Yeah, the way this singularity is, I hadn't even questioned Brutus being on the same side as Ceasar at first. I just saw his name and went 'oh look, another famous roman figure for the enemy side'. Again, if Boudica and Spartacus can be on Nero's side, why can't Brutus be on Ceasar's?
Really glad it went the direction it did though.
One of my biggest pet peeves with Fate is that, while most Servants are good, enjoyable characters on their own rights, they're really shitty as actual adaptations/representations of the people they're supposed to be. Boudica is, again, one of the most egregious exemples. IRL Boudica as a Servant should be the personification of the Roaring Rampage of Revenge, not the milktoast anime 'big sis' we got aka 'Queen Booty'lol -- so I'm glad this story's OCs aren't falling into the same trap, being enjoyable as characters in a way that's satisfying to their sources.
I've been trying to show in the subtleties of their interactions that Boudica's restraint is the only reason she can even stand to be in the same general area as Nero, and her inner core of kindness is what compels her to offer even Nero comfort when she's down or lost. A three-dimensional character who isn't simply one way or the other and has depth and complexities.
The United Empire just lost its biggest defenders. Romulus and Konstantinos XI both have defensive NPs, but Moles Necessrie and Theodosios Constantinos are far more limited in scope than Hadrian's Wall and Pax Romana. Theodosios Constantinos can only defend up to 7000 people, and the more shelter behind the walls, the weaker the walls become; 1000 people is the limit of any real defense. Moles Necessrie is even more limited, only targeting up to 100 people at once, though it can be used offensively to dismember enemy forces.
I agree with Worldsoul15, for me this is the best chapter of Hereafter, and an absolute banger overall. Not knowing about FGO beforehand other than the bare minimum made the switch more enjoyable.
What did the United Empire side think Brutus abilities were,did they think he was just useless, just a weak assassin?
Also, very funny coincidence with the release date of this chapter.
Both Aife and Brutus greatly remind me of aspects of Taylor.
From the Doylist perspective, the author simply wanted to add more servants to the early singularities and expand upon the lacking writing.
But from the Watsonian perspective, it feels like Taylor's presence in the singularity is helping the counter-force in summoning a bunch of madlads that wouldn't have otherwise.
However, different from simply disguising one's presence as a Servant, it instead utilizes a form of mental interference to convince the targets that the wielder is a trusted confidant.
Brutus seems like a nice guy.
Is there logistics that prevented killing more servants one on one, or he pushed by his legend to do it during grand meeting?
Brutus seems like a nice guy.
Is there logistics that prevented killing more servants one on one, or he pushed by his legend to do it during grand meeting?
His noble phantasm means the first time he kills someone in the organization he infiltrates, everyone in that organization instantly knows he did it. He's basically specced entirely towards being a "suicide assassin", since he can basically walk up to anyone and stab them without anyone stopping him, but he's dead immediately after.
TL;DR: he isn't built for getting out of a kill alive and it's arguably in his better interests to not survive the killing
IRL Boudica as a Servant should be the personification of the Roaring Rampage of Revenge, not the milktoast anime 'big sis' we got aka 'Queen Booty'lol -- so I'm glad this story's OCs aren't falling into the same trap, being enjoyable as characters in a way that's satisfying to their sources.
This is actually touched upon in FGO. Boudica qualifies for at least two Classes, Rider and Avenger. The Rider version is the kinder aspect we've seen in game thus far. But if she was summoned in her Avenger form? She'd be very much the angry woman she was later in life. This occurs in Summer 2 from what I recall.
Great interlude. That takes care of one of the greatest advantage the United Empire has. Now Chaldea and Co just need to take care of the massive phantasmal creature army and they'll be mostly unopposed for marching into the enemy's capital.
As someone who isn't all that intimately familiar with the lore of FGO (I'm still in Fuyuki), I was fooled the entire way. But in the end, that made the betrayal all the sweeter.
As someone who isn't all that intimately familiar with the lore of FGO (I'm still in Fuyuki), I was fooled the entire way. But in the end, that made the betrayal all the sweeter.
I'm sorry to say that Hereafter might spoil you for how disappointing the early chapters of canon FGO are. But things definitely pick up later, especially in Camelot and Babylonia. America is kind of hit or miss, but London is decent fun, so if you can make it that far, you should like the rest of it.
