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 desire 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."