Finis Chaldea

Artoria's original intention was to perform an execution, she said. Lucius found the very notion of this to be... stupid. What was the point of a warrior acting as executioner? Becoming king, becoming queen, becoming emperor─ those things were a means to an end. In doing so, they found greater combat. One who had access to higher quality battles needn't think of something so... boring. She thought his lack of challenge was boring, yet she let execution be an option? It made no sense to the male.

No matter. Lucius could not pause battle for very long at all. He did so just long enough to savor the moment and setup an attack that became... very satisfying indeed. Never had the emperor been more satisfied to see the outcome of his own onslaught. How long had it been since he even needed to use more than the smallest amount of effort to accomplish a proper splatter of blood? Too long, he thought. The bloodshed itself was a thing of pure bliss; he could bask in it wholeheartedly. He stared at the woman ahead of him, more satisfied than a man post-coitus. In fact, his next action could be compared to pre-coitus behavior. Lucius jammed the blade of his sword into the ground. He then proceeded to strip himself of his own lames, as well as his cape and cuirass. This fight was far too entertaining; he would enjoy it to the fullest, and that did not include the idea of being armored against an unarmored opponent. If one would be capable of cleaving the other's flesh directly, the other would be in the same position. Besides... mobility without all the hindrance of metal plating was never an advantage to be allowed in fair or uphill battles.

The queen exemplified some sort of healing ability, not unlike his own, yet also very different. This was just getting better by the moment, wasn't it? He knew now that they could fight for days, weeks, even months without falling to one another. He should be flattered, she said. They could have been friends, she added. "Friends?" he repeated with an upward inflection. Perhaps he had something called friends once, some hundreds upon hundreds of years ago. For the past millennium however, he couldn't imagine the purpose of friendship. Did friends kill one another? If that was to be considered a positive thing, he couldn't fathom what made them anything but friends. "Heh? I don't remember a thing about friends. That's important people, right? You're the only important person for me, so we're friends. Let's kill each other!" he exclaimed. Twisted though it was, this was about the only way Lucius could consider a relationship. There were those who killed, those who would be killed, and those who would aid one side or the other. Surely then, there was no difference between friends and enemies in a fight like this one.

There was a bit of confusion on the part of Lucius, perhaps he did not understand the difference in their nature due to Artoria's own choices. It would have been dishonorable for her to do anything but hand out a swift death to those who weren't properly ready for combat with her. As such, she generally expected someone braying at her door claiming to be able to kill her, to not have so much to back them up. She was decently surprised by the fact that Lucius was so very well prepared for combat, and as such it was made that much more enjoyable for her.

Having successfully injured Artoria, it seemed something had changed about Lucius' choices. Her eyes widened just a tad as she watched this man disarm and begin removing his armor. Her mind had flash backs to the last time someone did such a thing and her grip on her blade tightened just a bit. Still, he'd thrown his sword into the ground so it wouldn't have been right to attack him. Well, she supposed, if he attacked her in a way that was frightening to her virtues she could throw Chivalry aside for a moment or two while she killed him swiftly. Relief. It wasn't what she expected it to be. He was simply getting himself in a state more ready for combat. Fighting without the restrictions of armor was a good choice to make when it was applicable. If you did not need defense then it was fine. She was the sort who did not always wear her own armor for similar reasons. This did not bode well for any specific kinds of defense this man could have though. She'd have to keep an eye on him.

Artoria was in for a rather shocking moment. This man standing before her spoke as if he did not understand friendship. He made a claim which shocked her but she could see those words were without deception at all. "I feel like I should worry that I count as your only important person," she said aloud giving it some thought she decided this man did not really get romance so it wasn't really a problem if he wanted to kill her. 'Well, at least he is not asking me out on a date. I can do a death match. I cannot take another man asking me out on a date.' she thought giving herself a chance to smile. "But we are on the same page in general. So I am willing to not think too much about it," she said offering a smirk. That damage to her shoulder was healed enough for her to move her sword properly and now she was ready. "Now then... pick up your sword. Executions are for the unarmed criminals. We are friends, getting to know each other in a death match."

Throughout their match thus far, Lucius had this woman pinned as someone who would not attack the unarmed. Everything she threw at him was too straightforward, too honorable to take advantage of an opening like that. Perhaps they were too similar, though with very different reasons. He would not have assaulted an unarmed individual either, simply because it would have been far too boring. There was no point to leaving zero opportunity for counterstrikes when one could instead leave a chance for entertainment. Lucius began walking forward, stepping over his own discarded armor and pulling his sword from its place in the ground. It was nearly a march that took him forward, until it became a sprint. The emperor thought to inspect Artoria's present mobility, as well as his own. As such, his next attack was a rather straightforward one. Sword in his right hand, he aimed a descending strike with great force toward the woman's left shoulder. The force he used was no less mighty than that which shattered her armor. Any resulting whiff would rend earth beneath Artoria's original location, and even an outright defense would be liable to bury her feet in the ground. This was how Lucius Tiberius utilized his own plentiful mana reserves─ by augmenting physical might that already bordered on the excessive.

