Endless Path : Infinite Cosmos

With the winners from the first round determined in a little under two hours, there was still plenty of time to continue with the Tournament. Thus, after a few words of encouragement to both the victors and defeated, Vahn took up the second box to draw names.

Fortunately, when he had been giving his short speech, Artoria, sans Mordred, ended up returning to the Training Orb. Vahn wanted to ask her if anything had happened but, seeing how calm she was, it was safe to assume the matter didn't require his attention.

As if compelled by her powerful fate, Artoria's name ended up being drawn first, this time pitting her against Gawain. This ended up being a rather lackluster development as, due to his chivalrous nature and unwavering loyalty, Gawain outright refused to raise his blade against Artoria, even in a contest. In fact, during the lead up to the Tournament, he had opposed the participation of any member of the Imperial Family as it could seed dissent if anyone developed the rationality it was okay to point their sword at those in power.

If Gawain had his way, Artoria would have been at Vahn's side while Mordred sat obediently at the side like the Princess she was supposed to be. However, as the decision was ultimately left to Vahn's discretion, everyone that wanted to participate in the Tournament was given leeway to do so. While he would take Gawain's opinion into consideration regarding public functions in the future, now was not the time for such concerns.

With the forfeit of Gawain, the actual first round of the second set of matches included Jeanne and Okita. This pit two users of the Counter Force against each other and, as could be expected, their battle was quite the sight to behold...

Just as she had done so during her duel against Fenrir, Okita started off the battle by assuming her iaido stance as she waited for Jeanne's reaction. With the latter's [Revelation] at the A-Rank, she only had to set defeating Okita as her goal in order to determine the best course of action. Curiously, this didn't go exactly as planned as, from the moment she activated the Skill, Jeanne quickly realized that there was no path to victory. The only way forward was to pave her own path but, rather than show any signs of concern, she instead charged ahead without any hesitation.

To her credit, Jeanne was very fast and, compared to most Heroic Spirits, her parameters were almost ridiculously high. She also had EX-Rank [Magic Resistance] and, while Okita was able to circumvent this with her understanding of Sword Laws, some of her attacks lost their efficacy whenever Jeanne used her spear to deflect them.

Still, while it seemed both had a nigh-infinite amount of stamina, the machine-like precision of Okita, combined with her advanced understanding of Laws, allowed her to whittle way at Jeanne. The latter had incredible Endurance, reaching the middle of the A-Rank, but the human body could only take so much punishment. Though Jeanne never showed any signs that she was in pain until the very end, her body had undergone something that would have broken all but the most steadfast and resolute individuals.

Vahn had already realized this from before the Tournament even began but, without their Noble Phantasms, the amalgamations of their legend, most Heroic Spirits didn't wield incomprehensible strength. They were certainly strong, yes, but the majority of their power seemed to be condensed into their Noble Phantasms themselves and, while some of their Innates were a little 'extreme', he was beginning to suspect that the Throne was not able to replicate them properly.

Though he did not regret summoning some as Heroic Spirits, Vahn knew that the 'originals' would almost always be more powerful, especially with the boost provided by the Throne. He would need to take this into consideration in the future as, while it was a good failsafe to keep unvetted people as Heroic Spirits, there was a fair chance they would have something 'unexpected' within their Status.

Realizing this was one of the reasons why Da Vinci had proposed the idea of summoning one of every Class, alongside other justifications, Vahn shelved the matter for later discussion as he pulled two more names from the box. This time, Gray and Hati were given the honors and, as a result of her past battle being won by default, the mature Vanargandr seemed to have something to prove.

Unfortunately for her, Gray may not be invulnerable like Siegfried but, as an entity nearing the level of a True Vampire, there was only so much Hati could do against her. Still, after shredding Gray a few times with her claws, making little progress, Hati eventually lost her cool and ended up grabbing the left ankle of her opponent as the former attempted to dodge. As a result, Hati slammed Gray around a few times, rather violently, before tossing her toward the edge of the arena.

Contrary to Hati's expectations, Gray managed to recover mid-air and, while not at the same level as people like Artoria and Mordred, she could still use [Mana Burst]. This allowed her to stay inside the battlefield but, as a result, Hati ended up reminding everyone present why her name literally meant 'Hate'. Her previously golden eyes became dark red and, at the expense of her prepared armor, she began to quickly increase in size as her body transformed into a 10m tall wolf with spiky black fur that seemed to burn with similarly colored flames.

Before things could get out of hand, Vahn spoke in a plain tone that resonated through the entire battlefield, "Hati...sit..."

As if she had been struck by lightning, Hati's eyes regained their moonlight hue as she immediately plopped her hindquarters down onto the ground. Confusion seemed to flash across her expression for a brief moment before she turned her head back to find her Master staring at her. This caused her ears to droop and, still in her wolf form, Hati lay down before covering her snout and eyes with her paws, seemingly with the thought, 'if I can't see him, he can't see me'.

