Nero Fest: V

To say Gwyndolin wasn't sure why he was even here was an understatement. It had started off mundane enough with the volunteers for the next combatants, the Archer class was bound to show up and he along with everyone else near him was aware of which Class he had actually been summoned in.

He didn't actually want to participate but then it came down to a badgering from Quelaag.

He also took a bit of vindictive pride in watching Sulyvahn lose his fight against the half-god. Returning to his original train of thought, he hadn't wanted to participate but if it had just been Quelaag he might have been able to ignore it.

It wasn't just Quelaag though.

"You have the opportunity to show off your power in front of two beautiful Goddesses and you're refusing? He is rather cruel, isn't he me."

"Of course, myself! To think he would delicately play with a maiden's heart after revealing his skill as a bowman but not demonstrating his power at all! Perhaps he is actually not that good in the realms of archery?"

"A shame! To think this might have been his chance to show off to Medusaless!" Euryale dramatically sighed, flicking her hand through her hair "I am certain she is positively wrecked with disappointment, aren't you little sister?"

"Sisters…It is not that concerning to me-"

"See?" Stheno cut her off, pointing and giving an expression of mock horror "Such sadness plagues her and you are the cause? It's almost tragic!"

"Yeah, Lin." Quelaag smirked at him "Get out there and strut your stuff about! I didn't think you could actually use a bow, you spent most of your time playing with those illusions."

"Because that was the only magic I was capable of wielding." Gwyndolin tonelessly replied, not looking at Quelaag "And I am not an incompetent with the bow. I was taught by Gough personally."

"Oh?" Quelaag smirked "The big lumbering bleeding heart taught you himself?" she chuckled "How many hours did he have to stay by your side to ensure you could actually hold the bow properly?"

"Green is not a colour well suited to your complexion Quelaag." Gwyndolin remarked "I am certain you would have rather spent time with-"

"You're still at my arm's length." Quelaag narrowed her eyes "Or have you gotten a little braver over the years?"

"What you propose is pointless." Gwyndolin sighed "I have no reason to demonstrate my abilities for the entertainment of these humans. I have already done the blonde one a courtesy by aiding in the construction of this assembly." he waved his hand around them in a gesturing motion to the Colosseum "I see no reason to do more."

"Not even to impress a certain someone?" She smirked, whispering in a low tone.

Gwyndolin didn't turn and look at her before he released another - more irritated - sigh "Must you continue to harass Lady Medusa like that? She already has to deal with the belittling from her sisters without the addition of yourself."

"So?" Quelaag raised an eyebrow "Get them to stop."

"How?" Gwyndolin turned to her "What manner of ingenious plan do you-"

"They obviously aren't going to shut up about it until you get your serpentine ass down there." She gestured to the arena "So get going…" she paused "Actually have you ever been in a fight before?"

"...Yes." He gave her a flat look "You were present."

"That was your first ever fight?" Quelaag's lip curled "No wonder you were so clumsy."

"I doubt you…" He trailed off, already knowing what the issue with that sentence was. "Nevermind."

"Awwwww…Did little Linny forget that he was younger than me?" Quelaag cooed while reaching out to pat him on the head. Gwyndolin slapped her hand away. "Oh? Is that a trace of Warrior spirit?"

"Fine!" Gwyndolin huffed "I will go down there!"

…Perhaps it was just a little bit of Quelaag's mockery that got to him but after seeing Flann's rather embarrassing display he figured he couldn't do much worse.

Shaking his head, Gwyndolin instead returned his attention to Artemis as she waved at him from the opposite end of the arena.

Was this really how they expected him to act when he was chosen to be the God of the Moon?

That was a troubling thought. Another troubling thought was that he had seen her fight before when hunting for those food scraps. She was a strange form of bowman and yet every one of her arrows had flown true. Despite the fact she just swung her bow like a club. It was almost insulting to think she was better at archery than him.

The sad thing was that she was. He wasn't that skilled of an Archer at all, he could loosen hundreds of arrows rapidly but whether or not any would actually hit was an entirely different matter.

Still, he had dragged himself down here.

"He's ignoring me darling!" Artemis' whine managed to reach his ears and caused him to let out a subtle flinch in response, the Goddess was now pouting and looking at her stuffed animal companion with a rather depressed look on her face. "I've been waving and everything and he won't say hello back!"

"...I'm not sure what you want me to do here." Orion responded with a shrug "I mean, you've just been waving and shouting at him for the last minute or so and if that hasn't gotten him to respond back I don't know what will."

"Mou!" Artemis' shoulders slumped "Why doesn't anyone want to say hello! I even came down to show off my cool side to Ata-chan!"

Gwyndolin actually moved at that, directing his attention towards the stands and noticing the woman with cat ears with her hands covering her face in what he could only surmise to be a mix of resignation and exhaustion. He supposed this was one of her Covenant members.

That was just unfortunate, no human(?) should be forced to realise their Covenant leader was - in fact - something of an idiot.

"I think 'Ata-chan' would rather you acted like how she thought you would in the legends, dear." Orion scratched his nose with a paw "Like a sort of cool type girl with icy eyes, that sort of thing." he pointed over his shoulder towards Gwyndolin "Like he does with the whole 'Speaketh thy piece' mortal."

"Eh? But that isn't romantic at all!"

"Romanticism aside." Orion waved his hand "I'm fine with you not doing that. It makes me like you above all those other pontificating assholes."

"Awwww." Artemis cooed "I love you too, Darling." she hugged the bear close to her body while grinning blissfully.

