Hello everyone and welcome to the start of chapter 87 of the story! Taking the elephant out of the room already: wow. Aoko, Soujuurou and Alice are in FGO. The days that we pondered, fantasized and theorized about happening, have actually, finally happened. And to think there was a time when we thought seeing these characters Arcueid in the game would be a distant occurence, maybe even to never be an actual possibility. Yet, here we are, with all the Type-Moon main heroines featured in FGO. In that, I have to applaud Lasengle for the effort. Now that does kinda leave a speculation for who will be the Anniversary Servant this year. But we've only started May now, so there's still a lot of time left until there.
With that said, let's start it!
DISCLAIMER: All of the Nasuverse characters belong to Nasu and are property of Type-Moon, with the exception of the OC's that belong to me, the author
"One, Two. One, Two. One, Two. Let's keep up the pace men!" Edison told to his troops, commanding the North Army alongside Helena, Robin and Elizabeth.
"For a bait, he is looking very lively." Robin commented the good mood of the inventor.
"Presiking is generally an upbeat man when he feels today will be a great day for him." Helena told to the thief. "So take it as a good sign of fortune for us!"
"That's great and all but his otimism better also stay up if we start getting some difficulties in the war later on." Robin said back to the small occultists. "It's in dire times when we'll see the actual worth of a leader."
"No problem! As long as he has more people support and backing him up, the presiking's spirit will hardly shaken." Helena assured to Robin.
"And even if it does, I have a secret technique that can boost all of the army's morale!" Elizabeth exclaimed.
"Lemme guess. It's a song?" Robin tried to figure, knowing that was probably it.
Elizabeth nodded her head all happily. "Yeah! A song with lyrics composed by me, Elizabeth Báthory! I call it: 'Shine of a Goldmine!'"
"Is that the best name you came up with?" Helena asked with a bit of an embaressed smile.
Robin whispered to the occultist's ear. "She's really bad at singing too. But I think it isn't for the best to deject one of our own's mood right before a war, so let's pretend to like the idea instead." The thief then stared at the lizard idol and smiled at her while doing a thumbs up. "That's an incredible idea Elizabeth! Perhaps hearing some joyful tune is what all these men are needing ahahahaha!" He faked it.
Helena tried to pretend as well. "Y-Yep! I believe you must be quite the singer if you could cheer an whole army up through your music!"
Elizabeth felt flattered by the 'compliments'. "Oh please! I do am aware of my talent, but I'm unsure if I'm to the level of receiving those comments already."
"You lie pretty badly! Don't act like you don't beg to people to praise you!" Robin accused Elizabeth altough only mentally.
"Hahahahaha! I'm sure a big concert with firewroks and special effects and lights would be wonderful!" Edison shared his view on the lizard idol's idea. "Bombastic and vibrant! Right up my alley!"
"Is that a 'yes' for my concert?" Elizabeth asked Edison, stars in her eyes.
"Definetly!" Edison lifted his hand, with a finger up. "And we shall have TWO concerts!" He put a second finger up. "One right before our first battle to motivate our boys! And the second one after we win the war to celebrate!"
"Hell yeah! Thinking like a true idol manager!" Elizabeth replied, overly excited at Edison's idea.
"Don't forget it to also make the lyrics about this glorious homeland that we call America!" Edison told the lizard girl, patriotically. "Every soul lost in this conflict shall be honoured through your music! So keep that in mind while writing the lyrics!"
Feeling the duty entering her body, Elizabeth saluted Edison. "Aye aye, sir!"
"You two can't be real..."
"You two can't be real..."
Both Robin and Helena said to the antics of Elizabeth and Edison.
"Presiking! Secretary Blavatsky!"
A soldier came running torwards the group of servants, clearly distressed.
"Breath calmly son! Tell us, what is it?" Edison said to the soldier, wanting to know what made him come to them in such a hurry.
"Did something happened?" Helena added.
"Enemies! Spotted in the horizon! They're coming over here!"
They all went into alarm with that news.
"What? Hand me the binoculars!" Edison told the soldier to hand him the equipment in order to see the enemy troops in the distance.
"I already see them!" Robin said, watching the army of the adversary a mile away with his eye only. "They come pretty packed up to bring us down." The thief said as Edison had took a quick glance on the binoculars before throwing them away in the next second.
"So here it is. The war that can save America and the world." Edison said in a low voice, almost to himself. "On your positions men!" He roared loudly to his troops. "Prepare to make one last effort!The biggest of them all! Show to those backward barbarians the undying will to protect our homeland! This country's future lies in every single one of your shoulders! So fight for it until your last breath! Make our sacrifice here today be known! FOR AMERICA!"
"YEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!"
A motivated cry from the army roared into the air as loud as Edison's words, every single man being emboldened in fervent wishes to protect their land.
"In the speeches he indeed performs well. I give him that." Robin said, looking at every soldier inspired around him.
Helena giggled. "Well, how do you think he'd be the presiking otherwise?"
"Chit chat is over!" Elizabeth told the two, her spear in hand. "Let's take the enemy down if we want my concert to concretize by the end of this!" She said, gaining a reaction of shame out of Robin and Helena.
Across the battlefield, on the other side, Beowulf stood on top of a chair while being transported by four celtic soldiers. Having reached to a preferable distance, the nordic king ordered the soldiers to lay his chair down. Getting up, Beowulf smirked and sharpened his two iron weapons, staring at the North Army ahead of him.
"My blood is boiling already, hahaha! Bring the action!"
Karna looked at his half-brother, Arjuna, as the two floated in the sky, unperturbed by the wyverns that flew past them, ignoring the two hindu servants while the battle raged on the ground way below them. Sons of the same mother but different fathers, Karna and Arjuna had a long overarching story as nemesis to one another, standing in different sides of a civil conflict that waged on thousands of years ago in India. For that was their lore in the Mahabharata. And now, that mythical rivarly would stretch even in this Singularity of a distant and foreign land.
"I say the same." Karna replied to his sibling's comment. "How many times has it been already only counting this Singularity alone? It's becoming like a routine."
"One that I don't mind doing it countless times until I'm done with you." Arjuna told to his half-brother.
"Do you never get bored by this, Arjuna?" Karna asked genuinely to the archer. "Have you never stopped for one moment to think about this? If this obsession is truly worth it?"
Arjuna closed his eyes for a second. The rivalry and constant search for Karna had been going for so long that it wasn't far-off that the archer had really got a time or another to reflect about the topic. But he wanted to deny that. "Are you trying to win against me by using only words, Karna?"
"And you only joined with the Celtic Empire because they are the enemy faction of the side I'm in, haven't you?" Karna ignored Arjuna's question, instead finding the reason why he was working for the celts. "You don't care at all what their motives are nor their desire to build a new homeland on this country. As long as you can fight me, it's fine by you."
