210 Gods And Monsters (8): The Time Has Come

The three combatants turned their gaze to the sky, and their pupils soon shrunk. An unbelievable sight was unfolding before them, hence their evident shock.

In the first place, the main reason why both Asterios and Khronos decided to separate themselves from Seth was that neither wanted to interfere with each other's fight. With that in mind, and considering the distance they traveled, there was no basis for them to experience the results of their companions' battle.

Or so they thought.

What they were seeing was proof that they had been naive with their thinking, and that they now had to adapt to a set of circumstances they were unprepared for; like the meteorite showers falling down on their heads while painting the sky red, for example.

'That guy can't help himself, can he?' Khronos clicked his tongue; deciding to temporarily forget about the little bird and concentrate on what truly posed an annoyance. "Asterios, you take care of the little guy, I will focus on preventing us from getting roasted."

The Minotaur gave a passing glance to the sky before starting his walk in Ikaros' direction. Getting hit by that would be a little troublesome, though it was not something to be alarmed about. With that said, if it could be prevented, then he wouldn't refuse. The fire cage surrounding them would act as a temporary shield, but it was better to be safe than sorry since it couldn't withstand every single meteorite falling down on them.

'They are really treating me like I am worth nothing, aren't they? These freaks have the galls to show that attitude when they are the ones ganging up on me.' Ikaros' eyebrows twitched at the blatant disregard for his persona, and his arm shook a bit, seemingly ready to go into action, but he calmed himself with a deep breath. It was not the time yet to act.

Ikaros saw the white-haired man raise a hand towards the sky as an invisible force shook the waves and traveled upward to meet the incoming disaster with an outcome not yet known. He couldn't know the result as he had to move his attention to the threat in front of him.

"What? Do you come to finish the job your father could not do back the—" He threw himself to the side on instinct; barely avoiding a flying slash of fire. The winged man grunted from the effort, still feeling pain from his severed arm as he regarded Asterios with a frown.

For a moment he thought his words had infuriated the beast, but it didn't seem to be the case. In fact, it couldn't be further from the truth. His face didn't denote anger nor any negative feeling. At most, impatience was all he would be able to find if he bother to do a more extensive 'scan' of his facial expressions.

He understood instantly. Provocations wouldn't work simply because he didn't care about them. The Minotaur just wanted to end things as quickly as possible to return to the other side. He wouldn't waste time in idle chat.

That sure complicated things for him, since it meant he had to come up with some other measures to buy time. Direct confrontation was impossible; he would be dead in less than two seconds. Leaving his missing arm aside, he was never a combatant, and against a hulking behemoth, he didn't want to start being one now.

A burning sensation on his back brought him back to reality. He was sure it was not just him imagining things; his wings were truly becoming hard to control. They felt less like limbs than they did before. It was obviously the fault of the damn fire around them. He tried using his Item Creation again when he was underwater to cover his wings in a layer of frost but they just reversed to their original form; even if the God didn't actively do anything himself.

In essence, he was in a race against time when what he wanted was precisely to have more of it.

Asterios dashed ahead; halberds in hand. Despite his size, he was faster than one would normally think. The sight of a behemoth coming at him sure didn't help Ikaros calm his mind, but he knew that he had to be decisive. Do not think, just act.

So, with no hesitation, he dived into the waters below. He was quick, and yet he still felt as if a hundred needles were pricking on his back from the pressurized water left behind by Asterios' steps.

Ikaros made sure to push through the pain and descend lower. He needed to cool himself off, literally. Having a conceptual weakness over fire, more precisely the Sun was not working in his favor, at all.

Sword in hand, he kept swimming with erratic movements, trying to confuse his opponent. Servants didn't need to breathe, so he could stay a long time underwater if needed. Though, that didn't mean he was a fish. Their vessel was meant to mimic a normal human, so if his 'air supply' was cut for prolonged periods of time, then that meant the Magical Energy he was receiving will also be hindered. That was why choking a Servant was an effective method of dealing with them if their defenses just couldn't be breached.

At least his blood would work to cover his figure.

Boom!

Boom!

Boom!

Unfortunately, that didn't mean that fate was going to be on his side today.

'What is happening?!' His eyebrows twitched at the sudden development. He saw numerous balls of fire fall down like missiles near him, causing the Greek figure to narrow his eyes in thought. Wasn't the God of Time protecting that beast, and by default him who was underneath? How could this be happening?

