We Know All, Thus We Lament All (Demon Pillar Quest)

[X] Direct confrontation. Draw out and challenge the beast. Negotiations may ensue after he has been beaten into submission. Force alone compels obedience in this world. Anything else risks rebellion.

Night falls. The king of monsters has no throne, but everywhere he roams is his kingdom. So Chaldea kills. Your flames and Kiara's all encompassing embrace kill beast after beast. The massacre calls forth more creatures. Everything in this Lostbelt is hungry, it seems. He can't help but answer the challenge soon. Not after you have gone nearly an hour without challenge from the lesser things that prowl in the dark. There is only him.

Grendel bursts forth from a snowdrift, a hawk's screech caught in a wolf's howl caught in a bear's roar. He barely resembles the humanoid you saw earlier. He is a hulking thing. The build vaguely resembles a bear but only barely. Draconic scales armor the flesh rather than fur, a menagerie of swiping paws and vicious heads rip themselves from his flesh. Each could kill anyone except the Alter Ego in a single strike. You could tell the outcome the moment the two met, even as a salvo of your collected heat blasted against his body. This fight is an unmitigated disaster.

Not to say that Kiara is weak. You are growing increasingly aware of the danger she poses. But the problem is clear. Her fists cannot break through Grendel's flesh.

She is hardy enough to withstand a glancing blow or strike, fast enough to make it an uncommon occurrence, but nothing she can do has put the beast down. Even once the white hands deform entirely into Demon Pillars nothing she does can fully stop Grendel. He rips into them with mouths, cleaves them through with bursts of fire, or slips entirely out of their grasp with shrinking limbs. The closest she gets is after an errant jaw nearly swallowed her arm. A sweetness fills the air. Tachi feels warm. Everyone's eyes lazily rest upon Kiara, drawn to her form. Even Grendel seems enraptured. He is still, almost tamed, as a finger spears through his eye and into his head.

The roar that follows blasts away the endless snowfall. Fortunately, that did not kill him. That would be missing the point of his venture. Unfortunately, it did not incapacitate him either. What happens next is hard to follow.

Grendel does not shift so much as he explodes. Jaws and arms, a river of violent flesh flowing over to encompass Kiara. He spits poison and belches acid. Bones thrust out like spears, bending like fishhooks to snag on her flesh and drag her in. Death. This was death. There was not a martial art that could cover such a disparity in strength. And she had long since passed the point in which alluring charm could stop him.

But Kiara smiles. And then the world breaks. A hole in existence opens up in front of her as Grendel surges forth. He backpedals, of course. You can see claws latch onto the ground and flesh root itself into the dirt. It isn't enough. Within that hole are Demon Pillars beyond counting. An infinite swarm of mindless creatures no better than a limb cut off from the body. But there are so many of them. Grendel tears apart a dozen and fifty more take their place. No matter how many he destroys, no matter how much he shifts, they surround and latch onto him. The air howls as they pull, a false wind born as this miniature universe attempts to drag the beast in. Eventually, the very earth under Grendel shatters, and he is swallowed whole.

Amida Amidula・Heaven's Hole.

You consider the look on Kiara's face, the flush on her features, and conclude that it will be quite difficult to have her relinquish him at this stage. Thankfully, the task of doing that is not up to you. The Master's hand glows red and a command is issued. Kiara bites her lip in reluctance, her hand a moment from closing the hole, but she has no choice but to relent. Grendel is disgorged onto the ground, more of a puddle than a person. It would be quite unfortunate if his ego had dissolved. Perhaps he could be used as a summoning catalyst? But before you can make any decision, the Master marches up to his practically melted form. Then she thrusts her arm into the puddle.

It is fascinating to watch the almost suicidal act. You wonder if you should intervene. Perhaps the monster will eat her and a Grendel that thinks himself Ritsuka Fujimaru will be born? But that does not happen. Instead, she pulls back and yanks out an arm from the mess. That was... not what you had expected. It is scaled, the hand with five fingers and claws, and it is torn. Strings of tendon connect it to the puddle and it drips with red blood. And it is around that arm that Grendel recomposes himself, clutching the stump of his shoulder as he assumes that more humanoid shape. The Master stares at him, holding the arm with both hands just to support its weight. There is contempt in his gaze. But he trembles. You cannot tell if he is about to run or swipe her head from her shoulders.

"Are you going to run away?" she asks him, as the blood drips from his torn arm. And for a moment the fear is gone. Anger nearly pours out from his body at the words, but she does not step back and little of it seems to be directed towards her in the first place. Shame, from a monster? Perhaps. It was an interesting reaction to oversee at any rate. Then he shakes his head, swelling up as his rage boils down to a bitter spite. "No."

She holds her hand out to him then. A hand with one Command Seal expended to save his life. "Then make a contract with me, Grendel." You wonder, briefly, how she hopes to control him even after this. "And I'll make you the strongest thing alive."

He seizes her hand. For a moment, he pauses. His teeth grind together, as if savoring something formless. Like he was chewing on a meal that wasn't really there. There's a brightness to the Master's eyes as he starts to laugh, all but howling as his body convulses. All manner of creatures outlines straining against the barrier of his skin for a moment. The Master pulls back with a grin on her face.

You see something that should have been obvious now. The explanation for her confidence. Dealing with monsters is not dissimilar from dealing with heroes.

---

It is fascinating to see how differently the Master interacts with Grendel than Kiara. Or perhaps it would be best to refer to him as Berserker from now on. There are no teasing plays or emotional revelations. They're loud. She acknowledges his strength but always asks him to prove it, goading the monster to hunt down and slaughter yet another creature, another group of Oprichniki. The Master is building him up to something with each challenge and he knows it, and the back and forth butchery only seems to get the Servant even more excited. Chaldea was getting ready to hunt.

But there is something you are chasing as well.

[ ] There is a faint signal that resonates with you, an ache reminiscent of the perfect unity you had nearly forgotten over the past year. Find it. Understand it.
[ ] You can taste Koyanskaya's presence upon the air. She has come close, and she still holds the truth of your existence over your head. Still, if her desire is a piece from the Thunder Emperor then she may reveal a way to strike at him.