Endless Path : Infinite Cosmos

At the location designated as C-17 in Chaldea's archives, a lackadaisical looking man with shaggy brown hair, a child-like girl with pure white hair, and a buxom woman wearing a stylish kimono all appeared on a metallic platform in the middle of the Indian Ocean. Similar to the child-like girl, the woman in the kimono had pale hair but, instead of being white, it had undertones of lavender.Next to the peculiar trio, five cylindrical containers, each roughly the size of coffins, were arranged neatly in a row. They were each marked with serial codes and numerical designations ranging from 001 to 005 and, even while sealed, a powerful aura radiated out from each of them. As a result, the clear skies overhead began to darken and, a stark contrast to their former calm, the sea began to roll with violent waves in a very short period of time.Taking in her surroundings, the kimono-clad woman lightly hummed before musing, "So, this is the past, eh? It doesn't seem like the dystopic place you claimed it to be. You realize I won't hesitate to cut you down if you lied to me, right?"Hearing the buxom woman's question, the shaggy-haired man snorted before making a gesture as if to push up glasses. Finding the ridge of his nose barren, he settled on pinching it while lazily stating, "This is the furthest point we can jump back. Tracing back all future timelines brings us to this point, like a reverse Quantum-Lock. We need to find the source of the singularity and destroy it. The future of all worlds depends on our success..."Without minding the shaggy-haired man's explanation, the woman wearing the kimono turned her attention to a point in space, her peculiar eyes flickering with a myriad of blues, pinks, and light greens. Then, faster than anyone present could perceive, one of the four swords tied to her obi had already been unsheathed. At the exact same moment, seemingly without any time passing at all, a small spherical probe fell from the sky, bisected cleanly in two despite having been several hundred meters away.Seeing the probe fall, the shaggy-haired man snorted once again before asking, "Still think this world is normal? The technology of this era shouldn't be able to detect us at all. This proves my conjecture. Something, or someone, created a singularity within the past. If we don't remove the cause, all future timeline will cease to exist. Trillions of potential lives, infinite possibilities, will be lost..."Instead of agreeing with the man outright, the kimono-wearing woman just lightly hummed as she looked around the area. Then, with another flash of her sword, another probe, this one emerging at a distance of several kilometers, was cut down. The fact their enemies had the ability to send out a series of invisible probes, each seemingly capable of teleporting short distances, was a cause for concern. It wouldn't take long for them to be swarmed and, while she was supremely confident in her abilities, protecting others had never been her forte.Deciding it was best to change locations, she sheathed her sword before picking up the white-haired girl and saying, "We need to move. I feel something...dangerous. If we stick around here for too long, don't blame me if your plans fail before they can even take off."Shaking his head in response to the woman's words, the man pulled out an egg-shaped device and, after pressing a series of runes, a spherical barrier surrounded the platform before it vanished into thin air. Moments later, a purple-clad figure emerged from the void, two scarlet spears at the ready as her equally red eyes scanned the area.Sensing her enemies had faded, seemingly without a trace, Scáthach couldn't help but furrow her brows. For a brief moment, she had sensed a phenomenally powerful opponent, one that stirred her dormant fighting spirit. Though the Chaldea Security Forces were well on their way, she preempted their arrival after using her Clairvoyance to determine all but one of them would have died. She knew Vahn wanted to avoid casualties as much as possible so, in order to prevent him from brooding, she decided to change the future by interfering in the present.After failing to find any traces of their enemies, Scáthach squinted her eyes slightly before turning her back and preparing to teleport away. It was at this exact moment that a ripple, so subtle as to be non-existent, appeared from the void. This caused Scáthach's eyes to widen and, despite her best efforts to evade the invisible wave completely, it ended up passing through her left arm faster than even her perception could follow. At the same time, a deep crevasse appeared in the sea, seemingly cutting through the entire ocean and bisecting it in two.Though the pain of losing an arm didn't influence her at all, Scáthach clenched her teeth as a pale-gold spear appeared in her right hand. Then, with a form beyond perfection, she threw the spear, seemingly toward nothing while shouting, "Gungnir!!" in a venomous tone. In response to her cry, the spear flashed with a brilliant golden light before vanishing into thin air, a black void left in its wake...