Battle approaches (162) (Patreon)

Finding Angrboda was easy, especially for someone with his skills… Then again, one would need to be both blind and deaf to miss the gigantic figure, especially when she was accompanying the two-stories tall Bunyan around. Perhaps if she was actually trying to hide?

No, with Bunyan’s monstrously large figure, that towered even above the level of the single-story buildings around her, it would be quite the challenge to actually miss her. And to think that it was one of the smaller variations of Bunyan. If she had actually been walking around an empty field, the Bunyan then would have easily reached the height of the mountains surrounding it. Of course, the Servants had no idea why Thomas Edison had chosen the Bunyan as his secret weapon, or how exactly he planned to use her as a secret weapon… But the idea that Bunyan was a weapon one way or another did make perfect sense to the Servant.

Anyway, that was enough time spent on a distraction, they needed to finish their job. The Servant had easily found Angrboda, along with Karna and Bunyan, walking through the streets of the city.

That is to say, that they had finished the work they were supposed to do. Unlike Blavatsky, who had gone in search of the missing Demon Kings, nothing else was required of them, and so that’s their mission accomplished. They should have already started their journey back to Edison right now.

Or rather, that’s what they would have been doing, if not for what is going on right now.

The Servant froze, like prey in front of a predator, as they looked at Angrboda, who had suddenly stopped and was looking straight at them.

It was something impossible.

Although they were not an Assassin and therefore did not possess the skill, Presence Concealment, the passive effect of their Noble Phantasm was supposed to be perfectly suited for him to serve as a scout and a spy. Their quite unique Noble Phantasm made them a faceless individual, by staying among the crowds, they could easily observe their target even when close by, all while remaining unnoticed. Though saying that, the streets were deserted since nobody wants to get in the way of the giant Bunyan, but still, they should still be invisible right now! In other words… Why was Angrboda looking straight at them!?

“Your attempt at hiding is laughable, human," Angrboda said with all the ineffable hatred she possessed against the species. All of this hatred was directed directly at the Servant before Angrboda, who, if their Noble Phantasm was working as it should, only looked like the most ordinary of humans. "You have but three seconds to make it clear exactly why you are here and what you want. Or else.”

“Um, Mom…” Bunyan's voice, terrifyingly loud fitting her size, echoed down the street as Bunyan herself tried to look for whoever Angrboda was addressing, seeing only an empty street before her eyes, completely bereft of anyone Angrboda could be talking to. "There's no one there…”

“One… " Ignoring Bunyan's words and looking directly into the eyes of the invisible Servant, Angrboda unfolded one finger from her clenched fist.

“Hmm…”  Karna wasn't sure exactly how he should address the Servant leading him, she had never introduced herself to him in any other way than as his mother. Which was, of course, impossible for him to do, he has only one mother after all. No matter how he sees it, his eyes could not see who Angrboda was addressing either. But, unlike Angrboda and Bunyan, he was aware that Edison had two other Servants in addition to him, Tesla and Blavatsky. And, knowing that one of these Servants were capable of invisibility, he was somewhat worried about the current situation.

Seeing that, it’s possible that one of his coworkers might just die for no reason, Karna interjected. “Miss, I beg you…”

“Two”. Angrboda ignored the words of the Servants around her and never shifted her gaze from Archer, the Servant opposite her, who had tried to maintain invisibility until now. The fact that Angrboda had kept on moving her eyes to wherever they were moving, the Servant concluded that Angrboda was not bluffing. No, the Servant whom Edison had designated as the target of his search - and subsequently, quite possibly, of killing, could indeed see through their invisibility.

Archer sighed for a second at how their day seems to just not be going his way. He didn’t pause for long though, it is very likely that the lady before him would indeed go on with her threat, he would definitely lose his life. Seeing no other way, other than just turning around and hightailing out of there, which is a bad idea to do, turning your back to a predator. They might just start chasing you.

Archer threw back his cloak, ending the effects of his Noble Phantasm. “Hey, there’s no need for violence, I surrender.”

“Whoa!" Bunyan, having just watched with her own eyes as a man appeared out of nowhere in the middle of the street, clapped her hands together, causing a loud sound that could be mistaken for a cannon shot. “Amazing! Can you do that again?!”

Angrboda, seeing the young man with green hair, wrapped in an earth-colored cloak, grimaced at his appearance, like a toothache. Before, when Archer was under the effect of his Noble Phantasm, his stench was much more muted. “Don't provoke my patience. I don't have enough of it to waste it on humans like you.”