Arjuna let out a small smile. "Hm, was it that transparent to you?"
"As clear as day." Karna said, lowering his spear, offering a hand to his half-brother. "I know you spent little, if any, time with me during our lives, barely having interaction besides of being each others enemy. The relationship and affection you have for me will hardly compare to the affection you have for the rest of your Pandava siblings. To you, I am no more than a mere misbegotten outcast." Karna confessed, wanting to make truces with Arjuna. "However, we can start a new beggining and leave this senseless duels behind. Make amends and fraternize, as true brothers would."
Arjuna contemplated Karna's hand and dialogue, considering te option for a moment. "Brothers, eh?" Altough how endearing Karna had put that perspective in, Arjuna's mind went back to remind him of something. The reason why he longed to fight his half-brother so intensively.
"As a Pandava, I will always be looking for my siblings no matter what happens."
With those memories coming forward into his head, Arjuna's eyes shifted back to Karna's face. "Sorry, but I have things in game because of you." He said, raising Agni Gandiva and pointing it to the hero of charity. "And I'll only be able to keep them by defeating you. So if you truly want to be cordial with me Karna, do let me kill you for once and for all."
Karna's face became a bit sorrowful, slightly disconsolated at seeing that his half-brother choosed to continue his incessant fight against him. "So this is how it's going to be then?"
"Till the very end, until one of us dies again." Arjuna replied, preparing his arrow in order to shot at Karna who went back to wield his Vasavi Shakti.
"Guess I can't do anything but to just accept it." Karna lamented a bit. "Still, I know you are a good person at heart, Arjuna. You aren't one to ignore the suffering of others. So, if you do end up killing me and this personal quest of yours is resolved, will you help my side win this war against the Celtic Empire?" He requested to Arjuna, seeing that if he killed him, there would be no reason left to support the celts.
It was an intresting proposal to say the least. "I don't guarantee any promises." Arjuna told to Karna, staring down at the battlefield to observe his faction fending off against the members of Karna's faction. Doing it, he spotted Peko and Nala fighting together against the waves of celtic soldiers that would approach them. The synergy between those two was seemingly good. Seeing how close the two kids stood next to each other made Arjuna question how hard they would fight in order to both of them to make out of this alive. "But I will give it some thought. We should put the most important matter first."
"No doubt." Karna agreed, a small fiery sun igniting on the tip of his spear. "Ready?"
"Ready." Arjuna replied, shortly before shooting a fast blue arrow from his bow at Karna.
The hero of charity fired the small sun of Vasavi Shakti at the same time, with the collision of the two hindu servants attacks resulting into a massive explosion in the air, erasing all the wyverns that were flying nearby and dispersing the clouds, cleaning the entire sky.
On the ground, Ritsuka and all the others felt the violents and sudden gusts of wind coming down at them, making many of whom were caught off guard to either fall to the floor or fly a bit in the air.
"Gghgrr!" Ritsuka tried to protect himself from the agressiveness of the wind, shielding his own face. "W-What's this!?"
"Master!" Mash immediatly protected Ritsuka by putting herself and the shield in front of him, blocking the wild gale from taking the master of humanity off the ground.
Rama's eyes caught sight on both Karna and Arjuna descending down from the skies as they traded blows between one another. "Karna and Arjuna have started fighting! Everybody watch out! The battlefield is about to go rampant with this!"
Peko stuck his sword on the ground, also resisting the gusts of wind. "Gghg! This is...exactly like that time before in the woods!" He said, remembering of seeing the same levels of raw brutality and power back when he and Nala met Arjuna for the first time.
"Now we know the causes for it!" Nala added, also doing the same thing as her brother. "The power of those two are literally like nuclear bombs!" She exclaimed, seeing another violent impact between Karna and Arjuna as they scorched and obliterated the terrain around them.
"Mm!" Making a quick swing with his spear, Karna attempted to cut Arjuna. The archer teleported out of the way just in time however, with the cut of Karna's Vasavi Shakti hitting a mountain range in the distance, destroying it completely into almost small pieces of stone and rubber.
"Clairvoyance!"
Arjuna conjured some crystal blue balls and put them strategically around Karna before firing another arrow, aiming it at one of the crystal balls. After hitting it, the arrow was redirected at Karna who dodged it. However, the arrow hit the crystal ball that was behind the hero of charity, rebounding it back to Karna who had to avoid the attack again. Being surrounded by the crystal balls, Karna tried to get out of their reach as they followed him, with the sonic arrow going back and forth from one crystal ball to the other while attempting to hit Karna who was in the middle of its trajectory.
"Mana Burst (Flame)!"
With a swing of his spear, Karna released some flames from the weapon, spreading them to the crystal balls that were chasing him, destroying them. Arjuna was already waiting for his half-brother to do that, standing right behind him with an arrow pointed to his head. But in the moment of firing the projectile, Karna antecipated to him by quickly turning around and moving his Visavi Shakti, deflecting the arrow before it could even reach and pierce through the hero of charity's head. Karna then quickly brought his spear down in order to slice Arjuna, who's reflexes were up notch by dodging his half-brother's attack again.
What happened next was a demonstration on how skillful the two hindu servants abilities were, evading perfectly each other's attacks while simultaneously aiming to be the one to land the first blow on the opponent.
Karna went for three gashes on Arjuna's body, with the archer dodging every single one of them through teleportation. Moving his body slightly above Karna, Arjuna tried to destroy his head and body with a single arrow. Unfortunately for him, Karna had sensed his half-brother's presence right behind him, looking back just in time to avoid Arjuna's arrow, who went all the way down to the ground, leading to a huge explosion on the soil. Thankfully it was in an area where neither armies were fighting right now.
As a response to that which came in a matter of miliseconds, Karna brandished Vasavi Shakti and fired a small sun at Arjuna who was still standing behind him. Being agile, Arjuna got out of the harm's way of Karna even if the fiery laser beam scrapped some skin out off his cheek and then evolved into an huge solar explosion right above the two in the skies.
As the battle between them carried on, the explosions would almost be non-stop as they'd move around in the air like flies, shattering and cleansing entire spaces of land with Visavi Shakti and Agni Gandiva respectively.
"At this rate they might as well annihilate the entire country!" Ritsuka commented, looking at the bodies of Karna and Arjuna fying off in the distance while clashing with one another.
"The doctor really wasn't joking when he said that the hindu mythology is on a league of its own!" Mash said, in awe of the two hindu servants power.
"Won't you try and stop them from escalating even more the situation?" Nightingale asked to Rama, who was a hindu servant as well.