---In a non-existent location within Imaginary Number Space, the kimono-clad woman, despite the protests of the shaggy-haired man, stood with two ornate katanas drawn. She had created a link between a future timeline and the present, attacking from the future to strike at the dangerous opponent she had sensed pursuing them. Her eyes allowed her to actualize the success of any strike, irrespective of the time and place it took place. Simply by knowing when and where an opponent would be, she could strike their expected location before they reached it; leaving a lethal attack waiting for them while she was nowhere, and nowhen, to be seen.Despite this sure-kill move, her instincts told her that the enemy pursuing them wasn't the type to be taken down so easily. Thus, despite the fact attacks shouldn't be able to reach them within their non-existent location, she didn't drop her guard. This ended up being the correct choice as, around two hours after her attack, a brilliant flash of light illuminated the Imaginary Number Space. At the same time, a spear larger than a mountain appeared, its tip barreling towards their location at near-lightspeed.Though the golden spear seemed completely unstoppable, the kimono-clad woman, with a casual smile on her face, shifted her stance ever-so-slightly. Her feet traced a gentle crescent, seemingly moving in slow motion despite the fact the movement was completed before the spear reached the platform she was standing on. By the time it actually reached her, the spear's forward momentum had been completely arrested, stopping mid-motion as two distinct lines ran through its length.With an approving nod, the woman brandished her swords before slowly sheathing them and musing, "I can't wait to see what else you're capable of. Unfortunately, you'll have to do better than this if you want to trade blows with me~."Following her musings, the woman completed sheathing her swords, causing a slick 'chnk' sound as the metal overlapped. Immediately following this sound, the massive golden spear exploded into a shower of magical fragments before dissolving into the Imaginary Number Space, its form shattered to the point of non-existence...Seeing the shower of golden light, the white-haired girl issued a monotonous 'ooooh~' while the shaggy-haired man, without even bothering to watch the exchange, continued working on the five containers. His power was several orders of magnitude lower than his sword-wielding companion so, if she couldn't stop their enemies, there wasn't much sense in mustering his own defenses. He would rather focus on important tasks than bother with matters outside his ability to influence.With this in mind, the man interfaced his device with the 001 container, inputting a runic-based code to overwrite the failsafes keeping the entity inside sealed away. This process took nearly five hours to complete but, from the perspective of the outside world, little to no time had passed. Then, with one final input, the previously mirror-like surface of the cylinder developed a crease along its side before abruptly opening amidst a cloud of icy cold vapor.Following the unsealing of the container, the aura emanating from inside increased exponentially for a brief moment before ultimately vanishing entirely a moment later. Then, from within the hazy mist, a delicate white hand emerged, grasping awkwardly at the air. This caused the shaggy-haired man to furrow his brow in annoyance but, deciding to keep his thoughts to himself, he grasped the hand to help the person within extricate themselves.From within the sealed container, a young woman with cream-colored hair and vibrant amber eyes emerged. She was attired in a black formfitting bodysuit that looked like something out of a science-fiction movie while, near the bottom of the container, several pieces of equipment and armor were neatly arranged and waiting to be worn. Instead of focusing them, however, the woman looked into the shaggy-haired man's eyes, stating in a dull monotone, "Food..."---Sensing the connection to her projected [Gungnir] being severed, Scáthach's eyes turned cold. She then placed a rune on her arm to prevent it from bleeding out before sending a telepathic message to Vahn, explaining the situation. Though she would have preferred to deal with things behind the scenes, this wasn't an enemy they could afford to keep hidden from Vahn. Rather, everyone would need to be prepared as the attack which had bisected the sea was something only a handful of them would be able to deal with...Considering who had been injured, Vahn issued an emergency summons of his war council, picked the children up from school, and retrieved Olga and Semiramis from their usual habitats. There was no way of knowing when and where their enemy would next appear as their ability to move through Imaginary Number Space meant they could, quite literally, appear anywhere.Since most of the operations of Chaldeas could be managed without being on-site so, Vahn