Endless Path : Infinite Cosmos

(A/N: I’m writing these so that there are no major cliffhangers. Feel free to read them as they are released.)

It was impossible to make sure things were completely fair and balanced but, in an effort to give everyone a chance at bettering their ranking, a rule that allowed people to challenge anyone in a higher position than them had been implemented. This was primarily due to the participation of Scathach, Heracles, and Kenshin who, when everything else was equal, stood head and shoulders above nearly every competitor. If you were unlucky enough to be matched against them from the start, the chances of advancing any further went down exponentially.

When Vahn announced this ruling, there wasn’t any opposition as, while Luck may indeed be a parameter that could be measured, it was unfair to those with lesser Luck to lose out just because of their misfortune. Since this rule also allowed basically anyone to challenge the final winner, it was something that everyone was grateful for. However, as this could be seen as unjust treatment toward whoever had won, Vahn also made a ruling that guaranteed that the original victor was given the appropriate reward for their initial accomplishment.

With everything decided, all of the participants signed the names on a ball which was rather unceremoniously placed inside a box. Since their Luck could influence the draws, it was decided that Vahn would pull out each name in succession and, rather than use the usual brackets, only the victor’s ball would be put into a second box. This added a bit of variance and prevented any kind of advantage that could have been gained from knowing about your opponent in advance.

Once everything had been set up, Vahn took his seat on an elevated platform while, behind him, nearly every Homunculus and Spirit residing in the Kingdom sat in attendance. This was a major event for the Empire as, while it wouldn’t necessary shuffle the hierarchy around, everyone would have a rough understanding of the power levels of everyone else. Pride wasn’t something that could be ignored, especially when it came to Heroic Spirits, so this would ease up a lot of the tensions that had been building beneath the surface.

With Caster Scathach and Merlin at his sides, as they were charged with maintaining the barrier protecting the audience, Vahn reached into the small box before pulling out two names. When he saw the small kanji written on the surface, a smile spread across his lips as he held them up and bellowed, "The first round is a match of fate! Artoria Aldrnari Pendragon and Mordred Aldrnari Pendragon, enter the arena!"

When Vahn announced the first participants, many in the crowd were shocked while, in the wing allocated for participants, Mordred pounced onto the battlefield and shouted, "Yes! This is exactly what I wanted! Good going, Chichiue~!"

Seeing Mordred’s excitement, Vahn’s smile began to twitch at the sides but, without him having to say anything, Artoria stepped onto the battlefield before stoically stating, "Mordred...everyone in those stands may become your subjects in the future. Raise your head up high with dignity. Do not put on a shameful display."

Hearing her mother’s mild reproach, Mordred rubbed the back of her head with an awkward smile on her face as she answered, "I understand, Hahaue. I’m just excited to be able to go all out against you. This time, I’m not fighting for your recognition...I just want to see how I measure up compared to one of the people I admire..."

Artoria blinked in surprise after hearing her daughter’s words while, in the wing, everyone that had been having inhibitions about the battle began feeling awkward. After all, they knew what had happened during the last battle between the duo and, for a brief moment, Gawain was even considering intervening in the fight. Once he heard what Mordred said, however, he didn’t know what to say and, while his heart wasn’t at ease, he managed a smile that matched the others at his side.

Vahn was a little far away to hear what Mordred had said but, given how everyone reacted, he felt a great deal of pride regarding her growth. Though she wasn’t likely to emerge as the final victor, he couldn’t help but feel a little bit of a bias toward her. After all, he knew better than anyone how hard she had worked over the last two weeks so, at the very least, he was hoping she performed well in her opening match...

Once Mordred and Artoria had reached opposite ends of the battlefield, Vahn didn’t waste time with anything like a prepared speech. He knew how eager everyone was to witness a climactic battle so, without further ado, he held up an ornate pistol that was adorned with ivory, gold, and several magically enchanted gemstones. Then, pulling the trigger, a massive plume of light shot out from the barrel before exploding into a colossal wave of magical energy several thousand meters above the viewing stands.