With Hati breaking the rules of the Tournament, Gray was given her second win. It was beginning to seem like her A++ Rank Luck wasn't just for show as, without argument, she was undoubtedly the weakest contender. As for Hati, she was in the upper half but, due to her own Luck being D- Rank, it seemed like she was always pitted against people she had no method to defeat. Still, as punishment for breaking the rules, Vahn had her lay down at the base of his viewing platform until he could give her a stern talking-to later on.

After the battle between Gray and Hati, the only two contestants remaining in the second set of bouts were Kenshin and Scáthach. However, as Kenshin couldn't even gain an edge with the use of her Noble Phantasm, there wasn't much she could do against the monstrous 'Purple Demon'. She lasted much longer than Gareth, largely due to the vast gulf in their experience and skill level, but it only took a handful of exchanges before Kenshin was pierced in the shoulder and right thigh by two of Scáthach's spears.

In a battle between True Masters, victory or defeat could be decided in an instant. Kenshin's Innates made her a difficult opponent for most people to face but, just as it seemed like one of her famous 'slips' had given her an advantage against Scáthach, the latter's spears moved along the new path with laser focus. Rather than evade the attack her trip should have allowed her to avoid, Kenshin had skewered herself and, as a result, the battle was quickly brought to an end.

The second set of matches took less than twenty minutes in total and, with only four contestants remaining, the were officially in the semi-finals. Vahn was a little surprised by the fact that Gray was in the running but, with Artoria, Okita, and Scáthach as her opponents, she had finally reached the furthest point her Luck could take her. This didn't mean she would just surrender but, as if fate was intent on showing her the futility of such actions, her opponent ended up being none other than Scáthach herself.

In truth, all of Gray's potential opponents had the perfect counter to her regenerative ability but, in Scáthach's case, she literally had 'infinite' options to choose from. It only took a few seconds from the start of the battle to the finish as, with their speed being reminiscent of a snail and a falcon, a single attack was all it took before Gray was hunched over with a spear pinning her to the ground.

The majority of viewers didn't have a lot of love for how Scáthach fought but, as it was the result of a vast difference in skill, they couldn't really say anything of merit against her. Since the participants were all aware of why she had been given the title of Grandmaster, this was the expected outcome, not an upset. Rather, if Scáthach ended up losing a battle, they would be hard-pressed to believe that she hadn't thrown the match.

With the battle between Gray and Scáthach ending shortly after it had begun, the next match was between Artoria and Okita. This was slated to be one of the most climactic battles of the entire event but, much to everyone's surprise, Vahn included, Okita's prowess seemed greatly diminished against Artoria. It could be due to the protection of her fate, or her S-Rank [Instinct], but Artoria seemed to be able to read the untraceable trajectory of Okita's katana from the very beginning of the battle.

Fortunately, with her [Furthest Earth] and her most versatile ability, [Boundlessness], Okita was able to deflect and evade all of Artoria's own attacks. Even with [Mana Burst], Artoria's blows would just dissipate and, while her Holy Elemental Affinity was a powerful boon against most other people, it wasn't an exaggeration to say that Okita was the 'embodiment of light'. Her [Boundlessness] gave her the ability to essentially become light and, if her katana wasn't sealed, it was the catalyst that allowed her to use her ultimate Noble Phantasm.

The only thing that kept the battle going at this rate was the fact that Okita knew the significance of Artoria and, due to the rules of the Tournament, she was forbidden to kill. While her attempt to kill would likely backfire due the Artoria's fate, the fact she was holding herself back made the battle last for nearly three hours. After all, even without using the active component of [Avalon], Artoria was able to benefit from the regeneration it provided. This, combined with her infinite mana and intense focus, meant the two could continue battling indefinitely under ideal circumstances.

Unfortunately, without [Excalibur] and [Avalon], Artoria was not the unstoppable monster that she could be. She eventually attempted a complex maneuver using [Shundo] to evade and, while it had worked several times prior, Okita had baited her into it this time around. The moment Artoria was 'mid-step', meaning she had yet to transfer between her anchor points, Okita did something that stunned the entire crowd.

In an incomprehensible display of skill, Okita had reached Artoria's destination faster than her, just after the spatial coordinates had essentially been 'confirmed' by [Shundo]'s activation. She placed her sheathed katana in the area Artoria's body was going to occupy and, as a result, the latter ended up with a 15cm 'dent' in her armor that ran through to the middle of her midsection.

This was one of the penultimate dangers of using [Shundo] as, once the coordinates were confirmed, which could only be done when there were 'no obstacles', the movement could no longer be stopped. By placing an obstacle in the area that had been previously cleared, something that should be 'impossible', Okita was able to violate one of the fundamental failsafes built into [Shundo], ending the battle in one of the most jarring manners imaginable.

