Command Jason: "By my decree! Heracles, Atalante, Medea, to the control room—now! Especially Medea!" Marie: "What's with the formality… Can you reserve seats?" Medea: "Yes." Atalante: "Bad feeling…" Heracles: (Agreed.)
Backdrop
Drake: "Hector's ship!"
It's still in sight, slightly ahead—beside a luxurious, mystical vessel.
Rikka: "What's that ship…?" Orion: "Whoa… that's…" Drake: "Fire!" Crew: "For real!?" Drake: "Hector fled there! It's the enemy! Strike first, now!" Crew: "Aye!"
The Golden Stag's cannons roar, targeting the mystical ship.
But—
Crew: "No good, Big Sis! No effect! Bullets bounce off!"
The ship's grandeur is unscathed, its noble shine untarnished.
Drake: "Damn it! Gotta burn a ship to burn a ship, huh?"
Hector: "Captain, help me out?" Jason: "Fine. I'm generous with failures. You got the Grail, right?" Hector: "Right here."
Hector hands over the Grail; Jason smirks.
Jason: "Good! With the goddess and the Ark, I'll be world king! Hahahaha!" Hector: "World king, huh…" Medea: "Then crush them, Jason-sama." Jason: "Yes, Medea! Mercilessly, like when you dismembered your brother!" Medea: "…? Odd words, Jason-sama. But yes, I'll try." Hector: "Creepy… they don't even see each other…" Jason: "First, greetings! Heracles!" Heracles: "⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛!!" Jason: "Show these scraps the power of heroes who'll fix the world!" Heracles: "⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛—!!!"
A giant boulder flies, a primal barrage.
Asterios: "Behind—Graah!!"
Asterios shatters it with brute force.
Artemis: "Darling, that's—" Drake: "Yeah, no mistake."
"Argonauts—"
A stunned voice crackles through comms.
Mash: "Master!?" Master: "No… impossible… not that far…" Mash: "Stay strong, Master!" Master: "It can't be that foolish—! Jason—!!" Rikka: "Argonauts, Jason…!?"
Unknown name, but only the Hero-King's knowledge fills my head.
Orion: "Damn right! The Argonauts, the mightiest, oldest pirate crew formed for the Golden Fleece! That's their flagship, Argo!" Mash: "Then Jason is…!" Master: "The leader who built the Argonauts! No combat skill, but his charisma and tongue rival the Hero-King—a monster born to rule!" Heracles: "⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛…" Master: "Then beside him…" Master: "Master! Everyone! Retreat now! Get away! If it's the Argonauts, if it's Jason, he's there!"
Gilgamesh: "Heh, fellow demigods, fated to meet?"
There he is.
Jason: "Hey, great hero!" Heracles: "⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛!!!"
Great Hero, Heracles—!!
Jason laughs maniacally, looking down.
Rikka: "That's him…?" Orion: "Yeah, Jason! A louse has a better personality—a scum to rival me!" Rikka: "Jason… he looks like that hot guy who confessed to me…" Mash: "Eh!?" Gilgamesh: "Then he was no good. His soul's vile." Jason: "You're the outdated Hero-King? Weak frame! They'd laugh in Greece! Your tiny kingdom must've been pathetic!"
…
Gilgamesh: "I'll yield one step, 'Backdrop.'" Jason: "…What?"
The king unleashes a verbal onslaught.
Gilgamesh: "Didn't hear? I said 'Backdrop,' clown. Exiled, raised in a centaur's stable, steeped in manure, scraping by with meager talent, achieving feats yet never grasping your desires, crushed by the wreckage of your dreams." Jason: "You—!" Gilgamesh: "I ruled a kingdom, a world, vassals, and amassed wealth—oh, and I have fans. What do you have, 'hero' Jason?" Jason: "You—!!" Gilgamesh: "Oh, one thing—you never lived such a pathetic, miserable life. Quite a feat, becoming a hero with that."
A sigh echoes across the sea, pity in his gaze.
Gilgamesh: "A true hero would see it as living shame, but you crushed your pride with your dreams' ruins, huh?" Jason: "Shut up, shut up, SHUT UP!!!"
Gilgamesh pierces Jason's rage with cold pity.
Unfair. He turns all anger and frustration into amusement.
Jason: "What do you know!? A man who had everything! A 'Hero-King'! What do you know about me!?" Gilgamesh: "Nothing. Nor do I care to." Jason: "—!!!" Gilgamesh: "Entertain more, clown. Everyone expects your pathetic display. Meet their hopes. But…"
He laughs cruelly.
