Spoiler Alert: This chapter occurs after the SE. RA. PH Subcategory Singularity.
Furthermore, future events in FGO's story as well as other Fate franchises may be referenced.
You have been warned.
Chapter 9 – The Great Bodhisattva
The Servant Counselling Room.
A key location in Chaldea that has managed to keep the peace between Heroic Spirits of various alignments.
Ever since the day that this was established, countless sessions have already been done in this singular room that, had they not been conducted, may or may not have jeopardized the tranquility of this last bastion of humanity.
Today…
Yet another crucial session was about to take place and its danger level far surpassed any other before it.
Taking the host's seat and donning the standard Chaldea uniform was none other than Humanity's Last Master, Hachiman Hikigaya.
Sitting opposite him was today's client, a woman wearing a nun's habit with an unnecessarily provocative slit on one side, revealing her legs covered by white stockings. The opening showed a lot but still left more than enough room for the viewer's imagination to run wild.
Alter Ego Class Servant. True Name: Kiara Sessyoin.
Towards those working for the sake of humanity's continued survival, her other name was much more relevant.
Beast III/R.
"Good day to you, Master."
Golden eyes with a hard-to-discern gleam stared straight into Hachiman's lifeless orbs.
"Good day to you as well, Kiara Sessyoin-san," the Master greeted back in a respectful tone, one normally reserved for their mentors or the like.
This was the first time that he ever had a one-on-one counselling session like this. While there may have been cases in the past where he was on his own in the room, he at least had some form of remote support from the Command Room. Today however, he had none of that, nadda. Heck, he even purposely left his portable terminal, both smartphone and tablet sizes, behind.
"Please, no need to be so stiff towards someone like me for I am nothing more than your Servant, Master," Kiara smiled magnanimously. "In fact, I insist."
Master and Servant.
That was not the identities of the people alone in this room.
On one side was a normal young man who, despite saving the world around twice already by receiving the help of numerous accomplished individuals from the past, has no other noteworthy achievement tied to his name.
The title of Humanity's Last Master was his simply because he was the only candidate (un)lucky enough to survive the enemy's ambush, no, it was exactly because he was so insignificant that he wasn't deemed a threat in the first place.
A placeholder.
That was the word that best described his current state-of-affairs.
That is Hachiman Hikigaya.
But then what of his counselee?
Beast III/R? No.
Even before her Spirit Origin reached that level, this woman was the exact opposite of Hachiman who gained his power and status out of circumstance.
Kiara Sessyoin is dangerous because she is Beast III/R.
This statement wasn't entirely correct and the more appropriate way to put it would be…
Beast III/R is dangerous because she is Kiara Sessyoin.
This is someone who suddenly turned the tables on the hijacking of a Demon God Pillar and, as if doing something like that wasn't absurd enough, she even deliberately sought out the most powerful version of herself in countless timelines and fused with it so that she can manifest that variant of hers into this world, thereby almost causing a tragedy of unimaginable proportions.
And yet…
Kiara Sessyoin, has decided to join hands with the very party who foiled her plans.
It would be strange not to have any doubts of her true intentions.
Kiara is aware of this too, which is why she cooperated and came her without much resistance.
Doing such a thing did indeed leave a good impression but if this act was only done just to let the other party's guard down then wouldn't that thing be called malice instead?
Hachiman Hikigaya however was doing something similar.
Despite being Humanity's Last Master with countless Servants at his beck and call, he purposely came here without a single guard.
Anyone else would have probably thought to bring a show of force to try and intimidate Kiara. Beast or not, by no means was she completely invincible. There are a handful of Servants the even she would have some difficulty in dealing with, the Old Man of the Mountain, the several other Divine Servants, the Alter Egos and BB to name a few.
And yet, none of them accompanied him. It was also not as if that they didn't want to come, the Master himself ordered them not to, even willing to use his Command Spells if they didn't relent.
This was Hachiman Hikigaya's show of sincerity.
But put in another way, it can also be said that…
I'm being underestimated…
The nun smiled.
It has been long while since she has been treated this way, even longer if you consider the fact that the other party was several years her junior.
It was insulting, to say the least, but she tolerated it.
After all…
This was the very person who led her to her demise.
At that time, she decided…
That this consideration and interest of hers was a privilege reserved for him and only him.
Her one and only Master.
But he didn't need to know that yet or rather, she wanted him to find out himself.
"In that case, I'll be calling you Kiara-san moving forward," he nodded towards his Servant's suggestion. "Will that be alright with you?"
"Of course, Master," warmth exuded from her smile. "Feel free to call me any way you like."
Now that the introductions have been settled, it was finally time to get this show on the road.
As the host of this arrangement, the first move belonged to Hachiman. If this was a game of chess, he would be the one in control of the white pieces. Given who his opponent is, there is simply no other choice but to play things safe early on.
Pawn to E4.
In a more general setting, this is equivalent to…
Boil.
Just in time.
"Excuse me for a bit, Kiara-san," after saying so, Hachiman moved to a corner of the room before returning with a tray complete with a teapot, teacups and even a plate of cookies. "Would you like to have some tea while we talk?"
Maintaining her composure, Kiara responded.
"It would be my pleasure."
Thus, in the four corners of this counselling room, another battle for humanity's survival began.
…
Saving humanity is a grand ordeal, one you can never be too prepared for. As such, even during this lull period where a Singularity has just been mended, each and every one of the Servants in Chaldea are currently doing what they can in their own way to get closer to that goal, whether that be through personal training, gathering materials or even by helping out in other miscellaneous tasks such as basic chores and the like.
