Endless Path : Infinite Cosmos

With his surroundings suddenly changing so drastically, it didn't take a grand feat of deduction to conclude that Vahn had found himself within a Reality Marble. Vahn could remember Rin describing it as a phenomenon that centers around the materialization and projection of one's inner world, often taking a form and function that provided the user an almost insurmountable advantage. In legend, Ozymandias was known to have built several grand Temples, many dedicated to the various gods that supposedly inhabited his body. Because of his ambitions, it was recorded that Ozymandias had declared, "all temples of past, present, and future exists for my divine purpose". As a result, it seemed like every temple, regardless of when, where, and for whatever purpose, had found itself within this infinitely vast space...Instead of moving to attack, both Vahn and Ozymandias stared at each other from a distance, the latter now having a far more serious expression as he said, "I commend you, Sage Emperor. To force me to this extent, know that you have earned the right to raise your head high in the afterlife. I will have your body enshrined within my grandest mausoleum, a resting ground reserved for only the greatest Pharaohs recorded in the annals of history. Now, quake in awe at the might of all the Gods of Egypt...!" With his words echoing through the area, each of the temples in the surroundings seemed to come alive with an overwhelming magical aura. Vahn could see seven giant Sphinxes ascend towards the sky while, from the ground below, green tendrils coiled towards him at an almost imperceptible speed.Vahn, still in his Qinglong form, attempted to teleport in an effort to evade but, much to his surprise, the fabric of Space-Time in the surroundings seemed immovable. As a result, his only option was to abandon his Qinglong form and attempt to evade using the enhanced agility of his Baihu form. This ultimately proved a futile effort, however, as the tendrils of green energy moved close to 30,000kmh without being affected by rapid changes in trajectory. Vahn lamented more in this one moment than ever before that he was unable to use Lightning and Light Elemental Magic without a lot of preparation. The only thing he could do was tuck in his arms and legs, shrinking his body as much as possible as the green energy slammed into his body before, as if containing a mind of its own, it attempted to enter through his ears, nose, and mouth...With the foreign energy invading his body, Vahn was beginning to panic before, nearly causing him to laugh out loud, the energy was broken down far faster than it could invade him. Understanding that the 'sentient' green energy was just an advanced poison containing a curse, Vahn relaxed and just let the tendrils coil around his body as he leaped through the sky to attack Ozymandias. The latter was slightly surprised that Vahn hadn't immediately died, as even Servants would eventually succumb to his curse rather quickly. Even the most powerful would be severely weakened so he misconstrued Vahn's attack as the last-ditch efforts of a dying man as he commanded, "Go. Give him the honorable death he seeks..."Six of the seven Sphinxes that had formed a defensive formation around Ozymandias immediately moved to intercept Vahn the moment they heard their God-King's order. The one at the very front, seemingly made of a composite of bronze and marble, attacked Vahn with its golden teeth and claws. As the creature was more than 10m long, and relatively slow, Vahn spun through the air like a competition flier before scraping his claws along the underside of the Sphinx's stoney torso. He was a little taken aback that his claws were only able to form thin lines on the stone but, instead of going for a second strike, Vahn slipped through the gap in the Sphinx's legs before targetting the next one.Seeing Vahn unhesitantly charge at it, the second Sphinx, this time covered from head to claw in golden flames, released a loud roar that carried with it a heatwave easily reaching more than 3,000 degrees celsius. Vahn, however, was completely undeterred by this as his body became shrouded in vermillion flames while both forearms were covered in black scales. As the heatwave slammed into his body, Vahn created another foothold before twisting jumping headfirst into the pressure while forming a penetrative membrane with his [Cantus Bellax] magical shroud. This gave him more than enough momentum to overcome the powerful roar, allowing Vahn to uppercut the bellowing Sphinx, forcing its mouth shut in the process.Though Vahn was able to send it flying back several meters, he realized that his attacks weren't actually doing damage, at least to the two Sphinxes he had attacked. While doing his best to dodge their combined attacks, Vahn's second process was quickly sorting through the information stored within his mind while trying to come up with a solution. It was possible that the other six were tied to the one laying next to Ozymandias, meaning he would need to kill it in order to deal with the other seven. The next most likely scenario was that they were the manifestations of specific Temple Spirits, requiring Vahn to destroy their temples in order to defeat their avatars. Lastly, though this was a