After some consideration, you decide to hear out Mantikouros' tale. This moment may present a good chance for a surprise attack or hidden retreat, but you're not yet convinced that it's impossible to come to an accord with the strange creature.

"At first," he narrates, "my beloved rebuffed my advances. She was a chaste woman, and devoted her life entirely to the service of Athena. She wanted neither husband nor lover, and sought to chase me off; but you must know, o warrior, that even the iciest heart is in time given to sweat by the efforts of sweet words and music. So it was with her, and after a month of persistent entreaties I possessed my love, on a moonlit night in the great Temple of Athena which crowns Athens. Ah! That I had been more wary of the Goddess' wrath!" For a moment he breaks off, sobbing bitterly in self-pity at his fate, before continuing, "I had committed a double sacrilege, seducing one of her priestesses on sacred ground, and Athena was moved to punish me. I was transformed into the beast you see before you; cursed to wander as before, with all my virtues exchanged for defects. My fingers can never again pluck a lyre; my countenance can never again stir emotion in a maiden heart, save fear. Even the love of mankind borne within my heart is shriveled, for I lust so for the taste of human flesh that I can no longer live benevolently! I should have wandered the land forever, a ravening beast devouring travelers by the roadside, if the prayers of Athena's devotees had not interceded."

"They pitied you?" you ask, curious at this new development. Surely the followers of a Goddess ought not to have interceded for one who had sinned against her, after all.

"Oh, no." Mantikouros shakes his massive head mournfully. "Nothing so generous as that. They pitied themselves, and knowing that Athena had condemned me to my fate begged the Goddess to send a hero who might rid them of me. To begin with, I believe that she paid them no mind, but in time there came to be so many prayers and sacrifices, and so many would-be heroes who had met their ends in my jaws, that she was compelled to take some action. Take heed, though, warrior: Athena is vengeful indeed, and was not satisfied to see me given a swift death only three years after my crime. Rather than empower a hero to cut me down, she removed me from the mainland herself, and left me imprisoned here on the Shapeless Isle, where all those she has condemned to live out tormented existences dwell."

"As you've said, it's an unfortunate tale," you agree, infusing your voice with a measure of unfelt pity for the creature. In the end, Mantikouros seems to have mostly been responsible for his own punishment; it may be unjust, but given the mythical habits of Gods it can hardly have been unexpected. How, you wonder, could he have hoped to seduce a chaste priestess without making an enemy of the Goddess she served? Still, his story and melodramatic manner do give you a few diplomatic tools. Playing on the feelings of such an emotional creature should be easy, and aside from that his conclusion contains a notable failure in logic. "Not one that paints you as my enemy, though," you add. "If you are correct, and I was punished by Athena by being sent to this island, we are not enemies, but natural allies; common sufferers at the same hand, citizens of the same locale. Besides, you say that this is a place where the Athena sends those condemned to a life of torment; she would not have sent my path to cross with yours, then, if she intended you to kill me."

"Indeed," Mantikouros murmurs, "you have a point, there. She might not have sentenced you to be devoured, and yet-"

As he speaks this last word, the beast suddenly becomes a red blur of motion, springing forward in mid-sentence to pounce on you with phenomenal speed. You dive out of the way just in time, springing clear of his claws and hearing a thunderous crash as the tree which shielded you goes down, shattered by a blow from the beast's paws. You roll onto your back and a moment later leap to your feet, looking around frantically for your assailant, but he's vanished into the foliage already, a predator in his natural element. Only the slashed tree and deep prints on the ground around you testify to his presence. Your grip on your spear tightens as you wait for the other shoe to drop, all your nerves on a hair trigger, ready to defend against the slightest movement.

The attack, when it comes, makes no sound at all, however; only the faintest brush of wind against your back, and searing pain as a 15 centimeter spine drives into the Achilles tendon of each foot. You spin around to defend yourself, but topple to the ground instead, your injured feet unable to support the movement. In another moment, Mantikouros is on you, one heavy forepaw pressing down on your chest while the other pins your spear-arm to the dirt. "All things are uncertain," he informs you, a sound of delight creeping into his voice for the first time. An overlong tongue lolls out between those triple-layered teeth, and hot waves of foetid breath assault your nose. "I have gone without a human meal for so long, warrior. No matter how many beasts of the forest I devour, I am never satisfied without the taste of man. Do you not see how I weep; crying from the hunger pains which assault me every waking moment? Have pity on me, warrior, and do not resent me too much for killing you. I have no choice, you see."

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The spine-covered mace of his swings down, hurtling toward your forehead with crushing force, and with a sickening crunch darkness descends.

DEAD END

Tiger Dojo is a strange hint corner.
If you would like to beat the game by yourself,
or if you would like to keep the characters' images, please be warned.

As your eyes, so recently reduced to jelly on the forest floor, flicker open, you take in the familiar sight of the training hall that appears before you after your death, as well as the banner advertising the virtues of perseverance which hangs on the back wall. More unpleasant than either of these, however, is the unbelievably smug expression on the face of the chestnut-haired woman standing in front of you.

"Ara? Hmm? What's this? Could it be? After all those successes, do you need my help again, Ru-chan?" she asks delightedly, looking as though she's about to burst into uncontrollable snickering at any moment.

"For someone dedicated to saving me from death, putting me on the right path, and so-on, you certainly seem to be taking a great deal of pleasure in this," you say with a sigh, looking pointedly at your 'instructor'. Up until now you've often been too overcome by the realization of your own past deaths to speak at all while in this training hall, but at this point the impact finally seems to be diminishing. At any rate, you feel capable of holding a conversation this time.

"But Ru-cha~n," she protests, raising her pitch in a faux-cutesy pout, "when you were winning all those fights, and surviving every day without dying, Sensei was so lonely with no one to help! I had to stay here all alone, just watching, while you seemed like you didn't need me at all!"

"What about Illya?" you ask, nodding at the senior student who's remained a silent observer to the conversation thus far. "Didn't you have your disciple here to keep you company?"

"Everyone knows disciples don't count," Taiga answers cavalierly. "That devilish buruma can't salve my aching heart in the lonely hours! I need a real student!"

This at last prompts a reply from Illya, who declares with an arrogant expression, "Don't believe it for a minute, Onii-chan. This lazy tiger spent the whole time you were alive lying around, eating snacks, and bragging about how easy she had it now that she'd taught you enough to be sure you'd never die aga- hya?!" Illya's last word is interrupted by a vicious swing of her instructor's shinai. Just in time, though, she sways back out of the way, letting the shinai pass in front of her.

"Fu~fun!" Illya chuckles proudly. "You won't always get me with the same attack, Tiger!" At that moment, a perfectly executed blow to the midsection slams into her gut, sending the girl collapsing to the ground.

"Do!" Taiga returns her weapon to her belt, having proudly dispatched the little girl. "Now that we've dealt with that interruption," she says cheerfully, "why did you die this time, Ru-chan? One, two, three..."

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"Because Onii-chan misunderstood his role!"
"Because you misunderstood your enemy!"

Taiga and Illya, having both confidently announced differing answers at the same moment, glare furiously at one another. "Ahem," Taiga says, without actually clearing her throat. "Why don't you try explaining your answer, Senior Student?"

"Ou!" Illya's enthusiasm, knocked out of her by the blow, is amazingly quick to rebound. "Onii-chan is a modern hero, you know? Judas made him to be one, and it even says so right in the summary. Well, mythical heroes were always killing monsters! If you want to bring the mythical era of humanity back, Onii-chan, you can't go listening to what something like a manticore has to say for itself!"

"I see," Taiga says, sounding disappointed. "Well, I see things a little more simply. With an enemy who can kill you in one blow, and who you can kill in one blow, you can't let him get even a little bit of an advantage, Ru-chan. If you wait around for him to tell you his story, he'll use the situation for himself, so you have to either get away or attack while he's distracted. Whichever one of us you believe, though, be sure to properly consider your actions next time. Now, take this Tiger Stamp, and good luck!"

>[ ] While Mantikouros is distracted by his story, dart out from the tree and strike with your spear.

>[ ] Creep away through the underbrush, to continue your ascent unmolested and leave the beast of the forest telling his tale to an empty glade.

>[ ] Remain where you are, to hear out the story and give another chance to diplomacy.

>[ ] Do something else. (Write in)

>>4132238
>[ ] While Mantikouros is distracted by his story, dart out from the tree and strike with your spear.
IT DIDN'T HAVE TO BE THIS WAY

There you go, folks. I know some of you were hoping for some more action, some more dangerous fights, and the return of the Dead Ends; well, this Shapeless Isle mini-arc is my gift to you. Enjoy!

>>4132238
>[ ] While Mantikouros is distracted by his story, dart out from the tree and strike with your spear.
>Dead End
Oh man it's been a while, good times.

>>4132238
>[ ] While Mantikouros is distracted by his story, dart out from the tree and strike with your spear.
And it only took us losing most of our powers and people still thinking we were the unstoppable Alberich.
You guys are dumbasses, you never listen to their story unless they are cute.
You should've known this much by now from this quest.
Aside from our cat we haven't met a single male character that hasn't tried to kill us or tried to otherwise cause us misfortune.
Except our Master who died really quickly and Odin who we are gonna need to kill later.

>>4132238
>[ ] While Mantikouros is distracted by his story, dart out from the tree and strike with your spear.

>>4132285
Ogawara though

>>4132299
We've never met Ogawara.
It doesn't count.

>>4132285
>Aside from our cat we haven't met a single male character that hasn't tried to kill us or tried to otherwise cause us misfortune.
What about Ambrose?

>>4132386
What about Ambrose?
Asshole thought best girl was a shit.
He totally deserved what he got.

>>4132401
He never tried to cause us misfortune.
And what about Robin Hood? You forgot about him, didn't you?

>>4132419
He insulted a waifu.
That alone is enough.

>Robin Whood?
Who?
You mean the goofy asshole using the ISIS tactic of hiding in an area full of innocents?
With his literal hag master?

>>4132425
>He insulted a waifu.
>That alone is enough.
ok kaichou
>Who?
>You mean the goofy asshole using the ISIS tactic of hiding in an area full of innocents?
>With his literal hag master?
he was following orders but ok kaichou

>>4132238
>[ ] While Mantikouros is distracted by his story, dart out from the tree and strike with your spear.
Nothing personnel

>>4132307
>We've never met Ogawara
Splitting hairs. The guy who ended up getting transformed into Tsubaki was definitely a male character who never tried to do us any harm.

>>4132401
>best girl
>not Lily

>>4132238
>[ ] While Mantikouros is distracted by his story, dart out from the tree and strike with your spear.
Razz him a bit after the fact.

Just to keep you folks informed of my schedule, I'm writing the next update now, and plan to do another this evening.
On another note, a few of you in the last thread brought up the subject of poison, and whether or not you'd lost your immunity to it. I think the last update made it clear you hadn't but just in case here's something to remember.
Conceptual Biology is the skill at the core of your being; it reflects your fundamental nature. Whatever else you might be stripped of, its basic principles will exist as long as you do.

The spine embedded in the muscle of your shoulder sends throbbing pain running down your arm with every movement, a fact you were given ample time to reflect on as Mantikouros stepped slowly out of the foliage to present his monstrous appearance and began to dramatically present his tale of woe. Foolish, you think, to believe himself safe to speak openly after having struck you, for you have no more desire to allow an enemy to go free once having offended the sanctity of your person than might one of the haughty deities that ruled this age. He's doing no more than allowing you an opportunity to strike, yet seems completely confident that you won't take it. In that case, you may as well expand on your advantage while conforming to his expectations.

So deciding, you step out from behind the tree, giving a casual impression to your posture, as if your confrontation is at an end and you're now coming forward to pay closer attention to Mantikouros' life story. Behind the relaxed front your legs tense to spring at any moment, and you tune out the meaningless noise of Mantikouros' self-absorbed description of his sacrilegious love affair to scrutinize his movements. There are only two meters between you now, and the beast paces back and forth over the grass as he speaks, not unlike the tiger dissatisfied with the size of his enclosure that Yumigawa once saw at a zoo. Ready, your nerves taught, you wait for the perfect moment.

