It's weird, if not for the fact that we were going to meet my probably very bloodthirsty adoptive elder brother, it would have been nice just to walk around the city.
Granted, there was no one around which made it rather eerie.
Well, I say no one, but I did notice the undead minions at various points as they watched us approach.
Actually, I think I also saw a werewolf a time or two as well.
Authorities were really something. I always had to treat Servants with respect at a minimum due to their Noble Phantasms. The weakest Servant I ever encountered – Shakespeare – was able to do something to me despite the fact that I could have very easily beaten him in a fight.
Campiones were the same. I can't claim to be entirely too knowledgeable about Campiones, but at a minimum, I should treat them similarly. Authorities were something that deserved respect, they were stolen from literal Gods and who knew what they're capable of?
That's not to say I'm trembling in my boots.
I told Scáthach before I left that I felt confident, and I was feeling rather peaceful at the moment. My guard wasn't dropped despite how lackadaisical I was taking this whole thing.
Though frankly, Mordred and I were the only ones who probably felt this way.
She had her hands thrown up behind her head as she walked next to me, looking rather bored if anything.
The others looked like they were marching off to war.
Speaking of, another familiar face was approaching rather quickly.
"Your Majesties!"
"Holy shit he kinda looks like the Witch's Master if he were a bean pole." Mordred exclaimed.
...God dammit now that she said that I couldn't unsee it.
He really did resemble Kuzuki if more…..thin.
"Touma Amakasu…?" I only vaguely recalled his name.
He brightened up, ignoring Mordred's words. "I am honored that you remember me, your Majesty."
Yeah, he was the liaison between the History Compilation Committee, the group who managed the supernatural in Japan here.
"Alright enough of that." I waved my hand at him. "You should be aware of what's happening. I'm assuming you're responsible for the evacuations?"
"Yes, your Majesty." He stood up. "As soon as Lord Godou relayed to us the situation, we began to evacuate the City. It has been…..slow, but for the moment we have evacuated the majority of the people around where this 'meeting' will take place."
You know, they are highly competent, it's rather refreshing.
"We are happy you're back, your Majesty. There are many situations that arose in your absence and Lord Godou has done a phenomenal Job of handling things on his own." He continued to speak, but the hidden meaning behind his words were clear.
'Godou did a good job, but please take over' or something along those lines.
Well, Godou was a kid that had nothing to do with this crap, so I can't blame any side really.
"I won't be staying for long." I said plainly.
I wasn't going to hold their hands, so they best keep working well with Godou.
His lips twitched and he just nodded. "Did you return just for Lord Voban, your Majesty? Or for the other reasons?"
"Other reasons?" I hummed.
"There were sightings of a Heretic God descending…"
"Godou, what the fuck?" I bopped his head. "That's something important to reveal when I asked what was going on."
"No one was discovered!" He quickly defended himself. "Heretic Gods cause a big mess when they come around, right? After a small thing, there was nothing."
"He is right, your Majesty. It is a strange occurrence, and we couldn't fully agree among ourselves if a Heretic God truly descended. But it is a possibility we couldn't ignore and have thus been treating it with seriousness."
Right, of course things were not simple.
"Hmph, thy precautions are wise. Mine Kin appeared upon these lands. They have hidden themselves from even mine wisdom." The little Goddess spoke.
"….why are you even here?" Mordred deadpanned.
"Mine oath compels cooperation with mine enemy, you brute!" Athena scowled.
Huh, so she's here to support Godou, that's neat.
"Just fucking say it if you want to protect your booty call." Mordred snorted.
Athena's eyes widened and seemingly was rendered speechless as she held her finger aloft with mouth open, pointing at Mordred with unreserved anger.
[Holy shit she's fucking ruthless.] Even Ddraig commented. [Shut that Goddess right the hell up. Can I claim her? She technically has my blood in her.]
The History Committee person politely coughed into his fist. "There is also the situation with the Divine Ancestor appearing within Japan when she normally operates in Europe."