terrifying prospect, it could be the Noble Phantasm itself that granted them their immortality. This would require Vahn to destroy a seemingly infinite space, or at least force Ozymandias to use up his reserves so that it would naturally dissolve...Even if his second process wasn't providing any real distractions to Vahn's main process, one of the Sphinxes finally landed a clean hit on his body. It had a long tail that was nearly 15m long and covered from base to tip in black scales. At the very end, instead of barbs or hair, the tail formed into the head of a massive cobra that had a golden pattern on its 'cloak', forming the shape of two eyes that had caused Vahn's mind to blank for a brief moment when looking at them. He was already colliding with one of the surrounding temples when he realized something had happened, a gap that wasn't missed by one of the other Sphinxes within the group. This one had sapphire-like fur with amethyst eyes and a mane comprised of mystical blue energy. Using the momentary gap in Vahn's focus, it opened its maw wide before biting down, taking his entire torso in its mouth due to the difference in size.Fortunately, while a mechanism seemed to make them impervious to damage, it didn't seem to provide them any offensive power. Though Vahn was being shaken around like a chew toy, the Sphinx's teeth were unable to penetrate his flesh. The only worrisome factor was the icy energy trying to invade his body but, as Vahn's Source Energy could adapt to any form of energy, he was able to guide it along his mana circuits without taking any damage. Instead, Vahn was using the Sphinx's attack as a means to recover his severely diminished reserves. It took several long seconds before the creature realized something was wrong, throwing Vahn from its mouth to be dealt with by its kin.Using the momentum of the 'Ice Sphinx's' toss, Vahn faced down the same Stone Sphinx that had started the attack, a resolute light in his eyes as he pulled out a small nail. As the Stone Sphinx tried to crush him with its massive muscular maw, Vahn stabbed upward with the [Sacred Duplex Nail], successfully stabbing the roof of the Sphinx's mouth. At the same time, Vahn, already in his pseudo-Xuanwu form, directed the entire force of his attack at the very tip of the nail. This created allowed him to experience the surprisingly satisfying phenomenon of watching the Stone Sphinx's head exploding. Though it didn't shed any blood at all, the explosive 'crunch' of stone being fractured apart caused Vahn to smile excitedly as he faced down the other five Sphinxes.Instead of moving to attack again, the remaining Sphinxes circled around Vahn with greater caution as, high in the skies above, Ozymandias watched the battle with a casual smile on his face. Though Vahn couldn't hear him, Ozymandias stroked the head of the Sphinx at his side, the one seemingly comprised of the very fabric of Space. It had an ephemeral black body that was filled with an incalculable number of stars and spiraling galaxies. The only physical components, as everything else appeared nebulous and almost 'liquid' in structure, were its solid gold wings, shimmering with a metallic sheen, and the ornate gold-lazuli Pharoah's crown that served as its mane. To this most trusted companion of his, Ozymandias lightly stated, "He is quite something, isn't he?"Without making a single sound, a 'ripple' began to spread across the Sphinx's nebulous face that seemed to communicate its intent as Ozymandias began to laugh in a boisterous manner. Once he had finished, Ozymandias nodded his head and said, "If that is your desire, I will not hold you back. It seems I will need to bestow even greater honors upon him when he dies...fuuu..." With that said, Ozymandias began to contemplate how best to immortalize his battle with Vahn while, at his side, the peculiar Sphinx rose to its feet before becoming absolutely still. Then, several parts of its body began to expand before, similar to an amoeba, it began to split into smaller versions of itself. By the time it was done, its 15m long body had shrunken down to 4m in size as twenty similarly sized clones leaped into the fray alongside the, now four, Sphinxes...Vahn had just gotten his revenge against the Sphinx with the snake tail when he sensed an amount of energy that created an illusion as if the sky was falling. Looking up, Vahn saw the twenty Sphinxes, each appearing as if they were cut from the night sky, descending towards him. The moment he saw this sight, Vahn's second and third processes completely ceased functioning as his mind simply 'blanked', once again experiencing the peculiar 'nothingness' that had been his companion as of late. In this state of mind, Vahn felt like a passenger in his own body as he began to move like a high-precision machine. It wasn't nearly at the same level as Scáthach, but Vahn felt like he had turned his brain off, his sole focus the annihilation of his enemies...From atop his golden throne, Ozymandias felt the change in Vahn as small instabilities began appearing in the space comprising his Noble Phantasm, Ramesseum Tentyris. This caused him to click his tongue as it indicated his Reality Marble wouldn't hold up for much longer. He had to expend a lot of energy to allow his companion, the