It comes! Mantikouros' head is turned away from you, his mane blocking even his peripheral vision, and you mobilize all the gathered strength in your body to leap forward like lightning and drive the spear home in the beast's neck. The sound of your movement, however, alerts Mantikouros, and at the last moment he moves to react. The head turns toward you, the body pivoting, and the quill-lined mace at the end of his tail whips out to slam into the haft of your spear, snapping the weapon in two. The force of the blow runs up your arm, and doubtless your enemy hoped for you to be momentarily paralyzed; but pain is nothing in the moment between life and death, and you force your body to move with fluid grace.

Landing before him, you continue the arc of your leap by moving into a crouch, bringing your shield up to cover as much of your compressed body as possible as, with a single motion, you drop the broken remnant of your spear, pull free the short sword hanging at your left hip, and strike up in a brutal backhand crescent that opens Mantikouros' throat with a crimson spray. No sooner do you feel your blade biting into his throat than your bunched legs spring up once more, and you leap back to put a half meter between you and the beast at the same moment that a flurry of spines launches from his tail. Had you been a moment slower, the quills driven harmlessly into the earth before you would have nailed your feet in place and immobilized you.

The deed done, you back off a bit more, watching as Mantikouros' leonine heart pumps rhythmic waves of blood out of the gaping hole in his neck, matting his mane and staining it a deeper red. The beast stares dumbly at you out of shocked, confused eyes, and an inarticulate gurgling that might have been an attempt at speech bubbles up from his throat. The deadly tail whips back and forth uselessly in the air above Mantikouros, but he cannot seem to gather the presence of mind to send more quills flying at you. Finally he totters and falls, his side landing on the forest floor with a dull, furry slam, like heavy furniture dropped on a thick carpet. He's still alive, you can see, but the wound you've dealt is surely mortal; and a predatory animal is at its most dangerous when wounded. You won't approach to finish him off, you decide. The risk is too great.

You watch the blood continuing to flow from Mantikouros' body, pooling on the ground beneath him and drowning a small patch of clover, as you squat down to wipe your blade clean on the grass at your feet. This blade isn't like Heiligöffnungschwert, a magical weapon that can be dismissed coated in gore and brought forth once again in perfect condition. As long as you remain on the Shapeless Isle, you'll have to remember to clean and care for your weapon; particularly since the short blade is now your only means of offense. You spare a regretful glance for the broken spear, knowing from Yumigawa's studies that it was meant as the primary weapon of those Greeks who went armed and armored as you are now; the short sword was only a sidearm, and yet it is all that remains to you. Then again, you consider, the spear did not prove particularly useful. A sword fits your arm far better, sidearm or no, and it's well known that the greatest measure of a weapon's effectiveness is the skill of its wielder. You sheathe the clean blade and get back to your feet, stretching briefly to relieve some of the tension of battle.

The last light of life has faded from Mantikouros' eyes, you note, and the blood that oozes from his wound is no longer moved by a beating heart. At some point during your contemplation of weaponry, he expired. Good; there will be no wounded beast stalking you as you continue your ascent through the forest. Absentmindedly, you rip the spine from your shoulder and toss it on the corpse before turning your eyes to the hill that rises above you. Gazing at the thick, waist-high shrubbery that stretches between almost every tree outside of the small clearing where you fought Mantikouros, you reflect that the ascent you begin now will doubtless be as slow, difficult, and unpleasant as the climb you've made thus far. There's no time to waste, though, for the sun continues to sink inexorably toward the canopy above. The more time you lose, the more Euryale's warning to hurry your ascent seems to take on a somehow ominous characteristic, and this forest which is already so dangerous in the light of day is something you cannot help thinking you must be out of by nightfall. Thus, with a heavy heart, you begin to climb.

The sun is setting when you at last make the summit. It's a fact you can see clearly, for the last few meters before the plateau that crowns the island are bare of trees, and when you've reached your goal you're free to turn back and look out over verdant slope, the ocean far below, and the shining path of gold made by the reflected rays of the sinking orange globe as it hangs perilously near the horizon. Up here, of course, it will be dark long before the sun dips below the waves.

On your other side is an enormous marble platform, raised to the height of your shoulders, ringed by steps leading up to the raised area. It seems to occupy the entirety of the plateau, twice or three times the size of a city block. When you climb the stairs, you can see at last that you've truly reached the pinnacle of the Shapeless Isle, where the Gorgon sisters dwell. At the center of the platform is an enormous Greek temple, constructed in a style reminiscent of the Parthenon, though as tall as the Shijou manor and far larger in width. If it is the home of only three girls, it must provide a palatial amount of space for them. As you walk toward the sisters' home, you observe the other two features spread about the platform, and now surrounding you: freestanding columns and agitated statues. The columns support nothing, but stretch up to the sky in arrangement as apparently random as that of the trees in the forest below. Standing on the marble between them, innumerable warrior statues stand in bewildering profusion of postures and states of decay. Some appear perfectly preserved, others are mostly destroyed. Some are in the midst of furious battle, others have weapons still unreadied, and still others appear to be running in fear. Some are tall, others short, some brawny and others lean. All around you stands the history of countless challengers, all seeking the head of the famous Medusa, and all utterly doomed.

"Yay! Sir Alberich, you came! After all this time, I was getting worried!" A high, cheerful voice echoing through the square rouses you from your contemplation of the statues. Startled, you look up at its source to see Euryale sitting on the capital of one of the columns and waving to you, her legs dangling off the edge to swing playfully in the breeze. By her side sits a second girl, precisely identical in features and clothing, but utterly different in expression. She regards you with an air of regal indulgence, elegantly raising a limp hand to wordlessly acknowledge you as a queen might acknowledge the presence of a particularly deserving peasant. It instantly grates on your nerves.

"Good evening, Euryale," you reply, raising a hand to return her friendly greeting while studiously ignoring the more unpleasant girl, presumably either Medusa or Stheno. "I'm afraid the terrain of your Isle is rather difficult to navigate, and my travel was not as rapid as I might have hoped."

"Well," the second girl comments with a contemptuous smile, "If you had such difficulty in merely traversing the island, I look forward to seeing what that giant woman does to you."

Following the line of her gaze, you finally see the third and final sister, standing alone on her own pillar: Rider, not in the child form to which she was reduced in the basement, but as the same adult you met in Emiya's home and fought beside against Berserker. She wears the form-fitting black and violet outfit which seems to be her preferred combat garb, and which, in this context, you can now see is of an almost identical cut to the one-piece dresses worn by her sisters. Only the difference in body size transforms it from a loose gown to a tiny outfit that clings to her skin as she moves. Her eyes, too, are covered by a black blindfold. Clearly she at least doesn't intend on petrifying you, though the expression on her face is even colder than that of the regal girl.

"So," she says softly, her quiet voice nevertheless carrying clearly through the sunset forest of pillars to your ears, "you've come before me as a challenger. Good. I relish the occasional battles against a warrior taller than I." With that, she drops lightly from the pillar to the marble slabs, landing silently on the balls of her feet five meters away from you. Without a word, Rider readies her bizarre pair of daggers to strike.

>[ ] Agree, and commence the battle.

>[ ] Tell her you're not here to fight. (Write in the reasoning you give her for having come.)

>[ ] Stop Rider by saying or asking something else. (What?)

>[ ] Do something else. (Write in)

>>4132854
How does one go about convincing Medusa you don't really want to fight...
Let me think...

>>4132854
>[ ] Agree, and commence the battle.
Let's go for it I guess.

>>4132854
>[ ] Tell her you're not here to fight. ("Your invitation to combat is one I'll have to pass on. I didn't come here to fight you. I have no recollection of how I arrived to this island either. But I can say I certainly didn't come here to face you in battle at least. The equipment I carry is nowhere near enough for me to overcome those eyes of yours, and I have no wish to end up decorating this island. Perhaps the deranged Goddess that sent me here took offense to my nature. An act of man's heresy given form is not something they think kindly upon. So, I am only here seeking to discuss liberation from this place."

It's funny because Kourakuhime is a Goddess, technically.
Could probably do with some trimming down though.
Basically "Not here to fight or steal your sisters, I just want to leave."

>>4132932
>I just want to leave
Are you giving up on the attempt to control Rider, then, or just trying to deceive her for the moment?

>>4132954
Just trying to get her to lower her guard.
I don't fancy our chances against her without Servant level parameters. Especially Cybele.
If we're going to do this, we're going to need a cheapshot.

>>4132854
>[ ] Stop Rider by saying or asking something else. (Can we at least decide the rules of battle? I don't want to kill you in front of your sisters and I just want to go home, I don't even know why I'm here)

>>4132854
>[ ] Agree, and commence the battle.

>>4132898
>>4133428
This is not going to go well.
We have nothing that will let us beat her.
We're in a totally reversed situation as to the beatdown we laid upon her.

C'mon, think. What is it that we can say to stop Rider?

>>4133436
Alberich doesn't know shit about her. Saying anything that would resolve this peacefully would require metagaming. We have to beat her here.

>>4133466
We just need to give her pause.
If we really feel the need, we'll attack her during mid conversation
Alberich should know that he's in an absolutely hopeless battle against her as he is now.

>>4133460
Well, the only people Rider should care about at this stage is her sisters and nothing else.
Alberich doesn't know that, but it doesn't simply mean he's about ready to throw down with somebody who is likely no weaker than they were as a Servant in his current state.
We just need to make her realize we aren't a threat to Stheno and Euryale, and that we haven't come to slay her.

Of course, what might actually stop her?
Asking which sister she is.

>>4133484
I just wish I knew our actual current abilities. I have no clue what we can actually do.

>>4133499
Well, referring to your character sheet, I'll start by saying that all of your mental skills are unchanged, your basic parameters are reduced considerably, and your Noble Phantasms are sealed off completely.
From what you've been able to observe so far, your strength seems somewhere between peak human and low-grade Servant, similar to your power level during the time immediately after using the pseudo-Grail in the Akeldama.

>>4132854
>[ ] Agree, and commence the battle.
>>4132932
>>4133194
not how it works

>>4133499
We couldn't even leap all the way across a river and we were getting out ass handed to us by plants.
Honestly, we might even be weaker physically than we were in Akeldama right now.

I'm just going to switch with...
>>4132932
>>4132854
>[ ] Stop Rider by saying or asking something else. (What sister are you then? Stheno or Medusa?)

This single question actually works to prove that we haven't come to the island for either Medusa or her sisters.

And it's something Alberich is curious about.
It's worth a shot.

>>4132854
>[ ] Stop Rider by saying or asking something else. (What sister are you then? Stheno or Medusa?)

Fightfags please, we can't Perseus our way through this one, we haven't the tools.
Our only hope is if Medusa simply toys with us or by using our Predatory Charisma to our advantage in this pre-fight introduction.

Stheno basically just revealed that Medusa is going to annihilate us.

>>4132854
>[ ] Stop Rider by saying or asking something else. (What sister are you then? Stheno or Medusa?)

>>4133194
changing to
>[ ] Stop Rider by saying or asking something else. (What sister are you then? Stheno or Medusa?)

Would our conceptual body protect us from petrification?

>>4133836
The reason I ask is that challenging her to petrify us and surviving would be a great substitute for a straight fight and would definitely give her pause.

>>4133839
It'd be pretty fucking ballsy.

>>4133844
We should still have magic resistance A, if I understood what Sweets said..

>>4133850
I wouldn't mind doing it but that might just let the fightfags win.

>>4132854
>[ ] Stop Rider by saying or asking something else. (What?)
Challenge her to try to petrify us. If we survive she has to grant us one favor.

>>4132898
>>4133863
Changing my vote here. Can't delete it.
>>4133857
I voted to fight initially. Asking her name isn't gonna stop her from attacking though, you might as well change your vote too.

>>4133863
Hope you're right.

>>4132854
>[X] Stop Rider by saying or asking something else. (challenge her to completely petrify us in exchange for one favor)

>>4133863
This sounds good. If nothing else it fits the classic Greek mythology.

