149: Musashibou Benkei
I knew, for quite some time, that there was a difference between "heroes" and "humans". Before the Beast of Heroes ever showed himself, I already understood that there was a fundamental gulf in the weight of our souls. Lord Yoshitsune, the true Benkei, and our other companions - each of them went to their deaths with their heads held high.
It was incomprehensible. Even for one such as I, who walked the same path as they, who was present for every desperate moment - a hero's ability to face death with honor was impossible to understand. They stood above me, an uncrossable gulf between us, and it was because of that fact that they were heroes and I was not.
What, then, could I, the man who failed to die, do? What can a man offer a hero?
In the end, there was but one thing. I would carry "Musashibou Benkei" forward, telling his story wherever I went. If I could bear that weight, then surely my brother in arms might find some peace.
But, it seems even that was a mockery. This strange life after death that I found myself in corrupted even those efforts. It was because of my very intertwining with his legend that I was summoned instead of him. Because I imitated his legend too closely, and failed to make one of my own, I sabotaged the very world's efforts to save humanity.
As I cower in the belly of a ship that I do not understand, knuckles tight and wight as I grip a greater man's sword, these are the thoughts that torment me.
"Kaison, you must go," Benkei's voice seems to whisper in my mind. "If you merely distract him, that will be enough. Even if you fail, it will be enough."
My breathing is rapid. Were I still human, I'd be in danger of passing out.
"Kaison. They'll die if you don't go. Set aside your cowardice, just this once."
I cannot. I can do nothing to change my core nature. If the true Benkei were here, surely he could fight Hercules as an equal. But this worthless Kaison, is-!
"Then, leave it to me, my brother-in-arms. If your only salvation is to tell a hero's story, then-"
"I will tell the story of Musashibou Benkei… to all who might hear it," I mutter as I stand.
Because, that is my penance.
{Discard the abilities you acquired by [Gluttony,} An irresistible voice rings out in Hercules's head, and he staggers as power leaves him. Musashibou Benkei's [Blank Subscription List, falsifying a command spell - even in this state, it can affect Hercules. But - the Beast has no intention of letting him act past this point.
"[Átlas Katadíkase]!" He roars, simultaneously hurling his stone sword like a discus at Benkei's neck.
The air distorts. The sky shudders - and impossible weight plunges down onto Benkei's shoulders.
The need to hold up the sky, in this era, is no longer a part of the texture of the planet. Hercules's Noble Phantasm, only available at the Pillars, only temporarily and locally reintroduces this requirement - and once Benkei is dead, Hercules can simply dismiss the ability. This is his last trump card, the one he was saving for Benkei - no matter how mighty he is, it will take all his might to hold up the sky. Another might have taken the weight, but the Argonauts have already been frozen. Of those who remain, the only one with the raw strength required is-
"Then, allow me to take it," Says King David as he catches the sky, buckling under the weight. "The Lord is my strength… and my shield…" He begins to groan.
"You-!?" Jason blurts out in shock as he stares at the old man doing the impossible.
"The might of Samson… was never his own…" The old king groans. "So too… with me…"
And then, before Hercules can make another attack, the thrown sword-axe is batted aside, and Benkei is upon him.
The Beast moves to knock aside Marmyadose with his bare hand- but as it takes his fingers, he quickly readjusts his plan, driving the flat of the blade upwards with his palm and slipping under it.
"It can pierce [God Hand] - in other words it hasn't been ranked-down by his acquisition of it." Hercules considers as he thrusts a newly materialized arrow at Benkei's stomach whilst the Monk's sword passes over his head - only for his improvised weapon to be caught between a raised knee and elbow, shattered on impact. "That damage should have given my immunity, but the invocation could probably still take a life. I'll need to be careful." He shifts into a leg sweep, knocking Benkei off the foot that he has left planted - and as the monk topples, Hercules, already low to the ground, grabs and falls with him - but Benkei, an experienced wrestler, manages to exert enough control over their combined motion to prevent the Beast's total control of the takedown. His feet and head connect with the ground - a wrestler's bridge - preventing a pin.
