"What was the reason you brought me here for?" Seth was unimpressed by Alaya's introduction. He had seen many things through the course of his life to be shocked by something of this degree.
"Straight to the point? Fine by me." Alaya said as she started floating slightly around Seth, seemingly checking him out for whatever reason.
"I brought you here to make a deal—a deal that will benefit both of us." You could find glee in all the voices as she spoke about that. Whatever it was, the black-haired man was sure that thing wouldn't lose in the end with their bargain.
"What kind of deal would I possibly want to do with you?" Seth looked straight at her. Since the moment he saw Nephthys he had been in a pretty bad mood so he at least wished it was worth the unpleasant time.
Alaya put a hand on when her mouth should be and released a light chuckle, Seth raised an eyebrow at this. "Weren't you supposed to have no emotions whatsoever?" As far as he knew, the entity should be just a will and nothing more.
"I used the records of various Heroic Spirits to make a personality so I could speak with you. Impressive, isn't it? Anyhow, my deal is a very simple one. I make the world accept you with the condition that you become a Grand for me." The tone in the Collective Conscious of Mankind spoke great deals of how much she considered that to be a blessing for the man.
"I refuse. First of all, you don't have the capabilities. Second, I'm already doing your job. Shouldn't you be doing what you propose for free as a token of appreciation?" He sarcastically replied, earning with that a not-so-meager amount of bloodlust.
"I have my means. Also... 'I will go out of my way to allow the World to give you free rein'. Did you really think that was what I was going to say?" Alaya's tone started mild but got darker at the end. It was obvious she considered his words to be nothing short of preposterous.
"How do you think Humanity survived until now? Did you think they survived because I am stupid? There is no way I would set free a genocidal in this world without putting a leash on him first. The fact that the World wanted to end your existence when you summoned that Serpent is proof that you need my help!" The voices rose in intensity. Every single one of them denoted various states of anger.
The Kingslayer's eyes narrowed at her words but chose not to correct her. "I don't need your help, I never did. With each passing day, I get more familiar with the system of this World. First, they were skills, then a Pseudo Noble Phantasm, the moment I can materialize my legends into proper Noble Phantasms is not far. Also, I may have been overconfident but I'm by no means an idiot. Apep is depicted as 'The Serpent That Devours The World'. It was the only reason why it attacked us, it saw me and Apep as a threat. If I avoid calling him again then the World won't do anything as all my other legends don't involve it. What's more, me being a 'genocide' is sure to gain a good opinion from Gaia with her hate of humans."
If Alaya had eyes then they would be wide open at this moment. "You...are dangerous..." With no more words, she extended her hand like a knife to Seth's chest. However, before she even touched him, the world began to be enveloped in darkness.
She stopped her movements—no. They were stopped. "You have no idea of the things that exist in this world...or outside of it."
The darkness continued to grow, slowly extending its clutches toward the white figure. When it got to her arm, Alaya reacted quickly. She cut off her arm and immediately teleported far away. Whatever it was, it generated a sense of danger for her.
"You are crazy... You and your kin... Their nature is a thing that must not exist!" Even if she was a consciousness of the real Alaya, she didn't want to risk getting contaminated by that strange thing.
"What happened? Is the emotionless entity scared?" Seth allowed himself a mocking laugh. "I told you, there are things you have no idea about. Some can be quite scary. Aren't we all just walking contradictions? it's the same reason why you can't get your dirty hands on us."
"Hypocrite! I can feel your hate toward your kind, yet you still speak as if your nature is something to be proud of!" Alaya snarled at him with dissatisfaction. She was not sure if the other Gods from the outsider's world were like him, but if there was one thing that she was sure of, it was that something as twisted as him couldn't exist with the natural rules.
"Proud? Do I sound like that? It seems not having emotions to start with is affecting your judgment. I know I can't change what I am, but what I can change is who I am. Which one of the two do you think I will care about then?" The darkness soon continued its path, devouring everything in the space they were in. One by one, numerous eyes with different shapes and characteristics began to appear in the consumed area. They were locked in the white figure, who was unconsciously taking some steps back.
She was showing one of the most notable traits of mankind.
Fear of the Unknown.
"You are crazy! Mark my words, should you use that thing against Humanity I will send everything I've got to destroy you!" Alaya threatened Seth one last time as the dream world kept collapsing.
"Your threats mean nothing to me. Besides, do you think you have the power to kill me? I can count with the fingers of one hand the beings that can truly do it, and I guarantee you they will not lower themselves to assist you. It would be great for you if they didn't destroy you outright." Seth was not worried at all by Alaya's threat. Even though he wasn't immortal, there were only three ways to kill him and the whining consciousness in front of him didn't have access to either of those. Not to mention that if worse comes to worst, he would use his strongest Authority to temporarily raise his power to the maximum. It would only be a few seconds, but it would be enough to erase it from this timeline and possibly some others.
Alaya didn't say anything anymore and just disappeared together with the world around them. It was not the moment to antagonize him, for now...
[Darkness will cover the Sun, and the dead will rise to consume it]
Just as he was waking up from his dream, a monotonous and almost mechanical voice spoke through his mind.
'Honestly... give me a rest.' Seth thought with tiredness, he didn't finish one thing when another was knocking on his door. Now he was having hallucinations or some mystical delusions?
Looking at the clock hanging on the white wall, he noticed it was already morning. What seemed to be just a few minutes for him in reality were hours.