The servant opposite Angrboda only sighed at the bare killer intent directed at him. Indeed, it seemed to him that his mission was the simplest of all. It was simply to find the huge newcomer Servant who was somewhere around the city, traveling with Bunyan and Karna, then assess her condition and bring that information back to Edison. Nothing could be easier…

Even a slothful person like him should have guessed that it could not be that simple.

“My patience is running thin, speak. Or, the option that I prefer, stay silent and die.” Angrboda slowly lowered her hand, then clenched it into a fist, making the green-haired Servant across from her shudder. Of course, he was not aware of Angrboda's fighting capabilities, but it’s not like he was the best in open combat for it to matter. And to test the abilities of someone who could see even through the invisibility of his Noble Phantasm was not something he’s looking forward to.

So, he opened his mouth like the best parrot around.“I am Archer, in the service of Edison…”

“It is indeed so.” As he could finally identify the once invisible Servant, Karna hastened to verify his words, anxious to prevent any bloodshed.

“Why were you watching me?" Angrboda, ignoring Karna's words, glared at the Archer across from her coldly with considerable hostility in her gaze.

Archer, for his part, knew that despite all of Karna's assurances, calming her down was clearly not something easy. And so, the words ‘Edison was preparing for your destruction’ or any derivative of that were clearly not something that should leave his lips  or even hint at it. At least, not until he got away from her, preferably to another continent altogether.

“Edison had instructed me to find you," Archer answered with the plain truth, but definitely not the whole truth. That Edison had ordered him to find Angrboda in order to hunt her down and try, quite possibly, to beat information about the Demon Kings out of her, he chose to withhold until better times, as in, never.

“He hadn't had enough of the past beating and wanted more?” Angrboda snorted contemptuously, casually revealing the reason for how wretched Edison looked. “So, Bug, run back to that error of nature and tell him I'm busy, if he wants me to smear his head to the pavement so badly, let him come himself.”

Archer was about to exhale in relief before somebody who has trouble reading the room speaks up. Or maybe he could, but simply chose not to?

“I'm sorry, but if the Eternal President is calling, we need to go to him.” Karna, showing his great loyalty to Edison, which at this moment was more of a hindrance than something positive, spoke up.

“Uncle Edison is waiting for us,” Bunyan interjected, “I guess he wants to apologize…”

‘No, no, no, no need to do that! Just let me go! Away from you!’ Archer instantly pleaded. ‘You don't have to go anywhere, just let me go myself!’

However, Archer could not say something like that openly, especially while fearing Angrboda's reaction and her suspicion.

However, even if limited to what Archer knows, Angrboda going to meet Edison was simply counter-productive. If Edison suspected Angrboda as the perpetrator who had released the Demon Kings, then she must, logically, resisted all attempts at questioning, so the only way to get answers out of her was to beat them out. Edison questioning her seems stupidly counterproductive, since you know if she’s an enemy, delivering her straight to their leader seems pretty stupid.

And while it was unknown what her level of strength was, by the mere fact that she could see through Archer's Noble Phantasm, through which even Karna could not, meant that she was clearly not weak. And that, in turn, meant that for the intended confrontation, it would be best to get her away from the city so that during the battle she could not accidentally destroy it, causing untold numbers of collateral damage. Or, judging by her hatred of anything human, to prevent her from purposefully destroying the city and killing everyone in it.

In other words, trying to lead her back downtown straight to Edison, was exactly the opposite of what was logical or even anything remotely common sense.

“Well…” Angrboda grimaced, clearly reluctant to run errands for Edison, but the pressure of her two children did make her sigh. Slowly, her expression changed to that a parent would make when his children tried to involve them in their cockroach collecting hobbies. “OK, okay, fine if you two wanted it so badly…”

Archer could only curse his luck at how the meeting went. C’mon, no need to be so worried, just hope they don't start killing each other right now, right. His luck couldn’t be that bad, right?

Contrary to the turmoil boiling inside him, Archer tried his best to put on a smile on his face as he guided the human-hating giant straight to his boss.

"Okay, in that case…  Come with me…”

***

“She couldn't have done it.” Tesla sighed and sharply crossed his arms over his chest. “No chance.”

As one might have guessed from the fact-of-matter way, Tesla said those words, right now Tesla and Edison were both discussing exactly how Angrboda was connected to the disappearance of the Demon Kings. According to Edison's logical reasoning, she was the perpetrator, but according to Tesla's reasoning, she couldn't have had anything to do with it.

And it wasn't because Tesla believed that Angrboda was so subordinate and so respectful of Edison's authority, as the bruises slowly disappearing on Edison's body showed the stark opposite. Only Ainz could somehow control Angrboda. No, it had to do with the fact that Tesla could have sworn on his scientific papers that Angrboda had no idea that Demon Kings even existed in this Singularity and had no interest in that fact.