The next moment, both combatants roll away from each other, snatching up fallen swords, and exchange a series of blows too quickly for the eye to catch - until a beam of light lances through the air, [Uomo Universale] claiming Hercules's seventh life.
And, with not even the slightest pause, the Beast's next revival finds him mid-powerslam, crashing hard into the mountainside.
"He's matching him…?" Jason mutters, astounded. "So this is the gulf in power, between a hero and his imitator…"
"Is that what it looks like to you?" Da Vinci asks, and the captain just raises an eyebrow in response. "I mean… he still hasn't used a single ability not possessed by Kaison. Not to mention, he's using Marmyadose right now… from what we heard, he can only use one stolen weapon at a time. That is to say, he's already discarded Gluttony by now."
"Huh!?" Jason gawks. "Wait, but these changes-!"
"-Are due to my hypnosis," Medea says as she teleports back to the ship, a fresh batch of mana crystals in hand. "Goodness, you're quick on the uptake."
"Well, I'm a Universal Genius, after all!" The inventor laughs.
"But… I thought Benkei was the False Grand Lancer?" Mash asks. "Does that mean the true one is-"
"No, it means that there's no such thing," Da Vinci says. "Whatever Nobunaga had to say about False and True servants is a niche case - something like the planet itself summoning a protector probably wouldn't screw up like that. I guess this is a lesson for you too, Mash - all Kaison ever needed was confidence."
"It isn't so simple," Orpheus pauses his still-constant song to mutter. "What's fighting up there isn't a hypnotized man. It's a story. Because, after all, Hitachibou Kaison is a storyteller, first and foremost. I don't even know whether the Real Benkei could match Hercules - but that doesn't matter. Because that story, the one Kaison believes with every fiber of his being and has spoken into existence, is a Benkei who can."
Silence follows the bard's declaration, and Jason glances back at the fighting with some hope in his heart - but, the grimace doesn't leave his face. Because… somehow he's certain, that Hercules still has yet to reach the zenith of his might.
Dancing across the mountaintop, splitting the earth, a chorus of steel on stone, the drumming of flesh on flesh, rings out. The God of Heroes, and the Story of a Hero
"At this rate, I'll lose," Hercules notes. "I've lost Gluttony, and he hasn't given me the chance to settle my heart enough to use the Heavenly Sword. He can't land a lethal attack on me, and I can't land one on him - but I'm running out of time. It's been five seconds since the last shot."
Another stone sword shatters, and Hercules bounds across the peak just long enough to snatch up a new one, before dancing down the slope once more, trying to position the mountain between himself and the Argo.
"I need more," He considers. "So far, I have yet to truly tap into it. The power of a Beast is foreign to me. The Authority of Beasts will not matter if I cannot land a blow, but surely there must be more. There must be something. I am still not complete."
In the edges of consciousness, he can feel it. Another breakthrough, a greater level of martial prowess. Some untapped well, buried deep in his warrior's instinct.
Images flash through his mind.
The Heavenly Sword. The Arrow that Pierces Time and Space. The Undodgeable strike of Gae Bolg.
Something bursts in his brain, and he understands it. As he rounds a corner, losing Benkei's eye for just a moment, he makes his play.
The nameless stone axe-sword |
Benkei rounds the corner, dashing into range. Hercules's guard seems nonexistent, and so he closes the gap-
| is swung.
-There are several innate abilities shared by all Beasts. Included among these are the Authority of Beasts, the Nega-Series skills…
And Independent Manifestation, the skill that allows a Beast to appear anywhere and anywhen it so chooses.
Because of the relatively slow speed of the transfer and the tendency of the world to automatically correct errors unless some great power is actively keeping it in place, this ability is, of course, near impossible to use offensively.
-And thus, the world trembles, as Hercules cuts forwards in time to cleave Musashibou Benkei in half.
The next moment, a bright bolt spears his boiling brain, and Hercules dies for the eighth time.