Meanwhile, Uruk remained under the watchful eye of its king. It was not often that Gilgamesh could oversee the city-state with anything resembling consistency. Was this how a new era was truly to start? If so, there would be much more of King Gilgamesh sorting through tablets galore. Well, that wasn't so bad. He could not trust another to express enough effectiveness when doing such tasks, so he'd continue to take the matter of reviewing these tablets unto himself. In going about his regular business, he became curious of something. A fair amount of time had passed now, so he thought to check on a certain newcomer's progress. "Siduri. That woman from before, how has she progressed?"

Two very different people, carrying on in the same way for very different reasons. Artoria enjoyed fights, and wanted to enjoy killing people who were fighting back instead of just dying to her skills. Of course, Lucius seemed to enjoy fighting just for the fights' sake but she couldn't find fault with such logic. Even so, she waited for the man to pick up his sword and begin moving towards her again. Battle would be starting anew, huh? He started at pace and then began a sprint towards her person. The Queen of Knights could no longer still herself, she launched herself forward with glee in her eyes. Her body shifted easily out of the way of that slash while his sword came down, she swung out with her invisible blade, at his right side. Though she was close enough for the blade itself to reach, even if it didn't he'd be assaulted by a slashing burst of wind magic as if she aimed to shred that side of him whether her sword sank in or not. Her mana usage generally bolstered her speed, she did not plan on taking such massively destructive hits again. Still there were a few things she needed to know about this man and they could only be learned in combat.

At the same time, the King of Uruk had been back to work for quite a while. He worked and asked his favored assistant about the advancement of their newest member of staff. Under her veil the woman smiled and gave a general assessment. "According to both Adina and Medusa she's come along rather nicely. Her writing of the language is perfect, and she is having her first informative tale checked and edited for her own clarification. It did not take her long at all to learn the language and its intricacies," she gave her summary of the situation. It would seem that the lass who'd spawned here most recently was coming along nicely into her job for the King of Heroes. An announcement that the Queen of Knights was at war and anything happening around Camelot was not worth sending worrisome scrolls about would likely do well for reducing the King's workload. She imagined such announcements and tales would be good for general moral as well, keeping everyone from worrying too much about every instance of discontent on the neighboring sky islands.

Finally, it seemed things would begin moving at a proper pace. As Lucius charged, Artoria did the same. She evaded that slash of his, though that was not at all outside the realm of expectancy. Her counter slash was also something anticipated. Lucius twisted toward the woman, shifting away in that same moment. He was correct about his ability to recall the length of her blade, clearing it just barely. Alas, Invisible Air was not among the many things he'd become accustomed to in his thousand years of endless bloodshed. Crimson fluid spewed from the right side of his abdomen. When had he last bled? It had been ages, surely, but that was merely another thing to be excited about. Lucius' grin would only grow wider as his twisting motion continued, his own sword sweeping through the air on a path that would lead it across the queen's face. Meanwhile, his left hand snatched from the air a hefty stone that had been jettisoned in the aftermath of his previous strike attempt.

Good news was delivered to the King of Uruk this day. Not only had he managed to acquire someone who would lighten his workload significantly, but her progress toward doing so was going as quickly as anyone could hope. Excellent. He'd ensure this woman did not go without work to fill her time; that much was certain. First though, he had gone about acquiring something to solidify another long-term resident of Uruk's citadel. He couldn't have someone within his circle clad in the rags of dead, nor could any ordinary garments suffice. Naturally, this train of thought had led him to Egypt once more. Another exchange would see to it that the ziggurat's resident scribe became the first to sport a new series of garb, fitting a new era of Mesopotamia. "Good. When she is done, I will meet with her. It is almost time to do away with those temporary robes. My workers will not match the common rabble. Besides, I have much work to send her way."

Artoria landed a strike against Lucius and there was something uniquely satisfying about that. It'd been a long time since she'd come across someone skilled enough and powerful enough to make her exert herself. But in exerting herself she was experiencing the purest form of joy she knew. The joy of facing something truly challenging and working her way towards overcoming that challenge. What of the sword coming towards her face? She slipped herself beneath it, stepping forward and aiming to twist into the man while swinging her sword horizontally like she intended to cut him in half horizontally. She was content now to chase him down and force her sword into his flesh as much as possible. After all this was a battle to the death, someone needed to be approaching death. He'd snatched up a rock as well, she'd have to keep an eye on both his hands or risk a concussion or something of the sort. No matter, they were now dancing as she preferred, she'd adjust as the battle continued.