felt better having the two close until they discovered the purpose of this unknown group of enemies. After all, someone that could cut off Scáthach's arm, despite her being virtually immune to damage, couldn't be looked down on. If not for the fact she was still a Heroic Spirit, there was a good chance the limb wouldn't have regrown due to the lingering 'sword energy' that prevented even time-based healing spells...Fortunately, there were only so many people in all of recorded history who could meet the standards of performing such an attack so it didn't take long for them to come up with a list of suspects. Then, with the combined efforts of Sherlock, Merlin, and Scáthach herself, they narrowed the field down to one of three people, the most likely being Miyamoto Musashi. The technique used against Scáthach carried a distinctly 'eastern' feel to it so, if it wasn't Musashi, the only other comparable swordsmen were Suzuka Gozen and, somewhat awkwardly, the original Okita Souji.Regardless of who the attacker was, there were a few things they could be certain of. First, someone had been able to access the Throne of Heroes and, based on the Temporal Anomaly detected by the SHEBA network, it was all but guaranteed they were from the future. This was troublesome in various ways as, despite knowing of the existence of time travel, Vahn hadn't accounted for the fact that he would have to face attacks from the future.Though they wouldn't be able to travel further back than his current present, the fact any number of people from the future could interfere with his plans was an extremely troublesome matter. After all, this meant, if his enemies were capable, they could summon Heroic Spirits, send them back into the past, and then repeat the process. Even if it took them several years to summon each Heroic Spirit, it only took sending them to the same point in the past for them all to converge together. It was an extremely vexing realization as, with everything else that was going on, the last thing Vahn needed was an assault from time-traveling Heroic Spirits...(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'A strong enemy appears!?','Outside of time, space, and even existence...','Vahn and Thanos would have a lot to talk about')https://bit.ly/2XBzAYu &lt;-(p.atreon link)paypal.me/EinlionDiscord Invite: https://discord.gg/Jwa8PKh

Following the emergency summons, where Vahn authorized the creation of a Greater and Lesser Grail, Vahn found himself feeling considerably tense. The most frustrating thing about the current situation was the fact that they couldn't just stop everything they were doing. After all, their enemy could stay hidden for several months, or even years, so there was no sense in holing themselves up in fear of an attack. To make matters worse, they didn't even know the intention of their attackers, only that they were both hostile and powerful...In order to ease his tensions a bit, Vahn ended up retiring to hid bedchambers and, after spending a bit of quality time with Artoria and Gray, he found himself playing with Alaya's ears as he asked, "Can you not look into the future and tell me when and where they will appear next? At the very least, you should be able to give me their identities, right...?"Though she had gotten used to Vahn's teasing, Alaya had a pouting expression on her face as this was the seventeenth time he had asked a similar series of questions. She didn't like repeating herself once, much less sixteen additional times but, as it was nigh-impossible to withhold her response, she begrudgingly answered, "I have been charged with observing you directly. With the current amount of mana you have provided, peering into the future for long periods of time is impossible. Your best option is to contact the 2nd Magician or use that toy of yours to try and discern their location..."Since he had already reached out to Solon in order to contact Zelretch, Vahn couldn't help releasing a sigh in response to Alaya's words. He had been able to convince Zelretch to help out but, with the number of parallel and divergent timelines branching off from the primary time axis, finding a group of people in a single timeline was like searching for a needle in a functionally infinite haystack.In order to narrow down the search parameters, Zelretch needed to know the approximate location of where the unknown attackers would appear in the future. Since they knew neither the motive or the ultimate goal of these time travelers, however, the best he could do was pick a random location and observe the flow of time until the emergence of Angra Mainyu. Even this wasn't guaranteed to be effective, however, as there was a very real chance their attackers wouldn't appear in any of the divergent timelines at all.Assuming their ultimate goal was to assassinate him, the time travelers would only be bound to the primary time axis when they chose to manifest themselves. Since he didn't exist even a few seconds into the current time axis, it was impossible to ascertain when and where they would appear