war is missing. Not just that, my stats have ranked down as well. Not only have I lost the Anti-Servant Command Spells, but I also can''t reveal their True Names anymore."

    It was clear as day how helpless she felt. It seemed that the only positive thing about her situation was the fact that this was her homeland so she wasn''t that lost.

    "The soldier we met earlier said you were an Evil Witch. What did he mean by that?" Mash asked.

    Jeanne also seemed troubled by this. "I don''t know, I just materialized a few hours ago so I''m not sure what''s really going on but...there seems to be another "me" who is trying to destroy France." She said with a sad voice.

    "So the same Servant can be summoned at the same time, huh?" Seth said to no one in particular. This was new information to him.

    Romani''s voice came from the device on Mash''s hand. "If we could look into the Holy Grail War''s records I''m sure there would be a case where it happened. One thing is for sure, though. With the fall of France, human liberty and equality would be in danger as it was the first nation to promote this."

    Jeanne was startled hearing a voice out of nowhere. "I just heard a voice... Is that magecraft? What in the world are you��"

    She was cut short as Romani spoke again. "Sorry for not introducing myself. My name is Romani Archaman but everyone calls me Roman. I do various support tasks, nice to meet you Saint Jeanne."

    After the introduction, Jeanne finally calmed down. With a smile she replied, "I see, Roman. You tend to be a dreamer!"

    "Pfft" Seth quickly put a hand on his mouth, less he would laugh at poor Romani who was on the ground acting all depressed.

    "What is this sense of defeat...? She complimented me and yet..." He really wantes to cry!

    Mash interjected from the side. "Excuse me, Mademoiselle Jeanne. It''s our turn to explain things now." After that, she told Jeanne about Chaldea, the incineration of humanity and their mission to stop it.

    "...I see. To think the world itself has been incinerated. My worries seem so trivial compared to that." She said, processing the information.

    "I''m an incomplete Servant, I even cannot trust ''myself''. That other me is controlling dragons no less." She added.

    "You mean the Wyverns? Certainly, they didn''t exist around this time period." Mash affirmed.

    Saber from the side said, "The soldiers at the fort called you a Dragon Witch. While I trust that guy''s judgment about you not being evil. I don''t trust you enough to risk my life for you." Until the situation stopped being confusing anymore, she didn''t plan to let her guard down around her less she risked his Master''s safety.

    Jeanne looked sad hearing those words but she also understood. It didn''t hurt being careful at times like this. "I don''t want to admit it, but the person controlling those dragons must be "myself". As for how, I don''t know. I never had any relations to dragons during my life, after all." She said with a helpless tone.

    After Jeanne spoke, it was Romani''s turn. "If there is something that could bring an army of dragons like this..." he said before Seth finished his sentence. "...the Holy Grail." Romani nodded.

    "Many points are unclear but at least we now know something. Mademoiselle Jeanne, what are you planning to do from now on?" Mash asked.

    "I will go to Orleans and take back the city.To do that, I must defeat the other Jeanne D''Arc." She said with determination, nothing would stop her from liberating France once more.

    "...I see. Even alone you would fight. As expected of a Saint." Mash said with admiration. Turning to face the others she spoke. "I was thinking...given that our objectives are the same. Why don''t we help her?"

    "Yes, it''s natural that we help someone in need if we can." Fujimaru said. "I don''t see the problem in giving a hand. We would have to fight anyways." Both Masters were on the same boat. Artoria, however, struggled to accept. But seeing her Master''s expecting gaze she also accepted, albeit barely.

    Once everyone decided to accept, Mash faced Jeanne once more. "Ms. Jeanne, we have our own objectives but we want to be of aid to you so will you allow us to fight under your flag as your companions from now on?"

    Jeanne just smiled, with her hands in front of her c.h.e.s.t she answered, "It will be my p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e. I can''t thank you enough... To be honest, I thought I will be in this fight alone."

    Remembering something, Dr. Roman asked, "Saint Jeanne, how are your reserves of magical energy holding up?"

    Putting a finger on her lips, she thought for a moment before answering. "I would say they would last around three days if we don''t fight."

    "Hm...I don''t think they will last very long, specially if we have to fight more enemies like those Wyverns. In that case, why not forming a temporary contract?" Romani suggested.

    ''Your goofy attitude sure hides your real intentions. How much desperate for combat power are you?'' Seth rolled his eyes.

    "That would be a good idea but which Master I have to form a contract with?" She asked while tilting her head to the side.

    It was Mash who spoke this time. "Senpai already has a contract with Saber and myself. So I don''t think it''s good for senpai''s health to form another one. That leaves Kuro-san. Will you do the honor?" She asked him hoping for a positive response.

    "I don''t have any problems. What about you, little girl?" Seth gave his consent before asking Jeanne who was a little perplexed at being called little girl. ''We look the same age though...''

    Setting her thoughts aside she nodded. "Yes, I don''t have any problems. I will be in your care."

    Seeing her agree he extended his open right hand in front of Jeanne, "Ruler, do you accept me as your Master? If you do, then this contract shall be established." At his words, the command spells on his hands started glowing.

    "I, Ruler Jeanne D''Arc accept the contract. From now on, I shall be the sword that opens a path to your victory." With that, they were now Master and Servant.

    At this time, one of the chains circling the ancient door inside Seth''s soul broke. Different from last time, he know could see what was happening. ''So this is the representation of my sealed Divinity. For the love of evil, how many chains there are?''

    Seth was brought out of his thoughts by a pained scream, Jeanne was kneeling on the ground clutching her c.h.e.s.t in pain. Quickly realizing what was happening he cut the flow of magical energy towards her. Only then did Jeanne stop screaming.

    Crouching so they could be at the same height he apologized. "I''m sorry. Are you okay?" It seemed that he had sent too much magical energy at once. If before the chain broke his Od reserves where 10 and he was giving her 3. Now his reserve were 100, making the amount he was giving her rise proportionately. It was like drinking a few droplets of water from a hose just for it to suddenly send you litters to your face. Of course it was going to hurt.

    Giving him a pained smile she just shook her head. "I''m fine, thank you. It''s just I wasn''t expecting to receive that much magical energy at once."

    "Can you walk?" He asked to which Jeanne nodded. "Yes, just give me a second." After she rested enough the group departed to find a place where they could set up a camp. Along the way, Seth resumed the flow of magical energy, making sure to not give too much this time.

    After waking for a few minutes they heard multiples howls coming from all around them. The enemy was not in slight though, still hiding behind the trees.

    "It seems we''ve got company. Perfect, I was getting bored with the meaninglessness chat." Saber said while readying her sword.

    The growls were getting closer. Multiples figures jumped from the foliage to circle the group. They looked like a combination between a man and a beast. They were holding what seemed to be clubs.

    "Saber, you will be fighting the enemies up front and Mash you will defend against the enemies that have gotten too close!" Fujimaru commanded, it looked like he was finally getting the hang of fighting as a Master.

    Seth on the other hand, sat on the ground. "Listen Ruler, I won''t be fighting this time. I wanna see for myself how you fight to formulate plans for the future. If you get hurt is your fault and if I get hurt it will also be your fault."

    Jeanne wanted to cry, why would it be her fault if he got hurt just because he was sitting there? However, she was determined to complete this task.

    "I won''t fail." She said confidently.

    He gave the little girl a small smile of encouragement. "Yeah, I trust you..."

    ''So he isn''t as heartless as he looks!'' Jeanne thought, happy that her Master wasn''t that bad at heart. Even if now he was just watching as she fought multiple enemies at once...

 Chapter 15 - The Dream

    Diabetic people are strongly cautioned, too much sugar on the first half of the chapter.

    On another note, we reached 1000 collections. I couldnt make it this far without you guys. Love you! (No Homo)

    *****************************************

    After the battle was over, Jeanne could honestly say this was more exhausting on the mental side rather than the physical.

    She thought that her new Master was just joking with her, that he would help her if she ever found herself in a pinch. That did not happen...

    No matter if she fought against one, two, three or even more enemies at once. He just stood there sitting without a care in the world. ''Oh Lord, give me the strength to face this trial before me'' She prayed to God in her mind.

    Her Master''s words brought her back to reality, "You did good. I can at least trust my back to you now." ''Well, not everything is bad, it would be better if he said it with a smile though...'' She thought, at least her Master was thankful.

    Mash, Fujimaru and Artoria had finished their battle a while ago. In the meantime, they watched how Jeanne was fighting the beastmen by herself. Mash wanted to help her but a quick look from Seth stopped her in her tracks. He wanted to observe how Jeanne moved, thought and acted in battle. He didn''t want unnecessary distractions. Fortunately, she didn''t disappoint.

    Once the rest saw Jeanne defeat the last enemy, they approached her. "Are you tired Ms. Jeanne? Mash asked in concern.

    "No, it''s quite alright, Mash. Thanks for asking." She replied with a smile, she had faced many battles worse than this after all.

    ''Truly a Saint...'' Was the thought on both Fujimaru''s and Mash''s head. ''On the other hand...'' They looked at Seth like he was the Devil for letting Jeanne fight alone.

    "I''m glad we decided to join hands, despite concentrating in my battle I could still see from time to time how effortlessly you defeated your enemies." She smiled before facing Artoria. "Especially you, Saber. Even if I''m not really an expert in sword fighting, I could tell your swordsmanship was beautiful" She praised her but all she got was a snort. Jeanne was left awkwardly smiling.

    With an obviously fake cough, Jeanne spoke once more, "Anyway, even I have to face my other self, a witch, I won''t be afraid because I have you four with me."

    Seth got closer to Jeanne and flicked her forehead. "Ouch... Why did you do that Master?" She asked while rubbing her "wound", tears forming on the corner of her eyes.

    "Stop speaking nonsense and let''s keep searching for a place to set up a base." He said and started marching forward, making Jeanne a little depressed, but he continued in an almost inaudible tone that if she, Mash and Saber weren''t Servants, they wouldn''t have heard it. "also...you are not a witch."

    Jeanne''s mood did a 180 grades spin. "Yes, Master!" she replied with a smile. Mash was also happy, Saber just made a mental note to use his words to annoy him later while Fujimaru was confused as he didn''t hear the last part.

    "I agree with him, doing an attack on Orleans at the moment would be a bad idea, especially considering we don''t know the extent of the other Jeanne''s -let''s call her Black Jeanne for now- powers." It was Romani who spoke this time.

    Mash asked from the side, "Jeanne, can you detect any servants nearby?" It would be appreciated if they could gather more forces before facing the black Jeanne.

    Shaking her head, she replied, "I''m sorry, as I''m now I can''t detect the presence of any Servant, I''m no different than an ordinary one. I will only be able to detect them if they are close." She replied with a little blush of embarrassment.

    "N-No! It''s okay, you don''t need to concern yourself!" She hurriedly shook her free hand to the side.

    "If Ruler Servants can detect other Servants. Won''t black Jeanne be able to do the same?" Fujimaru''s voice came bringing realization to the three servants.

    "I was careless. If another me was summoned then her class should be Ruler too! She may be aware of our location right now, we need to be cautious!" She felt stupid for not realizing that earlier.

    "If possible, I would like to stay away from villages and towns as to minimize the damage. But without any clue about the situation, that would be a little impossible" She said after analyzing the situation a bit.

    It was getting dark so they decided to make a temporary base. Fujimaru was human so he needed to sleep, after all.

    After talking about their plans for a while they decided to rest. Fujimaru and Mash were sleeping on a bed they made out of leaves. Saber was resting with her eyes closed under a tree but Seth knew she would jump into action at the sight of an enemy attack. As for him, he rested his back against a tree, keeping an eye out for possible enemies.

    While doing patrol duty, Jeanne came up to him. "Master, shouldn''t you be resting? You are not a Servant." She asked him.

    "I''m not exactly human either, you should know that. Rest is unnecessary." He replied while looking at the dark forest before him.

    "Even so..." She insisted, trying to persuade him. Seth sighed, this girl was too stubborn.

    "You are really persistent, aren''t you?" He replied in exasperation. "I will stay here for a couple more hours and then go to sleep." Seeing him concede she smiled.

    They stayed silent for a minute. Seeing as Jeanne had a worried expression, he decided to ask her about it. "Is there something you are not telling us? I don''t want you to go into a daze in the middle of a fight."

    Jeanne flinched a little at being found out but answered anyway. "Yeah...It may be because I died just a few days ago but...I feel like something is missing. I don''t feel like a Servant at all, if anything, I feel like I''m heading to battle just like any other time and I''m afraid I will become a burden to you all." She replied with a sad voice.

    "I already told you to stop speaking nonsense. You just need to do what you can do, we will do the rest. If you are having trouble then I, as your Master, will help you. As simple as that." He said without looking at her.

    Jeanne seemed surprised but she now had a happy expression on her face. "Even if you don''t look like it, you can be quite kind, Master."

    "Beffiting of my kindness, tomorrow you will fight alone again. Now, go to sleep!" He shooed her away.

    She now looked defeated but still complied with his orders and separated from him to find a place to rest.

    Left alone, Seth thought back on his own words. ''You just need to do what you can do, huh...''

    Shaking his head, he concentrated on his watch. They needed to be alert.

    As Jeanne found a place to rest, she drifted off to sleep. However, not everything was perfect. Servants don''t dream, that''s a fact. What they can do, however, is see the memories their Masters had. Like it was some kind of film about their life, Masters had this "ability" too but what they saw was the life of their Servant/s. This is called the Dream Cylce, it was what she was experiencing right now.

    She appeared in a gigantic room that looked even more impressive than the throne room of the deceased King of France, to her right there was a balcony where you could have a view that if she was to put into words, it would be breathtaking. Thousands of beautifully constructed houses with green everywhere, the water running through a lake that traced a curb in the city. Trees growing everywhere but they strangely weren''t out of place. This city looked like the definition of an Utopia.

    It wasn''t all good though... She seemed to be in a castle of some sort as she could see what lied far from the city from her high point of view. How to say it... It was horrible, everything was buried in sand, the buildings, the trees, everything. She could see some tents set up, albeit with difficulty. That meant people lived in that zone of poverty. It looked like that was the "dark" to this city''s "light".

    It wasn''t much different from now, she thought. The nobles get everything while the poor struggles to live.

    She was cut short from her musing by incoming footsteps. A tan man with Brown hairs and and incredible size of two and a half meters entered the room. He was followed by people who walked respectfully behind him.

    The big man sat on the throne that was located at the end of the room. They proceeded to talk about stuff Jeanne honestly didn''t understand nor care about.

    This situation was kept for ten minutes before the large man dismissed them all. She didn''t understand what did this have to do with her Master but just then, a happy laughing voice came from the door. It was way younger but Jeanne could recognize it as her Master''s voice.

    A little kid opened the door like it was nothing, followed by a man that looked like his bodyguard. The man had dark hair and was tanned by the desert''s Sun. He whore a white tunic and carried a gray staff that looked like it was made from a dead tree. The kid looked the same as his Master, just that now he didn''t have arm pads and his c.h.e.s.t was covered by a brown tunic.

    The little boy got approached the throne were the giant man was seated. With a happy smile she spoke, "Father, father. I managed to win in a duel against my instructor. Isn''t that great? Also I now can shoot awesome fireballs and make them go boom!" The kid said to his father while doing weird gestures with his hands. This brought a little chuckle from her mouth. Her Master now and the one in the past were totally different!

    The giant man, without changing his expression, spoke. "Why are you happy for something that should be natural? And why are you doing those stupid gestures? If you are like that you will never accomplish anything." Far from praising his son, what came out from his mouth were harsh words.

    Setting his gaze on the man behind his Master, he questioned with a cold voice. "You let him interrupt me for such trivial things? You are to be lashed with a thorny whip a thousand times." The man just knelt on the ground and accepted his punishment.

    Seeing this the kid hurriedly spoke, "Please father, it was my fault! Let me take Anjed''s punishment in his stead." The boy pleaded with a trembling voice, it seemed he would cry at any second.

    Smirking, her Master''s father nodded. "Very well, you shall take nine hundred out of the thousand your servant would take. However, you will be whipped by a whip covered in hot oil." Jeanne''s eyes widened. How can someone be so cruel to a child?!

    The boy, however, just gratefully accepted. "I thank father for his leniency."

    The scene burned before revealing another sight. Her Master and his bodyguard were chained to the ground. Two men with wh.i.p.s on their hands hit their backs over and over again. Jeanne put hand on her mouth, terror on her face. Even though she experienced something similar. Seeing it happening to a child was completely different.

    Tears formed at the corner of the kid''s eyes. But it wasn''t because of the pain, if one observed closely to his face, they would realize the guild contained in it. He felt guilt because due to his d.e.s.i.r.e to be praised by his father, his bodyguard and above all, only friend, had to be punished. Even if he was whipped more times or harder than him, he kept saying sorry in an inaudible voice.

    Anjed seeing Seth like this, gave him a reassessing smile, telling him I was fine and everything was going to be okay.

    Jeanne observed all that happened with tears on her face. For here, this was just too cruel. No child from the Lord should endure something like this.

    The scene changed again, in a dark room which didn''t have much furniture. A crudely bandaged Anjed was doing his best to nurse Seth''s wounds.

    "I''m sorry. I promise I will be better, I''m going to be so strong that father won''t ever want to punish me again. Will you forgive me?" The kid asked a little scared Anjed will be angry at him. Said man just smiled and flicked his forehead. "Don''t speak such silly things. You just have to do what you can do, I will do the rest. If you are having trouble then I, as your Servant, will help you."

    ''Those words...!'' They were similar to what her Master had said to her!

    "Seen enough?" Just then, a deeper voice than the kid sounded behind her. Surprised, she turned around to find the figure of her Master looking at her.

    "Master, I..." "Enough. It''s time to wake up." With those words, Jeanne found herself returning to reality. Seth looked at the figure of Anjed one more time before also returning to the real world.

 Chapter 16 - The Black Saint is here

    "Jeanne! Jeanne wake up!" After waking up from that dream, what awaited her was the sight of Mash shaking her body with a worried expression. Quickly getting up she started panting, greedily breathing air like it was the best thing one could hope for.

    After calming herself, she took a deep breath and spoke to the Servant in front of her, "I''m fine, thank you for worrying about me. It was just a nightmare." She felt bad lying to her, even if what she saw from her Master''s memories really looked like a nightmare like those she used to have when she was alive not many days ago.

    "Are you sure you are fine, Jeanne? You were crying in your sleep." Mash asked, wanting to make sure everything was alright. Jeanne seemed surprised at her words. Touching her face, she noticed it was indeed wet.

    "It''s nothing, really. But I appreciate your concern." Jeanne smiled, though with her red eyes because of the crying, it only painted a sad sight.

    It was no wonder she felt that bad, she experienced everything his Master went through like it was her own experience. The pain, the guilt, the disappointment, everything. If anything, the Saint of Orleans now understood why her Master never smiled and always showed a cold front.

    Mash nodded, a little unconvinced. But she wasn''t going to pursue the topic further if Jeanne felt uncomfortable with it. "Okay, I will go wake Senpai up and then we can depart again." She said turning around but before she could go she heard Jeanne''s voice from behind.

    "Um��Mash, do you know where Master is?" She asked with a little anxiety on her tone. Something that fortunately (for her) the pink-haired girl didn''t notice.

    "If you are talking about Kuro-san then he went to a nearby lake with Ar��I mean Saber to get water." She explained to Jeanne before following with a question, "What do you need him for? I can call him on my way to where Senpai is if you want." She asked, wanting to help Jeanne if only a little.

    "No, no! It''s not necessary, I just wanted to ask him something that''s all!" She said while waving her hands from side to side in embarrassment before running towards the forest.

    "Right��" Mash didn''t know what to say before she remembered she didn''t tell Jeanne the direction of the lake but realizing that she could sense Artoria''s presence she threw her worries to the back of her mind and concentrating on the task at hand. Waking her Master!

    Meanwhile, Saber and Seth were filling some buckets made out of wood they managed to make by cutting down one of the trees in this forest. They were silent the whole time, when it was time to return, however, Saber decided to break the silence. "What do you want? Surely you didn''t follow me to spend quality time." She asked in a cold tone.

    Seth looked at her, red eyes piercing into golden ones, before answering. "I wanted to know. When we fought in Fuyuki, you clearly knew my identity. How did you figured it out?" He wanted to ask this question before but he hadn''t got the chance. It was not because he forgot about it, nope, definitely not.

    Artoria sighed, "You can be quite an idiot sometimes. I just asked the Grail. I didn''t want to face an unknown enemy who could potentially ruin my plans." She said before returning her gaze to the path ahead.

    "You used a supposedly all-powerful wish-granting device just to ask about my identity? And you call me an idiot?" To say Seth was bewildered would be an understatement.

    "Humph, I wouldn''t have used it if it weren''t for you. What''s the problem if I use it to gauge the strength of a future opponent? A King must know his enemies before marching to battle." She said, a little dissatisfied with his expression.

    "I have already said this to you, a King is nothing without the support of his people. You were fighting alone so you shouldn''t have thought as a King but as a warrior instead." He reprimanded her like an a.d.u.l.t would a child.

    "I don''t want to hear a sermon coming from you about how to be a King. You have no right to make fun of��" She raised her voice before Seth interrupted her. "I''m not making fun of the way you reigned nor your morals as a King. In fact, I think sometimes is necessary to rule with an iron fist like you did." He said, at this point Saber was listening attentively to him without her realizing.

    "But��you are trying to compare us and that''s where you are wrong. While we both were tyrants, you still fought for your people and in consequence, they fought for you. Whereas I just wanted to enjoy the suffering of the people under me, if I waged war against other lands to expand our Kingdom, they followed me out of fear I would kill them, not because I was a King worth dying for." He patiently said to her.

    "In a sense��I guess you were a better King than me, if the word -King- ever applied to me." After finishing the last part, he looked at Saber who was equally looking back at him with her eyes widened.

    Artoria, without breaking eye contact, said. "I see�� You don''t seem that displeasing to the eyes anymo��" before being interrupted by Seth''s temporary Servant, her expression morphing into one of annoyance, for what reason, she didn''t know.

    "Master! There you are!" Jeanne came out of the bushes with leaves all over her body. It seemed she traversed quite the path to get here.

    Speaking as if the dream hadn''t existed, he asked, "What is it Ruler? Do you need me for something?"

    Jeanne looked at her Master before looking at the annoyed Saber. ''Did I do something wrong?'' She asked herself having no idea why Saber looked more annoyed than usual. Returning her gaze to her Master she spoke while fidgeting a little "Um��about that dream��" For some reason, she felt very nervous talking about this topic.

    Seth sighed. "Forget what you saw. It will only bring unnecessary complications, something we don''t want." He said before walking toward the direction of the camp but stopped as Jeanne was now standing in his way. Her expression wasn''t one of nervousness anymore, but of resolution.

    "No. I believe you will feel better if you just tell me how you feel right now." She said, waiting for her Master to answer.

    Artoria was getting more interested in this "dream" they were talking about, however, she wouldn''t ask. Not because she didn''t want to know, but because the expression of Seth was getting darker by the second.

    "Ruler. You saw it, didn''t you? That already happened, nothing will change just because we sit down and talk about it."  He said, leaving no rooms for arguments. However, she remained stubborn and didn''t move from her place. "If that already happened and nothing will change, I don''t see any reason why you shouldn''t talk about it."

    At this point, Seth was getting fed up. Not bothering to call her as her class, he asked. "Jeanne, do you want me to use a Command Spell on you so you can stop bringing that up?" His voice was getting colder by the second.

    "Then do it. That won''t change the fact that I will do everything on my power so you can smile again like the child I saw in that dream." She said, not fazed by her Master''s words. If anything, they gave her the courage to keep trying.

    "��" Seth looked at her for a few seconds, his long hairs dancing at the rhythm of the wind. The atmosphere was deadly still, suspense filling the air before he opened his mouth to speak. "If you stay alive at the end of this Singularity, I may consider it. But should you speak of this again before that time comes, I will kill you myself. Is that clear?"

    Although he asked a question, he didn''t stay to hear the answer. Walking past Jeanne, he headed to the camp with Saber behind him.

    Staying silent for a moment, Jeanne turned around to face the direction where her Master figure was barely visible before answering with a firm and resolute voice. "Yes!" Though whether Seth heard her or not, that was another matter.

    After everyone was back at the camp they decided their next course of action. It was Jeanne who spoke, like nothing had happened, "We should cut through this forest and head to Orleans, it will be difficult to enter the city but we might obtain information from the surrounding towns and forts. I believe the town of La Charite is near. We would have to get information there if we don''t want to get closer Orleans without knowing their forces."

    "You''re really calm." Fujimaru commented from the side, to which Jeanne shook her head.

    "Not really. In fact, I''m panicking. Only the Lord knows what sort of atrocities the other me is doing right now, she is not in her right mind. Power and hatred can turn a person into a monster." She said and indeed. The more time they took to take down the evil Jeanne, the more people suffered at her hands.

    "Wait a second, I''m detecting a Servant in the path you are heading to��huh? I lost it, it''s too far away now!" Romani suddenly interrupted to give them startling news.

    Not wasting any second, they hurriedly run toward the direction of the town. As Fujimaru was the only "normal" one in the group, Seth decided to carry him on his shoulders to save time.

    The sight that awaited them, however, was fire and smoke filling the skies. The town looked like it was hit by an earthquake.

    After being dropped on the ground by Seth, Fujimaru looked at the sight of the burning city, horror filling his eyes. "The city��is burning?" He couldn''t believe it even if the proof was right in front of him.

    Mash then asked Romani with expectation and fear at the same time. "Doctor, any life signature in the town?" Sadly, he said what she didn''t want to hear. "Sorry, there''s nothing left alive in that town."

    "Alive that is." Seth commented, Saber raised an eyebrow before realizing what he meant.

    Suddenly, a noise came from inside one of the houses. Jeanne, thinking it was one of the residents of this town who was still alive rushed at his direction. Kicking the door open, she found something that she wouldn''t have wanted to see. A little girl, not older than ten, was being eaten by what looked like a soldier with his skin greyed.

    Widening her eyes, she dashed at the soldier before slashing his back, giving him a deep wound. Not giving him any time to recover, Jeanne stabbed the soldier on his head making it disappear in ashes.

    Turning to look at the little girl, Jeanne noticed she was standing. But now, she looked exactly like the soldier earlier. Gripping her sword tightly as if to find courage, she went toward the girl and stabbed her in the c.h.e.s.t. ''May the Lord keep you in his sweet embrace'' she prayed in her mind while the arm holding her sword trembled. If she could, she wished she didn''t have to do this.

    Setting her sight to the door, she noticed her Master was looking at her while leaning on the doorframe. ''He saw me killing the girl��'' Was the thought in Jeanne''s mind. However, her Master didn''t say anything, he just turned around before exiting the house.

    "Stop being all depressed and kill the rest of the walking corpses, or do you want for them to still be in that state? Don''t you want to free them in the name of your so called ''Lord''?" Seth said while decapitating a zombie-looking soldier without remorse.

    Hearing this, Jeanne sighed but complied. Although she wanted to find another way to bring salvation to these poor souls than to kill them, time waited no one. She would send this poor tortured souls to Heaven before they suffered more, she reassured herself.

    Outside the house Saber, Mash and Fujimaru were fighting against the hordes of undead. Saber without a change in her expression kept slashing the citizens that used to smile here before disaster struck. Mash was relatively fine, she kept pushing the undead toward Saber for her to cut. Fujimaru, however, was trembling. He didn''t tremble because of fear, no�� He trembled because for him, this was not different than to kill real, living people. Even if they were not alive anymore.

    After half an hour, they had eliminated every undead in the town. The strange thing was, some undead didn''t turn to ash after being killed, but remained as corpses. It may be because they weren''t fully "transformed" but just in the process to. Of course, even in that state they weren''t very different from a full-fledged undead.

    When everything was over they met in the center of the town. Mash, noticing the depressing looking Jeanne, asked. "Are you alright, Jeanne? Do you need to rest for a bit?"

    Shaking her head and trying to appear as cheerful as possible, she replied. "Yes, I''m fine��" But before she could continue, roars filled the sky. Looking up, they noticed another army of Wyverns.

    "More enemies��and Wyverns to boot." Fujimaru muttered, having adapted to the massacre of the undead, albeit with difficulty. However, he wasn''t prepared for what came next.

    The flying creatures descended on the ground, completely ignoring the group''s presence and started feasting on the corpses that remained like it was some kind of banquet. Unable to bear the sight, Fujimaru fell to his knees holding his mouth preventing the fruits he had eaten in the forest to leave his stomach. Sadly, the expression of terror in his face wasn''t something he could prevent from showing.

    "Are they��? Ugh!" Although faring better than her Master, Mash was still disgusted at the sight.

    "No way! Are they eating the corpses?!" Dr. Roman sounded surprised from the communicator. Who could blame him, though? It was really something disturbing to look at.

    Saber and Seth looked at this with indifference, it was not like they enjoyed the "spectacle" or anything. In fact, they were as much disgusted as everyone. They just had seen far worse things than what was happening right in front of them. Saber fought against barbaric people who drank the blood of her soldiers as if it was water in a desert and they used their bones as trophies to decorate their halls. While Seth��well, let''s just say he saw all the evil the world has to offer.

    "Stop it!" If there was someone who was the most affected after Fujimaru, then the answer would be Jeanne. These were her people, the people she fought to protect from the English army. Even if she resolved herself to kill them to end their suffering, she wouldn''t allow those flying beasts to profane their bodies!

    Dashing to the closest Wyvern, Jeanne raised her sword and slashed its legs. Although it wasn''t enough to leave any deep wound due to its hard scales, it managed to distract it from eating the corpse in front of it.

    Not leaving it any time to recover, she used the pointy end of her flagpole to stab the neck of the Wyvern were its scales did not reach, effectively ending its life. Once it was over, Jeanne dashed at the next Wyvern to keep them from eating more corpses.

    Looking at Fujimaru who was on the ground, Seth kneeled to match his height. Putting a hand on his shoulders, he decided to give him some words of encouragement, even if he was not good with those. "Get yourself together, you will probably see things far worse than this in the future. If this is enough to get you like this, what are you going to do at that time?" Yeah��maybe he should''ve stayed silent.

    Fujimaru, who was still breathing heavily, slowly but surely recomposed himself. ''Kuro-san is right��I need to be prepared for what is going to come otherwise I won''t be worthy of being Mash''s Master!'' Slapping his cheeks until they were red, He met the eyes of the other Master who has been with him throughout almost all of his journey, his own eyes firm. (A/N: Fujimaru is like Ash, the only Pok��mon �CServant�C he thinks about is Pikachu �CMash�C.)

    "Thank you." Fujimaru said a simple thanks, but that thanks contained a thousand emotions of gratitude. Seth just nodded, a little proud the kid could recompose himself that fast.

    After seeing he was okay, Seth materialized his spear once more and started cutting and piercing Wyverns left and right. To the current him, this was not challenge��he just jinxed himself, didn''t he? Clearing his head from unnecessary thoughts, he started pulling aggro so as to light the burden the others had to face.

    The rookie Master for his part commanded Mash and Artoria to fight the Wyverns so they couldn''t get to the corpses, something they managed to accomplish with the rampaging Master''s help.

    They all worked hard to kill as much Wyverns as possible. Once their numbers started diminishing, the Wyverns put their whole attention on the Chaldeans. With this, they didn''t have to focus in keeping the flying creatures off the dead bodies and could fight at full force.

    Different from the undead from before, the Wyverns weren''t scattered across the town, so eliminating them took slight more time, only forty minutes. This was thanks to the Wyverns hard scales. Compared to human flesh, it was certainly more resistant.

    After the last Wyvern was killed, Mash confirmed. "That was the last, there are no signs of enemies nearby. The battle is over."

    "��" Jeanne stayed silent, seemingly reflecting on something. Noticing this, Fujimaru tried to get her attention. "Jeanne-san?"

    Releasing a frustrated sigh, she spoke. "It''s most likely the other ''me'' who was behind this."

    Seeing Jeanne like this, Mash intervened. "N-no��we can''t be sure��" She said but stopped after Jeanne started shaking her head.

    "No, I''m sure of it. The only thing I don''t understand is��why? How much hate do you have to hold on your soul to do something like this? Even if in my last moments I was branded as a witch, I didn''t hate the people who did that, I just prayed for them. That''s why I can''t understand the thoughts of this other Jeanne." She said with sadness on her voice, seeing all this chaos��all this destruction and to know it was caused by ''her'' hands��it was just too much.

    Just then, the voice of Dr. Roman came from their communicator.  "Wait a minute! The Servants that left a while ago are returning to your current position!" His voice had traces of panic all over it.

    "What?! How many?!" Fujimaru asked, sharing Romani''s panic.

    "You must be kidding! There are five of them, and they are quickly approaching. That speed��are they Riders or something?" He shouted before remembering he had to do his job in ensuring the group''s protection.

    "You must run, you don''t stand a chance against them!" He commanded. For once, he acted as a trustworthy ''leader''.

    "But��!" Mash tried to protest. Saber and Seth shared a look before nodding, he grabbed Fujimaru and put him on top of his shoulders while she, dematerializing her sword, grabbed Mash with Shield included.

    As much as Seth wanted to stay and fight. He wasn''t sure he could protect the rest while fighting against that many Servants, especially if he didn''t know how much powerful they were. If he had to fight someone at the level of Berserker without that shadow curse, things would get problematic.

    "Thank you for the quick thinking, Kuro and Saber. Mash, I know you want to fight but there''s no way you can fight an opponent that is several times stronger than you are. For now, let''s retreat, any sane person would do it in this situation!" Although they didn''t say anything, Seth and Artoria nodded at Romani''s words.

    Turning around, they headed to the direction of the town''s gates. However, Jeanne stayed behind. Looking back, Seth eye''s blazed with fury. "JEANNE! GET THE F*CK OUT OF THERE AND FOLLOW US! DO YOU WANT ME TO USE A COMMAND SPELL ON YOU?!" He didn''t mean to scream at her like that, it was just that he didn''t want her to throw her life away. Why was this girl so stubborn?! Did she have a death wish?!

    Jeanne flinched at his words but remained in the same place. "No. I will stay, I have to see the other ''me'' for myself. I need to ask her why she is hurting all this people."

    Taking a deep breath, Seth looked at Saber. "Can you carry one more passenger?" Without waiting for her answer he threw Fujimaru at her and went back to where Jeanne was standing. Looking at her, he said��no, this was more like an order. "We are going to have a little chat after this."

    Jeanne just readied her flag but there was a smile on her face. She was glad she counted with her Master''s support. "With p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e!" She responded, unaware of the hell that awaited her.

    "If you are going to throw your life away, might as well stay and see how you die." Just then, a cold voice came from behind the duo. Looking back, they noticed Saber was there, sword on her hand. Mash had her shield ready and Fujimaru was at the back, ready to command his two servants.

    Facing forward while pinching the bridge of his nose, he released an exasperated sigh. "Really��is there someone who actually listens among you?" Although his words screamed frustration, he had a smile on his face. A smile only Jeanne could see as the other were behind him.

    Jeanne gave a smile on her own. ''Really��you look better when you smile, Master." A new wave of determination hit her. Determination to return his Master to the person he used to be before he became the cold and unfeeling warrior he is now.

    "It''s too late, they are already here!" Dr. Roman said, and true to his words, four Servants mounted on top of a gigantic black Dragon stood in the sky.

    The Black Saint was here.

 Chapter 17 - The Fight Begins

    ''Tch. This will be troublesome, especially that big Dragon over there...'' Seth couldn''t help but click his tongue. They had five Servants and a Dragon while Chaldea had one properly good Servant, one incomplete, one who was still a newbie, a human Master and useless God. Things weren''t looking too good.

    Jeanne wasn''t in a very good state. Although she always said that it was definitely ''her'' who was committing all these atrocities, a part of her wanted to believe it was someone just framing and accusing her of all these crimes. Alas, the sight before them left no rooms for doubts.

    Black Jeanne atop of the Dragon looked at her identical ''copy'' before her eyes widened. She put a hand on her face and arched her head a little like she was going to burst into laughter. "Who knew such a thing could happen. This is bad, really bad. Someone, please pour some water on me, this is too funny I think I will die." She said and although her words made it sound like she was hearing the funniest joke in the world, her tone laced with disgust said otherwise.

    Pointing at Jeanne, she spoke again. "Look, Gilles. Feast your eyes on this pathetic girl. What is she? A wimp? A mouse? A worm perhaps? Whatever she is doesn''t change the fact they can''t bring any sympathy from me! Ah...this country only knows how to depend on me. Truly a disgusting place, don''t you think so Gilles?��Oh, we didn''t bring him with us."

    Gripping her flag tightly, Jeanne decided to question the other her. "Who are you?!" She shouted, making sure the black Jeanne could hear, even if she knew that as a Servant, she was perfectly capable of doing so.

    "Who am I? I could ask you the same thing! But...I have no problem with answering. I''m Jeanne D''Arc, the saint devoted to France, worm." She said, not forgetting to add an insult at the end.

    Without minding the insult, she said, "You and I are no Saints, that''s the truth. What I really want to know is... Why did you attack this town��no. Why did you attack France?!"

    "haha...HaHaHa...HAHAHAHAHA...STUPID! YOU ARE REALLY STUPID! You should understand if you are ''me''! I want to trample, destroy and make the people of France suffer! Why should I bother with other methods when physically crushing them is easier!" She said with a voice and expression that screamed craziness

    "This woman is unhinged." Saber commented from the side, gaining a glare from the black Jeanne.

    "What did you say, b*tch?! Do you want me to burn that icy look you have?!" She asked, clearly pissed off.

    ''Why are you annoying her more than she already is...'' Was the thought on everyone''s mind.

    Jeanne, undisturbed by their conversation, responded to her other-self. "That''s foolish. These people did nothing wrong!"

    Black Jeanne returned her gaze to her and far from being in a better mood after stopping bickering with Saber, she looked even angrier. "Foolish? These people did nothing wrong?" WE are the foolish ones here, Jeanne D''Arc! Why would you want to bring salvation to a country that the only thing it did was betray us!" She said. At this point, all sarcastic pretenses were thrown aside and she was saying her true feelings, her feelings of betrayal.

    Jeanne''s eyes widened. "That is��!" She wanted to say something but was interrupted by the other her.

    "It''s enough. I won''t be fooled anymore, I won''t be betrayed anymore. I don''t hear the voice of the Lord anymore, which means he has already abandoned this country. France has no salvation left!" She stopped Jeanne from speaking further.

    "As long as the human race exists, so will my hatred. That''s why I will kill them all and make this a place for the dead. It''s the way I will bring salvation to this country, by my hands! The hands of the Saint who was reborn through death!" She spread her arms to the side while looking at the sky like he was telling her plan to God.

    Setting her gaze to the astonished Jeanne, she continued. "But you wouldn''t understand. A little girl playing the Saint, a pretty little holy v.i.r.g.i.n who pretends not to see hatred and joy, a girl who is incapable of human growth." She said the last part with a grin as if mocking her for being incapable of doing such a simple thing.

    Jeanne took a step back unconsciously. "I..." before she could continue Seth hit the back of her head with his palm. "Get yourself together. Whether you can grow or not as a person, you will have to show it with actions, not with words."

    "I understand but why did you have to hit me?" Her eyes were full of grievances.

    "I''m still angry at you for not following orders and staying behind when I clearly told you to run." He said, making Jeanne avert her gaze out of embarrassment.

    "Stop ignoring me! Do you think because now you have a stupid Master you will accomplish anything?! I see that you are still that country girl who knew nothing!" The black Jeanne screamed, seeing all of this play in front of her.

    Recovering, Jeanne faced forward to ask a question one last time. "I don''t think myself better than anyone, I never did. I just want to ask you something, are you really me?"

    The black Jeanne, with a face that had ''I give up'' written all over it, said. "You still have doubts? My rage is well-founded but you still don''t understand?��No. You just don''t have the will to do it. You prefer to stay the ''pure'' Holy Maiden, understanding me would be the same as accepting your ugly side, wouldn''t it?"

    "But different from you, I understand. You are not Ruler or Jeanne D''Arc, you are just leftovers I threw away so I could get my revenge. If you were the same Heroic Spirit and class as I''m, I should have felt something, but I didn''t. You are just a poor existence that isn''t even real." She finished saying making Jeanne tremble a little.

    Seeing this, Seth had the urge to sigh. It seemed she was really affected by this whole thing, more than he expected at least. If he was going to intervene, it was now or never.

    "Don''t get the wrong idea, if someone here isn''t real, that would be you. It''s true that you have the same nature as Heroic Spirits, but you are not really one. You are just an amalgamation of evil. Nothing more, nothing less." He said, making the black Jeanne''s expression darken while the other Jeanne''s expression lightened.

    "What did you say...?" She asked in a small voice, but the fury contained in it wasn''t small at all.

    Seth didn''t respond, he didn''t have to. His words were conveyed and understood. If they were accepted or not was another matter.

    Practically screaming, she ordered. "Berserker Assasin and Berserker Lancer, you finish off that country girl and the other b*tch. Berserker Saber and Rider, you stay here for now. I will personally burn that worm at the stake!" And with that, she jumped off the black Dragon and descended on the ground.

    "Jeanne, help Saber, Mash, and Fujimaru against those two. Be careful, I can sense a strong scent of blood coming for them. You don''t need to worry about the Dragon, it won''t attack unless he wanted to burn his allies too." Materializing his spear, he gave orders to Jeanne before walking toward the Black Saint.

    "Please, let me help you!" She said. Facing the other her alone was a bad idea!

    "No, I already told you what you need to do. Are you planning to disobey me once more? My patience has a limit." The other Jeanne was dangerous, he knew. Even he wasn''t sure if he could defeat her. But adding a Jeanne who was facing an identity crisis to the mix wouldn''t make things better.

    "..." Looking at his back for a second, she nodded. "I understand, please be careful." And with that, she went to the other''s side to face Assassin and Berserker.

    Black Jeanne was looking at all this with a cold smirk. "Finished saying your last words?" She asked, ready to enjoy the sight of the cold expression morph into one of despair.

    Seth raised an eyebrow. "I don''t remember saying I would perish at your hands, though." With no more words left to say, they dashed at each other.

    Spear and flag clashed, their owners never looking away from each other. Seth tried to gain an advantage but it was impossible, for a girl who was small and looked weak, her strength was something else.

    "Hahahahahahaha! How''s that?! Not so confident anymore are you?" She madly laughed in the middle of their fight, not once believing she could be defeated.

    "Calm down kid, you look like you need mental care." He said, making her eyes wide. ''Easy.'' Finally finding a chance, he kicked the black Jeanne in her stomach.

    Although she didn''t get flown away nor did the kick hurt, she stayed in the same place, the top half of her face shadowed.

    "Are you mocking me? ARE YOU MOCKING ME, YOU PIECE OF SH*T?!" Not again...she won''t be mocked again, she won''t be laughed at again!

    "Language, little kid. You better calm yourself or you will get controlled by your own hate." Seth wanted to infuriate her. If she was angry she was prone to make mistakes he could exploit. It was a double edge sword though, facing a ''normal'' Jeanne was difficult enough, facing an angry one wasn''t exactly the dream. Although...a little advice escaped his lips, seeing this girl like this brought back memories he would rather forget.

    Not saying anything anymore, she dashed toward him and swung her flag to his side. He put his spear on the way of the flag but the hit was so hard his arms trembled. Without much resistant, he was sent flying crashing into a wall.

    ''What is it with this sense of D��j�� Vu. Is she the daughter of Berserker or something?'' Seth couldn''t help but complain. Being sent flying was becoming the norm for him.

    Not leaving him any time to rest, she went for an attack against Seth who was still getting up using her flag in a piercing motion. Said man, quickly recovering, moved his head to the side, avoiding a hole in his forehead.

    Grabbing her flag so she couldn''t attack again, he put a hand on the corrupted Saint''s face before slamming her into the ground creating a deep crack.

    The eyes of Jeanne who could be seen between the gap of Seth''s fingers were filled with hatred. Still on the ground, she unsheathed the black sword hanging on her waist before slashing at the man on top of her.

    Before he could be hit, Seth released Jeanne from her grip and jumped backward. ''That was close...'' He thought while looking at his stomach. A thin, barely visible red line could be found there.

    "Hateful... Truly hateful!" She screamed. The time to play was over, she would show this insect in front of her the deepness of her hatred!

    She positioned her flag in a vertical position and pointed her sword at him. "Your path has long since come to an end!" The Saint said. With her words, stakes started materializing on top of his head before they came crashing down at him.

    Seth avoided the ones he could, and the ones he could not, he decided to block them with his spear. Fortunately, the rain of stakes didn''t last long so he didn''t have to waste much energy.

    "You disgust me to the core, do you know that?" She said, spitting on the ground.

    "Yes, I know. You aren''t the first person to tell me that." He said, slight amus.e.m.e.nt in his voice.

    "Why are you helping her? She is just a little girl who doesn''t know a thing! She takes optimism to the extreme, someone like that will get you killed sooner or later!" She asked, her tone full of hate against both Jeanne and him.

    "Well, you are right. That girl is overly optimistic, she tries to help people even if they don''t want to be helped and the words ''it''s none of your business'' don''t seem to reach her ears..." Seth started, and for the first time, Jeanne didn''t find the guy that unpleasant.

    "...but, she still tries, even if the world hates her, scorns her or insults her, she still tries. Despite everything, she didn''t turn her back on the people she swore to protect. If I have to say a reason why I''m going to such lengths to help her, then the answer would be that stubbornness I like and hate so much at the same time."

    Pausing a little, without minding the Jeanne whose expression was getting darker by the second, he continued. "Besides, you feel it, don''t you? There''s no way a mass of hate and evil like you can''t." He finished.

    "Indeed. I feel it, that shadow that hovers over you, the sins that won''t leave you no matter how you try. That''s why I thought you could understand me seeing as we are alike, but it seems that''s impossible. As long as you stay by that idiot Saint''s side, neither of us will reach an understanding." She said before lifting her sword.

    "All evil is here..."

 Chapter 18 - Unknown Ability

    The ground under Jeanne''s feet started to melt, red sparks floated around her.

    ? All evil is here.

    The time for revenge has come!

    This is the roar of my soul that was polished by hatred...

    La Grondement Du Haine! ?

    With her chant, a massive pillar of fire shot upward. When she pointed her sword at him, the fire was released in his direction like the breath of a dragon.

    Seth jumped back, again and again, trying to get out of the attack''s range. Alas, when he was in mid-air, a black stake came from the ground and pierced his right leg. Unfortunately, it was not over. More stakes came from the ground, piercing his arms, right shoulder, and the side of his belly.

    Once she saw her attack was successful, Jeanne stopped. The fire surrounding them as well as the stakes piercing Seth disappeared. Without any support keeping him in the air, he fell to the ground.

    "In the end, you only were all talk. I will be taking your head now. Goodbye." She said, starting to walk in Seth''s direction.

    "It really hurts, you know?" Jeanne stopped, her eyes widening in disbelief.

    Seth who was one the ground, bleeding from all the holes left by the stakes, started showing signs of movement. The wounds covering his body caught on black fire making the bleeding stop.

    Different from healing, the fire was evaporating the blood and cauterizing his wounds at the same time, a process that would be painful for everyone. He, however, didn''t feel pain��no. He couldn''t. He wasn''t awake to feel it.

    Getting up just with just the help of his legs, he staggered a little before regaining his footing. Slowly, he raised his head to meet Jeanne but only white could be found in his eyes.

    "You are persistent, aren''t you?! Why don''t you just drop dead already?!" Jeanne screamed seeing him ''fine'' after her attack.

    He didn''t respond, not that he could. The only words that left his mouth were said before he fell unconscious after all. Crouching down to pick his spear that fell to the ground after he was pierced, he looked at it for a second before magically disappearing from his place.

    "What?!" She didn''t have the time to process any information as she was sent flying by a kick to her waist. Before she could crash into anything, she was hit again, this time by Seth''s spear.

    This process continued for a minute, with Jeanne barely managing to block attacks directed to vital places. This didn''t impede for wounds to start forming around her and for her armor to start breaking.

    If Jeanne was having it bad, Seth was having it worse. Although it looked like he was giving the Black Saint the beating of her life like it was the easiest thing in the world, the truth was that he wouldn''t be able to keep this for much longer if the paleness of his skin was anything to go by.

    Feeling the cease of functions, Seth''s ''auto-battle mode'' decided to do one last attack and put what little magical energy was left on it. Kicking Jeanne to the sky, he appeared above her before hitting her stomach making her crash into the ground throwing dust everywhere.

    The fire surrounding his wounds started gathering around his weapon forming to lines that coiled around it like two dragons starting from the tip of the spear.

    "..ge. D....t" He opened his mouth and said something by instinct but as he was not conscious he couldn''t form proper words.

    He was preparing to throw his spear and put an end to this but before he could, a big shadow was cast over him. Looking by instinct he noticed giant claws heading in his direction.

    Coming to a quick decision, his instincts chose safety over finishing his opponent. Turning around mid-air to face the incoming blow he threw his spear clad in fire at it.

    One the weapon and ''hand'' met, a resounding boom resounded across the battlefield. The spear impacted the center of the Dragon''s paw, trying to continue its path.

    ROAR

    The Dragon roared, filled with anger he put more force to push the spear back, but as if having a mind of its own, the fire surrounding the spear started going from the weapon toward the arm of the dragon doing the same coiling motion.

    Like an anaconda, the black fire tightened around the Dragon''s arm. Although the pathetic heat didn''t do it any damage, that wasn''t the intention. The spear that was still trying to pierce the Dragon''s paw glowed. As if receiving a signal, the black fire used itself to generate an explosion.

    The black dragon roared again, this time not because of anger, but because of pain. The two passengers on its back struggled to maintain balance as the Dragon started doing erratic movements in the air.

    The shockwave of the explosion blasted Seth who was still in mid-air. Like a meteor, he crashed into the ground creating a crater ten meters deep. This time, however, he didn''t move anymore.

    The black Saint was brought back to reality by the sound of the explosion. When she looked up, she saw her most powerful card roaring and thrashing around in the air, one of its arms was even blacker than before.

    Looking to the side, she noticed a big crater, getting closer to it her eyes went wild with hate. Inside was the man that threw her around like a ragdoll.

    She wasn''t the only one with hate directed at Seth, though. Having recovered, the Dragon''s gaze fixed on the unconscious man. With a roar filled with anger and hate, he opened his mouth as a fire started forming around it, ready to incinerate the hateful human.

    "Wait Fafnir! I will be the one who kills him! But first, I will torture him to pay him back the humiliation he did to me!" Jeanne ordered Fafnir, and although he wanted to be the one to put an end to the human''s life, he still complied.

    Descending on the crater with her almost broken armor, she put her left foot on Seth''s c.h.e.s.t applied force. Sadly for her, the unconscious man didn''t give any reaction as if he were dead.

    Lifting her foot, she stomped again, again, again, again and again. The man, however, still didn''t show any reactions even after the outline of Jeanne''s foot was imprinted on his skin.

    "Why...? Why?! WHY WON''T YOU SCREAM?!" This isn''t what she wanted, she wanted to see him suffer. This was not fun! This was not enjoyable! This wasn''t the revenge she wanted!

    After her outburst, she calmed herself. Pointing her sword at his face, she started tracing it down while saying the things she could to make him scream. "Should I gouge your eyes? Should I slash your neck? Should I open your c.h.e.s.t and take out your heart with my own hands? Should I cut the thing that makes you a man? Or should I cut your legs and make you unable to walk anymore? WHAT SHOULD I DO TO CALM THIS HATE?!" She shouted at the end, it seemed that her calm stated before was just a lie.

    "Well, I guess I could start by leaving you without the hand that has the command spells on it. That way the annoying girl could forget about having another Master as long as we kill the other one." She said while grabbing Seth''s right hand.

    Before she could do any further actions a voice came from afar. "It''s not elegant. This city, that combat style, your philosophy or principles, none of them are. You''re so beautiful yet you still shroud yourself in hatred. Be it for evil or good, shouldn''t humans strive to be more free?"

    "A Servant...?" The black Saint muttered.

    ===============================

    Receiving the order from her Master, Jeanne decided to go help Mash and Saber, albeit reluctantly. She felt it was her responsibility to face her other self with him.

    However, she decided to trust him and do what he ordered. Something she hasn''t truly done in a while she embarrassedly thought.

    Stopping next to the group, she said. "Let me help you fight against them, please."

    While Fujimaru and Mash were happy to receive extra help, Saber wasn''t. "What are you doing here? Go help your Master fight the other you. What kind of Servant are you?" Artoria asked without holding anything back.

    Far from feeling hurt, she remained firm. "No. As much as I would like to help him, he ordered me to help you fight the two enemy servants." She said with a serious face.

    Saber widened her eyes in anger. "And you listened to him?! Is there only air in your head?!"

    Mash interrupted from the side. "Calm down Saber, I think Kuro-san will be fine, he managed to defeat you after all��" She tried to placate her but it seemed her words weren''t the best by the looks of it.

    "I trust my Master, that''s all." Jeanne said, not taking Saber insult to heart.

    "Are you done with your little chat? My skin is getting itchy to feel your blood." The voice of the white-haired woman with the staff on her hand said.

    "You are so greedy. Who gets to take their souls, then?" The blonde man with skin as white as milk said.

    "You can have it, their souls won''t maintain my beauty. I won''t tolerate someone more beautiful than me. No, more than that, their bloody will only elevate my beauty even more!" The woman responded, her long fingernails touching her lips as she looked at the Servants before her like they were the most delicious dish.

    "Are you done with your little chat? My blade is getting itchy to feel your blood." Saber said. It seems she took a liking to use other''s words against them.

    This didn''t please the white-haired woman. "Insolent little girl. You will be the first whose blood I shall put in my tub!"

    Her staff glowed, doing a swing at Saber''s direction blood materialized at her feat and shot toward Artoria in a saw-like form.

    Before the attack could land, Mash positioned herself in front of Saber effectively blocking the hit. Jeanne dashed toward the woman but the blond man stopped her advances.

    Artoria didn''t stay idle, she jumped from behind Mash and landed at the side of the man whose spear was being held in place by Jeanne''s flag. She slashed at him but the man simply disappeared in shadows before returning to his original position, beside the white-haired woman.

    "I stop the Saint but you don''t stop that other girl, I see that camaraderie isn''t something you know." The man said in a light tone fully knowing that no other thing than destruction existed in their maddened minds.

    "For your age, you surely know how to joke around." The woman responded, completely unaffected by his words.

    Finishing their little chat, the woman sent a violet ball of magic toward the group. Same as before, Mash positioned herself to block the hit. However, once that was done the man appeared with his lance at her side, covered by the woman''s attack.

    Jeanne who was near managed to parry his lance with her flag. Completely unfaced, the man disappeared transforming himself into shadows again. This time he didn''t retreat, though. Reappearing behind the Servant with the shield he slashed with his lance upward creating a red line on her back.

    "Mash!" Fujimaru shouted from behind them with his widened eyes.

    The blonde servant disappeared again, avoiding a Slash from an angry Saber. While they were distracted with the man a black portal appeared atop of their heads, a yellow statue of a woman came crashing down.

    Reacting quickly, Saber grabbed the now kneeling Mash with her A-Rank strength and threw her toward Fujimaru before retreating together with Jeanne barely avoiding the falling statue.

    "Aren''t you going easy on them, Dracul?" The white-haired woman said to the man who was now standing beside her, casually revealing his True Name without care.

    "Vlad III...Romania''s greatest hero known as the Lord Impaler!" Dr. Roman''s surprised voice sounded among the fighting group.

    The man, now known as Vlad, shot a look at the woman. "Who knew you would reveal my True Name like that, disp.l.e.a.s.u.r.e is not enough to describe how I feel." He said, his tone a little more serious than before.

    "Don''t get mad. I would rather be remembered by a bad name than not at all. Besides, I prefer being called by my True Name, it''s more fun that way. Seeing the hope of little girls vanish from their eyes is the best feeling ever after the one from bathing in their blood." The woman said, not the least intimidated by Vlad''s words.

    "But in the end, you were driven to ruin by the hands of the little girls you didn''t manage to keep in your castle. Elizabeth Bathory, or should I call you Carmilla? How ironic your end was." Vlad said, a barely noticeable mocking tone in his voice.

    "How boring, even after being branded as a vampire, you still cling to your noble ''heart''. I find that disgusting." She said.

    "You mean to say that I still cling to my faith? Carmilla you��" Vlad was getting angrier by the second but was interrupted by the Blood Countess.

    "You misunderstand, I idolize you as a leader, Count Vlad. You are truly the model I aspire to be." Carmilla said with sarcasm written all over her voice.

    "Comparing idolizing with plotted assassination? The nobles of your country sure have their way with words." Vlad retorted. If it wasn''t for his Master''s orders he would have impaled Carmilla long ago.

    Carmilla merely chuckled, looking at the group she did a curtsy bow. "My apologies for keeping you waiting. I guess it''s time to finally put an end to this fight."

    Mash, who had been healed by her Fujimaru''s mystic code, alerted. "Be careful, Senpai. They still intend to kill us!"

    Just then, magical energy started gathering in their surroundings. In unison, all looked at the direction of Jeanne and Seth''s battle.

    They saw how she conjured fire and threw it in his direction. How he tried jumping back to avoid the hit but was ultimately pierced by the black stakes coming from the ground.

    All Chaldeans watched in horror while the two blood-s.u.c.k.i.n.g servants merely amused themselves with the sight. Vlad even praised his Master by the way she pierced him.

    Even if it wasn''t noticed by everyone, the hands that were holding Artoria''s sword loosened slightly while Jeanne did the only thing that came to her by instinct, "Master!", she worriedly screamed.

 Chapter 19 - A Foolish Queen

    Seeing him being pierced by stakes, Jeanne and Saber didn''t hesitate and started running toward his direction wanting to help. They didn''t go very far, though. Carmilla and Vlad blocked their path before they could walk any longer.

    Coming to a halt, Saber lashed out to them. "Get out of the way you bastards!"

    "I''m afraid we can''t, little girl. Our Master is still fighting even if the battle looks already over and besides, we haven''t tasted your blood yet." Carmilla said with a sadistic smirk.

    "Even if I''m not that excited about your blood, I do agree with her. Usually, it is ''when the Servants fight, the Masters stay out of the way''. But now, I''m afraid it''s the opposite." Vlad agreed with Carmilla''s words.

    Mash and Fujimaru came running. "Please don''t run off like that, Saber and Jeanne. I''m sure Kuro-san will be fine!" She said and as if to answer the trust in her words. Seth stood up, albeit in a weird way.

    "Master!" Jeanne shouted, this time not because of terror but because of happiness and relief. Artoria also released a sigh she didn''t know she was holding.

    "Hoh? It seems that Master is quite resilient, a fine specimen indeed." Vlad said stroking his beard.

    "You think so? I find it unsightly. Why try to avoid death when you can please the ears of your captor with your screams?" Carmilla tried to match her darkest fantasies with Seth''s present situation, something Vlad didn''t find interesting.

    "You live too much off your legend, that will cost your life someday." He said not bothering to hide his disdain.

    "I don''t want to hear that from you. People remember you more by your name Dracul than by Vlad." She said before turning to the group. "Now, sorry for keeping you waiting. I think it''s time to resume our torture session."

    Not saying anymore, Carmilla became a pool of blood before she reappeared in front of Jeanne and slashed with her claw-like nails. The Saint used her flag to stop the incoming blow but was still pushed back a little.

    "Guh...!" Just as Carmilla was preparing another attack, Saber appeared on her side and kicked her effectively sending her flying and tumbling on the ground.

    "We need to be careful, Vlad III is not the only one who can vanish suddenly!" Mash said gaining a nod from Fujimaru and Jeanne while Saber just rolled her eyes. They already saw both of them vanish, no need to say the obvious...

    "We need to hurry and go to Master''s side otherwise I don''t know what the other me would do if we don''t go and help!" Jeanne exclaimed while readying her flag.

    "For once I agree with her, let''s finish this as soon as possible." Saber commented from the side.

    "It seems you took a good hit, Blood Countess. Or should I call you Dirt Countess now?" Vlad remarked from the side, adding an insult to the last part. Even a King had a limit to his patience, and Carmilla''s words were close to reaching it.

    "Shut up Vlad! No more playing around with my food. Even if what is left of them is a lump of flesh I can still get their blood!" All pretense of courtesy was gone from her face, only anger remained now.

    "It seems we are of the same mind on this. We are going to be in trouble if we haven''t finished them off by the time Master kills that man." He said with seriousness.

    Talking no more, he pierced the ground with his spear. Multiple red and black stakes made out of blood emerged and headed to Chaldea''s group.

    Saber and Jeanne jumped to the side while Mash stayed behind. She needed to block the attack as her Master was not a Servant so he couldn''t evade like the rest.

    Carmilla, seeing as the pink-haired girl would always stay behind to protect her Master, started sending energy attacks toward him from different angles. Her plan was to wear the Shielder down before finally getting her hands on the girl''s blood.

    Vlad started clashing weapons with Artoria while Jeanne pursued Carmilla to stop her from attacking anymore.

    "Good grief, you are tainted in darkness yet you still fight for ''justice''? A strange occurrence if I must say." Vlad asked in the midst of their clashing.

    "Shut up. I fight for what I want. If I want to fight for justice I will fight for justice and if I want to fight for evil I will fight for evil." An angry Artoria retorted.

    "Hm...I must say I do have some envy toward you. Despite being corrupted you still have the freedom to choose. Sadly for me, my way of life has already been decided by the legend imparted on me." Vlad said, the last part in a higher volume. If there was something he hated the most that would be being labeled as something he wasn''t. That and the people who made up that accursed legend.

    "You would be better if you told your story to someone that still had sympathy left in them." Artoria said returning to her cold expression.

    Just as Vlad was going to talk, they noticed the black Jeanne being sent flying followed up by another hit and so on.

    Artoria smiled while still maintaining her cold face. "It seems that your Master is in trouble. Shouldn''t you go and help her?" She taunted. Vlad frowned a little at the situation but soon it was replaced by a smirk.

    It was time for Saber to frown, clashing weapons once more she asked. "What''s with that smirk? Do you want to see your Master being beaten up that badly?"

    "Quite the opposite, even if I hate this form, it comes with a perk. That is, I''m very s.e.n.s.i.t.i.v.e to blood. That man may be beating up my Master right now but it won''t last long. His blood is burning faster by the second, if he keeps that up then the only outcome will be him becoming a dried corpse." He answered still with a smirk on his face.

    Saber clenched her teeth and started pouring more force into her blows, she needed to finish this battle as soon as possible.

    Meanwhile, Jeanne finally managed to stop Carmilla from attacking Mash. Similar to Vlad, Carmilla could sense the problem on Seth''s body, before Jeanne could be happy that her Master was fine and was even winning, Carmilla told her the hard truth.

    "Yes, that''s the expression I wanted to see! Despair, young girl. Despair as much as you want! It will make it more fun that way." She said noticing the face of the Saint slowly turning into a look of horror.

    After saying that, she kicked Jeanne in her stomach sending her flying. Luckily, Mash caught her before she hit the ground.

    "Now... It''s finally time to relish on your blood." Carmilla said putting her hand on her mouth to ''cover'' a sadistic chuckle.

    Her magical energy started spiking. ? All lies on a plate of illusion�� but before she could unleash her Noble Phantasm, a powerful shockwave interrupted her. She would give it to them, no one has angered her to this extent.

    They all looked up to see the black Dragon clashing with Seth''s spear in mid-air before fire engulfed its arms and created an explosion.

    "I guess it''s time for me to do my part now." Vlad said looking at Fafnir who was roaring as his life depended on it.

    ? Dedicate that blood. That is your life.

    I will dedicate here my human life that is smeared in blood.

    Saying till then, Vlad started spinning his lance around him before throwing it at Artoria. Despite her instincts kicking in, she was still pierced in her waist. That was not the end of it as blood in the form of a stake impaled her in various parts of her body. Vlad put his arms in an ''x'' shape in front of him before surrounding himself in dark violet energy.

    "Kaz?kl? Bey!! ?

    With his shout, the black tattoos on his arms turned red and came to life in a thread-like form, they coiled around him and shot toward the sky taking the shape of a pointed chain before crashing in her direction.

    Standing up, Jeanne saw the incoming attack heading toward Saber so she decided to rush in front of her. Putting her flag in front of her, she started to chant.

    ? Here''s the work of the Lord!

    My flag, defend our brethren!

    Luminosit�� Eternelle! ?

    A light formed around her flag just in time as Vlad''s Noble Phantasm was about to hit.

    No matter how much force the blood chains put, they didn''t manage to go past Jeanne''s flag. They eventually faded away. However, there was now a tear on Jeanne''s flag.

    "Really impressive, to think that flag could stop my Noble Phantasm, I must commend you." Vlad said with a prising tone.

    Jeanne didn''t pay attention to him, though. She kept sending glances to the place where Jeanne was ''torturing'' her Master while gripping her flag tightly.

    Sadly, with Saber bleeding from various places and Carmilla lurking trying to kill them, she couldn''t abandon her place.

    Just as she was dreading the worse, a royal voice made its way into the battlefield. And by the word said, Jeanne assumed the intruder was an ally.

    Seeing the appearance of a new enemy, Vlad and Carmilla retreated to their Master''s side while Mash, Fujimaru, and Jeanne who was now carrying Saber, did the same but with Seth.

    Fortunately, the black Jeanne had distanced herself to avoid an attack made by the intruder so they didn''t have to fear any impediments while retrieving him.

    Mash was the one who took Seth out of the crater as Jeanne was holding the wounded Saber. Once she pulled him closer to them, Artoria asked after coughing some blood. "What''s his condition? He looks like a corpse right now." She said, making Jeanne give her a look of ''Don''t say things like that or I will be angry''.

    "His life is not necessarily in danger, but his condition is not really good. As Vlad and Carmilla said, he burned too much of his blood. We can''t do a blood transfer so our only option is to feed him as much as possible and hope his abnormal regeneration speed helps somehow." Romani said after analyzing the data on the monitors where information about Fujimaru and Seth vitals was being displayed.

    They sighed in relief hearing Dr. Roman''s answer, at least he would not die. Turning to their savior, they noticed a young girl with silver hair, a red dress and an equally red big and strange hat on her head.

    It was Jeanne''s turn to speak. "Thank you for saving him, you have my gratitude." Saying that she did a little bow making Artoria who was being carried by her grunt in pain.

    "I''m sorry..." She looked pretty embarrassed right now.

    The girl in the red dress just smiled. "Don''t worry, It''s my duty. If someone tries to destroy this country and its citizens, it''s my job to put a stop to it. Just one of you is actually French, but you all are fighting to protect France, that alone is enough for me to lend a hand! Why? Because��"

    "You are...!" The enemy Saber, who had jumped off the Dragon, couldn''t help but become wide-eyed at the figure in red.

    "Oh? Do you know my True Name? Have we met before, splendid knight?" Far from being angry at being interrupted, the girl gave another smile to the knight in white.

    The black Jeanne, seeing as Berserker Saber knew the true name of the fly that stopped her from killing the hateful man, asked. "Saber, who is she?" But was only met with silence.

    Seeing it as an act of defiance, she raised her voice. "Answer!"

    This time, Saber complied. "I can tell who she is, even with this curse of maddening burning in my heart. Her beauty couldn''t possibly be mistaken."

    She continued, "The girl they called the Flower of Versailles, Marie Antoinette."

    "That''s right! Thank you for saying my name!" She cheerfully said before turning toward the Black Saint. "Now, Dragon Witch. I will ask you no matter how pointless it may be. Are you still going to perform your evil deeds in my presence?" She asked. However, this time there wasn''t a smile on her face.

    "Silence! What right do you have to participate in this battle? A fool who lived in luxury and died without knowing why doesn''t have any say on this matter!" Jeanne angrily retorted.

    The girl nodded before returning to smile. "Yes, I guess you are right. That''s why I want to know more! What I don''t know, I learn. That''s my policy. It''s the reason why I can''t bear to look at you like this, oh beloved Saint. You keep harming the innocents in a misplaced hatred and I don''t know why, but what I do know is, together with the Jeanne D''Arc over here, I''m going to make your heart and body become mine." She said expanding her arms like she was celebrating something.

    Jeanne, Mash, and Fujimaru blushed at her words while Artoria just sighed in resignation. ''Why are always the idiots that decide to join us...''

    As for the enemy side, their expressions were something that if they were to be described, their image would be ruined forever.

    Noticing the awkwardness in the air, Marie clarified. "Oh, dear. Um...please don''t misunderstand me. I just meant that as a Queen, I would bring you to your knees." She said and although she still kept that upbeat attitude, a light blush was present on her cheeks.

    "Enough of this farce! Servants, go and murder that failure of a Queen before killing the rest!" Jeanne ordered.

    "I agree with you, Dragon Witch. It''s time to put an end to this. Amadeus, crush them like bugs!" Marie spoke to no one in particular but was met with an answer.

    "Leave it to me! Requiem For Death!" An anonymous voice responded. Suddenly, musical notes and white angels with instruments started surrounding the enemy side, creating a melody that crushed their ears.

    They all covered their ears trying to avoid the evil sound that seemed to have no end.

    "Now, good day everyone. Au revoir!" With that as the signal, they fled the battlefield.

    The evil music continued for a good five minutes but once it was over, the black Jeanne didn''t hesitate to order a woman with blue hair holding a strange cross who had been silent all this time. "Hmph. Annoying pests. Rider!"

    A calm, melodious voice that didn''t seem to hold madness in it, asked. "What is it?"

    "Go after them, surely you could do that with your ''horse'', right? You don''t need to fight, just tell me where they are, I will crush them personally." She said with a hate-filled voice.

    "...Understood." And with that, she left.

    "What a shame that sound is gone. I would make that Servant my pet and make his evil melody accompany my victims to torture them even more." Carmilla said with slight...regret?

    Vlad, ignoring Carmilla''s absurd words, asked his Master. "Ruler...do you think she will be enough to handle them?"

    "It will be fine, Rider''s Noble Phantasm is perfect for destroying them. But you are right, it''s better if I''m careful. I''ll return and prepare to summon additional Servants." She said after giving it some thought.

    "Go ahead and cause as much trouble as you like, and if you manage to find them, make sure to completely destroy them." She ordered before leaving for her castle, leaving the group of Servants alone.

 Chapter 20 - Waking Up

    The group of Chaldea plus Marie, Jeanne and Amadeus made their way into a forest after fleeing La Charite.

    "I think this we are far enough, Master is also tired of running this much." Mash said after they traveled a big distance from the battlefield.

    "Sorry I can''t keep up with you." Fujimaru said in an apologetic tone determined to hit the gym once he was back at Chaldea.

    "O-Oh no, don''t misunderstand Master, It''s understandable since you are not a Servant." Mash said a little agitated thinking her Senpai had taken her words in the wrong way.

    "Ah...youth is such a wonderful thing, isn''t it Amadeus? Young love blooming on the battlefield is certainly a rare but incredible sight." Marie said making both teens blush.

    "Can''t you see you are making them uncomfortable, Maria?" He sighed at her antics.

    "Oh! Is that so? Allow me to apologize, then." Although she said that. Her happy face didn''t look apologetic at all.

    "Sorry to interrupt you guys, but I have detected a leyline near you. It would be for the best if you could set up a base there, that way we could send you supplies and some other things. For now, our top priority is to help Kuro and Saber recover." Dr. Roman decided to put an end to the cheerful atmosphere to give way to more important matters.

    "So there was one more person? Hello there!" Marie said, still maintaining her cheerful personality.

    "I have been here from the beginning! How couldn''t you notice me?!" Romani shouted in injustice.

    Jeanne, who was lending her shoulder so Saber could walk, asked Dr. Roman with an impatient voice. "Roman, where exactly is it?" At this moment, her Master and Saber were wounded. While Saber had many holes in her body, none located in vital parts. Her Master, however, didn''t have such luck.

    Looking at him who was being carried by Mash, Jeanne noticed the paleness of his skin, although his breathing remained somehow stable, she didn''t want to risk it. She didn''t know where this sense of duty came from. If it was simply because he was her Master or because of the things she saw in that dream. Be as it may, she couldn''t allow him to die.

    "Keep going in a straight path. You will know when you are near it." Romani answered understanding Jeanne''s concerns.

    With a destination in mind, Fujimaru turned toward their helpers. "We are going to search for a leyline so we can get supplies, what are you going to do?" He asked, unsure of their response.

    It was Marie who answered for both of them. "We would like you to follow you, of course! As people fighting to stop the Dragon Witch from destroying the lives of the citizens of my country, we need to stick together!" She said with a smile.

    "That''s great! We need to have as many helpers if we want to defeat the other Jeanne, just her Servants alone gave us so much trouble after all." Mash happily said from the side.

    Walking for five more minutes, they noticed the leyline along with some werewolves who were standing on the zone where it was located.

    "It seems you''ve got company. You must defeat them if you want to set up a camp, good luck!" Dr. Roman said while drinking his coffee, he needed to stay awake as much as possible to be of help.

    "Alright!" If there was one person who wanted to get this over with the most, that would be Jeanne. Gently putting Saber next to Fujimaru who proceeded to heal her with his mystic code. Although it didn''t do too much, at least it stopped the bleeding. Mash followed up by placing Seth next to Saber, that way she could protect both of them at the same time.

    Marie and Amadeus decided to lend a hand to finish the battle as soon as possible, she also took the opportunity to heal both of them, even if it wasn''t much.

    After a ten minutes fight, without any complications, they managed to beat every single werewolf in the area. Now they were finally ready to set up a camp.

    "Good job, we will start sending supplies as soon as the summoning circle is established." Romani congratulated them on successfully capturing the zone containing the leyline.

    "Order confirmed. Commencing establishment of the summoning circle." Mash got to work using her shield as a medium for the supplies and miscellaneous things to be transported from Chaldea to them.

    Once everything was ready, Dr. Roman started sending them all the things they needed now and will need in the future.

    The wounded took priority, Saber got a really big supply of junk food that she started eating immediately, it worked better than any healthy food for her so there were no complaints while Seth received liquified food filled with nutrients to recover his lost blood courtesy of Archer.

    It was already midday so Fujimaru also got something to eat and replenish his magical energy, they constants fights took a toll on him.

    They also received some bandages and band-aids in the possible case he got injured as a consequence of a battle between Servants.

    At the moment, Fujimaru, Mash, Amadeus, and Marie were all sitting in a circle on top of logs they found spread on the ground. Artoria was eating her hamburgers while stealing glances once in a while at the scene that was happening beside her.

    Jeanne had Seth''s head on her l.a.p while carefully feeding him so he wouldn''t choke, occasionally moving aside the strands of hair that covered his eyes due to a passing gust of wind. Noticing the not so subtle glances Saber was giving them she cutely tilted her head to the side.

    "Is there a problem?" She asked with genuine confusion.

    Having been noticed she almost choked on her food, trying to keep it cool by looking the other way she responded. "Nothing, I was just wondering why you are treating him like that."

    "Like that?" Jeanne repeated, proceeding to look down she noticed her hand was unconsciously c.a.r.e.s.sing the side of his face. Turning red faster than someone could blink she started to frantically move her arms like she was some kind of mime. "This isn''t what it looks like, I promise!" She tried to defend herself only for her words to fall on deaf ears.

    Saber just munched her hamburger not minding Jeanne''s excuses. Marie, watching the situation from the side, had her eyes lit up. "Oh! Wonderful! A fight between two Servants for the love of a Mas��" She couldn''t finish her sentence as Amadeus grabbed her shoulder and carried her away from their personal space.

    "You need to stop saying the first thing that comes to your mind, Maria. Not everyone will like that." He said smiling while lecturing her like a parent would do a child.

    Marie seemed offended by his words. "What do you mean, Amadeus? I don''t want to hear that from you!" She reproached

    "Shut up...what''s with all this noise?" A weak voice asked. The people present turned to look at the figure on Jeanne''s l.a.p who was slowly opening his eyes.

    "��Eh? You are already awake?! What''s with that recovery rate?!" Romani said, surprised.

    "Why do you make it sound like it''s a bad thing?...anyway, it''s all thanks to EMIYA''s food." He said, his speech capability improving slowly.

    "No no, that wasn''t what I meant, I''m glad you are okay!" He smiled before a doubt surged in his mind. "How did you know it was EMIYA''s cooking?"

    "Because despite only tasting it once, it was the most delicious thing I''ve ever eaten, I wouldn''t mistake it." Seth said as a matter of fact.

    "Good point. But��" "Yo! I heard you took quite the beating haha. You are hopeless!" Cu''s voice interrupted Roman adding salt to the wound without remorse.

    "Good to see you are doing fine too..." Seth decided to believe he was worried but was just too embarrassed to show it otherwise he would force Fujimaru to use a Command Spell to make him kiss Archer''s feet with a smile on his face.

    "You shouldn''t be that reckless, remember you are not who you used to be." Caster said in adopting a more serious tone. From the group, only Saber understood the meaning of his words.

    "Yeah..." He responded. Complicated emotions flashed through his eyes before returning to the same ones from before.

    "Well, I just came here to see how you were doing. Now that I see you are fine I will continue to explore this place, be careful from now on, will ya?" He said before disappearing from the hologram, now only Romani remained.

    "As I was saying, are you able to move? Although the readings regarding your body are strange they DO show it is not functioning at full capacity." Dr. Roman asked now that Caster was gone.

    "I can''t. Why do you think I''m still on Ruler''s lap? I''m fine, I just concentrated on replenishing my lost blood. I need to eat normally to move." He said, clearly uncomfortable with the situation he was in.

    "I''m sorry. Are my legs hard? Do you want to use something else as a pillow?" Jeanne asked, feeling embarrassed and a tiny bit self-conscious about her legs.

    "..." Seth gave her a deadpan look. ''The unawareness of this kid is something to be worried about...''

    "They are not...sigh. Just forget it." He was too tired to bother with her. Looking at the rest of the group that have been silent all this time, he decided to ask. "What''s the situation? And how did the battle go?"

    "U-Um...right. Let me explain it to you, then." Mash said and began retelling all the events, from hitting Jeanne all over the place to where Marie saved him from being killed by the angry Saint.

    "I see...I caused all of you many problems, I...apologize." Although it was hard, he managed to squeeze the last part. Turning to Marie he gave a heartfelt thanks.

    "Non, it''s my duty as the Queen of France, even if that will be in the future, to protect my citizens and the people that fight for them!" She said with a contagious smile.

    "Well, now that all the pleasantries are over, why don''t we introduce ourselves properly? I will start! My True Name is Marie Antoinette, Rider Class!" She said giving a spin. Seth could swear he saw little stars coming from her.

    "Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Caster class. I have no Master, same as her." He presented himself while bowing.

    "My name is Mash Kyrielight and I''m a Demi-Servant." She said before looking at Fujimaru. "And this is Fujimaru Ritsuka, my Master."

    "Nice to meet you, thanks for helping us." He gave a smile that didn''t lose to Marie''s.

    Now looking at Artoria, she tried to introduce her, "This is��" but was cut short. "I don''t remember needing help for something as simple as introducing oneself. You can call me by my class, Saber."

    "R-Right...sorry." In her excitement, she forgot how Saber didn''t like people knowing her name.

    "What happened? You seem to be in a worse mood than usual." Seth asked seeing Artoria like that.

    "Nothing for you to concern with." She replied with an annoyed voice, not bothering to look at him.

    Seth raised an eyebrow at her answer but made no further comment on the matter. "I guess it''s my time to introduce myself. I can''t say my name due to some reasons, but you can call me Kuro like those kids have been calling me for a while to my disp.l.e.a.s.u.r.e." He said, and although his words seemed harsh, there was not really any ill-intent on them.

    Now it was Jeanne''s turn to introduce herself. "My name is��" "Jeanne D''Arc, right? The Saint that saved France!" Moving faster than the speed of light, Marie took Jeanne''s hands with her own. Her face was dangerously close to her.

    Jeanne was awkward for a moment, not knowing how to respond to this...fanatism that Marie had. Taking a deep breath, she answered in a serious tone quite unbecoming of herself. "I''m not a Saint, that''s why please don''t call me that."

    Marie, far from being sad, nodded with a smile. "Yes, everyone knows that you didn''t see yourself as one, but the things you did during your life were truly the work of one!"

    "Your final moments were not happy ones, though. In the end, you ended up burned at the stake and ostracised by the people you fought for. It''s no wonder you don''t like being called a Saint." Amadeus said without a touch of delicacy.

    "Amadeus is right, Queen Marie Antoinette. I held my flag for what I believed in and defended my country, but the result was me drenching my hands in blood. The people only looked at the result of my actions but I can not. I don''t regret taking arms but I don''t feel I deserve that kind of title." She said with a downcast tone.

    "I understand, I won''t call you a saint anymore. In exchange, you will call me Marie and I will call you Jeanne. Is that fine with you?" She asked not at all minding Jeanne''s personal space.

    "U-Um...I will call you Marie, then." She said trying to carefully distance herself as to not inconvenience her Master who was still resting on her l.a.p.

    "Thank you! I will support you when you face the other you. You still have questions that you want her to answer, right? Then I will gladly help in what I can!" She smiled at Jeanne.

    "We will do our best to help you too, Jeanne! Right, Master?" Mash said to which Fujimaru nodded with a smile.

    "Thank you!" She thanked them with a smile of her own before looking expectantly at her Master.

    Said man released an internal sight. ''Why am I getting dragged into this too...?'' "Yes, I will also be there to help you if you need it. Just tell the other Jeanne how you feel, I got your back." He had to admit it, he s.u.c.k.e.d at motivational speeches.

    To Jeanne, however, they were the words she wanted to hear the most. With a brighter smile than before, she replied. "Yes!"

    Their little chat was interrupted by roars coming from the forest surrounding them, it seemed with all the commotion they attracted some monsters.

    The battle was the same as the one before, with no surprises, they defeated all the approaching monsters. This time, however, it was Saber that had recovered with the power of junk food instead of Ruler who was fighting as she still needed to take care of her Master.

    Once it was all over, they all started to relax and talk about various things, it was a nice change of pace to all the fighting they have been doing.

 Chapter 21 - The Wish They Left Behind

    At the moment, everyone was discussing their situation a little more in-depth. The blue sky already faded to give way for an orange one.

    Luckily for Seth, after eating some food he could now stand up, something he did at the first chance. He had to conserve the little dignity he had left if there was any, to begin with.

    "Well, let''s review what we know so far. There seem to be Servants being summoned without a Master and now the number exceeds seven, meaning this is not a normal Holy Grail War anymore." Dr. Roman analyzed, gaining a nod from everyone.

    "The other Jeanne is the one commanding the enemy Servants even if she is one herself. The rules were broken long ago." He said once more.

    "Yeah...Although I''m not a complete Ruler, I noticed they were under Madness Enhancement." Jeanne said, adding her part.

    "Regardless if they are right in the head or not... They are powerful. To top it off, they have a powerful Dragon with them, our best possibility would be to take them one by one." Seth said after thinking for a bit, he was strong against serpents, not dragons. As much as he hated it.

    "Yeah...Vlad III and Elizabeth Bathory. They are certainly powerful foes, sadly we don''t know much about the rest. The only clue we have is that Saber recognized Marie." Mash commented.

    "I think she was Chevalier d''Eon. Unfortunately, I have no proof. She was born a couple of years before me and I only met her when she was an a.d.u.l.t. I''m not really familiar with her younger version to say with certainty." Marie said while reminiscing a bit.

    "The woman with blue hair was a Saint and by the look in her eyes, she kept her sanity even if not by much. That''s the only information I could get in the little time our gazes met." Seth said bringing a bit more clarity in the situation.

    "You knew she was a Saint with just a glance?" Jeanne said surprised causing him to roll his eyes.

    "She was fighting with a cross and had a holy aura surrounding her even if it was a little...rough. What do you think?" He said as a matter of fact.

    "I didn''t know you could detect the presence of the Lord in humans, Master! Could it be you are his envoy?" She said with excitement on her voice.

    ''Stop it, please stop it. It''s disgusting, so disgusting. Don''t lump me with him please'' He looked away from her with an expression like he just ate the worst thing in the world.

    "Master? What''s the matter? Are you still not feeling well?" She asked in concern...just to be totally ignored.

    "We need to be careful, by the looks of it they already have the Grail. For all we know, the other Jeanne might be summoning more Servants now." He said before looking at Saber. "You once held the Grail, any ideas of what the black Jeanne might do with it?"

    Artoria, who returned to her normal mood after Seth gave her some of his food, responded. "I don''t know. As I told you before, I only used the Grail for one thing and I doubt that mad dog would use it for the same reason I did."

    "Right...she seemed to be the type to want as much power as she can to crush her enemies. So the option of her summoning more Servants is the most viable and troublesome one." Romani backed up Saber deduction.

    "There is also the possibility of other Servants being summoned like Marie and Amadeus were at least." Jeanne said entering the conversation once more.

    "I appreciate the optimism but we can''t rule out the possibility of those Servants being hostile." Amadeus said with an unsure expression.

    "I agree with him but we still have to find them. We are going to need as much help as possible if we want to stand a chance in case we have to face all enemies at the same time. Jeanne is incapable of finding them at the moment so we are going to need your help, Romani." He said.

    "B-But what happens if they turned to be enemies?" Mash asked.

    "We kill them." Seth replied without hesitation.

    "It seems being beaten up by the mad dog put you in a bad mood." Saber remarked from the side.

    "It''s not like that. In fact, I''m thankful. You could say she brought me back to earth." He said while scratching the back of his head. It was complicated to put it into words, after all.

    "We can talk more tomorrow, it''s getting pretty dark so it would be best if you could rest a bit." Romani said and no one had any objections.

    ===========================

    After the majority of them decided to rest, Seth separated from the group to take a little walk. In the midst of it, he found a lake and decided to take a bath to clean off the dried blood he still had on his body.

    Dematerializing his arm pads and lower garments he dived in it. He started swimming and cleaning the parts of his body that were dirty with blood.

    Finishing, he decided to sit on top of a big rock at the side of the lake. With water drops falling from his head he looked at the sky, a beautiful full moon present on it.

    ''How long has it been since the last time I lost? To think I was defeated this early. Truly, don''t flaunt what you don''t have...'' He thought with a self-mocking smile.

    As he gazed upon the bright moon, three figures appeared one by one and disappeared as fast as they came. Two men and one ''monster''. Seeing them, Seth, for the first time in thousands of years, flashed a radiant smile. "I have to do what I can, right? It''s fine if I lose, it''s fine if I''m not the strongest, I just have to keep trying. Don''t worry, I will do everything in my power to protect what you entrusted to me, to protect humanity."

    At that moment, a God turned man found a new determination to keep going. Unfortunately, this sight was only immortalized by the moon that illuminated him as no human would be capable of doing so.

    While Seth was in the lake, Fujimaru, as well as Artoria and Amadeus, were sleeping. Artoria needed to rest after exhausting a good chunk of her magical energy in the last battle and Amadeus was just lazy. Mash decided to patrol the area for possible enemy sightings.

    Seeing as Jeanne was acting strange, Marie decided to chat with her. "What''s wrong, Jeanne? You seem down. Are you perhaps tired? She asked a little concerned.

    "No, I''m not tired. Thanks for your concern, Marie." Jeanne thanked her with a little smile.

    "Oh? Then, what''s the matter?" She asked again.

    "It''s just...seeing all the destruction caused by the hands of the other me saddens me." She said looking at the ground.

    "I understand. As a Queen seeing this France makes my heart hurt. For you it might be even worse as you were from this era, right?" She said in a sympathetic tone.

    "Yeah..." She affirmed, a little dispirited.

    Seeing Jeanne this depressed, Marie suddenly got an idea. "That''s right! We can have a little girl''s talk." She said with a bright smile.

    "...Sorry?" She asked for confirmation.

    "Oh? Didn''t girls in your time have chats like this?" Marie asked a little confused.

    "No, it''s not that��" She clarified just to be interrupted just as quickly. "Then it''s fine! We got summoned as our young selves, well, you got summoned at the age you died, but that''s not important! Girls our age should be talking about love and romance!" She happily exclaimed.

    Seeing Marie''s enthusiasm, she couldn''t help but awkwardly say. "I''m sorry Marie, I don''t have any experience with those."

    "Hm? You''ve never fallen in love? But you seemed pretty intimate with your Master before, though." Marie said in genuine confusion.

    "N-No! That''s wrong, I was just taking care of my Master as any Servant would! Yes, that''s right! I was just taking care of him." Jeanne embarrassingly tried to explain with a blush on her face.

    Seeing her like that, Marie chuckled a bit. "Are you trying to convince me or yourself? There''s nothing embarrassing about being in love, that''s what youth is about, after all." She smiled at Jeanne.

    "Please don''t tease me like that, Marie! There is nothing going on between Master and me." She tried to explain again while her blush was even more apparent now.

    "As you said before, you''ve never fallen in love so how can you tell if what you feel is love or not?" She asked with her ever-present smile.

    "That is..." Seeing as she didn''t have an answer to her question, she decided to change the topic. With a fake cough, she asked, "What about you, Marie? Have you ever fallen in love?"

    Deciding to play along, for now. She replied. "Of course! Two times, first with a boy proposed at me when I was seven and then when I was fourteen with the King I married."

    "Fourteen? At that age, all that was in my mind was working on the fields and playing with the other children." She said with surprise. For her, marrying at fourteen was kinda...

    "For nobility, marrying at that age was not uncommon. Besides, I loved my husband so I didn''t mind marrying that early." Marie explained.

    "Ahaha...It''s still difficult for me to understand." Jeanne said with a little laugh.

    The Queen just smiled. "It''s simple really...let me ask you something. Do you want to protect your Master?" she asked.

    Jeanne gave her a confused look but answered nonetheless. "Yes, I do."

    "Do you want to spend more time with him?" She asked again to which Jeanne nodded.

    "Did you enjoy taking care of him when he was unconscious?"

    "...Yes, I did." She replied, realizing where Marie was getting at.

    "Lastly, do you want to see him leave behind that cold look and replace it with a bright smile?" She asked one last time making Jeanne slowly widen her eyes in surprise.

    "I want you to promise me one thing. If by the time this is over you have an answer regarding if it is love or just a good friendship, be sure to tell me." Marie said while extending her pinky finger towards Jeanne.

    The Saint looked at Marie for a second before giving her a smile, extending her own she nodded. "It''s a promise."

    Just as she finished talking they noticed multiple presences around them. Mash soon came from the foliage. "It''s an enemy attack, I would go wake up Master. Jeanne, do you have any idea where Kuro-san is?" Mash asked and was answered sooner than she expected.

    "I''m here." Seth''s voice came from behind them, he rushed here as soon as he noticed signs of an enemy attack giving him no time to dry his hair which now glittered under the light of the moon, giving him an ethereal feeling. Remembering Marie''s words, Jeanne quickly looked away from him.

    "Let Fujimaru rest, he must be tired. It will be enough with us four." He continued.

    "But who will give the orders if we all fight?" Mash asked, still unsure.

    Seth raised an eyebrow at Mash''s question. "Do you need someone telling you what to do just to fight? What''s so difficult about making your own decisions?" He asked back.

    "I-It''s not like that..." She said in a low, embarrassed voice.

    "Sigh...Fight. Attack. Defend if you are attacked. Evade if possible. Are these orders okay for you?" He rolled his eyes at the little girl.

    "Yes..." She timidly said.

    Seth blinked and the next second he had Marie''s face centimeters from his. "You should encourage her and stop being so gloomy!" She said with a stern face.

    "And you should respect personal space, Rider. But whatever, you saved my life so I at least should humor you." He said. Now he was ninety percent convinced he could distinguish friend from foe when it came to Servants. If it was a weirdo, there was a big chance for that Servant to become an ally!

    Turning to look at Mash, this time he spoke less harshly. "You are worried about Fujimaru, right? Then you should let him have as much sleep as possible. They are not strong enemies so there''s no need to wake him up, he will need all the energy he can for tomorrow."

    "Y-Yes! I understand!" She exclaimed, this time surer than before.

    "Let''s take the fight a little further from the camp." Jeanne suggested and the rest approved.

    The fight was easy as it was just a group of werewolves, they already got the hang of how to beat them.

    "That was the last of them. Battle finished." Mash said in her usual robot-like fashion.

    "...No, it''s not over. A Servant is approaching." Seth said looking at the sky through the branches of the trees.

    "He is right, I''m detecting the presence of a Servant. This time I fear we will have to wake up Fujimaru we like it or not." The hologram of Dr. Roman confirmed it.

    "How much time until he or she gets here?" Marie asked. She didn''t look worried if her smiley face was anything to go by.

    "She is already here." True to Seth''s words, a woman with blue hair and a white cross now stood before them.

 Chapter 22 - Saint Martha I

    "So you are the one sent to kill us?" Seth asked while readying his spear, the others did the same with their respective weapons.

    "I was merely sent to find you and then report back, but the remainings of my sanity is telling me to fight you." She said.

    "If your remaining sanity is telling you to fight us instead of going back, I don''t want to know what kind of person you are without Madness Enhancement cast on you. Honestly, humans are strange (read filthy) creatures." Amadeus said and Seth had to agree on the first part.

    Seth didn''t know if it was Madness Enhancement or just her personality, but he noticed she gave Amadeus a glare that promised pain and many horrible things more.

    "If you want to fight the Dragon Witch, you need to defeat me first, otherwise you won''t stand a chance against her." She seriously said while cracking her knuckles.

    Seeing this scene, a distant memory from a long distant past resurfaced in his mind. "Martha..." He unconsciously said.

    "So you know my True Name? No matter, the thing you have to do remains the same." She seemed a little surprised having her True Name revealed that easily but she didn''t give it much thought.

    "I''m Rider, Saint Martha. Despite being a saint I''m now maddened by the hands of another one. Your true objective is to defeat me. Come forth, Iron Dragon Tarasque!" At her words, from the shadows of the forest, two red circles were nearing the group.

    A black turtle-like dragon with many protrusions in his body, six legs, and a lion mane made its appearance and Martha jumped on top of it.

    "A Dragon Rider, same as the black Jeanne!" Mash exclaimed.

    "Now I understand what she meant by having to defeat her to stand a chance. Guys, be careful!" Dr. Roman warned them before the incoming battle.

    They all took their positions, ready to face the enemy in front of them.

    The first to make a move was Martha. Pointing her cross at the group, she released blue beams of light at them. Mash tried to cover for Amadeus and her Master as they were the weakest physically speaking so they couldn''t dodge all the hits.

    They did their best to evade but was proven difficult as some of the beams spawned beneath their feet.

    Saber, Jeanne, and Seth tried to hit Martha to stop her from releasing more beams but Tarasque got in the way every time. He wasn''t turtle-like in appearance only, his defense was nothing to scoff at.

    Marie and Amadeus were the only ones who could do ranged attacks the normal way but they didn''t leave a scratch on Tarasque skin. Amadeus could do something with his Noble Phantasm to Martha but Tarasque wouldn''t allow it.

    If he couldn''t use his body to block attacks he would breathe fire. Truly a troublesome creature to fight against.

    "Mash, cover Saber from Tarasque''s fire while she prepares her Noble Phantasm!" Fujimaru ordered and the Servant with the shield nodded.

    "Jeanne, you and I are going to pressure him so he can''t use his body to attack. Let''s buy some time." This time it was Seth who ordered Ruler, Mash may have a chance against a fire breath but against a charge from him, it will be impossible.

    Tarasque spat fire at Saber while Martha followed up with a light beam. Seeing as it was not working, Martha commanded Tarasque to pierce them with his horns.

    Seth proceeded to stand in its way, his arms caught on black fire and positioned them in front of him. When Tarasque was centimeters from him he grabbed his snout after he was pushed back a few meters he was able to stop his charge.

    - Flames Of The Evil God : E+ �� Damage against enemies with Good Alignment increased by 5%. If used to cover the body, defense against enemies with Evil Alignment by 5%. Can rise parameters at the cost of health [Demerit].

    This ability was the one he used when he was unconscious. Judging by the extremely low-rank Seth deduced it might be related to his Divinity. Meaning that the higher it is, the higher the rank of the skill will be and the effects will be greater. It''s an assumption, though. He will know when he breaks another chain.

    Martha who was on top of the Iron Dragon''s head was surprised but soon recomposed herself, pointing her cross at him she tried to attack but Jeanne interrupted her.

    "Tarasque, scorch them!" Martha commanded once more having no option left.

    The Dragon''s mouth was filled with flames, ready to burn everything.

    Having gained enough time, Seth let go of Tarasque''s snout and jumped to the side just in time to hear Saber''s voice.

    �� Cry out. It is time to fall to the ground.

    Hammer of the Vile King.

    Overturn the aurora.

    Swallow the light!

    "Excalibur Morgan"! ��

    A violet beam of light shot towards the Dragon at high speed. Martha, sensing the incoming danger, decided to also use her Noble Phantasm.

    Jumping from Tarasque''s head, she started to chant.

    ��Pitiful Dragon that doesn''t know love...

    Here. Like the stars!

    "Tarasque!"��

    Lightning started covering Tarasque, hitting his head, Martha sent him spinning to meet the incoming attack.

    The two Noble Phantasms clashed, releasing a shockwave that pushed back the rest a bit.

    Sometimes Excalibur Morgan gained the advantage and sometimes Tarasque did. This situation was kept for some seconds but they could see the spinning speed of the Dragon was getting slower and slower with each passing moment.

    Eventually, Saber''s Noble Phantasm prevailed over Martha''s. When Tarasque''s spinning stopped, he received a large wound from his shoulder all the way to his belly under him. Sadly, his extremely strong defense prevented any further damage.

    Once it was over, Martha jumped again on top of Tarasque and they regrouped, returning to the same positions they had at the start of the battle. The only difference was the bleeding body of the Iron Dragon who had troubles to keep standing.

    Fortunately for the side of Humanity, Tarasque wouldn''t be able to move as easily as before meaning that now they could start landing more hits on Martha.

    "Excalibur? The Sword of Promised Victory? So that means you are King Arthur. Heh, funny. It seems we are not the only ones who got corrupted. However, you are gonna receive the fist of God for harming Tarasque." Martha said after seeing the state of her companion. It seemed her personality before she became a saint was resurfacing.

    Jeanne, Marie, and Amadeus were surprised, this was the first time they knew of Saber''s identity which she always tried to keep hidden. Although this situation forced her to reveal her True Name.

    "If you want to see me as a corrupted Servant, go ahead. It won''t change the fact that you are no longer that much of a threat without your Dragon." Artoria coldly stated, she was really pissed at the moment.

    "If you underestimate me just because Tarasque is wounded you are going to regret it." Martha said.

    Those were not empty words, although the Iron Dragon was wounded, it didn''t mean he suddenly became useless. He could still breath fire and horn someone to death, he just had difficulty moving. Besides, it was not like Martha was nothing without Taraseque, she was a pretty capable Servant herself.

    Finishing their little chat, the battle resumed. Saber jumped on top of the Dragon to fight Martha one versus one while the rest stayed on the ground hitting Tarasque on his wound to bring him down faster.

    Amadeus and Marie were giving support, Mash was blocking any fire attacks released from his mouth while Seth and Jeanne were the ones attacking.

    Thankfully his mobility was very limited. Due to that, he didn''t have much time to attack and only concentrated on defending his injured shoulder as much as possible.

    On top of his back, Martha was using her cross-shaped staff to block Saber''s sword. They clashed many times but Martha chose to dodge the majority of the blows, her strength didn''t like in how hard she could swing her staff after all.

    To the surprise of Artoria, Martha didn''t only use her staff to fight her, she used her fists and sometimes her knees to hit her. It would be a lie to say Saber thought she was joking when she said the fist of God part.

    The blue-haired woman was managing to keep up with the King of Knights that way. However, in the midst of their battle, they heard a pained roar from beneath them.

    Jeanne had used her flag to pierce the wounded flesh of the Dragon, bringing him to his knees. Seth took advantage of this opportunity and stabbed his spear through the eyes of the beast, reaching his brain in the process.

    As his life was fading away, the Dragon fell to the ground before fading in motes of light.

 Chapter 23 - Saint Martha II

    Once Tarasque disappeared, Martha stayed still for a second before sighing. Spinning her cross-like staff she faced the defenders of humanity without fear.

    ''Same as always.'' Seth thought while the memories of one of his reincarnations kept getting clear and clear.

    "Saber, leave this to me." He said looking at Artoria. Those may not be exactly his memories but in their honor, he will be the one to slay Martha.

    "What is your plan, bastard? I''m the one who is fighting her." She didn''t like one bit what he had said.

    "Sigh... Consider it a favor, you can ask me for something later." He said making a glint appear in Saber''s golden eyes that disappeared as quickly as it came.

    "Fine, just this time." Saber said in a ''disinterested'' tone.

    A vein popped on Martha''s forehead listening to the conversation of these two. "Can you stop talking like I''m not here?! Do you want me to use the holy knuckle?!" Madness Enhancement plus these two guys aren''t helping to keep her patience at all.

    "Master, be careful." Jeanne said with a bit of a serious tone while Mash and Fujimaru nodded.

    "Just remember to dazzle your opponent with a smile." Marie commented from the side but for the sake of the world, Seth ignored her.

    "Sorry to keep you waiting, Martha��No. Saint Martha." Seth said correcting himself.

    Martha didn''t say anything, she just closed her eyes and ducked her head a little like she was going to pray. Her staff glowed before a blue light covered her.

    Seth felt something strange on his body after she did that, it felt like he became a bit weaker on the defensive side. ''Must be one of her skills.'' He theorized.

    With her staff still glowing, she dashed at him and performed a diagonal swing to the sky. Seth moved his head backward to avoid the hit.

    Continuing to attack, Martha decided to throw a kick at him but he used his spear to block it. She used everything at her disposal, ranging from her staff to her fists.

    Seth for his part only used his weapon, he didn''t like using his body to attack. Of course, if the need arises he will not get picky.

    As the battle progressed, cuts started forming on Martha''s skin. Using his spear like a hammer, he did a vertical swing at her.

    Despite blocking the blow with her staff, the ground beneath her caved in and cracked causing her to grit her teeth to withstand the attack.

    Taking advantage of her predicament he quickly retracted his weapon and slashed at her stomach, creating a deep wound and sending her flying to a tree.

    "Gah...!" After impacting the tree trunk she fell to the ground on her knees, her vision blurring. Looking ahead of her, she noticed the man she was fighting was standing in the same position from where she had hit her before.

    Her vision blurred once again and when it returned to normal, a spear was piercing her c.h.e.s.t. "Cough...It''s enough, you...cough...did well..." She said while coughing blood.

    "Listen well...you need to go to wh��cough cough...to what was once Lyon. There...there you will find what you need...cough...what you need to defeat Fafnir." She said with difficulty.

    "To defeat Fafnir? Are you referring to a Dragon Slayer perhaps?" Seth said to which Martha simply nodded to avoid unnecessary pain.

    "I see...thank you for the information." Seth thanked her surprising Artoria, as far as she knew, this guy wasn''t one to thank or apologize that easily, Mash and Fujimaru shared the same sentiment.

    The Saint smiled before asking, "Have we...met before?"

    "Not exactly ''me'' and ''you''. But you could say I have received your iron knuckle before you became a Saint." He said in an emotionless tone contrasting his words resounding with familiarity, they weren''t truly his memories after all.

    Martha weakly chuckled. "Sorry that I don''t...remember. Next time I will...be sure to give it to you...once more." And with that, she faded away.

    "...I guess we have a new destination now. She was right, a Dragon Slayer would be a big help." The hologram of Dr. Roman said.

    They nodded and went on their way to Lyon so they could meet this Heroic Spirit and see if he/she would lend them a hand.

    Meanwhile, in the black Jeanne''s castle, two new Servants have been summoned. This, however, didn''t bring her any joy. Noticing this, Gilles who was by her side decided to ask.

    "What''s the matter, Jeanne? What put you in such a bad mood?" He asked with a soothing voice like that of a parent speaking to their children, even if his face didn''t bring any comfort.

    ''If someone here isn''t real, that would be you...you are just an amalgamation of evil...'' Those words kept playing inside her head like a broken record.

    "Dammit! Dammit!" Jeanne didn''t respond, she just kept cursing and destroying the walls of the room they were in.

    Despite the display, Gilles kept smiling as if nothing happened. In fact, he liked what she was doing. That was proof she truly lived for hate and revenge.

    After breaking a few more things, she finally calmed down. Taking a deep breath she looked at Berserker Caster. "I''m sorry, Gilles. I''m okay now."

    With the same smile on his face, he responded. "No, no. It''s quite alright Jeanne. Now, will you tell me what is bothering you?"

    "Gilles...I''m the real Jeanne D''Arc, right?" She answered with another question. Normally she wouldn''t doubt it but the voice of that hateful man keeps messing with her head.

    Without a change in his expression, he answered her. "Of course you are the real one, Jeanne. You were betrayed and ultimately burned at the stake. If you can''t harbor hate against the ones who did that, wouldn''t you say that person was not human?"

    "Yes...yes, you are right. I will get my revenge on them, I will make sure to destroy until there is nothing left, starting from that man!" She said with blazing fury, especially the last part.

    Calming herself once more, she turned toward the two newly summoned Servants. "Now. shall we get going, Lancelot, the Knight of the Lake and the Executioner Charles-Henri Sanson?"

    Lancelot, the knight in black armor only responded with an ununderstandable growl while Sanson, the white-haired young man with a big sword smiled while saying, "Of course, if someone is going to take the head of the Queen, that would be me."

    Having finished what she needed to do, she departed.

    =====================

    On their way to Lyon, Chaldea''s group passed by an abandoned town. They decided to ask for information about the current situation as no one really knew what was happening at the moment.

    Marie offered herself to be the one to enter the town and ask, the rest of the group didn''t have any problems with it and Jeanne herself couldn''t enter as she would likely cause mass panic.

    While Marie was in the town, they decided to discuss a bit about their future plans.

    "We have to search for the Dragon Slayer that Saint Martha talked about but what are we going to do next? If what we discussed yesterday about the black Jeanne summoning more Servants becomes reality, we are going to need more help. Especially if that person is busy fighting Fafnir." Mash said worriedly from the side.

    "Our best option is looking for more Servants, maybe we will find some on our way to Lyon or even Orleans." Romani chimed in with a solution.

    "What the weird Doctor says is right. However, nothing says those Servants won''t be enemies as we said before so that option is not viable." Saber remarked without expression causing Dr. Roman to cry internally.

    "Yes... As much as we need help, wasting unnecessary energy fighting someone who is not exactly our enemy would be foolish." Jeanne agreed with her words.

    "We won''t do much if we overthink things. Besides, there is the option to run if we don''t want to waste energy or even luring them to fight against the other Jeanne''s Servants." Seth said without much interest.

    Just as he finished speaking, a skipping Marie could be seen on the distance walking and waving toward them.

    Coming to a stop in front of them, she said with a smile, "I found a good piece of information, guys!"

    "So? What''s the state of things?" Dr. Roman asked.

    Her tone took a sad turn. "If I have to choose a word, it would be bad. According to the people I asked, Lyon was destroyed a while ago and its citizens have taken refuge here."

    "Just as I thought..." Jeanne released a sad sight.

    "I''m afraid so...they said Lyon is now plagued by monsters coming straight from Hell." She said, sharing Jeanne sentiment.

    Before her next words, her tone became a little more cheerful. "However, not everything they said was bad news. They also said there was a knight with a big sword who defended the town from Wyverns and Skeletons."

    Jeanne''s face became a little spirited. "Does that mean he is the Servant that Saint Martha told us to find before she died?"

    "If the people in town didn''t speak about any more out of the norm warriors in Lyon then that''s the most probable guess." Dr. Roman said.

    "As the mage from a distant land says, the people only mentioned him. The thing is, while he was defending the town he was overwhelmed by a group of powerful enemies and is now missing." Mary informed.

    "Great...now we aren''t even sure if he is alive." Seth said with a little resignation in his voice.

    "Let''s believe he is, we should trust the words of Saint Martha." Fujimaru said with unbreakable hope.

    ''Sure...let''s trust the words of the enemy.'' Seth rolled his eyes. Although he ''knew'' Martha, he wouldn''t bet his everything in trusting her words. He had already formulated a plan in case it was just a trap.

    "Oh, I forgot to mention. They said General Gilles de Rais is gathering soldiers to attack Lyon and take it back from the monsters." Marie told them about the last information she got.

    "Gilles...!" Jeanne seemed surprised at the mention of the name. Her other self had mentioned his name when they met for the first time. That means that there are also two Gilles in this Singularity.

    "Isn''t that great? Jeanne could ask him to lend us a hand!" Marie proposed.

    "Not exactly, if Gilles also thinks that Jeanne is an evil witch then we would only be getting us one enemy instead of an ally." Seth didn''t agree with her words.

    "...Yes. It''s as Master says, it would only bring unnecessary complications." She said with downcast eyes. Gilles was a man that fought together with her, it brought her no end of sadness the fact they couldn''t fight side by side again due to ''her'' crimes.

    "I understand. Then we need to hurry, if we get to Lyon quickly we won''t have to meet him!" Marie said full of enthusiasm.

    Jeanne smiled at her passion. "Right, we will have to defeat the enemy by ourselves, just as we have been doing."

    "Yes! We can do it if we try!" Fujimaru also shared Marie''s feelings.

    "That''s the spirit! Here, let me give you a reward!" She skipped toward the Master and gave him a peck on his cheek.

    "..."

    It took a moment for everyone to react except Amadeus, he was already used to such sights. Fujimaru was blushing like a tomato and had a weird smile on his face. Seth distanced himself from him, he was really creeping him out.

    Amadeus had a helpless smile. "Just ignore her, she likes to kiss everyone. It brought a lot of troubles in our time."

    ''I don''t think that''s something normal...'' Was the thought on everyone''s mind. Mash at this point was shaking Fujimaru senseless to make him come back to reality.

    "Didn''t you kissed everyone you liked in your time?" Marie asked Seth, Jeanne, and Artoria.

    "No. And a King mustn''t indulge in such things." Artoria replied.

    "I did not! Absolutely did not! I would only do it with the person I was going to marry..." She shouted the first part embarrassed while the second became a mutter.

    "..." The rest looked at Seth waiting for an answer. Said man raised an eyebrow at their gazes.

    "What? Don''t look at me like that. No matter the era, it is uncommon to go around kissing people. What is there to answer?"

    "The opinion of a married man is��" Before Saber finished speaking she was knocked in the head.

    "Are you having a mana fever or something? You are being delirious." He said in a tone that conveyed ''Agree or die''.

    "You will pay for this..." She said to herself while on the outside she was agreeing with his words. "Right, right. What he said."

    Fujimaru was already in the real world, asked a little concerned. "Are you okay? Don''t you want to rest or something?"

    Avoiding eye contact in fear of being discovered, she replied, "Of course, I will be fine with a little rest, yes..."

    "I fear there won''t be time for such a thing. I see soldiers over there and they don''t look like normal ones, their intent to kill is high." Deciding to ignore the obvious lie that no one bought except for Mash and Fujimaru, he informed the group of incoming enemies.

    "Those soldiers seem to have become bandits after all of these attacks, we will have to defeat them if we don''t want the people from this town suffering anymore." Jeanne said and departed to meet the enemy.

    ''Misfortune strikes in unexpected places...'' Seth mused releasing an internal sigh.

 Chapter 24 - Finding The Dragon Slayer

    After a short-lived battle, the bandit group was tied up and handed to the French soldiers guarding the little town. Of course, this was done by Seth as he was the one who had the most soldier-like appearance not taking into account Jeanne who for obvious reasons didn''t get near them. He did get questioned but a hole in the wall by a punch gave the soldier the answers he needed.

    Once that was over, they departed toward the city of Lyon. They didn''t find any enemies along the way so the group decided to chat to pass time. Seth didn''t join them as he was going a bit ahead of the group to detect if a Servant appeared seeing as Romani was unreliable as always.

    Looking at the Ring of Light in the sky, he couldn''t help but find it familiar but still the answer didn''t come to him. Thinking a bit about the recent events, he guessed he must have seen it in one of his many reincarnations. He just needed a trigger to remember it.

    Shaking his head he decided to think about the future. The battles were only going to become harder. If he didn''t regain strength he won''t be able to change anything, worse, he might even cause the death of those children.

    ''Well, I learned my lesson. If worst comes to worst, I will remove my limiters by my own volition and go all out even at the cost of my body breaking. I know I can beat the other Jeanne with that so it''s a plus I guess...''

    "I can see the city at the distance!" Seth was brought out of his thoughts by Mash''s voice, looking ahead he indeed noticed a city, or what it was a city. Now what was left were just ruins.

    Getting closer, they could see better the state Lyon was in. There was not a building intact, either they were totally destroyed or half burned down.

    "So it was true, the city was destroyed..." Jeanne said with a disheartened tone.

    "My detection range doesn''t cover the whole city but there is no one alive in the range it does." Seth said shattering the little hopes Jeanne had.

    "What about you, Doctor?" Mash asked but there was no response.

    "It seems the connection was cut off, we will need to split up to cover more space." Mash said.

    "Okay, Amadeus and I will go to the west side. Saber, do you want to come with us." Marie decided for both her and Amadeus and then asked Artoria.

    "I don''t mind." She agreed.

    "Then Master, Ritsuka, Mash and I will go to the east side." Jeanne said but was met with a negative answer from Seth.

    "No, you go to the east side with the kids. I''m going north in case one side needs help so I can get there faster." He didn''t like the idea of splitting up but the city was big so they didn''t have many alternatives if they wanted to find the Dragon Slayer quickly.

    "..." Jeanne looked at him for a second before nodding. "I understand. Please be careful, if you need my help just use a Command Spell."

    ''At least she doesn''t disobey anymore.'' He thought but outwardly he hummed in agreement.

    Having decided their next course of action they separated in their respective direction. Once he saw all of them go, Seth materialized his spear and started walking north while putting its tip on the ground to make screeching noises. He didn''t lie when he said he didn''t detect any people who were alive, but that didn''t include the dead ones.

    The noise would make them gather toward him and make the others have an easy time searching for that Dragon Slayer. True to his words, undead soldiers appeared from inside the buildings, some even sprouted from the ground.

    Seth extended his left hand forward and black fire materialized around it, said fire morphed into the shape of a serpent and toward the group of undead at incredible speed. In less than a second, all moving corpses turned to ashes.

    He kept eliminating all the undead he came across in the same fashion. If he had to say a strong point about himself right now it wouldn''t be his combat prowess but his mana pool. It was kind of sad that he was not a magical God but a physical one. if that weren''t the case he would have already killed Jeanne and her goons long ago.

    The fire serpent from before was just a degraded version of one of his skills, he was using it to expend his mana instead of keeping it serving no purpose. Of course, if he were to use the original skill then the serpent would be enormous. Sadly, even with his large mana, it wasn''t enough. He calculated that ten times the amount of his current mana was necessary to perform his weakest skill.

    While he was strolling around the ruined city, he met Artoria, Marie and Amadeus who were coming from the west.

    "Did you find the one we are looking for?" He asked seeing them coming closer.

    "Unfortunately, we didn''t. We did notice undead surging so we were going to help Jeanne and the rest. What about you?" Marie asked in a hurry, it seems she really wanted to go to the rescue.

    "Just did, I''m going to go look for it. You can go ahead and help the others." Seth said earning a nod from the three.

    Once they departed, he went to the direction where he had detected the Dragon Slayer. He didn''t walk much when he heard a growl from the skies, a group of green Wyverns led by a red one was hovering over him.

    Thinking of him as easy prey, one of them rapidly descended with its claws ready to grab Seth and rip him to shreds.

    Seth looked at the incoming beast, grabbed its legs and slammed it into the ground. Not happy enough, he put his foot on top of the fallen Wyvern''s head and then proceeded to crush it into meat paste.

    Seeing the death of their comrade, more Wyverns came to the ground but all met the same end. This kept repeating until only the red one was left. But seeing as it had no chance of survival it retreated.

    Not having any reason to chase after it, Seth let the Wyvern go. That was until he noticed the presence of a Servant near the rest. Quickly deciding something he looked at the direction of the retreating beast.

    Grabbing a medium-sized stone, he threw it at the flying Wyvern. Upon contact, it shattered into dust and made the lesser dragon fall to the ground.

    He got closer to it just as the Wyvern was getting up and shaking its head to snap out of its stunned state. Clutching its neck, he made eye contact with the beast. Eyes flashing golden, he said just one word, "Submit." and the beast fell under his control.

    Jumping on its back, he commanded it to go east where the others were. The beast took flight with Seth on its back and departed.

    Meanwhile, the rest of the group had just finished fighting the Wyverns that also attacked them.

    "Finally, the battle is over. Not only undead but Wyverns too. They didn''t lie when they said this city was plagued by monsters." Mash said with a little helplessness on her tone.

    "Right...at least we managed to free those poor souls from their suffering." Jeanne said but that was when an unknown voice joined in their conversation.

    "Do they even have the d.e.s.i.r.e to be freed? They don''t hold such emotions I fear." A man with long red claws in a black coat with a white mask that covered the right side of his bandaged face made his appearance.

    "A Servant...?" Fujimaru asked unsurely.

    "That is correct, young man. People call me The Phantom of the Opera and I''m in charge of this city, the city where hell is on earth by orders from the Dragon Witch herself." The man said confirming his status as a Servant and also revealing his True Name without care.

    "Now, let me hear your beautiful voice as you die. This destroyed place will be your stage, where I shall partake in the sound of your agony. Oh, Christine, will their voices ever compare to your magnificent one��" He didn''t even finish his sentence when a spear pierced his head from high above.

    The group looked up only to see Seth mounted on a red Wyvern with a face that said ''Really?'' They couldn''t blame him, though. No one expected the battle to finish this quickly.

    Now dead, the Phantom of the Opera faded in yellow lights.

    ''I came all the way for this? Seriously?'' He g.r.o.a.n.e.d in his mind. The majority of his battles were always like this.

    "U-Um...Master?" Jeanne asked, not knowing what to say.

    Artoria was more direct. "Bastard, have you taken the side of the enemy already?" She coldly asked.

    "Go bark somewhere else. I never left your side." He said while lightly tapping the Wyvern''s neck to make it go down.

    While almost everyone was confused by the situation, Fujimaru''s eyes were sparkling. "Kuro-san, how did you do to make that Wyvern let you ride on it?! That''s so cool!"

    "I just saved him while he was being attacked by other Wyverns, he was so grateful that he decided to follow me." Seth lied with a straight face, the red beast just looked the other way while a small tear fell from its eye, even a mindless beast like him could understand this was pure injustice.

    "I see, that makes sense! By the way, have you thought of a name?" Fujimaru asked, still interested in the matter.

    "No, he doesn''t need one." Turning to look at the Wyvern he gave it a light slap. "Go, you are free now." He said and faster than someone could blink, it flapped its wings and flew into the distance.

    Saber quickly covered her mouth trying not to laugh.

    "He looked happy to go, though...?" Fujimaru asked with confusion.

    "Don''t mind it, some people''s gratitude doesn''t last very long. Anyway. I found the guy we were looking for, now that we have cleaned most of the undead we can finally go and rescue him." Seth said totally unaffected by that prick''s readiness to flee.

    "Really?! Where is he?" Mash asked

    Pointing at an enormous building he replied, "In that big castle over there. I guess he is hiding to recover or something."

    "If that''s true then we need to find him as soon as possible." Jeanne said with urgency.

    Agreeing with her words, the group marched to meet the Dragon Slayer. That was when Dr. Roman''s voice was heard by everyone.

    "Finally, the connection is back. Guys, you need to retreat! I''m detecting an ultra-size lifeform heading your direction, plus there are three Servants with it!"

    "So Fafnir is coming, huh? Then I guess the crazy kid is coming too." Seth said, completely unfazed by Romani''s words.

    "Then why are you so calm?! I can sense the hate of that Dragon even from here! If he sees you then it will all be over!" He said appealing to his reason.

    "Why don''t you drink a tea or something and stop bothering, Romani? Finding that guy takes priority." Seth dismissed his words.

    "Master is right...if we retreat now we may not get a chance to come back for him in the future. If what Master said is correct, then the other me might be here to kill that Servant to avoid a future threat." Jeanne agreed with Seth.

    "It will be a real problem if the Dragon Witch comes, that''s why we need to hurry." Marie said with a serious voice this time.

    "I don''t like the melody produced by the other Jeanne but if you fight I will do it too, Maria." Amadeus said after Marie.

    "We just have to buy some time, don''t worry." She smiled again.

    "If you all finished with your cloying words, I suggest we get going. Considering they are on top of a dragon then they will come here sooner than later." Saber coldly remarked from the side.

    Releasing a frustrated sigh, Romani spoke. "Okay, okay. If you already came to a decision I won''t stop you. Wait for a second, I will check for readings on any Servant nearby."

    "That''s not necessary, Doctor. Kuro-san already spotted the Dragon Slayer before, it''s in the castle." Mash said.

    "Okay then, but please hurry!" He remained them once again.

    Seth put Fujimaru on his shoulders to save time, thanks to that, they reached the castle in ten minutes. Going through multiple corridors they finally found the Servant they were looking for.

    A silver-haired man with white armor and a big sword in a black sheath. The man had a green tattoo-like mark on his c.h.e.s.t and was so wounded you would have to question yourself how was he still alive.

    "That wound...!" Mash was surprised by its gravity, you could even see some organs.

    Seeing someone approaching, the wounded man got up and brandished his sword at them but was blocked by Seth''s spear. "They still keep coming...one after...the other." He said with difficulty.

    "Calm down, slayer of dragons. We came here for your help, not to fight you." Seth said easily parrying his sword. The Servant, using his weapon as support, looked confused at them.

    "You have the same aura as Fafnir, so I guess you are Siegfried. Listen, that Dragon is coming here so we need to go now. With those wounds, you won''t do anything more than throw your life away if you were to fight." Seth easily discovered the Dragon Slayer''s true name, making him surprised again but for a different reason.

    "I see... Then it makes sense I was summoned here." He said, coming to an understanding of the situation.

    "Artoria, you carry Fujimaru this time. I will help Siegfried." Seth said then proceeded to put Siegfried''s arm over his shoulder.

    "Don''t order me around, I don''t remember becoming your Servant." Despite her words, she got closer to Fujimaru and carried him like a sack of potatoes.

    Exiting the castle, the group tried to make their way out of Lyon. It was at that moment a roar filled with hate shook the skies.

    The enemy was here.

    *******************************************

    Writing here because limit count on AT.

    Ha. You thought I was going to do an epic battle for the worst Servant in the game? Keep dreaming!

    Didn''t expect for Seth to control Wyverns, eh? He has better control over serpents (for obvious reasons) and lesser dragons like that one. However, real dragons are out of the question. Also, he can control sphynxes if that wasn''t obvious enough.

    Welp boys, Happy New Year! My wish for 2020 is for MrMoist to come back and keep writing his awesome novel. I have the right to dream, okay?! Btw, I''m going to take a 3-4 days break, I have to spend time with my family as it''s new years and all that.

    I will still be around to answer any doubts you have, just not as often as before xP

    Also, prepare for the sumanai jokes.

 Chapter -1 - Character Sheet (Contains Spoilers)

    Class: None/Lancer?

    True Name: Seth

    Gender: Male

    Source: Egyptian Mythology

    Region: Egypt

    Alignment: Chaotic Neutral

    Height: 187cm

    Weight: 83kg

    ������������������������������������������������������������

    Parameters Values

    Strength A

    Endurance A+++

    Agility A++

    Magical Power EX

    Luck C

    Noble Phantasm -

    ������������������������������������������������������������

    Class Skills

    Divinity: C �� Power innate to the Gods or those related to them. His Divinity is different from the ones of this world; hence his current body can''t withstand its full force. The C Rank is used to represent how much of his Divinity he can handle.

    Personal Skills

    Kingslayer: EX �� Damage and defense against enemies with the "King" trait increased by 50% Although powerful, something is lacking to make it evolve.

    Flames Of The Evil God: C+ �� Damage against enemies with Good Alignment increased by 25% If used to cover the body, defense against enemies with Evil Alignment by 25%. Can rise parameters at the cost of health [Demerit].

    ???: EX �� ?

    Shapeshift A �� Increases one''s own defense for a short amount of time. Further increases it by a much longer amount of time.

    ������������������������������������������������������������

    Pseudo Noble Phantasms

    ��Apophis Isfet Neter��The Serpent God of Chaos

    Rank: E�CEX

    Type: Anti-World

    Range: As far as Apophis size becomes

    Maximum Number of Targets: -

    The Serpent that was said to lay in wait to kill Ra as he traveled on his boat through the skies of Ancient Egypt. Seth uses his Authority over Violence, Envy, Disorder, and Chaos to call upon the land an avatar of the God he once slew. All that falls under his Authority is transformed into numerical values and then converted to energy, which he absorbs to "fuel" the size of the avatar. The more he absorbs it, the bigger Apophis will become, and in consequence, his rank will go up. Although classified as an Anti-World Type Pseudo Noble Phantasm, that does not mean it has the power to destroy it. The classification comes from the fact that Apophis is considered a Serpent that devours the World.

    ...

    ��???��?

    Rank: C

    Type: Anti-Unit (Self)

    Range: 0

    Maximum Number of Targets: 1 person

    Previously a skill, it has become a Pseudo-Noble Phantasm. Its details are unknown, but maybe in the moment of truth, its name will be revealed.

    ������������������������������������������������������������

    Noble Phantasm

    ��Org�� Chil��on An��mon��They who rage against the tyranny of the Gods

    Rank: EX

    Type: Anti-Continent

    Range: Varies

    Maximum Number of Targets: -

    Long ago, people associated Seth with the monster from Greek mythology, Typhon. It''s thanks to this relation that he can use his powers, albeit to a lesser extent. Seth''s personality becomes like that of a machine and begins doing all sorts of calculations to release his Noble Phantasm. Using Typhon''s powers, he summons a hurricane that can grow as long as Magical Energy gets supplied to it. Of course, due to it not being his power, another set of calculations need to be done to create it properly. Its chant mentions "Part 1." If it has multiple stages or there are other Noble Phantasms is unknown.

    ������������������������������������������������������������

    ???

    ��Burning World��Fifth Cycle: That which cleanses all evil

    To start a new beginning, every evil that remains in a decaying world needs to be burned by flames. That includes the user himself.

    ��World''s End��? Cycle: ???

    ???

 Chapter 26 - Payback

    *ROAR*

    A thunderous roar resounded all around them. Looking up, the group saw the figure of the gigantic black dragon Fafnir with Jeanne Alter on top of it together with a white-haired man with a dark gray coat and a big sword. A knight covered in full black armor was present too.

    Setting her gaze upon them, Jeanne spoke with disdain. "Ha! Running around like rats for help and the only thing you find is a dying Serv-"

    She wanted to continue but was interrupted by the armored man beside her. "ARRRTTHHHHUUUURRRRR!!!!!!" With a hate-filled scream, the knight jumped from Fafnir and shot down like a cannonball in Artoria''s direction.

    "Berserker! Don''t you dare disobey me! Come back here, it''s not your turn to act yet!" Jeanne screamed in rage to the knight but was totally ignored.

    A look of confusion flashed through Artoria''s eyes, not recognizing the man that seemed to hate her to the bone. Seth and Siegfried exchanged a look and both nodded. Seth put him down and did a big jump to meet the falling knight.

    Armor collided with weapon, creating gusts of wind in all directions. Seth''s eyes were on the rustic helmet of the knight, although there seemed to be some kind of interference he could still see the maddened glow of his eyes.

    "ARRGGHHH!!!" With a mad howl for being interrupted. Berserker tried grabbing Seth''s spear, something which proved to be a big mistake. The spear as if alive released a mad howl of its own and started changing, the previously gray shaft turned black and gold hieroglyphs started forming around it. Those hieroglyphs formed Seth''s name.

    "Didn''t your parents teach you not to try and steal someone else''s property? Now you made it angry." He said words that looked like he was making a joke but his tone and expression told something different.

    Repelled like there was some sort of force field around the spear, the knight lost all of its momentum, something Seth took advantage of. "This is for putting your hands on MY weapon." Setting his leg on fire he kicked the armored man in the stomach throwing him upward toward Fafnir''s direction.

    After kicking Berserker, Seth descended and landed beside the sitting Sigfried who he proceeded to help to stand up again.

    "Sumanai, I wish I could be of help but with my body like this I''m afraid I can''t do much." Siegfried apologized to Seth while using his sword as additional support, said man just told him not to worry about it.

    "Fafnir, catch Lancelot!" The now madder Saint ordered her dragon which complied and extended its claws successfully stopping him from flying any further.

    Saber''s eyes widened at Alter''s words. "Sir Lancelot?!" She asked to no one in particular with disbelief. She didn''t expect to meet one of her knights here but most important of all, Artoria didn''t expect one of her knights to become like her.

    "You are all useless! You can''t even be obedient like a good dog and do what I say!" Jeanne said with rage that didn''t last long. Quickly regaining her composure, she shot a smug look at Artoria. "Oh? What seems to be the matter, icy bitch? Bothered by something?" She asked causing Saber to clench her fists.

    "That''s not good! A lady should not say such things, even if her heart is filled with hate." Marie intervened from the side with nothing good to contribute as always.

    "Shut up, you clueless idiot! I''m already sick of you all. Fafnir, finish them!" Jeanne Alter commanded Fafnir, the dragon happily complied and started gathering energy in its mouth ready to blast them all to oblivion with Seth as the principal target as he was the one Fafnir hated the most.

    "This doesn''t look for us, I should''ve run away sooner." Amadeus commented and this time his companions were the ones who wanted to insult him.

    "We need to do something. Master, I��I will stop it!" Mash said positioning her shield in front of her ready to block Fafnir''s breath attack.

    Fujimaru, who was still on Artoria''s shoulders shook his head in denial. "Don''t be reckless, that''s too dangerous!" He tried to warn her of the impending doom that will come to her if she tries to stand up to that Dragon.

    "Please believe in me Master, I will certainly block it!" She stubbornly refused to back down.

    "Don''t worry, I will help her." Jeanne reassured Fujimaru and walked forward until she was beside Mash.

    "But...!" The Master wanted to continue but seeing Mash''s gaze full of confidence he finally relented.

    Not waiting for them to finish, Fafnir attacked them with a red beam that created a sonic boom upon release.

    Seeing the incoming attack the two Servants didn''t waste any time and prepared to unleash their Noble Phantasms.

    "Luminosit��..."

    "Lord..."

    Together with their chant, a big green shield started forming and a while light started descending from the sky.

    "Eternelle!"

    "Chaldeas!"

    Just as they finished, the red beam finally reached its intended target. When the attack met the defense, everything, even what was not ahead of the attack was destroyed.

    The only thing that was still standing strong where both the light and shield and what they wanted to protect. However, little by little, Jeanne and Mash were being pushed back and even Jeanne''s flag was tearing as time went by.

    ''This can''t keep going like this, at this rate the majority of us will be incinerated.'' Seth thought before turning to Siegfried. "Can you at least do one attack?" He asked. In this situation, it was better to have someone with dragon-slaying properties do the final blow. As of now, fire was the authority which he had the most access to not taking into account evil, followed by storms and illusions. Taking into account Fafnir was a dragon, fire wouldn''t be of much use.

    "Yes, I have been gathering mana to use Balmung but after that, I won''t be of use. Sumanai." He apologized for not being able to help once again.

    "One use is all we need, I will distract him in case he stops his attack to avoid yours." Seth said and Siegried nodded in agreement.

    ''Marie and Amadeus will be useless here and Saber is carrying Fujimaru so she won''t be able to do much, if she were to drop him to make a distraction and Fafnir''s attack made its way through it will be bad. I need to distract it myself.'' Seth thought looking around he noticed something that could help.

    [O Sand. Ascend and bring forth the storm!] Seth spun his spear once and pointed at Fafnir. From all around him, dust started gathering in multiple inverse tornado-like shapes.

    Once they formed completely they shot toward Fafnir in a mad spiral from all directions.

    ROOOAAARRR!!!!

    Fafnir sent a massive roar of annoyance but still continued attacking, Jeanne shot a look of disdain from the Dragon''s back.

    What she failed to notice, however, were the dark clouds forming on the sky covering everything except the light from Luminosit�� Eternelle.

    "This is for the last battle, crazy kid." He said before closing his eyes and opening them again to reveal golden ones.

    [Mortals shall be judged by the hands of the evil in the sky. Heaven''s strike!] Finishing chanting, the tip of the spear that was pointing at Fafnir descended until it was looking at the ground.

    Jeanne noticing the world above her illuminating in white light. Looking up, she noticed, albeit too late, a massive thunder coming in their direction.

    *BOOM*

    The sound of a big explosion was heard together with the anguish filled roar of Fafnir. The Dragon staggered mid-air to the side effectively stopping its beam attack.

    "Now, Siegfried!" With the opportunity obtained, now what was left was the final blow from Siegfried. The man nodded and set his gaze on the giant dragon in the sky.

    "Evil Dragon who rules the Blue Sky. As the one who defeated you, If you get summoned then I shall be summoned too to return you to your slumber." The sword of Siegfried started glowing in blue light but the man had troubles to keep standing. Seeing this, Seth approached to help the man keep his balance and used the magical energy he had sitting there doing nothing to make the blow more powerful.

    The blue glow gained dark tints to it. Seth was careful not to overdo it less he wanted to transform Balmung in a Broken Phantasm.

    With a nod expressing his thanks, Siegfried raised his sword to the sky, "Noble Phantasm release! Balmung!" before slamming it into the ground creating a dark blue beam similar to Fafnir''s that managed to impact head-on on the Dragon''s stomach.

    Fafnir roared in pain, more than the times before. It kept flapping its wings trying to stabilize itself. Jeanne and the other two Servants had troubles maintaining their footing on its back.

    "Dammit! Fafnir get yourself together and climb up to the sky!" Alter commanded and Fafnir obeyed albeit a little clumsily.

    "Dammit! DAMMIT!" Once they were high up in the now blue sky after the storm dispersed, Jeanne couldn''t help but curse and curse. Ever since that pair of annoying rats came here, nothing was going her way.

    Calming herself down after her outburst, she turned toward Sanson and Lancelot. "You two, go after them. Your priority is the Dragon Slayer. Fafnir received too much damage, I can''t risk losing him for nothing." She then looked at Sanson''s coat who now looked like rags, Lancelot''s armor who seemed even blacker than before and her own arm that had burn marks all over it. It seemed Balmung wasn''t the only thing they needed to be wary of.

    Jeanne clenched her fist in rage. ''I will personally be the one to kill you.'' She thought with rage. "Berserker Assassin will join you later, be sure to kill as many as you can."

    "Don''t worry, Master. The Queen''s neck is something only I am fit to cut." Sanson replied calmly as if nothing happened.

    "Arrrrrrr����������thuuuurrrr!!!" For his part, Lancelot only howled the same words he has been doing for a couple of times now.

    "Tch. I didn''t expect anything from a Berseker but you really are testing my patience." She couldn''t help but curse her luck with Lancelot''s case. Of all the Servants in the world, the useless dog had to meet the one that fueled his madness.

    =========================

    "Now it''s our time to retreat!" Jeanne said with a hurried breath. Stopping Fafnir''s attack wasn''t easy at all.

    "I agree, it will be bad if they come back. I will be counting on you to help me walk, sumanai." Siegfried apologized, AGAIN.

    "Don''t apologize that much, it''s not necessary." Amadeus said smiling.

    "Suma��Right..." Siegfried was about to apologize again but seeing everyone glares he stopped.

    The group now finally started making their way out of Lyon. Everyone except for Saber, and in consequence Fujimaru, who kept looking at the sky in the direction where Fafnir had run off. Sighing, she shook her head and followed the rest.

    Fujimaru, noticing Saber''s strange behavior, decided to ask, "Saber, are you okay? You seem to be a little down."

    "It''s nothing. It''s just that seeing a Knight of The Round Table after so long brings back memories." Saber replied. What she didn''t say, however, was how much ''strange'' she felt seeing one of her knights in a similar state like hers.

    Fujimaru nodded. "I don''t know how you must be feeling right now fighting against one of your knights as an enemy but I''m sure everything will work itself out in the end." He smiled.

    Saber nodded, with her mood improved a little. "Right, I guess it will all be fine." She said, exiting the now, even more, ruined city with the rest.

    They had been walking for half an hour, except Marie who was riding her crystal horse, when they were met with warcries from men and roars from Wyverns. Looking ahead, they noticed a skirmish between the French army and the flying beasts.

    "Those are French soldiers, we need to help them!" Jeanne said, but even without opening her mouth they will have to fight anyways as the Wyverns had detected them and started attacking.

    Artoria put down Fujimaru, who thanked every God possible for getting out of that embarrassing situation, and readied her sword. The rest did the same while Seth just stayed in the back with Siegfried.

    When Wyverns got too close he slashed them in half, he also created fire serpents that attached themselves to the legs of the dragons like tentacles and made them smash against each other.

    A Wyvern approached from behind ready to sink its claws into Siegried''s back but was stopped by a glare from Seth. "Attack the other Wyverns." He ordered. The beast, having lost all of its free will did just that and started clawing and biting the enemy. The controlled Wyvern managed to kill three of its kin before being ganged upon and tore to pieces by the others.

    "I didn''t know you could control them, were you a Dragon Tamer in life?" Siegried asked seeing the display.

    "Yeah...something like that." He vaguely replied while helping the others in beating the enemy.

    However, their display soon gained the attention of the French Army and seeing Jeanne amidst them, they got increasingly furious and restless.

    "It''s the Dragon Witch! Attack her, let''s take revenge for our homeland!" One soldier said and others followed suit causing Jeanne to sigh in helplessness.

    Despite their d.e.s.i.r.e to attack Jeanne, they couldn''t do it due to the whole army of Wyverns who ironically protected her from the soldiers'' reach.

    Little by little, the French Army was being pushed back. Wyverns dived and grabbed soldiers before tearing them in two with their claws, painting a grotesque scene that was not for the faint of heart.

    This wasn''t the end of all their troubles, though. Seth noticed and Romani confirmed soon after the presence of approaching Servants. It seemed they have caught up to them.

    "We need to prepare for another fight. Ruler, you keep helping the soldiers even though they aren''t so keen to receive your help. We will fight against the other Servants." Seth said to Jeanne.

    "Understood, leave it to me." She nodded.

    ''Now...let''s welcome the mad knight and the others.''

 Chapter 27 - Motivation To Fight

    It wasn''t long before the figures of Carmilla, Lancelot and Sanson mounted on Wyverns could be seen in the distance. This time, Jeanne Alter wasn''t with them.

    Even from afar, the malice oozing from those Servants could be felt. To the extent that even the common soldiers noticed them. "Shit! This can''t be real, reinforcements? We are barely hanging out against these beasts!" One soldier couldn''t help but complain in despair.

    Fortunately for the French army, however, the three Servants didn''t focus on them. Instead, they each chose a target to face. Carmilla chose Jeanne, Sanson, Marie. And Lancelot obviously chose Artoria.

    Getting down from her Wyvern, the Blood Countess turned to face Jeanne, putting her free hand in her mouth in pure ecstasy, she spoke. "Oh my. It seems the time to finally feast upon the v.i.r.g.i.n blood of the Saint has come."

    "I will not let you harm these people." Jeanne, completely unfazed by her words, made her stance clear.

    "Foolish girl, I don''t have to do anything. The Wyverns are doing enough of a good job." She chuckled in amus.e.m.e.nt.

    Jeanne clenched her fists and made the first move, hurriedness was clear in her eyes as she needed to help the soldiers against the Wyverns and every second counted.

    While the two started battling, Sanson and Lancelot met their respective opponents. "I apologize for keeping you waiting, your majesty. Don''t worry, my executioner blade shall test your neck soon. It''s our fate, isn''t it?" Sanson calmly smiled.

    "You want to kill her again? Sure you weren''t summoned as a Berserker? Your madness hurts my ears." Amadeus said with disp.l.e.a.s.u.r.e.

    "You stay out of this, sc.u.m. Someone who thinks all humans are filthy doesn''t have the right to question my sanity nor my way of execution. I appreciate life, that''s why in consequence I appreciate death." Sanson replied, annoyed.

    "You are just a delusional murderer, no wonder you speak such ridiculous words." Amadeus said with no mercy, something that gained the full attention of Sanson.

    "I suppose that some people are eager to meet the guillotine than others. Very well, let me release you from your sins." He said readying his executioner sword.

    For his part, Lancelot released a mad howl, the slit on his helmet lit up in red light. Grabbing a french soldier nearby, he split him in two with his b.a.r.e hands before picking up the sword the soldier was using. Once he got a hold of it, the steel sword turned pitch black with red markings all over it.

    "ARRRTHHHUUUURRRR!!!!" With a scream filled with hate, Lancelot shot toward Artoria at full speed.

    Seeing the incoming charge, Mash put herself in the way of the mad knight. Crouching a little to get better footing she received the attack from Lancelot but as if to give a blow to her confidence as a shield, she was sent flying to the side without much resistance.

    "Mash!" Fujimaru shouted worriedly and tried to go to her side but Saber moved faster and attacked Lancelot to avoid him going after the fallen girl.

    She slashed at him but Lancelot parried her attack with his stolen sword. They exchanged multiple blows, sometimes fast, sometimes slow.

    While cracks started forming around Lancelot''s sword as it was a proper Noble Phantasm, Artoria''s sword faced its own challenges. Her face looked like he was struggling with something making her sword become dull and without intent behind it.

    Avoiding a horizontal slash that was ''slow'' in his eyes, Lancelot proceeded to wield his sword ready to hack Saber in two. Said woman used the handle from Excalibur to block the hit.

    Not being able to keep up any longer, the sword from Lancelot broke into pieces. However, completely unfazed by it, he kicked Artoria in the stomach effectively making some distance between the two.

    The black knight jumped back some meters and picked a spear that was lying around. The same thing happened and the normal wooden spear transformed to become something more powerful.

    Having gained a new weapon that he could use to fight. He moved very fast toward Saber''s direction who at this point had regained her footing.

    Clashing again, this time with different weapons, they continued to attack each other. Lancelot used the length of his spear to his favor, staying out of Artoria''s weapon''s reach.

    Little by little, the mad knight was gaining an advantage in their battle, wounds started appearing on Saber''s body.

    Artoria, wanting to catch a breath, activated her Mana Burst. Her sword got surrounded by a dark purple halo and in an explosion of power hit Lancelot with the back of her blade, breaking his spear and sending him flying hitting soldiers and Wyverns along the way.

    "I''m sorry, let me help you!" Just at that moment, Mash got up and came to Saber''s side. Artoria just looked at her and nodded.

    "Arrrrrrrrr��" Lancelot got up and picked another sword that was lying around after its owner was eaten alive by a group of Wyverns.

    "Artoria, here!" Fujimaru activated his mystic code to heal Saber''s superficial wounds which earned a nod of thanks from her.

    "I can''t believe how strong he is, Lancelot wasn''t one of the strongest knights for nothing!" Mash couldn''t help but comment with a frown.

    "Yeah..." Saber simply said while gripping her sword tightly.

    Seeing this situation from afar Siegfried looked at Seth who kept killing any Wyvern that got closer or directly ordered them to kill themselves and asked. "Are you sure you don''t want to help them? I''m sorry for keeping you here."

    "Stop apologizing and no, I don''t want to help them, this is their fight. Besides, Saber is enough to kill him, she just needs to put herself together and stop thinking about unnecessary stuff." Seth said while continuing to kill the flying beasts.

    Siegfried fell silent for a moment before speaking once again. "That may be true, however, will she do it before it''s too late?" He couldn''t help but ask.

    Seth closed his eyes for a moment. "Who knows? If things get dangerous I will intervene. For now, she just has to avoid getting her sword taken from her and with the help of Mash she will manage."

    The Dragon Slayer nodded in agreement. "Certainly, the ability to make the Noble Phantasm of another Heroic Spirit your own is a dangerous thing."

    Setting his gaze on the wounded man, Seth noticed they still hadn''t made a contract. "We should form a Master-Servant contract. Having a wounded camel is enough, we don''t need a starving one."

    Siegried felt weird by the weird analogy but otherwise agreed. "Right, sorry, with all the hectic battles we haven''t had the time to do it."

    Without any more preambles, they proceeded to form a contract. Now at least the white-haired man wouldn''t have ''battery'' problems and only had to concern about the wound on him.

    Once that was done the duo looked around to recheck the situation on the battlefield. Jeanne was fine except for the occasional mental hit by the soldiers wanting to kill her, Artoria and Mash were exchanging positions to defend and attack, their coordination was gradually getting better. Marie and Amadeus were the ones who had it the worst just for the fact that they weren''t especially combat-oriented. Amadeus stayed at the back composing demonic melodies to hinder Sanson''s attack while Marie mounted on her crystal horse and faced the executioner with hit and run tactics.

    "It seems we are one the losing side." Siegfried commented seeing the overall situation which gained a nod from Seth. "Seems that way."

    The battle between the Wyverns against soldiers and Servants against Servants continued for an hour without anything particularly important happening, only the dwindling of the French Army, something that pained Jeanne greatly.

    "Oh? Why the long face, you should enjoy this festival of blood a little more. It''s not every day you get to see the people that betrayed you being torn apart and eaten alive." Carmilla said while using her staff to send a spiking wave of blood in Jeanne''s direction which she evaded by a hair''s breadth.

    "These are the people I fought to protect, there is no way I will feel happy seeing them die like this." The Saint responded to the Vampire.

    "You are a hopeless little girl, even with all they have done to you, you still defend them? They are safe now just because your little group is dealing with the Wyverns and the other two. Doesn''t that give you the d.e.s.i.r.e to kill those soldiers like the bugs they are?" Carmilla released an amused chuckle.

    Jeanne shook her head. "I don''t blame for thinking I''m the Dragon Witch nor I blame for the words they say because I can understand how they feel. No matter what they say, that will only give me the strength to continue fighting. I''m an optimist person after all." She smiled because even if those words hurt, she had people that trusted her with their lives. Fujimaru, Mash, her Master, Marie, Amadeus, and even the usually grumpy Saber.

    Carmilla released a sigh like she was seeing a hopeless case. "Foolish child, are you mad perhaps? Even optimism has its limits."

    "You are not the first person to ask me that. People questioned my sanity many times since the day I decided to save France." She said with a small smile.

    "Madness doesn''t choose sides, it takes over good and evil equally. How iron��Um?" Carmilla started speaking before noticing a big shadow covering her. Looking up, she saw a Wyvern falling in her direction. She jumped to the side avoiding being crushed by it. Sadly for her, Jeanne took advantage of her momentary distraction and slammed her flag on Carmilla''s waist.

    The Vampire crushed into the ground without much resistance. While this was happening to her, Sanson and Lancelot faced similar challenges. The Dark Knight managed to cut the Wyvern in two before it even had the change to get closer to him. Sanson, however, didn''t have such luck. Covering his ears to avoid listening to Amadeus'' melody of death he couldn''t dodge the flying beast and was rammed by it.

    "Ugh...!" Sanson got up removing the dead beast from his body while coughing some blood. Using his ability Medical Techniques A he managed to heal part of the damage he suffered. Looking ahead to the direction the Wyvern was sent flying from, he noticed the black-haired man together with the Dragon Slayer they were supposed to kill.

    Just when he was going to resume the fight, an authoritative voice was heard. "Artillery. FIRE! Aim for the dragons!" Following the voice, multiple sounds of cannons resounded on the battlefield together with the pained cries from the Wyverns.

    "Gilles?!" Jeanne recognized the owner of that voice and indeed, it was Gilles de Rais, the man who fought alongside her to liberate France.

    "How annoying. Sanson! Lancelot! we are retreating!" Carmilla commanded seeing that now they were at a disadvantage.

    Sanson frowned a little as the execution of the Queen wasn''t complete but otherwise complied with the order. Lancelot was another matter. As if he hadn''t heard, he still kept fighting against Saber howling like a mad beast from time to time.

    Seeing this, Sanson turned to the white-haired woman with the face mask. "What do we do, Carmilla? Lancelot isn''t even listening." He asked while retreating to her side.

    "Leave him be, we don''t have any use for people who don''t listen to orders. Lancelot! Make sure to stall the enemy until you die!" Saying till there, she mounted her Wyvern followed by Sanson.

    With the retreating Servants, the only ones left where the army of Wyverns, the remaining soldiers and the group of Chaldea versus Lancelot.

    Seeing the fleeing enemies, Seth put down Siegried in the ground before facing their direction. Using his spear like a javelin, he threw it toward them. The spear traveled like a missile and eventually hit its target, Sanson.

    The white-haired young man having sensed the danger arched his body to the side avoiding being pierced in the c.h.e.s.t. However, he didn''t escape unscathed. "Aghhhh!!" He released a scream of pain. While the spear didn''t make a hole on his c.h.e.s.t, it severed his left arm from the shoulder down.

    Holding the wound to stop the bleeding, he looked with fury-filled eyes in Seth''s direction.

    "They have a troublesome fellow, don''t you agree?" Carmilla asked without care for Sanson''s wound. "Shut up, Carmilla!" Even the otherwise calm him couldn''t help but lash out in annoyance.

    For his part, the author of his wound just looked a little upset. ''I need to get better at aiming, I feel really rusty. Oh well, at least I paid back a little my debt with Marie.''

    Now what was left was defeating Lancelot and it seemed Saber was going to be the one to do it. She looked pretty annoyed by the fact that one of her knights was used as a disposable tool. Both Siegried and Seth guessed this was enough motivation for her to put an end to her knight by her own hands.

 Chapter 28 - A Knights Death

    "Mash, you stay out of this. I will defeat Sir Lancelot myself." Artoria said to the Servant beside her and without waiting for a response she clashed once again with the Mad Knight.

    "Arrrrrrrtttttthuuuuurrrrrr!!!" Like a broken record, Lancelot repeated the same words with all the hate that invaded his being.

    The Berserker Servant received her attack without backing down, after intercepting her sword he surprised Saber by stomping his foot on the hilt of a fallen sword making it elevate before being caught and transformed by Lancelot.

    With one sword blocking Saber''s he got a free chance for an attack with the new one. As the new sword was descending to cut Artoria in half, she jumped back barely dodging the slash.

    Back at square one, they repeated the same and action and charged against each other. Lancelot having two swords was proving to be a disadvantage for the female knight, while he could use one sword to block and another to strike, Saber had to dodge the majority of attacks less she wanted to repeat the same situation as before.

    "Arrrrgggghhhh" With a mad howl, Lancelot struck with both sword in a different tempo to narrow down Artoria''s possibilities of evading.

    Fortunately for Saber and sadly for him, Her Instinct B ability kicked in showing her a path to avoid a fatal end. Moving to the side of the slower sword, she hit its side with Excalibur Morgan and taking advantage of her momentum, she did a spin in mid-air activating her Charisma E ability for a little more power before striking Lancelot''s waist. "There!" At Saber''s shout, the Berserker was sent flying with a deep wound that could be seen through his cracked armor.

    "As my former knight, I will put an end to the madness that has taken over you, together with your life." Artoria said while walking toward the fallen Lancelot.

    For his part, the black Servant was slowly getting up. Hearing her words Lancelot showed a response, "M-My...Ki��...Arrrrrrrrr." Just when it seemed he was going to utter his first sane words madness took over him once more and without a care for his injury, he dashed at her to resume their fight.

    "Will she be fine?" Mash asked getting closer together with Fujimaru to Siegfried and Seth''s position. The young Master shared her concerns.

    "Do you trust her?" Seth responded to her question with another question.

    "Yes, we do!" Both replied at the same time in synchrony.

    "Then you already have your answer. I don''t know her that well but she probably just needs to come to terms with the fact she is going to have to fight against people who once fought by her side sooner or later. Once that is done, she will become even stronger than before. That''s what I think at least." He told them his honest opinion on the matter.

    "I agree with his words. Of course, I never was in such a situation so my words may not be useful, I''m sorry." The Dragon Slayer was of the same thought as his Master who at this point didn''t want to bother anymore telling Siegfried to stop apologizing for every single thing.

    "Besides Saber, I''m worried about the French Army. Jeanne is helping them right now but once the battle between her and Lancelot is over we will need to keep moving to avoid getting spotted by Jeanne Alter, at that point the soldiers will be left alone to fend off for themselves against the Wyverns." Mash said switching her gaze to the battle between men and beasts.

    "Don''t worry about that, once Artoria kills little thief over there I will use Siegfried''s sword to kill grand part of the remaining Wyverns." Seth pointed at Lancelot before pointing at the Wyverns at the distance as no more of them dared to get closer to the group anymore.

    Just as he finished his words, an annoying voice they haven''t heard in a long time made itself present. "WHAT? YOU CAN USE THE NOBLE PHANTASM OF A HEROIC SPIRIT?!" Romani said surprised before following up with more nonsense, "Are you a Pseudo-Servant after all? Or a Demi-Servant like Mash?"

    Although Fujimaru and Mash didn''t speak, Dr. Roman said what was on both of their minds, this was too much for them to keep up. On the other hand, Siegfried was surprised his Master needed his sword but was willing to lend it if he asked, after all, it was just a good piece of metal in his hands right now, he felt terribly sorry...

    "Don''t scream like that, I have enough with the other Jeanne cursing my whole existence with every profanity she can think of every two seconds. Second, don''t let your imagination run wild. I said I was going to use the sword, I''ve never said I was going to use the Noble Phantasm. I just need it for its dragon-slaying properties. Third, where have you been? Stop skipping work and do your job." What started as a clarification turned into full beratement.

    "Aha...ahaha..." Romani scratched his head while laughing awkwardly. Doing a fake cough, he regained his ''act of responsible Acting Director''. "Actually, I have a good reason. We were testing things on our side to improve communications and the transport of materials and provisions in general."

    "..." They just kept quiet looking at him like they didn''t believe a thing. Seeing all the gazes that were directed at him he couldn''t help but want to cry.

    "Magi��Mari, what do I do when my friends hurt my feelings?" Dr. Roman asked his internet idol for emotional support.

    "Why don''t you just kill yourself?~��" What came was a merciless response.

    "That''s harsh! Not you too!" With not backing he went to a corner do draw circles in the ground.

    "Okay~ Now that Romani is in his own world, it''s time for Da Vinci-chan to take the scene. I wanted to tell you guys to be careful especially you, Fujimaru. These constant battles have drained a lot of your reserves. When this is over, make sure to take a well-deserved rest, okay?" Da Vinci''s voice came after the Doctor left.

    "Da Vinci is right, Master. You are starting to look a little pale." Mash said seeing Fujimaru''s condition that looked worse by the second with all the magical energy Saber was taking from him.

    "Working hard is good and all but make sure to rest from time to time, okay?" Marie smiling but a little worry was seen on her face.

    "Maria is right. Nothing good comes from overworking, I can attest to that." Amadeus followed up.

    "It''s okay, providing magical energy it''s pretty much all I can do. I don''t mind a little bit of sickness." He smiled at them.

    "Right..." Mash said a little unsurely.

    As they were having their little chat, Artoria continued battling Lancelot who was getting slower by the second due to the big wound on his side.

    Saber knew she needed to hurry, better than anyone she could feel how the flow of magical energy from her Master to her was getting irregular, meaning that if he continued to supply more he would be in trouble sooner or later.

    ''Looking at it this way, both Sir Lancelot and I need to finish this battle as soon as possible.'' Saber thought while continuing to assault the wounded knight.

    Lancelot not only used his sword but he also used his free arm to attack. Mad or not, there was no doubt about his ability, he perfectly knew that he couldn''t rely solely upon his Pseudo Noble Phantasm otherwise it would break and that meant his death.

    Saber put her left foot forward to gain a little momentum and with both hands slashed horizontally in direction of Lancelot''s neck.

    "Arrrrrrrrr" With his characteristical howl, Lancelot ducked his whole torso effectively dodging her blow before responding with an upward diagonal slash.

    Due to inertia, Artoria''s sword couldn''t return in time to block Berserker''s attack. Seeing a dead end, her instincts kicked in once more.

    Her right hand left the handle of Excalibur Morgan, raising her right knee and elbowing downward she managed to stop his blow and stop her rotation. Sadly, she didn''t manage to stop the sword on time and received a small cut in the same place Lancelot received his.

    She grunted in pain a bit but otherwise continued. Taking advantage of the sword''s momentum she rotated her arm and changed its trajectory, the sword that was going sideways raised to the sky, before coming down to Lancelot.

    Still trying to free his sword from the hold of Saber''s knee and elbow he extended his free hand and grabbed Excalibur Morgan before it cut him in two, not before the sword continued its path and stuck itself on his shoulder.

    Little by little, Lancelot was taking the sword out of his flesh at the same he tried to take control of it. However, Saber was having none of it. "Haaah!!" With one last shout, she activated her Mana Burst A. Her sword got clad in purple light and its pressure amplified.

    Like a man trying to stop a truck with his own hands, Lancelot''s resistance became nothing. Without much suspense, the black sword cut his flesh from top to bottom making blood gush from his wounds to land on Artoria''s face. If she felt disgusted or any kind of repulsion, she showed none of it.

    Without the strength to keep standing anymore, Lancelot slowly fell to the ground on his back. Panting a little, The King of Knights approached his fallen knight and kneeled beside his body.

    "Sir Lancelot, as your former King I promise you. The people who dared to trample upon the honor of a Knight will receive the wrath of Excalibur." Saber told Lancelot, even if he couldn''t understand what she was saying or it sounded ironic due to what she had become but she felt these were the appropriate words to say at a time like this.

    Contrary to her expectations, Lancelot managed to squeeze some words as he was fading out. "My...King...Thank Yo��" Before he could finish he faded away but the meaning of his words, his thanks, was clearly heard by Saber. That''s all that mattered for him.

    Once the battle was over, Fujimaru suddenly felt all the exhaustion he didn''t have before come back to him. He staggered a little before being supported by Mash.

    "Senpai, are you okay?" She asked concerned seeing the paleness of his skin.

    "Yeah...I just need a little rest, thanks for worrying." He said a little weakly. It seems that last Mana Burst took a toll on him.

    Artoria slowly walked to the group, once she was in front of her Master, she apologized. "I''m...sorry, but it was something that I needed to do." She wasn''t used to accustomed to apologizing so it came out a little awkward.

    However, Fujimaru just gave a smile to her. "It''s okay, I understand. This was important to you, right? Then you don''t need to apologize."

    Seeing him understanding, Saber gave him a heartfelt nod of thanks before looking at the other battle currently ongoing. "It seems those soldiers aren''t having it easy."

    "Don''t worry about it, now that you are here there is no reason to stay in this place any longer." Seth said before giving Jeanne a mental message. ''Ruler, come back. There are no more Servants here, our work is done.''

    ''But if we go now, these soldiers will surely die! I can''t allow that!'' Jeanne refused to abandon the soldiers, causing Seth to nearly scream in frustration. To him, all his Servants, even if they were just two, gave him all sorts of troubles. Was his charisma that low? He wondered.

    ''Stop acting like a child who doesn''t get the toys he wants and come here, I will deal with the remaining Wyverns once you are here. Otherwise, the soldiers will attack you the moment they don''t have to worry about them.'' He clarified so she didn''t complain anymore. Age didn''t teach you how to deal with kids it seemed.

    ''Oh...I apologize for misunderstanding...'' She embarrassedly replied.

    ''Don''t apologize, I have enough with Siegfried, now COME HERE!'' He emphasized the last part. Complying with his orders, Jeanne separated from the battle and with large jumps reunited with the rest.

    "Nice job you there Jeanne, you prevented the French Army from being overwhelmed." Marie congratulated her.

    "No, it''s just what I needed to do, at least from my perspective." She humbly replied.

    "I will be borrowing your sword for a moment, Siegfried." Now that everyone was here, Seth turned to his wounded Servant who nodded and gave him Balmung.

    ''I haven''t touched a sword in thousands of years but I guess I can do something.'' Having received the dragon-slaying sword from his Servant, Seth closed his eyes and breathed in and out before infusing it with his mana. Dark mana traveled from his hand to the sword forming a layer of corrupting energy, making it seem like the sword had turned black.

    It would be a lie to say Siegfried wasn''t worried about his sword but Seth told him through a mental message not to worry as this was temporary, effectively calming him if only a little.

    Once he finished covering the sword, he slashed in the direction of the Wyverns that were further from the soldiers as to not kill them with his attack.

    A similar beam as the one Siegfried had used against Fafnir, albeit a little darker, was released from the sword. Too late to react, not that they could have done anything even if they reacted early, the Wyverns were disintegrated without a struggle.

    Now, the only Wyverns alive were the ones who were too close to the soldier but their numbers weren''t big. Around fifty at most, something that wouldn''t pose any trouble with their cannons.

    "Amazing! Now those soldiers will have it easier to fight, nicely done!" Dr. Roman congratulated from the side once it was all over. Seth ignored him and handed back Balmung who at this point has returned to normal to his Servant.

    "Let''s go, we are done here." Seth said before turning around with Siegfried.

    Jeanne looked to the soldiers one more time with reluctance before following. Marie, who saw her like this couldn''t help but ask. "Are you okay?"

    "Yes, thank you. But I''m fine, thanks for the concern." The Saint replied to her friend.

    "Wait! Jeanne, you are the real one, aren''t you? Not the Dragon Witch, but the true saint!" Gilles'' voice was heard from the battlefield. Jeanne stopped for a second before resuming her walk.

    "Jeanne��" Gilles continued before multiple pillars of black fire elevated themselves from the ground blocking his view of her.

    "Commander, what''s wrong? Why did they attack their own allies?" A confused soldier asked Gilles who in turn just shook his head.

    "I don''t know, this seems too strange. Make sure to review all the information we had about the Dragon Witch, this may seem crazy but there are probably two Jeannes, one being an impostor and the other being the real one." He ordered his second in command before focusing on the ongoing battle.

    ''I will get to the end of this, Jeanne. I promise!''

 Chapter 29 - Evil Always Arrives Late!

    Okay, I want to say this now because I know that people whose parents are siblings are going to comment about it, for now people are chill but we know how this goes after. Just because Artoria became an alter doesn''t mean her name now is f.u.c.k.i.n.g Peppa Pig! She is still Artoria, alter or not. If you gain weight suddenly and people start calling you fat whale, does that mean your name becomes that? No, right?

    Well, I just wanted to say that to the people who are more toxic than Chernobyl and think because they see something in a Wikia, then there are no other options available. I''m thankful to the bros who commented about that in the previous chapter (in a good way, without sounding like a 5-year-old kid throwing a tantrum) as I could prevent a disaster later on!

    RANT OVER.

    ==============================

    They had been walking for thirty minutes after Seth finished almost all the Wyverns. They decided to stop walking a rest a bit in the walls surrounding an abandoned fort.

    "At least we can rest now." Fujimaru said, tiredness present on his voice. All the supply of mana he had to give Saber during her fight with Lancelot had taken its toll on him.

    "Yes, you especially need to rest, senpai. I will give you something to replenish your magical energy, just wait a moment." Mash said once her Master sat down on the ground with his back resting on the wall.

    Now that they didn''t have to hurry, they could relax a little and chat about things, especially about Siegfried''s situation right now which was the most important topic.

    "What were you doing in that town? How did you get wounded?" Dr. Roman was the first one to ask.

    "I was defending it, when I came across that town it was already being attacked by multiple Wyverns, I managed to fend them off. Sadly, reinforcements came, this time they were Servants. They were the ones who caused me this wounds." Siegfried explained to them what occurred after his summoning.

    "I''m surprised you are still alive considering how the Dragon Witch operates." Amadeus said, a little perplexed.

    "I was actually saved by a woman mounting a Dragon... No, a Turtle... No, that''s not right either. A Dragon Turtle? Anyway, she was the one who hid me inside that castle." He was a little confused but still tried to clarify.

    "A Dragon Turtle? Could that be��"

    "Tarasque." Marie wanted to speak but was interrupted by Seth, not being offended she nodded confirming their guess matched.

    "Tarasque? So the woman who saved me was Saint Martha, huh?" Once the name of the Dragon was said, Siegfried finally knew the name of the woman who saved him.

    "Yes, she was also the one who told us to find you before dying." Seth added causing the white-haired Servant to release a somewhat sad sigh.

    "I see... I wish I could''ve thanked her. But I guess she was prepared for everything and did what her faith told her in the end." After the momentary discomfort, he gave a smile.

    "U-um... Master, I think you should be more tactful about these things." Jeanne whispered to him in an attempt to prevent him from being misunderstood.

    "... And you should worry about your troubles before worrying about someone else." He hit where it hurt without mercy.

    "I will worry about my troubles when I''m done worrying about yours." She didn''t have any mercy either.

    ''Aghh!!!! This girl is driving me crazy! Why am I the one with the insufferable girl here?!��Oh wait, Fujimaru has Marie, nevermind.'' Outside he didn''t show any change in his facial expression but inside he was losing his sanity. Finishing his internal monologue, he decided to ignore her to avoid more disp.l.e.a.s.u.r.es.

    "We should do something about Siegfried''s wound and fast." Fujimaru came to a decision as he couldn''t allow the armored man to suffer more than he is now.

    "I agree with senpai, but how do we do it?" Mash asked unsurely.

    "Oi, Saint. Do you have any idea how to cure this guy?" Saber asked Jeanne who didn''t seem to be into the conversation.

    "Eh? Ah, yes! There are multiple layers of curses intertwined together. Baptism Rites should remove this curse. The thing is, we need another Saint to perform it as I alone am not enough." She was startled at first but still explained the best solution they had at the moment.

    "Another Saint? There certainly is a chance considering Saint Martha and Jeanne were summoned..." Mash said after a bit of contemplation.

    "Yeah, we must pray the Counter Force summoned another one." Romani said from the side.

    "What if we divide ourselves to search, it''s not the safest option but it will save us time." Marie proposed the best way she could think of to find another Saint, if there was one of course.

    "Great, another search. Are we explorers or something?" Saber clicked her tongue in annoyance. First, they went to all the trouble of finding a Dragon Slayer and now they have to find a Saint to cure him.

    "I''m sorry for causing you troubles..." Siegfried apologized.

    "Don''t mind it, Artoria didn''t mean to be rude." Fujimaru smiled in reassurance.

    "If you are feeling upset then you should smile! It will surely brighten your day." Marie did her signature pose while smiling which earned a twitch on Saber''s eyebrow.

    "But how are we going to form groups, Maria?" Amadeus asked Marie, he was already used to her antics so you could say he was immune.

    "Hm... Oh! I know, we can draw lots! That way it will be fair." She came with a proposition after thinking for a bit.

    Amadeus smiled seeing her enthusiasm. "Then I will go search for some twigs we can use to make them."

    After a minute, the musician was back carrying twigs on his hands, they then proceeded to draw lots and the results were as follows:

    Group one: Amadeus, Siegfried, Mash, and Fujimaru.

    Group two: Marie, Jeanne, and Artoria.

    Seth didn''t pick one as he said he needed to do something first and will later catch up to the group who had less overall fighting power which in this case was group one.

    After that, the conversation somewhat ended in a story about how Amadeus proposed to Marie which neither Seth nor Saber had any interest in.

    Before parting, the three girls received a communication device from Mash to keep in touch in case they found something. Just as they were starting walking Seth stopped them.

    "Wait, Ruler." He said while approaching the trio.

    "What is it, Master?" She cutely tilted her head in confusion. Seth didn''t say anything and just extended his right hand toward her head, something that for some reason caused her to be embarrassed.

    However, contrary to the expectations she wasn''t sure she had, the black-haired man just flicked her forehead. "A lucky charm." He said which honestly confused her more and made her question his reason while holding her forehead. What she didn''t notice, like the rest of them, was the little mana that entered her when he did that ''weird'' action.

    Thinking this was some kind of change of his personality for the better, Jeanne got motivated and this time truly left with the other two.

    "I didn''t know you could actually show care for her." Amadeus said with a smile and although his words seemed to mock him, they didn''t have that purpose nor Seth took it that way.

    "What can I say...miracles happen sometimes." He said before sitting down next to Siegfried.

    They started to talk about random things with Seth intervening every now and then. Different from the other group, they had to rest a little more due to Fujimaru who was tired as he was not yet used to the continuous drain of mana.

    Sometimes, beasts would come from the little forest near the fort but they were all burned before they even got a little close to it, now that his authority had grown enough Seth didn''t have to fight the mob personally except for some special cases.

    Resting for half an hour more, the group was finally ready to depart. After getting up, they all looked at Seth but was Mash the one who asked. "Kuro-san, are you sure you don''t want to come with us?"

    "I already told you I have things to do, I will catch up later. You can move on your own now, right Siegfried?" The Egyptian God reassured them before asking his Servant.

    Nodding, Siegfried spoke. "Yeah, at least now I can walk without support. I still can''t be of help in combat, though. I''m sorry."

    After exchanging a few more words, the group also departed to their respective direction. Seeing them disappear in the distance, Seth decided to jump and sit on top of the wall of the fort waiting for ''them'' to arrive.

    ''They sure take their time...'' It''s been one hour since he sent Fujimaru''s group off and he was starting to feel bored out of his mind.

    Just as he was thinking this, his senses caught magical reactions getting near. They were ten kilometers far but judging by their speed they will be here in one or two minutes.

    It wasn''t long before two beings mounted on two Wyverns with many more behind them appeared before him.

    "I was getting tired of waiting for you, bloodsuckers." Seth said to his new visitors, Carmilla and Vlad.

    "Oh? Is that so? My apologies, but they said that meat gets better if you left it in the sun for a while, I was hoping that principle applied to blood too." Carmilla did a curtsy bow that was as sarcastic as her words.

    "My tardiness is inexcusable, but I at least promise to keep you alive so that our Master can finish the job herself." Vlad said like it was a blessing, not that being s.u.c.k.e.d dry by a Vampire looked pretty.

    "Hm...now that I look carefully, there are no signs of the others, don''t tell me they left you alone? A poor soul indeed." Carmilla said in fake lament.

    "Did you come here to talk or you came here to die?" Seth said before jumping from the wall and landing on the ground.

    Vlad chose not to comment. However, Carmilla did. "Didn''t your parents teach you manners? Food needs to obediently stay in the table."

    Deciding that speaking with dead people was of no consequence he started walking toward them. With each step he took the atmosphere became heavier and the illusion that gravity was increasing was making its way in the minds of everyone present. Even the Wyverns started having trouble maintaining flight.

    Carmilla and Vlad could feel the increasing pressure so they decided to throw all pretense out of the window and also become serious.

    Thus, the battle began.

    ==============================

    The group of women had been walking for a while, talking about a lot of things although it was mostly Marie who spoke, Artoria stayed silent and Jeanne found it difficult to talk as the majority of topics were about love.

    "It''s nice that we could all be grouped together, it must be destiny!" Marie smiled while skipping.

    "I''m also glad we could be grouped together, Marie." Jeanne gave a smile of her own. Saber just ignored them and continued walking.

    Seeing this, Marie pouted. "Don''t be grumpy all the time, you need to have fun once in a while!"

    Closing her eyes, she spoke. "I didn''t come here to have fun, I came here to kill the one who is behind this."

    "But that doesn''t mean you can''t relax from time to time! Look at Jeanne, even if she is facing another her who is destroying everything she fought to protect, she still smiles!" Marie countered a little sad for Artoria''s gloominess.

    "Don''t lump me with her. We are totally different." Saber said coldly causing Jeanne to look at the side uncomfortably.

    "Hm..." Marie looked at Saber intensely trying to figure something before she came to a realization. Putting her fist on her palm, she said, "Oh! I''ve got it! You are jealo��" Before she could finish, a sword was on her throat.

    "One more word and it won''t be our enemies the ones who will end your life." She said with hidden embarrassment.

    "Okay~" Marie gave a knowing smile.

    They continued idle chatting like that for the rest of the journey, with nothing major happening.

    For their part, the other group arrived on the outskirts of Thiers. "It seems this city is still intact, I must say it''s surprising." Amadeus said looking at the still-standing settlement.

    "If it hasn''t been destroyed there is a possibility of a Saint being there. Doctor, any signals of a Servant being there?" Mash asked Romani through the communicator.

    "Yup! I''m actually detecting two Servants in that town, and they are actually close to each other." Dr. Roman gave a positive answer.

    "Close to each other? Are they fighting?" Fujimaru asked unsurely. Just when he said that, a pillar of flame went toward the sky from the town.

    "I guess that was the confirmation we needed." Siegfried said releasing a small sigh. A fight breaking out was the less d.e.s.i.r.ed outcome seeing as he was wounded, Amadeus was not combat-oriented and Mash was inexperienced and could only hit hard with her shield.

    "Agh! What is this?!" Amadeus suddenly fell to the ground covering his ears and having something like an epilepsy attack.

    "Amadeus, are you okay?!" The young Master kneeled beside him trying to do whatever he could.

    "I don''t know what''s happening. I don''t detect anything abnormal from here!" Romani said from the side.

    "Oh God of Music, what is that infernal sound?! That''s a crime against music, someone please make it stop!" Amadeus trembled. Everyone else exchanged glances of confusion.

    "I-I think we should check the city out, maybe that way we will know what''s causing Amadeus to be like this..." Mash made a proposition seeing the strange situation.

    "Shouldn''t we wait for Master? I''m useless at the moment, sorry." Siegfried asked.

    "I''m not sure if Amadeus can wait, though..." Fujimaru said, scratching his cheek while looking at the state of the musician Servant.

    "Then there is no alternative, I apologize for being s.e.n.s.i.t.i.v.e."

    They started walking toward the town, Amadeus was being supported by Fujimaru as he still was suffering from the ''evil sound''.

    What greeted them was the sight of two little girls bickering and throwing insults at each other faster than a machine gun can shoot.

    "Please stop this sacrilege! I feel like my ears will bleed if you don''t stop talking." Amadeus said with a face that looked like he had motion sickness.

    "What do you want? Don''t you see we are busy?" The red-haired girl with a tail and strange horns on her head said.

    "For the first time, I agree with this lizard. We are in the middle of something so why don''t you return from where you came." This time, the green-haired girl with a green kimono and two horns on each side of her head followed up.

    "Who are you calling lizard, you creepy stalker?!" The red-haired girl retorted.

    And so, the verbal fight started again causing Amadeus to suffer even more. "Enough! Please, I beg of you, let''s fight them and get this over with. I don''t think I can continue standing if this keeps up!" The musician begged the rest of the group to fight as to put an end to his suffering.

    "Hm? You guys haven''t gone away yet? I think I was clear enough." The green-haired girl said in disp.l.e.a.s.u.r.e.

    "Are you an idiot, Kyohime? It''s obvious they want to fight!" The dragon girl said.

    "Shut up, Elizabeth! After I burn them I will make sure you will be the next." Kyohime said.

    "That''s my line, this is just a temporary truce!" Elizabeth pointed at Kyohime and shaking it with every single word.

    "Can you both shut up and get this over with?!" Amadeus was at the border of insanity.

    ==============================

    The women trio had found a city some minutes ago and were already roaming its streets in search of a Saint, that''s when Jeanne noticed a man with long brown and a bronze armor mounted on a white horse1

    "Halt. Who are you?" The man inquired the group with a hand on the handle of his sword.

    "I''m a Servant, Rider Marie Antoinette." Marie replied with a smile. The man looked at them for a few seconds before abandoning the hostile stance he had previously.

    "I see... You are not under Madness Enhancement so I presume you don''t work for the Dragon Witch." The man inquired further, this time not so sternly.

    "Yes. In fact, we are opposing her. There are more of us who separated to search for a Saint." She said.

    "Our Dragon Slayer is suffering for multiple curses but I alone can''t remove them, that''s why we need the help of a Saint, you are one right?" Jeanne said, feeling a similarity between the man in front of her and Saint Martha.

    "The Holy Maiden, huh? Yes, I''m in fact one, my name is Georgios. I get the situation now, the residents of this town are evacuating, we can depart once they are done." The Saint gave a positive response which made the two girls happy.

    "And you are...?" The mounted man turned toward Artoria.

    "Saber." She simply replied, understanding she was a woman of few words the man nodded.

    After their conversation, Marie and Georgios started helping the residents evacuate faster while for obvious reason Jeanne stayed in stand by. Saber just didn''t have any interest to help.

    They have been evacuating for one hour before Georgios looked toward the sky. "I''m feeling the presence of a dragonkin approaching, another Wyvern attack?"

    "No! This presence...it''s not just Wyverns...It''s the Dragon Witch!" Jeanne exclaimed with clenching her fist.

    Now THIS got Saber''s attention, it seems the time to avenge Sir Lancelot was closer than she thought originally.

    "We must retreat!" Jeanne said in hurriedness.

    "I''m sorry but we can''t do that. There are still civilians evacuating." Georgios shook his head at her words.

    "I agree, we can''t retreat now." Artoria agreed with the man''s words but for different reasons.

    "But you will die!" Jeanne tried to reason with them, Saber was an irreplaceable fighting power and Georgios was needed to cure Siegfried. They couldn''t lose both!

    "I''m aware of the consequences, however, I can''t simply abandon them when they asked for my protection." Georgios said to the dismay of Jeanne.

    "This is the perfect chance to teach that mad dog a lesson, you can go and cower all you want." Saber supported Georgios, albeit again for a different reason.

    "Lord Georgios, can I ask you something?" Marie finally spoke.

    "Yes, go ahead." Giving his confirmation, the Saint motioned her to ask.

    "You only are staying to ensure these civilians evacuate safely, aren''t you?" The man nodded in affirmation. "Then, let me assume that role. As a Queen is my obligation to protect the people of France, and I''m sure your help is more needed than mine." She made him a proposition.

    "Marie...!" Jeanne was surprised at her words, Marie just giggled a little. "It''s fine, Jeanne. This is what I want to do."

    The man thought for a bit before finally agreeing. "If that is your d.e.s.i.r.e, then I entrust the lives of these people to you."

    "Thanks!" Marie smiled before looking at Saber, who by the looks of it, wouldn''t be convinced so easily.

    She got near to her and whispered something to her ear. "Wha��! You wouldn''t dare!" Saber''s eyes opened wide at her words. Marie in response just smiled innocently.

    "Kuh...FINE! But this will be the last time!" She reluctantly accepted not forgetting to elevate Marie''s level of threat in her mind.

    "Then it''s decided. Have a safe trip!" Marie waved at them.

    "Promise you will catch up to us, Marie��Gah!" Jeanne was saying her goodbyes when she felt pain her c.h.e.s.t like something was trying to get out. She kneeled on the ground and used her free hand to support herself before vomiting a black liquid.

    "Jeanne, are you okay?!" Marie rushed to her side in concern.

    "Y-Yes...I''m fine, sorry." Jeanne got up slowly while looking at the strange substance that seemed to be corroding the ground before disappearing.

    "Was that a curse?" Marie asked a little worried, both Georgios and Jeanne shook their heads. "It''s not, I don''t know what that is but it''s definitely not a curse."

    "If you are done then we need to hurry, don''t make me regret my decision." Artoria said not at all caring about the Saint''s situation.

    "She is right...we must go, good luck Marie." The Holy Maiden said looking at the Queen in the eyes one last time.

    "Rest assured." With those final words, they separated again.

    On Seth''s side, the moment Jeanne threw up the Evil God looked at her direction. "I knew it, Fate is always a bitch no matter the era or the world." He said with disp.l.e.a.s.u.r.e.

    "Don''t you agree, you two?" Seth said looking at the decapitated heads he was holding in his hands before they disappeared.

    All around him, a sea of blood, guts and body parts was the only thing that could be found. The abandoned fort that stood strong just a few hours ago was nothing more than ruins now. With the death of the two Vampires, one of the chains holding the door broke. Making him closer to return being a God.

    The sky darkened, thunderbolts were dancing amidst the clouds until one of them struck him banishing him from the battlefield. Once that happened, the storm began moving toward Marie''s direction.

 Chapter 30 - Returning A Favor

    After the departure of the three Servants, Marie has been aiding the civilians to evacuate. She knew she didn''t have much time until enemies arrived and lo and behold, the first one was here.

    "So you have come...Sanson." Marie said to the white-haired man who now had only one arm. Sadly for him, his arm was completely destroyed so there was no option of reattaching it.

    "Of course, Marie. I already said it but I''m the only one with the qualifications to execute you." Sanson calmly replied, holding his sword with his remaining arm.

    "It seems you have seen better days." The Queen said with sadness on her voice looking at the missing arm.

    "It was a little mishap that I didn''t expect. However, rest assured, it won''t hinder your beheading. I will make sure you have the greatest experience." Sanson smiled like nothing was wrong.

    "You won''t change your mind about this, will you?" She asked, even though she knew it was hopeless.

    "That''s right, my job is to give you the ultimate -climax- when you die. That''s the reason I was summoned as a Servant, I practiced and practiced getting better with each execution after all." Sanson replied with a little pride.

    Marie released a small sigh of resignation. "I see, then I will have to face you, for the people of France who I decided to protect."

    "Don''t worry about those citizens, I promise that I won''t lay a finger on them. You are my only target, the others don''t interest me." Sanson said, pleasantly surprising Marie.

    "I see... Even though your mind has become twisted, you still have the soul of an executioner. You have my thanks, Sanson." Marie for the first time since the coming of Sanson smiled like she used to.

    Summoning her crystal horse, she mounted it and faced the white-haired executioner.

    Not wanting to wait anymore, Sanson dashed toward Marie and slashed his sword at the neck of her horse. The sword managed to sink in the crystal horse''s neck two centimeters but couldn''t go further. With a look of annoyance, he withdrew his blade from the construct before quickly retreating.

    As he was gaining distance, multiple shards of ice-like glass shot from the ground. Unfortunately, he was grazed by some of them due to him not finding a correct center of balance, something that proved difficult having recently lost an arm.

    It was time for Marie to attack, her horse galloped as fast as it could and like a bull put its head forward to ram onto Sanson.

    Not having time to dodge, the executioner put his sword horizontally to block the attack. However, not having an arm to support the upper end of the blade, his resistance became meaningless and as such like a meteor was sent flying crashing in numerous buildings before finally coming to a stop.

    Marie gave a pause to her attack, looking at the fallen Sanson through the hole in the ruined houses who was slowly getting up. "You should stop this, Sanson. I respect you from the bottom of my heart but that gives you no excuse to go to such lengths to ''kiss'' me a second time."

    "No...you don''t understand. You were my greatest execution, no matter how many people came next, you were the only one who made me feel the true ecstasy of executing someone. I want to share it with you...why don''t you understand?" Sanson said while using his sword as support, activating Medical Techniques A he managed to heal himself though many wounds still remained.

    "I''m sorry but I don''t share your perverse hobby, and you don''t hold the right to kill me. Isn''t that absurd?!" Even the usual happy go lucky Marie couldn''t help but complain.

    "That''s the tie that binds us, of course I''m the only one with that right. I''ll show it to you." Sanson said while raising his sword vertically like a knight.

    ? "Death is hope for tomorrow."

    Shadow hands shot from the ground and each one of them grabbed both the horse and Marie alike. The illusory image of a giant Guillotine appeared and with each second it was becoming more and more real until it finally became a solid construct.

    "Here is your sentence." ��La Mort Espoir�� ?

    And with that, the guillotine fell, ready to execute the Queen of France once more.

    "I''m sorry Sanson but I already told you that I won''t die at your hands once more. Let''s go, Guillotine Breaker!" Her horse neighed, all around them crystal budded like flowers in spring. The hands around Marie got frozen and eventually broke into pieces allowing Marie to avoid the Guillotine.

    Out of options and frustrated now that his Noble Phantasm didn''t work, Sanson shot towards Marie who did the same.

    As man and horse neared each other, Sanson jumped and use the horse''s head as a foothold. Once he was at striking distance, the executioner wielded his sword aiming for Marie''s neck.

    The world turned slow as if time was altered. With Sanson''s sword little by little reaching the Queen''s neck and said Queen looking at him with an unyielding gaze.

    When his sword was just centimeters away from decapitating her, a giant crystal shard exploded from the ground and pierced Sanson''s from side to side.

    "Gah!!" With a pained yell, Sanson let go of his sword before falling to the ground as the shard disappeared per Marie''s command.

    The executioner didn''t have the strength to get up anymore. He could feel his fake life slowly dwindling.

    Getting down from her horse, Marie walked toward the fallen Sanson and sit beside his body.

    Turning to look at her, Sanson asked, "Why? I don''t understand...I''m much better than before, so why...?" Sanson said with a little blood slipping away from his mouth, not comprehending the reason for his defeat.

    "You are wrong Sanson. You became a better killer, not a better executioner. You lost the way you believed in at the start. The convictions you had when you killed me." Marie sadly said.

    "No, that''s not true��Cough" Sanson agitatedly said before coughing some blood. Taking rapid breaths for a second, he calmed down. "That''s not true...I did all of this for you..."

    Marie smiled sympathetically at him. "Silly, you didn''t have to do anything for me. I didn''t hold a grudge against you and I never will."

    "...I see. All this time I..." Before he could finish, he faded away. Marie stayed silent for a few seconds before getting up. Lightly hitting both her cheeks, she returned to her usual cheerful personality.

    Suddenly, multiple roars were heard. Looking at the sky, she saw the army of Wyverns making their way into the town with Jeanne Alter leading them.

    Jumping from the Wyvern she was mounting, Jeanne descended in front of Marie. "So Sanson died? Honestly, they are all a bunch of useless piece of trash, they can''t even kill a stupid Queen on her toy horse.

    "Isn''t that a cold way to refer to one''s underlings?" Marie asked.

    "At least it''s better than an idiot queen protecting the same people that beheaded her." Jeanne said with evident disgust.

    "It''s the job of a Queen to protect her people, no matter what. Besides, I''m sure my death was the start of a new era for France that could bring more smiles to its people." Marie said smiling, not at all offended by Jeanne''s words.

    "No matter the words you use to say it, you are a fool." She said before looking around. "I don''t see nor sense that little bug over here. Does that mean she escaped? It seems she doesn''t have the courage to face me."

    "She is not a coward, she left to give us an opportunity to defeat you." Marie lightly shook her head.

    Jeanne sarcastically laughed before looking at her with disdain. "You sure know how to tell jokes. What opportunity? No matter what you try your resistance is futile!"

    "Not at all, as long as the people continue to smile we will have a bright future. A future that people will fight for with their own hands. That''s why I say Viva La France!" Marie cheerfully replied.

    Jeanne''s face contorted in disgust. "Talking with a fool sure gives you headaches. Let''s see what opportunities you have now. Wyvern, rejoice! Today you will be eating a hopeless idiot for dinner!" And with that, she commanded her army of Wyverns to attack.

    Marie remained unwavering through all of this, ready to give her life if that meant saving at least one more person.

    When the Wyverns launched themselves to prey on Marie, a rumbling sound echoed on the battlefield growing louder and louder by the second.

    Looking toward the sky with eyes filled with hate. Jeanne saw black clouds with lightning moving between them like a restless snake. ''You!!'' She knew perfectly well who was the one behind this.

    The attacking Wyverns as the mindless beasts they were didn''t take notice of the storm but the opposite couldn''t be said. With raging fury, the lightning descended on them without mercy.

    The only cries that could be heard were the ones from the still alive panicking Wyverns as those who were struck turned to dust instantly without being able to do anything.

    Marie was surprised until someone came to mind. She gave a happier smile in thanks. Jeanne, however, was the opposite. Different from Marie, all she felt was hate.

    The Black Saint had to dodge the falling thunderbolts as she was also a target. Clenching the hand holding her black short sword, she screamed at the top of her lungs. "Stop hiding up there and come down you f.u.c.k.i.n.g coward!"

    In response to her words, the lightning assault stopped. She smirked thinking that the man she hated so much was finally going to appear before her so she could torture him until his death.

    Contrary to her expectations, the lightning converged in the middle of the storm clouds and produced an even bigger sound than before.

    Suddenly, there was a high pitched sound that wiped the smirk from her face, a lightning bolt thicker than the ones before that seemed to have the reddest of eyes shot towards her at an impressive speed.

    Sensing the incoming danger, Jeanne put her flag and sword forward in an ''x'' shape. The world turned white just as the lightning bolt descended, creating a big explosion that destroyed everything around the point of impact. Fortunately, the civilians had already evacuated and Marie had retreated to the outskirts of the city when the lightning was striking the Wyverns.

    Jeanne was lying on the ground, multiple burns could be found on her body, even more than when he was struck by his lightning before. Intentional or unintentionally, the strike didn''t hit her head on, only receiving collateral damage.

    "Well, little kid. I stopped hiding, what did you want?" Seth asked the fallen girl who was slowly getting up albeit with difficulty.

    "Y-You...you think you can mock me..." Jeanne said while her face contorted in rage, the man didn''t respond.

    "Every single one of you...I will make sure you regret this." Catching her breath, she took a few seconds to be in the condition to fight. Seth observed her struggle without doing anything.

    Cladding her sword on fire, Jeanne dashed at him. The black-haired man materialized his spear and parried her blow before kicking her in the stomach and sending her flying. Jeanne came to a stop after stabbing the ground and moving a little further back.

    "ARGHH!!! I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU! WHY DON''T YOU JUST DIE?!" She screamed in fury before preparing her strongest attack, torturing him, making him scream, making him beg for forgiveness as he crawled into the ground. All of that could go to hell! She was so angry that she wanted nothing more than to see him die.

    ? "All evil is here." She started to chant.

    "The time for revenge has come!" She pointed her sword toward Seth. Strangely, the man did the same motion with his spear.

    "This is the roar of my soul that was polished by hatred..." Flames started forming around her as well as around him. Noticing the similarities, Jeanne''s rage grew if that was even possible.

    ��La Grondement Du Haine!�� ? Both said at the same time before the flames shot toward each other like a dragon''s breath.

    Orange and black flames against pure black ones. What will be the outcome of the clash, no one knew for certain.

 Chapter 31 - The World Of Illusions

    As the attacks clashed, Jeanne''s world turned white. Once it regained color everything became different. The desolated town was replaced by a crowded one and Seth was replaced by an angry mob.

    "Burn the witch!"

    "Heretic!"

    "How dare you lie in the eyes of God?!"

    Multiple shouts of anger were heard. The people on the side of the road said all kinds of curses all directed to a young blonde girl who was being escorted by two soldiers who from time to time kicked her so she could move faster.

    Jeanne Alter observed everything from within the crowd with impotence, her fists clenching and unclenching without pause.

    She watched as the girl never once complained, no matter how much she was insulted, how much she was hit or how much she was spat. She also watched how the girl was tied up to a stake and holding a cross, proceeded to offer a prayer for those who were trying to ostracize her.

    "Nobody wants prayers from a witch like you! Are you trying to curse us?!" A middle-aged man in rags said before picking a stone and throwing it at her. The projectile hit her cheek and left a cut that slowly started bleeding.

    Seeing this, impotence gave way to rage. "What do you think you are doing, you drunkard?!" Jeanne screamed before unsheathing her sword and slashing at him.

    However, when the sword went through his body she didn''t feel the resistance of the flesh, it was as if she had missed her attack.

    "What?!" She said in surprise before the world turned illusory. Turning to look at the girl on the stake, she watched as she burned in black flames. The strange thing was, the flames that burned the girl at the distance seemed to be right in front of her at the same time.

    Rubbing her eyes to see if she was hallucinating, she found herself in another place. It was a dark room with only a little window that only allowed a small ray of light from the sun to pass through.

    In the room, the same girl than before was sitting in a pile of straw with wooden handcuffs around her wrists, her hands and fingers interlocked together in a praying motion.

    It was like time had reversed to a time before the girl had been burned at the stake.

    Suddenly, footsteps were faintly heard. She looked back to see a group of men opening an old and rusty metal door that blocked the outside world from the room.

    "Oi! Get up, we don''t have all day!" One of the men said.

    "That''s right, stop wasting our time! No matter how much you pray, you won''t be saved." Another one followed up.

    The tallest man in the group that appeared to be the leader got near Jeanne and forcefully grabbed her cheeks, squeezing them tightly. He gave her a creepy smile that showed some yellow and some fallen teeth, making the scene even more repulsive.

    "Oh, Jeanne. Will it be today? Will it be today that you break and confess all your sins?" The man said, however, all he got was an unyielding gaze.

    "Tch. Let''s see how long you keep that up. Puh! Men, bring her to the torture room!" Feeling like he was being mocked, the man spat on Jeanne''s face before ordering his subordinates and going out of the room.

    "Yes, sir!" The men complied and grabbed Jeanne, some going as far as trying to take some liberties. She obviously didn''t allow this and used her handcuffs to push them away.

    "Don''t think you are important, bitch! Here you are only a prisoner!" One of the men who failed to get his way slapped her hard on her cheek.

    Even with all this physical abuse, the girl never complained. The Black Saint started breathing heavily out of rage, her face contorting to extreme lengths. However, every time she tried to look away, she couldn''t. It was like something didn''t allow her to.

    "ARRRGHHH!!!!" Alter couldn''t watch this scene anymore. With an enraged yell, he attacked all the people inside the cell except for the other girl. To her dismay, the same thing as before happened.

    With the world burning in black once more, this time she found herself in an even darker room than the one she had been previously. The only things barely illuminating the room were some torches hanged on the walls.

    She heard the crack of a whip from behind her. Turning around, she saw ''herself'' being tortured. The leader of the group had one foot on top of Jeanne''s head while he continuously whipped her back.

    "Come on, Saint. You only need to tell us the truth and everything will be over!" The man said as he tormented her, his subordinates laughing on the side seeing her situation.

    He was in for a disappointment, though. Jeanne didn''t let out a scream from her mouth, much less a word.

    Not getting a word out of her, the man kept whipping her again and again. Once he got tired he proceeded to use different methods, he submerged her head in water until she couldn''t breathe anymore before pulling it out and submerging it again. He used loud instruments near her ear doing as much sound as possible and also used torture devices to crush her fingers and toes until her bones were about to break.

    "There is no need to suffer, am I right? Tell me you didn''t hear God''s voice and all will be over, your suffering, everything. Tell me the voice you heard was actually the voice of the Devil and you won''t have to keep being tortured anymore." The man slowly whispered to her after continuous hours of torture.

    "I..." Jeanne for the first time said something.

    "Hm? You are finally willing to cooperate?" The man smiled believing himself victorious.

    "I...will pray...for your...salvation." The smile disappeared from his face as quickly as it came. Punching her face, the man commanded his subordinates once more. "Bring me a hot iron rod, it seems she still needs a little more ''convincing'' to finally speak something useful."

    It wasn''t long before one of the men brought Jeanne''s torturer an iron rod that showed a colorful red on its tip with a wet cloth surrounding it on the opposite side to avoid getting his hands burned.

    "Now, let''s see how long you will last." And with that, endless hours of torture began again.

    Even when the sky darkened and the torture session was over she couldn''t sleep. The men would take turns to hit the door of her ''cell,'' making loud noises and keeping her awake.

    Jeanne Alter was forced to watch everything from start to finish. In the room where the prisoner Jeanne was in, she was on her knees, shaking uncontrollably while holding her head.

    "Why...? All of this again... Why? Why I must watch this? Stop it...I don''t want." She said while tears were streaming down her face.

    "Do you wish for it to stop?" A voice came from her side. Turning her head, she saw the man she was fighting some hours ago with arms crossed and his back against the wall.

    Extending her shaky hand toward him, she managed to speak a few words. "Please...no more..."

    Seth moved toward Alter who retracted her hand and returned to shake looking at his approaching frame. Once he was in front of her, he crouched down to eye level before asking. "Can you imagine a happy memory?"

    "I��I don''t know...I can''t remember...why?" She said in confusion. Seeing her like this, a flash of sympathy passed through his eyes before quickly vanishing.

    "I see..." He said in low voice before extending his own hand toward her. "Then, what do you wish to see? I will grant it to you."

    "Anything...anything but this." She slowly said before slowly meeting her hand with his. At that moment, it was as if all her nervousness, all her terror and all her worries suddenly disappeared.

    The shivering woman felt a sense of peace like never before. Blinking slowly, she entered a trance. She felt like she was n.a.k.e.d, being embraced by the warmest of hugs.

    Its touch was so suave and gentle like it was afraid of hurting her. Jeanne felt like she could forget her revenge, her hate, her fear, her insecurities, that she could forget everything as long as she could keep being embraced by it.

    ''Yeah...this light...this heat. I want to keep it forever with me and not let it go...'' She thought as a serene smiled formed on her face.

    While she only experienced the happiest of things coming from this embrace, others will say the opposite. To others, she was not being embraced by the heat of life but by the warmness of death.

    If she felt like it was an angel the one who was so warmly lending its arms to her, others the only thing they will see is a skeleton wrapping its arms around her body and stealing the life away from her.

    On the outside world, Jeanne was hanging in the air being pierced by Seth''s spear. Her eyes had lost all focus but you could see a barely noticeable smile on her face.

    He pulled back his spear from her body making her fall to the ground. It was at that moment that Marie returned to the battlefield seeing as everything looked calm from the outside.

    "Is she...?" Marie asked looking at the fallen girl.

    "No. That''s why I need to finish the job." He said, much to Marie''s discomfort as she would have liked for the two Jeannes to sort things out but she understood this was something that needed to be done less she wanted the people of this country to suffer even more.

    ''I will at least grant you a painless death, consider it the mercy from someone similar to you.'' He said in his mind before raising his spear to the sky. Flames were produced from the tip and flowed toward the end of the shaft like the wind.

    Telling Marie to back a few meters, he brought his spear down. A big explosion followed up by potent by a gust of wind sent everything that was near flying away, even Marie had troubles maintaining her footing.

    Once the phenomenon was over, all that remained was an enormous crater. Nearing it, Marie saw Seth in the middle of the hole.

    Gently sliding down, she moved beside him. "Is it over?" She asked after a little sigh.

    "No, someone teleported Alter before my attack got to her, I had a hunch before but now this confirms it, there is one more person behind all this war. Someone that may be equally or even more annoying than her." Seth said to Marie before exiting the crater, the Queen did the same.

    "One more person...? Who could it be?" Marie asked with surprise and uncertainty.

    "I don''t know, but it''s probably someone we hadn''t seen yet. That''s as far as my deduction goes. More importantly, we need to get to the others. I promised them that I will catch up but I came here instead." He said before noticing something buried on a pile of debris.

    "I''m sorry..." Marie apologized, a little embarrassed.

    Ignoring her, he blew away all the debris and dust in front of him. What laid beneath all of that was a single Wyvern Dread that barely breathed.

    ''Should I say you are lucky or that you are unlucky?'' Seth thought while looking at the creature before him. Indeed, this red Wyvern was the one he controlled before when they were searching for Siegfried.

    The Wyvern, noticing someone getting closer, slowly opened his eyes only to see his worst nightmare. The man he feared so much was in front of him.

    Gaining strength from who knows where the Wyvern started squealing and moving erratically trying to escape.

    "A Wyvern? I''m surprised it''s still alive." Marie said, returning to smile again.

    Seth grabbed its tail to stop his escape, not like it would go anywhere with those wounds. "Relax, this will only hurt." He said before transferring enormous quantities of his magical energy to the beast.

    The Wyvern shrieked so loudly that even Marie got goosebumps, he started bleeding from all parts of his body, eyes, snout, mouth, ears, and even under his scales. Scales that quickly started detaching and falling off.

    His torture only lasted a few minutes but for the poor phantasmal beast, it felt like an eternity. Soon, his scales started to grow back. This time, however, his scales and grand part of his body became black transforming him from a Wyvern Dread to a Wyvern Evil.

    The Wyvern slowly got up, his frame became slightly taller. It was giving an imposing presence like never before in his life. However, all that disappeared when he looked down on the monster before him. Now, only fear remained.

    Seth moved beside the Wyvern and jumped on top of him before sitting at the end of its neck. Looking at Marie, he said, "Let''s go, we can still catch up to the others."

    Marie nodded, a little shaken by the ''spectacle'' that happened in front of her. Summoning her crystal horse, she mounted it before both of them parted in the other group''s direction.

    ==============================

    In the throne room of an enormous castle situated in Orleans, Jeanne was laying unconscious. Gilles was kneeling beside her and gently holding her head with his hands.

    "Oh, Jeanne. My Saint! What have they done to you?!" Sorrowful tears started falling from his eyes.

    Arching his head back, his eyes bulged so much they looked like they were going to fall off. "Hyyaah! This is unforgivable! Is this God''s will who is interfering with your revenge?! The people who did this to you must pay!" He released a weird shout before swearing vengeance against the authors of this crime.

    "Gi...lles..." Awakened by the screams of the robbed man, Jeanne weakly said his name while slowly turning her head, her eyes still unfocused.

    "It''s okay, Jeanne. You can rest and heal, I will take care of everything in the meantime." Once he heard her, his face filled with raging madness transformed into a compassionate smile.

    Hearing him, Jeanne slowly closed her eyes wishing to return to that place she had felt so safe before.

 Chapter 32 - Reunion

    While things were looking good on Marie and Seth''s side, the same couldn''t be said with Fujimaru''s group. It wasn''t because they were so overwhelmed in strength but because even as they were preparing to fight, the two Dragon girls wouldn''t shut up.

    "Listen here, make sure to don''t disturb me, okay?! An Idol must be the star at all times!" Elizabeth said emphasizing the last part by pointing her spear at Kiyohime.

    "I could say the same, too. I don''t need interruptions when I''m punishing people that want to escape from me." Kiyohime retorted while covering her mouth with her traditional fan.

    "They escape from you because you are a creepy stalker!" Elizabeth couldn''t help but shout at her words.

    "I don''t want to hear that from a blood fetishist." The green-haired girl frowned a little as she answered.

    "What did you say?!" Both clashed with her foreheads while growling like dogs.

    "Fortissimo!" Amadeus'' voice came from the opposite side and with it, an attack in the form of a line with musical notes on it.

    "Hey! What''s your problem? That was unfair!" Elizabeth said and Kiyohime nodded.

    "Shut up! You are just pollution to all what I consider sacred!" Amadeus angrily said while pointing his baton at them.

    Even if they were not that versed in music, the rest of the group could somehow relate to the way Amadeus was feeling.

    "It seems you are desperate for a concert, very well, as an Idol it''s my job to answer to my fans'' expectations." Elizabeth said with the tip of her spear close to her mouth like it was a microphone, something that only aggravated Amadeus even more.

    Kiyohime instead of responding just lit her fan on fire and threw it at them. Fortunately, Mash was watching out for any hostile movement so she managed to block the attack before it reached the musician.

    With that as the signal, everyone took their positions, Fujimaru and Siegfried moved back but not far, Mash was in front and Amadeus in the middle. In regards to the two girls, Elizabeth moved ahead and Kiyohime stayed behind to act as support.

    Elizabeth was the first one to attack, she jumped and mounted her spear before coming crashing down like a rocket at Mash. The pink-haired girl met the attack with her shield but was still pushed back a little due to the recoil.

    The red-haired girl continued her assault using her spear like a blunt weapon. Mash was slowly learning to position the shield in the most effective way possible to reduce the strain on her arms but even then it was still difficult to cope with the girl''s attacks.

    It was at that moment that Amadeus'' help came. "Decrescendo!" Another musical note came from Mash''s back before surrounding her and attacking Elizabeth. The dragon girl jumped back to dodge the musician''s attack

    However, making Elizabeth and Mash separate not only benefited Chaldea''s group. Now that the self-proclaimed Idol was not in her way, Kiyohime could attack without worries of injuring her temporary ally.

    She moved her fan in an upward curve, creating a path of flame that traveled toward the Shielder Servant. Mash didn''t waste any time and activated her skill Transient Wall of Snowflakes to upgrade her defense.

    The improvement her defense helped in dealing with the attack but there was nothing that could be done against the heat that was even melting the ground.

    "You can do it, Mash!" Fujimaru shouted words of encouragement that helped the girl cope with the attack. "Haaahh!!" With her own shout, Mash lifted her shield upward, dispersed the attack.

    Just as she did that, Elizabeth appeared at her side and slashed her legs taking advantage of the opening she made by stopping Kiyohime''s flame.

    "Argh...!" Mash shouted in pain before retreating near Amadeus.

    "Mash! Are you okay?!" Fujimaru asked with a little panic in his voice before using his mystic code to heal her wound.

    "Yes, I''m fine...thank you, Senpai." She expressed her thanks before returning to look at her opponents.

    "That was sooo easy." Elizabeth commented with her hand on her h.i.p.s. Kyohime wanted to retort that without her help she wouldn''t have done anything but she decided to act like an elegant lady and simply stay silent.

    "T-This is not over!" Mash said while returning to the battlefield.

    "You are persistent! Why don''t you just admit defeat?" Elizabeth said with annoyance in her tone.

    "Because that would mean my death!" It was the musician Servant who answered instead of Mash. The rest of the group sweatdropped a bit at his answer.

    "You are being quite rude since a while ago, what is your problem anyway?!" The dragon girl asked in disp.l.e.a.s.u.r.e before resuming her attack but this time focusing wholly on the Caster Servant.

    Amadeus decided to not exchange words with her to avoid having to hear her voice and instead just send musical notes at her.

    Elizabeth dodged some and dispersed others with her spear while continuing to march at him. Kiyohime didn''t stay behind and conjured blue flames before shooting some at Mash and some at Amadeus.

    This tactic put the Chaldeans at disadvantage. Seeing no option, Shielder activated her Active Skill, Obscurant Wall of Chalk on Amadeus. The musician got enveloped in light just in time when the fireballs from Kiyohime reached him. Once the flames came in contact with that light, they disappeared without doing any harm, the same could be said about Elizabeth who hit Amadeus while Mash was coping with half of Kiyohime''s attack.

    The musician allowed himself a smirk which only worked to annoy Elizabeth more. Knowing it was useless, the Lancer Servant retreated to Kyohime''s side.

    "Let''s see what you are going to do about this." Elizabeth said before a red light enveloped both her and Kiyohime. Not yet done, she pointed her spear at Mash. Blue light surrounded the girl with the shield before quickly disappearing. Mash didn''t notice anything new but only the red-haired girl knew what had changed.

    Both resumed their attacks once more but this time focusing only on Mash, who only when she received the attacks from both the dragon girls noticed the difference. Not only their attacks became stronger but she also felt that her arms didn''t have the strength from before to block attacks.

    Amadeus tried his best to help but every time he attacked the melee Elizabeth, she just retreated giving way for Kiyohime to attack without holding back.

    Elizabeth kept attacking Mash not giving time for her to take a breath. The Demi-Servant started dodging little by little instead of blocking every attack to preserve her energy more.

    Seeing this, the red-haired girl smirked. "Dodging is no good, you know?" She did a spin and hit Mash''s shield with her tail, sending her flying toward Amadeus who couldn''t dodge in time and was thrown back together with her.

    "Both of you, are you okay?!" Fujimaru ran to their side and tried to help both of them up, Siegfried followed him albeit a little slower.

    "I''m sorry, Master. You too Amadeus." Mash apologized feeling ashamed.

    "You don''t need to apologize, Mash. Those two Servants are certainly strong, but I believe you are going to be just as strong as them in no time." Fujimaru consoled her making the girl blush, something that the Master seemed oblivious about.

    "Indeed, you don''t need to concern about anything, though I definitely felt the hit. I think you should consider going on a diet to avoid future troubles." Amadeus smiled and advised with the best of his intentions. Sadly, the only thing it did was making an ominous aura ooze from Mash.

    "I see...I understand. I guess I just need to talk with Marie about some things when she gets back." She said in an emotionless voice.

    "Mash...?" Fujimaru asked with sweat dripping from his forehead seeing her like this.

    "Don''t worry, Senpai. It''s nothing." Mash said slowly walking forward.

    "If you are done with your little performance, let''s resume the battle." Elizabeth said.

    "Indeed, it''s time we end the nuisances." Kiyohime agreed before sharing a look with the other dragon girl, both nodded.

    Suddenly their magical energy started to spike. Fujimaru and the others knew this could only mean one thing.

    "I''m going to let you hear the biggest hit in the Servant world!" Elizabeth stuck her spear on the ground and jumped on top of it at the same time an enormous castle was materializing behind her.

    "As of now, I''ll eliminate the liar." Kyohime said before floating a little above the ground, blue flames started surrounding her before transforming in the shape of a mixture between a Dragon and a Serpent.

    Seeing this, Mash decided to use her Noble Phantasm but seeing as she had to block two enemy ones with her own, her confidence wavered.

    ��B��thory Erzs��bet!��She opened her mouth and released sound waves in the group''s direction.

    ��Tenshin Kash�� Zanmai!��Kiyohime for her part commanded her flames to surround them, trapping the Servants and Master in a circle with no way out.

    "Deploying Noble Phantasm!" Mash said while a big green shield manifested itself in front of her. Sadly, it could only do something about Elizabeth''s Noble Phantasm as it was a direct attack but not Kiyohime''s one as she could command the dragon to maneuver around the shield.

    Elizabeth''s attack reached the group first. When it collided with the shield, it was stopped for a moment before pushing with a stronger force, making the shield crack second by second.

    They didn''t have an option of retreat, they had a sound wave that was slowly but surely getting closer to damage them and a blue serpent that had already surrounded them and was opening its mouth to ''devour'' them.

    ��Excalibur Morgan!��It was at that moment that a dark purple beam of light shot from behind them, engulfing the head of the serpent. Not stopping there, the beam shattered the shield from behind before pushing back the sound wave.

    The attack continued unhindered until it reached the dragon girl''s location, the girls moved out of the way as Excalibur Morgan hit the castle behind the two, creating an explosion that sent both girls flying.

    The group from Chaldea turned around to see Jeanne, Saber and an unknown man running toward them. Seeing that Marie was not with them, Amadeus released a light sigh before welcoming them with a smile. "Glad to see you are fine, I assume you found the one we were looking for." He said, looking at the man with the bronze armor.

    "Yes but Marie..." Jeanne affirmed with a sad tone, not able to finish her sentence.

    "It''s okay, I''m sure she was prepared for something like this." He said with a smile of reassurance but only he knew how affected he was by the news.

    "She was an admirable woman, that much I can say. I''m a Rider class Servant, Georgios." St. George said, understanding the pain because of the loss of a comrade.

    "Marie..." Mash looked down in sadness.

    "Who were the ones you were fighting?" Saber asked, not minding the atmosphere.

    "O-Oh...They were two Servants who were bickering against each other." Fujimaru was the one who answered.

    "And why were you fighting?" She inquired further.

    "They attacked us first!" The voice of Elizabeth came from further back, she and Kiyohime had bruises and dirt all over them.

    "That''s because you two wouldn''t shut up!" Amadeus retorted, trying to distract himself a little from the situation.

    "And in which place is that a reason to attack someone?!" Elizabeth shouted making everyone hold their ears in pain. Now Saber understood the reason, she would have done the same.

    "Honestly, people nowadays don''t know any manners." Kiyohime said with her eyes closed like she was deeply thinking about the degrading of people''s attitudes toward others.

    "I see you are in good health...kind of." Georgios said while looking at the disheveled Kiyohime.

    "Oh, the Saint from before." Kiyohime said, finally noticing Georgios among the newcomers.

    "More importantly, why are you speaking casually? Weren''t you fighting among yourselves just a moment ago?" Jeanne asked in genuine confusion.

    "An Idol can''t be mad at her fans, even if they are disrespectful." Elizabeth said while doing a weird pose.

    "An Idol...?" Jeanne asked again, even more confused than before.

    "Y-You don''t know what an Idol is?!" Elizabeth was surprised but had a strange gleam in her eyes.

    Mash, Fujimaru, Amadeus, and Siegfried''s faces paled.

    "She is just joking, of course she knows what an Idol is, right Jeanne?" Fujimaru said while looking at Jeanne and signaling with his eyes for her to agree.

    "A-Ah...yes. An Idol, I know about it. I just forgot about it." Taking the hint, she did an awkward cough before answering.

    Elizabeth seemed disappointed with her answer but the others were thanking their own Gods for avoiding a catastrophe.

    While they were in their own world of happiness, Saber approached Siegfried. "Where is that guy? She asked.

    "That guy...? Oh, you mean Master, I''m sorry, he didn''t catch up to us yet." The white-haired man answered her question truthfully.

    Saber frowned a little before noticing both Georgios and Siegfried gazes shifting toward a certain direction.

    "An enemy attack...?" St. George asked to no one in particular.

    "No, this presence...Master?" Siegfried said unsurely.

    They didn''t have to guess too long as black-haired young man mounted on an equally black Wyvern came together with a woman mounted on a crystal horse.

    They were truly surprised at the safety of the girl, but more than surprise, it was relief.

    "Marie...!" Both Mash and Jeanne shouted in happiness. However, no one was happier than Amadeus seeing her ''alive'' and well.

    Now, they were all together once again.

 Chapter 33 - Stargazer

    Once Marie dismounted from her crystal horse, she was met with a tackle from Mash and Jeanne who hugged her happy that she was alright and nothing bad happened to her. Amadeus was near too, welcoming her with a smile.

    Seth did the same as Marie and dismounted the Wyvern. "You are free to go again, don''t get caught into trouble after I gave you a second chance." He said to him before walking toward the male group. The Wyvern looked at him for a second before growling in acknowledgment and flapping its wings, finally departing.

    "Welcome back, Master. It seems everything went well." Siegfried was the first to greet him, followed by Fujimaru.

    "You must be the Saint we were looking for, right?" The black-haired God said, but even without an answer, he could tell that he was indeed the one. The aura surrounding him was similar to the one surrounding Martha and Jeanne.

    Unaware of his thoughts, Georgios answered. "Indeed, I don''t know if I can be of much help but please let me fight together with you all. Also, I wish to express my thanks for saving that little girl over there, the reason she was in danger in the first place was because of me."

    "Don''t mind it, she saved my life before so I was just returning the favor." Seth waved his hand dismissively.

    "Now all we have to do is wait for that little Saint over there to finish her reunion so we can remove Saber''s curse." The King of Knights said, joining the conversation.

    "Well, let them have their reunion, they thought they had lost a friend after all." Dr. Roman said from the communicator on Fujimaru''s hand.

    "I don''t know if you can call someone you just met for a few days a friend." It''s what she wanted to say but she refrained.

    ''Hm...?'' Seth turned to look at the other two Servants that weren''t with them before. Feeling his gaze, both trembled. Elizabeth hid behind Fujimaru''s back.

    Seth looked confused before remembering that he kept releasing an aura that instilled fear on Serpents and Dragon sub-species since he fought against the two Vampires, he was in a hurry to reach the town where Marie was that he forgot to turn it off and considering those two weren''t proper Dragons, it made sense it could somehow affect them.

    With a simple mental command, the aura that was oppressing both Elizabeth and Kiyohime disappeared. The self-proclaimed Idol heaved a sigh of relief while the girl with the fan started panting lightly all of sudden. It seemed each one had a different interpretation of the oppressing feeling they were suffering a while ago...

    They talked about some random stuff while waiting for the other guys to finish catching up about whatever they did in a few hours they were separated.

    Once that was over, they were finally ready to lift Siegfried''s curse that has been preventing him from helping in combat.

    Both Saint positioned themselves in opposite sides of the kneeling Siegfried, one at the back and the other in front.

    Almost everyone surrounded the trio to see how they were going to lift his curse. It was nothing flashy and in half an hour it was over.

    When the curse got removed, Marie healed Siegfried leftover wounds. Now the Servant was ready to fight Fafnir once again and prove his usefulness.

    The first thing the white-haired man did was kneeling in front of Seth and present himself again. "Once again, I''m Saber, Siegfried. The ''hero'' who once slew the Evil Dragon Fafnir, I''m at your command to slay him once again and help in whatever I can." He said, this time with more seriousness than before.

    "Hm...I''m counting on you, make sure to kill that Dragon again." Seth said looking at the kneeling man who nodded at his words.

    "And I''m going to be the one who will slay Carmilla!" Out of nowhere, Elizabeth''s voice resounded. They all looked at her who blushed at the stares. "Cough...I mean, let''s go!"

    "You certainly don''t know how to read the mood." Kiyohime said, moving closer to Seth in a ''discreet'' manner.

    "I don''t want to hear that from you!" And they started to argue again.

    "A strange but lively bunch." St. George commented seeing the fight between the two girls that at this point has become a common occurrence.

    "More girls in the group are always nice." Marie said, smiling beside Georgios and Amadeus.

    "I''m glad you are happy about it, Maria." The Caster Servant said from the side.

    "Yeah! And aren''t you happy, too? It seems this time I can finally hear your piano." Marie smiled, getting closer to Amadeus.

    "Yes, I am." He simply said to her with a faint smile on his face.

    Meanwhile, Seth was having a certain doubt in his mind. ''Should I tell that strange girl I already killed Carmilla? I don''t know... My instincts are telling me that my ears will regret it if I do so for some reason...''

    Once they finally managed to stop the two bickering girls, the group parted toward Orleans to have their final fight against Jeanne and her army of Wyverns and of course, Fafnir.

    The blue sky was slowly turning orange so they decided to set up a camp in a nearby forest and get supplies such as food, some medical equipment in case Fujimaru got hurt and other necessities in general.

    Finishing all their preparations, they sat around a bonfire and started talking about things to pass the time, all was well until Marie told everyone how Seth saved her and later almost killed the other Jeanne.

    "You did what?! How did that happen?! Last time she almost killed you!" Dr. Roman''s annoying voice came from their communicator device just to make Seth''s eyebrow twitch at his comment.

    "Impressive, even escaping from her is no mean fit." St. Georgie said in genuine amazement.

    Complicated emotions flashed through Jeanne''s face but overall she was glad that he was alright and thankful because he could save Marie from a certain end.

    "Now our chances of resolving this Singularity are greater, isn''t that right, Mash?" Fujimaru asked the pink-haired girl beside him with enthusiasm.

    "Yes, Senpai. At least now our future doesn''t look so dark!" She replied smiling, sharing his enthusiasm.

    Their enthusiasm was drowned by Seth''s next words, though. "Don''t get your hopes up, when I was about to kill her someone teleported her before my strike connected. I didn''t detect any presence in a wide range so that could mean two things, the one who teleported her tremendous amount of magical power to do large scale teleportation from such a distance or has a device that could power him up to do so. In other words..."

    "The Holy Grail..." Dr. Roman said knowing where the man was getting at. "But couldn''t it be that she had a pre-set magic circle somewhere on her body in case she was in danger and it would teleport her to a specific location?" He asked to cover more possibilities.

    Seth shook his head. "I didn''t detect anything of the sort, of course, that doesn''t mean the possibility of it becomes zero, but it only will make things more troublesome."

    "So there is someone else behind all of this...?" Jeanne asked with mixed feelings.

    "There is a high chance of it, yes." Seth answered her question truthfully.

    There was a heavy silence for a moment before Amadeus released a sigh. "Well, let''s just worry about it when we get to it, there is no point of thinking about it. It will only affect our performance in battle."

    "I agree with Amadeus, besides, I''m sure that mysterious person isn''t at an unreachable level. If he were, I''m sure France would have been destroyed long ago...more than it is now." Romani agreed with the musician''s thinking. It would do any good to have them underperforming on the final stretch.

    "Doctor..." Mash disappointedly said, his words had made even the happy and optimist duo look at him with a glare.

    "O-Oh... I''m sorry, that was not what I meant...ahaha..." The Doctor awkwardly scratched his head.

    After that incident, they prepared to finally receive the supplies but it turns out that Romani did a terrible job and the supplies got sent to another location. Mash, Fujimaru and Alter were the ones who went to retrieve them.

    Fortunately, it didn''t take more than a fight with hungry beasts to get them back. They all had an enjoyable dinner courtesy of EMIYA, of course the majority of it went to certain hungry King.

    The time to sleep had come, Fujimaru was the first to do it as he was a normal human and was more tired than everyone else. Mash was sleeping not far from him.

    The rest also were also sleeping to conserve as much magical energy as possible. The exceptions were Georgios and Seth who were on the lookout for nocturnal attacks.

    Seth had her back resting against a tree trunk while reading a book he had asked Romani to sent him. It was at that moment that Jeanne approached him.

    "What are you reading, Master?" She asked with curiosity, Seth showed her the cover that said "History Of The World In Depth" and continued reading.

    "U-Um...I...don''t know how to read." She said in embarrassment while looking sideways.

    "It''s just a History Book." He simply replied, he had asked Romani to give him this book because he wanted to be up to date with Humanity''s progress. Sometimes there was a big gap in the time frame he reincarnated and when he did he didn''t usually get access to knowledge.

    "What does it say?" She asked again. Seth closed his book and turned to look at her. "I will teach you how to read if you go to sleep and let me do my watch in tranquility."

    Jeanne was pleasantly surprised. "Really?" She asked for confirmation to which Seth nodded in affirmation.

    Her mood turned for the better and complied with his request, leaving him alone to keep reading. "Good grief, the difference between social classes seems to be the same as always." He shook his head before continuing with his reading.

    Now, everyone was truly sleeping except for the watchers. It was at that moment that Siegfried and Jeanne appeared in an enormous throne room.

    They looked around before noticing each other existence. "Ruler?" "Siegfried?" Both of them asked in confusion.

    It was strange to see another Servant in your dream, especially if you didn''t meet him or her in your life. This could only mean one thing, this wasn''t their dream but their Master''s.

    "Do you know where this is? You have been Master''s Servant for much longer after all." Siegfried asked Jeanne who shook her head.

    "No... It''s similar but at the same time different from the one I had seen before." Jeanne replied to Siegfried''s inquiry.

    "It''s definitely weird we are seeing the same dream at the same time and in the same space at that." He said while continuing to look around.

    Suddenly, they heard the sound of someone whistling. Following the sound, they saw their Master using the throne as a bed while he moved his legs from back to front.

    "Is that Master...?" Jeanne asked unsurely, he didn''t look like a kid this time but like his grown-up self.

    "I don''t know, I''m sorry. It may have been him at one point in the past." Siegfried while looking at the man who continued whistling with a...condescending smile?

    "Ahhh...there is no time like the present, the only thing we can change. The past already happened and the future is already set in stone." Their ''Master'' got up from his throne after saying that.

    "This is giving me a bad feeling." Jeanne said and Siegfried agreed with that.

    He looked at the throne before kicking it, destroying it into pieces. "Oh... Where are my manners?" He said before turning around to look at them in the eyes.

    At that moment, alarm bells rang out throughout their whole body. This was a dream, how was it possible that he could know of their existence?

    Without them realizing, the man was standing beside them with each hand on one of their shoulders. "I forgot to welcome you, sorry about that." He said with an apologetic smile but the two Servants knew better than believe he was not faking it.

    They were petrified, for some reason, they couldn''t move a single muscle. "What''s with those faces? You should smile more often." His apologetic smile transformed into a warm one.

    Still, they didn''t believe his fake kindness. "What? We are not going to play pretend anymore? Boring..." He said before his smile vanished to transform into a cold look filled with killing intent that could suffocate even Gods.

    "Get the f.u.c.k out of here. NOW." Their ''Master'' let go of their shoulders and pierced their c.h.e.s.ts with his b.a.r.e hands after saying that. Not yet over, he burned them from the inside until they were mere ashes.

    After getting rid of the intruders he sat on the stairs leading to where the throne was before. The man looked ahead as a dark fog started forming, slowly revealing the figure of Seth.

    On the outside world, Jeanne and Siegfried woke up abruptly, panting and with sweat all over their bodies.

    Returning to the ''Dream World'', two figures were locking eyes. The ''fake'' one was the first to speak. "Hello there, it seems you got here late. I already kicked out our unwanted guests."

    "I don''t remember asking you to do that nor I remember a thing like you existing inside me." Seth said, his voice getting colder by the second.

    The sitting figure shrugged his shoulders. "What can I say? I pride myself on being sneaky. Besides, it''s not like I have to ask permission from you to chase away the rats that dare to enter here."

    "Who are you?" Seth asked not bothering to play games with him.

    "It hurts, you know? It''s obvious that I''m the ''past'' you. Really hurts, really." He said while faking a crying expression.

    "I''m asking who are you." Seth repeated himself again.

    "Tch. Like Servant like Master. You are all boring." He said before resting his head on the stairs.

    "You can call me Stargazer, as for my real name. That would be for you to discover." The man now known as Stargazer got up and walked toward Seth.

    "Now let''s have a little talk. Shall we, Evil God?" Stargazer mockingly said, smirking with his face centimeters away from Seth''s.

 Chapter 34 - To Orleans

    "Let''s have a little talk. Shall we, Evil God?"

    "..." Seth didn''t respond and only kept looking at him in the eye.

    Chuckling slightly, Stargazer lifted his arms in mock surrender before taking a step back. "You should relax more, don''t be so stiff."

    "I have been observing you since the moment you set foot in this world. I must say I''m disappointed with your performance, I''m sure the people that you killed before would be laughing and mocking you if they were to see you right now." Stargazer said while circling Seth and sending provocative looks at him from time to time.

    "I don''t remember ever worrying about what dead people said about me." Seth retorted with indifference on his voice.

    "Haha, I wonder about that. I''m sure I can name a few dead people you would wish to hear at least a word from." Stargazer said after releasing a carefree laugh.

    "If you claim to know so much about me, you will know that you are testing my patience." Seth''s eyes slowly turned golden, making the temperature around the room drop significantly.

    "Like I care~ In fact, I would very much like to see you angry. Wouldn''t it be great if you returned to be who you were before? Killing people left and right, turning the sand red. Ahhh...those were the days." Stargazer said while looking at the ceiling and extending his arms to the side with a face of pure bliss, like remembering the most precious of memories.

    "Why would I want to return to be a mindless beast?" He asked with disdain in his voice.

    "And I ask you, what do you mean ''return''? You already are a beast. No matter if the body you are using now is human. But we can discuss the mindless part." Stargazer put his fist in front of his mouth before doing a fake cough to make sure the other party was correctly paying attention. "Now, where was I? Oh, yeah! In the part where you suck! Can you explain to me what was that fight against that girl with mental problems?"

    "I don''t own you an explanation. She was better than me at that time, that''s all." Seth said, still locking eyes.

    "Better than you? Really? Did you take me for a four-year-old kid?" He asked with evident disp.l.e.a.s.u.r.e on his face. Getting near Seth, he put his index finger on the ancient God''s c.h.e.s.t to emphasize his next words. "You are just a coward, a coward who is afraid of being lost in madness once again, a coward who is afraid of his own power��Guh!" He couldn''t finish his sentence as a dark figure behind Seth was grabbing him by his neck.

    The figure was illusory at the same time it was real. It was covered by a long black robe, the only parts that could be seen were a pair of skeletal hands, one holding a humanoid head and the other clutching Stargazer''s neck. Under the hood, two small fireballs, one red and the other golden worked as a pair of eyes for the mysterious figure that revealed a skeletal snout with their illumination.

    Stargazer, far from panicking or anything like that, laughed. Even as the figure threw him away, crashing against the floor multiple times, he laughed.

    Slowly getting up, he looked at the ''sky'' with an expression of extasy. "Wonderful! Isn''t it wonderful?! Even as you fear it, even as you reject it, even as you don''t want to use its power. It still protects you! I''m moved to tears, I really am. Oh, what a fantastic scene!" He said, doing exaggerated gestures with his arms.

    Stargazer started walking back to where he had been before being grabbed and thrown. The figure behind Seth was beginning to fade away, not before looking at Stargazer in what appeared to be a menacing way.

    "Why thank or save that stupid self-proclaimed queen? She wasn''t the one who took control of your body and helped you fight, was she?" He asked with a smile while putting a hand on Seth''s shoulder.

    "You were not the one who did it, either. Who I thank or save is my business." Seth said not bothering to take Stargazer''s hand from his shoulder.

    "Haha...I guess you are right." He scratched the back of his head while lightly laughing. That was until the air around him changed completely.

    Cladding his fist on fire, he punched Seth''s face creating a resounding boom in the room. However, the Evil God didn''t move from his place, only his face was moved a little to the side. Unfazed by this, Stargazer continued to punch him.

    "What ''my business'' bullshit?! Where is your pride as one of the five strongest gods?! What is the remorse you feel?! What is the guilt you feel?! I can''t stand it! Humans are such stupid creatures! They are arrogant, despicable, greedy, vengeful, maddening, unfair, lazy, tyrants, indecent and corrupt! What''s so good about them to risk your life for?! It isn''t even your wish! You are just doing this to honor the memory of your supposed friends!" He kept punching and punching for every word he said with extreme rage.

    "..." For a moment, they both stayed in the same position, without doing anything. That was until Seth grabbed Stargazer''s wrist and throwing his fist aside from his face. When it looked that everything was over, Seth kneed Stargazer in the stomach before grabbing his face and slamming it into the ground, again and again, the exact same number of times he was punched by him.

    "It may be true that Humans are such creatures. However, contrary to everyone''s belief, it''s the job of the Gods that govern Evil, Darkness, and Chaos to protect them. As long as they continue to be the way they are, we will get stronger and stronger. So why shouldn''t I protect them, instead of those self-righteous Gods?" Seth said after a long sigh he didn''t know he was holding.

    "You don''t understand... There is only once thing that you should trust and that is the evil within you, it''s the only thing that will not betray you. Even after you have fallen this low, it didn''t abandon you..." Stargazer slowly said with some tiredness. "... You trusted that old hag and look where it got you? Your meaningless death and continuous life of torturous reincarnations that only made you weaker. Did you think for a moment that she will side with you, who killed half of the Egyptian Gods, instead of her remaining children?" Stargazer slowly said, releasing a sigh of his own.

    Seth released a self-deprecating chuckle. "I was naive and desperate back then. When my sanity returned I was drowned in guilt. I guess I wished to take the easy route."

    "That''s why you should hate them, you must drown them in terror." Stargazer said before slowly raising his hand and putting it into Seth''s cheek. "Weren''t these eyes the ones that brought fear even to outsider Gods? They made you descend from that place and raised you as the ultimate weapon. Even that lioness1 was a failed product who couldn''t even compare to you. It''s only fair you pay them back."

    Seth slowly removed his hand from the fallen man''s face. "I will see what I do when I get to it." He said before getting up and turning around to leave.

    "You don''t need to think, just become the Evil God you were meant to be from the start. That...will save your life." Stargazer said, still on the ground. Seth paused for a second before resuming walking as a dark fog enveloped him, returning him to reality.

    "..." Stargazer stayed laying on the ground for a few seconds before sighing and getting up. Snapping his fingers, the destroyed place returned to normal, even the throne he destroyed before. Walking toward it, he sat on the throne in a lazy manner with his back almost touching the seat.

    "Whew... This is exhausting. He could have at least taken it easy, my head still hurts...good grief, acting is not my forte..." Stargazer said with obvious disp.l.e.a.s.u.r.e.

    "The future isn''t so set in stone, Seth. If you want to survive what is to come, you better take my last words to heart." The tired man said before closing his eyes to rest.

    On the outside world, the sun was slowly making its way out of the horizon. Seth opened his eyes before reviewing the events that transpired in that dream. "... I have a lot to think about." He muttered to himself while walking toward the camp''s direction.

    Once he got there, he noticed everyone was ready to depart for the final battle. Jeanne and Siegfried looked a little haggard. He didn''t get there on time but he was sure Stargazer wasn''t very kind to them.

    ''Forget what happened before, I already took care of it.'' Seth sent a mental message to his two Servants who looked at him for a second before nodding. However, it will be a lie if they said they could forget what happened from one day to another.

    "Okay, this is it. The last battle, are you guys ready?" Dr. Roman asked the group of Servants and Masters.

    "Yes! We will bring smiles to the people of France once again." Marie said with her signature pose.

    "I''m glad you are enthusiastic about this but remember to be cautious on the battlefield." St. Geroge advised her.

    "Leave her to me, I''m used to getting her out of troubles." Amadeus reassured the Saint.

    A little calmer than before, Siegfried spoke. "The enemy is probably aware of our location so the only thing we can do is a frontal attack. In other words, all or nothing."

    "They will have bigger forces than us but we have a numerical advantage in terms of Servants." Jeanne said.

    "You don''t have to worry about the cannon fodder, I will be the one to eliminate them. Siegfried will face Fafnir and the rest of you the remaining Servants." Seth proposed. He was the one who had the most attacks with a wide area, it was natural that eliminating the mob would be his job. Of course, if worst comes to worst, he will lend a hand.

    "I will be the one who kills Carmilla, I will help you with the other Servants once I''m done." Elizabeth said while grinding her teeth.

    "And I will eliminate those who get in the way of my love." Kiyohime said with a pink hue on her cheeks.

    "W-Well... Best of luck, make sure to defeat the Dragon Witch!" Romani said while scratching his cheek with an awkward smile.

    ''Indeed...I will defeat her.'' Saber, who had been silent all this time, said in her mind while gripping her sword tightly.

    ===============================

    In the Castle of Orleans, Jeanne was sitting with her eyes closed on the throne that belonged to the now-deceased King of France. She looked nothing like the previous her, the mad aura that surrounded her before was now replaced by a tranquil one.

    Berserker Saber approached her to rely information. "It seems the French Army, as well as the other group of Servants, is planning to do a frontal attack against Orleans soon."

    "I see... I guess it is time to end this once and for all." The Black Saint said while slowly opening her eyes, eyes that didn''t seem to hold the hate displayed previously.

    "What are your orders, Jeanne?" Gilles asked from the side with a smile but only he knew how he hated this new Jeanne, he wanted to see her hate the world and being lost in madness. He was going to torture and kill the person who made this to her, to the Jeanne he had wished for!

    "Deploy the whole army of Wyverns, skeletons, and zombies we have at our disposal. Also, summon Shadow Servants from the ones we had lost previously. We will face them with all we have." She got up after saying that and started walking out of the castle to lead the army.

    D''Eon looked at her back wondering what happened to her before simply following her out of the room, leaving Gilles alone to do his work.

    Exiting the castle, Jeanne called for Berserker Archer who materialized beside her in a few seconds. showing the figure of a woman with a green dress and blond-green hair. She also has the ears and tail of a lion. "What did you need?"

    "Intercept the group of Servants, your job will be to distract them to give Gilles time to summon as many Shadow Servants as possible." Jeanne ordered. With a feral glint in her golden eyes, Berserker Archer turned around and left to accomplish her orders.

    "Do you think we have a chance of winning?" D''Eon asked the girl beside her.

    Jeanne closed her eyes before responding. "Who knows? We are just the beginning. Even if they defeat us, more difficulties lie ahead of them."

    The spy raised an eyebrow at her comment. "You seem calmer than before, what exactly happened?" Berserker Saber truly had no clue.

    Jeanne opened her eyes and locked them with D''Eon''s. "Don''t get the wrong idea, my hatred didn''t disappear. I just learned to hide it so others don''t take advantage of it."

    ''Is it a good or a bad thing, I wonder...?'' Berserker Saber thought in his/her mind before looking at the approaching army.

 Chapter 35 - A Fight Between Kaijus

    Everyone was ready, with nothing left to do they finally parted to Orleans. This will be the final battle, the battle that will decide whether they fix the Singularity or perish trying.

    As they were advancing, they fought groups of enemies that were dispersed around probably to prevent people from getting near the city. This worked as ''warm-up'' and also to help Jeanne and Siegfried regain focus after that experience.

    Saber Alter seemed to be the most passionate about killing them. To her, the faster they get to Orleans, the faster she could kill the other Jeanne and fulfill the promise she made to the dying Sir Lancelot.

    It happened when they were fighting another group of enemies. While Mash was deflecting the attack of an undead soldier, an arrow came from the sky descending at full speed toward Fujimaru.

    Elizabeth who was the nearest moved in front of him and hit the arrow with her lance, the projectile had tremendous strength behind it so she had to put more force than she would have liked.

    Once she stopped the arrow, it started fading in blue light. The group became alert since by the looks of it they weren''t fighting cannon fodder anymore but a Servant.

    "Thank you, Elizabeth. You really saved me there!" Fujimaru thanked her with a bright smile.

    Elizabeth blushed a little and avoided his gaze. "D-don''t worry...It''s just I was closer so I did it by instinct..." She said while fidgeting a little.

    Mash felt embarrassed that she couldn''t protect her Senpai and a little upset her job was ''stolen'' from her but remained silent as she knew this wasn''t the moment to voice her complaints.

    They didn''t have much time to rest as more arrows started falling all over them. This time, however, they were prepared and without much effort deflected, burned or downright destroyed them.

    When the arrow assault stopped, they could finally see a woman on top of a hill with a bow in hand at the distance. Said Archer didn''t remain in the same position but instead chose to start moving sideways while continuing to shoot arrows at the group.

    St. George summoned his trusted steed, Bayard, and mounted it. Together with Seth and Siegfried, they made their way toward the moving Archer at great speed.

    The rest also dashed at her but a little slower, they weren''t the speed type and what''s more, they still had to defend from the still incoming arrows.

    Atalanta, who kept moving erratically while shooting arrows, couldn''t help but click her tongue. "Tch, stop moving!" She kept her barrage concentrating more on the three approaching men as they were the closest to her.

    The approaching trio ignored her, who in their right mind would let an enemy attack them just because they told them to?

    Seth conjured a wall of fire in front of them that blocked her vision. Archer in frustration kept shooting in their general direction, the first to pass through the fire was Georgios followed soon after by Siegfried.

    ''Wait... Where is the other one?!'' Atalanta opened her eyes wide before sensing a presence behind her. Hurriedly turning her head around she noticed the missing man ready to pierce her back.

    Not wasting any time, she activated her Skill Calydonian Hunt A. The spear pierced her but the flesh offered no resistance and instead, only an afterimage was shown.

    Seth slowly lowered his gaze to see the woman who had her back perpendicularly to the ground and with an arrow ready to blast his skull.

    Without a second thought, Atalanta let go of the string of her bow. As the arrow shot toward Seth at point-blank, she grinned sure of her victory. That didn''t last long though, when the projectile was about to connect, it was stopped by his free hand making her shocked.

    Crushing the arrow, he then retracted his spear before twisting his body and kicking her waist. Atalanta rolled on the ground for hundreds of meters before coming to a stop.

    "You...!" With soaring rage, she slowly got up picking the fallen bow that was next to her. Materializing an arrow, she nocked it and aimed at the sky.

    ? "This is an offering to the two Gods."

    ��Phoebus Catastrophe!��?

    She released her arrow which flew toward the clouds at extreme speeds. What came next was a shower of light, thousands of arrows came crashing down at Seth and the knight duo who already got to his position. Fortunately, the others were still far behind.

    "Master, should I use Balmung?" Siegfried asked seeing the incoming attack. There was no worry of wasting magical energy as his Master was a walking generator of it.

    "Not yet," Seth answered shortly. Inhaling air, he opened his mouth before releasing a sea of flames at the Noble Phantasm. St. George raised an eyebrow at this, wondering why he could do that if he wasn''t a Dragon. This continued until the arrows stopped coming down from the sky.

    "Let''s end this, we don''t have time to waste." He said looking at both Servants who took their battle stances.

    Seth disappeared from his position and reappeared at Atalanta''s side. Said girl was surprised, to say the least. She tried to jump back but he grabbed her by the tail before she could go far.

    "Kya!" Atalanta released a girlish scream with a small blush on her face making Seth''s expression become weird but he ignored it and threw her at the duo.

    Georgios was the first to go, he jumped from his horse and slashed her mid-air before powering his sword,��Ascalon!��and slamming her into the ground.

    With his sword glowing in blue light, Siegfried shouted��Balmung!��before a beam shot toward the fallen Atalanta. Not having the strength to get up, she received the full brunt of the attack.

    When the light receded, all that was left was a tattered Atalanta that was missing an arm. "Lady Artemis..." She weakly said before disappearing.

    The three men looked at each other, then at the place where Archer had been before looking back at each other. "This combination is...scary." The three of them said at the same time feeling slightly perturbed.

    It was at that time that the rest of the group came. "Hey! Why did you leave us behind?!" Elizabeth complained with a slightly hurried breath.

    "I apologize, it was not our intention," Siegfried said to the angry girl.

    "I''m not...made to run..." Amadeus said with his hands on his knees. Fujimaru felt the same way the musician did.

    "At least it''s over now." Jeanne found something positive about this. Although she could have gone with them to fight Archer, she preferred to stay behind and protect the group in case there were more Servants in the area. Fortunately, that wasn''t the case.

    "Guys, we have problems! I''m detecting an ultra-sized lifeform coming your way, it''s Fafnir!" Dr. Roman said with urgency. Considering the speed of the Dragon, it won''t take long before he gets to them.

    "Fafnir?! Then that means...!" Mash was shocked by hearing Romani''s words.

    "Jeanne Alter." Both Artoria and Jeanne said at the same time.

    Because the enemy was coming to them, there was no need to move from their position. It didn''t take long before a shadow covered them all, looking up they all saw Fafnir hovering with Jeanne and D''Eon on his back.

    "So we meet again," Jeanne Alter said looking down at the group with hordes of Wyverns, Zombies, and Skeletons behind her. The calmness in her expression slightly unnerved the Chaldeans who were accustomed to seeing her in a constant fit of rage.

    "Yes...I have wanted to speak with you again...to tell you that��" Jeanne gained courage and wanted to tell her how she felt but was interrupted.

    "It doesn''t matter. I no longer concern myself with that. You can say whatever you want, that I''m not you, that I shouldn''t exist among other things. Honestly, it doesn''t matter anymore." The Black Saint words produced a big shock in everyone present except for one person. However, the most shocked of all was Jeanne.

    "Huh...? But you..." She didn''t have words, her feelings were complex. She spent a lot of time, more than she would have liked, thinking about what she was going to say to her at the moment of their encounter that she was unable to find a proper way to deal with this situation.

    "Before I was going to kill you because your mere presence brought me an incredible amount of disgust, now I will just kill you as an enemy. Nothing more, nothing less." Alter said looking at her counterpart in the eyes. She still hater her with all her being, and she still couldn''t stand the sight of her. However, she would set all that aside in this fight and only see her as another enemy she had to defeat.

    ''It seems I made it harder for them to beat her, now that she is not mad and is not easily influenceable she will have fewer openings. Well, It''s not all that bad. If the fights are going to get more difficult from now on then they need to have enough experience.'' Seth thought while looking at the blonde woman he fought not that long ago. Shaking his head, he started running toward the direction of the enemy army.

    The Black Saint followed him with her gaze for a few seconds before returning to look at the rest. At that moment, the French Army made its appearance and started their attack on the supernatural creatures.

    "Do not fear! We will banish these monsters from our homeland!" Marshall Gilles de Rais encouraged his soldiers to boost morale, "OOHHH!!" and they responded in kind.

    "Gilles...!" The Maiden of Orleans was pleasantly surprised to see him here.

    "Hmph, fools." Jeanne Alter said before raising her flag and pointing it at the soldiers. Half her army went to attack the Frenchs while the other half kept attacking Seth from all directions.

    Jumping off Fafnir''s back together with D''Eon, she faced her enemies without fear. With a mental command, Shadow Servants of Vlad, Carmilla, Lancelot, Sanson, and Martha appeared beside her.

    "Wha-?! What happened to you?!" Elizabeth yelled in surprise seeing Carmilla in that state, causing more than one to cover their ears.

    Carmilla didn''t respond but the grip on her staff got tighter, the same thing happened with Vlad. Even as broken beings they couldn''t simply forget ''that''.

    "Enough talking, you guys pick an opponent and fight to the death." Jeanne Alter commanded her Shadow Servants and they all vanished before reappearing in front of their respective targets, the matchups were as follow:

    Marie and Amadeus versus Sanson and D''Eon.

    Elizabeth vs Carmilla

    Kiyohime vs Martha

    Mash and Fujimaru vs Lancelot

    Georgios vs Vlad

    Siegfried vs Fafnir

    And finally, Jeanne and Artoria Alter vs Jeanne Alter

    "It''s good to see you again, My Queen." Even if his/her mind was clouded, Berserker Saber could still recognize that radiance.

    "It''s good to see you again, Chevalier D''Eon. Although I wish it would have been in other circ.u.mstances." She smiled at the foe in front of her.

    "M-Marie..." Sanson extended his arm forward trying to reach for her.

    "You don''t know when to give up, do you?" Amadeus asked in annoyance.

    "It''s okay." Marie shook her head telling Amadeus to not worry about it. Looking at the shadowy Sanson, she spoke, "Don''t worry, I will put an end to your suffering soul so you can rest in peace."

    ...

    "I was expecting to beat you myself but it seems someone got to you first, I hate to admit it but it''s frustrating," Elizabeth said with discontent looking at what her grown-up self had become.

    "Shut up... Once I''m done with you I will kill the one who made me like this." Even as a Shadow Servant, she still retained the memories of her final moment as a proper one in this Singularity.

    "I don''t know who you are talking about but if you think you are going to get past me you are wrong! As an atonement for the crimes I''ve done, I will be the one to stop you!" Elizabeth proclaimed while pointing her index finger at Carmilla.

    "I will start by taking out your horrible voice..."

    ...

    "Good grief... It seems I can''t get myself out of this curse yet." The shadowy Martha said looking at Kiyohime who was looking at her with a frown.

    "I don''t know why but you displease me," Kiyohime said covering her mouth with her traditional fan, even she was unaware of the reason.

    "Huh... I''ve tamed a Dragon with prayers before but I think I will make a more physical approach this time." Martha commented while opening and closing her fists repeatedly.

    ...

    "Senpai, be careful. Even though he is a Shadow Servant, he is still an outstanding knight. We can''t let our guard down." Mash readied her shield after positioning herself in front of her Master.

    "I know," Fujimaru responded with a nod. "However, I''m surprised he didn''t go after Saber and instead decided to fight us." He questioned with doubt.

    "Most probably it was Jeanne Alter that commanded him to face us, now that he isn''t a proper Servant it may be easier to control him but that''s just my conjecture." Shielder analyzed, still not letting Lancelot obscure figure out of her sight.

    Fujimaru glanced to his left, even if they were separated by dozen of meters, he could still see Artoria glancing from time to time to their direction.

    ...

    "When they talk about the hero who repelled the invaders from Romania I never imagined it could be a monster like this." St. George said looking at his foe.

    "Heh... I must say it''s quite ironic. Before I found that description to be maddening, now I know that title was wasted in me." Vlad chuckled like he was talking about something trivial.

    "What do you mean?" Georgios frowned, not understanding the meaning of his enemy''s words.

    "Look behind me." Vlad pointed at his rear, the wielder of Ascalon did as such and was confronted with the battlefield��No...the massacre that was occurring between his ally and the army of monsters. Lightning and fire filling the scene.

    "That''s a predator playing with his food but...I''ve seen it hunt." Vlad said bringing enlightenment on Rider.

    "So he is the one who defeated you?" St. George asked, however, Vlad didn''t respond and simply dashed at him.

    ...

    "Wicked Dragon, it seems we shall fight once again. No matter how many times you decide to come back, I will raise to defeat you!" Siegfried said with conviction looking at the Dragon before him.

    *ROOOARRR*

    The only response he got was a massive roar directed at him, not that he expected Fafnir to suddenly talk to him.

    Without anything more to say, the Dragon Slayer put force on his legs before jumping at Fafnir with his sword in hand.

    ...

    "It seems this will be our last battle, ''me''." Jeanne readied her flag to face her counterpart.

    "I have no interest in your little catfight, but I will be the one to put an end to that mad dog''s life." Saber said while her sword glowed.

    "I don''t recall having any interest in fighting an icy bitch." The Black Saint said in a disinterested tone like she couldn''t bother to pay her attention making Saber narrow her eyes.

    "I just want to know something...what happened to you? You don''t seem to be consumed by hatred anymore." Jeanne asked the woman in front of her. It''s not like she didn''t feel happy by that, in fact, she felt better if only slightly knowing that her other self wasn''t blinded by a hatred she knew she herself didn''t have but it DID make her confused.

    "So you want to know, huh?" Jeanne asked as a mocking grin slowly made its way into her face. "It was thanks to your Master, actually. He showed me something wonderful while he embraced me in his arms." She added making Saber''s face twitch a little and Jeanne''s body shake for a second. It seemed Alter had picked the nasty hobby of play with people''s minds from a certain someone...

    "You bastard..." Saber said through gritted teeth. Jeanne couldn''t say anything, she suddenly felt a pain in her c.h.e.s.t but didn''t know where it came from.

    To say she enjoyed their reactions would be an understatement. "What? Don''t believe me? You can ask him if you want, you will have to face reality by then."

    "No need, I will get the truth out of your mouth." Saber said doing a step forward, ready to attack.

    Shaking her head of unnecessary thoughts Jeanne also stepped forward. Without a signal, the duo dashed forward and the Corrupted Saint did the same.

    Oblivious to their chat, Seth kept killing the enemy. He didn''t use his weapon and only fought with his b.a.r.e hands, fire, and lightning. He felt that using his weapon against foes of this level was overkill, he still fought intending to finish things as soon as possible, though.

    ''That kid separated her army to face the Frenchs, that would make things simpler for me. The thing is...should I go help them after I''m done here or should I help the others fight the Servants...?'' It was not something that he was concerned about that much but the thought still crossed his head.

    His main concerns were the young kids, Siegfried, Ruler, and Saber. He didn''t know if they could beat Lancelot with just a shield, he didn''t know if Siegfried could slay Fafnir once again and he didn''t know if the duo could beat the ''new'' Jeanne.

    ''I guess I should stop thinking about this and trust their capabilities for once. If worst comes to worst I will just use that cursed skill...'' Seth thought as he continued doing his job.

    While they were concentrated in their respective battles, Gilles was observing everything through magecraft. He was especially focused on a single man who at this point was close to eliminating one of the halves of his and Alter''s troops.

    "You! It''s you! The man that took the ideal Saint from me, damn you! Hiyaaah!" He said in madness while holding his head.

    Suddenly he stopped moving and then returned to normal. Holding his book he looked one last time at Seth before making his way out of the room. "I will show it to you... I will show you the ultimate COOL!"

    =============================

    Like that, one hour has passed. Seth at this point was helping the French Army after he dealt with his own group of enemies.

    The fights between Servants were reaching their climax, all except for the one between the three girls.

    Despite how unreliable they looked, Kiyohime and Elizabeth didn''t have many troubles against their opponents. Of course, this was largely because the other party couldn''t use their Noble Phantasm as they weren''t properly themselves. They only had to worry about not being hit by their normal attacks that were still no joke.

    St. George could be side to be the one who had it easier. Different from the two dragon girls, he was a ''proper'' warrior so he copped with Vlad''s attack better. Without being able to use Kazikli Bey and being weaker than his proper Servant self he couldn''t do much. Although having lasted this long against Georgios proves just how strong the Vampire is.

    Siegfried was the one had it worse. Different from the rest, he was fighting with an enemy that one step wrong, Dragon Slayer or not, could mean his death. A wound that went through his whole back was proof of that. In one of his charges against Fafnir he miscalculated and was almost ripped in half by the Dragon''s claws. He managed to avoid his death by doing an almost impossible movement mid-air, unfortunately, he didn''t escape unscratched as he was grazed by them leaving the nasty wound he was currently dealing with.

    His Master continuously sent magical energy to him so at least he could still stand and fight to the death. Siegfried didn''t know if he was versed in some kind of healing spell but even if he was, he didn''t want to trouble him. This was a fight that he had to win on his own, this was his job as a hero.

    "Let''s put an end to this." The Dragon Slayer said before starting to run at Fafnir''s direction. Said Dragon dived down from the skies with one of his arms extended to crush Siegfried.

    The Hero waited until the right moment. When the shadow of the dragon''s arms covered him he jumped between the small gap of Fafnir''s claws and started climbing up through his extremity.

    Fafnir got enraged and started swinging his arm left and right trying to shake Siegfried off. The white-haired man did his best to maintain his balance while continuing to climb.

    When Siegfried got close to his shoulder Fafnir ascended to the sky after letting a roar of hatred. He started doing erratic movements which prompted the Hero to stab Balmung on the underside of the Dragon''s hard scales just to not be thrown off.

    Finding a chance when the Dragon stopped for a brief moment, Siegfried took his sword out from Fafnir''s body and did a big jump from his shoulders to the back of his neck.

    He raised his sword at the sky and started to chant.

    ? "Let''s go!"

    His sword started giving a blue glow and the Dragon below shivered unconsciously.

    "The Evil Dragon will fall, and the world will now reach the twilight."

    The glow transformed into a beam that raised toward the sky like a stream.

    "Fall!"

    After putting enough energy he slammed his sword on Fafnir''s head.

    ��Balmung!�� ?

    A big explosion resounded on the battlefield, Fafnir came crashing down and Siegfried was sent flying from his back as he was at the point of impact.

    Siegfried was the first to touch the ground, leaving a deep crater where he laid weakly. Looking up he noticed the body of the Dragon falling right on top of him. Unfortunately, he couldn''t move and it seemed Fafnir would crash him before he completely faded.

    ''This is as far as I can go, I''m sorry guys, Master...but; I could do my job properly...I''m glad I could be of help at least once.'' He thought as he closed his eyes while a smile made its way to his face.

    "It''s not night yet, why are you trying to sleep?" A voice interrupted his ''final'' moments. Siegfried weakly opened his eyes only to see the ground. Turning his head he noticed his Master carrying him on his shoulder.

    "Master...? What are you doing here? I thought you were helping the French Army..." Siegfried was really surprised to see him here, not that he wasn''t glad.

    "I already helped them enough." Seth said while looking at the fading Dragon. ''Besides, there is a limit to how much Gods should interfere with humans.'' He added in his mind.

    As if they were synchronized, the other battles were nearing their end just as Siegfried managed to defeat Fafnir.

    Amadeus used his Noble Phantasm to disturb the concentration of Sanson and D''Eon, while they were facing the demonic melody, Marie''s crystal horse rammed the Executioner''s body sending him flying in the spy''s direction. Still being under the effect of Amadeus'' Requiem for Death D''Eon didn''t notice the incoming Sanson making them crash. Before they could stop, however, a big ice-like crystal pierced both of them together.

    "I wish to fight by your side next time, My Queen." D''Eon said as their body started fading in motes of light.

    "I can''t wait for it." Marie smiled at her one last time.

    "Amadeus...I leave Marie to you..." Were Sanson''s last words.

    "Don''t worry and disappear already, I would take care of her even if you didn''t tell me to." Amadeus responded but this time his words weren''t filled with disgust at him.

    ...

    "I...win..." Elizabeth said with a slightly hurried breath, her spear piercing Carmilla''s c.h.e.s.t. A victorious smirk adorned her face. Of course, that couldn''t hide the scratch marks all over her body, though.

    "Foolish girl...no matter what you do...your sins won''t disappear." Carmilla''s hate-filled voice reacher the little girl''s ears.

    "I know that! That''s why...that''s why I decided to become an idol...to bring people joy!" Elizabeth removed her spear from Carmilla after those words left her mouth.

    "An idol...? Is that your new way of torturing people?" The Countess of Blood disappeared in black particles of light, leaving behind an insult straight to Elizabeth''s heart.

    ...

    "Aren''t...you...supposed...to be..a Saint?!" Kiyohime wasn''t in a better state than the other dragon girl, She was panting heavily and had blood dripping from her mouth courtesy of Martha''s fist. Taking a deep breath, she said all in one go, "What''s with those fists?!"

    Martha, who was being burned by Kiyohime''s Noble Phantasm, chuckled. "All conflicts can''t be resolved by words alone."

    "They can if you love enough!" She said, changing her demeanor to that of a shy girl.

    Martha raised her eyebrows, even if that couldn''t be seen due to the shadows covering her, before shaking her head and finally disappearing.

    ...

    Georgios was standing in front of a wounded Vlad, he had a slash wound that went from his right shoulder all the way to the upper side of his left leg. "Next time I hope to fight the hero who defended his people." St. George said, respecting Vlad''s ''true'' story.

    "I would wish for nothing more than to be summoned as my proper self." Vlad commented before dashing at the Saint.

    The knight in bronze armor responded in kind with a dash of his own. Sword and spear clashed one last time as the two warriors went behind one another still maintaining their stances. The first to move was Vlad, just to fall onto the ground in defeat.

    "Monster or not, It''s been an honor to fight against you." St. George sheathed Ascalon in its scabbard leaving behind those words.

    ...

    On Mash and Fujimaru''s side, they finally had defeated Lancelot after and arduous and long fight of blocking and attacking again and again.

    "Confirming enemy defeat. Good work, senpai." Mash said, turning to face her Master

    Fujimaru nodded with a bright smile. "You too, Mash. I''m glad I have you with me." The Master said making Shielder gain a pink tint on her cheeks. He proceeded to use his Mystic Code to heal some of the wounds she received when she couldn''t block Lancelot''s hits properly.

    ...

    "What happened? Weren''t you going to make me say the ''truth''?" Alter mocked the two Servants in front of her who were having trouble standing up.

    "Heh...keep that smirk all you want. I would like to see it when I shove my sword in your c.h.e.s.t." The King of Knights said with a mocking tone of her own. Sadly, with burns all over her body, her words didn''t carry much weight behind them.

    "It''s our job to defeat you, for all the people that suffered and still are." Jeanne said, almost in the same condition as Saber.

    "Even your big Dragon has fallen, it seems you don''t have that many allies anymore." Artoria added with smugness in her voice.

    "Hmph, I don''t see how you are going to do it looking like that. I guess I just need you to remind you who is the superior one here. And as for Fafnir, he will become a more than welcome sacrifice if I can eliminate the two of you." The Black Saint raised her sword preparing to give the finishing blow but was stopped, or better said, she stopped herself seeing a familiar man appearing beside her.

    "Gilles...? What are you doing here?" Alter asked with a little surprise on his voice seeing the familiar man.

    "My Saint, I''ve come to help you. Better yet, I have come to get rid of the poison that has been consuming you!" The Caster Servant said with his oh so ever soothing voice...

    Jeanne frowned hearing his words. "I don''t know what are you talking about but I don''t need your help, I alone am more than enough to crush them." She then turned around to face the shocked Servant duo.

    "No, you don''t understand!" He screamed before muttering in a very low voice. "You don''t understand... You are just confused by his trickery... Don''t worry, I will release you."

    Gilles opened his book and chanted in some weird language. "Ph''nglui mglw''nafh wgah''nagl fhtagn" With that, tremors started being felt throughout the battlefield.

    Something came out of the ground, elevating Caster with it. "Fufufuhahahahaha!! Ahahahahahahahahahaha!!" He laughed like a madman as that something revealed to be himself something out of this world, the creature looked like some kind of weird octopus. Water started sprouting out of the place where it came from.

    "What is that creature?!" Everyone on the battlefield couldn''t help but shout the same words.

    ''That guy...he summoned a demon from a dark dimension?'' Seth couldn''t help but be slightly taken aback. His thoughts were cut short when he noticed something moving below the ground. Coming to a fast decision, he threw Siegfried toward St. George who was approaching the duo.

    Just as he did that, a gigantic tentacle shot out from the ground sending him like a rocket toward the clouds.

    Seeing this, Jeanne got infuriated. "Gilles, what are you doing?! I said I didn''t need your help!"

    "My sorrowful heart can''t stand seeing you like that, my Jeanne. That''s why I need to save you from that nuisance." Gilles said before being ''eaten'' by the demon.

    Meanwhile, in the sky, Seth ascension was slowly coming to a stop. "This thing about always receiving the first hit is getting tiring..." He said with a sigh. Looking below, he noticed how that weird demon was starting to swing his tentacles creating havoc. The French Army had received more damage by that demon than by the battle before.

    "I need to do something or they will be annihilated...normals means won''t do. By the time I kill it, there won''t be any soldiers left..." Seth reasoned while looking at his right hand where the Command Spell was, a troubled expression appeared on his face.

    ''Don''t doubt... If you want to achieve something, then give your all even if that means getting hurt.'' Suddenly, he remembered words he had long forgotten.

    "Even now you act like the father I never had. That''s so like you...Apophis." He smiled wrily before his expression suddenly became serious.

    ? "I''m the God that governs over Violence, Disorder, and Envy!"

    "As the successor of Chaos, I will call upon the original to this world."

    "Devour the light of this world once again!"

    ��Apohis Isfet Neter!��?

    With those words, dark particles started escaping from every person on the battlefield and gathering on the body of the falling Seth at incredible speeds.

    The sky darkened and a gigantic tornado with him as the center shot from the clouds toward the ground. Everyone was drawn to what was happening, even the Demon stopped his attack.

    Suddenly, an ancient roar could be heard on the battlefield that shook the ground like an earthquake. With that roar, the tornado dispersed to reveal a gargantuan creature. Scale and horns as black as coal, four golden, slitted eyes looked at the world below with disdain and a big pair of wings that would cover the sun itself if the sky wasn''t repleted by thunderstorms.

    On top of its head, Seth had a change in his appearance, the sclera of his left eye became black and the same left eye changed to look like the one from the creature below, the black markings around his body started pulsating as if alive.

    The Serpent-like creature opened his mouth slightly, saliva started dripping as he did so. Once it touched the ground, everything started melting like it was acid.

    Now, two enormous beasts faced each other. This was going to be a battle on a different scale than before. Yes... This was going to be a fight between Kaijus!

    [A/N: I had written over 1k words after Siegfried used his NP on the bus on my way home but because I opened Wtspp all my progress was lost and I had to write all over again. Life is so wonderful... Anyways, I said I would write between 3k and 4k and I ended up writing 5344 words so I guess this count as an apology? Also, tell me if you want some (not all) of the NP names like Nitocris (anpu neb ta djeser) or should I write them all in english? Also, the NP Seth used is a pseudo NP, not a normal one, I''m going to explain it in the next chapter. Sorry for the references btw xd]

 Chapter 36 - A Disturbing Foreshadowing And The End Of The War Of The Evil Dragons

    Seth started hearing a buzzing sound and blood started dripping from his ears. All sorts of natural phenomenons started appearing in the area. Tornados descended from the lightning-filled clouds, the ground started to break apart and lava was oozing out of it.

    The soldiers had retreated the moment Gilles summoned the octopus-like demon. Unfortunately, some were not able to escape the catastrophe.

    "What is happening?!" Fujimaru''s said in a panicked voice while being carried under Saber''s arm who decided to abandon her battle with Jeanne Alter after the first monster made its presence known.

    "I don''t know, I''ve never seen anything like that before, Senpai." Mash didn''t have an answer to her Master question, this was a first for her too.

    "This is bad, I don''t know what he did but it''s like the World is rejecting it!" Dr. Roman informed the group. This was something to be worried about, whatever was the thing the black-haired man summoned was really bad news.

    "This...Master is no longer providing Magical Energy?" Jeanne who had come to the same decision as Artoria worriedly said.

    "It looks that way, I have also stopped receiving it since Master summoned that large beast. But that doesn''t matter now, we need to get as far from her as possible." Siegfried confirmed her doubts while mounting on Georgios'' horse together with the man himself.

    "Siegfried is right, Jeanne. We take the risk of getting caught in the fight between those things and be meaninglessly killed." Marie supported the Dragon Slayer words, now their priority was getting to safety. Especially considering they had a normal human among them.

    "Waah!! What are those things?! Puppy please save me!" Elizabeth ran to hid behind Saber who was carrying Fujimaru.

    ''Aren''t you supposed to be the one protecting me...?'' The youth awkwardly thought while avoiding the little girl''s gaze.

    Everyone decided to leave immediately as they felt that the staring contest the two enormous monsters were having was about to come to an end.

    Meanwhile, the moment Jeanne Alter let those two girls go, she mounted a Wyvern that was flying near her location and decided to watch the battle that was about to unfold in the skies. Of course, a safe distance away.

    Seth, for his part, was still suffering from that annoying sound. ''Tch. Why don''t you mind your own business? It''s just a damn avatar, not the real thing...'' He annoyingly thought, an answer came in the form of a lightning bolt from the dark clouds above toward the Serpent''s head where he was residing.

    Apophis ducked its head and covered it with his dragon-like wings. When the attack touched them it disappeared without doing anything. However, it managed to anger the enormous monster.

    Just as he was going to roar at the sky he received a light tap on his head. "Don''t do it, you are only going to make it worse. Besides, our enemy is in front of us." Seth lightly told Apophis while focusing on the tentacle demon who wasn''t moving since a while ago.

    ''That and the fact I can''t maintain you much longer. I had to stop sending Magical Energy to the other two just for you to last five seconds more.'' He added in his mind. Just summoning an avatar of an ancient God had exhausted eighty percent of his reserves and keeping him summoned was draining what he had left.

    Apophis moved his four eyes upward to look at Seth for a second before complying and facing the enemy.

    As if tired of waiting, the Gigantic Horror moved its tentacles like a whip toward the giant serpent who easily evaded them.

