Endless Path : Infinite Cosmos

Though it wouldn't have taken much effort to capture Alex, Vahn noticed that the strength disparity between Fenrir and the Saber-Class Servant was negligible, at best. Given the outfit the latter was wearing, Vahn could guess what had been going on prior to their arrival in the Einzbern Forest. When the Saber moved around at high speeds, her short skirt was unable to hide the fact that she wasn't even wearing panties. With the cuffs, collar, and blindfold, it didn't take much imagination to guess that the Saber was either a pervert or had been seriously mistreated by her Master. Since she seemed much weaker than a normal Servant, Vahn assumed it was the latter. This moved Alex to the very top of his 'shit list' as, even at a glance, Vahn felt like the Saber-Class Servant was only around 14-15 years old. She had a petite and lithe body, standing only a single centimeter taller than Nobunaga in her 'default' form...

While putting pressure on Alex from a distance, Vahn watched as Fenrir sent a massive volley of ice spears towards the Saber-Class Servant. The latter deflected the two that were aimed towards her heart and head before dashing towards Fenrir in a burst of speed approaching 6,000km/h. Fenrir's own speed could easily rival this, however, allowing her to nimbly evade the series of swift strikes issued by Saber before twisted her h.i.p.s like a bow and kicking the latter in the stomach. Since the 'maid' outfit Saber was wearing left the stomach exposed, it was easy to see that her skin was becoming pale at the point of contact as a layer of ice began to spread over her abdomen...

Since Fenrir had also deduced that her enemy was a 'victim', she was using non-lethal force to put pressure on her opponent. With the intention of subduing Saber, Fenrir continued to deflect the invisible blade of wind as the temperature in the surrounding area continued to drop even further. By now, the surrounding temperature had already dropped from 13 degrees Celsius to a sub-zero temperature of -18 degrees in a short period of time. At the same time, Fenrir was continuing to build up her magical power as a thick magical shroud protected her body. In one instance, when she had failed to completely redirect Saber's attack, the invisible blade was actually brought to a stop a few centimeters away from her skin before being rebounded by the anti-physical properties of the shroud. This gave Fenrir a lot more confidence as she began to pepper Saber with swift blows that steadily drained the mobility of the scantily-clad Servant.

Seeing how things were developing, Alex has a vicious expression on his face as he cursed, "This useless f.u.c.k.i.n.g bitch..." before holding up his hand and shouting, "By my name, Alex Everdale, I grant you the strength to vanquish your foe...!" With this exclamation, one of the Command Spells on Alex's forearm faded, coinciding with a powerful golden aura exploding out from Saber's body. It was possible to give a temporary boost to a Servant's combat capabilities through the use of Command Spells, to the point that it could even turn the tide of battle if used properly. As a result, the ice that had been building up on Saber's body was immediately evaporated as her clothes dissolved away into more proper battle attire. Now, instead of a skimpy maid outfit, she was adorned in an old-fashioned dress formed from royal blue and pristine white fabric, complete with an ornate white b.r.e.a.s.tplate, two large gauntlets, a pair of greaves, and overlapping plates of metal that guarded her flanks.

From behind Vahn's back, Ereshkigal pulled on Vahn's cloak to get his attention before saying, "Rin says to save her. She is a friend..." The moment Vahn heard that this Saber was someone Rin knew, his anger immediately turned frostier than Fenrir's ice as he vanished like a phantom. At the same time, Ereshkigal pulled out a reddish-black spear that had a vicious and malformed bladed edge on one end and a peculiar coiling structure on the other. It radiated a ghostly aura and, though she knew Vahn wouldn't need her help, this didn't stop her from holding out her left hand as she whispered in a voice that would cause ghosts to shiver, "I am the Queen of the Dead, Ruler of the Underworld, Harbinger of Death. Come forth, domain of the dead. Grant my allies protection and mine enemies a place to rest. Protection of the Underworld...!"

Even faster than Vahn had closed the distance to Alex, the surrounding forest had instantly changed into what appeared to be a large graveyard filled with cages of various sizes. He felt his speed increase even further as he easily deflected the bullets fired toward him before slamming his hand into Alex's larynx. In a single swift motion, Vahn was holding the taller man several centimeters off the ground, ignoring his flailing attempts at escape. At the same time, golden chains were already keeping Saber from taking any action, even if she was actually able to shake them more than Vahn had anticipated. If not for the fact that her blue eyes were glazed over, showing that she was still under control, Vahn imagined she may even be able to break free with the surprising amount of power her small body was able to muster...