This was phenomenal, and a masterclass in managing the audience's expectations.
First, the confusion with Rome or the replica. But who could the target be if he's in Rome? Some factor we don't know about? It puts the reader into a curious but discomforted state.
The meeting with Jing Ke. We know who's side Jing Ke is supposed to be on, but maybe they made it back, or maybe Jing Ke is actually fooling Brutus. A lot of unsubtle hints and unexplained dialogue hooks ("My lucky streak", etc.) imply that Jing Ke is hiding her betrayal from Brutus. Her ambiguous location and her cryptic wording made me think that she would end up killing *him*.
Then the meeting. A united front of Roman servants, with Brutus planning to kill someone, and Lev steps in. After espousing his disgust at Rome as it is now, having Lev so bluntly throw his weight around signals that he could be the target, so that Brutus would end up betraying the group but ultimately still be trying to help them by ridding them of their manipulative and disrespectful outsider court mage.
The pool gets very muddied when Brutus reveals his knowledge of what Jing Ke may have been up to, and again with Agrippina. From there, the reader goes from their unbalanced perspective to trying to figure out who the target is. Still Lev? Someone else? Then the two most important kills - mostly important in combination - reveal themselves with Jing Ke's last assassination, and moments later the act is already complete.
Again, phenomenal work. Really, really enjoying this story.
The room was dark, flickering torches along the walls providing the only illumination, the shadows they cast hiding much about the two figures occupying it. Of the two, one was tall, his fine clothes and shoulder-length hair painting an image of royalty which was only enhanced by the dominant aura he exuded. This was a man that was used to being listened to, a man used to being in charge. And yet, it was the second figure, that of a young man, 14 at a glance, that sat at the table, a burning lantern illuminating a small pile of parchments, the taller man standing in front of him, showing him deference.
"So, the wall has truly fallen?" the boy spoke, his voice only reinforcing the youth evident in his stature.
"Yes." the taller man gave him a nod. "More than that, it seems Pax Romana had also come to an end. Rome's position seems better than ever, as far as I can see."
"I see..." the younger hummed in response, his eyes tracing the ink marking his parchments. "Tell me, Vlad. Do you believe it to be a good time for us to involve ourselves? Is Rome's position secure enough for us to gamble?"
"Yes, my king." Vlad spoke frankly. "Without Pax Romana and Hadrian's Wall making their defense ironclad, the only thing the United Empire has to hide behind is their army. And that... Well, that's a fragile defense. All one would need to break it is a big enough mallet and a strong enough swing."
"A big enough mallet..." the diminutive king repeated, deep in thought. A gauntleted hand laid itself on the pommel of the sword hanging at his side. "Yes, I do believe that's something we can help with. Any other news you've heard?"
"Another group has involved themselves in the battle. They call themselves 'Chaldea' and seem to be on the side of Emperor Nero. Word on the streets is that they already killed Scaeva, Tiberius and Julius."
"That so? A shame. I was looking forward to matching wits with the famous Caesar. Oh well." the boy shrugged and pushed himself away from the table, making his platemail armor clang as he stood up, the torchlight illuminating the cobalt blue raven embossed on his chestplate.
"Come, Vlad. We've got negotiations to set up. Hopefully, I won't embarras us. My memories of my Latin studies are a little rusty..."
With those last words spoken, the two left the room. Minutes after, a black blur vanished into the woods near the cabin, a small passenger held securely in his hands. "Servant, incoming."
Taylor's warning came practically out of nowhere. The oldest of Chaldea's Masters had spoken up practically as soon as she felt the speeding figure enter her range, but whoever it was, they were moving so fast they were nearly upon them. Curiously, the presence wasn't coming from beyond the spot where Hadrian's Wall once stood, but rather from somewhere behind them.
Taylor spun on her heel to face this possible new threat, the rest of her group doing the same just moments later. The presence had almost reached them, just barely out of sight in the dense woods.
And then, it stopped. A second figure clambered out of the first one's arms, before the two started slowly pushing their way through the trees toward them.
"Uhhh... Senpai?" Rika raised a brow. "You sure?"
"Yeah. Two of them, coming toward us slowly." Taylor nodded, just in time for the foliage to part, allowing a familiar face to pass through.
A gasp sounded from the Chaldean Group. Berserk Lancer, Vlad Dracul, stood before them, a spitting image of the one they fought in France.
