08 - [Of Demigods]

Now one might not consider a snack break with a side of chess necessary for a battle between two figures that have consistently shaken the heavens.

But that is the mindset of a mongrel, not to be confused with the King of Mongrels and the Black Dog currently fighting.

After all, this was not a malicious fight a nemesis, but a friendly death match with the ghost of a friend.

To spice things up, everyone needed to be sufficiently enraged. And what better session of enragement than challenging someone with [A] rank Luck to a game while you only had [E] rank Luck?

In hindsight, that was probably really stupid now that Abel thought of it more.

Just a one letter difference or error could spell doom to anyone's bank account, let alone the swollen pride of a Heroic Spirit.

Pride and rage were human emotions, but that part of him had never been taken away, because apparently, what he was also possessed these specific emotions.

"Come at me, you damn neonate!" The marked man howled as he bum rushed the King of Heroes with gleeful laughter, as if he was a certain psychopathic Disaster Curse.

Gilgamesh's comparison of him and Kirei Kotomine wasn't much too innacurate, Abel could only find joy in the suffering of others, not because he was sadistic, but because...

Because this is the only part of him that could feel human, somewhat.

-BAAM

The pair of Sumerian King and Edenite Prince met sword to sword as the shock wave created by the impact shook the surroundings.

The floating platform, a smaller subsection of the Floating Garden of Babylon that the King had used for their chess break, shuddered before the mechanism keeping it afloat broke apart like butter in a grill.

And then everything fell.

Although the aesthetic of playing chess high above the clouds was extreme, the plummeting descent back to earth was even more extreme.

Unfortunately, it was still a decade away before Adele would release Skyfall, so there was no cool theme song in the background.

That is, were it not for the fact that I Believe I Can Fly had already become popular, allowing the King to smirk as he played it through the golden music box half-way sticking out of a Gate of Babylon.

But like, Scoob, why is it even made out of gold though...

-Strike!

A fist faster than the clap of thunder sent the King spinning back in the air like a beyblade as a Gate of Babylon caught him mid-spin.

There was no such luxury for the falling Abel however, as his body plumetted from the heavens like a stray comet, the winds burning around him.

The man inhaled as much as air as his canine lungs could possibly hold. With the moisture of his saliva mixing with the winds, he blew and exhaled.

Everyone must already be at least a little familliar with those children's tales, no?

The Three Piggies and the Hungry Wolf.

Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf.

Now those stories weren't exactly just stories...well, they were, but every story is somewhat based on reality.

Abel wasn't exactly a wolf, people feared wolves more then they did dogs, and he didn't particularly care enough to correct them.

It was a funny story. Once, Abel had toppled a farmer's straw hut with his mere breath.

That farmer then pleaded to the chief of their village of their village to spare him a room in his large wooden home, fearing for his and family's safety.

That chief was actually quite kind-hearted and obliged the farmer's request.

Unfortunately, his wooden home would also be toppled by Abel's breath the next day.

The chief and the farmer then ran to the nearby feudal lord, pleading sanctuary in his estate.

Only then did Abel was unable to destroy their home with just his breath.

So he used his hands, though that part seemed to have been left out of the story for some reason.

The story itself became a bit exaggerated over the years, such as the people being turned into pigs for some reason, but the elements regarding his breath wasn't far from the truth.

A strong gust of wind left through the opening between the Hungry Wolf's lips as he stopped falling from the sky, his head pointed downwards to prevent a gruesome death.

Not that such a fall would actually kill a Servant, let alone Saber, but no one liked falling, did they?

With air propeling him back to the sky, Abel abruptly stopped as his form descended upon Gilgamesh, who was now slightly below him.

Golden gates manifested below the King's feet as he leaned back, dodging a fast slice from one of Abel's black blades, barely so as it had managed to cut through a few strands of his golden hair.

Gilgamesh widened his eyes as Abel then decided to blow a gust of air towards his face.

Now normally, this wasn't an ability that Abel possesed, but they were currently in the Age of Man, where Physics ruled instead of Mystery.

Thus, the Joule-Thompson effect came and made its debut.

If compressed gas experiences rapid expanssion, it would also undergo a rapid drop in tempratures.

The amount of air compressed in his lungs only to then be blown out back into the outside certainly fit those parameters.

In other words, he had frost breath.

"Ragh—" Gil's screams and curses couldn't be heard by the outside world as he felt the very moisture in his face rapidly solidify, encasing his face with a layer of frozen ice.