Battle Rider head-on
>>4133428
>>4133508

Ask which sister Rider is.
>>4133510
>>4133544
>>4133584

Challenge Rider to petrify you.
>>4133863
>>4133871
>>4133898

Looks like we're tied up for the time being. I may go to bed and write in the morning, since I'm a bit tired and there are usually a few more votes that come in between two and six.

Also, if she asks how we know, just say we guessed by the uncanny statues and the fact that she's the only one with a blindfold.

>>4132854
>Challenge Rider to petrify you
If only because I don't see how asking which she is would help anything, because 1. if for Alberich's sake he should be able to figure out since he heard of the other two's names before because they're usually only mentioned to differentiate Medusa by being the 'mortal' and the only one he encountered to have petrifying eyes and 2. neither canon nor mirror Rider ever seemed to hesitate to kill someone who didn't know what they had gotten into.
If nothing else we might get an amusing dead end by challenging to petrify us.

>>4133850
psst, it's the magic parameter that protects us.
Not Magic Resistance.
>your basic parameters are reduced considerably.
You absolute fools.

Enjoy dead ending

>>4134084
To be fair Medusas mystic eyes lose potency if the enemy isn't taken by surprise, as long as the targets guard is kept up they might not die.

Conceptual Biology also allows saber to survive and act without biological necessities a normal person/servant would have.

>>4134218
>To be fair Medusas mystic eyes lose potency if the enemy isn't taken by surprise
That was for rank B Magical Energy.
>Conceptual Biology also allows saber to survive and act without biological necessities a normal person/servant would have.
Let me just pull this up real quick...
>>This isn't the case because Cybele isn't a subjective effect. Regardless of the subject, Cybele will attempt to apply the same effect: petrification.
>One other thing to point out, I did say that the same conceptual nature grants you your Magic Resistance B, which is an inhibitor to magic like Cybele.
So if you cited MR you'd have ground to stand on.
But even with that MR Cybele was working on us. Remember that its rank is A+, you're not going to ignore it. Even Perseus needed the mirror shield to fight her.

>>4134084
K.

>>4132854
>Stop Rider by saying or asking something else. (What sister are you then? Stheno or Medusa?)

>>4134084
Then wtf does magic resistance even do?

>>4134084
Our magic is allegedly unaffected.

>>4134236
>Your magic alone is uninhibited, being as freely usable as ever. In this unknown realm of space, however, with your connection to Ayaka uncertain, it would surely be wise to limit your usage of its energy as much as possible.
From the last thread.

>>4134236
Our magic personal skill
Not our magic parameter.

>>4134243
Well the currently winning vote isn't going to do shit. The island has frequent visitors and everyone in this time frame knows of their names. At least we have a chance at surviving petrification due to conceptual body.
>Which one are you?
>Medusa.
>Ded alberich

>>4134249
I could strawman your argument too if you like
>Petrify me.
>Weird, but ok.
>Ded alberich.

We know that the magic parameter is capable of being influenced just like any other parameter by the Master.
Saber for example has B rank Mana under Shirou, A rank under Rin, and A++ rank mana as Saber Alter under Sakura.

The point of asking Medusa which sister she is isn't some sort of "Hey, I know your name." flex. It's literally the god damn opposite! It's the fact that we know her name but not anything else! Most heroes come to the Shapeless Isles specifically for Stheno and Euryale and to fight Medusa! To show ignorance to her name proves with certainty that we didn't come to the island for any of the reasons the other statues did.

>>4134254
The issue I have is that we don't know what we're here to do. Do we have to defeat her? I don't know what the goal is.

>>4134254
Also I am profoundly repulsed by the "Petrify me lol" vote, when it could be done so much better by requesting she let us see her eyes instead of what could easily be a trap.

Asking her straight up "Try petrifying me dipshit." just makes it sound like some God gave us some sort of Protection against it

>>4134258
I believe the goal is getting her to submit to us. This won't be done as easily as it was with Saber, as the heavy lifting by Angra Mainyu hasn't already been done and she hasn't been left in a state in which we can easily complete the spell to bind her to us.

In a straight up confrontation, I doubt our chances tremendously, Alberich has had his lightsaber and tendrils taken away and Rider still has all her toys on hand.
The only chance we have at succeeding here is acting when she is off her guard.

>>4134254
>Saber for example has B rank Mana under Shirou, A rank under Rin, and A++ rank mana as Saber Alter under Sakura.
You really shouldn't cite Saber as an example, because she's still alive and her output can be influenced by her Master's energy. Her dragon core acts as a multiplier, so her Mana parameter varies with the amount of energy she can get without the core.

You never see any other Servant's parameters vary (except Enkidu, who has a skill related to that). If the parameters could vary then energy draw wouldn't be a problem: for example, Heracles would simply lose power to compensate for the lack of energy instead of sucking the life out of Illya.

>>4134265
>Rider still has all her toys on hand
NO!

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󠛡
󠛡
󠛡
She doesn't have the pegasus yet.

>>4134271
We literally just saw Euryale leave on the back of Pegasus, anon.
Like, a few updates ago.
It's literally Medusa's job to look after it.

>>4134269
>You really shouldn't cite Saber as an example, because she's still alive and her output can be influenced by her Master's energy.
>still alive and her output can be influenced by her Master's energy.
>still alive
*cough* *cough*

>Heracles would simply lose power to compensate for the lack of energy instead of sucking the life out of Illya.
But Illya has more than enough energy to sustain Heracles at full power?

>>4134276
>We literally just saw Euryale leave on the back of Pegasus, anon.
That's Euryale's pegasus. She probably shows it off to Medusa to bully her.
>*cough* *cough*
Hey, technicalities are what they are.
>But Illya has more than enough energy to sustain Heracles at full power?
And it was painful. Like, really painful.

>>4134293
>That's Euryale's pegasus.
You're making a big assumption there that she can't use it aren't you?
>Hey, technicalities are what they are.
But we have a very similar situation to Saber of being alive, so you just sound like an ass.
>And it was painful. Like, really painful.
To be fair, pain about sums up Illya's entire life in the interim between the Fourth and Fifth war.

>>4134296
>You're making a big assumption there that she can't use it aren't you?
It's a joke.
On a more serious note, she doesn't have Breaker Gorgon, so she can't slap it on our face and instantly immobilize us.
>But we have a very similar situation to Saber of being alive, so you just sound like an ass.
We're not even remotely similar to her. Our body was already behaving like a Servant's back in the Akeldama.

>>4134303
>she doesn't have Breaker Gorgon
Isn't that literally what she's currently wearing?

>Our body was already behaving like a Servant's back in the Akeldama.
No it was not.

>>4134303
>>4134340
>Breaker Gorgon here
I would post the xzibit meme, but I don't have the image.

At any rate, it looks like we're decided. Time to get to writing.

>>4134340
>Isn't that literally what she's currently wearing?
She's wearing a generic blindfold.
>No it was not.
I dunno...
>The details are difficult to explain to you, but you can think of yourself as being more of a conceptual entity, like a phantasmal beast or heroic spirit, than a human.
>heroic spirit
...are you calling Circe a liar?

>>4134407
>She's wearing a generic blindfold.
Seems that way. Her FSN sprite has BG as purple, but Sweets called this blindfold black.
>like a heroic spirit
Heroic spirits and servants aren't quite the same. Which one we're more like could make a big difference.

>>4134453
>Heroic spirits and servants aren't quite the same.
Yes, I should've worded it better.

The point I was trying to make was that our Mana stat is fixed because we have magic circuits and a proper heroic form while Artoria's isn't because she's alive and has a dragon core. Think of our amplification as linear and hers as polynomial.

>>4134480
You're pretty obviously wrong.
All Saber's magic core means is that she should realistically have A++ Magical Energy if it's activated.
Nothing suggests that Alberich still has B rank magical energy.
We might not have Heilig, but a single usage of a tendril for a moment shouldn't have impacted us if we were still B rank.

Also we've already been at a lower rank of Magic in the past.
As Yumigawa we had D-rank.

"Which sister are you, then?" you ask, making no move of either fear or aggression, but standing foursquare with your sword untouched in its sheath. "Stheno, or Medusa? I hadn't come with the intention of doing battle, but if you're set on facing me I must know who it is I am to cross blades with."

The corners of Rider's mouth twitch upward in a tiny smile, almost imperceptible in the fading evening sun, and she murmurs, "Of course, you know me only as Rider." Then, in a supremely confident voice, she declares, "I am Medusa: youngest of the Gorgon sisters, and the guardian of this Isle against all those who would violate our privacy here. Now, human, you shall die by my hand!" In accordance with her announcement, Medusa raises her right arm, the dagger drawing back like the head of a viper about to bite. You can see the tension in her body, and know that in a moment she will flash into motion, covering the space between you and piercing your throat with the blade if you cannot defend yourself in time.

"Stop!" At the sound of Euryale's voice, Medusa's movements are suddenly frozen. "Weren't you listening, Medusa? Has that deformed stature of yours raised your ears so high that you can no longer hear your sisters' voices?" she demands, reprimanding the woman with one of the strangest mockeries you can recall hearing. "I told you that you were only to capture Sir Alberich for 'myself' and I because he's so unusual!"

"Precisely," the third girl, presumably Stheno, adds coldly. "I wonder if all of your body's growth hasn't hampered the development of your brain. Any man capable of resisting 'my' charms as this one has cannot simply be killed. You will subdue him only, do you understand?"

"Yes, Sisters," Medusa answers with a defeated expression, the audible humility in her voice making a stark shift from her triumphant proclamation of your death a moment before. Turning back to you, she adds, "The situation should be obvious to you now, Alberich. Though I would happily take your head, and you may desire whatever it is you do, I must capture you alive." With that, she vanishes.

No sooner has Rider disappeared from your vision than you feel a fist hammer into your gut with the force of an oncoming train, hurling you backward until you slam into a pillar. You wouldn't believe you wore any protection, if not for the gong-like sound of Medusa's strike impacting the lower part of your cuirass. The armor certainly did you little good, though; you can see a spray of blood on the ground, mixed in with the air forced from your lungs by the ruthless body-blow. Again Medusa vanishes, but now the distance between you is greater, and you take the opportunity to look for her movements. For just a moment you catch it, a flickering blur of black and lavender at the edge of your vision, and then another impact slams into the side of your helmet, knocking you to the ground and sending you sliding halfway across the marble battlefield on your back. As you move, you can just make out the form of Medusa recovering from the heel-kick she just delivered to you before she blurs into invisibility once more.

The moment you're moving slowly enough to regain control you spring to your feet, sword and shield out, eyes scanning every cubic centimeter of perceptible space for the blur of your adversary's movement. This time you can catch it a bit better; her body still moves too fast to follow precisely, appearing as a blurred shadow, but you can track her location as she leaps from pillar to pillar above your head, floating like a dancing night-bird as it flits between the trees. The sound of chains, like the noise of a snake's scales roughly moving through foliage as it hunts, echoes through the air around you. For a moment you feel ready; that you can track her and block a strike from any angle, buy just enough time for a counterattack.

As if reading that thought, that momentary burst of confidence, the shadow vanishes from your vision. The sound; it's above you! You turn, but a moment too late. The chains attached to Medusa's daggers drop in a wide loop about your shoulders, then pull tight around your neck. Your feet lose contact with the ground as you're hoisted up by the makeshift noose, held suspended by your throat halfway between the earth and sky. In that empty, swirling void of interrupted freefall with your only point of contact the source of your pain, a voice comes to you: that of Rider, in a soft, almost motherly tone.

"Do you surrender? I've captured you already. You need only drop your weapons, and the pain will end. If not, it will be troubling, but I shall have the proper excuses to make to my dear sisters for your death."

>[ ] Drop your sword and shield. You'll have to rely on Stheno and Euryale to keep you alive until you can find some way of defeating this woman.

>[ ] Continue to fight. Even in this situation, you refuse to surrender!

>[ ] Do something else. (Write in)

Sorry about the delay, folks. Had some unexpected obligations come up earlier.
I do plan to write the next update tonight, though, so get your votes in by ten.

Well that went fucking poorly.
Fantastic, she remembers us.
We're fucked.
Hold on, an idea is forming.