As could be expected, Artoria's [Avalon] immediately took effect to preserve her life as, while it would usually take having her head destroyed in a single blow, having most of her organs turned to pulp wasn't something that could usually be walked away from. Fortunately, so long as she was not separated from [Avalon], there were few ways to kill Artoria and, as an extra precaution, each person participating in the tournament had an [Effigy of the Hero] embedded directly into their equipment.

After a brief exchange between the two woman warriors on the battlefield, who had nigh-identical features, Artoria ended up leaving the battlefield while Okita remained. She was given the chance for a recess but, while the battle had gone on for an extended period of time, there were no observable signs of fatigue in her expression. Rather, as a being reminiscent of a Counter Guardian, Okita had a nigh-inexhaustible amount of mana at her disposal. She even had the [Persistence] Skill at A-Rank, an ability that essentially made her stronger and faster as the battle was drawn out.

With Artoria taking her place at his side, Vahn announced the commencement of the final battle between Scáthach, the favorite of the entire competition, and Okita, the dark horse. Everyone knew she was powerful but, as she had been pit against almost every other favorite to win, it was still a bit of a surprise to see her facing off against Scáthach in the finals.

Unfortunately, what nobody could have expected was for Scáthach and Okita to simply stare at each other for several minutes without moving. This confused and annoyed many of the Spirits but, as the combatants understood what was going on, they became increasingly tense. This was especially true for Vahn as he had seen Scáthach behave this way on several occasions, typically when he was using his [Laplace's Key].

While Scáthach had nigh-unstoppable momentum, she almost always reacted to her opponent when battling against them. This was the most efficient way for her to fight as, if she overextended herself, there was a non-negligible chance she would make a mistake. It was much easier to exploit the small gaps in the movement and techniques of her opponents as, in the vast majority of instances, she was more skilled than them at their own style of combat.

Much like Scáthach, Okita's entire combat style was reactive for almost the exact same reasons. She was the type that used pure skill to counter her opponent's techniques and, while her own offensive might was equally unstoppable, it was her ability to act faster than her opponent that gave her the ultimate edge in a battle. Thus, as a result of their similar methods, neither woman moved even a macrometer as they continued staring at each other in a ready stance, both waiting for the smallest of movements that could be exploited.

It was in situations like this where Scáthach's experience came into play as, while Okita was a true monster in regards to combat, she didn't really exist prior to her summoning. She had the combat experience of her original but, as she had never gone through any of the training herself, there was a persistent gap in her psyche itself. After all, everyone had something that drove them forward but, as she often stated, the only meaning behind Okita's existence was to be useful to her Master.

Rather than charge at Okita, Scáthach began to move toward the edge of the battlefield, still facing her opponent with an expressionless mask. This caused Okita's finger to twitch slightly but, as she had no way of knowing what Scáthach was up to, she remained standing in her position. What she didn't expect was, at the very same instant that she decided to stay put, the match had already been decided.

While Scáthach may actually lose out in speed against Okita, as the latter could move beyond the bounds of Time and Space itself, it was inarguable that the former had greater mastery over both. This wasn't the main reason behind her victory, however, as Okita was simply unaware of what her opponent was capable of due to having no interest in other people. Thus, when Scáthach pulled out what looked like a massive cannon, Okita immediately activated her [Boundlessness] but, just as she was going to use [Furthest Earth], a series of spears pierced through her body.

For only the second time since her summoning, Okita showed a genuine expression on her face, this time shock. She slowly turned her head to her back to find another Scáthach standing right behind her. To further cement the hopelessness of her situation, there were five other Scáthach forming an encirclement around her, each appearing from the void like phantoms.

These weren't simple illusions either as, long before her other self was summoned, Scáthach already had the ability to clone herself. In fact, regardless of how much her opponent struggled, it was nearly impossible for them to win as, even if they managed to force her out of the battlefield, her extra body would just dissipate while an infinite number of herself occupied the surrounding void, completely undetectable and intangible.

Vahn had tried to level the playing field by having Scáthach turn over his gemstone core but, even without a nigh-infinite supply of energy, she had two weeks to prepare beforehand so, while others had been training, she produced ninety-nine versions of herself, each just as lethal as the original. It took a lot of effort to maintain them but, as the majority were just slumbering away in the void, she didn't experience any major reduction in combat proficiency.

Fortunately, while Okita's injuries seemed extreme, especially with her C-Rank Endurance, Scáthach had made a point to not hit any of her vitals. Instead, she targetted the joints and major muscle groups, effectively crippling Okita on the spot. Since the latter was akin to a Counter Guardian that had never existed, Scáthach's [Wisdom of the Haunted Ground] provided her no information on her opponent. This was the safest way for her to end the battle so, before Okita could surprise her, she wasted no time in pointing a blade at her throat and saying, "This is my victory..." in her usual calm and cold tone of voice...

(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Hati, bad...!','Artoria without cheats versus a living cheat xD...','Scáthach is even worse than Batman...don't give this woman prep time (x _ x)...')

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