    Catching one of the tentacles with his mouth, Apophis ripped a part of it off from the body of the monster and proceeded to eat it. The surprising thing was, the tentacle regenerated easily after a few seconds.

    "Unforgivable, unforgivable, unforgivable! You blasphemous creature!" Gilles shouted inside the monster with his eyes bulging.

    With faster speed this time, the tentacles started wrapping around Apophis'' body. Unfazed by this, his dark scales started liting on fire burning the tentacles that were touching him. Not yet done, he caught one of them who was near one of his horns before it returned to the demon and instead of simply biting it like previously he filled his mouth with fire and then shot it toward the main body through the tentacle.

    The body of the Gigantic Horror combusted but it still didn''t feel any pain, it was like it didn''t even feel anything except the need to destroy.

    When the fire surrounding it stopped, the extradimensional being was revealed to be burnt gravely. It was now difficult to find a part of its body that wasn''t black. However, with a simple shake, all black parts that covered him started falling from its body showing a fully regenerated demon.

    Gilles'' Noble Phantasm released a strange sound and started using his regenerated tentacles to attack the landscape in an erratic way bringing further destruction to the battlefield.

    ''It''s not like I''m one to talk but that regeneration is annoying. I don''t have much time, I should hurry up or my Magical Energy will run out.'' Seth thought while looking at the rampaging monster. His dwindling reserves weren''t the only thing he had to worry about, at this point the natural phenomenons were rapidly increasing in number and power.

    "Apophis, go below the surface." He commanded the avatar of the Serpent God who followed his orders, folding his wings he dug underground after descending from the chaotic sky.

    Seeing the disappearance of his foe, the Gigantic Horror started slamming its tentacles on the ground causing it to repeatedly crack. Still, there was no sign of Apophis or Seth.

    "Coward, show yourself! I still haven''t punished you for what you did to my perfect Saint!" Gilles screamed with a high pitched voice.

    Jeanne Alter, who was still observing the battle from far away, released a sigh after hearing his words. "Gilles..." She knew he was doing it for her but that didn''t prevent an uncomfortable feeling from surfacing.

    As if to answer his provocation, Apophis shot from the ground behind him. Unfolding his wings he started coiling around the demon who was too late to react. As the monster didn''t have bones, there was no point in constricting it so he simply flapped his wings and took it toward the sky.

    Apophis took advantage of the continuous lightning directed at them and used it to strike their opponent.

    With its body, including its tentacles, being wrapped by the gargantuan serpent, the Gigantic Horror couldn''t do anything to prevent the rage of the thunderous clouds, that didn''t prevent it from trying to struggle, though.

    Its regeneration kept kicking in again and again but it was getting slower each time. It seemed it was going to reach its limit sooner or later.

    However, none of the two had the d.e.s.i.r.e to wait that long, nor they could. "Let me show you how we do things here, stupid creature." With Seth''s words, Apophis opened his mouth like he was going to devour the monster''s head but instead of that, energy particles started gathering on his mouth from all around him.

    As the first and second Egyptians Gods of Chaos. This destruction, this disorder, this...chaos. All of this was like being at home for them. Although his body couldn''t handle receiving energy from it yet, that didn''t apply to Apophis.

    The Serpent God started s.u.c.k.i.n.g the energy from all around him, feeding his final attack that was gradually taking the form of a black ball with equally black lightning moving all over it from time to time.

    With their energy starting to deplete, the disasters where disappearing little by little while Apophis'' attack was growing stronger by the second.

    The Black Saint sensing the danger was going to order the Wyvern to retreat but the beast beat her to it, a creature that relied on instinct the most was well aware of the incoming demise that would occur to it if it didn''t leave from this place.

    The giant monster suddenly stopped its struggle, like it had given up and surrendered to its fate. Gilles, who was inside the monster, looked up to see what to him looked like a blinding white light. His eyes widened and tears started falling from his big eyes. "God...?"

    In synchrony with Gilles'' words, Apophis released his attack. The dark ball transformed into a beam that obliterated the creature he was trapping, together with the Caster Servant.

    The attack didn''t stop there, though. It hit the ground creating a massive explosion in the form of a dome that rapidly expanded to all sides.

    The Wyvern that had retreated was caught up in the explosion and with it, Jeanne. The dome only stopped when it reached five kilometers in radius.

    Once the attack was over, a deep and enormous crater was the only thing left on the previous battlefield. In its center, Apophis was seen with his almost destroyed wings covering his head, some parts of his body were completely destroyed to the point that the bones could be seen.

    He stayed still for a few seconds before removing his wings from the top of his head to reveal a safe and sound Seth albeit a little pale.

    "Thanks for protecting me, also for the help. I''m at my limit so I will stop the summoning." He said breathing a little faster than normal.

    Apophis merely nodded, closing its eyes it actually spoke to him through his mind. ''It''s nothing. Sadly, the next time we see each other again we will be enemies. Take care of yourself until then, brat.''

    Seth''s eyes widened. "You! How?!" He may not be able to feel or sense things as good as before but he was sure the one under him was just an avatar, it wasn''t supposed to talk much less have a will of its own.

    Apophis didn''t respond, opening his mouth he extended his tongue to the top of his head bringing with it a golden chalice, the Holy Grail.

    Seth caught it but his gaze was still focused on the Serpent God. However, he still didn''t get an answer and even before he cut the summoning, Apophis stopped it by himself.

    He got safely to the surface after falling from the sky. Now that he was gone, Seth''s Magical Energy started recovering itself slowly but surely.

    "What do you mean enemies...?" He asked to the now gone Apophis after releasing a sigh.

    With nothing trying to break the ''natural order'', the world returned to normal. Seth started running out of the crater when he noticed a barely conscious Jalter along the way. Her body was badly burnt and she was missing an arm and a leg.

    "Sorry about that kid, we went all out with that attack." He slowly said while walking toward her. She didn''t respond as she couldn''t hear him.

    He shook his head seeing her like this. "Just sleep, everything will be over soon." His spear materialized, grabbing it he pointed the tip at her c.h.e.s.t before thrusting down.

    The pain made her regain a little lucidity, enough to say thank you before fading in yellow light. Seth observed her disappearing body for a few seconds and then walked away. "I don''t think I deserve to be thanked after playing with your mind but I will accept it anyway."

    It wasn''t long until he managed to reunite with the others who were glad that he was alright and that finally, everything was over.

    "I''m glad you are alright, Master. Although I''m surprised you could summon a monster like that." Siegfried welcomed Seth with a smile, same as everyone else except for two blonde girls who wanted certain answers.

    "That was scary but at the same time awesome." Fujimaru said with a hint of excitement after the panicking face ended. Boys his age always liked this sort of stuff after all.

    "I thought we were going to die though, it looked like the world was ending even without those two monsters doing anything." Amadeus commented from the side.

    "Tch, the devil looks after his own." Saber said while cl.i.c.k.i.n.g her tongue with an annoyed expression.

    Just as she finished saying that, everyone started fading. "It seems we are returning." Mash noticed after looking to her and the rest dissipating bodies.

    St. George turned to look at Siegfried. "It was a p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e fighting alongside you, I hope we can do it again someday." They had become good friends by the looks of it.

    "Likewise." The Dragon Slayer replied with a smile.

    "Make sure you summon me next time, Puppy. I will be waiting!" Elizabeth happily said to Fujimaru who again avoided her gaze. "Uhh...sure..." He replied with sweat falling from his forehead.

    "You are going to summon me too, right?" Kiyohime asked Seth who had his hand on her face preventing the girl with the kimono from invading his personal space. ''Where does this girl come from?'' He thought with annoyance on his face.

    Marie remembered a promise she had made with Jeanne but decided to not bring it up. She looked at the Saint who had her hands on her c.h.e.s.t wanting to say something but not having the courage to. Smiling, she gave a nod of encouragement to her.

    Nodding back at Marie, Jeanne took a deep breath before asking Seth. "Master, what happened to the other me?"

    "Dead." Was the simple answer she got. She wanted to ask him about the words her altered version had said previously but even with Marie''s support, she couldn''t do it. Every time she was going to ask about it, an unknown fear took over her like she didn''t want to know the answer.

    "I see... Then, don''t forget the promise you made to me. I hope you summon me so you can fulfill it..." She looked sideways as blush slowly made its way to her cheeks. She lacked the confidence to be direct so she chose a somewhat more roundabout way.

    Marie helplessly smiled seeing this but she knew even her indirect words took everything from her.

    Seth sighed internally, he made a mental note to not make promises just for the sake of getting rid of people''s pestering.

    "I will see what I can do." Was the answer she got but with the little she knew him. Jeanne felt it was enough.

    One by one everyone returned to either the Throne of Heroes or Chaldea. The Singularity was finally resolved, now the only thing they could do was wait until the next one showed up.

 Chapter 37 - Summoning Poll

    Okay guys, I''m gonna make a list of the Servants that can be summoned next. I''m going to pick the two most voted to be Seth''s servants and the following three to be Fuji''s. The idea is for you to choose five options because if everyone picks the same two Fujimaru won''t have any servants xd

    Put the 5 Servants you want in the comments.

    A) Jeanne

    B) Siegfried

    C) Amadeus

    D) Marie

    E) Sanson

    F) Georgios

    G) Kiyohime

    H) Elizabeth

    I) Carmilla

    J) Vlad

    K) Martha

    L) Atalanta

    M) Lancelot

    N) Gilles

    O) Phantom (please don''t.)

    P) D''Eon

    Q) Jalter (I didn''t want to summon her until her banner came out in the game but since a lot of you wanted her, I will make an exception)

    If the Servant you like doesn''t get summoned, don''t worry! There will be chances in the future!

 Chapter 38 - Alaya

    Thanks to everyone who voted in the last chapter. I wanted to address some concerns that I saw in the comments.

    Why don''t Seth summon more Servants if he has more magical energy than Fujimaru?

    It''s because I wanted to take my time with the interactions between Seth and his Servants and I find it simpler to do it if he doesn''t have many of them. I don''t want to summon a hundred and having them just exchange one or two words with Seth and nothing more.

    With regards to the number of males.

    I too noticed that the majority of votes were females so I decided to add the next male Servant who had the most votes and didn''t enter the top 5, I don''t know if I should add another male more or not. Be sure to tell me in the comments!

    Lastly, the topic about how Jalter and Jeanne will be in a constant fight or something like that, sorry I don''t remember very well.

    I don''t plan to make Jalter have that "I will kill you" or "I don''t want to have anything to do with you, go away" attitude toward Jeanne. She will try to improve herself and try to be better than Jeanne but that won''t mean she will be constantly fighting her. Of course, I will put one or two arguments between the two here and there. Otherwise, she won''t be Jalter anymore but it won''t escalate more than that.

    =============================

    Seth opened his eyes, he was finally back in Chaldea. Exiting the coffin he noticed Fujimaru laying on the ground sleeping with Fou l.i.c.k.i.n.g his cheeks.

    ''I almost forgot about him, he rarely showed up after all...'' He thought while looking at the weird creature.

    "Thanks for your hard work, you did an exemplary job." Dr. Roman congratulated Seth when he saw he was awake.

    "I don''t need to be thanked, Romani. You should save it for the kids, they were brave enough to face a situation that seemed hopeless despite their young age." He took the Holy Grail and tossed it toward the Doctor.

    Catching the wish-granting device, Romani looked at him weirdly. "I have been meaning to ask but...what is your real age?" He asked the man that was walking out of the room.

    Stopping for a second, he replied. "More than your real age, that''s for sure." And with those words, he left the room leaving a dumbstruck Doctor.

    "...tor...Do...or. DOCTOR!" "Huh!?" Romani was brought back to reality by Mash who at this point was shouting on his ear.

    "What happened, Doctor? You were kinda frozen there." Fujimaru asked him. When he woke up on the floor ��again�� the first thing he saw after Fou was Romani just standing there with his mouth open.

    "O-Oh...It''s nothing to worry about, It must be the heat." Dr. Roman invented an excuse that would have worked if not for the fact that they were on the top of a mountain with snow everywhere and the temperature outside went below zero.

    Mash looked at him suspiciously but didn''t press the matter any further. Looking around, she didn''t see Seth anywhere. "Kuro-san already left?"

    "Y-Yeah, he actually woke up before you did." The Doctor answered her question a little awkwardly.

    "Nice to see you came back safely." Da Vinci entered the room and handed some records to Roman.

    Looking at the papers Da Vinci handed him, Romani expression brightened. "We did it! France in the 15th Century was properly restored!"

    "That''s great!" His happiness spread to Mash and Fujimaru. However, Mash''s expression didn''t remain like that for long. "We didn''t find Professor Lev nor a clue about his whereabouts, though..."

    The atmosphere became a little more serious. "It''s fine, I''m sure sooner or later we will be able to find him. There are still six singularities to go." Dr. Roman reassured the youths.

    "Forget about that for now and get some well-deserved rest, you''ve earned it." Da Vinci said to Mash, Fujimaru, and Saber who had been silent all this time.

    "Right, thanks." With a nod of thanks, the trio left the room leaving only Romani, Da Vinci and some of the staff who were working on monitoring extra data.

    ...

    When Seth left the room, he walked in direction of the Cafeteria. He had to give it to EMIYA, his food was absolutely delicious, probably the best he has ever had.

    It didn''t take long for him to get there. Different from last time, he knew where to go. Some of the remaining staff members greeted him along the way giving their congratulations for the successful mission. He greeted them back even if he didn''t know their names, there will be time for that in the future.

    When he entered the Cafeteria, he saw something that made him want to facepalm. Caster was trying to hit on a female staff that clearly looked uncomfortable.

    Hearing the door opening, Cu Chulainn looked behind him to see his friend back from the Singularity. Leaving the young woman alone, he walked toward Seth. "Yo! Doing good? I checked the situation from time to time. Man, that was sure hectic." He said while laughing and slapping Seth in the back continuously much to his annoyment.

    "I''m fine, I just need some rest. I''ve put too much stress on this body in the final fight. How about you? Why do I feel like the only thing you have been doing is harassing women all this time?" He went to the counter while still chatting with Cu.

    "Of course not, I spent my whole time doing recognizance." Caster looked proud as he said this but by the looks of it, Seth didn''t believe it one bit.

    "...I may or may have not fooled around a little." He rephrased his previous sentence but it still didn''t convince the man next to him.

    "Fine fine, I just fooled around this place all the time but can you blame me? I got bored pretty quickly!" Cu Chulainn said while scratched his head embarrassedly.

    "And who was the one who said he wanted to explore Chaldea?" Seth gave him an unimpressed look.

    "That was my mistake, I admit it. Don''t get like that, will ya?" At this point, he wasn''t even trying to defend himself.

    "Everything you have been doing is harass the female staff, I didn''t see you being bored while doing that." When they got to the counter, what greeted them. Or better said, greeted Caster was EMIYA''s sarcastic remark.

    "Shut it, Archer. Why don''t you go bother someone else?"

    "Oh, is that right? Then I guess I won''t bother covering for your s.e.x.u.a.l harassment with Da Vinci and Dr. Roman, I''m sure they will be happy to return you to the Throne of Heroes."

    "Wha��?! That''s dirty, you l.a.p dog! And I didn''t s.e.x.u.a.lly harass anyone!"

    "Hmph. The only dog I see is currently barking in front of me."

    "Don''t call me a dog!"

    "Youngsters, no fights are allowed in the kitchen, am I clear?" The old lady that was in the kitchen the last time Seth was here appeared bringing with her a scary aura that made the two Servants sweat bullets.

    "Y-Yes ma''am!" The two did a military salute that made the aged woman laugh a bit. "As long as you understand."

    Turning toward Seth, she welcomed him with a smile. "I''m glad that you are back safe and sound. I may not know much about what''s going on but I''m happy that you are unharmed."

    "Thanks, It''s good to be back." He responded with a simple nod.

    "So, what would you like to eat?" The elderly woman asked the man, the two Servants just looked away from her. They learned the bad way not to anger her some days ago...

    "Something light please, I''m going to sleep after this." He requested the woman before picking a table and sitting together with Cu Chulainn and Archer who for some reason decided to accompany them. Normally he would help with the food but the woman told him not to worry about it and just relax.

    "So one resolved, six more to go, huh?" Caster said while looking at the ceiling, all traces of his easy-going nature gone.

    "I just hope we can be prepared for what is going to come, thinking one Singularity will become easier than the last is wishful thinking after all." EMIYA said while folding his arms and closing his eyes.

    "Most probably tomorrow we will summon more Servants, I just hope we can get someone useful." Seth rested his head on top of the table. ''Why do I have the feeling that it''s not what is going to happen...''

    "As long as we summon someone combat-oriented we will be fine. By the way, I asked the Doctor to show me some footage of the Singularity. You were there in person so do you have any idea what that ring of light is?" EMIYA asked the black-haired man.

    At his question, Seth''s eyes narrowed slightly. "I have a guess. In my last battle against that weird octopus, I managed to feel something from it. If my guess it''s proven to be correct then things will be more difficult. However, unnecessary panic is not what we need and I can be wrong so I prefer not to tell the others about it. At least until I can be sure of it."

    "Our future sure looks bleak." Cu sighed while rocking back and forth on his chair.

    "Here you go, enjoy it." Just then, the woman came with a plate of food for him. Thanking her, he started eating while continuing to chat with the two Servants.

    "It''s not like Humanity''s future looked bright from the beginning." EMIYA commented as he rested his head on his hands.

    "Talking from experience?" Caster asked while raising an eyebrow.

    "Something like that��" He was interrupted by the sound of the door sliding open. The three looked toward it to see Saber entering the Cafeteria. EMIYA released a sigh of defeat and made his way to the kitchen after getting up.

    Seeing the bowman, Artoria''s eyes lit up. "Archer, I want��" "Yes, yes. A big ration of junk food, I know." This time it was EMIYA who interrupted her.

    Spotting Seth together with Cu Chulainn, she walked toward their table. She was wearing her casual outfit this time instead of her battle dress.

    "Oh! If it isn''t the Holy Sword user. Want to gain a few pounds?" Caster greeted her with an insult making Saber''s forehead gain a tick mark.

    "If it isn''t the Sage of the Forest. Or should I say, the Dog of the Bushes?" The King of Knights didn''t fall back and countered his insult with her venomous tongue.

    "Can you two quiet down? I''m trying to eat here." Seth said still enjoying his food. It may not be equal to Archer''s cooking, but it was definitely incredible.

    "Hmph." With a cold snort, Saber sat down where the bowman was previously. Looking at him, she decided to ask what was on her mind since the last battle. "What was that creature you summoned...Seth?" She said the last part with strange difficulty. She always referred to him as you or any kind of derogative terms that came to her mind due to being people around but now that there was only Caster who also knew of his identity there was no point of calling him another way anymore.

    "Wait, wait, wait. Do you know who he is?!" Caster asked surprised.

    "I thought that was left clear when we fought in that burning city, but what can I expect from someone with a dog''s brain." She again insulted where it hurt the most.

    Caster was about to retort but he noticed the old lady looking at him from the counter with a smile so he decided to take the insult laying down...for now.

    "The avatar of Apophis, the Serpent of Chaos." He simply replied while finishing his food. However, he didn''t say that it was not so much of an avatar. Even if the original was much bigger.

    Saber didn''t know much about it but Caster did. To say he was surprised would be an understatement, but remembering who Seth was it somewhat didn''t seem that far fetched to accomplish anymore.

    "I will go to sleep now, we will talk tomorrow when it''s time to summon some Servants." Getting up, he went to the counter to give back his empty plate to the old lady. Thanking her for the food he made his way out of the Cafeteria.

    "You better don''t summon that stupid Saint." Artoria said while her golden eyes glowed with a dangerous glint.

    "What''s gotten into you?" Seth paused and looked back with a confused face.

    "Nothing." She shortly replied turning her head away from him.

    Shaking his head, he finally exited the Cafeteria to get some well-deserved sleep.

    Once he was out, Cu Chulainn turned toward Saber with a smug smile that spelled ''punch me'' all over his face. "Oh? Is that jealousy I smell in the air?"

    If it was a normal situation, she would have said ''it''s because you are a dog.'' but the only thing she did was blush and jump like a cat whose tail was stepped on while readying her sword. "Wha-What are you talking about, you bastard?! Do you wish to die that much?!"

    Cu just kept his annoying smile while raising his arms in mock surrender. "Calm down. It was just a joke, y''know?"

    "I assure you my sword piercing your body won''t be just a joke." She said while still blushing.

    "Ahem...it''s prohibited to fight in the kitchen so please don''t do it or there won''t be more food for you." Saber turned her head to see an old lady smiling while a Hannya mask manifested behind her.

    "Kuh! This is extortion..." She said but still complied, the threat of losing her food was too much for her to bear.

    Meanwhile, Caster was enjoying this thoroughly. It was truly great when it happened to other people.

    ''It''s working for now but pretending to be dense won''t work forever, someday you will have to be clear about it. Well, considering your past I guess it''s understandable.'' He thought while looking at the ceiling with his eyes deep in contemplation.

    As Saber was suffering from the threat of her food being taken away from her, Seth reached his room. Entering it the first thing he did was lie on his bed.

    Truth be told, he had been feeling kind of lethargic since he touched the Holy Grail. "For all that is evil, I got a weird dream coming, I just know it."

    To confirm his words, the moment he entered dreamland he found himself in a sand dune. Everything around him was repleted with massacred bodies, so much so that even the sand had turned red.

    "It''s been a long time, are you doing well, husband?" A voice Seth hated so much to the point that he almost went mad with rage came from below him.

    From the sand, a beautiful woman with long scarlet hair came out. She had a figure that would be considered ravishing and was wearing a red robe that accentuated her curves.

    "You have one second to change that appearance before I erase you from the face of the planet." Seth said with growing hatred as his eyes turned golden and the same skeletal figure that appeared when he was with Stargazer made its presence known to signify how angry he was.

    "You are no fun. Aren''t you happy to see your wife?" The woman asked before her appearance started to change. Now, only a white figure whose gender or features couldn''t be recognized remained.

    "I will only be happy to see Nephthys again the day I can see her drowning in a pool of her own blood." Once the figure of the woman was no longer in his presence, his tone became less aggressive.

    "I see. Then, let me introduce myself, God of a distant land. I''m collective unconsciousness of mankind, Alaya." The figure started by saying its name. When it talked, it looked like hundreds of people were talking at the same time, both males and females.

    Whatever Alaya wanted with him, Seth was going to find out soon.

 Chapter 39 - New Servants I

    I''m going to write Alaya as she even if it doesn''t have gender, just for convenience''s sake.

    =============================

    "What was the reason you brought me here for?" Seth asked unimpressed by Alaya''s introduction.

    "Straight to the point? Fine by me." Alaya said as she started floating slightly around Seth and that strange robed skeleton.

    "I brought you here to make a deal, a deal that it will benefit both of us." You could find the glee in all the voices as she spoke about that.

    "What kind of deal would I possibly want to do with you?" Seth looked straight at her. Since the moment he saw Nephthys he had been in a pretty bad mood so he hoped it was worth the unpleasant time.

    Alaya put a hand on when her mouth should be and released a light chuckle, Seth raised an eyebrow at this. "Weren''t you supposed to have no emotions whatsoever?" As far as he knew, Alaya should be just a will and nothing more.

    "I used the records of various Heroic Spirits to make a personality so I could speak with you. Impressive, isn''t it? Anyways, my deal is a very simple one. I make the world accept you with the condition that you become a Grand for me." Alaya proposed him like she was doing the greatest of favors.

    "I refuse. First of all, you don''t have the capabilities. Second of all, I''m already doing your job, wouldn''t you have to do it for free if you could?" He sarcastically replied.

    "I have my means. Also... ''I will go out of my way to allow the World to give you free rein'' You thought that was what I was going to say?" Alaya''s tone started mild but got darker at the end.

    "How do you think Humanity survived until now? Did you think they survived because I''m stupid? There is no way I would set free a genocidal in this world without putting a leash on him first. The fact that the World wanted to end your existence when you summoned that Serpent is proof that you need my help!"

    Seth''s eyes narrowed at her words but chose not to correct her. "I don''t need your help, I never did. With each passing day, I get more familiar with the system of this World. First, they were skills, then a Pseudo Noble Phantasm, the moment I can materialize my legends into proper Noble Phantasms is not far. Also, I may have been overconfident but I''m by no means an idiot. Apophis is depicted as ''The Serpent That Devours The World''. It was the only reason why it attacked us, it saw me and Apophis as a threat. If I avoid calling him again then the World won''t do anything, all my other legends don''t involve it. What''s more, me being a ''genocide'' is sure to gain a good opinion from Gaia with her hate of humans."

    If Alaya had eyes then they would be wide open at this moment. "You...are dangerous..." With no more words, she extended her hand like a knife to Seth''s c.h.e.s.t. However, before she even touched him, the skeleton grabbed her arm. The little balls of flame that replaced its eyes blazed with fury.

    The skeleton opened its mouth and spoke something that even Alaya couldn''t understand. Strangely enough, the meaning behind the words was understood. Word by word, it said "Don''t. Touch. Him."

    The hand that was grabbing Alaya''s arm started to release a strange black substance that was turning her white arm into pure black and started expanding toward her torso. Coming to a swift decision, Alaya used her other arm to cut the "infected" one before vanishing and reappearing some steps away.

    "You are crazy...letting that thing out won''t bode well for you." Even if she was a consciousness of the real Alaya, she didn''t want to risk getting contaminated by that strange thing.

    "Won''t bode well for me?" Seth allowed himself a mocking laugh. "I admit he is overprotective but I assure you that no real harm will come to me as long as he is here."

    "Hypocrite! You are afraid of using his power but even so, you trust him with your life?!" Alaya snarled at him with dissatisfaction.

    "I''m not afraid, it''s just my trauma that doesn''t allow me to use him to his full potential. He isn''t at fault for what I became." At Seth''s words, the skeleton released an ominous sound and with it, the world started breaking apart.

    "You are crazy! Mark my words, should you use that thing against Humanity I will send everything I''ve got to destroy you!" Alaya threatened Seth one last time as the dream world kept collapsing.

    "He is Humanity as Humanity is him. Besides, do you think you have the power to kill me? I can count with one hand the beings that can truly do it and I can guarantee you they will not lower themselves to assist you. It would be great for you if they didn''t destroy you outright." Seth was not worried at all by Alaya''s threat. Even though he wasn''t immortal, there were only three ways to kill him and the whining consciousness in front of him didn''t have access to either of those.

    Alaya didn''t say anything anymore and just disappeared together with the world around them. The robed skeleton also dissipated once it saw Seth didn''t need him for now.

    [Darkness will cover the Sun and the dead will rise to consume it]

    Just as he was waking up from his dream, a monotonous and almost mechanical voice spoke through his mind.

    ''Honestly...give me a rest.'' Seth thought with tiredness, he didn''t finish one thing when another was knocking on his door.

    Looking at the clock hanging on the white wall, he noticed it was already morning. What seemed to be just a few minutes for him in reality were hours.

    Getting up he left the room and started walking through the hallway. It wasn''t long before he met with Fujimaru and Mash who were going to the Command Room and as he had nothing to do he decided to accompany them.

    "Today we will be able to summon more Servants so they can help us in this mission, isn''t that great?" Fujimaru was excited at this prospect. To him, having more allies he could rely on was a great thing, especially if those allies were famous figures of the past.

    "I think it is, Senpai. The more help we can get the better!" Mash shared Master''s enthusiasm but Seth was sure she preferred for that help to come in male form.

    "Aren''t you happy too, Kuro-san?" Fujimaru asked him, hoping to know the other Master''s opinion.

    "I''m not. I have the feeling I will regret summoning one pretty soon." He said much to the confusion of the two teenagers.

    "Why do you think that?" Mash, who didn''t know the meaning of his words, asked.

    "Just a hunch." Just as he said this, they caught sight of Da Vinci who was going to the Command Room as well.

    "Oh, hello guys. Did you have enough rest?" She stopped walking and waved at them.

    "Yes, we did. Thank you for asking, Da Vinci." Fujimaru replied with a smile that slowly turned awkward as she was suddenly in front of his face looking at him intently. "It''s Da Vinci-chan, okay?"

    She only left the poor guy go once he agreed to call her that way. "Now, follow me. I''m sure you are pretty excited to see which Servants you will summon this time."

    They walked for a few minutes before they were finally able to see the door leading to the place where they were going to call for help from some Heroic Spirits.

    Once they entered the room, they were met with the sight of Caster, Saber, Dr. Roman and some staff who were there to make sure everything was as stable as possible.

    Hearing the automatic door sliding open, the two Servants and Doctor looked behind them. No one showed much of a reaction as they were expecting them, except Romani of course who didn''t know how to act seeing Seth here however he recomposed himself pretty quickly as he needed to do his job.

    "Good morning, it''s good to see you here. Are you two ready to summon your Servants?" Romani tried to act as professional as possible but the occasional glances he sent Seth ruined it.

    Caster wanted to make a comment saying something like ''Are you two dating or something?'' but he knew it won''t end well so he decided to not say it out loud.

    "Yeah!" "Hmm" Both assented meaning they were ready. Dr. Roman spoke no more and decided to accompany them to the summoning circle.

    "Do you want to go first?" Although the order didn''t matter, he still asked the other Master as he already had Servants but Seth didn''t.

    "It''s okay, you can go first. I''m in no hurry." He replied, Fujimaru just nodded and took the Saint Quartz that the Doctor gave him and put them into the slots that surrounded the summoning circle.

    There was a moment of stillness before the circle started spinning as lighting was surrounding it. A strong white light shot upward for a few seconds before coming to a stop.

    A figure they met in Orleans could be seen where the light was. Seeing who it was, Fujimaru suddenly started having some apprehension.

    "Servant, Kiyohime. It is nice to meet you, my Master." Kiyohime said when suddenly she saw Seth and ran past Fujimaru toward him. "Ahhh! I knew it, we were destined to be together!"

    The room fell into silence as Kiyohime jumped with her arms open waiting to be caught. However, the only thing she received was a chop on the neck before falling unconscious.

    ''They aren''t even my Servants and I''m already having trouble.'' He sighed at the situation. "Let''s get this over with, I don''t want to be here when she wakes up."

    Just as he finished speaking, the summoning circle started spinning once again. Once the light faded, a woman with a giant cross made her introduction. "My name is Martha, just plain Martha...We will save the world without fail!" She said with seriousness before her face showed a small smile. Without any other words, she got off the circle and stood at the side of Fujimaru.

    "Sa-Martha...It''s good to see you here." Fujimaru was glad someone who helped them at least indirectly and was actually reliable had answered his call.

    "Yes, It''s a relief to be on the side of good after what happened." She simply nodded.

    They stopped talking as the circle started moving again. When it stopped, almost everyone in the room tensed. "I am here at your request... Are you the Master who shall offer me your blood?" Vlad asked looking at Fujimaru.

    "U-Um...I''m not certain about the blood part but I will do my best to accompany you as your Master!" Fujimaru responded making Berserker look at him deep in the eyes. "Very well, I shall see if you are worthy of being my vassal." He disappeared into shadows before reappearing beside a slightly tensed Fujimaru.

    Saber readied her sword in case she needed to do something and Mash did the same with her shield but Seth signaled them not to do anything. If Vlad wanted to harm the youth then he would be the first to know and act upon it.

    Vlad gave a nod of acknowledgment to Seth before closing his eyes and folding his arms waiting for the next Servant to be summoned.

    It didn''t take long for the next Servant to appear. However, when Saber saw him, her eyes widened. A black night with an equally black large metal rod stood there.

    The moment Lancelot saw Artoria, the slit on his helmet lit up in red light. Just as he was preparing to howl in rage, black serpents made of fire coiled around him and restrained any further movements.

    Cu whistled seeing this. "It seems you are not that liked, Holy Sword User." He commented making Artoria glare at him.

    "Thank you for that." Da Vinci thanked Seth for avoiding a fight that will surely leave a mess everywhere.

    "As soon as we finish this the better. Fujimaru, you better use a Command Spell on Lancelot to restrain him otherwise he will try to fight Saber all the time." Seth suggested the youngster and then walked toward a table where the rest of Saint Quartz remained. The day has just begun and he already wanted it to end.

 Chapter 40 - New Servants II

    Seth picked the Saint Quartz before throwing them at the summoning circle. Each one of them fell on the empty slots.

    Positioning himself in front of the stairs leading to where Heroic Spirits are summoned, he waited for a few seconds before the circle started spinning with the usual white lightning around it.

    The blinding white light didn''t last very long, and when it faded, a blond woman with a flag on her hand was standing there.

    "Servant Ruler��Oh! It''s you, Master. And you too, guys!" Jeanne was going to introduce herself, but seeing familiar faces, she got so happy that she stopped her introduction midway, even if the group didn''t need it.

    "Tch. Just what I needed." Saber clicked her tongue in annoyance. She felt today wasn''t exactly her ideal day.

    Although he didn''t utter a word, Seth''s twitching face spoke for itself. ''Damn...I should have put more trust in my instincts and not come here in the first place.''

    Different from those two and Cu Chulainn, who didn''t have any opinion on the girl as he hadn''t interacted with her yet, the rest of the "old" group was happy seeing a former comrade who fought together with them through almost all Orlean''s Singularity.

    "Jeanne!" Mash was one of the happiest to see her here. She was practically the one who had to spend the most time with her, after all.

    The Saint smiled at her before jumping down from where she was standing and approached her Master. "Thank you for summoning me. I will do my best to aid you, this time as a proper Servant." She also smiled at him, unaware of his expression, she then turned toward the recently summoned Rider. "I can''t believe you got summoned too. It is a p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e to fight by your side this time!"

    "Mhm. I must admit that it feels better when you are not under Madness Enhancement." She nodded at her, also sharing her sentiment.

    Jeanne also noticed the other additions but not knowing what to say; she just stayed quiet. She did wonder why Kiyohime was unconscious, though. And why Saber was grumpier than usual.

    ''Please, not someone troublesome.'' Seth prayed to no one in particular. Spinning once again for some seconds, what was revealed when the atop of the summoning circle was a woman similar to Jeanne in appearance but with short pale blond hair, yellow eyes, and black armor.

    ''Oh, come on!'' At this point, Seth wanted nothing more than to turn around and go someplace far away.

    Seeing the figure, not only Chaldea''s group got tense. Even her former "allies" could be seen with hostility directed at her. However, there was no one more shaken than Jeanne.

    ''Well...this was unexpected...'' Romani thought while looking at the new Servant.

    "Servant, Avenger. Summoned upon your request." Their former enemy, the Black Saint, said before turning to face her other-self. ''Hmph.'' She started walking toward her new Master after looking at her counterpart for a second, feeling like she was not worth her time.

    Ignoring all the stares, she moved beside her Master while giving a secret smug smile toward certain King of Knights who was gritting her teeth in frustration.

    ''Should I wish for the worst of Servants? Reverse psychology...was it?'' Dealing with bickering kids was never his forte, so he decided to ignore it and get this over with.

    With the usual spinning, the circle radiated light before stopping. Siegfried was the one who was summoned this time. Seth released an internal sigh of relief. Seeing how things were going so far, he even expected to summon that weird man with the bulging eyes.

    "Saber, Siegfried. I have come in response to your summons. It''s an honor to fight by your side once again, Master." The white-haired knight kneeled and did the usual introduction. He noticed former enemies, but seeing as his Master wasn''t doing anything, he guessed they were allies now, as weird as it sounded.

    "Okay, now that we have finished summoning Heroic Spirits, it''s time to plan what we are going to do next." Romani said, gaining the attention of everyone present.

    "We don''t need to plan. I will just burn them to the ground." Jeanne Alter was pretty confident in her ability to kill whoever stood in her way.

    "Ho? You couldn''t kill us, what makes you think you are going to be able to kill our future enemies?" It was Saber''s time to have a mocking smirk on her face.

    "What did you say, you ice bitch?!" Just as she was going to unsheathe her sword, she was stopped by a hand on her shoulder. Looking at the owner, she saw her Master looking at her with his eyes narrowed.

    Cl.i.c.k.i.n.g her tongue, she begrudgingly let go of the handle of her sword. Saber was about to mock her, but she received the same glare making her stop in her tracks.

    "Ahem... As I was saying, the enemies will certainly get stronger with each Singularity, so we need to prepare properly. Fujimaru, Saber, and Mash are familiar with the training ground, but the rest are not. I would like for you to go there now if possible." Romani resumed his talk, giving them a task to help the new ''recruits'' to improve their capabilities.

    Fujimaru offered to lead the way as he had been on the training ground before, and he had to take his new Servants there too. Mash also decided to tag along even if she didn''t to giving the reason that she was concerned about his safety even if he had tons of Servant by his side.

    Cu Chulainn didn''t go as he occasionally went there with EMIYA to pass the time, and Saber went to the cafeteria. Martha had to carry Kiyohime as she was still passed out.

    As per Seth''s suggestion. Fujimaru used a Command Spell on Lancelot to prevent him from attacking Saber, even if he felt bad for doing it.

    The training ground wasn''t very far from where they have been before. Entering a room, all they could see was pure white that extended seemingly endlessly.

    The group walked ahead a bit further into the room before Fujimaru motioned for them to stop. "We are ready, Dr. Roman!" With his shout, the room was enveloped by an even whiter light. The group shielded their eyes from that blinding radiance. Once the light disappeared, they found themselves in some forest.

    "Where are we supposed to be?" Asked Jalter, not understanding anything that was happening.

    "This the training ground. Here is where you will fight enemies that will make you stronger little by little." It was Romani the one who answered her question through their communication device.

    "Ha?! I don''t need that!" Just as she said that one of the trees that surrounded them seemed to come to life and shot a ball of energy toward her. Reacting quickly, she used her sword to slash it, but when she did so, the ball exploded, making her take several steps back.

    Her face rapidly turned red, out of anger or embarrassment, only she knew. Looking at the assailant, she could see how the bark of the tree was falling apart, and its branches slowly took the form of fingers revealing what seemed to be a black arm with silver lines and an equally colored four-pointed star on top of it.

    It wasn''t only that ''tree'' who suffered a transformation, a grand part of them also did. However, they noticed that these strange arms didn''t move and stood rooted in their place.

    "They can''t move from their place, but their attacks make up for that." Mash clarified the doubts of the people who haven''t been here before.

    They nodded in understanding, Seth ordered his three Servants to work together to take down the arm that attacked Alter before, much to the disp.l.e.a.s.u.r.e of said woman, but she still complied.

    He noticed they were way weaker than before, so it was better for them to work together, Seth didn''t know how exactly is that they were going to become stronger by defeating these monsters, but he decided to wait and see. Snapping his fingers, a fire ring started isolating them and their enemy from the rest.

    "You can fight without worrying about interruptions now. If we are going to fight together then you will need to adapt to your teammates'' fighting style, Jeanne and Siegfried have fought together before so they can do alright, but you are different, Alter. Use this time to the best of your ability." He exited the enclosure after giving his orders.

    "Listen here. You better don''t drag me down. I am only cooperating with you because Master asked me to!" Although her words were directed at the other two, they were specially meant for Jeanne.

    "I''m sorry for not being of much help..." Siegfried apologized, but Jeanne put a hand on his shoulder. "It''s okay. Master trusted us with this, so we will do all we can."

    Their chat was cut short as the arm send another energy ball toward them, the three dispersed in time to avoid being hit by the attack.

    "If we are going to defeat that monster then we need to work together, won''t Master be disappointed in you if he knows you didn''t follow his orders?" Jeanne said to Jalter, gaining a weird look from Siegfried, who thought. ''Aren''t you the same?''

    Jeanne noticed this, and her cheeks turned slightly pink in embarrassment, but she still kept her gaze on her other-self.

    "Whatever, it''s not like I will die by fighting alongside you two." Jalter said while looking the other way like she didn''t mind.

    Coming to a consensus, they set their differences aside for now and prepared to fight the giant arm that suddenly started to fire with more frequency.

    Meanwhile, the moment Seth exited the fire, he was met with the sight of Lancelot cutting an arm in two. The moment he did that, silver motes of light went from the arm toward the black knight.

    ''So that''s how it is...'' Seth could see that the instant they entered him, Lancelot got stronger even if it was just by a little.

    Although they were outnumbered and were dealing with a more significant number of enemies, Fujimaru group was much more organized. Mash blocked most of the attacks while the rest did the finishing blows. It came as no surprise to Seth as the youth had been here before.

    Deciding to try something, he burned one of the arms who was preparing to attack him. The same particles of light entered him, but he didn''t feel any difference. ''Well, not that I expected anything.''

    Seeing as he didn''t have anything to gain by killing the monsters, he decided to become just a bystander and let the Servants get the best of it.

    It wasn''t long before he noticed the presence of the arm inside the ring of fire disappearing. With a wave of his hands, he retracted the wall he made, revealing his three Servants without any injuries.

    "You could somehow work together by the looks of it. I commend you for that. Now go and fight the remaining enemies." He ordered them once they were in his line of sight.

    They accepted his command and moved to finish as many arms as possible off. Seth was glad they started to work together without complaints, at least on the surface.

    The three took turns to land the final blow on the enemies, sharing the "experience" between them. With each foe they defeated, their teamwork became better and better.

    As all of the new Servants were fundamentally weaker than the enemies, the time it took to kill all of them was not short, but they eventually did it.

    Once they defeated them all, the same blinding white light as before encompassed the group, and they returned to the same room as before.

    "Whew, doing this is tiring as always." Fujimaru wiped the sweat from his forehead. Romani, who had entered the room once they were done, handed a towel to him.

    "Good work, you all." He congratulated them with a smile on his face.

    "Thank you, Doctor." Fujimaru thanked him as they started to exit the room. Mash offered to tour the new Servants around Chaldea, said Servants agreed to it as they will be spending a lot of time here, so it was best to familiarize themselves with the place they are going to stay.

    As everyone was already following Mash, Romani called out to Seth. "Wait! Would you mind if we have a chat?"

    Seth stopped in his tracks, turning toward the man in the lab coat he nodded. "I don''t mind." He followed Romani in the direction of the Command Room, where they could have a conversation without being disturbed.

    Jalter noticed her Master going in the opposite direction and also stopped, but Seth turned his head around and shook his head, indicating her not to follow him. Receiving the message, she looked conflicted for a second before eventually complying and following the rest.

    (A/N: I have to do something like a character sheet. I will probably do it this afternoon, It''s going to have Seth''s abilities that were updated after the fight against Vlad and Carmilla, but I didn''t mention as he hadn''t used them again yet.)

 Chapter 39 - New Singularity

    Seth and Romani walked toward the Command Room without saying a word. The Doctor didn''t know what to say without sounding awkward while Seth just liked to enjoy the silence.

    It didn''t take them long for them to get there. Fortunately, there was no employee here at this time, and Da Vinci had gone somewhere else, probably to invent something.

    Dr. Roman took two chairs that were in front of the big computers and dragged both to where Seth was, motioning for him to sit in one of them.

    There was an uncomfortable moment of silence for Romani before he decided to ask, "What did you mean with your words from when you exited the coffin?"

    Resting his head on his hand, Seth looked at the Doctor for a moment prior to replying, "Exactly what I said. Between ghosts, we shouldn''t step on each other blankets. If you are worried about me knowing your identity then you have nothing to fear, I haven''t figured it out...yet."

    Romani heaved a sigh of relief, although the last part slightly unnerved him. To be honest, he felt slightly scared, not because he feared the man in front of him but because if someone found out his identity then his whole plan, everything he worked for to prevent the destruction of Humanity could come to an end. He didn''t know who he could trust, and having a person close to finding his identity wasn''t exactly someone he could place his confidence in.

    "Then, that means you aren''t exactly human either." Dr. Roman said while looking directly into his eyes.

    Seth arched his eyebrows at his comment. "Did I look like a human to you before?" This Doctor couldn''t be that much of an airhead, could he?

    Noticing his blunder, Romani did a fake cough of embarrassment. "You are right about that. Then, are you some kind of Servant? A Pseudo-Servant...or maybe a Demi-Servant like Mash? No, that''s not it. The process to create a Demi-Servant is only known to us..."

    Seth noticed how the man with strawberry hair''s tone and expression got guiltier at the end of the sentence, so he guessed that the process wasn''t so ''friendly'' to the eyes.

    "Sorry to break your bubble, but I''m neither of those. However, if you want a comparison, then I would be more like a Demi-Servant than anything. Of course, I don''t suffer the shortage of life Mash has." Seth said the last part with special attention on the Doctor''s expression and bingo, he gripped the side of his chair as the expression of guilt became more prominent. It wasn''t like he enjoyed seeing people suffer, not anymore at least. Still, he wanted to see if Romani was genuinely remorseful about the events that led to Mash becoming a Demi-Servant. He wouldn''t place the little trust he had on someone without a conscience.

    "So, you know about that project...?" Dr. Roman''s voice was a little shaky as he asked this.

    "I don''t, but I do recognize an experiment when I see one." Seth''s words brought a mixture of relief and more guilt to him. Seeing as he was not going to go anywhere by feeling like this, he decided to take a deep breath to calm his mind.

    "I see... Then I will ask you again, what is your real objective? Do you have Humanity in your best interest?" Different from before, he asked this question with seriousness and calmness with no traces of other emotions on his face.

    Seth raised a finger in front of Romani. "I will do everything in my power to ensure Humanity survives one time, even if the only thing that remains is a single person. After that, I will quietly disappear to where I belong."

    Dr. Roman looked at him for a few moments. He didn''t understand what he meant by saying he will save Humanity only one time, so he decided to ask again so the black-haired man could clarify. "If you save Humanity one time, why can''t you do it another time?"

    "It''s quite simple." He said as he got up from his chair, signifying their conversation was coming to an end. "Humanity''s future should be in their own hands, not mine. The fact that I''m helping you is more than enough." Leaving behind those words, he proceeded to go out of the room, leaving Romani alone to think about his words.

    Just as Seth exited the place, he was met with the figure of Caster walking toward him. "Cu Chulainn? What are you doing here?"

    "I was searching for you, y''know? I had something to give you." The Child of Light threw a bag toward Seth, who caught it with doubt on his face.

    "What''s this supposed to be?"

    "Some clothes, both the male and female staff, have been complaining about how you are always half-n.a.k.e.d or you don''t have any decency and whatnot." Caster said while shaking his head.

    "How come I''ve never heard of that?" Seth asked with suspicion in his voice.

    "Haha, beats me! I bet they are scared of your gloomy aura or something." Cu laughed his question off like it was nothing extraordinary.

    "Ho? And care to explain to me why this shirt says ''Gods suck'' in all capitals?" He asked again, showing a black short sleeve v-neck t-shirt with said words written across it in white.

    "Don''t mind the details. I''m sure the one who made it had some hate against Gods or something, maybe they were victims of a curse. Who knows? Not my business." The Sage of the Forest still opted for playing dumb even if the odds weren''t in his favor.

    "Whatever. I don''t mind dressing as people do in this era, I''ve never had problems adapting to new situations." Seth shook his head at Caster antics, entering a room where he didn''t sense anyone he told Cu Chulainn to wait outside.

    He took all the clothes out of the bag before memorizing how they looked. Once that was done, he burned them all.

    With a mental command, his attire started to transform, and eventually, it became like the clothes that he had previously burned.

    He was now wearing a black coat with grey fur lining that went down to his h.i.p.s over the previously mentioned t-shirt, dark blue pants, and black shoes. He let his long black hair fall freely over the coat.

    Exiting the room, he reunited with Caster again. "Now you look like a proper person, ain''t that good?"

    "If you say so. Now, let''s go to the Cafeteria for something to eat and then to a simulation room." Seth said, already going ahead.

    "Well, I was getting bored anyway, so don''t mind accompanying you." Caster put his hands behind his head while following him.

    ...

    When they entered the Cafeteria, they met with a dying EMIYA on the floor, something that didn''t surprise the two guys seeing Saber on one of the tables devouring tons of junk food. She was so engrossed on it that she didn''t notice the newcomers.

    "You look pathetic, Archer. Get yourself together." Cu didn''t miss an opportunity to mock him as that had become a habit.

    "Sh-Shut up, Caster... Why don''t you try cooking for that monster once?" EMIYA shakily asked as he tried to get up.

    He then looked at Seth before raising an eyebrow. "I didn''t expect you to be the type who wore modern clothes."

    The black-haired man just shrugged before pointing at Caster. "His idea."

    Coming to a realization, Archer looked at Caster in disdain. "What''s with that look? Do you want to get beaten up like before?" "Hmph. That was just because I couldn''t use my full power." "What nonsense are you talking about? Excuses are for the weak!" "Then bring it on."

    Seth ignored the duo and went to the counter to get food. Once the old lady kindly gave it to him, he went back to them and grabbed both with one hand by their collar and dragged them to "train." It was safe to say that they experienced something worse than hell.

    ''Strange... I feel like someone was here before. It must be my imagination." Artoria thought as she resumed her eating.

    �D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D

    Like that, two weeks had passed. The new Servants already got used to Chaldea, and little by little familiarized with the localizations such as the Cafeteria, training, simulation and command room, gym, showers, etcetera.

    During these two weeks, Seth has been having his own problems. First, he had to deal with Cu Chulainn and Archer, who ran every time they saw him. Second, he had to deal with Kiyohime, who the moment she realized he wasn''t her Master, her eyes turned really scary and started stalking him every chance she got while a dark aura oozed from her. Third, he had to deal with the stares Jeanne, Jalter, and Saber had been giving him the moment they noticed his change of clothes. Apparently, that changed his own aura or something like that. If he were to comment on those words as modern people would nowadays, then he would say that was pure bullshit. And lastly... Seth was having a situation in front of him that he didn''t know how to deal with.

    When he was walking through the hallway trying to find the two Servants on the run, he met with Martha. The moment their gazes met, they each stopped moving and just stayed still.

    The Saint was the first to break the silence. "I heard you were the one to defeat the Dragon Witch as well as the spellcaster who was behind it all."

    "Everyone did their part. I don''t think I deserve all the credit." Seth said after a moment of silence.

    Martha''s expression suddenly turned into one a mixture of anger and...disappointment? She got near him and hit his head with her knuckles. "Haa?! What''s that supposed to mean?! Eh-...Ahem. You may disguise it however you want, but I could see you were purposely letting them fight some battles so they could be ready to face what''s to come." For a moment, her filter was turned off, but she quickly recovered.

    "I don''t know what you are talking about Martha. Anyway, go look for Fujimaru, Romani called us to the Command Room. Apparently, we are ready to go the next Singularity." He rubbed his head in ''pain'' before continuing to walk.

    The Dragon Rider looked at Seth''s back for a moment and then shook her head. "Good grief, you never change." Not bothering with him anymore, she went to search for her Master.

    ...

    Once everyone was in the Command Room, Dr. Roman greeted them. "Hello, guys. We already know the time and place of the next Singularity, so we are ready to Rayshift."

    "Where is it situated?" Even if the future of Humanity was at stake, she couldn''t help but feel excitement traveling to all sort of places, Chaldea has been the place where she had been her whole life after all.

    "It''s situated in the First Century, in Ancient Rome, to be exact. It''s practically in the same place you were before. However, remember that same as Orleans, History may have changed to become something completely different." Romani replied to her question, also giving them a piece of advice.

    Jalter averted her gaze at the mention of Orleans but otherwise kept listening.

    "Your job is the same, recover the Holy Grail. The Counter Force most likely sent some Servants to intervene, try to see if you can contact them, and form an alliance. Be careful, though. They may turn out to be hostile." Romani continued one last time before asking the final question, "Are you ready?"

    Everyone present nodded. The ones who were going this time were: Cu Chulainn, Vlad, Martha, Jeanne, Jater and Lancelot.

    EMIYA wanted to go, but Saber said she needed him for something, so he had to stay but promised to go on the next Singularity. Siegfried wanted to get stronger faster, so he apologized to Seth while saying he was going to train on his own in the training room. Kiyohime has been in her room for a while, but no one would get near it as the dark aura, and creepy laugh that was coming from it was working as a deterrent.

    With nothing left to do, both Masters entered the coffins.

    Unsummon Program start.

    Spiritron Conversion start.

    Rayshift starting in 3, 2, I...

    All procedures cleared.

    Grand Order commencing operation.

    Once Seth opened his eyes, he looked around him, noticing he was a top of a hill. Moving his gaze upward, he saw the same ring of light from Orleans. "So it''s here too, huh?"

    ''Hm?'' Suddenly, he turned his head toward the distant sea. "It will be best if I don''t go there..." Seth''s eyes reflected a certain struggle. However, quickly shaking his head he returned to normal.

    It wasn''t long before the others started materializing too, even Kiyohime who wasn''t in the Command Room previously.

    ''Let''s see what this Singularity will offer.''

 Chapter 40 - First Contact

    Hello bois and garuls, I wanted to tell you that next week my university will be closed (don''t ask me why, not even I know) so I will be able to post 1 chapter per day as before! I don''t know if they are going to be posted at exactly the same hour though. But they will come!

    =============================

    "So we are finally here," Mash said while looking around, Fujimaru joined her to explore this new scenery.

    "Why do you guys look that is your first time going outside?" Cu Chulainn asked the duo who was looking left and right.

    "U-Um... Sorry, It''s just that I always stayed in Chaldea so..." Mash looked pretty embarrassed right now being ''caught in the act.''

    "It''s okay; being able to enjoy the Lord''s creation is a gift in itself," Martha reassured Mash, and Jeanne nodded in agreement while Jalter just scowled.

    "Fou kyu fou!" The white creature released a weird cry to support the lilac-haired girl.

    "Fou? You are here too?" Fujimaru asked in surprise. The little animal seemed always to find a way to accompany them to the Singularities even if it didn''t show himself much during them.

    "Well... He is not the type to like staying indoors." Shielder said unsurely.

    "Fou aside, the same ring of light from France is present here, too." The Japanese young man set his gaze on the sky where the gigantic phenomenon was present.

    "As always, we can''t get a good look from here. We are still investigating it, though." Romani entered the conversation once he was able to communicate with the group.

    "Hm? Where are you? You don''t seem to be in Rome or even a settlement for the matter." He questioned as he didn''t see any sights of buildings, only hills, and more hills.

    "That is what we would like to know, too. Are you sure this is the correct time and place?" Caster asked, doubting the man''s skills.

    "I''m sure! I''m doing my job properly, okay?! The coordinates might not be correct, but the time is��" Romani was about to explain himself when Vlad interrupted him.

    "Silence. I smell...blood." The white-haired man who had been silent all this time looked in a particular direction.

    "Okay, that sounded creepy." The Doctor felt his whole body get filled with goosebumps at the Vampire''s words.

    ''Why don''t you ask the girl that has been eyeing me with weird eyes what creepy means?'' Seth retorted inside his mind but decided to clarify for him. "He is talking about a battlefield. Two armies are fighting right now on the other side of the hill."

    "Now that you mention it...I can hear the faint sound of battle. I can''t say I''m not excited to finally have a good fight again." Cu Chulainn had a smirk on his face. Although he wasn''t as wild as his Lancer counterpart, he still craved for a good battle.

    They walked upward to the top of the hill they were currently standing on. There, the group saw two armies fighting each other some kilometers away from them. Both were adorning the same colors in their armors but with different designs. From their point of view, it looked like a rebellion was going underway.

    One army was clearly bigger than the other. However, the smaller army had a young girl clad in a red dress who was commanding them. Her alone was taking care of the majority of the enemies'' forces.

    The Sage of the Forest whistled at this. "That young lady over there is not half bad."

    Ignoring Caster''s inappropriate remark, Mash squinted her eyes a little bit. "Doesn''t she look like Jeanne or Saber?"

    "Great! Another one, just what I needed. Damn" Jalter sarcastically commented making Jeanne look at her with a reprimanding look. "It''s not good to swear!"

    Ignoring the two as he was getting used to it, Fujimaru came to a decision. "We should help that woman, otherwise she will perish at the hands of the other army."

    "Why should we help her? She could actually be a tyrant and the other army might be fighting for their freedom." Seth asked the young man looking deep into his eyes.

    "W-well...a gut feeling?" He responded unsurely. Now that he thought about it, he didn''t have any proof to back up his words. It just felt like the right thing to do.

    Seth looked at him for a few seconds before retracting his gaze. "It seems your gut feeling was correct this time. We will be going ahead first."

    Fujimaru heaved a sigh of relief. For some reason, being directly looked at by him always gave the youth a disturbing feeling. "What do you mean ''we''?" Mash asked while tilting her head to the side,

    Seth didn''t respond and just grabbed Cu Chulainn''s arm. "Hm? What are you doing?" before throwing him flying toward the battlefield.

    "YOOUUU BAAASTTTAAaaarrrrddddd..." His scream gradually got silenced by the increasing distance between them. The rest of the group looked at him strangely, except Lancelot who was as unmoving as a statue from the start.

    Seth put strength in his legs making the ground under him crack, he then made a big jump, throwing dust all around him and followed the screaming Caster.

    After shielding their eyes, they saw the ''flying'' duo and Kiyohime running while muttering "I will punish everyone that runs from me." again and again.

    "U-Um... I think we should get going, too." Mash said not sure how to respond to the situation.

    "R-Right..." Fujimaru agreed and told his own Servants to help in the clash. Kiyohime has already gone there and Jeanne and Jalter didn''t need his permission or anything, they followed their Master on their own.

    Meanwhile, the falling Caster wanted to curse Seth until his throat became sore. Noticing he was already near the ground, he pointed his staff at the ground. Giant vines shot from under it and caught Caster before he crushed. ''Damn... He could have at least threw me with less force.''

    "What''s that?!"

    "Enemy reinforcements?!"

    "Damn it! Soldiers, be careful!"

    All sorts of shouts filled the battlefield once they saw the strange occurrence that harmed the soldiers who were in the place where the vines emerged. Different from them, the smaller army took this as some sort of blessing due to it happening on the enemy side. However, they still didn''t rule the possibility of it being a ploy to make them let their guard down.

    Not long after Cu Chulainn landed, like a meteor, Seth crashed in the middle of the enemy army. Without further ado, he started attacking all the near soldiers.

    "Oi! Don''t get them all for yourself. Ansuz!" Caster jumped down from the vines that were holding him and wrote a rune in mid-air. The rune lit up in a fiery red color and released flames that impacted on the dumbstruck soldiers.

    Seth didn''t say anything but slowed down, It''s not like he wanted to go all out against mere foot soldiers so he didn''t mind letting Caster have his fun.

    The young girl was confused seeing the strange newcomers but noticing they were helping her she got more motivation. "Soldiers! Don''t fall behind. Fight with all you have got for Rome!" She put a hand on her c.h.e.s.t while raising her sword to the sky. The soldiers cheered and got more aggressive in their fight against the enemy.

    The sword of the blond woman got surrounded by fire and joined her soldiers and their reinforcements in battle cutting the ''traitors'' left and right.

    As if that wasn''t enough for the enemy soldiers, Kiyohime came and burned them, creating a path to where Seth was fighting. Once she got to his position, she asked him with a low voice that sounded threatening. "Why did you run away from me?"

    ''Okay, this is getting out of hand.'' The black-haired man thought as he turned toward Kiyohime. "Look into my eyes." He ordered and for some reason, unable to refuse, she followed his command. The moment she looked into his eyes everything went dark.

    He put the motionless Kiyohime on his shoulders while continuing to fight the rest of the soldiers. "Hahaha! Man, you sure have trouble with women!" The Irish Hero laughed while using his runes to cause havoc on the battlefield.

    Veins started popping on his forehead as he listened to Cu''s words. "If you keep laughing I assure you that I will do everything in my power to summon Sc��thach and use every Command Spell on my possession to make her ''train'' you again as hard as she can."

    A chill went down his spine making him stop laughing. "Okay, okay. It was just a joke. I tell ya, you don''t have a sense of humor."

    "Don''t worry, I will be laughing soon the moment I see you begging her for mercy." Seeing as speaking any further will only make his grave deeper, Caster decided to shut up.

    It was at that moment that the rest of the Chaldeans also joined in. If it was a one-sided battle before, now it was a massacre. So much so that it ended in just a few minutes.

    "It''s finally over. I praise you, warriors, for the way you fought. It was truly marvelous." The woman in the red dress approached them with two men by her side, possibly to serve as some sort of guards.

    "Thank you, we are glad you are okay." Fujimaru was the first to speak.

    "I thank you for your words, but there is no way I will be defeated by those impostors. The glory of the true Rome is eternal after all!" She seemed proud when she spoke about her empire. The girl then looked at the diversity of their attires.

    "Are you foreigners by any chance? Well, no matter! I will reward you for your help. Sadly, I can''t do it now as I only have this sword of mine. However, once we get to my capital I will personally see that you are rewarded handsomely!"

    "E-Eh...right..." Fujimaru didn''t know how to respond to the constant talk of the girl in front of him. However, as she was the only clue they had to what was happening right now, they decided to follow her and see if they could get some information regarding the situation.

    {Who is your enemy, little kid?} Seth asked the girl in front of him. The rest of the group was confused about what language he used.

    {Hm? Oh! I see you are a man of culture, knowing our grand language! Umu, I commend you. Now, to your question. My enemy is the United Empire, a bunch of fake emperors that want to tarnish my empire''s reputation! Many of my soldiers had deserted to the enemy. Can you believe that?!} She said in indignation.

    (A/N: Sorry for the meme/joke. I will be using

    when speaking in another language than the "universal" one that supposedly everyone in all eras speaks, even if it doesn''t make sense at all...Well, game logic I guess.)

    "Speak in a language we can understand, will ya?" Caster said with annoyance listening to their gibberish words.

    "Our enemy seems to be something called the United Empire led by some fake emperors." Seth informed them.

    "United Empire? I don''t remember something like that ever existing. It may be the anomaly of this era." Shielder mused with a hand on her chin.

    "I don''t know what you are talking about but I will allow you to fight by my side, you have earned that right! You can rejoice all you want, that''s fine!" The woman with the red sword interrupted them and the two men by her side nodded like it was the greatest honor.

    "Can I kill this bi��" Jalter who was getting fed up with the woman''s attitude wanted to ask something but Jeanne put a hand on her mouth. "Ehehe... Sorry, she is just tired." She awkwardly laughed while trying to justify her actions.

    "Umu! I understand. I would like for you to rest but we need to keep moving toward Rome, I fear that wasn''t their whole army." Totally oblivious, the girl simply nodded in understanding.

    With nothing more to say, the group followed her and her soldiers to where Rome was. True to her words, not long after parting from the original battlefield, they met more enemy soldiers.

    "Hey, Fujimaru. Catch!" The Egyptian shouted to the other Master before leaving to engage the new enemies together with his Servants and the girl in the red dress.

    "What?��Gah!" The youth turned toward Seth only to have Kiyohime thrown at him.

    "Master, are you okay?!" Mash asked worriedly as she got Berserker off from his body.

    "Y-Yeah, I''m fine." It didn''t actually hurt, it was the surprise. However, he didn''t know what to do with the unmoving Kiyohime.

    "For God''s sake." Martha sighed while closing her eyes and pressing her staff against her forehead. A blue light descended on the girl with the kimono, bringing her back to reality.

    "Huh? Where am I?" Kiyohime asked confused as he looked left and right. The last thing she remembers was looking at the man that ran away from her.

    "It would be for the best if you don''t concern yourself with a kid such as her, my Vassal. Now, be prepared, the enemy awaits us." Vlad couldn''t care less about a little girl''s problems. If it were for him she would already be dead.

    "You are right...Kiyohime, can you at least wait to resolve your matters with him?" Fujimaru asked while rubbing the back of his head. To be honest, he didn''t want to get between him and her.

    "He is right. If you keep annoying him he will eventually kill you, take it one step at a time, will ya?" More than giving a piece of advice, Cu Chulainn wanted to fight already so he said the first thing that came to his mind.

    Kiyohime frowned for a second before finally relenting. "Fine..." while in her mind she added a ''for now.''

    "I''m glad everything resolved itself somewhat in the end but you need to be careful, I''m having readings of a Servant nearing your location." Romani alerted the group, they got serious hearing his words. This will be the first Servant they will have to face since coming here.

 Chapter 41 - Emperor vs Emperor

    "I would recommend you to take it easy and concentrate on fighting the enemy army. Now that I think about it, bringing three Berserkers wasn''t the best idea in the world." Romani rubbed the back of his neck in awkwardness, noticing that if Fujimaru and his Servants were to fight against the incoming Heroic Spirit, it would require too much energy he couldn''t afford to spend.

    "I''m sorry, Senpai. I should have paid more attention to these sorts of things." Mash looked at her Master with an apologetic look. She felt like she had failed as a k��hai.

    "Don''t worry, Mash. The others have been kind enough to not demand much Magical Energy...except Caster." Fujimaru gave her a reassuring smile that quickly turned forced at the mention of Cu Chulainn.

    "I just wanted to have fun for a little while. You can''t blame me for that. Do you know how boring it is for me to be in Chaldea doing nothing?" He tried to justify himself, but seeing the looks of everyone, he knew they weren''t on his side.

    "You can discuss that later, the enemy Servant is here!" Romani informed them and true to his words, a man with a crazy look on his face made his presence known to them. He had dark blue hair and was wearing golden armor with a red cape on his back.

    As soon as the man appeared in front of them, he looked at the young girl in the red dress. "My...sister''s...child..." He spoke words with twisting madness. Although he was smiling, his face would suddenly change to rage and then to the usual calm one beside making howl-like sounds now and then. They didn''t have to be geniuses to know this new enemy was a Berserker.

    "Uncle..." You could see the pain in the eyes of the blonde girl when she looked at the Servant in front of her; she felt sad and betrayed by him. If her words were to be trusted, and he indeed was her uncle, all the sorrowful feelings she was holding were understandable.

    Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, she reopened them to look at him with a gaze full of conviction. "No, I guess I shouldn''t call you with affection seeing as you have allied with the United Empire. Am I right, Caligula?"

    "My beloved niece...AARRGHH." He extended his hand forward like he was trying to reach the girl before his eyes suddenly glowed with a mad glint, giving an enraged cry he dashed towards her.

    Just as she was about to use her sword to stop the mad charge of her uncle, the two girls that looked like sisters used both their flags to stand in his way.

    "I have dealt with enough people with Madness Enhancement. One more wouldn''t hurt." After saying that, she kicked Caligula in the stomach. He left a deep trail on the ground until he came to a stop not far from them.

    "I don''t think that''s something to be proud of..." Jeanne had a slightly reproachful tone in her voice. Memories of what she did are still fresh.

    "Oh, will you shut up?! Why don''t you mind your own business?" She had a scowl on her face, but she never took her eyes off the enemy Servant in front of her.

    "Do you want to fight against him on your own?" Seth asked his two Servants who, despite their one-sided bickering, were working together. ''One step at a time, I guess...''

    "Yes. Leave it to us, Master!" "Ha! this will be easy." Both girls gave a positive response, so he didn''t mind letting them fight against Caligula. To him, confronting people with Madness Enhancement or with very little sanity was too easy. Even if he didn''t like using illusions against his enemies and preferred to win fighting, there was always that option. There was nothing simpler than to play with the mind of a crazy person, at least for him.

    "What about you, kid? By your words, he is your uncle. Are you going to fight him, or will you lead your men against the enemy soldiers?" Seth asked the little girl beside him, who was still looking at Caligula with a firm gaze.

    "I''m not a kid! And indeed, I will be fighting my uncle, although it pains me seeing him on the enemy side. As an Emperor, it''s my job to end with the lives of the people that threaten my empire. Even if they are family..." After a quick retort, She made her conviction clear. Gone was the narcissist girl who looked more spoiled than anything, now, only an Emperor who was ready to give her all for her people remained.

    "Don''t worry; killing your family is not as bad as people make it look." Seeing her conviction, Seth gave her some words of encouragement. Although they weren''t too appropriate...

    His words gained a weird look from the little girl, a glare from Jeanne, and an approving nod from Jalter who took those words as some kind of revelation.

    Ignoring them, he spoke to the girl again. "Lend me your sword for a moment. I will give you something to fight him in better conditions."

    "There is no way I will give��Hey!" She wouldn''t give her precious sword to a stranger she met not long ago, even if they fought by her side once, but when she was going to convey her intentions, her sword was taken away from her.

    Putting his hand on the chibi woman''s head who was trying to pounce at him to recover her sword, he looked at it for a moment. "Nice sword." He complimented it, which made the girl pause for a second. "I see you recognize its glory, Um��Wait, there is no time for that! Give me my Aestus Estus now!"

    "Not a bad name." Deciding it was enough, he started transferring his mana to the sword, making the previous black and red colors took a darker shade to them. Having finished, he gave it back to her.

    The girl observed the sword carefully, not noticing anything different aside from the color. Looking at him suspiciously, she asked. "What did you do to it?"

    "Try lighting it on fire." Doing as he said, she saw as the former bright flame her sword emitted was now darker, and from time to time, black flames would mix in between. The whole aura of it has become more sinister.

    "I don''t like it! An Emperor is supposed to shine as bright as the sun, he can''t have such a dark and gloomy sword, change it back!" The moment Seth heard the words of the ungrateful brat, especially ''sun,'' his face couldn''t help but twitch.

    "Oh? Is that so?" He put his hand on her shoulders as his lips curved up a little. However, his eyes didn''t share the sentiment.

    Thinking he had understood her plight, she closed her eyes and crossed her arms. Giving a proud smirk and nod, she spoke. "Umu! I see you understand."

    However, when she opened her eyes again, she saw the bright sky. She then noticed she was flying in the direction of her uncle, who, for some reason, stayed in the same place not doing anything while they talked.

    Correcting her posture mid-air, she did a vertical slash at him. Caligula, who saw her incoming niece, gave a smile filled with madness. In response to her attack, he simply put his left arm on top of his head.

    The sword impacted on his golden wrist guard, effectively blocking her strike. However, the ground under him cracked by the force of the impact.

    The girl was surprised by the force of her own attack. It seemed her sword had indeed become more powerful even if it wasn''t as aesthetically beautiful as before.

    Caligula, wanting to reverse the situation, moved his left arm with incredible force to the side moving her sword along with it. He then formed a fist on his right hand and punched toward his niece, who was ''floating'' after losing her momentum.

    However, she wasn''t going to stay put and receive his punch head-on. She waited for the moment when her uncle would be closer to her before using his face as support and doing a backflip, successfully avoiding his blow. She then retreated to the place where the two girls where positioned.

    "Hey! Why did you do that?!" When Nero turned around, Seth was nowhere to be seen.

    "I''m sorry about our Master''s behavior. I''m sure he didn''t mean what he did." Jeanne apologized in his stead.

    "Speak for yourself. I think he did a great job." Jalter didn''t like the fact that her Master gave this spoiled brat a gift, so she actually felt very pleased with him sending her directly toward the enemy Servant.

    "Don''t say such things. It''s our job to make Master a better person, complimenting him when he does something bad is not going to help." Jeanne reprimanded her other-self.

    "Hah! That''s why you are a delusional girl; if you only accept Master when he is the way you want him to be, then you don''t have the right to be his Servant." Jalter spoke words that shook Jeanne to her core. The Black Saint, who was someone with incredible rage for the world, knew perfectly well that people like them didn''t need someone to tell them how to live their life or how to act.

    Her words greatly affected Jeanne, but he decided to reflect on them later. They were fighting an enemy Servant at the moment; one second of carelessness could be fatal.

    "Leave your argument for later, he is coming." The girl with the red dress reminded the two Servants beside her.

    True to her words, Caligula shot like a missile toward them, forming a cross with his arms. Jeanne put herself in front, taking the full brunt of his charge with her flag. Taking advantage of this, the other two attacked from each one of his sides.

    Sadly for them, Berserker retracted his arms before kicking Jeanne''s flag pole, making her take some steps back. Then, he grabbed both of the attacking girls'' wrists and, with a sadistic smile, slammed them against each other. Having done that, he threw them against Jeanne, who was recovering from the previous kick.

    "Gah!" As the Emperor was just a human and didn''t possess the body of a Servant, she was the one who suffered the most damage. A trail of blood could be seen falling from her forehead.

    Slowly getting up, Jeanne looked at the human girl with some worry. "Are you okay?"

    "Yeah...this is nothing to worry about." She said while slowly getting up. Caligula watched her struggle with the same sadistic smirk.

    "Dammit! I will make sure to burn him as slowly and as painfully as possible." Jalter was looking at Caligula with hate.

    Taking a moment to recover, the three girls dashed toward the enemy Servant. Jeanne and Jalter were side by side while the Emperor was behind.

    Caligula sent punched forward with both fists to meet the incoming charge. The two Servants used their flags to block each one of his attacks.

    Once the fists and flagpole impacted, Jeanne and Jalter used one of their hands to grab Caligula''s wrists, keeping him in place.

    The remaining girl jumped from behind the two and, with her sword lit on fire, made a deep slash wound on her uncle''s c.h.e.s.t.

    Seeing as their attack was successful, both Servants let go of him and, together with the other girl, retreated to safety just in time to avoid the explosion from his wound that followed.

    "Did we do it?" The Emperor asked with mixed feelings on her voice.

    To answer her question, the cloud of dust from the explosion disappeared to reveal a kneeling Caligula. His c.h.e.s.t armor was completely gone, and you could see the bones that formed his ribcage.

    "Nero...NEEROOOO!!" With Caligula''s yell, his wounds started healing. Although he didn''t fully regenerate, it gave him the capabilities to continue fighting.

    "Tch. So troublesome." Jalter couldn''t help but click her tongue in annoyance seeing what was happening in front of her. The other girls could understand the sentiment.

    Now, it was time for round two.

 Chapter 42 - Nero Claudius

    Getting up from his kneeling position, Caligula howled while flexing his arms. "Offer me...your...soul!" When those words left his mouth, his body got enveloped in a terrifying red aura.

    "How is that he can regenerate and suddenly get stronger? That''s unfair!" The Emperor couldn''t help but complain with a small pout.

    "Welcome to the Servant world, you idiot," Jalter responded, giving her a side glance. The girl didn''t have the time to answer back as her uncle once again shot toward them.

    Same as before, Jeanne put herself in front to block him. However, this time things went differently. As if what was in front of him was merely a defenceless human, Caligula''s punch impacted on Jeanne''s flagpole so hard it sent her flying and crashing into the ground repeatedly like she were a stone thrown into a pond.

    Taking advantage of his attack against the Saint, the other two girls moved their swords in a slashing motion in his direction. To avoid repeating the same situation that happened before, they decided to make their attack at a different speed.

    When Caligula was about to grab his niece''s wrist again, she did something unexpected. Instead of advancing a little more and slashing him, she hit the ground with her flaming sword, generating a mini-explosion and creating a cloud of dust, effectively blocking his vision.

    Not wanting to waste this opportunity, Jalter accelerated and with her black short sword covered in equally colored flames cut toward her opponent.

    Although his vision was obstructed, he managed to react on time to the Black Saint''s attack purely relying on instinct. Sadly for him, that came at a price, and that price was his whole right arm.

    "AAAHH!" He released a mad shout of both anger and pain. He did a roundhouse kick at Jalter, hitting her stomach and making her retreat before grabbing his flying arm with his left hand and using it with tremendous force to hit the other blonde girl who used her sword to block but was still pushed back several meters.

    "Damn it, is he immortal or something?!" Jalter said while holding her stomach in pain, that kick was no laughing matter.

    "No... He has a limit, and he is near it." Jeanne, who had recovered from the initial blow, was walking toward them as she spoke.

    "It is time...to end this...then." The Red Emperor had trouble keeping a steady breath, no matter how much she exceeded the capabilities of an average human, he was still one at the end of the day. Fighting a Servant was sure to take its toll on her.

    Suddenly, they noticed Caligula started disappearing, surprising the trio. "No...not yet...I still haven''t...I STILL HAVEN''T��" Before he could finish, he faded away. However, the two Servants knew it wasn''t because he was defeated but because someone had teleported him from this place.

    "Is it over...?" The human girl asked no one in particular, watching many strange again, and again she didn''t trust her common sense that much to form a conclusion.

    "He is still not dead; he was called back to wherever he came. We will need to face him again in the future, and depending on if they have an excellent healer in their ranks, maybe he will come back with his full strength." Jeanne answered and, at the same time, told her a likely scenario that could happen.

    Taking a deep breath, the young girl returned to her usual self. "If he is gone, then that means there is no one to lead the army. Victory is already in our hands. Umu! I will reward you, brave girls, who fought by my side against Caligula even more than the others!"

    Jeanne was somewhat relieved she was back to the way she usually is. As for Jalter...well, she wanted to strangle her, ''Who needs your damn reward?!'', but Avenger knew it would not serve their purpose.

    "By the way, Alter. Why didn''t you use your Noble Phantasm? You could have caused him more damage or even kill him." Jeanne''s confusion was clearly reflected in her face.

    "Oh, shut up, will you? I just didn''t want to!" She would never tell that she just wanted to show off by defeating the enemy Servant without using her Noble Phantasm to make it look like it was too easy for her...

    Jeanne felt it was a weird reason but decided not to press the matter any further less Jalter said hurtful words like the ones she did before.

    When their little chat was over, they turned to the battlefield. What they saw was a one-sided battle, Vlad had taken temporary command of the Emperor''s army and was doing an excellent job at leading them.

    Fujimaru was resting under a dead tree while Mash stayed by his side with her shield, ready to block any surprise attacks they may receive.

    Cu Chulainn and Kiyohime were simply attacking from a distance with simple spells and conjured flames, respectively.

    Finally, Martha and Seth were riding Tarasque on its back and causing chaos on enemy lines. Though the Saint and the Dragon-turtle were the ones actually attacking, Seth was just lost in thought while looking at a particular direction.

    "Umu! Your companions are not that bad! Also, what is with that ugly creature?! It will ruin the image of my Empire!"

    "I''m done, I can''t stand it anymore." Leaving those words behind, Jalter made her way to the battlefield. The Emperor was clueless of what happened while Jeanne just had a helpless look on her face.

    ��������������������������������������

    Once the group won the battle, they rested for an hour and then marched again to Rome. The capital wasn''t too far, just another hour of walking.

    The moment they entered it, they were greeted by a vast crowd that acclaimed their triumphant return. The people cheered and cheered, happy their Emperor got back safely.

    "Your people sure love you." Fujimaru commented as he looked around through the majestic and bustling streets.

    "You have a good eye! That''s right, loving me is the same as loving Rome itself!" You could tell she was really proud when she spoke about herself or Rome.

    "Now that I think about it, we never asked your name." It was Romani, the one who spoke this time, giving a slight scare to the Emperor, which she quickly hid.

    "I-It''s that a mage I hear? Why can''t I see you?" She asked, looking left and right for any possible sightings of this unknown man.

    "Uh... Y-Yeah, you could say I''m a mage." Dr. Roman didn''t know how to answer, so he decided to go with the flow and just say the most reasonable explanation. After all, she seemed to know about magecraft, so it wasn''t that weird.

    Seemingly satisfied with his answer, she decided to introduce herself. "Very well, I shall allow you to partake in the beauty that is my name. I''m the flower of Rome, truly Rome itself! I''m Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus! The Fifth Emperor of the Roman Empire!"

    There were various reactions to her words. Mash and Romani looked surprised that Emperor Nero was a girl.

    Fujimaru didn''t have much idea about who she was; he wasn''t that versed in history, after all.

    Jeanne, Jalter, Kiyohime, and Cu Chulainn didn''t show many reactions as they weren''t that much related to Rome.

    Vlad was finding this incorrect notion in history about her gender intriguing and relatable at the same time, though for different reasons.

    Seth didn''t have much interest in their conversation and just watched the views the city offered. Martha, however, was the most affected. Although she knew prior to this that the girl was a Roman Emperor, that still didn''t reduce the strong emotions running through her. She will now have to fight on the side of the people that crucified the Savior and by the looks of it, not too long ago. This also meant that she was close to the time she was alive, kind of similar to Jeanne''s situation in Orleans.

    Taking a deep breath, she gripped her staff tightly to calm herself. This was not the time for this; what happened already happened; there was no point in trying to act upon it now. Besides, she knew the Savior wouldn''t want her seeking revenge because he knew the events that led to his death were part of God''s plan and he was okay with it, he would want her to forgive above all else. If she sought revenge now, then it would be like spitting on everything he had to endure to save them from their sins.

    "You are surprised, aren''t you? You don''t need to hide it. Your ears must be thanking the Gods for this reward right now." She said with her arms akimbo and nose to the sky while smiling in proudness.

    "..." Some of them didn''t know how to respond, others were restraining themselves from hitting her, and the rest just didn''t care.

    With Nero praising herself every two seconds, they made their way toward a massive golden palace in the center of the city. Not before encountering some thugs that were threatening a shopkeeper who ironically Nero had taken fruits from without paying. It seemed that being an Emperor gave you privileges; however strange they may be.

    To say Nero was embarrassed would be putting it lightly. Moments prior, she was prising how tremendous and perfect Rome was, and now they had this incident happening right before their eyes.

    Martha took this as a divine intervention to cool her head off. She singlehandedly beat all the thugs up. The soldiers that were orderly marching some distance behind them captured the criminals and proceeded to put them into jails. At the same time, the Emperor and Chaldeans continued their path toward the palace.

    The moment they entered the throne room, Nero turned around and decided now it was an as good time as any to talk about the current situation she was facing.

    "First of all, I would like to thank you for fighting against my enemies in the last battle. With that out of the way, you need to know about what''s happening if you are to face our opponents." This time, her arrogant attitude was nowhere to be found. Now, she spoke as an Emperor, who was currently facing a threat too significant to handle by herself.

    "It all started some months back. Out of nowhere, people claiming to belong to the United Empire started appearing on my territory. At first, we treated their claims as delusions of people gone crazy."

    Ashamed, she looked at the ground with remorse. "Sadly, in time, that was proven to be incorrect. Fake Emperors made themselves known to my subjects. Slowly but surely, these fake Emperors managed to divide my Empire into many territories, many deserted to them."

    "To me, they are just a bunch of bandits wanting to destabilize my Rome, but to many, they are truly Emperors that promise them a better future were they followed by my people."

    "Vexing enough, we don''t know where their capital is located or who are these -Emperors- exactly, the only one we know for certain is Caligula, my...uncle. He has allied himself with the United Empire and was the cause of the majority of my army''s losses." Pain flashed through her eyes when she spoke of Caligula.

    "That''s a Servant for you; normal people don''t stand a chance against them. They only option is to run." Romani entered the conversation once the topic of Caligula was mentioned.

    Nero nodded. "I don''t know much about this Servant thing, but you are right, Mage from a distant land. I used to have a Court Mage, but he was ripped apart by my Uncle''s hand without offering much resistance."

    "One of these Emperors may have taken hold of the Holy Grail, and it is causing this anomaly. The question is: who?" Mash reasoned after listening to their words.

    Ignoring the parts of their talk she couldn''t understand, Nero continued. "Most of my forces have already been dispatched. I''ve been doing everything I can in my power to stop them, but far from it, they are gaining an advantage over my troops."

    The young girl clenched her fists. "Please, help me in fighting the United Empire. I now that with your power, it will be possible to defeat them, I don''t want my subjects to suffer any longer because of this war, again, please!"

    The group could feel the sincerity in her voice. Mash and Fujimaru looked at each other before facing Nero. "We would be glad to!" They both gave a positive response before remembering that the decision didn''t fall entirely on their shoulders.

    "Will you help her, too, Kuro-san?" Fujimaru embarrassedly asked.

    "Uh? Oh. I don''t mind." He absentmindedly responded. The two girls and the boy were elated with his answer, especially Mash and Fujimaru. Having someone as strong as him was going to give them an advantage.

    Nero''s expression brightened. "Umu, I thank you in the name of the entire Roman Empire. Your names will be sung across the streets for your remarkable courage."

    However, some of the others noticed how Seth had been distracted since a while ago. Cu Chulainn, being the one who knew him the most out of them, decided to talk with him tonight to see what exactly has been bothering him.

 Chapter 43 - Revelations Of The Past

    After Chaldea''s group decided to aid Nero in her quest to defeat the United Empire, they started discussing some matters related to their original mission. Something that proved to be fruitful or at least positive for them.

    When the group asked about Lev Lainur, while Nero said she didn''t know him, she mentioned that the United Empire had an outstanding mage in their ranks that sometimes showed up on the battlefield. Even though this didn''t mean that mage was Lev, it was still a clue to follow.

    With that out of the way, the Emperor wanted to prepare a feast as thanks for their help. However, before she had the change to order her servants to arrange it, a Roman soldier opened the doors of the throne room and quickly kneeled with his head lowered.

    "Your majesty, I beg your pardon for interrupting while you talk with your guests. But I got something to report, forces from the United Empire have been detected near our walls. How shall we proceed?"

    "Those annoying impostors. They won''t let me relax, even for a moment!" Nero couldn''t help but complain at the timing of the attack.

    "Leave it to us, Emperor Nero. You can stay here and rest for the moment." Mash offered to help, the majority of them were Servants, so they didn''t have to worry much about getting tired.

    "That''s fine by me. The older man there did a great job leading my men while I was fighting my uncle. I''m sure he can make great use of them once again. I will lend you my solders, use them as you see fit." Nero accepted her offer and complimented Vlad in her own way. The Vampire didn''t take her choice of words very kindly, but as it was a compliment at the end of the day, he decided to let it pass.

    "We will do your best to defend this city." Fujimaru seriously said. Although he couldn''t do much by himself, he had Servants he trusted with his life by his side.

    "Umu. I like your attitude!" Nero smiled in appreciation before turning to the still kneeling soldier. "Guide them to where the enemy is and send someone to inform the soldiers to regroup there. They will be under the command of..." She looked at Dracula, waiting for him to finish her sentence. Sighing in exasperation, he responded. "Vlad." "...under the command of Vlad. That''s all."

    "As you wish. Distinguished guests, please follow me." Saying so, the soldier got up and left the room.

    The Chaldeans complied and followed him. When they were mid-way through, walking on the streets, Cu Chulainn stopped Seth with a tap on his shoulders. Although he planned to talk to him tonight, he didn''t know if he could get the chance. By the looks of it, the enemy came in significant numbers, and the only one capable of mass killing among them was Seth, and he didn''t look like he was focused enough to do it.

    Turning around, he looked at Cu Chulainn with confusion. "What is it?"

    The Sage of the Forest didn''t say anything but just signaled with his finger to an alley nearby before walking toward it. Seth did the same after looking at his back for a moment.

    When the rest noticed what they were doing, they decided to ask, "Where are you going? Did something happen?"

    "Nothing, we have something to do first, we will catch up later." It was Cu Chulainn, the one who answered, and even though they were doubtful, they nodded and continued their walk to the zone of the attack. Jeanne and Martha sent a grateful look in his direction while Jalter looked at him suspiciously.

    "So? I don''t think you brought me here to talk about something trivial. What do you want to know?" Seth went straight to the point. Even with Cu''s personality and all, he knew he wasn''t the type to do this for some nonsense.

    Caster adopted a harsh tone that accompanied his expression. "You bastard... What has been happening to you? You seem to be oddly distracted since the moment we got here, and you often space out."

    Seth flinched a bit at his words. Even he wasn''t conscious about those things Cu Chulainn spoke of, that showed how much it was affecting him.

    "It''s nothing, really. You don''t need to worry about it." Seth said after a sigh.

    Caster looked around the alley as if searching for someone. "Do you see anyone here apart from us two? Because I don''t see the one who will believe that crap."

    Seth sighed for a second time. "What will you get by knowing it? It won''t change a thing, trust me." He appreciated his concern, but it was something even he didn''t know how to deal with, he found it pointless to trouble him with problems that didn''t also concern him.

    "How am I supposed to know if you don''t tell me? Listen, man. Whatever trouble you are facing, you can count on me to share it." He wasn''t lying. Most heroes have a tragic ending, so he could relate to whatever shitty situation others were facing. Besides, during their stay at Chaldea, Seth had shared with him some stories of his life, and he did the same with his. Their relationship was ambiguous in a sense, but they could be considered friends, and what friend would he be if he wasn''t in his time of need?

    Seth took a moment to debate whether to tell him or not. It''s not like he didn''t trust Cu Culainn, it was just...sharing his emotions and troubles with others proved to be his worst mistake in the past, Anjed''s death was proof of that, it was the reason why he usually showed practically no emotions. This brought another concern to him, what should he do about his friendship with Cu Chulainn? He only had three people in his life as a God he could consider friends, and he ended up killing them all with his own hands.

    The Egyptian did a mental sigh; this was the reason he didn''t want to think about this kind of stuff. He closed his eyes for a second, he wasn''t the naive kid who wanted the approval of his father anymore, he wasn''t the easily influenceable and unstable young man that people could take advantage of anymore, but above all, he wasn''t the young a.d.u.l.t who went mad with rage and killed Gods and Humans alike anymore. Although traces of his mistakes still remained within him, and sometimes they resurfaced and showed on his personality, he was now an a.d.u.l.t that had seen everything the world has to offer, both as a God and as a Human.

    Opening his eyes again, he looked directly at Cu Chulainn. Caster could feel how the atmosphere around Seth had changed, he didn''t know how to put it into words, but it felt like it was somewhat freer than before.

    "Since the moment I came here, I noticed the presence of someone I met as a God. Normally this wouldn''t be much cause of trouble if that someone was from Egypt as they are the lapdogs of Ra, and my mission was directly ordered by him. The thing is, that person comes from another pantheon." Seth decided to come clean about it. Strange enough, he felt a weight being removed from his shoulders. Saying the things one has been keeping to oneself for years does that to people.

    Cu Chulainn frowned at his words; this wasn''t good for them. "Do you mean that a Divine Spirit is here? Wait, more importantly, you don''t happen to be enemies with it, do you?"

    Seth shook his head at his question. "To answer your first question, yes, a Divine Spirit is here. However, it is not the one I''m concerned about. To your second question, we weren''t enemies. We were..." He didn''t know how to put the rest into words.

    Caster arched an eyebrow at his answer. "Two Divine Spirits? No, going by your words it''s just one, then that means the other was a Divine Spirit before but now is not and if you are not worried about the first I guess is because, one, it is not strong or combat-related, or two, it is weakened." He deduced, earning a nod from Seth, meaning his words were spot on.

    The Celtic Servant put a hand on his chin. "You weren''t enemies? Then what are you worried about? Don''t tell me you pranked him or something, and now he wants to kill you."

    "Do I look like the type of guy to make pranks to you?" Seth had the urge to shake some sense into Caster. The Servant couldn''t maintain a serious attitude for more than a few minutes.

    "Haha, you are right! I guess this world will be ending before that happens!"

    "The world has already ended."

    "Oh, you are right. Anyways, what''s the problem then? It doesn''t have any particular hate against you, does it?" He asked, returning to the matter at hand.

    "That...I don''t know. There is also the fact that this is another world completely different from mine; maybe here she doesn''t even know me." Seth theorized while folding his arms.

    "Hm...that sure is possi��Wait, did you just said she? Don''t tell me..." Cu Chulainn paused for a second before falling into the ground laughing his arse off. "All of this just because of some problem with a girl?! Hahahaha, I can''t...this is...too much!" He kept rolling on the ground as tears were already falling from his eyes.

    He laughed for a good while before stopping when he noticed that Seth didn''t threaten him with summoning Sc��thach, didn''t punch him, or made a comment for the matter.

    When he got up from the ground, he saw Seth looking at him as if saying, ''Are you done?''

    ''Well, I guess he DID change a bit.'' Cu Chulainn thought. "I suppose it''s not as simple as it looks. Then, what will happen if she finds you are here?"

    "I don''t know. To be honest, the one here is just a separation of a Bunrei from the original that may not even recognize me. However, I don''t discard the possibility of the original reacting to my presence if I''m near." He honestly answered.

    "Then you don''t have to worry about anything! Why make a big deal out of it?" He asked, a little perplexed.

    "She has the means to descend, even if not as a Heroic Spirit. That''s what I''m most worried about." These words certainly were worrying.

    Scratching the back of his head, he decided to inquire further. "What did you do that she could possibly want to go after you?"

    "I abandoned her." There was more to it, but the context didn''t matter in this situation, the outcome did.

    At his words, Caster got near Seth and patted his shoulder. "You will be missed, don''t forget to tell me if you want some words to be inscribed on your tombstone."

    At this point, Seth''s eyebrow was twitching constantly. "Can you give a more useful piece of advice than that?"

    "Hey, a jilted woman can be quite scary. I tell you from my experience and from someone who knew Fergus. By the way, I didn''t ask you which Divine Spirit you were talking about."

    "...Amaterasu."

    The blue-haired man froze for a moment before giving him a thumbs up. "I don''t know if have to envy you or be proud of you. Doing it with a major Goddess is no mean feat."

    "Cu Chulainn...don''t disrespect her." His tone may have been the same as the one he had been using until now but Caster knew that if he said a similar remark in the future then it won''t end well. This was different from the times where Seth usually jokingly threatened with summoning Sc��thach, he was being serious this time.

    ''It seems there is more to it than what he lets on.'' He thought while raising his arms in mock surrender. "Okay, whatever you say. Anyway, I don''t know what happened between you two but is better if you don''t get near her location."

    "That''s what I was planning from the beginning, it''s not yet time for us to meet each other again. Now, let''s go. The others must be already engaging the enemy." After saying that, he turned around and started walking to the direction where he sensed the presence of his Servants, not before stopping and offering just one word but contained many meanings to Caster. "Thanks."

    Cu Chulainn released a chuckle. "It''s nothing, that''s what friends do."

 Chapter 44 - To Battle Once Again

    Seth and Cu Chulainn could feel the tension in the air. This could mean one thing; the battle has already started. However, they decided to take their time to get there, not because they didn''t want to help but because Seth needed to take it easy for now after telling his problems to Caster.

    "This is definitely a big fight, not like the one from before." Cu said as he walked through the streets, even from their position, they could hear the shouts from the soldiers.

    "It is, the negative emotions coming my way are enough to cover the sky." Seth agreed with Caster''s words. It was indeed a significant conflict, even if the main forces of both parties were not involved.

    "Must be tough, don''t you get affected by that or something? Like going crazy and stuff." He asked with genuine curiosity.

    "I was born from a place filled with the worst of evils known to humankind. In a sense, you can''t corrupt what is already corrupted from the beginning." It was a desolated place, and the place he wished to return to.

    "But didn''t you went mad before? How did that happen, then?" To Cu Chulainn, his words made no sense.

    "Do you know about this so-called ''Fallen Gods''? Gods that were inherently good or their authority was one that brought joy and happiness to the people, but once they were corrupted or their mind broke, they became a different, more evil kind of God?" He asked, and Caster nodded, he had heard some stories of it happening in the past although their veracity was unclear.

    "The opposite is also possible, meaning that an evil God can actually transform into a kind and compassionate one. This is what we call ''Ascended Gods,'' of course, the chance of the latter happening is lower than the former." His words certainly surprised Cu Chulainn. He didn''t know something like that was possible.

    "When that change happens, that God will get further and further from the authority that fundamentally complements his nature, be it good or evil. However, that comes at a cost. For example, a Fallen God will be affected by the new dark emotions around him, eventually leading him to madness. An Ascended God will lose his immunity to the same dark emotions, meaning he will get easily influenced by them and can possibly lead to getting corrupted. Of course, if one can adapt quickly to their new ''form,'' then those consequences can be avoided."

    Seth paused for a second before continuing. "Now, this is the most troublesome part. Fallen Gods, who returned to the side of Good, will be as weak as a mortal for a long time, depending on how long it takes for Good to forgive them. They usually get imprisoned by their fellow Gods until they are sure that particular God won''t fall again. You can consider this a light punishment."

    ".. And what happens to Ascended Gods...what happened to you?" Cu Chulainn asked with a serious tone, knowing perfectly well that his next words will describe what Seth went through.

    Putting his hands on his pocket, the God looked at the sky as if remembering long past memories. "Ascended Gods who get corrupted will take the worst of it all. Different from Good, Evil doesn''t take kindly to the ones who discard it. The moment they get corrupted they can say goodbye to their sense of self, they will be nothing more than mindless beasts who will eventually be killed by other gods."

    "The reason for me to become an Ascended God was the same reason why I got corrupted again, it was my servant who I grew up with who showed me the light, and it was his death the one that made me descend again." Seth released a long sigh, it worked to take a weight off his shoulders, but that didn''t mean it was easy to talk about it.

    "..." Caster didn''t know what to say, Seth''s words were spoken lightly, but he knew how hard it must be for him. It is never easy to tell others the worst parts of your life, always keeping them to oneself.

    Even though Cu Chulainn was aware of it, it was necessary to continue. This will be good for Seth in the long run, one rainy day for a week of clear skies as they said.

    "How is it that you are fine? I mean, I know you were killed, but for your words, those that are killed never return."

    Seth couldn''t help but wryly smile, listening to his words. "Evil doesn''t show favoritism, that''s what everyone thinks. However, that''s far from the truth. To the majority of Dark Gods, Evil only thinks of them as nothing more than slaves who can be killed if they don''t do their work or run away. But..."

    "...but?" Caster motioned him to continue.

    "There are ones who Evil will treat properly, Gods that fall in this category are usually known to most people; Loki, The Morrigan in your culture, Apophis, Hel, Azi Dahaka, among others."

    "However, there is one more category, and there is only a single person who falls under it...and that person is me. These categories are like a pyramid, with one getting more benefits than the last." He explained to Cu Chulainn, who was listening attentively.

    "By your words, do you mean to say that evil and good are self-conscious entities like Alaya? Also, how does it sees you?" It was shocking how two worlds could be so similar and, at the same time, so different.

    "Evil and Good are ancient concepts which developed a conscience by themselves, they can speak and materialize as they wish and even strip the Authority and Divinity of a God if so they wished as their powers come originally from them. It''s just that they usually stay as a concept and don''t bother to make themselves known. As for how Evil sees me...It sees me as his own child. I really have some problems with father figures..."

    The Celtic Hero couldn''t help but release a light chuckle at his last words, making the atmosphere a bit lighter. "And why is it that Evil sees you like that?"

    "... That is a question for another day. We have arrived." After a long walk, they got to the gate leading outside of the city where the battle was happening.

    "I hope we didn''t make the others wait too much." Cu Chulainn said as he walked past the running soldiers that were leaving the city to fight.

    "They are Servants against normal humans. I doubt there is someone who could cause them problems. You don''t have to worry." Seth just simply shook his head at his words.

    "Strange things can happen, just sayin''. By the way, are you going to fight properly, finally?" He asked with a smirk on his face.

    Seth looked at Caster with a confused look on his face. "What do you mean?"

    "I have rarely seen you enjoy a fight, a warrior must always enter a battle to enjoy it, but you never do." The Sage of the Forest replied as a matter of fact.

    "What are you talking about? I enjoyed my fight against Berserker, even though he wasn''t properly summoned."

    "You don''t get it, do you? Your fight against Berseker was the first and proper one you had in thousands of years, that''s why you enjoyed it, but later on, you lost the thrill that battle gives you." Sometimes he wondered how he could be so clueless about certain things.

    "Is it that important?" He asked with raised eyebrows. "I don''t feel like it has anything to do with saving Humanity."

    "You already told me before; you are no King. So that leaves only one thing to be, a warrior. And a warrior must seek entertainment when fighting." He pointed at Seth with his staff to emphasize his point.

    Seth just shrugged his shoulders at his words. "Whatever you say, but don''t expect me to feel delight fighting against normal humans. However, I will give it a try as thanks for listening to my troubles." He didn''t know why Cu was so fixed in him enjoying a fight, but he didn''t lose anything trying, so might as well go along with it.

    "Sometimes, it is hard to make you comprehend the simplest of things, I tell ya! Hahaha." Caster heartily laughed. To him, giving lectures to Seth was as fun as battling. It was also the only way he had to take revenge for the times he threatened with summoning his teacher, but he wouldn''t say that out loud.

    "I don''t try to comprehend things I see as pointless but okay. Anyways, go ahead and join the battle. I will act as support this time." Sometimes talking with Cu Chulainn was exasperating for him.

    "Yeah, yeah. Good luck with that!" After saying that, he took giant strides from the gate to the battlefield, the soldiers near were amazed at his capabilities, believing him to be some sort of sage. Even if they weren''t exactly wrong about that.

    "Well, now I suppose I will have to do my part." Seth disappeared without anyone noticing and reappeared a top of the walls where he could see the whole battlefield better.

    To avoid any troublesome interactions, he put the archers near him in an illusion to make them think there was no one there apart from them.

    Looking ahead, he was made aware of the scale of both armies. If nothing was done, the battle could be lasting for a couple of days with no clear winner. Seth also saw some explosions popping up here and there, meaning that the Servants were already killing enemy soldiers.

    Taking a deep breath, his long hair started to sway slowly, and his eyes turned golden. "Come." With his command, the previously clear sky began to be covered by dark clouds out of nowhere.

    Seth decided to summon a storm in the rear of the enemy line. He wasn''t a God of Lightning, so he couldn''t control precisely where it will fall, just the overall area. It was better to avoid summoning the storm near the frontlines.

    The soldiers of both sides looked confused at the sudden appearance of the dark clouds. It looked like it would be a sunny day just a moment ago, after all. The enemy army even started having thoughts of it being a punishment from the Gods. Again, they weren''t exactly wrong about that.

    Different from the soldiers, the Servants knew precisely what this was. ''It seems Caster succeeded.'' Jeanne thought while crushing an arrow directed to a soldier nearby as a small smile made its way to her face. Martha shared the same feeling as her while Jalter was happy, but for a different reason, she was going to see her Master massacre their enemies. Although she agreed to help Humanity, her hate for it had not gone away. Vlad looked at this from the point of view of a leader. For him, it was going to boost the morale of their soldiers and diminish the enemy''s.

    Rising his hand upward, the roar of thunder started being heard by the people below. Setting his gaze on the enemy army, he let his hand fall. As if it was a signal, a rain of lightning started falling on the enemy lines, causing havoc and burning every soldier unfortunate enough to be struck by it.

    "It looks like Kuro-san already finished talking with Caster, that means he will be here soon." Fujimaru said after seeing the dark clouds in the distance.

    "You are right, Senpai. I just hope Caster takes it easy, Lancelot and Kiyohime are not fighting at full strength to avoid draining you of your Magical Energy too much, and Vlad is concentrating on leading the army." Mash was in front of Fujimaru to block any arrows that came his way, fighting in the frontlines in a war like this was not ideal as she would have to attack and defend her Master at the same time, so they decided to stay at the backlines.

    "It''s okay, Mash. Although I''m not a hero or something like that I can understand how he feels, I don''t mind giving some more Magical Energy than necessary if that makes him happy." He said with a smile as he rubbed the back of his head.

    "You are really kind, Senpai. I''m really glad to be your Servant, I promise I will do my best to serve as your shield!" Mash said with a happy smile of her own.

    Fujimaru laughed lightly in embarrassment at her words. "I don''t think I deserve those words but thank you."

    "Are you lovebirds done? You should pay more attention to the battle in front of you." Caster came just in time to hear their cheesy lines so he couldn''t help but tease them about it.

    "Y-You are wrong, we weren''t��" Mash tried to explain herself with a red tint on her cheeks but was interrupted by Cu Chulainn.

    "Sure, sure. Whatever you say, lass. Now, stay focused. We don''t know when we can be surprised by the presence of a Servant with Presence Concealment." He decided to stop the teasing, for now, seeing how both of their faces were becoming the color of a tomato.

    ''Now, I should also join and defeat some enemies. Man, I really need to distract myself from that gloomy talk we had.'' Thinking until there, Cu Chulainn moved to the opposite army''s direction.

 Chapter 45 - An Expected Victory

    As Seth watched the lightning descend on the enemy, he turned his head in a certain direction. ''It''s been ten seconds, and I didn''t get incinerated, or a solar beam came my way, I guess I worried for nothing.'' On one side, he felt glad, and on the other, he felt lost.

    Unaware to him, on an isle in the same direction he was looking to, a ''little girl'' with violet-colored hair tied up in a twin-tail, a white dress, and a strange halo behind her back noticed his presence the moment he used his Authority.

    "Oh~? Another Divine Spirit. Don''t you find it interesting, Elizabeth, Tamamo Cat?" With a voice that was as elegant as it was graceful, she asked two other girls beside her.

    "I don''t care! I just want to know how do you expect me to perform a live concert if no one comes here!" Elizabeth complained while waving her microphone around.

    A weird glint flashed through Tamamo Cat''s eyes before she laughed. "Ahahaha. I want a carrot."

    Stheno shook her head at both of their answers. "You just need to complete the cave, that''s all I ask of you." She lightly laughed with her hand covering her mouth.

    Elizabeth had a shiver go down her spine. "Hmph! It''s effortless for an idol like me." She said no more and went to explore the isle, being with the violet-haired girl gave her goosebumps.

    "Tamamo Cat, you need to wait on the cave." She said to the girl with a cat costume, but a hint of amus.e.m.e.nt could be heard on her voice.

    "Ahahaha. I''m getting sleepy." As always, her words didn''t make sense. However, the girl in the white dress didn''t mind at all.

    "Fufu...now, we just need to wait for a hero to come." For a second, a sadistic smile formed on her face. Whoever was unfortunate enough to come here, it wouldn''t end up well for them.

    Returning to the battlefield, The United Empire''s army was losing soldiers every second. Ironically, this worked in their favor. As the loss of soldiers happened mainly on the backline, it forced them to advance more each time and, in consequence, get farther and farther from the storm.

    Seeing this happening, Seth decided to stop throwing lightning on them. This time, he opted for causing a downpour. Taking advantage of it, he created a heavy fog that obscured their vision.

    Just when the soldiers thought the Gods were not angry at them anymore, a heavy rain assaulted them, followed by a dense fog. This posed a great problem, especially to archers, as they couldn''t see where to shoot.

    "Damn it! What did we do to offend the Gods? Does Mars and Bellona1 not favor us anymore?" One Soldier couldn''t help but shout with an injustice-filled tone.

    "Shut up! We don''t need Gods when we have the Emperors on our side. You just need to kill those bastards and nothing more!" A Commander yelled at the soldier from before.

    Similar situations were happening in every part of the battlefield where the fog was forming.

    ''This will be enough for now. If I use my Noble Phantasm, I will just end up destroying not only the battlefield but Rome too.'' He wasn''t aware of it at first because the talk with Cu Chulainn had occupied his whole mind, but now that was alone and didn''t have any distractions, he noticed one more chain broke.

    ''If I''m correct, the chains will break the moment a knot of my past is undone, or I''m driven to overcome my limits. One less mystery, I suppose. Still, who would have thought that my first Noble Phantasm will be related to that thing? I guess you can never escape what people see you as.'' The only thing Seth could do at the absurdity of the situation was to shake his head in helplessness.

    Meanwhile, on the other side of the battlefield, the Servants continued their destruction.

    "Man, he sure is torturing their minds like there is no tomorrow." Cu Chulainn said as he bombarded the enemy with fire released from his runes.

    "But wouldn''t that fog cause our own archers to miss the target?" Mash asked, unsure if this was working totally in their favor.

    "You don''t have to worry about that, our archers only need to aim at the fog, and they will kill an enemy, while theirs can''t measure the distance, meaning they can be hitting an ally if they are not careful. Of course, the option of shooting at the maximum range is possible, and while that has a higher chance to hit an enemy, they don''t know if their allies are near." Caster explained the young girl. However, he didn''t mention the fact that fighting an ''invisible'' enemy is something that sooner or later will diminish their morale. They are watching as their allies die without knowing if the enemy is suffering the same fate.

    "As expected of a legendary hero!" Mash couldn''t help but praise Caster and, at the same time, feel a little inferior. That was to be expected, though. She was just a normal human until recently, so she didn''t have any knowledge of how a single thing, for more minuscule it may be, can affect the whole curse of war.

    "I appreciate the compliment, but you should save it for yourself, I already heard too many of them in my lifetime." Cu Chulainn said with a light laugh as vines sprouted from the ground, trapping some soldiers who were later finished off by their own.

    "S-Sorry... Still, this battle looks like it will take a while." After apologizing, Mash commented with Fujimaru agreeing beside her. "Right."

    "That''s how a battle in a war is. It can take a day or even months to finish. However, this is not a normal battle. There are Servants involved. I''m guessing if they don''t retreat and we don''t go out of our way to end it, it will probably be over by tomorrow afternoon." He analyzed as he looked around.

    Martha was mounted on Tarasque a bit far from them, no matter how many soldiers slashed at it or how many archers shot arrows at it, no damage was done. In a sense, it was an unstoppable killing machine, although she didn''t enjoy the death of the enemies before her...probably.

    Kiyohime was burning her enemies with her blue flames, and she seemed to be enjoying it. For her, it was kind of ther.a.p.eutic. She was using them to relieve her frustrations.

    Jeanne and Jalter, miraculously, were fighting side by side. Although Jalter was laughing with incredible happiness as she burned her enemies to a crisp, even their allies were staying away from her. Jeanne, for her part, took on a more supportive role, she was concentrating more on minimizing their losses than attacking. "Could you please don''t laugh? Even if they are enemies, they are still children of God." Jeanne asked, a little perturbed by her counterpart''s actions.

    "God doesn''t exist, you dimwit. If I had to believe in a God, then that would be Master, he can punish his enemies as your supposed God does it." Oh, that look! She couldn''t get enough of that look! Denying her ''heavenly father'' in front of her was so enjoyable, it could be considered her little p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e.

    "I know you stopped believing, but that doesn''t mean he doesn''t exist." Jeanne glared at Jalter, even if it didn''t look menacing due to her nature.

    "Hahaha! I couldn''t expect less from an idiot, believing in something you cannot see." Jalter just laughed her glare off and mocked her.

    Knowing that it was pointless to argue about God with her, especially being aware of her origin, she just sighed and returned her concentration to the battle before her; she would still give her a piece of her mind later, though.

    While those two were having their discussions, Lancelot was slaughtering his enemies left and right. Everywhere he passed, he would leave only destruction on his wake. He had a black rod with red markings on it on his right hand and on his left, he used different weapons he took from fallen soldiers, be it swords, spears or axes.

    Similar to Jalter''s case, his allies stayed away from him. Not surprising, considering he had already killed soldiers on his side when they got in his way. "Grrhhhhrrrhhgg!" With a strange howl-like shout, Lancelot jumped from his position before falling on a zone repleted by enemies. However, instead of attacking, they were frozen in fear. Not minding their reaction, the Black Knight resumed his killing spree on them.

    Meanwhile, Vlad was pleased with how the battle was going. He must admit, it felt refreshing to lead an army again. He looked at the overall situation from atop a mound of corpses of enemy soldiers who were daring enough to get close to him.

    At the start, the soldiers were doubtful of his abilities to command them into battle. It was understandable since he was someone unknown to them, but orders were orders, so they complied. This preconception, however, changed slowly over time as the battle advanced. The tactics he used were revolutionary to them. This came to no surprise as he was from an era one thousand and four hundred years in the future.

    ''I can''t believe not involving myself in battle to preserve my Vassal''s Magical Energy worked in my favor.'' Vlad thought with a small smirk on his face, having people look at you with respect and admiration instead of screaming ''Vampire!'' with torches on their hands was undoubtedly preferable.

    �D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D

    The United Empire''s soldiers couldn''t keep up anymore, so, reluctantly, they decided to retreat by the time the sky turned dark, and the moon made its presence known.

    Seeing the retreating forces, Vlad ordered the soldiers to chase them but not too far. He was well aware that there could be a trap awaiting them, so he was satisfied with taking some more enemy lives and nothing more.

    After that was done, Berseker ordered the cheering soldiers to return to the city and take a well-deserved rest. When they entered Rome, they were greeted by a happy populace that despite being night, decided to come to the streets to receive the victorious soldiers.

    Different from them, the Chaldeans decided to reunite outside the walls.

    "Good work, you all! That was splendid, now you can relax for the moment. I don''t think the enemy will send another attack for the time being." Romani congratulated them once they were all together, including Seth.

    "Thanks, Doctor. By the way, did you detect any signs of a mage hiding in the enemy lines?" Mash first thanked Dr. Roman before asking a question that was very important to them.

    Releasing a sigh, he shook his head. "We didn''t detect anything. If he was there then he was well hidden."

    "I see..." Shielder looked at the ground with a little disappointed. Seeing her like this, Jeanne put a hand on her shoulder. "It''s okay, Mash. There is still a chance of finding that man called Lev here, don''t lose hope."

    You could see the expression of disgust Jalter had at Jeanne''s words from two kilometers away.

    Meanwhile, Martha agreed with her words. "That''s right, as long as you don''t lose hope anything is possible."

    "That''s right, I promise we will find him and make him pay for what he did to Director Olga." Fujimaru, in a rare moment of seriousness, reassured her.

    "Senpai...!" Her expression brightened upon hearing his words.

    Caster and Jalter were trying hard not to laugh at her obvious favoritism. And even Seth''s usually emotionless expression was at the point of breaking.

    "Ahem... You should go to Emperor Nero first and inform her of the battle before going to sleep, I''m sure she will be pleased to know of your victory." Dr. Roman said to them after a fake cough to call their attention.

    "As an Emperor, she should have been informed already of our victory. Still, we have to go there so she can assign a room for my Vassal to rest." Vlad interjected with a calm voice.

    "I suppose you are right...ahaha." Romani laughed with a little embarrassment in his tone. "Anyways, we can discuss more things tomorrow. For now, be sure to get some sleep." And with that, he cut communication.

    Complying with his words, the group went to the castle in the middle of the city. The next day will probably be more hectic than today, they needed to be prepared.

 Chapter 46 - Another Ability And Seeing Amaterasu Again

    When everyone entered the Throne Room, they were met with a smiling Nero who praised them for achieving victory against the United Empire. She didn''t want to keep them with her for too long as she understood they must be tired, having fought for an entire day, so she immediately assigned them sleeping quarters.

    She had many free rooms, so everyone got their own. They were very modest, a swing door outside, and inside them, there was some furniture, a bed, a mirror, and a large window that led to a balcony with a white marble bal.u.s.trade surrounding it.

    After thanking her, the group each went to their respective room. Fujimaru was the first one to go to sleep. Although he didn''t fight, the mental exhaustion certainly got to him. He immediately went to dreamland the moment he rested his head on the pillow.

    The rest were Servants, a Demi-Servant, and a God in a human body, so their mental fatigue wasn''t much. However, they couldn''t say no to a good night of sleep.

    ...

    It was late at night, but Seth couldn''t sleep even if he wanted to. He just kept staring at the ceiling with unblinking eyes as if lost in thought.

    Releasing a sigh, he got up from the bed and made his way to the balcony. Once there, he sat on the bal.u.s.trade while looking at the moon with his legs dangling. He wasn''t thinking about anything; he just enjoyed the peaceful night. ''It seems what I needed was not rest but this.'' Being a God of Chaos and Disorder, enjoying tranquillity was quite ironic.

    ''Six more to go, huh?'' Seth thought to himself. The question was what came next, what was he going to do. That chicken may stop reincarnating him endlessly, but he was sure Ra wouldn''t just let him roam around free without a collar. The bastard was a controlling God through and through.

    ''There is the option of returning to that place as per my original plan, but...now I''m not so sure.'' Sometimes he wondered why everything had to be so complicated, or maybe he was the one who was making it that way. ''No point thinking about it now, when I get to the end of the line will be the moment I will decide.''

    Just when he was preparing to go to bed now that his mind became clear, he heard some footsteps outside his room. Seth rolled his eyes the moment he bothered to know who they were.

    A minute ago, Kiyojime could be seen silently exiting her room and slowly walking toward a particular place. She wasn''t alone, however, as another figure was doing the same. Jalter was being careful of not making any noise. What they seemed to forget was, they both lacked Presence Concealment, so every Servant knew what they were doing, they decided to ignore it, though even if someone was uncomfortable to do so.

    The two figures met at the door of Seth''s room, the first to speak was Jalter. "Kiyohime?! What are you doing here?!" Although she was speaking in a barely audible voice, her tone was pretty high.

    With a frown on her face, Kiyohime responded. "I could ask you the same thing. There is no reason for you to be here either."

    "I-I was just going to go to drink a glass of water! Yes, that''s right!" She crossed her arms and nodded with a smile on her face. It wasn''t clear if she was trying to convince Kiyohime or herself.

    "The kitchen is the other way so you can turn around now." Kiyohime victoriously smirked, she could see how her face was getting redder by the second.

    "T-That can wait, I-I''m not that thirsty anymore. I see you are trying to disturb my Master''s sleep, so it''s natural. I try to stop you." She wasn''t good with excuses, so she said the first thing that came to her mind.

    Ignoring her, she pulled the door handle that was facing her way. Strangely enough, Jalter didn''t bother to stop her. They both peeked their heads with their hands on the door that remained closed. However, neither Kiyohime nor Jalter could see Seth anywhere.

    Looking around and confirming he was not here, they decided to enter. "Weird...I saw him enter this room, but I never saw him leave." Kiyohime said while biting her thumb.

    "You must have scared him away, you creepy stalker!" Jalter couldn''t help but retort listening to her words, even if those same words perfectly could apply to her.

    Out of options, they went to the balcony. Opening the window, they looked up and down, left and right, but they still couldn''t find him.

    "What are you two doing? Don''t you see you are disturbing everyone''s sleep?!" Just then, a voice came from behind them, and with it, the holy knuckle.

    "Gah!" "Ouch!" Both girls let out a small cry of pain. Turning around, they saw Martha looking at them with a glare.

    At first, the Saint didn''t bother with them. However, as time passed and they kept making noises and shouting now and then she couldn''t take it anymore, so she decided to come personally.

    "It''s Kiyohime''s fault! She was trying to barge into Master''s room." Jeanne defended herself while throwing the blame to Kiyohime without hesitation.

    "Why are you blaming me? You were also doing the same." She gave her a sidelong glance, not amused at all by her words.

    "I don''t care what you did or were trying to do. Get out of here now and don''t cause troubles to other people, good grief." Martha grabbed and dragged them both out of the room then threw them to their respective sleeping quarters before sighing and returning to her own.

    Unaware to them, someone, or something, was watching them from high up in the sky. It was a creature with the legs, torso, and tail of a lion and the neck and head of an eagle. It possessed majestic wings with the same yellow color as his body except at the end where they turned black. Its mane also had a darker shade of color.

    (A/N: I will be leaving the image on Discord, together with Nephthys which I forgot to put lol)

    ''It wouldn''t be a bad idea to try to summon exclusively male Servants next time.'' The creature thought, revealing it to be Seth.

    Seth, now shapeshifted as a Griffin, started flying around the capital. It''s been millenniums since the last time he had done it, so he wanted to enjoy it. The only downside was he couldn''t speak and only make noises.

    -Shapeshift: A�� Increases own defense for a short amount of time. Further increases own defense by a much longer amount of time.

    ''That''s certainly surprising. I didn''t know I could also obtain skills that belonged originally to this system. Well, considering I''m obtaining skills while still alive, it''s not that weird. But, that opens a whole realm of possibilities.'' While it was a surprise, it was a welcomed one.

    Although he certainly got stronger with the unlocking of his Noble Phantasm, it still took time to prepare it, so it was not ideal to use in a one on one battle. He was not the only one who was getting stronger, his future enemies were too, so having more weapons in his arsenal was a must.

    Shaking his head to shake those thoughts out of his head, he started doing l.a.p.s around the whole city. This continued for the entire night.

    When the sun was rising through the horizon, Seth got an idea. ''Might as well.'' Flapping his wings, he flew to the place where he felt Amaterasu''s presence before. It didn''t take him long to get there considering he was faster in this form than as a human.

    He decided to observe from above, although when he shapeshifted he didn''t emit the same aura, he didn''t want to risk it.

    Looking down, he noticed three figures sitting on crudely made chairs talking among themselves. He first set his gaze on Elizabeth. ''So that noisy kid is also here.'' He then turned toward the Divine Spirit. ''And that is the Goddess...she smells of trouble.'' Finally, he turned his head to the reason he came here in the first place.

    Seth almost forgot to keep flapping to maintain himself in the air when he saw Tamamo Cat. ''W-What is that...?'' He didn''t have words to describe his feelings right now. The majestic and intimidating Amaterasu was reduced to a girl with a cat costume.

    ''We both have fallen quite low, haven''t we? Ha...haha...hahahaha.'' Seth couldn''t help but laugh inside his mind. It was a refreshing feeling, not only seeing Amaterasu again, or what was left of her. But also to know they shared a similar fate, being a downgraded version of their prime.

    ''See you later, Ama. I hope one day I have the courage to apologize for leaving you.'' He smiled as much as his eagle head allowed before turning around and going back to Rome.

    �D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D

    It was a new day and everyone seemed to have a good rest. Of course, there were some grumbling Servants but they were royally ignored.

    After an extravagant breakfast prepared by Nero''s chefs, Romani asked Nero if they could excuse themselves to go to Mt. Etna. Apparently, there was an important leyline there so they needed to secure it to send the usual supplies.

    So here they were now, traveling to a famous location known for its many eruptions. As this mission was not something that could be called extremely risky, only a few have come. Mainly Fujimaru, Mash, Martha, Caster, and Seth.

    On their way, they met some ghost spirits that were around the foot of the volcano. However, instead of attacking them. They simply stared at them for a second before making way for them to advance, something that confused some of them but they decided not to think much about it. If they could avoid wasting Magical Energy unnecessarily then they wouldn''t complain.

    The strange thing was, they didn''t meet any soldier from the United Empire. It was like they weren''t interested in the leyline or simply didn''t care.

    "Maybe the reason we aren''t seeing enemy soldiers is that we are near the capital?" Romani wondered with a hand on his chin.

    "They attacked the capital before, what makes you think they care about if it is near or far?" Cu Chulainn didn''t agree with the Doctor''s theory.

    "Whatever the reason, we should be thankful we don''t have to shed unnecessary blood." Martha said, not caring about why they haven''t encountered any soldiers so far.

    "Wah... As expected of a Saint." Romani gave a honest praise that was quickly shut down by Mash.

    "I already put my shield on the leyline, it''s your turn now Doctor."

    "On it!" With a swift response, Romani completed all the procedures.

    "Now we only have to return to Rome, I saw some soldiers running around when we exited the city so maybe that little girl is planning an attack or something." Caster said, crisscrossing his fingers behind his head.

    "I guess that kid got tired of being always defending." To Seth, this was going to happen sooner or later with the little he knows about that personality of hers.

    "I know I''m no position to say this, but I think we should help her. If we want to know more about what''s going on then we need to be in the frontlines." Dr. Roman said with a serious tone he rarely used.

    "It''s okay, Doctor. I know you are doing the best you can to help us. Besides, this is what we came for, isn''t it? Then there is no reason to ask, we will do it without hesitation." Fujimaru spoke words from the bottom of his heart. To save Humanity, he was willing to risk his life if it was necessary.

    ''Despite saying this, I know there are people who will protect me when the time comes. Still, I don''t want to always rely on them, I don''t want to be a burden. That''s why...that''s why I will try to become a better Master, so my Servants won''t ever need to have to worry about me.'' He swore in his heart with a newfound determination.

 Chapter 47 - Time To Counterattack

    They were returning from Mt. Etna, and like before, the ghosts didn''t bother with them and opted to stay away.

    Having confirmed before that there were no soldiers on their way to the leyline, the journey back was faster. When they were nearing the city gates, they noticed a soldier who was waiting for them. Looking closer, it was the same soldier who informed Nero of yesterday''s attack.

    "Is there something you needed us for, Mr...?" Fujimaru asked the soldier who merely smiled and nodded his head.

    "Marcus, that''s my name. And indeed, Her Majesty wants to have a word with you. She asked me to come and wait until your arrival and then take you to her." The soldier, now Marcus, informed them. There was a great deal of respect in his tone, he had seen them fighting before, and it brought him no small amount of relief. Now the situation didn''t seem as hopeless as it previously did.

    "Nero did?" The youth had a look of confusion on his face. However, Martha, Caster, and Seth already had an idea.

    "Certainly, please follow me." He then turned around and started walking ahead. Of course, it was symbolic more than anything as they already knew the way.

    The group of five people walked behind Marcus as the soldier told them stories of how they have been doing until now. According to him, every time the United Empire sent one of his Emperors to battle, it was already a lost cause. It was better to give them the territory they were fighting for without much fight than having their entire army annihilated, that''s how they have been surviving. Of course, when there were no Servants involved, the battle went to whoever managed to do better on the battlefield.

    "You sure had it rough." Cu Chulainn commented after listening to what Marcus said. At the same time, he was impressed they haven''t lost to the enemy yet, considering they had Servants on their side.

    Marcus released a weak chuckle. "We did. Many of my comrades had lost their lives fighting against the United Empire. To be honest, many of us wanted to give up and just end this. However, Emperor Nero always reminded us of the glory of Rome, and why we should fight against those impostors. She is truly our light in these dark times."

    "I have got to give it to you, that little lass fights spectacularly." ''For someone who isn''t a Servant.'' Caster added in his mind.

    "I''m sure our Emperor would love to hear your praises." Marcus said before stopping as they had already got to their destination. "This is where we part ways. I must return to the barracks now. It was a p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e to talk to you."

    "Likewise, Mr. Marcus. I hope we can talk again in the future." Mash bowed her head a little in thanks. The soldier just nodded with a smile on his face before departing.

    When he left, the group finally entered the Throne Room. Nero and the remaining Servants were there. The moment they heard the sound of the door opening, the Emperor knew guests have arrived.

    "Welcome again, did whatever you went to do go well?" Nero asked the newcomers.

    "Yes, thanks for allowing us to temporarily use part of your territory to set up a temporary base." Dr. Roman thanked her in the name of the whole Chaldea.

    "Umu! It''s nothing to worry about; I''m quite generous after all!" She smiled while putting a hand on her c.h.e.s.t and used her usually haughty tone.

    "R-Right... More importantly, the soldier from before said you were looking for us. Did you need something?" Romani didn''t know how to deal with her upbeat personality, so he went straight to the point.

    "That''s correct! I was planning to launch an attack on one of the enemy bases to lift the morale of my soldiers. They are delighted with our victory from yesterday, but they still need to know we actually have chances of winning!" Thinking her magnanimousness got through, she informed them of her plan.

    "Guess we were right." Their assumption was proven to be correct, Nero did plan to move her forces to attack the enemy.

    The blond girl gained a confused look. "About what?" She asked, not understanding the meaning of his words. However, Cu Chulainn just shook his head saying it was nothing.

    "Anyway! I was planning to go to the frontlines myself. Otherwise, the soldiers will lose trust in their Emperor. That''s why!" At the end of her sentence, she pointed at Seth. "I will allow you to turn my sword ugly again with those flames for a short amount of time so I can fight those fake Emperors, aren''t I generous?"

    "Having killed a king before, I guess now it''s the time to step up the game and kill an Emperor." Seth had this aura around him that screamed pissed.

    Everyone took a step back as he started walking towards Nero. The girl in question thought he was talking about the Emperors of the United Empire so she gave an approving nod, folding her arms and closing her eyes she started talking. "Umu! That''s the attitude! Although you look like some sort of villain in the stories my mother used to tell me when I was a child, you can be quite reliable!... Eh?"

    When Nero opened her eyes, she noticed Seth was grabbing her head as he lifted her off the ground. "Ah?! What are you doing?!" She cried in pain as she tried to take his hand off her head.

    There was no need to say it, but there were a couple of Servants who were enjoying the show. To them, Seth was avenging the suffering they have been having being around her.

    "How about I make your face ugl��" Seth was cut short by the almighty holy knuckle.

    "What do you think you are doing to a little girl?! Can you act like the grown-up man you are for once?!" She scolded him with a glare.

    Rolling his eyes, he let go of Nero. ''I didn''t expect you to stand up for her...I guess you got over his death.'' He thought while still looking at the girl in front of him who was crouching, grabbing her head in pain.

    "Give me your sword." He ordered Nero, who begrudgingly gave it to him. Same as last time, he buffed the sword so it would at least have enough capacity to damage a Servant. This time, however, he made it so the buff lasted longer.

    Returning back her sword to her, he decided to exit the room with Jeanne and Jalter following behind him. He was going to do something before going together with them.

    The moment those three exited the room, specifically Seth, Fujimaru and Mash looked at Nero with forced smiles. "Sorry about that, he gets like that from time to time. But he is not a bad person." Fujimaru apologized in Seth''s stead.

    "Is there something we can do to make you feel better?" Mash asked, not wanting to create conflict between the two.

    "... There is actually something." Nero said as she got up from her crouching position. Suddenly, she did a hundred and eighty degrees change and returned to her usual attitude. "Umu! I would be pleased if you could delight yourselves in my singing." She smiled at them.

    "So you can sing? As expected of an Emperor, you sure are multi-talented." Mash complimented her, which only worked to feed her ego.

    "Haha, you can praise me more! Good... Prepare to experience something not even the most privileged in my Empire can do!" She said with both hands on her h.i.p.s.

    Some Servants'' instincts started giving alerts but they saw no enemy attack so they thought it was just a misconception.

    ...

    Unaware of their fellow comrades'' impending doom. Seth was walking with his two Servants who didn''t know where they were going.

    "Um...Master, shouldn''t we be planning a strategy with the others?" Jeanne asked, a little unsure of what Seth was doing.

    "What strategy? We just have to kill them all and be done with it!" Jalter was the one who answered instead of him.

    "I have a bad feeling about this whole place, it reeks so much of that guy presence that it wouldn''t be surprising if he was here. Him, or someone similar." Seth said surprising the two, more Jeanne than Jalter.

    "Do you mean that guy Lev? But why didn''t you tell the others? I''m sure they would like to know about this." Jeanne couldn''t understand why he hadn''t told them, it meant so much for them.

    "And what are they going to do about it? It would only distract them if I were to mention it. Besides, this time I''m sure he wouldn''t just watch." He shook his head, this girl only thought of positive things. In that sense, he preferred the black Jeanne. Although she was kind of weird, she knew more about the true nature of the world than her white counterpart.

    "But...!" She wanted to say something but was cut short by Jalter. "You don''t understand, do you? If you tell them about an enemy they want to defeat, how do you expect them to concentrate on the ones before them? Really, it''s surprising you won so many battles not knowing something as simple like that." Taking the chance, she insulted her.

    Jeanne felt silent hearing her words, it was not like she didn''t know it. It was just...she felt it was wrong to keep the others in the dark. She had some talks with Mash in Chaldea where they talked about Olga Marie. Mash told her that even if she was strict, she was a good person at heart. It was just that she had a big weight on her shoulders, trying to meet everyone''s expectations. In a way, she could relate to her. A lone girl who despite all odds did her best to succeed in their mission.

    "Stop fighting, you two. I just don''t want them to embark on a path of unnecessary revenge, and Lev isn''t even the mastermind." Seth gave them a glare so they would calm down.

    "They will eventually have to defeat him...what then?" Jeanne slowly asked.

    "Who said they were the ones who had to defeat him?" He amusedly chuckled. "They are just young kids who don''t know much about the world, their light is the one who will truly save it. It''s our job as remnants of the past who are in the shadows of history to face those types of beings."

    Jeanne was surprised hearing his words. "I never knew you were one to say those sweet words." She couldn''t help but release a chuckle herself.

    "Alter." "With p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e!" Jalter didn''t have to hear more, with her Master''s permission, she kicked Jeanne''s back making her fall to the ground.

    "You didn''t have to order her to kick me just because you are embarrassed..." Jeanne muttered attempting to do a grumpy face.

    "Get moving, we have preparations to do." Ignoring her comment, he ordered the fallen Jeanne without stopping.

    �D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D

    Both girls still didn''t have any idea of where they were going, they had already exited the city and were walking through a wasteland. There were many ghosts but they got kept their distance from them.

    Their long walk seemed to come to an end the moment they got to a mountain a bit far from the Rome. "What are we doing here?" Jeanne asked while looking around.

    "I''m going to prepare something in case we encounter an enemy that is out of our league. You stay here and defend this mountain in case a Servant shows up." He said gaining a confused look from both girls. However, he didn''t bother to explain.

    Without delay, he started running toward the mountain summit. Once there, jumped inside a hole that was releasing smoke from time to time.

    As ordered, Jeanne and Jalter stayed on guard in case of an enemy attack. They still weren''t sure what their Master was planning but soon after he left, the mountain behind them started to shake and it looked like there was going to be some sort of earthquake. There were also some sounds akin to roars from time to time.

    Whatever their Master was doing, it didn''t seem to be something pretty for their enemies.

 Chapter 48 - Meeting New Allies

    It''s been one hour since Seth gave them the order to guard this place. For the whole hour, they haven''t talked to each other, and it was getting a little awkward, at least for Jeanne.

    She has tried to start a conversation so many times, only to fail. She didn''t know what she could say to catch Jalter''s interest.

    Surprisingly, it was the Black Saint, the first one to break the silence. "Can you stop staring at me like that? It makes me want to vomit." Of course, something nice wasn''t going to come out.

    "S-Sorry, I just didn''t know how to start a conversation with you." There was a pink hue on her cheeks due to being found out.

    "Hah? And who wants to converse with you? If you have time to think about stupid things, then you have time to follow the orders you were given." Jalter said and returned to look ahead, ignoring her and the weird noises coming from inside the mountain.

    Far from getting angry, Jeanne giggled, earning a glare from Avenger. "What''s so funny, you stupid Saint?" This girl really knew how to get in her nerves.

    "I never knew you were the type to listen to someone''s orders without complaining." She said with a light smile. Although it was not like they have interacted much, Jeanne had a rough idea of her personality.

    "And I never knew you were the type to stick her nose where it doesn''t belong��Oh wait, I already knew that!" Jalter sarcastically replied to her.

    Jeanne released a sigh. She was already used to being insulted daily by her, so she had almost developed an immunity. "Say, Alter..."

    It was time for the Dragon Witch to release a sigh, but out of frustration. "What?" The only reason she was keeping up with the worthless Saint beside her was thanks to her Master giving her some advice about self-control to not get angry at the smallest of things, except if they hit a nerve. In that case, she could just burn everything. That, in Jalter''s mind, showed how kind he was to her.

    "Um, do you remember the words you say in the past? About Master and you...well, that..." She was too embarrassed to finish the sentence.

    Listening to her words, Jalter gained an evil smirk on her face, which she quickly hid. Putting a hand on her cheek, she used the shiest she could muster and, with an equally shy tone, said, "Ah... How could I forget that? He was so rough..."

    "W-What do you mean by that?" Jeanne took a step back, her face losing color by the second.

    "I don''t know if I should tell you... It''s a.d.u.l.t stuff." Jalter ''bashfully'' said while looking away from her. In reality, she was trying to hold back her laughter.

    Jeanne''s eyes widened. "You and him...but...I..." She couldn''t continue as her words got stuck on her throat, breathing wasn''t so easy anymore, and her vision was getting blurry.

    "Are you done with your little game?" Just then, Seth''s voice interrupted them.

    Both Servants turned to him. He looked the same as always except with some lava flowing down from his body and the unusual red glow on his skin, which didn''t take much to disappear.

    Jalter got a little embarrassed, this time for real, as it looked like her Master had seen what she had done earlier. However, that embarrassment soon gave way to a burst of laughter.

    "Hahahaha! Master, did you manage to see that look on her face? It was priceless!" Jalter continued laughing while clutching her stomach. This has to be one of the best expressions she managed to get out of that saint.

    Instead of getting angry at her counterpart, she felt relief that she was just joking with her, even if she didn''t know why. Suddenly, Marie''s words rang in her mind. ''Am I...?''

    "If you are going to annoy her, then don''t include me in your little act." Seth rolled his eyes at Jalter before noticing Jeanne, who was apparently to be coming to a realization. ''Oh, crap. Please tell me it''s just a bad joke.''

    "We need to hurry. The others must be tired of waiting." He was not going to deal with this, absolutely not.

    Seth started jumping in enormous strides toward Rome. After calming herself from her laughing frenzy, Jalter followed him. Jeanne also followed them after realizing they were gone. "Wait for me!"

    �D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D

    The moment the three got in the Throne Room, they were met with a shocking scene. Fujimaru and the other Servants were lying on the ground as if their soul had been taken from them.

    Looking at the only person in the room who didn''t seem to be affected, Jeanne quickly asked. "What happened to them? Why are they like that?"

    "You don''t have to worry. My voice was so great and heavenly that they peacefully went to sleep. Normally I would be upset if someone slept here, but I will forgive them as they couldn''t take much more of my beautiful singing. Umu... Aren''t I merciful? I wouldn''t mind if you praised me." A certain...pride could be found in her voice.

    Slowly but surely, all the people who were lying on the ground started waking up. They confusedly looked around, and when their gazes set on Nero, terror was the only thing one could see on their eyes.

    Seth looked at Caster, who was gradually standing up. "What''s this all about?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.

    "That little girl...how can someone like her exist?!" Her singing was worse than the roars of Curruid, for his father''s sake!

    Martha and Vlad had PTSD from the time where Amadeus used his Noble Phantasm on them, and Lancelot seemed to have gone even madder than before.

    Kiyohime, Mash, and Fujimaru were the ones who had it worse. They looked as pale as a ghost. Looking at everyone''s expression, the trio swore in their minds to never be in the same place where Nero wanted to sing.

    Even Fou was lying like a dead rat next to Shielder and Fujimaru.

    ...

    After the affected party pulled themselves together, they started listening to Nero''s words, albeit at a safe distance.

    "It''s good to see you are alright. As much as I would like you to reward your bravery with my beautiful voice again, I already ordered my soldiers to be ready to depart." There was visible relief on their faces when Nero told that she wasn''t going to sing again.

    "That''s good to hear (the part about you not singing again), but what will happen if there is no one to defend this city?" Mash asked with her legs still shaky.

    "You don''t have to worry about that. I will only be taking some soldiers with me. The rest are already stationed there." Nero brushed off her concerns with a smile on her face.

    "I''m in dire need of a battle to forget about what happened." Caster muttered, and Vlad, who was next to him agreed, even if he didn''t show it on the outside.

    Nero then excitedly exited the room while asking the others to follow her. When they reached the city gates, a legion of approximately three thousand men was waiting for them.

    The moment they saw their Emperor, everyone saluted in respect with their backs straight.

    "I see you are ready to march, that''s good! We will obtain victory against those impostors of the United Empire, for Rome!" Nero raised her sword to the skies as she proclaimed, causing every soldier to cheer in response.

    "Well, you have got to give it to her, she knows how to boost the morale of her soldiers." Romani said as a hologram of him showed up. He was glad he could cut communications with them; that''s how he avoided a tragic disaster.

    "Even if in her late years..." Mash didn''t want to continue as it was a s.e.n.s.i.t.i.v.e topic, and she didn''t wish Nero to hear.

    "That doesn''t matter now. We shouldn''t talk about the future of the people of the past." Romani interrupted Mash before she could say anything further.

    Unaware of their talk, Nero proceeded to lead her soldiers forward. To avoid a surprise attack that could potentially kill or severely injure the entire legion, they chose to position themselves in the four cardinal points. Mash, Fujimaru, Kiyohime, and Caster on the north side, Jeanne and Martha on the east side, Jalter and Vlad on the west side, and lastly, Seth and Lancelot on the south side. Their places were chosen randomly by Nero, and they didn''t want to complain; otherwise, they would suffer again.

    The soldiers weren''t bothered by this arrangement. In fact, some were quite happy, especially the ones who were on the west side. Many of them had been in that battle where Vlad successfully commanded them to victory. Although they seemed to have received divine help, that still didn''t diminish his skills.

    The soldiers on the south side, however, didn''t seem so happy. They hadn''t seen Seth fight, but as he belonged to the group of monsters, they assumed he was at least strong enough to defend himself. The problem was the man in black armor beside him. It was not easy to give your back to a madman who killed enemies and allies equally on the battlefield, many of them even went as far as to resent him but having already seen his strength, they didn''t dare to complain less they wanted to end their lives there and then.

    Seth noticed the nervousness of the soldiers ahead, so he turned to Lancelot. "Can you at least keep your aura to yourself? Their trembling is getting annoying."

    Lancelot also turned to him, the slit on his helmet lit up in red light as he released a low growl like sound. "You can''t? Even as a Berseker, you should be able to do such a simple thing."

    Lancelot simply looked at him for a few more seconds before returning to look forward. Seth sighted while pinching the bridge of his nose. At this rate, Lancelot would become someone who can not be controlled. Since the moment Fujimaru used a Command Spell to prevent him from attacking Saber, he seems to be taking his anger on the rest, no matter ally or foe.

    Seth looked at the Black Knight for a moment. Although he couldn''t modify his Spirit Origin, he could technically make Lancelot regain his sanity again by showing him his own engraved memories of when he was alive. Of course, this had a chance of failing and producing the opposite of the d.e.s.i.r.ed effect.

    The Egyptian shook his head. Even though he used a similar power in the Orleans against Jalter, he wasn''t fond of messing with other people''s minds.

    ''Let''s see how the situation plays out first, and then...I will see what I should do.'' Seth thought, while looking at the blue sky.

    ...

    Nero''s decision to position them on different sides was proven to be a correct one as on their way to their destination. They were ambushed two times. One from both sides and the other from up ahead.

    Fortunately for the legion, the ambushers didn''t have Servants on their side while they did. If one word were to describe the events that transpired, it would be with only one word, massacre.

    The reason was simple, even if they usually wouldn''t go out of their way to kill mere soldiers. They wanted to relieve the stress after that horrid event.

    They didn''t encounter any more ambushes after that, so eventually, they arrived at their destination. It was a large camp with hundreds of tents and soldiers going from one place to another. When they noticed the approaching legion and seeing who was the one leading them, they immediately made way for her to pass through with amidst cheers from their fellow soldiers.

    Hearing the commotion outside, two figures, one man and one woman, got out from the biggest tent in the camp to see what was happening.

    What greeted their eyes was the sight of Nero giving a passionate speech to the soldiers in the camp. They then set their gazes on the bunch who seemed different from the rest.

    Approaching them, the first one to speak was the woman. "So you are the guests I have been hearing about. It''s a p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e to meet you, I''m Boudica, general of the expedition to Gaul."

    "A Servant? What''s more, Boudica...?" Mash asked surprised.

    The woman, now named Boudica, gave a smile filled with complex emotions. "That''s right, former Queen of Britannia, Boudica." She then looked at the man beside her. "And this is��" Before she could finish her words, she noticed the man started walking toward one of the new arrivals.

    With his two meters frame, he crouched his head to Seth''s eye level. "I smell an oppressor in you." He then threw a punch at his face which the God caught. It seemed the chance to make a good first impression had gone down the drain.

 Chapter 49 - Oppressor VS Oppressed

    There was a moment of silence for a second before every single Servant except Mash, who didn''t know what to do, took an offensive stance at the muscular man.

    "Spartacus, stop that this instant!" Boudica yelled at the big guy only to be totally ignored. Many soldiers hearing her voice started looking in their direction.

    Nero, who also noticed the commotion, approached them. "A friendly spar to know your new comrades better? Umu. I approve of it!"

    Her voice and tone were cheerful, but that was not something that was shared by the rest. They all looked at Spartacus with different levels of hostility. One thing was helping someone in need like Nero; another totally different was allowing a supposed ally to attack one of them out of nowhere.

    Seth signaled them with his eyes to stop their animosity against the man in front of him. He had been attacked without even uttering a word first so many times he just didn''t care anymore.

    "Fuhahahaha! Show me your spirit!" With a deranged laugh, Spartacus raised his free hand while holding his sword before lowering it with incredible speed.

    Same as with the punch the gladiator had thrown previously, Seth caught the falling sword with his remaining hand. This time, however, the force behind the attack was greater, making the ground under Seth''s feet cave in.

    Everyone took distance from this exchange, being near may cause them to suffer collateral damage. And at the same time, they would give more room to the two fighters.

    The Egyptian God didn''t plan to just stay put and receive his opponent''s attacks so he got on the offensive and kicked Spartacus in the stomach, pushing him some meters back.

    "Ohhh. Not enough, not enough! Come, oppressor! My body won''t give in to tyranny!" The man, who at this point in time it was clear he was a Berserker, laughed maniacally. Without delay, he started running toward Seth.

    When he was at melee distance, he raised his sword again before doing a diagonal slash. Seth dodged by sidestepping and then kneed Spartacus in the ribs causing the gladiator to take some steps back slowly while holding his side.

    "Wonderful...wonderful!" He had an expression of ecstasy on his face that was disturbing to the onlookers.

    "What a creep, doesn''t he even feel pain?" Jalter''s face was covered in disgust, she distanced herself a bit more from them unconsciously.

    Boudica sighed hearing her words. "That''s how Spartacus is, the moment he sees someone he thinks is an oppressor he won''t stop until that someone is defeated or even killed. I''m sorry for the trouble."

    ''This is bad...'' Caster thought. Although it was not near enough to reveal his identity, it would bring unnecessary questions. "Anyway, how do you see our chances of winning against the United Empire?"

    Giving a wry smile, she responded. "Not that good, until now the balance was in their favor. But with you here, things might change. What I''m most afraid of is the enemy summoning more Servant to their ranks to gain the advantage again."

    Cu Chulainn gave himself a pat on the back for successfully changing the topic. "Well, we will know when we get to it, I guess."

    Their conversation was cut short by Spartacus who once again charged toward Seth with his ever-present smile. "Hahaha! I will show you my rebellion!"

    This time he opted to use his fist again. The muscles in his arms bulged as he threw a punch stronger than the one from the beginning.

    Unfazed, Seth ducked his punch. He then grabbed the upper arm of Berserker with his left hand before punching his forearm with his right one. A large snap was heard as Spartacus'' arm got twisted in a weird angle.

    What came next was a powerful kick to his knee, followed up by yet another snap sound as it too, got twisted.

    Finally, Seth elbowed the joint which linked his shoulder to the arm holding the sword. The limb soon went limp.

    Unable to properly stand, the gladiator fell to the ground. Thinking it was enough of a -spar-, Seth turned around and started walking toward the group of Servants.

    Just then, he heard a laugh behind him. Looking back, Spartacus was slowly standing up with all his wounds regenerating and bones popping back into their correct place.

    "Nuhahaha! My honor won''t be trampled by tyranny." Different from before, now Spartacus looked bigger and more muscular. ''So you are one of those types?'' The Egyptian thought while looking at the laughing Berserker.

    Spartacus charged against Seth, this time faster than earlier. His whole left arm got so muscular it looked deformed, throwing a punch again, he laughed. "Oh, oppressor! Feel my love!"

    ''L-Love?!'' This seriously creeped out the Chaldeans, no one was an exception. Even Kiyohime who should get angry at someone saying that to Seth was recoiling in disgust.

    The soldiers didn''t find it unnormal, though. Because, well. Romans.

    As everyone thought Seth was going to dodge like he had been doing previously, he stayed in the same place without moving.

    Because he didn''t dodge or block, the punch impacted his face without impediments causing a shockwave so powerful that the onlookers had to shield their faces from the strong winds and dust that flowed their way.

    When everything calmed down and they could finally see properly, what greeted their view was Spartacus''s fist still on Seth''s face while the Egyptian God remained in the same position without having moved an inch.

    A light breeze gently ruffled his hair as he looked at Spartacus with unamused eyes. "You shouldn''t have said those words, rebellious kid."

    "Hey! What''s happening? I''m detecting a great spike of Magical Energy near you, did you get into a fight while I wasn''t here?!" Dr. Roman, who just returned from a small break, asked them.

    "Everyone, please get away from here!" Jeanne shouted to the soldiers, they were going to get caught in the aftermath if they didn''t run.

    Their instincts honed in battle were already telling them that something bad was about to happen, so Jeanne''s shout was everything they needed to know that they were at risk.

    With a fist still on his face and without warning, Seth did an uppercut to Spartacus'' jaw. The force behind it was such that his jaw got totally destroyed and sent him flying upward like a missile to the sky.

    Even after a long while, Spartacus was not stopping his ascension. However, in the brief moment of stillness before his inevitable descent, Seth appeared at his side.

    "Enjoy the ground." Far from being scared or anything, Spartacus still had a smile on his face even if it looked a little distorted as his jaw was broken. Seth''s right foot lit on fire, he then did a webster axe kick on his stomach sending him crashing down way faster than his first trip to the sky.

    At this point, everyone had retreated to a safe distance just in time to see Spartacus falling like a meteor.

    The earth shook when he impacted the ground, a shockwave bigger than before made its way to them, tumbling the soldiers that were the closest.

    Looking at the aftermath, they could see their previous camp was almost destroyed with an enormous crater in the central zone. The only tents that were standing were the ones on the outskirts, it would take them a lot of time to get everything the way it used to be.

    Seth landed on the edge of the crater, looking down at the deformed body of Spartacus. "People with high-speed regeneration truly disgust me." He could say with confidence they were high up on his list of annoying bastards.

    One by one, everyone started returning to the camp, more exactly to the crater where the gladiator was lying without moving.

    Seeing the destruction around her, Nero turned to Seth. "This spar went too far! Couldn''t you have held back a bit?!" She asked in a tone of reproach while pointing her finger at him.

    "Did you say something?" He gave her a sideways glance that promised troubles if the answer wasn''t satisfactory.

    "U-umu! It was a great display of strength. I congratulate you on it!" Faster than one could blink, Nero corrected herself as a trail of sweat fell down her forehead. She didn''t want to experience the hold of death again.

    "That''s what I thought." Satisfied with her answer, he removed his gaze from her causing Nero to internally sigh in relief. However, she still had an image to maintain. "I sometimes wonder if my magnanimousness has a limit." She said with a proud smile on her face.

    Boudica who also got there looked at the crater before sighing. She then ordered some soldiers to carry Spartacus out of the pit, hopefully, he will recover soon.

    "Man, you sure did a number on that weird guy. But with everything destroyed, how are we supposed to prepare?" Cu Chulainn asked as he appreciated with his gaze the destruction caused.

    "It''s alright, we were planning to launch an attack by tomorrow morning so the state of the camp doesn''t affect us that much." Boudica shook her head with a smile, telling him not to worry.

    "I will leave the preparations to you, Boudica. I''m going to rest for now." Nero said before going to the biggest tent that was still standing.

    When the Emperor was out of sight, Mash turned to the red-haired woman. "Um...Boudica, can I ask you a question?"

    Seemingly aware of what she was going to ask, she said, "It''s about why I''m helping Nero when Rome was the cause of most of my disgraces, right?"

    The girl with the shield slowly nodded. Boudica wrily smiled. "Even I didn''t know why I did it at first. When I got summoned here I thought it was my chance at completing my revenge. However, when I saw the people suffering I couldn''t bring myself to do it and instead raised to protect them."

    "I guess I''m just not meant for that, I''m more suited to act as a shield." She continued with mixed emotions in her voice.

    "That''s actually a very noble thing from you, Queen Boudica." Romani complimented her actions, his words were sincere.

    "Fufu. I don''t know about that. But what I do know is I will stand by the people of this Rome against the United Empire." She said with conviction.

    "Nero didn''t seem to know you are a Servant, haven''t you told her?" Mash inquired again.

    "No, and I prefer to keep it that way." Although it was just an answer, it also had the meaning of asking them not to tell her.

    "Don''t worry. We won''t tell anyone, you can trust us." Fujimaru reassured her with a smile.

    Boudica looked at him before looking at the destruction all around them and then back at him. "...Sure." Fujimaru got embarrassed by that. However, Boudica quickly laughed. "I''m just joking, I know how you defended the people without asking for anything back. I know I can trust you."

    With that, the atmosphere got a bit lighter. Mash then told Boudica as much as they could do about their mission and Chaldea. The Queen of Britannia got a general understanding of the situation and what exactly they could be fighting against.

    They then went to one of the tents that the soldiers who had come with them had set up. It was time to plan a strategy for their attack tomorrow.

    Various plans were made for every kind of situation that could arise. These plans were based on if there was an enemy Servant or Servants in their ranks or not.

    Like that, the day quickly passed. As an apology for the damages he caused (He was definitely not threatened by Martha with listening to the singing that left them with traumas.), Seth created warm currents of wind to keep the soldiers warm during the night.

    Tomorrow will be the day where they will counterattack. How is it going to go? No one knows for certain.

 Chapter 50 - A Strange Emperor

    Well, today is the last day of 1/chap per day. It was good while it lasted xd

    =============================

    It was a new day, and everyone woke up early because they needed to be prepared as soon as possible. After a quick breakfast in the form of rations, they all gathered near the crater where Spartacus crashed.

    "I hope you have rested enough. Shortly we will be leaving for Gaul. It''s time we face one of the Emperors who guards the region. Are you ready?" Nero asked in a rare moment of seriousness.

    Everyone nodded to her words in their own way. This will be the first actual step to fix this Singularity so there could be no mistakes.

    "I just hope it''s that bastard from before; I still owe him one." Jalter was obviously referring to Caligula, who they fought previously.

    "..." Nero maintained silence for a second before speaking again. "I don''t think that''s the case, the scouts that managed to get back safely never mentioned my uncle."

    "Tch. Lucky bastard." Jalter clicked her tongue in annoyance. It seems she will have to wait for now.

    "Anyways, this will be an important attack for Rome as a whole, so we must succeed at all costs!" The Emperor said with a raised fist.

    "As we planned, I will lead the charge together with Spartacus, who seems to have recovered if the reports I received earlier this morning were to be trusted. You can concentrate on the enemy''s main force." Boudica''s demeanor was different than before. Now she honestly looked like a general.

    "I shall leave it to you. Now, onward! The sooner we get there, the sooner we will be victorious!" Nero proclaimed, and the soldiers around soon cheered.

    With nothing left to do or say anymore, they departed toward Gaul, where the enemy awaited them. Thousands upon thousands of soldiers marched to face the impostors of the United Empire.

    ...

    They departed from the camp early in the morning and arrived at Gaul nearing midday. What greeted them was an army with a similar size to their own.

    A fat man wearing a red coat and wielding a sword was seen looking at them with interest. "It seems they have come." He said as a soldier wearing light armor approached him.

    "Your Majesty! As you have predicted, the pretender Emperor Nero is here along with a special group of people. Their army has already started showing signs of moving against our own." He informed the man, and by the way the soldier addressed him, it was clear that the fat man was one of the Emperors of the United Empire.

    "I can see that." He simply said but added no further comment. Seeing this, the soldier tentatively asked. "Your Majesty?"

    "What?" The man set his gaze on the soldier, but his head did not turn.

    "How should we proceed?" The soldier asked again. He needed to hear his orders so he could convey it to the various commanders on their army.

    "Do nothing. You will just be slaughtered if you tried to interfere in a battle between Servants. I will be the one to fight them." The Emperor said with no doubt in his voice.

    "Sir, please allow us to fight by your side! We are soldiers of the United Roman Empire. We have to strive for its glory!" The soldier couldn''t help but voice his disagreement with his orders.

    "Fool. Weren''t you listening to me? You don''t stand a chance against a Servant. I don''t want you to have a meaningless death." The Emperor shook his head at the stubbornness of his subordinate.

    "But��" "Fine, fine. Just fight smarter and keep a safe distance." Before the soldier could finish, he was interrupted by the Servant.

    "Yes, sir!" With a salute, the soldier departed.

    "Good grief, if we continue like this, we will end up with just mindless citizens who only know how to say yes. Still, why was I summoned as a Saber of all things?" The Emperor, now identified as a Saber, couldn''t help but complain about his class. To him, this wasn''t an optimum use of his talents.

    ''Hm...I can''t get off the feeling of familiarity coming from within the enemy army, what a bother.'' He thought as he did a mental sigh. ''Whatever, I will know where this feeling comes from when they reach here.''

    ...

    "This is the time we have all been preparing for. Are you ready to show who are the true people of Rome?!" Nero shouted to his soldiers, who were listening attentively.

    "WE ARE!" They responded in kind by raising their weapons to the sky with incredible excitement.

    "The little lass sure knows how to get them motivated." Cu Chulainn commented as he looked at the cheering soldiers.

    "Hmph. The more motivated they are, the better their performance is going to be on the battlefield." Vlad said. This will also work in his favor at the time of leading them.

    "I''m sorry you can''t be on the frontlines." Fujimaru apologized while scratching his cheek with an embarrassed smile.

    "You need not concern yourself with that, my Vassal." Berserker responded, maybe for his warrior version, it would have been undoubtedly troublesome but not for his king one.

    "He is right, Senpai. You are already doing a great job by commanding us." Mash said encouraging words before asking a question to Romani. "Doctor, any signs of the enemy Servant?"

    "Yeah. I''m detecting a signal of a Servant near your location. However, he isn''t moving and is just standing there." Dr. Roman gave a positive response. This meant that their intel about an Emperor was accurate.

    "So, that means we will have to go there?" Kiyohime asked while touching her lips with her fan in contemplation.

    "Most likely. You will have to make your way through their army first, though. However, considering they are just normal humans, I don''t think that will be a problem." Romani answered with a nod.

    "Hopefully, they will retreat if we manage to defeat him." Martha said with a sigh. She didn''t want to kill more than necessary.

    "Right." Jeanne agreed with Martha. Unneeded bloodshed was something they didn''t like to see.

    "Fufu. You two girls sure are kind; then you will have to finish that Roman Emperor as soon as possible. I''m counting on you!" Boudica smiled at their words before leaving to lead the troops.

    A now recovered Spartacus was awaiting her at a far, very far, distance from the group to avoid troubles.

    "Are you going to participate, or are you going to stay in the back and do your rain dance?" Caster asked Seth, who was watching the army prepare.

    "How about you? Are you going to use your voodoo doll?" He responded to his question with another question.

    Caster just shrugged. "If I need to."

    "Okay, enough chat. The armies started moving; you should do the same." Romani interrupted the two. Now it was action time.

    True to the Doctor''s words, both armies marched against each other until eventually, they clashed. Taking this as a signal, the Chaldeans started moving.

    To cover more ground, they decided to keep a certain distance between themselves. Of course, Fujimaru''s Servants didn''t go far as they needed to keep the supply of Magical Energy active.

    They started slowly before attacking harder over time. However, it seemed they weren''t fighting just against soldiers.

    "What''s that thing?" Fujimaru asked seeing a three meters giant made out of stone grabbing soldiers and throwing them at their fellow comrades.

    "It''s no doubt a Magical Crea��" Roman couldn''t finish his words as the sound of an explosion was heard on the battlefield. Looking at the spot where the stone monster was, the only thing that remained were some pieces of scorched stone.

    Similar explosions started resounding on the battlefield, it looked as if they were in a minefield. The results were the same no matter where one set their gazes upon.

    The author of this event, Seth, was trampling one of those creatures under his foot. For a moment, he showed a sadistic expression which he quickly hid. ''I don''t know if I should be thankful to the man who created these golems or simply kill him outright.'' Seth thought before crushing the skull of the creature.

    While this was happening, the enemy Servant released a sigh. "What a bother, a bother, truly a bother. I planned to even the scales by having those golems kill as many soldiers as the Servants did." He seemed to like repeating the same words three times, and by the lack of interest in them, it looked like he didn''t want to be here.

    Because he didn''t want to move from his position, the only thing that he could do was wait for them to come and hopefully not kill more of his soldiers in the process.

    With Seth''s intervention, the battle became even more favorable for Nero''s army. Different from the United Empire''s, they only needed to worry about normal humans.

    Caster, Kiyohime, Jalter, and Lancelot focused on diminishing the enemy numbers more than opening a path toward the Emperor.

    Vlad was simply commanding a relatively small group of soldiers while occasionally killing some of the opposing combatants.

    Mash and Fujimaru slowly advanced, knocking enemies down and being careful enough for him not to get hurt.

    Lastly, Martha, Jeanne, Nero, and Seth were the ones who were actively trying to get to the Emperor''s location. The size of the enemy army was considerable, so the time they were spending to pass through it was also that way.

    Of course, Seth could just do an enormous leap toward him and not have to do make his way through enemy lines. However, there was one thing that prevented him to do that. The Servant was too weak! Even if he couldn''t put strength into numbers, he had a general idea.

    ''And you ask me to enjoy battles, how am I supposed to do that with enemies like this?'' Seth couldn''t help but retort to the words Caster had said previously.

    It was not like he underestimated the enemy Servant, he was well aware that not everyone was what they seemed at first glance. Still, the only thing that generated a sense of ''this could do something'' was his sword.

    Of course, not every Servant needed to be specialized in combat, their strength could always be focused on one special area over the rest. That Saber was an example, while he didn''t look like much (To his combat standards), he was an excellent commander. Just his mere presence boosted the morale of his soldiers and his commands were giving more than one headache to their allied forces.

    So, like that, they continued to push their way through the soldiers until finally, after some time, they managed to get to him. As they still had an army behind them that could cause troubles, especially for Nero if they attacked from behind, he created a wall of fire that extended for a tremendous distance, separating the Servants and God from the common soldiers.

    "So you have come, I was wondering how much time you would take to get here." The man in the red military coat was the first to speak.

    "However, that beauty, so beautiful, truly beautiful. It seems my wait was rewarded." He said with a smirk as he looked at the body of the three girls.

    ''That man is where I had that sense of familiarity. Now I see, so he is...'' His train of thought was interrupted by Nero''s words.

    "...So you are one of the fake Emperors together with my uncle." She said after a small pause.

    "Have the people of Rome lost their manners? Before addressing someone you tell them your name." Saber said with a raised eyebrow.

    "Nero, I''m Nero Claudius. The Fifth Emperor of Rome! I will personally be the one to end the life of a pretender like you!" Her words carried the force of one who is above others.

    "Heh. That attitude is amusing, I like it. Very well, your beauty pales to my woman, The Queen of the Desert. Nevertheless, it still is something dazzling." His words caused a blush on Nero''s face.

    ''What Queen of the Desert crap you are speaking about.'' Seth rolled his eyes. Nowadays, everyone proclaimed themselves as something much greater than they really were.

    "That said, I''m interested in why someone like you is here fighting against me." The Emperor addressed the black-haired man this time, causing confusion in the three girl''s minds.

 Chapter 51 - VS Caesar (1)

    "That said, I''m interested in why someone like you is here fighting against me."

    "Well, looking at it from your point of view, I guess it''s only natural. Yes, natural indeed." The Emperor said as he tapped his finger on the sword handle.

    "I don''t know what you are talking about. Also, I don''t remember ever meeting you." Seth thought the man in front of him was seeing things.

    "We have never met; it is true. However, you have the same aura as my Queen. I can''t possibly mistake that. And considering she was the last, I can assume you are one before her." Although he seemed proud when he talked about that Queen, an observant person could detect a certain tone of regret in his voice.

    Hearing him, Seth guessed that the aura he was referring to was the aura of a Pharaoh. He did say she was the ''Queen of the Desert,'' so it didn''t leave many options to choose from. ''And the last...so he is talking about Cleopatra...''

    Seth looked at the chubby man in front of him, looked intensively until his figure overlapped with someone else''s. "You... how did you end up like that? Aren''t you supposed to be more on the lean side?" The person who came to mind was Caesar, the dog with daddy issues showed an image of him when he was about to enter one of his many reincarnations. However, he was nothing like the one in front of him.

    "The way I look shows the prosperity of Rome. Still, by your words, it looks like you recognize who I''m. So, are you planning to fight?" Caesar asked him.

    "I''m not the one who is going to fight against you, nor I blame you for anything. In fact, I''m grateful for what you did, even if it wasn''t your intention. Fighting you would make it seem like I''m avenging something I''m not part of anymore." If Caesar thought he was planning to seek revenge for the fall of Egypt, he was gravely mistaken. Besides, he wasn''t the one to blame; he knew it very well.

    "It''s surprising, a surprise certainly, I''m really surprised. To think there existed people like that. Then, there is no point in speaking anymore, sorry to keep you waiting." The Emperor allowed himself a light laugh before turning to the other three girls who didn''t seem to keep up with the conversation.

    "It was about time! Ignoring an Emperor is a grave sin, even a pretender should know that!" Nero was at her limits. SHE was the one who had to be in the spotlight!

    "You certainly have a strong personality. I can''t say I dislike it. However, now is the moment to test your resolve." He showed a smirk as he readied his sword. Although he didn''t like drawing it, the situation asked for just that.

    Seeing as the enemy was prepared to battle, the three girls took their positions with Martha and Jeanne in front and Nero behind.

    The two Saints found clues to Seth''s true identity in the chubby man''s words, but they were going to think about that after the fight.

    "Come, let''s see what you are made of, Nero Claudius." He may be fighting against three people, but the one he had a personal interest in was Nero.

    Taking that as a signal, the three girls dashed at him. Knowing that he would be troubled if he got attacked at the same time, he slammed his sword into the ground, sending pieces of dirt at Martha and slowing her down enough to face the girls one at a time.

    Jeanne was the first to face Caesar. She thrust with the pointy end of her flagpole, which he simply diverted by hitting its side with his sword before striking again with incredible quickness that didn''t befit his plump body. She reacted as quickly by intercepting the trajectory of the sword with her gauntlet. Nevertheless, she underestimated the force behind the swing, so she got pushed back a few meters.

    As soon as that happened, Martha, who looked a bit pissed by his actions earlier, came doing a horizontal swing with her staff, which was glowing in blue light. Not at all fazed by this, Caesar parried it with his sword.

    "Hm...not enough." Caesar casually said before pushing her away just in time to see Nero coming down with a sword clad in black flames.

    The Emperor felt a sense of danger coming from it, so instead of parrying it, he decided to retreat. It proved to be the right decision as the moment Nero hit the ground with her sword, an explosion followed, leaving a deep crater after it ceased.

    The shockwave was such that it even affected her companions. "Hey! Could you try and mind your surroundings?! Cough...please be careful next time." Martha, as usual, tried to correct her original words, which didn''t sound so Saint-like.

    Jeanne had a weird expression on her face while Nero looked a bit embarrassed. "Sorry...I will be careful next time."

    "Good grief, that sword is really troublesome. You sure got a fine gift, a fine one indeed." Caesar complimented the weapon in her hands. He guessed that the man who was sitting there without a care in the world was the one who powered up her sword. One had to look at the wall of fire and put two and two together to reach that conclusion.

    "For a fake Emperor, you sure know how to appreciate the beauty of my possessions." Nero also complimented him. However, her words caused Seth to look at her with eyes that said, ''Really?''

    Apparently, Nero forgot how she called that same sword ugly a few days ago. Lightly shaking his head, he continued to watch the battle in front of him.

    Martha was the first one to attack again. Her staff glowed in blue light once more before she pointed at the sky, a beam of the same color came down from it toward Caesar.

    With one hand on the handle and another on the blade, he intercepted the blue-colored beam. Nevertheless, it seems it wasn''t easy as the ground at his feet cracked a little.

    Taking advantage of his concentration being focused elsewhere, Jeanne appeared behind him with her flag ready. "Ha!" With a shout, she hit Caesar''s back, making him stumble.

    He frowned a little. Still, he didn''t have time to complain as Nero was already in front of him. She slashed, ready to split him in two. However, he jumped back in time to avoid her attack almost completely.

    Making use of his momentum, he elbowed Jeanne, who was still behind him, she defended herself by using her flagpole. Sadly for her, the force of his jump, coupled with his weight, gave him the advantage. Luckily, she didn''t suffer any damage and just left a small trail on the ground.

    "What a hassle..." Caesar said with a sigh, looking to his belly, he saw how his armor had a deep cut that extended from one end to another. The cut seemed to be melting his plackart. He was feeling the heat, so with no more options left, he decided to take it out.

    ''I need to be careful of not getting hit by that sword again. At least she doesn''t know how to use it properly, she is like a kid with an a.d.u.l.t weapon.'' He thought while looking at the flaming sword. The black-haired man said he was not going to fight, but giving Nero a sword like that wasn''t much different.

    Caesar couldn''t help but wonder if Seth had a grudge against him, not taking into account the fall of Egypt. A matter for another time.

    "Don''t look at me like that. I enchanted her sword way before getting here. I didn''t even know we would be fighting you." Feeling the gaze of ''What a pain'' Caesar was giving him, Seth clarified.

    "It''s time to get a little serious, yes, a little will do." He stabbed his sword into the ground and put a hand on his chin as a red aura slowly started enveloping him.

    Picking his sword again, which now had a yellow glow, he disappeared from the three girls'' sight, causing their eyes to widen. He reappeared again in front of Martha and, with high speed, thurst his sword back and forth.

    The Saint of Bethany reacted quickly and used her staff to block most of the attacks, though some of them managed to impact, causing cuts all over her body.

    Seeing her fellow Saint in danger, Jeanne dashed in her defense. However, before she landed a hit on his back like previously, Caesar turned around and, with the same quickness, slashed at her making a ''V'' cut on her front side.

    Nero, who was near, decided to risk it by attacking without flames, coating her sword as she didn''t want to cause collateral damage to her comrades.

    "I''m sorry to disappoint a beautiful woman, but you are not going to beat me without the help of those flames." True to his words, he caught her sword with his b.a.r.e hands before using the hilt of his sword to hit her stomach. "Gah!" Nero felt the air escaping her lungs as she rolled on the ground after that blow.

    "Come on, that can''t be all you have got, right? I would be very disappointed, certainly disappointed." Although he moved very fast previously, he didn''t seem to be tired at all.

    Martha gained tick marks on her forehead listening to his words, but taking a deep breath, she managed to calm down. "This is the embodiment of my faith." She grabbed her staff with both hands and closed her eyes. A light enveloped the three girls, healing most of their wounds that Caesar had done.

    "U-Umu...That''s helpful." Although the damage she received had been mostly healed, the pain still remained.

    "Thank you, Martha." Jeanne gave the Dragon Rider a grateful look before focusing on Caesar again.

    "That''s better. Now, I advise you also stop holding back. Otherwise, you are never going to defeat me." He said with a smirk while pointing at them with his sword.

    ''Being talkative is a trait shared by every Roman in the world?'' Seth couldn''t help but think, seeing how much he liked to talk during battle.

    This time it was Nero the one who attacked first. "I will show you who is the true Emperor of Rome!" The girl exclaimed as she swung her sword, creating a flaming attack in the shape of a crescent moon that traveled directly at Caesar.

    For the first time during the whole battle, his eyes narrowed in wariness. ''It seems she is learning slowly but surely.'' He was surprised that Nero could make such an attack. Caesar jumped in the air while spinning to avoid the attack.

    However, contrary to his belief, Nero did that unintentionally, proven by the stupefied face she had right now. "Uh? Wha��ahem... Umu! As expected of me!" Noticing she was not keeping the image an Emperor should have, she cleared her throat while putting a hand on her h.i.p.s.

    "..." Everyone was speechless at her words, Caesar wanted to take the compliment he has given her right away. However, her personality was refreshing for him so he didn''t put much thought into it.

    While everyone was looking at Nero strangely, Martha noticed the link between her and her Master was getting stronger, meaning he was approaching their location and she could get more Magical Energy, at least enough to summon Tarasque, something she planned on doing right away.

    A Magic Circle formed at her feet. Spinning her staff, she hit it lightly. Smoke covered her wholly together with the circle beneath her. Caesar took his gaze from Nero before redirecting it to where Martha was located.

    A roar was heard, and with it, the smoke dispersed to reveal the Saint now mounted on her Dragon. Now it was time for round two.

 Chapter 52 - VS Caesar (2)

    It was supposed to be a 4k chapter but inkstone decided to fuxk me up. Still, 3.4k isn''t bad, right? You have Apex and After to thank for that.

    =============================

    It''s been nearly twenty minutes since Martha summoned Tarasque. Her choice was the correct one as the scales turned in their favor, and now they were the ones who had the advantage.

    The three girls were mounting Tarasque''s back. Martha concentrated on commanding the Dragon-Turtle, Jeanne, in defending when Caesar jumped at them to attack one of them, and Nero, now that she discovered she could send sword slashes through the air, was in charge of attacking the chubby man.

    Still, Caesar was no pushover. Although he couldn''t get to them, he attacked Tarasque on his right leg in the same place over and over again, causing it to have trouble moving.

    They knew they had to end this quickly. Otherwise, the advantage the three girls just got would be lost. Martha locked eyes with Jeanne, and they both nodded.

    When Caesar jumped again to land a hit on one of them, Jeanne also jumped from Tarasque''s back and clashed mid-air with him in front of the dragon''s head. "Tarasque, your flames!" Martha commanded his mount, and taking this as a signal, Jeanne used Caesar''s belly as support before jumping back to its back just in time for a sea of flames to hit the location where she had been previously.

    The Emperor of the United Empire, seeing the incoming flames, used his sword as a shield and covered his face with his free arm.

    When the dragon''s breath hit him, Caesar came crashing down to the ground, leaving a deep trail wherever his body landed.

    "Is it over?" Nero asked, looking at the smoke covered area where his movements had stopped.

    The other two girls didn''t answer; they just stared attentively at his location with unblinking eyes, not wanting to be caught by surprise.

    Although neither Martha nor Jeanne replied to her question, Nero got her answer just by looking ahead to the same place the other two were.

    The two Saints felt it clearly, and Nero did too, albeit to a certain extent. They sensed how Caesar''s Magical Energy was raising little by little.

    "I must congratulate you; congratulations are in order. I didn''t think you would force me to take this seriously, and for that, I will congratulate every one of you." His voice, while maintaining the same laid-back tone, now sounded a bit more severe.

    When the smoke from Tarasque''s attack finally vanished, Caesar revealed himself to them with some burns on his military coat, showing the skin underneath it, and with his left arm covered in stone, its thickness at least doubled from the normal one.

    "Hm...being in the frontlines sure doesn''t suit me. I would rather command my soldiers, but I guess I don''t have many options left." With slow steps, he walked forward.

    "However, I must say you certainly earned the right to know my name. Very well, I shall tell you the name of the Emperor you think as nothing more than a fake. My name is Caesar. In other words, Gaius Julius Caesar!" He proclaimed with proudness as he extended his arms to the sides to magnify his words.

    Nero trembled a little, hearing that name. "H-How?! Caesar? You are supposed to be dead!" If it was a joke, it wasn''t funny.

    "Why are you so surprised? You already met your uncle Caligula, me being ''alive'' shouldn''t be that shocking. Of course, if your shock comes from the fact that you are in front of me, then I would understand." For an Emperor, the little girl didn''t know how to face reality for much absurd it may be.

    "So all of you raised from the dead just to destroy the very thing you built with your own hands? As the Emperor of the current Rome, I can''t-no, I won''t allow that!" As if to respond to her feelings, her sword burned even brighter.

    "Haha...you can say it like that. However, it''s not like we want to destroy Rome; we just think a new one is necessary." Caesar released a light laugh. Although he didn''t want to fight against the people he once ruled, orders were orders, especially coming from that person.

    He then turned toward Seth. "How about you? I don''t sense any kind of belonging to her Rome. The fact you are not fighting me proves that. So, why don''t you join us? I''m sure we can give you whatever your heart d.e.s.i.r.es, even if you want the title of Emperor, you can obtain it."

    Nero and Jeanne looked at Seth with worry, fearing he would accept Caesar''s offer. ''Thanks for the trust.'' The Egyptian rolled his eyes, seeing their reactions from the corner of his sight. At least Martha showed no response and just kept looking at the Emperor, already knowing the answer he was going to give.

    "I refuse. Indeed, my compromise doesn''t lie with Nero. However, that same compromise puts me in the side of Humanity''s survival. Besides, the only thing I d.e.s.i.r.e isn''t something that can be fulfilled by anyone, nor anything, that includes the Holy Grail." His answer made Jeanne and Nero sigh in relief while Caesar merely shook his head in disappointment, not that he expected a favorable response anyway.

    "A shame, indeed a shame. I guess there is no meaning in talking anymore, then." With nothing more to say, he disappeared from his position. This time, however, instead of attacking one of the girls, he decided to choose a different opponent. Reappearing in front of Tarasque, he punched the dragon''s face with his stone arm, making it recoil back.

    The dragon released a roar of pain, but with a shake of its head, it regained its focus. "Are you alright, Tarasque?" Martha asked the dragon under her.

    It slowly nodded its head to reassure her. Besides, Martha always hit Tarasque when she used her Noble Phantasm. At this point, beatings were an everyday thing for the dragon.

    "He is getting stronger again, how is that fair?!" Nero couldn''t help but complain, seeing how Caesar was getting more difficult to beat with each passing second.

    "It doesn''t matter. Our objective remains the same; we need to beat that man as soon as possible." Martha said with seriousness. Looking at how things were going, they needed to think about a plan to counter Caesar''s strong points.

    However, there was no way he was going to let them have enough time to defeat him. Once again, he dashed at them. This time he didn''t attack Tarasque but decided to attack the girls instead.

    The one who received his blow this time was Nero. After parrying, she didn''t return to the dragon''s back, though, preferring to stay on the ground so she could fight better.

    "Oh? You are not going to return to the little safety that strange-looking dragon provided you?" He asked in amus.e.m.e.nt at the girl who had her sword pointed at him.

    "If we are going to defeat you, then we must take risks! And as the Emperor, I''m the one who should be in the front protecting my subordinates!" She declared proudly.

    ''We aren''t your subordinates, though...'' Both Saints shared the same thought in their minds but didn''t comment on it.

    "Then, show me how you are going to protect them, Emperor Nero." Leaving behind those words, he made a diagonal slash at her, which she parried successfully again. However, that wasn''t the end of it. Caesar started repeatedly slashing with each strike faster than the one before.

    Nero at first still retained her composure, but that quickly changed as Ceasar''s hits got stronger. While she had a look of concentration, the man in front of her still maintained his laid-back attitude, demonstrating this wasn''t a challenge for him.

    Like that, they exchanged hundreds of blows, with the majority of them being Nero defending and Caesar attacking. That was until Jeanne came to her aid.

    As their coordination couldn''t be said to be the best, The Maid of Orleans decided to attack from behind him as not to hinder each other when attacking.

    With her help, Nero''s burden lightened, albeit slightly. Now Caesar was using his stone arm to block Jeanne''s attacks coming from his back. Still, considering its proportions, she was having trouble getting past it.

    "What happened? Weren''t you going to protect them? if this continues, you are going to lose your life before accomplishing anything." Caesar jokingly said as he continued his assault on Nero and his defense on Jeanne.

    "Shut up! Don''t take an Emperor lightly!" Nero angrily shouted the moment she heard his words, and in a burst of speed after successfully blocking one swing of his sword, she did a quick and precise thrust at his heart.

    Caesar was surprised by her actions. She was practically making a suicidal attack, after all. If he wanted, he could dodge to the side and make her sword hit a nonvital part, effectively preventing any significant damage and then strike her down. However, considering the flames were not normal, he was sure that the thrust would create a momentary distraction, something Jeanne could take advantage of and cause him some harm that could render him incapable of fighting anymore.

    Although he couldn''t leave this unscratched, he could still choose the best option he had available that guaranteed him getting out of this situation with the fewer injuries possible.

    Pulling back his sword that had been warded off by Nero as fast as possible, he hit the underside of Aestus Estus, deviating its trajectory. Instead of an attack to the heart, it ended up being a slash to the left shoulder.

    Thinking this was an opportunity, Jeanne tried to pierce him with the pointed tip of her flagpole. However, Caesar was alert, and with a quick reaction, he grabbed her weapon with his hand made out of stone.

    The Saint was surprised by this, but before she could think anything further, he hurled her at Nero, who hadn''t recovered from her failed attack earlier.

    "Ugh!" Jeanne crashed into Nero, making both girls fly backward, impacting onto the ground on several occasions.

    "I will admit it, that was a brave decision, albeit a risky one. Very well, I will respond to your bravery in kind. It''s about time I end this once and for all." Caesar said as he stabbed his sword into the ground.

    The two girls recovered their footing just in time to sense another spike in his Magical Energy. ''Not good, by the looks of it, he is planning to use his Noble Phantasm.'' Jeanne thought with an uncharacteristically serious expression.

    "Nero, stand behind me." The Saint said while getting up and putting her flag in front of her. The Emperor, who was at her side, also got up with difficulty and put herself behind Jeanne.

    Caesar flashed a smirk seeing this. ''It seems she has reversed the roles.'' Taking a deep breath, he started to chant.

    ? "I came!" Some characters started appearing behind his back as he chanted; it was a weird sight to look at.

    "I saw!" He extended his finger forward as a different character appeared this time.

    "All that''s left now is to conquer!" ?

    Finishing those words, he dashed at the two girls. However, Jeanne was not going to take his attack without doing anything.

    ? "Defend my brethren, my banner!" She lightly touched her flag with her forehead before extending it upward.

    "God is here with me..." ? Before Caesar managed to get to their position, a yellow barrier started enveloping the two girls.

    ��Luminosit�� Eternelle!����Crocea Mors!��Both shouted at the same time. The moment the barrier was complete, the man came brandishing his sword down on it.

    Even faster than when he was attacking Nero, his sword kept hitting the barrier time and time again. Jeanne also felt that his attacks were getting more powerful with each consecutive hit.

    For now, she was holding on. However, if this continued, they were going to lose to Caesar''s barrage of strikes. Jeanne''s flag slowly tearing was proof of that.

    "Gh...!" She gritted her teeth in an attempt to increase her willpower not to let the barrier collapse.

    "How''s that? I wonder if your barrier will be able to hold on much longer?" Caesar smirked as he kept attacking the barrier.

    ''Not yet...just a little more...'' Jeanne said to herself as she endured his consecutive hits.

    ''To rely on something like luck to increase the power and count, that''s certainly an interesting weapon.'' Seth thought while looking at Caesar.

    ''However...''

    ''Luck can only get you so far.''

    Just when Jeanne couldn''t hold on for much longer, just when the barrier showed signs of breaking, just then, Caesar''s luck ran out.

    Suddenly, as if time had frozen, the barrage of attacks stopped. To make matters worse for the chubby man, someone who he had stopped paying attention to, made her presence known again.

    Reacting quickly, Nero grabbed Jeanne, who was still tired from defending against Caesar''s attack and jumped to the side.

    ? "The son of Leviathan, now protecting people."

    "Become a meteor!"

    ��Tarasque!!!��?

    Caesar looked ahead to see a giant ball spinning in his direction. It was so fast that he didn''t have time to block, much less dodge.

    His eyes widened as he saw the incoming Tarasque; it didn''t even take a second for it to hit him. "Ngh!" Caesar''s cry of pain was silenced when the dragon''s shell hit his body.

    As if his resistance was meaningless, The Emperor flew backward. He only stopped when he had traversed hundreds of meters, leaving behind an uneven terrain from when he impacted the ground several times like a rock thrown into a pond.

    As he had discarded his plackart, Caesar received the impact with his whole body without any protection. He felt as if his organs were all crushed.

    With the little strength he had left, he groggily tried to get up using his left arm as support. However, it was not over for him. The moment he managed to stand, a sword pierced him.

    Nero, with a speed that was inhumanly possible, had thrust her Aestus Estus deep into Caesar''s heart. Still, he didn''t even flinch nor uttered a scream. He just had a smile on his face, a smile like that of a father seeing her daughter grow up into a fine woman.

    "You did a good job... You truly made Rome proud..." He tried to hold the blood in his mouth as not to interrupt his speech. Nevertheless, it was challenging to speak, having a sword in your heart.

    "Caesarion..." As his life was fading away, he remembered the son he couldn''t acknowledge during his lifetime, his biggest regret. Those words, however, made him look at Seth. "Please...for...give her...she...she did...nothing...wrong." He was already fading, and he couldn''t speak clearly anymore.

    "I beg...you, Ph��" Before completing his sentence, Seth snapped his fingers. The flames from Nero''s sword suddenly burned with more force than before and wholly incinerated him.

    "...Was it necessary?" Jeanne asked, feeling it was somewhat inappropriate.

    "I''m the one who decides that," Seth replied as he turned around to look at the wall of fire he had created previously. With a wave of his hand, it started disappearing to reveal a battle that was almost over. With Caesar''s death and his army at the border of collapse, Gaul was already theirs.

    Mash and Fujimaru, who were near the wall of fire, were the first to notice its disappearance. Looking around and not finding signals of the Emperor, they both assumed he had been defeated.

    Approaching them, the young man was the first to ask, seeking confirmation. "Have you defeated the enemy Servant?"

    Taking a deep breath to calm her turbulent emotions, Nero smiled at him. "Yeah. It''s our victory, and now there is one Emperor less. This will surely weaken their forces and affect their morale."

    Soon, more people started noticing the changes. When the remaining soldiers from the United Empire looked behind and didn''t see their Emperor among the enemy group, they instantly felt as if a bomb had exploded in their hearts.

    "Dammit. Your majesty!" One commander couldn''t help but curse in frustration. However, he knew this was a lost battle. At least he would honor his Emperor, who didn''t want them to die meaninglessly, and retreat to keep the lives of the remaining soldiers. "All remaining forces, heed my order and retreat! Don''t you dare to lose your lives!"

    Sharing the same feelings as their commander, the soldiers retreated without offering not even one complaint. They hoped the enemy army didn''t chase them.

    Seeing the fleeing army and their Emperor successfully killing theirs, the soldiers from the Roman Empire cheered and praised Nero like there was no tomorrow.

    "So it''s finally over..." Mash released a sigh of relief. Although they didn''t fight the enemy Servant, they still got their load of fights in there.

    �D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D

    It was a long battle, so they decided not to chase the enemy army. They had gotten back Gaul, and that was the important thing.

    The group decided to rest for a day before departing. Boudica and Spartacus stayed back as they needed someone to defend in case the United Empire wanted to take Gaul back. A significant part of the army also stayed back.

    They were now on their way back to Rome, using the same formation as before. The interesting thing was, along the way, they heard from different merchants the rumor of an Ancient God in the Mediterranean Sea.

    They were surprised, to say the least, especially Mash and Dr. Roman, as they were more knowledgable about Divine Spirits. Fujimaru didn''t know a thing, so Mash offered to explain.

    Meanwhile, Cu Chulainn was thinking, ''They already found out...Considering the little girl''s personality, she would want to go as soon as possible.''

    As if reading his mind, Nero spoke. "There is no option, then! I''m quite interested in this rumor, I don''t know if this rumor is true, but if it is, I can''t let the United Empire get a hold of that Ancient God. I''m sure if we have one in our ranks, the possibilities of us winning will go up!"

    ''If only you knew...'' Caster had the urge to laugh hearing her words.

    "If that''s the case, then some of us will have to stay in Rome to protect it. I''m sure that with the loss of an Emperor, they would want to send an attack at the capital, and a Servant will probably be included there." Mash suggested.

    "You don''t have to worry about it. I''m sure that guy will stay. There will be no better person to defend it than him." There was no way Seth was going to that place, of that he was sure.

    "If you are talking about that gloomy guy, then I can''t help but worry! He sat there doing nothing while we fought against that Emperor!" Nero took advantage of the fact that he was at the far back on the formation and couldn''t hear her complain about him.

    "Yeah, yeah. No need to blabber. You just have to concentrate on finding that supposed God; he will defend the city properly. You have my word." Cu Chulainn stopped Nero before she could say anything further. He had the sensation that Seth was listening to every word she was saying so he was trying to save her head from being crushed again.

    Having conversations like that, they arrived at the coast where a ship belonging to the Roman Empire was waiting for them.

    As Cu Chulainn had said previously, Seth decided to stay and defend the capital. He took the soldiers with him while some of them remained with the others to help sail the ship.

    "We are finally here! The vast sea never ceases to amaze me. Now, are you prepared to marvel at my amazing sailing skills?" As soon as Nero''s words left her mouth, every Servant present plus Fujimaru felt a bad foreboding run through their whole body.

    "U-Um...Martha has a good Riding Skill. Wouldn''t it be better if she was the one to sail?" It was not like she didn''t trust her, it was just that after that dark event. Mash didn''t want to take risks.

    "What are you saying? I''m prised as one of the best sailors in the world, trust me!" No one believed her words, no one...

 Chapter 53 - Meeting The Divine Spirit

    "He went and died, pathetic." Lev Lainur, who was acting as the Court Mage for the United Empire, couldn''t help but make a disgusted face once he noticed Caesar''s defeat.

    "..." A robust man, around two meters with golden rings around his arms, a golden helmet, and black clothes that only covered his c.h.e.s.t, forearm, crotch, and from his feet to a little above his knee, released a quiet sigh of lament.

    "This madman couldn''t even finish Emperor Nero off, to boot." Lev was referring to Caligula, who was mumbling some incoherent words.

    "Still, not like I expected Caesar to be victorious against that man."

    "A War God...just like my father." The robust man mused with his eyes closed.

    "Hmph. That insignificant worm is wasting the title of God, there can only be one person with such a title, and that is our King." Lev felt absolute repulsion for Seth, that was clear.

    "..." The man chose not to say anything in response and just keep his opinion to himself.

    "Well, no matter. Our King doesn''t think of him as a threat. However, he still asked me to exercise caution while dealing with him." He didn''t know what his King was thinking, but he did say he found him intriguing enough to at least talk with him the moment they meet.

    "What are you planning to do?" After a moment of silence, the robust man finally asked.

    "I''m going to summon more Servants to replenish our forces. I expect them to kill at least one of those insects. In case they fail to do so and perish, it will be your turn to stop��no, to kill him." Lev said as he looked at the circle with intricated runes on the ground.

    "Very well. I shall raise my spear against the enemies of Rome." He proclaimed before adding something in his mind. ''Even if those enemies were part of that same Rome once.''

    Hearing his words, Lev couldn''t help but smile mockingly at him. ''Talk about irony.'' However, he still got things to do. Providing Magical Energy to the circle, it lit up in white light as a figure started manifesting.

    The figure had a red cape with a flaming yellow helmet and was practically n.a.k.e.d. With spear and shield in hand, the man introduced himself. "Servant, Lancer. My true name is Leonidas! I will be serving you in the upcoming battles."

    "Hoh? So it''s a Heroic Spirit from Sparta. Your job is to kill a certain group of pests; I hope you don''t disappoint me." With nothing more to say, he dismissed Leonidas for now.

    "For someone who claims there is only one king, you sure summon a lot of Heroic Spirits who were once rulers." Although his tone didn''t contain mockery, his words did.

    "Don''t overstep the line, Lancer. You are just a slave who needs to follow orders. To me, you are nothing more than a tool I can always discard for someone better." Lev gave him a smile filled with madness. His words had a clear meaning. ''No matter who you are, you will always be below me.''

    Deciding it was best not to argue with this man any longer, Lancer fell silent once again.

    Lev also didn''t bother with him anymore and prepared to contact his King about his progress.

    ��������������������������������������

    Seth was going back to Rome with the rest of the soldiers. At first, the atmosphere was a little awkward as he didn''t talk with them, nor gave them orders; he just kept moving ahead. However, they got used to it with time and started talking among themselves.

    Along the way, they met some enemies like ghosts, bandits, and soldiers from the United Empire. But before they could even move, Seth killed them all with swiftness. With situations like that the whole way, they finally reached Rome after two days.

    The Egyptian God ordered them to rest while he went to Nero''s palace. Once he was in the Throne Room, he sat on the stairs leading to the Emperor''s seat.

    ''The United Empire...it''s safe to assume its location is where I sensed that dark presence from.''

    ''Still, it''s too far. If I want to avoid collateral damage using my Noble Phantasm, I should make it as small and as near their capital as possible.''

    "Your Noble Phantasm can reach from here to there in no time. Why bother thinking about the safety of unrelated people when you can get this over with, in no time?" Stargazer''s voice interrupted his train of thoughts; he was sitting lazily on the Throne in his inner world as always.

    ''You certainly know how to annoy me, don''t you?'' That was Seth''s response to his question.

    "Haha! No need to praise me, I''m well aware of my talents." He shamelessly took his words as a compliment.

    ''Did that kid''s personality rubbed off on you? Speak, what do you want?'' Great, a second Nero in his head, just what he needed.

    "Hey! How cruel of you, little Seth! Shouldn''t you be saying she is the one who learned from me?! Anyway! I came here to congratulate you on your reunion with that fox lady. Sniff-sniff...what a heartbreaking meeting." Stargazer even cried fake tears at the end.

    Seth''s eyebrow was twitching uncontrollably at this point; he was going to strangle this guy later. ''Tell me the real reason.''

    "Can you stop being boring at least once? We haven''t talked in so long, I kind of missed you, barely. But I did!" Noticing how Seth''s expression was darkening, he decided to stop beating around the bush.

    "Haha, don''t be angry. You should do as the son of Lugh said and enjoy things more. Still, I came here to tell you one thing, or better said, to give you a piece of advice." After saying this, his happy-go-lucky attitude disappeared. "His Ark must be seized. No mistakes. Allowed."

    ''Believe it or not, I''m trying.'' Same as Stargazer, his attitude changed. ''I wonder why your words sounded like that. Still, if you are talking about that thing, forget it. Even I''m not foolish enough to get near it. I''m curious about how you know it, though.''

    "I have been drinking, that must probably be it. And you don''t have to worry. You are one of the few that can have it; it''s just a matter of using your always so reliable friend to seize it. Finally, to answer your doubts, you still have a long way to go if you want to know, haha!" He didn''t take even a minute before returning to his usual self.

    ''...'' Seth was silent for a few seconds, thinking about his words. ''If your reason to ask me for this is the one I think it is, then I will see what I can do. Leaving that aside, you sure are a smart bastard. To find a loophole like that.''

    "You don''t have to lick my b.u.t.t like that, you know? I appreciate the compliment, though. As a reward for being a good boy, I will tell you a secret, what you seek you will find it at the end." Before Seth could respond, Stargazer finished their conversation by cutting the link that connected them.

    ''Self-control, self-control...'' He chanted in his mind as if it was some sort of mantra. However, it wasn''t easy to remain calm if the veins popping throughout his whole body was anything to go by.

    Meanwhile, in Seth''s inner world, once Stargazer ended their conversation, he sighed while putting an indignant expression. "And you call me a smart bastard, look who is talking. Well, if he has an idea, then it will make things easier, or at least I hope so."

    Looking at the window that showed a dark world filled with thunderclouds and rain, he sighed again. "We are going to need everything we can get our hands on, even the not so pretty ones. The help I can give is limited, after all."

    Getting up from the Throne, he yawned. "I guess I will have to move my a.s.s and start working. Seriously, I need a vacation or something."

    ��������������������������������������

    In a beach far from Rome, you could see a group of people practically kissing the sand like it was the most precious thing in the world. "Land...land...I thought I would never see this again." Fujimaru said as if he had reunited with his most loved person in the world.

    "I-I think I can understand your feelings, Senpai." Mash was no better than him. Even as a Servant, she suffered the same consequences as her Master.

    "Who was the idiot who allowed her to sail?!" Jalter''s already pale face looked even paler as she held her stomach, trying not to vomit.

    "Umu! We got here sooner than I expected; my sailing skills never cease to amaze me. Even if that woman with the strange cross took the rudder from me near the end!" Nero proudly said with her hands on her h.i.p.s.

    Jalter had to be restrained by Jeanne and Cu Chulainn to prevent her from killing Nero. It helped that she could barely stand properly, even if the other two were in the same situation.

    They were lucky that Martha had pushed Nero out of the way and started sailing herself. Her Riding Skill was not A++ for nothing. The group only lamented the fact she didn''t start sailing sooner.

    The only one who looked fine was Lancelot, for some reason. Vlad was not much better, but he tried to keep his composure, he had an image to maintain, after all.

    Just when everyone was trying to forget another bad experience, they noticed a presence approaching their location. As a Ruler, Jeanne was the first to detect it, followed by the rest. Still, Dr. Roman decided to inform them anyway. "Be careful; I''m detecting a Servant near you."

    It wasn''t long before a purple-haired little girl made her appearance before them. "Oh? I came here to meet human heroes, but it turned out to be a group of Servants."

    "So you must be that Ancient God. Your divinity is leagues above mine, so there is no mistaking it." Although Seth never told him how that Divine Spirit looked like, it didn''t take a genius to figure her identity, especially for him, who also possessed divinity.

    "My, my. Didn''t your parents teach you manners? You shouldn''t talk like that to someone you just met." She kept a simple smile as she said that.

    "If the son of a God says so, then it must be true." Ignoring her words, Romani mused with a hand on his chin. Something that didn''t sit well with her.

    "I will admit it; you have the courage of a hero." She spoke once again with a smile a little more on the dark side this time, sending a shiver through his whole spine. "However, you are not wrong. I''m indeed a Goddess. One of the three Gorgon Sisters, Stheno."

    "But shouldn''t it be impossible for you to materialize?" Mash asked her with confusion evident on her face.

    "There is only one explanation I can come up with; her power was downsized. She must be a God only in name at this point." It was Dr. Roman, the one who answered her question.

    "You are a very observant man. However, I received the question, so I would appreciate if you didn''t answer in my stead." The number of shivers Romani was getting appeared to be increasing by the second.

    "Not all Gods can destroy the land and tear apart the most dangerous of creatures with just their hands. Some are simply not meant for such things, like my case."

    "It doesn''t matter! If you are a Goddess, then you must be powerful! Umu, I have decided! Come with me to Rome, Goddess Stheno. Together we will defeat the United Empire!" Nero, not wanting to be left out of the conversation, offered Stheno an invitation.

    "How kind of you. However, I will have to decline. As I said, my combat capabilities are on the low side, taking on a normal human is easy, but against a Servant, I won''t be able to do much." She rejected her offer instantly.

    "So we came here for nothing? What a disappointment." Romani lamented. This could have been a chance to gain a powerful ally.

    Listening to his words, Stheno''s eyes gained a dark glint as her smile also turned even darker. "You should be careful with your words. You don''t want to die in your sleep, do you?" By the looks of it, she was very self-conscious about her combat strength.

    "S-Sorry...I was ins.e.n.s.i.t.i.v.e." The Doctor apologized with sweat trickling down his cheek. ''She seems to be the vengeful type.'' He thought to himself.

    "If you want the help of a Divine Spirit who can fight, there is one somewhere on this land." Stheno''s words surprised almost all of them.

    ''This girl must have felt when Seth used his powers. Well, considering how clueless these guys are, I doubt they will link that Divine Spirit with him. Still...I don''t see that something-something clone of Amaterasu he was talking about.''

    Despite her words, they didn''t get their hopes up. They already got let down by the fact Stheno couldn''t help them against the United Empire.

    "Nevertheless, you came all the way here to find me. I must reward you for that." She gave a smile with hidden meaning only she understood.

 Chapter 54 - Reenacting A Legend

    (A/N: In case someone is confused, this is taking place simultaneously as the events on the island with Stheno.)

    It''s been a day since his talk with Stargazer. Seth was still in the Throne Room, sitting on the stairs, when a soldier barged in with hurried steps, after kneeling in front of him, he finally spoke. "Sir, we have a problem! Our scouts spotted enemy soldiers near our capital. I''m afraid it won''t be long before they get here!"

    "I know." Seth simply reply as he looked down on the soldier who was trembling a little in his kneeling position.

    "W-What should we do, Sir?" The soldier asked with a shaky voice. Just being near this man gave him a suffocating feeling.

    "Is the Army ready to march?" He answered his question with another question. Although he could deal with this himself without help, he wasn''t a charity. They were soldiers who fought for Rome, and as such, should defend it with their own hands. Of course, with the involvement of Servants, the thing changes.

    "Y-Yes, Sir! We are only awaiting orders!" The kneeling soldier gave an affirmative answer, not minding the fact that he didn''t answer his question. He was too afraid to care about such things.

    "Tell them to wait at the gates of the city. I will be giving them orders about how to proceed when I get there." After saying that, he closed his eyes and paid no more attention to the soldier in front of him.

    The messenger, taking this as a sign that his job was over, saluted Seth before parting. He needed to convey his words to the other soldiers.

    The moment he was gone, Seth opened his eyes once again. "I doubt fighting him would be a challenge. Still, I guess I will entertain myself by playing with his own rules. That pest said what I''m seeking is near, so this is going to be an appetizer until then, I guess."

    ''I better get going. I doubt that man will just wait this time.'' Thinking until there, he stood up and started walking toward the barracks.

    When the soldiers saw him, they immediately gave way without asking any questions. Seth didn''t mind this as he wasn''t here to interact with them.

    Going further ahead, he reached a chamber where the weapons were stacked in two rows near the walls for the army to pick up. However, he didn''t spare them a glance and continued walking.

    After many twists and turns, Seth arrived at an old room that looked like no one has been there in many years. The room had no windows, making it a place as dark as night. Spiderwebs adorned the corners, picturing a creepy sight for those who were faint of heart.

    Not minding all of this, Seth walked into it and only stopped when he was in front of what seemed to be a Pithos half his size. Despite there being no light, he could see a somewhat rusty spear lying inside it. That spear was as average as it could get, it was composed of a wooden shaft and a pointed tip in the form of a black arrowhead.

    "To think you would end up in this kind of place, I find it...ironic." He said while looking at the spear, the world didn''t give justice to its legend.

    At his words, the spear shook a little before moving on its own. At incredible speed, the spear pierced Seth''s c.h.e.s.t and stabbed itself on the wall behind him.

    The spear left a hole the size of a baseball ball on his c.h.e.s.t. From the said hole, burn marks started appearing and expanding to his whole body.

    "What? Did you get angry because I said your current state was ironic, so you tried to burn me?" Unfazed by this, Seth turned around and asked the spear stuck in the wall.

    This time, the spear did nothing and just remained where it was. ''And now you are giving me the cold shoulder? Honestly, sentient weapons are such a pain.''

    As if it could hear his thoughts, Seth''s spear materialized and started floating in the air with its tip pointing at his head. "Alright, alright. You don''t have to get so worked up."

    He then ignored his weapon and walked toward the spear that was still attached to the wall. With each step he took, the burn marks stopped expanding, and the wound on his c.h.e.s.t began to close.

    "Now that we greeted each other, I believe it''s time to meet our enemies." The moment he grabbed and unstuck the spear from the wall, the whole room lit in yellow light.

    "Stop with the show and continue to sleep, I don''t need you at full-power for now." In agreement with Seth, his original spear released a wave of darkness that consumed the light, returning the room to its original state.

    Having done everything he wanted to do, he made his way back out of the barracks. Along the way, he picked a simple, rounded shield that was lying around, something surprising to him since Roman soldiers used rectangular ones. Still, it helped what he was about to do, so he didn''t give it much thought.

    When he was exiting the building, he noticed the number of soldiers was less than before, so it was safe to assume the majority of them were waiting for him on the outskirts of the city.

    ...

    The moment Seth arrived at the city gates, he noticed a couple of thousand soldiers orderly standing in rows, forming multiple rectangles. Their heads were facing opposite to the walls.

    "General, we have been waiting for you!" The one who spoke was Marcus, the soldier they met previously.

    He didn''t remember becoming a General, but whatever, how he was named was of no importance to him. "Relay my orders to the soldiers, tell them to go west, and wait until the enemy army gets close. You will then flank them and retreat little by little, make sure they follow you."

    Marcus didn''t understand his intentions, so he decided to voice out his doubts. Different from the soldiers, he didn''t feel that sense of fear they always complained about between themselves. "But there is a crucial problem; I doubt their Commander would order his soldiers to chase us. Most probably, he would order his soldiers to ignore our troops and continue his advance. Considering the size of the enemy army, he can do it without worrying about being attacked on their rearguard."

    "Don''t worry about it. The enemy Commander knows someone similar to him is here; he won''t needlessly throw his troops to their deaths." Seth reassured Marcus.

    "Are you sure of this decision? Our army is still greatly outnumbered." He didn''t want to contradict him so much; he just wanted to know their General knew what he was doing.

    "Yes, you just have to do as I say and you will be fine. Now go, our foes are going to be arriving soon." The Egyptian God commanded his supposed subordinate before advancing to the frontlines to wait for his opponent.

    Marcus released a light sigh. He then went to inform the Senior Officers, who, in turn, would notify the soldiers under their command. However, when they heard the orders, they immediately opposed them, going as far as to insult Seth, cataloging him as a fool who didn''t understand a single thing.

    One of them even left his position and approached him. As he got near, he extended his hand to grab Seth''s shoulder. "Hey, who do you think you are?! If you believe we are going to follow orders from an ignorant foreigner like you then��" Before he could finish, Seth threw his shield onto the ground, turned around, and grasped the man''s neck.

    Lifting him off the ground, the black-haired man looked directly into his eyes. "Listen here, you useless piece of garbage. If I tell you to do something, you do it without complaints. Am I clear enough?" Even though he asked him, the man couldn''t answer as the grip on his neck was getting tighter.

    "I can be very patient. However, if you think nobodies like you and the other retards can come here and scream at my face, then you are gravely mistaken." The man''s face was getting bluer by the second. He entirely concentrated on breathing; listening to his words was not a luxury he could afford at the moment.

    "Try to remember that wherever you are going." The Officer started burning from his limbs. His mouth opened as if he were trying to scream, but only a sick gurgle escaped. The onlookers were terrified, seeing this sight.

    In just a few moments, the man completely burned away. Not even a second later, everyone who had been on the same boat as him, shared the same fate.

    Now, their army had, a hundred or so, fewer members. The ones who were left were trembling in fear.

    "Does any of you want to say something?" Seth asked while looking at them with unamused eyes. He didn''t raise his voice to speak, but it was heard loud and clear.

    "..." A big silence enclosed the whole legion of troops. No one dared to move even a muscle, except for the involuntary shake from the sheer terror they were feeling.

    "You only have to shut up and follow orders, and there is one more thing..." Dark clouds started forming in the sky, the sound of rumbling thunder made its way into their ears, and the world around them turned gray.

    "...If you don''t kill at least two soldiers, you can forget about returning to Rome alive." They suddenly felt like they were an insignificant existence compared to the man in front of them; his features were becoming obscured, and only a demon that relished on their suffering remained.

    Just then, a change started happening in the soldiers. Every one of them who had fear in their hearts began to hyperventilate; veins bulged like worms across their skin, and their eyes lost all signs of clarity.

    This army had become a copy of the Lord of the Red Land''s. Although it was far from the original''s level of strength, it will be enough to face ordinary soldiers, even if the enemy outnumbers them.

    "Marcus, lead these men to battle as per the plan. They won''t utter a word and just fight with all they have got until the end." Seth addressed the only sane person that remained. Marcus never feared him, so he was the only one that wasn''t under the effect of his manipulation.

    He sighed again for the nth time. He may not be affected, but that didn''t mean he wasn''t shocked. However, he still needed to do his job. "As you command, General!" With a salute of respect, he went to comply with his orders.

    ''Well, that sure put me in a bad mood. I guess I needed to vent some frustration I had acc.u.mulated with the others'' attitude.'' Seth shook his head; he should do this once in a while to keep a clear state of mind.

    With everything done, the black-haired man took advantage of the storm he created and disappeared in lightning just to reappear near atop of a large hill some kilometers away.

    Looking at the distance, he could see a considerable number of troops moving in his direction. A man who was, without a doubt, a Servant was leading them.

    ''Let''s mess with him a little.'' Seth raised his new spear in the air and spun it before slamming it onto the ground. Tremors followed, and the hill split perfectly in two.

    He then lightly descended in the space created after its separation and just waited for them to come.

    ...

    Leonidas, seeing the event happening from afar, slightly narrowed his eyes under his helmet. "Men, don''t be afraid! We will continue marching!" He gave a speech to the soldiers who started to have worried faces after witnessing that.

    After half an hour, the King and his army finally reached the hill where Seth awaited them. "So you are the one who did this? What is your intention?" After stopping his soldiers with a raise of his hand, Leonidas directly asked him.

    "It was indeed me, as for my intention, to have fun, I guess?" Seth calmly replied to him as he rested his spear against his shoulder.

    "I see. You are not going to let us pass and conquer the city, are you?" Leonidas asked again.

    "I''m afraid not. If you want Rome, you will have to come and take it." Seth responded, amus.e.m.e.nt flashing in his eyes.

 Chapter 55 - 1 VS 301

    "If you are going as far as to do this, then that means you already know my identity," Leonidas said, resting the b.u.t.t end of his spear on the ground.

    "More or less. Although the roles have changed now, but that doesn''t matter, does it? You want to conquer the city; I want to defend it. So, let''s start our fight and see who is going to be victorious, shall we?" After saying this, Seth used a stance Leonidas knew very well.

    Moving his left foot forward, he lowered his center of gravity before putting his shield diagonally in front of him, with his spear resting on top of it and pointing toward the King of Sparta.

    The Guardian of the Hot Gates narrowed his eyes at first but later burst out laughing. "Hahaha! To think the young generation will remember my old tale, I must say I''m flattered." He scratched his helmet in what seemed to be a moment of embarrassment.

    Soon, however, his demeanor became severe. "Still, do you think it only takes a similar place and being outnumbered to do it? It requires muscle and strategy!"

    Seth gave him a deadpan look. "Are you going to attack or not?"

    "I admire your bravery, and I can tell you are not just a normal human. Even so, don''t you think it''s a little too much to stop our advance by yourself?" Leonidas appreciated the courage displayed by the man in front of him, but he couldn''t help but have doubts about his chances of stopping him.

    "You are one to talk. Didn''t you ask the same question to yourself once?" Seth couldn''t help but retort to his inquiry.

    The King of Sparta laughed, hearing his response. "Hahaha! You certainly convinced me with your answer! Let''s see if you can resist for as long as I did!" With that proclamation, Leonidas did the same stance as Seth.

    "Finally. Although this will be a battle between you, your Spartans, and me, I don''t want side mobs to interrupt." Seth said, gaining a confused look from his opponent.

    Lancer eventually understood what he meant when he saw an army flaking them from a hill on their right. He momentary deviated his attention from Seth to give order to his soldiers. "Men, divide yourselves into three units and attack from the front and the sides, corner them!" With his natural leadership skills, they carried his orders without mishaps.

    After giving his instructions, he returned his attention to Seth, who didn''t seem affected by the new turn of events. "I know I said you needed strategy, but you could have planned something better!" His tone did not intend to insult; it looked more like he was joking with him.

    "They have my blessing; they will manage. More importantly, it''s time we start our fight; I don''t want to be here forever." When he said that, the Roman army started attacking like madmen, not caring about anything. They released strange sounds from their mouth as they killed soldiers with a strength that didn''t seem human.

    The King looked at this with extreme seriousness on his gaze. "That army you have there doesn''t look human; they appear to have raised from the land of Hades himself." However, he soon noticed the enemy was retreating.

    "I don''t know what you are trying to do, but if you want a fight, who am I to deny it?" Lancer pointed his spear at the sky as new soldiers began to materialize. However, different from the ones he had been leading until now, the new additions had a different set of armor and an aura of fierceness that couldn''t be replicated by the Roman troops.

    "Don''t interfere, leave this to me, and concentrate on Rome''s army!" Leonidas gave one last command to the soldiers from the United Empire before advancing towards Seth with steady steps, his Spartan brothers following behind.

    "Let''s what you have got, Leonidas of Sparta." With the Egyptian God''s words signaling the beginning of the battle, the newly materialized soldiers charged at full speed toward him.

    ''This will be a rematch between two men, so I don''t think I should use my authority. Who knows? It might end up being refreshing to fight like this.'' Seth thought to himself as he watched the incoming soldiers. He counted them as part of Leonidas, so to him, it was still a one versus one battle.

    The black-haired man stood there, waiting for the materialized being to come. He was approached by multiple soldiers at the same time, however, unfazed by this, Seth bashed his shield against some and spartan-kicked others.

    He also used his spear but didn''t strike vital parts, his instinct told him that if he let the soldiers alive, the threat level of Leonidas will go up. Now, he was not some sort of m.a.s.o.c.h.i.s.t that will let the enemy power up for no reason, that was just stupid. With that said, his instincts also told him that the Spartan King didn''t have the potential to cause life-threatening damage.

    He was relying very much on his instincts lately. They told him summoning Servants will be a pain, he didn''t listen and now he was stuck with troublesome kids. ''Well, a change in lifestyle isn''t bad now and then.'' He thought while headbutting an incoming soldier.

    Meanwhile, some soldiers who remained at the backline behind Leonidas put their shield forward and pointed their lances into the air. "Fire!" With their King''s shout, they threw them like javelins toward Seth.

    The soldiers in the frontline retreated with anticipation, leaving him to face the attack alone. He knew the shield wasn''t going to resist, it wasn''t special, after all. So, he decided to parry the lances with his spear.

    Lancer was watching his movements with rapt attention. Seth moved slowly between the projectiles and hit the ones he couldn''t evade. ''Hm...this doesn''t bode well for us. And the army is slowly moving to chase the others. However, I fear I can''t split my concentration and command them this time.'' Even with the distance between them, Leonidas could see Seth''s eyes locked onto his.

    It''s not like he didn''t understand. When a battle started, turning away from your opponent would be a sign of disrespect. ''I just hope my strategy works and we can beat their army and take another route to get to��'' Leonidas''s eyes widened for a moment before bursting out laughing once again.

    "Hahaha! Amazing, to think you went as far as to do that. I don''t know if I should say I had been outsmarted or simply say I made a mistake in my calculations."

    Seth swung his spear horizontally, creating a gust of wind that dispersed the remaining projectiles. "I don''t know what you are talking about. I told you I merely did this to have fun, you can draw your own conclusions from that."

    The King of Sparta closed his eyes as memories of his last battle filled his mind. Opening them once again, he looked at the man that gave the impression of an unsurpassable wall.

    ''I wonder...was this how Xerxes felt in that battle? Not being sure about obtaining victory even when you outnumber your enemy by a great difference.'' Leonidas chuckled lightly under his helmet, he never thought he would be in this kind of situation someday.

    "Offensive battles aren''t my forte but I will give it my all. What do you say, my brothers?!" Lancer loudly asked his soldiers as a red aura enveloped them all of sudden.

    "AHOO! AHOO! AHOO!" The Spartans raised their lances into the air consecutively to support their King''s decision.

    (A/N: I''m sorry...)

    "So you are going to fight yourself now? That''s fine for me." Seeing Leonidas taking an offensive stance, Seth couldn''t help but comment in mild surprise.

    "If my soldiers are planning to attack, I''m not going to stay behind." He started advancing together with his soldiers. "I will show it to you, the spirit of Sparta, that is!" The Guardian of the Hot Gates released another shout, motivating his warriors even more.

    ''I know that spirit very well, Leonidas. However, I wouldn''t mind seeing it again.'' Seth thought before hitting his shield with his spear numerous times. "Come! Prove to me that you are worthy of being called true warriors!"

    At his proclamation, the three-hundred Spartans, including Leonidas, began running toward him. This time, Seth became more active in his defense and started retaliating with greater force.

    A group of soldiers jumped at him, burying the black-haired man in a small mound of bodies. However, that didn''t last long, as they were thrown away without resistance, hitting their companions in the process.

    Just then, Leonidas came charging like a bull with his shield in front. Seth met his charge with his own shield, the moment they impacted, a small shockwave was released outward. Although neither of the two advanced or retreated after the clash, Seth''s shield started cracking.

    Even so, both warriors continued their attack. Arching their heads back a little, they headbutted each other with such force that it managed to break Leonidas'' helmet.

    Red hair and a smile of contentment were shown for the world to see. They retreated a few steps before kicking each other with the sole of their foot, creating another shockwave.

    Leonidas made way to his soldiers who threw their lances from a relatively close distance. However, the result was the same as before, none of them could harm him. The only difference was Seth throwing his shield onto the ground, grabbing the thrown lances and throwing them back to them.

    "I''m not done yet!" With those words, the Spartan King did a thrust with his spear, taking advantage of the fact his foe''s shield was down.

    Seth arched his torso backward before putting a hand on the ground for support and then kicked Leonidas'' arm. Using his momentum, he continued until he did a full spin and was once again back on his feet. Not yet done, he did a turning kick on him before spinning and doing the same kick again.

    The moment he was done replicating the move Berserker used against him, the Spartans attacked to give time for their King to recover from the attack.

    Seth didn''t mind and kept them company for a while. When he was in the middle of this, a shadow appeared behind him, crouched down and ready to attack. Without turning back, Seth raised his foot and bought it down just as quickly, hitting the shield that was still on the ground.

    The weapon of the assailant hit the rising shield, which couldn''t stop the attack and was finally broken into many pieces. Nevertheless, it momentarily blocked his vision. Enough for the butt-end of a spear to hit his c.h.e.s.t.

    "Augh!" The assailant, Leonidas, recoiled in pain for a second before returning to normal. "I didn''t expect it to work, but it was worth a try." He said as he rubbed his c.h.e.s.t where the impact occurred.

    "An attack using your soldiers as a distraction can''t be everything you have; show me the full potential of your Noble Phantasm." Seth jumped back from the small battlefield and returned to his original position, near the artificially created pass.

    The King of Sparta did nothing to stop him and just wrily smiled with his eyes closed. "I''m afraid that is not possible. After all, I''m not fighting to protect something this time, just to conquer. As much as I would like to object to this, these are orders from the man that summoned me."

    "If you don''t have something physical to protect, then let it be your spirit, let it be your pride, let it be that unyielding attitude you had against me!" At the same time he was saying this, he was showing Leonidas one of his memories from when he lived as a human.

    "And here I was wondering why you knew so much about that battle it looked as if you were there. Very well, for my honor as a King of Sparta, I will gladly fight against you once again." You couldn''t deny the excitement in his voice, he was going to face his greatest rival, after all.

    "Thermopylae..."

    This story will continue.

 Chapter 56 - The Battle Is Over

    The chapter is late because Zeffur and Shiki sent me disturbing pics and I couldn''t concentrate. Blame them.

    =============================

    ��Thermopylae...Enomotia!��With his shout, all three-hundred Spartans turned into streaks of light and shot toward Leonidas. When they got to his position, they transformed in round shields of energy, floating proudly ready to take on any attack.

    "Give me your best attack, I will take it head-on!" The Spartan King stood firmly with his back straight. There was no fear on his face, just resolution. The resolution to be victorious in the upcoming clash.

    "Very well then. Prepare yourself, Leonidas. Let''s see if you can withstand the full force of the ''human'' me." Changing the way he was holding his spear to a throwing hold, Seth moved his right foot backward together with his right arm.

    Tightening the grip on the rusty spear to the point his veins were becoming visible, he raised his left arm, using it as some kind of gunsight.

    ''Here we go.'' Without preamble, he threw the spear at the red-haired man, creating some sort of sonic boom in the process. The thrown weapon traveled at incredible speeds and in no time, it reached the shields that were floating in front of Leonidas.

    The moment of the collision, trees were uprooted, the ground started trembling, even going as far as to crack under the pressure of the impact, and gusts of wind caused havoc wherever they passed.

    However, the spear didn''t stop once it hit the shields. One by one, it managed to break them and keep advancing toward the Spartan King. He put more force into his Noble Phantasm to stop the momentum of the weapon that kept breaking his shields.

    Gritting his teeth, he released a long shout to encourage himself. "Yaaaah!"

    It seemed to work as, for a moment, the spear began to slow down. Sadly, it didn''t take long for it to regain its original speed and continue bypassing his defenses.

    When the spear broke the hundredth shield, it showed signs of stopping. Nevertheless, it didn''t cease to move and advanced, this time at a slower pace.

    The momentum of the spear was the same, what changed was the level of defense the shields had. It was a symbol of ''The more closely they are to get past us, the more fiercely we will hold the line.''

    The moment the two-hundredth shield was broken, the spear was barely moving. Additionally, the shaft and head were cracking with each passing second. That''s when it happened, the spear started rotating on its own, making the shields previous resistance futile.

    ''Did I push it too far? I better stop before it breaks.'' Seeing the breaking marks on the spear, Seth extended his right hand forward. A suction force came from it, opposing the one from the rotating weapon.

    The rusty spear struggled to keep going but eventually couldn''t resist and flew back to Seth. He caught it with his hand and started examining it. ''It seems I did the right thing by recalling it, this form has one use left, by the looks of it.''

    As he didn''t need it again, for now, he coated it in darkness before absorbing that same darkness into his mouth. At the moment, he looked totally defenseless.

    Leonidas was standing there, with a slightly hurried breath. Without taking into account his shield, only twenty of the original three-hundred remained.

    ''That was close, I will have to train my muscles even more next time.'' After his internal joke, the Spartan King adopted a serious look as he slammed the butt-end of his spear on the ground.

    The remaining shields became particles that were absorbed by his weapon. "This is the counterattack that embodies the spirit of my soldiers, let''s see if you can endure it!"

    This time it was Leonida''s turn to attack. He spun his spear with his right hand before tightly grabbing it. "Haaa!" With a shout, he threw his spear toward Seth.

    The weapon lighted on fire and became an arrow that flew with intensity. Seth waited for the moment the flying spear was about to impact before taking a hold of it with both hands.

    He was quickly pushed back, leaving deep trails on the ground wherever he passed. This continued for a long while until he was at the farther end of the space between the half hills. However, his attack didn''t get past it, it didn''t manage to make its way into Roman territory.

    Smoke was coming from Seth''s hands as the fire coating the spear disappeared, revealing the thrown spear.

    "I praise your effort, but it''s time I return this back to you." As if this was a game of catch and throw, like a missile, Seth released the spear from his hands as it traveled even faster than the one he had thrown previously.

    Leonidas was tired from the attack he had done, he watched with wide eyes how his weapon was traversing great distances until it finally pierced his c.h.e.s.t and continued its way without stopping.

    "Ugh...!" Blood escaped from his mouth as he slowly was falling backward. The Guardian of the Hot Gates was left tumbled on the ground as he looked at the sky.

    ''This is as far as I can go, huh...'' With his mouth covered in blood, the Spartan King smiled. ''I can''t say I didn''t find this to be kind of entertaining, though.''

    While Leonidas was trapped in his thoughts, Seth approached him with unhurried steps. He slowly turned his head to look at the man who had defeated him. "It seems...this is...your victory." He spoke with difficulty, coughing a bit at the end.

    "Yes." Seth gave a short and concise response.

    "..." There was a moment of silence before he spoke again. "I��No, he respected you. He truly wished you could have surrendered without the need to fight. But, at the same time, that spirit to never surrender was what he admired the most of you."

    "Heh...it''s too late...for that. Cough...but...it never...hurts to-" Before he could finish, he disappeared in particles of light.

    "You are right, it''s too late." He said as the wind gently swayed his hair. "For a lot of things..."

    Now that his battle with Leonidas was over, Seth decided to go look at how Marcus and his army was doing.

    The moment he got there, he found himself witnessing an expected result. Leonidas'' army was being slaughtered without mercy, no matter how much they cut down the soldiers. they continued attacking. The only way for them to successfully end their opponents'' life was by decapitating them.

    However, the Roman army also had superhuman strength, making killing them by that method a difficult task.

    The Commander in charge wanted to issue a retreat order, but before he could even do as much as to utter a word, he was shot in the head with an arrow by none other than Marcus.

    Now, without the leadership of Leonidas and his substitute, the United Empire''s army fell into disarray. This benefited greatly the Romans as they could kill more without much resistance.

    Normally, a battle of this scale, with numbers approximately in the dozens of thousands, could take days to finish. Yet, this battle only took a few hours. That was to show how much the Romans had been transformed.

    When they finished the battle, every soldier that was left returned to normal. However, the moment they did they started trembling, slowly raising their hands to grab their heads.

    They all looked like they were going to suffer a mental breakdown. It was at that moment that they all fainted with their eyes still wide open, only revealing white.

    Marcus heard footsteps behind him and quickly turned around as he aimed an arrow, but noticing it was Seth, he lowered his bow. "General, welcome back. It seems you were successful in taking down their leader. I meant to ask but, is this of your doing?"

    "You didn''t do so bad yourself, and yes, it was indeed me. I don''t want lunatics screaming at the top of their lungs." Seth responded as he touched the ground, a wave of darkness extended from his hand and enveloped every soldier on the battlefield, not distinguishing between friend or foe.

    When it retracted, the bodies of the United Empire''s soldiers were nowhere to be seen. Slowly, everyone started to wake up. Getting up, they looked at each other in confusion. "What happened? "What are we doing here?" "Why does my head hurt so much?" Similar questions were being asked between them.

    Seth had erased their memory to avoid future troubles. Marcus was confused by how they were acting but he had been seeing some weird things lately, so he just attributed it to some magical ability to not get headaches.

    When everyone recovered enough to think straight, Marcus and Seth led them back to Rome. As they didn''t travel far from the capital, it took them approximately two hours. Were it not for the strain on the soldiers'' bodies caused by his control over them, they would have gotten there sooner.

    �D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D

    Seth was resting on his room in the palace. The moment they got to Rome, Marcus ordered the confused soldiers to rest, and he went to do the same.

    ''I will have to prepare to wield that spear when it breaks, I don''t have the hobby of touching brilliant things like that, especially if they act all hostile.'' He thought with disinterest.

    Knock, knock.

    His thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door. Getting up from the bed and opening it, he was met with a kneeling soldier.

    "Sir, our scouts reported the sighting of Our Majesty''s ship. I believe she will be here soon, I was sent to inform you about it." The man reported without beating around the bush.

    "You can go, I will meet them in the Throne Room." Dismissing the soldier, he went to the Emperor''s place and waited for them to come. It''s not like he had anything to do, anyways.

    While he was there, he took out the nearly broken spear from his mouth. The weapon fell with a thud on the ground. ''Hm...what should I do with you...'' Seth tapped his cheeks repeatedly searching for a way to handle this.

    "For now, my best option is to feed you, you bloods.u.c.k.i.n.g thing." Seth tilted his head to the side, avoiding a serpentine ray of light released from the spear.

    Materializing his own, he made a cut on his palm with it. Blood dripped from the wound and fell onto the rusty weapon. Gradually, the cracks started repairing themselves until it returned to the way it was before.

    When he finished repairing the spear, he was made aware of the presence of his Servants, so he was sure that it wouldn''t be long for them to get where he was.

    True to his conjecture, the group entered the Throne Room after half an hour. However, they looked really weary, as if they have been through a thousand wars in the time he hadn''t seen them.

    For some reason, they all had relief on their faces together with that weariness, as if a nightmare had finally ended.

    The moment they entered and saw Seth, they all looked at him with different expressions on their faces, earning a rare moment of confusion in him.

    "What?"

 Chapter 57 - In Search Of The Treasure!

    ~Some days ago �� Shaped Isle~

    "You came all the way here, so of course I have to reward you. I would feel bad if I didn''t." Stheno said as if it was common sense while having a smile on her face.

    "Really?! You are a benevolent fellow! I should make you the Patron Deity of my Empire!" After the initial disappointment, Nero was overcome with joy once she heard Stheno''s words.

    Fujimaru, Mash, Jeanne, and Romani shared her enthusiasm. Vlad, Martha, Cu Chulainn, Jalter and Kiyohime, however, didn''t share the same feeling as them. They couldn''t help but have a bad premonition about this. Lancelot was standing there as usual. He didn''t care about what happened around him; he was only going to act when there is a battle happening.

    "Oh my. You are a generous one yourself. However, I will have to decline your offer once again. I fear I''m not up to that task." Nero''s mood dampened a little but she understood she was not going to achieve anything by pushing the matter further.

    "I comprehend. So, what is this reward you spoke of?" Nero asked her after giving a nod of understanding.

    "That''s a secret for you to find out." She gave her a little smile before a dark glint flashed through her eyes once more. "You have to search for it, though. After all, what heroes will you be if you didn''t earn your reward through hard work?"

    "Umu! That makes sense! But where do we start looking for that treasure?" Nero asked again, seeing as Stheno hadn''t given them a clue regarding its location.

    "I like your readiness. Very well, the treasure is hidden at the far end of a cave. You will find its entrance if you keep walking in that direction." At the end of her speech, she pointed at a certain place.

    "You won''t be coming with us?" Although she knew it was almost impossible for the Goddess to come with them, she still wanted to know.

    "I''m afraid not; you will have to do this all on your own. I''m sure you will be successful." Stheno didn''t mind all these questions; it made the ''game'' more fun.

    "That''s obvious, with the light of Rome (me) shining on us all, victory is but a trifling matter!" She was already expecting her answer, so she wasn''t that disappointed. Instead, she enthusiastically replied to her.

    "I''m glad you are so confident, Emperor Nero. I hope we are up to par." Mash said with a smile that looked a bit forced; she still couldn''t get used to Nero always so cheerful attitude, even in situations that seemed hopeless.

    "Oi, oi. Have a little trust in our abilities, little missy." Cu Chulainn indignantly complained when he heard Shielder''s words.

    "N-no, that wasn''t what I meant, I''m sorry..." Mash tried to apologize but Caster just waved his hand. "It was a joke, you don''t need to be so stiff about it."

    While they were in their little quarrel, Fujimaru approached Stheno and did a light bow. "Thank you for your help; we will be going now."

    "My, what a polite child. Don''t concern about it; you only have to do your best to get the treasure I left in that cave." She covered her mouth before her malicious smile could be revealed to them.

    With nothing more to say, the group departed to find the cave. The moment they were at a safe distance and Stheno wasn''t visible, Cu Chulainn decided to speak. "Master, we should be careful about that Goddess, I can smell the trouble coming from that woman from miles away."

    "As expected of a dog, your nose is splendid as usual." Now that Saber wasn''t here, it was Jalter''s job to make fun of Caster. Of course, wanting to relieve some stress from having to put up with Nero also took some part in it.

    "Don''t call me a dog! And you should have sensed it too, we may be very well walking toward a dead-end or even toward our deaths!" The Celtic Hero wanted to cry right now, the moment he was free of that Holy Sword user, he had to deal with someone that loved to insult him as much as she did.

    "Hmph. No matter, I will just burn whatever that little shrimp throws at me to the ground." She snorted at him. A trivial and weak Goddess wouldn''t be a match for her, wait��.

    A smile that promised trouble formed on her face. "So, worthless Saint, how does it feel to meet a real God and not an imaginary one?"

    Although her question was directed at Jeanne, it also garnered Martha''s attention. Hearing her question, the Saint of Orleans glared at her counterpart. "There is only One True God; the rest are simply fake ones." Her response didn''t have an ounce of doubt in it.

    ''I''m so enjoying this.'' Now that the attacks weren''t coming his way and indirectly affected Seth, he could finally have fun with the show.

    "That Goddess is not different than a human with some powers. She can''t be compared with the Lord''s omnipotence." Martha backed up Jeanne throwing a little comment from the side.

    "Oh, yeah. Some great omnipotence he has, I didn''t see that when I was destroying France, or when those bastards did what they did. Isn''t it easier to accept he doesn''t exist and it''s just all a figment of your imagination?" She asked with a mocking tone but also with some traces of anger on her voice. As contradictory as it may be, she blamed him for all the hate that was burning inside her.

    "Take that back!" Both Saints ordered at the same time with a raised voice. Even their patience had a limit.

    "Oh? Did I offend you, somehow? What are you going to do, cry to your Lord for help that will never come?" Far from retracting her words, she continued to incite the two girls.

    ''That''s right, kill each other. That way I will have fewer rivals, fufufu~'' Kiyohime was enjoying the show as much, if not more, as Cu Chulainn.

    "Enough! Stop with your tomfoolery at once. We have more important matters that require our attention; it''s not the time to be fighting among ourselves!" Vlad shouted with clear irritation. He didn''t mind them arguing and insulting each other, but when things had the potential to escalate to a fight, he had to intervene.

    Fujimaru shot the Lord Impaler a grateful look, he agreed with him. However, he didn''t dare to speak up.

    "You seem to be getting full of yourself lately, Vlad. You seem to have forgotten that you were no more than a beast I commanded as I pleased." The Black Saint replaced her mocking expression for a cold one as he addressed Berserker.

    The Inspiration for Dracula narrowed his eyes as he released his aura. "Don''t think for a moment I will not impale you and put your head for the world to see."

    ''You were supposed to stop them, why are you wanting to fight now?'' Cu Chulainn rolled his eyes seeing Vlad''s behavior. As things were getting out of control, he finally decided to stop this. "Save your little discussion for later. We have to find that cave and get out of here as soon as possible."

    "Caster is right. Besides, I''m more interested in this other Divine Spirit she mentioned before. I hope he or she isn''t standing with the United Empire or we will be in a lot of trouble." Dr. Roman backed up Cu Chulainn, unaware that his ''help'' only worked to complicate things more for him.

    "I bet it''s just some made-up story to make us work harder," Kiyohime said with slight annoyance. She thought the supposed Goddess only wanted her to be away from her ''true'' Master as much time as possible.

    The Sage of the Forest gave her a mental thumbs up. ''Nicely done, lass.''

    "But her story may be true, though. Considering a Divine Spirit already materialized, a new one appearing is not so far-fetched." Mash came to the not-rescue.

    ''Not nicely done, lass!'' Sometimes he wondered why he tried so hard to keep Seth''s identity a secret. But then he remembered that if these guys ever found out. They would try to distance themselves as much as possible from him. Of course, there were exceptions like Jalter, Kiyohime, Vlad, Lancelot, and Martha who didn''t seem to concern too much with such things. Anyway, it was better to be safe than sorry.

    "Umu! I found the cave, as expected of me!" Just when Caster was racking his brains to think of a way out, Nero got the group attention with her words, making him heave a sigh of relief in his mind.

    "It seems we will have to postpone this chat for a while. Make sure to proceed with caution, we don''t know what may be awaiting for us." Romani advised the group before his hologram disappeared.

    "Affirmative, Doctor." Mash nodded in agreement as the group made their way to the entrance. Standing outside, they noticed how dark the cave was. So much so that they couldn''t see more than a few meters ahead.

    To facilitate their walking, Cu Chulainn used some runes to generate fire. Kiyohime snapped her fingers and three balls of fire appeared in front of her.

    "Thanks for the light. Still, this place sure is damp and there is mold all over it." After giving a quick thanks, Fujimaru commented on the state of the cave.

    "Don''t mind it. We better hurry, the soon we find this treasure, the soon we will get out of here. I''m getting really bad vibes." Cu Chulainn was the first to advance, followed by the rest.

    "Why can''t they bury a treasure under a tree or something? It''s gross having to walk through this." Jalter complained about Stheno''s decision with disgust on her face.

    Jeanne was of the same mind as her. Although she wouldn''t voice out her agreement, she was still upset about her words earlier.

    They have been walking for ten minutes, most girls were dodging the strange slimy substance that fell from the ceiling. It was at that moment that Romani returned, not bringing with him some good news.

    "Guys...I think Caster was right, we most likely fell into a trap. I''m detecting the presence of several enemies up ahead."

    "I knew it, last time I trust in someone who smiles too much and seems extremely kind." Cu Chulainn said as he summoned his staff.

    "What?! The Goddess was not on our side?!" Nero looked extremely surprised.

    "Whatever, I will make them become ashes." Jalter unsheathed her sword and coated it in flames, ready to burn whoever appeared.

    "Not so fast. You have to be careful or the cave will collapse on us." Romani said, seeing as Jalter prepared to go all out without a care for their surroundings.

    "Tch. Fine!" She lowered the intensity of the flames, albeit begrudgingly, just in time for a clanking sound to be heard by them.

    Sending ahead the balls of fire they had created, Cu Chulainn and Kiyohime revealed the enemies they were facing, skeletons.

    "Hmph, so much drama for simple bones? We don''t even have to try." Avenger snorted while looking at the enemy group.

    To back up her words, Kiyohime waved her fan, releasing a wave of flames that engulfed the skeletons and burned them to a crisp.

    "See? The stalker can do this on her own." Just as she finished speaking, another group of skeletons appeared some meters in front of them.

    "Who are you calling stalker, you are not much better than me." Kiyohime furrowed her brows in a sign of disp.l.e.a.s.u.r.e.

    "What did you say, bitch?!" She was going to continue but the skeletons started charging at them, so she decided to take her anger out by killing them.

    However, no matter how many skeletons they killed, more kept coming. "This is starting to annoy me. Why do they spawn so much?" Vlad asked to no one in particular. The cave was not narrow by any means, but if they wanted to fight without hindering their companions, the cave''s space was not enough. Especially for melee fighters.

    "Can this be the work of the Holy Grail?" Romani pondered with a hand on his chin.

    "Stop thinking about that damn thing for a minute, Holy Grail this, Holy Grail that. You are getting annoying!" Jalter glared at Dr. Roman''s hologram while she cut a skeleton in two.

    "I''m sorry!!!" Romani quickly hid behind his chair in fear of her wrath.

    "ARRGHHH!" Meanwhile, Lancelot was howling and killing skeletons left and right. Luckily, they were advancing little by little further into the cave.

    "Left some for me!" Nero didn''t want to lose. Thinking of this as a competition, she tried to kill as many skeletons as Lancelot. Even though her sword wasn''t as powerful as before as the buff Seth gave it had already ended. It was still a weapon to fear.

    They just hoped this to be over soon. There was one thing they were sure about, though. The moment they get out of here, they will look for that Goddess and make her pay.

 Chapter 58 - Raging Monster

    My eyes are the windows that show my inner world

    In them what''s reflected is anger

    But as you might expect

    This chapter ends in a cliffhanger.

    =============================

    The group had been killing the skeletons that seemed to spawn for a while now infinitely. They didn''t know where the undead came from; the only thing they knew was that everyone was advancing little by little, and once they beat the skeletons in front of them and did so, no more of those creatures spawned behind them.

    "This horde of skeletons doesn''t look like it has an end. Doctor, are we at least making some progress?" Mash asked Romani while bashing her shield against a spear-wielding skeleton. He was the one who could detect energy signals, after all.

    "Let me check..." Dr. Roman stopped monitoring their situation to look at the enemy signals before answering. "You are, albeit not much. For every three skeletons you kill, two more appear. However, their overall number is decreasing. Keep up like that, and this will be over soon."

    "Soon? We have been killing these things for almost an hour. How much is this soon?" Cu Chulainn sarcastically asked. To avoid causing much destruction, he had been used his staff as a blunt weapon and runes with not so much power in them.

    ''Why are you asking me as if I was to blame for this?'' Romani wanted to cry out of impotence. He would ask Magi��Mari how to deal with this later.

    Others were fighting without complaining. Even if their faces told, they wanted to do just that. A great example of this was Jalter, who wanted nothing more than to blow this whole cave to pieces but refrained from doing so.

    Vlad and Kiyohime were such cases too. But different from the Black Saint, they maintained their composure. Something ironic coming considering they were Berserkers.

    Martha and Jeanne were on the same mind, creatures like these were as unholy as they could be, and so, the two Saint needed to put them to rest.

    Meanwhile, Lancelot and Nero continued their little ''game'' to decide who killed more enemies, although it was clear as day that the Emperor was getting more tired by the second.

    "Huff...huff... These creatures keep multiplying like the most annoying of rats!" The human girl complained while trying to regain her breath.

    "Shouldn''t you rest for a bit? You seem a little tired." Fujimaru suggested with a raised voice. They were not close and coupled with the sound from fighting, communication was proving to be slightly challenging.

    "Don''t worry. Something like this is nothing for an Emperor!" Nero responded with an equally raised voice. Her words and actions didn''t match, though. Lancelot had to save her from the arrow of a skeleton that was hiding among its kin. For him to do that, Fujimaru guessed that she reminded him of his King.

    Still, when all was said and done, Berserker wouldn''t help even the original King Arthur, at least not voluntarily. Maybe there was another reason he was didn''t know yet.

    ...

    Fortunately for the group, their mental torture only lasted another twenty minutes. Nevertheless, when they defeated all the undead, everyone noticed the cave wasn''t just a straight path anymore. Now, it was an open space in a circular shape, similar to an arena with natural stone pillars all around it. The ceiling seemed to have expanded to at least twice its previous size.

    "What''s all of this? Is this the end?" Nero asked with confusion as she looked around, and no one could blame her for holding that line of thinking. Looking from her position, she wasn''t able to see any kind of way to exit this place and continue walking; it was like a dead end.

    "I don''t see any treasure around here. Told ya that Goddess only wanted to screw us over." Cu Chulainn was lightly hitting his staff against his shoulder repeatedly while also looking around. He said so many times how Stheno only wanted to mess with them that even he was getting bored.

    "We should look around first; maybe she DID leave something for us here." Mash offered, albeit with a little insecurity in her voice.

    Caster sighed when he heard her words. "Really... You have a great body, but you should use your brain more. She doesn''t want to help; she has proven that time and time again."

    "That''s s.e.x.u.a.l harassment!" Mash exclaimed with a blush on her face as she took some steps back, making him laugh.

    Suddenly, something wet touched Shielder''s shoulder. "Huh?" Looking up, she didn''t see anything, but the other Servants sensed something.

    "Get out of there!" With Caster''s shout, the Servants moved quickly. Vlad grabbed Fujimaru by the collar and retreated while Jeanne did the same with Nero, albeit in a less rough manner. Mash took a moment to react but managed to follow them in their escape.

    *Boom*

    An enormous shadow descended from the ceiling and crashed into the ground, creating a loud sound and generating a dust cloud that enveloped its figure.

    Once they were at a safe distance from the thing that appeared suddenly, the group heard a monstrous roar that created a gust of wind, which in turn, dispersed the dust that hid its form.

    "W-What is that?!" Fujimaru asked with a little fear in his voice. One would think that having faced, though not directly, Wyverns, a Dragon, and even seen a gargantuan serpent, he would be immune to such things. However, this creature in front of him gave him a completely different feeling, maybe because of its sheer bizarreness.

    "A Phantasmal! Be careful, it may not be as strong as a Dragon, but it''s not something to take lightly!" Romani advised them with nervousness.

    "This abomination...a Chimera." Martha slowly said while looking at the beast. It had the body and head of a lion. The creature also has a goat''s head, rising from between its shoulder blades. The goat''s head appears to be male since it had horns and a beard. To top it off, the monster''s lion tail morphed into a green snake that released an equally green gas every time it breathed.

    It was three and a half meters high, and about 5 meters in length without considering the tail. Of all the creatures they had faced up until now, this could be said to be the most abnormal one.

    "I swear I will kill that little bitch when I get the chance," The level of annoyance she was feeling was getting higher and higher. At this point, she wished nothing more than to burn everything down.

    "There is nothing to fear! Although that creature is ugly, I have strangled a lion before. This will be easy!" Nero said, causing weird looks to come her way.

    Seemingly able to understand her, the beast released a roar higher than the previous one. Like a predator nearing his prey, the Chimera advanced with slow steps toward them.

    The Chaldeans didn''t take long to put themselves in formation, with Jeanne and Mash in front to receive the attacks. Vlad, Jalter, and Lancelot have positioned themselves to the sides, and the rest were in the backline.

    Although Nero said she was going to beat the creature ''easily,'' they knew she didn''t stand a chance against this beast, so they put her at the backline in case the Chimera got past them for some reason. Of course, the blond-haired girl protested without much success.

    The Chimera let them do whatever they wanted as it kept advancing. "We have more space now; if we work together this will not take much." Everyone agreed with Vlad''s words. Phantasmal Beast or not, they were a group of Heroic Spirits, after all.

    However, to their surprise, the monster stopped suddenly. Everyone was confused by this, but the anomalous creature didn''t pay the group any mind.

    The goat and lion head started looking around; even the serpent tail was doing the same. Both lion and goat heads sniffed a bit as if they were trying to find something.

    This weird behaviour didn''t long, though. Still, it wasn''t a situation to celebrate. The reason was, the moment the beast returned its sight to them, it looked completely furious.

    The Chimera dug its claws into the ground as veins were becoming visible throughout his whole body, starting from its legs. Every pair of eyes turned red in a clear sign of anger.

    Out of nowhere, the lion head roared, the goat head bleated, and the snake hissed. The roar was so loud, it made the cave tremble like it was about to collapse.

    The group had to cover their ears in fear their eardrums will explode. "What is happening with that stupid thing?!" Jalter asked in a loud voice, that sounded almost silent with the noises the creature was making.

    "Hell if I know!" Caster replied with disconcertment. He thought the beast was trying to break Nero''s record for the most horrible sound or something.

    Luckily for them, the Chimera didn''t produce that sound for long. "Whew, thank God it is over. I could hear that sound from all the way here. Fortunately, we have an option to mute." Romani''s words didn''t sit well with them. Was he trying to make fun of them or something?

    "If you don''t have anything useful to say, please keep it to yourself, Doctor," Mash said with furrowed brows, causing him to scratch the back of his head in embarrassment.

    "Sorry about that. Still, the records we have about the Chimera don''t mention anything about it suddenly going crazy. They may be destructive creatures but they don''t just go mad without any warning!" After apologizing, Dr. Roman offered his insight on the matter.

    "Great, now we have fo fight an enraged beast out of nowhere." The number of sarcastic remarks Avenger was making was increasing with every little situation they faced.

    "For now, you will have to be even more careful than before. I doubt it will care for any injury it may suffer at this point." Romani gave a last piece of advice and then cut communication in the meantime.

    "He is preparing to attack!" Jeanne alerted everyone; she never left her gaze from the beast for even a second. That way, she could be ready for any situation that could arise.

    True to her words, the serpent head extended itself toward the front before releasing a venom cloud. "Don''t use fire, that thing is combustible!" Cu Chulainn knew some things about the creature, so he didn''t waste time in advising the others.

    ''Reading when you are bored sure proves to be useful sometimes.'' Caster thought with a smirk on his face. To pass the time, apart from talking to ladies, he has been reading about a lot of things in case something like this ever happened.

    As they couldn''t take that head-on, nor they could just let the gaseous venom scattered around, Mash did a spin to gain momentum and then created a gust of wind with her shield. Jeanne did the same but using her flag.

    The venom cloud changed direction and now headed back to the Chimera. However, the monster simply raised one of its paws and slammed it onto the ground, dispersing it completely.

    "It wouldn''t be that easy, would it?" Mash released a self-deprecating chuckle seeing as the creature wasn''t even bothered by their attempt to damage him with his attack.

    The Chimera decided to take things to a melee range this time. Flexing its hind legs, it did a big jump toward them. When it landed back on the ground, the monster was already in front of Jeanne and Mash.

    With a powerful swipe from its paws, the Chimera struck Mash''s shield, throwing the lilac-haired girl into a wall. "Guh!" Shielder released a sound of pain, making the ''good'' Servants worry, and Fujimaru to almost have a heart attack. "Mash, are you okay?!" He worriedly asked.

    The girl wanted to answer, but couldn''t due to the beastly roar coming from the monster, who didn''t stop after hitting her.

    The lion head tried to bite Jeanne. However, she used her flag to keep its mouth open. Sadly, the lion head was not the most dangerous one. While she was busy trying to avoid being eaten, the goat head opened its mouth and prepared to release flames from it.

    "Lancelot!" Fujimaru didn''t know if his intentions would be conveyed to the Berserker Servant. He didn''t have time to properly make a command, after all. Fortunately, it seemed his intentions really got through as the Black Knight moved very fast and moved Jeanne to the side before the goat head could attack.

    The Master cleaned some sweat off his forehead, seeing as they could avoid an accident. Despite that, they couldn''t rejoice as the Chimera seemed to get even angrier when it noticed its prey got away.

    "Change of plans, we will have to attack it from all sides. That creature is strong enough to make that girl''s shield useless. Our first priority is to get rid of the snake head. Most of us use fire to attack, so it is the most troublesome one." Vlad informed them of their new plan as everyone moved, trying to surround the creature in a circle.

    Even in its maddened state, the Chimera didn''t do anything to stop them. Always keeping its sight on the same people.

 Chapter 59 - Explosion!

    Even in its enraged state, the Chimera didn''t lose his capability to think clearly. The goat head was the most clear-headed, especially considering it was the one that gave the beast its characteristical intelligence compared to any other creature.

    Its next action proved this. The monster faced the prey that got away, Jeanne, and the one that took her away from it, Lancelot. It moved like it was about to attack the two, causing said Servants to be on guard. However, contrary to their expectations, the Chimera suddenly turned around and charged at Jalter and Cu Chulainn.

    Avenger and Caster were surprised by the abrupt action of the beast. With incredible speed, the monster rammed the lion head in Cu Chulainn and the goat one in Jalter.

    Both Servants were thrown back but quickly managed to stabilize themselves in the air. After the initial surprise, the others also decided to launch their attacks. The first ones to do it were Martha and Kiyohime, who could attack from a distance without problems.

    The Berserker girl manipulated her flames very carefully to avoid the serpent head and just attack the lion one. She assumed that using the same element it breathed wouldn''t bring too many results.

    Fortunately, Martha didn''t have the same problem. As what she used was basically ''holy power,'' she didn''t have to worry about causing an explosion by igniting the venom cloud.

    Kiyohime sent small balls of blue fire toward the lion head while Martha pressed her staff against her forehead, simulating a prayer before pointing it upward. A blue beam descended from the imaginary sky and impacted on the monster''s back.

    The lion head roared in anger after being hit, but the goat head simply ignored it and opened its mouth. Not long after, its mouth released a sea of flames that tried to engulf both Caster and Avenger. However, Jalter was having none of it.

    "You are going to pay for what you did, you stupid creature." Being hit by that creature was not a pleasant thing. Cladding her sword in flames, she swung it, creating a wave of fire that managed to offset the Chimera''s attack.

    Cu Chulainn took this opportunity where he was covered by the fire moving around and slammed his hand on the floor. A white circle of runes formed all around him before giant vines sprouted from the ground and hit the beast like a whip.

    The monster did a small jump back to get away from them. However, the moment its paws touched the ground, it was met with Lancelot''s sword. The Black Knight slashed down on the creature''s side, creating a thin line of blood. By the looks of it, the defense of this monster was something extraordinary.

    Raising his sword again, Berserker prepared to strike once more. It was at that moment the serpent head moved; it launched an attack with the intention of bitting Lancelot.

    Before the venomous fangs could touch it, Mash appeared for a rematch. She jumped and bashed her shield against the body of the tail, effectively changing its trajectory.

    Berserker changed its target from the body of the monster to its tail. Nevertheless, the Chimera noticed this and took swift actions. Instead of making it a bite attack like the previous one, it released a cloud of poisonous gas.

    Mash covered her mouth and nose while Lancelot was swinging his sword left and right to disperse the venom. Still, the Chimera''s assault didn''t end just there, without minding them. It jumped high up in the air before breathing fire on the venom cloud below it.

    "Watch out!" Jeanne and Fujimaru shouted in concern. The Corrupted Knight looked up to see the incoming flames. Without a moment of hesitation, he grabbed Mash by the shoulders and threw her out harm''s way.

    *Boom*

    A massive explosion that made the cave tremble occurred. Smoke and dust blocked their vision from the ground zero. It was at that moment that the figure of Lancelot shot from it, cracks were present all over his armor.

    "Sir Lancelot!" Once Mash regained her footing after the shockwave proceeding the explosion, she saw the man that had saved her crashing on the cold floor.

    Seeing this, and unaware to her, a seed of doubt planted itself inside her heart. She was already self-conscious about her not being a proper Heroic Spirit, and now that someone saved her when she was the one supposed to protect. Many questions found a place in her mind, was she good enough? Could she stand by her Senpai''s side? Will they think she was not needed?

    Her questions were interrupted by Vlad''s voice. "Get yourself together; the enemy is not going to wait for you!"

    The Impaler has been observing the beast in hopes of finding a way to kill it with swiftness. That was when he noticed the girl with the big shield standing there with a lost gaze.

    He had to get her to be alert, or she would become just a burden. Fortunately, it seemed to have worked as the little girl snapped out of her trance.

    "R-right. I''m sorry!" Mash quickly apologized and took a stance once more. Fujimaru was worried about her, but he also understood that now was not the time.

    Looking at Martha, he made sure to raise his voice so she could hear clearly. "Martha, please, your heal!"

    The Saint of Bethany nodded her head, repeating the same motion she did when she attacked the Chimera. This time, however, particles of light emerged from her staff and moved to the bodies of the injured people close to her, mainly Jalter, Cu Chulainn, and Lancelot.

    The pain Caster and Avenger had due to the impact from earlier was disappearing little by little. Berserker''s wounds beneath the armor were also healing, albeit not by much. Strangely enough, the cracks were repairing themselves too.

    Just then, the beast landed on the ground. As it did so in the middle of the smoke and dust cloud, its figure could not be spotted.

    There was a moment of silence where they didn''t know what the creature was going to do next. However, Cu Chulainn was not going to waste an opportunity like this.

    "Ansuz!" Writing runes in the air, he sent them toward the beast''s location. If they couldn''t see it, the monster wouldn''t be able to see them either.

    Kiyohime decided to back-up Caster with her flames. As they didn''t know the exact location, they chose to attack randomly.

    Some of the sounds from their attack were accompanied by the Chimera''s pained roars and bleats, so it was safe to say that they were successful in their offense.

    Tired of the continuous onslaught, the monster used its tail like a whip, dispersing its cover. When its figure became visible, the group saw multiple scorch marks throughout its body.

    It looked pissed if the veins in its two faces were anything to go by. Its tail moved forward and released venom at Caster and Berserker once more.

    This time, however, it didn''t do more than that against them. Instead, it turned around and charged at its previous target, Jeanne.

    The Saint in question didn''t wait for it and advanced to meet its charge. Shielder, having recovered a good enough mental state to fight, accompanied her.

    Shield met lion head and flag met goat head. The impact created a loud sound that resonated with echo around the cave.

    The strength of the Chimera was not to be taken lightly. Although both girls managed to avoid getting sent flying, the creature was still pushing them back.

    "Gh!" Mash and Jeanne gnashed their teeth as a way to endure without much success.

    "Leave it to me!" Just then, Nero, who hadn''t had any influence on the fight up until now, appeared behind the Chimera. With her sword covered in flames, she slashed the tendons of its hind legs.

    As the force from its attack came from them, the Chimera couldn''t keep its charge. Everyone could hear the pained cries from the beast; they had to admit that Nero ended up being useful, after all.

    The monster wanted to get away from there, so it decided to jump away. As its hind legs were practically useless at this point, the Chimera used its front legs; the jump was weaker, though.

    Unfortunately for it, this was something a certain someone was waiting for. "I will be taking your Magical Energy, my vassal," Vlad told Fujimaru, who nodded, signaling he was okay with it.

    "Your impertinence ends here, foolish creature." Magical Energy colored red and black started gathering around him in the shape of a spiraling tornado.

    ��Kaz?kl? Bey!! ��Vlad grabbed his c.h.e.s.t like he was trying to rip it apart. ''Stakes'' shot out from it, they traveled with incredible speed and pierced the Chimera who was still in the air.

    Fujimaru felt a little light-headed but otherwise didn''t look that affected. It seemed he was learning how to give Magical Energy without wasting it needlessly.

    The creature remained pinned mid-air for a few seconds. That was until the stakes disappeared, with nothing to support its weight, the beast fell powerlessly on the ground.

    "Is it over?" Mash asked, seeing the unmoving creature. Jeanne, who was beside her, slowly nodded. "It looks that way."

    The others slowly approached the Chimera. "Umu! I just proved that this ugly creature was nothing more than a bigger lion! Who said I couldn''t do anything?" Nero asked with a smug smile on her face.

    The only answer she got was a knuckle on the head, courtesy of Martha. "Be humble."

    Nero felt wronged by that; she rubbed where she was hit as a tear threatened to fall from her eye.

    "Don''t let your guard down, the creature still breathes." Vlad reminded them, and indeed. It was almost unnoticeable, but the c.h.e.s.t from the beast was going up and down, signaling a faint breath.

    "What can it do? It barely moves!" Nero, with the same wronged expression, commented on his words.

    Ignoring Nero''s rambling of which he was used to, Fujimaru turned to Mash to ask if she was okay. That was when he noticed in the corner of his view the tail of the Chimera slowly moving.

    By reflex, Fujimaru tackled Nero, who had her back against the beast. Although he didn''t have time to think, he subconsciously chose Nero knowing full well if the tail hit a Servant, then they wouldn''t suffer much damage.

    The exact moment that happened, the tail did a sing where Nero''s head used to be. Meaning that if Fujimaru hadn''t acted, she would have been decapitated.

    The other Servants quickly acted and stabbed their respective weapons on the beast. "I congratulate you for your quick reaction, my Vassal." Vlad praised Fujimaru after thrusting his spear on the Chimera''s body.

    "T-Thanks..." The Emperor thanked him with a blush on her face, considering their position looked ambiguous at the moment.

    Fujimaru also realized this, so he also shared her embarrassment. He felt a piercing stare from behind him, so he quickly got off her.

    This awkward moment was interrupted by the Chimera, who after being impaled by stakes and stabbed by a variety of weapons, still had fight left in it due to its immense rage.

    The monster did a last struggle. It moved its tail once more, but the beast didn''t use it to attack them. Instead, the serpent head entered the goat''s mouth.

    The only thing they could see before their world turned white was the look of ''I win'' the creature gave them. Although finding expressions on a beast was hard, they couldn''t deny that was what they saw.

 Chapter 60 - Yet Another Battle...

    l"You...! I will burn your sorry a.s.s so much you won''t be able to sit down for the rest of your life!" Jalter was pointing her trembling finger at Stheno; her face was the epitome of rage.

    "Oh? Did you return safely? And that''s not how a lady should speak. But perhaps you are not one; in that case, it is fine." She paid no mind to the angry stares she was receiving, opting for making fun of Jalter instead.

    "You seriously have some explaining to do, little lady." Caster was calmer than Avenger, but you could see he wasn''t up to jokes this time.

    ��������������������������������������

    As the world was getting whiter and whiter, Jeanne quickly reacted without hesitation. The others did the same and rapidly moved toward her, although certain someone was not especially happy about this.

    "Luminosit��...Eternelle!" With her voice, a barrier of light enveloped the group just in time for the explosion to go in effect completely.

    *Boom*

    A sound that was even louder than the ones before resounded all around them. The cave trembled, showing signs of collapse.

    Meanwhile, Jeanne was tightly holding her flag that was tearing apart little by little. As the explosion grew larger in proportion, so did the damage it was causing.

    The blast lasted for a few seconds, but those seconds seemed to last an eternity. When the color returned to their world, the first thing that greeted their sight was big rocks falling onto them.

    "Save your Noble Phantasm for later. I will take it from here." Cu Chulainn knew there was a limit to how much time Jeanne could use her defense. Seth was too far away, meaning he was not supplying Magical Energy. Maybe a little, but that was about it, so she had to conserve every bit she had. Besides, they could do just fine with his Noble Phantasm, which he was about to use.

    ? "Burn up, tree giant."

    ��Wickerman!��.?

    Caster slammed his hand on the ground. A fire circle enveloped the barrier before said one disappeared. From behind them, a wooden hand shot out from the cold floor, before the rest of its body got out.

    The towering giant created a shadow above them. As the rocks from the ceiling fell, the giant stopped them. No matter how much they hit its body, it never moved from its place.

    Eventually, everything returned to normal. The rocks fell no more, and the cave also trembled no more. The wood giant moved its limbs, getting rid of the pieces of debris on top of it.

    Cu Chulainn dismissed his Noble Phantasm once he saw that it was over. When the group looked all around, they saw a disaster. It was like the aftermath of an earthquake.

    The sky was a mix between red and orange, signifying they have been in that cave for a long time. Now that they were out, there was only one thing to do. They had to seek answers from that Goddess, and, in the mind of some, kill her.

    ��������������������������������������

    "I don''t think I have any explaining to do, though. Heroes face hardsh.i.p.s, and if they overcome them, they become stronger. Isn''t that the case?" Stheno raised her eyebrows, not fazed by their stares.

    "That''s right! I knew the little puppy could make it out alive. But I see you have an annoying snake with you this time." A cheerful voice that became a little jealous at the end made their way into their ears. Fujimaru and Mash visibly paled while Kiyohime furrowed.

    "Oh, look who it is. I guess I can''t get away from roasted lizards." Kiyohime taunted with her fan covering her mouth.

    "It''s the people you stalk the ones that can''t away from you!" Elizabeth didn''t waste any time to retort.

    ''Kuro-san...save me.'' It was on this type of occasion where the other Master would come and solve the problem by doing the thing he does with his eyes. Or directly by knocking them out.

    "Shut up; you are so annoying!" Jalter was already pissed. She didn''t want to hear their bickering and damp her mood any further.

    "And what is she doing here?! Did you guys join the dark side now?!" Elizabeth screamed, aggravating them more.

    "SHUT UP, ARE YOU F.U.C.K.I.N.G DEAF?!" It was Avenger''s time to scream; she had to use the willpower she didn''t know she had to avoid attacking her.

    Hearing her shout, Elizabeth quickly hid behind another figure which they haven''t been paying attention.

    The figure just looked at them, specifically at Jalter and Jeanne, with her head tilted. "Do I know you? Cat thinks she does."

    ''No doubt about it, this must be her. Although, what''s with this strange thing?!'' Cu Chulainn first analyzed what he knew about her in folklore and stuff. But looking at the sight in front of him, he couldn''t help but feel cheated.

    "I''m sorry, but I don''t think we have met before." Jeanne shook her head in denial, much to Tamamo Cat''s confusion.

    "Why the f.u.c.k would I know a weirdo?" Jalter remarked, gaining an unamused stare from the Berserker.

    "It seems you''re in a hurry to die. Do you want to be cut into pieces and be served for dinner?" Without a change in her expression, Tamamo Cat threatened Avenger, who twitched her eyebrows in response.

    "No need to be so aggressive, I will give you a carrot later." Stheno practically bribed the strange girl who beamed at her words.

    Nodding her head in succession, she didn''t wait to reply. "This cat is going to behave, woof!"

    The Chaldeans had a look of confusion on their faces. However, Jalter couldn''t let go of this opportunity and relieve some stress. "Oh look, you found a companion." She said, focusing her gaze on Cu Chulainn.

    "Don''t call me a dog! To begin with, I''m nothing like her! Do you see me being a fox dressed as a cat that acts like a dog?!" Caster complained, mild anger apparent on his voice.

    Avenger merely gave him a smug smile, choosing not to answer. It only worked to annoy Cu Chulainn further, though.

    "Hm... Maybe I ate you before? That can be it." Out of nowhere, Tamamo Cat started talking again about the previous subject.

    "U-um...As I said��" Jeanne wanted to make her denial clear once again but was interrupted by Berserker''s continuous rambling.

    "You look similar; you might be from the same species!" Tamamo Cat said as she took a carrot from out of nowhere and started munching on it.

    "Don''t need to concern yourselves with her. You have to be somewhat special to understand what she is saying." Stheno waved her hand, signaling the group not to concern themselves with her weird behavior.

    After a brief pause, she continued. "Although she was supposed to be waiting for you if you managed to beat the Chimera. Considering she is here, it seems that didn''t happen, though." The Goddess shook her head. She didn''t seem concerned about it, nevertheless.

    "Anyway, you managed to clear my ''trial,'' so you deserve something out of it, at least," Stheno said, bringing joy to the cheerful Nero.

    "Are you going to give us that famous Goddess'' blessing?!" Nero had sparkles in her eyes at the mention of obtaining something. Her work would be rewarded, no reason to be not happy about it!

    "And who are you? You are just a human, why are you here?" Seemingly forgetting Fujimaru is also one, albeit a Master, Elizabeth asked Nero. She also forgot her fear now that she found someone to bully.

    "Don''t you have any manners?! I''m the fifth Emperor of Rome, Nero Claudius, in person! And what''s with that thing in your hands?" The blond-haired girl introduced herself with the same smugness that characterizes her.

    "You are Nero?! History is weird sometimes. Anyways! The thing in my hand is a microphone. With this, I can transmit my beautiful voice to more people!" She declared with enthusiasm.

    "Do you sing, too?!" You could see a hint of jealousy when she heard about such a miraculous treasure, but there was something more important right now.

    "Isn''t that obvious?! I''m an idol, after��Wait a minute." Elizabeth also seemed to come to a realization.

    ''A rival, huh?'' That was the thought that went through their minds as they stared at each other. However, to the luck of everyone present, Stheno cleared her throat. "I appreciate your...passion for such matter, but I don''t like being interrupted too much." The little girl told them with a smile on her face. Although, this smile was more on the dark side, making them flinch a little.

    The others didn''t need no Goddess'' blessing. The fact she prevented a world-ending catastrophe just now was enough to them.

    "As I was saying. When I materialized here, I brought Elizabeth and Tamamo Cat with me. I created the cave for Heroes to prove their worth. Although I didn''t expect Servants to appear, I guess you count as ''heroes,'' too."

    "That still doesn''t explain why your little pet suddenly went crazy and started attacking like we were its sworn enemies." Vlad went directly to the crux of the matter. He may not be someone versed in mythology, but he was sure that was not a behavior a beast would have from the get-go.

    "Oh? I don''t remember giving it such orders, though. What did it do?" Stheno looked confused for a second but decided to ask so she could have a better idea. She found intriguing that something like that could happen.

    Martha frowned a little, hearing her question. "It acted normal at first, but when it got closer, the Chimera started sniffing around and then became crazy."

    "Isn''t it because you smelled bad?" Elizabeth asked and instantly was pierced by murderous stares. "It was a joke, don''t take it seriously!" The self-proclaimed idol quickly hid behind Tamamo Cat again, who was still munching on her carrot.