Gilgamesh: "The best part was your face as the 'Backdrop.' I'd have loved to mock it up close—your stupid, crushed face at the end of your wretched wanderings! Hahahahaha!!" Jason: "—!!!!"
Jason's face burns with fury.
Gilgamesh: "Withdraw." Jason: "!?"
As planned.
Gilgamesh: "He'll target me now. His Twelve Labors are his Noble Phantasm—he revives twelve times. A full assault's tedious." Master: "Heracles's Twelve Labors…" Orion: "Reliable ally, but as an enemy? Utterly unfair!"
Exactly.
Drake: "Governor, you're bait?" Gilgamesh: "I'll play the rear guard. War's flower. I'll burn eleven of his lives. The rest is yours."
I'll strip all eleven lives.
Asterios: "My king…!" Gilgamesh: "Go, Asterios. Guard the goddess. Your time isn't now."
Live, Asterios. I'll push a bit for that.
Master: "Are you sane!? Gilgamesh, even you can't—! No hero can—!" Gilgamesh: "Fool. Don't compare me to petty spirits."
If Heracles is the strongest hero…
Gilgamesh: "I'm the oldest, absolute king. Hero-killing weapons? I have plenty. Only I can stop him."
The greatest king.
Mash: "But—!" Rikka: "Let's go, everyone."
Her verdict is firm.
Rikka: "We can't beat him yet. Let Gil handle this. We'll find another way." Mash: "Senpai…!?" Rikka: "If Gil says he's fine, he's fine. Right?"
Her eyes hold faint fear but unwavering trust.
Gilgamesh: "I've never broken a pact."
He pats her head.
Gilgamesh: "I'll return. Have a candy."
Rikka trembles, taking it.
Gilgamesh: "Await my triumph. Well done so far." Rikka: "…Yeah!"
Drake: "Retreat! Everyone, board!!"
Gilgamesh summons Vimana, boarding.
Drake: "We'll wait on a nearby island! Don't die, Governor! Our contract's still on!" Gilgamesh: "Our bond lasts while my treasury does—and it's far from empty." Drake: "Rikka and Mash are on me." Gilgamesh: "Protect them well, Star Pioneer." Mash: "Hero-King!" Asterios: "My king…!!" Gilgamesh: "Asterios, handle that noisy goddess."
The Golden Stag sails away.
Gilgamesh: "Now…"
Arms crossed, he faces the great hero.
Gilgamesh: "Kept you waiting, Heracles." Heracles: "⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛!!!" Gilgamesh: "I'll grant some pity for your beastly fall, chained by a friend. But stand before me, and there's one judgment."
He selects only the finest treasures.
Gilgamesh: "Come, great hero. You're worthy of my arsenal's might."
Jason: "What's that muttering—!? No last pleas—!" Achilles: "Don't forget me."
You came.
Jason: "Higyuu—!?"
A fist sinks into Jason's gut.
Achilles: "No way…"
Humanity's fastest hero, Achilles, allied by pact.
Achilles: "Shining Helm Hector, siding with humanity's doom? Complicated feelings, man. Being a Servant's rough."
Hector counters; Achilles grabs his spear, stabbing Jason.
Jason: "Gah—!!" Achilles: "Not you."
He stands beside Gilgamesh.
Achilles: "Made it, huh?" Gilgamesh: "The curtain rises." Achilles: "I go first?" Gilgamesh: "Your speed's pride?" Achilles: "First spear matters." Gilgamesh: "Fine, do as you like." Achilles: "Five kills, then you're up." Gilgamesh: "Die in peace."
I'll watch Hector and Medea.
Hector: "Jason, we should flee. No chance now." Jason: "Flee!? Don't screw with me! Two nobodies beat us, the pinnacle!?" Hector: "It's simple math… You'd normally see it, but you're too far gone…" Medea: "No, Hector-sama. Jason-sama's fine like this, right?" Jason: "Exactly! Kill, Heracles!!!" Heracles: "⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛—!!!" Achilles: "Let's do this, Heracles."
Tapping his foot, Achilles charges.
Achilles: "Fastest me versus strongest you—Greece's ultimate clash! Olympian gods, bless our fight—!!!"
The king and swift hero challenge the Twelve Labors—!!
Heracles: (If this body had reason and intellect…)
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The battle isn't over... and the truth has yet to be revealed. Read the next chapter now on Patreon! [patreon.com/Greyhounds]