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 fucktards, 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.

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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 cockroach. 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 pleasure to meet a fellow God once more, even if we don't have the best of relationships." 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.