As Vahn was about to threaten Alex, the latter attempted to throw a vial of red liquid with his left hand while another Command Spell on his right dissolved. Vahn responded by unceremoniously crushing the man's neck while snatching the vial before it could break against him. There wasn't much he could do about the Command Spell being used but, if Alex was taken out of commission, he wouldn't have to worry about them any longer. At least, this was the thought going through Vahn's mind before a mountain-like forced slammed into him from the side. His body was sent crashing through several of the metallic cages dotting the area while, standing in his previous location, a 253cm tall man shrouded in a malicious red aura could be seen. What stood out, even more, was the fact that, appearing next to the tall man, a doll-like girl with red irises was kneeling next to Alex as she muttered in an ice-cold voice, "Garbage..."

Though Vahn had previously broken Alex's neck, the young girl unceremoniously pulled off his arm with the same ease a child would use to remove a toy's. Alex couldn't even scream, reddish froth bubbling from his mouth as he seized in pain. Before he could die, the girl began transfering his Command Spells while muttering, "Berserker, kill them all..." This caused the monstrously tall man to release a cloud of steam from his mouth as he used a massive cleaver as if it was completely weightless. Since he had already sent Vahn flying, the Berserker settled on the next closest target as he moved with surprising agility towards Fenrir. She knew better than to try and fight him head-on and, fortunately, was never forced to as Scáthach appeared out of thin air before clashing explosively with Berserker...

Pulling himself out of a deep crater, Vahn coughed up a mouthful of blood before grimacing as he regenerated much slower than normal. He already identified the enemy Berserker as Heracles but none of the information they had included that his weapon had the 'Anti-Divine' property. As a result, Vahn ended up taking nearly six times the amount of damage from Heracles' already monstrous strength. By the time he had extricated himself from the crater, Vahn could see Scáthach going blow-for-blow with Heracles, neither able to get an edge against each other due to the latter surprisingly outpacing Scáthach. This didn't allow him to land any blows on her, however, as the difference in their skill, especially with Heracles under the 'Mad Enhacement', gave Scáthach an almost insurmountable advantage.

Seemingly understanding that things weren't going in her favor, the young girl made a pouting expression as she turned her attention towards the still-bound Saber. Even when Vahn was sent flying, he didn't let his [Enkidu] vanish since it would take more than a single surprise attack to completely break his focus. What he didn't expect was to hear the little girl shout, "These chains again...how do you have these chains!?" At the same time, her eyes began to flicker with a chaotic light as her body began to tremble, an expression of profound fear visible on her face. Following this outburst, a complex series of magic circuits became visible, covering the girl's entire body before a phenomenal amount of magical power began to radiate from her tiny frame.

In response to his Master's stressed state, Heracles released an earth-shattering roar as he cleaved towards Scáthach with enough speed and force to distort space. She used two spears to intercept the blow but was still sent backward, her feet dragging through the ground for several meters as she tried to bleed off the force of the blow. Though she had been able to read the move, Scáthach was forced to defend due to the fact that it was a blow beyond her ability to evade normally. Before she even slid to a stop, however, Scáthach pointed both of her spears towards Heracles as she uttered in a cold monotone, "Gáe Bolg, Dance of Slaughter..."

Adding to the two spears already in hand, a total of twenty red spears, each possessing a slightly different shape, appeared around Scáthach. The moment her words finished, each of the twenty-two spears turned into a phenomenon resembling red lightning as they instantly impacted Heracles' body. The vast majority simply deflected off of him but, with her [God Slayer] in effect, a Demi-God like Heracles couldn't completely withstand the assault of a person who had even slain actual Gods before she even reached the peak of her power. As a result, Heracles had three spears skewer his body, leaving a gaping hole in his heart, abdomen, and head.