"You can love me later - or by giving me my body back - after you've shown off your 'cool side'." Orion managed to pry himself out of the tight hug and work his way back onto the top of Artemis head and pointing his small wooden club at Gwyndolin "Now go kick snake boy's attractive ass!"

"...Huh?"

"What?"

"Darling…do you like-"

"No!" Orion exclaimed "I'm speaking objectively here! Objectively! I like women! Women!"

Gwyndolin stared at the duo in silence before he wordlessly brought forth his bow, already nocking an arrow into the string and pulling it back as white lights started to gather around the projectile. Artemis immediately noticed the movement and frowned as she swung forth her own bow.

"Hey! Whatever happened to pre-battle banter!" The Goddess complained as her own bow manifested a string of light "Aren't we supposed to speak first?"

"I have naught the time for banter." Gwyndolin replied as he drew the string back as far as he could "...There is someone I must prove wrong."

He loosened the arrow before Artemis could reply.

He walked through the hall, rolling his arm and nursing the mild bruise on his ribs along with the slight burn patch on his right arm. It was actually rather embarrassing for him to be bested in fire although he had a sneaking suspicion as to quite how that had even occurred.

He found his former opponent not far from the resting grounds, the cloaked pyromancer paused and looked over his shoulder at the sudden arrival. A slight frown came upon his face "I hope you are not here to cause tro-"

"Peace, human." Flann raised his hand and halted the words before they could continue further "I came here not for violence this day. I have come to satisfy a curiosity in regards…although I feel as though I am justified in some level of resentment towards you." he flatly responded, gesturing with his left hand to his wounds "Considering the manner in which I was bested."

"...Ah." Caster winced under his hood "Y-yes…that might have been slightly embarrassing…" he admitted, reaching up and scratching the back of his neck "Well…all in good spirits, no?"

Flann stared at him in silence "You caught me off-guard but rest assured, I will not be so easily bested." he tilted his head "And Chaos flames? There are very few places one could have learnt those. At first I suspected you to be one who found an old tome but I do recognise some of those moves."

"Really?" Caster widened his eyes "Does that mean you knew my mentor?"

"Possibly, I was not of great relation with the Witches of Izalith." He admitted "And if you regard one as your mentor then you must have been a rather special human to earn the favour and tutorship of one."

"Well, she always called me a bumbling fool." Caster gave a wry chuckle in response.

"If that were all there was to you, I suspect she would never have taken you into her mentorship." Flann huffed, then walked past him "Very well, I can accept a loss from one of the Izalith pupils, even one from a human. They governed more of fire than myself."

"I did say you have potential." Caster called out as Flann walked past him, halting and looking over his shoulder before cocking a bright red eyebrow. "Just…um…"

"Tread carefully." Flann pursed his lips "I have acknowledged your skill but try to avoid thinking of yourself as my better. Now then, I believe there is another fight going on." he started to walk away as Caster called out again.

"Ah, yes! I believe it is Gwyndolin and-"

"Gwyndolin?" Flann cut him off with a look of surprise "He has actually taken to combat?" he muttered to himself, cupping his chin and looking back towards the entrance to the stands "I see…that is a surprise." he immediately broke out into a fast pace, leaving Caster behind.

"Hmph." The man let out a curious hum in response, lowering his hand from the back of his neck "...Talk about an odd first impression."

"He has his pride as a God." Sulyvahn grunted as he walked from behind him "Your tutelage from a Witch of Izalith was the only thing he could do to save grace. A pity but that is how it is." he shrugged, walking to stand next to Caster "...So Gwyndolin is fighting, is he?"

"Oh yes." Caster nodded his head "My mentor never actually spoke much of the Gods when I asked her. She just said that she occasionally met with them but that was about it." he looked over to Sulyvahn "...So are you some manner of spirit?"

"...Half."

"I don't think I've ever met a Spirit before." Caster replied "Even those in the Great Swamp kept to themselves mostly."

"My brethren acted in extremes." Sulyvahn sighed "We either avoided you altogether or were rather involved with worldly affairs." grunting, he began a steady pace forwards "Great Father Quella exemplifies this most of all." his tone was oddly reverent as he spoke of the individual. Caster raised an eyebrow before shrugging and following after him as they approached the entrance to the arena.

"Oh? And the Great God of Flame emerges from the ashes!" Flann immediately tightened his expression at the mocking tone of Quelaag. Turning towards her as she grinned down at him from atop her arachnid carapace "You're looking a little charred there, aren't you?" she mocked with a grin.

"Considering I was facing a student of Izalith, I imagine I got off rather easily." He immediately replied, wiping the mocking smile from the Witches face and bringing about a thinning of her lips. "I assume you noticed the familiarity of his spells as well?"

"...Tch." Quelaag clicked her tongue and looked away, her eyes darting skywards "...Your daughter says hello by the way 'Lord Flann'."

"Keep away from Caffrey." Flann immediately warned "She need not learn from your example of blatant disrespect." he huffed, looking away from her and moving across the stands to his own section of the seating "Or your reckless nature."

"What about abandonment?" Quelaag called out "Or can she learn that from you?"

Flann stopped "...I offered Gwyndolin every opportunity to join us. It was his decision to remain in that dying land and I will not be blamed for his obstinate nature." he looked over his shoulder and narrowed his eyes "Think on that before you accuse me of abandonment."

He turned away from her, paying close attention to the fight as it went on. His eyes then scanned for his surroundings. Where did that rambunctious daughter of his vanish off to?