-For just this moment, I picture myself normally. Not as Benkei, but as Hitachibou Kaison. A broken man. A former pirate. A simple storyteller.
"It wasn't so bad a performance, if I do say so myself," I mutter in meaningless self-congratulation.
"You're giving up there, Kaison? I hope you're ready to offer me your head," Lord Yoshitsune says with a scowl, prompting me to give a nervous laugh.
"I was up against a living god, you know? And I was doing pretty well!"
"It's still not enough, Kaison," Lord Yoshitsune replies, and gestures to a broad shouldered form in the distance.
Even from the top of this tower, I can see him. Imposing, severe. Even feathered with arrows as he is, that man stands firm. It will be hours yet before even the birds are brave enough to approach, and hours beyond that when men finally draw near.
"If you're to tell the story, finish it properly, Kaison," Lord Yoshitsune concludes. "The ending… you already know it."
I don't turn to look at the blood dripping from my lord's stomach. I simply make my way down the stairs, out the secret passage, and flee as before.
But the penance remains. The story must be told. It deserves a right ending.
If Musashibou Benkei is to die… it must be standing up.
-And so, in a torrent of cursed mud, I live again.
The revival of Benkei and Hercules is simultaneous, and without any fanfare, their battle resumes - but one has the clear upper hand now.
Again and again, strange cuts in reality are opened, and Benkei falls dead. Again and again he revives, his [Imposing Stance] just enough to restrain Hercules from killing his allies.
The Beast has long since abandoned conscious thought. His awareness has collapsed entirely, blood pouring from unseeing eyes and his nose as his brain tries harder and harder to cook itself out of existence - but he pushes onwards, unrelenting, until-
Once more, a beam of light tears through the sky, claiming his ninth life.
-But this death was necessary. As the Beast's wounds heal, so too does his mind, along with a dim awareness of what must be done to win.
Cut the uncuttable. destroy that which has no physical form. This power, the ability to revive, the [Unlimited Raise Dead] that rightly belongs to Hercules's self-proclaimed destined foe - must be killed first.
Heedless of Marmyadose. Abandoning all thoughts of surviving the strike, and allowing himself to be killed if his foe can achieve it - Hercules's stone sword tears away the connection between Natsuki Subaru and Musashibou Benkei, just as the former had feared.
"[Marmyadose, fill yourself with heat," Benkei intones, even as Hercules slices his stomach open in passing - but as the Beast begins to dash away and towards the Argo, the telltale heat on his back tells him that his foe is still holding the blazing sword aloft.
Hercules whirls to face him, seeing the blade burning bright against the sunset, and prepares to dodge.
A moment passes, and then another, as he stares at the shining torrent of energy.
-in total, it costs Hercules four seconds before he finally realizes that Musashibou Benkei is already dead.
"[Uomo Universale]!" For that mistake - he pays dearly.
All the more so because, with Medea providing mana crystals to use as ammunition, the limiting factor of Da Vinci's Noble Phantasm is preventing it from overheating - something that only matters if he remains alive past that point.
The moment his eleventh life begins, Hercules is killed on the spot by a second firing, as Da Vinci's mechanical arm glows red hot.
And, his twelfth revival is greeted with the sound of the arm cracking open in a gout of flames and sparks, as it is fired a third time, ending the battle.
Natsuki Subaru, alerted by the sudden severance of his connection, reaches the top deck of the Argo just in time to see Marmyadose's light die down - and Benkei, still standing, melt away in a shower of golden dust. "No, that's…!" He groans through gritted teeth.
To his left, David collapses to his knees as the sky finally recedes. "Hah… hah…"
At the prow of the ship, he sees Jason, staring, fists clenched white-knuckle tight, at the hole-ridden body of the Beast of Heroes.
The terrible crystalline horns wreathing his head dissolve first. But rather than relief, Subaru feels nothing but terror. The sense of something ominous, like a tolling bell, settles over his heart - and a moment later, the premonition is proved correct.
For the thirteenth time, the terrible eyes of Hercules snap open, and he rises to his feet.