Temporary Retreat

I hate to admit it, but we've just taken one step forward and two steps back.

I'm afraid so. We may have succeeded at defeating Wu Zetian and bringing down the Nightless City, but...

Now the Amazons have taken it over instead, right?

Right. We're still not quite sure what happened, but the men we left behind have reported back...

After the "natural disaster"the big guyended his rampage, he disappeared as usual.

And now the Amazons have taken over what's left of the city.

I think we can do better than to keep referring to him as "natural disaster" or "big guy." I say it's time we came up with a proper name for him.

He may have originally been Heracles, but his Spirit Origin has changed dramatically.

His output, durability, and even divinity are all much higher than usual. The first thing that comes to mind is to call him Giant Heracles...

...but since he once fought against the giants alongside the gods of Olympus, I don't think he'd be particularly thrilled about that.

How about calling him "Heracles Megalos," meaning "Huge Hero Heracles"?

We could even shorten it to just "Megalos."

...I agree. I can't quite bring myself to refer to that Servant as Heracles either.

Megalos sounds like a good name to me.

Anyway, after Megalos destroyed the city, and the Amazons came in and took over the remains...

What happened to Wu Zetian's subjects?

I'm told they lost their will to fight and meekly surrendered to the Amazons.

Given how they "reproduce," it's possible that they, and the pirates, are more like familiars than people.

Which is to say, they were created by their respective rulers, and don't truly belong to this world.

If that's true, it would make sense for them to simply submit to whatever ruler has assumed control.

Hmph... Submit, huh.

I don't know if the Amazons were planning this or if it was just luck, but either way, they've ended up swooping in and making off with everything.

...Pisses me the hell off. We'll have to make sure to return the favor some day.

Anyway, that aside...

What's she doing here? Wasn't she the Assassin's tactician?

Indeed. She ended up accompanying us after we all made our escape.

Fooou.

I may not like the risk that represents, but I will say that that sounds just like you, Senpai...

Fou fou.

？！

...

I-I know that pose!

I've often seen Benkei doing that in front of Ushiwakamaru here in Chaldea's hallways.

It's a traditional Japanese form of apology known as "dogeza"!

It is indeed. I know of it as well.

I've never seen one performed so beautifully before. The angle of her head, the arrangement of her hands... I feel as though I'm witnessing a work of art!

？！

What are you playing at?

...I have heard that this is the ultimate apology, one that originates from a land known as Japan.

I understand that, as this pose is performed with one's entire body, it allows one to show absolute remorse when pleading for one's life.

Pleading for your life...?

Yes. I...I don't want to die. That's my only wish.

You have defeated Wu Zetian, and so I am surrendering to you.

I believe that is the best option I have to ensure my survival.

So please, I only ask that you spare my life. In return, I will do anything you want.

You sure you should be throwing around promises like "I'll do anything you want" so casually?

Because a certain wolf in sheep's clothing may be looking to "fleece" your bodacious bod for himself.

...Wh-why is everyone looking at me!?

... (Shudder)

Please stop looking at me like I am some kind of wild animal.

The other me might behave like that sometimes, but I never would.

At any rate... I can understand how she feels.

It's only natural to not want to die. Especially for a woman who isn't a warrior.

Caster, does this mean you want to be the Resistance's tactician now?

I'm afraid...that's all I can do.

First you worked for Dahut at Ys.

Then you betrayed her to go to Wu Zetian, and now you've come crawling to us, huh?

...I understand your reluctance to trust me. I don't blame you.

But every action I've taken up to this point has stemmed from my desire to not die.

That desire...holds true even now. So I beg you again not to kill me. Please, don't cast me out.

I understand not wanting to die, but why would you be scared of getting kicked out?

If I were forced to leave here, I would have no choice but to go to the Amazons in El Dorado.

...

W-wait. I misspoke. I promise, I didn't mean that as a threat!

Oh no, this is terrible. Now my death is all but assured. I have to repent!

Huh, I've never seen Master look so lost in thought before. I wonder what he's thinking?

？！

If that was not a veiled threat to employ you else you take your services to our enemy, then what was it?

...I don't believe the queen of El Dorado would have need of me. She would very likely have me killed.

So as I see it, I have three options.

Either I die here, I am forced to leave and the Amazons end up killing me, or I join you.

As such...I must do whatever I can to gain your trust.

？！

If my promise to serve as your tactician is insufficient...then I have nothing left to lose.

As proof of my willingness to help...I will tell you my True Name.

...!?

Fou!?

I am Scheherazade. A Caster in name only, whose sole talent lies in spinning tales.

Aha, Scheherazade. Now your strange summoning act from before all makes sense.

？！

Even if you don't recognize her name, I bet you've at least heard of the stories associated with her.

Does "One Thousand and One Nights" ring any bells for you? Or maybe "The Arabian Nights"?

She's the meta character used to deliver every one of those stories.

The brave daughter of the chief vizier, in the book she tells a new story each night to stop a king from taking her life.

