1,691148: We, the Fallen Stars
Hercules's first revival finds him in a field of flames - ignoring the fire, which Meleager's attack increased his resistance to, he stands, disregarding the arsenal of guns raining down fire at him - those, too, he is already immune to.
"-I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High," A stringed instrument cuts through the sound of crackling flame, and he looks up, seeing the white-bearded old king David perched on a rifle to the side of Nobunaga. "but ye shall die like men, and fall like one of the princes."
Hercules begins to catch the bullets raining down on him, snatching them from the air - and then, he hurls them back, scattershot, towards the airborne former archers-
"-Arise, O God, judge the earth; for thou shalt inherit all the nations. [Psalter]!"
"Take this!" Nobunaga shouts, a giant flaming skeleton appearing behind her. "[Nobunaga THE Rock n' Roll]!" A flurry of skeletal punches follows, each enwreathed in anti-divine fire from David's song - but burnt fists meet them, every one, until Hercules manages to catch the bony fists, forcing them out of the way just long enough to deliver a kick to the warlord's gut.
The next moment, the reality marble collapses - and a bolt of slightly different-colored energy lances through Hercules's head again, killing him for the fifth time.
But, this time he sees her properly, just before the lapse in consciousness that follows [God Hand]'s activation. A figure standing on the deck of the Argo, mechanical arm outstretched, its palm smoking.
"Actually, that's where Chaldea comes in," Olga Marie Animusphere's smug aura filled the entire beach. "If it's a weapon to overcome all twelve lives of [God Hand, even one at a time... I've already prepared it!"
"That's right," A female voice called out, approaching from the island interior. The voice of a servant, one who had not been present in this Singularity until now - but it was familiar nonetheless. "With that roster, you're pretty much hopeless. Why, what could even solve this? You'd need… oh, a Servant with an EX-ranked Noble Phantasm that could adapt to match [God Hand]. An Absolute Attack that could always be different, so that Hercules's Absolute Defense couldn't adapt."
"Y-you're…" Natsuki Subaru stammered, because of his shock. He was under the impression that this woman was so vital that she was absolutely never allowed to leave Chaldea. And yet-
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. What demanding requirements." She winked as she waved one finger back and forth. "Why, what kind of person could provide an attack like that? They'd have to be… some kind of Universal Man, or something~!"
""Leonardo Da Vinci!"" Mash and Subaru shouted in surprise.
"Yes!" She shouted, striking a pose. "I am!"
"A Variable Noble Phantasm. One at EX-Rank, that can be fired in rapid succession, no less." The explanation of his death is obvious to Hercules the very moment he revives. The next action, of course, is obvious as well. "That woman needs to die first. If I can't eliminate her, then I'm on a timer - about thirty seconds per shot, if my estimation is correct. Appearance-wise… she has the face of the Mona Lisa, so if he is not the subject, she must be the painter. The 'Universal Man', Leonardo Da Vinci. Still, most all who might intercept me are out of the way in this moment- I simply need to defeat that Shielder, David, and Nobunaga if she survived my kick."
Hercules rises to his feet, and sight returns to his eyes once more, and finds himself smiling a wry grin at the sight that meets his eyes. "Hm. I suppose I'll retract the thought that this might be easy," He murmurs, pulling another sword from its place amidst the carnage at the mountains peak - or rather from the cursed mud left behind.
His muscles tense as he glances around at the forms surrounding him - dozens of Argonauts, who have by some means [Returned From Death].
Natsuki Subaru
I cough as Rigel drags me out of the Cursed mud of his reality marble again, clutching a phantom pain in my stomach. But, outside the muddy hellscape, the stars of [Cor Leonis] are still burning bright, my heart burning alongside them.
"Ready for a break yet?" He asks, supporting me as best as he can - only for my head to go flying off my shoulders as Caenis dies again. Another corpse drops onto the tower, and I rise again from the muck.
"Keep it going," I rasp. "We're not done yet. Until he figures out he can sever the connection like Reid did, we still have a chance to get through this without any casualties."
"Who was it that was going on about also saving Natsuki Subaru again…?" Rigel grumbles.
I shake my head. "This is nothing. I mean, to start with, nobody's leaving me behind in this kind of scenario. If it's just temporary pain-" I die again. "-I'll suffer that gladly."
"Woah, we've got a real saint here! Take a look at this guy!" My own voice calls to me in mockery from atop the mountain of corpses. "Careful, now. you might end up a sacrifice like this Ahriman."
I scowl, glancing up again at the intruder - a shadow, with the distinct shape of Natsuki Subaru, his eyes dripping with malice.
"You've got the affinity for sin, after all - now that Zahhak has left the singularity, there's nothing to stop you from taking up the mantle against this Ahriman's destined foe!" He lets out a raspy, high-pitched cackle.
I open my mouth to answer, but I'm torn to pieces that rain down on the shadow's laughing face as outside Castor, Pollux, and Theseus die simultaneously.
"-But seriously, it's not like you have to put yourself through all that, little bro," The shadow continues as I rise from the muck. "You're sharing [Unlimited Raise Dead] with the guys outside while simultaneously taking on their burdens, but you don't need to do half of that."