Wehem-Mesut Sphinx, to split so many times. It was a Noble Phantasm all it's own so, in order to keep it manifested, Ozymandias needed to supply his own magical power. Though he was receiving a fair amount from his would-be Master, even that was quickly drying up as Vahn simply refused to die...Seeing Vahn pull out a rather plain-looking spear that could apparently even cut through the flesh of his pseudo-immortal Sphinxes, Ozymandias released a sigh as the gold making up his Arc, another Noble Phantasm named Mesektet,' The Solar Ship of the Dark Night', began to liquidize. Near his feet, a pillar began to emerge before forming into a lever when it reached the same level as his armrest. Though he was reluctant to use his final card against the same opponent, as it felt like a pyrrhic victory at best, Ozymandias saw Vahn absorb the attack from one of his Sphinxes, converting it into his own Od. This was all Ozymandias needed to see as his commanding voice echoed, "Sun's wrath, serpent that devours serpents, light of judgment, Uraeus...!"The moment Ozymandias finished his words, he pulled the golden lever without hesitation, causing the front of his arc to open. Located within his arc, serving the function of its core and engine, a massive emerald-green crystal could be seen. There were several rings of gold, each covered with thousands of small runes, fixing it in place. The ring towards the very tip of the massive crystal began to flicker before they eventually turned dark moments later. These rings usually served the purpose of a stabilizing the cosmic energy contained within the crystal. With the one at the end no longer active, a massive beam of green energy, tinged with a golden radiance, rained down on Vahn's location at the speed of light...Vahn had sensed the massive buildup of energy but, even before his brain could probably communicate with his muscles, his vision was already completed shrouded by emerald green light. Almost instantly thereafter, Vahn could no longer see anything at all as his eyes were liquidized from their sockets as his body, his body following course soon after. He didn't know it at the time but Ozymandias' Uraeus could, for a brief moment, reach the EX classification for a Noble Phantasm while within his Reality Marble. It was a degree of power that wasn't even quantifiable within the Root, serving the purpose of an Anti-Fortress level attack that simply couldn't be blocked without an even more ridiculous Noble Phantasm...---The beam from Ozymandias' arc continued to fire for a full thirty seconds before his own expression began to pale. At this point, the surrounding space was filled with spatial fissures while, caught in the crossfire of their own Master's attack, the Sphinxes that had been engaging Vahn were all destroyed along with him. This was extremely taxing on Ozymandias but, at the very least, it seemed his final card had managed to finish the job. Thus, with a tired yet appreciative expression, Ozymandias muttered, "You were a far more worthy opponent than I could have ever anticipated. I wonder what kind of Servant such a capable Master was able to summon...?" At the same time that these words were leaving his lips, Ozymandias allowed his Reality Marble to break apart naturally as he released a tired sigh. In this exact moment, just as he had dropped his guard the most, Ozymandias' eyes widened in shock as the words, "Gae Bolg" reached his ears...Like a bolt of red lightning, Ozymandias' body was ripped from his arc before he was unceremoniously slammed into the ground moments later. On contact with the asphalt, he coughed up a mouth of blood before clutching his chest with a pained expression on his face. Brackish-Red energy had started to spread from where his heart had been pierced, carrying with it malicious energy that felt like thorns spreading through his body. These thorns pierced all of his organs as they quickly spread through his body, even reaching his mind. If not for the fact that Servants were made up of mana, he would have died almost instantly from the unexpected attack from Scáthach's Noble Phantasm.With what remained of his strength, Ozymandias glared up at Scáthach, his gold eyes locking with her crimson red gaze as he spat, "You mongrel...you dare sneak attack...this...God-King...?" To this, Scáthach plainly stated in her usual monotone, "There are no such things as sneak attacks. You were caught unprepared. If you are so quick to seek someone to blame for your own folly, you will never be a true King." Even before she finished her words, Scáthach had started to look around the area, no longer paying attention to the dying Ozymandias. This caused him to laugh, not because she was looking down on him, but because her words held a grain of truth within. They were currently at War and, with Servants often having distinctly different strengths, the fault of being 'caught off guard' lay squarely on his shoulders.Even though it felt like there was no power in his body, Ozymandias began to rise to his feet with an extreme amount of effort. Scáthach turned her attention back to him but made no attempt to stop his actions as, with her eyes, she knew what he was doing. Thus, even as Ozymandias pulled out a golden necklace, Scáthach just watched him with her expressionless