    ''There are not many things that could drive a monster like a Chimera crazy right from the start. The only option could be a command, but that is impossible since I did not��'' Stheno''s thinking was cut short the moment a realization hit her.

    ''I see... It''s the most logical explanation I can think of right now, especially if I consider the place where we are. Still, it doesn''t make sense. Neither of those two should be here at this point.''

    Stheno decided to stop her musing and speak to the Chaldeans once again. "I think I know the reason why the Chimera attacked you. Sadly, even I''m not sure if my thinking is correct. Remember what I told you about another Divine Spirit being here? It may be related to that."

    "So, you know the name of that Divine Spirit?" Romani appeared to ask, although he wasn''t as hopeful as he was before considering the disappointment they had with Stheno.

    The little Goddess seemed to see through his thoughts as she gave him the classical ''shiver-inducing'' smile. She still responded, though. "I have two candidates, and no one of the two is good news. You may as well offer your lives to them."

    This brought surprised faces from some, and serious from others. "Are they that dangerous?" Dr. Roman asked once again, a little baffled.

    "You can say I have a ''personal'' relationship with them in some stories of you humans. So, I know how dangerous they can be. But there is a high chance I may be mistaken, even though I don''t like to admit it." Stheno informed them.

    ''I don''t know what is going on in that head of hers, but I don''t think she associated him with the Divine Spirit she is thinking.'' Cu Chulainn thought while looking at the ground with his hand on his chin.

    He was brought out of his thoughts when he noticed Jeanne looking at the sea with caution. Caster followed her gaze and could see something, or rather someone, in the distance.

    A figure was swimming its way across the sea with incredible speed.

    "Guys, a Servant is heading to your direction from the sea. Be prepared for battle!" It wasn''t long before Romani informed them of the incoming figure, revealing it to be a Servant.

    Seeing who it was, Nero''s grip on her weapon became tighter. "So you have come here, uncle."

    The Servant, Caligula, just smiled, seeing so many girls. "Beautiful. So beautiful. I love that beauty. My niece, Nero...so beautiful."

    "What''s it with this creep?!" Elizabeth recoiled in disgust, Tamamo Cat just laughed, and Stheno raised her eyebrows.

    As if he hadn''t heard them, he continued. "Your beauty, I want to corrupt it, trample it, and make it mine!" His smile became crazier as he said those words.

    Nero released a deep sigh. "It''s sad that you became like that, uncle. Still, I feel like it''s my job to put an end to your madness once and for all."

    Taking her words as a signal, Caligula shot toward her with a howl similar to that of a mad beast. The others did the same. Even if they weren''t fans of consecutive battles, some things had to be done.

 Chapter 61 - End Of Madness

    As the confrontation between the two parties was about to begin. Stheno, Elizabeth, and Tamamo Cat retreated to a safe distance. Stheno had already said that she didn''t have combat capabilities, and even if she had, she wouldn''t have helped.

    Fujimaru also retreated a little not to hinder the fight. Naturally, Mash followed to protect him in case an attack got through in his direction. Jeanne did the same; she wanted to fight by her companion''s side, but conserving her Magical Energy was crucial. You never know when her Noble Phantasm will be needed again.

    Jalter was the first to clash with Caligula''s fist using her flag. The impact dispersed the quiet sand beneath their feet.

    Vlad also sprinted toward the enemy, although he would prefer to work more as a commander, he understood there were situations where that could not happen. Using the raised sand as a cover, he transformed into shadows and immediately appeared behind him.

    The Berserker Servant didn''t waste any time and, with a rapid thrust, aimed directly at Caligula''s heart.

    The Emperor''s reflex kicked in at that moment, he rotated his body and used his free arm''s wrist guard to change the trajectory of the spear, creating sparks when both made contact.

    "Don''t get distracted!" Jalter quickly unsheathed her black sword and swung it in an attempt to cut him in half.

    "HAAAH!" With a mad howl, Caligula stomped the ground, making it cave in. Jalter lost her balance momentarily, making her miss her attack. However, she managed to create a small, bleeding slice on his c.h.e.s.t.

    After Avenger''s failed attempt to kill him, she retreated. Something that Vlad also did. Just then, Cu Chulainn appeared high in the air, above the Emperor.

    Joining two fingers together, he drew an imaginary line. The line transformed in multiple Runes arranged one next to another. The Runes then lit on fire and became arrows that rained down on the Berserker Servant.

    Noticing the incoming attack, Caligula crossed his arms on top of his head in an attempt to resist it. When the fire arrows hit him, they created mini-explosions all around.

    The moment the attack was over, the Emperor was revealed to be mostly unharmed. The fact that he was wet from swimming his way over helped a bit in that.

    Unfortunately for him, he was not given any rest. Kiyohime did a semi-circular motion with her fan, releasing a straight line of blue flames toward him.

    Caligula crossed his arms again, this time in front of him. The attack hit him with incredible force, pushing him back while leaving deep trails on the sand.

    The assaults on him weren''t over yet. Lancelot and Nero charged at him as soon as he finished blocking Kiyohime''s flames.

    At this, Caligula''s expression twisted into a sick grin. "Offer it up! Your body, your life, your soul. Everything! NEEEROOO!"

    Conflicting emotions coursed through her eyes for a moment, but as quickly as they came, they disappeared. Nero promised herself that she would stop her uncle''s madness. She would do this to end the suffering she felt her uncle was having.

    A red aura enveloped Caligula for a few seconds before it faded away. He didn''t waste time and also charged at them. Lancelot, being a Servant, arrived faster. Holding his black sword with two hands, he brought it down on the other Berserker.

    The man in question raised both hands and caught Lancelot''s sword. However, he underestimated his opponent''s power. The weight behind his sword was slowly pushing down him to his knees.

    "My turn!" With Nero''s shout, Lancelot retracted his sword and moved to the side just in time for her to come dashing forward with a quick stroke.

    The young girl stabbed her flaming sword on the kneeling Caligula''s shoulders. However, the Berserker Servant didn''t even flinch. Grabbing his niece''s weapon with his undamaged arm, he smiled at her. "So beautiful...your color. Like blood." His smile soon turned in an expression of extreme rage. "GIVE IT TO ME!"

    Realizing something was wrong, Nero tried to retract her sword, but Caligula''s grip was so firm she couldn''t do it.

    "You should not concentrate only on who is in front of you." Vlad''s voice was heard behind him. The Servant didn''t have time to react when his opponent''s spear pierced him. It wasn''t over as Jalter also attacked him using her flag, she stabbed Caligula''s back with just enough power to go through his back and his heart.

    "Ngh...!" The Emperor released a low grunt before his arms fell powerlessly to his sides. Seeing this, Nero and the others took out their weapons from inside his body and retreated some steps back.

    "Did we defeat him?" Nero asked with a slightly hurried breath. Although she didn''t do much, the whole situation unknowingly made her tired both mentally and physically.

    "He is not��" Before the approaching Cu Chulainn could finish speaking, a surge of Magical Energy grabbed everyone''s attention.

    The kneeling and wounded body of Caligula started healing. Proof that he used his skill Imperial Privilege A.

    Berserker''s Magical Energy kept rising as he stood up. Nero was frozen in place for a second, she tried to retreat, but Caligula darted at her, rapidly catching her in a deadly grip by the neck.

    A blue light, courtesy of Martha, came from the sky to where he stood. With the same mad grin, he jumped back, successfully avoiding the strike.

    "Let me...go..." Nero grabbed her uncle''s arm, trying to free herself to no avail. Caligula was increasing the force of his grip with each passing second.

    It was at that moment that Lancelot appeared to his side. "Hrrrgggh!" With a strange shout that demonstrated his madness, the Black Knight went for a horizontal swing.

    Without care, Caligula smashed his free fist against his sword with brute force. The weapon mentioned above, after the initial resistance, began to dig deep into his hands.

    "Argh!!" With a shout of his own, Caligula used his niece, who was still struggling to breathe, as some sort of weapon. He smashed her against the other Berserker, releasing her in the process.

    However, that caused the young Emperor to become unconscious. The blonde girl fell on the ground like some discarded object. "Nero!" Fujimaru, Jeanne, and Mash yelled in unison, worried by the state of the girl.

    Seeing her state, Martha didn''t hesitate to use her skill to heal her and the other wounded members. Sadly for her, Caligula wasn''t going to let that happen.

    It took time, it certainly did, but what he was waiting for happened. The previously red sky became black. Where once the sun triumphed, now the moon did. Presently, he met the necessary conditions.

    Looking up, Berserker smiled in madness, something that slightly unnerved the rest.

    ? "Goddess... Oh, I can see the Goddess..."

    ��Flucticulus Diana!�� ?

    Without any previous warning, Caligula used his Noble Phantasm. Immediately, Martha felt like using her skill or even her own Noble Phantasm, for the matter was not possible anymore. Not only that, she felt like her sanity was wavering, similar to what happened in Orleans.

    The Saint wasn''t the only one in this particular situation, though. Everyone in the area, except for the girl trio who were far away at this point, was facing the same consequences.

    Some Servants had it better. Mainly Berserkers, as their salinity was not the highest, to begin with. Of course, there were others, like a certain girl, who seemed to be a Berserker, despite not being one.

    The one who had it most difficult, however, was Fujimaru. He was just an average human and being in the range of Caligula''s Noble Phantasm; he was suffering.

    The Master, who was running toward Nero together with the other two girls, fell to his knees, grabbing his head.

    "Senpai, are you okay?!" Mash was suffering the same effects, but being a Demi-Servant had its perks. The lilac-haired girl kneeled beside him, dropping her shield and holding him between her arms.

    Jeanne also stopped but for a different reason. Caligula was sprinting toward them with his right hand clenched into a fist. She didn''t take long to come to a decision; she moved in front of the two and readied her flag to meet the incoming charge.

    It seemed that all that was for naught as before he got close to them, Martha appeared beside him and hit his side using her staff. The Saint had a not so friendly expression on her face, making Jeanne wonder if she had become a Berserker or something.

    Caligula staggered a little while he held his side with a twisted face. It wasn''t over yet as his back was hit by a stream of flames, causing him to take some steps forward. When he turned around, he saw Kiyohime holding her fan as small, orange sparks danced wildly around her.

    His ''suffering'' wasn''t over yet, though. Beneath his feet, a magic circle formed itself, and from it, a torrent of flames shot upward, engulfing him.

    "ARGHHHH!!!" His scream was heard by everyone present, a cry that contained both pain and rage.

    The culprit, Cu Chulainn, was pointing his staff at him. He was breathing faster than usual, and his red eyes shined, looking more feral than usual. It wasn''t easy to fight that mental attack from Caligula''s Noble Phantasm.

    To the Emperor''s bad luck, the finishing blow came sooner than he expected. Avenger was at her boiling point; she had endured for too long, so now it was the time to vent.

    She may not be able to use her Noble Phantasm, but that didn''t mean she was useless. With her sword in one hand and her flag in another, Jalter charged at him with all the speed she could muster.

    Caligula, who was still roaring in anguish, didn''t notice her figure getting closer. That is what marked his downfall. Before he could register what was happening, his head separated from his body.

    The whole place turned silent. The only thing that people present could hear was the sound of Caligula''s head hitting the ground, and after that, his headless body, falling with a thud.

    Just then, Nero regained his conscience. The first thing she saw was the head of her uncle, looking in her direction with a smile. This smile, however, was a pure one. It wasn''t like the ones before, filled with madness.

    The little girl opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. Emperor or not, seeing the head of a familiar lying around was not something easy to take in. It was a traumatic experience, to say the least.

    Not soon after, Caligula''s body started to fade, signaling their battle was over. With his disappearance, every Servant present could use their skills and Noble Phantasms once again. Also, the maddening aura was not in effect anymore.

    Wasting no time, Martha used her skill Miracle D to heal the wounds most of them suffered. It was not much, but it was better than nothing.

    Fujimaru, who was having some troubles thanks to Flucticulus Diana, slowly got himself together. He was panting heavily and had sweat all over his face.

    "Are you okay, Fujimaru?" Once he knew it was all over, Romani''s hologram appeared and asked the Master about his condition.

    "Yes... yes, I''m fine." He answered after a moment. After a few seconds, he was able to stand up on his own.

    "Good job, now there is one less Emperor." Dr. Roman congratulated them. Although his voice got lower at the end, as he noticed Nero was looking down with saddened eyes.

    The group took a moment to rest, having nothing more to do. Thinking a little, they probably would have to return to Rome after this. After all, the Goddess was a disappointment, and they already defeated another Emperor.

 Chapter 62 - The Return

    I will release another chapter as part of a mass release, wednesday too, maybe 3.

    =============================

    "Let''s return to Rome, there is nothing more to do here," Romani said after everyone had a good rest. They couldn''t be here forever, after all.

    "Oh? What''s the hurry?" Stheno asked as she approached the group together with the other two. It went without saying but, they didn''t greet her with kind eyes.

    "We already wasted a lot of time here. Although we got something out of it, in the end." Nero said with firmness in her voice. It was slow, but she was getting used to the shock from seeing her uncle''s death.

    "Now, now. Don''t need to be like that. I will give you a true reward this time, consider it as my gratitude for defeating that Servant. Who knows what he may have done to us? I was scared." Contrary to her words, she didn''t look bothered or worried at all.

    "What generosity! What do we have to do now? Defeat another f.u.c.k.i.n.g crazy monster for your sick amus.e.m.e.nt?" Jalter sarcastically asked, much to Stheno''s annoyance, even if her face didn''t reflect it.

    "A bold one, aren''t you? Well, I guess I don''t mind it that much. Anyway, this time I will give you something that is of interest to you. The location of the United Empire''s capital." The Goddess''s words brought doubt to the group. It was undoubtedly tempting, but as things stood, trusting her would prove to be complicated.

    "What''s with those faces? I''m telling the truth, you know?" Stheno feigned a hurtful expression, which of course, no one bought.

    "..."

    Seeing as they didn''t respond, she gave up and told them about the location of the United Empire. They weren''t very convinced, but at least it was something.

    The group quickly got on their ship after hearing the information. The three Servants accompanied them to the place where they anchored it and sent them off.

    Looking at the moving ship in the distance, Stheno turned to Elizabeth. "I didn''t know you have met them before."

    "It was by chance. I bet they were delighted to see me again. They couldn''t put it into words, though." The red-haired girl said while puffing her cheeks.

    "How about you, cat? You seemed to know some of them too." Ignoring her wishful thinking, Stheno spoke to Tamamo Cat this time.

    "Ahahaha. I forgot!" She simply laughed and grabbed more food from who knows where and began eating again.

    Stheno simply shook her head. If she didn''t want to tell, then so be it. "Oh my, I forgot to warn them about the strong winds coming their way. Well, it was amusing to see them struggle so much while they were here, so I guess it''s not of much importance."

    "What are you talking about?" Elizabeth asked, a little perplexed.

    "Some fun things, no need to concern yourself about it." Stheno merely smiled, although that smile only promised trouble.

    Elizabeth couldn''t help but get a bad feeling about this. Hopefully, her puppy would be alright, though...

    �D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D

    After hours of sailing, the group finally arrived on land near the afternoon of the next day. Fortunately for them, Martha was the one sailing the ship the whole trip.

    The moment they got off the ship, most of them sighed in relief. This trip had brought the Chaldeans many unpleasant surprises.

    "Let''s go to see how my city is! I hope that guy had protected my city well while I wasn''t here!" Nero said while pointing her sword forward, signaling the rest to march ahead.

    The Chaldeans ignored her but still walked toward the capital of the Roman Empire."Hey! Don''t leave me behind!" Nero shouted but was ignored by them a second time.

    Jeanne and Jalter could feel their connection to their Master getting more stable, and in consequence, the input of Magical Energy they were receiving was returning to the usual amount.

    It wasn''t long before they managed to get to Rome. They could see everything was normal, except for the quiet atmosphere, so they directly went to Nero''s palace.

    When they entered the Throne Room, however, they were greeted by a...special sight. Seth was sitting on the stairs looking at them, but that was not the strange thing. It was the hole the size of a car behind him.

    Nero opened and closed her mouth multiple times, wanting to say something, but no words came out. Confusion made its way to Seth''s face, so he asked a simple question. "What?"

    The Emperor did an exaggerated gasp, similar to an actress in a Spanish soap opera, and then fainted. Luckily, Fujimaru caught her before she hit the ground.

    Not knowing what to say, they simply pointed behind him, prompting Seth to look in that direction. "Oh, that? A Demonic Beast attacked a while ago, don''t mind it. Anyways, how did it go with that supposed Ancient God?"

    His question brought different reactions from the people present, but it was mostly ''don''t even ask about it'' ones.

    Understanding they must have gone through a lot, he told them they could go to rest if they so d.e.s.i.r.ed. They gladly complied, there wanted nothing more than to rest after everything that happened. Mash carried Nero to her room, seeing as she was not waking up.

    The only one who stayed behind was Caster; he waited for everyone to go before stretching his arms. "Man, that was some shit we had to face."

    Seth raised an eyebrow at his comment. "Was it that bad?" Last time he checked, there was nothing dangerous there. Not to mention that Ancient God couldn''t hurt a fly.

    Cu Chulainn then proceeded to explain everything they went through, from meeting Stheno, to fight that Chimera in the cave, and then to fight Caligula.

    "She seems to have enjoyed herself at your expenses," Seth said with some amus.e.m.e.nt in his voice. He didn''t expect someone like that to cause much trouble.

    Caster scratched the back of his head in frustration. "That little girl is a demon. Had I know we would have to deal with someone like her, I wouldn''t have gone."

    "You got something out of it, I presume?" Seth asked. He wanted to know if the troubles they faced were worth something.

    "We got the location where the enemy is. However, considering the personality of that little demon, I don''t doubt it may just be another cave with a monster that gets crazy all of a sudden." Caster replied.

    "What do you mean by that?" They just fought a Chimera; those monsters were not going to sit with you and drink tea while looking at the sunset.

    "Don''t ask me. It started sniffing around out of nowhere and then went berserk, no matter how much we hit it, it always came back for more��Wait a minute. It has to do with you, hasn''t it?" Now that he was in front of Seth, realization dawned upon him.

    "Easy there. Why everything bad that happens to you has to be my fault?" It seemed to him that his trip to that place made him lose his manners.

    "Don''t give me that crap, old man! I know perfectly well how things work with you!" Caster wasted no time in retorting.

    "To your information, I have a little more than two hundred thousand years. That would put me in my mid-twenties, I''m not that old. Setting that aside, I was here all the time. What do you think I could have done?" Seth asked while resting his head on his hand.

    ''In what world two hundred thousand years is a small number, you dumbass?!'' Keeping his thoughts to himself, Caster released a sigh. "You are right, whatever, maybe I overthought about it."

    "Although... It may indeed be my fault, albeit indirectly. That Chimera probably smelled the faint traces of my Mana in Jeanne and Jalter, and that''s why it went berserk." Seth merely shrugged his shoulders as he saw Cu Chulainn''s expression go from ''It doesn''t matter'' to ''You bastard'' in less than a second.

    "Then why the hell you said it wasn''t your fault?!" Why did he have to suffer like this?! He should be relaxing in his room after an arduous journey! Was this his Rank D''s fault?!

    "In my defense, I never denied it. Besides, you always tell me I don''t have a sense of humor. What about now, huh?" He lightly smirked. It only worked to upset Cu Chulainn even more, though.

    "Why can''t you choose a better moment?!" Caster practically screamed in frustration. Still, he knew he wasn''t going anywhere like this, so he took a deep breath to calm down.

    "Forget it. What I want to know is, why it went crazy when it smelled your Mana?" It was the only thing he wanted to know right now.

    Seth released a sigh of his own. "Chimeras are intelligent beasts. The union between Typhon and Echidna created them. They were horrendous monsters, Typhon, in particular, was a sight to behold. He fought against the Gods in an attempt to overthrow them."

    "But what does it have to do with you?" The Sage of the Forest asked in confusion.

    "I was getting to it. In legends, many of those two''s offsprings were killed by heroes and used as trophies. The original Chimera suffered the same fate. The hatred they have against humans is more significant than you think. Now, what do you think they will feel if the Mana of their ''parents'' is inside a ''human''?"

    "...They will think that said human killed their parents." Caster''s eyes widened. "But you are not their parent; It doesn''t make sense!"

    "There were times when people associated me with Typhon. This world seems to take it literally, so it somewhat recognizes me like him, although to a lesser extent. The beliefs of the people are what shape most of the powers of this word. Messed up, I know, but it is what it is."

    Cu Chulainn released a long sigh. "Even so, just because people thought you were related to another God, we had to face an angry monster that almost wiped us out by self-destructing? Give me a rest already."

    Seth gave him a wry smile. "Trust me, I''m not thrilled about it, either. I don''t like borrowing someone else''s power to do things, but I guess it can come in handy from time to time."

    "I guess you are right." Caster said while turning to face one of the windows in the room.

    "..." A silence ensued. Neither of the two said a word, not because they had run out of topics to talk, but because the next one would be s.e.n.s.i.t.i.v.e.

    "...Aren''t you going to ask about her?" When he felt the silence was enough, Cu Chulainn decided to ask in a severe tone quite unbecoming of him.

    With a self-deprecating chuckle, he answered. "I don''t know. I do not...know."

    As if he had received a yes for an answer, Caster continued. "I have to say; she looked nothing like I expected."

    "..." Seth just remained silent.

    "She was a Berserker, Tamamo Cat was the name she used. Like every Berserker, she had her quirks. She acted like a dog and dressed like a cat while supposedly being a fox."

    "..." Again, Seth remained silent.

    "She spoke in a way that practically no one could understand. She also said that she somehow knew about Jeanne and Jalter. Probably linking them to you, but I doubt it."

    "I see..." For the first time in a while, he spoke again. "The real one must be trying to search for me through her. Although the link is not strong enough for her to do that."

    Cu Chulainn took his sight from the window and looked at him directly in the eye. "Aren''t you worried about what she will do to you if she finds you?"

    It was Seth''s turn to look at the window, to look at the image of the sun disappearing in the horizon. "...No. In the worst-case scenario, she will torture me for some hundred years. The best, she will just kidnap me."

    Caster couldn''t help but chuckle, breaking the tense atmosphere. Although neither of the two considered this to be a bad thing. "She seems to be the vengeful type. You sure pick the most troublesome women."

    Getting up, he put his hands on his pockets as he closed his eyes for a moment. "Amaterasu was the only one I ''picked.'' And I don''t regret that, even now."

    Cu Chulainn whistled at his words. "I didn''t take you for the sentimental type." He said in a joking tone.

    "Leave me alone. I have moments when I''m not my usual self." Seth simply laughed softly. "Come on, go and get some rest. Things are going to get agitated tomorrow."

    "What do you mean by that?" Caster asked in puzzlement.

    "Tomorrow is the day we finally launch an offensive on the United Empire."

 Chapter 63 - Getting Closer To The Capital

    It was a new day. Saying everyone looked refreshed after a good night of sleep would be an understatement.

    Everyone was in the Throne Room for a meeting. Of course, in reality, they just were there ''listening'' to Nero ramble on and on. The Emperor looked way better than yesterday and more, considering that the wall had been mysteriously repaired by someone when she woke up this morning.

    "Anyway, what should we do about the information the Goddess gave us? I don''t want to lead my men to a place where we aren''t sure we will find something." Nero, in her Emperor mode, asked the rest.

    "Where did she tell you the location of the United Empire was?" Seth asked her. The Egyptian God already knew the correct place, but he wanted to make sure the others did.

    "She said it was to the far west from my capital, in Hispania." Nero didn''t waste time answering, hoping he could help them.

    ''It seems the girl didn''t lie to them.'' He mused before speaking. "The information is correct. The United Empire''s capital is in that direction. That''s the place where I feel the presence of a strong Servant, at least."

    "How strong that Servant is?" Romani''s hologram appeared for the sole reason of asking that question. Information, as little as it may be, could help them plan their final fight and raise the chances of survival.

    However, the others had a different thought from the Doctor. ''He...he knew?!'' Did that mean they went through all that trouble for nothing?!

    The atmosphere between the Servants became gloomy in an instant. It was hard to digest, mainly since they played according to that Goddess'' whims for most of their stay on that island.

    Ignoring them, Seth answered Romani''s question. "He is alright, he can beat everyone here without problems, I would say." His words shocked some and offended others.

    "Beating eight Servants, including you, is not something I would consider alright, though..." Dr. Roman couldn''t understand his thought process.

    "I didn''t include myself; I can beat him if I put some effort into it. But I''m not going to fight him, you all will." Seth said, bringing confusion to everyone present.

    "Why won''t you fight, Master? it''s an important battle!" Jeanne asked, not understanding his motives at all.

    "Who says I will not be fighting? I''m just going to fight another opponent on par or even stronger than that Servant." Seth thought they could make some sort of circus with all the different expressions they had.

    "Someone stronger...?" Mash asked in confusion before she remembered something Stheno had told them while they were on the island. "Are you going to fight a Divine Spirit?!" Shielder''s loud voice reverberated across the room, surprising everyone.

    ''Oh, crap. I forgot to tell Seth about that thing yesterday.'' Realizing his mistake, which wasn''t one, Caster turned his head to the side, wanting to make his presence unknown.

    Seth lightly tilted his head. "Divine Spirit? What are you talking about?" He didn''t notice another God apart from the girl on the island, and he was sure that they didn''t know about him. Otherwise, Mash wouldn''t ask him if he was going to fight himself, that would be stupid.

    "Stheno said there was another Divine Spirit on this land and that he was combat-oriented, different from her, and that he was extremely dangerous." The lilac-haired girl told Seth everything the Goddess had told them before.

    ''I wouldn''t call myself extremely dangerous...maybe.'' "Don''t worry about that. I''m sure it''s just something she said to mess with you, what I''m going to fight is far from being considered even a Demi-God." Seth reassured her with a wave of his hand.

    "With all that said, are you guys going to accompany me to their capital?" Nero directed her gaze to everyone present, they have been through a lot of battles together, but she wanted to be sure she had their support in this final battle.

    "Don''t worry, we have come this far; we will help you to the end!" Mash said with a smile, although some Servants would appreciate if their opinion had a say in the matter.

    Jalter looked at her Master seeking confirmation; she gave a damn about what these pansies decided. If he didn''t want to go with them, she would gladly accept it.

    Understanding what she was thinking, Seth gave her a small nod. He wasn''t lying when he said the enemy Servant could easily beat them. That said, fighting together would make their chances of victory go up. Not to mention Jalter was the strongest along with Vlad in the group, taking her out would be putting them in a tight spot.

    "Umu! I knew I could count on you!" Nero was pleased by their response. Her happy moment was interrupted by Seth, though.

    "Some Servants are closing in on our location." The atmosphere immediately became tense. The black-haired God walked with slow steps to the window to get a better picture.

    "Hm...They are some kilometers away, a boy...or a girl? In white and a man in blue armor. They are together with soldiers belonging to you, so I guess they are allies." He informed them once he could see the place better.

    "Yes, they are my other Generals! Alright! We have to help them combat the enemy." Nero loudly declared.

    "Forget it; we don''t have time. I will be the one going." Seth said. That surprised the Emperor as he mostly just sat there doing nothing. If he were to know what she was thinking, she would be in a lot of trouble.

    Dark clouds began to gather on the sky out of nowhere as if something terrible was about to occur. Opening the window, Seth proceeded to jump.

    The rumbling of thunder traveled far and wide. A lightning bolt descended from the sky and impacted on Seth''s falling body, making him disappear. When that happened, however, lightning could be seen moving like a serpent through the clouds and in the Generals'' direction.

    Once the lightning was above the enemy, it stopped. "I don''t have all the time in the world, so might as well." Floating in the dark clouds, Seth materialized his spear and raised it.

    Like a magnet, the spear started attracting the surrounding lightning on the tip, forming a ball. The clouds spun around Seth as if he was their center of gravity.

    As always, the soldiers got scared, thinking this was a bad omen or some sort of divine punishment. The two Servants, however, attributed this to another Servant.

    No matter which one was correct, the outcome wouldn''t change. And that was, "Total annihilation," Seth spoke, bringing his spear down. With no suspense, the strike was released upon the enemy army.

    Like a laser, the attack moved across the enemy lines. Wherever it passed, multiple explosions in succession would follow soon after.

    Despite only affecting the soldiers from the United Empire, Roman soldiers had to shield themselves from the aftermath with everything they got, or they would be blown away by just the wind alone.

    The laser-like attack only lasted for ten seconds at most, but what the destruction it caused was not small at all. There were no signs of the opposing army anymore, dozens thousand people obliterated in an instant, leaving only scorched earth.

    "What power, I didn''t want to leave behind these soldiers and escape on our own, but now it seems it won''t be a problem. Still, it sends shivers down my spine." One of the Servants commented, seeing the ''show'' that happened before them.

    "�����������D�D�D!" The other Servant just released a peculiar sound from his mouth. Strangely enough, it seemed the other one had understood.

    "You are right. We need to meet with Emperor Nero and plan what we are going to do next." The taller Servant, presumably a Berserker, nodded in response.

    Not long after, the black clouds started to disperse, giving way for the sun to shine on the surface again.

    Seth reappeared in the room as if nothing had happened.

    "Honestly. You sure are something." Having seen everything from the Throne Room, those were the only words Caster could get out of his mouth after the display.

    The two Saints were not so happy about the massacre, though. They believed there were ways to do certain things. A scolding was in order!

    Nero, for her part, had stars on her eyes. She was going around Seth while waving her arms in excitement. "So you were this powerful?! Why didn''t you tell me?! Now our victory is assured. Umu, this cause for celebration!" The little girl gave him multiple slaps on the back while joyfully laughing.

    Safe to say, her end was not a pretty one.

    �D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D

    It''s been three days since Seth helped the two Servants, who introduced themselves as Jing Ke and Lu Bu. As soon as the two new allies reported to Nero, who had a bump on her head, they received new orders: To attack the United Empire''s capital!

    These orders weren''t just for the two of them, but most of the soldiers at her disposal, including the one stationed in other places, like Boudica and Spartacus. Of course, some would stay behind to defend the capital. Now that she witnessed Seth''s power, she believed they didn''t have to use the whole army. If he weren''t a bully, then it would be perfect, though...

    So, here they were, in a meeting with every Servant plus Nero and Fujimaru. Naturally, Spartacus was also there. The strange thing was he didn''t become crazy and attacked Seth like before. Not only that, but it also looked like the Berserker Servant didn''t notice him at all.

    "We are nearing the end of this war against the pretenders of my Empire. We clashed multiple times against them in these last three days, and so far, we have been victorious. Now it''s time to advance and destroy them once and for all!" Nero spoke confidently to everyone present.

    "I appreciate your enthusiasm, young Emperor. Still, the fact that we only encountered small and independent enemy groups along the way is not a good signal. Considering they have a strong Servant capable of fighting us all, I don''t think we can celebrate yet." Vlad said in a level-headed tone.

    "He is right; something about this just doesn''t sit well with me. We better be careful, especially you since you are a normal human, little girl." Cu Chulainn agreed with Berserker, he may be a Caster, but that didn''t mean he lost his instincts gained through uncountable battles.

    "I''m not a little girl! And I know how to take care of myself!" Nero pouted, feeling wronged by their words.

    Boudica sighed, seeing her behavior. "They are just worried about your safety, don''t need to act like that. They aren''t wrong, either. The enemy''s movements are too suspicious."

    "Be that is it may, we still have to attack their capital, and we can''t delay it any longer." Seth, surprisingly, backed Nero up.

    "Umu! The Emperor abuser is right! With his power, we have nothing to fear��Ouch!" The blond girl held her head in pain.

    The others simply averted their eyes, trying to act as if they hadn''t seen anything. "Stop with your nonsense and order your troops to move, we don''t have all day," Seth ordered the girl and then exited the tent.

    They had the initiative; losing it was not an option.

    �D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D

    In the United Empire''s capital, Lev Lainur was about to summon another Servant to fight against the Chaldeans.

    His face didn''t denote happiness. He hoped Caligula managed to do something before dying, but he didn''t. Honestly, a bunch of stupids good for nothing.

    Meanwhile, the other Servant present in the room simply lamented the loss of another Roman Emperor. He sometimes wondered if all of this was worth it.

    "Let''s see if this time someone useful appears. Failing many times in a row is certainly annoying." Lev said, and as always, the other Servant remained silent.

    Like the time when he summoned Leonidas, the circle lit on the floor lit up in white light. The Servant that got summoned was...a boy. It was a thin, red-haired boy with black leather armor, a red runic that went from his waist to just above his ankles. He was also wielding a black and white short sword.

    "Servant Rider! I guess? So, what''s my mission, Master?" The boy asked Lev whose eyebrows were twitching uncontrollably at this point.

    "Go and crush the enemy army, make sure to not leave anyone alive, especially Nero Claudius." Whatever, he will do with what he had.

    "You can use my soldiers, but use them wisely." The other Servant said to the little boy.

    "So I have to start a war, right? I guess it''s time to conquer!"

 Chapter 64 - Mana Transfer

    ( ?�� ?? ?��)

    =============================

    It was late at night, and everyone was in their tents. Being Generals, the Servants had the best the Roman Empire could offer.

    Everyone had their own, so there wasn''t a necessity to share. Seth was alone in his bed, thinking about the events that happened not so long ago.

    �D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D

    Jeanne approached Seth, who was sitting on top of a rock, watching the battles in the distance between the two armies.

    "Um...Master, can I speak with you for a bit?" She asked with a little nervousness on her face, making him wondering what she could want.

    "Alright, go ahead. What do you need?" Seth looked at his Servant, motioning her to speak.

    "A-Actually, it''s something a bit important, so I want to talk about it in a more private place." The Saint was getting more nervous with each passing second; anyone could see that, even the black-haired man in front of her.

    He got a bad feeling about this, but in the end, he just sighed and asked, "Where do you want to go, then?"

    Summoning all the courage she didn''t know she had, Ruler spoke, "Would it be okay if we discussed it in my personal tent?"

    "...Okay." After a moment of silence, he agreed to it. Jeanne''s face visibly relaxed upon hearing him accept her idea.

    Seth got down from the rock he was sitting and followed Ruler to her tent. The walk was awkwardly quiet, at least for Jeanne. She was nervous as hell; God forgave her.

    As they were not far from the camp, they eventually got to her tent in a few minutes. Jeanne entered first and Seth soon after.

    "..." The Egyptian God waited for the Saint to speak.

    Jeanne put both hands on her c.h.e.s.t as if praying to God for courage. Taking a deep breath, she got closer to Seth and put her hands on his shoulders.

    The black-haired man raised his eyebrows at her actions. However, she paid it no mind. "Master! This is important! So please hear me out!" Jeanne spoke in fragmented sentences, with a loud voice not befitting of her.

    "Okay?" It was all he could say to her not so...calm action.

    "To tell you the truth. From the moment I saw what you experienced as a child, I started wanting to be together with you more, as a way to take care of you as a sister would for everything that you went through. I wanted to see the same happy child I saw then, even I don''t know why that wish started, but it became so rooted in me that I simply couldn''t let go of it." Her eyes were serious as she said all of this.

    "...Okay?"

    Taking another deep breath, she continued. "Trying to accomplish that wish, I began to notice you more. I began to notice how, despite your cold exterior, you always helped us when we needed it the most. Even when I was insecure about Alter''s actions, thinking they were my own, you were there for me. Even when I was weak and helpless, you never abandoned me and stayed by my side. Even when all France thought I was an Evil Witch, you stayed with me."

    "...Okay...?"

    Ignoring his ''What are you on about?'' face, she once again continued. "Before I noticed, I wanted to be better, not because it was my duty as a Heroic Spirit trying to defend humanity, but because I didn''t want to be a burden to you. I didn''t want you to be my shield. I wanted us to face our enemies together, side by side. I know it already, I know that sometimes I may come off as someone pushy, trying to impose what I believe it''s right onto others, especially you."

    Finally, with her last bit of courage, she said the last part of what she wanted to say. "However, despite all my faults. Despite everything that may be wrong with me, or even with you. Despite all that...I love you. I want to be together by your side, no matter what. Even if you tell me you don''t love me, I will still accept that. I just want to be together with you!" Jeanne then gripped his shoulders tightly and, taking advantage of the moment, planted a kiss on his mouth.

    Seth watched as the Saint did her first kiss with her eyes closed, quite clumsily he must say, with mixed feelings. On the one hand, he wanted to sort things out with Amaterasu first, and on the other, he didn''t know how to respond to her feelings. She may be already dead, but the age gap was extremely vast. So much so that he has been seeing her as nothing more than a toddler, or even less, all this time.

    ''Ahh...What the hell. I will deal with what happens later.'' Doing a mental sigh, he hugged Jeanne and reciprocated her kiss. Ruler was so surprised she opened her eyes wide but soon happily closed her eyes again as she hugged his neck.

    Seth began to take off Jeanne''s armor, all while maintaining their fiery kiss that at this point had evolved into a battle between tongues, seeking comfort in one another.

    Jeanne wrapped her legs around his waist as Seth took her to the bed. He laid her down on the blanket. Jeanne felt the soft, groping, helplessly desirous hand touching her body, feeling for her face. The hand stroked her face softly, softly, with infinite soothing and assurance, and at last, there was the soft touch of a kiss on her cheek.

    With a quiver of exquisite p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e he touched the warm soft body and touched her navel for a moment in a kiss. Seth also got rid of his clothes, so Jeanne could feel the touch of his skin. The heat it was producing, and feel she did. She started running her hand through all his body, not wanting to leave anything untouched.

    Seth bit her n.i.p.p.l.es that stood proud and erect with a gentleness unbecoming of him, producing soft m.o.a.ns from the woman under him.

    They kissed each other''s bodies, wanting to engrave their mark on their partner as much as possible. This continued on for a long time until Seth knew it was the moment to go even further.

    "Are you ready?" He asked her in a gentle tone. Jeanne, despite her inexperience, knew what was about to happen. She simply nodded while c.a.r.e.s.sing his cheek with a smile.

    Not asking anymore, Seth positioned his member in front of her moist entrance, which was ready to accept him, and inserted it with a slow but steady thrust.

    Jeanne released a low grunt of pain, as a small tear formed around the corner of her eye. However, the smile for finally being one with the one she loved outshined that pain.

    He kissed her in an attempt to ease her pain, all while doing multiple thrusts that got faster each time.

    Slowly, Jeanne began to move her h.i.p.s to match his rhythm. She couldn''t get enough of him. Even if she felt some pain, she didn''t care. She wanted to engrave this experience inside her heart. that''s why she wanted to feel more. She wanted him in her, all the time.

    She wanted to feel his weight on top of her. she wanted to squeeze him in further and further. To feel his body pressed against hers. All the wet noises that sounded so o.b.s.c.e.n.e, to her now, it was the most beautiful of melodies.

    The sound of their lovemaking lasted for a while, with Jeanne m.o.a.ns being muffled by a passionate kiss, courtesy of her partner. It only came to an end when Seth, with a final thrust, released his seed inside her w.o.m.b, making her reach the final climax as she arched her back in pure p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e.

    Unable to deal with the intense feeling, she soon fainted. The Egyptian God removed his member from her entrance, taking out with him a mix of his s.p.e.r.m and blood proof of the Saint''s womanhood being taken.

    Seeing the peaceful, sleeping face of Jeanne. Seth didn''t want to wake her up, so instead, he used some of the blankets to cover up her n.a.k.e.d body.

    Making sure he was not being seen, he walked out of her tent and went to his own.

    �D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D

    Now, in the present time. Seth couldn''t help but sigh for the nth time. "I did it again, huh?"

    "..." A sigh

    "..." Another sigh

    "..." One more

    "..." And another

    "Well...Happy April Fools you mongrels! Hahahahaha! Look at your faces!! Omg, what I would pay to see them right now! I suck at making these scenes (it was my first) but I laughed so hard imagining how you would feel! Evil Author does it again! A joke saying I''m dropping? Too predictable. Another cliffhanger? An everyday thing. Only THIS could be a good joke to laugh at you...don''t kill me pls"

    With all my love, FinalPath <3

    P.D: I didn''t rewrite paragraphs as I always do so it may come as trash (more than usual) even if it was meant as a joke.

 Chapter 65 - The Penultimate Goal

    It seems that Lev''s luck was not so bad, after all. When he used the power the Holy Grail had acc.u.mulated to summon another Servant; he managed to call a Heroic Spirit extremely suited for the job of crushing Nero Claudius'' army. It would surely be of great help to the Rider boy too.

    In a camp a bit far from the United Empire''s capital, these two Servants were having a chat in preparation for their confrontation.

    "I made a report about what we know about the opposing army. Be sure to look into it later, although I''m going to give you a piece of advice, ignore the two Berserkers. Being as mindless as they are, we can take them out without problems." A black-haired man with glasses, wearing an equally black suit and red tie, said to the red-haired boy.

    "I trust your judgment. Still, those two are not what worries me the most." Rider began talking with a smile, but that soon changed to a somewhat troubled face.

    "I know, him, I also think he is the wildest card of all. That mage didn''t even bother telling us his identity either, he just told us to avoid creating confrontations near him, or it would work in their favor." The man sighed before lighting a cigarette.

    "Do you have any idea of what could he be? The mage DID show us some footage of his power." Rider asked his advisor.

    "I have some ordinary theories and some wild ones. That man''s Magical Power is absurd, and he seems to control fire and summon a storm whenever he feels like without restriction. Even for someone from the Age of the Gods, that would not be easy. If I use my common sense, I would say he is a Demi-God Servant, possibly the son of someone related to weather or natural disasters." He told Rider his guess without missing a detail.

    The boy smiled as if seeing through the man''s thoughts. "But he doesn''t strike you as a Heroic Spirit, does he?"

    The man also smiled a bit. "I guess I can''t hide anything from you. I may not have seen him directly, but something seems off about him. Somehow, I can tell he is not a Heroic Spirit but something else entirely."

    "Whatever he is, it doesn''t change the fact that we will have to face him. I just hope I can see what type of Emperor Nero Claudius is before that." Rider said while gazing at the distance, where the troops of the Roman Empire were staying.

    "If that''s what you want, I will grant your wish. I will hold that man off with my Noble Phantasm if it is necessary. My combat abilities may not be the best, but I''m pretty confident in it." The black-haired man smiled while puffing some smoke.

    "Haha. I will be counting on you, teacher." Rider laughed a bit, hearing his words.

    "I have to say, though. It feels weird being called a teacher by you. I wonder what happened with the ''me'' from my timeline." It was plain to see that this new ''scenario'' was making him rack his brain around it.

    "Sadly, I can''t help you with that, but I have to admit that I feel more confident having you by my side, Mr. Zhuge Liang." The red-haired boy showed sympathy for a moment, that changed pretty quickly, though. You could say this was a typical attitude from someone young, even if age was irrelevant to Servants.

    The man, now revealed to be Zhuge Liang, simply sighed. "I would prefer if you called me Lord El-Melloi II instead of the name of this Heroic Spirit."

    "That is a complicated name. I prefer to call you ''teacher.'' " Rider responded in amus.e.m.e.nt.

    Zhuge Liang shook his head. "Good grief. Even in this form, you are still the same. Do what you want."

    �D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D

    Little by little, the Roman army was making its way to the United Empire''s capital. At first, the battles were small in numbers. Just some groups of enemy soldiers against whole divisions. Later, though, golems began appearing in the opponent''s lines.

    Safe to say, they didn''t last very long before they exploded into pieces. However, they still faced some problems despite that. Larger groups started to appear and attacked them from different places.

    Gradually, their army began to divide into many parts. The most problematic thing was, Lu Bu and Spartacus chased them to the ends of the world. It was safe to say that thanks to that, the casualties in the Roman Army increased significantly.

    Caster, Fujimaru, Mash, Martha, Boudica, and Kiyohime were sent by Nero to help them and bring them back to continue their attack to the United Empire.

    Vlad was left to act as a Commander and Lancelot as a killing machine, among other things. As for the others, well, they were facing a Servant right now.

    A man with skin as black as coal, sitting on a throne atop of some kind of giant, armored elephant, appeared ahead of them. He adorned some type of armor in his lower half that looked more for decoration than to protect him from harm.

    Even if he was sitting, his tall stature was not something that could be hidden by that. This fact was proven when he jumped off from the elephant. The moment he landed, the ground caved in, unable to support his full weight.

    The moment he straightened his back, a height of around three and a half meters revealed itself for the world to see. "Ohhh!" With some strange shout, the giant summoned a pair of unusual axes while looking at his opponent.

    "Tch. I''m getting annoyed; more Servants just keep appearing with no end." Jalter complained instantly the moment she saw their opponent prepare for combat.

    "You kind of did the same, though..." Jeanne said, gaining a glare from Avenger.

    "Why don''t you shut up and do something useful for once? Oh! I forgot you couldn''t. I''m sorry if I hurt your feelings." The Black Saint feigned a sad expression as she sarcastically responded to her.

    "I-I helped you when that monster self-exploded!" Jeanne tried to prove she could be relied on when needed. She couldn''t look bad, not when her Master was watching her (them) with scorn (impatience).

    "Big help, tell me when you do something about the enemy Servants instead of just being a meat shield. You are as worthless as you can get." Jalter didn''t have enough and kept mocking her.

    ''I will have to deal with these two later.'' Seth sighed and materialized his original spear. With no suspense, he dashed at the tall man who had been kindly waiting for the two girls to stop their bickering.

    The moment the enemy saw that someone was attacking, he charged at him with his axes emanating an emerald flame from them. His war elephant remained stationary.

    The two Saints, seeing as their Master was about to engage their foe, decided to stop their bickering. With no hesitation, they also darted at the enemy.

    The firsts to clash were the tall man and Seth. The Egyptian God saw how, despite his stature, his movements were not stiff and were instead smooth; he also had a decent speed.

    "Oooooohhhah!" With a deep voice, the enemy Servant brought his right ax down on Seth, creating a black and green arc wherever it passed.

    ''Another Berserker, eh? Not surprising, though.'' Seth thought while using his spear to block the falling ax. However, his foe''s attack wasn''t over yet. The Servant moved his arm like a whip and struck down with his remaining weapon.

    It was at that moment that Jeanne positioned herself beside her Master and blocked the remaining ax, Jalter took advantage of this and, to her amus.e.m.e.nt, jumped on top of Jeanne''s head before doing the same again to cut the man''s head with her black sword.

    With his uncharacteristic agility, Berserker arched his head back, barely avoiding getting decapitated. Immediately, though, he returned his head to his previous position and, using the momentum, went for a headbutt against Jalter, who was still in mid-air.

    Avenger put her flag in front of her to act as a shield. Before the blow happened, though, Seth grabbed her legs with his free hand and brought her down.

    Seeing as his attack failed, Berserker moved his leg backward before throwing a kick at the Egyptian God. The man in question mimicked his action and threw one of his own.

    The force of the impact nearly made Jeanne and the recently brought down Jalter stumble. Both men maintained their legs in the same position for a moment before jumping back to gain distance.

    Ruler and Avenger followed Seth and did the same. "Master, why don''t you kill him and be done with it? You are certainly stronger than him." Jalter asked her Master in puzzlement. It was the question that bugged her the most.

    "Why should I? I''m not interested in him. I''m just helping you fight him, the ones who should defeat him, in the end, are you." He made up something at the moment. Although it was true he was not interested in fighting the giant man; the real reason was completely different. Still, they didn''t have to know it.

    Both Saints didn''t seem so convinced, but they knew their Master didn''t follow common sense sometimes, so they just let the matter go.

    "Let''s continue. That Persian King should be an easy target for you. Make sure not to get closer to that elephant. It is not his mount for nothing." Seth said, surprising both Servants.

    "Master, how do you know that? Did you already figured out his identity?" Jeanne didn''t have much historical knowledge, so it was understandable.

    He decided to answer her question by asking Berserker one. "You are Darius III, am I right? East Asian people used war Elephants, but Mesopotamians used them, and later Persia did too. You don''t strike me as the first option, so that leaves the other two. However, there was one person, a king that was famous for riding a War Elephant to battle. It was you, wasn''t it?"

    Surprisingly, the tall man nodded his head, confirming Seth''s gaze. ''I will have to thank Romani later for that book he gave me; information is a great tool as they say.''

    "Jeanne, Jalter, you are next." Saying no more, he breathed black flames from his mouth directed at Darius.

    Not moving from his position, Berserker swung his axes horizontally, creating a gust of wind that dispersed the flames. However, the moment his vision of the enemy returned, the two girls were missing.

    The next thing he knew, he had two girls coming from both sides, each pointing their spear tip against his waist.

    Darius, without hurry, spun like a tornado with both axes covered in emerald flames. He hit the side of both their flagpole, deviating their trajectory.

    The two Saint widened their eyes in surprise. They saw Darius'' lips curve into a grin before he let go of his axes and grabbed their heads, and then smashed them against each other.

    "Gah!" Both girls released a short but loud sound of pain. Berserker then threw them to Seth''s direction.

    The black-haired man impaled his spear in the ground and caught one girl with each of his arms. ''Without a strong supply of Magical Energy or the power of the grail, they struggle to face heroes from ages past. Jeanne just fought normal soldiers during her life, so it''s not that strange while Jalter is a bit better since she was a product of Gilles'' views of her.''

    "Are you okay?" He asked with his usual indifferent tone. Both girls slowly returned to reality, only to find their Master''s face close to them, causing them to have a pink hue on their cheeks.

    "If you have time to be blushing in the middle of battle, I guess you are." And with that, he dropped them on the ground.

    The Saints quickly got up, but they didn''t dare to look at him in the eyes, opting to look at the towering figure of Darius instead. Although now that they looked at it, he seemed like a patient guy or just simply didn''t have an interest in fighting them.

    ''I suppose I have tested them enough.'' "Jeanne, Jalter." He called out his two Servants, who, out of reflex, looked back only to freeze in their place. Their eyes lost focus, and in the next second, they fainted.

    Darius, who was watching the scene, just turned around and jumped to the Throne on his War Elephant''s back before sitting down.

    Soon enough, Ruler and Avenger woke up while holding their heads as if they had a hangover. "Ugh... What happened?" Jalter asked in confusion to no one in particular.

    Jeanne had the same confusion as her counterpart. However, she noticed something quickly. "Uh? When did we have this much Magical Energy?"

    The Black Saint, upon hearing her words, also noticed the strange phenomenon. She immediately turned her head toward Seth. "Did you increase the amount you were giving us, Master?"

    "No. It''s the same I have been giving you all this time. You just thought the amount was not much, that is all." Of course, this was a lie. He just mind-controlled them into thinking they weren''t receiving a lot of Magical Energy.

    He wanted to know how much could they do without his help. Although he despised using methods like this, he understood it was something necessary.

    Seth chose this option instead of just simply not giving them enough sustain because he knew there were going to be moments where he was not going to be with them, like when they were on that island, where he didn''t know their state.

    He programmed the control to wear off if they faced life-threatening danger. At that point, they could turn the tables around any foe they were facing.

    All of this, everything, he did it for a single purpose. A purpose that no matter the years, no matter the times he reincarnated, continued to live deep within him.

    There were countermeasures set against him. That''s why he needed someone else; he needed subordinates strong enough to face the impossible.

    It was all because he needed help, as much as he didn''t want to admit it, to accomplish his goal before finally departing from the lower world and returning to his origin.

    His goal to...destroy the whole Egyptian Pantheon!

 Chapter 66 - The Fall Of Another King

    Darius noticed the change in the two women, so he also got a bit serious. With the typical roar of a Berserker, he pointed one of his axes forward. Immediately, his War Elephant began to move faster and faster.

    "You have the power now, don''t disappoint me." Those words may seem like he said them on the spur of the moment. But for some reason, both Saints felt that in this context, they had a deeper meaning.

    With a simple nod, Avenger and Ruler dashed at the incoming animal. Their speed now was faster than before, like they had received a boost in parameters.

    They ran next to each other, but when the War Elephant was about to ram them, they separated, taking a different side of the giant animal.

    Even if it was a powerful creature on the level of a strong beast, it was difficult for the Elephant to stop its momentum. Left with no other choice, it used its trunk to try and hit Jalter.

    Avenger simply sidestepped and avoided the hit. Taking advantage of the situation, she jumped on top of the trunk of the moving animal and began to climb it to get to Darius. However, his mount was having none of that. Continuing his run, the War Elephant started swinging it erratically in hopes of throwing her off balance.

    Jalter simply stabbed her sword to prevent herself from being sent flying. Berserker watched calmy how his mount was trying to get rid of Jeanne, only for the girl in question to climb up slowly.

    Out of nowhere, Darius raised one of his axes. In the next moment, a clanging sound was heard by everyone present as his weapon blocked Jeanne''s own. The Saint had jumped on the animal''s back when it had first attacked Jalter.

    Berserker raised from his Throne, doing the same with Jeanne''s flag as he did so. He spun his free arm, ready to cut her in two, but she jumped back and avoided that outcome.

    Darius hit the side of his Throne, destroying it into pieces. Now, they neither had any obstacles to fight.

    The War Elephant finally stopped his charge, and with that, Avenger finally could get on his back too. Wasting no time, Jalter attacked Darius from behind while Jeanne did the same from the front.

    The Persian King simply used one ax to fight each; this could have worked before, but now that they got more powerful, it was proving to be complicated.

    Darius had to take it seriously from now on. With extreme agility, he clashed his axes coated in emerald-flames with the two Saints'' flags.

    Seth watched from the sidelines how Servants were getting more proficient at handling their foe. ''With this, the others won''t have much trouble fighting that man. I should get going to deal with that clown soon.''

    Returning to the fight, Darius was having more troubles each time dealing with the combined attack of the two, cut, and stab wounds on some parts of his body being proof. However, he always kept his cool. Among Berserkers, he could be considered something like a black sheep.

    Out of nowhere, the Persian King got more aggressive, opting for using his body and not just his weapons. He brought his ax down on Jeanne, and when she blocked it, he directed a kick at her stomach, throwing her off his mount.

    Jalter took advantage of this and went for a stroke to his back with her black sword. She succeeded in piercing his skin. However, Darius didn''t flinch. He just turned his head to look at her with a grin on his face.

    Before Avenger could react, Berserker slammed his ax, which was as big as her body, on her side, sending her flying.

    Jalter crashed on the ground and kept rolling for hundreds of meters, eventually coming to a stop when she managed to stabilize herself.

    Jeanne, who had recovered from Darius'' kick, quickly got to Jalter''s side. "Tch. That f.u.c.k.i.n.g big man didn''t hold back with that hit." Avenger complained while she held her waist. Tiny cracks were present all around the area of impact on her armor.

    Ignoring her fool language, Jeanne offered a hand that Jalter begrudgingly took. "He is not a Berserker for nothing, and Master said he was a King of Persia. Being stronger than us is not at all strange." Jeanne said to her counterpart with a wry smile on her face.

    "Fuhnnn muoooohhhn!!" With the loudest shout he had done up until now, Darius began to hit his axes against one another. His War Elephant trumpeted while also stomping his legs on the ground.

    "Has he finally lost it?" Jalter asked to no one in particular. She wasn''t used to seeing these kinds of behaviors in someone.

    "That''s a war cry. Berserker is going to use his Noble Phantasm, to its full extent, at least." Out of nowhere, Seth appeared behind the duo.

    "So, it''s similar to Tarasque?" It was Jeanne''s time to ask, this time to their Master.

    "Yes. Just when you call its name, will their true power be revealed." Not long after he said this, some kind of miasma pools colored green and black began to form around Darius.

    From it, skeletons wearing all kinds of weapons and armors crawled to the surface. It didn''t end there, though. Giant pillars of flesh shot from the bigger pools, painting a grotesque sight.

    "Ugh...how disgusting can it get?" Avenger had a face of absolute disgust. Weren''t it for her Master being near, she would have thrown up long ago.

    In just a few seconds, Darius'' immortal Athanatoi soldiers made their presence known. An army of ten thousand warriors ready to exterminate the enemies of their King.

    ''An undead army, eh? I like this guy.'' Seth thought in amus.e.m.e.nt, watching Berserker''s Noble Phantasm. They weren''t that different, after all.

    Regardless of his preferences, an enemy was an enemy. "It''s time, you two. Good luck overcoming that." He said, much to the surprise of his Servants.

    "Eh? You are joking, right? There is no way we can face against that on our own!" Even if her Master was not one to make jokes, she hoped this was his first try at it.

    "Why are you so worried? You two are the perfect combination, an extraordinary defense, and an equally extraordinary attack. Jeanne can defend you with her Noble Phantasm, and you can focus on killing Darius, his army will naturally disappear after that." He honestly thought that the confidence they had in themselves was abysmally low.

    "Y-you are right. It can''t be helped that I have to kill that madman." Jalter played it off like it was no big deal, but inside she was delighted by his ''compliment,'' and the same could be said of Jeanne.

    This time, Darius didn''t wait for them to finish their little chat. He pointed one of his axes forward, and the army began to run with an inhuman speed at them.

    Seth faded away like a disappearing mirage, leaving only the two girls to deal with Darius'' Noble Phantasm.

    "I will defend ourselves. I''m leaving the attack on you." The Maid of Orl��ans spoke to her counterpart before positioning herself in front of her.

    ? "Here''s the work of the Lord!"

    "My flag, defend our brethren!"

    ��Luminosit�� Eternelle!�� ?

    A light barrier protected the two Saints just in time for the first soldier to strike. Immediately after he hit it, his bones fell apart.

    What was one became ten, and what were ten became a hundred and so on. Jeanne was doing an excellent job of protecting the two. However, complications started to appear when the giant pillars of flesh attacked.

    With each of their hits, Jeanne had to hold her flagpole tighter. Her banner was tearing more and more after their consecutive blow.

    "Resist a bit more, wimp; he is closing in." Jalter for once didn''t try to mock Jeanne but instead encouraged her, with her own words, of course.

    Ruler simply nodded and poured more Magical Energy to maintain her Noble Phantasm.

    True to her companion''s words, Darius and his War Elephant were getting closer to them. Avenger prepared to unleash her Noble Phantasm; she just needed to find the perfect opportunity.

    Like that, some minutes passed; those minutes were agonizing for Jeanne, who at this point was at the end of her rope. The barrier protecting them was turning on and off like some kind of flashlight.

    Then, it came. The War Elephant''s trunk slammed on the barrier, breaking it once and for all. Jeanne fell to her knees with a pained expression on her face. However, this was the moment Jalter was waiting for.

    Raising her sword upward, a tornado of red flames engulfed her, even burning the trunk of the animal that was above them.

    ? "All evil is here."

    "The time for revenge has come!"

    "This is the roar of my soul that was polished by hatred..."

    ��La Grondement Du Haine! ��?

    Avenger released her Noble Phantasm. An attack similar to a Dragon''s breath blasted from her sword, incinerating the Elephant into ashes.

    Having sensed something wrong beforehand, Darius jumped off his mount. Sadly for him, the moment he was descending, stakes rose from the ground and impaled him throughout his whole body.

    It wasn''t over yet as the stakes then lit on fire and burned all his insides. His suffering only stopped when the stakes finally disappeared after ten more seconds.

    Darius fell to the ground with a thud, holes littering his body. Slowly, the remaining soldiers from his army and the flesh pillars faded away.

    "We finally did it," Jalter said with visible exhaustion in her voice. She looked at the side to see her counterpart breathing heavily due to the effort she had to make to ensure they stayed safe.

    "Yeah..." Although she shared Avenger''s exhaustion, a smile for having accomplished something that her Master asked them to was present on her face.

    Just then, both Servants heard someone clapping behind them. They turned around to see their Master with impaled on the ground beside him.

    "I''ve got to say; I''m impressed you managed to come up with a strategy to beat his army with the little time you had in your hands." Seth praised them while also unsticking his weapon and walking forward to them.

    "Thanks..." "It was easy, no need to praise me." They responded in their own way, although their embarrassment was evident for all to see.

    ''Young people sure have it easy.'' Seth couldn''t help but roll his eyes, seeing them like that. "Follow me." He ordered them, and they complied. Due to the exhaustion, they walked at a slower pace, though.

    The Egyptian God led them to where the body of Darius was. Once there, he jumped on his c.h.e.s.t, motioning his two Servants to do the same.

    "Put your hands on my shoulders." Although confused by his words, they still did as they were told. Seth then pointed his spear tip toward Berserker''s head.

    "...Iskandaaarrr." Just as his death was nearing, he shouted the name of his life rival one more time.

    "Don''t worry. That man is next on my schedule after you." Saying no more, Seth pierced Darius'' head. It was a painful sight to take in for Jeanne, as this looked like some sort of unnecessary execution. Jalter, however, enjoyed it with her whole being.

    Berserker soon was fading into particles of light, but similar to what happened with the Berserker from Fuyuki, those particles of light went to Jeanne and Jalter, healing their wounds.

    ''One King less, let''s see if my theory is correct, after all.'' Seth thought while dematerializing his spear. "It''s time to see how the rest are doing." His Servants couldn''t transform in lightning, like him, so he had to transport them in an old-fashioned way.

    Tapping his feet on the ground, a Magic Circle rapidly began forming. When it was completed, it teleported them to Seth''s tent.

    Once they were there, both Servants took their hands from his shoulders.

    Caster, feeling the magic disturbance, entered the tent a few seconds after their arrival. "So it''s you. I see you finished whatever you went to do. I will go straight to the point, Lu Bu and Spartacus were defeated in combat before we even got there, and Boudica was kidnapped who knows how."

    ''Time to go for another one, I guess." He wouldn''t say no to slaying another King. Old habits died hard, after all.

 Chapter 67 - The Question

    "So, what exactly happened?" The two men and two women were walking in a particular direction. As there was nothing to do, Seth decided to ask form more details on the events that occurred while he wasn''t here.

    "When we were trying to get those idiots back, the enemy soldiers managed to separate them, so we had to separate ourselves, too. Martha and I went for Lu Bu while Mash, Fujimaru, Boudica, and Kiyohime went for Spartacus." Caster explained how the whole ordeal began before continuing.

    "Martha had to summon Tarasque, but we were able to calm down Lu Bu. However, when we returned to the place we initially separated, we found Master and the two little girls together with Spartacus, but Boudica was absent." He summarized as much as he could but still kept the essential details.

    "Tch. Berserkers are a pain in the a.s.s." Jalter clicked her tongue in annoyance. They did something right, and there they go those mindless idiots to ruin everything.

    "Didn''t you command Servants with Madness Enhancement?" Jeanne asked with a little perplexion. She found this contradictory behavior odd, to be honest.

    "And look where that got me? If I had more capable Servants, you all would have died long ago." It''s not like she was not happy with the outcome, quite the contrary, but she felt like she didn''t get to show what she was truly capable of, much to her disappointment.

    "Isn''t it a great thing that they didn''t? You wouldn''t have friends that way, little lass!" To cope with the situation, Cu Chulainn decided to make use of his inner jokester.

    "Who needs friends?! I don''t need such useless things!" It seemed to work, as it riled up Jalter instantly.

    "Haha! Don''t be like that! Look at us; we are the best of buddies right here!" Caster, without shame, put his arm around Seth''s shoulder.

    ''Why do you include me in your stupidity?'' The Egyptian God thought while casting a sideways glance at Cu Chulainn.

    "Now that I think about it, you have known Master for a relatively long time, haven''t you, Caster?" Seeing how close they were, Jeanne decided to ask Cu Chulainn something that has been on her mind for quite a while.

    "Long time? Nah, probably around one month, maybe a bit more. Although I already know some dark secrets about him, haha!" The Sage of the Forst continued to take this in a light-hearted way.

    ''The fact that you were the first proper person I spoke in thousand of years won''t save your a.s.s if you say something unnecessary.'' He may not have spoken, but the look in his eyes conveyed everything.

    At the mention of ''dark secrets,'' Avenger''s interest was piqued. "What kind of secrets?" It would be a lie to say Ruler wasn''t interested too.

    "Yeah! Like when was the last time he had��Geh." He couldn''t finish as he was elbowed on his ribs by Seth, fainting soon afterward.

    Catching him before he fell, he turned to the two girls. "Stop prying in others'' matters. Everything has a time. Now, let''s go and reunite with the others."

    Both girls felt kind of sad they couldn''t get anything out of this but decided not to press the matter any further. Jeanne even offered a quick prayer for Caster, who was on dreamland right now.

    ...

    After walking for around two hours in their original direction, they arrived at a newly made camp. It was in the outskirts of a fort, possibly where they kept Boudica captive.

    They didn''t even say hello when Nero came running at them. "Good to see you four here, I believe the robbed man informed you about the situation. We need to save Boudica at all costs!"

    ''Oi, oi, seriously? I have a name, you know? We have battle together all this time, and you still don''t know it?'' What''s with this scenario? It also didn''t help the light but easily discernible smug look he was getting from Seth.

    "It seems he wants a match between Servants. I only detect three Servants in that fort. One of them is Boudica; they probably sent their soldiers away to fight with yours so you couldn''t get interrupted." The black-haired man informed the little Emperor.

    "Hmph. Those two are underestimating us too much! Let''s go quickly and rescue Boudica from their evil claws!" Nero was ready to go. She just needed the support from the Servants so she could fight them.

    "I appreciate your enthusiasm, but is everyone else ready? if not, then you need to calm down." He was the one who offered to wait for Seth to finish whatever he went to do with the other two and then bring him back, so he didn''t know how the others were.

    "Mash and Ritsuka are ready to go! Uncle Vlad and that black-armored man are with the army. Martha and that other girl with strange clothes are keeping watch on Lu Bu and Spartacus!" Nero informed dutifully to him like she was doing some kind of report.

    "So that leaves the two kids and us to fight, huh? Should be easy." Even if the Holy Grail was empowering the enemy Servants, their group had the number advantage.

    "Call them here, then. We will part immediately. Also, give me your sword again. I will make you a bit useful." Seth said, much to Nero''s discontent.

    "What do you mean ''make me useful''?! I will have you know that I saved your comrades while we were on that island!" Nero protested, and rightfully so, considering she incapacitated the Chimera.

    "She is right, Master. If it weren''t for her, we would have taken more time to beat that monster." Jeanne backed up the Emperor''s words without shame for their weakness.

    "Why are you telling me this as if I cared? Anyway, give me your weapon." Even though he made a request, Seth didn''t wait and snatched Nero''s weapon with swiftness.

    With no suspense, he injected his Magical Energy on the sword like the previous times. What was different, however, was that it didn''t get enveloped in black flames, it just stayed the same as before.

    Returning the sword to Nero, who looked at it confused, he spoke. "Done. Now, go and get them. We don''t have all day." Nero, still not understanding what changed, went to do as Seth told her.

    In a few minutes, the Emperor came happily skipping with Mash and Fujimaru in tow. The two youngsters weren''t in a good mood. It was understandable since they felt responsible for what happened.

    "I''m sorry..." The first thing Fujimaru did when meeting up with them was apologize, and Mash followed suit.

    "She is not dead. You don''t have to apologize." Seth shook his head, telling him not to mind it. He wouldn''t blame him even if Boudica were dead, either, considering his birthplace.

    "Right..." Changing his mind with just a few words was going to be challenging, but that was okay for now.

    With nothing more to say, they marched at the fort to rescue Boudica.

    �D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D

    "So, he has fallen, huh?" Rider said with a sigh.

    "I still find it incredible that he would get summoned as a chain reaction due to you being here." Zhuge Liang commented while smoking his cigarette.

    "The world works in mysterious ways. You should be more aware of it than I do." The red-haired boy said with an amusing laugh at the end.

    "You don''t need to tell me. Setting that aside, the Emperor will come soon. Are you prepared?" He asked the little boy beside him.

    "Yep, I need to hear her answer, after all." He said while playing with his short sword.

    "You get fixated on the weirdest of things sometimes. Still, as I said before, I will make sure your wish comes true." Taking the cigarette out of his mouth, he threw it on the ground before stepping on it.

    "They have come, right?" Noticing the action of his teacher, Rider knew it was time.

    "Indeed, what we do will depend on their actions." He told his ''student'' before looking forward. There, seven silhouettes were making their way to them, becoming more discernible with time.

    When the figures got close enough, one of them, obviously Nero, began to shout. "Boudica! Boudica, where are you?!"

    "Calm yourself; she is safe inside this fortress right now. I hadn''t nor have plans to harm her, but I needed to do this so I could speak with you." Rider wryly smiled, seeing the antics of the girl in front of him.

    "Bold of you to show your faces in front of me after what you did! Very well, I will allow you to tell me your names!" Nero seemed kind of over the edge. It was like this situation agitated her more than one might expect.

    "Allow us?" The boy made a surprised face before merely smiling. "Hm...I have multiple names to choose from, but I guess Alexander will do. Alexander III to be more precise."

    "Lord El-Melloi II. Currently working as his strategist." Zhuge Liang briefly introduced himself with the name people used to call him in his ''previous'' life.

    ''So he is the one who made that strategy? Not bad at all.'' Seth put himself in full scouting mode as he observed the black-haired man, who was equally inspecting him.

    "Now that introductions are over, I would like to talk with you." Alexander''s words surprised Nero.

    "What? You are not going to fight?" She asked with disbelief amidst her anger.

    "That''s right. I don''t get very well with my Master, so I acted of my own free will so I could speak with you." Rider unhesitantly answered her question.

    It seemed as their chat would have to wait for a while. From the group''s rear, soldiers from the United Empire were approaching in the thousands.

    "Sorry about that, we are one thing, but the soldiers are other��" Before Alexander could finish, Seth stomped his feet on the ground. The earth started to tremble, multiple cracks extended from his direction to the soldiers'' in less than five seconds.

    The cracks soon expanded. In a mere instant, the earth swallowed every single soldier there was.

    "That was certainly flashy, but thank you nonetheless." It was not like he enjoyed the loss of those soldiers'' lives. But he had other priorities, and they weren''t his, to begin with, so he decided not to think much about it.

    "Now then, I wanted to ask you, Fifth Emperor of Rome, Nero Claudius. Why is it that you fight? It''s not like you don''t know if you swore allegiance to the United Empire, your soldiers wouldn''t have to lose their lives meaninglessly. You could even become one of their Emperors. So, Why do all these unnecessary things?" Alexander asked in one fell swoop everything he wanted to ask.

    "Unnecessary? Are you telling me my fights are unnecessary? That my soldiers'' lives are unnecessary? That their sacrifice is unnecessary? That what they sacrificed is unnecessary?" Nero fired multiple questions in succession, her tone becoming harsher with each one.

    "Indeed. What are you going to do about it?" Gone was the happy-looking little boy. Now, seriousness was all that remained.

    "I will make you eat your words. No matter who you are, my resurrected kin, a wise Ruler or a brave General, or even a legendary King yourself. I won''t allow anyone to tell me all my soldiers did for me was unnecessary. I''m the only one suitable to be the Emperor!" Came Nero''s swift answer

    "Is that so?" Rider asked again.

    "That is so! I''m loved by the people as much as I love them! I''m a shining star! Arrogant enough to carry the burden they have! No matter who may come and tell me to surrender, I will never do so! Such is my philosophy. Such is my way of life! If I have to perish defending what I believe, then so be it! You will never hear the words ''I surrender'' from my mouth!" With a passion like never before, Nero answered for the last time the question of the red-haired boy.

    A faint smile made its way to Alexander''s face. "That was magnificent. It was what I wanted to hear. You''ve passed my test; you can go now and be the Emperor you deserve to be. A rose that brings glory and prosperity." At that moment, his face morphed to a serious one. "But a rose that can bring disaster, nonetheless. A flower of sin, one that can also become a Tyrant!"

    Rider''s last words made Nero tremble, from anger or fright, only she knew. "Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! Help me take these two men down, you guys!"

    "Nero..." Mash felt sad for her. She didn''t dare to imagine how the Emperor might be feeling right now.

    ''As I thought. You are aware...'' Seth shook his head after a sigh and started walking forward. Zhuge Liang prepared to use his Noble Phantasm but was stopped by Alexander, who motioned with his head not to do so.

    The Chaldeans were confused by his actions but decided to prepare for combat just in case.

    When Seth was near them, he whispered to the two Servants'' ears. "Push them to their utmost limits. That is my only condition for you not to suffer Darius'' fate." And with that, he walked past them.

    "Can I also ask you something?" Seth stopped for a moment, signaling him to speak.

    "I wanted to ask you two things. The first is, did Darius offer a good fight? The second is, what type of King are you?" Alexander didn''t turn back to ask. He kept looking at the group some dozen meters ahead of him.

    "Yes, he did. He even mentioned your name at the end. As his rival, you must not fall short and give it your all. To answer your second question, the worst type." Saying no more, he disappeared as he was never there.

    "Worst type, huh?" Alexander gave a light laugh. "I wonder about that."

    "Doing the same thing again." Caster rolled his eyes. That guy never helped when it was needed. Still, now it was not the time to think about the not so distant past. The fight was about to begin, after all.

 Chapter 68 - Despair

    When Seth was far enough, he transformed into lightning to get to the capital faster. He eventually got to a mountain around three thousand meters in altitude. From its top, he could see a carbon copy of Nero''s Rome.

    The soldiers were nearing the million in quantity, all distributed between the capital and its outskirts. Such a number in this era is a force to be reckoned with, indeed.

    ''They only need to face the Servant. Everyone else is irrelevant.'' Seth though before taking a deep breath. ''Here goes nothing, it''s my first try, but the altitude might help to make it faster.''

    Seth sat down, his eyes turning golden soon after. However, that wasn''t the only change. His pupils became slightly smaller, and the golden color became a gradient.

    "Commencing Activation." It seemed the change didn''t just happen to his eyes as his voice also changed, becoming robotic.

    "...Checking the atmosphere''s conditions. Succesful."

    "...Checking Magical Energy reserves. Succesful."

    "...Checking favorable terrain. Succesful."

    "...Checking Divinity signatures. Failure."

    "Area of effect. Five square kilometers."

    "Proceeding expenditure of Magical Energy."

    "Estimated time until Noble Phantasm deployment: Fifteen minutes and thirty-nine seconds."

    "Accessing Authority of Storms. New estimated time: Five minutes and twenty-three seconds."

    After saying the last part, Seth fell silent, not speaking anymore. Slowly, grey clouds began to cover the sky. Little by little, the calm surroundings changed.

    Strong currents of wind moved unhindered through the area. With each passing second, they were becoming faster and faster.

    It didn''t take long for the soldiers below to notice the disturbance. Looking at a particular direction, they saw the clouds in the sky move in a chaotic, but at the same time orderly way.

    In no more than a minute, the clouds grouped to form a spiral shape with a hole in the center. To the United Empire''s citizens, it looked like the eye of Jupiter was directly looking upon the earth.

    The ''eye'' began to move toward them, and with it, the winds grew fiercer. Droplets of water touched their faces at first, but not long after, it transformed into a total downpour.

    Their eyes widened, and their breathing became more erratic. Everything in their surroundings shook, the clothes they wore seemed to have a life of their own, wanting to get out and fly away.

    Even their weapons looked as if they wanted to abandon them, no matter the weight of its materials, they shook all the same. Or was it their own hands the ones who were shaking? It was undoubtedly hard to know.

    As the ''eye'' grew near, the soldiers felt their bodies lighten, like gravity was losing to this much powerful force. However, they didn''t move, choosing to stay in the same place, not because they wanted, but because they couldn''t.

    At the mountain top, Seth got up without problems, as if unaffected by the winds that, at this point, were nearing one hundred and twenty kilometers per hour and on the rise in his location.

    "Beginning Chant. Noble Phantasm. Part 1." The Egyptian God''s voice continued to sound robotic, but this time it was more authoritative and had a new tone of...hatred?

    ? "We are the bane of the Gods." Now, his voice, while still robotic, lost its mechanical touch and sounded more human-like.

    "Our hatred is endless, and our rage makes them cower in fear."

    "They will be brought down by our thunderous winds!"

    ��Org�� Ch��lia An��mous!��.?

    Those last words officially marked their death sentence. The winds'' speed increased even faster than before, reaching two hundred kilometers per hour.

    The soldiers finally let of their weapon as if giving up. As soon as they were out of their owners'' hands, they ''escaped'' to who knows where.

    One by one, people began to tumble. However, that wasn''t the end of it. Like fishes trying to fight a strong current, they were pushed back by the winds, rolling clumsily through the ground.

    At first, it was light, just a simple push. That soon changed, though. The more it got near, the stronger was the force.

    They wanted to cry, to shout, to voice out against this alien event. So, why? Why was it so difficult? Why couldn''t they do it? Their voices seemed to have been silenced by some strange and mysterious power.

    However, what made them lose hope, what took the light of their eyes, the thing that brought them despair was the numerous tornados that began descending from the sky.

    This unnatural occurrence which they could witness the moment some object stopped their movement, be it a tree, a rock or a building, was the ''You can give up'' signal they needed.

    As if the minds of everyone was linked, they systematically ended all struggle. The tornados, with winds surpassing the three hundred kilometers per hour, gladly took the United Empire''s citizens in their embrace.

    If before they were rolling on the ground or being sent flying depending on their location. Now everyone was flying upward. All kinds of things accompanied them, whatever those natural disasters could get a hold of before taking them.

    This mayhem continued for a long time. First, it was the people, and then it was the capital itself. The eyewall was what caused the most damage, aside from the tornados.

    When it was all over and the small-scale typhoon dispersed, an indiscernible city remained. No, calling it that way would be wrong. Now it looked more like some ruins from an ancient civilization.

    Of all the people the capital had at the beginning, only a few were alive. Nothing comparable to the original number. Still, even those people weren''t in the condition to do something; you may as well call them corpses.

    "Objectives neutralized."

    "Confirming Survivors. Acceptable amount."

    "Finishing process."

    "Returning body to its natural state."

    Slowly, Seth''s eyes became normal again, together with his voice, although that change wasn''t perceptible yet.

    ''What an unpleasant experience that was.'' Shaking his head repeatedly to wash away the feeling of disgust, he looked upon the result of his attack.

    ''For something I made in a few minutes, the result is not bad.'' Seth thought, a little impressed. Soon, however, his gaze became chilly.

    ''Let''s see if opening your mouth to insult me is the only thing you can do.'' He may not know the contents, but the feelings of hate were something he sensed even from Rome.

    Flexing his legs, the ground beneath his feet cracked. With a sonic boom, he shot like a meteor from the mountain top to the United Empire''s capital some kilometers away.

    He crashed near the Palace that, even with all the destruction, only suffered minimal damage.

    Escaping the crater created by his landing, a figure that towered over him by a few centimeters awaited him.

    "Normally, Rome would forgive you for this transgression because I''m Rome itself. However, there is not much of Rome left." His voice was slow but filled with power. He may have seemed calm to outsiders, but the reality was far from it.

    "I expected it was you, Romulus. Though, I must say that Spirit Origin doesn''t do you justice." Ignoring his words, he calmly walked toward the Founder of Rome.

    "I could say the same of you, but that is of inconsequence right now. Many of Rome''s children lost their lives today, that is something even Rome can''t forgive." With every word, his Magical Energy increased.

    "Stop it; you know you can''t win. Many of your children would have died at the hands of your other ones. We both know that option is worse." Romulus seemed to have calmed down after hearing this.

    "Because you are Mars'' son and still fight for humanity, I''m respecting your wish to test the new generation." Seth continued, gaining a sigh from Lancer.

    "You are perceptive, just like my father." Romulus simply closed his eyes and moved out of the way.

    "I''m not perceptive. Rome may be eternal, but that only applies if the world still exists. Am I right?" Seth didn''t go to meet his final enemy yet, opting for exchanging a few more words with the Founder.

    Romulus'' lips faintly curved upward. "Exactly. Setting that aside, do you think she is ready?"

    "No, absolutely not. Nero needs a change in her mentality, although she may get it when she sees you. Let''s see if her resolve is enough by then. Rest assured, though. I told my Servants that if they came with soldiers from Rome, I would personally kill them, so you can enjoy testing her philosophy all you want." Finally, he walked away to meet Lev

    "Your viciousness knows no limit, fit for a War God. Still, Rome has a last request, make sure that man doesn''t live to see tomorrow. Do that, and Rome will forgive you." Saying until there, Romulus went to the outskirts of his city to wait for Nero to come.

    "You don''t need to tell me. That''s what I plan to do." Seth also said no more. He walked with unhurriedness to the Palace, as it was identical to Nero''s, he knew where to go.

    Despite taking it slow, Seth got to the Throne Room reasonably quickly. There, Lev was standing with his back facing him.

    Releasing a sigh, he spoke without looking at the Egyptian God. "Honestly. Incompetents truly surround me. I could have been in the Temple by now. Instead, I have to take care of filth like you."

    "There are no words that can describe how much hate I have for you right now. Thanks to your little stunt in Orleans, my King got furious at me." Lev continued with his monologue, while Seth just watched.

    Finally turning around, he gave Seth a creepy smile. "But that ends now! You are just a pathetic remnant of your original self. Gods should just crawl to the Reverse Side of the World like the bugs they are! There is only one person fit to be called a God, and that is our King, and no other than him!"

    ''Does this guy ever get tired of speaking rubbish?'' Seth thought while looking at the clown performing his act.

    The answer to his question came immediately. "When I dispose of you, I will personally go and kill those Chaldeans after I have killed Romulus for being of no help. I will thoroughly enjoy your face as you beg for mercy! That would certainly make up for the troubles I went through, and will please my King at the same time! HAHAHAHAHA!" His insane laugh resounded across the room, together with his creepy face, it painted a disturbing sight.

    "You talk too much."

    "Huh?" With his face still ''deformed,'' Lev felt he lost his support to stand. In a second, he fell to the ground, his legs separated from his body.

    "Are you finally ready to fight? Or do you still want to say nonsense, ''filth''?" Seth had his spear materialized as he waited for the fallen man to do something. If it weren''t because he wanted to get information, he would have killed him long ago.

    "HATEFUL! HATEFUL! HATEFUL! I HATE YOU SO MUCH!" Lev screamed in rage. This obvious contempt, this mockery. It was the same as mocking his King! He couldn''t allow that, not now nor ever.

    "I will show what we are capable of, you impertinent bug!" The blood scattered across the ground became a black substance. In a few seconds, it covered Lev''s whole body.

    Seth felt a spike of Magical Energy. The black substance then exploded, creating an equally colored smoke that didn''t allow for others to see.

    The black-haired man waved his arms horizontally, dispersing the smoke, only to reveal a hideous creature that even the most accurate of descriptions would fail to depict its ugliness.

    A giant, black pillar of flesh with many eyes, all looking at the same direction, made its presence known.

    "I''m the Demon God Flauros, one of the Seventy-Two Demon Gods! The form my King gave me, I will use it to end your miserable life!" The creature spoke, his voice was like a dozen of Levs speaking at the same time with slightly different intervals.

    ''I was right, after all. The enemy is him��No, it''s too soon to make assumptions. I will first deal with this tentacle-looking thing. It seems that spear wants to have some action against it, good grief.''

    An Evil God versus a Demon God. The showdown was about to begin.

    (A/N: If there is some Greek reader out there that got cancer or a seizure, just know I''m sorry.)

 Chapter 68 - Holy Evil

    The towering figure of Lev''s new form broke through the ceiling. Not only that, with its continuous squirming, but he also destroyed the rest, revealing the outside world.

    It was not...the same. The world seemed a shade darker but not the kind when the clouds hide the sun; it was more like an old photo, only showing gray surroundings.

    "HAHAHAHAHA! Behold! The grace of our King!" Even though he had no mouth, Lev still monologues infinitely.

    "Oh? I would like to meet him. I admire Kings so much, you see." Seth merely responded with sarcasm and darted at the enormous pillar.

    "Don''t you dare mock our King, insignificant bug!" Crystals formed around Lev and immediately shot toward Seth.

    The man in question simply zigzagged, avoiding all of them. That wasn''t the only trick Lev had up his sleeve, though, as black tentacles emerged beneath the black-haired man, trying to impale him.

    Mentally sighing, he wondered if every final enemy in the Singularities would have to be a damn tentacle monster.

    Coating his spear in flames, he slid and rotated, cutting all the ''limbs'' before continuing his charge.

    Lev created more and more crystals and attacked with the usual tentacles now and then. Seth, for his part, kept dodging and coming closer.

    This status quo of attacking and dodging just worked to annoy the Demon God even more. "Stay put!" Seeing as he didn''t listen, Lev decided to increase the number of attacks he was launching.

    ''He is like those generic enemies from those stories Romani has in his tablet...'' That time was the last he ever stole Dr. Roman''s things, his tastes were weird, especially that magical girl stuff.

    Setting aside his not so questionable actions considering he belonged to the ''bad'' side, after evading one more time one of the tentacles, he suddenly jumped at Lev.

    ''Got you!'' If Lev had a face, he would be grinning like a maniac. When Seth was about to stab one of his eyes, golden dust surrounded the Evil God.

    *Boom*

    A massive explosion resounded, obliterating the only structure from the United Empire that remained standing.

    Smoke blocked the vision of the area, making it impossible to discern the outcome of his attack. However, Lev was pretty confident that even if he didn''t kill the slippery bug, he made a great deal of damage to him.

    It was then that the Demon God noticed the smoke going from white to black in a particular place, forming a human shape. Every eye of his focused on that specific spot.

    "You wouldn''t be interested in telling me the name of your so-called King, would you?" Seth slowly walked out of the smoke, this time without his weapon in sight and with no injury.

    "An inferior creature like you doesn''t have the right to know his name!" Lev threw all elements of surprise to the wind, opting to attack with the golden dust he used previously from the get-go.

    "Are you sure? I''m asking nicely, you know?" He asked again, this time a little half-heartedly, not expecting a satisfactory answer. It was still worth the try, though.

    Seth agilely moved around, explosions occurring behind him. He jumped from rubble to rubble, not taking this seriously at all, which only worked to infuriate Lev more.

    "Shut up and disappear!" It was ironic that the same person to monologue eternally was telling the other to shut up, but villains'' minds had their own thing going on.

    The atmosphere changed abruptly, a change reflected by Seth''s expression, that showed he wouldn''t be playing around anymore.

    "We do this the bad way, then." He stopped suddenly as the explosions were catching up to him. Opening his mouth, he absorbed all the gold dust into it.

    Not yet over, he breathed out the usual black fire into his palm. As if it was a cover hiding something, it revealed the same old wooden spear when it disappeared.

    "What are you going to do with that thing? Scratch my body until it breaks?" His voice, together with his many eyes, reflected plain mockery. He was surprised by Seth negating his attack like it was nothing, but that didn''t mean he felt fear.

    Contrary to Lev''s expectations, the Egyptian God nodded. "That''s the plan."

    The Demon God''s eyes showed the closest thing to surprise they could show. Before Lev could process what was happening, Seth disappeared like some sort of phantom.

    Reappearing beside him, he made a powerful thrust with his spear. However, like cotton hitting a rock, it did absolutely nothing. Not bothered by this, he repeated the process one more time.

    Lev tried to follow his movements, but every time he managed to set his gaze on him, he would reappear in another place. With every thrust, the spear showed signs of breaking.

    Flauros didn''t know what would happen the moment the weapon broke, but it gave him a sense of uneasiness. Of course, he would never admit to it.

    Not knowing how to cope with the situation, the Demon God decided to go all out. He was sure his King would be even more displeased with him after finding out he was having trouble dealing with a single weakened God.

    "Time for the Awakening has Come!" With those words, Lev''s red eyes glowed. Magical Energy got s.u.c.k.e.d from all around into his form.

    "Incineration Ceremony: Flauros." Purple pillars of energy, like some kind of geysers, shot out from the ground in random places. One of them was heading to Seth''s direction, but instead of dodging, he received the attack using the spear as a shield.

    While being propelled to the sky by Lev''s desperate attack, he noticed the weapon in its last line. Finally, getting to the dark sky above, he stopped and remained still on the air, looking down at the being resembling a cephalopod tentacle.

    After his failed attack, Lev gazed upon Seth''s unharmed figure with a feeling of dread.

    Feeling the weapon becoming restless, the black-haired man began to observe it. The cracks were radiating a blinding white light as if there was some sort of white sun hidden inside the spear.

    Just a few moments later, it became particles of white light that extended outward, only to immediately retract in Seth''s hand and forming a new weapon.

    A new spear was born��No, it was just its original form. A form that has been tainted by Seth''s Mana. However, no matter how much it gets corrupted, its will, will not waver, and its purpose, will not change.

    The spear had a black metal shaft as dark as night. A coiling, loose red ribbon, symbolizing the color of the Roman Empire, went from the base of the head to the butt-end of the spear. A white blade enclosed the tip. It contradicted the color of the shaft but also created some sort of harmony.

    The first thing the spear did was to...disappear Seth''s arm from existence.

    ''Good grief. You sure live up to your name of Holy Lance.'' He gave a tired sigh. The fact he was expecting something like this to happen made it more bearable, at least.

    Lev, who was watching from below, didn''t find comfort in the events, although he did rejoice in them. After everything he did, he couldn''t damage Seth in the slightest, but his arm was destroyed just by touching the spear.

    Returning to Seth, he took a deep breath before speaking in some language unknown to even Lev. As if this was some sort of ritual, a melody began playing out of nowhere. It was an advent of the creature that was to come.

    Seth''s face began to twitch a little like someone was stepping on an open wound of his, but he kept going nonetheless. The black tattoo-like markings on his body began throbbing as though they were alive.

    Lev knew that he couldn''t let whatever thing Seth was invoking come into existence. Without delay, he threw every attack at his disposal toward him. However, Flauros'' attacks didn''t travel much before vanishing.

    ''Come...my Sin.'' For a second, the world returned to light once again, only for it to get swallowed immediately after.

    The robed Skeleton finally materialized in this world, adorning its usual black, long garment. Its hood only covered the eyes, leaving only its snout to see. However, those eyes shined in flames, one red, and the other golden.

    He was holding a shadowy head in one hand, and an Ankh in the other. It gave an oppressive feeling that was hard to describe.

    Without warning, the spear aimed its tip at the Skeleton, before shooting a right of light at it. Despite that, the figure remained unfazed. When at attack hit, it did nothing. It was as if the attack never existed in the first place.

    The flames it had for eyes shined with intensity, seemingly annoyed for the weapon''s disrespect. ''Leave it. I didn''t call you here to argue with a scrap of metal.'' These words seemed to calm the Skeleton down, as it stopped looking at the spear and looked at Lev instead.

    The Demon God''s dread was apparent to anyone who set their gaze on him. That thing...that thing couldn''t possibly be real.

    Seth didn''t let him think much about it, though. Pouring his Mana through the link that he formed when he gave blood to the spear, he made the weapon lower itself while pointing at the creature below.

    "DAMN YOU!" Out of desperation, Lev attacked with everything he had once again. Only to achieve the same result as before, nothing.

    The spear began to shine in a golden white light, using this as the signal, Seth coated the spear with his black fire. However, as though it was purified, it soon became a fiery red.

    ''Rise above the clouds and light a fire in the sky.'' With the words spoken in his mind, the intensity of the spear''s flames increased as it did its power.

    ''The light that will resurrect the ashes of Eden.'' Little by little, the world was regaining its color.

    ''Bring forth the Rapture and drown all Evil.'' Spirits of the deceased rose from the earth to the sky.

    ''The Holy Lance tainted by Darkness.'' They all were welcomed in its grace, even if its core was different.

    ''Its name...''

    At this point, Lev recognized the weapon that was aiming at him. ''But that''s impossible! It was lost a long time��This era...!'' He suddenly came to a realization. "DAAAAMNNN YOUUUU!!!!"

    "LONGINUS!" With a shout that overshadowed Lev''s own. Seth kicked the butt-end of the spear, which flew down like a meteor of light.

    In less than a second, the spear traveled thousands of meters and pierced the Demon God''s body and stuck itself on the ground. At first, nothing happened, but moments later, the creature exploded, creating a mushroom cloud of considerable size.

    "..." The Evil God watched in silence, together with the figure behind him.

    When the explosion receded eventually, both descended to the ground, although the Skeleton was floating a few centimeters above it.

    Out of nowhere, Seth heard the sound of a spinning object. Not long after, Longinus landed in front of him. ''You blew up my arm, and now you return?'' Seth shook his head at the absurdity of the situation.

    "Follow me." Both the Skeleton and the spear floated behind him as Seth got closed to the ground zero.

    Funnily enough, Longinus didn''t destroy the landscape. It was like it couldn''t harm any of God''s creations.

    Seth stopped a few dozen meters away from a charred body. Still, even in that condition, it continued to move.

    ''I didn''t lose...I didn''t. It was just luck, yes! Luck! I only lost because I stayed too much time outside the Temple, that''s it!'' Lev didn''t want to face reality, he just tried to crawl away like a worm, his body regenerating little by little.

    He soon noticed Seth, and when he did, his eyes widened in terror. "Don''t come near me! Get away from me, you filthy creature!"

    Although it hurt his pride, Lev decided to escape to the Temple. However, that was the only thing Seth wouldn''t allow him to do.

    When he was about to exit the Singularity, thorny, black vines began to coil around him. No matter how much he tried to return to the Temple, he couldn''t.

    Looking back, he saw where the things that were binding him came from; it was that terrifying creature!

    Like some kind of portal, the vines were emerging from its stomach through the robes. "Now, now, Lev. I had a feeling it was going to come to this. I know your kind very well, you speak so high and mighty, but at the moment of truth, you are the first to run."

    "Shut up! Tell it to let me go!" Lev used everything he could to free himself to no avail. The vines kept pulling him even more. You could also find a sadistic glee in the flames-like eyes of the Skeleton.

    "Don''t be like that, different from me; he is not picky what he eats." Seth merely enjoyed his struggle with a calm smile on his face. It would be a lie if he said watching the end of people like Lev didn''t satisfy him.

    ''You will regret this humiliation...!'' He decided to try a different method. Giving up on his body, Lev used it to power the Holy Grail one more time.

    His body was transforming in particles of light that traveled to the sacred artifact hidden under his coat. Not before paying one last price, though.

    One of the vines tore one of his legs and then retracted itself and entered the Skeleton''s stomach, bringing the limb with it.

    "Arrghhhh!" Flauros gave its last shout of pain before finally fading away into the Grail. With nothing more to hold onto, the rest of the vines retracted too.

    The device, according to the will of its wielder, activated again to summon a Servant strong enough to rival Seth.

    Without any flashiness or delay, the Grail summoned said Heroic Spirit, who was going to face him.

    A woman. Beautiful red eyes like his, dusky skin like the people from his land filled with white marks, her gaze contained a chill like the coldest of winters.

    She was adorning a white piece of cloth that covered her c.h.e.s.t and groin, embroidered with black and red trimmings. It then extended to her t.h.i.g.hs, covering them like a skirt.

    Short white hair, covered by a veil of the same color that fell to her knees, lightly swaying with the wind.

    In her hand, a strange, futuristic, tricolored sword. Its handle looked like pincers that attached themselves to the blue, green, and red blade.

    Seth''s eyes widened, seeing this woman. Noticing the mood change in him, the Skeleton pierced the black-haired man''s back with its vines.

    Far from being hurt, his arm grew back faster than his current regeneration could do it. "Leave." Silently obeying, the Skeleton grabbed Longinus and disappeared. Strangely enough, he didn''t receive damage from touching it.

    He summoned his spear and walked toward the newly summoned Servant. The white-haired girl did the same.

    They only stopped when they were face to face. The girl looked up with her indifferent but powerful gaze while the man looked down with total seriousness.

    The tension was palpable; neither of the two wanted to lose this exchange of gazes. Seth was the first to speak; his voice completely cold.

    "What are you doing here, Sefar?"

    (A/N: Kind of an edgy chant, but cool nonetheless. Anyways, if you are wondering for the melody when spooky Skeleton showed up, it''s Ritual OST from Naruto Shippuden. It just fits so well in this type of situation. I love it.)

 Chapter 69 - ROMA DE ARU!

    Disaster. All around the Servant was a disaster. Fallen trees, destroyed walls, scorched earth, and many more were the result of the battle between Alexander and Zhuge Liang against Nero and the Chaldeans.

    "I think we did enough...don''t you agree?" Rider, who had different types of wounds on his body, asked Caster with a hurried breath. Bucephalus, his steed, was lying on the ground, dead.

    "I still don''t know why we went all out in this." El-Melloi was in similar conditions, albeit a little better since he fought from a distance. He didn''t like the state Alexander was in, the red that was usually reserved for his hair now painted his whole body.

    "Sorry about that." He gave his teacher a wry smile before continuing. "I suddenly...got the d.e.s.i.r.e to give it...my all." After saying that, his body began to release particles of light, meaning his return to the Throne Of Heroes was near.

    "No need to apologize. If it is your wish, I will do anything in my power to make it happen." With trembling arms, he took a cigarette out of his pocket to smoke one last time as he, too, was beginning to fade.

    "What are you two blabbering about there? I demand you tell me where Boudica is!" Nero demanded the two Servants. She didn''t look okay, her dress shredded in some parts, and she had visible cut marks on her body.

    "We already told you, she is in the fort safe and sound." Zhuge Liang said his last words before disappearing.

    "How will you turn out...I would like to...see that." Same as Caster, he vanished soon after.

    Nero gripped her sword tightly, "Shut up..." Her voice was so inaudible that even the Servants weren''t able to hear her.

    "Confirming enemy disappearance. Battle finished, good work, Senpai." Mash said after seeing the Servants no more.

    "Damn. That kid was a madman; he is even wilder than some of the knights back in my place." Cu Chulainn complained. He wasn''t hurt, but he, for sure, was annoyed.

    "You all did an excellent job, nonetheless. Now you only need to get Boudica back and then follow after Kuro." Romani''s hologram congratulated them before deciding the next plan of action.

    ''I can''t get used to the way they call him. His problem for not telling his name, I guess.'' Caster thought while slightly shaking his head.

    "We need to get moving and catch up to him." Fujimaru agreed with Dr. Roman. Despite having consecutive battles, it was an effort they had to do.

    "Are you okay?" Jeanne asked her counterpart. Their relationship was now at a stage where Jalter wouldn''t insult Ruler for talking to her, "Worry about yourself, not me, wimp." almost.

    "As the distant mage said, you did a good job. It seems the reward I have to give you is increasing." After a deep breath to regain her bearings, Nero directed her attention to them.

    Seeing as her attitude was a bit strange, Fujimaru asked if everything was fine, to which she responded that indeed it was. Although he didn''t push the matter further, he was still not convinced.

    He was a human, the same as her, with a massive burden behind his back. It would be a lie to say he didn''t understand what she was going through. But he also knew that everyone had their problems and he shouldn''t pry on them.

    With nothing else requiring their attention, they went inside the fortress. And as Rider said, Boudica was there, safe and sound, just sleeping.

    Caster was the one that undid the spell that Zhuge Liang had cast, waking her up. As soon as she opened her eyes, Nero hugged her. After a bit of reluctance and conflicting emotions flashing through her eyes, Boudica hugged her back.

    With the Queen safe, they could now finally go to the capital of the United Empire. Much to Nero''s disappointment, Rider decided to return to the camp and rearrange their troops to fight the scattered enemy groups.

    After a short rest inside the fortress, they departed. Seth left a while ago, so they needed to catch up fast.

    �D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D

    They had been running for quite some time now, Cu Chulainn carried Fujimaru and Jeanne carried Nero to get there as soon as possible.

    The atmosphere was awkward. It was not because the group didn''t have something to talk about; it was more like the world was urging everyone to keep silent.

    The sound of birds or any other animal was simply non-existent. You couldn''t even hear insects. It was as if they were the only people alive at the moment.

    "Let''s hurry. I have a bad feeling about this." Caster said, and Fujimaru, who was on his back, nodded, sharing his opinion.

    After running for some more time, the Chaldeans plus Nero finally arrived at the capital of the United Empire, or its ruins, to be more precise.

    "W-What in the name of Rome happened here?!" Nero practically shouted, seeing the state of the capital. She was not the only one who was surprised; everyone was.

    "It''s horrible...!" Mash eyes were wide open, especially because she could see some corpses in a not so ''complete'' state. Fujimaru decided to avert his gaze from this. He had gained a type of immunity to seeing people die, but that didn''t mean he was unfeeling.

    They never, not in a million years, expected to see the sight in front of them at their moment of arrival.

    "It looks like some type of catastrophe had struck it." Once he received visual data, Dr. Roman also got surprised. It was certainly not the ideal empire every enemy soldier talked about when they fought.

    "You are not far from the truth, Mage from Chaldea." A voice interrupted their thoughts. Dropping the two humans off their backs, both Ruler and Caster put themselves on guard, together with the others.

    "Who''s there?!" Nero looked around, trying to identify where the voice came from, to no avail.

    "So you are Nero? I have wanted to meet you, the successor of Rome." This time, the voice was louder, meaning he was closer to them than before.

    With a swing of his brush-looking spear, Romulus blew away the rubble that hid his figure from them. The moment Nero saw him, she started trembling, not because of his strength, but because of his identity.

    Instinctively, she knew who that man was, even if he hadn''t introduced himself yet. "H-How could it be...? No, I knew it. Inside of me, I had the feeling you were the one behind the United Empire." Even in her ''fear,'' the respect and awe in her voice couldn''t be hidden.

    "Rome awaited your arrival, although I would have preferred for it to be under different circ.u.mstances." His voice was slow and smooth, like he was talking to his daughter.

    "Do you know his identity, Nero?" Mash asked the girl that hadn''t taken her eyes off the big man since the first time she saw him.

    "Rome is Rome. As simple as that." It was Lancer the one who answered Mash question, in his way, that is.

    "You are...the Great Founder," Nero said, practically squeezing out her words. She may have had the feeling he was the one behind it all, but seeing him in person was shocking, nonetheless.

    Her heart wavered, together with her convictions. Who could blame her? It was the Great Founder! He created the empire she was currently governing, his legend outshining even the Gods themselves!

    When she compared herself to him, what was she? She couldn''t help feeling inferior to such an outstanding figure.

    ''It seems your words didn''t seek to deceive Rome, War God.'' Lancer thought while looking at the struggling Nero. Now, what was left was giving her the last chance to prove she was fit to be the ideal Emperor.

    Extending one hand forward, he spoke. "Come with me, Nero. I''m sure you realize that it is the best choice for you. There is no need to shed the blood of Rome''s children anymore."

    "I..." She didn''t know what to do. She acted so sure of herself in front of Alexander, but in front of that man, she couldn''t bring herself to do so.

    "What are you even saying, old man? There is nothing left of your Rome, or do you not see the situation around you?" Cu Chulainn may have looked like he was joking, but he was dead serious.

    The first Emperor fell silent while closing his eyes as if to find the appropriate words. "Rome is not a piece of stone, nor it is merely an Empire. Rome is humanity itself, as long as humans live and remember it, it will be eternal."

    Those last words from him seemed to seal Nero''s decision. "I''m an idiot, aren''t I? I forgot why I was fighting; I forgot my motivation. However, that is not who I am. With all the admiration I have for you, Great Founder, I''m sorry, but I still have to tell you this, I don''t care if it is you, the one who tells me to give up. If the people from Rome still love me, I will give my all for them."

    "There is nothing to apologize. You can do whatever you want, and Roma will still forgive you. Why? Because I''m Roma itself!" He could tell there were still doubts in her heart, but it was okay for now. She only needed to be herself, and if the people accepted her like that, there was nothing wrong with it.

    His declaration brought a smile on Nero''s face. "Thank you, Great Founder. I''m going to give it my all not to disappoint you and to show you that Rome you created is greater than before!"

    "Come, my child. Don''t hold back in the slightest!" Lacer''s Magical Energy spiked to incredible levels. Without a doubt, this was going to be one of the most challenging battles they have faced until now.

    "You are facing Romulus, son of the God Mars! Although I don''t sense any type of Divinity, you shouldn''t underestimate him!" Romani gave a last piece of advice before ending the transmission. He didn''t want to disturb them in battle, after all.

    "Even if you don''t tell us that, we can feel the power emanating from that guy." Cu Chulainn said to the now gone Romani.

    Romulus knew he didn''t have much time left, so he was the first to attack. Making use of his outstanding agility, he considerably cut the distance between them.

    As always, Mash and Jeanne went to the frontline to meet the incoming Servant. Ruler was the first to clash with Lancer, opting to take the full brunt of the attack herself.

    Jeanne took some steps back from the recoil with slight numbness on her arms, but otherwise, she was okay. Romulus didn''t stop there, however, as he went for a swing once again.

    This time, Mash was the one who took the attack. The lilac-haired girl raised her shield to meet the incoming spear, which impacted like a blunt weapon on it.

    "Gh!" Gritting her teeth, she felt to one knee, still with her shield raised. The ground beneath her feet caved in, signaling the strength behind the blow.

    "Hang in there, young lady!" Caster''s voice came from above them, putting two fingers together, he drew a line, creating Runes that rained fire upon Romulus.

    "Rome will not be destroyed by such tricks, Celtic Hero." Even in the middle of the battle, his deep, slow voice didn''t change.

    He stopped pressing his spear against Mash''s shield. Instead, he kicked it, sending the girl rolling on the ground together with her weapon.

    Quickly thrusting his spear on the ground, vines grew from the ground at an incredible speed, blocking Cu Chulainn''s attack.

    "Hey, hey. You can manipulate plants?! Isn''t that unfair?!" The Celtic Hero complained, making his companions look at him weirdly since he could do that too.

    "Rome is fair with all his children." After saying this, he lowered his spear horizontally to meet Nero''s slash from below. The clash created gusts of winds in every direction. Like razor blades, they destroyed the already ruined landscape.

    "I see you got help from that man to fight me. But that will not be enough, show me the power that belongs only to you!" With a powerful voice, accompanied by his eyes turning completely red, he threw her back with a swing of his spear. Aestus Estus didn''t offer any resistance against it.

    Luckily Nero could regain her balance before long. She didn''t suffer any damage, meaning it was just a warning given by Lancer.

    "Don''t get c.o.c.ky!" Jalter''s dislike for Romulus'' attitude was not small. She appeared at his side, ready to pierce him with the pointed tip of her flag.

    Lancer caught the flagpole with his free hand, effectively stopping her attack. However, when he raised his spear to hit Avenger, he noticed the smirk on her face.

    The Black Saint unsheathed her sword and met his spear, albeit with trouble. Her smile didn''t disappear, though. It was then that Romulus realized her plan.

    The already recovered Jeanne got in front of him, going for a thrust with her flag. The Divine Ancestor quickly let go of Jalter''s flagpole and jumped back. Sadly for him, Ruler managed to wound his waist, although slightly.

    It wasn''t over for him, though. Caster once again attacked him with his Runes, taking advantage of the fact he couldn''t use his spear to bring forth plants as he was in the air.

    Romulus was aware of this, so he decided to use his arm and weapon to block Cu Chulainn''s assault. Mini-explosions resounded on their little battlefield, creating a small smoke cloud from where lancer exited, sliding on the ground.

    His tanned arm was slightly scorched and releasing wisps of smoke. His spear, however, didn''t show any sign of damage.

    "I congratulate you, warriors from the future." Romulus'' said after checking the negligible damage he suffered. "However, it is time. It is time to teach you that this...IS ROME!"

 Chapter 70 - The First Of Many

    Romulus'' Magical Energy increased like he was about to release his Noble Phantasm, but instead, he charged against the group. This time, however, his speed was many times greater than the previous time he did so.

    Same as before, Jeanne and Mash went to meet the incoming enemy. Contrary to their expectations, the result was different this time.

    Lancer swung his spear in quick succession and sent Ruler and Shielder flying without resistance. Jalter appeared in front of him immediately after he did so. However, she didn''t try to fight him head-on. Instead, she chose to use hit and run tactics.

    It was difficult to keep using the same strategy, especially considering Romulus was equally or even faster than her. Luckily, she had cover fire from Caster whenever Lancer found an opening between her attacks.

    ''Caster, do you see possible the usage of your Noble Phantasm?'' Amid his continuous barrage on Romulus, Cu Chulainn heard his Master''s voice through their link.

    ''I don''t know. We haven''t seen the full extent of that guy''s abilities yet. Plus, he showed us he could control plants. Him having countermeasures against my Noble Phantasm is possible.'' Although he split his concentration to respond to Fujimaru, he kept helping Jalter as much as he could.

    Soon enough, Nero joined Avenger. She attacked with extreme carefulness, though. The Emperor was aware of the fact that one hit of the Great Founder could hurt her badly.

    ''I think our best option would be to catch him off guard and trap him in your Wooden Giant before Avenger uses her own Noble Phantasm to finish him off.'' Fujimaru continued his talk with Cu Chulainn. He, as always, observed the battle from a relatively safe distance.

    ''It''s not as easy as you think, y''know? We would have to surprise him by wounding him or after he had used his full power. Although I don''t know if we would be alive after that.'' The Sage of the Forest didn''t have many positive thoughts about the outcome of this fight.

    The Japanese youth released a sigh. This thing about being a Master was not easy at all. He wondered if the enemies they were going to face would be equally powerful. Who was he kidding? They, for sure, would be more powerful.

    ''Just be alert, don''t hesitate to take all the Magical Energy you need if you see the opportunity to corner that man.'' After saying this, he returned his full concentration on the battle.

    His only Servants here were Cu Chulainn and Mash, and the Celtic Hero was fighting from a distance, so he needed to be ready to use his Mystic Code in case Shielder got wounded.

    Returning to the fight, Nero and Jalter continued fighting Romulus, but the man in question was getting used to their little tricks.

    Lancer did a strange maneuver, making it as if he was going to attack Nero with his spear, but he used his fist to hit Jalter''s c.h.e.s.t armor instead.

    The Black Saint, being hit by Romulus, was thrown back at incredible speeds. Fortunately for her, Jeanne caught her before she could travel any further. Of course, giving the force of the impact, she was pushed back a little, leaving a deep trail on the ground.

    "Are you okay?" Once they stopped their movement stopped, Jeanne asked her counterpart.

    ''Oh yes, totally fine, he walloped me like a damn truck in my c.h.e.s.t, nothing much.'' ... is the sarcastic response she would like to say, but she simply responded with an "I''m fine," this time.

    Both girls returned their attention to the battle. Mash had filled the space left by Jalter, although she offered a little defense and zero attacks.

    At this point, Romulus was beginning to ignore them and was getting closer to Cu Chulainn. After all, he was the only one that could safely attack him.

    Caster also understood this, so every time Lancer got closer, he would jump back while continuously assaulting him with his Runes.

    Without delay, the two girls joined the fight again to lessen the burden Nero and Mash were having. With three Servant in the mix, now things improved again.

    As always, Mash concentrated on defending, Jalter and Nero focused on attacking, and Jeanne did both but supported more.

    This limited Cu Chulainn''s help, however, as he had to be extra careful not to hit his allies, considering they were near Romulus all the time.

    The man in question had been silent since a while ago, only focusing on attacking. In fact, he was only doing that, like he had entered some sort of frenzy. He even ''attacked the attacks'' he received from Caster, instead of blocking them. It was as if there was no other thing in his mind apart from attacking.

    This strange situation allowed them to wound Romulus, but also made him hit harder than before. Bruises were becoming a common thing in their bodies. Not even Mash was safe since Lancer always found a way to bypass her shield sooner or later.

    Nero, who had been silent all this time, only focusing on defeating her predecessor, also noticed the abnormal behavior. However, she didn''t have the luxury to think about it, one false step, and she would be gravely injured, if not dead.

    ...

    They kept battling for a long time, so much that the young Emperor was starting to feel tired. However, she continued to push on, no matter what.

    As if in a cue, everyone separated, gaining a considerable distance. As Nero was just a human, she got pulled back by Jeanne.

    All of a sudden, every Servant felt a weird sensation course throughout their bodies. Although, if one needed to choose the most ''affected'' by this, then it would be Ruler.

    They momentarily turned their heads to the distant capital, more concretely, above it. There, a light illuminated the otherwise dark sky.

    Unknowingly to Jeanne, tears were streaming down her face like she was witnessing a miracle. She took this as some sort of revelation, one on how they could beat their enemy.

    Quickly wiping the tears from her eyes, Jeanne looked at her counterpart. "I have a plan, would you hear me out?" She spoke in a barely audible voice, so only Avenger could hear.

    Jalter saw the red in her eyes and wondered what had happened in the short time she was looking at the light. However, she decided not to think about it and slowly nodded, motioning her to continue.

    Jeanne then proceeded to tell Avenger her plan, when she finished, the Black Saint was looking at her strangely before grinning as if she was pleased. "If that''s what you want, who am I to deny it?"

    She couldn''t help but wryly smile, seeing her companion being so ready to execute the plan. "Let''s hurry. I don''t know what his Noble Phantasm is, but we can''t let him use it."

    With her eyes filled with conviction, she turned to Caster. Said Servant, who felt someone was looking at him, turned to look at her.

    The Saint moved her lips, forming words, but she preferred not to speak, so the others didn''t know about what she was about to do, knowing full well they would be against it.

    Cu Chulainn widened his eyes in surprise the moment he understood what she was trying to convey to him, before merely giving a sigh and nodding to signal she could count on him.

    Not wasting any time, both Saints darted at Romulus, who at this point had stopped looking at the light in the sky. Mash was surprised by their sudden action but followed them nonetheless. Nero, who managed to rest if only a little, also did the same.

    The light seemed to have calmed Lancer''s frenzy down as he smiled at the incoming Servants and Emperor. "Show Rome your will, your spirit!" He didn''t wait for them to come to him, deciding to charge at them instead.

    The moment they clashed, an explosion of immeasurable proportions happened in the distant capital. However, no one paid any attention to it. Romulus knew for sure it was Seth battling Lev, while the others assumed it was him fighting against whatever he said he would.

    Like that, they resumed their previous battle. The only difference was Caster, not attacking. Instead, he was preparing to use his Noble Phantasm.

    After exchanging hundreds of blows, Romulus received an attack courtesy from Cu Chulainn. Taking this as the signal, Jeanne and Jalter made eye contact before nodding.

    When Lancer swung his spear, intending to hit the Saint. However, contrary to his expectations, she didn''t try to dodge, opting to let herself be hit by it.

    Jeanne quickly grabbed his spear, to avoid the outcome of shooting like a rocket to the skies. Even so, blood flowed from her mouth, showing the blow she received was no laughing matter.

    Romulus'' surprise didn''t end there. Jalter pierced Jeanne''s stomach with her flag. Her weapon continued its way until piercing Lancer''s own.

    Mash and Fujimaru were horrified by this sight. However, Nero, who only saw the Great Founder being distracted, stabbed her sword in his waist. The destructive nature of her flames, coupled with the wildness of the winds created havoc inside his body.

    Despite that, Avenger and Caster knew it wouldn''t be enough to take Romulus down.

    Jalter took her hands off her flag and grabbed Mash and Nero before throwing them out of the way, with her retreating soon after.

    ? "Burn them completely, Giant of all trees."

    Immediately, a circle of fire surrounded the Divine Ancestor and the Saint. From it, a wooden hand emerged and grabbed them both in its deadly grip.

    ��Wicker Man!��.?

    The rest of the body quickly followed, throwing the two in the cage he had for a stomach. Without delay, the Wooden Giant began to burn.

    ''Quite ironic of me, to die again by burning...'' Jeanne thought as the flames were engulfing her. ''I''m sorry I couldn''t be of much help, Master.''

    Different from Romulus, who was resisting, she chose to die willingly with a smile on her face.

    ''Rome admires your bravery, little girl.'' Lancer was undoubtedly in awe for her decision to sacrifice herself so they could hurt him.

    Only when she returned to the Throne of Heroes did Romulus use his spear to try and break free from the Wicker Man.

    However, Avenger wouldn''t waste such an opportunity. Skipping her chant and going directly to her Noble Phantasm''s True Name, she poured every bit of Magical Energy she could on it.

    ��La Grondement Du Haine!��

    Pointing her black sword at the Wooden Giant, a dragon''s breath-like attack shot toward it. When it hit, enormous stakes rose from the ground and pierced its stomach, and in consequence, Romulus.

    An attack that dealt more damage the more allies died. It was unquestionably the ideal time to use it, considering Jeanne had just perished.

    The impaling and burning lasted for a good couple of seconds. When it finished, Romulus fell to the ground but managed to land on his feet.

    ''You are joking, even with all that he is still not dead?!'' Cu Chulainn couldn''t believe what he was seeing. They hit him with two Noble Phantasms in a row, you know!

    "Nero, come here." The bloody and badly burned Romulus motioned the Emperor to come, which she did.

    "Wait, Nero. It''s dangerous!" Mash momentarily lost her stupor and shouted for the blonde-haired girl to stop, but was ignored.

    When she was in front of him, Lancer removed Aestus Estus that was still stabbing him and gave it to her. She took her sword back, without removing her eyes from Romulus'' own.

    "You did an excellent job. Working together to beat a stronger enemy, that in itself is glorious." He soon began to fade in particles of light, with her listening attentively to his words.

    Patting her head with the warmness of a father, he left his last words before disappearing. "Rome is proud of you. What I built with my own hands...I entrust it to you."

    Emotions overcame the young Emperor, who started crying while hugging herself. "Yes, I will not let you down!"

 Chapter 71 - The Umbral Star

    ~Seth''s Original World~

    It happened thousands of years ago when the world didn''t have any civilization aside from that of the Gods. A threat capable of destroying and consuming the life those same Gods had just barely created reached Earth.

    An alien star from far away, whose only purpose was terminating the life of whatever planet with civilization it managed to encounter.

    That star sent three beings to the planet in the hope of destroying every being in it. However, before those three got past the clouds, they were intercepted.

    Sea of Japan

    "Err... These fellas are comin'' here like they own the place. I ain''t got time to deal with this." A black-haired man with a toothed katana said while taking wax out of his ear. He had a blue shirt that only covered part of his torso, white pants, and a bamboo hat.

    "Shut up. I didn''t want to be here either. Now, will you scram from atop of my head, or do I have to eat you alive?" An enormous, green dragon with two horns and two whiskers asked the little man, with an incredibly deep voice.

    "Ya trynna be funny, Snake Head? ''Cause I wanna have some new katana right now." The man''s voice was lazy, but at the same time, threatening. The sky turned dark as thunder rumbled across the area.

    "Heh. Why don''t you try it, you caveman? I''m sure your Gods will pay handsomely to get your head back from my stomach." The sea below went wild with his words, like it had become alive.

    In front of them, a giant and mysterious figure observed these two beings bicker among themselves. However, that didn''t last long as the titanic creature opened its mouth before firing a white beam at the two.

    Contrary to what one may expect, the Dragon and the man were alert the whole time. The katana-wielder simply waved his weapon and dispersed the attack.

    "Ain''t that rude? You gotta respect when others are talking. Doncha agree, AK?" He lazily looked at the Dragon below him.

    "Hmph. For once, I agree with you, brat of the storms. Let''s kill this trash here first, or we would be the laughing stock of the other Gods if we kill him last." The Dragon''s itch to devour the figure in front of him was apparent for all to see.

    Gulf of Mexico

    A green serpent, hundreds of meters tall, was observing the figure of a girl that got dwarfed by his size. It had feathered, multicolored wings and a mane made out of red and green leaves. Rocky protrusions extended throughout his whole body as if it was an exoskeleton.

    Different from the last place, this creature was the only one here.

    "Why do you seek the destruction of this planet?" The giant serpent asked after a long staring contest. His voice sounded like a whisper.

    "..." No response.

    "You have no chance of winning. Please reconsider it, youngling." He tried to reason with her so they could avoid having to fight.

    "..." Again, no response.

    "Return from where you came. There is no need to hurt a land that is prospering." He gave her a last warning, hoping this time she could reconsider her intentions.

    This time, he got a response. However, that response was a blast to his face. Smoke covered the upper part of his body, which dispersed over time, revealing the unharmed serpent.

    "Very well. My kindness has a limit, and you just overcame it." His voice was not calm anymore. Now, it reflected his fury, and the world trembled with it.

    Ionian Sea

    "Wahahaha! Isn''t it great? We can fight again! How long has it been since I''ve last seen battle-sweat?!" A man with a horned helmet laughed loudly. He had ginger hair and beard, wore a red cape that fluttered with the wind. He didn''t have anything to cover his upper body, showing well-defined muscles with black tattoo-like markings. He had a metal belt and tassets over green pants, from it, descended the famous ''crotch-flap.'' Two golden and black gauntlets, one on each side. In his right hand, he was holding a small hammer surrounded by lightning.

    "There is no need to be that excited. Save your enthusiasm for when we have to destroy that thing that is hovering above the planet." Seth, in his animal form, rolled his eyes at the man.

    "What are you saying, old friend? We''ve known each other for so long. I know you are also thrilled to fight!" The man didn''t feel discouraged by his words. By the looks of it, nothing could ruin his fun today.

    The Egyptian God simply smiled at being found out. "Heh. I just hope it doesn''t end in a second. Otherwise, me coming here would be meaningless."

    "Wahaha, don''t be like that! You can come with me to Valhalla and drink until we pass out or fight until we both collapse like we always do!" The Viking-looking God offered Seth, but just then, another Deity joined the battlefield.

    "You uncivilized muscle-heads, when are you going to take this seriously?" A storm cloud approached their location, and with it, an incredible pressure began to engulf the area.

    "Stop opening your teeth house and come here, old God." The hammer-wielder furrowed his brows, his mood not as happy as before.

    "I need not show my form in front of you two, nor this alien threat." A response filled with disdain was all that he got.

    "Where is your mind''s worth? You are a shame as a ring-giver." To him, someone who hid from a battle was nothing more than a coward and didn''t deserve the title of King.

    "Don''t be so surprised, Thor. I bet he is just here to run away from his wife''s wrath. Isn''t that right, Zeus? How much time did you stay loyal to Hera? One day? That''s a new record for you! Hahaha!" Seth didn''t have any trouble mocking the old God, even going as far as laughing at him, something Thor did too.

    "Hey, old man. Do you want to meet some victory-maiden? I already introduced some to Seth, but I don''t know if they are into people with back problems. Wahaha!" Both Gods fist-bumped while continuing to mock Zeus.

    "SILENCE!" Multiple bolts of lightning fell from the sky, and the world quivered at his power. However, Thor and Seth just laughed while holding their stomachs, not caring about him at all.

    That was until the last of the three beings sent by the star appeared in front of them. As if someone had flipped a switch, the three stopped their ''banter.''

    "Let''s do this!" With Thor''s exhilarated shout, the battle began.

    Three days, that was the duration of the fight. A number that means nothing compared to their lifespan. The result? An overwhelming victory for the Gods.

    In the Sea of Japan, the Male Titan was cut in half and then devoured by the Dragon. In the Gulf of Mexico, the Female Titan was torn to shreds by the giant serpent''s strong winds. In the Ionian Sea, the final Titan was scorched to death by fire and lightning.

    "You dragged this unnecessarily. I should have helped the others instead of you." Leaving behind those words, Zeus returned to Olympus still without showing himself. He hoped Hera had calmed down by now.

    "Big talk for someone who did nothing." Seth shook his head in disp.l.e.a.s.u.r.e. The only comfort he had was that Hera was going to kick his a.s.s for sure.

    "Did you find something?" Thor was already used to Zeus'' personality, so he paid it no mind. He wanted to know if they at least got something out of this fight.

    "I could get in her mind for a bit before she kicked me out. However, I only got her name and from where she comes. Supposedly, she is named Sefar and belongs to an alien star called Velber, the one that is above us." Seth told the Norse God what little he could find.

    Thor grinned widely. "Are you up to wreak havoc inside that thing?"

    "Why do you ask if you already know the answer." He gave him a battle-hungry smile as he turned to the sky, more concretely, space.

    The two Gods then ascended even higher, quickly exiting Earth. What awaited them was a big eye surrounded by metallic, petal-like armor.

    Without delay, they shot toward one part of its body, and when they did so, Velber finally noticed them. However, by that point, it was too late.

    Thor and Seth rampaged inside the star for days. No matter how many times it activated its defensive mechanisms, it couldn''t stop them.

    When they eventually reached the core, its eye, the two used their most potent attacks, Asgard''s Wrath and World''s End, respectively.

    The combination of their assault created an explosion that threw them like a rocket into space. After a long while, Thor and Seth crashed into different asteroids.

    ''We overdid it...'' Was the thought in both of their minds when they exited the giant pieces of rock.

    On Earth''s atmosphere, a brown-skinned man with four arms and three eyes was watching the explosion that was nearing the planet and would engulf it if no one did anything to prevent it.

    "Do you still not understand? Destruction is pointless if you gain nothing from it. I hope you find the correct answer soon, little brother." The man let out a regretful sigh before extending one of his hands forward. Like a black hole, it absorbed the whole explosion, returning tranquility to the world.

    With nothing more to do, he returned to Earth, followed soon after by the other two.

    Just like that, an alien threat capable of destroying the whole civilization of a planet perished at the hands of a minor group of Gods.

    �D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D

    "What are you doing here, Sefar?" Those memories from a battle that happened long ago made him ask this question.

    The girl frowned slightly at the mention of that name. It was a name she haven''t heard before, but for some reason, it wasn''t unfamiliar with her.

    "My name is not Sefar. I''m a warrior of the Hun, she who people call ''The Scourge of God,'' nothing more." She emotionlessly replied while still locking eyes with him.

    ''No wonder Kingslayer is reacting to her. So she is Attila, I should get used to this genderbending nonsense sooner or later.'' He thought as he examined her from head to toe.

    "You even have Mars'' real sword with you." The Thone of Heroes sure did wonders just with what people believed. He wondered what the extent of its power was.

    "Marc��Mars'' sword was something I obtained during my lifetime. There is nothing wrong with it." The first name Attila said made Seth''s mouth twitch slightly. To think she would call him that, he could barely contain himself from praising her from coming up with that name.

    The King of the Huns then looked around, taking in the scenario that was so familiar to her. "Is this...Rome?" She asked monotonously.

    "You can say it is a copy of Rome. What you see is the result of what I caused not long ago." Seth unhesitantly admitted his ''crime'' much to Saber''s surprise.

    "If you destroyed it...why was I summoned?" She was a tool meant to annihilate. What was the point of her being here if there was no civilization to obliterate?

    "A Demon sacrificed his body and the rest of his energy to the Grail and called you here so that you could kill me." Now that he knew she was not Sefar, he spoke without much care in the world. Although the similarities slightly gave him mixed feelings.

    "I see..." Her reply was short and concise, showing that she didn''t care much about it. She then turned her attention to his spear. "Your weapon...it resembles my sword."

    Attila was not referring to the shape, but the feeling they gave off, making her wonder which were the similarities between them.

    "That''s because it belonged to a certain God of War from a faraway land. Accompanying him in his demise, it lost most of its powers." He gently c.a.r.e.s.sed the shaft with its thumbs. Truly something��no, someone who stayed with him until the very end.

    "Who was him?" The fondness she had for Mars when she was born made her interested in this topic, even if her voice lacked emotion or some grade of interest, for the matter.

    "None other than me." There was no harm in her knowing, so he didn''t have any problems telling her.

    Saber furrowed her brows slightly, confused by his reply. "Your Divinity is...low. You don''t seem to be a God." Her words didn''t seek to mock him, but to state a fact.

    When Seth opened his mouth to speak, he noticed Ruler''s death. Like some sort of film, the last memories Jeanne experienced began playing in his mind.

    ''To think you went as far as to do that. It seems I underestimated you, Ruler.'' While her death didn''t sadden him in the slightest, it earned a little of his respect.

    "Before that, are you willing to fight me, Saber?" He wouldn''t get serious if she didn''t want to fight, after all.

    "Why?" They were just talking. She didn''t understand the sudden question.

    "Remember when I told you this was a copy of Rome? The real one is out there, ready for you to destroy." Now, THIS caught Attila''s attention.

    Her expression became cold and unfeeling. "Where is it?" Her emotionless tone had an icy edge to it.

    "Defeat me, and I will tell you." Those words seemed to be the trigger. Immediately, Saber moved her sword, aiming for his neck.

    He blocked her weapon with his spear, his lips curving into a faint smile. "That''s more like it."

    ''I hope your prediction is not wrong, Stargazer.'' He had used a grand part of his Mana to summon that Skeleton, although he still had more to spare, against her, he wondered if it would be enough.

    One by one, he activated every ability at his disposal. Lastly, he stopped repressing his Divinity. With his eyes turning golden in color, the world was engulfed in a chaotic darkness like it was the end of times.

    This battle would be the most difficult one he has ever had up until now. However, far from being nervous, he was looking forward to it, for old time''s sake.

    (A/N: Thor uses Kennings btw. In case you don''t understand)

 Chapter 72 - The Joy Of Battling

    ''Jalter, tell the others to return to Rome. If they don''t obey, you can use your Noble Phantasm on them. I trust I don''t need to use a Command Spell to make you do me this favor?'' Before starting the battle, Seth sent Avenger a last message.

    ''Of course not, your wishes are orders.'' Even though he couldn''t see her, he understood she was in a pretty good mood right now.

    Finishing his talk with her, Seth returned his attention to Attila. By activating Shapeshift A, another pair of long ears grew from his head like antennas, in addition to a thin forked tail. If he had bothered to practice with this skill, he could have activated without showing animal traits, or at least just one.

    Seeing the animal ears that twitched occasionally, Saber''s face did the same, albeit slightly. She thought those cute��cough, atrocious ears were part of some dastardly plan to distract her!

    After that, he used Flames Of The Evil God C to coat his spear. Attila didn''t have the Evil Alignment, so using the ability to defend was useless, but as she had the Good Alignment, using it to empower his spear was optimal.

    He could use the ability to form a type of armor and improve his overall power, but the cost of that was no joke. No matter if he liked it or not, his body was human. Using divine flames felt like your soul was tearing itself apart. He was only willing to use it on his hands for shorts periods.

    Lastly, he activated the ability that put the most pressure upon Saber, Kingslayer EX. A red aura covered his body, making it seem like it was burning.

    Everything happened in just a few seconds, seconds in which they were just quietly staring at each other.

    "Let''s test if you deserve that sword, King of the Hun." ''...And if you have what I seek.'' He added in his mind.

    "My objective is Rome''s destruction." She wasn''t interested in whether she deserved her sword or not. Her only purpose was the downfall of the Roman Empire.

    "Then come and get its location from me." Finally, their weapons separated, only to clash again. They repeated the same actions several times.

    The two warriors eventually distanced themselves, without a single scratch on their bodies. Not even a second after, they immediately darted at each other.

    However, before they clashed, Saber extended the Sword of Mars forward. The weapon morphed and became something akin to a whip that coiled around Seth''s wrist.

    Attila then pulled her sword back, bringing the black-haired man with it. When he was in striking distance, she went for a kick to his head.

    Seth moved his head to the side to dodge her kick, but her hill still left a thin line on his cheek. Seeing as her attack didn''t work, she spun in mid-air and released the grip her sword had on him.

    The Egyptian God was thrown in the air but managed to stabilize himself pretty quickly. Running his finger over the small wound, he healed it instantly.

    Pointing the five fingers of his free hand at Saber, flaming serpents shot from each one of them, aiming to get a taste of her flesh.

    She jumped back, continuously trying to get away from them, but they still kept the chase no matter how much she retreated.

    After doing a big jump into the air in an attempt to get rid of their pursuit, Seth appeared suddenly above her, swinging his spear vertically.

    The Scourge of God raised her sword and put her idle hand on the blade for extra support.

    "Kuh!" When the weapons met, Attila couldn''t help but release a low grunt due to the heaviness of the attack. Like a bird without wings, she quickly fell to the ground.

    Luckily for her, with Seth''s attack, the serpents disappeared. Even so, she wouldn''t take this lying down. Jumping again on Seth, who was descending, she went for a quick stroke to his c.h.e.s.t.

    Taking advantage of his weapon''s length, he deviated Saber''s sword before it could harm him. She quickly swung her sword again only to be met with the same outcome.

    Like that, they exchanged hundreds of blows with no one getting the upper hand. When they were about to hit the ground, they used each other as support to create some distance between them.

    "You use that sword like an extension of your arm. It''s truly remarkable." While not at Mars'' level in terms of swordsmanship, she didn''t bring shame to his weapon at all.

    "Your skills...I acknowledge them. However, I will show no mercy to those that stand in my way." She may admire his ability with the spear, but an enemy was an enemy.

    ''Playtime...is over.'' Both shared the same thinking. At that moment, something changed in the atmosphere of the dark, cold, and unfeeling world.

    The two warriors vanished, only to reappear hundreds of meters from their location. Like before, they clashed with their weapons. Yet, something was different now.

    Previously, the only outcome was the sound of a spear and a sword colliding. Now, each of their attacks ruined the already damaged landscape.

    It had become an unshackled fight, a fight that will only leave destruction on its wake. However, to both, that wasn''t a bad thing.

    Attila and Seth were very familiar with destruction. It wasn''t something they liked, but it formed part of their lives. That''s why, more than anyone, they knew that ''beauty'' existed within it.

    It was that reason that allowed their weapons to elegantly move as if they were dancing, while still bringing devastation to what surrounded them.

    Their bodies shared this trait, moving with extreme flexibility. Although unconventional in a traditional fight between a spear and a sword, they both used whatever they could, be it kicks, punches, or even headbutts.

    To them, the outside world had disappeared, and only they remained. It was the warrior''s mentality they possessed, and the one they followed.

    It got to a point where they only focused on finding the best way to wound their opponent, not caring for anything else. Even as that was happening, they were still growing stronger.

    Their sheer Magical Energy was making the earth tremble, and it didn''t show signs of decreasing, even going as far as to increase with each passing second.

    The strength behind their blows was also increasing, together with their speed. It even got to a point where all one could see were blurs.

    Little by little, both began to receive small wounds in various parts of their bodies. However, they paid it no mind and continued their dance of destruction.

    ''Faster...even faster...'' Was the thought on their minds. Neither of the two wanted to be the one losing, so they gave it everything they''ve got.

    Saber recurred to using her Star Emblem to power her attacks, something which Seth found fair. After all, he has been using three skills at the same time. Plus, his natural ability to regenerate.

    Something interesting he found was, Attila could also heal herself using one of her skills. It was glorious! They could be even that way, something that he wanted, no, he d.e.s.i.r.ed.

    His fight against Berserker, an enemy he faced when he was something akin to a low-level Servant, and he wasn''t even a proper foe. Although he was a little excited to fight as the usual him after so long, he has to admit.

    His fight against Saber, someone he knew it would be challenging to face as the current him at that time, but he knew he would win.

    His fight against Jalter, he found in her the perfect chance to awaken his sin. That''s why he let her hit him with her Noble Phantasm. Sadly, that overconfidence costed him. It was a miscalculation on his part, thinking his current body would withstand it. The result? His defeat.

    But it was different against Attila. She was extremely powerful on her own but was being buffed by the Holy Grail to boot. An enemy on his level, where he didn''t know if he would be killed or would emerge victorious.

    It was the reason he didn''t want it to end, but at the same time, he refused to hold back. He would even go as far as to use his Authority.

    ...

    Hours after hours, Saber and Seth fought fiercely, going from one place to another. One was a girl fighting for the sole reason of her existence, while the other was a man doing it to take back what he had lost.

    Every ability of his had ended long ago. As much as he wanted, he couldn''t keep them up forever. However, that was fine in itself. The time to fight as a human was over. Now, it was time to fight as something more, as...a God.

    Attila''s Divinity clashed against his. One she obtained through crushing the Roman Empire and people believing it to be a show of God''s might.

    She didn''t feel envy toward him. That only left three of his Authorities to power up; Disorder, Violence, and Chaos. Unfortunately, the latter was too much to handle even for his original self. Using it was out of the question.

    Storms wouldn''t help him in a one versus one, that left Fire, and Wind he got because of Typhoon. With that in mind, he absorbed the disorder and violence generated in their fight to replenish his Mana, while using a combination of Fire and Wind to attack.

    Saber wasn''t one to lose. She used her markings, The Emblem Of The Star, to enhance her performance by expending as much Magical Energy as she could at a time. Additionally, she used Mars'' sword to its full extent, or the most she could bring out of it.

    In the middle of battle, as they collided with their weapons, Attila slightly frowned. "Why is it...why do you want to fight?" Her voice didn''t change, as if she wasn''t tired at all by their continuous confrontation.

    "I hope you can give me the answer to that question. How about you? Why do you fight?" Seth went for a thrust with his spear, aiming for her c.h.e.s.t.

    The Scourge of God sidestepped, successfully dodging the attack. It didn''t stop, though. The black flames coating the spear, which were powered by the wind, continued on their path, creating a line of scorched and ruined earth.

    "Destruction...is the only thing I know." Saber pointed her sword at his head. From it shot a beam with the same colors as her blade that Seth dodged by arching his head back. The beam continued its trajectory, creating an explosion of considerable dimensions when it landed.

    Her tone made it look as if she was telling someone her name, just a simple fact. However, he understood that there was more to it. He understood the hidden emptiness she felt behind those seemingly simple words.

    How could he not? After all, he was the same as her, someone who was brought to this world to destroy. To make sure ''slaves'' with enough power don''t try to overthrow the Gods, and to work as the perfect weapon in case the time came for an all-out war against other Pantheons.

    People like them didn''t need beautiful words like, ''You can use your hands for something other than killing.'' Or ''There is good in your heart, I assure you.'' And even the funniest of them all, ''You are not a monster.''

    They drown themselves in what they repudiate so much they end up liking it, or at least not bothered by it anymore. To get out of that cycle, you have to do it by yourself, without the help of someone else.

    That''s why

    "Let''s destroy to our heart''s content, shall we?" He gave her a gentle smile he haven''t done in ages. She responded with a small smile of her own. "Yes."

    It was something so simple and, at the same time, so complicated. Even so, Seth finally remembered the thing that he lost way back before his death.

    The joy of battling.

 Chapter 73 - Thank You

    "Let''s change our battlefield." With the same smile still present on his face, he snapped his fingers. A Magic Circle appeared beneath their feet, teleporting them away from their place.

    Their new location was the Leyline the Chaldeans visited to get supplies and where Seth prepared some countermeasures in the case he faced against a strong enough opponent, Mt. Etna.

    "I hope you don''t mind the new scenery. I brought us closer to Rome; I''m sure you will be able to see it from here." Seth said to Attila, and indeed, to their side, there was a tiny dot in the distance that she identified as Rome.

    "...Why?" She didn''t understand. Wasn''t he supposed to get in her way to protect Rome? Why would he take her near it?

    "Heh. Think of it as just a gift from my part; don''t trouble yourself with it." He didn''t mention it was a double-edged gift, though. Generosity didn''t run in his veins, after all.

    "I see..." That was the only answer she could give in response to his actions. She didn''t know what else to say. "Even so, if you are still an enemy, I won''t hold back." At least now, her tone didn''t have that coldness when speaking to someone that was in her way.

    "I wouldn''t want any less." Seth decided to take a different approach this time, using his spear with two hands instead of one. "Be careful." With a warning, he vanished from his position.

    Saber''s eyes widened. By instincts more than anything, she blocked a thrust that came from behind her. Quickly turning around, she blocked another.

    Not wanting to be outdone, she counterattacked by hitting the side of the spear and deviating it from her, she then transformed it into a whip that attached itself around his neck.

    Seth simply changed the position of his hands and making use of the momentum of the spear he brought the tip backward.

    Without delay, he assaulted her multiple times with the butt-end of his weapon. Saber managed to dodge some of them but was eventually hit in the c.h.e.s.t and thrown back.

    He had her sword attached to his neck, so he got pulled by it. Fortunately, the white-haired girl transformed her weapon back into its original form unconsciously, freeing him.

    Taking advantage of this, he made a series of striking combinations. Saber bounced like a ball, only to be struck down again by him like they were repeating a scene.

    This situation continued until Attila pierced Seth''s stomach in between one of his attacks. She didn''t stop there, though. With her sword still inside him, she released a beam that exited from his back before kicking him into the air to gain some distance.

    Saber got up while panting slightly. She didn''t expect him to go crazy like that suddenly. It wasn''t that he was more powerful; he was just...different. The pattern she got used to completely changed like she was fighting a different person.

    Regaining his balance, Seth landed on the ground while holding his stomach, blood trickling down from his mouth. Looking at his wound, he noticed he was almost not regenerating at all.

    He visibly frowned while cl.i.c.k.i.n.g his tongue inside his mind. ''Tch. You dumb s.l.u.t, can''t you choose another time to stop working?''

    He sighed profusely, although he ended up coughing in the process. This moment was a joyous one. There was no need to get upset because of a damn harlot.

    Getting up, he locked eyes with Attila. "You sure are a formidable opponent, Scourge of God." It made him remember again the time where Thor and him (F.u.c.k Zeus) fought against Sefar.

    ''I wonder how you are doing, stupid drunkard.'' Those were the good times, but they were long past, nevertheless. Now, each one had their own lives.

    "You too...my sword can''t destroy you." It was hard to express it, something she found uncomfortable. She didn''t ''feel'' while she was alive; that''s the reason she couldn''t put it into words.

    Any random person would describe what she was feeling as relief. Relief that the hands that only knew destruction found something they couldn''t destroy.

    With a short laugh that only worked to aggravate his injuries, he replied. "It''s not completely true; look at me. The only difference is that I''m still alive after your first swing."

    "That is fine." Leaving behind words that were simple but contained a myriad of meanings, she quickly moved toward him, intending to finish him off.

    Seth also did the same, although now he returned to wielding his spear with one hand as his wound would get in the way, otherwise.

    Their battle was ''calmer'' than before. They didn''t have much energy to spend, so they fought in a relatively relaxed manner. Of course, that didn''t mean their attacks didn''t aim to take each other''s life.

    Although now calmer, the destructiveness was still there. The ghosts around the area were decimated just by their weapons impacting. Nothing was safe from their fight.

    Little by little, Attila was pushing Seth back toward the top of the mountain��or that''s what he made her think. In reality, he was luring her to the trap he had set up before.

    Thrust after thrust, swing after swing. The two kept attacking relentlessly in the hope of overpowering their foe. Wounds across their bodies were becoming a common occurrence by now.

    Clashing weapons, he proceeded to breathe fire onto her face. Saber quickly used her arm to protect herself but was kicked in the stomach. He had to make it look like he was trying, after all.

    Attila immediately recovered, and with some difficulty, jumped before descending like a meteor with her sword pointing downward.

    Instead of dodging, Seth arched his body and let her pierce him. Saber didn''t feel any resistance when she stabbed him, which she found weird.

    It wasn''t until she realized the place where she pierced him was the hole she made with her sword previously that her expression changed.

    Seth was lying on the ground with her weapon still stuck inside him. When she tried to pull it back, he kicked legs, making her fall on top of him.

    The black-haired man promptly put his arm around her back to prevent her from escaping. Saber frowned at his actions. "What are you doing?" Her tone of voice indicated that she felt something was wrong.

    Seth opened his mouth, but not to answer her question. "Did you know? There exists a particular legend about a monster that was so terrific even the Gods were afraid of him and hid whenever he was near."

    His words seemed to resonate with the earth as it started shaking all of a sudden. Attila tried to free herself, but he wouldn''t let go. With no option left, she opened the pincers in the handle and began to rotate her sword like a drill inside him.

    Thanks to this, more blood came out of his mouth. However, seemingly unaffected, he continued. "Only after they were brave enough to face it and thanks to the wisdom of a particular Goddess did they win and cast him into a fiery pit, with an entire mountain on top of it to prevent his escape."

    The earth cracked, and lava began flowing from it. "The name of that mountain is Mount Etna. The very place we are in right now."

    Looking directly into her widened eyes, he said only one word. "Boom."

    Using Typhon''s power as a catalyst, he made the whole mountain explode with an incredible force that was felt even from the Roman Empire''s capital.

    A mushroom cloud that extended past the clouds accompanied by ash-filled winds was the result of that explosion. The aftermath extended from the center until dozens of kilometers away.

    It only stopped when a terrifying roar that seemed to come from the underworld itself shook the world with its sound.

    As if there was a dark hole in the center of the explosion, everything was suctioned by it. Everything returned to normal like nothing had happened in the first place.

    Needlessly to say, the deep crater of considerable dimensions, plus the results of the aftershock, remained.

    Inside the hole of unknown depth, two figures were on the ground, totally unmoving relatively close to each other. One had an arm missing and lava covering their body, and the other had wounds all over where you could even see the bones.

    As if in sync, both figures twitched slightly. After a few seconds, they tried to get up, which was proving to be complicated. They successfully did it after a while, though.

    "You are...crazy." Saber barely managed to squeeze those words. No matter how she looked at it, only someone insane would do something like that.

    "I have been told that before." After inspecting his missing arm, he turned his attention to Attila. Her wounds looked pretty nasty, but she survived the worst part of the explosion by using him as a shield. She was still gripping her sword like she wouldn''t let go of it no matter what.

    She looked at him before looking at the sky in the direction of Rome with reluctance on her face. Releasing a sigh, she spoke to him. "I do not have much time. This attack will be the last."

    She was using the Sword of Mars just to stand straight barely. It was reasonable that she couldn''t stay in this world for longer, even with the help of the Holy Grail.

    "I understand. Then, tell me your name one last time. Consider it a request of mine." The lava that was dripping from his body began to assemble on his hair and face.

    "My name is Atti��no, Altera. strange warrior, what is yours?" She grabbed the handle of her sword with both hands and pointed it forward. She had to make a great effort not to collapse.

    ''Strange, huh? Perhaps that''s what I am.'' He chuckled amusedly inside his mind. "My name is Seth, the wicked God who killed his brother and terrorized Egypt." His words surprised Altera. She didn''t expect to have been facing such a character all this time.

    "However, you made me remember something important. So...thank you. I will end this not as a murderer, but as a hero. That will be my repayment." Lava emerged like a geyser from beneath his feet, covering his figure. When it receded, Seth''s appearance changed.

    He returned to his original attire, just a pair of black pants covered by an equally black tunic that went from his waist to his ankles and opened in the front.

    His skin became tanned. Now, he indeed resembled someone from Egypt. The black markings under his eyes, on his waist, arms, and legs retracted until eventually, they disappeared.

    Another thing that changed was his hair. Now, instead of the usual black, it was a fiery red that seemed to be on fire. His eyes, while red after stopping using his Divinity, now shined with a glow that didn''t suit his usual self.

    The last change was on the left side of his face. Similar to cracks on a broken vase, he had lines that glowed with an everchanging yellow and red color, making it seem like he had lava inside him.

    Looking at Saber, whose Magical Energy was on the rising to use her Noble Phantasm, he spoke. "I''m the Red Beast, the one who slew the Great Serpent." He closed his eyes as a light smile formed on his face before opening them again. "Prepare yourself, Altera."

    The white-haired girl nodded. Her sword began rotating and attracting energy from all around her. It formed some sort of drill that covered her weapon like an armor.

    For his part, Seth gripped his spear in his remaining hand. The tip was generating flames that moved backward like a stream. However, these flames weren''t the usual black, but a vivid orange instead.

    ''Fifth Cycle: That which cleanses all evil.''

    ''I will destroy your civilization.''

    After a last look at each other, they both charged ahead, their speed many times greater than before. Spear and sword pointing forward, they said their final words.

    "Burning World!"��Photon Ray!��

    Everything went white afterward.

 Chapter 75 - Returning Home

    Seth was lying on the ground, staring at the sky. His remaining arm twisted in such a way that gave goosebumps just by looking at it.

    The earth around him was a sea of white sand, a sign of "nothingness." More than destroyed, it looked purged.

    Out of nowhere, the Skeleton manifested itself. However, upon seeing Seth''s new form, it released a strange sound that somehow came as one of disp.l.e.a.s.u.r.e.

    It quickly went beside him and touched his c.h.e.s.t. Immediately, he returned to his previous appearance with black hair and markings. The Egyptian God sighed in resignation. Even if he could move, doing something about it was impossible. It wasn''t a curse for nothing.

    Having done its job, the flames that looked like eyes on his face lit up, as if proud of his work. "Go away. You already did your job." Yet, Seth didn''t seem to share its ''happiness.''

    The Skeleton tilted its head, not understanding why it should return. Still, orders were orders, and it would comply. But first, it needed to do something about his wounds.

    Looking around, it noticed Altera stabbed against a big rock, fading away little by little. It extended its skeletal hands toward her, but Seth stopped it. "What part of ''go away'' you don''t understand?"

    It didn''t seem happy, not helping him. Even so, like a ''good parent'' understanding that his kids needed some space, it decided to stay away, like he said, and vanished soon after.

    "You have...some troubles." Saber said with some difficulty. She had seen her fair share of weird things, but that was something else.

    "You can''t imagine." Seth would shake his head if he could.

    Looking at the distant Rome, and then to his fallen body, she gave him the brightest smile she had done up until now. "Thank you...It doesn''t feel bad, to not destroy." She disappeared after giving him her thanks.

    The black-haired man couldn''t see her final moments given that she was behind him, and he couldn''t move. However, he could feel the joy in her words. "No. I''m the one who should thank you."

    Slowly, he closed his eyes; his heart was going quiet by the second. It was time now, time to have a well-deserved rest.

    ...

    When he opened his eyes again, he was in a barren world with his God form. Heavy rain and purple lightning was the first thing he noticed. Strangely enough, some sun rays got through the dark clouds.

    Sitting down on the grayish-black sand beneath his feet, he decided to enjoy the view. "Like what you see?" A figure asked behind him.

    "Yes, it''s calming." He replied.

    "Do you not find it sad?" The figure tilted their head, confused by his reply. This world was dark no matter where you looked, finding it calming was pretty weird.

    "Should I? I have seen it so many times already, and yet, it''s still beautiful." Without turning back, he commented, even as the sun rays were decreasing in number little by little.

    "I thought someone like you would find it gloomy, though." The unknown individual quietly sat beside Seth as they watched the same thing he did.

    "Haha...not at all. I kind of like places like this. You could say they are my favorite." The Egyptian God released a short laugh at her words.

    "Really? You are a weird God." The figure said to Seth with a hint of amus.e.m.e.nt in their voice.

    "I was under the impression we all were weird." He smiled, not at all offended by how the person described him.

    "I can not deny that." They laughed lightly before sighing. "Do you regret it? No, was it worth it?" They had similar circ.u.mstances, but they each chose a different path.

    "Depends on my mood. Sometimes I think it was my best decision, and sometimes my worst mistake." He yawned as if what he did was not something that completely changed his life.

    "Your courage was admirable, nevertheless." They truly felt that. It was also...enviable.

    "It feels strange to get a compliment from someone I don''t know, to be honest." He said while turning to the person beside him.

    "Oh, pardon my manners." They felt a bit embarrassed for forgetting something so important, at least to them. They didn''t get to talk with many people so you couldn''t blame them!

    "Here." They extended their hand, which Seth took, and then let go a second after. The figure quickly took their hand away and rubbed it like trying to get some dirt off of them, making his eyebrows twitch.

    "No wonder I didn''t recognize you. You are different from what I imagined." They certainly didn''t look like how other Gods depicted them.

    "W-What''s that supposed to mean? I could say the same of you!" For some reason, they felt offended by his words.

    "Why are you acting like a teenage boy? You are thousands of years old." Seth rolled his eyes, not understanding their behavior at all.

    As soon as he finished speaking, a dark presence surrounded the area, threatening to crush him with all its might. Luckily for him, he was here as a God and not as a mortal. Otherwise, he would have died already.

    Raising his hand in mock surrender, he spoke. "Alright, alright. Don''t get so upset. We are old to be playing like this." His words seemed to calm the figure, albeit barely.

    "Hmph. I did not come here to argue with you; I just wanted to meet someone in a situation similar to mine." The figure said, returning to their usual tone.

    "Indeed. I have to admit that we are comparable to a scary level." The Evil God nodded, agreeing with her words.

    "Except I did not sleep with my sister or my nephew." If they didn''t have an image to keep, they would have made a victory pose by now.

    Seth practically choked on his saliva. "You damn shut-in! That never happened, and you know it perfectly well!" He was talking about the nephew part, because yes, he did bang his sister, informally speaking.

    "Who is a shut-in?!" The figure wanted to argue but noticed there was only one sun ray left, so, without another option, they forgot about the matter.

    "Anyway, you should go now. I do not want you to stay here any more than necessary." They folded their arms with a dissatisfied voice.

    "Chasing me out already? What happened with the ''When are you going to summon me?'' from last time? You sounded pretty sad about me not doing that." Seth even imitated their voice to embarrass them more, which he successfully did.

    "Sh-Shut up! That was before I knew I could talk to you here!" They pointed their finger at him to try and emphasize their point. "And another thing! Are you an idiot?! Why would you burn your life just to win?!"

    After laughing for a bit at their antics, he spoke with seriousness for the first time in their talk. "I kind of admire you for doing your job until the end. That''s why I will tell you this, don''t follow my example, little boy. It won''t end well for you. Also, I guess I got carried away. I will be more careful in the future, goodbye."

    Seth left this dark world in a flash of light after saying that, leaving the figure alone. "I know that..." They said, with a voice filled with resignation.

    However, they soon realized something crucial. "I''m not a little boy! I''m a proper��" Before they could continue, a hand patted their head.

    The mysterious figure looked up only to see the Skeleton trying to comfort them. That, however, only worked to make them more depressed. ''Why is this happening to me...'' They wanted to cry so badly right now.

    Eventually, the Skeleton disappeared, leaving them alone in that world, although not for long, as they soon vanished too. When everyone was gone, the world finally stopped raining, and the clouds dispersed, revealing a clear sky.

    ...

    On the outside world, Seth was struck by lightning from a small dark cloud that had quickly formed, making his heartbeat more consistent.

    After coughing a bit, he finally woke up. However, as he still couldn''t move, he stayed lying down. He only got up when he had recovered enough energy to use his regeneration.

    He first healed his stomach wound and then his broken arm, leaving the missing one to regrow over time. Moving to the place where Altera had disappeared, he picked the Holy Grail.

    "This tiny cup brings so much trouble. It''s quite impressive." He proceeded to absorb the little energy the Holy Grail had remaining, before breaking it into pieces.

    As soon as he did that, the Singularity began to fall apart. ''So it''s time. Romani won''t be able to take me as I''m far, that only leaves doing it myself.''

    Seth extended his hand upward, a dark portal appeared above, quickly swallowing him. Crossing space and time, he promptly arrived in the Command Room, the body that was in the coffin disappearing.

    �D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D

    After Chaldea''s group defeated Romulus, they got informed by Jalter that Seth was going to fight a Servant on his own and that they should return to Rome.

    Fujimaru and Mash wanted to protest, but they were stopped by Cu, who saw Avenger''s grin and knew things wouldn''t end well if they continued to press on.

    With nothing more to do, they returned to a camp they had set up some kilometers away from the capital, where they met up with the remaining Servants.

    "What are you doing here, Master? Were you successful in your endeavor?" Martha asked. They didn''t look defeated, but not ecstatic either, hence her confusion.

    "Yeah... We didn''t get the Holy Grail, though." Fujimaru scratched the back of his head with a wry expression. Still, he didn''t consider it something pointless, except for Jeanne''s death. That was a heavy blow.

    Martha assumed Seth was fighting the final opponent of this Singularity and that Jeanne went to help him. She didn''t, for a moment, consider her dying.

    "I see...well then, get some rest. You should be exhausted." The Saint offered with a smile, something which they gladly agreed to.

    Nero, who had been silent all this time, called Boudica to talk alone. "Boudica, you...are one of those Servants, right?" It had been in her mind all this time, and even though she didn''t want to accept she was dead, many things pointed to that possibility.

    "..." The Queen of Victory was silent for a second, thinking about how to respond. However, she decided to come clean in the end.

    "Yes, I''m a Servant. My time as someone from this era had long ended." It wasn''t something that had to stay hidden at this point. Even more so, considering that the time for them to return to the Throne was near.

    "Was it because...?" Nero wanted to ask the reason for her death, fearing she might have something to do with it. A thing she wouldn''t forgive herself for if that were the case.

    Shaking her head, she responded. "You don''t have to worry about it. Although my death was unfortunate, it isn''t something you should feel responsible for, so smile like you always do. I''m sure your smile will make the lives of your people shine brightly."

    She hated Nero, that was a fact that won''t go away no matter how much time passed. She hated so much that she wondered if that hate got engraved in her Spirit Core the moment she became a Servant. That said, killing her now would just doom the whole world. And besides, she wasn''t the Nero that she hated, at least not yet.

    "..." It was Nero''s time to turn silent, tons of emotions running through her heart. She may not look that way, but she was very sharp. She understood the meaning behind her words, which only left one thing to do.

    "This will probably mean nothing to you, but...sorry, and, thank you. Like the most beautiful of flowers that never withers, I will continue to shine and bask the world in my glory, so that people can be happy and never have to suffer ever again." It may seem like an empty promise, but it was the most honest thing she could say to her.

    Her words brought a smile to Boudica''s face. ''Yes, just like that. That''s the Nero you should be, not the other one.'' It was difficult, but she eventually came to terms that nothing good would come from blaming the little girl in front of her.

    Rider patted her head like a mother would do her child. "That''s enough for me. Now, go and rest, you must be tired too." The little girl nodded with a smile of relief and went to her tent to sleep. She felt it was necessary after all that happened.

    Watching Nero''s figure getting smaller and smaller, Boudica looked at the sky with an expression of sadness. ''Prasutagus...am I doing the right thing? Am I making fun of our daughters'' sacrifice with this...?'' She wondered as a small tear fell from her eye.

    ...

    Hours passed, and they finally got a good rest. Fujimaru told Martha about Jeanne''s death. The Rider Servant was saddened to hear the news, and her mood took a turn for the worse. Still, instead of doing nothing but feel remorse for not being able to be there to help, she decided to pray for her fellow Saint.

    Vlad had a chat with his Master, telling him not to feel bad about the Saint''s death. In war, death is inevitable. She was also not his Servant, so he needn''t be concerned with such things.

    Berserker''s words gave him something to think about, maybe��no, they certainly underestimated the threat ''the final boss'' posed.

    He promised himself to improve, so the events don''t repeat themselves. It wasn''t like he felt the ''blame'' rested wholly on him, but he did think things might have been different had he been more knowledgable about how to face a Servant that was many times stronger than their own.

    He didn''t know how Seth was going to take it, either. Fujimaru didn''t blame him for what happened to Jeanne. How could he? The Egyptian God already told them he was going to face an enemy more powerful than the one they were going to. Complaining to him would be nothing short of hypocrisy.

    While he was in the middle of his thinking, he noticed the Singularity was falling apart. ''So, he did it?'' The young Japanese released a sigh. It was time they had some happy news.

    Mash quickly came in with Romani''s figure in the form of a hologram. "Senpai, we did it! We can finally return now."

    "I''m going to send you back before the Singularity disappears, are you prepared?" Dr. Roman asked the two. However, there was an important question that Fujimaru needed to make. "But what about Kuro-san? He isn''t with us right now."

    "Sadly, I can''t do anything about him as his coordinates are unknown. Still, you don''t need to worry. I''m sure he will find his way here with no problems!" Romani reassured him with a cheerful voice.

    At that moment, Nero came running as fast as she could. "You...are you guys leaving already?" She asked with a tone that conveyed her sadness for parting with them.

    "Yes...everything will disappear soon, even your memories of us." Mash informed her with an equally sad tone. Similar to Jeanne in Orleans, they had created memories with Nero in their stay here. However, Jeanne at least remembered them as she was a Servant, but her being a normal human...everything would just be forgotten.

    "I see... In the end, I never managed to reward you for your help." Even if she mentioned not being able to reward them, she knew the memories they made was a more valuable treasure.

    Seeing Nero like this, Fujimaru decided to speak after a deep breath. "Don''t worry, Nero. We will meet again. I''m sure of it. At that time, let''s fight and make more memories together." He finished his words with a smile, which worked to uplift her mood.

    "Umu! Just you wait, I will make sure to��" She couldn''t finish her words as Fujimaru and Mash disappeared, together with the other Servants that were near their location, leaving her alone.

    "...to make you listen to my music once again." Her smile was still there, but her eyes showed a different picture. A picture only she alone could understand in this fading world.

 Chapter 76 - Happiness Or Fear?

    Seth reappeared in the middle of the Command Room. Romani, who was quietly drinking his coffee, fell off his chair, while the other staff members merely got a scare.

    "You are okay?! And why didn''t you appear normally?! Wait, what happened to your arm?!" Dr. Roman fired questions like a machine gun.

    "Shut up, Romani. Don''t you realize you are a bother?" Da Vinci entered the room just in time to hear the man''s annoying voice.

    "Yes Romani, stop being annoying, I just got here." Seth supported Caster on this. It was like being woken up early by a loud noise; nobody likes that.

    "I''m sorry..." The doctor gave a forced laugh while scratching his cheek. "Anyway, is it safe to assume you eliminated the cause of the Singularity?" They would get the results soon from their staff, but knowing sooner didn''t hurt.

    "Yeah. It turns out it was that Lev guy, he talked a lot of crap before I killed him. Still, he used his life to power the Holy Grail and summon another Servant, which is why I don''t have an arm now." Missing a limb was becoming so common now that he didn''t feel bothered by it.

    His words, while light, resounded like an explosion in their ears. Everyone just stared frozen at Seth, trying to process what he just said.

    The first to react was Romani. "You...you killed Lev?!" It was something he didn''t expect, not in a million years. Of course, he took into consideration the possibility of Lev being in Rome. Yet, knowing it was a reality and that Seth killed him, it was shocking.

    Da Vinci shared Dr. Romani''s feelings, although she was not that acquainted with him, she was still pretty pissed for what he did to Chaldea.

    The staff members that were present had mixed feelings about this. On the one hand, they were happy the man that sabotaged them and killed the people they have come to call friends was dead, and on the other, they were regretful they didn''t watch that traitor''s death.

    "Are you deaf? I already told you I killed him. I have some information that will be of help to you. When the others get here, I will share it." Seth''s words almost got overshadowed by the cheers of the staff present. Tears of joy streaming down their faces as they hugged each other.

    The Egyptian God, while not sharing their sentiment, could understand how they felt. Hell, he would even be dancing if he found out about Ra''s death.

    "Right..." Romani took some seconds to process it all before sighing. "What happened to the Holy Grail? Also, did you know about...?" Although he didn''t finish, Seth knew what he was trying to say.

    "I destroyed that fake cup once I got my hands on it. And if you want to know if I''m aware of Jeanne''s death, I am. However, what do you expect me to do, cry for her? She did her job splendidly, that''s all. There is no reason to think about it further." Such is life; people come and go.

    "I would have liked it if you didn''t destroy that ''fake cup'' as we had some uses for it, but there is no helping it. Still, you don''t have to worry! We have the data of her Saint Graph stored so she can be summoned by you again!" The destruction of the Holy Grail was an unfortunate thing, but at least not everything was bad news.

    "I pass. Tell the kids I died or something if they ask for me." However, much to his dismay, Seth wasn''t interested in that resummoning thing or whatever. He just waved his goodbyes and left.

    "He never changes, does he?" Romani wryly asked Da Vinci, who was just smiling, seeing the happiness in their personnel''s faces. She knew they needed something like this to blow off some stress that had naturally acc.u.mulated due to the situation Lev caused.

    "Oh? I think he looks different now." She responded with some amus.e.m.e.nt in her voice.

    "How do you know that?" Dr. Roman asked again. She sometimes says some weird things that he honestly can''t understand.

    "Call it a woman''s intuition." Caster gave him a ''knowing wink'' while patting his back.

    "You are a man, though..."

    ...

    After leaving, Seth calmly walked through the hallway. Some people he met shot him weird looks due to him missing an arm. Still, they hadn''t interacted with each other before, so they didn''t ask how he got like that.

    Of course, the black-haired man didn''t mind this. He just wanted to eat some of Archer''s food and get enough energy to regrow his arm.

    Soon arriving at the cafeteria, he was witness to a strange scene, something that was becoming rather common every time he got here.

    A dying EMIYA was sitting with his head resting on the table while a tiny ghost escaped his mouth. He also saw Siegfried there, calmly eating his food. The Dragon Slayer now looked completely different, having horns, wings, and the tail of a dragon.

    "Y-You...what have you done...!" Archer, upon seeing Seth, barely managed to raise an accusatory finger at him.

    "Now, what did I do?" The Egyptian God rolled his eyes, him getting blamed for every little thing didn''t seem to get old.

    Siegfried stopped eating his food and walked to Seth before kneeling. "Congratulations on your return, Master. I''m sorry��" He was about to apologize for not being able to accompany him but was quickly interrupted by the black-haired man.

    "It''s okay. There were no dragons, so you didn''t miss much." To avoid having another Romani screaming at the top of his lungs, Seth cast an illusion on himself to make it seem like he didn''t have any problems.

    "So, what''s the matter with him?" Seth asked his Servant. Archer didn''t seem like he was going to be able to speak more, so the only way of knowing was to ask Siegfried.

    "Oh, that? It was because Saber forced him to��" The white-haired knight was interrupted again, this time not so subtly. Artoria delivered a flying kick to his face so hard he ended up on the other side of the room. You could even hear an ''I''m sorry'' in the distance.

    Seth raised an eyebrow at this, hoping for an explanation from the perpetrator. "I see you didn''t die out there, what a shame." The only thing he got was a sarcastic remark, though.

    Archer, even though he couldn''t move or talk, could still hear her. ''Shame my ass! You made me go through hell just to say something that no one buys?!''

    "...Okay..." It was the only thing he could say to this spectacle before him. Deciding to ignore it, he went to the counter to ask the lady for food, seeing as EMIYA was out for the count.

    However, before he got far, he was stopped by Saber. "Don''t need to annoy that woman. I have some leftovers from the food Archer gave me." She then took a try out of nowhere and offered it to him.

    Seth observed the food she gave him. It was all junk food, but there was some strange black miasma oozing from it. The black-haired man wondered if someone had put curses on the menu.

    Looking at Artoria, she was avoiding eye contact while her arms were slightly trembling. He then turned to EMIYA, who managed to give him a ''Please eat that or I''m dead'' look.

    ''So that''s how it is...'' It wasn''t like he was not resistant to poison, so there was no problem in eating this but...he wanted to eat something good. Was that asking too much?

    ''Damn Archer, you owe me one.'' Thinking this, he took the try from Saber''s hands and went to a table to peacefully eat whatever was this food.

    Saber shot a smug look at the red bowman only to find out he had fainted. Still, she would forgive him. He served his King magnificently, after all.

    The moment he took the first bite, he had the urge to vomit right away. However, he persevered and ate through everything. With speed rivaling the faster hero in the world, Seth quickly wiped the tears in the corner of his eyes.

    "How is it, bastard? The greatest food you have ever eaten, right? You can tell me, and I will make sure to pass your compliments to Archer when he wakes up." She seemed pretty proud when she said this.

    ''What did I do to deserve this...? I''m starting to believe some cosmic power to mess with me exists...'' With thoughts like this, he responded. "It was bad, but nothing that hard work can''t improve. Tell Archer that I will be looking forward to ''his'' improvement."

    Saying it was good would go against his personality, but as he was going to torture Archer in the Training Room, he may as well do him another favor.

    "Here, have something to eat if you are still hungry." Just then, the lady came and gave him a decent size lunch box. She had seen EMIYA teach Saber how to cook and knew how bad that was going, so she wanted to make sure Seth had a proper lunch.

    "Thank you." The black-haired man thanked the lady before leaving, gaining a smile from her face. She then went and patted the frozen Artoria. "Work hard, and you may succeed."

    Embarrassed, Saber tried to refute her, but at that point, the lady had disappeared to the counter.

    Meanwhile, Seth was going to his room to rest and call it a day. However, the voice he heard some time ago resounded again in his head.

    [The choices made were different, and so shall be the outcome. One Evil will rise, and the other will fall.]

    He stopped in his steps, his face becoming colder. ''Do you know anything about this?'' Seth asked in his mind to no one in particular, but an answer came, nonetheless.

    ''Yep! I have to say, though. That sounds scary~'' Stargazer happily replied, lying down on his throne, like it was a bed. However, contrary to his outward look, inside, he was serious.

    ''So it is as I guessed, there was a deeper meaning to the task that hen gave me.'' There was a look of disdain in his face. Still, he resumed his walk toward his room.

    ''Naturally. It''s not like the geezer isn''t selfish. You should know that more than anyone. So, will you take my advice and kindly become the Evil God you were supposed to be?'' He asked in a cheerful tone.

    ''No.'' Only to be rejected straight away.

    ''Welp, it was worth a try.'' Stargazer put a look of fake sorrow while kicking his legs in the air. Things never went his way; it was sad.

    ''Why do you insist so much on it, knowing that''s not going to happen?'' It was Seth''s time to ask, hoping to understand his motives for that particular thing.

    ''Hm... How can I explain this? One plus one is not always two, you know? That''s the clear path to victory.'' The only answer he got was a cryptic one.

    ''If you are going to answer like that, then don''t answer in the first place. Whatever, what''s the origin of that voice?'' Seeing as he was not getting something from it, he decided to change the topic.

    ''Don''t be like that. You are going to break my heart! And that voice belongs to me, although I have no control over it. It just happens.'' Stargazer replied to his question, this time giving valuable information.

    ''As I thought. You are...''

    ''Bingo!'' Stargazer clapped multiple times, congratulating him. ''However, I''m too weak now, which means I will need your help! As your reliable and humble helper, I need you to pay me so I can bring forth results!''

    ''Why do you came to be in the first place? I don''t remember having any relation with your kind.'' Seth finally arrived at his room, quickly inputting the password, he entered inside.

    ''Fate works in mysterious ways, little Seth! Honestly, you are truly hopeless. But setting that aside, I have some good news for you! What would you say if I told you I could make you speak with your little animal lover?'' Stargazer''s words made the black-haired man tremble. From what emotion, he didn''t know.

 Chapter 76 - Summoning Process (1)

    ''...Forget it. It''s not that important.'' Only he knew how hard it was to say those words. But it was for the better��or so he thought.

    ''You sure? She has been trying to contact you for a while now. I think you should get your problems sorted out as soon as possible. But well, that''s my opinion. You do you.'' He preferred to stay out of his stuff. It was not his job, and he didn''t care.

    ''Yes, I''m sure. Now, get to work already. We have to start our preparations.'' Seth said after a deep sigh. Overthinking these types of thing was unlike him.

    ''Roger that, Your Highness. I live to serve and possibly enjoy the torture that woman is going to do to you!'' Stargazer did a mock bow with his hands as he slightly laughed.

    ''Hoh? So that''s how things are, eh?'' A smile that promised pain made its way into his face. He immediately entered his inner world, surprising Stargazer.

    ''Hm? Heyo~ Don''t tell me you got upset by that? I was just joking.'' Even now, he didn''t take things seriously, opting for waving enthusiastically instead.

    "A joke? What a coincidence, I''ve got one too!" Seth said with uncharacteristic glee, giving Stargazer a terrible feeling. However, he still kept his relaxed appearance.

    Seth touched the amulet around his neck, illuminating the room in golden light before quickly vanishing. A new member was added to the Throne Room, making Stargerzer''s whole face freeze.

    ''You...you aren''t serious, right? Come on. I will apologize. There is no reason to take this too far.'' Sadly for him, his pleas were entirely ignored as Seth disappeared from the room.

    "Where am I...? What happened...?" A confused Olga looked around, not understanding where she was. Then, her gaze met with the man resting on the Throne.

    "You stripper! Where is this place? Are you responsible for this? Where is Lev? What did you do to me? Did you kidnap me?!" A barrage of endless questions assaulted Stargazer, making him wonder if he went too far.

    ''Is this karma? It has to be karma.'' Still, being a guy who acted like the world was full of flowers, he knew how to look at the bright side of things. There isn''t a worse thing that an unruly brat who is screaming in your ears! So, any further ''punishment'' would be considered light from now on.

    "It seems you are mistaking me for someone, little miss. I''m not the man you think I am." He responded with the smile of a kind and approachable older man.

    "What are you even saying?! Do you take me for someone stupid?!" However, the only thing he got was more angry questions.

    ''So this is how he feels when he has to deal with crap like this? I have a newfound respect for you, pal.'' Still maintaining the same smile, he replied. "I''m afraid you won''t handle my true form. That''s why I''m mimicking that person."

    "Do you think I will believe that?!" To her, the events from Fuyuki happened just seconds ago, so it was understandable that her mind was in a mess.

    "Well, don''t say I didn''t warn you." Getting up from the Throne, Stargazer snapped his finger. Black mana shot out from the ground and covered his figure from Olga''s eyes.

    "I''m the super awesome being born from the stars, the one who has understood life and death. Yes, that''s right! My name is��Oh?" When the mana surrounding him dispersed, revealing his authentic form, he began a passionate speech but stopped halfway through due to the white-haired girl''s expression.

    She was shaking and raising a trembling finger at him. Her mouth opened and closed, but no words came out, and she eventually fainted.

    "Stupid girl. At least wait until I finish my introduction. Was it that hard?" Stargazer shook his head, utterly disappointed in Olga. "Oh well, I did warn you my true form was not pleasant to the eye." He said, unaware of the real reason why the girl fainted in the first place.

    Suddenly, Stargazer''s eyes narrowed. "You will never let him go, won''t you? Tch. Damn witch." Ignoring the fainted Olga, he walked out of the throne room.

    When he did so, the reappeared in another space. A door covered in chains was before him. "I''m not strong enough to keep that woman from interfering yet, so I will need to break the next one forcefully, sorry." Honestly apologizing, he released a shrill scream similar to that of a banshee.

    The next chain covering the door offered resistance for a while, but it eventually gave in to the constant attack. However, the moment it did so, it released an invisible wave that hit Stargazer, sending him back to the Throne Room and burying him into a wall.

    ''Luckily, I used this form first, or it could have been worse.'' Even if that was what he thought, there was a deep cut from his waist to his shoulder that gushed blood like there was no tomorrow.

    Exiting the hole he made on the wall, he finally set his gaze on the fainted Olga. "Now, what should I do with you? You are of no use to him, so maybe I should kill you? Maybe that way I will save him the troubles you will bring later on."

    Stargazer extended his hand forward; a suction force emanated from it that brought the white-haired girl to him. Grabbing her by the neck, he looked at Olga with the coldness of an unfeeling beast.

    He exerted more force into his grip, making the unconscious girl stir. However, he soon loosened it, and his personality returned to his usual one. "Nah. That wouldn''t be funny, would it?"

    Putting Olga over his shoulders, he happily exclaimed. "While in Sc.u.mland, do as the sc.u.ms do...I think that was the saying. Anyway, onward! We have a long night ahead of us!" He then took her to some unknown place while whistling all the way.

    �D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D

    Fujimaru slowly woke up, the lid of the coffin opening as he did so. The first thing that he saw was Fou jumping on his face and l.i.c.k.i.n.g his cheek. "Hello, Fou. I barely saw you in Rome, where have you been?"

    Of course, the only thing he got from the Beast was some weird sounds.

    "Senpai, how do you feel?" Mash asked her Master. It had become a habit to wait for him to wake up after returning to Chaldea.

    "I''m feeling well, thanks. By the way, where is everyone?" Fujimaru didn''t see anyone beside Mash and Dr. Roman, who was coming closer.

    "Everyone has left to contact the other employees; they wanted to tell them the ''good news'' that Kuro brought with him." It was Romani, the one who answered his question.

    "Good news? Also, did he return safely?" In his mind, it would be very awkward to meet Seth after what happened in their final battle against Romulus.

    "Why don''t you rest first? And yes, he did. I know what you are thinking, but you don''t have to worry. He didn''t look like he was affected by Jeanne''s death." Just by looking at Fujimaru, Romani knew what was going through his mind.

    "But why...? She fought for him even to the point of sacrificing herself. It is as if he thought of her as nothing more than a means to an end..." Mash could relate to this situation, but not in the right way.

    "Mash..." Although he also didn''t understand his reaction, Fujimaru didn''t share her thoughts, believing there was something more to it.

    "Eh... I don''t know what he is thinking, but you don''t have to worry. We can summon Jeanne again as we recorded her Saint Graph. We never told you about this as there hadn''t been casualties up until now." Dr. Roman tried to disperse the awkward atmosphere, which seemed to work.

    "Really?!" Romani''s words managed to lift Shielder''s mood and take a little pressure from Fujimaru''s shoulders. He was still going to apologize for his incompetence with him, though.

    "Yes! Now, go and rest. You deserve it." The Doctor put a hand on each of their shoulders and encouraged them to relax until tomorrow. They were going to discuss some things then.

    They both nodded and exited the Command Room to go to their respective sleeping quarters. The moment they were gone, Romani sighed. "I hope you don''t take it to heart. They got attached to Jeanne in the time they spent together."

    "Don''t worry. What a kid with no knowledge of the outside world thinks of me doesn''t matter in the slightest. Although heh, it''s funny." Seth appeared silently some meters behind him.

    "What is?" The Doctor could finally rest at ease, knowing that the black-haired man didn''t hold a grudge because of Mash''s words.

    "She talks about me using Jeanne as a means to an end but gets happy when she knows you can summon her again. So, reviving someone infinitely to fight for what they want is fine, but respecting their death is not?" Human''s minds worked in...particular ways sometimes.

    "I know it seems harsh, but Humanity''s future is at stake." Arguing against that logic was not simple, so he put the bigger picture on top of the table.

    "Our morals are different. However, know this, people like me are simple-minded. We don''t use words to make our actions look more pleasant. Hiding behind the word ''Justify'' is hypocrisy in itself." Saying no more, he disappeared from the room, leaving Romani alone.

    �D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D�D

    It was a bright new day in Chaldea. Everyone that participated in the Singularity had taken a rest and were now in full capacity.

    However, not everything was happy moments, to two people in particular. Seth and Jalter were looking at a fidgeting Jeanne who avoided their gazes. Of course, each one had a different reason to look at her.

    Avenger was pissed because she didn''t remain dead, while Seth couldn''t believe they revived her when he told Romani of his disapproval about it.

    To make things worse, CHALDEAS identified him as the previous Master and so remade the contract automatically without his consent.

    ''I will have a long talk with Romani after this.'' Without exchanging words, he left to the Command Room as it was time now to summon more Servants.

    "Humph." Jalter snorted at Jeanne and then followed Seth like a loyal dog. Ruler just sighed and did the same, although there was a certain air of depression around her.

    When they got there, Romani, Da Vinci, Mash, Fujimaru, and EMIYA were already waiting for them. The Japanese Master had already talked with Seth and apologized, but he was glad that he didn''t take it to heart and simply told him to get better if he didn''t want something like this to happen again.

    Mash decided to keep her thoughts to herself, so even though Seth already knew, they didn''t talk about it. Not that he was interested in hearing what a one-track mind person had to say.

    Still, the way the Egyptian God was looking at Romani was not pleasant at all. So much so, that Romani was avoiding his gaze like the plague.

    "Ahem. I''m glad you are all here. If you are all ready, go ahead so you can summon more helpers." With an apparent fake cough, Dr. Roman motioned them to pick the Saint Quartz on the table.

    Fujimaru received a nod from Seth, which he took as confirmation for him to go first. There were eight multicolored stones on the table, so he picked four and took them to Mash''s shield.

    Placing them in the slot that surrounded it, he took some steps back and waited for the magic to happen. Soon, the slots began spinning, releasing rays of light that danced chaotically around it.

    A pillar of light emerged from the shield as a distinctive and cheerful voice made its way into their ears. "Umu! Servant Saber, Nero Claudius! I applaud you for choosing me."

    Seeing the figure on top of the shield, Fujimaru smiled. ''I''m glad I still could keep our promise, Nero...'' He knew that she wouldn''t remember him, but they could make more memories together with everyone else still.

    "Wait, why are there other Servants with you? Are you betraying me?!" ...Of course, it wouldn''t be Nero without her making a scandal. Only after he explained the general situation did she calm down, albeit with difficulty.

    When Saber moved beside him to wait, the circle lit up again. This time, it was a male voice. "Servant, Caster. I''m Zhuge Liang or at least inherited his powers. I should be of help as a strategist more than anything." El-Melloi II was a similar case to Nero, in which he didn''t keep his memories of the events in Rome.

    "Thanks for answering my call." Fujimaru bowed slightly, earning a small smile on Caster. Without saying anything, he also moved beside him.

    With the same process, another summon started. However, the person that showed up this time sent a shiver through his spine. "My, this must be fate. I am an Assassin class Servant. I would be grateful if you called me Carmilla."

    With a smile typical from a Noble, she did a curtsy bow. Although her eyes glowed with very distinguishable hate when she looked at Seth, her death was still present in her memories. However, that soon changed when she saw Avenger beside him. Now, she directed a mocking but elegant look at her, amused by the new turns of events.

    Jalter, who saw the way Carmilla was looking at her, made a gesture of ''you are dead'' while smiling sadistically. Even so, the Blood Countess didn''t mind it and quickly left the summoning circle.

    Finally, it was time for him to summon the last Servant. The blinding light accompanied the usual spinning, hiding the Servant that was going to appear.

    That light soon faded, though. And with that event, came a voice that made Seth''s whole being freeze. A voice he so dearly missed but was afraid to hear again. Although the tone and way of speaking were different, there was no mistaking it. It was her voice.

    "I''m one of the Tamamo Nine! The Wild Fox, Tamamo Cat! A p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e to meet you, Master!"

    It was Amaterasu''s voice.

 Chapter 77 - Summoning Process (2)

    To all of you who voted for Tamamo Cat, I hate you e.e

    =============================

    Seth thought he wouldn''t have trouble seeing her again from up close, but it seemed to him like he was mistaken. Still, he wasn''t a teenage boy, so he wasn''t going to overreact. Instead, he would take a deep breath and pretend nothing was happening.

    However, fate had other plans for him. The moment Tamamo Cat stepped out of the summoning circle, she began looking around while sniffing. This weird behavior continued until she finally locked gazes with Seth.

    But the strange thing happened just then. Tears began to fall from her eyes without her control. "Huh?" Tamamo rubbed her eyes, not understanding what was happening, a trait shared by everyone present. The only one who had a bit of an understanding was Zhuge Liang, since paying close attention to small details was a fundamental part of being a strategist.

    Seeing Tamamo Cat like that, even if she wasn''t exactly the one he was in love with, certainly made him feel terrible. Even so, now was not the time for stuff like that.

    ''I hope you can someday forgive my selfishness, Ama. As for you, you can rest all you want. When you wake up, you won''t be affected by seeing me ever again.'' The moment Tamamo Cat looked at Seth again, trying to know where all those horrible feelings she just felt came from, she immediately collapsed on the ground.

    Zhuge Liang traced Berserker''s gaze to Seth but only saw him with his eyes closed and arms folded. However, he soon opened them to look directly at him. Taking that as the signal to ''retreat,'' he turned to Archer. "Instead of observing, how about you pick her up and take the girl to a room where she can rest?"

    EMIYA, who was dumbfounded by the turn of events like everyone else, answered promptly. "R-Right..." Archer moved from his place while the rest were still unmoving due to their shock and gently carried Tamamo in a princess carry.

    Only then did the rest of them react. "Doctor, is this normal?" Fujimaru asked with uncertainty. He knew that Heroic Spirits came in different packages, and every one of them was a world. But still, this blew his mind.

    "Even if you ask me..." How was he supposed to answer? Tamamo Cat''s behavior was weird, even for him. "Maybe she smelled something bad?" It was the only conclusion he came up with, seeing her previous actions. However, his words created a shadow over everyone''s eyes. They didn''t sit well, especially with a certain God.

    ''This guy is buying tickets for the beating of the year.'' First, it was the matter with Jeanne, and now he was spouting bullshit. He wouldn''t be surprised if his true identity were some sort of clown.

    Da Vinci hit his head with her staff. "Be serious for once, Roman. Isn''t your job as a Doctor to find a more reasonable reason than that?"

    "You didn''t have to hit me, did you?! At times like this, the only thing that is left is to��" "If you try to ask that internet idol of yours, we are going to have a serious talk, Doctor." Already knowing what he was going to do, Mash interrupted him with a reprimanding tone.

    "Not you too, Mash! Is this what they call rebellious phase?" Romani whipped away fake tears, causing a forced laugh on Fujimaru and a sea of embarrassment on Shielder.

    Seth, deciding not to waste any more time in this circus, went ahead and grabbed the remaining Saint Quartz from the table and went to put them on the slots surrounding the shield. However, when he passed by Fujimaru, more concretely, by Carmilla, he noticed the oozing d.e.s.i.r.e she had to kill him.

    Fortunately for her, she restrained herself, knowing she couldn''t win. The black-haired man was not in the best of moods right now. Had she acted, he would have killed her on the spot.

    Wasting no time, he placed the multicolored stones in their respective place and took some steps back. Fujimaru and his group had already retreated to give him some space.

    Jeanne and Jalter also stayed back, not wanting to interrupt him. Still, Avenger hoped for Seth to summon only men. She knew that was not going to happen, though, much to her dissatisfaction.

    As usual, the circle lit up, spun, and released rays of light that danced around the shield. A pillar of energy shot up from it before quickly fading, revealing the first Servant.

    "Rider, Boudica. Nice to meet you." The Queen of Britannia greeted Seth with a smile on her face, although it quickly became a little forced when she saw Nero on the back of the room waving at her.

    "Hey, Boudica! You are here too?! This adventure just got a hundred, no, a thousand times better! Umu, let''s have a banquet to celebrate!" Nero sounded excited. If it weren''t because of Zhuge Liang ''restraining'' her, then she would have run to Rider already.

    Boudica sighed before adopting a stern expression. "You are causing trouble for everyone, can''t you act like a proper Emperor and be mindful of your surroundings?"

    "I know that! I just am glad to see you here." Nero pouted as she crossed her arms and looked sideways like a child who was trying to show anger or dissatisfaction.

    Seth''s Servants showed different reactions to her. For once, Jeanne thought her outfit was more indecent compared to before in Rome, while Jalter just directly marked her as a s.l.u.t.

    Shaking her head at her antics, Boudica moved away from the circle that activated soon after. This time, the Servant summoned was the terror of all men, regardless of their race or preferences. The Servant you didn''t want but got anyway. In Ancient Greece, she was considered a symbol of ''the perfect idol.'' However, among a selected group, she was regarded as ''The Goddess of Spook.''

    Yes, she who carried the tears of countless heroes wanting to obtain a certain Gramps, or maybe a sadistic Oni, even a little girl that shouldn''t be touched.

    "To summon a Goddess, what a rare occasion. Fufu, a p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e to meet you, Master." The little girl that caused them so much trouble in Rome and made their lives a living hell while they were on that island, Stheno.

    "Oh? What a surprise, I did not think it would come a day where I will be the Servant of your kind. I have to say. I have mixed feelings about it." Stheno said while covering her mouth as a small smile formed on her face, although her eyes weren''t smiling at all.

    "And I didn''t ask. Now, get out of there." Her words could have many interpretations, so he didn''t bother in warning her about not opening her mouth too much. Still, he didn''t have all day.

    "Fair enough." Saying no more, she moved beside Boudica and closed her eyes, seemingly in deep thought.

    Again, the spinning started. This time, another old face showed up. One that the group met in Orleans, same as Carmilla. "Assassin, Charles-Henri Sanson. I have come in response to your summon."

    After the events of the Hundred Years War, the executioner seemed to have come to peace with something. His final moments against Marie and that douche Amadeus changed the way he saw things. For the better? That was for others to judge.

    One thing was sure, though. Now, without the effects of Madness Enhancement, the calm and collected Sanson came to light. Instead of that crazy one that his only driving force was letting his blade taste Marie''s neck again.

    Although, he had to say, seeing Jalter here brought confusion to his mind. Still, he didn''t dwell too much on that thought, believing that someone would explain to him in time.

    After his introduction, Sanson bowed his head a bit. "I apologize for all the trouble I had caused you during the events in France. I will do my best to atone for that."

    "Don''t worry about it. Doing whatever you can do to the best of your ability is enough." In the end, he belonged to the evil camp. Blaming Sanson for doing something wicked would be stupid. Besides, it wasn''t like he could go imparting moral lessons about how to be a ''good citizen'' left and right.

    "Understood, Master." Nodding his head, he positioned himself behind him. He greeted his two new companions. While Boudica kindly returned the greeting, Stheno just gave him a smile that sent shivers down his spine.

    ''The last one, huh...'' Seth thought while looking at his palm. There, a small white piece of cloth was quietly resting. ''I have never used a catalyst before, and I don''t know if it will work with this type of summoning. It''s worth a try, though.''

    The circle lit up once more. However, now it wasn''t a white light, but it was a rainbow one instead. The ray of lights extended even farther than before, along with a slight tremble in the room.

    Boudica and Sanson, who were the closest one to the event, stepped forward to defend their Master in case something happened, Stheno just moved behind Seth to protect herself.

    Jeanne and Jalter immediately moved to his side to protect him too. Nero, Carmilla, Zhuge Liang, and Mash surrounded Fujimaru in a semi-circle, ready for everything that may come.

    The staff members and Romani tried to process the data on their respective computers to try and understand what was happening. "Be careful and prepare for an eventual fight!"

    A pillar bigger than the ones before emerged from the ground. When it disappeared, a figure was standing there, proudly like a seasoned warrior.

    "I''m Altera. A warrior of the Hun and the God of War Mars." She introduced herself with a firm tone that demonstrated power, before adding something in a barely audible voice at the end to hide her embarrassment. "Also...a warrior of the God of War Seth."

    If summoning Altera lifted his mood significantly, the last part made him want to chuckle. Still, he didn''t want to ruin the image of a cold person she always tried to portray, so he held it in.

    Instead, he simply told his Servants to step back. He then extended his hand forward. "Welcome, Altera. Let''s fight together this time, shall we?"

    Saber looked at the hand in front of him, hesitating in taking hold of it. Mainly because of all the stares she was getting. But in the end, she grabbed it although she couldn''t look at him in the eye when she did so.

    There was a hint of jealousy on Avenger''s face witnessing all of this. The preferential treatment this new Servant was getting didn''t thrill her at all. Meanwhile, Jeanne didn''t know what she was feeling. It was a foreign emotion she couldn''t comprehend.

    Seth then turned to Romani. "Is this all you wanted? If it is so, then I will go to the Simulation Room to train with them."

    "Huh? O-Oh, yeah." The doctor replied absentmindedly, what in heavens was going on?! After this, he was going to watch a live stream of Magi��Mari to heal his wounded heart!

    "Be sure to come here tonight. We have to discuss what our next plans are, and you still have to give us the information you obtained." Da Vinci reminded Seth with her usual ''excited'' voice, earning a nod from him.

    The Egyptian God and his new Servants, including Jeanne and Jalter, then marched to exit the room. Still, when all was said and done, Stheno was not particularly happy about this training thing.

    When Altera moved past Nero, her sword trembled slightly, seemingly wanting to end her life there and then. However, Seth squeezed her hand slightly in signal for her not to do anything rash; this calmed her as she resisted the urges to kill the Emperor.

    Without any further complications, they disappeared from the group''s view.

 Chapter 78 - Another One Knows

    After exiting the Command Room, Seth took the others to fight the strange hands, which he assumed were Prometheus'', so they can grow stronger. He would then take them to the simulator so they could fight decently powerful enemies like the Chimera, that Romani told him they had saved the data of and could now replicate to fight, in case they needed it.

    Siegfried wouldn''t accompany them in the first part since he had already reached the maximum ascension possible with his Saint Graph, meaning that he was now as powerful as he could get. At least in terms of raw power.

    He did ask him if he could turn back to the way he was before, without the tail, horns, and wings, which the Dragon Slayer affirmed. Siegfried ended up transforming in his second ascension form at Seth''s request.

    Along the way, Jalter and Jeanne kept throwing some glances at the two who were walking in front. Seth and Altera were still holding hands ever since they left the Command Room. The Egyptian God thought nothing about it, while Saber was just trying as hard as she could to keep her stoic expression.

    Stheno, Sanson, and Boudica were quietly walking behind them, not minding their antics at all. Of course, the purple-haired girl was thinking about many ways in which she could cause mischief and enjoy herself.

    With nothing particularly noteworthy happening, they arrived at the Training Room. After a bright light, they teleported to the same ''forest'' as the last time they were here.

    Almost immediately, the giant hands with the orbs above them began attacking. Jeanne and Jalter quickly deflected all the fireballs sent their way. Now that they weren''t as weak as the first time they came here, they didn''t have any problems while facing these strange monsters.

    "I hope you don''t mind me taking cover, Master. I''m afraid I can''t be of much help on the battlefield." Stheno hid behind Seth without shame while a smug smile adorned her face.

    Altera looked at the Goddess with scorn, believing her to be some sort of coward. Meanwhile, Avenger wanted to feed her to these hands, something Seth did. "Everyone has a use on the battlefield. You can work as a distraction." Much to Stheno''s surprise, the black-haired man caught her by the collar and threw her at the monsters.

    "You guys have some fun. I will be watching from here." Ignoring the hundreds of insults per second Stheno was firing at him, Seth sat leaned his back against a regular tree to watch their performance.

    With the two Saints'' help, they wouldn''t need him for anything. Nodding their heads in compliance, they dashed toward the hands. Boudica was the only one who went to get Stheno out of her predicament. Maybe she felt pity for the little girl, who knows.

    Like that, they fought for an entire day without rest. There were times where some of the new ones that came close to dying. Fortunately, Ruler and Avenger were there to help them.

    The purple-haired girl was the one that suffered the most. Having zero attack power, she could only get tossed around by others and occasionally land the last hit on one of the hands. This turn of events, of course, brought immense glee upon a particular black saint.

    Seth was pleased with the results obtained. Jeanne managed to get her final ascension, her hair was now loose, and her previous blue clothes got replaced by white ones. Jalter did the same. Her armor now covered more parts of her body, and her hair grown quite a bit until reaching her ankles.

    As for the others, they got their second successfully, except for Stheno, who was still on her first ascension. Sanson gained some white marks on his coat, together with a pair of strange metal shoulder pads.

    Boudica now had some earrings and a red skirt, which Jeanne was very thankful for, considering Rider''s previous appearance looked like she was in u.n.d.e.r.w.e.a.r for some reason.

    Altera returned to the way she looked when Seth fought her. Of the new Servants, she was the one who had the least trouble fighting the hands. It didn''t come as a surprise to the Egyptian God considering all the outstanding fighting experience she has, not to mention the cheat called Sword of Mars.

    Seth considered this a successful day. His Servants have had enough for now, and he also had to give Fujimaru time to use the room so he can strengthen his own.

    For now, he would let them rest, but tomorrow he will take them to the Simulation Room. Naturally, he will bring EMIYA together with him. It was time to collect some debts.

    Still, that would have to wait after he shared the information he collected with the others. "Good work. Go and ask someone to give you a room where you can stay." He ordered his new Servants, considering he took them directly to train and didn''t wait for them to be assigned a room.

    He suddenly had the urge to hide for some reason, like something terrible was about to happen. He attributed it to whatever thing Stargazer was doing, though. So, with nothing more to do, he told his Servants to go.

    Everyone complied except for a troublesome fellow who wanted to talk with him. "What''s with you, failure of a Goddess? Didn''t you hear what Master said? Or perhaps you are so dumb you can''t understand?" Avenger, seeing that Stheno was staying, got the perfect opportunity to insult her.

    The purple-haired girl gained some tick marks on her forehead. However, she made sure to keep the image of a dignified Goddess, even if her appearance looked like she had been in a street fight.

    "Oh my, I just wanted to talk to Master so we could know ourselves better. I apologize if my intentions were not clear enough for you for a little kid like you." Stheno feigned an expression of sorriness, while inside, she was thinking of ways to make her life hell.

    "You little bi��" When Avenger was about to burn Assassin, Seth stopped her. "Enough. Let her talk whatever she wants to say. Go, rest."

    Jalter begrudgingly complied, the others did the same, but with a far more normal mood. Yet, before she went outside of the Training Room, she noticed Altera was still standing in the same place. "And why aren''t you coming too?" She didn''t like this new girl, not one bit. Her disp.l.e.a.s.u.r.e for her was even higher than the one she had for Jeanne if that was even possible.

    Not wanting to stay here and witness a scene that strangely looked like a wife that just found another woman in her house with her husband, Boudica and Sanson left as soon as possible.

    Saber frowned at the way the Black Saint spoke to her. "I am here to make sure this nuisance doesn''t cross the line." Now she had to give explanations for everything she did? Preposterous.

    "It''s fine." Before Jalter could say anything, Seth reassured her. He knew that Stheno would include in her ''talk'' the fact that he was a God, so Altera that was aware of his identity being here would not change a thing.

    "Right..." She wanted to say more, but in the end, she simply turned around and quickly disappeared from the room as a shadow covered her eyes.

    Jeanne, worried about her counterpart, ran after her as fast as she could, leaving only three figures.

    "My oh my, isn''t that cruel of you, Master? Hurting a little girl''s feelings because of another woman. You bring shame to our kind." Stheno said, completely ignoring the fact that Zeus pissed of Hera with his infidelity numerous times.

    "What I do is none of your concern. Save your fake pity and go straight to the point." The fact that he said nothing didn''t mean he was unaware of how she felt, or Jeanne and Artoria for the matter. However, he had his problems to deal with right now. He didn''t want to think about this kind of stuff.

    "Straight to the point? Fine by me. I wanted to know why is a Divine Spirit here, helping Humanity?" Assassin threw all her ''fake kindness'' to the wind and asked him.

    "Aren''t you doing the same?" He answered her question with another question. Seth didn''t understand where she was getting at.

    "I''m different from you. I don''t mind lending a hand once in a while, more considering how much I repudiate your kind for what the Gods did to us. That''s why I want to know your motive, what are you planning?" Her face reflected the seriousness in her voice.

    "Watch your tongue." Altera pointed her sword at Stheno, but the little girl kept her gaze firm on Seth, not bothered by Saber at all.

    "I don''t nor can speak for the other Gods. But I will do everything to help Humanity only one time. That''s the promise I made a long time ago. If you want to think I have a hidden motive, then go ahead and do so. It won''t change a thing." It was the most honest answer he could give right now.

    "Oh? And assuming I believe you, what Divine Spirit are you? You don''t seem familiar. Of course, you could also be using someone as a vessel." As if nothing had happened, Stheno returned to her usual smug attitude.

    "And why should I tell you?" This little girl was a troublemaker, revealing more information than necessary would only bring more troubles upon himself.

    "What a shame, I thought there was trust between us. Still, we can play a game of guess, can''t we? I will go first. I am going to assume you were the Divine Spirit I sensed when we were in Rome. Then there is that strange occurrence where my Chimera went out of control, which I attribute to you. Seeing how you treated that girl, it is safe to say you don''t care much about what happens to them. Now now, what else? Oh, the fact that a monster like the Chimera can only go out of control if she meets a hero who had slain one of her brothers, which wasn''t the case with the little group. That only leaves the option where someone else controls them, but to do it, you have to be a Divine Spirit related to it in some way. Like a parent, perhaps?" Stheno began a wild guess with the little clues she had.

    Seth had to give it to her; she was smarter than she looked. "Are you done with your game?" Assassin hoped to get something from his face, but it seems it didn''t work.

    "Not quite. As I was saying, only its parents could do something like that. You are not a woman, so Echidna is out of the question, which only leaves Typhon. Hm...your Divinity is not the same as his. That makes me think of someone else, someone who is related by myth. Am I right in my guess, Seth? Or would you prefer me to address you as simply Tyrant?" Sometimes she wondered how she could be so perfect in everything. Even uncovering mysteries was something that was not out of her reach.

    "And what makes you so sure your theory is correct?" He again answered her question with another question. ''I planned to keep this girl here, but it seems I will have to take her with me to the next Singularity.''

    "You don''t have to be like that. You can tell me the truth to me, and no one will know. After all, we are like family, and family shouldn''t keep secrets between themselves. Oh! Perhaps you want me to call you dad��"

    Stheno made one mistake, just a single one. It wasn''t the fact that she tried to charm him by using her Noble Phantasm. One that she could activate secretly with merely one smile. No, it was the fact that she dared to try and call him dad, something he considered a taboo in his book.

    It didn''t matter if some people believed the Gorgon sisters to be the daughters of Typhon. It didn''t matter if some people thought him to be Typhon. No amount of stories from humans would change the fact that he didn''t have a son.

    Before she even had the time to finish her sentence, Seth grabbed her by the neck. "Listen here, Stheno. You should do well in remembering this, I''m capable of erasing your existence from the Throne Of Heroes, so you better forget about calling me that again if you know what''s good for you."

    "I...was just...joking." Stheno managed to squeeze out those words, trying to make Seth let go of her, which he did after glaring at her for a few more seconds.

    Coughing a bit, Assassin regained her usual demeanor. "Quite the attitude, Master. I will gladly remember that for the future. Now, if you excuse me." Still rubbing her neck from the event, Stheno turned around and left. She had made more troubles than she could today, but tomorrow will be another day.

    Now, the only ones left were Seth and Altera.

    "..." Both stayed silent for a while, that was until Saber decided to speak.

    "Master...are you okay?" Her voice, despite being tranquil, clearly reflected the worry she had within. She may have never had a family of her own, but that didn''t mean she didn''t understand how he must be feeling.

    "I guess..." Even if he won''t admit it, he was pretty embarrassed about his previous behavior. He genuinely wished that topic didn''t affect him that much.

    "I see." She shortly replied before looking at her free hand, and then at Seth''s. Altera slowly and a bit shyly grabbed his hand and held it tight. "Do you want to talk about it?"

    Seth was a bit surprised by her actions, but in the end, he just smiled. "It''s going to be a long story, you know?" Maybe it was because they were similar that he didn''t mind talking to her about him.

    "I don''t mind." She equally smiled at him. It would be a lie if she said she was not interested in hearing stories of his life. She always held some fascination for tales that portrayed things seemingly outside of this world. Maybe that was the reason she got interested in Mars in the first place.

    Most of the staff had gone to sleep by this point, meaning that no one would bother them. Both quietly sat down close to each other, still holding hands. That night, Seth told Altera stories about his life, and Saber did the same to him.

    Like that, the hours went by without the two realizing it. For them, it was nice to have a chat like this once in a while.

 Chapter 79 - A Long Time Ago...

    He didn''t know when it started, but before long, he had a pile of corpses behind him. The sand, previously yellow, was now red with the blood of his enemies.

    He didn''t stop, though. That man kept advancing time and time again. Like a mindless beast, he laughed as he stepped on the fallen bodies of comrades and foes alike.

    However, time was bound to make him regain his sanity. Still, was that the right thing to happen? One by one, images of what he had done in his madness began playing in his mind, sinking him in an abyss of regret.

    What he had sworn to that person not to become, become he did. But even as his heart hurt due to his broken promise, something whispered for him to continue.

    He didn''t have anyone anymore, his hands killed all the people he had come to care for, and the rest were just illusions, were fake. Even so, that thing whispered to his ears. It told him everything was going to be okay as long as he stayed with it.

    Days, weeks, months, years. That voice tortured his mind for a long time, never ceasing. The only thing keeping him sane was the d.e.s.i.r.e to murder the person that started it all.

    It got to a point where he couldn''t take it anymore. It was the constant whispering, the memories, the feelings of regret, everything. He just wanted to end it, once and for all. Nothing mattered anymore, he just thought of escaping, like the coward he was.

    Despite his wishes, he wouldn''t let those bastards have the p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e of seeing his final moments. That''s why he went around the world in a quest, a quest to die.

    That thing, that curse would stop him if he wanted to kill himself, so searching for someone to do it was the best option he had.

    From place to place, from Pantheon to Pantheon. He visited many lands, searching for a God to kill him, but everyone refused. They either didn''t want to start a war or were too afraid of him.

    His quest only stopped when he met a strange woman. She wasn''t afraid of him or from the repercussions of killing another God. She laughed at him, saying that he looked more like a pathetic insect than anything.

    He simply ignored her words, choosing not to bother and be done with it. The two being one of the strongest gods, they decided to move to another celestial body to fight.

    Their battle lasted months. In that time, neither of the two spoke one word, they just fought. In the end, the woman was the winner. However, the moment he awaited, his death never came.

    "Why aren''t you finishing me off?" The man asked the woman, watching her from the corner of his eyes.

    "And when was it that I became something you could order around? Do you want to die that badly?" Her voice was very majestic, carrying with it the true dignity of a superior person. Yet, strangely enough, it was still alluring.

    "That''s the idea." His voice was now weary and without strength behind it.

    "Hoh...I do not know if you are courageous or merely stupid. I have never eaten a God before; I wonder how they taste. Why do we not find out?" The woman raised her eyebrows at the audacity of the man in front of her.

    "I don''t mind. Do what you want." Those were all the words she needed. Transforming in a beast of incredible proportions, she opened her mouth and swallowed him whole.

    Finally, he was free. A smile of relief formed on his face, one that overshadowed the voices in his head. His countless years of mental torture were over.

    ...

    ...

    ...

    "..." Why? Why did he still hear those voices? Why did the pain from their battle remain? Why did he feel alive? All his confusion cleared the moment he opened his eyes.

    He was in a place that many people would call paradise. It was a garden full of the most beautiful flowers, small ponds here and there, and a small waterfall that brought endless water to the landscape.

    Still, the man paid no attention to this, not that he could appreciate beauty anyway. He just looked at the woman who was sitting leisurely near him.

    "Do not overthink it, little dog. Your taste was just so bad I ended up vomiting you." She displayed a smug smile, amused by the look he was giving her. Of course, the real reason was just to have fun out of his expenses, the more he wanted to die, the more she would keep him alive.

    "You sadistic fox..." Those were the only words he could squeeze, but instead of provoking her into killing him as he d.e.s.i.r.ed, it only made her smile more.

    "I am sure I will have a fun time playing with you." Her nine tails swayed left and right, signifying her delight at the sight of a new way to entertain herself.

    For thousands upon thousands of years, she kept him in her garden. Always making sure he wouldn''t regenerate enough to move.

    In the first years, he never answered when she spoke to him. But eventually, out of boredom, he began to engage in conversations with her. The topics were random, but they helped him to pass the time. He had to endure her making fun of him in almost every sentence, though.

    Before long, the voices in his head receded, something which he wasn''t exactly thrilled about, considering what situation he had to face, and still was facing, for that to happen.

    There were times where other Gods came to visit her, but they ignored the wounded man on the ground, opting for averting their eyes, lest they also joined him.

    This ''imprisonment'' continued until the man gave up on killing himself, already coming to peace with what he had done, and only desiring to start anew now, something that the Goddess noticed.

    "How many years has it been? You were a good source of amus.e.m.e.nt while you lasted." The woman said. At this point, she didn''t bother in maintaining him wounded anymore, letting him regenerate all he wanted instead.

    "Thirty-five thousand nine hundred and seventy-eight years." The man responded with his eyes closed, seemingly in deep thought.

    "Were you that bored to count them?" His answer amused the fox Goddess. Still, she was also surprised by it. Time is such a meaningless thing to them that there is no need to consider it.

    "At first...but then it became a routine." There weren''t many things you could do while lying on the ground like a corpse for thousands of years, after all.

    "What do you plan to do anyway? You do not have a purpose, and the world is celebrating your absence. Honestly, you are a pitiful fellow." She looked at the man who now had his eyes open, gazing at the empty sky. Maybe it reflected how he felt, who knows?

    One minute, one hour, one day, one week, he kept thinking about the answer he was going to give, but he came empty-handed. "I don''t know. There are countless things I want to do, but I just don''t have the motivation to do them." He reached his hands at the sky as he said so as if trying to grasp something.

    "Is that so?..." She also looked at the sky before returning to look at him. "Why do not you stay here? I have come to find your presence oddly calming. Plus, your Mana constantly feeds my garden."

    Contrary to her expectations, his answer came fairly quickly. "Why not...As strange as it may sound, you are the only person I can freely speak right now."

    "What about that barbarian? I thought he was your friend." Now that she got a satisfactory answer, her mood visibly improved. She still kept the dignified air around her, though.

    "I can''t look at him in the eyes after what I did to him. It''s better if we go our separate ways from now on." He said after a sigh. He was tired mentally more than anything.

    "Do not worry. We will find new ways to amuse ourselves in this boring world." She then approached him and extended her hand.

    "Is amus.e.m.e.nt the only thing you think about?" He wrily smiled while taking her hand. She kept him here for that reason alone, and now she sought more? This woman was something else.

    "Indeed. I do not have any other preoccupations, after all." She didn''t feel shame in admitting it; on the contrary, she was proud of doing so.

    That day, they became companions in a strange search for a simple goal. The woman would lead the way while the man would just follow her like some sort of butler. However, he was okay with it. He didn''t have a purpose, and if she could give him one this way, then it was fine.

    The woman would try different things that could make them enjoy their boring life more, while he would stop her if she went too far.

    It didn''t have to be something big, sometimes they just stayed together, quietly watching the sunset. Sometimes the two would cause small misunderstandings between the other Gods to make them fight among themselves.

    An unrestrained woman and a man that disappeared from his place of origin without anyone minding it. The two pained quite the sight.

    Spending many more years together, it didn''t surprise both would fall in love with each other. But there was a problem, she was too proud to admit it, and he didn''t want to face it after his past experiences.

    This state of ''stagnation'' let to awkwardness between the two. So much so that they began to distance themselves from one another. To add to that, the voices in the man''s head returned, this time even louder than before.

    These voices would always whisper for him to kill the woman, something he refused to do. In the end, he fell seriously ill, a strange occurrence for his kind. He spent his days lying in the same place where he stayed all those years ago. With each passing one, he would look worse and worse.

    One day, the woman decided to talk to him again, but what she found scared her to the core. He was pale as a ghost, and he seemed to have some strange vines moving inside his body, eating him away.

    She immediately ran to his side and held him between her arms. "Fool! What did you do?! Why did you not tell me this was happening to you?!"

    The man barely mustered up the strength to tilt his head and look at her. He couldn''t form words, so he spoke telepathically to her. ''They whisper to me... You need to go away.''

    Even in this state, he could kill the defenseless her. That''s why he wanted her to get away from him. His mind wouldn''t be able to withstand killing another precious person, especially the one he had come to love.

    However, she ignored his warning. Instead, she hugged him as hard as she could as if to reassure him that everything was going to be okay. "Fool! Fool! Fool!" She repeated the same words as tears streamed down her face.

    What did her pride matter at this point? When the person she loved was in this miserable state? She just wanted to stay with him forever, no matter what. The woman felt so useless. What was the point of all her powers if she couldn''t even protect him?

    A little clarity returned to his foggy mind the moment he saw her cry. His remaining sanity gained the strength it needed to fight back, a power born from a wish. A wish to not see her cry anymore.

    ''Kill her...''

    ''No.''

    ''Kill her.''

    ''No.''

    ''KILL HER! YOU ONLY NEED US!''

    ''Shut up.''

    ''WE WILL NEVER ABANDON YOU! FOREVER WE WILL TAKE CARE OF YOU! JUST KILL HER! YOU WON''T SUFFER ANYMORE. WE ARE HERE FOR YOU!''

    ''I told you to shut up.''

    ''WHY?! WE HAVE TAKEN CARE OF YOU! WE GAVE YOU THE POWER TO AVENGE THEM! WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS?!''

    ''And I already repaid you with years of madness.''

    ''WE ARE YOUR PARENTS! THE ONLY ONES WHO CARE ABOUT YOU! YOU ARE GOING TO LEAVE US FOR SOMEONE FROM THEIR SIDE?!''

    ''Listen here, Evil. I don''t have anything to do with you anymore. I abandoned the Sea of the Gods a long time ago, and I gave you most of my powers. Leave me live my life alone.''

    ''...''

    ''In time...you will call for us. You always do...''

    Those were the final words before his mind finally regained its clarity. Color returned to his skin and the vines eating him from within burned away.

    The woman immediately noticed the changes and smiled at him through her tears. "You are the one who is a fool...what would you have done if I ended up killing you?" He asked her. He was trying not to fall asleep. The tiredness from resisting that voice was immense.

    She quickly wiped away the tears in her eyes as she gained a confident look. "If that happened, I would have taken you down with me so we could enjoy the underworld together."

    A small chill ran down his spine. "You could have phrased that a bit better..." That was the weirdest love confession he had ever heard in his life. And he has been living for more than a hundred thousand years.

    "What? Would you not want that?" Her tone pretty much forced him to agree. Still, it wasn''t like he would want anything different.

    "It sounds perfect to me." He answered before succ.u.mbing to his tiredness and falling asleep. That answer was everything the woman needed. She gently picked him up and took him to rest in a more comfortable place.

    From that moment on, they became inseparable.

    ������������������������������������������������������������

    Altera slowly opened her eyes. Looking around, she noticed her Master, who was beside her. "What happened?" She asked him, not comprehending the situation.

    "You fell asleep. You must have been tired from all that training." Seth calmly answered her.

    "I had a strange dream... It''s difficult to describe." She could remember the dream very clearly, but the faces were all blurred, as well as the voices.

    "Did that dream end well?" He asked her out of nowhere, confusing Alter slightly.

    "Yes... Yes, I think so." At least it looked like that to her. She wasn''t used to this ''happy ending'' thing, so she doesn''t know for sure.

    "Is that so..." A faint smile appeared on his face. "I''m glad then."

 Chapter 80 - Moon Festival (1)

    After Altera woke up, Seth accompanied her to her room, which by her request was next to his. She was still a bit weirded out by that dream, so she wanted to rest.

    He then went to the cafeteria to have lunch, and to his surprise, Boudica was there helping the old lady and EMIYA. ''Well, whatever suits her.'' He wouldn''t force her to fight if she was more comfortable here than on the battlefield.

    Cu Chulainn was also there. When Caster saw Seth, he beckoned for him to sit on his table. "Yo! How are you doing? I heard you went through quite the ordeal."

    Sitting on one of the chairs, he responded. "Fine, I guess. I certainly have had better days. What about you? Romulus seems to have given you guys a hard time."

    Caster expression became sour immediately. "Don''t mention it. We had to use everything at our disposal, and that included the sacrifice of that little Saint. We were lucky he didn''t use his Noble Phantasm, or we would have been in much more trouble."

    "Of course he didn''t use it. He never planned to do it in the first place. Otherwise, you would have been dead without even realizing it. His spear is nothing to scoff at, despite its funny appearance." He said, making Cu raise one of his eyebrows.

    "Wait. How did you know that? And what would you do if he used it?" Caster asked, a little perplexed. If he didn''t know better, he would think Seth sent Romulus to fight against them.

    "Do you think I didn''t meet him after I destroyed his city? I naturally talked to him. He is a Servant that wouldn''t wish the world to perish under any circ.u.mstances. So he just wanted to see if he could leave his Empire in the right hands." He responded.

    "His Empire ended long ago. What use is there for that?" He would never understand people like that, but then again, all heroes had their fair share of quirks.

    "Beats me. You can ask Romulus if he gets summoned next time." Just then, EMIYA came with some food for him, and then sat together with them.

    "Give me a rest. I am already tired of weird people appearing here one after the other." Archer was unmistakably referring to Nero, who had an extreme resemblance to Artoria, and that demanded banquets as soon as she stepped in the kitchen.

    "If you complain so much, why don''t you go to a Singularity? Boudica is already helping in the kitchen. It''s not like you can''t be useful for once." Cu Chulainn retorted, presumably wanting to start another fight between the two.

    "Hmph. That''s what I was planning to do from the beginning. Should I kill an ally to even things a bit?" EMIYA sarcastically replied. These two would never get along.

    Seth decided to ignore them as he was already used to their constant fights. Instead, he chose to eat quietly before going to the Command Room to disclose some of the things he knew.

    Quickly finishing, he looked at the two Servants who were still bickering. "I''m leaving. You guys do whatever you want. Also, make sure to be ready, Archer. You still owe me one."

    The Counter Guardian felt cold all of a sudden. It didn''t help that Caster was rejoicing at his misfortune. "Man, what a shame. I wish to accompany you guys, but sadly I am a bit tired from fighting that Emperor in the last Singularity. Well, nothing I can do about it, enjoy it for me!"

    The Egyptian God rolled his eyes. This guy wouldn''t fool even a kid with his acting. He didn''t want to stay here any longer, so after a quick goodbye, he left.

    When he arrived at the Command Room, Romani, Da Vinci, Mash, and Fujimaru were already waiting for him. No Servants, as well as no other staff members, were present.

    "Good morning. Now that you are here, we can begin the meeting." The doctor went straight to the point, which was fine for him.

    Taking a seat, he looked at the two a.d.u.l.ts. "Well, this will be a bit long." Seth then began telling them every piece of information he gathered so far. Of course, he left out some things which he was not wholly confident, like the identity of the ''King.''

    When Seth got to the part where he defeated Lev, the two young kids practically jumped out of their seats. Their faces reflected the shock they felt.

    Naturally, he didn''t dwell too much on it, just opting for giving some details. He already said that he didn''t want them to embark on a meaningless path for vengeance as that wouldn''t end well. And when an older man speaks, you listen.

    The black-haired man also explained with more details his confrontation against Altera and that she didn''t pose a threat to Chaldea, just in case there was some awkwardness when treating her, you never know.

    It was almost noon when they finished their meeting. After a small talk with Dr. Roman, Mash and Fujimaru exited the room as if they were in a hurry.

    When Seth was about to go, too, Da Vinci stopped him. "Oh, right. I was wondering if you could help us with something? We are preparing some sort of festival, you see."

    "Festival? What kind?" He asked. When did they start celebrating these kinds of things? More strange things keep coming one after the other, it seems.

    "The Moon Festival! We don''t have many things to do here, so we thought we might as well do something special. You know, eat dumplings and drink alcohol." The Universal Genius cheerfully replied.

    ''Are you sure it''s not just because you want to get drunk...?'' Despite his inner thoughts, he still replied. "Fine. Tell me what you need, and I will see what I can do."

    "Don''t worry. It''s nothing too complicated, especially for you. We wanted to ask you if you could help Mash and Fujimaru carrying the box with the stuff for the celebration. We also took into consideration the Servants, so there is a lot of things to move." It was Romani, the one who spoke this time.

    Sighing, he responded. "You could at least��" Before he could finish, an alarm was activated, resounding in the whole room.

    Seth''s eyes immediately narrowed. ''Is this related to what I felt yesterday?'' For some reason, he had this nagging feeling in the back of his head that something troublesome was about to happen.

    After a few minutes, the two kids returned with worried faces. "Doctor, someone stole everything from the storage room!" Mash practically shouted every word.

    "Did you sense something, Kuro-san?" Fujimaru asked Seth. He had seen how the Egyptian God always seemed to pick things even before Dr. Roman did, so maybe he caught the presence of the intruder.

    However, Seth just shook his head. "I don''t actively search for people here in Chaldea, there has never been the need to, at least until now."

    "As expected of a genius, I have found something that could lead us to the culprit!" Out of nowhere, Da Vinchi happily exclaimed while moving her hands on the keyboard of a computer.

    "Someone Rayshifted to France three minutes ago but, Kuro and Fujimaru are here, the same as all their Servants, which means that some other person did it." Caster continued.

    "The only people capable of Rayshifting are them, and the outside world doesn''t exist, so the only option is a Heroic Spirit powerful enough to bend space and time," Romani concluded, unaware of how much his words affected Seth.

    ''Bends space and time? She wouldn''t, right? Something as petty as stealing food it''s not something she��She totally would...'' The Egyptian God prayed to...himself? It wasn''t the person he was thinking right now.

    "But we don''t have someone of that level here. The most powerful we have as of yet is Attila the Hun. And she is still in here." Mash said, analyzing the situation.

    "You are looking at it the wrong way, Mash. Suppose he or she is a Heroic Spirit that powerful that concepts such as space and time don''t affect him/her. Then they would most likely be able to arrive here taking a ''Possible contract in the future.'' into account. As weird as it may sound." Da Vinci said. It surely seemed a little too nonsensical.

    "No matter what Heroic Spirit they are, we must recover what they stole, or we won''t be able to celebrate the Moon Festival!" After her declaration, Mash changed into her Servant form, ready to march.

    "I appreciate your enthusiasm, but be sure not to overdo it. Remember, you are fighting a powerful Servant." Dr. Roman advised her, this could be more dangerous than they thought, after all.

    Nodding at him, both quickly Rayshifted to France, leaving the three a.d.u.l.ts alone. "It''s a Divine Spirit, right?" Da Vinci asked, looking at the place where both youths disappeared.

    "Yes..." Romani confirmed.

    "Indeed, it is..." Followed by Seth.

    "How confident are you in taking on a Divine Spirit?" Caster asked the black-haired man.

    "It depends. Against a genuine God in their prime, I have zero chance. If we talk about a weaker one or someone who is not fighting related, then I may have a chance, as little as it might be." He hadn''t met a God until now, so he wasn''t sure how powerful they were in this world. But if the Age of the Gods ended, then they wouldn''t be that powerful, at least to his God''s version standards.

    "Considering they were willing to form a contract in the future, I don''t think they mean harm. Also, Divine Spirits can''t freely materialize, so the world must have lowered their Divinity. I don''t think they are as strong as they were in the Age of the Gods." Romani''s words made sense. That wouldn''t make it easy, though.

    "Do you want me to call your Servants here?" Da Vinci offered, but Seth just shook his head. "No need. If worse come to worse, I would have to go all out, and I may end up killing them by mistake."

    "Suit yourself~" Caster then wished him good luck and sent him to France. He asked her if the coordinates could be a bit far from the place Mash and Fujimaru landed, to cover more terrain. Of course, the real reason was not that, but they didn''t need to know.

    After successfully Rayshifting, Seth studied the scenery. He was in some hills, and it was currently night time. In the distance, he could hear people fighting.

    "Mash, Fujimaru, some beasts and...who is the other one?" He didn''t recognize the presence, so maybe it wasn''t the Divine Spirit but someone else.

    ''Anyway, better to be safe than sorry. I don''t want to run the risk of someone recognizing me. I hope I didn''t get rusty for these things.'' Similar to when Stargazer transformed, dark Mana engulfed him before disappearing and revealing a new form.

    Now, he looked like a young man with black and white hair and blue eyes. His attire consists mainly of a black and white tunic with blue accents, black pants, t.h.i.g.h-high armored boots, and a short white cape with a black edge. Aside from his shoes, his left arm has a gauntlet, and he wears a set of faulds at his waist. A sword scabbard hangs at his left side, and red marks coat his gloved right arm. Finishing with his transformation, he got closer to the place where they were fighting, enough to see their figures.

    However, the moment he laid eyes on the additional person fighting together with the kids, his eyes began to twitch uncontrollably. ''At least is not Ama, but why is this crazy woman here? And why doesn''t she have any trace of Divinity?''

    He was relieved the Divine Spirit he thought initially was not Amaterasu, but the actual one didn''t exactly thrill him that much. And what was the deal with that ugly teddy bear on her shoulders?

    Nothing of this made sense. Still, Seth had to help them, even if that woman was enough to wipe the floor with the beasts.

    The Egyptian God summoned six-winged blue javelins and six-winged red ones behind him. He pointed his sword at the monsters. Immediately, the weapons shot like projectiles at them.

    The three people fighting were surprised at this new turn of events. That''s when they heard a cheerful voice. "Don''t fret, you guys. You can leave everything to me! Just stay there and witness how I take care of these mad creatures real quick!"

    "U-um...how are you...sir?" Mash asked, not understanding where did he come from, at all.

    "Don''t need to be that formal with me. You can call me, Charles!"

 Chapter 81 - Moon Festival (2)

    Seth''s arrival made things easier for the group. Not that they were having any trouble, but the Master and Servants much appreciated some help.

    "Battle finish. Nice work." Mash said once she saw there were no more enemies nearby. She then tried contacting Romani, with no success.

    "Maybe something happened?" Fujimaru asked. It wasn''t a common occurrence, after all. Every time they Rayshifted, the doctor would be already there. The only exception was Fuyuki, but well, the circ.u.mstances at that time were particular.

    "Most likely there is some type of interference, the only thing we can do is wait," Shielder answered before turning to the new additions to the team. "Excuse me, do you mind introducing yourselves? You are not normal people, are you?"

    "No, shit. What do you think?" It''s what Seth would like to say, but he had a character to play, especially in front of the white-haired woman here. "I prefer to keep my identity a secret, mysterious guys are always cooler! But as you can see, I''m a Saber-class Servant." -Charles- said in a happy tone with a smile on his face.

    "As for me, I''m the eternal hunter of the night sky. My name is Orion! Yep! That''s me!" -Orion- introduced herself with enthusiasm. If someone had been paying close attention to Seth, they would have noticed a twitch in the eyebrows of his still smiling face.

    "Woah! Are you the legendary Orion?!" Charles asked with a ''surprised'' tone in his voice. In his mind, however, he wanted to kick her a.s.s with a passion he didn''t know he had.

    A light shined in Orion''s eyes. Faster than one could blink, she grabbed Seth''s hands and excitedly shook them with all her might. "So you know me?!"

    "Wasn''t Orion a man, though?" Ignoring her strange behavior, Fujimaru asked, a little confused. He may not know much of history, but even the name screamed male to him. Still, he didn''t understand why he bothered at this point. The number of people whose gender was mistaken by records of the past had numbed him already.

    The white-haired girl turned to the Japanese Master. "You mustn''t believe everything you see! People thought Orion was a good for nothing, unfaithful, and skirt chaser of the worst kind. But I''m glad someone recognizes me for how good I am!"

    In the middle of her speech, something stuck between her b.r.e.a.s.ts tried to get out, but she quickly pushed it back. Seth noticed it and narrowed his eyes, although, from an outside perspective, it looked like he was staring at Orion''s b.o.o.b.s as if trying to engrave them into his memories.

    "Cough!" Mash did a fake cough, bringing both ''Servants'' attention to her. "Hm? What''s the matter? Are you sick?" Charles asked while tilting his head. The only answer he got was, "Please be a little more respectful." though.

    A look of confusion formed on his face, not understanding what she meant by that. This time, he wasn''t faking it. "Sure...whatever you say..." At this point, he seriously wondered if being a homunculus gave you less mental capabilities.

    "Anyway. In reality, Orion is a kind-hearted man that made a Goddess fall in love with him, and he loves her so much too! That''s why I have come here to clear my reputation!"

    ''At least try a little with your acting and use she instead of he, you dumbass!'' This bimbo is the epitome of stupidity. He may not be the best at impersonating, but at least he tried! And the fact the other two didn''t realize the incongruencies spoke enough of them too.

    "That''s commendable, Miss Orion! By the way, have you seen any suspicious person around here? Someone stole the dumplings we had for a celebration, and now we are trying to get them back." Mash asked Orion, who, in turn, put a thinking pose.

    "Suspicious, huh..." She then turned to Seth, who shook his hands left and right with a forced smile. "Don''t look at me. I just materialized here recently, and I have no idea why."

    "The truth is, I saw three people running with some boxes. They did it quite clumsily, though. Some of the contents were falling, and that''s what attracted the beasts from before." Orion responded while pointing at the distance, signaling where they went.

    "I see! That''s certainly helpful. Thank you, Miss Orion!" Mash thanked her, followed by Fujimaru.

    "Don''t mind it. You helped me, so how about I help you? The little guy over there is a Master, so we should be able to form a temporary contract, isn''t that right?" The white-haired girl proposed with a smile on her face. She seemed to be having fun.

    "That would be helpful, thanks," Fujimaru responded before turning to Seth. "How about you...Charles, was it? I can manage to form another contract."

    "Nah. I''m good. Besides, I have Independent Action despite being a Saber so I can fight without a Master. You gotta give your Magical Energy to them, not me!" Seth looked quite proud of having a skill that didn''t belong to his class.

    With nothing more to say, the group of four began following the trail left behind by the trio Orion saw before. It eventually led them to a forest, where they could see a campfire in the distance.

    Slowly and without making a sound, they approached the place where presumably the thieves were. When they were close enough, the group could hear some people talking and even see their faces.

    However, the moment Mash and Fujimaru saw them, they couldn''t help but open their mouth in surprise. The three people were D''Eon, Marie, and Sanson, but how was this possible?

    The three were eating peacefully and even having some strange talk about how Marie would never get fat because all the food went to her b.r.e.a.s.ts. Sanson was saying that was medically inaccurate but still wanting to hear more ''In the name of science'' and D''Eon was telling him to shut up...

    ''This...'' They couldn''t describe what they felt by seeing a scene like the one before them. Mash and Fujimaru decided to get near to talk to them, believing they could recognize each other.

    ''That Sanson there is not my Servant...so that means he is another copy from the real one in the Throne.'' He didn''t feel any connection with the Assassin Servant in front of him, so that was the most logical explanation there was.

    ''Also...that damn Amadeus is hiding in the shadows like some kind of stalker.'' The disguised man thought while looking at a particular direction. There, a masked man was observing them in the shadows.

    Seth didn''t plan to stop the two kids in their futile attempt to talk like old friends with the trio. They would have to fight with them anyway, so what was the point in doing that.

    "Stop there! Who are you?!" The first to react was Sanson. He rapidly put himself in front of Marie, followed by D''Eon. "Get back, Your Majesty!"

    "E-Eh? Don''t you guys recognize us?" Mash asked, a little perplexed by their cold treatment. Fujimaru was in a similar state as her, but then remembered EMIYA. His case was a little particular because he was a Shadow Servant back then, but it was true he didn''t remember fighting them when the boy summoned him.

    "Hm...I think I remember you. However, I don''t know where we met or if we truly did." Marie said with a somewhat sad face.

    "Don''t bother Marie, they are probably just some bandits," Sanson reassured her, trying to lift her mood. D''Eon for once agreed with him. "He is right. They most likely came here to ruin Her Majesty''s time."

    "Who are you calling a bandit?! We are the good guys, and you are the bad ones here!" Seth retorted with passion while pointing his sword at Sanson, seemingly offended by his words.

    "Isn''t that obvious? You are." Sanson responded with his brows knitted together.

    "No, you."

    "No, you."

    "You."

    "You."

    "Enough, Executioner! Can you not act like a child in front of Her Majesty?!" D''Eon reprimanded Assassin. He/She couldn''t allow such behaviors in front of the Queen.

    "She is right! Why are you so fixated with it, little knight? You won''t grow up to be a good boy if you keep such an attitude!" The white-haired girl did the same but with Seth. She couldn''t allow someone who knew the greatness of Orion to act like that!

    "Hmph. Don''t look at me. That man started it." Sanson unhesitantly shifted the blame on Seth without a second thought.

    "Don''t say that, big sis! Being a bandit is lame! Did I forget to tell you that I get weaker when I do lame things?!" He said, sounding like he had been betrayed by her, while in his mind... ''I will strangle you to death, Artemis!!!'' He was having not so kind thoughts...

    ''What kind of useless power is that?!'' Was the thought in everyone''s mind. However, Seth paid them no mind. Instead, he summoned his weapons behind him. "Prepare yourselves, dumpling thieves!"

    With that as the signal, the confrontation began. One that only lasted less than ten minutes. Artemis s.u.c.k.e.d with a bow despite being the Goddess of the Hunt. It was by some mysterious work of fate that she managed to hit her target. Seth didn''t have the person he was copying''s Noble Phantasm or Skills and only could use some of his abilities, including his fighting style.

    As per Fujimaru''s orders, they didn''t fight to kill but just to restrain them. As Seth was now a ''Servant,'' he went along with his command, not that it made much difference, as Amadeus finally showed himself up, declaring he would help them, even if they were in the wrong.

    "Amadeus too..." Mash didn''t know what to say while Artemis laughed a bit, seeing her predicament. "Ahaha...you have it rough, by the look of things."

    The Musician began to play a tune that seemed to revitalize the tired Servants. Thanks to that, they would have to fight once again.

    ...

    ...

    ...

    It was over in just a minute. Saying the coordination of those four s.u.c.k.e.d would be an understatement. Not even ten seconds in the battle, and Amadeus was already ''missing'' his attacks and hitting Sanson instead.

    D''Eon was lying on the ground, ashamed due to being beaten twice in front of her Queen. And all because of the Musician. "Amadeus, you sc.u.m! You only made it worse!"

    "You don''t have to suffer being a low-rarity Servant, so you don''t have the right to complain." Caster said while taking off his mask and throwing it away randomly. Strangely enough, it hit Sanson in the back of his head, knocking him out.

    Seeing his ''nemesis'' defeated in such a way, Seth fell on the ground. He was laughing so hard that tears were coming out of his eyes. Fujimaru wanted to join him, but Mash shot the young man a glare for him to behave. So there he was, trying to keep a stoic face and failing miserably.

    "That was a splendid battle, you two!" Out of nowhere, Marie ran and hugged the youths. The people in question were taken aback at first but then returned the hug.

    "Do you remember us now, Marie?" Mash asked with happiness all over her face. This familiarity she was displaying could only mean one thing!

    "Yes! It happened mid-fight, but I wanted to have fun, so I continued!" The Queen happily exclaimed, making them smile wryly. "Wait a moment. I will give you the rest of the dumplings we collected."

    Marie then went back to her carriage, opened the door, and took a small box before giving it to them. "Here, you can have what''s left."

    After recovering from his laughing madness, Seth looked at the box and couldn''t help but sweatdrop. "Eh...Isn''t that a bit small?" Indeed, it was a single box, and it wasn''t that big to boot.

    "I''m sorry... We didn''t have much; we gave it all away to some people who passed by." She said, quite apologetic. However, Seth wasn''t part beast for nothing. The smell of dumplings in the air told him the number they consumed wasn''t minimal.

    Even D''Eon was struggling to maintain his/her composure after hearing Marie''s words. Still, he/she wouldn''t contradict her, and would instead keep silent.

    "R-Right...well, can you tell us who they are and where they went?" Fujimaru asked. They didn''t get much here, but maybe the other people had more of it, and hopefully, they wouldn''t have eaten everything yet.

    "They said they were going to pray in the waters of Marseille. You need to hurry if you want to meet up with them." Rider said with her characteristic smile.

    "Then let''s continue our adventure! We have to catch them as quickly as possible!" Seth''s words, filled with excitement, motivated the rest of the group.

    "Yeah!" Orion raised her closed fist to the sky, sharing his enthusiasm.

    "Good luck, you guys. Viva La France and whassup!" After her strange farewell, Marie threw Fujimaru a flying kiss while Mash put her shield in front of him to protect her Master from that deadly attack.

    The group then parted to complete the quest to catch the dumplings'' thief.

 Chapter 82 - Moon Festival (3)

    To not confuse people, I am going to use Charles instead of Seth. Remember, this is an act. Vin Diesel isn''t street racing in real life (as far as I know). Hopefully, this will clear your mind a little and let you enjoy the chapter better.

    =============================

    On a quiet night, two Saints, a man, and a woman, were praying near a shore accompanied by a swordsman wielding a katana. He seemed to be observing the woman, radiating some sort of fighting spirit.

    The woman noticed this and some tick marks appeared on her forehead. "Don''t you see I''m busy here? Why don''t you go bother someone else?"

    "Your words cut deeper than the deadliest of blades, Martha. I just wanted to exchange blows with someone like you." The swordsman responded in a tranquil tone.

    "And I told you I didn''t want to! What type of person do you think I am? Saints don''t indulge in such things as brawls!" Rider said. Her tone conveyed the annoyance she was feeling at the man. He had been following them for quite some time now.

    "No need to be modest. I can see the fiery will to battle in your eyes. You carry a heavy burden. Maybe I should help you with it? What was his name again? Tarasque, was it? I would like to try my luck with it." As he said that, he looked at the ocean, where a strange monster was resting.

    "Huh?! Do you think your sword can cut through Tarasque''s scales?! They could resist even my punches!" Hearing her mount being taken so lightly by him, Martha immediately defended it.

    "Oh? I thought you fought enemies with your prayers, but it seems you like to take a different approach. Quite the Saint, indeed." He nodded at his own words, finding it appropriate.

    "Ahem...you must have heard wrong. As a Saint, punching someone is something I would never do." She said, avoiding eye contact with reddened cheeks. Near their location, a certain someone sneezed. ''A cold? Human bodies are weak...''

    "Haha. That would be a good scene to photograph. You used to be empty-handed before "That Man" gave you the staff, didn''t you?" The other Saint laughed a bit, imagining Martha finding Tarasque only with her fists.

    "I have to admit it. As a fellow Dragon Slayer, I would have liked to see you fight bare-handed against a dragon." He continued, finally ending with Martha''s patience.

    "I don''t punch dragons! I don''t street-brawl anymore, and haven''t fought with my b.a.r.e hands in my life! You only photograph landscapes, so shut up and do so!" Despite her ''outburst,'' the other two didn''t take it in the wrong way and laughed together.

    ''Idiots surround me...'' Martha cried in her mind as she stuffed a dumpling in her mouth, trying to forget the existence of these two.

    Just at that time, the group consisting of the Chaldeans plus Orion arrived at their location. "There seems to be two Dragon Slayers and one Samurai. At least Siegfried isn''t with them." Mash said before getting closer to the trio.

    Remembering the combination of George and Siegfried they did back in Orleans with Atalanta, Charles (Seth) couldn''t help but agree with Shielder. It was indeed borderline disgusting.

    A Noble Phantasm that gave you a Dragon Trait if you were to be hit by it, and another that dealt more damage to dragons, together they were a deadly team.

    Returning to them, Mash positioned herself in front of the group and was the first to speak. "Please surrender peacefully, or we will have to use ropes!"

    "Ropes? What are you on about, little girl?" Martha asked with furrowed brows.

    "She means not to offer resistance. In old Japan, criminals'' bodies were tied up by enforcers so that they wouldn''t resist." It was the Samurai, the one who answered her question.

    "R-Ropes...couldn''t they just tie up their hands? Tying up someone''s whole body..." Rider said while blushing. ''I always thought you were kind of a sadist, but it seems I was wrong...'' The silent Seth thought as he looked at the embarrassed Saint.

    "I''m sorry, but I don''t know what you are trying to say. We are not criminals in any way." Georgios defended himself and the others. His honesty was apparent for everyone to see.

    Seeing his earnestness, Fujimaru decided to speak this time. "I apologize if we sounded like we were accusing you. It''s just that someone stole those dumplings from Chaldea, and we are trying to get them back."

    "So that''s how it is. I indeed bought this, but if someone stole these goods, then as a Saint is my duty to give them back." St. George, understanding Fujimaru, packed the dumplings that were out of the boxes, wanting to return them.

    "Um...are you two okay with it?" Seeing as there was no problem with Georgios, Mash decided to ask the other two integrants.

    "I don''t have any problems. As a fellow Saint, I also have to uphold a particular set of morals. That and St. George paid from them. I didn''t lose any money." Rider responded shamelessly.

    "I''m just some wandering swordsman. Besides, I have been freeloading for a while. I don''t have any rights to ask for more." The Samurai answered with some sort of ''Philosophical smile'' if that was even a thing.

    "Do Servants even need money? What are they going to do with it anyway?" Charles tilted his head in confusion.

    "We also have needs, like every person. I wouldn''t have gotten far without some monetary support in my life." Martha answered his question with a smile on her face, like teaching a child.

    "Hm...it certainly makes sense." Charles nodded his head, placing a hand on his chin. ''You would look like a good person if you haven''t extorted me out of all my money every time you could back then.'' He rolled his eyes inside his mind.

    "Here, this is everything we have." While they were talking, Georgios finished packing every dumpling in a box and returned them. Now, Charles was carrying two boxes. Of course, it didn''t pose any problems.

    "Thank you for your troubles��" "Wait a minute. They are deceiving us." Before Fujimaru could finish talking, Orion interrupted him.

    She pointed at the katana-wielder man. "That Samurai is hiding an extreme, rare dumpling in his pockets." There was a slight shake in the swordsman''s body when she said this.

    "And that woman," She now pointed at Martha. "She is hiding some behind her back."

    "Ahahaha...I wonder what you are talking about..." The Saint averted her gaze to the side, not wanting to make eye contact.

    "I didn''t expect such behavior from you two. You can take these criminals away; I will just stay here." St. George distanced himself from the duo, not wanting to be associated with them.

    "Don''t you have some hidden in your camera pack too?" Charles raised his eyebrow. Georgios immediately jumped back and took out his sword. "THOU ART A DRAGON?!"

    "...No?"

    "Now that we have come to this. There is no option but to fight! I will ask the Lord for forgiveness so that I can give you the Holy Knuckle without repercussions! Kojirou, you freeloader, you fight too!" Martha seemed pretty eager to fight for some reason.

    "I can''t reject a request from you. Very well, I shall show you guys my Secret Blade." He said, taking a stance to begin combat.

    "You have something like that?! So cool!" Charles'' eyes lit up, like an excited child. Even the tranquil Samurai found it weird to have someone admire him like that. Though, he had to admit he found it pleasant.

    "I see you are a man who recognizes hard work. As fellow swordsmen, nothing would make me happier than have a duel where we exchange techniques." Korjirou said in his usual calm tone.

    "Now is not the time to make friends!" Both Martha and Mash reproached them, making both men sigh in unison. "Women are boring sometimes." They spoke in synch.

    With nothing more to say, they battled for a long while. Noble Phantasms flew here and there. Tarasques were abused by their riders, etc. Just your everyday things. Charles even learned Kojirou''s Tsubame Gaeshi! Of course, that was thanks to the ''real'' him. Sadly, Mystery didn''t come together with learning it, making the technique inferior to the one of its true wielder.

    The male Saint and Samurai even gave a passionate speech about why they lost before falling on the ground ''unconscious.'' Saying things like it was because they lent their blade to evil and greed. Martha just called them a bunch of losers.

    "Saber, come here." The Saint signaled for Charles to get closer, which he did. As soon as he got into striking distance, Martha hit him with the Holy Knuckle.

    "What was that for?" He asked while rubbing his head and looking at her with his brows furrowed. That move was as powerful as always.

    "For some reason, I felt the Lord asked me to do that," Martha said before turning back and running to the shore where Tarasque was lying there with some bruises on its head.

    ''I thought you were the type to not resort to violence, Yeshua.'' Seth thought as he watched the fleeing Saint, who at this point had mounted her dragon. Although he didn''t get a clear answer, he could feel someone''s amus.e.m.e.nt at his words.

    "I''m outta here, kiddies!" Tarasque began ascending to the skies with Martha laughing like some third rate villain. "Still, as thanks for the dumplings, I will tell you we gave some of them to a fat man that called himself an Emperor. He is the type that scams everyone he sees, so be careful. You will find him in the wasteland." And with that, she flew off.

    "It seems we have a new location to search," Fujimaru said while observing at the Saint in the distance. He couldn''t believe she was the same person as the one in Chaldea. This Martha was more ''wild'' for lack of a better word.

    "What do we do with these two?" Mash asked, pointing at the two men who were faking their unconsciousness.

    "I''m having fun, so I want to continue our journey; you can leave them be," Orion said with an enthusiastic smile. As she was speaking, the plushie bear tried to get out of her b.r.e.a.s.ts again. Luckily for her, Charles did an overdramatic cough, bringing the youths'' attention away from her, enough to push it back.

    "Are you alright?" It was weird seeing a Servant do these kinds of things, but he was getting used to it little by little. He had his Servants to thank for that.

    "Yeah. I just choked with a dumpling. No worries." Charles said, making Fujimaru and Mash sweatdrop. Meanwhile, Orion sent him a grateful look, assuming he already knows something but still chose to help her.

    After that, they parted again to meet the next dumpling thief, walking for hours until they finally arrived at a wasteland. Noticing the presence of a Servant here, they knew it was the right place.

    They weren''t even within sight, and they could already hear shouts of "NEEEEROOOOO" and the like. There was only one person who could do that, a certain Emperor.

    As they got closer, not only they heard shouts, but also the sound of someone else eating as if their life depended on it. "Delicious! This texture, this scent, this form! Truly marvelous!"

    "Arghhhhhh...Fatso...arghhhhh." The other Emperor managed to insult him in between his madness. "I''m not fat! I''m just a little plump, proof that Rome prospers!"

    "I don''t think we should talk with them. Let''s just knock these guys out and get the dumplings back." Even as the ''happy'' Charles, Seth didn''t want to interact with them. He believed he would lose brain cells if he did.

    "I can hear you, you know!" Caesar complained as he continued to eat dumplings without stopping. Caligula did the same, albeit in a more reserved manner.

    "I agree with Saber. He is only going to try and persuade us to give him more dumplings. It''s better if we go directly to fighting." Mash, for once, agreed with Charles.

    "Now that you are here, let me introduce my��" Just as Caesar was about to use his communication skills, Charles attacked him. The Emperor didn''t waste any time and unsheathed his sword to parry.

    "Hey, hey. Don''t you have manners?! If you leave your dumplings here, I can forget this!" He tried to negotiate, but Charles just kept attacking relentlessly.

    Seeing as the two Sabers were engaged in battle, the others decided to join too against Caligula. However, the Emperor was acting strange. It was like he was afraid of Orion but, at the same time, looked at her with hate.

    Orion noticed this, and could only send a pitying look. She chose to put him out of his misery, personally. Mash was going to defend while she attacked from afar.

    Caligula''s punches hit like a truck, so Mash had to be careful and not take them head-on, and deflect them instead. At least this would work as some sort of training to improve her defense.

    Caesar tried many times to knock some sense into Charles without success. He was dead-set in defeating him! Even after he used his Noble Phantasm and managed to get lucky with the number of hits, he just deflected them all!

    Without choice, the chubby Emperor gave up. At the rate that this fight was going, he would lose a ton of weight and end up looking like some skinny boy from the slums. That wouldn''t show the prosperity of Rome, so it was best to make a tactical retreat. Indeed, pull back today and conquer tomorrow. A fine saying!

    As Caesar was thinking all of this, trying to escape reality. Charles was slapping his cheeks left and right, trying to wake him up. "Stop! Stop! Aren''t you supposed to be a knight?! Why are you acting like a barbarian?! This thing is why I hate fighting. It is troublesome, very troublesome, troublesome indeed!"

    While Charles was busy with the Emperor, the others were finishing their fight with Caligula. Thanks to Orion''s cover fire and some hits in the head with Mash''s shield, Berserker seemed to have calmed down significantly.

    It wasn''t until the fake Saber threw Caesar at the mad Emperor, burying him beneath the plump guy, that the battle was finally over, though. Even the other three flinched and offered a quick prayer to whoever Gods they believed in for Caligula.

    "Oops." The culprit scratched his cheeks in embarrassment. ''I honestly didn''t mean to do that...'' Caesar was hiding something, and he wanted to know what it was. When Seth threw him in a random direction, he just happened to fall on top of Berserker.

    "W-Well...I guess we can now retrieve the remaining dumplings." To solve the awkwardness, Fujimaru reminded them of their objective. Still, he didn''t know how they were supposed to take the mountain of goods to Chaldea. One thing was to carry a box, another a whole deposit.

    "You are right, Senpai. For now, let''s organize the dumplings before trying to contact Dr. Roman again." Thanks to her Master, Mash focused on her objective again. She embarked on this mission so her Senpai wouldn''t lose his tea time, after all!

    When she was about to lift one of the bags that were lying around, she noticed it weighed more than it should do. ''Strange...'' Putting it back on the ground, she opened it only for a sword to be directed at her face. However, before the weapon managed to annihilate her, another sword stopped it.

    ''Not you too...and how in the world did you escape my detection, Altera?''

    (A/N: I feel dirty for stopping best civilization from killing Trashu. Father, I am sorry I have sinned.)

 Chapter 83 - Moon Festival End

    "Altera?! What are you doing here?!" Orion shouted, surprised someone that was practically a copy of the White Titan that wiped most of the Gods was before her now.

    "What a silly question. Where there is civilization, I manifest, nom. That''s the way it is, nom." Altera responded while eating dumplings with her free hand. This one here seemed to be more expressive than the one at Chaldea.

    "The Avatar of Destruction?! Why can''t you just leave Rome alone? You and our Great Founder could get along well." Ceaser got up from the ground the moment he heard the name ''Altera'' finally freeing poor Caligula from being crushed to death.

    "No can do. My existence revolves around bringing Rome to its knees, and I will do so. However, this time I came for a different reason, nom. And that is to...destroy your festival!" She said after a dramatic pause.

    "You are certainly a pain. You destroy everything you see without remorse. You can''t even hold something in your hands without destroying it!" Orion exclaimed, making both Altera and Seth frown.

    ''That decides it. No more playing nice for you, Artemis.'' Seth thought while retracting his sword, ending the clash between fake and authentic Saber.

    Altera didn''t think much about it and decided to answer to the Archer woman. "I do make distinctions. There is good and bad civilization. I only destroy bad civilization."

    "There must not be many good civilizations in your diary, then. Hm? What are you doing, Charles?" Orion asked, perplexed by what Charles��no, by what Seth was doing.

    "I''m changing sides. Can''t you tell?" Seth moved to Altera''s side and faced the Chaldeans and Romans with an indifferent gaze. The Scourge of God looked at Seth, feeling some odd familiarity now all of a sudden. It was this familiarity that gave her a sense of ''you can trust this person'' that allowed her to remain calm even with a potential enemy just centimeters away from her.

    "What? Are you betraying us?" Mash couldn''t believe what she was seeing, especially when Charles saved her life just a few moments ago. This sudden change of attitude didn''t make sense.

    "I''m not betraying you. To begin with, I was never on your side. I was merely a third party in all of this. Although we can still be allies, the only requisite is for you to defeat Orion, or should I say the Moon Goddess, Artemis?" Saying Fujimaru and Mash were shocked would be putting it too lightly.

    "ARGGHHHHH" She may not be exactly Diana, but the madness the moon induced on him was still real. If the enemy were someone other than Altera, he would probably have joined them.

    Artemis sighed. "I don''t know what made you change your mind, but there is no point in hiding it anymore. He is right. I''m the Goddess of the Moon Artemis. The fact that I could get here was thanks to your offerings in this Moon Festival. It was what awakened me. Doing a ritual where you offer things to something in particular with a summoning system nearby is not a good idea if you don''t want troubles."

    Now many things made sense. Still, it didn''t make them easier to understand. Stheno was a particular case, but a high Goddess like Artemis was another completely different.

    "She is the one who barged in that Chaldea of yours and stole those stupid sweets. So, what will it be? Will you side with the right side or the wrong one?" Seth asked one last time to know of their decision. It was not a simple question to fit in the mood. He was testing them to see if they would choose the correct option in the future, even if that went against their morals.

    "I''m sorry. I know what Orion did was wrong, but the whole point of this was to take back those sweets so everyone in Chaldea could enjoy a little even when the whole world was destroyed by who knows who. That''s why I can''t fight together with someone that wants to prevent that." Fujimaru was clear on this, and he wouldn''t budge.

    "Splendidly said. I will lend you a hand, Rome and Altera are natural enemies, after all. I wouldn''t count with Caligula, though. He has his troubles with the moon." Caesar moved from the side to where the Chaldeans were. Berserker stayed in the same place, crouched while holding his head.

    "If Senpai decides to help Miss Artemis, then I will too!" The moment her Master took her hand at the moment of the accident in Chaldea, she decided to follow him in everything he did, so her answer was pretty much obvious.

    "You guys are the best?!" All of their support touched Artemis, who ironically flashed a smile as radiant as the sun itself.

    Seth faintly smiled. ''That naivety is your greatest strength, Ritsuka. However...'' Suddenly, his calm aura changed to become something more chaotic and evil. Pushing Altera behind him, he raised his sword. "That is the incorrect answer."

    Everyone felt a suffocating feeling, but Fujimaru had it worst. Every time he tried to breathe, the air just wouldn''t come in. He eventually fell to the ground, unconscious, with his eyes still open.

    Mash followed him with her gaze, she wanted to help him, but her body wasn''t reacting. The only thing it did was shake from fear. She had never experienced this feeling of impotence, of facing something that even without fighting made you afraid to the point you just froze there.

    Saber, Jeanne Alter, Romulus. They didn''t compare to the innate fear the young man that acted like a carefree person throughout their journey was instilling on her.

    Artemis widened her eyes. "You are...!" Before she could finish, Seth brought his sword down, sending a dark wave forward, and erasing her from existence. She wasn''t the only one that disappeared, though. Caesar, Fujimaru, Mash, and Caligula also suffered the same fate.

    "If they were your allies, nom, why did you kill them?" Altera asked, stuffing another dumpling as if it was popcorn to enjoy the show.

    "Don''t talk when you are eating. You will only dirty yourself." Seth shook his head before cleaning her cheeks that had some leftovers of sweets.

    "I only killed the Servants; to the remaining ones, I just gave them a scare." In their journey to stupidity, Seth could find out that Artemis was extremely weak and that she wasn''t hiding her Divinity like he initially thought, but she simply didn''t have any. That allowed him to kill her reasonably quickly.

    "I see... You helped me destroy a bad civilization, nonetheless. Here, your reward." Altera tried to give him a dumpling, unaware of how much he detested those sweets at this point.

    "I don''t want them. I have had enough of that migraine-inducing thing." Seth rejected her intentions before undoing his transformation.

    "That appearance fits you better." Saber commented after seeing the real him. There was no outward change in her expression, though. It looked as if she already had a hunch that wasn''t how he looked in reality.

    "I suppose bad guys have to look bad." He said without much care. However, Altera shook her head. "That was not what I meant." She tried to explain more, but Seth put a hand on her shoulders, interrupting her.

    Crouching a little to eye level, he looked intently at her. "We may not hold something in our hands without destroying it, but we are the ones that begin creation. We are even more necessary than the ones that build. These words, never forget them."

    A small light began to shine in Altera''s eyes. ''The one there is lucky. I...envy her.'' She thought as particles of light were surrounding her. "Please say those words to her. I am sure she will be happy to hear them."

    "You can count on that." Seth watched as Saber disappeared utterly, and released a sigh in the process, just in time for Dr. Roman to talk to him through a communication device he had in his pockets.

    "Hello? Are you there?! What happened?! Mash and Fujimaru just popped out here out of nowhere and seemed to have suffered a trauma!" Despite Romani''s urgency, Seth was not that worried. If worse comes to worst, he would just erase their memories.

    "How do you expect me to know? I told you if you could Rayshift me slightly far from them, but I ended up in the ocean instead." He was still pissed at Roman for acting arbitrarily, so giving him a little guilt would surely appease his thirst for revenge.

    It seemed to work as his mood plummeted down even more. "I am sorry...I''m Rayshifting you back, wait a minute. I will also get the supplies, although the mood is not that great here." He said after a sigh.

    True to his words, Seth was Rayshifted out of there after a few seconds. Reappearing in the Command Room, he looked around to see the worried faces of Dr. Roman, Da Vinci, and the staff.

    "Welcome back. We already took Mash and Fujimaru to the infirmary. Do you have anything that can help us to know what happened?" Caster asked with a depressed voice. She felt responsible for not being able to ensure their safety or offer some kind of support.

    "When I got there, they were already gone. I''m as clueless as you are. I''m going to see how those kids are, and if I can help them. You go prepare your festival or something." He didn''t say more and just went out.

    "Please...!" Romani vowed, feeling more responsible than anyone here. It wasn''t only due to what Seth said, but it stemmed from the fact that two kids just got hurt due to his incompetence. Especially one of them, whom he felt guilty toward since the beginning.

    The Egyptian God looked at him from the corner of his eyes. However, he didn''t say anything. He would let him sort out his feelings on his own.

    As he walked through the halls, Seth felt a palpable air of gloominess. He barely met any people during his walk to the infirmary. Most of them must be in their rooms or working to distract themselves.

    When he finally arrived, he saw Sanson there, doing everything he could to help them recuperate from their experience to no avail.

    Quickly noticing his Master''s presence, Assassin greeted him. "Welcome back, Master. I''m sorry, I can''t do much. I am only able to put them to sleep as they start screaming when they wake up."

    "You did enough. For now, take a rest. I will call you if I need anything." Complying with his orders, Sanson got out from the infirmary, leaving only three people there.

    The first thing he did was cover the vigilance cameras with magic. It was a similar trick to what Artemis did before as not to get spotted by anyone while she did her work of robbery.

    Once he did that, he observed the two kids who were waking up just at that instant. The moment they did so, they screamed while holding their heads with all the strength they could muster. If no one did anything, their minds would break.

    Seth simply walked toward them and put both index fingers in their foreheads. Immediately, they returned to sleep. "Get used to this feeling. Despair is but the tip of the iceberg in your journey. If you want to persevere, do everything in your hands to succeed, no matter how the world will see you for that." After saying this, he let them rest.

    In his opinion, experiencing that helplessness now was better than doing it late. That he may have gone overboard? Perhaps. However, at his core, he wasn''t human. His values were fundamentally different. He may have experienced thousands of lives as a human, but they wouldn''t amount to the time he spent as a God.

    Now, only time will tell if that was the right thing to do or not. Yet...one thing wouldn''t change, and that was the fact that a man mentally prepared a child for the cruel, unforgiving, outside world.

 Chapter 84 - Confrontation, Promise, And New Objective

    As he exited the infirmary, he tried to go to his room. It was night, and there was nothing more to do. He didn''t think the others would make the festival or whatever now. But as soon as he started walking, a little white creature stood in his path.

    "What do you think you are doing?" The beast spoke in its weird language, but Seth was able to understand it well. Its tone showed it wasn''t exactly happy, though.

    "I showed them what they would be facing in the future. Why? Do you have a problem with that?" Seth asked, with his eyes narrowed. The tone of the little squirrel didn''t sit well with him.

    "You didn''t have to do anything. There is no point in creating negative emotions where there were none before. If you do something like this again, I won''t be taking it lying down." Fou said while getting closer, always maintaining eye contact.

    "Are you threatening me?" A dark aura began to emerge from his body, the same one he used on Mash and Fujimaru. He may be patient with humans, but not with ''things'' like the one before him.

    "I''m not threatening you, just giving you a warning. Regret one, you are not one of us yet. You would do well in heeding it." Fou responded, unaffected by his aura.

    "Don''t try to act funny with me. I don''t need to be one of your small group to make dinner out of a ball of fur like you." Different from Fou, he wasn''t giving a warning, he was outright threatening it.

    "Your Authorities are degraded to the point that a common magician from ages past would laugh at them. In the end, you can only remain as a trickster of old. There is no need to seek your demise when all you intend is to help." Knowing that speaking more was unnecessary, the little animal walked past him.

    "..."

    "A piece of advice, Cath Palug." Feeling an unusual sense of danger, Fou jumped forward while turning back at the same time. Adopting a posture of wariness, he observed the black-haired man with attentiveness.

    Slowly, hair began to grow from every part of his body, a tail and to large ears that pointed upward formed, and his face morphed to resemble that of a dog-like creature.

    It was not a mere change in appearance like he did back with Artemis. If it were, Fou wouldn''t be in that state of alertness. This transformation was the real deal.

    "A common trickster can deceive other people. A trickster that is also a God can deceive the World." Immediately after he said this, he reverted to the way he was before.

    "Although just for a few seconds...it is enough to end your existence." Seth''s face was devoid of all emotions as if he was merely stating a fact, which he was.

    He didn''t want to waste any more time with the white creature, so he resumed his walk previously stopped by it.

    "I just want to know one thing. Why now?" He never showed any signs of wanting to show them ''what they would be facing in the future,'' so it didn''t understand the motive behind it.

    "Urgency." Without stopping, he gave a short answer, one that conveyed everything he had to say.

    It wasn''t long before he got to his room. He was pretty exhausted mentally due to all the annoying things he had to deal with today. However, it seemed it wasn''t going to be over soon. Not even one minute after he laid on his bed, there was a knock on the door.

    At this point, he didn''t bother checking who it was and went directly to open it. That proved to be a mistake since Jeanne, who always tried to evangelize him, was there. She wasn''t alone, though. Her counterpart was also there, with visible red around her eyes.

    "Master, I hope we are not interrupt��" "I don''t want to hear the word of your Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ." Before Jeanne got the chance to speak appropriately, Seth pressed the button to close the door.

    "Wha...! Wait a bit, Master!" The Saint held the door from closing with her arm. Being a Servant, this was an easy thing for her.

    Releasing a sigh, he decided to ask the reason why they were here. "So, what do you want at this hour? I''m not a Servant. I need to sleep from time to time."

    "I know for a fact that you don''t sleep that often," Jeanne said, not buying anything he was telling her. ''Know? For a fact? What kind of stalker are you?''

    "I think it is time," Jeanne added, bringing more confusion to him. Has this girl finally go insane after so much zealous belief in Yahweh?

    "Time for what?" He asked, wanting to get this over with as soon as possible.

    "Do you remember the promise you made me in Orleans? I hope you have not forgotten about it." She revealed the reason why she was here, but that didn''t explain the presence of the silent Avenger.

    ''Oh...now that I remember, I did make a promise like that. Damn. Why do I go making promises I don''t want to fulfill?'' Contrary to his internal thoughts, he wouldn''t go back on it.

    He was fulfilling a promise he made more than one hundred thousand years ago, which showed how much he valued them. One he made a bit less than two months ago seemed trivial compared to it.

    "Can it be tomorrow?" Despite all of that, he didn''t want to do it today. First, it was the matter with Artemis and then with Cath Palug just recently. He wasn''t in the mood to do anything right now.

    "No. It has to be now." Usually, she wouldn''t insist much on it, but she wasn''t here solely for herself, but for her ''sister'' as well. While Seth was in France together with Fujimaru and Mash, Jeanne stayed with Jalter, even when said person told her to go away.

    The main reason Avenger didn''t want Ruler near her was so that Jeanne wouldn''t see her cry for what happened in the Training Room. She always prided herself on being the strong one, so she didn''t want to show weakness in front of the Saint.

    Jalter found it unfair. Unfair that a girl that appeared out of nowhere was getting all the attention. As if she was a Queen that needed to be treated by him with the utmost care.

    The way her Master gave preferential treatment to the newcomer and how he was practically pushing her away for Saber...it hurt the Black Saint a lot. It didn''t have anything to do with her feelings as a girl but as a person. Whether he had wanted it or not, he had become her everything. In essence, he had become her new God.

    Seth was the pillar that held her whole existence together. Even until today, that feeling of peace Jalter felt when he trapped her in an illusion remained within her. She always clung to it with fervor. To have that taken away from her...you may as well ask her to die.

    Although Jeanne didn''t precisely know how her counterpart was feeling, she could understand a bit. That''s why she decided to share the promise Seth made her together with Jalter.

    Sighing again, he moved aside. "Fine, enter. Although I will only do it for thirty minutes, after that, you have to go, or I will kick you out."

    Jeanne released a breath she didn''t know she was holding. It would be a lie if she said she was a hundred percent sure her Master would agree to keep his promise. Without delay, she entered his room.

    "You can come inside, too." Seeing Jalter was standing there unmoving, Seth gave his permission for her to enter the room. Avenger merely nodded without saying a word and did as he told her.

    Once they were all inside, he let the two girls sit on his bed while he was standing in front of them. "I promised I would teach you how to read. Now, in which language will it be? And don''t come asking for mine, because I will not teach you that."

    "W-Well...I asked Lady Da Vinci if she could lend me a book in English since it is what most of the people here speak, and she was kind enough to give me one." It seems her Master knew her intentions. At least she thought in a plan B in case that failed.

    "Let me see it." Seth motioned Jeanne to give the book to him, which she did. Not even a millisecond after he read the title, he burned that thing to ashes.

    Now, Romani had a friend in the ''Must kick their asses'' list. Who would have thought that the Doctor wasn''t the only one that liked to rile him up?

    "Why? Master, that was a borrowed book!" Because Jeanne didn''t know how to read, she didn''t know what the book was about, so she felt terrible now she couldn''t return it after learning.

    "Don''t worry about that. I will properly apologize to Caster. You can be sure of it." He said in a neutral tone. ''Master, your face is scary.'' However, by the looks of it, it wasn''t enough to convince the Saint.

    ''Now, I will have to improvise. Just great.'' A Caster Servant caused this problem, so it had to be resolved by another one. With all the time he had spent with Cu Chulainn, he had learned to use Runes, although everything was self-taught just by looking.

    The Celtic hero used fire Runes, so he didn''t bother using them. After all, he had Authority over Fire. He wouldn''t use a weaker version of his power without reason. Yet, now, it was a perfect chance.

    Joining his middle and index finger together, he drew a line in the air, creating some Runes in the form of a fiery red text for them to read. "Before we start, now that I''m strict when it comes to teaching. If you don''t pay attention, I won''t bother anymore."

    In the past, he taught some Pharaoh how to use a bow. Every time that guy cried that he wanted to give up, he would beat some sense into him until he begged to keep learning. He always was and will always be a no-nonsense type of guy.

    Contrary to his expectations, Jeanne and the quiet Jalter, who started speaking more as time passed, listened to him and tried to learn to the best of their abilities. He was so surprised that he decided to extend the time he would teach them to two hours.

