Heracles bit into his Big Mac with the sort of enthusiasm usually reserved for battlefield victories. Across from him at the McDonald's table, Georg adjusted his glasses, his expression darker than usual.
Ever since Jeanne left, the atmosphere within the Hero Faction had grown increasingly oppressive. The team's morale felt heavier with each passing day.
It wasn't supposed to be like this. With both Jeanne d'Arc and that brilliant strategist on their side, Cao Cao's group had maintained a certain balance, call it positive and negative energy, light and shadow. But now? The saint had been swept away by someone else, and their other member spent more time investigating ley lines and spiritual energy than actually being present.
What remained was... well, a sausage fest. And not the fun kind.
Georg couldn't help but grimace. Of all his teammates, Heracles embodied everything he found difficult to tolerate, that overwhelming aura of masculinity, the hulking physique, the way he moved with such confidence in his own strength. If they hadn't been working together for years, Georg would have never voluntarily teamed up with such a stereotypically macho figure.
His ideal partner had always been that calm, collected presence, someone like the late Mahatma Rama. Or rather, the man he'd known as Mahatma Rama. The person everyone now called Takeyo Kagutsuchi.
The man Georg had believed dead.
Which made seeing him walk through the door all the more shocking.
"Takeyo?!" Georg's voice cracked with disbelief.
Heracles nearly choked on his burger, his head snapping up. "What the, "
"Georg... and Heracles, right?" Takeyo's tone was casual, almost friendly. "I'm here to collect someone. I believe you have the Nine-Tailed Fox General?"
Behind them, magical circles and crimson mist wrapped around Yasaka's prone form, creating layer upon layer of containment.
"You, you came back from hell?" Heracles finally found his voice, though it shook with confusion. "You were supposed to have died fighting Fenrir!"
"Died?" Takeyo spread his hands with an easy shrug. "I never said that."
He moved with practiced efficiency, and before Georg could react, every magical circle binding Yasaka simply... dissolved. The crimson mist that had taken Georg hours to carefully layer evaporated like morning dew.
"What?!" Georg stared in horror. He was proficient, no, masterful, in barrier techniques and spatial manipulation. He wielded one of the top four Longinus! Yet Takeyo had just dismantled his work with a casual wave, as if brushing away cobwebs.
"It's not over yet!"
A figure dropped from above, multiple dragon-formed hands gripping demon swords. Six blades gleamed in the fluorescent lighting, a six-sword style that would make any swordsman weep.
Siegfried, the descendant of the dragon-slaying hero, brought all six swords down in a coordinated strike that should have carved through steel and stone alike.
Takeyo sighed.
A layer of white light erupted across his body, not magic, not demonic power, but pure fighting spirit condensed into protective energy. His hands moved with impossible precision, catching each blade between his fingers.
Crack. Crack. Crack. Crack. Crack. Crack.
All six demon swords, including the legendary Gram, shattered like glass. Only the hilts remained in Siegfried's hands.
"Wh-what?" Siegfried stared at the broken weapons, his mind struggling to process what had just happened. These were demon swords capable of cutting through dragon scales, weapons that had tasted the blood of countless supernatural beings.
"Um... I'll just... forget I saw that." Heracles glanced down at his half-manifested Balance Breaker, then hurriedly dismissed it. "Nothing to see here. I definitely wasn't about to attack. You saw nothing."
"Then I'll be taking Yasaka." Takeyo gestured, and the Nine-Tailed Fox General's body simply vanished, spatial transportation so smooth it made Georg's techniques look primitive by comparison.
"Can you tell me why the True Longinus didn't work on you?" Cao Cao's voice cut through the stunned silence. The leader of the Hero Faction stepped forward, his expression equal parts frustrated and genuinely curious. "Is your Sacred Gear some kind of nullification type?"
"The reason's actually quite simple."
A blonde girl, no, not just any girl, spoke up beside Takeyo. Despite her youthful appearance, she radiated an inexplicable sense of authority that made even Cao Cao feel an odd pull of familiarity.
"You are...?" Cao Cao studied her carefully, unable to shake the strange warmth he felt in her presence.
"I'm sorry, but I can't tell you my name." She smiled gently, almost apologetically. "However, I can explain why you lost, beyond the obvious difference in power."
"Please do." Cao Cao leaned forward eagerly.
"Because..." She paused for dramatic effect. "A Sacred Gear will not attack its own master."
The words hung in the air as Takeyo and his companions vanished, leaving four stunned members of the Hero Faction behind.
"A Sacred Gear... won't attack its own master?" Cao Cao repeated slowly. His mind raced through the implications. "But the True Longinus belonged to the God of the Bible..."
His eyes widened.
"No. That's impossible!"
"Absolutely impossible!"
The more he thought about it, the more the possibility crystallized in his mind, and the more desperately he wanted to reject it.
"Forget it." Cao Cao shook his head forcefully, pushing the disturbing thoughts aside. "Since we've lost Yasaka, we'll need to activate the backup plan."
He couldn't afford to dwell on impossibilities. The Hero Faction had goals to achieve, and wallowing in confusion wouldn't help them accomplish anything.
Meanwhile, Takeyo and his group were already on the road back.
But he remembered something important and decided to make a detour.
"Hey, want to find out something interesting?" Takeyo asked with a mischievous grin.
The God, still maintaining her loli form, tilted her head. "If they could be easily ranked, those two wouldn't have been fighting for so long."
She was, of course, referring to Ddraig and Albion, the Two Heavenly Dragons. In the true timeline, she'd been the one to eliminate them after they'd caused too much chaos. That had been only a month or two ago from her perspective, though for this world, it was ancient history.
"Maybe we can find out today." Takeyo's grin widened. "Through the chess pieces, I can sense that Issei and Vali are basically at the same power level right now."
His plan was delightfully simple: orchestrate a confrontation between the current generation's Red Dragon Emperor and White Dragon Emperor. Let them fight at equal strength and finally settle the age-old question.
It was, admittedly, born entirely from his desire to satisfy his own curiosity.
But wasn't that what having overwhelming power was for, indulging in harmless experiments that answered questions that had plagued the world for millennia?