201 Advent Of The Gods, Fated Meeting

After introducing himself to his mirrored self, Seth debated on what he should do now. He had done what was asked of him, and now only one thing, which was more of a secondary objective if he had the time, going by Jekyll's words, remained.

The idea to just go back was tempting, but it was true that they didn't have the luxury of postponing things. Above, the dark clouds and rumbling thunder were an indication that their enemies were going to be upon them sooner than they would like.

If they had to do something, it had to be NOW. Delaying would only bring them an endless source of trouble. 'Although I don't feel like doing anything else for today, it would help me clear my head from the stress. Unless, of course, things end up getting worse along the way, and knowing myself, that possibility can't be ruled out.'

Seth then looked at his Servant and the newcomer. Asterios was calmly standing there looking around, but as a thousand years old warrior, he could detect the faintest traces of muscles tensing. It seems he was also aware of the danger that was surrounding them. As for the girl in the wedding dress, he honestly couldn't get a read on her other than a vague feeling of shyness.

She was too rigid, and a helmet covered her eyes, so getting some on-the-spot observations was difficult even for him. It didn't help that the only thing that came out of her mouth were incoherent grunts.

Being the God of Foreigners allowed him to read, speak, and understand every language in the universe, old and new, forgotten or not as well as those unknown that people didn't classify as such. Like madness for example. However, her case was a little different.

In the end, they were someone who didn't bother to talk, one who disliked talking, and another one that just couldn't talk. Why did people like them seem to be drawn to each other? It only made things really awkward.

Sighing to himself, the Godslayer looked at the fidgeting woman. "We are going to get out of here to search for someone. What are you going to do?"

He already knew he wasn't going to get a proper answer, but he could work with intent alone, as unreliable as that might be. There were also things to consider like if she was able to understand him, but that was outside of his control, so there was no point in dwelling on it.

As expected, he only heard random gibberish that wouldn't be strange if they came from a baby. Fortunately, he vaguely understood what she wanted to convey. It also helped that she accompanied her "words" with gestures.

"I see. Then follow us, I would never say no to more allies." 'Even if looking at you makes me feel repulsed at myself.' He added in his mind. Still, he couldn't, and wouldn't blame her for something she had no control over.

An "Ohhh" was his answer, and the Egyptian God could feel the happiness coming from it, coupled with a smile on her face. He wondered if she was that lonely that the thought of accompanying strangers brought her joy instead of reluctance.

"Asterios." The Minotaur looked at his Master after his name was called. "We are moving. The next days are going to be busy ones, so we must do what we can before it's too late."

Berserker merely grunted in agreement as he made his way out of the house, followed by Seth and their new addition closely behind. Speaking of which, the black-haired man never got her name, though it's not like he would get an actual answer, so he just didn't consider asking.

Once they got outside, the house started burning to the ground. It was best to put everything to rest there, and also get rid of anything that could be potentially detrimental for them. That was why the Kingslayer didn't have qualms in perpetrating the act.

He did have to wait some minutes, though, in consequence as the girl just kept staring at the building in flames, possibly coming to terms that the life she was used to was no more.

Eventually, they all finally started their march to their last destination before the assured conflict in the next hours. Affording small delays was acceptable, but there was a limit to that, after all.

The Demon went invisible for the time being. It would help in case someone decided to sneak upon them. While it was true Seth had good enough senses to detect someone, that didn't mean they were flawless. There was a chance someone might be able to get past them and launch a successful ambush.

Seth doubted they would attack before the actual fight began, but it wouldn't hurt to be a little more careful. After all, thinking that there were only two parties involved in all of this was way too naive.

Fortunately for them, there weren't any mishaps along the way, though the feeling of not being alone never left. Still, so long as they kept their observing role, he wouldn't act, nor he would command Asterios to. It was pointless to use their strength — no matter the amount — in anything that wasn't their main objective.

That was why he didn't linger outside and immediately entered their destination; a bookshop that definitely had seen better days. Jack was an example enough that people's patience had a limit, so there was no need to tempt fate by standing outside like easy prey.

Since Asterios was too big, he went into Spirit Form, while the other two normally walked through the door. They were instantly met with darkness—one that extended everywhere but a single corner of the building where one single candle atop a desk pushed it away.

The desk was littered with books. Books that were being read by a blue-haired child with a boring face. The said kid looked up once he heard footsteps approaching, and spoke with a voice unbefitting of his supposed age.

"Idiots, you are finally here. I was getting tired of wai—it's you, huh. What is it with this cliche plot? Something this generic wouldn't sell even if it was given for free." The moment he noticed Seth's presence, his bored expression changed to one of not much amusement with a touch of exasperation mixed within.

The Egyptian God was also surprised. To be honest, he didn't expect this situation at all. It was certainly something that would end up happening to him, though. 'In the end, fate always comes knocking at your door, and it won't go away unless you answer.'