"It is useless." An ultimatum. Asterios' voice reached him who was deep below. The flashes of illumination that lasted for milliseconds allowed Ikaros to see what was exactly happening. It was a little hard due to the movements of the currents, but he was able to see how Berserker was launching fireballs with his fists.

He cursed the one who thought giving such powers to a child was a good idea. He dreaded to think what would happen if his mission was not to — ironically — stall for time. Even so, evading those fireballs was challenging, more so when he was underwater. His movements were certainly slower.

The only good thing going on for him was that Asterios was not going all out. Despite his desire to end things quickly, it was clear that he was reserving his strength to fight against Thor afterward. Not only that. Now that he was a sort of pseudo-God, maintaining that state was too draining.

When contracting a Divine Spirit or someone of that caliber, normal Masters wouldn't cut it. What's more, the most efficient way was to give them just enough to maintain their existence and only provide Magical Energy in short bursts when it comes to combat. Keeping an unending and steady supply was nothing short of suicide. That was why he wasn't using more of his strength.

Normally, a Servant can roughly guess how much they can take from their Master by noticing when their supply starts to fluctuate. With that information, they can correctly assess how much they can use and for how long. However, the Minotaur's case is a bit special. Since the Master was not a human, but a God. This is not something that happens every day.

'How much should I take? Is he able to keep giving Magical Energy constantly? How much does he need to fight and how much can he spare?' Questions like that should be present in Berserker's head no matter what his intentions are. It was precisely that line of thinking that allowed Ikaros to continue with his plan.

Ikaros momentarily shifted his vision to his wrist. There, shining with blue light was an almost completed small circle. 'It's almost time. If his predictions are right, then the moment to act is nigh. I don't want to gamble anything on prophecies but it is not like I have any other options either way.'

Thinking until there, the winged man rushed upward as fast as he could while also avoiding the continuous attacks from the Minotaur. He would have liked to stay underwater for much longer, but he would miss his timing if he did that.

A splashing sound rang behind Asterios, prompting him to swing his arm backward and make contact with Ikaros' sword. The said man briefly looked up to the sky, noting how the Time God was sending some invisible ripples toward the falling meteors, crushing them all into dust. It was likely that he was just accelerating their time to reach that outcome.

Deciding to leave that matter be for now, he returned his focus to the beast in front of him. His remaining arm was trembling from the collision, and even he wasn't sure how he was avoiding getting sent flying.

"Did you get tired of running?" Asterios' question was followed by another punch going in the direction of his missing arm. Ikaros narrowed his eyes and tried to twist his body, and while he did manage to avoid a dead-on hit, he was still launched back, rolling on water like a ragdoll.

When he finally managed to stabilize himself with some difficulty, his foe was already on top of him ready to deliver an ax kick to his head. Thinking quickly, he made his sword vanish and took a blue stone with an engraved rune before throwing it at the incoming Berserker. Upon contact, it released a frigid wave of white frost that covered his view, something that Ikaros took advantage of to retreat with a big jump to the side.

He was close to the fire cage already, so he couldn't afford to keep on retreating forever.

Using the new opportunity presented to him, Ikaros flapped his wings, sending numerous arrow-like feathers toward Asterios. His actions were proven useless when a torrent of fire shot upward, turning his attack into cinders.

Despite the uselessness of his actions, the son of Daedalus didn't stop his actions. He continued to launch feathers while moving around. That obviously didn't stop Asterios, though. In fact, it only made the pursuit even stronger.

'Come on... hurry up...' He was desperately running out of stalling tactics to use. In fact, it was already a miracle he had lasted this long since he was not a combat-oriented Servant at all.

Eventually, he got what he wanted, although not who he wanted it from.

"Gah...!" He spat saliva as a sudden pain arrived at his abdomen courtesy of Berserker's punch. He didn't see it coming at all; it was as if he just teleported. That's how fast it was.

The rollercoaster of pain wasn't ending soon, though. Before he could be launched back from the force of the punch, Asterios quickly used his other hand to firmly grab one of Ikaros' wings only to deliver a potent kick right after.

A sickening sound of something being ripped apart resounded together with the heartwrenching scream of the Greek man who could do nothing but let inertia take its course and separate him from his assailant.