"Fa-Lord Flann!"

Well, that answered that. He turned to her with a cool expression although he couldn't quite control the faint smile on his lips as the golden winged girl descended towards him with a slightly worried expression.

"You-um-you are not hurt, are you fath-er-Lord Flann?"

"I am not injured greatly." He waved off her concerns as she landed in front of him before he directed his attention downwards "...So Gwyndolin is fighting?"

"Yes!" Caffrey beamed "Uncle Gwyndolin is fighting Goddess Artemis of the Moon!"

"Another Lunar God?" Flann raised an eyebrow "It is quite the day for mirror matches, it seems." he muttered to himself before looking down at the girl "And you have been conducting yourself in a manner which befits your station?"

"I have been bestowing lucky charms on those who need them." Caffrey boasted with a wide and innocent smile.

"...I see." Flann nodded his head in approval "Good." he paused before scanning her face "You have not been bestowing nothing but good luck, have you?"

"...Nooooo."

"Caffrey…"

"I haven't! Really!" She rapidly shook her head "Good and bad luck!"

"Hmmmmm." Flann gave a hum and looked down at the fight as Gwyndolin unleashed another barrage of arrows only for Artemis to counter with her own. The odd thing about the manner in which she used her bow was that she swung it like a club and arrows would seemingly spring forth from the weapon and strike with disturbing accuracy.

"...Do you think Uncle Gwyndolin wi-"

"Prince Gwyndolin." Flann corrected, giving the girl a half smile "You can call him Uncle Gwyndolin in private, not in front of the humans and other Gods. Remember, he is still one of Lord Gwyn's children and-"

"Being the child of a Lord is a great honour and should be respected at all times." Caffrey completed with a polite tone "I haven't forgotten, Lord Flann."

"I know." He sighed, looking back at the fight "...I know."

Another flurry of light arrows split across the length of the arena, instantly striking Gwyndolin's barrage and obliterating it. Gwyndolin frowned ever so slightly as he watched Artemis destroy another of his attacks, he teleported away from his current position as the Goddess swung her bow in his direction.

The moment he reappeared, he watched as the arrows seemingly altered their course at the last moment to follow after him. The Darkmoon God raised his bow, unleashing several dozen arrows to intercept the opposing projectiles before he turned towards Artemis.

The Goddess floated high into the sky, pulling her string back and unleashing a much more powerful arrow than she had done previously. Gwyndolin vanished again in a flash of light as the arrow struck the ground he had been not moments prior, kicking up a cloud of sand and scorching the ground due to the heat of the attack.

Artemis frowned as she scanned for any further signs of Gwyndolin arriving again.

"He can't do it all that fast." Orion whispered to her as he watched the God move "The teleporting that is. I'd say it takes a little while to wind up and he ain't as good with that bow as you are."

Artemis merely hummed in response before she caught a flash of light in the corner of her eye, instantly swinging herself around to face the God and pulling her bow backwards. Gwyndolin jolted slightly as if alarmed by the sudden speed at which Artemis had located him before he quickly cooled himself.

Several more arrows launched themselves towards the Darkmoon God, Gwyndolin responded by waving his hand and bringing up one of the towering metal golems directly in front of him. The construct was immediately struck with the arrows and shattered into pieces before it vanished into dust, leaving Gwyndolin still behind it before he gestured his hand towards Artemis.

"Behind!" Orion warned atop her head, Artemis took to the sky in a flip and loosened the arrows behind herself in response without even questioning the warning. The arrows shattered another golem construct before she caught sight of several more pulling themselves into existence.

"Sneaky little…" Orion muttered, looking around and noticing upwards of a dozen of the giant metal beings coming into existence surrounding them. "Looks like he's a fan of help." he muttered, Artemis pouted in response.

"Why can't I do stuff like that?"

"What are you complaining about?" Orion huffed "It's not that special you know?"

"I know…" Artemis pouted as she raised her bow, the weapon starting to glow as she took aim, the metal giants already closing in on her in a circle with their halberds lowered towards her as they blocked her off. The giants stepped closer and closer until they were a few feet from her. She spun around whilst rapidly unleashing a series of arrows towards the golems. The light projectiles ripped through them as she continued to twirl around before she slowed down and smiled "I'm much better at archery anyway!"

The last of the golems collapsed into dust, falling back into nothingness and leaving Artemis virtually untouched by them. The Goddess stopped spinning after a few moments and staggered a little bit.

"O-oh…I didn't think that through…"

"I'll say." Orion snarked as his eyes still rolled around in circles before he rapidly shook his head and straightened them out. Blinking several times, he refocused on Gwyndolin "Hey…I've got an idea." he whispered out to Artemis as he stared at the God, Gwyndolin himself already preparing for his next attack.

"...What idea?" Artemis asked as she looked up at the bear, shaking herself out of her own dizziness.

Gwyndolin watched as the Goddess seemed to whisper to the bear atop her head. He couldn't hear them from this distance but that didn't matter much, he was less concerned with it at the moment as he prepared for his next attack.

Manifesting his staff instead of his bow, he started to unleash a dozen or so bursts of magical energy towards her, the lights flickered and fluttered through the sky as they shot towards the Goddess. Artemis looked briefly surprised before she steeled her expression. Light wrapped itself around her body before she shot around in a strafing motion and moved to avoid the lights as they launched themselves towards her.

