Section 11 Node 3 Recollection Quest (1/5)

All hostiles have been defeated! Continuing to make our way through this zone!

All right, by this point, we should start giving Fujimaru's stamina reserves serious consideration.

How does this area look, A.I.!?

Jackpot, baby! You nailed it!

Looks like our idea about the enemy usin' somethin' conspicuous to cover up the site was right on the money!

I'm seein' a monster up ahead that looks ta be warpin' the very space around 'em!

I see it! Is that...

Well, that's mean.

What did I ever do to deserve being called a monster by a bunch of lifeless faux ghosts?

I may be an Alter Ego working with the Foreign God, but I've always strived to be a fair and impartial businesswoman above all else.

Isn't that right, Chaldeans? Or were you too caught up in your latest Lostbelt smooshing to remember little old me?

Foooooouuu!

Fou, don't! Please, stay with us!

A human woman...?

Hell no. There's no way that...thing could be human! She's not even trying to hide her savage magical energy, or the smell of death that hangs around her...

What the hell are you!?

？！

Eee☆ What happened to the meek little Fujimaru I remember?

I never thought you'd ever try to interrogate me so boldly!

What could have changed you like this? Is it because we're friends now? Because we bonded a bit in India?

Anyway, while I'd love to discuss this newfound casual attitude toward me...

...let's not forget that I'm still very much your enemy. I'm afraid I have nothing in the way of products or information for you this time.

No, this time, I only came to check up on my Phantasmal factory, since I'll need it for my...future endeavors.

See, just between us, I'm actually trying to keep this visit a secret from the gods of Olympus as well...

So I think it'd be best for everyone if we just pretended we never saw each other and went our separate ways.

I can see you're all very busy making preparations to tackle this Lostbelt in earnest.

My plan is to simply let things play out however they do, and hopefully come away with some choice Olympian products to sell when all is said and done.

Doesn't that sound nice? Everybody wins, nobody loses! What more could you possibly want?

(...Well, you heard the lady. What do you all think?)

？！

Quite right, Mr. Fujimaru.

Besides, now that Koyanskaya has seen us here, avoiding conflict is no longer an option...

...since in the end, she is certain to be the most formidable foe I need to face.

Oh my... And why is that, pray tell? Don't you remember the lovely chai I made you in India?

Fou, fooou! (Special Translation: You never made anything of the sort, you stingy, two-faced fox!)

Koyanskaya is not part of Olympus's forces...

...so I rather doubt she could be motivated to actively interfere with our attack on this Lostbelt.

Indeed, we can say that with a fair amount of certainty, given her behavior in all past Lostbelts to date.

Does this then mean she sides with the Cryptersthat is, the Foreign God? Clearly not.

She has never once attempted to protect a Tree of Emptiness. If anything, she once treated it as no more than another product in her catalog.

Nor, for that matter, has she shown any sign of subservience to the Foreign God.

Koyanskaya, while you have told us several times that the Foreign God commands three Disciples...

...you have never once directly declared yourself to be one of them.

Your attempts to mislead us have been so brazenly obvious that the truth is quite apparent.

Why yes☆ You might say that's just my way of being sincere.

You see, if a bunch of insects like yourselves were to accuse me of breaking a promise I never made, well, even I don't think I would be able to keep my cool♡

(Um... Is that true, Mash?)

(Y-yes, it is. I'm quickly going through our past logs right now, and it's true.)

(She never openly declared herself to be one of the Foreign God's Disciples! She's only ever said things that made it sound like she was!)

(Then she is just a fraud! I knew we couldn't trust that damn monster! Being sincere, my ass!)

Quiet if you would, please. I was just getting to the good part.

Now then... From here, our next question is obvious:

Who IS Tamamo Vitch Koyanskaya?

We know she attacked Chaldea's headquarters, and that she dealt a critical blow to Proper Human History.

We also know that she takes pleasure in tormenting the Lostbelt's inhabitants and seeing their lives end, even as she continues to, for want of a better way to put it, name-drop the Foreign God.

Even now, we can see her making moves in this Atlantic Lostbelt as an unaffiliated third party.

Would it be all right with you if I voiced my conclusions about her now, Mr. Fujimaru?

...Though of course, you may well have already arrived at the same answer yourself.

？！

...

Who are the Foreign God's three Disciples the Servants they summoned themself?

We can say for certain that two of them are Rasputin, from Russia, and Limbo, from Shimousa.

...And now, I suspect the third is Senji Muramasa, whom we only recently learned of in Atlantis.

As Servants summoned by the Foreign God, they are naturally motivated to protect the Tree of Emptiness, and have attempted to do so at every turn.