What he saw in that vision was becoming something seemingly unavoidable. One by one, the pieces were all falling together, forming the picture he saw that day. 'And judging by his mannerisms, he seems to remember it too. Be that as it may, prophecies show you a totally different outcome from what it's to come, but when put in a certain sequence, it gives a whole new other meaning.'

He was not an expert in that subject, so he naturally didn't know what that 'meaning' was. However, that wasn't to say he would bother with that nonsense. If it came the time when he had to spit fate in the face, then he would gladly do it.

"I see that you are as foul-mouthed as I remember you being, kid. I trust you have been well since the last time I saw you." In the end, Seth decided to push that matter to the back of his head. His mind was already in a tangled mess as to add more things to it.

"And I would normally say that my age doesn't reflect my appearance and that you should stop calling me kid, but then I remember you are pretty much a prehistoric dinosaur, and that feeling goes away." His retort was met with an amused sigh from the black-haired man, who walked forward, casually grabbing a chair amidst the darkness and sitting in front of their host.

"So, what do you have to say? Jekyll asked me to check up on you, and while I don't doubt he did it out of the good of his heart, you must have something of value for us." Seth went straight to the point, not wanting to delay things more than necessary.

"Crude, but not wrong. Tell me, have you seen any books around recently?" At his question, the black-haired man looked at all the works on the desk before returning his gaze to the kid with raised eyebrows.

In response, he clicked his tongue in annoyance. "Not those, you moron. I meant flying, magical books."

"No, I have not. The only thing we have faced along the way were some Servants, Homunculus, Automata, and a couple of Helter Skelter. If you wanted to know something about them, you are out of luck." Seth responded evenly, not paying attention to his way of speaking.

"I don't want that. I already know, after all. Still, it is indeed strange that you haven't met any of those, but considering the figurative smell of fire around you, they wouldn't like to cross paths with you." His sassy remarks weren't met with the riling he expected. Was he losing his touch or was the man in front of him just not willing to follow the script?

"And you are telling me this because...?" Uncaring for what went through the kid's mind, the black-haired man showed his confusion through a question.

"I was getting to that. This zone has fallen 'captive' to a certain Magical Tome. It has put everyone in a perpetual sleep that they cannot wake up from. I won't bore you with the reasons, but if nothing is done, they all might just die." And wouldn't that be a pity? As the heroes of this shitty fairytale, they had to solve every problem, no matter how minor it was.

"No wonder it is too quiet around these parts. Even more so than usual. So? What do I have to do? It better be quick since we are running low on time, Caster." His response showed that Seth was already aware of the little child's nature, something that didn't take the said kid by surprise.

At his words, the Servant merely smiled in a sort of condescending and smug way. "You, in particular, can make it as fast as breathing. I would never consider doing this brute act were there no other solutions available at the moment, and as you said, we didn't have such little time. However, if we want to do this as soon as possible, there is no other way than to burn that Tome."

"Fine with me. Now then, where is that thing? I don't feel anything nearby." Since they were supposedly everywhere but where he was, then finding them would be really troublesome. More so when he had to look for a specific one among many.

The Servant merely pointed his index finger upward. "It's on the second floor. If you haven't detected it; you either suck, that thing is hiding too well, or the fog is messing with something as ludicrous as your instincts."

Seth narrowed his eyes in thought before offering a shrug, unconcerned by the state of things. Standing up, he went to the direction given by the blue-haired kid, soon disappearing into the darkness.

Left alone with the woman in a bridal gown and a Servant in Spiritual Form, the child couldn't help but notice how awkward things had abruptly become once their 'leader' was gone.

"Ahem. Yeah... so, how is life going?" A weirdly phrased question to someone who was already dead and another with... unique circumstances. He realized belatedly when he didn't receive an answer from the 'hiding' Servant. As for the other one...

"Uhh."

It was best not to mention it. Though, he noticed how the girl wanted to go follow the source of his recent headaches. Her squirming and 'casual' glances were proof enough of that.

"Viktor Frankenstein." Those two words from him elicited a reaction from the brown-haired bride. Despite her eyes being covered, Caster could feel they were intently boring into him.

'As I thought, she is that man's creation. In a weirdly twisted sense, it explains some things.' The small Servant sighed before redirecting a bored look at her. "Give it up."

"Ugh..." Her grunts were still the same, but he could still pick up some emotions from it. Denial and rising anger.

"I am not saying this to deny your wish. I merely saying this because I think you are confused. As an author, I can safely say his origins are pure garbage and wouldn't be out of place on a third-rate villain who needs a justification to be evil. He is different from what you envision. Beneath that human-like exterior hides a grotesque creature. You were created by human hands, whereas he crawled himself to life by killing and absorbing Phantasmal Species by the thousands while he was just born if historical sources are correct. He was not created for you, but do what you want, it's not like I particularly care." He was merciless in his response, but that didn't make his words any less truthful. However, that did not mean she would agree with them, or that they didn't provoke restlessness within her.