The Goddess continued to duck and weave as the lights flashed overhead, narrowly missing her and striking the ground. Gwyndolin continued to weave the staff as he pushed himself higher into the air. Working as fast as he could, he forged more and more Soul Spears around his body before swinging his arm forwards and launching them towards her.

Artemis waved her bow around as the spears rocketed towards her, the arrows collided with the projectiles in explosions of blue light. Swiftly switching to his bow, Gwyndolin released a barrage of arrows towards her as the explosions died down, the Goddess widened her eyes as the - rather haphazard - salvo of light arrows towards her.

The Goddess swung her bow down in front of her, releasing a hail of light arrows into the ground in front of her and obscuring her body from view. The salvo from Gwyndolin disappeared into the cloud of sand. The sound of clashing metal and the shape of his arrows being repulsed from the dust cloud soon met his eyes as his light arrows vanished into nothing.

Artemis rocketed out of the cloud with her bow held in front of her trailing behind a wave of light as she utilised her speed and rushed towards him. Gwyndolin frowned at the sudden movement before he once again teleported just as she reached him, the Goddess passing through empty space as Gwyndolin hovered above her with his bow aimed downwards.

He then noticed something odd about Artemis as he looked closer towards her.

"Where is-"

"Up here boy!" Gwyndolin widened his eyes, snapping his head upwards as he noticed Orion falling through the air towards him with his club in hand and held above his head. "I'm still a Servant ya know!"

Gwyndolin swung his bow towards him just as Orion reached him, swinging the club down and directly into his head with a metallic clunk. Gwyndolin grunted as his head snapped downwards and he fell back towards the ground with Orion alongside him. The two crashed into the dirt with an explosion of sand. The Darkmoon God released a grunt as he pushed himself back up and raised his head towards the direction of Artemis.

The Goddess already in motion by swinging her bow towards his head like a club.

Gwyndolin curled his lip in response "Really?" he swung his staff out and blocked the strike, straining against her strength "The bear?"

"I'm Orion!" The bear cried as he swung his club again and cracked one of Gwyndolin's legs over the top of the head with the small wooden weapon. The head hissed and recoiled as Gwyndolin released a slight yelp in response and shifted away. Artemis pushed herself forwards again and shunted him backwards. "I'm also known as the greatest hunter in the world!" he swung his club again as one of the snakes lashed out towards him, uppercutting it.

"You know-" He ducked low as another head rushed over the top and broke into a roll "-what that means-" halting himself he spun through the air and slammed his weapon into the top of another head "-means for you!?" He pulled his arm back and threw the wooden club into the mouth of one of the snakes as it rushed out to bite him. The wooden club jammed itself in the animal's throat and caused its eyes to go wide and thrash around as it tried to remove it.

"And your freaky snake legs!" Orion slammed his fists against each other before cocking his right arm back and throwing it forwards in a haymaker. The nearest snake was only just turning away from watching its compatriot get a stick forced down its gullet and towards Orion before the punch connected with its nose and forced its face into the ground. "Huh!"

"Stop punching my feet!" Gwyndolin shouted at him just as Artemis smacked him over the head with her bow, the God let out a pained gasp from the impact and looked up at her with an annoyed from "And stop-" she smacked him again over the back of the head "-stop doing-"

This time, she grabbed one of the spokes on his helmet and yanked down, pulling his body along with it and bending him over before she raised her bow in her left hand over his head and repeatedly started to smack him in the back of the head, each strike releasing a metallic thud as the Goddess bat away at him.

There was dead silence for a few moments before a few ripples of laughter spread throughout the stands as Gwyndolin was beaten over the top of the head and at his feet. Orion was now sitting atop one of his snake legs with the animal held in a headlock with one hand while the other was tightly holding his club and swinging it around to keep the other snakes at bay.

Faraam pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes, shaking his head as the sounds of his younger brother's indignant cries intermixed with the striking of metal echoed out across the arena. At this point it was getting rather embarrassing for him to witness, to say nothing of the others.

"Not…entirely how I pictured a battle between the Gods." Lothian admitted with a mutter, the man cringing at the repeated strikes "It is rather…simple? No?"

"I believe the word you're looking for is juvenile." Martha dryly put as Artemis was now dragging Gwyndolin about by his helmet while continually striking him with the bow. "Certainly lacking in the elegance one normally assumes Gods have."

"Certainly…" Jeanne winced as Orion struck another of the snakes over the top of the head "Certainly a rather one sided engagement…isn't it?" she looked up to see Faraam slowly nod his head in agreement while still pinching the bridge of his nose with his eyes tightly shut. "Are you alright seeing this?"

"Well…Not entirely how I imagined the first time I'd ever see him take up arms." He sighed "But every battle is an experience."

"Let go of my helmet!" Gwyndolin cried out in a high pitched voice "You're bending the spokes!"

"Some are just more harrowing than others." He opened his eyes and stared down at Gwyndolin being 'manhandled' with a pained expression "...I still remember my first battle."

"I doubt it was anything like this." Jeanne replied as she cringed slightly "Anything at all like this."

"...Admittedly no." Faraam nodded "Mine was much less embarrassing."

At this point, Gwyndolin was seriously regretting coming down here. At every point where he tried to counter - or at least think of a method to counter - he would just be struck in the head again. The fact that Artemis was clearly empowering the bow just made the situation worse.

Quite frankly, it was getting embarrassing for him and the knowledge that everyone was watching him get pummeled was just burning away at him.