You, on the other hand, have no affiliation with the Foreign God, yet their Disciples clearly hold you in respect.

From this, we can infer you are most likely a being on equal footing with the Foreign God...

Or, in terms you might prefer, a business partner. Correct?

I like to think of it as a mutual back-scratching sort of relationship.

Indeed, the Foreign God and I did sign a contract to that effect.

"I will not eliminate you. In return, you will not comprehend me."

"We will both abide by our respective principles and see this planet through to its end."

But tell me, how did you come to that conclusion?

How did you know that the Foreign God and I had become something akin to business partners?

Elementary, my dear Koyanskaya. If we assume that to be the case, everything else starts to make sense.

For one, it explains how you were able to work towards your own goals in each Lostbelt despite being in a similar position as the Disciples.

Namely, your goal of simply tormenting people, rather than growing the Trees of Emptiness.

We still have no data on what exactly the Foreign God is, and so cannot yet draw a clear picture of them.

We are, however, certain of their goal: the destruction of modern humanity.

I suspect your goal is similar. Something along the lines of becoming humanity's natural enemy and destroying the entire species.

It is for that reason that the Foreign God did not consider you to be on the side of humanity.

They may even have recognized you as a competitor of sorts. No doubt that is why they chose to enter into a business arrangement.

I expect this agreement involved you both promising to use each others' resources, to ignore the other party as much as possible, and to avoid any direct conflict.

Never mind that the other partythe Foreign God, that isappears to be the significantly greater threat.

Yet even so, the Foreign God clearly saw you as a threat, and so placed a collar upon you in the form of a contract.

You may be cruel, heartless, twisted, and depraved...but for some reason, you take pride in being a businesswoman.

And of course, the quickest way to keep a freewheeling competitor in check is to make them a partner.

By entering into a noncompete contract of sorts, you arrived at a position where you both stand on equal ground.

Am I correct, Ms. Koyanskaya?

What an interminably long-winded explanation. Yes, that's all more or less correct.

...So? What am I then?

...

I can only think of one entity who could give pause to a god capable of wiping Earth clean in an instant.

You possess an exceptional ability to freely travel between different worldsa power not even the other Alter Egos can wield.

You are a walking disasterone with which even the Foreign God wishes to avoid coming into contact.

In Atlantis, we met Oriona Grand Archer who had been summoned by the very world itself.

And here in Olympus, the conditions appear to be in place for a similar summoning ritual.

Taking all that into consideration, the answer is quite clear.

You are an independent disaster, a being dangerous enough to merit the materialization of a Grand Servant.

In other words...you must be one of the Seven Evils of Humanity; you are a Beast.

A Beast!? But, her Spirit Origin is still within standard parameters!

Because even though she's already reached a point that warrants a Grand Servant...she's still not fully matured.

If she were, there would be little call for caution on her part.

Well? Am I right, Ms. Koyanskaya? Or perhaps I should call you by your True Name, if you'd care to share it?

Fooouuu...

Oh, Koyanskaya is just fine, Mr. Detective. After all, I don't have anything so silly as a True Name.

？！

...At last.

At long last, I've reached the point I've been waiting for. I would expect nothing less from you, my dear Chaldeans.

One of the stipulations in my contract with the Foreign God states:

"I must not reveal my name of my own accord."

Thanks to that binding clause, I had no choice but to go about my endeavors slowly and painstakingly...

But now, at last...at last!!! I've regained a body that I can finally...stretch in. And it's all thanks to you.

Hehe... Hehehe...

Ahhahahaha!

You humans. Your best intentions always bring about the worst results. What you think is good sense always devolves into insufferable self-righteousness.

You, with your absurd egos, always yapping about protecting humanity! You make me sick!

Oh yes, I really must thank you again.

Thank you so much for demolishing Goetia's nauseatingly naive ambitions beyond any possibility of repair!

Her magical energy readings are suddenly spiking! This massive aura... The way she's eroding the space around her... It's as though she really is

Now that I've had my pick of all the finest breeds in every Lostbelt, I was wondering when the best time would be to unveil myself.

It's been just unbearable, waiting for the chance to try out a tail or two of my own.

So I thought, why not give myself a treat...

...and toy with humanity personally for a change!?

...!

Hahahahahaha! Ahahahahahahahahahahahaha!

So I tell you what! As your just reward for figuring me out, I'm going to take my time with you!

Who knows? Perhaps my tails will end up crushing you before the mechanical gods get a chance!

The target's shape and mass have both changed dramatically! It's absorbing nearby magical energy and growing larger!

It appears to be some kind of shadowy four-legged creature of unknown origin!

Here she comes! Get ready, Mash!