While the magical explosion was a little jarring, drawing a lot of attention to the rainbow-hued fireworks, it was quickly dwarfed by a second explosion, this time coming from the arena. There, Artoria and Mordred, as if they hadn’t been separated by any distance whatsoever, had already charged at each other. Mordred was wielding a greatsword, which looked somewhat awkward with her diminutive size while Artoria wielded a standard longsword with a crossguard.

As if the size wasn’t a restriction in the slightest, Mordred swung her greatsword around with considerable ease, each blow creation tempestuous winds that tore apart the surrounding arena while Artoria focused almost solely on defense. She was able to deflect the force of Mordred’s attacks away from her by creating a thin membrane of mana using her [Mana Burst]. The most impressive part of this exchange was how both women, despite attacking with such speed that it was nearly impossible to follow, hadn’t moved from the spot of their original clash.

It was beginning to seem as if neither wanted to be the first to take a step back but, after a wide swing by Mordred, Artoria was the first to take a step forward. Instead of deflecting the force of the blade away, she bent her body to the back before pivoting to the side in a motion that would have knocked virtually anyone else off balance. The only thing that kept her upright was the force behind Mordred’s own swing, stunning Vahn and the crowd alike.

Mordred’s flank was left exposed by her own attack but, rather than evade, she clenched her teeth with a vicious smile on her face as a veritable geyser of mana erupted from her body. This wave of pressure slammed into Artoria like a truck, knocking her back with tremendous force. But, before she was sent flying, her blade finished its own path, cutting through a few centimeters of Mordred’s armor and the tender flesh beneath it.

Despite the injury to her side, Mordred released a loud, ’Doryaaaa~!’ as she followed after the projectile Artoria with a phenomenal amount of mana swirling around her blade. Even without the use of a Noble Phantasm, she had a monstrous amount of mana at her disposal and, as a result of her training, even her [Mana Burst] had reached A-Rank. As a result, Mordred’s follow-up strike, a powerful thrust, ended up tearing apart the makeshift buildings and ruins like a natural disaster.

Since the eruption caused by Mordred only knocked her back, Artoria twisted her body mid-air with the grace of a dancer and the finesse of the world’s greatest acrobat. She didn’t even seem affected by the previous attack whatsoever and, despite Mordred’s reckless charge, Artoria had a calm and collected countenance as she kicked against the air itself, using [Mana Burst] to propel herself skyward like a rocket.

Mordred ended up lunging through the area where her mother had been just moments prior, a swath of devastation following after her. Before she was able to fix her trajectory and perform another strike, however, Artoria, while still in the air, made a thrusting motion of her own as an even larger wave of mana than Mordred’s shot out from her blade tip. This added to Mordred’s initial charge, propelling her forward in the same direction until she slammed into the barrier on the outside of the arena, fracturing it slightly without actually breaking it.

Vahn couldn’t help but wince as he watched his daughter smash blade-first into the barrier in an attempt to arrest her own momentum. Fortunately, this wasn’t a completely wasted effort so, while Mordred slammed into the barrier with her own body less than millisecond thereafter, she didn’t take too much damage. Despite this, she immediately plopped to the ground but, rather than any signs of being upset, she had a smile on her face as she laid back against the white stone in order to regulate her breathing.

With the rules that had been decided on at the beginning of the tournament, Mordred had been eliminated the moment she was sent flying out of bounds. Still, Vahn was proud of her as, despite how much progress she had made, he was always worried she might relapse. Seeing the smile on her face, courtesy of the small automatons Da Vinci had observing the fight, Vahn could tell she was a little disappointed, but not really upset. He made an internal remark to reward her later on but, as the tournament was still ongoing, he had other duties to fulfill.

Fortunately, Artoria took it upon herself to retrieve Mordred and, as her next match wouldn’t be for a while, the two disappeared from the Training Orb for a short while. Vahn made no attempt to stop her as he knew the two had a lot to talk about as mother and daughter. Instead, he made a few remarks to hype up the crowd before, instigating an ovation as he pulled the next two names from the box.

This time around, Vahn was even more surprised than the first matchup but, while it didn’t show on his face, he couldn’t help but feel apologetic as he announced, "Let us begin the next round! Scathach and Gareth, please enter the arena!"

