Jason looked at King David and the [Ark of the Covenant] behind Atalante, instinctively stroked his chin, and narrowed his eyes.
The Ark of the Covenant wasn't some delicate little box; it was an object roughly the size of a coffin.
The main body of the box would instantly reduce anyone who touched it to dust upon contact; it was a mechanical kill in every sense of the term. Even Heracles would be unable to revive again through his own Noble Phantasm.
Therefore, the only way to move the Ark was by using the two poles it was mounted on. Only by maintaining the Ark's balance on the poles could the person carrying it avoid dying immediately.
Faced with this Noble Phantasm that required either two people to carry it together, or a single person relying on their Strength parameter to move it while maintaining its balance, even its owner, King David, had no way to use it like a normal Noble Phantasm, and using it in combat was utterly out of the question.
And not being able to use it normally was one thing, but even when King David himself was defeated and left the field, he couldn't take it with him.
It could be said that ever since this Ark of the Covenant appeared in this Singularity, it had become an ownerless object. Whoever could take it away would claim it.
"—You plan to use the [Ark of the Covenant] to deal with Heracles, right? Indeed, if it's this, then even Heracles would be turned to ashes if he's not careful…"
"But don't underestimate my intelligence network!"
Watching the stunned expressions in David and Atalante's eyes, Jason's mouth curled into a wild, smug grin.
Just kidding, since he had already made plans to come and seize the Ark first, even staying up all night to launch this operation, how could Jason not have done his homework beforehand?
The Ark of the Covenant was the only thing in this Singularity that posed a threat to Heracles. Even if Jason didn't care about Heracles's life, he certainly cared about his own skin!
"Heracles, be careful not to touch that golden box! As for those two, just kill them!"
Jason directly gave the order to Heracles.
He had no intention of micromanaging. He just needed to give Heracles a slight reminder; he would leave the rest entirely to Heracles himself.
After all, when it came to fighting, Heracles was far, far stronger than him.
"■■!"
Upon hearing this, Heracles roared, a red light flashing in his pupils as he glared murderously at the two Archers ahead.
"What do we do now?"
Atalante kept her eyes fixed on Heracles's movements, not looking away as she asked the person beside her.
As a fellow Argonaut, she knew all too well how strong Heracles was. Even manifested in the Berserker class, which was unsuited for him, Atalante didn't believe she stood a chance against this greatest hero of Greek mythology.
At best, she might be able to trade her life for one of Heracles's using her Noble Phantasm's power?
"You should know better than I do, right? If you don't know what to do, what can I possibly do?"
King David spread his hands helplessly.
If Heracles's Noble Phantasm were a normal type, then he could use his own Noble Phantasm to shoot it down.
But unfortunately, Heracles's Noble Phantasm wasn't normal. [Twelve Labors] was like Siegfried's Armor of Fafnir, something rooted in his spiritual foundation, like bloodline, something that couldn't be controlled or stolen.
As for the axe-sword in Heracles's hand… it was hard to say how useful this Noble Phantasm really was, since [Nine Lives: Shooting the Hundred Heads] was more accurately described as a fighting technique rather than a Noble Phantasm.
"Tch, I shouldn't have asked you."
Atalante clicked her tongue in displeasure; it was her own fault for expecting anything from this somewhat frivolous man.
But the crucial nature of the [Ark of the Covenant] was something the two of them couldn't easily abandon. No matter what, they couldn't just stand by and watch it be taken.
"No help for it. We can only stall for now and see if any reinforcements come to help us."
No sooner had the two finished speaking than the god-like man in their vision charged forward like a living cannonball, his steel body even causing the air itself to wail as he tore through it.
"Watch out! He's coming!"
The two, who had been closely watching his movements, hastily jumped away from their spots.
The not-insignificant distance between them was covered by Heracles in an instant, the great axe in his hand swinging down heavily with the momentum.
Under Heracles's brute force, the earth and stones where the two had just been standing were sent flying everywhere from the impact. Just a single ordinary attack left a crater deep enough to bury a person in the ground.
The two had barely dodged Heracles's sudden assault, and the moment they landed, Heracles was already moving again.
Heracles's figure flickered, and the next second, he appeared right in front of David, his axe-blade raised high, poised to smash down.
His instincts told him the man was more dangerous, so his choice was simple: attack the more threatening David first.
Faced with Heracles's relentless assault, David, however, remained unflustered. He gripped his staff with both hands and positioned it to block Heracles's attack path.
"Clang!"
Their weapons met, clashing together. They remained locked for a brief moment before David was sent flying back over a dozen meters by Heracles's terrifying strength.
"My, my, it seems I'm indeed no match for this Heracles in terms of raw power…"
After steadying himself, David shook his slightly sore hand, which had taken the brunt of blocking Heracles's attack, a somewhat regretful expression on his face.
"What are you regretting? You managed to come out unscathed from a close-range encounter like that, even though you're just an Archer…"
Atalante, who had witnessed everything, looked at him with drooping eyelids, extremely displeased.
Apologize to all the proper Archers who can't fight in melee, you bastard!!
"I was just summoned under the Archer class. My original professions were King and Shepherd," David shrugged.
Who would have thought that just throwing a few stones, without even using a bow, would lead to him being casually classified as an Archer?
"But what I just did is pretty much my limit. Winning a melee fight is almost impossible."
"So let's just honestly do our proper job as Archers!"
David blocked another series of attacks from Heracles, and once he had put a little distance between them, he pulled out his Noble Phantasm from his bosom—
Five stones.
That's right, this Noble Phantasm was just that casual, and the medium for its use was equally casual. One could use it without hindrance just by picking up five ordinary stones from the ground. Even the method of use was remarkably simple and unadorned.
David held the stones as if preparing to skip them across water, swung his arm a few times to build up some force, and then threw them.
The stones, clad in a faint, unimpressive light, inexplicably closed the distance between themselves and Heracles with surprising speed. In the end, they quite ordinarily struck Heracles, who had tried to dodge but found he couldn't avoid them no matter what he did.
Four of the stones even seemed to just outline Heracles's body, hitting the area near him, with only the last one actually making direct contact.
This action, so ordinary it seemed like a child throwing stones at a bird, didn't strike anyone present as particularly dangerous—except for Heracles, who had been hit.
And so, under the silent gazes of everyone present, the mighty hero with a body of steel fell, collapsing right before their eyes.
…