"I doubt that I could put a brake to the fight of those two. Even if I'm an avatar of Vishnu, Karna and Arjuna also have a direct connection to the gods of our region. They would just ignore my presence and continue fighting." Rama explained to the nurse why he wouldn't intervene. "I also believe Karna's got this! A calm and composed hero like him hardly loses! I am more needed down here than up there!" He said, looking at the other two hindu servants fighting each other. "Plus, this is a type of duel that no one should have the nerve to stuck in the middle."
Teleporting to the back of a wyvern, Arjuna stood there as he saw other two charging at Karna. The archer fired an arrow to the hero of charity who effortlessly sliced the two monsters but got a slight cut in his abdomen when dodging Arjuna's arrow.
"Kkgh!" Karna cleenched his teeth, the momentum he was having being lost.
"Got you now!" With a trained arm and hand, Arjuna fired a good amount of arrow at Karna all at the same time while the remaining wyvern advanced to take a bite out of the hero of charity.
But being the great warrior that he was, Karna quickly got over the adversity, his Visavi Shakti dismissing all of the arrows Arjuna threw at him at an insane speed. Then, in almost a blink of an eye, Karna swinged his spear right at the wyvern's mouth as it approached him. "I'm not done yet, Arjuna!" He exclaimed, obliterating the insides of the wyvern as Arjuna was fast to get out of the blow's way.
The Pandava was slightly amazed by how his half-brother seemed to have an ability to always get out of a bad situation and quickly turned it the other way around. Every time he thought he finally had Karna surrounded, the hero of charity would incredibly prove him wrong. "Ah, your tendency to evade certain defeat is quite some hassle." He said, a smile sneaking on his face. "But then again, you wouldn't be the warrior you are without it, Karna!" He yelled, sprinting torwards the hero of charity.
"You also don't make things easier yourself, Arjuna!" Karna shouted as well, sprinting at Arjuna, with the two clashing again, their battle farm from over.
Residing and keeping herself safe in the headquarters of the empire, Medb gleefuly took a sip of her passion fruit juice through a straw while sitting on her throne, located on a panoramic view of Washington D.C.
"Hmm, faster!" She ordered to a celtic soldier who was waving a palm leaf on on her right, to wave the leaf with more intensity, feeling a stronger breeze hitting her face. Medb closed her eyes as she smiled in satisfaction. "Much better." In no time short, another celtic soldier appeared, walking torwards her throne with another cup of passion fruit juice in hand, giving it to his queen who had drunk all of the previous one. "Ah! Nothing better than to refresh throat." She joyfully said, stretching and resting her legs on the back of a prisoner of war. "Wouldn't you agree slave?"
"Y-Yes..."
"Yes what?" Medb wasn't happy with the answer given by the captive man.
"Y-Yes indeed Queen Medb! If Your Highness says a refreshen throat is the best thing ever, it's because it is!"
Medb laid her back on the throne after the man gave a more elaborated reply. "I was already thinking you were forgetting it slave. Next time, you better answer me appropriately, or else you'll no longer be of use to me."
"S-Sorry Queen Medb! I-I shall not commit that foolish mistake again! P-Please forgive me!"
"Yeah, yeah. Quit with the wheeping." The queen of Connacht said with boredom, not feeling any pity for the poor man's misery. "Gosh! If majority of you men are easy to break down." She said, rubbing down her heels on the man's back, staring at him with rather disinterest. "But I don't blame you. Most warriors of my land would quiver when in my beautiful presence. It turned things so much fun." Medb smirked with a giggle. "However, it soon became too mundane and predictable with all of them. No one to give me a new perspective or challenge." Medb tilted her head back, passing a hand on her glamorous pink hair. "That's why I treasure Cú Chulainn. He is the only man that made me gain interest in him and wish to spent actual time with. A perfect vision of what a true warrior should be."
"I-I agree Queen Medb! King Cú is-"
"Hush!" Medb kicked the man's back with her heels, silencing him. "I didn't gave you permission to speak, did I?" She said coldly to the man, who let a small whimper, not replying back. "Honestly, for my best slave you do seem to be lacking. Perhaps I should discipline you later after this war is over." Medb thought, planning a hypothetical schedule in her head if the Celtic Empire won the war. "Pff! What 'if' there is to it? We are certainly going to crush our enemy! Such is the might of my empire and Cú!" Medb smiled arrogantly as she looked at the lands on the horizon. "But if those pesky ants due happen to reach here..." She grabbed her whip, giving it a tight grasp. "I'll smash every single one of them!"
Back to the South Army, its troops were beggining to get the control of the battle, starting to push off the celtic army, much thanks to the servants and chaldeans on their side. However, the personal fight between Karna and Arjuna still continued equilibrated, with the victory having chances to fall on either side of the two hindu servants.
Pointing upwards, Arjuna fired a volley of arrows, proceeding to make it rain fall on Karna. "It ends here!"
Facing the upcoming bombing above, Karna flew through the rain, dodging and blocking all of the falling arrows. With a snap of his fingers, Arjuna summoned more crystal balls and put them around Karna, firing a single arrow to rebound on the crystal balls and make the task of his half-brother considerably more difficult. And difficult it was, with Karna having to elude way more attacks, resulting in his evading skill to deteriorate a bit as some arrows scratched his body in the process.
"Tsk! You're putting a lot of effort into this, aren't you, Arjuna?" Karna quickly advanced torwards his half-brother, going as fast as he could go, igniting his spear. Finally exiting from the rain of arrows, the hero of charity's speed was enough to leave the crystal balls that were persuing him behind, reaching close to Arjuna.
"Ghg!" In a blink, Arjuna immediatly teleported out of Karna's way, reappearing some meters behind him to shoot him down with Agni Gandiva. But Karna was counting for that. So the hero of charity turned his body around and threw the flames of Visavi Shakti at Arjuna who at the same time fired another blue arrow, being obliterated once it clashed with his half-brother's spear.
"What-" Arjuna still attempted to protect himself from the attack as it struck him, sending the archer all the way down to the battlefield before exploding.
A huge amount of dust lifted up from that explosion, invading temporarily the whole battlefield.
"Whoa!"
"Another one?!"
Peko and Nala protected themselves from the turbulent dust as they saw some soldiers from both sides being taken away by it. Shortly after, Karna descended from the skies and landed near the two.
"Karna!" Peko exclaimed upon seeing him.
"The peace deal with your brother isn't going well, is it?" Nala speaked to Karna.
From behind the dust curtain, a arrow emerged, going torwards Karna. The hero of charity was about to block it when the arrow changed directions, breaching his defense and piercing through his torso, shocking Karna. "Ghgrh!"
"Karna!" Peko yelled in distress.
Nala took down a celtic soldier before moving her head to look at the wounded allie. "You're okay?"
