Endless Path : Infinite Cosmos

Like a dam breaking, unleashing a wave of destruction, Altera swept through the crowd of automatons with unstoppable force. She was like a living tempest as, even without sweeping her sword through enemies, her movements alone were enough to tear them asunder. There was little the unfortunate magical constructs could do, much like sailors swept up in a typhoon or a young child caught in a rip current, swept out into the unforgiving sea without a means to free themselves from the tragedy they had wrought.

Vahn couldn't help but stall for a moment as he watched Altera in action, much like a pedestrian who had just witnessed a car crash. Part of him even felt guilty that his enemies sent out automatons in a vain attempt to stall for time as, in more ways than one, it showed a general disregard for their own creations. Since he had always been the type that appreciated everything he created, paving the way forward for it to develop an Ego, Vahn simply couldn't agree with methods like this.

In order to bring this battle to an end as soon as possible, Vahn and Arcueid made their way to the mountain peak in an instant. As it had been pulled inside of her Marble Phantasm, Arcueid had near-absolute control over the surrounding space so, even though the entrance had been concealed by several meters of magically reinforced stone, she was able to simply create a new entrance with the sweep of her hand. Reality Manipulation was a very powerful ability and, if she used it maliciously, Arcueid could likely kill everyone hiding inside without getting anywhere near them.

With the combination of their abilities, Vahn and Arcueid were able to analyze the structure of the entire mountain in a very short period of time. As a result, they ended up in a vast chamber near the heart of the mountain, home to a large crystalline tree that was more than 50m in height. It glistened with green and gold light and, if not for the various monitors and machines burrowed into its trunk, it would have been quite the sight to behold.

Since they had taken a more 'direct' route, Vahn and Arcueid landed silently a few meters away from the tree's base, circumventing all of the security measures that had been put in place. This caused the man standing over the terminals to release a tired sigh as he lazily looked back and stated, "You really do things your own way, don't you? Seriously, no regard for other people's efforts at all..."

After nodding in response to the man's complaint, Vahn casually extended his hand, manifesting [Enkidu] in their surroundings to seal off the surrounding space. Though Arcueid could achieve a similar effect using her own power, Vahn didn't want to leave everything to her. He was already here so, if there was something he could do to remove their enemy's advantages, he would do so without hesitation.

Seeing the resplendent golden chains now swirling around the room, the man released a tired sigh before plopping down in his chair and saying, "Tell me...what exactly are you? I've spent more than two months trying to understand this world you've created. If I were allowed to be honest, I don't actually disagree with your methods. What I can't understand is what you are, where you came from, and how you came to possess this power..."

As he spoke, the man briefly eyed Arcueid, fully aware of her identity and the power she had at her disposal. What didn't make sense was Vahn as, prior to setting his plans in motion, nothing like Vahn had ever existed. This frustrated him to no end as, unless he was able to completely split his timeline from Vahn's, all of time was fated to converge at the point of Vahn's present. This meant all of his efforts and hard work would be for naught as, depending on how things developed, his own timeline would never even be set into motion. In a way, it proved that free will had never existed in the first place as, with a single person's existence, the variability of the future was completely removed...

Vahn hadn't arrived with the intent to make casual conversation so, rather than answer the man's question, he vanished from where he had been standing. This caused the man to tense in his seat while simultaneously trigger a device in his left hand. A complex barrier formed from hexagonal panels immediately shielded his body, repelling Vahn's strike with enough force to rupture the sleeve of his right arm. Even his muscle had ruptured slightly but, with his regeneration, he healed almost instantly as he continued pressing his palm against the barrier's surface.

With a paling expression on his face, the lazy-looking man on the inside managed a wry smile as he remarked, "This shield can even block a Heroic Spirit's Noble Phantasm...man, I really hate your type. I wasn't showing any kind of hostility yet you went out of your way to attack me. I guess this is why you are able to do something as messed up as throwing the entire world into chaos for the sake of your ambitions?"

Hearing the man's words, Vahn squinted his eyes slightly, his pupils turning pale-gold as his right hand morphed into a claw covered in azure scales. At the same time, individuals segments of the hexagonal grid began to crack, causing the man inside to pale even more. It was only at this point that Vahn decided to answer, stating in a firm and decisive tone, "You've had more than two months to try and initiate a dialogue. You've injured the people I've cared about, plotted against my Empire, and took proactive measures to undermine the peaceful world I'm trying to create. The time for talk is long behind us..."

The moment his words trailed off, Vahn's claw tore through the last vestiges of the barrier, piercing into the man's chest. This wasn't meant to be a lethal blow but, after everything the man had set in motion, Vahn wasn't going to let him off easily. These types always knew a considerable amount of information so, while it would be simple to just finish him off, the absence of other enemies made killing him unwise.