unless he was the one to draw them out.Vahn didn't mind acting as bait to draw out the people who had harmed his Shishou but, if it turned out their goal was something else, he would basically expose himself for nothing. His attempt to try and bait them out might send them into hiding for an even longer period of time. After all, if they had the confidence to fight head-on, they would have already done so from the start. Even if they didn't know about his existence directly, they would have felt the echoes of his influence throughout all future timelines so, at the very least, they had to know of his ability to summon a multitude of Heroic Spirits...Realizing he was pushing himself into a corner, Vahn stopped playing with Alaya's ears, allowing her to snuggle into her usual spot as he apologetically rubbed her back. He was already taking action to try and prevent further casualties by piloting the Hanging Gardens over the Indian Ocean. He even had Arcueid and Aoko to keep him company so, much to Semiramis' chagrin, so there was little he could do that he wasn't already doing.With the functionally limitless resources of the Empire, it would only take ten days for a miniature version of the Greater Grail to be completed. Once it was prepared, the ever-reliable Maxwell would be able to power it to capacity in an instant. Alaya warned that exploiting the Heaven's Feel ritual would rapidly destabilize the world but, so long as it was used in moderation, there wouldn't be too many detrimental effects.Once the ritual was prepared, Vahn could effectively have one wish granted with each passing year. This, unfortunately, meant he wouldn't be able to make use of the Greater Grail the moment it was completed but, as there was always a chance Da Vinci would find a way to accelerate the process, it was better to finish it sooner, rather than later.Fortunately, even without the Greater Grail, the addition of Aoko to the Empire's forces meant they always had the ability to greatly increase their strength. She could draw a person's potential forth in the present, even accelerating their age by several years if necessary. Though they could have some pretty devastating consequences on a person's body, it wasn't something the Empire couldn't deal with. Even if Da Vinci didn't come up with a solution, Vahn was confident his [Hands of Nirvana] and Source Energy would enable him to remove any sequelae.If it came down to it, Vahn was fully prepared to ask Aoko to use her ability, even on the children. They were his greatest concern and, with Scáthach and Merlin, reversing their ages back to normal wouldn't be that difficult. It was infinitely better than them losing their lives in a surprise attack and, after what Scáthach had experienced, it was obvious their enemies had the ability to transition into Imaginary Number Space. Worse yet, they had the ability to locate spatial coordinates while inside, something even Da Vinci had struggled to make any headway on...---Though he kept trying to force himself to relax, Vahn found it hard to break free from his current cycle of exasperation and perturbance. Even the efforts of those around him only helped to alleviate his concerns for a short while as, without knowing exactly what his enemies' motives were, he simply couldn't relax. After all, even Scáthach had been caught off guard so, at any moment in time, Vahn felt as if an unstoppable blade of destruction would bisect the Hanging Gardens in an instant. Since this was a very real possibility, he couldn't' help but tap the armrest of his Throne, at least until Arcueid took it into her own.For what felt like the ten-thousandth time in the last few hours, Vahn released a sigh before turning his attention to Arcueid and muttering, "Sorry, I-"Without letting him continue further, Arcueid just lay her head against his chest and said, "If you stay like this, you're giving them an advantage they didn't earn. You're already trying to lure them out so, until they appear, there is nothing more you can do. Relax...here..."Toward the end of her words, Arcueid took the hand she had grabbed earlier, pressing it into her soft bosom as she added, "Can you feel my heartbeat? It might be a little quickened but it's not due to fear. After all, when we're together, what can hurt us...?"Hearing Arcueid's words, Vahn nearly released another sigh but, just as he was about to respond, a loud yawn sounded throughout the Throne Room as Aoko, wearing nothing but a white blouse held closed by a single button, sat up on the bed before sleepily asking, "Are you still brooding? This isn't like you at all. Stop fretting over what other people are doing and start taking meaningful action. I'm up for another round if it'll stop you from this little emo pity-party you've got going on."To emphasize her words, Aoko lightly flicked the remaining button on her blouse, sending it flying across the Throne Room like a bullet. As a result, her fair white breasts, tipped with ruddy peaks, came into view. If not for the fact she paled for a brief moment, followed