Souls To Be Equals in Due Course (I)

There. The Stymphalides has landed safely.

...How are you feeling, Fujimaru? Can you move?

？！

He's right; Senpai's vitals are stable. But how?

His body still contains traces of the healing spell, so the effects are being prolonged.

Blavatsky knew it would be very dangerous for a human from Proper Human History to take part in this fight...

...so she did what she could to make sure they would be as well cared for as possible.

I see. Then we owe her a great deal indeed.

However, there's no telling how long these effects will last, so we should still avoid having Mr. Fujimaru push himself for too long.

Right!

...Okay. Luckily, it looks like he can still move for now.

Mind all getting off the Stymphalides so I can miniaturize it and put it away? After that, we'll head back home!

There we go. A brilliant landing♪

Are you okay, Mash? Has your weapon cooled down yet?

Yes, I'm fine. The gun barrel has completely cooled off.

Here, Senpai, I'll help you back down to the ground.

Excuse me while I pick you up... There.

...Okay, we're back on the ground. You did wonderfully today, Senpai.

Not at all!

Thank you! I'm glad our mission was a success!

？！

Fou, fou!

Nn...

Damn, so that big red armor's all gone now, huh. I was looking forward to smashing it to bits.

Hahaha. Should you have another chance, Caenis, I would ask that you kindly refrain from doing so.

That armor will undoubtedly be a key component in Operation God Destroyer going forward, after all.

We can only summon Huge Bear temporarily, since he uses a ton of magical energy.

Basically, he's only a virtual Noble Phantasm, so it's very hard to keep him materialized all the time.

At least, that's what Kintoki and Blavatsky said. I'm afraid we didn't really understand any of it...

Fou fou! Fou! Fooou!

Fou is really excited about Huge Bear. I suppose he must really like those sorts of giant things?

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？！

I...suppose?

Yes, that's very true!

I liked it, too.

Its red-tinted color scheme was so vivid, but it also felt soft and cuddly, like a plush animal.

Fooou...

All right, we can continue this chat later. Right now, we need to return to base as quickly as possible.

Most of this district's citizens may be gone now, but it's only a matter of time until more soldiers and autonomous weapons make their way here.

We completely exhausted our magical energy in our fight against Aphrodite, so our priority now is to recuperate.

From there, we can plan our next objective and

Do you really think there will be a "next" for you?

!

It's you! Goddamn twin bastards!

The Dioscuri, the twin gods! Kirschtaria's Servant...!

Oh yes. If not for Caenis's spear, my head would be tumbling across the floor right now.

...I must express my gratitude for that.

Fo fou, fooou!

？！

Congratulations, Chaldeans!

We're going to kill you here, Chaldeans!

C'mon, guys. Now? Seriously?

We just finished a battle against a machine god, and we're worn right the heck out.

There's no honor in taking us out while we're completely exhaus

Don't be ridiculous! My swordsmanship is light itself!

It's useless! No mere human could ever take us by surprise!

If I were Ares, I might commend you for destroying two machine godsfour, if you count the ones in Atlantis...

But you'll get no such praise from me! God Destroyers? What a joke!

Your efforts amount to nothing more than killing gods with the power of other gods! And if that weren't bad enough, you're even brazenly using Klironomia...

Go ahead. Try to fire that black light at us, humans.

We ARE light. We are what shines forth in the wake of a storm!

This is where...

The God Destroyer Alliance dies!

Is that all you've got!?

...!

(Divine Spirits, huh? Wow. I've never come up against a sword and shield made of light before!)

(Their magical energy is tough enough as is, but the worst part is their insane speed! Even their fists move like light!)

(These two aren't at all like the machine gods who just grind away at you with their Authority.)

(They're just a ludicrously powerful Servant!)

You think you can compete with my sword? Or with Big Brother's shield?

You?

Do you think you're competing now? How are you going to string enough moves together to cut us down?

Go on, human swordfighter. Tell me.

Niten Ichiryu!

...Niten Ichiryu baritsu beam! Well, that last part was only in jest, but it did take you by surprise, didn't it?

Caligula!

Hraaaaaaaaaaaaaaah! Hear me, O goddess...

