Section 13: Two Shots Fired

I have a problem, Asterios.

A problem?

I thought I'd crushed both my enemies at once, but that seems not to be the case.

I really thought your labyrinth would do the trick.

So...your problem is...because...I failed?

No, it's not like that. All I'm saying is that we need to make sure to finish them off properly this time.

I'm here, Thēseus.

My scouts tell me that the central castle is conducting reconnaissance with shadow knights.

Just as I thought. They're prioritizing recon over expanding their castle.

It makes sense. The knights and expansions each use magical energy, so they'd run out quickly if they tried to do both at once.

Since their Master's human, they can't win in a drawn out battle. So, they plan to go on the offensive, knowing we are aware of that.

They'll probably make their move within the next day or two. Would you go get ready for them, Asterios?

Don't worry...Thēseus. I'll beat...them all.

I'll make sure...you get...the Holy Grail!

...Fine. Come with me.

Penthesilea.

What is it?

I just wanted to thank you. I'm sure there is a great deal you want to say to me, but instead, you've kept your silence and followed my orders faithfully.

You're the lord of this castle now. On our honor, we Amazons would never betray our lord.

However, should you acquire the Holy Grail, I WILL be using it to take my revenge.

Of course, that's fine with me. Your wish is yours to use as you please.

That said, I don't know if this Holy Grail will be able to grant all of our wishes.

If so, I will eliminate anyone who stands in my way. Including you. Until that time comes, I am at your service.

Now, if that's all you have to say to me, I have work to do.

Are you really okay with this?

I couldn't care less about the Holy Grail myself, but shouldn't you be thinking ahead, about what happens when you win?

Oh? Are you favoring me with divine revelation?

Just a word of advice. You and I go back far enough that I thought I should pipe up before you do something you regret.

Well, as I am now, that does ring painfully true. Especially since I know what happened to me after this point in my life, even if it still doesn't feel real.

...

Now, I have a question for you as well.

I'm sure you're not the same goddess you were when you lived, but you don't also happen to retain your memories from a different summoning, do you?

No. I know what happened, but I don't have any memory of it.

I'm still a Divine Spirit; I see things differently than ordinary Servants. You do get that, don't you?

Good point. That makes sense. The Euryale I knew back then would never take part in battle herself.

What a bizarre ordeal we've all been caught up in.

You say that, but you're still going to win, right? That's how it's always been for you.

That's true. I'm sure I will.

But, if you do anything to make him miserable, you and I are going to have words.

...It's strange. I don't remember you and Asterios having that kind of relationship before.

What did I just say? I see things differently than ordinary Servants like you.

Right now, I want to keep Asterios safe. Just a little bit. That's all.

A goddess, herself always in need of protection, wanting to protect someone else. Hm...

I guess even the gods themselves can change.

It's too bad there's no twilight in this Singularity...

You know, Ariadne, I don't think I realized how much I like that color before.

This time...I want to try winning in the true sense of the word.

Mo, mo, mo! (Trying to say "Good morning")

？！

Mo! (Obviously proud)

？！

...I was just seeing what the other castle is up to.

Looks like that Thēseus guy plans on staying in his castle, just like we thought.

？！

Yes. They'd rather not fight in our castle if they can help it. Especially when the lord can summon shadow knights and change the castle's structure at will.

Like I said before, in this Singularity, the attackers will always be at a disadvantage.

？！

Because we have you, of course.

？！

Oh, don't worry. You're not our weakness this time. The opposite, in fact.

You don't seem to be aware of it yourself, but shadows or not, the ability to summon Heroic Spirits at will is an incredible force multiplier.

When you take the average Heroic Spirit's combat abilities into account, it's like pulling a siege engine out of your back pocket.

Normally, you'd have to strategize for weeks to scrounge up the firepower for a battle like this, but you have everything you need. It's practically cheating.

Of course, even then, I'd still only put our odds to win at around thirty percent.

Thirty percent!? That's it!?

That's quite good for a siege. Usually, you'd need at least three times the enemy's numbers to get odds like that. But, even then, I'm still not seeing a clear path to victory for us.

？！

No. In terms of raw combat ability, Taigong Wang and Huang Feihu were considerably stronger.

Whether you look at them individually or as a unit, they were a rare and uniquely powerful team.

However, Thēseus and Asterios do have the worst possible combination of Noble Phantasms for us.

So no matter how much stronger we may be, it won't matter unless we can somehow neutralize that advantage.

Because if we can't, we'll just end up stuck inside that labyrinth again, with no more hope of escape.

And let's not forget that in Greek myth, Thēseus and the Minotaur were no less bitter enemies than Zeus and Typhon.

So seeing them teamed up like this strikes me as very strange.

Oh, I get it. In my country, it'd be like if the Genji and Taira clans were best buds instead of deadly rivals.

Huh? You've got members of both in Chaldea!? Damn, that's nuts!

Mo, mo, mo... (Worried)

You're really thinkin' hard, Ptoley. Might wanna knock it off before you give yourself wrinkles. Eh, guess that happens every night anyway.

Hmph. I used to hear similar things in school all the time.

Though I will say that in this body, I don't mind that nickname.

Huh, no kidding.

I guess despite my memories being the same, the body I'm in influences my reactions.

I suppose that's no great shock. Even food and drink taste different when you're ill.

Anyway, do you have any thoughts about this, Sugitani?

Yeah, I guess. Well, I got the same thought I always do.

The way I see it, we just gotta shoot the guy at the top.

...That's not a bad idea.

Really?

Sugitani.

Y-yeah?

Can your Noble Phantasm shoot Thēseus?

...Ha.

