Endless Path : Infinite Cosmos

Though the Moon Cell was capable of generating Attack Programs with similar Parameters to Heroic Spirits, it couldn’t copy their Skills and Noble Phantasms. Thus, while the shadowy figures radiated a powerful aura, it didn’t take long for Caenis to overwhelm the four sent to block her. She could easily read their mechanical movements, using her long glaive-like spear to shatter the crystalline material that formed their bodies.

Eventually, perhaps realizing normal forces couldn’t do anything to stop the intruder, the other eight shadowy figures moved to intercept. Around the same time, two figures appeared atop the bulwark of the castle, observing the ongoing battle with varying thoughts racing through their minds.

Vahn, seeing the large army that had formed, was beginning to feel that the Photonic Abyss was full of potential. As for Artoria, she was still a little distracted after earlier events, but, seeing Caenis, most of her hesitation faded away, followed by her asking, "Should I capture her?" while gripping Excalibur in hand.

Hearing Artoria’s question, Vahn ultimately shook his head, saying, "We’ll call the others so they can put their training to the test. Besides, I can tell you have other things on your mind. This time, allow me to be the one to say, ’Don’t push yourself so much’. Now that Archimedes is gone, there are few enemies we genuinely need to worry about, so, for the time being, focusing on matters of the heart and mind is the best route forward..."

As he spoke, Vahn gently caressed the top of Artoria’s head, his fingers passing over her drooping ahoge a few times, trying and failing to get it to perk up. She was obviously in a depressive mood, and, after his experiences with Scathach, it wasn’t difficult to empathize with her. He knew that, even if the man he had beaten wasn’t the ’real’ Shirou Emiya, many people would want to talk with him. It was a way of achieving some kind of closure, as, in the case of people like Rin, Luvia, and Illya, he still held some significance within their hearts...

Just as Vahn was about to suggest they head back inside to call the others, he felt the characteristic ripple of a Reality Marble being released. This brought his attention back to the battlefield, where, a stark contrast to the previous virtual space, a massive ocean had spread out toward the horizon. The sky overhead was now filled with black thunderclouds, while, in the distance, Caenis could be seen standing atop a craggy rock that jutted out of this vast ocean like a sword.

Though Caenis wore ’very’ revealing armor, at the best of times, Vahn stood with his mouth slightly agape as he saw her current appearance. Her body was almost completely exposed, revealing green, fish-like, scales covering her arms, legs, and shoulders. What stood out the most, however, so long as you ignored her exposed breasts, was that her hair had changed to a deep, sea-green, reminding Vahn of Tiamat, albeit only slightly...

From atop her rocky perch, Caenis lifted a large golden trident, pointing it directly toward Vahn as she shouted, "So, you’ve finally revealed yourself, Sage Dragon Emperor! Bear witness to my Divine Authority. Feel the wrath of all the world’s oceans as your-"

Vahn was actually curious about the power behind Caenis’ attack, but, before she was able to release it, the space behind her rippled, revealing Musashi. Then, using one of her sheaths, she smacked the rambling Caenis with enough force to cause a shockwave as she shouted, "Weren’t you supposed to be trying to save Shirou!? How do you plan to accomplish that if you flood the entire castle!?"

In response to Musashi’s words, Caenis simply fell to the ground, the whites of her eyes indicating she had been knocked unconscious. At the same time, her Realty Marble fragmented, followed by the sound of glass shattering as the vast, seemingly endless, expanse of ocean vanished. This also restored Caenis to her previous appearance, albeit with a certain ’water-logged’ quality...

After exhaling an annoyed sigh, Musashi shouldered her katana while staring up at Vahn and Artoria in the distance. Then, with an awkward smile on her face, she waved at them before asking in a voice that covered the several kilometers between them without any difficulty, "If it isn’t much trouble, can you return that hot-headed idiot to us? I’d also like to talk about what you said the last time..."

Since Shirou and Caenis had both attacked, Musashi felt a palpable amount of embarrassment when asking for their release. To her surprise, however, Vahn just nodded his head, answering, "Sure. Come inside and grab him. Afterward, there are a few things I wish to discuss."

Musashi wasn’t the only one surprised by Vahn’s words as, at his side, Artoria showed a complicated expression as she asked, "Are you really just going to let him go...?". To this, Vahn simply nodded his head, explaining, "He has a pure, bluish-white, aura. Though his killing intent is the real deal, there is no real animosity in that man’s heart. He acts out of duty, and, while that makes him very dangerous, it also makes him susceptible to being reasoned with. So long as he only points his blade toward me, I don’t really care how many times he tries to kill me."

Hearing Vahn’s remark, Artoria released a heavy sigh, but, atop her head, the tiny bundle of hair that expressed her true feelings perked up slightly. Though she didn’t completely agree with how Vahn did things, she always found it strangely endearing how he allowed people to oppose him. The vast majority of rulers would kill any opposition, regardless of the nature and character of the ones trying to kill them. Vahn, however, readily spared everyone, so long as the opposite party never went out of their way to harm others with malicious intent...