Flucticulus Diana!

That's Artemis's Big Brother!

Worry not, Pollux. A little mental attack like this is noth

Khh!

Everyone, hurry!

The smoke screen spell won't last long! We need to fall back, now!

Senpai!

Understood! Falling back at full speed!

Right!

？！

Curse you!!!

How dare you escape from me not once, but twice!?

Such insolence! Such impudence! Such irreverence! How dare you disrespect us like this!?

Big Brother

Chaldea! Chaldea! Chaldea! Raaaaaaaaaaaah!!!

I'll kill every last one of you humans myself!

Damn them! Damn them and their cursed nature!

If this wasn't the Great Orbital Shrine, I'd be burning it to the ground as we speak!

How dare that mere human Heroic Spirit use a Noble Phantasm to hinder MY divine mind!?

Can you think of anything more humiliating, Pollux!?

Yes, it's terrible, Big Brother.

But there was nothing we could do, since that Noble Phantasm also uses divine power.

As a Noble Phantasm derived from moon goddess Artemis's Spiritron information warfare functionality...

...of course it would be able to obstruct even us for a fleeting moment.

But that was a singular occurrence. Now that we know about it, we have developed a resistance, and it will never work on us again.

So please, calm yourself, Big Brother.

...Yes, you're right.

We may have died and been reborn as Divine Spirits, but Father's protection is still with us. That sort of cheap imitation Authority won't work on us twice.

That's right, Big Brother.

All that remains now...is to find out where they are hiding.

Indeed. Once we do, we will snuff them out once and for all.

By the way, do we still not have permission to destroy the frontier zone?

No, unfortunately. Queen Europa insists that, as one of Olympus's production districts, it is too important to destroy.

It seems the only way we will be able to destroy an entire district is if one of Father's revelations permits it.

...Queen Europa, huh? She's got a lot of nerve for a fusion of human Heroic Spirit and god.

How dare she be the one to speak for Father, instead of proper gods like us? Whatever sort of connection she may have to Proper Human History, I still find her actions the height of insolence.

I can only imagine how poor Lady Hera must feel, being fused with...that. I wouldn't be able to stand it.

Big Brother.

Am I wrong, Little Sister?

No, Big Brother. However...

What is it?

These decisions come from almighty Zeus himself. I don't think it's our place to criticize

Of course it's our place. I have every right to be angry about this.

Big Brother...

Initiating God Destroyer Alliance Base emergency underground move.

Just a head up, everyone: the whole place is going to shake even more than last time.

Reconfirming emergency steps. Everything checks out.

Sorry about all the shaking. We need to get out of here as soon as possible, so I'm really booking it this time.

Really? It doesn't seem that bad to me. How about you, Fou?

Fou, fou.

Hmm. Looks like you're doing fine, too.

Are you doing okay, Senpai? How are you feeling right now?

...Of course.

So you're dizzy!? Then you might have other symptoms, too! You need to rest up as soon as possible!

C-come on, Senpai, let's find a place where you can lie down.

Hmm?

Hm hm, hmm. I see.

Don't worry, Mash, he's fine! This is nothing like what he went through after shooting Demeter.

It really is just the floor shaking that's got him unsteady. That's all.

...Thank goodness.

？！

Fou fou!

... ...

...!

Dioscuri... Those damn Dioscuri! All I could do was run away yet again...

Calm down, Macarios.

All we ever do is run away again and again and again... How many times has it been now!?

We're the only humans left in the whole alliance! I swore I'd avenge the others, but I'm no closer than I was back then...

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...Only because I can't have you guys die on us.

Now that even the Proper Human History Heroic Spirits are gone, you're all we've got left.

Failure's not an option. As much as I want revenge, the mission still comes first.

Fouuu...

...

...By the way, I need to tell you guys something. You know that smoke screen spell we used the first time we saved you?

Well, we can't use it anymore. They've seen it too many times now.

Aww, really? That's too bad. It looked like it was even cutting off far-sight spells and such.

Fou fom.

Do you mean those Mystic Codes that resemble portable cannons? I was most impressed by how effectively you employed them for both offensive and defensive purposes.

