Fate/Lunasa Fomhar

Chapter 14: The Hidden Enemy

FATE/LÚNASA FÓMHAR

"August Harvest"

Chapter 14: The Hidden Enemy

"Ungh! Get out of my sight, you ass-ugly lumps of flesh!" Cuchulainn Prototype snarled. He cleaved Gae Bolg through a humanoid monster's neck, swiftly decapitating it in one motion.

"Hah!" Emiya cried out as he carved his twin sabers through another creature, slicing and dicing it into clean chunks of meat not unlike how he would butcher a slab of beef in the kitchen.

Both men were presently on one of Okeanos' smaller northwestern islands, said to be a mountainous den of wyverns that no human dared approach. Upon Gilgamesh's order, Cuchulainn and Emiya partnered up to explore this land in search of anything suspicious. During their investigation, they found an identical stone statue to the one Gilgamesh and Jing Ke discovered. Upon seeing it, Cuchulainn's behavior dramatically escalated to abject anxiety, and he had attempted to destroy the idol without explaining anything to Emiya first. Unfortunately for them, this earned them the ire of a horde of similar monsters like the ones that ambushed the others.

During the fierce battle, Cuchulainn managed to make contact with Gilgamesh and warned him about the statue's threat. He couldn't say much more than that once a ghoulish fiend rushed at him and tried to bash his head off with its spiked club. It managed to knock the transceiver out of his hands though, and it was subsequently beheaded.

Emiya landed next to the annoyed Cuchulainn and quipped, "Well, well. I'd say we found something quite suspicious. I'm still rather perplexed as to what's going on here though."

"No need to think about it! Just rush 'em down, then smash that statue to smithereens! Once it's gone, we should be in the clear!"

"Hmph. I'm not fond of fighting battles without any context to go on, but I can approve of such a simple strategy as well. Very well, I'll just follow your lead and handle the rear."

"Right!" Cuchulainn agreed, then charged at the nearest monsters and expertly flailed his spear about to force them back. Emiya flipped backwards and leapt high, then summoned his bow and projected a miniature Caladbolg as his arrow. He drew the string back, then let his weapon soar over the battlefield. It shot toward three creatures and exploded in a flash of azure light, sublimating them into dust. While the surviving monsters were stunned, Cuchulainn swept in like a gust of wind and rushed past them while swiping Gae Bolg about. A moment later, they dropped dead after their stomachs had been carved wide open.

With the majority of the creatures dead, Cuchulainn was free to run up to the green glowing stone idol perched within a small grotto. He energized his weapon, then shouted, "Gae Bolg!"

His spear pierced through the stone, and it cracked into pieces before bursting apart and clattering over the ground. Any remaining monsters suddenly cried out in anguish as their bodies twisted and contorted into hideous distortions before detonating in gory bursts of dark blood. The Servants waited to see if anything else would happen, but all that greeted them was the ocean breeze.

Emiya dematerialized his swords and muttered, "Looks like you were right. Their life essences were directly tied to the statue. But how did you know that in the first place?"

"I'd recognize that thing anywhere," Cuchulainn said as he glared at the effigy's remnants. "I'd gladly explain, but I think it'd be better if everyone was present before I went into the details."

"I suppose that would be more expedient. Perhaps we should concentrate on warning the other groups first. They will have likely encountered similar beings such as those."