The Return

I will release another chapter as part of a mass release, wednesday too, maybe 3.

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"Let's return to Rome, there is nothing more to do here," Romani said after everyone had a good rest. They couldn't be here forever, after all.

"Oh? What's the hurry?" Stheno asked as she approached the group together with the other two. It went without saying but, they didn't greet her with kind eyes.

"We already wasted a lot of time here. Although we got something out of it, in the end." Nero said with firmness in her voice. It was slow, but she was getting used to the shock from seeing her uncle's death.

"Now, now. Don't need to be like that. I will give you a true reward this time, consider it as my gratitude for defeating that Servant. Who knows what he may have done to us? I was scared." Contrary to her words, she didn't look bothered or worried at all.

"What generosity! What do we have to do now? Defeat another fucking crazy monster for your sick amusement?" Jalter sarcastically asked, much to Stheno's annoyance, even if her face didn't reflect it.

"A bold one, aren't you? Well, I guess I don't mind it that much. Anyway, this time I will give you something that is of interest to you. The location of the United Empire's capital." The Goddess's words brought doubt to the group. It was undoubtedly tempting, but as things stood, trusting her would prove to be complicated.

"What's with those faces? I'm telling the truth, you know?" Stheno feigned a hurtful expression, which of course, no one bought.

"..."

Seeing as they didn't respond, she gave up and told them about the location of the United Empire. They weren't very convinced, but at least it was something.

The group quickly got on their ship after hearing the information. The three Servants accompanied them to the place where they anchored it and sent them off.

Looking at the moving ship in the distance, Stheno turned to Elizabeth. "I didn't know you have met them before."

"It was by chance. I bet they were delighted to see me again. They couldn't put it into words, though." The red-haired girl said while puffing her cheeks.

"How about you, cat? You seemed to know some of them too." Ignoring her wishful thinking, Stheno spoke to Tamamo Cat this time.

"Ahahaha. I forgot!" She simply laughed and grabbed more food from who knows where and began eating again.

Stheno simply shook her head. If she didn't want to tell, then so be it. "Oh my, I forgot to warn them about the strong winds coming their way. Well, it was amusing to see them struggle so much while they were here, so I guess it's not of much importance."

"What are you talking about?" Elizabeth asked, a little perplexed.

"Some fun things, no need to concern yourself about it." Stheno merely smiled, although that smile only promised trouble.

Elizabeth couldn't help but get a bad feeling about this. Hopefully, her puppy would be alright, though...

―――――――――――――――――――

After hours of sailing, the group finally arrived on land near the afternoon of the next day. Fortunately for them, Martha was the one sailing the ship the whole trip.

The moment they got off the ship, most of them sighed in relief. This trip had brought the Chaldeans many unpleasant surprises.

"Let's go to see how my city is! I hope that guy had protected my city well while I wasn't here!" Nero said while pointing her sword forward, signaling the rest to march ahead.

The Chaldeans ignored her but still walked toward the capital of the Roman Empire."Hey! Don't leave me behind!" Nero shouted but was ignored by them a second time.

Jeanne and Jalter could feel their connection to their Master getting more stable, and in consequence, the input of Magical Energy they were receiving was returning to the usual amount.

It wasn't long before they managed to get to Rome. They could see everything was normal, except for the quiet atmosphere, so they directly went to Nero's palace.

When they entered the Throne Room, however, they were greeted by a...special sight. Seth was sitting on the stairs looking at them, but that was not the strange thing. It was the hole the size of a car behind him.

Nero opened and closed her mouth multiple times, wanting to say something, but no words came out. Confusion made its way to Seth's face, so he asked a simple question. "What?"

The Emperor did an exaggerated gasp, similar to an actress in a Spanish soap opera, and then fainted. Luckily, Fujimaru caught her before she hit the ground.

Not knowing what to say, they simply pointed behind him, prompting Seth to look in that direction. "Oh, that? A Demonic Beast attacked a while ago, don't mind it. Anyways, how did it go with that supposed Ancient God?"

His question brought different reactions from the people present, but it was mostly 'don't even ask about it' ones.

Understanding they must have gone through a lot, he told them they could go to rest if they so desired. They gladly complied, there wanted nothing more than to rest after everything that happened. Mash carried Nero to her room, seeing as she was not waking up.

The only one who stayed behind was Caster; he waited for everyone to go before stretching his arms. "Man, that was some shit we had to face."

Seth raised an eyebrow at his comment. "Was it that bad?" Last time he checked, there was nothing dangerous there. Not to mention that Ancient God couldn't hurt a fly.

Cu Chulainn then proceeded to explain everything they went through, from meeting Stheno, to fight that Chimera in the cave, and then to fight Caligula.

"She seems to have enjoyed herself at your expenses," Seth said with some amusement in his voice. He didn't expect someone like that to cause much trouble.

Caster scratched the back of his head in frustration. "That little girl is a demon. Had I know we would have to deal with someone like her, I wouldn't have gone."

"You got something out of it, I presume?" Seth asked. He wanted to know if the troubles they faced were worth something.

