Fate/Grand Order story · Events, Anti-Primate Biosphere, Tunguska Sanctuary
Section 6: From Murderous Wastelands
Anti-Primate Biosphere, Tunguska Sanctuary. Death Zone
2 scenes, 175 lines
1. Before the battle
129 lines...I heard voices, like memories.
Then, I heard truths. My slumber was necessary for my growth.
Stone. Iron. Fire. Oil. Countless intense torrents.
Each one a tool that tore the world apart, paving the way for a new age.
They were both loathsome and awe-inspiring.
That explains it. If this is what humans are like, then of course they would take whatever they could.
Countless thundering roars. The echoing sounds of violence. Hitting. Cutting. Shooting. Developing.
As I listened to this lullaby of life and death, I became more and more myself.
Sudden death. Sudden power. Sudden thunderclaps. Coexistence and conflict. Preservation and disposal. Exploitation and subordination.
And on top of all that, you continue to love and be loved. How horrible. How wonderful.
"...Ahh."
The edges of my mouth curled up into a smile.
That's fine. If that's how you are, that's fine.
Contradictions, failures, deviants, egotists. You have primal urges to seek love, then toy with it once found.
If THAT is what you are...
...then I should be able to do the same.
It was a massacre.
Groups of creatures seemingly of the same species spat fire from their martial organs...
...and killed one another by firing uncountable lead projectiles.
After each kill, they sneered.
They moved on to another target, killed it, and sneered again.
Over and over, again and again, with no end in sight.
The ground ran red with blood, and before it could dry, new blood poured in...
The Death Zone!
Murder! Slaughter!
Killing, killing, and more killing!
An unbroken chain of massacre upon massacre, repeated time after time after time...
A cruel and brutal world that calls the Life Zone's existence into question!
It is populated by a Lostkin subspecies made from mixing six different species together.
All these twisted creatures do here is use their built-in firearms to kill one another, having nothing to do with any food chain.
It's like something straight out of hell.
I call this second side...
...the Death Zone.
...!
...
？！
Fooou...
This is really...something...
...Now I wish our video feed hadn't been in full color...
Mages are no strangers to conflict. I've seen some stuff. It takes a lot to surprise me.
But, um, well... Let's say my plans to make a roast beef dinner just went up in smoke.
Now what are we supposed to do for dinner, Taigong Wang!?
I do apologize for that.
Nevertheless, I felt it was both important, not to mention faster for you to see this for yourselves.
Simply describing it wouldn't convey the truth of this area's essence, after all.
Essence? Is that supposed to be a joke?
What in the world are we supposed to get out of seeing this perverse show of incredible nastiness oursel
I knew Chaldea's leader would understand. That's exactly it.
Huh?
Nastiness...
That's it.
...Now that you mention it, this place does seem like it would be right up that fox woman's twisted alley, which, I hasten to add, doesn't make me any happier to have seen it!
At any rate, I understand why you're doing this, but do you think you could go a little easier on us?
Our field ops team is still young and impressionable, you know. I don't want them developing a negative mindset!
Thanks for looking out for us, Director.
W-well of course. Your welfare is important, after all.
So don't pressure yourselves to confront everything at once, or shoulder more responsibility than strictly necessary.
It's okay. I want to know as much about who we're fighting as possible.
...That's admirable of you, Fujimaru. It really is. But it's best not to take things too far.
You don't have to face everything head-on. Sometimes it's enough to know it's there.
？！
Oh? You're looking out for your team's mental health? The sign of a good commander.
...
Aah! Stop that! We don't need your magical energy flaring up right now!
This is gross!
Courageous charges and death! Valiant chunks of meat flying in all directions! Blood spraying the air!
It's one thing to just describe sights like that.
But seeing them in person feels really...icky.
Yeah.
You said you call this place the Death Zone? Hmm.
Even with all that fighting, there are no winners or losers here.
They're killing for killing's sake, dying just to die.
Hmm... Is that what fighting's supposed to be about?
I guess in a sense, that might be it exactly? Or is it?
Ugh, I hate this! My memories and feelings are all a jumble!
I don't want to look at this anymore! Period!
Fou!
The dragon is right.
If you ask me, the Tatars who attacked Russia were a perfect example.
Those battles we fought against the bloodthirsty Tatars were just meaningless shows of nastiness too.
Like the dragon said, that may be part of what fighting is all about.
But a wasteland of nothing but death and destruction? That's just too...
...
Haha, never mind! A warrior shouldn't speak of such things! Forget I said anything!