"Y-Yeah. Just a minor wound." Karna replied, not wanting the two kids to worry about him that much. Looking at the dust vanishing away, Karna observed a wounded and bloodied Arjuna, panting with some fatigue as he was pointing his bow at Karna. The Pandava was now clearly more damaged than him.
"To think you would exceed yourself like that...Such tenacity within you." Arjuna said, powering his next arrow.
"Your persistence also is admirable." Karna commented shortly, also powering his spear. They were about to go for another round.
But Peko wanted to avoid such thing. "Stop!" He put himself in the middle of the two, stretching his arms. "You two have to stop with this bickery!" He exclaimed.
"Peko, don't be a fool! Get out of there!" Nala went to immediatly grab her brother, trying to pull him out from Karna and Arjuna's duel.
Peko however resisted it. "Karna has no ill-feelings for you! All he ever wanted was that you two could finally start bonding with one another as brothers! Whatever conflicts you guys had, it was in the past! Can't you see that he no longer wishes to fight you? That this personal grudge of yours has been going for so long that it has lost its meaning?" Peko confronted Arjuna, upset that the Pandava still wanted to fight his half-brother despite an option to make amends being available. "If you can't see that yet, or you simply chose to ignore it, then you're really a jerk!"
Karna stood behind the boy, listening carefully to his words. He found it disproportionate the way Peko felt angry on his stead, thinking there was no actual need for that. Yet, the hero of charity was mesmerized on how the boy would defend his own desire right in front of Arjuna. But he sighed as reaction. "It isn't that simple, Peko..."
"Yeah! I hope you got the chance to let all that steam out, dummy!" Nala rebuked Peko, still trying to pull him away fromstanding in the middle of the two hindu servants.
"You speak greatly of an hypothetical harmony, not knowing what exactly led to this. Why we fight so vehemently with each other till this day." Arjuna replied to Peko. "Yet, you beg for us two to make peace. Your mind is truly of a child. Naive to the last bit of it." The archer accused Peko's beseeching to be too callow to grasp the motives that made him and Karna be sworn rivals and arch-enemies. He then looked at the other hindu servant in the eyes. "You weren't there to know why I act like this. The things he made me put in line on that day."
India, 10th Century B.C
The sun shinned brightly in an open amphiteater made out of stones and rocks, housing a large crowd of kings, nobles and warriors that came from all different locationg of India. A conference to discuss political aspects and laws of the overall region, negotiations between all kingdoms and empires at the time. Well, that's what was originally meant to be. However, the event had taken an unexpected turn of events, as a legendary family stood out between the hundreads of families that were present at the location. Their name widely and famously known by all of India at this point, considered the elite of hindu royalty.
"Aarghh!"
A warrior yelled out in pain as he was sent flying by the punch of his enemy, crashing into a wall as the whole crowd erupted in noises.
"Bwahahahaha! Did y'all liked it? Who wants to be the next one?" A dark-skinned man flexed his arm muscles to the entire audience, having won the challenge against his opponent. He had a long messy purple hair to the lenght of his back and yellow eyes. A tall and muscular figure that wore two golden gauntlents on his arms, a dark blue and purple mantle with golden lines on it, a grey dhoti pants and a purple veil attached around his waist. His brute strenght was a force of nature that few would dare to go up against. This warrior's name was...
"Splendid, Big Bro Bhima!" Arjuna, wearing a simple light purple sleveless skintight shirt alongside long white gloves, pants and a golden ornament near his neck, clapped and congratulated his older brother, having greatly showed the power of their family. "You didn't gave him a chance!" He said, standing next to his other siblings.
"Ahahaha! What a clean up you did on the floor with that guy's body! As expected from you, Big Bro Bhima!" A young woman also complimented Bhima. She was also dark-skinned, having a short blonde hair with pearl collars in it, the hair covering her left eye, showing only the green iris of the right one, reaching to the neck's lenght. The young woman wore a grey lipstick on her mouth and also had the eyelids painted with grey. She had quite the charming body, being considered by pratically all of India, as the most beautiful person in the world. She wore two dark blue bracelets, a white skintight suit that highlighted well her chest, also wearing a purple mantle with golden patterns around her body. On her back, she had her sword storaged. A khanda with pieces of jewelry embedded on its hilt. She had the same height as Arjuna. The swordsman skills of this woman were feared by many across the region of India.
"Our Big Bro Bhima has no rival! The only taste he will never have is of defeat!" A young man said next to the young woman. He was the youngest and shortest of the siblings. Dark-skinned, with vibrant brown eyes. He wore an orange and blue turban on his head, covering majority of his brown hair. He had a full purple garment with golden and blue horizontal lines over it. He also had a large set pieces of necklaces around his neck and two dark blue earrings. It was rumoured he had a great intelligence inside his head, being described as the most intellectual of the siblings despite the young age.
"Nakula! Sahadeva! Control your excitements a bit!" Arjuna reprimanded his two younger siblings as Bhima approached them.
"Eh, no need to establish a limit here, Arjuna. A victory like this has every right to be celebrated as loud as it can!" Bhima smiled to Arjuna, playfully messing with his younger brother's hair.
"You did well in showing these fools our supremacy, Bhima." A man sitting on a stone throne-like chair said to the the second eldest of the siblings. Resting his face in his hand, the man with long green hair spinned a dice on his other hand. "By now they should already be knowing who they're dealing with." Like the rest of his siblings, the man also had dark-skin, his hair nicely tied up into long bangs by golden ornments. His torso was largely exposed, revealing a tattoo of a wheel of Saṃsāra on his chest, only using a dark blue veil with design of purple lotus in it around his waist and white dhoti.
"They certainly won't be dumb enough to commit that mistake again." Bhima smiled to his older brother, looking at his closed eyes, with six red dots impressed on the man's forehead. The eldest of them all. "Big Bro Yudhishthira."
"Quite frankly, does these bevakoofs plan to attain Nirvana if they can't even be worthy opponents for us, Pandavas?" Yudhishthira condescended the efforts of the other warriors in the amphitheater to defeat the Pandava siblings, who had gleefuly displayed to them their excellence and overall superiority of martial arts and weapon skills. Rulers of the Kuru Kingdom, it was said no one in the land could reach to their level, each one of the siblings being a fertilized product of a different hindu god, being fathered by those divinities due to the fact their mortal and humane father figure having been cursed that kept him from producing heirs with his wife. That made all of the five Pandavas ascend to legendary status in such short time.
"It's ironic. In trying to show their worth they are just humiliating themselves." Arjuna commented. "But I understand it. It isn't every day one can have the gall to fight against us."
"Heh. They could come at us all at the same time that we'd still remain undefeated." Nakula told. "Their mantras cannot even reach to our toes!"
