89: Irresistible

We are Ley Batenkaitos, Witch Cult Archbishop of Gluttony, representing gourmet eating. We are Ley Batenkaitos, and we are starving.

As the Steel Trap Castle closes around us, we don't even care. We can't resist it now. We can't forget. Ahh, Atalanta… you ruined us, and we love you for it. How can we go back now!? All of the meals before this were nothing!

The [Leaper's Talent] frees us from the chains, and we pounce upon him. We spin head over heels and strike with our tail, but his sword - [Arondight], the Grail provides - carves through our flesh and removes it.

What is a story without an ending? What is life without death? Heroic spirits… what a wonderful opportunity, to taste, to lick, to gnaw, to crunch, to tear into, to consume, to devour the greatest lives of all, to their very end, missing absolutely nothing!

If this was what awaited us, we wish we had died much sooner.

The sword has been swung. We swipe with both claws, from opposite sides. Lancelot can only possibly block one-

He blocks neither. He bends backwards, stretching with flexibility so perfect that it would have made the dancer Pristina Galliana green with envy. Our claws clap together in empty air, and we bring them down upon him, but the bottom edge of the shield bites into our wrists, holding back the blow. His muscles must be beyond even the [Carnivorous Beast] Beli Hainelga, we realize as his feet leave the ground, the shield twisting to redirect the blow to his side, and his foot impacting us with a spinning kick.

{"You can't win this, Ley. Want me to bail you out? I've still got another command spell."} Francesca asks. {"Do you really want to play into Natsuki Subaru's-"}

We land against the wall with human feet once more.

"Don't you dare!" We scream, both aloud and telepathically. "We don't care about Natsuki Subaru, we can't leave now! Just give us more! Give us everything, all of it, command spell, mana, advice, blessings-! Master, we can't stand it!"

{"Then, by my command spell, eat to your heart's content!"} Francesca replies, and might surges through us.

"Thank you for the meal, sluuurp!~" We shout, and cross the gap with the [Leaper's Talent]. Sword meets both of our blades and shield swings for our head. Again, we move, left hand outstretched as we approach from the opposite side, but his footwork is perfect, flawless, without peer, it's certainly peerless, because it's supreme, and it's spectacular- and it's all we can do to block his knee with our blades before he can strike our face.

We move again, and the sword is there. Again, and the shield is there, Again, and a foot, our a knee, or an elbow, or his head-

"Lanceloot!" We howl with delight as sparks fill the dark castle from our rapid exchange of blades. "Lancelot, Lancelot, Lancelot! You are gourmet! You are our greatest dish! We can't resist it, slurp~! You are supreme, you are sublime, surely not even the Sword Saint could measure up! He was born mighty, and you-!"

He steps around the [Palm of the Fist King], shield catching our wrist as sword thrusts for our neck, but we move again.

"We know, from the throne, for every ounce of talent, twice as much is effort! We know, from the throne, hints of the emotional spice that makes up your life! Ah, this appetizer! No wonder you looked at us with contempt, Natsuki Subaru, when the meals of your world were like this! This is the greatest! We're so glad that we died, sluuuurp~!" We yell. "Hahaha! We'll die again! We'll die for this meal, any number of times!"

Give us more! The appetizer isn't anything near enough! Give us everything, Lancelot! And in return we'll give you all of us as well! We don't even care now, if we lose our existence! What little remains will burn this into our heart and carry it to the throne to digest for eternity-!

"Thank you for this feast! [Total Eclipse]!" We howl, and our world unfolds. Every one of our three-hundred-seventy-six lives, invoked at once, within the Reality Marble contained in our stomach.

Our shape does not change, but we are all at once. We are the almighty muscles of Beli Hainelga. We are the peerless hand-to-hand power of Neiji Rockheart. We are the unnatural agility of Dorkell. We are unbreakable scales of the Dragon, Fafnir. We are the Oni maid Rem. We are the Witch of Glaciation, Emilia. We are Julius Juuklius. We are Atalante. We are every one of them-!

Rem's horn, along with the horns of six other Oni, and the mana absorption of three other people with defective gates swallow all the mana in this iron room. Emilia's [Ice Brand Arts] target his lady, along with the spells of a hundred other skilled magic users.

Lancelot throws his shield, chains catching it moving it to protect Guinevere as he grasps his blade in both hands. Something like awareness burns in his eyes now. "Reach the edge of the world and go beyond its limit."

Dorkell's talent, Atalanta's [Crossing Arcadia], and the unique talents of over fifty other athletes rush through us as we close the gap. Beli Hainelga's [Palm of the Fist King], the [Carnivore]'s body, Rem's augmented strength, Julius's skill with the blade, the Dragon Fafnir, and a hundred other lives with unnatural strength are in our limbs as we swing down both of our hands, claws, blades, hammers-

Chains catch our arms, and we break them. We come within inches. His blade glows brilliantly. "O distant king, witness this light. [Arondight…"

We strike. The martial arts of Beli Hainelga and fifty like him reach the strongest knight. We tear two dozen holes through his body.

