Fairy Morgan

 

The activation test for Seth was about to begin.

Standing in front of it was Arthur, who was piloted by Flack. Unit 5 was straddling Bastet. The term “cat-warrior form” had caught on to describe their funny appearance.

「Soon, Hyloi-Skoria will finish dissolving, and Seth’s repairs will be complete. Flack, I’m counting on you.」

「Understood.」

Kou cut the transmission with Flack. Unit 5 had been equipped with a special weapon for this occasion—the Anti-Fortress Rifle.

「By the way… why are you inside Unit 5, Arima?」

Kou glanced over his shoulder to see Arima comfortably seated behind him.

「Arthur was adamantly opposed to me getting inside him, for some reason. He shouldn’t be aware of my true identity, but… dealing with a Mythology Weapon with sharp intuition is troublesome.」

「That really raises questions about the whole concept of intuition.」

Could a Mythology Weapon really act on gut feelings? Kou found himself oddly impressed.

「After all the battles to the death we did, I thought we had developed a mutual understanding.」

「Even Arthur wouldn’t want to let his mortal enemy inside his own torso.」

Kou was left speechless. For once, he sympathized with Arthur.

「Still, ‘fought to the death’, huh? You have quite a complicated relationship.」

「The Another Level Silhouette that sealed Typhon on both Planet Libya and Tartarus was the base from which Arthur was born. Bastet, on the other hand, doesn’t have any relation with me, her base was a leftover wreckage from the Pioneering Era.」

「I heard that the Silhouette used to seal Typhon was left here to look over the seal. Arthur’s reaction makes sense.」

「I must admit, I was hoping to experience what it’s like to be inside my archenemy.」

「If Astraea heard this conversation, she’d probably faint.」

「That’s the reason why I volunteered to be the one in charge of the mediation. But seriously, this is not the kind of conversation to be having inside MCS.」

Asia cut in.

「Fair point.」

「Seth is about to awaken. Let’s see what happens.」

「You’re the last person who should be saying that, Arima.」

This cute harbinger of chaos and destruction was really hard to deal with.

Seth stirred.

It raised its head, scanning the surroundings from above. Arthur kept his charged particle cannon trained on it. Astraea, positioned farther away, also had her sights locked on Seth. In case things went wrong—

「My name is Seth. That has not changed. However…」

Tension crackled through the air. Seth surveyed its surroundings, clearly deep in thought. There was no sign of an immediate attack.

Unit 5 stepped forward.

「Let me ask you, Seth. Are you friend or foe?」

Teras or Kryptos? Everyone held their breath.

「A mere Silhouette… you humans dare…」

The murmuring crowd was silenced as Unit 5 raised a hand. The Kryptos had always had a sharp tongue. That was their way of deflecting their innate hostility so they wouldn’t harm humans.

Behind Kou, Arima’s eyes gleamed with an eerie light.

「Ty… Outis. I am Seth, one of the Kryptos. I pledge my loyalty to you.」

Seth bowed its head at Unit 5’s feet in solemn submission. It was clear that Seth had noticed Arima’s presence inside Unit 5.

There was no hint of deception in its posture.

「L-Loyalty?!」

「What did you do, Outis?!」

Flack and Arthur both shouted in disbelief.

「There’s definitely something about that man. As expected, he really is Okeanos’ enforcer…」

「Well, he is one of the guys who made me, after all.」

「Nyaa!」

Aural and Kasha voiced their admiration, and Bastet gave a joyful cry.

Kou, sensing something odd, quickly turned around.

「Arima! What did you do?!」

「Oh come now. I’m here, aren’t I? That makes you my ally by association.」

「Yeah, that makes sense… Seth is technically an offshoot of Arima.」

「Hold on. I didn’t do anything! I don’t want things bowing down to me for no reason!」

For once, Kou had really done nothing, but now found himself in a troublesome situation. Not wanting to have another cult worshipping him like the one in Planet Asia, he was completely flustered.

「Isn’t it fine? You gained a large Mythology Weapon as an ally. That’s all.」

「…And somehow I’m getting the credit for it.」

「I can’t cover for you this time, so good luck!」

「Asia?!」

「Naturally. Good luck, Kou. And of course, let’s keep my involvement a secret, shall we?」

The situation had escalated more than he anticipated, and Kou found himself holding his head in his hands.

◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆

「Kou, I have a question. Why did Seth pledge loyalty to you?」

「I don’t know.」

Kou answered Astraea’s question honestly. He was still inside Unit 5’s MCS. Arima had already disembarked and returned to the settlement district. He meant it in the sense that even Arima didn’t seem to understand how this came to be.