"What…?" I wheeze as my chest caves in again.
"I'm saying stop being stupid. Just share the power without taking their burdens. They're two different abilities of your Witch Factor," He says with a jeering voice.
And as I rise once more from the muck… I realize he's right.
"Kehaha! There you go!" The shadow laughs. "So, even this Ahriman has made a token effort to slay my destined foe!"
His words still don't make an ounce of sense to me.
Da Vinci watches Mash Kyrielight shuffle in place, staring at the slaughter taking place on the mountaintop with an agonized look on her face. For her part, the Caster frowns, but she has no ability to make the problems go away. This was the optimal solution - at least of those available at the current moment.
"But seriously, just what is taking that Benkei so long…?" The Inventor mutters under her breath.
In her estimation, it's only Hercules's overestimation of his crewmates and his preference for familiar tools that has kept him from slaughtering everyone already. If he were to use the tools acquired from Gluttony at this point in time…
"Vinci-sama, it's cooled," The blue-haired doll on her shoulder says, her ice magic dying down as the Caster flexes her mechanical arm experimentally.
"Thank you, Rem-chan," Da Vinci says, smiling as she raises the weapon again, feeding a crystalized chunk of mana into a port on its side. "The Three Wise Men of the East. The Great God of the Norse. The Fruit of Wisdom. My intellect, my omnipotence, surpasses all forms of wisdom! [Uomo Universale]!"
And, once more, a beam tears forth from her palm to claim Hercules's sixth life.
[Uomo Universale - The Universal Man].
Leonardo Da Vinci's Noble Phantasm is exceptional, even among EX rank Noble Phantasms, for a very simple reason - its versatility. The crystallization of Da Vinci's nature as one talented in all fields, her Noble Phantasm analyzes the target and adapts accordingly - would be an understatement. In fact, the Noble Phantasm is composed from the ground up each time, following Da Vinci's analysis. Customizability is a matter of course, and so, accounting for the presence of only one target, and the requirement that as many attacks be fired as quickly as possible - under lab conditions, the current firing rate of her Noble Phantasm is one shot per second.
Alas, real life is not so generous, and Da Vinci lacks a supply of infinite mana or the chilled environs of her testing lab. Her arm needs approximately thirty seconds to cool between each shot, and were it not for the crystalized mana provided by Medea, she would certainly have already run dry.
Of course, this need not have been the case, at least as regards the cooling time. Were this a fresh summoning, she would have easily had the means to manage the left arm's heat, by simply using the right arm. That component, however, was already integrated into Chaldea's systems, and when she was asked about the possibility of removing it for this battle-
"No, that's probably a bad idea," Da Vinci said. "I looked into it myself, you know? But the Right Arm's logs say it's been continuously repelling some kind of attack since about when the incineration started."
"This isn't working," Hercules notes as he rises again. "That's not a shock, of course. Against just about every Argonaut at once, with all of them continuously resurrecting - even a hero of my standing won't be able to make much progress."
But, he cannot back down here. He must be victorious - for their sakes as well.
"In that case… I shall fight as a god does," The Beast of Heroes mutters. "[Nine Lives Glaciation]."
Putting aside the reasonable objections of a certain Shielder - the fear, when this plan had been suggested by Natsuki Rigel, was that Hercules might be able to sever the connection of Cor Leonis. Reid Astrea, after all, had been capable of the same. Nonlethal incapacitation had only been a secondary concern.
But, that was simply because in all the chaos it had slipped his mind - the name of Emilia, the Witch of Glaciation, would permit Hercules to freeze all of his foes solid - in a completely nonlethal manner.
One soul stands amidst the ice, only the flames of his own former demise keeping him safe - but before he can even respond, Hercules seizes Meleager by his face, and hurls him as far as he can away from the island, bounding towards the still-circling Argo just a moment later.
But, just before he reaches it, his strongest foe finally appears upon its deck.
"I did not wish to do this," Hitachibou Kaison murmurs, posture impossibly small for a man of his stature. "I'm a coward… if I could have fled this battle, I would have. This whole time, I waited… hoped… that I wouldn't be needed. But so be it."
His eyes snap open, and he stares down the oncoming Beast, pointing the stolen Marmyadose in his direction. "Come, and see the weapons I have stolen."
The Gluttony Witch Factor, first stolen by Alcides, then seized by Kaison, lies dormant in his gut. It is utterly without power. Kaison has none of the compatibility needed to draw forth an Authority naturally. The lives consumed by it, those dispossessed voices of the Eclipse - are still sheltered within the bosom of Hercules.
But, there is one. A single life, devoured by Hitachibou Kaison. A tale, a soul, most surely made his own.
"[Solar Eclipse]."
His form does not change. Hitachibou Kaison had, after all, already been inhabiting a body not his own. In a strange inversion of the Authority's normal operation - it is not the exterior, but the interior that is eclipsed.
His footing is suddenly more firm. His stance, more imposing. His eyes, more wise.
The False Grand Lancer fades into the background - and so, at the last hour, to make a stand against the fury of a wrathful god-
The True Grand Servant, Musashibou Benkei, takes the field.