142: Catching Up

As I disembark, my feet landing on soft white sands, and take in the sight of the servants Rigel has brought with him to our meeting place, an obvious question comes to mind. One is a middle-aged man in what looks like a pirate outfit; the other a middle-aged man in a green tabard and armor, and so-

"Which one's Circe?" I ask after a moment's thought.

"Isn't it obvious that it's neither?" Rigel retorts with a groan. Well, I figured as much. So if the pirate is the rumored Stede Bonnet, then the armored warrior is probably…

"Oh, Hector. You survived after all," Jason says with a huff of breath somewhere between exasperation and relief.

"Well, I'm not the type to pick a fight with people way above my level, so I surrendered the moment that Hauroy guy broke my [Durindana," the Hero of Troy says with a self-deprecating laugh.

"...After all, why wouldn't Reid be able to break an unbreakable spear." I mumble. "Wait, you're down your spear, and you don't want to fight people out of your league, but you decided to show up to a fight with Hercules of all people?"

"Uh, no? I just hitched a ride with these guys since it seemed like the safest way off of Circe's island," He chuckles. "I'll give you a bit of help in the planning as payment, but then I'm outta here. I've got no intention of getting involved with this mess."

"I feel like we've got enough strategists at this point, so are you sure there isn't even the tiniest extra help you can give us!?" Jason shouts.

"Well, I grabbed this on our way out of the Witch's lair. Whatever it is," Hector says, picking up a glass bottle full of something black and squirming that had been resting upon the sand.

It takes a moment to recognize it. A writhing black sludge, dashing itself this way and that against the confines of its container. But finally, comparing it against all my memories, I remember one other encounter with a violent slime like this one- a brief sighting, quickly cut down by the blade of Reid Astrea close to the end of the first - no, it was the second loop in France.

"The [Black Serpent]'s venom," I half whisper in recognition. "Reid must have summoned it some time during his fight with Alcides… the poison it spits can survive after the snake itself is dead."

Rigel's eyes just about fall out of his skull. "Wait, you threw down with the third Great Witchbeast too!?"

"Not exactly… I'll tell you later, the important part is - that poison is alive, and it's hungry," I explain. "We should probably just get rid of it, though. It's not Hydra Venom, and we've got the real thing, so-"

"No, about that, it's supposed to have the qualities of 'every single poison', right?" Rigel asks. "I don't think hydra venom exists as such in the other world, but if it's a conceptual effect that might not matter…"

"Even if that's true, I feel like what we've got in this mushroom is more convenient," I say, shaking my head.

"Wait, hold up, I didn't question you stumbling onto real hydra venom, but what's this about a mushroom?" Rigel asks.

Ah, right. I guess we should probably exchange information first, huh?

"Looks like there's gonna be more yapping here, so do ya mind if I tag out?" Grimr asks, and I glance towards him. "Word is I'm being called back, so I figure we might as well take care of that while you're going over those details."

"...Ah, yeah. Is that okay with you?" I ask. "I know you were looking to get a good fight out of this singularity."

"Nah, it's fine. I sent most of that steam with the 'Cu Chulainn' part of my Spirit Origin when we separated," He explains, and then pauses for a moment. "Hey, kid. I don't think you gotta be told this, but don't die, okay? I'd be pretty pissed if you went and bit it after all this."

"You don't have to worry about that," I say simply. "We're going to crush this guy."

"That's the spirit!" He laughs, and starts walking inland.

And so, following that, the exposition begins.

"-and that brings us to right now, more or less." I conclude.

"On that note, what became of Elizabeth Bathory?" Rigel asks. "I don't see her anywhere…"

"Ah… well, there was a kind of regrettable exchange along the lines of her outfit being a bit tasteless, so she got uncharacteristically embarrassed and hid below deck - Medea-san, Jason said you were good with embroidery, so could you help me redesign Eliza's costume later?" My explanation turns into a question midway through.

"What did you have in mind?" Medea asks with a cute amount of excitement in her voice.

"Ah… I don't really have any of my drawings on hand, so let's get into it later, okay Medea-chan?"

"Don't start flirting with her, you bastard. I'll pick up where we left off," Rigel scowls at me.

"No, putting that aside, when did this Elizabeth earn a nickname, Subaru-kun?" Rem asks, her voice suggesting a frown. "There's Nobunaga as well… and Mash Kyrielight…"

"They call themselves that, so it can't be helped!" I retort. "Besides, I'm pretty sure I started throwing nicknames at you from the moment we met!"

"Well, Senpai is friendly with everyone… but he just used Nobunaga's catchphrase, so her influence on him has already reached concerning levels," Mash notes.

