Lancer seemed rather distracted for some reason... a cooking contest? Why would they ever be having that? She was willing to face off against such a fervent singer, that was certain, but did that rivalry really extent to other arenas? Moreover, how could this be a stratagem? It was a known fact that many medicinal substances tasted less than pleasant--barely distinguishable from poisons, as she should know--and it was simpler to impart the potions' properties to something far more palatable than to serve them as it was. The rest of the foodstuffs... well, Nero had been in the kitchen, so why not take advantage of it? There was no telling how long they would be in the singularity, or who they might be able to introduce to the wonders of Roman cuisine! Such a shame there had been no time to make any garum, even if Seneca had never been in favour of it...

Of course, trying to make sense of Lancer was leaving her rather out of the loop too, save for the obvious appearance of a bunch of wolves... and so, with an apology to Siegfried for putting him on the ground again... more for the sake of gesturing than actual need, Nero thought for a second, remembering the right word...

... and let the explosion loose. 

It was a brief conflagration, a completely wasteful attack--there were certainly more efficient things to use--but it had a major advantage: it was quite hard to dodge explosions when you were inside them. Of course, Saber and Lancer should be fine, but the dogs should certainly not be so resilient to fire, or being knocked from their feet...

[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/KpWbaPj.png[/img][/center]

It was an unexpected moment for radio contact to be made, Meran monitoring the situation and picking up on their uncertainty. She was sure the fighting was well in hand, or would be, so it was better now than later: "Sigurd is the hero of the Völsunga saga; in many regards similar to Siegfried: he also killed Fafnir. The story diverges in many respects, as he would be Norse as opposed to German, and events certainly diverge beyond that point.

"The latter part of the story centres around Sigurd's courting of the shieldmaiden Bryinhildr. It did not go smoothly, involved a lot of betrayal and adultery, and they both died. Most likely, it is the valkyrie Brynhildr that you are fighting now--and Siegfried most likely resembles Sigurd.

"Though Sigurd would wield Gram, not Balmung."