Newcomers were no exceptions to this however, a select few Servants can't help but direct their concern towards someplace else…
The doors to the Counselling Room.
"Why didn't Master let us come with him?!"
A girl complained in a displeased voice. She has long purple hair and blue eyes that reminded one of a lake. Although what she was wearing fit in with the emphasis on mobility theme that is common in a lot of the outfits worn by the female Servants of Chaldea, she had two other parts of her getup that just happen to stand out more. It was her black baggy sleeves that covered everything from her shoulder down to her hands and her white legs that looked like they were made of the finest of steel. These metallic legs had blades for soles and a spike for a knee with the former making it so that instead of walking, she elegantly skated on the surface like a dancer, a very very deadly dancer.
Alter Ego Class Servant. True Name: Meltryllis.
"We shouldn't do that, Melt. Master said we should stay put and we should put our faith in his words."
The gentle reprimand came from a girl with pink eyes who shared the same face and hair color as Meltryllis. Despite that being the case, the two looked completely different in other departments. She wore black from the top to bottom and while they can be classified as modest, the sheer volume of her chest which could be likened to a valley negated that factor entirely. Her shoulders down to her fingers were pure gold, with her hands being as large as the rest of her body. It wouldn't be an understatement to say that those hands of hers are capable of crushing anything they get a hold of.
Alter Ego Class Servant. True Name: Passionlip.
"I trust Master…" Meltryllis clarified in a soft voice, just enough for Passionlip to hear her before erupting in the next second and pointing towards the door. "…It's the wench in that room with him that I don't trust!"
"Getting mad about it at this point is not going to change a damn thing."
A third voice joined the fray. It had a deep intonation something you expect from a middle-aged man but it in fact belonged to a child with blue hair and blue eyes hidden underneath a pair of spectacles. He wore a complete formal attire for men's that was popular several years in the past. If they were to be described using more modern terms then his getup would be composed of a black and white dress shirt that had ruffles on his sleeves, a dark blue vest, baggy trousers that reached up to the knee with long socks covering the rest of the leg and wrapping everything together was a light blue tie.
Caster Class Servant. True Name: Hans Christian Andersen.
Expecting that there would be some Servants would be concerned with his client for today, Hachiman posted Hans in front of the doors of the Counselling Room to act as the voice of reason to dissuade the others from interfering with today's session. Furthermore, if things go hairy in Hachiman's end, Hans was also tasked to take care of Kiara as he was one of the few people in Chaldea that she found difficulty dealing with. In short, he was a guard, a babysitter and a contingency plan at the same time.
Despite how annoying of a task this is, Hans decided to accept Hachiman's offer as it beat being the substitute of a certain Grand Caster candidate in Ultra High Difficulty Life-Risking Missions that Chaldea sugarcoated as Challenge Quests.
"I already know that without you telling me!" the ballerina directed her anger at Hans who just shrugged indifferently towards her aggression.
Despite how mad Meltryllis acted, Passionlip understood that her sister wasn't exactly mad mad. Everything was all because of her concern for their Master, making her smile even brightly.
"Now now Melt, let's make sure to smile so that's the first thing that Master sees when he comes out."
The warm display of sisterly affection made the sarcastic fairytale writer chuckle but that amusement of his disappeared the moment his eyes turned back to the doors of the Counselling Room.
"This looks like it could only go terribly in either way," he murmured to himself after making sure that the two Alter Egos weren't paying him any attention. "And there are no in-betweens."
…
In essence, the flow of a Servant Counselling Session is pretty close to how it's done in schools. Another similar comparison would be a job interview though Hachiman had no experience of such a thing aside from when he applied to get a part-time job in the past and when he made the decision to join Chaldea but that was beside the point.
The standard openings in either case would most likely not work on his client today however as she is the psychiatrist hired by Seraphix to care for the mental wellbeing of the staff, making Chaldea's Master her junior in this department.
In a way it worked to Hachiman Hikigaya's favor as beating around the bush was never really in his nature but at the same time, it meant that the only thing he could rely on was… Sincerity.
"How is life here in Chaldea for you?" he waited for the moment that Kiara lowered her teacup before asking his first question. "Rest assured, what you'll tell me will remain within these four walls."
"Well, if I had to put it into words," Kiara's smile became a little awkward but whether that was done deliberately to invoke sympathy on Hachiman's part or not was difficult for him to tell. "It's a little stifling…"
The young counsellor exhaled a sigh out loud while massaging his temple.
The abrasive behavior of his other Servants was completely understandable from an objective standpoint. Without much warning, they were suddenly told that a being that was equivalent to Goetia, the one who attempted to incinerate all of humanity, was now one of their allies. It didn't make a lick of sense if you think about it. In fact, it would be stranger if they didn't act this way.
Heroic Spirits earned their status by doing feats that carved their names in Proper Human History. That would make Kiara Sessyoin or the Beasts in general, their natural enemy.
It was difficult to expect things would work out just because Hachiman said that they are now on the same side. That would be like adding oil and water in the same container and expecting them to mix.
From her behavior, Hachiman surmised Kiara's intentions in sugarcoating her words despite him asking her to be frank.
It was already known throughout the entire base that Hachiman Hikigaya is scheduled to have a one-on-one consultation with Kiara Sessyoin today.
If, after this, he tries to directly convince the other Servants to try and get along with Kiara then it would most likely make things worse.
