After Chaldea's group decided to aid Nero in her quest to defeat the United Empire, they started discussing some matters related to their original mission. Something that proved to be fruitful or at least positive for them.
When the group asked about Lev Lainur, while Nero said she didn't know him, she mentioned that the United Empire had an outstanding mage in their ranks who sometimes showed up on the battlefield. Even though this didn't mean that mage was Lev, it was still a clue to follow.
With that out of the way, the Emperor wanted to prepare a feast as thanks for their help. However, before she had the chance to order her servants to arrange it, a Roman soldier opened the doors of the throne room and quickly kneeled with his head lowered.
"Your majesty, I beg your pardon for interrupting while you talk with your guests. But I got something to report, forces from the United Empire have been detected near our walls. How shall we proceed?"
"Those annoying impostors. They won't let me relax, even for a moment!" Nero couldn't help but complain about the timing of the attack.
"Leave it to us, Emperor Nero. You can stay here and rest for the moment." Mash offered to help, the majority of them were Servants, so they didn't have to worry much about getting tired.
"That's fine by me. The older man there did a great job leading my men while I was fighting my uncle. I'm sure he can make great use of them once again. I will lend you my soldiers, use them as you see fit." Nero accepted her offer and complimented Vlad in her own way. The Vampire didn't take her choice of words very kindly, but as it was a compliment at the end of the day, he decided to let it pass.
"We will do our best to defend this city." Fujimaru seriously said. Although he couldn't do much by himself, he had Servants he trusted with his life by his side.
"Umu. I like your attitude!" Nero smiled in appreciation before turning to the still-kneeling soldier. "Guide them to where the enemy is and send someone to inform the soldiers to regroup there. They will be under the command of..." She looked at Dracula, waiting for him to finish her sentence. Sighing in exasperation, he responded. "Vlad." "...under the command of Vlad. That's all."
"As you wish. Distinguished guests, please follow me." Saying so, the soldier got up and left the room.
The Chaldeans complied and followed him. When they were mid-way through, walking on the streets, Cu Chulainn stopped Seth with a tap on his shoulders. Although he planned to talk to him tonight, he didn't know if he could get the chance. By the looks of it, the enemy came in significant numbers, and the only one capable of mass killing among them was Seth, and he didn't look like he was focused enough to do it.
Turning around, he looked at Cu Chulainn with confusion. "What is it?"
The Sage of the Forest didn't say anything but just signaled with his finger to an alley nearby before walking toward it. Seth did the same after looking at his back for a moment.
When the rest noticed what they were doing, they decided to ask, "Where are you going? Did something happen?"
"Nothing, we have something to do first, we will catch up later." It was Cu Chulainn, the one who answered, and even though they were doubtful, they nodded and continued their walk to the zone of the attack. Jeanne and Martha sent a grateful look in his direction while Jalter looked at him suspiciously.
"So? I don't think you brought me here to talk about something trivial. What do you want to know?" Seth went straight to the point. Even with Cu's personality and all, he knew he wasn't the type to do this for some nonsense.
Caster adopted a harsh tone that accompanied his expression. "You bastard... What has been happening to you? You seem to be oddly distracted since the moment we got here, and you often space out."
Seth flinched a bit at his words. Even he himself wasn't conscious about those things Cu Chulainn spoke of, which showed how much it was affecting him.
"It's nothing, really. You don't need to worry about it." Seth sighed, resting importance to the matter as if it was something trivial.
Caster looked around the alley as if searching for someone. "Do you see anyone here apart from us two? Because I don't see the one who will believe that crap."
Seth sighed for a second time. "What will you get by knowing it? It won't change a thing, trust me." He appreciated his concern, but it was something even he didn't know how to deal with, he found it pointless to trouble him with problems that didn't also concern him.
"How am I supposed to know if you don't tell me? Listen, man. Whatever trouble you are facing, you can count on me to share it." He wasn't lying. Most heroes have tragic endings, so he could relate to whatever shitty situation others were facing. Besides, during their stay at Chaldea, Seth shared with him some stories of his life, and he did the same with his. Their relationship was ambiguous in a sense, but they could be considered friends, and what friend would he be if he wasn't in his time of need?
Seth took a moment to debate whether to tell him or not. It's not like he didn't trust Cu Culainn, it was just... He didn't know how to go about it. This brought another concern to him, what should he do about his friendship with Cu Chulainn? He only had three people in his life as a God he could consider friends, and he ended up killing them all with his own hands.
The Egyptian did a mental sigh; this was the reason he didn't want to think about this kind of stuff. He closed his eyes for a second, he wasn't the naive kid who wanted the approval of his father anymore, he wasn't the easily influenceable and unstable young man that people could take advantage of anymore, but above all, he wasn't the young adult who went mad with rage and killed Gods and Humans alike anymore. Although traces of his mistakes still remained within him, and sometimes they resurfaced and showed on his personality, he was now an adult that had seen everything the world has to offer, both as a God and as a Human.
