"Haa... Haa..."
Takumi clutched the flag and sprinted across the plain, his chest heaving with every movement as he gasped for air.
That's right, Takumi got lost again.
The reason was similar to the First Singularity. Basically, he couldn't read a map, couldn't identify directions, and Chaldea was essentially useless—
Actually, Takumi really had a mouthful of complaints stuck in his throat about this. He felt like he would explode if he didn't vent.
Seriously, why is this Chaldea so hard to use? Who is this coordinate system even for?
In Singularity F, Takumi was practically thrown into the face of a Shadow Servant. If his special ability hadn't been much stronger back then than it was now, Takumi would have died before even starting his mission.
The transport to the First Singularity was a bit better. After all, the area was much larger than Fuyuki City, so he didn't encounter enemies immediately, but it still led to Takumi being lost for a day.
This time, Takumi was even more impressed. They actually threw him into the sea. If he hadn't seen land not far ahead when he fell into the water, it wasn't impossible for Takumi to have exhausted his stamina and drowned at sea.
However, the current Takumi wasn't the Takumi of before. After inheriting Jeanne's [Revelation] skill, although he couldn't hear many things like Jeanne could, he could still vaguely determine a direction after repeatedly affirming his conviction.
It finally solved his urgent problem, freeing him from running around like a headless fly.
So Takumi silently chanted "Find Nero" a few times in his heart. After getting a direction, he set off immediately.
The Second Singularity was located in the Roman Empire. The most crucial figure was Emperor Nero. Even if everything else rotted to the core, as long as Nero didn't die, there was still a chance for everything.
So Takumi's current primary objective was to find Nero and protect her—though whether he could protect her well was hard to say.
He ran for an unknown amount of time.
Suddenly, the sounds of shouting and killing drifted faintly from ahead.
Takumi's gaze sharpened, and he quickened his pace again.
Running up a small hill, Takumi just glanced casually and saw a small group of soldiers surrounded by a large army, especially a certain red figure fighting at the very front.
"Luckily, I'm not too late..."
Seeing this, Takumi breathed a sigh of relief. Without resting much, he rushed down hurriedly.
"My... My adorable niece.. Nerooooo—"
Wearing golden armor and a cloak on his back, Caligula perfectly interpreted the mental state a Servant with a high rank of Madness Enhancement should have.
Especially when facing Nero, that state where madness and obsessive love merged together... even among all Berserker class Servants, his mental state was probably second to none, right?
"—Ugh, even if you are my uncle, if you keep calling my name like that, I will get angry too!"
Nero struggled to swing her sword to parry Caligula's attack, then looked at him with a face full of disgust.
She didn't know if it was her illusion, but it seemed that after she said this, this uncle who had crawled back from who knows where suddenly became depressed.
However, this expression didn't stay on Caligula's face for long. The effect of Madness Enhancement appeared again, and Caligula started repeating the line Nero was already sick of hearing.
"My... My adorable niece... Nerooooo—"
Even the tone and movements didn't change.
"...If you were to become an actor, Uncle, you might have the potential to be a repeater machine."
Nero looked grim.
Her gaze glanced to the side from time to time, revealing anger and a hint of anxiety.
The overall battle situation was already disadvantageous for her side. Every bit of military strength was precious, yet she was being stalled here, forced to watch helplessly as the soldiers supporting her fell under the enemy's blades.
Uh, accurately speaking, it doesn't seem like Uncle is stalling me, but rather like I am stalling Uncle...
Because Nero seemed unable to beat this Caligula who had popped out of nowhere.
Although his mind didn't seem clear, his strength was undeniably powerful. Every time she blocked Caligula's fist, it felt like wrestling with some phantasmal beast, numbing her hands.
What should I do?
Just as Nero felt the situation was tricky, a black shadow suddenly darted out from nowhere. With a speed that even Nero found hard to see clearly, it rammed Caligula away just as he was about to repeat his line again.
Nero blinked, stunned for almost a second before reacting.
"Oh—! Whose general is this? To be so brave!"
Nero's eyes radiated a strange light, and she turned her head to ask her soldiers without thinking.
"Your Majesty, we are just ordinary soldiers. How would we know about this kind of thing..."
The soldier who was asked chopped down a sneak-attacking enemy, then looked helplessly at his willful Emperor.
"That's true... Forget it! To come help me at a time like this, it must be reinforcements without a doubt!"
Nero was also confused, actually asking a grunt under her command such a question.
But it didn't matter; she had her own way!
"Since we're on the topic, as long as you don't die in this battle, I appoint you as the Imperial Court First Battlefield Intelligence Officer, responsible for organizing and reporting various information on my army!"