Frustratingly, Vahn realized the truth of the matter as soon as his hand entered the man's chest. This caused his eyes to blaze like suns, his claw clenching with tremendous force as he ripped out a flurry of mechanical parts and wires. At the same time, the shaggy-haired man seated within the shattered barrier offered a sly smile before mockingly stating, "Did you really think I would use my real body to send signals into Empire-controlled territory? As I said, Vahn Aldrnari Mason, I've been watching and researching you for a while now. Though the loss of Cú is regrettable, don't think we're going to be defeated so easily...!"

Likely emulating Vahn, the man waited until he had finished his exclamation before pressing another device hidden away in his sleeve. Unfortunately, due to the presence of [Enkidu], sending signals was all but impossible so, with an annoyed grimace on his face, the man simply self-destructed instead of collapsing the entire mountain range. His core was nearly as powerful as the one used by the current Rani IV so, while it wasn't enough to kill Vahn or Arcueid, it was more than enough to annihilate the crystalline tree and his duplicate body.

Following a pulse of magical energy, a brilliant white light erupted from the shaggy-haired man's body. Immediately afterward, Vahn was propelled backward with tremendous force, slamming into the spatial lock formed by [Enkidu]. It felt like he was being crushed by an entire planet but, just as he was able to teleport out, Arcueid appeared to embrace his body. This caused all the pressure to disappear in an instant, the explosion flowing away from them due to Arcueid's influence. Even the sounds of the explosion were unable to reach him so, with a tired sigh, Vahn pressed his forehead to Arcueid's and complained, "I'm really starting to hate these people..."

Though it wasn't all that dissimilar to what he, Da Vinci, or Touko would do, the fact his enemies went to such extreme length to hide was remarkably frustrating. Cú may very well have been his only chance to obtain information about their overarching plans as, with his nature, it probably wouldn't have taken too much effort to convince him they weren't the bad guys. Now, Vahn had to settle for having obtained the identity of the shaggy-haired man and securing the strange black box that had been planted in the Supercolony.

There was a chance he had chosen his form to mislead them but, based on the information provided by Alaya, the shaggy-haired automaton had the same presence and appearance as one of history's most famous mathematicians and inventors, Archimedes. This guaranteed the man had either found a way to transmigrate or, much like Cú, he was a Heroic Spirit. As for the black box, his Inventory had yet to identify its function but, with enough time, all of its secrets would become known to him.

Since the trip hadn't been a complete waste of time, Vahn enjoyed his embrace with Arcueid for a bit longer than necessary. The explosion had already faded away and, as a result of [Enkidu], most of the chamber had been left undamaged. This allowed a greater volume of mana to flow from the Artificial Leyline below but, given enough time, it would eventually return to normal.

Now that things had reached this point, Vahn realized they needed to investigate and, if necessary, destroy all foreign Bounded Fields. They may even need to investigate other Subtextures as Avalon and the Wandering Sea were not the only ones in existence.

Given how crafty Archimedes and his allies had proven to be, it wouldn't come as a surprise to learn they had even ventured to the Reverse Side of the World. He would need to confer with Sherlock as, if it turned out they were forging alliances with the very Gods he was making plans again, there was a very real chance a war between the Surface and Reverse Sides would become necessary. He could only hope that, if they truly considered themselves 'heroes' in the battle against evil, they wouldn't resort to such blatantly destructive methods.

As soon as the thought crossed his mind, Vahn was overtaken by a powerful compulsion to sigh as, with his Karmic Value, combined with various other factors, there were likely very few lengths his enemies wouldn't go to. They could come up with some contrived logic that it was better to entrust the world to a select group of Gods, rather than leave it in the hands of an 'Evil Emperor'. Heroes weren't exactly known for thinking things through so, as long as they were able to achieve the end they sought, the means used and the repercussions they faced rarely mattered...

Though he didn't say it out loud, Vahn internally remarked that being the villain sucked even more than being the 'hero'. Unless he really threw himself into the role that had been assigned him, doing all kinds of terrible acts, he would continue to be pressured from both sides of the spectrum. Ideally, he would be able to reach some kind of compromise with the enemy group but, given their actions thus far, they were wholly dedicated to undermining his efforts...

After shaking his head to clear his thoughts, Vahn planted a kiss on the concerned-looking Arcueid, returning the smile to her face. Afterward, they looked around the area for a short while but, due to the powerful explosion, all traces of the system that had existed previously had been erased. This left the larger facility to explore but, as there were no signs of life anywhere within, it was best to leave it to the Atlas Temple's clean-up crew to investigate.

Having made up his mind on the matter, Vahn exited the facility alongside Arcueid. There, amidst a sea of automaton corpses, Altera stood atop the shattered torso of a larger specimen, her veil-like hair tossed gently by the frigid mountain wind. Though her figure gave her a somewhat emaciated appearance, she gave off the impression of both a Goddess of War and a flower that only bloomed amidst countless corpses. It was a strangely beautiful yet morbid sight, especially with the terrifying ORT hovering nearby, it's blade-like appendages waiting to slaughter anything still living amongst the tens of thousands of automatons...

(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Altera, human-shaped natural disaster','Archimedes trying to be sneaky. Guess he didn't account for Alaya being able to identify him in an instant o3o...','There are Heroes on both sides of a conflict')