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 tow 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...')

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