A Not So Evil God In Fate/Grand Order

They were returning from Mt. Etna, and like before, the ghosts didn't bother with them and opted to stay away.

Having confirmed before that there were no soldiers on their way to the leyline, the journey back was faster. When they were nearing the city gates, they noticed a soldier who was waiting for them. Looking closer, it was the same soldier who informed Nero of yesterday's attack.

"Is there something you needed us for, Mr...?" Fujimaru asked the soldier who merely smiled and nodded his head.

"Marcus, that's my name. And indeed, Her Majesty wants to have a word with you. She asked me to come and wait until your arrival and then take you to her." The soldier, now Marcus, informed them. There was a great deal of respect in his tone, he had seen them fighting before, and it brought him no small amount of relief. Now the situation didn't seem as hopeless as it previously did.

"Nero did?" The youth had a look of confusion on his face. However, Martha, Caster, and Seth already had an idea.

"Certainly, please follow me." He then turned around and started walking ahead. Of course, it was symbolic more than anything as they already knew the way.

The group of five people walked behind Marcus as the soldier told them stories of how they have been doing until now. According to him, every time the United Empire sent one of his Emperors to battle, it was already a lost cause. It was better to give them the territory they were fighting for without much fight than having their entire army annihilated, that's how they have been surviving. Of course, when there were no Servants involved, the battle went to whoever managed to do better on the battlefield.

"You sure had it rough." Cu Chulainn commented after listening to what Marcus said. At the same time, he was impressed they haven't lost to the enemy yet, considering they had Servants on their side.

Marcus released a weak chuckle. "We did. Many of my comrades had lost their lives fighting against the United Empire. To be honest, many of us wanted to give up and just end this. However, Emperor Nero always reminded us of the glory of Rome, and why we should fight against those impostors. She is truly our light in these dark times."

"I have got to give it to you, that little lass fights spectacularly." 'For someone who isn't a Servant.' Caster added in his mind.

"I'm sure our Emperor would love to hear your praises." Marcus said before stopping as they had already got to their destination. "This is where we part ways. I must return to the barracks now. It was a p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e to talk to you."

"Likewise, Mr. Marcus. I hope we can talk again in the future." Mash bowed her head a little in thanks. The soldier just nodded with a smile on his face before departing.

When he left, the group finally entered the Throne Room. Nero and the remaining Servants were there. The moment they heard the sound of the door opening, the Emperor knew guests have arrived.

"Welcome again, did whatever you went to do go well?" Nero asked the newcomers.

"Yes, thanks for allowing us to temporarily use part of your territory to set up a temporary base." Dr. Roman thanked her in the name of the whole Chaldea.

"Umu! It's nothing to worry about; I'm quite generous after all!" She smiled while putting a hand on her c.h.e.s.t and used her usually haughty tone.

"R-Right... More importantly, the soldier from before said you were looking for us. Did you need something?" Romani didn't know how to deal with her upbeat personality, so he went straight to the point.

"That's correct! I was planning to launch an attack on one of the enemy bases to lift the morale of my soldiers. They are delighted with our victory from yesterday, but they still need to know we actually have chances of winning!" Thinking her magnanimousness got through, she informed them of her plan.

"Guess we were right." Their assumption was proven to be correct, Nero did plan to move her forces to attack the enemy.

The blond girl gained a confused look. "About what?" She asked, not understanding the meaning of his words. However, Cu Chulainn just shook his head saying it was nothing.

"Anyway! I was planning to go to the frontlines myself. Otherwise, the soldiers will lose trust in their Emperor. That's why!" At the end of her sentence, she pointed at Seth. "I will allow you to turn my sword ugly again with those flames for a short amount of time so I can fight those fake Emperors, aren't I generous?"

"Having killed a king before, I guess now it's the time to step up the game and kill an Emperor." Seth had this aura around him that screamed pissed.

Everyone took a step back as he started walking towards Nero. The girl in question thought he was talking about the Emperors of the United Empire so she gave an approving nod, folding her arms and closing her eyes she started talking. "Umu! That's the attitude! Although you look like some sort of villain in the stories my mother used to tell me when I was a child, you can be quite reliable!... Eh?"

When Nero opened her eyes, she noticed Seth was grabbing her head as he lifted her off the ground. "Ah?! What are you doing?!" She cried in pain as she tried to take his hand off her head.

There was no need to say it, but there were a couple of Servants who were enjoying the show. To them, Seth was avenging the suffering they have been having being around her.

"How about I make your face ugl—" Seth was cut short by the almighty holy knuckle.

"What do you think you are doing to a little girl?! Can you act like the grown-up man you are for once?!" She scolded him with a glare.

Rolling his eyes, he let go of Nero. 'I didn't expect you to stand up for her...I guess you got over his death.' He thought while still looking at the girl in front of him who was crouching, grabbing her head in pain.

