A Not So Evil God In Fate/Grand Order

~Some days ago — Shaped Isle~

"You came all the way here, so of course I have to reward you. I would feel bad if I didn't." Stheno said as if it was common sense while having a smile on her face.

"Really?! You are a benevolent fellow! I should make you the Patron Deity of my Empire!" After the initial disappointment, Nero was overcome with joy once she heard Stheno's words.

Fujimaru, Mash, Jeanne, and Romani shared her enthusiasm. Vlad, Martha, Cu Chulainn, Jalter and Kiyohime, however, didn't share the same feeling as them. They couldn't help but have a bad premonition about this. Lancelot was standing there as usual. He didn't care about what happened around him; he was only going to act when there is a battle happening.

"Oh my. You are a generous one yourself. However, I will have to decline your offer once again. I fear I'm not up to that task." Nero's mood dampened a little but she understood she was not going to achieve anything by pushing the matter further.

"I comprehend. So, what is this reward you spoke of?" Nero asked her after giving a nod of understanding.

"That's a secret for you to find out." She gave her a little smile before a dark glint flashed through her eyes once more. "You have to search for it, though. After all, what heroes will you be if you didn't earn your reward through hard work?"

"Umu! That makes sense! But where do we start looking for that treasure?" Nero asked again, seeing as Stheno hadn't given them a clue regarding its location.

"I like your readiness. Very well, the treasure is hidden at the far end of a cave. You will find its entrance if you keep walking in that direction." At the end of her speech, she pointed at a certain place.

"You won't be coming with us?" Although she knew it was almost impossible for the Goddess to come with them, she still wanted to know.

"I'm afraid not; you will have to do this all on your own. I'm sure you will be successful." Stheno didn't mind all these questions; it made the 'game' more fun.

"That's obvious, with the light of Rome (me) shining on us all, victory is but a trifling matter!" She was already expecting her answer, so she wasn't that disappointed. Instead, she enthusiastically replied to her.

"I'm glad you are so confident, Emperor Nero. I hope we are up to par." Mash said with a smile that looked a bit forced; she still couldn't get used to Nero always so cheerful attitude, even in situations that seemed hopeless.

"Oi, oi. Have a little trust in our abilities, little missy." Cu Chulainn indignantly complained when he heard Shielder's words.

"N-no, that wasn't what I meant, I'm sorry..." Mash tried to apologize but Caster just waved his hand. "It was a joke, you don't need to be so stiff about it."

While they were in their little quarrel, Fujimaru approached Stheno and did a light bow. "Thank you for your help; we will be going now."

"My, what a polite child. Don't concern about it; you only have to do your best to get the treasure I left in that cave." She covered her mouth before her malicious smile could be revealed to them.

With nothing more to say, the group departed to find the cave. The moment they were at a safe distance and Stheno wasn't visible, Cu Chulainn decided to speak. "Master, we should be careful about that Goddess, I can smell the trouble coming from that woman from miles away."

"As expected of a dog, your nose is splendid as usual." Now that Saber wasn't here, it was Jalter's job to make fun of Caster. Of course, wanting to relieve some stress from having to put up with Nero also took some part in it.

"Don't call me a dog! And you should have sensed it too, we may be very well walking toward a dead-end or even toward our deaths!" The Celtic Hero wanted to cry right now, the moment he was free of that Holy Sword user, he had to deal with someone that loved to insult him as much as she did.

"Hmph. No matter, I will just burn whatever that little shrimp throws at me to the ground." She snorted at him. A trivial and weak Goddess wouldn't be a match for her, wait—.

A smile that promised trouble formed on her face. "So, worthless Saint, how does it feel to meet a real God and not an imaginary one?"

Although her question was directed at Jeanne, it also garnered Martha's attention. Hearing her question, the Saint of Orleans glared at her counterpart. "There is only One True God; the rest are simply fake ones." Her response didn't have an ounce of doubt in it.

'I'm so enjoying this.' Now that the attacks weren't coming his way and indirectly affected Seth, he could finally have fun with the show.

"That Goddess is not different than a human with some powers. She can't be compared with the Lord's omnipotence." Martha backed up Jeanne throwing a little comment from the side.

"Oh, yeah. Some great omnipotence he has, I didn't see that when I was destroying France, or when those bastards did what they did. Isn't it easier to accept he doesn't exist and it's just all a figment of your imagination?" She asked with a mocking tone but also with some traces of anger on her voice. As contradictory as it may be, she blamed him for all the hate that was burning inside her.

"Take that back!" Both Saints ordered at the same time with a raised voice. Even their patience had a limit.

"Oh? Did I offend you, somehow? What are you going to do, cry to your Lord for help that will never come?" Far from retracting her words, she continued to incite the two girls.

'That's right, kill each other. That way I will have fewer rivals, fufufu~' Kiyohime was enjoying the show as much, if not more, as Cu Chulainn.

"Enough! Stop with your tomfoolery at once. We have more important matters that require our attention; it's not the time to be fighting among ourselves!" Vlad shouted with clear irritation. He didn't mind them arguing and insulting each other, but when things had the potential to escalate to a fight, he had to intervene.

Fujimaru shot the Lord Impaler a grateful look, he agreed with him. However, he didn't dare to speak up.

"You seem to be getting full of yourself lately, Vlad. You seem to have forgotten that you were no more than a beast I commanded as I pleased." The Black Saint replaced her mocking expression for a cold one as he addressed Berserker.