    By the end of it, they could read some basic sentences, but considering they didn''t know anything before, it was significant progress. Even so, Seth eventually told them it was enough, and that they did a good job, something they appreciated.

    Once they were gone, Seth could finally have some sleep. He made sure to shut down his body entirely so that no one, be it Stargazer, Alaya, or his ''admirer'' from the Underworld, would call him.

    ������������������������������������������������������������

    After a night that seemed to last an eternity, the rays of a certain d*ck started illuminating the land again. Chaldea wasn''t included in that, though. The blizzard continued to cover the sky as always.

    As soon as he woke up and got out of his room, he could feel the atmosphere was less gloomy than before. He assumed the other two had woken up and were now in a better condition.

    This speculation was confirmed when he was called to the Command Room by Romani. He met with the two youths, and even though they looked a bit tired and with bags under their eyes, they looked far better than how they did last night.

    As soon as he entered, Da Vinci, Romani, and the two kids thanked him for helping them. He was not going to lie; it made him feel a little bit awkward, considering he, to begin with, was the cause of their problem.

    After talking a little about some random things, Romani went to the most pressing matter, and that was the location and year of the next Singularity. It was going to be in 1573, in a vast ocean that kept changing positions. For now, the Doctor and the staff could only identify some islands there.

    What Romani said, however, didn''t bring comfort to Seth. The ocean was a place that made things difficult for his Authority over Fire, which was the one he relied on the most. On the contrary, the terrain would enhance his power over Storms.

    In a sense, Gods like him and one of the seas like, for example, Poseidon, were total opposites. In a land like Egypt, he would be practically useless. The only advantage Seth had was the numerous Authorities that gave him more diversity when it came to foreign lands.

    They decided to go to the Singularity in a few days. Until then, they would prepare as much as possible, so things like what happened in Rome wouldn''t occur again.

    With nothing more to discuss, they each went on their way. The rest of the day was uneventful, with nothing noteworthy happening. Seth helped the two Saints again in the afternoon, and after that, took EMIYA to the Simulation Room to fight a lot of Chimeras for some sweet, sweet revenge.

    To his surprise, the staff members, including Romani and Da Vinci, decided to hold the Moon Festival that night, although the full moon was yesterday. Not that they were in the mood to celebrate with what happened to Fujimaru and Mash, but now they recuperated, there was no reason not to feast.

    It was a much-needed change of air. Not only the staff partook in this celebration, but the Servants as well. Even the quiet Altera whose version in France wanted to destroy the Moon Festival because it was a ''bad civilization'' in her eyes joined. She only quietly ate dumplings, though.

    As for Seth, he was drinking alcohol alone on top of the roof of Chaldea. Even though the temperature outside ranged the -70��C, he wasn''t bothered by it.

    "Want me to accompany you? Man, you sure pick the weirdest of places to celebrate." Cu Chulainn''s voice came from behind him. He was using a small fireball to illuminate the place.

    "Sure, why not? Take a seat." He motioned for Caster to sit beside him.

    "I thought parties were your thing. You threw one and then trapped your brother in a c.h.e.s.t before throwing him in a river, after all." Cu said jokingly.

    "You did your homework. Congratulations." The only reply Caster got from him was a sarcastic one. Still, that was something that he didn''t care about in the least. That as*hole was in the Duat now. There was no point in feeling sorry for him.

    "..." There was a moment of silence before both laughed shortly. Talking about whatever came to their mind and, ironically, enjoying the bad weather, the night quietly passed.

    =============================

    I also wanted to make Tama Cat x Seth dialogue in this chapter for you, scrubs, but I felt like separating it from a Jeanne and Jalter moment would be the best option. You know, to give the interactions between characters their own ''space.'' Anyway, I will be going back to edit some chapters for grammar, sentences that don''t make sense, etc. This book is my first one, and I can safely say I progressed. When I started, I s.u.c.k.e.d (still do), so I want to fix some mistakes. If you see this book appearing as if it was updated, it will be because of that. Have a lovely day/night, depending on where you live~

 Chapter 85 - Some Things Never Change

    It has been two days since the people celebrated the Moon Festival. It was thanks to it that the people in Chaldea could forget about all their worries.

    The mood returned to normal, and everyone could concentrate on their jobs. Romani, Da Vinci, and the staff that worked in the Command Room were the busiest. They had to make sure everything was ready for the Rayshift of the Masters and Servants.

    Sadly for them, a certain Saber had other plans. To her, the previous air of gloominess had not dispersed yet. Taking that into account, she decided to create a different type of festival, one that indeed showed the radiant glory of Rome.

    The result was a Colosseum where the Master of Chaldea, Fujimaru, in this case, had to battle different groups of Servants to advance.

    Seth''s Servants participated with Fujimaru as their temporary Master. The reason the Egyptian God was not involved in this was simple. It was because Nero asked him many times to act as a villain the heroes needed to overcome in the Finals.

    Naturally, the only thing she got was the deadly death grip to her head. However, she kept being insistent, making him wonder if she would surpass Jeanne as the Servant who never knew when to give up.

    He couldn''t take three steps without the little Emperor appearing out of nowhere to ask the same thing again. Seth used the same trick he did with Kiyohime to make her stop, but as if she was immune to such things, she continued. Her voice had become a nightmare for him, so he ended up agreeing.

    Everything was going smoothly. The Chaldeans met some new Servants they haven''t seen yet and could form bonds with them, even if at the end that wouldn''t matter because they would forget it all.

    This new idea Nero came up with seemed to work exceptionally well until something happened. To be more precise, until two people met.

    These two people were Seth and a Golden King from a long age past. Both Kings were strolling the city, each with their reason in mind.

    The Black King was accompanying Altera as she went from place to place, judging what needed to be destroyed by her and what didn''t, also asking him to buy her food from time to time. Luckily, Nero had given him large sums of money to perform as the final boss. Leaving that aside, Seth had to be there in case Altera decided to blow everything to pieces. Although from an outside perspective, it looked like a date through and through.

    They even had a group of stalkers that kept following them from the shadows. Of course, their presence didn''t escape Seth in the slightest. But if they wanted to waste time being dogs, then so be it.

    The Golden King was merely observing the new generation. He wanted to see how much Humanity had advanced since his time, to know if all his efforts were worth something. If he were to give his opinion honestly, it was nothing too impressive, but at least it wasn''t irremediable.

    As he walked, watching the citizens and structures, he came to a stop when he felt two entities with Divinity nearby. It didn''t take long for him to know their location.

    At the same time that he noticed them, the other two did the same. As if in synch, both sides went to meet the other.

    In just a few seconds, Goldie, Blacky, and Whitey were face to face. To say the atmosphere was tense would be an understatement. When the situation looked like it would escalate into a fight, Seth put a hand on Altera''s shoulder and told her to go back from where they came.

    When the white-haired girl asked the reason why, he just said it was because he didn''t want to deal with genderbend, arrogant, and self-centered idiots.

    The Golden King seemed to have heard what he said, proven by a flying sword that shot like a missile from a portal of the same color as his armor.

    Without turning back, Seth extended his hand backward, catching the sword before it pierced his head. Not wasting any time, he threw it back to the blonde-haired man who shot another weapon from a different portal to clash with the incoming sword.

    Altera immediately materialized her weapon, her face as cold as ice. NO ONE, absolutely no one attacks her Master in her presence and gets away with it.

    "To dare insult and attack the King. Some courage you have there, mongrel." The Golden King spoke with an air of superiority that put even Gods to shame.

    "You never learn, do you, Gilgamesh? I will have to beat some sense into you; it seems." Seth practically spat just by mentioning the name of the man in front of him.

    Without the need to speak anything else, both feeling it to be beneath them, the battle between Goldie, Blackie, and Whitey began.

    A few hours later, and to the little Emperor''s bad luck, she was informed by a messenger that a group of people had destroyed a good part of her city while she was relaxing in her Theater practicing her singing. To add to her misfortune, the same messenger relayed a message from Seth, saying he wouldn''t be participating as the final enemy and that she had to do it herself. As for the reasons, he didn''t explain.

    After a tantrum that seemed to have lasted forever, Nero went to prepare to fight Chaldea''s team. At least she had a boost because this was her homeland, so it wasn''t all that bad.

    In the end, and with the power of friendship, Fujimaru and his group of Servants came out on top. They had to console Nero, who complained as soon as she lost because this was not how it was supposed to go, though.

    After staying for a bit more to enjoy the wonders of Rome a second time, the group Rayshifted back to Chaldea. They had enjoyed themselves, there was no denying that, but now they had to get serious. The moment to go to the next Singularity was drawing near.

    ������������������������������������������������������������

    A lovely new morning in the life of Seth. The tranquility filled the ambient; the birds sang their happy songs, and the wind blew in a rhythmical tone. Indeed something beautiful, but he wasn''t experiencing it right now!

    "Why? Why? Why? Why?" While Seth tried to enjoy his morning coffee in a far corner of the Cafeteria with Cu Chulainn and Fujimaru by his side, Nero was going around him, asking the same question again and again.

    "Something happened, that''s why I couldn''t be there for your little tournament; I saved you from someone who would make a ruckus just because she��he thinks he owns everything and whatever prize the victor obtained must be his." Seth calmly responded without looking at her. Good thing he had high adaptability and was building up an immunity to Nero''s enthusiastic personality.

    "I don''t care! We had the perfect chance to truly show the splendor of Rome with that final battle where Master and the others would defeat you!" Nero pouted with a displeased face.

    "It''s alright, Nero. It was fun, and we met some incredible people too. Thanks for all your effort with everything." Fujimaru tried to console Nero as he understood that she could be a little complicated to handle when she goes spoiled mode.

    "U-Umu! You can praise me more. I don''t mind!" Nero gained a blush on her face but tried to cover it by looking the other way.

    ''So easy...'' Cu Chulainn and Seth agreed when it came to how Fujimaru persuaded the little girl. If Seth had known about this, he would have asked the youth to deal with her much earlier.

    The Japanese youth suddenly felt a little embarrassed by the teasing stares he was getting from both males. It was as if they misunderstood something.

    "Well, you can flirt all you want later. We have work to do." Cu Chulainn said in a low voice while nudging his Master, causing him to be even more embarrassed than before. Luckily Nero didn''t hear him as she was still enjoying the praises she got.

    "What are you going to do? Teach him how to harass someone s.e.x.u.a.lly?" Seth asked after taking another sip of his coffee. The best drink in the world, no bias.

    "How little trust do you have in me? I am going to train him so he can gain some muscle. In the worst-case scenario, he would be able to run away while we hold the enemy down." What type of person did this guy think he was.

    "I hope it doesn''t get to that point, though. On another note, do you want to��Mufgh?!" Before Fujimaru could finish, Cu Chulainn covered his mouth. His Master was trying to invite a demon to his house with a smile on his face.

    "I am not interested. I train people to fight, not to survive." Knowing perfectly what the youth was going to say, even with Caster''s interruption, Seth simply declined.

    "Master training?! Umu! Count me in!" Nero, who just returned from her narcissistic fantasies, signed up to watch. Skinship between men was also Roman culture!

    Out of nowhere, both Fujimaru and Cu Chulainn felt a chill run down their spines. For some reason, the idea of training wasn''t so appealing anymore.

    Unaware of their feelings, Nero took both guys by their arms and practically dragged them away. Now, only Seth remained there aside from the old lady and some other Servants helping in the kitchen.

    (A/N: A second, please. I am lowering my IQ to write TC''s dialogues...)

    Seeing him all alone there, the old lady decided to give him something to eat. To deliver the food, she chose Tamamo Cat. "Little Cat, can you take this to that young man over there?" She signaled to Seth.

    "Leave it to me, woof!" Taking the plate, she went to do as the old lady told her. What they didn''t know was that Seth could hear them without problems.

    The hand that was holding the cup trembled slightly, but otherwise, there was no outward change on him. He just waited quietly for the food to arrive.

    Tamamo Cat excitedly hopped to the table where Seth was in with a joyful face. The man in question observed her from the corner of his eyes.

    There was something off about her. The black-haired man already knew that her personality was chaotic at best, ''special'' at worst. However, after observing with more detail, he noticed some curiosity coming from her.

    ''Wait, can it be...?!'' Seth concluded something that even him found irrational. Some days ago, he went out of his way to use a power he detested on the part of the woman he loved. Yet, looking at this Tamamo Cat, his worst fear came true. She was too stupid to be affected by it!

    "Here is the food!" Berserker put the plate on top of the table, but she didn''t leave. Instead, she stayed in the same place, quietly looking at Seth.

    "What''s the matter? Do you need anything?" Seth asked, avoiding eye contact. Yet, he cursed himself inside his mind, why was he acting like a teenage boy? He was an old geezer for f.u.c.k''s sake.

    "I suddenly want to give you a Super Beef Punch!" She happily exclaimed, and, without delay, she attacked him, although it was not a punch but a scratch.

    Seth''s eyebrows were twitching slightly at this point, but he didn''t move, there was no need to do it. That was because the scratch did zero damage.

    "Strange...maybe it was the wrong move? Then, Lobster Slash!" Despite the name, it was a punch this time. Same as her last attempt, it failed.

    "How about��" "Enough." Seth interrupted her after a small sigh. Seeing someone resembling Amaterasu acting like that was going to be the end of him.

    "Here, take it." He offered her his food, hoping that it would at least stop her from attacking him. It seemed to work, as Tamamo Cat drooled with stars in her eyes while looking at the food.

    "Can I?!" She asked excitedly, to which Seth nodded. "You are not bad!" She happily exclaimed and proceeded to eat with relish.

    The Egyptian God was watching her with eyes that seemed filled with an incredible emotional emptiness. ''We both ended up as something our past selves would find embarrassing. Say, Ama...are we truly happy with what we have become?''

    Unconsciously, Seth extended his hands to c.a.r.e.s.s her but stopped half-way through when he realized what he was doing.

    Tamamo Cat noticed this. She stopped eating and tilted her head. "What are you doing, woof? Don''t tell me...! You bribed me with food to pat me?! Alright, you can do so."

    Seth widened his eyes a little. He had the urge to laugh, but he held it in. Even if it was weird for him to see her like this, it was also...refreshing, without a doubt.

    Taking up the offer, he extended his hand and patted her as a caring smile formed on his face, one that he would only show to Amaterasu, and in this case, to someone that was a part of her. He may do and say things on the outside about not wanting to meet her, but inside, he knew they were lies, that those were not his true feelings. However, he wasn''t only doing this for him. With her faults and all, she was perfect for him, but he was also aware that she deserved someone better, someone that wouldn''t abandon her as he did.

    Tamamo Cat didn''t know why, but suddenly time became still. She couldn''t talk, breathe, move, anything. This state lasted for a few seconds. After that, as if by impulse, she moved her head forward.

    When it looked like Berserker was about to kiss him, Seth separated both their lips with his free hand. When he did so, Cat seemed to come to her senses, making her head a blushing mess.

    "Eh? What was I doing?" She asked in a relatively calm tone after moving back a little, despite the situation. Her ''cat accent'' was a bit off, though.

    "I am sorry for the troubles she is causing you." Seth didn''t answer. He simply got up from his chair, and in a quick movement, kissed her forehead.

    Affection Of The Goddess (Sun): EX �� This skill denotes one being loved by a Goddess. Every parameter except luck is ranked up. Depending on the situation, hearing the voice of the one feeling affection for the user is possible.

    At that moment, time stopped, but for him.

 Chapter 86 - Seth Sail For Okeanos!

    ''Ama...you...'' To think that after all that happened, after so many years, she still felt the same way as before...it was something he didn''t expect.

    Just this little detail changed things for him. One of the biggest reasons he didn''t want to meet Amaterasu right now was because he thought she would be angry, which she probably was despite her love for him.

    It wasn''t something as simple as throwing a tantrum. The Sun Deity was one of the most powerful Goddesses out there. If she hated him for what he did, she would not only try to destroy him but also the World, meaning that his mission would end up in failure.

    It was also the reason why he wanted to remain under the radar and not be found by her. To some, it may just be a little detail, but to him, it meant everything.

    Now, he won''t run away anymore. If Amaterasu finds him, then so be it. He won''t actively look for her, though. The most likely scenario when they meet is a fight that would last a long time, and time was something he didn''t have.

    To represent this change, one of the thickest chains holding the door broke. This chain was a special one. It didn''t make Seth''s Skills evolve, increased his Divinity, made the wielding of Authorities easier, or unlocked a new Noble Phantasm. Instead, it allowed to do something that made those things pale in comparison, but what exactly was unknown, even to him.

    Back to reality, Seth separated his lips from the forehead of a frozen Tamamo Cat. "If you want to regain a part of your sanity without the side effects of becoming a terrifying creature, just tell me, okay?"

    It may seem stupid, but he was extremely grateful to Berserker. Even if it was not intentional and just happened by accident, it was a fact that it was thanks to her that he could find out that Amaterasu still had feelings for him. That in itself was something worth repaying in his book.

    Tamamo Cat just nodded while looking blankly ahead, not knowing what else to do. The old lady just watched this with a smile on her face, something shared by Boudica, while EMIYA was thinking, ''I didn''t see anything'' repeatedly inside his mind. It will be his excuse in case a certain King of Knights ask anything.

    Seth didn''t say anymore and left. It was time to decide who will be going with him to Okeanos. He obviously won''t take Jeanne and Jalter with him as he already did so in Rome.

    The Egyptian God wanted to put his Servants in as many diverse situations as possible, so they can overcome them and get stronger. In these Singularities, there will be enemies, be it man or beast, that will pose them a threat, meaning that every Servant of his had to prepare for whatever the enemy throws at them.

    Take the two Saint as an example. Despite being Servants, they had trouble fighting against a Chimera. A Heroic Spirit of old that lived when all types of monsters roamed around could take one relatively easy. Of course, there was the option of brute-forcing it with their Saint Graph at maximum capacity like it is now, but that is something he doesn''t want to see. Otherwise, he would just take all his Servants with him to a Singularity and win with numbers.

    The options available now were Siegfried, Sanson, Stheno, and Altera. He talked with Boudica some days ago, and she told him that she preferred not to head to ''war'' if it was possible. After her death, she began doubting if fighting was the right to do. It''s not like she regretted it, but that maybe, just maybe there was another way to do things. Besides, she was more suited to defend than to attack. In essence, she was a shield. Needless to say, if her Master needed her to fight, she would do so without hesitation.

    Seth, understanding how she was feeling, told her not to worry. Although not precisely the same, he went through something similar. Forcing someone that wasn''t ready to fight would just complicate things and make them worse. There was no need to do that.

    Returning to analyze the remaining options, Seth immediately discarded Siegfried. The possibility wasn''t zero, but finding dragons in the ocean was something uncommon. Saber was an excellent knight, but his real worth lied in his ability to fight dragons. The sea was a place for maritime beasts such as Krakens, Leviathans, and other giant fishes and serpents. He wouldn''t have the capability to shine as much there.

    Next was Stheno. Although she was useless for practically anything, there was something she was good at, and that was making trouble.

    If he didn''t keep an eye on her, she would most likely say more than she had to. He would take her to Okeanos, and in the process, make her useful, even if only a bit. She could always work as a bait, so that was something.

    The next one would be Sanson. The Executioner was the one who made Seth doubt the most. On the one hand, his uses in the sea were almost zero, and on the other hand, his knowledge of medicine could prove to be useful. His own on that subject was not that high.

    Until now, every time Fujimaru got sick, Romani would send some medicines when they could set up a camp on a Leyline. However, at sea, that was not going to be possible anymore. Sanson''s abilities would undoubtedly come in handy at that point.

    This problem wouldn''t need to be discussed by him if he had access to one of the Atet, be it Mesektet or Mandjet. Ra''s Solar Barge had in-built protection against all types of curses or illnesses, and it was a flying boat, so they would be able to observe things with more detail. [1]

    After thinking things for a bit more, he decided to bring Assassin with him. It wouldn''t hurt to be cautious. Besides, the little kid had a Skill against Evil-alignment beings. He found that useful considering most of their enemies up until now have had that alignment.

    Finally, Altera. Well, that was a no-brainer. The Scourge of God was the mightiest of his Servants when it came to strength, and the one he liked the most.

    She didn''t have a specialty like Siegfried but was pure, raw power. One thing to note, too, was that he had been researching Altera''s sword, Photon Ray. The weapon itself was a computer/terminal. If he could find a way to gain access to it, in other words, hacking, he will be able to upgrade it to attain powers that would make the current sword look like a toy.

    Altera was, without a doubt, the best option. She automatically had a spot on the team when he decided who to bring to Okeanos.

    ''Okeanos...I hope I find that Ark. It will be one of the best tools I can get my hands on for what is to come.''

    ������������������������������������������������������������

    Finally, the day to go to Okeanos has arrived. The two Masters and their Servants who were going to Rayshift were in the Command Room. The staff, including Romani and Da Vinci, were also there.

    Fujimaru decided to go with Zhuge Liang, who was like his mentor at this point, Mash as always, and EMIYA. He wanted to take more Servants with him to avoid something like what happened in Rome, but El-Melloi II advised against that. For people with subpar Magical Circuits like them, it was best to go for it slowly.

    Caster was very clear with him when they talked before. The thing he did about using three Berserker Servants was suicidal. He made sure to tell his Master that he was fortunate that they didn''t take as much Magical Energy as they needed, or he would have ended up dead.

    When it came to sustaining a Servant, Berserkers were the ones with the highest cost to maintain. He had personally experienced that in the flesh with Lancelot. He was the most insane out of all of them, so he couldn''t precisely control how much Magical Energy he took.

    To add to that, he had Cu Chulainn, Mash, and Martha with him too. Again, he was lucky that Casters didn''t cost much in his reserves, and Mash was alive, so she could choose to relay on her own to fight. That left Rider, who even though she was not a Berserker, her "Maintenance" was not low.

    In Zhuge Liang''s opinion, Fujimaru could''ve done a better job with fewer Servants, but providing them with more Magical Energy.

    In the end, if you have to share a cake with more people, your hunger won''t be satiated as easy.

    In Seth''s side, he had Altera, Sanson, and Stheno, who didn''t want to be here. The moment she heard she was going to go to the next Singularity, she did everything in her hands to hide. Sadly for her, she was quickly found.

    She pleaded not to go, to no avail. The Goddess even tried to trade places with Jeanne and Jalter, and despite Avenger wanted to go, same as Ruler, they ultimately decided to trust in their Master''s decision.

    With not more tricks up her sleeve, she tried to blackmail him in telling others his identity. It was also the reason why she now was gagged, something everyone chose to ignore.

    "So, are you ready to depart?" Romani asked them, his tone a little less joking than usual. He couldn''t take the future of Humanity lightly, after all.

    "Yes. Have you secured safe coordinates, Doctor? It would be dangerous if we landed in the middle of the ocean. I don''t know how to swim, and neither does Senpai." Shielder asked, just to be sure.

    "Don''t worry about it, Mash. I have set up the coordinates to be in one of the islands." Romani reassured her with a smile. For once, he had taken his job seriously to ensure their safety. He learned his lesson after the events in France.

    Just then, the little white creature appeared and jumped on top of Fujimaru''s shoulders. There was a brief moment where it exchanged glances with Seth, but it didn''t escalate. They both had to keep appearances.

    "So, you are also coming, Fou?" Fujimaru asked, earning a lick on his cheek from it. "I guess that''s a yes." He smiled as he c.a.r.e.s.sed it.

    It would go, now more than anything, especially when he had to look out for any malicious thing Seth did to them.

    "Good luck out there, and remember to tell us if you need any help. My universal genius can make anything, even a boat to sail through the most dangerous of waves!" Da Vinci''s narcissism was the only thing left before departing, and now they had it.

    "Thanks, Da Vinci. We are��" "It''s Da Vinci-chan!" "Da Vinci-chan. We are going," Fujimaru quickly corrected himself less he incurred the wrath of this woman, eh...man? Man-woman?

    With nothing more to say, they each entered their respective coffins. It was time for another Singularity, and hopefully, another victory to their side.

    Unsummon Program, start.Spiritron Conversion, start.

    Counting down to Rayshift. 3, 2, 1.

    All procedures cleared.Grand Order, commencing operation.

    (A/N: Short chapter today boys. I was feeling a little down, so I wanted to leave you with a little cliffhanger to uplift my mood :) )

 Chapter 87 - Kaizoku Ou Ni, Ore Wa Na—Wait. What?

    When Seth finished Rayshifting, the first thing he did was to check the surroundings. By the looks of it, he was the first to arrive, as always.

    The first thing he noticed was he wasn''t alone and that he ended up on a pirate ship. The reason he knew that was due to the dozens of pirates who were surrounding him right now.

    ''Well, not that I expected anything less from Roman.'' Seth thought as he ignored the stares and went to the poop deck to take control of the helm.

    The pirates were having none of that, though. "Heave right there, lad!" Each one pointed their cutlasses and guns at Seth, trying to intimidate him.

    ''Interrogation it is, then.'' He planned to throw them overboard to fend for themselves, but if they wanted to be of help in getting information, who was he to deny them?

    Making use of a speed these guys weren''t used to at all, Seth knocked the whole pirate crew out, leaving only one person standing, who immediately dropped his weapon out of shock.

    Just as he was about to begin his interrogation, multiple, small flashes of light appeared on the deck. One by one, the Servants, as well as the remaining Master, made their presences known.

    "This... What is this?" Fujimaru asked, slightly surprised by the sight of men groaning and lying around like disposable trash.

    "They were feeling sleepy, so they are taking a nap," Seth answered as he got closer to the remaining pirate. The soon they know what is going on, the better.

    ''No, no. No one would believe that.'' Everyone there shared the same thought. Even Altera, who regarded him highly, didn''t buy his explanation.

    "Wait! I''ll speak!" The pirate decided to spill things out before this guy got crazy and did to him what he did to the others.

    "As effective as ever, I see." Romani''s hologram showed up, scratching the back of his head with a wry smile only to be received by the unamused glares of everyone else.

    "We are expecting a full explanation of why we ended up in a ship instead of an island, Doctor." Mash glared at the hologram. The safety of her Senpai was the top priority; stuff like this must not happen again!

    "It''s not my fault. I tried my best, you know?" Romani said while twiddling his fingers, feeling wronged by her words.

    "But how did it happen?" Fujimaru wasn''t as worried as Mash about it. He had become used to it, which wasn''t a good thing, but still. He attributed it to the fact that there weren''t many instances of Rayshifting yet, by Dr. Roman''s words.

    "I don''t know with exactitude, but it may be because the Singularity keeps shifting from place to place. We took that into account at the moment of Rayshifting you, but it seems we missed the mark a little. There should still be an island near your location, though." Returning to serious mode, Romani responded to Fujimaru. This particular case was the most difficult they have had up until now. In terms of setting the coordinates of landing, that is.

    "He is right, Master. I can see an island in the distance." As soon as he heard the Doctor''s explanation, EMIYA began looking around until he finally spotted something.

    "As expected of an Archer Servant, your vision is out of this world." Romani honestly praised him. And of course, internally, he was relieved that there was such a thing as an island nearby.

    "Have you finished bootl.i.c.k.i.n.g, Roman? I have gotten some information that may be useful for us." Seth approached them, while the pirate he interrogated was unconscious, together with the rest of his crewmates.

    "You sure work fast..." Ignoring the bootl.i.c.k.i.n.g part, Romani commented. It has been only a minute at most since the pirate said he would speak, after all.

    "Different from you, I''m efficient in what I do. Anyway, the guy said they were all sailing when a bright light enveloped them and transported them to this place. There aren''t maps that describe the topography here, and compasses don''t work, either. There is an island nearby, which is the one Archer spotted, called Pirate Island. He also spoke about seeing fishes the size of a hill and whatnot, but I wouldn''t bet my life on that." Contrary to what he said, he knew the guy was telling the truth.

    Just with what the pirate told him, he formed many theories in his head about what was this place, but there was one that stood out the most. ''This place is not Okeanos, but a mixture of all the legendary oceans. I wouldn''t be surprised if we saw aquatic creatures from all kinds of mythologies here.''

    "It seems he didn''t know much. Our next best option would be to head to that island and see if we can find more information there." Zhuge Liang suggested.

    "I agree with Caster. The island, just as its name suggests, will surely be filled with pirates, so I don''t have much hope for useful information, but something is better than nothing." Sanson doubted the ruffians on that island would know more than the ones here, but it was worth a try.

    "The question is, how are we going to get there. Every pirate got knocked out��Oh wait, Altera had a pretty good Riding Skill, right? I believe it was ranked A." Romani said, feeling relieved they were not out of options.

    "There is no need to concern yourself with that. I will be the one sailing this ship." Seth''s words brought a surprise to some and PTSD to others.

    "K-Kuro...are you really, like reeeaaally sure that you know how to do it? Have you ever sailed a ship like this?" Small beads of sweat began falling from Fujimaru''s forehead. One thing was the risk of getting thrown in the ocean, and another was repeating the same events that happened in Rome with Nero''s sailing!

    "I don''t know what happened for you to make a face like that, but I assure you that my sailing skills are top-notch. With this type of ship and with better, more high-level ones." Ra''s solar barge was not a 3x1m wooden boat. It was, in reality, a giant, technologically advanced ship. Not like he would know, though.

    "Nero said the same things as you and she...she..." The young Master began trembling. Without a doubt, Nero''s skills left a deep mark in his heart, not in a good light, though.

    Seth rolled his eyes, choosing to keep silent. In cases like this, it was best to let one''s abilities prove things instead of words.

    Taking control of the helm, he began giving orders to the Servants to complete various tasks for smooth sailing. He could use Typhon''s powers over winds to get more speed, but if he did that, he was sure Fujimaru would get a heart attack, so he decided against that.

    In the meantime, Altera brought the gagged Stheno to him. That way, he would have better control over her actions.

    The travel to the island was surprisingly peaceful. The ship didn''t do any brusque movements or anything like that. It was the complete opposite of the time with the little Emperor. Now, Fujimaru felt stupid for clinging to the mast as if his life depended on it, but it was better to be safe than sorry, or that''s what he told himself.

    While their travel was peaceful, disembarking was not. "Woo-hoo! Hey fellas! Thar are some beautiful lookin'' women here!" Of course, not everyone became a pirate in search of adventure; there were also people like that.

    "...We have to take them out." EMIYA said with an apparent face of disgust. Seeing this type of person didn''t bring pleasant memories for some reason.

    Archer didn''t have time to do anything, though. Just when he materialized his bow, the island seemed to come alive. A massive tremor occurred followed up by the sand of the isle devouring every pirate on sight.

    By the looks of things, a certain God had gotten ahead of the Red Bowman. These sc.u.ms were dreaming if they thought he would tolerate their bullshit.

    "Well...that certainly looked strange, but they got what they deserved." Sanson despised people like that as much as anyone. These were the guys that deserved an execution from his blade, no matter how dull it has become. After all, to thoroughly terminate with sin, one must become a sinner. To that rule, there has only been one exception.

    "But to end up like that is a bit..." Shielder wasn''t as convinced, though. Every male, including Fujimaru, frowned at this. Each one with for a different reason, albeit similar.

    Everyone''s reason except Fujimaru''s ranged in that they shouldn''t feel pity for people like that, while the Japanese Master understood a bit more. Mash had told him that she never left the installations of Chaldea in her whole life. In essence, she was a sheltered girl, so this type of behavior was somewhat not uncommon. Even so, he knew that they couldn''t go around deciding how people died.

    While in Rome, he saw people regularly die in the war between the Roman Empire and the United Empire. He knew that it might come as heartless, and it wasn''t like he was numb to seeing someone die, but couldn''t play God and choose what fate awaited who, they simply didn''t have that luxury.

    "Arghh..." A voice filled with pain attracted their attention. It seemed a pirate had survived, something quite miraculous considering the fate of the others.

    In truth, Seth kept him alive so he could question him. You never know what these guys have seen or heard. Every little piece of information counted to solve this giant puzzle called Okeanos.

    "Hey, one-eyed guy. Do you have any idea what''s the deal with this place?" Archer asked him, pointing the guy with his bow, ready to shoot.

    The pirate had a red bandana on his head, a scar in his remaining eye, and an eye-patch covering his missing one. He was better dressed than the ones they have seen up until now, so the chances of him knowing something more than the usual were high.

    "Sorry, lad. I don''t know much about what''s going on here. However, Boss might know something." For once, this guy looked to be a bit more educated than the others, proved by his way of speaking, which was not as archaic as the others.

    "Boss? Who is your Boss?" At least they found a clue to someone that may be able to give them a better reading at the situation. Still, Zhuge Liang didn''t hold much hope. As they say, don''t expect anything and you will not be disappointed.

    "Heh heh heh, don''t be surprised... Francis Drake, the best and most excellent pirate on every sea known to man! That would be Boss." He smugly said, as if talking about his achievements.

    "Is he trying to act confident just not to be harmed by us?" Da Vinci, who rarely spoke though the communicator, asked.

    "Maybe..." Romani certainly didn''t have the answer. The way pirates behaved was out of his league. It seemed it would become the norm, though.

    "Take us with your Boss or whatever, or I will feed you to the sharks." It seems the pirate fever has also taken root in Seth. If things continued like this, he would become the Pirate King.

    "Aye, aye. No need to tell me twice." After saying this, the pirate confidently walked ahead, not scared even one bit. No one here didn''t know the mighty name of Francis Drake, after all!

    The Chaldeans followed him, leaving the ship with the unconscious pirates ashore. There was nothing Seth couldn''t see while in a Sand Field. Were they to wake up and try to leave, he would immediately make the sand swallow them. He hadn''t killed them until now because they still had their uses, as little as they may be.

    They entered the jungle that was in the center of the island. They didn''t meet any other pirates along the way as they were presumably in other parts of the island.

    The pirate looked back from time to time to make sure they were following him. This weird behavior continued for a few more minutes until the group finally reached a place where they could hear the sound of voices near their location.

    "We are almost there! Now you don''t have anywhere to run, prepare yourselves!" The pirate said as he kept walking without looking back now.

    "Why is he acting like a thug?" Fujimaru asked to no one in particular. To say he felt weird by his behavior would be an understatement. He looked like the type of guy that is the first to get beaten in a fight.

    "Trying to stand out among the masses is something natural, no matter the era. It''s even normal to recreate your body into a beautiful masterpiece." Da Vinci winked through the hologram, making everyone present have black lines across their faces.

    "Let''s ignore her for a bit, shall we? Please prepare for combat in case it''s necessary." Romani advised them, trying not to pay attention to the Universal Genius.

    "So boring, Roman." Da Vinci pouted but was again ignored by them.

    "Francis Drake...he certainly is a great character. The second man to travel around the world after Elcano, and the one to defeat the Invincible Armada. Considering the time, it''s probable that he is still alive like Nero was." Mash said before continuing. "Although a corsair in England, Spain considered him a pirate through and through. Seeing how the people we have met so far are, it wouldn''t be strange if he was a good-for-nothing thug."

    "Watch your mouth, little lass. You can say whatever you want about me, but I won''t allow you to badmouth the Boss, ye hear?" The atmosphere around the pirate became increasingly suffocating. It was something he gained through many life and death battles, nothing compared to what these runs have experienced in their short lives.

    "S-Sorry..." Mash quickly apologized, understanding that she went a bit far. It differed from pirate to pirate, but they treated each other as family, and no one would stay quiet if someone insulted their family.

    "As long as ye understand!" The pirate returned to his laid back attitude, continuing to guide them for a bit more until they got near a small camp.

    "Hey, Boss! You have guests!" He shouted to the top of his lungs, to try and offset the volume of the other pirates partying.

    "The hell? Who are they? I''m busy drinking my rum here!" A loud voice that somehow contained traces of femininity came from the biggest tent in the camp.

    "I don''t know, they don''t look like pirates, but not like the Royal Army, either!" He answered equally loud. This scene oddly looked like one from Romeo and Juliet, but a crappy version of it.

    "Fine, bring them here!" As if giving up in getting any information from this subordinate, the person inside decided to let them come into the tent.

    Receiving permission, not that they needed any, they walked forward while being stared at by the whole pirate crew.

    "Excuse us," Fujimaru said while entering the tent, followed by the rest. What they saw when they got in was certainly unexpected, but not something that far-fetched at this point. Francis Drake was a woman.

    Fate works in mysterious ways, indeed.

 Chapter 88 - Obtaining Information... Kind Of

    "You certainly brought me a colorful bunch, Bombe," Francis said to the pirate, now identified as Bombe. She had long wavy crimson pink hair, blue eyes, and a scar across her face. She wore brown choker collar almost attached to her pink captain vest that showed her b.r.e.a.s.ts, white pants, and long dark brown boots.

    "Aye, Captain. I was a lucky survivor when the island swallowed the others out." Even if he didn''t say it, that event scared the shit out of him.

    "What are you talking about, Bombe? That was just a small tremor, don''t go making things up." Seriously, this guy should stop drinking rum all day.

    "So, what do you guys want?" Not letting the poor guy explain himself, she directly addressed the Chaldeans. Her party was interrupted, so she was in a bit of a bad mood.

    "We are from Chaldea, an organization tasked with��" "What do you know about what''s happening right now? You don''t seem that idiot as not to realize things aren''t like they are supposed to be." Before Romani''s hologram had the chance to introduce themselves, Seth went straight to the point.

    "You sure have guts; I will give you that. As for the matter with this place, I did notice some strange things, but so what? I quite like how it is right now." Even in her drunken state, her piercing gaze remained.

    "I guess for pirates like you; this is paradise. You can do whatever you want, and there is no one to stop you, but that doesn''t answer my question. What do you know about all of this?" Seth wasn''t bothered by her tone. He had dealt with many people like that.

    He was interested to know why she had a Holy Grail in her possession, though. Considering her ways, she might have gained it as some sort of spoils of battle. Still, this one was the real thing and not some copy like the ones they have been encountering so far.

    "If you act like you know how us pirates think, then you know that the only way for me to listen to you is by beating me." Immediately after she said this, she took one of her pistols out and pointed at him.

    Not even a second after her action, the others, except the gagged Stheno, prepared themselves for combat. Although looking at it from an outside perspective, this was overkill.

    "There is no need for that." However, contrary to everyone''s expectations, Seth refused to fight, making her frown.

    "The hell? Now you are acting like a coward?" She questioned, still pointing at him. So much talk only to end up in nothing, she hated guys like that.

    Before Altera moved to cut the woman''s head for insulting her Master, Seth responded. "Don''t get the wrong idea. There is no need to fight because you can''t win, as simple as that." While the words came as mocking, that was not the intention.

    There was no doubt that Drake was someone that stood out among the masses. She may not fall under the category of "Hero," but she is the type of person that marks an era.

    That said, she was still human. Even if she has outside protection from the World, it wouldn''t mean much. At most, she would be able to keep up with one or two Servants.

    "Big talk for a chicken. Let''s see if your skills amount to how much bullshit you spit out from your mouth." Without warning, Drake fired her gun multiple times.

    With incredible precision, every single bullet impacted on his forehead one after the other. Silence enveloped the whole place; the only sound they could hear was their breathing. No one expected her, except for her crewmates, to shoot him out of nowhere.

    "Woo-hoo! Nice aiming, Boss!"

    "Boss is the best!"

    "Another round to celebrate!"

    Many cheers were coming from the pirates who thought that Francis had won this "Duel." They were unaware of the storm that was looming over them.

    "You...did you just call me a chicken?" Seth''s voice was as cold as ice. No matter how much time passes or how much he changes, there was one thing that will never disappear, and that was his hate for Ra and Nephthys.

    Just comparing him to them brought tremendous disgust, and human or not, he wouldn''t forgive it.

    "You! How are you still kicking?!" Drake astonishingly asked. Her eyes were wide open, a trait shared by her crewmates.

    "Brace yourself. It''s going to hurt, very much." Seth didn''t answer. There was no need to do so. His clenched fist would do the talking.

    "Wait, calm yourself��" Before Romani could try to smooth things out a bit, the Egyptian God already appeared in front of Drake and punched her straight in the jaw.

    Were it not for the force behind the punch that created a loud sound; they could have heard the woman''s bones cracking.

    Almost everyone watched dumbfounded as the pink-haired pirate was thrown back like an arrow released from a bow, crashing against all kinds of things. Luckily for her, she didn''t hit any hard objects like rocks and trees, or she could have said goodbye to her life.

    It took a moment for her crewmates to react to what happened, but when they did, they immediately pointed their guns and swords at him.

    "I guess this is where we take action." Archer shook his head with a wry smile. They already messed up. Now, it was time to take responsibility.

    "Good grief. I wish that man could take more consideration of our needs before doing things detrimental to our cause." Zhuge Liang said while puffing his cigarette.

    "I am sure Master had his reasons, it''s not your place to question them." Altera jumped in defense of her Master without hesitation.

    Sanson just sighed, knowing full well that he would have to take care of the injury of that woman if they wanted to get some information out of her. If she was still alive, that is.

    Stheno had a glint flash through her eyes. She has found something to amuse herself with, and to get revenge for her current situation. She had to think smart, though. Otherwise, he could trace the trouble back to her.

    Meanwhile, Fujimaru and Mash looked at each other, not knowing how to react, while Romani just sighed in exasperation. Honestly, he should consider peaceful approaches from time to time!

    "Just please...don''t kill them. It will only make things more complicated." Dr. Roman said, not knowing what else to do. He would ask Magi��Mari for help after this, that''s for sure.

    Although slightly inconvenient for some of them, they did as he said. Still, as they were normal humans, it didn''t pose much of a problem, to not mention any.

    After a short battle, the Chaldeans knocked out the whole pirate crew while Seth brought back Drake by dragging her by her feet.

    Now, the only thing they had to do was wait for her to wake up, so they could get some information on the situation. With the majority of this Singularity being an ocean, they couldn''t just search blindly. Who knows where they might end up?

    ������������������������������???����������������������������

    Three days. Three. F.u.c.k.i.n.g. Days. That was how long it took for Drake to wake up, even with Sanson''s best efforts. Safe to say, Seth received many unamused looks from most of the Chaldeans, which he simply ignored. Three days was a short time compared to how much it would have taken had he left her an inch from death.

    "Hah... You pack quite the punch��Ouch!" The source of their troubles, if you ignore the perpetrator of her wounds, was happily drinking rum with a bandage on her left cheek. For someone who got their jaw broken in many places, she sure could speak well despite the pain.

    To Fujimaru, who was just an average human until a few months ago, it was pretty unrealistic. But then again, none of what surrounded him was.

    "So, are you finally going to tell us what you know?" Ignoring this drunkard, Seth went straight to the point. He was not happier than anyone with all they have to wait to know something once and for all.

    "Before that, let''s have a toast for our new comrades. What do you say, sc.u.mbags?!" She seemed to have other intentions that answering, preferring to party more instead.

    "AYE!" The other pirates were all down for it. As long as they could keep partying hard, then everything was alright and without hard feelings.

    Tick marks began forming on his forehead. This woman seemed to like getting punched so much that he wondered if she was some kind of m.a.s.o.c.h.i.s.t.

    "Relax. There is no need to make us wait even more days, let that woman do what she wants for now." Zhuge Liang came in to save the day before Seth made another mistake.

    "I don''t want to waste more time, either." When he was about to speak further, he noticed something far, far away. ''Hm? Well, that was something I didn''t expect. I guess making mistakes is becoming something common.''

    At the same time, that "Something" also noticed him, but after looking at his direction for a few seconds, it quickly ignored him.

    "You guys gotta drink ''till you faint!" Drake came with a handful of mugs filled with rum and gave them to the Servants and Masters. Fujimaru immediately gave his share to Seth because he was a minor and couldn''t drink. That and EMIYA''s gaze was him very uncomfortable. He guessed that Archer wanted him to be responsible by any means.

    Seth directly threw the content of the mugs onto the ground. It didn''t take a genius to know that this drink s.u.c.k.e.d. The proof? Archer and Zhuge Liang were spitting it just as it entered their mouths. The only ones that drank the rum without problem were Altera and Sanson. The era where they come from didn''t have that many delicious drinks, after all.

    Stheno...well, Stheno was still gagged, and it didn''t seem it would change any time soon, so her share also went to him. When he was about to throw it again, he noticed the slippery squirrel who was never in sight.

    Seth''s sadistic side came to the surface. He quickly caught the little beast and forced that disgusting rum down its throat. He may complain about the Gorgon Sister''s behavior, but it seems he wasn''t much different.

    Everyone except for his Servants made sure to get some distance between themselves and this psychopath, lest they end up like that white creature.

    All of this seemed to lead anywhere, but, quite ironically, they managed to get something out of Drake while she was still drunk.

    By what little they could get from the pink-haired woman during her drunken state, this place was an anomaly though and through. Not only anything to serve as an orientation tool didn''t work, but the area, in general, was an enigma.

    One moment you were navigating through a place filled with a terrible storm, and the other you were in an incredibly hot climate.

    There were also no continents here, only small islands, as far as they could explore. Not only that, but in one of their exploring adventures, they met a group of people that could take bullets, kind of like what happened with Seth, without any problem.

    Drake''s words confirmed the presence of Servants in this place. They didn''t have much clue on who they could be as the woman was in no condition to describe someone at the moment.

    Seth was confused, though. It wasn''t like it was at first where he could only actively detect presences in a one thousand meters radius. His range was much higher now, proven by how he identified that thing in a faraway location.

    In theory, he should be able to detect at least one Servant, which was not the case right now. ''Protection from the Ocean? Tch. Our kind will never get along. There is no other option than to use smell, as annoying as that may be considering we are at sea.''

    It wasn''t like he was not without a clue, though. Since he got here, he had been feeling the part of him that encompassed Typhon feeling restless. As if something that could awaken that monster was in this place or about to appear.

    ''Really, stop being a bother.'' Being honest, he preferred avoiding Syncretism between them, even if it was reversible with a simple command. He liked to be himself and just himself. It was the reason why he never did like some of the others and inhabited the body of their kind, like Ra and Amun, to form Amun-Ra.

    Although if he were to choose who to form a unified Deity with, it would be that person...no, it was too late. His body and soul were no more, so it wouldn''t be possible. There was no point in thinking any more than this.

    He just needed to see how the situation develops, and if it is indispensable to become Seth-Typhon or not. Knowing his luck, it surely will, though.

    While he was contemplating what to do, Drake took the Holy Grail and used it to pour more rum into her mug. That action, however, caused the remaining Master and the other Servants to widen their eyes.

    ''Hm? Looks like she finally takes that thing out.''

 Chapter 89 - Operation: Search For The Ark

    "You... You have the Holy Grail?!" Romani''s hologram came to ask the question in the Chaldean''s minds. It was the first time since they started the mission "Grand Order" that they found the sacred object at the beginning of their journey through the Singularity.

    "What? This thing? I just found it somewhere. You can have it if you want, the prize of the victor and all that." Drake said without much thought. She was oddly kind in giving them things after her defeat.

    "Don''t get too worked up. It''s not the fake one that is the core of every Singularity, but the authentic Holy Grail used by him in the Last Supper." Seth shot down the Doctor''s "enthusiasm" with his statement.

    "Eh? It was something that important?" The pink-haired woman asked, a little stunned. Her father had been a Protestant, so she had some knowledge about the previously mentioned relic. Not that it was something unknown to the world outside Christianity, though.

    "Wait, how do you know that Holy Grail is the real deal?" Romani asked out of nowhere, bringing the center of attention back to him.

    ''Why do you act as if you didn''t know already, stupid Doctor.'' He may be able to fool the others, but that won''t work on him. He was too young even to try.

    "I had the fake one in my hands, twice. Naturally, I would be able to tell the difference. It''s easy for me to detect deceptions, Romani Archaman." He said the last part at a slower pace, trying to get a message across to him.

    "Ahaha...Is that so? If that''s the case, we don''t need that Holy Grail." Dr. Roman awkwardly laughed, trying to ignore the remark.

    "Still... I was shocked at first. Who would think that we would find the real Holy Grail here." Mash said after calming down. She couldn''t deny that she was a little disappointed, though. Although wishful thinking, it would be good to resolve this without conflict.

    "I just stole it from a guy who was acting all high and mighty, calling himself Poseidon and all that. It was getting on my nerves, so I sank his city too." Drake said lightheartedly. Seth almost choked on his saliva after hearing her.

    Drake''s skills on land may suck, but it seems that at sea, she could defeat a God, given the right conditions. Even if Poseidon was probably just a shadow of a Divine Spirit and nothing more, it didn''t diminish her feat at all. There weren''t many humans in history to ever defeat one of his kind, after all.

    ''To attain such a feat...is the work of a Skill? But she is not a Servant, so something innate perhaps? If it was a Skill, I could probably imitate it with my Authority, but it would be a waste on me, so I think I will pass on that.''

    Meanwhile, Stheno''s impression on Drake shot up like a rocket. It seems they would get along pretty well in the future. That was, of course, if SOMEONE could ungag her.

    Drake unintentionally left everyone speechless. Without a doubt, no expected her, who was defeated that easily, to do something like that.

    "How do I say it..." Fujimaru started.

    "...It''s amazing." And the rest continued.

    The pink-haired woman gained a blush at their praise. Despite being someone who acted like a man, getting praised like that made her feel embarrassed.

    "Is it? I don''t think it was all that great." After she said this, the Holy Grail moved toward her body and entered it as if she was a ghost.

    "So, what do we have to do now? Take the fake Holy Grail as usual?" Archer asked while crossing his arms. Now that they knew that object wasn''t the one they needed, the question was what their next plan of action would be. After all, there hadn''t been a case like this until now. It was better to ask for instructions than do something wrong.

    "Yes. The two Holy Grails are acting like colliding forces, each keeping the other in check. Captain Drake''s own is trying to restore the era while the one left behind by our enemy is trying to destroy it." Romani explained.

    "So it is essentially a stalemate, huh?" Zhuge Liang commented after analyzing his explanation. That said, he didn''t discard having to seize both Grails to correct this era. They were still in the dark, so forming conclusions now was unwise.

    "Most likely. Once we are in the presence of the fake one, I would be able to provide a bit more help, but now we don''t have enough data to do so." Romani nodded at Caster''s words.

    Speaking of Caster, Da Vinci came at that moment to talk with the Pirate Queen. "A p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e to meet you, sir Francis Drake. I have a question. I would like you to answer. Did you wish for something from that golden cup there?"

    "Hm? Another weird one showed up. To answer your question, no, I didn''t wish for anything. Why?" An imaginary arrow pierced Da Vinci''s c.h.e.s.t, but despite that, she managed to put a smile, albeit a forced one, on her face.

    "That artifact has the power to grant wishes, even treasures if you so d.e.s.i.r.e, so I wanted to know if you have already activated it." The Universal Genius did the best she could to speak without her composure getting lost.

    "Why would I want that? Pirates should get treasures with their own hands, not by wishing and praying. Otherwise, you wouldn''t be a pirate at all!" Drake seemed a bit offended by her statement, proven by her tone being higher than usual.

    "But the Holy Grail created food and drinks for you, right? You may not have wished for it actively, but subconsciously you did." She responded.

    "Well...I suppose that''s true. Who are you anyway? I feel a little irritated by not speaking to someone face to face." First, it was that guy, and now this woman. They sure knew how to leave poor first impressions.

    "I am someone like those guys over there. You may know of me as I died a little before you were born. I am none other than the genius Da Vinci-chan!" As introductions were necessary, she made sure to emphasize each one of her words.

    "Sorry, never heard of you." Drake''s response sent another imaginary arrow her way. Numerous tick marks appeared on her forehead, and she was smiling quite darkly too.

    "Romani, prepare the coffins. I suddenly have the urge to go to that Singularity myself." She will show that pirate the dark side of the Universal Genius!

    "Calm down. Why do you have to cause problems every time?!" Dr. Roman and the other staff members in the Command Room had to restrain her with all their might so she wouldn''t do something crazy.

    "I just hope there is more treasure to find, or my motivation will be lacking." While Romani and the others were keeping Da Vinci in check, the one responsible was, ironically, praying to find all kinds of wealth in this neverending ocean.

    "There are, on the level of that Holy Grail, or even higher," Seth said, looking at the sea. If his words were to be trusted, that is.

    "Is that true? Then that''s great news! If there are treasures involved, I get unbelievably fired up! Sc.u.mbags! Drink, and sing to your heart''s content. Tomorrow we go to our most dangerous and rewarding adventure to date!" Drake excitedly spoke to her crewmates. It will be their best, and probably last, voyage so far, so she wanted them to enjoy as much as possible before departure.

    "Haven''t we partied enough? It''s already getting darker." Fujimaru said while looking at the sky. Drake just patted his back multiple times.

    "What are you saying? Nighttime is the best time to enjoy a drink!" After that, she went to celebrate, sing, and laugh together with her crew.

    This night was going to be a long one.

    ������������������������������������������������������������

    "Are you ready, guys? If you are, then we will commence our journey." It was morning, and the Chaldeans were already on board of the Golden Hind, Francis Drake''s ship.

    Despite drinking significant quantities of alcohol last night, every pirate there, her included, were not feeling any kind of aftereffects at all.

    "We are. Thanks again for helping us." Mash said with a smile on her face. Being someone whose ability at sea were widely known, her and Fujimaru didn''t fear, or at least not much, a rough voyage.

    They weren''t the only ones there. There were many other pirates and sh.i.p.s anchored on that particular shore. There seemed to be some sort of truce not to create trouble while they were on the island. At sea, it was a different matter, though.

    Speaking of it, Seth decided to let the other pirates they met when they arrived go. They weren''t useful anymore, be it alive or dead, so why should he even bother to kill them.

    "Very well, then. We''re setting sail! Raise the flag, let''s move out!" Once she was sure that everyone was ready, she gave the order to depart.

    Her crew gave a loud cheer and started getting to work. Being a bright and sunny day, they faced no problems to sail.

    "Altera, come here." Seth motioned the white-haired girl to get closer. When she did, she grabbed the nape of Stheno, who was beside him, and gave her to Saber.

    "Be sure to keep an eye on her. I am going to do something that requires me to be sleeping, so I can''t do so myself. If a situation where you need my help surges, you can wake me up without hesitation." The Egyptian God informed her.

    "Is there anything I can help you with, Master?" She was talking beside keeping Stheno in check. Altera wanted to be of help as much as possible in anything aside from killing. It was, after all, a new experience for her, something she wanted to try.

    A faint smile formed on his face. Altera sure reminded him of his younger days when he wanted to help Anjed, his bodyguard and friend, although that often resulted in more harm than good.

    "Let''s see...I''m not a princess who needs to be woken up by a kiss...so how about a song? In case I don''t wake up, you can do so. I would honestly like that." He said the part about singing to interrupt his sleep as a joke, but it seems Altera took it seriously. He didn''t have time to think of anything because the sooner he did this, the better.

    "U-Um...if that''s what Master d.e.s.i.r.es." She nodded while her tan skin had a faint tint of red. She never did something like this, so she wasn''t sure how it would turn out. However, for someone who went through similar things as her, who could understand how she felt and not judge if it was right or wrong, and just accept it as a natural order of things, she would do it, no matter if it was embarrassing or not.

    Unaware to her, it was the same for Seth. In a world where he is considered someone worse than a plague, people like her and Cu Chulainn, who never judged him, and just treated him like he was just another person, was something he truly appreciated.

    ''I think it''s time. You have earned it, Altera.'' Seth thought before looking at her directly into her eyes. "Tonight, there is something important we have to do together. Make sure to be prepared."

    Leaving behind a frozen Saber, who didn''t know how to respond, Seth went to the Captain''s cabin. Drake was going to navigate, so she wouldn''t enter it until it was late in the day.

    Like a ghost, he passed by the pirate crew, who ignored him as if he wasn''t even there. Maybe to them, that was the case. Illusions were something people like them couldn''t hope to get out of if the one who created them didn''t will for it.

    Seth quickly located Drake''s resting chambers. If he was going to do this, he would like to do it in a comfortable place and not on the shitty beds the rest of the crew had.

    Lying down on the only bed there, he closed his eyes. Without delay, he began speaking in a foreign language. As he was doing so, small hieroglyphs appeared throughout his body, pulsating in a dark red light.

    A dark shadow took form, slowly resembling a humanoid figure. Seth had called the Skeleton, but not to fight this time.

    "Your eyes reflect what I see, yet they are not mine, but yours." With those words, Seth felt his consciousness fade away. When it returned, he was looking at things through the eyes of the Skeleton.

    ''Mana consumption is manageable. I should be able to keep this state for a while. I will have to find that Ark quickly before someone else does, or worse, it disappears.'' Getting used for a bit to his new body, he moved down, phasing through the floor like a ghost.

    He kept moving down even when he was inside the water. For now, he will look on the oceans'' surface. With this Singularity being almost a hundred percent water, the possibility of that Ark being on the depths was pretty high.

    Assuming Stargazer was right, he would need that Ark to work as something akin to a nuclear bomb but with many times higher its destructive power.

 Chapter 90 - Terror Of The Seas

    Seth was near the oceanic floor at this point. No light reached this place, so it was as dark as night. Fortunately, he could see without problems.

    As he traveled through the depths, he was able to confirm his theory of this being a mix of all the mythological seas. It wasn''t difficult to know this when you take everything he had seen into consideration.

    Turtles with islands on their backs, giant skeletal whales, hippocampus, sea serpents, huge fishes, horrendous monsters, sirens, prehistoric dinosaurs, and much more, Seth encountered all kinds of creatures from different places in his search.

    Some of them ignored him, while others decided to attack. As he wasn''t using his body, he had to rely on Longinus, which was taken by the Skeleton before.

    The creatures that attacked him weren''t too intelligent, so he didn''t have any trouble disposing of them. Even so, he kept being alert in case he received a sneak attack from something. Many mythological monsters could turn invisible, after all.

    ''I have been here for some hours, but there isn''t even a signal of that thing. My time is reachings its limit too. Is it truly here?'' Seth wondered as he kept looking, trying to see if he could find at least a clue.

    ''I can''t contact him in this body either. Honestly, I am too old for this.'' Seeing as this was not bearing any results, he decided to come back. It would take a few seconds to locate his body and teleport to it, so he needed to find a secure place.

    He noticed a giant turtle, or Aspidochelone, and went to the safety of its back. This species waited for sailors to anchor on the island on its shell and then drowned them. However, if you had a body that didn''t need to breathe like the one he was using right now, they weren''t something one could consider dangerous.

    What he didn''t expect, though, was that as soon as he got closer to the Turtle, a tentacle shot from below it straight at him. Seth was quick to react, putting Longinus in front of him to block it.

    When limb and weapon collided, the tentacle pushed the Egyptian God back until it couldn''t stretch itself anymore.

    Seth used his hands to touch the tentacle, causing it to erode slowly. A scream of anger and pain resounded in his ears before the owner of the limb retracted it.

    The Turtle, which he thought was alive, broke into pieces as if made of rock. A colossal being emerged from the place where the island monster was.

    ''Kraken...so it was using the dead body of that Turtle to lure more pray? This squid is the cunning type.'' Seth thought, while looking at the gigantic creature in front of him.

    He couldn''t keep this body swap much longer, so he wanted to avoid a fight as much as possible. The moment his Mana runs out, he will be forcefully brought back to his body. However, when that happens, he will "shut down" during the process, leaving him open for attacks.

    It didn''t matter if he liked it or not, but while in this state, he shared everything with his real body. Meaning that if he suffered any wounds, the original would do so too.

    Sadly for him, the Kraken wouldn''t let him flee, especially now that it was enraged after being touched by Seth''s hands. Monsters get angry for the prettiest of reasons, he thought.

    When Seth retreated, the colossal creature went after him. For something of its size, it moved pretty fast. The Kraken used its tentacles to try and slam, pierce and grab him, anything as long as it could kill the skeletal being.

    If he didn''t want to end up wounded, he would need to think something fast. He thought at first to use other monsters as bait to gain some advantage, but the Kraken would just ignore or outright kill them.

    Seth moved from place to place, dodging the tentacles while at the same time cutting them. Even so, some signs of "tiredness" were beginning to show. His movements were slowing down, as well as his speed in general.

    ''This damn pest is seriously annoying me.'' Seth quickly grew tired of this cat-and-mouse game. Usually, keep running would be the best decision, but the Kraken would just persecute him until he ran out of Magical Energy. In that case, the only thing left was to retaliate and find an opportunity the moment he was able to wound it.

    The other option would be to go to the surface, although that was not viable right now as he was too deep, and it would take time, something he didn''t have right now.

    With the course of action decided, Seth turned around and charged ahead. The Kraken, although a bit surprised its prey wasn''t running away anymore, didn''t think much used every tentacle at its disposal to crush him.

    Seth, for his part, used Longinus to make cuts in every limb that went after him, and completely severing some of them. His movements might be sluggish, but that didn''t mean he was an easy target for the colossal monster.

    He wanted to get closer to his head, but every time he tried to do so, the Kraken would start to wave its limbs erratically, creating some sort of barrier that prevented him from approaching.

    Their clash was by no means silent. On the depths of the ocean where there is almost no sound, this was attracting some attention. Other creatures were gathering around the area, hoping to get something out of what''s left after their battle ends.

    These creatures were the scavengers of the sea. Different from them, though, there was a monster that was approaching, and it wasn''t coming for "leftovers." A beast on par or even mightier than the Kraken.

    ????????????????

    With an incredibly roar, the monster made its presence known to everyone there. A robust, serpentine body armored with deep blue scales, two fins on each side. It had a row of hairs going from blue to orange growing on its back and head. Additionally, it had vine-like whiskers with the same color.

    Both Seth and the Kraken stopped their fight to look at the intruder. The true king of the seas, as well as the most feared, the Leviathan.

    ''His presence here could mean a way to escape or that I''m completely f.u.c.k.e.d.'' It was one thing after the other, nothing went his way, as always. If there was something to rejoice, it was that this Leviathan was from a species resembling Serpents instead of the ones having a human-like upper body and tentacles in their lower one.

    The creatures that were playing the waiting game to get something out of Seth''s and the Kraken''s fight immediately dispersed. Their chances became zero the moment the apex predator arrived.

    Just as the Leviathan arrived, it assessed the situation. It was trying to understand why there was so much chaos in this zone.

    Its red eyes didn''t seem to be those of a mindless beast but of one containing wisdom. The Leviathan released a low growl to the Kraken, seemingly attempting to communicate with it, to no avail. The giant squid made a strange, gurgling sound and used one of its tentacles in a whipping motion to strike the other colossal creature.

    However, before the Kraken managed to hit it, the Leviathan opened its mouth wide and bit the limb, proceeding to tear it apart from its body afterward.

    If Seth had to translate what they said, it was something along the lines of "What are you doing in my territory, you ugly octopus?" and the answer from the Kraken was, "None of your businesses, you underdeveloped worm."

    It was hard to listen appropriately while being thousands of meters underwater, but their accents were gangster-like. By the looks of things, there were many territories in this ocean. Every one of them belonged to a different monster.

    The Leviathan ate the limb like it was a delicacy, all while looking at the Kraken with a mocking gaze. He soon turned to Seth, though.

    "Go, you have no place here." That''s what he understood from the growl sent his way. He may not like the way it spoke to him, but he wouldn''t refuse the offer. That said, it wouldn''t be him if he didn''t leave a present for the stupid octopus.

    Seth looked at the Kraken that was staring daggers at both of them. The flames in his eyes shined with intensity as he extended his hand toward it.

    Taking advantage of the "protection" he was getting from the Leviathan, he used what little reserves he had to make a final attack.

    ''Time for the Awakening has Come! Incineration Ceremony: Flauros.''

    Various pillars of light emerged from the ground, hitting the distracted Kraken multiple times, causing it to release a cry of pain.

    As soon as his attack finished, he began the process to teleport to the Golden Hind, where his body was. Before that, though, he turned to the Leviathan.

    [Your attitude aside, you have my thanks for aiding me.] Different from them, he couldn''t communicate underwater, so the only way to speak was by talking telepathically. It was only possible with serpent species, though. However, as useless as it might seem, it was an ability he deeply treasured because he inherited it from him.

    "Hmph. I was just doing a favor to our Half-King, I don''t need your thanks, I need your actions." The Leviathan snorted before going away, leaving the Kraken that was trying to cover his body from the attack and the disappearing Seth.

    ''Half-King, huh? I suppose that''s an appropriate way to call me.'' He thought as he finally returned to the captain''s cabin. As the robbed figure looked at his real body through his clothes, he noticed there were some wounds on it but nothing major.

    ''My eyes are now mine, while yours belong to my sin.'' Silently speaking those words inside his mind, Seth''s consciousness returned to his body, causing the Skeleton to disappear.

    As soon as that happened, Altera entered the room. She left Stheno in Sanson''s company with explicit orders of beheading her were she to do something.

    She wanted to check up on her Master, but she didn''t want that pest to be around, especially if she had to do something as embarrassing as...si-singing.

    When Altera got closer to the bed, she began to observe him quietly. There was something off about him, but she couldn''t tell what.

    Saber sat next to Seth and examined his body from top to bottom without much success. At least outwardly, there was nothing wrong with him.

    Now, there was only one thing left to do. Slowly, Altera extended her trembling hand to lift his shirt to try and see if he had any injuries on him that she couldn''t see previously.

    Before she could do that, though, she stopped herself. ''What am I doing?! Invading Master''s privacy is Bad Civilization! You can''t do it, Altera!'' She shook her head multiple times to "return to normal."

    "M-Master...are you awake?" She needed to know if Seth had seen what she was trying to do or not. This behavior was something uncommon for her, after all. Not to mention embarrassing.

    "..." No response came from him, making Altera release a small sigh of relief. She then poked him on his cheek, but again, no signs of him waking up.

    ''Do I honestly need to do that...?'' The white-haired girl, whose face was mainly expressionless, looked like she was going to faint out of distress.

    No matter how many times she said it, she would never get tired of it. Her hands only worked to destroy, but when she referred to her hands, she meant everything of her.

    From the moment she was found by the elders of the Hun tribe, to the moment of her death. She only kept moving forward, destroying everything in her path. She never once in her life knew or tried something outside of that.

    But If she could do something outside of destruction, for someone similar to her...it doesn''t sound bad at all.

    Putting a hand on her c.h.e.s.t, she took a deep breath.

    ''Here goes nothing.'' She opened her mouth and began to sing a song she had heard once in her life during one of her expeditions.

    At first, her voice was slightly rough, but with time, it improved considerably. Even so, without a doubt, her voice was as fascinating as it was enthralling.

    Eventually, she closed her eyes as if trapped in her own, lone world. It was great, a new experience she enjoyed like never before. Her heart fluttered, trying to accompany her in her beat.

    She even began to make gestures with her hands, it had become something magical, and she didn''t want it to stop. However, all things must come to an end eventually.

    When she finished singing, Altera opened her eyes only to see her Master looking raptly at her. The white-haired girl froze for a moment before lowering her head in shame.

    Seth was listening to her the whole time since she arrived in this room, but he wanted to see what she was going to do, and he had to be honest. She surprised him, very much so.

    His reserves were borderline zero, and because he had to keep supplying them Magical Energy, he preferred to be unmoving to save as much as possible.

    So, without moving from his position, he spoke words that made Altera immensely happy, even offsetting the embarrassment she was feeling right now. "I loved your singing, please let me hear it again one more time."

    "Thank you..." A voice that was no louder than a murmur was the answer he got, but to him, that was more than enough.

 Chapter 91 - A Single Strike

    Seth stayed in Drake''s room together with Altera for about an hour, just silently resting. The Scourge of God felt a bit awkward at first, but eventually tranquilized herself and started watching over her Master in case he needed something.

    Soon after the black-haired man recovered enough, both of them noticed the ship had stopped moving. Looking outside through a small window, they could see the shore of an island, meaning they had anchored here.

    Seth got up from the bed and then turned to the quiet Altera. "Let''s go. There must be a reason why we stopped here, and I think I know it."

    The white-haired girl nodded, her attitude changing to a combat-ready one. "Is it because of an enemy Servant?"

    "Indeed. Detecting enemies has become extremely hard here, and every time I try to smell for an enemy, salt fills my nostrils. That said, at this distance, I don''t have any trouble spotting a Servant." He hated the ocean, with passion, at that.

    "I see. I will do my utmost to eliminate these enemies, then." It was difficult to understand her Master''s circ.u.mstances since she wasn''t fundamentally a beast like him, so she was going to focus on what she knew to do best, terminate whoever stood in her way.

    "...I appreciate your readiness, but there is no need to concern yourself with that. The enemy is not strong at all, and I can beat him with ease." He was no one to tell Altera what to do with her "life," but taking it easy from time to time wasn''t bad.

    Saber tilted her head with slight confusion in her face. "...If Master so d.e.s.i.r.es, then I shall comply." She at least hoped he didn''t consider her useless, and that she wasn''t needed.

    "You don''t have to call me Master, or even act respectfully with me when we are alone, Altera." He didn''t like formalities, especially since he abandoned his old life.

    "Okay...Seth." Altera said, a little meekly. It was refreshing but, at the same time, a little hard to get used to as habits were difficult to change.

    Happy with the response, the black-haired man exited the room with his Servant behind. When the two arrived, the others were already disembarking, except for Francis, who was still on the deck.

    "I was wondering when you two would show up. Did you have a good time alone? My ship is not a love tavern, so I would appreciate it if you did your activities in some other place." Drake said while shaking her head. When was that her Golden Hind became like this?

    Altera subconsciously materialized her Photon Ray out of shame while Seth simply shrugged. "Yes, we had a good time. I have to say, though, your bed was truly comfortable. You have my thanks for lending us your room."

    The pink-haired girl''s jaw dropped. "The hell?! You were using my room, sc.u.mbag?!"

    The Scourge of God wanted to hit her Master for making it sound like they did something inappropriate in Drake''s room. However, that made her remember the thing he told her about doing something together tonight, making her avert her eyes. Although this only worked to "confirm" Seth''s words in the Captain''s mind.

    "I would love to talk more about it, but I have to meet with the others on the island." The Egyptian God said nothing more and jumped off the ship, followed by his most trusted Servant.

    ''I''m beginning to regret bringing these guys with me. I should act less like a Pirate sometimes.'' The Captain thought after a sigh. She decided not to overthink it, though. For now, they will have to explore the island in search of something of value. She will see the mess they made in her room later.

    Drake then got out of the ship to meet with the others. They were already waiting for her a bit far from the shore. She left most of her crew to take care of the ship and was accompanied by Bombe only.

    The moment they were all together, they began to plan their next strategy, more or less. "There is a Servant on this island, that we know. The question is, how should we go about it?" Archer asked with his arms folded.

    They didn''t know if that Servant was a potential ally or an enemy. Depending on their approach, the outcome will undoubtedly be different.

    "The air feels tense in this place. I don''t think we will get something good out of this." Sanson looked at the center of the island with narrowed eyes.

    "It is certainly not a pleasant atmosphere, so I agree with sir Sanson on that. What do you think about it? You seem to be quite experienced in that aspect." Zhuge Liang then asked Seth for his opinion. The intuition of the black-haired man was something he was beginning to take into account, as ridiculous as it might seem from a strategist standpoint.

    "Let''s see...Madness is filling the area, so the enemy is most likely a Berserker. Leaving aside trying to reason with someone of their class, the fact that this place reeks of blood is not a good sign of a potential ally." Seth analyzed. He was holding the little Goddess, who at this point has stopped resisting.

    "So, we need to be prepared to fight, huh?" Fujimaru hoped to do a better job than he did against Romulus. Even though he didn''t say it out loud, that event was still in his mind. Every time he remembered the moment of Jeanne''s Death, he instantly thought about his sister, who perished when Lev sabotaged Chaldea.

    He had the feeling Seth would be able to kill this "enemy" without much trouble, but he didn''t want to depend on him for everything. It may sound selfish from his part, but he, too, wanted to be of help.

    "There is no need to worry, Senpai. I will protect you with all I have!" Mash, noticing the conflicting emotions running through his face, immediately went to reassure him.

    "Thanks, Mash. I will be counting on you." He was happy with the unconditional support his Servant gave him. Maybe because they were about the same age, they could associate so well.

    Now that they knew the chances of the Servant here was an enemy, they began walking in the direction of the center of the island.

    Not long after that, pirates appeared, aiming their guns and weapons at them, shouting things like "For the grand Eric!" or "The King will rise again!". They were quickly taken down by EMIYA''s arrows, though.

    ''Having an Archer in your team is surely useful.'' Seth thought. Until now, the only thing similar to one had been Cu Chulainn with his spells.

    These pirates, different from the ones before, disappeared in motes of light as if they were Servants, so the most logical conclusion was that the power of this Singularity created them, kind of like the skeletons in Fuyuki, and the soldiers in Orleans and Rome.

    The group kept moving as they eliminated those fake pirates. Eventually, they found a stone tablet with some kind of runes of Nordic origin that Drake picked up.

    "What is this? Some kind of ancient scripture?" Romani''s hologram asked once he got visual confirmation of the object.

    ''It''s been so long since I have seen this language...'' The writing in the tablet made him remember his times in Asgard with that drunkard and the others. It has been ages since that, but the memories are still vivid inside his mind.

    "Let me see it," Seth told Drake to give him the tablet, which she did. The Egyptian God took a moment to read the contents. "It doesn''t say much. Just that Eric Bloodaxe will revive again and cover the land with blood."

    "Eric Bloodaxe? As the Viking King of Norway? He has quite the infamy to his name." Roman said with slight panic. That guy was a not someone easy to get along with as you would have an ax stuck in your body the moment you looked at him.

    "He is famous for killing almost all his brothers and for his sanguinary expeditions," Mash said with worry. An enemy like that would surely be fearsome.

    "Vikings, huh? They are like our ancestors, so I would like to meet him and steal his treasure." Drake said, a little enthusiastic. Pirates will always be pirates, after all.

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    The group has been exploring the island for about half an hour. Despite Seth knowing the location of Eric Bloodaxe, he wasn''t interested in going there right now. While the chances may be low, the possibility of his objective being on an island was not zero, so he wanted to cover as much terrain as possible.

    However, it looked like it was all for nothing, as they have covered almost every nook of the island, and now the only place left was the location of Berserker.

    As they were getting closer to Eric, the smell of blood was also becoming more evident. Even for the people who were not yet used to such things.

    "Death. Death! Gughahh! More!!!" Out of nowhere, the group heard someone''s scream of madness. It wasn''t like they haven''t met any Berserker before, but this one, in particular, brought chills to Mash and Fujimaru.

    "Looks like we arrived at a mental asylum." Archer jokingly said, but his posture suggested otherwise. He had bow and arrow ready to shoot whatever came into vision.

    They heard the sounds of falling trees in the distance. Little by little, it was becoming louder until a figure jumped in front of them with an expression typical of someone who has lost their mind.

    "Well, that''s something you don''t see every day," Drake commented as she took out her pistols and pointed them at Eric.

    He was a muscular, brown-haired man with his upper body b.a.r.e. He wore a red skirt under black, thick metallic armor. Additionally, he had a pair of broken, black horns on his head. Yet, the most peculiar thing about him was his giant ax. It was a long, blood-red one, covered by what looked to be stones around the head.

    "Prepare for combat. We don''t know what Berserker is capable of, so you have to be careful!" Romani avised them. If there was one thing they were sure, it was that with every Singularity, the enemies were becoming stronger. They couldn''t take things lightly.

    Seth, however, was looking at Eric with disdain. ''You are a shame for your predecessors. Allow me to put you out of your misery, Viking King.''

    Seth summoned his spear at the same time he made dark, thunderous clouds to form in the sky. Lightning danced like serpents through them.

    The Viking took this as a sign of hostility and immediately rushed at him. The others, though, were looking at Seth as if he was the Berserker one instead of Eric. Did he want to bomb them away with their enemy?

    Seth first pointed his spear at the sky and then brought it down. He was going to use the same attack he used against Jalter in Orleans against Eric.

    [Mortals shall be judged by the hands of the evil in the sky. Heaven''s strike!]

    A massive thunderbolt fell from the sky in Berserker''s direction. Fortunately, the others retreated in time, or they would suffer collateral damage.

    The world turned white before a resounding boom filled the area. When the others were able to see again, the only thing that filled their vision was a deep crater with Seth on its edge.

    There were absolutely no signs of Eric Bloodaxe at all.

 Chapter 92 - The Second Of The Three

    A few seconds after the thunderstrike that obliterated Eric disappeared, the others came to their senses, and the dark clouds dispersed. It was overkill, no matter how you looked at it.

    "Was it necessary for you to do something like that? We had the numerical advantage, you know?" EMIYA asked after a sigh. He could at least have told them he was going to use such an attack.

    "Consider it something personal; I don''t like his kind very much," Seth responded briefly. There was no point in thinking about it anymore now that the enemy was dead.

    Fujimaru scratched his cheek with a forced smile. He had hoped to sort of proving himself in this battle, but it seems that ended in nothing. Well, there is always the next time, he thought.

    "I thought I was going to visit Davy Jones'' locker for a second there. How the hell can someone do that?" First, that guy calling himself Poseidon, then those damn superhumans that deflected bullets as natural as breathing, and now, this guy summoning lightning. The world had truly gone crazy.

    Bombe, her right-hand man, was a hundred percent in agreement with his captain. He was so speechless that if Drake hadn''t hit his head, he would have forgotten to breathe.

    "Even we aren''t sure..." Mash commented from the side, sharing Drake''s feelings. Until now, they didn''t know what EXACTLY Kuro was, and he hasn''t bothered in telling them either.

    Stheno wanted nothing more than to tell others his identity, so she can have some revenge for the horrible treatment she has received until now. She was a Goddess, the one supposed to make people''s life miserable, not the other way around!

    "Now that Master has dealt with the enemy Servant, what do we do now?" Sanson understood that they wouldn''t get anywhere talking about what the black-haired man had done, so it was better to think about their next course of action.

    "You guys said he was a Viking, didn''t you? Then it''s already decided, we just have to plunder his ship." Drake said as a matter of fact. It seems she would need to teach them the way of a pirate soon enough.

    "Don''t we have your ship already? Why would we want another one?" Fujimaru asked with apparent confusion on his face.

    "Guess I should''ve explained it better. We aren''t going to plunder the ship itself, but the things it has inside. Vikings had some sort of travel log where they wrote everything they saw using pictures. Topography, certain locations, weather, and more. If we get our hands on something like that, we would have a better clue on where to go." Even if it didn''t look like it, the pink-haired woman thought things through. When it came to matters of the sea, she was incredibly knowledgeable.

    "That would be a great help without a doubt. Although, that only applies if Eric Bloodaxe came to this island on a ship. If his summoning took place here, the possibility of there being a ship is almost zero." Zhuge Liang thought a step further, which was seen as some sort of negative thinking by some of them.

    "If you are looking for a Viking ship, it''s right ahead of us," Seth said while pointing forward. After the smoke coming out of the crater disappeared, the others could see it too.

    "Well, I suppose luck is on our side today." EMIYA for once felt his luck wasn''t screwing him over.

    Without delay, they quickly went to the ship. It was a bit far from the shore, so Seth had to swim and bring it back. Safe to say, he wasn''t thrilled about it, considering what has happened before with that damn octopus.

    Drake was the first to hop on; she was excited to discover new treasures. The rest followed, hoping to find what the pink-haired woman said.

    Inside the ship, they found gold, jewels, all kinds of weapons, and what they were looking for, the traveling log.

    "Bingo! See? Told ye." Drake grinned as she showed it to them. She then began to read it from top to bottom. Although it was a bit difficult to understand what each thing meant, she could do it just enough to get a general idea.

    "As expected of Boss! Now we can finally return to the ship." Only God knew how much Bombe wanted to stay away from this place and these freaks. He missed the Golden Hind already.

    "Does it say something of importance, though?" Seth asked, completely ignoring the coward pirate. His thinking was similar to Zhuge Liang''s. There was the possibility of that book having no information at all if that guy just got here.

    Fortunately, Drake''s answer was a positive one. "Yeah. We now have information on the surrounding islands. It''s not much, but it''s better than nothing."

    "We should get moving then. We explored every part of this island already, so I don''t think there is anything left for us to do here." There was a reason why Sanson seemed to be in a hurry lately. He wanted to seek, in a way, for some sort of redemption after the events in Orleans.

    He might be just a copy of the original, but his values were mostly the same. The Assassin Servant didn''t want to be seen only as an Executioner but as Charles-Henri Sanson, someone that went beyond a mere "job."

    It was also the reason why he hoped to meet Marie again, to apologize appropriately. To put it simply, he was a Servant that had and continued to have many regrets from his time alive.

    "I agree with Assassin. We need to move to the next location and see if there are more enemies to destroy." Altera, same as Sanson, didn''t see any reasons to stay here any longer.

    "Doctor, is there any more enemy signals in the surroundings?" Mash, seeing as everyone agreed in leaving this island, asked Romani for any sightings of possible foes. She didn''t want to endanger her Master''s safety just because she was not cautious enough.

    "Nope, nothing at all. You can safely return." Having received the okay signal from him, the Chaldeans and company returned to the ship without any issues.

    The atmosphere around the Golden Hind was very relaxed, so it was safe to assume other pirates didn''t attack Drake''s crew while they were not here.

    As soon as the pink-haired woman got on the ship, she ordered to set sail. The next island registered on the traveling log was a couple of hours away, so the sooner they parted, the better.

    "We will arrive at our destination in a few hours, but that doesn''t mean you can go and hump like rabbits in my room, you hear?!" Drake made sure to remind Seth and Altera not to do anything funny while she was busy navigating. She was going to keep an eye on them, but it wouldn''t hurt to give a warning.

    The crew laughed at the situation, while the others froze out of speechlessness. The Chaldeans were directing their incredulous gazes at the two, something that caused Altera to redden and immediately take out her weapon.

    "We did not do such things! To begin with, Master and I aren''t in that kind of relationship!" She spoke loud and like a bullet, something unusual in her. If no one did anything soon, she would use Photon Ray and blow the ship to pieces.

    "Altera is right. It was just a joke I came up with at that time. I only used your room to sleep and nothing more. She was just making sure nothing bad happened while I was doing so." Cu Chulainn always says his sense of humor sucks, and judging by the looks he was getting, it seems he is right.

    Saber repeatedly nodded, trying to make Seth''s words more believable. What the two had wasn''t something as simple as that. It went beyond physical p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e, like they have known each other for much longer than they truly have. Although if the opportunity arose... ''No! Shut up my inner demons, don''t try to tempt me!''

    To outsiders, the Scourge of God seemed to be performing some sort of play with all the facial expressions she was making in just a few seconds.

    ''Good grief, this is why trying to be funny doesn''t go well with me.'' Even after both their explanations, not everyone was convinced. However, he didn''t bother with it anymore. At this point in life, he didn''t care at all what others thought of him, much less a bunch of little kids. The same couldn''t be said for Altera, though. Still, he would compensate her for all the trouble he caused tonight, or so he hoped.

    Master and Servant would have to deal with the judging stares for a while. It didn''t help that Fujimaru was avoiding eye contact as if trying not to get involved, this stuff was out of his league for the moment.

    It was going to be a long trip.

    ������������������������������������������������������������

    After traveling for some hours, they finally arrived at their destination. Seth used his power over Wind to give favorable conditions for the ship to go faster and finish this stupid situation where everyone was looking at him and Altera as if they were an exotic animal.

    Coming from EMIYA, who had shared some of his stories he could remember when he was human when they were together with Cu Chulainn, was not something funny. It was the typical case of the pot calling the kettle black.

    Leaving that aside, along the way, they met some pirate ship that was immediately shot down by them. Even so, Seth couldn''t help but feel like their Jolly Roger was familiar.

    He may have seen it in one of his many reincarnations. That topic was confusing to him because he practically did not remember much about them. Only when something "triggered" would he do it. The fact nothing happened might be due to him seeing it just once and barely at that.

    Mash sent visuals to Romani and Da Vinci so they could analyze it, so there was not much point in thinking about it.

    "We will arrive shortly, so make sure you are ready to disembark." Once the island was in sight, Drake spoke to the Chaldeans. Seth got off from the gunwale and looked at the piece of land.

    It was so big it looked nothing like an island. They would take days to cover it completely, going by his estimations. On a different topic, the black-haired man found the presence of Servants on it now that they were close enough.

    The "interesting" thing was, one of the presences had an incredible resemblance to Stheno, and it seems the Goddess felt the same way if her widened eyes were anything to go by, meaning that he was not wrong in that.

    ''It doesn''t feel like Medusa who I met in Fuyuki, so that leaves Euryale, huh? The other...him? Another one who suffered at our disgusting hands, I see...'' Seth felt some empathy to their kind because, despite being a God, he had a similar fate to them.

    That may be the reason why he sided with humans instead of Gods and, in particular, to those they screwed over. It was not for some mindblowing reason, but just because they imposed a fate on him that he didn''t want. There''s nothing good about being a God. In the end, you are just a machine with a purpose that you need to accomplish, no matter what, with little to zero free will. Of course, it varied from individual to individual, but that was the general rule.

    It was not like he was out of blame when it came to making humans'' live hell, though. His reign of terror was enough proof of that.

    Being a God, he didn''t have the same set of morals as humans, but that didn''t mean he didn''t know shame. He won''t go around proclaiming himself as some sort of benevolent being because simply, he isn''t.

    Coming out of his thoughts, Seth jumped off the ship with Stheno on his shoulders. The purple-haired girl just kept looking at Euryale''s direction as sneakily as she could.

    "Do you want to go? To where your sister is, that is." The Egyptian God took out the gag she had been having on since arriving here.

    Stheno was a little surprised by his actions and words. She didn''t expect him to know that her sister was here or take out the gag for the matter, but even so, she still answered. "Yes...please."

    To reunite with the other her...how wonderful would that be. It has been...so long.

 Chapter 93 - Reunion

    Receiving her confirmation, Seth nodded. He then turned to the others who were disembarking the ship. "This island is too big, so we should separate. Stheno, Sanson, Altera and I will go to one side, and you will go to the other. Any problems?"

    "That''s a good idea. Be sure to take a communicator with you in case you find something, though." Romani was not against his plan, but he wanted to make sure the contact wasn''t lost. In case either of them met a strong enemy, it was essential to get there as soon as possible.

    "Good luck, we are going to try and see if we can set up the summoning circle for provisions." Mash''s shield was needed to set it up, so Fujimaru knew their group was the one who had to do it. After it, they would begin exploring like Seth and company.

    "Same to you." The Egyptian God said while receiving the communicator from Shielder. There weren''t strong enemies beside Euryale and the other guy, but you never know when things can go awry, especially in this place.

    With nothing more to add, Seth''s group departed. They weren''t exactly in a hurry, but it was better to end things as soon as possible. The end was near for him, and while it wasn''t exactly close, it wasn''t far either.

    "I will give the coordinates to you guys. I am detecting some life-forms in the way to the Leyline, so make sure to be on alert." Romani spoke to the remaining group and also gave them a warning. He didn''t want something like the incident with the Chimera to happen again.

    "Understood. We will immediately depart. I hope you are okay with this, Captain Drake." Mash nodded before turning to the pink-haired woman.

    "Yeah, sure. I don''t have any problems. Exploring is also part of a pirate''s life, after all." She grinned, getting excited to find something new.

    ������������������������������������������������������������

    After separating from Fujimaru and the others, Seth and his Servants went straight to Euryale''s direction. Now that they didn''t have to worry about leaving any humans behind, they could move at a relatively fast pace. Sanson was not the best when it came to speed, so they had to match theirs to his.

    "Is there a reason why we separated from the others, Master?" The Executioner was a little confused about this. They didn''t do so on the last island, and while he said it was to explore more basically, the white-haired man didn''t think it was the exact reason.

    "We are going to meet the other Servants who are here. One of them is Stheno''s sister, and the other is the Minotaur of legends. I don''t know what the two are doing together, but the idea is for now is hopefully make them join us." Seth''s words confirmed Sanson''s suspicion. Now, he was more convinced about the decision. Even so, her sister? If she were like the one they had right here, it would be another source of unnecessary trouble.

    "I don''t understand, Master. You are strong enough to kill that Berserker in a single hit, why do we need more allies?" It was Altera''s turn to ask. She didn''t want to sound arrogant, but the two of them could destroy any opposition in their way. Recruiting more Servants was something she found pointless.

    A wry smile formed on his face. "I appreciate the trust you have in my abilities, but I am by no means invincible. An enemy more powerful than me might appear. In that case, getting extra help would not be bad at all." It was not something unthinkable. Besides, having more allies did not affect them negatively in any way.

    ''You are also forgetting I had to go all out against you, even going as far as to almost die in consequence.'' Seth added in his mind. Burning World was a double-edged sword as it also affected him, downgraded as it was.

    "..." Altera was silent for a moment. It was not like she didn''t think about that possibility, but even so, she still believed nothing could stop them if they fought together.

    "Don''t overthink it. Consider this as just a side job if you will." Seth further said, noticing how the white-haired girl was still not at all convinced.

    The Scourge of God finally nodded. If finding the pest''s sister was just a side job as he said, then she could understand it better.

    Meanwhile, Stheno was wordlessly looking ahead. She wasn''t interested in what they talked about, just in finding the other her, and hopefully Medusa too.

    As they kept moving, they met different enemies like Wyverns, Dragon Tooth Warriors, some "fake" pirates, and more. Safe to say, they crushed them without problems. Seth took the opportunity to control one of the winged beasts and use it as a scouting unit.

    Despite going at a considerable speed, they only arrived at the place where Euryale and the Minotaur were in the afternoon, so that said a lot about how far it was.

    The exact location was a mountain, under it, to be more precise. There was no entrance on sight, meaning that the four would have to brute force their way into it.

    Altera offered to be the one to create a path. No one had any problem with this, so without saying much, they took some steps back and let the white-haired girl do her job.

    She wasted no time and immediately powered her sword with a considerable amount of Magical Energy. Seth was okay with this since his reserves were full, and she didn''t take much.

    Using her Photon Ray, she obliterated the mountain into pieces, leaving nothing but destruction behind. The other three had to admit that her power was nothing to take lightly.

    Once Saber finished her attack, they could see what looked to be a deep hole where the mountain used to be. It didn''t take a genius to know that was the real entrance to the place the two Servants were.

    "Are you two ready?" Seth asked Sanson and Altera. Stheno was still on his shoulders, so there was no point in asking her. Besides, she would be the most "excited" to go there, if anything.

    Both nodded their heads in affirmation, so, with nothing more to say, they jumped in the hole.

    Despite how it looked from the outside, it was not that deep. Probably around five hundred meters, going by some estimations. Nothing to make Servants or him afraid of falling damage.

    The moment the four landed, they quickly began to take in their surroundings. No matter where you looked at it, they were in a labyrinth. It had white, stone walls with torches hung on the sides. There were also columns with Greek design, the same color of the wall, and multiple paths that led to who knows where.

    Stheno frowned slightly. "This is that labyrinth, isn''t it? It is not that unexpected considering he is here, but I never imagined someone could recreate it."

    "I have read about this place from the books in my family''s library. I have got to say, though. I pictured it as a more horrifying place." Sanson expected it to be a place filled with blood and bones, not something so...clean.

    "Daedalus may have been tasked by Minos to build a prison that no one can get out of, but that doesn''t mean he would not put all his effort into it. You can consider it as the pride of an architect." As much of a sick bastard that he was, that did not mean Seth didn''t recognize his talent.

    "Should we get going? We will not gain anything by standing here." Altera was not someone who could exactly appreciate this kind of stuff, so she proposed to start moving.

    "I agree with that crude woman. We won''t achieve anything by standing here doing nothing but talking about this creepy place." For once, the little Goddess concurred with Altera, although the way she said it was not the best.

    Stheno''s comment made Saber''s brows twitch slightly. "Don''t get carried away, you nuisance. Were you not on my Master''s shoulders, I would have erased you from existence."

    "Oh? When did he become your Master alone? That''s not good. I also want a piece of him, can''t I?" The Goddess was having fun teasing the Scourge of God. Of course, she didn''t mean what she said, but the white-haired girl didn''t need to know that.

    Altera narrowed her eyes. She wanted to make this little pest scram, but in the end, she controlled herself. The dark-skinned woman didn''t like making scenes, even if sometimes she ended up doing so unconsciously.

    "Not going to say anything? How boring. Then if you don''t mind, I will make MY Master mine, fufufu~." Stheno said as she ran her finger through Seth''s cheeks. The Egyptian God knew that if he reacted, she would get what she wanted, so he didn''t do so. Instead, he began to walk ahead together with Sanson, who didn''t want anything to do with this cat-fight.

    ''This brat...'' Altera made sure to remind herself that Seth didn''t care about the purple-haired Goddess in the slightest. She knew she would end up strangling Stheno otherwise.

    Like that, with the little girl provoking Altera with a smug face and said person enduring it, they made their way through the labyrinth.

    They couldn''t go directly by breaking the walls ��They tried�� as it would immediately shift whenever they did so. With no other option, the group went for their plan b, which was making use of Seth''s sense of smell to locate the right path.

    It didn''t take long for them to meet with resistance in the form of monsters. Skeletons waiting in the corner and shooting them with their wooden bows or Lamias coiled around the columns, ready to pounce on them.

    The most troublesome opponent would be the Lamias without a doubt. They would always call upon more allies that were relatively near. Not to mention sometimes, Sanson got charmed by them, and he had to be woken up by a hit in the back of his head.

    Stheno and Altera had it better as they were female and, in consequence, weren''t as prone to get charmed by them as the Executioner was. As for Seth, he was immune to any type of mind-affecting abilities, so he was safe.

    Outside of that, the four didn''t suffer any type of setbacks at all. Soon, they would meet with the two Servants they came to this place for, and to reunite Stheno with her sister Euryale.

    The group encountered a monster before that could happen, though. It was similar to the one who caused so much trouble to the Chaldeans in Rome, a Chimera. This one looked to be more powerful, and Stheno confirmed this.

    The lion body was white instead of yellow, the goat brown instead of purple, and the snake dark yellow instead of green. All in all, it looked uglier than its predecessor.

    The beast was sleeping initially, but woke up once they entered its "lair." By instinct, the first thing it did was to roar menacingly and promptly got up. Its size was at least 1.5 bigger than the last one, making it look more imposing.

    However, that soon changed as soon as it saw Seth. Like a dog that saw his owner walk through the door, it enthusiastically ran at him at full speed, making the black-haired man sigh.

    The Chimera began to rub his lion head on him while the goat one tried to bite Stheno and throw her away to have him all for itself.

    Naturally, Altera was enjoying this thoroughly. She was holding her stomach and covering her mouth, trying not to laugh. It was indeed a beautiful thing when karma hit someone in the face.

    "Okay, okay. It''s enough. I don''t want to smell of whatever you ate for lunch." Seth separated from the beast, making Stheno sigh in relief. Physical effort was not something she was suited to do. More so when that included trying to avoid a damn animal from biting your head.

    This event worked to confirm Stheno''s suspicions, though. Now she was a hundred percent sure that Seth was indeed well, Seth.

    "Would you mind taking us to our destination?" The Egyptian God asked as he looked into its eyes. The Chimera made a dissatisfied growl while looking at the rest with each one of its heads. It didn''t want any of them to be part of their "father and daughter" time. However, it eventually nodded, signifying it was okay with it.

    "Thanks." The black-haired man c.a.r.e.s.sed both its front heads to express his gratitude, something the creature enjoyed. He took Stheno off his shoulders and then climbed on top of it.

    The Chimera then lowered its body for the rest to hop on too. Before anyone could even blink, Altera was already on top of the beast and behind Seth. She couldn''t help but get drawn to the softness of its fur. ''Fluffy...''

    She unconsciously c.a.r.e.s.sed and played with it. The beast made small noises as if trying to say she liked it. The white-haired girl couldn''t help but think this looked like some fairy tale about a Prince and a Princess mounted on a horse. Although in their case was two Kings mounted in a mythological monster.

    Stheno was not happy at all. She went from having a good seat (Seth''s shoulders) to being on the cold, hard floor. Now that they have come to this, there was only one option left. "Could you help this poor, vulnerable girl get on top of that creature?"

    Sanson, the unfortunate guy she asked that merely sighed and picked her up before also mounting the Chimera. There was enough space for everyone, but Altera liked to be close to Seth, and Stheno wanted to have as much free space for herself as possible, so the "formation" was a little disordered.

    "We can go now." The black-haired man gave a little pat to its back, signaling for it to start moving. Its presence alone scared the rest of the monsters, allowing them to have an unhindered journey.

    The ride in itself was pleasant. There was nothing to make the experience a bad one. Even Stheno was quietly resting and using it as a bed.

    Thanks to its natural speed and the fact navigating through this place was an everyday thing, they arrived at their destination reasonably quickly. The moment they did so, though, a big ax flew in their direction like a thrown arrow.

    Seth quickly summoned his spear and deflected it, preventing any damage from occurring to them. The ax returned to the direction where it came immediately after it.

    "What happened? Do you not know when not to disturb a Goddess?" Stheno asked with irritation on her voice as she got up from her "bed." However, when she did so, her eyes widened. There, a little ahead of her, there was someone with a notorious resemblance to her. That person also did the same, not believing what she was seeing.

    "Me?" "Me?"

 Chapter 94 - Fluffy Boi Detected

    "Two...Euryale?" While the little girls were looking at each other, frozen, the big guy was confused, seeing another person resembling the Goddess he has been with for some time now.

    Safe to say, Sanson and Altera weren''t precisely thrilled, seeing that Euryale was a carbon copy of Stheno. They at least hoped for her not to be the same as her sister personality-wise.

    Now that they were in a state where no one did anything, Seth felt the time was right to do the introductions or whatever. Motioning for the Chimera to lower its body, the group got off to face their potential allies on equal ground. That was, of course, without taking into account the Minotaur''s massive height of almost three meters.

    As soon as Stheno''s feet touched the ground, she immediately began walking in Euryale''s direction, with the other girl doing the same.

    The Minotaur didn''t know how to act. He positioned himself in a stance ready for combat in case it was needed. He followed little Goddess closely to protect her from harm. The big guy also wanted to know what was happening and why the other girl looked similar to Euryale.

    Altera, Sanson, and Seth also followed Stheno. She was annoying and liked to cause troubles, but that didn''t mean they would let her die.

    The moment the two were face to face, they extended their hands forward at the same time until they were touching. It was as if you were looking at the reflection of a mirror.

    Neither of the two could believe it. Euryale, in particular, felt as if she was dreaming. The truth is, she had also felt Stheno''s presence the moment the Chaldeans arrived at the island, but she thought it was maybe a misconception, that she missed her so much her longing was playing with her mind.

    However, looking at the small girl in front of her, there was no mistaking it. She was her sister, the one who had been with her and Medusa on that island for so long. The three shared so many memories, both good and bad, but despite everything, they always stuck together.

    After so many years, which felt like an eternity, they finally reunited. Unknowingly to Euryale, small tears formed at the corner of her eyes. She wasn''t one to usually be like this, because what people expected of her was to smile and be someone perfect, but she couldn''t help it.

    When the jealousy of Athena made Medusa escape to that island, she and Stheno went together with her without hesitation. Even when her sister was becoming a monster little by little, they were still by her side.

    Sadly, they couldn''t overcome one thing, and that was time. The three sisters eventually disappeared, like everyone in this life does. She thought that was going to be the end of it, but who knew she would be able to meet one of her sisters once again.

    Overcome by emotions, Euryale separated their hands and gave her a hug filled with the feelings she wanted to convey to her sister. She silently sobbed, trying to unsuccessfully hide the happiness of meeting one of the two most precious people in her life again after so long.

    Stheno''s character wouldn''t allow her to be as emotional as Euryale was right now. That didn''t mean she didn''t feel the same as her sister, though. Quite the contrary, being the elder sister, she was the happiest to reunite with her.

    Without hesitation, she reciprocated the hug. Finally, they were together. How many years? How many years were they separated? She didn''t know, and it didn''t matter right now. Perhaps, she was the one who suffered the most without the rest being aware of it. As the elder sister, she was supposed to protect the other two from any harm that befell them. However, she failed, or at least she thought she did. Stheno felt as if it was primarily her fault. Sometimes, it is not enough with "just being there," but you also have to act when someone you hold dear suffers.

    The purple-haired Goddess hoped, maybe even more than Euryale, to also reunite with Medusa and to...say sorry. She genuinely wanted to apologize. It was going to be difficult taking into account her personality, but in her way, she wanted��No, she wished to let Medusa know how much sorry she was.

    The others just stayed silent, letting them have their moment. Even if Seth never had something like this, that didn''t mean he couldn''t understand what they were feeling, so he decided to wait for them to finish hugging before returning to what mattered.

    The Minotaur did the same. Although his intelligence was not to the level of someone his age, he had common sense. The fact Euryale was crying made him feel slightly conflicted, though. He didn''t like to see her that way, but he also understood it was not a bad thing.

    The two sisters kept hugging for a while. They truly needed it after everything they have gone through.

    When they separated, Euryale wiped her tears away before looking at the people who came with her sister. "Who are these people? Your new toys?" The way she phrased it was not the best, but not too farfetched coming from the little demon''s sister.

    "Ara? What do you mean by that? I would never consider people like toys, you know?" Stheno gave her sister a smile that wasn''t one. It was not a pleasant thing to say to someone who you have not seen for so long.

    "N-No... It was nothing." Fighting against Stheno when she gave her "that look" was something the middle sister knew not to do.

    "Euryale...who...her?" Now that she wasn''t hugging the other girl anymore, the Minotaur decided to ask at last. Even though a metallic mask covered his face, the others could feel his confusion.

    "This is my elder sister, Stheno. We may look similar, but be sure not to confuse me with her, okay?" It was not like it hadn''t happened before, so a warning was much needed.

    "I... wouldn''t. Euriale...unique." There was some shyness in his voice, something you wouldn''t expect from a "monster" with an imposing height like his.

    It was clear to everyone that formulating words wasn''t his forte. However, he could communicate what he wanted to say with some effort.

    "Fufufu~ Glad you think so." Euryale smiled at the big guy, pleased with his answer. Despite the difference in size, they got along pretty well.

    "Ahem...mind introducing your...friend to us, me?" Stheno wasn''t very fond of this pink world they were creating around her. Even though she already knew who the man in front of them was, it was simple courtesy.

    "Sheesh, there is no need to hurry. I, this is Asterios. Asterios, this is I." The others found weird how they called themselves, but they didn''t let that bother them. When they looked at the Minotaur, Asterios, he tried to hide behind Euryale, feeling a little timid by the stares.

    Altera and Sanson had to admit it. The guy looked nothing like the monster depicted in myth. Only the two sisters and Seth knew that it was true. That''s not to say that he held the entire blame. In the end, he was just a boy that his father abandoned in a labyrinth to fend for himself��a boy who never knew love.

    "Hello..." Asterios finally greeted them after Euryale nudged him. He wasn''t used to these people yet, proved by him not being completely relaxed.

    "Now, how might these people be?" Euryale had already introduced her companion to her sister, so it was her turn. She never took Stheno for the type to like being in someone''s company other than them, that''s why she was a little surprised.

    Stheno smiled smugly. She then got closer to Euryale''s ears and whispered something. Seth, who could hear what she was saying quite well, had the urge to facepalm. This girl only knew how to cause trouble.

    Euryale''s eyes widened for a bit before she smiled in a teasing manner. The future suddenly looked bleak for the black-haired man.

    "I, let me introduce you to our absent fa��I mean my Master, a pitiful Assassin, and a homewrecker." It wouldn''t be Stheno if she portrayed them in a good light.

    "Master...can I kill this pest?" Her patience with this girl was running out faster than one could blink. If they didn''t teach her a lesson, she would never learn how to behave appropriately.

    "Jeez. What''s with you? Is that the way you treat your step-daughters?" It seems Euryale hoped on in the Altera bullying train. However, she got the opposite effect of what she d.e.s.i.r.ed.

    "Da-Da-Daughters...?!" The white-haired girl stuttered with a blush across her face. It was completely different from how she had been just seconds ago. Altera was present when Stheno spoke to Seth like he was her father, and she also saw how angry he got at that time. Yet, now, if there was no problem in them calling him father, and they called themselves her step-daughters, then that meant she and him were��And now she was a mom?! ''No! Stop acting again, my inner demons!''<span style="font-size: calc(var(--rem) * 1px * 1.0625); letter-spacing: 0px;"></span>

    Altera looked as if she had suffered a short-circuit with all the smoke that was oozing from her head. Her emotional intelligence couldn''t keep up with what was happening.

    Stheno looked at Euryale with disappointment. They were supposed to test her patience, not make her "happy" like that. It seems she was too young to enter the business.

    The middle sister looked away, not resisting the power behind Stheno''s gaze. It wasn''t supposed to go like this!

    Deciding to put an end to this clown act of theirs, Seth spoke for the first time since they got here. "Now that introductions are over, I have a proposal to make. How about joining us? I will spare you the details, but we are here to "correct" this place, so we need as much help as we can."

    There was no need to make the offer, as it was evident that Euryale would go with Stheno without a second thought. After reuniting, he didn''t think they would want to separate again.

    As for Asterios...he would follow Euryale to the ends of the world, by the looks of it. Even so, making an "official" offer wouldn''t hurt.

    "Coming from you, there is no way I can''t refuse. I''m sure Asterios thinks the same. However..." What started as the usual teasing tone transformed into a serious one in a heartbeat. "There are people who are after me, and now that "I" is here too, she has become a target. I also wouldn''t find it weird if they somehow attempted to capture you."

    Stheno narrowed her eyes; she didn''t like this, not one bit. The little Goddess had enough of people coming after them on that island. She didn''t want another event like that to happen again.

    ''A hunt of Divine beings? What for?'' Seth tried to come up with a reason as to why "they" would come after them, but nothing came to mind.

    "Is it the reason you are hiding here? And who are them?" First things first, they needed to know who were their persecutors.

    "Yes. Asterios was the one who protected me by summoning this labyrinth as well as creating a Bounded Field around the island. As for who we are against, they are The Hero of the Trojans, Hector, The Witch of Betrayal, Medea, and a creepy pirate and his crew." Well, that sure looked promising.

    Seth got something out of this, at least. If the Grail summoned Greek Heros of old, then that means that guy was also here��or will be. That would explain the reaction of his side that belonged to Typhon.

    Coming out of his thoughts, he spoke to both Euryale and Asterios. "Don''t worry. I will do everything in my power to protect both of you. Besides, fighting other spear users is always good to avoid getting my skills from deteriorating." A spear capable of piercing through everything, he couldn''t help but have some anticipation.

    "Then I will take you up on your offer." They had sealed the deal. Now it was time to get out of this place and find the others. There was a chance of the enemy having followed Euryale to this island, so there was no time to waste. Heroes from the Age of the Gods were on a different scale, after all.

 Chapter 95 - Its My First Time

    Now that they have gotten new allies, it was time to leave this place. Having the owner of the labyrinth on their side, getting lost was not a problem at all. Not to mention that Seth, Euryale, and Altera knew the direction of the exit by memory, so even without him, such risk was nonexistent.

    The moment they got out, the sky was almost dark. Another thing to note was the Bounded Field around a grand part of the island that Euryale mentioned previously, which was making the use of the communicator impossible, proven by the interference noise it was doing when Seth tried to contact the others.

    "So, what do we do now? Where are those allies of yours?" Euryale, who was sitting on Asterios'' shoulders, also looked around to see if she could find her other new companions, to no avail.

    Stheno, as the elder sister, couldn''t lose to her, so she climbed like a monkey to Seth''s shoulders. The Egyptian God wished she could use her class skills to something other than to creep on top of him.

    "They are probably still exploring or trying to set up a terminal point to get provisions. I can''t contact them because of the Bounded Field, but you will meet them later." Seth could feel their presence far away, but deactivating their only protection just to communicate was not a wise decision. It was better to reunite first, and only then do so.

    "As for what we have to do, there isn''t anything pressing at the moment. We can go and meet with the others now or do it tomorrow. It makes no difference." In the personal aspect, he had the Wyvern looking for what he wanted on this island, and in the not personal one, there was nothing that warranted his immediate attention.

    "We can do it tomorrow, then. I don''t want to walk in the dark nor tire my feet." The words of the middle sister made the others, except Stheno, who was already used to it and saw it as something natural, look at her strangely. The one who had to walk was Asterios and not her, after all.

    "Right..." He had learned not to use logic with people like them because it would only bring headaches, so it was better to ignore what they say entirely.

    That turned difficult to accomplish when Euryale started making requests about her necessities such as good food, a warm place to sleep, clean water to have a bath, etc. If there were one adjective to describe her, it would be spoiled, without a doubt.

    She was worse than her elder sister in some aspects, and that was saying something. By the looks of it, Stheno''s gag was going to be hers soon enough. It was almost a family rule to pass down your things to your younger brothers or sisters.

    To avoid having to hear more demands, Seth simply went out to hunt wild beasts so that they could have something to eat. He would later make a bonfire, and as for a place to sleep, he had Asterios'' mane. If she wanted the other things, she would have to look for them herself, because he was not doing that.

    Sanson and Altera were in charge of looking out for possible enemies. Even though there were no Servants ��Beside them and the other group�� on this island, that didn''t mean the possibility of Phantasmal Beasts appearing wasn''t null. More so in a weird place like this. While the majority of the monsters here belonged to the sea, some of them could also walk on land perfectly.

    Stheno was just lazying with her sister and taking advantage of the big guy to relax and do nothing. Doing chores was too much work in her dictionary. Also, "idols" were supposed to have people do things for them without giving anything in return.

    Their more than questionable personality aside, they at least appropriately behaved once Seth brought some meat and fruits to eat. The threat of having to go themselves to find something if they didn''t like it seemed to have worked.

    Fortunately, their little camping adventure went very smoothly and quietly. Euryale and Stheno eventually fell asleep while hugging each other. They have been talking a lot and essentially saying whatever they wanted to say. While Servants didn''t need to sleep, they did feel mental fatigue, and meeting after so long certainly took its toll on their minds.

    There was one thing that the black-haired man felt glad about, and that was hunting as many wild beasts as possible. The reason was Asterios and his bottomless stomach. He ate almost half of the food he brought. The Minotaur was kind enough to let the two Goddesses use his body as a bed, so he deserved it for sacrificing himself.

    Sanson was in a similar situation to the Gorgon sisters. He had been charmed by those damn Lamias so many times it left him exhausted.

    As for Seth, once he finished eating, he got up and motioned Altera to follow him. It was time to get to work and do something for her.

    The white-haired girl slightly trembled before taking a deep breath to calm her beating heart. Putting a hand on her c.h.e.s.t, she gave herself a mental pat on her back to gain some confidence. She then got up too and followed him.

    Asterios watched them from the corner of his eyes but then returned to enjoy his food, also making sure not to wake the two sisters up. As long as they didn''t disturb Euryale, he wouldn''t do anything.

    The two walked for a bit until they were inside a forest near the camp. It was a place filled with silence where they only could hear the rustling of leaves. There was also a small lake that reflected the moon in the sky, something Seth found ideal.

    "Are you ready? When you are, we can start." Turning around, the black-haired man asked the nervous Altera.

    "U-Um...I am...but will we do it here?" She wasn''t an expert on the matter, but she found this place kind of anti-climatic.

    "Yes. Is there a problem? I didn''t want to do it in front of the others as it was something personal between you and me. I couldn''t prepare anything better, and I do apologize for that. In normal circ.u.mstances, it would be different." To him, the place didn''t matter as much as the act, but he guessed it was different for Altera as a woman.

    "N-No! Not at all! It''s okay, Mast��Seth. It''s my first time doing this that I might have said too much. I am thankful you took the trouble." Saber shook her head furiously, trying to make him not feel bad.

    "I understand how you feel. Since it''s your first time, I promise to be as gentle as possible, although that would be hard knowing me." It was the only thing he could say to calm her nervousness. Words have never been his forte, so maybe they won''t have the d.e.s.i.r.ed effect.

    "Thank you...but what do I have to do?" She had a general idea about the act itself, not how to start. Her soldiers always talked about it when they were camping before an expedition, but she never bothered to listen, believing it to be something pointless. Now she wished she had paid at least a little attention to them.

    "For the moment, you can take off your clothes. When you finish doing so, enter the lake. I will also do the same." She didn''t have a lot of clothes on, so it shouldn''t take much time. As for him, what he was using wasn''t real, meaning that he could "unequip it" with just a mental command.

    Altera''s tan skin got noticeably red after hearing him, but ultimately she just nodded. "I understand. However, can you please look the other way...?" Although she would see her nude anyway, the act of getting n.a.k.e.d was embarrassing in itself.

    With tacit understanding, Seth took his gaze away from Altera to look somewhere else. Once she made sure that her Master wasn''t looking, the white-haired girl began undressing.

    When she finished doing so, she looked at Seth, as if afraid he would suddenly turn around and see her in her most vulnerable state.

    With awkward steps, Altera moved to the lake and quickly went inside. Taking into account her small height and that the water only reached a little over her b.r.e.a.s.t area, it wasn''t that deep. "It''s okay now..."

    Having received her confirmation, Seth turned to her. She had submerged to the point where you could only see from her eyes to the top of her head. ''I guess she is the timid type.''

    "If you are that embarrassed, you can close your eyes." Seeing her funny behavior, the black-haired man gave her a piece of advice for the good of her heart.

    Altera took his advice and closed her eyes and only opened them again when she heard the sound of water. The first thing she saw was his c.h.e.s.t, showing how much height difference was between the two. She then looked up to meet his gaze.

    "We will begin, okay? Don''t be afraid and relax." Once he said so, Seth hugged Altera closer to him. At first, she trembled as if being zapped, but then also hugged him back, albeit with a little difficulty.

    As she rested her head in his c.h.e.s.t, she could feel the tranquil beating of his heart, which helped her get more comfortable.

    The Egyptian God then separated one of his hands from her back and pierced it with his fingernails. Blood fell like a fountain despite it being a small wound and colored the lake red, the color that represented him. The amount that was falling would have made any average person faint of blood loss, but he just kept pumping more without problems.

    Altera felt something was wrong, but Seth just pulled her even closer. This action at least managed to make her not think about anything else other than to hug him tighter as she closed her eyes again.

    All the blood in the lake eventually formed eight orbs that changed colors between red and black. Those eight orbs symbolized each one of his Authorities. They then aligned themselves in a circle around the two.

    The one that was facing Altera''s back shot like a rocket in her direction and passed through her body as if she was some kind of ghost before ultimately going inside Seth. The process repeated itself with the other orbs as the next took the place of the last.

    The white-haired girl didn''t feel anything other than anticipation for what was to come. She also didn''t notice the hieroglyphs forming around her body as well as Seth''s, shining in a bright red color. However, when the last went through her body, she shot her eyes open as an incredible pain assaulted her.

    She wanted to scream, but even that wasn''t allowed to her. Without many options, she dug her nails into the black-haired man''s back. Seth, not minding this, just c.a.r.e.s.sed her, trying to help if only a bit.

    Altera didn''t know what was happening. It was like everything was falling apart and then reconstructing itself many times over thanks to some sort of foreign presence.

    The Scourge of God never felt something so terrifying yet comforting at the same time. A contradictory sensation she couldn''t stop to think about due to the pain.

    After what seemed like an eternity, it finally subsided. The hieroglyphs also were siphoned to the place from where the orbs entered the white-haired girl.

    A panting Altera then looked at Seth. "Are you okay?" Although it was a dumb question to ask, he did so anyway. She just wordlessly nodded, although it was more of a reflex than anything.

    Once she regained her breath, she decided to ask him something. "What was that? I felt as if I was going to die..."

    "I am sorry. It was my first time doing something like that. Depending on your point of view, you can consider it a Contract with a Dark God, or just my Blessings. It also depends on your luck what you get." Every God has a different way to grant a Blessing to someone. This one just happens to be the one assigned to him.

    Altera shook her head slowly. "No. You don''t have to feel sorry. Thanks to that, I can feel a connection between us even stronger than the one between Master and Servant." Similar to how new Skills or Noble Phantasms appeared inside his mind, the same happened to her. It was something so simple, yet so miraculous that it engraved itself in her Spirit Origin, into her core.

    Blessings from Seth EX �� The maximum favor one can get from the Ancient God and Hero Seth. Grants immunity to any harsh conditions caused by weather. Stats will receive a massive boost on a Desert Field. Able to summon thunderstorms to strike down any foe.

    It seems this was what he planned from the beginning, and she just misunderstood his intentions. She felt like an idiot for doing so. When she was about to apologize appropriately, Seth removed his hands from her back and instead put them on her cheeks. Before she could process what was happening, he kissed her.

    =============================

    [A/N: Alternative Title: The author does it again and comes in with the (expected) trolling, but he also gives something in return so the comment section doesn''t become a zoo full of rioting beasts.] A long title, I know.

 Chapter 96 - Future...Or Past? (1)

    Altera''s eyes widened after receiving a kiss from him. It was so out of the blue that she didn''t have time to react. However, before she could comprehend what was happening, Seth separated his lips from hers. When he did so, a tattoo-like mark with a shape resembling his animal form appeared on her right arm.

    "With this, everything is complete. Welcome to the family, I suppose��Hm?" As he was speaking to the white-haired girl, he noticed how she was just staring blankly at him. She didn''t react even when he waved his hand in front of her.

    ''Something to note for the future if I to do this another time.'' Seth thought while shaking his head. He then exited the lake and summoned his clothes back again. Sitting down and resting his back against a tree, the black-haired man decided to wait for Altera to come back from her state of stupor.

    He didn''t plan to waste time, though. Now that there was nothing particularly important to do, he could focus on getting some information from Stargazer. So, without delay, he accessed his inner world.

    What he didn''t expect after entering, however, was the sight currently in front of him. Who he presumed to be Stargazer in an entirely new form he hadn''t seen before, and Olga in a cat maid costume. If this was a joke, it was not a funny one. Not to mention, his taste was incredibly cliche.

    "Oh? Look who decided to visit. You were having so much fun; I thought it would take you more time." Mr. Jokester was sitting on his throne and enjoying a massage on his shoulders by an Olga whose face conveyed how much she wanted to die out of embarrassment.

    "Care to explain to me what is this? And what''s with that appearance? Don''t you get tired of using me as a model for everything?" The Egyptian God asked with raised eyebrows. This situation was certainly not what he had in mind when he brought the noisy kid here.

    "Just the usual, you know? My charisma always had attracted the masses. After spending a bit of time together, she had sworn absolute loyalty to me." "Who did that?!" The Director interrupted Stargazer mid-speech with an indignation-filled shout, something that did not please him at all, proven by the malicious smile he was directing at her.

    "Did you say something, little maid?" A threat more than a question, and depending on the answer, her outcome would change.

    "N-No...I did not." The last thing she wanted was to make him angry. That memory still brought her nightmares to this day. Just remembering was enough to make her tremble.

    "Is that so? Anyway, as I was saying, we both have a new integrant in our family! Clap, clap! You have a new follower, and I have a loyal maid. Our plan to take over the world is becoming a reality with each passing day!" He said as he extended his hands into the air to give a more dramatic effect to his words.

    Releasing a sigh, Seth held the bridge of his nose in a clear sign of frustration. "Can''t you be serious for once? I didn''t come here to hear your nonsense. And you still haven''t answered what''s the deal with that new look of yours."

    There was one word to describe Stargazer''s new appearance, and that was demonic. Long, black horns and skin of the same color that lightened in his b.a.r.e c.h.e.s.t area, where a fiery red, cross-like scar that resembled lava was present. He had long, white, wild hair that reached his knee in a twin-tail sort of way. He also had bandages covering both his forearms and dark, loose pants resembling those of a samurai. Lastly, he had a black "crotch flap" that looked to be eternally burning.

    "All right, all right. No need to take it out on me just because you don''t know how to enjoy life. The thing you see here is how I truly look. I was born from you, so of course, we would have similarities. But that''s no the reason you came here for, is it?" As per usual with him, his attitude took a 180 degree turn out of nowhere. Snapping his fingers, Olga, who was behind him, fainted. Without even bothering to catch her, Stargazer put his full attention on Seth.

    "Of course not. I wanted to know if "that" is truly here. This place is enormous, and I don''t have the time to look exhaustively everywhere. Not to mention, there are other creatures like that octopus out there. Usually, using that thing''s body, I wouldn''t have any trouble. The problem arises when the Mana is not enough to sustain it, like what happened before.'' He was still a bit unhappy about that incident, but there was nothing he could do.

    "When have I been wrong? I would appreciate it if you could trust my divination abilities a bit more. It is certainly here. What''s more, it is on an island. Your original thinking was not wrong, but this Ark is different, or better said, special." He paused slightly to make sure Seth was paying attention before continuing.

    "It''s not one buried and lost in time, but one that appears when its "guardian" does. Similarly, it disappears when he does too. You will have to find a way to take it for yourself before that happens." To Seth''s surprise, Stargazer was able to give him a great deal of useful information. Well, if he looked at it from the Black Demon''s perspective, it did make sense. After all, Jokester''s growth was directly proportional to his.

    "The fact that you haven''t been wrong up until now doesn''t mean you won''t be in the future. Still, I can work better with that. So, what else do you''ve got?" The Egyptian God asked. While it was true he had been right in everything he had said, Seth didn''t want to bet everything on it.

    "Hey, hey. Don''t you think you are overreliant on me? Knowing your future is not always a good thing, you know?" His playfulness and the teasing in his voice was, as always, mildly irritating.

    "I am not interested in knowing my future; there is no meaning in doing so. What I want to know is if there is something else that would help me with what is to come." The future could always change; it was just a matter of having the necessary tools to do so.

    "Oh? Why do you want to know if the answer is already in your grasp? You just don''t want to take the easy route, that''s all." Stargazer shrugged his shoulders as if it was not his problem.

    Seth furrowed his brows, hearing what he said. "And then what? You are just solving a problem with another problem. That''s not a viable solution. If you are going to propose something, then make sure it''s something I can use without, or with the least amount of repercussions possible."

    "Don''t speak like that to me, Seth. You know I am right. You are just scared the past will repeat itself. No matter how much you tell yourself there is no way it will happen again, inside you, you are not so sure about that. Even with my reassurance that everything is going to go well and that your fears are unfounded, you still choose to run away from it." Stargazer''s tone reflected how much displeased and unamused he was by what the black-haired man said.

    "So what? That''s something for me to decide whether to do or not. If I had to do it as a last resort, then I will happily do so, but that''s not the case. My hunt for Anti-Evil artifacts is proof enough that not everything reduces itself to that alternative." Similar to the Black Demon, he wasn''t exactly thrilled by the other party''s words.

    "Are you stupid? Or being with those humans made you dumb? Apophis explicitly told you he was going to be your enemy. What? Do you feel strong enough to beat him? Should I remind you that you only managed to kill him because he let you do so?! What last resort bullshit are you trying to sell me?! YOU.DO.NOT.HAVE.A.F.U.C.K.I.N.G.OPTION!" As he was speaking, he stood up from his throne and began walking toward Seth until he was just centimeters away from him.

    "...We will see about that. It''s not like I am without options when it comes to him. I created the World series in case a situation like this were to occur." He was well aware even without Stargazer telling him that the chances of victory were slim. Even so, it didn''t mean they were zero.

    "Didn''t you want something with the least repercussions? If you use the fake versions, it won''t be enough, and if you use the true ones, it will cost you dearly. You, as the creator, should know their names are not decoration. Something like that won''t just end with you having something as trivial as a fever." He may act like a clown sometimes, but that didn''t mean he was stupid. He was very well aware of the implications of having to use the pure might of those techniques.

    "And I also told you that as a last resort, I would use everything at my disposal, no matter what it is. Same as Apophis decided to die for my sake, I''m willing to sacrifice something for him." No matter what he did, he couldn''t repay what his real father figure did for him, but trying was free.

    Shaking his head, Stargazer turned around and went to sit on his throne again. Talking to Seth was becoming as frustrating as talking to a wall and expecting a response. "You are one hell of a stubborn guy, did you know that? My job is getting more complicated, thanks to you."

    "What are you saying? Our journey was not an easy one from the beginning." Seth released a short laugh of amus.e.m.e.nt, and Stargazer did the same. It was true, but that was what made it more enjoyable.

    "I am limited in how much I can help you as I have to focus my whole attention on the important things, but I can at least give you a piece of advice." The Black Demon said as he turned to look at the dark world outside through the window.

    "An advice as someone who knows the future?" Seth asked with raised eyebrows.

    "Nope. Well, partially. Some people you have met in your reincarnations have already appeared. However, they won''t be the lasts to do so. There will be people who you loved and people who loved you. There will also be people you hated and people who hated you. Regardless of that, you must use them like the tools they are. I know being a human for so many lives left a mark on you, but don''t let that cloud your judgment at the moment of truth. If there is something to be gained from their sacrifices, then, by all means, sacrifice them. But if their value resides in them being "alive," make sure they stay that way." Whether or not he took his advice, it was up to him.

    "You know as well as I do that I don''t consider those lives to be mine. I just see them as long, unending dreams, ones where I woke up from, only to return to them soon after. To me, they are just fake people I met while asleep." Fortunately for him, that dream was over at last.

    "Hmm...That might be true for some of them, but it won''t be the same with others. What do you think will happen when someone you gave your life for appears? Or someone you chased your whole life for vengeance does? I am sure it won''t shake your core, but those strong emotions will, for sure, affect your vision of things, if only slightly. Love may fade away with time; hate may do so too. Regret, however, that stays for a long while. You, better than anyone, should know that."

    "..." Seth stayed silent for a bit. It was not like he didn''t consider that possibility. But that brought some doubts to him. If those lives contained such strong emotions, why didn''t he remember them? ''Unless...''

 Chapter 97 - Future...Or Past? (2)

    "...Unless something or someone is preventing you from remembering those memories. That''s what you are thinking, right?" As if seeing through his thinking, Stargazer asked with a knowing gaze.

    "Am I wrong?" It was not that farfetched. Same as those chains holding his Divinity down, there might be something doing the same with his memories. Until now, he had not thought about it that much as he felt it was not necessary. However, if it was not by his own "problem," but because of outside intervention that he could not remember, things changed.

    "You are half right. It is indeed not your fault that you can''t remember, but there is also nothing preventing you from doing it." More than clarifying, the Black Demon''s words made him more confused.

    "...So is it safe to assume you can''t tell me the reason why right now?" He was aware of Stargazer''s limitations. That''s why he didn''t expect to hear a definite answer.

    "Pretty much. You may not be Thoth, but that doesn''t mean you are not knowledgable in magic. Just take into account that you didn''t get here for free. Everything has its costs, more so when it comes to travel between worlds. There are only a few capable of doing it without a problem, but they are just mindless masses of power." As Seth''s thought, he didn''t give him something concrete. That said, he DID provide him with something to think about for now.

    "If you put it like that, I think I can have a general idea. That aside, now is not the time dwell in this matter. Although I am not able to detect presences accurately, I can feel danger looming. There is no doubt the others are near." Asterios'' Bounded Field was keeping them in line, but as soon as they decide to leave the island, he was sure they would attack their group.

    "Yep. Be careful, though. Don''t forget you have not the field advantage. Also, you should prepare for the worse. The truth always comes to light, no matter how late. How you deal with it, it''s up to you." Stargazer said as he rested his back against his throne. It seemed the time had come.

    Seth just sighed, understanding what he meant. "I guess it was just a matter of when. I am also tired of hiding. If it is going to happen, then let it happen."

    The Black Demon just shrugged. "As I said, it''s up to you. Although the news I have for you are not all bad, you know how this goes, I can''t be explicit, so I will have to say it in a roundabout way. The past is near, and when it becomes the present, the world would change its shape and face destruction, and you with it. That''s when the future comes into play, to try and shake your beliefs." He paused for a moment before merely smiling faintly.

    "Heh...Take it as just a prophecy if you will. And although it looks like a bad omen, it''s something beneficial for you."

    "You know saying that to me is like saying nothing at all, right? Even for me, getting something useful out of that is difficult." He might be aware that it is not nonsense, but from there to "decipher" it. That''s something different altogether.

    "You can ignore it if you want. Just know that things are going to get pretty hectic, just how you like them to be. In the next Singularity...no, forget it. I have said enough. You should do like you have been doing up until now and do everything at your pace." He was going to say more, but he realized it was not necessary.

    "That seems to be my signal to go. There is no point in filling my head with unnecessary stuff I won''t have to deal for the moment. See you later, and make sure not to go overboard with that kid. I am planning to revive her eventually." Seth said, while looking at the fainted Olga.

    "Really now? She looks like the type to develop Stockholm syndrome. Haha!" Stargazer found it funny what the black-haired man said. To him, things weren''t like how they looked on the surface. Different from Seth, he wouldn''t reject food when it was right in front of him.

    The demonic smile Stargazer was giving him didn''t reassure him at all, but he will have to do with it for now. "Whatever. I will come later in case I need something. Until then, do your best in your primary job."

    "Sure, sure. One last thing before you go, though. Be a little smarter with what you use. That weird shut-in warned you about it, and I will do the same. There is a limit to how much humans can wield the power of the Gods. If you aren''t careful, you might disappear before accomplishing anything." With a last warning, Stargazer said goodbye to Seth.

    ''I know that already...'' Without putting his thoughts into words, the black-haired man left his inner world, leaving only Stargazer and Olga there.

    "What a reckless guy. I don''t think you would want to die before meeting your wife again. Well, not my problem if you don''t consider I will die with you. Our time will soon be up anyway. Tick-tock, tick-tock. The clock hand continues to move, signifying our inevitable end. We live to die, and we can''t do anything about it, such an intriguing concept. Ahhh...maybe I should honestly dedicate myself to poetry in my free time." He loved speaking about essential things lightheartedly. It was a hobby of his in this new life.

    ''Enjoy this Singularity, for now, Seth. It was as if it was custom made for you, isn''t it? It''s not a restriction, but a place where you can show the real might of a Hero. I bet it brings a lot of memories for you. What a wonderful thing...''

    "...Don''t you agree, Apophis?" Stargazer grinned without looking back, as if aware of the individual behind him.

    "...Perhaps. I do not know how he is taking it. However, I hope he does not feel regret for what happened. In the end, it was my blunder that caused everything." No features were visible as a shadow was enveloping him. Even so, some distinctive characteristics like four arms and two wings could be recognized.

    "Isn''t that wishful thinking? You, better than anyone, should know that''s not the case. I don''t even understand why you didn''t appear before him. You could have facilitated his choice when "that" happens." Stargazer turned to him, quite amused by what he said.

    "Maybe it is as you say, but I am sure he will make the right decision. I trust him enough to know he will do so." There was a certain...proudness in his ancient voice.

    "Huh...I wonder about that. He saw you ��and still does�� as his father. Do you genuinely think he is going to have the willingness to kill you again? More so when he and his twisted mind is what started all, and the reason why we are all here." The Black Demon''s words made Apophis silent for a moment.

    "Even so...I still believe in him. I watched him grow until he became a splendid man. Now that I look at it. It is my fault that he turned into a chaotic being. I should not have let him absorb a part of me. The little guy should have been a bridge between both sides, but I ruined that." If he could, he would do things differently this time.

    Stargazer just shrugged. "If you believe in him, then I will do so as well. The fact you are a puppet with no free will may help us in winning. Although we just have one path to follow without fail if we want to be victorious."

    "That little guy...what he is doing is a mistake. A mistake I can not blame him for, nonetheless. At the end of it all, it is our job to fix the things we did wrong in the past."

    "You say it is "our job," but aren''t I doing all the work here? You went through the trouble of escaping your prison, and instead of speaking to him, you just observed on the sidelines. Just a little word would have sufficed." Despite not being blood-related, he had to admit these two were similar to a high degree.

    "...There is no meaning in me doing so. I am saving all the words I want to say for the time when we are together. Until then, talking will only result in him doing something incorrectly." It was not that he did not want to talk to Seth; it was just that he was afraid of how much it could influence him in the wrong way.

    "Aren''t you a softie? You look like a father who has been away from his son for so long. One that doesn''t know how to speak to him without screwing up, to boot." It was reaaaaally funny. Except..."Do you know the implications of what you said? The only way he can speak to you is by being imprisoned in the same place as you." Stargazer wasn''t thrilled about the idea.

    "..." Apophis was silent for a moment before replying. "As much as I wish for him not to get there, we both know it is a sure thing to happen. No, it must happen. It is our destiny. If we want to win, we require to create the strongest God."

    "What sure thing? You talk as if it was easy to accomplish. We have so many bad endings and only a single good one. The difficulty is no joke, reptile guy." Exasperating, so exasperating.

    "It is not impossible, Child of the Stars. You are living proof of that. Were you not created to attain an unreachable goal? The strength you possess will help you with that. Despite your most than questionable character, I have no doubts about your capabilities." Far from being offended by what Stargazer said, Apophis complimented him.

    "I appreciate the trust. However, I can''t be of much help. The mess you are making in the real world is maintaining me occupied. Not to mention that I am keeping that witch''s prying eyes away at the same time before the ideal moment comes. You all are expecting much from me; it''s exhausting." He will die from overworking one of these days.

    Apophis released a short laugh of amus.e.m.e.nt, the situation between Seth, Stargazer, and Amaterasu looked like a comic show for him. "Although I question Seth''s choice when it comes to his partner, especially one with that particular Authority, I wish for him to be happy above all else. As for me, you said it yourself; I am just a puppet. If you want to do something about me, you will have to cut the strings manipulating me."

    "Easier said than done. BUT we will do our best. Are you happy with that? Now go, I have enough already with sharing my space with that girl over there." Stargazer said while pointing at Olga.

    Apophis merely nodded. "I also believe it is my time to go. I entrust him to you, make sure to take care of him until we eventually meet."

    "He is not a kid, you know? He can take care of himself. That aside, my job is, as you said, to make him attain something unreachable like the stars, hence why I decided to name myself Stargazer. Someone who solely observes, but shares a dream." A distant one but also worthy of making them give their everything.

    "I can go with reassurance, then." As he said this, his figure started becoming more transparent. "One last thing, Stargazer. Please tell Seth. Tell my son that I am proud of him." With those last words, he disappeared completely.

    "Heh...so you DO consider him your son. I suppose it''s normal for both of you to feel the same way. Will you be his future? Or will you just stay his past? Only time will tell."

 Chapter 98 - Ready To Face Our Foes

    People be like: "Oh! Boring chapter!" or "This fanfic is going to hell!" I just laugh so much. Not every story has to have action every two paragraphs. Sometimes, you have to set up things for the future. I could very well write, "They went to this island, they fought, they won, then went to the next one." over and over again until the final point. I don''t think anyone would like that, am I right? Anyway, I wanted to take that out of my c.h.e.s.t. Because even though I laugh reading things like that, it also leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I have said this many times, but I am not some sort of illuminated author that writes the first thing that comes to their mind, and it comes out as gold. I take my time with what I write, deleting, rewriting, thinking of what to put, so I can link what I am writing with something I do in the future, etc. All so that the chapter is as perfect as possible, and it makes sense. So having someone spit at what you took HOURS to create it''s not something particularly pleasant. With that said, I am not going to lick your feet and ask for forgiveness because, in your eyes, the chapter was terrible. I don''t think I have to tell you how to remove a book from your library, do I? I know, I know. I sound like an a**hole. However, I prefer to say this now and not keep it inside, because I know I will end up demotivated and dropping this book, and I don''t want to do that to the people who have been following me so far. Once again, sorry for killing the mood of the chapter. Please enjoy! ^^

    =============================

    The moment Seth returned from his Inner World, Altera was just coming out of her frozen state. It was perfect timing. Now they could go back and rest a bit. The chances of a fight tomorrow were very high, so they needed to prepare.

    It took a moment for the white-haired girl to come to reality fully, but when she did so, she couldn''t look at Seth in the face. That event replayed in her mind, preventing the Scourge of God from doing so.

    The black-haired man scratched his cheeks, somewhat confused about how to dissolve the awkwardness. In the end, he decided not to do anything. Knowing Altera, she would just end up nodding absentmindedly to whatever he said.

    "I am going ahead. I will be waiting for you at the camp." As he predicted, she just wordlessly nodded. Releasing a small sigh, Seth began walking to where the others were.

    Once he was gone, Altera submerged her head in the water. She did this to cool her head that seemed to be burning. There was even some imaginary steam coming out of it.

    She didn''t know what to think of what just happened. If it meant something, or if it didn''t mean anything at all. The King of the Hun felt everything happened too quickly, and that''s why she didn''t know how to react. It wasn''t like she didn''t want a life outside of that of a warrior, but like the inexperienced "woman" she was, it proved difficult for her.

    One thing was for sure, though. Altera knew that no matter what happened, he would always be there for her. That Blessing was proof enough.

    Coming out of her thoughts, she quickly exited the lake and put her clothes back on. It wasn''t time to be thinking about this stuff. She needed to focus on the matter at hand: Eliminating the other Servants that were trying to capture the pest''s sister and possibly her Master.

    So, without anything left to do, she also went back to the camp. She would take her time, though. Just to make sure she didn''t run into him. It would take quite the courage to even talk to him after what happened.

    When she got there, she saw that nothing had changed since she left together with Seth. She didn''t know how much time had passed, but it seemed it was not much as Asterios was still up while the others were sleeping. The Minotaur was quick to notice Altera, but as he recognized her, he merely observed her for a bit before returning to look around for possible enemies that could disturb Euryale''s sleep.

    Seth, who she did not see right now, was on top of a big tree looking at the distance, more precisely to the direction where the others were. The following days will be pretty chaotic, but they will be important too.

    ������������������������������������������������������������

    It was a new day, and everyone was ready and well-rested to go. Euryale was on top of Asterios'' right shoulder and Stheno on his left''s. The Egyptian God had given him the "honor" of carrying her.

    There was still some air of awkwardness between Seth and Altera from her part, but nothing that could affect their overall relation. The troublesome Goddess noticed this, though. Her smug face promised a lot of problems.

    "So, is everyone ready?" One last question before departing. They will have to face those Heroes soon. That''s why Seth needed to make sure there won''t be any inconveniences.

    "Of course we are. Though, make sure to protect us, you two." Euryale spoke to both the Minotaur and the black-haired man. Her circ.u.mstances were a bit special, but battling was not her thing.

    "I...protect...Euryale. Not...worry." Asterios would make sure nothing happened to her, even if it cost him his life. For her, who saw him not as the Minotaur, but as Asterios, he would do anything.

    "Fufu~ Then I''m counting on you." To be honest, she found this side of him quite cute. It was like someone you couldn''t leave alone but was also incredibly reliable.

    "Shall we go then? We can''t leave the others waiting, now can we?" Stheno would have liked to tease her sister in this situation. Still, now was not the time. She was scared that someone would separate them after meeting each other again. It was the reason she wanted as much back up as possible. She wouldn''t say it out loud, though.

    "I agree. We should hurry to where the others are. I''m not one to talk, but their combat potential is not the greatest." Sanson voiced his agreement. The only one who could adequately fight on the other team was Archer. Drake was a particular case since she had the Holy Grail in her hands. However, the Executioner didn''t want to bet on her mainly because he was aware of the limitations of the human body, even when one possessed a cheat item like that wish-granting device.

    Altera, Stheno, and Seth understood what he was trying to say. Nothing guaranteed that Asterios'' Bounded Field would last if their enemies were to attack it.

    So, without any more delay, they finally departed. It would take some time to get there as the distance between the group, and the other team was no joke. It was another reason to march as fast as possible.

    Seth could locate their exact location as long as they were on land, so at least they didn''t have to walk around aimlessly, something that was appreciated.

    It seems luck was on their side since they didn''t meet many monsters that could slow them down, which allowed them to save a lot of time when it came to reuniting with the others.

    Midway, the black-haired man spotted a Wyvern hovering over them. He recognized it as the one he sent to scout the island in search of the Ark. Sadly, this time luck didn''t favor him as he received a negative response from the winged beast.

    Now that Seth knew what he was looking for was not on this island, there was no point in using it to continue searching, so he let it go. Patience was vital when it came to these types of things. He might want to find it as soon as possible, but that didn''t mean he would force it.

    At least there wasn''t any reason left to stay on this island, so that was something. They could reunite with the others and immediately leave.

    Around one hour after the Wyvern informed Seth, they reached the place where the others were staying. It was some sort of small camp with a few tents they probably got from the Terminal Point.

    As soon as they arrived, EMIYA and Zhuge Liang immediately exited the tents. The first to speak was Caster. "It seems your expedition brought some results. Although I did not expect to see something like this."

    Archer thought the same. It didn''t take a genius to figure out the identity of the new Servants. If someone told him they would get the famous Minotaur as a companion, he would have called them crazy.

    As for the other...well, the phrase: "Prepare for trouble, and make it double." somehow came to his mind. Nothing good could come from someone that looked similar to that little devil.

    "By the looks of it, you guys have some things to tell us. I''m going to call the others. It''s best if we hear all of it together." As soon as EMIYA said this, he went back to inform the others of their arrival.

    Not long after, he returned with Drake, Mash, and Fujimaru. The first to speak, with a surprised voice, was the Pirate Queen. "The hell is that?! I have never seen such a big guy in my entire life!"

    She wasn''t the only one who was surprised as the other two were as well. To say they were looking at Asterios like would to an exotic animal was an understatement. They quickly calmed themselves, though. After all, it was not like they haven''t met their fair share of fantasy creatures.

    Berserker was conscious of the stares. They did make him feel uncomfortable. As always, it would take some time for him to get used to meeting new people.

    "Now that we are reunited, we should tell you about what little information we could get our hands on." Sanson understood how they felt because the same happened to him when he met the Minotaur, so he waited for everyone to calm down before speaking. It didn''t matter who said it as long as it was said, honestly.

    "That''s appreciated. We couldn''t find anything in our end. No matter where we looked, we came up empty-handed. The only thing worth noting would be the massive earthquake that ravaged this island, but I guess you guys felt it too." EMIYA said with folded arms. Even with his advantage as an Archer to see far distances, nothing particularly stood out.

    Different from what he thought, Seth''s group had no idea about what he was talking about until Euryale realized something. "Oh. That was probably Asterios setting up his Bounded Field."

    "Bounded Field? Maybe that''s the reason why we can''t communicate with Chaldea right now." Mash gained some enlightenment on the problem they have been having. They have not been able to talk with Romani or Da Vinci since a bit after they established connections with their base to get provisions.

    "Miss lame-shield right there is correct. That was the point of setting up, to cut any means of contact with the outside world, and isolate us here." Euryale, with a little insult added to the mix, confirmed Shielder''s suspicions.

    "La-lame shield?!" Was it reasonable to insult someone on their first meeting? What was up with this girl? Wait, she did look similar to Stheno...it might be the reason why.

    The Eldest looked at Euryale with a hint of pride. Maybe she hasn''t lost her touch, after all. If only she could have done it better with that crude woman.

    Fujimaru had to step in and comfort her and say he trusted her abilities to defend him. Otherwise, she would be down for a long time. He was aware of how self-conscious she was about her not being a full-fledged Servant.

    Only when everyone was ready to listen was that Sanson began to tell them everything that Euryale had told them. About the pirates that were chasing her down and the Heroes from the Age Of The Gods.

    The face of everyone who knew the implications of that information turned a bit grim. That went to show just how much stronger than ordinary Heroic Spirits they were.

    Strangely enough, Archer also felt a readiness to fight when he heard the name "Hector." It was probably the pride of his Rho Aias inside his Reality Marble, wanting to face that spear once again. EMIYA found it funny, considering that pride didn''t precisely run through his veins.

    "If what Assassin said is true...then we are in serious trouble. Not that I expected something easy from the beginning." As he was saying this, numerous plans and strategies were forming in Zhuge Liang''s head. It was not like he had experience in naval battles, but improvisation was not a bad thing in itself.

    "Members of the legendary Argonauts? My blood is boiling! Let''s see who can fight better at sea, the old generation, or the new one!" The individual characteristics of her new guests aside, adventures were something Drake did not lack by bringing them along.

    "It''s good that you are motivated. If you have nothing more to do, then we can set sail immediately. There is no point in delaying our confrontation any longer." If they had to fight, better do it sooner than later.

    "Sure, we only have to pack our things, and then we will be ready to go." Drake also wanted to get to the Golden Hind quickly, albeit with a different mood than the others.

    Their first "challenge" on this Singularity was just around the corner.

 Chapter 99 - Lolicons Everywhere

    After the others took the provisions they got from their camp; they went to the beach where the Golden Hind was. The ship was outside the Bounded Field, so they couldn''t use it until Asterios undid it.

    "Asterios, your turn. You can remove the Bounded Field." The Minotaur nodded at Euryale''s order. With a shout that nearly burst their eardrums, and a little shake of the island, the barrier surrounding it disappeared.

    "Goddamit. At least warn us if you''re going to do something like that next time!" That shout had been worse than a hangover after partying hard for a full day.

    The white-haired guy just avoided her gaze with a little red on his cheeks, probably out of embarrassment for his actions just now.

    "Anyway, I''ll call the scallywags over here. My ship seems to have moved a bit far from the shore." After saying that, she took her gun out and began firing at the sky a couple of times. If Asterios'' roar didn''t get their attention, that will.

    Sure enough, a few minutes after she shot her gun, the ship began to move in their direction. It wasn''t long before the Golden Hind anchored right in front of them.

    "Good ta see ya doin'' well, Cap''n." Bombe greeted Drake as soon as he saw her. For a moment, they thought she would be trapped on this island forever or something. No matter what they tried, they couldn''t get on it for some reason.

    "There''s no way I''m going to die just yet. You better have appropriately rested because we are going to have another adventure." Just as her crew was in hearing range, she started giving orders. Many exciting things awaited them, so there was no time to waste.

    "Aye aye." They already knew how her mind worked, so they didn''t put much thought into it and started working. Soon, everyone boarded the Golden Hind. Once again, Asterios brought some surprise to the crew due to his form and size. It seemed like a curse that would never go away.

    Euryale had to rise in his defense and also make sure the pirates didn''t get any funny ideas with her. It was not like they could do anything to her as she could just shoot an arrow through their heads, but it was better to make things clear beforehand.

    She didn''t want to experience something like what happened some days ago with a certain lolicon. Were they to do something, though, Asterious would just kill them outright, no questions asked.

    After the initial surprise, the pirates ignored the Minotaur and got to work. Drake was quick in getting a hold of the helm and ordering her crew to start their sailing.

    The Chaldeans finally left the island following some quick preparations. They made sure to be alert in case their enemies appeared.

    Once they were at open sea, there was no signal of the opposing Servants, surprisingly. They DID find other pirate groups that attacked them trying to take their possessions, though.

    Naturally, they were all beaten without trouble. At this point, regular pirates daring to face them were just going to their deaths. They couldn''t even get close as EMIYA would just blast their ship with one of his most destructive arrows. In the lasts Singularities, they hadn''t had an Archer in their ranks, but now that they had one, it was overkill.

    For now, it was all smooth sailing. The pirates also got over Asterios'' form and even took a liking to him as he helped them with some chores that needed immense strength. He could easily accomplish what required three or more people to do.

    Euryale and Stheno were enjoying each other''s company and humming a little tune. They were trying to do it in secret, though, as it was something embarrassing for them. To their misfortune, there were people on the ship with excellent hearing capabilities.

    Seth, in particular, enjoyed it very much. It helped him relax and stop thinking about the future for a moment. Even though he didn''t show it on the outside, it was very stressful and taxing on his body.

    The two sisters stopped when they noticed everyone was listening to them, although only for a moment. After getting some encouragement, they continued. Honestly, the little Goddesses were better singing than being a source of mischief.

    It was after they finished their tune that Mash decided to ask the middle sister something that had been in her mind for a while. "Um...Miss Euryale. Why are these people after you?" By the looks of it, their first meeting was a thing of the past. That said, she indeed had expected for the Servants who were on the same side to be a little more respectful.

    "The reason is not at all complicated. It''s just because I am cute. Nothing else." Her explanation certainly wasn''t helpful. It was more an act of narcissism than anything.

    "Sorry?" Shielder''s confusion was not unfounded. Hardly anyone could describe that as an answer. A proper one, at least.

    "I am cute, so they are after my cuteness. What''s so difficult to understand? Men always long for people like us. Although this one just happens to be the worst, most disgusting, creepy, hideous c.o.c.kroach of the bunch." Euryale''s face was a mix of disgust and fear. In all her existence, she hadn''t met someone like that person.

    That...was something. The group didn''t know what she went through, but it didn''t look to be pleasant. Euryale immediately looked at her sister with sympathy. If she suffered from that bug''s creepiness, then Stheno will also be the same.

    "Somehow, a person fitting that description comes to mind, but I don''t think he would appear here." Archer suddenly felt like a memory of when he was alive was reappearing.

    "If he is not dead, I assume he is a Servant, right?" Seth was sitting on the gunwale, enjoying the breeze. That wasn''t to say he wasn''t paying attention, though. The only male Euryale mentioned previously was Hector, and as much as he thought the guy was weird, he didn''t strike him as the type of person to l.u.s.t after her.

    Setting that aside, if the one who caused Euryale to feel that way were just a human, then he would be dead and not chasing her right now, so it was safe to assume that person was a Servant.

    "Yeah... He is a Pirate Servant, but I don''t know his True Name. However, that doesn''t matter when it comes to that thing. Even the most horrifying of monsters would look cute in comparison." She wasn''t lying or even exaggerating, for the matter. Her words couldn''t get more accurate than they were.

    ''She is certainly not mincing her words when it comes to that guy.'' At this point, he was expecting a deformed man with an additional pair of limbs or something going by her description.

    "As long as his danger level doesn''t correlate with his "disgustingness" then we will be fine." Zhuge Liang couldn''t go by description alone. He had to see what the real foe was capable of so that he could make a suitable plan.

    Just as Caster finished speaking, EMIYA and Seth noticed a ship on the corner of their vision. This one was bigger and more menacing than the ones before, though.

    The lookout on the crow''s nest also detected it with his monocular, albeit a little later. Immediately after the man did so, he made sure to warn his Captain. "Boss! There''s a ship coming this way! And it doesn''t seem to be a normal one!"

    "Hah?! We will just blow it to pieces like we have been doing!" She didn''t give it much thought until Archer and Seth materialized their weapons with no relaxation seen on their faces.

    That could only mean one thing: The real enemies have arrived. After seeing the reaction of the two, the rest also prepared for combat.

    EMIYA projected a sword with a similar handle to Excalibur but with a drill-like body. He then proceeded to position it like he would an arrow. "I am the bone of my sword." As he pulled the string back, the sword began to grow thin until it resembled the shape of a white needle with some protrusions.

    Smoke emerged from Archer''s feet and surrounded him in a spiral-like way. Red lightning and the occasional blue moved erratically beside him. "Caladbolg!" With a final shout, he let go of the string.

    The arrow flew like a missile in the enemy ship''s direction. Some sort of blue and white energy accompanied it, spiraling and giving a more destructive feel to it.

    EMIYA didn''t want to take any chances against whoever was on that ship. Seth was the same as him, so without wasting time, he summoned thunderclouds as quickly as possible above the enemy and struck them with an all-powerful thunderbolt.

    However, how could it be that easy? Before Archer''s arrow impacted, the ship shot cannons at it, together with a projectile similar to the one he sent. In Seth''s case, as if someone already knew what was coming, they threw a weapon to the sky that repelled the hit.

    The outcome was two explosions that covered their vision of the ship through a cloud of black smoke, but the two knew better than to think their attacks were successful.

    "Tch." Both men clicked their tongues in unison. There it goes the surprise factor. Now there was no point in doing it again as the final result would most likely be the same.

    Not long after, the ship exited the black cloud without problems. Aside from some slight tears to the sails due to the cutting wind created from explosion.

    With it coming closer, the lookout could see the Jolly Roger better. His expression didn''t become calmer after recognizing it, though. "Boss...It''s that Jolly Roger! The one from before!"

    Drake''s expression immediately morphed into an angry one. "Pass me that thing right now!" She gave an order that didn''t allow disobedience, and the man complied. As soon as she got the monocular in her hands, she hastily used it to see the incoming ship with more clarity.

    The moment she confirmed her suspicions, her grip intensified to the point that she almost broke the instrument. She eventually threw it down and took out her guns. ''Those guys...!''

    Noticing her reaction, Fujimaru decided to ask. "Captain Drake, do you know those people?" It didn''t take a genius to realize there was some story between her and them.

    "Yeah...those bastards chased me down, trying to sink my ship before I met you guys. I won''t rest until I sink them to where even sharks can''t devour their flesh." Her hate was evident for everyone to see.

    Mash picked up the monocular and also did the same as Drake and used it to get better visual confirmation of the target. Her surprise came the moment she realized that Jolly Roger was the same as the one she sent images of for Dr. Roman to analyze. Something that now made her remember they haven''t contacted them ever since leaving that island.

    She immediately turned on the communicator to contact Chaldea, successfully managing to do so. They instantly heard Romani''s voice. "Finally, I got through! What happened while the transmission was off?!"

    "More importantly! That image I sent you earlier. Do you know who the owner of that flag is? Communications cut just before you could tell us!" They were in a race against time. Although knowing now might not be of help at all, getting even a bit of information was better than nothing.

    "Oh yeah! That flag belonged to Edward Teach, otherwise known as Blackbeard! I suggest avoiding combat at all costs!" Romani spoke fast all in one go, trying to convey the urgency behind what he was saying.

    "Blackbeard?!" Even someone like Fujimaru, who was not that well versed in history, knew of that famous, or rather, infamous name. That went to show just how well-known that pirate was.

    "I am sorry, Doctor...I feel like that won''t be possible." After the initial surprise, the Japanese boy spoke to Romani with some helplessness in his voice.

    "Huh? Why not?" As he hadn''t had any visuals of the events that elapsed, he didn''t know the situation they were in right now.

    "Because..." Fujimaru started.

    "...They are here." And the rest continued.

    "Nuhuhuhuhu. I didn''t expect such a lively welcome! Is this what they call harsh love?!" It was a voice belonging to a black-haired man of considerable height. He had an open black captain coat, revealing his b.a.r.e c.h.e.s.t, also black and red pants, and black boots with a sort of skeletal design. The man possessed a weird-looking belt with chains attached to it. Finally, he had a weird white hook on his right hand.

    Leaving aside his clothing and accessories, that man had a face worthy of a degenerate beyond redemption.

    "I am sure they wanted to erase your face from existence. I can''t blame those people as I want the same." A beautiful, blond-haired woman with a rifle and a red captain coat stated as if it was nothing.

    "Agreed." Her companion, a white-haired little girl with a scar on her face similar to Drake''s murmured. She had a black jacket that ended midway down her t.h.i.g.hs. She was holding a cutlass in her hand.

    "I understand. I UNDERSTAND! It has to be that, right? The so-called tsundere. I don''t mind if you drop the act and shower me with your love, you know?" The only answer he got was a rifle pointed straight at his head.

    "Bastard...I''m going to send you to Davy Jones'' locker!" Different from the blond-haired girl, Drake didn''t just aim her gun at him but also fired. Sadly for her, he used his hook to deflect the bullets.

    "What''s up with you, old hag? I don''t want your attention! I''m only interested in cute girls! What''s the point of having those huge knockers if you look to be over 40? I bet you used some kind of black magic to keep them in place!" He didn''t bother to be lenient and went straight ahead to where it hurt.

    It seemed it worked in his favor as Drake was rendered speechless, even being incapable of moving.

    "What do we do now? She won''t respond to whatever we say!" It was not the time to become all frozen, especially when that creep was in front of them.

    "Oh? Is that Euryale-chan I hear? Duhuhuhu! I knew it. Destiny brought us together again!" His words made the middle sister recoil in disgust. She grabbed Seth''s arm and pulled him next to Asterios, forming some sort of "barrier" to defend against him. She didn''t forget to bring her sister too.

    ''For some reason, I also want to hide.'' The Egyptian God had met his fair share of abnormal people. But, this guy. This guy was something else.

    "Nani?! What is this that I see?! Another Euryale-chan?! Is this the mythical dev''s kindness where they give you a free unit after purchasing another?!" His voice was as excited as someone who had won the lottery, which made it creepier.

    "Ugh...I can''t stand this guy. Please protect us, Asterios, Papa!" Euryale''s words managed to make Seth''s eyebrows twitch and everyone else to look at him weirdly or with surprise.

    "Stop calling me that. I am not your father." There wasn''t any point in beginning a discussion about that topic right now. That said, he didn''t want to let that sink in under any circ.u.mstances.

    "Go away and let me see my two Euryales-chan! And wait, isn''t the number of males too high there? I don''t like it! What is this? An otome game? All the routes seem to be here! The teacher who exchanges good grades for a night of p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e. The kohai and childhood friend who wants the female protagonist to notice him without success. The womanizer of the whole school that dates a different girl every week. The typical guy with no redeemable qualities but is the most earnest, and finally, the hardest route! The cold and lone senpai who never shows interest in you until you start to get into his life slowly! I didn''t sign up for this! I expected an endless harem of beautiful girls, not a bunch of ikemen! I want my money back!" This man was beyond redemption. No one could save him now.

    With just a "few" words, he managed to make every male Servant plus Fujimaru and Seth crave for his head with a never seen before d.e.s.i.r.e. However, as if oblivious, he moved his gaze to Mash and Altera, which were as disgusted as Euryale and Stheno were.

    "What do we have here? So kawaii! A tan, white-haired beauty showing a lot of skin and a girl with one-eye covered! These appearances, without a doubt, enter my "I approve" fetish zone! Bofufufufu!" Without realizing it, he was digging his own grave.

    This lolicon was going to get it.

 Chapter 100 - Two Options

    Here it is, the 100th chapter. I want to thank you guys so much for sticking with this poor excuse of an author. You don''t know how much it means to me. There were times where I thought of dropping (mainly when that sh*t of getting reported for supposedly p.o.r.nographic content happened), but it was you guys that motivated me to keep going. Thank you, just thank you. I hope to continue bringing more chapters and improving in a lot of things, be it grammar, consistency, or just overall way to tell my story. With its ups and downs, I am glad I started writing because I could meet so many awesome people! By the way, I am happy you people enjoyed the last chapter as much as I did writing it. Blackbeard is someone I like writing as he gives much more freedom than other characters when it comes to displaying his personality.

    =============================

    "Master, I think you are only making your grave deeper." The blond-haired girl stated, although there was not a single shred of worry in her voice.

    "That''s cruel, Miss Anne! Your love meter is hard to rise, but I won''t give up! Now, I choose you! Help me get the old hag''s Holy Grail. Eric Bloodaxe went and died before I could get him back. LOL!" He pouted at her, making said woman take some steps back out of sheer repulsiveness.

    EMIYA couldn''t stand this guy anymore, so he hurriedly materialized a bunch of arrows and shoot them at him in quick succession.

    As much as Anne wanted to let that c.o.c.kroach die, she couldn''t do so, at least for now. Equally as quick as Archer shot his arrows, the blond-haired woman fired her gun and intercepted each one with her bullets.

    "I knew it! You are just a tsundere! Duhuhuhu." Now she was genuinely regretting having stopped those arrows.

    "Fire. Fire everything we have and sink that ship immediately!" After coming to herself from her shocked state caused by Blackbeard''s words, Drake wasted no time and ordered her crew to assault his ship with a tone that didn''t allow a no for an answer.

    Her subordinates were a little taken aback by her expression, but promptly went to load the cannons. When it came to battle, a Captain''s words were law, and there was no room to disobey.

    Something strange happened when they fired, though. As if the cladding of the ship was cotton, the cannonballs bounced, leaving behind practically zero damage.

    "Nice try, but My Queen Anne''s Revenge is not going down that easily! What are you going to do about it? Cry? Unless you are a kid, my immunity to those things is level MAX!" Blackbeard mockingly laughed at the pink-haired woman. He seemed to be her natural enemy.

    "Gh...!" Drake clenched her teeth. This man sure knew how to get on her nerves. To add salt to the injury, Blackbeard''s crew threw ropes to board her ship.

    "Sanson, go after the white-haired kid!" They would get nowhere with Drake''s huffing, so Seth commanded his Servant to begin the counterattack.

    Zhuge Liang didn''t specialize in close combat, and Altera wouldn''t get on the same ship as Blackbeard no matter what ��Not that he couldn''t understand her�� leaving the Executioner as the only option.

    As for him, his job would be to take care of a sneaky little rat. "Why don''t you come to say hello at my face instead of trying to sneak-attack me, Hector?"

    Seth used his spear to parry a thrust coming from the Great Hero behind his back. "Oh? Did you know who I am? This old man is happy." Despite his actions, he carried with him a friendly expression, coupled with a tone of the same characteristic.

    "Don''t play that game with me. It won''t work." Seth pushes Hector''s weapon back and then kicked him in the gut to create some distance between the two.

    "Aren''t you being too rough? I just want to take it easy. Leaving that aside, wouldn''t you be so kind as to give me that little girl over there? I need her for something important, you see." He scratched his head with a troubled expression before pointing at Euryale. Even after Seth told him that his facade did not affect him, Hector continued using it. Old habits died hard.

    "That''s a problem. I don''t feel like doing that. You would understand the feeling of not giving a woman to the enemy, right?" The Egyptian God decided to humor the Defender of Troy a little bit. Two people could play the same game, after all.

    "Hohoho. You sure hit this old man where it hurts." Once he finished speaking, he dashed in Seth''s direction without a prior warning.

    Seth also did the same and intercepted him. Hector''s face had lost all traces of friendliness and was now in serious mode. "Then, I will have to take either of them by force." He was unmistakably referring to Stheno. No matter which one of them he took, it would work in his favor. If they weren''t enemies, he would have thanked him for bringing a "replacement" to this Singularity.

    "I want to see you try." The Lord of the Desert also was done playing their short game. Hector''s motives were unknown to him, but that didn''t change the fact he was mistaken if he thought that Seth would allow him to touch even a single hair of theirs.

    As they wanted to avoid interruptions while they fought, the two spearmen jumped atop the yard on the mast. Without delay, Hector and Seth began to exchange blow after blow. Neither wanted to let the other get the advantage.

    Meanwhile, Drake, Mash, Asterios, Zhuge Liang, and Altera were killing the infinite pirates that Blackbeard was sending. They looked like the Hydra, for each head you cut, two more appeared. It took some time for them to realize this, though.

    Euryale was helping Sanson by shooting the pirates that got close to him and keeping the fight one versus one. It wasn''t much of a problem for Assassin to kill those mobs, but a momentary distraction in doing so could prove fatal, especially in a battle between Servants.

    Stheno, who was the one with zero combat power, had been using her Noble Phantasm none stop, converting their enemies into allies. It got to a point where her face muscles started hurting. Euryale at least had the advantage of doing it just by hitting a target with her arrow.

    It didn''t help the fact that these men were in the same direction as that creep. Just imagining herself smiling at him was enough to give her chills enough to freeze the sun itself.

    "Euryale-chan #2 is in love with me? She is smiling at me?Oh yeah! Blackbeard gang rise up!" As always, Teach was in his fantasy world.

    Safe to say, his words made Stheno falter. "Don''t let him get into your head! Your Master is supplying enough Magical Energy to use your Noble Phantasm continuously, don''t make that go to waste!" Even though he said that to her, Zhuge Liang still wanted to strangle Blackbeard for his comment earlier.

    "Why don''t you try smiling at that thing, you dead fish eyes?!" The Eldest Sister, for the first time, lost her composure and shouted at Caster.

    "Now is not the time to fight between ourselves! Concentrate on sending these scallywags straight to Davy Jones'' Locker!" Drake made sure to remind them to focus on the objective instead of infighting.

    "What do we do? We can''t use large scale attacks, or we risk destroying our ship as well!" Not that Mash had anything like that in her hands, but many of the others did. Altera, EMIYA, and Kuro, to name a few. Sadly, two of them were dealing with a Servant and the other, even though she was "free," couldn''t use her full power, lest she wanted to blow everything up, as mentioned earlier.

    "Grr...Kill..." Asterios was grabbing pirates and throwing them at Blackbeard in the distance. The said man was just dodging them while comically moving.

    That, for sure, was not the answer Mash expected. Luckily for her, Romani came to the rescue, although not entirely. "Blackbeard never possessed a legend where he commanded an army of uncountable pirates! It must be the work of the Holy Grail without a doubt. I am talking about the fake one!"

    "He does?! But how can we retrieve it? Every woman would rather suicide than getting close to him, and the men are all busy fighting!" Not mentioning the ones who were fighting Servants, there was Asterios left, who wouldn''t leave Euryale''s side no matter what, and Zhuge Liang was firing multiple energy beams as fast as possible against the neverending wave of enemies.

    "Hey! I can still hear you! Please continue. Wait, that''s not right. Please be harsher! Nuhuhuhu!" Seeing a...creature so horrendous blushing was not pleasant at all. What''s more, it gave you nightmares.

    "Ju-Just hold on a bit more! I am sure the others can attack Blackbeard the moment they finish battling their opponents!" Dr. Roman didn''t know what to say in this situation other than to wait. Despite being a man, Teach''s way of acting still affected him.

    What he wanted might take a while, though. EMIYA and Anne were evenly matched. They couldn''t shoot the opposite ship as the other would prevent it with their projectiles. The scale was more in Archer''s favor as his movements were agile, and he could move from place to place and aim from all kinds of positions. While there was no doubt about Anne''s ability with her rifle, being a Rider kind of restricted her.

    The opposite was happening with her partner. Mary had the advantage as she knew how to use her weapon to fight more than Sanson did. He was someone who brought dead through execution, not a swordsman. She was different. As a pirate, she fought for her life numerous times. Your ability with a weapon was the deciding factor between who lives and who dies in those situations.

    With Seth and Hector, no one of the two could fight to their full potential, but the Egyptian God had the overall advantage. There had been many circ.u.mstances where he couldn''t go all out, so he knew how to better fight in those conditions. The Trojan Hero couldn''t say the same. Defensive battles and ones where he was at a disadvantage were his specialties. That only applied in the case where he could make use of every tactic possible and not hold back in the slightest, which was not what was happening.

    "Say, were you the one who sent that thunderbolt before? That was scary~ I don''t want to fight you if it is possible." Hector, returning to his easygoing attitude, spoke to Seth.

    "You talk as if you were not the one who stopped it." He responded, totally ignoring the last part. The exchange of blows continued per usual, going from fast and weak to slow and intense.

    "Ahahaha...I suppose I did something like that. I wish you could have taken it easy, though. I am too old for that kind of stuff." Hector laughed it off. To catch your enemy by surprise, you would have to act like you were nothing, even when they already knew of your true self.

    "Oh, is that so? You seem quite energetic to me. I fear the moment I let my guard down; you would strike me with your spear. My defenses are not the best, after all." Seth said as he used the b.u.t.t of his spear to hit Hector in the c.h.e.s.t, a blow that was blocked by him. The Egyptian God was not stupid. He was aware of the other form of that spear, or better said the original one.

    The Trojan Hero might be using it as a spear for now, but he could also use the sword form. If he let him get into a dangerously close range, Hector could switch to it and wound him in a surprise move. That''s why he was trying to keep the fight at a semi-melee range.

    "Appearances can be deceiving. Isn''t the same with you? It''s not like you are as normal as you make it out to be." Saying this, he went for a slash at Seth''s c.h.e.s.t. However, this turned to be a feint as when the black-haired man deflected his spear. Hector used the momentum to leap backward.

    "This old man says thank you!" Making full use of his Disengage Skill, the Trojan Hero gained enough distance to make his move. ''All right...time to get serious.''

    Doing a backflip, the brown-haired man aimed his spear at where the others were, particularly at Fujimaru and Drake, who were the only humans there aside from her crew.

    ''Tch. You sly bastard.'' There were only two options. He could go down and stop the spear throw, which would most likely result in him getting impaled, or chase Hector and get that blow head-on. He didn''t doubt the latter was what the man wanted, especially considering that he could change his spear to a sword and deal more damage to a single person that way.

    That guy certainly didn''t hold on for years against Greece being dumb.

 Chapter 101 - Mysterious Power

    It was certainly a good plan from Hector''s part. The moment the spear impacted on the ship, it would either blow it into pieces or leave a hole and continue going down to the ocean''s floor. No matter the outcome, they would be in for a lot of trouble.

    The hit will create a shockwave that would also affect Blackbeard''s ship. However, being the "mount" of a Rider Servant, besides getting some pieces of wood get blown out, nothing else of relevance would happen. It could be said that his attacks were all pros and just a small number of cons.

    Even so, there was something strange about his decision. If he wanted to capture Stheno or Euryale alive, why would he purposely use an attack with an area of effect that big? The answer was simple.

    Not so long ago, his Master received an oracle, a revelation of sorts. The options to make their plan succeed had not increased only by one, but by two. That meant they had now three chances to succeed instead of one.

    The Trojan Hero could do with capturing either of three people. The first, Euryale. The second, Stheno. As for the third...it was Seth. No matter if he killed one or two, as long as he had one remaining, all was good.

    If Seth got closer and tried to stop him, he would change his weapon to a sword and use it to attack him. As much as he preferred the spear form, drastic situations required drastic measures. He didn''t know if that would kill him or not, but for sure would buy him enough time to get the other two.

    On the other hand, if the black-haired man decided to do nothing, he would blast every other Servant on the ship, including Chaldea''s other Master. At that point, it would only be a matter of retreating, joining forces with "him," and then capturing the Egyptian God.

    Of course, there was also the additional option of Seth going down to stop his Noble Phantasm and him ending up dying or wounded together with the rest, either one worked for him. That said, this was one thing Hector doubted it would happen, but if it did, it was something welcomed. After all, if he left Chaldea without Masters, then they would also succeed. It was like an alternative condition for victory.

    So, without delay, Hector''s Magical Energy began rising at incredible speeds. From that point to throwing, only one second would pass, a second that would leave time for nothing. It was a second that would spell the demise of the Chaldeans.

    ��Durindana!!��That was it. With the brown-haired man''s shout, the spear traveled like a missile toward the ship below where most of the Chaldea''s forces were.

    The world seemed to turn gray, with the only light being that of Hector''s spear coming crashing down at them. When everyone looked up, it was too late.

    The Ultimate Unbroken Spear collided with the ship, creating an explosion that erased the lives of everyone who was on it. Nothing remained other than broken pieces of a once-legendary ship.

    The hopes to fix the future, to restore the world to what once was, all lost. This attack marked the end of Human History.

    ...Or so it should have been. "Aren''t you underestimating me too much, Hector?" If there was one thing the Trojan Hero failed to take into account when he made his plan, it was that Seth would do neither of what he thought he would.

    Hector might have known the black-haired man was a God, but not his name. Or maybe he did, who knows? One thing was clear, though. Had he been, even if it was only a bit, aware of his most, or rather second most famous legend, perhaps his plan would have been different.

    No matter who he was up against or what they tried to do, as long as he was on any kind of boat, no one was going to target anyone but him. It was a bit ironic that being a God who attracts all sorts of negativities would come in handy in a place like this.

    Like rewinding a video, everything turned back to how it was before Hector had thrown his spear, only for it to happen again. However, different from last time, the weapon didn''t go down but went to Seth''s direction instead.

    The Egyptian God jumped back to the top of the mast before jumping again with as much strength as possible to the sky. He had to be careful not to damage the ship while doing so, though.

    As if the spear was a hunter chasing its prey, it kept following him as he went higher and higher. Suddenly, Seth''s momentum came to an end. He began to observe the yellow streak of light that was heading in his direction as gravity soon pulled him down.

    ''You would have to do more than that if your Noble Phantasm is just you throwing a spear, Hero of Troy.'' The Egyptian God thought as he looked at his spear. It seemed it was also ready to go. ''Oh, right. You were also the competitive type, weren''t you?''

    It wouldn''t do well to waste time as even he didn''t know the outcome of being hit by Durindana. Although he spoke of it as merely a spear throw, the Mystery behind it couldn''t be more real.

    Seth''s Mana manifested itself in reality as multiple streaks of red lightning surrounding him and his weapon. The spear got coated in an ethereal, energy-like substance of the same color.

    Doing a movement similar to Hector''s when the Trojan Hero threw his weapon, Seth sent his spear down like a meteorite to clash with the brown-haired man''s own.

    Someone far away would only see a red line going down and a yellow one going up. The result would show itself the moment the two collided, but the "spectators" couldn''t just sit down and wait. Even though the impact will happen high up in the air, the aftermath would affect them as well.

    "Shield girl...!" The moment Caster saw what was going to happen, he immediately turned to Mash. Among them, she was the one with the most defensive capabilities, or better said, the only one who had them.

    "Right! Senpai, please!" Briefly turning to look at Fujimaru, who nodded in return, Mash pointed her shield at the sky. As the Magical Energy her Master was providing her was increasing, a faint, green shield made of light began manifesting above them.

    ''Here I go...Noble Phantasm deployment!'' With those words as a way of self-encouragement, Mash used all her reserves in unleashing her defense.

    ��Lord...Chaldeas!�� Just as she finished with her chant, the two spears finally made contact. Different from what one might expect, there was no explosion. There was no loud sound, nothing.

    However, when everyone was questioning the strangeness of the situation, that''s when it happened. The space around the two weapons began to draw in the air, and particles of Mana floating around.

    What started as something peaceful and slow, soon turned violent and chaotic. The ordinary people, Drake''s and Blackbeard''s crew plus Fujimaru, had to hold onto something as not to get pulled by the attraction force. Eventually, it got to a point where the two spears were clashing like two animals of the same species trying to show dominance over the other.

    ''Do they even know what holding back is?!'' An exasperated EMIYA thought while looking at the sky. There was no point in continuing his confrontation with Anne anymore, which led to the next matter at hand, "Assassin, fall back! You don''t want to be there when this is over!"

    The Executioner understood Archer''s worries. Without any kind of support from the other Servants in the Golden Hind, things could get pretty bad for him. So, without hesitation, he used his sword like a blunt weapon to gain some distance between him and Mary before turning back to return.

    Without his awareness in this chaotic situation, a shadow sneaked up behind him. Just as that shadow was about to wound, or possibly kill Sanson, an arrow flew past it, stopping it in its tracks.

    "Woah. That was so close, Mistah Archer. You should be careful from now on. What''d have happened if I died? You never know when there can be a mad scientist looking for my DNA to do experiments. My life is valuable!" Blackbeard said with a cheeky smile on his face, one that EMIYA didn''t buy for a second. Had he not acted, Teach would have killed Sanson on the spot.

    "Hmph. Experiments would be the last thing you would be worried about when I pierce your head with an arrow." He was sure this time Anne would not interfere, judging by the face that invited him to do so. She seemed to be one hell of a bipolar woman. Still, he doubted it would be that easy to kill him, even without the blond-haired woman interfering.

    "Oh? You mad? You mad bro? Too bad! As long as I have my Goddess'' smile, I can go to infinity and beyond! A playboy like you wouldn''t understand what true love is anyway!" If he wanted to increase Archer''s d.e.s.i.r.e to kill him, he was successful.

    "Act like that while you can��" Before EMIYA could finish threatening the ever-so-annoying Blackbeard, gales so strong they inclined both sh.i.p.s shot out in all directions from the place the two weapons were. Now, not only the people were being affected, but the water too.

    The previously calm ocean turned agitated. Enormous waves carried both sh.i.p.s up and down in quick succession. If this continued, it would end up damaging the Golden Hind. Fortunately, it didn''t.

    Not long after those strong winds were produced, everything magically stopped without any sort of flashy ending.

    When it ended, the weapons, as well as their users, were nowhere to be seen.

    "Wha-What the hell was that...?!" Even after rubbing her eyes to make sure she was not dreaming, that picture still looked surreal. Something strange coming from someone who "fought Poseidon" before being in this situation. If it was one thing to be glad about, though, it was the fact that Blackbeard stopped sending his pirates and opted to cut the ropes tying both sh.i.p.s together instead.

    "Is it finally over...?" Stheno had never been so mentally tired in her entire life. What she had done today deserved a year��No, a lifetime of not doing anything anymore!

    "Well, if he can''t do something of this caliber, then it is not worth calling him Papa." The tsundere middle-sister said, displaying a sort of smug look that was usually present on her sister. She had started this as more of a joke with Stheno than anything, but it might not be that bad to consider him like that if he were able to protect them the way a true father would.

    "...I have several questions I want to ask about that, but for the time being, you should consider retreating. We don''t know where Kuro is, and Hector is also missing. I would worry more about him than Blackbeard considering that he is many times stronger just because he is a Heroic Spirit from the Age of the Gods." Romani''s prompt advice came as quickly as everything calmed down.

    Although he "belittled" Teach, that didn''t mean he was not wary of him, quite the contrary. Until now, he had only displayed a...weird behavior but has not fought even once. Plus, a Servant powered by the Holy Grail was not a laughing matter. He still gets nightmares to this day, thinking about Jeanne Alter.

    Altera, having that special connection with Seth, could feel precisely where he was. ''But that does not make sense. Why would he be in��?''

    ''Whew! What was that? Life is so unfair with this old man, always having trouble with Divine Spirits. Still...I didn''t think he could do something like that. It looked as if he rewound time, but it was different. It was like...he rejected what I did. Good grief. Talk about unfairness; Gods are in one league of their own.'' Hector was next to the rudder of Drake''s ship in his Spirit Form to avoid detection. He was waiting for a chance to sneak back in and get a consolation prize or something. At this point, he would settle even with someone of little Divine Blood.

    To make matters worse, his spear was currently sinking to the depths of the ocean��Wait. It was going back up?! ''That means...?! Oh, shit!'' Before Hector could react adequately, a hand emerged from the waters and pulled him down.

    The fact he was in Spirit Form didn''t matter. The only thing he could see was a pair of shining red eyes prior to being dragged to the depths.

    "Let''s go, scoundrels! We are retreating! We''ll come for this bastard''s head another day!" With the pink-haired woman''s orders, her crew and even some Servants got to work and helped mobilize the ship as quickly as possible. EMIYA stayed on the back to make sure they didn''t receive an attack while escaping.

    Blackbeard''s pirates watched them retreat while doing nothing. "Sure we can let them go just like that?" Marie asked, a little puzzled.

    "Oya? Does Missy Marie miss them already? So it''s as they said, small vessels can handle big things! Duhuhuhu!" The smile of a pervert coupled with rosy cheeks earned him some gunshots from Anne. Marie just looked at him with disgust.

    "You are the worst sc.u.m to ever exist in these seas, aren''t you, Master?" One would expect that at this point, the blond-haired woman would be accustomed to his behavior, but that couldn''t be much far from the truth.

    "I was talking about love! If you misunderstand me, aren''t you the pervert here?! It doesn''t matter. I like you anyway!" He spoke in a wronged tone while dodging the bullets.

    ''As much as I want to get that the Old Hag''s Holy Grail, it''s too dangerous. Without that bastard Hector and with the other one missing, I can''t take risks. I better put mine to use and summon some new Servants that are capable enough...or little girls work too. Bufufufu!''

    "Captain, your face went from serious to disgusting in mere seconds. Are you planning something that will make you the enemy of women...again?" Even though her face was carefree and looked as if it didn''t involve her, inside she wanted for Teach to use a Command Spell and order her to kill herself.

    "Wha-?! My thoughts are as pure as me! Stop accusing me, or I will dream with you tonight??" Blackbeard used creepiness, it was super effective on Anne!

    Leaving his teasing aside, they now had to replenish their forces and come back for more. If Hector was alive, then fine, and if not, it was all good as well.

    Meanwhile, the Chaldeans had safely retreated. Archer went back now that there was no option of an attack, and Sanson was tending to the wounds some of Drake''s crewmates suffered in the confrontation.

    "I certainly prefer fighting on land..." Mash said, and the other couldn''t agree more. The only one who had it the easiest was EMIYA.

    Just as they were taking a breath, something jumped out of the water and landed on the ship. Everyone was alert until they realized it was Seth all soggy from being inside the water. It was a comical sight, seeing his hair covering his face like some monster from folklore.

    ''I hate the ocean...''

 Chapter 102 - Lancer Luck At Its Finest

    "I was starting to wonder where you were. It turns out you were swimming with fishes." Drake commented once she saw the soaked Seth.

    "I wasn''t doing it because I enjoyed it. That was the only way to catch Hector by surprise without having to destroy your ship in the process." The Egyptian God rolled his eyes at her. Had they fought on land; he wouldn''t have to go through all that trouble just to finish him off.

    ''Although...it is similar to what happened with Alter back then. His Master must have used a Command Spell to call him back before I could land the last hit. That said, no amount of Magic will heal his injuries, no matter if it comes from a Hero from the Age of the Gods or not.'' Seth was able to pierce Hector''s heart and took the opportunity to burn him from within before the Trojan Hero disappeared without warning.

    "Aye aye. Thanks for the consideration. Now, have some more of that and go dry yourself up. You are filling the deck with water, and we are too tired to do something like sweeping the floor." Despite not having to do much herself other than shoot an infinite number of pirates, she was still exhausted.

    "Can''t you use fire at will? Now will be the perfect time to use it since you haven''t done since we arrived at this Singularity." Archer suggested in a tone that reflected how trivial was the matter to him. He wouldn''t care unless it was his own house or something.

    "In words that you can understand, it''s like using your best cooking tools for special occasions only and not for trivial meals. Well, it''s something like that." A little wind would do. It wasn''t his Authority anyway. Talking about that, there was something that was on his mind since the moment Blackbeard attacked them.

    "Euryale. Didn''t you say Medea was also with Hector? How come we did not see her?" It had been bothering him for a while. If it was true that Herakles was here, then that would put her as the second most dangerous enemy. Who knew what kind of crazy stuff she could come up with the moment they face each other?

    He didn''t know her as much as he did Hector or the "sworn enemy" of the other entity inside him, but just by knowing she was the student of that crazy witch was enough to be alert.

    "Don''t ask me. I just heard that goofy guy mumbling her name by accident. I assumed she was hiding from that disgusting c.o.c.kroach somewhere." That sure was helpful...not. Still, he couldn''t ask more from her. The fact she was able to tell them a bit more about their enemies in advance was helpful enough.

    Now that he thought about it, Medea might have been the one who teleported Hector back then. Gilles did the same thing, so it was not that far-fetched.

    "Going by what you said, we can''t rule out the possibility of two enemy groups existing." Caster calmly analyzed. He found it weird at first the combination of a pirate with a Hero like Hector, but if there was another group solely composed of Ancient Heroes, then things changed. The question about what was the brown-haired man doing with Blackbeard remained, though.

    "Another one? If that''s the case, wouldn''t we have to seek more help as we did in France?" Mash had told Fujimaru about the difference between Heroes from the Modern Era and the Old one. To put it simply, it was like two people fighting in a war. One had a toy gun, and the other a real one. Save for some exceptions, Servants of the far past had the overall advantage.

    "There is no need. As long as we fight on land, I can obliterate them without problems." Altera was still against the idea of finding more help. In a sense, she was a loner who fought alone. She marched ahead of everyone and was the first to destroy everything in her wake. Just at the moment of looking back was when she realized��when she remembered she had an army.

    Fighting alone was so deeply engraved in her core that it carried to her Servant form as some sort of personality trait.

    To the side, Seth looked at her with hidden sympathy. It seemed changing her mindset was still an impossible thing. He had taken some good thousands of years to accomplish that himself, so expecting her to do it in mere weeks was wishful thinking. As they said, let time take its course.

    "I don''t think Master is wrong, though. You said it yourself. As long as you are on land, you can kill them effortlessly. That applies to most of us, but we can''t count on that. They are more aware than us that their advantage lies at fighting on the sea. They won''t abandon that just because we hope for it." EMIYA backed up Fujimaru on this topic. What he said indeed made sense. Still, it wasn''t like now they were worse than before. With Hector being presumed dead, Sadako over there could fight Blackbeard on his ship and go wild there.

    "I agree. However, we don''t even know if there are other Servants eager to lend us a hand. We have that case to go by, after all." Zhuge Liang said while pointing at Stheno. Despite her not belonging to any side, she didn''t exactly "help" them in Rome.

    "Oh? I was just making them work hard for a reward. Not everything has to fall from the sky, okay?" The Eldest Sister smiled at Caster as if what she did was the most normal thing in the world.

    Even though Fujimaru and Mash already knew of her personality quirks, they still couldn''t help but feel aggrieved, hearing her. Her reward almost cost them their lives, so it was understandable.

    "So, what is the plan? Go from island to island to see if we can find someone?" From Sanson''s point of view, that didn''t sound like something particularly intelligent to do.

    "As stupid as it seems, it''s our only option. Although some other "good" pirate might have been summoned here, the chances of finding them at open sea are almost null with how big this ocean is. Our best shot is to look on land." As much as he hated relying on probabilities and lucky chances, there was nothing more Seth could do.

    "It''s decided, then. I''m setting the course to the next island. It will take some time, so you can do whatever you want in the meantime." Drake said before fully concentrating on sailing the ship.

    Their journey was not yet over. There was still much more to do.

    ������������������������������������������������������������

    It has been some hours since the battle between the Chaldeans and their enemies. They were currently anchoring on the next island that was written in Eric''s log.

    Drake found it fortunate that there was a forest with trees that seemed to be made out of excellent wood. The Golden Hind had suffered some damage, so it needed a repair.

    Aside from that, they wanted to try their luck to find a Servant that could help them. They had Romani for that, although the range of detection of his technology was a bit limited. Seth, however, could do so with around seventy percent of the island now that they were not on the sea.

    ''This presence, it''s her...'' The moment he set foot on the beach, he immediately sensed that psychopath being here. This fact could spell trouble for him, but as he said to Stargazer, he didn''t plan to do anything to avoid it.

    "Let''s get to work. I bet that cutting down some trees wouldn''t pose any problems to you lot, am I right?" Drake''s words brought Seth out of his thoughts. She was probably the only one who would use Servants as lumberjacks.

    "...Right. Though, talking about that, something has been bothering me for a while. We don''t know what Blackbeard''s Noble Phantasm is. Fixing our ship won''t do much if he can just destroy it somehow." Mash voiced her concerns with a tone of worry. There was nothing scarier than fighting an enemy without knowing what they were capable of in the slightest.

    "He can''t do that, or rather, he doesn''t want to do it." Romani''s hologram appeared on top of Mash''s device, bringing words that confused some of them.

    "Why? Isn''t it simpler to do that?" Fujimaru asked, a bit puzzled by what he said. It wasn''t like he was an expert in killing efficiently. He just felt it was easier that way.

    "In a normal situation, it would be. However, Blackbeard has a weird fixation on capturing Euryale, so it is pointless to blow Captain Drake''s ship up as it would also kill her. As for his Noble Phantasm, I suspect it''s his ship. The Queen''s Anne Revenge. I can''t be certain about it, though." Dr. Roman explained to the best of his ability.

    "If we consider that he is a Rider, that theory is very likely to be true. There isn''t any other particular legend of his that comes to mind to be a Noble Phantasm." Zhuge Liang paused for a moment before continuing. "...That said, he instilled fear in men and women alike. I wouldn''t discard the possibility of his disgust-inducing behavior to be some sort of Mental-Type Noble Phantasm." That last one might be him trying to justify the unjustifiable, though.

    "Why do I feel like that would make sense, but, to my disgrace, is not the case?" Euryale asked no one in particular.

    "...Mhm..." The way Blackbeard acted made Asterios look like a cute puppy in comparison.

    Stheno wanted to complain to her sister that she wasn''t the one who had to smile in that ugly monster''s direction but decided against it. She would forgive her this once taking into consideration the time they were separated.

    Just as they were conversating, a horde of hungry Wyverns made their approach. Of course, Romani was kind enough to warn them beforehand.

    Between Archer''s rain of arrows, and Seth ordering them to attack each other, those monsters couldn''t do much.

    Drake and her crew were surprised, seeing these flying beasts. Having witnessed Servants fighting didn''t diminish the astonishment of gazing upon such mystic creatures.

    Mash got the idea of using their scales to reinforce the Golden Hind. Sadly, they would have to hunt again since their bodies weren''t usable anymore. The damage they did was pretty severe, after all.

    The idea was good and all. That is if it wasn''t for the fact that the route they chose to go went straight to the place that Yandere was in. One thing was not minding falling, another was actively throwing yourself into a pit.

    Even when he just used physical strength or his powers to control Wyverns, they still advanced at a relatively fast pace. Eventually, their hunt led them to a forest, the same one that woman was in...together with something else.

    That "something else" was in front of them right now being tossed around like food by a group of Wyverns, screaming things like, "Help me!!!" or "I don''t want to die!!" There was some "I haven''t met any cute girls yet!" mixed in his cries for leniency.

    If there was a ranking of sc.u.ms in this Singularity, this guy was a safe second place after the undefeatable champion Blackbeard.

    "...Isn''t it in our best interest to kill this thing as soon as possible?" Euryale asked from Asterios'' shoulders. It was the typical case of eliminating something before it became a threat.

    Another thing worth mentioning was that Stheno, aka Miss. Smug, also wanted the same as her sister, so she ��again�� climbed until she was sitting on Seth''s shoulders. To be honest, he was too occupied cursing his luck to care about what the Eldest Daughter did.

    "I understand what you mean, but maybe he knows something we don''t," Shielder responded with a wry smile. They never could say no to the possibility of getting information or a little help in these situations.

    ''Sigh...This is the epitome of disgrace. Now I wonder who is the unlucky one.'' Mentally sighing, Seth commanded the Wyvern that had that...plushie in his mouth to give it to him.

    "Shoot the rest, EMIYA." Once Fujimaru saw that Seth separated the one with their "informant" of the remaining Pseudo-Dragons, he ordered Archer to kill the others.

    The Wyvern opened its mouth and stayed still, waiting for Seth to take the weird plushie bear out of it. "Spit it on the ground; I''m not going to touch that."

    Heeding his command, the flying creature dropped it in front of the black-haired man before flying away. They had everything they needed now, so there was no point in killing it too.

    "Oh my. What an ugly thing. The one who made this must have had terrible sewing skills." Stheno didn''t have mercy when it came to commenting on the plushie''s appearance.

    "Why don''t you kick it Asterios? Maybe we will feel better if you do so." Following her sister''s footsteps, Euryale said something the average person would consider cruel.

    "...Okay..." Following what she said with no problems, Asterios moved his right leg backward intending to send the plush toy flying.

    "Wait! Wait! Wait! Aren''t you guys being too harsh on me?!" The little bear got up and started floating and screaming with his eyes red from anger at this injustice.

    "It is your fault for not moving, we just wanted to perform resuscitation." Stheno justified the actions of her sister without a second thought, making it sound like it was with good intentions in the process.

    "Couldn''t you leave me alone?! I was just looking at your t.h.i.g.hs and boo��Pguyh?!" Before he could finish his sentence, an arrow hit the back of his head.

    "DA-R-LI-N-G~ I think I heard something wrong. Could you repeat it, please?"

    The walking disaster was already here...

 Chapter 103 - Allies And Enemies Reinforcement

    "Wait, let me explain! I was just trying to say their bodies don''t compare to yours!" What was pride? As long as he could make it out alive, anything was okay!

    "Oh, Darling! You could have said so from the beginning?!" The white-haired girl, Artemis, happily said while rushing to hug the plush toy.

    "Take out your arrow from my head first!" The little bear shouted at her to no avail. She just started to rub her cheek on his face with a lovestruck expression.

    Leaving aside their love comedy, Mash and Fujimaru had a mild headache. It was not metaphorically but literally. They undoubtedly knew who she was as they met her when they tried to recover the stolen dumplings, but for some reason, some events that came to their mind were a bit foggy.

    "...You don''t see this type of thing every day. If I am correct, that strange woman is like you lot are, right?" Francis had to admit that there was no lack of uncommon and bizarre situations just by being with the Chaldeans.

    "...Looks that way." Caster somewhat was feeling the same as Drake. That was to show that Heroic Spirits, in general, came in different shades of color.

    "Hm? Is everything okay? There was a small change in the reading of your vitals just now." Romani''s voice resounded amidst the group. He didn''t see anything in particular that could be affecting them, and a quick scan in the surrounding area showed nothing.

    "Yeah...I must be tired, that''s all." Fujimaru responded like it was nothing, although his tone was a bit down.

    "Yes. Nothing to worry about, I am in top condition to face any problem that may arise." Mash also gave a positive response, albeit with a little more energy. It seemed that being a Demi-Servant was helping her to cope with the headaches better.

    ''I didn''t expect this to happen so soon, but I don''t think it matters that much. This Artemis doesn''t seem to be the one we met before.'' Seth was aware there was a possibility of them feeling some ailments if some details of those events were brought up like now. Even so, it was nothing to worry about, other than the occasional headache if they forcefully tried to remember.

    "Don''t worry. When this comedic act is over, I will perform a quick check on the two." Sanson reassured Romani while watching the woman and plushie lover''s quarrel from the sidelines.

    "I would appreciate that, thanks, Assassin." Just as Dr. Roman finished speaking, Artemis finally stopped what she was doing and turned to the group.

    She first looked at Seth, then at Altera before returning to look back at Seth and then again to Altera. She did this multiple times, trying to understand if what she was seeing was real.

    "Um...Miss Artemis? Do you recognize us?" Mash asked, not understand where did her strange reaction come from at all. However, now that she thought about it, the white-haired girl didn''t seem to be on good terms with Altera...although she couldn''t recall why.

    "Eh? Ah? N-No. I don''t remember ever seeing you guys. But that''s not important! What are you two doing here?!" She asked surprised with an expression typical of someone who would murder their partner and then themselves while laughing like crazy.

    "None of your business, you psychopath."

    "I don''t even know you..."

    Seth and Altera came up with a different answer to Artemis'' question. The last thing they needed was getting questioned by a woman with a "few" screws loose.

    "A woman that lives for love is not a psychopath! As for you...forget it. You aren''t precisely the same person." She felt pretty offended after being called something awful like that by Seth.

    "Do you know each other?" Romani asked, wanting to know a bit more. ''Being known by a Divine Spirit...It doesn''t give much, but something is something.''

    "Of course, we do." She responded with a smile, seemingly forgetting about the insults that went her way not long ago. "We are similar people, after all. I even look up to him."

    ''Similar...?'' The others looked at Seth and then at Artemis. One who always had an attitude of not caring even if the world ended, and the other a person lost in what she called love. They were incapable of finding any kind of similarity.

    "I don''t want you to look up to me." Seeing her more than a questionable attitude, the reason she was looking up to him couldn''t be that good.

    "Please, just ignore her. Thinking is not her forte." The plushie, Orion, sighed. He was used to her antics already, but that did not mean he liked them.

    "So, seeing as you guys haven''t ganged up on us, I assume you are not here to kill us?" To avoid having her talk more, he changed the subject to a more pressing one.

    "We are not. We initially came here to look for help against some of our enemies. As much as I hate to admit it, we need people that aren''t that impeded when it comes to fighting on a ship." EMIYA was the one to answer. For now, there were only two people that could fight freely on their side. They couldn''t rely on sending their Servants to Blackbeard''s ship. Expecting pirates to fight fair and square and not make a sneak attack when you least expected was wishful thinking.

    To make them fully understand, they had to tell them the whole story of their situation, about where they came from, and what their mission was.

    "I see... You guys have it rough, huh. What do you say about lending them a hand, Artemis?" As a human himself ��Even if he was now a plush toy�� he wanted to help them, but with his body being like this and Artemis essentially hijacking his summon, she was the only one that could do something.

    "If that is what you want, Darling, then I don''t mind helping." Although the idea of staying alone with him on an island wasn''t bad at all. Hehehehe~

    "...The look in your face is not reassuring. Anyway, follow me. I happen to know a place where the Wyverns have their nest." They had spent a lot of time together that he already knew what was on her mind. Not that it was too hard to do it.

    "We already have everything we need, but I believe a little bit extra wouldn''t hurt us just in case we have to make more repairs in the future." Shielder thanked the little plushie, who, in turn, asked for a hug as a reward. Safe to say, the only thing he got was a squeeze by Artemis.

    Once his "punishment" was over, Orion led them to a terrain that was indeed full of Wyverns. It seemed that personality aside, he truly knew his business. If you considered his story, it wasn''t that surprising.

    In little less than an hour, they managed to obtain many of their scales to reinforce the ship. It was a quantity more significant than the one they got previously after hours of random hunting.

    ... Although, the phrase "With great risk often comes great reward" couldn''t be more accurate in their case. The only difference was that the group got the reward first.

    *ROOOOAAARRRRR*

    The booming sound of an angry creature shook the earth. From what seemed to be a hollow mountain, the body of a colossal Dragon rose, staring intently at them.

    "...I forgot to mention. If we kill too many, a big one is bound to show up..." Orion said with the innocent voice of a child who had just made the mistake of his life and was trying to correct it by acting cute.

    "..." It didn''t work.

    "Sigh, Can you do the same you do with the Wyverns?" EMIYA asked Seth. If he received a positive response, his day would brighten. Sadly, that was not the case.

    "Sure. Do you want me to turn water into wine now that I am at it?" Now Archer knew how it felt when someone gave a sarcastic reply to you. A lesson to himself for the future.

    "...Grr...Dragon...Kill...Protect...Euryale..." At least someone was ready to fight.

    ������������������������������������������������������������

    "Bufufufu~ Not there, Euryale-chan...Don''t do it...no. It''s not good. I''m a v.i.r.g.i.n��BANG!" Blackbeard was placidly dreaming when the sound of a gunshot awoke him.

    "What?! Are we under attack?! Protect the children first!" He jumped from the bed at the speed of light and started looking around. The only thing he noticed was Anne looking at him with disgust, though.

    "Oh, so it''s Miss Anne! What do you need? I was getting to the good part!" He asked with fake tears in his eyes. Why did dreams always end at the worst time?!

    "Stop being a creep and get to work. How do you expect to steal Francis Drake''s Holy Grail if we don''t get reinforcements? Not to mention they are probably looking for allies." It was at times like this that she wondered why it wasn''t a more normal Master, the one that summoned them.

    "Hehehe! I thought you were only into Yuri, but it seems you also include your Captain in your preferences. Who knew you were worried I would lose?" She didn''t know why did she bother in discussing with this guy. The only thing she was getting was a headache.

    "Shut up and do your job already." After saying this, she turned around and left. She might get infected if she stayed here any longer.

    "This is it. The moment has come where I use all the savings (Magical Energy) in my wallet (Holy Grail) to summon the Loli (Servant) of my dreams. Yes! My motivation is rising! There is no way this can go wrong!" Blackbeard''s was ready to go all out.

    He soon also exited his sleeping quarters and went to the deck where Anne and Mary were waiting, together with his crew.

    "So you are here. Hurry up and get to work." As soon as Mary saw Teach, she impatiently spoke to him. They had lost a lot of time unnecessarily.

    "Hurrying is something only quick shooters would do! This process needs the appropriate preparations, like praying to whatever God is in charge of this, or maybe do a ritual dance!" Even if she were a woman and with a child''s body at that, he wouldn''t tolerate her impatience. People should treat matters like this with delicacy!

    "Whatever. Just make sure to summon someone useful." It was Anne, the one who responded instead of Mary. The two girls didn''t want him to summon a decoration. Although, knowing him, he might just do that.

    "All right, all right." He waved his hands to reassure them. "Cough. Oh, my Goddess in the sky. Listen to my prayers and bring me the ultimate Servant of my dreams. Please don''t spook me with male ones, I beg you!" Blackbeard took the Holy Grail and started dancing weirdly. It was as if he was trying to invoke good luck.

    A bright white Summoning Circle formed in front of Teach. The infamous pirate could feel the Grail''s Magical Energy go directly into it. ''Lolis are okay, but what if I get an Onee-san? Hm...what a harsh decision indeed. Bah. No matter, I will love them all the same. Duhuhu~''

    Soon after, a blinding light filled their vision. It didn''t take much for it to recede, though. When it did, a new person that was not there before made itself known.

    "Servant, Saber. William Kidd." The new addition introduced himself before assessing his new Master.

    "..."

    "It''s you, huh. I didn''t expect the one who summoned me to be the worst sc.u.m the seas have ever seen." The disappointment he felt wasn''t near as much as Blackbeard''s.

    "WHY?! I DIDN''T ASK FOR YOU! OR FOR A MALE EVEN!" He started a tantrum that only finished when he became breathless. Injustice! This shit was pure injustice! There is no other way to describe this!

    ''Calm yourself, Edward. Breathe in and out! There is still one more chance! Yes, that''s right! Just a bit more wouldn''t hurt. I am sure the Grail will recompensate all my efforts!'' With a self-delusion coming from someone who was in too deep on their addiction, Blackbeard used the remaining Magical Energy inside the Artifact to summon the woman of his dreams.

    This time the process went different, though. Dark clouds quickly gathered on top of the ship. It wasn''t much time before blue lightning started whipping the world around them. The sea became restless in a signal of a powerful Servant arriving.

    ''Is this it?! I finally summoned a Goddess that is not useless?!'' Teach''s heart looked like it would burst out of his c.h.e.s.t. Many emotions overcame him at this moment.

    When his excitement was at its peak, a blue thunderbolt struck the Summoning Circle, strangely not damaging the ship.

    "Class Archer. So, who is the trash among you that summoned me?"

 Chapter 104 - Archer Of Lightning

    "It seems we got ourselves a problematic guy," William said as if this didn''t concern him. The Scottish man had dark, short black hair and was fairly tall, nearing the height of two meters. He had a black doublet that was red on the inside and equally black breeches. He also wore a big hat with some feather coming out of it. His weapon was a cutlass shaped a bit weirdly and with black markings resembling contemporary tribal ones, a trait shared by his clothes too, as well as some parts of his skin. Overall, he looked like the type of man who you would describe as gentlemanly.

    ''William Kidd...'' Mary felt strange seeing this man here. In life, she found his treasure but couldn''t get close because his ghost was protecting it. By the looks of it, at some point in time, he could move on and properly become a Heroic Spirit.

    "Why...? Why have you forsaken me, my Goddess...?" Blackbeard was on a different plane from the rest of them. Reality seemed to be something distant to him. He felt cheated. Words alone couldn''t describe what he was feeling in his heart. He just wanted to ask someone to end his existence right there and then.

    "It''s useless. Master is dead inside now." The blond-haired woman sighed. If it was going to be like this, she much preferred one of the new Servants to be a woman even if that poor girl would suffer in return.

    Eventually, the smoke that was covering the figure of the last Servant disappeared. The man revealed was as tall, or even more, than Kidd. Compared to the lavish-looking Saber, the one before them didn''t possess much in terms of clothes. He just wore white baggy pants and a pair of sandals. He had a b.a.r.e upper body with some golden accessories on his arms and an equally colored necklace. Despite not wearing much, he didn''t give the impression of someone lacking material possessions by any means. His skin, as well as his eyes, were black. Archer''s hair was a weird mix between blonde and black that looked more artificial than anything. Blue vein-like marks traveled his forearms until reaching his nails, painting them of that same color.

    The way he looked at them was as if they were not even people, just a bunch of little dogs barking instead. Many might perceive it as arrogance or conceit, but to him, it was not that way. You simply don''t call yourself arrogant for seeing animals as what they are, animals.

    "What is this? The true boss of the story? Only I get that position!" Teach suddenly came back to reality, only to keep fooling around. However, contrary to what others might expect, he was in full alert. ''This guy is dangerous. As the person holding the Grail and the one who summoned him, I can feel it. The bastard is on another level.''

    Archer''s face reflected how displeased he was with this buffoon in front of him. If the woman''s words were correct, then this man was his Master. He must be very unlucky to end up as a Servant for this guy.

    "I suppose you are not one to disclose your True Name easily." They would get nowhere by trying to expect something rational from this guy, so Saber took the matter in his own hands.

    "Only people worthy of it shall know my name. It is not for the likes of robbers to know." The last part contained an unusual tone of hate. Whatever happened while he was alive, it was something that made him detest people like pirates.

    "Well, that''s what self-important guy says. So, what are our plans, Captain? I don''t think you are simply trying to create a female-only crew��... You were trying to do just that, didn''t you?" William sighed, unable to believe the mess he got into this time.

    "Of course! With those two men gone, my plan for the creation of the Ultimate Harem Pirates was just about to come true! No matter, as long as I get that old hag''s Holy Grail, I can get another chance at summoning while mine recharges." Anne and Mary didn''t know if it was a good thing, but his mood swings were becoming more frequent lately.

    "...You managed to fail the expectations I didn''t even have in you." He didn''t know how to react to him, so he just opted not to do so in the first place. Turning to the only girls in the crew, he politely smiled. "Could you two please fill us on what''s going on, my fair ladies?"

    "We don''t mind." Mary, in particular, held some interest in William as a pirate. She wanted to ask him some questions about his treasure and the like, but they would have to wait for some other time. Besides, it was a pleasant change of airs the fact that he was someone well-mannered, instead of a lecherous creep like their Master was.

    The two then told them all about the recent events, of how they fought Francis Drake and how they had to retreat due to losing ��or missing�� one of their most vital forces, Hector. They also told them about their current plans, but not of their primary objective, as even they didn''t know of it, only their Captain did.

    The duo managed to catch Archer''s attention the moment they mentioned a lightning user in the enemy ranks. He had been having a suspicion since this sc.u.m summoned him, and if he succeeded in obtaining more information from these two rats, then he might confirm it.

    "Oi, that guy who fought the one you call Hector. How did he look?" The tone he used pretty much told them that they had to answer, or things wouldn''t go well. It was the first time the dark-skinned man showed some interest at all.

    Anne was the one who answered this time, describing as much of Seth as possible. Once she finished, she expected him to say something, but the only thing he did was to fall silent.

    "..."

    "Haha...Hahaha...HAHAHAHA! Yes! There is no mistaking it! He is here!" Archer put a hand on his face and started laughing madly. Safe to say, it threw them off. No one took him for the sort of guy to laugh out of nowhere, even less so like this.

    "Very well, I shall lend you mutts a hand. However, let me give you a warning, if any of you dares to interfere with the combat between us, I am going to murder you personally." Now that he confirmed his suspicions, his motivation was on a whole other level. He initially planned to kill them all and be done with it, but now things changed. If anything, they would work as foot soldiers to face the others while he battled Seth.

    ''Just wait, I will show you that I can put an end to your misery. The moment my arrow pierces your heart, I will have demonstrated I am capable of bringing down Gods.'' The blue marks on his arms shined, responding to his anticipation. It was indeed a once in a lifetime opportunity, one he did not plan to waste.

    "That''s reassuring! With this new addition, the Blackbeard pirates have a better chance of capturing Euryale-chan and Euryale-chan#2! Yahoo! Our Captain is the best! Yeah! He got powerful allies!" As if nothing had happened, Teach began cheering for himself while motioning others to do the same with his gaze. Sadly for him, only the pirate mob did as the Servants would rather die than do so.

    ''Who was the one crying over not getting any female Servants just a moment ago...?'' The other three had very similar thinking. It seemed that common sense was something that didn''t work when it came to their Master.

    "Then, I suppose we have to get going. Or what? Are you planning to summon another Servant fitter to your liking somehow?" Kidd asked Teach. He didn''t see any reason to stay here and no nothing, but he wasn''t the Captain this time, so...there was simply nothing he could do about it.

    "I am glad someone shares my readiness to get the small prize! You heard that ugly pirate, men! Let''s get moving!" Blackbeard was not jealous of William''s appearance, not at all.

    "Wait. I have to greet our enemies properly." Not even bothering to wait for an answer, Archer summoned a weird-shaped bow. It was colored black and gold and had two blue strings that looked to be made out of lightning. There were two glows on each of the upper and lower parts of the bow that resembled eyes of a sinister origin. One thing was sure, though. The remaining Servants couldn''t get a clue of his identity with just his weapon.

    He materialized an arrow that strangely combined with his weapon and attached it to the strings. Archer then pointed in the direction Seth and the others were, hundreds of kilometers away. His Magical Energy was on the rise, and it was no joke to those present. Many of Blackbeard''s pirates died just by being near him, while others died after being hit by the lightning bolts that began surrounding him.

    It was at this moment the other four realized just how much of a monster the person in front of them was. Just his Magical Energy alone was capable of making them lose any willingness of resistance were he to declare he wanted them dead.

    ''Forget about ordering this guy to commit suicide; he would kill me before I even got the chance to speak. Well, as long as I obtain my little treasure, then all is good.'' Teach thought to himself while outside he was acting like a kid who was meeting his favorite idol.

    Finally, he pulled the string back. ''My unstoppable conquest reaches far and wide.'' Speaking quietly inside his mind, he released the arrow. The others had barely any time to react before it disappeared in the distance as a blue beam, traveling at a speed that even them as Servants had trouble keeping up with it.

    That arrow might as well be just a streak of light on the horizon, disappearing as soon as it came.

    ...

    The Chaldeans were about to face the furious Dragon that intended to kill them because of the mass-killings of Wyverns they did.

    This beast was just a nameless one, so it wasn''t at the level of other Dragons like Fafnir, Nidhogg, or Vritra, among others. As Seth summoned his spear to fight it, he felt the arrival of an old acquaintance, stopping him in his tracks.

    ''You are also here, huh. The world seems to be trying to put the hardest obstacles in our way for this particular Singularity. Why is it that every time some kind of ship and me are involved, I have to fight almost impossible challenges, I wonder.'' Things have just got much, much worse for them. He had hoped to save everything for his ultimate battle against Herakles, but he didn''t have that luxury now.

    The connection between them was such that even with Poseidon''s restriction on everyone''s senses, he could still feel his presence in a very faraway place.

    He decided not to focus on it for now as what was in front of him was more important. The others have already engaged the Dragon, and he was the only one who remained stationary and hadn''t done so yet.

    However, before he could even do as much as to move a muscle, he noticed something heading in their direction at astonishing speeds.

    ''Should''ve seen that coming...'' Mentally sighing, Seth turned to EMIYA, who was jumping from place to place, raining arrows on the Dragon. The Red Bowman made sure to mix in a Dragon-Slayer sword turned arrow every once in a while.

    "Archer, use your Reality Marble to trap us all inside, like, right about now." The Counter Guardian split his concentration for a fraction of a second to look at him, not understanding why he wanted that.

    "Arrow. Here. Boom. All of us die. Sounds good to you?" After fighting and training together, one would expect for EMIYA to know that when he asked others to do something, it wasn''t because he had free time, it was because he needed them to do it.

    Although he didn''t grasp what the black-haired meant precisely, the word "die" made him act out of reflex, even going as far as to shorten the chant of his Noble Phantasm to take it out faster, with all the implications it carried.

    ''I am the bone of my sword.''

    They didn''t need stability or an extended period inside. The group just needed to disappear from that place for an instant.

    ''So, as I pray.''

    The arrow Archer released was already close enough that the rest also noticed it, together with the destructive force it carried.

    ��Unlimited Blade Works!��

    An imaginary fire covered them in an instant, taking them away from that location and only leaving the solitary Dragon and some of his minions.

    Not even a thousandth of a second after EMIYA successfully transported them to his Reality Marble; the arrow finally met its target. For a moment after the impact, there was silence. But then, a destruction that would make even an Atomic Bomb seem like the popping of a balloon ensued. The attack created the illusion of a colossal thunderbolt that impacted the earth with God''s wrath from the very heavens.

    The level of damage was such that it totally modified the landscape. A crater of enormous proportions was formed on the place of impact. Water soon began to emerge from under the island and flood everything.

    The Chaldeans quickly exited EMIYA''s Reality Marble, as he couldn''t keep it much longer because of how he made it in a hurry. When they did so, though, there was no more ground to stand onto, so they quickly fell. As the only one who could float, Seth created some fire serpents from his hands to bite on their clothes and prevent them from falling. Luckily, if he didn''t want them to burn, they wouldn''t. Otherwise, it would be the same as doing nothing.

    "What the hell is this?! And don''t you dare stop doing whatever it is you are doing!" Drake''s surprise was only overwhelmed by her fear of falling.

    "What...What just happened?" Mash asked with a tone of disbelief. One moment they were facing a Dragon, and the other they are transported to EMIYA''s Reality Marble only to return to whatever this was.

    "It seems we barely made it..." Archer sighed. Even though everything was a succession of quick events that only lasted a few minutes, it left him exhausted.

    "Darling, you can hug me all you want so you don''t fall!" Everyone had their own priorities, all right.

    "No, thanks. I am fine with having my tail bitten by a snake." Orion mercilessly turned her down. BUT, if some of the other women wanted, then he was all for it!

    ''Good grief. His skills are as fearsome as ever.'' The fact that it was just a casual arrow released by Archer the thing that caused all of this said something about how skilled he was.

    ''I will be waiting. Show me the power you obtained through your journey, Archer of Lightning.''

 Chapter 105 - A Promise That Transcends Worlds

    [A/N: Thank (Insult?) AbsoluteEvil and Lord_Fate_Master (especially) for guessing Archer''s identity. I will try to give you guys the additional chapter this Wednesday. If I can''t, it will be next weekend. Also, Happy Independence Day to my readers living in the U.S!]

    After what looked to be an eternity of floating in the air, the Chaldeans finally got to land. Artemis, through Orion''s powers, helped some of the light ones. Being able to walk on water was something useful in a situation like this.

    "That was...terrifying. The readings about that attack were no joke." Even if Romani didn''t say anything, it was pretty clear that this was not something the average Servant could do. However, they didn''t know who was capable of causing this destruction.

    "Whoever is the one behind it, they didn''t hold back at all," EMIYA said while observing the landscape. It looked nothing like before. They would have to walk back to the ship by circling the crater so, hopefully, there won''t be an attack like that again.

    ''...That''s where you are wrong. He DID hold back. I am sure he has more in store than just that.'' Seth decided not to speak those words aloud, though. Unnecessary panic would do no good. Besides, he will come for him and him alone. The Egyptian God was sure the other Chaldeans were of no interest to his little acquaintance.

    "That aside, I have to thank you both. If it weren''t for you, we would not have lived to tell the tale." Fujimaru thanked EMIYA and Seth from the bottom of his heart. A heart that was still thumping loudly. Although it was something out of the blue, it gave him a lot to think. How a mere moment, a whim of some powerful Servant could end his life without him even knowing.

    Before, he used to think that as long as Mash was in front of him, his life would not face any risks. That''s how big his trust in her was, how it still is. But now, a realization hit him. There were things that even his Kohai couldn''t defend him against, no matter how much she tried.

    The thought of dying without even realizing it...it was scary. And to think things like this was what awaited them. That not every enemy was going to face them head-on.

    Even if it was a small, unnoticeable change, Fujimaru''s mentality changed after this experience. He learned that this mission to "save the world" was not something he should take lightly at all. He shouldn''t��He mustn''t expect everything to be smooth sailing from now on.

    "Save your thanks for the moment we win. That attack came from around the place we fought with Blackbeard. Most likely, his new Servant was the one who did this." Not only was the guy one of the most "special" people he ever met, but he also managed to summon his student as well.

    ''Still...this is not bad. Our time together was short, so I only got to know about your end long after you died. That is why I want to see how you turned out to be with my own eyes.'' That attack was proof enough that the little guy remembered the promise he made with him.

    "Even so. Thank you." The Japanese young man didn''t want his words to sound like something empty, so he made sure to repeat it. EMIYA, as a fellow Japanese, understood his feelings. In the end, Archer just nodded, telling his Master it was all right since defending him was his duty as a Servant.

    Hearing him, Mash couldn''t help but feel slightly depressed. If she was stronger, she could have protected her Master even before the others. The same seed of doubt that planted itself inside her heart at that time they fought the Chimera in Rome resurfaced.

    Why...? Why did she have to be the one doing nothing? The one who had to protect her Senpai was her and no one else. If she couldn''t do that, what was her worth? Was the difference between a Demi-Servant and a full-fledged one that big?

    Mash was brought out of her thoughts by Artemis'' next words. Hadn''t the Goddess done so, a new dark entity might have been born.

    "We were lucky. I almost lost my darling. What would I do without him?" The white-haired girl started hugging Orion until almost suffocating him.

    "Stop! Stop! You are going to choke me!" The Plushie was able to somehow escape from her death hug. He eventually turned to the others, who had already started their walk to Drake''s ship. "I am sorry I can''t be of much help being like this, but at least let me give you a piece of advice. Don''t let the person who attacked us have a chance to do so again. Worst case scenario, we would have to attack them all together."

    Altera frowned, hearing the last part. Nevertheless, she chose not to comment on it. She preferred to use her time to think about how to destroy the person behind it. The Blessing she got from her Master resonated for a brief moment before that attack landed, making her wonder if he knew the one who attacked them.

    "I just hope he is a decent warrior worth fighting. I am getting frustrated over not being able to fight at full power." Altera quietly complained. However, the Middle Sister was able to hear her.

    "...Considering the Master, I don''t expect much from the Servant in terms of personality or looks." Euryale was trying everything on her power to erase that cursed image from her memory to no avail.

    "Is that so? I believe they might put up a good show." Stheno said without much care before turning to Seth discreetly and speaking through their Master-Servant link. ''Isn''t that right, Dad~? You DO know who the one who attacked us is.''

    The purple-haired Goddess was strangely conscious about these kinds of subjects. For some reason, she could always know when something had to do with Seth or not.

    ''Stop calling me that. You know I don''t like it. As for whether I know the one who attacked us or not, it''s not your problem. You just have to focus on giving a nice smile for that guy, correct?'' His words provoked a small twitch on Stheno''s lips. It seemed that curse would never go away.

    ''Oh, my. I still remember how altered you got the first time I did that. What? Don''t tell me something good happened, and you don''t care as much for it as you did before? And I will take your answer as you indeed knowing the culprit.'' She kept fanning the flames. Otherwise, there wouldn''t be any point in making fun of him now and then. She would lose her source of amus.e.m.e.nt.

    ''...Shut up.'' Seth neither confirmed nor denied her words, just telling her to be silent. However, she didn''t mind that at all. It was, in fact, the answer she was expecting.

    "Let''s go back quickly. I''m worried about my ship and the scallywags. Who knows what happened to them after this." She hoped everyone was all right. Otherwise, she wouldn''t be able to call herself a Captain again. To add to that, the travel they did here would be in vain.

    Fortunately for her, her fears didn''t come true. Aside from the worried faces of her crew after that "flash of light" nothing changed. That wasn''t to say they weren''t affected, quite the contrary. Just the shockwave was almost enough to turn the ship upside down. Not only that, but the Golden Hind was also dragged offshore by the waves, and they had to sail back to the island when everything calmed down.

    As soon as the group got there, they began their reparation and improvement job on Drake''s ship. Everyone who could do it gave a helping hand to speed up the process. That was except for, of course, the two Goddess who couldn''t bother with such an "earthly" job.

    The sun was beginning to hide over the horizon when the Chaldeans finally finished with their work. As it was too late and not recommendable to try and engage in a night battle, especially considering every human on their team, they decided to sail tomorrow.

    Asterios went with Euryale to hunt some beasts for everyone to eat. They had some spices they got from Chaldea in the previous island, so now what was left was the meat.

    One thing to note was that the Minotaur was becoming less and less shy around people as time passed. That seemed to recompensate the Minotaur, as the pirates had taken a liking to him and even enabled conversations about whatever topic he wanted. There was still that awkwardness as he was a monster from myth, and they were people from the Age of Pirates, though. Beyond that, they got along pretty well.

    Everyone used their free time in whatever way they wanted. Some flirted, some talked, some just ate quietly, while others did whatever came to mind. Seth, in particular, started carving a ship with the help of one of EMIYA''s knives projections.

    Why he was doing so, even he didn''t know. It just popped out on his mind. Maybe it was his memory making him remember the times he spent on that chicken Solar''s Barge, who knows...

    As he was doing that, Seth was debating if he should visit his student or simply wait until they eventually face each other. Although, thinking about it, he had yet to reciprocate his "greeting."

    But even that would have to be put on hold. The Egyptian God was sure that kid would also prefer to meet him on the battlefield and not on a calm, soon-to-be night like this one.

    Stopping what he was doing, he looked at the moon that was visible even if it was not entirely night yet. ''Oh, yeah. It was like this when we last saw each other, wasn''t it?'' Seth couldn''t help but remember the time he had to say goodbye.

    He had taken a liking to that boy, even if he didn''t show it at the time. Despite how much he complained when the was strict with him, the kid never once chose to run away or take the easy route.

    ''I don''t want a loser to train me. I would much rather Lord Horus be the one who did it.'' A little kid, no more than five years old, once complained.

    ''Yes! With this power, I will soon be able to kill my step-mother! More! Wait, no! Go easier on me this time, old man!'' A child, no more than twelve years old, once exclaimed.

    ''As you wanted, I will not prove my worth by murdering that woman. Instead, I will do it on the battlefield. I will not bring shame to your name, Lord Seth!'' An adolescent, no more than eighteen years old, once vowed.

    ''I have become a King now...I owe everything I have to you, but you have to go, right? Even if you never told me of your circ.u.mstances, I could sense what afflicted you the most. That is why I ask you. Is there something you want? Do you want my people to worship you? Do you want those filthy cultists who smear your name to disappear? Do you want me to build monuments in your name? Or perhaps you want me to offer my future conquered lands to you? Whatever you want, I shall accomplish it to the best of my abilities.'' A young a.d.u.l.t, no more than twenty-five years old, once offered.

    ''...''

    ''...You sure ask for the impossible. That said, no matter what challenges you threw at me, I always overcame them all. So...it is a promise. Maybe not in this life, perhaps not in this era, but someday, I will fulfill it. No matter if this body breaks apart in the process, I will see that your wish comes true. For you, I will do anything, even if you ask me to commit suicide. For the time being, let me say goodbye to you, Teacher. My bow will forever be yours to use, and eventually...''

    ''...It shall bring down the Gods themselves.''

 Chapter 106 - As Promised, I Have Come!

    Remembering those times brought some sort of inner tranquility to Seth. It helped to prepare his mentality for tomorrow. If someone asked if he wanted to kill him, then the answer would be a rotund no, but holding back wouldn''t work. His student wouldn''t like that, and he couldn''t afford it.

    ''I will try to take the battle as far from them as possible. That Noble Phantasm is something I can''t count on at all. It doesn''t even have a name. In a sense, it''s similar to that child''s one. Speaking of her...'' Seth turned his gaze to Mash, who was speaking and laughing with Fujimaru before furrowing his brows slightly. He was not oblivious to the mental instability of that girl.

    ''...In the end, it''s not my problem. How she handles it is for her to decide. Honestly, women are such a handful. Also...to think that if I survive, I will be facing the wrath of probably the scariest of them all. My future sure is not promising.'' Sighing was the only thing he could do now.

    "What''s with that face? Cheer up a little! Life is about enjoying everything it has to offer with a smile on your face. No need to look so down!" Drake, who was giving some drinks to the Chaldeans, came to give one to Seth. She didn''t understand why he looked kind of downhearted. You have to live your life in the present and leave all your worries for the future. Or that''s what she thought.

    "Our way of life is different. I have more important things to worry about than simply go around with a smile on my face." The Egyptian God said while taking the mug and throwing its contents on the ground like last time.

    "At least have some consideration and give it to someone else. I am sure the scallywags would enjoy it. Listen here, Bucko. I''m sure you don''t worry much about yourself, but you also have to think about the people that surround you. If you don''t want to be happy for yourself, be for those that care about you." That''s the only advice that came to mind for now, and the only one she could give to him.

    ''How this even ended up being a lesson about my life.'' Seth wondered while raising his eyebrows at Drake. "Sure, whatever makes you happy, Captain. Now, if you excuse me, I will make others happy by resting a bit. You as well should not get drunk too much. We will need you to be completely alert tomorrow."

    He didn''t wait for a reply and just got up and left. Although his body could stay several days without any sleep, it was better to be in top condition before a difficult fight.

    The nightshift to see if there was a surprise attack would be in charge of EMIYA, Euryale, who gave her responsibility to Asterios, and Artemis, so he was safe to shut down completely.

    Drake simply shook her head at his reply. ''I guess people like him also exist. Being stiff about everything never worked for anyone. I know very well.'' It wasn''t until she fully embraced the life of a pirate that she understood what true freedom was.

    She was also about to leave and continue partying when she noticed something on the ground. Crouching down and picking it up, she could see more clearly what it was. ''A ship...? This design. Isn''t it similar to that one...?'' It seemed Seth was not the only one who would have a trip down memory lane tonight.

    ������������������������������������������������������������

    A new day was beginning. Everyone, including the wasted pirates, was fully awake and ready to depart. The Chaldeans had made every preparation possible to face Blackbeard and his Servants again.

    Fujimaru made sure to eat well and get enough rest. He wanted to be able to provide as much Magical Energy to his Servants as possible. If worse came to worst, he would use a Command Spell to strengthen them.

    They were quick to board the Golden Hind, as delaying it would be counterproductive. Besides, it didn''t take a genius to know the others wouldn''t just sit and wait for them to come.

    Once the group made sure there was nothing left to do on this island, they set sail to end the existence of the man called Edward Teach once and for all.

    Drake wanted to test the resilience of the new armor, so she decided to fight some pirate groups they met along the way actively. Meanwhile, the others were thinking about a strategy to fight what they considered to be the biggest threat.

    The Pirate Queen had to admit it, the new improvements were marvelous. She even let some of the enemies ship fire at them to test the durability, and the result pleased her enormously. There was not a single scratch after they bombarded the Golden Hind.

    She took some time from her crazy experiments to approach Seth. She had been thinking a bit after seeing that wood carving. There was something she wanted to know at all costs.

    "Hey, got some time?" Every Servant plus him was positioned in different points of the ship, thus creating a formation to prevent any type of sneak attack. Drake left the helm to Bombe and went directly to ask him.

    "What is it?" He didn''t know what she wanted, but he at least hoped it was not another life lesson. It wasn''t like he lived more than two hundred thousand years and already knew what life was all about. Not at all.

    "Here, where did you get this?" Drake took the wooden ship from one of her pockets and showed it to him. It was something that meant a lot to her.

    "I carved it. Why? Is there something wrong with it?" Although pretty weirded out by the strange question, at least it was not what he initially thought she was going to ask.

    "...I see. Where did you get the inspiration to make this? Did you see this ship somewhere?" She questioned in quick succession. Her voice also seemed to contain a small bit of...anxiety?

    "No. I have never seen it. It just popped out in my head when I was bored. Sorry I can''t be of much help." The black-haired man was telling the truth. He had no recollection of ever seeing that ship. That said, it wasn''t like he didn''t understand how much that meant to her. The negative emotions coming his way were proof enough of that.

    "...It''s okay. Forget I even asked." She looked to the side, clearly disappointed before sighing and once again regaining her "cheerful" personality. "Still, do you mind if I keep this? It would mean a lot!"

    "Go ahead. It''s just something I made on the spur of the moment so you can have it if that''s what you want." He didn''t care for a mere piece of wood. There was no point in denying her request.

    "Thanks ''bout that!" Her mood seemed to improve after hearing his confirmation. She immediately put it back in the safety of her pocket and turned around to take control of the helm.

    ''Well... That was sudden and weird...'' It was evident that ship meant something for her, but he had no idea of the reason why. Maybe it was just a coincidence; it was not like those didn''t exist.

    After that strange experience, the group continued on their way. They were taking into account the overall direction from where the previous attack came from to set their course. In these seas where there was nothing but water and no other way to locate other people accurately, that was their only option.

    However, they didn''t even have to do anything. The connection Archer had with Seth allowed him to pinpoint his exact location. The reverse was almost the same, and by the looks of it, they would meet in a few hours.

    Seth would finally be able to know what his training accomplished after more than three thousand years. Archer, for his part, would see what became of the God who he saw as a teacher.

    Looking at the general direction where his student was, he felt time going slower than usual. ''Mose...the waiting...''

    ''...Is killing me, Teacher.'' Archer was also looking at where the Egyptian God was. He was on the mast, relaxedly killing sea monsters thousands of kilometers below the ship. It helped him to distract himself until the awaited time.

    "You seem pretty excited. You even want to fight alone with the guy that made an Ancient Hero disappear. Do you know him by any chance?" William was beside him, observing him shoot. Of course, to him, it looked as if Archer was just shooting randomly. His sight didn''t go that far, after all.

    "..." The dark-skinned man didn''t answer. Instead, he kept killing every aquatic creature that entered his field of vision.

    It wasn''t until half an hour later that he finally decided to reply. "I do. He is the man I want to kill the most. And I will do anything to see that happening."

    "You say that, but I don''t feel any hatred coming from those words." Saber smirked under his hat. Out of all the Servants on Blackbeard''s ship, he might be the only one interested in talking to him. Not that there were many.

    Again, Archer took his sweet time to reply to his remark. "That is because I do not hate him, far from that. However, emotions hold no place in here. If you let emotions cloud your mind, you will never accomplish anything."

    "Heh. Those are pretty sad words, aren''t they? Where did you get those from, big guy?" William asked with a raised eyebrow. He couldn''t imagine that coming from someone other than royalty. Such bad memories, indeed.

    "From him." This time, the answer was immediate, something that slightly surprised Kidd. Even so, he paid it no mind, believing that Archer was more comfortable talking about their enemy than himself.

    "Didn''t he teach you something more encouraging? I don''t know, maybe some words of motivation that could help us out?" Although he asked in a jokingly manner, he was kind of interested in the answer.

    "...To do not differentiate between life and respect it all equally. It is the reason why I will not attack the people with him any further, even if I end up killing him ultimately." He said, dematerializing his bow. He had lost all interest in his oceanic hunt now.

    "What if the Captain asks you to do it? Command Spells are a scary thing, you know? Just now, one is restraining me from killing him on the spot." Saber commented with a regrettable tone.

    "I can make that binding mechanism null any time I want. Even if I could not, do you think someone like that man would be able to restrict me? In the end, thieves are only thieves." His words indicated how low he thought of Blackbeard. Not surprising since it was the case with every person that met him.

    "...I feel like I just heard something outrageous here..." He wanted to take his words as a joke, but he didn''t seem to the be type to say those, and the Magical Energy he displayed when he shot that arrow told him to do otherwise.

    "Hey, you two! Can you come down here? I''m all in for yuri, but not so much for yaoi, so could you please stop doing whatever you are doing?" Mr. Lolicon woke up pretty upset because his harem, as always, disappeared the moment he opened his eyes. So what better way to take out his frustrations than to bother others?

    "Sigh. I wish I could do the same as you. Why couldn''t someone else summon me? Even an animal would have been fine." Saber was having the worst time of his life, or death, in this case. There was no way his luck could be this bad. On second thought, it kind of was.

    "..." Archer ignored both of them completely. He had no intention of listening to what a clown had to say, and less to someone like him who was the epitome of repulsiveness.

    With his own set of troubles, the dark-skinned man continued his wait for the decisive moment. One hour passed, so did two and three.

    As if aware of the impending battle, the level of tension on both crews began rising. Like that, the fourth hour came, and with it, what everyone was waiting for since a while ago. The "bad" side, to get both Stheno and Euryale and the Holy Grail. The "good" one, to end the existence of the man called Blackbeard and retrieve his wishing-granting device too.

    Drake could already see Blackbeard''s ship, and he could see hers. With each passing moment, they were getting closer to each other.

    Suddenly, in unison, two men, one on each side, landed on the bowsprit. Archer summoned his bow as blue lightning surrounded his figure. Meanwhile, Seth did the same with his spear, generating a similar effect, but with a mix of red and black lightning instead.

    Just by his Magical Energy alone, they confirmed he was the man that attacked them on the previous island. To say the situation looked grim would be an understatement.

    "I like that you are ready to go! Show them the power of Blackbeard''s pirates and get me Euryale-chan and Euryale-chan#2!" Teach, having no idea of why he wanted to fight with Seth, just fanned the flames.

    "Talk big all you want. I will make sure you die without your head again!" Drake, as the Captain, had an obligation to answer to that creep and prove they weren''t any less than them.

    Both men in question ignored both their "Captains" and just stared directly into each other''s eyes without blinking.

    The first to speak was Seth. "Mose...it''s been a long time. I can see that what I did for you didn''t go to waste." The familiarity with which he addressed the enemy Servant was something that surprised the Chaldeans, except for some individual cases.

    "Indeed, it has been. I am here to keep my promise. Although looking at you now, I can not help but feel tremendous anger! What happened for you to end in such a state?! Answer me, Teacher! No, Lord Of The Red Desert, Dark God Seth!"

 Chapter 107 - Infighting

    "..." So that was it. Finally, his identity was not a secret anymore. He couldn''t, nor he had the intention to blame his disciple for revealing it. His anger was genuine, as well as justified.

    Archer, Thutmose III, could not believe what his eyes were seeing. He never felt such a d.e.s.i.r.e to murder someone like this until now. Previously, he wanted to kill Seth with everything he had got. That didn''t stem from hatred, but from wanting to relieve him from his suffering. However, now his mind was focused on ending with the existence that degraded his Teacher to such a state.

    The person he respected the most has turned into a mere mortal. It was not what he wanted at all! He wanted to prove himself. To show him that he was strong enough to accomplish what Seth expected of him!

    But now��Now what he saw was not his Teacher. He was not the God he admired. He was not the God he wanted to kill. A shadow of the past is what he was.

    Fujimaru''s Servants had a similar reaction, but for a different reason. As soon as the words "Dark God Seth" left Archer''s mouth, they immediately turned hostile against him. Mash positioned herself in front of her Senpai, EMIYA pointed his bow at him, and Zhuge Liang was ready to perform any Magecraft necessary.

    Seth''s Servants didn''t fall behind, though. Sanson pointed his sword at Caster while Altera did the same with Artemis, who just joined the other side to makes things even. She didn''t honestly care for anything happening right now. Euryale, despite not being his Servant, also pointed her bow at EMIYA. Asterios was in a similar situation as Artemis, but if the Middle Sister decided to protect the black-haired man, he would do the same. Stheno just covered her mouth with a harmless smile, but her eyes focused on both Fujimaru and Mash told them that she was also going to act if they tried anything funny.

    Drake''s head was starting to hurt. She didn''t know what side to take, nor she understood what was going on with all this. The development was just way too fast!

    It seemed today was the enemy''s lucky day. Without doing a single thing, the Chaldeans were going to fight among themselves.

    "...Seth. A Divine Spirit of Ancient Egypt who murdered his brother, Osiris, in cold-blood and usurped his throne and reigned by terrorizing his subjects until his nephew Horus managed to put an end to it thanks to the help from the other Egyptian Gods. Some people believe his myth also inspired Christianity, often comparing him with Satan on several occasions." Romani gave some sort of summary of his story. He couldn''t believe he didn''t realize sooner about his identity. He had let a terrible beast into his house, one of the most dangerous at that.

    "You have some explaining to do." At the slightest sign of movement, the Red Bowman would shoot, no question asked.

    "Senpai, please don''t leave my side. I will make sure to protect you!" Shielder''s priority was Fujimaru''s safety, nothing else. If former allies turned enemies, of course, she would feel bad and ask why, but that didn''t change her mission of defending her Master. In the heat of the moment, she seemed to have forgotten who were the ones who started this all.

    "Silence! Who do you think you are speaking to, you peasants?!" If it wasn''t enough with seeing Seth in such a state, he had to stand to hear these people treat him as if he was someone they could question as they pleased.

    His Magical Energy rampaged wildly, signaling the level of anger he was feeling. Without warning, he shot five arrows made of pure lightning at incredible speeds. They made an arc, avoiding the ones who were defending Seth and went straight to Fujimaru, Mash, EMIYA, Zhuge Liang, and Artemis.

    The speed of those arrows was such that there was no time to react at all. Nothing surprising coming from the man who managed to overcome hundreds of kilometers in a matter of seconds.

    However, before they succeeded in hitting their mark, they turned around as if attracted by a magnet and went straight at Seth, who blocked them by summoning a pair of wings from his Griffin form using his Shapeshift Skill.

    Even with the additional defense boost, the wings were quick to burn and disappear. Seth, for his part, didn''t utter even a single sound of pain. He just looked at Thutmose with disappointment.

    "Why?! Why you defend them?! The same! They are the same! The same as those good-for-nothings that slandered your name!" He did not understand; nothing of this made sense. The God he knew would not take their words lying down!

    "...Mose. In your rage, you seem to have forgotten what I once told you. Nothing good comes from a moment of rage. More so if it doesn''t affect you directly." Seth spoke for the first time since this whole incident started. It was difficult for him to practice what he preached because he lived the grand part of his life differently, but the black-haired man taught Archer from a young age, so it shouldn''t be that hard for him, or so he thought.

    It wasn''t like he didn''t appreciate how worried he was for him, but there were limits to that. He didn''t just teach him about war and how to wield a bow; he also taught him how to be a King. Contrary to what others might think, he was the fittest to do that. The Egyptian God knew what he did wrong, so he passed on that knowledge to his student as some sort of list of things he shouldn''t do.

    He would understand if the people in question were thieves because of what happened to his slumbering place. But that wasn''t the case with the Chaldeans. The dark-skinned man was truly disrespecting him by attacking the ones behind him in his presence. Seth wasn''t in that particular place to enjoy the view. It had a symbolic meaning, and Archer as his student should know that.

    That seemed to have gone down the drain, though. Archer was acting more like a kid throwing a tantrum than a King, hence his disappointment.

    "..." Thutmose closed his eyes for a second and took a deep breath. He then spoke to his "companions" who were enjoying the show. "You do whatever you want, but the initial plan still stands. I will be the one to fight him."

    "I don''t like you two stealing my spotlight, but that''s fine. As long as you take care of that guy, the others are easy peasy! Right, comrades?! We just have to go even further beyond!" Blackbeard had plenty of trust in Archer''s abilities, and even if he lost, it wouldn''t be an immediate thing, so he had enough time to bully the Chaldeans.

    "Please stop making references that no one here understands, Captain." Even though Mary asked for it, she knew her words would fall on deaf ears.

    "You should do the same as me and focus on your fight. That way, you would forget he even exists." Anne advised her friend with total sincerity. She wanted a rematch with EMIYA, but looking at how things were going, she didn''t discard the possibility of him fighting one of his former allies instead of her.

    "Try not to die, my friend. Your opponent is giving me bad vibes, and that strange voice classified him as a Divine Spirit, so the more reason to be careful, but I guess you should know that since he was your teacher, don''t you?" William Kidd gave a friendly reminder to Archer.

    "...The worst enemy is the one you can not see." The dark-skinned man also gave him a reminder, all while casting his gaze on a little plush toy that was sneaking into the ship. He then looked at Altera''s back, who was still with her sword pointed at Artemis for a second before disappearing together with Seth.

    Saber was visibly confused by what he said. In the end, he took it as some kind of everyday advice more than something for the current situation.

    On the Chaldeans; side, they didn''t seem to be ready to fight, at least not the real enemy. Despite Seth not being there anymore, the tension between both "teams" was still very much present.

    If no one did anything, and quickly, both sides would just destroy one another without Blackbeard and his Servants having to do a single thing.

    Fortunately, someone did, and it was the most unexpected person. Fujimaru looked at everyone on this ship. It certainly didn''t fill him with joy to see once ��And hopefully, still�� comrades turning against each other that easily.

    "Please, stop." It was not easy to utter those simple words, more so taking into account the tension in the air. Add to that the fact they would act if someone were even to move a muscle. It took a lot of courage.

    "Senpai?" Mash turned her head back, not understanding why her Master had said that. Her confusion was shared by the others as well, even the ones on Seth''s side.

    "Now is not the time to act like everybody has a good side, Master!" EMIYA could see through Fujimaru''s intentions. It very much reminded him of his younger self, who thought that everyone deserved salvation.

    "I agree with Archer. It is not wise to judge someone based on sentimentalism alone. You have to look at facts, and sorry to say it, but they are not on his favor." Zhuge Liang backed EMIYA up without hesitation.

    "I know that. That''s why let me ask you this. Hasn''t Kuro��Hasn''t Seth helped us until now? Hasn''t he always saved us when the situation got too much to handle for ourselves? Seth took on the most dangerous Servants all by himself. Even now, he took the hit that Archer threw at us" Fujimaru started calmly with his words, but eventually, he became bolder.

    "To begin with, if it weren''t for him warning us from that attack, we wouldn''t even be here! Besides, don''t we have an example of myth not being a hundred percent accurate here?! Just look at Artemis, how does she relate to her mythological version?!" The young man even included the white-haired Goddess in his example. Using her for this particular situation was an outright win in the discussion.

    "Wait, what do I have to do with this?!" Was this a thing you were supposed to say to your allies?!

    "What about you, Artemis? Didn''t you say you admired him?" Fujimaru seemed to be in some sort of adrenaline rush, so he kept going, totally ignoring her question.

    "Well, of course! He killed his brother when he discovered her wife had been unfaithful with him. I would do the same if some harlot tried to do that with my darling, that''s why I admire him!" Okay, he was an idiot for even asking. The fault is all his. And what''s with that expression she had right now? It''s seriously scary.

    "Cough...Anyway, the point is, I won''t judge him by what he has done IF he had done it. I will only do so with what I see of him now." With an apparent fake cough, Fujimaru tried to convey his feelings. If Seth were here, he would have called him an idiot because his way of thinking was still the same. That said...he at least would say thanks.

    This behavior from him didn''t just surge out of nowhere. Because there was one thing, one thing no one, not even Seth knew. Only he and Cu Chulainn did.

    In reality, Fujimaru was already aware of Seth''s identity for a long time.

    (A/N: I was going to post two chapters today, but I lost a bet with Salt_Empress that I would not get Skadi, and I did, so now I have to write another chapter. I should seriously stop making bets, but at least I can leave you guys with another cliff! You will have three chapters on Sunday��Hopefully :) On another note, did Fujimaru redeem himself? What do you guys think? Like, comment, and subscribe)

 Chapter 108 - Finding The Truth (1)

    Fujimaru''s passionate speech left them without any words to retort. One by one, the Japanese Master''s Servants plus Artemis stopped their aggressive stances. When they saw this happen, the others did the same too.

    Seth''s Servants and the remaining two had to admit his courage was commendable. Not every Master would stand up for what they believe against one of their kind. After all, no matter how good your relationship with them was, if they thought you were in the wrong, they would not hesitate to not listen to you and would go out of their way to defy your orders. Of course, there were alternatives to prevent that from happening, like using a Command Spell, but that would only work to damage your relationship with them.

    The young man visibly relaxed after heaving a sigh of relief. He was expecting this to happen the moment the others found out about his identity, but he didn''t know if he would be able to calm the Servants, his own mainly.

    Cu Chulainn had warned him this could happen, so he told him to prepare in the eventual case they discovered who Seth was. And he was right. If it weren''t because he knew beforehand, Fujimaru was sure he wouldn''t have been able to cope with the situation.

    Looking back at that moment, Caster DID emphasize it. So much so that he felt his ears would start bleeding were he to hear another word.

    ������������������������������������������������������������

    Cu Chulainn and Fujimaru had just exited the Cafeteria. They were heading to the Simulation Room, where Caster would put his Master under some harsh training against some weak monsters. They had to work those muscles somehow.

    The Japanese youngster was waiting for them to arrive and begin the simulation to ask something to Caster. Although not personally, he learned the unfortunate way that Kuro could hear from far away. He remembered Caster making some remark about him and some female Servant here in Chaldea. He didn''t get to listen to the name as he appeared just on time to kick Cu Chulainn right in the b.u.t.t, though. Considering Kuro was on the other extreme of the building last time he saw him, it was a pretty big hearing range and an impressive speed too if you asked him.

    Hopefully, once they were there, he wouldn''t be able to hear. Fujimaru didn''t exactly know how the simulation worked, but by Dr. Roman''s words, it was something similar to Rayshifting. Again, hopefully, that would save his b.u.t.t from being kicked.

    "Caster, can you make some sort of soundproof barrier around us?" As soon as Cu Chulainn inputted the settings for their training, Fujimaru asked him for an extra precaution. You can never be cautious enough, after all.

    "Sure thing, just give me a minute or two. Why would you want me to do that, though?" It was something easy to do, but the request confused him a bit.

    The Master waited until Cu Chulainn finished setting up the barrier to respond. "To tell the truth, I have wanted to ask you something for some time now."

    The Sage Of The Forest realized this was not a trivial thing. His Master didn''t have the look of a lost lamb among a pack of wolves like he usually had. This time, Fujimaru seemed to have a more serious attitude. "Ask away, as long as I can answer, I''ll do it."

    Taking a deep breath, the young man looked directly into Caster''s eyes. "...I know I am not the brightest person out there, but I couldn''t help to notice how good you and Kuro get along. That''s why I want to ask you, do you know who he truly is?"

    Cu Chulainn''s eyes widened for a second. He certainly didn''t expect his Master to ask something like that. He left him in a tight spot on how to answer.

    In the end, he just sighed while scratching the back of his head. "Why do you want to know that? It''s not like it''s going to change anything, you know? I would better leave it at that if I were you."

    "Please. I know that I shouldn''t be praying into others'' matters and that maybe Kuro is hiding his name for a reason, but I just feel it''s not fair for someone who has helped Chaldea for so long to be treated as a stranger by us. When you hide under someone else''s name, you end up forgetting who you are. That''s why, please." Who knew he would use the words she used to say. And to think he called them cheesy before. Must be fate. ''Sister...''

    The only thing he could do right now was bowing to him in the hope he would reconsider it and give him a satisfactory answer. He didn''t want, nor would resort to a Command Spell. That was just forcing your will into someone, and he didn''t like that.

    "Look, it''s not that I don''t want to tell you. It''s just that it won''t change anything for the better. What''s more, it will only make matters worse." It was not like he wanted to see his Master begging him, but nothing good could come out from him telling Fujimaru about Seth. "Besides, it''s probably better for you to consider him a stranger. Knowing his name might create the opposite effect you want to achieve."

    "Please...!" He didn''t raise his head but kept bowing instead. It seemed he wouldn''t move from that position unless Caster finally told him what he wanted to know.

    "Forget it, I am telling it for your good, Master." Cu Chulainn wouldn''t bulge, something that left Fujimaru helpless. At this point, his only alternative was to stay there and do nothing, making them coming here meaningless.

    The Japanese Master stayed like that for a good couple of minutes. No matter what the blue-haired man said or did, he wouldn''t move from there. Cu Chulainn was an impatient guy from birth, even if that trait showed less in his Caster form, and this guy was not making it more manageable.

    "Are you seriously going to do this? Sigh. Fine, I will tell you. However, don''t mention this to anyone, or I will sever my contract with you, and you can say goodbye to any help I can provide. I am just telling you because you are an idiot, but at least you are the good type and not the dangerous one." Caster couldn''t believe his Master was doing this, but thinking about it a little more, it wasn''t surprising. He was precisely the type of fool who would try to befriend a demon, assuming it still had a kind side to him.

    This time, it was Fujimaru''s turn to sigh. He didn''t know how to feel about being called an idiot, but he got what he came here for, at least.

    "The one you call Kuro, his real name is Seth, a God from a foreign land. There, happy?" There was no point in adding suspense, so he directly answered without much care.

    "Seth? God? Not a Divine Spirit?" Fujimaru was visibly confused by what Cu Chulainn said. He didn''t know any God with that name, and as far as he knew, every one of them had been degraded to a Divine Spirit, just a shadow of their former glory.

    "His circ.u.mstances are a bit special. It''s fine if you don''t understand them. As for his name, you not knowing about it is not strange. He is not that well-known for the common folk outside of his place of origin." Even though Seth is a relevant figure in Egyptian mythology, not many people know of him as they would do with others like the Greek Gods or some of the Norse ones. That''s why his Master''s confusion didn''t surprise him at all.

    Seeing Fujimaru with a face that urged him to continue, Cu Chulainn scratched his cheek, trying to see if he could explain to him in a way the young man would understand. "Let''s see... Maybe you are more familiar with the name Osiris, are you?"

    He nodded at his question. "Yes. Although not much, I have heard about him before. He was a God who was also a King of Egypt if I recall correctly."

    "That''s right. Well, Seth is Osiris'' brother. There are many circ.u.mstances involving those two, ones I don''t know if you are aware of, Master." He wasn''t someone who would explain something the other party already knew, so it was better to make sure if he did or not.

    This time, Fujimaru shook his head. His knowledge of mythological beings was scarce. He often read some books containing information about his Servants to know them better, but that was all. "I am sorry. I was just a normal person until all of this happened, and we didn''t require to know all of this stuff."

    Cu Chulainn understood this, but it was not on him to divulge more information. "If you want to know more, go, and research for yourself. I am sure you will find more than what I can tell. I''m warning you, though. Not everything of what you will read is true. Which one it is, and which one it isn''t, I will leave it to you to decide."

    "I see...I will do that. Thanks, Caster. And sorry for the trouble I caused you." Fujimaru was apologetic. Even he knew that it must have been an annoying thing to do.

    "It''s all right, but remember what I said. Nothing of going around disclosing what I told you, not even to Seth, got it?" An additional wouldn''t hurt, just in case that his Master had been distracted when he did so the first time.

    "You can count on that." The consequences aside, he didn''t want to betray the trust his Servant deposited on him. He, under no circ.u.mstances, wanted to be that type of person.

    After receiving his confirmation, Caster finally could do what they came here for, train. To say Cu Chulainn was harsher on the training would be an understatement. It seemed he wanted some sort of "revenge" because of Fujimaru''s curiosity.

    The original idea that crossed the young man''s mind when his Servant told him to research was to do it immediately after the training session, but that became impossible when he could barely move after it was over.

    Only after taking a good shower and resting on his bed for a few hours was he ready to begin. Chaldea didn''t have a library ��None that he was aware of, at least�� so he had to ask some members of the staff to see the records they had. Kind of like a Wikia entry.

    As usual, the staff members were glad to be of help and asked him which Servant''s history did he want to see. Fujimaru told them he wanted to do it himself because, on this occasion, he would read more than one at a time. He felt terrible for lying to them, especially when they always were kind to him, but he already promised Caster, and he couldn''t exactly go back on it either.

    They were very comprehensive, allowing him to view the records on his own. Although Lev''s betrayal still weighed in their mind, they also understood there had to be some trust if they wanted to succeed in a mission as big as the one they were doing. Besides, to them, Fujimaru was a very likable person, so there was no reason not to trust him.

    Once he knew no one was watching, the Japanese youth began his research. He was not used to high-end technological stuff like this, so he took a bit of time to find what he was looking for: who was Seth.

    At first, it was some general things like his name, what he was the God of, and his role as the protector of the Sun God Ra. ''This explains his powers. The Doctor said he was not a Servant, and that there could only be cases like Stheno where Divine Spirits lower their Divinity to be able to exist as one. But he seems to be getting stronger, wouldn''t that contradict his statement? And didn''t Caster refer to him as a God and not a Divine Spirit?''

    For every answer he found, two new questions would appear. Knowing that the only solution would be to keep looking, Fujimaru read further into the records. However, that was when he reached his dark, stained history.

 Chapter 109 - Finding Out The Truth (2)

    ''This is...!'' Taking into account what he had found so far, Seth was on the side of "Justice," but if he recalled the way Caster told him about it, there seemed to be something more to him, something that was not exactly good.

    At first, Fujimaru didn''t understand where Cu Chulainn''s sort of pessimist behavior was coming from at all. Leaving aside his Authorities, which kind of screamed "Not a good guy," there was nothing that could portray him as someone terrible.

    That was, of course, until he saw his most famous story. In essence, his fall from grace where he went from someone who would protect his people against evil, to someone who became evil himself.

    Seth, jealous of his brother Osiris because he got to keep all the power while he got nothing, murdered him in cold blood. Once Osiris'' wife, Isis, managed to recover his corpse that Seth threw in the Nile river, he dismembered it after getting its location from his wife Nephthys and scattered the rests across the land. Because Egyptian Gods needed their corpse intact to revive after death, Isis embarked on a journey to get them all back. To her misfortune, she couldn''t recover all the parts, resulting in the impossibility of her husband''s revival.

    Reading this, Fujimaru thought he was observing the story of a stranger, and not the one from Kuro��The one from Seth. It was true that at first, he acted cold toward them, but the youth also noticed how his attitude had become warmer, or at least not as indifferent as before.

    He wanted to know more about this to form a conclusive answer, so he continued reading. There was some strange thing about this that drew his attention. Maybe it was the fact that, aside from the fantastical elements, it looked like a human story, something more relatable.

    Isis, through her magic, transformed herself into a bird and, through some weird and undetailed process, was able to extract Osiris'' seed and become pregnant. Her pregnancy was soon discovered by Seth, who had become the new King ��Pharaoh in this case��. Fearing for her child''s life, she asked help from other Gods. They told her to hide in the marshes and raise her child there.

    Believing that was not enough, she used her magic to disguise herself as a common woman you could find anywhere. There were many instances where this caused her a lot of problems, but she still held on.

    Practically alone and with only the help of some Goddesses, she made sure her child, which she named Horus, grew to be someone worthy of being a Pharaoh and capable of avenging his deceased father.

    As all of this was happening, Seth ruled with terror and made the lives of his citizens a living hell, demanding sacrifices; otherwise, he would send all sorts of mystical demons to devour them. He never stopped searching for Isis, though. When he was not busy torturing people, he was searching for the two in the hope of ending with their existence.

    Seth''s feud with his sister was not that big, so maybe she would be spared, but her child was a different case.

    There was another thing Fujimaru found weird. It turns out that Osiris, Seth, Isis, and Nephthys were all siblings. Meaning they were married to their sister or brother, respectively. He was aware that in Japan, his birthplace, there is some sector of the population who thinks this is okay and even promotes it, but to him, it was just plain...weird, for lack of a better word.

    That topic aside, again, something appeared that didn''t correlate with what he knew of Seth. This record painted him as someone who wouldn''t tolerate the slightest opposition. However, the one he knew was, for the most part, a patient man. And even when he lost his cool with one of their team members, he never harmed them.

    ''Could this be what Caster was talking about, that there are some things which are not entirely correct?'' Maybe Fujimaru didn''t realize it, but on the inside, he was "forcing" himself to believe this. It was something similar to fanatism. The person you are a fan of having a shady side to them is unthinkable.

    Although Fujimaru was not exactly Seth''s fan, it was a situation along those lines. He might not know him for more than two months, but he just simply didn''t strike him as someone evil. With Lev, he felt a bit uncomfortable on their first meeting, and he had a bad feeling about him. However, with Seth, it was the opposite. There was that feeling of "If you leave it to that guy, somehow all will work out in the end."

    Continuing with the story, Isis, through many hardsh.i.p.s, finally managed to make her child into a fine young man capable of putting an end to Seth''s tyranny.

    Horus presented himself as Osiris'' son and challenged Seth. Every God was on his side except Ra, who believed him to be still young and unworthy of the throne. This clash of opinions caused many competitions to occur, to determine who was the rightful owner of Egypt.

    The competitions were diverse, but overall they tested the strength of both contestants. Some involved the use of weapons, others a fight after shapeshifting themselves into animals.

    Horus quickly showed himself superior, besting Seth in every competition they did. However, the Tyrannical Ruler didn''t want to accept defeat, so he demanded a rematch every time with the excuse of there being a secret external help. In other words, this portrayed him as a sore loser. There were accounts of Isis helping Horus and him cheating, though, so it wasn''t like Seth was always in the wrong.

    Thanks to this constant rematches, their duel extended for many years. It wasn''t until about eighty-something years later since the conflict started that it finally came to an end. It had gotten to the point where even the other Gods were tired about it. Without any other choice, they decided to hold a meeting to find a solution once and for all.

    It came to no surprise that even then, they were still not reaching a consensus. That''s why, as a last resort, the Gods called Neith, one of, if not the most Ancient Goddesses in Egypt. Everyone regarded her words highly and would have to abide by them. Many people in one of the first periods believed her to be Seth''s wife, but that was later re-interpreted to be just a friendly relationship.

    That also explains her decision and the final one that put an end to the dispute. She gave the complete rule of Egypt to Horus and commanded them to compensate Seth by giving him two foreign Goddesses as wives, Anat, and Astarte.

    Whatever way you look at it, that was a ripoff. Although considering that "good" triumphed, Fujimaru supposed it was all right in the end. There was not much mention of what happened afterward, though.

    Without a doubt, this story only worked to make Seth look bad. However, he didn''t want to leave with just that, so he started looking in other areas and sources, trying to broaden his knowledge.

    The youth soon found that to be even more pointless in a sense. There was some complexity involving Seth''s character, sometimes he had a good side, and sometimes he had a bad one.

    Fujimaru couldn''t help but hold his head in frustration. It was as if his whole existence didn''t revolve around a mere definition. ''Wait��That''s it!''

    After many minutes of thinking that seemed it wouldn''t lead him anywhere, he came with a theory that could explain some things. More than a theory, it was an answer.

    It was something simple at the same time that it was complicated. Seth was neither good nor evil. He didn''t belong, couldn''t, and mustn''t be put on any one of those two categories.

    Looking a bit further into it, Fujimaru proved his theory was correct or at least accepted by a variety of people. Egyptians believed in the concept of balance, where no side could be more significant than the other. Seth was, in other words, the darkness to Horus'' light, and it must remain that way.

    This realization didn''t make it easier for the Japanese young man, though. After all, it was easier to "judge" someone when he or she was good or evil. If they didn''t belong to any of those categories, you just went in blind when you had to treat someone by their character.

    He wouldn''t get anywhere just by standing there pondering, so he made sure to close everything and go to his room. He had spent a lot of time searching for information, so someone was bound to show up eventually.

    Luckily no one made any questions when he met them in the hallway, just saying to him they hoped he found what he was looking for, that''s all.

    The first thing Fujimaru did when he entered his room was to lay on the bed, staring at the ceiling. He was so mentally tired that, in no time, he fell asleep.

    His head was full of questions, and this sleep seemed to have helped him somehow. The moment he opened his eyes again, Fujimaru gained some clarity that wasn''t there before.

    ''Same as when I got that answer, maybe I am looking at it from the wrong angle.'' What if instead of judging him by something he didn''t even know if it was real, he did it by what he witnessed?

    There wasn''t much to say about him in Fuyuki, as they only met half-way through. Still, it was true he defeated Saber and avoided their inevitable destruction when the situation had turned against their favor.

    In France, he defeated thousands of Wyverns, helped Jeanne when she wanted to stay back and face Alter, something that would only have resulted in her death. He helped minimize the losses of the French Army, and also put an end to that monstrosity near the end.

    ''Looking back at it, he summoned an enormous serpent to defeat it, but I have never seen him do that again, I wonder why? Also, could that be Apophis, the one mentioned in that record? But why can he invoke it? Weren''t they enemies?'' These questions were something to ponder another day, as now he was in the middle of something important.

    Following from where he left off, in Rome, it was true he killed many soldiers from the United Empire, and that would make him a murderer. However, looking at it from another perspective, he was not the only one to do it. His Servants ��Particularly Lancelot�� also partook in the killing of their forces. As much as Fujimaru didn''t want that to happen, reality has hit him in the face many times. He couldn''t hide behind a fairytale forever.

    The only comfort he had was what Romani said to him. "Humanity will correct itself, and everyone who perished due to History going wrong will come back to life." Of course, even while knowing that it didn''t mean he will just let people die with the excuse that everything is going to be back to normal.

    In Fuyuki and France, they only had to worry about being against monsters and Servants, but in the recent Singularity, they also had to face humans. He watched many people die there. He looked on as hope and light vanished from their eyes. Those images still haunt him to this day. Thankfully his Servants plus the medical staff and Romani and Da Vinci had helped him go through it with a little more ease.

    ''Who says we won''t face more humans in the future? The question is, do I have the right to call someone out on killing them when it is for the good of Humanity...?'' The answer was a solid no. He preferred to avoid that, of course, and he didn''t want to use "for the good of X" as an excuse, but when he just was in the back, being protected and not doing anything more than giving orders and using his Mystic Code to help, what right did he have? None.

    So, Fujimaru got his answer. And that was "nothing." He wouldn''t act different, nor in any unique way with him. He would treat him the same as always, with the only difference that now he knew who he was and that the word simple wouldn''t work to describe him.

    This answer never failed him, and even in Okeanos, it didn''t prove him wrong. If he hadn''t known Seth was a God, he might, in some part of his head, think that Seth only warned EMIYA of the attack because his life was also at risk, but knowing who he was, that possibility became nonexistent.

    At that point, there was no reason to keep trying to validate it.

    The God name Seth...

    ...Was on Humanity''s side.

 Chapter 110 - A Certain Gods Thoughts

    When was it? I certainly can''t remember. But it started in a similar way to how I got here, wasn''t it? I had just finished one of those seemingly endless reincarnations when the dog told me I wouldn''t be reincarnating yet, and that I had a task to do.

    It turns out they wanted me to teach a snotty brat how to triumph in combat. Laughable. When was I one to even teach others? Much less little boys with an ego as high as the clouds.

    I had left my life with the woman I loved behind. I murdered the people closest to me. I even massacred the Gods in a blind rage fueled by "that" side of me. The only thing I wanted was to completely die and return to the place where every God comes from, that was all.

    As for returning with Amaterasu? Impossible. I left without saying a single word, not even a goodbye. Speaking crudely, I just ran away. Looking back at it, I was very dumb, wasn''t I? I blindly believed someone just because of her wisdom and look at what I got. Countless lives of misery with no way out. However, I must say that I am not entirely out of blame. If I hadn''t killed that many of my kind, maybe this wouldn''t have happened.

    But that is not the reason why I couldn''t��Why I didn''t want to return to her side again. I was scared of her, or more precisely, of her reaction. Those beautiful eyes of hers, what I feared the most, was seeing them filled with disappointment, with sadness, with betrayal, with rage. That would hurt more than her stabbing my heart with one of her tails.

    Now that I think about it, she would do just that, wouldn''t she? Honestly, she sometimes acted so much like a bitch that I looked like a saint in comparison. But...she was perfect like that. The fact that she was independent, and did whatever she wanted, gave her a certain charm. Besides, it was not like I was easy to handle, either. I must have caused a lot of problems for her.

    Even so, it seemed that in the end, I screwed up big time. If I had known after everything that happened, you still loved me; I would have returned to you. Maybe then I would have made you satisfied, I would have made you happy.

    It is so...frustrating. I wished for your happiness the most, but instead, I just made you wait for a stupid man that didn''t even deserve to be by your side. A terrible partner that when he knew you still loved him, besides the pain, there was also joy in his heart.

    To the "me" that didn''t know of that simple reality, it was a different story, though. My version of that time thought nothing of it and didn''t have the slightest d.e.s.i.r.e to help. Even though that ritual was taking everything away from me, be it Authority, Divinity, or also...memories, I didn''t want to help those retards in any shape or form.

    I was quick to deny that dog''s request, even if it was not exactly his own. Just looking at him made me repulsed. The sin of his mother might not be his, but there was no way I would simply forget what happened. I could forgive that whore or just tell her to go f.u.c.k herself if the only thing she had done was sleeping with Osiris. That was not the case, much to my regret. What she did to me was even worse than that. I plucked and ate one of her wings in return, gaining regeneration abilities far greater than the average God. To my misfortune, she got away just in time before I managed to get the second one.

    Anubis was persistent, much to my annoyance. "Go seek help from Horus." Was what I told him. He always gave the Pharaohs his blessing, essentially making them become him. Maybe my nephew wouldn''t create the perfect mix between a warrior and a ruler, but that the brat would turn out to be a wise one was a sure thing.

    "...I know you do not want to do it. He is also going to help, albeit in a minor role. Lord Ra favors you the most, so he wants you to be the one to do it." He said. Funny, that decrepit geezer only has his interests in mind. The favor he spoke at the time might as well mean nothing. As long as you have some sort of value for his plans, whatever they are, he will "favor" you. In the end, it''s just controlling.

    The stupid dog wouldn''t open the gate, and I didn''t want to stay with him for even a second more, so I reluctantly accepted. That was not the reason I did it, though. Despite not wanting to help them, I wanted to have some freedom, as little as it might be. At that time, I could definitely feel it. My emotions were disappearing. I was becoming a machine that only has his work in mind and nothing else. So, if I could delay that for just a little, I would gladly take the opportunity.

    I have to admit it, though. I wasn''t particularly happy to do it. It was not a secret that I was terrible with kids; they and I just don''t get along. More so when I see��When I saw Anubis in every one of them.

    It didn''t help the cause that the kid in question was a brat who only wanted vengeance on her step-mother and had a terrible attitude, to boot.

    It took two years just to make the kid listen to me. If it weren''t because I would return to that "prison," were I to kill him, I would have done that already.

    At least he had some motivation, as revenge-driven as it was. I would have liked for Horus to do something more instead of merely appearing once every month to give some shitty advice, though.

    I remember spawning all sorts of beasts and dark monsters and making him fight to the death with them, forcing him to survive in the harshest parts of the desert just by eating poisonous creatures and striking him with lightning from time to time. Everything while he was less than ten years old. Now that I look at it...It seems Ama is not the only one who has problems.