At the same time, it seemed Uruk was gaining plenty of new employees. Their newest, a scribe, who'd taken up residence... had spent the last month learning to read and write in Akkadian and hearing out the tales of the land to make her personality more palatable. Of course, in doing so... she'd been taking lessons from Adina and Medusa for the more straight forward parts. But her personality developments had come from interactions with a young storyteller who played and told stories a lot outside of the Ziggurat near a statue of Enkidu. She'd been pitching her stories to this lad for a week now and finally thought she had a convincing enough tale with the deals necessary to put everyone at ease while also conveying the necessary information. She'd learned from interacting with this lad, that making sure she showed how interested and excited she was about important parts was good for the story. Leaving action and powerful shows was good for easing fears, and concluding on calm happiness was the best possible way to ease the transition between tales. She'd mixed in her own information there after, on how to convey the necessary information while also keeping it interesting enough to be paid attention to when she spoke. For Siduri it would take no time at all to convey the information the King of Heroes wished to share with that particular girl. "I will pass the information along when I check on her later. Are there other tasks you'd have me undertake?" she asked simply. If she had errands to run, she generally preferred to know the list ahead of time.

Lucius could count the number of injuries he'd taken in the past hundred years using the single wound he had here and now. Of course, it would always remain that way. Artoria would be learning in only a few moments, that the man called Lucius Tiberius could possess only a single wound at any given time. Kicking off on his right foot, Lucius evaded bifurcation or maiming, but he could not evade a secondary gash right above the first. Well... that wasn't quite true. The moment blood spewed from a new wound, the other sealed itself. This new one managed to be slightly deeper than its predecessor, though Lucius didn't seem to care that he'd taken it. After all, why would he? The first cut was gone in mere moments, and he was on the offensive once more. From a distance that permitted his own reach but not the smaller woman's, he threw that stone toward her face. This was to be immediately followed by the act of his blade jabbing toward her abdomen, as they entered what would be the more... feral stages of combat.

Gilgamesh had but a single additional request of Siduri. After this newest acquisition, he'd taken some time to look into various future possibilities. The prosperity of Uruk would not end here─ not by a longshot. Many others would serve many purposes in a future not too distant, and he would begin the process with haste. "As a matter of fact, there is something. Send for the pirate woman as well. There's something on her vessel I require." That was all he needed to state. As he saw it, a few days wait would result in both women he sought appearing in the throne room. Given all the waiting he'd done in life, a few days was tantamount to a bathroom trip.

Fighting against Lucius was becoming more interesting by the moment. This was the case for Artoria as she watched herself injure this man, just to see the previous injury she'd laid on his body disappear. 'That is almost cheating...' she thought but still that smirk remained on her face. Her plan of attack was going to have to change drastically. If the man could only take one injury for the duration, she could not wear him down in the traditional sense. She'd simply have to wait out his injuries until she could cause him a fatal one all at once. It seemed to her that her earlier decree that she'd be taking his head, was about the only real way to slay this man. As for the combination of attacks, well, choices had to be made, her head shifted out of the way of a coming rock as she used the flat of her blade to block a coming jab into her torso. The extra distance between them giving her more space to maneuver while abusing her high speed and instincts. That didn't stop the impact however and the tiny woman was pushed back with a force that was initially meant to penetrate her body, still the wind from that invisible sword would travel up from the point of contact, as if it intended to shred the arm of the man who'd attacked her. Still there had to be a way to complete this fight. She had plenty of energy surely she could easily figure it out before it became too long of an endeavor. How long would this part of the battle last before Artoria found a moment in which she could capitalize? Well... time was hardly a consequence to her. In the heat of battle seconds passed like hours, and days felt like the time taken to take a breath. It was a simple truth one she was sure the man across from her would appreciate.

At the same time, according to the King of Heroes there was an additional job for the group at large. Siduri was to contact Captain Francis Drake. There was something on her ship he required? How strange. Siduri did not see her king as the type to forget something. Perhaps there was a member of the Captain's crew he'd have use of, or maybe she'd picked up. It wasn't as if there was a thing in this world he actually needed. Whatever the case, Siduri gave a simple bow. "As you like my King. I'll make arrangements." she said. Some two or three days later, Captain Francis Drake was docked in the skies of strong-walled Uruk, and a lass known as Orihime was making her way to the king rather unsure of why he wanted to meet with her. The pink haired Captain descended and walked through the city, not knowing about the little cloaked girl hiding in her shadow. Actually, she'd attached herself to this woman a while back. In doing so, she'd saved herself quite a bit of trouble. She'd gone unnoticed for the most part, and been keeping up with everything, and everyone this woman had encountered. The only thing to her name, besides the cloak she wore and gloves covering her hands up to her elbows, was a book with an ornate cover and clock built into the front. Golden eyes showed brightly and the book she carried seemed to be quite important to her. As always in the shadow of Francis Drake no one seemed to notice her existence. Even that woman who'd sent for the Captain hadn't seen her in the quarters sitting in a chair as the Captain created maps. Yes, life was still good, she was quite skittish, perhaps she'd seen too much or knew too much to relax properly.