In a way it was essentially bullying, although it's extremely ironic when expressed in that manner because the bullies in this case are the heroes and the one on the receiving end was someone on the same level as a final boss.
"I could only ask for your understanding on that part," Hachiman bowed while still on his seat. "Everyone is still on edge, you see."
"No, it's alright," the magnanimous smile Kiara wore earlier was now plastered back on her face, though a faint trace of wistfulness was also present. "I endangered the world once after all."
That was indeed true. In fact, this whole thing would not have been a problem in the first place if Kiara didn't arbitrarily decide to join Chaldea's cause all of a sudden… But who was Hachiman to get in the way of her personal decision?
"In order to remedy this situation, I believe the two of us will have to try all kinds of missions until we find a couple you are suited on doing," he brought a hand to his chin as his brain began running through the various things he needed to consider in the near future. "But before that, we need to drop by at the Simulation Room so that I'll have a better grasp of your overall abilities… I might have to use a different Mystic Code for you too… There are also Servant combinations I need to consider, not just synergy but your chemistry as a whole…"
The murmurs that Hachiman began to state out loud one-by-one made Kiara interrupt him out of curiosity.
"Pardon me, Master."
Her inquiry snapped the logician out of his trance.
"Yes? Do you have anything else you want to add?"
"No, that's not it. I just wanted to clarify one thing," she shook her head in denial while being unaware of the faintest of cracks on her holier-than-thou expression. "I must have heard things wrong but are you suggesting on accompanying me yourself?"
Hachiman was confused why Kiara would ask such a thing when the answer was so obvious.
"I need to be there to ascertain things with my own eyes so of course I'll be with you," he began to explain matter-of-factly. "It will only be once the support staff finishes establishing an optical tactical module for you and the team you'll be working with, if you need one that is, will my presence not be required anymore."
The back-to-back serious responses that she received from Humanity's Last Master threw Kiara off of her loop.
"Why do you care about my circumstances so much, Master?"
The nun raised that question with the intention of testing the young man in front of her but unintentionally, a portion of her true desires leaked in the process.
The atmosphere inside the counselling room became a little heavy but even after sensing the danger in the air that was closely approaching the level of bloodlust, Hachiman remained stoic.
"This is only natural. I'm your Master and like everyone else, you're my Servant," he pointed to himself with his thumb and to Kiara with his index finger. "That means you're my responsibility. It's as simple as that."
It was a sincere answer with nary a trace of malice and because these were words that Hachiman spoke from his heart without any external influence whatsoever, it resonated with Kiara's very core.
She was not unfamiliar with receiving care and attention.
In fact, it wouldn't be an understatement to say that she was used to it.
No. She craved it.
Despite currently being nothing more than just a fragment of what she was when she became Beast III/R, she still retained the memories of the strongest version of herself that she fused with at that time.
Before becoming a calamity, she was a leader of the cult and all her followers loved her to the point of madness.
They loved her enough to do anything for her sake.
Yes. Anything.
As such, when she asked them to offer what they value the most, their lives, to her, they did so without hesitation.
But even after seeing all her followers' sacrifice, she was not moved at all.
Somehow, someway, she knew.
That the love they say out loud was not the love she sought.
Love was supposed to be something beautiful but why is it that the kind of love she keeps seeing was… So twisted… So grotesque… So sickening… So distorted… So ugly…
It was only after her very last follower lost their life in front of her did she finally realize what was wrong…
Ah… It was because of me…
Yes, her followers' love was nothing more than a reflection of her own selfish love.
It was not like her followers were willing to die solely for her sake.
They wanted to die with the faint hope that she will direct even the slightest bit of love towards them during that single instant that the light of life is snuffed out of their existence.
In other words, it was also for their own sake.
That was why she didn't care no matter how many of them die in front of her.
Currently, what she was getting now was concern. Compared to love, it was something relatively minor but Kiara would be lying if she said that it didn't feel a little warm.
The difference is because Hachiman's concern was genuine while her followers' love for her weren't but Kiara would only come to know of this fact much much later in the future.
The thought occupying her mind at the moment was a little different…
Just how warm would Master's love feel?
…But of course, she wouldn't say such a thing out loud right now.
"I see. I understand," Kiara nodded but because her eyes looked empty, Hachiman felt like she was talking to herself rather than him.
The air around the counselling went back to normal but as his client's demeanor was still one of deep contemplation, Humanity's Last Master couldn't bring himself to relax just yet.
The only thing he can do for now was to keep this session going.
"Is there something else you want to mention?"
The inquiry snapped Kiara out of her reverie, light finally returning to those golden irises of hers.
"Ah, I wouldn't call it a discomfort but…" she brought a palm to her cheek as she spoke, reminding Hachiman of a housewife who was thinking about what to buy for their family's dinner tonight.
"What is it? Like I said earlier, there's no need for you to hold back."
His urging finally made the nun's lips loose.
"Oh, it's just that," a tinge of gloom was mixed into Kiara's expression. "The children seem to be avoiding me for some reason," she sighed, her bountiful chest following her movement. "I may look like this but I've actually taken care of a lot of children before."
The Master kept his smile as beads of sweat began forming on his forehead.
Oh, those are my orders… But she doesn't need to know that.
For now, what's more important is to get an idea of why Kiara was inquiring about this in particular.
"And those turned out well?" he instinctively raised one of his brows while asking.
"According to my standards, yes."
Hachiman had to bite his cheek so that his actual reaction to that iffy statement of Kiara's remained hidden.