"Give me your sword." He ordered Nero, who begrudgingly gave it to him. Same as last time, he buffed the sword so it would at least have enough capacity to damage a Servant. This time, however, he made it so the buff lasted longer.

Returning back her sword to her, he decided to exit the room with Jeanne and Jalter following behind him. He was going to do something before going together with them.

The moment those three exited the room, specifically Seth, Fujimaru and Mash looked at Nero with forced smiles. "Sorry about that, he gets like that from time to time. But he is not a bad person." Fujimaru apologized in Seth's stead.

"Is there something we can do to make you feel better?" Mash asked, not wanting to create conflict between the two.

"... There is actually something." Nero said as she got up from her crouching position. Suddenly, she did a hundred and eighty degrees change and returned to her usual attitude. "Umu! I would be pleased if you could delight yourselves in my singing." She smiled at them.

"So you can sing? As expected of an Emperor, you sure are multi-talented." Mash complimented her, which only worked to feed her ego.

"Haha, you can praise me more! Good... Prepare to experience something not even the most privileged in my Empire can do!" She said with both hands on her h.i.p.s.

Some Servants' instincts started giving alerts but they saw no enemy attack so they thought it was just a misconception.

...

Unaware of their fellow comrades' impending doom. Seth was walking with his two Servants who didn't know where they were going.

"Um...Master, shouldn't we be planning a strategy with the others?" Jeanne asked, a little unsure of what Seth was doing.

"What strategy? We just have to kill them all and be done with it!" Jalter was the one who answered instead of him.

"I have a bad feeling about this whole place, it reeks so much of that guy presence that it wouldn't be surprising if he was here. Him, or someone similar." Seth said surprising the two, more Jeanne than Jalter.

"Do you mean that guy Lev? But why didn't you tell the others? I'm sure they would like to know about this." Jeanne couldn't understand why he hadn't told them, it meant so much for them.

"And what are they going to do about it? It would only distract them if I were to mention it. Besides, this time I'm sure he wouldn't just watch." He shook his head, this girl only thought of positive things. In that sense, he preferred the black Jeanne. Although she was kind of weird, she knew more about the true nature of the world than her white counterpart.

"But...!" She wanted to say something but was cut short by Jalter. "You don't understand, do you? If you tell them about an enemy they want to defeat, how do you expect them to concentrate on the ones before them? Really, it's surprising you won so many battles not knowing something as simple like that." Taking the chance, she insulted her.

Jeanne felt silent hearing her words, it was not like she didn't know it. It was just...she felt it was wrong to keep the others in the dark. She had some talks with Mash in Chaldea where they talked about Olga Marie. Mash told her that even if she was strict, she was a good person at heart. It was just that she had a big weight on her shoulders, trying to meet everyone's expectations. In a way, she could relate to her. A lone girl who despite all odds did her best to succeed in their mission.

"Stop fighting, you two. I just don't want them to embark on a path of unnecessary revenge, and Lev isn't even the mastermind." Seth gave them a glare so they would calm down.

"They will eventually have to defeat him...what then?" Jeanne slowly asked.

"Who said they were the ones who had to defeat him?" He amusedly chuckled. "They are just young kids who don't know much about the world, their light is the one who will truly save it. It's our job as remnants of the past who are in the shadows of history to face those types of beings."

Jeanne was surprised hearing his words. "I never knew you were one to say those sweet words." She couldn't help but release a chuckle herself.

"Alter." "With p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e!" Jalter didn't have to hear more, with her Master's permission, she kicked Jeanne's back making her fall to the ground.

"You didn't have to order her to kick me just because you are embarrassed..." Jeanne muttered attempting to do a grumpy face.

"Get moving, we have preparations to do." Ignoring her comment, he ordered the fallen Jeanne without stopping.

―――――――――――――――――――

Both girls still didn't have any idea of where they were going, they had already exited the city and were walking through a wasteland. There were many ghosts but they got kept their distance from them.

Their long walk seemed to come to an end the moment they got to a mountain a bit far from the Rome. "What are we doing here?" Jeanne asked while looking around.

"I'm going to prepare something in case we encounter an enemy that is out of our league. You stay here and defend this mountain in case a Servant shows up." He said gaining a confused look from both girls. However, he didn't bother to explain.

Without delay, he started running toward the mountain summit. Once there, jumped inside a hole that was releasing smoke from time to time.

As ordered, Jeanne and Jalter stayed on guard in case of an enemy attack. They still weren't sure what their Master was planning but soon after he left, the mountain behind them started to shake and it looked like there was going to be some sort of earthquake. There were also some sounds akin to roars from time to time.

Whatever their Master was doing, it didn't seem to be something pretty for their enemies.