>>4134743
>[] Do something else (Drop your weapon and feign surrender while waiting for an opportunity where Rider is open and close enough to attack, then attempt to place a hand on her forehead to use Emptiness of the Absorption attribute on her.)
Behold, the final trick of a sore loser!

>>4134764
All right, why not.

>>4134746
It's better to just say "x hours from now" since nobody knows your timezone

>>4134764
It's a shame that "Within my mind but one simple thought. Just one! To be victorious and rule! That is all. That is all I need to feel satisfaction! How I do it doesn't matter!" Isn't something we can say here without alerting Rider something is wrong.
It didn't work for DIO either.

>>4134743
Fuck it. Supporting >>4134764, even though his idea got us hanging high in the first place.

>>4134775
GMT-8 IIRC.
Or PST if you prefer.

>>4134764
Legit thought you were gonna suggest we squirt blood in her eye for a second.

>>4134775
It's PST. Somebody figured it out back in like thread 1 of Akeldama and I guess Sweets just assumed everybody knew afterwards.

>>4134794
I would have but she's wearing a blindfold.
And doesn't need her eyes to fight.

>>4134764
>use Emptiness of the Absorption attribute on her
So wait. That's the same magic that put us here right? Isn't it? What's it gonna do now?

>>4134987
It's the magic we used on Saber to gain dominance over her will, but it was easy mode because there was no resistance.

The inner Medusa we see here is likely the target we need to go for to have it bind her to our will.

And there's not much else we can really do.
Tendrils are out of the question.
We've got nothing to help us combat wise.
Rider can crush us any time she wants.
And she will if we try to carry on this battle.

>>4134775
Four hours from now, then.

>>4134764
Well, that's certainly an interesting idea.

>>4134743
>>[ ] Do something else (Drop your weapon and feign surrender while waiting for an opportunity where Rider is open and close enough to attack, then attempt to shoot a tendril through her heart.)
>>4134764
>>4134771
>>4134778
What the fuck do you think this is going to do?
>>4134999
And why do you think the answer is dominating her while we're dominating her, instead of killing this one?

>>4135170
Because we need to absorb a part of her individuality into our own spirit before modifying it.
In this world, that individuality is clearly represented by herself. Killing her or attempting to kill her simply won't do, for the same reason that Alberich was so cautious to avoid damaging the plants.
It might end up causing Rider to become braindead or some shit like that

Fucked up that Manticore right good though he did.

>>4135180
I don't think we had a choice there. It was him or us.

>>4135170
inb4 we enter mental construct Rider's mindspace

>>4135194
*inception noise*

>>4135180
>>4135192
It's all good, we just killed her ugly bastard fetish.

>>4135195
BRAVO NOLAN

>>4135194
The Quest is collapsing!

>>4135194
"I am the eye of my snek"

>>4135194
>quest becomes snake inception

Huh. So, we only have four votes?
That's less than I was expecting, at this point. I even wound up being an hour and 40 minutes late to count them.
Still, if three of the four of you agree on what you want to do, that's what we'll go with.
I have to say, though, it really is a startling write-in. Since I modeled this scene on the "Hanging Death" scene in Fate/Stay Night, I was half-expecting everyone to vote unanimously to keep fighting.

Your mind races for a way out of this, seeming to run all the faster as its remaining time is shortened by the loss of oxygen. It isn't only that you can't breathe; the flow of blood to your brain is being cut off as well, you're certain. You have to find a way out; and yet, none seems possible. Medusa is above you, out of reach. Even if she were within the range of your sword, your present form is so much slower than she that you'd surely be overwhelmed in a few instants. Yet surely there must be some way; some method of eliminating the difference in power between the two of you!

That's it! Finally an idea strikes; finally, though perhaps no more than a second has truly passed. Time seems to dilate as you focus, as if stretched by the pain of asphyxiation and the intensity of thought; but the idea, you must return to the solution you found. If you feign surrender, you decide, you can wait for the moment Medusa lets down her guard and attack then. She seems to believe you'll be useless without your blade, but you know differently. If you apply a similar magic to that which you used to strike at her mind before here within her spirit, it should surely have the proper effect. All you need do is wait for your opportunity to lay a hand on her forehead, and you'll have her no matter how easily she can defeat you in a direct fight.

So decided, you open your hands and allow your sword and shield to clatter to the ground. A moment later, the chain around your neck loosens and you feel yourself let down inch by inch until you're standing on your own feet once more. You feel, rather than hear, the impact behind you as Medusa drops from the pillar, displacing air that brushes your cheek in spite of her impressively silent landing. Then you have another concern, as she takes your left wrist in her hand and pulls it behind you, obviously moments from doing the same with your right and presumably binding your hands behind your back. She's not exactly off of her guard. but this might be the last chance you have of making your counterattack!

>[ ] Turn around and go for her head, drawing forth your Absorption magic as you do so.

>[ ] Bide your time and wait for a better opportunity. It's still too risky now.

>[ ] Do something else. (Write in)

I spent a long time thinking about this moment, and whether it would be better to write it with a certain action and move on. In the end, though, I decided that it was too important to the last choice, and left it for you folks to decide.
Sorry for the short update! I'll write ASAP tomorrow morning.

>>4135617
>>[ ] Turn around and go for her head, drawing forth your Absorption magic as you do so.

>>4135617
>[ ] "Before you bind my hands, Medusa, I have one question for you: since when were you under the impression that I was disarmed?"
>[ ] Turn around and force a tendril through her gut to immobilize her, then beat her until she can no longer move and use your Absorption magic on her.

>>4135650
There's no point trying. Just turning around takes enough time that she can prepare to dodge, so whatever we do has to be impossible for her to dodge. That limits it to tendrils, which will surprise her because we haven't used any until now.

>>4135617
Well, this is guaranteed death if I ever saw it.
God damn it, fine Sweets. Ending things early is off the menu.
We have no choice but to interact further with the lolis anyway now, our only shot of Medusa being off her guard is when we're around them, and we still need to get to the bottom of this while island thing. Or if they are the actual souls within Medusa or mental constructs.
As pleasant as the idea of defeating her here would be, it wouldn't make sense if it were possible, story-wise.
>[ ] Bide your time and wait for a better opportunity. It's still too risky now.

>>4135717
>it wouldn't make sense if it were possible, story-wise
Why not?
>our only shot of Medusa being off her guard
She's already off her guard. She hasn't seen us use our NPs or magic in the fight so she must be thinking we can't use them. That means using our magic for this one shot will catch her off-guard.
>we still need to get to the bottom of this while island thing
It's her mental space and we're the only 'real' person here aside from her. If it was the actual island she wouldn't have said "Of course, you know me only as Rider". In any case you can't get to the actual island just by going into her soul.
This is probably because of Breaker Gorgon or something.
>Or if they are the actual souls within Medusa or mental constructs.
Medusa ate them and then she was transformed into a Heroic Spirit. The odds that their spirits made it through all of that are very, very, very low.
>We have no choice but to interact further with the lolis anyway now
Oh, wait, you just want an excuse for your loli harem. Don't mind me, then.

>>4135724
To be fair when we tried to use our magic the effort was to much to sustain a single shadow tendril for more than a moment. If only we knew other magic.
>the odds that their spirits...
The two of them were full fledged Goddesses.
Consider that Odin is somehow around even though both him and his soul should've been eaten by Fenrir.
Unlike Stheno and Euryale, it was possible to summon him.
That implies something more is going on.
>Why not?
Too many unresolved questions.

>>4135729
>To be fair when we tried to use our magic the effort was to much to sustain a single shadow tendril for more than a moment.
technically it was "moments" (plural) A moment would be enough time. She's right next to us.
>The two of them were full fledged Goddesses.
Really weak goddesses, yeah. And it's not like this matters to the will of humanity, the thing that evicted the gods.
>Consider that Odin is somehow around even though both him and his soul should've been eaten by Fenrir.
Sweets said Wagnerian Ragnarok could've happened at the end, but Edda Ragnarok hasn't:
>>Wagnerian Ragnarok could definitely have happened at the transition from the Age of Gods to the Age of Man, but Edda Ragnarok includes the death of all living things and creation of a new world. That's definitely still to come.

>>4135729
>Too many unresolved questions.
such as what
and not the questions (You) are asking like "are stheno and euryale still inside medusa" and "can we make bodies for them if yes"

>>4135739
Questions such as "where are we and why does this place exist." "Why are we so weak." and "why is Rider paying attention to the whims of what ought to be just mental constructs when she should know none of this is real."

>>4135741
>where are we
Rider's mindspace.
>why does this place exist
Because we have to break her down mentally as well as physically. Saber came prebroken, but Rider has to be dommed manually.
>Why are we so weak
I'll give you that. My guess is that she somehow sealed our NPs and weakened us for the purpose of tormenting us. Going by that line of thought, she must've thought the ribbons were part of HOS's abilities rather than our intrinsic magic, because if she knew better those might've been sealed as well.
>why is Rider paying attention to the whims of what ought to be just mental constructs when she should know none of this is real
Because she loves her sisters and wants to keep up the pretense of her idyllic life with them, maybe? Everybody wants to go back to happier times.

>>4135747
Of course, if she's trying to torment us her sisters would be the best tormentors to throw at us.

>>4135747
>Rider's mindspace.
There's clearly more to it than that, Imagine if we had to fight through the damn Knights of the Round Table to get to Arturia.
Or the Battle of Camlann.
Instead there was no inner world shit at all.
>Because we have to break her down mentally as well as physically
I guess, but having such a complex inner world is kind of ridiculous. So I want to know just why this place is so detailed.
>I'll give you that. My guess is that she somehow sealed our NPs and weakened us for the purpose of tormenting us.
Well it's more likely we accidentally Breaker Gorgon'd ourselves, which would explain the absence of Rider's own copy of Breaker Gorgon within this world. It traps a target within Rider's mind and seals their abilities. We entered her mind of our own free will so it's likely we managed to get the same restrictions applied to us.
Interestingly, even as the Gorgon, she had the Shapeless Isle perfectly preserved in her inner world even at that stage, as we see Gorgon get Breaker Gorgon reflected on her.
There's likely something going on here other than just a simple inner world.
>Because she loves her sisters and wants to keep up the pretense of her idyllic life with them, maybe? Everybody wants to go back to happier times.
Then it that case she should have had no mercy at all for us and immediately sought us out to destroy with extreme prejudice regardless of her sister's wishes. We're a foreign invader to this inner world, after all.

>>4135750
>Alberich makes her sisters interested in him instead.
Poor Medusa.

>>4135756
>There's clearly more to it than that, Imagine if we had to fight through the damn Knights of the Round Table to get to Arturia.
Like I said, Artoria was prebroken. It was just a matter of inserting Tab A in Slot B.
With Medusa we have to carve out Slot B first, which was what the curses of Angra Mainyu were supposed to do (and did with Artoria).
>Well it's more likely we accidentally Breaker Gorgon'd ourselves, which would explain the absence of Rider's own copy of Breaker Gorgon within this world. It traps a target within Rider's mind and seals their abilities. We entered her mind of our own free will so it's likely we managed to get the same restrictions applied to us.
It's plausible.
>Interestingly, even as the Gorgon, she had the Shapeless Isle perfectly preserved in her inner world even at that stage, as we see Gorgon get Breaker Gorgon reflected on her.
Maybe it sucked both of us inside because we entered her soul willingly or something. In HA Shirou managed to take control of Breaker Gorgon, but I don't trust HA to be accurate about anything.

>>4135762
My problem here is that Medusa's inner world seems way too detailed and realistic. She's not exactly got a reality marble that should allow something to be so detailed.

We see a representation of Saber's inner world in the Heaven's Feel Movie when Alter takes over. It's just a black empty void.

>Maybe it sucked both of us inside because we entered her soul willingly or something.
I think it's likely she's here because she's currently unconscious.
This might be some form of dream to her.
Which would explain why she is willing to tolerate not murdering us.
If she knew what was actually going on, nothing could save us.

File: fucking shit shitting fuck.png (57 KB, 274x184)

57 KB PNG

>>4135769
>>>>>>>>>>>Movie

>>4135774
It's all we got to go on here, unfortunately.
It's not contradicted by anything either, for once.