Athena's expression quickly shifted. "Find that contemptuous whore and I will reward thee greatly!" She hissed furiously. "How dare she try to use me to fuel that chalice of hers! The audacity!"
Right, wasn't going to touch that for now.
Sounded like they're dealing with a lot right now.
Well, I'm here for the moment, may as well see what I could do to help out.
"Any suggestions with Voban?" I asked considering he probably had books written on each individual Campione at this point.
"…..Please leave the city intact?" He offered.
Oof.
That bad, huh?
"Lord Voban is the oldest and strongest Campione." Yuri, the Miko from before, spoke up. "That's what we're taught."
Amakasu shot her a quick glare and she promptly slammed her mouth shut.
I let out a sigh. "Let me guess, saying 'strongest' to another Campione you're worried we would do something bad, huh?"
"Wait, what?" Godou looked at them. "Why would they….?"
"Thy perspective of thine world is narrow, mine enemy. Imagine if you told one God to another that they were superior. With thine experience thus far, it should be a simple exercise to contemplate."
"…..oh." Godou swallowed.
Naïve but with a good heart.
The blonde at Godou's side threw her hair back. "My Godou can handle him!" She said sternly. "Even if Lord Voban supposedly has killed over Ten Heretic Gods. My Godou can match him with his Authorities."
"I thought the brat only killed one God?" Mordred jerked her thumb at Godou.
"Yeah, but his one Authority sort of gave like 50 mini Authorities that are pretty good." I explained, remembering the basics of what he had from previously.
The Ten Incarnations of Verethragna or something. One entire Authority, but represented by Ten different 'Incarnations' that required specific circumstances to utilize.
"…..that's some bullshit." Mordred snorted.
Erica was looking really smug at that.
"It's ten!" Godou groaned.
"Still some bullshit." Mordred scoffed.
"It's not –"
"You have a sword that can cut through Divinity." I interjected.
"….yeah alright." Godou relented.
[***]
It didn't really take long to find Voban. In that, he was sitting in the open. Quite literally in fact as a table was set up right in the middle of the big metropolitan area, smack dab in the middle of the street.
It's like he just chose this spot on a whim.
Thankfully there were no people around because it would have been...awkward.
"Lord Voban, I have brought them as instructed." Or guide…Lilliana as I believed Erica named her? She bowed her head towards him.
The Older man simply held his hand up and rather rudely sort of ushered her away.
He looked over at me and had a rather creepy smile growing on his face.
...ignoring his physical features the most immediate thing to note was that he was strong.
Silver hair, perhaps from his old age, perhaps not. But the wrinkles on his face definitely told a story of a long life. He wore a suit, but it was….well, it was lacking if I were to be honest. A step above something you would find on a rack in a chain store. He wore a large trench coat over it, overall, nice and tidy that betrayed the sheer amount of bloodlust he was exuding.
"Sit." He commanded.
And make no mistake, he was commanding.
Godou seemingly unintentionally found himself sitting down quickly. I merely raised an eyebrow at him as his overall presence seemed to enlarge around us.
Ah, he was testing me.
Everything about him, physically, was basically just the appearance of an older man. Well, there was one feature of his worth noting above all else.
"You have a big nose." I blurted out.
"Couldn't even make it 10 seconds, could ya?" Mordred looked at me.
…..why was everyone looking at me like that?
Voban's eye twitched slightly and he snorted in a mix of amusement and annoyance as his pressure decreased. "You have more of a bite at least."
"Thank you!" I just smiled happily, taking my seat. "So what did you want to talk about? As new brothers, did you want to go see a ball game? Maybe go fishing?"
Voban ignored me and his gaze swept across everyone else. He inspected Mordred for a moment.
"Keep staring, you creep, see what happens." She hissed.
The others, well they tensed and looked like they were ready to duck for cover.