"Let's remain with some modesty, shall we?" Yudhishthira said to his young sister before smiling and looking to the crowd. "So, did you enjoyed my brother's little show? I told you you'd better be sending your greatest warriors." He speaked to the audience, passively mocking them. "But if this is the 'best' that you can challenge us with, then the other kingdoms of India have truly fell from grace."
"Hahahahaha! I wouldn't have said it better, big brother!" Bhima laughed loudly alongside Nakula while Arjuna and Sahadeva would just chuckle and smile in amusement as they gained boos from the entire crowd, having been enfuriated by the words of the eldest Pandava.
And in the middle of that crowd, someone was hugely provoked by it.
"Tsk! Those damn egotistical assholes! They really got their heads so up in their asses haven't they?" A dark skinned man with short red hair, yellow eyes and wearing red gauntlents and greaves on his limbs, his chest exposed and a black and red cape tied around his waist. He seemed very livid, stomping his feet on the ground as he got up from his seat. "Oi, Duryodhana! Send me there! I'll break each single face of those morons!"
Sitting next to the angry man, there was another person. A man with short purple hair, purple eyes and a landing strip goatee on his face alongside a red string hanging on his ear. In contrast to the other man, he was relaxed. "Ah, no need to be ruffling your feathers, Ashwatthama." He wore a simple tight black shirt with a golden strip across it, a black and golden mantle on his shoulders, a white dhoti with more golden lines, a green veil with golden designs tied into his waist, with a purple and red flower in it. "Let them boast as much as they want."
"And allow them to keep laughing at us? To hell with that!" Ashwatthama replied to Duryodhana, who just put his hands on the back of his head.
"Chill out. They won't be laughing for that longer." Duryodhana said to his friend.
"Uhm? And what makes you so sure of that?" Ashwatthama asked to Duryodhana.
The man's smile grew a bit, staring at someone on some seats below them. "Something tells me we're about to be surprised."
Sahadeva took a step forward to the audience as some men dragged out the unconscious warrior that Bhima had defeated from the place. "Any more volunteers? Who dares to be the next one in line to oppose the great strenght of the Pandavas? Don't be afraid and step out! We are willing to lenghten this entertainment." The youngest Pandava goaded for other warriors to approach the siblings, urging for the next combatant.
Some whispers runned around the amphiteathre as the audience looked hesitant to come forward.
Yudhishthira grabbed a cup of water made out of stone and drank it. "Guess the participants have all ran out." He laid down the cup and looked at his youngest sibling. "Let's put a close to this, Sahadeva." He ordered to his young brother who nodded back at him.
"Well, since it seems there won't be anymore warriors willing to such task, we Pandavas-"
"Wait! You have one volunteer right here."
A sudden noise of shock and murmurs sprouted within the crowd as they all wondered who was the brave or foolish soul to have offered itself for the challenge against the Pandava siblings.
A young man walked into the center of the amphiteather, showing himself to the Pandavas. "I'll be the your next challenger."
"Hm?" Arjuna, alongside his siblings, looked with some curiosity to the recent warrior who's posture didn't seemed of someone nervous but rather concentrated and capable.
From the stands, Duryodhana and Ashwatthama stared to the new participant alongside everybody else.
"Who the hell is that guy?" Ashwatthama asked while Duryodhana just let out a small chuckle from his mouth, observing the young man.
"Hmm, I think I never saw you before? What's your name?" Sahadeva asked to the warrior as he stood in front of him.
"Karna." The young man revealed, the looks of the Pandava siblings getting sharper. They could tell that by his mantra, he wasn't like the previous warriors that had challenged them before.
"I see. And what are you good at, Karna?" Sahadeva questioned him.
"There isn't exactly anything that I particularly exceed over exclusively. I do however have some abilities in wielding a bow, spear or even riding a chariot." Karna responded, gaining some whispers of admiration from the crowd.
"Keh! Who this guy think he is with that answer?" Nakula commented, thinking that Karna was positioning himself too high to try and impress her and the rest of her siblings.
"Probably another idiot on his high horse."Bhima replied.
Arjuna and Yudhishthira however remained silent, analyzing Karna. Arjuna in particular couldn't help but feel a surge of interest when Karna said he had some experience with a bow. The third Pandava interpreted it as a possible provokation at him, wanting to test Arjuna out. And the simple estoicism on Karna's face only made Arjuna feel more called out by him. "So you think your skills with a bow are great? I'll shut you up about that!"
Sahadeva continued to talk with Karna. "So you have some dexterity eh? Not bad. I bet the kingdom you are from accolades you as a great warrior." Moving his hands, Sahadeva was about to remove his turban. "Therefore, I, Sahadeva, shall be-"
"Wait a minute, Sahadeva!" Arjuna said to his young sibling, interrupting him before looking at Yudhishthira. "Big Bro Yudhishthira, I want to fight that opponent! Please give me the permission to do so!"
Altough his eyes were closed, Yudhishthira slightly turned his head to stare at Arjuna. "You sure you want it?"
"Yes! Please, allow me to show this imprudent the true might of the Pandavas!" Arjuna requested to his older brother, who could tell Arjuna was with a deep desire to fight Karna.
"Hmm, very well then." Yudhishthira gave permission to his young brother, proceeding to stare to Sahadeva. "And what says you?"
Feeling the sudden request of Arjuna to be a bit weird, Sahadeva complied, not exactly looking upset at having his chance at fighting being stolen by Arjuna. "Fine by me." He removed his hands from the turban, walking back to his siblings. "Make sure to show this person his place, Big Bro Arjuna."
Bhima proceeded to point at Karna. "A warning for you already! You better be prepared for what's coming! Arjuna's maestry with the bow is to a point that there is no one in India that can rival him! You better consider really well your choice!"
Karna didn't felt frightened by Bhima's declaration. "I'm aware of that. I'm sure it will be a great dispute between me and him." He said, unitentionaly nagging the pride of the Pandavas.
"Quite the mouth that you have." Nakula told to Karna before looking at Arjuna. "Big Bro Arjuna, show him how it's done!"
Arjuna nodded to his young sister. "I will." Walking torwards Karna, Arjuna had his bow already in hand. An offering given to him by his divine father, Indra. It would be impossible for such weapon to have something else rivaling it. Arjuna would make sure that Karna understood that message as his eyes looked into his, an edging silence invading the area.
"Have any challenge to test our skills?" Karna asked to Arjuna with a serious face, breaking the silence.
"I do." Arjuna replied.