>>4135617
>[ ] Turn around and go for her head, drawing forth your Absorption magic as you do so.
doesn't hurt to try I guess?

>>4135788
It does. I'm not going to explain myself again when I can direct you to >>4135670

>>4135791
don't think we can manifest tendrils here since we lack the lightsaber

>>4135802
we did
>Once you attempt to circumvent the issue entirely by pulling yourself up into the treetops with a tendril of Nothingness to serve as climbing rope. Unfortunately, the exercise serves as a potent reminder of the importance of Heiligöffnungschwert in sustaining the reality of your imaginary elements. The moment it manifests, the energy burden of sustaining it weighs down on you as if you were holding apart the earth and sky by the strength of your body alone. In a few moments it becomes too much for you to bear, and the black ribbon evaporates.

>>4135807
Now, if we were trying to sustain the tendril for a second it would be impossible. But for the single moment we need to cripple Rider?

>>4135807
So you think for some reason that we are going to be able to pierce Medusa with an incredibly wimpy tendril we can hardly sustain?
Haha. Good joke.
Remember we constantly needed to bolster our ribbons to increase their effectiveness.

>>4135807
>The moment it manifests, the energy burden of sustaining it weighs down
not convinced, while I do enjoy Stheno and Euryale, I don't think being a prisoner to them will give us much of a chance to control medusa

>>4135809
>Remember we constantly needed to bolster our ribbons to increase their effectiveness.
And you're saying they won't last even a single moment? It's a matter of making the energy count.

And do you have any better ideas?
>Just give up! Wake up everyday to Stheno and Euryale stepping on our face, eat Medusa's shit for breakfast and walk through the forest of death to fetch water for them! In the evening, hang from the chains for the sisters' amusement and spend the night there because they """forgot""" to let you down!
No.

>>4135813
What're they going to do? They couldn't imprison a ladybug, much less us.

>>4135822
>much less us
This would be far more of a boast if the current Alberich wasn't an insect compared to Medusa here.

But fine, there's another way for us to go about this.
We can always use our absorption magecraft on Stheno and Euryale.
Who knows what might happen?

I don't Medusa is going to be off guard just because we threw away our weapon.
In fact, she probably distrusts us so much that she's more guarded now we've so freely surrendered than she was during the battle.

And besides, I doubt we can put the power behind the tendrils to successfully harm Medusa. In addition, in this Dream World, we wouldn't be using them on the Servant Medusa, we would be attempting to target what represents a non spiritual Medusa. Thus the super-effective nature of the Tendrils to Servants likely won't apply here.

>>4135617
Does it have to be her head that we touch? Our hands are already making contact with hers right?

>>4135828
>Who knows what might happen?
>enter stheno and euryale's mind realm
Congratulations, you got yourself caught. What’s the next step of your master plan?
>In fact, she probably distrusts us so much that she's more guarded now we've so freely surrendered than she was during the battle.
The plan doesn't depend on what she thinks we're WILLING to do, but rather on what she thinks we're CAPABLE of doing.
>In fact, she probably distrusts us so much that she's more guarded now we've so freely surrendered than she was during the battle.
We got our ass kicked and surrendered instead of dying. At this point she probably has us pegged as a successful Shinji.
>In addition, in this Dream World, we wouldn't be using them on the Servant Medusa, we would be attempting to target what represents a non spiritual Medusa.
Ah, but gods are spirits, it's literally in the name "Divine Spirit". Flawed or not, Medusa was a goddess until she degenerated into a monster -- that means ribbons will work on her because the element attacks immaterial beings (i.e. spirits).

>>4135838
Next step of the master plan is to appeal to the frivolity of her sisters while we wait for the perfect moment to grab her. Anyway, if we're going to use our tendrils, why not use them in an unexpected way instead of a predictable final gambit?

>>4135859
>appeal to the frivolity of her sisters
The ones who just want to collect us because we're an oddity? Good luck with that.
>Anyway, if we're going to use our tendrils, why not use them in an unexpected way instead of a predictable final gambit?
>predictable final gambit
SHE CAN'T PREDICT IT
WE LOST OUR SWORD
SHE THINKS WE CAN'T USE THEM BECAUSE WE HAVEN'T USED THEM AT ALL
I'VE BEEN SAYING THIS THE WHOLE TIME

>>4135788
alright, changing it to tendril plan in>>4135659
, just hope it works then, well, if it doesn't we will eventually find something that does

>>4135867
>she thinks we can't use them
You're genuinely retarded if you don't think Medusa will be wary of shadow tendrils from the Angra Mainyu lookalike.
Christ.
Stop being such a crying babyman
Your plan is fucking terrible.

>>4135871
>You're genuinely retarded if you don't think Medusa will be wary of shadow tendrils from the Angra Mainyu lookalike.
From the Angra Mainyu lookalike who uses shadow tendrils habitually but hasn't once used them in this fight? The lookalike who was much slower and weaker than usual and jobbed like a pro? The lookalike who was taken down in three attacks?
That lookalike?
That one?
>Stop being such a crying babyman
Aw, man, the IRONY

>>4135869
The Tendril plan is really bad.
Medusa will have our head from our shoulders the moment we pierce her with it, and instantly killing her is likely impossible and the opposite of what we're here for.
If we even get that far.
The immensely weakened tendrils we can project on to the world may not even have the speed and strength necessary to hurt her at all.
It is in every way a bad idea.

We need to strike at the most opportune moment.
This is not that moment.
Obviously we're being set up to interact with the Gorgon sisters some more and attempting to cut the mini-arc short with this sort of thing is destined to fail.
Even if we cripple her she can kill us instantly.

>>4135873
Medusa isn't going to let her guard down around somebody she knows to be a deceptive prick during combat.
I don't know why you even think the tendrils will hit her.
Matsuda managed to easily deal with a far greater quantity from a far more powerful Alberich.
A single tendril for an instant isn't going to be enough.
We can only really try to wait for a better opportunity or we can try using the ability that actually might score an instant win, by using something she can't expect.

This is like Alberich assuming that because she's not used her mystic eyes, she can't.

>>4135885
>I don't know why you even think the tendrils will hit her.
I don't know, maybe because we're at point-blank range.
>Matsuda managed to easily deal with a far greater quantity from a far more powerful Alberich.
He had Mind's Eye B, the quantity was 4, and it wasn't point-blank range.
>This is like Alberich assuming that because she's not used her mystic eyes, she can't.
Maybe if we were keeping tendrils tied behind our back for everyone to see.

>>4135617
Hit her with that magic while she's making contact with our hands. No need to go for the head.

>>4135888
The tendrils aren't even meant to be for piercing anyway.
They are for binding.
You're suggesting we do something we've never done before in one of the riskiest and most difficult situations possible.
Your plan is shit.

You must really want to dead end to Medusa.
Even crippled Medusa will kill Alberich
Are you forgetting that in life she had incredibly potent regenerative abilities?

>>4135878
thanks for reminding me of the light
>>4135869
>>[ ] Bide your time and wait for a better opportunity. It's still too risky now.
we could try it when she sleeps

>>4135878
>Obviously we're being set up to interact with the Gorgon sisters some more and attempting to cut the mini-arc short with this sort of thing is destined to fail.
FWIW I'm pretty sure voting to keep fighting at the last choice wouldn't have been a dead end based on >>4135566.

>>4135913
I bet one of her sisters would've stopped her

>>4135833
You haven't tried it yet. Using the magic on her head seemed the most appropriate, since it's magic to affect the mind, but there's theoretically no reason it couldn't work on another part of the body.
Right now she has her hand around your wrist.

Tally so far:

Strike at Medusa's head with Absorption
>>4135650

Bide your time and wait for a better opportunity
>>4135717
>>4135894

Attempt to immobilize Medusa with a stab to the gut
>>4135659

>>4135890
I think this is a vote.

>>4135717
>Ending things early is off the menu.
For the record, it wasn't impossible. Fighting back at the last choice would've brought things to an interesting close, and not with a Dead End. Being taken prisoner is merely one of a few different ways out of this.

>>4136111
I suppose I can count it as one for fighting back with Absorption, if we want to sit on a tie and wait for more votes to come in.
It does seem a little odd that there's been such a drop in the number of votes for these last two choices, compared to the 'diplomacy or no' option with Medusa.

>>4136116
Nobody knows what we're supposed to do. Do we have to kill Rider? How do we get out of here? What's the victory condition?

>>4136144
I'm with this anon.
I have no idea why we're here, what we're trying to do and what the point of doing anything here will be.
I do know that I don't like how Weakberich is getting stomped into the floor by everything including nature because he got nerfed and that I want this mini-arc to hurry and end though.

>>4136144
>>4136150
It's obvious though?
We just need to break mental construct Rider's will or overpower her somehow. If she's Rider's consciousness, beating her down should make our spell effective.

>>4136161
>beating down a servant
Do you really think Alberich is capable of that right now?

>>4136162
There are ways. That tendril gut shot might work if we use it while she's asleep. Same with absorption magic. If we can win over Stheno and Euryale they could probably help us too.
I feel like there's some way for us to power up here that we're missing. That we had a chance with fighting back confirms it.

>>4136172
We wouldn't have died only because her sisters would've intervened.

>>4136179
Look at >>4136116. I don't believe you're right about that. There's something here we're not seeing. A puzzle we're supposed to figure out to win this.

>>4136150
>I do know that I don't like how Weakberich is getting stomped into the floor by everything including nature because he got nerfed and that I want this mini-arc to hurry and end though.
I'm sorry you feel that way, anon. I was under the impression that people wanted more of the underdog experience from Akeldama, and would enjoy this little section without most of Alberich's powers.

>>4136190
We had a clear goal and apparent means to achieve it in Akeldama

>>4136190
You can't just attempt to recapture an underdog theme by stripping us of all our abilities and having us get our ass handed to us by brambles.
It's not an underdog theme at all now.
It's just the plot making us job to things.

It's just annoying to be so weak now.
You killed the ability to have a satisfying underdog story the moment you made Rushorou into a Servant.
I believe it was discussed at the time.
Your only options were to make all the enemies ludicrously strong or to annoy everyone by nerfing Alberich.

This is just us wandering around getting hurt by things and generally being underwhelming.
Not what I seek in a main character.

Like, the whole danger aspect of this situation feels fake and engineered.

>>4136193
We also had a big gun in the form of Circe. Alberich himself never engaged with Servants barring Judas, because of this exact situation. That said, I'm not too disillusioned with this situation, and I'm confident we'll work it out. All we really need to do is buy enough time to seize control.

>>4136212
And yes we always had a means of victory through Circe and our Command Spells.
Right now we're flailing in the dark at a seemingly undefeatable enemy with no idea what to really do.

>>4136211
Well. That's disheartening. I didn't think that playing off of one of the most underused abilities of a canon Servant would feel fake and engineered.
Clearly the real underdog story here, the true struggle against all odds, is my attempt to create a narrative you can all enjoy.
Still, hopefully those of you who aren't enjoying the Shapeless Isle arc will at least enjoy the ultimate consequences of your choice to pursue controlling Rider and her sisters back in the real world that it's setting up.

>>4136246
I certainly wasn't expecting to suddenly get hit by Breaker Gorgon for no reason.
Since when can non-passive Noble Phantasms activate as if their true name had been invoked when the user is unconscious and has had the energy required to activate a Noble Phantasm stripped away?

Of course we could still have entered Rider's mindscape, but the element of Breaker Gorgon that seals all magical properties should clearly have not applied here.

Are we going to wake up to find she unconsciously used Bloodfort Andromeda to melt everyone in the house as well?

>>4136246
I still think that was retarded. Playing with dangerous magic that we don't understand for no reason other than collecting a character the players like for meta reasons. I honestly hope the consequences are seriously negative, although I doubt anyone would learn their lesson.