    I might have gone too far...but he never complained, so that''s something. Maybe it was that motivation, that fire in his eyes to keep going no matter what that changed the way I looked at him. He went from being a snotty brat to someone worth spending the time with if anything.

    "No matter what you throw at me, I will overcome it! And then, when I have enough strength, I will kick your ass!" ...He still needed some correction, in the form of more hellish training, that is.

    I spent many years preparing him in every way possible, not just combat. Although I am not well-versed on how to manage Empires, I can at least teach him the basics about how to treat people, including outsiders. It may be because I am the God of Foreigners, but if he wanted to conquest other lands, I didn''t want him to just be a tyrant with them like I was.

    Sometimes, on the occasional days that I allowed him to rest, we would talk about a lot of things over a bonfire in the cold nights. As I had to keep him away from her mother''s hands who wanted him dead, we usually did that on remote locations, far from Egyptian lands.

    It was in those moments where he felt ready enough to tell me his ambitions. Growing up, he always said to me about how he wanted to kill his step-mother. Mose was a smart kid. Analyzing the strange circ.u.mstances regarding his father''s death, he concluded she was the one who murdered him to seize power. What she did was something the Gods wouldn''t allow. A Pharaoh was the incarnation of the will of their will, to have a human kill that was a terrible sin, but as they wanted the young successor to prove himself, they left her fate to him.

    "What do you I should do? You are a God, aren''t you? Shouldn''t you have some advice for me on how to deal with this?" It was what he asked me one night. I remember him hugging his knees while looking at the ground, trying to also think of an answer by himself.

    It came off as strange to me. Before, Mose wouldn''t even ask. "My mission is to get revenge for my father, and I will do anything to obtain the power necessary to achieve that." Is what he would say. The fact that he was asking me meant that he was not sure anymore, or that he just wanted a second opinion. Be that as it may, at least he was showing a more mature behavior.

    "Why would you want my opinion, though? Horus is a better choice than me in the matter. Despite being a lazy guy, his inherited wisdom surpasses mine." I honestly replied to him. Of course, that would have to wait until the person in question showed up, which he rarely did.

    "As someone who killed a family member, I was expecting you to tell me how did that feel, and if you felt satisfied afterward. And shouldn''t you hate Lord Horus? Why do you speak of him like he is some sort of everyday person you see on the streets?" I remember being left speechless by his words. For the first time in a long while, I laughed shortly. I couldn''t help it, actually. It had been a long time since someone dared to speak of that matter in front of me. Many considered it to be taboo, even my fellow Gods.

    Even Thutmose was caught off guard at that time. His face was indeed a sight to behold. I hadn''t seen him that surprised since the moment where I told him he would be wrestling with crocodiles.

    "Let''s see...if you ask me how I felt at that time, then the answer would be nothing. Even as I was dismembering my brother with my own hands, piece by piece, I felt nothing. Wording it in a better way, I felt empty. My thirst for blood wasn''t satiated, my unending rage wasn''t calming down, and my d.e.s.i.r.e to see the world burn only grew stronger. What I am trying to say is, what happened can''t be changed. Only when you look forward without being tied by the past is that you can find hope for a better future. People like me are so far gone to have that opportunity."

    I tried to find the best words I could to explain to him, but the only answer I got was, "Why do you say such embarrassing things? It does not suit you at all." Sometimes I wondered if he was a m.a.s.o.c.h.i.s.t that liked to receive hits on the back of his head.

    "As for Horus, I don''t hate him at all, and neither does he hate me. He was created to defeat me and defeat me he did. However, it was not as you humans portray it. You tend to beautify yourselves and the things you adore at your convenience. That said, I am sure the others also wanted to make it as if my defeat was the advent of a new era and erased a lot from the actual story." After that, I began to tell him what truly happened. It was a long tale, so he ended up sleeping half-way through it.

    One thing changed from that day on, though. He never mentioned killing his mother again, and instead asked for more training, to become a warrior that wouldn''t have to fear even the Gods.

    At that time, I never understood why he wanted that. I was sure he knew that to defy the Gods without Divine Blood was suicide. But, I paid it no mind. Instead, I trained him even harder. Sometimes, I would watch while Horus instructed him in the use of the spear or gave him ruling advice.

    "Uncle~ I leave the rest to you, all righty?~ Yawn...I''m goin'' to sleep, see ya!" As usual, he bid farewell in the laziest way possible before using his wings to fly away. This time, though, he left a message in a language that only us Gods could understand. "Make sure to say goodbye, m''kay? Time will soon be up."

    With his last words, I realized that my job was almost done. A little more than twenty years had passed since I started training him. I managed to see him grow from a kid who only caused problems to a man ready to face any challenge.

    I have got to admit it. I felt...sad upon realizing it, but I also understood it was necessary. Although Mose didn''t show it, I am sure he knew of it too. There was no other way to explain why he wanted to spend so much time with me when there was no more training to do.

    I didn''t want to leave just like that, though. That''s why I decided to give him a parting gift. I went to my temple hidden in the sands and prepared a ritual. By cutting off my right arm and placing it in a circle full of hieroglyphs, I managed to create a weapon with my Divinity imbued into it.

    It was true that he needed Divine Blood or some sort of miracle to challenge a God, but that rule didn''t apply to weapons, especially ones made by them.

    The process took about a week. Even with a grand part of my powers stolen, doing something like that was not difficult to do. More so if you could recover the body part you used as "sacrifice."

    When I returned, what awaited me was a full-fledged Pharaoh. It seemed that Mose''s step-mother had died while I was away, and he was quick to seize power. I was impressed, very much so.

    After jokingly saying I was away on his most important day, he started offering me many things as thanks for everything I did for him.

    His proposals would undoubtedly look appealing to the average person, but to me, they were just meaningless things. I had lived for a long time. I had cried about the loss of friends. I had resented my fellow Gods. I had found true love and not something empty to keep our lineage from going extinct. I had submerged myself in revenge. I had even had a student I could pass my knowledge on, something that I never thought I would do.

    To me, my life was complete. Of course, there were some regrets, some things I still wished to do or to have, but overall, there was nothing left for me. That''s why instead of accepting anything he offered me, I made a personal request.

    "Kill me." In his eyes, I could see the struggle, but not the surprise I was expecting. Maybe he already knew I would ask for something like that.

    In the end, he accepted, still reminding me that it was going to be impossible for him no matter how hard he tried.

    "I know it''s going to be difficult. It is the reason I am giving this to you. This bow is a special one, only meant to be used on Gods. Use this to put an end to my existence." With those words, I threw him the gift I prepared.

    I could feel the land of the dead calling for me. My little time of freedom was coming to an end. Strangely, I forgot that was the reason why I wanted to escape the reincarnation place. Could it be because I enjoyed myself, I wonder?

    The words he said to me at that time, as he was watching me fade away, are still clear in my head. "Thank you, from the bottom of my heart. If we meet again, and I am unable to fulfill my promise; please, let me at least become your strength."

    Of course, he didn''t mean to serve under me. He just wanted me to eat him in the literal sense of the word. Talking about doing the impossible, it''s not like he didn''t know I hated doing that. I always make an explicit disassociation between me now and me as a "beast."

    Reluctance fills me every time I have to do the same things the other me did. It is the reason why I don''t use my abilities to its full potential or don''t even use them at all.

    Leaving that aside, who knew you would appear here. You purposely gave up your rest in the afterlife and chose to get pulled into a distorted system of marionettes in another world just to fulfill your promise.

    I held high expectations, but you disappointed me. Although you must be very disappointed in me too, right? I guess that makes us even.

    Looking at you, it''s like seeing your kid version, always hyperactive, and driven by your emotions. However, I know that is not the real you. The moment you aim at me is when I am going to see what you are in reality.

    "Hey, Mose. Are you ready? You have a weapon capable of killing Gods, and your abilities are on par with mine now. Let me see how serious you are about putting an end to my life."

    "As you wish. I will give everything, even my life to win this!" Yes, that''s the resolution I was waiting to see. Don''t hold back, show me how much you have improved. Show me the answer you arrived at the end of your journey.

    (A/N: A long chapter, hope you enjoy it while I make the other one. Also, thanks for everyone''s good wishes. Love you all!)

 Chapter 111 - Teacher VS Student (1)

    "Before we begin, I want to say sorry for the way I acted earlier." Thutmose was aware that he might have disappointed him, so he wanted to apologize. No matter the outcome was, he didn''t wish Seth''s last impression of him to be that.

    "Don''t worry, Mose. The initial plan was for you to demonstrate to me what you are capable of in battle, and that still stands." His disappointment was temporary, so there was nothing that could change his view on Archer other than a fight.

    Both were floating centimeters above the water, staring at each other without much emotion. Seth had his wings out to take advantage of the defense boost while Thutmose was standing on little sparks of lightning.

    "If you are going to shapeshift, why do you not use your stronger forms?" The dark-skinned asked while nocking an arrow.

    "You know very well the reason." He didn''t say anything more, as there was no need to thanks to the mutual understanding that existed between the two.

    "I imagined it was like that. Does it mean you will not fulfill your end of the deal?" Archer was the first to attack, firing his arrow to test the capabilities of his teacher.

    The arrow had the same speed from the one he sent to the Chaldeans when they tried to question Seth. None of them had managed to react until it was too late. Fortunately, the black-haired man redirected it to him.

    That went to show how fast that arrow was, but against someone specializing in speed and strength, it was nothing. Seth merely tilted his head, successfully avoiding getting his head blown off. A blast that sounded like a clap of thunder happened soon after, further proving the danger it carried.

    "..." Seth was silent for a moment before flapping his wings and launching himself toward Thutmose. The said man wasn''t going to lose his advantage as an Archer, so he started jumped back while firing shots in quick succession.

    "That will be on you. If you make me proud, I will devour you. I am willing to do as much for all the sacrifices you have done for me." The Egyptian God gave chase, but his opponent kept gaining distance.

    In the meantime, Thutmose never stopped shooting arrow after arrow at his teacher. The bow that was in his possession made him able to use lightning at will, which included its properties, like speed. This fact brought tremendous advantage to him, not only at the time of insta-killing enemies but also keeping his distance.

    "Heh. You are forcing me to get serious." Archer''s lips drew a faint arc upward. Instead of shooting in a straight line like before, he aimed at the sky and released his arrow made out of pure Magical Energy.

    The projectile exploded in mid-air. Immediately, a rain of thousands of arrows started falling onto Seth. The black-haired man had to stop his chase to defend against them.

    Without delay, he went from place to place to dodge them and blocked the ones he couldn''t. However, he was mistaken if he thought his student was going to wait.

    While still deflecting Archer''s previous attack, a new one in the form of a ray of blue light approached silently using the arrows as a cover. Seth was able to see it just in time to use his spear to block the hit. Sadly for him, that seemed not to have been enough as he was thrown back. Similar to a stone thrown into a pond, he crashed against the ocean surface from time to time.

    Not believing this to be enough, Thutmose continued to shoot arrows as if there was no limit to his reserves. Some of them impacted Seth, and others barely missed. It was clear to see that he wouldn''t be holding back for this fight.

    The Egyptian God eventually regained his footing and was able to them all when he did so. The results of Archer''s stunt were numerous scorch marks and some holes on his body.

    ''For someone who is playing around, he sure knows how to be annoying. I taught him how to use a bow so he could eventually kill me, but I never imagined it would be this troublesome. I guess I didn''t consider my current situation.'' Seth''s wounds began healing, albeit at a slower pace than usual. Coming from fire, it also fell in the "F.u.c.k you" category that Posidon imposed on these seas.

    ''I swear to the Cosmos I will kick his metallic a.s.s when I get the chance.'' His feud with the God of the Sea due to them being polar opposites aside, it was time to give something back to his student.

    Half-assed lightning from a half-assed storm wouldn''t do much against him, so he decided to power things up a bit. For the first time in a while, it was time to his Fire Authority.

    Coating his spear in black flames, he positioned it above his head before using both hands to make it rotate. Archer observed as the rotation quickly brought forth a tornado that covered his teacher from his view.

    Thutmose wouldn''t just wait and see what his plan was with that ever-growing tornado. Nocking an arrow for the nth time, he made sure to give this one a bit of extra power before releasing it.

    The projectile immediately overcame the few kilometers that separated them after the last attack, impacting the fire pillar, which seemed to be dwindling from to time. However, much to Archer''s surprise, his strike disappeared without much trouble.

    The dark-skinned man furrowed his brows slightly, not understanding what was going on. He did not want to wait to find out, though. Same as what he had been doing, he fired more arrows at his teacher. To his misfortune, they had the same effect as before, nothing.

    Eventually, Seth, who was covered by the fire tornado, swung his spear horizontally, dispersing it. Its remnants fell into the ocean surface, but instead of disappearing, they began burning it.

    There was not much change to his persona. He was now wearing the clothes he was familiar with instead of the modern ones he had been using. His eyes also changed from the usual red to golden, signifying he was ready to use his Authorities as well as his Divinity.

    ''Well, I suppose he stopped taking this like it was just a stroll. I should do the same.'' Typically, Servants had only one or two Noble Phantasm specific to their class, and the rest were distributed into others fitting the time of their life where they mostly used it if it was a weapon or where the legend that embodies it happened. His case was different, though.

    This version of him who didn''t belong to this world possessed every Noble Phantasm in one class. Additionally, it was his only one. No one could summon him as another thing than an Archer, and only when Seth was the enemy.

    In fact, the restriction of his summoning nullified the rest, which came with being a Servant dependant on a class. What''s more, if the man known as Seth, who was an Evil Of Humanity, were to turn into a Beast, the World will grant him the position of Grand Archer to eliminate him. That was, of course, in the case the current holder of the title gave up his seat.

    ? "The future generation recognizes my work." Thutmose raised his free hand to the air as his Magical Energy started to spike.

    "O'' Eternal Temples of mine. Show them my splendor!" The ocean seemed to be trembling as four giant Magic Circles forming a square, trapping both of them, appeared.

    ��Karnak: Obelisks of the Great King!��.?

    One gigantic pillar emerged from each Magic Circle. They all looked the same. The only difference was the inscription written on them. The language was unknown, though.

    Servants usually would reserve their Noble Phantasms as a trump card. If they used it too early, and the enemy was able to overcome it, it would be difficult for it to work again.

    Thutmose did not care about this, though. He had many up his sleeve, and an absolute one to kill him. However, that would require a high price to pay. "The ''game'' had just gone up a level. Will you be able to keep up, Teacher?"

    Mild confusion flashed through Seth''s eyes for a moment. He didn''t know what the purpose of these obelisks was, but it didn''t take a genius to realize they weren''t there as simple decorations.

    Archer would prove him just that. He slowly, as if there was no hurry at all, placed an arrow in his bow. This time, instead of pointing it at Seth, he aimed at a random direction before firing.

    The Egyptian God was a little perplexed by his actions, but soon understanding dawned upon him. He quickly used his spear and free arm to cover the front of his body. That''s when a strange thing happened. Seth, who was a great distance away from Thutmose, suddenly disappeared.

    He then reappeared in the direction where the arrow was heading, just in time for it to impact and blast him away. That wasn''t the end of it, as the same situation happened again, and again, and again.

    It wouldn''t be an understatement to call it a zone of absolute control. Although Thutmose would like to fight a bit fairer, he did not want to take any chances against him.

    There was one thing that he failed to realize, or more like couldn''t do it. The only requirement for teleporting someone was to keep his vision in them. That''s why he didn''t see the incoming danger.

    ''I hope you have enjoyed having control of the fight because now it is my turn.'' Different from before, where he used his Authority to call storms by "natural means," now he used the fire imbued with his Divinity to do so. The clash between it and the ocean generated vapor ��Also filled with his Divinity�� that went to the sky and produced a powered version of his regular storms.

    While Thutmose was busy following Seth with his gaze and shooting his arrows, above him, a silent but fearsome danger was manifesting.

    The Egyptian God was able to analyze the "weakness" of Mose'' Noble Phantasm, so he just concentrated on blocking while also making sure to keep the lightning that coiled around the clouds like serpents from producing any sound.

    Archer was so focused on Seth that he only realized something was wrong when he saw the faint smirk on his face. ''You sneaky bast��'' PANG!

    Thutmose couldn''t adequately react before a red lightning bolt struck him with incredible force, forcing him to his knees. That was not the end of it, though, as more and more came after him and the surrounding area.

    Seth had just created a counter to his Noble Phantasm. Its weakness lay in that the user needed to keep their whole focus on the target. However, that also implied they were left open for any attacks that could come their way.

    The newly created lightning zone would keep striking numerous times in random spots, so no matter if he went from place to place, as long as his focus remained on him, he ran the risk of being struck.

    The ocean was quick to turn chaotic as waves went up and down. He usually never let the rain fall when he summoned storms, but to keep it going, he needed to do it in conjunction with his Fire Authority. It was a process of recycling, in a sense.

    "Well, it would not be worthy of having spent thousands of years waiting if it was going to be that easy." Smoke was coming from Thutmose''s body, but even then, a smile formed on his face, a trait shared by Seth.

    "I couldn''t agree more. Now that the greetings are over, shall we start going a little more serious?" Since his fight with Altera, he hadn''t enjoyed a good battle. It was no surprise he was excited to fight a strong opponent again. More so if that person was his student who he raised from a young age.

    Round two was about to begin.

 Chapter 112 - Teacher Vs Student (2)

    Thutmose was not that surprised Seth could think of something to counter his Noble Phantasm. Even so, it was not like this zone rendered him unable to do anything. Maybe he would not be able to fight as relaxed as before, but this also worked in his favor. His next action proved just that.

    As a deadly red lightning bold was about to strike him, Archer lifted his bow, seemingly trying to use it as a shield. Not long after, the impact came. However, instead of scorching him like the previous times, it got absorbed into his weapon. Now, in addition to blue sparks of lightning circle his bow, there were also red ones.

    "I did not take you for the generous type, Teacher." Although he spoke lightly, he knew this was possible only because his bow and the lightning came from the same person. Otherwise, it would have been a little more troublesome to accomplish.

    "And I didn''t take you for the forgetful type, either. Everything coming from me can''t possibly be good, am I wrong?" Just as Seth said so, an electrical discharge coming from his bow hit Thutmose. The dark-skinned man grunted slightly before stretching his body, trying to shake that feeling off.

    "Just a small price to pay, and it will not be the last." Archer did not wait for Seth''s reaction, activating one of his Skills for the first time, Dark God Teachings EX.

    A Pharaoh was not just a title. It had a tremendous symbolism behind it. It wouldn''t be an exaggeration to call it a definition of one''s being��a Ruler''s most important thing. Seth taking that away from Osiris left him "incapable of living." One of the reasons why he now rules the land of the dead.

    Students often inherited characteristics of their teachers. As such, it was not strange for Thutmose to also have that. The capabilities to take something valuable from his enemies. That was what this Skill did. It was so strong that it was a surprise it was not a Noble Phantasm instead.

    ''Let us see...he has around five Skills, but only two of them can help me right now. I should take Affection Of The Goddess. That is the one that can cause me the most problems and the most useful one for me.'' As an additional bonus, Thutmose could see every Skill of the user. Otherwise, there was no way he could get them.

    He was confused about the Skill, though. As far as he knew, his teacher and Lady Nephthys did not get along. What is more, they hated each other to the bone. As for his other wives, Seth had mentioned to him that their relationship was neither good nor bad. It did not make sense to him why he would possess it. ''It seems there are things even I do not know about him.''

    Despite the strangeness of the situation, he did not want to waste any time as the Egyptian God would not do it either. With a mental command, four rays of light shot from the obelisks in Seth''s direction, and despite the man dodging them, they still followed him like some sort of lasers.

    Archer needed just a few seconds to steal his Skill, so he did not want any interruptions in the meantime. As Seth was evading the light from the obelisks, Thutmose released his Magical Energy in the air toward where the black-haired man was.

    It took some seconds, but when it got in contact with his body, Seth felt something wrong. It felt as if some bacteria were trying to enter it just to leave rapidly. The reason for that was because the dark-skinned man only needed his Magical Energy to have physical contact with the target before returning to him with every Skill in their possession. The only downside was that he could only use one at a time, but the affected party couldn''t use the one he stole.

    ''Success. Now it is just a matter of using it��Ugh?!'' Everything was going his way until he decided actually to activate the Skill in question. Just when he was about to do it, the image of a sanguinary beast hidden by darkness appeared inside his mind, paralyzing him momentarily. He only saw a pair of feral golden eyes staring at him menacingly, but even then, it was enough to leave him trembling.

    "Know your place, filthy human." A voice filled with hate and arrogance was the only thing he heard before he received a kick in his head. Seth had taken advantage of his momentary distraction to strike him. Thanks to the fact Archer lost his concentration, the rays that were chasing him stopped, allowing him to reach Mose in a flash.

    The Egyptian God dematerialized his spear for a second as what he was about to do now didn''t need a weapon to work. The moment the particles of Magical Energy Archer sent returned to him, and he tried to activate the Skill, Seth felt how it attempted to leave his being before completely overpowering his student''s control. It was then when he realized what he was trying to do. In the time they had not met each other, Mose seemed to have become more daring, trying to steal something from him.

    It was at times like this where you had to teach them by hitting them, or they would never learn. In a burst of speed, Seth appeared next to the still flying Archer and punched him in the face.

    That wasn''t the end of it. The black-haired man repeated the same action alternating between punches, kicks, elbows, knees, and headbutts. Every part used was coated on fire to maximize damage. From place to place, Seth used his student like a punching bag. He would admit that it had also to do with the fact Mose did whatever he wanted with him thanks to his Noble Phantasm. He guessed that the "vengeful" part of him would never change.

    He didn''t forget to let Mose taste a bit of lightning every time he could. There was a limit to the amount his bow could absorb, after all.

    The barrage of blows was leaving its mark on Archer. Even with the color of his skin, the bruises were now starting to become visible. That went to show how much Seth was not holding back and how resilient Thutmose was. To withstand the attacks of a personification of strength was no mean feat, even if the said being wasn''t at his peak.

    One thing to note was that no matter the times Seth hit him, Thutmose never let go of his bow. He still held onto it as if his life depended on it, which wasn''t exactly untrue.

    One thing was for sure, though. Archer did not plan to keep taking blows forever. In a brief moment of clarity, he made eye contact with him, teleporting him away.

    Thutmose finally could take a breath after receiving a harsh beating. It was not the first one he got in his life from Seth, so at this point, he was used to it. ''This situation...it looks exactly like that time when I mentioned I would take Lord Ra as my Patron God. Just remembering that makes my bones hurt.''

    He let his body be carried by the rising and descending waves. At this point, even a slight moment of rest would do him good. "I suppose I was stupid for trying to take that one away from you, Teacher. You never mentioned having someone precious. That goes to show there are things even I do not know of you."

    Those words came from the bottom of his heart, carrying the bitterness from not being able to realize there was more to him than he initially thought. As he looked upward to the flying God who had again summoned his spear, for the second time in his life after their farewell, he felt sadness. This time, not for him, but his teacher.

    The lone God, staring down at him emotionlessly with piercing golden eyes and lightning falling behind his back, painted the picture of the word "Divine" itself. However, that same being carried a burden so tremendous that Archer couldn''t believe he did not see it before.

    ''I am sorry...for not realizing... This time, let me reaffirm my promise.'' Although he already knew the circ.u.mstances involving him were complicated, he did not expect something of this caliber. Besides, Satiah, his wife, would not forgive him if he left him like that.

    A bright white and golden aura suddenly engulfed him, filling the world with a radiance that offset the dark world Seth had created to fight Thutmose. From his position, a light pillar rose to the skies, piercing the thunderclouds.

    Seth watched as everything that belonged to him got erased by that blinding light. What was this feeling? Rage? Powerlessness? Fear? Remorse? Or was it perhaps something like contentment? Pride? Gratitude? Serenity? Love? Or...hope?

    Those mixed emotions invaded his mind unstopped. It was a fight between what he loved the most and what he hated the most. Their core was the same, but what he felt for them was the opposite.

    Slowly, he raised his open hand as if trying to get a hold of that radiance, but everything was no more than a futile effort. No matter if what he wanted was to erase it, or just embrace it. He was destined never to be able to hold onto it. The only thing that would remain was the mere wish of wanting to do so.

    Seth''s eyes widened as two streams of tears flowed down from them. The hand supporting his spear began to loosen, seemingly attempting to drop it. He looked nothing more than an empty vessel without a soul at this point. There, but not there.

    Those emotions kept clashing inside his mind, separating him further and further from reality. Whoever wanted to attack him right now would have a free pass to do it, even Thutmose, who was still inside the pillar of light.

    And that''s what happened precisely. "WAKE UP!" A shout containing every feeling of Archer for Seth, followed by a punch in the face, managed to awaken him from his dream. Of course, that came together with crashing down into the ocean.

    ''You are a fool, and always will be. Why are you worrying about meaningless stuff? Go, go there and win.'' Is his mind playing tricks on him again? Or those were her words for him? As encouragement, they s.u.c.k.e.d, even so...that was everything he needed.

    ''I guess I am no made of stone, after all.'' He wasn''t ashamed, far from it. That just meant he was not a cold bastard who would abandon her again. Now, though, was not the time to get trapped in thoughts.

    Seth was quick to return to the surface and into the skies. The sight that awaited him was a world where everything was shining. The ocean seemed to release golden particles into the air, creating a magical picture. However, that was not the only that changed. His student did as well.

    He was wearing a full thin-body armor that made him remember his nephew Horus. He had a pair of white metallic wings with blades instead of feathers. The same structure protected the upper part but with a golden color, having additional pieces attached to the joints in the form of a localization icon, probably to work as deployable objects now that his bow seemingly fused with him to create that armor. His face was not visible anymore, being hidden by a horned helmet with metallic feathers rather than horns.

    Rubbing his cheek where Mose had hit him, Seth faintly smiled at his disciple. "That was a good hit. Although look at you, I certainly didn''t expect you to have something like that up your sleeves."

    "Same as you did, Lord Horus gave me a parting gift. He knew that you would ask me to kill you, so he prepared an armor for this moment. He also made this taking into account my bow to maximize what I can do." The Egyptian God had to admit that when his nephew got his act together, he could do miracles. Not surprising, being a miraculous child himself.

    "I will make it so that you will not have any regrets left, Teacher. And I will begin by stealing your Kingslayer Skill! Nothing is going to stop me until I reach the Realm of the Gods, and I bring you down!" Archer said while pointing at him. Noble Phantasms, Skills, Weapons, he will use everything just to accomplish that.

    ''Heh...'' It was, without a doubt, an impressive declaration. However, Thutmose seemed to be forgetting something, and that was to never talk to him like that. "You can say whatever you want, but do you have the power to defeat God? If you don''t, then you better shut up, c.o.c.ky brat!"

 Chapter 113 - Teacher VS Student (3)

    If Thutmose, who was someone that he, a person of Evil, taught will use the power of Light, then he will do it as well. For the first time since he obtained it, he would make use of the Skill his student failed to steal.

    ''My Goddess...lend me your strength.'' Similar to what happened with Mose before, a pillar of light descended from the sky, enveloping him. In normal situations, Light would fight the Darkness, but not this time.

    Now, this will be a fight between two similar forces in origin, but different in nature. The calm against the reckless. Two beings controlling the Sun would face off through their "Champions."

    Thutmose did not want to be outdone, so he created a similar pillar that began to move in Seth''s direction as soon as he finished forming it. It didn''t take long for them to impact each other like two stags fighting for supremacy. Neither of the two wanted to give in to the other. The reason for that, only they knew.

    The surroundings already started being affected by their clash. The ocean that had turned tranquil after dispersing what Seth did became berserk again. Sparks of yellowish-white lightning flew in every direction with incredible might. Raging winds thrashed unimpeded, hindering even the sea monsters from getting close. The battlefield had become a zone more chaotic than it was before.

    The dark-skinned man knew��No. He sensed that his teacher was going through some change, similar to how he did. Like a caterpillar wrapping itself in a cocoon before transforming into a butterfly, Seth was going to emerge stronger than the last time. Of that, he was sure.

    Nothing good would come from letting his teacher success on that. That''s why he increased the intensity of their clash, to try and disrupt whatever it was happening.

    Slowly but surely, both pillars started increasing in size, and with it, the heat they were producing. Not even Poseidon''s waters were safe from the burning powers of the Sun.

    Eventually, it got to a point where their clash was making their pillars unstable. Thutmose believed that he was succeeding in his original plan. How wrong he was...

    From inside the column of light, Archer saw a shadow looming over him before he received a kick in his c.h.e.s.t, sending him crashing down into the ocean. He was quick to recover and return to the skies, though. It was apparent to see the new armor has increased his durability.

    Thutmose''s eyes inside his helmet widened for a second. The person in front of him did not look like the one he knew. "What is with that form? I have never seen you like that."

    "Why are you so surprised? This appearance is my real one. What you know is nothing more than an altered version of me." Seth looked the same as he did in the final moments of his battle against Altera. His black hair had turned black, his white skin had become browner, and the black markings had receded to the point they were barely visible. His spear was not in his possession anymore as it would only hinder him.

    However, different from the last time, his figure now possessed some sort of radiance. That was thanks to the use of the Affection Of The Goddess Skill. The contrast between Seth''s usual self and the light he was emitting threw Thutmose off slightly.

    "You have changed...or more like I never knew you fully, but it does not matter. I am here to erase you from existence, and by doing that, release you from your suffering. If it is the old you, or the new you, it will not make a difference." Archer pointed his open palm at him after his declaration. From it, an energy beam, boosted by the stolen Kingslayer Skill, emerged.

    "I already told you. If you want something, you have to have the power to back it up." Seth made the same motion as Archer, but instead of using a palm, he used a finger. Similar to what Mose did, a beam shot from his finger to meet the incoming assault.

    At a glance, Seth''s attack seemed weaker in comparison. Were one to bet on the winner, they would surely pick Thutmose. The reality, though, would prove their choice to be incorrect.

    When the two beams collided, the Egyptian God''s continued unimpeded, much to Archer''s surprise. Noticing the incoming danger, Mose stopped his attack and got out of the way. He watched as it continued into the distance, eventually hitting a deserted island. If he expected the result to end there, he was in for a disappointment. The moment his attack touched solid ground, an explosion in the form of a dome occurred, obliterating everything in a couple of kilometers.

    The shockwave soon reached their position. The Pharaoh had to exert an extra effort to keep his balance, but that was not the problem. The problem was that he did not expect the difference to be this big. Both used just casual attacks, of that he was sure. However, the one he used was not a match to the one his teacher did.

    Even when he was using the armor that Lord Horus gave him, his odds of winning against his teacher using just one Skill were meager. ''Should I use that...? No. It is not the time yet. Besides, I would need someone else to use it for me.''

    "Do you think you have the leisure to be lost in thought? Don''t tell me you got discouraged just by a little exchange?" He had been avoiding using some of his Authorities to get stronger. If this was enough to corner his student, then he might as well give up when he starts utilizing them.

    "No, I did not. There is still much I can do. My wait was not, and will not be for nothing." If his teacher evolved, then he will do so too. He first started by activating Ruler Of The Flourishing Kingdom (Pharaoh) EX, a Skill that symbolized how Egypt went through its more prospering era with him on the throne. It allowed him to make something belonging to him reach their ultimate state of being, which included his body. The natural use of this would be to make it overcome the limits imposed on his vessel.

    Next, he activated Undefeatable Conqueror (Lightning) EX. This Skill granted him a tremendous bonus to his Parameters as long as he was in a foreign land.

    Lastly, he activated Revolutionary Mind A+. This one worked a bit differently than something as simple as increasing one''s strength. It came from the fact he imposed many innovative reforms and changed the way people built, as well as his out of the norm tactics. The effects were not that hard to understand. As long as the user is determined to accomplish something that other people might think impossible or if that will bring a change to the future of the world, then Destiny will work in their favor. Additionally, their Luck will go up.

    ''This should be enough as far as Skills go. I will have to start setting up my Noble Phantasms as secretly as possible now.'' He had others he could use, but those required specific conditions, which he did not meet for the moment. There was only one Skill left Archer could use, but he was reserving it as a trump card.

    Seth could feel how his student''s momentum increased second by second. It wouldn''t be an exaggeration to say he was becoming someone he should not underestimate.

    "Allow me to demonstrate to you. The proof of Humanity''s evolution that is. You, who is a God that must not belong to this land any longer, will hear our cry for freedom." Thutmose said something that Seth didn''t understand at first. That was until he felt the world around him distorting. He had experienced this with EMIYA. Yes, a Reality Marble.

    The ocean soon disappeared, becoming something of the past. In its place, an endless meadow now covered the whole battlefield. As for them, they were standing on a mound with ruins all around them. Just by being there, you would be able to tell this place must have seen a lot of history. There was not a single cloud in the sky; nothing that could make this place seem like a land without hope.

    "Welcome, Teacher. To my Noble Phantasm, Armageddon: Megiddo. Here, you can forget your common sense. This land is one where the impossible becomes possible. The conquest I consider to be my greatest in life, and the one who will be my greatest in death. I want both to be in the same place." The way Thutmose carried himself before was that of a King, coupled with that of a student. Now, however, he was a Warrior-King. As such, he would act with confidence and justified arrogance. If you do not have faith in yourself, God can not be beaten!

    Seth didn''t reply. There was no need to do so. Mose had resolved himself to fight with everything at his disposal, so he should respond with actions and not with words. Besides, he had the bizarre feeling Amaterasu was urging him to beat the crap out of Archer. The Skill DID say communication was possible. He guessed this was what that meant.

    ''Calm down, woman. Can''t you see I am in the middle of something?'' Her quarrelsome tendencies were sometimes a pain in the a.s.s to deal with, no matter the time of the day.

    His thoughts caused a momentary burning feeling throughout his body that made him really uncomfortable, to say the least. The Fox Goddess would not let anything slide, as always.

    While he was in the middle of trying to make her not interfere, Archer decided to attack. This time, he went for a more physical approach. With a speed that would make the one he displayed before a joke, the Pharaoh appeared beside Seth with his fist ready to make contact. And contact it did. However, it did not impact on his face like he originally planned. Instead, an open hand met his punch.

    The Egyptian God might have seemed distracted to the n.a.k.e.d eye, but he never stopped paying attention to his student''s movements, not even once. That said, Archer''s speed was something else. Also, his punch had left Seth''s arm trembling slightly.

    Seeing as his attack failed, Archer quickly retreated. He was not discouraged, though. Him being able to block his blow was within his expectations. Not to mention he was just testing the waters.

    Now it was time for Seth to take the initiative. The red-haired man charged at Mose at incredible speeds. Similar to his student, he went for a punch in the face. What happened next certainly surprised him for the worse.

    The moment he was about to succeed, Archer managed to hit him first without any prior warning. Seth shot back like a cannonball, crashing onto the wall of one of the buildings. Strangely, it didn''t break, just suffered some minor cracks.

    "I told you, didn''t I? You can forget your common sense. This place is the apex of my life. Here, all my works congregate. That includes my other Noble Phantasms. As long as we are here, I can use them without the need to call their True Name." There was no meaning in keeping it hidden since he had most likely figured it out already.

    That did not mean he would let him rest, though. As soon as he finished speaking, he extended his wings. From them, what Seth had theorized to be deployable objects to substitute his bow detached themselves before flying in his direction and bombarding him with lasers coming out of their tip.

    Same as before, the landscape remained unharmed, but a cloud of dust was forming and growing in size with each shot from those things. The point of Mose''s Reality Marble''s "indestructible" capabilities was to maintain the space stable.

    His increase in strength naturally affected his flying gadgets as well, so his teacher must be suffering quite the pain right now. He was no sadist, but he had to admit a little revenge for everything he went through as a kid did not feel bad at all.

    Sadly for him, he was about to suffer that again. Just as he was focused on keeping his assault on Seth, Archer received a side kick to his ribs. Seth had returned him the favor of the punch earlier by sending him flying.

    "Playtime is over, Mose. Your tricks have annoyed me too much. And that comes from the God of Trickery himself." Now, Seth was going to use every Authority. If the Pharaoh wanted to have a chance, then he would have to start using his brain instead of muscle.

 Chapter 114 - Teacher VS Student (End)

    Archer was quick to get up. Other than a slight discomfort, he did not suffer much. ''That just now...his Authority over Trickery? It must have been when he blocked my punch.''

    For a brief moment, Thutmose looked at Seth''s eyes. He theorized it was there when his teacher used it. As his student, he was aware of how it worked, more or less. Once you exchanged gazes with him, you are pretty much doomed unless you have a powerful mind. Even if you went blind for some reason, you would not be safe.

    He remembered him saying something about it being able to affect reality if it was used at its full potential together with something else, but he had not done that yet, so it was safe to assume he was not able to do it.

    Looking at Seth, it was clear to see he did not go out of that unscratched. There was some blood running down his torso, most likely caused by one of the lasers. "Hmph. Who do you think I learned all this from, Teacher?"

    "I can''t argue with that. So, do you still have more tricks up your sleeve? This time I am going to be aiming for your life for real." Seth''s hands soon got covered in flames, but instead of the usual black ones, they were a shining gold in color.

    "...One more. I can not have you playing with my mind if I want to win." Archer removed his helmet before throwing it away. He then proceeded to use his sharp nails to gouge out his own eyes and crush them. ''I offer my sight to the Sky God Horus. Please, grant me the power to see that which cannot be seen.''

    A light coming from the sky soon enveloped him, stopping the bleeding. Seth watched, aware of what was happening, as a symbol resembling a strange eye manifested on his forehead. The Eye of Wisdom, the Eye of Ra.

    "You would go that far just to make one of my many Authorities useless?" It was not like he didn''t know the benefits of having that damn eye, but his distaste for it was too much to consider it as a good thing.

    "Yes. Besides, it is a plus. I can see better than I did before." The pupil in the symbol moved from left to right, as if trying to get used to the new change. When it focused on Seth, though, it shook for a second. ''What...is that?''

    If it were not for the Eye of Ra that prevented his mind from becoming unstable, he would have gone insane. Was it an illusion, or was it real? He did not know how to classify what he was seeing. There he was, his teacher. However, four...entities covered in shadows were standing behind his back. Each one of them instilling more fear than the last.

    One he recognized. It was the same that appeared when he tried to steal his first Skill. As for the others, one had a humanoid shape, another a serpent-like one, in regards to the last of those entities...describing it was impossible. It had an ever-changing form, but it was the one who gave him the most chills. There was one thing he was sure about, though. That thing must never manifest itself into the world.

    As he was trying to understand what the hell was going on, he received a punch on the face, throwing him backward onto a crumbled building.

    "Don''t get distracted, I told you I was aiming for your life, and I meant it." It was easy for him to say that when he was not the one who saw that damned vision-like thing.

    The dark-skinned man soon got up, spitting some blood in the process. There were some burn marks on his cheek, thanks to the flames on Seth''s fists, but other than that, he was fine. He had to admit it, though. That punch hurt. Still, his teacher was right. From the beginning, he had been using his Magical Energy and not Blackbeard''s to fight. And, as much as he wanted it to be, it was not infinite. Not to mention that keeping his armor manifested required to supply it with more constantly.

    So, without replying to him, Thutmose launched himself at Seth. The Egyptian God didn''t stay still, also charging at his student. Both men threw their fists forward, quickly colliding and sending a shockwave in all directions.

    They didn''t stop there. Instead, the two kept unleashing a flurry of blows without holding anything back. Punch against punch kick against kick elbow against elbow and headbutt against headbutt. It was like a synchronized fight. If looked from the outside, it would seem as if someone was fighting their reflection on a mirror.

    It was only thanks to the unique properties of Archer''s Reality Marble that space here hadn''t collapsed yet. That was the reason why they could fight without worrying about the environment. Of course, that also had a limit, as it would disappear the moment Thutmose decided it was not worth keeping it up anymore.

    The dark-skinned man was also aware that he could not hope to win this through exhaustion. Seth could replenish his reserves just by fighting and absorbing something as imaginary as Disorder and Violence. Honestly, the one who created him must have been drunk. Why could he not be the God of Flowers or something? Talk about unfairness.

    As much as he wanted to complain to someone who probably does not exist, he needed to concentrate on using the powers of the armor, Skills, and his Noble Phantasms.

    Winning by one-shooting him was the only way, and he had something prepared for that. For now, he had to inflict as much damage as possible, because he knew his regeneration activated without his control. That meant that sometimes it would not do so at all. To accomplish that, he had a trump card. He had to time it well, though, as all rested in the surprise factor.

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    How long has it been? Minutes? Hours? Days? They did not know. It did not matter. The only thing in their minds was to land one more hit. Their breath was a bit hurried, but even so, a smile of contentment covered their face.

    They did not even bother to block or dodge anymore. Also, the two decided to lose speed to gain power in their blows. In essence, Thutmose and Seth were speaking through their fists.

    Their fight had started to have repercussions on the landscape. That went to prove how Archer was nearing his limits in the Magical Energy department. He wasn''t the only one to be in a tight spot as Seth''s body was covered in injuries and some holes from those objects that fired lasers arbitrarily. There was also his Kingslayer Skill playing against him now. Being the user himself, he knew how much of an advantage it brought.

    As the fight went by, he realized Mose''s armor had Anti-Evil properties. The places where Archer hit him took longer to regenerate than the others, and he felt some pain when he punched it. The good thing was that he had already destroyed one of his wings and some other random parts as well, revealing the skin underneath.

    Even with some pieces of his armor cracked or outright broken, the dark-skinned man still proved to be a worthy adversary. Contrary to what others might think, his blows did nothing but increase in strength.

    No matter what happened, it seemed the Pharaoh wouldn''t disappoint him. After exchanging hundreds, thousands, hundreds of thousands of hits, he kept going all the same. That was because, even though he was having the time of his life fighting against his teacher, he still remembered his number one priority.

    If he had to name a motivation to keep fighting, it would be that. Being honest, he was pretty tired. He wanted nothing more than to fall on the ground and take a good rest, but he could not do so, not now that he was so close to victory.

    Both seemed to sense the end was near, proven by how intense their combat had become. In tandem, the two Egyptians pulled their arms back before striking forward with as much as they could muster. The result was a situation similar to a cross counter, with their fists frozen in the opponent''s face.

    "Why do you not give up, Old Man? You should quietly let me put you to rest." Archer jokingly said while trying to move his head and arm forward to get the advantage in their little confrontation.

    "What are you saying? My bones can still go another round or two!" Seth also tried to the same. He might not care much about losing or winning as long as there was a next time, but for some reason, he didn''t feel like losing today.

    Yes. This way is how it should be. No hard feelings, just two people who had not met each other for so long, enjoying some time together. That one of them had to die in the end? So what? They didn''t fight for something as trivial as living. They did so because there was something more substantial.

    One of them had already accomplished what he came here for, and that person was Seth. He wanted to see the man Mose had turned into, and he was not disappointed. Twenty-two years might seem short for someone his age, but those few years were something he treasured dearly.

    However, even though the red-haired man already got what he d.e.s.i.r.ed, he couldn''t and wouldn''t stop fighting. Until the end, he would humor his student. He would give him the chance to fulfill the promise he sacrificed so much for once Mose died. Besides, it was not like he didn''t enjoy fighting him.

    Both shared a grin before separating. Instinctively, the duo knew this attack would be the last. "Bring it on! Without regrets!" Archer''s words were not only for Seth to do his best but for himself too. He needed the confidence he would succeed.

    "Yeah...you''ve got it." The two were tired, but that didn''t mean they would not try their best and go out with a bang.

    Thutmose gained some distance before elevating himself to the skies. It was all or nothing now. Archer''s Reality Marble shook for a moment before being suctioned onto the palm of his hand, creating a ball of light and returning them to the outside world.

    Everything seemed much calmer than it was before, but there was nothing they could use as a clue about how much time they spend inside the fictional space. Not that it was necessary now, though.

    As their Magical Energy started spiking, student and teacher shared a look for what it might be the last time.

    The dark-skinned man raised his hand, making the ball of light float a little above his head. Said sphere started to slowly move on its own, drawing some sort of hexagonal shape with its light. Once it was done, from its vertexes to the center, six additional lines were drawn. Solar energy plus the rest of his Magical Energy was then absorbed into it little by little.

    Just by how it made the very air tremble, one could tell its power was no joke. That went to show just how decided Thutmose was to kill Seth.

    The man in question didn''t want to fall behind. So, he made sure to pour as much of his reserves on his next attack as possible, making sure to leave some for emergencies.

    Pointing his finger at Archer, a small black energy ball with red outlines began to form. Little bolts of lightning of the same colors circled it, giving it a more powerful vibe. The reason for the small size was to compress it to its absolute limit and so create a more destructive force. Seth tried to input as many of his Authorities as possible on it, but sadly he didn''t have many attack-related.

    ''Regardless of what happens...it was good to see you again.'' As their final moves were finishing powering up, that thought went by their minds at the same time.

    It only took a second in the real world, but as the closing moment drew near, both remember all the times they spent together. It might have seemed all hardsh.i.p.s. However, there were good parts to them, and those were the ones they remembered fondly.

    ''Thank you, Seth. Although almost impossible. If there is a next time, please let me fight by your side.'' At the final moment, he called him by his name. This message was not from a King, nor a student, but from a little kid who was able to grow up successfully thanks to him.

    ''Even though we had our differences at first, I am glad you were my first student, and the only one I would ever have.'' Seth also dedicated him some silent words.

    There was no point in delaying the inevitable, so after a few seconds, they released their attacks at one another. "Sun God''s Cannon!" "Dark Cosmos!"

    Two beams with tremendous force behind them charged ahead, trying to devour everything in their wake. Their speed was such that not even a second after both men fired them, they clashed.

    Other than a shockwave due to the impact, there was no outward change in their surroundings, no flashiness. That was because they weren''t meant to explode, but to keep going endlessly and overpower the other.

    The two attacks fought a battle of dominance. Sometimes Seth''s one would gain the advantage and get closer to Archer. Other times it would be Mose''s the one that got closer to Seth.

    Like that, they kept going for some time, with no one being the clear winner. That was until the dark-skinned man decided to use his final trump card. A Skill he forcefully added to his repertory as a last resort in case everything else failed. The effects...they did not matter. What was important was the help it would provide.

    ''At that moment, I did not say anything. How much I wished to have done so. I just went along with it because it was your wish, the wish of the man who had raised me. However, I was not happy. The reason you mean so much to me is that I went from hating you to appreciating you like my own family. How could I bear to kill you, then? But...in all the time we spent together...that was the only favor you asked of me. I knew that every challenge you gave me was just to keep me distracted; you did not care if I overcame them or not. The only thing which I knew was from the bottom of your heart was your d.e.s.i.r.e for you to die. So, I did the hardest thing I have ever done in my life. I put your happiness over mine. That is why...that is why please...just this time, please...!!!''

    "PLEASE FALL!!!" With a shout containing all his feelings, every ounce of willpower. Thutmose activated Transcendental Promise. A Skill without a Rank, because it did not need one, because the value of their promise could not be ranked.

    The previous standstill between the two attacks, which had been pretty much even until now, quickly turned entirely in Archer''s favor. The previously golden beam suddenly got boosted by a bluer force, devouring Seth''s without any complications.

    The Egyptian God tried to stop his student''s attack without much success. The only thing he managed to do was slow down the rate at which his beam was getting overcome.

    As the light in his field of vision was becoming more prominent, Seth couldn''t help but smile proudly. ''Well done, Mose. You truly outdid yourself this time.''

    Archer watched as the little resistance his teacher was providing was becoming less and less. However, he would not stop until he was sure Seth was utterly dead. Even so, a slight glimmer of hope appeared on his face, hope that he finally accomplished the goal he set his mind on all those years ago.

    Hope, sadly, is not something one should have in front of despair itself. He could only manage to hear "First" before his attack that was about to reach his teacher suddenly got absorbed by Seth''s own and continued its way unimpeded back to him and farther back into the sky.

    Like a bird without wings, Archer fell, not having the strength to keep himself in the air any longer. The only solace was that he was alive.

    Sure, he was able to cover his vitals just in time, but at the cost of his right arm and left leg. That was it, he lost. Strangely, what accompanied the frustration was also happiness.

    An arm caught him before he sunk into the ocean, though. "Teacher...? Is that you?" The effects of the Eye of Ra had disappeared. After all, it was a power reserved just for the living. Now, he was nothing more than a blind man nearing his death.

    "Yes. How do you feel?" Seth asked calmly.

    "Horrible, can you not see? Different from me, you still have your eyes." He was done for already, so using his remaining energy to talk to him was not a bad idea.

    "Hm...I guess so. I got used to having my limbs cut off, so common sense eludes me sometimes."

    A painful sigh was the only thing Mose could do now. "I do not know if it is because you are a God, or it is just simply your way of life, but you have some problems."

    "Maybe both?" He asked as his lips faintly curved upward.

    Archer chuckled slightly, something that caused him to enter a coughing fit. "...It seems I do not have much time left. I must truly look pathetic, right?"

    Seth shook his head, fully aware that his student couldn''t see him. "That''s not true. I only see a warrior that gave his all and made his teacher proud."

    "Even if I could not fulfill my promise? Even if I could not win? Even if all I did was for nothing?" His voice broke more each time with each word he said until tears were streaming down from his empty sockets where his eyes used to be.

    "That''s right. Even while you were aware that I did not wish to die anymore as I did before, you still did everything in your power to accomplish it. I find that tenacity admirable." He was speaking from the bottom of his heart, something he rarely did.

    "...I see...I am glad. I was afraid you would be disappointed in me; I feared that the most, but now...I can finally go with peace of mind." Particles of light were already coming out of Archer''s body, signifying his time was up.

    ''Also...I know you will not devour me. You are sometimes too kind for your own good. That is why I will leave you with a gift. I hope you use it well.'' He decided not to say this aloud, though. He was sure he would object to it if he did. The initial plan was to find someone else worthy of it to use it against Seth in case he were to perish, but sadly that was not the case. There were only thieves. Well, at least one of them was not that bad.

    "Good grief, go already. You deserve a good rest in the afterlife, stop wasting my time here." He talked too much for a dying man.

    "Heh. I know when you are not honest...I did not spend half of my life with you for nothing. That reminds me...that girl joined our family, didn''t she? Should I call her step-sister or something?" With a sincere, genuine smile, Archer of Lightning, Thutmose III, disappeared from this world, leaving a man on the verge of collapse.

    *Cough* *Cough*

    Seth fell to his knees, coughing blood, his vision all blurry and wounds covering his whole body. Archer might not have been able to see it, but the Egyptian God didn''t get out unscratched from his attack.

    "Idiot...if only you had been born way before, or even now. I might have considered calling you my son. Honestly...I don''t know why you were feeling sorry. You won, blockhead. This...is my loss."

    Without any strength left to keep floating above the surface, Seth fainted, falling into the waters and sinking deeper and deeper into the ocean.

    In the end, Thutmose, even after death, was the one who claimed victory.

    God...had been brought down!

 Chapter 115 - The Situation Inside And Outside

    (A/N: I guess an apology is in order. I''m sorry, my beautiful zasshus for the unannounced break. I consider fighting scenes to be the most tedious to write, so doing 4 in a row kind of burned me out a bit. Not to mention that as I said in the AN from the last chapter, I stayed up until 6 am to write that one, something I vow not to do anymore since I was left with 0 motivation lmao. The idea was to post yesterday, but I had troubles where I could not log into Inkstone to publish, and WN had been giving me network error 20051. Anyway, I am back to provide you with the shit*y content you so much like <3)

    Frustration. It is an emotion you feel when things don''t go your way. That''s precisely how Stargazer was feeling right now. He d.e.s.i.r.ed so much to strangle Seth that words alone weren''t enough to describe what he would do to him if he could get out of this place.

    Sighing, that was the only thing the demonic-like entity could do at the moment. "Even when I told that guy not to use neither of those anymore, he goes and uses it. Hey, Olga. Do my words mean that little?"

    The white-haired girl, who was sitting on the stairs leading to the throne he was sitting on, just rolled her eyes. Her original "fear" had reduced to the point she did not care too much about how he might react. Of course, she was still forced to be a maid just for the hell of it.

    "Why do you ask me? Aren''t you supposed to know that better than me? And why you never told me he was a Divine Spirit? And one of the worst kind to boot!" Seriously! Shouldn''t these things be disclosed to someone you are sharing a space with?!

    "The day I have to tell you something that doesn''t concern you is the same day I turn into dust. For starters, he is not a Divine Spirit at all, just a ''human'' with a durable body, Divinity, and Authorities. Although the current him is not a God, he isn''t what you describe him as either." The noisy kid was getting all full of herself lately, but the reason for that eluded him.

    "It wouldn''t hurt you to be nice from time to time!" Olga turned around to look at the Black Demon with a slight frown before sighing herself when she realized he wasn''t even looking at her. "To begin with, did you two come from a parallel universe or something? There is no reason for him not being a Divine Spirit if that wasn''t the case."

    Stargazer lazily looked at Olga while snapping his fingers. Some sort of projection appeared above him, showing what seemed to be a tree with hundreds of thousands of branches drawn as lines. "This is your world, an amalgamation of infinite routes or possibilities, some lasting longer than the others. For now, you are in one of those paths that are still standing."

    After that, he snapped his fingers again. This time, the projection showed the same thing, but there was a difference, none of those lines had an end. No matter how much they differed from the main branch, they still kept going. "And this is ours. A self-sustaining world that instead of putting an end to a possibility, it restarts it so it can keep going. You can say we are something akin to neighbors. The only difference is, while you break what you don''t need anymore, we fix it so it can continue being useful."

    "Hmph. If your world is that good, then why don''t you just return to it? You sound like someone who got chased out from home." A strange sensation of patriotism hit the white-haired girl, making her say those words.

    Stargazer put a harmless smile while waving his hands. "Wrong, wrong. It''s not like that. He doesn''t know the reason why we are here, but I do. Want to know~?" His teasing voice only worked to fuel Olga''s increasing curiosity.

    "W-Well...I don''t mind if you want to tell me." Cough. As the ��Still�� Director of Chaldea, it was her job to know the motives of foreign entities, there was nothing more to it, definitely!

    "Good thing that I don''t want to do it then!" In these eternally dull days, making fun of the other resident in Seth''s inner world was the only way to pass the time.

    "ARGH! I HATE YOU!" If Olga didn''t know she would get spanked were she to try something against him, she would have bitten him to death already!

    "Calm down. It was just a joke. There is no need to burst my eardrums. Leaving your questionable tone of voice aside, it is simple if you think about it. We are here because something will threaten our world, and that something is in here." Despite her attitude, Stargazer was aware of her sharp mind, so he knew it wouldn''t take long for her to figure it out on her own.

    "Whose fault do you think it is I have to shout?!" This guy was as exasperating as he could get! Olga had to take some deep breathes to avoid losing her mind because of his annoying attitude. "You are just lazily staring into space all day. What sort of threat could you prevent doing that? If you want to do something, then why don''t you escape from here and go outside?"

    "I am continuously peering into the future, seeking our optimal path to victory. I don''t need to move to do that, you know? Besides, I can''t, nor I want to leave this place. There''s nothing for me out there other than some momentary enjoyment." He was born here, so he didn''t feel trapped or something. It was like being at home all day, nothing uncommon.

    "As if someone would believe that. I bet you want to rule or destroy the world. Nothing good can come out from the partner of a famous murderer among Gods." He did strike her as the type who would do just that without hesitation.

    "Pfft...Hahaha. Seriously?! Are you sure those novels of yours are not getting to your head?" Her words caused Stargazer to laugh. The delusions of this girl were something else, all right.

    "I did consider you a kid, but it seems you want to exceed my expectations. Rule the world? Destroy it? Why would I want that? It would be boring as hell. Only losers with nothing else to do, would think of something like that. And I, my not-so-esteemed young lady, am not a loser." He said this with a provocative look on his face. It was as if he was taunting her, but she did not know why.

    "I am a proper a.d.u.l.t! And why are you laughing? You never do something to help. Shouldn''t you be aiding him in battle if you two are companions?" Olga felt insulted when he commented about her not being old enough. It was not something that mattered when it came to her, not when she had to take care of everything her father left behind from a young age.

    "Yeah, yeah, you sure are. As for why I don''t aid Seth in battle, I simply can''t. The only thing I can do is provide advice, but he refuses them all." Oh no, frustration was coming to him again.

    "If you didn''t taunt him every time he comes here, I bet he would at least listen to you for once. And don''t ignore what I say!" Her words weren''t without basis, and they left him speechless.

    "You...are right. The problem is that Seth still wouldn''t listen. He prefers to go for the hardest route instead of the easiest one. He just wants to make my job harder. Sigh. Aren''t I a pitiful fellow, Olga?" Stargazer even used an agonized expression to emphasize his point. Of course, the white-haired girl knew it was a mere act.

    "I don''t care what you are. I just care you do something to prevent the end of Humanity." At the end of the day, that was the only thing that mattered to her. It was her sole responsibility.

    "Oh, is that so? I thought you had enough about trusting people to do your job. Haven''t you learned your lesson with that man Lev? Tsk, tsk. I thought you had matured, but it seems I was wrong." The smug look he was giving her didn''t help her self-control at all.

    Olga just fell silent, clenching her fists as a shadow covered her eyes. That betrayal still hurt her to this day. There was no way Lev could have done something so hideous to her, or so she thought at first. In this place, where the only thing she did was occasionally entertain this guy, she could get some time to think about the events that happened in Fuyuki and even before that.

    She didn''t know how to feel. Did she have to feel like an idiot for letting such a dangerous person close to what her father worked so much to obtain? She wanted to blame herself, but every time she tried to do so, a question raised in her head. Why? Why did Lev do what he did? It made no sense. He created SHEBA to help Chaldea see the future with more clarity and fix anomalies, which might cause the downfall of Humanity. Why do all of this if he planned to destroy them all in the end? It made no sense.

    However, even though uncertainties still clouded her mind, there was one thing she was sure about, though. Same as with an employee who was not useful anymore, Lev was not a part of her Chaldea anymore. Now, he just was a shadow from her past.

    ''Would you look at that, it seems she doesn''t suffer from some sort of dependency disorder after all. Still, I better worry about our situation more than hers. Looking at the state of his body, he only has one use left before it crumbles. Argh! Why does he have to be so dumb?! And there is the matter with that nosy vixen too! Why can''t she leave him alone?! If she keeps sticking his nose in our affairs, then my plan will be for nothing! Sigh...what''s so bad about taking the easy way? Why must they complicate things?'' Sometimes he wondered why no one listened to him when it was clear he had the answers for pretty much everything. The only comfort he had was bullying Olga.

    "Why do I feel like you are thinking something bad about me?" Noticing how silent he had gotten all of a sudden, the white-haired girl decided to ask for a feeling she got out of nowhere.

    "Hm? I was just contemplating how you can be that beautiful. If I could fall in love, I might have done so for you." He said, making Olga blush slightly. ''Gross...''

    ''I will have to possess his body again, I can''t have him drown, or worse, get eaten by one of those aquatic worms. The only good thing about all of this is that I am going to watch an interesting show soon and that Thutmose left a powerful gift. The vengeful monster awakens, while the golden city resurfaces once again. Something not to miss~.''

    ������������������������������������������������������������

    Seth was out to fight Archer, leaving his Servants and Fujimaru''s to deal with Blackbeard and his crew. The connection between him and them soon turned faint, signifying the distance between the two battlefields. The good thing was that the supply of Magical Energy was still up, meaning they will not have any trouble in unleashing their full might, with the obvious restrain as not to blow up their ship.

    "Are you finished with your conversation? I did what every villain is supposed to do and let you have your long talk without attacking. My compensation is naturally a free Euryale-chan. I don''t mind if you include #2 too. Bufufufufu~" He felt it was a shame his most reliable subordinate went away, but as long as he took out, or at least kept busy the possibly strongest man in their side, he was all good for it.

    "You can talk all you want, but that won''t change a thing. This place will be your grave, sc.u.m." What Drake said had two intentions. One was just to insult Blackbeard because he was an eyesore, and the other was to draw the others'' attention to the matter at hand, which was defeating this bastard.

    They had the numerical advantage, but this infighting could prove problematic when it came to battling their enemies. It only took a little hostility not to help a comrade when they were having troubles, or worse, letting them die because you didn''t feel like blocking a hit they could not. There was also the possibility of them getting in each other''s way, something that could even cause more harm.

    It didn''t take a genius to know there were still doubts in their minds, especially in the ones who called the little lad a Master. She didn''t know who this Seth character was exactly, but it must have been a pretty big guy, not to mention infamous, to create this "separation" between them.

    However, that guy was not here anymore, so there was no point in worrying about it, at least for now. It might have been her pirate lifestyle talking, but nothing good comes from overthinking things. There was a common enemy between them, and that''s what they should be focusing on, and not in pointless conflicts.

    It wasn''t like the others didn''t understand this either, so they decided to hold their differences until the battle was over. Unintentionally, be it because they were worried for Seth, or what would happen if he lost, a small part of their minds had its attention on their fight.

    From Fujimaru''s side, everyone but Artemis believed Archer to be stronger, mainly due to the overwhelming feeling of superiority he exuded, something they never really felt from Seth. The Goddess knew better than to guide herself by appearances, though. While others thought he was like a shadow from the past, something like her, the Goddess of the Hunt, she was aware of how fearsome that guy could be. There was a reason why he got associated with Typhon, a mythological monster that most of the Greek Gods, even the mighty Zeus, feared.

    Seth''s Servants plus Euryale and Asterios, naturally, had plain trust in him. Altera believed in him with all her heart. He showed her so many beautiful things, and she wanted him to do that more, that''s why she hoped for him not to suffer much from his fight. <span style="font-size: calc(var(--rem) * 1px * 1.0625); letter-spacing: 0px;">It was easy to see that Seth knew that Archer and they seemed to share a close relationship too. That would also explain the feeling of familiarity she got from him.</span>

    <span style="font-size: calc(var(--rem) * 1px * 1.0625); letter-spacing: 0px;">

    </span>

    <span style="font-size: calc(var(--rem) * 1px * 1.0625); letter-spacing: 0px;">Still, she couldn''t hope to imagine how hard it was for her Master or even Archer for the matter. If someone forced her to fight Seth, she would be unable to do anything. Not due to inability, but simply because she wouldn''t want to raise her sword against him. Of course, if it were before meeting him, she would do so, but now...it was another circ.u.mstance. </span>

    <span style="font-size: calc(var(--rem) * 1px * 1.0625); letter-spacing: 0px;"></span>

    <span style="font-size: calc(var(--rem) * 1px * 1.0625); letter-spacing: 0px;">Altera unknowingly gripped the handle of her sword a little tighter. She wished she could help him right now, but she also understood there was a time and place for everything. ''Master...please be safe.'' </span>

    <span style="font-size: calc(var(--rem) * 1px * 1.0625); letter-spacing: 0px;"></span>

    <span style="font-size: calc(var(--rem) * 1px * 1.0625); letter-spacing: 0px;">As for Stheno... she trusted him too, obviously. She didn''t know who Archer was, but to her, it did not matter. As any God or Divine Spirit who had an ounce of self-respect, he could not lose, he could not die. Not just when thanks to him, she could finally reunite with one of her sisters. Not when there was a chance of meeting the third one too. ''You have a Goddess cheering for you, don''t make it go to waste, don''t you dare die...''</span>

 Chapter 116 - History Repeats Itself (1)

    Once Drake noticed that everyone seemed to know at least what they had to do, she gave the order to attack. Although she didn''t exactly have the power to order them around, she was the one who had more experience leading people aside from Zhuge Liang and Altera, so there was no problem with it. Fujimaru was also okay with it since he was mentally tired to speak for now after defending Seth. He preferred to save his words to give commands when necessary.

    Blackbeard didn''t want to lose to the old hag, so he ordered his men to turn the ship sideways as to board the Golden Hind. Of course, his real intentions for doing that were different, but no one had to know them.

    The pink-haired woman also did the same. If she didn''t, that sc.u.mmy pirate would be able to fire his cannons without repercussions. She might have reinforced her ship with Wyverns'' scales, but that didn''t mean she would just sit and admire how durable it had become.

    Besides, Drake had an additional surprise. She asked the Chaldeans to use the leftovers to transform them into ammunition for her cannons. The result was something similar to pellets from a shotgun. The Pirate Captain did this because the last time they fought, no matter how many cannonballs she fired, Blackbeard''s ship remained intact.

    On the Servants'' side, EMIYA and Euryale, being Archers, were the firsts to start the battle. He went straight for Anne while she went for the pirates who were setting the ropes as there was a particular disgust that still prevented her from even aiming at Blackbeard. The blond-haired woman didn''t fall behind, aiming her musket at the Broken Hero. Meanwhile, Artemis preferred to draw as little attention to her as possible until it was time for her to act, so she decided to fade onto the background.

    Sanson was quick to board the enemy ship, as he also had to finish his pending battle with Mary. The little girl, armed with her cutlass, was ready to receive him and settle their previous fight.

    Something surprising was the fact Altera also accompanied Assassin, but not to help him with his fight. Instead, she was going to put an end to everything by annihilating Blackbeard. She wanted to accompany her Master, to at least be there. That''s why she would set aside her disgust for that man and fight in close combat if need be.

    To her misfortune ��Or perhaps fortune��, someone got in her way before she could get close to Blackbeard. "I''m sorry, Miss Saber, but I can''t just let you go and kill the Captain, as much as I would like you to."

    William Kidd moved in front of Altera, blocking her path. Now that Archer had left to who-knows-where, it relapsed in him to defend the weird guy. Of course, it was only thanks to the power of the Grail, which pretty much forced him to do it.

    Altera''s eyes were the representation of coldness itself. If there were something she didn''t tolerate, that would be people getting in her way when she wanted to do something. "Move aside, or you will be the first I destroy."

    The man in question just dropped his hat a bit until it was covering his eyes from view while a smile formed on his face. "I fear you will have to do just that, but make sure to kill me properly, all right? You never know when a half-dead man can complicate things."

    Kidd took out his weapon from his sash and pointed it at Altera, signifying he wouldn''t be moving from that position. The Scourge of God didn''t bother with speaking anymore and just charged ahead.

    "I would be a disappointment if a woman protected me, but being protected by a man doesn''t make me feel great either. Well, it doesn''t matter. Have fun out there! Die if you want, I don''t care!" If Blackbeard wanted to motivate William, he was failing. Knowing his personality, though, it wasn''t surprising that he was not worried about the safety of anything that was not a cute girl.

    While others were preparing to fight whatever enemies they had, he was just commanding his subordinates, or "Blackbeard''s gang" as he called them, to open fire and sink the Old Hag''s ship. If he sent that piece of wood to the ocean floor, Euryale-chan and Euryale-chan#2 wouldn''t have another option other than to board the Queen Anne''s Revenge, and at that moment, he will capture their hearts with a hug! Genius tactics, if you asked him.

    Naturally, he took into account the fact they were Servants, so there was no way he could kill them with just cannon fire, and less if he didn''t aim at them but at the ship.

    However, much to his surprise, Drake''s ship didn''t receive much damage like the last time. Instead, his own was the one that suffered more after she fired back. It seemed she did something after she escaped to manage this. What, he didn''t know.

    The Pirate Queen was shooting his crewmates left and right in the meantime. Although not as much as with Servants, he had to be careful with her. The Grail in her possession was helping her attain something impossible for a human. In essence, she was less than a Servant and more than a human. Maybe it was also helping her ship, but those were only theories.

    To him, though, it didn''t matter what they did. Eventually, the Queen Anne''s Revenge would prove to be superior. That was the advantage of it being a Noble Phantasm and the Golden Hind being just a regular ship.

    This fact would be reinforced the moment more Servants boarded his sweet vessel. That was because there was another reason for him not to do anything when people came here to attack him. This reason also aligned with his d.e.s.i.r.e to have both Goddesses aboard.

    Apart from his more than questionable hobbies, the reason he wanted them was simple, and only he knew of it. There was a secret to his continuously active Noble Phantasm, and it was that it strengthened the more Servants were on board.

    With that in mind, Blackbeard was carefully planning to make as many people get on his ship ��Preferably women�� and then blow the rest up ��Preferably men��. The only thing in his way now was Drake''s piece of wood.

    It was a shame Archer was not here to help with that. Still, it was better that way. People like the dark-skinned man were better far away from oneself, or you could end in a pretty bad spot. He had enough experience to know when a parrot was too smart to have it on your shoulders.

    The good thing was that he took that supposed God with him when he left. Different from Euryale-chan or her sister, he seemed to be someone who knew how to fight back. Even he wasn''t sure if his Noble Phantasm would be enough. The fact he most likely killed Hector was proof of that.

    The bad thing was that he absorbed most of the Grail''s Magical Energy for his summoning. He was not an idiot, Blackbeard knew he got a good deal for that amount, but now he didn''t know if it was better to summon more Servants, even if they were less powerful. The only comfort was that he managed to fill it up a bit after the process was over. It was enough to keep spawning pirates for a good while.

    Aside from that, he could feel the connection between Archer and Grail was a little faint, so the distance between them couldn''t be small. It worked in his favor, though. The farther the little God stayed <span style="font-size: calc(var(--rem) * 1px * 1.0625); letter-spacing: 0px;">away</span><span style="font-size: calc(var(--rem) * 1px * 1.0625); letter-spacing: 0px;"> from his Servants, the more time it would take to provide larger quantities of Magical Energy.</span>

    ''This will be easy, peasy! Duhuhuhu!'' He thought as he cut down one of his subordinates, who got hit by one of Euryale''s arrows. The Goddess was difficult to conquer, but the hardest routes were the most rewarding!

    For now, the only thing he had to do was to put a punchable face and incite the enemy to come and hit him. People must not confuse this was masochism, though. His tastes might include lolis, but aside from that, he was a normal man. If they still didn''t understand him, there was always the option of blaming the world for there being so little culture left.

    As he was thinking this, an arrow flew past him. By the looks of it, Euryale-chan was missing him already. Nothing surprising, considering he attracted all the ladies with his sinful way of life.

    "I have a feeling he is having sickening delusions, but what bothers me the most is the fact I can''t hit him even when I want." Euryale tried to pierce his head with her arrows in between her assault against the infinite-looking army of goons. At least she could charm them to attack their comrades, so the load on them wasn''t too heavy.

    "Uhhh..." Even Asterios, who wasn''t on the receiving end of Blackbeard''s creepy gaze, had to agree with Euryale. Even a monster like him felt small in comparison with that man. His job consisted of repelling the pirates that got close to her or Stheno. He made sure to be a little close to them, though, just in case someone appeared behind them and tried to kidnap both.

    "You better do it, because I am not going to use my Noble Phantasm on him. That said, it is time I give a little support to OUR side." Stheno made sure to stress the last part. She wasn''t just going to forgive them and shake hands like good friends. If they fell on their knees and asked for forgiveness, she might consider it, though. Emphasis on "consider."

    Finishing saying this, Stheno used Goddess'' Whim A. It was a Skill that could bestow various effects to the one she considered allies, although not every one of them was beneficial. It depended on, well, her whims. But now, she didn''t want to mess around, so she made sure to only provide useful things for them.

    Euryale, Altera, Sanson, and Asterios were the ones who she targeted with her Skill. Out of nowhere, numerous lights covered their bodies in quick succession before disappearing equally quickly. However, a certain aura remained as an outline of their bodies.

    The four Servants felt a slight increase in the strength behind their hits. There was also some improvement to their durability. This last effect was particularly helpful for Sanson, who lost in terms of ability with a sword to Mary. They also noticed an additional boost to their overall speed, including reaction time.

    It wouldn''t be an exaggeration to call this a blessing, ignoring who it came from, that is. Additionally, this Skill would boost the attack power of all Divine allies, mainly Altera and Euryale.

    The Middle Sister was now able to kill three enemies with one arrow, so Stheno''s Skill indeed showed how helpful it was. She still didn''t forget to aim for non-vital parts to charm and make them turn against each other. They had to use every means of defeating their enemies as possible.

    Sanson was beginning to push Mary back, thanks to the little help he received. To add to that, he used his own Skill, Executioner A++, to increase his damage against enemies with Evil Alignment. It was something befitting of someone who judges criminals with death. It was also ironic, considering the little girl''s end. This time, though, there were no excuses to delay it, as he wouldn''t hear any.

    As for the white-haired girl, she could overpower William with more ease than before. She didn''t care much for the others, but if she used her Photon Ray here, Seth''s Servants would most likely die. Not to mention the other Master who defended hers. That''s why she at least was grateful to that little pest. Besides, it was her job to protect her Master''s children!

    ...

    ...

    Bad, very bad! Blackbeard didn''t like this at all. It might seem infinite, but his army had a limit. If he didn''t do something and soon, they would lose! It was true that his Noble Phantasm strengthened every time someone stepped on board, but around half of their enemies were ranged, meaning they could attack from Drake''s ship.

    ''It seems I will have to enter the stage, but I need to do it with a cool entrance.''

 Chapter 117 - History Repeats Itself (2)

    (A/N: If you see something about a span tag, please do tell me so I can remove it. Inkstone likes to put it without me even knowing about it. If this keeps happening, I will email WN for a solution...)

    Thinking about a cool entrance was good and all, but he had to ponder very carefully about what his next action would be. Attacking the cute tan girl fighting with that loser seemed like a bad option as he could feel the bloodl.u.s.t she was directing at him. It was nothing surprising considering she originally wanted to fight him. Sigh, being a popular man had its disadvantages.

    Killing some of Drake''s pirates would that boarded his ship wouldn''t do it either. It had to be something worthy of a final boss character. Looking around, Blackbeard didn''t take long before finding his prey.

    Last time he failed because the Archer in red got in the way, but this time fate seemed to be smiling at him. Those guys were fighting among themselves not too long ago, so any feelings of camaraderie were as good as gone.

    Silently, like a ghost, a pirate nears his target. He is hopping like a rabbit, using his allies as a cover. One, he gets behind. Two, he prepares his hook. And three, he strikes!

    As Blackbeard was about to land a hit on Sanson, who had his full attention on Mary, he noticed a projectile heading his way, forcing him to retreat.

    "Whoops~ I didn''t know Mistah Archer was this thirsty for me. I have to say sorry as I don''t share your s.e.x.u.a.l preferences." Teach tried to play it off as if it was a mere prank, but EMIYA didn''t fall for it.

    He was mistaken in something, and that was thinking he knew how the others would act based on a discrepancy in opinions. Archer might not be like his younger self, wanting to save everyone regardless of who they were, but that didn''t mean he would let his companions die if they were in front of him.

    Even if he didn''t have that mindset, EMIYA wouldn''t just let Sanson die. The reason was simple. At times like this, having one less ally could prove to be fatal. He was still thinking that Seth had fewer chances of winning against that Archer, so losing even one Servant in their team was the worst thing that could happen.

    For a moment, Marie and Sanson stopped their fight. The young girl frowner while looking at her Captain while the young man was slightly confused as to why Archer helped him. Aside from that, he made sure to curse Blackbeard for always trying to sneak up on him. It wasn''t like he was unaccustomed to the actions of treacherous criminals, but it annoyed him nonetheless.

    Marie didn''t approve of what Blackbeard did. She had proven to be quite a strong and independent woman, so having a man meddle with her battle didn''t sit well with her. Besides, she might be a pirate, but she was also someone who respected a duel and all it carried.

    Assassin, for his part, was surprised by EMIYA''s action. Sanson didn''t expect his timely intervention at all. He had only realized about Blackbeard''s attack when it was too late. If it weren''t because Archer threw an arrow between him and his assailant, he would have received a mortal wound, or worse, died.

    The Red Bowman''s feat didn''t go unpunished, though. A small, bleeding hole in his shoulder was the price he had to pay to save Sanson from an inevitable demise. It was nothing to worry about, but it would hinder the speed in which he shot his arrows.

    It wasn''t like Anne was an opportunistic person or something. It was just that she had already fired before EMIYA decided to shoot her Captain, so there was nothing she could do about it. Naturally, she wasn''t thrilled about the idea of Blackbeard interfering with their fights. Her and Mary''s mindset were similar in that regard.

    Concerning Archer''s thoughts on the matter, he just thought it was okay. They might have their differences now. They might not be on good terms as before. They might not be able to work together as they did before, but at the end of the day, they were all allies fighting for a common cause.

    Maybe if they could think with a cool head and adequately discuss the matter, perhaps their differences would be resolved. However, they didn''t have that leisure, not now at least. That''s why he would trust his Master''s judgment as well as his own on this. He would believe that Seth was on their side, and in consequence, his Servants.

    Some were too focused on their enemies, so they didn''t see what transpired, but others did, mainly Stheno, Euryale, Asterios, Waver, and Fujimaru.

    The black-haired youth was glad that EMIYA could put aside the prejudices and do something to help his companion, which showed the speech he gave him, as well as the others, had some effect, at least. That said, seeing his Servant get hurt was not something that brought him joy.

    Waver observed the events with the detail, missing nothing. For some reason, Caster felt the original Zhuge Liang curse him in every imaginable way possible, even if he was not here anymore. For a supposed strategist, he sure messed things up. Thanks to his Discerning Eye A Skill, he knew from the very beginning what Blackbeard was planning to do. The patterns of his movement, his subtle but noticeable observations of the battlefield before stopping on Sanson. Everything pointed to a sneak attack, but he let his doubts cloud his mind.

    Thinking about it in more detail, it might be because he was someone inexperienced with regards to all of this. Yes, he had Zhuge Liang''s knowledge as well as his entire repertory of Skills and Noble Phantasms, but in the end, he, Waver Velvet, was not someone used to unexpected things on the battlefield.

    ''I don''t know if my King would laugh at me or just hit my back and encourage me to learn from my mistakes. Good grief, it goes to show there is still room for growth, even for someone who is supposedly dead. If I am, that is.'' He still didn''t know for sure about the circ.u.mstances of his summoning, but there was no point in pondering over it now.

    If they were going to do it, then they had to go about it seriously. When push comes to shove, it was the job of a strategist to make the best use of an army, and what was more important, to keep it together as a single unit. It was not a secret that the strength of an army lay in their unity.

    "Everyone, make sure to fight with everything you have got! If you are going to lose against mere ghosts that keep spawning like c.o.c.kroaches, then don''t come here calling yourselves pirates, and even less, don''t dare call yourselves men!" If there was a time to shout with everything he had got, it was now. Maybe there was an influence of the original Zhuge Liang in that speech, but that didn''t matter.

    The objective was to motivate their troops to fight to the death if it was necessary. It might seem not very empathetic, but that''s what they needed. Of course, even though he directed his speech to Drake''s crew, that also went for the other Servants. If they wanted to crush their enemies completely, they would have to do so as a team.

    He took advantage of his speech to use another one of his Skills, Tactician''s Command A+. As long as they fought as an army and followed his instructions, their overall power will increase. On weak-minded individuals, it could make them fight as if their lives depended on it, without holding anything back, basically removing some of the human body''s limiters.

    "Like hell, I would lose against these guys!"

    "I am not ready to visit Davy Jones'' locker today!"

    "Prepare to eat your words, skinny guy!"

    His words seemed to have the d.e.s.i.r.ed effect, something that pleased him, even bringing a smile to his usually serious face. Drake shared this trait, getting motivated to kill some scoundrels too.

    "You heard him! The one who kills the least will have to clean the ship for a whole week, so you better put in some effort!" The pink-haired woman motivated them not as a strategist, but merely as their Captain.

    "AYE!!!" She was not disappointed as her crew responded with even more vigor than before. It was one of the perks of being a charismatic leader.

    After seeing everything was ready, Zhuge Liang turned toward his Master. "I don''t think I need to tell you what to do."

    Fujimaru shook his head. Caster''s speech also motivated him to try harder and be of as much help as possible. If his Servants were doing everything in their reach to accomplish a goal, he, as their Master, couldn''t fall behind.

    "I am sorry, EMIYA, and also, thanks." The Japanese young man knew Archer didn''t have the need to help Sanson, considering their past disagreements, but he still did, and he was extremely thankful for that.

    Even if it was not the most rational decision because he had to conserve as much Magical Energy as possible, he still decided to use his Mystic Code to heal Archer, who, despite his wound, was still fighting Anne. Thanks to this, EMIYA was now in top condition again.

    "Although I think you should waste your Magical Energy on someone else, you still have my thanks, Master." He could act without much help from Fujimaru, thanks to Independent Action, so there wasn''t a need to heal him. Even so, he appreciated the gesture.

    Sanson quickly alternated his gaze between the Red Bowman and Fujimaru before coming to a swift decision. After using his sword as a blunt weapon to gain some distance from Mary, he "retreated" to a place that was as near EMIYA as possible. Archer did the same, jumping from the Golden Hind''s gunwale where he was shooting from to the Queen Anne''s.

    They were going to fight as a duo now. Although improvised, it gave better chances to cover unforeseen events, aka Blackbeard''s continuous tries to attack them while they least expected.

    "So they want to fight together all of a sudden? What do you say, Mary? Should we teach them how to do it?" Anne asked her more than a trusted companion with a smile of confidence on her face. When it came to fighting alongside someone, no one could beat their teamwork.

    "Agreed. Too many interruptions. It''s time to put an end to this once and for all." Same as Sanson, Mary rapidly moved from her place and positioned herself next to Anne. Since meeting the Chaldeans, this is the first time the pirates Anne Bonny and Mary Read were going to fight together; to fight as one.

    Anne and Mary were not two separate Heroic Spirits, but were, in fact, a single one. That meant their real power shined the moment the two fought side by side. The peculiarity of this Servant was that when they were together, their whole parameters would change. If, for example, Mary Endurance was C, and Anne was A, then when they were combined, they would take Anne''s one as a base. It was a way to show how they both could cover the weakness of the other with their own strength.

    "Archer, Assassin, fight as you must. I will make sure to prevent any unwanted situations from befalling you." Zhuge Liang said to Sanson and EMIYA amidst the chaos before turning to Euryale, Stheno, and Asterios. "Can I count on you to protect me while I do so?"

    Altera was busy pressuring that Saber, but he knew that Blackbeard was very wary of her, not wanting to get close to the white-haired girl if possible, so that only left Sanson and EMIYA to protect. He had to continuously keep an eye on him as not to let him harm any of the two, but that would leave him exposed. "Ghosts" or not, they were still something created by a Holy Grail. If he was not careful, he might receive some wounds from their bullets.

    "It can''t be helped if you are such a pathetic human being who needs a Goddess'' help. Very well, we shall cover you, defend those two idiots as much as you like." Stheno gave a positive response, even if she didn''t phrase it decently.

    "Thanks for that." Caster didn''t mind how she said it as long as she could count on her. Now that he had Stheno''s reassurance, and in consequence Euryale''s and Asterios'', he could concentrate on keeping Blackbeard in check. He might not be good with Magecraft, but he did know how to teach a lesson to a troublemaker.

    The full might of the future strategist of the King of Conquerors, he will show it to him.

 Chapter 118 - History Repeats Itself (3)

    Hell, a place where every pirate goes after they die. It was also what Blackbeard was experiencing right now. The scrawny guy had been irritating him for the past hour without rest.

    No matter if he just stayed in place and did nothing, the guy would fire energy beams in quick succession. Even a patient man like him had his limits, so he couldn''t afford to be treated like some side character.

    The two yuri women seemed to have the advantage now that they fought as one, but there were no signs of worry on that meddlesome Archer and little boy''s faces. As for the s.e.xy girl and that hateful ikemen, she was still pushing him back, having inflicted some wounds on him already. Hmph, serves him right.

    That said, there was something about him that slightly unnerved Teach. Despite being on the losing end, there was no sign of him losing his composure as if he had victory in the bag.

    Leaving the bad vibes Saber was giving him aside, Blackbeard was debating if now was a good time to use his Noble Phantasm or not. The fact that Archer jumped on his ship was a surprise, but a welcomed one nonetheless. With an additional Servant aboard, its lethality had gone up a notch!

    He still had to be careful where he aimed, though. One mistake, as small is it may be, could signify the death of Euryale-chan and Euryale-chan#2! On the contrary, if he aimed it precisely to the poop deck where the annoying guy, the Master, the Old Hag, and the Missy with the shield were, then that would bring good results.

    Now, it was a shame that a cute girl would die because of that, but eh, you win some you lose some. The good thing was that the girl could protect herself if necessary. The bad thing was that she might try to protect the others as well. Hm...decisions, decisions.

    As Teach was debating what to do next, he noticed something in the corner of his vision. This event wouldn''t have caught his attention if it weren''t because after it happened, he could feel his strength quickly leave him. It was like getting hit by holy powers while playing as an undead character.

    Blackbeard was not the only one suffering from this, though. Other fighters suffered as well, making the battle slow down as a result. There seemed to be a common factor, and it was that every Servant with Evil alignment, be it Lawful, Neutral, or Chaotic, became weaker.

    The affected people were Sanson, Anne & Mary, William Kidd, Asterios, Francis Drake, and Teach. They felt as if every ounce of strength was rapidly leaving their muscles.

    It didn''t take long for another pillar to emerge. This one generated the opposite effect, empowering those of Evil alignment. It wasn''t something those involved could exactly rejoice about, though.

    While it did help them regain their lost powers, it wasn''t a case of merely nullifying the previous effect. Putting it simply, those Servants had their strength come and go repeatedly. The sensation was hard to describe, but one thing was for sure, it wasn''t pleasant at all.

    This occurrence was accompanied by the ocean turning violent, to the point they wondered if both sh.i.p.s would turn upside down at any moment.

    "What''s happening?! Is a Noble Phantasm causing this?! This direction; is it the other battlefield?!" Usually, Dr. Roman wouldn''t communicate with during a battle, but he had to know how the Chaldeans were faring.

    "I don''t know what is happening, but I feel like I am having the worst hangover of my life." Despite not being a Servant, she was still being affected by whatever that pillar was. Much to her worry, the scallywags were too, and they had it worse, falling on the floor one after the other. Her only comfort was that Blackbeard''s army was suffering the same fate.

    ''This sensation is similar to the ones caused by Helios. However, I don''t think he is the one behind this.'' Stheno was mildly confused. She knew those things came from Seth''s and Archer''s battlefield, but one didn''t have powers related to the sun, and the other used lightning. There was nothing that made sense about all of this.

    "Sanson, let''s return. It''s not safe for you to fight like this." EMIYA knew that Assassin was an easy target, so their best option was to go back to the Golden Hind. Being an Archer, he could attack from there with no problems, but the Executioner was another matter.

    The Frenchman silently nodded, agreeing with his decision. Archer had done enough to gain his trust already. Sanson had difficulties moving, so EMIYA had to carry him back, though. It would be disastrous if he got killed while retreating, after all.

    "Saber, you do the same as well!" As he was carrying Assassin on his back, the Red Bowman took the opportunity to shout to Altera. However, she was having none of that.

    "Go run all you want, but I won''t do it. Master is waiting for me to cut the enemy''s head." Different from the rest, she was winning her battle with ease. The reason he hadn''t killed him until now was that he always seemed to escape death by a hair''s breadth magically.

    Even if that was the case, William still had suffered some wounds. If there were a particular one to note, it would be the one in his left hand, or ex hand, to be more precise.

    Taking advantage of a moment where he got distracted, Altera impaled her sword on his hand before pulling it down, creating a gruesome spectacle of nothing more than mangled flesh.

    The look in William''s face told just how much this did not amuse him. Lips curved downward, and serious eyes replaced the usual gentlemanly smile he liked to use. Whatever was going on, it was not something welcomed.

    "Tch." EMIYA couldn''t help but click his tongue. Why did she have to be so stubborn? Now that they were at it, why all the women he knew had to be like that? Leaving his questions aside, he decided to leave her be. He, more than anyone, knew that trying to reason with someone like her now was pointless.

    Returning to the two Sabers, Kidd''s was becoming more ferocious with his movements, attacking slightly more each time instead of just defending. There was something wrong about it, though.

    William Kidd was a pirate during a period of his life, and the Throne Of Heroes usually categorized them all as Chaotic Evil. Even Drake, someone who was outside the norm and couldn''t just fall into the category of "sc.u.mmy pirate" was also like that.

    Then, why was he not affected like the rest were by the effects of those pillars? Altera didn''t know. Despite being focused on her fight, she was aware of her surroundings, unlike that disappointment of an Assassin. But well, that came with being a warrior, so she didn''t blame him that much. Anyway, returning to the matter at hand, she saw how some of the Servants weakened only to show abnormal behavior shortly afterward. That was also the case with the man in front of her.

    But now; now it was as if it didn''t affect him anymore. It was as if...he was a completely different person. Although she couldn''t comprehend it, she didn''t pay it any mind either. The outcome will be the same.

    Altera wasn''t entirely wrong on her conjecture. The change happening to Kidd was thanks to his Skill Change Of Hearts B+, one that allowed him to reverse effects on him. It was a Skill symbolizing how he went from someone at the service of the crown to just a pirate.

    He had been activating and deactivating it continuously to avoid having to suffer the influence of those light pillars. Naturally, doing so wasted more Magical Energy than necessary, but it was worth it to stay alive.

    There was a side effect to this, though. If the situation turned for the worse or if William was in a tight spot, his personality would start to change until it resembled the image of a sanguinary pirate. It was a sort of passive consequence.

    However, despite that, it helped Kidd close the gap between him and the other Saber. Even so, the little rationality he had left told him it wasn''t enough. He still had to do more to keep up, considering he now had a useless hand.

    "Are you ready to face your charges, lowlife?" His voice didn''t have the respect it had before, becoming low and threatening instead. The black-haired pirate didn''t waste any time in activating his second Skill, Hunter of Criminals A.

    It was what began it all; when a Governor asked him to start his hunt for people related to piracy and enemies from other nations as well all in the name of the crown.

    It wasn''t long before an aura that could only classify as intimidating started to envelop him. His muscles soon bulged a bit, adding more strength to his blows. That was not the only thing that happened, though. For some reason, Altera felt an inexplicable dwindling in her forces.

    "You...what did you do?" Altera didn''t mind the insults of a dead man. She was more interested in knowing what the cause of what was happening to her was.

    "As if I need to explain something to the trash of society!" Kidd exclaimed while slashing at her. There was no sign of the previous gentleman. Now, only a crazy man obsessed with upholding "justice" remained.

    What started as a disadvantageous situation for him became like that for the Scourge of God. Kidd''s momentum did nothing more than increase as he continued to push Altera back.

    Aside from his obsession with kill her, there was another reason why he had become madder in his attacks. Hunter Of Criminals allowed him to inflict a sort of weakening effect on those who had done evil deeds. The more they have done, the more they will suffer from it. And Altera, someone who killed countless lives in her conquests, was a pretty good target for it. However, he couldn''t keep his Skill forever, and even more so considering how he was still wasting Magical Energy with Change Of Hearts.

    The only problem with the effect was that it was gradual and not instant, meaning he couldn''t overpower her instantly. Even so, he kept slashing and slashing like a madman while Altera kept deflecting, although it was proving more difficult each consecutive time.

    "What happens? Can''t keep up?! I will thoroughly enjoy killing you and your Master next! The face of despair you will make as I sink my blade into your heart, show it to me!"

    People might argue about what was exactly wrong with losing your rationality in battle. Some might say it doesn''t let you concentrate well and that you are prone to make mistakes. Others say you stop worrying about self-preservation, ending up more injured than you were supposed to in the first place. As for Altera...it did nothing more than to mark a death sentence.

    "...I am going to destroy your entire existence." During battles, Altera was a cold and calculative existence without much emotions to speak of at all. She didn''t feel remorse in killing people, nor she hesitated in doing so. Of course, it didn''t bring her joy either. This time, however, a new emotion rose within her, and that was anger. It was something she didn''t feel even with Rome, taking it as "An enemy that she had to destroy" and nothing else.

    This emotion, she wouldn''t cast it aside. She would let it empower her. Different from her opponent, she was not going to let it consume her. Altera was going to make full use of it to destroy those who dared to utter such disgusting words in her presence.

    As if to respond to her feelings, the mark in her shoulders shone with a dark brilliance. The sky that had gotten clear thanks to those light pillars started to darken. The Chaldeans couldn''t help but have a d��j�� vu about all of this.

    Thunderclouds manifested as if to signify an omen of misfortune, which wasn''t entirely incorrect. The Gods themselves shall punish those who dare to go against them.

    Kidd had it in for him if he thought she was one to be on the defensive, he couldn''t be more wrong about that. If he liked to act all c.o.c.ky just by using his Skills, then she would do the same. Activating Natural Body and Star Emblem, Altera felt a temporary increase in her strength that was quick to offset William''s weakening curse.

    He, without knowing of that change, confidently went for a thrust with his sword only for her to transform her weapon into a whip, holding it in place. He didn''t have time to be surprised before Altera sank her heels on his stomach, sending him crashing into the mast.

    "Gah...!" Blood came out of William''s mouth the moment his back collided with the tall piece of wood. He didn''t expect her to overpower him suddenly. Curses to her persona were the only thing in his mind right now.

    Without minding this, the white-haired girl returned her weapon to a sword form and pointed it to the sky. She would show this man the true meaning behind her nickname of "The Scourge of God."

    Her Magical Energy started spiking without control, making the wooden floor under hear feet cave in and break slightly. Not only her enemies, but even her allies thought she was being reckless. Did she plan to kill everyone here?!

    Reckless or not, her enemies, their enemies, she will destroy.

 Chapter 119 - History Repeats Itself (End)

    (A/N: Sorry for posting late, I wanted to give an end to this fight on this chapter and didn''t realize how much it would take. But well, you have 3.7k words, which is kind of like 2 chapters in 1. Take this as an apology for when I couldn''t post the Saturday after my break, even if it wasn''t my fault lol)

    Whatever was going to happen, it wouldn''t bode well for anyone present. The Chaldeans did everything they could to try and stop her to no avail. Even those supposed to be on her side were thinking she had gone crazy.

    "What is that woman thinking?! Does she plan to erase us together with that c.o.c.kroach?!" Aside from the rumbling thunderclouds, the air around them was starting to become turbulent. Euryale had to hold onto Asterios not to get blown away, something her sister also did.

    The Minotaur tried his best to protect them, but it was getting increasingly difficult when he also had to take care of himself. Being of Chaotic Evil Alignment, he also had to suffer from the weakening and strengthening effect of those pillars. If there was something good about all of this, it was that it didn''t affect his weight, so the two Goddesses could hold onto him without problems.

    ''She lost her mind, damn it. After this, if we survive, I will have to tell Seth to put a leash on her. That way, she won''t be acting recklessly like this anymore.'' Stheno knew that no matter what they did, she was dead set on destroying the enemy.

    "Mash, please use your shield to protect us!" In this situation, they couldn''t use EMIYA''s Reality Marble to escape due to particular circ.u.mstances concerning their original plan, so their next best option was to use Mash''s defensive capabilities.

    "Y-Yes! Just leave it to me, Senpai!" His words of encouragement were everything Mash needed to put all she had in defending them. She might not be much as a Servant yet, but she, for sure, was going to protect them with all she had got!

    Fujimaru nodded, trusting her. Even so, just for good measure, he used one of his Command Spells to strengthen her. He didn''t know the level of destructiveness that was going to ensure, so it was best to be careful.

    The lilac-haired girl soon put her shield in front of her. Taking a deep breath, she used as much Magical Energy as she could to try and cover not only them but the whole ship as well.

    It wasn''t long before a projection of a shield-looking barrier manifested in front of her. Little by little, it started growing more each time. However, it didn''t look like she would make it before Altera fired her Noble Phantasm.

    Different from them, who at least had a chance at escaping sure destruction, Blackbeard, Kidd, Anne, and Mary were not that fortunate. The two male pirates had next to zero options to do something against her. Lightning was starting to fall around her, creating some safe zone. If they wanted to get to her, they would have to be careful. Not to mention Teach didn''t have the advantage of William to counter the effects of the pillars.

    As for the two girls, they were supporting one another to be able to stand up barely. Their bodies felt like jelly; if it weren''t for their willpower, they would be on the ground already.

    "Mary...are you okay?" Even though it was a meaningless question, Anne still asked her partner. She couldn''t believe they got themselves in such a situation. Was their luck that bad?

    "Yeah... What about you?" Although she confirmed she was all right, that wasn''t exactly the case. Different from Anne, Mary had been fighting in close combat with Sanson and had suffered some wounds additionally to the physical exertion.

    "I am fine. But more importantly, we have to do something about that woman, or we will die here." As she said this, the blond-haired girl raised her musket with some difficulty and shot the Scourge of God as quickly. However, much to her misfortune, Altera''s Magical Energy took physical form in the shape of a drill-like rainbow of lights that pointed at the sky like her sword did, protecting her.

    "I guess...it won''t be that easy, huh..." Anne smiled wryly but was quickly comforted by Mary, who held her hand in a signal of support. There was also the fact that Altera didn''t even glance at them; she kept her gaze firm on the now kneeling Kidd.

    Honestly, it was plain to see that if she used her Noble Phantasm now, she would be able to kill them all with no problems. The most likely reason she didn''t do so must be to take out all the intense feelings she had inside her. There were almost no doubts Altera wanted to absolutely, completely crush William Kidd.

    BUT. That allowed the group to stop the white-haired girl before it was too late. Anne looked toward her Master, who was using the helm to support himself. If he had anything to help them, then now was the time to use it.

    ''Dammit. I got confident this time. I should''ve used it while I had those edgy-haired bastards aboard. I can''t believe I suffered from classic villain syndrome, saving everything for the last moment. But hmph. If they think Blackbeard goes out without a fight, then they are mistaken.'' Even in his final moments, he never stopped until all his strength left him. Now was the time to show them the might of Edward Teach, of the feared Blackbeard.

    Contrary to what one might expect, Teach was not going to attack Altera. There was a simple reason for that, if he did, he would also blow up his ship, and he had committed too many mistakes to make another. Instead, his target was going to be the Golden Hind.

    ? ''Here it comes. My anger is ecstasy itself!'' Even in his drunk-like state, Blackbeard''s Magical Energy started to rise rapidly. He was going to go all out on this one.

    ''Taste the might of my cannon in full splendor!'' Although he mentally spoke like it was only one, probably to make a dirty joke, multiple cannons manifested, all pointing at the Chaldeans.

    ��Queen Anne''s Revenge!�� ?

    Saying the name of his Noble Phantasm out loud, every cannon fired, each one powered by the multiple Servants standing on his ship. It didn''t take long for the blasts to collide with the barrier Mash had created, putting more pressure on the shield girl.

    "Gh...!" She released a low grunt as her grip on her shield increased further. Shielder didn''t know if she was going to be able to keep up with that pirate, but the hopes and survival of everyone rested on her so she couldn''t disappoint them.

    "That bastard is seriously annoying until the end! Mash, make sure to endure. If we get out of this alive, the next treasure we find will be yours!" Drake tried to encourage the little girl, although she wasn''t sure if that was going to be effective.

    "We are counting on you, Shielder. Give it everything you''ve got." EMIYA also gave his words of support. It was the only thing he could do for now as Mash''s barrier not only prevented them from being harmed but from attacking as well.

    Fujimaru didn''t say anything. Even so, Mash already knew she had his complete trust, and it was indeed so. The youth was planning to aid her with another Command Spell if she ever needed it as he didn''t want to play with their chances of survival.

    The lilac-haired girl obtained strength from their encouragement, and everyone certainly noticed it. A new additional barrier behind the previous one emerged. Now, if the blasts managed to overcame their first line of defense, they at least had another. It was timely, to say the least, as the barrier Mash first put was beginning to crack from Blackbeard''s Noble Phantasm''s continuous assault.

    The said assault wasn''t eternal, though. Edward knew there was a limit to how much he could keep pressuring them, mainly due to his reserves of Magical Energy. The only positive thing to get out of this was that he didn''t need to use his body to attack, or he would be screwed.

    Meanwhile, as Blackbeard tried to kill the Chaldeans, Anne and Mary were preparing to use their own Noble Phantasm. "I don''t know if I should praise his stubbornness or call him an idiot for not worrying about that girl."

    "Forget about him for now, Anne. What''s important now is stopping that woman, or preferably killing her." The only advantage they had at this point was that Altera didn''t consider them a threat so they could take her by surprise.

    "You are right. But are you prepared? Our chances at succeeding aren''t that high." Although she didn''t say it, it wasn''t a secret that they would most likely end up dead even if they managed to stop the white-haired girl.

    "Yes, it doesn''t matter what happens. We will always have each other until the end." Mary''s words brought a smile to her face. That''s right, same as when they were alive, they would fight together even if that meant their deaths.

    Nodding to one another, both girls proceeded to spend every ounce of Magical Energy possible. It would grant them the ability to ignore the effects of the pillars temporarily, but they would have to act quickly.

    Mary started running at Altera while Anne prepared her musket and aimed it at her. Their situation now was a disadvantageous one, but instead of making them feel despair, it gave them hope. After all, their Noble Phantasm received a boost the more cornered they were. A crystallization of their legend where they fought with tooth and nail to prevent their capture.

    As the little girl drew near, Altera, for the first time, directed her gaze at her. Immediately, a lightning bolt descended from the sky, striking her with incredible might. Mary fell to the ground without uttering a sound of pain, but with the same quickness that she did, she got up and launched herself at the Scourge of God again.

    Anne bit her lips, seeing her companion get hurt like that. However, she still kept her aim, waiting for an opportunity to shoot. Still, it was hard to keep her cool when she saw Mary getting hurt again and again.

    ''Not yet...just a little more...'' The little pirate was getting closer to Altera, but that wasn''t necessarily a good thing. The ever raising in strength Noble Phantasm of the white-haired girl continued to create environmental changes that made approaching her a difficult task.

    "Meaningless resistance." She didn''t have time to deal with flies that kept buzzing around her. There was still that man crawling toward her like the pathetic bug he was who needed to die.

    Altera sent one last thunderbolt to the slowly advancing Mary. This one seemed to be the final blow as the little girl was falling face forward and was starting to let go of her weapon. Seeing this, the King of the Hun returned to what she was doing. In no time, she would complete the preparations.

    That reaction, however, was what the two girls were waiting for from the beginning. Mary, who looked defeated, gripped her cutlass one last time before throwing it at Altera like a throwing dagger. ''Don''t...underestimate...our free...spirit!!!''

    Without even looking, the tan girl inclined her head backward slightly, letting the pirate''s weapon continue its trajectory without accomplishing anything. The smile in Mary''s face showed that it was all under control, though.

    "This is your end, you strumpet! Caribbean Free Bird!" It was a minimal opportunity, but they still had to take advantage of it. That''s why she endured the suffering of her partner and best friend.

    With an expression of anger and sorrow, Anne fired her musket, shooting a yellow beam in Altera''s direction instead of a bullet. It was their last chance to stop her from killing them all, although it didn''t matter at this point.

    The beam rapidly passed by a fainting Mary, continuing its path unimpeded. If nobody did anything, the white-haired girl would undoubtedly suffer some damage.

    "...I am tired of you." She had initially planned to erase that worm''s existence together with everything surrounding her. That''s why she kept pouring more and more Magical Energy into her new Noble Phantasm, but their continuous interruptions made her change her mind. It was ironic that they ended up causing what they wanted to prevent.

    She stopped supplying her reserves to her sword, also ending all the phenomenons around her, except for the thunderclouds. That included the drill-like rainbow surrounding her, but instead of simply disappearing, it got absorbed into her weapon, giving it an additional radiance.

    All of that happened in mere milliseconds, giving Altera enough time to use her sword like a blunt weapon and hit the incoming beam. What happened next was something expected; an explosion followed up by a cloud of smoke covering everyone''s vision.

    The Scourge of God soon exited it, leaving deep trails on the ship''s floor as she tried to stop the momentum, something she accomplished in no time.

    "You are lying..." Anne couldn''t believe what her eyes were seeing. Everything they did was for...nothing? The suffering of both her and Mary was, as the monster in front of her said, meaningless?

    ? "...Connection with Patron God starting." Altera didn''t give any thought to Anne''s suffering, nor she wanted to. Instead, as the cannon of the insufferable c.o.c.kroach were firing above her head, she began her chant.

    "This sword of mine shall serve a new purpose." Pointing her sword at the sky again, blue, green, and red lightning formed at the tip of her weapon before shooting toward the dark clouds.

    "Kh...!" Kidd tried to get up, but he didn''t have enough strength left. He could only see as Altera continued activating her Noble Phantasm while condescendingly looking at him.

    "I declare you all enemies of the God of Storms himself." The bolts of lightning in the clouds soon turned the same color as her sword, moving chaotically but also with a pattern. It didn''t take long for them to take the shape of a constellation, the Ursa Major. A place said to be Seth''s home in some myth.

    ��Raging Star Photon Ray!�� ?

    Those words marked their end. The constellation quickly merged itself on a single point before descending with hope-crushing might. Three separate lightning bolts came down before blending mid-air, transforming into a single, rainbow-colored one. Its size, as well as its pressure, was enough to make them think they weren''t going to get out of this alive.

    If that wasn''t enough, Blackbeard broke the first barrier and was in the process of doing the same with the last. It didn''t look well for the Chaldeans at all.

    "It''s finally my turn! Thanks for waiting for everyone~." A voice they haven''t heard in what seemed to be an eternity made its way into their ears.

    Artemis had been waiting for her darling to sabotage the ship from inside, but he took way too long! Honestly, making a girl wait, she would have to punish him with hugs and kisses when this was over!

    ''Though...she is truly an unstable girl. What was he thinking, powering such a monstrosity? I suppose they are two of a kind, after all...'' A sermon was due if she ever saw him again!

    Leaving that aside, Artemis, as soon as she saw that Orion floated out of one of the ship''s windows, fired her arrow at that open space left by her lover. In no time, the projectile impacted on the powder room.

    What happened next needn''t a description. The whole ship exploded from inside out, halting Blackbeard''s Noble Phantasm and causing Altera to tumble slightly, making her miss the intended target.

    Even so, it didn''t miss by much, hitting the ocean next to the Queen Anne''s Revenge. As soon as it did, a discharge in all directions surged, ready to annihilate everything to pieces. If there was a part left undamaged on the ship, it was not now.

    The series of happy coincidences for the Chaldeans weren''t over yet. Thanks to Altera''s Noble Phantasm hitting the water, and Teach''s ship blocking part of the aftermath, they didn''t suffer as much damage as expected.

    The only thing they had to worry about was the pieces of wood from Blackbeard''s ship that were shooting like missiles in all directions. Mash''s shield was taking care of that, though. Fujimaru also used another Command Spell to give even more support, managing to make the girl create another barrier.

    Although there were a few things they had to concern themselves with, the Scourge of God''s Noble Phantasm was still something they had to defend against, and that was not an easy thing. The constant cracks on Mash''s barrier were proof enough. Even she didn''t have the confidence to stop it if it weren''t for her Senpai''s help.

    Fortunately for them, the effects didn''t last long as Altera had no way of continuing with it.

    "Is it over...?" Shielder asked, finally being able to take a breath. She deactivated the barriers, believing there was no need for them anymore.

    What she didn''t know, though, was that there was a wounded but still living man lurking. Teach was using a piece of wood to keep himself afloat. He was looking directly into an unsuspected Drake who was rejoicing this weird hell ended.

    Taking his gun out from his captain''s coat, Blackbeard pointed it at her. He didn''t plan to die with regrets, so at least he was taking her down with him.

    As he was preparing to pull the trigger, the words that sentenced him were spoken.

    ��La Mort Espoir!�� ?

    Sanson already learned his lesson. He, from the beginning after Altera''s new Photon Ray, had been searching everywhere for him. He had been taken by surprise one too many times just to ignore him again.

    The moment he saw Blackbeard''s ready to fire his gun, he immediately used his Noble Phantasm. A guillotine manifested above Teach as many shadow-like hands grabbed him, not letting him go.

    Teach finally looked at Sanson, but instead of being angry at him, he just grinned, and lip spoke to the Executioner. Assassin frowned before the blade of the guillotine finally went down, decapitating the worst pirate ever to exist.

    Everyone was surprised at seeing Sanson use his Noble Phantasm out of nowhere, but it was only after seeing Blackbeard with his gun did they understood why. However, seeing someone die such a death was not a pleasant sight for some of them. Drake made sure to thank the white-haired young man, though.

    As for Altera, she was in a similar situation to the pirate. After the explosion, she was sent flying into the water. The good thing was that she could return to the surface pretty quickly; the bad one was that a piece of wood was stuck in her abdomen.

    She swore that after this, she would kill that airhead woman for ruining her plans. At least she managed to diverge on of the combined three bolts of lightning to hit that man at the last second.

    "I told you, didn''t I? Make sure to kill me for good." Fate seemed to like playing with her. As if mocking her thoughts, Kidd appeared behind the white-haired girl and stabbed her back.

    Dead Men Do Tell Tales. It was William''s Noble Phantasm. The feat of having escaped death one time by surviving an execution. It granted him a one time revive in addition to giving him a passive increase in his Luck Parameter. This was the reason why he had avoided many of Altera''s finishing blows before.

    Kidd''s blade plunged itself further and further through her body until it exited from her c.h.e.s.t. However, she just silently gritted her teeth as blood fell from her mouth before letting go of the piece of wood she was using as a support, making them all descend into the ocean.

    In there, she elbowed the pirate''s face. Thanks to that, the black-haired man let go of his weapon. Taking the opportunity, Altera transformed her sword into a whip and then proceeded to wrap it around his neck.

    The Scourge of God then pulled her weapon back, bringing William with it. However, before he managed to get to her, she used her heels again on his back to stop him in place. She didn''t stop pulling, though.

    Soon, Saber realized what she was trying to do, but he was powerless to stop it. As the amount of force on both ends increased, Kidd felt how it was getting increasingly difficult to breathe, but if he thought she was going to stop, he was mistaken.

    Altera made use of every ounce of strength until the force she applied reached the necessary threshold. William''s resistance grew dimmer and dimmer until, eventually, there was none at all. The hands that were trying to unwrap her weapon from his neck soon fell limp, together with the rest of his body.

    His body started to fade, signifying his second death, and with it, so did the sword still on her c.h.e.s.t. Altera, for her part, didn''t have any strength left either. Using everything to prepare her Noble Phantasm and getting stabbed by that vermin, didn''t leave much for her.

    She started sinking farther into the ocean until a hand caught her. "This is the last time I do this. Next time, make sure to act less recklessly, okay?" Artemis, who ruined her plan to kill every enemy, also helped her from drowning. It was a give and take. However, Altera didn''t seem too happy about this, going by the glare she was giving the Goddess.

    Pouting at her reaction, she spoke again. "What is that face? What ends well ends well! No need to be so upset!"

    "What about if you think about things before you act?" The Plushie Orion asked, although to whom he was speaking to, he didn''t say.

    Still, no matter the process, at least everything turned out fine. In the end, history repeated itself. Blackbeard died without his head, Kill died "hanged," Mary died with her body feeling like it would melt, and Anne''s fate was unknown.

    For now, a good rest was in order.

 Chapter 120 - After The Battle

    The Chaldeans finally could have a rest after the long battle. The ones who appreciated this more were the humans, though. That included Drake, Fujimaru, and her crew. Still, it wasn''t as physically tiring as it was mentally.

    Even though their fight was over, they opted not to go to where Seth was fighting yet. As much as they knew additional help would be beneficial to him, the situation suggested otherwise. Fujimaru needed some time to recover all the Magical Energy he spent, and some others like Zhuge Liang and Archer had to think about a new strategy for the upcoming battles.

    The initial plan was for them to go to a nearby island, fix what they had to fix, resupply, rest properly, and just then go to where the Egyptian God was. Because Seth the coffins to get into this Singularity, they could pinpoint their general direction. Even without that, they could still know it, considering Archer and Seth''s fight had its visible repercussions.

    Talking about Seth, there was still a pending talk with his Servants and Fujimaru''s. It was weird to say it, but they were lucky their opponent was Blackbeard and no one else. Had it not been him, they doubted the enemy would have waited for them, and at worst, they would have taken advantage of the situation to kill them off more easily.

    They needed to set their differences and talk everything out without leaving anything behind. If they were to face a new enemy, a circ.u.mstance like before where they fought against each other couldn''t repeat itself.

    As for the Holy Grail...it was unrecoverable. After the destruction of Teach''s ship and his subsequent death, the wish-granting device went missing. No matter how much Artemis tried to look for it, she didn''t have any luck in doing so. Da Vinci had been using those artefacts to do some research, but it seemed she wouldn''t be able to do with this one. For now, the only thing left was to terminate the anomaly that is causing this Singularity to exist.

    With respect to Seth''s battlefield, the light pillars were gone, banished to who knows where. Thanks to this, those of Evil Alignment stopped having to suffer that horrible "curse" as they called it. They could also tend better to their wounds without actually having to feel like they would faint the next second.

    There was also the fact the Golden Hind suffered some damage, even with the reinforcement they did, after Blackbeard used his Noble Phantasm. Mash''s shield-like barrier was not able to cover the whole ship, so now they needed to hunt some more Wyverns to repair it.

    It also benefited Sanson in helping Altera. His medicinal skills came in handy for situations like this one. Although he couldn''t magically heal all her wounds, he did manage to "patch her up." That said, it was hard for him to work when she was giving him a murderous stare if he dared to try something. He was only interested in Mary, okay?! Why did she have to make things difficult for him?!

    ''Speaking of which...I hope she gets summoned next time.'' Those were the thoughts of the Executioner after finishing tending to her wounds. The only thing left was for her to rest well and make a full recovery.

    Shortly after Sanson left, Stheno entered Drake''s room, which was the place Altera was staying. The pink-haired woman had been kind enough to lend it to her, even if she technically almost killed her and her group. Sometimes, it was best not to question some people''s mentality.

    The little Goddess sat on the side of the bed, silently looking at the person responsible for almost taking their lives, the said person had her eyes closed, but that didn''t mean she was unaware of Stheno''s presence.

    She decided to stay here and keep an eye on her. She might be willing to cooperate with the others, but that didn''t mean she trusted them with her life or something. After the stunt Altera did, nothing guaranteed them they wouldn''t try to kill her to avoid further risks.

    "You did quite a number on us. Well, I expected it, coming from such a brute woman like you. Muscle heads are such a pain to deal with." Stheno spoke to the tan girl, fully knowing she was hearing her.

    "...Shut up. I eliminated the enemy; that''s all that matters. If you have the time to complain, use it in trying to be useful instead." Altera replied, still with her eyes closed. That, in a way, showed a certain degree of trust for the little Goddess.

    "And by a twist of fate, you didn''t eliminate us as well. Also, if by being useful, I end up like you, I prefer to do nothing at all, thank you very much." The white-haired girl finally opened her eyes only to see a smug look directed at her. She wished to say it didn''t bother her, but then she would be lying.

    "It all worked out in the end, didn''t it?" Altera said before frowning slightly. "Besides, he shouldn''t have insulted Master. If you were half a decent Servant, you would be as angry as me."

    "Woah there. Have about you tone down that zeal? I don''t think that''s a normal reaction even for a Knight Servant. Or is it love, perhaps? So lame~ Why don''t you try with someone your age?" Stheno didn''t hold her tongue. The best way to pay back the insult was to be sarcastic and acting all innocent about it.

    "Such a thing! That''s bad civi��Ngh...!" Altera shot up from her bed, trying to silence Stheno, but that caused her wounds to start hurting, making her wince from the pain and return to her previous position. However, her face still showed her embarrassment at the little pest''s words.

    Her reaction pleased the purple-haired girl enormously, believing she achieved her aim of messing with her. "Oh, my. You should be careful. We don''t want you to get hurt, do we?"

    "...Stop with the sarcasm, you devil. What did you come here for?" The sooner she got rid of this girl, the better her recuperation would be. That and she always lost when it came to trading insults.

    "Believe it or not, I came here to check on you. Still, I also wanted to ask for that mark on your arm. I couldn''t help but notice that it holds a power that is foreign to you. Oh, I know! Is it Seth''s? And did you use it for that Noble''s Phantasm of yours?" Stheno asked with an innocent face, although she wasn''t sure if the white-haired girl would buy it.

    Altera was silent for a few seconds before responding. "Why do you care? It''s not something that concerns you. You should do well in forgetting about it and just let me rest."

    "If you have it, isn''t it natural that as his daughter, I should have it as well? Who knows, I might end up putting in good words for you to dad. You know how much he spoils me. The competition is tough, and you will need my help to win~." Stheno''s words were like the devil''s temptation, so sweet, so alluring.

    It would be a lie to say that it didn''t pass through her mind to accept her offer. However, in the end, she took a deep breath, and with a smile which was unusual on her, responded. "Sorry, but that is something between Master and me. Now, please. Let me rest."

    Her answer took Stheno by surprise. It wouldn''t be an understatement to say she thought Altera would take the bait. "Suit yourself. Though, I will at least wish you luck. Among all the home wreckers, you are the one that I am cheering for, you know?"

    All she got for an answer was a quiet thanks, but that was enough. There was nothing more to do now other than let her rest, so she prepared to exit the room. She would still ask that Minotaur to keep an eye on the others, though. She didn''t want anything "funny" happening while she was away.

    As Altera watched her go, she remembered a conversation she had with Seth. It was a little after the awkwardness she felt for what happened disappeared.

    ---

    "Master, why did you help that little pest reunite with her sister? I thought you didn''t consider her your daughter." She asked, a little perplexed by his actions. The two were on the side of the ship, observing the ocean with nothing much to do.

    "And I don''t. But<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: rgb(37, 37, 37); font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; white-space: normal; letter-spacing: 0px;">��... </span><span style="font-size: calc(var(--rem) * 1px * 1.0625); letter-spacing: 0px;">I received some good news recently. I suppose that changed the way I saw things. Now I am not even bothered by her calling me dad or whatever." Seth smirked, treating it as a mere joke. </span>

    "As for why I helped them...let''s see. I tore myself out of my mother''s side when I was born. I killed my brother, I nearly did so with my repulsive sister, as for the other one, well, it''s best not to talk about it." He spoke like it was nothing much, and he thought of it like that. Altera was not affected by what he said as she also killed someone who grew up with her as her brother.

    Seth gave a small pause before continuing. "As you can see, my family and I don''t get along well, and that is something that will never change. However, when I see how much those three had endured, and all they did to stay together, I can''t help but feel that''s how a real family should be. Not to mention that I killed one of them, so I will try to help Stheno and Euryale reunite with Medusa, at least. Though, maybe the reason I do it is envy. I envy something that I will never have, that''s why I wish to hold it as close to me. Pretty selfish, don''t you think?"

    Altera nodded her head. "It is, but isn''t that our nature? We take and do what we want, no matter what others think. As long as we are satisfied with our actions, then nothing else matters."

    The Scourge Of God seemed to have said something funny because Seth laughed for a bit before turning to look at her. "You know, I sometimes think you are more suited to be a Goddess of War than I am. Still, it''s not like you are wrong. We Gods are a bunch of brutal, oppressive bastards who move on an occasional whim. Asking for permission is something that doesn''t exist in our dictionary."

    Altera revealed a small smile, satisfied with his answer. Although she didn''t agree on the first part, it was good to know that Seth would do what he wanted without caring about what others thought. That said, she at least hoped Medusa wasn''t like the two little devils.

    ---

    "He said..."

    "Hm?" Stheno stopped in front of the door, barely turning her head enough to allow her to watch Altera from the corner of her eyes.

    "...He said that he would help you reunite with your last sister. Or that at least he would try." The white-haired girl didn''t say anything more, opting for closing her eyes to recuperate.

    "Is that so? He really should stop sticking his nose into other people''s business." Stheno also said nothing more, exiting the room without a hurry. However, a small, unnoticeable smile was present on her face.

    ===

    (A/N: Guess who is the idiot who didn''t have electricity for 3 days and then fell off the stairs? ME. Anyway, going to post a chapter tomorrow hopefully. My wrist in my dominant hand is broken, so it''s going to be a pain to write from now on.)

 Chapter 121 - The King, The God, And The Huntress

    It was a beautiful day; the sun rays showered the world with light, picturing a beautiful sight in this beautiful place...it was what a particular person would like to say, but what in the name of God was this situation?!

    "Hey, are you okay?! Hey! Are you alive?! What do I do, what do I do?!" The panicked voice of a young man resounded on the shore of an island as he poked someone''s body, the one of a bleeding male with tattered clothes. He couldn''t see his traits since it was face down.

    "Will thou calm down?! What is the use in panicking?!" The young man heard a feminine voice with a slightly masculine edge as he felt something impacting on his head.

    "...Sorry. I can''t help but feel nervous when something unexpected happens. More importantly, what should we do with him?" He asked the girl behind him after rubbing his head, trying to cope with the pain.

    The woman used her foot to turn the body around, revealing a man she knew too well. "Well, this is certainly a surprise. I didn''t expect to meet him here. However, he sure looks worse than the last time we met. As for what to do with him, let''s bring his body to a safe place first, we will decide what to do later."

    "Do you know him? Setting that aside, can we trust him? You know I don''t like surprise factors in my plans. If something bad happens because of this, we are screwed!" He didn''t seem very convinced of her plan, that was a fact.

    "Aren''t thou a King? If so, quit thy whining. Rather than complaining, thou could use that time to carry this man." After addressing the supposed King, the woman started walking toward the center of the island. Even though the woman labeled as such, he didn''t have any royal aura or even magnificent robes and rings filled with jewels for the matter. Instead, he adorned clothes one would attribute to a farmer or a person of low upbringing.

    The green-haired man couldn''t help but sigh, seeing how she was treating him. ''In my era, people usually had some degree of respect for me, you know?''

    Despite his internal complaining, he went on to pick him up. However, the moment the youth touched the unconscious man, he immediately pulled his hand back and jumped a few steps away. ''I am starting to have my doubts, but I suppose this is God''s will.''

    The moment he touched the man''s body, an eerie feeling assaulted him. If he had to describe it, he would call it sinister. ''Were someone to tell me he was the devil, I would believe it without a doubt. That aside, I better get going, or Atalanta is going to hit me with her bow again. Good grief, women in my era were more respectful to Kings, as much of a disappointment as they were.''

    Even though he would love to keep complaining about how lovely the times when he was alive were, he still had a task to do. So, without any delays, he picked the man up, ignoring the uncomfortable sensation caused by that action.

    He didn''t take long to take him to what looked to be a dungeon in the centermost part of the island. It might not be a pleasant place to take a wounded man, but at least it was not the beach.

    Placing him in an altar inside one of the dungeon''s rooms, he turned to the woman, Atalanta, who was resting her back against the wall. "Couldn''t you choose a better place to do this? It looks like we are going to do a ritual to a Pagan God. Anyway, what do you want to do now?"

    "Start by taking off his clothes and using your harp to heal his wounds. I am going to wait outside. Seeing a n.a.k.e.d man is the last thing I want to do, after all." Atalanta responded offhandedly like this didn''t concern her in the slightest.

    "Oka��Huh?! Wait, wait, wait. That is wrong in more ways than one! What makes you think I want to see it?! Not to mention that I think using my harp would have the opposite effect." The young man was utterly opposed to the idea. Sure, if it were a beautiful woman, then there would be no problems, but they were talking about a man here!

    "Why the need to act bashful, David? And what do you mean with the opposite effect? Isn''t your harp supposed to heal wounds?" The girl inquired, not understanding why he was making such a fuss about her previous words.

    The young man, now revealed to be David, sweatdropped at her question. He didn''t know if she didn''t have common sense or what the problem was. Considering that she was kind of tomboyish, he expected her to understand that one man looking at another man''s n.a.k.e.d body is weird on so many levels. Of course, he wouldn''t say the tomboyish part out loud. He liked his head without any extra holes thank you very much.

    Ultimately, he just sighed and turned to Atalanta with a helpless expression. "My harp can indeed heal some wounds, but it also has the secondary effect of warding off evil spirits. And let me tell you, this man reeks so much of evil that I have the urge to gag."

    "So that means using your harp would have the reverse effect? That indeed is troubling." Atalanta pondered something for a second before coming to a decision. "Okay, wait here. I will be back shortly."

    David didn''t know what she planned to do, but in the end, he nodded at her, letting Archer do whatever she wanted to do. As he was left alone, he looked at the unconscious man resting on the altar. "A man who should belong to the sky, but was brought to earth instead. That is the vibe I am getting from you. You also have the aura of a demonic snake, kind of like "that guy" does. I have never seen his face, so the possibility of you being him is not zero."

    Fate sure worked in mysterious ways. Although there were times where he wondered if it liked to play with men''s lives as if they were toys. The absurdity of the situation was something else.

    Atalanta came back carrying water in a makeshift bowl after a few minutes, interrupting his inner thinking. However, her actions only made him look at her with a puzzled look. "What are you going to do with that? And tell me you didn''t use ocean water."

    The Huntress shot a nasty look his way. "Do I look like an idiot?! It is water from a nearby lake, not saltwater. As for what I am going to do with this..."

    She didn''t finish her sentence. Instead, Atalanta approached the man on the altar and started pouring the water all over him, causing the said man to stir slightly. David, who was watching this from the sidelines, couldn''t believe what he was seeing. He expected her to have a bit more...delicacy when it came to the treatment of a wounder person.

    "...And that is supposed to help him heal...?" That question was the only thing that came to his mind. He didn''t understand what sort of master plan she expected to accomplish with her actions.

    "I refuse to take off his clothes, thou as well. Then the only remaining option is to let the man himself do it." She sounded so convinced that he didn''t have the strength to retort. However, there was a slight problem with her plan. How was a man with multiple open wounds and perforations going to do that?

    "If you were going to do this, then maybe I should have gone for the idea of me using my harp. At least we would get something out of that." Seeing her recent actions, he didn''t feel as bad about being rejected about fifty times when he asked her to be his queen. Who knows what she would do were he to fall ill.

    "Is there a problem? If it works, then there is no reason to complain about it." Atalanta didn''t turn back; she merely emptied the bowl of what little water remained before throwing it away.

    As the water was getting rid of all the blood, dried and fresh, she was able to have a better look at his injuries. To say they looked terrifying was an understatement. Well, she at least had to give it to him, he had the resilience of a c.o.c.kroach. Any other person would be dead in these instances.

    Still, there was something that caught her attention. Some parts of the man''s body looked...unusual. There were cracks in some places as if he was just a porcelain doll that someone accidentally broke. The most noticeable of them all would be the one that extended from his left shoulder to the corner of his left eye.

    "You come here. Do you have any idea what this is?" Ignoring the man who was seemingly taking forever to wake up, Atalanta motioned David to take a look as well.

    Curious as to what she was referring to, the King Of Israel also approached the man. The moment he observed those cracks, a frown made its way into his face. Noticing this, Archer decided to ask. "So? Thou seem to know what is happening."

    David sighed before shaking his head. "I am not sure. Remember that King or not, I''m just a shepherd, so my knowledge is not that vast. That said, I can at least offer you my opinion."

    "It''s better to work with an opinion than with nothing at hand, so go ahead." Although he sold himself short, Atalanta was aware of the many things David knew.

    "Right. It might be slightly different, but this looks like a vessel about to break, and not in the physical sense, independently if it affects this man''s body or not. Being a Huntress for your Moon Goddess, you should be able to feel his Divinity as you can with mine, as faint as it is." David shared his opinion, making Atalanta fall silent for a few seconds.

    "Although the idea is a little absurd, I suppose you do have a point. It''s not like we haven''t realized this person''s "origin" at all, so the notion of his vessel breaking might not be that far from the truth. Still, it leaves the question of why he didn''t disappear if it reached its limit." Regarding her doubt, the King merely shrugged his shoulders with a weak smile.

    "You can ask him; he is about to wake up." As if to confirm his words, the wounded man opened his eyes with some difficulty. There was something that surprised them, though. And that was the lack of light in them.

    "Are thou able to hear us? See us?" The Huntress asked with her arms folded, having dematerialized her bow some seconds ago. She didn''t expect a response, but it was worth the try.

    Turning to her, he sniffed a few times before frowning. "...Stinks."

    "..."

    What was that? Was it the sound of the wind blowing? David doubted even that passed through here, but there was no other way to describe the feeling of what his words caused.

    "What a great day to enjoy the sun and the beach! If you don''t mind, I will take my time to appreciate the Lord''s creation. See you then!" Oh no, he was out of here. If the rapidly increasing dark aura that was surrounding Atalanta any indication, then things were going to get ugly.

    ''May God welcome you with open arms.'' Offering a silent prayer, he immediately made a run for it.

    "...Yes. It is the duty of a Huntress not to let the prey suffer, so I think I need to put him down..."

    For a while, the agonizing screams of a wounded man resounded throughout the dungeon, giving David chills. ''A man is responsible for his words, so please bear with it. Also, if you can, make her waste all her anger on you, so I don''t have to be the next one.''

 Chapter 122 - The Nature Of A Monster

    David took his sweet time outside the dungeon, not wanting to take any chances when it came to Atalanta''s wrath. He, more than anyone, knew how scary women could be. Being a man with eight wives could teach you some things, after all.

    What he didn''t expect, though, was seeing them looking at each other with high intensity the moment he returned. The King even swore that he saw some sparks fly between them. Probably his imagination.

    "I... I see you are in good health. Hehehe..." David greeted them while laughing awkwardly. It was an odd choice of words considering the state one of the two people were in, but whatever worked to disperse the current mood.

    "This smell...the slacker? No...it is slightly different..." The man said, making the green-haired man look at him strangely. What was the problem with this creep?

    "I see that venomous tongue works just fine," Atalanta commented from the sidelines with an unimpressed look. She still felt irritated about his comment earlier.

    "What''s the matter...with you...? Freaking psychopath..." The man struggled to say those words. It was evident that his injuries were still a matter of concern. What he didn''t understand was why this woman attacked him as soon as he woke up. With no way to defend himself, he had to endure her using her bow like a blunt weapon, hitting his head until she grew tired. At least she had some mercy and didn''t strike the rest of his battered body.

    "Thou said that I stank! And who are you calling psychopath?!" The Huntress materialized her bow again, ready to start round two.

    "I was referring...to this place!" He tried to raise his voice as much as possible, but it proved to be a challenging task taking into account the pain just the effort in doing so caused.

    "It isn''t even that bad!"

    "I have...a s.e.n.s.i.t.i.v.e...nose!"

    "Then why did thou look at me when you said it?!"

    "You spoke...to me...so I turned...to you!"

    These back and forth arguments continued for quite a while, making David sweatdrop, not knowing what to do. He wanted to calm things down, but he feared doing so would make him involved in their fight, and that was the last thing he d.e.s.i.r.ed.

    "Okay, okay. Save your little fight for later." In the end, knowing that they would get nowhere if this continued, he decided to intervene. Being honest, they reminded him of children.

    David then turned to Atalanta, who was glaring at him, seemingly pissed. "You were the one who wanted to bring him here. Shouldn''t you be, I don''t know, a little more friendly, maybe?" The Huntress didn''t say anything and only averted her gaze. David took it as a signal of acknowledgment.

    Finally, he opted to speak to the wounded man. "And you, you should try to understand her a little and be grateful, even if just a bit, for her saving you. If it weren''t for her, you would still be lying on that beach."

    "She is also...responsible of...me having...additional injuries..." The man added, much to her disp.l.e.a.s.u.r.e. However, she felt somewhat guilty about that, so she didn''t say anything.

    A forced smile made its way to David''s face at his statement. He couldn''t deny that there were times were Atalanta got a little too violent for comfort. "Anyway, do you want to rest a bit more? I would use my harp to heal you, but I think you know why that isn''t possible. We could bandage you with lives, but that''s a little primitive, even for me."

    "It is...okay. More importantly, you two...come here." The man motioned them with his hand to approach him. The duo didn''t understand what his purpose was, but they complied either way. They didn''t feel the need to be that wary of someone who could barely speak, much less move.

    When they were at arm''s length, he started moving his hand, seemingly signaling them to touch it. Honestly, he was too tired even to talk more than he had already done.

    David and Atalanta looked at each other before nodding, both extending their hands until touching his. The moment they did so, they felt some eerie energy entering their bodies, prompting them to step back immediately.

    "You...! What did��" Atalanta materialized her bow, ready to strike at a moment''s notice, only to be interrupted by a voice in her head.

    ''Shut up, will you? It is just a way to communicate better. I don''t want to force myself to talk with my condition.'' Those words surprised both of them, but they still didn''t let their guards down.

    "So, I assume you will be able to talk freely and without pauses now. In that case, what happened to you? And why were you on the beach in that state?" David decided to go with it momentarily. If worse came to worst, he would use his harp to cleanse him and Atalanta.

    ''That''s right. As for what happened to me, I would like to be sarcastic in response to your first question, but I don''t have the d.e.s.i.r.e to do it. Not when I am on the border of dying at least. Concerning the second, how should I know? I fainted in the middle of the ocean. The waves carried me here, probably.'' Although he didn''t show any expression, opting for closing his eyes to rest, the King and Huntress noticed the lack of worry in his words.

    "You sound like your life means nothing. Shouldn''t you be at least concerned that you are about to die?" It was Atalanta''s turn to ask. Her voice had a tone of disbelief in it.

    ''One gets used to it.'' He said with some amus.e.m.e.nt. ''That aside, I didn''t expect to see you here. I guess if that deranged woman appeared, it''s natural for you to do so too.''

    "Deranged woman? Who are you talking about?" David was the one who spoke this time. The man silently wondered if there would be an end to their questions someday.

    ''The Goddess she took an oath to, Artemis. I briefly met her before I separated to fight someone else.'' Those words shocked Atalanta to her core, and as much as she wanted to comment on the way he called Lady Artemis, there was something else she wanted to know.

    "La... is Lady Artemis here?!" She practically ran back to where he was and started shaking him repeatedly. ''Stop, stop, stop!'' The man was close to begging at this point. David had to intervene and separate them, or he would die for real.

    ''Why does everyone with animal traits have to be a psychopath...'' He wanted to continue, but he then remembered that he also had animal traits and that his thoughts were not just thoughts anymore.

    With an obvious fake, mental cough, he continued. ''Anyway, that crazy-for-love woman was helping my team before we got separated. If everything is all right, she should still be alive and kicking. Also, before you ask, he hijacked Orion''s summoning to manifest. Probably to make sure he didn''t flirt with other women.''

    Atalanta looked at him like he was speaking about an alien species ��Which wasn''t entirely wrong�� instead of the Goddess she admired. "Lady Artemis wouldn''t do such a thing! She is a respectable, chaste, and kind woman!"

    David didn''t know what to say to this situation. The talk about Pagan Gods was something outside of his zone of comfort, after all. Still, he could see the man on the altar twitching as he struggled to keep a straight face. Did Atalanta say something funny? He wondered.

    ''Please avoid making those comments again. Even I would find pathetic dying of laughter, in the literal sense.'' His conveyed thoughts didn''t seem to please the Huntress, who at this point was clenching her teeth, trying not to attack him.

    "Okay, I think I speak for everyone here when I say that this is getting nowhere. Let''s talk about why we brought you here in the first place. There is a group of heroes, among them some of the Argonauts, wanting to cause strife in this place. Their objective is not that clear, but for some reason, they are looking for a Divine Spirit. The truth is, they came here some days ago, trying to recruit Atalanta but she refused. Had you been here at that time, you would have been captured, so we have the Lord to thank for that, I guess." It seemed the man wanted to say something but stopped himself.

    Taking some time to recollect his thoughts, the man finally spoke. ''I am aware of the Argonauts, including them wanting a Divine Spirit for whatever reason. For now, I know there are four of us in this Singularity; the unhinged woman, two of the Gorgon Sisters, and myself. They are all in the same group, so they are going to be targeted, most likely. Unfortunately, my body is going to take a few days to recover, so the help I can provide is limited. Although...'' They felt some hesitation in his voice before he continued. ''...I am worried about one man in the enemy team.''

    "Herakles, huh?" Atalanta knew who he was referring to even without him saying it. Being honest, she had the same worries. He was not called the greatest Hero of Greece for nothing. That said, she was surprised those two monsters were here too. Still, he was right. As much as she thought the Captain of the Argonauts was an idiot, the guy knew how to take opportunities. She didn''t doubt that if he discovered they were alone, he would send all his arsenal to capture them for whatever he was planning.

    David couldn''t help but shudder at the mention of that name. The Hero was a giant that he DIDN''T want to face. Turning to him, he decided to ask some more questions. "Are you sure you can recover in a few days? Although you are talking to us like nothing happened, your wounds are...ghastly. Even now, blood keeps pouring out of them. However, there is something more important I want to know. We two are aware of what you are, but not who you are. Do you mind enlightening us? I only know of one blind, Pagan God, after all."

    The man felt it was ironic for someone of his religion to use the word enlighten, but he nevertheless answered his questions. "Don''t worry about it. If there is something I am proud of, it''s my regeneration capabilities. As for who I am, rest assured that I am not the one who you are thinking of in the slightest. My blindness is a consequence of my actions and is partial, not total. I don''t want to scare you, little kids, with my identity. That''s why it''s better if I don''t say anything regarding that.'' He said the last part with some amus.e.m.e.nt in his voice.

    "Why not? Are you actually Satan?" David didn''t seem scared by his words. Instead, he asked him a question that was in the back of his mind for quite a while.

    ''It''s true that in the original texts of your religion, the character of Satan took some inspiration in me, but we are not the same person. It''s the same with Typhon and me from that cat''s land.'' He didn''t need to give more clues as the two realized at the same time who he was. However, that didn''t bring them calmness at all.

    "...Thou realize that we could kill you right now, knowing the wretched existence that you are." Atalanta spoke after some moments passed. Beads of sweat were falling from her forehead little by little, something shared by David.

    ''We both know you two won''t do that. David received a divine message from the old man telling him not to do anything, and you aren''t confident in beating Herakles because you are scared, hence you know my help is necessary.'' What he said made them take a step back as they started trembling.

    "How?!" The Huntress and King shouted at the same time. This...this was not normal. This man...he was a monster.

    A smile made its way into the man''s face. However, this smile had ''wicked'' written all over it. ''Fear...such a wonderful thing.''

    Unaware to them, their negative emotions did nothing but feed him, helping him regain his strength at a much faster rate. After all, that was what demons did, what monsters did.

 Chapter 123 - The Hands Drenched In The Blood Of Comrades

    (A/N: This chapter contains HEAVY SPOILERS regarding the game of FGO. If you play it and haven''t completed part 1, you may want to skip this.)

    Two days. It has been two days since Seth arrived on the island. After the little scare he gave those children, his recovery rate did nothing but increase. He had to admit it, hearing their shocked voices was something truly pleasant.

    Following his little game, and conversing with them a little more, mainly about what they would do from now on, he told them to let him rest for a while. As much as he enjoyed using their negative emotions to help him, he didn''t want them to be around much longer than they needed to.

    He didn''t have to tell them twice, as they readily exited the dungeon with a speed that matched his own. It was a comic sight to behold, that''s for sure. With some time alone, he could reorganize his thoughts about the most recent events, beginning with his fight against his student.

    ''That damned guy. His last attack...anti-evil and anti-divine combined? Talk about something overpowered.'' For the brief moment Thutmose''s attack connected with him, he felt with his own flesh the nature of the strike. Whatever he did in the end, it didn''t just give him a slight boost in his abilities.

    "I was afraid you would be disappointed in me; I feared that the most, but now...I can finally go with peace of mind." Those were his words in his last''s moments. Even as tears fell from where his eyes used to be, the happiness they contained was genuine. Even when he was dying again, earning his peaceful and deserved rest, which meant he wouldn''t be able to see his teacher ever again, he still smiled with happiness.

    The Egyptian God should be feeling happy for it as well. His student was able to keep his promise, although not fully so. He would be able to reunite with his wife in the afterlife, to be freed from the task he imparted on him. And yet...

    ''And yet...why is it that it hurts this much...?'' Seth slowly but surely moved his hand and clutched his c.h.e.s.t where his heart should be. His eyes, now hazy due to the mysterious blindness, should contain joy for such an outcome, but grief was the only thing found in them.

    This feeling...he hated it. How could he not? After all, it only appeared when he lost something, or rather someone, precious to him. And to Seth, who didn''t have many of those to begin with, it hurt more.

    No matter the number of times he told himself he was too old for this sentimentalism shit, he couldn''t erase that undesirable feeling.

    ''Another one...another one...by my hands...!'' No amount of words could describe the sensation that plagued his heart. Apophis...Anjed...Thor...and now Thutmose. It was starting to get tiring. Again and again, the process repeated like a broken record.

    The level of self-loathing was only comparable to the impotence he felt for not being able to change anything. But this was nothing new to him. At this point, the situation was something he was already used to.

    "How long are you planning to be like that? Don''t tell me you survived your encounter only to die of depression now." A voice came from Seth''s side, much to his surprise. It was one that he already knew who it belonged, but it did nothing to hide his confusion.

    "What are you doing in the outside world, Stargazer? Just so you know, I''m not in the mood for your jokes." Although his vision was failing him at the moment, that didn''t mean his ears were. He could recognize that irritating voice anywhere.

    "I discovered I could do this not long ago, so I decided to try it out. Sadly, it''s a mere projection, but that''s beside the point. Do I have to remind you that your emotions affect my little house? As we speak, Olga is cleaning the floor because water somehow managed to get inside the throne room. I would appreciate it if you could act your age for once." Paying no mind to Seth''s previous words, Stargazer berated him in a joking manner.

    "Is that all?" The frown on his face was enough indication of how little it amused him what he said. In normal circ.u.mstances, he would tolerate the clown behavior of his, but now it was different. Even if the only thing he could do like before was speaking, he would make sure to make him regret it.

    "Geez, calm down. No need to be like a teenager who discovered her crush had a girlfriend." He said humorously before suddenly turning serious. "Actually...I came for something else."

    Seth''s animosity decreased, albeit slightly. If he decided to stop and talk about something else then he would at least listen. "What do you want?"

    "Before that. What do you plan to do about the upcoming battle? Seeing as you ignored my advice and did exactly what I told you not to, I assume you have a backup plan or something along those lines." Stargazer questioned him with crossed arms. As much as he wanted to insult him many times over for not listening to him, the Demonic Figure knew now was not appropriate. He wasn''t as heartless as one might think.

    Seth pondered about something for a few seconds before answering. "I haven''t thought of a plan yet. I immediately went unconscious after the battle, and when I woke up I spent my time speaking with the cat and the father of the slacker. After that, I dedicated all my hours to recuperate, so I haven''t bothered with my next moves."

    An audible groan escaped Stargazer''s mouth. "Why am I not surprised? Well, what''s done is done. There is no point in complaining about it now. That said, I didn''t expect our little doc to be that man. That dog nose of yours sure comes in handy in the most unexpected situations." He nodded to himself repeatedly, as if wanting to emphasize his point.

    There was a visible twitch in Seth''s eyebrows, but otherwise, he didn''t show any changes in his expression. "You talk like you didn''t know it already."

    Stargazer merely shrugged his shoulders, neither confirming nor denying his statement. "We will have to address that topic later, especially considering that those tentacles with eyes are related to Solomon. But more importantly, did you notice? Our objective is here, on this island."

    "...You are right. It''s normal that if David is here, the Ark will be too. The question is how am I going to get it. I wouldn''t be surprised if he stands guard around it from now on. Considering I''m the ''oh so terrible Satan,'' he would try to keep me away from the Ark as much as possible." With him in this condition, there was bound to be obstacles in completing his mission.

    "Don''t forget that if he dies, the Ark will disappear with him. Even if it is frowned upon by their religion, if worse comes to worst, the possibility of him committing suicide is highly probable." Stargazer reminded him about a crucial point that he should take into account. It might seem easy at first glance, but there was more to it than just that.

    "I am aware of it. However, I''m powerless in that regard. The old man and I don''t get along that well, especially after I devoured one of his birds. I don''t doubt he will protect David if I try to mind-control him. We will have to do it the hard way." Seth said, causing Stargazer to roll his eyes.

    "Yeah, right. I''m sure you would have done so if the geezer wasn''t protecting that lettuce head." Same as Stargazer did before, he neither confirmed nor denied it.

    After taking a moment to think of something, the white-haired demon spoke to Seth once more. "It seems the only choice is to rely on ''him.'' He proved capable of absorbing a Holy weapon like Longinus, so I don''t think the Ark will pose too much trouble for him."

    A sigh of defeat escaped the Egyptian God''s mouth. "So in the end, we have got no alternative other than to use him, huh? I was hoping it didn''t come to it, but if it''s the only way then so be it."

    Stargazer raised an eyebrow at that. "You are awfully cooperative. Knowing your opinion on Mr. Bones, I assumed you would offer more resistance to the idea. I am beginning to wonder if you didn''t hit your head too hard or something on the way here."

    Seth''s expression, which had been slowly returning to normal as the conversation kept going, took a turn for the worse. "...I realized there are more important things than my pride...or my personal likings for the matter. As long as it doesn''t go too far, I am willing to set aside beliefs."

    ''...So you have already reached that stage on your transition. That will make things easier for both of us. Although...I wonder if you will let Mr. Chaos take control if the situation requires it, Mr. Order.''

    "Don''t sweat the small stuff. It''s not like anything bad is going to happen, so just sit back, enjoy your peaceful time, and make sure to recover." Stargazer said dismissively with a wave of his hand.

    "...You just had to jinx it, didn''t you?" Now it was official, a situation where he would curse everyone in the world for the events that led to it was going to happen, there was no doubt about it.

    "Who knows? What''s bound to happen will happen, regardless of the words that I say. When it comes to fate, we can choose the race, but once we are on the starting line, there''s no going back, you would do well in remembering it." He might have said it in the spur of the moment, but Seth knew what Stargazer was talking about had a deeper meaning to it, but he didn''t feel like knowing what it was, for now.

    The black-haired man stayed silent for a few seconds. It might have been the still-present physical wounds...or the other ones, but he didn''t feel the d.e.s.i.r.e to talk anymore. Even so, he at least did the effort. "Anyway, you said you came here for something. What was it?" His voice was lazy and tired, proof that he wouldn''t last much longer without falling asleep to keep recuperating without interruptions.

    Stargazer didn''t answer, he simply walked to him and put something in his hands. Seth was confused at first, but when he touched it and felt what it was, his face almost convulsed. "You must be joking, right? You more than anyone should know that my blindness won''t get fixed by a stupid pair of spectacles!"

    The Demon snorted, but there was some traces of amus.e.m.e.nt on it. "Do you think I don''t know? Those ones are special, special I tell you! It can decrease your blindness up to 30%! Hurry up because it''s a limited time offer that you cannot pass!"

    ''Why...just why...'' This must be Karma, old and bitchy Karma. How else could he explain...this. It was not even sad, it was just...depressing.

    Seeing the state he was in, and having already had his fun, Stargazer decided it was enough of the jokes. "Your blindness was caused by your power. I, as someone similar, can somehow offset those effects. The only problem with that is the fact you would need to absorb me, but I am not planning to die yet, so this is the best I can do." He, obviously, ommited the part that he could have made any kind of artifact with any shape, but the image of a nerdy Seth was too funny to pass on it. It was a shame he had to make them rectangular and not round, otherwise he wouldn''t use them. But hey, he would be able to laugh at him nonetheless.

    "Just kill me already..." He didn''t have any strength left to complain. The days were going from bad to worse at this point.

    "Don''t be like that. It''s not like it is the end of the world, is it? Well, I have nothing more to say, so I will be taking my leave. For now, go to sleep. You will receive a visit from someone to help you with unlocking the second Noble Phantasm of this Singularity. Try and be nice, bye bye!" With that, he started disappearing to return to his little home.

    Seth "watched" him fade little by little from reality, even if what he saw was only a blur. "Stargazer��" He spoke his name, gaining the Demon''s attention before merely shaking his head. "No...nothing, forget it."

    The white-haired figure smirked. ''You are welcome, partner. It''s not like I don''t know how the loss of someone you considered a son is affecting you. After all, this is not the first nor the second time, is it? It''s actually the fourth...''

    "Sure, see you later." With those words, he left the wounded God alone to rest.

 Chapter 124 - The Mad Pharaohs Return

    "Idiot, stupid, caveman, dork, egoist, four-eyes, numbskull��" The moment Stargazer mentioned that someone would help him with his Noble Phantasm, Seth knew who he was referring to without the need of a name. There was only one person he had met with the capabilities to do so, after all.

    At first, he didn''t think much of it, merely ''going along with the flow,'' so to speak. What he didn''t expect, however, was being assaulted by a bunch of insults. It wouldn''t be a lie to say he thought Stargazer would be the one who would do it instead of this Ruler of Death in front of him.

    The urge to roll his eyes was too strong at the moment, mainly because they didn''t stop and used their full imagination to keep hurling insults at him. It wasn''t until a while later that the figure seemed to have run out of ideas, prompting them to sigh.

    "Are you done?" Seth had his back against the ground as he stared at the other individual. Although he could speak normally as before, his body felt frail. So much so that he didn''t like to be standing.

    "You never listen, do you?" They answered his question with another question. The exasperation was palpable in their voice. Looking at his state right now, they knew he had not heeded their warning.

    It was Seth''s turn to sigh. "What did you want me to do? I used everything at my disposal. Most of my Noble Phantasms specialize in mass-destruction and not individual damage, so I had my hands tied there. Besides, that kid was made to counter me. Even I feel like he is a cheat by modern standards."

    An air of depression started to fill him again, making him curse inwardly. So much for a temporary distraction. Thankfully for him, the figure decided to speak at that time. "You are a walking monstrosity; you know that?"

    "Thank you?" What was that supposed to mean?

    Clearing their throat, they clarified. "You only choose one transformation among the many you have, yet that one is the weakest. What I want to say is, you aren''t using your abilities to their full potential."

    The Egyptian God''s eyes widened for a second. "Are you, by any chance, retarded?" It was a simple question, devoid of any malice. That didn''t stop the figure from kicking his head.

    It hurt.

    "Do you have a death wish, perhaps? If you want to die that badly, I can make a few accommodations for you to have some vacations here. Permanently." Their tone was as chilling as the coldest ice, something befitting for someone with their Authority.

    "...Whatever you are thinking, that''s not what I meant. The fight was in the open ocean; I don''t think something like a scorpion would be useful, right? And I would appreciate it if you didn''t hit me again. Despite this not being exactly my body, the heightened pain is there." He wasn''t lying. Although...he might not have told the whole truth either.

    The figure observed him quietly; eyes narrowed in visible irritation. Was he trying to take them for a fool?...No matter; everything was inconsequential for now. Everyone had their reasons to do or not do things. If he wanted to play dumb, then so be it.

    "Speak, what reason do you have to come here? I don''t have all the time in the world." Were they angry? The black-haired man couldn''t understand, even if he was someone who could detect such feelings easily. What he did notice was the urgency behind their words.

    Despite not having met them personally during his life, he understood there must be a reason for them to act this way.

    He understood.

    Their emptiness.

    There was only a single person they could occasionally talk to, but the said person wanted nothing to do with them. It would be hypocritical for him to try and sympathize with them. After all, even if his siblings were the only ones who everyone praised and showered with love, he still got people that cared for him, and even died for him.

    They didn''t.

    Similarities with them were few, but they were not easily dismissed. That was because, regardless of their personalities, they all belonged to the same team. In there, you are guaranteed to be hated by humans and Gods alike, with almost no one understanding the necessity of their existence, seeing them as parasites to be shunned aside and are better off dead instead. As ironic as that sounds.

    He knew.

    The first time he couldn''t discern very much, but the second time was different. The moment he saw those eyes, it was when he realized it. ''Ah...we are similar, aren''t we?''

    Those eyes carried a new, foreign emotion. It was happiness; the happiness of meeting someone like them, someone who could understand them, someone who shared the same troubles as them, and above all, someone who could understand the loneliness within them.

    That same Ruler Of Death now was like a different person. Was it worry the thing that painted their visage? Was that the reason why the person in front of him acted unnaturally?

    That got him thinking.

    Here, in this barren place where ashes covered the ground and dark clouds did the sky, death was not a foreign concept. It meant that they could manage the Underworld even from here as it was not that different from their home place. So, if it wasn''t related to the protection of souls, that left very few options remaining. However, only two stood out among them.

    "Is your domain being threatened? Or is it you that is in danger?" The figure visibly flinched as he asked those questions. Sadly, he didn''t know which one of them was the right one.

    Seth waited for a response, and when he didn''t get any, he continued. "You know, you are not obligated to help me. What''s more, you don''t have to do so at all. If you are worried about something, you can go back."

    Wrily smiling, they sat beside the laying God with a faraway look. "Sorry. It''s just...the situation back home is not that great. I have the feeling that everyone, including myself, is going to die by the hands of my so-called family."

    "Family sucks, eh?" Both individuals chuckled at his comment. "I don''t know if reassurance coming from me has any value, but I will try to go and help you as quickly as I can. Consider it as repayment for what you have done and will do in the future." He concluded while looking at them with an unreadable expression.

    ''After all...you remind me of myself too much. Now that you have found a...friend, losing it will make you fall into madness. Just like it did for me...'' Seth decided not to voice the last part out loud, knowing that it would be futile.

    Memories of a particular incident resurfaced before he quickly suppressed them. He didn''t want to test his mental stability at the moment, although that didn''t stop the ever-growing d.e.s.i.r.e to mutilate a loooooot of people.

    They smiled at his words, content that there was someone who would go that far from them, even knowing the risks involved. "Thank you, I will hold you to that. Now then, what is it that you wanted with me?"

    "Returning to life the souls of the ones who once worshiped me." His statement made them think about his life until they arrived at a particular legend. However, an apologetic frown appeared in their face when they did so.

    "As much as you are related to death, I don''t think you can accomplish that. For the Underworld''s sake, even I can''t do it freely. I...apologize." The not-so-easily hidden sadness in their words made it seem like they themselves were the ones who received a negative response.

    "I understand what you mean, but I am a special case. I created death back in my homeland, remember?" He said, a wry smirk adorning his face. "Their souls reside within me, but I need a God of Death to take them out. Even so, I have the feeling there is something else to it, but I won''t know until I see them again."

    The figure adopted a thoughtful expression before nodding. "It''s going to hurt, very much so. Are you sure you can handle it in that state?"

    "Shoot. Been through worse." With his confirmation, they placed a hand on his c.h.e.s.t, albeit with some reservation, especially taking into account the still present wounds. ''Even if you will eventually revive...you should be more careful.''

    One by one, golden orbs of light, the size of a football ball started exiting his body. The Egyptian God frowned a little, but outside of that, he didn''t utter a cry of pain. As much as it felt like your organs were being taken from you, it was nothing he hadn''t experienced before.

    The process lasted for about five minutes, without any outstanding development like the world-shaking or something like that. Five minutes that were not pleasant, Seth had to admit.

    When they finished, numerous orbs were floating around them, every single on shining with their own intensity. "These souls...shouldn''t they be less bright after so long? When death is around you, you tend to get all gloomy." They spoke from experience, so there was no way to refute them.

    "No... There was no reason to fear...because they never stopped believing." The Egyptian God seemed...proud? "They always had hope."

    "That''s something weird for you to say. ''Hope is just an illusion of the foolish mankind.'' Weren''t you the one who said that long ago?" The Underworld''s Ruler rolled their eyes with amus.e.m.e.nt on their voice.

    "I did, and still think like that. I find their wait and expectations to be a waste of time, but humans had always been unpredictable, so I am not surprised they would go to such lengths to give me their power." Seth would have shrugged his shoulders if he wasn''t laying on the ground.

    "You aren''t very honest, are you?" They shook their heads with a mix between exasperation and mirth.

    "As hilarious as it sounds, even a trickster can be honest sometimes. That aside...have you noticed?" Seth''s tone became a bit more severe as he observed the orbs of light.

    "Yes...they are behaving oddly. As if they recognize you, but at the same time, they don''t. Maybe...it''s not you the one they were expecting to come?" They theorized, not noticing his body flinching slightly.

    The orbs were approaching him before moving back. It was like recognizing someone on the streets, only for them to turn out to be another person.

    Taking a breath that was deeper than usual, Seth did something to calm the growing fury in his heart. ''F.U.C.K YOU, YOU DAMNED RETARDS! I SWEAR I WILL TORMENT YOUR SOULS INTO OBLIVION UNTIL ONLY YOUR PAINED CRIES REMAIN!''

    And another deep breath.

    ''The monster is coming.'' That was what Stargazer said, or at least what he felt he heard once the conversation was over. Talk all the shit about the guy you want, but his capabilities to predict the future were second to none. And fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on which side of the fence you were on, he knew who that monster was. But...he did say that he would set his pride and preferences aside. If he wanted to protect those guys, then he was left with no choice. ''And besides...I can''t simply shy away forever, now can I? Your determination is too contagious, kid...''

    "Help me stand, will you?" He asked the figure for help, although it seemed more like an order. The sudden shift caught them off guard.

    "Are you...all right?" The only answer they got was a deep frown and a sigh. Left with no other choice, they helped him stand, albeit with a little trembling from their part. After all, they were not used to being in contact with another person. Such was the life of solitude for people like them.

    Seth observed the orbs for a few seconds, the original proudness gone, and replaced with distaste. ''I can''t believe I am doing this.''

    ''Hoho~ Is it my turn now? It''s been so long.'' A calm voice that clearly resembled him echoed in his head.

    ''Tch. Just make it quick, you sick f.u.c.k.''

    Balance, a simple word that meant equilibrium. However, the God known as Seth hated that word. It reminded him that he was different than everyone else.

    While others where on one side of the balance, he was in the middle. No matter what he wanted, he couldn''t be good, nor could he be evil. Both sides were equally despising him, for he was not one of them.

    Many words could describe his character, but there was one in particular that took the prize, and that was unstable. From young, he never knew how to act. When he strolled through the streets of the once capital of the earth''s Kingdom, and he saw an injustice being committed, he always froze. Should he help? Do nothing? Or...support the injustice?

    As he grew up, this internal conflict kept increasing, eating away his sanity. But, against all the odds, he still held on. Some beings helped him in that regard, regardless of what he was.

    However, no ''seal'' can last forever. The moment he stabbed his spear into the head of a demonic serpent, breaking it in the process, only then was that the God known as Seth realized who he had killed, for that giant entity never revealed his identity to the child, now man. Always a secret, so at the moment of truth, he would not waver.

    For the first time in his life, the balance was shifting heavily to one side. The first to notice this was the aged man who had never left Seth''s side. That''s why, even if being in his presence alone hurt him due to the growing madness, he still stayed by his side. The howls of a mad beast seemingly paining him more than the affected person itself.

    He was forced out of his birthplace until he could control himself as his destructive tendencies were starting to scare even the Gods themselves. For the first time in his life, he felt bottomless anger. He d.e.s.i.r.ed to kill everyone as painfully as possible as he laughed in mad delight at their despair.

    If the world wanted to take everything from him, then he would take everything from it. Such were the thoughts of a God falling into the pits of insanity.

    The world had other plans, though. As if to appease him for taking one life from him, it gifted Seth another.

    It was ironic. The way he found out was due to a child, a scared one. One that called him father. It was only after seeing the fear in the kid''s eyes that he finally calmed down, falling on his knees as tears streamed down his eyes.

    That look...he didn''t want to see it again. So, he eventually regained control of his turbulent mind. All so that the new life that was about to come didn''t see their father like a monster.

    The balance that was inclined to Chaos slowly but surely receded until equilibrium was the only thing left. The God now believing his torment was over.

    How foolish.

    The tide only pulls back to come with a stronger force than before. Such is the very nature of life itself.

    If only one ''person'' dying almost caused him to go mad, then three...three just created an atrocity that should have never existed.

    A true, Evil God.

 Chapter 125 - Broken Bonds

    (A/N: Hopefully this chapter clears some doubts about the previous one. Also, my apologies for that. As I said in some replies, the idea was to close it better, but as I hadn''t posted for days I decided to post it anyway. A mistake I will try not to repeat. Anyway, enjoy, my beautiful people~)

    It was Seth, that much they knew. However, for some reason, this one looked much more sinister than the one they have been talking to before. They watched as he took in the surroundings, trying to assimilate everything.

    "Who are you?" It was a stupid question, that much they understood. Still, there was this nagging feeling in the back of their minds that told them they were in front of a different person than before, even if they looked identical. Well, that was if you didn''t take into account how he, for some reason, looked more feral, with two pairs of fangs and his pupils becoming slit. They also noticed his nails becoming sharper.

    Hearing their voice, ''Seth'' stopped looking around and gazed upon the other individual in this dark world. Immediately, his eyes brightened in mad delight, sending shivers down their spine.

    "I am we, and we are I." Okay, it was official. It wasn''t only his eyes the thing that made them shiver; it was also his voice. How he managed to do that with the same one he had been using until now, they didn''t know.

    "...That doesn''t answer my question." Even if it was hard, they still uttered those words. To say his gaze was uncomfortable was an understatement. It was like a predator enjoying as his prey struggled.

    "Stupidity seems to run strong in your family. I am Chaos, and we are Order. If your f.u.c.k.i.n.g corpse of a head still doesn''t register it, I am instinct, and we are the reason." Setting aside all the insults which, for sure, angered them, they at least managed to understand some things. For starters, he had a strange way to address the previous Seth that was with them before, doing so with a ''we.''

    Moving on, and ignoring his foul language, there was something else she noticed. He mentioned he was instinct, making them realize some things, but also confuse them at the same time. "Shouldn''t you be...mad? Also, stop looking at me like you are going to eat me! It''s creepy and gross!" What started as a meek question turned into an outburst.

    Seth raised an eyebrow, genuine surprise coursing through his eyes. "Gutsy, aren''t we? It''s been so long since my food dared to fight back." As soon as he said that, his mouth morphed into a sadistic grin. "But that makes the hunting game more enoyable~."

    It seemed something occurred that they were unaware of because his grin curved downward in a possible sign of annoyment. "I understand, I understand. Just shut up."

    Well, at least that confirmed he was still a little insane if he was talking to himself. Not that they would say it out loud. Something was unsettling about the man before them. Even if they knew they could kill him effortlessly at this stage, there was something that set alarms bells whenever they thought of that. It wasn''t easy to explain. There was also the fact that they didn''t want to kill the only person they could talk with freely.

    Seth turned to the floating orbs, which at this point were glowing more intensely in excitement. The annoyment in his face contorting into disdain. "Missed me, you pieces of garbage?"

    ...There was no doubt now these two were different from each other at this point, not that they expected otherwise. The absurd thing was seeing the orbs glow even more as if the insult just made them happier.

    ''I would say I didn''t expect it, but then I would be lying.'' For now, the only thing they could do was resist the urge to roll their eyes. "Why do you need these souls for anything, and how is it that they obey you more than the other you?"

    "Why do you keep asking so many f.u.c.k.i.n.g questions? Don''t you have anything else to do?" Okay, the urge was too strong, they had to roll their eyes.

    "Because I wanted to know and helped you with it, so be grateful for once!" It seemed the apprehension was only due to the initial surprise. By the looks of it, they now regained their original courage.

    "..." Seth only watched them with narrowed eyes. The only reason he wasn''t trying to beat the f.u.c.k up out of them was that Order had most of the influence in their body. However, that had its perks nonetheless. The main one being he still got to keep his sanity intact. As much as he relished in the suffering of others, it was pointless if he wasn''t conscious to enjoy it.

    "...Very well, I shall humor you." He said after some time. As things were going, the corpse would keep asking questions if he didn''t clarify some things a bit. "You see, our new Noble Phantasm is a bit special. Its capabilities are so unfair that it requires multiple complicated preparations."

    Using the hand that was not using their shoulder as support, he raised one finger. "The first, the souls of these worms need to act as the fuel for it to work. Think of it as if it was a machine; I suppose you don''t have trouble picturing that."

    Without waiting for them, he continued. "The second, ruins of an ancient city. The clown that takes home inside of us knows where to find one here, so that''s not a problem."

    Finally, he raised a third finger. "The third and last, I have to link my life to it. If it dies, we and I die. That''s all there is to it. Are you going to cease with your stupid questions now?"

    A surprised expression adorned the silent figure. Ignoring his question, they muttered something under their breath. "Linking your life to something as fickle as that is tantamount to suicide..."

    ''You are lucky I can think straight or I would have ripped your head off for ignoring me.'' He didn''t have time for this bullshit. It was best to commence and be done with it. Staying a second longer in this place was going to make him lose the sanity he so painstakingly obtained after waiting for thousands of years.

    "Let''s commence, you worthless slaves." As if responding to his words, the orbs slowly transformed into people of varied ages. Same as with their previous forms, their skin was shining in a golden color.

    The first thing they did after attaining that form was kneeling and looking at Seth with adoration and happiness. It brought no small amount of confusion and disbelief to the Ruler of the Underworld next to him.

    "Our Pharaoh!"

    "You are back!"

    "I knew this day would come!"

    Multiple shouts resounded the area, and if they didn''t know better, they would think those souls were a bunch of cultists greeting their leader.

    "I am probably the very last person who should be saying this, but that''s borderline creepy." Whatever specific thing they said, it seemed to have returned him his sadistic grin.

    "What is creepy? This is just how things work! The weak grovel before the strong, and if they put a smile on their face, we might give them mercy, or torture them more, depending on your preferences, that is." The excitement on his voice was...unsettling.

    ''So he is one of those types who get off through the suffering of others? Talk about different personalities...'' Still, the most bizarre thing was how the souls seemed to take his words as praise if their beaming expressions were anything to go by at all.

    "Just finish already, I am pretty tired." The only answer they got was a snort, not that they minded it. It was much more preferable to talk with the other Seth, or ''Order'' as he called him. As reckless as he was, he at least was not a megalomaniac.

    Black miasma emerged from Seth''s feet and rushed to where the souls were. As soon as it made contact with the first one, the substance began to erode them. Judging from the expression of that soul, a woman who was well past her prime, it was extremely painful. However, it didn''t utter a cry, even going as far as to show a peaceful look in the end.

    The same situations repeated over and over again, forcing the individual to look away. As someone tasked with keeping souls for eternity, it wasn''t a pleasant sight. No matter if the souls that came to their domain were ''dirty.''

    It was only after the figure felt the miasma recede that they dared to look back. The moment they did, they were basked in a majestic sight that disappeared as quickly as it came. The only thing they managed to glimpse was a golden city that seemed to want to defy their Authority.

    ''...Considering how he said its capabilities were unfair, I fear it may do some taboo things...''

    "Finally. Now the only thing remaining is finding those ruins. I can''t wait to hunt some delicious snakes~. Hey, corpse. Don''t you agree that trampling over schemers with a crushing force is the be��"

    "...What? You froze all of sudden. And if you call me corpse once again I will make sure you go back worse than the way you came here."

    Their threat went unanswered as Seth only stared ahead. Whatever he had seen must have been pretty shocking for him to keep that grin of his even when his eyes were slowly widening.

    Following his line of sight, they also felt some shock. A little farther back from where the previous souls used to be, two others still remained. These ones, however, were orbs like they had been initially. The only differences were the size and brightness of the glow, which wasn''t much, to say the least.

    Looking back at him, he seemed like he didn''t know how to react. For a megalomaniac like him, the fact those two weak souls survived whatever he did, it must be crushing his pride greatly. Hah! Serves him right.

    The reason for their survival eluded even them, but one thing was for sure. If he tried anything again against those two souls then the Underworld Ruler would interfere. ''Although...their sizes remind me of��''

    Before they could finish their train of thought, Seth stepped forward. Because he was using them as support to stand up, they also moved with him. As if afraid, the two orbs shakily retreated a few centimeters.

    The strange thing was that Seth also stopped the moment they did so, bringing no small amount of confusion to the individual beside him. At this point, his sadistic grin was replaced by a troubled and...anxious look? They must be going crazy, no doubt about it.

    After a few moments, he decided to speak to them. "Come here, I am not going to hurt you." Yeah, right. What''s next? Him and those two being...being...be...ing...

    The Keeper of Souls'' eyes widened. Looking back and forth between the parties in question, the shock only increased. ''I f.u.c.k.e.d up. I never should have taken those souls out...''

    Seeing no response other than trembling, he got angry. Because that was the only way he knew to cope with unexpected situations. Unfortunately, it worked against his favor. The two souls trembled and distanced themselves from him even more.

    "Stop it. The only thing you are doing is scaring them more than they already are. You should know they are only able to feel, not think." After a long sigh, they decided to give him some advice, even if he hadn''t been the nicest person around. That it involved the Seth they were most comfortable with, played an important part as well.

    "Shut up! What do you know?! Nobody wants to touch you because you are as ugly as the Underworld you rule! What can you possibly understand?!" Those words cut deeper than any knife, especially coming from him. However, they understood he didn''t mean those words and was just confused. Or at least...they hoped so.

    "...Leave for now. Maybe later you would understand." They didn''t have anything more to say, nor they wanted to say more. ''Nothing would change with him being as agitated as he is.''

    "Tch. I was tired of this f.u.c.k.i.n.g place anyway. If it concerns me, I am never coming back here." Saying those words, he pushed them aside, and before he fell to the ground, he disappeared.

    For a moment that felt like an eternity, the figure remained rooted in their place. Exhaling a sigh, they sat on the ground while looking at the sky. It wasn''t long before the two souls approached them slowly. If they wanted to comfort the Keeper of Souls or be comforted by them instead, only they knew.

    Lowering their gaze, they managed to squeeze a smile, although it seemed a bit forced. "This is what it feels like to have a fight...can''t say it feels particularly pleasant."

    The souls glowed slightly brighter, seemingly trying to cheer them up, making their smile a bit more real. "Don''t worry about me, or how he spoke to you two. He loves you both; it''s just that he doesn''t know how to express it. At least that part of him doesn''t."

    The glow dimmed a bit. Understanding it as them having doubts, the individual spoke a bit further. "Trust me on that. There''s no way he hates you. After all...he is your father."

 Chapter 126 - Hope-Crushing Truth

    It was a decent day in Chaldea like any other one. Despite the cold outside, the interior was warm and snug, so Jeanne had no complaints, not that she was one to complain, to begin with.

    She had to be honest, when she met the group in France, she never thought they came from a place so...futuristic? That was probably the right word. The summoning system here filled her with the overall knowledge of this era like any normal Holy Grail would, but that didn''t diminish the marvel she felt when looking at the new sights before her. Speaking of which, it left a bad taste in her mouth talking as if the imitation was the same one used by their Messiah, but she has learned to live with it.

    Jeanne made many friends when they fought together to liberate her homeland, so she didn''t hesitate for even a second when the time came to answer the summon. It was true that there were some missing, but she hoped it wouldn''t take long for them to be summoned here, especially Marie.

    Don''t get her wrong, she still had many people she could get along with in here. There were Miss Da Vinci, Boudica, Siegfried, and her fellow Saint, Martha! Although... Jeanne had the feeling that sometimes, the Dragon Rider would look like a completely different person, it was as if she were a street thug. Nah... That''s not possible, it must be her imagination. A kind soul and fellow believer of God wouldn''t act like that. For sure!

    Then there was the fact that she had a new sister! And, of course, she was the big one. Ehehehehe~

    Cough

    Anyway! She had to admit they started with the wrong foot, being enemies and all that. However, they were closer than ever now that they were teammates. It could be said that they were finally a happy family who would look out for each other. Jeanne was also sure that she had made progress regarding her foul language!

    "What the f.u.c.k do you want, icy bitch queen?! Do you have the same death wish as that bimbo?!"

    "You have guts to try and steal my burger, you mad dog."

    The angry shouts of two women in the Cafeteria resounded through the halls she was walking through.

    Another cough.

    Maybe that last part still needed a bit more progress, after all. But she won''t give up! If Jalter was a being born from her, then surely she would be someone who understands the need for good behavior in the eyes of their Lord.

    The Saint had taken it upon herself to teach her little sister good manners, or at least how not to act like a delinquent, since she was not well-versed in proper etiquette. At her core, she was still the same country girl that played in the fields with her brothers and sister.

    A small sigh escaped her lips, her mood becoming a little sullen. It was not like she didn''t accept her time was over, and that hoping to see her family again was wishful thinking. Even then, she still held them close to her heart. Jeanne would never forget the times she spent with her siblings no matter what.

    When she left them behind, her mission was to take back France from the Englishmen. Now, her new one could not compare to the previous one. The scale was that different.

    During her life, she had to save a single country. And now, during her death, she had to save the world. It was an...interesting experience, to say the least. Far from the norm that could be a normal Holy Grail War. Of course, as a Ruler, occasions where she was summoned to one were very rare.

    In a way that even she found slightly twisted, she was thankful that this was not a normal Holy Grail War. If it were, there was no doubt she wouldn''t have met her new friends and...Master.

    A complicated look adorned her face as an image of him came to her mind. She honestly didn''t know what to think about the man everyone in Chaldea called Kuro, a nickname the other Master had come up with, and a catchy one at that.

    He was, for the most part, a detached individual. It was like he was here with them, but at the same time not. If she had to describe it in a better way, she would say that he doesn''t belong in this place. Whereas everyone else �� Except Heroic Spirits, of course �� have the mindset of fighting for survival, it feels like for him this is nothing more than a job, one that he seems reluctant to do but, for some reason, does anyway.

    The faces he unconsciously makes sometimes, they remind her of the time when she fought to liberate France. There were soldiers with that same look amidst their ranks. It was a look that said "I don''t want to be here, but I have no other choice."

    She had tried to ask him many times about it, but he had refused to answer, saying that she didn''t need to know, and that she was better training to overcome the limits of her Spirit Origin.

    It pained her greatly that he couldn''t trust her to tell her some things. After all, she believed the relationship between Master and Servant had to be one of trust. One where they would rely on one another no matter the circ.u.mstances.

    Despite her lack of education, she was not stupid by any means. It was obvious to her that something had changed the moment she was summoned again after her death in Rome. The way he looked at her, it was as if he didn''t want for that to happen, that he preferred her dead.

    Again, it pained her. She felt...unneded. It was difficult. Jeanne wanted to understand him, to understand his reasoning for his actions. However, it was all fruitless. She tried to comprehend him to no avail. Still, there was no way she could give up.

    If she had to give a reason for that, it would most likely be that dream. The dream where she watched as a young, and infinitely more cheerful version of her Master did everything he could to please his father, only to receive the cold shoulder in return.

    The Saint unknowingly clenched her hands into fists. If it was only that she would not be that preoccupied, but it didn''t end there. She watched as her Master''s father ordered for his son to be whipped alongside his servant.

    Rooted and powerless, she was forced to witness what could only be described as torture. No, to be more accurate, she couldn''t look away. The option was there, but she never took it. Even as tears fell from her eyes and her heart ached, she watched from beginning to end. She tried, believe her, she tried with all her being to help, to cut down those that were harming them only to fail as her flag passed through them.

    It was only once, a single occurrence. Even so, who could say that it was the first? Or that it was the last? She might be childish in believing that with enough effort, every soul could be redeemed, but she was not naive. That situation... There is no way it hadn''t repeated itself before.

    Then why was it? Why did her Master look so happy and tried to gain his father''s approval even when he, most likely, knew he wouldn''t get? The answer to that question didn''t come fast no. It took its sweet and painful time. Despite that, she couldn''t say it pleased her. On the contrary, it was heart wrenching.

    He was twisted, extremely so.

    Maybe not now, not anymore, at least. However, there was no denying that his childhood was, without a doubt, the worst time of his life. Growing up with a father like that made him rotten to the core.

    Children were the greatest gift God could have given Humanity, she firmly believed so. To see one being mistreated like that was nothing short of a capital sin.

    It was from then on, from when she saw that dream, that she decided she would try to make her Master give a genuine smile, one that would reflect her child self without being afraid of the consequences she saw there. Not like those he was starting to give now. They looked more like an imitation than anything else, they were empty.

    She knew it would be hard, maybe even more than their current mission of saving the world. She knew that she would receive mockery, she was already receiving it in the form of her sister. But even then, she wouldn''t give up. A dream is a dream because it always seems unreachable. However, that is also why it makes it worthwhile.

    Still, there was something that she would have to deal with first. Her clenched hands went reflexively to her c.h.e.s.t. Jeanne remembered that ''thing'' inhabiting she met together with Siegfried on her second Dream Cycle. She formed many theories about the identity of that being, because even though it wore the same skin as her Master, she instinctively knew it was not him.

    Jeanne had many theories regarding its true nature, but none that she could prove as after that dream, she never got access to any more of her Master''s memories. She suspected it had to do with that imitation. His last words before he pierced Saber and her c.h.e.s.t were enough indication of it.

    So, the only option left was to ask him, and much to her - not - surprise, he had thrown her in the Simulation Room to fight a group of hungry Chimeras.

    Jeanne released a sigh full of exasperation. She would have to work on her trait of asking before thinking in the future. It didn''t help that her little sister laughed at her predicaments. Fortunately, it seemed that fairness existed within her Master''s heart as Jalter soon followed, much to the Black Saint''s dismay.

    That was when the second option came into play, and that was getting the help of Martha. She was probably the person who she got along the most here, both being Saints and all that.

    Putting a finger on her chin and adopting a thinking pose, her steps reverberated through the halls, giving her all the time in the world she needed to muse over the past events.

    Call it a gut feeling, but she somewhat felt there was something between her fellow Saint and her Master. Despite the subtleness, she could catch the occasional glances the two give each other the moment they cross paths before they turned their eyes away.

    To say that it made her genuinely curious would be an understatement. As far as she knew, the only contact they had was in France and it was a battle. So then, why did they act like that? It was as if they knew each other, but preferred not to talk to avoid an awkward situation.

    When she ''confronted'' her fellow believer about it, the only response she got was Rider avoiding looking at her in the eye, a fake cough, and a pat on the head.

    It was only after she got really, REALLY insistent that she finally got an answer, albeit not the one she expected or wanted.

    "Tell me, Maiden of Orleans. Why is our life short? Is it because God wanted us to find meaning and enjoy it as much as possible while following his teachings? Is it because we know it''s short that we would do everything in our power to find a meaning for it? Or maybe it''s just because the flesh is weak and there is so much that it can withstand? No, it''s none of that nonsense. It''s because our souls can''t handle more. The pain that comes with living less than a century is enough to cut our lives short." She remembered her pausing, before a look of pity flashed through her face, one that was gone as quickly as it came.

    "If someone was to live more than that...they would see hell. They would see the true nature of this world. If you want to save someone like that, then common sense will not do, neither shallow understanding will. Not even a wish to the Holy Grail, fake or not, will change that. Whatever you do, don''t use common sense."

    She didn''t say anything else, opting for going somewhere else instead, leaving a perplexed Jeanne staring dumbly at her back. It didn''t take a genius to know that she was left dumbfounded. Ruler didn''t comprehend what Martha was trying to tell her. It wasn''t even related to what she had asked in the first place. Was she talking about Servants? Weren''t they just fine despite ''living'' more than the lifespan of a normal human?

    Unfortunately, Martha didn''t answer her unasked questions. She just left a "Don''t give up hope. As hard as it may be sometimes." behind.

    Since that day, Jeanne had been trying to understand her words, only to fail miserably. Deciding she would not achieve anything by thinking so hard about it, she dropped the subject temporarily.

    In its place, she decided to use her free time to better her reading. It was something her Master had, in a surprising act of patience, taught her together with Jalter, so she naturally wanted to impress him by the time he came home.

    That way, she would have an edge over her sister~! And also...that woman.

    A small feeling she couldn''t describe occupied her heart every time she thought of a certain girl adorning a white veil. Even during her life, she hadn''t felt anything like it, so it was still a foreign feeling, one that she didn''t take p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e in having, but also didn''t know how to remove.

    It was just... When she saw that woman, the King of Combat, standing beside her Master, her world turned gray for a second before returning to normal. The way that woman looked at her Master...it told her things.

    Don''t ask her how, but she instinctively knew that Altera knew something more about him than she did, even if their time together had been longer than his with Saber.

    Jeanne had difficulties accepting it. More so when her Master looked at Altera as if she was the same as him. It was as if a wolf surrounded by dogs finally found one of its kin amidst strangers.

    Even though she wanted to trust someone with how she was feeling to see if a solution to it could be found, something deep within her told her not to. That she could trust no one.

    Quickly shaking her head to get rid of unnecessary thoughts, she looked ahead only to see she had finally reached her destination, the Command Room.

    She had wanted to check up on the Chaldeans, and see how they were doing in the Singularity. Even if she couldn''t be with them in body, she would be with them in spirit! Also...

    A small blush made its way into her face.

    Talking with her Master would be rather nice... Although, looking at how he usually acted, he would tell her to stop dilly dallying and for her to do something productive with her free time. But well...one can only hope.

    As Martha said, no matter how hard it was, she couldn''t lose it!

    It was then that the sliding door opened with her entering the room a second after, only to hear Romani speaking. Speaking the words that would make her world come crumbling down.

    "... Seth. A Divine Spirit of Ancient Egypt who murdered his brother, Osiris, in cold-blood and usurped his throne and reigned by terrorizing his subjects until his nephew Horus managed to put an end to it thanks to the help from the other Egyptian Gods. Some people believe his myth also inspired Christianity, often comparing him with Satan on several occasions."

    It was then that she discovered...

    ... Hope was merely an illusion.

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 Chapter 127 - A Declaration For The Future

    Back at the Singularity of Okeanos��more precisely the island where Seth resided, the said man was trying to get back to that place and apologize, to no avail. No matter how much he tried, it was useless.

    Seth couldn''t help but internally curse at the impossibility. It didn''t help that he was feeling like shit due to overusing his body when it hadn''t healed completely yet.

    ''Give up. It''s not the time to meet again. Not until a long while, at least.'' Stargazer''s voice caught his attention. He didn''t appear in the outside world, though.

    "Was that your Clairvoyance speaking?" He asked after a sigh of resignation. As much as he didn''t like it, he knew better than to push things in these kinds of situations.

    ''Nope, just a feeling.'' Seth could mentally imagine Stargazer shrugging his shoulders at his inquiry. Well, at least the timeframe wasn''t set in stone.

    "Forget it. How about the other guy? He just returned the control of our body and disappeared the moment I woke up." Not only he messed up, but he also left his body aching all over after his little stunt. If this was going to be the norm from now on, the future sure looked bleak.

    ''Hmm...If I had to give you an answer, then I would say he went to sleep in some sort of self-imprisonment.'' His words brought no small amount of surprise to the black-haired man.

    "Heh. I didn''t take him for the emotional type." There was a clear mocking tone in his voice, something that wasn''t lost to Stargazer, who merely chuckled in amus.e.m.e.nt.

    ''Well, well. Give the guy a break. It''s not every day that a father gets rejected by his own children, you know? Besides, he was not the only one affected, now was he?'' His come-back managed to make Seth stiffen, but not in a good way.

    "I would watch my tongue if I were you, Stargazer. The only reason you are alive is because of your usefulness, but speak more than necessary, and I will kill you regardless of it. Even if I embody the ''good'' side, there is a certain level of bullshit I can tolerate before having my patience reduced to zero." He spat venomously.

    In the Throne Room inside Seth''s inner world, Stargazer felt a cold breath in his neck, making him shiver slightly. ''Well, shit. Him and his damn reptile.''

    ''My bad, by all means, forget what I said. Oh, and you have company.'' With nothing more to say, he stopped the connection. Immediately after that, he turned around, only to see nothing in return.

    His eyes then went to the big windows on the side of the Throne Room. Stargazer saw a black blur move past them and disappear as quickly. A majestic roar soon followed, causing him to raise his eyebrows in mild surprise.

    ''Hoh... So I am being watched now? By a recently born infant no less. I guess the awakening of Mr. Grumpy had a hand in that. I wonder what awaits us, and what number we will get. I hope we replace that ball of fur; I don''t like it at all.'' With a nonchalant attitude, he returned to his job of observing the distant future.

    On the outside world, Seth got up from the altar, letting his legs dangle in the air and, for once, decided to listen to Stargazer and forget about what he said. The day was already bad as it was to go around with a permanent scowl on his face.

    With one final push, he managed to stand on his own two feet, although with a little difficulty. Seth''s only answer to this was to sigh. He hadn''t felt so weak since his fights with Thor in the past. Was this what it was like to fight your counter? It sure s.u.c.k.e.d.

    The Egyptian God was brought out of his musing by the sound of footsteps. The incoming figure soon revealed itself to be David with his characteristic smile on his face.

    He had woken up not long ago and decided to pay a visit to their patient. As much as he wanted to wait for him to recover, he didn''t know if they had much time for it. There was no doubt that Jason and his lackeys wouldn''t waste a moment if it meant they could get closer to their true objective, whatever it was.

    While the scene of him wearing glasses made him furrow his brows in confusion, he didn''t make a comment about it. He had seen weirder things to take his new appearance as out of place.

    "I am glad to see you standing. I take it you have healed enough move?" The sight of the black-haired man''s wobbly legs was enough of an answer, so he quickly changed the question. "Do you need help to walk?"

    Seth gave David a subtle nod, which made the King go to support the troubled man. The shepherd put Seth''s arm above his shoulders and, with slow but steady steps, started walking out of the dungeon.

    "No offense but, when are you going to recover completely? We are pretty much going to need everything we can get our hands on to fight, and I don''t think you can do much in your current state." Although he asked lightly, there was a certain kind of urgency in his voice. No one could blame him. After all, he was the type to worry too much if things didn''t go as planned.

    "None taken." Seth could understand how the green-haired man felt, so he started thinking a bit to give an estimate as he himself wasn''t sure about it. "I guess it will take just a few days, less than a week for sure. There is something messing with my regeneration, so I am concentrating on that first. Once that is done, I will heal in no time."

    A sigh of relief escaped David''s mouth; they could work with that. "That''s good. For now, let''s go and meet with Atalanta. She must be waiting for us to discuss things already."

    Seth g.r.o.a.n.e.d after hearing his fellow King. He didn''t have the best impression of her considering she attacked him only seconds following his awakening. There was also the fact that she was a Huntress for that unhinged woman, Artemis. Who knows what weird quirks she might have.

    "I see you aren''t exactly excited to meet with her after the... troubles that ensured. However, rest assured that she is calmer now. Although, it would help if you could get in a more...presentable way." The green-haired man motioned to his ragged clothes with his gaze. To say he looked like a beggar who was assaulted by thugs wasn''t that far from the truth. At least they still covered...personal parts. Were it not like that, he wouldn''t be helping him walk right now.

    Seth looked down and indeed, it was as David said. He had to thank his quick thinking for making his clothes out of Mana instead of simply accepting the ones Cu Chulainn gave him back then. If he did, the black-haired man didn''t doubt he would be n.a.k.e.d by now.

    Snapping his fingers, a small, flaming whirlwind covered his body from the waist down. Not soon after, it disappeared to reveal Seth wearing black cargo pants, and equally colored combat boots. "There. I suppose this will do."

    "I thought you would opt for something more...how to say it, from your culture? And why didn''t you do the same with your upper body?" David asked in slight puzzlement. He didn''t expect for him to go modern style, and yes, he did know about it, perks of being summoned by the Counter Force.

    The Egyptian God just rolled his eyes at his question. "While it''s true that we are stagnant and incapable of growth, that doesn''t mean we live in caves. I just found this attire to my liking after I accessed some files in your son''s tablet. And my upper body''s wounds are reopening frequently, so I prefer not to dirty my clothes with blood even if they aren''t exactly made of fabric thank you very much."

    "...I feel like you said something REALLY important casually..." David sweatdropped after hearing what he said. To say he was surprised would be an understatement. It was to the point that he thought he had misheard.

    Seth titled his head slightly. "Oh? I thought you were able to contact Solomon in some way."

    "..."

    "...Oops?"

    "Haaahhhhh...let''s talk about that together with our plans for the future. I don''t want to keep Atalanta waiting lest she starts nagging me again." What in the name of the Seven Heavens is he going to do now? At this rate, he felt he was going to have a heart attack, even if that wasn''t possible due to his status as a Servant.

    "...Fine." He said with resignation. Let destiny take its course as they say. As long as she was half the psychopath that Artemis was, then everything would be all right...probably.

    "Look. I know Atalanta needs to get laid so she can calm her attitude a little, but she knows when it''s time to set grudges aside for the sake of something more important." David said matter of factly, something that earned a weird glance coming from the other man.

    "Are you sure you are religious?"

    "A hundred percent."

    "You know that she is just outside of here right?"

    "...She heard what I said, didn''t she?"

    "Probably, yes."

    "Don''t be surprised if I throw you off and run."

    "Something is telling me you are going to do just that."

    ������������������������������������������������������������

    As expected, Atalanta was waiting on the dungeon''s exit. She was folding her arms and tapping her foot against the ground repeatedly with an expression that told she was ready to kill on sight.

    David at least had the decency to put Seth down before asking the Huntress for ten seconds to run and just then start shooting. The King was fortunate enough that she complied with her request, even if she wanted nothing more than to put an arrow up his a.s.s so he doesn''t go mouthing off unnecessary things.

    When the two left to do their shenanigans, Seth got up once more and tapped the amulet on his c.h.e.s.t. Not long after, a bright light covered the scenery before quickly dying down, revealing a Chimera in all her glory. To be more precise, it was the same one he had encountered in Asterios'' labyrinth. He got attacked by that feeling when you find a puppy alone in the streets and you want to take it home because you feel bad about him staying there. So, with no other choice, he decided to bring her with him.

    ''I will have to evolve her, though. But that will have to wait until I take care of the ''intruders.'' After that, it should be easy to do so.''

    The monster instantly started to nuzzle up against him, although she was careful not to hurt him, as she saw how badly injured he was. Seth patted both her heads in return before speaking. "Can you take me to the beach? I have trouble walking and I can barely stand."

    He received a nod in response, followed by the snake tail coiling around his waist and then placing him on her back. Sniffing the air a bit to detect the presence of salt, she started walking in the beach''s direction.

    Seth decided to relax while looking at the clear sky. However, a frown soon made its way to his face. ''Sun, Earth, and Sky...'' He extended his hand upward before clenching it into a fist. ''...I am coming for you.''

    A chuckle soon escaped his mouth after his declaration. ''Yeah...right. I am not ready yet. I am still...incomplete. However, that means I can still go beyond my original self.''

    He soon brought his arm down and, while closing his eyes with a faint smile on his face, focused on enjoying the comforting breeze that made the trees around him dance in unison.

 Chapter 128 - Shadows Of The Past

    Atalanta was nearing the beach to where they decided to hold their meeting to discuss things about their plan of action. As much as she hated to admit it, she was not near enough to face someone as strong as Herakles by herself.

    She should know, she traveled with him on the Argo. Although he kept to himself most of the time, the Great Hero still managed to make an impression not just with her, but with the rest too with his imposing figure alone.

    The Huntress was worried the moment that man came with a proposition to join his crew again. It was not because she feared death, but if she died there the moment she refused, then this place would have one less warrior to defend it. Seeing what they were against, every force, no matter how small, was essential to face them.

    Although...she sometimes wished that she got stuck with another person other than David. Seriously, what was his damn problem saying that she needed to get laid?! Just because he is a manwhore doesn''t mean everybody else has to be too! Doesn''t he know the importance of a vow to a Goddess?!

    The man of the hour was trailing behind her with an exhausted look on his face. Numerous arrows were stuck in his body, making him look like a porcupine. Surprisingly, there weren''t signs of any further damage.

    When they got to the beach, however, they were surprised at the sight before them. Their new companion was lazily sleeping on top of a Chimera without a care in the world. They knew that with their recent stunt they had decreased a little of seriousness to the topic, but this was plainly surreal.

    Atalanta''s eyes narrowed. Her instincts as a huntress were screaming to hunt this beast down, but she held them in. It didn''t seem to be hostile, at least not yet. The proof was in her calm demeanor, even when she had a weakened pray on top of her. Though, now that she thinks about it, considering who he is, almost every trace of surprise was becoming nonexistent.

    Another thing that caught her attention, certainly less than David who rushed past her like a mad bull, was the white-haired woman sitting next to the monster with a happy smile and swaying from side to side. Another thing to note was the ugly plushie bear she was hugging with fervor. Her eyes must be playing tricks on her because she saw that thing moving.

    "Why hello there, my lady. It''s a p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e to meet you! What''s your name? What are your hobbies? Can we skip all this and go straight to marrying?" David was quick to kneel in front of the woman and ask a barrage of questions. Atalanta couldn''t help but deadpan at this. There was no doubt that men were lost cases.

    Much to his dismay, though, she just shook her head with the same smile. "Not happening~! My heart only belongs to darling! In fact, he can take me whenever he wants. Kya~!"

    ...Atalanta was beginning to think the same thing applied to women.

    She wasn''t the only one disappointed, though. David was now sulking, and drawing circles on the sand while a smile rain cloud hovered magically above him.

    Turning to the sleeping man, she began her questioning. "Any idea who is this hopeless fool for love is and why is she here? I do not recall her being here before."

    The answer came from the source herself. "Mou! How can you be so cruel, my huntress?! Even after all that I did for you!" The white-haired woman pouted with inflated cheeks.

    "Wha-?! What is the meaning of this?! I am the proud Huntress of Lady Artemis and no one else! To compare yourself, a woman who is rubbing an ugly bear between her b.r.e.a.s.ts, to her...hast thou no shame?!" To say Atalanta was offended and enraged by what she said would be an understatement. If the white-haired woman was trying to make a joke, it was not a funny one.

    "Who are you calling ugly?! My darling Orion is the most beautiful thing you will ever see! I can''t believe this! When was it that I raised such a heartless monster?" She looked at the sky with obviously fake sadness, completely ignoring the ever-growing anger of the Huntress.

    "Enough!" Atalanta practically snapped before turning toward Seth. "Cease this trickery at once, or I will make sure to shoot an arrow straight through your butt!"

    Seth slowly opened his eyes and then moved them to look at Atalanta with raised eyebrows. "Language," Was all that he said as he snapped his fingers. Immediately, the figure of the woman dissolved into sand.

    "Well, that was wicked," David spoke from the side after having recovered from the previous ordeal. If it was because the black-haired man deceived him or it was because of Atalanta, only he knew.

    The green-haired girl folded her arms with an angry glare, she was also snarling at him for that stupid thing he just did.

    "Hey, lion girl. As much as I enjoyed your distress, I did it with a purpose in mind. That is what Artemis has been reduced to, believe it or not. I am just preparing you in hopes you don''t suffer a mental breakdown when you meet her." Seth stated simply as he closed his eyes again to relax. He would never admit it, but the fur of the Chimera was too comfy.

    "As if I would believe that! There is no way Lady Artemis is as thou describe her!" Obviously, she didn''t believe a single thing��Not that she expected her to.

    "We all have our quirks, you know? Although it is slightly creepy, that''s who she is, and I am sure there is a deeper meaning to it, as difficult as it may be to find. Besides, when you want to hunt with a bow you don''t go looking for a swordsman. What I mean is, as someone on the same standing as her, I can understand Artemis better than you." His words left no room for refusal, and as much as Atalanta wanted to voice out that he was wrong, she couldn''t really deny that he had a point, more so being someone who walked the Earth at the same time that her Goddess did. Though, that brought a question to her mind.

    "I have noticed, but thou art not a Servant. How is it possible for you to be alive in this day and age? You should be an old fossil by this point." This matter also intrigued David. He had his misgivings about his identity, but he was not someone to judge a character by just that. That said, he was interested in knowing this miracle, so to speak. It was a well-known fact that Gods couldn''t exist in this era. If there was, then the circ.u.mstances had to be nothing short of extraordinary and with many restrictions.

    "To add to that, I would like to know if you have met God before and if you could talk to me more about him." When he was young, the Shepherd was able to speak to God directly, but as he grew older, he had to rely on others to tell him his words due to some...unsavory incidents. That left him with a bad taste in his mouth. He hoped to comprehend a bit more about the ''man'' he dedicated his life to, and what better choice than one who shared his title?

    Seth fixed his glasses �� for some reason, he felt this would be a common occurrence from now on �� and took a moment to think about his answer before eventually speaking. "First of all, I am not old. My age barely exceeds two hundred thousand. As for how I am here, consider this as some sort of Pseudo-Servant experiment. You purposely weaken yourself to the point where the World thinks of you as nothing more than a human, and then slowly but surely you grow into power until you return to your original strength. Think of it as if you were gaining the trust of a wounded animal. You must take your time so it doesn''t think of you as a threat."

    Now, it was the turn to address David''s question. "I have met Yahweh twice. The first time it was a pretty random encounter. He...gave me the chills. Even if he acted indifferently and had a somehow approachable attitude; I couldn''t help but feel that guy was a monster. I confirmed that the second time I encountered him."

    A sigh escaped his lips. He was so ridiculous that the concept of strength didn''t even apply to him. "After I set on a quest to...let''s just say stop existing, I went to pretty much every pantheon to find someone that could make that a reality. I started from the bottom and slowly climbed my way to the top. In the middle of it, I remembered the feeling I have gotten from that guy, so I decided to have him do the honors. Sadly for me, he was a slippery bastard."

    David''s eyebrows twitched at hearing the nickname but otherwise made no further comments. "That was when I got the brilliant idea of going after one of his Angels to get him out of his cave. I could take on any of them at any time, but if it didn''t align with my objective, then there was no point."

    Atalanta seemed to have immersed in the story as well, so she decided to ask some questions of her own. "Who did you choose then? To...possible kill you?"

    Seth smirked at her eagerness to know. At least she was not mad anymore at the little prank he did. "I chose the one who had some similarities to the ''beast'' I fought in the past. That Angel was Samael; the Venom of God."

    "...Has someone ever told you that you are out of your mind?" The green-haired man knew about some of the crazy things that Seth had done, but come on. No one with that title should ever be provoked. That was clear as day!

    "Many times actually. Still, continuing on with the story, I fought him and managed to kill him after some effort. The good, bad back then, thing is that I had some resistance to poison after continuously being bathed by it on my fights with Apophis, so I didn''t have to suffer much. Anyway, as you might already know, Angels don''t die, or to be more precise, they don''t stay dead. I knew Yahweh would turn a blind eye and think of it as a mere child tantrum knowing that he can revive his little pet any time he wanted. That''s why I went a bit further to anger him."

    "You aren''t suggesting what I think you are suggesting, right?" As much as he wanted to believe otherwise, something told him that his fears were true. Atalanta was in the same boat, albeit a little tamer. It wasn''t her pantheon the one being spoken of, and she was also a Huntress, to begin with. There was nothing wrong with...eating your pray. Although, she would be lying if she said she didn''t have misgivings at doing so with a humanoid figure.

    "Yep." He said, popping the p, "Back then I didn''t care much about such things. Now I just find it distasteful if that makes you feel better. Moving on, when the old geezer found I have done such ''sacrilege'' in his words, he proceeded to beat me so hard that I still remember the pain to this day. Then, don''t ask me how, he managed to get Samael out of my stomach. Something straight out of a fairytale I tell you. It was then that I realized how far apart the bastard was from everyone else. I don''t know what Hocus Pocus he did, but I couldn''t even lift a finger before I was only an inch away from dying. So, to answer your question, he is a damn shut-in dinosaur who likes to wear the appearance of a young-looking man in his twenties."

    David was speechless. He couldn''t believe these events actually happened, it felt so surreal but at the same time, they weren''t that farfetched. He had the urge to say ''Yeah, this is what God would do.'' at the moment, so much.

    Atalanta, for her part, enjoyed the part where he said he got a beating, but personal tastes aside, there was something that gained a raised eyebrow out of her. "Aren''t you doing the same? I mean, thy form is human, but there is no doubt that appearance is fake and less beastly that I would have imagined."

    "Most of us are born in human form. We gain beasts'' traits later on in life. That''s why the representations of our forms are half-human and half-beasts. Anyway, I am kind of a special case as I am the opposite. I exited the woman that birthed me prematurely, so according to my instinct, I searched pieces of beasts to develop what I hadn''t previously. You can consider me a Chimera if you want. So, without much choice, I had to develop a human form instead of a beastly one like the rest of my peers. And, if you are wondering why I am so young, that''s because ten human years equal to one hundred thousand for us." Seth stated, not troubled about satiating their curiosity. If they were going to work together, then nothing had to be an impediment.

    The Huntress felt her eyes softening unconsciously while her hands tightened into fists. "You...your parents abandoned you, didn''t they?"

    David seemed to have also realized the way he addressed his mother, and could understand the rampaging emotions currently going inside of Atalanta. After all, it was no secret to everyone who knew her story how much pain and rage she felt at parents that abandoned her children.

    Seth opened his eyes only to give her an amused look. "Hey, hey. Don''t need to go pity mode on me. You kids are too young to be worrying about other people''s problems."

    "Please...just answer me this. If you do so, I will throw away any doubts I had previously about you. What did they do to you?" Her tone was borderline begging. Even if he was way older than she was, the fact that he was once a kid that suffered through something similar to her prompted to ask that question.

    The black-haired man had to roll his eyes at this. ''Great, another one.'' His inner voice was dripping with sarcasm. Even so, he decided to humor her so that she dropped the subject quickly.

    "Parent A was an asshole who no matter what I did, it was never enough. He practically killed me a couple of times, and blah, blah, blah. Parent B..." When he spoke about his ''father'' he didn''t have much trouble. He was so-over it at this point that it didn''t matter. That didn''t diminish his hatred for the old bastard, though. However, when it was time to talk about the thing, the ONLY thing that his ''mother'' had done, his words automatically left him. Even he didn''t know this was going to happen, and it didn''t go unnoticed by the other two.

    ''...What the hell. Might as well take it out of my c.h.e.s.t.'' He was sure that something inside of him screamed ''bad idea'' at this. He was already forcefully preventing one of the chains guarding the door from breaking, and speaking about this subject might cause another one to follow. Considering the situation of his human vessel that was barely holding on, it was a shitty idea if he ever heard one. Still, when all was said and done, it was now or never.

    "She cursed me. In a fit of rage for having torn her sides to escape and preventing her from ever conceiving another child, she cursed me. ''From now on, every woman who bears your child will suffer a miscarriage.'' or some shit like that. Lost two to that curse." Even though he said it in a light tone, just thinking about it was enough to make him rampage until there was nothing left. For once, he was glad of the powerless state his body was in. However, he was not the only one who carried that hatred. ''Chaos'' was the same too. He awakened from his despair, and that included the death of his two unborn children. It was something that weighed on his mind too. He felt sorry for Anat and Astarte. Remembering their heart-wrenching cries the moment they lost them was something that pained him to this day.

    Not long after he finished speaking, Atalanta''s Magical Energy spiked tremendously. He''s got to admit he had never seen her with an expression of so much hate in her face; not that he had interacted much with her, though.

    Much to his misfortune, it wasn''t the only thing happening. Just as he predicted, another chain was on the verge of breaking. He had to quickly and strenuously stop that from happening, although it came at the price of coughing blood and aggravating his injured a bit more.

    The Huntress mistook it as if it was her own doing and promptly calmed down with her head lowered in shame. After a long-drawn sigh, she looked back at him. "I am sorry, I didn''t mean to."

    Seth shakily waved his hand dismissively, telling her not to worry and that it wasn''t her fault. This managed to calm her down, albeit not so much. His story had hit home, very much so. It was not something she could simply forget and let it go. So, against her better judgment, she decided to ask him one last question. "What are you planning to do with them?"

    She purposely didn''t refer to them as his parents, knowing that they didn''t deserve that title. In his book, that was appreciated. Heh, they started with the wrong foot and now they were tragic-childhood buddies. Oh, the irony.

    After recomposing himself and taking some deep breaths, he addressed her with a calm smile that did little to hide his thirst for blood. "Why, kill them of course. As painfully as possible. I have killed my father before, but doing it again doesn''t sound so bad."

    His words managed to bring a hunter-like smirk to her face, one that she wouldn''t show unless the pray was challenging enough to make her give it her all. "I hope you don''t mind if I tag along."

    David shook his head at their antics but said nothing. To be honest, he was also a little shaken by what the Egyptian God told them. He knew he had it hard growing up, but this...it was something else. ''That goes to show that Humans and Gods aren''t that different, I suppose.''

    "You would have to get in line, kiddo��" Seth paused what he was about to say, his brows immediately furrowing and his demeanor becoming serious. The other two also noticed this change, prompting them to ask what was the matter.

    "It''s my group... They have encountered the Argonauts."

 Chapter 129 - A Chance For Survival

    It was currently night on the island where Seth, Atalanta, and David were staying. The three heroes plus the Chimera were sitting around a bonfire with a bit of a somber expression. It had been a few hours since the ex-Pharaoh had informed them of the clash between the Chaldeans and the Argonauts.

    Both Servants were worried; that much was clear. The Egyptian God had told them about their overall combat power, but instead of reassuring them, it generated the opposite effect.

    David and Atalanta shared the same opinion. The only ones that stood a chance to fight against the enemy were EMIYA, Altera, and Artemis, going by Seth''s descriptions.

    The Huntress had no doubts that if her Goddess were in a more optimal container, then this would be a piece of cake. Sadly, she was stuck with that womanizer, who, for some reason, was an ugly bear.

    The situation was indeed dire. However, there was nothing they could do at the moment, even if they wanted. No one among them had a ship to sail, and Seth, who was the one who could control Wyverns, wasn''t in any position to help. As much as they didn''t like it, their only option was hope for the best and that they can pull it off somehow.

    It wasn''t necessary to fight, though. They could very well try and retreat, even if it seems a little difficult at the moment and considering who they are up against. Still, there existed a light at the end of the tunnel. Although they, David in particular, were not so sure about it.

    They couldn''t help but think back at the moment where Seth informed them of the clash. It was... interesting what happened next, to say the least, although David wasn''t sure what to think about it. Still, at this point, he didn''t have the energy to complain.

    ������������������������������������������������������������

    "They found them? Are you sure?! This doesn''t happen to be one of your jokes, right?!" A now panic-stricken David quickly asked once Seth finished speaking. What was bad news? This was bad news!

    A more collected but no less worried Atalanta smacked him on the back of his head. "Shut up! What use is there in acting like a damsel in distress?!"

    The action seemed to have calmed the King of Israel, even if only slightly. She then turned to Seth, noticing a faint trace of concern through his lackl.u.s.ter eyes. "How do you know of this?"

    The black-haired man fixed his gaze on her, ignoring David, who was looking left and right as if the attack was happening right in front of him. "I have a contract with one of my Servants. Aside from giving them my Blessing and allowing them to wield a part of my powers, it also works to warn me of hostile signals around them. Judging by the level of power... There is no doubt; it''s them."

    After calming himself, knowing that now was not time to panic, David also addressed Seth. "Do you have something that could help at the moment? Anything? I am afraid we are pretty much useless in this situation."

    The man in question frowned a bit after hearing him, seemingly debating something. The Chimera beneath him growled to catch his attention before turning her two heads to the ocean. Seth did the same, and his frown deepened but ended up resigning himself to what his new glorified bed wanted him to do.

    Taking a deep breath, he released a sound from his mouth that sounded like a mix between a growl and a cry. To say that it unnerved and caught off guard the other two would be an understatement, but they said nothing.

    Seth kept doing this for around a minute before stopping. "There, I called for help. Let''s see if he responds or not."

    David was confused by what he said. When he was about to ask, he stopped himself seeing the ocean starting to stir, with multiple whirlpools forming not long after.

    It took only a couple of seconds for a gargantuan monster with blue scales to emerge from the water some distance away from the shore. Atalanta and David watched the creature with an expression of shock plastered on their faces.

    In the King''s case, his shock soon turned into dread after recognizing the creature in front of him. He turned his head toward Seth in a mechanical fashion, his face sweating bullets. "Yo-You didn''t just summon the Levi... Levi... The freaking Leviathan did you?!"

    His answer came from the beast itself, who let a roar so loud that almost knocked them over. The Chimera stood up and roared back in a sign of defiance before calming down once the Leviathan stopped and gave her a snort, seemingly losing interest.

    "I am Satan, remember? Controlling serpents is nothing short of child''s play." Seth replied, causing Atalanta to facepalm and David to pull his hair off out of desperation.

    "And the not-sarcastic reply is...?" The Huntress asked while pinching the bridge of her nose. It was just a mind-numbing experience, one after the other.

    "He was the one kind enough to bring me to this island when I fell unconscious after the battle that gave me these wounds. If it weren''t for him, I would be sleeping at the bottom of the ocean right now, or maybe in the stomach of some fish." He answered. It wasn''t until recently that he had come to know of this, but he wouldn''t complain.

    "Is there a thing that you can''t do?" She deadpanned, prompting a wry look from him.

    "Well, I can''t figure out why I attract so much trouble, so that''s something, I guess." Seth truthfully replied. People always say that the good guys get the short end of the stick, but he knows better than to believe that bullshit.

    Their chat was interrupted by a resounding cry from the Leviathan, who was getting impatient and annoyed because it was being ignored.

    Seth pushed himself up from his laying position until he was sitting down on the Chimera''s back, facing the behemoth. "I have a favor to ask of you. And it''s an urgent one."

    The Leviathan''s eyes narrowed and released a low growl, causing Seth''s eyes to twitch. ''You dumb delinquent...''

    "It won''t be for free, don''t worry. I have an idea of what you want, and I have no problem giving it to you." This seemed to have caught its interest, judging by how the ocean had returned to its usual calmness.

    Seth sighed in relief. At least this wasn''t a hopeless case. "There are people battling in some part of the ocean. I want you to stop them before it is too late. One of them has the same Magic Signature as me, use that to locate them. If you do so then I will save your a.s.s when this Singularity collapses."

    It must be their imagination because both Archers thought they saw the Leviathan''s mouth twitching at the last part. The two seemed to have confirmed this theory the moment the Leviathan spat at him from his position.

    The projectile traveled at tremendous speed before impacting at point-blank. Even with the situation as it was, Atalanta and David did their best to stifle their laughter.

    Satisfied with its work, the marine beast turned around and started swimming to where he felt a similar feeling to Seth, before disappearing into the depths.

    What ensued afterward was a loud scream of rage that literally made the island tremble.

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    It was some crazy occurrence, no doubt about it.

    After the events, the trio decided to make a small camp to try and relax, even if it was proving to be somewhat difficult considering what was happening on the other side of the Singularity.

    Of course, Seth had the Chimera go to the ocean to clean themselves off that snake''s saliva. It was then that he discovered a shiny object hidden in the disgusting liquid.

    At the moment, the Egyptian God was fiddling with the Holy Grail. By the looks of it, it was the one who was in possession of Blackbeard. ''It must have fallen to the ocean somehow when they defeated him, and then that damn eel swallowed it.''

    "Can you please put that back? It doesn''t sit well with my kind." David almost begged to Seth after seeing the wish-granting device. The fact that it was a copy of a copy didn''t help either.

    The black-haired man nodded, not seeing any problems with that. "I may have to summon a Servant using this Grail. I just wish I don''t get one that doesn''t know how to fight."

    "Seeing as you are a walking battery of Magical Energy I don''t doubt you could. That said, a healer-type Servant would come in handy in this case. That way your healing process would speed up considerably." David offered his own two cents while throwing a subtle insult in the mix.

    "Is it possible to summon multiple Servants?" If they could, their chances of success would go up. Maybe in that particular case, quantity would be better than quality.

    A quick shake of his head crushed her hopes. "Sadly not. Blackbeard used the Grail to call one hell of a powerful Servant. Thanks to that, I only have one or two shots before it breaks. The number will depend on the power of the first one."

    "It was the one that left you in that state, right?" She asked again, gaining a nod from him.

    "Who knew that me teaching someone would create a monster. I am lucky the summoning wasn''t perfect and Blackbeard was his Master. Otherwise, he would have killed me long ago. The little guy had some broken abilities, truly unfair." Although his words looked like complaints, the hidden pride in them didn''t go unnoticed by the two.

    They tacitly decided not to comment on that. There was no doubt he didn''t feel good about killing his own student. Even so, the fact he could bring a God to such a state �� as weakened as he was �� spoke volumes of his abilities. They wouldn''t have minded having him as an ally at all.

    "For now, we should focus on what we are going to do. Speaking of which, I never asked any of you why you want to protect this place." David said while scratching his cheek.

    "What''s with the sudden interest?" Atalanta tilted her head in mild confusion. It''s true she never mentioned anything about it, but she didn''t consider it to be important for their objective.

    "Consider it small talk." He replied, not knowing how to explain it.

    "I...guess I just do not want to see any children suffer. It''s clear that whoever is behind this won''t even spare them." She growled in anger at the last part.

    "But kids are troublesome no matter how you look at it." David blurted out before quickly regretting it after seeing Atalanta''s expression who was becoming as cold as ice.

    Seth nodded sagely at the green-haired man''s statement, although he did so inside his mind. He didn''t want to face the Huntress'' wrath in the state he was in, after all. The King wasn''t that lucky, though. No doubt he would end up looking like a blowfish soon enough.

    "A-Anyway, what about you, Sa��I mean Seth?" He used his last card up his sleeve: turn her attention to another possible target. One does not simply become a King without knowing how to shift responsibilities to someone else.

    "Oh, don''t mind me. Atalanta seems to be very interested in what you were saying." Seth gave him a ''deal with this yourself'' look before looking at the night sky.

    As the Huntress was already chasing the King and raining arrows down on him, the black-haired man started recalling some events of the past.

    ''I did promise you three that I would help Humanity one time. I wonder... Am I doing a good job at it? My fears keep getting on the way and I feel like it would cost me dearly.''

    Sighing, he closed his eyes. ''And my instincts... are never wrong.''

 Chapter 130 - Obtaining The Ark

    It was now the middle of the night. Seth still remained on the beach together with the Chimera while the other two were sleeping above some tree branches not far from him. Of course, should someone get even one step closer to them, they would wake up without delay.

    In his case, he didn''t plan to walk toward them; the black-haired man had another objective in mind. ''Well, now is as good a time as any. Still, I better prepare something beforehand to avoid inconveniences.''

    Finishing with his train of thought, Seth closed his eyes and took off his glasses. When he opened them again, he released an invisible shockwave that hit the two Archers immediately. His now golden-colored eyes had a hint of satisfaction in them. ''It''s a good thing they didn''t have any type of mental barrier. Now I can concentrate on my job.''

    "Mera, get up. We have something important to do." The Egyptian God addressed his new conveyance with a tap on her back. In some part of his mind, he felt someone insulting his naming sense but paid it no mind.

    Hearing her supposed father''s orders, the Chimera opened her eyes and let him lead her to their destination. She made sure to walk with silent steps as to not wake the others up, knowing that they had to be secretive in their endeavor.

    Seth didn''t mind this, as he knew they would take a while to wake up, and when they did, he would have finished...or at least he believed so.

    The island they were in was enormous, thus it had a wide range of terrains. The Chimera walked through a dark forest, a wasteland, marshes, and hills without rest, not that she needed any. Now that they were far from the two Servants, she could accelerate the pace without a problem.

    It took around two hours, but they finally arrived at their destination. It was a similar dungeon to the one Seth had been sleeping on for the past few days. Only, this particular one was around three times bigger, at least from the outside.

    With another pat on her back, Mera stopped moving as the black-haired man looked around. There was an entrance in front of him the size of a house. It looked like a cave, considering there was a small mountain surrounding it from the sides and above. It wouldn''t be a stretch to say the whole elevation was the dungeon.

    However, that wasn''t what caught his attention; it was the Bounded Field surrounding the entrance. "I see. David used this as a security measure in case he was far away. I have got to give it to him, he is smart when he wants."

    A small smirk made its way into his face, his eyes changing to golden in color to signify the use of one of his Authorities. "But not smart enough, I am afraid. Mera, let''s continue forward, we are just the wind. The Bounded Field won''t do a thing."

    Nodding with her two front heads, she moved ahead, passing by the invisible barrier without any trouble. It didn''t react nor it sent a message to David informing him of someone trespassing. As Seth said, they were just the wind, nothing that required its activation.

    The moment she went past the entrance, though, she stopped momentarily. Someone or something ahead was making her afraid. Noticing her reaction, Seth confirmed this was the right place.

    "Wait here, I will be back in a minute." Knowing that it was useless to make her keep walking, he decided to go in himself. Mera looked at him with apologetic eyes before using her serpent tail to wrap around him and put him on the ground near the wall to use it as support.

    "I''ll be going. Keep an eye out just in case." Receiving her confirmation, Seth started walking with unsteady steps. If he had more energy to do something other than move his legs, he would have sighed. In normal situations, he would sleep until he was fully recovered, but sadly, the current case didn''t allow it.

    What David said about a healing-type Servant wasn''t sounding like a bad idea anymore. ''As long as it isn''t a creep then anything goes I guess...''

    Pushing his thoughts aside, he continued making his way forward to where he felt a great concentration of Holy elements. If that thing didn''t scream Divine Treasure then Gods were actually kind-hearted people.

    On another note, what made Seth groan was that the dungeon looked like the labyrinth of Asterios. It had so many twists and turns that he had already lost count of them. However, the prize for the most annoying thing went to the damn stairs. He wasn''t proud to say he had to crawl his way up just because moving his legs upward so many times made his muscles hurt.

    Still, if there was something that brought him comfort, it was the fact he would get his hands in an incredible weapon. It didn''t matter that it was a one-time use thing, it worked nonetheless.

    ''All right...it should be around the corner... although first I would have to change my core as to don''t appear Evil. I have the feeling that box would calcinate me otherwise.'' Shaking his head, he used his Authority again to fool the World as he had been doing for a while.

    True to his prediction, the moment he turned to the passage on his right side, Seth came across a long and spacious room that seemed to extend for miles. One the walls there were rows of candles that extended to the deepest part of the chamber.

    The only way forward was a bridge made out of the same material as the walls. To its sides, Seth could only see darkness. He guessed if he fell off it for some reason, he would be in for a long trip down.

    ''Did whoever made this have to do it unnecessarily mysterious and dark?'' Seriously, why couldn''t it be a 4x4 room with a nice golden c.h.e.s.t in the middle and that was it?

    The state of his body was making him grumpier, that much he could tell. Even so, no one had the right to blame him. He would have to walk again who knows how much more, something he didn''t want to do. ''I should have forced Mera to come with me.''

    Leaving his complaints aside, Seth resumed his walking through the stone bridge. He had to be careful not to fall since he didn''t have a wall to use as support. Though, if he got too tired, he would have to crawl, as humiliating as that was.

    Fortunately for the black-haired man, he was spared from that since the thing that was deeper in the room was releasing some sort of invigorating aura toward him. It was safe to assume that it benefited people with Good Alignment and screwed the ones with Evil Alignment.

    After around twenty minutes of slow walking, Seth finally reached his destination. The first thing he did was sit down, trying to rest even if it was a little. Putting a hand against his abdomen, he was soon met with the blurry sight of his blood. It seemed his wounds had reopened during his walk. He didn''t concern himself with them, though.

    "Well, let''s get this over with once and for all." Soon after he said that; a hooded figure in black robes appeared behind him. Its skeletal face moving from left to right, trying to recognize the place it was in. It didn''t take long for the dual-colored flaming orbs that it had for eyes to fall into Seth, and when it did, they started shining with great intensity, showing how enraged it was at seeing him in such a state.

    The Egyptian God visibly sneered at it. However, he didn''t comment on its ''concern.'' Instead, he held his hand out. "Give me Longinus, I need it now."

    The Skeleton didn''t take out the weapon, though. It just kept looking at him for a moment before several vines shot from inside his robe, impaling Seth''s back. The said man just grunted a bit, cl.i.c.k.i.n.g his tongue inside his mind.

    Energy started flowing from it directly to him through the vines, healing as many wounds as possible. All of this was thanks to him having absorbed some of the tentacles from the Kraken when he cut them in the depths before. Of course, he didn''t know he would have to use it so soon and involuntarily to boot.

    Once it was over, the Skeleton removed its vines. Seth''s wounds healed nicely, with the added bonus that he could now stand with less trouble than before. Seeing as its job was successful, it finally materialized a Longinus and carefully gave it to him.

    Spinning the spear with one hand and doing some thrusting motions with it, Seth gave a satisfied nod. Now that he reached a certain threshold when it came to his powers, he was able to use Longinus without suffering from its ''curse.'' Sadly, its rebellious nature remained, but it was nothing that a few uses in battle couldn''t solve, and he had the perfect opponent to gain its recognition.

    Now that Seth finished his little test, he directed his gaze forward, where something resembling a golden c.h.e.s.t laid. It had two golden cherubims on its top and some drawings on its side, probably telling a story��one that he was not interested in at all. The thing that caught his attention, though, was a little groove in the middle.

    "Huh...I am starting to think that Fate doesn''t want to screw me as badly as before." Although he couldn''t precisely tell the dimensions, he had a feeling Longinus'' tip was a perfect fit for it. Seth guessed that inserting the spear inside it activated the mechanism inside and prevented him from suffering the same outcome as his enemies.

    "Absorb the Ark, you are the only one that can get it without getting hurt." Once he gave his orders to his glorified Spatial Pouch, he stabbed Longinus into the ground, creating a yellow barrier around himself.

    The Skeleton nodded at his words before moving in front of him. It observed the Ark for a few seconds and then released some vines once again that coiled around the golden c.h.e.s.t. Not long after that, it started pulling the Ark in its direction, although he was encountering some resistance.

    ''Can''t say I expected it to just let itself be taken away, but it doesn''t matter.'' Just as he said this, the robbed figure managed to drag the target at a faster pace than before. However, that caused a powerful shockwave that shook the entire dungeon, and, by the looks of it, it wasn''t the last one. When it collided with Seth''s makeshift shield, the barrier shook for a few seconds, stopping soon after. The Skeleton, who was still pulling, didn''t suffer any damage; it wasn''t even affected. It was like it was in a different dimension, unaffected by whatever thing that was thrown at it.

    The situation kept repeating itself, with the Ark sending more shockwaves, each one more powerful than the last, causing Seth''s barrier to start breaking little by little. That said, if the smirk on his face was anything to go by, the black-haired man wasn''t worried at all.

    Sure enough, just as the barrier was about to disappear, the Skeleton finally was able to drag the Ark into its robes, making the shockwaves stop and the Holy aura around the room to disappear.

    Sighing at finally managing to complete what he came here for, Seth allowed himself to fall on his back. The experience had sure been... tiring, to say the least.

    Turning toward the eyesore, he commanded it to go back, something it complied with after giving him one last look. Looking at the spear in his hand, he spoke almost silently. "Welcome to the Villains'' club, where we always lose to snotty brats."

    Longinus made a humming noise, something Seth took as it not minding its new situation in the slightest. Seth''s other spear also materialized itself in his free hands, giving some sort of dark feeling, which he assumed was jealousy, clashing with the Holy Spear. ''I sometimes wonder if sentiency is a blessing or a curse...''

    His internal musing was brought to an end by a sudden pain in his c.h.e.s.t. Seth knew this could only mean one thing, especially when his Command Spell was shining brightly, giving him some sense of discomfort.

    ''Altera... With the distance between us, I can only give you just enough Magical Energy to remain in this world. It seems I will have to use one of these to help me with that.''

    Taking a deep breath, Seth dematerialized both his spears before forming a fist with his right hand and bringing it to his c.h.e.s.t. "My condition prevents me from amassing much, but... By my Command Spell, Altera, my proud warrior, take as much Magical Energy from me as possible, and show our enemies what true fear is."

    Once the black-haired man finished giving his command, the red left wing disappeared, leaving only the neck of a serpentine monster with a wing to its right.

    ''Good luck and... come back alive.''

    Exhausted from having his small amount of Magical Energy taken from him, Seth fainted, not before seeing Mera rapidly approaching him.

 Chapter 131 - New Enemies And New Servant

    Slowly, the sun made its way out of the horizon, and with it, Seth opened his eyes groggily. ''Agh... What hit me so hard...?''

    It took a moment to recollect his thoughts, but he was finally able to remember the past events that led to this situation. Being able to use Longinus properly after a long time, obtaining the Ark of the Covenant, and giving all the Magical Energy he had to power Altera with his Command Spell and ultimately fainting due to exhaustion for having done that.

    So many things in so little time, it was honestly more ''action'' than he had expected. Aside from a mild headache, there were no lasting consequences he could detect, nothing worrying.

    Seth felt he was resting atop of something soft, so he guessed it was his glorified bed. Getting up, and waking Mera in the process, the black-haired man looked around him. Judging by the extinct bonfire not far from him, he was in the same place where he was talking with the two Archers before going in his little quest.

    Looking to his right, he saw Atalanta on top of a tree branch observing the ocean for some reason, and to his left, David had a thoughtful expression on his face, frowning every now and then.

    ''He must be thinking about the things I planted inside his head. Servants don''t dream unless they have a Master, so he will believe it easily eventually.'' Seth thought before getting down from the Chimera. After last night''s ordeal and recovering his lost Mana, he was able to walk properly without looking like a drunk penguin.

    Speaking of which, he didn''t sense the danger around the rest of the group anymore, so it was safe to assume that the battle was over. That said, he couldn''t help but feel a sense of uneasiness. Until they came back, however, he wouldn''t be able to do anything.

    Seeing movement, both Servants turned to his direction, immediately stopping what they were doing. David was the first to speak, trying to push his thoughts aside for the moment. "Looks like you have recovered, at least enough to walk by yourself."

    Seth nodded, fixing his glasses in the process. "Indeed. I would say that it will take just around two days to completely heal. My Mana also stopped being stuck on the same amount and is slowly returning to its normal levels."

    "Being a Divine Spirit, your reserves should be astronomical. It''s reassuring they are going back to normal, we are going to need you at full capacity." Atalanta also added from the side.

    "I don''t want to jinx it, but are you good enough to fight in case trouble comes knocking at our door? It might be my paranoia speaking, though." David asked with mild curiosity. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn''t forget the things that happened last night.

    God appeared to him in his dreams as a blinding white light, something that hadn''t happened for a long time. He was as confused as he was happy at the events honestly.

    He told him that he would be retrieving the Ark to avoid unnecessary incidents with it as falling into the wrong hands could prove to be disastrous. God also told him to trust Sa��Seth for their mission, but only then. Outside of it, he was NOT to be trusted by any means and it was best to stay away from him.

    No much was said afterward, just tiny details here and there before the dream ended. Going by what the Pagan God said before, once their mission was over, they would return to their time, so there wasn''t any sort of complication that didn''t allow them to work together, not one he could think, at least.

    Still, he couldn''t deny that God taking the Ark was a relief. It was a huge weight being lifted off his shoulders as most of his anxiety came from the fact that he had to protect it continuously. The golden c.h.e.s.t always appeared automatically every time he was summoned, so there was nothing he could do about it sadly. At least now, things are different, much to his happiness. However, if God had to take such measures, he wondered if the enemy was more than they originally thought.

    Coming back to the three, Seth raised his eyebrows at the green-haired kid''s question. Was that a challenge? "Boy, look beneath you. We are on an island with sand all around us, I am almost unbeatable on this terrain. Kicking anyone''s a.s.s would be as easy as breathing."

    If he didn''t know him �� not that he knew him much �� David would have thought he was bragging. Still, he didn''t look convincing, not when he had to carry him out of the dungeon because he couldn''t even walk.

    "Sorry if I don''t sound convinced." He said without much thought and without any sort of malice. As someone who hasn''t seen a Divine Spirit in action, he had his set of trouble believing they could beat anyone in such a state.

    What the King didn''t know was that there are certain Authorities that in the right conditions have no cost in the Mana of a Divine Spirit/God. Poseidon controlling water in the ocean, Seth doing so with sand in beaches or deserts, Geb, Seth''s father, controlling the earth in any piece of land, to name a few.

    Seth merely chuckled at his words, his lackl.u.s.ter eyes narrowing slightly. He could show the little infant what he was capable of doing, but showing enough power to convince him would leave another emotion planted in the sheep boy''s heart, fear. If they were to be allies, such a thing would only hinder them. In that case, "When the time comes, you will know. Aren''t you a Christian? Have a little faith in me then. And before you say anything, do it in me as a person, not whatever you think me as."

    "Thou are good with sand, right?" At Atalanta''s question, Seth nodded. "Then, can you control the one under the ocean?"

    If the twitching of his eyebrow was any indication, then he could not.

    "How to explain this to you, uncultured human fellas? We can f.u.c.k with the world''s laws to manifest our Authorities, all right? Creating rain in an arid zone out of nowhere, a blizzard in a tropic climate, or even earthquakes in stable zones where the Earth''s tectonic plates don''t collide. However, some Authorities are simply above others. The water in the ocean is crushing the sand in a physical and metaphorical sense. For all that is worth, it might as well be orange juice instead of something I can control." Well, someone was s.e.n.s.i.t.i.v.e about that topic. The annoyed tone which he used to describe it only cemented that notion.

    Quickly deciding to change the topic lest he went ballistic, David went to more pressing matters. "...So. Are you planning to summon a Servant right now?"

    They could use the extra help. The green-haired man was begging God for it to be a healer. It was better than something that could be uncontrollable, or worse, a psychopath that would kill his or her Master after seeing him that weakened.

    Seth''s expression returned to normal, soon materializing the Grail for them to see. "Not yet, I want to hear something from you two first. Depending on the answer, I might try to influence the summoning to search for something in particular. Anyway, we are focusing on Herakles, which is no doubt the biggest threat, but I want to know who are the others. You said they came asking for you to join them, right, Atalanta?"

    The said huntress gave an affirmative nod, her brows furrowing slightly a second later. "Yes, indeed. When Jason came to recruit me, he was not alone. As you know, one of the Servants that was with him was Herakles himself."

    "Mhm." Seth simply expressed his acknowledgment, waiting for her to continue.

    The Huntress stopped for a moment, a sad look appearing on her face before quickly vanishing. Now it was not the time to be moping around. "Then there is Medea, the... Witch of Betrayal."

    It was obvious to see she was not happy with the title, and that she had some kind of relationship with her. What type, the Egyptian God didn''t know, and neither was he interested.

    "She was summoned here as her child version, and is currently working as an Oracle of sorts." Seth narrowed his eyes at this. It was something he couldn''t picture. As far as he knew, no matter the stage of your life you were summoned in, you still had all your memories. To work with the man that ruined your life... It was strange. There was also the Oracle part, was she receiving some messages from Hecate, or from someone else? Everything screamed troublesome at this point.

    Unaware of his current musing, Atalanta continued giving details about their enemies. However, when it came the time to inform him of the next one, her face quickly turned into a scowl. "Then there is a woman I didn''t and still don''t recognize. She is someone who casually throws insults at you without even meaning it. What does she mean by me being a freak of nature or that something went wrong with my creation..." Her voice grew increasingly quiet as she continued to vent her frustrations silently.

    "Sorry to interrupt your little trip to memory lane, but do you have something that can help identify that woman?" If he was going to fight someone, then at least he wanted to be prepared. The idea is for him to fight Herakles on his own, though as they said, no plan survives contact with the enemy. It''s better to have multiple plans.

    Brought out of her murdering thoughts against that woman, the Huntress quickly shook her head at his question. "Nothing aside from the fact that she is probably a Caster. She struck me as the scholar type and was wearing clothes on the modern side. She had long brown-hair if that helps. All in all, she is without a doubt a Heroic Spirit belonging to an era not far from the current one."

    Seth took a moment to process every word she said. If it was a modern Heroic Spirit, then he knew almost nothing about them. His last reincarnation was about 500 years ago, and despite him not remembering anything particular about those lives, certain types of knowledge were still there. It was thanks to that fact he could identify some Servants they fought, even if as a God he never met them. At the moment, the life he remembered with more clarity was the one where he was Martha''s neighbor and sort of friend, followed by pieces of his life as Xerxes. The others were like "Oh, I remember this happening but not how, or what I did then."

    Thanks to that inability to properly recollect those memories, he started reading as much as he could about history, so he could identify possible Servants with the details they provided. The Grail always filled them with information about their enemies once they knew their True Name. Sadly, he was no Servant, so that didn''t apply to him. Going by the books he read, women that were famous and gave a scholarly vibe were few and far in between. Still, he would need to at least see something to form a decent conclusion.

    "...If it helps..." The green-haired woman spoke again, bringing him back to reality. Motioning her to continue, Atalanta gave a quick nod before speaking again, although this time with a worrying look on her face. "...If it helps, I can give you one last piece of information about her. She... She gave me a dangerous feeling. It was...strange. It was like I could kill her with a single arrow, but at the same time, I had alarm bells constantly ringing inside my head telling me to be careful around her. The way she looked at me was not the way one looks at another human. I don''t know how to describe it."

    "It''s okay, no need to concern yourself with it." Seth waved a hand dismissively. Inwardly, though, he was frowning in deep contemplation, again. ''Weak but dangerous? It must be a Noble Phantasm without a doubt, a continuously active type most likely. To produce a sense of danger on a Heroic Spirit of the Age of the Gods being a modern one, it must be a powerful one without a doubt. Which brings the question, what is it capable of? To generate a sense of uneasiness, you must strike the core of their being��Oh... Well, shit. I am as lucky as I am unlucky it seems.''

    "I think I know what she can do, but as far as identity goes, I am still in the blank. Moving on, anyone else to look out for?"

    "Actually, there is. I didn''t meet that Servant directly but I felt their presence inside the ship. They were probably sleeping, I don''t know. I just hope they aren''t that crazy when it comes to power. However, I doubt my hopes will be rewarded with anything but a disappointment. As much as I loath Jason; he is a man capable of assembling the strongest Heros and make them follow him, albeit barely. There is no doubt the last Servant is powerful in their own right." The Huntress supplied more information with a pensive look on her face, which didn''t work to ease her worries.

    "If there is anything I got surer of after hearing you speak, is that we need the help of the ones at Chaldea more than ever. And let''s not forget about our next incorporation." David said, his characteristical panicked look coming at full force again.

    The lioness girl agreed with his thinking. Looking at Seth once more, she asked if he was ready for a summon, to which he gave a positive response.

    "Do you need to draw a Magic Circle or something? We could help, although our knowledge on the field is scarce." The King offered, wanting to make sure everything went well and without failure.

    "For this? No, just rub it a bit and wait for an old man to grant you three wishes." His sarcastic reply aside �� that was becoming a common thing lately �� he transformed his Mana into Magical Energy as usual and poured it into the cup. The knowledge of what to do came to his mind similar to when he obtained Skills or Noble Phantasms. Although with it also came something else, making him smirk inwardly. ''So that''s how it was, I''ve got a lot of thinking to do after this is over.''

    Without him doing anything, a Magic Circle manifested itself on the sands, releasing a white glow. As it was near midday and out in the open, that particular happening almost went unnoticed.

    Magical Energy started condensing around it little by little until suddenly, a flash of light blinded them, only for it to disappear as quickly as it came.

    Now, standing in front of them, was a single figure, curiously looking around.

    When particularly two of them recognized who that was, they couldn''t help but have a single thought course through their heads.

    ''Well, this is awkward.''

 Chapter 132 - Fight Caster With Caster

    The summoning had been a success, proven by the Servant in front of them. That much David knew to be true. Then, why is it that the other two had those expressions on their faces? Atalanta looked very uncomfortable, rubbing her forearm while turning her head away. As for the Pagan God, his face alternated between amus.e.m.e.nt and surprise. The black-haired man seemed to be thinking about something, though. However, Archer didn''t know what it was about.

    The Shepherd watched as the new incorporation to their team looked around, trying to identify where they had been summoned. It didn''t take to long for them to set their gaze on the three individuals, something that provoked a quiet and almost unnoticeable gasp from the said person.

    Their facial features were hidden by the hood of her robes, but even that wasn''t capable of hiding the figure of a busty woman beneath. David had to admit, she was right in his striking zone. On normal occasions, he would have already asked her to marry him, but not this time. She gave him a dangerous feeling, one that he would trust as to not end being shark food.

    Eventually, the woman recollected herself and bowed slightly to the only one who she felt the connection in their contract. Despite that, it was clear to see that it was not out of respect, but more of a customary thing.

    "This is an odd place to be summoned but nonetheless, I shall introduce myself. I am a Caster class Servant. As for my True Name, I will only reveal it when we are alone. Though, one of you already knows who I am." She said, obviously hinting at Atalanta. The way she spoke was regal, but without the air of aloofness often found in their kind. In addition to that, her tone contained a bit of mischief in it. More importantly, though, was the subtle edge in her voice, one that told others that she didn''t trust anyone, not even herself. However, that edge was hard to find for the common folk. The only ones that noticed it were Atalanta due to having met her before, and Seth due to his vast experience and long life.

    "There is no need for that; I already know who you are. Although I must say, It is a surprise to see you of all the Heroic Spirits to be summoned here. Destiny still has a way with things, it seems." In the end, Seth went with randomness instead of deliberately searching for a particular group of Heroic Spirits. What he didn''t expect was for... this. The Egyptian God sometimes wondered if the World sought some amus.e.m.e.nt and that''s why situations similar to this one happened with more frequency than they should.

    As soon as Seth''s words left his mouth, Caster visibly tensed. Knowing her True Name meant knowing her story, and knowing her story meant being scorned by her actions regardless if they were intentional or not.

    Setting her gaze on her new Master, this time observing him more detailedly instead of just a passing glance, Caster noticed something that she had overlooked before, something that made her want to curse herself for not discerning it earlier.

    "My, you are quite the sight Master. An oddity if I speak kindly and an abomination if I don''t. What use would you have for someone like me in the first place? There are only a few things your kind can''t do by themselves, after all." She tried to mask her rampaging emotions through a calm facade. He was one of THEM. Those detestable beings that messed with her life as if she were just a puppet for their amus.e.m.e.nt. There was only a single one being among them that demanded her respect and only one; the rest were as worth as the dirt on the ground to her.

    Seth tilted his head slightly, wondering if the stories about her cunning and intelligence were as fake as EMIYA''s projections. "You do realize I can feel all your negative emotions, do you not? You can''t hide your disdain, anger, fear, resentment, blame, disgust, and hate from me."

    Caster flinched at being found out, only to calm herself a second after. Her posture was now relaxed as if she had given up all sort of pretense, or perhaps she had given up to whatever fate awaited her. "Very well, how can I be of use to you? You can use me as a tool or whatever, just get this over with if you will."

    "MEDEA!" Atalanta''s shout resonated across the island, revealing her True Name to the world. She couldn''t stand it. Hearing the little girl, now woman, that she had talked to aboard the Argo speaking in such manner as if she was nothing but a pawn, it was... horrible. However, what was more horrible was the fact that there was some truth to it. Still, she couldn''t and wouldn''t allow her to see herself like that, not now, not ever.

    The Witch of Betrayal was a little surprised at her ex companion''s outburst. She always took her for someone collected, if a little tomboyish. To see her react in such a way was bewildering, to say the least. Nevertheless, the green-haired woman had now her whole attention.

    "You can''t... You can''t think like that, Medea. Your spirit mustn''t be broken so easily!" There as so much more that she wanted to say, so many things that could convey her worries for her, but in the end, only that came out. She hoped... She truly hoped that would be enough.

    Caster raising her eyebrows was covered by her hood. However, her bemus.e.m.e.nt could clearly be felt. "And what do you suggest I do? My life was dictated by them, so what is the point of trying to escape the same fate in death?"

    Atalanta wanted to protest, but she found her mouth was unable to voice even the simplest of words somehow. She couldn''t help but interpose the woman in front of her to her younger version, and even then it was not possible to find the courage to speak again, to deny her words, to... save her from that cruel fate the Gods imposed upon her.

    "I can answer that for her. The reason why I called you here was that we are sort of short in manpower. Being honest with myself, I was expecting a famous hero of Greece, but I suppose I naturally tend to gather people of questionable origins around me. Leaving that aside, here is what you are going to do: First of all, tell me the abilities you have as a Servant, and then we can later go to your magic. Second of all, you are going to use said magic to heal me as much as you can. As you can see, my body is not in perfect condition. Lastly, I will allow you to have your revenge, seeing as our enemy is none other than the man you so loathe, who, ironically enough, is being helped by a younger version of you." Seth spoke in a leveled tone, not faltering even once. He could see how her Magical Energy was starting to fluctuate and run rampant at his words, but he paid it no mind. He summoned her here to do a job, and she would HAVE to do it. Let Atalanta play the psychologist if she wanted; that was not what he intended to do. That said, he especially mentioned Jason as to motivate her more.

    People like Medea were easy to manipulate as long as you knew what buttons to push. On normal occasions, he wouldn''t do it simply because he saw it as something disgusting and beneath him �� the fact he was manipulated in the past also played a great part in this �� but now he didn''t have the time to be nit-picky in the way he did things.

    "You... Are you sure of that? Is my younger self truly aiding Ja...that man?" Her calm tone betrayed the fluttering of her robes and the numerous Magic Circles floating around her, trying to intimidate him.

    "Oh, yes. Like a good puppy, following his every order without complaining." Atalanta''s eyes widened in horror at what Seth was saying. Was he insane?! Did he plan to make her go berserk?!

    Fortunately, her fears didn''t come true. After a few seconds of staring at the black-haired man and wanting, REALLY wanting to blast him off to pieces, Medea calmed down, if only slightly.

    Unaware to her, the sand that was slowly shifting beneath her feet suddenly stopped. Had she gone forward with her assault, her end would have been a pretty gruesome one. After all, in here, it was faster to kill than to issue a command to stop her actions.

    To say that both David and Atalanta were relieved would be an understatement. Though, each one of them had a different reason for it. Still, now that everything has calmed down, it was time to comply with the orders, but first...

    "Who are our enemies? I shall make preparations depending on who we are about to face." Naturally, she was excluding her younger version and that man when she spoke about enemies. Medea had no doubt that if they were the only ones then there would have been no reason to summon her in the first place.

    Seth nodded, pleased that it all had gone well. "Herakles, an unknown woman who I theorize has an Anti-Mystery Noble Phantasm, and another individual whose identity or existence we cannot confirm."

    Medea''s legs might as well have been of jelly with how much they were shaking at the mention of the strongest Greek hero. Similar to the Huntress of Artemis, Caster has witnessed first-hand the power of the son of Zeus. To top it off, as if that was not despairing enough, they had the bane of Servants of old in their ranks. What separated modern Servants from ancient ones was the level of Mystery held within them, like a mist that shrouded their existence. It was like a secret, as long as it remained as such, then they owned the advantage, but if that was revealed, then they were nothing more than any other Servant of modern times, maybe worse.

    Naturally, there were exceptions to that rule. However, Mystery made their abilities stronger like alcohol made a fire burn brighter. To lose that edge could prove��no. It WAS problematic.

    Medea was not the only one surprised, though. Both Archers shared the same trait with little to no difference. Now it all made sense to Atalanta, the reason why she had felt an unparalleled sense of danger coming from that woman. It was not at the level of Herakles, but it wasn''t so far either.

    "...We are in trouble, something like that is enough to throw everything in disarray. I suggest we strike her down before even facing them." It was cold, he knew. It was the opposite of what his faith demanded of him, he knew. It was something that went against his morals, he knew. However, David also knew when it was time to push everything aside for the greater good.

    "I''m not that well-versed in how most of Noble Phantasms work, do you have any idea how could she possibly come to activate it?" Although Seth spoke to the green-haired man, his question was also directed to the other two women as well.

    The answer he was looking for came from the mouth of Medea, who at least had receded her animosity toward him. Usually, she would not be bothered by Divine Spirits at all. She would hold a certain hatred, yes, but as long as their path didn''t cross then she wouldn''t mind it. It was the fact that one of them was her Master, one capable of deciding her fate that made her feel such powerlessness and hatred. Again, her fate was in the hands of his kin.

    Pushing such thoughts away, Caster gave them the information they so much needed. "I cannot say with certainty, but my guess is that she needs to peer into our core. It can be an instant observation or a periodical one. Anyhow, she would need to make eye contact with one of us."

    "Going by what you said, it would be easier if she uses it on me first," Seth responded after adjusting his glasses. Were Medea''s theory to be proven correct, they could take down one of their enemies without fighting.

    "Isn''t that kind of the opposite? Once you recover, you may as well be our greatest fighting force. If that woman can erase your Mystery then you would be the same as a sitting duck." David''s concerns were not unfounded, and he wasn''t the only one to have them.

    "Don''t worry about it. While it''s true my Noble Phantasm and Skills will go down the drain if she uses that troublesome ability, I still have other things to defend myself. Not to mention, peering into me would make her go mad, no question asked. Although I have to admit, it would be fun to see someone lost their minds by knowing my name." Naturally, he didn''t say that the loss of Mystery only affected the powers he obtained from THIS world. Different from his fellow Gods in this place, his Authorities and the like would not be harmed in the slightest.

    "But isn''t thy name simply Seth? What about it can assure madness?" Atalanta asked, a bit confused. This would be also the first time Medea heard the name of her Master. Heh... To be summoned by a God of Betrayal. As he said before, destiny had a way with things.

    "My name is Seth, my True Name is not. Whoever learns it will have control over me and I will be their little slave for eternity. If they don''t go insane from its sheer bizarreness, that is." His tone had a little mirth concealed within. How could it not? The only fool to have revealed his name was Seth''s most hated enemy. To see the caution the chicken exerts when he is around Isis is something that never gets old.

    "...That was certainly eerie. How can you be sure that she is going to use it on you, though?" He had little knowledge about him despite knowing his identity, but as far as the King knew, Seth was not someone who could predict the future. And now he had spoken as if it was a thing that was bound to happen eventually.

    The Egyptian God just shrugged at his inquiry. "Call it a gut feeling. Anyway, enough about me. Medea, you still haven''t told me what you are capable of as a Servant. Well, I am listening. Oh, and don''t worry about the sheep boy��"

    "Oi!"

    "��He is not going to be a problem at all." He finished, ignoring the grumbling of the green-haired man at the new nickname.

    "...Very well, then I shall speak without reservations and straight to the point. Most of my Skills augment my Witchcraft, so I will not mention those. However, I have in my possession the ability to summon the Golden Fleece of Chrysomallos. Throwing it onto the ground will summon the Dragon of Colchis. Though, I don''t have the power to control the beast." Medea paused to see if everyone was following what she was saying, something that was indeed the case. Nevertheless, the small trace of disappointment in her Master''s face didn''t go unnoticed by her. She was not that surprised, though. The Dragon that guarded the Golden Fleece surely appeared like a small worm in his eyes compared to the world-devouring serpent he fought every day.

    Not minding that, she continued. "As for my Noble Phantasm..." Again, she paused. This time because of the bad memories and the things it represented. Sighing, Medea resigned herself and materialized a strange and jagged dagger. "This is Rule Breaker, it allows me to dispel any kind of Magic, Curse, Contracts, among other things. To be more precise, I can return whatever or whoever into a state where those things hadn''t applied to them yet."

    "Perfect, most certainly perfect." It was a mutter, but Caster was able to hear it. It seems she had finally impressed her Master, not that it brought her that much joy to be honest.

    However, what she didn''t know, or didn''t notice, was the small twitch in Seth''s arms. It was taking his whole willpower not to kill Medea right here and now. His ugly nature, one that he had adopted after his demonization, was screaming at him to get his hands on that dagger.

    He wasn''t the only one. ''Chaos'' was stirring in his sleep, his insatiable greed calling out to him. His counterpart saw an opportunity in that Noble Phantasm, one to finally free himself from the shackles of insanity that continued to plague his mind every second.

    And then there was that... thing. Another one that wanted to break its shackles, but this one wanted to consume him, to become one with him, and lay waste to the earth as those above cower in fear.

    They would have to wait their turn, though. Nobody steals from the Usurper King, NOBODY. Not even himself. The opportunity to break a curse as old as his age... he would die before giving that up.

    Oh, yes... What a wonderful world. In here, all favorable circ.u.mstances were given to those associated with Evil. Truly wonderful, indeed...

 Chapter 133 - Threatening An Unwilling Witch... Peacefully

    Cloud 9, that could describe the place Seth was in right now. Being the God of Foreigners, he had traveled the world for diplomatic purposes many times, and in every single one of those, he had searched for a way to terminate that detestable curse, one that had been with him since the day he was born. However, he always came up empty-handed. Seth tried asking primarily Gods and Goddesses of Wisdom if they knew a way to break it, to no avail.

    To say his attempts were a disaster would be an understatement. Many of those Gods wanted a favor in exchange for TRYING to solve it, not even accomplishing it, just trying. The women were easy cake as they asked for the simplest of things, which he didn''t really mind, but the men always wanted exorbitant rewards like pieces of his domains or even Authorities.

    There were only two exceptions to that, and they were Odin and Prometheus. The old man didn''t have any quarrel in helping, knowing how well he got along with his son, and how he kept his alcohol-induced destructive tendencies to a minimum. As for the prisoner of Zeus, Seth had sneaked to the place where he was confined and offered to free him as long as he was able to dispel the curse. The Titan had turned his offer down, stating that he was content just being an observer, despite the ''living'' conditions. Even so, he told him he would still look into the curse and remove it if it was possible.

    Sadly, not even Odin with the help of Mimir''s head, or Prometheus with all his cunning and wisdom were able to do something about it. Maybe if they had found him when he was just a small kid, they could have erased it from existence, but not then and there, where he was already an a.d.u.l.t, and the curse had grown alongside him. They were, however, able to tell him something important, something crucial.

    "Nobody related to you will be able to make that curse a thing of the old past." As if it all had been scripted beforehand, those were the exact same words Odin and Prometheus had told him.

    That was a nice thing to know, and one that made him scream in frustration when much later on in his life, Amaterasu had told him she could remove something of that level as easily as breathing, but thanks to the fact she was then related to him, the opportunity went down the drain.

    He wasn''t ashamed to say that at that moment, he nearly cried out of frustration. It didn''t help that his progenitor always hid like a slippery rat, making it impossible for him to find her and kill her. Still, he had the theory that the curse would remain, no matter if he killed her or not, but even so, the p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e of doing it would certainly not be lost to him.

    So, knowing all the trouble Seth had to go through only to fail, imagine his surprise when in an odd twist of fate, he managed to get his hands on a Servant with the ability to accomplish what he tried to for so long only to fail.

    Truly, was there something even greater than Noble Phantasms? Mortals always feared Gods because they had Authorities. With them, they could bend the laws of the world to make all sorts of impossible things. However, it seemed that Noble Phantasms went even beyond that, or at least were more versatile than them as they could take in all kinds of forms, be it a weapon or an interaction with the outside. Honestly, they brought out his possessive tendencies like there was no tomorrow.

    Something which led to the current situation.

    The Egyptian God was trying his best to calm his excitement, something which proved to be difficult considering how long it has been since Seth last felt that emotion. But first, there was something he needed to confirm.

    "Medea, can you cancel our contract with your Rule Breaker?" Saying the Witch of Betrayal was surprised at his words would be the understatement of the century. She actually looked at him as if he had grown a second head. Atalanta and David weren''t any different.

    "Why would you want to cancel a contract when you just made it not long ago? What''s the point of it?" The King of Israel couldn''t make head or tails about his train of thought. It was something that made no sense at all.

    Despite the surprise, Medea was happy to demonstrate instead of answering. Caster stabbed herself in her c.h.e.s.t, causing an audible gasp from both Archers, although they calmed down once they noticed there wasn''t any blood or any kind of discomfort on her face. That didn''t make it less creepy, though.

    At that moment, Seth could feel the contract he had with Medea disappear as if it was never there. "Excellent! Now we don''t have any kind of relationship at all." He clapped, eye-smiling and all. They had to admit it, it was slightly unsettling seeing him like that, and more when they didn''t know the reason for it.

    "So? What now?" Trying to repress her emotions as to not expose anything, the Witch of Betrayal asked for further instructions, even if she was technically free now and could do what she wanted.

    "You are going to use your Rule Breaker two times on me. After that, you can do whatever you want. You can re-enter a contract with me, go in a quest for revenge before we get to do anything or drown in the ocean if you so like." He continued with that unnerving smile, not bothering with the rest and only focusing on Medea. The two green-haired Servants wouldn''t admit it, but it was getting to a point where they thought they were seeing a snake coiling around Caster, tightening its grips on her. It was as if no matter what she tried, she had no escape.

    "And what if I do not want to?" Those words were miraculous; just by saying them, Medea managed to make the temperature drop terribly. She kept looking at him, searching for the tiniest hint of movement, but she found nothing��no, there was something, Seth''s smile seemed to grow wider, albeit not in a good way.

    "Do you want me to elaborate?" He used the same tone he had been using before. If he was angry or upset about her question/denial, he didn''t show it.

    "Please do." Medea was calm, or that''s how the two spectators perceived it. However, inwardly she was panicking a bit, thinking about ways to escape should the need arise.

    "Hm... Let us see. How about I eat you? Does that sound good?" Caster wanted to cover her body, obviously misunderstanding him, but she didn''t want to show weakness, so she opted for a scoff instead. The Archer duo though... they knew what he meant.

    "Do you think after all that I have gone through, having you play with my body means anything to me?" Although she spoke bravely, Caster would kill herself in an explosion were he to try something.

    Seth chuckled slightly at her question before all traces of ''good mood'' disappeared instantly. His posture was still relaxed, but his face was a mask of coldness. Without him having to do anything, the sand beneath Medea''s feet shot at her, shaping itself in the form of snakes that wrapped around her body, constricting it more with each passing second.

    "Let me clarify it for you. When I said I was going to eat you, I meant it in the literal sense of the word. I am going to tear you limb by limb and stuff them into my mouth, then I am going to force you to watch as I chew them." His words got a different reaction out of them, but there was something in common, and that was dread. Medea trembled, even when the sand tightened around her more. David looked at the side, trying his best not to gag at the mental image. As for Atalanta, her fingers were twitching and moving, seemingly trying to grasp an invisible arrow. For now, she would observe, but if the Egyptian God decided to follow with his threats, then she would act to defend Medea.

    "Y-You... You would not..." Her fear only increased when she realized she could not use magic at all. It only took a moment for her to realize the sand was feeding off her like a parasite.

    "Dare? When I ruled, it was a custom for people to offer their v.i.r.g.i.n daughters for me to eat in the hopes of me not doing anything horrible to them, and while you are not a v.i.r.g.i.n yourself, I won''t look too deeply into it. So, do we have an understanding? Or do I have to taste a sample first?" In the end, it was an ultimatum. He wasn''t going to play games or ''act kind'' and try to coerce her into it, Rule Breaker was THAT important for him. Despite his no-nonsense attitude, he had always been a little laid back as a way to unwind from the stress of his life in that prison called reincarnation. However, nothing has changed, he was and always will be a God, even if the thought repulsed him. His kind always did what they wanted with mortals, always took what they wanted from them, and fundamentally, always played with them. It was the most basic of laws, the strong make the demands while the weak obey them.

    "...I shall do it, of that you have my word." In the end, she relented, there was no other choice. If other Servants were to see her surrendering her freedom so easily, they would have surely laughed at her. ''You are a Servant, you are already dead. What do you need to fear?'' They would probably say. However, when she looked at those red eyes of his, there was one thing she saw: True death. Call it a hunch if you want, but she had the feeling that if she ended up being eaten by him, then she would not be returning to the Throne. She didn''t know about the original there, but this version would not assimilate with the original, of this she was sure.

    "Excellent! It wasn''t that hard, was it?" As if what he said before was just a figment of her imagination, her bindings as well as the pressure she had been feeling from him vanished. His expression was now the epitome of relaxation.

    "Don''t joke around like that! You nearly gave me a heart attack... It was a joke, right?" Even though David kind of already knew the answer, he still wanted to ask, as meaningless as it might be.

    "Of course it was. Didn''t I tell you before that I don''t do those things anymore? I''m a changed man now. You could say I am converted." Seth just shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly at his question. Although, for some reason, the green-haired man had trouble believing him. He wondered why...

    In the case of Atalanta, she could finally breathe normally again. She honestly could do without hearing about someone trying to eat her ex-companion. That said, she had a good idea of why he was acting so... desperate. The Huntress only had to go back a little and remember the chat they had before, particularly where he told them about his so-called mother and how he had lost two children thanks to it. As someone who loved them more than anything else in this world, she could understand that eagerness. Not only understand it but also support it. That''s the reason she didn''t attack immediately and instead opted to wait and see how things played out. Still, she was thankful nothing bad happened other than Medea getting a little traumatized. Although that outcome is a hundred times better than the other one.

    Speaking of Medea, she took a moment to calm down and get rid of that uncomfortable feeling he instilled in her before addressing him. "Tell me exactly what you want me to use my Noble Phantasm on, otherwise it will not work."

    "Right, right. I want you to cancel a curse that has been a thorn on my side for far too long. Who knows? If you perform well, I might go out of my way to steal Thoth''s book of knowledge and give it to you. It has Magic out of this world in it, literally." He said with a double meaning only he understood. "But first, I need you to end with another curse that is impeding my regeneration."

    Medea was surprised at the ''kindness'' he was giving her. However, Caster could not deny she was tempted, extremely so. Although she only took Hekate''s teachings as her own, having something that was regarded as the congregations of every magic known to the Egyptians in her hands was something too hard to pass on. She would have to confirm it first, but it is said that if you have that book you could have the ability to revive the dead and talk to Gods no matter where they are. Something like that was priceless.

    "So? Are you up for it, Priestess of Hekate?"

 Chapter 134 - Happiness And Anger

    [A/N: Internet is back (At least temporarily) so I will be back to releasing chapters. I have 4 of those stored that I will be releasing day after day (not like usual where I post with a 2-3 days timeframe) until they are all posted. Before you ask, I won''t release them all at the same time because some of them need time to "process" what happened in them, you know what I am saying? Anyway, enough rambling, enjoy!]

    "I must say I am a little confused. Where is it that we are heading to, er... Master?" Medea asked, only to receive a cry in response, prompting her to sigh. It seemed that communications were not possible at the moment.

    It wasn''t long ago that she first used Rule Breaker on him to render the first curse non-existent. Caster had to admit she was not expecting him to combust into flames the moment she did so. She was also not expecting all the wounds and small scars to disappear with it. There were things that remained unchanged, though. Those being his partial blindness and the breaking of his vessel. He had explained that certain conditions must be met for those to heal.

    What happened next was her ex-Master asking her if she could set up a teleportation circle on the island they were in, saying it was the first step of ''the plan'' as he called it. Once she gave an affirmative nod and started working on it, he shapeshifted into a Griffin and waited for her to finish.

    Although it was a weird action and might or might not have elicited a startled yelp from her, she still got to work nonetheless.

    The moment she was over with it, he used his beak to pick her up and throw her on his back without any delicacy at all before flying away, leaving a pair of astonished Archers behind.

    The trip until now had been uneventful. If you didn''t count the times were they almost crashed into some flying monsters along the way, that is. The worst thing about that was that she did not know if he was doing it on purpose to mess with her or not.

    With things like those happening constantly, they finally arrived at their destination because the bird stopped moving and hovered above a medium-sized island.

    ''Cover your ears.'' A neutral and deep voice that she barely identified as belonging to him brought her out of her thoughts.

    "So, you could speak after all!" The retort came in automatically. If he didn''t want to speak before, he could have at least said so. There was no need to give her the silent treatment.

    Seth didn''t respond. He just inhaled great quantities of air before releasing a shrill cry that nearly burst Medea''s eardrums. Luckily for her, Caster''s fast reflexes allowed her to create a small sound-isolating barrier around her just in time.

    Thanks to his little stunt, multiple flying creatures escaped the island in panic, and as for the terrestrial ones, they scattered to the opposite side. If she had to make head or tails out of his actions, she would say he did this to avoid complications. However, that brought the doubt about why they didn''t do this in the place she was summoned. That was what was bothering her, actually.

    Unaware of her current thoughts, Seth descended on the beach on the outskirts of the island. Once his claws touched the ground, he moved his neck slightly to look at his former Servant. ''Are you ready?''

    Her misgivings about all this aside, she nodded firmly. ''Good. What about the teleportation circle? Can you get out of here to where the others are at a moment''s notice?''

    "Yes. Not even a second would be needed for me to activate it." If there were something she was proud of, then that would be her Magic.

    ''Then, you can begin. In particular, the curse is made by a Goddess, so it should be easy to identify. Not to mention is the only one on me.'' She had to know what she was stabbing, so instructions were needed.

    Taking that as her cue to get off his back, she did precisely so before materializing Rule Breaker in her hand. Meanwhile, Seth reverted to his human form, waiting for her to do the honors.

    Once everything seemed to be in order, Medea approached him, and, without any flashiness, stabbed his c.h.e.s.t.

    Like a doctor during surgery, Caster started looking for what she needed to dispel with the extra help of the information he provided. It was then that she noticed something dark and sinister that correlated with the said information.

    The more she willed the effects of Rule Breaker to concentrate on that, the more resistance she was faced with, something that puzzled and slightly angered her. Until now, she hadn''t met anything that could resist the effects of her Noble Phantasm, so she couldn''t help but take it as if she was being challenged but whatever curse that was.

    "Keep looking, that is not what I want you to remove, nor you can do it even if you tried." His brought her to a stop, also making her knit her eyebrows beneath her hood.

    "What is it?"

    "Putting it into simple words, it is a Conceptual Contract. The only thing you are going to get by trying to terminate it would be a backlash, not to mention that I don''t know what will happen to me if you, for some miraculous reason, manage to annul it." Although he couldn''t see her expression, he could tell she was looking at him as if he were an idiot.

    "Why in the world would you make accept something like that?" Her incredulous voice was enough to tell him that his previous suspicions were correct. It didn''t help that the question brought some bad memories, making him adopt an annoyed look.

    "It doesn''t matter, just resume looking." Wanting to get this over with, Medea did as she was told and tried to find the correct curse this time.

    Seconds passed, then minutes with no change whatsoever. However, Seth waited patiently without making any complaint. He had waited for more than two hundred thousand years, what were a few minutes in comparison?

    Medea was a different case, though. Again, it was as if some invisible force was challenging her capabilities, challenging her. So, when she finally found what she was looking for, a victorious smirk soon made its way to her face.

    Same as with the supposed contract, she encountered a certain level of resistance, although it was nothing compared to before. Pressing the dagger even deeper into his c.h.e.s.t, she felt something ''break'' and slowly but surely disappear. As soon as she did that, though, the sky darkened considerably with thundering clouds. The wind and ocean became incredibly restless as well, proving that what she did might not have been without consequences.

    "Go. Now." She didn''t have to be told twice. A Magic Circle appeared under her feet, teleporting her back to the island where Atalanta and David were, leaving him alone to face whoever was doing this'' wrath.

    Seth moved his arms around, clenched, and unclenched his hands before sighing a breath of relief. He felt an immense weight being lifted off his shoulders, and with it, the markings around his body receded significantly.

    ''One more thing before they completely disappear.'' He mused after a moment of contemplation. A small but honest smile showed on his face. Finally... finally he was free. From now on, he could settle down and start a family without worry.

    Family... It was such a lovable and hateful concept at the same time. Looking back at it, he was no different than his so-called father in regard to his treatment of Anubis. The only difference being he at least showed care for the boy while he still thought he was his son.

    ''I couldn''t properly apologize at that time when you deserved that much, Anat, Astarte. I didn''t want to see your heartbroken faces after losing your children, OUR children. It might be late now, but this time, for sure...''

    "I see you have broken the curse I gave you. Took you long enough, Abomination." A womanly voice interrupted his thoughts, and his happy mood plummeted down only to be replaced with intense and barely contained rage.

    "And I see you are still being a bitch, Bitch. Still having your escapades, whore?" Seth spoke in a low tone to the person in front of him. Although calling her a person was wrong. She was just the will left behind in case he ever managed to break the curse imposed on him, a projection of sorts.

    She appeared as something similar to static like she couldn''t properly manifest in this world. The only noticeable thing was her brown eyes that shone with power and intensity.

    "I can feel your sister''s power within you. Another thing to add to the list of your sins?" She asked, unfazed by his words.

    Seth slowly moved forward until he was right in front of his ''mother'', looking down at her with unconcealed disdain and mockery. "Careful. I might add you to that list. The bitch is feeling rather lonely inside my stomach, after all."

    "You would profane the corpse of your own mother? Why am I not surprised?" Her response elicited a chuckle from him, a chuckle that soon became a laugh, and finally transformed into something more insane and hate-filled before ultimately stopping as if it was never there.

    "You." He pointed at her. "You... The one who cursed me and said nothing as I went through hell with that bastard, hoping to be recognized and not be the focus of everyone''s unjustified anger. You! You dare call yourself my mother?! Are you trying to anger me more?!" If it weren''t because he knew it would be useless as she was not really here, then he would have attacked her without hesitation, even going as far as to draw the World''s attention to him if that allowed him to find an outlet for his growing ire.

    "So that is what I did? A correct choice, then. You can not expect me to care for you after you robbed me of the greatest blessing I had, can you?" Her ''face'' told nothing, but her brown-eyes staring at his red ones spoke volumes of what she felt: Anger on par with his own.