Although it is possible that she might indeed have done something like that if she had learned of the existence of the Demon Kings in the Singularity. The term ‘child’ was very broad for her, after all, and the Demon Kings are a direct threat to them. If she was made aware of creatures that had directly hurt her ‘children’, her displeasure would be very hard to hide.

And so, in the current circumstances, she was indeed one of the least likely perpetrators for the disappearance of the Demon Kings.

“Who else could have done it?!" But instead of debating his point, Edison only roared, already rooted in his idea. Really, he’s a disgrace to all the scientists in the world. "Why else would she attack me, except to give the Demon Kings time to escape?!

“Any person with even an iota of self-respect would have also done the same. Your face is the kind that is just asking to be beat on after all… even before you indulged in your hobbies.” Tesla rolled his eyes. After he had found out that Edison had locked one of the Servants, a child even, in a huge concrete bunker for some reason, alone? Yeah, it’s no wonder that Angrboda, who views all children as her own, had beaten him black and blue, even if he were more prone to emotional outbursts, would have done the same. Even if the perpetrator was not even Edison!

“You're just wasting your time chasing after her… Besides, you can't beat her anyway.”

“Can't beat her? What do you mean by that?" Edison paused, looking at Tesla, frowning, at least the equivalent of that movement for the lion face he possessed right now. “Hah! You seem to be mistaken about something, with Karna's power, there’s no such thing as unbeatable! And you… you’re refusing to support me again, like you did back then, Tesla?! I knew I shouldn't have worked with you!”

“Back then? What are you… really?" Tesla shook his head, finally understanding what Edison was referring to. The time when both of the Servants were still alive. "As I remember it, you were the traitor, not me! And to answer your other question, I am fully aware of just how strong Karna is perfectly. I, on the other hand, don't understand Angrboda's powers. And neither do you.”

Karna, the great Indian hero that was equal to the gods, according to his legend, he was, in fact, invincible. A perfect example of a noble hero, defeated only after Krishna, a god, personally intervened in his battle with his brother, Arjuna. And even then it took his trusted charioteer turning against him, by his brother taking advantage of the rules of a fair duel, and only after Karna gave up his armor that made him invincible.

In other words, without exaggeration, he was one of Earth's greatest heroes.

Tesla was not modest in his own estimation of himself. He was smart, strong, and his Noble Phantasm represented the greatest achievement of his genius. Indeed, defeating Tesla in battle was a feat in itself.

Yet even Tesla would not have rushed to put himself against Karna, the great hero. Indeed, in battle, even Tesla, who was not in the habit of downplaying his own merits, and not the type of empty bluster that Edison was so proud of, was not confident that he could defeat Karna.

In other words, Edison had every logical reason to bet on Karna if he were to fight Angrboda. Karna, especially with the support of the other Servants, were a very formidable force to face. And yet… his gut tells him otherwise.

Though Edison didn't know it, Tesla could say with certainty that Angrboda was simply too out of the ‘normal view of the world for even Karna to stand up against her, should she start fighting at full strength. No, Tesla has no clue about Angrboda's skills, parameters, or Noble Phantasms. His mind, elevated to the limit as he became a Servant, couldn't even give him a hint of Angrboda's level of danger.

And as always, it was the unknown that scared Tesla the most.

It was as if his whole scientific nature, having advanced away from his animal instincts, was useless. Instead, it was his instinctive urges, his animal instinct, that was whispering to him to not even try to fight her.

Looking at Karna, Tesla saw a terrifying opponent, and all his rational mind gave him the clearest picture, all the arguments as to why exactly he should not fight Karna. But that was not the case with Angrboda, the mere thought of attacking her seemed to replace his entire noble human mind with animal instincts. His heart thundering in his chest, claiming with surety that this was a beast that Tesla himself should not touch in any way.

In other words, even without any logical understanding, Karna, in Tesla's mind, was much less dangerous than Angrboda. And it may have been irrational from, something that is not reasonable, but it was that very rare occasion when Tesla was willing to trust his instincts.

And, of course, one should not forget the simple and trivial fact that Angrboda was to Tesla a far more important ally than Edison. So even if, say, Ainz had for some reason ordered her to let the Demon Kings loose, Tesla would still support her.

“Tesla, your pigeons and wires have completely eaten your mind from the inside out!” Edison, however, not realizing that Karna was only ‘one of the world's greatest heroes’, and perhaps also resentful of Angrboda because of her actions, easily dismissed Tesla's argument. “If not her, then who?! Or are you willing to admit to stealing the Demon Kings from me?!”