A few minutes after his ’negotiations’ with Musashi, Vahn had finished summoning the vast majority of the Imperial Militia, having them replace the largely destroyed Attack Programs. Fortunately, the programs in question seemed to obey his orders without hesitation, returning to the Photonic Abyss without any hesitation. This made things easier on Gawain, Lancelot, and Kenshin as, with another military present, morale and order could both be negatively influenced.

With more people present, the Ivory Castle had quickly grown to its actual size, and, though it would likely take a few weeks, even Avalon had started to take shape around it. This was intriguing to both Vahn and Da Vinci, but, with four relatively powerful enemies waiting for his arrival, he left the latter to research the phenomenon while he visited the holding-cell-turned-medical-ward where Shirou was being kept.

Despite his injuries being relatively severe, it hadn’t taken long for Shirou to regain consciousness. As a result, he had been talking with Artoria about the actual goals of the Empire, all while Musashi and the unnamed Berserker listened in. As for Caenis, she was still unconscious, occupying the bed next to Shirou’s with her wrists bound with golden bracelets that allowed her freedom of movement, but prevented the summoning of her weapons.

Musashi had informed them of Caenis’ aversion to being bound, something Vahn could empathize with, so, rather than tie her up to prevent her from causing trouble, he decided to compromise. This was often the first step towards future cooperation and understanding, so, while he still held a small grudge against the horse-like woman, Vahn elected to bury the past and look toward the future.

Upon entering the room, Vahn became the focal point of everyone’s gazes, followed by Artoria rising to her feet and politely greeting him. This caused Musashi to appear rather nervous while, but, as if the only thing that mattered to her were the snacks in her hand, the unnamed Berserker just spared him a momentary glance before returning to her meal. Artoria had tried to ask about her name, but, after being told ’Berserker’ several times, she ultimately decided to just ignore her.

In an effort to ease the tensions in the room, Vahn gestured to prevent Musashi from standing, a smile on his face as he said, "That is unnecessary. You aren’t one of my people and I’m not fond of pretenses. If a time comes when you genuinely respect me, feel free to lower your head. Until then, we are more enemies and acquaintances than anything else..."

Hearing Vahn’s statement, Musashi issued a dry laugh, not sure of how to respond to such words. As for Shirou, however, he immediately opened his mouth to ask, "Your statement about allowing us to oppose you, so long as we don’t target others...is it really true?"

Though he would have preferred to make some light conversation first, Vahn didn’t mind getting to the heart of the matter. Thus, after a casual nod, he explained, "I accepted the fact that others would see me as a villain long before I took action. Society is structured in a way that resists changes in the status quo, so, even if I tried to behave like a Saint, many would still vilify me. The foundation of the world had been built on corruption so I was left with no choice but to tear it out by the roots..."

As was often the case when he spoke such words, Vahn’s aura began to gradually increase, radiating outward like the warm, yet destructive, rays of Sol. This caused Musashi to lightly tap against the hilt of her katana while, still in his bed, wrapped in bandages, Shirou squinted before saying, "From what I have been able to ascertain...all of this was set in motion after someone tried to assassin...ate..."

Before Shirou could complete his statement, the aura around Vahn had spontaneously increased, his eyes shifting from aquamarine to a pale-gold in an instant. This was enough to clarify things, causing Shirou to fall silent for a brief moment as he averted his eyes. Artoria had been trying to explain how Vahn wasn’t a bad person, and, while it couldn’t be denied that his actions had resulted in the deaths of millions, if not billions, the driving force behind Vahn’s actions was something most people would be able to empathize with...

Despite feeling as though he would do something similar in Vahn’s case, Shirou still couldn’t accept the fact that the former’s actions had led to so much death and destruction. Thus, while he was able to empathize with him, he eventually mustered up the resolve to stare into Vahn’s golden eyes, his own blazing with a silvery-white light as he said, "It is too late to undo what has been done...but the world deserves a chance at freedom. Your rule might result in a future with fewer crimes and less corruption, but it will be at the cost of what makes humanity envied by the other races...the freedom to choose how we live our lives..."

Hearing Shirou’s remark, Vahn wanted to comment about how naive and foolish it was, but, in the grand scheme of things, it wasn’t exactly wrong. The only problem was, much like most humans, the young Hero prioritized his own race, elevating it to a ’special’ status where it was the center of pretty much everything. This was often the difference between a Heroic Spirit and those who went on to become Divine Spirits, as, more often than not, Heroic Spirits were ’extremely’ biased toward their original species.

Understanding there was little point in trying to convince Shirou with words, Vahn just shrugged in a dismissive manner, saying, "You are free to oppose me. If you’d like, you can even build a resistance or structure a society around your ideals. So long as they follow the Common Law, I don’t really care how people choose to live. You are free to believe what you will; it has absolutely nothing to do with me. I will continue to do what I believe is right, not just for humanity, but every sapient species, and, most importantly, the planet itself...good luck trying to oppose me with your fragile and misguided convictions, Shirou Emiya...you’ll need it..."

(A/N: Alternate Titles: ’Behold, the power of my Nobl-’,’Vahn be like, "Come at me, breh"’,’Both sides of a conflict have their Heroes. History determines how they are remembered’)

(A/N: I am fine, just got a mild case of food poisoning after eating some Chinese food. My city is also in Quarantine now so things are getting a little hectic around here. Make sure you’re drinking plenty of liquids and taking care of yourselves.)