Yeah, no way. She's still banned from interacting with them. I should tell the children not to make it too obvious and assign more guards for them.
As a side note, one other Heroic Spirit in Chaldea who is on the children's blacklist is a certain pirate with a black beard.
"I believe that is something we can skip for now," Hachiman kept his expression still while speaking. "Once the others view you in a better light, I'm sure the children will follow suit," he then decided to change the topic at this timing while he still can. "By the way, do you have any requests?"
"Requests?"
The cynic didn't miss the slight spark of interest in her eyes after she heard that word and immediately made his next move.
"Yes. I'm talking about the miscellaneous things that Chaldea can provide for you," he raised one of his fingers as he began to emphasize the many options available for Kiara. "It could be a little trinket you cherished in the past, a food item you were fond of before or maybe even a book you liked reading, things of that nature."
The nun put a hand to her chin and pondered for a short while. So as not to disturb her, the young counsellor wordlessly enjoyed his tea until his client was ready to speak again.
"Well, since you're asking," Kiara's tone became a little cautious. "I would like an extra room if at all possible."
Just like earlier, Hachiman unconsciously raised one of his brows in suspicion.
"What will you use it for, if I may ask?"
"I wanted to make a prayer room," she answered instantly.
Chaldea's Master could easily have it granted as this was not the first time he received this kind of request but his gut instinct was telling him not to make such a hasty decision no matter how minor when it concerned this woman.
"Will it be for personal use?"
This time around Kiara's answer was delayed by a few seconds.
"In a way, yes."
Yep, that's a no.
He didn't need to hear any more after that. It was obvious that there was something sketchy with this request of hers so going for a noncommittal answer was Hachiman's best bet for now.
"We'll come back to this after you've finished a couple of missions as the others might raise complaints if I give you one now."
Hachiman's deliberate word choice made it so that he can avoid the problem now while not really promising Kiara anything though he would have a lot of things to reconsider if she did manage to accomplish several meritorious deeds in a small amount of time but that was a problem for another day.
"Understood. I'll be duly waiting for a positive response."
What followed after that exchange was a more lighthearted back-and-forth, the kind of small talk that Hachiman despised in the past but having matured from that point of his life have now found it to be a useful and necessary tool depending on the occasion.
There were a couple of weird points in their conversation where Kiara would deliberately use sexual innuendo in an attempt to fluster her Master but it was way more harmless compared to the earlier part of this session as all Hachiman really needed to do was ignore the nun's prompts.
That relaxed mood however was brought to an end by Kiara when she decided to raise one particular topic.
"By the way," she switched the legs that were crossed before continuing. "I think it's a nice coincidence that Master's first name just happened to be Hachiman."
The cynic couldn't help but shiver after he was reminded of his dark history from Kiara saying his name out loud.
"Now why would you think that?" he asked a little nervously albeit the reasons behind his hesitation was not quite the same thing that his counterpart thought of.
This wasn't the first time that a Servant made this kind of correlation from his first name. A lot of the Heroic Spirits which hailed from Japan have shown their faith and reverence in him because of it. That being said…
"Hachiman is the name of a Shinto God of War but in Buddhism, he is also known as Great Bodhisattva Hachiman. In other words," Kiara's eyes gleamed dangerously. "You can consider him one of my greatest enemies."
…This was the first time that the Servant's connection with this name of his was antagonistic.
What this Demonic Bodhisattva said just now could be interpreted as either a threat or a test but regardless of which one it was, Hachiman felt that showing signs of his fear now would only work to his disadvantage.
"That's wholly unrelated with me though," he used his right hand to grip his left wrist in order to keep himself calm. "We just happen to share the same name," he breathed out and relaxed his body, before raising both of his hands, palms facing upwards. "As you can see, I'm 100% human."
Kiara didn't look like she was listening to his words however.
"Hey, Master," she leaned her face close to him, making sure that he can't look anywhere else. "Although I have willingly entered into a contract as your Servant, do you really think I've turned into someone good?"
Hachiman stared straight into his Servant's gold eyes for a few seconds before answering.
"That doesn't matter," he gently pushed Kiara back to her seat before standing up and staring at the pure white ceiling. "Chaldea, no, Humanity needs all the help it can get. We don't have enough leeway to be picky about a Heroic Spirit's alignment," in the first place, there are already several evil Servants helping Chaldea out. Adding one more to the mix was probably not going to change anything… Surely. Hachiman's gaze left the ceiling and moved back to his counterpart. "The most important thing that I need to know is this," his lips twisted into a bold smile as he spoke, like he already knew the answer he would be getting before he even finished asking. "Are you on my side?"
The source of his confidence was obvious.
If she was bitter because of her loss, then she wouldn't enter a pact with me so willingly.
There was something she wanted here in Chaldea and because the organization is also in need of her power, there was no reason to turn her away. As for what that particular something was, he had completely zero idea and he also has no plans in asking her about it if she wasn't willing to share.
"Rest assured," her warm smile from the start of this session came back. "This current manifestation of mine exists solely for your sake, Master."
"Is that so? Then, let's leave it at that," Hachiman nodded, satisfied with her answer but that didn't mean they were already done for the day. "I'd like to move on to my next agenda, if you don't mind."
"Oh, pardon me," the nun remarked, genuinely surprised. "I was of the idea that you only called for me to ask that particular question."
"That's not the case at all. I really did want to talk with you privately at least once," the edges of Hachiman's lips curved slightly upwards. "But I would be lying if I said that I didn't have an ulterior motive."