Brave? No... There was nothing brave about it. I was just desperate to not die.

I have read countless books and stories, and acquired a fair amount of knowledge in the process.

I believe that knowledge could be of use to you by helping to predict the enemy's next move, or to better assess the opportunities for you to make yours.

D-does that sound acceptable?

...

Of course, if you have no need of such knowledge, and will kill me if I cannot demonstrate any other benefits of my continued presence...

The only other thing I have to offer is my body... (Glance)

I told you, I'm not going to try anything! Please stop looking at me like that!

...What do you think, Senpai?

？！

If that is your decision, Master, we have no objections.

She may have been on our enemies' side thus far, but I can discern no falsehood in her words.

Plus! She gave us advice about how to survive that whole escape the rampaging Megaberserker thing!

If she'd wanted to hurt us, she'd have just let us fight Mega Herc and go kersplat!

...Thank you. You have my gratitude.

That's more like it. Being scared all the time is no good for your health. A show of positivity is better for everyone.

That's how it should be for all women.

Erm, well, that is... I don't mean to say women should be subservient to men! I just mean they should be free to be themselves!

If you're all okay with this, I guess there's no point in me being the lone voice of dissent. Besides, we do need all the help we can get.

However, I still have to ask this: Are you sure this book knowledge of yours will actually be helpful?

That's a very fair question.

As soon as an opportunity to demonstrate my utility presents itself, I shall take it. And as luck would have it, it seems that time is now.

This scent I'm picking up on the wind is the same as that discovered by Daniel's son, Hâsib.

In other words...the scent of a snake-woman.

Huh?

Rider, come quick! There's a pack of Lamia after our peaches!

...Aha, I see.

I will also help to rid you of these pests, if only to demonstrate how I might be useful.

But, please do keep in mind that I usually try to avoid combat as much as possible.

After all...if you lose in battle, you also lose your life...

Hmm. All right, Scheherazade, for the moment, I'll admit that you make a good tactician.

... (Bow)

I looove getting new allies!

Still, I just had a thought, and I realized something...

Our ultimate goal here is to find the Demon God Pillar hiding in Agartha and take it out, right?

I mean, if we wanna do something about this weird sorta-Singularity place and save everyone down here.

...That's exactly right. Our Order is to defeat the Demon God Pillar and destroy all of Agartha.

Even if we somehow managed to dig a tunnel and let all the men here return to the surface...

...there will continue to be new victims until we manage to resolve the underlying cause.

Yup! I get all that.

And at first I kinda figured that the Demon God Pillar we had to kill was the Berserker of El Dorado.

But then I thought: What if it's actually Megalos?

...

That's...a good point. It's definitely possible!

His size and strength are certainly far beyond the bounds of any normal Servant.

And if he IS the Pillar, he's gonna be REAL hard to kill, right? I mean we all saw how scary he is in his murder mode back there!

Speaking as a Celtic man, I would like nothing more.

For us, the stronger our opponent is, the better.

There would be no honor in defeating a weakened Greek hero, but now that he is so incredibly powerful, defeating him would bring us unimaginable honor!

...Though of course, I'm afraid I'm almost certainly not yet strong enough to actually do that.

Now hang on a minute. This Demon God Pillar thing HAS to be that Servant from El Dorado, right? There's no other sensible answer, is there?

What do you mean?

If this Demon God Pillar is the one that made this place...

...then naturally, this place would follow the rules that its creator laid down.

And the rules of this world are obvious. Men fall from the surface, and women use them as slaves and to create more women.

In other words, Agartha is a world made for women.

In which case, the Demon God Pillar must be one of the people trying to rule this world.

There used to be three possible candidates, but now...there's only one.

Dahut. Wu Zetian. And the Berserker of El Dorado...

Their dispositions do seem very different from those of us who don't wish to be here.

Which then begs the question of whether that is their true disposition, or the Demon God's influence.

Either way, the process of elimination leaves us with only one remaining choice...

Guess that means we gotta take down the Berserker of El Dorado next!

Oh, hey! So, since we've run into Lil' Fergus, Captain Not-Drake, and Mega Herc...

Does that mean that every Servant who disappeared from Chaldea ended up here after all?

...Beats me. Like I told you before, I've never met any of them, so I can't say one way or the other.

Nor can I... It could be that we simply have yet to encounter them...

...or it could be that they have already been killed by either Dahut, Wu Zetian, or the Berserker.

...What an awful thought. I really don't want to be killed.

The mere thought of dying compels me to practice begging for my life.

I suppose the safest thing to do would be to polish my dogeza, since it works so well in many situations.

Are you sure? That dogeza already looked perfect to me.

Either way, there's no sense worrying about someone we don't even know is here.

And since we can't count on Megalos for anything, the only ones we CAN count on are the ones who are here.

All right, tactician, this is your time to shine. How do we go about fighting El Dorado?

Tell us what you've got in mind.

Very well... This may be somewhat presumptuous of me, but my advice for our next step is...