face as he said, "That man, the Sage Emperor, was annihilated by my last attack. If he has anyone that was close to him, give them this necklace...it is my most precious treasure in all Creation. It may not hold value to them, but I would rather they keep it than entrust it to the hands of some random Magus..."Much like every other Servant, Ozymandias had required a catalyst in order to manifest according to the Grails' requirements. His took on the form of a partially shattered golden necklace that had belonged to his one and only wife, Nefertari. Though he had lain with hundreds of women in his time and had more than thirty concubines, the only woman he had ever loved was Nefertari herself. He had lived a life without any regrets but, if given the chance, he would have liked to walk this land once again with her at his side...With that thought playing through his mind, Ozymandius began to dissolve away into particles of golden light as a contented expression adorned his face. The necklace in his hand began to fall under the pull of gravity but Scáthach deftly caught it out of the air before muttering, "That man would not die so easily. I am not sorry to have defeated you, but I will apologize for interrupting your battle. Thank you for taking care of my student..." Though he may not have heard her words, Scáthach felt like the God-King, who died standing on his feet, deserved to know the truth. Then, when his body had completely vanished, so too did hers, though for decidedly different reasons...---Appearing like a phantom near the edge of a parking lot, Scáthach squatted down to pick up a small rainbow-colored gemstone that was only around the size of her thumb. Even then, it seemed to possess limitless vitality as a powerful energy that she couldn't even comprehend radiated from within. Though she didn't know exactly what had happened, Scáthach was able to intuit that this tiny gemstone was none other than Vahn. When he had been attacked by Ozymandias, something that also could have qualified as a 'sneak attack', Vahn had compressed a part of his body before surrounding it with as much Source Energy as he could muster. This had coalesced into the nigh-indestructible gemstone within Scáthach's hand and, as his reserves gradually recovered, so too would his body...Knowing how close her student had come to death, Scáthach, for the first time in a very long period of time, felt slightly annoyed. Her expression didn't change but, once he managed to regenerate, Scáthach swore that she would give Vahn twice the thrashing as he had previously received. For now, however, she decided to both punish and reward him at the same time, taking the rainbow gemstone in her palm before placing it snuggly between her cleavage. Her instincts told her that Vahn was still 'aware' of what was going on around him so, as punishment for having to clean up after him, Scáthach wanted him to reflect on his actions while growing accustomed to situations he had no control over. When he finally relinquished control and focused on his actions themselves, she believed he would become a truly powerful warrior...(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Welcome to the Desert of the Real','Ozymandias would be unstoppable if Vahn was his Master...','( Y )~*angry emperor noises*')https://bit.ly/2XBzAYu &lt;-(p.atreon link)paypal.me/EinlionDiscord Invite: https://discord.gg/mn5xMbE

Though it had not been long, less than five days, Vahn felt as if the last hundred hours or so could be directly compared to a several-year period. Currently, he was laying at the bottom of the now filled miniature-lake, enjoying the pressure of the water and the cool sensation against his skin. Almost as if he were meditating, his mind was in a state where the only 'thought' gracing his consciousness were the nigh-imperceptible sounds from the [Mantra of Eternity]. He did not move, not even to breathe, while his heart rate had slowed so considerably that it would have been more conducive to measure its rhythm in beats-per-hour than beats-per-minute...In this state, where he simply existed, Vahn could feel every subtle vibration from the surroundings, including the gentle ebb and flow of the water, the distant echo of voices, the sound of water being displaced as people swam through it. If he chose to focus, in this state of borderline 'nothingness', Vahn could even perceive the heartbeats of others, a gentle yet consistent vibration that seemed to spread through his body like a healing wave. In a way, these vibrations were very similar to the [Manta of Eternity], as it would seem to not exist the moment you truly tried to focus on it. The only way to experience it was to let things go, freeing your mind from all other distractions so that you could simply be as one with the natural and gentle rhythm of the universe...Even Vahn wasn't quite sure how long he had been laying at the bottom of the lake, at least not before his finger twitched slightly when the sound of water breaking echoed through the water. This brought his awareness back from the nothingness, causing Vahn's eyes to slowly open as the swift figure of Fenrir, wearing what appeared to be a traditional school swimsuit, appeared in his vision. For a brief moment after their gazes overlapped, neither Vahn nor