150 The First Murderer: Tales Of A Deicide
(A/N: I don't know if I mentioned it or not, but Altera took 5 lives from Herakles. Since then, 12 days has passed, so he recovered 4 of those 5, meaning he has 11 now. I believe he recovered 2 every 3 days when he was Illya's Servant thanks to all her Magical Energy, but as he is just being sustained with the bare minimum to exist by the World, I am taking it down to 1 every 3 days. Not that it makes much of a difference xd)
"So... Everything is all right now?" David asked Seth, unsure of how things have ended the way they did. Once the now black-haired man returned with the Leviathan, every monster they were fighting just hurriedly dived down and disappeared. As for the duo, the two acted like they hadn't been trying to kill each other some hours ago. In fact, both came to the ship looking like a brand new object. Without any wounds or torn clothes in the Egyptian God's case. It had been two days since then, and he had asked this question many times, annoying the Deity to no end.
Yawning a bit, Seth answered with a nod. "For the forty-third time, yes. A nice talk was all it took to get him back to normal. At least you guys are going to have more help to fight Theseus' little armada of monsters, so you can stop with that and be grateful. Plus, I doubt that Anti-Mystery woman can do something about him."
"Are you sure you didn't hit him so much it became retarded?" The green-haired man asked with obvious doubt in his tone as he observed the shadow following their ship from behind. He had to admit that he still did not feel comfortable with a monster like that on their type, especially that particular one. "But that aside," David shifted his gaze back to Seth while folding his arms. "Shouldn't you be more concerned about her? Going by what the others said, the only thing left for that Pagan Goddess were her archery skills. Again, are you sure you don't want to make preparations?"
"That man is right. Thou should not take something of that caliber lightly. She is going to focus mainly on thee as to make Herakles' job easier." Atalanta commented from the side, adding her own two cents. She was keeping watch in the crow's nest, with the other two sitting on the yard.
"You know, I appreciate the concern and all, but I think you guys should worry more about yourselves than me. Especially you, Atalanta. David has some historical basis, so her Noble Phantasm won't be that good against him. You, on the other hand, are considered someone belong to myth by many. If you are not careful, you are going to end up like Artemis did." It had been a common theme to be overly worried about him with regards to this matter recently, so he was getting a bit tired of it. They probably thought that since he was going to face the most dangerous among the enemy Servants, he had to have an advantage, or better said, not have a disadvantage.
The Huntress turned silent as she pondered about his words. Meanwhile, David just sighed while scratching the back of his head in exasperation due to how everything seemed so complicated. "You've got a point. Still, you are backing up what I said. What makes you so different than her? You both fall under the same category."
"I am not a Servant despite possessing Noble Phantasms. I don't depend solely on Mystery either. My skills with a weapon don't have any sort of specialty going on for them, and my Authorities, despite being something outside of common sense, are not tied to anything. I can produce fire out of nowhere 'just because.' I can create storms out of nowhere 'just because.' They are a law that overwrites all laws. What kind of thing can you do against that? Nothing. Artemis is using Orion as a base for her manifestation, so she only has her skills with the bow and nothing more when you take out her Noble Phantasm. That is the difference between us." Seth explained clearly and concisely as to make them understand as much as possible. It was best if they worried about their own battles instead of his, being honest.
"When you put it like that, it seems our worries are indeed unfounded. Though, now that you mention it, can't we just shoot their ship from a distance and be done with it? We would have a bigger advantage even if they used Theseus' monsters as mounts." David suggested with a bit of curiosity. It sounded so simple that he wondered why didn't they thought of it before.
"Not exactly. My doubts were the same, but... Lady Artemis said they tried before and failed. That child made sure to guard the Argo with all types of Bounded Fields. Even if they had used a Noble Phantasm, I bet the moment it went through the barriers it would have weakened enough for Herakles to slap it away with his ax-sword." Atalanta said, obviously referring to the small version of Medea. Though, she couldn't be sure if that had been all her. Maybe she received help from the other Caster as well.
The King of Israel sighed in defeat. Of course it was not going to be that easy...
"I suppose there is no other way then. We will have to fight head on and hope for the best. I still wished we could have a little more reassurance, though..." The green-haired man said, eliciting a shake of the head from Seth.
"Don't ever hope, sheep boy. Hoping is for the fool and it only works to bring bad luck. And what more reassurance you want than your own skills? Remind me how is it that you got so far in life again?" Surely he had to have some qualities to push him through life's challenges.
"Divine intervention." ...Or maybe not.
"Of course it was that." The Egyptian God rolled his eyes. He didn't understand why, for a moment, he thought he would get a different answer from David. It was like expecting eggs to come out of a camel.
Atalanta raised her eyebrows, momentarily stopping her search for the Argo to look at him. "Thou take it as a bad thing. But why? Gods in my time were often causing trouble and ruining people's lives, yet they also helped Humanity a lot of times. Even now, humans kill each other without any sort of interference from them."
