Prelude To The Red Festival

"Ohhhh! They are here, they are here, they are about to be here! Beautiful, O' so beautiful! This place, this wretched place of sin! Without a doubt, it shall be a place of chaos and destruction!" A figure was madly rambling to himself while moving erratically inside a dimly litten room where only a single candle stood.

There was blood on the ground forming strange symbols, yet as if those weren't enough, the figure continued to write more with the blood of an old woman palely lying down dead next to them.

"Here, here, here, more, more, more! This isn't enough, not enough! I need more quality, more redness, more substance! I need the blood of Servants. Yes, yes... they will do gihahaha!" Their incoherent mutters were only fueled by their insane laugh, one its meaning only they understood.

Once finished, they stood up and went to the walls where there were some murals depicting a city bathed in blood and a sky filled with robbed people laying waste to what was below. A ring of light was present in the middle of it all, where a crudely drawn figure with strange horns watched everything unfold.

"Ahhhhh... soon, very soon. They are all gathering here. Antares, the Emperor of the Future. Sirius, the Ruler of the Present. And Vega, the King of the Past. My Lords, my Gods! This humble servant of yours shall do everything for your glorious descent!" The figure then rubbed their ear against the wall when all of a sudden they started screaming in pain while holding their head.

"I am sorry, I am sorry. Please forgive me." They banged their head against the wall, painting the mural with their blood as they kept apologizing while tears fell down uncontrollably from their face.

"...But I must do this, I truly must..." Very slowly, they stopped their action. Sticking their tongue out, the figure began to lick their own blood on the wall. The taste was enough to change his grieving face to one of absolute glee. "You will forgive me, right? A little of your blessed blood is necessary for this battle royal. Cooperate, you must cooperate! Give it to them, to my envoys! If you do, I shall make sure your wishes come true. I shall... Gihahahaha!" Eventually, the flame of the single candle illuminating the room disappearing, leaving only darkness, and the maniacal laugh of a deranged person.

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"Seth, is everything okay? I detected the presence of a Servant in your near vicinity just a few moments ago." Since now everyone had their own watch where Romani could communicate through, he could speak to him even if they were separated like he was doing now.

"As okay as I can be after having a hole in my chest." The Egyptian God said a bit sarcastically while bringing his right hand to his chest to see the Doctor more clearly. It had been a few minutes after the incident, and they still kept going farther away from Hyde's place.

Romani frowned for a moment. It wasn't like Seth hadn't been wounded before, but those that did were not some weak run-of-the-mill Servants. "What happened? The signal only came recently. How could you be injured so quickly?"

The Kingslayer frowned as well. He wasn't bothered by the action in itself, but about how it transpired. "I used my Authority to shoot lightning at some enemies that had appeared suddenly. When I stopped, the lightning somehow acted as a catalyst after mixing with the fog and summoned a Servant. Without warning, he shot me with his gun. Asterios blocked it with his ax, but I got wounded anyway as if he had never used his weapon to protect me."

"That's... strange. Maybe their specialty? However, the part about lightning mixing with the fog seems interesting enough. I will let the others know. Mordred's sword can shoot lightning, so it's best to be careful with that. By the way, where is that Servant now?" One can never be sure about a Servant's abilities. Even if they seemed improbable, they couldn't discard anything.

"He disappeared as soon as he shot me. He has cat ears, probably a cat head too. Warn the others to avoid his attacks and not block them if they face him. I don't know if that will be useful or not, but it's something at least." Unfortunately, he couldn't provide much information as their skirmish was extremely short.

"It's fine. Even if it isn't much, it is still valuable. I will be sure to tell them. Speaking of which, do you have any idea of who could that Servant be?" Since he was the one to see him, perhaps he had an inkling.

"Not at all. The fog was hiding him, so any defining traits aside from what I told you were nonexistent. It literally could be anyone related to cats." The black-haired man was helpless in that regard. In the end, the possibilities were near infinite.

"You said they had a cat head, right? Could he be one of your fellow Egyptian Gods?" That's the only thing that came to his mind, and if Seth was the one that summoned him with his lightning, then the chance of them being related in some way was real.

"No. Bastet is the only one among us that has a cat head, but she is female, and definitely doesn't use guns. Forget it. It is still early for us to come to a conclusion. We will know more, eventually." There were other Gods with feline appearances, but they were other animals, and he spent enough time with them to distinguish them individually. There were no chances of him being mistaken.

"It was worth the try. Well, I better be going and tell the others. Good luck and be careful. Also, try not to get too emotional with your Authority if you know what I mean." Romani joked a bit, causing Seth to roll his eyes.

"Thanks for the help with the snitch by the way. If that woman finds something about me she is going to try and murder me on the spot." If things like these kept happening he would have to sew Khronos mouth... permanently.

"Don't mention it. Although... Do you know her? It sounds like you are trying to avoid her as much as possible." The way he acted made it seem like they knew each other somehow. Or at least, he knew her.

"Yes, I do. She is the Knight Marfisa. It is also the reason why I told Vlad to go into his Spirit Form as well when we exited the room." That woman's sixth sense was incredibly sharp, so it was best to take precautions.