Eventually the bear made a slip up which Gwyndolin capitalised on, he struck out at another of the snake heads, although this time Gwyndolin allowed the foot to be hit to distract him while another snake lashed out from behind and clamped down its fangs into the back of his neck. Orion released a squawk of surprise in response as Gwyndolin raised the snake up before slamming him into the ground.

Artemis paused in beating him over the head as she registered Orion getting hurt "Hey!" she cried out, briefly loosening her grip on him. It was all he needed, his head snapped up and shook her hand free from his helmet before he lashed out with his bow and smacked her away from him, the Goddess floated backwards with the hit with a pained wince as he lifted up the snake leg with Orion still dangling from its teeth as he thrashed around.

"Hey!" Orion waved the club at him "Just wait until you-" Gwyndolin flicked the snake head and sent the bear flying skywards. Artemis watched him soar through the sky with wide eyes before she sent a brief glare at Gwyndolin and shot off after the mascot. Who was currently screaming very loudly.

The present threat gone, Gwyndolin allowed himself to nurse the slight pain he was feeling in the back of his head before shaking it and turning back towards Artemis. Raising his bow, he pulled on the string and drew back a glowing arrow as he took aim at her.

Artemis grabbed Orion out of the air and turned back to Gwyndolin "No one bullies Darling!" she cried out with indignation as she.

Gwyndolin almost did a double take as she loaded the bear into the bow instead of an arrow and drew him back as far as she could.

"H-huh?" Orion widened his eyes "Wait! Wait! Wait! Don't use that on him! Wait a-"

"Mikotto!" Artemis loosened the bear as sonic speeds towards Gwyndolin who was wondering why a 'Mikon' sound echoed out above his head for a few moments before he realised the bear was rocketing towards him. Thinking quickly, he formed up a thin barrier as he attempted to teleport away again.

Unfortunately, he was much too slow on the draw.

Orion shattered the barrier and for a single second before impact, the pair locked eyes. Orion contained an overwhelming source of pity within his black orbs as he moved towards Gwyndolin. Who only just realised where the bear was actually going to strike him.

The mascot crashed into Gwyndolin with enough force to blast him off his feet and send him hurtling through the air before landing face first into the ground.

Ritsuka coughed out heavily, pressing his legs together and holding his hands in front of his mouth as he felt the phantom pain from all the way from the booth.

"Ooooooof." Leonidas winced, looking up and appearing just as discomforted by the strike as well.

It wasn't just them, a collective wince passed through the entire male section of the crowd - both humans and servants alike - as they saw where Gwyndolin had been struck. Suffice to say, it was as if they had all been hit with a phantom pain with the way they all flinched in discomfort.

As for Gwyndolin, he merely lay on the ground in silence before a low groan echoed out from him. Not even a cry of pain, just a low groan which signaled that he was still conscious.

"Oooooh." Ritsuka shook his head, closing his eyes and looking away "Oh dear…" he opened his right eye ever so slightly and saw Gwyndolin still lying face down on the ground before he hunched himself over "Dear lord…is he…oh man."

"I felt that from over here." Romani's strained voice came through the communicator "That's just too cruel…way too cruel."

"U-umu…" Even Nero looked mildly uncomfortable by the strike against the God's manhood, the impact of which had been a rather loud crash and even accompanied by a shockwave. "Is he…alive?"

"He probably wishes he wasn't right now." Ritsuka muttered as he covered his face with his hands "Oh my word…"

"Is something wrong, Senpai?" Mash asked as she looked around. "It looked like a bad hit but Gwyndolin-san is still alive, I'm sure he'll be fine in a moment."

"No…Mash." Ritsuka slowly shook his head, grimacing in pain "No he won't."

"Why?" Orion asked as he looked at the Darkmoon God still groaning on the ground, turning his head towards Artemis as she floated over "Why would you do that to him?"

"Because he was bullying you." Artemis pointed out, crossing her arms and huffing "Why else?"

"I was bullying him…it was a fight!" Orion exclaimed "You don't bully people in fights and there's unwritten rules to this stuff!" he stabbed a paw at Gwyndolin "You don't go for that below the belt stuff with another man! You used me to destroy his chances of Romance!" he exclaimed, waving his arms around "How is he going to romance a woman when you've destroyed his manhood!"

"...Eh?"

"You even helped him with all those notes!" Orion whimpered, sending one last fleeting look at Gwyndolin before he winced and looked away "And what are you gonna do when his older brother comes to fight us? Eh? You think about that!"

"W-well…um…" She looked around before gesturing to Gwyndolin "He's fine! See? Still alive!"

"That isn't life!" Orion shouted out in horror "That's torture is what that is! Look at him!"

The groan from Gwyndolin turned into a high pitched whine as his hands slowly moved from their place at his side towards the space between his legs. The only actual indication of how much pain he was really in was the thrashing of his snake legs which were tossing and turning erratically in pained motions.

"Ummm…" Artemis fidgeted before giving a half smile "W-whoops?"

"That is…"

"Brutal." Stheno finished Euryale's sentence as she stared down at the form of Gwyndolin "Considerably so…rather embarrassing as well, is it not, me?"

"It is, myself." Euryale nodded her head "At the very least, we have confirmed his manhood exists." she sighed "A shame he likely never got to use it."

"What the fuck kind of attack even is that?" Quelaag blurted out as she cringed "Who even has an attack that does that?" she paused before humming to herself "Well…I can't deny it worked but still…"

"Well." Euryale shook her head solemnly "It seems Medusaless will have to find another God to seduce as this one has been disarmed."

"Thoroughly disarmed." Stheno nodded her head "...Do you think he would be open to becoming an adopted sister?"