His careful choice of words made Kiara suspicious.
If the young man in front of her was acting as the representative of the human race, then there was one thing that he wanted from her that he couldn't get from the other Servants in Chaldea.
"Do you think I have information about the other Beasts?"
Hachiman couldn't help but be impressed.
A personal detail about the young man named Hachiman Hikigaya has been classified in Chaldea database as top-secret of top-secret. If such information fell into the wrong hands, it will most likely cause the end of the world.
In fact, the top brass was even forced to use drastic measures to keep such a secret safe and that was…
To not put it in the database in the first place.
The secret in question was none other than... Hachiman's preferences which by the way is a sharp mind and shapely legs. Now while the woman in front of him did check both boxes, Hachiman would never consider her as she was the prime example of a red flag.
"It would be nice if that was the case," he took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a few seconds. When he exhaled a little later, the silence that pervaded the four corners of the room made it sound louder than it was supposed to. "But I highly doubt you do," he shrugged and took a few steps towards his client. "Kiara-san is a selfish person after all. I find it difficult to imagine you caring about your fellow Beasts rather," Hachiman's eyes were now open and yet all that can be seen when you gaze at those orbs of his was a bottomless abyss. "Wouldn't you want to end humanity yourself? Why would you want to share that glory with others?"
For the first time during this entire exchange, it was the Alter Ego Servant who ended up getting goosebumps instead. It was a sensation she hasn't experienced in a long while so it felt much more euphoric than usual. Given her nature, there was only one thing on her head right now…
She wanted more.
"My~ you know me so well already, Master," Kiara tried to act modest by hiding the lower half of her face with a hand and giggling but it wasn't able to completely conceal the way she licked her lips with her tongue, no, she didn't cover it fully on purpose. For better or for worse, Hachiman at this stage in his life, had enough exposure to women to be aware of this crafty scheme. "I'm a little bit embarrassed to admit it but it's true," her legs, which by the way is in full view as the table separating the two was just a coffee table, began moving to and fro in a way that can only be described as… Distracting. The large slit being the focal point of it all. "Then, pray tell how can this humble nun be of service to you?"
Against all odds, Hachiman Hikigaya managed to keep his composure and speak his mind.
"Kiara-san. Please use your other Noble Phantasm on me, around 0.00001% of its usual strength should be fine," he delivered such an absurd request in a no-nonsense manner. "You can do something like that, right?"
"YES?!"
Confusion and panic were written all over Kiara's face but despite understanding all this, Hachiman decided to play dumb.
"Oh, did I stutter?"
Kiara indeed heard him clearly but it was exactly because she did that she wondered if she misunderstood her Master's request. Was this an inside joke in Chaldea? A play of words? She had no idea.
"What you asked is indeed something I am capable of… It's just that," bewildered, Kiara's eyes darted from one corner of the room to the other. "For what reason are you asking me to do this for you, Master?"
"I want to shore up any potential weaknesses of mine. My tolerance towards things like pain, hunger and thirst went up considerably due to training," Hachiman enumerated while crossing his arms to his chest. "Temptation however is something I'm not fully prepared for yet."
Kiara Sessyoin's read on her Master's character was on point. Given Hachiman Hikigaya's serious nature combined with his current responsibility of being Humanity's Last Master, she knew that he would try to strike a deal with her, a Beast.
In the end, the greatest enemy of Chaldea have always been the Beasts so there was no way there were not going to take advantage of the fact that they, with great difficulty, have brought one of their nemeses to their side.
Information about other Beasts was definitely crucial and Kiara assumed that she could use Chaldea's lack of such to her advantage for some benefits, disregarding whether what she had would be useful or not.
The problem with her reasoning however was the premise.
I have no desire to face off against other Beasts… If I can help it…
To Hachiman, Kiara was not just a Beast but someone who is extremely specialized with mental attacks, particularly charm.
In future battles, the odds of Hachiman encountering enemies of this kind were muchhigher compared to another Beast, which was why he placed more importance in this aspect of Kiara over the other.
Things like strength and endurance are easy to improve over time but mental fortitude was an entirely different dimension. While some of the more religious Servants taught him measures such as meditation techniques and various prayer verses, why would he settle for only that much when temptation incarnate was literally sitting right in front of him?
"Hmm? What's wrong?" Hachiman tilted his head in confusion. "When we were fighting, wasn't this exactly what you wanted?"
"No. I mean certainly, that is true but," Kiara could see two chibi versions of herself, one in her nun habit and the other, in her Beast form with her large horns and pink lingerie, floating on her head. Unlike the usual scenarios however where the two personas argued between good and evil, both of them were coaxing her to give in, the former was coming up with excuses to accept the Master's offer and the latter kept repeatedly saying isn't it fine~ in a relaxed tone. Despite all that, she shook her head to rid herself of such thoughts. A temptress like herself shouldn't be the one getting tempted. "Now that I'm your Servant, I shouldn't be doing such a thing to you."
Hachiman could see a figurative halo on the top of Kiara's head as she answered in a way that a modest woman of the cloth would… But just because she was acting like a saint, doesn't mean her true nature was anything close to one.
"Do you really not want to?" he smiled mischievously while he tilted his head.
She did. She really did. But…
This isn't the way I wanted things to go!
The fall to depravity was not completely about the destination, the journey is equally as important.
"Master these kinds of things have a process, you see…"
Before she could finish, Hachiman's attack came again.
"But were you really the type to care about such minor details?"
