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 chest, 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 chest 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.

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 chest.

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 chest. 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.