"Big Sisters…" Medusa looked towards them with a slightly pleading expression "Please do not joke about that."

"Who said anything about a joke?" Stheno gave a coy smile "Unless perhaps you would be willing to comfort him even after-"

"Please…" Medusa whined "It isn't like that."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"...Well then." Faraam coughed into his hand before he rested both arms on his knees "Certainly a memorable display."

"Hmmm." Martha nodded slowly in response, not trusting herself to say anything about it.

"Not how I saw a fight between the Gods ending either." Lothian muttered out "Maybe a tavern brawl?"

"Indeed." Faraam replied "...So who is fighting next?"

"Either Lancer or Berserker." Jeanne replied quickly, welcoming the divergence in topic "As the Saber class shall be last."

"Berserker?" Faraam tilted his head "I wonder how one could qualify for a class of madness and avoid being called a Hollow." he muttered out, cupping his chin and frowning in thought "A most peculiar thing."

"She's going to speak again." Martha pointed up to the balcony as Nero approached to speak out.

"My Romans!" Nero spread her arms wide "After that…erm…match? We shall move onto a special fight between a recent class! The positive news is that we have two combatants here today who qualify for it! For the Chaldeans, we have the ferocious Knight of the Mirror, Ser Verndari!"

She pointed down towards the corner as the Looking glass Knight marched into the field, the woman in disguise slowly drew her sword and tapped it against her shield twice before planting it in the ground. "He is of the Shielder Class!"

"Go Verndari!" Gareth cheered from the stands with a jubilant expression on her face "Yeah!"

"Fighting against him is one only known as Shielder! And they are a…" She trailed off "...They wouldn't actually say." she spoke again "But they claim to be a Shielder so I'll trust their word on it!"

She gestured to the far end of the field at the opposite side of Verndari "Fighting the Knight of the Mirror is a Shielder from a distant land!"

The gate gradually rose up as Verndari moved her hand to rest on the pommel of her sword in preparation to fight.

Their head briefly tilted when they heard the pitter patter of light footsteps upon the sand before the individual in question slowly walked out into the open.

Smiling widely, the small child - looking no older than twelve - waltzed out without so much as a care in the world. Wearing a long white tunic made of animal fur, pale blue hair which stretched down to their feet and glowing sapphire coloured eyes and porcelain white skin, the small child eventually came to a stop, their smile still present on their face.

"...Am I being made a fool of?" Verndari found themselves calling out, looking up at Nero and placing their hand on their hip "What manner of opponent is this?"

"...Yours?" Nero called back, unsure herself of what had transpired.

"They're a child!"

"If it makes you feel better…" The child called out, waving their hand "I'm actually older than you."

"In what manner are we speaking of Age?" Verndari called back "Do you mean you were born and died before me or are some manner of immortal?"

"Ummm…the…wait." The child frowned slightly before nodding to themselves "The second one."

"Oh…So how old are you?"

"Errrrr…old?" The boy shrugged, unsure of how to reply "I measure years differently to humans so I can't really say."

"...You're not some manner of God, are you?" Verndari asked with some hesitance, the boy blinked before they shook their head and responded with a wide smile.

"Nope~!" They sang, rocking back and forth on his heels "I'm not a God or any of the Lordkin. I promise you! I'm much nicer!"

"...Really?"

"Mmmhmmm!" The boy continued to smile in an oddly comforting manner, although the bizarre thing was that it was a smile that would be better suited to an older man than a young looking child. "I'm not actually going to hurt you, so I'm better!"

"You…what?" Verndari slumped her shoulders, now thoroughly confused "You're going to fight me…without hurting me?"

"Huh?" Shielder blinked before shaking his head "No. I'm not going to fight you either." They frowned. "Watching all these humans fight and get injured was actually starting to worry me a little bit so I decided that I would take part to make sure they didn't get hurt." the frown disappeared, replaced with the comforting smile "So I'm going to restrain you so you can't get hurt and do so without hurting you."

Verndari stared at the child in silence for a few moments "That seems…boastful?"

"Really?" Shielder tilted his head, staring at Verndari with wide innocent eyes "I don't think it is. I can even promise you on my word that you won't get hurt at all." Their lips thinned and their eyes shone with a certain degree of sorrow within them. "I don't like fighting actually…so I really had to convince myself to come down here but I decided if I just restrain you, then you don't have to fight again and won't get hurt."

The boy remained silent for a few moments before they smiled again "So here I am!"

"I…see?" Verndari shook her head "Very well then…Shielder." resting her hand on the pommel of her sword, she moved it around to the handle and pulled the barbed weapon out of the ground and pointed it towards her opponent "Then I shall meet your challenge with one of my own!"

"Okay!" Shielder beamed as if they were happy about the sudden turn of events "That makes me really glad to hear!" The boy skipped in circles, the white cloak billowing in the wind as they did their small - if slightly adorable - dance before spinning on their right foot and facing Verndari again. "That's why I love humans so much! You're all very determined to do things even if you can't!"

Verndari raised an eyebrow behind their helmet "Your words of praise are appreciated." tensing herself, she made ready for the signal to herald the start of the match. "I am prepared."

"Alright." The boy grinned "Don't worry! You won't get hurt mrs!"

Verndari paused when the words registered in her head, "Wait what did you-!?"

"Begin!" Nero cried out.

The words had barely left the Emperors mouth before the child leaned over and pressed a single digit into the sand.