The instant rebuttal shaved off a good chunk of Kiara's hesitation.
"Master… You're troubling me…"
Kiara made an appeal with tears on her eyes but that only ended up giving Hachiman a different idea instead.
"Hmm… Could it be that the problem is not the nature of the request but how it is being asked?"
"Excu…?"
Hachiman closed the distance between him and the sitting Kiara faster than she could even finish saying excuse me.
"Then…"
"!?"
The Demonic Bodhisattva leaned back instinctively but since she was still sitting down, she was easily backed into a corner by virtue of her couch.
That's right.
By a strange twist of fate, Hachiman Hikigaya ended up being the more dominant individual in the room.
While Kiara was still trying to make heads or tails of the current situation, the face of the young man who bore the title of Humanity's Last Master was moving closer and closer to her own.
"Kiara-san," Hachiman whispered in a husky voice. For some reason, Kiara began seeing flowers bloom beside her Master's face. At this point, she was even wondering which between the two of them was the demon. "Please lend me a hand…"
"M-M-Master…" she looked to the side but it was useless as she could still clearly see her Master's profile from the corner of her eye. "I i-i-implore you to… Reconsider!"
"Why?" he moved a lock of her hair to the back of her ear before whispering at the exact same place. "Am I the problem?"
"Th-Th-That's…! Eek!"
Hachiman blew some air onto Kiara's ear, not only making her shiver in delight but also tipping the scales inside her head away from rationality.
Although she has been saying no for the past few minutes, her loose smile and the vacant look on her eyes served more than enough as a sign that it was only a matter of time before Hachiman had his way.
As a side note, when he made the move to corner the nun on her seat, it was Kiara herself who spread her legs to make room for his knee which he used to support his body. Furthermore, her two hands which were supposed to push Hachiman away, had already began groping his upper body and shoulders ever since they have been in this position. Hachiman didn't know if she was doing such things consciously or not but he'd rather not find out.
Just one more step…
It was now time for Humanity's Last Master to put the final nail in the coffin.
"Please, Kiara-nee."
Hachiman's clear emphasis on the fact that a younger man was beckoning towards a mature lady clouded Kiara Sessyoin's eyes with desire and before long…
"!"
She lost all reason.
…
Night.
In a time where all personnel are expected to have already completed their official duties for the day, the doors to the counselling room still remain closed ever since Humanity's Last Master and Beast III/R entered inside a few hours ago.
At this point, the state of Chaldea's Master is a cause for concern for all the Servants, some much more worried than others.
"This has gone long enough don't you think?!" Meltryllis pointed at the door while screaming vehemently.
Within the long duration of today's session, the number of Servants waiting in front of the counselling room have increased exponentially, with all of them divided in what approach they should be taking at the moment.
"I say we come charging at the door right now."
The carefree suggestion which did not care about the future consequences was said by an active peach-haired girl wearing a maid outfit. She is an incarnation of Tamamo-no-Mae who split from the main body after she returned to being a one-tailed fox. She is a fox, a shrine maiden, a wife, a maid and on top of all of that, uh, a cat? Don't worry about it.
Berserker Class Servant. True Name: Tamamo Cat.
"Let's go! I totes don't mind beating up a couple of brainless idiots in the process. Like what are they even thinking? So annoying!"
A bloodthirsty follow-up came from a brunette who is, according to her origins… Also, a fox shrine maiden. If you went ahead and asked her however, she would claim that she is a JK while proudly showing off her school uniform getup composed of a white blouse and red skirt, which did in fact suit her completely but with a face as beautiful as hers, she would look good no matter what she wore.
Saber Class Servant. True Name: Suzuka Gozen.
"As a knight, I can't just go ahead and disobey my Lord's orders. Although I will remain on standby here so I can respond swiftly for any emergencies."
Full metal armor, wavy blond hair, and aqua eyes. Such were the most distinct features of the man barring the trio's way. Disregarding the many affairs he had in the past, he did look the part of a noble and upstanding gentleman. A peerless knight who received the blessings of a saint and was unmatched under the light of the sun.
Saber Class Servant. True Name: Gawain.
"I concur with Sir Gawain. I will say that being stuck here unable to do anything but wait makes me so so terribly sad."
The speaker this time stood beside Gawain. He was also wearing armor although not to the same bulk as his fellow knight. His long hair has a vivid shade of red and his eyes, which were almost always closed, actually possessed a golden hue. Regardless of how he spoke or acted and even while he is telling jokes, an air of sorrow seems to perpetually lurk around him.
Archer Class Servant. True Name: Tristan.
"If something bad did indeed happen to our Master then we as Servants would feel it through our contracts with him. Seeing as that isn't the case, he should still be fine."
The sound argument was made by an orange-haired guy that was wrapped from head to toe in the color green. The Hunter of the Woods and one of the most overworked(secretly) Heroic Spirit here in Chaldea.
Archer Class Servant. True Name: Robin Hood.
"Heh. For once we actually agree. Is this the first time this kind of thing happened? Anyways, it's too late already. You should've barged in earlier or stopped this session from happening entirely."
The last among the group agreed to the Green Archer while throwing out unnecessary sarcasm. He was a tall and robust man with dark skin tone and silver hair that was trimmed short. In place of the red cloak that his original was so known for, this guy's cloak was black with yellow markings adorning it. His primary weapons also became two guns instead of two swords.
Archer Class Servant. True Name: Emiya Alter.
