Endless Path : Infinite Cosmos

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

After nearly a month of searching, without a single sign of their enemy, the tensions around the Empire had gradually decreased. Nobody was foolish to believe it had been an isolated incident but, with more than half a year passing within the Projection, Vahn had other things to worry about than some unknown enemy. Circe had given birth to a second daughter, named Petra, and, in anticipation of an enemy attack, two groups of Heroic Spirits had been summoned.While Vahn had used the summoning system to bolster the Empire's forces, one of the summonings was a test to see if the Greater Grail, completed by Illya, Iris, and Da Vinci, was functioning properly. Though it would take some time to make a wish using the tower-like golden chalice, summoning a group of Heroic Spirits wasn't that difficult. As a result, Sakura, Mash, Zoë, and Astrid had been given a chance to make a contract with a Heroic Spirit, Servants that would protect them from harm at all times.Since the Heaven's Feel summoning system had a fair number of restrictions compared to his own, it was only capable of summoning one of each Servant Class. Fortunately, this didn't really matter in the grand scheme of things so, after a rather tense ceremony, Sakura ended up summoning a Rider Class Heroic Spirit known as Medusa. She was a rather buxom woman with a mature figure, long legs, a visored face, and silky purple hair that reached all the way to her ankles.The summoning of Medusa came as a small shock to Rin and Artoria but, since Sakura seemed to have a high affinity with the visored woman, the former only expressed her concerns in private. As for why they had been worried, it was due to the fact that Medusa was the same Heroic Spirit that Sakura had summoned during the Fifth Holy Grail War. Rin was slightly worried that Sakura would somehow recover her past memories but, with no memories to recover, Vahn managed to allay her concerns without issue.Fortunately, the summons of Mash, Zoë, and Astrid didn't raise nearly as many concerns. Mash had 'won' the lottery by summoning the Saber Class, often considered the strongest of the Seven main Servant Classes. Better yet, the Heroic Spirit she summoned was Richard the First, a fanatic who had ceaselessly pursued relics related to Arthurian Legends. He also bore the title of Lionheart and, while he was a little quirky, his skill with the sword even allowed him to pressure Artoria. Though this was primarily due to his Agility, which could reach EX-Rank while using his [Godspeed] Skill, it was still a commendable feat.After Mash, the next to summon their Servant had been Zoë, obtaining the Lancer Class Heroic Spirit, Vlad III, as her Servant. Though his legacy was cause for some concern, as he wasn't known as Vlad the Impaler without cause, the rather domineering man had a True Neutral affinity and, with Merlin attesting to his virtues, his summoning didn't cause any problems. Rather, in exchange for his service, the only thing he wanted was the abolishment of the Dracula legacy as it had painted him out to be a monster for no better reason than to sell books and slander his name.Though it seemed like a moderately wasteful wish, Vahn didn't mind agreeing to Vlad's request as it wasn't that difficult to achieve. He couldn't use their first wish to grant the request but, once things had settled down, using the Holy Grail to erase the legacy of Dracula was a simple feat. At the very least, they could expose the truth of the matter so that, in the future, people didn't associate Vlad with the atrocities committed by a wayward Dead Apostle Ancestor...Following Mash's and Zoë's examples of summoning rather famous individuals, Astrid ended up surprising nearly everyone by summoning the Archer Class Servant, Atalanta. This was surprising for a number of reasons but, considering Astrid's affinity for animals, and her general disinterest in men, it wasn't hard to see the parallels between her and the famous Huntress.What had surprised Vahn was the fact that, despite having human parents, no Divinity, and no Skills related to transformation, Atalanta had feline ears and a tail. Vahn felt like she was a Cat Person that had somehow made the transition between Records as, in conjunction with her feline attributes, she even had an exceptionally lithe body filled with flexible bones. This, combined with her wild unruly hair, which transitioned from leafy-green at her bangs, lime green starting from her scalp, and pale yellow, almost white, near the small of her back, gave her a distinctly 'inhuman' appearance...When she had first been summoned, Atalanta hadn't bee all that enthused about her situation but, after experiencing the Memory Link with Astrid, she immediately became resolved to protect, not just her, but all the children. She was also familiar with Circe, Medea, Heracles, and even Medusa so, after mellowing out a bit, she became relatively docile, at least around Vahn. This was due to the fact that her wish was to protect all the world's children so, after learning Vahn had used his wish to the same effect, she no longer harbored any hatred towards him.Fortunately, though she allowed him to pet her regularly, Atalanta took her vows towards Artemis and Apollo very seriously so, even though she was rather weak to petting, she hadn't developed any tender feelings toward him. Though she had 'jokingly' told him that she would marry him if he could beat her in a foot race, Vahn knew she would only do so out of obligation, not love. While he did, in fact, accept her challenge, this was mainly to prevent her from falling victim to her vow as it would cause a few issues if she was forced to marry someone she didn't love.While Atalanta had been fast, almost ridiculously so, she wasn't even in the top five when it came to maximum potential speed within the Empire. Though Vahn's natural speed also didn't make the cut, he more than made up for it with [Shundo] and [Vis Maxima], allowing him to maintain a steady lead throughout their entire race. This had come as a shock to Atalanta but, as they had already agreed to allow him to make a singular request from her, Vahn surprised her a second time by having her vow never to marry someone she didn't love. Since he had already defeated her in a footrace, she had a complicated expression on her face but, after a moment of deliberation, ultimately relented...