The ground shook, Verndari watched as the sand beneath her feet ripped itself apart and pale white branches immediately shot up from the ground and coiled themselves around her body before raising her high into the air.

A titanic white tree shot out of the ground, wrapping its branches around the Knight and pulling her sword from her grasp as it continued to climb higher and higher into the air before coming to a stop at a height of around ten metres. The crowd stared in silence as their eyes hung on the tree which had - quite literally - risen from the ground in a moment before slowly falling onto the child as they removed their finger from the ground and gently skipped over to the tree.

"Are you alright?" They called out once they came to the base of the large plant. Verndari grunted and strained against the branches as she continually tried to pull herself loose. Although try as she might, she just wasn't able to free herself from the bonds.

Eventually, she slumped in defeat.

"Heeeeey!" The child called out again with a slightly worried tone of voice "You're not answering! Are you injured? I didn't hurt you, did I?"

"...Just my pride!" Verndari eventually called back "Did you even try?"

"I tried not to hurt you!" The boy called back "...That doesn't count, does it?"

"...No."

"That makes it worse, doesn't it?"

"...Yes."

"...Sorry!" The boy winced, the tree gradually sunk back into the ground and carried Verndari towards the safety and familiarity of the sandy base of the colosseum "Forgot about Knight's pride and all of that." the boy paused, scratching their cheek and awkwardly looking away "...Sorry, Mrs Knight."

"...Please don't call me that." Verndari whispered to them in a pleading tone of voice "And how do you know about it?"

"Hm?" Blinking the boy tilted his head "You were hiding it?" they winced "Sorry. I haven't caused trouble for you, have I?"

Verndari sighed "I do not know…" then frowned and looked at them "Who are you?"

Shielder pursed his lips, looking left and right before back at Verndari "I can't tell you that." they whispered back at her, "It's because I don't want the Gods to actually know who I am." a frown came upon their face "I probably won't be here again for the Finale either…sorry but I was supposed to be summoned to another place first."

"Wh-"

"Can't tell you." The boy shook his head "Not the right time yet." they then smiled "But don't worry! I'm sure it will go fine!" spinning on their heel, the boy skipped away from the Shielder "Good luck Mr Knight." Shielder corrected himself with a friendly wink at the knight "I'm sure I'll see you humans again soon!"

Verndari watched the child leave with a bemused expression behind her helmet "...What a peculiar child."

"...What the heck was that?" Romani got out with a strangled voice "That was just…what?" the Doctor continued to gape "That just isn't…how!?"

"That has to be the best gardener in History." Ritsuka's mouth worked itself before his brain could catch up with what he was saying. Then wincing when he noticed the Director slowly turn towards him with slightly narrowed eyes.

She continued to stare at him in silence before her expression flattened out and she turned back to the arena. "...I would say that the lack of leaves might be a slight handicap to their gardening abilities." she pointed out with a clinical tone "From a purely logical perspective."

"Purely logical." Roman replied with an amused smile as he leaned back into his chair "Of course."

"That aside, Romani." She turned her attention onto him "What information did you get on that Servant?" she inquired further "Because I refuse to believe they were human."

"You would be right to think so as well." Da Vinci agreed swiftly, her casual smile still on her face as she slid into view behind Romani "And yet there wasn't a trace of Divinity within their readings either." she continued on "Actually…the closest I could compare it to was something like Sulyvahn."

Olga blinked "You mean a type of half Fae?" she remarked, tilting her head only for Da Vinci to slowly shake hers in response.

"No…If I were to guess - from what we saw - that 'child' down there is to Sulyvahn what a God is to a Demi-God."

"A full Fae?" Olga's eyes bulged "But…but how!?"

"Who knows!" Da Vinci threw her hands up and smiled widely "A big mystery and to say that power they displayed was rather large is an understatement. A very powerful Fae which had managed to achieve a place on the Throne of heroes and control over what looked like nature? It could have been any number of beings from both our world and another."

"Wow…" Mash gaped "A Fae-"

"Or a Nature Spirit of some type." Romani added on before frowning "Although it makes things very complicated."

"Really?" Ritsuka blinked "Why?"

"Fae…don't really understand humans." Romani replied "At all." he added on "It's through no fault of their own but we're just so different from the Fae and Nature spirits in general that most of the time we're incompatible."

"Really?" Ritsuka frowned, then looked down at the arena "But…they didn't seem that bad."

"From what we could see at a distance." Romani added on "And that is to say nothing for how Verndari feels." he winced "I'd imagine being bested in less than ten seconds by something that looks like a child would definitely sting your pride."

"A shame you cannot relate, Romani." Olga dryly remarked, then paused as she watched several eyes slowly turn towards her "What?"

"Did…did you just make a joke?" Ritsuka asked with wide eyes, Olga blushed slightly.

"What?" She snapped "Do you think that I am incapable of understanding humour!?"

"I don't even care about it being at my expense!" Romani cheerfully replied "The Director made a joke!"

"Stop making a big deal out of this!"

"If you find comfort in humour, then I would advise you to continue to indulge yourself." Ash commented, looking towards her and giving a faint smile "It shows that you still find some joy in life."

"Umu! Umu!" Nero rapidly nodded her head, staring down at the Director with a wide smile "Indeed! You should smile more often, Pale Rose! It will do wonders for your complexion, not like the dour frown you had on your face earlier!"

Olga made a incoherent noise before her head fell into her hands and she let out a low whine in response to the badgering she got.

Nero beamed at the expression before returning her head to the Colosseum as the ground righted itself again - presumably thanks to the mystery Shielder - and flattened back out.