The moment Vahn shouted, he could see Gareth visible slouch while, on the opposite end of the battlefield, a small ripple in space revealed Scathach’s figure, spear ready and waiting. It was very unfortunate for Gareth to get Scathach as an opponent but, with the rules he had announced at the very beginning, she would at least be able to see everyone else fight before challenging the others at her leisure...

After a few encouraging words from the others waiting in the wing, Gareth stepped onto the battlefield in full plate armor. She had a massive kite shield in her left hand while, in her right, a modified jousting lance was her weapon of choice. What Vahn found the most interesting was that her helmet, which covered the upper part of her face with a visor, had two dog-like ears at the very top while the visor itself was formed in the visage of a wolf.

Once Gareth assumed her position, Vahn raised his pistol toward the sky once again and, while apologizing internally, pulled the trigger. At the very moment that the projectile exploded into a massive eruption of mana, a ripple was seen on the barrier adjacent to Gareth as, without any suspense whatsoever, Scathach sent her flying backward into it. This brought the riled-up crowd to stunned silence while Vahn, pistol still raised, deadpanned while looking at his overbearing Shishou...

Without minding what others thought of her, Scathach turned to face Vahn before giving a small nod. After that, she vanished into the void like a phantom while, in the background, Gareth just rested with her back against the barrier until Fenrir walked over and picked her up. She wasn’t injured in the slightest as, the moment the match began, Scathach simply appeared right inside of her range before pushing her backward. Since they lined up near the opposite ends of the arena, it didn’t take that much power to force someone back a few meters, effectively eliminating them from the competition.

While not the most satisfying battle, there was a reason that Scathach had already been publically announced as the favorite to win the tournament. Her performance merely reflected this objective truth and, while it may lower her spirits a bit, Gareth would at least be able to focus on the future battles without having to tend to any injuries. Vahn suspected this had been Scathach’s intent as, while it was certainly ’efficient’ to win the battle in an instant, she wasn’t really the type to shame others. If anything, this would become a catalyst for Gareth to grow strong as, even if they were not her official students, Scathach gave advice and guidance to everyone.

Once Gareth had been moved to a viewing area near the contestant’s wing, Vahn tried to ease the building tensions by drawing the next two names without delay. If necessary, he would talk with Gareth after the tournament ended but, considering her personality, she likely wouldn’t be that disheartened.

As if each set of names was intending to surprise him more and more, Vahn’s brows raised ever so slightly when he saw the kanji written on the two small balls. Then, an excited smile spread across his face as he held them up and announced, "The third round will be between two of the highest-seeded members in the entire tournament! Heracles and Kenshin, please enter the arena!"

The moment Vahn finished his announcement, the crowd practically erupted as Heracles and Kenshin were, as announced, two of the favorites to reach the top. Having them both in the same match was like watching one of the finals as, while they may lose out to Scathach, they could win against almost everyone else. The fact they were facing each other this early could be considered a blessing for all the other contestants as, at the very least, they wouldn’t have to face either of the three monsters until the next round of matches.

Kenshin wasted no time using [Shundo] to enter the arena while Heracles, showing off why his strength was considered legendary, simply leaped nearly 5km in a single bound. It didn’t even take him any real effort but, as he landed, large cracks spread out due to the Laws he naturally cultivated. Fortunately, while Kenshin had no hopes of being able to contend against him in a contest of power, her Innate made her peerless with nearly any all weapons.

Once the two were ready, Vahn aimed his pistol toward the sky for the third time, this time with a large grin on his face as he wondered whether power or skill would emerge victoriously. What he didn’t expect was that, following the mana explosion, Kenshin used [Shundo] to vanish from her spot while Heracles barreled through the battlefield in much the same way as Mordred, albeit with raw power instead of mana. He came to a stop near the center of the arena before turning on his heels like a swivel as Kenshin was nowhere to be seen.

While others may think Kenshin was choosing to draw out the fight, those with higher perception knew that Heracles wasn’t pivoting for no reason. Rather, even before Kenshin learned how to use [Shundo], she already had Agility near the pinnacle of standard parameters. After nearly two years of training, she had pushed this even further and, while it was impossible to know the full limits of her speed, her Agility value had reached 50A++ a long time ago.