---With his enemies still laying low, Vahn had focused on increasing his strength far beyond his past capabilities. He was determined to reach the point where he would be able to defeat Scáthach in a direct battle as, after she lost an arm to an unseen enemy, it became clear that his current strength was lacking. Though he would undoubtedly win in a prolonged battle, especially with [Magia Erebea] and the support of various Tier 5 entities, Vahn wanted to reach the point where his individual power was all he needed to win.Fortunately, or perhaps not, he had been convinced by Scáthach to summon even more versions of her, so, now, instead of two Shishous, there were a total of seven. As a result, the Empire was safer than it had ever been but, in exchange, Vahn's training had truly become hellish. After all, even one Scáthach was a 'monster' so, now that there were seven unique versions of her, combined with the fact she could make clones of herself; Vahn started experiencing auditory and visual hallucinations of his Shishou whenever he was 'slacking' off...Since Scáthach qualified for virtually every Servant Class, with the exceptions of Saver, Foreigner, and Moon Cancer, Vahn ended up summoning the Ruler, Assassin, Saber, Archer, and, in order better to protect the children, the Lily version. Fortunately, as she had a proper understanding of where his limits lay, Scáthach had the wherewithal to avoid 'teasing' him in her fourteen-year-old form. This meant he only had to deal with her other six forms during training as, more often than not, the Lily version of Scáthach was proactively watching over the children, putting his mind at ease.The upside to Vahn's current situation was that the longer his enemies delayed appearing, the more powerful he, and the Empire as a whole, would become. It had only taken him four weeks inside the Projection to reach the bottom of the 'Well of Destruction' so, with an additional twenty-four weeks to focus on other challenges, he had managed to clear all the way to the ninth. As a result, most of his Parameters had reached the quantifiable limit and, given a few more months, Projection-time, he was confident in being able to obtain his second Divinity. All he needed was to continue focusing on breaking through his limits as, at his current rate of growth, even S-Rank Heroic Spirits wouldn't be able to last more than a few minutes against him...-----------------------------------------------------------------[Status]Name: [Vahn Mason]Age: 158 (Ageless)Race: Progenitor God, *sealed*Parameter: [Nasuverse: 1-5]Strength: 50A++Endurance: ★Agility: 48BMagical Power: EXGood Luck: 26DCircuit Quality: EXSoul Tier: 4 (Divine Soul)[Karma]: 7,314,989,223[OP]: 8,048,703,448Noble Phantasm: [Enkidu:SSS], [Gate of Babylon(False):S], [Lævateinn(Alpha):S], [Lævateinn(Beta):S], [Lævateinn(Gamma):S], [Lævateinn(Delta):S], [Lævateinn(Epsilon):S], [Lævateinn(Zeta):S]Origin: [?]Skills: [Will of the Emperor:SSS], [Rakshasa Body:A], [Keeper of the Akashic Tome:B], [Eyes of Truth:A], [Chainbreaker:SS], [Veil of the Traveler:SS], [Hands of Nirvana:SS], [Type Omega:SSS], [Executor of Akasha's Will:SS], [Laplace's Key:SSS], [Blacksmithing:S], [Alien God: EX], [Charm: EX], [Martial Soul:B]Magic: [Magia Erebea:SS], [Administrative Function: Space Lock:SSS], [Soul Imprint: EX], [Soul Transference: EX], [Great Sage:EX], [Magic Cancel:B], [Charisma:D]Magecraft: [Magical Trigger:SSS], [Primordial Rune:S], [Trace:SS], [Reinforce:S], [Gradiation Air:S], [Enchant:S], [Alchemy:S], [Shundo:SS], [Reflexio:S], [Cantus Bellax:SS], [Melodia Bellax:SS], [Vis Maxima:S], [Sagitta Magicka:B], [Od Conversion:EX], [Mass Telelportation:C][Alien God]Rank: EXPassive: Recognition from the World as a God from another world. Those bearing this Skill are able to violate the Common Sense of the world, affecting various Textures and manipulating reality to suit their needs. (A/N: This is basically how the Root System interprets Vahn's Domain.)[Charm]Rank: EXPassive: The ability to influence others, increasing their infatuation. Twice as effective on members of the opposite sex. At this rank, even inert stone and emotionless automata are susceptible to the user's Charm.Active: Overwhelm a target's mind, compelling them to fall madly in love with the user. Even with a strong will, this conclusion cannot be completely mitigated.[Martial Soul]Rank: BPassive: Denotes the user's comprehensive understanding of their own body, allowing them to emulate any martial art, skill, or combat style at the same Rank or lower.[Soul Imprint]Rank: EXPassive: The user has the ability to infuse their soul into other objects.Active: Allows the user to fragment their soul, splitting their form or infusing it into various objects. Even if these objects are destroyed, the fragment will invariably return to the user.[Soul Transference]Rank: EXActive: Allows the user to transplant the souls of other people into vessels of their own creation. This Skill grants the target with D-Rank [Regeneration], B-Rank [Od Conversion], and EX-Rank [Foreign Body Immunity].[Great Sage]Rank: EXPassive: Greatly increases the efficacy of unique Magecraft against all modern and ancient forms of Magecraft. Against Magecraft of the same Rank, this Skill artificially increases the user's Magecraft by one full Rank. (A/N: This is a Skill unique to Vahn and Da Vinci. It is basically the result of them using Eva's Magic System to develop a completely new school of Thaumaturgy.)[Magic Cancel]Rank: BActive: Forcibly nullify all Magecraft of the same Rank and lower. (A/N: Vahn's ability to essentially prevent other people from using Magic within his domain.)-----------------------------------------------------------------(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'You get a summon, you get a summon, everyone gets a summon~!','Atalanta met her match','Seven circles of Hell')https://bit.ly/2XBzAYu &lt;-(p.atreon link)paypal.me/EinlionDiscord Invite: https://discord.gg/Jwa8PKh

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

Chapter 1380: Frustration : Flow