by a heavy blush, it would have been quite the tantalizing display. Instead, it was rather amusing so, for a brief moment, a smile spread across Vahn's face as he picked up Arcueid and mused, "If not for my constitution, I fear the two of you would drain me dry..."If she was red before, it was nothing compared to how scarlet Aoko's face had turned as a result of Vahn's words. The way he spoke almost made it sound like she was a nymphomaniac, a thought that caused her body to burn up as memories of the past couple of days flashed through her mind. Not a day had gone by where she, Vahn, and several other women, didn't enjoy a tumble in the sheets so, while it hadn't crossed her mind previously, Aoko began to wonder if she had turned into a pervert without realizing it...Before her mind could come up with an answer, Aoko was startled to awareness as Arcueid pushed her body down onto the bed. Then, without any hesitation whatsoever, the golden-haired Princess began to lightly suckle her left nipple, sending shivers through Aoko's body and setting an explosion off in her mind. Then, as if to cement the thought, a ticklish, hot, and electrical feeling began to run up her right thigh as Vahn gently caressed it with his 'magical' hands. This caused her body to heat up as an agonizing itch began to emerge from deep within, practically screaming, 'you're a pervert' as it sent echoes through her entire body...---Three days following the initial incident, a small ripple appeared in the void, this time within one of the existing Bounded Fields covering the Surface Texture. Here, a Spiritual Land rich with alchemical resources could be found, the former territory of the now-defunct Three Monarchal Lords. Though it had been ransacked for most of its material goods at this point, the Bounded Field was still going strong and, while they no longer had any association with the families they once served, there were a number of former vassals that had made the Spiritual Land their home.Emerging from the ripple were two women, the first being the same sword-wielding woman who had severed Scáthach's arm. Accompanying her was a woman with olive-brown skin, visible due to the fact she wore highly revealing white armor. She had striking blue eyes, white hair, and, adding a peculiarity on top of her scantily clad form, two rabbit-like ears poked out from the top of her head. Despite this, she had a fierce expression on her face and, warpaint covering her body, and a towering physique, she drew a rather intimidating visage.Glancing around the area like a hawk searching for its prey, the somewhat muscular-woman hefted her lance in hand while stating in a deep and husky voice, "This is to be our base? Other than the barrier covering it, there are no fortifications whatsoever...in fact, it looks like a battle already tore through this region before our arrival. Are there no other options? Why do we not take the fight to our opponents? I am not fond of hiding away like a coward."Hearing the muscular woman's complaint, the kimono-clad beauty shrugged her shoulders in a disinterested manner before half-heartedly explaining, "Don't ask me what that man is thinking. I'm only here to fight strong opponents and to help save the world. With how strong our enemies are, it would be pretty senseless to just throw ourselves at them. If you're in a hurry to die an honorable death, don't let me stop you..."Even as she spoke to her companion, the kimono-clad woman pulled out one of her swords as, in the distance, one of the few Magi inhabiting the barrier had just sounded a silent alarm. Soon after, a series of poorly constructed golems began to charge toward them but, seemingly without moving her sword arm in the slightest, the woman casually walked through their ranks. They passed by her as if she was completely invisible to them, causing the spartan-like woman to heft her hoplite shield and prepare for combat. Before any of the opponents could reach her, however, their steps slowed to a crawl before, less than a meter from her position, each one split into cleanly cut stone debris...(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Plans within plans within plans','Let's be real, Aoko has been a pervert since the very beginning~','Casual stroll...')https://bit.ly/2XBzAYu &lt;-(p.atreon link)paypal.me/EinlionDiscord Invite: https://discord.gg/Jwa8PKh