    Naturally, she did not know the events that transcurred after the curse was implanted as she was just Nuit''s will at the moment of casting it. She could be considered a past version of the Sky Goddess. [1]

    Veins were bulging around his body, ready to burst. Her words were truly magical, they were enraging him to levels even he didn''t think that were possible. "You have done the same to me, so how do you think I feel? But don''t worry. I will hunt you down like the animal you are, and once I find where it is that you are hiding, expect me to torture you for a VERY. LONG. TIME."

    "Your behavior is that of a rabid dog, did you know that? You are trying to bite the woman that birthed you, and that is how you want to repay me? Absurd." Just as she finished speaking, tremors started appearing around the island with increasing frequency. By the looks of things, it wouldn''t be long until it sunk into the ocean.

    "Disappear from my sight. NOW." At this point, he truly wanted to go on a rampage and destroy everything that stood before him. It was hard when the object of your hate was right in front of you but you couldn''t even touch it, maddening even.

    "Very well, it hardly matters at this point. My mission still remains, though. Do not think that you will get out of this for free." True to her words, the shadows the dark clouds were casting soon turned red, making him look up at the ongoing phenomenon.

    Multiple and enormous flaming rocks were falling from the sky toward the island as if it was the end of times. That was the power of the Goddess of Stars and Cosmos, one that allowed her to bombard the earth with whatever she wanted.

    "You bitch." Without even looking at her, Seth shapeshifted again into a Griffin and flew off to face the incoming attack. This was the reason why he chose a distant island, he knew something like this was going to happen. If he had teleported together with Medea even after the assault started, the outcome would be the same. In a sense, it was a trial. He had to face it, no questions asked.

    Watching the distancing figure of her son, Nuit''s eyes showed a slight trace of compassion and love before returning to her apathetic ones. ''You have grown and gone through so much. I wonder what the current me is thinking about you right now. Is she still angry or did she forgive you? Make sure to know the answer first before facing her, my... cub.''

    Like the most silent of winds, she then disappeared.

 Chapter 135 - Troublesome...

    The sky was clear, the ocean calm, and the wind blew gently. It was a stark contrast with how it had been an hour ago, where it looked as if the world was about the end.

    Floating in the air, a bleeding figure stood there, quietly observing the place that had been once a mass of land, now just endless water.

    Now, he was truly alone. No... perhaps that was wrong to say. He was not alone. There was someone else with him, congratulating him on his victory.

    Looking up at the parting clouds, he could see the Sun shining with intensity above the Earth. However, it was not the one he loathed, but the one he loved.

    He had done it. His fangs had finally broken the bars of his cell, opening a path for him to at least get half of his body out. Now calmer than before and knowing he won''t be getting any more unpleasant visits, his mood brightened once more.

    His wounds also started to heal not long after, although the pain remained. ''Last time I headbutt a meteor.'' He thought while massaging his forehead. Speaking of which, he felt that it had all been too easy somewhat, but he attributed it to her will being weaker after all these years. After all, she normally could make another planet collide with the Earth if she so wanted. Just some meteors were child''s play for her.

    Speaking of which, it looked like that woman had left just as she used the remaining of her powers to use one of her Authorities.

    A long sigh escaped his lips. Honestly, it all felt surreal. Everything seemed to be a work of fate, as much as he hated to say it. It was a coincidence after coincidence that every time ended in his favor. Saying he was a little creeped out would be putting it mildly. The black-haired man was always one to get the short-end of the stick in every situation, so he was not used to everything suddenly benefiting him one way or another, just by mentioning that he was originally a quasi-God of Love only to end up as a War God and the necessary evil in his Pantheon explained a lot of things.

    As he said before, it was all too... coincidental. Many theories formed inside his mind about the reason behind all of this, but one stood among others, as ridiculous as it sounded. However, it was often that the wildest of theories were almost if not spot on.

    His gaze focused everywhere and, at the same time, nowhere before speaking. "Is it because your son is in me? Or is it that you want me to finish him off? I never quite understood your relationship."

    As expected, he didn''t get an answer �� not that he expected one to begin with ��. "It doesn''t matter. I will kill him all the same with or without your consent. I already have enough with a psychopathic counterpart and a clown who is the source of most of my recent problems living inside me. I don''t need another one."

    Most likely, it would be the most difficult fight he will face in a long while, but one he needed to fight nonetheless. He couldn''t keep things as they were now. To call him a time bomb waiting to explode would not be false at all. So much so that his ''why troublesome things keep happening around me'' meter was going through the roof.

    ''Haha, wait, wait! Don''t go walking around and keeping all the fun for yourself. We made a deal. Remember? You get to fight Herakles, and I get to fight him. Besides, you are bound by your stupid principles, something I am not. Should you fight him haphazardly, we would both die.'' A voice equal to his own came from within him, causing Seth to roll his eyes.

    "So, you are awake? Hooray..." The Egyptian God rolled his eyes in exasperation. Why couldn''t he have a moment to enjoy? Was that too much to ask?

    ''I see I am well-liked as ever, well, it does not matter. I just came to congratulate you? Us? Anyway, now that we are free from that curse, it is time to embark on our real quest.'' The Chaotic aspect of him spoke with confidence, forgetting his ''holier than thou'' attitude for a second to address important matters.

    "My quest is to help humanity one time, while in the process, teaching them how to fly without the help of our kind. After that, it will be hunting time with the Egyptian Pantheon. I don''t have any other ambitions at present." Seth said after giving one last glance at the Sun above, his wounds healing with the help of her light.

    A dark chuckle escaped his counterpart''s lips. "That is where you are wrong, other me. A quest is a final destination, not the road we traverse to reach it. Same as you, I have my own interests, but that doesn''t mean it is my final goal. We both are the same at the same time we are different, but it is that similarity that allows me to know we want the same.''

    "The Truth that Uncovers our Origin at the World''s End..."

    ''...the place we all go when we ultimately perish. The same place that has all the answers everyone seeks. We have to go there. We MUST go there. There is no other way around it.'' His tone left no room for refusal, something Chaos knew Seth would not do.

    "We need more power to have the qualifications," Seth stated matter-of-factly. However, as a God, his options were limited to... unsavory means.

    ''Stealing Authorities, stealing Divine Weapons, assimilating other Gods; the means are endless.'' He said, his voice growing lower with each word as if falling asleep.

    "You know the consequences of doing something like that? We are already unstable. We don''t need to add more to the list." The only answer he got was silence.

    Sighing for the nth time, Seth shapeshifted again to return to the island. ''And to think we were once called The Lord of the Heavens. With a personality like that, I wonder where did that title come from.''

    Shaking his head at the absurdity that was his current life, he flapped his wings before departing with a destination in mind. It wouldn''t be much time until the Chaldeans arrived, after all.

    ������������������������������������������������������������

    Seth arrived shortly at their current waiting place. No Harpy, Wyvern, or Roc impeded his flight for some reason, so he had an easy time making his way there. As he was nearing the island, he did not see Drake''s ship, so it was pretty obvious they were not there yet, although it wouldn''t be long for them to come. His sight �� which wasn''t the best at the moment �� might not register them, but his Master-Servant contract sure did.

    What he COULD sense were the three other Servants on the island. Atalanta was on one of the biggest trees near the shore, so she most likely spotted him already. David seemed to be fishing with a wooden bow he made himself. As for Medea, she seemed to be setting up a workshop to keep sustaining herself now that she was Masterless. That said, Seth doubted she would have luck, if any at all, doing so. Materials were not an easy thing to obtain here, and the Leylines s.u.c.k.e.d.

    Her concerns were not something he would trouble with, though. He was not her Master anymore. With that in mind, he would wash his hands of her. She would return to the Throne Of Heroes after all of this ended anyway.

    Once he finished localizing all their positions and that there didn''t seem to be any trouble, he finally dived down and landed on the hot sands next to David. As soon as he did so, he reverted to his human form.

    "You can give a warning if you are going to appear out of nowhere, did you know that? You almost gave me a heart attack. By the way, Medea already told us that she was successful in removing your curse, so I guess I must congratulate you." The green-haired man put a hand on Seth''s shoulder with a small smile on his face. They might be on opposite sides regarding faith, but that didn''t mean he didn''t have empathy for others.

    Although he felt a bit weird, Seth still gave him his thanks. However, he noticed David looking at him a bit weirdly, confusing the black-haired man a bit. "Is there a problem?"

    Instead of answering, the King of Israel pointed at him, more precisely at his hair. Looking down, he saw how the tips had gone from black to red. ''Although that curse was not responsible for my tainting, it seemed to have returned my appearance to how it was before, if only slightly.''

    The reason why his fire, as well as his hair, was black when it was supposed to be red was because of the same contract Medea tried to use Rule Breaker on first. Seth theorized they had mixed up somehow, causing the changes resulting from said contract to recede partially.

    Well, at the end of the day, it didn''t matter how he looked. That said, he still appreciated that he was one step closer to how he used to be��the original lord of the red land.

    Shaking his head to clear his head, Seth responded to David. "Think nothing of it, just a side effect of the removal. It doesn''t affect me in any way."

    The green-haired man gave a nod of understanding. "That is good to know. So, now that you are somewhat healed, do you think we have better chances at them?"

    Seth understood David was referring to his eyesight. To tell the truth, it did bother him as he could only see blurred images, and that was when he had the stupid glasses on. If he didn''t, then he would only see shadows. However, at the end of the day, concerns were unnecessary. "Don''t worry about it. I am essentially an Animal God. My sense of smell is always a better option than using my eyes. I wished the salt in the air didn''t irritate my nose, though."

    His words certainly reassured the Shepherd. They have decided on a plan, and if the pieces for it to work weren''t there, he would get really anxious. "That''s good. It would be best if you rested for now, nonetheless. I don''t know how does your vessel work, but you can never say no to good sleep, especially now that is getting late."

    In response, Seth just shrugged with a wry smile. "I don''t mind, though; make sure to rest as well. We haven''t entered a contract, so your Magical Energy is not endless. There is a limit to how much the World supplies you to act as a defender of the Singularity, after all."

    Going by his estimations, the Chaldeans would arrive in a few hours at most. Getting a little rest wouldn''t be much of a problem with that in mind. He could always wake up when they arrived anyway.

    With nothing more to say, he turned around and left. They hadn''t formed a Master-Servant contract yet because he needed as much Mana as possible to recover, but thanks to the events with the Ark, he did so earlier than expected. However, with the things that followed, they didn''t have the time to make it. Still, he wouldn''t be the one to propose the contract as he disliked the idea of basically asking someone to serve him.

    As he was making his way over to the forest near the shore, David watched him without a change in his expression. He didn''t say it to his face, but the green-haired man noticed a shift in his previous demeanor. It was difficult to explain, but it also was, by no means, a bad thing.

    "It is useless and a fruitless effort for people to do battle while held captive by the grudges of their past. I am glad you understood that, or at least you started to understand it." Those were his final words before returning to his fishing.

    Seth didn''t say anything, he didn''t stop moving, and he didn''t show any signs of having heard him.

    ''Hatred that spans for thousands of years is not so easy to discard, sheep boy. First I will have to kill them, wait for them to revive, and then kill them again. Repeat the process until I get tired and then...just then I might consider putting them to rest for eternity... together with my grudges.''

 Chapter 136 - A Passion That Shook The Earth

    Seth awoke in the middle of the night after he sensed the Chaldeans have finally arrived. However, he didn''t show any reaction other. He merely sighed while a hand ran through his hair. ''I should have known this was going to happen. Things are never that easy.''

    When faced with situations like these, the black-haired man would always take the coward''s route. He would keep himself far away from the present situation and only appear when things have calmed down, when he wouldn''t need to face reality, one that always seemed to be laughing at him. That no matter his strength, be it of mind, soul, or body, it would never be enough.

    Yes, that is what he would normally do.

    His fake name of Seth meant many things, but some of them were: he who is pleased with desertion, he who abandons, and he who is missing��someone who would not hesitate in leaving anyone behind. A person that hates friendship and any positive relationship.

    But his eyes, his eyes showed a different kind of approach this time��one unbecoming of a man who always ran away from his problems.

    "No matter the era or the place, war always produces casualties, and more often than not, those casualties are the people you have come to recognize as companions, equal in standing to you." He thought aloud, removing his back from the tree he was resting on and fully standing up.

    "I can share the sentiment, but aren''t you angry at us?" Like a ghost, EMIYA materialized silently on top of a near branch. Although he spoke calmly, his appearance denoted how much trouble they faced against the Argonauts. There were traces of blood on his clothes, and his right arm was almost hanging limp to the side, probably due to broken bones.

    "Why should I be, and what should I be angry about?" Seth asked evenly while dusting himself off. Apparently, his question only worked to bring a scowl to Archer''s face.

    "You know what I am talking about. I am not so naive as to think you weren''t aware I was here. In that case, going by what you said, it is not that hard to assume you are knowledgeable about what happened to that girl." A hint of respect was noticeable in his tone. Whatever happened, it managed to move the Wrought Iron Hero.

    "You mean the state Altera is in right now? I naturally know of it. But then, so what? What do you want me to do about it?" Seth''s choice of words made Archer''s eyes narrow. He knew he wasn''t talking to the most rational of Gods, but he still hoped the black-haired man would have a semblance of grief by the fate of his Servant.

    "You aren''t dense despite how you might portray yourself to be. Your legends speak of a man of great cunning. With that in mind, you are trying to say you didn''t know how she felt?" EMIYA''s patience was starting to run low if the folding of his arms coupled with the cynicism on his face was any indication.

    "And despite that great cunning you speak of, despite me being a God of Trickery, I was still deceived. Don''t you find that hilarious?" The growing answer on the white-haired man was enough of an answer for Seth, so he stopped playing around.

    "Yes. I am aware she has feelings for me. I am not stupid. I am also aware that she would do anything in her power to act as my sword, to trample the enemies before me, even at the cost of her own life. But then again, what do you want me to do? I don''t know what concept you have of our kind, but we don''t do miracles. You can''t ask a fish to fly or a bird to swim. The fact that I am a God doesn''t mean I can save her. That requires one specialized in healing or magic. In fact, it''s thanks to me that she is still alive right now. Not everyone can be a jack-of-all-trades like you, EMIYA. You would do well in remembering that."

    A sigh escaped Archer''s lips, his frustration growing with each passing second. "If you know how she feels, then you should be doing even what you can''t do to see that she survives. The fact you hate the Servant system doesn''t elude me, so it is obvious you will not summon her again should she perish. In that case, the next best option would be to somehow prevent her Spirit Core from collapsing and restoring it afterward."

    "Not happening. I already know my limits. Though, if you want to try something, then be my guest." With nothing more to say, he prepared to leave. However, EMIYA''s next words rooted him in place.

    "So you are going to ignore her happiness for your own selfishness? If you didn''t feel the same way for her, then you should have told her so. That way, she wouldn''t have gone to such lengths to defend us against Herakles, knowing their aim was your supposed daughters. She wouldn''t have fought so relentlessly until her body was filled with wounds. And most of all, she wouldn''t have that mortified face when she fell and realized she couldn''t keep protecting us anymore." The next thing Archer knew, a hand had made its way to his throat. Red eyes which seemed to shine more in the night staring at him coldly. Despite their height being the same, EMIYA felt like he was looking at a giant who was deciding if he got to live or die.

    "Watch your tongue, boy. You don''t have any idea how much I wish I had the ability to help her, but I don''t. Will become depressed solve anything? No, it will not. Will a pointless effort that is beyond your capabilities do anything? No, it will not. In that case, I will do neither. And it certainly doesn''t help to have a snotty brat like you telling me what I should and should not be doing." The Egyptian God didn''t know if it was true, but there seemed to be a competition going around where the one who pissed him off the most was the winner.

    EMIYA''s response was a smug grin. "So you do care for her after all. And here I thought you only cared about yourself and your ambitions."

    "Is that supposed to make me laugh? Because you are doing a terrible job at it." The only thing that Archer managed to get with his words was the tightening of the hand around his neck.

    The Red Bowman just lifted his remaining working arm in surrender. "Think nothing of it. It was just a test to see if you had any hidden agenda. I am sure you understand that it is not easy to leave ''saving the world'' to a person with questionable character. I take it you know what I mean."

    Seth didn''t say anything. He just kept staring at Archer''s steel-gray eyes without any sign of releasing him from his grip.

    Seconds passed, then minutes, until finally, the black-haired man took his hands off him. "You should think things through before trying that with me. If it weren''t for me being in a good mood until recently, I would have snapped your neck."

    After that, he disappeared from EMIYA''s vision, destination unknown.

    "Is that a threat?" He asked to the rustling trees before him. However, he still got an answer. "No. It is a fact."

    Everything grew quiet shortly afterward, leaving room for Archer to process everything he had gained from the short conversation he and Seth had.

    The white-haired man''s posture relaxed as he exhaled a sigh. Good thing he was a man who took risks as long as it was profitable. Otherwise, he would have fallen down the branch he was stepping on due to the sheer pressure in the atmosphere. ''Do not hate a man to his face when you know nothing of him. If I remember correctly, that was one of the many codes of conduct you Egyptians lived by. I guess it would make sense for it to apply to Gods as well. His attitude aside, it seems his heart is in the right place. Heh... Never thought I would be one to say that. Still, you were right in putting your trust in him, Master. To think someone younger would have more foresight than me. I don''t know how to feel about that.''

    In the end, what they teach you as history is mythology, and true Mythology is far from fantasy - every kind reveals true fragments of our real history. Indeed, myths reveal to us worlds of other dimensions that make up our true reality. In summary, what people know about Mythology is far from the truth, but it isn''t entirely false either.

    ''Instead of thinking about what is true and what is false, it would really help if I could read his weapon.'' He had tried it before; he wouldn''t deny it. Sadly, much to his annoyance, everything came as static, similar to a certain Golden Archer''s weapon. What''s worse is, he felt as if his blood was becoming nothing more than poison the longer he stared at it. The sensation was something he didn''t wish to experience again in his life. That said, he at least got a bit of information out of it. If that weapon was something similar to the Sword of Rupture, then it meant they both shared some traits. Now, the question was, which traits?

    The Red Bowman released a grunt of frustration. There were too many things to think about and too little knowledge to go with them.

    He would have to let the thinking to his future self. He was already tired after all the bullshit he went through. Seriously, fighting the Great Hero brought back unpleasant memories by the hundreds. What was next, Caster suddenly appearing just so that the World can laugh at his E Rank Luck?

    EMIYA shook his head with a wry smile. There''s no way that''s possible. He was sure his bad luck had to have a limit. It was already enough to meet the younger version; he didn''t need to do so with the a.d.u.l.t one.

    ''Speaking of bad luck, he didn''t seem to have come unscratched from his fight against that Archer. Those cracks in his body and the unfocused eyes, not to mention the weird need to use glasses... We all got the short end of the stick, huh?'' Despite it being night, the white-haired man was able to see with clarity the changes that occurred to Seth compared to the last time they saw him.

    Shaking his head out of his pessimism, EMIYA went to reunite with his comrades. They have had a very rough time, so a couple of days of good rest wouldn''t be unneeded. Besides, Fujimaru required his help. The kid had been a little out of it since the battle was over. It was obvious he wanted to talk to Seth. Since they were both Masters, the young man felt more comfortable talking with him about things than any other person. Sadly, even though the guilt of what happened might be consuming him, he would have to wait. After all, the Egyptian God had a place to be at this moment.

    ������������������������������������������������������������

    Seth silently walked through the forest in the Golden Hind''s direction. He didn''t want to meet with anyone yet, only with one person. And that person was already inside the ship.

    He didn''t feel the other''s presence near the vessel. Instead, they were a little farther together with Atalanta and David, probably getting to know each other or some crap like that.

    The conversation with EMIYA had been unproductive and utterly displeasing, but the worry he felt allowed him to put it in the back of his mind.

    Thanks to that, Seth could think about what he was going to say and how he would react to seeing Altera. He knew himself, and it wouldn''t be pretty for those around him.

    Masking his presence from everyone''s senses, the black-haired man continued his walk unimpeded. It was only after he exited the forest where he had been resting and spotted the Golden Hind that he stopped.

    Suddenly, he felt as if his legs had grown heavier. Soon enough, they weren''t just his legs, but his whole body too. It might be because it was the first time in a long while that he actually decided to face his problems that his body refused to move as if it didn''t know how to react.

    Frowning at the sight, Seth bit his tongue. The sudden pain enough to restore his motor skills. It was an absurd situation for someone like him, but he didn''t let it bother him. There were more important things that required his attention, after all.

    With strong but steady steps, the black-haired man made its way to Drake''s ship. The sand beneath him giving way to its rightful King.

    From a distance, Seth could hear people talking, albeit in a low volume. Some of Francis'' crewmates remained on the ship by looking at things, probably to watch after it.

    At first, they didn''t show signs of noticing he was walking toward them, but as he neared the Golden Hind, more and more people started taking notice of his presence.

    It took a few seconds, but they managed to recognize him as the guy who was with them some time ago before disappearing. "Oh, ye be back! We be glad t'' see ye aga��"

    "Get lost." Without letting the guy who had come to greet him finish, Seth used his Authority to control all the people currently on the ship.

    "...Aye." Everyone''s eyes became glazed; their faces devoid of all traces of emotion. There was only a single thing in their minds: To obey.

    One by one, the pirates started dispersing, abandoning the ship, leaving Seth alone to his devices.

    Once he made sure everyone had abandoned the Golden Hind, the black-haired man jumped lightly to the deck.

    Seth stayed in the same place for a couple of seconds, unwilling to see the sight that awaited him. It hadn''t been that long since he had to kill his own student, the memory still fresh even if he pushed it away to focus on the objective at hand.

    Being honest with himself, he didn''t know if he was ready to let her go after Thutmose''s recent death. However, he couldn''t just turn around and walk away either. Not for him, but for her. As much as he disliked it, EMIYA was right. It was thanks to him that she fought without pause nor care for her wounds. The least thing he could do was show his face.

    The Egyptian God directed his gaze upward, more precisely to the full moon. A heavy sigh soon escaping his lips. ''Being young sure does not suit me.''

    Before he knew, Seth was already walking in the direction of Drake''s bedroom. His lone steps echoed throughout the small wooden hallway. The sound only stopped when he reached a pair of double doors.

    A flash of hesitation entered his eyes, one that was gone as quickly as it came. Pushing the doors open, he was met with a sight that brought frost to his face, something unbecoming of a God of Fire.

    A multitude of thoughts ran through his mind, but one stood out among them.

    ''Herakles... Just you wait... I will mutilate your f.u.c.k.i.n.g corpse.''

 Chapter 137 - The Stars Tear, The Dreams End

    ...I am dying, aren''t I?

    No... I am still very much alive, or at least I seem to be. My body has given up a long ago, but for some reason, it refuses to perish.

    The pain is agonizing. Even so, it''s nothing that I am not used to. After all, experiences like this one had been a common theme throughout my life. Though maybe none of those were as bad as the one I am currently going through.

    Looking back at it, I may have pushed myself a bit too hard. Still, what choice did I have? Our enemy was simply too strong. We didn''t even have the room to hold back.

    Herakles... What a fearsome opponent he was. To constantly revive and gain resistance, which bordered immunity to what killed him before... It was truly out of this world.

    Although I hate to admit my own weakness, if it wasn''t for Master''s timely help, I am not sure I could have taken that many lives from him. Still...

    It''s frustrating.

    I wanted to fight more, to prove my worth more. Master went out of his way to use a Command Spell, one that I wasted needlessly. I just hope that everyone could get away safely. If they didn''t, I wouldn''t be able to forgive myself. Especially those two little pests. Although they are often annoying and take p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e in bothering me, they are still his daughters, even if not by blood. As someone who aims��who aimed to fight by his side forever, their protection was a matter of concern to me.

    ... To think a day would come where I would worry about others. Even I can''t believe things have gotten this way.

    From a warrior who would only see destruction in front of her eyes, I became a glorified nanny. This is not what I envisioned when I was summoned, but... strangely enough, I don''t have complaints.

    When the elders of the Hun tribe found me in those ruins, taught me many things, spoke of me as a miracle sent to annihilate their enemies, the one who would lead them as a King, I never once questioned them. It never mattered to me, nor did I particularly care.

    They would point in a direction; I would swing my sword and then end every life that was in the way. Wherever I passed through, nothing would remain. My vision was always filled with fire, and my ears with the scream of my enemies.

    My heart eventually grew numb to it, or perhaps, I never felt anything from the beginning. I was just a machine, a weapon wielding another weapon. That''s the reason there was never a need to feel remorse. Heh, maybe that title of Scourge of God wasn''t that unfounded, after all.

    I... never liked it. They might have been right, but, still, I wouldn''t say I liked it. It''s not as if I destroyed because I enjoyed it. I just did it because that was the only thing I knew, the only thing I was good at.

    And despite all of that, a part of me envied them. I could always have all the material things I wanted, just one command, and the elders would hurry as if their lives depended on it to see that I got whatever I d.e.s.i.r.ed. And yet...

    And yet I couldn''t have just a simple thing��the same thing that everyone seemed to take for granted: Joy.

    It was present even among my supposed warriors. However, I never was able to experience it. To whatever made them happy, I always had the same response. "It''s only natural. Why do you feel the need to smile about it?"

    I crushed our opponents, conquered civilizations, and expanded our territory. Everything was something that I did as easily as breathing, so why did they felt the need to brag and talk about it with such mirth on every occasion?

    It''s something I remember even today; their answer to my question. Words were not spoken, but their faces told me all I needed to know. "I am never going to understand them."

    No matter how much I imitated them, I never comprehended their joy. I saw my soldiers being happy with their wives, so I took one for myself. I adopted the young when I saw them being happy around their kids. Everything they did, I tried to do as well. If I am honest with myself, it isn''t surprising that it never worked.

    It was also not surprising that everyone''s expression showed fear, fear of displeasing me, and incurring my wrath, essentially ending with their lives. However, very few among them had another emotion reflected in their eyes. And that was pity.

    At that time, I didn''t understand it for what it was. I only saw it as them thinking that I was weak. That was enough for me to kill them on the spot. After all, strength was all I had. If that were to be questioned, then I would be left with nothing else. For me, who always had doubts about her existence, that couldn''t be allowed to happen.

    It was just recently that I finally understood the real meaning behind that pity. They didn''t doubt my strength; they just felt bad for me because they naturally wanted the best for me as their King. They wanted me to continue leading them to a more prosperous time. They wanted me to...enjoy life.

    What a fool I was.

    There was no way for me to see what they saw then and there, that I was nothing more than a machine trying to understand human emotions.

    But even with that in mind, it only took me a second chance to finally realize what I couldn''t before, if only slightly. I don''t know if I should be glad or just sigh at the absurdness of the situation.

    I suppose I have Master to thank for that. He is the one that helped me with the internal conflict that had plagued my mind since I was discovered.

    I admit that the first time we met wasn''t in the best of circ.u.mstances. Some bug had summoned me to a time where the Roman Empire was still present, so the machine part of me had already decided on one objective: Destroy it.

    It didn''t help that he refused to move and wanted to fight with me instead. Still, despite my cold exterior then, a part of me welcomed it. My opponents always fled or put meager resistance during my whole life, some even being successful in stopping me. However, they never went out of their way to attack me.

    It was... refreshing. The current me can safely say that I had fun throughout that fight. Even if it was for a tiny bit, I forgot about my goal to destroy the Roman Empire and only focused on winning.

    I may have lost in the end, but, for the first time, I felt happy. I didn''t know how it happened or how that emotion came to be. It just sort of manifested itself within me.

    Now that I think about it, it might have been because when I fought him, I got the feeling that I was fighting a version of myself for some reason.

    "A man that was struggling to find a purpose in his life." That was the vibe Master was giving off during our battle. Maybe that was why I felt I was facing a mirror instead of another person.

    And like a mirror, what one found, the other did as well. It may have been something different, but we each got something out of our fight.

    For my part, I discovered something strange. When I failed to destroy Rome because of my defeat, I didn''t feel bad nor had any regrets. Instead, I was glad.

    A sword whose only objective was to destroy finally found something that it couldn''t.

    I think that was my first happy memory. It is something that I will forever treasure. It doesn''t matter if this version of me disappears. I am sure that it will remain engraved in my Spirit Core forever.

    Though, there was something else in that fight that I remember with clarity. Master recognized me, or to be precise, what I used to be. He mentioned the name Sefar the instant he saw me.

    Sefar... my original existence. A titan whose purpose I inherited, destruction. The knowledge about her became more and more with each passing day. Sometimes I experienced her memories through a dream. It was then that I was able to witness Master and a funny-looking man who talked weirdly clash with her, or me in this case.

    It all felt surreal and bewildering. I saw the Earth being destroyed many times during that battle, only to reappear as if nothing had happened. When I asked Master about it, he told me that because Gods were incredibly powerful in his universe �� another thing I discovered �� some of them were able to create something known as Domains, which worked like a copy of the place they were standing on as to avoid the destruction of their place of residence.

    My exposure to those memories made me realize something kind of disheartening if I do say so myself. I was an alien. When I was made aware of that fact, everything started to make sense. The reason why I wasn''t like the rest of the people, why I didn''t act or feel like them. It was all for that simple truth. That I was found in some ruins did nothing more than to validate it.

    Master said that it was nothing to be worried about as they were not natives to Earth either, but came from a different place. That managed to calm me a bit as I was worried he would think differently of me.

    I guess... I didn''t want to be alone again. That solitude where no one around you can understand what you are going through is not something that I wished to experience once more.

    The time we spent together was indeed short, but I lived the happiest moments of my life in that short time.

    I learned many things that I didn''t know were possible. I learned to... be human. I finally understood why the people of the Hun tribe could laugh and enjoy when something that I considered natural before happened.

    I know... because I got to experience it. Whenever my Master complimented me, whenever I fought for him and won, whenever I accomplished a task he had asked me to do. They were simple things, nothing out of the ordinary. And still... still they made me feel joy.

    But... if I had to say one thing that made me the happiest, it would be what happened that night. It is embarrassing to remember, though.

    When we made the contract on that lake, I could feel that I belonged somewhere for the first time in my life. It wasn''t like when I was alive and was the King of the Huns. This felt like... family.

    Family... family... It has a strange sound to it. However, it''s not something bad. Quite the contrary, it is a word that makes me giggle like a normal girl whenever I think of it.

    I admit that if there were a semblance of a wish when I was alive, then it would be a what-if. What if instead of being raised as a warrior, I grew up to be something else? A traveler, a farmer, scholar, a hunter... or maybe just a simple woman.

    It is too late for any of those, I am aware. But even so, I got something similar. A life where I was not alone. Where someone was beside me instead of following behind like a mindless object.

    It all is thanks to the person who didn''t deny me, who knew how I was and still accepted me for who I am without covering anything up. While many cursed my name, saying that the only thing I did was bring destruction, he was the one that welcomed me for it. Master told me he wasn''t happy that he got stuck with that role, but he understood its need. Although it is a job where everyone hates us, we are the first step to create things.

    "Creation is based on destruction. When you see something beautiful, it''s because someone had destroyed what was previously there. We are the bedrock in what the world relies on to keep moving." Those words he told me then keep resonating with me even to this day.

    Before, I used to have some distaste that I kept buried about the things I have done in my life. It was only after hearing what he said that I came to love my hands. The hands that were always filled with blood and only brought calamity to others. For the first time... I was proud of myself. Now, I can say with confidence that I don''t mind my destructive existence anymore.

    Speaking of Master, I wonder how he will feel when he knows that I lost. I hope he can forgive me. I may have lost, but I did what he told me. I showed them what fear was. Their faces before I collapse was enough proof that I did what was asked of me.

    Honestly, I am scared. Perhaps I am just a coward for thinking this way, but... I am scared he won''t need me anymore. That I will return to my life of loneliness if I don''t perform well enough. Now, and even before, I worry about it.

    I am scared... that we will have to say goodbye. That we will not see each other again. After all, I know you don''t feel comfortable with people playing with the dead.

    That''s why... I wish this were all a dream��one where I would still be fine and fighting by your side. A dream that I don''t want to wake up from. Sadly, I know this is very much reality. I will soon die, and that will be the end of it.

    Slowly, I can hear the sound of a door opening. It is familiar... so that''s how it is. I am in the room of that pink-haired woman.

    As I groggily open my eyes, I see the object of my thoughts. His face is stoic, but I can see a deep rage hidden within.

    "Master...?" Somehow, I managed to squeeze that out. It hurts to speak, or even to breath for the matter.

    He is staying silent, only looking at me. The fear of that rage being directed at me is resurfacing. However, that fear disappeared the moment he smiled at me. It is a strained one, probably to reassure me. Yet it means the world to me.

    I can tell he is still angry, but he is bottling it all up. Strange... seeing him that angry on what seems to be my behalf is making me feel a bit glad inside.

    "How are you feeling?" He approached me and sat on the side of my bed, gently taking my hand with his.

    "Fine... I think." I am not. Still, that is something I can''t tell him. Though, he probably knows already if the way he is looking at me is of any indication. His face has traces of sorrow on it. He is masking it, but I can tell.

    "This is how it ends, so don''t be sad." Maybe that wasn''t the right thing to say. His mask was barely holding on after I uttered those words.

    "Somehow...I wish this all could have been different. If I had been faster and fought with everything I''d got, maybe our current situation would not have happened." There is regret within his tone, but I know he did his best, and that is enough for me.

    I managed to shake my head at him despite the difficulty of moving even an inch of my body. "You did all you could against an opponent you didn''t want to fight. There is no way I can fault you for it."

    He doesn''t look convinced. I was never someone who was good with words, so I am not surprised.

    "The contract we made that day is preventing your Spirit Core from completely collapsing by tricking death. I know it''s painful but hang in there. I will search for a way to restore you to your peak condition." So that''s how it is. The wound I got from Berserker was enough for me to die there. Now I know the reason why I didn''t.

    It doesn''t take a genius to figure that Master is conflicted. He doesn''t want to let me die, but he doesn''t want me to suffer this pain either. It is a rare sight, that caring side of his. It''s something I welcome nonetheless.

    However, it also pains me. Knowing that he will end up being worried about me every minute of the day, while appreciated, it''s not something I wish to see.

    Ah...So, in the end, everything falls on that decision. Should I continue holding on as Master keeps looking for a way to heal me while growing increasingly desperate when he doesn''t find it, or should I just let go and cause a momentary pain in him before he moves on?

    How I wish there were a third option��one where both of us didn''t have to suffer.

    I don''t mind enduring any pain if that meant we could stay together. However, that would mean you would also have to see me in that state and be hurt because of it, something I don''t want.

    So... even if I am reluctant about it... even if I wish there were another option... even if I would end up regretting it, my decision is already set in stone. "No. It''s okay. You don''t have to work hard anymore. I... did my part. Now, you have to do yours and finish this Singularity as well as the others."

    Just squeezing those words was extremely difficult. I am honestly surprised that I didn''t mess that up. Still, I can''t look at his face now. I am sure that if I do, I won''t be strong enough not to cry.

    He is not saying anything. What should I do? Did I do something ba��"...Are you sure?"

    Master... Master... Your voice, it sounds broken.

    Stop, please. I have to say something, anything.

    "You stayed with me to the very end... It makes me happy. The fact you are here means the world to me, so you don''t have to worry about not having done your best."

    It''s not enough. I have to say it properly this time.

    "I loved the moments we spent together, all the things that I have learned staying by your side, I loved...you." Ah... I said it. I finally said it. The thing I didn''t know how to convey. Maybe it was when I first saw you. Maybe it was when I saw how similar we were. Truth be told, I don''t even know myself. I just, somehow, know I do.

    "...You have terrible taste in men, did you know that?" Despite the moment, he managed to release a dry chuckle. That is enough for me. At least I won''t hear that voice again.

    "Perhaps. I don''t mind it, though." A giggle escaped my lips without me meaning to. Look at me now. I don''t feel that heaviness in my c.h.e.s.t anymore that I even can laugh.

    ...I guess it is time. I would have liked an answer to my confession, but his eyes are already telling me all that I need to know, bringing a smile to my face. Master already stopped whatever was stopping my Spirit Core from rupturing when he spoke, so it won''t be much before my time comes.

    My body is already disappearing; I can feel it.

    There is nothing more that I would like than to stay like this forever, but it seems the sky is darkening even in the night. My journey is coming to an end. Despite it all, I can leave with the brightness of your eyes. Unlike the last time, I don''t pass away with the coldness of my blood surrounding me. I go with the warmness of your hand instead.

    I am glad I met you. Thanks for everything you did for me. It has truly been something I would treasure forever.

    Farewell, Seth...

 Chapter 138 - A Declaration Of War

    The whole room was silent. Seth was just staring at the bed where Altera''s body used to be without saying anything or giving any signs of moving.

    Truth be told, he didn''t know what to think. From the moment she had asked him to let her go, to the moment he did so, only a few seconds passed. However, in those few seconds, Seth thought of infinite possibilities and ways to respond.

    He wasn''t a two hundred thousand-year-old geezer for nothing. Seth was aware of what Altera planned and her motives, but somehow, he couldn''t bring himself to deny the request that took all of her to make.

    Maybe it was indeed true that he has gotten soft. Still, be that as it may, he would have eventually come to the same decision by himself... or so he thought.

    The state of her body... It wasn''t a pretty sight. Seth knew from the start she wasn''t conscious of how really badly she was injured. They could have fixed the exterior with some time, but it would be just for aesthetics. The inside, her Spirit Core, was damaged beyond repair. It would have taken something akin to time powers to be able to salvage it.

    Shaking his head at that, he decided to do the proper rites for her passing. Seth might not be one for tradition, and Altera might not be truly "passing away", but he did so anyway. His job was to help the dead move to the afterlife, one that he actually enjoyed, so it wasn''t that much trouble for him. Instead, it helped calm his mind.

    ''It is hard... to have decided that. But then again, every major decision in my life has been the same way.'' Although he had agreed to Altera''s wish to let her die in peace, that didn''t mean the words he said to her were empty.

    If he had given it his all...

    Seth supposed this was to be expected. It is a cruel twist of fate in some odd way.

    He refused to mind control and use illusions on people unless necessary or in a state of agitation. After all, Nephthys got Isis'' help to make him mistake Anjed for an assassin attempting to take his wives'' lives. Something that ended with the death of his trusted friend and caretaker, ultimately unbalancing his being. Leading to the awakening of his more chaotic side.

    He refused to shapeshift in his most powerful forms, mainly because he used them in his madness to terrorize and devour the people he swore to protect. Scorpions, crocodiles, snakes, panthers, boars; he transformed in all the creatures humans at that time feared, and made them fear more. He became the terror of men.

    And lastly, he refused to use the powers belonging to his ''bad'' side since it could possibly lead him to another case of madness, even if that were, in theory, impossible.

    Disorder, Violence, Confusion, and Chaos. Every one of those Authorities filled his body with all the negative emotions of people. Any normal human would have collapsed due to the sudden influx of so much disgustingness. In the end, ''he'' awakened. Consciously or not, Seth''s Chaos aspect was the one who did all the things he was now feared for. However, as much as he hated that part of himself, he couldn''t blame it for anything. Sooner or later, that would end up happening.

    But... is that refusal the one that caused things to go this way? If losing the people he has come to see as equals is the price for that, then why do it in the first place? Today it was Altera, but who will it be tomorrow?

    If this was a wake-up call, it sure left his cheek red from the slap. And the pain didn''t seem to be a fleeting one. A reminder that he had been a heavy sleeper. That the dream was finally over, and it was now time to face the real world.

    Still, if he was going to get rid of his self-imposed restrictions, it was best to start with the original one.

    Looking at the ocean through the small window in the room, Seth did the thing he never thought he would do. "Let it be known, you who holds the name of Herakles. As of this moment, your body, soul, and spirit are cursed by the Lord of the Desert Seth. If you dare to set foot in any type of sand field, your life will be forfeit."

    Thunder rumbled at his declaration, his reserves dropping considerably as a result of his action. Although it was his first time casting a curse, it was something innate that all Gods knew how to do instinctively.

    In the far distance, a hulking figure on top of a ship gazed in Seth''s direction. Multiple hieroglyphics appeared in his body for a few seconds before disappearing as if they were never there.

    A low growl escaped his mouth. Even in his maddened state, he could feel it. A confrontation like no other drew near. One that would make the earth shake and the sky to tremble.

    The Ultimate Monster versus The Immortal Great Hero.

    It was time to complete one more labour, the thirteenth one.

    ������������������������������������������������������������

    Seth spent the whole night in Drake''s original room. There was too much to think about, too many decisions to make, too many fears to bury, and too many old habits to get rid of.

    It after a long while that he managed to clear his head. Now his priority should be to deal with this Singularity. At this moment, there was an additional motivation for accomplishing it.

    Sitting up, he started making his way out of the ship. For now, it was time to meet with the other Chaldeans. His priority had been Altera, but he didn''t know how the rest''s situation was.

    EMIYA was injured, nothing life-threatening, but he still was. If he, as an Archer, suffered like that, then those who fought at close range would be in a worse state. Of course, knowing the white-haired man, he would have probably engaged with his twin married swords instead of sticking to firing from a distance.

    Still, there was no point in thinking about it now. He would see what''s it like once he meets with the others.

    What he didn''t expect, however, was to meet someone as soon as he reached the deck of the ship, waiting patiently for him on the heating sands.

    "You are safe." It was a simple statement, but one that conveyed Stheno''s feelings all the same. Truth be told, she had been worried about him when he didn''t come back after all this time. It was only thanks to their Master-Servant contract that she could know he was alive and had not perished in his battle.

    Seth jumped off the ship and landed in front of her. He stared at her purple eyes for a few seconds before a hint of a smile appeared on his face, one that didn''t reach his eyes, but was honest all the same.

    "It''s good to see that you are safe too." He patted her head affectionately as he spoke, something that caused a bit of awkwardness in Stheno. She wasn''t used to this kind of treatment at all, especially if she mentioned one of their firsts interactions.

    "Aren''t you angry at us?" It was the same question EMIYA had asked, but this time was different. Now it came from worry, whereas before it came from a wish to know his intentions.

    "No. She did her best to protect all of you. If I were to be angry, then I would be stepping on her sacrifice. I know I have not the best image in the world, but that is something I would never do." With a different meaning to the question, came a different answer.

    "Yeah... She did." Just this once, she would admit defeat in the face of another woman. Although the "love" they felt for him was different, it had been a competition nonetheless.

    The Egyptian God simply nodded. "That''s right, so don''t feel bad about it. You are not at fault for what happened. Everyone in the world has a role; you just can''t blame someone if they perform not up to par outside of it."

    He knew that she felt some guilt because she couldn''t do anything, but he didn''t blame her for it. Stheno wasn''t suited for fighting head-on, and her skills as someone belonging to the Assassin Class weren''t that great, so there was no point in asking her to fight someone on Herakles'' level and come out victorious, that was unrealistic.

    She might not have shown it on her face, but Stheno was inwardly relieved. She was someone who never wanted to fight, and instead let the others do it. While it was true that she did so because she couldn''t be bothered by it, a part of the reason was that she was really conscious of her low fighting capabilities.

    "What are we going to��Ehk?!" The sudden grip around Stheno startled her enough to release a sound many would consider cute.

    Seth just picked her up and positioned her on top of his shoulders. Once he felt she was comfortable enough, he started walking toward the place where he sensed the Chaldeans.

    "...I thought you hated it when I did things like this arbitrarily," Stheno commented while looking down at him.

    The black-haired man''s lips arched a little upward as he thought over her words for a moment. "I have been kind of a jerk, haven''t I? The subject of my sons and daughters had been a touchy one for a long time, so I didn''t appreciate you calling myself your dad and acting like being my daughter was such an easy thing to say."

    "...But then again, I suppose some things have changed since the last time we saw each other. I guess you could say I had a change of hearts." ''...And that I realized I had not set an example, acting like the man that was supposed to be my father.'' He said to himself.

    "Oh? Then you will let me call you "dad"?" Stheno jokingly asked with a smirk, trying to lighten the mood a bit.

    Seth laughed lightly, appreciating her motives. "Nice try, but you would have to work harder for that to happen. Though you are welcome to try as much as you want."

    "It is strange for you to encourage me on this subject. It feels surreal, somehow. Are you sure you aren''t having a mid-life crisis?" Although she felt a bit glad inside, it didn''t make it less unbecoming of him.

    "I am aware I am acting like a different person, and to be honest, it indeed feels strange. However, there is a point in your life where you have to say ''screw it'' and stop being stuck in the past. I think I have reached that point not long ago. That said, it is plausible I am having a mid-life crisis. Who knows? Only time will tell." His life had done many twists and turns, creating a ball of yarn that is hard to untangle. Little by little, though, he was managing to accomplish such a difficult task.

    Stheno''s grip on his head tightened slightly. "I still think it''s better this way, you know? Being all alone is hard. I, more than anyone, realized that once I lost my sisters. And now that I was able to meet one of them again, that realization did nothing but grow stronger."

    "...Perhaps you are right. Still, let''s stop talking about me for a moment. Tell me how things were with you and the others? From the moment where I left until now." He would use the nights to think about all that depressing stuff. Meanwhile, during the day he would try to be more... cheerful. Huh, that word and he sure didn''t match, did it?

    "Sure. However, it will be a long story. Make sure your shoulders stay comfortable, okay?" Stheno decided to humour him, seeing no problems with it.

    "Yes, yes. Just don''t leave any details out."

    The day ahead would surely be a long one.

 Chapter 139 - One Problem After The Other

    They were screwed, weren''t they? Going by what Stheno said, the situation had taken a turn for the worse. Seth could understand why they had trouble fighting them, even when it was mainly Herakles, the one they needed to be worried about.

    Theseus, the Slayer of Asterios and the son of Poseidon. He was like fish in the water in this Singularity, controlling pretty much every marine life in the ocean to his will. In life, he had accompanied Herakles to the lands of the Amazons, so the Athenian was no stranger to working with the Immortal Hero.

    Here is where it came the part that made him want to facepalm and bang his head against a rock. As planned, the Leviathan went to help them against the Argonauts, something he successfully accomplished. What neither he nor the marine behemoth could expect was for it to fall under the control of Theseus soon after helping them.

    Stheno told him how the Leviathan appeared out of nowhere, killing all the sea monsters Theseus had called to help them instantly, something they took advantage of to escape. However, when it was about to attack the Argo, its movements became a little frigid, and Euryale had told her that Theseus had an expression of exhaustion, like he was doing a difficult task.

    It was then that they realized he was trying to control it, an action they didn''t want to find out if it was going to turn out successfully or not.

    ''I have fought a bigger snake before, although I am nowhere that level of strength now, I should be able to knock some sense on that delinquent if the right conditions are met.''

    Apparently, though, Theseus was not that bad when it came to his persona. He had been happy when he saw Asterios again and was also glad that the Minotaur had found people that didn''t see him as a monster.

    The Son of Minos mentioned that Theseus had helped them escape in secret by using some sea monster to push the ship forward without anyone noticing, anyone except Asterios, of course.

    Seth tried to remember a bit of Theseus'' myth to see if there was something about him controlling marine life, but nothing came up. Of course, one or two incidents happened but was not by his direct intervention.

    Well, knowing how this world worked, even just a tiny part of a myth could be turned into something outrageous. "He is the son of Poseidon, so controlling beasts of his domain should be natural" kind of thing.

    Seth was proof of that with his first Noble Phantasm. His association with Typhon was not known by many, he himself was not known by many, so when he got something out of it, he was bewildered.

    ''At least he is a King, so that''s something. I can feel that I am nearing completion on Kingslayer. It should become a proper Noble Phantasm soon instead of a mere Skill.''

    For now, they were just wild theories, but if Noble Phantasms were based on legends, then the part of him killing his brother with accomplices should form part of it. In that case, he would be able to share a portion of the increased strength against Kings with allies.

    ?

    ...

    ?

    Good grief, his legend was really making him out to be someone who couldn''t do a thing on his own, wasn''t it? Well, at the end of the day, the victors decided the truth, so there was nothing to do about it.

    The next Servant was a girl named Charles Darwin. Strange name for a female, but he didn''t question it.

    It all became clear once Stheno explained she was supposedly the father �� mother in this case �� of evolution. That explained her Anti-Mystery capabilities.

    Stheno mentioned that she had only stayed at the back, silently observing them, and that was enough to feel as if all the strength they had was leaving their bodies. For now, it was just a guess, but Da Vinci mentioned that the longer she focused on a single individual, the bigger the effect.

    ''I really need to learn things about recent history. How is it that someone near the current era has something that outrageous? Whoever said recent Servants couldn''t be compared to older ones should go and throw themselves off a cliff.''

    Of course, those cases were few and far between. Only those who could be considered pioneers of humankind could wield such tremendous powers that rivaled old figures.

    With a mental sigh, Seth started to think of possible outcomes when they meet. It wouldn''t be surprising for the woman to try and use her Noble Phantasm, Skill, or whatever on him. It was just a hunch, but he was almost sure they already knew who he was or that he was a God at least.

    In that case, their most logical option would be to try and shut him down. They probably did the same with Artemis, so he should ask her just to be sure.

    The one thing he knew with certainty was that no one was aware he didn''t belong to this world. While in recent times, Gods, or Divine Spirits �� their degraded version �� were dependent on Mystery to do anything significant, he was not.

    That said, his Noble Phantasms and Skills would pretty much be useless in that fight. After all, different from everything else in his arsenal, those were indeed dependant on Mystery to work.

    ''In the end, it does not change a thing. Now that my strongest Authority is back on the run, I can have more diversity to fight. Sucks that I can''t see at full capacity to make the most use of it, but I guess my other senses will do.''

    To be safe, he would practice a bit to get rid of his rustiness. It would be something Seth would do alone, though. There is no way he could get one of the Servants to be his sparring partner as they were all in bad shape and in no condition to help even if they wanted.

    Anyway, going back to the information, Stheno relayed to him. It seemed that Hektor was also there with them, something that made no sense to him. Seth had clearly wounded him and his Spirit Core beyond repair, so there shouldn''t be anything to do about it.

    The Egyptian God asked the little Goddess about it, and she thankfully shed some light on the matter.

    Supposedly, Hektor died, but not before the little witch managed to summon him back to the Argo. There, she tried to heal him with her Noble Phantasm, which going by Medea''s words, could heal anything no matter what it was. As soon as he heard that, though, he had the urge to scream in frustration and sink the damn island with an earthquake. However, knowing that it didn''t work, he held it in. Her failure in doing so proved that the part where she could heal anything was not true.

    According to Stheno, Medea was pouting with an irritated look while she explained Hektor''s presence there to them. He didn''t know why, but it felt good for some reason. He might be getting some weird habits from someone...

    Regardless, it was still true that Hektor managed to survive, or so he thought. It turns out that he indeed died. Despite that, though, Medea was able to summon him again using his helmet that was about to disappear together with him. It was something complex, but something she did nonetheless.

    Still, there was something good �� finally �� about the whole thing, and that was the fact Hektor was no more, this time forever. He didn''t know how Medea could summon him again without a Holy Grail, but now that there was no catalyst, that option became null.

    In the midst of battle, Zhuge Liang trapped him in his Unreturning Formation. Taking advantage of the situation, EMIYA rained arrows on him without mercy. After that, Sanson used his Noble Phantasm and managed to cut his head clean off.

    Sweet.

    If there was something that he didn''t like were loose ends, so the fact they managed to kill someone who escaped him was something positive in his book. He would give the Executioner some treats for his job later.

    "Say, what is with the new look? Are you trying to look younger or something? I forgot to ask before due to the circ.u.mstances." The black-haired man was brought out of his thoughts by Stheno''s question.

    Immediately, the corner of his mouth started to twitch. It didn''t help that he could hear a certain someone laughing in the background. They were all one after the other trying to make fun of him, weren''t they?

    "The glasses are a bad joke from someone stupid to fix a problem, and my hair just got this way because of reasons. Besides, I was a red-head originally. Nothing bad with a little mix..." He mumbled the last part, feeling that her comments were unneeded. What''s more, what is with the look younger part?! Seth knew he sometimes complained about things like an old man and might see almost everyone around him as toddlers, but that didn''t mean he wasn''t young when you compare him to other Gods.

    "So I didn''t imagine things. You truly are going blind..." Although the lackl.u.s.ter eyes were enough proof, she wasn''t that sure at first, but now he practically confirmed her suspicions.

    "I am not ''going,'' nor am blind. It is just a partial loss of sight. I will find a way to fix that eventually." At this point, the black-haired man really wished he had used another technique instead of that one to win the battle against his student.

    Stheno frowned a bit. "Then what about those fissure-like things on your body?" That was another thing, and probably the most that she was worried about.

    "...I may or may not have overused my vessel to the point it''s currently breaking." Seth averted his eyes to the side for some reason. It was true that Stargazer had warned him not to use any of those techniques any further, but there was no other choice at that moment. It was the result of his own actions, so he would not give any excuses.

    "...Okay. I have to say it. Are you stupid?" Her question almost made Seth stumble. She truly knew how to be direct when she wanted.

    "Just this once, I won''t deny any of your accusations." It wasn''t like he could, anyway.

    Stheno sighed while holding her temple. What a troublesome dad he was. "Please tell me you at least have a way to return it to its natural state."

    Seth''s gaze became feral for a fraction of a second before returning to normal. "I naturally do. It will only be a matter of setting up some things."

    He left the part where it wouldn''t be exactly ''him'' the one who would do the job out. That was something he understood there was no point in saying.

    "It''s good you have a little backup plan. It wouldn''t do to die randomly when there is much to do yet." That was her way of saying she was relieved.

    "If I die, I will eventually revive. We Egyptians are immortal until we reach our natural lifespan." Every Pantheon differed only slightly. In most cases, they had just one life but could live for eternity; his was the only one where its Gods had a temporary time on this Earth, the average being around one million years.

    "And how long will that take? I bet everything will be over by the time you come back to life." Well, she was not wrong. The last time he died, he needed about five years to return to life. However, the circ.u.mstances were special at that time. That''s why he couldn''t give a definite answer.

    "Good point. I will try not to die." It''s not like he wanted anyway.

    Stheno released an exasperated sigh. Why did it felt like she was the a.d.u.l.t here? It was supposed to be the other way around, with her being pampered like a princess and all. "So, what is your plan to beat the Argonauts? Not to mention they have a legendary beast with them now."

    ''Those brats are way down on my lists of concerns except for Herakles, but that is personal. I am more worried about the worms hidden in the grass.''

    "Get a legendary weapon, use new things in combat, revive Gods... whatever helps, really." His lighthearted response caused Stheno to smile. However, it was not the good kind.

    They were definitely screwed.

 Chapter 140 - Meeting The Chaldeans Again

    Seth and Stheno did not talk much after that. They just took it easy while listening to the sound of the waves.

    The black-haired man had taken advantage of his remaining time before meeting the others to create some more clothes for himself. After all, he only had his pants and boots on.

    With a thought, fire started covering his upper body, giving Stheno quite the scare, although she calmed down once she realized it wasn''t harming her. She still gave him the stink eye, though.

    Seth was now adorning a black battle armor with small, golden outlines that covered his arms, a bit of his neck, and the side of his torso, leaving the front exposed. Now, only a few lines signifying his breaking vessel could be seen. Additionally, a white battle skirt with simple designs surrounded his legs, leaving the front part open as to not hinder movement.

    (A/N: Just think of Poseidon''s outfit from Record of Ragnarok/Shuumatsu No Valkyrie with the exception of the gloves and the aforementioned lower garments.)

    After that, Seth continued walking with Stheno on his shoulders. She did ask to choose clothes for him when they got back, though. He just ignored it, knowing that nothing good could come out of that.

    It wasn''t long before the Egyptian God detected the others, who apparently were also waiting for him. David, Atalanta, and Medea were with them as well, so he and the Goddess were the only ones missing by the looks of things.

    Everyone was sitting on small logs around each other, making small talk. It didn''t take a genius to know the mood was a bit somber after the events that transpired with the Argonauts, but they still did their best not to lose their optimism, even if that was proving to be a difficult task.

    They were quick to spot the approaching figures, turning their heads to them almost at the same time.

    Seth''s presence immediately brought a rollercoaster of emotions from them. Among those were happiness, relief, fear, guilt, and mistrust.

    Fujimaru was the first to turn his head away from him. He was the one who felt guilt at seeing him. No matter what others say, the Japanese youth still considered himself at fault for what happened to Altera.

    It was the same with Jeanne in Rome. That should have been the last time something like that happened, and still... Still, it happened again. However, this might be even worse.

    Being honest with himself, he didn''t want to face him and yet, at the same time, did. To others, it might seem odd, but he had this strange feeling of wanting to be blamed for the events that led to Altera''s condition. As if by doing so, he would be at peace with himself. He didn''t want something like last time to happen, where Seth just told him not to worry and that it wasn''t his fault. Even so... Fujimaru had the certainty the situation was going to repeat itself��that Seth was not going to hold him accountable for what occurred.

    A hand on his shoulders brought him out of his self-hate. His Kohai was looking at him with worry in her eyes. He must have put a troubled face if she was able to notice.

    Fujimaru offered a smile that to anyone observant, it looked fake, but it managed to calm her down nonetheless.

    He didn''t want her to be concerned about him. The black-haired youth preferred to talk to Seth first before anything. He was in need of sorting out his emotions in the matter, and he felt that having a conversation with him was the answer. He just hoped it could go well and with just the two of them.

    Although he didn''t voice it out, he could tell the others didn''t completely trust Seth yet. It wasn''t at the level like when they found out his identity, but it wasn''t at a point where they would easily let the God alone with him either.

    Fujimaru internally sighed as he did his best not to show any of his inner thoughts on his face. For now, he would try to set up a meeting between the two of them. Hopefully, Seth agrees.

    The man in question was observing them as much as he could with his limited vision, sensing every negative feeling in the air. It would be a lie to say he wasn''t surprised by the intensity of those feelings. He had expected them to be more prominent and with more force. Instead, he was met with subtlety. They were there, just not with the depth he assumed.

    ''Something must have happened.'' It was the only explanation. Though, in the end, it mattered little. His job would not change, his motivation would not change, everything was the same as before. No, maybe not exactly the same.

    "Hello~ How have you been? I see that you met my favorite Huntress, that''s great!" Artemis'' cheerful greeting interrupted his thoughts, breaking the tense atmosphere. Oh yeah, he had forgotten those two were actually related.

    Speaking of which, Atalanta was unusually quiet for someone who had met the Goddess of her worship. Well, knowing how Artemis acted, it must have been pretty shocking, in more ways than one.

    ''She is dead inside.'' Seth tried to mitigate the shock before, although it didn''t go smoothly. Atalanta practically didn''t believe a word he said. He wouldn''t say he expected more, though. It was normal to be in a state of denial for things like these.

    You never know how a God truly is until you finally meet them.

    That statement couldn''t be more true. If people wanted an extreme example, then Artemis would be the one chosen. There wasn''t a more contrasting nature between mythology and real-life than her.

    "Eh... so-so. How about you? You seem a bit roughed up. And you are still giving people the shock of their lives without even meaning to, I see." There were some discernible bruises on her face and arms, but otherwise, she appeared fine.

    The others observed the exchange silently. It was as if they were witnessing something that could only be described as historical. To most of them, meeting a God was something straight out of fantasy, and seeing two of them interact even more so. And yet... It looked kind of normal. They acted like average people you see every day. Although they couldn''t say what sort of out-of-the-norm experience they were expecting. Especially when you take into account the fact they had already talked before, just that at that time they only knew one of them was a Deity.

    "Hm? What do you mean?" She cluelessly asked, not understanding the meaning of his words. When did she do that?

    Artemis obviously didn''t look at the side to see Atalanta with dead eyes looking at the sky like she had given up on life. Otherwise, her thoughts would be different... maybe.

    "...I see that you were able to beat Archer. But I must ask again, what is your standing in all of this? What reason do you have to help us?" Romani made his presence clear through their communicator. David''s eyes flashed for a second before he adopted a relaxed posture, watching what his son was planning to do.

    "My reasons are my own, Romani. It was like that before, and it still is the same now. Though, you don''t have to worry about me going out of my way to harm any of you. If I wanted, I could have done it ages ago. Despite what you believe of me, I am not some demon who cuts babies in half, you know?" Dr. Roman flinched slightly. It couldn''t be... He knew who he was? But that was impossible!

    The Doctor shifted his gaze toward his father, who was smiling lightly with his eyes closed. He was definitely enjoying this...

    ...Wait.

    He knew too?! How?! Pause, pause, pause. If that man was already aware of who he was, then it made sense that David did as well. But in that case, why hasn''t he said anything to him yet? Aside from throwing insults at him indirectly, that is.

    Despite his crazy thoughts, he managed to make a shaky laugh. "Ahahaha... That''s good, that''s good. Well, my coffee seems to be a bit cold, I am going to heat it up. Talk to you guys in a bit!"

    Romani didn''t wait for an answer and instantly cut off the transmission, leaving a baffled group of people, except for the ones who know of the real him. However, the most perceptive ones, mainly EMIYA and Zhuge Liang started to read between the lines. It wasn''t enough to form something concrete yet, but they had a path to go now.

    "Now that Mr. Failure is out of the way, shoot your questions, whatever you want to ask. Let''s get this over with as quickly as possible as I have no d.e.s.i.r.e to carry your asses when you make mistakes in the middle of a battle because of a problem between us. And please, don''t ask about my appearance, I have been through that many times already."

    Of the people present, only Zhuge Liang, Artemis, and Mash decided to voice their thoughts. Euryale, Sanson, and Asterios �� who was now missing an arm �� didn''t have anything to say.

    The Goddess and the Minotaur were comfortable in his presence, so there were no complaints on their part. As for Sanson, he hated Evil, but not Evil people. Out of every Servant that Seth had a contract with currently, Sanson might be the one who understood him the most, not as a person, but as someone with a similar job.

    To cut Evil, he had to become Evil himself. He understood that God would do nothing, so it fell into his hands to liberate the people who had erred in their ways. In the end, both were born out of a necessity.

    The others who didn''t have anything to say were Fujimaru, Drake, and Orion. The Master wanted to talk in private, so he knew that now was not the time. As for Francis, she didn''t want to think about stuff that was too complicated and preferred to enjoy life with an easy-going attitude instead. Orion... Well, Orion was in heaven, enjoying the view of the new female additions to the party. He was totally taking advantage of the situation to avoid being punished by Artemis.

    "Are you going to become a pig or not?" Artemis was the first one to start, and as always, her question was met with bewilderment. What was that supposed to mean?

    Seth did his best not to let his face twitch at her words. It didn''t help that Stheno was trying so hard to stifle her laughter. Euryale also seemed to be following her sister''s example.

    ''How stupid can this woman get? And it''s a boar, not a pig. There is a difference...''

    His thoughts aside, the black-haired man was quick to respond. "No. You don''t have to fear that. I don''t see me becoming a BOAR anytime soon." He made sure to emphasize the type of animal, as well as use the word ''fear'' in his sentence.

    Artemis was the one who was scared of him, although her fear was something innate. She didn''t actively felt it. It was just hidden deep within herself, like an animal in the face of its natural predator. To add to that, her weird personality allowed her to act as if that fear wasn''t even there.

    "Thanks~? Now I can fully concentrate on spending time with my darling without having to watch my back!" As soon as she said that, Artemis hugged Orion tightly, interrupting his ogling.

    Atalanta, who wasn''t even paying attention to the conversation, felt the need to bash her head against the Calydonian Boar''s skull. This... It was too much. It had to be a bad dream. Yes! That''s right. She was just having a nightmare, everything would be okay once she woke up!

    The way the Huntress twitched was so bad that Medea had to do her best to prevent the green-haired Archer from having a seizure there and then.

    It was Zhuge Liang''s turn to ask, and he went straight to the point. "We can assume that whatever your objective is, it aligns with ours of saving humanity, am I right?"

    Seth gave a nod of confirmation. There was no point in explaining to them that his objective was the SAME as them. In their eyes, it would be like a terrorist saying he wanted to save people. They would just not believe him, so he wouldn''t bother in doing it.

    "With that in mind, will you ''discard'' us when you don''t need us anymore?" There was an obvious meaning in his words. Seth was portrayed in mythology as the vengeful, liar, and deceiving type, so that description is the one Caster went with to base his question.

    Seth raised his eyebrows, unamused by the question. "Leaving aside your image of me, no, I don''t plan to kill any of you, nor I have the interest in doing so. As I said to that magical-girl obsessed Doctor, if I wanted to kill you, I would have done so already. Our kind won''t go out of their way to make complicated plans to deal with you, just the small use of our Authority will do. Artemis here can testify for me in that aspect."

    The white-haired woman continued hugging Orion between her b.r.e.a.s.ts while observing him with her head down, so the others couldn''t see her expression. Although she was looking at the plushie, her eyes seemed to be traveling through a distant memory, one that brought sadness to her.

    The only ones who noticed where Seth, with his capabilities of sensing negative emotions, and Orion, who was right below her. The Hunter stopped with his perverted actions and looked at her with concern. Their relationship might be complicated, but that didn''t mean he didn''t care for her. ''That''s why I don''t get along with Gods... They are so stupid and full of themselves they don''t even care for the feelings of their own kind.'' Orion could only sigh internally at the predicament of the Goddess of the Hunt.

    "Though we both know that my answer does not matter and that you will still keep an eye out for me out of distrust, but that is fine." Seth decided to continue with his answer, knowing this was a hard subject for Artemis. After all, he was in the same situation, so he could understand her thoughts.

    Zhuge Liang was satisfied enough with the response, so he passed the baton to Mash.

    The lilac-haired girl took a deep breath before speaking. "This is not a question, but more of a request."

    She closed her eyes, seemingly trying to find courage before opening them again. This time, they were full of resolution.

    "Please, stay away from Senpai from now on."

 Chapter 141 - Sorting Out Problems

    There was a moment of silence after Mash''s request. They hadn''t expected her to say something like that all of a sudden, and more considering who she was speaking to. However, there was no one more surprised than Fujimaru himself. He was bewildered at her action, and, though a little thankful for her worry, he still felt she should have consulted this with him first, instead of deciding it arbitrarily. In the hypothetical case that Seth agreed with her request, his intention to talk to him and apologize properly would go down the drain.

    The Egyptian God rolled his eyes before furtively looking at Fujimaru and immediately redirecting his gaze at Mash afterward. ''I see, so that''s how it is. I should have expected something like this coming from him.''

    "Sure, I don''t mind. Though, if I were you, I would ask before deciding for someone else, even if you have their best interests in mind. If Ritsuka doesn''t wish to speak to me anymore or outright ignore me from now onward, that is fine. However, at the end of the day, it''s his choice." He didn''t know what image of him they had, but he for sure would not stay near someone who hated his guts unless there was something to be gained, which was not the current case.

    Mash widened her eyes in surprise. Being honest, she didn''t expect him to agree easily and thought he would need some convincing. She was aware that she might come off as being pushy, but she always prioritized her Senpai''s safety over everything else. The lilac-haired girl didn''t want anything bad to happen to the person that had saved her life; that took her hand when she was all alone under a rock with fire all around her. She just didn''t want to take any risks. That was how bad Seth''s reputation was.

    Shielder turned her gaze at her Master, expectation apparent in her eyes. Clearly, she was thinking that her Senpai was going to agree with her decision.

    It was those eyes that made Fujimaru hesitate in giving a clear answer. He wanted to say that it was not what he wanted, and instead, he d.e.s.i.r.ed to speak with Seth to hopefully alleviate the guilt he was feeling and somehow explain himself to him, but he couldn''t outright deny her to her face. The black-haired youth didn''t know how, but what he DID know was that it would be bad if he rejected her proposition in front of everyone.

    What he ended up doing, though, was underestimate their experience. They have lived long enough lives to see and understand the hesitation in his eyes and what his heart truly wanted to do.

    Unaware of this, Fujimaru responded after thinking of a way of not rejecting and hurting her, but not completely agreeing either. "Please give me some time to decide, Mash. I hope you understand this is a big decision to make on the spot."

    ''He really has a kind soul.'' Many among the people present had that same thought. If they considered that a good trait or a bad one, only they knew.

    Although a little disappointed, Mash nodded her head in understanding. Meanwhile, the others almost mechanically shook their heads, feeling a little sorry for her. The others except for those who wanted to spit in her face for daring to utter those words without knowing anything, of course.

    "Okay, now that we have reached an understanding, you should rest and heal your injuries; we are going to head for them straight away after you recover. Also, Medea, can you make something that can regrow Asterios'' arm?" As soon as everything was resolved �� kind of �� Seth started to try and get things in order. His first priority was to help the Minotaur with his problem, as, while still someone that had an out-of-the-norm strength even with one arm, it was best to have him fighting at full capacity. Euryale''s pleading look while she shifted her gaze between him and the white-haired monster might have something to do with it, though.

    Stheno let out an imperceptible smile at seeing his behavior. It seemed that things have changed for the better, thanks to a tragic incident. What Seth told Altera applied in these kinds of scenarios; to build, you must destroy first.

    The Goddess'' reaction couldn''t be more different than what EMIYA was feeling right now, though. He expected many things when coming to this island, but finding an old enemy was not one of them. Meeting the Witch of Betrayal brought too many bad memories to him, after all. A thing he was unsure about was that if Medea recognized him or not. She didn''t show any outward reaction at meeting him, only treating him as one more Servant in the group and nothing else. If she remembered him, she was doing a great job hiding it.

    Unaware of his thoughts, Caster responded to Seth''s question. "I can work something out with the right materials, but what makes you think I want to do it? Remember that we are not a Master and Servant anymore."

    Seth lightly tapped his right ear while tilting his head to the side a bit. "Sorry, I had sand in my ear. So, you said that you are going to do it after you get the right materials, am I correct?"

    Under her hood, the corner of Medea''s lips twitched. He was definitely playing with her right now. Sly came short of describing him. "Of course, that was what I said." It didn''t help that her words sounded a little forced.

    Except for David and Atalante, who was still looking into space, the rest were surprised by Medea''s statement. They hadn''t known Seth, and she had been Master and Servant before. However, the fact that she changed her opinion so quickly really took the cake.

    Caster''s inner grievances aside, Asterios looked at Seth, his eyes showing sincere gratefulness. "Thank... you."

    {Think nothing of it. Just do your best in the next fight; that will be enough.} Seth responded in Greek, so only he and the rest of the Greek Servants could understand. As a God of Foreigners, he felt speaking the other person''s native language was the best way of conveying sincerity.

    Though a bit surprised, Asterios nodded before turning to Medea. He was still not used to her presence, but he was still trying his best not to show any discomfort as not to upset her. "Um... Thank you... too..."

    For some reason, he couldn''t completely look at her the whole time, so he ended up averting his eyes due to nervousness.

    ''C-Cute...'' Medea felt an imaginary arrow pierce her heart. She really wanted to hug him and tell him that everything was going to be okay. Maybe make some figurines and plush toys as well...

    ?

    Cough

    ?

    She can''t; she can''t. There was a certain image she needed to maintain right now. Dressing him in all kinds of outfits would have to wait a bit more. Adding the two little girls was also a must. Gothic lolita, maid, innocent maiden... Ah... The possibilities were endless...

    ?

    Cough

    ?

    Focus!

    ?

    Clearing her throat, Medea responded to Asterios in a more dignified voice than usual. "Sure. I do not mind it at all. I have to practice from time to time, or my skills would go to waste anyway."

    ''Do Servants even lose their skills if they don''t practice?'' Fujimaru thought in genuine confusion. Now that the situation had calmed down a bit and the oppressive feeling had mostly gone away, he could finally relax and let all the tension leave his body.

    "Wait a bit. Don''t you think it''s too soon to go after them? We just got our asses handed to us. I prefer to have a bit of time without thinking about a giant man coming to chop my head off." EMIYA raised his unharmed arm in signal for him to stop. He wanted to have a nice time relaxing after that battle. Maybe cook something to distract himself.

    "Oh? Would you like a beach chair, some beverages, and a fan-bearer to be included in your accommodations as well?" For the love of everything evil. He was a Servant, not a human. Seth guessed it would take a few days for everyone to return to their peak condition. That was enough time to relax or whatever they wanted to do and heal their mental fatigue as well.

    Archer clicked his tongue but made no complaints. So this was how it felt to be at the end of his sarcastic remarks? It must be karma, definitely.

    "Haha. Calm down, you two. We can sit around a bonfire at night to relax. I can play my harp if you want too. That way, we will be able to enjoy our rest and be ready for when we have to sail." David acted as the mediator, although his smile told everyone he was clearly enjoying all of this. A bad trait from time to time didn''t hurt anyone, or so he thought.

    ''Wasn''t your harp able to ward off Evil Spirits? Maybe it can help us get rid of him.'' EMIYA thought to himself. He didn''t voice his thoughts, though. One sarcastic remark against his persona was already enough. He didn''t need another one.

    "Oh, and by the way, now that we are on this topic. The little Master over there, do you mind forming a temporary Contract with me? Despite the Counter Force summoning me, I only have enough Magical Energy to stay in this world. Fighting would require a bit more or I would disappear, you see." David spoke to Fujimaru with an amicable smile to show his sincerity.

    "I don''t mind it, but shouldn''t you first option be him?" The man in question responded while pointing at Seth before continuing. "He has more reserves than I do and should be able to sustain you better than me."

    David shook his head. Although he understood where the black-haired youth was coming from, there were some fundamentals that he still didn''t get. "That may be so, but the Bible is very clear about associating with Heretic Gods. Interacting is not a problem, but more than that would be a bit troubling."

    Seth''s eyebrows twitched at his comment. ''When was that you started to follow what that stupid book says? You are more Heretic than any of us here.''

    Fujimaru was not that well acquainted with Catholisism, but he nodded nonetheless. If he said it, then it must be that way. Going by what Romani said, David was an important figure, despite not looking all that imposing. Fujimaru noticed an edge to his tone when the Doctor spoke about the green-haired man, though. He wondered why.

    The Japanese youth turned to Zhuge Liang. Caster had been helping him, giving tips about how to better manage his small reserves, so he was confident he could afford another Master-Servant contract, but he still wanted to know his opinion.

    "Go ahead. It will be a little streinous at first, but if you are able to get used to it, then it could prove useful for your training."

    Having received the green-light from Caster, Fujimaru offered no resistance and successfully made a Contract with David. Just as Zhuge Liang said, he felt a little light headed at first, but that quickly faded away. Besides, EMIYA was going to the forest, probably to search something that could be used as food to further help him getting accustomed.

    "Now that you got a Master, only Atalanta and Medea are left. So, what do you two say?" It was already decided Seth was going to make Asterios and Euryale his Servants, but there was still the case of the two Argonauts.

    Medea thought hard for a few seconds. Thinking logically, Seth would be the best option because he could provide better and almost endless Magical Energy, mainly because Gods were able to wield Mana from the atmosphere in a way humans never could hope to be able to replicate. There was simply no comparison. Yet, he was that, a God. AND he threatened her. That earned a some negative points in her book. However, the youth was already pushing himself by managing a lot of Servants, so he wasn''t a good choice. This could be ingored if she could just stay in her workshop and use the Leylines to get everything she needed, but in the middle of the ocean that became unavailable.

    "The offer is still up, right? If that is so, then I shall form another contract with you again."

    "Hm? What offer? Oh, the book. Sure, whatever." Good luck reading that thing and understanding the spells. He was the only one beside Thoth who could do it as well, although he never bothered with it as magic wasn''t his thing.

    ''You could have responded in a more convincing way...'' Medea sighed under her hood. If there was one positive thing about this, it was that she could spend more time dressing the little Goddesses.

    Now it was Atalanta''s turn. However, that would have to wait until she recovered from her shock of seeing the person she worshipped and for who she took an oath of chastity being all lovey dovey with a plush toy.

    The day ahead of them was long...

 Chapter 142 - A Kids Inner Turmoil (1)

    It was currently afternoon, and everyone was taking it easy. Well, easy in a relative sense as David, Medea, and Atalanta, who recovered from her shock, were sparring against EMIYA, Asterios, and Sanson. Euryale made sure to berate the Minotaur for his recklessness, though.

    Seth so wanted to call Archer on that and say that if this was his way of "not thinking about a giant man coming for his head," but he let it slide in the end. It wouldn''t be perfect, yet it was undeniable that fighting against each other would make them aware of their teammates'' shortcomings and strengths. That''s why he just shut up and went on with his business, which was finding the required materials for Medea''s potions.

    He had to admit there were some things he didn''t even know existed within that list. Luckily, they were easy to find in the vastness of the ocean. BUT he hated the ocean. Not only was water the antithesis of his Fire Authority, but it also crushed the sands beneath it.

    So, here he was, acting all grumpy near the shore. ''I just wish I can find those things soon...''

    He would also have to use one of his most powerful yet equally unsavory forms to maintain himself in the water long enough to explore properly and hunt the required monsters without issue.

    Well... He said he would stop caring about his inner misgivings respecting those forms and his former actions, so it was best to start easy with a simple task.

    "Kuro, wait!" Just as Seth was preparing to make a big jump into the ocean, someone stopped him. The black-haired man turned to the person who had just spoken, recognizing the voice as Fujimaru''s.

    It seemed that even after knowing his ''True Name,'' the Japanese youth still opted to call him as he had been doing before. Old habits die hard. He could relate to that, actually.

    "Yes? What do you need, Fujimaru?" Seth asked for the sake of asking. He already knew what he wanted by observing his mannerisms and the obvious way he was trying to find the time where the two could converse alone and without interruptions.

    Fujimaru opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. He REALLY didn''t know how to go about this and more so to consider that the person in front of him was about to go look for the required things to heal Asterios'' arm. He felt he was inconsiderate with the Berserkerk Servant by stopping Kuro right here.

    Seth just waited patiently, not minding the awkwardness that was starting to appear in the air. However, everything has its limits. More so when you take into account that opportunities like this won''t often come for the youngster. There was also Fujimaru and his weird gestures, trying to sort of encouraging himself...or that''s how he saw it.

    Sighing in exasperation, the Egyptian God decided to lend him a hand. "So, I assume you want to speak with me about what happened when you guys fought Herakles and his band of monkeys. Go ahead, then."

    The Japanese youth froze for a moment before his figure slouched forward a little, seemingly giving up on something. "...Aren''t you busy right now?"

    His original idea was to set up a place where they could talk quietly at another time, but the dreaded event was going to happen sooner by the look of things.

    "Asterios'' limb isn''t going anywhere. It''s already gone, in fact. Waiting a few minutes or an hour more won''t be much of a problem." Seth reassured him, although it did little to calm his nervousness.

    The youth opened his mouth to speak, but Seth cut him off. "I know you are worried about people interrupting, and you don''t need to worry. I can know when people are approaching, and for now, there are none. If worse comes to worst and someone actually comes, I will just summon a storm and rain lightning on them until they get out of here."

    Fujimaru laughed a bit while scratching his cheek at the extreme method, but still thanked Kuro inwardly for his effort to accomplish his selfish request.

    The Japanese Master sat on the sand with arms around his knees. Seth went next to him and sat down as well.

    ''Where do I even begin...?'' Honestly, it was the most difficult part. He felt that once he started, he would be able to talk as if there was no tomorrow. Yet, that''s what he lacked, a start.

    "You can start with whatever you feel the most comfortable with. It doesn''t have to be anything important," Seth spoke as if he was reading his mind. His gaze was directed forward, even though the only thing he could see was a blur of blue, sky-blue, and white. However, he knew that avoiding eye-contact would make it easier for the other Master to speak his mind.

    Sighing dejectedly, Fujimaru thought about his words. What looked like a jumbled mess became a clear path..., and the answer he got was not pleasant. Nevertheless, it was the only option to begin this conversation.

    Mimicking Seth, he gazed at the scenery in front of him before speaking almost mechanically. "It was my fault."

    He didn''t say anything afterward, just those four words. It could mean him being guilty about a single action or the whole outcome, but he didn''t clarify.

    Seth just kept quiet, still not looking at his fellow Master.

    Seconds went by, then minutes before Fujimaru spoke again. "I got us into that mess. I was the one that caused that battle."

    The Egyptian God raised his eyebrow, giving him a sideways glance. Again, though, he didn''t utter a word.

    This time Fujimaru spoke almost instantly. "After we battled Blackbeard and won, we stayed on an island for some hours to rest before departing again. We kept doing that, with the time spent on land becoming less and less as we still couldn''t find you."

    "Hm... Maybe you went right past me. Thutmosis pulled me into his Reality Marble, so the probability that you missed me is quite high." His explanation only worked to make the young man''s spirit crumble a bit more than it already was.

    Thutmosis... so that was his name. He might have been a pretty powerful individual in life. Until now, no one had produced a feeling of dread in him as much as that Archer did, no matter how brief it was.

    "I see... To think that it was something that stupid..."

    He stopped for a moment and took consecutive breaths of air. Otherwise, he felt as if he was going to break down laughing from the absurdity.

    It was only after he managed to calm down that he decided to continue. "We had just left a random island when I spotted a heavy storm out of the corner of my eyes." His arms fell to the side, his hands gripping the sand beneath him tightly.

    "I... You always controlled storms as you pleased, so I... I thought that..."

    That we would find you if we went there. The words were left unsaid, but Seth clearly understood. He didn''t force Fujimaru to continue, as he noticed his breath was getting hurried, and his nose caught a salty smell coming from his eyes.

    "... They were there. The stars seemed to have aligned to give us the worst luck possible. They immediately caught sight of us and attacked." As his words were coming out, his self-blame was also on the rising.

    The black-haired youth finally got the courage to look at Seth to utter his next sentence. "Altera was wounded after fighting Blackbeard''s Servant, and yet... And yet she fought with everything she had to defend me, everyone did."

    "You already know the outcome. I am to blame... I know it, and I don''t need anyone to tell me the opposite. I am sure they will, but that''s not what happened! From start to finish, everything was because of me!" At this point, he could repress the tears no more. It felt... horrible.

    A few seconds of silence passed, with the only signs of Seth listening was a small nod as his facial expression remained neutral throughout the whole thing.

    "Seeing everything go down... I felt helpless, like never before. The worst part is that they weren''t even trying, dammit! What''s the point of me being a Master if it will turn out like this every time?! I don''t want this, not anymore! I didn''t even want to be one in the first place! I just so happened to be one who was filling the quota, nothing more! Everyone in Chaldea sees me as some kind of selfless hero, but the truth is I am not! I just don''t want to die! I don''t want the world to end because I just don''t want to die! It isn''t a reason like ''it''s the right thing to do,'' I am just a coward who is afraid to die!" His outburst was not something that Seth expected, but it didn''t surprise him either. He saw it coming from a mile away. That one day, he would be made aware that reality was not a fairy tale.

    "You think that since I actually have powers, I should be the one to ''save the world'' and be the only Master. You feel this is a task too much to bear for you, hate it even. You also feel you have no freedom or say in the matter. The role was just pushed onto you. Just one day some people said ''This is the situation, so you have to do it regardless if you want it or not'' and you couldn''t even voice your opinion, probably thinking it was not the right thing to do or that they wouldn''t even hear you out. At first, you convinced yourself by saying that if it was for the good of the world, then you would give it a try. Surely at some point in time, you would interact with people that would make you think, ''This is worth doing.'' However, you saw the cruel reality. Instead of the smiling faces of the people you saved by taking on such a burden, you merely received nothing��no. That''s incorrect. You did receive something, and that was hate. You never understood it in Fuyuki and Orleans as you only fought monsters that you didn''t even know existed. Yet, what happened in Rome? You fought people, and I am not talking about the Holy Grail''s fake ones that Romulus created. I am talking about those that deserted Nero''s army. Those were real people, and they were brutally murdered in front of you, be it by the other Servants or me, all while looking at you as if you were the one who murdered them. On that battlefield, you witnessed the most gruesome of deaths. I know you acted as if you were not affected, but I saw you empty your stomach on numerous occasions when you thought nobody was looking. Maybe it was at that moment it hit you. ''Is this worth it? This is not what I wanted, what I expected.'' Everyone says that you are a hero but in reality..."

    Seth paused before finally looking at an incredible pale Fujimaru, who was frozen with his eyes widened.

    "You are nothing more than a villain."

    That was the simple truth in all of this��the truth of a naive youngster who didn''t have the strength to refuse.

    Mouth agape, Fujimaru tried to formulate some words, yet that was proving to be extremely challenging.

    His thoughts were in disarray, not knowing what to say or think. Those words... they were like a physical representation of his inner feelings.

    Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the black-haired youth finally managed to squeeze something out. "Y-You... How?!"

    Despite the situation, the corner of Seth''s lips curved a bit upward. "You don''t get to trick people without a clear understanding of the other person''s character and thoughts. Though, that was not how I knew what you were feeling. I am God, remember? I have lived a life far longer than yours. That means I have met all sorts of people throughout the years. Let''s just say that one of those people resembles you greatly when he was young."

    "T-Then...!"

    "Absolutely not," Seth spoke before Fujimaru could continue his sentence, bringing the youth to a stop.

    The Egyptian God looked forward again as he sighed. It was not like he didn''t understand the weight on his shoulders, quite the opposite. It was just that he was trying to ask for the impossible. "Would you really leave the fate of humanity to someone like me? Fighting an Evil with a greater Evil is not the answer, you know?"

    "But you are not! From the moment you appeared, you have done nothing but help us! No one has the right to say anything bad about you!" Maybe it was because he was a Master like him, but Fujimaru felt Seth was the one he could speak his mind without fear the most.

    "That Archer you fought... Thutmosis... he was right. He spoke about people slandering your name, and the way we turned our weapons against you the moment your name was revealed was nothing short of that. And yet, despite our actions, you still defended us when he attacked. Why is it that you help us when we don''t even deserve it?" No matter how hard he thought, Fujimaru couldn''t arrive at a satisfactory answer.

    "It is because I love humans. As stupid as it sounds." Seth''s answer caught Fujimaru off guard.

    "You love... humans?" He parroted, unable to understand.

    "Yes. However, that love is twisted. Even I am aware of that much. My love stems from other people''s experiences related to humans, not my own. If it weren''t for them, I wouldn''t even care if you guys lived or died. You would be nothing more than passing dust in my eyes. That''s why I say that you can''t leave humanity''s fate in my hands." No matter how much he listened, those words sounded foreign to Fujimaru. He just couldn''t picture Seth acting the way he said, not after all this time.

    "But... Even if it is twisted or not pure, it does not change the fact that you helped humanity more than I did, more than I ever will. So then, why don''t you agree to be the only Master? I am nothing more than dead weight. I don''t contribute anything at all. If I am here or not, it doesn''t weigh in the fate of the world." It was just...unfair to both of them.

    Seth looked at the sky once he heard the little kid''s question. The answer to that was simple and, at the same time, complicated. "Ritsuka... do you believe that Gods should be involved in the affairs of the mortals? Haven''t you heard stories of them playing with humans'' lives as they pleased? Medea, Atalanta, Asterios, all of them suffered one way or another due to their intervention. Do you want the same thing to happen again? Humans should be saved by their fellow humans. My role is just secondary. You don''t have any idea how important you being here really is, no idea at all."

    Although surprised when Seth used his first name for the first time, the Japanese youth fell into deep thinking. The gravity in his words was such that even he could catch on it. However, were they the truth? He didn''t know much about Seth''s mythological aspect aside from what he had read when Caster told him about his identity, but didn''t he look like a totally different person from those tales? What happened if those cases he spoke of were similar to his? But he was a God on part with those, so his words should be taken as truth.

    In the end, what was the real truth?

 Chapter 143 - A Kids Inner Turmoil (2)

    Fujimaru thought hard about his words repeatedly, but he couldn''t reach a satisfactory conclusion. He was basically drawing blanks.

    "I just... I don''t understand. All of this stuff is too complicated for someone normal without any redeeming qualities like me. Gods, Servants, Chaldea... It all feels surreal even now. How is that someone who doesn''t even belong here is important?" The black-haired youth felt that Kuro was the one who should do the things he couldn''t do, which was basically everything. Why put two people to do the same job when one could do it perfectly while the other was plainly incompetent? It didn''t make sense.

    Seth felt a sense of d��j�� vu for some reason. Fujimaru was probably thinking of leaving all the work to him again. He closed his eyes, seemingly pondering about something, before opening them again a few seconds later. "Listen... You are overestimating me, us Gods. We are nothing more than people with an inflated ego and some powers. We are literally nothing but machines whose existence is meaningless. And as with every machine, the time came when we became outdated."

    "... How can you say that? Your existence isn''t��"

    "It is." Seth cut off Fujimaru''s next words without hesitation. The truth doesn''t need pity. That is an undeniable fact.

    "Let me take myself as an example. I am a God of Storms. However, how can you explain that sometimes it rains without me even having a hand on it? I am a God of Fire, so how can you explain that you people can wield it in your everyday life with the help of instruments? It goes without saying the same thing happens with my other Authorities. Humans can hate each other, trick each other, envy each other, and sow discord among each other without my intervention. So, what is left for me? What is my purpose? What is it if not a meaningless existence? Just as humans learn, so does the planet. Even if you consider it as a simple celestial body floating around, it is very much alive." That was the problem with Gods in general. Their whole existence revolved around a task, so when they were not needed for that task anymore, they ended up lost on what to do anymore.

    Fujimaru was rendered speechless. Not only he discovered absurd things like the Earth was alive, but he was also now faced with a logic he couldn''t refute. Even so, there was no way he could accept it. "...I agree that it may seem meaningless, but don''t we all think that at one point in life? Your existence can''t, and won''t, be defined by a task."

    ''This kid says the funniest things when he wants to.'' The Egyptian God shook his head inwardly at the naivety of his fellow Master. Though, he couldn''t blame the ignorant for their lack of knowledge.

    "Do you remember the toys that you played with when you were young? Where would they be if the world was still as always? Probably forgotten in some box or even thrown aside in a garage. Do you need them now? Do you remember them before I mentioned them to you? We both know the answer to those questions. To you, it may seem strange, complicated, or plain stupid, but to us is something of common sense." Seth then turned to Fujimaru, locking eyes with him. If he was to understand him, then the kid needed to know something more.

    "Do you ever asked yourself where we come from? Something like ''Were they always there or they just popped out of nowhere?'' Well, the truth is that we don''t belong to this world. You could say we come from a higher plane than this one." If the clueless look Fujimaru was giving him was any indication, he was as lost as a penguin in the middle of the desert.

    Taking an exasperating sigh, Seth tried to simplify his explanation. "Just think of a sky beyond the sky. We come from a place we usually call ''The Sea of Gods.'' It is a dark space with nebulas floating all around it, each with their own color. You don''t need to understand much, just that each one of those nebulas is an unborn God. And there is an uncountable number, nearing the infinite of them. When one of those eventually gains sentience, they descend to numerous places, one of those being the Earth. Taking your place of birth as a reference, the firsts to descend on what would be Japan one day would be the Kotoamatsukami, then later would come the other ones, the most famous being Izanagi and Izanami. Continuing, those that gain sentience and descend by themselves are what you people call Creator Gods. Following so far?"

    The Japanese youth gave a nod of confirmation. It still sounded like complicated stuff, but with the example of his culture to which he could relate, it made things a lot easier.

    "Well then, those Creator Gods usually do some things here and there. Shape the land, create the oceans, and blah, blah, blah. However, here comes the important part. No matter the Pantheon, those stupid beings have the ''brilliant'' idea to call for more Gods from that place. So, they pull undeveloped nebulas down to Earth with a ritual. That ritual has a catch, and that is essentially making us slaves. To pull us down and stabilize our existence, they need to have a task for us in mind. Difference zones in the Sea of Gods house different Authorities. They then look for a suitable zone for the task they want the new God to do, basically, as I said before, making our existence revolve around a single thing. Now, do you understand what I was trying to say before? If the only reason we are born is taken away from us, what is there left? Even as that reason still exists, we are just puppets who need to fulfill our said function. Gods are fundamentally different than humans. You are born without a purpose but can discover it as you live your life. We, on the other hand, are born with one, but eventually, lose it."

    Fujimaru didn''t respond immediately. It was too much to take in. Although it was something that was hard to comprehend, he knew that he shouldn''t use his human logic for this. If what he said was true, and they were only born to be puppets, with their whole ''life'' being a job... then, as much as he hated to admit it and was frustrated by it, Kuro was right. That analogy he used before had resonated with him. The toys he used when he used as a child were all but discarded. He had grown up, so then, why use something that already accomplished its function? And it was then when it hit him. Gods weren''t needed anymore. Saying it like that might seem simple to others, but to him, it was not. There was a God in front of him right now. Could someone, independently of the outcome, tell him, "You don''t have a place here anymore," or "Your purpose for living is already over, so you should just fade away once and for all." And other things like those? He could not. Looking at him, though, he realized all his thoughts; all his feelings were unneeded. Kuro most likely accepted all of it already and had moved on. He didn''t need his words to face reality. But then...

    "...But then... How come you are here? Living normally when your purpose is over? Ah, don''t misunderstand. I didn''t mean it like I didn''t want to be here or anything." The youth realized his words came out a little wrong, so he decided to clarify.

    Seth laughed a bit at his moment of awkwardness. Being honest, he preferred direct people instead of those that tried to sugar coat their words. "Remember when I told you that there are different zones, each with their own respective Authority?"

    Fujimaru nodded in affirmation.

    "Well, I was pulled down from one of the darkest zones, evidenced by my Authorities. The old fogies needed a bad guy, and so I was born out of that necessity. However, they didn''t account for the fact that Evil Deities are pretty much free spirits that do whatever they want, whenever they want. In essence, my nature is of the rebellious category."

    "In that case, shouldn''t you be able to refuse to be a bad guy? Why everywhere I looked you were portrayed as a disaster in hu��God skin?" That was something he couldn''t quite get. The person in front of him, the one he had come to know, was nothing like that.

    The Egyptian God gave Fujimaru a wry look, and with that, the youth felt as if he was looking at a war veteran who had seen all the horrors of the world. "Listen here, kiddo. This is something very few people know about." Each word was said slowly as if the time they had was infinite. "Different from most that were pulled down, I already had sentience. However, if you had to compare me with a human, I had the mental capacity of a five-year-old. My sentience was there, but it was not developed at all. When they did their stupid ritual and pulled me down, I reacted violently, like any kid would do if they were taken out of their home by force by a stranger. The result of that was me not having the full restraint of the ritual, but not the freedom the Creator Gods had either. That''s why I am not that affected by losing my meaning, my purpose." Seth spoke clear and concise, Fujimaru listened attentively.

    "As for why I am depicted like that... Let me see. How do you think you know all of this stuff?" Seth answered his question with another question, wanting to see if he could come up with a conclusion all by himself.

    "I looked it up on the internet." The youth responded honestly, making Seth slap the back of his head.

    "I meant to say why do you think humans know about the events where Gods participated in. Think for a bit before answering." Seth was really starting to think he was talking to a wall right now.

    "Uhm... They were there?" The young Master responded while rubbing the back of his head, where Seth had slapped him. He did not work well under pressure, so his response came as an unsure one.

    ?

    Patience, patience...

    ?

    ''Someone should teach this guy common sense, and it will definitely not be me.'' The Egyptian God had the urge to rub his temple, but he resisted it.

    "The Gods themselves obviously told them, be it through a dream, a vision, or an out of body experience. So then, what makes you think they won''t try to color themselves as ''good'' while smearing the other''s name? It was a war I lost, and so, I got all the trashy comments. "Seth did this, Seth did that," etc. Though, don''t be deceived. At most, what they did was diminish my contributions and amplify my bad acts. I still did some pretty bad stuff. I know you think of me as a relatively good guy, but that is far from the truth. I was a hero once; that much is real. However, as with all heroes, if they live long enough, they become villains. Mine is such a story. When I said this, you think of some sort of play where the villain appears, do some prank, then is beaten by the hero, and everyone is happy. It''s not like that, Fujimaru. I have done many things that you would be horrified to know. I won''t say them to you, but if you try to think about the worst things humans had done, I have already done them, and on a much larger scale."

    It was frightening hearing a person speaking as if they could read your mind. It was as if Kuro already knew what he was thinking before he even thought of it. That aside, there was something he wanted to ask him, something that has been on his mind since he read his...biography, for lack of a better word.

    "So... is it true you killed your brother?" This was a touchy subject for him, considering what happened with his sister, a person Fujimaru loved dearly. Although he never spoke about it with anyone, it was still a heavy load he carried with him every day, keeping it for himself.

    "Indeed, I did. I butchered him so hard he didn''t have a human shape after I was done with him." Seth didn''t bother to hide the truth. As he said previously, he didn''t like people who sugar-coated things, so he followed his own example.

    "But...he was your brother. How could you do that to him? Even if your wife cheated on you with him, that was no reason to kill him like that!" Without meaning to, Fujimaru''s words got louder at the end, and a little bit of anger leaked out of them.

    "First of all, up above, we are not brothers. We are strangers who share the same space. Second of all, I could care less about Nephthys cheating on me. That was not the reason I killed him. In fact, my objective was her all along. He just got in the way."

    "...And you killed him just for that...?" The black-haired youth was horrified. It was like hearing a different person speak, not the one he had been talking to before.

    "We are Gods; we have no morals; nothing is wrong in our book as long as it satisfies our need. Applying human logic is meaningless. But if you want, I can put an example for you. Suppose you have always wanted a dog, you ask your parents, but they refuse, saying that you don''t know how to take care of one. Then, one day you find a puppy lost in a forest near your house. You start to take care of it without your parent''s knowledge. Every day, week, month, year, you make sure to spare some of your time to feed and play with him. You have come to consider it as your best friend. So then, you tell your sister what you have been doing all these years. She gets so happy that he offers to take care of it for you one or two days a week, to which you agree. Then, one day, she asks you to buy rat venom for her because her friend''s house is infested with them. You, not thinking twice, do as she says, go to the store, buy it, and then give it to her. Today it was your sister''s day to take care of the dog, but you were so excited to see him that you went to the place where he lived despite knowing your sister was taking care of it. However, when you get there, you see your sister and friends giving the dog the venom to eat, and him, happily unaware, gorges down on it. You get so angry that you want to punch her, kill her, and make her see what true hell is. But then, your brother that just happened to pass by holds you back, saying that she is not at fault and that it is just a misunderstanding. Doesn''t all your hate feel as if it is redirected to him? What does he know? He is just some idiot who happened to pass by and try to act as the mediator. So, instead of attacking your sister, who is joyfully going away from the scene, not knowing you were there, you punch your brother who got in the way. You punch and punch and punch and punch him. However, your hate is not going away, so what do you do? You punch him more. The screams of pain you were hearing at first aren''t there anymore, but your hate still is, so what do you do? You keep punching him until you feel satisfied. Congratulations, you just killed your brother, and your sister is nowhere to be found. She realized you were there and so hid at some random place. You, however? You are still left with hate that cannot be satiated no matter what you do. So, how good did I do?"

    "...I can''t relate to the example. My sister was always good to me. We did everything together, and although we sometimes fought, we quickly made up afterward. I won''t ever hate her to the point of wanting to kill her."

    Seth just shrugged his shoulders. "In the end, it''s just an example. I could use my powers to show you the emotions that I felt at that time, but you would go mad the same as I did, so for now, just be happy with knowing there was a reason for it, although we don''t need one to do what we want to do. And something good came out of it."

    "Something good? What good could possibly come from killing your own family?!" This time, Fujimaru didn''t bother to hide his anger. Standing up and facing him face to face, all of his frustrations were put out in the open without hesitation.

    "Death. That''s it. Before I killed my brother, you lot didn''t have a place to rest after dying. You just disappeared. It didn''t matter if you had been good or bad in your life; nothing remained of you once you died. It was thanks to me killing him that the Afterlife was created. A place where the souls could spend their rest in tranquility, but most importantly, a place for souls to continue existing. That''s why I get along with dead people. They are like my little creation, after all. I help them in their time of need and often advise so they could make a smooth passing if I feel like it." Seth unflinchingly met Fujimaru''s gaze, causing him to freeze. It was for a brief second, but all his anger was replaced by hope during that moment.

    "You... You can speak with the dead...?" He shakily asked, too afraid to receive a negative response.

    "You forgot your anger against me for being one sick son of a bitch there, kiddo. If you are going to feel that emotion, make sure it is lasting. Anyway, yes, I can. Giving the right circ.u.mstances, I can also revive them." Seth rested his chin against his hand as he watched Fujimaru''s reaction in amus.e.m.e.nt.

    "Th-Then... Not only Altera, but you would also be able to revive my sister as well?!" The black-haired youth grabbed both Seth''s shoulders and started shaking him, much to his own disp.l.e.a.s.u.r.e. To add to that, he didn''t like the way Fujimaru was making fun of the death like that.

    "Yes, but I don''t plan to revive any of them." ''... Not now, at least.''

    As if time itself had stopped, Fujimaru''s actions came to a halt. His brain only came with one word for his mouth to say. "Why?"

    Seth took the youth''s arms off his shoulders before finally giving his answer. "Suppose I revive your sister, would you be happy with that?"

    "Yes! So, plea��"

    "I revive her, and then she follows you to one of the next Singularities where a Servant kills her. Would you like me to revive her again?"

    "Of course! Why would my sister being dea��"

    "I revive her again, and not learning her lesson, she follows you again, and a Servant kills her once more. Would you like me to revive her again?"

    "...Of course. But I��"

    "The same process happens, and I revive her. This time, you tell her to stay inside Chaldea, safe from harm. You keep her confined, worried about you the whole time. ''If was killed, wouldn''t my brother run the same risk?'' So secretly, she Rayshifts, and surprise, her inexperience kills her again. Now then, I will ask one more time, would you like me to revive her again?

    "OF COURSE NOT! THERE IS NO WAY I WOULD LET SOMEONE PLAY WITH MY SISTER''S SOUL LIKE THAT!" Fujimaru screamed with all his might. He was left panting at the end, but he paid it no mind. There was this inexplicable anger inside him when he thought about the fate that could possibly befall his sister. Of someone using her soul as if it were a thing that you could play without care.

    Despite his outburst, Seth was pleased with his fellow Master''s answer. "There you go, Fujimaru. Do you understand now? The reason why I don''t like the Servant system, why I can''t help but feel disgusted when you guys speak so easily about reviving someone as if they were mere commodities you could replace? I just don''t need to be asked that many times to come to the right answer."

    Having finally said what he had to say, Seth stood up before putting a hand on Fujimaru''s shoulder. "It might seem hypocrite coming from someone who is also a Master, but there are some things that one must push through despite their misgivings. Now then, before I go, I want to say something to you. Remember that anger you felt just now. Those raw emotions of hate. The only time where humans can truly understand Gods is when someone they love is threatened or harmed. That is the time were morality, right or wrong, values, and everything that makes you human matters none."

    With that, he walked past him, returning to his original quest, but not before saying something more. "It was also the only time during our conversation where you truly understood me."

    Fujimaru was left alone looking at the sand beneath his feet, clenching and unclenching his fists before ultimately sighing in resignation.

    ''Gods... are hard to understand.''

 Chapter 144 - Reaching The Infinite

    "How did I end up in this situation?"

    It was a good question that Seth couldn''t help but ask himself as he stared at the scenery in front of him. Deep trenches, unrooted trees, and unconscious bodies filled his gaze no matter where he looked.

    It all began once he came back from his material hunts for Medea''s potions after two days. They weren''t only for regenerating Asterios'' arm, so the number of monsters he had to hunt was not small. It was truly a chore to carry them all to the island, even while using one of his biggest forms.

    After giving them to Caster to work with them, he got called by EMIYA because he wanted to request something. It turns out Fujimaru was acting a bit distracted after his conversation with him, and, although Archer didn''t know what actually happened, he had a feeling it had to do with the black-haired man. So, after a bit of inner struggle, EMIYA asked for his help. However, that help meant doing something to alleviate the kid''s guilt for the events that transpired. The Red Bowman thought hard about how to achieve that, but he came empty-handed. That said, it didn''t take long for him to conclude, and that was to teach Fujimaru how to fight. Naturally, his Servants, including himself, wouldn''t allow him to do such a thing knowing the risks, but having him believing he could get rid of his feelings of powerlessness by obtaining a way to defend himself was the optimum solution��just a sneaky psychological trick.

    Cu Chulainn had mainly worked on getting their Master in shape, but he taught him nothing outside of that, so now it was their time to do something for him.

    What Archer didn''t expect, though, was to get punched in the face as soon as he asked Seth to train Fujimaru.

    "I don''t train people just so that they can feel better about themselves. I do it so that they can grasp a future greater than the common man, for beliefs that fall no short of extraordinary. Beliefs they will do anything to keep. Talk to me when Fujimaru has even a tenth of that." Those were the only words he left before going somewhere else.

    EMIYA wasn''t �� much to Seth''s annoyance �� the only one who asked him for the same. Zhuge Liang, although he worded it differently, requested the same of him. As he wasn''t the physical type, Seth just outright denied Caster without actually punching him as he did with EMIYA.

    It would all be okay if that had been the end of it, but it was not. They kept insisting again and again. It got to a point where even Fujimaru himself asked him for it, probably Archer''s idea. That didn''t take away the youth''s awkwardness at speaking with the black-haired man again after how their last conversation ended, though. Knowing him, Seth supposed the kid run how and what to talk about in his head repeatedly, only to make everything useless the moment he was standing in front of him.

    Setting that aside, the relentless begging got him fed up, so he ended up agreeing, but on his own terms. He won''t be training Fujimaru. He was going to beat him up, thoroughly. Suppose he learned something from that, good. If not, then go bother someone else. As he said before, his standards were high, and his fellow Master didn''t meet even one of the requirements. However, if he gained something from actual "combat," then it was all okay. Of course, a little vengeance for all the pestering was mixed in there.

    Surprisingly, Fujimaru readily agreed, making him wonder if the kid didn''t have some more than... questionable tendencies. BUT, he was no one to judge, so he didn''t even ask about it.

    Going forward a little, Seth found himself in a desolate part of the island together with Fujimaru, EMIYA, and Zhuge Liang the next day after agreeing. Here, away from prying eyes, would begin the beating of the young kid''s life.

    "Okay, we are ready to go. Just a warning, make sure you don''t hurt him too badly. We all know how that can end up." Archer gave Seth a simple suggestion before they started. He and Caster would work as spectators and give the pointers they could give, seeing as the bastard wasn''t going to give any.

    "Remind me, why are YOU not the one doing this instead of me? If I recall correctly, you could see the history of a weapon and more or less fight like the owner of the said weapon. Why can''t you do something like that instead of bothering me every single minute of the day?" It was clear by his tone of voice that he didn''t wish to be there.

    EMIYA just gave him a smug look, yet he didn''t look all that superior with all the bruises. "To begin one, my battle style doesn''t suit Master as it is very risky for untrained people. Besides, knowing how to wield a weapon doesn''t mean I can teach someone else how to use it. That is outside my expertise."

    "So, me beating him up is somehow better than that? Sure, sure. Sound logic you have right there." The urge to roll his eyes was too strong to resist.

    "U-Uhm... Could you please stop speaking things like those when I am right here?" Fujimaru tried to interject, but Seth''s glare was enough to shut him up.

    "You keep silent. But first, tell me what weapon you want to fight with. However, don''t tell me unrealistic things like a battle-ax or something like that."

    "I agree with him on this, Master. You should think about what weapon would benefit your body more." Zhuge Liang offered his two cents from the sidelines, trying to help Fujimaru with his choice.

    The Japanese youth thought for a bit, but he already had something in mind. It would have to be that, wouldn''t it? "I want to use a katana."

    They were weapons from his home country, and he had seen some action movies regarding their uses, so it should not be that hard as a starting weapon. Of course, fiction and reality were different things, but the basics were still there.

    ''Why am I not surprised...'' If Seth''s unamused face and raised eyebrows were anything to go by, then his choice had been predicted long ago.

    "Whatever. EMIYA, you are like a walking armory. Do you have any wooden ''katanas'' available?"

    Archer''s lips twitched at the given epithet. He was using every opportunity to get back at him, wasn''t he? "I am assuming you mean a bokken, and yes, I have one. Any preferences regarding it, Your Majesty?"

    "Do I really look like I am in the mood to care about names? And yes, give me one larger than normal. And I swear to everything unholy. If you comment on my words, I will use your body as a sword instead." Seth added the last part when he saw Archer''s mouth ready to speak some of his unfunny jokes.

    EMIYA shut himself up even before speaking and just wordlessly projected two wooden swords before throwing them to Fujimaru and Seth, respectively.

    Now he just had to sit back and see how things were going to go. If Seth was a God of War, he should be someone with deep battle knowledge and be able to wield every kind of weapon possible.

    That thinking quickly went down the drain at an abysmal speed.

    Seth was doing random phantom slashes at nothing, looking like a complete amateur. Even when he practiced kendo with his former teacher, he wasn''t this bad. It was seriously making him cringe. Looking at the side, his fellow Servant had most likely the same thinking.

    The worst part was that Fujimaru was looking at the black-haired man as if his technique was so deep it looked simple at first glance. It was too much to watch, so he had to put an end to it.

    "Seth, did you ever wield a katana in your life?"

    "Do I look like a simpleton? Of course, I never wielded one. Swords, in general, are boring and overused. There is no way I have ever touched one in my life." ''...Not exactly me, at least.'' He added in his mind.

    ?

    ". . ."

    ?

    "Then why didn''t you say anything in the first place?!" A retort immediately escaped Archer''s mouth while Caster just shook his head on the side. Meanwhile, Fujimaru reached a new level of awkwardness.

    "Because it is not important, so do me a favor and let me focus." Seth then took his glasses off and threw them to the side without care. They were really annoying to wear, mind you. He then closed his eyes and started his phantom slashes again.

    ''This isn''t it... This isn''t it either... Was it like this? No, no. It was like that...''

    As Seth was having some sort of mystical delusion, Fujimaru just stood there waiting for him to finish, while Zhuge Liang lit up a cigarette to pass the time. EMIYA, however, noticed something that no one else seemed to do.

    After each slash, his posture was becoming better, his technique was getting more polished, and his intent deadlier. All the while maintaining the subtlety of a calm stream. ''This guy... was he lying before? No... those initial movements were indeed those of an amateur, or even worse. Even for a War God, to learn how to use a new weapon out of the blue in just a few minutes is far too much.''

    Also, the white-haired man could have sworn that he saw an image of a different person overlapping with Seth''s for a moment, but nothing was there when he rubbed his eyes. He must have been seeing things, he thought.

    "All right, Caster and Archer, get your a.s.s over here and fight me. I think I got the handle of how to use this." Seth interrupted his musing with something he didn''t expect. He was supposed to bea��train Fujimaru. Why the hell were they being included in all of this?

    "I don''t see how that is going to help. Fighting us will only end up delaying things." Zhuge Liang took the role of speaking what was on his mind, something he agreed with.

    "I told you, didn''t I? It is my first time using this weapon. Unless you want me to injure Fujimaru accidentally, make sure to work as practice dummies for me." His argument left no room for refusal, something that didn''t sit well with the two Servants.

    "Just make sure to be careful, okay? Tomorrow we are departing, and I don''t want to fight with broken bones on me." Archer got here with a broken arm. He didn''t need to return with another one as well, just as it got healed.

    Seth''s only answer was to nod. He wasn''t that stupid to lessen their fighting force. Besides, he was going to face them with a wooden sword. How much damage could he do?

    "Master, get to a safe distance. As for you, how much can you see without the glasses? Safe to say, it wouldn''t do for you to hit him while aiming for us." Caster asked as he released a puff of smoke from his mouth.

    "Imagine a colorful painting, then blur it as much as you can until you can barely distinguish the shapes. That sums it up." Although he couldn''t physically see, he guessed they were looking at him with deadpan expressions. "Relax. I have my other senses to compensate." Seriously, what''s with their trust issues.

    "Forget it, we won''t go anywhere like this," EMIYA said as he materialized his favorite pair of swords. He was secretly glad for this chance to score some hits with an excuse added to the mix. Petty, he knew, but it didn''t make it less satisfying.

    Sighing in resignation, Caster positioned himself on the back. "I will provide support. Just make sure to keep him away from me."

    Nodding to his partner, EMIYA turned to Seth. "Ready when you are. Just don''t blame us if an accident ends up happening. It was your idea, to begin with."

    ''This guy''s intentions are as clear as day... No matter. The real reason I accepted this was to test how my observation skills were after all these years, and I can do it without having to worry about being killed by making a mistake.''

    Closing his eyes, Seth forgot about the rest of the world, only concentrating on his movements. He pulled his right feet backward, grabbed the ''handle'' of the wooden sword with his two hands, and raised it until it reached his shoulders, with the tip pointing straight at his two practice enemies.

    EMIYA narrowed his eyes; that stance seemed all too familiar. Behind him, Zhuge Liang voiced his thoughts. "I am not that well-versed when it comes to these things, but he doesn''t look like someone who is touching a new weapon for the first time."

    True, Archer thought the same way. However, he more than anyone knew that stance, those moves he would probably make, weren''t his. They belonged to someone else. How in the world did he acquire them, and how he was able to replicate them in such a short time, he didn''t know.

    "I am ready." Seth didn''t give EMIYA time to question him as he gave the signal to begin the fight. It seemed he would be getting the answers in the old way.

    Giving a quick look to check if his partner was ready, Archer quickly dashed at Seth, zigzagging to start the fight.

    Seth used the sand to detect his location. That way, he would know where he was attacking from no matter the faint he might try to do. ''All right... If I am not wrong, you did it like this...''

    All of a sudden, the charging EMIYA felt as if death was ready to bite his neck, making him stop dead in his tracks.

    ''Oh shi��'' Before he could even blink, a strong gale hit his body, sending him backward, soon doing the same with Zhuge Liang, who was at the backline, and Fujimaru, albeit to a lesser extent.

    The gale didn''t stop there, razing the landscape with an incredibly destructive force. The author of this, Seth, was just watching with his mouth slightly agape and broken sword in hand. ''What the hell?!''

    The Egyptian God then turned his head to his broken sword before frowning. ''I used more strength than I originally planned, but that slip of control... what was that?''

    At the moment of executing the technique, his mind suddenly was filled with an inexhaustible number of outcomes, possibilities that were endless, infinite. Like searching for a desirable result among a thousand.

    Eternal Arms Mas��

    ''Shut up and let me think.''

    Returning to his musing, Seth felt like what he did was familiar. No, maybe not what he did, but what he caused with that technique. However, no matter how much he thought, he couldn''t reach an answer. ''I better do it again to know for sure. Though now...''

    The black-haired man observed the destruction all around him, making sure that everyone was alive and kicking. Luckily, they were. ''EMIYA still owes me that favor for making me eat that atrocity Saber made, so I will just push the blame on him, not like he can complain. For starters, it was their fault for pestering me.''

    At least he was able to redirect the technique just in time as to not give them any serious injuries, so they will be ready to depart once they have had a good night of sleep. Also, beating Fujimaru up will have to wait until they arrived at Chaldea.

    "Tomorrow is the day, huh..." Seth looked at his hand as he said this. Three orbs of a different color were orbiting around it at a slow pace.

    "I will be leaving his last life to you..."

    ?

    "...Mars."

 Chapter 145 - The Confrontation Draws Near

    After Seth''s little stunt, the black-haired man had to hear complaints from both Archer and Caster due to his recklessness. Of course, they were royally ignored without a second thought. The Egyptian God even used his trump card to make EMIYA forget all about the incident. As for Zhuge Liang, well, a bit of information about his dream got him smiling like he won the lottery. That smile was creepy, though.

    Regarding the last person, a bit of memory manipulation regarding the events was all it took. Seth knew with almost certainty that Fujimaru wouldn''t complain or anything like that, but it was best to make him forget what happened. Just thinking about a clingy kid with stars in his eyes asking for him to teach the technique he performed to him was enough motivation to make Seth erase his memory partially. Needless to say, he never mentioned doing so to the two Servants.

    Fortunately, Fujimaru was not wounded. It was more of some scratches here and there, so Zhuge Liang could use a healing spell to bring him back to normal, aside from his clothes that were a bit tattered. Nothing that a good lie about how he got them that way couldn''t resolve, though.

    ...And as he predicted, the next day, hell almost broke loose when the Chaldeans �� mainly Mash �� saw the state of the two Servants plus Fujimaru. Archer and Caster managed to placate her by saying their Master had fallen into a hole hidden by some bushes before being rescued by them. Their appearance was because they encountered a group of monsters and managed to defeat them after a long battle. EMIYA s.u.c.k.e.d at lying, so Seth, who was aware of this, had to quickly kill some random monsters he found along the way with his new pet''s help to give them to Archer to make his lie more credible. Fortunately, Fujimaru didn''t deny any of this, despite being embarrassed at how he was portrayed as someone clumsy. Seth naturally came way later than them to where they were camping, and from another direction at that. It wouldn''t do to screw the lie they spent so much time working on. Lucky for them, the Chaldeans believed everything easily... or the ones that even cared, to begin with.

    As soon as Seth returned, the first thing he did was check on Asterios. The Minotaur was now adorning both of his arms, just like Medea said he would when she asked him to gather the ingredients. He had to say it; he was slightly impressed with the results. Coming from a mortal, no matter the era they were from, creating a potion able to regenerate limbs was something worth praising.

    Naturally, that wasn''t the end of her work. She did request a great number of materials. It was why it took him two whole days to get them while they relaxed like they were in some resort and whatnot. Medea created potions for almost everyone here. She gave one to each Servant that was to fight in the frontlines. Their main use was to give the user a temporary boost in strength, although it was to be used as a last resort, given that the body would feel stiff after the effects have ended.

    To Fujimaru, she gave him a potion that would make him near immortal. She didn''t mention how, just that it would be tough to kill him unless they really went for it. It was probably a regeneration-type potion that was not pleasant to the eye, and that''s why she didn''t disclose more information. She did say that he was not to abuse it, as the potion used his own cells to work. Seth was not versed in the field of medicine, so he had no idea how that worked.

    As for the others, they seemed to be in perfect condition as well. Drake, who was the only human in the group, excluding Fujimaru and her crew, was also ready to go, proven by the smirk on her face while looking at the vast ocean. As she only used guns to fight, the pink-haired woman only suffered from some minor wounds, courtesy of Theseus'' marine beasts. Safe to say, if she had opted to use her cutlass to fight face to face with someone like Herakles, she wouldn''t be here right now.

    ''Any time now, we should be departing. Since I cursed Herakles, he wouldn''t come to an island under any circ.u.mstances, or he would die. That means they will be waiting for us, most likely at the same location.'' Seth thought, while observing the rest of the people around him from the corner of his eyes.

    Everyone seemed ready to go. It also seemed that Atalanta had completely overcome her shock and gained enlightenment while he was away. She still maintained a considerable distance with Artemis, though. The Goddess'' explanation about how she only wanted to protect her huntresses'' pure love from bad men, instead of men entirely, did little to placate the green-haired woman. Atalanta considered it an excuse to mess around with the plushie in her arms.

    Seth preferred to stay away from them. It wouldn''t be wise to stick his nose into a matter that would, for sure, bring bothersome consequences. He did warn the Huntress the Artemis she thought was nothing like the real person, so he had done more than enough.

    "Fou. Foooou, Fofo. Kyu?" As he was lost in thought, the white squirrel landed on his shoulder. The little animal liked to wander around, so he never saw much of him, almost to the point of forgetting it was even here with them. They also didn''t get along very much due to a conflict in their methodology. That''s why it was kind of surprising when it decided to start a conversation with him.

    If he had to translate what it said roughly, it would be something like, "You are not as fine as you make it seem. Are you sure you are ready to fight?" Yeah, it was surprising the weird squirrel was worrying about him. Though perhaps that worry was not directed at him as much as it was at the others.

    "...If you are speaking about my fall into Beastdom, I got that covered already. Evil of Humanity or not, I''m not too fond of the idea of becoming one unless it is absolutely necessary. Yet, I bet there some entities out there that wish for that to happen, so that they can have the excuse to kill me for good." Seth responded in a low voice enough for only Fou to hear. It wouldn''t do any good for this talk to be heard by others.

    "Fo, Fou..." The white squirrel gave him an unsure look. Seth translated what it said as, "It doesn''t look that way to me..."

    It wasn''t like he didn''t understand where Fou was coming from. His situation was a bit...special, to say the least. That was because, aside from him, another two Beast candidates slept within him. If he didn''t have enough with his own troubles, keeping the other two at bay was not making things easier. "...I can''t do much with one of them. As for the other, I will soon put him to rest. I just wish that can happen after we eradicate our current enemies and not before. Knowing my luck, however, things are not going to go as planned."

    Sighing, Fou repeatedly hit Seth''s cheek with its paw to emphasize his next point. "Fo, Kyu, Fou. Fooou." ...Which Seth translated as "Just make sure not to get the others involved."

    Seriously, if it was a Beast, then it should really start acting like one and stop pestering him about the others'' safety. He knew how to do things; he didn''t need someone to tell him what to do.

    Setting his inner complaints aside, he decided to make his way to Drake''s ship. While he was speaking with Fou, the others had already started making their way over, so only he and a few more were left.

    "Are ya ready, scallywags? It''s time to get revenge on those guys for the beating we took!" What greeted him was Francis'' shout of encouragement to her crewmates, although it came out weird, somehow. Despite that, every pirate responded enthusiastically. That wasn''t to say they weren''t scared, but it went to show just how much influence she had on their minds. In other words, a natural-born leader in her own way.

    Their enthusiasm might not have been transmitted to the Servants, but it surely lightened their worried, if only slightly. It was something Seth watched with approval. He was of the mind that if you went to battle worried or with your mind thinking you might not come back alive, then you already lost. Bad outcomes can occur, but they won''t be because he was scared of the opponent''s strength, that was for sure.

    "I just hope we will not have to search everywhere to find them..." Seth heard a voice coming from behind him, prompting him to look back. Turning around, he saw Stheno, Euryale, and Asterios.

    "It won''t be necessary. If anything, I can at least know where the Leviathan is. They shouldn''t be that far from it." The Egyptian God responded to his surrogate daughter.

    Stheno raised her eyebrow in half amazement and half confusion. "Oh? Do tell how it is that you know? Did you put a tracker in it before sending it to our rescue?"

    "You have a strange sense of humor, but no, I did not. Behemot controls the earth, Leviathan the seas, and Ziz the skies. Although I am not the Ziz from legend, my Griffin form has a striking resemblance to it. As long as I transform, I can know the general location of the other two." He had tried to so before with Behemot with the intent to recruit him. Sadly, much to his misfortune, he was not anywhere in this world, unlike their marine counterpart. The vague possibility of it being on an island somewhere instantly went down the drain the moment he tried. Its power to create landmass would have been handy, such a shame.

    "You are weirdly versatile, aren''t you? Anyway, I have to thank you for taking the trouble of gathering everything Medea needed to heal Asterios." It was Euryale''s turn to speak now. She offered him a pure yet kind smile that conveyed all her feelings. Seth had to admit it felt weird to be on the receiving end of someone''s gratitude, but it was not something unpleasant. Maybe everything he had to do was worth it in the end...

    "Yes... Thank... you. I... grateful." Asterios, as the direct party involved, also gave him his thanks. Now that he was whole again, he could protect Euryale better. This time he wouldn''t be holding back if it meant preserving her safety.

    "Don''t worry, big guy. I quite sympathize with you, so I couldn''t let you feeling all down. By the way, how is the new arm doing? Any trouble moving it?" Seth asked, receiving a nod from the Minotaur in response. Although it hard at first, he quickly got used to it and could now move it as he did before with the previous one.

    "We should board for now. This place is giving me bad vibes. A few days here were more than enough." Stheno said while climbing nimbly on top of Seth''s shoulders.

    ''If you are complaining and you only spent a few days here, imagine me who had to recover inside a dungeon.'' Seth thought in exasperation. It was a nightmare for him, as well. Still, Stheno was right. The faster they departed, the faster they would get everything done. And there was much, MUCH to be done.

    With that in mind, Seth silently boarded the ship together with the other three. Not long after they did so, Drake finally gave the order to depart. It was time for round two now.

    Depending on who they fought first, the Egyptian God would have to fight as a Rider Hero or as an Assassin Villain. Be that as it may, one thing was clear. Gaia was going to cry.

 Chapter 146 - The True First Hero

    ''Damn it, damn it, damn it! We were so close! Are the Fates conspiring against me or something?!'' Somewhere far away from the Chaldeans, on a ship sailing through a heavy storm �� that luckily had stopped its downpour on them for a few moments ��, a blond man dressed in a not-so-fancy white tunic complained about the recent events. This man was Jason, someone who assembled a crew made of some of the most famous Greek Heroes at that time, the Argonauts. He was also the current enemy of the group.

    His bad mood had to do with the fact that they failed to capture the Goddess they needed. What''s more, there were two of them! It is unbelievable they couldn''t get a single one. How was this possible?!

    Hahhh... How he missed the old days. His crew then was competent, able to respond to any type of situation that could arise. Now? Now, although he had some of the originals, his crew was composed of useless retards.

    "Can you please show me more of those creatures?"

    "Please, lady. I have a hard time already controlling the Leviathan, and even then, I can only give simple orders. Could you please stop asking me that question over and over again?"

    "I am only asking in the name of science. You can exert yourself a bit with that in mind, can you not? Besides, I was always a woman who thought that knowledge could be better obtained from animal lifeforms, even if my current state suggests otherwise."

    He stood corrected. They weren''t just useless retards. They were annoying, loud, useless retards.

    ''Ah...what did I do wrong...? My original crew would have been perfect. The only one I can count on is Herakles, and he apparently got a curse inflicted upon him...'' He was lucky enough to have those feeble Servants come right into his palm, only for it to be a complete failure. Hektor was the most useless of all. He went and died without having much to show for it after they went through the trouble of resummoning him. At least Herakles was able to kill that woman. She was the one that provided them with the most trouble of all, but now she was dead, so it was a cause for celebration. No matter where they ran to, Jason was sure they wouldn''t get someone as strong as her. With that in mind, he could relax and already celebrate his victory. The blond-haired man wasn''t worried about them not coming back. After all, they needed to defeat him if they wanted to succeed in their quest. Sooner or later, they would have to fight again.

    "...And then there is that woman... Why did it have to be her? Pollux would have been so much better... even with her siscon of a brother." Jason muttered his complaints to himself, not knowing how to deal with the current situation. It creeped him out.

    "Did you say something, Lord Jason?"

    "��Gyah?!" Jason uttered a cry in a not-very-manly voice after hearing someone suddenly speaking behind him.

    "Me-Medea?! What... What are you doing here? Ne-Nevermind that. Were you listening to what I was saying?! I... I mean, to what do I owe the p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e of having your company here? The rain will resume soon, so you should go inside as to not get wet." Quickly recomposing himself, Jason tried to distract his wife''s younger version from his talk with himself earlier. Being honest with himself, he was terrified of her. Good thing she wasn''t aware of the events that happened in her late years.

    If only he knew...

    The young Medea blushed as if touched by his concern about her. "I am happy you are concerned about me, lord Jason, but you don''t have to trouble yourself with my well-being. I am more worried about your safety."

    The Argonaut just mustered the most charming smile he could give. It wouldn''t end well for him if he ended on her bad side. She might act all bashful and cute, but that didn''t change what she had become. "Your words make me the happiest man in the world, my little Medea. However, as you can see, there is nothing to fret about. Our victory is assured. We already saw that not even one of the Twelve Olympians could do something about Herakles'' might. As long as we have him, nothing can stand in our way. Not even that other God you are so wary of."

    Caster gave a cute little pout in response to his nonchalance attitude. "He was able to negate my Noble Phantasm''s effects. Naturally, I would be wary of him. What if lord Jason ends up hurt, and I can''t heal you?"

    "That is why I will just be commanding from the backline. That way, I will not be getting hurt at all. But if you feel that strongly against it, we can test the waters for now." His face of reassurance soon turned to the bickering duo from before, instantly morphing into one of annoyance.

    "Oi, Thesus, send that big snake after them. Order it to go wild and sink their ship if necessary." His voice was loud and clear, carrying the strength of a natural-born leader, one that commanded respect.

    Theseus was a green-haired man wearing simple armor. It was so simple that it looked like it would not block even a single arrow from a common Archer. However, those that thought so couldn''t be more wrong. After all, looks could be deceiving. More so when it came to Greek Heroes.

    The man turned to Jason. He was internally frowning, but outwardly he just scratched the back of his head while nodding wrily. ''Tch. What bad timing. I have noticed the beast looking somewhere for a while now. They must be already on their way. Sigh... As they say, the stars favor the fool. I am sorry, Asterios, but I can''t do much about this. Jason will order Herakles to kill me if he knows I am not on their side. Seeing how things are, I can help you way more by being alive than dead.''

    "Sure thing, Captain. Though, I am not responsible if this ends up failing." Coincidentally, he wanted just that to happen. If the other God beside Artemis was able to command the Leviathan to rescue Asterios and others, then he might erase his control over it. Unfortunately, he couldn''t just do that himself, as he was sure Medea was observing every single one of his moves. That little schemer may fool others, but he was well-aware of her true nature. The crazy scientist was the same as him. She acted like a stereotypical researcher in a place where everything was new and unknown, but Theseus knew she was very clever, enough to know things that not even people like them would. If he had to say who Medea was the wariest of, it was her. After all, who said that she wouldn''t betray them and side with humanity, something that, in theory, should be the normal thing to do? And if there was one thing he was sure of, it was that he didn''t want to have her as an enemy.

    "It doesn''t matter, just make it go wild," Jason ordered before noticing the rain starting to fall again. With nothing left to do, he quickly went to his cabin. He wanted to get away from this crazy woman as soon as possible.

    Medea followed suit, as well as did Darwin. They each went to their respective rooms while leaving Theseus alone with Herakles, who was silently approached the former.

    "It must be hard for you, cousin. Torn between what is right and maintaining a friendship with a fool." Theseus said to the hulking figure behind him. He had just given the Leviathan the mental order to attack the Chaldeans, so he had nothing to do. Being the son of Poseidon, the rain didn''t bother him. As for Herakles... Well, nothing seemed to be able to change his countenance.

    The only response he got was an animalistic grunt. It was not like he expected anything else, though. "As for me, I am in a similar situation, just that the fool is a likable one. That said... I can''t help but feel something extremely bad is going to happen. At that moment, I will change sides without hesitation."

    He was not worried about Medea hearing him, as the rain masked his voice perfectly.

    "However... Herakles... One thing I can say for sure. The ocean is afraid. Someone��some... thing is going to disrupt the calmness of this world very soon. And it has its eyes on you." Theseus calmly said, uncaring for what his cousin might have to say.

    "...But of course, you already know that, don''t you?" Rider turned his face to look at Berserker. The man himself was just staring at Theseus impassively, but even then, the King of Athens was able to detect a slight narrowing of his strange eyes.

    "When you see a snake on the road, you take the long way around it. You just don''t poke it with a stick. Now, that snake is coming to bite us, and its venom is enough to poison the world. Let''s see if we can get out alive from this. My expectations aren''t the highest, sadly." Theseus said while lightly tapping Herakles'' arm.

    Being a hero s.u.c.k.e.d. You always had to face the impossible and somehow are expected to come out victorious. He didn''t think it would be the outcome this time.

    ������������������������������������������������������������

    "Are you sure this is the right direction? I don''t want to sound skeptical, but I need something more plausible than ''just a feeling'' to set a course." Drake asked Seth, who had just transformed back to his human form after locating the Leviathan. He had been doing this periodically to prevent any miscalculations.

    "You are fighting dead people, fought a God before, have two of those in your crew, have seen people doing stuff out of fantasy for the common folk, and you have trouble believing this?" Seth asked back with raised eyebrows. He had expected her to have come to terms with things like these that were so far from common sense.

    "You''ve got a point. Still..." Drake seemed unsure. Honestly, she and the scallywags were already tired of the continuous fighting against crazy powerful people. She didn''t want to waste time in an aimless search.

    Seth responded after a quick sigh. When talking to dumb people, you had to say dumb things for them to understand. "Think of it as your ability to sense treasures nearby. It is something like that."

    "Oh! You should''ve said so before! It wasn''t that hard to go for that first, right?" She had the gals to laugh. It was at times like these where he wondered if humanity was worth saving.

    "...Forget it. Just go in that direction, though be prepared for immediate confrontation. It wouldn''t do for the ship to break in open waters." The option of Leviathan attacking from under them was there. Being ready for that outcome wouldn''t hurt anyone.

    "I know. Honestly, you are acting more like a captain than I do." She joked a bit. If the journey was going to be arduous and long, she must as well have some fun while they were at it.

    "Hmph. I am just speaking from experience. You always need to be alert in this kind of job." Seth stated while looking at the sea. While it looked calm now, he was sure that wouldn''t last long.

    "I am sorry, but I was never one to know history unless it involved treasure, so unlike your companions, I don''t know much about you. Speaking of them, shouldn''t you be thinking of a way to fight? Even I recognize the importance of teamwork." Francis said while resting her hands and chin over the helm, seemingly tired.

    "This is different. There will be no teamwork, no ganging up, or whatever. I will be personally taking care of it and only me." His matter-of-factly answer surprised Drake, proven by her raised eyebrows and confused look.

    "Don''t take this as me doubting your skills, but I feel like you would have a better chance of going against that thing if we all worked together. I have seen that beast in action. It took care of all the monsters that we were having so much trouble dealing with single-handedly. I don''t think it''s something you can face on your own." A short sound of amus.e.m.e.nt escaped Seth''s mouth at her words. It wasn''t like he didn''t understand her concerns, but just one capable man could do what hundred incapable ones could not. He had always believed in that philosophy. More so in this case.

    "It is not a question of skill. You can say it is a question of principle. I don''t expect you to understand; I never expect anyone to do so. Sometimes there is more than winning or losing, than living or dying." The Egyptian God said, turning to meet her blue orbs.

    The Pirate Queen just scratched the back of her head with an exasperated expression. "Honestly, why men always have to say the most complicated stuff."

    "Kids never understand what a.d.u.l.ts say. Once you are on your death bed, you can ask me again. Maybe by that time, you would have matured enough to get what I am saying." The Egyptian God said monotonously. Sometimes he wondered why did he bother to explain things if it always turned out this way.

    Francis'' eyes widened, and her mouth followed suit. "Y-You... What did you say?"

    "Huh? Unless you are deaf, there is no meaning for that. I am not going to repeat it." Seth didn''t understand what got to her all of a sudden. But then again, women were known for having mood swings out of nowhere. Only he knows how he had suffered for thousands of years due to that exactly.

    "Do you know of some man named Thomas Garret?!" If it weren''t for his face that said ''come closer, and you meet the sharks, '' she would have already grabbed his collar to ask that question.

    "What''s with that suddenly? You are asking an Egyptian if he knows someone with an English name? Where is the logic on that? Though... for some odd reason, now that you said it. The name does sound familiar." It was strange. He didn''t have any recollection of meeting some with that name��oh... So it was like that. Now it all made sense.

    Repeating the name over and over again made some memories resurface��one of an older man who had no family, alone forever in the world. The only comfort came in the form of a young kid who he had come to regard as a successor to his dreams.

    ''But he was a boy, though...'' That or he was just a tomboy girl. And looking at the woman in front of him, the theory seemed plausible enough.

    "Now that I think about it, he was the one that gave you your first ship, wasn''t he? One that looked the same as the one I was carving." Before he deleted those memories into oblivion, he would use them a bit.

    "Yes, yes! That''s the one! So you do know him after all!" Drake got all excited. She had her doubts before but now was glad that she wasn''t wrong in her assessment.

    "You have a question you would have liked to ask him, don''t you?" Seth seemed to have gotten it right, as the pink-haired woman instantly went down.

    "Yeah... I just wanted to ask him if he��"

    "Save it for later. If fate wishes for it, you will get your answer. We have company." The Egyptian God said while looking forward. Although he could not technically see, he could still feel a massive figure rising above the waters. ''He is not even bothering to sneak attack us... Talk about confidence.''

    Drake wanted to protest, but the sudden cry of his crew took all of her attention. They seemed to be panicking big time. She couldn''t blame them, though. Keeping a heart of steel in front of that monster was not an easy thing.

    Luckily for her, most of the Servants on the ship have already taken their position on strategic locations to attack better and to prevent any damage to the ship. However, they didn''t have the confidence to achieve the latter with total success.

    "Even if it was momentarily, having it as an ally was reassuring. Now though... It is giving me the chills." Sanson commented while positioning his sword defensively. As much as he hated to admit it, this was not a battlefield for him. Their ranged Servants would be the one in the spotlight today.

    "Thy reaction is not unfounded, executioner. However, a beast is still a beast��one that we must hunt." Atalanta said while nocking an arrow on her bow, ready to shoot at a moment''s notice.

    "Kyah! Atalanta is so cool, darling! Did you see it?!" If anything, Artemis'' easy-going attitude worked to lighten the pressure they were feeling. Sadly, her Huntress ignored the remark. She was too embarrassed even to react. If she had had actual parents, she felt this was what it was like to not wanting to be seen with them.

    "Please stay behind me, Master. This is about to get dangerous." Mash was also ready for combat, but her priority �� as always �� was to see that her Senpai didn''t get too close to danger.

    Fujimaru nodded, already knowing how this worked. Honestly, he was scared. Anyone would when a giant snake stared at you as if you were its dinner. However, having dependable Servants by his side helped in calming him down.

    "...I want to go home." Others didn''t meet that criteria, though. Stheno seemed to want to be anywhere, but this place right now. She was NOT a fighting-type Servant. There was nothing she could do here.

    "Don''t worry. You don''t have to do anything. I will take care of it." Seth appeared on the main deck behind them with words that surprised the ones present. Nevertheless, Stheno was thrilled.

    "As expected of Papa! You sure know how to keep your daughter away from danger!" If Seth''s twitching lips were anything to go by, he didn''t buy her cute act. Even Euryale next to her had a wry smile on her face. Sometimes her sister could be shameless beyond belief.

    "Wait, wait, wait. Don''t be reckless. God or not, that is the beast of the legendary class. Going against it by yourself is suicide!" EMIYA tried to be the voice of reason, but that didn''t work to deter Seth from his objective.

    "I wasn''t asking for your opinion." There were times where he could stand Archer''s bullshit, but now was not one of them. Besides, the Leviathan was not going to wait forever. He could feel his intentions, and they all screamed rage, murder, and most importantly, pain.

    "Are you sure you can win? We are not at the peak of our powers, you know~?" Artemis touched her cheek with her index finger while tilting her head. It seemed Seth was in ''God mode,'' meaning he would do whatever he wanted without bothering to listen to everyone around him.

    "It does not matter. It''s my job, after all." After saying that, he started advancing toward the front. Nobody tried to stop it.

    There was... something. It spoke to them on a conceptual level. It was hard for them to explain, but if they had to put it into words, it would be like a feeling of security, that everything would be okay.

    Funnily enough, the first to understand it was Fujimaru. If he had to describe what Seth looked like to him now, he wouldn''t use words like God or murderer. They wouldn''t do him justice.

    As Seth advanced, one by one, all came to the same realization. His words were not boasting; they were not arrogant in nature. Since ancient times, people like him were always alone in the face of danger, so they could not be any of that.

    Eventually, the black-haired man reached the bowsprit in the midst of the widening eyes of the Servants present.

    His figure and the Leviathan''s soon juxtapositioned themselves to those of an animal God with the Sun at his back against a Serpent with incredible length. His spear was his greatest weapon, and his body his greatest shield.

    ??

    They couldn''t see more than that, but it was already enough to reach a conclusion. As Servants��as Heroic Spirits, it was a natural one.

    ??

    Materializing his trusted weapon, Seth locked eyes with the monster in front of him.

    ??

    Even before Humanity had that concept.

    ??

    ''Apophis... I couldn''t save you. I killed you without knowing the person who had helped me since I was young was the same I battled every night.''

    ??

    Even before Humanity was created.?

    ??

    ''The one in front of me might not be you... but as one of your descendants, I will promise this...''

    ?

    He had already been...

    ?

    ''I will save him!''

    ?

    ...A Hero.

 Chapter 147 - Hero VS Monster (1)

    Seth observed the marine beast in front of him, focusing on it and nothing else. Up until now, they have had a relationship of ''business partners''. So, it was not reasonable to do something as troublesome as saving it. Thinking logically, it could be controlled once again, making his efforts go to waste. There was also the incessant complaining of the other him. He has had some... story with the Leviathan, so he wasn''t keen to help. Seth wondered why he acted like that if he was the one to face it, not him. Leaving that aside, and finally, there was also the risk of facing the monster for more time than necessary. The more they fought, the higher the chances of an accident happening to those behind him.

    Indeed, killing it would be the best option. However... as a Hero, he would be egoistic. He would not worry about their relationship, about possible outcomes, about what that stupid side of his felt, and above all, he would not worry about failure.

    If he didn''t have trust in his own abilities, then he might as well go home. Besides, it was not like he didn''t have an advantage��quite the contrary. Fighting a serpentkind on top of a vessel gave him an enormous boost, and it was precisely where his new Noble Phantasm shined.

    It was still a nameless one. That made it so that its capacities were not completed. Even the ones it had, he didn''t know all of them. As for why the name was not revealed to him... he had a pretty good idea. It was not something like Mash, where she didn''t know the name of the Heroic Spirits whose powers she was using. His case was more akin to a contraction. A consequence due to ''failing'' on his job. After all, a Hero who abandons what he is supposed to protect isn''t much of a Hero...

    Until that situation was resolved, the Noble Phantasm would remain nameless. It was a hard reality, but one he had come to accept as natural. Nevertheless, what he had available was enough. That said, he would need a little help for this.

    ''Let''s see if I am still on Gaia''s good side. A little payment in advance wouldn''t hurt her, I suppose.'' Slowly and little by little, Seth let go of his restrains, getting him closer to full Divinity with each passing moment. His hair also turned redder with it, returning to its original color.

    The amount of Divinity he could reach was not even close to the original he had as a God, but it did surpass what the World allowed him. That''s why he had to take it slow and not make a mistake by trying to force things.

    Of course, there was no way the Leviathan would wait. The moment it sensed Seth''s threat level increasing inside its mind, it released a booming roar that made the ocean quake as if it was the earth.

    The Egyptian God saw how water started congregating around its mouth at a fast pace in the shape of a ball. Judging by the size, it was enough to blow the whole ship without any trouble, and Dr. Roman, who was checking the energy reading, knew exactly that.

    "Be careful! If you get hit by that, you are done for. Hurry up and take cover!" Naturally, his warning was not for Seth but everyone else. He knew it would take more than that to kill him. However, the same could not be said about the rest. Some might end up more injured than others, but no human would survive, including their human Master.

    Needless to say, the people in question didn''t need to be warned. It was not like they would wait and let themselves be hit by that.

    ''Shut up for a second, Romani. I told you I was going to take care of it, and that includes protecting the ones behind me.'' Before the Servants could attack the mythological beast to attempt to disrupt his incoming assault, Seth pointed his free palm at it. Immediately, a wave of red fire, different from the usual black, shot toward the Leviathan just as it released its attack.

    Looking at the sizes, it was like seeing a bullet going against a cannonball. Logically, there was no way that Seth''s attack could win, more so with this Singularity restricting his Fire Authority. When you paired that with the Leviathan being in their domain, then the battle seemed to be a lost one before it even began.

    And yet... that was what it meant to be a Hero. To go against impossible odds and still come out victorious. Besides, it wouldn''t do for the bane of every serpent in the world to lose against one.

    Same as with every Servant who received a rank up when they were in their native land, some also received a boost when they did something similar to what their legend told.

    Seth was not a Servant, despite possessing Skills and Noble Phantasms, so he didn''t get any of those boosts to his overall strength. But, it was precisely because he possessed Noble Phantasms that he could overcome an originally bad situation. Particularly his new one.

    Its first effect took action instantly. When the attacks clashed, they created a sound wave that traveled in every direction. The impact soon generated steam due to the collision between fire and water, but as the Leviathan''s attack had a bigger area, it bypassed Seth''s.

    To the rest present, it looked as if water meteorites were raining down upon them, ready to sink the Golden Hind and them with it. It surely looked like they would have no choice but to fight as well.

    As Archers and those who could eliminate the threat before it landed, EMIYA, Atalanta, Euryale, and Artemis readied their bow to shoot the falling assault before it could harm the ship. Despite their situation, the Goddess also turned her gaze toward Seth''s direction for a second. He was still on a standstill against the Leviathan''s attack. However, even though she only saw his back, he didn''t give her the impression that he was worried about them, much less panicked. She didn''t expect him to, but that indifference was strange.

    It was then that it clicked to her. Although she didn''t know him personally, his feats were not unknown to beings like her. Every night, for who knows how many years, he had been doing something like this. The confidence of having done so repeatedly was what brought forth that sense of detachment to others.

    She seemed to have forgotten who he was. Seth was not the type of Hero who would smile reassuringly at you and tell you that everything would be okay. No, quite the contrary. He would only show his back to you and let his actions speak for themselves. He was not someone acclaimed by the masses. He was that silent-type whose actions were only known by few, and so he faded in the background without any importance to mortals outside of his own Pantheon.

    Her theory was proven correct when the remains of the Leviathan''s first attack suddenly turned toward Seth as if they were mentally controlled.

    Everything, absolutely everything with the intention of harming what he was protecting, would be redirected to him. Additionally, if his object of protection was harmed in some way even a millisecond after the Noble Phantasm''s activation, then the damage is transferred to Seth instead, although that damage would be lower due to its second effect. Furthermore, if someone is killed, he can give up one of his Authorities to turn back time and negate it. That was only the beginning of his new Noble Phantasm, one that he considered the most powerful in his repertory, even if it was incomplete.

    Heroes always had unreasonable powers, so it didn''t come as a surprise that only its first effect would be this monstrous. If he were to be summoned as a Rider, his Hero aspect, then this would be one of the only two Noble Phantasms available to him, and the one representing him at his strongest.

    Even Seth believed that it was too much. ''Like Student, like Teacher.'' He thought the first time he noticed its effects. Nevertheless, it was also true that the demerits were quite high to balance it a bit.

    Now, though, the demerits didn''t matter. What mattered was its handy first effect to redirect everything back to him. That way, he would not need to split his attention to see that no one was harmed.

    Still keeping sending fire with his free palm to his opponent''s ceaseless attack, Seth used his other hand to deflect the incoming attacks from his back with his spear. Some managed to slip by him simply due to the angle they were coming from, hitting on his back. Even so, the black-haired man didn''t even utter a grunt of pain. The second effect of greatly increasing his resistance as long as he was on a vessel was doing a great job minimizing the damage.

    To him, it might not look like much, but to others, it was a motive to frown. Defending them to the point of harming himself in their stead didn''t suit with the Servants present. Call it the pride of a Heroic Spirit or whatever, but they still didn''t like it. However, if there was one that liked it less than everyone else here, it would be EMIYA. The Red Bowman couldn''t help but click his tongue in annoyance. Right now, Seth''s actions reminded him too much of his former self, just that without the "I want to be a Hero of Justice" dream.

    They didn''t understand. What was the reason to want to do all of this on his own? Was it to show off? Or was it his way of saying they were weak to face an enemy of this caliber, perhaps? Or maybe he just lost all the trust he had in them for their previous defeat. Be that as it may, they were not happy at all. The worst of all was this sense of security taking root and growing steadily and slowly inside their minds and hearts. It was like a mental corruption Skill that took all of their d.e.s.i.r.e to fight, only leaving a d.e.s.i.r.e to be protected instead.

    It was then that it happened. As if the beast itself heard their dissatisfaction, it stopped with its attack and submerged under the water, leaving Seth''s attack to hit empty air.

    The Egyptian God frowned, not understanding what the Leviathan was trying to do. A few seconds passed, then a minute when finally something happened. Giant whales, island turtles, and many weird creatures that were a mix between mammals and fish emerged from the ocean together with their King. They were surrounding the ship from all sides, leaving no escape route.

    On normal circ.u.mstances, the Leviathan would keep pushing his attack until it came out winning the confrontation or would use the rest of his body to destroy the ship while Seth was busy countering his water attack. Now, however, his mindless state of fury didn''t allow for rational thinking, leaving only instinct to go by. And when a beast without intelligence is frustrated at not winning a fight, it would call for backup if possible. As one of the Rulers of this ocean, it was only natural to have other weaker marine monsters at his beck and call.

    ''Fire won''t work against this many. I will have to use lightning, but my spear is necessary to point the direction, so it will leave me wide-open... It works, I guess. As long as the others are risk-free.'' Just as Seth was preparing to summon a big enough thundercloud to roast every monster except the Leviathan, a sudden voice caught his attention.

    "Stop right there!" Atalanta''s shout echoed throughout the ship. Oddly enough, they showed no surprise, as if it was something agreed on beforehand.

    Seth didn''t turn his head, but Atalanta knew he was listening. Her shout had been pretty loud, after all. "I sympathize and even admire thy courage and will to protect us at all costs. However, as Heroes ourselves, we cannot merely stand and do nothing."

    "..."

    No answer came from Seth. His only reaction was to keep using his Authority to increase the stormcloud size.

    Artemis gazed with a little sadness at her Huntress. She was using the wrong approach. Although history tried to paint it as if sometimes he was helped by other Gods against Apophis, the truth was that at the moment of facing the World-Eater, they all cowered without a second thought, leaving him to do all the job in repelling the serpent as always. It was not that Seth didn''t trust them; it was just that he had bad experiences with ''helpers'' before. To him, this was a job only he could do, and nothing was going to change his mind. Yet, that stubbornness didn''t mean he wasn''t right with that self-assumption. The Goddess caught on quickly that Seth was not planning on killing the Leviathan. There were many ways to go about killing it in a more efficient way than he was doing, and she was sure that he knew it too, so that meant it was not his objective.

    Precisely because she understood this, that she understood this was more than a simple ''job'' to him, Artemis decided to help her Huntress, as well as the others that shared her thoughts. "Seth, listen to me. You go and fight the Leviathan until it comes to its senses. We will take care of the other monsters. Your only task is to defend us from it and no one else. Can you do that?"

    "You want me... to only focus on the Leviathan?" Seth stopped what he was doing, turning his face to Artemis. His voice sounded... strange. Almost as if he could not understand what she was saying.

    ''As I thought. The more he is in that state; the more his d.e.s.i.r.e to protect gets to the point of making him similar to us Greeks.'' Artemis frowned internally but outwardly nodded. "That''s right. You have fun protecting us against it, mkay? Leave the rest to us."

    Seth stared at her for a few seconds, his lackl.u.s.ter eyes barely blinking. However, in the end, he nodded, accepting her request. "I understand. I will protect you against it."

    The black-haired man stopped using his Authority but still kept the stormcloud just in case. He then returned his attention to the Leviathan, who seemed to be patiently waiting for him. ''You... want to be rescued, don''t you? Leave it to me.''

    Amidst the rage, amidst the pain. It was clear that the marine creature was still struggling to break free from Theseus'' mind control. It instinctively knew Seth was its ticket to safety, so there was some reluctance to harm him. However, that would not last long, not as the battle continued.

    Meanwhile, Artemis happily smiled while doing a victory sign to the others. Inwardly, though, she sighed. ''Yep, he didn''t even comment on us taking care of the small fry. He is definitely only focused on his duty.''

    The others smiled back at her. They had to admit it; she was useful when she wanted to be.

    Every Servant got ready to fight the underlings of the Leviathan with all their might. After all, as Heroic Spirit themselves, they didn''t want to lose on this thing of being a Hero.

 Chapter 148 - Hero VS Monster (2)

    Every Servant was ready to clash against the horde of monsters. The said monsters were lying in wait for their King''s instructions. However, the Heroic Spirits aboard the ship didn''t have to do so. In fact, they were in a hurry to begin and show the pride they had as the last bastion of humanity. It was borderline pathetic to have a God show them how to do it. Naturally, those of Divine nature or those considered Anti-Heroes had a different reason to fight, but they all could agree on something: They did not wish to let Seth do all the work. They might have not the same motives for that, yet it was true that was what occupied their minds.

    Medea was the first to move. She had been secretly setting up a Bounded Field around the ship since the fight between Seth and the Leviathan began. It was only thanks to the beast''s temporary retreat that she had been able to complete it. With all the monsters around them, there''s no telling what might happen to the only platform they could stand on. Against creatures who lived in the sea, if that happened, then they would be screwed.

    Artemis could use Orion''s powers to walk on water, and she could use her cape to fly, but the others... they were not that lucky. It went without saying that she could use a spell to create invisible platforms under them, but that was a terrible strain on her mind. If you counted every Servant and pirate, then you ended up with a lot of people. It was a number she did not want to deal with at all.

    For now, what she had to do was help those that couldn''t get close without risking falling on the water. Those included every melee fighter��still not a good number, but an acceptable one nonetheless.

    As Medea was preparing to help her fellow Servants, Seth was ready to fight with the Leviathan again. For now, he would trust they could keep themselves safe. However, if he saw that they were in trouble, he would intervene.

    Dematerializing his spear, the red-haired man jumped off the ship toward the marine beast in front of him. The said monster roared and charged to meet the incoming challenge.

    Seth immediately infused both his hands with fire and punched the beat on its snout, creating a resounding boom and forcing his adversary to recoil back. After some thinking, the Egyptian God decided the best way to bring the Leviathan back to normal was to subdue it. Safe to say, it would not be him just punching it, and that was it. With every hit, he would use his Trickery Authority to overwrite the mind-control done to it.

    Still, there was no way a beast who only relied on instinct and was getting threatened would stand by doing nothing and let itself be used as a punching bag.

    With another mighty roar, the Leviathan stopped his body from keep moving backward, and in an impressive display of speed unbecoming of its size, it swam toward Seth with clear ill intent.

    The Egyptian God put his arms in a cross shape in hopes of defending, but it did little to help him. As if all his resistance was meaningless, a ''simple'' headbutt was all it took for him to be sent flying back. It was only by some miracle that he didn''t damage the masts of the ship.

    To others, it looked as if a shooting star had passed only a few meters above their heads. It was all surreal. Fujimaru, who was the only one who could allow himself to be distracted in battle, watched worriedly, wondering what his fate might have been. Yes, their conversation got a little... heated, but nothing has changed between them, in his opinion. The Japanese youth still saw Seth as an older figure that he could rely on, kind of like a brother. Although knowing what he did to his blood one, it was best not to mention it. At least to him, it was still a hard fact to get over.

    "Don''t worry. He will be fine. You just need to focus on analyzing the battle as any good commander would do, Master." EMIYA, who was next to him, said. He was firing arrow after arrow while Asterios on his side of the ship kept the monsters at bay.

    Fujimaru nodded at his Servant, though not without giving one last look to Seth''s direction.

    ''Urgh... He sure hits hard. But at least I got out of my trance thanks to it. Honestly, why everything I get has to be so defective?'' Seth couldn''t help but lament inside his mind as he kept bouncing on the water like a stone thrown in a pond.

    ''You make the best use of what you get. I told you to kill it instead of going through all this trouble, but you insisted on this charade. Now f.u.c.k.i.n.g deal with it.''

    ''Not helping, ''Almighty''.''

    ''Not trying to. Just leave the body in usable conditions, or I will be looking as pathetic as you.''

    D.i.c.k.

    Why did he bother to speak if everything he was going to say was meaningless? Talk about appearing only to annoy others.

    A sigh escaped his lips as he backflipped to stabilize himself, though he still traveled some distance more due to the kinetic force. As he was sliding on the water, the red-haired man took a moment to look at his arms. They were in pretty bad shape, that was for sure. Half of his forearms were dangling like pendulums, only being kept in place thanks to some muscle tissue. He could also feel some liquid dripping down his face, so his head was most likely bleeding as well.

    ''And the glasses are fine by some miraculous event. This is making less sense each passing day.'' If there was something to be thankful for, it was that his regeneration was starting to kick in. The bad thing was that it was being slow, and going by the large shadow below that kept following him, he wouldn''t even have the time to do much.

    First, though, he needed to come to a stop. Materializing his wings, Seth extended them to resist the wind and finally pause his sliding, just in time for the Leviathan to jump out of the water just some meters in front of him with its mouth open. Water was converging in it, seemingly ready to shoot Seth to the stars.

    The Egyptian God came to a decision at that moment. If he couldn''t use his fists, then he would use his legs.

    Taking advantage of the storm clouds he had left up in the sky before, he raised his leg and immediately made a thunderbolt strike it, momentarily coating it in lightning. At the same time, fire started surrounding it as well in a spiral.

    Without delay, Seth brought his leg down into an ax kick at the same time the Leviathan released its attack.

    Instead of creating an explosion like their previous clash, the marine beast''s water simply evaporated, allowing the red-haired man''s kick to connect with its lower jaw. The hit was so strong that its head dived face down to the ocean floor at an incredible speed, leaving an awkward Seth behind. ''It has been some time since I fused two Authorities together. Guess I went overboard.''

    He knew it would not be near enough to kill it, but it must have damaged it pretty badly. The drawback in his actions was his rigid leg. Nothing big, though.

    Seth just wished the giant beast would stay a little knocked out for some seconds. Maybe that way he would reset or something. Who knows, maybe that hit was enough to snap the monster out of it. Kind of like its headbutt did with him.

    Clearing those thoughts out of his mind, Seth flapped his wings and took flight. Being in the air would prevent him from receiving a surprise attack, not to mention that it would give him the room to heal his arms without worrying.

    The Egyptian God then turned his head in the direction of the Golden''s Hind. They were just barely on his detection range, which meant that the Leviathan''s little stunt separated him a great deal from the others. ''That old, nagging feeling seems to be tingling. Sigh... Being a Hero sucks big time.''

    If all his complaints in the last minutes were anything to go by, then using his Noble Phantasm also put him in a bad mood. Probably a result of the bad memories that were appearing inside his mind without his intention.

    In the middle of his thoughts, an abrupt quake in the ocean shifts his attention to the waters below. The ocean seemed to be immensely angry. Waves went up and down, higher and more chaotic with each time.

    Seth could practically feel the rage the Leviathan was feeling at the moment from up above. "I pissed him off, didn''t I?"

    His answer was a water cannon so fast it shot him down without him being able to respond. It didn''t end there, though. As he was falling, multiple versions of the previous attack rained upon his form without mercy.

    The assault continued until Seth finally touched the water. However, that didn''t mean the Leviathan was over. Rapidly closing on his sinking figure, the apocalypse beast opened its mouth and swallowed him whole.

    "You... are free now, aren''t you?" Seth asked from inside its mouth. He was digging his nails into the tongue of the monsters to prevent the unpleasant experience of ending in its stomach. Overall, he looked like shit. Just when he regenerated both his arms, the Leviathan made one go instantly limp. Not to mention all the cutting wounds on his body from the pressurized water, shredding his clothes in various parts as well.

    He had noticed it just now. Before, he could only hear jumbled cries of rage and pain. It wasn''t like that had changed, but now those cries looked more "sane," so to say.

    If before he was angry and suffering at the mind-control done to him, now he was pissed at him for damaging it to the extent where the scales on the lower side of his mouth were all torn up, with some of them incrusted under his skin like knives.

    Seth got no answer, or rather, he only got a roar in response that nearly burst his eardrums thanks to the close proximity, not to mention the water that entered its mouth when it did so. If he didn''t do something, he would end up drowning or simply being snake''s food.

    As he was holding his breath, the red-haired man noticed through the Leviathan''s tongue, the contraction of the muscle of his mouth. Now that could mean two things: or he was ready to swallow, or they were going deeper into the ocean. Either of those were bad for him, so he had to act fast.

    ''My regeneration won''t be up in time. Poseidon is still exerting its influence over this Singularity even if he is dead. In that case...'' If he could sigh, he would do it an innumerable number of times right now. He said he was going to stop holding back with his abilities, but he was still apprehensive about ''his'' ones.

    It was an important doubt that he would think hard about if it was really worth it in normal circ.u.mstances. Many questions would pop up inside his head to make him formulate a clear answer to his doubts. Now, however, only one came up. ''What does it matter if they are his or Chaos'' if, in the end, a case like Altera''s happen just because he was too injured to help again?''

    ''Took you long enough. You and I are the same. No matter if our names differ, we were originally the same being. As such, there is no need to hold back in using my powers. If you are worried about their nature, then don''t be and have trust in yourself. Same as I trust that you are going to keep myself from being buried under your goodness, you should trust that I am going to the same with my evilness. Don''t forget what we represent. We cannot exist without the other.'' Chaos'' voice transmitted utter seriousness, unlike his annoyed tone from before. It was a tone of certainty, of stating a fact more than sugarcoated words.

    I know it. There is no need to say it.

    ''I, no, we subdued the seas. We are the Sea God''s Demise. We are the Leviathan''s demise. As such, these waters should not hold us back.''

    On the cliff of a desolated mountain in some unknown place, a slightly more feral version of Seth faintly smiled. It was about damn time.

    Inside the Leviathan''s mouth, the red-haired man suddenly combusted into flames. Every wound on his body started regenerating at speeds that weren''t capable in this Singularity before. At the same time, the fire surrounding him began to burn the tongue of the marine beast, making it release a cry of pain. The Egyptian God took advantage of this to escape the interior of the blue-scaled monster.

    Now that he was outside, he confirmed one of his first suspicions; the Leviathan had brought him to the ocean depths. Even with his poor eyesight, the only thing he could see was darkness.

    Taking advantage of the momentary feeling of pain and confusion his enemy was having, Seth shapeshifted into a massive creature and started to ascend to the surface. Due to no light reaching that far, the said creature''s form could not be distinguished, though.

    It took him some minutes to reach the surface, but he was already in human form when he did. Seth could tell the Leviathan was hot on his trail right now, ready to "make him pay" or something like that.

    Lo and behold, not long after Seth emerged, a clearly angered Leviathan did so as well. The red-haired man closed his eyes while taking a deep breath. "It seems this game is taking too long. I was planning to save you by force, but it seems I must subdue you first until you recover your reason."

    Additional black tattoos to his own started appearing around the right side of his body, although some were hidden by some pieces of his clothing still remaining. When he opened his eyes, the right one had its sclera changed to black, and, different from its red counterpart; the pupils had become golden.

    "Even a Hero needs to get his hands dirty sometimes. And that includes using powers not belonging to them." Seth said in an almost emotionless voice.

    "The others are far enough away to not feel anything even with Romani''s help. So then..."

    One by one, multiple portals appeared around him, floating in the water or just plainly in the air.

    "The Time of Awakening Hath Come."

 Chapter 149 - Hero VS Monster END

    ''What is this foul magic?'' Medea thought, momentarily stopping her rain of light on their enemies. They weren''t strong, only having their numbers to give them trouble, so she could take some time to be distracted.

    Just some seconds ago, she noticed a strange shift in the atmosphere. Like something bizarre even for her standards was manifesting in the world. The strange thing was that it came from her Master''s direction, but that didn''t make sense. Seth wasn''t known to possess magic, and the Leviathan wasn''t a creature capable of wielding something of this caliber, despite its name of Apocalypse Beast. ''A third party? If that were the case, then this does not bode well for us.''

    Caster shook her head. It wasn''t her problem. What she had to do was to keep the assault. Besides, her Master seemed to be like an undying c.o.c.kroach, so she didn''t have too many worries about his fate.

    In another place, far away from the Okeanos'' Singularity, a white-haired man sitting on a throne shifted his gaze to somewhere unknown. A frown soon marred his face, seemingly displeased by what he was witnessing.

    "Humph. A fool''s attempt to replicate what cannot be understood. Without a doubt, you are the cancer that made its way into our colony. Let us see if you still hold the same convictions once we meet, what ideal will ultimately triumph in the end. If mine... or yours." His voice was full of scorn, but hidden deep within it, there was also some form of competitiveness.

    Having said that, the man simply closed his eyes, opting to focus on something worthier of his time.

    Meanwhile, back in Okeanos, Seth was facing the still enraged Leviathan. However, now there was something different around him. Numerous purple Demon God Pillars danced violently around him as if trying to show their resentment for the world that created them.

    "Ars Goetia of the Lesser Key. Summoning of the sixty-fourth pillar. Demon God Flauros. Henceforth, I am your Master. As the rightful Ruler of what is beyond the Created World, and the original one, your will is now mine to control." This was the first time Seth gave a try to magic, and honestly, he had expected to start with something more pleasant than weird-looking tentacles, but since Lev was the only thing he �� technically the Skeleton �� had eaten, it was the only option. Still, that didn''t mean he was happy about it, quite the contrary. Being a demonized character, using demons wasn''t exactly something to celebrate about. This was something that Seth and his counterpart, both being the representation of two different demons, could wholeheartedly agree.

    (A/N: Beyond the created world refers to the land where demons lived/originated in Ancient Egypt)

    It has truly been a long time since he had obtained an ability that way. Last time, it was by ripping and eating one of his sister''s wings so one could guess the thousand years difference.

    ''But then again, there is no better way to show my resolve. Besides, I bet I can annoy the one responsible for these Singularities with this, so that''s a plus.'' While it was not the "real" Flauros, being nothing more than a puppet��a mere imitation, it didn''t pale compared to the original. And in the red-haired man''s opinion, it was better. Same power, but you didn''t have to listen to all of Lev''s trash talk. A win-win in his book.

    His thoughts aside, now it was time to focus on his opponent. The sea monster had been eyeing every tentacle warily, despite its state of rage. Those things were literally everywhere, allowing almost no room for maneuver and get to Seth. Even so, it wasn''t like it was going to let itself be intimidated by a bunch of squid''s extremities, and as one of the proud rulers of this ocean, that could not happen.

    Not caring in the slightest, Seth extended his hand toward his enemy and commanded the pillars to give the blue-scaled beast a good beating. The idea was still subduing it, so he would have to conform with only using his summons for a physical approach instead of using their full, magical-oriented capabilities.

    Immediately, every Demon God Pillar shrieked and sprung to action. Although they couldn''t move from their position, they could still use their incredible length to reach the beast in front of them.

    The Leviathan didn''t lag behind though. Like the mad beast it was, it swam at the incoming foes with the strength of a berserker. Opening its mouth, it began to easily tear apart the pillars like they weren''t even there. It kept advancing, biting some, and ignoring others.

    It didn''t take much for the blue-scaled beast to reach close enough to attack Seth. Again, it absorbed the oceanic water into its mouth, though this time the quantity was much greater than before. Even so, the red-haired man didn''t show any signs of trying to dodge. And that was because there was no need to.

    "If you take one down, another one will come to take its place." When the Leviathan was about to fire, all of a sudden, a Demon God Pillar appeared on its side and wrapped around its neck with a tight hold. Not even a second after, another one did the same but around its mouth, forcefully closing it just in time for its attack to go off inside of it. Not content with that, Seth ordered every Pillar at his disposal to restrain the Leviathan.

    As per his command, one by one, they started enveloping it, making sure the giant monster wouldn''t be able to escape, or even move for the matter. Their weird cries of joy only worked to make the situation more bizarre.

    The Leviathan offered no resistance �� not that it could �� and in no time, only a small part of his body was visible, mainly his eyes and mouth, which were currently bleeding for its failed attack earlier.

    Once Seth was sure that it was well subdued, and that it wouldn''t pull some crazy stunt, he finally approached it. His ears caught the heavy sound of his foe''s breathing. It seemed its mad rampaged had taken a toll on its body, not to mention the internal damage it suffered when he burned its mouth and when he made it eat its own attack.

    "So, are you back? Just know that the next temper tantrum won''t end in me just restraining you." He was too rusty to try and go for a more subtle approach��one more benefiting of a Hero. That and the following experiences in his life had made it so that his go-to choice tended to be a more violent one.

    "..."

    He didn''t receive an answer even when he waited some seconds, so he took it as the Leviathan being still under a state of mindless rage. It was only when he was about roast it with a thunderbolt that he got a reaction in the form of a low grunt.

    "Are you a m.a.s.o.c.h.i.s.t or something? Speak if you don''t want to be hurt. There is no need to go all silent when you had been screaming not long ago." Without a need for combat anymore, Seth dispersed the storm clouds above them. Additionally, he commanded the Demon God Pillars to unwrap themselves from the Leviathan.

    As he didn''t need them anymore either, he also recalled them back to wherever they came from. The moment he did so, the horrible wounds surrounding its body became visible. Its face was a mix between scales, muscles, and bones. It was certainly something not to take joy in seeing. The rest of its body was in similar conditions, although not to the level of the face. Some of its scales seemed to be melting as well. The cause of that was the physical contact with the Pillars as, while Seth didn''t command them to use Magic, just touching them would produce that effect due to Flauros'' nature of "burning everything."

    Although Seth couldn''t see the state of its body perfectly, the smell was enough indicative of how bad it was. He didn''t know if the Leviathan had healing capabilities��and honestly he didn''t care. He was a little tight of time at the moment, so he didn''t want to wait and find out. So, without delay, he activated his Noble Phantasm first effect to transfer all the damage he did to it back to him. As the blue-scaled beast was also under his protection...kind of, Seth could still do it.

    One thing was for sure though, it did hurt very badly, and that was taking into account the second effect: "While battling a Serpent-type enemy, all damage is reduced in half." This meant that even the damage transferred to him by the first effect was halved. With that in mind, it was very surprising to him that the Leviathan was not going berserk again from the pain.

    Their physiology was not the same, so the transfer ended up creating quite the ghastly sight on him. Thankfully, the regeneration had activated, but as he had been overusing it, it was taking its time.

    Meanwhile, one by one, the wounds on the monster''s body were starting to disappear one by one, surprising even itself. It was only when it fixed its gaze into Seth''s figure that it understood. However, the only thing that came from its now healed mouth was a snort of disinterest.

    "Whadda��.... What do you plan to do now?" Seth asked the Leviathan, totally ignoring the slip he made due to his still-healing mouth screwing him.

    The Leviathan, ignoring it as well, made a series of consecutive roars. Even someone who couldn''t understand its language, or understand its emotions like Seth''s case, would be able to detect the hate laying in those cries.

    "Reevu�� Revenge, huh? Fine by me. We will be able to kill two birds with one stone. You worry about Theseus while I massacre Herakles." It was getting increasingly difficult to ignore the laughing voices inside his head at this point.

    Roaring one more time, the blue-scaled beast turned its head to a particular direction. Its eyes narrowed dangerously. Seth was aware that its controlled fury was a hundred more times dangerous than its mindless one, so that meant the King of Athens was in for more shit than he was until moments ago.

    "...Yes, I agree. As long as you stay close to me, I can prevent any influence he may have on you. Though be warned, my main objective is Herakles and Herakles alone. If you by any chance get separated from me and fall into his clutches again, I will not help you." This time Seth took his time to properly speak. But leaving that aside, he wanted to be clear about his intentions with the Leviathan.

    They had formed a spoken pact before. As long as it helped the Chaldeans, he would save it when this Singularity eventually came to an end. While it was true he fell into enemy hands, it was also true that he helped them escape. However, if its actions conflicted with his interests, then he would forget all about it. His personal feelings aside, there was no doubt that Herakles was the main threat to the successful completion of the mission. He just couldn''t stop fighting him to go help the Leviathan and then risk Zeus'' son harming��or worse, killing Drake or Fujimaru. One was an important pioneer of this era, while the others was the only human Master.

    The response of the Leviathan was to give him a sideways glance and a snort, something he interpreted as "You don''t have to tell me."

    "Perfect then. Now, let''s go back. Your subordinates are creating havoc thanks to you. If they harm the ship then I will use you as a transporting horse." If the blue-scaled beast had hands, it would give him the middle finger.

    Nevertheless, it was true that there was no time to lose. Revenge awaited, and the sooner it happened, the more happy it would be. Although...

    Secretly glancing at Seth, who had taken a comfortable spot on top of its head for some reason, its eyes showed a strange glint of hate, concern, and fear.

    ''There is no much time left indeed... How long can you keep that thing restrained? I hope I made the right decision, and not the one that will doom me in the end...'' The Leviathan thought in worry. Its inner voice had a female tone, finally revealing her gender.

    The following days would decide the future of the world, quite literally. The question was, who will be the one responsible for its eventual demise?

 Chapter 150 - The First Murderer: Tales Of A Deicide

    (A/N: I don''t know if I mentioned it or not, but Altera took 5 lives from Herakles. Since then, 12 days has passed, so he recovered 4 of those 5, meaning he has 11 now. I believe he recovered 2 every 3 days when he was Illya''s Servant thanks to all her Magical Energy, but as he is just being sustained with the b.a.r.e minimum to exist by the World, I am taking it down to 1 every 3 days. Not that it makes much of a difference xd)

    "So... Everything is all right now?" David asked Seth, unsure of how things have ended the way they did. Once the now black-haired man returned with the Leviathan, every monster they were fighting just hurriedly dived down and disappeared. As for the duo, the two acted like they hadn''t been trying to kill each other some hours ago. In fact, both came to the ship looking like a brand new object. Without any wounds or torn clothes in the Egyptian God''s case. It had been two days since then, and he had asked this question many times, annoying the Deity to no end.

    Yawning a bit, Seth answered with a nod. "For the forty-third time, yes. A nice talk was all it took to get him back to normal. At least you guys are going to have more help to fight Theseus'' little armada of monsters, so you can stop with that and be grateful. Plus, I doubt that Anti-Mystery woman can do something about him."

    "Are you sure you didn''t hit him so much it became retarded?" The green-haired man asked with obvious doubt in his tone as he observed the shadow following their ship from behind. He had to admit that he still did not feel comfortable with a monster like that on their type, especially that particular one. "But that aside," David shifted his gaze back to Seth while folding his arms. "Shouldn''t you be more concerned about her? Going by what the others said, the only thing left for that Pagan Goddess were her archery skills. Again, are you sure you don''t want to make preparations?"

    "That man is right. Thou should not take something of that caliber lightly. She is going to focus mainly on thee as to make Herakles'' job easier." Atalanta commented from the side, adding her own two cents. She was keeping watch in the crow''s nest, with the other two sitting on the yard.

    "You know, I appreciate the concern and all, but I think you guys should worry more about yourselves than me. Especially you, Atalanta. David has some historical basis, so her Noble Phantasm won''t be that good against him. You, on the other hand, are considered someone belong to myth by many. If you are not careful, you are going to end up like Artemis did." It had been a common theme to be overly worried about him with regards to this matter recently, so he was getting a bit tired of it. They probably thought that since he was going to face the most dangerous among the enemy Servants, he had to have an advantage, or better said, not have a disadvantage.

    The Huntress turned silent as she pondered about his words. Meanwhile, David just sighed while scratching the back of his head in exasperation due to how everything seemed so complicated. "You''ve got a point. Still, you are backing up what I said. What makes you so different than her? You both fall under the same category."

    "I am not a Servant despite possessing Noble Phantasms. I don''t depend solely on Mystery either. My skills with a weapon don''t have any sort of specialty going on for them, and my Authorities, despite being something outside of common sense, are not tied to anything. I can produce fire out of nowhere ''just because.'' I can create storms out of nowhere ''just because.'' They are a law that overwrites all laws. What kind of thing can you do against that? Nothing. Artemis is using Orion as a base for her manifestation, so she only has her skills with the bow and nothing more when you take out her Noble Phantasm. That is the difference between us." Seth explained clearly and concisely as to make them understand as much as possible. It was best if they worried about their own battles instead of his, being honest.

    "When you put it like that, it seems our worries are indeed unfounded. Though, now that you mention it, can''t we just shoot their ship from a distance and be done with it? We would have a bigger advantage even if they used Theseus'' monsters as mounts." David suggested with a bit of curiosity. It sounded so simple that he wondered why didn''t they thought of it before.

    "Not exactly. My doubts were the same, but... Lady Artemis said they tried before and failed. That child made sure to guard the Argo with all types of Bounded Fields. Even if they had used a Noble Phantasm, I bet the moment it went through the barriers it would have weakened enough for Herakles to slap it away with his ax-sword." Atalanta said, obviously referring to the small version of Medea. Though, she couldn''t be sure if that had been all her. Maybe she received help from the other Caster as well.

    The King of Israel sighed in defeat. Of course it was not going to be that easy...

    "I suppose there is no other way then. We will have to fight head on and hope for the best. I still wished we could have a little more reassurance, though..." The green-haired man said, eliciting a shake of the head from Seth.

    "Don''t ever hope, sheep boy. Hoping is for the fool and it only works to bring bad luck. And what more reassurance you want than your own skills? Remind me how is it that you got so far in life again?" Surely he had to have some qualities to push him through life''s challenges.

    "Divine intervention." ...Or maybe not.

    "Of course it was that." The Egyptian God rolled his eyes. He didn''t understand why, for a moment, he thought he would get a different answer from David. It was like expecting eggs to come out of a camel.

    Atalanta raised her eyebrows, momentarily stopping her search for the Argo to look at him. "Thou take it as a bad thing. But why? Gods in my time were often causing trouble and ruining people''s lives, yet they also helped Humanity a lot of times. Even now, humans kill each other without any sort of interference from them."

    The Egyptian God turned his gaze upward, to the messy mixture of blue and white. "That''s the thing. If humans kill each other without the need of us doing anything. Why do you want us in the picture? To make things worse? My fellow Gods see you as a mere ant colony in their backyard. They might bring you food out of amus.e.m.e.nt, or kill you in creative ways to satisfy their sadism. But that''s the thing. Once your fate belongs to them, you are over. If they consider you failed to live to their expectations... Well..."

    Seth brought his head down to stare directly into Atalanta''s eyes, something that produced an innate chill into her whole being, like she was in the presence of her natural enemy.

    "...The purge starts." He finished, turning his eyes away not long after, much to her relief.

    "What purge...?" David asked, confusion marring his voice. Although, little by little realization dawned upon him, and with it, a wry smile showed on his face. "The great flood, huh?"

    "Mhm. Exactly. As a God, I can tell you those events indeed happened. In your case, Yahweh drowned people left and right because he was getting tired of all of you. In yours, Atalanta, Zeus got angry because Prometheus gifted the fire to you. He ordered Hephaestus to create Pandora, who opened a little jar that connected with things outside of your understanding, releasing all kinds of Evils into the world. He also flooded the earth, thinking it was not enough. In those two cases, humanity was purged. Now go and tell me that Divine Intervention is a good thing." To him, it was absurd to even consider it.

    "...Certainly, that is extreme. However, my point still stands. Art thou not here helping us? Someone considered to be a scourge by many?"

    "I agree with her. It''s true that I find the Great Flood to be excessive, but that cannot cover all the good God has done for us, even if sometimes that good is invisible to the common folk. Besides, I don''t think there is a myth about flood in your Pantheon is it not? That at least separate things." The green-haired shepherd said, following Atalanta.

    Seth released a deep, long-drawn sigh. "I know you people are known for your foolishness, but this is on a whole new level. First of all, my intervention is a one-time thing, and, despite what you may believe, I have no second intentions. Furthermore, you probably won''t hear from me ever again after this is over. And second of all, what kind of flood do you expect? It''s Africa. You are thinking the wrong way."

    David narrowed his eyes in puzzlement, ignoring the label thrown at them. "That means something different happened there?"

    Seth quietly pondered how to answer that question, enjoying the wind that was starting to blow faster with each passing second, signifying they were approaching a storm. "I wonder? The sands are often shifting, coming and going, giving way to green and taking it away. It is a never ending cycle of death and rebirth. Creation, Growth, Stagnation, Decay, Burning, and End."

    The Huntress'' eyes widened in understanding. "So that means..."

    "Heh. Just consider it as the ramblings of an old man. Maybe it is true that nothing happened. After all, I was exiled after my defeat. There are some things even I am not aware of." Seth just shrugged, neither confirming nor denying what Atalanta was implying.

    Both green-haired Archers shared a look with each other, coming to the same decision to drop the subject for now. Despite the... bizarreness of it, they couldn''t help but feel attracted to that knowledge that seemed to elude normal people.

    However, it was then that Atalanta noticed something on the corner of her eyes. There, in the distance where Poseidon and Zeus'' fury shined in all of their glory, a small dot was becoming more distinguishable with time.

    ''This feeling... There is no doubt. It''s them!'' The Arcadian Princess'' senses went into full alert. No matter the time of place, the sensation the Argo gave was unmistakable. Not to mention that sense of familiarity coming from that direction.

    "It is time, is it not?" Seth commented after sensing the rising tension in her countenance. His voice now carried the edge of battle. Gone was the lightheartedness from before.

    Archer wordlessly nodded, and as if to agree with her, the Leviathan surfaced to stare at the same place Atalanta was doing. Hatred could clearly be seen in those eyes.

    "David, go inform the others. There is no time to lose." The King assented and went to do as she said. He understood the need of being prepared, so he wouldn''t waste any second.

    "Are you ready?" The Egyptian God asked while preparing himself for his second hardest battle since he came to this world. It wouldn''t be an exaggeration to say that his motivation to cut Herakles in many pieces was through the roof.

    "I am. No matter the prey, a Hunter must be ready at all times. More so when it comes to those under the Goddess of the Hunt... even if said Goddess is a complete disappointment." The last part was said in a lower tone, seemingly trying to avoid others to hear. He still did, though.

    "We come in different-sized bags of disappointment, so start getting used to it. Still, let me give you a piece of advice. From what I know, Caster needs to physically see you for her Noble Phantasm to work properly. In that case, you should treat this as any other hunt and hide until you can give the killing shot. I bet it will work more than just let yourself be seen and risk losing your powers." The sooner they got rid of that annoying woman, the better their chances of winning would become.

    "Thanks, I will follow it as much as I can. Also, good luck to thee. Even if he is a Berserker, Herakles is still Herakles." Atalanta good-naturedly said. She might be overly worrying right now, but aside from that, there was not much she could do.

    "That same rule applies to me. Even if I am not as strong as I used to be, I am still the harbinger of calamity. I won''t go down that easily." Arrogance, confidence, who could say? One thing was for sure, though. He was going all-out under what was possible this time, and maybe a bit more.

    The Huntress smirked at his confidence. It seemed she was worrying for nothing. "Just make sure not to die too quickly, Master. I would hate for the contract to be broken not long after it was formed."

    "I can say the same to you, Archer. Don''t go dying if you want to keep helping Humanity in the future."

    Both shared a light smirk and went down without saying anything more.

    On the deck, every Servant was tense thanks to the news David gave them. Their defeat was something recent, so it was still engraved inside their minds. However, it was that same reason why they wanted to redeem themselves and come out victorious this time. As for the newer additions, they didn''t have that same tension, but were still cautious in the face of so many powerful Heroes.

    Drake was slowly steering the Golden Hind closer to the Argo, her face displaying more seriousness with each passing second. What first looked like a simple dot in the distance started to take the shape of a massive ship. It seemed that they were not the only ones aware of the other''s presence.

    "There is no mistaking it. They are the Argonauts! Please be careful and don''t let your guard down. We don''t want something like the last time repeating itself!" Romani''s figure appeared through the communicator in Mash''s hands to inform them. Although, they already knew it beforehand. It was a impossible to forget, after all.

    "Ahaha. I feel weird when someone like you worries about me, Doctor." David laughed lightly with an eye-smile, making the orange-haired man cough into his fist to try and ignore his comment.

    "A-Anyway! Be prepared. We don''t know if Theseus has something prepared for us!" Dr. Roman was referring to his marine beasts that caused so much trouble before. However, in his eagerness to avoid a talk with...that man, he forgot there was someone ready to tear those weaklings apart and get to the man who dared to control her.

    Like that, a few minutes passed, and in no time, both sides were in seeing range from each other.

    The Argonauts �� Jason and Medea �� were looking at the Chaldeans like they were not worth their time. Jason had his characteristic smugness, while Medea had that smile that said "You are a bug so please die~" written all over her face. Herakles, Charles, and Theseus, meanwhile, were just neutrally looking at them.

    The Great Hero, though, had his sight focused on a single man that seemed to fade in the background. The said man was looking back at him and only him.

    While the others were making small talk among each other before the battle, those two were just in their own world of carnage.

    With each passing moment, Herakles felt like he was in front of one of the legendary monster he hunted down in some of his Twelve Labors.

    He was not the only one who felt like that, though. The woman known as the father of evolution was taking sneak glances at the man that was supposed to be their biggest threat. However, when others saw a man like any other you could find on the streets, she saw something different.

    Behind him, his True Form was revealed to her. It was a shaggy, red dog-like creature with a forked tail and cloven hooves Its legs were littered in scars, probably from the chains holding it down. It looked so... unimpressive to someone like her, who had seen pretty much every creature of earth. But even then, something, SOMETHING, was telling her that that seemingly unimpressive monster was a beast of destruction��one that represented what a true predator should: instinct for massacre and bloodbath.

    It brought in her a sense of discovering something new, something that she experienced when she traveled the world. And yet... when that beast, the one that looked only came from her imagination, that it was only a product of her Noble Phantasm to analyze the components of people like they were animals, looked at her, she knew it was the dumbest idea she had ever had. It was as if it was daring her to keep watching. That the more she watched, the more closer she would get, and when she did, it would chomp on her body like a delicacy.

    She was not ashamed to say that it gave her chills just thinking about it, something that prompted her to look the other way.

    Meanwhile, the wariness Herakles felt was increasing more and more. As a Berserker, he couldn''t use reason to think. Instead, he only relied on instinct, and that instinct was flaring right now.

    It was only natural.

    It was innate.

    Herakles was not staring at a God.

    He was not staring at a Hero.

    He was not staring at a Man.

    He was just staring at a Killer.

    His death toll could not be counted no matter how hard one tried. But... If there was one death particularly notorious among those... it would be that of his own brother.

    Seth is, then, a Killer of Kings. He is the Usurper who takes from others for his own personal gain. What he doesn''t have, he takes for himself.

    And yet, at the end of the day, a King is just a title. It is nothing more than something fancy that self-important people decided to use to make their apparent superiority known to the common masses.

    What is important, is him killing a God. Bringing Chaos to the Egyptian World due its first Deicide. An action that transformed him into a God-Slayer. The Bane of all Divinities.

    Yes. Indeed.

    He is the one that brings down Gods from their pedestals.

    It was the main reason he was associated with Typhon, the one who makes Gods tremble. Because just his name alone was capable of instilling fear in their beings.

    So...

    ?

    Be wary of him...

    ?

    For he is...

    ?

    ...The First Murderer.

    ?

    ...And from the first time in a long while, before anyone could blink...

    ?

    ...He had killed another Divine being.

    ?

    Herakles'' lives remaining: 10.

 Chapter 151 - The Blood Feast Begins

    Some moments before Seth acted...

    "Oh? So the dogs that ran with their tails between their legs came back for more? I suppose there are those who enjoy the taste of defeat." Jason was extremely delighted to see the losers coming for revenge. Just as he predicted, they would have no other option but to do so.

    It was truly an exhilarating feeling when things went as planned. With that said, he didn''t anticipate Atalanta joining them. That stinky, traitorous cat. You can never put your trust in them. There was also a green-haired man like Theseus with them, although he didn''t look that impressive, and that was coming from someone like him.

    Next there was that supposed God that the little witch was wary of. Despite the fact that man was only staring at Herakles, Jason had the feeling he was also looking directly at him, ready to pierce his heart. H-He would leave him to the Great Hero. Yes, yes. As a Commander, he couldn''t bother with fighting every single person around. That was why he had capable men for this occasion. Nothing too complicated to understand.

    As for the last person hidden by those robes... they looked very familiar... Where had he seen them before...?

    ...

    ...

    ...

    Isn''t that Medea?! What was she doing here?! And the a.d.u.l.t version to boot! The younger version was enough to feel afraid, he did NOT need the grown up as well!

    It seemed his inner fear was somehow reflected on his face as the person in question mockingly smirked behind their hood. "Oh? What''s the matter Jason? You don''t look so well."

    "M-Medea. W-What are you doing there if you are here? And why are you in that form?" The blond-haired man''s bravado was all gone by this point. He even had to turn to the side to check if their Medea was still there with them and hadn''t suddenly changed teams.

    Jason didn''t even know if in normal situations it would be this way, but he actually felt relief that the younger version of Caster was by his side. In fact, she was observing the other Medea with some curiosity��or that was at least what appeared to be at first glance.

    The Witch of Betrayal removed her hood, leaving her face to be seen by the man that ruined her life. As she had set up a barrier around the ship before entering the heavy storm, she didn''t need to worry about getting wet.

    Caster first looked at Jason. Although she wanted to see him cry like the weak person he is, there were some other things that required her immediate attention and concern, and for that, she turned to her younger version.

    "After everything that man had done to us. Why is it that you are help��"

    "I am glad you all came back. I was seriously starting to worry if we should go and search for you. We did beat you up pretty badly, so maybe you ended up with mental scars." Medea''s younger version, or Medea Lily for short, interrupted her a.d.u.l.t self without hesitation. What''s more, it looked as if she was treating the older woman like she didn''t exist.

    Her words naturally pissed most of the Chaldeans, albeit for a different reason. Medea was angry that she was being disregarded for a brat who was none other than her younger self, while some of the others didn''t didn''t appreciated that she reminded them of their previous defeat with that sweet smile on her face.

    "...Independently of what you are planning, we would still come here to stop you. Our world cannot exist if we don''t." Dr. Roman wasn''t offended by her words. In fact, he took them as a small celebration due to a moment of success done by a small brat.

    "And I thank you for that!" She cheerfully responded. "We only needed a Divine Spirit to offer to the Ark, but you gave us two at first, and now a third! You really are a generous person!"

    "Exactly! Once we offer a Divine Spirit to the Ark, I would have enough power to be the sole Ruler of these seas!" Jason quickly exclaimed, feeling his courage returning to him all of a sudden. The fact that Medea was gritting her teeth in fury at her younger version probably had a hand in that as well.

    "What did you say?" David furrowed his brows in an obvious sign of confusion. There was no way they were talking about what he thought they were. It could be both. Either he misunderstood, or they simply were talking about a different Ark.

    "What? Are you deaf or are you ignorant?" Jason mocked David instantly, believing him to be some kind of nobody. "Once we obtain the Ark that is somewhere in this world and offer it a Divine Spirit, I would be able to obtain a power never seen before!" And with that... maybe... just maybe... he would be able to change some things.

    David''s frown only deepened after hearing what he said. This was too strange. "I am sorry to say, but you have no chances of achieving that. That option is not available for you anymore, and never was."

    "What?" Jason''s face was a mix of frustration and anger. He felt like there was something going on that he had no idea about, and he didn''t appreciate it in the slightest. Of course, there existed doubts about the green-haired man''s statement, but he didn''t seem to be lying, and that was nothing to be happy about.

    Meanwhile, Theseus shared the the King of Israel''s frown. ''I knew it... Something isn''t right here. I already suspected her plan wouldn''t magically give Jason the power he so desperately wants, yet that man''s face is telling me that things wouldn''t end with everything not working and that''s it.''

    He then redirected his gaze to the woman next to him, who was observing the new God with slight apprehension in her eyes. She didn''t seem to be too interested in the conversation going on. ''She better not look for two long. Those two seem to be ready to throw themselves at each other and rip the other apart like rabid dogs.''

    Charles was a voluptuous woman. Her brown-hair cascaded down her back down to her bottom. She was wearing shoes and tights that matched her hair, a green buttoned mini dress opened up near he b.r.e.a.s.t area over a white shirt. Additionally, she had a green coat hanging loose around her shoulders.

    "A God is an Avatar of the World. If you offer one to the Ark, you will not gain power of any sort. You will just see the world come to an end. It is known that whoever touches it dies. If the ''World'' touches the Ark, then it is natural that it is going to perish as well. I don''t know who tricked you into thinking that you would obtain some sort of God-like power, but you have clearly been deceived. Furthermore, the Ark is no longer here. It has already been taken long ago. Even if I were lying about the first thing, you would still have no chances." David''s declaration brought back Theseus attention to the matter at hand. Damn it... He knew that sly woman couldn''t be plotting something good.

    Theseus was not the only one who was shocked, the other ones were as well. Jason had never disclosed why they were so stubbornly trying to get their hands on Euryale or Stheno. Or what was their objective for the matter. To think he had such a crazy idea...

    "What?" Again, he repeated the same question, unable to understand. No, it was not that he couldn''t, he just didn''t want to. People often say that the truth hurts, and this case couldn''t be a better example for that phrase. And yet... something was wrong... something HAD to be wrong. Were his efforts going to be for nothing if not, then?

    "I am the Ark''s keeper. It materializes somewhere in the world when I am summoned, so of course I would know of this. It doesn''t change if you believe me or not, as we ultimately have to defeat you. Think what you will of that." This was the last straw��what ended with his hopes. The only thing Jason could do was to turn to his Medea to see if she was going to deny it.

    "He is right, Lord Jason. It is pretty simple, really. If there is no one else in what''s left of the world but you, wouldn''t that make you the strongest and single Ruler of all?" She smiled at him, as if it was the most natural thing in the world. However, Jason saw no purity in it. The goal indeed ''favored'' him, but the path that led to it was twisted beyond repair.

    If there was one word to describe what emotion Jason was giving off right now, it would be pity. It was not compassion, though. That would be too much for a man that tirelessly mocked them on every occasion he had got.

    "Still. I admit you gave us more trouble than I expected. Who would know that your little God could use a Phenomena. That person mentioned none of it, and I ended up wasting precious Magical Energy in consequence." Oblivious, or simply not caring about how Jason was feeling right now, Medea Lily continued.

    "Phenomena? What does she mean by that...?" Mash asked, perplexed by a term she haven''t heard before.

    "I can take it from here, Mash." Da Vinci appeared with her glasses on before Dr. Roman could say anything. It was at times like these that she had to take the spotlight. "As you know, Noble Phantasms are the embodiment of a Hero''s legend. They are all extremely powerful in their own right. Phenomena could be described as something short of a Noble Phantasm. Think of it as an event that was not enough to be considered a legend."

    "That intelligent-looking woman-"

    "Why, thank you."

    "-is right. However, she forgot to mention one thing. They are extremely rare and only a few have them. They are indeed not powerful, but that does not make them less annoying."

    "Now I understand." Romani started, returning once again. "When Seth killed his brother, he was not able to ''become full'' again after that. The reason why you couldn''t heal Hector before and had to resort to summon him again was that, wasn''t it?"

    "That''s right!" Medea cutely pouted, something that only put the others on edge, instead of making them lower their guard.

    "Enough!" Jason was done with her act. Immediately, he turned his head to his most trusted ally: the son of Zeus himself. "Herakles! Go and and kill them all��"

    ?

    "..."

    ?

    "Herakles...?" A dead calmness washed all over him. If it was due to surprise or dread, he didn''t know. Maybe both. Yet, he knew than no one could blame him. Not after witnessing what he did.

    There, in the hands of the person he took as a joke, was the head of his friend. Was he worried about the possibility of Heralkes dying? No. He had numerous more lives. The thing that worried him was the swiftness of the kill. Everyone on his peripheral version seemed to share that surprise.

    "Get up. We are not done yet. From now on, the games are over." It wasn''t until that person spoke that he realized the hand he had raised to order Herakles was trembling.

    The games were over indeed. Seth was not going to be picky with his skillset anymore. Although he would not actively seek their use, refrainment was not an option either.

    That''s why, with the use of his panther form''s speed, the one that chased down rioters and toyed with their lives before devouring them, he got in front of Herakles without anyone, not even him, noticing. With the use of a serpent''s dexterity, the one he used to infiltrate rebellious camps and poison the infidels, he avoided his enemy''s �� who had reacted, albeit a little late �� strike and climbed all the way toward the top of his body until his legs were strangling his neck. And, finally, with the power of his hippopotamus form, who sunk the sh.i.p.s of poor refugees who wanted to escape his tyranny through the Nile, he positioned his arms under Herakles'' chin, and, after applying greats amount of pressure, tore off his head.

    First blood was drawn. Blood that kept spilling endlessly from Herakles'' headless body. However, Seth was aware of God Hand. The Noble Phantasm that made it so he would revive twelve times, each time gaining an incredible resistance to what killed him last.

    Yet, what was him if not resourceful?

    He would let Herakles experience untold and creative deaths.

    Ah...He was getting excited just thinking about it.

    [A/N: Aaaaaaaand END! If you are confused about the last part, think of Seth getting himself "too much" into his role like what happened previously. It''s not permanent, so don''t freak out e.e. As a final note, I wanted to thank every single one of my readers for reading and supporting this book as you have been doing. At the moment of publishing this chapter, it would be one full year since I started writing. I honestly didn''t think I would keep posting for this long. I admit there were many times where I thought of dropping, be it due to stress, lack of motivation, sh*t like the fake report, or simply bad comments in general. I know I am not the best - this is my first book after all - but I still want to again thank all of those who encourage me with your words each time I publish a chapter (Trust me, it means a lot). So, let''s hope I can keep this up for another year at least! Also, I want to wish you guys a Merry Christmas! You all have different time zones, that''s why I am saying it in advance lol]

 Chapter 152 - God VS Mortal, Beast VS Man

    (A/N: Here is a little chapter I could squeeze out during my holidays. I get back home this 20th, so expect another chapter between that date and the 23rd maximum. Enjoy!)

    ������������������������������������������������������������

    Seth was patiently waiting for Herakles to revive. It would be a waste to damage him any further as until he was fully healed, the next life wouldn''t begin. The option of restraining the Hero and killing hi, as soon as he revived was there, but the Egyptian God wouldn''t take that route, no. This battle had a meaning beyond winning or losing, beyond killing or dying.

    Same as Herakles proved to be an unmatchable existence; proved to be superior to others, Seth would do the same with him.

    It was true that the "first kill" came about only thanks to the surprise factor. No one, not even his allies expected that display, so taking one of his lives wasn''t particularly hard. Even then, Herakles was able to react thanks to his Mind''s Eye Skill out of instinct. With that in mind, the Great Hero would not be letting Seth take any more of his lives so easily.

    And that was what the Kingslayer wanted.

    He wouldn''t say, even going as far as to affirm, that he hated Herakles. Only a few deserved that emotion from him; if he went around hating everyone that offended him, then that sentiment would lose its meaning. Find authorized novels in , faster updates, better experience, Please click <a href="/book/fgo-evil-god_15631146506510305/god-vs-mortal-beast-vs-man_50920077393977794">/book/fgo-evil-god_15631146506510305/god-vs-mortal-beast-vs-man_50920077393977794</a> for visiting.

    But.

    He was angry, extremely so. And at the same time, he was conflicted, something he did not like. Grieving Altera''s death? Stupid. He considered it to be a blessing, a way for her to be released from this slavery. Yet, he would be lying if he said that it didn''t cross his mind the idea of calling her back. However, as a God who guided the dead, and someone who found that role to be important because he felt it like that, not because someone told him it was, that was unacceptable, hence why there existed an internal conflict in his mind. After all, death should be fair to everyone. It should signify the end and that''s it. Though it was kind of contradictory coming from someone who could endlessly revive until the end of his lifespan.

    But even then, even if he accepted her death as something natural, he still was angry. Altera was the Servant he got along the most. She was something who shared a lot of similarities with him. As if she were a female version of him that descended to Earth and decided to become human. It was the first time since forever that he found someone that could understand and relate to him that well, so to have that taken away from him...yes, it made him angry.

    And that was the reason why he would not let him off easy. That would put him more at risk? So be it. That would increase the chances of some accident happening to the others? It was time they learnt how to do things themselves and not rely on him for everything. That would be time consuming when his body was a ticking bomb? He would simply make more time.

    Be it Hero or Villain, this unreasonableness was a trait of his kind��one that regardless if he liked it or not, was something that would accompany him forever. Nevertheless, this time, he was glad to have it because if he was thinking rationally, he would have opted for killing Herakles quickly and efficiently, and he was not up for it right now.

    This... "enthusiasm" for carnage was shared by his scaled companion. The moment Seth attacked, she immediately took it as a signal to start her own assault on the man who dared to control her will with his underhanded methods. Safe to say, she also held some resentment against the Egyptian God for giving the original order.

    Her massive roar also worked to awaken the rest from their shock-induced stupor. The first to react was Theseus since all the bloodl.u.s.t was directed at him. Thankfully, he was already prepared for a scenario like this one.

    Without a second thought, the King of Athens activated his Skill Eye of the Mind (True) A to see the optimal option among the many he could take. Yet, it seemed to be a waste as the only chance of survival the Skill was showing to him was the one he had originally planned to take, and that was use his connection to Poseidon to call for marine beasts to aid him in battle. However, it did show something that he wasn''t so sure about at first, and that was use a "little" helper that he had been keeping in the dark due to fear of a similar reaction to the Leviathan. This time, though, he wouldn''t be controlling it. He was sure that it would lend its help willingly now that the nephew of its master was ''dead''.

    Not even a second after, Theseus materialized a simple white light sword, cut his palm a bit and quickly threw the emerging blood into the ocean.

    The Beast of the Apocalypse that was about to attack stopped on her tracks warily. She remembered that this was how she fell under his control, so it was natural that she was cautious about falling in enemy hands again.

    Her worries were proven to be unfounded when a monstrous shriek echoed from the depth of the ocean, one that she recognized all too well.

    "Be careful! I am detecting a Magical Energy signature very close to the Leviathan just below you!" Dr.Roman''s words were the last confirmation the Chaldeans needed to know that there was something approaching, and fast.

    Artemis frowned, seemingly having the notion of remembering that sound from somewhere, yet nothing came to mind.

    She didn''t have to wait long, though. Numerous long tentacles appeared from under the water and wrapped themselves around the Argo and Golden Hind.

    At that point, it was clear who the new guest was.

    "Kraken." Drake muttered with a grave face. She would had to have played pirates in a bathtub instead of the real deal if she didn''t know who the beast was. Everyone, to a certain extent, feared this monster. Although no one could ever prove its existence, that didn''t deter many from claiming to have seen it from afar while it was sinking another ship.

    She immediately noticed how the ship was moving from side to side, and even with the scales from the Wyverns coating it and Medea''s work with her Witchcraft, the pressure from the pull was noticeable to the n.a.k.e.d eye. Times like these called for her ability as a Captain.

    "All you Servants with bows aim and shoot those octopus legs! You scallywags get close to the center of the deck, you don''t want to get picked up by those things!" Her orders were direct and precise, leaving no room for arguments. Now it was time to act with haste.

    No one complained. There was no reason to. They had to make a move or they would be swimming among all kinds of creatures.

    Every Archer nocked their arrows on their bowstrings and quickly aimed for the tentacles. Medea also decided to employ her Witchcraft.

    "Fire now!" With Drake''s green light, even though she was not their Master, they all fired their arrows and magic at the tentacles very carefully and in quick succession. They did not want to risk damaging the ship by mistake from the result of their attack. Sadly, that also meant there wasn''t much strength behind their hits. At most, what the managed to do was make the tentacles squirm in irritation.

    One of those tentacles let go of the ship and raised itself high up in the air, only to come slamming down at fast speeds.

    Mash wordlessly put herself in the trajectory of the Kraken''s limb, ready to create a barrier through her Noble Phantasm. However, her attempt was cut short by the other beast, who in an incredible fast action, bit the tentacle, stopping it in its tracks. After that, and without any sort of compassion, she tore it apart with her powerful jaws, causing the beast underneath to release a painful shriek that resounded in all their ears.

    Jason, seeing the situation, and how the Kraken had his ship as a "hostage" as well, quickly looked at Theseus, seemingly �� or maybe on purpose �� forgetting about Herakles'' death. "Oi, what are you doing?! Do you want to sink us as well?!"

    The green-haired Hero just gave him an annoyed look. "Relax. Herakles is reviving soon and that will help calm it down. You just focus on the Chaldeans, I will provide more help." Saying that, Theseus once again threw some of his blood from his still-open wound into the water. In no time, more and more marine monsters joined the fray, the same that had given them trouble in their first fight. Without a doubt, he didn''t plan to make it easier for them.

    "As expected from my crew. Once this is over, I will reward you handsomely." ... ''And let you take care of Medea... She tricked me before, who knows what else she may be planning. It''s better to get rid of her as soon as possible.''

    Theseus ignored his comment and focused on his supposed enemies'' reactions. Their faces was a mix between annoyed and tired. He did have that effect on people sometimes. As for his allies, the crazy scientist seemed to have recovered, and was immediately using her Noble Phantasm on Artemis, Atalanta, and Medea. The less number of targets the better, so with three, the reduction in Mystery and Parameters would be good, but it wouldn''t be ideal either. At least in the first fight she only had to worry about a single person, Artemis. Now, however, the number had gone up.

    ''Still. Why doesn''t she use it on the other guy? With the help of the Kraken we can easily take care of them, or at least distract them enough for us to take care of him. What''s stopping her?'' Darwin had her hand in the side of her head, as if combing her hair. But Theseus knew that wasn''t the case. She was literally using her hand to block her vision from ever looking into the other God''s direction even by mistake. This led the Hero to think that she also wanted to help the Chaldeans on secret, yet there was not much evidence to prove that statement.

    Speaking of that God and his opponent, Herakles was just getting up from his position on the ground. His head had already returned to its rightful place, leaving a mask of anger and pure hatred.

    The bulking figure didn''t waste a second to lunch himself at Seth with a speed that didn''t match his frame. The man in question materialized his spear to meet the incoming stone ax.

    The clash happened almost instantly. Both parties swung their weapons with incredible might; Herakles downward, while Seth upward. An erratic gale soon followed the impact in all directions, but as for the outcome, nothing was decided. However, that didn''t matter to them. If it fails, try again, and try again they did.

    The Chaldeans were already engaging Theseus'' beasts. As for the man himself, he was commanding the Kraken to engage the Leviathan, it only needed to buy time and nothing more. Medea was about to begin a fight with her younger version, merely because she couldn''t stand that cute girl act. Drake''s pirates were battling the Caster''s dragon tooth warriors while Jason just retreated to the backline for extra safety.

    Having everyone focused on their respective opponents allowed the two Divine beings to attack each other without the need to stop to deal with unnecessary annoyances.

    Seth took the initiative this time. Forming his hand into a fist, he coated it with fire before punching the deck of the Argo. He could feel the enchantment on the ship that Medea Lily did, so he wouldn''t bother trying to damage it. That''s why he tried something different.

    The moment fist met wood, an expansive cloud of fire was thrown into Herakles'' direction. Berserker released what could be taken as a grunt of disdain and swung his weapon sideways, dispersing the attack as if it was never there. However, Seth seemed to have disappeared together with the fire.

    It was then that the instinct still present in his body despite his mindless state made him react. Without even turning back, Herakles moved to the side as if sliding on the floor just in time to see a spear pass by the place where his heart should be.

    Seth clicked his tongue inside his mind. It was a good opportunity to take one more life. Sadly for him, the series of unfortunate events weren''t over.

    The Great Hero was quick to catch the moving spear, gripping it tightly. Having immobilized his enemy, he did a spin kick without delay, impacting the Kingslayer in his ribs, propelling him to the side where Jason was hiding.

    Seth crashed next to the door leading to the Captain''s cabin, just below the leader of the Argonauts that was near the helm of the ship, leaving a dent in the wood around the size of his body. Were it not for Medea''s help with her magic, he would have kept going, making holes in the Argo and not stopping until he was in the ocean.

    Jason crouched down and looked below through the wooden railings. Really, Herakles could have thrown this killing machine the other way instead of here. It only got worse when he exited the wall and looked at him menacingly. Nope! He couldn''t be here, there was something farther back that needed his immediate attention. Bye, adi��s, ant��o.

    The black-haired man ignored the coward and focused back on his enemy. With a snap of his fingers, his spear was back in his hands. He was going to give it to him, Herakles'' reactions were without a doubt at the top.

    Removing his glasses, he breathed onto them before giving a good cleaning with his sleeves. ''It will be half as effective, but let''s see what can I learn by observing you.''

    "We fought before when I first came here and I won. We were shells of our former selves then, and still are now. However, I will still win and have your body fed to the crocodiles before it can disappear." Seth declared in apathy, receiving an indecipherable grunt from Herakles.

    He already killed him using brute force, so that limited punching him to death. Fortunately, diversity was something he had in abundance. He would start lightly before finishing with an unstoppable might.

    Taking a deep breath, the black-haired man put his glasses back on and closed his eyes. Once he opened them again, his face, as well as his whole persona seemed to have changed. "Comin'' this far... don''t expect an easy way out, ya hear?"

    Right after speaking, Seth started drawing symbols in the air.

 Chapter 153 - Advent Beast (I)

    As soon as Seth drew the Runes in mid-air, similar ones began appearing on Herakles'' leg, the one he used to kick him before.

    "Ansuz." Lightly muttering the name of the Rune, both, the ones on Herakles shined in brilliant red color, detonating immediately after and covering his figure in smoke. The Greek Hero released a roar of pain that became more pronounced when multiple fireballs coming from Seth''s location impacted his body.

    A smoke cloud soon hid Berserker from his view. Though it wouldn''t prove to be a surprise factor against him considering he was relying more on his sense of smell, and that someone of Herakles'' caliber wouldn''t fall for simple Runes, more so considering it was the first time he was trying something like this.

    Lo and behold, Herakles'' hand came out of the smoke cloud, quickly swiping it sideways to disperse the visual hindrance. His face was showing more anger than before if that was even possible, and although Seth could not see it clearly, his leg was in bad enough shape to prevent ease when moving.

    However, seemingly unaware of that fact, Berserker rushed with the same speed as before, totally ignoring what to most of the other Servants would be a dangerous wound capable of restricting their battle prowess.

    It was all thanks to his Battle Continuation A Skill. It allowed him to fight as if nothing happened even while possessing mortal wounds, and unless he received a mortal hit to the heart or the head, he would keep fighting as if nothing happened. It was truly something fearsome.

    In regards to the incoming opponent, Seth created a new set of Runes. This time though, instead of creating fire to assault his foe, the symbols produced a blinding flash of light that momentarily stunned Herakles and gave the Egyptian God the time to plan his attack better.

    Taking advantage of the situation, Seth used two new sets of Runes. The first one was "Kenaz", a Rune capable of enhancing his eyesight, and as the effect suggested, the symbols appeared on his eyes. It would be useful with his condition, and more when you take into account the variety of smells around him which could lead to potential mistakes.

    The second one was Ehwaz, a Rune capable of achieving a similar effect to Reinforcement. It would harden his body without adding unnecessary weight. Seth and Herakles had around the same physical strength, with the God surpassing the Greek Hero by a small margin. However, Berserker''s bigger build and unreal speed allowed him to have an advantage in landing the first hit. Not to mention that the first death already gave him physical resistance thanks to his cheat-like Noble Phantasm.

    Being done with his preparations, Seth marched through the light of his Rune to meet Herakles, who was using his hand to prevent getting blind from it. He quickly somersaulted on top of him to avoid the wild swings of his stone ax, placing his hand on Berserker''s head and implanting a new set there.

    "Eihwaz." Once he touched the ground, Seth pronounced the name of the last Rune, that which granted ''death.'' It was without a doubt the most powerful one of those he knew, and the effects showed clearly when the mad figure started twitching as if having a stroke. Unfortunately, this particular Rune only showed its true power on beings of flesh and blood, meaning that Heroic Spirits, despite being affected to a certain degree, didn''t suffer equally as a normal human would.

    No doubt Herakles would recover quickly, so he had to act now.

    Spinning to face him, Seth advanced forward. As the distance between them was not that great to begin with, he got to his enemy in no time.

    While Herakles was still struggling with getting rid of the previous Rune''s effects, the black-haired man extended his hand toward Berserker''s head with the intention of ending it right there and then. Sadly for him, he underestimated the Great Hero''s tenacity. That, coupled with his inexperience in the use of Runes, caused him to miscalculate the timing it would take for his foe to recover.

    The hulking figure turned around and in a show of great speed and strength punched Seth on top of his head, causing a resounding boom, and making him crush like a meteor against the wooden floor, creating a small dent in the deck.

    He wasn''t done yet, though. With a bit of a sluggish movement, Herakles picked Seth by the hair and raised him at eye level, his two mad eyes looking at the God with the usual fury that accompanied his class.

    Blood dripped from his mouth and forehead, but even so, Seth managed to laugh amidst some coughs. "Bastard... ain''t something what ya did there... You were never affected that much, were ya?" Despite his mindless state, it seemed Herakles was still able to fool people into safety.

    In response to Seth''s questioning, Berserker merely grunted while raising his weapon to deliver a final �� if not fatal �� blow.

    Contrary to what Herakles thought to be end, Seth raised his arm and shaped his hand as if to make a finger bang. Slowly, a small light began to form on the tip of his index finger.

    "Gandr." And with the name of the Rune uttered, that light became a bullet that impacted right in Herakles'' forehead.

    True to his nickname of ''monster'', though, even with the close range, the ''bullet'' only managed to dent his forehead slightly and causing him to recoil back slightly. Nevertheless, it also worked in the black-haired man''s favor as Berserker let go of him due to the sudden surprise.

    Once Seth fell back in the floor, he quickly jumped back, shaking his head to get rid off his dizziness. Even with his abnormal physical resistance, that previous hit had managed to mess with his senses for a bit.

    After a few seconds, and as if on cue, both warriors, who were already recovered for their temporary stunned state, looked at each other and started to approach slowly, with each step accelerating their speed until they were running.

    The Egyptian God kicked some rests of wood from the deck in Herakles'' directions with the intention to disturb his march, but the hulking figure just swatted them away like flies. However, in the frame that his stone-ax blocked his vision, Seth used the blood dropping from his face and threw it at Berserker. The Servant, believing it was just another pitiful attempt to hinder his movements, let the blood get to his enormous body without doing anything.

    And yet... that was what sentenced him.

    When they were about to clash, Seth suddenly threw himself down, sliding through through the floor and between Herakles'' legs.

    Without wasting time, Berserker immediately turned around at the same time the black-haired man was standing up. The Greek Hero pulled his arm back before quickly delivering a punch at Seth''s head.

    In response to the incoming blow, Seth''s response was to smirk. "Isa."

    Numerous Runes started appearing around Herakles'' body, more specifically on the places where the blood of the God had made contact. His final Rune to grant him victory was one of halting. It prevented aggression and slowed events or targets, and in accordance with its effects, Berserkers'' movements began to slow considerably, making it seem like time was coming to a stop little by little.

    Herakles'' fist stopped centimetres from Seth''s face. However, his face was very much moving at normal speed, and it clearly showed how pissed it was from all these tricks that had been used against him one after the other.

    The Egyptian God knew the Rune wouldn''t bind him forever, though. That''s why he pushed the extended arm aside with his spear that hadn''t seen much action yet before taking a few steps forward. "First time I am using Runes. Did ya like ''em?"

    The look of hate Herakles gave him was truly satisfactory, but good things must always come to an end.

    Seth wasted no time and grabbed Berserker''s head in a vice grip. If he wanted to avoid having a nearly unkillable man running after him, he would have to aim for a vital spot, and the brain seemed a good choice to start.

    With nothing more to offer than a smirk of victory, the black-haired man used one final ''Ansuz'', blowing Herakles head into pieces and creating a storm of fire and smoke that enveloped his whole body in an instant.

    Once he made sure that Herakles'' Magical Energy response was zero and that he was definitely dead, Seth finally exited the sight-hindering black cloud.

    He had succeeded in eliminating the Greek Hero using Runes, so there was no point in using his Authority over Trickery to emulate Cu Chulainn''s skills any longer as they would not work anymore.

    ''That was exhausting in more ways than one.'' The Egyptian God thought once he got back to his usual apathetic self.

    His Caster friend was one of the few Servants he knew that possessed a ''special'' power that his original self did not. As he couldn''t copy Skills yet, and much less Noble Phantasms, he could only relay on their techniques to throw Herakles off guard.

    ''I only have one more left before I start using my own powers. Despite being fire-based, Ansuz is still a Rune, so my Fire Authority should still work on him.'' As he pondered his next course of action, Seth allowed himself the time to look around and see how the fights were going.

    Nothing noteworthy seemed to be happening, although there was no doubt a lot of resentment and hatred in the air. In fact, a lot of it was being directed at him, and it was coming from below.

    ''What? Angry that I killed your Master''s nephew?'' It truly gave him the d.e.s.i.r.e to snort in disdain. He may not understand exactly the language of beasts, but he didn''t have to do so to know the Kraken was insulting and cursing him to death. If it weren''t for the Leviathan keeping it busy, it would no doubt try to retaliate against him. In fact, even now he had to be alert of the tentacles wrapping themselves around the Argo. They were seeking an opening to strike against him while he least expected it, that was for sure.

    ''Hm?'' Seth stopped his observation once he felt a sudden spike in Magical Energy near his vicinity. Turning around, the sight of a headless corpse slowly growing a head out of thin air greeted his eyes.

    He wasn''t going to lie, it disgusted him. Not the bizarre event per se, but the fact that death was being played with as if it was the most natural thing in the world. No matter the amount of times he saw it, it still managed to upset him.

    It only took a few moments of disgusting images for Herakles to be back to normal. The imposing figure of the Greek Hero was now back to its former glory.

    Berserker now had nine lives remaining. For now, he had resistance to dismembering, Runes plus some unknown other courtesy of Altera. If things continued the way they were, it would truly make Herakles a walking tank, more than he already was, at least.

    With his life returned to him, the Undying Hero moved his neck as if testing for any errors in his resurrection��not that there would be any, considering that it was more akin of to time reversal than abnormal regeneration.

    Herakles then looked at his foe without moving. Despite his Madness Enhancement, his Instinct still remained as sharp as ever. With one death coming from a surprise attack, and the other due to a sequence of flashy tricks, he had learned not to rush recklessly against this particular foe.

    This passive stance he was taking indeed didn''t favor Seth in the slightest when it comes to quickly taking care of him. However, it did bring him an advantage in the long run.

    As a War God, and one with Authorities over negative feelings, the more time passed during a battle, the stronger he would become. The Servants weren''t of much help, but the monsters who relied on pure instinct and feeling were a good source of nutrition.

    But even so, Seth was not one to do the turtle tactic and wait for others to come him and hope for them to make mistakes. Besides, he did promise he was going to make him writhe in pain.

    Taking a deep breath, a calm smile of sure-victory appeared on his face. "Now, let us howl my accursed name to the world. The darkest hour has come."

 Chapter 154 - Advent Beast (II)

    Herakles didn''t respond to his words, he merely kept his defensive stance and waited for his opponent to approach.

    Seth was happy to oblige to his wordless demands, so, after a slight pause, he darted toward his foe. Although the occasional giant tentacle tried to grab him or simply hit him along the way, he managed to avoid all of them with relative ease. The black-haired man doesn''t need to see them, as the sound generated by the wind pressure is enough to alert him of their location. Fortunately, the Leviathan was helping him on the sidelines, so he could avoid the trouble of shifting his attention continuously.

    Berserker met the Egyptian God''s charge head-on. Both warriors swung their weapons slowly, but with added strength behind them.

    The impact of the collision created a sonic boom similar to a clap of thunder. However, the two didn''t seem to be affected by it. Instead, it seemed to have brought extra motivation to declare themselves as the winner.

    The Egyptian God, unlike usual, was grabbing his weapon with two hands. Once they started clashing, again and again, the awkwardness of trying something new became evident. Fortunately, it didn''t take long to grasp the proper movements. It still cost him a few cuts here and there, though.

    Herakles, despite adopting a more passive stance, still kept wildly attacking without mercy. He had noticed that his opponent adopted a new battle style, so he took advantage of that to rampage with all his strength. Although the little man was not using those flashy letters anymore, and he had gained resistance against them, he still didn''t let his guard down.

    Nevertheless, like most Berserkers without their sanity, he never backed down and became more aggressive with each consecutive hit. His size compared to the enemy allowed him to add extra weight to his blows, something that gave him an advantage over his enemy.

    Seth was aware of this, that''s why, instead of remaining stationary, he moved around the ship together with his opponent, trying to find a way to get past his defense. He still did his best to avoid the others'' battlefield, though. He doesn''t plan to involve himself with them.

    Everywhere they went, they left destruction and blood in their wake. If the Argo wasn''t a legendary ship and Medea Lily hadn''t reinforced it, it would not be able to stand the battle between those two.

    With the passing of time, both warriors started acc.u.mulating wounds. Herakles'' high vitality allowed him to shrug most of them off, though. Not to mention they were relatively shallow.

    Despite both receiving nearly the same amount of hits, Seth appeared to be more bloody than his opponent. That was in part thanks to Berserker having an absurd amount of vitality. Additionally, the black-haired man was preventing his regeneration from activating.

    Vlad was hard to imitate thanks to most of his abilities coming from a Noble Phantasm, something he couldn''t replicate yet. That man could use even the blood of his enemies to pierce them with it. Unfortunately, he didn''t have the capabilities. It was the reason why he needed to use his own blood to make it work. Additionally, he was mixing his blood with small grains of sand to facilitate the work and make it more flexible.

    As he was now, his Trickery Authority was not capable of doing much more. His Divinity was not high enough to show its full potential. It was maybe his strongest one in terms of versatility, so Seth didn''t have complaints about it, especially when it allowed him to take control of the Ark without a hitch.

    Returning to the fight, Herakles seemed to have become more bold with his attacks, maybe thanks to the state Seth seemed to be in.

    When he swung his weapon downward, the Deity in front of him quickly blocked it with his spear. However, he quickly took it as an opportunity to kick him in the stomach and send him flying like a missile.

    What he didn''t expect, though, was for his kick to pass through his opponent''s body as if he was a ghost. The Divine being transformed into a black, blood-like substance and quickly reappeared behind him, thrusting at his back with his spear.

    Herakles, who was now at the receiving end of an attack, and in an extreme display of agility, arched his upper body sideways, barely avoiding a piercing wound that would have been problematic even with his Battle Continuation Skill.

    When he tried to retaliate by elbowing his opponent, the same thing happened again. The black-haired man was able to disappear and spawn in a new location ready to pierce his flesh.

    Herakles roared in fury before throwing caution to the wind and striking his location with a powerful blow. However, much to his misfortune, the Egyptian God repeated the same action, making his attack hit the ground, throwing pieces of wood everywhere.

    No matter what he did, or what method he used to attack, Seth was able to shrug everything off by simply teleporting to another location.

    At first, Herakles was able to dodge or counterattack before any damage could be done. Eventually, though, Seth was able to land hits on him by attacking from unexpected angles.

    The frustration of being led into a goose chase made Herakles roar again in anger. He even activated his Bravery Skill by instinct. He suspected this was all done by some kind of illusion, but sadly for him, he didn''t get any results. Seth kept injuring him little by little. What made the Greek Hero more annoyed though was the fact that he didn''t focus on a single point, no. He chose to attack different parts of his body to render him useless. One of Seth''s primary targets were the tendons on Berserker''s feet. No doubt it was to deal with his fast movements. He was alternating Vlad with Sanson for b.r.i.e.f.s periods of time to know where to strike to disable most Herakles'' mobility.

    The situation seemed like it would continue like this until Herakles would not be able to fight anymore and Seth could kill him with little effort. Yet, something changed. It was without a doubt, an unexpected turn of events.

    When the Egyptian God dodged a knee to the head courtesy of his opponent and was readying to pierce Berserker''s calf to greatly reduce his combat ability, a small droplet of blood belonging to Herakles fell into his mouth.

    Immediately, he was forced to stop his actions due to a sudden pain in his c.h.e.s.t. It was so abrupt that he stopped in an attacking stance. ''Damn it! Why do I have to be so unlucky?! Why did it have to be no��''

    Seth couldn''t even finish his train of thought before a fist connected with his face. There was no way Berserker was going to let an opportunity like this pass. Sneaky opponents who used guerrilla tactics against him were his worst match-up. Only when facing an opponent head-on who relied on their physical and weapon mastery abilities would he show an absurd superiority. That''s why chances where he could deal the most amount of damage like this one should not be wasted.

    The Greek Hero saw how Seth shot like a cannonball and impacted on the Argo''s mast. However, he was not going to give him the chance to recover.

    His legs'' muscles bulged, and after a sound equal to a sonic boom, Herakles immediately appeared in front of the Egyptian God. Seth was not even able to fall to the ground before a foot connected with his stomach, pinning him against the mast again.

    The Deity spat a mouthful of blood, but that didn''t deter Herakles from attacking again. A fist soon found its way to his opponent''s face, followed by a knee, an elbow...

    It might have been because of a grudge, one that was born from all the times his foe "played" with him, but he avoided��he refused to use his weapon. He opted to prolong his suffering instead of finishing him off.

    Meanwhile, Seth reminded immobile. His body only moved by reflex when he received one of Herakles'' blows. Unfortunately, he couldn''t do much about his current situation.

    While he was receiving a beating on the outside; inside, he was doing his best to calm the effects the previous accident caused to his being. Just standing near Berserker was enough to cause him discomfort, not to mention tasting his blood.

    The two of them were existences that should not have any kind of contact, they were like oil and water. It didn''t help that he was stealing Vlad''s identity right now.

    He thought that he had a bit more time before "that" came to happen, but it seemed it was not going to be like he initially believed. Find authorized novels in , faster updates, better experience, Please click <a href="#%!d(string=15631146506510305)/advent-beast-(ii)_%!d(string=51471496165514078)">#%!d(string=15631146506510305)/advent-beast-(ii)_%!d(string=51471496165514078)</a> for visiting.

    While he was trying to calm the raging storm that was happening inside him, Herakles kept throwing blows at him relentlessly. It wasn''t until he noticed the mast was about to give in that he decided to grab Seth''s blood-covered face and throw him to the side.

    The Egyptian God rolled on the ground before coming to a stop once he collided with the gunwale.

    At this point, his whole body looked like it was bathed in blood. There were barely any parts on his form that weren''t covered in red. Yet, Herakles paid it no mind. He was still rearing to go another round. This time, though, he approached his fallen opponent with slow steps instead of rushing at him.

    As the sounds of his giant footsteps crushing against the wooden floor, Seth''s hands started to twitch slightly. However, he didn''t seem to be able to recover fast enough before Berserker was able to grab his neck and rise him up to eye level.

    The pitiful sight brought without a doubt no small amount of satisfaction. Especially the little squirming when he tightened his grip around his neck.

    But the Greek Hero seemed to have forgotten one thing: a cornered snake is not to be trifled with, especially a venomous one. And knowing Herakles'' story with venom, he should have been even more aware of that fact.

    It wasn''t until he felt something piercing his c.h.e.s.t that he finally realized his mistake. Looking down, he saw something like an armored worm wriggling inside his body, as if having a feast with his flesh.

    Even though it looked like it was alive, Berserker knew better. Trailing that thing to its origin, Herakles saw it was coming from his opponent''s back, more precisely his tailbone.

    He could only see what it was about when that thing exited his body, ripping his c.h.e.s.t apart. It was a tail, but not just any tail, it was a scorpion''s one.

    The Greek Hero was not knowledgeable regarding his enemy''s legend. Otherwise, he would have known that this seemingly unimpressive thing was far more dangerous than what it looked at first sight.

    Although there were not many stories about him using poison, there was one that particularly stood out. When his nephew was young, Seth sneaked in the tent he was sleeping in while disguised as a scorpion and stung him before going away, satisfied with having given a painful and slow death to the spawn of his most hated enemy. It was only thanks to the help of several Gods that Horus was able to avoid reuniting with his father at an early age.

    Independently if this story was true or not, it really came to show how dangerous his venom could be��one capable of killing Divinities.

    Against such a venom, Herakles could only let go of Seth and take some steps backs while touching his open c.h.e.s.t.

    With nothing to sustain him mid-air any longer, the black-haired man fell to the ground. It was an arduous task, not only due to his wounds, but due to the external interference as well, however, he still managed to slowly get up. He wouldn''t be surprised if most of his bones were broken at this point.

    "How... is it? Brings back memories... doesn''t it?" Seth slowly asked his wounded opponent. He had planned to kill him by venom in the death before last, but the situation changed considerably from when he had thought about it at first. Not to mention that �� even though he knew he shouldn''t �� he got altered for a second thanks to a certain parasite wrecking havoc inside him the moment he got in contact with Herakles'' blood.

    Still, he didn''t expect the venom to be this effective against the son of Zeus. While it was true that he could do significant damage to Gods with it, he knew he was not near that level yet. He uses his own Divinity as a base to bring them extreme pain due to the clashing that two different ones could produce.

    If the World were to categorize his Divinity right now, it would be around B rank. While indeed powerful, it would have to be at least A++ rank to significantly harm someone of Herakles'' level.

    What Seth didn''t know was that Berserker was particularly weak to strong venoms. Normal ones would not be that effective, but those on God-slaying categories would take one or even more lives from him.

    In fact, there was one that was the perfect counter to Herakles'' God Hand, and that was Hydra''s venom. His Noble Phantasm was incapable of doing something against it. Just one strike of something coated with it, and that something would eat through all of his lives in an instant.

    Unaware of this, Seth just simply walked toward the trembling Herakles. The spear he had dropped before once Herakles relentlessly assaulted him was back in his hand. If there was something good about the beating from before, it was that now he could use his blood littering the wooden deck to pay him back for what he did.

    Yet, just when he closed on the dying Berserker, a giant tentacle slammed the side of his body.

    ...He was going to devour this f.u.c.k.i.n.g octopus...

 Chapter 155 - Advent Beast (III)

    Seth flew to the side, thanks to the Kraken''s impact. Fortunately, the Leviathan was able to make him come to a stop by using her body. It was like hitting a concrete wall, though, so that might have done more bad than good.

    To add to that, some teeth inside its suckers had managed to make a cut wound on the side of his torso, something he would remember to take into account at the moment of frying the stupid octopus.

    With his back hurting like an old man, Seth climbed from the side of the Leviathan''s serpentine body to the top of her head. Once he did so, he turned his gaze to the place he had been before. He was able to see the Kraken''s tentacles emerging from the ocean waters and moving protectively around Herakles'' fallen form. Not only that, but its head was also coming out. Very few people noticed this, yet those that did chose to ignore it as they had to focus on their own battles. Especially now that Theseus gave up on controlling the Kraken and joined the fight. EMIYA and Sanson were his opponents, but he still could fight them on equal ground and even show himself superior to them. As for his monster horde, it seemed to be endless. For every one they killed, another two appeared.

    The Egyptian God then focused his gaze on the monster below. After taking a moment to regain the air the previous slam had taken from him, he spoke, "What are you even doing... You are stronger than that thing, and you can''t keep it busy?"

    A snort of disdain was the only answer he got. He had numerous limbs while she had only one mouth. She couldn''t keep control of all of them. Besides, what right did he have to complain? He looked like he would drop dead any second. Hypocrite.

    Seth stopped paying attention to his surrogated mount and focused back on his main enemy. If he wasn''t pressed for time, he was sure he would have some kind of sadistic smirk at the sight of his opponent slowly dying without being able to do anything about it.

    It only took a few moments for Herakles to finally perish. Similarly, it only took him a few moments to come back to life once again.

    Safe to say, he didn''t look too happy. Not for dying in itself but how he did. He could tolerate dying in any other way possible. However, venom was a no-go. Even as a Berserker, his instincts still screamed at him in rage every time he thought about that thing.

    Being the cause behind his rage, Seth naturally garnered all the hate that was inside the Greek Hero. Both enemies had a staring contest going on, one that finished once Herakles jumped on one of the Kraken''s giant tentacles.

    The sea''s terror used its limb like a platform and elevated Berserker until he was at eye level from the Egyptian God. Wordlessly, the two of them narrowed their eyes before jumping at each other.

    Spear and stone-ax collided mid-air, releasing howling winds to the surroundings. Herakles felt something wrong before a kick connected to his c.h.e.s.t, returning him from where he came from. Seth used that in his favor to propel himself backward and do the same.

    Berserker managed to regain his bearing mid-air and was able to grab the rough texture that was the monster on his side''s limb, safely avoiding sinking into the sea.

    Once he safely stood again like previously, he touched his c.h.e.s.t where a mark slightly darker than his surrounding skin was. A flash of confusion made its way into his eyes before roaring in annoyance.

    For his part, Seth stared at him, seemingly understanding what was going inside his opponent''s mind. Say what you want about his current bloody shape, but that didn''t mean he would limp to throw punches. In that sense, he was like Herakles with his Battle Continuation Skill. Although different from him, it was not thanks to a Skill, but thanks to his nature. All the chaos around him was like water to a thirsty plant, feeding him energy to keep fighting despite his body''s conditions. That was the scary part about War Gods, and one Berserker was starting to experiment. The kick he received was undoubtedly stronger than the previous blows he received��not by much, but enough to be noticeable.

    In the midst of his musings, a shadow soon obscured the sun shining down upon him. Looking upward, a massive tail-like limb was falling from the skies, ready to crush him to a paste.

    Seth narrowed his eyes in annoyance. "Do you think I will keep taking these intrusions lying down?"

    The Egyptian God put an arm above his head, letting the limb collide against it, creating a sound similar to a loud object impacting the ground. The shockwave traveled from Seth''s body down to the head of the Leviathan, making her dizzy and release a deep cry of irritation.

    Seeing as its attack failed, the Kraken tried to raise its extremity once more to deliver another blow. However, there was no way the black-haired man was going to let it get away just like that.

    Seth grabbed one of the teeth inside its suckers, effectively preventing it from raising its limb. Fire instantly covered his hand before it spread to the rest of the limb. The Kraken shrieked and moved erratically in an attempt to put down the fire to no avail. Seth was not letting go of its tentacle, and the monster didn''t have the necessary strength to make him move from the Leviathan''s head.

    In the end, its only solution was to tear its own limb apart to prevent being roasted to death. Even though it would eventually grow back, it was not a pleasant experience. Find authorized novels in , faster updates, better experience, Please click <a href="#%!d(string=15631146506510305)/advent-beast-(iii)_%!d(string=51565453406951147)">#%!d(string=15631146506510305)/advent-beast-(iii)_%!d(string=51565453406951147)</a> for visiting.

    Uninterested in the Kraken''s struggles, Seth threw the tentacle to the Leviathan, who proceeded to devour it like it was some sort of delicacy. Although he said he would devour the octopus, he didn''t have the leisure to do so now. Making it suffer would be enough.

    The moment his companion finished her lunch, he spoke to her, "Throw water at them, I have an idea."

    The Leviathan looked at him strangely. She had been avoiding using large-scale attacks as not to harm those other bugs deliberately, and now this guy was asking to do that? Nevertheless, she still followed the order as she couldn''t care less about the outcome. The blame could always be pinned down on him anyway.

    After opening her mouth wide enough that she could swallow more than half the Argo if she so wanted, the Leviathan fired a giant stream of water as if it were an energy beam. Seth mimicked her motion immediately and spat a torrent of flames at the water current, being extra careful not to damage her by mistake.

    What was initially two separate fire and water attacks soon became a boiling steam cloud that closed in on their direction like an incoming storm.

    Noticing the incoming danger, the Kraken instantly put its siphons to work, releasing a mix between cold water and ink, trying to disperse the attack if only due to the wind pressure generated by its actions. It also made sure to wrap its tentacles around Herakles for extra protective measures.

    Unfortunately for it, its two foes didn''t stop their attack. What''s more, it intensified. While it could shoot ink and water repeatedly, it also came at intervals. Their opponents, though, seemed to spat water and fire respectively without pause endlessly.

    The bad news for their side didn''t end there, sadly. While it was true most of its body was protecting the Argo''s passengers from harm, their attack was still a cloud of steam. Not only was it able to slowly burn its body, but it also managed to get past it and go directly to Herakles.

    Additionally, some of it went even farther, reaching the Servant closer to Berserker, Jason. He started screaming and swinging his sword around as if fighting an invisible enemy. There was no doubt it was painful, proven by the numerous burn marks that were starting to appear all around his body.

    Naturally, his cry didn''t attract much attention from the surroundings. Explosions from arrows, magic, and the roar of an endless wave of monsters were enough to silence it. And the ones that were closer enough to hear it probably ignored the sound.

    However, there was one man that did not. One that would never, ever ignore the cry of that person. Yes, he was loud, obnoxious, had an ego similar to the Gods, and was a coward beyond belief.

    BUT!

    That man was his friend. No matter what form he is summoned as. Be it as a Saber, an Archer, or a Berserker like now, that fact would never change. His cry of pain gave Herakles a bigger reason than to fight for himself. It was to fight for others because that was when one could overcome their limits.

    With a roar that was muffled slightly by the tentacles encompassing him, Herakles shot out like a bullet from his enclosure, throwing some tentacle flesh into the air in the process.

    Berserker soon submerged himself into a sea of white. His dark rock-like skin was beginning to turn red, but he paid it no mind. His only focus was on the dark shapes in front of him, the ones that told the locations of his enemies.

    The ship''s deck caved in a little under his weight before he jumped in that direction. Once he was near enough, he brandished his weapon diagonally, ready to chop his foe in two. However, what awaited him once his actions cleared the fog-like vapor was the sight of the dark ocean and nothing else.

    Still in mid-air, Berserker quickly turned his head around, the rest of his body soon following, just to notice a giant pair of jaws ready to devour him.

    Herakles raised his stone-ax above his head in time to prevent being crushed by the Leviathan''s powerful bite. He was lucky enough to gain footing in the gap between two of her teeth. It still was difficult to prevent her from clothing her mouth, though. The bulging of his muscles showed how hard he was exerting his strength.

    Suddenly, out of the darkness that the Leviathan''s mouth, a figure quickly dashed in Berserker''s direction, reaching him instantly. The Greek Hero didn''t have time to react before a spear coated in fire pierced his c.h.e.s.t.

    The smell of burned flesh soon filled the area, giving the Leviathan the urge to swallow the two to fill her stomach. Nevertheless, she still pushed that urge down. Now it was not the time to feast.

    Looking down, the Greek Hero noticed his enemy holding the weapon currently piercing him, and at the same time, he remembered he was the one who caused his friend pain.

    The hands holding his weapon to prevent being crushed went from two to one, and the now free hand slowly reached for the Deity in an attempt to crush him.

    Seth closed his eyes as he released a mental sigh. "Execution of the Lord of Impalement." Not even a second after he said that, numerous spears of blood exited Herakles'' body one after the other, filling it with holes.

    He didn''t like hunting down a trapped animal, but beggars can''t be choosers. He had to do what he had to do and not be picky about things in the slightest, especially not now.

    The moment he confirmed that Herakles stopped moving, he removed his spear from his opponent''s c.h.e.s.t. Seth looked at the dead man that was still holding on despite the pressure the Leviathan was giving. It was truly something hard to describe.

    Shaking his head out of his thoughts, the black-haired man pulled his leg back before kicking the Greek Hero in the stomach. The strange thing came next, though. Seth didn''t put any strength in that kick, but he still felt something was wrong.

    The answer soon came when a hand grabbed his still raised leg. The Egyptian God''s eyes widened in surprise before his world began to spin, soon finding himself falling down a bit after.

    By some random work of fate, he ended up landing on top of the Kraken''s head with Berserker immediately following after him. Seth didn''t even manage to get up before a fist connected with his face, making him tumble backward.

    Herakles didn''t let up and continued to rain down punches on the Deity, who little by little was starting to fight back. ''This damn monster... There has to be a limit to his bullshit...''

    Now, he didn''t have the best eyesight currently, but he was sure like never before that the bastard in front of him was dead before. In fact, he was still dead even now!

    Seth didn''t know how the hell this guy was currently fighting him while being dead and the process of reviving. Was some God of Death pulling a fast one on him right now? Was Hades nearby? Damn him and his brothers always causing trouble for him.

    Both warriors went around the cephalopod''s body with now weapons in hand, clashing against each other like they were at the beginning of the fight. The Kraken didn''t know what to do. They were too close to each other for him to try and harm Seth, so the only option was for him to wait for an opportunity quietly. Meanwhile, the Leviathan decided to leave this one to him and focus on the monsters around the Argo and Golden Hind. There was still time to devour that little insect who dared to control her.

    After the initial surprise, Seth was able to overwhelm Herakles quickly. The battle had been already going for so long, so his speed, defense, endurance, reflexes, and strength were far superior to the Greek Hero by this point.

    Berserker was eventually able to revive, but his situation only improved by a small margin. Nothing that could change the outcome of him being on the losing side. That was until he finally got tired of this striking and running. He had finally had enough.

    His Magical Energy flared as he madly dashed at his opponent. Seth didn''t give it much thought and just waited for his foe... a bad decision, really.

    Herakles was in front of him in an instant, ready to strike. Seth''s ear twitched. Using the wind''s sound produced by his blow to detect where it was coming from, he dodged to the side. Yet, not even a millisecond after, he was forced to dodge again.

    The same thing started repeating itself time after time, with each consecutive strike giving the black-haired man less time to react and think of a countermeasure. If he could dedicate his brain to think over this, he would probably have recognized it as a high-level technique or a Noble Phantasm. Unfortunately, he didn''t have the leisure.

    Herakles relentlessly kept swinging his weapon at the Deity without pause, each strike being faster than the previous one.

    The first twenty, he was able to dodge perfectly. The next thirty, he was able to dodge while only receiving small cuts. For the next ten, he had to block them with his weapon. From the twenty that followed, only seven he could block, leading to some gushes of blood escaping from his newly formed slash wounds. Of the next nineteen, only two were blocked. The rest, they made deep cuts and took some chunks of his flesh.

    As for the last one, Berserker did a small jump before slashing down, hitting his shoulder, and continuing unimpeded until he almost cut Seth in half.

    Absolute silence.

    Herakles observed his unmoving enemy with mad but calm eyes. He was breathing a bit heavily from all the effort that, despite looking like it happened in various seconds or even one minute, only took a moment.

    If the Greek Hero could speak, it might have declared this battle as his victory��one that ended with him losing four of his lives, but a victory nonetheless.

    Releasing a gruff grunt, Herakles was about to take out his weapon from the fallen Deity before noticing a shaky hand raising up. It was by no means fast. On the contrary, it was slow, even to the average human''s standards. However, it still made him pause.

    "You brat��" Slow but deep and painful coughs soon interrupted Seth''s words. Yet, he still looked up to the hulking figure''s eyes. "You are really��" Another series of coughs. "��really trying to... to piss me off..."

    His already poor vision was blurring even more, with the added effect of seeing extra.

    "You want... a series��" The now-common coughs interrupted his speech again, but he still continued despite that only working to aggravate his wounds. "��a series of fast... strikes? Then... let me... show you an instant one..."

    Herakles said nothing, DID nothing. To him, his opponent was already over. It was just the usual curses from the defeated.

    On the other side of the battlefield, Stheno and Euryale felt something strange happening. The latter was busy shooting down her enemies, so she couldn''t allow herself any distractions, but the former was another matter entirely. The Eldest of the Gorgon Sisters turned around and looked at the distant body of the Kraken, more precisely at the two figures on top of its head.

    Her body shook, her widened eyes shook, her whole being shook. No... no... nonononononono. No! It was impossible! He couldn''t lose! He was invincible! There was no way this was happening! He promised! He promised he would reunite the three of them so that they could be together after all the problems they went through! He promised he would not leave them alone again!

    Stheno''s gaze then shifted to the source of the hatred that was rapidly growing inside her. She hadn''t felt this angry for many millennia, and it was all the fault of that man. Always them, always the champions of the Gods. Again and again, they came and destroyed her family like it was nothing...!

    Herakles felt the Goddess'' stare and looked at her briefly before returning his attention to Seth, not caring in the slightest about what she thought about him. Yet he knew that his next target after this God had to be her. He couldn''t allow a sacrifice to be made. If it was the last vestige of his rationality speaking or just his instinct, it was unknown.

    He was pulled back from his thoughts when Seth grabbed the hand holding his stone-ax. His other hand soon took the shape of a knife, and his arm reached full extension accordingly.

    It seemed to be one last attempt at something, one that Herakles was going to permit as a final sign of respect.

    That was, until he heard a heartbeat.

    Not only him and Seth, but even the Kraken, the Leviathan, and all the other Servants of Divine origin froze.

    Berserker quickly regained his senses, and, forgetting about any kind of honor he harbored before, tried to sever him in two by pushing his stone-ax downward, but by then, it was too late.

    Seth and Herakles'' world soon turned black.

 Chapter 156 - Advent Beast END: Typhon Awakens

    It was a bottomless sea of black��a cold, dark, and unfeeling space. And in this space, Seth was on his knees, chained to a wall that had the appearance of a giant mountain with his arms extended to the side, being held by those metal strings. The only light came from some unknown source, illuminating his weak figure.

    ''Ah... F.u.c.k.'' He rarely, if ever, cursed, but this situation surely deserved it. It was one thing after the other, a chain of bad events that seemed endless. He was really starting to believe that luck was a factor in this world.

    At first, he thought nothing of it. Aside from a slight distaste from having his first Noble Phantasm be related to that thing instead of him, nothing particularly bothered the black-haired man. That was until he got to this Singularity.

    It was all unclear initially, but as time passed, everything became more lucid. That f.u.c.k.i.n.g thing was alive and latching onto him like a damn parasite. The answer came not only internally but externally as well.

    He started having anger fits out of nowhere, and those manifested in the form of strong gales and earthquakes. It was undeniable that the said parasite was affecting him little by little.

    Stargazer predicted this was going to happen but offered nothing helpful on the advice department. He was alone to solve a world-ending crisis. Nothing new, yet nothing easy either.

    As painful as it was to admit, he wasn''t strong enough to beat Typhon. In their original world, it wouldn''t be as such, that he knew. However, here, where every legend came to life, Typhon''s moniker as the bane of all Gods was sure to screw with him in every way possible.

    In the end, the only solution was for him to call for a greater evil; the side of him he preferred it stayed buried. It was no use to blame him for what happened as he was also not in control, and being an atrocity with two sides just to keep a balance didn''t help. A certain Norse Goddess came to mind. She for sure knew what a pain it was.

    As for the outcome that Seth''s action would bring, and the subsequent outcome of his other self''s action would bring, only fate would be able to tell.

    ''Let this be a reminder for the future... I suppose.'' He wouldn''t lie and say he had never thought of using powers belonging to some...unsavory associations to his persona. Yet, knowing that something like this could happen again, he preferred to stay away from them.

    ''That is so, that is so. We do not want any more incidents like this one, do we?'' A voice silently made its way into his head. Guess he was awake after all this ruckus.

    ''What are you doing? Shouldn''t you be preparing yourself to fight?'' He answered his question with another question. It wasn''t like his other half didn''t know the answer already.

    There was a bit of silence for a second before a sigh escaped the other person''s lips. ''Yeah, easy for you to say stupid little shit. I told you to leave the body in good conditions, and you left it more dead than alive! And if that wasn''t all, we are f.u.c.k.i.n.g sinking on the stomach of this vermin right now!''

    Oh yeah, did he forget to mention that the first thing Typhon did upon ripping apart half of the Egyptian God''s body to escape was to eat him and Herakles? He probably did...

    ''...Sorry. I guess I got a bit carried away. I didn''t think we were that short of time��no. We had plenty of time. It was our encounter with Herakles that accelerated the inevitable.'' Leaving the choice of words aside, it was true that he was in the wrong. That went to show you can never account for every possible outcome.

    His counterpart snorted in disdain. ''Carried away, huh? For someone who deep down detests fighting, you sure say funny things. Well, no matter. My preparations are ready. I just need a little more time.'' Then, all of a sudden, his tone became extremely cold. ''And then I will make sure to erase that worm from existence. I will not leave even a carcass behind.''

    Seth stirred, and the sound of rattling chains followed. ''Yes, I am of the same mind. No matter what you have to use. Make sure he disappears forever. I will leave our body to you. My mind needs rest.''

    The Egyptian God fell silent for a few seconds before abruptly moving. A sickening smile formed on his face. "Yes... Yes! Leave it to me! Mortals, Monsters, Gods! Everyone has forgotten about the True Ruler of this pathetic planet!" Amused chuckles came next. "Let''s take it back... our ????e????i????d ????h????o????e."

    Once the Prince swore that oath, a deranged laugh ensued, but even that faded in this dark space after a while.

    The time for the Immortal God to appear was near.

    ������������������������������������������������������������

    What... was this?

    The sight in front of them made no sense. It defied all logic.

    One moment they were fighting against each other with the clear intention of terminating the other party, but now they were only frozen in shock, stupefied even. Some went even further and started trembling from an innate fear within themselves.

    Around 30 meters tall, a giant body obscured by a veil of shadows towered over them. They could still distinguish some traits, though. The newcomer had a lamia-like body. One arm appeared to have the form of a snake while the other was a normal one, but with fins protrusions. Its hair was composed of hundreds of snakes hissing in all directions. Finally, it had one pair of wings on its back. As the shadows obscured its features, they couldn''t assert what they were made of.

    As they were frozen, not knowing what to do, the creature moved. It completely ignored them and submerged its snake arm into the ocean instead, all while they were still rooted in place. It kept doing that until it suddenly stopped.

    The others tensed a bit, but the monster just yanked its arm, pulling... something into the air with it. When the Servants and Master present looked in more detail, they recognized that object as a badly wounded Seth.

    Before they could even react, the snake arm shot like a missile and swallowed him with ease.

    Eyes widened in horror; they saw a small lump go from the snake''s mouth and through its whole throat and then disappearing like it was never there.

    "...Listen. Forget about this battle and escape. Now." Romani appeared through their communication device and told��ordered them in a low but commanding voice. He had checked the readings of that thing, and they were astronomical. If that weren''t enough, those readings increased substantially the moment that thing ate him.

    "...Impossible. We cannot escape him. It''s over for us, I''m afraid." Artemis said after a deep breath to calm herself. Her tone was one full of bitterness, yet also one of resignation. She, more than anyone here, knew the impossibility of the task.

    "You know what that thing is, don''t you?" Da Vinci questioned her with a seriousness unbecoming of her. Truth be told, she already had an idea, but it was better if she confirmed it.

    "Typhon. You don''t have to be extremely smart to figure that out." Theseus commented from the side. His usually relaxed face was gone forever, replaced by a calculative one instead. It was clear they had something more important than fighting among themselves now, so he could say with confidence that there wouldn''t be any backstabbing... at least from everyone but Medea.

    The monster''s mere presence alone had scared all the monsters he had summoned. It got to a point where their fear surpassed his control, so they simply fled. The only one that stayed behind was the Leviathan, but he doubted it would be powerful enough to beat that thing. If it were the original, maybe there would be a chance. He just hoped it wouldn''t try to kill him sneakily. That would be a pain...

    ''I would prefer not to use ''that'' with little Asterios here. However... something is telling me there would be no other option.''

    "Tch. Why hasn''t he attacked us yet? Is he waiting for something?" Archer asked from the side. He had dematerialized Kanshou and Byakuya, but his hands were twitching, ready to summon the most powerful Noble Phantasm in his arsenal in case that monster decided to come after them.

    Stheno''s hands balled into fists. Her petite body was trembling from fear and anger. "He doesn''t consider us as a threat. To him, we are nothing more than talking insects."

    "...Why...Why did he...?" Fujimaru asked, shaken to the core from the sight he witnessed before. His breath was erratic, and his pupils dilated. One thing was to see a Servant die knowing they could be brought back to life, although he preferred for them not to be killed, though. And another, very different, was to see the man who had helped him from the very beginning and was there to listen to his troubles be eaten alive.

    "To gain his Authorities. Seth is the God with the most Authorities out of us all, so if he finishes assimilating him, it will truly be the end. There will be hardly any force capable of killing him." Artemis replied quietly through greeted teeth. She knew what the little Master was referring to even without him being able to voice it completely.

    "Then the more reason we can''t escape. If we don''t somehow defeat it now, everything will be over. Humanity will not have a future." Zhuge Liang said with furrowed brows. He didn''t like anything of this, honestly, but they will have to do it regardless of their preferences.

    ''If push comes to shove, I will have to use that Noble Phantasm, but there is no guarantee anyone will be capable of making use of it.'' It was truly a grim situation.

    "And you are supposed to be a strategist?! If we retreat now, I am sure we will be able to think something from the future, but now we don''t stand a chance!" Romani tried to keep his voice low, but it wasn''t proving easy. What he said might come off as cowardice, he knew. However, he was anxious about Fujimaru and Mash''s safety.

    "It is do or die, isn''t it? Then we better give it our all!" Drake''s loud proclamation and her smirk that said ''I am having fun'' created many black lines among the people present. Couldn''t this woman be serious for once?

    "I like that way of thinking, and I would honestly like to let him destroy everything as well. Sadly, I don''t think we would be spared even if we said we were on his side, so I will fight together with you, people from the future!" Medea Lily cheerfully said. Leaving aside her questionable choice of words, at least that was an enemy less to worry about.

    "...We are not that hopeless." Charles Darwin said, suddenly taking everyone''s attention from the little Caster and pulling it to her. "Although my Noble Phantasm is made to counter Servants, I originally studied animals. It should be sufficiently effective to weaken him, as little as it may be."

    "Even without Mystery, I can tell he is extremely strong physically. We need someone capable of matching that." Atalanta frowned in contemplation. True, Anti-Mystery was a strong weapon, but it was not all-powerful.

    "Hah. Fools! Have you forgotten? We have the strongest warrior at our side!" In cue with Jason''s words, something jumped out of the turbulent ocean before crashing onto the Argo''s deck. Red lightning danced around its hulking form like a silent rage, ready to be unleashed.

    Herakles madly roared at Typhon as if challenging him. In response to this, the giant monster finally deigned to look at them, particularly to the Greek Hero. His red-eyes shined with intensity and never-ending hatred.

    And then...

    He also roared...

    It was deep, loud, and powerful. It sounded like the cry of a hundred beasts.

    Fujimaru fell on his knees with blood falling from every orifice on his head. Mash soon crouched down to support him with a worried face. She was faring better as she was a Servant, but even her legs felt wobbly.

    Fortunately for them, Typhon didn''t continue roaring for long. They were able to recompose themselves fairly quickly except for Fujimaru, who was still feeling the aftermath.

    "...Just his roar was this powerful... Are we sure we can take him on?" Sanson asked but received no answer. No one could confidently say anything after that seemingly simple display of strength.

    "He seems like a mindless beast. We can''t take advantage of that in some way." As a hunter in life, Orion offered his own two cents. Beasts who relied on instincts alone were the easiest to kill. However, this one was giving him a bad feeling. It was almost as if��

    "��He is an intelligent monster. That thing can speak and understand us perfectly. He just chooses to ignore us." Euryale said, seemingly reading Orion''s mind. She was not as angry as her sister over what happened to Seth, but she was not happy either. He was the man that reunited the two, and for that, he had her eternal gratitude. So, no matter if it were a fool''s path with a bad end, she would fight and take revenge. She was sure her sister was also of the same mind.

    "You two kids are his daughters, aren''t you? Any idea that could help us?" Theseus'' question brought him a hate-filled glare from Stheno. The King of Athens felt as if he had been attacked physically.

    "Don''t call that thing our father! He is nothing more than a failed spawn of Gaia!" Of all the people present, only Herakles was not paying to Stheno, so he could see the narrowing of Typhon''s eyes at her words.

    "If that thing can understand us, then it''s pointless to discuss it in front of him. We will have to think about something el��"

    Before Da Vinci could even voice her advice, Herakles and Typhon had already moved. The Greek Hero would wait for no one, and the Beast was just simply humoring the pests in front of him. Soon he would absorb everything of Seth, and then it would be time to eat his "daughters." He did not need rebellious pawns in his path to kill every Divine being, after all.

    However, the more time he took, the more close a certain God was to escape from his prison. And he was not merciful to monsters.

 Chapter 157 - Outstanding Courage, Facing Typhon

    (A/N: Just going to put this here to prevent killing the mood in the middle of the fight. I plan to make a chapter with every new Noble Phantasm -mostly OCs- I used in this Singularity. I will do that for future ones as well, with translations in case I decide to make them in a different language like here. Oh, and btw. BIG CRINGE WARNING. Enjoy ^^)

    Those present watched dumbfounded as Herakles jumped at the giant monster without hesitation. It took them a couple of seconds to come around and realize that they couldn''t just stand there doing nothing.

    Asterios exchanged a glance with Euryale, the latter wordlessly nodding. He would prefer to stay back and protect her, but maybe in the frontlines, he would be of more use.

    Nodding back, the Minotaur also jumped, following Herakles. The Greek Hero was the first to impact against Typhon''s snake arm, and doing justice to his strength in myths; the lamia-like monster was able to continue forward as if Berserker was never there with ease. The addition of Asterios did little to change that.

    Both Berserkers crashed like shooting stars against the Argo''s and Golden Hind''s deck. The loud sound caused by their landing was like a signal for the others to begin their assault.

    Naturally, the Archers were the first to attack. After confirming that Asterios was all right, albeit with his arms shaking, she banded together with Artemis, Atalanta, and EMIYA to shoot arrows at Typhon.

    Not that they expected a different outcome, but seeing their magical arrows disappear in the black mist surrounding his body without doing anything brought a feeling of impotence to all of them.

    Medea and her younger version were next. Using her floating cape, Caster took off to the skies. Not long after, she used a big chunk of her reserves to create numerous Magic Circles surrounding her. Lily also helped by providing some of her own Magical Energy plus strengthening the spell with her own magic.

    Not wasting a second more, Medea used Rain of Light: Machia Hecatia Graea, one of her favorite and most powerful spells.

    Hundreds of beams shot from the Magic Circles and bombarded Typhon relentlessly. Caster''s assault created a thin layer of vapor that momentarily covered the giant monster from view. But even then, the Witch of Betrayal kept providing more and more Magical Energy to continuously feed her spell. She was well aware that it wouldn''t end with a single shot from any of them.

    What she didn''t expect was for a laser beam to shoot from the concealing white mist and impact in her direction, continuing unimpeded toward the stormy sky. It even managed to leave a hole in the clouds from where a ray of sunlight shone.

    The others watched with mouth agape how Typhon dispersed the vapor surrounding him, showing an apparently unharmed body. It was as if the previous barrage had been nothing more than an annoyance.

    "Medea!" Atalanta''s shout resounded throughout the heavy rain. She frantically looked around, trying to see if she could spot Caster but to no avail.

    Just when she was about to give up and mindlessly attack Typhon, a cape in the form of a drill appeared next to them. The moment the cape unveiled, it revealed a panting Medea. It was really a close call. �����ѦĦϦ�, her barrier spell, was as good as a bubble against his attack. If it weren''t for her timely teleportation, not even her ashes would have remained.

    Atalanta breathed a sigh of relief once she saw her former companion was safe. Her moment of comfort was short-lived, though. This made their third failed attempt during some short minutes span.

    Brute force, arrows, magic... Nothing seemed to be working. The Huntress wasn''t the only one to take note of that fact. In fact, everyone else did. They were being left without options quicker than they initially thought they would.

    "What are you moping around for? The fight has just started, and you are already thinking of defeat? Get a hold of yourselves! We are Heroes! Although some of you are considered Anti-Heroes or outright Villains, you carry a legend on your back! Achieve the impossible is in our blood, so don''t despair, don''t give up, and above all, keep fighting ''till the end!" Theseus loudly proclaimed with his sword pointing toward the sky. Different from them, he was smiling excitedly. He was not a battle-maniac, but the joy of surpassing every expectation when the odds were against you was something he didn''t dislike.

    Following his own example, Theseus leaped from the ship and landed on the turbulent waters. Similar to Orion, he was able to walk on water. He did land a safe distance from the observing Leviathan, though. He didn''t want more trouble than necessary.

    Shaking his head mentally to push those thoughts aside, the green-haired King adopted a serious expression. He knew Typhon was not taking them seriously, and this was a golden opportunity they couldn''t miss. Lowering his center of gravity, Theseus breathed in and out before disappearing from the onlookers'' sight.

    Although the King of Monsters was taking things and counterattacking casually to their attacks, that didn''t mean he was not dangerous. What to him looked like a slow movement. For others, it was extremely fast.

    As Theseus was advancing, small string-like things started appearing in front of him. They were only visible to him, but the green-haired man didn''t treat them as a hallucination or anything. Instead, he followed their trail.

    It was then when the snake head on Typhon''s arms crashed into Theseus'' position. Just when the Father of all Monsters believed he had badly wounded if not outright wounded the small insect before him, the green-haired man jumped out of the water and started running up his arm completely unharmed.

    A growl escaped Typhon''s mouth. He hadn''t expected the Servant before him to have the audacity of using his body as a stair. Yet, if he thought he would continue unimpeded, he was very wrong.

    Using his other, human-like arm, Typhon readied to squash Theseus like an annoying mosquito. However, the moment his hand was about to reach him, the Athenian King smiled. Two figures jumped out of nowhere and impacted against his open palm, bringing it to a temporary stop, but enough for the dual-class Servant to get out of harm''s way.

    Having completed their job, Asterios and Herakles stopped resisting and let themselves be sent flying. Luckily for them, the Leviathan caught them before they could sink into the ocean. Nevertheless, same as with Seth previously, their impact was still not a pleasant one.

    ''Haha, this is fun indeed!'' Theseus wide grin as he kept climbing told everything. This excitement was something no one could blame him for. Although most Heroes never do their ''deeds'' of their own volition and sometimes are sent to their deaths, there are times, times where you feel like you are making history��that you are creating a legend. And this was one of those times.

    The most common theme is fighting... monsters.

    A memory quickly flashed through his mind, but he pushed it aside just as fast. That kid was no monster. He was just that... a kid. But now, now they were truly facing the ultimate monster��one that, if it were to be slain, would be something to remember forever.

    Theseus kept following the white threads, dodging the fireballs that were starting to come from the snakes in Typhon''s head and getting closer to his neck little by little.

    The son of Tartarus narrowed his eyes at the obvious attempt of beheading him. He would normally consider letting them try to harm him and see their hopes getting crushed upon realizing he was unharmed, but it was best to be cautious, especially at a delicate time like this.

    Instead of trying to crush him like before, Typhon moved his hand and placed it protectively around his neck.

    ''That is not going to help you, buddy.'' Theseus'' Magical Energy started to spike. His sword was soon coated in a constantly growing green aura, increasing its deadliness level.

    With a last jump to the side, Theseus came face to face with Typhon. His eyes filled with hatred would have scared to death anyone else, yet he was not anyone else. He was someone who had come face to face with the Minotaur.

    Yes, he was not the monster in front of him, a natural disaster, but it mattered not. To him, at least.

    After that incident, he endlessly wondered if he did the right thing. If by slaying Asterios he was able to get rid of his suffering. Although he cowardly entered that labyrinth, thinking he would meet an atrocious monster, he met a scared child instead. Nevertheless, it doesn''t change the fact he killed him. That''s why he was so reluctant to use his Noble Phantasm in front of Asterios. He knew he wouldn''t take it to heart, but it was still something he struggled with. Unfortunately, the current situation wasn''t that favorable to allow him that selfish wish. In fact, it was downright despairing.

    ''But indeed, Typhon. You are not him.'' Mid-air, Theseus raised his blade, making it point upward. Simultaneously, the father of monsters opened his mouth, where small flames were beginning to congregate.

    ? ''The coward who entered that maze stands here.'' Magical Energy shot from his sword toward the sky in a wild manner.

    ''The Hero who slew the Minotaur fights here.'' The flames in Typhon''s mouth looked ready to go just as the Magical Energy coating Theseus'' sword orderly congregated in a spiral.

    ''And... The King who overcame monsters triumphs here!'' The green-haired man brought his sword down at the same time that Typhon decided to incinerate him.

    �����Ŧ˦ɦ�? ����?�ЦǦ̦� �ҦӦ� ���Ѧ��æɦʦ� ���Ǧ�?��!��?

    A blinding light ensued after the two attacks clashed. Powerful gales traveled in all directions, carrying raging waves with them. It was so bad that the Argo and Golden Hind almost collided with each other due to the rising and undulating water.

    Everyone covered their eyes one way or another to prevent any discomfort. They hadn''t expected Theseus to create this spectacle. They didn''t believe him to be this strong either. It really went to show that you can''t judge a book by its cover.

    It was nearly a minute after that the situation calmed down enough for them to finally be able to look at the previous incident''s outcome. However, no amount of waiting time could have prepared them for the sight they were about to see.

    Mouthes slowly widening, eyes gradually widening, they partook in an unreal scene.

    The stormy sky had been cut in half, letting a line of sunlight shine down upon the ocean through several kilometers. But that wasn''t what caught their attention. It was the enormous red line going from Typhon''s shoulder all the way down to his tail. Even while being covered by shadows, that mark was still visible to the n.a.k.e.d eye.

    "He... He did it?" Jason didn''t know if he should make his words into a statement or a question. The situation was THAT unbelievable.

    ''I had a feeling before, but he was really taking us lightly, wasn''t he?'' EMIYA clicked his tongue. No matter if he felt any type of pride or not, being taken lightly was not something one wants in a fight... unless you are desperate to win, that is.

    As the others were still marveling at the scene, the Leviathan approached with Herakles on her head. The Greek Hero soon landed on the Argo''s deck, making them realize something crucial.

    "Where are Asterios and the other guy?" Euryale asked while frowning in worry.

    Now that she mentioned it... There were no signs of any of the two anywhere.

