Greece.
I stood on a low hill next to a vast, dense forest. From here, about two kilometers away, Archer, Artemis, Apollo, and the huntresses took up their positions, waiting for the signal to begin the competition.
Archer did nothing but sigh wearily and frown, clearly not enjoying the upcoming battle, but he still activated his magic chains a couple of times and checked the mana flows coming from me.
At the same time, his opponents weren't particularly concerned and simply waited, clearly confident of victory. They even allowed the Servant to attack first, which made me smile, while Archer shrugged, although it clearly bothered him. After all, he was proud of his archery skills.
In theory, with such an attitude, Archer would only need one shot to defeat the gods and destroy the forest, because that was how Gilgamesh lost to Shirou. However, let's see how this all turns out.
- "Why did you set them on Archer, Romani?" Hestia asked in a rather gentle tone, standing next to me. "You definitely had a goal, but I can't figure out what it was, unless it was to hurt Artemis and Apollo's egos. Did they do something to you, or is it just us in general?"
- "I would say, partially. I believe it has something to do with the exploits of your colleagues from my world, which have some similarities," I replied. "But I did have a goal. I wanted to talk to you, Lady Hestia."
- "Me?" she asked, confused. "In that case, couldn't we just skip all this?"
Hestia is one of the very few Greek gods who did not become famous for her antics with humanity, and for that she could be respected. On the other hand, her actions, or rather her inaction, raise several questions.
- "I just preferred to combine business with pleasure."
- "And what did you want to talk to me about?" asked Hestia.
- "I'm curious why you indulge your family's desires, even though you understand that they only harm everyone around you," I began. "You didn't try to dissuade Artemis and Apollo, even though you had every opportunity to do so, citing Zeus' words, for example, but chose to remain silent. I'm not judging you or your family, I'm just trying to understand."
- "I understand what you mean, but that's the point of view of a mortal, even one as powerful as you," she replied neutrally. "I also understand why this bothers you, for you are the reincarnation of Solomon, who supported and loved humanity. However, things are not as simple as they seem. Family is more than just a word, and to preserve it, sacrifices must be made."
- "Sacrifices? The goddess of sacrificial fire, huh?" I smiled and raised my hand, causing my magic circle to light up above the forest. "You know, you remind me of Tia, the goddess I told you about. She accepts her children as they are, even if they cold-bloodedly got rid of her."
I paused, and at that moment, the magic circle faded, and a closed field with the same functions as during Issa's training appeared around the forest.
- "True, in her case, she was the victim, not someone else. You are too soft and indecisive to even try to make your family members take responsibility for their actions."
- "And what do you want me to do, Romani?" Hestia smiled ironically. "Zeus wouldn't listen to me. And despite his transgressions, Olympus exists because of him, and that's all I want."
- "Well, you don't deny that I'm partly right, but at the same time, you're still lying to yourself. As the goddess of the hearth, you couldn't help but feel the grief of the families destroyed by the actions of Zeus and the others, right?" I asked, but she remained silent. "You don't have the arrogance and selfishness that the others have, and in the past, those qualities were necessary, but not now. With my arrival, as vain as it may sound, a new era is beginning. And it's time for Olympus to change its leadership."
- "I don't understand what you mean," Hestia replied, but she understood perfectly well what I meant.
Zeus's older sister was not stupid, blind, or deaf. She was one of the few who possessed common sense and knew how to balance desires and necessity. But Hestia was too... conservative, I would say.
Of course, I would like to put her on the throne instead of Zeus, but if she has already made her final choice and is not considering other alternatives, then so be it. However, after what I plan to do at the meeting, Zeus will definitely want to kill me. Well, against the backdrop of this and a couple of other events, I think she will be inclined to change her views on the future a little.
Recalling the anime canon, which only counts up to the victory over Trikexa, only Hades played a significant role in it, and therefore I could do whatever I wanted with the rest of Olympus. And Hestia, possibly paired with Hades, looked much better at the head of Olympus than Zeus. And considering her relationship with Archer... Heh. Whatever happens, happens, as they say.
The next moment, I felt a channel form between me and Archer, indicating that he wanted to tell me something.
- "Master, it's time to begin," he said through the Master and Servant connection. "Your orders?"
- "Oh? I hear impatience in your voice, Shirou-kun?" I grinned. "Want to show them how cool you are, huh?"
- "I am a Servant, and I must obey my Master," he replied in a neutral tone, which was followed by my giggles over the connection.
- "Rin didn't say that."
- "She doubted my effectiveness as a Servant, not my archery."
- "Well, if you insist," I muttered thoughtfully and touched my chin with my finger. "Caladbolg, maximum power, three lines from the aria."
- "Are you sure?" he asked after a couple of seconds. "The gods may survive the attack, but Artemis' hunters will definitely be wiped out."
- "Don't worry. My closed field will take care of that."
- "Understood."
- "And one more thing. Take as much mana as you want. You can indulge yourself today," I said and broke the connection, then looked at Hestia. "They won't be offended if it all ends with one attack, right?"