>>4136269
Well, canon information isn't scientifically complete for any Noble Phantasm, so one always has to draw their own conclusions at a certain point. My interpretation of the function of Breaker Gorgon is that it applies certain passive functions to her internal mental world (level of complexity, power over those who enter, etc) and has the active effect of sealing magic and sucking people into that mental world. You'll notice that not all of your powers have been sealed off; you're merely weakened by the fact that you're existing in the world of another's spirit, where their will holds more weight than yours, and cut off from your Master.
I may be giving too much away here, but if you think of your physical actions in this space as a metaphor for the mental struggle for dominance going on between Rider's mind and the seed of your will within, I think things will make more sense to you.

>>4136246
Something like going around and corrupting different parts of the shapeless isle with our magic to take control of Rider would have been cool, even if we were depowered. This needed more clear structure and a clear goal.

>>4136277
I don't even like Rider that much.
It's just that Bloodfort I can see finally being something that can tip the scales slightly in our favour against Odin and allow us to get at least a couple bonus upgrades.

>>4136279
>giving too much away
You needed to give more away! That's the whole issue people have with this segment.

>>4136285
Or we could, ya know, absorb servants like Rider for upgrades instead of this incredibly roundabout way you've proposed.

>>4136286
One of the core ideas I had for this bit was that people might enjoy a bit of a mystery, being dropped in an uncertain locale and having to try to discover what to do, how to escape, and so-on. I was thinking you'd work out that it was the Shapeless Isle within Rider's mind from clues like the statues, and then start to suggest plans like >>4136283 on your own once you'd worked out why you were here.
Obviously this was wildly overestimating your interest in a more adventure game-like segment.

>>4136299
We all assumed that we were within Rider's mind, obviously. An OOC disclaimer that this was more freeform than the usual quest would've been a good call, we're not used to that sort of thing from this quest at all. There was little time to think of creative options between "choose one of three paths" and "hurry up and meet us on the mountain".

Anyway, this has been interesting in concept and some of the blame probably does lie on the players, but there's no use talking about what could have happened. Let's see how Alberich gets out of this one.

>>4136296
So what, we should absorb everyone? How many Servants do you think it'll take? Assassin and Rider probably aren't enough and some people have been talking about sparing Matsuda. Throw him in though and it's still only 3. So should we absorb Arturia as well? Maybe Circe and Adelheid too? We need as much power as we can get to face Odin. The best way to get it is to use BFA to absorb the people of Tokyo.

>>4136286
We were so horribly misinformed we didn't even know if the mental Rider would know about us or not.
We had no idea what the hell was going on since the moment we got here and I still don't really know what the hell is going on.
I have Sweets saying "It's a metaphor!" Now though. So that'll be fun for a future meme.

Regardless, I don't recall us having been hugely depowered when Shirou dragged us into Unlimited Blade Works, which is his inner world, which should have cut us off from Ayaka.

>>4136296
We could, but this is a sustainable source of upgrades.
If I knew we'd have had to have gone throughall these hoops though I would've just preferred the upgrade and the continuation of the actual story.
Not this metaphorical mental recruitment sidequest.

>>4136299
We were just chucked onto an island with no real information on what the hell we were meant to do.
Would've been nice to have had some goal here.
This was supposed to be our day off and now we're somewhere in the Mediterranean fighting a mental projection of an adult version of a loli that only just became a loli because we teleported into the house they were in and kidnapped them before ordering our sister to turn Rider into a child and then using our magic on the loli which inadvertently dragged us into her mental world.

I just wanted to go to the arcade.

>>4136308
And get dabbed on by the counter force? No thanks.

>>4136311
>implying the counter force gives a fuck about a couple thousand people
What are you stoopid?
Maybe if we targeted billions of people, but this isn't even a blip on the radar.

>>4136313
>the people of Tokyo
>couple of thousand

>>4136309
>I don't recall us having been hugely depowered when Shirou dragged us into Unlimited Blade Works, which is his inner world, which should have cut us off from Ayaka.
But UBW is a reality marble layered on top of reality, right? Not really the same deal. Plus, everyone around us was probably in the radius of it too, so Ayaka was probably in UBW with us.

>>4136311
Counter force nothing. EMIYA is a counter guardian and Odin could vaporize him without breaking a sweat. We have bigger fish to fry.

>>4136314
>implying we'd target THE ENTIRE CITY
I mean, we could.
Alberich wants to anyway.
But realistically we could just target a city block and get enough power.
Or simply a large building.

>>4136305
>An OOC disclaimer that this was more freeform than the usual quest would've been a good call, we're not used to that sort of thing from this quest at all.
That is a really excellent idea, anon. I wish I'd thought of it at the time.

>>4136309
>that'll be fun for a future meme
I am suddenly concerned.
>If I knew we'd have had to have gone through all these hoops though I would've just preferred the upgrade and the continuation of the actual story.
Can't expect to get new Servants for free all the time, anon. You were going to have to put some elbow grease into it eventually if you wanted to go this route.
>We were just chucked onto an island with no real information on what the hell we were meant to do.
>Would've been nice to have had some goal here.
This is exactly what I mean by saying I was overestimating your interest in an adventure game-like arc. You didn't have a starting goal in Zork, either.

>>4136325
>didn't have a goal in Zork
Zork didn't have a couple hundred thousand words long prologue either.

I JUST WANTED TO GO TO THE ARCADE.

With a mental sigh of resignation, you remain still and allow Rider to pull both of your hands together behind your back before looping a chain around them to fully immobilize your arms. Although she is tantalizingly within your reach, the fact that Rider dropped to the ground immediately behind your back and went straight to work binding you demonstrates to your thorough satisfaction that Rider has done anything but drop her guard. That, coupled with her notable superiority of speed, is enough to ensure the failure of any rash effort you might make at a last-minute attack. No, you think, you have no choice but to allow yourself to be captured, and wait for some moment of true opportunity to strike; and while being taken prisoner, perhaps you can gain some more information about your situation by exaggerating your ignorance.

"Medusa," you say as she winds the chain about your wrists. "You spoke as though you knew me, though I'm certain I've never visited this isle before. Why is that?" As you speak, you adopt the air of a man defeated and disappointed, but doing his best to keep his spirits up and focus on other matters. If she suspects you still have a means of attack left, you're certain some unfortunate circumstance will soon follow the discovery.

"Do not attempt to pretend amnesia," Medusa orders, tightening the chain around your wrist to emphasize her point before declaring, in a venomous hiss, "I know who you are, and why you are here, just as well as I could see your malignancy when you first stepped through the door with Shirou. Fifteen years ago, Saber faced you within her own mind as I am now, didn't she? Though I imagine you must have held rather more power there than here."

"What strange things you say," you reply, keeping your voice carefully level. "If you hate me so, why did you not kill me already? Why obey those sisters of yours? They surely aren't capable of forcing you to do as they say." Of course, you haven't fought Stheno or Euryale, but your ability to detect magic remains undamaged and each of the two feels far inferior in power to their younger sister.

"I do not expect you to understand," your captor answers with contempt. "A younger sister must obey her elder sisters. Even when it regards dealing with you, that is how things are for us."

"In that case, I'll have to thank your sisters for securing my survival," you say with a smirk. "They certainly seem to have a better idea of how to treat visitors than you."

"I do not doubt you shall have plenty of opportunities to thank them at length," Medusa replies, something in her voice telling you she wears a rather malicious smile of her own. "My sisters are very particular about fulfilling their desires, and extracting whatever they feel they deserve. Now, do walk."

With that prompting you begin to walk before Medusa, following her occasional guiding prods as to direction, toward the column where Stheno and Euryale wait; a location you had quite lost track of, amidst the disorientation of your repeated aerial motion between the identical pillars that dot this plateau. As you walk, darkness falls over the area as the sun begins to set, revealing hitherto unseen flames which burn atop the columns' capitals with orange flame of a shade identical to the evening light of moments before. What is stranger than the flames themselves, or their previous invisibility, is their quantity and location. Of the columns you can see, perhaps only one in four is crowned by a flame, and the flames that are there frequently flicker out, only to reappear an instant later atop a different column. The overall effect is of a constantly shifting pattern of illumination, and profoundly unsettling. How the sisters who dwell here can find comfort in such furnishing for their home is beyond you.

When you arrive at the column from which Stheno and Euryale watched your battle with Medusa, the gulf in capability between the three sisters is rapidly driven home to you once more. Stheno and Euryale both remain sitting on the capital, evidently not having moved since your arrival, and it seems that their only method of leaving their high seat is with the help of their younger sister. No sooner does she lay eyes on your captor than Stheno orders, "Put that huge body of yours to use and bring us down, Medusa! How long did you intend to drag your feet in returning?"

At this command, the youngest of the three Gorgons makes a quick ascent, clinging to the side of the pillar with spider-like facility, before picking up one of her sisters in each arm and jumping lightly back down to the marble slabs below. In all, it takes her only a few seconds to carry her sisters bodily down from their dangerously high viewing platform. Once again, you find yourself wondering why it is she simply tolerates such unpleasant behavior from the seemingly dependent girls.

"Why don't you go and prepare dinner now, Medusa?" Euryale says, brushing almost imperceptible dust from her dress. "We'll return to the temple with Sir Alberich."

Medusa frowns, looking conflicted for a moment, before nodding. "As you wish, sister," she answers quietly, and disappears into the darkness, leaving you standing, wrists bound, between Stheno and Euryale.

"This way, Sir Alberich!" Euryale says brightly, pointing in the direction of the hulking structure that rises from the center of the plateau. "Come with us, and we'll find you a room to stay in the temple. I'm sure you'll enjoy staying with us much more than you'd like the outside world, you know. You must know what became of poor Prometheus after he tried to make life better for the humans; and now they're only used as playthings by the other Olympians. If you're a new sort of being, I'm sure they couldn't have anything pleasant in mind for you."

"To be sure," you reply as you fall into step between the two girls. You're not entirely sure why it is that Euryale seems to be fully enmeshed in the world of Hellenic myth, when Medusa is aware of the world outside her mental landscape, but for the moment it seems most convenient simply to go along with what she says. "Although your sister's detestation of me certainly does take some of the relish from the prospect." Before Euryale can reply to this comment, Stheno cuts in, drawing the conversation in another direction entirely.

"Tell me, if you would," she says, her soft and elegant tones remaining a striking contrast to the bright girlish cheer of her identical sister, "why it is that you returned 'my' greeting, but not mine?"

"Pardon?" You look at the girl with confusion only half feigned. Although it's simple enough to grasp that Stheno and Euryale refer to one another as themselves, the habit is a bizarre one. "I believe I waved back to both of you, did I not?"

"No matter," she replies. "And you did not catch a fish when 'I' asked either. How very intriguing..." Stheno seems to recede into her thoughts, contemplating your apparently strange behavior. Although nothing about what you've done seems particularly out of the ordinary to you, save the fact that you allowed your instinct for self-preservation to overwhelm your pride and surrendered, your refusal to answer trivial requests seems to utterly baffle the two girls.

"Well, Sir Alberich," Euryale chirrups, reviving the conversation just as the silence begins to weigh unpleasantly and circling around before you to look up into your face as she walks backward, "we would of course like to know more about you, and what sort of being you are, but before that I'm sure you have questions for us about your new home. Go on! What would you like to hear about?"

>[ ] Ask if there is some secret to Medusa's power; how she was able to defeat you so easily.

>[ ] Ask about your living conditions at the temple.

>[ ] Ask a question of your own choosing. (Write in)

>[ ] Tell her you have nothing to ask about.

>[ ] Do something else. (Write in)

>>4137084
>[ ] Ask about your living conditions at the temple.
>[ ] Ask if there is some secret to Medusa's power; how she was able to defeat you so easily.
Why not both?

Sorry folks, this didn't end up being a morning update after all.
ASAP turned out to be quite a bit less soon than I had hoped.

>>4137088
>Why not both?
To be honest, I at first just had the choice to ask her something (write in details), ask nothing, or do something else.
That felt a little lacking, so I added the first two options to give people ideas.

>>4137084
>[ ] Ask a question of your own choosing. (Write in)
where does Medusa sleep? have you tried throwing water at her while she sleeps to see what happened?

>>4137095
Rhetorical question, but that's nice to know.
Also, please add >>4137131 to my vote.