“All my life, the only one who's ever stolen anything between the two of us, has only been you, Edison!” Tesla really couldn't help himself. “Don't compare me to your kind, Furry!”

“I AM NOT A FURRY!" Edison roared and was about to leap at Tesla, evidently intent on continuing their conversation in a more appropriate vein, a fight. But, before he could get off the ground, the appearance of the green-haired Servant, Archer, distracted him. "Huh?”

The young man with green hair, clad in an earth-colored cloak, looked perfectly normal, perhaps with slightly more predatory features with his narrow chin, and slightly squinted eyes. Except for that detail, there were no other words to describe him other than ‘not standing out from the crowd’. And yet, his appearance, out of nowhere, within the office of the Eternal President could not fail to attract the attention of Tesla and Edison, who had already prepared to solve their problems in another fight.

“Em…” Just not quite sure what to say in this situation, where he had just delivered an unchained beast straight to his boss’ office, Archer managed to spit it out. “I brought the Servants here… It wasn't my fault, honestly!”

Angrboda was approaching, along with the other Servants. Tesla had managed to sense his ally coming even without Archer's words. So, the first thing that caught his attention was the fact that Archer had managed to get his back so easily.

‘Invisibility?’ Tesla strained his mind, forgetting about Edison’s annoying presence all at once. ‘I couldn't even feel him approaching… How? Ah, I see, so it was the effects of a Noble Phantasm. Huh, I could probably neutralize its effects if I used my skill to gain sensory abilities? But, still, without knowledge of what enemy he faces, he was just as vulnerable as any other Servant…  A logical conclusion, but it is somewhat disheartening.’

“Here?!" Edison, unable to hear Tesla's thoughts, roared. "What the hell, I ordered her to be in chains!”

“I'm sorry," Archer grinned apologetically, "There were… Circumstances.”

“See?" Said Tesla, taking advantage of the situation. "If she'd really had something to do with the Demon Kings' disappearance, she would not have come here, where she knew the enemy forces were, wouldn't she? I know that your mind is only capable of stealing other people's thoughts and passing them off as your own, but I don't mind you stealing that thought at all!”

Edison was ready to respond to Tesla's words with another caustic remark, but their dialogue was interrupted when the doors opened behind Archer. Angrboda had arrived, and her expression showed an unspeakable disgust and reluctance, as if she had to bear through an unpleasant but necessary procedure. “So?! I’m here, what do you want!?”

Edison might normally have been outraged at such a rude remark from someone who he views as his subordinate. But the still throbbing bruises and abrasions all over his body suddenly ached at Angrboda's voice, causing him to sigh. “It seems that you really are not to blame for the disappearance of the Demon Kings… ”

Angrboda, unaware of all that was going on in the Eternal President's camp, blinked in incomprehension. “What?”

“What, why don’t you know… ah, that’s right, you don’t know.” Edison strained his mind on a way to say the news delicately, but finding no way to do it, just did it bluntly. “The Demon Kings have disappeared…”

“Who?” Angrboda frowned, then shook her head at the nonsense that Edison was spouting out of his mouth. “What are you talking about?”

“The Demon Kings have disappeared?” Karna, who, unlike Angrboda, knew what Edison meant, stepped forward seriously.

“Karna, my child, don't talk to Edison, who knows what kind of diseases he has.” Angrboda took a step to the side with a practiced movement, blocking Karna's view of Edison, as if she didn't want her child to look at the rotting pile of meat in front of him. “Edison, I demand an explanation!”

“But who could have caused it… " Ignoring Angrboda's words, Edison continued on, wondering why the pillar, literally and figuratively, of his state might have disappeared. Could it be Tesla’s doing after all?!

Edison's eyes then strayed to Tesla. Could it be his desire for revenge on Edison after his death?

No, even if he indeed wants to take revenge, Tesla would have chosen a more elegant way to do it. Besides, although personal revenge was acceptable, revenge at the cost of the entire innocent population of the state was something Tesla would never have agreed to.

In that case, who else had the ability and motivation to steal the Demon Kings!?

There’s no one… No one except…  except for…

“Cu Chulainn!" Edison exclaimed, as he felt a large hand, larger than his own, squeeze his head. And then, like a stuffed animal, he was shaken from side to side, swinging his body around like a puppet. "DUMB CAT! I JUST ASKED YOU! WHAT THE HELL DID YOU CALL ME FOR?!”

“I never thought I'd say this before, but," Tesla could only sigh as he looked at Edison’s pathetic figure, being manhandled like the furry that he is. "Please don't kill Edison, as much as we both want to, we still need him alive.”

