122: Hitachibou Kaison

The rain continues to drum against my little tent. Outside, I hear the agitated whinny and shlopping footsteps of a passing horse. Behind it, a wagon creaks, its wheels splattering reeking mud.

"Stop. Let me see your pass," A voice calls out, and the man driving the wagon grumbles.

Still, he obliges, introducing himself as a merchant carrying cooking oil to the next territory.

Drip. Drip, Drip. A leak in the roof continues to drip a steady trickle onto the exposed blade of my trembling sword.

Atone.

"So? What's up with that tent there? That allowed so close to a border checkpoint?" The merchant asks, and I grit my teeth.

"That guy? Ah, it's just some monk. He hasn't tried to force his way through or anything, and I'm not looking to upset the Buddha."

The sword just barely breaks the skin of my stomach, and I drop it, clutching both hands to my face.

Atone. Atone. Atone.

"Ah, that so? Oh, speaking of monks."

Why are you still alive?

"I heard Lord Yoshitsune, and those monks he was traveling with, were finally killed."

Why are you still alive, Hitachibou Kaison!?

"Seriously?" The guard says with a slight laugh. "I couldn't imagine anyone killing that big scary one- what was his name again? Mukade?"

"Who's gonna name a monk 'centipede', man?" Another guard says, laughing. "It was…"

"Musashibou Benkei," I finally speak, voice hoarse.

"Musashibou, that's the one!" The guard laughs. "Thanks, mister! Anyway, it's not that big a shock, right? Any man's gotta fall if you shoot enough arrows-?"

"He was still standing," I mutter. "For hours, until Lord Yoritomo's men grew brave enough to check. Musashibou Benkei died standing, and stood for hours still, even as a corpse."

"There is no salvation for a traitor. But, even so," I exit my tent, the tears in my eyes mixing with the rain as I gaze on the three men there in desperation. "This worthless one, who managed to survive, begs of you - please, at the very least allow me to share that man's story."

The mightiest hero of Greece stands atop an iceberg, and nocks an arrow.

He is powerful. Terribly so - and yet, for some reason he has come to meet us. Although by all rights he could have ended us by raining death from afar, he has come to meet us, and give us a fighting chance.

Cu Chulainn has drawn his spear. Mash Kyrielight has readied her shield. And I, the strongest one of us three-

Coward.

-am trembling, inside my soul.

Atone. Atone. Atone.

But, Musashibou Benkei was a brave warrior, and by some curse, I bear his name at this moment.

Dismissing my clones, abandoning the leyline plan, and summoning a new batch for this fight… won't be necessary.

I can end this in one strike. As a Grand Servant, I'm at least the same speed as him - my Agility is C-rank, but the C-rank of a Grand is on par with the A-rank of a normal Servant. My strength far surpasses his endurance, and if he takes a single hit from me, he will die. If Jason is correct, he can come back, but only once.

He possesses clones made of ice - but thinking of them as clones is incorrect. They aren't like my Benkei Butsu, created by a Noble Phantasm - their true nature is simply autonomous ice familiars. How he obtained the ability to make them doesn't matter right now; what matters is the knowledge that no familiar can fight at the same speed and power as a Servant. They are glorified weapons platforms, only useful for firing attacks.

Alcides has a shroud that nullifies all weapons made of human hands - right now, it's covering his face, and by extension most of his body. However, that is to my benefit. I can nullify that expected defense by stealing it with [Eighth Implement], at which point he will be exposed to a lethal blow, and I will gain an absolute defense against his counterattack. The only necessary item is an opening.

"[EMM]!" Subaru shouts something, and Mash turns towards him in shock - there.

Alcides fires, his copies following suit as both real arrows and those made of ice strike like lightning. In the same moment, I draw.

My blade beats down all arrows in my path as I leap towards him.

Not yet. Not yet. Wait for the very last moment.

I close fifty meters between us in a second. {By my Command Spell, stop where you are.} My [Blank Subscription List]'s fraudulent Command Spell…

"[Reincarnation…" He begins to chant.

-fails to influence him. So be it. "[Eighth…"

"-Pandora]." He concludes.

"-Implement]!" I shout.

Of my three Noble Phantasms, [Benkei Butsu] is doubtless the best in one-on-one combat.

Atone.

The inability to control the number of clones produced aside, the fact is that none of these clones are significantly weaker than the original. Each clone takes one of my seven weapons (the eighth Benkei having to make do with unarmed attacks, or the use of [Eighth Implement]), but ultimately losing access to one of many weapons is usually no big deal.

Atone. Atone. Atone.

And, of course, the fact is that no matter which is killed, the clone or the original, I will not die unless all copies are destroyed. In that sense, you could say that there is 'no original'. Furthermore, when a clone is slain, all copies have their strength enhanced temporarily, and the weapon wielded by that copy is sent to another copy at random. If I cancel the Noble Phantasm early, I can choose which body remains, and enhancement proportional to the lost clones will be applied to it.

Why are you still alive?

-However, what would happen if [Benkei Butsu] were canceled against my will?

Would a body be chosen at random? Would the body possessing the most of my weapons be chosen?

Why are you still alive, Hitachibou Kaison!?

I know the truth. The body chosen would be the one that I, instinctively, choose in that split second of the Noble Phantasm's activation.

Musashibou Benkei would have no problem with that. He would always choose correctly.

Musashibou Benkei would have stood by his allies to the very end.

But I am Hitachibou Kaison, a coward who failed to die.

As I gaze upon the very same island that I was summoned to, far away from my allies, I press a katana against my stomach, tears and sweat rolling down my face - and drive it in.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

Achieving nothing, the False Grand Lancer passes away from this world in the desperate hope that the True might arrive.

-And then, a moment later, I return.

"...What?" I mutter. "Even now, I can't die?"

Well, of course I can't. I still had [Chiron's Immortality] from Alcides's Noble Phantasm - wait, I did!?

Didn't I get the Nemean Lion's Pelt? Yes, it's right there on the ground-

"[Stymphalian Bird]." A bronze-feathered bird answer's my call, manifesting just in front of me. "You're kidding… I got the whole set!?"

In that case…

"Then I can still make it," I mutter, mounting the bird. Please. Please, let me make it in time.

As my mount takes off, my last sight before returning here flits through my mind. Alcides, his grimacing face exposed. Those strange eyes of his which I had expected to be full of contempt, in that moment were… no, I had to be mistaken.

The true Benkei would stand strong. Alcides's appearance wouldn't be enough to unsettle him.

But as for me, there's something about it - that wild-haired face, crowned with horns, with eyes full of admiration of all things - that makes me shudder.