THAT'S your question? Of course it can. I can shoot anybody with it, doesn't matter who or how great a hero they are.

In fact, guys like you are some of the easiest targets around.

I don't care if you're a hundred paces away. You might as well have a giant bull's-eye on your head sayin', "Shoot me!"

Oho. So I'm an easy target, am I?

You ever wanna get shot, you just let me know. I'll put one between your eyes anytime.

？！

What comes next is the problem. I can shoot him, sure, but I don't think that'd kill him.

The way Mystics work, older things are way better. Doesn't matter if we're talking about magecraft or weapons.

Much as I hate to say it, a newer weapon like a matchlock ain't exactly top-tier for a Servant's tool kit.

Yes, I understand that. It's one of the prime rules governing Servants, after all.

Still, your Noble Phantasm isn't an actual matchlock, but the embodiment of the skills and legends you acquired when you were alive, right?

Hm? Uh, I guess?

？！

I mean, I haven't exactly got hard data to back that up, but my gut says...probably?

My matchlock's definitely not like any other weapon, but calling it my Noble Phantasm doesn't feel right, either.

In that case, we may have a way to succeed.

？！

To be clear, we have no guarantees here.

What's more, you'll need a full day of rest first. You'll also need to count on my older self to make this happen.

All right, I'm going to go make preparations. Why don't you stay here and keep your gun ready, Sugitani?

H-hey, where're you going, Ptoley?

Oh come on. You're actually making me do this?

？！

It's not that. Like I said, I'm positive I can hit him.

There's only one guy I was never able to hit.

？！

Huh? You don't know? Oda Nobunaga. He, uh... I don't suppose he's at Chaldea too, is he?

Remember what I told you before about Sugitani Zenjubou being a sniper? Well, his main target was Oda Nobunaga.

Unfortunately for him, history tells us his attempts to assassinate Nobunaga failed. According to the "Chronicle of Nobunaga":

"He aimed at Lord Nobunaga and fired two bullets. But under the watchful eyes of the heavens, they merely grazed his body."

Yeah, that's right. I tried, and I failed miserably.

And man, oh man, did I ever pay for it.

I couldn't even count on my client, Lord Rokkaku, for help, since he lost all his money and power not long after.

Then, just as I was getting real fed up with life on the run, I met this sorcerer who specialized in mechanical gizmos.

A sorcerer? Does that have anything to do with why you materialized as a woman?

Yeah, that's when all this went down. They said they could change my appearance, so I said great, where do I sign?

Didn't expect a damn gender swap!

And apparently, I can't even be male anymore even now that I'm dead! Ahahahaha!

But, I guess that's okay. Not like I was gonna get any more jobs as an assassin after I botched the big one.

If you don't mind my asking, how did you end up missing those shots, anyway?

Like I said before, I got no problem shootin' heroes and champions. I could land those shots in my sleep.

To me, targets like that might as well be glowing. All I gotta do is point the barrel their way and pull the trigger.

But Nobunaga? He was so normal it was downright terrifying.

？！

Yeah, Oda Nobunaga. Why? Is the one you know different or something?

？！

Hm? Oda?

I'm a lot older than I look, and I've seen a lot of humans over the years...

But I don't remember Oda Nobunaga being, erm...like that.

Hahaha, is that so? So Chaldea's Nobunaga is more of an oddball, huh. Well, in my time, if he'd been as much of an idiot as the rumors said, my job would've been easy.

But he wasn't like that at all.

Whenever I look at someone down the barrel of my gun, I get a pretty good idea of the kinda life they've lived.

...The hell?

But with him, it was like there was nothing there.

It wasn't the emptiness of an enlightened monk, nor the coldheartedness of a swordmaster or god of war.

He was just an ordinary man, the kind you'd find pretty much anywhere.

？！

This was a guy who survived Okehazama and killed Saito to become the guardian of all of Owari. There's no way he could be ordinary, right?

But that was the kind of life I saw down my barrel. An average, quiet, perfectly harmless guy.

Seeing for myself that fate had led such an ordinary guy to trying to conquer all of Japan scared the shit out of me.

Freaked me out so bad that, before I knew it, my finger was on the trigger.

Honestly, I don't really remember what happened next. All I know is that I screamed and ran around in a panic like an idiot.

...But enough of me rambling.

I'm pretty sure I'll never run into anyone like that again, so I'm never gonna miss my shot again, either.

...It's almost night.

I still can't get over how this Singularity has day and night, but no dawn or dusk. It just changes instantly.

But anyway, this is good timing. Go talk to the other Ptoley.

...Oh, Master. Have you finished speaking with Sugitani?

？！

As my daytime self, I left my current self the task of running a search on some things. That's what I've been doing.

It won't be easy, but with this castle's technology to work with, I should be able to figure something out.

I must say, this is the first time in life or afterlife that my own self has made such a steep request of me.

Is that so? Very well then, I think we can take him at his word.

Is that so? I take it he was reminiscing over his single failure then.

？！

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Of course. Why wouldn't I? Fighting alongside someone teaches you all about them, whether you wish to learn or not.

And that is doubly true when you count on someone to watch your back. I have no doubt that he can be trusted.

That said, unlike my younger self, I cannot abide his bizarre nickname for me.

At any rate, tomorrow will be our decisive showdown.

Which means I must ask you this once again, Master.

As I've told you before, the castles change from day to night, and it is safe to say we will be fighting a series of battles.

By day, the castle will have fewer shadow knights and fewer traps we can use. At night, there are sure to be more of both.

Heh, as such, I expect this is the last time I will have to ask you this:

Which version of me would you like to go with, Master? Me in my youth, or me as an older man?