Vahn very rarely turned his attention away from the planet he inhabited but, every now and then, he enjoyed basking in the vast and chaotic energies of space. Though there was a fair amount of radiation present, he was completely immune to its effects since his body naturally filtered away anything harmful. He also had no DNA to damage so, even if he snuggled up next to a nuclear reactor for a few days, he would be none the worse for wear.Sophia, however, was not him so, while she was able to explore space, under close supervision, she did so using a craft that looked a lot like an adorable cartoon rabbit. It even had a snow-white hull, two eye-like sensory compartments, and flight wings that vaguely resembled angular ears. It was actually quite cute to behold and, while Sophia had inherited some troublesome traits from her mother, Vahn appreciated the fact they both designed things with an animal motif, rather than relying on more spartan designs.Though he didn't need to wear one, as he didn't need to breathe, Vahn was wearing a face mask that allowed him to communicate directly with the shuttle. Using this, he was able to alert Sophia to any dangers he sensed and, if anything ended up threatening her from the outside, he would be able to deal with it without putting the craft in danger. After all, while Sophia's craft was ahead of even the most advanced aerospace technology from the previous era, there were a number of environmental factors that posed a serious threat to her safety.Truthfully, Vahn had misgivings about even allowing Sophia into space but, knowing there was a fair chance she would venture out on her own, Vahn decided to directly assist in her research. It was one of the ways in which they got to spend some quality time with each other so, while it was more than a little disconcerting, he always enjoyed accompanying her. Besides, the view simply couldn't be beaten, something Sophia seemed to agree with as he heard her comment over the comms, "Simply breathtaking..."Hearing the remark, Vahn silently nodded his head before hovering near the front of the craft and reminding, "Beauty often conceals great danger. We should finish up quickly before heading back home. You know I can't help but worry about you while we're out here..."Following a peal of bell-like laughter, Sophia replied with a simple, "Understood, Papa~." before piloting her craft further out into space. They had previously been just outside of the Van Allen Radiation belt, an area where particles emitted by the sun gathered en masse, so, by heading just a few hundred meters, Sophia's craft would be bombarded by radiation. This always made Vahn a little uncomfortable, despite knowing her shielding was perfectly capable of withstanding such radiation levels, so he made sure to keep pace in order to prevent any hypersonic space debris from causing problems. Then, once they were within the region with the highest concentration of radiation, he had Sophia stay safely within her craft while he personally stress-tested her newest inventions...---Though it was currently the weekend, Mordred, Sakura, Mash, Zoë, and Astrid still made a point of attending the Clock Tower in order to build rapport with their fellow students. After all, more so than the educational aspect, the main reason for their attendance was to provide them with the chance to socialize amongst their peers. After all, even with the great changes that would be introduced in the coming era, it was impossible to completely abolish politics. Even if it was just from a social point of view, the central figures of the Empire would always be held to a higher standard and, if they didn't meet expectations, it was only a matter of time before the people lost faith in their would-be rulers.In order to set a proper example for others to follow, all five members of the 'Imperial Quintet' put in a considerable amount compared to their peers. They could almost always be found training hard or completing various Quests, constantly improving themselves through their own efforts. Though they also had the benefit of Vahn's attention, they used this as motivation to work even harder, opening a considerable power gap between them and the vast majority of students. Though anomalies such as Rani couldn't be overcome so easily, even Astrid had managed to get a few small advantages against her during their spars.Since even the most lackluster student within the Department of Unified Thaumaturgical Theory had experienced a qualitative increase in strength, the progress made by the Imperial Quintet was even more noticeable. As a result, their group had expanded from their original five members to a total of seventeen, most of which were female. This included nearly every member of the top-ten, consisting of all five members of the Imperial Quintet and a host of students belonging to the Atlas Temple.Though Rani was still held the 2nd Ranking, she noticed how quickly the girls from the Empire were growing so, while not exactly the most competitive person in the world, she was compelled to put in a greater amount of effort to secure her position. Ideally, she would be able to overcome Mordred and secure the top position but, the harder she fought during their spars, the more she realized that the former wasn't going all out. Rather, there was such a vast gulf in their capabilities that, without a specially crafted weapon, Rani couldn't rationalize being able to defeat her.Despite this difference in power, Rani was undaunted so, along with the other 'combat type' Artificial Humans, she ended up spending much of her free time associating with the Imperial Quintet. It was an opportunity to observe the training methods and abilities of Mordred, Sakura, and