With a wave of her small hand, Nero made a rather hasty decision.
"Although I'm happy about the promotion, Your Majesty... do we really have this position here?"
The soldier's expression was indescribable.
"Wordy! If I say there is, there is! Even if there isn't, I can create one on the spot!"
"No more talk with you. I must go assist the reinforcements!"
Realizing the reinforcement seemed to be at a disadvantage, Nero had no time to talk more. Lifting her sword, [Aestus Estus: The Original Flame], she went up to help.
"Remember not to die!"
She didn't forget to leave such a sentence from afar.
I can only say I'll try my best...
The soldier bitterly plunged back into the enemy formation.
Clearly, the only one who could run to support Nero in this situation was Takumi.
After rushing down the slope at his fastest normal speed, Takumi, who deeply understood his own advantages, immediately became stealthy. Entering the battle formation normally without causing much of a splash, he casually stabbed the enemies blocking his way to death. Soon, Takumi saw the two fighting in a large clearing on the other side of the formation.
Takumi seized the opportunity, using both of his special abilities. While accelerating, he even used the second special ability to achieve a Presence Concealment effect.
With a whoosh, Takumi darted out like a big black rat, the tip of the flag in his hand pointing forward.
The speed was fast, and the strategy was underhanded. The spear tip of the flag was almost touching Caligula's chest before he even reacted.
Of course, part of the reason was that Caligula had focused most of his attention on Nero.
Thud!
The flag pierced through flesh. The perfect strike even made Takumi hallucinate the sound of something shattering.
Because he aimed for Caligula's heart, which was also the location of a Servant's Spirit Core.
This stab, theoretically, was absolutely a fatal wound.
But Takumi seemed to have rejoiced too early, and underestimated the tenacious vitality of a Berserker.
Borrowing the kinetic energy of the run-up, the flag did indeed pierce through Caligula's body, and incidentally pushed him back for over a hundred meters.
But Caligula reacted quickly. He grabbed the flagstaff at his chest, forcefully stopping the backward momentum with his immense Strength.
Two deep "brake marks" were plowed under his feet.
Blood flowed from the corner of Caligula's mouth. After roaring in anger, he actually ignored the foreign object in his chest, trying to pounce along the flagstaff to tear Takumi into pieces.
Dodge!
Takumi was startled and hurriedly activated his special ability.
The force in his hands lightened. The figures of the two crossed, but Caligula didn't touch anything.
Takumi appeared unharmed behind Caligula.
[Disengage]!
"Phew..."
Takumi took the opportunity to reset his stance and adjust his condition.
"Despicable... intruder...!"
Caligula looked angrily at Takumi, this villain who interrupted his reunion with his niece. Without thinking further, he stomped his feet and leaped up, clasping his hands together to smash down on Takumi.
With Caligula's powerful stats, Takumi had no doubt the opponent could smash him into a meat patty with this strike.
Dropping two Black Keys on the spot, Takumi activated his First Special Ability to quickly leave the area.
Explode!
The falling Caligula smashed a large crater in the ground. The Black Keys inscribed with Runes also exploded under Takumi's control.
He thought this move could delay the opponent's offensive, but unexpectedly, this guy didn't even pause. The next second, he rushed out of the fire and dust.
His body bore bloody scratches from the flying Black Key fragments, and many fragments were even embedded in his flesh.
Caligula caught up to Takumi with a burst of speed, his fist comparable to steel smashing down.
Takumi had to block with the flagstaff in front of him.
Clang!
The flag vibrated, and Takumi's hands suddenly went numb, almost dropping this sole weapon.
'Seriously, are Servants all this tough?'
In the moment of engagement, Takumi caught a glimpse of the wound on the opponent's chest. It was definitely a fatal wound.
But why does this guy seem even more energetic instead?
Could it be you were actually going easy when fighting Nero, but you don't plan to go easy on me?
----
Original Author's Note
The author's knowledge of Type-Moon isn't particularly deep. Roughly speaking, I've watched The Garden of Sinners (Kara no Kyoukai) and the Fate anime series, and I've played Fate/Grand Order for over four years. (But I am a "Skipper"—mostly because I joined the game late and I play too many other games simultaneously, so I simply don't have the time to read through such a massive volume of text...)
I am writing this book while researching lore as I go, so some settings definitely won't be 100% accurate. When writing, I'm basically just following the FGO storyline.
So, I welcome everyone's discussions! Especially regarding the later bosses and such. If I see your comments, I will try to reasonably integrate them into the upcoming plot based on my own understanding.
Uh, I don't really have an outline. My writing style stands out for being "do as I please," and the plot is entirely in my head.