Angrboda, after giving Edison a couple more shakes for good measure, finally let him go. As Edison finds his footing, he takes a few steps backward, almost stumbling on his feet and trying his best to keep his vestibular system in check and prevent himself from barfing out.

In the background, the silent Bunyan merely glanced at her hand, corresponding to her new size and height, and then playfully tried it on the head of Karna, who reacted stoically. "I'm sorry, but please, refrain from that.”

Edison, eventually, got his feet under him and immediately wanted to hurl some sort of insult at Angrboda. But as what happened not seconds ago shows him, he had better swallow his opinion again, unless he wanted Angrboda to repeat her feat, perhaps ending this time with something even more dangerous for him. Like throwing Edison out the window.

“A few hours ago, we had found out that the Demon Kings I had kept in captivity, had disappeared from the secret bunkers where they were kept in suspended animation.” Edison managed to answer. “And we suspect that the main culprit of this event is…”

Tesla blinked, Edison couldn't be so idiotic as to try to tell Angrboda to her face, after her demonstration of how eager she was to do violence, that she was about to be attacked, could he?!

Fortunately for Tesla, Edison demonstrated his entrepreneurial cunning by instantly changing the context of his speech. “It's Cu Chulainn and his minions! That's why I sent Archer after you, to prepare a plan of attack!”

Archer, who had been trying to be on the sidelines the whole time of the conversation, was astonished by his boss’ ability to lie. He was fully aware of the reason he was sent after Angrboda, so he was fully aware that Edison was lying through his teeth. Then again, not having to fight was always a positive thing in his view, so he did not resent it either.

“So… " Angrboda frowned at Edison's explanation, then shifted her gaze to Tesla, her ally in this Singularity. "You had just lost the thing that your entire city depended on to function, and you considered this the perfect moment to launch an attack? Isn't that somehow… Counterproductive?”

“The Demon Kings were the reason for the functioning of this city!” Edison threw back. “It cannot exist without them. In other words, though we have some means to delay it, but without the Demon Kings, the city cannot sustain itself. To retreat and reorganize the forces under me is simply impossible, there is nothing that can replace the Demon Kings! It’s not that now we have the tactical capability to take on the enemy, it’s simply a desperate attempt to take advantage of the forces before they disappear altogether!” Edison paused from his impassioned speech.

“We must capture the Demon Kings from Cu Chulainn and Medb in the near future, or America is doomed… It’s not like we don’t have any actual plan for a massive offensive operation against the enemy, it’s just that the condition being as it is, we must act immediately.” Edison finished in a much more somber tone.

“Hmm," Angrboda hummed, "In all times and all worlds, it seems that America has the same strategy…”

“In other words,” Edison ignored Angrboda's jab, shifting his attention to Tesla. “How quickly can you improve my design?”

“Babbage's design, you mean." Tesla snapped back, but more out of habit rather than any actual offense. "If the situation is so urgent… Well, I could probably do it in five or six hours…”

“That means we'll be attacking by tonight! For what it’s worth, the cover of darkness should serve us well." Edison frowned before he glanced around at the Servants in the room with him. "It seems that we have no choice but to destroy Cu Chulainn once and for all!

***

Report by a journalism student, subject "History of Journalism," page 6:

The problem of hoaxes and all the positives and negatives of such in journalism are vividly demonstrated by the many newspaper clippings of the past. The so-called ‘screaming headlines’ about the existence of ‘Bigfoot’ or ‘ the Loch Ness monster’ complete with blurry photo images still exist in the so-called ‘tabloid press’ history.

But at one time or another, even the most respectable of publications has experienced moments in history when, in one way or another, printed headlines and articles that, many years later, may seem like nonsense to us.

Perhaps it was due to the general delusion or by the lack of scientific awareness of the society of their time, or perhaps some other more believable reasons.

Particularly, during the heyday of England’s past, now more commonly referred to as the ‘Victorian Era’, one of the most curious cases of yellow journalism could be seen. Along with, and perhaps even related to, the very famous hoaxes about Jack the Ripper or even about ‘The Wild Hunt and the Black King’.

Although fog is not uncommon in Britain, the events of 1853, where a four-week-long fog descended on London, are still a curious phenomenon for the world's meteorologists. And perhaps, due to the fact that such events could not be explained by the people of their time, and due to the unusualness of the event, the newly-rising print journalism of Great Britain concentrated excessively on the event. Perhaps in the pursuit of sensationalism of the material, they oftentimes neglected any effort to ascertain the credibility of what they’re writing.

And thus, from this act of folly, spreads a myth, which for some people still remains the bread and butter of conspiracists to this day.

The myth of the "Black King”…