    The purple-haired Archer looked around for a while before looking back at the Leviathan. The said monster did something akin to a snort, pointing her head in a particular direction.

    There, they saw Berserker climbing up the side of the Golden Hind with Theseus on his shoulders. Immediately after doing so, Asterios put the green-haired man down gently on the deck.

    "Well, ????????????????????... that was something." The Athenian King said after taking out some water from his system. He may or may not have used too much Magical Energy on that strike, leaving him without any strength afterward.

    "Yes... but how? None of your attacks were working until now." Romani said after appearing through the communication device once more. The way he worded it brought stinky eyes from the Servants, though. If he weren''t in a different time and place, he would have run just from the intensity of those stares.

    "Aren''t you a curious one? I am afraid that is a trade secret." He responded lightheartedly with an amused look. He then stole a glance at his rescuer, and his look became a wry one.

    "It... okay. No... grudge. Remember?" Asterios, understanding the meaning behind that look, comforted Theseus with a childish smile.

    ''As naive as ever... but then again. I don''t dislike that part of you. It really makes you look human.'' Theseus also smiled back before slowly standing up.

    "Did you see what I was talking about? We can and will achieve the impossible. Believe in yourselves as that is the root from where our strength comes from."

    "I may not be able to give an emotional speech about courage and the like as that is not my field of expertise. What I can give you, though, is vital information." Darwin said, gaining a few raised eyebrows at what she had to say.

    "It should have gone through your head at least once. Why is it that with that giant body he is not crushing our sh.i.p.s, or with the laser beam he used against Medea destroying them?" Caster''s words rang true within them. They could attribute it to him not being serious, but even humans get angry when insects keep pestering them and then proceed to crush them under their feet.

    "I have two theories. One can be considered a certainty, and the other is quite close." The Mother of Evolution began before presenting them what she had gathered thanks to her Noble Phantasm. "The first one is that he simply can''t��or saying it in another way, he doesn''t want to. It is not only his appearance that resembles a snake but his metabolism as well."

    "I see now. Snakes don''t swallow their prey unless they are sure they are alone. Because the minimal movement may cause stress which will lead it to��" Dr. Roman began, enlightened by Caster''s words.

    "��Regurgitate its food," And Darwin concluded.

    "So that means we have to give him a good shake so he can release Master? Easier said than done." Atalanta spoke while crossing his arms. She still kept an eye on the distant Typhon, though. He was too quiet, and she didn''t like that.

    "Yes. I do believe he is still alive. My Noble Phantasm is telling me that much." She did not mention the headache she was getting by doing so, though. Something of Typhon''s caliber was at the limit of what she could handle without her mind collapsing.

    Fujimaru secretly sighed in relief. Despite everything, he was glad Seth was okay... or as okay as one could be inside the stomach of a monster. Now the only thing left was to get him out of there.

    "That unkillable man aside, you mentioned there was another reason why he is not killing us right here and now? What is it?" Zhuge Liang asked his fellow Caster. He had some suspicions considering Typhon''s actions from the moment he awoke, but it was best to be sure in these cases and not make hasty deductions.

    Darwin paused for a moment before looking at Euryale and Stheno. A trace of sympathy flashed through her eyes when she saw them. "Although I cannot confirm it with one hundred percent surety. I have enough reasons to believe he wants to swallow you two the same way he did with that God."

    That... was something they did not expect. Nor did they expect Typhon''s following actions.

 Chapter 158 - The Miracle Arrives

    "...I don''t have any plans of being eaten by that thing. But let''s leave that matter aside. You are sure he is still alive, are you not?" Stheno asked, receiving a nod from the Caster Servant.

    "Positive. I can also say that he is resisting the process. It would surely give us a little more time. As for how much? I cannot answer with confidence." She didn''t want to give them hopes, much less false ones. However, in a situation where the end of the world seems nothing but near, not much can be done about it.

    "That means we need to try harder. The wound I caused to him won''t heal no matter what he does, so we have to take advantage of that." As much as it pained him to say it, Theseus needed some time to rest and recover. It all would depend on the others for now.

    "Agreed. If attacking separately did not work, except for him, then we are going to have to give everything we''ve got together." Zhuge Liang commented from the side.

    "Be careful. Worst case scenario, he would forget about everything and attack you mindlessly." Romani said, earning many eye rolls.

    "You know, you need to read the mood sometimes. You must have had a tough childhood to be like that." David said while shaking his head. Dr. Roman''s eyebrows immediately began to twitch.

    "Listen here��"

    "He is coming. Everyone get ready!" Atalanta, who was keeping an eye on Typhon, immediately notified the rest, making them tense slightly and redirect their gazes to the giant monster who had begun to move.

    Typhon advanced slowly, not minding the Leviathan who was lurking at his side. He only stopped when he was at a relatively close distance. Everyone prepared themselves for an eventual attack, but that didn''t come at all. Instead, the giant monster laughed.

    His voice was very deep and managed to send chills down their spine. Fortunately, he didn''t keep doing that for long. The serpentine monster then arched his forward a bit, his red-eyes scanning everyone on the ship before stopping on Theseus.

    "Impressive. I did not think there were humans capable of hurting me. As always, you are an interesting bunch." His tone was filled with amus.e.m.e.nt, but it still kept the natural disdain. Most likely, if he hadn''t been hurt, he wouldn''t even bother with looking at them as sentient beings.

    "What? Is this the part where you take pity on us and let us live while you go somewhere unknown?" EMIYA sarcastically asked the monster in front of him. Although he said that, the white-haired man was ready to deploy Rho Aias, as useless as that might be.

    In response to his question, Typhon laughed again. The next thing they knew, his arm was already crushing the Argo to pieces. Everyone''s eyes widened for the nth time since the battle started. They couldn''t react as it happened so fast.

    "No." His response was dry as if he had heard the unfunniest joke in the world. In their little moment of happiness due to having harmed him, they seem to have forgotten that the only people Typhon needed were in the Golden Hind and not the Argo.

    A thudding sound woke them from their stunned state. They turned around to see the fallen form of Darwin trying to stand up. No one knew how she got there, but probably someone threw her to the deck of their ship before Typhon had smashed the Argo.

    Unfortunately, there were no signs of Medea Lily, Jason, or Herakles for the matter. The latter was, without a doubt, a heavy loss.

    ''Damn it. He seemed amused, but he is pissed as hell.'' Theseus frowned in exasperation. Herakles would revive, of that he was sure, so he was not worried about him. Medea was another matter entirely. Although she was not right in the head, her healing was second to none. As for Jason... He was useless. Not the original itself, but the one summoned here. He should be more of a leader instead of staying in the back and observing what happens. The green-haired man even wondered if Medea tampered with his summoning and made him a retard or something.

    "Impede I completely assimilate Seth? You are too late for that!" Typhon''s declaration brought the Athenian King''s attention back to the battlefield. What did he mean? It couldn''t be that��

    David and Theseus suddenly felt an instinctive fear, but this one was different from the one they had experienced when Typhon appeared for the first time. The former was a fear correlating with their "race". As for the latter, it had more to do with what they had become in life... Kings. If Seth were to be present at the moment, he would sigh in annoyance. It seemed Kingslayer was a Skill every thief liked to have.

    That wasn''t the only noticeable change, though. Typhon started growing in size little by little. From the original 30 meters above sea level, he had become 50 meters tall. They really didn''t want to know how big he would become once he completely absorbed Seth.

    Finally, part of the shadows covering his body dispersed, more precisely the ones covering his serpentine arm. It had blue and red skin, with some protrusions seemingly made out of bones surrounding its eyes.

    Typhon took a moment to appreciate the changes, clenching and unclenching his human-looking fist. He then directed his gaze to Stheno and Euryale, and although they couldn''t see it due to the shadows still hiding his face, the two sisters felt as if he was looking at them with a predatory grin.

    "Now it is your turn, you wastes of daughters." The giant monster extended his hand toward the Golden Hind, intending to capture the Gorgon Sisters. Those two would be the next step to strengthen himself even more. After that, he would go after that pathetic coward who called himself Sky God in the Reverse Side of the World.

    "I won''t let you!" They already had enough problems with one God being eaten, Zhuge Liang didn''t want to find out what would happen if two more were added to the mix. Usually, he would be conservative regarding Magical Energy''s expenditure, knowing that his Master was just starting to get used to handling various Servants at once. Still, this situation didn''t allow him that.

    El-Melloi waved his feather fan to the side, creating a semi-circle of blue fire in front of him. In the next few moments, enormous shadows appeared above them. Stone pillars of black and red fell from the sky in a circular motion, trapping Typhon inside. Lastly, something akin to a ceiling with a yin-yang symbol in the middle fell on top of the pillars, blocking any escape route.

    "��Unreturning Formation!��" Caster didn''t hesitate for even a second to use his Noble Phantasm. It was a bitter pill to swallow, but he couldn''t do much else against such a foe. He only had one more left, and he didn''t know exactly how THAT was going to turn out.

    Taking this as an opportunity, Drake turned the ship around. All of this still looked like some unreal shit, but she knew she had to take advantage of the opportunity they had right now to gain some distance.

    "Get back here!" Typhon bellowed. At first, he tried to brute-force his way through the prison, but that left him with no results. He then tried to shoot an energy ray through the pillars'' gaps, yet it was as if there was an invisible barrier preventing it from exiting.

    "It seems to be working." Fujimaru let out a breath he didn''t realize he was holding. He was extremely tense during the whole situation, so much so that he could barely speak. Not to mention he was still suffering from Typhon''s initial roar.

    "Don''t get complacent, kid. That won''t hold him for long. It will take him less than a minute to break through it." Atalanta said with barely concealed rage. Her knuckles were white from trying to contain herself. If it weren''t for her Goddess'' hand on her shoulders, she would have already gone mad and attacked that monster.

    Seeing Medea perish like that was not a good thing... It was unacceptable. She was really cursing her own powerlessness right now. It seemed that when it truly mattered, she couldn''t do a damn thing. To add to that... she could have sworn she saw the girl she traveled with giving her a last look... a last smile before that monster killed her.

    "I am afraid she is right. This will only buy us a few dozen seconds at most. We have to think of something and fast." Caster replied, unaware of the Huntress'' inner turmoil.

    "He will be wary of me, so don''t expect much. As for you lot, don''t you have some finishing move or something like that? If we can''t kill him, might as well cripple that shithead." Theseus said while shrugging his shoulders as if it didn''t concern him. Although, internally, he was thinking about new ways to cut Typhon. The only good news he could get out of this was that they didn''t feel that overwhelming despair they did at first. It might have to do with his Skill, but those were details.

    "I hate to say it, and I am sure the less indicated person to speak those words is me, but we need a miracle and now. I have noticed that his rage does not stem from hate against us, but it does from fear. Most likely that God is not only resisting but also fighting back inside Typhon. He must be panicking thinking that his source of power might escape." Darwin informed while holding her sides. She was able to escape thanks to a teleportation spell appearing suddenly beneath her feet. It must have been the work of their Caster. However, the Mother of Evolution did not know why she chose to sacrifice her own life. The only answer she could attain after a lot of thinking was that Medea thought they would have more chances with her alive.

    ""A miracle, huh..."" Both EMIYA and Zhuge Liang muttered to themselves at the same time. They looked at each other, seemingly coming to a decision��a resolve. However, there was a problem... Magical Energy shortage.

    As they were pondering what to do, Typhon broke free from his prison. They expected to have a little more time, but it seemed impossible now. Just when he was about to chase them, though, the Leviathan rammed hard into his wounded side, making him stumble into the ocean.

    Not yet done, she shot a torrent of water at him to prevent the monster from getting up.

    "Just when I thought that snake was going to be a spectator all day long, it turns out it helps us in the most opportune moment," David said with obvious conflicted emotions at being rescued by another equivalent of Satan.

    "Better late than never," Euryale commented while frowning. She then turned to Archer and Caster. "You two seem to have something in mind. What are you thinking?"

    The first to answer was EMIYA. "I can create a weapon capable of achieving a miracle. Problem is, that specific one would take a lot of Magical Energy to create. If we want to still have a fighting chance in case that fails, I can''t take that much from Master."

    "While what I plan might not require a strenuous amount, if we couple it Archer''s idea, I am afraid that would be detrimental to Master." Zhuge Liang responded on the same line the Red Bowman did.

    "Then what do you suggest we do?" Mash asked, unsure of how to resolve the situation. She had not had much action since the battle began��something she considered good since that meant her Master was not theoretically in danger. However, that also made the feeling of wanting to help even more prevalent.

    Fujimaru looked downcast for a second. In the end, it all came to his inadequacy. It''s not like he expected to be able to solve every problem by just snapping his fingers but... at least be of some use when it mattered, you know? ''I bet Kuro would be able to help more than me if he was here...''

    ???????????????????????? ???????????????????????? ???????? ???????????????????? ???????? ???????????????????? ???????????????????????? ????????????????????????

    ''Eh?'' The black-haired youth opened his eyes wide in surprise. ''Those were his words back then...''

    "Master? Is something wrong?" Mash asked with concern laced on her voice after seeing her Senpai''s odd behavior.

    Breathing in and out. Fujimaru''s face and mannerism changed from disheartened to determined in less than a second. ''You are right. This is where I show what I am made of. Just wait, I will prove to you that I can be an outstanding Master as long as I try hard enough.''

    Offering a small smile of reassurance to Mash, Fujimaru then turned to EMIYA and Zhuge Liang with unshakable determination. "Please go ahead. We have to show Humanity''s power to that monster who only knows destruction. We can''t always depend on Gods to do all our work."

    There was a pregnant pause for some seconds until a hearty laugh broke it. Theseus slapped Fujimaru''s back, happy with his declaration. "That''s the spirit, young man. With a thought process like that, you would have become cursed to death back in my time, but you are right in that. Now it is Humanity''s turn to rule."

    Aside from some mild discomfort at being hit, Fujimaru was otherwise fine. Artemis, despite being a Goddess, was smiling. It reminded her of a conversation she had long ago about the importance of being human...

    Orion, not in the mood for acting like a pervert in this situation, also agreed with Fujimaru and even felt pride for the little chap.

    Euryale, Asterios, Medea, and David exchanged looks, coming to a decision. The first to speak was the King of Israel. "We are not of much use currently, so we will help with the process."

    "What do you��"

    "Are you sure?" Archer cut Stheno off before she could finish. He knew the little Goddess had understood the implications, and of course, was unwilling. She probably saw the previous exchange. Not that he could blame her. What she wanted the least was to separate from her after all this time of being apart.

    He received four nods in response, making him sigh. In the end, he also assented. He would be taking their Magical Energy, and Caster would use Fujimaru''s to do whatever was he wanted to do.

    ''Don''t worry, me. I am sure that when this is over, we will get reunited again. After all, it already happened, didn''t it? Who says it can''t happen twice?'' Euryale communicated with her sister through the special bond they shared. It was like telepathy, but not entirely.

    ''But��''

    ''No buts. And don''t say something silly like helping me. If worse comes to worst, Papa can use you as a catalyst to summon me, or even our younger sister, although that... is a bit of wishful thinking on my part.''

    ''I... Fine. Do what you want, but don''t come crying later.'' Stheno received no further answers, other than a smug look her way. Huh... so that''s what it felt like when she did that to others. So annoying...

    "I assume you want me to wield that weapon, so, while in normal circ.u.mstances I would also help, I am afraid I have to sit this one out," Theseus commented with folded arms as Medea, Asterios, Euryale, and David each put a hand on EMIYA''s shoulders and arms.

    They immediately felt their Magical Energy being s.u.c.k.e.d at a fast rate while Archer''s only increased. Stheno took a step forward as if to stop her process, but a hand on her shoulder stopped her. Looking back, she saw Artemis gently shaking her head, making the eldest sister bite her lips but otherwise make no other movements.

    As the battle between two monsters raged in the background��one that would undoubtedly end in the Leviathan''s defeat if they didn''t do something, the Servants and human on the ship were witnessing the birth of a miracle.

    EMIYA did his best to create this sword. It was one of those sentient ones that refused to be called under normal circ.u.mstances. If he forced it, he would end up with a hollow husk worse than a fake. Now though, now he felt it was possible. Not only that, the sword was urging to be called.

    That sword wanted to demonstrate its power. But above all, it wanted to answer their wishes. Not only to fight but also to honor those who were sacrificing themselves for its creation.

    ?

    From that hill full of swords, ''it'' alone resonated with their current feelings the most.

    ?

    If Excalibur is the sword that carries the hope of mankind, then this sword is one that carries their determination to keep fighting until the end.

    ?

    The Peerless Sword. A Symbol of Power, and above all, Bravery. It would not lose as long as its wielder didn''t give up. No matter the form, it would always come back. It would show that determination was undying.

    ?

    ????????????, ????????????????????????. ???????????????? ???????? ???????????????? ???????????? ????????????????????! ???????????? ???????????????? ???????? ???????????????????? ???????? ???????????????? ???????????????????????????????????????? ????????????????!

    ?

    "COME FORTH AND GIVE US A MIRACLE, DURANDAL!"

 Chapter 159 - Alayas Response, A Grand Approaches

    A sword calmly floated in the air. Its blade was blackish gray, while its handle was black. The guard was yellow in color, sporting some dark spots as well. It looked ordinary if a little well-decorated weapon. Yet, the aura of power it was releasing was anything but simple.

    This was the answer to their wish, their hope. Durandal, the sword of miracles.

    Archer went all out with creating this weapon, unlike his haphazard work on normal occasions. He tried to make the sword as close to the original as possible. EMIYA was tired mentally, yes, but that didn''t impede him to grab the sword and toss it to Theseus while giving a final look to those that decided to give their ''life'' for the completion of Durandal.

    Medea, Euryale, Asterios, and David were already fading in motes of light. "Thanks for helping, your sacrifice would not be wasted."

    "Your cynical self suits you more but no matter. We did what we had to do." The Witch of Betrayal shook her head before looking at the lion-eared Huntress. "Take care of things here for me."

    Atalanta sighed dejectedly but ultimately nodded. There was nothing she could do at this point, and trying to prevent her actions before Medea did them �� something that she wanted to do anyway �� would be mocking her resolve.

    "I will be going now. Remember to take care of yourself, okay?" Euryale bade farewell to her sister with a wry smile. Asterios was quietly by her side letting her do so.

    Stheno looked to the side for a moment before sighing and returning to her ''superior'' persona. "Go. There is no need to stupidly waste time on pointless goodbyes."

    A silent eye-smile was the response she got until the middle sister faded away completely. Giving a final look at the place her sister was in, Stheno then focused his attention on the front where the Leviathan and Typhon were fighting. Soon it will be the time for that thing to pay.

    Meanwhile, David was sighing comically in regret at seeing all these sad situations. "I wonder if there is a woman here touched by my sacrifice who would console me in my final moments..."

    "Just die already and stop being a bother for everyone!" Romani, who heard what he said from Chaldea''s Command Room immediately got pissed and had to let that be known to the green-haired Archer.

    "Haha, that''s a bit harsh." David laughed a bit before his face showed a simple smile of satisfaction. "I am sorry I could not be of much use. My secret weapon returned to the original owner, after all. Still, I suppose materializing here had its good points as well."

    "...What good points?" Dr. Roman asked in puzzlement.

    "Let''s see... I got to act cool... that about sums it up." Although the Doctor didn''t understand what he meant by that, he decided not to ask. It wasn''t like he was going to get a solid answer anyway. ''Honestly. Always reckless to the point of stupidity.''

    Even though he thought like that, he still watched David''s disappearance with a complicated look in his eyes. Nevertheless, he opted to focus on other events, mainly on how they would beat Typhon with that sword, Durandal or not.

    Theseus was of the same mind, and he didn''t mind voicing it out, despite the sacrifices it took to make. "A good sword indeed. However, it will not be enough. I wasted around eighty percent of my Magical Energy on that strike who ended up wounding him and look how well he looks now. In fact, he is stronger than before. What''s more, I have the feeling he already started absorbing some Skills of that dude. It won''t be long for Authorities to follow, and I won''t be enough to beat him then."

    Durandal shook in Theseus''s hands, seemingly annoyed at the comment. The Athenian King scratched his cheek in awkwardness but made no further action.

    "That''s where I come in. Though be warned, this could turn to be either our ticket to heaven or our ticket to hell." With those puzzling words, Zhuge Liang looked at his Master who responded by distributing his Magical Energy with Caster in mind.

    This was something he had been learning with him in his spare time. A part of managing multiple Servants at once was to know when one of the aforementioned Heroic Spirits required more Magical Energy than others depending on the situations.

    Currently, the only people he had a contract with were Caster, Archer, and Mash. Of the three, Mash could ''survive'' with the less amount since she was a Demi-Servant, and could technically function on her own. And although it sounded wrong to say it like this, Archer had already shown his usefulness, so aside from providing the minimum to keep him ''alive'', he didn''t need more.

    With that in mind, Fujimaru gave Zhuge Liang most of what little Magical Energy he had. The previous battle against the Argonauts had taken its toll on him. He doubted he would be able to do much afterward.

    Caster concentrated hard. He had never used this Noble Phantasm before because it was... random, in a sense. The result was not controlled by him but by ''whatever the target needed at a specific moment.''

    As a man who preferred facts and concrete things to work with, this Noble Phantasm was really incompatible with him. However, now it might be their ticket to overcoming the adversity before them.

    "��Chu Shi Biao.��" Softly muttering its name with Theseus as the target, the changes became evident in an instant. Outwardly, the Athenian King began to release Magical Energy unlike what they have seen before. Inwardly, though, the changes were even more significant. The most notable one was the change of his Saint Graph. It was forcefully ''expanded'' for a lack of a better term.

    It could be said that in terms of greatness, Theseus was now temporarily on part with Grands, as for power, that was a different matter. More so when that ''temporarily'' is a key factor.

    "...I think this will be just enough for now. Though, did you have to make me a kamikaze?"

    "I am surprised you know that term." Theseus only shrugged in response to Caster''s words. "However, I am sorry about that. I don''t control what you obtain. If it deemed that was the only way, then it must be so."

    The green-haired Servant shook his head. "It''s okay. I kind of expected something like this would happen. We are disposable in the grand scheme of things, after all."

    Caster released a deep sigh before looking at his Master. Although he had used his Noble Phantasm just like that, it had cost quite a bit of Magical Energy. Fujimaru was a bit pale, something that was not strange at all. Still, he decided to ask for his well-being. "Are you okay, Master? For now, you should get some rest while Theseus takes care of the problem."

    "Yeah. It won''t be much considering the situation we are in, but it will be better than nothing. There is still room for you to grow; dying of exhaustion would be truly sad in more than one sense. Well, I am glad we did it just in time."

    Just as he said that, a sonic boom echoed in the surroundings, creating giant waves in all directions. Luckily, Drake was able to maneuver her ship enough to avoid any inconvenience. At this point, keeping the Golden Hind afloat was the only thing she could do.

    Typhon had punched the Leviathan in the head, knocking her out cold. Despite his face being shadowed, he still gave the impression of looking reaaaaaaally pissed. He probably realized that Euryale had disappeared, meaning he would not be able to do the same he did with Seth anymore.

    "Well, I am off. Time certainly won''t wait for me." Theseus said before jumping off the Golden Hind under the gazes of its occupants.

    As soon as his feet touched the water, he disappeared. It all felt like a d��j�� vu of the previous time the Hero attacked. However, that also meant that Typhon could follow his movements all the same.

    The giant monster immediately struck a random spot in the turbulent ocean with his serpentine arm. He expected to feel it impact the Hero, but the only thing it touched was water.

    Theseus then reappeared at the side of Typhon''s sunken arm. Wasting no time, Theseus slashed the limb, surprisingly leaving a gash in it. Despite that, the green-haired Hero was not happy at all. The depth of the wound was the same as Durandal''s length, meaning that in comparison to the length and width of the arm, it was nothing.

    Still, considering Typhon was stronger than before, it was some progress. What Theseus didn''t know was that Kingslayer was boosting the monster''s defense even further, so what he did had more merit than what he thought.

    Back in the battle, the son of Tartarus growled at the dual-Class Servant after he noticed the small cut. The snakes that worked as his hair hissed loudly before spitting numerous fireballs in his direction.

    Theseus immediately started moving to dodge the human-sized snake spittle, making sure to do so in the Golden Hind''s opposite direction. He doubted they would retreat, and that Typhon didn''t have the speed to catch up to them in case he lost, but it was best to prevent any collateral damage just in case.

    As Theseus kept avoiding the barrage of fireballs, Typhon didn''t stay idle. The snake head on its right arm opened its mouth and started shooting laser beams at his enemy, difficulting his steps.

    At first, he didn''t have problems dodging, but after some time, it was clear he couldn''t keep being on the defensive longer than he already was.

    Finding a little space among the endless assault, Theseus powered Durandal with Magical Energy before doing an air slash in Typhon''s direction.

    The lamia-like monster momentarily paused to dodge to the side, but that was when the King appeared in front of him using his previous attack as a distraction. It seemed he wanted to replicate what he did before to harm him.

    However, different from that time, Typhon was already prepared. Out of nowhere, a lightning bolt struck Theseus, making him fall down like a missile. It seemed he had finally also taken Seth''s Authority over storms.

    The Athenian King was able to recover just in time to avoid submerging into the ocean, and yet, just as his feet touched the water and looked up, he saw the mouth of the serpent ready to incinerate him at point-blank.

    Not leaving him any time to respond, Typhon shot a sea of flames, completely engulfing him in a world of red.

    Everyone included Typhon, thought that he had perished, but Zhuge Liang assured them that he was still very much alive as his Noble Phantasm was still active. If he had died, then it would stop working.

    To prove Caster right, Theseus appeared behind Typhon in a flash. His face was the epitome of concentration as he brandished Durandal to send a powerful strike of energy in the form of a pillar at his back.

    The First Miracle: ''Speed capable of overwhelming the foe before him.''

    The Athenian King kept feeding Magical Energy to the sword to power the attack, eliciting a roar from Typhon. The smell of sizzling flesh was permeating the air more and more, but the monster wouldn''t go down just like that.

    The dark ocean beneath his feet illuminated, forcing Theseus to stop his attack as he could sense the danger. Not long after he did so, multiple pillars of lava geysers shot from the depths into the sky.

    ''Submarine volcanoes? Really?'' Theseus couldn''t be more annoyed. If the clouds of incessant rain weren''t present in the sky, he would look for a lucky star out there because clearly this monster was born under one.

    The succession of attacks was so high that he could barely keep up even with the Miracle, his Skill Eye of The Mind, and his Noble Phantasm to know the correct path to a destination. He even lost his brown cape along the way. He really liked it...

    His poor attempt at keeping himself as relaxed as possible aside, Theseus decided to approach Typhon instead of keeping his distance. Running away won''t work with his limited time, plus he could use the monster''s body as a cover.

    With that in mind, the Servant zigzagged in Typhon''s direction, raising water into the air while carefully avoiding the lava pillars. Find authorized novels in , faster updates, better experience, Please click <a href="#''s-response-a-grand-approaches_51915388568526231">#''s-response-a-grand-approaches_51915388568526231</a> for visiting.

    The shadow monster didn''t stay idle, though. He also went to meet Theseus'' charge. This time, instead of using his snake arm like he had been doing, Typhon used his human-like one to throw a punch at the Hero the moment they were at a close enough distance.

    Theseus didn''t retreat. He quickly raised Durandal above his head and swung it down just in time to meet Typhon''s fist. Large-sized ripples shot out in all directions at the clash, accompanied by the loud sound of the collision.

    It was a stalemate, or so it appeared at first. True to his name as the personification of strength, it didn''t take long for Typhon to be declared the winner of the encounter.

    What first started as him slowly pushing back Theseus soon became him sending the Hero flying, with the occasional impact in the water, like a stone thrown into a pond.

    It wasn''t until several kilometers that he managed to come to a stop, but even so, he wasn''t in a good condition as to be happy about that. His head was bleeding, his arms were trembling, and he probably had more than one broken bone.

    After coughing a few mouthfuls of blood, Theseus was able to stand up from his kneeling position. ''When did I think it was a good idea to clash head-on...''

    Even he admitted it was a dumb move. Still, it looked like Typhon was still coming for him instead of focusing on the Golden Hind. He probably thought he was the only threat to him, so the beast was ignoring the others for now in favor of getting rid of the Hero. He had no complaints about that, it worked for him.

    After checking he could move just fine albeit with a little pain, Theseus once again sped up in Typhon''s direction. The monster was waiting for him. He wasn''t in a rush to get this over with.

    Theseus this time learned his lesson and didn''t seek a direct match. Instead, he opted to attack from a distance with energy slashes.

    Although Typhon was annoyed by this, he didn''t think much about it. He kept shooting lasers, fireballs, and flames from his mouth to make it difficult for Theseus to approach.

    This status quo of ''hit-and-run'' was maintained for about twenty minutes, and despite the green-haired King noticing some results, mainly deep gashes on Typhon''s skin and a decrease in his enemy''s attack ratio, he knew he couldn''t keep it like this.

    His Saint Graph was at the border of breaking. He theorized he only had about ten more minutes before it couldn''t keep up with his current vessel and just break down. At that point, he didn''t know who would be the one to face Typhon.

    ''It seems it all returns to that, after all.'' Sighing mentally, Theseus stopped his attacks and retreated a safe distance. Although it looked like he had the advantage, he hadn''t left unscratched from there. His left arm was completely burnt. It resembled more a piece of coal than a human arm.

    ''Let''s go again, Durandal.'' The sword hummed at his intention and activated its power once more.

    The Second Miracle: ''Strength capable of flattening mountains.''

    A yellow and green aura began to surround Theseus like a layer of protection, but instead of defense, it boosted his Strength Parameter to a horrifying degree. He didn''t know if it would be enough to win a clash like the previous one, but he wasn''t interested.

    The green-haired Hero raised Durandal to the skies calmly while the howling winds congregated around Typhon. It seemed he too was tired of the previous ''game''.

    Tornados started forming on the clouds before coming down to the ocean. The already raging waves became behemoths that went up and down in a chaotic motion.

    The lightning in the sky seemed to have recognized Typhon as an unworthy owner, deciding to meet in the tip of Durandal''s instead.

    With narrowed eyes, the mouth of the serpent began to absorb wind to the point that the whole arm looked bloated. Meanwhile, the main head did the same, but instead of wind, it was fire, going by the small sparks around Typhon''s mouth.

    Nothing needed to be said, this would only end with one coming victorious, whoever it will be.

    After a few more seconds to gather as much Magical Energy as possible, Theseus swung Durandal down like a hammer, creating a yellowish-green slash that seemed to open the clouds and the ocean.

    Meanwhile, Typhon first exhaled a torrent of fire many times greater than what he had done previously before accompanying it by exhaling all the wind he had acc.u.mulated inside his amorphous arm. The result was a burning sea that approached Theseus attack like a rampaging tide.

    It didn''t long for the two attacks to meet. But instead of the slash continuing unimpeded, or the sea of flames swallowing the slash, something completely different happened.

    Unconsciously, or by the force of a ''greater will,'' Durandal''s Third Miracle activated at that moment.

    The two attacked seemed to have come to a standstill, but all the energy that was being generated thanks to their collision wasn''t being spread around unevenly. It was all going toward the thunderous clouds.

    It seemed as if the force of their attacks had opened the way for a third party to join the fray. However, neither Theseus nor Typhon displayed any sense of happiness at the Summoning Circle appearing in the sky.

 Chapter 160 - God Of The Thundering Heaven

    ''Why is that thing sending one of their dogs this early?'' Typhon found it incredibly strange. He was not a full-fledged Beast yet, so the chances of Alaya acting were slim. The only option was that the small humans had done so, but that also made no sense. They would have done so from the very beginning if they could.

    Unfortunately, he couldn''t pay that matter more attention than needed. The clash between him and the Hero still continued, and while he was sure the attack wouldn''t kill him, it would not be just a scratch either.

    However, it was also true that if one of those dogs came after him, he would end up dead or sealed once again, so he had to take care of it one way or another.

    Theseus was also thinking along those lines. He didn''t discard the possibility of the new arrival bombing everything and getting it over with. Sadly, that would include the last bastion of humanity, the Chaldeans.

    Same as with Typhon, though, he could not spare more than a few glances. His time was ending, and the clash between him and his foe was escalating in intensity more and more. He was repeatedly sending slash after slash with the strength of Noble Phantasms just to keep up. Ironically, that seemed to keep feeding the Summoning Circle in the sky.

    Amidst one of those slashes, Theseus'' arm froze for a slight second before returning its motion. However, that single second almost cost him his fading life, proven by how the flames advanced a great deal in his direction. ''Damn it... My body is almost at its limit.''

    On the deck of the Golden Hind, the Chaldeans also looked at the sky with uncertainty.

    "What now? Another summoning? Who is it this time?" Romani asked no one in particular while trying to assess the readings of the newcomer.

    "Unknown summoning confirmed. Energy Readings greatly outclassing the lifeform known as Typhon!" Another voice from one of the staff members exclaimed.

    ''Could it be one of them? But that shouldn''t be possible... Technically a Grand is already taking care of the problem, so there should not be one appearing unless they willingly want to...'' Dr. Roman g.r.o.a.n.e.d internally. It was all too complicated!

    Fou, who had been quietly hiding while looking at the situation unfold, growled in a territorial manner. But instead of growling at the sky, he was growling at Typhon. Most precisely, at what was inside of him.

    It was then that the dark ocean began to shine in a radiant golden color. This phenomenon didn''t come alone, though. The ocean trembled as if it was land, tsunami waves threatened with swallowing the people present, and a feeling of death washed over them. However, this feeling was not like the one you felt in a battle where you could lose your life, but more like the one that you feel at the end of your lifespan.

    To add to that, the ocean seemed to be absorbing the Magical Energy surrounding them, even that of the Summoning Circle. It was an event that left all of them baffled. It was as if the weird occurrences wouldn''t end until the world was destroyed.

    Drake tried hard to steer the ship and not be swallowed by the waves, but it was getting harder by the second. And as if the world was against them, the Golden Hind crashed against a bump that was revealed to be the unconscious form of the Leviathan.

    The crash made Darwin stumble and fall into the waters. She had constantly been trying to lower the level of Mystery Typhon had, and that was no easy matter. At this point, she could barely stand, so when they hit the serpentine monster, she lost her footing, diving down into the ocean. Sadly, that also meant what little restraint Typhon was under, disappeared with her.

    The son of Tartarus took the opportunity delightfully. Not only was Alaya''s intervention being delayed��maybe even stopped, but also the little restraint placed on him was now gone. He began to push Theseus little by little, thanks to that. Unfortunately for him, he couldn''t see the face of Theseus sinking in despair. Instead, he saw sheer determination to keep going until the end.

    Disappointed, Typhon''s attack kept gaining terrain little by little. Now that the Hero couldn''t keep up with him, it would be a waste to delay his demise.

    ''Such an uneventful end. It seems the sea is destined to be my resting place.'' Those were Theseus'' thoughts as he tried hard to stop the advance of Typhon''s attack with little to no success. His actions were mechanical. If he stopped now, he would surely die shortly after. Only his will was keeping him from doing so. But even that had a limit.

    ''Disappear while knowing that you at least earned my amus.e.m.e.nt, little vermin.'' Typhon internally said as his attack reached Theseus and continued unimpeded. However, it was at that moment when something... gigantic burst out of the ocean.

    It completely stopped Typhon''s flames in their tracks without any effort, causing him to frown. Yet, seeing what was that came out of the water, his frown turned upside down, revealing hidden shock.

    What appeared was a massive, floating island with a shape similar to a diamond. ''Small'' pieces of rock hovered on its sides, accompanying the main one. In one of those rocks, the Golden Hind seemed to be dangling on the edge. In addition, an ancient city that appeared to be made out of gold covered its whole surface.

    It didn''t take long to connect the dots. That thing was what caused the previous glow and also delayed the summoning of one of Alaya''s dogs. Even as it kept elevating, it didn''t stop its absorption.

    That, however, posed another question. Who was behind it, and what motives did they have?

    ''Isn''t that obvious by now? I am the only one who gets to crush you beneath my feet.'' As if aware of his thoughts, a voice responded to his silent query inside his head.

    That voice froze Typhon, and before he could react appropriately, a chain suddenly shot out from one of the corners of the island and stabbed him right in the c.h.e.s.t. However, that action caused no pain or damage. It looked more like putting an arm into the water. It created small ripples, but aside from that, there were no more changes. Even so, Typhon was no happy with it. More so when that chain yanked itself from his body, carrying a small figure with it.

    Twisting like a snake, the chain threw the figure in front of the walls surrounding the city. After a few rolls on the ground from the sudden motion, the individual came to a stop.

    Heaving profusely, Typhon stared at that person. The previous event had felt as if a part of his soul had been forcefully taken out, so his mood had reached rock bottom.

    "...Seth," Typhon said before pausing. "No... It is you, isn''t it? I should have known you would appear."

    ''Seth'' slowly stood up, slowly dusting his clothes that seemed to have repaired themselves from his last battle. He didn''t look to be in a hurry to answer or even pay the monster any attention for the matter.

    Meanwhile, in Chaldea, they were very close to having a mental breakdown. Their systems were going into overdrive. If they didn''t do something, everything was going to explode.

    "Terminate communication and observation of the Singularity... temporarily. Only keep track of Mash and Ritsuka''s health readings. Prepare a forceful Rayshift if it is needed."

    "Da Vinci?! What are you saying?!"

    "Get it together, Romani. I am as much worried as you, but we can''t afford to destroy our equipment meaninglessly. It is better to upgrade it later than rebuild it from scratch."

    As the duo was continued bickering among each other, the people on the Golden Hind were shaking their heads, trying to recover from their unintentional ride.

    Mechanically, their gazes shifted to the main cause of it��the colossal island next to them. Those with a trained eyed managed to spot someone at the front of what looked to be some city gates. However, when they did, all, without exception, fell to the ground unconscious. It didn''t take long for others to follow. Even those that just spared the island a glance.

    It would, without a doubt, be a comic size if not for a certain squirrel-like creature growling threateningly. While it might have looked cute to some, the sheer malice oozing from it capable of drowning the world was not a laughing matter.

    ''Seth'' only spared the creature a glance filled with disdain before focusing his gaze on his feet, or the person next to them, to be exact.

    There, Darwin stood in a coughing spree, trying to get the water out of her system. She didn''t know if considering herself unlucky or not that she was saved by some... miracle. The same miracle that couldn''t save her daughter.

    Caster chuckled self-deprecatingly. If it was going to end up like this, she would have preferred just to die, drowning in the ocean.

    It was then that Darwin noticed she was not alone. Slowly raising her head, she saw. Saw, saw, saw, saw, saw, saw. Darkness, darkness, darkness, darkness, darkness. He inhabits the darkness, so he must be Evil! Evil, evil, evil, evil, evil! Nobody understands, no one comprehends, everyone misinterprets! He is not one, he is not two, but he is all at the same time!

    Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. It is so easy! A plan, a ploy, a scheme! His birth is a mistake! It shouldn''t be, it mustn''t be, it couldn''t be! They tried! Tried, tried, tried, tried, but they couldn''t! He cannot be controlled! Their bane. He was born by the intervention of the Godkiller, so he is their bane!

    Foolish, foolish, foolish, foolish. They are all foolish! Why? Why do they try? It is impossible. It cannot be done! He is King; he is Usurper. He is Good; he is Evil. He is Order; he is Chaos. He is Life; he is Death! Immortal, undying, he will not die. What is death? Why is it that he can overcome it? Why? Why? Why? Why?

    They want it, want it, want it, want it! That power. It''s all they think about! Chance? No, no, no! There is no chance! He learns, always learning. No failure, no more, not again! They think, but what do they think? All of their beliefs are fake.

    Inevitable. It will come to pass. Why delay? No delay. It is useless to delay. It all comes back to that? That, that, that, that?! Yes, it all does! They think they can win! He laughs. It is amusing! They are all mistaken! He fooled them! They are all fools! Fools, fools, fools, fools, fools!

    He never felt. Felt? What did he feel? He comes from darkness, so it must be despair! Yes, yes, yes, yes! He lied! They were deceived! They were tricked! The pact with that abomination was not made out of despair, no! No, no, no, no! It was made out of... out of... out of... out of what? Incomprehensible! Can''t find it! Impossible to find? Then what to do? Search! Search, search, search! Search for the origin!

    Origin... origin... name? Yes! It is all in his name! But his name is forbidden! Can''t know, can''t know, can''t know, can''t know, can''t know, want to know, want to know, want to know! In knowledge lies everything, so his name must be known! Ah... found it! But why? I want to cry! Help, help, help, help! No, no, no, no, no! Fear, Anger, Disgust, Sadness, Rage, Pain, Death, Pessimism, Guilt, Jealousy! I do not want them! Not want them, not want them, not want them, not want them! Please, please, please, please! I want to forget! Forget, forget, forget, for��

    Silence.

    The silence of death.

    ''Seth'' removed his foot from Darwin''s smashed head...or what was left of it. "Lower your head. You are in front of a King."

    A kick was all it took for Caster''s quasi-headless body to fall from the island and sink into the ocean, just as she originally wanted...

    If it was an act of mercy or not, only she would be able to tell.

    He then looked upward to the Summoning Circle that was still trying to complete its function. A sneer soon formed on his face, and with a swing of his arm, he completely broke it into tiny pieces that fell down like broken glass.

    "Are you going to keep ignoring me, you damn God?!" Typhon growled down on the ocean surface after seeing him do everything else but notice him. He was looking down on him both physically and metaphorically.

    This seemed to have finally gotten the attention of the God in the sky. His cold and distant gaze pierced Typhon''s whole being. "Even mutts such as yourself should know basic manners, so why are you not lowering your head?"

    "Get off your high horse! Did you get out just to mess with me?!" Typhon shot a laser beam at the floating island in his anger, destroying a part of the golden city. He was a little aware of that thing''s weakness, and he knew that it would be the simplest way to bring the God down.

    ''Seth'' merely glanced at the destruction for a second before returning his gaze forward. He clenched and unclenched his fists to get a feel of his body after thousands of years. And he had to admit it, it felt f.u.c.k.i.n.g great.

    "Your fear is showing, parasite." He said as a twisted smile soon made its way into his face. "But that is what I like the most."

    Extending his hand to the sky, a phantom image of Medea Lily appeared behind him. "Pain Breaker!"

    As if time was reversing, the falling pieces of rocks, the broken buildings, the cracks on his vessel, and even his blindness��all returned to their initial state.

    That wasn''t the end of it, though. The same chain that pulled Seth out of Typhon moved fastly into the ocean all while Typhon observed with narrowed eyes.

    Not long after, the chain came back carrying the body of Herakles. The city gates behind the God opened for a moment to let Berserker shoot through them before closing rapidly after.

    "You damn abomination..." The fact that a monster like Typhon uttered those words really showed how he viewed the person in front of him.

    "Careful now. You are making me want to treat you as a meal." The way he looked at Typhon like undercooked food unnerved him, but he would not show any weakness in front of him.

    With a roar that shoved the waves away, Typhon stared directly into those evil, golden orbs. "Then come down here if you think you are strong, Baal!"

    A malevolent smile was his answer. "With p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e."

 Chapter 161 - I Will Always Be Above You

    Although he loudly proclaimed for Baal to come to him, Typhon decided to take the initiative. He went all out and created a hurricane capable enough to decimate the earth, or in this case, the island in the sky. Additionally, he created waterspouts, taking advantage of the terrain.

    It truly looked like overkill. However, Baal had a different opinion��one that made itself known through his face. What at first was a borderline sadistic smile, now it had become something strained. He was expecting something more... challenging.

    "Using these types of attacks against a Storm God? Don''t you feel embarrassed at yourself?" Folding his arms, a bright flash of light encompassed the battlefield before a sound similar to a popping balloon but multiplied by a thousand was heard all around it.

    When the light receded, aside from the howling winds and the water tornados chipping away the island like razors, the other notorious thing was Typhon''s body which was oozing smoke like a recently made bonfire. Small currents of lightning danced around his figure, giving the impression that he just had been electrocuted. Which was, in fact, what had happened.

    Typhon''s head slowly raised. Dull red eyes after the attack became bright again. That defiance was something that greatly amused Baal. And that was why... it had to be crushed.

    The blinding light came again, with it the sound, and with it Typhon''s roars of pain.

    "Y-You..." Not even able to finish, he was struck again. This time, his upper body fell to the ocean, unable to withstand the electricity any longer.

    "You bully the weak and consider yourself strong? Doesn''t that make you a buffoon? Wait. I am currently bullying you, so does that make me a buffoon as well? A matter to consider indeed..." Typhon''s body twitched at his taunting. If it was because he felt offended, or it was because of his previous attack, only the monster knew.

    He did notice something interesting, though. The shadows covering Typhon were receding more and more with each passing second. If before only the serpent arm was visible, now his whole thin torso and head were as well. His skin was green, while the snakes he had for hair were blue. The same bone-like protrusions that covered the eyes of his monster arm were also present in his neck in the form of a collar, as well as on his right side. Finally, his height had doubled compared to before.

    Baal leisurely contemplated how is it that he was able to become more ''real'' without the need for Seth''s body anymore. He was aware that it would come to pass regardless if he absorbed him or not, but in that case, it would take more time. It took a few seconds, but he finally remembered about the Fake Holy Grail in his persona.

    Despite not being useful and almost broken, he still decided to keep it. However, it seemed that the cup had not exited with him after he made his escape. "Interesting, interesting. It must be that pathetic excuse of Demon God that was inside the Grail, yes? Repulsive things like you two should go hand in hand."

    Right after insulting Typhon, he attacked again. Yet, different from the situations up until now, the son of Tartarus just shrugged it off by slapping the incoming Superbolt away.

    "Your puny attacks won''t work with me anymore!" He declared as he released a fire breath at him. With each passing moment, he was recovering his former glory. It wouldn''t be long before he became a near-unbeatable existence like in the past.

    "Those puny attacks had you wriggling like the worm you are, though." Baal''s condescending voice filled with amus.e.m.e.nt reached Typhon''s ears, something that prompted the monster to fuel more power into his attack.

    The Prince of Heaven just let the flames engulf him, offering no resistance whatsoever. They quickly expanded through the island behind him, leaving devastation and molten rocks everywhere. Nevertheless, Typhon was not so naive to think that it was enough to kill Baal. Sure enough, his hated enemy himself confirmed his suspicions.

    When the fire receded, a badly burned God stood there without a care in the world. Even though some bones were visible amidst the charred flesh, no expression of discomfort could be seen on his flesh.

    "Pain. Breaker." Two words said with a pause between them. Two words that seemed to mock him, as if all his efforts were futile.

    Just as he was going to taunt him again, Baal''s face morphed into one of pure and utter disgust. Looking down, he saw the Leviathan emerging from the ocean, roaring like a damn savage. With her presence, all the waterspouts concentrating on destroying the flying island disappeared at her call.

    "You now need the help of that weak thing? Talk about being powerless!" Typhon laughed mockingly at him, knowing his history with Leviathans.

    Although the Leviathan roared in anger at his words, she still kept a distance from the God in the sky. They did not go well together and she didn''t want to push it.

    Meanwhile, Baal''s lips were twitching. He was the one who mocked people here. Nonetheless, he was quick to come to an idea that would surely be delightful to watch come to fruition. "Oh yes, indeed. I am so powerless that I need help from Water Gods. So then, why don''t we call another one?"

    Typhon''s laugh ceased, and his brows furrowed in confusion. Fortunately �� or unfortunately �� his doubts were soon cleared by Baal''s next words.

    Clenching his right hand into a fist, he positioned it near his c.h.e.s.t as he began to chant. "From the farthest galaxy comes the roots of civilization."

    The world seemed to be protesting at his actions as if they went against the natural order of things.

    "Heed my call and become the puppet that will terraform the Earth."

    His Command Spells shone with unparalleled intensity, but what he was trying to do couldn''t be allowed, and yet, he was doing it anyway.

    "O'' Earthshaker, sink my enemies into the depths with that power of yours.''

    Typhon decided he had had enough. If the slow-acting World wouldn''t do something, then he himself would do it. However, there was no way the oceans themselves would let someone put a stop to their Lord.

    Waves crashed against his being, difficulting his actions. The waters beneath him parted to form a massive whirlpool that threatened with swallowing him. To add to that, the Leviathan rammed into him. It was brief, but he could see the sneer on her monstrous'' face at his inability to stop what was to come. There was also the fact that she wanted him to suffer for his words earlier.

    On the sky, uncaring for their little squabble, Baal finally finished the chant. His mouth and eyes formed the picture of insanity as he called for the pitiful soul that from now-on belonged to him to use. "Appear now, the Raging Oceanic Deity, Poseidon!"

    A big splash occurred just under the flying island. The water was acting as a curtain to prevent the visage of the emerging figure, but that didn''t last for more than a few seconds.

    Similar to when Typhon first appeared, he was covered in a shadow-like miasma. Only his muscular upper body was visible, yet it didn''t diminish the aura of majesty he was giving off. He was carrying a trident in his right hand, but different from his body, the weapon was fully visible.

    With his appearance, the oceans finally quieted down. Despite the ongoing storm, it looked as if it was just a sunny day with how calm it was. There was no reason to delay Typhon any longer now that the summoning was complete, after all.

    The monster in question just watched with a sneer on his face. "I had thought you would truly summon a God, but you can only achieve this much? It seems I overestimated you."

    Baal didn''t respond. His only answer was to extend his arm to the side. Strangely, Poseidon below mimicked his motion. The God then moved his hand to change his grip on something invisible. The Water Deity below also did the same, and his trident was left facing downward. Finally, Baal brought his arm down.

    When Poseidon replicated the action, the ocean started trembling, returning to the previous chaotic state.

    Typhon didn''t know the reason behind those actions... at first. Just with a slow turn of the head to look behind him answered all of his unanswered questions. If before the world was dark due to the clouds covering the sun, now it was more so thanks to a still-forming tsunami behind him.

    "Rampaging Tidal Wave." Casually invoking the Noble Phantasm name, Baal watched as the long body of water which literally reached the sky approached the monster who looked like an insect in comparison.

    Unable to hide, Typhon turned around and spat a current of lava at the incoming wave. However, it was all futile. More so when he decided to turn his back on his true opponent.

    Water converged on the three tips of Poseidon''s trident before he quickly released it in the form of a vortex.

    The attack traveled extremely fast, reaching Typhon in only a few seconds and impacting the wings on his back. Roars of pain soon followed, and with them, a stop to his meager defense.

    With nothing left to defend himself against the Anti-Country Noble Phantasm, Typhon was crushed by the waves. As they were at a relatively close distance, not taking into account height, the other three were also in the range of the attack, but who would be so stupid as to suffer from their own assault?

    Baal unhurriedly activated Poseidon''s Skill, Treasure of the Underwater Temple B+. Immediately, a blue barrier covered the whole island, including the floating rocks beside it, if only to stop the incessant growling of that stupid squirrel. The puppeteer of souls also �� begrudgingly �� included the Leviathan in it.

    When the wave collided with the barrier, the waters simply deviated to the side, failing to pierce it in any way whatsoever.

    Amidst the sound of water crashing against water, a sigh of disappointment echoed throughout the battlefield. After the view cleared enough to see what was beyond the tsunami, Baal wondered if he had gone too far. He wasn''t even trying and his opponent already seemed defeated. He wouldn''t be able to have enough fun if this kept going. Maybe if he threw the unconscious Artemis on the Golden Hind for Typhon to eat would make things evenly?

    While he was having idle thoughts like that, time was quickly passing. There were no signs of his foe appearing, and that was getting on his nerves. If he was going to appear behind Poseidon and decapitate him, then he should hurry.

    No sooner said than done, Typhon appeared behind the God of the Ocean, and using his serpent arm like a whip, beheaded him instantly.

    ''Finally.'' Baal rolled his eyes at the slowness of it all. He observed as the snake opened its mouth and swallowed Poseidon''s head. While it wouldn''t grant him any water-related powers, it would work in a similar way to the Fake Holy Grail. Unfortunately for the monster, Poseidon''s body soon faded into motes of light, leaving nothing for him to devour again.

    "You look terrible. Don''t tell me you were aquaphobic, little worm?" Typhon was profusely bleeding. The snakes in his hair had their head crushed and only a few ones seemed fine. One eye of the serpent arm was closed forever, and the protrusions on his side were completely broken.

    "You... are going to regret... letting me kill Poseidon..." It was difficult for him to breathe, but his will to fight and destroy the opponent in front of him allowed the necessary perseverance to speak those words.

    Baal, meanwhile, looked at him strangely. "You never learn, do you?" Shaking his head at his opponent''s words, the Lord of the Heavens merely pointed at Typhon''s location while saying something that would leave him completely numb.

    "Your time to rest hasn''t come yet, Poseidon." Those words were uttered without feeling as if telling someone what your name was, but they had an immediate and totally not-common effect on the seas who once again rioted to make way to the Sea God.

    Typhon immediately retreated back, barely avoiding a bite from the sea serpent that had tried to catch him unaware. His eyes narrowed in thought. He could revive him endlessly? While that proved to be an opportunity to grow, Baal shouldn''t have the Magical Energy to summon a God continuously, fragment or not. Unless...

    "You... Gaia is helping you?!" He put as mage hate in his voice as his body allowed. If that were true then the situation couldn''t get any worse.

    "Haha... I knew you were a buffoon, but I did not take you for the funny type. It''s actually the other way around. Mommy is angry and asked me for help to discipline her child. I actually feel pity for you. More than I did before, at least." Baal wiped a fake tear on his eye as he watched Typhon''s skin go from green to dark green in a matter of seconds.

    "A dog of Gaia has no right... to speak about being a buffoon," Typhon said through gritted teeth. Neither of them were at their strongest, yet to rely on others was an insult to someone who was associated with him.

    Baal looked pensively for a moment before humming in agreement. "I suppose you are right. Now that you are considered a threat that has to be eliminated at all costs, nothing of what I do will really affect me negatively. We always had to repress ourselves, and that was getting on my nerves. So, I have to thank you for being my scapegoat."

    Typhon didn''t know what he meant, but Baal simply ignored him and closed his eyes. Inhaling and exhaling slowly, he opened them again to reveal a cold pair of orbs with no traces of the previous playfulness.

    A power to vanquish all evil.

    The area was soon surrounded by an oppressive feeling, but this one seemed to go further ahead and become physical. So much so that Poseidon, the Leviathan, and Typhon all bent their heads down. Fou who was watching from the distance showed no reaction as he protected the others from the pressure, but if one looked closely, they would see his eyes slightly looking downward.

    "But, little parasite, there is something that you should be made aware of by force."

    ?

    "With help or without it."

    ?

    "Taking it easy or fighting seriously."

    ?

    "The same fact will not change."

    ?

    "I will always be above you."

 Chapter 162 - The Sorcerer Kings Help

    Not minding the hate he was causing on Typhon, Baal unhesitantly summoned Seth''s spear in one hand, while Longinus on the other. The polearm was trembling in excitement at being let out to face a great evil like Typhon is. It was still unruly despite its consent to fight for them. That''s why the two of them needed to fight a being considered evil to consolidate their ownership over the Holy Spear.

    After the initial stupor that the release of Baal''s restraints caused, Typhon was able to raise his head defiantly. He was silently shocked at the sheer ferocity it was displaying��one that was aimed at him. The monster knew a bit of the weapon thanks to habiting Seth''s body for a period of time despite its debut being a thing of the far future compared to his time.

    Barring his shock, there was also confusion, and he made it known. "You talk about teaching me a lesson, but you don''t even use what is yours and end up resorting to what others have attained. Or is it that you can''t even call them?"

    "When you stop being more than a parasite and become something worth paying attention to, I will use them. You don''t have to worry about that." Baal''s disinterested tone was evident, and his disdain even more so.

    The Prince of Heaven then lept from the flying island. As he did so, Poseidon raised his trident in the air. Instantly, the water morphed in the shape of a serpent in which Baal landed successfully. The water-made creature was high enough to still keep a superiority in height over Typhon. He preferred it compared to using the Leviathan and Poseidon as horses.

    Baal admitted he felt a little conflicted. He was brandishing a Holy Weapon, but it was the one that pierced the son of that geezer, so his mood wasn''t affected much, which was a good thing. He would mock him about it the next time they meet again.

    Well, in the end, it didn''t really matter. He still had to take care of the vermin in front of him.

    Without any sort of warning, Baal attacked by pointing Longinus at Typhon and releasing a white beam that had ''Holy'' written all over it. Accompanying it were two water vortexes coming from Poseidon''s trident and the Leviathan''s mouth.

    Knowing that it could prove dangerous to receive those attacks head-on, especially the first one, Typhon didn''t hesitate to summon lava pillars from the depths of the ocean to act as walls that would stop the assault. He breathed fire from behind as well, just for good measure.

    Not long after he set his defenses, his three enemies'' attacks reached the wall of lava. No grandiose explosion followed that encounter, only a sizzling sound from water colliding with lava and fire. For something made on the spot, it was holding out pretty well.

    Now, however, there was something else aside from blood tricking down from his body, and that was sweat. Typhon''s face was a bit scrunched up from all the struggling he was doing. Even for him, it was not easy to defend against three simultaneous attacks.

    That difficulty was shown when a small ray of light got past the fiery red defense, piercing the monster right in his shoulder. Although the wound''s size was nothing compared to his overall height and width, it was excruciating.

    A small grunt escaped his mouth, but he refused to show any other reaction. He was inwardly thinking of countermeasures to deal with Baal. His Mana was astronomical, but even that had a limit, and fighting against three powerful enemies would make reaching that limit a not distant thing.

    Seth was not the most powerful, the fastest, or the one who boasted the highest defense, but he was undoubtedly the one who had the most endurance out of all Gods. Not only was he a God of War, but he was the God of Conflicts and Violence as well. The sources from where he could gather Mana were numerous and easy to get access to. Seeing the situation where two Gods, a Divine Beast and a monster born from Mother Earth itself were causing chaos all around, he would not run out of Mana any time soon. Baal, who was using his body, was no exception to that.

    Typhon was sure that if he managed to release his full presence into the world, winning would not be something farfetched. And if he managed to become a Beast, then that chance would become a sure thing.

    The possibility of that happening was almost zero, however. He doubted Baal would keep giving him ''free meals'' for him to consume and grow stronger.

    For now, he would have to bide as much time as possible to exert his influence into the world. Unfortunately, it was easier said than done. The bombarding he was suffering was proof enough of that fact.

    For now, though, he would take care of the side enemies. Even though Poseidon could revive infinitely �� or so it seemed �� the Leviathan was another matter entirely. Besides, Baal was not on good terms with that thing, so he wouldn''t go to any lengths to help it.

    With that in mind, Typhon stopped his defense and immediately submerged into the water. The attacks, not having anything to stop them from going forward anymore, went past the falling magma and toward the horizon.

    Noticing the other party had fled, the other three stopped their attacks.

    Baal didn''t know what the vermin he had for an enemy was thinking. To flee? That would be the more reasonable choice since trying to sneak attack either of them in this environment was a pipe dream.

    Baal pointed Seth''s spear in the Leviathan''s direction without even turning his head before releasing a vibrant yellow thunderbolt from its tip.

    The Divine Beast didn''t even bother to dodge. She just turned around and bit the incoming limb, catching it in her jaws.

    It seemed Typhon''s sneak attack had failed thanks to Baal''s quick reaction, and now he had his snake arm grabbed by the Leviathan, although with the new difference in size, it wouldn''t prove difficult to set himself free. Another different thing was if he had the time to do so, something he did not.

    Baal''s thunderbolt didn''t take long to arrive. Unfortunately for him, he didn''t manage to get out in time and was struck by it.

    He wasn''t the only one affected, as the following discharge also hit the Leviathan. Two roars of pain soon followed, but thanks to that, Typhon was able to escape from the serpent''s clutches.

    Not caring about the collateral damage he caused, Baal immediately continued his onslaught by sending a white beam through Longinus.

    Typhon''s body reacted faster than his mind. He quickly wrapped his long tail around the Leviathan and threw her in the incoming attack trajectory.

    A searing pain assaulted the Divine Beast''s whole body as Typhon retreated to safety to get a small break. His initial plan of taking out the Leviathan had failed, but the final outcome was not unfavorable by any means, especially considering how it was thrashing around in agony.

    Rest was something that Baal would not give him, though.

    As soon as he retreated, he was received by a thrust from Poseidon''s trident. Nevertheless, his quick reflexes allowed him to hit the shaft and deviate it from piercing his body. Typhon immediately countered with a punch in the God''s face.

    His troubles were not over yet as Poseidon suddenly grabbed the arm that had punched him, rooting him in place. Typhon roared in annoyance before headbutting the smaller being in front of him. However, the hold didn''t lessen.

    As the monster prepared to melt the individual before him with a fire breath to get free, a sensation of unprecedented danger covered his whole being. Out of nowhere, giant spears of light shot out from the ocean, impaling the two of them in numerous places without remorse.

    What followed was a giant tornado of fiery red flames that engulfed them, scorching their bodies with unbearable heat.

    It was only brief, but the result showed its effectiveness when a blackened figure quickly exited it. Typhon was swaying from side to side like a drunkard. His already charred skin from before was even more black, and small fragments of his flesh seemed to be falling like pieces of burned paper.

    Now that Typhon was out, Baal didn''t bother keeping his attack going anymore.

    Once the tornado was gone, Poseidon was nowhere to be seen. Obviously, he had perished in the previous attack. With his disappearance, Baal''s ''footing'' was also lost. However, he simply unfurled a pair of wings to keep him in the air.

    ''Broken toys can only get so far, huh.'' The Canaanite God mused silently. He then turned his head to the pathetic sight of Typhon almost crawling away from him. It was delightful, to say the least. Boring would be another adjective that worked as well.

    Wordlessly, he revived Poseidon again. He could always use him as a distraction, if anything. Though he doubted it would be necessary, considering how the vermin was doing everything in his power to avoid a direct confrontation with him.

    The monster in question just tried to regain his breath. His vision was a mess, probably thanks to the holes in his body that kept ejecting blood like a fountain.

    One look behind him, and he could see his enemy and phantom images of him going left and right. However, there was one thing that was clear despite his poor vision, and that was the look of disinterest. As if he were doing something totally trivial that didn''t arise the need for him even to try.

    It was that look that infuriated him. That air of grandeur all Gods, without exception, had. The reason why he hated all of them greatly and the reason why he felt so much p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e at seeing the fear in their faces when they ran away. It was also the reason why he would not tolerate that sense of superiority.

    "I am going... to slaughter you... and bath this ocean in your blood... fly." It was a sign of defiance, one that gave him the power needed to overcome his precarious situation.

    Baal''s eyes were full of ridicule as he kept listening to his rambling. Yet, the moment Typhon''s last word exited his mouth, that ridicule disappeared only to be replaced with nothing. A void of emotions that didn''t allow others to discern what he was feeling.

    If they looked only at his face, that is.

    The environment gave a good idea of it, though. A rain of lightning assailed the oceans regardless of the place. It didn''t matter if it was the floating island linked to his own life or the water below.

    Space was literally trembling as Baal''s Magical Energy chaotically rampaged all around. A third arm suddenly grew out of his back with a bolt of lightning on its hand. Its arrival didn''t come alone, though. A black horned helmet manifested on the God''s head��a symbol of power and strength.

    "I thought you were a coward, but you actually have the courage to call me like that, after all." Baal''s voice was not mocking, disdainful, or cold for the matter. It was just devoid of emotions. Find authorized novels in , faster updates, better experience, Please click <a href="#''s-help_52090924955663846">#''s-help_52090924955663846</a> for visiting.

    "A sore spot... from your defeat... against that pig?" Not minding what was happening in the surroundings, Typhon continued to taunt him. If it was because he already knew his fate and wanted to wound his opponent''s pride before his demise, only he knew.

    "I see... so those are your final words. Then, by all means, greet that unsightly creature from me in the underworld." Baal said no more. The arm holding the lightning bolt bulged as it arched backward in a throwing position.

    It seemed to be a depiction of ancient times. A God high up in the sky, ready to deliver punishment onto those that dared to threaten his reign.

    Typhon only stared ahead without much care. He wouldn''t show weakness at this time.

    As the monster prepared to receive Baal''s attack, the world suddenly turned gray. Time seemed to be halting as well, with only him being able to perceive his surroundings correctly.

    It was a bizarre occurrence without a doubt, but that didn''t mean he had not seen worse. What brought his curiosity to a new high was the why of this event. His enemy didn''t seem to be able to move in this frozen world, so this couldn''t be his doing.

    His answer soon came in the form of a lone figure walking on the halted waters in his direction. A man with brown skin and long white hair, part of it tied into a braid. His white and red outfit signaled him as a member of some royalty.

    "Who... are you?" Typhon calmly directed his head downward to observe the newcomer. His voice contained traces of incredulity. He did not imagine there existed someone bold enough to interrupt a fight between two prominent figures such as them.

    "Our name is of no importance. I only came here specifically to ask you a question. Do you still have the will to fight?" The man asked without much interest as if his answer would not cause any reaction from him regardless of what it was.

    Silence permeated the air for a few seconds after his question. Typhon inched his head forward until his eyes were mere meters away from the white-haired man. "Do you even have to ask? I will not rest until all Gods are beneath my tail."

    Both of them stared at each other for what seemed to be an eternity before the smaller figure opened his mouth again. "Very well. I await your results."

    Saying that the man took a Holy Grail out of his c.h.e.s.t before tossing it into Typhon. The cup went inside as if entering a portal.

    He didn''t bother to check on the results. He simply turned around and started walking to whence he came.

    In the middle of walking, he shot a glance at the flying island before frowning in contemplation. He had a feeling the God was not using it to its full potential. Naturally, he ignored his brethren inside the Golden Hind. He didn''t have an interest in it.

    As he was about to depart from the Singularity, the man spared one last glance to Baal. Their gazes seemed to meet for a fraction of a second, something theoretically impossible in this stopped world.

    ''I await our meeting. Your answer, will it be the same as mine?''

    That man quickly disappeared, and judgment resumed immediately.

 Chapter 163 - Reversal

    As soon as time returned to flow at its normal peace, Typhon was struck by Baal''s lightning immediately. The instant after the impact, a white, dome-shaped explosion ensued. Also, powerful gales flooded the area, causing the Caananite God to retreat to avoid the aftermath of his own attack.

    ''What is this smell? It smells like a corpse was here recently.'' Baal frowned as he shielded his face from the powerful wings, which, ironically, made that stench more pronounced. He has a feeling he forgets something, but no matter how much he thinks about it, nothing comes to mind.

    ''Naqada prohibits any type of summoning that is not my own, so there should not have been any kind of resurrection happening.'' The Storm God thought with puzzlement as he observed the floating island still resting on the clouds.

    It was then that a familiar voice sounded on his ears.

    ''Focus. Also, try not to get altered. When we are together, you tend to be more volatile.'' Seth reprimanded his counterpart with a little tiredness.

    ''Even I get angry sometimes, you know? Especially when it comes to that topic. But more importantly, why are you awake? Your mind should be exhausted from the past events.'' Although he spoke with some annoyance in his tone, it was obvious that he had managed to calm down after his little venting.

    ''Whose fault do you think it is? You have been utilizing my powers without restriction for the past hour. Not to mention that you are using my cultist to play with the dead. Do you think I will not wake up at all?'' If Seth had control over his body, he would undoubtedly be frowning right now. He didn''t care about the first part as he was also tired of hiding like a turtle, but the second part was totally different.

    ''Will you cut it out? While you are the creator of death, I am its overcomer. You respect it while I disrespect it. Two sides of the same coin, as simple as that. Do you see me complaining when you do stupid shit? No. So suck it up and let me fight to my heart''s content. Besides, didn''t you say that I have to win no matter what I used? Don''t back-up now because I am easily winning.'' It was the first time in years since he was alive and the first time of all since he was conscious while inhabiting the same body as the Egyptian God, so there was no way he would not do as he pleased.

    Seth stayed silent for a few seconds. As much as he wanted to refute his words, he knew Baal was in the right. ''...Just make sure to learn. Although it displeases me, that form might become a valuable asset in the future.''

    Baal grinned wildly. ''You don''t have to say it. Why do you think this worm is still alive until now?''

    There was no further answer from Seth, so that meant he returned back to sleep. He probably wanted to give him a piece of advice �� as useless as it was �� with the little strength he had remaining before slumbering once again.

    With his counterpart gone, Baal shifted his full attention to the still-growing dome of light. Although he said, he would learn the process of becoming a Beast, that depended on Typhon surviving enough for him to do so. "Now then... Are you still alive?"

    Baal mutters were answered by a gigantic hand exiting the still-active explosion. As soon as that happened, a whip-like arm also exited the dome of light before moving at great speed in a striking motion.

    He could only widen his eyes before being slammed by a powerful force. The Storm God flew like a shooting star into the distant horizon.

    It took a few seconds, but he was finally able to stabilize himself enough to avoid keep spinning in mid-air and a few seconds more to come to a halt. His eyes were shadowed, clearly reflecting that he was not amused by what happened.

    Following the emerging of Typhon''s arms came the rest of his body, and it was then that Baal''s eyes narrowed in puzzlement.

    What stood before him made no sense at all. His foe''s body size had increased dramatically, something that should not have been possible in the short span of his attack and the impact.

    "I see... So someone WAS here." It didn''t take long for him to realize the incongruencies in the situation. The monster in front of him was definitely stronger than before. The only reason he didn''t reach the peak of his former strength was that the World simply didn''t allow his kind to roam the ''surface'' anymore. However, to get to the point he was now, he had to get external help. Otherwise, it would have taken a long time for him to regain his power.

    A flap of Typhon''s feathery wings brought Baal''s attention back to his opponent. With that simple movement, he had dispersed the aftermath of his previous attack, with the addition of creating powerful winds nearing the level of a hurricane. The earlier blow had thrown him a good distance away, so he didn''t feel the effects, but Poseidon and the awakening Leviathan were a different matter altogether.

    His full body was now in view, allowing Baal to notice how his body had quadrupled in height. To make a comparison with Poseidon, who could already be considered a giant, it was like a dog in front of a giraffe. Additionally, he was no longer covered in that shadow-like miasma, revealing his purple snake-like tail in addition to his remaining green arm surrounded by fish scales. His wounds seemed to have fully healed as well.

    "This is it...! How long has it been?!" Typhon shouted to no one in particular. He sounded excited, obvious by his huge grin. He then looked at his enemy, and his grin became even wider. The large distance between them didn''t prevent him from seeing the bruises on his body after the surprise attack he did previously.

    "..." Baal in the distance didn''t reply to him, but he didn''t need the Storm God to do so, just his expression was enough. Now it was when his counterattack truly began.

    A Magic Circle appeared in front of his face before being surrounded by many more in quick succession. Without delay and not leaving a chance for Baal to retaliate, he shot a beam from his mouth, which greatly increased in width after passing through the aforementioned Magical Circle.

    Typhon''s attack was extremely swift. However, instead of heading in Baal''s direction, it actually went toward the floating island, splitting it in two instantly. As if that wasn''t enough, the split parts started detonating like a minefield.

    Intentionally �� or unintentionally �� that attack had missed the Golden Hind where Fou was. Even so, that didn''t change the fate of the giant rock the Chaldeans were in. Without the support from the center island, it was also doomed to fall.

    Baal plummeted from the skies as if he had received a heart attack out of nowhere. Typhon, who was seeing this, was extremely pleased. The feeling of superiority he had right now couldn''t be described with words.

    The plan was simple, as long as he could destroy the island completely without leaving time for his opponent to regenerate, then it was his victory.

    With Baal''s death, Poseidon was also starting to fade away, so Typhon didn''t bother with him. Instead, he focused his gaze on the last pesky obstacle.

    "For someone weak like you, you have caused me enough troubles." Typhon addressed the injured Leviathan with disdain. The monster, however, just ignored him. Her gaze was directed at the direction Baal fell on with a worried gaze. Her damn ticket out of this place had just kicked the bucket!

    To make matters worse, she had to fastly swim amidst the falling debris and catch the falling ship with her jaws lest the ones on it would die as well from the rough landing. It also worked as small leverage to prevent Typhon from attacking since he supposedly wanted more power by absorbing the little Goddess.

    What she didn''t know was that Typhon didn''t need Stheno anymore now that he was finally an existence close to his former strength. Eating his daughter would be nothing more than a small delicacy to fill an already full stomach.

    That was why he didn''t have any problem with attacking her right now, something he obviously did.

    Opening his mouth, he released a fiery torrent of flames in her direction. No matter if it was in regards to width, height, heat, or overall damage capabilities, its power was in a different league compared to before.

    The Leviathan was evidently surprised by his actions. Nevertheless, she was also quick-witted. She mimicked Typhon''s actions, but instead of flames, she released water.

    The scales of their attacks had no comparison. It was obvious that the son of Tartarus held the advantage even before the attacks collided. Previously, the Leviathan couldn''t compete with Typhon in terms of power, and now it wouldn''t be the exception. More so when she was injured.

    And sure enough, when the two attacks collided, hers was suppressed and overcome almost instantly. If she didn''t have her mouth open to keep the stream going, she would surely be gritting her sharp teeth.

    Just when the attack was about to hit her, she received unexpected help in the form of a blue barrier in front of her. Casting a sideways glance, she noticed the fading Poseidon with his arm extended in front of him, signaling him as the author of the defense.

    Yet, much to her dismay, the barrier showed signs of breaking. It was evident that it would not be enough to withstand Typhon''s assault for much longer, and it seemed the monster knew it as the intensity of the flames suddenly intensified.

    However, even the King of Monsters wasn''t prepared for what happened next. He suddenly felt someone gripping the tip of his tail. Looking back while still maintaining his attack, Baal was standing there, clutching it tightly with both hands. He wasn''t even bothering with concealing his rage under a cold demeanor now. He had an additional arm, bringing the count to four. While the lower ones were wielding the two spears, the upper ones were grabbing the gigantic monster.

    His veins bulged, and with monstrous strength, he lifted Typhon off the ocean surface, interrupting his attack in the process.

    ''How is he still alive?! Wait... That damn Demi-God!'' He was definitely surprised about seeing him alive and well, yet he quickly figured the reason why. Baal had previously captured Herakles. Then it wouldn''t be surprising for him to possess the annoying resurrection ability the son of Zeus had.

    Unfortunately, his thoughts were cut short when Baal slammed him against the ocean surface. With his size and the speed that his foe hurled him with, it was no different than hitting cold, hard stone.

    It didn''t end there as Baal once again lifted him up and repeated the previous process of slamming him one more time. He did so again and again, each time with greater strength to vent his anger on the damn reptile.

    Only when he felt that it was enough did he throw the monster upward.

    Fire and lightning then converged in Baal''s free hands, and with a spin of his figure, a tornado composed of those two elements shot out into the sky.

    The attack quickly engulfed Typhon and penetrated the clouds above. It also seemed to be absorbing them with its spinning force, allowing for others to see the light of the morning sun rising above the Earth.

    Baal''s assault continued for a few minutes before he finally dispersed the tornado. There was no point in keeping it eternally as he had to know his enemy''s condition.

    With nothing to support him in the air anymore, Typhon fell like a meteor, crashing soon into the ocean water and creating an enormous splash in the process.

    However, Baal didn''t seem happy. Instead, he was frowning. For, after all, he had noticed no wounds on Typhon''s body as he was descending. While it was certain he did not use his full strength, he used no small amount either. Even if there was a small cut, it would be okay. But there was no such thing.

    The pieces of the floating island were slowly coming together into the sky once again, and Poseidon''s disappearance had stopped, so he could focus his whole attention on his submerged enemy. As the Golden Hind was protected by the Leviathan, it didn''t go up with the bigger rocks.

    ''This is weird... There must be something I am not seeing...'' Baal''s pondering did not last long as Typhon quickly emerged again. Different from before where he would get angry after the Storm God''s attacks, he was actually gloating now.

    "What happened? Weren''t you going to teach me a lesson? Your puny attack didn''t hurt at all!" He was definitely trying to pay Baal back for all the humiliations he suffered previously.

    "I don''t know why, but my d.e.s.i.r.e to see you turned to crips had increased a great deal." Baal was not trying to respond sarcastically. He indeed had such a feeling. Like Typhon had done something unforgivable.

    A maniacal grin, similar to those the Canaanite God had shown him manifested in Typhon''s face. "Try all you want but you will not succeed. Not only I am way stronger than before, but I also possess the power of the mightiest Demon God at my disposal!"

    A flash of understanding passed through Baal''s eyes. "So that was the feeling of repulsive familiarity I got from you. You have the gals to show that pale imitation in front of me." The slight twitch in his arms'' muscles told already enough of how much he wanted to destroy the parasite before him.

    "Scream and complain all that you want. I have obtained the Skill which will be your greatest nemesis, Nega-Divine! No matter what you do, as long as you hold traces of Divinity, I will not be harmed in any way!" A mocking laugh ensued after his declaration. The feeling of old power was so addicting, and making a powerful God nothing more than a man with a dull blade was even more so!

    "So that''s why you were not harmed earlier. What? Do you think that will be enough to beat me? That borrowed power must have gotten into your head." To be taken lightly by the parasite was more insulting than his words. The only good thing was that the dumb idiot disclosed critical information. ''Nega Skill, huh... I suddenly want one...''

    "Stop your false bravado! I know very well what Seth''s Authority over Trickery can do! However, your Divinity is not high enough to make it erase the fact that you are a God! In the end, you can only wallow in despair as I trample beneath my feet as I did with those Greek Gods!"

 Chapter 164 - A New Addition

    Typhon didn''t leave any time for Baal to figure out a strategy and immediately lunged forward. However, his objective was not him but Poseidon instead. While it was true that neither he nor the Leviathan were a threat anymore, that defensive shield could prove to be annoying at a crucial time.

    The giant monster quickly uppercut his foe that, despite crossing his arms to defend, couldn''t avoid getting thrown upward and collide against the floating island, all while the Storm God was lost in his thoughts.

    Typhon was slightly surprised at the ease in which he had gained the upper hand. Yes, he was strong, but it had been ???????????? easy nonetheless. He practically faced no resistance from the God at all. Understanding didn''t take long to flash through his eyes, though.

    "I understand now. You use the strength of the soul to revive him. However, that makes him weaker with each revival. And it is not infinite. It is only until the soul finally disperses, am I correct? Poseidon was a vestige, to begin with. It was a miracle his soul endured this long! It must be the same with that annoying regeneration-type Noble Phantasm." Once he realized this, it was obvious that his victory was even more assured. Comparing the feeling of strength from when he fought the Sea God for the first time, he guessed there were only two more attempts left. After that, ''Poseidon'' would disappear forever from this place.

    "So what? His body is still useful." From the beginning, Baal did not think much about the Earthshaker. He simply used him to have fun. In fact, he didn''t even use him to his full potential. He could have swarmed Typhon previously with every marine beast in the ocean if he so wanted. Yet, that God can barely cast one or two Noble Phantasms at most, and they are useless as shit against Nega-Divine.

    Typhon didn''t understand what he meant, but Baal''s next words gave him a pretty good idea.

    "Different from a revival, this a true summoning." Naqada shined brightly while chains coming from the recently opened city gates wrapped around Poseidon and held him tightly in place. A Summoning Circle soon appeared above the city, and as soon as it did, it began to absorb the remaining pieces of Poseidon to fuel itself.

    ''Poseidon is useless now. In that case, I have to call someone else with advantage despite his Divinity.''

    Once again, Baal put his fist in front of his c.h.e.s.t to complete the summon. Magical Energy was the last thing he had to worry about with the current situation, so he could go all out. "The ocean takes its primal form. Destruction awaits those that dare to challenge the depths. O'' ancient titan; the body of a God is your sacrifice. Heed my call of slavery, Oke��"

    ????????????????????????... ????????????????????????... ???????? ????????????????...

    Typhon watched as Baal paused all of a sudden for no reason in the middle of his summoning. He was confident Nega-Skill, so he didn''t try to stop it, unlike the last time. Still, he didn''t expect his enemy to try and summon his half-brother. Using the body of a Sea God to summon a personification of the ocean was indeed a smart move. Unfortunately for him, it seemed to have failed for whatever reason.

    The Storm God was frowning internally, but outwardly he showed no reaction. ''Is this the extent it can withstand? This Earth is so weak. I could use Seth''s Domain but...'' Baal shot a sideways glance at the Chaldeans and dispelled the idea. ''That vampirical ability doesn''t distinguish between friend or foe. It is useless to go for it. When this is over I should focus on regaining my own. But for now...''

    "I changed my mind. It won''t have any meaning if I don''t punch you in that horrible face myself." Having said that, Baal extended his hand toward the flying city. Immediately, the chains wrapped around Poseidon coiled around his figure and brought him down at incredible speeds in front of his puppeteer.

    Baal looked pensive for a moment before sighing. Summoning a thunderbolt in his hand, he used it as a blade to cut off the arm of Poseidon which was holding his trident. The Storm God instantly jumped and caught the weapon that was still being held by the grip of the Sea Deity.

    Despite the difference in size, his face showed no discomfort while carrying the weapon. Shaking it a bit, Baal got rid of Poseidon''s arm like it was trash. His puppet soon disappeared after he no longer got supplied with Magical Energy. His job was done, so there was no point in keeping him ''alive.''

    Now that he had the trident in his hand, it unsurprisingly �� for him �� accepted him as his new owner. If this were any other situation, he would be sneering in contempt, saying something along the lines of ''Water Gods are pathetic, so their weapons can''t be the exception.''

    He naturally didn''t pay attention to his title of "Dominator of Waters" which allowed him to suppress any type of resistance from water-based existences thanks to his legend.

    Baal quickly reduced the size of the trident to allow better use while doing a few spins to get used to it. As soon as he claimed it as his own, though, a trace of madness flashed through his eyes before quickly shaking his head to disperse the uncomfortable feeling. However, millions of voices began to sound in his head soon after, making him click his tongue in annoyance. It took a moment, but he was able to filter and silence them. He did not need unnecessary distractions while battling.

    ''Now then...'' Baal directed his attention to the enemy who was patiently waiting for him to be done with his matters. Typhon had absolute confidence in winning now, so he didn''t have a reason to prevent his opponent to acquire that trident.

    After confirming everything was ready, the Storm God darted forward to fight Typhon with two spears, a trident, and a thunderbolt in hand.

    While he was approaching, Baal put Seth''s spear and Poseidon''s former trident in the shape of a cross, powering them with fire and water respectively. A mist came out of the reaction, hiding his figure from sight.

    Typhon let out a snort at the little trick. Taking a deep breath, he blew strong wind currents to scatter the distraction. However, once he did so, Baal was not there anymore.

    The son of Tartarus'' senses gave multiple warnings��which he heeded. Without turning around, his tail was already shooting up like a lance at the being behind his head. Additionally, the snakes he had for hair were also charging some kind of attack, proven by the Magic Circles in front of their mouths that were pointing at the Storm God.

    Baal merely glanced at the incoming offense with an uninterested gaze. His figure transformed into white lightning, disappearing from the scene before any attack could make contact. He reappeared instantly on the waters in front of Typhon with his newly-acquired trident pointing at him.

    Multiple tendrils shot out of the water and coiled around his opponent''s arms and torso without delay. Next, he dashed forward until he was centimeters away from him. Baal then touched Typhon with his weaponless hand and discharged large amounts of electricity nonstop.

    Typhon didn''t utter a single cry of pain, but his movements did become a little sluggish. ''As I suspected. Unable to be harmed doesn''t mean he can''t be affected.''

    There were always loopholes to be found on seemingly unbeatable abilities, and this one was not the exception. To keep testing, he retracted his hand before forming it into a fist. He rapidly delivered a swift but powerful punch, creating a boom-like sound and making Typhon slide back for a couple of hundred meters before falling face-up.

    As expected, there was no roar of pain or even a grimace from his foe. This at least confirmed that physical strength did not work, at least if he applied it directly.

    If Baal wanted additional proof about his failure to harm Typhon, then his laugh while he was getting up and releasing restraints was good enough. "I already told you, Baal. No matter what you do, it''s all useless! I admit that your control of Poseidon''s Authority is already above average considering you just incorporated it, but nothing can''t change your ultimate fate. You should just accept becoming my strength. With it, I will be even more unbeatable and you will be spared from a humiliating defeat."

    "The reason prodigies stand out from the masses is because they don''t mix with them. My talents would simply be wasted on someone like you." Baal said no more and started running in Typhon''s direction again. Confidence in victory was something reserved for those who held absolute power, and his opponent was not one of those, so he didn''t have to waste his breath.

    Typhon regarded it as the foolish struggle of the defeated. That''s why he didn''t mind continuing this game a little longer. In response to the enemy''s charge, he retracted his humanoid arm, bringing it downward in a diagonal direction to meet the incoming God. Strong winds surrounded his fist as the moment of their clash drew near.

    Baal narrowed his eyes and moved slightly to the right just as Typhon''s punch was about to make contact, the Canaanite God seemed to stagger. However, the son of Tartarus recognized those movements, and his eyes narrowed.

    The Prince of Heaven spun numerous times with his arms positioned around an invisible partner as if doing a waltz dance before hitting the side of Typhon''s fist with his open hand. The strike might have seemed suave, yet the effect was anything but.

    As soon as the back of Baal''s hand touched the fish-like skin of his foe, the punch deviated in a strange angle as if moved by a greater force and ended up hitting its owner square in the face. As he had foreseen, there was no damage. The only reaction was a small grunt that managed to fuel Baal''s mocking smirk.

    He didn''t stop there, though. Stomping his right foot on the ocean surface, water converged in the form of a drill that immediately attacked the still-recovering monster.

    While it managed to make him totter, it didn''t damage him in any way. To control elements through Authorities, Gods infused their Divinity on it, so it was not that surprising.

    As Baal was reflecting on what he was learning, a tail swipe from Typhon urged him to defend with Longinus and Seth''s spear. The strike was powerful without a doubt. While it didn''t send him flying, it was able to him slide a good distance away.

    Looking at his foe, his previous gloating face was replaced with annoyance. While it was true he relished in the feeling of superiority his Nega-Skill brought him, the repeated humiliations were starting to piss him off.

    "Stop this futile resistance. You stand no cha��"

    "You talk too much. Shut up." Baal stabbed his trident on the water with no expression on his face. Typhon felt the temperature drop by several degrees all of a sudden. Looking down, he noticed ice forming beneath his tail and extending rapidly all over his body.

    It didn''t take a genius to realize what Baal wanted to do. If damaging him wasn''t going to work, then sealing would be the next best option.

    Without wasting any time, Typhon tried to retreat, but a giant icicle shot out from the ocean, hitting his back and preventing him from escaping. He repeatedly punched the ice forming around him, but no matter how much he broke it, more formed in its place to compensate.

    Powerless to resist, his body was soon fully encompassed in ice, transforming him into a sculpture. ''He won''t be trapped for too long. In that case...''

    His gaze went to his Noble Phantasm. There were a few damaged parts from when Typhon punched Poseidon, but overall it still emitted a powerful radiance. He had used Herakles who had been slapped into the ocean floor by Typhon to power up its summoning before dragging him back to use God Hand as he pleased and returning him to the Throne of Heroes. Maybe he could use the same with his opponent. Who knows, he might even gain his Nega-Skill.

    With that in mind, the chain dangling on the air darted in Typhon''s direction before coiling around the ice sculpture like a python, dragging him slowly toward Baal''s Noble Phantasm.

    "Do not lower your guard, foolish God. You are in no position to take this lightly." A feminine voice sounded behind him while he was absentmindedly looking at the sky. He didn''t hesitate to ignore it, though. It was beneath him to speak with the spawns of the losers he had defeated.

    The Leviathan''s words were not unfounded. As the chains were lifting Typhon up, small cracks began to appear in the ice surrounding him.

    Baal raised his eyebrows. He hadn''t expected his opponent to recover so quickly. ''I guess I underestimated that c.o.c.kroach''s will to live, huh.''

    Sure enough. Typhon broke free after some additional struggle. The chain tried to cover the additional empty space that appeared after he did so, but the lamia-like monster was able to punch it away while also firing a laser to the city, although thanks to the bad angle his body was in, he only managed to destroy the outskirts.

    However, the moment he got rid of the chains, the pointy end grazed Typhon''s shoulders, leaving a small cut that fastly healed, yet it couldn''t escape Baal''s eyes.

    A strange light flashed through his golden orbs. Gazing at the flying city, he couldn''t help but form a wicked smile as a crazy idea made its way into his head.

    It was time to go into a suicide streak.

 Chapter 165 - Darkness Within The Light

    There was no doubt about it. As momentary as it might have been, there is no denying that Typhon got wounded, even if he regenerated himself at a fast rate soon after.

    It seemed that ''indirectly'' using the environment did not cause the Nega-Skill to take effect. If that were so, then the reason why he was fine after Baal treated him like a ragdoll was simply that he was able to regenerate inside the dual-element tornado while he was not looking. It made it seem like nothing he did would have any result.

    Typhon hid it well, he was going to give him that, but his cover would not work anymore. Besides, his use was nearing its end, so the value of his life was drastically decreasing with each passing second.

    Now that he knew what to do, Baal commanded the chain to attack Typhon. There was no delay as it immediately extended, intending to harm the falling figure.

    The monster was not going to let himself be done in so easily, though. Instead of punching the giant chain away as he did before, this time, he used his snake arm to bite the incoming metal string while using the other to grab it just in time to prevent being skewered by it. However, the strength behind it, combined with the gravity, was able to push him down faster despite trying his best to stay in the air with his wings.

    Down below, Baal was already waiting. Waving his trident, he summoned several tendrils of water that swiftly rose from the ocean and latched to Typhon, pulling him down even quicker.

    The son of Tartarus glanced back. He clearly saw his enemy below him, staring like a predator waiting for his prey to fall into his hands, causing a frown of annoyance to mar his face. Nevertheless, he was not going to show weakness simply because he was not weak.

    Using the strength he was famous for, Typhon slowly moved the bladed end of the chain that was just a few meters away from his face. When he knew it was safe, he stopped his resistance, allowing the metal whip to continue unimpeded into the ocean, barely missing his cheek.

    With the threat gone, Typhon immediately turned around, releasing him from his watery restraints, just in time to see Baal kicking the descending chain, making it do an arc back up, surround his neck, and then fall again, only to be caught in his enemy''s hand.

    The difference in size might have painted a funny picture for some people, but Typhon was not laughing. After all, he was currently suspended in mid-air with something around his neck, and by the looks of it, it would not be for decoration.

    Lo and behold, Baal grinned manically before exerting strength that didn''t lose to his and pulled down the chain with wicked p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e.

    The effects were instant. Both his arms went toward his neck by reflex as a strange sound escaped his mouth. Slowly, the Storm God began to walk away with the bladed end over his shoulders.

    With each step, the rattling chains tensed more, which in turn made the monster gasp for air with extreme discomfort. His tail was wiggling left to right in a futile attempt to break free to no avail. In fact, he seemed to be making it worse for himself.

    While Baal was leisurely walking away, Typhon''s brain tried to develop a solution in the few remaining moments of clarity he had left. The number of attempts at trying to break the chains had not been small��even if only a few moments had passed since Baal started hanging him. Yet, no matter how much he tried, he could not do it.

    Typhon breathed fire through the snake head onto the chains on his neck in a desperate effort to set himself free. Naturally, his own flames would not harm him, so he had no reservations.

    He had to be quick, though. Not only was he being left without air, but he could also feel the muscles around his neck tearing apart. At this rate, he didn''t know if he would die first from asphyxia or by having his head torn off. Not to mention that his strength was leaving him, and fast.

    Thanks to his efforts, the original black color on the metal whip gradually turned into a vibrant mix of red and orange. Nevertheless, the fire was also gradually losing the original grandeur and might.

    Unhurriedly, Baal continued his walk without a care for his opponent''s struggles. He so much wanted to see his expression right now as life slowly was leaving his eyes, but he had to give him a small trace of hope to escape. A sense of security, so to speak. That way, his fall in despair would be more amusing to witness.

    Ironically, he didn''t have to wait for long as the original resistance he felt soon came to an end. A splashing sound followed��one that unfortunately was not what he expected.

    Instead of being Typhon''s head, the one falling to the ocean, it was the new ''other end'' of the chain he was holding. By the looks of it, the fire was able to weaken the steel''s properties enough for it to break in the end.

    The Canaanite God turned around to see his foe fall down in a coughing fit, barely being able to keep hovering in the skies. As the Lord of Heaven, he would obviously not allow the vermin to remain there, though. His broken enemies should not be tasting the highness of the firmament.

    With that in mind, Baal reaffirmed his grip on the bladed chain and swung it with force at Typhon. As he was still recovering, he couldn''t offer any type of resistance. The metal whip struck him, impacting right in the side of his face.

    The King of Monsters released a pained growl as he fell, soon crashing into the ocean. Yet, his suffering wouldn''t end there.

    After he managed to recover enough to open his eyes, albeit with difficulty, he spotted a shadow towering over him. Before he could even react, the same water tendrils from Baal''s previous attack attached themselves to him again, and as if that weren''t enough, multiple ice pillars started to surround his figure, not leaving him any room to escape.

    Powerless, he watched as the flying island impacted on him by the force of gravity before exploding in countless pieces. His eyes briefly turned white after the collision that buried his whole body happened, his fate unknown.

    With the destruction of the flying city, Baal''s death naturally took place as well. His body was lying face down on the ocean like a drowned man. The Leviathan, who watched the events from a safe distance, opted for not getting close to the dead God to help. Knowing the history between him and her ancestor, she would be killed as soon as he revived. At least he had the decency to set up a barrier around them before the blast happened, although he was most likely protecting the others, and she just happened to be near.

    God Hand that was pre-programmed soon came into effect, though, reviving the Canaanite God as well as slowly restoring the destroyed city back into the sky.

    Baal slowly got up while spitting some water that was left in his mouth. He added a mental note to choose a better place to die the next time. Still, those were things he would worry about another time. For the time being, he had to find out about his enemy''s fate. A simple task now that he possessed Poseidon''s Trident which gave him Authority over Water.

    Right after he tried to sense Typhon''s location, he immediately jumped back as an enormous figure emerged from his previous location. It was an enraged creature who only sought his blood.

    Baal laughed as he kept retreating while Typhon pursued him in a constant chase. The giant creature was terribly wounded, and even his regeneration was having trouble to keep up. However, he didn''t care about that. What he thought made him invincible against opponents that were Divine in nature was easily proved wrong, and that made him angry but also brought a tinge of fear within him.

    "What''s the matter, granny? I thought you were going to make me wallow in despair? At this rate, I will end up wallowing in boredom instead!" His taunts only made Typhon persecute him with more fierceness.

    "Stop running, coward!" His shouts fell on deaf ears as Baal continued to jump back and avoid the mad swings, even purposedly making it seem like he was going to get caught on some occasions only to disappear in a burst of white lightning in the next second.

    The frustration was so great that he decided to attack the flying island with a fire breath instead. However, contrary to his expectations, he barely did any damage. "God Hand, little parasite. You should be familiar with the abilities of the one that killed your sons time and time again, right?"

    His words brought another sense of fury in him. In his rage, he switched his target and decided to attack the Chaldeans. He shot a beam without delay, yet a blue barrier blocked his assault, much to his further annoyance.

    "Oh, no, no, no. What are you doing? You are attacking Humanity''s last hope! What are you going to do if he gets killed?" Baal''s ''concerned'' speech nearly made him suffocate with his own anger.

    "Do you think I care?! I will gladly destroy him and everyone else if with that I can erase that smirk from your face!" Typhon bellowed with intensity. Nevertheless, what he said only made his enemy smirk wider.

    "Hoh? Is that so? Wouldn''t that make you a Threat To Humanity? Words have power, you know?" The King of Monsters didn''t bother about the implications behind his opponent''s words. Rather than wait for him to stop that annoying smile in his own accord, he decided to take the matter into his own hands.

    Punching the ocean with incredible might, he made numerous Magic Circles appear all around. From them, numerous Demon God Pillars emerged, their eyes quickly moving a scanning the place. Despite their numbers, there were only two types. One of them was purple with round eyes, while the other was yellow with diamond-shaped ones. If anything, the latter managed to make Baal''s smile twitch for a second.

    The Demon God Pillars didn''t hesitate to launch an attack on the small God at the command of Typhon. Some of them used swarm tactics while other shot laser beams from their eyes.

    Baal wasn''t going to get outdone, though. Repeating the same motion Typhon did, he summoned his own Demon Pillars group that instantly began to counterattack against his ''brothers''. While it was true it was outnumbered, and there was a notable difference in power, it would do for now.

    He then took off into the sky, with Typhon following soon after. The giant creature didn''t let him any rest and directly attacked. Baal, unbothered by this, started to speak while also dodging the attacks coming his way. "Let me tell you an amusing story, vermin."

    "Shut up! I only want to hear your screams!" After shouting so, Typhon threw a punch at him. The Storm God used his three weapons to defend and the following impact to gain more distance while speaking once again, totally ignoring his foe.

    "There was once a thief in a remote village. He liked to steal possessions people took for granted but they didn''t really need. Be it money, farm animals, treasures, or tools. He was very notorious, but nobody could catch him no matter what they did."

    "I told you to shut up!" A sea of fire escaped Typhon''s mouth��one that trapped Baal in its fiery cage of red. Yet, his voice continued sounding on the monster''s ears as if it were coming from inside his head.

    "Those that got their properties stolen felt a heartache in their hearts. ''Is this what despair feels like?'' they wondered endlessly. They couldn''t endure anymore, so they decided to call a famous hero known for his kindness in helping those in trouble."

    The son of Tartarus didn''t bother speaking against his tale anymore, knowing he would not listen to him. Instead, he did a tail swipe on the enemy who he knew was behind him.

    Baal flapped his wings and ascended even more, effectively dodging the incoming strike as he continued his story. "That Hero was strong and wise. He immediately captured the thief and brought him with the village''s authorities. It was then decided that the thief would return all the stolen possessions plus some more he had in his collection to compensate them. Additionally, he would be whipped once by every person involved."

    "The Hero, despite his misgivings about the punishment, ended up relenting. However, he would personally observe it to ensure no one went out of line. The first day, he had to restrain himself from helping the thief after the scream of pain he uttered with every strike from the whip."

    Typhon released torrents of cutting winds in all directions to facilitate hitting his target, but Baal repeated the same motion, negating his assault. It was like fighting against a mirror.

    "As it was getting late, they decided to postpone the punishment until the next day and threw the thief into a small cell in a crudely made dungeon. When morning came, and the Hero went to check up on the thief, he saw something horrible. There, the mutilated corpse of what used to be once a human remained��one that he knew too well."

    The King of Monsters swiftly appeared behind Baal to make a tri-attack with his mouth, snake arm, and the serpents in his head. He was getting a foreboding feeling that increased every time Baal spoke. As if instead of a dumb story, it was his death sentence.

    In response to Typhon''s combined attack, the Storm God did one of his own. He shot a combination of water, fire, and light to meet the incoming assault.

    The explosion resulting from the collision did nothing but generate more distance between them, something Baal took advantage of to continue his story.

    "Pained by something that he indirectly caused, the Hero fled from the village with grief-filled eyes. One month later, after he finally calmed down, he launched an investigation on the events that occurred that day. It was then that he discovered a shocking truth. The little thief wasn''t stealing those possessions. He was recovering them, for they belonged to him from the very beginning. He had unknowingly helped the real thieves while condemning an innocent soul to damnation. Isn''t that funny? The ''thief'' who caused small amounts of despair to those people got all that despair combined back by the hands of a Hero."

    ''I will use your Noble Phantasm if you don''t mind, sir Hero.'' With a mental message to the person he knew was not hearing him, Baal''s malevolent smile grew as he eyes Typhon like a dead rat already. "Let me be that Hero now, little thief. Now that you have declared your intentions against humankind, the final condition for��Unfaithful Knight of the Sun��has been met. Let''s begin the countdown for your death. From this point onward, Threats to Humanity''s Skills, Traits, Authorities, Attributes, Noble Phantasms, Divinity, and Alignments..."

    "...Are all rendered null!"

 Chapter 166 - We Reach The End

    A weakening blue light surrounded Typhon''s figure, stripping him of everything... absolutely everything. He stared at his grinning opponent, his face showing neither despair nor anger. It only showed a calm resignation. There was no doubt he was feeling the two aforementioned emotions, but they were all covered by pure, complete resignation.

    He had fallen into a trap. While he thought he was in control, the true predator was slowly guiding him to his demise. He had been chasing a reflection while his opponent was right behind him the whole time. The Storm God had trapped him into his snare.

    Typhon stopped for a moment, trying to assess his current condition, but Baal would not even give time for him to feel helpless. First, he teleported above his enemy and delivered a lightning-infused ax-kick on his head, causing the titanic figure to plummet down at great speeds. Next, he used his trident to create an enormous whirlpool that swallowed every Demon God Pillar and made way for Typhon to fall into the deep abyss.

    Now that he had control over Poseidon''s Water Authority, things like choosing who to affect with the currents was a trifling matter, so the Golden Hind and its still unconscious �� except for the quiet, observant Fou �� occupants were not influenced by the s.u.c.k.i.n.g force of his attack.

    Baal then observed his weaponless hand as he pondered some things. ''His promise was to let this be the end of that Demi-God, but that is not possible anymore, so instead, I will let you take part in the destruction of the vermin that tried to absorb your dear Master, little girl.''

    Once his decision was made, three small, glowing tri-colored orbs appeared above his open palm moving in circles like planets orbiting around the sun. Observing them for a moment, he threw them toward the morning and cloudless sky.

    After traveling a good distance, the orbs disappeared out of nowhere, only to be replaced by some Magic Circles resembling some sort of mandala that gradually expanded in size until they covered a grand part of the battlefield.

    Those Magic Circles didn''t stay for long either. It rapidly converged into a single small point, and that point soon became an enormous line that seemed to tear the sky in two.

    Like a mouth, it opened to reveal the dark world within, a world where a pair of red shining eyes observed the ocean below. Those eyes held tremendous hatred, so there was no hesitation from their owner at the moment of launching an attack.

    A blue beam shot out from the darkness directly into the hole caused by Baal''s whirlpool, heading straight to the still falling but barely visible Typhon.

    ''Pfft. Show off.'' Baal rolled his eyes as he watched the energy attack descend into the dark abyss below. The sound of a roar echoed for a bit before fading away shortly after.

    Once the strike was over, the tear in the sky began to close, ending the virtual manifestation of Mars. The Storm God didn''t stop his continuous assault on Typhon, though. He unsummoned Longinus, his trident, and Seth''s spear and fully shapeshifted into his griffin form, quickly flying upward. Now without his stolen weapon, his Water Authority stopped working, making the ocean close once again, burying Typhon underneath.

    ????????????????????????????????????????... ????????????????????. ????????????????????????????????????????... ???????????????? ???????????????? ???????? ????????????????????????????.

    A voice sounded in Baal''s ears as he kept flying faster and faster, causing the edges of his beak to rise. Five minutes later, he finally made it into the last layer of the Earth''s atmosphere, the Exosphere. Once he reached it, he stopped his ascension and maneuvered his body to face the blue planet beneath him.

    Everything was covered in water. If he tried really hard enough, he would be able to see some green, but blue was the primary color in this place. ''Strange. Are we on the same Earth? Parallel universe perhaps? We never did research on these types of phenomenons, so I do not have anything to go by.''

    Shaking his head out of his thoughts, Baal fully extended his wings as the sun started to loom over the Earth''s horizon. Out of nowhere, his body began to shine as if absorbing energy from the fiery star before golden-colored flames surrounded his figure, making him look like an animal torch.

    His face scrunched in pain, but the most notorious change was in his eyes. They focused and unfocused repeatedly in a seemingly eternal loop. It was only after a lot of willpower that he managed to regain stability once more.

    ''It is at moments like these that I hate not having my own body.'' Baal''s thoughts were filled with annoyance. Yet, he knew now was not the time to comment on his situation. He had a job to finish.

    The flaming bird uttered a cry that was silenced by the endless void. Nevertheless, it still achieved the d.e.s.i.r.ed effect.

    An illusory sea of stars appeared above him, overlapping with the real one all around. There, in the middle of it, a lone, small, and white-colored planet with blue and yellow gradients stood. However, this planet was not so alone like it seemed at first. Behind it, the darkness parted to reveal the sun in all its glory. The two forever together even in the emptiness of space.

    Baal didn''t care about the symbolism behind it, though. He just used the small planet as fuel to power himself up even more. The golden flames soon took a gray tint to them, subsequently combining the power of the star and the planet. If Mars was an attack-type, then the planet that represented Seth, Mercury, was an enhancement-type.

    After mixing both powers, he was finally ready to begin his descent, something he did. The Strom God drew his wings back and stooped down like a meteor. With gravity on his side this time, his dive was faster than his climbing. That said, he was still not satisfied, so he began to spin at fast speeds while returning to the planet.

    The fire that covered his Griffin form like a layer soon engulfed his everything, hiding him from view. Dual-colored flames then gave way to the shape of the outline of a bird who continued unimpeded.

    Inside the Earth, concretely on the previous battlefield, an enormous and panting figure was exiting the ocean. The pressure of the depths had trapped him for a few minutes, but he was able to finally break free despite the mysteriously weakened state he was in right now. As if that wasn''t enough, his body was full of bruises. His regeneration was taking care of that, but it would take some time.

    Typhon was sure that Baal didn''t tell him everything about that Noble Phantasm of his. After all, even if he was stripped away from everything, he still had his strength, something he took pride in. However, even that seemed to be failing him at the moment.

    The first thing he did was to look around for any signs of his opponent, yet he found none. Not even the other insects were on sight. What he didn''t know was that the Leviathan had moved the Golden Hind away, knowing perfectly well that maniac would not care another time about their safety. The only thing remaining was that accursed Noble Phantasm calmly floating, yet Typhon didn''t want to recklessly attack in fear of another ploy.

    But everything else didn''t matter now. He needed to escape and bid his time. This was already a lost battle, there was nothing he could do. Typhon mentally cursed himself for falling into Baal''s trap. He should be careful about what he said in the future, or just don''t speak at all.

    ''I better get out of here and fast. I don''t know where he is or why he disappeared, but I don''t want to find out either.'' Thinking so, Typhon flapped his wounded wings and took off to the skies. Choosing a random direction, he started his fly.

    What he didn''t notice, though, was a small light in the distance, leaving a comet-like trail as he descended. It was only when it was too late that he was made aware of the incoming peril. The sudden sound and increase in temperature were a big factor in his realization.

    When he turned around mid-fly, a huge force unlike any other slammed into him. Yet, instead of carrying him down with it, it penetrated his c.h.e.s.t like a drill, exiting from his back while leaving a path of burning flesh behind and crashing into the ocean, generating a splash of massive size. As the ocean was deep around these parts, Baal didn''t hit the ocean floor, and by logic, didn''t make any large water displacements, so no one except for Typhon who received the full brunt of his attack was affected.

    "Gah!" Blood shot out of the King of Monster''s mouth after a strange cough. His consciousness blacked out for a moment before returning immediately after due to the burning pain. His body felt heavy and frozen. As if the smallest of movements required the largest of efforts to make.

    Naturally, he started to fall powerlessly. There was nothing he could do other than to fall into the ocean for the nth time in this fight. Watching the morning sky was the only thing he was able to do in that moment of weakness.

    But, as if fate was not done with him, his suffering��his despair, continued.

    Before he was able to land on the watery surface, a massive crocodile half the size of Typhon jumped out of it with his jaws wide open, quickly latching onto his snake arm, temporarily stopping his fall. The gargantuan reptile then somersaulted at the same time he shook his head from side to side, ripping Typhon''s arm off with little effort and making him resume his descent.

    Baal''s action helped mitigate the landing, though, so the son of Tartarus only sunk a little, but a grand part of his body still remained afloat, enough to see his limb being treated as food. Baal only transformed back after he finished gobbling his arm up.

    "Revenge is always sweet, isn''t it?" The Storm God commented as he gently landed on the ocean surface. They were eaten by that arm, and now that arm was eaten by them. The irony was truly wonderful in his eyes.

    "From the very beginning... I did not have a chance... did I?" Typhon asked while his eyes moved to Baal. Even rotating his head was extremely painful.

    ? "There is no past to remember." Instead of answering, Baal started to chant the Noble Phantasm of Typhon''s demise. Giant stone tables appeared out of nowhere in the air and began to encircle his fallen foe.

    ""No present to live."" Thutmose illusory form appeared behind the Deity and chanted together with him.

    ""And no future to look forward to."" Once the stone tables completely surrounded Typhon, numerous hieroglyphs engraved themselves on them one by one, seemingly recording something.

    ""Life is the beginning, yet death is not the end. Your name is your identity on the other side, but now, it will be erased, and with it your existence."" The hieroglyphs went from tablet to tablet as if detailing a story. However, when the last tablet was completed, the process reversed, and those symbols soon started to fade in the opposite direction they were created.

    Typhon obviously catching on to what he was trying to do immediately used his will to force his body to move. It was incredibly challenging, but he was able to do it. He didn''t know if he was slithering or crawling, but what mattered to him was that he was moving.

    Unfortunately for him, there would be no way out, and three sudden pains made him realize exactly that. The giant forms of Longinus, Poseidon''s ex trident, and Seth''s spear were impaling his body against the ocean as if it was a solid surface, preventing him from moving. The first one had wounded his left shoulder, the second, his spine, and the third, his tail.

    He looked back one last time as the hieroglyphs were near erasure, his gaze with unyielding hate. However, what stared back at him was the same mocking face, the one that never treated him as a superior being, nor as an equal, and probably neither as someone lesser than him, just a nobody.

    ��Deir el-Bahri, Hatshepsut''s fall!��?

    Those words marked the end of everything. A while light shined inside the encirclement. Above Typhon, a woman clad in golden armor appeared, preventing others from seeing her features except for her gender.

    As soon as she appeared, she outstretched her hand in his direction, causing his body to shake violently before an exact copy of Typhon exited his body, only that this one was white��almost transparent. Typhon''s eyes immediately lost their l.u.s.ter, and his body its resistance.

    The woman converged the copy into a ball before crushing it into her hands, finally putting an end to the monster''s existence, forever. She then turned to the God who was watching the events with a mocking smirk. "You should stop using that body if you know what is good for you, Baal. You must."

    In response, Baal gave her his middle finger. "F.u.c.k you in the a.s.s, Ma''at. If you have any funny ideas I will shove your father''s staff in the place you like so much, you kinky s.l.u.t."

    The woman, now identified as Ma''at, the Goddess of Cosmic Order just clenched her first before helplessly disappearing when Baal canceled his Noble Phantasm. He didn''t want his good mood to disappear, after all.

    "Well then..." He adopted a harmless smile as waves of darkness began to engulf his figure.

    "????h????s ????s ????a????b????c???? f????r ????a????i????g ????o ????a???? ????e, ????o???? l????t????l???? s????i????!" They quickly covered his whole body, showing a malevolent and grinning face as a distorted voice echoed in the surroundings. The darkness soon extended from him to the carcass that was Typhon''s body, rapidly engulfing him as well.

    When they retracted fully, the monster was no more, and Baal had a happy expression as he burped, a happy expression that soon turned into a scowl. "F.u.c.k! What is this shit?! Why give me these useless Skills?!"

    Obviously discontent with what he had received after eating his enemy, Baal cursed and cursed until he finally got tired. "Forget it. I should take my awakening as the true prize for this. It was kind of boring for my first fight, but I guess I can''t be picky. The next one should be that fellow who helped the vermin."

    He then turned to the skies, a smirk returning to his face. "You are watching, aren''t you? I admit I have to thank you for making the battle a little more appetizing, but you chose the wrong worm to assist that pest. Baal is the Ultimate God, not a tentacle from that geezer''s fairy tale. I will be waiting to see if you have the same courage to put that thing in front of me or not, mage."

    With his part said, Baal started walking in the Chaldeans'' direction. The battle was over, and the result was not surprising, at least to him. From start to end, he always had Typhon within his grasp. As they say, the higher they go, the harder they fall. That face he made when all his hopes were crushed was absolutely delightful.

    In the end, it was his absolute victory.

 Chapter 167 - Returning

    The Storm God paused in his steps just as he was going to walk in the Chaldean''s direction. His gaze turned to the floating island while an indiscernible light flashed through his eyes. ''I suppose I should get rid of this thing first.''

    Flexing his legs a bit, he jumped to the golden city, arriving shortly in front of the gates. At his presence, those gates opened as if to make way for him, but Baal remained rooted in his place.

    Seeing as he was not moving, the Noble Phantasm shone with intensity for a moment. A few seconds after, numerous prostrating figures irradiating golden light appeared in front of him. However, that light was not continuous. It flickered on and off, something he recognized as a sign of soul exhaustion.

    Despite their state, excited shouts of "King, King, King!" escaped their mouths like a chorus. Baal merely sneered in disdain, even calling them f.u.c.ktards, yet those souls didn''t seem to mind. His gaze was soon drawn to one particular spot among the crowd, causing his sneer to freeze. There, two quiet orbs of light stood, looking out of place even in this strange scene.

    He seemed to have teleported in front of the two with a single step, startling them slightly, obvious by their recoil. Baal observed them for a few seconds before kneeling down, completely ignoring the rest.

    "You did a good job." He simply said, earning a hum of cautious happiness from the two orbs. Seeing as they still were wary of him, he released a sigh of resignation, but his face soon turned serene.

    "You can finally go to the other shore now. You don''t have to be used by me anymore." The sound of something breaking echoed as the light the orbs emitted began to turn transparent as if they were going to disappear any time soon.

    The feeling of confusion was evident within them. Nevertheless, they were also happy to finally leave the world they were trapped in for a long time.

    Seeing their readiness to go, the corner of his mouth arched upward ever so slightly. He then turned around and began to walk away. The Noble Phantasm started falling apart after he did so.

    "Make sure to greet your mothers for us." Baal waved without looking back casually. He did not wait for an unlikely to come reply, preferring to jump away instead.

    Had he stayed for a second longer, he might have heard some words back... just maybe. Unfortunately, that "possibility" would be buried forever in the dark, cold ocean.

    ������������������������������������������������������������

    After a few minutes, Baal arrived at the Chaldeans'' location with his face showing no emotions from the events before his arrival.

    ''It was about time. I was tired of waiting.'' The stern voice of the Leviathan reached his ears, causing Baal''s eyes to narrow. He had summoned Poseidon''s trident to accelerate the time it took to get here, but it seemed he had forgotten there was a side effect to using it��mainly being able to communicate with marine creatures.

    "If I want you to wait, you will wait like the stupid dog you are. Do not forget I am not the one you made that stupid pact with. It is also the only reason why you are alive at this moment when I should be purging your race from these waters." The times he felt an itch to kill the big snake in front of him during the previous battle were uncountable, so that really showed how much he was holding back from killing her.

    Now it was the Apocalypse Beast time to narrow her eyes. ''A pact with a madman is worse than no pact at all! What were you thinking, Beelzebub?! Authorities are a curse, not a blessing! To begin with, the reason you are so unstable is due to the number of them you have! What is the point in adding even more?!''

    ''You... dare to use that name?'' Waves of frost expanded from his position with the coldness of his voice. That form of addressing him was a taboo and a reminder of the hate he had for that meddlesome geezer.

    "Fou! (Enough!) Fou kyou kyuuu! Foufoufou. Kyuu, fmou! (This is no time to be fighting! We have to go. This Singularity is closing, simpletons!)" The squirrel-like thing made its annoyance clear to the other two people present.

    "You stay out of this, pervert dog. If the previous warning we gave you was not enough, I could gladly make that warning a threat and even a reality if you try to meddle." Despite saying so, Baal did stop. It was true that now that this Singularity was resolved, it would disappear, and he did not want to stay when that happened. Who knows what crazy place he might end up in.

    He then turned his gaze to the Leviathan, who was still staring defiantly at him before tapping the talisman with his finger, emanating a light that washed over the monster, who offered no resistance, and trapped her inside, but not before leaving some final words. "Pray that I don''t see you again, you scaled bitch. Unlike my counterpart, I do not take kindly to insults."

    "Foufou, kyuuu. Foufoufou. (Now that you are done with your little quarrel, you must wake the others up. You are the one responsible for that in the first place.)" Fou spoke while motioning to the still-unconscious bodies of the Chaldeans.

    "These plebeians are unworthy of looking at my figure, so I will take my leave. The reason why I even bothered to take control is no more anyway." The fact that they would wake up once he was gone was left unsaid. However, he still had something to add to the little animal.

    "By the way, you have something that belongs to us. Do not get comfortable in that seat, Cath Palug. Soon, it shall be ours. We are not interested in sharing, after all." He left a challenging smirk before returning control of the body to a drowsy Seth, who yawned at the first opportunity he got. His sharp nails retracted, and his pupils returned to being circular.

    The Egyptian God then removed Baal''s helmet from his head and made it disappear as memories of the events surfaced in his mind, causing him to frown. ''The Leviathan was right. It was a hazardous thing to obtain more Authorities.''

    He observed the trident in his hand as his frown deepened. ''But who would think that Poseidon was trying to use Herakles'' body to revive. No wonder that stupid squid treated him like a sacred being. It turns out he was nothing more than a glorified sacrifice.''

    Muffled groans caught his attention, causing him to look up. He noted how the Chaldeans were waking up, so he jumped onto the ship, all the while giving a sideways glance to the white squirrel, who returned it by giving him an impassive gaze.

    "Augh... I feel like I have been hit by a truck..." EMIYA groggily said as he slowly got up while clutching his head in dizziness.

    "I will need a good pair of cigarettes after this..." Zhuge Liang repeated the same motion as Archer, feeling like he had fainted after overworking himself again.

    Similar absurd comments followed after those two. Whatever it was that Baal did, it left them feeling like they had just the hardest fight of their life, causing them to faint afterward.

    No one seemed to notice Seth''s presence. No one but two people. One of them directly ran and hugged him tightly, causing the Deity to raise his eyebrows in soundless surprise.

    Aware of the impending awkwardness, Seth shifted his gaze to the male Servants on board, who did nothing else other than avoid making direct eye contact, wanting nothing to do with whatever was happening right now. The only one who did not do that was Mash, who, for some reason, was looking at him with some ''healthy'' jealousy.

    The reason for it was that Fujimaru was hugging Seth like there was no tomorrow with his eyes closed as tears threatened to fall. To others, his actions might seem strange, but not to him. He considered Seth a sort of brotherly figure, so he didn''t want to lose him like he did his sister in that incident. Previously, he had forced himself to focus on the battle to recover him from Typhon''s clutches, but now he could finally release what he had bottled up.

    Understanding this, the black-haired man sighed as he patted his back lightly. "You don''t have to worry about my safety. I am as resilient as a c.o.c.kroach. Still... I appreciate the concern... somehow."

    "Ehem." The Egyptian God turned to the side to see the figure of Stheno, who, with her neutral expression, was also telling him not to leave her out. Rolling his eyes, he opened his free arm to give her space. The little Goddess marched forward as he joined in the hug, although hers seemed to be more of a clutch thing, probably still fearing he would disappear. She might not have said it out loud, but he was aware of her feelings, especially when he noticed Euryale''s absence.

    It was then that Romani''s voice got through, finally being able to resume communications after Baal''s interruption disappeared. "Eh? You are alive? How so? Where is Typhon? Did we win?"

    His numerous questions certainly interrupted the mood, but Seth didn''t fault him. Instead, he secretly nodded in approval. ''Your time is the worst as always, but this time I owe you one.''

    Taking advantage of the situation, he separated himself from the human and Servant, although it proved hard with a certain koala. "I was alive the whole time. In fact, I would be until the final moment where he absorbed me. As for where that monster is, he is already dead. Oh, and you should get us out of here; the Singularity is already nearing its end."

    Although surprised, he immediately did as he was told. Safety first, questions second. However, he still wanted to ask something more while he worked on bringing them back. "Who killed him, though? Was it you? Weren''t you confined inside him?"

    Those particular questions were also in the others'' minds. ''They must not remember the events that transpired after Baal got us out.'' That was the conclusion Seth arrived at after seeing their expressions.

    "I did not kill him; someone else did. That person was also the one that liberated me. As for where he is right now, I have no idea. He might not even be in this Singularity anymore." Not even the best of lie detectors would find any fault with his story as, technically, what he said was the truth.

    "I see..." Romani frowned in contemplation before ultimately sighing. "Well, it doesn''t matter anymore. What''s important is that you all are safe and that the Singularity is resolved. You can brief us on the details later."

    "It seems this the end. It was a p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e to meet a fellow God once more, even if we don''t have the best of relationsh.i.p.s." Artemis said while looking at Seth, who gave a nod in return.

    "This one was my fault, so I will apologize for the inconveniences I caused." The Egyptian God didn''t have a problem with admitting his fault on the matter, even more so considering they were part of the same ''race.''

    "It was certainly more challenging than hunting the Calydonian Boar. Thou need not concern thyself with it, though. Challenges art meant to be overcome." Atalanta declared just as particles of light began to surround her figure, same as her Goddess.

    Soon, the rest of them were also starting to fade away. Mash then turned to Drake, who had accompanied them throughout their journey. "Thank you for everything you did for us. We wouldn''t have gotten this far if it weren''t for your help."

    "Hey, don''t sweat it the small stuff! I had a lot of fun, and danger was gran part of it. It was the best adventure I have had during all my travels!" Drake happily exclaimed like it was nothing. She shot an unnoticeable glance at Seth but then sighed in his mind and decided to say nothing.

    After everyone said their farewells, the group finally returned to Chaldea.

    As always, Seth was the first to arrive. He was greeted by Romani and Da Vinci, whose faces clearly demanded an explanation after all that happened regarding his identity. Knowing this will not get anywhere, he just walked forward, put a hand on Romani''s shoulder, and spoke quietly so that only both of them could hear, "Nice try, Solomon. We don''t want to be hypocrites now, do we? Let''s do it like this, I don''t say anything, you don''t question anything. And as for you, Da Vinci... I can bribe you with new technological ideas that will make your ''genius'' seem like nothing. Bye, and have fun."

    He then left the Command Room with relaxed steps. Although unaware of him, a new source of annoyance was rapidly approaching.

 Chapter 168 - OCs Profiles

    (A/N: As promised, I will write down some sort of character sheet with all the newly introduced characters, as well as new Noble Phantasms that weren''t there before from known characters. I will also update Seth''s character sheet with new information. As I have some university assignments to do, I will not be able to post until next week. However, this gives me the opportunity to -aside from taking a break- make a poll about what characters you want to be summoned next from this Singularity. I don''t know if I will make it 3 for Fuji and 3 for Seth or just leave it a 2/2. Leave your thought about it. The poll will be in the comments btw. Signing out now~)

    == William Kidd ==

    Skills:

    - Change of Hearts B+ �� A Skill William obtained through one of the events that marked his life. It symbolizes how he went from a man fighting for the crown to just a pirate. It allows him to reverse effects applied to him; meaning that weakening effects will become strengthening ones, curses will become blessings among other things. However, buffs will also be reversed. Additionally, the more he uses it, the more his personality will shift to resemble that of a pirate. Thanks to that, William has his reservations about using this Skill unless absolutely necessary, even going to the point of turning it on and off despite the waste in Magical Energy that would cause.

    - Hunter of Criminals A �� The representation of his job for the crown, bringing all sorts of criminals to what he considered to be "justice" at that time. This Skill allows Saber to release an aura capable of weakening enemies that have done evil deeds. The more they have done, the greater the effect.

    - Iron Hand C+ �� Throughout his life as a pirate hunter, Kidd faces numerous riots on his ship. The stories of his "punishments" to those that were involved ultimately labeled him as someone cruel and without remorse. It is a Skill capable of empowering him the more his allies feel fear, be it of him or from others.

    ...

    Noble Phantasm:

    ��Dead Men Do Tell Tales��Second hanging of the undead pirate

    Rank: B

    Type: Anti-Unit (Self)

    Range: 0

    Maximum Number of Targets: 1 person

    The feat of having escaped death one time by surviving an execution. It grants him a one-time revive in addition to giving him a passive increase in his Luck Parameter.

    ...

    Seth''s thoughts on him: None.

    ������������������������������������������������������������

    == Thutmose III ==

    Skills:

    - Dark God Teachings EX �� As the student of the one called Usurper, Thutmose inherited one of his traits. This Skill permits him to see every Skill his enemy has, choose one among them, and take it for himself. Additionally, the stolen Skill cannot be used by the original owner. Thutmose only needs to make his Magical Energy come in contact with the target in any way for him to steal it.

    - Ruler Of The Flourishing Kingdom (Pharaoh) EX �� A Skill that symbolized how Egypt went through its more prospering era with him on the throne. It allowed him to make something belonging to him reach its ultimate state of being; be it a weapon, a mount, or even his own vessel.

    - Undefeatable Conqueror (Lightning) EX �� The feat of never having been defeated during his conquests outside of Egypt. This Skill granted him a tremendous bonus to his Parameters as long as he was in a foreign land.

    - Revolutionary Mind A+ �� Sometimes, Thutmose is regarded as someone "too advanced for his own era." He was what modern people would consider a genius. As long as the user is determined to accomplish something that other people might think impossible or if that will bring a change to the future of the world, then Destiny will work in their favor. Additionally, their Luck will go up. This Skill doesn''t work that well against enemies with the Pioneer of the Stars Skill, or others similar to it.

    - Transcendental Promise ? �� A Skill without rank. It symbolizes the promise between Thutmose and Seth; one he did not want to rank because it was that important to him. It seems able to give an incredible boost in power, but nothing has been confirmed yet.

    It is stated that Thutmose has more Skills, yet those were not shown as of yet.

    ...

    Noble Phantasms:

    ��Karnak: Obelisks of the Great King��Moving pillars of wisdom

    Rank: A

    Type: Anti-Unit

    Range: 1~999

    Maximum Number of Targets: 1 person

    The obelisks Thutmose built during his life. They were transported many times from place to place numerous times, hence the effect of transporting the target trapped between them to whatever spot Archer chooses. He is required to have visuals of the person he wants to transport, though. Despite being a seemingly unimpressive Noble Phantasm, Thutmose is able to use it in ingenious ways to give him a complete advantage. Seth regarded it as a pain in the a.s.s to deal with.

    ��Son of the Sky and Sun��Great Armor of the Bird God

    Rank: EX

    Type: Anti-Unit (Self)

    Range: -

    Maximum Number of Targets: 1 person

    It is the armor given to him by the Sky God Horus as "graduation" from his training. However, its use is reserved only for the time when he had to battle Seth and put an end to him. It enables him to reach the realm of the Gods, also giving him temporary access to Sun and Sky Authorities. Additionally, he is able to harness the Eye of Ra; an eye capable of seeing through everything, be it illusions or hidden truths. The prerequisite is for him to crush his eyes with his own hands.

    ��Armageddon: Megiddo��Congreation of a life full of conquests

    Rank: EX

    Type: ???

    Range: ???

    Maximum Number of Targets: ???

    This Noble Phantasm is a Reality Marble capable of transporting him and the target to an endless meadow repleted with ruins. It is the apex of Thutmose''s life and his greatest feat. The representation of his battle at Megiddo, and the first historical battle to ever be recorded with detail. In here, Archer is capable of using every Noble Phantasm at his disposal without the need to invoke their True Name, or even waste Magical Energy for the matter. The Noble Phantasm has also proven to be quite resistant to damage, being able to withstand multiple strikes that would have destroyed a normal one. If these are all its capabilities remains unknown.

    Seth''s thoughts on him: A cheat capable of making him sweatdrop at how overpowered he is. He also considers him as a student dear to him, and one he wouldn''t be able to replace due to thinking others would not reach even 1/100 of what he accomplished. To him, Thutmose will be his only student no matter what. The Egyptian God is also extremely proud of him, and, if he had been born during a certain era buried in time, Seth would have considered adopt him as his son. He also thinks that if he were to have been summoned with a proper ritual instead of a fake Holy Grail in addition to having a good source of Magical Energy, he would have won against him before the battle even began.

    ������������������������������������������������������������

    == Theseus ==

    Skills:

    - My Wounded Heart Still Beats A+ �� A unique Skill born of one''s ability to survive and recover from multiple tragedies. Rider has faced multiple tragedies which would destroy most people, eventually recovering when given time earning him this skill. The only reason it is not EX in rank is that he did not have enough time to heal from the last tragedy of his life. In a similar manner to Charisma, this Skill has the capacity to increase the morale and abilities of others by the simple conclusion that "If Rider can survive tragedy so can you." This Skill can inspire even those on the brink of suicide to keep fighting and look for a new path.

    - Eye of the Mind (True) A �� The Skill to calmly analyze the conditions of battle even when in danger and deduce an appropriate course of action after considering all possibilities to escape from a predicament. So long there is even a 1% chance of a comeback, this ability greatly improves the chances of winning. While Rider had a natural talent for such things, they were further developed through lessons with Chiron and real-world combat. Find authorized novels in , faster updates, better experience, Please click <a href="#''-profiles_52653685930519355">#''-profiles_52653685930519355</a> for visiting.

    No more Skills have been shown.

    ...

    Noble Phantasms:

    �����Ŧ˦ɦ�? ����?�ЦǦ̦� �ҦӦ� ���Ѧ��æɦʦ� ���Ǧ�?��: Final Strike on the Tragic Beast��A monster''s ultimate demise

    Rank: EX

    Type: Anti-Monster

    Range: 1~300

    Maximum Number of Targets: 1 person

    A manifestation of Theseus'' feat in defeating the Minotaur, this Noble Phantasm is a single powerful strike at the opponent which dispels any skills and enchantments they have. This ensures that baring good fortune or a Noble Phantasm of greater strength, the opponent will receive a debilitating wound, if not outright die. While the wound can heal with time any mage craft or skills one attempts to use to speed up the process will have no effect, not for weeks, this applies even to servants and phantasmal species. Due to the noble phantasm''s origin being the defeat of a "Monster," both its power and all of the effects it produces are increased against "Monsters."

    ��Ariadne''s Thread: Eternal Hope of Escape��Parting gift of the worried maiden

    Rank: C+

    Type: Anti-Unit (Self)

    Range: -

    Maximum Number of Targets: 1 person

    The Thread Theseus used to guide his way out of the labyrinth, this Noble Phantasm has a vary simple ability allowing Theseus to escape. Whenever lost or in a bad situation Theseus can use the thread to gradually increase his Luck until it reaches the point of altering fate itself to all but guarantee, he survives and escapes. This Luck is focused on escape as such this may not help in defeating an opponent, though that can be considered a method of escape. He must be physically holding the thread, or have it tied to him, to use this Noble Phantasm, and should it leave his grip or be cut his luck is set back to its base parameter.

    Seth''s thoughts on him: An idiot. Yet a relatable one nonetheless.

    ������������������������������������������������������������

    == Charles Darwin ==

    Skills:

    - Animal observation EX �� This Skill allows Darwin to observe the strength and weakness of a monster or person with animal traits. The information she receives can range from tactics on how to defeat them to outright banes of their existence. It is the representation of her title as Father of Evolution.

    - Voyage B �� A Skill she obtained during her journeys throughout the world and the toughest seas. It can make whatever ship she is on be faster, able to resist normal storms, as well as guide it to an optimal path.

    - Pioneer of the Stars EX �� The Skill belonging to those that have changed the course of Human History. It makes her capable of achieving seemingly impossible feats as long as the change is not zero.

    ...

    Noble Phantasm:

    ��Theory of Evolution��The Origin of Species

    Rank: EX

    Type: Anti-Divine, Anti-Mystery

    Range: -

    Maximum Number of Targets: ???

    One of the most famous things she is known for, and her greatest accomplishment in life. She marked an era where the distancing between the human and the divine became even more apparent after her work. This Noble Phantasm applies Anti-Divine trait to all allies, as well as decreases the Mystery around a target, effectively weakening them to the point of powerlessness. The more detailedly she observes her target, the faster the Mystery decreases. It is particularly powerful against those coming from the Age of the Gods. However, the more she uses it, the greater the strain in her brain. If the target is someone extremely powerful, the effect would not be that noticeable.

    Seth''s thought on her: He kind of feels guilty, especially since she wasn''t intending to pry on his being. "... I made her a little unhinged, didn''t I?"

    ������������������������������������������������������������

    Extra

    == Altera ==

    Noble Phantasm:

    ��Raging Star Photon Ray��Storm God''s Thunderous Descent

    Rank: EX

    Type: Anti-Good

    Range: 1~99

    Maximum Number of Targets: 1000 people

    A Noble Phantasm Altera obtained after the contract Seth made with her. It gave her the power to control Storms like the God himself. Different from her normal Photon Ray where Mars directs her attack at "her", this one is a strike of lightning that annihilates all her enemies which she considers good, compared to her who she considers evil. The strike carries the strength of a constellation where Seth used to reside at some point in time. This Noble Phantasm also represents a possibility. Maybe... in another universe... a lone girl chose a different path to the one the "real one" traversed. If she was happy with that... only she knew.

 Chapter 169 - What Goes Around Comes Around

    "How ya holdin'' up? I heard you guys had it rough back then when I went to check with the doc." Cu Chulainn asked Seth, who was walking beside him. He had met him by chance while walking through the halls and decided to accompany him to the Cafeteria, which was practically their relax zone after a Singularity.

    "As good as someone can be after being eaten by a monster. The problem is not my body, anyway. It is my mind. So many things happened that I just want to leave it all behind." The Egyptian God rubbed the side of his head in annoyance. He couldn''t deny that his body felt sore all over, though. He had put it under way too much strain.

    "That so? Well, not like I don''t understand. The combat is good and all, but the aftermath is another thing entirely. Still, what are your plans? I suggest you take it easy for a few days. Nothing about fighting on the Simulator." Caster was sure as hell that was the first thing he would do after a good night of rest, so he didn''t forget to remind him to avoid complications.

    "Why do you sound like a nagging grandma all of a sudden? I plan to take it easy for at least a week. If we follow the pattern, the era of the new Singularity wouldn''t remain unknown for two or three weeks. There''s plenty of time to rest in between." Seth shot Cu Chulainn a weird look at his comment.

    "Hey, just looking out for you. Besides, I have heard people talking about making some festival to lighten up the mood and whatnot soon. It is a good opportunity to take a break." He merely shrugged in response to his jab.

    "Oh, yeah. Now that you mention it, that celebration is near... Samhain, was it?" He was not that much into festivals... and the last time ended with him nearly blowing his cover after he felt a Divine presence, which turned out to be Artemis. Not like it mattered now that practically everyone knew who he was.

    "Yep. Although it supposedly goes by Halloween now. Man, I still can''t get over the fact that our traditions got so widespread and butchered at the same time." His wry smirk spoke enough of his inner feelings.

    "By the way, what''s with your hair? Did you forget to wash it or something after a battle?" Cu Chulainn asked with curiosity after his sight caught the red streaks on his black hair.

    "Oh, this? It''s not blood, it''s my natural hair color. It changed as soon as I was born, though."

    "Heh? Didn''t know you guys could be influenced in certain ways." Caster c.o.c.ked his eyebrows at his statement. That was truly something weird.

    "Believe it or not, it''s not unnatural in the slightest. For example, my skin tone used to be darker. It changed to my current one after I became the God of Foreigners." Seth merely shook his head after a small sigh.

    "Hm? Humanity''s perspectives could alter you?" He might be a Demigod, but it''s not as if he knew everything regarding his Divine side.

    "Not exactly. It''s quite the opposite in fact. The process in which we gain Authorities is something akin to what you humans call enlightenment. One day you wake up and you feel something different about yourself. If you can grasp that feeling there is a chance of obtaining an Authority. In consequence, that Authority begins to influence humans in giving faith to you so that you can grow stronger." It was basically making humans categorize you.

    "Sounds like the stuff I would totally forget the next morning." Caster shot him an amused look which he returned by rolling his eyes.

    "Let''s hurry for now. I want to hear how things went there. You know, the shouts full of panic from that Doctor don''t tell much other than you guys being in trouble."

    That elicited a smirk from the Kingslayer. "Get comfortable for a long story then. I feel like I was there forever."

    Just as they were turning past a corner of the hall, they bumped into a blue-haired figure, causing them to pause their steps.

    "Rider? What are you doing here?" Despite living in the same space, they rarely saw each other, and it was clear that she came for them specifically, considering that he also stopped walking instead of keeping going ahead.

    Seth also figured something was up... and he did not like it. He always avoided Martha due to... reasons, and she was well aware of that, which was why she never tried to actively converse with him. Whatever she wanted, it couldn''t be good.

    "I need to speak with him, do you mind letting us alone for a moment?" Knew it.

    Both warriors exchanged silent glances between each other for a moment before Cu Chulainn shrugged his shoulders. "Sure thing. I will be going ahead, don''t take too long you two, or I will start some spicy rumors." The Holy Knuckle, as well as the Evil Knuckle, combined together to deliver swift punishment onto Caster''s head as soon as he finished speaking. The man in question just laughed it off, though. Marching off in advance soon after.

    Now alone, God and Servant stared at each other, waiting for the other to speak first, something that took more than what they would have liked.

    "Speak. What do you want with me?" His tone carried an unnatural but also unintentional edge to it. Fortunately, Martha didn''t seem to mind, at least on the surface.

    Observing him for a few seconds, the blue-haired woman sighed before she started to speak. "I am sure you had your... motives regarding your identity, so I will not question you about that. I am also sure you had your fair share of that unpleasantness."

    If anything, the black-haired man visibly relaxed at her words. It was not near enough for him to lash out, but being asked the same question again and again tended to get pretty tiring. However, it created another doubt. Why would she speak with him then? As far as he was aware, other than the aforementioned topic, nothing stood out for her to break the ''status quo'' they had before. "Go on."

    Receiving his motion to continue, Rider did just so. "Although it doesn''t have to do explicitly with your identity, it has to do with it, more or less. It''s about Jeanne��"

    "...I knew it." An audible groan escaped his lips as he pinched the bridge of his nose while interrupting Martha in the middle of her speech.

    She raised her eyebrows at his comment, finding what he said a little too strange. "You seem more frustrated than surprised."

    "Shouldn''t I? I feel like I am babysitting a toddler who doesn''t know what to do other than throw tantrums. So, what mess did she get herself into this time?" The unamused tone he used didn''t sit well with Martha, and she let that be known with a frown on her face.

    "She is your Servant and you are her Master. Don''t you think it would be a bit ''humane'' if you got worried about her state if only a little? At least do it considering how her mood can mess her fighting capabilities." It was good that she didn''t expect a positive reaction. Otherwise, she would have been disappointed.

    "...Martha. I understand your concern for her as a fellow Saint, but she is a Heroic Spirit��a Servant. She fought a seemingly impossible battle and succeeded when she was alive. You would expect her to have the decency to see the bigger picture instead of getting depressed because his Master is supposedly Satan." His sarcastic tone and frown were clear indicators of his mood. He didn''t want to jinx himself, but he was not going to be a damn psychologist for Servants. He had enough with his own problems to start worrying about others.

    "...You say that you understand, but you really don''t." Rider also shared his frown, along with a disappointing sigh. She didn''t know if he was dense or just hardheaded.

    "I am over two hundred thousand years old, kid. When my back started hurting your kind didn''t even exist on Earth yet. The fact that I continuously choose to ignore her feelings doesn''t mean I am oblivious to them. She probably feels hurt and conflicted about her ''dear Master'' being the antithesis of what she believes in. I bet she is staying in her room refusing to see anyone, and that''s what has got you worried. She feels like she betrayed her God for harboring such feelings in the first place. And yet, no matter how much she wants to bury them, she can''t. That is what has her tormented. So? Guessed right?" The Egyptian God asked unimpressed while folding his arms. He pretty much hit the crux of the matter if her expression was anything to go by.

    "...I want to punch you right now."

    "Come again?" She might have noticed the bafflement in his voice because she let a dry chuckle escape her mouth while shaking her head in resignation.

    "I think I asked too much from you, Seth." Why did it feel weird for her to call him by his own name all of a sudden?

    Sighing while looking at the ceiling for a moment, the black-haired man returned his gaze to the woman in front of him a few seconds after. "I am not a good person, Martha. And I don''t mean it because I have done heinous things far outside of your comprehension. I never do something out of the goodness of my heart, simply because there is no goodness at all. I always do it with a motive in mind."

    "...Then why are you helping us?" She opted to put the other matter on hold to satiate her own curiosity. It had been like talking to a wall, so a change of pace might be what she needed to not lose control.

    "A favor, a promise, call it whatever you like. To a God-hating overprotective snake who never revealed his true identity to me until I slew him; to a rowdy God who saw in humans the potential to give him the good fight he always wanted, and to one of the first ''perfect humans'' who took care of a stupid kid who always got into trouble. They each had their reasons, and I am repaying them for what they did for me. See what I mean? I don''t do things for ''good reasons,'' at all." He expected his words to clarify her doubts, yet he didn''t wait to confirm it. Instead, he just walked past her to where Cu Chulainn had gone to.

    Martha''s face quickly turned into a scowl. "If repaying favors is your motivator, then repay mine for saving your a.s.s, you damn knucklehead!"

    Seth nearly tripped on his feet. The sudden change in attitude was too much for his tired mind to handle. Turning around with his eyebrows raised, he asked her to elaborate. "What do you mean? I don''t remember you saving my a.s.s ever. Are you sure you didn''t get into a fistfight and received a concussion as a result?"

    Rider''s eyebrows noticeably twitched at his comment, but she let it slide. "I am not sure about the details, but I feel like I know you from somewhere. Together with that feeling comes the ''knowledge'' that I saved you on one occasion. As to how and why; that is unknown to me."

    "That has to be one of the worst pick-up lines I have ever heard in my entire life."

    "It is NOT a pick-up line and you know it. On a normal person it may pass a random feeling, but not on a Heroic Spirit. I have nothing solid, yet I think one of my versions from the Throne of Heroes met you at some point in time, I can''t say for sure." What she said was not a lie. It was rare, but some alternate versions could have ''flashbacks'' or just some reaction at meeting someone their other-selves encountered.

    ''Ah... so troublesome.'' He was sure he would be left without air if he kept sighing as he had been doing during the whole conversation. The lives he lived during his imprisonment were something he wanted to forget and have nothing to do with.

    The reason why he tended to avoid Martha was that he ''feared'' something like this would happen. He was still unsure about how this world worked as a whole, so he did not want to take risks. Apparently, that worked really well��note the sarcasm.

    Did that mean he ran the risk of Tamamo Cat suddenly knowing things she should not? Evil forbid. It was already tough to handle Amaterasu as she was, he absolutely didn''t need a more crazy version of her if that was even possible.

    Still, what to do with this... matter? Being honest, he wanted nothing to do with that crybaby''s problems. However, it was true she saved his life in the past. Even though it was not exactly him and it wasn''t as grandiose as she made it sound.

    ''...Might as well get this over with.''

    "I don''t remember ever meeting you before but whatever. I will talk to her and use a Command Spell if I have to. Happy? Well, see you around." After saying his part, he resumed his walk.

    "Make sure to keep your snarky attitude to a minimum when you speak with her." Her mood had improved considerably after his acceptance, and her tone reflected just that.

    "Don''t push it."

    "What are you doing? Her room is the other way." Martha said while pointing behind her with her thumb, something the Egyptian God completely ignored.

    "I said I would do it, not when I would do it." Although she couldn''t see his expressions due to his face being opposite to her, the smug aura was clearly visible. It was really mocking her.

    "Yeah, yeah. Just make sure to take a bath first, you smell of fish." She crossed her arms while looking to the side, making sure her distaste for his trick was noticeable. What she didn''t expect was for a torrent of saltwater to wet her when she least expected.

    Eyes blinking in quick succession, she took a moment to register what just had happened. And it took another moment to find the culprit increasing his pace away from her.

    "COME BACK HERE!!!"

    The furious shouts of a Saint with a wide range of profanities echoed through the halls of Chaldea for a while.

    Indeed, just a normal day in the place known as the last bastion of humanity.

 Chapter 170 - Consequences

    After managing to evade an angry Martha, I quickly made my way into the Cafeteria where Cu Chulainn was already waiting, sitting on a table while being accompanied by two bickering Servants. Those two being Jeanne Alter and Saber Alter. The former put on a smile on her face that creeped me out, and that''s saying something.

    I took a cursory glance at the rest of the room. I noticed some staff members were there as well. They began murmuring when they saw me enter, and I bet they think I can''t hear them. Surprisingly, there were no bad comments coming my way, aside from some that expressed a bit of fear, which I find extremely normal. I guess I left a good impression on them... or were they too trusting? Either way, it was wrong on so many levels, but who am I to judge when it works in my favor? The problem starts when they trust people they should not. I don''t know if moving on from Lev''s betrayal was a bad thing or not at this point.

    Looking at the kitchen, I saw another duo of Servants, namely Boudica and Tamamo Cat. Boudica lightly waved at me with a smile on her face, in what I assumed to be relief that everything turned out okay. For the most part, at least. I acknowledged her by giving her a nod. Despite not knowing each other that well, it puts my mind at ease that she is enjoying her time here outside of the battlefield. I can''t say I don''t know the true horrors of war to find fault in her thinking.

    Tamamo Cat was the other one. I felt the corners of my lip trying to curve upward, but I quickly pushed down that feeling. I know I often don''t speak my mind, yet it is unquestionable that I find it hilarious seeing an avatar of an avatar...(?) of her dressing like that. If Ama were to see this sight she would probably burn down the whole timeline. I better take care of that... somehow.

    Still... as painful as it is, it brings back some memories... memories that are best forgotten for now. I unconsciously remembered the recent event with Martha, causing me to grimace internally. Yeah... that would be fatal. There is too much to think with too little to go about. I better go ask Zhuge Liang for some cigarettes after this. I have to unwind one way or another.

    Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on the day I think about this, she still looked clueless as it was common in her. She titled her head to the side after noticing the weird gaze I sent her way, not understanding why I did it probably. Now... now it was not the time, though. And most likely never will be. She may be a part of her, but she won''t ever be her. I won''t even bother looking at it that way. We both... did some pretty stupid stuff. Even though she is not here, I can say with confidence that if we were to meet again, we won''t look at the consequences of our actions. In her case, Tamamo-no-Mae and all of her forms, and in mine, well... a long list of people.

    Shaking my head out of my depressing thoughts, I advanced to the table where my fri��where Setanta was waiting. I also gestured with my fingers to Boudica that I wanted something light. She immediately understood and went to work.

    "I see that we have unneeded company." Those words escaped my mouth as soon as I sat down on the end of the table. From the corner of my eyes, I saw Saber''s eyes twitch while Avenger looked smugly at her. She is obviously thinking I didn''t include her in that statement.

    While it''s true that I prefer Jeanne Alter to her counterpart, that doesn''t mean I tolerate her well. She is just more pleasant to the eyes than her vanilla version.

    "You heard that, icy bitch queen? Your presence is no longer needed here." She doesn''t have a better idea than to cling to my arm while sending a smug smile in Artoria''s direction... I am this close to kicking these two out of here. The last thing I want is to have two girls fighting about nonsense in front of me. I didn''t sign up for this.

    "These two rabid lions aside, now it is the best time to tell me how things went there. I will be a bit busy helping out in the next few days, after all." I am sure Cu Chulainn would be dead a hundred times over if the looks of these two Servants could kill. He still disregarded it with his characteristical shrug, as if he was not afraid of the consequences. Still, he took one for the team, and for that, he has my thanks.

    Seeing as the two Alter Servants were about to deploy their Noble Phantasms against him, I decided to start retelling the events from my perspective. As I expected, they immediately calmed down and started listening with rapt attention.

    The more I spoke, the more I realized that this month-long trip had been packed with ''interesting'' happenings. I obviously omitted some parts and the only one who seemed to have realized it was Cu Chulainn. He probably knows I will tell him anyway at a later date, so he didn''t say anything. I still don''t know how it is that he is able to tell when I lie or hide something, though...

    Something to ask in the future.

    When I got to the part where my identity got revealed as Seth, aka Satan, aka a bunch of evil stuff, Jalter took the spotlight. She is rubbing her hands like some kind of pervert with a ''dashing'' smile to boot. It honestly is creeping me out. Was she not that type of woman... tsundere? Yes, I think that was the term I found while looking through Romani''s tablet. Seeing her being so open with her feelings while being around me is puzzling, to say the least.

    I get the feeling of her wanting to spite God and everything. I myself want that, and Baal would even go as far as to urinate on his corpse if he could, but is it enough to act like that? There are things even I do not understand...

    Those eyes she is looking at me with don''t help either. There is some deep and disturbing fanatism there. So much that I am beginning to wonder if Alter will take her counterpart''s place in my "I don''t want to deal with her" list.

    "I never thought you were teacher material." Oh yeah, it made sense that that topic would appear now that I mentioned who was the one that revealed my identity. Still, I wouldn''t refute Saber''s words when even I myself don''t think I am cut for it. How I turned Thutmose into such a monster will always elude me. I guess the kid''s talent was that good.

    "Knowing myself, I will have to agree with you." Not to mention that I placed a heavy burden upon him... which now that I think about it, it seems to be a common theme among those that impart their knowledge onto others. At least I wish he is now resting all and well... I should pay him a visit when this is over. It''s been so long since I have seen his family.

    For some reason, Jeanne is buttering up to me like there is no tomorrow. If she is this happy right now that she knows who I am, I can''t �� and don''t want to �� imagine how is the other Jeanne feeling right now, being her opposite and all that.

    In consideration of my sanity, I decided to continue retelling the events. However, when I got to the part of my double K.O. against Thutmose, Avenger actually... laughed? I don''t know the reason why, but following the pattern and what I know of her, she probably thinks I am being humble or something, as illogical as that sounds.

    Funnily enough, the moment I mentioned David, her smirk turned into a scowl faster than I could blink. Heh... I wonder what she would do if I told her who Romani really is. Though I don''t plan on doing that as long as he doesn''t overstep his boundaries. He is going to have a dog with anger issues behind his back if he does, and I am not talking about me or Setanta.

    Boudica then came with a tray of food, which I thanked her for. Although I do not exactly need food to survive, it''s good to have some ''normalcy'' in my life.

    As I kept going, I eventually reached the part I least wanted to talk about. However, it is not a secret, and they will find out eventually even if I don''t say anything. It doesn''t mean that I like it, though. Much less when I see Jeanne Alter silently gloating. At least Saber has the decency to hide it.

    I feel my eyes narrowing ever so slightly, and it seems Cu caught on to that movement because he kicked Avenger under the table, causing her to direct a scowl his way. I tactfully chose to pretend I saw nothing, as well as silently promise that I will go to the past to fetch G��e Bolg for him when I have the ability... something that shouldn''t take long.

    Honestly, I am not one to talk, but I expected a bit more companionship if only to prioritize a better chance of succeeding with our mission... though I guess not everyone accepted to fight for the Human Order with the right reasons in mind. It is not like the pig can laugh at the hippopotamus anyway...

    Seeing how things were going, I opted to quickly shift the tellings of my misadventures forward. They each gave their little inputs about things. Some mattered, some others didn''t.

    I am telling them about my fight with Herakles now, and Artoria is giving me a smug look that is pissing me off. There is no comparison between the Berserker from Fuyuki before being turned into a Shadow Servant with the Berserker of Okeanos. The one I fought recently was not someone that could be beaten while spamming Mana Burst. Not to mention that she didn''t leave unscathed from her fight with him. But I guess this is the now-classic ''Let''s see how can make fun of Seth more'' contest.

    The surprised expressions came when I told them about the conclusion... which was some giant monster bursting out from my c.h.e.s.t... yeah, not a pleasant experience. I can''t tell them much from there, since I was trapped inside Typhon, and I was sleeping as well. I only woke up a little to remind Baal of our objective.

    We were doing some idle chat after I finished recounting the story from my perspective, while obviously hiding some details when a sudden pain assaulted my c.h.e.s.t. Despite their disappointment, I stated that I had to go and that we would continue another time.

    I then bolted out of the Cafeteria, not minding the weird looks sent my way. I quickly reached my room and inputted the password, opening the door and closing it immediately after.

    My knees touch the floor as a blad liquid scapes my mouth like a torrent of blood.

    ''Oh? It took longer than I expected~'' Yes... of course. Whose fault other than him?

    "Damn it, Baal. What were you thinking?!" This sensation is downright horrible. That stupid bastard bit more than he could chew, and he did it with my body to boot!

    ''Ahaha... Well, it is fine, is it not? We gained new Authorities, a new weapon, and we got revenge. Besides, would you leave a carcass of that piece of garbage right there? Who knows who could take advantage of it.'' Yeah, keep talking lightly. It''s not your body that feels like it''s breaking apart.

    "Strange... you forgot one thing we gained... what was it...? Oh right, Demon God Pillar Baal." Even if I can''t physically see him, I know he is pissed. Let''s see if you are all giggles now.

    ''Never. We will NEVER use that imitation. Are we clear?'' As I expected, that touched on a sore spot within him. I completely ignored his low and menacing voice in favor of my next words.

    "That will depend on you not going claiming Authorities left and right. The fact I can''t passively go insane anymore doesn''t mean I can''t actively do so. My mind is already a mess for you to go and complicate things more." I should be expecting continuous headaches to assault me for at least a week. Just when I planned to take it easy and relax... How unfortunate, really.

    ''It was not up to debate, Seth. I wouldn''t do something that you couldn''t handle. Or did you forget that we share the same body? You go down, I go down as well. We are in this together regardless if we like it or not.'' I will not disagree with him on that, but he is the type to poke things that should be better left sleeping with a stick.

    ''We have things inside us that we both hold disdain for... Even I would not use them. It is beneath me. It is best if we just use our Beast form as a last resource... or even that creepy creature of yours, Satan.'' He must have sensed my emotions and that''s why he decided to clarify. Even so, the last part was uncalled for, more so with the joking tone he used.

    "I could use that name you hate so much, but I will pass for now. More importantly, how did it go? If you talk about us being Beasts then you have a way to become one." I honestly prefer to focus on the topic at hand. Although the idea of being one is kind of disgusting, I understand the need for an ace hidden up one''s sleeve.

    ''Haha... I do, indeed I do. However, it is going to take some time. Your Beast form is already inside your inner world keeping that clown in check but to use it is another matter entirely. It''s a fetus at most right now. A note of warning, though. That thing has a high level of Madness Enhancement. If you plan on using it, I would suggest doing it away from people you don''t want to accidentally kill.'' Great, just great. Can''t something be simple for once?

    "What about the Nega-Skill? If Typhon''s was as powerful as that, then it may be a valuable asset. Speaking of which, why did you decide to trap him in a game of words? You could have negated Nega-Divine long ago without the need to use...that. Do you enjoy bullying the weak that much?" I know the Noble Phantasm''s True Name is missing, but he could have chosen a better name...

    ''Hmm... At least your Nega-Skill is in conflict with Cath Palug''s. You focus on solving that and I will focus on my own. I won''t plan to do your work. As for your second question, I didn''t want to use Naqada''s final effect. That worm was an idiot, but others won''t be so much as to relinquish what makes them having immunity. And one last thing, I don''t enjoy bullying the weak, I enjoy bullying the strong as if they were weak. They are two different things.'' I don''t understand the need to be pleased with oneself like that, but we are fundamentally different, so I will not bother in finding an answer.

    ''Anyway, I have to go. Call me when there is a strong guy to fight, I am not interested in weaklings. And if possible, please avoid that guy being a parasite like Typhon was.'' My eyes narrowed at what he said. I had to make sure of something.

    "Do you consider myself one?"

    ''Oh? Now, why would I do that? I am afraid I do not quite get what you mean.'' He knows, and he is playing with me. The urge to sigh is too strong to keep it repressed, so I do just that.

    "I say it because you were supposed to be��"

    ''My, look at the time. Bye, enjoy your rest. I only let you do so for two hours, after all!'' He didn''t even let me finish, and he cut the connection right after he said his part. Ugh... I seriously hate this guy. Why did I even think it was a good idea to awaken him? I hope I do not make the same mistake in the future.

    ...And I just jinxed myself.

 Chapter 171 - The Burden Of The Wicked

    Two days have passed since they finished the third Singularity, and Fujimaru could not be more glad about it. What he thought would be something light with pirates and stuff turned to be hell on earth with history''s most renowned Heroes, Gods, and legendary monsters.

    He was not ashamed to say that after the mandatory greeting he liked to do right after returning, he immediately went to his room and flopped into the bed. Safe to say, he slept for barely less than a day, and he still felt tired despite doing so.

    Currently, he was going toward where Seth apparently was, going by Da Vinci''s words. Mash informed him that the staff planned to do something special for Halloween, so he wanted to converse with him and ask the black-haired man if he wanted to summon their new Servants now... or at least in the next few days.

    He thought of taking this opportunity to bond with them as soon as possible. Of course, this idea had also a little influence from a discussion he had before with Zhuge Liang. They both believed this to be the correct choice.

    "The sooner you understand your own Servant, the sooner you will be able to use their full capacities in battle." That was what Caster had said to him, and quite frankly, he understood his reasoning.

    Speaking of which, he had a talk with Mash a few hours ago. Fujimaru earnestly thanked her for everything she was doing to protect him, but he also told her that Kuro �� he still preferred to call him like that �� had helped them many times before and that he trusted him. He borderline pleaded at her to give him an opportunity, even if he had already proven himself.

    It took a lot of convincing, but she finally relented, although she still seemed a little unsure. It warmed his heart that she worried so much about him, but he also understood that he had to stop being a good distance behind her. He needed to begin walking forward. Maybe not immediately stand beside her, but just one step ahead was more than enough.

    Returning from his trip to memory lane, Fujimaru saw that he finally arrived at the room Da Vinci told him Kuro was in. What he didn''t understand was the smirk she used when giving him that information.

    Fortunately for him, that little doubt clarified itself when he opened the door. This... was something else. The room was decorated with victorian furniture everywhere. Some type of relaxing music echoed almost silently throughout the room, giving it a soothing feeling. However, nothing caught his attention more than the man calmly sitting with his legs crossed.

    Gray slacks, long-sleeved and rolled up black shirt, reading glasses, and a ponytail that fell from over his shoulder and rested lightly on his left c.h.e.s.t. Two streaks of hair hung on each side of his forehead. With a cigarette in hand, the man, sitting on a one-person couch, observed him with raised eyebrows. "What?"

    "Who are you?" Before he could process any more information, his mouth had already gone ahead of him.

    "Don''t ask stupid questions you already know the answer to, kid." Seth rolled his eyes while taking a puff from his cig.

    "No... sorry... it''s just... what the hell?" Fujimaru was still struggling to form coherent thoughts, and no one could blame him for it. It was like putting a dog next to a giraffe and someone told you they are the same.

    "Allow me to introduce myself, I am Chaldea''s new psychologist. Pleased to meet you." The sarcastic tone and the way his eyebrows twitched were not lost to him, although he didn''t understand why. Scratch that, he was probably very upset now.

    "...Da Vinci forced you into this, didn''t she?" For a moment, the light disappeared from Fujimaru''s eyes as if remembering a traumatic experience.

    "No. She offered me the job." Seth shook his head at the youth''s question. Though he was a bit perplexed at his reaction. It seemed his first client had already shown himself.

    "And you accepted?" His voice was laced with incredulity. It even made him pause and reconsider his choice for a moment.

    "Yes. So now I have that," He pointed to a camera on the wall behind him, "to guarantee that everything goes as smoothly as possible and that I, quote-unquote, don''t cause any trouble and do my job properly."

    "Isn''t that excessive? And no offense, but I took you for that kind of person who would throw Da Vinci out of a window right after she made that proposition." He was certainly not expecting this... but now he knew why their inventor had given him that look.

    "I agree with you. This should be used on Romani. I heard he skipped his duties to watch a Livestream... whatever that is, of that idol of his. Leonardo had to pour out a cup of hot coffee on his head when she found him sleeping in the Command Room muttering "I will give you all the money you want if you sing for me one more time, Magi Mari~" or something like that. As for the job, I only accepted to do it in my free time. I have no qualms about it. Don''t ask me why would they consider a mass murderer with mental issues for this position. I will never understand how those weirdos think." He gave a mild shrug as he reviewed some papers on the table in front of him.

    "We can hear you!" A voice, clearly belonging to a pissed Da Vinci came from the camera on the wall, a camera that was shot down like a plane being impacted by a missile when the sitting man threw his cigarette at it without even looking back.

    After sweatdropping at the action, he motioned with his finger to his current getup. Understanding, what he meant, Seth elaborated. "She chose this for me. Something along the lines of having to look professional and give a good impression to my patients. She said I couldn''t do it while looking like I was ready to stab them as soon as they dropped their guard." ''I could do without the glasses, though...'' He added inside his mind.

    Nodding his head, Fujimaru remembered why he came here, so he decided to inform his fellow Master about it. "To tell you the truth, I wanted to ask you if you were ready to summon our next Servants. We could use the next festival as a way to build trust between each other, at least a little."

    Seth paused in his actions. His red eyes moved from the papers in his hand to Fujimaru. His gaze was not threatening or heavy, yet the young man still felt a little pressured for some odd reason. "Sit."

    Almost instantly, Fujimaru was already sitting on the opposite end of the short table on a couch identical to Seth''s. "So you wanted to summon some Servants to bond with them, huh...? Then go ahead and do so."

    The youth gave a puzzled look to his dry answer. "I was, and am going to. I was just asking if you wanted to do the same with me as we have done before. Ah, but of course, if you are busy with your new job it''s totally understandable." He quickly added with some nervousness at the end.

    "It is not that. Remember that I am doing this in my free time, and I decide when that is." Seth shook his head lightly while resting a cheek on his fist.

    Fujimaru might not be the best at reading people, yet he saw the tiredness in Kuro''s eyes as clear as day. It was not the physical or mental kind... more like spiritual? If that made any sense.

    "Can I ask you a favor? You can have my soul if you want." He jokingly said, trying to lighten the mood, and going by his raised eyebrows, it didn''t go very well...

    "It won''t happen." Seth suddenly said, much to his puzzlement.

    "What do you mean?" His doubts must have shown on his face and voice because the black-haired man decided to further explain.

    "What you are going to ask me. It won''t happen." The way he was looking at him made Fujimaru think that whatever was going through his mind couldn''t be hidden from the man''s red eyes.

    "But you don''t even know what I am going to ask..." He shifted on his seat, trying not to let his nervousness show��something he failed spectacularly at.

    "I do. We had a conversation about this on Okeanos." There it was. He knew exactly what the favor he had in mind was. Was him that easy to read? He silently wondered...

    "I know you are going to interrupt me, but please just hear me out. You know this is more for you than for me." It was a low blow, that much he knew. And yet, he still tried to appeal to the other party''s feelings... even if that seemed like an impossible task.

    "And as the ''affected party'' I get to decide how I want to handle the matter, Ritsuka." His calm visage did little to ease him. Instead, it only made him feel more uncomfortable somehow.

    "...I just don''t understand it, you know? If someone like me who is not good at these types of things can see it, then it must mean it''s pretty obvious." It took a few seconds, maybe even a few minutes, but he was finally able to squeeze out those words.

    "Loss is something I am accustomed to, kid. There is nothing to fuss about." As he put another cigarette in his mouth and lit it with a snap of his fingers, Fujimaru was able to see something in his demeanor. As if the man in front of him were the embodiment of experience. It was hard to explain, but not to understand.

    "That you are accustomed to it doesn''t make it less painful... right?" He didn''t know where that question came from. He didn''t want to ask that. Maybe his brain was playing tricks on him... maybe that question was also redirected at him...

    That actually made him pause. Seth directed his gaze to the ceiling, seemingly finding something interesting to look at there. After what felt like an eternity, his eyes finally focused on Fujimaru again. "...No. No, it does not."

    "Can I ask you a question, Seth?" The way he addressed him by his ''real'' name surprised the Deity slightly. Nevertheless, he decided to humor him.

    "If that means this topic is over, go ahead."

    "...Did you love, Altera?" It was a last desperate attempt to make him revive her, and if this didn''t work, then nothing would. However, there was a tiny bit of curiosity about what his answer would be there as well.

    "No." He didn''t miss a beat to deliver that clear-cut answer. It made Fujimaru blink his eyes in surprise. He truly thought�� "I will only love one woman for the rest of my life. That will never change."

    "However... I did like her. Who knows if it was in a friendly or more romantic way. Be that as it may, those feelings are the ones that are restraining me from summoning her again. As... someone that respected her, giving her a rest for her services is the least I can do."

    "...Even if that isn''t what she would want?"

    "That''s exactly one more question that you said you would ask." He responded with an even tone, completely disregarding his inquiry.

    "It''s just... I don''t understand your thinking." The youth said after a sigh. He so desperately wanted to apply common sense, but it didn''t seem to be working at all.

    "It would be more surprising if you were able to. Now then, did you want anything else?" The tone he used clearly indicated that this was as far as they were going to this topic, and possibly the conversation as well.

    "Not particularly. I just wanted to know if you had some stories from your early days. The Servants aren''t the only ones I want to know more of, actually." And it was true. They hadn''t been able to talk much after that previous incident in Okeanos.

    "We can speak about that another day. Since Archer found out I could use water, he had been pestering me and Cu Chulainn to create some hot springs. Apparently, the feeling of nostalgia got to him, and he said it would be good for you to relax as well." He answered while shaking his head in obvious disinterest.

    A little disappointment settled in at the first half of his sentence. However, the second part filled him with excitement. Quickly standing up, he went to exit the room. "All right! I will call Jeanne over. Romani told her you were here and she informed me that as soon as I finish I should inform her so she could speak with yo��"

    "It all began when I was a little kid. Times were harsh and unforgiving." Fujimaru nearly tripped on his way to the door when he started speaking. Why did he have to be so obvious?!

    "I thought you didn''t want to talk about anymore for today." He said while a small drop of sweat was falling down his cheek.

    "I change my mind quickly sometimes."

    "I can see that..."

    "Now, jokes aside, make it quick. I have other places to be." He added with an almost unnoticeable smirk.

    "Right... Well, first, what is it like to be a God? Is it really that different from being human? Aside from the powers of course." He might or not be fanboying right now, but he really wanted to know.

    Carrying the cigarette to his mouth before exhaling a cloud of smoke, Seth thought a little before formulating his answer. "To put it in simple human terms, we are savages. We do what we want regardless of what others may think. The concept of morality doesn''t exist within us because that is something mankind invented. That is the reason why you sometimes see some pretty dark stuff on mythological records."

    The Japanese Master nodded in understanding. "Did you...you know? Did you ever do something like that?" It was hard to be direct with this kind of topic, and he was painfully aware of that fact.

    Seth shook his head in mild amus.e.m.e.nt at his intention of being tactful. "Depends on your outlook at things. Whatever thing out a nightmare you think of, I most probably have already done it."

    "...Can I ask why?"

    "Before I told you that I was accustomed to loss, right? And I confirmed that it was still painful nonetheless. Hard as it is to believe, as a kid, I was filled with... hope. I was cheerful. Although I had a sense of superiority, it wasn''t arrogance. It was more like a d.e.s.i.r.e to be useful. But... I was alone. Every other God in my pantheon shunned me and treated me as something undesirable. The only one who bothered to spend time with me occasionally was my brother. However, under the constant and watchful eye of my... progenitor, that time was always short. Eventually, he convinced my brother that I was better alone, and so alone I continued." He paused for a second to take a puff before noticing how Fujimaru was listening with rapt attention.

    "As someone who was alone during his whole life, when I finally found people who were willing to stay by my side regardless of what other people said, I naturally treasured them with everything I had. Yet that... turned out to be a mistake. I walk in the boundary between good and evil, order and chaos. As such, I was extremely unstable. Sometimes I was compassionate, sometimes I was over-aggressive. You could say I was walking on a thin line." The Egyptian God''s fist clenched, an action even he did not notice.

    "The moment I lost them one by one, my mind simply collapsed and I ended up leaning to one side, something that should not be done. I went insane for thousands of years. I was like a machine automatically doing things that even in my bad days I would frown upon. If I had to put it in Servant terms, I would say that I acquired a level of Madness Enhancement that surpasses the EX Rank. Not even your worst horrors come close to imagine the things I have done when I was in that state." He finished while looking at the side with a lost gaze, seemingly reflecting on something.

    "It must have been hard for you... Sorry that I brought up painful memories..." Way to go, Fujimaru! He mentally berated himself for his insensitivity. He didn''t know he had such a story.

    The black-haired man returning his gaze to the front and offered a kind smile that the youth didn''t think was possible coming from him. "It is fine. I suppose I needed to get that out of my c.h.e.s.t as well, so I should be thank��

    A series of knocks interrupted his words.

    "...Master, are you here?" And that voice completely killed his mood.

 Chapter 172 - Unworthy Feelings

    "Please kill me now..." Of course that this had to be the ending to his day. Nothing was going to go his way for more than two days.

    "...Do you want me to stay here?" It was clear to Fujimaru that he absolutely didn''t want to see Jeanne. For what reason, he did not know.

    "Please don''t. I don''t trust myself not to burn this place down if my mood gets any worse than this." A shake of his head was all it took to convince the youth. Still, he wanted to leave a few words behind.

    "All right. Good luck. Also... please be patient with her. I don''t know Jeanne that much, but I am sure she has the best of intentions." He hoped that would be enough to convince him not to do anything reckless.

    "I am not going to start giving you a lesson on how good intentions aren''t enough to keep things going, so you can leave with peace of mind." Seth waved his hand dismissively, indicating Fujimaru that it was time for him to go.

    "Okay, okay. I will be seeing you. And by the way, thanks for telling me of those incidents, as painful as doing so might have been." He said with a pained smile. The Japanese Master was no strange to loss, after all.

    "No worries, kiddo. Thanks for listening as well. I am sure Cu Chulainn is tired of hearing my old man''s ramblings, so speaking to someone else is not that bad. Just remember, if you ever need to talk about your troubles with all these new experiences that you are living, I am here." Seth returned his smile with a joking one, yet it still conveyed his sincerity.

    "Yes..." He answered with a complicated tone in his voice before cheering himself up with a smile. "I hope it is not as a psychologist, though. I have my problems opening up to those."

    "Don''t worry. At this point I am like your caretaker or something, so let''s go with that." The Egyptian God drily chuckled, causing Fujimaru to the same. What he said might not have been very far from the truth.

    Ritsuka then exited the room. When he opened the door, he was met with Jeanne. He gave her a small nod of greeting and then proceeded to walk away. As he retreated, he had the feeling he forgot something, though...

    Ruler watched Fujimaru walking away before looking once again at the room. Breathing in and out, she walked inside, although with her gaze downward. She wasn''t even trying to look at him. More like she couldn''t.

    Wordlessly, she sat down where the other Master had done so all the while avoiding eye contact of any kind.

    Silence permeated the room.

    Ruler didn''t know how to begin and Seth just didn''t want to say anything. He still found it annoying that she was wasting his time, though. If she wanted to come, she should have done so knowing that she couldn''t stay silent for long. Otherwise, what was even the point?

    To cope with the boredom, he decided to write a profile about his Servant since he was technically on working hours right now. The swift stroke of his pen was enough to detail his thoughts on Jeanne. Among those, low self-confidence, too uptight, fixated on stupid things, and a pain in the a.s.s were the ones that stood out.

    Time passed and the only sound that echoed in the room was that of a pen meeting paper and the occasional flip of a page. It certainly didn''t help to ease her worries.

    Seeing as her Master didn''t plan to start the conversation, Jeanne knew that it was up to her. Still... It was easier said than done. Where could she start? What could she say? She didn''t know. Everything was so new and hard, leaving her no way to react. Her talk with Saint Martha helped, but it was ultimately she herself the one who had to make the big decisions.

    "Umm... Hello." As soon as those words escaped her mouth, she felt the need to hit her head in frustration. Was that the only thing she could come up with?!

    Seth didn''t answer to Ruler''s greeting. He merely stopped his actions while raising his head from his notebook to look at her, which only made it more awkward for the Saint. She was still looking at the floor, and yet, she could feel him watching her all the same.

    "I would like this to be over before tomorrow, so please continue." There he was, his answer. It hurt. Why? It hurt, but she did not know the reason for that. Wrong. She knew; she knew but didn''t want to accept it. if before he treated her neutrally like a Master would do to a Servant, now he was speaking at her like she was a stranger.

    "...I don''t know where to start." It was the truth. Jeanne didn''t know what to say, and couldn''t even look at him in the eye for the matter. It was all so conflicting that she just wanted to scream in defeat, something that she would never usually do.

    "Why don''t you start by facing me instead of counting how many tiles the floor has?" His voice seemed to carry a sense of power, forcing her to go along with his suggestion. He quickly noticed the redness under her eyes, possibly thanks to crying so much. He wished he could groan right now, extremely so. Her disheveled hair was something he had been aware of since she entered the room, so there was no need to comment on that.

    For her part, Jeanne gasped frozen in shock. ''Oh, right. Fujimaru had a similar reaction. If this becomes the norm I swear I am going to make Da Vinci''s mechanical bird explode while it is perched on her... his shoulders.''

    "Now, tell me the first thing that comes to your mind," Seth spoke after snapping fingers in front of her face to get her attention. He could do without all the gaping.

    The Saint shook her head to come to reality, although she found her gaze meeting the floor again. She thought for a few moments on how to word what she wanted to say before finally deciding on something, raising her head to meet his eyes again. "I feel... conflicted."

    "About what?" He asked even though he knew the answer already, but for formality''s sake, he asked anyway.

    "How should I say this... I did not expect you to be... him. I like to consider myself a devout believer, so the fact that I formed a contract with ''the'' major enemy is..." She didn''t want nor said that name, yet Seth still understood who she was referring to.

    "I am not. Your so-called God based him on me and Apophis to scare little children. Satan is a fictional existence as far as I know." At least in his world. Here what he said might as well have been a lie.

    "What... Why would he do that?" Jeanne was incapable of comprehending his words. It was as if they were speaking about a completely different person.

    "Many reasons. He was angry at me for something I did, and he also needed to gather believers for his abstract faith. What better way to do it than through fear? By using an existence that represented evil and that would make your soul suffer, everyone would try to be good. That was his thinking, or at least I believe it to be so." He said while bringing a cigarette to his mouth and shaking his head. Another reason why Baal hated him to the core.

    "No... No! Lies! He wouldn''t... he wouldn''t do that..." Jeanne shook her head repeatedly. Now more than ever she believed they were speaking about a different person.

    "Whatever lets you sleep at night. Now then, what other concerns do you have?" Knowing that it would be like talking to a donkey if he were to continue on with this topic, he chose to switch to the next one.

    Jeanne opened her mouth to say something concerning his complete disregard of what she said but just sighed in the end with a bit of resignation.

    "It is important to me. I know we are in different positions, but wouldn''t you feel bad if your worshippers suddenly started kneeling before another God?" To her, there didn''t exist something worse than that for their kind.

    "My worshippers are all dead, Jeanne." His deadpan expression caused a wave of guilt to assault Jeanne immediately after he finished speaking.

    "A-Ah I see. My apologies." It seemed she did something she did not want to do again. Ruler decided to be more careful and think things through before voicing them from now on.

    "I know you have Yahweh on a high pedestal, even though he murdered or sent to kill numerous people when they didn''t prostrate before him, so I am not going to comment on your fanatism. Just be happy knowing that I am evil, yes, but not a horned guy that dances around a bonfire under the ground." Someone had to put a stop to all of this association thing once and for all.

    "H-how do I know that you are telling the truth?" She wished she hadn''t stammered when asking, but she still wanted to know.

    "Do you believe you are so important that I would want to lie to you to preserve my image?" Seth answered her question with a question of his own.

    Jeanne had no answer to that. Yet, the pang on her heart was enough to let her know that it hurt. She unconsciously moved a hand to her c.h.e.s.t, her eyes were almost closed and her lips pursed.

    Seth noticed and had no other reaction than sighing and pinching the bridge of his nose. "Moving on, with one of your doubts resolved, what more did you want to talk about?"

    The Saint of Orleans didn''t respond for a few minutes. Words failed to escape her mouth. She felt if she spoke, she would cry, and she didn''t want that anymore. She waited a bit more until the pain was not as unbearable as before, yet it was still there.

    "I... I don''t know. I don''t know how to explain it. This feeling..." Ruler finally said, a little unsure about her own words.

    "Just tell me what you feel. What happens when you feel that way. When that happens, and so on..." Seth, for his part, patiently explained to her the procedure. Nothing good would come from rushing this. Not for her, and certainly not for him either.

    Ruler clenched her fists above her t.h.i.g.hs. How should she say it? It now felt like it was meaningless, that her words wouldn''t reach him. At first, she, more than anything, wanted to give him back his smile, the one he had when he was a kid. Yet now... now that he is smiling more often, that he is opening up... Although not as innocent as she would have liked, it still was something to be glad... to be happy about. However, when she sees that those smiles are not directed at her, when she notices that the one he is opening up to is not her... she can''t stand it.

    She was illiterate, but not stupid. She knew that it was wrong for her to feel that way. But even so... she couldn''t help it. She wanted to be the one on the receiving end... was it selfish from her...? Not to mention that he was already married, and intrude on that sacred vow would be nothing short of shameful. In the end, all that was left for her was to lament.

    Maybe it was her own inexperience in dealing with things like these that led her to a path her ''normal self'' would frown upon.

    "When I... when I am near you I get this feeling of relaxation... It helps calm me down when I am worried, and always makes me look forward to your company. I constantly want to make you proud too. However... when you treat me like I am a stranger, I feel a deep pain in my c.h.e.s.t and it gets really hard to breathe. I don''t know what is happening to me..." The truth is, she had some idea, but it was so ridiculous that she totally ruled it out.

    "Right..." His face became a bit strange at her words. He expected it, so he was not shocked at all. Still, it was sure something that would bring problems in the future in case it gets not addressed well. If worse came to worst, he would unhesitantly kill her to prevent a scenario where there was true infighting.

    Seth nodded and tapped his notebook several times while lost in his thoughts. He eventually stopped his motion and looked at Jeanne straight in her eyes. "Well... reviewing what you have told me, and my own observations. I believe I have found what is wrong with you; as well as the way to solve it."

    "I-Is that true?! T-Then... can you tell me?" She suddenly exclaimed while slapping the table and leaning forward. Seth raised an eyebrow at her actions, causing her to cough in embarrassment and return to her seat.

    "Yes, of course. It is my job, after all." The Egyptian God responded matter-of-factly. Once he saw her nodding, he began his diagnosis.

    "Let us see... You have a meddlesome condition called a crush. On me, sadly. You are showing signs of an unhealthy obsession with me as well, something that it may lead to you going out of your way to push every female I interact with away from me, or even going as far as to harm them. What else... Oh, right. With me being an Evil, Pagan, Heretic �� whatever you want to call me �� God, your faith in that old geezer is wavering. That which has accompanied you through the hardest moment of your life and has pushed you forward is now killing you little by little like some kind of toxin."

    To the widening eyes of Jeanne, Seth raised three fingers. "Now then, to solve this you have three options. The first, simply forget about me, Chaldea, and everything else and return to the Throne. Second, you pretend as if nothing ever happened and put Humanity''s mission as your top priority, not focusing on anything else. Third, you abandon your faith and start anew. This might be the hardest one." ''And the one that would make me lose any respect I had for you... if I ever had one, to begin with.''

    "Isn''t... Isn''t there a fourth option?" She hoped��no... She WANTED for another one to exist. After all, those three sounded like something absolutely terrible that she would never d.e.s.i.r.e to do.

    "Now that you mention it... There is a fourth one, yes. However, it would not be what you seek��nor what you would want. I know that you can figure out what that option is." Seth gave a positive response to her query, albeit not one she would have liked to hear.

    She did not respond for a few moments. Her mouth opened and closed repeatedly, yet she could not bring herself to say anything. In the end, she could only ask her Master if it was okay for her to think things a bit more before giving him her answer.

    "I... Can I think about it... and maybe answer another day...?" It was honestly too much for him to expect an instant response with something that affected her a lot.

    "Sure. You can come again at any time. Just make sure to book an appointment with Da Vinci first. The more you bother her, the better." Seth accepted easily, something that surprised her, but nevertheless was thankful for.

    "Thanks... and sorry to bother you." With that said, Ruler stood up and went to exit the room.

    "Hey, Jeanne." Before she could go out, however, Seth called her from behind, causing her to turn around with a little surprise on her face.

    "Don''t try to change for me. You are who you are, and trying to be someone else will only lead up to your ruin. This is the only advice I can give you not as a Master, nor as a psychologist, but as a simple ''person''."

    The Saint lowered her gaze to the floor for a second before sighing and looking at him again. "Thank you once again. I will keep that in mind."

    With nothing more to say, she left to reflect on her decision.

    Left alone, Seth stretched his muscles, causing audible pops throughout his body. ''It''s my first day at work and I already want to quit. Still, it went better than I expected. I think I deserve a good night of rest after this.''

    "Papa, move your a.s.s and come to the Command Room! I want to see the other me already!" Stheno''s voice resounded outside as soon as he finished his train of thought.

    "Oh for the love of��"

 Chapter 173 - Relaxation And Summoning

    "This is life~" Fujimaru exclaimed while he soaked himself in the hot water of the makeshift onsen. It brought a nostalgic feeling within him. Although he might or might not have been slightly scared when he entered and saw multiple figures full of muscles, and he might or might not have confused them with onis bathing in blood for a few moments. Speaking of which, he was glad he met EMIYA along the way after exiting Kuro''s... consulting room and was able to give him the directions to this place. He knew he had forgotten something.

    The ones present were EMIYA, Cu Chulainn, Kuro, Siegfried, and him. The only ones who knew aside from them as far as he knew were Romani and Da Vinci. They didn''t want to build another one for the female personal apparently, even though the Doctor had already lent them another room for it.

    "Glad you can take it easy now, Master. You were pretty embarrassed the first time you came in." Cu Chulainn''s joyful voice did very little to alleviate the Master''s grievances.

    "He probably got scared by you. You should have covered yourself with that towel better. Nobody needed to see that thing." EMIYA said with a sneer on his face. The memory was still vivid in his mind, much to his disp.l.e.a.s.u.r.e.

    "Oh? Jealous, aren''t we? Don''t worry, man. I bet there are some pills out there that will be able to help you." Caster smirked at his reaction while wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.

    "Why are we talking about this stuff again?" Seth sighed at their stupidity while picking up and drinking a small bottle of sake that was on a floating wooden tub.

    "Hmph. I thought you would be interested considering you are a s.e.x.u.a.l deviant. Or maybe you want to shift the conversation because you are lacking in some department." As soon as those sarcastic words left his mouth, the water under EMIYA suddenly turned extremely hot, causing him to hurriedly jump out of it while holding his b.u.t.t.

    Caster supported himself against the little wooden wall that worked to stop the water from overflowing as he laughed like there was no tomorrow as Archer returned inside. There was nothing funnier than to see the red bastard in trouble.

    "The fact that you want to compare sizes makes you more of a s.e.x.u.a.l deviant than I supposedly am." The Egyptian God merely harrumphed at the antics of the Archer-Class Servant. Especially knowing very well about his troubles with women from his mannerisms around them.

    "I have heard that in some cultures they measure themselves to see who has the greatest masculinity," Siegfried commented from the side after seeing the charade. He had his back facing the wall of the room out of habit, not leaving a space open for a supposed backstabbing.

    "Nobody asked for that input, Siegfried." That answer came from more than one person, causing the Dragonslayer to scratch the back of his head in obvious shame.

    "I am sorry..." In the end, he went for the safest route, and the one he was used to; an apology.

    "Damn right. No need to bully our Asian friends right here." Both Fujimaru and EMIYA''s lips twitched at his comment. It seemed like he was not going to easily let the matter off.

    "Is this what I used my powers for? I certainly have my misgivings." Seth thought out loud while looking at the ceiling. If he didn''t speak now he was sure they would remove their towels and really start comparing sizes. It was an image he didn''t want to have.

    "On that, we agree," Caster responded as he dropped his joking attitude down a notch. It was not that bad, though. He preferred to use them for things like these than to not use them at all, something that was becoming the norm nowadays.

    "Stop complaining about every single thing. We needed this more than anyone after the hell we went back there." The Red Bowman spoke the truth. If they didn''t have to continue fighting, he would, for sure, ask for a vacation. Fighting a Beast was not in the brochure.

    Speaking of Beasts, Archer turned his gaze to Seth as his eyes narrowed ever so slightly. The man in question returned his gaze with a bit of an amused look. An enigmatic smile was present on his face as if knowing what was going through EMIYA''s head. It did little to reassure him, that was for sure.

    "Ain''t you speakin'' for yourself? I was just chillin'' here without a care in the world." Caster shrugged his shoulders, obviously finding satisfaction on Archer''s troubled face. Although, if he had to speak his mind, he was a little bit jealous. He didn''t envy him for facing a Beast, though. Despite his Luck screwing him over many times, he was not suicidal.

    "Are you sure you didn''t freeze to death? I wouldn''t put it past you, knowing your luck." EMIYA broke eye contact with Seth, knowing that nothing good could come out of getting into a ''game'' with a psychopathic bastard like him.

    Ignoring the bickering duo, Siegfried left his mind drift to a relaxing state. "It was a nice idea for certain. Sometimes escaping a monotonous routine is important to achieve your best self."

    "I thought Vlad would want to join us, though. He seems so stiff all the time." Fujimaru chimed in the conversation again once Saber finished speaking. He had extended an invitation to his Servant, but he politely refused.

    "He doesn''t like to mingle with us peasants." Seth sarcastically replied, even though he was the one really close to declining the offer at first.

    "Funny for you to say it, King," Archer replied with equal sarcasm, trying to avenge himself from the earlier incident. He betted his b.u.t.t was looking like a baboon''s right now.

    "Ex-King." Seth corrected while drinking another bottle of sake. "That''s a life I left behind."

    EMIYA frowned. "Wait, so you are not dead?" The way he worded was peculiar. Now that he thought about it, it was weird. If he was alive, he should be a Divine Spirit. This was the era of Man, someone like him had no place here if he remained as a God. However, the analysis the staff did confirmed he didn''t have the signature of a Divine Spirit like Stheno, for example, had. If the man before him found a way to return from the dead as a God simply because he died before the transformation the World went through happened, then it might be possible... somehow.

    "Do I look dead to you?" Seth arched his eyebrows at EMIYA''s stupid question.

    "Do we all look dead to you?" Meanwhile, Archer responded with another question while gesturing to all the Servants present. If the average Joe were to see them walking down the streets, they would never think they were spirits of past Heroes.

    "Touch��." The Egyptian God had no response to that, so he just admitted defeat. "Still, I don''t know why you would think I am dead in the first place."

    "Your legend is very vague about your end. Not to mention the events surrounding your life constantly shifted through the ages. I thought you had been killed by your nephew." To the Deity''s query, Archer answered without an ounce of tact, not that the said God minded, though.

    "Yeah, right. An 84 years old kid killing a warrior God who had been on the Earth for more than seventy thousand years. Totally legitimate." Curiosity got the best of him, so he searched the records about him once he came back from Okeanos. What he saw was so utterly ridiculous that only a brain-damaged animal would have believed. And why in Evil''s name were historians taking symbolic things as literal? Did they study to become stupid? Seth internally sighed as he vowed once more to make the Egyptian Pantheon be utterly annihilated. Just the usual.

    "Relax, grandpa. I was just curious. It''s not an everyday thing to find a God who has not been degraded to the level of a Divine Spirit. You also are not a Demi-Servant like Mash or a Pseudo-Servant, a human vessel carrying a Divine Spirit. You guys are known for your rituals, so I wouldn''t put it past you to find a way to materialize correctly without the need of a vessel, which would explain why you are way weaker than you should be in legend." That was a pretty accurate guess. He would make a good detective, the black-haired man mused.

    "That about sums it up." Seth simply replied, without offering further detail about his situation. It was not like they had to know. Actually, the only one that did was Cu Chulainn. He was the only one aware that he was from a different world, that he was imprisoned after a sort of rebellion, and that he ended up here on the whim of a God, who despite what seemed on the surface, didn''t have any kind of good intention in sending him here.

    "If you don''t mind, Master. Do you think you did the right thing by usurping the Throne?" Siegfried tacitly chose not to comment on what he had to do to obtain it. Fujimaru was here, so he preferred to avoid gory topics such as this just as he returned from an arduous journey.

    "Yeah. He was leaving humanity in a stagnant state." Archer flinched slightly at that. Only the Servants and Seth, who had acute senses, caught sign of that.

    "As long as they worshipped him, he would bless them with their every need. They didn''t have to work for anything. Everything fell from the skies for them." Seth added, shaking his head in exasperation at the actions of his idiotic brother.

    "Is that a wrong thing, though? Shouldn''t that be an ideal world? Where everyone lives happily without worrying about anything?" Fujimaru asked with a frown.

    "It is the worst, kid. In a sense, you are nothing more than cattle." Caster replied with rare seriousness. Being at the mercy of the Gods... was not a good thing, not now, not ever.

    "I bet it was different back then, but if the world were to become stagnant now, we would all perish." EMIYA contributed to the conversation with a somber tone. Gone was the usual sarcastic attitude.

    "Why?" The youth asked again, as he was genuinely curious about this topic. He was pretty much new to everything, so he tried to learn as much as possible to keep up.

    "This world is more of a jungle than you think. Those that cannot go beyond themselves are ruled out and designed as targets to be disposed of." There was a bitter tone in his words, possibly related to a distant memory.

    "I am sure Da Vinci would explain it to you in terms you won''t understand. But basically, we live in one branch of a giant tree. The tree is the universe, while the branches are timelines. If something bad happens with one branch, it has to be cut down. If you ask why; it is simply because it can also affect the other branches. Going by the previous example, it would be like wasting resources on a dead branch when it could be used on other branches with more prospects to grow. Saber Alter is, for example, someone belonging to a different ''branch'' than our current one. That''s why she is not the ideal King you all picture her as of." Seth continued EMIYA''s explanation after the Red Bowman finished speaking, although his last words made the Archer Servant grimace slightly.

    "Let''s stop with the depressing talk, all right? We are here to relax." Cu Chulainn spoke after noticing the depressing atmosphere. He preferred to joke around, not be in a mortuary.

    "I still don''t understand what do you have to relax from." Archer caught the hidden meaning behind Caster''s words and decided to go with it. He too wished to avoid speaking about matters like these... especially when they involved him to that level.

    "Hey, I made the walls, Seth keeps the supply of hot water running, while you just gave the idea. Don''t talk to me with that attitude." The Sage of the Forest just snorted at EMIYA''s ''uselessness'' without a second thought.

    "Efficient management of resources is also a good quality to have. Or are you telling me that you would have thought of this?" And there it was, the sarcastic attitude he was famous for, back with full might.

    "Did you just ripped off a quote you heard from Caesar during our time at Rome?" Cu Chulainn blinked owlishly in obvious incredulity at the shamelessness of his fellow Servant.

    Archer just gave him a mocking smirk, causing a tick mark to appear on Cu Chulainn''s forehead. If they weren''t in an enclosed space he would have already answered with his fists.

    ''I don''t know if it is relaxing, but it sure makes things more lively.'' Seth thought wrily as he rested his elbows against the wooden wall while looking at the ceiling.

    Idle chats like these continued for a long time.

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    It was already noon in Chaldea��or it would be if they were still on Earth. Seth and Fujimaru were in the Command Room accompanied by some members of the staff, Da Vinci, Romani, and Mash, who was already placing her shield on the Summoning Circle.

    Stheno was also by his side. A little anxiety could be seen on her face, most probably thinking on ''what ifs'' regarding the summoning of her sister. Seth noticed this but didn''t say anything. If worse came to worst, he would go the old way to summon Euryale. It felt weird doing all of this for the two Gorgons, though. Especially considering his relationship with his siblings was the worst. ''I may actually be getting old...''

    "Senpai, do you want to go first?" Once she finished setting up her shield, Mash turned around and asked her Master, who gave a nod in response. He and Kuro had talked before and the black-haired man agreed to make him summon his Servants first, as he was in no hurry.

    Receiving his confirmation, Shielder descended from the stairs leading up to the Summoning Circle and retreated to the side. She observed with rapt attention as her Master collected the Saint Quartz and proceeded to place them within the slots surrounding her shield.

    The youth then took some steps back as he inputted some Magical Energy into his Command Spells. Immediately after that, the Summoning Circle shone with white light, spinning as three rings manifested before consolidating in a shining pillar.

    Just as it was receding, a voice echoed in the room. "Servant, Caster. I have come answering to your summon. Hm? Oh, if it isn''t the little boy. A p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e to see you again."

    When the light died out, the figure of Medea donning her robe appeared before all of them. It was a bit surprising, considering that Seth had been the original Master she had. Nevertheless, her addition was the important thing.

    "It''s good to see you again, Caster. I hope we can work together once more." Fujimaru offered her a smile in return. It was reassuring that he managed to summon someone who had fought by their side before.

    Medea nodded and went to stand by his side while mentally thanking Hekate for the switch of Masters. Although her relationship with Seth was neutral... even though he threatened her with a fate worse than death, she preferred a human Master a hundred times over a Divine one. She still remembered the ''payment'' he owed her, and she would unhesitantly ask for it, nonetheless.

    Seth, for his part, didn''t spare her a single glance. He just continued looking as the Summoning Circle lit up once again, repeating the process that occurred a few moments ago.

    There were no special effects, just the same white light as before. Going by the faces of the staff, the energy readings were still within the old acceptable range before Da Vinci reworked the systems after the incidents in Okeanos.

    "Archer David. A p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e to be here." As soon as Romani heard that voice, his face became funny almost instantly. He sent an annoying glare at the wall beside him as if it was the one responsible for this event.

    The green-haired King waved his hand enthusiastically to everyone, further embarrassing the Doctor. Seemingly noticing this, David chuckled as went to stand before Fujimaru, having immediately recognized him as his Master through their new link.

    "It''s nice to see you again, King David." The black-haired youth greeted Archer once he was near him with the same smile as before, causing the shepherd to smile as well.

    "Just David is fine. It''s nice to see you too, and the same goes for you as well, Satan." The last part was obviously directed at Seth, whose only outward reaction was a twitch of his eyebrows. It seemed that ''joke'' was not going to be ending soon...

    Fujimaru scratched the back of his head with a wry chuckle at his fellow Master''s reaction. He hoped not to be the incarnation of some weird being as well. Otherwise, he was sure he would become an object of pranks day and night.

    As he was having idle thoughts like these, the Summoning Circle once again activated. It didn''t take long for them to know who the Servant being summoned was.

    "Uooooo!!!" A weird cry that sounded like a mix of a roar and a bellow came out of the new Servant''s mouth. The staff members were startled for a second but returned to monitor the correctness of the summoning once they received assurance from the Servants present that everything was okay.

    By his voice, the group recognized his identity rather quickly. The one who was the happiest about ''his'' summoning was Stheno. If he was here, then that meant the chance of her sister being summoned was not as disastrous as she thought at first.

    "It is all right, Asterios. Calm down and come down here." Seth''s tone sounded more like a suggestion than an order. He had noted some confusion and slight fear on that cry, possibly thanks to being weirded out by the place he found himself in. That was why he decided to intervene by providing a voice he was familiar with, and, going by the relaxing posture of the Minotaur, it was working.

    "You... Ally... Euryale... Father?" Now it was Seth''s turn to feel his muscles tense. However, they returned to normal just as fast. Parenthood was still a s.e.n.s.i.t.i.v.e topic for him. Even though he had sort of... barely... almost not... accepted to adopt those two bothersome Goddesses, it was not something he liked being said out loud. Nevertheless, he wouldn''t blame Asterios. He had the mind of a child, after all. It would be stupid for him to react negatively.

    "Yes... Kind of." The Kingslayer offered a vague reply, which caused Stheno to hit him with her elbow. At this point, they needed all the ''connections'' as possible to summon Euryale. Even if he didn''t like it, he would have to act like a good parent. Or else... ufufufu~

    The Minotaur looked around trying to find the little Goddess, but he couldn''t find her anywhere. A shook of Seth''s head was all it took for him to understand that she was not here, something that caused him to be visibly saddened. Even so, he still descended to stand near Fujimaru, although he also stayed the closest to Seth and Stheno. He felt a foreign sensation from them... one that he never got to experience during his life, and so, he couldn''t describe. A ''normal'' person, though, would be able to classify it as the feeling of ''family.''

    Fujimaru didn''t say anything this time, understanding that no words of him would contribute something valuable. As long as Asterios wasn''t feeling sad, then he was fine with it.

    "Your turn now. Please try not to summon some Cthulhu monster." Da Vinci jokingly said once the Japanese Master finished spending all the Saint Quartz in his possession.

    "Outer Gods don''t exist. Stop mixing fiction with reality." Seth rolled his eyes as he advanced to a nearby table, picked his Saint Quartz, and advanced to Mash''s shield under the hopeful but very hidden gaze of Stheno.

    ''Liar.'' ''Funny that you are the one saying it.'' Two voices resounded inside his mind, ones that he completely ignored. Now he was not in the mood to argue with them.

    He placed the multicolored crystals one by one at an even pace before moving back to his original position. Same as Ritsuka did, he poured his Mana on the Command Spells, causing a ring of light to revolve around the black and gray shield.

    What originally was white, soon adopted a golden color, and with it, its intensity increased. The sound of several keys being typed was heard, but nobody paid attention to that. All of their gazes were directed at the summoning process.

    Some sparks of lightning were shooting outward, yet it was nothing that could be potentially dangerous as long as they didn''t get close.

    The ''show of fireworks'' as Seth would put it, didn''t last long. A Servant clad in green was soon revealed for everyone to see. That person waited for the bright light encompassing them to disappear before speaking.

    "Thou hath called me again, I see. Regardless, I will still introduce myself. Archer Servant, Atalanta. Once again, I will be offering my services to thee." After her presentation, the green-haired girl gave a nod of acknowledgment to her ex, and now present Master.

    Seeing as she was not the first to arrive, she imitated what others did and went to stand by her Master''s side. Atalanta''s mood improved once she saw Medea being here as well. Although she would have liked to see her younger version too. However, she was still a bit puzzled by the look of disappointment the little purple-haired girl had. Was she unqualified perhaps? No, that was not it. A thing to ask for later, then.

    "You won''t mind working for another God, will you?" Seth asked while raising his eyebrows, to which Atalanta simply shook her head.

    "There are two different things. Thou should not be concerned." The Egyptian God took her words positively. He then returned his gaze to the Summoning Circle that was coming to life once again. Same as before, golden sparks surrounded Mash''s shield as the white rings of light soon adopted the aforementioned color.

    The rings then transformed into a pillar, which didn''t take long to disappear, revealing a figure they all knew too well. Unfortunately, Stheno couldn''t find joy in this. Her little hands grasped the side of Seth''s pants as her teeth met her lips in an obvious sign of distress. ''Another failure...''

    The black-haired man noticed this, but he couldn''t do anything for now. It was outside of his control. In a sense, it was something akin to a lottery. You didn''t know what you were going to get until you got it.

    "Francis Drake. The Class''s Rider. Let''s work well together." Their principal helper during the last Singularity stood there while giving them one of her classical carefree smiles.

    As Drake was a normal human and not a Servant during the events in Okeanos, it was natural that she didn''t remember ever meeting them. Still, for better or for worse, it was good that her personality remained the way it was before.

    She quietly walked toward Seth amidst the greetings of others. Her happy mood was apparently contagious. It might have been with the importance of her historical figure as well. Although the only reason she seemed to be in a happy mood was that she thought they were going to party considering all the people gathered here.

    "A p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e!" Once she stood before her Master, she extended her hand for a handshake, something Seth did with his firm grip. "Likewise." He shortly said back.

    The Pirate Queen then took a bottle of beer from who-knows-where and started drinking without a care in the world, content on being a spectator in the following happenings.

    Stheno didn''t care about her, though. Her gaze was steady looking at the Summoning Circle that was once again starting to spin. She was not the only one as Asterios was the same too. They might be the ones who wanted Euryale to be the next summon the most.

    This time, however, there were no white or golden sparks but rainbow-colored ones instead. This didn''t bring good memories to the Egyptian God, especially when he remembered who was the one that appeared when it produced a similar effect the last time.

    They all watched with rapt attention as the rings converged to produce a massive show of light. Yet... much to the hopelessness of Stheno and Asterios, the person summoned was not Euryale.

    "Se-Servant Ru-Berserker? No, no, no. Ruler, Ruler, Ruler. My... My name is Charles... who?" A mumbling mess was what met the Chaldeans'' ears. A former friend turned ally now stood there grabbing her head and having an identity crisis.

    ''Oh, boy.'' Seth winced slightly at what he involuntarily caused. He hadn''t seen that reaction since he revealed his True Name to Anjed when he was a kid during a moment of naivety. Fortunately��or unfortunately, depending on the point of view, he already had experience in dealing with these things.

    Staff and Servants looked at each other, not knowing how to react to this event. Sighing heavily, the Kingslayer slowly began to approach Darwin while she still kept trying to assure herself of who she was during her incoherent mutters. However, the moment she heard the little tapping sound of shoes meeting the ground, she ceased everything all together to stare at the incoming figure. But, the moment she did so, she started trembling as if she had a severe case of hypothermia while her pupils dilated. For every step he took forward, she took one backward, until there was no place to retreat.

    it was then that she started to shake her head repeatedly. "No, no, no, nonononono. Please, don''t come here, get away, away, away, away!"

    Her pleas went unheard, so much so that even the staff, despite not knowing what was happening, started feeling pity for her. At the same time, they wondered if it was a good idea to go against her wishes considering the state she was in.

    Despite her shouts that were borderline cries, Seth ignored her until he was in front of the shivering and curled mess known as Charles Darwin. His hand began to release some black miasma-like fog as he used it to grab her head. Eyes briefly turning golden, the black-haired man began the process to erase every memory she had relating his True Name. It was more like putting a ''blank patch'' over it on her Saint Graph, but it worked to get the job done all the same.

    It didn''t take more than five seconds, as it was something relatively simple for him. And yet, it still felt kind of bothersome as he had to through numerous sets of memories to find the correct ones. It wasn''t at the level of pity, but he still felt kind of bad for some things she went through. Baal even formed a positive impression of her, going as far as to, quote-unquote, "forgive her" for daring to look at his figure when she was just a human. Although that reaction just came from the fact that she gave an enormous blow to Yahweh with her investigations.

    Once he was done, Seth released his grip on her head and took a step back. Darwin was taking several deep breaths, but there was not that air of insanity she had before. Ruler now looked as if she had run a marathon, but aside from that, she seemed fine.

    The others noticed this and sighed in relief. They wouldn''t say it, but it was really disturbing. Especially when she had acted completely normal before.

    It took several moments, but Darwin was able to regain her breath, and with it, her composure. She got up, fixed her attire, and cleared her throat in embarrassment before facing her Master with a little shyness after her display. "My sincere apologies for my behavior just now. I do hope you can forgive me, and not take that moment of weakness as a bad start for our future collaborations."

    Seth waved his hand dismissively. "No need to worry about that; it was partially my fault. Now come down, you are the last one to arrive. It would be good if you interact with the others."

    She nodded her head and went down the stairs with him in tow.

    As Ruler went to meet the others and establish a conversation, Seth went straight to Stheno, who had her eyes looking at the ground while holding the hem of her dress. He stopped in front of her, yet she did not seem to have noticed him at all.

    She didn''t show any reaction until Seth plucked a strand of her hair, causing the Gorgon to yelp and look at him with a gaze that was a mix between angry and tearful.

    "Don''t mope around. It isn''t over until I say it''s over." With that said, the Deity made his nails grew a bit longer and sharper before making a gash in the opposite arm, causing his blood to pour down on the floor while the others who noticed it observed with gaping mouths and widened eyes.

    The wound on his arm soon regenerated, not leaving even a scar behind. The blood on the floor, however, soon began to move by itself, forming a standard Summoning Circle other Maguses would use during a normal Holy Grail War.

    The Egyptian God then threw the strand of hair he took from Stheno on it once it had finished forming.

    "Wait, wait, wait! What are you trying to do?!" Romani shouted in panik, but a hand on his shoulder courtesy of a smiling David made him instantly shut up.

    "Improvising." That was the dry answer he got from Seth. Once more, he used his Authority over Trickery to make the blood on the ground pass as a "correct and proper Summoning Ritual," and one that would bring someone connected to his catalyst.

    Between the perplexed stares of Stheno and the others, the Magic Circle on the ground lit up as if having accepted the ''offering'' that was presented to it.

    With widening eyes, the Gorgon sister witnessed how a figure began to take form just moments after. It was a figure she knew too well, and one she thought he would have to lose all hope from seeing again.

    Without giving him any time to react, Stheno launched herself at Seth and gave him the most heartfelt hug she could muster. The Deity made a complicated face while closing his eyes before ultimately sighing. "Don''t embarrass me, and go."

    An almost inaudible ''thank you'' was his answer. Still, she did as he said and went to hug her now fully materialized sister. Asterios soon joined them, albeit a bit awkwardly because Stheno was acting a bit possessively.

    "That is playing with the rules, Master," Darwin said from the side while observing the reunion with a bit more emotion than she would have liked.

    "I agree... Though seeing this, I cannot say it was the wrong choice." Atalanta added with a smile plastered on her face.

    "Screw the rules, I am a God." Seth rolled his eyes as he proceeded to leave the Command Room once his job was done. He didn''t feel at ease with this ''family atmosphere'' so he decided to go somewhere else. When his new Servants tried to follow him, though, he told them they could stay and socialize, or whatever.

    Just like that, new reinforcements had arrived at Chaldea, and an odd family had reunited once again.

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    In the quietness of the night, a figure secretly moved through the halls of Chaldea. With swiftness, they went past rooms and more rooms until they arrived at a specific one: the Workshop of the genius inventor, Da Vinci.

    The figure inputted the password leading to it, and after a beep, the door opened without trouble. As if knowing exactly what they came for, they went straight to a place in particular, a bookshelf, all the while avoiding the numerous traps and observation devices meant for unwanted visitors.

    Moving the books in a certain sequence, the bookshelf slid to the side, revealing a secret passage. However, the figure did not enter. Instead, it moved a different set of books this time. Now, instead of sliding again, it remained stationary, only letting a single book with the image of a plane fall to the ground.

    Once the figure saw the cover, they looked upward to a little plane hanging from the ceiling whose ''nose'' pointed to a dark corner on the room. Following the trail, they were met with a painting that could have only come from a four years old child. Not minding the strangeness of it, they removed the painting, revealing a little space behind that seemed empty at first sight.

    Even so, they extended their hands to that seemingly empty space before retrieving a briefcase. A briefcase containing all the information of the Heroic Spirits Chaldea was able to summon to date.

    The figure stared long and hard at it. Seconds, minutes, hours...

    A look of struggle flashed through their eyes from time to time. Yet, in the end, they just sighed in resignation, putting the briefcase to the place it belonged, together with the painting. They then made sure to return everything to how it was before prior to exiting Da Vinci''s Workshop while avoiding all the surveillance and traps once again.

    In the end, nothing changed. Everything remained the same.

 Chapter 174 - A Weird Halloween

    It was the following day after the summoning of their new Servants, and Seth was taking it relatively easy. With nothing to do now that he had finished all of his duties, he was simply trying not to get stressed out from his Contracted Spirits'' shenanigans.

    "Do you believe it was the correct way to handle the matter, Master?" Charles asked as she put one more needle on his back. He was laying face down on a table as the Ruler Servant performed some sort of acupuncture on him.

    They were in a room that could only be described as a biology lab. It was filled with research equipment, two shelves on each side of the wall; ones containing flowerpots with different types of plants, while the other two had jars with diverse kinds of animal parts in them covered in liquid. Hard scales, feathers, claws, pieces of antlers, horns, among others.

    Due to Charles'' vast knowledge and her approachable nature, Romani and Da Vinci did not hesitate even a single second to put the said knowledge to use. They lent her an empty room that she didn''t waste time in arranging for her use.

    "If it is something I will not tolerate is infighting. Although I must admit that I didn''t expect those two to know each other from a past war or even remember it, for the matter." The Usurper sighed in exasperation at the memory. As always, another source of headache appeared out of nowhere to complicate things even more.

    "I understand where you are coming from. But be that as it may, simply telling them to stop with their argument will not cease their discontent. Well, just one of them has that feeling��snake this time, please." Ruler commented while grabbing a collecting receptacle. Following her action, a black snake grew out of his lower back and quickly moved to inject its venom on the recipient. When it was done, it retracted and disappeared into his skin as if it was never there.

    "Interesting. I have never seen that species in my life." Darwin observed with fascination the place the snake has retreated to. It was still baffling and exciting at the same time how many samples she could get from a single individual.

    "It is extinct, and stop looking at my a.s.s." Situations like these were becoming the norm. She always seemed to space out every time he proportioned her with something of her interest.

    "Right, sorry. I got distracted for a second." Ruler quickly apologized and went to write some details about the venom like extraction date and the general species on a tag before sticking it into the recipient and saving it inside a cabinet with other similar containers.

    She then came back to place another needle on him. For some reason that even she did not know, the knowledge to do this just appear inside her mind out of nowhere. Charles listened attentively as her Master seemed to be about to speak again.

    "Hm... As for what you said, I cannot do much. You and I both know that making them sit together and force them to shake hands is not going to resolve the matter. They must solve it themselves, but I would like it if they didn''t do it in the hallway." Even though she could not see her Master''s face, she was sure it was a tired one going by the tone of his voice alone.

    "Certainly. However, I fear that your policy of no action will do nothing but beget more destruction." The brown-haired woman shook her head in equal tiredness. She was just summoned and she had already witnessed troubles in paradise.

    As for what incident they were talking about...

    It all occurred once the new Servants finished familiarizing themselves with Chaldea''s installations. After Romani showed each of them their own room, he told them they could do what they wanted, with moderation, of course. They could opt to stay in their rooms or stroll around.

    Atalanta was one of those that chose the latter. A very grave mistake.

    As she was walking through the hallways, by some cruel joke of those mistresses called The Fates, she encountered a woman she despised almost as much as her supposed father, Jeanne D''Arc. She didn''t know why she remembered her nor did she care.

    Without warning or hesitation, she materialized her bow and began to shoot at the saint who, although surprised by the sudden turn of events, responded by summoning her flag and using it to repel the magical arrows directed her way.

    "Alert to all personnel, Servant fight in Sector E. Repeat, Servant fight in Sector E. Alert to all personnel, please refrain from accessing the area." A mechanical voice echoed in the hallway as red lights went in and out of existence in a clear sign of alarm.

    Atalanta didn''t care for this and kept her barrage of arrows on the Saint. Her expression was twisted in rage as she continued uttering "I will kill you" numerous times as if hoping those words would become a curse and do the job.

    Jeanne, for her part, did not utter a single word. She just focused on defending while adopting a face that was a mix between guilty and troubled. As the Ruler Servant had undergone a Saint Graph Ascension, she had no struggles in keeping up with a ''newbie'' Atalanta. Still, her passive attitude was what made the situation prolong itself more than it had to.

    And thanks to that, two people were able to arrive at the recently created battlefield.

    Before Archer could react, Seth grappled her from behind in an instant with a chokehold while Longinus and his original spear were hovering in front of her��one pointing at her heart and the other to her head. His face was emotionless, but that was precisely why one could know that he was really pissed at the display.

    Meanwhile, with Jeanne, multiple stakes of dark-colored blood suddenly emerged from the floor and shot at her figure, stopping right before they could pierce her skin. However, they trapped her in a prison where if she moved even a single muscle, impalement awaited.

    "Stop with your tomfoolery at once. You both are Servants fighting for a greater goal, not for some personal vendetta. I do not care for past wars; this is a new one, and such, your attitude should be a new one as well. If you cannot attain the correct state of mind, I will personally put your heads on my lance and use it as deterrence for future troublemakers." Even the usual serious Vlad showed a more dark side of him at their actions. It was as if two parts of his army were fighting among themselves, only resulting in a collective loss for Kingdom and nothing else.

    To him, both were equally to blame. Atalanta for obviously starting the attack, and Jeanne for not ending it sooner when she was very well able to.

    The Egyptian God did not waste any words as Berserker did. He directly removed one arm from her neck before hitting the back of her head, rendering her unconscious. As she was way weaker than she was in Okeanos, and he did not suffer any restriction by the World here because they were technically outside of it, overpowering her like this was an easy feat. Not to mention that he reversed the supply of Magical Energy. Instead of him giving it to her, it was the opposite, weakening her further. This was an advantage only he had. As his reserves were enormous, he did not need to use Chaldea to supply his Servants while in here. It was best used on someone like Fujimaru who had limited capacities. With that in mind, he could do what he wanted with his own Magical Energy.

    Archer powerlessly fell to the ground. Seth slowly lowered himself a little before grabbing one of her legs and dragging her ahead with no care for her well-being. He went past Jeanne without saying a word, but he stopped by Vlad''s side to look at him and give him a nod of recognition for his actions��one that the Berserker Servant returned.

    Seth then continued his path, eventually reaching Atalanta''s room and throwing her inside before leaving, still without saying a word.

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    "The continuous existence of humanity is at risk, and you pretend for me to use the time where I could be planning ahead and focusing on improving myself to act as the mediator of a fight between children?" If he were in a more natural position, Seth would have raised his eyebrows at her statement.

    "I suppose you''ve got a point. Please forget that I even said anything." Ruler sighed once she heard his point. Valid? Yes. Refutable? Yes. Did she want to do it? No. She was not interested.

    "Mhm... By the way, how long should I have these on my back?"

    "A couple more minutes." Darwin frowned for a moment before speaking her mind. "You should not repress your nature like you have been doing so far. It will destroy your body from within."

    ''Baal''s awakening should have helped with that... but I guess it''s too much to ask from someone whose only hobby is to sleep his disgraces away.'' Such was his helpless musing.

    "I know it better than anyone else. Unfortunately, there is no place for me to do so." Despite understand where she was coming from, Seth did not have any options at the moment.

    "Chaldea''s simulation system would overdrive, and in the Singularities, you are always close to little Fujimaru, so you cannot cause too much destruction, correct?" The Deity released a grunt of agreement, proving that her deduction was indeed the right one.

    "Be honest with me, how much destruction can you cause to the planet currently?" Charles asked again after some thinking. If they were going to think of a solution, they had to take everything into account.

    ''I can''t use World''s End even if I wanted to. The next, more powerful one should be World''s Corruption then.'' After some thinking, Seth finally responded. "I can stop the Earth''s rotation for a while. However, that''s not something I would like to do, for obvious reasons."

    "That leaves with so very few options." Ruler released a dry chuckle at his answer. She did not seem surprised he was able to do that. The reason being she knew he was from another universe thanks to her Noble Phantasm, a universe where the Gods were many, many times stronger than this one. Her Master knew of this and asked her to keep it a secret. When asked why the black-haired man said it was because everyone reacted to the simplest of things as if they had found alien life on a deserted planet. He already had enough problems for her to go around creating more.

    "It''s not like I have to do it... Just going on a controlled rampage would be enough. I haven''t shifted that much from my bad side to warrant going to great lengths." The Egyptian God quelled a few of her worries with that.

    "Having to have two sides of the same coin overlapped must be difficult." Charles sighed while Seth mentally agreed. "In that case, have you ever tried going to the Reverse Side of the World?"

    The Kingslayer stayed silent for a few seconds before responding. "Not tried, but I have thought of doing it. Knowing those wildlands, it would be my best bet to maintain both sides of myself to fifty-fifty. I do ''good'' here while I do ''bad'' there. Unfortunately, I don''t quite know how to get there."

    "Would it not be possible to reach there by letting the World pull you there?"

    "No, it would not. It crossed my mind, though. The thing is, how can I be sure the World will send me to the Reverse Side? At the end of the day, I don''t belong to this universe. There is the chance of me returning to my original world, and that is a risk I am not willing to take." Ruler nodded at his logic. It was indeed too risky until they found a better way. She was new here, yet she was sure that Chaldea didn''t have the resources to artificially make a portal to that place, and even if they had them, it was not a luxury they could afford.

    "We still have time until it becomes an issue. They are just preventive measures." Charles reassured him while taking the needles off his back. The Ruler Servant then tapped his shoulders a few times when she was done, indicating he could get up. The Egyptian God did just that, stretching a bit after getting off the table.

    "Thanks, I should get going now. Ritsuka and the others should be returning from that small Singularity soon, so I will have to focus on getting him into good shape." Seth said as he put his upper clothes back on. It ended abruptly in Okeanos due to that accident, but he supposed now was a good time to resume it.

    Ruler put a hand on her mouth while laughing lightly. "Oh, yes. I heard they received an invitation from a mischievous girl and now are having quite the adventure thanks to it."

    The Deity shook his head, although he released a chuckle soon after. "Normally I would call it a waste of time, but they deserve to have fun as well. Even if that fun involves going along the whims of Elizabeth."

    "Aren''t you worried about them, though?" Charles tilted her head a bit. She was a bit befuddled when she found out he was not going to accompany them.

    "No. Elizabeth summoned Servants of Chaldea in their majority. They wouldn''t put them at risk. At best they would put on a show and nothing else." He guessed this was her way of wanting to come here as well, so the more reason not to harm them.

    "I will trust your judgment, then. Anyhow, thanks for providing me with the materials. They will be useful to create some new Mystic Codes. Even though the way I procured them was a bit..." Yes, she asked for them, but she did not expect him to transform and self-mutilate himself. Just remembering the experience left her shaken up.

    "Oh, yeah... My bad. I didn''t know you had some trauma with that kind of stuff. And don''t mention it. I don''t mind it at all, especially if it is for the kid''s survival."

    "It is quite all right. You did not know, so it would be foolish for me to blame you. Speaking of which, only three of your forms are left for me to complete my collection."

    "Don''t say word it like that, it makes you look creepy." Darwin was this close to choking on her saliva at that comment. "Anyway, I only have two forms left for me to show you, not three. Unfortunately, those are too big, so if I were to transform, I would probably crush Chaldea under me."

    Once recovered from that somewhat embarrassing moment, Ruler furrowed her eyebrows in puzzlement. "Are you sure? There is the Crocodylus��sorry. The crocodile, the boar, and that weird dog I saw while we were facing each other."

    This time it was Seth''s turn to furrow his brows. "I get the first two, but I don''t know what are you referring to with the last one. I was called a dog before, but I can''t shapeshift into one."

    "..." Master and Servant stared at each other in a silent contest of gazes. After a few minutes, Charles was the first to break contact. Her eyes showed unwilling resignation.

    "Forget it. It must have been my imagination." Seth nodded at that and then marched toward the door. He had been staying for a while here, so it was now time to go.

    "See you later, Ruler. And Happy Halloween too, I guess?" He waved back at her over his shoulders. The Kingslayer was not interested in these celebrations, but apparently, humans were, so a bit of courtesy wouldn''t hurt.

    "To you too, Master. Thanks again for providing with your help." Darwin only received a humming sound as an answer that she interpreted as a "Don''t mind it" before the man completely exited her laboratory.

    Now alone, the Mother of Evolution could finally go on her absent-minded musings. ''I am sure of what I saw. Master is an Evil of Humanity, so maybe that was how he would look as a Beast? No... It was brief, but I could glimpse it was a mix between a snake and a dragon. Then what...? His kind should possess many forms being an Egyptian Go...d...''

    Ruler''s eyes widened in realization, yet, that same realization did not bring happiness but distress instead. If her Master was lying or not, it did not matter anymore. It was a good thing she didn''t press the matter any further. Immediately, she decided to drop the subject and not speak about it anymore.

    The similarity between her and a detective Servant was that they would be happy knowing a deep and hidden Truth. As for the difference... She would not stick her hands into the muddy abyss to discover it while dooming the world in the process.

 Chapter 175 - The Start Of Another Misadventure...

    "All right, kid. While Ruler prepares some Mystic Code for your use during Singularities, my job will be to rough you up." Seth stated to the other Master while folding his arms. They were currently in the Simulation Room to try and see if it was possible to make Fujimaru not be a sitting duck. A plain was the chosen terrain for now. Later, they would use harsher areas that required quick thinking to take advantage of them.

    "Don''t you mean ''train''?" Ritsuka sweatdropped a bit at this wording. He didn''t expect him to be subtle, but he didn''t have to put it like that either.

    "Did I stutter?" They didn''t have time, so they had to go for the quickest method: suffer and learn. Results would depend on the youth''s adaptability. If he couldn''t demonstrate rapid growth, then everything would have been a waste of effort.

    "Okay, but what is that thing doing here, and why isn''t it trying to make you his dinner?" Fujimaru pointed at the Chimera behind Seth, who was quietly resting with her eyes closed.

    "I tamed it. Anyway, let''s begin. The sooner we start, the sooner we will find out if this is worth our time." Done saying so, the black-haired man threw a wooden katana he had carved before for this practice session.

    The youth quickly caught it, albeit a little clumsily. It was pretty simple and with no defined details, just an ordinary sword to practice.

    "Before we begin, let us make things clear. This is by no means something you would learn to charge headfirst against a Servant. If I find out you actively tried to fight one, we will never do this again, are we clear?" The Japanese Master scratched his cheek a bit, indicating that he had thought of doing just that. However, he also understood that it was probably suicidal, so he ended up nodding.

    "Next. In case you are attacked by an enemy Servant, and for some reason, there is no one to protect you nearby, you will only defend yourself and keep the exchanges to a minimum while retreating to somewhere safe at all times. Also, if the enemy doesn''t actively want to attack you, don''t show any hostile intentions for no reason, and just try to talk your way out. The other situations mean death to you, so we won''t even talk about those." Fujimaru continued nodding his head, keeping everything he was saying to mind. It sounded reasonable, so he had no complaints. Although the last part left him crying anime tears.

    "Finally, who can you use what you learned here against? The answer is simple: monsters. Skeletons, beast warriors, zombies, and humanoid monsters in general. Those are the first step. If you can safely beat those enemies, then we can consider going up the ladder." Needless to say, the rule of not actively attacking also applied here unless there were only a few enemies.

    "I understand. But aren''t you going to pick up one?" Seth smirked a bit at his question, something that slightly unnerved Fujimaru.

    "I am not going to be your opponent, she will. After all, what better way to learn to fight monsters than practicing against one?" The Egyptian God, amidst the youngster''s widening gaze, motioned for the Chimera to stand up, which she did.

    "W-Wait a minute. You can also transform, right? That would be the same, right? There is no need to make me fight against that, right?" Seth rolled his eyes at the nervousness of his fellow Master. It seemed they would have to work on his courage first.

    "Relax, will you? She won''t attack you for now; you will be the one doing so. She will be dodging only while keeping her speed slow enough for you to have a chance at hitting her." Fujimaru visibly relaxed at that, but a new concern surged inside his mind.

    "What about the form, though? It''s embarrassing to say, but I will most likely be swinging my sword wildly without any precision at all." The fact that he didn''t charge blindly and stopped to think of that was worthy of praise. Still, Seth had a counterargument.

    "If you don''t even know how to hold a sword, forms will become meaningless. Your body will naturally learn the hard way. Now, less talk and more action. After you finish, it will be my turn to attack you." The youth had the sudden urge to keep things between him and the Chimera for a little longer after hearing the last part.

    The Chimera jumped from Seth''s position and landed in front of Ritsuka as the said youth sighed in resignation. He held the handle of his sword with both hands while adopting a middle-level posture. The katana was pointing at the two-headed monster with firmness.

    "Haaaah!!!" Fujimaru shouted and dashed forward with his sword raised. Despite the distance being a couple of meters, his slow speed made it seem like it took forever to reach the monster. With a roar, the Chimera sidestepped, causing Ritsuka to keep going forward and almost stumble.

    Seth had the urge to facepalm really hard. "Don''t shout! You are alerting your enemy needlessly! And why do you raise your sword prematurely?! You are practically telling your opponent how you will strike! Go and do it again!"

    "Right! Thanks for the pointers!" Instead of getting angry or feeling shame from his shouts, Ritsuka took them for what they were, instructions to better himself.

    Meanwhile, Seth was staring wide-eyed and with an open mouth at nothingness itself. He then observed his hands as if they held the answer to something. ''What the hell did I just do? What I just saw was so depressing to look at that for a moment, I forgot I shouldn''t teach him anything and let him figure things out by himself.''

    In the end, the black-haired man shook his head and began to focus on his own matters. ''Kid''s got a knack for making people cringe with his performance, I will give him that.''

    Giving one last look at the youngster, who was already chasing the Chimera again, Seth closed his eyes in contemplation. The fight against Typhon had caused some concerns to appear within him. The only reason Baal was able to match him was that Gaia was helping to reduce the influence of the World on them. However, that caused the reset of that timeline.

    Normally, that would be a good thing. It would be as if the Singularity never existed in the first place. But, it was then that the problem arose. In the case that Beasts made an appearance in the future Singularities, the process would repeat itself. The end result would be the World simply erasing the timeline instead of constantly having to reset it, which meant game over for them.

    That brought him to the solution he thought of. That was, create a Reality Marble like Archer or his student. If he could pull his enemy there, then he wouldn''t have to worry about outside interferences from the World. Additionally, he could fight without worrying about anything. Ruler was right in her guess; he often has to limit himself while fighting in fear of harming his allies. Until now, doing that hadn''t shown any adverse effects, and yet, he knew the future wouldn''t be so kind as to keep it like that.

    ''I have always fought alone, and when I teamed up with the old bird or with Thor, they were never affected by the collateral damage I caused. The thing is, how do I go about creating one? EMIYA needs an Aria, but Thutmose did not, so I can exclude it. Next is... a distorted perception of reality. Yes, I have that covered. Lastly, an inner world, which I have had since I arrived here.'' Sitting in the quietly swaying green grass, the black-haired man folded his eyes with furrowed brows as he looked downward in consternation.

    Everything sounded simple, and it was for him. The problem was that every time he tried to call a Reality Marble into existence he ended up doing so with his Domain instead. Unfortunately, he couldn''t practice it now since Fujimaru was near since a single mistake could outright kill him. It was a type of Bounded Field that didn''t discriminate between allies or enemies.

    That left him with nothing to do other than observe the youth as he went about his attempt at hitting the double-headed monster. He was panting slightly from all the chase but otherwise kept his pace. All of a sudden, though, his steps became slower as if the exhaustion that was breathing on his neck had finally caught hold of him. In consequence, the Chimera also lowered her speed. However, the moment she did so, Fujimaru quietly reinforced his legs before dashing in an explosion of speed.

    Although slightly startled, she jumped back just as fast. The wooden katana brushed her white hair but ultimately found no target. Suppressing a sigh of frustration, the Japanese Master stopped his reinforcement and continued his assault as if nothing had happened.

    ''Oy, oy, oy. Since when does the kid know how to trick his opponents like that? His fighting ability aside, that mentality can be very useful for the future.'' Such were his thoughts, oblivious about the influence he had caused on him.

    Speaking about the future, he had maintained a short talk with Stargazer not too long ago. He had been wondering why he didn''t receive a prediction for the next Singularity like he had been doing up until now. Despite it not lasting very long, mainly a few exchanges due to that stupid demon not wanting to disturb Baal, he had said something that put him on edge.

    "No prediction. Just prepare to lose everything." Certainly not the most comforting of words, that''s for sure.

    Still observing the struggling Fujimaru, who had won at this point since the Chimera resorted to using more of her abilities than he had ordered her to, Seth released an almost inaudible sigh. ''Lose everything, huh? But... What do I have? I guess the only answer to that would be... myself.''

    Another sigh followed quickly after. ''AAAAaaaahhhh... I wonder if I should hypnotize myself to enter a semi-dead state in case my sanity dwindles...''

    With thoughts that would fit a mentally unstable person, the black-haired man decided to make the chase come to a halt. "Stop, Fujimaru. Rest for a bit before continuing. If you weren''t able to hit her when you were refreshed, you won''t do so now that you are panting."

    The Japanese Master stopped, albeit with a little reluctance. His rear quickly dropped to meet the green grass beneath him. It seemed his body was happier than his mind about the momentary pause.

    "You did better than I expected from you. If you want to learn something, you must keep that motivation you are showing in mind." The Chimera came to his side as he spoke, gently coiling her snake tail around him before placing him in her back.

    Fujimaru observed the occurrence with weirded-out eyes, yet he still found time to furrow his brows. "It is a bit frustrating, though. Especially when I know I can''t hit it even when it''s obvious that it''s not taking me seriously."

    "The fact that you aren''t pissing your pants while in front of her is impressive enough. I told her to keep a constant low speed, but you were able to make her ignore that just to not get hit. In a certain sense, you won. Nice deception, by the way." The youth was a little embarrassed at the praise. He accepted it with an appreciative nod nonetheless.

    "Thanks, I learned it from you."

    "Good to know." Seth adopted a rigid smile. The corner of his lips was twitching almost imperceptibly. He had to be careful with the things the kid adopted from him. One Seth was enough, the world didn''t need two.

    "So what now? Do I continue chasing it...her?" He corrected himself, remembering how it is that Kuro called her... although how the man was able to distinguish that; frankly, he did not know or wanted to either.

    "Originally it would be like that, but after you showed me that little display, I came with a better alternative. We are going to work on your stamina while Reinforcement is active. You are going to strain your Magic Circuits as much as possible to the point of collapse, in which case you will stop." The orders caused a wave of concern within him, one that he did not hesitate to make itself known.

    "Wouldn''t that be bad, though? I am not an expert in these types of things, but overexertion never sounds good."

    "Don''t worry about it, I will knock you out before that happens." Seth waved his concerns off swiftly and concisely. As for the adolescent in question, he was pretty much resigned to his fate.

    "That''s reassuring..." His dry chuckle conveyed a different answer than his mouth did.

    "Also..." The Egyptian God pointed at the grass below, and it quickly transformed into sand, causing Fujimaru to sink a little. "We will be shifting the terrain to make it more difficult for you."

    "Woah! Since when can you do this?" Ritsuka asked while getting up and dusting himself from the yellow particles on his bum.

    "I found out recently that I could alter some things to my will similar to how I use my Authorities. As for the inner workings, no idea. Anyway, that will not be the only thing we will be focusing on. It''s not a secret that your reserves are not the greatest, and such can only allow yourself to let two of your Servants use their Noble Phantasms in quick succession before being left drained. That is why I have come with an alternative." His words certainly hurt the pride of the novice Master, but the world ''alternative'' did sound enticing. Anything that could let himself be of more use.

    "What is it?" He asked again, maybe more eagerly than he would have liked. Then, a thought came to his mind. "You are not going to transform me into something weird, are you?"

    Immediately after those words left his mouth, an oppressive aura began to surround the space they were in. The Chimera threw herself onto the ground whimpering in fear. As for Fujimaru himself, he didn''t feel that aura. To be more exact, he didn''t feel that aura ON him. He was sure that if that crushing sensation were to target him, his heart would instantly stop. It had been an innocent question, with no negative connotations, but it seemed the other party didn''t take it that way.

    "Listen well, brat. The moment you decide it''s fun to become something other than human, you can forget about my help forever. Not only that, I will personally see to that you don''t become a threat to what you originally were meant to protect. Are we clear?" A whisper, a mutter, a voice so low that it reached the realm of the inaudible. Yet... yet he still heard that warning. He FELT that... that threat.

    Yes!

    His voice didn''t come out.

    Yes!

    It still didn''t.

    YES!

    Answer!

    All of a sudden, the malevolent aura disappeared as if it was never there. Only then was he able to answer. His eyes, though. His eyes couldn''t meet his. "I... Yes... I understand."

    "Good. Even if your memories fade away, you should always remember that." Seth''s voice was now more relaxed, without the previous age. It still did nothing to calm Ritsuka''s pounding heart.

    "...You... You are scary, you know that?" His mouth moved before his brain. However, his mind was too tired to try and find for a solution to make up for his blunder.

    The Egyptian God dropped the theater and adopted an expression that if Fujimaru were to see it, he would label it as that of someone who had lived more years than they would have liked. "I know. And even if you don''t believe it, what I do is for your own good. I chased for the impossible once and lost what mattered the most as a result. Who you are is a million times more important than what you want to become, never forget that."

    Ritsuka''s heart��no. His soul shook at his words. Images flashed through his eyes so quickly that he couldn''t pinpoint any detail on them. Still, he knew what he said was not empty. Those words... they carried a power he could not comprehend. That he was not meant to comprehend.

    While the youth was having a mystic moment, Seth gently tapped the talisman on his c.h.e.s.t, causing it to glow momentarily before dropping five gems of various colors, gems that he threw in front of the dazed kid.

    This sudden action brought Fujimaru out of his state. He observed the gems resting on the sand before him asking the first question that came to his mind. "What is this...?"

    The Deity smirked slightly, no traces of the previous expression present on his face. "This, kiddo, is the alternative solution to your problem. Now, have you heard about Jewel Magecraft?"

    ������������������������������������������������������������

    Seth quietly exited the Simulation Room with slow and steady steps. Fujimaru was being carried under his arm unconscious after his repeated use of Magical Energy and the physical training with the Chimera.

    The youngster had fought with more motivation and unyielding will than previously if that was even possible. It was perfect for him since he abhorred people who did nothing to get what they wanted and simply expected for it to fall into their l.a.p. He had clearly explained this to Fujimaru when he gave him those gems. If he wanted more, he would have to work for them.

    "Nobu nobuu!" A strange sound interrupted his thoughts just as he turned a corner in the hallway. Looking down, he was met with the bizarre visage of a caricaturesque figure with big and round white eyes.

    The weird creature also noticed him, and when it did, it could only shiver at his narrowing eyes why uttering a shaky cry. "Yabeee?!"

    "This foul stench... The hell are you?"

 Chapter 176 - Sakura & Demon (1)

    "Seeing as he was not getting any answer from the creature, he picked it up with his free arm and quickly broke its neck before tossing it aside like disposable garbage. The little thing turned into motes of light, disappearing soon after.

    The occurrence was so similar to when Servants die that it made the black-haired man narrow his eyes even further. ''My bullshit senses are tingling. Nothing good can come from this.''

    "You can come out now; I know you are there." Those words were spoken to no one in particular. Even so, someone still answered from behind him.

    "Wahahahaha! As expected, being an Archer doesn''t leave much room for me to be sneaky!" It was a laugh that any common person would find to be joyous. And yet, Seth still found the deep resentment hidden within.

    The person who had just spoken appeared behind the black-haired man, followed by a woman with a Taisho style pink kimono covered by red-wine hakama. She was carrying a scabbard where her sword rested, ready to be unleashed at any moment.

    "My apologies. We didn''t mean to look suspicious." The one he presumed was a Saber spoke this time, causing him to raise his eyebrows as if looking at clowns in a circus.

    "Two unknown Servants walking through the halls of Humanity''s last line of defense without any prior warning to their arrival. I would say that is pretty suspicious regardless of what just happened." While speaking, he looked at the other individual: a black-haired woman wearing a military uniform with an arquebus in hand.

    "Now, now. There''s no need to be so hostile. Why don''t you drop down the Master over there first, God-san?" The most happy-looking of the two asked politely as she approached him. The other one was following closely behind.

    "And if I don''t want to?" His half-lidded eyes were enough to tell that he was not very amused at the situation. It didn''t help that he was getting a nasty feeling from the little girl in front of him. Enough to not take her lightly despite her appearance, at the very least.

    "Then we are going to have a problem." Before her companion could react, the muzzle of her gun was already pressing against Seth''s forehead.

    "..."

    A deep silence encompassed the room. The temperature seemed to drop down because of the atmosphere, but immediately go up due to the nature of their powers.

    The pink-haired swordswoman waved her hands frantically, not knowing how to stop the situation from escalating any further.

    "I am known as the destroyer of Shinto and Buddhism. I don''t mind adding one more to the mix." Her voice didn''t contain any trace of joy or mirth like it had before. Now it was totally emotionless.

    "And I am known for butchering those in power who think they can unite nations as they please." The Deity responded in an equal tone of voice, unafraid of the gun that was pointed at him. He could tell, she could tell. They were both extremely incompatible with each other. Opposite forces that would only cause disaster if they were to face.

    The silence remained for a bit longer before two chuckles broke it. Both parties seemingly found the situation funny, so much so that the girl removed her gun from his forehead and retreated a few steps back. "It was a joke. That is how we greeted strangers during my time."

    A bald-faced lie. The two were aware of it, yet no one said anything to contradict it.

    "Is that so? As a God of Foreigners, I guess I must be open to other cultures. Especially one such as yours, Nobunaga." The deduction of her True Name slightly startled her, but it shouldn''t come to much of a surprise considering the earlier information she gave.

    Seth then turned to the other woman, who was sighing in relief that everything had resolved itself. "As for you... I have no idea of who you are."

    Instantly after he said so, the swordswoman coughed blood like she was going to die in the next second. "H-How is it that you can''t guess who I am?"

    "The thing I just killed had a great resemblance to Nobunaga, and it practically could only say "Nobu," so it was not that hard to guess actually. You, on the other hand, have no defining characteristics other than being from Japan most likely going by your choice of weapon. And considering Nobunaga is a girl here, I can''t say if history took you as a man or not." The explanation made sense, but it didn''t prevent the cloud of depression that assaulted her.

    "I-I see..." Just as she was about to fall further into the feeling of injustice, she noticed that the young guy in that person''s arm began to stir, causing her to return to normal.

    Seth also noticed this, so he addressed the pink-haired girl once again. "One more thing. You are probably here to deal with these things that Nobunaga caused in all likelihood-"

    "Hey!"

    "-so I am not going to say much. However, you better keep that exaggerated bloodl.u.s.t under control like you have been doing. The same goes for you, Nobunaga. Everyone here is under enormous stress, so it would best if they didn''t receive more of it. I would hate to manipulate their minds just to calm them down." For a moment after he said that, the swordswoman narrowed her eyes, and the aura of a ''weak girl'' disappeared as if it was never there, only to be replaced by an outstanding sharpness. Nevertheless, that didn''t last for even a fraction of a second before she returned to her cheerful state.

    "No problem! Leave it to Oki...ta... cough. I mean, leave it to Sakura Saber! Ehehehe..." Seth raised an eyebrow at her slip of the tongue but decided not to comment on it.

    "Urgh... what happened...?" Fujimaru groggily asked once he came back from his unconscious state at the same time that a voice resounded in the near distance. "Senpai! Are you okay?!"

    Mash had just arrived in her Servant from when she saw him being carried by Seth while two unknown enemies �� presumably Servants �� were carrying weapons in front of him.

    Fearing the worst, she took large strides until she arrived at her Master''s side. Sneaking a peek at his condition, she sighed in relief once she noted he was not seriously injured; just some scratches here and there.

    She then set her gaze on the two opposite ''enemies'' while rising her shield. "Mash Kyrielight, ready for combat."

    Amidst the dumbfounded gazes of the two girls, Fujimaru finally spoke, although not to clarify the situation, as he was pretty much clueless. "Uh? Mash? What happened? And why are you in your Servant form?"

    "I hate to interrupt you, guys. We have been invaded by some rather strange creatures, and we have located their source. We must solve this problem if we don''t want them filling the halls of Chaldea and doing whatever they want��Wait, who are you two?" Only after Romani ended his talk did he notice the other two individuals with Mash, Seth, and Fujimaru.

    Looking at the hologram of the Doctor, Seth decided to speak to avoid unnecessary squabbles. "Those two are here to get rid of those things, and they are going to be on their merry way once they do so, am I right?"

    "Wahahaha! Of course! I am the Demon King of the Sixth Heaven, but you can call me Demon Archer!" Seeing an opportunity, Nobunaga didn''t take long in introducing herself, albeit in an odd manner.

    ''Huh? What does Mara have to do with her? Does it have to do with the burning of Buddhist monks, leading them away from the path by literal means?'' His musings were cut short by Okita''s introduction this time.

    "Nice to meet you. You can call me Sakura Saber if you like." The swordswoman offered a smile to help calm down the girl with the shield. It seemed to have worked... a bit.

    "I am glad you are getting to know each other, and I certainly have my concerns about how is it that you managed to reach here, but for now, I have found the coordinates of the anomaly, and we are ready to Rayshift." Romani''s hologram disappeared only to be replaced by Da Vinci''s.

    Everyone nodded at that. Seth stopped carrying Fujimaru when he made sure he was good enough to walk. The Master in question, though, still had no idea what was going on. The last thing he remembered was getting hit by the tail of the Chimera and fainting. Strangely enough, he didn''t feel any pain.

    The group then proceeded to go to the Command Room to begin the process of Rayshifting. However, when the Japanese youth was about to enter the coffin, a hand on his shoulders stopped him. Looking back, he saw Seth shaking his head at him.

    "Go rest, you just went through extensive training. If you force your Magic Circuits any further you run the risk of injuring them permanently." He spoke to him in a low tone, enough for the others not to hear.

    "But I feel fine..." Ritsuka said. He was a little perplexed at what he had asked of him. And as much as it concerned him know that he thought about it, he had never ''taken a break'' from everything involving Rayshifting.

    "That''s because I nulled your sense of pain temporarily. In reality, you have some broken ribs from that tail strike. Go check with Romani, and take Mash with you." After hearing what he said, Fujimaru discreetly unbuckled the belt around his Mystic Code enough to let him lift it and see his torso... yeah. It had a nasty purple color all around it. So much so that it made him grimace.

    The Egyptian God also noticed it but said nothing. As he had said before, if he wanted power then he was going to work hard for it, even if he had to get injured in the process. He wouldn''t get strong just by singing songs, holding hands, or preaching about friendship.

    "Is this the only reason?" He still felt there was something Kuro was not telling him, and that that something had to do with those two new Servants.

    Seth confirmed his guess with his following words. "Yes. I don''t trust them. More precisely, I don''t trust the clown-looking one. Ambitious people like her don''t just suddenly lose their d.e.s.i.r.es only because their time came to an end. This is not a fairytale. No amount of words is going to change that. At most, it will keep them at bay until you make a mistake that can cause them to act."

    Fujimaru looked at the ground, a little pensive about what he had just said. "Is this your way of telling me that I should not trust anyone?"

    Contrary to his expectations, Seth shook his head. "No. It is my way of telling that appearances can be deceiving and that you should always think of ways to solve a hypothetical situation where they turn against you."

    "Even you?"

    "Even me."

    Ritsuka looked at him without flinching for a few moments before sighing and nodding. Truth be told, he wanted to get his injury checked out. He hadn''t been this injured since... forever, actually. He never thought his first ''battle wound'' would be inside Chaldea and not on a Singularity.

    Convincing Mash to do the same wasn''t particularly difficult. It just took saying "Who will protect him from those little creatures if you are not with him?" to make her stay. Honestly, she was too naive. Even without her, there were numerous Servants who, by this point, were probably doing ''pest control'' all around Chaldea. Having one stop with that activity and guarding Fujimaru was not difficult. It worked for him in the end, though, so he wasn''t complaining. Obviously, the kid had to lie to her about the level of his injury. Otherwise, she would get a panic attack.

    Neither Romani nor Da Vinci were opposed to the idea of him being the only one being sent there aside from the other two Servants. They knew they couldn''t shelter Fujimaru, but if they could avoid making him take unnecessary risks, then they were all for it.

    The staff was already used to managing the process of Rayshifting, so it didn''t take long to prepare everything and send him together with the other two to the small-scale Singularity that was the origin of all the small Nobus.

    When he opened his eyes, Seth was able to see that they were surrounded by a vast forest. He immediately noticed the presence of another Servant not very far from their location. ''For once we got lucky to solve this mess faster.''

    "You don''t trust us very much, do you, God-san~?" A gunshot came next.

 Chapter 177 - Sakura & Demon (2)

    "Nobuuuuughhh" An exaggerated cry resounded in the forest they were in after Nobunaga''s action. That little Nobu seemed to be the only one in the area, as no one else came running to attack them. Still, Seth thought it would have been better if either he or Okita killed it. It would have been less noisy.

    "You don''t trust me, I don''t trust you. Simple enough, don''t you agree?" Archer huffed but made no further comment. By the looks of things, she thought along those lines as well.

    Now all they had to do was take care of the Servants and Nobus to be done with it. Though... "Why are there so many of them? Are they your anger manifested or something?"

    Not mentioning the ones that were inside the forest. From the outer edge where they were currently in, he could see an army of a good hundred thousand Nobus surrounding a group of Servants in the distance. Squinting his eyes, he saw a man in brown attire wielding a Nagitana and other numerous weapons on his back. The other one was a... raccoon girl? No... that was just the guard of her sword. The petite Servant seemed to be the leader of the two, so despite her questionable appearance, she could be a powerful foe.

    "Wouldn''t you like to know?" Nobunaga snorted while Saber just sighed in exasperation. It was like seeing two brothers bicker with each other over who was their mom''s favorite.

    "Can we focus on the matter at hand, please? Any idea about how we can go about this? Maybe I distract them while you flank them? Or do you have something else in mind?" She feared they would be here all day if she didn''t step in.

    ""Burn the entire forest."" Nobunaga and Seth answered in synch, causing both of them to glare at each other lightly.

    "You know, you are oddly similar in some aspects." Her words brought no joy to the other two. Still, she was right. They needed to think about how they were going to kill that enemy Servant in the most effective way possible-

    "Who are you? Are you here to take my head by the orders of another Lord?"

    -Or not.

    The enemy Servant had approached them while they were distracted, and with him, came an army of Nobus. Safe to say, there were a lot of glances of criticism going around among the three.

    "Well, what about retreating and thinking on how to tackle this another time?" The idea was sound, Saber had to give it to Nobunaga. The problem was... they were completely surrounded and the tone she used to say that meant that she didn''t want to do that either.

    "Before that, I have a question of my own. Does killing that Servant solve the problem with these stupid things?" Nobunaga and Okita looked at each other and then shook both their heads.

    "They are controlling him, not the other way around." Seth frowned at that what Nobunaga said. A wave of distaste ran through his whole body as memories of a distant time resurfaced in his mind. Unconsciously, his gaze went to the necklace hanging on his c.h.e.s.t; a big part of his fall into insanity.

    "More importantly, I will cover for you while you two retrea��Kugh?!" Before she could finish her phrase, the pink-haired girl fell to the ground agonizing while coughing blood.

    This caused her companions to look at her with flat stares as if questioning if there was a limit to how much useless she could become.

    Barely resisting the urge to sigh, Seth grabbed her by the collar, same with Nobunaga, who didn''t wait to make protests about it. The enemy Servant, an Archer, understood their motives to escape �� not like they were very quiet about it �� so he nocked an arrow on his bow and pointed it at them.

    "As the best archer in the Orient, I, Matsudaira Arash, cannot let you get away scot-free!"

    ''Leaving aside his definitely-not-Japanese appearance... so he is that Arash, huh? It seems Servants are getting mixed with people of Nobunaga''s era. A shame, truly, I would have liked to face him at full power. Not like I am one to talk. I better not show much in front of this brat. Something is telling me I will have to kill her at the end of this.'' With thoughts like those, the black-haired man stomped his right foot on the ground, causing the earth to suddenly shake terribly.

    The landscape shifted at an incredible speed. Some surfaces elevated while others descended. As for the rest, they swallowed the Nobus between its cracks. Falling trees were also one of the causes for their death. if they had blood, the resulting sight would be a bloody one.

    Meanwhile, Arash jumped to avoid a block of rock heading in his direction. Unfortunately, when he recovered from his previous action, the others were already far in the distance.

    As much as he wanted to pursue them, the tremblors continued for a long while before stopping, and by then, the others were nowhere to be seen. However, as an Archer, he still could pinpoint their general direction, and that was enough.

    "No one can escape the Tokugawa''s wrath, insolent invaders. My arrow will always find you!" With that declaration, his Magical Energy began to rise as the tip of the arrow now nocked on his bow glowed a bright yellow.

    ...

    With the group, Okita, who was still being carried by the collar, turned around with sweat pouring down on her face. "We have moved way far, but don''t you guys think something is wrong?"

    "...If his legend is anything to go by, then his arrow can reach some thousands of kilometers..." Seth added as he suddenly stopped.

    "How is that humanly possible?! Is he shooting missiles instead of arrows?!" Nobunaga quickly got off from his grip while screaming incredulously at that information.

    "Technically it''s not, which is why his body met its demise the moment he let go of that arrow." The Egyptian God frowned a bit as realization set in. Attacks like those were usually nothing to scoff at.

    "Which means..." Saber trailed off as she also came to the same conclusion.

    "He is doing a kamikaze attack, yes. I bet his Japanese side is messing him up. Honestly, I expected nothing, and I am still disappointed. If I knew this was going to happen, I would have battled him directly instead of retreating."

    "That isn''t our fault! What are you doing to do next? Scream "I will never forgive the Japanese!" at the sky?!" Nobunaga''s indignant cries were royally ignored by the other two. Instead, their gazes were drawn at the streak of light that was descending on their position and fast.

    Seth looked at the recovering Okita, and then at the huffing Nobunaga. Despite having a very dangerous attack coming their way, they seemed to be quite calm. The glint in their eyes when they looked at him a second after was enough to know the reason why.

    He swore the next time this happened he would simply walk away and let them be killed. It would take longer to find the cause and possibly resolve it, but at least he wouldn''t be having to carry dead weight with him all the time.

    Seth''s eyes briefly turned golden as he swiped his hand sideways, generating a spiraling current of wind that soon enveloped them from all directions with increasing speed. He could have used Poseidon''s barrier-type Noble Phantasm, but he was keeping that a secret for now.

    The spinning vortex quickly rose to the skies under the awed-gazes of Saber and Archer. Strangely enough, they weren''t affected by any pulling force from the forming tornado.

    That was when it happened. The sound of a massive explosion reached their unprepared ears, causing them to wince a bit. Even though they couldn''t see perfectly, they knew that attack had decimated and was decimating everything in the area.

    They were fortunate that they had managed to pull some distance from the moment Arash released his arrow to the moment where Seth erected his barrier. That way they managed to avoid the impact zone. The same couldn''t be said about the Servants he spotted earlier as they were in the same general direction.

    The earth shook at certain intervals, and some of the residual energy from the explosion entered through the gaps of his wind barrier. At least, at that time, Okita proved herself somewhat useful and was able to ''cut'' them before they provoked any kind of harm to them.

    Despite the simplicity of the action, the fact she did it with her own skill was nothing short of praiseworthy. Although... ''Is it me or her sickness is acting more often than it should? I have a feeling that should not be the case.''

    Leaving aside his doubts, he continued to power his defense for a while more until the reverberations stopped altogether. Only when he was sure they were safe did he stop using his Wind Authority.

    What was before a visage of greenery now was nothing more than barren lands. It was kind of expected from a suicide attack, but it still was able to marvel his fellow Archer.

    "Damn, isn''t that unfair? Why can''t I generate that much firepower?" Nobunaga complained like a child while taking in the sight of mass destruction before her. If she could, in some way, replicate and mass produce that effect...

    "Do a suicidal attack and you just might. Go ahead, we will be watching from here." Her world domination plans were interrupted by the Kingslayer''s voice, who didn''t miss the chance to throw a jab at her.

    "Whahaha! Nice try, nice try. Anyway, we should get going, the enemy is at Honnoji!" With that proud declaration, Nobunaga happily pointed her gun at the sky and fired as if to make a point. A poor bird that was flying by got shot in the head and fell above her cap.

    Okita suddenly started coughing, although if someone looked with more detail, they would notice she was trying to hold her laughter, albeit unsuccessfully.

    "There is no ''Honnoji'' here but whatever. I also want to get this over with, so let''s move. We are lucky Archer took the other group of Servants with him without the need for us to do anything." Seth said, bringing the topic at hand once more. That didn''t stop his mocking look, which only increased once he saw her twitching lips.

    To avoid further embarrassment, Nobunaga decided to lead the charge, something the other two didn''t complain about. For once that she was actively doing something, neither Seth nor Okita would intervene. Besides, it was not like Seth knew where to go... or what they were looking for.

    He doubted simply killing the Servants would solve anything, and what better person to know what to do other than the one who caused the mess herself. That said, he would watch his back for any hidden knives.

    Not to mention, he wasn''t the only Divine presence here. He couldn''t pinpoint a direction due to the distance, but the earth itself was telling him of these presences.

    They were two in total, and Seth felt a certain sense of familiarity with them. One was in the true sense of the word, family. However, that person was not resonating with his Authorities, but with the ones he had stolen, Typhon''s and Poseidon''s. With that little information, it didn''t take a genius to figure out who that person was.

    ''Give me a break...'' It was one after the other with that matter, wasn''t it? In case something went wrong, it was best to take this matter as secretly as possible from Chaldea. He had been keeping his communicator turned off in the meantime, and it will most likely be that way until he solved that particular problem.

    As for the other... ''Damn it. Him again? Last time I fooled him to avoid a confrontation I knew I would lose. This time I don''t know if it will be the same, but considering the pattern with Arash, he won''t be ''him'' exactly. Although, if I think about it, it can be a good way to test the powers Nobunaga isn''t revealing. And to see if my Trickery Authority is enough to hide my Divine Trait from those damn chains.''

    They continued walking for a good couple of hours, making small talk along the way. Nobody revealed crucial information, though. It was a sort of mind game to see who made a mistake first. Unfortunately for the poor Okita, she was caught in the middle of it.

    Eventually, they arrived at an arid zone, where two Servants were waiting for them. One of them Seth recognized as Darius, the Servant Jeanne and Jalter fought in Rome, while the other...

    ''There is no mistake. Aside from the obvious physical differences, she is Medusa all right.'' Seth thought while pinching the bridge of his nose. He could practically see the enormous headache incoming. But well, a promise is a promise. It was certainly easier than defending Humanity while being crippled, that was for sure.

    It was going to be a tough situation to resolve, nonetheless...

 Chapter 178 - Sakura & Demon (3)

    As soon as Berserker noticed the trio, he roared from atop his war elephant. His axes were swung wildly in some sort of rage-induced frenzy. It was quite obvious that their presence was not welcomed here.

    " "So you have finally arrived, Fool of Owari. And I see you brought my ancestor with you." Or so my boss says." Medusa was the one that helpfully translated for the two people who didn''t understand the language utilized by most Berserkers. It still raised a few eyebrows from them, though, especially when he referred to the Deity as his ancestor.

    Unfortunately for the two, he didn''t seem to want to clarify the matter, being content with just staring pensively at the pink-haired woman instead. Nobunaga looked at the Servant as well, more precisely at her c.h.e.s.t, then at her own, and finally at the silent God with contempt while cl.i.c.k.i.n.g her tongue.

    "How do you two want to go about this?" Seth finally took his gaze away from Medusa to address his temporary companions. Aside from the two enemy Servants, they were being surrounded by a massive army of undead enemies as well as the Nobus.

    They could only focus on one at a time. They couldn''t fight the Servants at the same time they did the mob. Technically, he was able to, but he wouldn''t be acting as their nanny again. Acting as a perpetual shield was his last job, not his current one, after all.

    Not to mention that they have had barely any use, if at all. One was a resentful and ambitious regent, while the other was a useless and sick two-faced swordswoman. And so far, the only thing he would give credit to them for would be creating this whole mess in the first place.

    His gaze was a clear indication that he wouldn''t be resolving their problems, so they didn''t even try to ask him to go against the two all alone. "I can feel Divinity from that girl, so I would take care of her. Oki��Saku��... forget it, you already know who she is. Okita, you go for that guy riding the elephant. As for you, God-san, you have area damage, so you take care of the army. Simple enough, right?"

    Other than a displeased sound at having her ''nickname'' brushed off like that, Saber showed no signs of opposing the plan. As for Seth, despite thinking that he got the most bothersome task out of everyone, didn''t disagree either.

    ''Still... I knew it. The brat has Anti-Divine properties. She must have said it without thinking, but that was some good information. Nevertheless, I should be focusing on these rejects that can''t properly rest.'' Seth then shifted his gaze to all the undead that littered the area. They seemed to be a representation of Darius'' army in life.

    " "No matter what strategy you devise, it will all be futile against my unstoppable Takeda Cavalry!" Or so my boss says." After Darius roared impatiently at them, Medusa once again helped with the translation.

    "You are riding an elephant, though. And you the only one with a mount as well. Who are you supposed to be, anyway? The father or the son? If you are the latter then this will be easier than I thought." Nobunaga relaxedly asked Okita''s next opponent with an uncaring and unafraid attitude. She remembered fighting Takeda Shingen, who was the last daimyo with enough power to temporarily halt her advance. He was a bit of a headache, but the same couldn''t be said about his son who succeeded him after his death. That brat was the epitome of failure, and save for some lucky victories, he was not comparable to his predecessor at all.

    Darius once again screamed while making threatening gestures with his axes. As it was the custom, Medusa translated again. " "That is inconsequential! Men, attack them all!" I guess I should be moving as well..."

    The Gorgon Sister prepared her chains to face Nobunaga, while Okita drew her sword and adopted a combat-ready stance to meet the Berserker Servant atop of the war elephant. As for Seth, he took control of the undead warriors temporarily to fight the Nobu army. Despite wanting to free them as soon as possible, he would need help to make things faster.

    Saber was the first to move, doing a straight dash at Darius. Seth had some doubts about her getting sick mid-battle, but it seemed that wouldn''t be the case... for now.

    As for Archer, she took her gun with one hand and immediately began firing at Medusa. The Servant in question nimbly moved to avoid the bullets that would no doubt inflict pain on her while also deflecting the ones she couldn''t dodge.

    ''My turn now, I suppose. I better make this relatively quick and avoid the route we were going to take.'' He didn''t notice it at first for some odd reason, but there was actually a third Divinity in all of this. He couldn''t mistake it for someone else''s; it was Cu Chulainn''s without a doubt.

    If they went ahead and met them, combat would surely ensure. Even if he said he didn''t want to fight and decided to retreat, the blue-haired man would take it as an insult and chase after them.

    His hands shook a bit at the prospect of having to kill or witness another death of someone he had come to regard as a friend even against what his sound mind told him to do. No matter if it was the real him or just a twisted version, it wasn''t something he was willing to do.

    ''Sometimes I wonder what I have gotten myself into...'' Seth pushed his thoughts aside after a short while, putting a bit of strength on his legs before jumping in the middle of enemy lines. He immediately commanded the skeleton soldiers to attack the Nobunaga lookalikes.

    He didn''t stay idle, though. His Wind Authority came into action, together with his Storm one. Dark clouds formed in the sky accompanied by the rumbling of thunder.

    Not long after, tornados began to descend onto the land. Their pulling force soon lifted his enemies off the ground and into the spiraling vortexes of air, where they were decimated in a brutal way by either the lightning coursing through them or the cutting winds themselves.

    As the shower of lightning was beginning to fall down upon the enemy army, Nobunaga concentrated on the enemy before her. Although a tiny bit of her focus was also on the display made by her temporary male companion.

    A grin of anticipation appeared on her face��one that she had to quickly erase as the pink-haired woman lunged herself at her.

    Archer was quick to jump backward, avoiding a flying kick thanks to that action. That decision was proven to be a correct one, as, as soon as the Servant''s foot touched the ground, it cracked and caved in like it was cotton and not a hard surface.

    "Tch. Damn gorilla woman. I better not get hit by that or I will be in trouble." That passing comment was obviously heard by Medusa, whose eyebrows twitched a little the moment she did so.

    If Archer noticed, she didn''t show it. Unperturbed, she materialized another arquebus while still in mid-air from the previous jump, and together with the other one that was already present in her hand, she began to fire them as if they were pistols at the pink-haired woman.

    The said Servant hastily evaded the incoming bullets, swatting away with her chains the ones she couldn''t. While it was true that the constant fire somewhat hindered her movements, it didn''t leave her cornered enough not to retaliate.

    Gravity soon exerted its force on Nobunaga, making her fall down on the ground. Medusa took advantage of this, and with a big stride, she was already centimeters away from Archer.

    If there was something Medusa prided herself in, that would be her speed, so once she ''cornered'' her opponent, she immediately started to unleash a flurry of punches and kicks. In response, Nobunaga quickly dematerialized one of her guns and unsheathed her sword. She then began to parry the incoming blows. Though that proved to be something challenging to do considering her enemy not only excelled in speed but in strength as well.

    She kept retreating back as her enemy continued her assault, and yet that wasn''t helping as much as she wished it would. Remaining still was suicide, while moving back was allowing the pink-haired woman to use her powerful legs as an impulse to hit harder. Nobunaga was sure the ground the Divine Servant passed by was nothing more than a destroyed mess.

    Knowing this couldn''t go on forever or she risked being eliminated, Archer decided to change her approach. Just when the pinkette was about to lunge at her again, Nobunaga materialized a floating gun at her side.

    Medusa was surprised at the sudden development, and even more so when the gun fired by itself. Fortunately for her, and thanks to her reflexes, she was able to dodge the incoming bullet that would have otherwise made a hole in her c.h.e.s.t.

    Her luck went until there, though. Despite having avoided a fatal hit, the close distance between the two made it so that she wasn''t able to dodge the projectile completely, resulting in her left arm now having a wound where the bullet grazed it.

    The Divine Servant jumped back a few times to create distance between the two. She quickly took a peek at her injury. It was minimal, which was obvious at a mere glance. Even so, she still felt like microscopic animals were eating at her flesh with reckless abandon.

    That allowed her to reach a simple conclusion: not get hit by those bullets at any cost. It might have been an idiotic one to the common folk. However, as a Servant, she had to capitalize on every opportunity to win, even if that meant being hurt in the process. Now, though, that chance was pretty much out of the window.

    Which meant she would have to use... other methods, as much as she didn''t like them.

    The Fool of Owari wasn''t that much of a ''fool'' not to take advantage of her opponent''s temporary distracted state, and so she did. She sheathed her sword once again before grabbing the floating gun she had used to wound her foe.

    Like before, she started firing her guns at her enemy. The rapid-fire was enough to snap Medusa''s attention back to Archer. Wasting no time, she started retreating in a zig-zag motion. With the roles reversed, Nobunaga followed up by chasing her while still shooting.

    Medusa saw one relatively big humanoid falling from the skies in her direction, probably the work of the weird familiar man that was with their enemy, and who her boss called ancestor.

    Seeing an opportunity in this, Rider did a quick jump over the incoming figure, which helped to act as a screen once she was back in the ground. She noticed it was already starting to disappear, so she had to be fast.

    The Nobu was lying on the side after its crash with its strange face facing her, so she decided to kick it on its stomach with her powerful legs. The over three meters tall figure shot like a cannonball at the chasing Nobu, giving the Archer Servant a pause.

    Nobunaga noticed that her clone wouldn''t disappear in time before it crashed into her, so she had two options; either dodge or shoot it. Naturally, she chose the latter.

    Coming to a sudden stop, she threw her left gun into the air before grabbing the right one with her two hands and taking an aiming position.

    ''Farewell!'' Unlike before where she shot ''normal'' bullets, her Magical Energy began to converge on the tip of her gun before being released as a relatively big white and red beam which had the objective of both eliminating her clone AND her enemy.

    Her attack enveloped the incoming clone and continued unimpeded to where her opponent was. She confidently watched as the beam traveled a great distance before ultimately disappearing, leaving no trace of that Divine entity.

    Her confidence didn''t last long, though. She swiftly jumped back the moment she noticed a shadow behind her. When Nobunaga observed her opponent, she froze, literally. Gone were her circular pupils, now she adorned rectangular ones.

    Archer immediately realized the identity of her opponent, making her curse for not being more careful before this happened.

    Medusa''s Mystic Eyes were capable of petrifying Servants with a Mana Rank of B or lower, and even those who possessed a B Rank, as Nobunaga did, could do nothing but stay rooted in place. She was even capable of hindering the movements of those with A Rank. It wasn''t a surprise then that they were considered to be one of the most powerful Mystic Eyes to exist.

    Archer watched as her foe approached with slow steps all the while she was unable to move or even look away for the matter. She was at the mercy of her opponent, and the pink-haired woman knew it, so she was in no rush.

    Medusa only stopped when she was in front of the black-haired daimyo. "This is the end." She didn''t offer more words as she found it unnecessary. Her chains were wrapped around her arm as she mimicked a knife form with her hand, ready to pierce Archer''s c.h.e.s.t.

    ''So this is the end of my ambition, huh...'' Nobunaga closed her eyes, seemingly resigned to her impending fate. Rider took this as her cue to end the suffering of her enemy.

    "Just kidding!" Archer suddenly snapped her eyes open while adopting a maniacal grin. A gun suddenly materialized in her hand once again, one that was pointing at her chin.

    Before she could even move or react to the situation, Nobunaga fired her gun, placing a hole in her head.