""Well, we're Master and Servant, so it can't be helped!"" Nobunaga and I somehow deliver the exact same line at the same time. No, actually, that level of synchronicity is pretty concerning!

I hear a low whistle from behind me. "Man, that's some bond you've managed to develop in just a few days. It'd be pretty great if I was able to develop something like that…" Beryl Gut says almost wistfully. Right, there's this guy.

"On that note, you said you summoned someone, right?" I ask. "Are they just being shy, or-?"

"Well, she is shy, but this was my call," He pushes up his glasses, and they glint in the sunlight. "...See, the way I'm looking at it, this might just be an alliance of convenience for the Non-Chaldeans here. We might be working together for now, but… not just that Alter Ego, but Jason had his own designs on the Grail, right? There's nothing saying we'll remain allies after Hercules is defeated, so I think I'll keep my cards close to my chest on this." He pauses for a moment, as I grind my teeth in agitation.

"Rigel… Jason too… they're not like that. They aren't just opportunistically-" I mutter.

"Really? Then why hasn't anyone brought up the obvious?" He gives a big shrug, and a malicious looking grin crosses his face. "Why don't we, of Chaldea, just take the Grail and leave? There's no reason why we have to make our stand against Hercules now, especially not when he's got plans to go bring down humanity's adversaries right after this."

…

"...Are you stupid?" Jason groans. "Not just God Hand, but King's Order as well - Hercules has Noble Phantasms that symbolize his completion of impossible tasks. Do you really say - for absolute certain - that defeating the Beasts of Humanity won't add to that number of labors?"

Beryl closes his eyes for a moment. "It shouldn't be possible, really. Servants's legends are supposed to be set in stone. But the rules with this guy… seem like they're already out the window." Finally, he lets out a big laugh. "Well, damn, I guess I really can't say it's impossible, huh?"

"But on the issue of trust, don't think we can just skim over the fact that you transformed into Dagon a few minutes ago!" I blurt out, and Rigel nods vigorously.

"Oh, that?" He gives a nervous chuckle. "Well, it's a pretty nasty spell like most Witchcraft, but… well, it amounts to an application of the saying 'you are what you eat'."

Gluttony. My mind immediately jumps to the power of Gluttony.

"Well, my usual preference is to shapeshift into a wolf, since that's what feels right to me, but…" He shrugs. "When you're about to die on the operating table, and there's some literally divine sashimi on the table opposite, you gotta do what you gotta do, right?"

"That's…" I mutter. I know. I know, it's not necessarily right to make assumptions based on a similarity in ability, but-

"Ah, my bad, I got warned about this - listen, it's not the same as those Gluttony guys you seem to have run into in this singularity and the last one," He says. "It's purely physiological, I don't have any kind of capacity to copy techniques or knowledge. I eat their 'meat', not their 'lives'. So even though it looks like Dagon, that form only amounts to a distorted Fish Monster."

…But, even so. Even if it was for survival, even if it's not as monstrous as Gluttony-

"It's still barbaric, right? Grosses you out, doesn't it?" He gives a wry grin. "That's the kind of thing you learn when your Ma's a witch, yeah? Sorry to disappoint you. But hey, it seems like you've got an affinity for curses from what I saw of your profile, Senpai. So, even if it's barbaric… I can teach you a thing or two, if you ever feel like sinking to my level."

…

"...But to get us back on topic," Jason says with a grimace. "I sure hope that 'distorted fish monster' packs a punch. Because, even with all these guys we've been scrambling to gather together… we still have absolutely no way to land a scratch on Hercules."

…Huh? No, wait, that can't be right. "But we've got several people with Extra classes! David's got three Noble Phantasms that can beat the requirements for [God Hand], and… I mean, maybe Benkei…? And, Atalanta seems like she got an upgrade… Nobunaga said she feels more like an Avenger right now, and she's got two that can reach A-rank…"

"...Putting aside the assumption about Nobunaga's class changing, which we haven't seen conclusive proof of," he says, "The rest won't matter - or have you forgotten that Hercules is also negating Divine Authorities that approach him? David won't be able to use any of his Noble Phantasm's offensively, and Atalanta's fancy new bow's arrow is going to disintegrate before it hits him. Even Benkei… I said it before, but [God Hand] is a conceptual defense. The B-rank attack of a Grand Lancer is just as weak as the B-rank attack of a normal human, as far as it's concerned."

Then… In that case… In that case… "So all we can hope to do with our current roster is beat back his attacks!?"

My communicator beeps.

"Actually, that's where Chaldea comes in," Olga Marie Animusphere's smug aura fills the entire beach. "If it's a weapon to overcome all twelve lives of [God Hand], even one at a time... I've already prepared it!"