Ikaros couldn't care about the trail of blood that painted the water red from his movements, nor the constant ringing in his ears. No; the only thing he focused on was on recovering his balance, as difficult as it was considering the pain and how he had been brutally amputated. After doing so, albeit only managing to stop on all fours—or rather, threes, he coughed some of that disgusting liquid with a metallic taste. "H...How...?"

It was barely a whisper, but the approaching Asterios heard him clearly. "I am sorry to disappoint you, but I am not some battle genius. I don't have instincts like the King of Knights, nor a battle sense like the Hound of Culainn. Neither do I have the observation skills of Master. I am not able to learn to control my new powers as soon as I get them."

Ikaros released a bitter smile at that, uncaring for the blood dripping down his mouth. "So all this time...I was just—cough... a target practice?"

"..."

The silence that followed was enough answer to his question.

"Oh? Did you actually have to crush his spirit that much? That wasn't very nice of you." That fake gentlemanly voice made him flinch. Lifting his head with a bit of difficulty, he was able to see Khronos descending toward them, and by default, he realized that the only thing keeping him busy had disappeared, which meant that they were now back at the beginning. No, it was even worse than before. Instead of a two versus one, it was now a two versus a half with how much his capabilities had been reduced.

Asterios shook his head. "Forget about your taunts and let's get this over with. We didn't come here to chitchat."

The God of Time offered a sigh and a shrug, idly musing. "Quite. Our friend here obviously has some ulterior motive to fight us. After all, there is no way someone just throws themselves to their death with everything to lose and nothing to gain. That said..."

Khronos removed the goofy attitude from his face, switching his look for an unamused one as he pointed his palm at Ikaros, which began to be covered by a white light. "...the dead can't plan schemes, can they?"

The warrior lowered his head, seemingly accepting his fate. Yet, as if that same fate was playing a prank on him, wanting to prolong his suffering; the sound of an explosion was heard in the distance.

First came the sound, then the raging winds that threatened to blow them away even when taking into account their status as Servants, not to mention the span between their locations. After that, what was approaching was the white dome-shaped energy released from the clash between Gods. It was such that it got on Khronos' nerves.

"This is getting ridiculous. We separate to not get into each other's business and we still have to clean up their mess?" Even he was conscious that things were taking too much time, and he was not intending to make a joke now.

Summoning an illusory clock behind his back, Khronos pointed his index finger up, and the arrowheads immediately began to move anti-clockwise. At first, they were rotating slowly, but as more time passed, they were spinning faster and faster until they were only a blur. "Return to your origin."

The clock illuminated briefly before releasing a beam in direction of the oncoming energy dome. 'This should take care of it. Honestly, does he want to end things quickly or take forever? For the love of—Huh?'

Khronos' frustrating thoughts were interrupted by a shocking sight. His attack was being stopped by... a wooden mirror?

"Stupid God... You might be someone extremely shrewd behind that façade. However... you can't escape your nature. You lot... sooner or later, get overconfident..." Ikaros, who was behind the mirror pushing it with his shoulder against Archer's attack, mocked him with utter glee in his voice.

"You son of a..." Khronos' words stopped abruptly as he saw how the image of the mirror stopped reflecting his own attack and started reflecting something else, or rather, someone else.

'It was as you predicted... minus me suffering this much. Scratch that, you probably just omitted it, Master bastard. Sigh... It doesn't matter... I already accomplished my goal, so your fetish battle can begin.'

"Enjoy hell, bitch. Noble Phantasm, release." Those were the last words both Asterios and Khronos heard from Ikaros before he vanished from Berserker's Reality Marble.

"Damn it. Of course that his Noble Phantasm would make it easier for him to escape confinement." The white-haired man gritted his teeth in annoyance. Even so, he didn't have the leisure to care about that at this point. He immediately ordered his attack to stop before things got more complicated, although probably the damage was already done.

"The one in the mirror was..." The Minotaur began with a heavy heart only to be interrupted urgently by his companion.

"Not now, Asterios! We have to get back so that I can fix things. Summon your horses now before it's too la—!"

"..."

"..."

Berserker summoned his carriage wordlessly. Both got on and departed in the direction the explosion had come from.

Asterios never commented on why Khronos stopped speaking all of a sudden. Similarly, the white-haired man didn't offer any snarky remark on how Berserker had to use his full newly-awakened powers to command his steeds to move forward to a place they clearly didn't want to go, evidenced by their hysterical neighs, and how their heads moved to everywhere but there.

They had clearly felt it as well.

That darkness filled with madness.