The King's hands halfway crawled up to his face, trying to rip away the ice, unfortunately for him, his hands were slower than Abel's hands.

-BAAM!

The layer of ice completely shattered as the frozen shrapnel dug deep into the King's face, the fist sent by Abel still firmly planted on his face, accompanying the pain from the shards of ice.

-Woosh-BAM!

Abel pulled his arm back only to punch the King once again, this time on the abdomenal area with his other hand.

-CRACK!

The sound of loud cracking exploded from the point of impact as Gilgamesh's ribs shattered, the broken bones stabbing into his internal organs and rearranging his insides.

Blood flowed down from between the King's lips and down to his chin as he faced a multitude of earth-shattering strikes in less than a second.

Abel gritted his teeth as dozens of Gilgamesh's golden weapons stabbed into his flesh from all direction, not from pain, but to stop the blood from gushing out.

The King's hand twitched before it moved in rapid speed, a golden glow covering it as a knuckledusters appeared on his fist, the same fist that promptly struck Abel's jaw, breaking it as blood and teeth flee out.

"You brat, those are my father's!" Abel screamed out in rage as his muscles bulged, his fangs growing sharp, and his nails becoming deadly claws.

Tapping in to the power of [Mounstrous Strength], Abel increased his physical strength by a whole rank as he proceeded to grab the King by the neck and headbutted him with his thick skull.

-CRACK!

Not the first cracking sound heard in this battlefield, but it was certainly the loudest.

Rearing his head back, Abel tugged on his cape as a black shortsword was tossed into his hand, and after glancing at the currently disorientated Gilgamesh who he had just infected with brain damage, he swung.

-Woosh-SLICE!

Blood exploded out of the hole left behind as Gilgamesh's arm, the limb he had equipped Adam's knuckledusters to, was severed from his torso.

The Gates used as the platforms for the brief clash that had just occured flickered into nothing as the pair once again fell.

The Hungry Wolf latched on the King of Heroes's descending form as he sent brutar strike after strike.

Abel ignored the weapons being stabbed into him, with the [Battle Continuation] he had in this class, it shouldn't be a problem even now as he was almost dead from all these gruesome wounds.

The two rapidly descended back upon the Earth's embrace as they entered the woody expanse of Fuyuki Forest.

The first to hit the ground was Gilgamesh, followed seconds later by Abel who crashed a few meters away.

The marked man coughed and spat out the dirt as he regained his posture, his bloodshot silver eyes glowing in the dark forest as he searched for the literally fallen King of Heroes.

But he was gone, leaving the small crater he had created as the only hint of him.

Abel widened his eyed as he swung his black blade, but the Chains of Heaven were faster as they dug into his skin, the metal clamping around him.

As previously stated, these Chains were nothing to his overwhelming physical strength, but they weren't there to restrain, but to distract him.

Gilgamesh stood beside the chained Abel with Enki in his hands, with a cold gaze, he swung those blades.

-BAAM!

But before the Sword of the End could end Abel's life, a huge burst of strength knocked the King away, a large, muscled arm slapping him away onto the other side of the forest.

The furious scream of an enraged Gilgamesh could be heard through the forest, though that sound rapidly quieted as he got farther and farther.

"Oh..." Abel widened his eyes, throughly impressed as he gazed at the toppled trees left by the slapped King.

He gazed up, only for his silver eyes to meet another pair of red eyes, the same kind of eyes Gilgamesh possessed.

The Eyes of Divinity.

With a towering posture that bordered on the inhuman, a muscled body that looked as if it had been forged by the hands of Hephaestus, and the resolute yet mad gaze of a feral animal. This person's identity was as clear as the sky.

Berserker...and while Abel had never personally met the man, he was sure of who he was.

"Heracles, huh...?" Abel muttered with a chuckle that was muffled by his own blood.

"Careful, mister. You could die before Heracles can kill you." A voice said.

That voice...the feminine, small voice of a little girl.

The fuck was a little girl doing here?

That was Abel's thought as his gaze travelled to the side, finding the white-haured pale-skinned little girl standing beside a tree.

No, not a little girl, Abel noted as his Mystic Eyes shone.

"A Homunculus...?" Abel muttered to himself quiet enough so that only he and Heracles could hear, not that the giant Demigod seemed to care.

His gaze rapidly switched back and forth, travelling between the towering Heracles and the little girl Homunculus...