Although Emiya Alter was on the side that protected the door, it was actually him that Robin was wary about the most because the former's close proximity to the door made it so that if he changed sides arbitrarily, he can attack it first.
Two pairs of eyes, pink and blue, could only helplessly watch from the sidelines as the arguments from the opposing parties got more and more heated.
"Is there anything we can do to stop them?" the one with pink irises, Passionlip worriedly looked at her fellow Servants, particularly towards her sister, Meltryllis.
Hans, the blue-eyed kid beside her, cast a quick sideways glance at her arms before responding.
"I can think of one person who can stop them from fighting," he began in a less abrasive tone than what he normally uses while pointing towards the doors with his thumb. "Unfortunately, he's still stuck inside that room over there."
Passionlip giggled in agreement.
"Yes. If it's Master, he can easily resolve a situation like this."
If it's just stopping the arguing Heroic Spirits, Passionlip could easily use her arms to physically create a boundary between the two groups. It won't completely end the arguing but it will at least buy time.
Hans however did not raise such an option to Passionlip, at least not for now. He may be rude and sarcastic but that doesn't mean he didn't have tact. Anyone with half a brain can easily tell that this gentle-natured Alter Ego wasn't fond of using her strength… But from the looks of things, he might end up reconsidering that decision of his…
"That's it! I'm going in!"
"You're not moving past me that easily, my lady."
Meltryllis and Gawain, the two de facto leaders of each party adopted a combat stance. The Servants who agreed with their points also followed suit.
Just when things were about to take a turn for the worst…
Click. Open.
…The counselling room's doors finally separated, revealing the silhouette of a young man that all these Heroic Spirits are familiar with.
"Yo, what are all of you guys doing here?" came Hachiman Hikigaya's greeting. His tone was relaxed at first but upon sensing the grim air around his Servants, his eyes narrowed. "And why are you all ready for battle?"
"!"
"Wha?!"
Instead of an answer, what he got was an impact to his chest, delivered at such a high speed that he couldn't dodge it in time. What he could only manage to do is to plant his feet firmly to the ground to prevent himself from falling on his rear.
Looking down, the assailant was actually a young girl with purple hair that was tied with a blue ribbon. Because of how said girl buried her face to his chest, he was unable to see the rest of her features but even then, he was still able to recognize who it was.
"Meltryllis-san, what's wrong?"
She gazed at him briefly before proceeding to bury herself in his chest again.
"Nothing, you idiot."
Ah so there is something wrong.
Hachiman had more than enough experience to understand such nuances. Luckily for him, there were a couple of other Servants he could ask information from.
"So, what's wrong?"
"Master," the one who answered first was the girl in the JK getup, Suzuka Gozen. "Did you like not realize how totes late it already is?"
The fabulous Saber showed the display screen of her phone to her Master whose eyes widened in surprise after seeing that the time was already several minutes past 7 in the evening.
"My bad. I didn't notice the time at all."
"It's okay, Master," Tamamo Cat approached and cheered her Master up by patting his shoulder. "The most important thing is that you came back to us in one piece."
"You have no idea how worried we were, Master," Passionlip followed after the maid before glancing towards her sister's direction and smiling. "Especially Melt."
"Ha?! I was not worried!" Meltryllis shouted in denial but from the way she still held her Master in a tight embrace, what she was really feeling was obvious.
"In any case, I think I owe all of you an apology for the trouble," he patted the sulking Meltryllis' head once and continued. "It would appear that I had far too much fun talking with Kiara-nee."
The expressions of all the Heroic Spirits instantly changed after that name came out of their common Master's mouth.
In the next second, they all charged towards the counselling room while resolving themselves that a difficult battle will be upon them.
Has Beast III/R manifested once again?
Will countless Demon God Pillars spawn here in Chaldea of all places?
What waited for them however was an entirely different yet, for some members of the party, equally horrific sight.
"HUH!?"
Pant. Pant. Pant.
Kiara Sessyoin the Beast that almost had the entire world under her grasp… Was powerlessly laying on the floor while breathing roughly. Her habit was removed, revealing long strands of black hair that were disheveled. Her expression was flushed and all the sweat from her body made her tight clothes cling to her skin, making her look even more alluring than she already is.
The least explicit way to describe her current state was that she was… Compromised.
The circumstantial evidence present was enough for even the purest of souls to assume that something lascivious happened in this very room. The fact that there were only two people inside here for such a long amount of time served to make such a suspicion even more plausible.
"…"
"…"
Collapse.
The two Alter Egos were unable take the reality presented in front of their eyes and both fainted.
"!"
"!"
Tamamo Cat and Suzuka Gozen meanwhile couldn't stop alternating their gazes from Kiara to their Master. Their eyes looked like it was doing all the screaming for their mouths. It was obvious from how they were acting that what they saw here today would be shared to every other Heroic Spirit in Chaldea overnight.
Meanwhile, the male Servants took one glance at Kiara's state and immediately turned their backs away but whether they did such a thing out of a gentleman's spirit or they just didn't want to get involved in this situation or a little bit of both, it was hard for anyone to say, even themselves.
"So even someone like her can be reduced to this state," Hans remarked while smiling sardonically, impressed with his Master's prowess while simultaneously being disappointed that he fell victim to the nun's charms.
"Should I say as expected of Master in this kind of situation?" Gawain, with a conflicted smile, commented.
"I'm not sure. Should we?" confusion instead of melancholy was the most prevalent mood around Tristan as he scratched his cheek.