"Uhhh... yikes. I understand now. Someone as volatile as her would be difficult to deal with. Not to mention that you will bring back bad memories of her childhood if she finds out about who you are." Romani sweatdropped a bit. Luckily he wasn't known as a King now...

"I almost forgot. Cu Chulainn said he wished you luck for some reason." After he said that, he cut the connection, leaving a puzzled Seth.

'Good luck...? What does he mean by that?' Despite the oddness of it, he didn't pay much attention to it, though.

"Let's get going." At Seth's words, Asterios nodded and followed him. They kept going for a good number of minutes, killing everything that stood in their way. The Kingslayer went out of his way to do Passing Rites when they killed Homunculus. His companion was a bit confused by that, but he didn't want to ask.

The streets remained silent except by the occasional sound of gears echoing from far away. The monster and God hadn't found anything notorious that could get their attention. That didn't mean they let their guards down.

This place was one where something could just jump at you from an alley at any second. However, that was not quite what was about to happen.

"Help, please help! Don't come near!" A desperate cry caught their attention. It was relatively far from their location, but nowhere they couldn't get to with their speed. They both looked at each other for a moment before swiftly dashing at where it came from.

The screams continued, becoming intangible sounds as the fear took hold of that person. However, as with everything in this world, they didn't last forever. As if in sync, Seth and Asterios stopped just before the corner of the street, knowing that whoever made that scream was no longer alive.

Even though they stopped, the... thing following that person did not. Their steps, nearing their location, could still be heard. These steps weren't normal, though. They shook the earth every time they resounded. Whatever it was, it was either gigantic, heavy, or both of them at the same time.

Once again, Seth readied his spear while Asterios prepared to use his Noble Phantasm at a moment's notice.

They didn't have to wait too long for whoever was behind those steps to reveal themselves. A large, gray-clawed hand grasped the corner of a building. The next thing they saw was an equally large blue leg that ended with clawed feet as well.

The rest of the body soon followed. Before them, something that could only be described as a Demon looked down on them from its towering height—one that rivaled the tall buildings at their side, around five meters.

A pair of black wings rested on its back, while a tail swayed from side to side from its collar bone. Its head was covered by a boney mask and a pair of tusks. It also had a pair of goat horns that grew from its forehead with a size as big as half of its body.

"Don't move recklessly..." Seth immediately commanded Asterios. The said Servant obeyed, albeit his body was still tense and ready to launch itself and exchange blows with the unholy creature.

The Demon stared at the Minotaur first before shifting its gaze to Seth. Its red-eyes shone with intensity as if it had found what he had been looking for. What neither the God nor the Bull of the Labyrinth expected, however, was for the creature to start speaking.

"Ulh Shabh Nub Zarrrrrrr? Morr Twht Romh..." Its voice sounded like it was regurgitating. The cacophony was such that Asterios immediately felt threatened by it.

Seth, for his part, frowned a bit while clicking his tongue. Finding a Demon here was at the bottom of his list of possible encounters. In hindsight, he should have expected something like this from a messed-up Singularity.

The Egyptian God cleared his throat for a moment before addressing the giant in front of him. "Ikht Jurw Lrij Muzrr Pbtah Shemir. Nub Tihn Zwej Klhb?"

Asterios looked with surprise at his Master, but he didn't explain himself and only kept staring at the Demon, who by the end of his sentence, had gained a deep look of confusion.

"Buwr Mehz Iojj Gukh Qwluu. Urrt Ypph Zeiwt. Mpah Nbw Tzuh Sihj." The Demon gestured back and forth between it and Seth before pointing at the sky, and then at the ground.

"Ohzt Ulh Nub. Sherrrrr Ziht Urrrr. Khbj Tnpp Umhz? Yznn Mohr Xihz Dah!" For his part, the black-haired man was dividing his body in half with his palm. He touched one side and pointed to the sky, while he touched the other and pointed to the ground.

A light of understanding filled the Demon's eyes before he spoke again with his arms raised toward the very heavens. "Xihz Dah! Mubh Qlrr Nub... Setekh!"

Once it finished speaking, the blue-skinned monstrosity walked up to them, causing Asterios to release some threatening sounds.

The moment it was at a distance of a few meters, its legs suddenly stopped, albeit its hands did not. Both hands descended, one seemingly going for Seth while the other was doing the same for the Minotaur.

However, just as Berserker was about to move, he stopped himself. Not out of fear, but out of confusion. The clawed hands that looked as if they were going to catch them rested on the ground before them.

The Demon made an action that puzzled Asterios further. It got on its knees, while its forehead touched the cold streets beneath them. If it were to shift suddenly, its horns would destroy the houses at their sides.

"Don't question it, just go with the flow. I assure you it will be better for your already-afflicted mind." If the black-haired man was surprised by the Demon's action, he definitely didn't show it.

"...Okay... Master..." Asterios watched as Seth climbed atop the head of the creature before motioning him to do the same, something he did, although not without reluctance.

Once both individuals were done, the Demon rose, turned back, and started walking from where it came. When they passed by the person that screamed's place of demise, Seth offered another Passing Rite. 'Whatever is going on... must be stopped.'

Every minute that went by only reinforced his thinking. This place... was about to become hell on earth.

The Blood Festival was just beginning.