83: Alien Sea Monster | Otherworldly White Whale | Ley Batenkaitos
The world seems to slow down as he finally reveals his disgusting face.
Ley Batenkaitos. The Witch Cult's Archbishop of Gluttony, the self-proclaimed 'Gourmet'. Unlike Roy Alphard, who devoured whatever he met without hesitation, or the bodiless Louis Arneb, who had to make do with whatever her brothers shared with her, Batenkaitos had standards. He went after unique people - collecting those with strange abilities, or strange lives, and devouring their memories and names. He ate Crusch Karsten's memories, and she forgot who she was. He ate Emilia's name, and everyone except me forgot who she was. Rem lost both of those, and fell into a coma that we couldn't wake her from.
All he needed to do was touch the target with his left hand, lick it, and recite their name.. In a nation like Lugnica, where introducing yourself before a fight was the custom, the last condition was trivial. For someone with Ley's agility, the first was just as easy.
And in exchange, he got the ability to use their techniques with [Lunar Eclipse], and the ability to take their forms with [Solar Eclipse]. He wasn't that good with the second one, I think - Louis mentioned he was scared of losing himself to it. It wasn't just his preference for hit-and-run attacks - his limit in Fafnir's form probably isn't much more than thirty seconds.
In hand-to-hand combat… he's probably the strongest of the Archbishops, discounting Regulus. He ate hundreds of different people, most of whom had some degree of combat ability. I can't say if he ever actually properly trained in fighting, but if one of the Archbishops was going to do it, it would have been him.
He could pull out anything, and I wouldn't be surprised - but not every technique he acquired was created equally. The ice magic he picked up from Rem isn't any use to him now that he's got Emilia's. That one hard-skinned fat form of his is useless now that he's got Fafnir.
In the same sense, the main thing to watch out for up close, apart from that left hand of his that he needs to touch people with to eat them, is the [Palm of the Fist King]. It killed me in one hit during those twenty loops in the tower; I've got no doubt it would tear me in half now that he's become a Servant. I'm pretty sure it bypasses magical defenses too, is that how he was able to injure Siegfried with it?
As far as movement goes, he's already crazy fast, and the speed boost from becoming a servant has doubtless made him even faster - but the worst of all is the [Leaper's Talent]. I don't really know all the details of it, but it seems like as long as he jumps into the air, he can freely control his movement, up to and including teleportation. I'm not sure how far he can move with it, but it's a good bet that as long as he gets into the air, there's no way we'll find him again unless he wants us to.
Lastly for range - I'd say he could use Emilia-tan's [Ice Brand Arts], but… probably, he ate Berserk Archer, too. It lines up with her appearances so far - disappearing, only to show up in the [Grand Illusion] fighting Lancelot, and then chasing 'something Mordred didn't see'. I'd bet Mordred saw it, she just forgot. That's the most likely time for him to have gotten Fafnir, after all.
But there's more to consider. Ley Batenkaitos is a Servant now. He has skills, and Noble Phantasms. Reid summoned the Black Serpent, back in loop one; can Ley summon the Whale?
(Could Louis summon the fucking rabbit?)
I'm pretty sure, from those loops at the Watchtower, that he couldn't use [Lunar Eclipse] and [Solar Eclipse] at the same time. But he was using the [Leaper's Talent] as Fafnir… it might be because he's a servant, or it might be something he figured out at the very end while fighting Nee-sama, but the fact remains that he's less restricted than he was before.
Unless he's not. Unless he's lost a large portion of his library from becoming a Servant. [Palm of the Fist King] and the [Leaper's Talent] were by far the most used of his tricks. I think, of his whole arsenal, they were probably the techniques that most belonged to Ley Batenkaitos. I could definitely see something like 'those two became personal skills, and the rest were lost' being true.
And then there's the circumstances. An all out brawl between legendary heroes where each Servant gets knowledge from the grail about almost anyone who could be summoned. And he gets to endlessly torture me, the guy who killed the sister he doted on so much? Batenkaitos has got to be having the time of his life.
But that was until now. Now I know about him.
We can't wait. The vengeance, experience, dish we missed before-
Rem's smiling face flashes through my mind. My gums are bleeding again.
Ley Batenkaitos. I can't wait to send you straight back to hell where you belong.
As my adrenaline-fueled scheming dies down, the sky finally breaks, like a geyser emerging from the ocean. The horror emerges - an abomination, both of the deepest abyss and of the stars themselves. The [Evil God of the Abyss], an accursed spiral seared into my brain on the first loop provides.
But not in whole - the color is all wrong, and among the squamous yellow-white folds of its flesh I can see red, translucent octahedrons quivering, diamond shaped pupils within flailing about in madness. And somehow, some way, even though the eyes are shaped wrong, I know that this creature is also the Demon God Bael.
It uncurls from the sky, like an insect emerging from its chrysalis, and as the tentacled head finally emerges, I can see the white horn jutting out from its brow, and the purple halo-like construct floating above it, and the full horror of this abomination is finally clear.