Within minutes, the two warriors and the entire crowd had moved behind the amphitheater, going near a cliff that gave view to the vast land ahead. Standing on the edge, Arjuna pointed to a tree on a giant earth pillar, far off in the distance. "Two oranges are hanging from a branch of that tree. It's an hard target from here, with only the best of the best archers being able to hit the oranges at such distance. It's an impossible feat to many." Arjuna told to Karna, handing him the challenge. "So? Will you accept it?"
"I will." Karna replied with no hesitation, showing that he was truly confident, slightly surprising Arjuna.
"Why he speaks like he has done this before? Where does all that assuredness comes from?" Arjuna asked to himself in his mind.
"I'll be the one checking if your arrows striked the oranges respectively." Yudhishthira made himself the referee, having an ability to feel the mantra and presence of the oranges that were kilometers away from them. "Arjuna, go first."
"Yes." Arjuna replied to his elder brother, facing the earth pillar's direction. Positioning the bow, he aimed his arrow right at the tree, the branch that contained the two oranges. Pulling the string of his bow, Arjuna hold it firmly, taking notes of the wind's direction and then fired the arrow, flying all the way through the land, hitting successfuly one of the two oranges.
"Good job." Yudhishthira smiled in approval, having sensed Arjuna's orange being taken down.
"Hahahaha! That's how you show them Arjuna!" Bhima congratulated his brother alongside Nakula and Sahadeva.
"Thank you." Arjuna replied to his siblings before turning around and stare at Karna with a prideful smile. ""Your turn now. Take as much time as you like."
"I appreciate the suggestion. But I'll rather pass." Karna said to Arjuna, with the Pandava wondering if he was oblivious to the passive insult thrown at him. Heading to the edge of the cliff, Karna used a golden bow, lifting up and aiming the arrow to the remaining orange of the tree, Karna pulled the string, fixated the place, took the calculations and-
"Ah..." Having his mouth open, a single drop of sweat fell done from Yudhishthira's face as he couldn't believe in it. "He...He managed to hit the orange too."
"Hm?" Arjuna's eyes widened in shock, baffled at what he heard. The rest of the Pandava siblings were also perplexed.
"W-What?!" Bhima exclaimed.
"That can't be!" Nakula added.
But a loud roar of excitment erupted in the crowd behind them.
"Amazing! That guy managed to compete with a Pandava!"
"I thought he wouldn't hit it from here, but he did!"
"Nice shot, Karna guy! You managed to silence those idiots!"
"Eh! This dude ain't looking that bad." Ashwatthama smiled in the middle of the audience.
"What did I told you?" Duryodhana replied to his friend, one of his eyes closed. "And we surely aren't over yet."
"Oi." Karna called out Arjuna, snapping him out from the short state of confusion he was in. "They seemed to like it. Want to do another challenge?" Karna asked to Arjuna, smiling. But it wasn't a smile of arrogance nor of superiority. It was a smile of someone that enjoyed this competition, wanting more of it.
Arjuna however, didn't saw it the same way. "You..."
And so the two proceeded onto other challenges, with Arjuna looking to win over Karna and quiet down the whole crowd. But, his win never came. At every challenge made, Karna would prove to be an opponent equal if not even better than Arjuna, completing the tests with the same efficiency as the Pandava, much to the audience's euphoria and Arjuna and his siblings despair.
"No. This can't be happening."
"What the hell are you doing, Arjuna?! Humble that fool already!" Nakula shouted at him, beggining to get upset.
"I can't be losing! Not to him!"
"What's the problem, Arjuna?" Bhima was not liking what he was seeing. His brother slowly being bested by someone else.
"I...I thought no one could rival me! My skills should be on a level above evryone else!"
"Karna seems to be way more talented than we originally perceived." Sahadeva pointed out. "But even then, this shouldn't be a trouble for you, Arjuna!"
"Yeah. It shouldn't. It shouldn't, but it is! I can't continue to lose like this! I have to honour our family! I am the son of a god! I shouldn't be losing!"
But Arjuna kept losing on the challenges.
"I can't!"
And more.
"I refuse!"
And more.
"How can he do this?!"
And more.
"How could he surpass me?!"
And more.
"HOW!?"
Falling on his knees, Arjuna's face was sweating a lot, the pressure having made him pant for air and mess with his composure and head. It was rare, if not unlikely to see a Pandava fall down, getting defeat after defeat. Looking forward, Arjuna saw the mineral boards that he failed to destroy with his arrow, whereas Karna obliterated every one from his row. The sunset shinning over the amphitheater
"Amazing! Karna destroyed all of the boards from his line and Arjuna only half from his. It's another victory for Karna!"
The crowd cheered once again, loving the wins Karna was getting over Arjuna.
Meanwhile, the rest of the Pandavas all looked dead and serious in the eyes, suffering silently the shared humiliation through Arjuna. Their pride had been hurt.
And Yudhishthira couldn't help but get bothered every time he'd saw Karna's face, even more now that the young warrior had displayed his abilities. "Karna...Karna...Where have I heard that name before?" He wondered, the young man's name not feeling unfamiliar to him. His mantra also felt unusual from that of an average warrior. That's when the elder of the Pandavas begun to ponder Karna's identity while sat on his throne-chair. And the more he wondered, the more he reached to a thought that scared him to the core. "No! It can't be!" Yudhishthira stared disturbed at Karna. When younger, he had heard rumours that his mother, Kunti, had a child before him and his siblings, proceeding to abandon the baby after the birth in order to live with their human father and king of Kuru, Pandu. When putting that theory in mind and looking at Karna and the power of his mantra, Yudhishthira's worries grew stronger, the man more horrified. "He's...!"
"Are you okay?" Karna asked to Arjuna, standing in front of him, offering the Pnadava his hand in order to get up.
Arjuna simply refused. "I don't need it..." He muttered, getting up from the ground on his own.
"This has been quite the long day already. How about we determine who's the best here for once and for all with a fight?" Karna proposed to Arjuna.
"A fight?" Arjuna thought he had heard it wrong.
"Hell yeah! A fight!" Ashwatthama shouted from the middle of the stands. "Beat up that jackass to the ground! Who else wants to see the Pandava get pounded eh?" He yelled to the others from the crowd, who all begun to chant for a fight.
"Oi, oi. You really had to fire them up eh, Ashwatthama?" Duryodhana laughed, standing next to his friend.
Arjuna cursed silently at it. Karna had already showned how better he was than Arjuna during these challenges. If Arjuna couldn't win against him on that, how could he win against Karna in a fight. But Arjuna tried to put those thoughts away. "No! I have to win this! If he wants a fight, I'll give him a fight! I won't walk away with my honour sh-"
"Wait a moment!" Yudhishthira exclaimed, looking at Karna as he gained everyone's attention. "You're aware that we Pandavas are of a royal family. And to fight against a member of a royal family, one needs to be of an higher rank than Kshatriya. Yudhishthira pointed out the laws and details that could make a fight with a royal member possible. "In other words, you have to be from royal status or a noble yourself if you want to fight one of us." Yudhishthira gavve a judging look to Karna. "So do tell me, where are you from? Who are your progenitors?"