Mash, so, even if she often found herself being inexplicably teased, Rani didn't let it affect her mentality or progress. Rather, spending time with the Imperial Quintet had taught her the importance of socializing as, in order to become even stronger, they freely shared information and honed their skills against each other without fear of undermining their own status and exposing their capabilities...Though the Atlas Temple believed in the propagation of knowledge, there were still a number of restrictions to this principle as, in order to secure a position for themselves, many Alchemists kept a few secrets. Rani herself was the amalgamation of various secret technologies so, better than most, she knew how peculiar it was for the Imperial Quintet to be so 'open' about their skills and abilities.This made them seem exceptionally confident, not in their current skills, but their ability to grow and develop faster than the people emulating them. If someone could surpass them following the same path, it indicated they either hadn't put in enough effort or that the other person simply tried harder than them. They didn't scorn the efforts of others, nor did they try to suppress them. Instead, in line with the policies of the Empire, they encouraged their peers to work hard, often giving advice freely and without embellishment.As a result of their nature, appearance, and, perhaps most importantly, status, the Imperial Quintet had quickly become the most idolized group within the entire Clock Tower. Unfortunately, unless you were a student of the Department of Unified Thaumaturgical Theory, it was rare to get a glimpse of them unless you encountered them on their way to, or from, the Aldnrnari College Commons. This led to a number of students lingering along the route whenever they had free times, some wanting nothing more than to catch a glimpse of the famous five while others, harboring the usual delusions of teens, prayed for a fateful encounter with one of the suspected Princesses...Today was no exception to this as, after finishing their morning lessons, Mordred could be found leading a rather large group of girls as they all jogged back to the Commons. They had formed into two neat lines and, without minding the fact she was making a scene, Mordred called out a military-style cadence to help everyone stay in pace. This was a pretty common occurrence within the Clock Tower these days, serving as both a show of unity and a deterrent to anyone trying to solicit any of the girls belonging to the infamous Department of Unified Thaumaturgical Theory.At this point, nearly every student within the Clock Tower lamented the fact they hadn't tried to join the Department in its nascent stages. Not only was it filled with a considerable number of beauties but, after the recent 'purge', it became the most influential Department in the entire Clock Tower. At the same time, all major factions had been abolished so, while several smaller factions still existed, it seemed pointless to join any organization unaffiliated with the Empire. After all, while London hadn't been as impacted as other cities, the complete collapse of the global economy and the massive shift from modernization all but guaranteed the Empire would be the only 'real' faction in the future.Unfortunately, it was exceptionally difficult to become a citizen of the Empire unless you had a clean record or extenuating circumstances that forced you to act against your will. Those over the age of fourteen, who had a past marred with terrible offenses against humans, spirits, or even Homunculi, had little hope of becoming official citizens of the Empire, at least without a considerable amount of effort. Their only option forward was to be placed into a probationary stage where they had to show very clear improvements in both character and mentality. It was only after passing a psychological evaluation, one that probed deep into their psyche, could they finally be liberated from the sins of their past.There had been a number of people who tried to get around this requirement by becoming friendly with the allies of the Empire but, despite their best efforts, they had been unsuccessful. This made it clear to everyone, including the few Noble families that had survived the 'purge', that the Empire was not simply throwing around pretenses. The current era wasn't simply the shifting of power between one overlord to another but, on a much grander scale, it was the enforcement of an ideology where malicious intentions and opportunistic mentalities wouldn't get you far.The only way to align yourself with the Empire and prosper was to make a sincere effort to be better, both morally and objectively. You had to adhere to both the spirit and the letter of the Common Law as, any grievous violations all but guaranteed death. The Empire seemingly had no mercy for people who attempted to game the system and get away with violating the law using wealth, status, and the privilege people had been born into. If you thought you could get away with something because of some misguided sense of superiority, only one outcome awaited you.This realization hit a number of people rather hard as, with the collapse markets, the severance of communications technologies, the grounding of planes, and the crippling of supply lines, even the wealthiest of families had no choice but to line up outside food distribution centers. Their pride was dragged through the dirt and, with the power possessed by the Empire, the best they could do was advise their progeny to perform well in school. The only hope a family had of surviving into the new era was by throwing their lot in with the Empire so, while many families had to swallow a very bitter pill, they did so in order to preserve their legacies...