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 bloodlust 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 desires 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.