- "The main thing is that there are no casualties. I don't need any extra problems."
- "Oh, it'll be fine," I smiled and released a wave of mana, signaling the start of the competition.
Well, here comes the fireworks.
-0-
Hestia, wanting to distract herself from her conversation with Romani, shifted her gaze to Archer, who was constantly on her mind.
He was an attentive, polite, and skilled man with whom she could talk for hours on end. Talking to him, Hestia felt a comfort and coziness she had never experienced in her long, long life, and she definitely liked it.
Hestia was famous and proud of her cooking skills, and, as it turned out, so was Archer. She had never had anyone to discuss such topics with before, but during this short time together, she felt as if she had been given a new lease on life.
Archer knew what he was talking about. He talked about his impressions of different cuisines, their subtleties that Hestia had never even thought about, and sometimes even gave advice on how to prepare certain dishes that she was an expert at. The last point particularly interested Hestia, because she did not feel insulted or a desire to elevate himself above her, but rather excitement and a challenge thrown down by a kindred spirit.
But most importantly, when communicating with him, she did not feel the barrier between god and man, which had been troubling her. After all, such a thing was simply impossible, especially since Archer was a Servant. A hero of antiquity who had made a name for himself and ascended to the Throne of Heroes, according to Hades. And heroes often differed from ordinary people in their stronger sense of self-worth, at least in her memory.
In addition, thanks to Olympus and her temple, Hestia had seen his soul, which raised a mountain of questions in her mind.
There was fire. Fire and weapons. And based on this, Archer could well be the son of Hephaestus, one of the most powerful, but there was one catch. The fire, besides resembling that which burned in blacksmith's forges, had a certain property. A certain property that Hestia herself possessed, which was part of her very essence...
Sacrifice.
This couldn't help but bother her. Why was the fire in his soul like that? What kind of life did he have if sacrifice became part of his essence? Just like hers? What did he go through?
And while these questions were spinning in Hestia's head, Archer began to move, focusing all her attention on himself.
He slowly raised his left hand, in which a massive black bow instantly appeared, the material of which Hestia could not identify. Then his right hand rose, palm facing the sky, and in the next moment, a scarlet energy resembling a flame flashed above it, shooting upward and fading away, revealing a sword. A golden sword in the shape of a drill, more like a drill than a sword.
Archer stood sideways and gazed into the distance, holding his bow and drawing the sword on its string, which in an instant transformed, becoming thin and resembling an unusual arrow.
Hestia, who was not particularly interested in weapons and martial arts, could not help but admit how magnificent Archer looked as a warrior. He resembled a statue that skilled sculptors had created in ancient times at the behest of the gods, but then something happened that made Hestia tremble.
- "I am the bone of my sword..."
An impulse burst from Archer's body, not ordinary mana or life energy, but his very soul. The image of his essence appeared before Hestia's eyes again, and the warmth of the flame seemed to remind her of what had been troubling her since their first meeting.
- "Steel is my body, and fire is my blood..."
The wind picked up, shaking the treetops and catching the leaves, causing them to swirl around Archer's figure, which did not move a millimeter. The space around him trembled, revealing glimpses of his soul in the real world, and Hestia couldn't believe her eyes, for this was the first time she had ever seen such a thing.
- "I have created over a thousand blades..."
The goddess of the hearth and sacrificial flame opened her eyes wide, and the reason was very simple, yet absolutely impossible. Inside Archer, she saw a whole world. A world created only by him, a mortal, which he could project onto existing reality. Even among the gods, very few were capable of this. Even Zeus...
- "My core is twisted in madness..." Archer said quietly but clearly. "Caladbolg!"
And what had once been a sword shot into the sky. It turned into a blue comet, cutting through the sky itself, tearing the air and space itself to shreds, and reaching its target in a matter of seconds...
BOOM
It wasn't an explosion, oh no. Hestia would not dare call 'it' simply an 'explosion'. It was a nuclear explosion, the kind humans used during the Cold War.
A massive dome of destruction made of flame and mana rapidly spread to several kilometers, demolishing centuries-old rocks and reducing all vegetation in the vicinity to dust. In an instant, the forest was completely destroyed and turned into a dead wasteland. The explosion scattered the clouds above Artemis's once-existing domain, and all that remained in the sky was a mushroom cloud full of ash, dust, and fire.
The shock wave, which spared nothing and no one, quickly reached Hestia's position, and she was about to put up a barrier, but Romani beat her to it and then smiled.
- "Oya, that was stronger than I thought," Romani whistled and turned around. "And that's only three lines. I wonder if he could destroy Olympus if I told him to use the whole aria? Heh."
Hestia swallowed loudly and slowly repeated Romani's actions, where she was met by the same landscape that was in front of her, stretching for a kilometer into the distance.
She could still feel Archer's presence, which meant that his own attack hadn't hit him, but the sheer scale of the power of a single Servant couldn't help but make her feel uneasy. Uneasy and fearful that Zeus would do something he would later regret. And not just him...
-0-
A/N: How's the chapter? Give us your opinion. You may well be able to influence future chapters.
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