A few days passed, and Gilgamesh sat upon his throne as per usual. He anticipated the arrival of not two, but three individuals after Siduri's messages were delivered. The orange-haired girl, Orihime, required outfitting for her proper duties. Francis Drake... he did not need at all. No, what he required of her was something that only she could bring, albeit without even knowing it was in her possession. Three approached the throne, two being his targets. He'd speak first to Orihime. "Finally done? Good. Your official duties begin today, but first, take this." At his command, a Divine Gate produced before Orihime gave way to a single box lined in electrum. Within, she would find the new attire of a very special unit Gilgamesh decided to assemble. "Do away with those common rags. They are unbecoming of you," he stated.

Now then, what of the pirate captain? His eyes fell upon the pink-haired woman, then closed. Was the king... annoyed? He seemed very slightly so, though it only appeared true audibly by a huff. "Men have been flogged for less foolhardy entrances to my temple. How shall I respond to this audacious approach?" he asked earnestly. It may have seemed he was talking to Francis Drake, and in fact, his eyes fell upon her once again when they reopened. Now, he would actually speak to her. "And you, Sea-Devil. Your men warned you of a stowaway when my glorious self arrived on your ship. Is everyone so pitiful that none could take note of a single girl walking in the captain's shadow? I expect more of you and your crew in future."

Orihime looked upon Gilgamesh sheepishly. It'd taken about a month for her to learn a new language. Get better at her public story-telling persona and feel comfortable enough to do what she wished. "Yes, yes I am it's pretty exciting!" she said seeming to be quite pleased. Ah, but what was this, a Divine Gate as opening and a single box was exiting, this was for her? She took the box into her hands and opened it finding new clothing within. "Sugoi!" she said happily. "Thank you!~" she seemed really pleased to receive more clothing. Though she was wearing a pretty light one piece robe which looked far from rags, it would appear the King of Heroes had a different sort of look in mind for the young woman. She'd take these clothes then and try them on in her room, when she was dismissed, apparently her duties would begin soon enough.

Meanwhile Francis Drake showed up, seeming in a good mood. "Yo!" Francis said seeming to look at the man strangely when he commented on the entrance to his temple. It was hardly as if she did not normally address him and everyone else this way. What could have made him upset? Was his woman missing again? Oh, he wasn't talking to her. She looked into the distance but saw no one worthy of such an introductory statement. Meanwhile the girl under the hood was sweating bullets. 'He can't actually see me, right?' she asked herself. Maybe she should disappear. She slid a bit further behind Francis like a frightened small child. Perhaps she'd gotten careless having gotten used to being able to sit with the Captain always. No one had ever noticed her in the Captain's shadow until this man on the throne looked her way. Meanwhile Francis managed to be confused. "Wait what?" she said. There was a point where she'd been the type to question the King of Heroes, but if he said there was someone or something there, she believed him, even if she couldn't see it herself. "It's not that I don't believe ya' but I haven't had a stowaway in centuries." Francis' words made this sound bad, the small woman at her back decided that if she'd already been seen there wasn't much hope in hiding out properly. She did the one thing she hadn't done in ages, she drew attention to herself. "Ano...it'd be more accurate to say, you've had only one stowaway for centuries. But I was helping. I have been living in your shadow for about three centuries now," she said carefully. All eyes widened as everyone turned around. This young woman only came up to Francis' hip in height but she didn't sound like a child at all. "I am sorry, for the approach. I did not know anyone could see me with you standing right here," she said. Ah, she'd been hiding in the shadow of Francis Drake's glory for three hundred years to keep herself safe. "Also I didn't know I shouldn't come here... I just didn't want to get caught by myself," she said carefully. She would have easily latched on to another person with a high presence, but her life on Francis' ship had been comfortable enough aside from not being able to talk to anyone. Or rather it could be said that she was on the run and wished to hide and there was no where better to hide than somewhere always on the move. As an aside, she wasn't malicious in the slightest, she was simply small. About half the size of a human adult but with the body of an adult beneath that robe. She did not wish to risk the worst happening to her, and was always hiding more or less, but it seemed the jig was up for now.