Atalanta Is So Adorable!

Fairy Armament: Cocytus.

A summoned creature once called forth by Aleister in Paris.

Now, Naoki had summoned it into his body, leveraging his dragon attributes, the nighttime setting, and the strong water element of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, completing possession by the fairy.

As a dragon race, Cocytus itself boasted immense physical strength and a constant protective barrier that could neutralize various interferences. With Naoki's boundless Mana, even a Noble Phantasm like Phoibos Catastrophe could be directly withstood.

This was a feat beyond the Cocytus summoned by Aleister.

Hearing Atalanta's question, Naoki swished his tail. "What kind of creature am I? I can't answer that well myself—there's too much going on in my body. But according to Alaya, at least categorically, I'm definitely human."

"Still considered human?"

Atalanta gave a wry smile. "What kind of human is like you?!"

Defeating Servants head-on, summoning a moonfall that caused devastation, facing falling meteors, and blocking her entire Noble Phantasm—where does a creature like this get called human?

Even Heroic Spirits weren't this bizarre!

"If humans like you roamed everywhere, the world would be in chaos. What's with this appearance?"

"Oh, this is just a natural body modification after summoning a fairy into myself. Right now, half of me could be called dragon race." Naoki laughed. "Alright, enough casual chat. You said you wanted to hunt me, right?"

With a flap of his dragon wings, Naoki soared into the air, the corners of his lips curling slightly. The aura unique to the dragon race enveloped Atalanta.

Hunt?

Hunt him?

"Your courage to try hunting a colossal dragon is commendable, huntress, but do you know—how foolish it is to attempt to hunt a giant dragon?!"

Mana gathered in his mouth, a dragon's shadow overlapping Naoki's form. In Atalanta's trembling eyes, a blue-aqua dragon roar descended like a natural disaster. A destructive blue light instantly filled her entire field of vision.

Without hesitation, Atalanta leaped from her position, attempting to escape the impending death. In terms of speed, she was only slightly slower than Achilles. Dodging a single dragon breath attack was well within her capability.

*BLARRR!*

A bright blue flame instantly devoured one corner of the Hanging Gardens, its pale blue glow tinting the sky a dark aquatic hue.

*JENG!*

Nearly a hundred Mana-crafted arrows suddenly shot out from the flames.

Crouching on a building's rooftop, much like Naoki earlier, Atalanta looked somewhat resigned. "You said I was too harsh for using a Noble Phantasm right away, but aren't you just as bad? Even harsher than me."

Gray once said Naoki excelled at casually defying common sense. Now, that seemed an entirely accurate and reasonable assessment.

"Tit for tat—still want to hunt me in your ignorance, huntress?"

Phoibos Catastrophe had barely caused any damage.

Even arrows fired at full strength likely wouldn't be effective.

Looking at Naoki, now transformed into a dragon race, Atalanta scoffed. "Truly like Heracles. I've lost."

"Surprisingly, you're giving up just like that." Naoki said, a bit shocked by Atalanta's choice as he landed and shed his dragon form.

Atalanta sighed, stowing her longbow. "There was no need to compete with you from the start. When the power gap is this vast, there's no point fussing over winning or losing."

Atalanta wasn't a warrior but a huntress. She didn't care much for victory or defeat—winning was nice, but losing was fine too.

Yet, despite her beast-like values, she still had some pride.

Stepping forward quickly, seizing the moment Naoki blinked, Atalanta gently tapped the side of his face.

"There, I've paid you back. The slap issue ends here."

"Eh?"

Touching his just-tapped cheek, Naoki couldn't help but be surprised. At that moment, Manaka's roar echoed in his mind.

[How dare she touch the Prince's face! How dare she! How dare she do that!]

[Unforgivable, absolutely unforgivable. Even if it's just a vixen touching, it's still the same face as the Prince's!]

[Servant, Atalanta, I've got your number. Sooner or later, I'll cut off your hand—]

'Quiet down, don't make a fuss.'

Silencing Manaka with one sentence, Naoki chuckled. "That's it? I thought you'd hit harder."

"If you want, I can do it again."

Atalanta raised her hand as if to slap, but as she did, Naoki grabbed her wrist. "No, I was just kidding!"

"You—"

Seeing Naoki suddenly so close, though uninterested in men, Atalanta blushed slightly and hurriedly pulled her hand back.

'Damn it, isn't this guy too handsome?'

Initially, Atalanta's disinterest in men stemmed from her vow of chastity to the Moon Goddess and the crude nature of Greek men back then.

After all, for Greek warriors of that era, battle was an offering to the gods and a form of domination. Their unnecessary roughness, even in hunting, held no appeal for Atalanta.

But clearly, Naoki didn't fit that mold.

At least, up to now, Atalanta's impression of him was acceptable.

[Archer, is your personal business settled?]

At that moment, Semiramis's voice reached both their ears, likely through voice transmission.

"Yes, it's done. I caused quite a bit of damage to your garden, sorry, Assassin."

[It's fine. This is war; such damage was expected. More importantly, Lancer seems to be facing some trouble. Black Rider is quite cunning, and he can't effectively halt their advance. Go assist him.]

"Understood. That's that—I'll head out first."

The latter half was directed at Naoki.

Naoki nodded. "Astolfo has a Noble Phantasm that isolates Magecraft and a Gryphon capable of dimensional leaps. His spear's True Name release can forcibly turn his legs into spirit form, and he has a magical flute that produces a sound akin to a dragon's roar. Though it likely won't affect you or Karna."

"You really know everything… Well, I'll take your advice. Thanks."

Watching Atalanta gradually vanish from sight, Naoki steeled his resolve and strode toward his destination.

Now, in the Hanging Gardens, only Semiramis, Shakespeare, and Amakusa remained.

'Time for me to get serious too.'