"I don't even know who between the two is more dangerous anymore," Emiya Alter sighed deeply while holding his head with one of his hands.
"So does this mean my workload behind-the-scenes is going to increase? Oh joy! As if I wasn't worked to the bone already!" Robin started with snide remarks before just screaming his pain out loud and stomping his foot.
However, there was something strange in this scenario that wasn't noticed at the time because of the common thoery that the Heroic Spirits made after they saw Kiara on the ground.
If Hachiman Hikigaya did indeed fall for the wiles of Kiara, then why did it look like she was the one who took more damage between the two of them?
The answer to that question is because Kiara Sessyoin is, for lack of a better word, over-fatigued, not physically but mentally.
Although using a Noble Phantasm at a significantly low power drastically reduces the amount of mana needed to invoke it, the fact that the Heroic Spirit has to manually adjust the output actually puts more of a mental burden on them. That was doubly true for a Bodhisattva like Kiara Sessyoin whose scale of power is equivalent to that of the Solar System.
Imagine just how tiring it would be for a Servant if their Master told them to keep casting it in this manner until he was satisfied. Any Heroic Spirit in Kiara's place is guaranteed to suffer the same fate given these conditions. It just so happened that she was more sensual than most so this kind of misunderstanding was unavoidable.
"What did I… Even sign myself up into…?"
Despite all the commotion happening around the room, her own physical state was not Kiara's biggest concern at the moment.
Amitabha Amidala – Heaven's Hole.
This is the True Name of the Noble Phantasm that Kiara used in the final battle in .PH but the version of herself that she summoned from the Far Side of the Moon is tied with a different one.
Angra Mainyu/CCC.
It is a vortex of pleasure that melts all beings and digests their life in an instant. In other words, it exposes the target to an eternity of pleasure condensed into a single instant.
Eternity is a concept similar to infinity and one of the simplest ways to describe infinity is that it's a number so large that it is practically impossible to quantify. More simply put, it is a very very big number. Thus, that would mean that the smallest fraction of infinity is still infinity.
In other words, no ordinary human should come out sane or alive after being exposed to Angra Mainyu/CCC even at 0.00001% output.
And yet, someone did. Furthermore, he was completely unscathed.
As if things weren't unbelievable enough, that very person even asked her to be subjected to the same Noble Phantasm again and again until they finally reached the 0.001% point where they stopped for the day.
Kiara couldn't believe her eyes when it happened at first. She even began to think that she messed up or something but after casting it again, she was sure that it went through without any issues but the fact that there was no problem on her end was an anomaly in and of itself.
Only one conclusion can be drawn from all this and the very thought of it made the Demonic Bodhisattva doubt her own sanity.
In order to be completely unaffected by Angra Mainyu/CCC, something must be inherently missing in Hachiman Hikigaya but as to what that something is, even Kiara or Beast III/R didn't know.
Nevertheless, it was definitely an issue that should be addressed sooner rather than later and at the moment, she was the only one who came to know of this flaw of his.
Thus, unbeknownst to the Servants and Humanity's Last Master himself, Beast III/R, no, Kiara Sessyoin swore to herself that she would try and fix this broken Master of hers and it will only be once she accomplishes this goal, that she'll begin to lead him to the path of depravity.
This was the historic day that Hachiman Hikigaya truly earned the loyalty of a Beast but much much later in the future… Chaldea will end up working hand-in-hand with even more Beasts and around that time, it will also come to light that Kiara Sessyoin is actually not the first among her kind to make the same choice.
Author's Note:
What's this? Another relatively early update? Is this the age of Hikiconsistency?
Seems like the word count adjustment is doing wonders for me in more ways than one.
Rest assured, I'm not compromising the quality of my writing in favor of less word count. Things just sort of happened to end up in this way.
Let's hope I can keep this up... Unfortunately, I have something irl coming up very soon, so my writing schedule might get screwed over again.
Thankfully, I have a rough concept of the next chapter already so it might not get the delayed by that much... Hopefully.
While I've already set up who I'll be writing in the next few chapters, by all means, please continue sharing which Servant/s you want to be featured next.
Now with that out of the way, time to get on to the reviews from the previous chapter.
Lawoi: Thank you and I'm pretty sure I've already explained why that's the case.
Achagoya0072: I'll keep my mouth shut on the Servant guesses for obvious reasons. I will say though that you seem to be a bit fixated on VAs for some reason although I can understand a little why.
A Reverse Weeb: I'm still waiting by the way, jk xD. I'm not sure which guy you meant when you're saying insult but if it is what I think it is then I truly believe that he said those things not out of malice or anything like that so just relax.
IsekaiFanBoi: While there are a lot of Servants who fit the criteria, I simply slapped Miura into an arrogant Heroic Spirit with blond hair. There is a bit more to it than that but I'll save that for later.
0x66 0x6f 0x63 0x6b 0x65 0x72: I don't know why but you seem awfully confident with your initial guesses for some reason, maybe it's just me. Either way, I like the confidence hahaha.
KafkaOnTheMoon: Unfortunately, the rest of the fight will be described on the next chapter so I'm sorry but you'll have to wait just a little bit longer.
Guest: You seem to be on to something. It's a pity though because it will take some time before your suspicions will be answered.
To everyone else who takes the time to read this fic, a huge thank you to all of you as well.
That's it for this chapter.
I hope we meet again in the next one or in another story of mine.
Reviews, follows and faves are all very much appreciated.
Until next time...
May everyone's good wishes and realities intersect.
Morii Hikikko