Getting up he left the room and started walking through the hallway. It wasn't long before he met with Fujimaru and Mash who were going to the Command Room and as he had nothing to do he decided to accompany them.
"Today we will be able to summon more Servants so they can help us in this mission, isn't that great?" Fujimaru was excited at this prospect. To him, having more allies he could rely on was a great thing, especially if those allies were famous figures of the past.
"I think it is, Senpai. The more help we can get the better!" Mash shared Master's enthusiasm but Seth was sure she preferred for that help to come in male form.
"Aren't you happy too, Kuro-san?" Fujimaru asked him, hoping to know the other Master's opinion.
"I'm not. I have the feeling I will regret summoning one pretty soon." His statement caused confusion between the two teenagers. To them, every help was welcomed, and as far as they knew, he didn't have any particularly strong feud with anyone to warrant such a reaction.
"Why do you think that?" Mash, who didn't know the meaning of his words, asked.
"Just a hunch." Just as he said this, they caught sight of Da Vinci who was going to the Command Room as well.
"Oh, hello guys. Did you have enough rest?" She stopped walking and waved at them.
"Yes, we did. Thank you for asking, Da Vinci." Fujimaru replied with a smile that slowly turned awkward as she was suddenly in front of his face looking at him intently. "It's Da Vinci-chan, okay?"
She only left the poor guy go once he agreed to call her that way. "Now, follow me. I'm sure you are pretty excited to see which Servants you will summon this time."
They walked for a few minutes before they were finally able to see the door leading to the place where they were going to call for help from some Heroic Spirits.
Once they entered the room, they were met with the sight of Caster, Saber, Dr. Roman, and some staff who were there to make sure everything was as stable as possible.
Hearing the automatic door sliding open, the two Servants and Doctor looked behind them. No one showed much of a reaction as they were expecting them, except Romani of course who didn't know how to act seeing Seth here however he recomposed himself pretty quickly as he needed to do his job.
"Good morning, it's good to see you here. Are you two ready to summon your Servants?" Romani tried to act as professional as possible but the occasional glances he sent Seth ruined it.
Caster wanted to make a comment saying something like 'Are you two dating or something?' but he knew it won't end well so he decided to not say it out loud.
"Yeah!" "Mhm." Both assented meaning they were ready. Dr. Roman spoke no more and decided to accompany them to the summoning circle.
"Do you want to go first?" Although the order didn't matter, he still asked the other Master as he already had Servants but Seth didn't.
"It's okay, you can go first. I'm in no hurry." He replied, Fujimaru just nodded and took the Saint Quartz that the Doctor gave him and put them into the slots that surrounded the summoning circle.
There was a moment of stillness before the circle started spinning as lighting began to surround it. A strong white light shot upward for a few seconds before coming to a stop.
A figure they met in Orleans could be seen where the light was. Seeing who it was, Fujimaru suddenly started having some apprehension.
"Servant, Kiyohime. It is nice to meet you, my Master." Kiyohime said when suddenly she saw Seth and ran past Fujimaru toward him. "Ahhh! I knew it, we were destined to be together!"
The room fell into silence as Kiyohime jumped with her arms open waiting to be caught. However, the only thing she received was a chop on the neck before falling unconscious.
'They aren't even my Servants and I'm already having trouble. And to begin with, when did I ever give her attention to act like that? Don't tell me she is one of those people.' He sighed at the situation. "Let's get this over with, I don't want to be here when she wakes up."
Just as he finished speaking, the summoning circle started spinning once again. Once the light faded, a woman with a giant cross made her introduction. "My name is Martha, just plain Martha...We will save the world without fail!" She said with seriousness before her face showed a small smile. Without any other words, she got off the circle and stood at the side of Fujimaru.
"Sa-Martha...It's good to see you here." Fujimaru was glad someone who helped them at least indirectly and was actually reliable had answered his call.
"Yes, It's a relief to be on the side of good after what happened." She simply nodded.
They stopped talking as the circle started moving again. When it stopped, almost everyone in the room tensed. "I am here at your request... Are you the Master who shall offer me your blood?" Vlad asked looking at Fujimaru.
"U-Um...I'm not certain about the blood part but I will do my best to accompany you as your Master!" Fujimaru responded making Berserker look at him deep in the eyes. "Very well, I shall see if you are worthy of being my vassal." He disappeared into shadows before reappearing beside a slightly tensed Fujimaru.
Saber readied her sword in case she needed to do something and Mash did the same with her shield but Seth signaled them not to do anything. If Vlad wanted to harm the youth then he would be the first to know and act upon it.
Vlad gave a nod of acknowledgment to Seth before closing his eyes and folding his arms waiting for the next Servant to be summoned.
It didn't take long for the next Servant to appear. However, when Saber saw him, her eyes widened. A black night with an equally black large metal rod stood there.
The moment Lancelot saw Artoria, the slit on his helmet lit up in red light. Just as he was preparing to howl in rage, black serpents made of fire coiled around him and restrained any further movements.
Cu whistled seeing this. "It seems you are not that liked, Holy Sword User." He commented making Artoria glare at him.
"Thank you for that." Da Vinci thanked Seth for avoiding a fight that will surely leave a mess everywhere.
"As soon as we finish this the better. Fujimaru, you better use a Command Spell on Lancelot to restrain him otherwise he will try to fight Saber all the time." Seth suggested to the youngster and then walked toward a table where the rest of Saint Quartz remained. The day has just begun and he already wanted it to end.