Fenrir made any attempts to move as they simply 'understood' each other completely in a single instant. Vahn then proceeded to nod before rolling to position his feet under himself in order to gentle kick off from the lakebed and ascend to the surface.Breaking through the surface of the water, Vahn suddenly felt the world was a lot warmer than before as he took in his first breath over the last six hours. It tasted crisp and refreshing, causing him to issue a natural and gentle smile as he extricated himself from the water, directing his gaze to the nearby Rin before his words got caught in his throat. Though this could have been misconstrued as shock, due to how Rin was wearing an intricate red bikini, it was the fact that someone Vahn hadn't expected to see was standing next to her. During the moment when he was laying at the bottom of the lake, Vahn had completely turned off his domain to cut himself off from outside distractions. Rin seemed mildly surprised by his confusion at first, as it always felt like Vahn 'knew' everything, but she quickly explained, "Gray came to pass information directly to prevent any information from leaking. Since you said this is essentially an isolated space, I thought it would be best to bring her inside so she could report directly..."Vahn had already assumed much the same so he wasn't surprised by Rin's words in the least. What he really wanted to know was how Gray had the time to change into an off-black swimsuit. Deciding to let the matter lay, Vahn just gave Gray, who was still wearing her hooded cloak, a curt nod before saying, "Your swimsuit suits you well." Then, without missing a step, Vahn cast his glance over Rin's body in an 'obvious' manner before smiling as he said, "You look amazing, Rin." Since he had little doubt that Rin would have worn something more conservative at a beach or pool, Vahn knew that she had specifically worn a bikini to catch his attention. Though he wasn't quite at the level Scáthach wanted him to be at, not by a longshot, Vahn decided it was a lot easier to just say whatever was on his mind without worrying about the potential ramifications.Rin's face turned slightly red while, somewhat unexpectedly, Gray pulled her hood down to cover her face before closing her mantle in an apparent attempt to hide her body. Vahn withheld comment about her peculiar actions as he had some idea as to the reason why she was acting bashfully. To make things easier for them both, Vahn changed from wearing nothing but a pair of tight swimwear, not all that dissimilar from a professional swimmer, into a set of casual clothing. He then gestured to the side, where a series of furniture was loosely arranged to accommodate anyone wanting to relax within the Orb's confines. In passing, Vahn spooked Rin a bit by snaking his hand around her waist and leading her along with him as if it were the most natural thing to do...---Gray, hugging a penguin-shaped pillow to hide the front of her body, was seated across from Vahn, Rin, and Fenrir as she explained, "Last night, a Magus hailing from China, named Wu Lim Shi, was eliminated from the Holy Grail War. His Servant was the Assassin-Class, a Heroic Spirit named Yan Qing. We are unsure of what happened with Assassin, but it is almost guaranteed that he has been contracted to the Master of the second Assassin-Class Servant, Hassan I Sabbah. Like you, some of the enemy Masters seem to be trying to expand their forces...there is a good chance alliances have already been made as well."Hearing Gray's report, Vahn realized that the Grail War was becoming even more twisted and complex than ever before. Though it wasn't unheard of for Master's to take in additional Servants, it was counterintuitive to the completion of the Heaven's Feel ritual. At the same time, unless they had means he was unaware of, it was nearly impossible for other Master's to manifest more than a single Servant. They could certainly have more than one bound to them, but they were unable to establish an 'active' link with two manifested Servants without overburdening themselves. This was one of the mechanisms that Holy Grail used to ensure that situations like Vahn's, where he was hoarding multiple Servants, wouldn't provide an even more ridiculous advantage...Without thinking too deeply into it, Vahn gave a curt nod before explaining, "We can deduce that these changes are either caused by the Einzbern's modifications to the ritual...or due to the current abnormalities within the Grail itself. Now that the trend has been established, there is a good chance this Grail War will become a competition to see which Master can consolidate the greatest number of Servants under their influence...even then, I imagine they will still have multiple Masters on their side. We will have to prepare to fight against teams and alliances in the future..."Vahn knew that, unlike him, even if a Master could cheat the system by manifesting a second Servant, it wouldn't be easy. He could mitigate the negative influences without any effort at all, either due to the nature of his own body and mind or as a 'hidden benefit' provided due to his status as a 'Moderator'. Even when he had Nobunaga, Scáthach, and Astolfo all manifested at the same time, Vahn didn't feel even the smallest burden on his