"We got the location where the enemy is. However, considering the personality of that little demon, I don't doubt it may just be another cave with a monster that gets crazy all of a sudden." Caster replied.

"What do you mean by that?" They just fought a Chimera; those monsters were not going to sit with you and drink tea while looking at the sunset.

"Don't ask me. It started sniffing around out of nowhere and then went berserk, no matter how much we hit it, it always came back for more—Wait a minute. It has to do with you, hasn't it?" Now that he was in front of Seth, realization dawned upon him.

"Easy there. Why everything bad that happens to you has to be my fault?" It seemed to him that his trip to that place made him lose his manners.

"Don't give me that crap, old man! I know perfectly well how things work with you!" Caster wasted no time in retorting.

"To your information, I have a little more than two hundred thousand years. That would put me in my mid-twenties, I'm not that old. Setting that aside, I was here all the time. What do you think I could have done?" Seth asked while resting his head on his hand.

'In what world two hundred thousand years is a small number, you dumbass?!' Keeping his thoughts to himself, Caster released a sigh. "You are right, whatever, maybe I overthought about it."

"Although... It may indeed be my fault, albeit indirectly. That Chimera probably smelled the faint traces of my Mana in Jeanne and Jalter, and that's why it went berserk." Seth merely shrugged his shoulders as he saw Cu Chulainn's expression go from 'It doesn't matter' to 'You bastard' in less than a second.

"Then why the hell you said it wasn't your fault?!" Why did he have to suffer like this?! He should be relaxing in his room after an arduous journey! Was this his Rank D's fault?!

"In my defense, I never denied it. Besides, you always tell me I don't have a sense of humor. What about now, huh?" He lightly smirked. It only worked to upset Cu Chulainn even more, though.

"Why can't you choose a better moment?!" Caster practically screamed in frustration. Still, he knew he wasn't going anywhere like this, so he took a deep breath to calm down.

"Forget it. What I want to know is, why it went crazy when it smelled your Mana?" It was the only thing he wanted to know right now.

Seth released a sigh of his own. "Chimeras are intelligent beasts. The union between Typhon and Echidna created them. They were horrendous monsters, Typhon, in particular, was a sight to behold. He fought against the Gods in an attempt to overthrow them."

"But what does it have to do with you?" The Sage of the Forest asked in confusion.

"I was getting to it. In legends, many of those two's offsprings were killed by heroes and used as trophies. The original Chimera suffered the same fate. The hatred they have against humans is more significant than you think. Now, what do you think they will feel if the Mana of their 'parents' is inside a 'human'?"

"...They will think that said human killed their parents." Caster's eyes widened. "But you are not their parent; It doesn't make sense!"

"There were times when people associated me with Typhon. This world seems to take it literally, so it somewhat recognizes me like him, although to a lesser extent. The beliefs of the people are what shape most of the powers of this word. Messed up, I know, but it is what it is."

Cu Chulainn released a long sigh. "Even so, just because people thought you were related to another God, we had to face an angry monster that almost wiped us out by self-destructing? Give me a rest already."

Seth gave him a wry smile. "Trust me, I'm not thrilled about it, either. I don't like borrowing someone else's power to do things, but I guess it can come in handy from time to time."

"I guess you are right." Caster said while turning to face one of the windows in the room.

"..." A silence ensued. Neither of the two said a word, not because they had run out of topics to talk, but because the next one would be sensitive.

"...Aren't you going to ask about her?" When he felt the silence was enough, Cu Chulainn decided to ask in a severe tone quite unbecoming of him.

With a self-deprecating chuckle, he answered. "I don't know. I do not...know."

As if he had received a yes for an answer, Caster continued. "I have to say; she looked nothing like I expected."

"..." Seth just remained silent.

"She was a Berserker, Tamamo Cat was the name she used. Like every Berserker, she had her quirks. She acted like a dog and dressed like a cat while supposedly being a fox."

"..." Again, Seth remained silent.

"She spoke in a way that practically no one could understand. She also said that she somehow knew about Jeanne and Jalter. Probably linking them to you, but I doubt it."

"I see..." For the first time in a while, he spoke again. "The real one must be trying to search for me through her. Although the link is not strong enough for her to do that."

Cu Chulainn took his sight from the window and looked at him directly in the eye. "Aren't you worried about what she will do to you if she finds you?"

It was Seth's turn to look at the window, to look at the image of the sun disappearing in the horizon. "...No. In the worst-case scenario, she will torture me for some hundred years. The best, she will just kidnap me."

Caster couldn't help but chuckle, breaking the tense atmosphere. Although neither of the two considered this to be a bad thing. "She seems to be the vengeful type. You sure pick the most troublesome women."

Getting up, he put his hands on his pockets as he closed his eyes for a moment. "Amaterasu was the only one I 'picked.' And I don't regret that, even now."

Cu Chulainn whistled at his words. "I didn't take you for the sentimental type." He said in a joking tone.

"Leave me alone. I have moments when I'm not my usual self." Seth simply laughed softly. "Come on, go and get some rest. Things are going to get agitated tomorrow."

"What do you mean by that?" Caster asked in puzzlement.

"Tomorrow is the day we finally launch an offensive on the United Empire."