All anyone heard was the sound of wind whistling before Heracles’ body suddenly jerked to the right. He managed to pivot on his right foot with a level of grace that would put to shame most professional dancers but, in spite of this, his left calf was cut clean through. His left foot spun in the air for a few moments but, as if he wasn’t affected by its loss at all, Heracles punched toward what seemed to be empty air.

While the punch may have seemed simple at a glance, Vahn knew it was a lot faster than the slow strike it appeared to be. After all, there were several shockwaves generated during the motion while, at the very end of the strike, a massive air pressure blasted through the area, destroying what amounted to several city blocks of terrain in an instant. Then, much to the shock of nearly everyone in the audience, Heracles’ leg began to grow back at a visible rate as he hunched down with both arms held up in a ready stance, much like a wrestler.

From the massive cloud of devastation that still lingered in the arena, several flashes of light could be seen before vacuous tunnels appeared in the rubble. With considerable ease, Heracles moved his forearms into the trajectory of these projectiles, using the metallic blades embedded into his bones to deflect them aside. He was trying to buy time for his leg to heal as, while it didn’t reduce his power by much, it was a lot harder to fight against a skillful foe with just one good leg.

For several seconds, nothing major happened on the battlefield. This caused the tension to slowly build until, just as the dust began to settle from Heracles’ mightly blow, a plume of wind pressure pushed dissipated the entire cloud in an instant. At the center of this phenomenon, Kenshin could be seen with a smile on her face as she wielded a spear in her right hand and a short wakizashi in her left. What was truly surprising, however, was that most of her armor had been battered and, while she didn’t seem to have suffered any serious injuries, there was blood trickling from her nose and ears.

While some may mistakenly believe that the wind pressure behind Heracles’ blow carried a lot more force than it seemed, the truth of the matter was that Kenshin had been a lot closer than the majority of people were aware. She tried to follow up her initial attack by attacking from his flank but, in the same spinning motion as his dodge, Heracles had struck forward just moments before she evaded with [Shundo]. Since this was a spatial movement, part of the force followed along with her so, while she evaded a direct strike, Kenshin hadn’t escaped unscathed.

Still, for Kenshin to reveal herself, there were only two possibilities. She had either given up or, as could be ascertained from the smile on her face, was confident in her victory. What nobody could expect, at least among those who were unaware of what had happened, was for Kenshin to raise her spear and announce, "I’m afraid this victory belongs to me. If we were to fight without any restrictions, the outcome would undoubtedly be a complete reversal..."

Rather than refuse Kenshin’s words, Heracles smiled in his characteristically vicious grin as he raised himself up to a standing position and looked around the area. He could feel the mana in the atmosphere beginning to muster as the wind began to build up around him. While others may not think much of this, he knew it was only the calm before the storm as, despite nothing happening, his instincts were screaming at him to evade. With this being the case, he decided that the safest place was near Kenshin’s side so, without any delay, he kicked against the ground with his right foot, rupturing the white stone as he shot forward like a hypersonic cannonball.

At the exact same moment that Heracles vaulted toward her, Kenshin lowered her spear down in what seemed to be slow motion. Even the weakest of the Spirits were able to follow its trajectory yet, despite this incongruously slow speed, the action was completed before Heracles was able to reach her. Vahn knew this was the phenomenon of weapon Laws manifesting themselves as he had seen it in the past several times, chiefly aimed at him...

As if time had been stopped, Heracles was bisected from his left shoulder to his waist but, with the amount of momentum he had built up, his forward trajectory was not changed. Unfortunately, Kenshin had created several anchor points using her discarded weapons around the arena so, while her mastery of [Shundo] was only at the C-Rank, she was able to shift to any of them in an instant.

With his intended target simply vanishing in thin air, Heracles was left to crash into the ground with enough force to seemingly cause the entire Training Orb to quake in the aftermath. Even the barrier surrounding the stage began to ripple a bit but, as the blow dealt to him had cut clean through his heart, he wasn’t going to be getting up any time soon. Rather, from within the deep crevasse that his body had formed, steam began to rise as a result of his [Godhand] activating, thus eliminating him from the tournament.

(A/N: Alternate Titles: ’Someone call CPS!’,’RIP Gareth (T^T)7...’,’She is tapping into the speed force...!’)