Well... Almost. The body was the same, from his pale hair and aristocratic features, to his black coat and silver spear. But his eyes... While Berserk Lancer's gaze was, at once, sharp and clouded, a warrior and a raging animal at the same time, this one's eyes were clear. A king stared at the group, his gaze sending shivers down their spines.
And then he stepped to the side, revealing the second Servant Taylor had sensed.
A boy, maybe 14 years old at a glance, with green eyes and feathery black hair. His features were fine and aristocratic, an effect further enhanced by the golden circlet nestled in his hair, shaped like a pair of wings encircling his head. He wore silver platemail with a cobalt blue raven on his chestplate, a heavy cape of raven feathers cascading down his back. A simple arming sword hung at his side, and the stock of some sort of firearm was visible past his left shoulder.
Taylor squinted at him, Master's Clairvoyance working at full power. What she saw confirmed her previous suspicions. Servant Rider, though she couldn't see his True Name.
"Hello there." the boy smiled at them sunnily. "You must be the Chaldeans I heard about. You're pretty hard to find, y'know? I wanted to talk to you about offering my services in the fight against the United Empire."
"Let's say you can actually help us." Taylor started. "Why would we need it. The wall is gone. So is Pax Romana."
The boy's smile sharpened.
"Ah, but their armies are not, now are they? You're a small group. Strong, but small. And no matter how strong a force is, they can always be buried in numbers if you know what you're doing. Caesar may be gone, but they're not out of talented commanders yet, and you know as well as I do that, without a significant diversion, you'll never make it all the way to their capital, let alone be able to face their leader."
He tilted his head to the side, looking at them like a curious bird. "Not without an army of your own at your back. So why not make that army the greatest this continent has ever seen?"
Someone behind Taylor drew in a breath, but the curly-haired Master raised a hand to forestall any words. Her eyes narrowed at the armored kid.
"If your army's that great, why not strike before now?"
"What, and risk defeat? Pax Romana and Hadrian's Wall were pretty good at discouraging something that braindead. Rome - the real Rome - is in an advantageous position now. Now's the time to push. So, I'm here to push."
"But if our positions reverse and the United Empire get the upper hand, you'll switch as well, won't you? You fight for the winning side, whoever that is." Taylor finally gave voice to her suspicions, making the kid chuckle in embarrasment.
"You're right. I do fight for the winners. Luckily for you, once my army marches, you won't lose your upper hand again. We can take on practically anything the Empire can throw at us... Short of Romulus himself, of course, but then, I figured you'd be fighting him. And if you lose and I'm forced to switch sides... Well, you can take solace in the fact that you'll all be dead and thus I won't be your problem anymore."
The two stared into each other's eyes. Master and Servant.
"You say you want us to trust you." Taylor finally spoke up. "Yet you haven't even introduced yourself yet."
"Ah, pardon me." the kid blushed lightly. "In the heat of the moment, I'm afraid it slipped my mind. I'm Matthias. Rider class, but I'm sure you figured that out already. My silent friend here that your allies have been staring at so reproachfully is Vlad. Lancer. We look forward to working with you all." The negotiations that followed took up a few hours, questions flying as the two Rogue Servants explained what they could do and how they could help. Night had fallen and, in a show of trust, the Masters of Chaldea invited the two to camp with them.
Of course, Taylor kept an eye on them both with her bugs and was more than ready to raise the alarm should they prove to be lying.
Now, however, the group stared at the territory of the United Empire. From their vantage point atop a large hill, they could see the legions of the enemy amassing. Thousands of men stood against them, easily more than ten thousand. Possibly even fifteen thousand.
"Well, pipsqueak." Aife finally spoke up. "You promised us an army. Let's hope it can beat that one."
"Hope?" Matthias raised a brow at the Lancer, drawing his sword from his side and stepping forward. "Whyever would we need hope? After all...
"... they're outnumbered. You might want to step aside."
He raised his sword high, the blade shining with an unnatural light.
Army of a Raven's Banner "Fekete Sereg!"
His feathered cape fluttering in a phantom wind, his golden crown glowing with an unearthly, almost heavenly light, the Raven King now sat atop a majestic black steed. An army stood against his back, a sea of men that truly outnumbered the Roman forces. Taylor's bugs allowed her to make a quick headcount. 20.000 cavalrymen sat atop their horses, with 8.000 infantrymen on the flanks. 7.000 of the soldiers carried medieval firearms and quickly began setting up to fire.