Voban, however, just chuckled. "This one can bare her teeth. Not a wolf, a Lion?" He smiled for some reason. "And you brought me a Goddess, Kusanagi?" He looked at Godou. "I'm disappointed, this one is weak. She would not be entertaining to hunt."
"Consider thine words, mortal." Athena growled.
Like he did with Lilliana earlier, he just dismissively waved his hand at her as if she wasn't worth the effort.
"I didn't expect much." He took hold of a wine glass on the table, swirling it. The action was odd considering the vibe I was getting from him. Honestly, he felt more like the kind of guy that you would call when you wanted to break the legs of someone who owed you money. "Not even a cub. A domesticated puppy." He looked at Godou. "But still, he bared his fangs at me so I humored him."
He then looked at me. "But you're different. I can see it, that hunger that you've had to experience. The edge you have, the battle scars, the killing intent, the savagery that you keep buried underneath." His grin returned. "You've had to fight for where you stand now and that's infinitely more interesting."
"…..are you coming on to me?" I asked hesitantly.
Godou looked at me like I was an idiot.
Voban just blinked, because I don't think he expected such a blunt question.
"I'm flattered, honestly. But – "
Voban slammed his fist on the table, shattering it. He didn't express much, but I think I annoyed him just enough for him to react.
"Rude" I held my hand out and let a new table drop out from my ring in front of us. I leaned my elbows on the new table. "So, what can I do for you?"
To be honest, he was the type of person that I utterly despised. I would consider myself selfish, but he's the type to fuck over an entire city of people just to amuse himself and not care about the consequences.
So maybe I was being intentionally abrasive.
"I'm a very simple man. I simply wanted a hunt. A fight, a good fight." He just smiled rather savagely and held his arms open. "A God, a Campione, It doesn't matter. And I'm more than willing to do what needs to be done to get it."
Ugh, he's one of those kinds of people.
"You need a hobby."
"I do, I kill Gods." He quipped back.
"….touché." Can't argue with that considering he's killed far more Gods than I have. Respect where it's due, he's my senior in that department. "Then why play this game with Godou?"
"I'm patient." He smiled calmly. "Even a feral dog can threaten a wolf if it's starved and cornered."
"Very well, you can fight Athena." I relented.
"Fornicate thyself elsewhere!"
…..did she just tell me to go fuck myself?
"I desire a fight, not a snack." Voban said dryly.
"Infuriating mortals!"
"Look, if I bring a Goddess here for you to fight would you leave in peace and leave Godou and them alone?" I offered, relenting to his demands.
"Oh?" His interest seemed piqued. "Very well, I accept these terms."
I took out my Kaleidophone and began sending messages to one person in particular. After a few moments, I waved my hand, opening a portal and Izzy stepped out.
Everyone went still as she appeared.
Izzy looked around and her eyes landed on Voban. "Is this the one?"
Voban stood up quickly, looking very excited.
He could feel it, same with Godou. Their instincts as Campione, even if Izzy wasn't a heretic God.
I was used to the sensation at this point, but to them, it didn't matter.
"I am Izanami-no-Mikoto!" Izzy declared. "Do you dare fight me!?"
"Yes, finally!" Voban laughed maniacally. "A wonderful offering! I thank you from the bottom of my heart, youngster, for bringing me this opportunity!" His Magic power exploded outwards. "But I don't fight alone, my pack will join me! Like the star shining – ".
"I give up." Izzy's own pressure dissipated immediately. "Honestly, your smile is off-putting. You win, congratulations." She simply walked back through the portal and left.
There was a beat of silence as Voban stood there unmoving.
"Huzzah!" I threw my hands up.
Voban destroyed my table.
Clearly, his excitement at another victory over a God overcame him, thus I would forgive him for the slight.
"Where did she go?" He forced out.
"Home, probably." I shrugged. "Anyways, good fight. Seems like everything is handled here." I looked at Mordred. "And you didn't think I could settle everything with just words." I said rather smugly.