Karna gulped. He wasn't aware at all of that. But he had to respond. Perharps they would be even more amazed after knowing his origins. "I'm...son of Radha and Adhiratha Nandana, a charioteer from the Anga Kingdom." He confessed, revealing from where he was from and the identity of his parents.
A smile creeped into Sahadeva's face. "A son of charioteer? That would make you only a merchant right? A Vaishya."
Being stared by everyone in that moment, Karna most likely knew what could happen next, but he still answered. "Yes."
With that being revealed, a dead silence stood amongst everyone in the amphitheatre. The warrior who had challenged a Pandava on equal footing, was nothing more but a son of a merchant charioteer.
"Heh. Hehehehehehe..." Suddenly, Yudhisthira brought a hand to his face as he begun to laugh almost uncontrollably. Taking the hand out of his face, Yudhishthira showed his smile going from ear to ear as he couldn't stop laughing, his eyes slightly showing the pink iris in them. "THE SON OF A CHARIOTEER! HOW PATHETIC! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" The oldest Pandava pointed at Karna, not stopping his laughter. "And you wanted to fight us Pandavas, having such low status? That has to be a joke!"
The entire crowd let out some whispers and murmurs of indignation, appaled to learn Karna's origins.
"He's nothing more but a merchant?" Ashwatthama was also surprised, with Duryodhana not having that big of a reaction, only crossing his arms.
Soon enough, the other Pandavas joined their older sibling in the laughter, mocking collectively Karna's social status.
"I knew something fishy was up with this guy!" Bhima laughed. "What the hell is he doing here? Who invited him?"
"This is a conference for royalty and nobles only, mister merchant! Did you got lost on your way to the market?" Nakula scoffed.
"Perhaps you came here to make some good trades with the kings! Sorry to tell you, but none of us are intrested in the junk you're selling!" Sahadeva added.
Only Arjuna absented from laughing or mocking Karna. "Oi, why the hell are you guys laughing? Can't you see losing to the son of a charioteer is even more embarassing?" He said, deep down understanding his siblings were trying to save face here.
"Honestly, people like you these days..." Calming down with his laughter, Yudhishthira dropped his smile, giving a threatening look to Karna. "Are nothing but dogs! What made you think you could come here and bite us?" He insulted Karna. "The fact you genuinely thought you could fight one of my siblings while being from such deplorable backgrounds, is enough to make me want to puke. Your foolishness should be a crime!" He raised his voice, with an imperal, demanding tone, ordering respect. "But I'm willing to let you go this time. Do a favour and never dare to show us your face again, you immund dog." Yudhishthira laid his back again on the throne, making his message clear to Karna.
Arjuna couldn't help but feel he's older brother had been sharply cold to Karna, seeing his opponent lowering his head, the eyes covered by the hair. Arjuna opted to not defend him or speak up however.
"Sorry." Karna replied, having been hugely shamed by the rest of the Pandavas. "I was passing by this conference and let my emotions of seeing such great warriors in action take the best of me. I should have controled my head better." Karna stared at Yudhishthira and the other Pandavas. "It won't happen again. This will be the last time you'll see my face." With that said, Karna turned around and proceeded to walk away from the amphitheatre, but not before giving a glance at Arjuna's face.
"..." Arjuna could tell there was something on his opponent's eyes. A mixture of sadness, some anger, but desire to see him again. To duel Arjuna once more. That maybe there could be a chance of having the fight they wanted.
"Don't forget to pick up your mule at the exit!" Bhima told to Karna as he walked away, the Pandavas still shaming Karna even when he was going out.
It was an hard and humiliating day for Arjuna, having put his family's name almost in the mud, making other royal families lose some respect for the Pandavas. How could a royal man lose to the son of a merchant?
But the thing that hurted Arjuna the most that day, was yet to come, later at night.
Kuru Palace, Later That Day
Walking on the halls of their palace, Arjuna passed by a pristine vault that would connect to one of their many balconies. Outside, Yudhishthira was gazing at the moon, sitting on a bench. "Big Brother Yudhishthira." Arjuna stepped into the balcony, approaching his older sibling.
"Hi, Arjuna." Yudhishthira greeted Arjuna back, with the young sibling sitting next to him. The two were silent between each other for a few seconds.
"About earlier today..." Arjuna tried to look for the right words, mustering some strength to say it out loud. "I'm sorry for my display. I let you all down."
Hearing that, Yudhishthira didn't exactly consoled his brother yet. Instead he revealed a parijata flower on his hand, looking at it. "Do you remember of what our father said one day, what should we do after he died as the new rulers of the kingdom, Arjuna?"
"To remain all loyal and close to one another. That as the Pandavas, our union was also the kingdom's union." Arjuna stated, remembering it.
"Hm hm. And what else?" Yudhishthira tried to see if Arjuna remembered more.
"To...never allow to be weak in front of your enemies..." Arjuna said, deepening his fingers on the skin of his knees. "I failed him..! I failed all of you!" Arjuna closed his eyes in shame. "It wasn't supposed for me to be here! You should have exiled me after such humiliation!"
"But would that kept us united, Arjuna?" Yudhishthira speaked, not sharing the same opinion as his younger brother. "Would that be what our father and mothers wanted to see?" He moved the parajita on his hand, staring at it. "Our devine fathers have blessed each of us. And I believe those blessings were having one another as siblings to rely on." Yudhishithira looked up to the moon. "I lack the coldness to abandon or exile any of you. Remember Arjuna..." He stared to Arjuna. "As a Pandava, I will always be looking for my siblings no matter what happens."
Arjuna felt a huge comfort in those words, seemingly being forgiven by his older brother. "Understood, Big Bro Yudhishthira." He smiled. "Our family shall stay strong and united, despite all the troubles that may befall on the future."
Yudhishthira nodded. "Indeed." He got up from the bench. "And one more thing Arjuna." He said. "As a brother, I will always continue to love you. Still..." Turning his head around, Yudhishthira looked at his young brother with a stern face of shame.
"Dare to lose again and you shall never call yourself a Pandava for the rest of your life."
Present
"From that moment onwards, my older brother couldn't look at me the same way he did before." Arjuna told to Karna, Peko and Nala. "No matter how many times he smiled to me, laughed with me or even said he loved me, I could always tell the subtile change on his face everytime he'd look at me." Ressentful, Arjuna stared at Karna. "You made my older brother despise me, Karna!" He shouted. Arjuna knew Yudhishthira was a patient and good intentioned man. But even the patient and good men had their limits. "You took away my dignity and stripped me from my brother's love that day! Ever since then, I aim to defeat you! Because only then, will I be able to look at my brother's eyes with no shame anymore!"