Opening his eyes again, he looked directly at Cu Chulainn. Caster could feel how the atmosphere around Seth had changed, he didn't know how to put it into words, but it felt like it was somewhat freer than before.
"Since the moment I came here, I noticed the presence of someone I met as a God. Normally this wouldn't be much cause of trouble if that someone was from Egypt as they are the lapdogs of Ra, and my mission was directly ordered by him. The thing is, that person comes from another pantheon." Seth decided to come clean about it. Strange enough, he felt a weight being removed from his shoulders. Saying the things one has been keeping to oneself for years does that to people.
Cu Chulainn frowned at his words; this wasn't good for them. "Do you mean that a Divine Spirit is here? Wait, more importantly, you don't happen to be enemies with it, do you?"
Seth shook his head at his question. "To answer your first question, yes, a Divine Spirit is here. However, it is not the one I'm concerned about. To your second question, we weren't enemies. We were..." He didn't know how to put the rest into words.
Caster arched an eyebrow at his answer. "Two Divine Spirits? No, going by your words it's just one, then that means the other was a Divine Spirit before but now is not and if you are not worried about the first I guess is because, one, it is not strong or combat-related, or two, it is weakened." He deduced, earning a nod from Seth, meaning his words were spot on.
The Celtic Servant put a hand on his chin. "You weren't enemies? Then what are you worried about? Don't tell me you pranked him or something, and now he wants to kill you."
"Do I look like the type of guy to make pranks to you?" Seth had the urge to shake some sense into Caster. The Servant couldn't maintain a serious attitude for more than a few minutes.
"Haha, you are right! I guess this world will be ending before that happens! Though you are known as a Trickster. You even have an Authority related to that!"
"The world has already ended, and my Authority over Trickery doesn't work by making banana peels appear magically on the ground so that people can trip over them."
"Oh, you are right. Anyways, what's the problem then? It doesn't have any particular hate against you, does it?" He asked, returning to the matter at hand.
"That...I don't know. There is also the fact that this is another world completely different from mine; maybe here she doesn't even know me." Seth theorized while folding his arms.
"Hm...that sure is possi—Wait, did you just say she? Don't tell me..." Cu Chulainn paused for a second before falling to the ground, laughing his ass off. "All of this just because of some problem with a girl?! Hahahaha, I can't...this is...too much!" He kept rolling on the ground as tears were already falling from his eyes.
He laughed for a good while before stopping when he noticed that Seth didn't threaten him with summoning Scáthach, didn't punch him, or made a comment about the matter.
When he got up from the ground, he saw Seth looking at him as if saying, 'Are you done?'
'Well, I guess he DID change a bit.' Cu Chulainn thought. "I suppose it's not as simple as it looks. Then, what will happen if she finds you are here?"
"I don't know. To be honest, the one here is just a separation of a Bunrei from the original that may not even recognize me. However, I don't discard the possibility of the original reacting to my presence if I'm near." He honestly answered.
"Then you don't have to worry about anything! Why make a big deal out of it?" He asked, a little perplexed.
"She has the means to descend, even if not as a Heroic Spirit. That's what I'm most worried about." Those words certainly were worrying. If she was that resourceful, her vengeance would not be a pipe dream.
Scratching the back of his head, he decided to inquire further. "What did you do that she could possibly want to go after you?"
"I abandoned her." There was more to it, but the context didn't matter in this situation, the outcome did.
At his words, Caster got near Seth and patted his shoulder. "You will be missed, don't forget to tell me if you want some words to be inscribed on your tombstone."
At this point, Seth's eyebrow was twitching constantly. "Can you give a more useful piece of advice than that?"
"Hey, a jilted woman can be quite scary. I tell you from my experience and from someone who knew Fergus. By the way, I didn't ask you which Divine Spirit you were talking about."
"...Amaterasu."
The blue-haired man froze for a moment before giving him a thumbs-up. "I don't know if have to envy you or be proud of you. Doing it with a major Goddess is no mean feat."
"Are you going to help, or are you going to keep making those types of comments? Be serious for once." The black-haired man rubbed his tired eyes in frustration. He didn't know if the Irish Hero was trying to take the pressure off him, but the only thing he was accomplishing was replacing one for another.
"Okay, whatever you say. Anyway, I don't know what happened between you two but is better if you don't get near her location." Whatever problems there were, they could be avoided easy peasy. Unless that woman decided to cross thousands of kilometers here, he would be safe and sound.
"That's what I was planning from the beginning, it's not yet time for us to meet each other again. Now, let's go. The others must be already engaging the enemy." After saying that, he turned around and started walking to where he sensed the presence of his Servants, not before stopping and offering just one word that contained many meanings to Caster. "Thanks."
Cu Chulainn released a chuckle. "It's nothing, that's what friends do."