「Could it be because we didn’t destroy him, and even went so far as to repair him?」

「What happened between you and Typhon? This being the result of your meeting with Typhon is the only plausible explanation. I read the report Asia gave me, but clearly something more occurred, didn’t it?」

「Yeah… I guess I can’t keep it hidden anymore.」

「You’re the one who said we should keep no secrets, Kou.」

「Fair enough. ―I hit it off with Typhon when we were talking about Hermes. Somehow, we became friends. That’s probably why.」

「‘Hit it off’…」

「He probably started to like me when we started talking about how to kill Hermes—no, scratch that. Basically, we share a common enemy, so we clicked over that.」

「Clicked…」

Astraea repeated the word like an echo. Perhaps in disbelief.

「Since Typhon can’t move, I promised I’d destroy Hermes’ current vessel first. Typhon created the Miasma as a means to intervene in the war to destroy Hermes. So I’ve basically become Typhon’s agent on Planet Libya.」

「I see. That’s a far better outcome than becoming enemies. I still don’t quite understand how it turned out that way, though.」

「Hermes did a lot of nasty things, including creating the Stones. Even Typhon couldn’t overlook his deeds anymore.」

「During the Interplanetary War Era, when Typhon was reactivated, he went to full-scale war with a certain faction. Hermes was clearly behind it. He must have kept that grudge since.」

「So that’s what happened.」

Neither Astraea nor Asia ever spoke much about what happened during the Interplanetary War Era.

「You might inherit that grudge yourself, you know.」

「Typhon’s grudge? That would mean becoming an enemy of Zeus and Hermes.」

「Exactly. But Hermes is all that’s left now. Perhaps it’s too late to worry.」

「Since Hermes is using Shuji-san’s body, there’s no avoiding confrontation. I want to free him.」

Kou had worried if he should tell Hyoue about Shuji’s body, but decided against it. This was his burden to bear. He’d heard that the body’s appearance had changed so drastically that he was unrecognizable.

「――Still, I’d say this alliance is a good thing. Hermes’ next target is likely to be your body, after all.」

Kou’s eyes widened. B-Rank Development Engineers like Shuji were highly valued as vessels for the Hemitheos, but Kou’s body—the body of an EX-Rank Development Engineer—was on a completely another level, his body could easily become the reason for an all-out war.

「Yeah. Aligning with Typhon may have been the right call even if just to protect myself.」

「Typhon has already provided us with many valuable insights. We owe him our thanks. I’ll revise my stance on him.」

「That’s good… I guess.」

「The fact that you’ve come to feel that way was probably the turning point for me. When it comes to the Stones, our goals are aligned. I may have clung to too many bitter memories from the Interplanetary War Era.」

Astraea muttered this with a trace of regret.

「He was the type who wouldn’t hesitate to cause tens of thousands of casualties in a single strike, as long as it meant defeating the enemy. He was ruthless.」

「That’s definitely something to be cautious about!」

Kou was startled. This was the first time he’d heard such a thing. Perhaps his ignorance had spared him.

「He never intended to annihilate humanity. The circumstances back then were complex.」

「His primary objective was the destruction of the super AIs known as the Twelve Olympians. He didn’t care for humanity’s wellbeing. Still, his goal indirectly served to protect humans in the long term.」

「Exactly. If someone like you had negotiated with him back then, things might’ve ended differently.」

「Maybe so… but that’s all in the past. For now, Echidna is our priority.」

「Preparations against Echidna are underway. Asia seems unusually enthusiastic about it. I wonder why.」

「No idea.」

Arima had mentioned it too, but Kou still didn’t get it. Falling to darkness was no small matter.

「One more thing. About Morgan…」

「What about her?」

「She was… shaken by the scope of human imagination. Specifically, by Abel’s latest proposal.」

「What’s Abel-san doing? Isn’t Morgan based in a figure from British legend?」

「Morgan le Fay—originally pronounced Morgan le Fae in Old English. She hails from Welsh folklore. The name means “Fairy Morgan.” She’s often equated with Morrigan, the war goddess of Ulster in Northern Ireland, but later in history she was reimagined as King Arthur’s sister, and a wicked witch.」

「So basically, she’s British.」

「The UK comprises England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. It’s not exactly a unified front. But I digress. Morgan recently told me she might be the La Fata Morgana from Mount Etna. Something clearly shook her deeply.」

「Why would she confess that to Astraea…」

「She just needed someone to listen. I understand. In any case, our forces are growing steadily—there’s no need to worry.」

「You sound like you’re enjoying this, Astraea.」

「Not exactly. But… I suppose I’m happy to finally have someone who shares the kind of shock I’ve experienced.」

It seemed Astraea had finally found someone who could relate to her.

「You make me sound like a natural disaster.」

Kou gave a wry smile. He now felt a strong need to have a proper conversation with Morgan soon.