"Ha. Ha. Hahahahack!" Francis Prelati's monotone laugh breaks down into a cough. "Sorry. As I said, this body is really no good. Anyway, die for my amusement, ok?"
The creature that is neither god nor demon nor whale lets out a horrid cry, and white fog floods everything.
An instant later, the first clash of metal against metal resounds as Ley's wrist blades are deflected by Mash's shield.
"Finally, at last, in the end, *sluuurp*!" Batenkaitos shouts, rapidly unleashing a flurry of blows beating Mash backwards. "At long last, we get to eat! We've been famished, starving, how unbearable! Surrounded by this, the greatest, absolutely best possible gourmet feast!"
He concludes his attack with a [Palm of the Fist King], and through the [Cor Leonis] still connecting me with Mash, I can feel the bones of my arm groan. Something shifts horribly in my wrist. But still, I retain enough awareness to deliver my warning.
"Don't let his left hand touch you!" I shout. "The palm strike is bad too, but you're as good as dead if he gets you with that hand!"
He flickers out of sight again, and I hear a *wumph* from behind me as Jeanne stops that same left hand from reaching me, striking him with - is that the sword left behind by the fake?
That's right. I get it now - their win condition is to erase my memories. If I die, and go back in time with all this information, Ley and Prelati's defeat is all but guaranteed. I could die now. If I die, I probably win. [Invisible Providence]-
"[Lunar Eclipse]!" Batenkaitos shouts. And as Jeanne delivers a rapid series of follow-ups from her flag, he expertly dodges each of them as if he already knew where they were coming from. "Ah, Atalanta, Atalanta, Atalanta! We love you, adore you, worship you, savor you, munch, crunch, devour you, *sluuuuuurp*! But it's not enough, how can it be enough with this feast-!" He bounces off the ground, tagging her with his left hand. "Thanks for the meal, Jea-" He starts to say.
Then he screams as my [Invisible Providence] tears his cheek open. He flickers away in another use of [Leaper's Talent].
"-Aah! Onii-san, how mean, cruel-" He starts to complain from deeper in the fog. But I don't feel any guilt. Just annoyance that I missed that disgusting tongue of his.
"[Minya]!" I shout, burning another charge of my mystic code to launch an attack at his voice.
"Ah!" He shouts, and for an instant I dare to hope that I hit him. "That's scary, Subaru-kun!" He follows up from a different location, in a terrible imitation of Rem's voice that only makes my vision go even more red.
Of course I won't kill myself now. Not with him here. Even though it's the worst decision, I can't help but stay, if only to see him just die already!
"Thanks for the meal!" He shouts, further away. "Jeanne-"
"[Frankreich Über Alles - Fleur de Lys]!" Merry shouts - but it's the wrong call. The only option that would have possibly helped here was perhaps Jeanne's flag.
"-d'Arc!" Batenkaitos concludes, and the girl drops like a stone.
Berserk Saber's Noble Phantasm won't have any effect on Ley Batenkaitos. It's obvious why - something so reliant on beauty could never dazzle him. He's not even looking at the real world after all. His whole being is devoted to consuming meals and getting excited for his next meal.
But speaking of that next meal - "[Lunar Eclipse - Phoebus Catastrophe]!" I hear Batenkaitos scream from within the fog.
"[Lord… Chaldeas]! Mash shouts between heavy breaths. A rain of gold and green arrows cascades against her shield, to no effect. But she's exhausted, and the barrier drops the moment the arrows end.
A faint whistle - but the arrow launched from within the fog meets Mash's shield. And then another, and another, growing faster and faster until Ley bursts into view, his wrist blades once more meeting shield in a crashing staccato.
"Fantastic, wonderful, amazing, spectacular, *slurp*!" He babbles. "Is that shield unbreakable!? Jeanne thought so! You really are gourmet-!"
His blows grow faster and faster, impossible to track. Merry and I, with our still human reflexes, don't dare to intervene. But Mash Kyrielight's shield is truly unbreakable. There is no possible way an enemy attacking from the front can overwhelm her at this stage, so long as she believes in herself.
Which is why the attack that defeats Mash Kyrielight comes from above. From the second foe, the source of the fog, ever so slightly forgotten under the fury of Ley's assault. A geyser of fog, the second type spewed by Lugnica's White Whale, engulfs Mash Kyrielight, and she ceases to exist.
"Aaaahhhh!" The one to wail in despair isn't me. Nor is it Merry, who probably doesn't even remember Mash, thanks to that wretched fog. The one who screams is Ley Batenkaitos. "AAAAHHH! Master! Master, how could you! That meal was ours!" He leaps into the air and vanishes again, and I turn to Merry, to say what I should have said from the start.
"You should run. I'll deal with this guy somehow." I say.
"I'll hold off the sea monster somehow, so you should run." She says.
A brief pause follows as we stare at each other in shock.
"Y-you think you can fight him, Subaru?" She asks.
"...It's not so much that I think I can kill him as it is that I need to kill him." I say. "If it was anyone else, I'd be running away. But this is Ley Batenkaitos. This is personal for me."