Russia...
Come to think of it, you're a Russian hero, aren't you, Nikitich?
Of course. Just like every Bogatyr.
If there's a threat to the northern motherland, I'll be there to help. I'd do the same even if we were in the middle of a Subspecies Holy Grail War.
Honestly, I wish I could have fought in the Russian Lostbelt, too!
I'm so strong, I can do just about anything. I can even do something about the horrors of war threatening the northern motherland.
Fou?
Yup. I could handle them.
I could handle him, too.
Fou, fooou!?
Fo...
Of course I'm not lying. I can do just about anything.
I might not be able to defeat the actual, original Lightning Tsar on my own, but there are still things I can do against him.
A true warrior keeps fighting and never gives up. They make their own opportunities. If they lack strength, they find allies to help.
Nothing is truly impossible.
Th-then...could you cut down a Tree of Emptiness?
No, I can't do that.
Have I not been saying "just about anything"?
I can get rid of enemies invading my land, but if I'm not materialized, I can't do anything.
I couldn't stop the earth from being bleached, or the Lostbelts from taking root.
In the end, I'm still just one warrior...
But even so, I swore an oath. Once I agree to something, I always keep my word.
So now that I've materialized here, I'm going to save my northern motherland.
You have a very strong sense of duty, don't you, Nikitich?
Yup.
That's really encouraging to hear.
Right? Go on, keep the praise coming.
？！
Well...there is arguably such a thing as being too dutiful.
There's a legend about how the original Nikitich nearly lost his beloved wife to another warrior because of his overdeveloped sense of duty, you see.
How did it go again? I think you spent so long on tour in Constantinople...
...that the Grand Prince of Kiev tried to convince your wife you were never coming back, and that she should remarry?
Yeah, that's right!
Nearly losing my beloved wife to my sense of duty was my wake-up call to not let it get in the way of other important things.
Hmph.
Hm?
Why are you so upset, Nikiti? If anyone has a right to be angry there, it should be your wife, no?
You know, that's a good point...
Ugh, I swear.
???
2. Before the battle
46 lines...Okay, I'm done collecting data.
It looks like those horrid bipedal beasts that apparently all have a bunch of built-in guns...
...will just keep killing each other as long as we stay far enough away from them.
Luckily, they can't detect things from too far away, since their scanning range isn't great.
They do seem to be packing some serious firepower, but it's strictly optimized for head-to-head combat. It doesn't look like they have any patrol units...
Are you okay, Da Vinci?
You don't look so hot, Da Vinci...
？！
Me? I'm totally fine.
It's you guys I'm worried about. These aren't exactly the most pleasant sights you're seeing, after all.
It's the inherent wrongness of those things.
These combat beasts in the Death Zone inspire indescribable discomfort in people by their very nature.
Combat beasts...
That's pretty on the nose, but it's also nice and straightforward.
Anyway, these things walk on two legs, like humans. They kill with guns, like humans.
And above all, they're obsessed with killing...like humans.
The Laḫmu you guys saw in Uruk were pretty horrific creatures too, but they at least had the intelligence to follow their mother.
But these combat beasts don't even have that. It's like they were born solely to kill each other.
In a way, they're caricatures of humans, however much they roar and act like beasts.
They possess both weapons and cruelty unique to humans. You'd never see that in creatures of the natural world.
Cruelty... Ibuki-Douji, you said that cruelty might be part of what fighting is all about, but that's only true for battles between humans.
Fights in the natural world aren't like that at all.
Then let me ask you this, Lady Da Vinci.
Why do these combat beasts possess those two qualities?
In fact, let's put it another way. Why did Koyanskaya endow them with those traits?
First thing that comes to mind?
That's fine with me.
I'm guessing, I admit, but it's not all that hard.
I'd bet anything she did it to kill humans.
...Brilliant.
I should have known you'd get right to the heart of it, Leonardo da Vinci. You truly are a Renaissance genius!
And let me add one more thing. Your analysis earlier was largely correct, but it missed one crucial detail.
I believe the combat beasts' scanning range IS very short...at least for others of their kind.
But the question is...is it also short for their primary prey?
!
So they largely ignore Heroic Spirits, but they're super quick to target humans!?
That's my theory.
Then, that would mean
Mash!
I'm here, Senpai!
Way to bury the lede! Dammit, Fujimaru! Mash!
Preparing to intercept the enemy, Master!
Go get 'em!
？！
Understood! Initiating counterattack now!