This Homunculus...was Berserker's Master!?

"Why'd you swat that goldfish away?" Abel asked with annoyed look as he glared at Heracles, pulling out the numerous weapons plunged deep into his body off and shook the Chains of Heaven away.

"...You are Saber...right, mister?" Instead of the Demigod, it was the Homunculus who answered with a cutesy tilt of her head, "And you're his Servant."

"That doesn't answer my question." He said, neither confirming nor denying the previous statements.

"Oh, we saved you and this is the thanks we get...?" The Homunculus pouted, "You know, that's rather rude, mister."

"Fuck off—"

"Heracles, crush his legs." Unfortunately, the Demigod was faster than Abel's legs.

-CRUNCH!

A weirdly satisfying crunch resounded through the woods as Heracles's fist descended upon Saber's legs, crushing the bones inside.

Abel however, didn't seem particularly in suffering, more annoyed, really.

"Sorry, girlie. My brain doesn't process pain." Abel informed the Homunculus with a casual remark, as if he was a salesman revealing an exotic feature of his sports car.

"Hm, really? But you can't run away now." Oh, she seemed to think that she was right.

Abel debated whether or not to challange the Demigod to a race just to spite her words.

"Wanna give me the chance?" Abel tried his luck as he gazed into the Homunculus's distinctly red eyes, not to be confused with Divine Eyes though as she doesn't seem to have any God juice inside her.

Its not that he was afraid, he would kowtow to the nearest holy artefact to thank god if he was and would immediately kill himself.

No, he just didn't want to bother with fighting this Demigod if he had the chance not to, not with the other one still roaming around with that jackass smile of his.

"I'm afraid not, Saber. But I can let you go if you can answer a question of mine." She said with an innocent smile, how cute of hef to think she was in control, "You'll have to protect brother, after all."

Brother...? Did she mean his Master?

Huh, Shirou seemed human, why'd his family bother with an inhuman Homunculus?

And his Mystic Eyes revealed no blood relation between the two, but it did reveal a familial connection tied to their...father?

So it seemed one was adopted, likely this Homunculus since she was...a Homunculus.

"How's my brother, what's he like, mister?" She asked with gentle curiousity.

"He's human." Abel said with a shrug as he reached out a hand to the side, intending to summon Azi Dahaka.

He had promised to not use it against Gilgamesh, but he said nothing this other Demigod, but...

It refused, hm?

Oh, it was defending Shirou from the Gae Bolg? How amusing.

It sure did bring memories to Abel as he remembered it doing the exact same thing when he met her.

Well, not really exactly the same, but that's not important.

"You know what I mean, mister." The Homunculus asked with an annoyed vein on her head even as she remained smiling.

Uh, Abel hated these types.

"He is like, really, really human." Abel further emphasized.

By now, a severely annoyed expression marred the little girl's once gentle features.

"You..." She started but paused, "Heracles, destroy him."

Oh, but like, can you not?

Berseker reared his fist as he released a terrifyingly inhuman roar, his arm descending upon the marked man.

-BAAM!

Something akin to surprise appeared on Heracles's previously emotionless face as his fist was stopped dead in its tracks.

The Homunculus released an audible gasp as she saw Abel's fist completely halting Heracles's punch.

Strength comparable...no, superior than Heracles!? How is this possible!?

With an annoyed look, he retrived his fist and turned around, leaving thd stunned Homunculus as Heracles collapsed onto his knees.

Just now, every bone had broken inside the Demigod's body after that impact.

It didn't kill him, however, and the bones quickly snapped back into place as he stood up as retrieved his Axe-Sword and intented to bum rush the 'retreating' Saber.

"Stop, Heracles." The Homunculus quickly said as Heracles obeyed, thought not without an annoyed growl.

The pair watched on as Saber calmly walked out of the woods, into the direction of her brother.

"I overeacted, I'm sorry that you were hurt." She confessed of her own fault as her eyes gazed over her Servant, appraising him.

Heracles just growled unintelligibly at her words.

"That Saber..." She muttered, "Do you have any idea who he might be...?" Berserker shook his head.

"To think he was stronger than you..." Shd said with a sigh, "It seems we have to be more careful, I got carried away with you being my Servant that I became too confident in victory." She said in realization.

With that, the pair slinked back into the darkness, now with an improved mindset after being thoroughly humbled.

...Hm, wait, she forgot about the King of Heroes, maybe she was still stupid, after all.