The Egyptian God turned his gaze upward, to the messy mixture of blue and white. "That's the thing. If humans kill each other without the need of us doing anything. Why do you want us in the picture? To make things worse? My fellow Gods see you as a mere ant colony in their backyard. They might bring you food out of amusement, or kill you in creative ways to satisfy their sadism. But that's the thing. Once your fate belongs to them, you are over. If they consider you failed to live to their expectations... Well..."
Seth brought his head down to stare directly into Atalanta's eyes, something that produced an innate chill into her whole being, like she was in the presence of her natural enemy.
"...The purge starts." He finished, turning his eyes away not long after, much to her relief.
"What purge...?" David asked, confusion marring his voice. Although, little by little realization dawned upon him, and with it, a wry smile showed on his face. "The great flood, huh?"
"Mhm. Exactly. As a God, I can tell you those events indeed happened. In your case, Yahweh drowned people left and right because he was getting tired of all of you. In yours, Atalanta, Zeus got angry because Prometheus gifted the fire to you. He ordered Hephaestus to create Pandora, who opened a little jar that connected with things outside of your understanding, releasing all kinds of Evils into the world. He also flooded the earth, thinking it was not enough. In those two cases, humanity was purged. Now go and tell me that Divine Intervention is a good thing." To him, it was absurd to even consider it.
"...Certainly, that is extreme. However, my point still stands. Art thou not here helping us? Someone considered to be a scourge by many?"
"I agree with her. It's true that I find the Great Flood to be excessive, but that cannot cover all the good God has done for us, even if sometimes that good is invisible to the common folk. Besides, I don't think there is a myth about flood in your Pantheon is it not? That at least separate things." The green-haired shepherd said, following Atalanta.
Seth released a deep, long-drawn sigh. "I know you people are known for your foolishness, but this is on a whole new level. First of all, my intervention is a one-time thing, and, despite what you may believe, I have no second intentions. Furthermore, you probably won't hear from me ever again after this is over. And second of all, what kind of flood do you expect? It's Africa. You are thinking the wrong way."
David narrowed his eyes in puzzlement, ignoring the label thrown at them. "That means something different happened there?"
Seth quietly pondered how to answer that question, enjoying the wind that was starting to blow faster with each passing second, signifying they were approaching a storm. "I wonder? The sands are often shifting, coming and going, giving way to green and taking it away. It is a never ending cycle of death and rebirth. Creation, Growth, Stagnation, Decay, Burning, and End."
The Huntress' eyes widened in understanding. "So that means..."
"Heh. Just consider it as the ramblings of an old man. Maybe it is true that nothing happened. After all, I was exiled after my defeat. There are some things even I am not aware of." Seth just shrugged, neither confirming nor denying what Atalanta was implying.
Both green-haired Archers shared a look with each other, coming to the same decision to drop the subject for now. Despite the... bizarreness of it, they couldn't help but feel attracted to that knowledge that seemed to elude normal people.
However, it was then that Atalanta noticed something on the corner of her eyes. There, in the distance where Poseidon and Zeus' fury shined in all of their glory, a small dot was becoming more distinguishable with time.
'This feeling... There is no doubt. It's them!' The Arcadian Princess' senses went into full alert. No matter the time of place, the sensation the Argo gave was unmistakable. Not to mention that sense of familiarity coming from that direction.
"It is time, is it not?" Seth commented after sensing the rising tension in her countenance. His voice now carried the edge of battle. Gone was the lightheartedness from before.
Archer wordlessly nodded, and as if to agree with her, the Leviathan surfaced to stare at the same place Atalanta was doing. Hatred could clearly be seen in those eyes.
"David, go inform the others. There is no time to lose." The King assented and went to do as she said. He understood the need of being prepared, so he wouldn't waste any second.
"Are you ready?" The Egyptian God asked while preparing himself for his second hardest battle since he came to this world. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that his motivation to cut Herakles in many pieces was through the roof.
"I am. No matter the prey, a Hunter must be ready at all times. More so when it comes to those under the Goddess of the Hunt... even if said Goddess is a complete disappointment." The last part was said in a lower tone, seemingly trying to avoid others to hear. He still did, though.
"We come in different-sized bags of disappointment, so start getting used to it. Still, let me give you a piece of advice. From what I know, Caster needs to physically see you for her Noble Phantasm to work properly. In that case, you should treat this as any other hunt and hide until you can give the killing shot. I bet it will work more than just let yourself be seen and risk losing your powers." The sooner they got rid of that annoying woman, the better their chances of winning would become.
"Thanks, I will follow it as much as I can. Also, good luck to thee. Even if he is a Berserker, Herakles is still Herakles." Atalanta good-naturedly said. She might be overly worrying right now, but aside from that, there was not much she could do.