"...I see." She says, and through the fog, I can make out a small, sad smile on her face. "Then… I'll buy you time, okay? I'm your dedicated backwatcher, after all."
"...Yeah." I answer. "Thank you, Merry." I don't know what fate follows this for her. I promise… next time, I'll figure out a way that you can just live normally.
She closes her eyes. "Blood calls blood. Ocean calls tide. Seed calls root." A warm wind, tinged with the scent of salt whirls around us, and the fog is pushed back. A single shaft of light shines down. Finally, Merry's open and she stares at me, that same sad smile still on her face. "This whole ordeal… has been truly terrible. But I'm truly grateful for you helping me through, Subaru."
"Finish the chant." A booming voice that smells like the sea calls. "Merovech, my Merovech. Speak thy father into being."
"Yes. -The great father returns. Let all else be as shadows in the night. [Schatten Über Frankreich]." She concludes, and Merry d'Lyon vanishes like seafoam as a vast form materializes.
"I return! See me, you people! A god walks among you!" He calls - a great, bronze-skinned man with a crown on his head, with the lower body of a fish. His fist meets the rubbery claw of the sea monster, and the two begin to clash as my view slowly grows more obscured by fog. "Do you see!? Do you understand!? I am no monster! I am a god, the same as any other! Just this once, this majesty is mine once more! Dagon lives again!"
And then the sounds of clashing monsters fade into the fog. A few moments later, Batenkaitos emerges into view.
"...Did you get that sorted out?" I ask, eyeing the blood dripping from his wrist blades.
"Master won't be causing any more trouble for us." He replies. "Don't get your hopes up, Onii-san. He's just hopped to a new body. We won't run out of mana any time soon."
"Good." I answer, grinning. My stomach is almost inside out with hunger. "We're not going to be satiated until we kill you ourselves after all."
He laughs. "That's right, you're gluttonous too, Onii-san! Every day, watching anime and playing videogames, eating, consuming lives that are never yours, you understand us most of-!"
"Do you want to know what Louis's final words were?" We ask, and there's a flicker of movement.
"Thanks for the meal…" He says, behind us, and we almost choke from the tar bleeding from our gums.
We already know his next words, so we start to turn. That's how authorities are. We understand them before we even know it. And this one is called-
"-Ahab." Batenkaitos says, and licks his hand.
[Solar Flare].
He retches, doubling over from the penalty of speaking the wrong name, the name I substituted for my own at the last moment.
Ley got the wrong name, so he's crippled with nausea and vomiting - for just an instant. But that will be enough. It will have to be. My stomach feels like I just swallowed acid. I tackle him.
"[Minya]" I burble through my blood-filled mouth, and Ley's left arm snaps off as we hit the ground. My hands find his throat. The first charge of my Mystic Code finally returns, and I cast [Vita] to increase my weight.
He struggles. [Invisible Providence] pins his right arm. His Strength isn't high enough to lift me without his Noble Phantasm. I manifest my second [Unseen Hand].
"[Solar-" He shouts, but he won't finish it. My hand doesn't miss his tongue this time, and I tear the disgusting appendage from his mouth.
I tighten my grip. Tighter. Tighter. Please tell me a Servant can die from suffocation. Just die. Just die. Just die. How dare you come back to life and appear in front of me. How dare you take Rem-!
My conscience screams.
My grip loosens, ever so slightly. His right hand slips free and knocks me away. Batenkaitos jumps to his feet, and he dives at me-
"[Unreturning Formation]!" A familiar red structure catches him, and a moment later, a beam of energy removes Ley Batenkaitos's head. "And that's the second move done."
"The tactician used some manner of trick, sloughing off the saint graph of the living human to use him as a decoy while preserving his own life." Ahab had said, last time.
"This time too, huh…" I mutter. "Kongming."
"Sorry to disappoint you, but it's me, this time around." Professor Velvet says, smirking a bit as he lights a cigar and discards his empty cigar case. "That guy finally told me what was going on and then bailed on me before I could complain."
"...Eh?" I mutter. In the distance I can hear the thuds of Dagon's clash with the sea monster fading.
"[Chu Shi Biao] is a letter." He starts, taking a drag. "It is many other things, but first and foremost it is a letter. Being a letter, it may be carried by a messenger. Being a letter, it may be dictated to be written in the hand of another. And being a letter, it may contain a coded message."
The penny drops. "You've got to be kidding!"
"When all this fails, return once more. Recall this truth, that Natsuki Subaru returns to the past when he dies, and secure total victory." He recites, and the world stops. Purple command spells flare to life on my hand.
Not now. Not like this. Please, Satella, I understand - but let me share it just this once-!
"It would be a shame for hope to be snuffed out at this point." Says a familiar voice, and then the world moves, and the Professor and I are standing on a hillside some distance away, watching a growing puddle of shadow below.
"Now all we need is a convenient Avenger to make use of." The Professor concludes.
"Kuhahahahaha!" The Count of Monte Cristo laughs. "Fine! Fine! The madness is all but clear now. It's you who freed me from deepening my sins, so I'll lend you my aid, this once!"