mind and body. To make matters even more advantageous for himself, Nobunaga, Astolfo, and, using her ability to make use of any skill, Scáthach; all three of them had the [Independent Action] skill. So long as they avoided combat, they would be able to stay manifested for well over a day without having to resupply, an affair that Vahn was becoming increasingly desensitized to...In response to Vahn's words, Rin had a thoughtful expression on her face as she suggested, "Maybe it would be best to lay low and let the other Masters take each other out. There still hasn't been any sign of the Ruler-Class Servant appearing and, other than both Assassins, we don't really know the identities of the other Servants." Rin felt a strange incongruity in her own words as, going by common sense, the Assassin-Class Servants should have been the hardest to identify since they would rarely fight directly.Shaking her head, Gray quickly corrected, "We know the identities of several other Servants now. It is one of the things I came to report..." These plainly stated words caused Rin to startle slightly, followed by her exclaiming, "Come on, Gray, that is the kind of thing you mention earlier...!" This outburst caused Gray to bury her face into the top of the penguin-shaped pillow, resulting in Rin becoming slightly fretful as she waved her hands and said, "Hey, I'm not blaming you or anything. I..." Before Rin could continue, Vahn placed his hand on her shoulder before lightly shaking his head to get her to quiet down.With Rin falling silent, Vahn looked towards Gray before gently asking, "Gray, can you please tell us about the other Servants? It will be very helpful..." In response to these words, Gray peered back with her stark blue eyes before nodding her head and somewhat sheepishly explaining, "We have been able to confirm the identities of one of the Saber-Class Servants, the second Rider-Class Servant, and one of the Berserkers...also, based on the information you provided, there is a good chance that the Caster you encountered previously is someone the Mage's Association has an interest in..."Though he was a little bothered by the fact that Gray hadn't actually named any of the Servants when she was speaking, Vahn remained patient and simply nodded his head in response. This seemed to get Gray to relax a little more as she sat a little straighter before explaining, "The Saber-Class is a Servant by the name of Lakshmibai, also known as the Jeanne d'Arc of India. She had fought against the Berserker we've identified, a troublesome Servant identified as Asterios, the Minotaur. From what we've been able to collect, it seemed that Lakshmibai was seriously injured in their battle before ultimately managing to escape. The last Servant, the Rider-Class, could prove even more troublesome...he is a Servant named Ozymandias, the man known as Ramesses II, or the God-King..."As Gray was giving her explanation, Vahn was already sorting through the information on all the named Servants with the assistance of Sis. Lakshmibai seemed like she would probably join their side if he managed to encounter her Master, but the other two would undoubtedly prove troublesome. Asterios' legend already made him out to be a monstrously powerful figure so, with the [Mad Enhancement] of being a Berserker-Class, he would be difficult to deal with head-on. As for Ozymandias, it wouldn't really matter all that much if the man himself hadn't been that powerful in life. With titles like 'God-King', the Heroic Spirit manifested by the Grail would undoubtedly be on a level all his own.While his subprocess mind was sifting through the legends to try and discern any exploitable weaknesses the three might have, Vahn kept his attention on Gray as he asked, "What can you tell us about the Caster we encountered? He doesn't seem like an evil individual, so I plan to try and recruit him to our side." Though they were quickly running out of ally slots, as they still needed to sacrifice six Servants in order to summon the Greater Grail, Vahn felt like the Caster that had bested Fenrir would be a powerful ally. At the same time, Vahn had already realized that things were developing in a similar way to his experience within Danmachi. It hadn't been his intention outright, by he quickly found himself surrounded by girls and, though Astolfo was 'technically' a male, Vahn felt he didn't serve the role of a stop-gap in the least...In response to Vahn's question, Gray showed a rare smile before explaining, "If his appearance is as Rin previously described, that Caster-Class Servant should be a man by the name of Paracelsus Von Hoenheim. When he was alive, he was one of the most prominent Alchemist and Magecraft researchers in the entire world. Some even credit him as being the 'Father of Modern Alchemy', due to the vast knowledge he freely shared with everyone. Even the production of modern [Philosopher's Stone]s uses the formula he had provided, requiring no sacrifices in order to achieve a similar result to the original...!"Vahn was a little surprised by Gray's enthusiasm as, other than when they fought, she seemed like a quiet and demure girl. Knowing that revealing his surprise would cause her to fall silent, Vahn kept a gentle smile on his face as he commented, "He sounds like an amazing