"That same rule applies to me. Even if I am not as strong as I used to be, I am still the harbinger of calamity. I won't go down that easily." Arrogance, confidence, who could say? One thing was for sure, though. He was going all-out under what was possible this time, and maybe a bit more.
The Huntress smirked at his confidence. It seemed she was worrying for nothing. "Just make sure not to die too quickly, Master. I would hate for the contract to be broken not long after it was formed."
"I can say the same to you, Archer. Don't go dying if you want to keep helping Humanity in the future."
Both shared a light smirk and went down without saying anything more.
On the deck, every Servant was tense thanks to the news David gave them. Their defeat was something recent, so it was still engraved inside their minds. However, it was that same reason why they wanted to redeem themselves and come out victorious this time. As for the newer additions, they didn't have that same tension, but were still cautious in the face of so many powerful Heroes.
Drake was slowly steering the Golden Hind closer to the Argo, her face displaying more seriousness with each passing second. What first looked like a simple dot in the distance started to take the shape of a massive ship. It seemed that they were not the only ones aware of the other's presence.
"There is no mistaking it. They are the Argonauts! Please be careful and don't let your guard down. We don't want something like the last time repeating itself!" Romani's figure appeared through the communicator in Mash's hands to inform them. Although, they already knew it beforehand. It was a impossible to forget, after all.
"Ahaha. I feel weird when someone like you worries about me, Doctor." David laughed lightly with an eye-smile, making the orange-haired man cough into his fist to try and ignore his comment.
"A-Anyway! Be prepared. We don't know if Theseus has something prepared for us!" Dr. Roman was referring to his marine beasts that caused so much trouble before. However, in his eagerness to avoid a talk with...that man, he forgot there was someone ready to tear those weaklings apart and get to the man who dared to control her.
Like that, a few minutes passed, and in no time, both sides were in seeing range from each other.
The Argonauts — Jason and Medea — were looking at the Chaldeans like they were not worth their time. Jason had his characteristic smugness, while Medea had that smile that said "You are a bug so please die~" written all over her face. Herakles, Charles, and Theseus, meanwhile, were just neutrally looking at them.
The Great Hero, though, had his sight focused on a single man that seemed to fade in the background. The said man was looking back at him and only him.
While the others were making small talk among each other before the battle, those two were just in their own world of carnage.
With each passing moment, Herakles felt like he was in front of one of the legendary monster he hunted down in some of his Twelve Labors.
He was not the only one who felt like that, though. The woman known as the father of evolution was taking sneak glances at the man that was supposed to be their biggest threat. However, when others saw a man like any other you could find on the streets, she saw something different.
Behind him, his True Form was revealed to her. It was a shaggy, red dog-like creature with a forked tail and cloven hooves Its legs were littered in scars, probably from the chains holding it down. It looked so... unimpressive to someone like her, who had seen pretty much every creature of earth. But even then, something, SOMETHING, was telling her that that seemingly unimpressive monster was a beast of destruction—one that represented what a true predator should: instinct for massacre and bloodbath.
It brought in her a sense of discovering something new, something that she experienced when she traveled the world. And yet... when that beast, the one that looked only came from her imagination, that it was only a product of her Noble Phantasm to analyze the components of people like they were animals, looked at her, she knew it was the dumbest idea she had ever had. It was as if it was daring her to keep watching. That the more she watched, the more closer she would get, and when she did, it would chomp on her body like a delicacy.
She was not ashamed to say that it gave her chills just thinking about it, something that prompted her to look the other way.
Meanwhile, the wariness Herakles felt was increasing more and more. As a Berserker, he couldn't use reason to think. Instead, he only relied on instinct, and that instinct was flaring right now.
It was only natural.
It was innate.
Herakles was not staring at a God.
He was not staring at a Hero.
He was not staring at a Man.
He was just staring at a Killer.
His death toll could not be counted no matter how hard one tried. But... If there was one death particularly notorious among those... it would be that of his own brother.
Seth is, then, a Killer of Kings. He is the Usurper who takes from others for his own personal gain. What he doesn't have, he takes for himself.
And yet, at the end of the day, a King is just a title. It is nothing more than something fancy that self-important people decided to use to make their apparent superiority known to the common masses.
What is important, is him killing a God. Bringing Chaos to the Egyptian World due its first Deicide. An action that transformed him into a God-Slayer. The Bane of all Divinities.
Yes. Indeed.
He is the one that brings down Gods from their pedestals.
It was the main reason he was associated with Typhon, the one who makes Gods tremble. Because just his name alone was capable of instilling fear in their beings.
So...
Be wary of him...
For he is...
...The First Murderer.
...And from the first time in a long while, before anyone could blink...
...He had killed another Divine being.
Herakles' lives remaining: 10.