"...right." She deadpanned. "Cause that isn't happening." She pointed at Voban who was releasing a significant amount of Magical Energy.
Black wisps of smoke began to seep out of the ground as many different undead figures appeared in the surroundings.
Voban was expressionless, but the use of his Authority was all too clear even if it didn't require an incantation. Actually, he's probably had it activated this entire time considering the thing we found near Godou's house.
"Look, if it pisses you off so much I'll bring out another God, okay?" I of course brought out the most mighty of wiggles. "Behold!" I held my rabbit up to the sky.
"Why is thy rabbit a God!?" Athena practically shrieked.
"You're mocking me." Voban said evenly, a hidden fury under his tone. "You dare use that rodent as an offering!?"
"How dare you!" I roared. "This is no mere Rabbit, behold. Sir Wigglesbottom Fluffytail Octavius Benedict III, Crown Prince of the Emerald Kingdom, Duke of Carrot Island, General of the northern Armies, Lightning born, The Devil Slayer. Head of Chaldean department of Phantasmal Beasts. The King of France. The King of Asgard! And a real God, unlike Athena."
"Blasphemous!" Athena shrieked
"That Rabbit could kick your ass." Mordred added.
The tiny Goddess truly looked like she wanted to kill Mordred at this point. Honestly, I don't know who was getting more pissed off, her or Voban.
Godou looked tense. "Uh…..can we just go back to the game?" He looked around at all the figures surrounding us. Hundreds of Undead filled the streets, plenty of them were pretty darn strong considering.
I doubt this was the peak of his Authority, but it was certainly impressive.
"I guess I can settle for the lessened one, and two Campione." There was a slight growl from Voban.
"Alright, for real this time." I opened a portal right behind him, and a blast of cold air burst out. "There's someone for you to fight through there, I promise."
Voban looked at it blankly then at me. "Do you take me for a fool?"
"….."
"….."
"Fus."
The invisible force rippled out and smacked into him, sending him flying back into the portal and I slammed it shut.
[There is absolutely no reason that should have worked.] Ddraig commented.
"Words huh?" Mordred looked at me.
"It counts." I defended myself, summoning Dawnbreaker from my ring and slamming it into the ground, a burst of holy light erupting outward, cleansing away the undead minions of Voban's as it touched them.
"….where did you send him?" Godou blinked.
"North Pole." I replied. "Or something, I wasn't really that caring."
"Why is thy Rabbit a God!" Athena demanded an answer.
"He isn't just a God." I corrected her.
"This one refuses to humor thy ridiculous titles!"
"Uh, Wilhelm, you missed one." Godou pointed at one figure still standing there.
"…..perhaps this is a bad time to mention that Lord Voban has an Authority that lets him instantly travel back….?" Lilliana stated.
I was about to question her about that, but the figure Godou was pointing to grabbed my full attention.
Not undead.
An elderly man held himself upright with a large stick, covered in a cloak with two Ravens squawking nearby.
I wasn't the only one who noticed either, because Athena even got defensive.
"You need not worry, little girl. He attempted to return with his Authority, but I intercepted it and looped him back from where he remained. However, that is only a temporary measure. That Godslayer is powerful and he will figure out what I did rather quickly." The Old Man spoke and his tone, voice and everything about him painfully familiar.
"You…." Athena's eyes widened.
"You were mistaken about one thing, Goddess of Wisdom." The old man hummed, taking slow and measured steps as if each one took considerable effort. "I can confirm that the 'titles' as you say were not entirely ridiculous. How curious, I never recalled a Rabbit sitting upon the Throne of Asgard."
He looked at me with a singular eye, the other covered with a piece of cloth. "What say you, brother?"
Well….fuck.
[***]
A/N
If you want to read 10 chapters ahead or support me, visit my p.a.t.r.e.o.n.c.o.m / astoryforone
Next part of the Looking Glass Omake is up there as well.
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