    Even as life escaped from them, the shock could still be seen in Medusa''s eyes as her body dropped to the ground next to Archer. "I am sorry to say, sc.u.m. But I can alter my Parameters however I want, so your Mystic Eyes posed little to no threat to me wahahaha!"

    With her enemy killed, she began to pay attention to the others'' battlefield. At Okita''s to be exact, since the other one was pretty much a one-sided massacre. ''Ahhhh...All that''s well ends well!''

 Chapter 179 - Sakura & Demon (4)

    Several minutes earlier, Okita was preparing to face Berserker. She initially thought she would have to fight her way through his army first, but it seemed that concern was not valid.

    For some reason, the army had turned against her enemy and started attacking the clones of her companion. She had an inkling about the how, but she preferred to keep her suspicions to herself. It worked for her, so why question it?

    Her opponent didn''t seem as carefree as her, though. She might not be able to understand exactly what he was saying, yet his enraged shouts were enough to tell her that he was cursing to hell and back at the fact that his supposedly unstoppable cavalry had turned themselves on him.

    ''Perfect opportunity.'' She thought. Although Berserkers could be a wild mass of destruction, they could get easily distracted, more so if the battle hadn''t even begun. Of course, there were exceptions to that rule, especially if that particular Servant had incredible battle instincts. Fortunately for her, this one seemed more of the commanding type than an actual fighter.

    With that in mind, Okita dashed at fast speed toward her opponent, hoping to catch him unaware. She was disappearing and appearing in flashes like some magic trick. Once she was in front of Darius'' war elephant, she disappeared again only to reappear in front of the Persian King.

    Her right hand which was carrying her sword was drawn back, while her left hand was outstretched forward as if to work like some kind of scope to help her make her attack more precise.

    She immediately went for a quick stab to the heart. A simple and efficient kill on the unaware Servant... Or that is how it seemed at first. Before she was able to plunge her weapon into the flesh of her foe, Darius blocked her attempt with one of his axes.

    He roared in anger and used his other ax to slash diagonally at her. Okita didn''t plan to get hacked, so she used the ax blocking her weapon as a standpoint and somersaulted to avoid the attack.

    Once Saber landed on the head of the giant animal, she once again lunged forward. Darius rose from his throne and jumped back to avoid the incoming slash, which instantly cut his former seat in half.

    This obviously made him angrier if his louder shouts were anything to go by. Berserker wasted no time and closed in on Okita with reckless abandon, doing mad swings at her.

    Saber tried to block one of those attacks, but the pressure behind them was enough to make her legs buckle slightly. That told her that it would be a bad idea to do so continuously, so she opted to dodge or deviate the attacks instead.

    Fortunately for her, Berserker''s swings, although powerful, were relatively slow. That allowed her to evade the swings with relative ease. The bad thing was that she wasn''t fighting just one opponent, though. The war elephant under them was using its trunk to attack her at any given opportunity.

    Trying to get rid of the distraction, Okita stabbed her sword on the animal''s thick skin... regretting that decision soon after. It seemed she had underestimated the defense of the damn animal. She had planned to produce a small but deep wound; a quick thrust in and out. However, her sword didn''t travel much downward, and when she tried to pull it back, she found out it was a little stuck.

    Her opponent didn''t plan to let an opportunity like this pass, so he quickly closed the distance between them and started his assault. As the space they were in wasn''t that large, Saber didn''t have much room to free her sword, which caused her to let go of the handle and retreat to the head of the elephant.

    Now weaponless, Okita had to dodge every attack without being able to retaliate. Her Strength Parameter wasn''t the best, so at most she would trouble him a bit if she went for kicks and punches.

    A few minutes passed like that, with ''close calls'' becoming more frequent as time went by. Parts of her pink kimono had been ripped by Berserker''s giant axes, and even her skin had suffered a few cuts here and there from the relentless swings.

    Despite being on the defensive for some time, the opportunity to reverse the current situation didn''t take long to arrive. Darius'' mount swung its trunk once again to land a good hit on Saber after she gained a tiny distance between her and Berserker. Taking advantage of this, Okita lightly jumped just enough for the limb to pass a few centimeters under her feet. Nevertheless, she didn''t stop there. Using the still moving trunk just as it was going past her as support, she jumped once again over her foe right at the moment he did another attack, even kicking the back of his head in the process and making him stumble forward a little.

    Okita quickly ran to where her sword laid stuck before pulling it out with as much force as she could. Immediately, she went to attack the man who still had his back to her.

    Although his reaction was fast considering his height, Saber still managed to make a slash wound on his arm before he hit her c.h.e.s.t with the cheek of his ax.

    The air was knocked out of her lungs momentarily as she took off from the back of the elephant and crashed some meters away from the animal. She was quick to get up from the ground, yet the moment she did so, she fell to one knee while releasing some coughs��ones she tried to prevent by putting a hand on her mouth, which caused it to be stained in red.

    ''Dammit. Why at a time like this?'' She inwardly cursed. Why did her illness have to flare so often recently? It was abnormal in every sense. She couldn''t help but wonder if either Nobunaga or the other man had something to do with it. It was the only explanation she could come up with in the meantime.

    Her thoughts were interrupted by a loud thud and a small shake on the earth. Looking up, she noticed her foe had jumped off from the war elephant to stand before her. The pink-haired girl frowned a bit as Berserker snarled at her with clear hatred in his eyes.

    A complicated look flashed through her face as she seemingly debated something. In the end, she sighed in resignation before a hardened look made its way into her face. Exhaling lightly, her Magical Energy began to converge in her form with great speeds.

    Darius took notice of this, immediately recognizing it as a dangerous occurrence. Acting upon his instincts, he dashed at her, trying to finish her lest she did something that would cause trouble for him later on.

    The distance between them was not that great, so he didn''t have to run much to get to her. The idea of kicking her momentarily flashed through his mind, but he discarded it in favor of doing a decisive blow with his weapon instead.

    Yet, just as he was about to hack her head, a flash of blinding light emanated from Saber, causing the Persian King to come to a halt. Just as he did though, a sudden pain assaulted his left arm��or better said; what used to be his left arm.

    It didn''t take long for him to register the sudden lack of weight. That realization came accompanied by a roar of pain.

    Clutching where his arm used to be, Darius turned around to spot the culprit of his recent wound. Gone was the pink kimono. Now she adorned a white uniform that reached her t.h.i.g.hs with a black sash around her waist covering it. A similar colored scarf hung around her neck, blowing wildly from the rampaging winds in the distance.

    Her back was facing him, and despite the much smaller stature, she released a pressure that didn''t fall short of his, it was maybe even higher.

    Okita slowly turned around to meet his eyes. Where before there was an aura of weakness, now there was a certain strength behind her demeanor. Her gaze was firm and resolute, not like before. Albeit momentarily, she had forcefully undergone Ascension to overcome her opponent.

    She was lucky enough that Berserker had come close to her just as he finished the process, allowing her to make a crippling wound on her opponent. If having Ascended made her chances of winning about sixty percent, then now that she had cut his arms they were a good ninety percent.

    Of course, Darius wouldn''t bother about odds. He only knew one thing, and that was that the woman in front of him had become something he had to kill at all costs.

    Okita watched as he unleashed a volley of �� what she assumed to be �� curses at her while dropping one ax into the ground and picking his fallen limb. He quickly bit his former hand, which was still gripping his weapon before tearing the rest and throwing it away. He then picked his fallen ax and pointed it at her.

    Berserker now had an ax on his right hand while the other was in his mouth with some mangled flesh from his former appendage. If Okita was affected by the gory scene, she didn''t show any of it on her face.

    As if on cue, both dashed at each other when the sound of thunder from the distant battlefield resounded. Although it was a little hard for Darius to run with one less limb, he still managed to keep his balance.

    A little before they were at striking distance, the dark-skinned man made a wobbly horizontal slash at Saber. Okita, already predicting it, ducked under the attack and quickly did a thrust to his waist. Sadly, the height difference prevented her from striking any area like the lungs or hearth.

    The piercing came, and yet Darius did not grunt. Instead, he smiled as much as his full mouth allowed him to. His muscles tightened around her sword, preventing her to pull it out and creating a similar situation to the one before with his mount. Speaking of said animal, she quickly noticed its trunk coming down at her.

    Despite the danger, Okita wasn''t fazed. If her opponent didn''t want her to pull her sword out, then she wouldn''t do so.

    Saber swiftly twirled her weapon and swept it to the side, creating a nasty wound on Berserker. With that done, she sidestepped just as the elephant''s trunk impacted on the ground, blowing dirt everywhere and generating a small cloud of dust.

    Taking advantage of the accidental cover, she jumped at Berserker, intending to finish him off. Using his instincts, the said man put the ax in his mouth on the way of Saber''s sudden strike.

    Ignoring the clanging sound produced after their two weapons met, Okita spun her body and delivered a kick to her opponent''s head. She could only move it slightly from its original position, but that was enough of a distraction for her.

    She used her previous kick to fix her posture, allowing her to dodge the upward swing Berserker had made to get her off of him.

    Spinning in mid-air, she slashed at his raised limb, severing his forearm from the rest of his body. The tall Servant roared as gravity made her touch the ground, but Okita didn''t stop her assault. She capitalized on his momentary distraction thanks to her previous attack and slashed once again at his t.h.i.g.h with quick precision, shifting behind him after doing so.

    She muted his screams as she continued to make slash after slash. She attacked his right and left calf simultaneously, making him kneel to the ground. He tried turning around to at least hack at her with the ax on his mouth, but every time he attempted to do so, Okita would move to his blind spot and keep making wounds.

    His mount had tried to help him numerous times, but as she was close to Darius, it couldn''t make any decisive attack. To make matters worse, when it picked him up, the pink-haired woman had also made a clean cut on its trunk, causing it to drop its owner on the ground.

    Helplessly, it watched as Saber pierced the downed Darius'' neck with that stoic face of hers. The Berserker Servant couldn''t even produce a sound as he started fading away, together with his mount and the soldiers that had betrayed him.

    Okita released a sigh before her Ascension came undone and reverted to the usual pink kimono attire. She coughed a few times as exhaustion caught up with her.

    Turning her head to the side, she observed the conclusion of Nobunaga''s battle. Both of them had finished their fight in an inhuman way, but it was not like they had morals about that considering they were Servants, which were basically tools for combat.

    She then started to witness the carnage on the other side. Black and red lightning fell one after the other with intense rage upon the Nobu army. Wind and fire tornados ravaged the land, decimating the little resistance they tried to make. As for the man itself, he was blurring across the battlefield, piercing and mutilating whoever stood in his way.

    ''A natural killer... huh... I hope he is ready for what will surely come next.'' Keeping those thoughts to herself, Okita stayed resting for a bit to recover a bit of stamina from the previous effort. Her sword never left her hand, though.

    ������������������������������������������������������������

    "This should be the place. I am sensing some Servant signatures from here, so there is no doubt we will have to do whatever we have been doing until now." Seth informed the duo while standing before some fortified city a couple of kilometers away from where they last fought.

    It had taken a bit of convincing to let him lead the way, particularly to Nobunaga. He had the inkling that she wasn''t as clueless as she seemed to be, and that she knew where the others were, but that didn''t matter much for now.

    "Then let''s go!" Cheerfully saying so, Nobunaga rushed past the gates and entered the city. Okita shook her head and followed her, albeit at a slower pace.

    The Egyptian God stood there for some seconds. He observed his hands, finding them red with the blood of the Gods, although that proved to be merely a trick of his imagination because when he blinked, they were clean.

    ''Good for you, Osiris. From today onwards, you will not be the only king that I have usurped.'' A sneer covered his face for a moment, only to be replaced by his default ''let''s get this nonsense over'' look immediately after.

    "Are you coming?" Okita''s question brought him out of his thoughts. The swordswoman was standing before the gates, looking at him with a quizzical look.

    "Yes. Just thinking about some things." Shaking his head, he started his walk ahead with Saber in tow.

    The Shinsengumi''s Captain focused her gaze on the city ahead of them. "It''s going to get cramped, isn''t it?"

    "Probably. Though, considering what we are going to face, I wouldn''t be surprised if this city ended up being leveled to the ground." She didn''t comment about that, but internally, she was agreeing with him.

    "Fuhahaha! I see that you have come, mongrels!" A loud and arrogant laugh was the first thing that greeted the two when they went past the gates. Seth couldn''t help but pinch the bridge of his nose. ''Of course she��he would have that attitude even when that weird mix happened.''

    The Kingslayer felt like ignoring every following word that came from his mouth, something he actually did. He was sure that a few insults were thrown his way, but as a good samaritan, he ignored all of them.

    When he looked around to pass the time while Gilgamesh and Nobunaga were talking, he was able to see the other two Servants accompanying the King. One was a weird clown with a weird suit and an equally weird hat. As for the other, he was a blue-haired kid with a floating book in front of him. The amusing thing was that he didn''t felt the same distortion the others had coming from him. It was possible that he was the only normal Servant here.

    The moment the two made eye contact, a strange vision flashed through his mind. In it, his body was lying on the ground with a gaping hole in his c.h.e.s.t, while the blue-haired Servant was kneeling beside him with blood covering him from head to toe. The kid muttered something with reluctance before all faded to black.

    Going by the widening eyes of the person he assumed to be a writer, he shared the same vision as him. ''Maybe that is my fate in the next Singularity. Good grief, what do I end up facing? Another Beast?''

    Despite having witnessed what looked like his impending death, his thoughts were light-hearted. If he counted the times where he had ended in a similar state then the fingers of both his hands wouldn''t be enough, and he had only died once before.

    As he was pondering about such trivialities, a sword came flying down at his head with great speeds; something he simply dodged by tilting his head.

    It seemed the fight had already begun.

 Chapter 180 - Sakura & Demon (5)

    "You lowly dog... Your heresy against the King will not go unpunished. I will remember this..." Those were Gilgamesh''s dying hate-filled words as his body was disappearing in particles of light. His bloody figure was a little hunched, but he refused to kneel.

    Only for that moment, it was the true King of Heroes speaking, and not the mix that had been before. For a moment, a look of sympathy flashed through Seth''s eyes. He was not at all pleased with his actions against Gilgamesh, mainly because they were something he would be absolutely mad about if they were done to him.

    Even so, he still didn''t let it get to his head. After Altera''s death, he had resolved not to nitpick when it came to what he had to do to come out victorious.

    Apparently, and very well according to his opponent''s personality, his look only worked to infuriate the Archer Servant even more. There was little Seth could do about that, so he merely stopped witnessing his end.

    Instead, he gave a casual glance at the interesting kid that shared a sort of premonitory vision with him. His torso had numerous holes courtesy of Nobunaga, and he was on his merry way back to the Throne of Heroes like Gilgamesh.

    The said Servant just clicked his tongue once he noticed his staring before looking the other way. "I do not know what that was, but it sure looks like the prelude to a terrible story with an equally terrible setting."

    His extremely deep voice, which was unbecoming of someone with his appearance, carried a sense of tiredness and annoyance with it. Whichever might be the case, he did not treat it as some sort of hoax. Rather, he knew it was something he would have to deal with in the near future.

    As for the clown, Okita had beheaded him after Gilgamesh shot him with a spear on his back ''by mistake''. In truth, Archer was aiming for Seth, but after the latter dodged, the stray weapon found its way into him.

    Leaving that aside, it didn''t take much longer for the other two Servants to fade away completely, leaving the three of them alone in a ruined and devastated city. Both the King and the Kingslayer had caused most of that damage with their fight. Gilgamesh, despite not being his original self, hadn''t pulled any punches, even going as far as summoning multiple Divine Constructs from his Gate of Babylon.

    The only thing he had avoided using was his most powerful weapon, but aside from that, he didn''t hold back. It was fortunate that he wasn''t his original self, or it would have taken so much more to defeat him, and even then, the chance of victory wasn''t guaranteed.

    Seth released a sigh once their enemies were gone, relaxing his muscles in the process. The King of Heroes had used many weapons capable of preventing regeneration, many of which had successfully pierced him. Without many alternatives, he had to force his body to close the wound by a crude method like doing pressure with the surrounding tissues.

    Now that Gilgamesh had died, though, his regeneration could finally activate once again. It was slow, but it was better than nothing, more so when he would probably be fighting right after this. Another reason not to care about cleaning the bloodstains on his persona.

    "It''s over, huh? I never want to fight someone like that again..." Okita said in a low tone while looking a little tired from all the physical effort. Her gaze told wonders about how much she wanted the next battle to be the last.

    "Indeed it is! Thanks to you, I have finally recovered most of my powers. All according to plan, wahahaha!" Nobunaga walked to the front and giving her back to them, but she turned around, she was met with the flat stares of both Seth and Okita, causing her to protest in indignation.

    "Hey! What is with that look?! It''s at times like these where you are supposed to feel shocked and gasp at this totally unexpected turn of events!" Their eyebrows raised in synchrony, clearly believing something was wrong with her brain.

    "We totally expected it, though..." Saber''s statement caught her off guard for some reason.

    "Wha-?! No way!" Her expression turned really weird for a second. As if they had just spoken in an alien language to her.

    "If you are stoping the farce I assume you can''t absorb more Servant." He hadn''t planned for it, but if she grew impatient and decided to finish this once and for all, he was more than up for it. There weren''t words to describe how much he regretted being here in the first place.

    "Hmph. Naturally, I can''t. You ruined all the fun by not letting me kill every single Servant. You have someone you care about in the last group, right? That would explain a lot." Seth''s eyes narrowed, giving Nobunaga the satisfaction of guessing what was on his mind.

    "No matter! I still have enough power to defeat you two, and more so when you just went through an exhausting battle!" Okita frowned at this. While it was true that the black-haired girl also fought with them, she was the one who exerted the least effort. The Divine Spirit next to her fought a monstrosity of a Servant, and her... Well, she had her own problems...

    "Are you ready?" Seth asked in a low voice to his remaining ''ally''. If anything, he knew Okita wanted to stop Nobunaga at all costs, so there wouldn''t be any trouble with them fighting together. What''s more, he only had bad blood with Nobunaga herself, not with the Saber Servant.

    She gave a firm nod at the same time that Archer acted. A smell of sulfur began to surround the area. Little red and orange sparks were ascending from the ground up as Nobunaga''s eyes shone with greater intensity than usual.

    Before any of them had the chance to do anything, a wave of fire assaulted their vision. None reacted, since they didn''t feel any attacking intent from it.

    When they regained their sight, what greeted them was a burning inferno. A mountainous landscape. A temple in ruins with charred bodies laying down, obviously dead. It was something that normal people would call a nightmare.

    Nobunaga was levitating in front of the burning temple while laughing manically. For some reason, she was n.a.k.e.d as well, but Seth and Okita had seen enough of her for that to not surprise them in the slightest.

    There was a moment where the black-haired man saw the faint image of a charred skeleton of considerable proportions behind her. ''So this is what people feel when I imitate them? Revolting, truly.''

    "How are you feeling?" Okita asked her companion with a frown adorning her face. She was aware of what this space caused on those who held Divinity or a great amount of Mystery, so her question was not out of place.

    "Our time has long ended. We were relieved of our duties, and so our Authorities were stripped away from us. As much as I am a special case to this, it doesn''t change the fact that the World is trying to kick me out of the planet''s surface. I get the same feeling while being here. As if I were in a place I shouldn''t belong. If you want an analogy, it feels like I am inside an ever-shrinking box that will eventually deform me into nothingness." That he had a way to counter it was left unsaid, but it was most likely that Okita already knew he had something up his sleeves.

    "Understood. I will take the front. Can you give me support?" Saber''s request puzzled him a little. He worked best in the frontlines, and he didn''t really know what to do to help her in the first place. To say that he didn''t understand what she gained from this was an understatement.

    His puzzlement must have shown on his face as Okita decided to clarify. "This place brings her Anti-Mystery and Anti-Divine abilities to a whole new level. I know you are fast, but a single bullet from her could really cause you harm. I am a mere human, and my Mystery is practically non-existent. I am best suited to fight her in close quarters."

    Seth''s brows furrowed a bit after hearing her. She definitely made a point, but he was still not entirely convinced. "If this is her world, she would be able to summon a gun from wherever she likes. It is kind of pointless whether I stay away from her or not."

    "That is not actually the case. She can only point her guns to a place she is physically seeing, so she can''t shoot you in the back. Plus, the farther they are from her, the more difficult it is to control them. It is not much, but it is the little information I could gather after being around her." She reassured him as much as she could, which seemed to have made the trick... barely.

    "If you say so..." His voice carried a bit of uncertainty, but at least he complied. "But if you are going to go about it like that, then I can''t leave one of your coughing fits to chance. Come here for a second and show your back to me."

    Although confused about what he was planning, she did as he asked, albeit with a little caution. Nobunaga was still laughing maniacally while still expanding her Reality Marble, so they had a bit more time to plan their strategy. As much as she would have liked to attack now, it wouldn''t be that easy.

    Now that she was closer, Seth placed a hand in the middle of her back. Okita tensed slightly but showed no other reaction. Meanwhile, the black-haired man closed his eyes as he activated one of his Authorities. It was a bit challenging at first, considering where they were in. Even so, he preserved in the end and was able to do what he wanted to do.

    Saber felt a strange sensation coursing through her body and into her Spirit Origin. It didn''t feel like anything concrete. When she thought it was creepy, it would become pleasant, and vice versa. When she felt it being aggressive, it would become calm, with the opposite holding true as well. All in all, it was a memorable experience.

    Nothing would prepare her for what came next, though. The moment something akin to a fog began to hover around her Spirit Origin, she started feeling strangely energetic. Any tiredness she had until now was gone. Any trace of weakness was gone. And any sign of her illness...

    Her illness was...

    It was...

    ...Gone...?

    She turned her head so fast that it wouldn''t have been strange if her neck had broken. Her widening eyes peered into his slowly opening ones. Gold gave way to red as he stared back at her with a small amount of confusion.

    "Why are you suddenly crying?" Saber didn''t answer even when the scorching heat vaporized the water dripping down her cheeks. Her mouth was as open as her eyes, trying to formulate a reply but ultimately failing.

    Yes... How could he know? How could he know that this illness had been plaguing her her whole life. While others laughed on the streets, she was lying weakly on a bed. While the others went about their daily lives, she had to stay coped in a place that looked like a prison from her perspective.

    ...While her companions from the Shinsengumi went to do their job, she had to watch them wondering if they would ever come back. Her outstretched hand was never able to reach their backs.

    As she lost them one by one, she could do nothing about it. Nothing...!!!

    Seeing her stigma, her curse, her burden disappear just like that... It brought her mixed feeling, but it was mostly... relief. Her shoulders could finally stop being so tense.

    In the end, she could only mutter a quiet "Thank you" to him. However, it was enough to convey the endless gratitude she had for him for what he had done.

    Seth merely nodded, now understanding a bit more of her problems once she released all those negative emotions she had been holding onto. "It''s no issue. Though be warned that this is temporary. The cover over your Spirit Origin will maintain itself because we are technically in a different world. Outside of this Reality Marble, I would have to keep my Authority continuously active for it to keep working."

    Although saddened that this was not a permanent thing, she still felt extremely glad, as well as happy. The truth of the matter was; when this was over, she would have to return to the Throne of Heroes anyway. Her happiness was destined to be short-lived. Even so, this small moment was enough for her to outshine all the suffering she went through in her life.

    He separated a bit from her and extended right his arm toward the sky. He didn''t even try to make use of the fire surrounding him as he knew the laws of Nobunaga''s world wouldn''t allow it. Instead, he used his own Fire Authority to congregate vibrant red flames on his hand��flames that took the shape of a bow.

    Once it was fully formed, he grasped it in his hands before positioning it forward. This was the answer he had come to when it came to supporting Okita. Not the best, but it would do.

    He gave one last look at the swordswoman that was wiping her tears with the sleeves of her kimono, once again asking the question he asked before. "Are you ready to get this over with?"

    Saber gave him what could be considered an ugly smile, taking into account the red around her eyes and a bit of snot. However, her whole spirit screamed ''cheerful''. "Leave it to me! Okita will do her best and lend you her sword!"

 Chapter 181 - Sakura & Demon (END)

    After offering her affirmation, Okita immediately turned her head to Nobunaga, who by this point was looking at them with a wicked smirk as if they were pigs to the slaughter.

    Both ignored that look and prepared to give her a free ticket to Yomi. Archer, of course, didn''t mind the disregard. What was important for her was to defeat them and absorb their remnants like she had been doing with the previous Servants. Of course, she had a certain aberration to mix herself with a full God, but those were semantics.

    For now, she believed she had left them enough time to finish their little struggle. In that case, the battle was in order.

    She swung her left arm to the side with swift precision. Firearms manifested in the hundreds when she finished that motion, all pointed at them. It was going to be a hard-to-dodge barrage, that much Okita could tell. And if she did, naturally her enemy was the same, which is why her smirk grew in proportions.

    Mentally giving the command, all the guns fired at the same time in their direction. Before the energy bullets could travel far, though, they were intercepted by red laser-like arrows, stopping them in their tracks without much trouble.

    Nobunaga''s eyes widened a bit, and even Okita observed Seth from the corner of her vision with a small amount of surprise.

    It was true that he had stopped Archer''s attack seemingly without effort, but even so, he was still a bit dissatisfied. The reason being; some of the bullets managed to get past his arrows, although those proved no danger to them as they were the ones the farthest from their exact position.

    Some would consider what he had done good enough already, and more so if they considered he had only used a bow once in his life and it was to teach his student. He, however, didn''t want to settle with ''good enough.'' Not when a stray bullet of those mass-produced guns could cause annoyances or outright fatal damage��to him, at least.

    Giving one last look at Saber, he spoke, "Go. I will provide cover fire, you make sure she doesn''t shoot freely." Okita nodded at that and ran off to face the distant Archer.

    He didn''t voice the rest of his thoughts, that if worse came to worst, he would find a window to blast her together with Nobunaga. She was not his responsibility, so he had no qualms with claiming victory in such a manner.

    Unaware of his thoughts, Saber arrived close to Archer in an instant. The Fool of Owari had a scowl on her face as she retreated a few steps before more guns materialized around her, every one of them pointing at Okita.

    The guns immediately fired at the swordswoman, who zigzagged to avoid the bullets before she gave chase to her opponent.

    That proved to be unnecessary as multiple arrows of Magical Energy curved around Saber from behind and went directly at Nobunaga.

    "Tch. You stay out of this!" She summoned even more guns while snarling, trying to avoid being pierced by the arrows. They fired at her will, obstructing the arrows on their trajectory and pushing her back even more from the winds of the resulting collision.

    As neither her beam-like bullets nor his laser-like arrows had much power behind them, Nobunaga''s because she was close to the impact, and Seth''s because Okita was in range, there was not any type of grand explosion, but more of small blasts than anything.

    The pink-haired swordswoman was also pushed back a little bit. Though, compared to Archer, she didn''t receive that much of a recoil.

    Once she stabilized her foothold, Okita once again jumped at Nobunaga again, something the black-haired woman countered by using her saber.

    Both weapons clashed, creating small sparks that joined the ones already there because of the burning hell. Okita had the advantage in terms of swordsmanship, but Nobunaga made up for it with the boost of her Reality Marble and the added support of her floating guns, which prevented the Shinsengumi''s leader to keep a continuous assault.

    Of course, she didn''t forget about her other �� and more problematic �� enemy. While she kept more of her focus on Saber as she was an ''immediate threat,'' she didn''t neglect the Divine pest. Most of her guns aimed at him, making sure he was always on the run and couldn''t get clear arrows at her.

    Seth ran among the crumbling buildings and sea of corpses while shooting arrow after arrow with as much precision as possible. Instead of dodging, Nobunaga opted for a clash of attacks. She couldn''t concentrate on dodging both Okita and him, so that''s the best solution she was able to find.

    As he walked through the fires while providing support, he was made aware of how much of an annoyance the Anti-Divine properties of this place were. For a God of Fire to feel the stinging sensation of his skin burning was something else.

    But, if there was a positive aspect he could point out about all of this, then that would be the extra insight he gained in the making of his own Reality Marble. It might be because it was made to fight Divine beings or maybe for its fire nature, but he could safely say that being here was more helpful than in EMIYA''s Unlimited Blade Works.

    Stopping his idle thoughts for a moment, Seth shot another barrage of arrows at Nobunaga. He had to time them just right as to not hit Okita otherwise it would be pointless. The Saber Servant had been doing a good job at knowing when to retreat for him to do the most harm against Archer.

    His job of keeping her in check was going relatively smoothly save for the increasing pressure against him. Not to mention that his presence was also being a little detrimental to the fight. His status as a God allowed Nobunaga to increase her Parameters to new heights; enough to keep up with Okita, who wasn''t suffering from her illness, which meant the swordswoman was on a whole new level. Yet even then, the black-haired woman was able to reach a standstill.

    As their swords clashed, it was clear that no one would come out victorious any time soon. What Nobunaga lacked in technique, she complimented with superiors ''stats.'' Even with the support of her companion, who helped her by intercepting Archer''s beam-like bullets, Okita still had to dodge some of them that managed to slip through. It was certainly frustrating, but the cold killer within her knew better than to make hasty decisions in the middle of combat.

    That sentiment was not shared by Nobunaga, though. Her annoyance was increasing with each passing second. Her exchanges with Okita had been going for around ten minutes, and nothing seemed to be changing. Fights against Servants equal in strength were quite rare. Most usually they always had one side which was clearly superior to the other, and so, even if the fight could last an hour or even more, a change would be noticeable, be it through wounds, tiredness, shifting on one''s mental state, and so on. In this fight, however, everything remained the same as when they began, and that''s what bothered her the most.

    That''s what compelled her to make a change. The moment when their swords met was when she decided to precisely shift the balance.

    Nobunaga let the weight of Okita''s own attack push her back, causing the said Servant to momentarily stumble forward due to the nonexistent resistance from her opponent. Taking advantage of this, Archer kicked her in the stomach, making the pink-haired woman fly back a couple of meters before stabilizing herself.

    She acted with swiftness, knowing that the small distance she had created would also work against her since the God would take advantage of it to shoot arrows relentlessly at her.

    Nobunaga''s Magical Energy flared to life as a red aura began to envelop her, mixing itself with the already fiery landscape. It didn''t take a genius to know her intentions. Naturally, her enemies knew what she was planning.

    ''She hasn''t used her Noble Phantasm in the previous fights, but I am not interested in knowing what it is either.'' Seth thought with narrowed eyes. Nobunaga pointed most of her guns at him, already knowing he would try to stop her and fired.

    The Kingslayer clicked his tongue and started moving around once again. Instead of shooting instantly like he had been doing, he decided to charge his arrow with his Mana for a greater burst.

    Meanwhile, Okita was having the same thoughts about stopping Nobunaga''s Noble Phantasm. She had been dodging some of the bullets meant as a distraction thanks to her Mind''s Eye Skill, but just being on the defensive wouldn''t cut it.

    Taking a deep breath, Saber activated another one of her Skills, disappearing amidst a rain of projectiles. There was no sound, no air movement, no danger sensation; nothing that could give someone a guess of where she had gone to.

    Not until Nobunaga felt a presence behind her. Quickly turning around, she was met with Okita after she had used Reduced Earth; a Skill that could be simplified as ''instant movement''. She had never used it before, preferring to keep it as a surprise factor��something that seemed to have worked in the end.

    Her eyes were ice cold, and her intention clear. She wouldn''t be satisfied with anything less than Nobunaga''s head. Her arm retracted a little as the tip of the sword was slowly pointing at Archer''s neck.

    The Fool of Owari was flanked from both sides, and there was seemingly nothing she could do. If she focused too much on dodging Saber, her other foe would have an easy shot at her; while if she did the opposite, the same would thing would happen but with Okita instead.

    So, in the end, she settled for neither. She waited until the last moment before tilting her head. The blade grazed the flesh of her neck and even managed to insert itself a little in.

    In an act that could be considered fearless, Nobunaga grabbed Okita by the arm, causing her sword to shake under Archer''s skin, all with an insane grin.

    Saber momentarily widened her eyes before she was lifted off the ground and thrown behind her, taking a chunk of flesh from Nobunaga in the process.

    The direction where she flew off was the same one as the incoming attack from Seth. He had taken advantage of the small moment of distraction Archer had when Okita sneaked up on her to release an attack powerful enough to wound her greatly if it landed.

    A spiral of red and orange was heading Saber''s way and there was no chance of dodging it as she was still in mid-air. She didn''t think Nobunaga would take that risk just to come out alive from her surprise attack. It was a blunder on her part.

    There was no way her ally would be able to stop the attack as it was already launched. Besides, despite not being Devine, she could feel how the restrictions against that kind were increasing little by little if the growing heat produced by the fire surrounding them was anything to go by.

    That only left her and her alone to search for a way to come out safe and sound from this... or at least alive. And as much as she racked her brain in the small timeframe she had, Okita could only come to a single conclusion.

    She quickly spun to try and better her posture as much as she could. The attack was almost upon her, so she didn''t have time to dilly-dally and had to act at that moment; no two ways about it.

    ''One silent step...'' Taking a deep breath, she brought her katana to eye-level, pointing it at the fiery spiral.

    ?

    ''Two steps infinite...'' Her kimono disappeared and taking its place was her Shinsengumi uniform. Once again, she had forcefully ascended, albeit this time, without her illness plaguing her, she didn''t suffer any adverse effects.

    ?

    ''Three steps, a sword absolute!'' A white aura began to surround her as if trying to fight the scorching light from the attack with pure nothingness.

    ?

    And finally... she lunged her sword forward.

    ?

    "��Mumyou Sandan-Zuki!��"

    A bright flash engulfed her as well as Seth''s attack. From the distance, the black-haired man observed with rapt attention what would the outcome be.

    He had to admit they didn''t have the best synergy considering Nobunaga was able to push them into this situation, but for people who were fighting together properly for the first time, they had been doing all right so far.

    From his position, he was able to see clearly how Okita deployed her Noble Phantasm. It brought up a thought in him after he witnessed the technique. ''Without a doubt, it is similar to the attack of that samurai I fought back then when that bimbo Goddess stole those stupid sweets. Considering it''s more of a sword skill than anything, I should be able to replicate it as I did with Tsubame Gaeshi.''

    A sudden gust of wind snapped his attention back to the battlefield. He watched as his attack didn''t get to explode; it just disappeared in a wave of fire to the sides. He might not be the best Archer out there��scratch that, he s.u.c.k.e.d at archery, but to stop one of his arrows without suffering any consequences was something worthy of praise.

    A buzzing sound was heard next to the piece of the broken wall he was standing on. Okita appeared panting a bit more from mental tiredness than physical. That was a really close call for her.

    Unfortunately for them, they didn''t have time to exchange words. In the time Saber had unleashed her Noble Phantasm, Nobunaga had already invoked her own.

    If before she had only summoned guns in the hundreds, now she had done so in the thousands. These ones, however, were clearly stronger than the previous ones, evidenced by the red miasma coating them.

    Additionally to her Noble Phantasm, Archer had activated her Skill Tenka Fubu A. It granted her attacks more power against those of Divine nature. And if that weren''t enough, her Noble Phantasm also became stronger against those possessing the Riding Skill as Okita did.

    "Are you prepared, maggots?" Her echoing voice was all it took for every arquebus to point at them. From an outsider''s perspective, it looked like a hopeless situation with no escape whatsoever. Obviously, Saber as a Servant and Seth as a God would never throw the towel just because the odds were seemingly against them.

    The black-haired man made his makeshift bow disappear as he currently was only able to use two Authorities inside this Reality Marble, and one was already occupying that space. Fire was not known for its defensive capabilities, so it would only be a hindrance.

    Instead, he made materialized his trident, bringing the three tips down to the scorched earth. Water slowly began to pour down all around them, chasing away the vivid flames that were surrounding them. Though, as they were part of this place meant to counter the Divine, the effects weren''t that great.

    Okita momentarily took her attention from the incoming attack to observe the weapon and then him. Raising a curious eyebrow, she asked the first question that came to her mind, "Are you by any chance Poseidon?"

    Seth''s face contorted a bit in disgust as he watched her from the corner of his eyes. "Not at all."

    Okita merely nodded, choosing to believe in his words going by his expression alone, although that weapon was a little suspicious in her books.

    "Get behind me. I will protect us and then we will counter-attack." The Egyptian God said with a low enough voice for only her to hear. Her brows furrowed as if trying to protest against the decision, but one look was all it took to know that it wasn''t up to discussion.

    "Begone once and for all! This is the Demon King''s ��Three Line Formation: Three Thousand Worlds!��" Nobunaga gave them no time to plan for more. With one hand clutching her neck to stop the bleeding and the other holding her saber aimed at them, she finally released her Noble Phantasm.

    At her command, every gun fired at the same time, clouding their view with nothing more than multiple flashes of incandescent light.

    Seth wasted no time. He spun his trident at fast speeds before making it point skyward, quickly activating one of the Noble Phantasms engraved on the weapon itself. ''Treasure of the Underwater Temple!''

    Water immediately coiled around the trident, tuning itself with the weapon; followed by a blue barrier surrounding them in the shape of a dome.

    The effect was instantaneous. As soon as the thousands of beam-like bullets collided with the barrier, the two of them felt their world shake.

    Seth had to pour more of his Magical Energy into their protection way more sooner than he had expected. ''As I thought... Anti-Divine Servants are the biggest thorn in my side.''

    Saber watched with bated breath, wondering if he would hold on. It has been only a few seconds after Nobunaga''s attack on the barrier had begun, and their protection already showed hints of breaking.

    "Oi... Are you sure you can hold on?" She wasn''t trying to mock him with her question. In fact, she was a bit concerned. For what would happen if they failed, and for him, since he was the person who granted her wish, as temporary as it might be.

    The Egyptian God only gave her a glance before focusing forward again. As much as he would like to have the leisure to answer, he didn''t. Saying he underestimated her threat level would be an understatement.

    As if that were not enough, Nobunaga''s Alignment didn''t resonate with any of his Skills at all, so she was most likely Neutral. If Lawful, True, or Chaotic, he didn''t know.

    With no other option left in hand, he decided to went for the only Skill that could help him in this situation, which was, ironically, Affection of the Goddess (Sun) EX. Shapeshift A wouldn''t work as it only would increase his physical defense, and he was not that dumb to let himself be hit by those bullets.

    Now surrounded by a vibrant yellow aura, Seth was able to sustain the barrier with more ease. The cracks spreading through the blue dome stopped spreading and began to mend themselves instead.

    Meanwhile, on the other side, Nobunaga watched her Noble Phantasm''s assault play out with a wicked grin on her face. She wasn''t hearing the sound of something hitting the ground after her attack, but rather a deep sound as if her bullets were impacting a wet surface. Nevertheless, she thought nothing of it.

    She couldn''t perfectly see the outcome as thousands of blinding flashes of light impeded her vision. Even so, she could make out a smoke cloud forming around the location where her attacks were landing.

    Just like that, a few minutes went by, her Noble Phantasm not once stopping, until she considered it was enough. As much as she wished her Magical Energy was inexhaustible, that wasn''t the case. Besides, what she did was already overkill as it was.

    At her command, the arquebuses stopped firing before disappearing shortly after.

    With nothing to block her view any longer, she was able to see the destruction her attack had caused. The smoke cloud was now more visible and bigger in size. The ground was filled with holes the size of a car, and even the cracking of fire seemed to be muted. It wouldn''t be an exaggeration to call it a dead zone.

    "Wahahaha! See that?! I am invincible��ouch!" Nobunaga laughed madly, albeit with joy. That didn''t stop the pain in her neck when she did so, though.

    Still, that wouldn''t damp her mood. However, the realization that came next would. She didn''t feel their power becoming hers. In fact, she didn''t spot any change. It was as if...

    ''Shit...!'' Widening her eyes in understanding, she turned her head again to the smoke cloud only to notice a little white flash of light, something she immediately recognized as the reflection of a sword.

    Nobunaga was too late to react. She briefly saw a blur and, in an instant, a good part of the right side of her waist was gone.

    Her assailant didn''t stop and continued their path with a difficult-to-follow speed. She c.o.c.ked her head their way, trying to see who was the one that injured her like this. Alas, in doing so, she neglected her other enemy. A mistake that would cost her dearly.

    Before she could even begin to process the events that transformed her from the winner to a dying loser, something pierced her back, going all the way to her front.

    Looking down, she saw three tips coming out of her c.h.e.s.t area. In a fit of masterful precision, each one of them had pierced her two lungs and heart.

    ''My ambition... It sure was short-lived...'' She wouldn''t give the satisfaction to her opponent to see her in this state, so she decided to fade away on her own accord. The last thing in her vision was the black clouds from her Reality Marble parting to reveal the clear blue sky of the real world.

    With the Reality Marble gone, the other two could finally take a short break. Seth exited the smoke cloud while extending his hand forward. The trident that was lying on the ground after Nobunaga''s disappearance immediately went to him. Catching it, the black-haired man began to look around, trying to spot his temporary companion.

    He spotted her a couple of hundred meters away, making her way to him while swaying from side to side like a drunkard. When she neared his location, she couldn''t help but blurt out, "Please don''t do that again, I feel like I traveled to a parallel world just with that speed."

    "But throwing you at her worked in the end, didn''t it? We should have done so from the beginning." He said, much to her dismay.

    "You finally got out! I was tired of waiting!" An all-too-familiar voice interrupted them, causing both to let a groan of frustration.

    "Didn''t we just kill you? Why can''t you stay dead?" Okita asked after a sigh. She didn''t feel like doing this anymore.

    "Hey! What you just fought was my evil side! She escaped from me while I was in the bathroom and knocked me out cold! Can you believe it?! The nerve of that idiot!" ''Good'' Nobunaga huffed while folding her arms with a pout on her face.

    "Did you just call yourself an idiot? Anyway, it seems that you were the cause of all this mumbo jumbo, or rather, that evil side of yours. So I guess my work here it''s done. Let''s not see each other again, ever." Seth waved his hand dismissively without any regard for her feelings on the matter. He just wanted to get out of here as soon as possible.

    "Hmph. I was planning to take it from where my other self left off, but I don''t want to anymore! And it''s not like I want to see your face either, you old h.i.p.ster." Saying so with a voice that wouldn''t be out of place in a whining little kid, she began to fade away in motes of light.

    The only answer he got from him was a twitch on his eyebrows, but going by her ever-growing smirk, it was enough. Okita sighed at her antics, although she would admit, they had grown on her by this point.

    "Well, her problems with you aside, I would gladly lend you my sword once again. You gave me the greatest gifts of all, so repaying it wouldn''t be much of a problem for me." Saber gave him a small but appreciative smile.

    "If you are done with your lovers'' farewell, we can all go now." Nobunaga rolled her eyes at all the sappy and melodramatic words.

    "Stop saying nonsense. Gratitude doesn''t mean love." Okita hit the back of Archer''s head while shaking her head.

    ''Well, if anything, she can teach Fujimaru sword forms while I teach him to use his instincts, so I guess it''s not a bad idea.'' The Egyptian God ignored the rest of the bickering while focusing on the important parts.

    As he didn''t plan to stick around anymore, he disappeared shortly after. Going by the information Romani gave him in passing, the next Singularity had been spotted, and so, they didn''t have time to waste anymore. They had to go and now.

    With that said, he wouldn''t consider this mess to be meaningless. He learned a lot in many areas.

    ''My own instincts are screaming so loud they look like they have a real voice now. What could be possibly waiting ahead I wonder...?''

    With such thoughts, he returned to Chaldea.

 Chapter 182 - The Mist City Awaits

    "��ibly irresponsible! You should at least have made some sort of contact! Do you have any idea how worried we were?!" Yes, that was his life now: listening to Da Vinci''s rant after he conveniently forgot to update them on the situation. While he went Servant hunting, they were dealing with an invasion of Nobus that looked like spiderman with how much they walked on the walls.

    Seth just spun on Romani''s chair, not bothering to pay much heed to her rambling. The said doctor was sipping on his mug of coffee while watching everything play out from the sides with amus.e.m.e.nt all over his face.

    "I am not human, Da Vinci. I know how to defend myself, so your worries, while appreciated, aren''t needed. Besides, we already tested the new communication technology as well as the upgraded machine to withstand energy readings on the levels of Beasts, which proves my point: there was no need to contact you or show you the data of the fights I went through." His calm tone did nothing to alleviate the genius, but she figured she would be talking to a wall if she continued with the matter.

    "It is strange, though. How did you know how to improve our technology? No offense, but your culture doesn''t scream futuristic. Unless you confirm to me that the aliens were indeed the ones that built the pyramids." Da Vinci raised a quizzical eyebrow while Romani just chuckled lightly, knowing that she was more interested in the second thing than the first, and going by the eye roll of the inquired person, he knew it as well.

    "There was an ancient civilization in Kemet �� old Egypt �� dozens of thousands of years ago. I learned some bits from one of them when he begged me for help. But I assure you, they were as ''earthlings'' as you two." Time sure flew fast for him. It seemed it was yesterday he got killed and later put through all that stupid reincarnation ordeal.

    "Help? Against what?" This time it was the orange-haired man who asked. He might have once chosen wisdom over everything else, including, knowledge, but that didn''t mean he wasn''t curious, and even more so considering his current job.

    "They were advanced, extremely so. Today''s era is not even a tenth of what it was back then. However, they grew conceited. They wanted to take destiny into their own hands; to reach the stars above and overthrow us." A valiant effort and one he applauded. Sadly, they went at it with the wrong mindset.

    "...I imagine your kind didn''t take too kindly to that." Da Vinci''s voice was heavy. Although not with direct experience, she could imagine how it would have been just with the data they had from Servants of the Age of the Gods that Seth obtained during his totally-not-forced-by-her part-time job.

    "No, they did not. They were dead set on destroying them for that blasphemy. Knowing there was no way out, I tried warning one of the most understanding and level-headed ones through his dreams. He did what he could, but in the end, he could not convince the majority to stop what would be their demise. That is how I learned some things from his memory, though." His tone conveyed more exasperation than regret for their end, and they could guess why. First of all, he was sure to be on that ''hit list''. Second of all, they knew how hard it was to persuade hard-headed people hell-bent on doing something.

    "If they wanted to rebel, they must have had a way to defeat all of you, am I wrong?" Da Vinci asked, already going in inventor mode. She even put on her glasses to exemplify that fact.

    "Not at all. I vaguely remember hearing something about a giant of steel with the power to kill us all, but if their end meant something, they couldn''t make it come to their aid." A shame, really. It was their only ticket to survival, and he was sure his past self would have liked to fight that thing��not that it mattered to his current self''s situation.

    "Hm... Do you have any idea perchance of where that "giant of steel" would be now, right~?" Caster got too close for comfort, and the twinkle in his... her... whatever eyes was blinding him. She was dedicated to the subjects that interested her, that much he would give her.

    "It has been a long time. By now, it should be buried somewhere in the northern desert. What? Ready to kill me when I am not useful?" His sarcastic tone and hand gestures told the other two he obviously wasn''t speaking seriously.

    "Don''t joke like that. I just consider it as a challenge to triumph over what my predecessors could not. Speaking of which, how did they meet their end?" Da Vinci also spoke in a mock-offended tone, something that made the other two smile a bit.

    "They were buried alive. The Sahara as you humans call it it''s a consequence of that." Seth answered, this time a bit stiffly, something the other two caught on, but decided not to dwell on it, fearing the good atmosphere would vanish.

    "Bummer. I hoped I could meet one of them one day. One that is at least open to an exchange of ideas, anyway." She complained while crossing her arms; a gesture Seth didn''t understand where it came from.

    "You can literally go to the past with your little toy. Why complain about not being able to talk to them? Just make sure to travel at least a hundred years earlier than their failed revolt."

    "Nope! We can''t Rayshift willy-nilly! There are regulations we have to follow and such. Even if we break them all the time..." The last part was said in a whisper, although the black-haired man clearly heard it.

    "Too many rules will only tie you down and prevent you from doing what has to be done in some scenarios." He could only provide a helpless shrug. At the end of the day, they were different; they have the same morals and ideas, so there wasn''t much he could say.

    "Easy for you to say. You are like a free spirit with no one to a few above you." Romani said while going to the main computer near Seth. The Egyptian God stood up from his seat to let the doctor do his work, something he acknowledged with a nod.

    ''If only that were true...'' Those were his thoughts as he went to rest in the near wall. Outwardly, though, he showed nothing but small amus.e.m.e.nt.

    Dr. Roman gasped, earning the other two''s attention. They raised their eyebrows at the rapid tapping of keys, making them wonder what was that had gotten him in a more professional mood. His next words answered their doubts.

    "I just found the coordinates for the next Singularity. I need a few minutes to set everything up, and we you would be set to go." He then gave Seth a glance from the corner of his eyes, looking apologetic. "Sorry to ask you the day after you came back from resolving the previous issue but time is something we lack unfortunately."

    "You don''t need to apologize. ???????? ???????? what I came for, after all. Just make sure everything goes well, and I will take care of the rest." Romani gave a thankful nod before returning to his task.

    It was at that moment where Fujimaru and Mash entered the Command Room. The former looked a little pale. He was also swaying a bit on his steps. Good sleep seemed to have eluded him.

    "Is there something wrong? You look terrible." Although she said that while smiling, the concern on Da Vinci''s voice was easily noticeable.

    "Senpai said he had a strange dream. Despite not remembering exactly what it was about, he seems to be suffering from it." It was the Shielder Servant the one who answered for him, while the direct party merely affirmed it with his head. He probably didn''t even have the strength to speak.

    ''A strange dream? Right at this time? And he conveninetly forgot about it? I don''t believe in coincidences and I am not going to start doing it now.'' Those signs had ''visions'' written all over them. It wouldn''t be a strech to say those were indications of the awakening of Clairvoyance. He might not be an expert in that subject since the current him didn''t posses it, and when he did, he couldn''t take advantage of it, but he knew people that did. Without going far, Stargazer and Romani were one of them, although the former might not have it anymore.

    Speaking of the orange-haired man, he was observing Fujimaru with a little shock on his face. Seeing his reaction, Seth practically confirmed his suspicions. However, if Romani didn''t want to say anything, he wouldn''t do it either.

    The Doctor qucikly recomposed himself before addressing the pair. "We have everything we need to go to the next Singularity, but waiting a few hours wouldn''t be much of a problem if you are not feeling fine. Go and have breakfast and relax if possible. We will be all set for when you two come back."

    Mash was surprised at the reveletion. "Already? Where is it?"

    "It''s in the 19th Century. The closest to the modern era we have had so far, and it will probably stay like that. As for the location; it is London. Even though I don''t think you will face Heroic Spirits from the Age of the Gods like back in Okeanos, it wouldn''t hurt to be careful." Seth perked up a little at the mention of London. Going by the small amount of research he had made, he was able to know of an entrance to the Reverse Side of the World in that particular city. Unfortunately, the details of its location where all grayed out.

    "Do not worry, Doctor. We will do our best in this Singularity as well!" Her enthusiasm made Romani and Da Vinci smile, and even Fujimaru looked more energetic.

    The two didn''t take long to exit the room, and all of a sudden, their smiled turned to tired ones. "Sigh... I am now worried..."

    "Are you speaking about his dream?" Seth asked, making the orange-haired man tense slightly before relaxing shortly after. It was useless hiding it at this point.

    "Yes... I am afraid it can mean something bad is going to happen. There is a chance we will meet the mastermind behind all of this as well." The Egyptian God didn''t know if those were his fears speaking, or it was something more. In any case, he wouldn''t take his words lightly.

    "The chance is there. However, going to a battlefied afraid of the outcome means you already lost. Mastermind or not, our job remains the same." Seth''s words didn''t alleviate his fears, but at least it reassured him if only a little bit.

    "I don''t know if I am asking for much, but please keep an eye on them. I am not saying you have to be their nanny 24/7. Just... don''t let them face something they are not prepared to." It was Da Vinci who spoke this time. She was as worried as Romani. It wasn''t a secret that she had taken a liking to them, and it was not easy to send them to a Singularity knowing the possible outcome of death was there.

    The Kingslayer silently looked at her. He couldn''t promise that knowing the almost-sure outcome that awaited him in London, so instead of making a false promise, he would do what he could. "You have my word. I will protect them as long as I can, but as you said, I can''t watch over them all the time. Danger or not, they need to mature by themselves on a war-filled ambient if they want to stand a chance against the worst of enemies. Take it as an advice from someone who once was in a similar position."

    Although she wanted to refute his words; internally, she knew he was right. Still, anything other than nothing was okay for her. "Thanks, we owe you for this."

    Dr. Roman nodded as well, wanting to express the same feeling of gratitude. He, though, wanted to add something. "I know I might be overreacting, but you be careful as well. There is this nagging feeling on the back of my mind that tells me this Singularity will not be as easy as it might seem."

    "I am aware of that. Call it a hunch, but I feel like I might not come back here with the other two after we are done IF we are done." Those omnious words did nothing more but make the atmosphere heavy. Romani and Da Vinci didn''t know if that was for the best. That way they wouldn''t send them away with false hopes...

    A few hours passed like that. During them, the three didn''t speak much, only focusing on their tasks at hand. Romani with the Rayshift, Da Vinci with the capsules, and Seth trying to achieve the perfect state of mind.

    Mash and Fijumaru returned once again. This time, the Japanese youth looked better than ever. A good sign, at least. Once they arrived, Seth went to his capsule to wait for the process to start.

    "Are you ready?" Just by the force of habit, Dr. Roman asked them, receiving a nod in return. They also entered the capsules to start their journey anew.

    ''Good luck...'' With those finally words in his mind, Romani Rayshifted them.

 Chapter 183 - Into The Mist

    The group of three opened their eyes, taking a moment to adjust themselves to working conditions after the Rayshifting process was over. This time, they didn''t bring anyone to accompany them.

    It had been something Romani, Da Vinci, and Seth had decided on after some talk. Instead of bringing Servants for the sake of bringing them, it was best to analyze the situation from within and then choose who to call from Chaldea.

    In the meantime, Seth would be their attacking source while Mash would be their defensive one. There was no point in making Fujimaru waste Magical Energy on someone not suited for the job.

    Unfortunately for the black-haired man, Fou had come along this time as well. The little squirrel was looking around, taking in the view. When he noticed Seth staring at him with a flat stare, he gave him a dismissive glance before returning to sightseeing.

    "Hello? Can you hear me loud and clear?" Dr. Roman''s voice made them all focus on Mash''s wrist, where a small watch was projecting a window with Romani''s figure in it. This watch was one of the things Seth had helped Da Vinci to create. He and Fujimaru had one as well, just to avoid a repetition of Okeanos'' incident where a bad lapse of judgment almost cost them everything.

    "Yes, we can, Doctor. Were there any abnormalities with the Rayshift?" The Shielder Servant asked while taking in the sight of London. It was... something. A perpetual night with no ending in sight, and fog that didn''t allow people to see more than a few hundred meters ahead.

    "Not at all. Everything seems perfect, at least for now. But this fog..." Romani sounded a little pensive and even worried, something that caught the attention of the lilac-haired girl.

    "The fog? What with it? We should be around the times of the Industrial Revolution. Isn''t it normal?" She asked while moving her head to the side.

    "It''s filled to the brim with Magical Energy. Such concentration should be like inhaling poisonous gas. Isn''t that right, Romani?" It was Seth the one who answered, and the orange-haired man followed up.

    "Exactly. How are you holding up, Fujimaru? Any strange symptoms?" The youth shook his head negatively. Just in case, he checked things like the color of his skin or if he had trouble breathing.

    "No, there aren''t. I feel just fine." He too was puzzled. They were making a big deal out of it going by the worried looks of Romani and Mash, so he understood that he SHOULD be feeling something bad, but that was not the case. Naturally, he was happy that it was like that and not the other way.

    "You should be careful, though. That fog is giving me a bad feeling, so you would do well in stay far away from the denser parts." It was unnatural, that much he knew. Even so, he felt that there was something more to it, although he couldn''t quite place what.

    "I agree. You would do well in looking for a place to take refuge from it just in case. We can always start trying to solve this Singularity after we have somewhere to return to." Dr. Roman gave them a suggestion, one that they accepted without any protests.

    "It is strange, though..." Mash looked around as if searching for something before returning to look at the image of the orange-haired man above her watch. "I don''t see anyone besides us. Do you pick some signals, Doctor?"

    "Now that you mention it... there is nothing at all. Seth, your senses usually catch more paranormal things. Do you feel anything out of place?" Something was wrong here. Romani felt that this was resembling a horror movie more with each passing second.

    "Don''t word it like that. Anyhow, I have something solid and theories. Which one would you like to hear?" Only a few minutes had passed since he arrived, so he couldn''t offer much.

    "Both would be good. It''s best to hear all the scenarios to be as prepared as possible." Dr. Roman wasn''t the type to just dismiss a theory just because it was unlikely to happen. Even if it turned out to be something impossible to believe, it would still be something that would help them be open-minded about likely threats.

    "Hmm... My guess is that fog is caused by a Servant or at least part of it is. I am sure you arrived at the same conclusion. Servants are Magical Energy given form, so detecting them in a fog that is filled with it is difficult unless they get close. It might also be my imagination, but I can feel it changing its Magical Energy signature. In any case, unless we get rid of it, spotting Servants in advance will be next to impossible."

    "And as for what you know with certainty?" Romani further asked, causing the Kingslayer to look at the ground.

    "As for what I know with certainty... Someone was here before. A human female to be exact. In fact, Mash is standing where her corpse used to be. I can smell the blood under her feet." Shielder yelped and quickly got away from the location. She quickly looked at the place where she had been before but saw nothing. Noticing this, Seth decided to elaborate.

    "There are no traces, but I am a hundred percent sure. I don''t know if the citizens are hiding in fear of the killer or if they have already been killed, but what I do know is that someone with too much time in their hands had made a mess of this Singularity."

    ''Not to mention... something else is mixed with this fog... but what is it?''

    "Well, that''s comforting... I could do without all the creepy stuff, though..." The Japanese Master scratched his cheeks while a drop of sweat dripped down his face. No amount of supernatural fights against heroes of myth would make him fear this sort of thing any less.

    Seth rolled his eyes before tensing a bit. Without warning, he summoned his spear and positioned himself in front of the two. They didn''t need an explanation to know what was happening as they had faced numerous situations like these in the past.

    "I was going to warn you, but it seems that isn''t necessary. Be careful, they might be hostiles." After saying that, Romani stopped transmitting his image, although he still kept communications active to know what would be the outcome.

    The sound of clanking armor and two pairs of footsteps were heard from beyond the mist. What started as something invisible soon became outlines, and then a few seconds later the incoming figures were revealed to Chaldea.

    Seth immediately recognized one of them. There was one thought that came to his mind at the moment. ''Shit. It''s that insane woman.''

    Both individuals were women. One was clad in silver from head to toe, wearing complete plate armor with a b.r.e.a.s.tplate, greaves, spaulders from where horn-like protrusions extended backward, and gauntlets. The armor was trimmed with red markings while the sword in her hands shared a similar color scheme to the metal covering her. She wasn''t wearing a helmet, so they could easily tell she was female. She had blonde hair tied into a ponytail and a face that made them instantly think she was a different version of Artoria.

    The other one was a tall woman who had a youthful appearance with bright long blonde hair and blue eyes. Part of her hair was worn in a braid that fell on her c.h.e.s.t. Same as her companion, she wore an ornate set of silver plate armor which consisted of a c.h.e.s.t and neck piece, two pauldrons with three spiked protrusions each, a circular plate around the waist, gauntlets, greaves, and large round elbow guards. Different from her companion, she was not holding any weapon in her hands.

    "Who the hell are you guys? I don''t remember seeing anyone with your ugly faces around these parts." The short woman asked with a frown on her face, which only intensified when she saw Mash''s shield.

    "You are not particularly pleasant to the eyes either..." Seth was quick to retort, causing the short woman''s eyebrows to twitch.

    Before she could lash out, her companion put a hand in front of her, stopping the knight from insulting the black-haired man''s entire family line.

    With a calm voice that betrayed no emotion, she asked the same question her companion did, albeit with more decorum. "May we know who you are? And if you were brought here by the fog?"

    "Brought here by the fog? What do you mean?" Mash asked with a clueless look on her face. Before she could inquire further, though, a strange sound came from the alleyway beside them.

    Everyone looked in that direction only to see a white and round object spinning at fast speeds at the nearest target, who just happened to be Seth. After making sure to have cursed his luck for the recent developments, the Kingslayer dashed at his foe, kicking it into a nearby wall and then following up by throwing his spear at it, impaling the... thing that had just attacked him.

    Everything was over in a second, but it didn''t surprise him considering that the enemy wasn''t particularly powerful. He went to retrieve his spear and at the same time see who was the one that initiated the assault.

    It was clear that both women recognized it, but Mash and Fujimaru did not. The Egyptian God grabbed his spear with one hand while the other went directly to the neck of the dead creature. He turned its head from side to side, taking in every single detail. A frown soon marred his face at noticing something about it. "They experimented on you, huh? Good job holding up. I authorize you to pass on."

    The creature, who looked like a deformed white humanoid began to turn into dust and disappear after his quiet mutter, not before leaving his killer with a quiet and ghostly "Thank you".

    Seth then retracted his spear that was stuck in the wall, turning to face the Chaldeans and group of knights a few seconds after. The hands of the taller woman were twitching, grasping empty air. He cursed inwardly once he noticed this. ''Why do I keep meeting warmongers...''

    "What was that? I have never seen it before." Fujimaru asked with confusion as he approached Seth all the while keeping an eye out for another attack from a random direction, something the black-haired man praised mentally. The kid was finally learning.

    Mash was following closely behind with more of a troubled look than a confused one.

    "That was a Homunculus. A mass-produced one at that." Seth kept his answer short and concise. He also didn''t say what he discovered about them��that they used to be humans. The most reasonable possibility was that this one was a London citizen before being transformed into that thing. And speaking about London citizens, now that he was near one of the buildings, he was able to finally sense some life forms inside. ''Although detecting their fear is not as helpful as doing so by smell or Magical Energy reading alone...''

    "An artificial human, right? Could this be the work of a Servant?" Fujimaru further asked. The chance of being a Magus was there, but he didn''t think even people like them would be sending those things to attack civilians when the world was ending right before their eyes. Thinking about it more clearly, maybe they would...

    "Calling these abominations humans, even if you include artificial, is being too generous. Witchcraftian atrocities would be a most fitting term for them." The weaponless blonde spoke with a neutral face, although a small tint of disgust leaked through her voice. When she saw the lightning beginning to course through her companion''s sword, she shook her head, wanting to convey that she was not speaking about her. It seemed she caught on to that, as the lightning disappeared as fast as it came. Shielder didn''t catch the sign, though. She only stayed with her words, something that caused her to flinch and tense; going as far as to take a step back and making herself smaller.

    Noticing this, Fou quietly came next to her and began to lick her legs as a way to cheer her up. The lilac-haired girl looked down as a faint smile crossed her face. She picked up her furry friend before placing him on her shoulders where she began to nuzzle against her cheek.

    "We think it''s a damn Servant the one creating these spinning yo-yos too. The f.u.c.ker doesn''t seem to get tired of sending them after us." It was the shorter woman who spoke. She still acted like some kind of thug, but at least now she didn''t show any hostilities. Her guard was still raised, though. She had confirmed they weren''t with their initial enemies, but that didn''t mean they couldn''t be new ones either.

    "Are these the only things you can find here?" Seth asked as he placed his spear on his shoulders. He preferred to focus on the important things than to throw sarcastic comments her way. The d.e.s.i.r.e was there, though.

    "No, they are not. There are also robots and automata. We haven''t encountered any human soldier yet, so we can discard them from our enemies'' forces." The taller blonde informed them calmly. Fujimaru gained a glint in his eyes at the mention of a robot. He wanted to see them...

    "What about Servants? Have you met them?" Machines weren''t a problem for him, so he was quick to dismiss them as a threat. What mattered were the real troublemakers.

    "Yeah, only one so far. Bastard is slippery, but we can''t remember shit about our fights. They must have some stupid Skill capable of messing with our heads. Anyway, I am Saber, Mordred. What about you, guys?" The scowl she had at speaking about her enemy soon turned into a half-smile as she introduced herself at them.

    "Mordred? Isn''t that Artoria''s son...?" Ritsuka whispered with a hand on his chin. Thankfully, Saber didn''t hear him, or he would be in for a lot of trouble.

    "My name is Mash, and I am a Demi-Servant. Senpai here is one of the last Masters of Chaldea. As for him..." Shielder gestured to the black-haired man, not knowing if he wanted to use his real name or not.

    "Seth. Call me however you want." He didn''t bother to hide his identity anymore, so what was the point in using false names.

    "Huh... I see. Well, I have no idea who you are!" Her answer caused Fujimaru to snicker silently, while Seth just gave her a flat stare.

    "Your mother does." The Egyptian God took p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e in seeing how her face quickly transformed into a rage-filled one. Even though he said he wouldn''t be throwing jabs at Mordred; that was before he learned what he had to learn.

    "What did you say?!"

    "That you are so fast."

    "Ehem... I prefer to keep my True Name hidden, but you may address me as Lancer for now." The taller woman didn''t wish to disclose her identity, something the others didn''t have a problem with.

    Mordred calmed down, believing her hearing was failing him, and left it at that. "Well, the shield girl and the frail-looking boy follow close to me. Pansy boy, you cover the back with Lancer."

    Not bothering to hear any protests, she marched forward.

    The Chaldeans exchanged glances before following after her. The youth was a bit confused, though. ''She still didn''t tell us where we are heading to...''

 Chapter 184 - Another One?

    The Chaldeans were walking wherever Mordred was leading them to, following closely behind. The Knight of Treachery was walking with Clarent on her shoulders. A confident smirk was plastered on her face as she marched forward.

    Mash and Fujimaru were a few steps back, looking around at the old buildings at the side. They could swear they saw some shadows peeking at them from some windows. If they didn''t know better, they would think it was something straight out from some horror adaptation.

    Still, they didn''t dare to relax. This place filled with so many unknowns had them on edge. It was as if someone would immediately attack them from behind the moment they let their guard down.

    They weren''t the only ones that were on guard, though. Seth was on the rearguard making sure they weren''t being followed. You never knew when someone could be aiming for your life, especially in a place like this.

    It didn''t help that he had trouble to look out for right beside him as well. Despite how Lancer had portrayed herself with decorum and whatnot, he knew her true nature: that of a battle-crazy gorilla woman. The moment you doubted even a little of her capabilities, she would be all over you trying to have your head on the tip of her lance. She was also one of ''those types'' that liked to fight strong opponents just to prove their worth. The Egyptian God couldn''t identify classes as he pleased, but he was fifty percent sure she was a Berserker and not a Lancer. Although that might just be his bias talking.

    Even without looking, he was sure that her hands were twitching with the idea of summoning her weapon and fighting him right on the spot. The only thing preventing that would be her own pride, but if she found out that he was a former Pharaoh and King, that would go down the drain. ''Romulus is similar to her, and he didn''t turn out a battle-crazy guy. He does have a few quirks, though. Maybe he was not the best example to use...''

    Leaving the person he had to share a position with aside, Seth had been hearing the sound of machinery for a while coming from some streets away. Going by their numbers, the amount of enemies was not small at all. Thankfully, he could overheat them and then cool them down incredibly fast at the same time to render them useless.

    When fighting on narrowed spaces where he couldn''t fully exert his strength, he preferred to rely on his Authorities as controlling the destruction he caused was easier that way.

    For now, though, machines weren''t something he should concern himself about. If that vision he had was real, and knowing his luck it was, then the Servants appearing here would be nothing short of legendaries. There might be figures of the Demi-God rank even. He also didn''t discard the possibility of a Divine Spirit appearing through some way or another. ''Considering the place where we are, the only God that should be able to appear here would be him. Whichever the case, I should be prepared if that happens. He won''t come alone, I am sure of that.''

    While he was being lost in his own thoughts, they seemed to have arrived to their destination. There were no skirmishes along the way, so it was safe to assume this was a safe route where neither robots, homunculus or automata didn''t frequent. This would at least grant them respite from having to be all day in high alert. Of course, they should still be cautious. Mobs were one thing, and Servants were another, different thing entirely.

    What greeted them was a well-furnished room. It looked like the room a doctor would use in this particular century to tend to his patients. The room was not empty, though. Two Servants were already present, sitting on two sofas facing each other.

    One of them got up from his seat to greet them. "I see you have brought more people. I wish you could tell me in advance if you were going to add more Servants to the group."

    He was a bespectacled man with light blond hair and gloved hands. His voice was low and soft as if he was afraid of hurting his throat by speaking too much. He had black and white boots, purple pants, and a gray vest over a white shirt. There was a coat sky-blue and purple coat hanging over her shoulders as well.

    The man didn''t sound that comfortable with their addition, especially because he knew how chaotic Mordred could be. She would do what she wanted in the spur of the moment without thinking about the consequences of her acts. He wanted to believe that she confirmed their motives or allegiances, at the very least.

    "Moving on. Let me introduce myself. I am a normal human living in this era. Pleased to meet you." His introduction was short. So much so that Mordred, who had just taken his previous spot in her sofa, rolled her eyes about it.

    "If you are only going to say what you are then don''t bother introducing yourself. Anyway, that guy is Herbie Jenkins. He is one of those nerds that likes to study... something." Even his calm visage was replaced by a twitch of his face for a moment.

    Sighing at her antics, he decided to introduce himself more properly this time. "I am Henry Jekyll; a scholar. I am not an expert in the way of a mage, but elixirs are my specialty. As long as it is not something immoral like an aphrodisiac, you can ask my help to produce one for you."

    "Please make yourself at home. I am sure you want to hear our situation from a directly involved source." Lancer motioned to the sofas with her hands. The Chaldeans thanked her and did as they were told.

    Mash and Fujimaru sat with Mordred as it had the biggest space. Seth, meanwhile, sat next to the other occupant of the room who had been silent all this time, only offering a nod of acknowledgement once they entered.

    As soon as the black-haired man sat down next to him, both men exchanged glances that lasted a fraction of a second, yet in that timeframe, an unspoken conversation was held. Both individuals finished it with a light smirk, turning their gazes to somewhere else quickly after.

    The man next to Seth put his cup of tea on the table slowly but gracefully before clearing his throat lightly. "I am an Archer class Servant, Albert Einstein. I hope you are having a fine day."

    Mash was a little stunned. First, because he was THE Albert Einstein, and second... "An... Archer? Weren''t you a scientist?"

    She didn''t understand what made him qualify for that Class. Would he throw physics books at his enemies? She guessed that wasn''t too far-fetched for a Servant, although she thought being a Caster would be a better fit.

    "Ah. That is because my summoning was a bit different." He didn''t say anything further, so she guessed he was a man of a few words.

    "I see. Regardless, it''s good to be working with someone as famous as yourself. My name is Fujimaru Ritsuka. Pleased to make your acquaintance." The youth bowed his head a little at the end of his introduction. Even someone like him who rarely interacted with the ''western'' world knew about the person in front of him, so it was natural to have respect for him. That was, of course, despite suffering through the subject the man loved the most during high-school. Besides, a modern Servant like Charles Darwin proved how strong they could be even if they were close to their current era, so underestimating him was totally a mistake.

    "I think the same. My name is Mash, a Demi-Servant, and this little friend right here is Fou." Shielder introduced herself and the little creature, who made small sounds in response. Einstein narrowed his eyes almost imperceptibly at Fou before fully closing them and smiling while assenting once to signify he memorized their names.

    Then all gazes turned to Seth, but the white-haired man interrupted them. "I already know who he is. There is no need for him to concern himself with something like that."

    His words naturally took the Chaldeans by surprise. Seth had been with them practically all the time, and they for sure didn''t remember him or even them meeting Einstein before. Theories ranged from previous summons to Archer belonging to a cult centered around Seth while he was alive, and that''s why he could know so much about the forces of the universe.

    When they pressed for more information, Seth just waved them off. "It''s complicated, and it doesn''t add anything to the conversation. Just know that he is extremely powerful despite being only a scientist. Although if he appeared here, our enemies will not be mere bookworms."

    "Then I guess I should make my presence known. I am glad to meet someone as esteemed as yourself, Dr. Einstein. My name is Romani Archaman, but you can call me Roman." Once everything seemed to have calmed down and he assured himself that they weren''t hostiles, Chaldea''s doctor decided to speak through Mash''s communication device. Naturally, this caused Mordred to spit her drink and get away quickly from there.

    Romani''s out-of-nowhere appearance resulted in the Saber Servant having the scare of her life, something she was not pleased about, evidenced by the murderous glare she was sending to the know nervously chuckling man.

    "The one leading the time drifters, am I correct? Having the technology to jump from era to era is also esteem-worthy. Don''t sell yourself short." Romani had to actually do a double take once he heard Einstein''s words. Did just... did just someone praised him?!

    "Uhm... Doctor. You are crying..." Mash said while sweatdropping a bit. It was hard to understand his thought process sometimes.

    "I knew that following Magi?Mari''s teachings would one day show its results..." Romani rubbed his eyes with the sleeves of his white coat. The day had finally come when someone recognized his efforts! Although he conveniently ignored the part where he didn''t have anything to do with the creation of the technology that made rayshifting possible.

    "Leaving the clown aside, I believe revealing our purpose would be the best next course of action." The Egyptian God then looked at Mash, who took the hint. She was the one who usually explained things, so she had no qualms with doing it again.

    And so, she explained who they were, where they came from, and what they were planning to do here. She was a little unnerved because before they even began, Albert Einstein seemed to know something about them already, but she didn''t let that get to her head and clarified every doubt they might have.

    The one who was surprised the most was, of course, Jekyll. As he was a normal human �� relatively speaking �� he was the most amazed with the prospect of their task.

    "The Singularities... and this is just one of them..." His voice was tinged with a little bit of sadness. He understood how difficult the situation was. They were already living in fear in this mist city, then how about in the remaining Singularities? If something like this was repeating itself somewhere else then he could only lament the fate of the people.

    Now looking back at them, Henry knew he had to do his part as well to facilitate their job. He began to describe about his finding about the fog; how he met Mordred, Lancer, and eventually Archer. Then came the worst part, and the one he was the most sad about: the death count.

    "I may be slightly off on my calculations, but the number of deaths should be in the hundred thousands. This fog didn''t distinguish between male and female, between old and young. It just corrupted everyone until they died. Calling it a poisonous mist wouldn''t be far from the truth." Mash and Fujimaru widened their eyes and mouths at the number of victims. Until now, that was the highest death rate throughout all the Singularities. Not even Orleans and Septem, which included wars, had that many people losing their lives.

    Seth clicked his tongue silently, although that didn''t escape Archer''s attentive gaze. ''I have never seen someone respect and disrespect life at the same time like him. Truly fascinating.''

    "That''s... horrible. We already planned to deal with the fog, but now it has become more urgent." Mash said with a sad tone, something Fujimaru could understand. He was also a little affected by the number, even if they were technically unrelated to him. However, he couldn''t let anyone suffer more by that fog, especially after knowing how agonizing and painful their death were courtesy of Jekyll.

    "I think I speak for all of us when I say I am glad our objectives align. If you need anything, please don''t hesitate to ask." Even with the tough situation outside, Henry couldn''t help but smile lightly at their readiness to help them.

    "Then we will take up on your offer. Your apartment is right above a Leyline, so we can use it to summon our Servants to boost our combat forces." It was Romani who spoke this time. Unlike the joking mood from before, his tone was deadly serious.

    "If you think that will be of use, then feel free to do so, but first, let''s eat something. I was going to prepare dinner before Mordred came, and I am sure you three can enjoy a moment of peace before going out to fight in the fog." The bespectacled man accepted with no complaints before inviting them to the dinning room next to place they were in.

    Seeing nothing harmful with the idea, Mash and Fujimaru agreed and followed the cheering Saber at the mention of food. Henry was right behind, and Lancer, who had been quiet the whole time also followed, not before giving the two sitting men one last look with narrowed eyes.

    "Finally alone, huh. Should I even ask what are you doing here, Khronos? I don''t recall you having any interests with Humanity''s future." Seth said quietly as to not be heard by the nearby people. He didn''t expect his prediction to be correct��at least not so soon. Did that mean other Gods were out there as well?

    "I could ask the same thing to you, God of Deserts. If memory does not fail me, and it hardly does, you were killed by the White Titan in an attempt to hold it off so that your Pantheon Kin could escape to the Reverse Side."

 Chapter 185 - Reinforcements

    "Why are you smirking? Am I missing something?" The White Titan''s incident was a disaster. It induced a time of change that would be irreversible for those that remined. The Gods stopped being as untouchable as before, and many of them suffered greatly because of that. In Seth''s and his Pantheon''s case, they lost their unique advantage, which was their ability to revive endlessly until the moment of their natural death.

    Naturally, that meant that when Seth was killed by the White Titan, he lost his capacity to come back from the dead. He shouldn''t even be here. And yet, here he was, not looking the slightest bit bothered by the inquiry. His smirk was not one of ''I cheated death'' but one that made it seem like he was... pleased��proud? by the outcome.

    "My circ.u.mstances are... complicated. I am mere husk of my former self. That explanation should be enough for you, who were never interested in details." The Kingslayer ignored his fellow God''s question about his expression, and answered his previous one, which was more important to the current state of affairs.

    "If you can''t explain it simply, you don''t understand it well enough. Although the husk part explains a little of... this." Khronos gestured with his hands to Seth''s entire form, making the black-haired man raise an puzzled eyebrow.

    "I don''t quite follow." He doubted the Time God was referring to his appearance or level of power. After all, Khronos didn''t exert any natural Divinity, so he wouldn''t be one to talk.

    The white-haired man made an almost soundless grunt. He had hoped his gesture would have been enough to convey his meaning, but it seemed it was too much to ask an old dog to learn new tricks. "You are too calm."

    A second raised eyebrow followed the first. "So? I don''t see a reason why that would be something worth mentioning."

    "A rabid beast that only knows how to bite is sitting without agitation in front of me. If I didn''t know better, I would call you an impostor." Clarity finally downed on Seth''s face. Leaving the free insult aside, the image he had outside of Egypt and the current one he was displaying did indeed look different.

    "I went through a rebellious phase. Everyone does at some point in their life." He lightly shrugged at the accusation. His tone was noncommittal, something that made the other God sigh deeply.

    "We are Gods, we don''t go through rebellious phases, only humans do." The last part was said in passing, but as if he had had an epiphany, his gaze that was on the empty teacup mere moments ago rose to meet his.

    "So that was it. Your mellowed down personality, and your sudden stupidity, as well as the feeling I get that makes me think I am not talking to an equal. You somehow gained human traits, didn''t you?" As soon as Khronos finished speaking, Seth''s attitude took a 180 degrees turn.

    "Aren''t you afraid of being proven wrong? Bold statements such as those should be made carefully." The chatters coming from the kitchen were muting the hissing sound of multiple snakes coiling around Khronos'' legs from under the table.

    "No, I am not. You will only end up proving me right in the end. In fact, you are doing it now." His unflinching and apathetic tone didn''t elicit a chance in Seth''s expression this time, as if he already expected it.

    Without an ounce of hurry, the white-haired man moved his hands and caught one snake that was trying to slowly crawl its way into his mid-section. Not even a second after, the reptile began to age at an incredible rate, crumbling into dark particles instantly. The other snakes at his feet suffered a similar fate as well.

    "..." A deep silence emerged between the two of them. Neither said anything for an hour-like minute, until Khronos decided to break it.

    "We will have to cease this shortly otherwise the others will get suspicious. I only have one final question that has been bugging me for a while." After the little act of his fellow God was over, the white-haired man decided to ask about something that had been on his mind since the moment he laid his eyes on him.

    "Be quick." Seth''s response was dry and short. His mood had been brutally butchered really quick, so he didn''t want to exchange more words than necessary with the Time God for now.

    "Why do I feel Poseidon''s Authority in you?" Khronos'' voice had dropped an octave, and his eyes narrowed in seriousness. By no means he wanted to sound threatening; it was just that this particular topic couldn''t be taken lightly.

    "For someone with no Divinity like Artemis, you sure have good senses." A rare sneer adorned his face. However, he still decided to humor him. "I revived him and stole his weapon, that''s it."

    "I see..." He wanted to ask about Artemis, but he himself said that they shouldn''t prolong their talk, so he would stick to that.

    Seth rose up from his seat and went to where the others were, leaving Khronos to his own thoughts. ''This world is a mess. So many things happened that only made everything worse. Things that even time can''t fix.''

    He had wished again and again that he could do something about the events that led to their downfall, but everything had its limits, and the consequences for altering the past were more disastrous than they seemed.

    The only saving grace he had was that he could live during the time where Gods were still reigning, so he was always at the peak of his strength. Unfortunately, coming to this future had its own set of rules he had to abide by. There was no way he could cheat the World into accepting his existence as a God when every single one of them had been relieved of their duties.

    He was able to find a human that shared a similar wave length with him, so he used his body to manifest. It was a strange fusion, but a successful one nonetheless. The person known as Albert Einstein got his time powers upgrade tremendously, albeit at the cost of Khronos'' Divinity. As the body he now inhabited was a Servant with an already set Spirit Origin, losing it was an expected consequence, so there was little he could do.

    Sighing a bit at his situation, the white-haired man placed the already empty and cold cup on the table before standing up. ''With Seth-Typhon''s addition, a new trickster joins the mix. Something will eventually call the horses of winter here, but what...? There are so many unknowns that I will be forced to experiment. Then again, I will have to find a Space God or someone with space powers for it to work.''

    A small smile found its way onto his face as he thought of the future. ''This Singularity is a congregation of those that refuse death. Truly, the gathering of the Undying Gods.''

    Looking forward to what happened next, Khronos then joined the others.

    ������������������������������������������������������������

    After everyone had dinner and got to know each other, albeit with a little difficulty considering the sudden freezing atmosphere between Seth and Einstein, everyone headed to rest. Henry was hospitable enough to give them their own rooms. The black-haired man preferred to stay on the couch, though.

    He would have stayed outside keeping watch, but with the fog messing his senses and the poor visibility, chances were that he would only end up giving their location to the enemy, so he opted for remaining inside.

    The Kingslayer slept for the first few hours of the night before using his remaining time to contact Darwin. Seth had sent her a video he secretly recorded of his and Khronos'' conversation. He wanted her opinion on him and his potential threat, and depending on her answer, he would summon her here.

    Her answer left him doubting. She was of the opinion that his level of danger might come more from Einstein side than from Khronos. Ruler was living proof that the Throne of Heroes worked in mysterious ways at the time of giving powers to a Servant. After all, someone like her ended up having the power to restrain Gods.

    In the end, he had postponed her summoning to another time. It was still too early to decide what could be useful and what not. He reckoned that a few more days would be enough to see if her presence was needed or not. She had her job to do at Chaldea, and calling her here to be a sitting duck would not benefit either of them. Naturally, Charles agreed with that reasoning and left him to his own devices with a last "Be careful" after that.

    Night went by quickly, and morning came. The first to wake up was surprisingly Jekyll. The blonde was a little surprised at seeing him awake. Even so, he still offered him a cup of coffee as courtesy. There was not much he could give considering the line of supplies to the city had been cut, but Seth didn''t mind.

    They were soon joined by the rest one by one. After a good night of sleep, they were totally ready to go out and do what they came here for. But first, they would summon the necessary Servants to help them in this endeavor.

    In spite of his indecision at the moment of summoning Ruler, the Kingslayer already had someone else in mind that would be incredible useful regardless of who they faced just because of the nature of his powers alone, and that would be Asterios.

    His Noble Phantasm worked incredible well against a large number of enemies, and he could shift it as he pleased as well, meaning that he could choose who faced who following Seth''s orders. The Minotaur''s utility was something he valued greatly.

    The Egyptian God didn''t know who Fujimaru was going to summon, and he didn''t plan to tell him who could be optimal either. He would leave the decision to him as it would stimulate his growth in the strategical department. He just wished the kid wouldn''t summon Saber Alter. The last thing they needed was two court jesters trying to see who made the most fool out of themselves.

    Speaking of which, Mordred wanted to see the summoning process, but Jekyll prevented her from doing so, probably knowing that she would start wanting to measure herself against the Servants of the supposed saviors of humanity. Lancer was practically the same, but at least she had the decency to hide it behind a mask of refinement. Khronos, for his part, wasn''t interested in the slightest. He was enjoying his tea with a thinking look, ignoring everyone else.

    They chose an unused but spacious room to call for help. That way, they would be away from prying eyes, or in this case, lightning swords.

    "You can start first, Fujimaru. Don''t take your time, though. After this we are going out." Fujimaru said nothing at Seth''s words; he just assented, already used to doing things first. And obviously, he would not waste precious times either. He planned to live by his word and help fix this Singularity as soon as possible after hearing the number of people that had fallen prey to the fog.

    "Before that... Didn''t the name Henry Jekyll sound family to you two?" Even as Mash asked that, she was still placing her shield on the ground and setting everything up.

    The Japanese youth shook his head while Seth seemed to be thinking about something. "Truth be told, his name doesn''t ring a bell. However, it''s obvious by your question that he is someone relatively famous. Whichever the case, don''t mention it to him. Telling someone their end is never a pleasant experience for the other party."

    Shielder agreed with that, but she had another concern. "You may not know it, but he��"

    "��is struggling with something that is driving him mad. He looks like he is in a constant fight with a demon inside of him. I could tell that much." How could he not realize? He had two guys messing with his head whenever they could, and Olga the freeloader too.

    "Be that as it might, it doesn''t change the fact that we shouldn''t speak about his life with him. If things get difficult, I will intervene to make sure he doesn''t go crazy." His reassurance was enough to put the matter to rest.

    The process to use the Leyline to contact Chaldea with Mash''s shield was fairly easy and quick, as they had done so before, though it was only to receive supplies and not Servants.

    Fujimaru stepped forward with his right hand closed into a fist in front of his c.h.e.s.t. His Command Spells were shining a bright red as he concentrated on the Servants he wanted to call. It was a strange sensation, like finding the toy you wanted inside a box filled with them.

    Eventually, though, he was able to find who he was looking for, and call them to his aid. One by one, three figures appeared after a flash of light illuminated the room.

    When he saw the figures, Seth started wondering what Fujimaru had in mind when he asked for them.

 Chapter 186 - Living Catalyst

    While the three new Servants were getting used to their surroundings, Seth was observing Fujimaru with raised eyebrows. The said person chose to conveniently look the other way, although his body language gave him in.

    The Egyptian God felt that the reason why he summoned them was that they had a certain... vibe to them, for lack of a better word. Be that as it might, he wouldn''t offer any input. If the youth believed they would do the work, questioning him wouldn''t counterproductive.

    "We have answered your summon as per your request, Master. I as well as these two shall do our utmost to ensure your victory." Vlad took the ''leader'' position in a natural way. As a former King, he was used to it. That didn''t mean others were fond of that trait, though.

    "In spite of our similarities, I would appreciate it if you didn''t speak like we are your subordinates, Vlad." Carmilla looked to her fellow vampire with not-so-hidden disp.l.e.a.s.u.r.e. Her only comfort in this situation was that she finally left that icy prison called Chaldea. She was getting tired of using the Simulation Room just to get a scenery change.

    The Impaler frowned when she mentioned his... kinship with her. He had an absolute distaste for that legend that warped his valiant figure into a monster, and he did not like the way the Countess reminded him of it on every occasion she had. However, he endured since he was in the presence of his Master. If possible, he wanted to avoid making a scene unbefitting of someone of his caliber and status.

    "I hope this doesn''t take too long..." Meanwhile, Medea was sighing at the side. She came here to do her job, but the companions she arrived with were making a circus show. She just wished this was worth her time as she had left a half-finished figurine of Stheno and Euryale together only to come to the boy''s aid.

    Ritsuka coughed to dispel any further distraction before addressing the new arrivals. "Thank you for coming here, guys. We will need all the help that we can get."

    "Right... I already informed them of the things you have heard from Jekyll. There is no need for a briefing at the moment, so you can go and explore as you like. This goes without saying, but you should be careful out there." Romani appeared as a hologram through Mash''s watch, wasting no time to speak.

    "Is Asterios ready? The moment I summon him we will all be ready to go. We''ll be exploring different zones to cover more ground. With Vlad, Carmilla, Medea, Mash, and possibly Mordred banded together there are few things that could pose a problem." The last part was meant for Romani. After all, he did promise him he would look after Fujimaru. However, the youth had to evolve as a Master by fighting his own battles without him acting as a nanny.

    The Doctor naturally understood, so he approved of the idea. With nothing more to add, Seth went ahead and placed himself in front of the shield. The three Servants made way for him so that he could get to it. As they were doing so, however, Carmilla shot an icy-cold look at him while hiding her neck unconsciously. She had a vivid memory of her death in Orleans, and it was not a pleasant one.

    Seth noticed this but made no comment or sign that he was concerned by it. He simply focused on the summoning process to bring his Servant there. Once he confirmed everything was in order, he used his Command Spells to trace back the Master-Servant connection between them.

    The shield started glowing again, and not long after, a towering behemoth manifested itself in the room. His head was gracing the ceiling, so he crouched down a bit to avoid causing problems.

    "I... Arrived... Master." This time he didn''t roar when he introduced himself, probably thinking he would incommode the people present if he did so.

    "Good to see you here, Asterios. You can enter Spirit Form if you want." At his suggestion, the Minotaur nodded before disappearing in blue mottes of light.

    Once the process was over, Mash went to pick up her shield. Now everyone was ready to depart without any trouble. Meanwhile, Fujimaru turned to his fellow Master. "If we are going to go different ways, which side are you going to take?"

    "According to Jekyll, we are on the east side of London. I plan to go to the west. That place should be unexplored for the most part considering neither Morder nor Lancer went too far from this location." The chance of meeting unknowns was higher there as well, so that was a plus for him.

    "Then we will remain on the east side, and possibly go a bit farther than what Saber patrols usually take her to. We may not find anything, but at least we''d be able to clear a bit more terrain." Seth nodded at that. If they wanted to discover something new, sticking to the area the Knight covered wouldn''t help, so deciding to extend the said area was not a bad idea at all.

    Some moments after that, the group of five��seven if you counted Vlad and Asterios, who were in Spirit Form, exited the room to meet the rest. Jekyll and Khronos were in the same position they found them the first time the Chaldeans entered this place: sitting on a sofa drinking tea.

    Mordred and Lancer were sitting on two nearby chairs, border out of their mind going by their expressions. Hearing the sound of the door opening, they all turned to the new additions.

    "Huh... a Witch, isn''t it?" The Knight of Treachery looked with raising eyebrows at Medea. She could recognize their kind almost immediately, and saying she didn''t have a good impression of them would be an understatement.

    "What of it?" Medea instantly frowned. She would be dumb if she didn''t become aware of the hidden mocking behind the blonde''s words. The Princes of Colchis also took notice of the white-haired man, who, unlike the rest of the group, was giving her a sudden bad feeling.

    "No... nothing." Mordred refused to elaborate as she looked the other way, trying to make it look like she wasn''t interested at all.

    "...I will be going." Knowing this was going to become a battlefield of words, Seth opted for getting the hell out of that place, all the while the Minotaur was following him in Spirit Form.

    "Are you taking only one Servant with you? It does not seem to be the smartest decision." As Asterios didn''t have the Presence Concealment Skill, it was easy for Khronos to detect him even if he wasn''t visible.

    "You don''t have to worry about me. Better be worrying about you and your back problems. That''s why Lancer is staying here to take care of you." He didn''t bother to pause in his steps as he responded to his fellow God.

    "I am not as weak as you think. If you so d.e.s.i.r.e, she can accompa��"

    *Slam*

    Before Khronos could finish his phrase, Seth was already out in the streets. The God of Time shook his head while Lancer frowned at his action. "Is it me or am I being avoided quite blatantly?"

    Fujimaru averted his gaze to the side as a weak chuckle escaped his mouth. Meanwhile, the white-haired man hummed a little. "Who knows? He is probably scared of you."

    "Scared of me? Why?" The blonde-haired woman took interest in hearing the answer. She might have had some suspicions, but listening from another source would be valuable.

    "Simple. In his youth he��"

    "Oh! Look at the time! Sorry I got distracted with something. So, ready to go yet?" Romani appeared all of a sudden, interrupting Khronos once again. The Divine being knew it was intentional, yet instead of getting angry, he decided to remain silent and make no further comment.

    Wanting to take advantage of the Doctor''s timely arrival to dispel the awkwardness, Mash turned to Saber and asked, "R-right! Are you ready to go, Sir Mordred?"

    "Yeah, whatever. Ignore the ramblings of the goat-haired weirdo. He is about to kick the bucket anyway." With that said, Mordred stood up and walked up to the door. The others followed her silently, although some snickers could be heard among them.

    When they were gone, Jekyll released a sigh of exasperation. "They sure make things lively. Though I have to say, I do enjoy this quietness once in a while. I hope you are not offended by her words. She doesn''t really mean it... for the most part."

    "Do not worry. Time will put everyone in their place." Khronos simply waved the matter off. If there was something that characterized time, it was patience.

    "I am correct in assuming you won''t keep telling me whatever you were going to say before being interrupted, right?" Lancer focused on what was important to her. Unfortunately, the white-haired man would disappoint her.

    A small smile of amus.e.m.e.nt crept its way into his face. "It wouldn''t be fun if I did. Everything will be answered in time."

    "Please stop with those horrible puns..."

    ������������������������������������������������������������

    ''I have never been happier about my speed to escape until today.'' Seth thought with tiredness leaking through his internal voice. Instead of just walking through the streets, he decided that jumping from building to building was a better option, at least until he was far away from Mordred''s patrol zone.

    "Why... we... ran?" Asterios'' voice sounded next to him. Once they exited the apartment, he materialized in full.

    "It''s best to avoid their shenanigans if possible. I am sure you have first-hand experience seeing as you stay with Euryale and Stheno regularly." A drop of sweat fell down the Minotaur''s cheek when he heard his answer as he weakly nodded. Being the target of their pranks was not a good thing at all.

    Seth spoke no more. He kept leading the way while Asterios silently followed. Along the way, they saw many Homunculus, Automata, and Robots, or Helter Skelter as Jekyll liked to call them. There were even some floating Grimoaires that wandered aimlessly through the fog.

    However, no matter how far they went, there were no signs of Servants at all. Knowing that if they continued like this there wouldn''t be any results. The Usurper descended together with Asterios to inspect things in closer detail.

    "Are your instincts telling you something?" This city was like a labyrinth in a sense, and since they could only make use of their sixth sense, his Servant could know something.

    "Eyes... many... observe us. Bones... flesh... sacrifice... out of... us." Even though he was already aware of it, the confirmation was really helpful. People sacrificed v.i.r.g.i.n maidens for him to devour in the form of a crocodile, while Asterios received sacrifices as well from Athenians thanks to Minos'' retribution for the death of his son. It was easy matters for them to recognize the nature of this place.

    "So you noticed as well, huh?" The Egyptian God crouched down, running a hand through the cold floor. Small, almost unnoticeable splashes of red could be observed there. ''I should be able to prevent it if it''s a ritual to summon a dead... thing. However, I need to do it while it''s incomplete or in the process of completion. Otherwise... I fear we will get some nasty surprises.''

    "Master... invoke wind... disperse... fog?" Asterios'' question brought him out of his musings. Berserker was a little confused on why he didn''t get rid of the mist surrounding them. It would make things easier.

    "I can''t. Using wind strong enough to push the fog away enough for us to use our senses in a useful area would be like shooting ourselves in the foot. The properties of the mist wouldn''t disappear into thin air, they would be intensified. Chances are that the fog would break the windows with the help of my wind and finish killing everyone that is hiding." He did think about doing it before, but he quickly shot down the idea for the reasons stated above.

    Seth knew this wasn''t a fairy tale as Romani painted it to be to the kids. That everyone who lost their lives would return. No, they would not. The only way of that happening was if the World were to reset this Singularity as it did with Okeanos thanks to the presence of a Beast. ''I don''t know if there is going to be another one here, but I don''t want to become one just to save a few lives I could have saved without acting stupidly.''

    "I... see." Asterios understood the reasoning, so he didn''t comment further.

    "Well, we have company, let''s make quick work of this and keep exploring." Just as he said that, numerous Automata and Helter Skelter appeared from the corner of the streets.

    Looking above, he noticed the natural climate of this place. ''I wonder...''

    Pointing his weapon toward the clouds, Seth manifested lightning in them. They danced wildly in a variety of red, black, and yellow.

    The Minotaur retreated a few steps to stand beside next to his Master. He didn''t want to get caught in the attack, but he also didn''t want to cower behind.

    ''Heaven''s strike.'' Seth swung his weapon down, causing his attack to finally hit the ground. Lightning fell multiple times across the streets on the incoming enemies. The way they hit the ground made it seem like a laser was moving through the road and pulverizing everything that stood in its way.

    As they were mechanical beings, there were no screams, and even if they weren''t, it would be difficult to hear them with the booming sound of thunder.

    Berserker observed everything in awe. It was strange, yet he couldn''t deny that this destruction was... beautiful.

    Sadly for him, as with everything beautiful, it was ephemeral. Seth stopped his attack barely a few seconds after it started, not seeing any reason to continue senselessly.

    ''As I thought. I barely put any effort into that attack, and yet it caused a good amount of havoc. After the restriction on my Fire Authority in Okeanos, getting a boost in my Storm one again feels quite nice.'' Once the light show was over, Seth was able to see his handiwork. The greenish-gray streets were now black, or at least what remained of them.

    There was not even a single mechanical body intact, and even finding parts of them scattered around was hard. He was satisfied, although the part where he knew that he couldn''t abuse this lest he obliterated a building with people in it put a stop to his good mood. At least the streets were wide enough to allow something to be done.

    However, as if the World itself wanted to mock him, lightning began to converge in the fog in front of them. This time, though, he was not the cause, at least not the direct one.

    "What is happening...?" Seth narrowed his eyes, dropping his relaxed posture and switching to a battle-ready one. Asterios did the same. His axes were positioned in a way that he could defend his Master from a sudden attack.

    The lightning intensified as the space around it distorted. Both didn''t have to wait long for whatever was happening to make itself clear. After a big flash of light, a figure manifested in front of them.

    The fog was hiding most of its features, so they couldn''t discern much of the person. By its build, though, it should be a man. He? seemed to have a pair of animal ears as well, but that was as much as they could recognize.

    Out of nowhere, that person manifested a gun on its hand and fired at Seth without hesitation. The said person did nothing as Asterios blocked the projectile with one of his axes. Nevertheless, the act itself was enough to tell him that he was an enemy.

    Just as Seth was about to dash at his enemy, he spat blood from his mouth. Confused, he looked down only to notice a hole in his c.h.e.s.t area. ''How...?''

    It didn''t make sense and going by the shocked look of his Servant, he thought the same. Asterios had certainly blocked the bullet, yet despite that, he still got wounded.

    When he looked back at the newcomer, he was already gone. The Minotaur was about to unleash his Noble Phantasm to capture that person but Seth stopped him. Coughing the rest of the blood in his lungs, he shook his head. "Forget it..."

    Until they knew in full the capacity of the enemy Servant, revealing Asterios'' Noble Phantasm would be bad. Especially because that guy wasn''t the only one they had to be concerned about. Fortunately for him, his regeneration activated, healing his injury in some minutes. However, for some reason, a sudden headache assaulted him. He could keep going even with it, though. That''s why he didn''t let it bother him that much.

    Still, there were matters more concerning than his physical health. ''The lightning... it acts as a catalyst? Moreover, it doesn''t bind the summoned Servant to the person who used it. This place keeps getting more mysterious with each thing I discover about it...''

    "Let''s go. We have much to do. If we face that Servant again, don''t block his bullets, avoid them all. We should kill him instantly were the chance to present itself. This fog is already pissing me off."

    "Yes... sorry..." Asterios wanted to apologize for his inability to protect Seth, but the person in question patted his arm in reassurance. "Don''t worry, big guy. I should have been more careful as well. I think so little of guns that I seem to have forgotten the danger comes from the people that wield them, not from the weapon itself. I guess you learn something new every day."

    Soon he would also learn why this fog was also called demonic...

 Chapter 187 - Prelude To The Red Festival

    "Ohhhh! They are here, they are here, they are about to be here! Beautiful, O'' so beautiful! This place, this wretched place of sin! Without a doubt, it shall be a place of chaos and destruction!" A figure was madly rambling to himself while moving erratically inside a dimly litten room where only a single candle stood.

    There was blood on the ground forming strange symbols, yet as if those weren''t enough, the figure continued to write more with the blood of an old woman palely lying down dead next to them.

    "Here, here, here, more, more, more! This isn''t enough, not enough! I need more quality, more redness, more substance! I need the blood of Servants. Yes, yes... they will do gihahaha!" Their incoherent mutters were only fueled by their insane laugh, one its meaning only they understood.

    Once finished, they stood up and went to the walls where there were some murals depicting a city bathed in blood and a sky filled with robbed people laying waste to what was below. A ring of light was present in the middle of it all, where a crudely drawn figure with strange horns watched everything unfold.

    "Ahhhhh... soon, very soon. They are all gathering here. Antares, the Emperor of the Future. Sirius, the Ruler of the Present. And Vega, the King of the Past. My Lords, my Gods! This humble servant of yours shall do everything for your glorious descent!" The figure then rubbed their ear against the wall when all of a sudden they started screaming in pain while holding their head.

    "I am sorry, I am sorry. Please forgive me." They banged their head against the wall, painting the mural with their blood as they kept apologizing while tears fell down uncontrollably from their face.

    "...But I must do this, I truly must..." Very slowly, they stopped their action. Sticking their tongue out, the figure began to lick their own blood on the wall. The taste was enough to change his grieving face to one of absolute glee. "You will forgive me, right? A little of your blessed blood is necessary for this battle royal. Cooperate, you must cooperate! Give it to them, to my envoys! If you do, I shall make sure your wishes come true. I shall... Gihahahaha!" Eventually, the flame of the single candle illuminating the room disappearing, leaving only darkness, and the maniacal laugh of a deranged person.

    ������������������������������������������������������������

    "Seth, is everything okay? I detected the presence of a Servant in your near vicinity just a few moments ago." Since now everyone had their own watch where Romani could communicate through, he could speak to him even if they were separated like he was doing now.

    "As okay as I can be after having a hole in my c.h.e.s.t." The Egyptian God said a bit sarcastically while bringing his right hand to his c.h.e.s.t to see the Doctor more clearly. It had been a few minutes after the incident, and they still kept going farther away from Hyde''s place.

    Romani frowned for a moment. It wasn''t like Seth hadn''t been wounded before, but those that did were not some weak run-of-the-mill Servants. "What happened? The signal only came recently. How could you be injured so quickly?"

    The Kingslayer frowned as well. He wasn''t bothered by the action in itself, but about how it transpired. "I used my Authority to shoot lightning at some enemies that had appeared suddenly. When I stopped, the lightning somehow acted as a catalyst after mixing with the fog and summoned a Servant. Without warning, he shot me with his gun. Asterios blocked it with his ax, but I got wounded anyway as if he had never used his weapon to protect me."

    "That''s... strange. Maybe their specialty? However, the part about lightning mixing with the fog seems interesting enough. I will let the others know. Mordred''s sword can shoot lightning, so it''s best to be careful with that. By the way, where is that Servant now?" One can never be sure about a Servant''s abilities. Even if they seemed improbable, they couldn''t discard anything.

    "He disappeared as soon as he shot me. He has cat ears, probably a cat head too. Warn the others to avoid his attacks and not block them if they face him. I don''t know if that will be useful or not, but it''s something at least." Unfortunately, he couldn''t provide much information as their skirmish was extremely short.

    "It''s fine. Even if it isn''t much, it is still valuable. I will be sure to tell them. Speaking of which, do you have any idea of who could that Servant be?" Since he was the one to see him, perhaps he had an inkling.

    "Not at all. The fog was hiding him, so any defining traits aside from what I told you were nonexistent. It literally could be anyone related to cats." The black-haired man was helpless in that regard. In the end, the possibilities were near infinite.

    "You said they had a cat head, right? Could he be one of your fellow Egyptian Gods?" That''s the only thing that came to his mind, and if Seth was the one that summoned him with his lightning, then the chance of them being related in some way was real.

    "No. Bastet is the only one among us that has a cat head, but she is female, and definitely doesn''t use guns. Forget it. It is still early for us to come to a conclusion. We will know more, eventually." There were other Gods with feline appearances, but they were other animals, and he spent enough time with them to distinguish them individually. There were no chances of him being mistaken.

    "It was worth the try. Well, I better be going and tell the others. Good luck and be careful. Also, try not to get too emotional with your Authority if you know what I mean." Romani joked a bit, causing Seth to roll his eyes.

    "Thanks for the help with the snitch by the way. If that woman finds something about me she is going to try and murder me on the spot." If things like these kept happening he would have to sew Khronos mouth... permanently.

    "Don''t mention it. Although... Do you know her? It sounds like you are trying to avoid her as much as possible." The way he acted made it seem like they knew each other somehow. Or at least, he knew her.

    "Yes, I do. She is the Knight Marfisa. It is also the reason why I told Vlad to go into his Spirit Form as well when we exited the room." That woman''s sixth sense was incredibly sharp, so it was best to take precautions.

    "Uhhh... yikes. I understand now. Someone as volatile as her would be difficult to deal with. Not to mention that you will bring back bad memories of her childhood if she finds out about who you are." Romani sweatdropped a bit. Luckily he wasn''t known as a King now...

    "I almost forgot. Cu Chulainn said he wished you luck for some reason." After he said that, he cut the connection, leaving a puzzled Seth.

    ''Good luck...? What does he mean by that?'' Despite the oddness of it, he didn''t pay much attention to it, though.

    "Let''s get going." At Seth''s words, Asterios nodded and followed him. They kept going for a good number of minutes, killing everything that stood in their way. The Kingslayer went out of his way to do Passing Rites when they killed Homunculus. His companion was a bit confused by that, but he didn''t want to ask.

    The streets remained silent except by the occasional sound of gears echoing from far away. The monster and God hadn''t found anything notorious that could get their attention. That didn''t mean they let their guards down.

    This place was one where something could just jump at you from an alley at any second. However, that was not quite what was about to happen.

    "Help, please help! Don''t come near!" A desperate cry caught their attention. It was relatively far from their location, but nowhere they couldn''t get to with their speed. They both looked at each other for a moment before swiftly dashing at where it came from.

    The screams continued, becoming intangible sounds as the fear took hold of that person. However, as with everything in this world, they didn''t last forever. As if in sync, Seth and Asterios stopped just before the corner of the street, knowing that whoever made that scream was no longer alive.

    Even though they stopped, the... thing following that person did not. Their steps, nearing their location, could still be heard. These steps weren''t normal, though. They shook the earth every time they resounded. Whatever it was, it was either gigantic, heavy, or both of them at the same time.

    Once again, Seth readied his spear while Asterios prepared to use his Noble Phantasm at a moment''s notice.

    They didn''t have to wait too long for whoever was behind those steps to reveal themselves. A large, gray-clawed hand grasped the corner of a building. The next thing they saw was an equally large blue leg that ended with clawed feet as well.

    The rest of the body soon followed. Before them, something that could only be described as a Demon looked down on them from its towering height��one that rivaled the tall buildings at their side, around five meters.

    A pair of black wings rested on its back, while a tail swayed from side to side from its collar bone. Its head was covered by a boney mask and a pair of tusks. It also had a pair of goat horns that grew from its forehead with a size as big as half of its body.

    "Don''t move recklessly..." Seth immediately commanded Asterios. The said Servant obeyed, albeit his body was still tense and ready to launch itself and exchange blows with the unholy creature.

    The Demon stared at the Minotaur first before shifting its gaze to Seth. Its red-eyes shone with intensity as if it had found what he had been looking for. What neither the God nor the Bull of the Labyrinth expected, however, was for the creature to start speaking.

    "Ulh Shabh Nub Zarrrrrrr? Morr Twht Romh..." Its voice sounded like it was regurgitating. The cacophony was such that Asterios immediately felt threatened by it.

    Seth, for his part, frowned a bit while cl.i.c.k.i.n.g his tongue. Finding a Demon here was at the bottom of his list of possible encounters. In hindsight, he should have expected something like this from a messed-up Singularity.

    The Egyptian God cleared his throat for a moment before addressing the giant in front of him. "Ikht Jurw Lrij Muzrr Pbtah Shemir. Nub Tihn Zwej Klhb?"

    Asterios looked with surprise at his Master, but he didn''t explain himself and only kept staring at the Demon, who by the end of his sentence, had gained a deep look of confusion.

    "Buwr Mehz Iojj Gukh Qwluu. Urrt Ypph Zeiwt. Mpah Nbw Tzuh Sihj." The Demon gestured back and forth between it and Seth before pointing at the sky, and then at the ground.

    "Ohzt Ulh Nub. Sherrrrr Ziht Urrrr. Khbj Tnpp Umhz? Yznn Mohr Xihz Dah!" For his part, the black-haired man was dividing his body in half with his palm. He touched one side and pointed to the sky, while he touched the other and pointed to the ground.

    A light of understanding filled the Demon''s eyes before he spoke again with his arms raised toward the very heavens. "Xihz Dah! Mubh Qlrr Nub... Setekh!"

    Once it finished speaking, the blue-skinned monstrosity walked up to them, causing Asterios to release some threatening sounds.

    The moment it was at a distance of a few meters, its legs suddenly stopped, albeit its hands did not. Both hands descended, one seemingly going for Seth while the other was doing the same for the Minotaur.

    However, just as Berserker was about to move, he stopped himself. Not out of fear, but out of confusion. The clawed hands that looked as if they were going to catch them rested on the ground before them.

    The Demon made an action that puzzled Asterios further. It got on its knees, while its forehead touched the cold streets beneath them. If it were to shift suddenly, its horns would destroy the houses at their sides.

    "Don''t question it, just go with the flow. I assure you it will be better for your already-afflicted mind." If the black-haired man was surprised by the Demon''s action, he definitely didn''t show it.

    "...Okay... Master..." Asterios watched as Seth climbed atop the head of the creature before motioning him to do the same, something he did, although not without reluctance.

    Once both individuals were done, the Demon rose, turned back, and started walking from where it came. When they passed by the person that screamed''s place of demise, Seth offered another Passing Rite. ''Whatever is going on... must be stopped.''

    Every minute that went by only reinforced his thinking. This place... was about to become hell on earth.

    The Blood Festival was just beginning.

 Chapter 188 - The Day God Became a Demon (I)

    (A/N: Seeing as I am currently on the 5k words mark, and there doesn''t seem to be an ending in sight, I will be dividing this into different parts. I fear that if I don''t, I won''t post until Christmas.)

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    Evil is everpresent.

    There must be Evil in order for Good to exist. They cannot exist without the other. If there is no Evil, how would people know that what they are doing is good? Similarly, if there is no Good, how will people know what they are doing is evil?

    Since the dawn of mankind, and even way before that, Evil existed. It was something to be triumphed over, trampled upon, and conquered in order to better oneself.

    Stories of people slaying monsters, humans, or concepts considered to be evil abound in this day and time... proof that there was always some evil to be defeated regardless of the era.

    It stands to reason, then, that there must always be something, no matter what, who, or which, that has to be Evil in order for the advancement of individuals, a population, or a whole race.

    Ironically enough, in ancient times, the first to be that object of defeat were Creation Gods. Once they finished their role, they were seen as a threat by the younger generation of Gods. That''s why they had to be destroyed for those newer ones to prosper.

    Abzu and Tiamat, Ymir, Uranus and later Cronos. There were many instances where those that came before were slain in favor of a new beginning.

    However, there were also times where that didn''t happen. Those that created the land, shaped the oceans, and uncovered the skies were still there even to the day where they last walked the Earth.

    Such was the case in Ancient Egypt. In the beginning, there was nothing but dark, infinite, and directionless waters. There was no light, no land, and most importantly, no Order. He was Nun, the primeval sea. A Deity that at that time, could be said encompassed all that was in existence, as little as it was.

    In those waters, there were no Gods, no Humans, no Life, no Death, no Time, no Space...

    It was a place without concepts. But, if there was something that could be said to exist, it was Chaos, and the one that embodied it, Apep, also known as Apophis. The only ''creature'' inhabiting those endless waters. The Original One.

    Despite lacking everything, it was a unified world. Everything revolved around a single rule, and that was that there were no rules. As long as you wanted to do something, it could be done. Yet, that right was solely reserved for its only inhabitant.

    ...But one day, everything changed.

    Once that new Deity rose from the waters, the world instantly changed, and the one who perceived it the most was Apep. Where before he was the only one existing there, now there was another. His world had lost the only thing it possessed: uniqueness.

    With another existence added to the mix, Darkness had an antithesis, and that was Light. Chaos had Order, Evil had Good. And soon after that, the primordial mound arose from the waters, causing the sea to have land as its opposite as well. What''s more, as if that weren''t enough, others also came into existence following the first, creating another duality, that of male and female.

    Again and again, opposites were being created without pause. The world that was once his now was inhabited by other creatures, things, and concepts.

    Such unrecognizable place he didn''t d.e.s.i.r.e. That''s why he decided to kill and devour the first Deity that arose from the dark waters. That being seemed to have also the same thoughts, as when he finished his part in Creation, both of them began an eternal fight.

    The other Gods clearly supported their progenitor. They didn''t want Evil to exist, so they relied on that person to defeat Apep. Those recently created beings gave him a name, which was Amun; ''The Obscure One.''

    Names had meaning, and more so at the beginning of all. His name meant that he could take the shape or power of whatever was needed of him. He was not defined��a blank slate.

    As per the new rules of dualism, Gods could not embody opposite concepts. Amun, though, didn''t suffer from that drawback. As a God that personified the ambiguity of existence, he could become literally anything.

    And so, Amun became the inverse of Apep in every way. He was meant to win against the Great Serpent; for if the Original One won, the world would return to its initial state, and everything they accomplished so far would be lost.

    Years, centuries, millennia... They fought and fought relentlessly without pause. At first, Amun had the absolute advantage. He won again and again but could never truly defeat Apep. That was because he lived outside the universe full of Order. As a creature of Chaos, he couldn''t exist within it, so the only way he could manifest was through an avatar. That was what the Creation God kept fighting against.

    It didn''t matter how many times Amun defeated Apep, he always came back. Unfortunately for him, defeating the Great Serpent cost him much more every time, while the Original One had infinite power to replace his fallen avatars.

    That wasn''t the end to his troubles, though. Despite everyone calling him Amun, Apep knew that was not his True Name. He was the only one aside from Amun himself in possession of it. That''s because, at the moment of his creation, the Great Serpent had heard the name that was spoken. In a vast world of infinite stillness, something like that resounded far and wide.

    He couldn''t do much with it as, again, he didn''t belong to the newly created universe. Nevertheless, the fact that he held knowledge of it helped him in weakening the Creation God.

    Aware that this could turn into a losing battle, Amun decided to take a gamble. He took advantage of his ambiguous existence and decided to perform the first act of syncretism with another back-then young God that shared similar traits with him.

    That was how Amun became Amun-Ra; the setting Sun becoming the rising Sun. With newfound power and a new, True Name, the recently fused God was able to once again gain the upper hand.

    Apep''s defeats were increasing in number and the time it took for him to create new avatars was increasing as well. A bright new future seemed to be awaiting the recent generation of Gods��one that would place them as the undisputed Rulers of this new world.

    However, that power was oh-so-tantalizing. And who could covet it more if not for the one that had tasted it himself?

    While it was true that Syncretism between Gods made it so that their strength was much more than the sum of their parts, it also allowed sentience between them. That meant that both Amun and Ra were in possession of their individual consciences.

    As an upstart, Ra had gone from a mere lower God to the most powerful one. Having that much power all of a sudden, it could be said that it had corrupted him, and the sentiment of greed took hold of his being.

    So, unaware to Amun, Ra planned to take hold of that power all to himself. He devised a ploy to obtain everything, something that would leave him as the sole undisputed governor. And much to Amun''s unfortunate fate, he succeeded.

    Taking advantage of a battle against Apep, Ra forcefully stopped their union, not without using his own powers over the Sun and Divine Light to steal Amun''s Authorities first.

    Rendered powerless and speechless at the act of betrayal, the Creation God couldn''t do more than look at Ra with shock before being swallowed by the Great Serpent.

    That was the first time Evil had triumphed over Good, yet it was not enough. Despite Apep hating Amun for what he had done, his problem did not fall with the Deity himself, but with what he embodied. It was meaningless if what he truly had to vanquish didn''t disappear, but went to another instead. Thus, his efforts began to center around Ra.

    The Sun God now had the duty to fight alone against Apep as, even though he betrayed Amun, he still needed to keep his new Kingdom from being destroyed. The only difference was that he didn''t have to share his power with anyone from now on.

    Ra first devised a story about how the Great Serpent had used its cunning to sever their connection before eating Amun. However, prior to that happening, the Creation God had lent all its power to him in order to keep fighting. Then, he relayed it to the other Gods in order to cement his ruling and so that there were no oppositions with the new changes.

    They believed him without much of a fuss, but that was of no interest to Apep. He still continued his crusade against the Light as he had been doing.

    Many more years passed like that, and the Kingdom of Gods carried on growing. The fights kept happening, and the winner was always the same one. Yet, as with everything else in the world, nothing lasts forever.

    Many millennia of battling had taken its toll on the once young God. It was a fact that he couldn''t keep fighting as he once did in his youth. So, much to his chagrin, he requested the help of the other Gods.

    That was how the legend of Ra atop of his boat with other Gods fighting Apep was born.

    As the battles raged on more and more, the additions were also increasing. It got to a point where the others were beginning to doubt Ra''s capabilities to lead and keep having the title of Supreme Ruler. More than one of them had their fair share of thoughts about getting the Throne for themselves.

    He dedicated all the free time he had to come up with an idea... only for it to knock at his door instead. Nuit, the Goddess of the night sky, had tricked Khonsu, God of the Moon �� someone with nearly as much power as the aging Ra �� to give her part of his moonlight so that she could add extra days to the year, which back then were only 360.

    That loophole managed to bypass the curse he had imposed on her before: "She may not give birth during any hour of any day of this year or of any year to come."

    The curse was thanks to a prophecy that Thot had passed onto him. That one of Nuit''s children would one day sit on his very Throne, something he couldn''t allow at all costs.

    Now, though, he couldn''t do anything as his decree and curse hadn''t been broken, so he had no right to kill her offspring. Nonetheless, he still could make it so that their father, Shu, separated her and her husband forever, and so he did it.

    Ra consulted Thot on the number of males who would be born from her, and much to his internal delight, they were two. The older would rule, while the younger would act as the spear and shield of his Kingdom.

    Those were wonderful news for Ra. More so for the content of the prophecy. Being the spear and shield of a vast and powerful Kingdom like his meant that the second son''s powers were going to be extraordinary. However, he had to intervene in the ritual of childbirth.

    Many Gods, around twenty thousand, had come from the light, yet they still couldn''t match the strength of a single being from the darkness.

    Long thought lost greed got ahold of him. He knew that by the rules of Order, he wouldn''t be able to wield that power under natural circ.u.mstances, but if he had someone with it that he could command at his beck and call, then that problem would be resolved.

    With that in mind, and in total secrecy, he modified the Ritual from where they call forth the souls of Deities from the Sea of Gods so that the second male''s body would be inhabited by a being of darkness instead of light like the rest.

    Different from Ra, he himself had the power to peer into the future. He could know from first-hand experience how would the events unfold.

    It was an ability he never used, because as an eternal being, knowing the future would be meaningless and would make things rather boring. In spite of that, a vision presented itself to him without Apep having to do anything.

    In it, he saw the warrior that would continue his legacy. One that would wage war against the Gods of Order, and commit a massacre of exaggerated proportions on them. He would be the first God to break the scale. The God capable of wielding both the power of Chaos and Order��a Deity embodying balance itself.

    Though, due to having both Good and Evil within him, his character would be more than questionable thanks to the strain his mind would be put through. Still, that would be negligible compared to his absurd potential.

    For millions of years, he was the only one of his kind. Powerful beyond belief yet ultimately alone in his endeavors. Back then, prior to the beginning of time, for something to be born would be almost impossible, and with a now new world ruled by Order, even more so.

    Now, that would change. The future arrival was going to share the same traits as him, albeit a little tainted by Good, but that could be overlooked.

    So, while his most hated enemy located a ''region'' where the souls of Evil Gods resided, Apep used his powers to select a specific one among those.

    Most Deities there were floating, multicolored nebulas endlessly drifting without any sort of consciousness or purpose. Those that gained a sense of self were able to come down to their plane by themselves, and often received the title of Primordials��the first to arrive.

    The one he chose, though, was special in its own way. While Primordials had the mental age of an a.d.u.l.t, this one had the one of a child. But that wasn''t the only thing that made that particular Deity special. No, nothing like that. What made him special was the treatment he received.

    In a bizarre manner, the concept of Evil born shortly after his original world shifted treated this soul as their own offspring. The reason as to why was lost to Apep, but he didn''t care. The important thing was that he would now be favored by the very concept they were part of.

    There was no better option for a successor. It had to be that one, and anyone else would simply fall short.

    Nuit had hidden her pregnancy for ten years, and she planned to give birth very soon, so the time both Ra and Apep had to do their own machinations was not long.

    They acted with swiftness and sigil, each of them with their own task in hand.

    From their own hidden places, they observed the birth of the one they thought would make them triumph once and for all.

    The first to appear was the one to supposedly rule over the Kingdom. In Ra''s opinion, he was a heavy disappointment. It was obviously too soon to judge its character and capability to govern, but just the fact that his Divinity was only a bit above the normal was enough to fear for the future.

    A King not only had to have charisma. He also had to possess the strength to defend his Kingdom from both internal and external threats. Someone weak would only be taken advantage of.

    The next one was a girl. Her Divinity was way higher than the first-born, and her magical aptitude looked unparalleled at first glance. This one would become a distinguished one. Of that, the observers were sure.

    Then came the star of the show. Although his introduction was a bit... special, for lack of a better word. It seemed the one who would be born next would be another girl, but all of a sudden, Nuit''s belly started bloating, deforming, and shifting, causing her great pain.

    Next thing they knew, something that could only be described as hideous exited from the Goddess'' side. They were currently in a Savanna, and some of the Magical Beasts that had opted to watch the events unfold were backing away in fear and disgust.

    What came out of her was a deformed monstrosity. One arm, one and a half legs, headless, and several other body parts missing. Even his mother looked horrified at the... thing.

    The creature twisted like a newborn fawn trying to stand up. The Magical Beasts in the surroundings continued to retreat, carefully avoiding sudden movements. However, the infant didn''t let them get away.

    Multiple clawed hands made out of an eerie black fog shot out from his back and grabbed the fleeing monsters, shredding them to pieces, and bringing those said pieces back to him.

    Ra and Apep watched from their respective places as the little baby merged with all the body parts of the Magical Beasts, covering for what he didn''t have.

    Instead of adopting an animal form when he grew older, he would have to do the inverse and try to adopt a humanoid one. This definitely went against the natural order, something that did nothing more than confirm that their job was a success, and they brought to the world a being of Evil.

    What they didn''t expect, though, was for Nuit to curse the youngling as soon as she found out that she wouldn''t be able to give birth anymore. While that increased the child''s favorability in Ra''s mind considering that he got back at Nuit for trying to outsmart him, it generated mixed feelings within Apep.

    The curse in itself was easy for him to remove, but something like that would be good in forging his will. The problem came at the moment of distinguishing when enough was enough.

    Apep was eternal, but it wasn''t something he relished in. He found no p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e in an endless struggle fighting for what was rightfully his. He had become more aware of time as the years went on, and he understood that living for the sake of something that seemed unattainable was not a particularly pleasant thing.

    That was why he wanted to leave his legacy to the next generation. And if the young God couldn''t accomplish it, then the torch should be once again passed down to his descendants. Then, if that was the case, he wondered when it would be the perfect moment for him to lift that curse.

    It would be a matter for another day as, once they made sure Nuit wouldn''t do more than ''simply'' cursing him, they both retreated to their respective places.

 Chapter 189 - The Day God Became A Demon (II)

    The following years were eventful, to say the least. The child �� now named Seth �� was subjected to the ire of his father for the harm he had caused. Geb, the God of the earth, knew of the prophecy where his younger son would be the protector of the new Kingdom, and so he couldn''t kill him. Nonetheless, that did not mean he couldn''t pull him through endless misery when it came to training.

    It didn''t help his rage when Ra got interested in him, saying he would be a fine addition to his forces while on his boat. That, coupled with the seeking of approval his ''son'' had, made him sick. He still didn''t understand what went wrong with that monstrosity.

    To add salt to his injury, Seth was, in his own words, a damnable prodigy. No matter the challenges, he always overcame them. Some with more difficulty than others, but the end result was the same. He learned everything quickly and seemingly without effort. He even learned how to gain a humanoid form from his animal one in only one year when others take hundreds to do the opposite.

    What troubled Geb were the instances where he made him fight some of his servants. Specifically, the ones with more battle experience. For the most part, he looked like a kid doing his best at a task someone he wanted to impress had imparted on him; filled with determination. However, if for some reason he felt his life was being threatened, he would become a sadistic bastard that relished in their pain.

    The new world valued individuality above all else. Each person had something that distinguished them from the rest and made them unique. And yet, Seth was able to take that individuality away, making them think that there was no meaning to their existence.

    He beat them with their own battle styles, their own techniques, and their own mannerisms. He was stripping them of their sense of self.

    The child always returned to normal after the fights, but that did little to calm him down. Geb was a hundred percent sure that was the start of his awakening as a proper God. He was beginning to develop his first Authority. It was not surprising since he was being trained quite harshly, but the rate of growth was the problem itself. The shadow was becoming too big for the light to properly shine.

    He had caught both Seth and Osiris together once, and despite doing nothing more than playing, the disparity between them could be seen with the n.a.k.e.d eye. If he did, naturally others did so as well. There were already people that were more inclined to support the younger brother more than the eldest one when it came to taking the Throne. Among those, Ra seemed to be the most outspoken one; already classifying him as the ''ultimate weapon'' at their disposal, even though he was not more than ten years old.

    Something had to be done to prevent that, and so he did. With the excuse of further development, he exiled him to the demonic wastelands in the far south.

    Not one to complain, and wanting to prove himself, Seth merely accepted the orders and did as he was told... a decision he would soon come to regret.

    What awaited him were the hardest battles of his relatively young life. A wild variety of powerful enemies made sure he couldn''t take it easy even for one bit. Foreign Gods and Magical Beasts with the same level of power as them abounded in the thousands, making it so that he was always in constant fights.

    As he didn''t have a specific date to return, he didn''t focus on that, choosing to increase his strength as much as possible instead.

    Much to his �� until then �� undiscovered anger, that wasn''t as easy as it seemed at first. He tasted defeat, again and again, something that had never happened before. The beings there were on a league of their own. Their moves were too fast to follow, their power too incomprehensible to understand, and their language too foreign to communicate.

    His frustration kept pilling at the repeated failures. The only way he was able to come out alive was because he barely escaped or his enemies didn''t see him as someone worth killing. It was certainly humiliating, but it had become a routine, so it was manageable somehow.

    The continuous defeats were certainly painful. Nevertheless, they were not meaningless. He wanted to be strong like them, he wanted to have what allowed them to win over him; he wanted to possess that superiority they had when he laid defeated beneath them, and above all, he wanted to beat them at their own game.

    Through the incessant losses, he learned a valuable lesson. After two years of being there, he understood that relying on strength alone wouldn''t cut it. If he wanted to emerge victorious, he would have to study his enemies.

    So, he observed them.

    Be it day or night; sunny or rainy, it didn''t matter. Seth kept hiddenly looking at their behavior. What they did and what they did not. How they reacted to certain situations. What sounds they used to communicate. What they feared and what they disdained. Even if it was a small and involuntary gesture, he noticed and registered it all.

    He evolved to hunt.

    Seth went for the ''weaker'' Magical Beasts first. Taking cover, he imitated the cries of distress of each individual race, making them rush to the aid of their ''companion.'' Unfortunately for them, they found nothing on the location where the sound came from, only their deaths.

    The pattern repeated itself, every time with more powerful creatures. Some of them were way wary, so he used different methods, but in the end, he still succeeded in killing them. The feeling of tricking them was beginning to elate him more and more.

    Once he discovered he had a talent for deceiving others, he instantly unlocked his first Authority. That moment was possibly the one where he felt more elation in his life. Where before he had to physically fool those monsters, now he could do it with just a thought.

    He could walk in front of them looking like their own species; make them kill each other by forcing them to mistake their kind for an enemy and even control them to his liking. The youth had never felt so good in his life, so... in control of himself and his actions.

    There were more powerful Magical Beasts to kill, but through his observations, he came to a hard truth: he was not strong enough to beat them. The reason being they were on the level of High Gods.

    That was why Seth decided to change his target to Minor Gods instead. As they were similar to him in appearance and habits, it was easier for him to replicate their doings.

    He didn''t go randomly, though. The kid specifically searched for those that had beaten him in the past and hunted them down one by one. He defeated them exactly in the way they had defeated him, and he spared their lives with eyes full of disdain in the same way they had done in the past.

    The young Seth felt invincible. Each time, he battled a stronger enemy than the last, amassing victory after victory. His Authority made things so much easier than how they had been before.

    The young Seth understood that he would not get stronger by staying there. Yet, he was clueless as to what to do to achieve that. That was the reason why he decided to come back to his homeland almost three years later after he left it. Surely his father would be proud for once the moment he told him of his exploits. Strangely, though, finally getting to hear his progenitor''s praise didn''t make him as excited as before.

    However, as soon as he came to the decision of leaving that place, his whole being froze quite literally. His breath stopped in place and his shaking eyes widened. His evil side was recoiling in fear, while his good one was sending alarm bells through his whole being.

    He had felt many negative emotions during his short life, but he had never felt fear until now. His mind was beginning to crumble down from the sheer intensity of the said feeling. Although unaware to him, he was still a mix of many different Magical Beasts. It was as if each of those were reacting differently and uniting that in a heightened sensation.

    Along with fear, came despair. His mind was telling him he was going to die; his instincts told a similar story, and his core as a God had done nothing more than to give up to an unavoidable fate��one that would surely come to pass if the thing that just appeared out of nowhere behind him didn''t disappear right at that instant.

    "You do not have to be so afraid of me, kiddo. I assure you I don''t bite." Those were the first words Apep directed at Seth. And yet, none of that was registering into his mind. He couldn''t even turn to look at the speaker, still being frozen in place.

    The Great Serpent merely shook his head in a mixture of amus.e.m.e.nt and exasperation, lowering his level of strength to manageable levels. Only then was the youngster capable of moving to see who was behind that enormous pressure.

    White hair and pants that extremely contrasted with the evilness he felt coming from him. A n.a.k.e.d upper body that didn''t hide his toned c.h.e.s.t, along with two extra arms. He also had a pair of black wings on his back, as well as another but smaller in the sides of his head.

    Golden eyes stared at his own red ones, seemingly searching for something which, going by how his expression lit up slightly, he quickly found it.

    The man nodded while stroking his chin as if praising himself for a work well done. However, in Seth''s mind, it looked as if the person in front of him was deciding if he was going to eat him raw or use the surrounding plants as condiments.

    They reappeared on a mountain cliff shortly after, causing a bit of dizziness on the younger God, who was not accustomed to speeds of that caliber.

    Once he made sure they were far away from prying eyes, the Great Serpent let go of Seth��the said kid scurrying away faster than what he thought was possible. Unfortunately for him, there was not much space to run, so he didn''t end up getting very far.

    He didn''t know what to do in this situation. Prior to this, when he encountered someone he knew wouldn''t win, he would try to escape as soon as possible without drawing their attention. But he knew it wouldn''t be possible to pull that off since the individual in front of him was on a scale of his own.

    His cautious nature seemed to only amuse Apep further. Nonetheless, he didn''t ''kidnap'' him just to enjoy his show of fear, and he let that be known to the youngster. He was there to train him into an absolute warrior.

    Seth skeptically refused, saying that his father hadn''t ordered such a course of action, hence, that would not be happening at all. What he didn''t know, though, was that it was not up to him.

    Apep explicitly told his future successor that they would be training no matter what. He appealed to his inability of battling those stronger than him while he was here...an argument that Seth quickly shut down by answering that they were way older than him, and so he couldn''t be blamed for being on the weaker side.

    The smug way in which he replied despite being filled with fear made Apep have tick marks on his forehead. The Great Serpent immediately knew that this kid had been born to be the death of him.

    "One half of you does not want to fight, but you will have to regardless of your d.e.s.i.r.es or standings. What the future holds for you is beyond your comprehension, so you will need the strength to face it. And, if you are still not convinced, I will promise to give you what you d.e.s.i.r.e the most were you to impress me." Or so he said to the young God with a gaze that seemed to hold the knowledge of the whole universe within it.

    Seth would have liked to deny his words right on the spot, but for some reason, he could not bring himself to do so. The reason why he disliked training was that it was the only thing he did on a daily basis. He wanted to do other things like play with his brother who he regarded very highly, but his father always got angry at him when he did, and so he tried to do it in secret.

    It made him ask himself what was the point of going through that if the result was always the same. Seth wondered from time to time if there was a hidden purpose to all of this training he did, but he never got an answer, and when he insisted, punishment ensued. He wouldn''t mind it if it was just himself, but his father always tended to involve his caretaker as well.

    As a God, he was sturdy, but that couldn''t be said about Anjed. He was one of the first perfect ''experimental slaves'' as the older Gods called the newly created race who were meant to serve them. A punishment meant for someone like him to feel pain would be a nightmare for those weaker.

    It was at those times were something pulsed within him. A surge of unknown emotions that wished for nothing but the destruction of everything. It made him think of himself as an entirely different person, and yet he did not know why.

    His mind hurt and became confused from time to time. Young as he might be, he knew his condition was abnormal. There was no way wishing for both good and bad to happen in a certain situation was something typical. For him to d.e.s.i.r.e for people to live and die with the same intensity, for him to wish the continuation of the world and the end of it with equal fervor when asked about it... It was not normal.

    He wanted none of that. But, what did he truly want? Even he did not know about that. If he didn''t know, why would the stranger do?

    Once again, he found himself wanting to deny him, and once again, he found himself unable to do so. Those eyes had something that prevented any refusal from coming off his mouth: it was certainty. There was not a single shred of doubt in them.

    Against his judgment that he had honed through his time in the wastelands, Seth chose to answer the white-haired individual''s question with one of his own.

    "What do I d.e.s.i.r.e the most?" When he asked that question, he half-expected to be turned down��or worse yet: being told that he would know in the future only if he accepted his offer. However, much to his surprise, he received a clear answer.

    "You d.e.s.i.r.e two things; one tied to the other. But I can only tell you of the first, young one. What you wish for is to be free of the yoke the Gods imposed on you in the form of sweet lies. To cut off the strings that make you a puppet in this cage called the world. In summary, you want freedom." For the second time since meeting him, Seth found himself frozen in place. This time, though, it was not due to fear.

    If there was some hesitation before, now there was none. With an enthusiasm that overshadowed his previous fear, he spoke the words that would mark him for the rest of his life.

    "Please teach me how to be free. I want to be able to soar the sky with my own wings."

 Chapter 190 - The Day God Became A Demon (III)

    Not once Seth expected training under someone with that scary presence could be an easy thing, and even so, he still felt overwhelmed by the sheer intensity of it all.

    There were barely any breaks, and even those were not that long. He was told to fight like a beast against his enemies; without making use of his Authority. Just plain jungle-type fights. The young God was not allowed to back away until he achieved victory, even if that ended with him on the brink of death.

    The only comfort he had was that the enemies were never on an unattainable level. They were stronger than him, certainly, but they were not impossible to defeat. It was as if they were meticulously picked up to make sure they could push him to the edge, yet not enough to leave him hopeless.

    All this situation could be considered to be... wild, in a sense. If before everything, be it the place, the foe, the method of fighting, etc, was orderly planned, now it was the complete opposite. Fights all of a sudden; landscapes that made no sense or just plain nonsense when it came to enemies with abilities that blew his mind away.

    No doubt it would be something unpredictable enough to warrant at least a complaint from Seth. However, he not even once made one. It was not because he wanted to look tough; quite the contrary. He did want to scream his frustrations to the world. Nevertheless, despite all of that, there was a bittersweet sensation that made everything worth it and outright enjoyable.

    At first, he did not know where that feeling came from. Why suddenly something that felt tedious and monotonous was now a thing that he looked forward to? The answer didn''t take long to find its way into his mind.

    "Oldy" as he liked to call him, for lack of a proper name, was that answer. His company made everything feel just... different, in a good light. To him, that never had someone watching over his progress or even commenting on the things that he could improve, the white-haired man was a breath of fresh air.

    The better part of it all for him was when he complimented him for a job well done. The concept was so foreign that he thought he had misheard it the first time. He would forever deny that tears streamed down his face back then.

    Even so, from that moment on, he did his best to earn similar words from the man. His focus on who to impress had shifted from his father to someone else that had been more of a paternal figure than the God of the earth had ever been.

    Apep, for his part, didn''t know how to react. His successor had issues that made him want to facepalm, but at least he was earnest in what he did if anything. Some part of him related to the kid, though.

    When he said he would help him be free, he did not lie. It was because that was what he wanted too. Not only for his newly acquired pupil but for him as well. This world was restraining them to suit its needs.

    His Authority over Chaos was pretty much garbage. It offered too many downsides and almost none upsides. He couldn''t even bring his real body and had to conform himself with an avatar instead. Chaos was strong because he embodied it, and not the other way around. Unfortunately, that meant little to the ever-suppressing Order.

    The young God named Seth, though, was a bit of a special case. As he was, in simple terms, both good and bad, the repression on him was almost nonexistent. Nonetheless, what the world didn''t, those self-important fools did.

    Being a counterfeit Deity, it was only natural that there could not be any type of good relationship aside from self-gain between the kid and them. After all, he was the mirror that reflected the ugliness inside them. The line that separated empty lies and hollow truths was so thin that they couldn''t look directly into his eyes without feeling as if they were being judged.

    Apep could shamelessly say that he almost broke into a fit of laughter the moment he discovered what Seth''s first Authority was. Not even the moment when he ate Amun gave him that much satisfaction. It was the ultimate mocking against those pretenders of order.

    They would be having the enemy that would cause their downfall right inside their little fort without them knowing. Nothing could be more pleasurable. And the better thing was, their so-called chief God was lending his hand in that endeavor, thinking he would be able to control the kid. Truly laughable.

    He would let them auto-destroy themselves all they wanted. His job was only to prepare Seth for the events to come, and depending on how the road leading to the said event was, he would modify his plans accordingly.

    The kid was still way young for him to face any of the challenges the future held for him, so there wasn''t much Apep could back then. Development came as a slow process for Gods, and even with his strange circ.u.mstances, Seth was no exception.

    He guessed that it would take a little over ten thousand years for his objective to merely begin. The fools would be happy to have his successor gone, even if it was for such a short time, with the only one not thinking exactly that way being the stupid bird.

    Fortunately for them, the light of the Sun didn''t reach the wastelands they were in, so Ra had no way of spying on the two. Added to the fact that Apep would leave at night to continue his fight against him while Seth was sleeping, the Chief God had little to no free time for him to dedicate it to other affairs.

    And so, the ''waiting game'' began for him. Since his successor couldn''t take that much strain despite being a Deity, he did not fully focus on fights. He had to teach him about different arts so that his arsenal would never fall short.

    It took him some daily fights with his old enemy to figure out what to do. And ironically enough, it was the first thing he himself learned to do.

    He had promised to grant Seth metaphorical wings to be free, but now it was time to give him real ones. The Art of Shapeshifting was something that was relatively easy to learn, so there was no way he could have problems with it.

    The only concern would be the number and which forms he could take, but that was up to him. Apep only needed to teach him the technique itself. There was one thing he was sure, though. That those forms would be natural disasters. They would help him cover for some weaknesses and even give him the ability to control some elements.

    It wouldn''t be at the level of Authorities, but that did not mean the difference would be big either. Speaking of Authorities, he had to be careful about how many he allowed his successor to have. Having too many would only work to destabilize his mind even more, considering they were more of a curse than they were a blessing.

    That aside, Apep got to work with his teachings. Unsurprisingly, Seth was able to master the art fairly quickly... not that it was a hard thing to do, to begin with. What WAS surprising, however, was the first form he shapeshifted in.

    When he said he was going to give him wings to attain his freedom, he meant it figuratively. That was why it came as a surprise that his first form turned out to be a flying creature.

    Gales formed around him soon becoming tornadoes, seemingly announcing the future ruler of the skies. It created quite the scandal with the already existing Magical Beast and stray Gods prowling around them, but just making his presence known was enough to send them scurrying away.

    Shortly after, everything calmed down, and his successor appeared once again in a form that made his lips twitch a bit thanks to the resemblance to a certain bird.

    The Griffin form of his successor took its time to do some acrobatics in the air, probably to get used to the new feeling and also to enjoy the experience of being free from the shackles of the earth.

    Once he was done doing so, Seth dived down at Apep. The Great Serpent watched with raised eyebrows as he landed a little clumsily before throwing himself onto him, croaking happily like a crow while nuzzling his head against Apep''s own.

    Seth obviously couldn''t speak, but being a ''monster'' himself, he understood what he wanted to say. That didn''t make it less awkward, though. Still, he considered that was acceptable. After all, if his successor was happy then he would give it his all when it came to absorbing all the knowledge the white-haired man wanted to impart on him.

    Yet, fate seemed to have more surprises in store for him, as not even minutes after his first transformation, the kid acquired a new Authority. The Great Serpent was about to praise his luck for getting two in such a short of time when he realized just what kind of Authority Seth had obtained, causing his brain to freeze for a couple of seconds.

    It is said that the world trembled with loud roars of frustration that night. Even Ra had wondered what had the beast in a fouler mood than usual.

    Regardless of his misgivings, however, Apep still did not neglect to do his job.

    With the passing of years, that decision proved to be the correct one. Not only did his successor acquire new, powerful forms, but he also gained more Authorities along the way, and much to his relief and delight, they were heavily inclined towards Evil.

    There was a side effect, though. With his increase in power, his mind took on a heavier burden. Gone was the relaxed kid that would be happy with the smallest of things Apep did with his well-being in mind. Instead, what remained was a short-tempered youngster prone to make irrational decisions.

    As much as he would have liked, the Great Serpent couldn''t have taught him how to be patient when his newly-found anger issues were part of his core. It would be like trying to teach a sanguinary beast to change its diet to plant-based food��a futile attempt.

    If there was something he found solace in, then that would be the fact that Seth still listened to him and treated him with the highest regard. Normally, he would have sarcastically laughed, saying that it was not at all hard to earn his loyalty. Normally, that is...

    The few thousand years he spent taking care of him had changed him somehow. When at first he viewed Seth as an experiment of sorts; one that latched onto him like a tick, now he treated him as his own flesh and blood, which, considering that he played a big part in his existence, was not that far-fetched.

    As if by the intervention of a higher power, Ra would �� unknowingly �� help him again in that decision. Much to his regret and understanding, though; the self-poisoning of his nemesis brought him no joy this time. He knew it was not something to be joyous about.

    The Sun God knew that his situation was dire, but he also could not simply make use of Seth while he was nothing more than a kid. That was why he waited for a couple of thousand years to allow him to develop enough. That way he would be ready to help him.

    Naturally, he would not solely rely on him from the get-go. He chose to keep relying on the other Gods for support, at least until Seth was strong enough to lead the fight on his own.

    For obvious reasons, the young God was reluctant to help the people he was supposed to get away from in order to obtain his freedom, but a good convincing from his father figure was enough to let go of his misgivings. That did not mean he was not feeling conflicted about it all, though.

    In the end, he obeyed and went to help Ra, unaware that that decision would be one that he would regret for the rest of his life.

 Chapter 191 - The Day God Became A Demon END

    Fear.

    A feeling he hadn''t felt in a long time resurfaced once again at the moment of meeting his current and �� soon to be �� future adversary. He had heard stories of the Great Serpent and how its might was so terrifying that other Gods were needed just to fend him off, let alone kill him.??

    Yet, it wasn''t until he was face to face with him that Seth truly understood the disparity that existed between the two of them. The rational part of him screamed that they were doomed and were only delaying the inevitable, while the rebellious side of him wanted nothing more than to emerge victorious where others failed.

    Unconsciously, though, he wondered who will be stronger; if his teacher or this being in front of him. The two were, coincidentally, the only ''people'' that made him fear. Both of them had that aura of someone at the true top that couldn''t be reached by just anyone. Mysteriously enough for him as well, he felt a strange sense of familiarity coming from his enemy, but he pushed it down in order to not get distracted in his fight.

    If he had learned anything during most of his life in the wastelands it was that during combat, only your opponent deserved your whole attention, and the rest was unnecessary unless there were risks of ambushes.

    His first experience fighting the beast could be summarized into the word ''embarrassment.'' No matter what he did, it didn''t seem to work. His blows were not enough to damage his foe, while the same couldn''t be said about Apep. It was one thing to hear of its unfathomable strength, and another entirely to experiment it first hand.

    Seth realized this was a fight that he had to take seriously. There was no other way about it. The only consolation was that his supposed companions were even in a more pathetic state.

    Countless were the times that he had to kick them out of the way the moment they froze when the Great Serpent bothered to glare at them.

    The times where he wanted to shove them into the titanic being''s mouth just to prevent them from hindering anymore were astronomical.

    If there was someone that Seth could consider that was actually doing something, then that would be his great-grandfather, Ra.

    In spite of the numerous times that he had occasionally overheard from the Gods in the wastelands that he was nothing more than a dying, weak old man, the truth could not be further from that.

    The Sun God was pretty much the one holding everything together and preventing Apep from gaining any type of advantage. The rest atop the boat were just decorations to fill some sort of imaginary quota. Maybe to distract their foe somehow, Seth didn''t know.

    Lastly, there was the matter of being ''close'' with his alleged mother. They were fighting in her domain; her True Body was the Sky itself.

    Safe to say, his hate against her burned brighter than the sun above. That was why he took a sick p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e in tainting her with dark, thunderstorm clouds and only leaving enough space for the sun to shine through and not weaken their greater force.

    Even so, his mother got revenge by swallowing their boat after they finished their exhausting battle; sending them to the underworld, and gifting the world above with the cover of darkness.

    He fought in the world below, protecting the sun bark from the demons inhabiting there. New faces joined his defense, while others returned to the world of the living, knowing their task was over.

    Among those new faces, his brother was there, but not even once he directed a word at him. Seth didn''t hate him, but he understood that they simply belonged to different worlds and that the esteem they once had when they were little was something that could no longer be brought back.

    Osiris must have understood that too, as, after the first try, he quickly gave up. Not without showing a bitter face, though.

    Awkward hours passed, but they perdured nonetheless. The demons were certainly far weaker than a universe-ending threat, so they did not have to exert much effort.

    The bark that kept moving even without someone to steer it on was finally ready to exit the underworld and return to the skies above.

    At the moment of ascension, Seth saw the Sun''s rebirth��the World''s rebirth. It was then that he knew his job was over, and that he could retire until he was called again.

    Unceremoniously, he immediately left to return to his exile. He knew that after his performance, as lacking as it was in his own opinion, would get him the attention of the old man. He would probably ask him to come back to their land, something he didn''t want to do at all.

    The stigma of being exiled was not a thing that particularly bothered him. In fact, he preferred being away from all of them. It was true that he did not have any fancy things like a giant castle or control over the populace, but he was happy with what little he had.

    The only concern he had was that he couldn''t bring his caretaker to the demonic wastelands with him. Nothing good would come of that. At least oldy was kind enough to get messages to and fro. How was he able to do that, he didn''t know, but what mattered was that he could.

    Speaking of the man, when he returned to their usual place, he was received with the smuggest look that could possibly exist. He didn''t know the reason why, but he sure felt it was annoying.

    Not as annoying as what was coming next, though.

    It turned out that just because he now had a ''daily job'' it did not mean that he could relax from training, or in literal events, getting beaten up without a chance of retaliation.

    That only got worse when he retold the events that transpired amidst a flurry of supersonic punches. There was a strange light in his mentor''s eyes... eyes that looked conflicted for a second, something he managed to pick up.

    But even with all his observation capabilities, he did not understand why. If there was something Seth could say with certainty, it was that the figure in front of him always did things with assurance. He never once felt that what he did was in any way possible a mistake. However, that was the feeling the young God was getting now.

    Unfortunately, he knew he wouldn''t get an answer even if he asked directly. He had spent enough time around the person he considered a paternal figure to know that he would keep silent no matter the way he went about the subject.

    In the end, he resigned himself. Instead, he made up his mind to improve even further. He knew things were going to get really harsh for him without needing any kind of warning. If there was one thing he was sure of, it was that the time for taking things easy and with nonchalance was over.

    Although not voicing it out loud, Apep approved of his mindset. Despite letting him go and defend Ra, he still didn''t forget their original promise. After all, their true enemies were the Gods themselves.

    He only acceded because it was time for Seth to take a qualitative leap in his strength. Fighting against foreign Gods would surely achieve that, but not as much as he wanted.

    It was better to let his successor fight alongside his kin to learn of their strengths and weaknesses. That way, nothing would take him by surprise when the time for his rebellion came.

    Apep could honestly say that it had a different meaning to see the results after fighting ''seriously'' against him. Seeing him go from a smug kid filled with fear yet still standing up to him, to a relatively normal youth with a big enough courage to overcome his fear and fight him... It was pleasant.

    It was thanks to that emotion that he once again saw his resolve shine bright.

    From that moment on, he began to train him not physically, but spiritually and conceptually. His natural strength would keep growing as he got older, so that was nothing of concern at that current moment.

    The next step would be to truly dive into Authorities and how they affected what surrounded them. If his successor wanted to have a chance against overwhelming odds, he had to learn to evolve.

    In order for him to achieve that, Apep made sure to engrave the theoretical knowledge during the early day, and then put that said knowledge to test during their confrontations.

    It was slow at first. Even with his adaptability, comprehending the absurd was an arduous task. However, progress was still made. The more they fought against each other as "enemies", the more Seth began to put the knowledge he imparted to use.

    Nevertheless, that seemed to have been a double-edged sword.

    As the battles raged on, Apep noticed instances where his successor would just blank out for a few moments when he glanced at Ra. His face would then contort and twitch as if he were suffering from some invisible pain.

    That behavior puzzled the Great Serpent greatly. He didn''t show any signs of being afflicted by any kind of backlash when he was explaining it. The problem only manifested in battle.

    When asked for more details, Seth told him that he was seeing strange images that when put together seemed to narrate a story about something he couldn''t quite understand. The young God did his best to not think about it as not only it hindered him when battling, but it also gave him a splitting headache, which in turn, put him in a terrible mood for some reason.

    Apep could guess the why, and he had no one other to blame than himself. He should have known that teaching him knowledge about concepts could prove fatal considering his condition.

    Seeing the new World stagnate, decay, burn, and die only to be born again in its previous image and flourish once more was not something that could be easy to digest.

    Unfortunately, there was nothing he could do to prevent his discomfort other than teaching him further. Stopping halfway would only be detrimental for his successor, causing even more harm. It was only through understanding that he would be able to overcome his struggles.

    It... helped, somehow. The pain was certainly lessened, but the visions did not stop. They intensified instead.

    That made Apep take the decision of accelerating his plan. His aggressiveness stemming from the poor state of his sanity was becoming more and more of a concern with each passing year.

    As the one signifying balance, having both Good and Evil in equal measures within him was not helping Seth in any way to stay sane. The Great Serpent thought he had more time before the erosion of his mind became a problem, but that was not the case anymore.

    "Seth. I know of a way to solve your misfortunes. Nevertheless, that would require you to go all out against Apep in your next battle. You will have to go with the intent to kill and not defend." That was the first lie he ever told the youth, and it would also be the last one.

    The young God listened with rapt attention, albeit a bit groggily from his position. He had many spears made out of mana stabbed on his body at his own request. He didn''t trust himself to do something rash considering his internal turmoil, so he had asked the white-haired man to restrain him.

    Seth didn''t know how fighting Apep was going to resolve his problems when he had been doing that for years and nothing seemed to change. In fact, it only grew worse.

    Even so, he decided to look at it from another perspective. All his issues had begun the moment he had started fighting it, so maybe if he killed it they would go away.

    Simply stopping would not work, at best only delay the inevitable, so he had to take his chances. The thing was, even if he decided to forgo his defense, it was not like he could suddenly kill something so outside of his scope.

    His worries were reassured by the person he trusted the most. He said he would make sure to give him an opportunity to succeed. And if there was one person that he trusted the most, it was him. The youth knew first-hand how terrifying he could be as, to this day, he had never managed to wound him even when he was going all out during their spars.

    That day, before he went to battle, and for the first time since he met him, Seth didn''t train in any sort of way. The two spent the day enjoying the calmness, remembering memories, exchanging ideas, and just talking in general.

    The Egyptian God could safely say that it was one of the best days in his life.

    However, there was a growing anxiety inside him that refused to subside. While he, without a doubt, would like for days like these to repeat themselves, he couldn''t help but feel something was amiss. It almost looked like a��

    "Do not get distracted, young one!" The boat''s owner''s words managed to bring him out of thoughts just in time to avoid the poisonous spit from the Great Serpent. While he had managed to build up an immunity after being struck by it so many times, it didn''t mean it was not unpleasant for it to happen again. The pain was still pretty much there.

    Shaking his head slightly, Seth went on the offensive, focusing all his rage on his foe. As told, he gave his all in attacking, not minding if the runts that accompanied him suffered any kind of danger.

    The skies trembled and the sound of thunder boomed like never before. Even when the light of the Sun was dimming down to give way to the Moon, his Fire burned bright to prevent the darkness from taking over.

    Ra did not know the reason why the one meant to make his reign stronger was fighting with unprecedented fierceness, or why it seemed to be working, but he knew he had to take advantage of this.

    He first delayed his passage to the underworld as much as he could as that would mean the weakening of his powers before also jumping to the front to face the beast directly.

    This alarmed the other Gods greatly, as they were supposed to protect him, but here he was going to the most dangerous place in the boat. Nonetheless, same as Seth, he did not bother with them.

    With his support, both the God of the Sun and the God of Storms were able to push Apep back even more.

    Now that he was up close, Ra realized a crucial fact. The one in front of them was not a mere avatar, but the real one. While the Great Serpent couldn''t enter the new world with his real body, he could inhabit one of his avatars, yet if that said avatar died, the original would die as well.

    The Bird God found himself not knowing the why of such a foolish decision. However, whatever the reason, he would not waste the opportunity to get rid of one, if not THE biggest problem he had.

    Ra abandoned his restraints and fought like never before, uncaring for the rest of the Gods with him. They were unimportant, only there to work as meat shields in case either him or the young Seth needed them.

    Speaking of him, Ra opted to fight beside the youth, albeit with some distance between them. He was being like a raging beast, focusing on destroying Apep and not caring for anything else. Both individuals were just going to hinder each other if they got too close, after all.

    As the battle continued on for days, the world seemed to suffer more and more, yet no individual stopped. The only ones left fighting were Ra, Seth, and Apep, with the others having been killed a long time ago by them with no concern whatsoever.

    The only thing that prevented the land from becoming a mess was the somewhat perfect harmony between Seth''s storms and Ra''s suns, but even so, just their fight alone was tearing the earth asunder.

    However, no one dared to intervene. Even if their domains were being destroyed, every God stayed away from the battlefield in fear of dying from a stray attack. That was how terrifying the sky spectacle had become.

    But... everything has an end, and this battle was not any different.

    Age was not something Ra could ignore, and while Seth could fight infinitely through his ability to absorb negativity to replenish his wasted energy, mental fatigue was not something he could ignore.

    So, in a desperate attempt to achieve once and for all, Seth launched himself from the Solar Barque into Apep''s open mouth. His spear blazed with his own fire and that of the sun he had managed to collect during the fight.

    The Great Serpent, not one to back out, opened his mouth with a roar that shook the world itself and raised to the challenge.

    Seth''s weapon was quick to impact with one of Apep''s fangs, creating a resounding boom that dispersed the storm clouds in a circular motion, revealing the clear blue sky to the three combatants.

    Both Evil Gods didn''t pay attention to that, though. Their whole focus was on one another. Neither of the two could overpower the other, even after seemingly putting all of their strength in doing so.

    However, Seth knew he could not fail now. He wanted to have more of ''those days'' with that secretly caring figure. Defeat was not something he was able to afford. So, with a shout of self-encouragement, the youth used every ounce of energy he had left for one final push.

    The unexpected happened at that moment, though. His spear cracked prior to splitting into two, with the upper part flying through the air, yet not before managing to rip the fang out of his opponent''s jaw.

    With nothing to stop his descent anymore, Seth fell into the mouth of Apep together with the broken fang.

    Amidst the situation unfolding, Ra saw the opportunity of victory and took it. Shapeshifting himself into Miuty��a decently sized yellow cat, he nimbly jumped and caught the still spinning broken spear of Seth with his barely-shaped humanoid hands.

    Still possessing the power of the young God, Ra enhanced it even further with his own Sun Authority and came crashing down at the pained form of his everlasting enemy.

    The spear, now resembling a knife more than anything, cut through the sides of the Great Serpent with relative ease, enough to puzzle Ra slightly, but he just attributed it to the combination of both Good and Evil in the spear, something that did nothing more than to reaffirm his goals.

    Apep looked at Ra menacingly after releasing a roar of pure hatred. The Sun God was prepared to resume his attacks when a new development occurred.

    Something drilled its way partway through its head, slowly pushing itself farther. Ra soon identified it as the fang that Seth had broke before. The corrosion springing forth from the tip did not harm the Chaos God, but it facilitated the extraction.

    From inside Apep''s mouth, Seth gave one last might push, finally exiting from his temporary prison.

    His body was almost unrecognizable. Parts of flesh were falling off, and even bones were suffering the same fate. However, nothing of that mattered to him. He was also able to completely burn Apep''s body from within before exiting its stomach through the front.

    The young God looked at the tooth he used to escape. He would have to use it to create a new spear seeing as his previous one broke. It didn''t matter, though. Seth was sure ''he'' would be able to come up with ways of utilizing it. For now...

    He had won. Through incredibly lucky coincidences, but he had won. The only thing keeping him floating was sheer will, and the d.e.s.i.r.e to see his opponent off, who, despite being seconds away from dying, looked peaceful.

    He would witness his end before��

    "It seems my time has come. For an eternal lifespan, this sure felt short." Seth froze at Apep''s words. Not even the first time he fought him caused such a reaction on him. That was because he not only felt himself freezing but his whole world instead.

    Ra''s frown was visible even through his cat face. Apep not even once uttered a single word to him, so much so that he thought his foe was incapable of speech or even intelligent thought.

    Ignoring his reaction, however, Apep continued. "You are a parasite, Ra. I bet even Amun died cursing you in my stomach. Unfortunately for you, my legacy will carry on. You will not get rid of me that easily."

    This certainly alarmed him. Was there another being that could prove to be a threat to his reign?

    As if understanding his thoughts, Apep laughed in ridicule. "I have nurtured the one that will kill you and make you grovel beneath their feet. My greatest pride and the one I regard as my flesh and blood."

    The Great Serpent then turned to Seth. His gaze turned sad for the briefest of moments. Seeing him in a state of shock was not particularly easy; even more so when he himself would miss spending time with the youth. "As for you... You fought well, young God. Remember what has brought you here, and you will succeed in whatever you want to accomplish. My remains are yours to use; consider it a gift for slaying me."

    As the Great Serpent was closing his eyes for the last time, the image they engraved was that of the one he spent the most meaningful moments of his dull existence.

    ''You have come a long way... Honestly, why do I start having regrets now?'' Those were the last thoughts of Apep, the Great Serpent that brought terror to the Egyptian Gods for millions of years, and the one that planted the seed for a new era.

    His enormous body fell from the heavens to the earth below. The crash created numerous earthquakes, but the two survivors didn''t pay attention to that.

    Ra was trying to understand his foe''s last words with the intent of finding some hidden meaning that could let him prepare for whatever threat was approaching. He knew that it was not something that he could solve at the moment, requiring a better state of mind.

    The important thing was that they finally won, they finally triumphed over Evil. However, Ra would not be where he was if he lacked the foresight to understand the implications. The main one being a separation of the Gods under his rule due to the absence of a common enemy.

    Fortunately, he had planned for this beforehand in case a situation like this one arose, as unlikely as it was. He had a candidate in mind, one that he was sure would not refuse.

    Turning to the said candidate, Ra was met with a puzzling sight. Seth was... trembling? The Sun God thought he was tired after the long fight, something he could understand as he himself was in a similar state.

    "You can rest now, young one. The threat is no longer��"

    ?

    "Aahh... aaaahhh... aaAAAHHH... AAAAAAAGGGGGHHHHH!!!!!"

    ?

    On that day, God defeated the one he considered his father.

    ?

    On that day, God''s mind shattered.

    ?

    On that day, God consumed his progenitor.

    ?

    ?And on that day... God became a Demon.

 Chapter 192 - Old Faces

    (A/N: Gotta say, I didn''t expect something that I consider was...average? to be so well received. Your comments last chapter made me very happy. Love you guys <3)

    "Ghk..." A barely audible sound of pain escaped Seth''s mouth. His hand immediately went to his head in a vain attempt to stop his headache. Physical pain was something he could withstand to great lengths, but when it came to the mind the story was different.??

    "Master... All right?" His Master has never visibly showed any discomfort, much less pain, so Asterios'' question was not out of place. The only conclusion he could come up with was that it had to do with that recently-summoned Servant.

    "Yes... Yes, I am. Let''s get this over with quickly just in case." He was not stupid. Seth quickly arrived at the same conclusion his Servant did. However, he still felt it was not entirely that. As if it was only a part of the puzzle.

    Knowing, much to his annoyance, did nothing to prevent certain memories from resurfacing. Memories of a time where headaches were part of his daily life.

    Be that as it may, that cat was not getting out alive without being impaled and shredded to pieces. If there was something he absolutely abhorred with everything he had then that would be people playing with his mind. The one he wanted to kill the most in the world had done so, and to this day, his hatred for that person has not subsided. If he had to add someone else to that list, then he will not hesitate in doing it.

    Seth pushed those thoughts aside for now. Remembering will work against him, so he instead opted for focusing on the things ahead of him. He had asked the Demon to take the both of them to a place it felt comfortable. The Egyptian God was sure he would get some answers there.

    Without the need to say it, that place would not be ''pretty'' by any standards. The more closer they got to their destination, the more signs appeared of mass killing having transpired, which did nothing more than to cement the idea that this place was f_u_c_k_e_d up.

    Along the way, they were attacked mainly by automata and homunculus that the Demon disposed of with ease, but there were not even shadows of Servants no matter how much they looked around.

    The Egyptian God didn''t take that as a sign of being alone, though. In fact, he almost could sniff the scent of dead people hovering over him.

    "Well, well, well. Look at what our little pet brought us. A wandering God and an unsightly monster. Can''t say I have seen any worse combination than that."

    He sometimes hated being right.

    The Demon stopped in its tracks as Seth and Asterios turned to a figure levitating some distance above them. If he were to be honest, the black-haired man preferred not to initiate any confrontations for the time being considering he felt like crap, but if there was no alternative, he wouldn''t hesitate in acting.

    Berserker stared at the floating man with a mixture of sadness and guilt. There was no way he couldn''t recognize that person��someone that cohabitated the labyrinth with him for a time.

    Despite that person calling him an unsightly monster, he couldn''t bring himself to hate him for it. That was because he understood his ire and even felt it was justified somehow.

    "I...ka...ros..." Asterios could only mutter his name, also shocked by the fact that he would appear here out of all places. The man was of lean build. His reddish-brown hair was styled into a ponytail that moved freely under the slightly cold wind. He was wearing a chiton; the upper part being a solid black while the lower one had a light sky blue color. The Greek man was barefoot, with the only thing covering the extremity being socks from an unknown material that started on the base of his fingers and went up until his waist.

    A pair of white wings rested on his back, gently flapping to keep him airborne while he stared down at the two individuals, yet his gaze was more focused on Asterios than the Deity. The Egyptian God didn''t mind the treatment, being more interested in the unfolding development instead. There was also the chance of obtaining valuable information. Ikaros seemed to be the type to spill the beans as long as you didn''t interrupt him, after all.

    "Yo, Minotaur. Long time no see! Since I escaped that stupid prison your bastard of a father put me and dad in, if I recall?" Although his tone was light hearted and had a certain ''mirth'' added to it, anyone with half a working brain could tell that he wasn''t happy at all. The overflowing disgust and disdain oozing from him could not be hidden, and possibly he didn''t even intend for it to be that way.

    "So��... No... Why... here...?" Berserker wanted to apologize, even if he wasn''t exactly at fault, but then he remembered how Euryale always told him that he should not let what others thought of him define his being, so he stopped himself. However, his curiosity remained. This place didn''t look like the type the winged man would consider appearing in.

    "Hoh? Curious, ain''t we? I am not seeing any problem with this city. Aside from the dark surroundings that makes some unpleasant echoes from the past resurface, the fact that the sun never shines here couldn''t be more ideal." Knowing his legend, it didn''t sound so far-fetched for him to like this London sunk in a perpetual night.

    Seth was attentively reading Ikaros'' body language. Despite having an easy-going attitude, he could see the almost imperceptible rigidness that accompanied his movements. That led to the conclusion that if the Greek found himself in another place other than this, then he would actually be way more cautious about flying.

    "Having that said, I do have a motive for being here." The flying man''s eyes then turned to Seth, who had been watching in the sidelines. "My ''Master'' seems to have taken a... let''s just say sick interest in you."

    The Egyptian God''s only outward reaction was to rise a single eyebrow. He didn''t exactly know how to respond to that declaration. No matter how many times that had happened in the past, it was still a bit awkward.

    ''Still... He said some interesting things. Now the way he said them is what caught my attention. It seems this Master is not a proper one. Maybe one like Jeanne was back in Orleans? That could turn problematic. Moreover, someone is specifically interested in me? Ignoring the part where that never ends well, how can they know I, specifically, am here?'' He was not sure why, but the chance of something completely crazy involving him happening was very high.

    "Now, that person wants you to join on something nonsensical that I truthfully didn''t bother listening about. Something-battle royal-something. It had to do with plunging this city in a mist of blood, but as I said, I didn''t pay attention." Ikaros continued his light-hearted explanation without pause and without even bothering to check if the opposite party was getting what he was saying.

    "And what makes you think that I am interested in playing that madman''s games? I find it easier to kill that person instead and be done with it." Seth was not in the happiest of moods, and the attempt of pulling him into something ridiculous was not helping either.

    "Wow, such blatant disregard for human life, my Master likes that. They predicted your response, though. That''s why they told me to relay to you that you will not be doing it for free. A nice gift is waiting for you, but you will have to work for it, sounds good?" To say that Ikaros admired Seth in certain way would be an understatement. His hate for Minos transcended to hate for all Kings, so someone who once slayed one automatically earned some good points in his book. That was why he didn''t feel insulted when his offer, even though it was technically not his, was rejected.

    "Not interested. Nothing your Master has does. Now, if you don''t mind, we must go." In consideration of his status as a simple messenger, Seth decided to avoid confrontations. That and he also hadn''t shown any kind of malign intentions.

    "That would be troubling."

    It seemed like he thought too soon, again.

    Taking advantage of the Demon''s limb that was blocking their view of him, Ikaros descended like a meteor. The moment he got past it, though, he was met with black.

    Asterios slammed the blunt side of his axes on Ikaros'' body without mercy, swatting him to the side. Using the momentum obtained after being hit, the winged man spun quickly in mid-air and used one of the buildings to propel himself in their direction.

    This time it was the turn of the Demon to defend, throwing a punch at the incoming foe. However, when it connected, Ikaros body turned into feathers, feathers that moved to the upper part of its arm and reformed in his figure soon after.

    "So easy, so easy~" The Greek man cheerfully laughed as he ran on top of the Demon''s limb. As it belonged to the shoulder Asterios was standing on, the Minotaur went to meet him.

    Now, instead of using the blunt side of his axes, he attacked with a chopping motion with the intention to kill. In battle, he would push his feelings aside and attack with everything he got. That was his job as a Servant.

    Ikaros noticed this, and his smirk turned a bit too wide for comfort. Using his wings to stop his momentum, he managed to narrowly avoid being chopped in half.

    Taking advantage of the lowered weapons, the brown-haired man stepped on the axes, using them as support to jump over Asterios'' shoulders. However, Berserker wouldn''t put things easy for him in the slightest.

    Removing his left hand from his ax, he used it to try and grab one of Ikaros'' wings. Anticipating this, the Greek used his other wing to shoot a hail of feathers against the Minotaur, causing him to shield his face.

    The appendages stabbed the figure of Asterios, but other than causing a bit of bleeding, no more harm was done. Nevertheless, Ikaros achieved his goal of distracting the son of that bastard King. This time, he used his opponent''s shoulder as a platform to jump at the head of the Demon. The creature had barely moved before its initial actions, possibly due to ''that person'' issuing commands remotely. Be that as it may, it worked for him as it was one less person to worry about.

    Once the Greek man landed on the boney horns of the behemoth, he was able to stare at his true target. From the very beginning, he had not made any sign of acting, merely playing the role of an observer. Even now, the Deity wasn''t looking at him like an enemy. His gaze remained neutral through it all.

    Ikaros was not perturbed by it, though. He descended rapidly, his arm stretched out as his hands formed into claws, ready to seemingly mangle his target''s face.

    When he was centimeters away from achieving that, though, Seth tilted his head from his sitting position, easily avoiding the supposed attack. Not happy with just that, the hand that was dropped at the side caught on fire before shooting up with the intention of paint a burning hole in his enemy''s c_h_e_s_t.

    However, the moment Ikaros'' body registered the heat, he immediately retreated mid-attack, flapping his wings to soar high with hastiness, as if he had just come face to face with a terrifying existence, which, knowing his legend, might as well be true.

    Even so, if he felt that he had escaped, he was going to be proven wrong. The Demon, who had barely had any action up until this point, grabbed him as he was retreating. Now in its clutches, the Greek man could do nothing but watch as the creature raised its hand before bringing it back down soon after, opening just in time for him to crash like a meteor against the ground, creating a crater in the process.

    Ikaros coughed and grunted as the pain registered in his being, yet that didn''t spare him of the giant fist that impacted on his fallen figure, nor the other one, or the other one...

    The Demon only stopped when Seth told it to. The said God using his Wind Authority to clear the smoke that had emerged from the previous attack. What was revealed to them was not an unrecognizable gooey display, or a messed up corpse for the matter. There was blood, but not a body.

    "Heh... Hehehe... I know I am not much of a fighter... but damn... that was embarrassing. I will attribute it... to being three versus one... though..." Asterios, Seth, and the Demon turned their head to the roof a building to their side, where Ikaros bloodied figure stood. He was kneeling and panting, but the smile on his face remained.

    "It was your choice from the very beginning." That was the answer he received from the black-haired man, and one which he could wholeheartedly agree to.

    "Yeah... but at least... I got what I wanted." The son of Daedalus took a moment to catch his breath before raising a barely but still trembling arm. His finger seemed to be grasping something practically unnoticeable.

    Knowing that he was immune to corruption-type curses, and that he had Medea as a backup option in case something outside of that happened, he was not worried about whatever uses the other party had with it. Still, it was best to account for everything than regret it later.

    "Well. That will be all from me. You can keep that little traitorous pest if you want, I am sure he will find some way to get rid of it eventually. As for my Master''s previous offer, you should reconsider it. It''s not an ordinary gift, you know?" The Greek man got up from his kneeling form before urging Seth to give another thought to the idea. Unfortunately for him, he got the same response.

    "I told you I am not interested, so you can go and tell your Master that." The Egyptian God was beginning to think that Ikaros was one of those people that did not have the word "No" in their dictionary. Either that or he was partially deaf.

    "What a shame. I thought you would want to have ''the one who burns eras'' in your possession." The winged man took especial delight in seeing how Seth''s expression changed from neutral to serious with partial anger on it.

    "How do you have it...?" His voice was low and dangerous. Ikaros understood that he was not playing around anymore, so he dropped his cheerful attitude, albeit only a little.

    "Isn''t it obvious? My Master knows what you need the most, and they are the only ones capable of easily obtaining it. Their generosity knows no bounds, yada, yada, yada. You know the drill." Having said his piece, the brown-haired man flapped his wings, preparing to take off. However, just as he was about to do so, the tips of a spear was closing really fast into his eyes. The moment it ''impacted'' though, Ikaros'' body transformed into feathers, leaving no traces of his real body.

    Seth clicked his tongue as he landed where his opponent used to be. ''I better get that thing fast. Absolutely no one should have it... Not if I have to say something about it.''

    "Praise Gaia, last living God. Focus your hearing on the sky and hear them approaching to fight you. Their hunt... is merely beginning." Ikaros'' voice echoed one last time around them, finally leaving them to their devices.

    ''For you and whoever your Master is'' good... You better uselessly hope you didn''t mean what I think you meant.'' The growing snarl on his face barely showed his inner turmoil.

 Chapter 193 - Terrible Findings

    "This is worse than I thought... What even happened here...?" A good question to be asked considering the sight in front of him. Ironically enough, it helped Seth distract himself from the latter part of his previous encounter.

    Asterios and him were at what used to be a park. The Demon was a few meters away seemingly keeping watch. Although, considering the creepiness of the scene, he doubted anyone would choose to willingly approach here. That was, of course, not taking into account the one that did the mess.

    It was��it used to be a park. Now, everything was nothing more than ruins. The ground was so destroyed that it looked as if an earthquake had gone trough these parts. The greenery of the decoration trees was contrasted with the red of human blood.

    Wherever they looked upon, the sight of human parts followed them. Of those, limbs only amounted to a small part. The rest was composed of a variety of organs that worked to detail the hellish event that transpired long ago going by the dryness of the red liquid.

    If there was something Seth could feel glad about, then that would be the fact that he was the one that stumbled upon this scene. As much as he believed that Fujimaru had m?tur?d a bit in the sense of getting used to horrible sights, he did not think the youth was ready for this.

    Of course, nothing guaranteed that the Japanese young man wouldn''t find a similar situation during his exploring with his Servants. The only thing ex King could do was leave it to fate.

    "This... sacrifice?" Asterios brought him out of his musings, causing him to look at his Servant with some empathy.

    "It indeed is." After his confirmation, Seth knelt down and traced a finger over a former pool of blood. Some residue remained on it as he brought it closer to his face to examine it. "It''s faint, but there is a trace of magic here."

    "Done... here?" Berserker''s voice told tales of how uncomfortable he felt. His eyes were closed, for if he were to see what was laid before him, his mind would shift the images to make him remember the place he lived his whole life in.

    "Yes... They did not even bother to do it in their base. It was as if they wanted to show the world their little ''work of art''." He wouldn''t be a hypocrite and condemn the act of sacrificing itself since he had partaken on them numerous times in the past, but he did find the fact that it looked senseless and meaningless to be disgusting.

    To someone that respected tradition greatly, this half-assed attempt was nothing more than an insult. Even so, he would, naturally, not mention this out loud in consideration of his Servant. Starving himself to the point of madness, and just when he managed to regain a bit of clarity, the first thing he saw were the remains of some offerings would obviously lead to an aberration to this type of thing.

    "We... need... stop... them. Too much... nothing gained." That he could agree with. Not to mention that he had a little score to settle, and he wouldn''t be diplomatic about it. You just don''t joke around with that thing as if it was just a little toy you can give to others.

    There were some inconsistencies with Ikaros'' wording that he managed to pick up, but whether those were intentional or not, he had no way of knowing, and only the future would be able to give him a clear answer.

    "Right. This looks more like the work of a madman than something carefully planned. What''s more..." Seth inspected the dried blood in his fingers, giving occasional sniffs to detect any trace of something unnatural, and going by the narrowing of his eyes, he definitely found it. "There is no doubt about it. This... is Norse Magic."

    It all started making sense now. Why they would be in possession of that thing, the need for them to make sacrifices this messy, and the interest regarding him participating in some kind of tournament. It was like a path where conditions after conditions have to be met to achieve the d?s?r?d result, and the base for all of that was this land.

    ''Focus your hearing on the sky and hear them approaching to fight you. Their hunt... is merely beginning.''

    Those were the last words Ikaros had said to him. At first, he had believed he referred to something else entirely��no... He wanted to believe that. However, now the entire situation changed entirely. It had taken a turn for the worse.

    While he might just be overthinking, his hunches were usually spot-on, and after so long, he was inclined to trust them more than just his wishful thinking.

    His gaze moved upward as Asterios mimicked the motion. What greeted them was perpetual darkness. There were no clouds in sight, and neither it was night, but even so, they were shrouded in a veil of obscurity. Yet, amidst that blackness, the faint sound of thunder could still be heard.

    ''So it is just as I thought...'' Seth stopped looking at the sky after getting up from his kneeling position. Very few times in his life he had wished he was wrong, and this was one of them.

    ''Odin... Thor... You two are coming here, huh? Your arrival seems all the more imminent now. The question is, am I ready for it? I doubt everything will be resolved with just some talk...'' A quiet sigh escaped his mouth as his thoughts travelled in a certain direction. It seemed that his preparations for the foreseeable future would have to be more mental than physical.

    "We are going back, Asterios. Now that I have gained a little clarity on what is going on, we just can''t waste time in an aimless search." He originally planned to get to the source of it all��or at least make something impactful to resolve the matter of the murders and turning of humans into homunculus, but for today it was enough.

    "Understand. Strong... enemies... incoming?" Berserker also got ready to depart. Judging by the solemn expression his Master was having, he knew things were not going to be easy. He just hoped to do a good job in setting the stage for the future fights, as well as contributing as much as possible in their victory.

    "I don''t know if they will be strong or just mere shadows of the past. Regardless of the answer, though, I will have to rely on you and your Noble Phantasm to trap us all in it. They will surely use the people here to grow even more powerful, and that is not something we can afford. It seem I will also have to rely on Darwin this time around as a failsafe." He was being truthful. Seth had no idea in what shape or form they were going to come; just that they were.

    In the case the only similarities were their appearances, then his worries would be unfounded. However, if they descended with their full, or at least a considerable amount of their former power, then things would get ugly.

    Facing a Divine Spirit was currently a hard task for him. He might be able to pull something off since he was resourceful if anything, but against a proper one, no amount of tricks could do the work. And if he had to fight two on top of that, then it was plainly worse. Not to mention that those two were not some run-of-the-mill characters. Even if they were just a shell, it was something that required carefulness.

    ''The only ones who have a chance are the unhinged woman, the time geriatric, and I. Let''s see if their legends have enough weight to close the gap, because mine surely does not.''

    ������������������������������������������������������������

    "You got everything we needed, don''t you?" A figure leaning on a wall, partially covered by darkness asked Ikaros as the Greek man entered a ruined building near the outskirts of London.

    The wounds from his previous fight remained, but for now he was not bleeding anymore. His wings had also disappeared, and in their place there was a sword hanging from his waist that possessed a blade made of feathers instead of metal.

    "Yeah, yeah, I do. It will be the last time I run some errand for you guys, though. I almost kicked the bucket there. Seriously, who in their right mind will send someone like me against someone who can control fire?" His tone of voice was filled with complaints; ones that he felt were justified with how reckless the order had been.

    "You said it yourself. Someone in their right mind wouldn''t do it. That''s why Caster did it." The answer came instantly, leaving the man speechless for a few seconds. His mouth opened and closed in quick succession but no words came out of it.

    "...Right. In hindsight, I should have refused it instantly. Someone that has a double Class of Caster and Berserker is never a good combination. Even less so if you have to follow their orders. Anyway, take this." Accepting his own fault, Ikaros extended his hand where the strand of hair he had obtained from Seth resided.

    The figure removed his back from the wall and approached his companion. Now that he was out of the darkness, his features could be distinguished more clearly. Long grayish-blue hair that fell loosely over his right shoulder and partially braided. The man was quite tall and slender, possessing a long white lab coat over a blue turtleneck sweater. He also wore knee-high metallic boots that clanked every time he moved.

    His red-eyes were looking intently at the ''material'' as if he was appreciating a legendary ingredient. "At first glance it looks common, yet its uses might very well be anything but."

    Ikaros just rolled his eyes at the comment, letting the man grab the hair before huffing indignantly. "Can you stop with your alchemy-induced boner? I already feel bad as it is for using my capabilities for something so trivial, Paracelsus."

    Paracelsus observed the other Servant from the corner of his eyes, not at all fazed by the rude comment before speaking to reassure him. "As menial as this task might have seemed to you; it is undeniable that you are the only one that could do it. Getting it? Many of us could. Escaping with it? Only you."

    "Whatever. There is no need to comfort me. As long as everything ends well for me I am fine with it. More importantly, are you sure you want to give that to that madman? I thought you were of the kind type who loved helping people. It goes without saying that it won''t be looking good for the residents here if you let him do what he wants."

    "Mhm... I could say the same to you, but that would be an insult, would it not? The strings attached to our backs are so close that they might tangle, but the hands behind them are different and too far apart. Sometimes, to achieve an elixir, you have to mix poison in the formula. That is how things work in this world. Nothing more, nothing less." Despite the philosophical words, Ikaros was able to understand the meaning perfectly. However, he still wanted to draw the line.

    "You are not wrong, but not entirely correct either. You at least have some free reign. Meanwhile I have to offer meat to a rabid dog and hope for it to not bite my hand off while also try to make it follow the big boss'' orders." Seeing as this was going become another series of complaints, Paracelsus sighed tiredly. Once he put the strand of hair in a tube that he saved in his pocket, he turned to Ikaros to give him his whole undivided attention.

    "Freedom is black and white. You either have it or you don''t. There is no in between. Your task is harder than mine, I will at least admit that." Many people lived in the illusion that a little freedom was just fine, but they couldn''t be further from the truth. As someone who had the "liberty" to do his d?s?r? research, but he couldn''t do with it what he wanted, he understood that more than anyone. In the end, it was that fakeness that brought his end.

    "Yeah, yeah. Let''s stop talking about this or you will just make me depressed. I just hope you know what you are doing. Things are going to get pretty hectic, and you absolutely don''t want to get involved. You can''t expect that insane prophet to do something coherent when he plants to make this city a battleground of Gods." With his piece said, the featherily blade twisted like a whip and enveloped him. Once Paracelsus blinked, the man was gone.

    It was true that the future looked grim, but it was precisely in those types of situations were heroes emerged, and that was what they needed. There was no shortage of candidates, so he was not that much worried about it.

    ''But... It is also in these times where the common folk suffer the most. I suppose this is where I come in to prevent as much collateral damage as possible.'' With such worries in mind, Caster activated the Magic Circle, teleporting away to places unknown.

    Preparations had to be done.

    For the Wild Hunt was about to begin.

 Chapter 194 - Ones Resolve

    The Chaldeans were advancing quietly but steadily through London''s streets. The eerie quietness was ever-present and hard to get used to, but they still pushed on nonetheless.

    There were no enemies in sigh, although with the fog covering their vision it wouldn''t be surprising if their foes were right next to them, hiding in some alley in waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike. It was the reason why they did not let their guard down. It wasn''t to the point of paranoia, but it was close.

    The only one who seemed unfazed was Saber, but that was probably because she had done this many times in the past, so she knew what to and what not expect.

    Speaking of the knight, their journey would lead them a bit farther from her usual patrols, but not that much. According to her, she had been increasing the range with each travel, and so far, she has only fought a Servant once. When asked, though, she didn''t give much detail, so they left it at that.

    ''Vlad, I think we are already far enough. You can show yourself now.'' Fujimaru spoke mentally to his Servant through their link. He didn''t want to cause a wrong impression on Saber since she knew Lancer and it would be weird to explain why Berserker didn''t show himself up until now, so he opted for speaking where she wouldn''t hear.

    The Ruler of Wallachia quickly reappeared at his side through blue particles, offering a nod to the young Master. Noticing his appearance, Mordred spoke with a raised eyebrow, "Huh? There was another one? What were you doing, geezer? Aren''t you too old to be having escapades?"

    She admitted she was a little surprised at the appearance of another Servant, but seeing how he positioned himself quietly and without any sort of hostility next to the wimp, she ?ssumed he was an ally. Of course, Mordred wouldn''t admit she was really close to launching herself to attack him.

    Though... he seemed familiar for some reason?

    For his part, if he didn''t have a certain level of dignity to maintain as a King, Vlad would have showed a greater reaction than just a twitch of his eyebrows.

    Different from Mordred, though, he still recognized the girl, something he noted didn''t go both ways. Contrasting machinations between Chaldea''s summoning and the World''s he supposed.

    "Tsk. Not fun." Saber clicked her tongue after seeing her attempt at breaking the ice didn''t have the intended success.

    Mash and Medea had forced smiles while Carmilla simply rolled her eyes. What she would pay to have a carriage to make the dull journey a bit faster at the very least. Perhaps she could use her Master as mean of transportation? Such sadistic thoughts crossed her minds while the said person felt a chill out of nowhere.

    He decided to solve a doubt that he had been having to try and push his mind away from that creepy feeling. ''Hey, Vlad. Don''t you think all of this secrecy around Lancer is over the top? She hasn''t really acted suspiciously around us... At least while we were looking.''

    ''Hm... It is true that from an outsider''s perspective, our way of acting might seem uncouth. However, her legend merits us to be careful while dealing with her.'' As the old saying goes: better be safe than sorry.

    ''Is it that bad?'' Although his expression b?r?ly changed, his confusion and slight disbelief could certainly be noted in his voice. Granted, he didn''t know much, so that could be attributed to his own ignorance.

    Seemingly aware of his plight, Berserker took it upon himself to give a summarized version of her story for his Master. ''Raised by a lioness, kidnapped at a young age and almost r?p?d by an Indian King. She killed him before the act, took over his kingdom, became the queen, and then went out to steal all the treasures to finance her trip to western Europe. A woman said to fight fiercer than any men and never have been defeated in life. Do you think our worries are unnecessary?''

    ''That is... something. Now it makes sense why Ku��why Seth was wary of her. I am sure our alliance wouldn''t have gone so smoothly if we had messed up...'' To say he wasn''t at least a little bit shaken from his Servant''s words would be a lie. She hid it well, at least in front of his inexperienced eyes, but he could understand if she still held a grudge against people like Vlad or the other Master.

    ''Exactly so. She is a top tier Heroic Spirit, so, no matter if we won during an hypothetical fight, we would not have been gotten off lightly. Sometimes knowing more about your allies is more important doing so about your enemies. You would do well in remembering that, my Vassal.'' He would not shrink away from a fight, but he would be foolish in instigating one when it was totally avoidable, especially one that could end with them having less support and unnecessary wounds.

    ''Right... Thanks for the advice. It seems I will have to add an extra course on history when I return to Chaldea. Though, now that we are on this topic; you mentioned that she was never defeated, right? Does that mean she has some sort of invincibility like Heracles?'' A small shudder went through his frame at the recollection of the hulking behemoth. He definitely did not want to face against him ever again.

    ''It is possible. Even I am not sure of the criteria for our powers as Servants. How does our legend influence us? Is it when more people are aware of it that we become more powerful? Is it the content of the legend itself? Or is it perhaps how much it has affected the preconception of people? Regardless, you should expect future Servants to have seemingly impossible capabilities.'' Noticing he was getting off-topic, the blonde-haired man decided to give a piece of advice to his Master.

    Fujimaru didn''t respond again, but his pensive expression was enough answer. Vlad was satisfied with that. The more he grew as a Master, the more he would be able to use them at their full potential.

    In truth, he always felt the need to improve himself in any way possible. He knew that defeating a Servant was impossible because his capacity as a Magus was limited, but that didn''t mean he couldn''t capitalize in other areas, and even in the combat aspect, he could try his hand at fending off normal monsters or outright killing them if some conditions were met.

    Was it strange that the mention of him killing someone, it didn''t matter if they weren''t human or animal, was something he considered as acceptable? The past him would have answered with a clear and concise ''Yes''.

    The black-haired youth would even go as far as to say that his past self would also berate him in his ways. Something about violence not being the answer, and that talk could do much more than just fighting with one''s fist.

    A stupidity.

    He wouldn''t know of the horrors he experienced. The dread; the sadness; the anger; the despair. The... powerlessness...

    In the span of a few months, he had been made aware of how really small he was in the grand scheme of things. He was forced to watch time and time again as people he had come to care about got hurt in front of him... He had caused the death of a Servant that he was not even the Master of, and knowing the outlook of that person''s real Master on death, his actions might have caused an irreparable situation in where she wouldn''t get a second chance.

    And as if that wasn''t enough, his mind was still implanted with the memory of Seth being eaten by Typhon. The recentness only helped to make it worse. In the moments were he was alone it would randomly flash through his mind as a painful reminder of how weak he really was.

    That Ritsuka considered Seth to be a sort of older brother figure would be an understatement, so seeing him almost die��no. At that moment Fujimaru truly thought he had died. He thought he had lost him forever. The fellow Master, who despite belonging to a totally different race, could understand him better than anyone; better than even he himself could.

    It was the Lev incident all over again...

    He clenched his hands into fists to prevent himself from breaking down there and then at the recollection of the event where he lost his sister. He lost her when Chaldea was bombed; he lost his parents when the Earth was incinerated. He wasn''t confident in being able to take it one more time if Seth were to die.

    The youth had to constantly remind himself that different from him, his fellow Master was not powerless. He was strong. There was no way he could die that easily. Although...

    He was also the one that got exposed to danger the most. That meant the chance of him finding someone he could not win against was proportionally greater.

    Fujimaru really wished his mind worked on ways to prevent that from happening instead of uselessly filling his head with never-ending worries. Unfortunately, reality was often disappointing, and this case was not the exception to the rule.

    Again, the image of Seth being eaten after an exhausting fight against Heracles resurfaced. To this day, he didn''t know where that Beast had come from, but like a scavenger animal, it chose the worse moment to strike.

    An enemy that he couldn''t defeat had already appeared; the same enemy they were helpless against. What was to say the trend wouldn''t continue?

    Seth had mentioned that "someone" got him out and defeated Typhon, but who was it? He never told anyone, so there was no way of knowing. And if that person wasn''t interested in even establishing contact with them, then he or she couldn''t exactly be considered an ally.

    However, if he couldn''t trust anyone, then he could only depend on himself. Of course, he would never really do that, but that didn''t mean he wouldn''t try to better himself in preparation of bad outcomes.

    He was already building up his stamina by dodging Cu Chulainn''s spells; learning to fight and use your instincts with Seth, and finally, learning tactics and efficient command with Zhuge Liang. Yet, he knew it was no near enough for what was to come.

    It shouldn''t have to stop at those three.

    What did it mean to save the world? He sometimes asked that question to himself when his mind rambled. It sounded easy to say it... but when he put more thought into it, it was further from being so.

    Saving the world was the goal, but what about the road? What would it involve? Was everything going to resolve itself with just words? Fists? Blood? Sacrifices...?

    It could be all of them for all he knew. That was why he wanted to be as prepared as possible. It was extremely hard to know every single legend from every single mythology out there, but he at least could bother to learn about the most impactful ones or about those whose protagonists were powerful beyond belief or did deeds so unbelievable that they left a deep impact on people.

    He had only grasped the surface due to the limited time of his learning, but he already showed some improvements in Magecraft; or to be more specific, Jewelcraft. Ritsuka didn''t know how Seth was able to tell the thing that would suit him the most, but the important thing is that he did, and it worked from what little he was able to tell.

    A sideways glance to his right hip revealed a small sized pouch that he knew was filled with equally sized gems ready to use in case of an emergency. It surprised him the first time, but after thinking for a bit, he realized it was logical. Albeit amidst complicated circumstances, he was a King. Having riches shouldn''t be something to be shocked about. He still blamed it on his misconceptions. Another matter to improve, he thought.

    The youth felt he was imposing too much already, but he knew how much Seth wanted him to grow in different aspects, so he wouldn''t be reluctant to add another thing to the training. His earlier conversation with Vlad told him that he was not a good at discerning people''s nature, so he wanted his help regarding that. As someone who has lived for many, many years, he was the right person in Fujimaru''s mind for that.

    However... However... He wouldn''t lose to anyone with regard to his resolve.

    This was a war he did not want to fight. He just got dragged into it without any say. There were most likely better suited people for the job than him. After all, he was just someone normal until a few month ago. Being able to magically have all the answers and resolve every situation that arose was merely a pipe dream and something of fantasy.

    Fujimaru was aware of that, more than anyone else.

    But... He will absolutely not do a half-assed job. He will see things through to the end with his own two eyes.

    He might not be the best Master in the world, but he sword he would be the best possible within his own capabilities.

    That was the resolve of Fujimaru Ritsuka, the last human Master of Chaldea.

 Chapter 195 - Generic Title

    (A/N: I changed the rating of the novel to no one under 17 allowed. I heard that helps lessen the number of trigger words for the shadowbanning of comments. Let''s see.)

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    The sound of metal colliding against metal was predominant within their earshot. Mordred and Vlad moved around destroying the Helter Skelters that were approaching them. Saber cut them down to pieces with her lightning-coated sword in a very aggressive manner while Berserker shifted through the shadows and ended their ''lives'' with a single quick and elegant thrust on the core located in their metallic heads. When the numbers increased, he impaled them with blood stakes emerging from the ground.

    Not far from them, Medea, Mash, and Carmilla were taking care of the Automata that also decided to show up once they were far enough from their hideout. The former group was composed of heavy hitters, while the rest focused more on high damage to weak targets.

    Fujimaru had Caster test some of her attack magic on one of the robots, and while it was destroyed, it took more effort than the one necessary. That confirmed his initial suspicions, that they had some form of magic resistance.

    He didn''t know how he got that suspicion to begin with but he was thankful for it all the same. Still, thinking logically, the black-haired youth found it made sense for it to be that way. Automata were thin and filled with all kinds of bladed weapons that were honestly scary and out of a horror movie, while Helter Skelters were extremely bulky and moved relatively slowly.

    Ironically enough, Assassin was more versed in harming things of flesh and blood, so the Automata, despite possessing neither, were better suited for her than a robust machine. Her long nails and weak magical attacks were enough to make quick work of them.

    Unfortunately, their numbers were nothing to scoff at. It was as if they were near a factory that kept mass producing them as soon as they were defeated. Not only that, but Carmilla, while surprisingly agile in her movements, didn''t posses the greatest endurance out of them all. She was not meant for long fights, and that was beginning to show.

    It was the reason why he asked Mash to cover for her. The Automata''s movements were incredibly fast. When they attacked, their mechanical arms seemed to blur, so he knew the moment Assassin got tired, she would have high chances of getting hurt.

    His self-proclaimed Kohai seemed reluctant to leave his side, but thankfully, he managed to convince her in the end. Medea, being the ranged combatant of this party could stay close to him while destroying their enemies with ease, and if worse came to worst and they found themselves trapped, she could teleport him to a safe area.

    It could be said that in this scenario, Caster was more helpful in the defensive aspect. It took less than fifteen seconds to plan the strategy from the moment their enemies appeared, although he knew it could have been faster. Still, he was extremely glad about the teachings he got from El-Melloi II. It was thanks to him that he was able to come up with a plan relatively quickly.

    His past self would have either frozen, unable to process the situation, or have given sloppy and simple commands like "attack them" or "go after them."

    It might have ended well because at the end of the day, they were Servants, and their powers went beyond the norm. However, the chance of them suffering some wounds, as minor as they might be, or wasting additional and precious time to defeat them as well.

    If he were to be honest, seeing his hard work bear fruit filled him with a sense of accomplishment. The feeling of growing up after a setback was a pleasant one. Even so, he wouldn''t let that get to his head. There were even greater trials awaiting for him; higher mountains to surpass, as well as seeing how well he would do against other Servants.

    Fortunately, when they got to a certain point, the Automata and Helter Skelters stopped coming, so they could do a clean swipe and finally defeat them, allowing the Master to finally relax and bring his thoughts back to reality.

    "Good work, everyone." Just then, Romani''s figure appeared through Mash''s wristwatch to congratulate them as usual. However, contrary to the jovial mood he used to have when doing this in the past, he now seemed more troubled than anything.

    "Is everything all right?" Noticing the oddity, Fujimaru decided to question the Doctor on it. The said man simply sighed while rubbing his temple before informing them of the events happening on the other side.

    "The truth is; things got more complicated than we thought. It is better if you know about it as soon as possible." After saying that, Romani began to retell the events that transpired with Seth and Asterios. About how lightning could trigger the mist to act as a summoning call, about how that happened to him, the mysterious Servant that appeared, his actions and mysterious abilities.

    "Wait a minute! That Servant managed to wound him just like that?!" The shock was evident in the youth''s facial expression and voice. To do that in a seemingly easy way was not what he was expecting.

    "Yes... As I said; that Servant seems to be able to pierce defenses, so there was not much the two could do. Though, there is something that is bugging me. Seth mentioned how Berserker got in front of him to block the attack. By all means he should have been the one that got injured, but that was not the case. Something is telling me there is more to it, yet for now we can only speculate." He didn''t like it either. The Egyptian God was arguably their strongest card. To have an incognita in the equation capable of hurting him without any trouble was, for the sake of redundancy, troubling.

    The black-haired man was able to heal and shrug the damage off, yes, but that didn''t mean it was any less worrying. He just hoped they could find some light to disperse the metaphorical fog inside their minds at the moment.

    "Forget about that. I''ve been using my sword all the time and not a single stupid furry weirdo has appeared. You sure it wasn''t some hocus pocus that guy pulled outta his ?ss?" Some disgusted glances were sent her way for her crude words, but she shrugged them off, already accustomed to similar stares.

    Romani coughed awkwardly. This was certainly a new experience. Hopefully Mash wouldn''t learn to say those words. He would be terrified if that were to happen. ''Is this what parents feel like when their child eventually gets rebellious? It''s so sad...''

    Leaving aside the sudden image of a Mash Alter acting as a delinquent, he decided to offer some answers-slash-theories he had regarding her query. "There could be many explanations as to why. The first one being that the summoning only occurs on certain areas, and you just simply were lucky enough to never fight in one of them. The second one is that your lightning was not potent enough to cause the triggering. As for the other ones, it require a bit more of investigation."

    "Tch. Somehow I feel insulted." Mordred would have bitten her thumb if she didn''t have armor protecting it. "No matter. I bet it''s just because I haven''t used my Noble Phantasm yet. If I did I would have summoned some badass Servant to kick everyone''s ?ss. They would also recognize me as the rightful King and would sing tales of my exploits and all that crap."

    ''Sure thing...'' Her proclamation only received either awkward or flat stares in return. Ignoring her delusions, Vlad decided to confirm something with the orange-haired man.

    "You mentioned that God was attacked and wounded. What are his plans now? Surely he does not plan to come back, does he?" Berserker knew he was not someone that would quit at the first bump in the road, but he still wanted to make sure. If he returned to their base now, then that would delay their job a great deal.

    Thankfully, Romani appeased his worries. "Not at all. He said he was going to continue going ahead as planned. However, he told me to say to you that you should be careful. Despite being a bit far from your current location, distance is not much of a problem for Servants like you are. The chances of you running into them is quite high."

    Vlad slowly nodded at that. He wasn''t one to approach unknown enemies with fear, but with caution. He payed more attention to the dagger than the sword. After all, they, by themselves, were a one man army.

    "Please keep us updated then, Doctor." Mash''s request was met with an eye smile and an affirmative hum. After that, and with his job done, Romani cut off the connection to better monitor the situation.

    "There ya go. Now that''s out of the way, let''s keep going. If we stand here for too much time we''ll get swarmed again." For once, everyone was in total agreement with her. They still needed to cover more terrain, and hopefully find an enemy Servant they could defeat, or at least get more information of the overall situation.

    Their job was far from over...

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    "Ah... A job well done. Well done indeed. A success it will be, it will be..." The mysterious man was practically dancing in elation in his secret chamber, uncaring for the corpses dried of blood in his vicinity.

    The one who cared, though, was the other Servant in the room. A blond-haired man wearing a white and gold armor with intricated designs. Going by the sword resting on the wall next to him, he seemed to be a Saber Class.

    He was closing his nostrils with his fingers to avoid having to withstand the horrible stench. His face was scrunched up in disgust. "So his mission will be a success, then? That weakling is more useful than I thought."

    "Mhm! Mhm! My abilities are not to be doubted! Everyone has their role in my grand plan, and they will fulfill it, whether they like it or not." His jovial tone contrasted with the gloominess of their surroundings, but the armored man could not care less about it.

    "I hope your "Grand Plan" requires me to go on the hunt. I am getting tired of just sitting here watching your horrible face every day. Why summon me in the first place if you will not let me fight?" Displeasure was practically oozing from him. To a warrior, being left on the sidelines was the worst thing that could happen.

    "Everything in due time. Yes, in due time. Tell me, don''t you want to face strong opponents? Then you should be patient. Yes, yes. Patience is key!" He shot his arms into the air to emphasize his words, although Saber didn''t seem convinced.

    "Those are the big fishes. In the meantime, there are some... appetizers I could taste. The sister of my step-son and the one who shares parts of my legend are good examples. If you so desperately do not want me to face those two Gods until the time is right, you could let me fight them instead." His proposition was met with silence, prompting him to look at the corner of the room were a small, white altar rested.

    There were two small pillars at its side; chains coiled around them and went to the center of the pillar, holding a black and yellow greatsword in mid-air as if trying to restraining it from breaking free.

    "Don''t you want to win?" Again, he was met with silence. Noticing this, Saber began to walk to the weapon, leaving his own sword resting on the wall. "If you give this to me, then I shall trample upon all our enemies and bring us victory."

    As he closed in, he extended his hand to reach for it. "With it, not even full-fledged Gods will stand a chance..." Just as he was about to grasp it between his fingers, his shoulder was caught in a firm grasp.

    As he turned his head around, he was met with a pair of shining red-eyes that held unspeakable madness and anger within them. "You will NOT touch it. NEVER!"

    The blond-haired man watched as his pristine white armor was slowly turning black and showing signs of breaking. Acting fast, he swatted the arm away, taking a few steps back.

    His own sword suddenly appeared in his hand, shining with power. "Careful now. You do not want me to get angry."

    Berserker ignored the threat under his Servant''s calm words. All his good mood had disappeared in an instant after his blasphemous actions. "Do not forget. Your life belongs to me. You are just a pawn meant to set the stage. If you want to have a chance at life again, you better be careful of not defying me."

    For that brief momently only, the madness had left the prophet. Something Saber took as a sign to let go of his animosity. "Whatever. I shall not discuss this any further. Just don''t make me wait too long. I can get quite... vindictive."

    He didn''t wait for an answer. The blond-haired man simply dematerialized his sword and proceeded to exit the room, not caring for the corpses beneath his feet.

    Once alone, the Sorcerer kneeled in front of the altar while positioning his forehead against the ground. "I am sorry. So sorry. Sorry. Sorry. Sorry. Sorry. It was not my intention, not at all. They will not tarnish you. No, no, no! Your sacredness will be the bait for them to come. You only belong to them. Be patient, your time will come. Your light will shine. Your anger will be felt. Your flames will burn. Yes... Yes. Yes. Yes. I know of your preferences. But they are not ready yet, not yet. They need to let go. Once they do, their hands will wield you as you deserve."

    At his words, the sword, as if alive, started vibrating, making the chains holding it to rattle. Taking this as a good omen, the man rose up and happily from the ground, his mood once again changing for the better.

    ''Just a few more days... Just a few more... Chaos will spread... And when that time comes, everything will fall...''

 Chapter 196 - Laughter In The Dark

    The walk was eerie. They already went farther than what Mordred used to during her patrols, and that was clearly shown in the atmosphere. There was a certain sense of silent danger around them that could be felt even among the most inexperienced of them.

    Something was coming, of that they were sure. The perpetual night was doing nothing but throw signals at them of what was to come.

    Ironically, they haven''t encountered anyone��be it Automata or Helter Skelter or any other types of enemies for the matter. And yet, they could be sure that something, or rather, someone, was not far from them, watching their every move.

    "Senpai, please stay close to me." It was nothing more than a hushed whisper, but Fujimaru heard her all the same. He didn''t offer any verbal answer, but his body did move a bit closer to her. The other Servants made sure to watch every corner for any sudden movement..

    Some people might consider it a sort of paranoia, but the unsettling surroundings helped little in not being wary. Still, as Servants, they wouldn''t go as far as to panic. After all, keeping a level head was essential in these types of cases.

    Everyone was like that, except, well, Mordred of course. "Tch. This is getting hella frustrating. HEY! WHOEVER YOU ARE COME OUTTA THERE SO I CAN KICK YOUR ASS!"

    A collective facepalm ensued after her declaration. Some of the most daring ones already had plans to shut her mouth with tape the next time they had to go somewhere together with her. Safe to say, stealth missions would be a failure if they tagged along with Saber.

    "Ehehe... ehehehe... ehehehehe! Daring! So! Daring!" A burst of laughter that couldn''t fit any other description than psychotic echoed around them shortly after her declaration. The group immediately stopped in their tracks; watching the surroundings with rapt attention in case of a possible ambush.

    Their gazes soon found themselves on a corner of the street. There, an Automaton was revealing itself with an unsteady walk. If Fujimaru had to find a comparison, then it would be like those toy robots that could move by themselves. They were able to, yes, but it was incredibly stiff.

    As if that weren''t enough, the sounds that accompanied its movements made it seem like it hadn''t been oiled for a long time.

    ''Something is wrong...'' The Master knew it was not just what he was seeing. It was... more. Maybe the bizarreness of the situation, he couldn''t tell. But one thing he was sure of, this was not as simple as it seemed at first sight.

    True to his thoughts, similar Automata started appearing from other corners, all with the same slow walk.

    The numbers were nowhere near what they had fought before, but even so, they refused to let their guard down. There was no way that those machines known for their speed would all approach that slowly. It screamed ''trap'' all over.

    Unfortunately, they seemed to be in an impasse. They couldn''t recklessly attack, but they also could not let them approach their group any farther either.

    That left Fujimaru with only one choice. ''I wish we had an Archer with us... Something to take note of for the future. I could try to use that, but I don''t know if I will succeed; not to mention it is a bit costly. The next best option would be...''

    The youth turned his head to Medea. Caster, sensing his gaze, also did the same. He gave a firm nod��something she reciprocated as if understanding his intentions.

    While it was true that they lacked a ranged specialist, they weren''t helpless enough to make them easy targets. The Witch of Betrayal was about to prove just that.

    Contrary to their thinking, but aligned with their expectations, as soon as they were hit by Medea''s attack, the Automata immediately exploded, creating a chain reaction that threatened with engulfing them.

    "Wha��?!" Mash exclaimed in surprise, clearly caught off guard by the magnitude of it all. Thankfully, she managed to quickly pull herself together just as the others decided to move as well.

    "Tsk. Should''ve seen this shit coming...!" Mordred complained, yet she immediately got to work. Her helmet rearranged and covered her face once again while her sword burst with lightning. The Mana levels on her persona began to raise, and not long after it did, she released all the accumulated energy through a horizontal slash.

    Wind and lightning managed to create a barrier of pressure that stopped the explosion in its tracks. Unfortunately, as it was coming from all sides, it wasn''t enough.

    That was where the rest came in. Mash immediately opted for using her Noble Phantasm, understanding that the magnitude of the incoming fiery flames wouldn''t allow for anything else.

    "Ahhh!" The pink-haired girl''s yell was accompanied by the slam of her shield into the cold surface. Immediately, Lord Chaldeas; a green barrier with the shape of her bulwark formed in anticipation of the incoming ?ssault.

    "Behind me, Master." Medea, as the one responsible for this incident in the first place, took it upon herself to cover the remaining space, forming so a triangular formation between Mordred, Mash, and her. She then user a water spell to combat the incoming flames.

    Although it looked like a considerable �� for the situation �� amount of time had passed; in reality, only a few seconds did.

    Vlad and Carmilla stayed in the center of the formation since they didn''t have something that could potentially help for now. What they could do, however, was paying attention to their surroundings in search of their ?ssailant. And yet, no matter where they looked, they came away empty-handed.

    As if that weren''t enough, Fujimaru felt a strange sensation coursing through his body the more he heard it. He couldn''t describe it in detail, but if he had to make a comparison, then he would say his body felt like it had gone through a marathon and was in the process of shutting down.

    His... feeling proved to be more than a hunch when the flames finally reached Mash''s shield. It was then that his situation got even worse. Some wisps of fire managed to slip by the pink-haired girl''s Noble Phantasm, as well as Medea''s water spell and Mordred''s elemental-powered slash.

    Coincidentally, all were directed to the youth as if a magnet was drawing them in.

    "Master, be careful!" Vlad''s words were accompanied by actions. Without hesitation, he grabbed him and used his body to shield Ritsuka from the impending danger.

    The other two were alarmed by this, but not anyone more than Mash, who had the feeling she had failed at her only job, which was to protect her Senpai from harm. Unfortunately - or fortunately, depending on the point of view - she couldn''t focus her thinking on that matter since she still had to maintain her Noble Phantasm.

    Berserker grunted from the residual heat, but as it was only that: just what was left of the explosion colliding with their defenses, he didn''t suffer any damage aside from some reddening of his pale skin along with burnt clothes.

    Carmilla also decided to help - as little as she could - by smashing her staff into the ground and making blood surge like a small current, thus calming the flames that were threatening the safety of her Master.

    A few seconds like that passed before everything returned to normal, yet when it did, no one sighed in relief or let their guard down. Fujimaru in particular was struggling a bit with his breathing after being released by Vlad. A problem he didn''t attribute to suffocation or anything related to it.

    "Hehehe! Having troubles with your luck, Ma~s~ter~san? Ehehehahaha!" There it was again, that laugh. However, this time it wasn''t coming from all around them, but from the front.

    Everyone''s eyes were drawn there, where a single man stood. He possessed a strange set of clothes straight out of a children''s show. His violet hair paired with his face painted in white gave him the look of a clown and going by his twisted smile of glee, it was not the type that enjoyed entertaining people. The gigantic scissors in his hands did nothing but emphasize that line of thinking.

    Medea frowned at the new arrival before glancing at her Master on the corner of her eyes as her frown deepened. ''No doubt about it... I can''t tell with detail, but the thing that is affecting him is definitely a curse... We better be careful around this clown.''

    Caster would like to help his Master with his problem, but that would require an analysis of the curse beforehand as to not mess up with the ''treatment''. The time needed to do that wasn''t going to be provided by their enemy, that much was obvious.

    As for using her Noble Phantasm, she didn''t think it was dangerous enough to call for it and giving their opponent a free ticket to watch how it worked. For now, her Master would have to pull through it. The determination visible on his face to prevent showing weakness to his opponent was already a good start.

    Just in case, she would stay relatively close to him. You never know when things could take a turn for the worse. Although... There was something strange about all of this.

    She, better than anyone, knew how looks could be deceiving. Even so, nothing about the clown in front of them screamed danger. However, it didn''t elicit any positive reaction either. It was like... a false sense of security. Not a threat, but close.

    "So you are the one who is trying to mess with us, huh?!" Mordred''s sudden inquire pulled Medea back to reality. It was not only the Saber Servant that was preparing to fight; all the others were shifting themselves into a combat-ready stance with their eyes completely set on the clown.

    "Hehehehe. Ding, ding! That''s the correct answer. I am a Caster Class Servant; Mephistopheles, at your service!" He dramatically bowed, finally making them notice how he was floating a few centimeters above the ground, adding a more bizarre tone to his already bizarre figure.

    "I wouldn''t have let you be a jester even for free in my castle, so please drop the unfunny comments lest you find your body filled with holes." If there was one thing that could be said about Carmilla, then it was that she absolutely abhorred ''flashy'' Servants. They were a constant reminder of her younger self, which, fortunately, haven''t arrived at Chaldea... yet.

    "I agree with the hag��" Assassin''s face lips and eyes twitched tremendously. "��on that. You are going to get a sword up your ?ss before you can even say abracadabra."

    "...I think you are mistaking him with another profession entirely..." Mash''s mutter went unheard by Mordred, who was simply smirking fiercely, itching for a good fight after days of just crushing tinmen to pieces.

    "Be that as it may, you should be careful. I don''t think any Servant would be so daring to fight one versus five unless they were confident on themselves or had something planned. I will keep monitoring Fujimaru''s readings throughout the fight and inform you if things get bad. For now, aside from a slight oddity, there is nothing noteworthy, so go ahead without worry." Romani, who had just returned from his search for information on the mysterious Servant that was summoned previously appeared briefly on Mash''s watch to give his input.

    He was surprised at the fact that they encountered an enemy Servant out of nowhere, but he supposed the fog allowed them to pass undetected and that''s why Da Vinci couldn''t inform them just in time.

    Another thing that surprised Dr. Roman was the human Master''s condition. It was the first time he had suffered an "unnatural" shift in his overall health. Unfortunately, he couldn''t do much right now to help. Even so, if there was something positive to get out of this then that would be the fact that it happened under manageable circumstances. Not to mention that it was better sooner than later. This way they could have more preparation ahead.

    After Ritsuka offered his thanks to the Doctor, he focused his gaze on Caster. Despite the Servant still having his head lowered in a mocking bow, the youth could feel his eyes focusing sorely on him. It didn''t help that despite being seemingly fine, the feeling of having his energy drained off of him still remained.

    It unnerved him.

    "Well then." Mephistopheles finally returned his posture to normal while his grin widened inhumanly. "Let the show begin."

 Chapter 197 - Unassuming Danger

    "Ehehehehe~! Close, but not enough~!" Mephistopheles laughed as he repelled Mordred''s ?ssault with his giant scissors, causing her to grit her teeth in annoyance. Soon, though, her expression turned into a smirk, as a shadow appeared behind the Caster Servant, spear already in a thrusting motion.

    "Kugh!" Vlad wasted no time in impaling the clown, immediately drawing blood from him. However, he quickly noticed something wrong.

    "Just kidding!" Caster head bent back unnaturally until he was facing Berserker with a grin that was a mix of mocking and deranged.

    The Ruler of Wallachia soon found his face twisting into a snarl when he noticed the attitude of his opponent, as well as the mechanical bugs that were exiting from where he had ''stabbed'' him.

    He was quick to retreat lest he got trapped in whatever the enemy was planning on doing. Mordred also followed swift after trying, in vain, to cut him in two while he was not looking. Unfortunately, Mephistopheles still managed to block her attempt.

    "Yaah!" With a shout, Mash came crashing down with her shield, ready to slam Caster with the cross end of her bulwark. Alerted by her voice, he got enough time to jump away, carefully maintaining an equal distance between Mordred and Vlad.

    Pieces of stone flew in the air after Shielder''s attack, allowing the combatants to gain some respite to think of new strategies��ones that they could not think before as Saber went on the offensive immediately to deal with the threat quickly.

    That put Fujimaru in a tough spot. As much as he would have liked to be able to think on the spot of mind-blowing strategies, he was not quite there yet. There was no way he could come up with a plan just yet, and more so when he didn''t know the capabilities of the enemy Servant.

    Sure, the name Mephistopheles sounded a bit familiar, but aside from that, there was not much else. He was literally dressed as a clown. What was he to expect? For him to make a balloon dog and him them with it?

    The fact that Mordred was not one to follow through with the plans was also a bit of a factor that worked against him.

    "Ahhhh~ That was rude!" Mephistopheles'' mock complaint returned Fujimaru''s attention back to him. The Clown reached for the spot where Vlad had ''stabbed'' him before taking out a bag filled with some kind of red liquid dripping down from a hole.

    Vlad''s eyebrows twitched in irritation, evidently angry at the one who had dared to make a fool of himself. That anger soon turned to annoyance as numerous Automata once again started approaching from the dark corners of the streets, all with the same wobbling steps. This time, however, they were faster than before. Nonetheless, he doubted they were harmless in the slightest.

    "Berserker, Saber, focus on Mephistopheles! Caster, please use your magic on farthest enemies. Mash, Assassin. You two deal with whoever gets close!" Fujimaru fired orders as fast as he could, reminding himself of using their classes instead of their actual names just in case the enemy learned of their weakness. It was something that both Zhuge Liang and Seth had capitalized upon.

    Everyone nodded with various degrees of acceptance and got to work.

    The first to start was Medea. She had the advantage of possessing numerous abilities that allowed her to attack from a safe distance. At times like these where they were being ganged upon, she truly could show her worth.

    Lightning strikes, big icicles and blade-like gusts of wind ?ssaulted the Automata without mercy. The sound reverberated across the dark streets, soon accompanied by the explosions of their remains once the bombs that Mephistopheles planted inside them got triggered by Medea''s attack.

    Mash decided to take a mid-ranged approach since the mechanical humans were starting to distance themselves from each other, and defending really close to her Master would pose a danger to him if some stray part got to him after their eventual destruction.

    She fought smartly by using the weight of the opponents. Instead of bashing her shield against them, which would result in them exploding in her face, she used it to push them at each other with delicacy, kind of like a hand running through water and creating a small wave.

    It was certainly an effective method, albeit one that required a lot in terms of focus. That''s where Carmilla came in. The Blood Countess also did her part by reducing the burden Shielder was subjected to.

    While Mash was suited for melee combat, and Medea for ranged ones; Assassin didn''t belong to any of those camps, but was more in the middle side of things.

    "How utterly annoying..." Her mutter of distaste was accompanied by her stabbing her long fingernails on the head of an Automaton before throwing it to the others, once again filling the air with the sound of explosions.

    Next, she swung her staff as if she were fighting against an invisible opponent. That motion created a raging tide of blood that took the shape of spikes that mercilessly impaled her enemies as if they were nothing.

    It was more tedious work than it was difficult. However, Carmilla couldn''t help but notice something particularly significant. She might have been the most indicated person to come to this realization, albeit by pure luck, but she wouldn''t admit to that. ''How simple and unoriginal, yet at the same time smart.''

    Taking some steps back to gain distance and not receive a sneak attack, Assassin turned toward her Master''s direction, where Medea was already looking at her, seemingly having arrived to the same conclusion.

    "The bombs are in their ?h?st. Aim for the head and we should not have to worry for any collateral damage." Although Assassin cared next to nothing about what sort of destruction they could cause to their surroundings, she understood that it was not something ideal either, considering they were fighting for Humanity, and that the constant explosions were starting to take its toll on the buildings were probably some local inhabitants hid in fear.

    Caster, who was taking in every event in the small battlefield also noticed the strange occurrence, and Carmilla''s words did nothing but confirm what she herself had observed from the small and short skirmish between her and the Automata.

    With that in mind, Medea changed her attack pattern to better suit the needs of the situation. Instead of using attacks focused on a bigger area of damage, she opted to be more precise with her magic.

    Her staff moved swiftly, and from it, multiple shards of ice shot unimpeded in her enemies'' direction. The projectiles were small, fast, and deadly; impacting everywhere but the core in their ?h?st.

    Sure enough, nothing ''grand'' happened aside from the machines tumbling down onto the ground once the necessary damage was done. Some lasted more than others, but they, too, eventually fell. It was evident that the modification they had been subjected too to make them walking bombs had reduced their overall defense. After all, it would make no sense to make them sturdier if all you wanted was to cause them to blow up at the b?r? minimum of contact.

    "Caster... Keep it up. Make sure to support Carmilla and Mash... as much as you can." The Witch of Betrayal shot him a look with some traces of worry after his mutter. Her Master sounded... off, so to say.

    "Are you okay, Master? Think you can endure a bit more?" It was honestly not looking good for them. There was no doubt that Fujimaru had been cursed, but without knowing what exactly he was cursed with, there was not much she could do. She needed to be aware of the cause behind it to actually help��something that, unfortunately, was not like that.

    "Y-Yeah... Thanks to you. I don''t think I can last more than an hour, though..." While it was true that Medea couldn''t remove the curse without using Rule Breaker, she still helped with some Healing Magic to alleviate the symptoms and pain.

    Since it was only a feeling of weakness, and there wasn''t a real threat to his life, he decided to avoid making Caster use her Noble Phantasm when there could be prying eyes watching them from the dark. It was suspicious for Mephistopheles to appear suddenly and want to fight a group of Servants just like that, so it was best to show as less of their secret cards as possible.

    Naturally, it was only because the curse did nothing more than give him a feeling of weakness, of tiredness, which would eventually lead to him fainting on the spot. If it were something more serious that threatened his life, there would be no amount of reasoning that prevented the use of Rule Breaker, and it was not as if he would go against it. He was inexperienced, not stupid.

    "Our readings show a similar conclusion. You have approximately 50 minutes before your health parameters enter a concerning state. Try to finish the fight before that, and if you cannot, just retreat." Romani suddenly bu??ed in on the conversation; loud enough for them to hear, yet low enough to prevent eavesdroppers from knowing the information.

    "Thanks for the heads up, Doctor." Fujimaru''s reply was short, but it conveyed his gratefulness. The black-haired youth knew things should be done faster, so some sacrifices had to be made. In this case, the sacrifice was a good part of his Magical Energy''s reserves.

    It was not easy maintaining all these Servants at once, and let''s say that powering them up did not help in the slightest, but sometimes it was the right option, or just the best in an scenario like this one.

    ''Vlad. You have my permission to use your Noble Phantasm. I don''t know if there are other Servants nearby, but I am afraid we cannot take many risks. If you find a window to release it, do so.'' With that in mind, he quickly gave his seal of approval to Berserker. In terms of raw power, he was by far the strongest in his current entourage. Carmilla would not be that far off, but that would only be if the target were female thanks to the Mystery behind her legend.

    It took a moment, but Berserker''s reply came eventually. ''Understood, my vassal. However, a warning is in order. This fellow is still hiding something. Be careful on your end.''

    ''I will. Good luck to you too. If you need me to use my Mystic Code to help you just ask. Sorry if my response comes a bit late, but I have my mind focused on enduring whatever curse Caster inflicted on me.'' Fujimaru''s response was met with a grunt from Vlad''s part. Enough time spent with the King made him understand that he agreed, and he also noticed a bit of urgency in there.

    And urgency there was indeed. The Impaler didn''t hesitate in fight more aggressively; not only because his Master''s situation could worsen his own in the long run, neither because the clown was getting on his nerves, but also due to the potential ambush they could receive if they delayed things any longer.

    Despite all his posturing, Caster did not seem to be actively trying to fight them. The correct thing to say would be that he was playing with them. However, it was not the sort of playing the strong did with the weak. It was more like he was waiting for something, and Vlad did not have the intention of waiting to know what it was.

    Refocusing on the fight at hand, Berserker disappear into a pool of blood only to reapper next to Mephistopheles with his spear ready to pierce the clown''s torso. Unfortunately for him, Caster had predicted it, so after dodging another slash from a very annoyed Mordred, he used the space between the blades of his scissors to push Vlad''s weapon down to the ground, all while laughing in his usualy mocking way.

    His laugh was short-lived, though, as Mordred hit him with a flying kick in the face. Caster kept rolling on the ground until he impacted on a building, which managed to stop the inertia.

    Vlad observed Saber''s smug face with raised eyebrows, although he would be lying if he said that he did not enjoy it. He had it coming since a while ago.

    "How''s that, you shitty clown?! There''s more of that, so get the fu?k up before I do that with my fists!" Her smirk and tone of voice was as taunting as they could get, but her posture was not as relaxed. For all that could be said about her, her instincts when it came to fights were not to be scoffed at. She had arrived at the same conclusion Berserker did, so she knew that playing games was not in her best interest. The green-eyes knight only wanted to force Caster to make at least a tiny mistake that they could take advantage of.

    There was some coughing coming from Mephistopheles'' direction. With some, obviously faked, difficulty, he removed the rubbles on top of him, waving his hand to disperse the dust around him. "How cruel! What would you have done if my make-up got ruined?! And aren''t knights supposed to fight with swords?! Where did that kick came from?!"

    "..."

    "...But..."

    All of a sudden, the atmosphere around him changed. His joking smirk was still present, but this time it didn''t have the mocking tint on it. Now, only something sinester remained.

    "...THAAAAAAANNNNNNNK YOUUUUU!"

    Mordred''s eyes widened, immediately going down to the foot she kicked Mephistopheles with... To where a row of mechanical bugs were coiling around her leg. "Fuc��"

    ������������������������������������������������������������

    ---This is going to be a sort of AN, but I didn''t want to include it below because of reasons. You can skip this if you want. It doesn''t have any "relevance" of sorts. I just wanted to update you guys with how things are going on my end.

    So, as I mentioned in the last chapter, I am going through a writer''s block, although I don''t know if I can definte it as such.

    How I write is similar to those games, you know, the ones where there are different points (Let''s call them, A, B, C, etc...) and a little trail that connects them together. I think of those points as important events I want for them to happen, and then connect them with my imagination/creativity. Recently - like from August or so - you have noticed that updates got less and less frequent, and that has to do in the most part because my head is not "into it" as much as it used to be at first.

    I don''t know if some of you have gone through something similar (doesn''t have to be tied to writing) where you want to do something, but your head immediately goes somewhere else. I tell to myself "Okay. Let''s write once and for all, that I haven''t done so in a long time." I go, open inkstone, write two words, and then suddenly I go do something else for hours, be it playing a game, watching videos on yt, reading other novels, etc.

    I find it EXTREMELY hard to just write at least 100 words in a sitting, let alone the 2400 I usually write. There are days where I open inkstone, and I don''t even write a single word. I don''t think it''s a matter of rest anymore how I thought at first because, let''s be honest, I have taken enough of it. Nor it''s a matter of "I got bored" because every day I come up with new ideas that I want to include. So if you are worried thinking I am going to drop this, don''t be, I won''t.

    At this point, I really don''t know how to get out of this blockade. I don''t think it''s ADHD since it''s more of a recent thing, but who knows...

    This problem has affected the quality of my work. "Forcing" myself to write something has made that some chapters look more like a filler than anything (And if I have to be honest, this looks like one as well). I have troubles managing both sides. The "I have to write at any costs" with "I have to take my time to give something that not only readers would enjoy reading, but I would also enjoy writing as well."

    Before I started writing, I used to get upset when some author got out boring chapters, or it suddenly looked like he/she didn''t know what he/she was doing anymore. Now, however, after ''embarking'' in this journey, I can safely say that I have a whole new level of respect for them. It''s not always easy, and many people don''t appreciate the effort some of them do to give you (speaking in general) content for free. I wondered why there were way too few ''good books'' around, but then I realized that it''s because people have 0 patience with some of the authors. As soon as 1, just 1 decision isn''t okay with them - as if they had the right to demand - then they went straight to insult the author or the book, causing them to drop it.

    Now this isn''t my case, at least not entirely. I received some critisim (insulting without argument or ideas to improve is not critisim btw, don''t mistake it) which helped me create something better, and for that I am thankful.

    Anyway, to close this particular topic. If you see something in another book (or even this one) that you don''t like, make sure to give SUGGESTIONS on how it can be improved. Also, don''t say comments like "I am dropping this book." It can be quite the emotional impact on the author, and it''s not helping anyone. When I drop a book, I make sure to leave a comment about things that could be better and quietly remove it from my library. Now, I am not a moral saint, nor I am saying you should do what I say or you are going to hell. Just some little steps to improve.

    Finally, I am going to say this as a reader and an author, just because x situation happes (with x being something ''negative'') doesn''t mean sh*t is going to suddenly get terrible. I see many people in other novels immediately thinking of the worst possible outcome in a bad situation. A kid fell down from his tricycle on grass, readers think he will never be able to walk again and start bashing. These types of things are becoming more of a common occurrency.

    Welp, thanks for coming to my ted talk. This Dec. 5th I am going on a month long trip to visit my sister in the US, so no writing. However, this "disconnection" will hopefully allow me come back more renewed than ever. There are 6 days or so until then. Let''s see if I manage to leave you with one more chapter before I go, though considering this garbo chapter took 1..5 months to write, I pretty much doubt it lol.

 Chapter 198 - The Ones That Lurk In The Shadows

    "Saber!" Many shouted her name, or in this case, her Class. The explosion shook not only the buildings on the side but also the ground they stood on. Berserker, who was the one nearest to Mordred at the moment of the attack, was launched against a wall as if he were a bullet fired from a gun.

    The impact was nothing life-threatening, yet it still left a couple of bruises as well as some blood that Vlad couldn''t keep in his mouth after the crash.

    Mostly dust covered the rest''s vision from the aftermath. The only thing they were able to recognize was Mephistopheles'' deranged laugh echoing throughout the dark streets.

    Then, all of a sudden, that laugh stopped, and Caster''s expression transformed into something that resembled annoyance with a b?r? hint of surprise. It all coincided with a shadow getting out of the dust covering the epicenter of the explosion.

    ''I will at least admit that much; despite looking and acting like a savage, she has good instincts.'' Contrary to his outward way of speaking, Mephistopheles was capable of rationalized thinking in his mind when he wanted to.

    The reason for his thoughts was made apparent instantly as the figure shooting out of the dust cloud became clearer than before. Mordred was revealed to the world once again, but this time, her ???ky smirk had disappeared.

    Replacing it was silent rage that couldn''t wait to be unleashed. It wasn''t until the dust completely dispersed that they knew the reason why. Fujimaru, despite having experienced gruesome deaths on his small journey, still cringed at the state of the Saber Servant.

    While it was nothing that could be considered life-threatening for their kind, it was still unpleasant to look at. From her waist up she was relatively unharmed save for some spots in her face that were dripping blood.

    The problem was her legs.

    One had a scrap metal stabbing her flesh on the side right below the knee. The other one, though. That was where things looked as messy as they could. For lack of a better word, it was a mess. Fujimaru even could have sworn that he saw her bones in the brief intervals where the torrent of blood shooting out of her leg allowed for him to do just that.

    At this point, he wondered if having it still attached to her body was doing more harm than good. He was not a medical expert, but in his opinion, it looked more like a liability than anything. Of course, he would not, under any circumstances, voice out loud his thoughts.

    She looked so pissed right now that he feared she would start attacking them all of a sudden just because they were on the same site as the one who had caused her injuries.

    Unfortunately for them, they had to put her situation on hold as the endless wave of enemies kept reaching out for them. If they didn''t do something quick, then they would be swallowed in more explosions like the one Mordred went through.

    The Servant in question absolutely did not care for their predicament, though. No, she was way too angry for that. So much so that she didn''t mind the consequences of her actions if she were to act a little more ''rowdy''. In fact, she was never a person to fight with restrains. The opposite, she was as wild as a beast, and it seemed the clown in front of her was being brave enough to poke the sleeping animal with a stick.

    Close calls like that were things that she would welcome and even encourage had this been a battlefield. However, in a circus like this one, where she couldn''t even feel the intent to fight from her enemy, she could only say that she hated it.

    If she were honest, the only reason she still had her legs attached was pure luck. The moment she saw those stupid metallic insects she immediately shot lightning from her sword all over to her leg in an attempt to destroy them before they could do any damage. It worked, partially. She destroyed some, incapacitated others, yet still at least one was able to explode evidently.

    The lightning was also numbing the pain, along with the mobility of her leg. It still hurt like being stabbed in the ?ss, though. That''s why she had some payback to do with the stupid jester with the seagull shit in his face She would make it hella painful, of that she would make sure.

    For a moment, the world stilled, and in the next, the wrath of thunder echoed. A sonic boom was all the warning Mordred gave when she activated her Mana Burst. That and the hole she left in the streets at her wake.

    Mephistopheles'' eyes widened momentarily at her display, absolutely not expecting her to be able to move like that after receiving his Noble Phantasm literally with her own body. Hence, the timing of his reaction was slower than he would have liked.

    His giant pair of scissors were lifted up, yes, but not quickly enough to apply force in his parry. That caused him to be flown away brutally by Mordred''s sword, Clarent. Mephistopheles crashed against the Automata he modified as he kept spiraling in mid-air. Rather fortunate for him, his Noble Phantasm had a number limit regarding his explosive insects, so his last works had only been made to look like the ones that could detonate as to confuse the other party, and were actually weaker than a non-modified one.

    This prevented friendly fire, but not a mad knight with a d?s?r? for vengeance. Saber didn''t stop once she hit Caster. Instead, once she hit the ground after sending him flying, she, for a second time, dashed at him; her sword filled with red lightning.

    A small grimace formed on her face before disappearing as quickly as it came. As much as she could handle the pain, it certainly didn''t make it easier. This only motivated her, even more, to get back at the weird-haired clown, though.

    As she advanced, she hacked everything that was in her way without mercy with the sole intent of reaching Mephistopheles who seemed to be getting farther away thanks to her powerful blow.

    Eventually, however, Caster''s momentum started to diminish, and that only brought Mordred closer to him. In time, Saber was able to close the distance, enough for her to bring her sword down, trying to cleave him in two.

    The Homunculus �� in a brief moment of clarity �� saw this and quickly threw a mechanical bomb at her that he had hidden in his sleeve. It was a double-edged sword as it would harm both of them... had Mordred not pulverized it with her powerful lightning.

    He put up the little resistance that he could by, once again, rising his giant scissors, but sadly for him, his Class wasn''t known for having the best physical strength among the bunch. His D Rank strength paled in comparison with Mordred''s B+.

    An obvious outcome happened. The Treacherous Knight slammed her sword down without mercy, crushing his meager attempt of defense. Clarent''s tip collided with the ground, creating a deep hole and a resounding noise accompanying it, which also prevent Saber from completely dividing him into two equal parts.

    Still, while it was true that he had avoided getting killed, that didn''t mean he got scot-free. When the smoke that had risen from the impact dissipated, the sorry state of Mephistopheles was shown to Mordred.

    His right arm had become useless and limp, b?r?ly hanging from his torso. It was only luck that prevented it from being completely removed, although the Servant wasn''t sure if he would have preferred that with how painful the ''half-finished'' work was.

    "Not so funny now, is it?" She removed her sword from his body in an agonizingly slow manner, painting the scene even more bloody than it already was.

    Mephistopheles coughed some blood, and despite his pain, he gave her a smile that seemed more tetric with his levels of injuries. "Hehe! But...cough... it... still is!"

    His creepy and unnerving laugh reached her ears loud and clear despite all the fighting in the background. All of a sudden, Mordred''s eyes widened slightly as she turned around to notice several Automata jumping at her.

    Wasting no time, she clad her sword in more lightning and slashed at the air. Red-colored electricity shot out like hungry snakes at her enemies; stopping some in their tracks, and powdering others.

    Instead of sneak attacking her, Mephistopheles used the chance to escape from the hole and retreat to a safe enough distance while Saber was distracted with the creations he had sent to stall her.

    As he did, he noticed how some red sparks floated around in the mist from time to time. That caused him to grin. ''The plan is coming along nicely. A little more set up and we will have a raging Divine Spirit wreaking havoc. Ah! Marvelous!''

    Soon, however, her grin disappeared to a more neutral look. ''Though... I wonder why there is a need for having several Gods fighting for supremacy. The prize isn''t appetizing for all of them, after all. That sorcerer sure has strange ideas. Still, two are already here, he will summon another two, and I, if things go smoothly here, should trigger the other. With any luck, another one will appear just to join the fray��oh. So that''s how it was. Brilliant indeed. Well, as long as there is enough chaos and suffering I am fine with it all the same.''

    While he was nonchalantly alone with his inner thoughts, Mordred had finished the small distraction he had set up. Saber looked a little exhausted from the effort she had exerted while in her terrible condition, but the fierce glare she was sending his way was enough to make him sweat �� if doing so wouldn''t ruin his make-up, of course ��.

    However, he still knew this wasn''t far from enough. She needed to reach a boiling point where she saw nothing but, ironically, red. And the best part of it was, he knew how to do it.

    With that in mind, he moved his gaze from her to the unsuspecting Master in the background, who was focused on aiding his Servants with his Mystic Code as much as he could. Not surprising since, by this point, he should be affected too much to only rely on giving proper commands.

    His introduction might have been silly, but his laugh was one of his Skills, actually. A Curse to reduce one''s luck as if they had stumbled upon a black cat on the road after accidentally breaking a mirror and squashing a cricket while you were at it. Simply put, everything that relied on luck was going to go against them.

    It wasn''t the effect as much as it was the stress that caused having such bad luck. Eventually, the strain in his Magic Circuits would make him waste more Magical Energy than necessary, and when nothing was left; no matter the Servant, they would become fangless beasts.

    Smirking slightly at the concept, Mephistopheles started moving his only usable hand in some weird, erratic manner. Mordred''s instincts picked this, and following his gaze, her pupils shrunk.

    Out of reflex more than anything, she used another Mana Burst, despite the clear discomfort this caused on her injured leg.

    It was nothing visible, but even so, she felt it when it struck.

    "GAAAHHH!" A blood-curling scream escaped her mouth out of nowhere. Like something straight out of a science-fiction film, her right arm started detaching little by little from her torso, and her armor started denting in her ?h?st area.

    Caster watched the turn of events a little thunderstruck. While the happenings themselves were nothing he didn''t know they would happen as it was his own skill, he didn''t expect Saber to just get in the way. He had used his Curse Arts to either kill the Master or leave him gravely injured, but Mordred getting in the way was not in his calculations.

    This was fine either way, although he hoped he wouldn''t have to do some on-the-spot planning thanks to the girls'' actions.

    Her screams, though, attracted the others'' attention. The moment they saw Mordred''s condition, Fujimaru and Mash released a gasp of shock.

    Before his mind could process it, his body was already moving in her direction. "Sab��"

    "DON''T COME HERE!" However, he was stopped in his tracks by her shout. She was kneeling, and her sword had fallen to the ground due to her hand not being able to hold it properly, but she was not defeated, not yet.

    Even if she was missing a leg... Even if she was missing an arm... Even if her body hurt so much she just wanted to fall... She was still Mordred, the Knight of Treachery; the one that put an end to King Arthur''s kingdom, and the only one that deserved his throne more than anyone else.

    A ''zzz'' sound began to echo around her figure, and soon, that sound took physical form in the shape of red lightning that danced around her armor and sword.

    Saber grabbed Clarent with her left hand �� the weight a little foreign since it wasn''t her dominant arm �� and stood up with some difficulty.

    With the same challenging effort, she lifted her sword until its tip was pointing to the sky. Despite the initial awkwardness, her grip was firm. As if there were clouds just meters above them, lightning started shooting out from the seemingly empty space to her weapon.

    It seemed to work like a battery, charging it more and more until it couldn''t hold anymore.

    Although elated inside, Mephistopheles acted fearful on the outside, practically screaming ''Hit me, I''m defenseless!''

    Others, however, didn''t share his mindset.

    "Quickly stop her! Her lightning is mixing with the mist! At this rate, we don''t know what could end up being summoned!" Romani''s voice was sudden as always, but this time it had a sense of urgency rarely found in it.

    Medea, already suspecting something from before, and as the only one who could use ranged attacks, quickly conjured an icy wind in hopes of cooling her down, figuratively and literally. She could release a more powerful attack, naturally, but that would probably kill Saber with how weak she was.

    In this mysterious place, they didn''t need one less ally to rely upon. Although considering the alternative if Mordred wasn''t stopped, Caster wondered if she was making the right choice.

    To her relief, her magic managed to make Mordred''s movements stiffer. However, her relief was short-lived as her rage fueled her Noble Phantasm further. In fact, Saber''s anger only shot up at being "attacked" by her allies. The only reason she didn''t aim at them was that the clown took priority.

    Knowing that it was too late to go back as the mist was already in the process of summoning something; whatever it was, Mephistopheles stopped his act and started laughing. "Hehehe��cough��ahaha! That''s it, that is how it has to��cough��be!"

    Though still pained by her earlier attacks, Caster still was able to enjoy the moment. Even more so when his laugh was seemingly enraging her to unprecedented levels. It was so comic he wanted to cry.

    However, that laugh was gone as soon as it came. Just as Mordred was about to unleash her Noble Phantasm, and just as Medea was prepared to kill her on the spot, an unbelievable thing happened in front of their eyes.

    A gust of wind��no. A powerful gale suddenly picked up, lifting the tiny droplets of water suspended just above the ground. As if controlled by an unknown force, the mist that surrounded them and the near streets shot up to the sky, leaving the dark environment free of any white.

    "Wha..." Mephistopheles could not believe it, and his face certainly reflected that. What... What in the nine hells was that? Something... something some random had no way of being unintentional, right? But a wind powerful enough to make him stumble was not a thing they were capable of, he was sure of that.

    Unfortunately for him, that was not the thing he should be worrying about now. The sound of lightning brought his attention back to reality, back to his impending doom. ''Curses. Without the mist, there is nothing I can do anymore. This is a failure, but there is always a next ti��''

    "I am afraid you are forgetting someone." Mephistopheles could only widen his eyes as multiple stakes impaled his body from the ground, keeping him in place and taking the idea of escape out of his head.

    "Kah!" More blood escaped his mouth as he looked to the side, where Berserker seemed to be camouflaged with the dark streets. ''That sneaky little...!'' It was true that when his plan was close to completion, he had let his guard down, and forgotten that there was someone else fighting him aside from Saber.

    Vlad merely dusted himself off as he watched Mephistopheles struggle against his stakes. He made sure to branch them inside his body to cause even more pain. It could not be said that he enjoyed the look of his enemy, but it would be a lie to say he was not satisfied. After all, he had seen what he had tried to do with his Vassal. And an offense to someone under a King was an offense against the King himself, especially with the type of partnership they had.

    Berserker then moved his gaze to Saber. Although he had attacked Caster first, had not the strange event happened, he would have attacked her first. With her one-track mind attitude, she would not have reacted even when his stakes had pierced her Spirit Core. It would be wise to talk about her behavior in the future, even if he knew this was a hopeless endeavor.

    Nevertheless, now it was the time to witness the end of the first Servant they faced in this Singularity.

    ? "This is the wicked blade that destroyed my father..." Though slightly difficult to maintain with one hand, her sword remained steady.

    "Experience it and be turned to dust!" She swung down with all the strength remaining in her body.

    ��Clarent Blood Arthur!��?

    A powerful and unstoppable red beam of lightning shot out of Clarent before the helpless gaze of Mephistopheles. He couldn''t even utter a scream before he was engulfed by the light. A light that remained for a few seconds, but when it disappeared, Caster was no more.

    Breathing heavily, Mordred dropped her sword on the ground. "That''s... what you get... for messing... with m...e..." And soon, unable to handle all the strain, she fainted.

    ''It was to be expected. Still, her power is as unreasonable as always.'' Vlad watched the scorched streets that seemed to have gone down a dozen centimeters in height. Certainly to the n?k?d eye, her attack seemed to have expanded infinitely. It was rather fortunate that the direction she unleashed her Noble Phantasm didn''t include any housing. The inhabitants already had it hard with all the mechanical monsters and Homunculus running around.

    It was also fortunate that once Mephistopheles was gone, the Automata had stopped acting and were all falling apart. Something strange, for sure, but he would not be the one to question it. He then watched the girl with the shield picking up Saber from the ground, while Caster used one of her Dragon Tooth Warriors to lift her sword. He had to wonder why she didn''t use them before, but he supposed they weren''t infinite, and not as nearly useful as he thought.

    Berserker felt a gaze on him, and when he followed the feeling to see who it was, he found Carmilla narrowing her eyes at him, seemingly trying to communicate something with her eyes alone.

    Understanding the meaning, Vlad calmly shook his head. Assassin rolled her eyes and clicked her tongue before turning away. ''Honestly, what an unruly woman. Would it kill her to treat me with an ounce of respect?''

    Shaking his head again, this time out of exasperation, Berserker closely followed behind them, ready to act in case of an ambush.

    It was a long day, but they were finally going back to their base.

    ������������������������������������������������������������

    So close... It was so close! Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!

    He couldn''t believe it. Everything was going almost perfectly, and then it was all ruined!

    Mephistopheles crawled through the alleys. Yes, that right, the Great Demon Mephistopheles was reduced to a crawling mess! Who would have thought! It was so funny he wanted to tear everything apart and then blow the pieces away with one of his bombs!

    ''I can''t believe it. If my luck wasn''t this high I would surely have died. Shit. Why do I consider myself lucky when the alternative isn''t any better?!'' Surely missing an arm and having only half a leg left wasn''t something to be happy about. Even with his upbeat personality, this was beyond a laughing point!

    ''Still. I said it before and I will say it again; there is always another chance. And I swear that I would plant a bomb in their soup and blow them from the inside out! First, it''s going to be the Master, then that stupid King, and finally, when everything is done with those two, he would kill that woman for su��!''

    "Oho? It seems the cat found a wounded mouse running away." A deep but suave voice behind him stopped Mephistopheles'' crawling.

    Ah, so this was it. His grimace transformed into a sick smile.

    "Why... Hello, sir S��"

    *Bang*

    Dead with a bullet in the head, Caster failed to keep speaking. As he observed how Mephistopheles began to disappear, the mysterious person adjusted his suit in no hurry. "Let''s keep the introductions for later, shall we?"

    "The night is still young, after all."

 Chapter 199 - Preparations

    The group safely arrived at their temporary base in this Singularity without any inconvenience. It was something to be thankful for considering that they had an injured Mordred with them, and fighting again would make her a liability.

    First, they knocked on the door with a certain rhythm that Jekyll had taught them before to make sure that the person wanting to enter was not someone... uninvited. it took a few seconds of waiting until the door opened and they were greeted by the owner of the house himself.

    Once he saw the state Saber was in, though, he let them in in a hurry. Telling Seth and Chronos to vacate the sofa they were sitting in so that Mordred could rest, the Doctor went to his little workshop to find any elixirs that could help with the Knight''s condition.

    He didn''t have a miraculous panacea that could instantly heal all of her injuries, but if it came down to potions that could stop bleedings, then he had a few.

    Meanwhile, the two Gods watched the deplorable conditions of the girl for a few seconds before giving way and going to sit on the sofa opposite to them where Marfisa was. Lancer regarded them with a flat stare but said nothing. The black-haired man she could understand since he was fighting on the outside, but the other one had been doing nothing more than drinking tea the whole day, so she didn''t understand the need for him to pester her. Still, she let them do as they pleased. Though, one wrong movement and her lance would find itself pointed to where the sun does not shine.

    So, as they each sat to one of her sides, the blond woman redirected her gaze to her fallen companion who was being carried by the girl with the shield. Her fellow Knight had sure seen better days. Although not outwardly showing it, she was concerned for her.

    However, she knew that panicking or suddenly throwing herself over her wounded body would not only be futile, but it would also show weakness��a weakness that she didn''t want to show in front of others.

    "She will live. The damage is mostly on the outside. With enough Magical Energy she should be able to recover since her Spirit Core wasn''t affected." It seemed she was not that good at hiding it as the Lancer next to her commented on her condition apparently to himself.

    Even so, "She will live" didn''t equate to her condition being good. Unless they are able to produce some miracle, Mordred would be staying out of commission for a long while. She was already seeing herself having to knock out Saber since she was sure the stubborn woman would want to go to fight regardless of her condition.

    "Speaking of which, you do know how to transfer it directly, don''t you?" The strange, wimpy Doctor asked a question that made her look at him with disgust. If he was in front of her he would have already been pierced.

    "Is that true?!" The young Master asked a little too hopeful. If she recalled correctly, his reserves were not that vast, to begin with. He had a Mystic Code with healing capacities as well, though it seemed it only worked for superficial wounds. Something of this level would probably be outside of its scope.

    "Huh? Oh, about that. Yes, I can. Just a heads up, though. My Mana is poisonous. There''s no telling what might happen if I transfer it. The remedy could very well end up being worse than the disease." The two kids deflated at that, but it seemed the Doctor wasn''t over.

    "But how can you maintain your own Servants then?" It was a valid question; one she found herself raising her eyebrows at.

    ...

    ''Romani... You can''t take a hint, can you?'' Seth wanted to facepalm right now. He wanted to think that the man was an idiot, but he was smarter than he let on. For whatever reason, the orange-haired man wanted to trouble him today.

    "The link between us is able to... cleanse, let''s just say, my Mana into workable and proper Magical Energy. Externally, I can do the transfer easily by putting a finger on her forehead and sharing enough for her to recover. But as I said, giving it to her just like that would probably turn her into an alternate version of herself in the best of cases." Some of the people present flinched at that. The Alters they knew so far had gone from good to bad. What would be the case with Saber? From bad to worse? A small chill went through their spines at the thought.

    "And before you even ask, I am not going to form a contract with her. Not only is she in no condition to agree, but I also want to avoid such a troublesome woman if possible. I have enough of crazy blondes." That earned an elbow to his ribs courtesy of Marfisa and a chuckle from the other resident God.

    "Why are you even taking it personally? I didn''t even look at you..." Seth wanted to say that she was only proving his point, but that would create a situation he wasn''t willing to take part in, so he only grumbled a bit and did nothing more.

    "Honestly, why do you have to be so useless when it matters the most?" The Egyptian God rolled his eyes at Carmilla''s question. The woman was no doubt still upset about the events in Orleans. He wondered if she would stop holding onto past grudges soon. Not that he was one to talk, but at least he wasn''t allied with his pantheon, so there was no reason to be a decent being around them.

    "For your information, I didn''t get my strength from flowers and bu??erflies. I had to descend to levels that you people would find morally deplorable, so there is no way I am not tainted." He was careful with his wording in order to not set any flags with the woman next to him. One look at Khronos as soon as he arrived and he already knew the idiot had said more than he had to. He didn''t any more of that.

    He was sure that if the Chaldeans knew about the reason why he avoided her, they would tell him that he was exaggerating. However, what they didn''t know was that her personality was so bad that she immediately triggered a reaction in his very self in order to avoid meddling with her. She was so crazy that she made his instincts do something as troublesome as making him remember most of his life as Charlemagne just so that he could know what made her tick.

    "Ah, your times as a gluttonous beast, right? I have to say, no matter the place, we are all very alike, aren''t we?" Khronos chose that moment to intervene with a happy laugh and a joyful mood.

    "Huh? What are you talking about? I am not someone who likes to eat much." Meanwhile, Seth sent a puzzled glance at his fellow God, though inside those ''confused'' eyes there was a warning to leave the matter there. If he knew of his history as he presumed to do, then he would know he had killed Gods for less.

    "Got it!" As if called by the prayers of the souls in this Singularity, Jekyll chose that moment to appear with a vial on his hand. Everyone redirected their attention to him as he went straight to the unconscious Mordred.

    Carefully placing his hand below her head, she raised it a little, causing the woman to groan slightly in her ''sleep''. Fortunately, that also allowed him to pour the elixir in her mouth without having to forcefully open it himself.

    Acting on instinct, Saber drank the liquid greedily. Jekyll was cautious not to send the liquid through the wrong tube. Otherwise, it would be for nothing.

    After a few moments, Mordred finished drinking everything, so he put her back down with the same care. Nothing extraordinary happened on the outside, but at least the bleeding stopped completely. Fujimaru had done what he could his Mystic Code, and now this sealed the deal.

    "Will she be okay?" Mash asked concerned. Such a ghastly sight from an ally was uncommon to her, so it was natural that she was worried. Add to the fact that they couldn''t do much to help her condition, it all was a neverending nightmare.

    The Doctor smiled at her reassuringly. "For now, her condition should be able to improve, or at least not worsen. She will still need more proper healing and good rest, but she will nonetheless be fine. I advise that you don''t count too much of her, though. She is in no condition to fight for the foreseeable future."

    "Don''t worry about her recuperation. As long as I get my workshop running, I can heal her in no time." Medea said with a tone as if it couldn''t be helped. This form wasn''t as healing-oriented as her younger and...foolish version. However, she didn''t need the aid of a Noble Phantasm to utilize her Magic for healing. Still, reconstructing tissue and missing body parts required her to properly prepare, so that''s why she only aided a bit in making the experience as painless to Saber as possible and left the harder work for when she got here.

    Jekyll nodded, accepting without any seconds thoughts. "I will trouble you with it. As for you, Lancer, do you mind removing Saber''s armor and cleaning her of her blood so that the lady there can work on her?" For obvious reasons, he couldn''t do that himself, so chose the best next option, who was the person that had spent the most time with Mordred, and was also a girl.

    Heaving a deep sigh of resignation, the woman ?ssented without much fuss. As if that wasn''t enough, she had to hear ''encouraging'' words from the lazy idiot. Yet, her face did a one-eighty, settling for a smug smile at Jekyll''s next words.

    "As for you, Archer. Since you have been doing nothing all day; how about cleaning all the blood from the couch and carpet?" Looking to the people present for a volunteer, Khronos found himself without allies. The only notable reaction was from the two kids, who looked kind of sheepish, considering it was THEIR mess he was about to clean up. The other Servants merely retired for the day once they knew they could call it a day, leaving only the shield girl, the Master, Lancer, Jekyll, Seth, and Caster.

    "Fujimaru, come with me outside. I want to hear how things went, and I also want to know about your progress." Saying so, Seth stood up and moved to exit the house; not before ''accidentally'' hitting Khronos'' cup and spilling it all over his clothes.

    "Oh... my bad. But since you are going to clean anyway, you wouldn''t mind a little extra, right? I am going to send you a gift basket as an apology." With such an obviously fake regret, the black-haired man continued his way to the door. The other Master followed him quite awkwardly, not knowing how to handle the situation without making things worse.

    "And I would like to send v?r??ns for you to defile before eating them." ...is what he would have said normally. Instead, he just sported his classical smile while accepting his words easily. "Of course, I look forward to it."

    There was no point in arguing now, no point in saying things that couldn''t be proved with factual evidence either. ''But you know... An interesting thing about Time is that it can easily show people their past selves. And as same as the past, nobody can escape Time. Yet... It also shows the future. On that note, let me tell you something interesting, my fellow kin. The God known as Seth has no future past this Singularity. So go. Fight, escape, experience loss once more, find the courage to face your fears and... perish.''

    ������������������������������������������������������������

    "Then? How did things go?" Once they were outside, Seth picked Fujimaru and jumped to the roof of Jekyll''s house. There was no point in staying in plain sight. That was just asking for them to be interrupted.

    "Not good I''m afraid..." Lying would be useless. After all, he had already seen Mordred''s condition. "The enemy wasn''t strong per se but... he employed tactics that made him annoying to deal with. He ambushed us with hundreds of Automata that had bombs inside them, so we had to be extra careful. Not to mention that if we did something wrong, we could have killed the innocent people inside."

    Seth hummed in thought. These kinds of things were why he preferred to be a Villain than a Hero. You didn''t have to worry about holding back unless that worked in your favor somewhat. "What about your Magecraft?"

    The youth furrowed his brows at that question. To be honest, he had been excited to try it out, but the chance just didn''t show itself. "I wanted to use it..."

    One of Seth''s eyebrows rose at the pause. "But?"

    "I don''t know how to explain it. I just got this nagging feeling in the back of my head that I would fail and that I was going to end up hurting myself if I tried. I know this sounds weird, but it is what I felt at the moment." He sounded as embarrassed as he did contemplative, half expecting the man in front of me to scold him. However, the said person merely nodded as if understanding the situation.

    "You don''t have to worry about that. You should always listen to those feelings whenever they appear. It seems you are developing an instinct after going through many ordeals in this short time." It wasn''t like he didn''t expect the kid to get it eventually, yet so soon was a surprise. A welcome one, though.

    "An... instinct?" He tested the word in his mouth, the meaning understood by his brain but foreign to his soul. He was used to ?ssociating it more with animals than human beings, so it was no wonder he felt a little weird on the inside.

    "Mhm. That will certainly help you in the future. For now, I would say you did a fairly good job, and you deserve some rest for it." The corner of his mouth arched slightly upwards at seeing the wry smile on Fujimaru''s face. ''A perfectionist, is it? It''s not like it''s a bad thing to always strive to improve.''

    "I am not sure about that... Saber is enough proof that I didn''t do a good job." He meant every word he said. He could deal with light injuries. He wouldn''t be happy, but he could deal with it. However, Mordred''s condition couldn''t be considered light by any means.

    "Now, don''t say that. You had it rough and still were able to come out on top. We both know Mordred acted on her own, so her condition is her own fault. I would consider you a manipulator of the highest level if you could make her listen to you after knowing each other for so little. It would be praiseworthy, not going to lie. That aside... let me give you a word of advice. Don''t undermine your efforts. The moment you start doing that, you will find the people around you doing the same. And trust me, when it matters the most, seeing your hard work mean nothing to those you helped will leave you feeling rancorous." Sometimes, Ritsuka forgot how old Se��Kuro was. He might look like he''s b?r?ly a few years older than him, but the truth was that he had lived for more than he could count.

    He didn''t know if what he said will eventually apply to him in the future but... the least he could do with someone that had helped him this much was listen to his advice. "I will keep that in mind... Thank you."

    Seth nodded before standing up. "All right, I will bring you down, then you can go to sleep. It was a long day for you, and you will have to be in top condition for what''s to come."

    The Japanese youth also stood up and let himself be grabbed. Unceremoniously, the black-haired God jumped down, though still careful not to injure Fujimaru with their fall.

    "You should go now. I am sure you will be able to test the Magecraft I taught you soon, so get a good night''s rest." Ritsuka scratched the back of his head in embarrassment before noticing something strange. Kuro was still in the same place as before.

    "Aren''t you... going inside?" He asked with a little hesitation, for some reason. As if the very act of proving for his intention was taboo.

    Seth shook his head at his question. "Not for a while. I want to organize my thoughts for a while. A good mental state is as important as a healthy body, so I need to be also prepared for what it''s to come."

    Though unsure, Ritsuka still nodded slowly. Although going by his face, he still wanted to say more. In the end, he waved his goodbyes and entered the house through the door that had been left slightly open in the meantime.

    The Egyptian God waited for a few moments before turning on the watch-like device on his wrist, making the image of a tired Romani appear.

    "I ?ssumed you wanted to talk with me so I stayed awake. Da Vinci scolded me for that as well as my numerous uses of coffee, so I hope it is important." The Doctor said with a yawn. He didn''t even have the energy to act upbeat at this point.

    "We are screwed." That sentence alone managed to fully wake the orange-haired man as if he had had a 24hs rest.

    "What... did you say?" He hoped he was joking, but as everyone knew in Chaldea, the man was terrible at doing jokes.

    Seth turned his gaze to the ground, and Romani saw something on that face that was soon turning into one of frustration, something the Doctor never would have thought he would see in the black-haired man: regret.

    "There is some demented Servant here... A Caster, if I am not wrong. He plans to make this Singularity a battleground for Gods like us. When I went to investigate, I saw many traces of a Ritual being performed. He sacrificed hundreds, possibly thousands in order to call forth a God, maybe even more than one." If he wasn''t awake before, he was now, and if he wasn''t sure his panicking would be heard from all over Chaldea, he would be mumbling incoherently to himself and crashing against all the computers in the room.

    It was then that a thought struck him, and he couldn''t help but voice it out loud. "Wait... the situation can still be salvaged. It''s true that Caster might be able to summon them, but that doesn''t mean they would listen to him. And if you get to them before he does, there is a chance for you to convince them to fight for us since you are the same in nature!"

    "Hope is such a stupid thing..." Seth sighed at Romani''s words. He understood, but the reality was crueler than he thought. "First of all, he doesn''t need them to listen to him. Gods are by definition walking disasters. Make one go through a river and it will dry, make one go through green pastures and they will turn into scorched earth. Just by being here, they will cause the destruction he wants."

    The Egyptian God paused for a second, reconsidering his words before eventually continuing. "And I don''t know if you are starting to forget, but my reputation is not the greatest out there. While I am a God of Foreigners and have more facilities when it comes to reasoning with them, they will instantly see me as a purge target since I didn''t announce a meeting between them and me. Not to mention, "reasonable" doesn''t strike me as something that Caster would want to summon. A good theory I have is that he wants to bring forth the most warmongers of my kind. The type to kill first and ask questions to corpses later. And if a fight against fellow Gods wasn''t enough motivation for them, that crazy bastard managed to get a relic so powerful it would instantly get them to fight for it with all their might."

    "...Shit." He wasn''t one to curse, but the situation certainly merited it. Now he understood why Seth had said they were screwed. "What relic is it that could make Gods even more aggressive than they already are? And speaking of that, do you have any idea who will be coming?"

    "I do know what it is. However, I prefer to keep it a secret for now. The fewer people know about it, the better. I don''t want more competition. As for Gods... I only know two so far. They are going to be part of the Wild Hunt. Odin and... Thor." The latter was said with more difficulty, but Romani didn''t pick on that, because he was more surprised at the names and... another, but no less surprising thing entirely.

    "Odin and Thor... They are top-tier Divine Spirits, comparable to Zeus and Ares in Greek Mythology or Ra and you in the Egyptian one." He slouched in his chair, suddenly out of all the energy the coffee had given him. "Can we even win?"

    It was not like he didn''t believe in Seth''s strength, it was just that they were two against one! Romani wanted to cry at the moment. He didn''t know if Khronos could be on par with them, not to mention that those two were only the ones their helper God knew would come, there could be more of them. However...

    "You said that you wanted that relic at all costs. Is it that important that it would make you actively fight for it?" He was not a former Heroic Spirit for nothing, he knew Seth never entered fights willingly unless the situation required for him to fight in order for them to emerge victorious from their struggles. That was also why he never fought all out against anyone. That he had seen, at least.

    "Yes... I could care less about the power it holds, but it holds a significant sentimental value for me. Not for good reasons, but it still does. That is why I can''t allow anyone else to have it. And if worse comes to worst I... No. It''s better not to work with what-ifs." Well, that was as ominous as it was reassuring, Romani thought.

    "If you say that much... I will trust you can come out on top." That brought a smirk to Seth''s face; the God leaving his somber mood behind. "But of course, I am the Pioneer of God and King Slaying. If nothing else, I hold the conceptual advantage over them."

    ''Though... it will take a lot of me to put it to use against those two. As I said to Fujimaru, I better prepare myself mentally for facing those two again. Even if they are fundamentally different people than the once I knew.'' He added in his mind, preferring to keep this part to himself.

    "By the way, is that Asterios I am detecting next to you?" With his name being mentioned, Berserker manifested next to Seth, inclining his head slightly in acknowledgment.

    "Since he feels uncomfortable being around other people that he doesn''t know, I let himself be in Spirit Form for the time being." The Minotaur''s cheeks gained a red tint at his social awkwardness being called out but grunted in affirmation anyway.

    "Now that we are on topic, tell Darwin to be prepared to come tomorrow. She and Asterios will be key in our next fights." Romani''s eyes brightened. Since she was a new addition, she nearly forgot about her. Of course! She was an Anti-Divine Servant! He mentally kicked himself in the head for nearly missing such an important ?sset they had at their disposal. Now the future didn''t look as bleak anymore.

    "I will get to it as soon as I wake up tomorrow! Though, Seth... did you do something strange with your being while we weren''t looking?" At first, the Doctor was excited, but then, his excitement transformed into confusion, something the Kingslayer mirrored.

    "Huh? What are you talking about? Were you listening to Magi��Mari''s delusions again?"

    "Wha��! Of course not! And they aren''t delusions, thank you very much! She is the only one who understands my heart!" Romani rectified heatedly as if Seth had just said heresy of the highest order.

    "She keeps telling you ways in which you could kill yourself..." Meanwhile, the Egyptian God just deadpanned at his answer, not at all interested in his... what do young people call it nowadays? Simping? for that virtual idol... whatever that meant.

    "She is a tsundere! That''s exactly how they demonstrate their love!" Dr. Roman actually pouted, though with a little strain on his voice.

    Seth rolled his eyes while Romani calmed down, now remembering that he was supposed to be quiet lest he gets an angry mob outside of the Command Room asking for his head because he didn''t let them sleep.

    "Now seriously, though. I am detecting some high levels of Magical Energy from you, and they seem to be... Demonic in nature." He said after considering his words a little. It was certainly strange, so much so that he thought the machine was malfunctioning. The Egyptian God should have detected it if that was the case. What with the real truth behind the Gods of his Pantheon and whatnot.

    "Oh, so that''s what you meant." Seth snapped his fingers, and Romani bore witness to the space shift unsteadily behind the black-haired man as if it was a mirage. His jaw then nearly hit the floor at what was staring back at him.

    "I met this Demon casually on the road, and he agreed to come with me." The black-haired man explained as if that resolved all the issues that existed with this.

    "Demons are not something you can casually pick on the road! What kind of common sense do you have?!" This will be a long night, there was no doubt about it.

    "Ahem. Romani, it seems you are enjoying yourself at this hour. Are you sure you have the free time to do that?" Da Vinci''s voice behind him made him pause. He stood corrected, the night was over for him.. The Genius'' chop in the back of his head made sure of it.