"I was expecting that fight to go on longer." Nero muttered before she shook her head "However, I cannot allow this minor setback to cause problems! We shall push on to the battle of the Berserkers!"

"Stahl." Olga looked at her own Berserker, the Dragon Slayer Armour turned his head towards her and bowed slightly "Go." grunting, Stahl marched towards the edge of the balcony before hurling himself over the railings and towards the arena grounds. The armour slammed into the floor with a colossal crash, kicking up a wave of sand and forming a crater nearly a full foot deep before they slowly rose up out of the cloud.

"...That wasn't exactly what I had in mind." Olga huffed to herself, shaking her head "Fine. Who is fighting?"

"I am glad you asked, Pale Rose!" Nero beamed as she walked to the side "Fighting for the Pale Rose, the fearsome Armour turned living-"

"It isn't a ghost." Leonidas muttered to himself from behind everyone.

"-the monster of metal flesh, Stahl!"

The crowd cheered as the Armour slammed its massive axe into the ground and rested its massive gauntlet on the handle.

"As his ally, we have another being of the element, perhaps more primitive but no less dangerous-"

Another crash echoed out in the arena as a blur slammed into the ground near Stahl, the cloud slowly dissipated and revealed the form of Havel as he slowly straightened his body out and swung his club up before resting it on his shoulder.

"The Bishop of Stone, the eversturdy Havel the Rock!"

Havel blinked behind his helmet at the nickname. "Ever…sturdy?" he muttered to himself before slowly nodding his head "I…li..ke….it…" he let out a pleased rumble as he turned to his ally and stared at the armour. "Huh…" he grunted as he stared at it "Won..der…how…they…wo…uld react…to…their…armour…be..ing….ali..ve…" he asked himself before shaking his head.

"And fighting for the side of this city! My Uncle!" Nero beamed out as a flash of right light was accompanied by a olive skinned man garbed in long red cape with burning red eyes, short purple hair and wearing golden and black armour "Calig-"

"NEEEERRROOOO!" Caligula cut her off as he screamed at the sky.

"...Yes…" Nero coughed "As I was saying, my Uncle-"

"THIS…IS…A…GOOD…STADIUM!" He cut her off again as he roared to the sky, another silence fell before the Emperor attempted to find her footing.

"I'm glad you approve Uncle…as I was-"

"WILL…MAKE…YOU…PROU-"

"STOP INTERRUPTING ME UNCLE!" Nero's voice boomed out across the stadium, silencing Caligula and causing the Emperor to look taken aback before he slowly looked down.

"...Sorry…Nero."

"...It is fine, Uncle." Nero coughed out "Yes…My Uncle, Emperor Caligula!" The crowd clapped for their former Emperor as the man looked around before Nero spoke out again. "And fighting with my Uncle is the greatest of greatest Legends which might even come close to the Holy Progenitor himself!"

The crowd worked its way up into a greater frenzy at the words before Nero shouted out the name.

"HERCULES!"

"...Huh?" Olga blinked, her expression froze as the others in the VIP box all looked similarly dumbfounded.

A roar echoed out before Heracles - as opposed to the others - charged out of the main gate whilst swinging his large stone club atop his head before he slammed it into the ground, using it to halt his momentum and carve a line in the sand where he skidded to a halt.

The Berserker threw his head back and gave another earth shaking roar before he lowered his stance and focused upon the two Berserkers in front of him, steam escaping from his mouth as his eyes glowed red and his skin started to shift to a red hue as well.

"...Again!?" Romani exclaimed, then looked as Ash slowly stood up from his seat "And someone stop him before he tries to kill himself a second time!"

AN: Poor, Poor Gwyndolin…

No, really. I felt bad for him. I assume some were excited to see him and Faraam fight but Nero-fest isn't the place for deep heartfelt confrontations.

It's the place for wacky hijinks! Gwyndolin and Faraam will have their confrontation soon.

Then we have a mystery Shielder as well…ooooooh.

Anyway, since I saw a couple Guest Reviews on it, I suppose I'll address Flann as well.

Just because he's King of Heide and the Cathedral of the Blue was there, doesn't mean he liked humans. In fact, the Spirit Tree Shield specifically mentions Quella as the individual the Blue Sentinels are more in reverence to. Which means there were different Gods with different agendas to humans.

Quella being more benevolent. Another thing, just because Flann was seen to be an arrogant asshole who thinks of humans as lesser beings, doesn't automatically mean he hates humans.

He got pissed at Caster in the same way you'd get pissed at some random animal annoying you. He is a King and a God to boot and from his perspective, Caster was some man dressed in animal cloth and wielding his own authority against him. For a God that is pretty insulting.

It's not that he outright despises humans. He just thinks of them as lesser beings than him. There is also going to be more nuance to his character than 'Arrogant asshole' but that comes later.

As for a Guest Review about Nahr Alma. He's a psychopath who encourages his followers to butcher people at random for no real reason. He's not a God of War.

Another Guest Review called into question Faraam losing his Divinity. Yes, he did lose it.

As for proof, here is the direct description of the Ring of the Firstborn.

"Lord Gwyn's firstborn was a god of war, but his foolishness led to a loss of the annals, and rescinding of his deific status. Today, even his name is not known."

So yes. He did give up his Divinity in the sense that betraying Gwyn could lead to no other outcome. Having the gear he had during the Dragon Wars doesn't change anything about the fact he was stripped of most of his Divinity.

Anyway, rant over. Just felt I had to address that.