"Sir Lancelot-!" Someone behind a shield shouts

"...Overlooooaaaad]!" He roars, and our body is warm.

We land a few feet away. Our legs land somewhere else. Our reality marble spills on the cold iron floor.

That's fine. We win. We touched him, in all of that. Thanks for the meal, we know our… who was it again? She'll love it. We know it.

We lick our hand, and nothing happens.

Oh, right, the name, the name. What was his name again? It's our greatest meal, we can't possibly forget.

The name, the name, the name, we can't remember, what was it, what was it, why can't we remember, why can't I remember!?

I.

Who am 'I', again?

Gareth Beumains

As Ley Batenkaitos slowly dissolves into golden dust, licking his hand over and over with a confused look on his face, I feel a little bit of pity. But most of my attention is still on Sir Lancelot, as he staggers toward me, heedless of his wounds.

"Gui..ne..vere…" He warbles. Reaching out and stroking my cheek with a gauntleted hand.

It was a fun fantasy, being protected by Sir Lancelot, being looked at with the same eyes he looked at the Queen with. But it makes me feel dirty too, and if I let it go too far past this point I might end up as bad as that Elaine woman. "Please forgive me."

Sir Lancelot gasps as my spear pierces his Spirit Origin.

I catch him as he falls, and lower him gently, resting his head on my lap as I sit and wait for the greatest Knight of the Round Table to disappear.

He stares back at me, with eyes that don't see my face - and then, he blinks, and somehow, miraculously, the mist fades and I finally see his eyes as I remember them.

"Ah… Gareth. It was you." He lets out a small sigh, and I smile back. "I… don't mind punishment at your hands. I… really, if I had only seen it was you then-!" his breath hitches.

"Punishment, huh? Is that why you kept yelling for the king?" I ask, and he closes his eyes in response. "But, I'm sorry, I can't be the one to condemn you."

"But I-!" He rasps, voice cracking. "I… killed you. With my own two hands, I-!"

"Even for killing me, I can't condemn you. Because that very decisiveness, that mad devotion to love so great that you wouldn't even hesitate to kill another who loved you if it was for her sake… those things are also part of what I admire about Sir Lancelot." I don't wish that he lacked those traits. I only wish that they had been directed-

"Forgiveness for something like this… just makes me feel even worse." He mumbles, closing his eyes and leaning back further against my lap pillow. Hmph, your words and actions sure are at odds again, Sir Lancelot. Not that I'm complaining.

A wicked idea springs to mind, and I almost ignore it. But then, who will know? Sir Lancelot will probably just forget when he returns to the throne, and no one else is here to see. I really can't resist.

"...Shall I punish you, then?" I ask, heart pounding.

"-Hm?" He asks, eyes opening, and then growing wide.

His lips taste like iron.

A moment passes, and I pull away.

"...That's a very cruel punishment, Gareth." He mumbles.

"Well, I'm the daughter of a witch after all." I giggle.

Sir Lancelot lets out a wet chuckle as tears start to pour from his eyes. "...I wish I had loved you."

"That would have made things much less troublesome, wouldn't it have?" I ask.

He'll forget this. But as for me, I'll be carving it onto my Spirit Origin as deep as possible. Even if he might have said the same thing to Galahad's mother, or the Lady of Shalott.

I stroke his hair as we sit upon the marble floor, and a few moments later Lancelot and [Joyous Gard] both dissolve and blow away on the gentle French breeze.

Compendium Update: Ley Batenkaitos

Noble Phantasm Updated!

The Whale Devours Itself: Total Eclipse

Rank: -

Type: Anti-Existence (Self)

Range: -

Maximum number of targets: 1 Person

A Sub-Phantasm of [Gluttony].

The true potential of [Gluttony], a step beyond even what Ley achieved just prior to the end of his life. All names and memories are invoked at once, through the medium of a Reality Marble created within Foreigner's stomach. Through the imposition upon reality, all of the physical abilities and skills of every person Ley has ever eaten can be utilized.

However, this ability is several orders of magnitude more corrosive to Ley's sense of self than Solar Eclipse, and the total time he can utilize it without completely erasing himself amounts to a mere four seconds.

Incidentally, Roy Alphard and Louis Arneb also obtain this ability when summoned as Foreigners. The latter can utilize it for up to six seconds; the former can only manage two. (Reid, of course, could utilize Total Eclipse for up to a minute without any serious side-effects. However, since he thinks it's gross, the situations under which he would actually do so are close to none.)