"Y-uhh...wro-ugh..." Lightning began to converge on her figure, briefly illuminating the room while blue motes of light were forming a tall Servant next to her. If it was to calm things down or just to help her, Caster didn't know nor care.

"Save your words. I already said I don't care. If you want to follow, then follow. Don't come crying to me afterward, though." What he said seemingly fell on deaf ears, and yet, he didn't show any change in expression; still maintaining that face that told wonders of how boring it all was to him.

The brown-haired girl was about to approach the kid when a noise upstairs pulled her attention away. Then, all of a sudden, they felt the whole bookstore shake.

It wasn't long before someone came crushing down from the upper floors. creating a loud *thud* when they impacted the ground, causing even more shaking, and making Caster hold the candle lest it burned the whole place down starting with the books on the table he was occupying.

"I haven't been gone for five minutes and you are already at each other's throats?" A mix of black and red fire burned at Seth's feet as he directed that question to seemingly no one in specific. To be exact, what was burning was a small body beneath him.

"People often say the truth hurts, it seems they are right." Caster offered a non-committal shrug while looking down at what was once a Magical Tome but was now a small girl on her last breath. 'Ah... I see. No wonder. It is pitiful on so many levels that it makes me sick to even glimpse at it. However, to suffer such a fate... even I am not so heartless as to not feel sad.'

"That aside, did you have to go so far?" He could still hear the unwilling cries of the child, weak as they might sound.

Seth blinked once, then twice at his question. "I thought my reputation preceded me. Besides, weren't you the one who implied the quickest way was to burn her?"

"It does, and I did, but that didn't mean I wanted to see a little girl burn before my eyes. And how were you able to get her to that point anyway? She was a Reality Marble in itself." He had planned to help if things didn't go well but...

His concerns seemed to have been unfounded.

"Since she is, as you said, a Reality Marble — thanks for telling me that beforehand, by the way — in itself, and those are separate worlds, I only had to let myself be trapped and destroy it from within." Separate world, no restrictions to his persona amounting to a planet trying to kick him out to the Reverse Side. Those words were left unsaid, but Caster understood nonetheless.

"Whatever. Let's just go before every person around wakes up. Though we know the resolution of this story, the action and climax might be worth watching. Oh, and before I forget. Hans Christian Andersen; shitty fairytale author at your service. Caster Class as it couldn't be any other way." He decided that the less he spent on thinking, the better off he would be. He didn't want to know how in the seven hells was he capable of destroying a world in just a few minutes.

"Uh-huh. Just be mindful not to go too far with your truths. We are in deep and murky waters to add rifts among ourselves. We are all monsters, so we shouldn't antagonize each other." He removed the foot that was trampling on the girl who was already disappearing. She tried to say a word, to say a name, but even that weak attempt was denied by the crackling of the fire.

"Speak of yourselves. The only abnormal thing about me is my beautiful deep voice and sharp tongue." His smug grin was soon wiped out of his face when he noticed a certain shine to the man's eyes.

"Do you mind rolling up your sleeves and saying that again?"

"..."

"..."

"Touché."

"All right, it's time to go now. You can't wait to witness my end, no? Then let's see if we can change it. The struggle of the characters is what makes a story interesting, is it not?" With that said, he turned around and moved to the exit. They could finally head to their temporary residence.

"Hah! And I thought you couldn't understand me." Andersen quickly followed together with the supposed monster of Frankenstein and the Servant who didn't materialize in the end. Though that quickly changed once they got outside.

Once Asterios revealed himself, Caster truly had the urge to laugh. 'In the end, we are all together because were are freaks? Kind of fitting if I do say so myself.'

Andersen quickly nudged the Minotaur to slow down on their way back, and although puzzled, he complied in the end since he felt no threat coming from the little man.

When he was sure they were out of earshot, the young writer addressed his new companion calmly. "Was he always this... How should I put it? Uncaring?"

Berserker went quiet for a few seconds, so much so that Caster thought he hadn't understood him. Eventually, though, Asterios looked at the rumbling sky, and the blue-haired kid did the same. "Master... worried. Uneasy? Head not... in right place."

"I suppose you should be able to feel it more than everyone since you are his Servant and go by instincts instead of reasoning. Still..." His eyes looking at the sky narrowed. "I guess he does have a point."

Shadows loomed over the dark clouds, only showing themselves when a bolt of lightning illuminated them.

The bleat of goats, the neigh of horses, and the howling of wolves were beginning to be heard one by one.

The Blood Festival... The War Between Gods...

It had just begun.