The Inspiration for Dracula narrowed his eyes as he released his aura. "Don't think for a moment I will not impale you and put your head for the world to see."

'You were supposed to stop them, why are you wanting to fight now?' Cu Chulainn rolled his eyes seeing Vlad's behavior. As things were getting out of control, he finally decided to stop this. "Save your little discussion for later. We have to find that cave and get out of here as soon as possible."

"Caster is right. Besides, I'm more interested in this other Divine Spirit she mentioned before. I hope he or she isn't standing with the United Empire or we will be in a lot of trouble." Dr. Roman backed up Cu Chulainn, unaware that his 'help' only worked to complicate things more for him.

"I bet it's just some made-up story to make us work harder," Kiyohime said with slight annoyance. She thought the supposed Goddess only wanted her to be away from her 'true' Master as much time as possible.

The Sage of the Forest gave her a mental thumbs up. 'Nicely done, lass.'

"But her story may be true, though. Considering a Divine Spirit already materialized, a new one appearing is not so far-fetched." Mash came to the not-rescue.

'Not nicely done, lass!' Sometimes he wondered why he tried so hard to keep Seth's identity a secret. But then he remembered that if these guys ever found out. They would try to distance themselves as much as possible from him. Of course, there were exceptions like Jalter, Kiyohime, Vlad, Lancelot, and Martha who didn't seem to concern too much with such things. Anyway, it was better to be safe than sorry.

"Umu! I found the cave, as expected of me!" Just when Caster was racking his brains to think of a way out, Nero got the group attention with her words, making him heave a sigh of relief in his mind.

"It seems we will have to postpone this chat for a while. Make sure to proceed with caution, we don't know what may be awaiting for us." Romani advised the group before his hologram disappeared.

"Affirmative, Doctor." Mash nodded in agreement as the group made their way to the entrance. Standing outside, they noticed how dark the cave was. So much so that they couldn't see more than a few meters ahead.

To facilitate their walking, Cu Chulainn used some runes to generate fire. Kiyohime snapped her fingers and three balls of fire appeared in front of her.

"Thanks for the light. Still, this place sure is damp and there is mold all over it." After giving a quick thanks, Fujimaru commented on the state of the cave.

"Don't mind it. We better hurry, the soon we find this treasure, the soon we will get out of here. I'm getting really bad vibes." Cu Chulainn was the first to advance, followed by the rest.

"Why can't they bury a treasure under a tree or something? It's gross having to walk through this." Jalter complained about Stheno's decision with disgust on her face.

Jeanne was of the same mind as her. Although she wouldn't voice out her agreement, she was still upset about her words earlier.

They have been walking for ten minutes, most girls were dodging the strange slimy substance that fell from the ceiling. It was at that moment that Romani returned, not bringing with him some good news.

"Guys...I think Caster was right, we most likely fell into a trap. I'm detecting the presence of several enemies up ahead."

"I knew it, last time I trust in someone who smiles too much and seems extremely kind." Cu Chulainn said as he summoned his staff.

"What?! The Goddess was not on our side?!" Nero looked extremely surprised.

"Whatever, I will make them become ashes." Jalter unsheathed her sword and coated it in flames, ready to burn whoever appeared.

"Not so fast. You have to be careful or the cave will collapse on us." Romani said, seeing as Jalter prepared to go all out without a care for their surroundings.

"Tch. Fine!" She lowered the intensity of the flames, albeit begrudgingly, just in time for a clanking sound to be heard by them.

Sending ahead the balls of fire they had created, Cu Chulainn and Kiyohime revealed the enemies they were facing, skeletons.

"Hmph, so much drama for simple bones? We don't even have to try." Avenger snorted while looking at the enemy group.

To back up her words, Kiyohime waved her fan, releasing a wave of flames that engulfed the skeletons and burned them to a crisp.

"See? The stalker can do this on her own." Just as she finished speaking, another group of skeletons appeared some meters in front of them.

"Who are you calling stalker, you are not much better than me." Kiyohime furrowed her brows in a sign of disp.l.e.a.s.u.r.e.

"What did you say, bitch?!" She was going to continue but the skeletons started charging at them, so she decided to take her anger out by killing them.

However, no matter how many skeletons they killed, more kept coming. "This is starting to annoy me. Why do they spawn so much?" Vlad asked to no one in particular. The cave was not narrow by any means, but if they wanted to fight without hindering their companions, the cave's space was not enough. Especially for melee fighters.

"Can this be the work of the Holy Grail?" Romani pondered with a hand on his chin.

"Stop thinking about that damn thing for a minute, Holy Grail this, Holy Grail that. You are getting annoying!" Jalter glared at Dr. Roman's hologram while she cut a skeleton in two.

"I'm sorry!!!" Romani quickly hid behind his chair in fear of her wrath.

"ARRGHHH!" Meanwhile, Lancelot was howling and killing skeletons left and right. Luckily, they were advancing little by little further into the cave.

"Left some for me!" Nero didn't want to lose. Thinking of this as a competition, she tried to kill as many skeletons as Lancelot. Even though her sword wasn't as powerful as before as the buff Seth gave it had already ended. It was still a weapon to fear.

They just hoped this to be over soon. There was one thing they were sure about, though. The moment they get out of here, they will look for that Goddess and make her pay.