>>4137084
>[ ] Ask if there is some secret to Medusa's power; how she was able to defeat you so easily.

>[ ] Ask about your living conditions at the temple.

>Ask about the magical abilities of each sister

>Ask why they're so surprised that we don't follow their every order

>>4137158
Support

>>4137084
>[ ] Ask how long they have been in Shapeless Isle
>[ ] Ask if they know where they really are
>[ ] Ask if they intend to leave Shapeless Isle

File: case files loredump.jpg (671 KB, 1580x1312)

671 KB JPG

>>4137158
This sounds good

>>4137095
yo sweets-dono, here's a casefiles supplement TL. might come in handy for part 3?

>>4137158
This works.

>>4137716
>Luvia has a *twin* sister
Whoops!

>>4138000
threesome with truvi and her twin when

>>4138015
Too old.

>>4137716
Thanks, anon! I'll add this to my notes! That's also a good reminder that I need to get around to actually reading Case Files at some point before starting Part 3.
>Luvia has a twin sister, who is a shy girl
Oh, dear. That's a bit of a lore conflict.
I suppose it's time to wave the magic wand of "alternate timeline" once again!

Ded quest today. Where'd everybody go?

>>4138864
Everyone’s too busy celebrating pi-day/ides of March-eve.

"Very well then, I suppose I am." you reply, keeping your manner friendly and relaxed in spite of the twinge to your nerves prompted by Euryale's repeated assumption that you'll be living here indefinitely. "Tell me about this Temple of yours, then. What sort of life do you three lead on this secluded island, cut off from civilization; what place do you intend for me to take in it?"

"The Temple of the Gorgons," Euryale announces, turning a pirouette and sweeping an outstretched hand across the temple's silhouette with an air of theatrical presentation. "It's the temple that our worshipers raised for us, in the days before we came to the Shapeless Isle. The three of us are Titans, you know; although we're no longer venerated, we were able to bring our home with us when we came. It's lovely, and very spacious; I'm sure you'll enjoy it."

"Not that your complaints will hold any meaning if you don't," Stheno interjects with an ill-natured smile. "You'll dwell here in any case, until we've found out what sort of nature you have."

"But you wanted to hear about our lifestyle, didn't you?" Euryale cuts in, radiating cheer as if to dispel the unpleasant tone of her sister's words. "We do very little, to tell the truth. Since we don't need to eat or drink, but only do so occasionally for pleasure, we spend our days in leisure. I often enjoy swimming, walking through the forest the way I was when we met, or riding Pegasus. 'Myself' has her own hobbies, of course: sewing, playing the lyre, singing, writing poetry, and such. 'I' designed all of our clothing!"

"How impressive," you comment, flattering her only slightly. To actually design apparel from scratch, and such fetching outfits at that, is rather impressive to you as one who has always had a particular concern for his outfits but has never created anything new. Yumigawa had had his own hobby of sewing as well, you recall, but he hadn't gotten as far as original clothing designs either.

"Isn't it?" Euryale beams at you, but the one actually being praised gives only a thin smile, as if this and more is only the appropriate honor paid her achievements. "Now, you've heard about what we do when the Isle has no visitors. The high points of our life here are the days when adventuring heroes arrive, however. Some come for Medusa's head, and those we don't see; the others, who land here only seeking provisions or to pay homage to 'myself' and I, we welcome in and receive as guests! We hear their stories, learn about what goes outside of our Isle, and after they have stayed for a time we send them on their way to new adventures!"

"Very hospitable of you," you reply, "but surely there must be some work to be done about the place. You can't spend all your time in leisure, can you?"

"Of course there are some such matters to be concerned with," Stheno answers. "To enjoy one's life properly, one must have a clean environment, well-kept clothing, and such. Medusa tends to all of that for us, as well as to the provision of her own food. Unlike ourselves, she has an appetite. If you must eat as well, speak to her about it. I will answer your third question as well," she adds. "You will live as our guest, a member of our home, until we have thoroughly understood the nature of your existence. The birth of a new sort of spirit, between human and divine, and moreover by human hands, is a fascinating event; one which even two such secluded maidens as we cannot ignore."

"There seems to be one particular aspect of my nature which interests you more than the rest, though," you note. "Why do you find it so strange that I didn't jump to answer your greeting, or Euryale's request? Is it so strange, that a man might be less than obsequious from time to time?"

At this, Stheno raises a white hand to cover her lips as a soft, gentle laugh escapes them. Euryale takes the conversational place of her sister, answering, "It is so strange, Sir Alberich; I suppose you don't understand just how strange it is, your behavior; but to us, you might as likely have arrived carrying Zeus' slung over your shoulder! All men who lay eyes on 'myself' or I fall in love with us, and would die for us. It is simply part of who we are."

"Indeed," Stheno comments, recovered from her laughter. "A moment ago, 'I' told you we were Titans. To elaborate, we three sisters were born from Gaia as the primordial Goddesses of love and affection. When the Olympians unseated the Titans, however, they divided the world's Authority amongst themselves, and we were left quite powerless, save Medusa's capacity for violence and our own last remnants of our Authority: the property of 'receiving affection'. As 'I' said, all men who lay eyes on us love us; though Medusa was cursed, and we retreated to this Shapeless Isle, that fact remains immutable; and yet somehow you deny it. There is nothing for it but for you to stay with us, then, until we understand the nature of your mysterious forbearance." At this last word, her lips quirk up in a subtly lascivious smile whose impact seems only heightened by the innocence of her form. Your pulse quickens, and you snap your eyes away from hers. If what Stheno says is the truth, nothing could be more dangerous for you now than to feel desire for either of the two.

"In that case, I can see why you should find me so puzzling," you say, carefully maintaining a steady, unconcerned tone and keeping your eyes focused on the Temple as you walk, rather than either of your conversational partners. "What about Medusa, though? Her situation seems to be quite different from your own; how is it that she should have such combat prowess, and be seen as a monster by the world at large, while the two of you remain as you are?"

"Medusa," Stheno answers sadly, "was never as we are; she was born an incomplete divinity, lacking our eternal nature as well as our authority. Instead, she was born with the traits of a monster: great strength, potent magic, and eyes that turn men to stone. When Athena cursed her to one day become a true monster, it was no more than another step on the path she has walked since birth. Because we loved and pitied our sister, however, we accompanied her here in spite of her hatred of mankind and her growing appetite."

"I see," you murmur. Finally you're beginning to have a clear picture of things on this island. Medusa, as the only member of the trio capable of any real work, does everything for her sisters; in addition, she feels indebted to them for their presence here, as it was due to her curse that they came to be on the Shapeless Isle in the first place. Perhaps, then, Stheno and Euryale hold the key to pacifying Medusa and bringing her spirit into your power. On the other hand, as Medusa was binding you she did mention Saber facing you in the same manner she did, presumably referring to a battle; so perhaps some method of physically suppressing her is necessary after all.

As you're contemplating this, the three of you arrive at last before the temple, and a further incline of three steps before you can step between the line of columns supporting its overhanging roof and approach the actual wall. Two massive oaken slabs, each at least five meters tall, have been carved into a pair of beautiful arched double doors for the temple's entrance. Without a knock, they swing inward before you as you approach, revealing Medusa as the agent of their motion, standing at the threshold of a spacious entry hall which, like the structure itself, is entirely of marble, and decorated beautifully with numerous friezes. This interior room, unlike the outer pavilion, is lit with a double row of braziers standing by the walls. As you step inside, you observe that this central hall seems to run about half the length of the building, having three doors at the opposite end as well as several pairs of opposing doors to either side.

"Alberich," Medusa says, after closing the door massive doors behind the three of you, "would you like to take dinner with us, or would you prefer to rest after the day's exertions?"

>[ ] "Something to eat would be lovely, thank you." Even with your magical constitution, food can be a restorative; besides, you'd like to speak more before the night is up.

>[ ] "I think I'll take your offer of rest. Have you a room in mind for me?" Dinner might be enjoyable, but at present you simply don't have the luxury. Between your fatigue and wounds you need to maximize the restorative power of what magical energy you have, and sleep is the most effective means of that.

>[ ] Answer differently. (Write in)

>>4138864
>>4138896
Apparently so. Perhaps an update will help draw people back in? You are inching toward having a clear goal and means of pursuing it.

>>4138912
>>[ ] "Something to eat would be lovely, thank you." Even with your magical constitution, food can be a restorative; besides, you'd like to speak more before the night is up.
Oh Medusa.
Please stop giving us the rope we need to hang you.

>>4138912
>[ ] "Something to eat would be lovely, thank you." Even with your magical constitution, food can be a restorative; besides, you'd like to speak more before the night is up.

>>4138935
>Please stop giving us the rope we need to hang you.
Interesting. Fill me in. What's your plan for dinner, anon?

>>4138912
>[ ] "Something to eat would be lovely, thank you." Even with your magical constitution, food can be a restorative; besides, you'd like to speak more before the night is up.
>>4138945
"Out of the eater came something to eat.
Out of the strong came something sweet."

>>4138912
>[ ] "Something to eat would be lovely, thank you." Even with your magical constitution, food can be a restorative; besides, you'd like to speak more before the night is up.
I hope you know how to cook

What if we could discuss our magic and its ability to control Rider to change her to their whims? If they were on our side she'd be powerless to resist. Might be worth discussing with them when Rider's not around

>>4138973
It could even be presented as a means to control her as she becomes more monstrous.

>>4138973
>>4138977
>"Hey guys, what if I invaded Rider's soul and polluted it by imposing my will on her?"
Guess.

>>4138989
Not if we convince them that they're having us invade riders soul and imposing their will on her.

>>4138993
Obviously a better way of doing things would be to reveal that we know of a method of preventing the curse laid upon her by reversing her aging and making her physically a child once more.

>>4139045
would be too suspicious if we just came out and said that, need to win their trust more or come out with some Keikatu level reasoning

>>4138953
I'm not 100% clear what part of that story you're alluding to. Going back to Mantikouros' body and checking for bees? Entertaining the three sisters with impossible riddles? Or are you just making a general reference to turning the family members against one another?

>>4139045
The method that only Kōrakuhime can perform, which requires her magic circle? You may have a bit of trouble working it out here...

>>4139061
I'm looking forward to this. What's your plan to win their trust, anon?

>>4139084
>what part of that story you're alluding to
I'm alluding to the need to consume Medusa and receive a powerup. This magical realm siscon fantasy has gone too far.

>>4139084
>The method that only Kōrakuhime can perform, which requires her magic circle?
I said we knew of a method. Not that we could actually perform the method ourselves.
>>4139096
You'll never give up on killing her, even now, will you?
Why are you like this.

>>4138912
>>[ ] "Something to eat would be lovely, thank you." Even with your magical constitution, food can be a restorative; besides, you'd like to speak more before the night is up.

>>4139096
>This magical realm siscon fantasy has gone too far.
Got it. Next time you can go into Kōrakuhime's spirit and tour through her fantasies of being dominated by Alberich instead.

>>4139154
>>4139127
Tsubaki can't keep getting away with it!

>>4139154
Now THIS would be a productive use of our time
>>4139125
>Why are you like this.
Because you touch yourself at night.

Well, since no votes came in during the night, it looks like you all still want to have dinner with Medusa.
Honestly, I'm surprised. I had expected you'd want to heal your wounds with some sleep instead of pushing yourself farther.
At any rate, I'll start writing now.

>>4139894
Food + sleep is better than just sleep for healing right?

I was just editing the last update for the PDF, and discovered that in the last update I wrote "Zeus' slung over your shoulder" instead of "Zeus' head slung over your shoulder". Left out a crucial word there.
In the future, if you folks notice typos like that, could you let me know?

>>4140201
Will do.

>>4140201
You're getting a little ahead of yourself, little flower.

>>4140669
Admittedly, my writing progress today has been less than stellar. Apologies for the writer's block, folks.

>>4140368
Thanks, anon.

>>4140691
ETA on update?

>>4140763
Some time in the next three hours.