person. Now I have even more of a reason to try and recruit him..." This sentiment seemed to be shared by Gray who, since the moment she began talking about Paracelsus, had an expression of adulation on her face. As for Rin, she had a completely blank expression at the moment as she looked between Vahn and Gray, internally asking herself, ("What the heck is going on here? I've never seen Gray talk so much before...")For a few minutes straight, Gray continued to talk somewhat enthusiastically about all the accomplishments that Paracelsus had accumulated in life. As Vahn had already sorted through the man's information in his mind, her actions were more than a little redundant, but he decided it wouldn't hurt to humor her. By the end of her story, which made Paracelsus out to be a figure that even gods show bow before, Gray wasn't even using the penguin to hide anymore. Since she had a youthful figure, even while being in her late twenties, Vahn felt this was the 'best' way for her to be. Seeing a woman walk around in a solemn and demure state was a little saddening as, compared to almost anything else, nothing quite added to the natural beauty of the world quite like the sincere expression of happiness people were capable of showing. It was the kind of thing that people would fight tooth and nail to protect, regardless of the nightmares they might have to face...Unfortunately, Gray's smile didn't last for too much longer as, much like the legend of other Heroes, Paracelsus didn't have a 'good end'. Because he had been publishing his research freely, both within the Magus, Church, and Civilian communities, he caused a lot of the 'traditionalists' who believed that Magecraft should be kept a secret to turn against him. Paracelsus seemed to genuinely believe that Magecraft, if freely propagated, would allow humanity to reach true prosperity. He ignored the warnings and threats, all the way until the very moment the Mage's Association sent its Executors to assassinate him. According to Gray, he offered no resistance to the very end, even saying to his murderers, "When all of you return to each of your homes, please be affectionate to your children. Even showing it to your neighbors' kids is fine. As the light that I sought, is in them..."Vahn had to admit that he was a bit shaken by Gray's words as, if they were true, the people in power had essentially killed one of the kindest and most noble people he had ever heard of...all to protect their secrets and secure their own power. He even suspected that the only reason they allowed Paracelsus to live as long as he had was to benefit from his research for themselves. The order to kill him must have come from someone who had learned about a recent breakthrough that Paracelsus had made and, not wanting it to be 'freely shared' with other members of the Magus Community, ordered his murder before stealing the research for themselves...Seeing Gray suddenly drop into low spirits, Vahn's own smile grew to compensate as he stated in a calm and serious tone, "I will make sure that Paracelsus is able to achieve his dream this time around. In this modern era, the Mage's Association and the Holy Church would be hard-pressed to suppress information spread through the internet. I can help Paracelsus establish a workshop in secret, using this Sub-Space Orb to keep his presence concealed from the rest of the world. Every breakthrough he makes, I will make sure it spreads to each end of the globe...though his dream may not be the most realistic, I can't help but want to believe that the path he saw was the correct one..."As Vahn's most sincere desire, other than returned home, was to help people that were suffering, he found Paracelsus' ideals worthy of his envy. Unlike the path he had chosen, which seemed to be one filled with bloodshed and slaughter, Paracelsus had walked the path of a true pacifist. He seemed to sincerely believe in the goodness of mankind, even if it didn't exist in the present. By focusing his efforts on making the world a better place for the generations to follow, Paracelsus believed that the world would eventually become a place where everyone could be happy, much the same as Vahn himself believed. Though their means were nearly polar opposites of each other, as Vahn believed in merit, effort, and balance, their end desire wasn't all that dissimilar...Though not nearly as vibrant as before, Gray returned a gratified smile in response to Vahn's claim before saying, "I will choose to believe you..." As these words left her lips, however, Gray seemed startled by herself as practically jumped to her feet before asking, "How do I leave this place...?" in a hurried tone. Vahn did his best to prevent his expression from changing in the slightest as he wrote the word in the air, doing his best not to focus on it. As a result, Gray, Fenrir, Rin, and even Nobunaga all vanished from within the Orb. This caused Vahn to instantly burst out laughing, even when all three returned a few seconds later with slightly reddened faces...(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Man, Scáthach fucked Vahn's shit up xD...','Paracelsus is bae','Ha, got'em...!')https://bit.ly/2XBzAYu &lt;-(p.atreon link)paypal.me/EinlionDiscord Invite: https://discord.gg/mn5xMbE

Chapter 1055: Radiance