And Matthias, a wild, free laugh on his lips, pointed his sword at the shocked, outnumbered Romans.
"Charge!" AN:
Class: Rider
True Name: Matthias Corvinus, Raven King of Hungary
Source: Historical Fact
Rider's True Name is that of Matthias Corvinus, the Raven King of Hungary. An incredibly learned king, Matthias was one of the strongest rulers of Europe of his time. His childhood was spent in learning, getting kidnapped that one time and overthrowing his uncle (who also happened to be his regent) at the age of 14, taking direct control of Hungary way ahead of schedule. Under his rule, his army became the strongest Europe had known at the time, and he put it to good use in his fights against the Ottomans, the Holy Roman Empire and many, many other enemies of the time.
Noble Phantasms:
Fekete Sereg : Army of a Raven's Banner is Rider's primary Noble Phantasm. Upon invoking the name and raising his sword to the heavens, the Phantasm's power summons the mighty Black Army Matthias commanded in his life. His life was their life. His death was their death. When their king calls, they answer.
The Black Army numbers 28.000 soldiers, a full 1/4 of that number carrying firearms. While they may be nought but shades, with no Skills and all parameters at the low rank of E, their sheer numbers backed by Matthias' tactical genius and their superior equipment can win them most battles.
Szent Korona : Holy Crown Returned is a passive Noble Phantasm that takes the form of Rider's golden circlet. As long as he bears it upon his brow, the young king is hardened against enemy spells, his Magic Resistance rising from C to B. Its true might, however, becomes apparent once the Fekete Sereg takes the field of battle.
As long as their king wears his crown, the shades are bolstered, with their parameters rising from E to D and, more importantly, they gain the Magic Resistance skill at the same rank as their king currently possesses.
Not really. A fact that came up on the coverage of Queen Elizabeth II's death. The moment she became queen was the first time since Julius Caeser that there wasn't a ruler with "Caeser" or one of its variants in their title. Her father had been Kaisar-i-Hind when being ruler of India.
(She hated that side of herself. Not for what she'd done or the pain she'd inflicted, but for the way it made her think, for the way it made her act, and for the hollow chill it left in her chest afterwards. She didn't like where it led her.)
It seems that like Saber Nero, she consciously chose to inhabit the weaker variant of her Servant containers to avoid being the Rampaging Warrior Queen from myth.
Et Tu, Brute? [Noble Phantasm]
My Brother, Do You Betray Me As Well?
According to Shakespeare, the last words Gaius Julius Caesar said as the assassin's blade took his life.
Embodying that bond of trust, this Noble Phantasm is a sort of stealth Noble Phantasm similar in nature to the Presence Concealment of the Assassin class. However, different from simply disguising one's presence as a Servant, it instead utilizes a form of mental interference to convince the targets that the wielder is a trusted confidant.
By tricking those around him into believing he is someone to trust, an ally who can be relied upon, a brother who has stood at one's side through thick and thin, Brutus can take any position in any organization as he pleases, so long as his targets do not possess any form of mental pollution or protection that guards their minds. He can insert himself as though he has always belonged, because to those affected by this Noble Phantasm, he has.
With this, he can acquire the perfect positioning to attack and assassinate his chosen target, and because he is trusted implicitly, his target will never see the fatal blow coming. It is, in effect, the ultimate assassin's tool.
However, if he is caught in an act of betrayal, this Noble Phantasm reverses, and his targets immediately recognize him as "an enemy who has betrayed us." Like this, he will be permanently marked as a traitor, and this Noble Phantasm will lose all effectiveness against those he has betrayed. In other words, he will only have a single chance to get close enough to his target to land a killing blow, so if he fails, he won't get a second chance.
I just realised, this is something of a branch off of Charlotte's Le Rêve Ensoleillé, which utilises her beauty as a medium of "Such a lovely woman couldn't hurt a fly!" even as she's shoving a knife into your chest.
I just realised, this is something of a branch off of Charlotte's Le Rêve Ensoleillé, which utilises her beauty as a medium of "Such a lovely woman couldn't hurt a fly!" even as she's shoving a knife into your chest.