"So it's all about getting those things back, huh?" Nala replied to Arjuna's statement. "You're not actually obsessed with defeating Karna then. You're obsessed with wanting your worth and your brother's approval back."
"You aren't wrong. And they cannot be restored with such simple methods as forgiveness. That would never redeem me in the eyes of my brother." Arjuna said. "Until I defeat Karna in a honoured duel, my name will always be stained alongside with the Pandavas."
Being explained the problem, Peko had slightly given up on the idea of Karna and Arjuna making both peace. "Then there is no other way to resolve this..." He lamented. "But still...why can't you and your siblings accept Karna? You're all related after all-"
"That's enough Peko." Karna put a hand on the boy's shoulder. "These are matters that go way beyond simple rationality. Many on his shoes would do the same. Perhaps myself included." He lowered his head on that last phrase.
"Karna..." Peko murmured to the hero of charity.
"Arjuna. If that's the reason you hate me so, then I don't judge you. Getting robbed of someone's affection and own dignity is truly horrible. I'm sorry if stole them away from you." Karna apologized to his half-brother.
"A bit late for a pardon, don't you think?" Arjuna replied, not taking it gladly.
"I am not asking for pardon here. I'm just letting you know it was never my intention to make you feel miserable that day." Karna responded. "If I knew that it would led to such misfortune, I wouldn't have fought you." He charged his Visavi Shakti.
"But you did. And nothing can change that now. Nothing can bring me peace if not for your death. The fight at the Kurukshetra War never counted, as there was no honor in it." Arjuna readied Agni Gandiva, pointing it at Karna. "This time, it shall be done the right way!"
Nearby, Ritsuka, Mash, Rama and Nightingale had made some progress through defeating celtic soldiers around them.
"What's happening?" Ritsuka asked before seeing Arjuna pointing an arrow at Karna.
"Guys! Step back!" Peko warned them.
"Karna and Arjuna are about to clash again! We have to retreat!" Nala added.
Shortly after, Karna and Arjuna both gave a serious glare to one another, concentrating in the moment. And as the next second passed, they both attacked.
"Take this!" Arjuna fired a powerful blue arrow at Karna.
"Hmph!" Envolving his spear in fire, Karna made a fire slice, destroying completely his half-brother's arrow.
"Knowledge of the Deprived!"
"Gngh!?" Arjuna attempted to teleport away, but his body flinched, being sliced by a powerful cut of Karna's spear on his torso, releasing flames from it.
"Karna landed a critical hit!" Mash exclaimed, seeing the fight.
"Arjuna, if it was only up to me, I would consider in letting you win if that brought you tranquility to your soul."
Appearing right behind the archer, Karna's spear had evolved, the sun blazes revealing the weapon as a spear with a large black blade having a metal as dark as a shadow. A golden eye in the middle of it. The entire spear had vivid purple lines shinning over its texture, burning all of the grass and other vegitation around with a heat as powerful as of the sun.
Rama seemed to recognize it in the distance. "That's...Vasavi Shakti's true form!"
"Unfortunately, due to the situation we're in, I cannot allow myself to be killed by you."
Turning around, Karna pointed Vasavi Shakti in all its glory to Arjuna, going to pierce him in the back.
"Hence why, next time we eventually me, I'll tell you this: All I ever wanted on that day, was to meet and impress strong people like you and your siblings."
Arjuna could do nothing but to just watch as Karna was about to kill him with the destructive power that was Vasavi Shakti. Once again, he wouldn't be able to defeat his rival in a honrable way.
"May we one day, fight each other, not as enemies, but as true brothers instead. Goodbye, Arjuna."
And Karna's arm moved to throw Vasavi Shakti at his opponent.
*THRUST*
But Arjuna never got to be striked down.
"...Eh?" Taking the arms awat from his face, Arjuna wondered why Karna didn't finished him.
The chaldeans alongside Nightingale and Rama were thinking of the same thing, with the brightness of Karna's spear having dissapeared all of a sudden.
"I don't get it." Peko said. "Why did Karna stop-"
"There!" Nightingale exclaimed, pointing to someone behind Karna.
The hero of charity himself had been cowardly attacked, getting a surprise blow on his back, being pierced by a red spear that impaled his chest, right through his Spirit Core.
Karna was absolutely staggered by it, blood coming our from his chest and mouth. "W...What...?"
"Kehehehe. Not so fast." The owner of the red spear cackled behind Karna. The meddler that interrupted the climax of Karna's fight with Arjuna. It was none other than Cú Alter. "One less problem to worry about!"
To be continued...
And that was it for chapter 87!
And the title for this one was quite fitting eh? (wink wink) Literally an event of the Mahabharata epic being put right here on this fic! (Okay, I'm aware that this wasn't exactly a recreation of the Kuru conference of the epic down to a T, but I'm sure there have been some interpretations and different versions of that conference throughout history already).
You damn know I wouldn't let this opportunity pass by without giving some designs to the remaining siblings of the Pandavas that still aren't featured in the game so far. (Unless I wake up tomorrow after the chapter is published and FGO announces the last 3 Pandava siblings lol). And of course I had to genderbend one of the siblings here. Because, let's be real guys, this is Fate we're talking about, of course one of the Pandava brothers would be turned into a waifu.
So this chapter was literally that, A hindu tale! We dwelve deep into the mythological lore here!
But anyways, that's all I wanted to say, and see you next time on chapter 88! Peace!
P.S:
SERVANTMON! (Gonna summon 'em all!)
Gudao (Male Ritsuka): Oi oi guys! Are you all ready for another episode of Servantmon?
Gudako (Female Ritsuka): I sure hope you all are! Because today's summoning are going to be wild!
Gudao and Gudako: Let's summon those servants!
(The two masters use a ticket summoning on the gacha, summoning their first servant of the day)
Gilgamesh: Hahahahaha! For you to have summon me like this, your-
Gudako (Pointing at Gilgamesh): A servant has appeared! Let's capture him!
Gudao (Turning his cap backwards): Here goes! Go servantball!
(The servantball hits Gilgamesh on the head, interrupting his line. A bump growing on his head)
Gilgamesh:...
Gudao:...
Gudako:...
*Three Days Later*
Mash (Wearing a funeral dress while standing next to both masters coffins): We're here today to mourn and say our goodbyes to our two beloved masters. May their souls and stupidity rest in pea-
Goredolf (Interrupts her): Oh please, cut with that crap! With all type of death deities we have here in Chaldea, they'll most surely be back from the underworld by now!