69 Umu Empress

Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus was the Supreme Monarch of the Roman Empire and as such it was her first and foremost duty to defend the livelihood and sanctity of Rome and her people, no matter how difficult things became.

It was why she swung her crimson blade and cut down man after man now, leading those that would follow her righteous rule to their inevitable victory.

It was why she took up arms against those she knew to be her own people when they turned against Rome, influenced by forces of a nature she didn't understand, and led by people who gave her a sense of foreboding she didn't like one bit.

It didn't matter that the curs, having wrongly branded themselves the United Roman Empire, had taken over half her territories, she would see them regained and brought to order before the day was done...

Nero's chest swelled with pride when her gaze passed over those brave souls that fought for her, bleeding and injured but with no hint of hesitation in their gazes.

It gave her more strength than she could put into words.

"Umu! Know that your Emperor recognises your bravery!" She jammed her blade into the ground and ripped it out, releasing a wall of searing flames that parted their, creating a rift in their numbers, "Let us overcome this! Together!"

The Gods seemed to smile down at them for that.

"Hm... You never change, do you?"

Moments before the two forces could collide again, a hail of stars came raining down on the rebels like the wrath of Phoebus, destroying them so completely that not even a single trace of their existence was left behind save for the craters and razed land left behind by explosion after explosion.

It was wizardry of a scale that made even Nero reel momentarily, eyes wide open for a singular moment before she gathered herself again, "Who are you? Reveal yourself!"

Help never came for free, and definitely not of the scale that was before her.

But, as an Emperor should, Nero kept an open mind.

"Yeah, yeah..." A dark man with colourless hair appeared near her, or rather, was sitting on one of the jagged rocks formed as the natural consequence of the earlier attacks, looking down at her with dead eyes, "I apologise if I'm offending your majesty and all that... Seeing as my Master is more interested in fiddling with furballs, I thought I should show some initiative myself... It's... It's like torture having to see all their shit every single waking moment."

Though he said that, Nero could tell he wasn't speaking truthfully judging by the faint smile on his face... not that she got much else from his weird words... but it did serve to make her smile.

"You lie. Bu-"

Nero was cut off before she could speak fully.

"Yes... I'm sorry... I just needed to get away from them for a bit. You should get it." The man buried his face in his hands, "H...He made me do things when I said I wouldn't tea... Command seals are important, you know? ...And he used them to...to..."

Regarding him in a different light as compared to before, Nero held out an arm to stop her men from approaching the individual.

This... This was no passing magus who helped her to gain a favour from an Emperor.

This was instead a mentally upset individual.

Truly, she was wise to grasp that within a single exchange!

"Umu! I don't get what you are saying but I see you have been wronged!" Nero declared firmly, lodging her crimson sword, Aestus Estus, into the ground and resting both hands atop it's hilt, "Regardless! I extend my gratitude to you for your aid! Name your reward, and I shall grant it."

The man paused, narrowing his eyes in thought before giving her a small nod, "My Mas-...er... A certain escaped asylum patient will come here. I want you to keep an open mind, he means to help you... He was just dropped as a child and developed some form of speech impairment."

"Naturally. It is the least I could for someone who saved my men from needless loss. Are you sure you don't want something else?"

"I just hope you can follow that through." Her benefactor sighed.

"How rude. Of course I could. And besides, in my current circumstances, I cannot afford to turn away aid regardless of my pride." She knew her men were listening, but, it was the truth...

However, they too knew that their victory was also a predetermined truth.

How could they, her people, lose?

Just then, a meteor crashed nearby.

"Emiya, you stingy fuck. Why won't you just teach me that shit man?"

Emiya inhaled deeply before just sighing and shaking his head, "For the last goddamn time, how the hell am I supposed to teach you a noble phantasm?"

"Dunno man, I'm the student."

The man, Emiya (Nero inferred), grit his teeth and showed the newcomer whom she'd initially mistaken for a meteor his middle finger... she really didn't get what that was supposed to mean.

"Anyway how'd you like my entry? Cool right? It's got no relation to the Hulk by the way." The pale haired teenager chortled to himself while Nero took in his form.

He was taller than her by a lot, like a lot lot, and was definitely someone to be painted... Though, much like the man he was talking to, his hair was colourless too, just a shade brighter than the former's.

He turned to her and held out his hand in greeting, "Sup, Nicholas Martel. Can we get an umu? You know? For the fans?"

"Umu! Indeed, you can!" Nero smiled widely, taking his hand and shaking it because someone who had a magus of such calibre in his service deserved as much, also because she didn't really care...

"Nice. It's got a different feel when the OG does it. I get why you have a whole cult following." Nicholas nodded wisely and she did the same, agreeing with his words.

This young man was one of her people! She didn't really get half the words he was saying but she could just feel it.

"Real talk now I know that you cool... I'd have clocked you if you was a dude."

"...Umu? Indeed?" Nero tilted her head in confusion but then shook her head, "Be that as it may, I was told by your follower that you wished to aid myself?"

She would welcome someone like him into her ranks with open arms, and at no small rank... like she had done with those other brave warriors who sought to aid her before.

He looked at her with confusion before his eyes shone in understanding, "Oh yeah. Totally, point me at whatever's bugging you. I've always wanted to tortu-... er, meet an italian."

"...No one from this time knows what a pizza is, much less pizza with pineapple, you monster." Emiya commented from the side.

"Fuck you. You don't know that."

The magus showed his leader the middle finger again.

"Ah, such camaraderie with your subordinates. Truly admirable!" Nero praised their familiarity openly, "I find it endearing how you endeavour to hide your admiration and respect for one another."

"S-Shut up."

"Y... You don't know what you're talking about."

Nero laughed out loud, hands at her waist and only quieted after a good few moments had passed to wipe a tear from her eye, "I needed something like that in these troubling times. I've made my decision! Join my ranks as a contemporary general... I believe you will do Rome good."

She totally wasn't desperate for aid because her people were in danger.

"Lady... you don't know what you're getting yourself into."

"Nonsense!" Nero dismissed Emiya with an exaggerated wave of her hand, "My heart tells me so! So it must be!"

"I ain't gonna say no to being a literal general."

The Emperor once again extended her hand.

They were once again interrupted, this time by a good number of people more than before... all dressed as eccentrically as her newly appointed general.

"S-Senpai! We need to stay together this time! Please stop running off! We can't even find Miss Mordred!"

"Oh please... men will be rowdy, it's in their nature... So long as he comes back to me."

...What was more 'eccentric' was the fact that they all seemed to be riding on the back of a large furry animal who... well, it looked pretty terrified of them.

Something even more unexpected followed.

A young purple haired girl chopped at their conjoined hands before wrapping her arms around her general and backing away, "Not this time! Stop trying to poach my senpai! I won't give him to you...Y... You homewrecker!"

... Nero was too surprised to even speak... as were her men but they knew their station and didn't speak out... also because there was a lady in black garnaments eyeballing them like she would chew them alive and spit them out if they dared to move.

"I've been getting this vibe for a while now but..." Nicholas narrowed his eyes at Emiya and then at the girl hugging him, mostly at the two important pieces of information pressed against him, "Can y'all tell me why you seem to know each other?"

"I've never met this little shi-... girl in my life." Emiya answered without missing a single beat.

Unsurprisingly, BB did the same thing, "I don't know this insec-... I don't know who he is."

"U...Umu, you've gathered quite the unique group of people, Nicholas."

"...This man can't even gather his own underwear, much less gather people." A girl with framed glasses commented with a small chuckle.

"How do you know? ...How do you know?"

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Hope you enjoyed it.

Now that the toughest exams are over, we can get back to the usual update schedule.

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