Then again, I did notice how you were swapping between different spells and magecraft bases with every shot, so I suppose this means you've used them all up.

Yes, that's right.

We worked with both the Heroic Spirits and the Collaborator to make these Mystic Codes we've been using.

They can use Egyptian, Scandinavian, Eastern European, Greek, Celtic, and Roman spells without relying on Divine Spirits.

So your Mystic Codes can use spells from multiple different magecraft foundations in parallel... Th-that kind of thing would be unthinkable in modern magecraft...

Really, they sound more like incredible artifacts than they do Mystic Codes!

That is doubtlessly why they were effective even against gods. But unfortunately, it seems that effectiveness was short-lived.

It's the same with Caligula's Noble Phantasm... I don't think it'll work on them again, either.

By now, the Dioscuri are sure to have figured out that it's a mental attack derived from Artemis's Authority.

So next time, they'll be ready for it.

...I see. So the ancient twin gods have already seen through my Noble Phantasm.

Fouuu?

...Hello. Once again, I've come back without waiting to be rebooted.

Let me just launch right into an explanation!

Time for Operation God Destroyer...

...to enter its final phase!

Thanks to you, the summoning circles are in place. All that remains is the final key we need to destroy Zeus!

That means we need to finish the Grand Summon Article. Unfortunately, we can't with the alliance's R & D skills alone.

At this point, we can only hope that the Collaborator has made significant progress with its construction...

...But unfortunately, we have no means of contacting them.

Huh?

Fou?

You're shitting us, right? Hahahahahaha! You came all this way, and now you're just leaving the rest to chance!?

So what, all this moving around we're doing in this base really is just running away!?

Ha...

Hahahahahahahaha! This is great! I love flailing about and hoping I get lucky!

You guys are even bigger idiots than I thought! Hahaha, I can't remember the last time I laughed this hard!

You might be idiots, but you're my kind of idiots!

...

...Well, I can understand where they're coming from, at least in terms of security.

Hm?

It just goes to show how cautious this Collaborator is being with their identity. They must have an important reason for keeping it secret.

Though of course, I can make some... educated guesses as to what it may be.

Oh yeah? Go on then, detective, let's hear 'em. And don't give me any of your clever talk shit or I'll cut your tongue off, and the rest of your head with it.

To begin

Okay, that's enough of that.

!

(When did he get here? Did he completely erase his presence?)

(No, that's not it. He used some sort of spell to appear here instantly!)

(Is he using some kind of godspeed technique? Jinsokutsu? But that's way too good for a mere human practitioner.)

(He must be pushing himself really hard to pull off this kind of magical stealth.)

(...Ugh, man, I didn't think I would change all that much even after I became a Heroic Spirit, but I guess this is part of my new Magic Resistance...)

(Man, it's weird being this sensitive to spellwork of some kind!)

The hell? Aren't you one of the Crypters?

Hmph. After all the trouble I took to sneak past the Heroic and Divine Spirits and jump into your base while it was moving, this is the welcome I get?

I was hoping for a stiff cocktail, not a bunch of silly infighting.

You really should have managed to learn at least a thing or two about style by now. Right, Mashie?

Pepe!

Oh, you! It's Scandinavia Peperoncino! I know it's a fake name, but it's still MY fake name!

I swear, you are such a little imp!

Lucky for you, I love that sort of thing! You've got to enjoy the little things in life!

That's right. Long time no see, Mashie and Fujimaru. Then again, maybe it hasn't been that long after all?

？！

Anyway, I don't need to bother introducing myself at this point, do I?

So, you remember Kadoc, right? Basically, I'm the Collaborator's other little helper.

Kadoc all but begged me. He said to tell you to come and get what you're looking for.

Wait. Does that mean what I think it means?

I-I think so! Are you talking about the last thing we need for the operation's final phase?

You got it, hon. The Article you've been waiting for is just about ready for you to come pick it up.

Hey, twin cuties. Uh, what were your names again? Macarios and Adele?

Yeah.

Y-yes.

You can move this base anywhere underground you like, right? Then I can give you the exact coordinates right now.

I...

...The coordinates to where, exactly?

Why, the Collaborator's secret workshop-slash-hideout, of course.