"Something to eat would be lovely, thank you," you reply. Even with your magical constitution, food can be a restorative. If you're fortunate, the meal might provide enough magical energy to heal the wounds on your hand and shoulder, or perhaps the internal damage you doubtless sustained during your bout with Medusa. At least, that is your hope, operating under the assumption that your lack of magical energy is to blame for the diminution of your regeneration. If it's simply been cut off entirely, even such minor wounds as these could become significant points of concern. Still, you think, it's best to stay optimistic. You have no reason to assume a cause other than your disconnection from Ayaka resulted in your weakening, after all.

"In that case, elder sisters, Alberich, please follow me," Medusa replies, turning to lead the three of you toward the set of doors at the opposite end of the central entry hall. Speaking to her sisters, she continues, "I caught a wild boar today, which I've prepared with a special technique which I'm sure the two of you will enjoy."

"Fuwa~h." Before Medusa can explain her cooking further, she's interrupted by a barely stifled yawn from Euryale. Hiding her mouth behind a hand, the girl explains through her continued yawns, "Now that I step inside... I think I really am quite tired after all. I'll have to say good evening now, and see you again tomorrow, Sir Alberich."

"I believe I will do the same," Stheno immediately chimes in. "I do not feel overly inclined to take dinner this evening, Medusa; you and our guest may have it all. Good evening."

With their explanations made, the two girls part from the pair of you and make their way together to a door on the right-hand side of the hall. You and Medusa are left alone, interrupted in your progress toward what you presume is the dining room. Medusa, you observe, wears a decidedly morose expression at her sisters' flight.

"I suppose we'll be dining alone, then," you say. "How odd. Didn't it seem as though the two of them wanted to eat until a moment ago?"

"Yes," your host answers with a sigh. "I do not doubt they did. Now they do not, and there will be no need to use the dining room. Follow me, Alberich." With that, she makes a sharp left turn and leads you to the first doorway on the left-hand side of the hall, which opens into a narrower corridor similarly lined with, friezes, columns set into the walls, and braziers for illumination. Medusa leads you several paces down this second corridor in silence before making a sudden right turn, stepping through a new doorway, and revealing what is apparently the temple's kitchen. The methods available, you can see, are rustic in the extreme. A large clay oven is built into one wall, and in an alcove opposite it is an open fire with smoke channeled out through a nearby window. The majority of the cooking seems to be done in a variety of pots and pans which can be mounted on racks at differing heights above the flame. Other aspects of the kitchen are more familiar to you, though; it has counters of a sort, protruding from the wall between the two cooking places, and a variety of utensils, knives, and cutting boards stored in racks above them. Off to the side, away from the immediate cooking area, a small table sits with two chairs. This, presumably, is where Medusa eats when her sisters do not join her.

"Sit down," she says, nodding peremptorily toward the table. "I shall bring your food in a moment." After a moment's consideration you decide against making a snide reply about her hospitality. Given the precariousness of your situation, it probably isn't wise to push Medusa any further; so, in silence, you take a seat and observe as your host fills two earthenware bowls from the shallow pot hanging over the fire.

"Here," she says, returning and setting one bowl on the table before you and the other before the empty seat, which she promptly fills. "As I meant to explain to my sisters, it is a stew of wild boar cooked in a sauce of its own blood, with herbs and salt." Evidently satisfied that your dinner conversation should extend no further than this curt description of her cooking, Medusa promptly begins to devour her stew. When you raise your own spoon to your lips, however, you find the meal abysmal. In the first place, it's been salted to vast excess, and to make matters worse the iron tang of the blood is the dominant other flavor, overwhelming that of whatever herbs she used completely and nearly masking the flavor of the meat itself. The only thing praiseworthy about it is the texture of the boar meat, which you find tender and succulent. If Stheno and Euryale had an inkling of this dish's outcome, you can understand why they were so quick to change their minds about dining.

Resolving to follow Medusa's example and simply eat as quickly as possible without giving yourself time to taste the meal, you turn your mind to other matters. There are still any number of unknowns in your situation, which it would certainly be worthwhile to have Medusa answer, but relying on the word of an enemy is never a safe prospect. How could you mitigate the problem if she should decide to give you false information? Then again, she does seem to be the only person in this world in full possession of the facts. You may have no choice but to rely on her. In any case, you think, considering the speed at which she's wolfing down her dinner as well as her general terseness it's unlikely she'll be willing to speak for long.

>[ ] Ask Medusa what her goal is in this world. She claims you're here to try to subdue her, but what is she trying to accomplish by keeping you a prisoner?

>[ ] Ask about the nature of Medusa's sisters. Are the inhabitants of this island memories, or something more?

>[ ] Ask Medusa to elaborate on what she said before, about Saber having to battle you within her mind the same way she does now.

>[ ] Ask or say something else. (Write in)

>[ ] Finish your dinner in silence.

>>4140868
>>[ ] Ask about the nature of Medusa's sisters. Are the inhabitants of this island memories, or something more?

You made a typo on this choice, by the way. Looks like you couldn't decide between "they" and "the two of them." and went for both.

I realize this is a bit of an anemic update after the wait. Sorry about that; I've had a very difficult time focusing and getting writing done today.
Still, the choice of what bit of information to get from Medusa is an important one, so I couldn't really just run with one of the options.

>>4140877
>Looks like you couldn't decide between "they" and "the two of them." and went for both.
Huh? Where? I don't see it.

>>4140885
Neither do I actually.
I'm seeing typos where they don't even exist.
Hmm.

>>4140868
>[ ] Finish your dinner in silence.
Fuck her. Don't give her the benefit of gloating or any indication that her cooking is shit.

>>4140868
>[ ] Finish your dinner in silence.

>>4140868
>[ ] Ask about the nature of Medusa's sisters. Are the inhabitants of this island memories, or something more?
better trying something rather than just fucking off to bed

>>4140868
>>[ ] Ask about the nature of Medusa's sisters. Are the inhabitants of this island memories, or something more?

>>4140999
Trying what? Getting useful information out of her? Might as well squeeze blood from a rock.

>>4140868
>[ ] Ask about the nature of Medusa's sisters. Are the inhabitants of this island memories, or something more?
It's obvious that she's stalling us here until her allies can rescue her

>>4140904
>or any indication that her cooking is shit
Really? If you dislike her so intensely, I'd think you'd want to rub her nose in the fact.
>>4141272
How do you estimate the chances of that plan succeeding, anon?

>>4141321
Not great. Maybe she's stalling because after a certain amount of time in her mind we can't escape. Who knows?

>>4141348
I could be wrong, but it doesn't look like she knows more than us about the situation.

>>4141352
Remember, the last time Medusa got herself stuck in Breaker Gorgon, she died.

By the way, I plan on updating at around the same time today as I did yesterday. Unless something changes IRL in the next two hours, we're back on a 24-hour schedule for the next couple of days.
Just a heads-up for those of you wondering.

>>4140868
>[ ] Ask about the nature of Medusa's sisters. Are the inhabitants of this island memories, or something more?

>>4141272
>she's stalling us
>>4141321
>How do you estimate the chances of that plan succeeding
To be fair, unless there's a significant time-dilation effect going on we'd have been stun-locked head-patting Medusa Lily for literal hours while everyone else just looked on wondering what the fuck was happening. That would be a strategic liability no matter how you slice it.

>>4142117
Of course you have no way of knowing what sort of time dilation could be at work, or whether there is any, but I'll mention this just to be clear. At least twelve hours have already passed on the Shapeless Isle since you awoke on the shore.

>>4142128
Oh no!
The day off!

>>4142131
The day off was over! It was action time for the first time in a month! And instead we got derailed into this. Still mad.

>>4142144
You didn't enjoy the action scenes with Mantikouros and Medusa?

>>4142164
Killing Mantikouros was cool but it's frustrating when nobody votes to fight and it didn't require any kind of strategy on our part, which is the best part of any action scene.

>>4142164
I'm worried that we're going to become a diplomancer when it doesn't even make sense to talk instead of fight. It's one of my pet peeves.

>>4142202
It's unfortunate but all of our combat skills are crippled and about the only thing Alberich still somewhat excels at is talking within the mindscape.

>>4142195
I suppose the fight could've been set up to be more nuanced and fun, but I didn't want to get bogged down in several successive posts of fighting a relatively minor enemy when I'm not writing as fast as I used to. I'll work on that.

>>4142202
I can see where you're coming from there; all I can say is, do your best to convince your fellow players to see things the way you want them to. You're almost always going to have the option not to engage violently, after all.

>>4142207
Not to split hairs, but technically your combat skills are 100% still there. It's your basic parameters, the power in your muscles and durability of your flesh, that have been diminished.

>>4141397
I'm still writing now. Won't have the update done in the next hour, but definitely will get an update finished tonight.

"I believe we ought to speak frankly, Medusa," you say, after gulping down a spoonful of the bloody stew. "What exactly are the inhabitants of this island?"

Medusa pauses her own meal to regard you from behind her blindfold, her partially masked expression unreadable. "Is it not apparent what they are?" she asks coolly, her soft voice unemotional.

"Not in the least." You take another bite of your vile dinner before continuing, "Considering that this realm is within your mind and spirit, one might guess that they are your memories; yet they are clearly capable of responding to foreign stimulus, so that can't be. Another possibility is that your sisters here are simply behaving according to your own conceptions of how they would act in a given situation. This is more possible, but your willingness to spare my life for their satisfaction leads me to doubt the notion. The only remaining possibility is that they are the authentic spirits of your sisters, isolated and preserved within your own while maintaining their own egos. Yet-"

"You see?" Medusa cuts you off, smirking thinly. "You had no need of my answer. As you have gathered, all those who dwell on this island are spirits: the lingering shades of those who once lived here, continuing their existence through me. Now," she waves a hand toward her empty bowl. "I would bid you goodnight, but as I must direct you to your quarters I am compelled to wait for you to finish your meal. Eat, please, and waste no more time with questions."

That's it then, you suppose. You have at least received a proper answer to your question, although Medusa's manners leave a great deal to be desired. Once you find a way of subduing her, you repeat to yourself, you will have satisfaction for the way this impertinent woman has dealt with you. For the moment, though, there's nothing to be done but scrape up the remainder of your stew and follow Medusa to your bedroom, a small chamber on the opposite side of the Temple where she leaves you with your hands once more chained behind your back.

As your captor departs and you take stock of the place, you observe that the bedroom they've given you conforms to the same general appearance of ornate construction and spare furnishing as the other rooms you've seen. The floor is decorated with a large mosaic of snakes entwined with flowering vines surrounding an azure pool, each corner of the room has a quarter-column protruding from the wall, and a marble statue of a man kneeling while holding a bronze brazier aloft in his cupped hands is against one wall, providing the room with its light. The only actual piece of furniture is a simple wooden bed with linen sheets, set against the wall to your right. Opposite the door, wooden shutters cover a window. There's certainly nothing in the room that might help you out of your chains, and it seems you can look forward to an unpleasant night sleeping while bound.

No sooner have you resigned yourself to this state of affairs and lain uncomfortably down on your side than you hear a knocking at the door. After maneuvering yourself awkwardly back to your feet and opening the door with the same, you discover Stheno and Euryale, looking up at you with expressions of mirth.

"Hello, Sir Alberich," Euryale begins cheerfully.

"Now that you've finished your meal with that giant woman, 'Myself' and I have come to spend the evening with you," Stheno explains, her own tone subdued and mellow.

"Before now, we've never been able to visit a man at night," Euryale adds, "for fear he would be overcome with passion; but with you, we can feel perfectly at ease! Isn't that so?"

>[ ] Welcome the two sisters in, though their motivations are rather opaque.

>[ ] Whatever the pair is trying to accomplish by visiting you at this hour, it can only serve to cause trouble. Turn them away.

>[ ] If Stheno and Euryale want to spend time with you, fine, but you'll need an immediate benefit. Ask that they unlock your chains before you can let them in.

>[ ] Reply differently. (Write in)

>>4142607
>>[ ] Welcome the two sisters in, though their motivations are rather opaque.
Gah, fuck!
Are we back?
Damn site just died.

>>4142607
>[ ] If Stheno and Euryale want to spend time with you, fine, but you'll need an immediate benefit. Ask that they unlock your chains before you can let them in.
Ree why can't I post???