---Unconcerned with the thought process of struggling Magus families, Olga was sitting listlessly in her Director's chair, wondering when Vahn would pay her a visit. Around her, monitoring the information obtained by CHALDEAS, five identical girls could be seen. They each had peculiar pink hair, pale-blue eyes, and petite figures that made them appear to be in their mid-teens.Though it was a rather peculiar sight to behold, what really made the girls stand out were their large cat-like ears, glistening with a metallic sheen, their perpetually smiling expressions, and the tattoos on their upper left arm, each showing a different number. At the same time, if you were to observe them very closely, you would be able to see a stream of data flickering across their eyes and, if you had superhuman hearing, a virtually inaudible whirring could be heard emanating from within their tiny frames.While appearing human at a glance, these girls were actually automatons created by Merem after the latter continued pestering Vahn, asking if there was anything he could do to help. Since Merem could create completely unique forms of life at will, Vahn had conferred with Da Vinci and the others before tasking Merem with the creation of personnel that would be able to help maintain CHALDEAS without suffering from the same pitfalls as normal humans. As a result, they ended up with a rather adorable humanoid doll based on one of Touko's designs since Merem, by his own admission, lacked creativity.For the same reason, Merem ended up producing a total of thirty of the same model, naming the entire series of doll-like girls 'Operator Daemons'. This wasn't an incorrect designation either as, in spite of their appearance, each of the girls was, indeed, a Daemon. Instead of being an existence that fulfilled something like sexual desire, however, they had the sole focus of operating the systems of Chaldeas, ensuring everything was working optimally. This was the thing that made them happy so, while it was more than a little awkward, especially for the first few weeks, the tireless work ethic of the Operator Daemons had made a positive impression on everyone.Now, Olga often found herself with very little to do as, from the moment the Operators took over, they had performed their assigned tasks without a single error. They weren't emotionless machines that were incapable of adapting to changing circumstances so, even if there was a small hiccup, they would quickly resolve the issue by working together seamlessly. This resulted in Olga spending most of her time just observing CHALDEAS in silence, still fulfilling her duties, albeit in a much less hands-on way than before...Just as Olga's boredom began to get the better of her, she noticed the beautiful sapphire-blue glow of CHALDEAS change slightly, immediately followed by one of the Operators stating, "Director, there seems to be a temporal anomaly in sector C-17. SHEBA is no longer able to detect 73% of the Sector using the Near-Future Observation Lens. Shall we send a team to investigate?"Though it wasn't uncommon for anomalies to appear, Olga couldn't help but get a little excited as it was always far more interesting to investigate a problem than just sit around. Thus, hearing Nana's report, named as such due to the 07 on her arm, Olga rose from her chair with a start, a smile on her face as she exclaimed, "Send observation probes to the site and inform Delta Team to be on standby for immediate deployment! Come on, Vahn is relying on us to do our jobs properly. We can't let any surprises interfere with the Empire's plans~!!"Since she rarely had anything to do, Olga was always eager whenever something happened. After all, if she did well, Vahn would pamper and praise her even more than usual. She still had a weakness to being praised so, if the opportunity presented itself, she would give 110% to the completion of any task. As for the Operators, they replied with a simple, "Acknowledged." while simultaneously carrying out her orders without even a momentary delay...(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Can't wait to see a bunny battle cruiser xD...','Adapt or fall into obscurity','The birth of Realians...?')https://bit.ly/2XBzAYu &lt;-(p.atreon link)paypal.me/EinlionDiscord Invite: https://discord.gg/Jwa8PKh

Chapter 1379: Great Divide