The little girl, seeing her Servant injured in such a fashion, screamed out in a panicked voice, "No, I don't want to lose anything anymore!" Accompanying this shout, part of the surrounding graveyard seemed to come under the girl's control as large Golems began to take shape. Before they were able to fully form, however, Ereshkigal appeared with an expression not all that dissimilar to Scáthach's as she said, "This is my domain..." With that said, Ereshkigal's peculiar spear mowed down the nascent Golems, similar to a Grim Reaper harvesting souls. Though it was more than a little impressive that the young girl had wrested part of a Goddess' domain for herself, that wasn't even remotely enough to guarantee victory.

Now looking far more panicked than before, the little girl screamed, "Why are you bullying us!? I hate, hate, hate you...!" At the same time as her shouts, the young girl pulled out several small animal-shaped talismans before throwing them towards Ereshkigal. These rapidly grew in size before accelerating to a speed nearing 12,000km/h nigh-instantaneously. In response to this, Ereshkigal just held out her hand before sending a pulse of reddish-blue energy colliding with the bird-shaped projectiles. As a result, a large explosion spread through the area that caused the young girl to tumble backward a bit before curling up into a fetal position. Her own magical power protected her body but that didn't make the scene any less heartbreaking, at least from Vahn's point of view...

Though Heracles appeared to have been killed by Scáthach's attack, his body emitted a powerful aura in response to the explosion and, by the time it had faded away, his figure could be seen protecting the young girl like an immovable fortress. His eyes blazed like hot coals as he glared at Ereshkigal but, unlike before, he made no attempt to attack as Scáthach, Ereshkigal, and Fenrir were all surrounding him. Nobunaga had yet to make an appearance, as Vahn had given her the order to remain in hiding, but Heracles' instincts made him 'aware' that she was near.

With Saber's attempts to break free being the only real sounds in the area, things instantly became tense as Vahn walked over to stare at the turtling Heracles. Unlike the one he had encountered in his world, the legendary feats of Heracles in the Nasuverse made him worthy of the title of 'True Hero'. The fact that he was protecting his Master, even though he was a Berseker, caused Vahn to feel a great deal of respect for the man. Since he didn't actually want to make an enemy out of a little girl, Vahn held up both hands in a placating gesture as he said, "We're not trying to bully you...so long as you don't make yourself into our enemy, we would rather resolve this as peacefully as possible."

Instead of getting an answer from the little girl hiding beneath Heracles, Ereshkigal suddenly pointed out, "Vahn...Rin says this girl shouldn't be alive. She was supposed to have died ten years ago..." As soon as these words left Ereshkigal's lips, a truly monstrous tide of mana erupted outwards from beneath Heracles. Then, instead of a young girl with long white hair and ruby-red eyes, a dark-skinned little girl with runes covering her entire body appeared. Much like Rin, the overcoat she had been wearing dissolved away into nothingness, revealing an outfit that could hardly even qualify as undergarments. At the same time, her hair, which had previously been relatively straight, now became wild while two large white ears, not all that dissimilar to Fenrir, popped out from her head. If not for the two bull-like horns protruding from the sides of her head, combined with the bushy white tail poking out of her backside, Vahn might have mistaken her as a Vanargandr...

With her ruby-red eyes having now turned purple, the young girl snapped her head towards Vahn before releasing a feral growl as she launched herself toward him. Vahn's eyes widened in genuine surprise as he found himself unable to move, almost as if the space around his body had been locked down. He hadn't noticed this until he made an effort to move, creating a small gap which allowed the feral little girl to open her mouth wide, revealing two rows of sharp teeth before she bit unhesitantly into his throat. At the same time, Heracles had moved to engage Scáthach once again while Ereshkigal and Fenrir both moved to try and aid Vahn.

It was never a pleasant experience to have your throat ripped out, causing Vahn to feel a stange empathy towards Alex as, only a few minutes prior, he had crushed the man's throat. This thought didn't last, however, as he recovered his ability to move around the same time that the girl's teeth bit into his flesh. Vahn ignored the peculiar awkwardness associated with having to grab a little girl's nearly n.a.k.e.d body as he hooked his hands under her armpits and yanked her away from him. This resulted in him losing a large chunk of his throat, followed by a gratuitous amount of blood, but the wound quickly healed only moments later. Even the chunk that the girl had swallowed 'dissolved' before it even reached her stomach while the blood around her face vanished just as quickly.

Though she responded by kicking him with her little paws, Vahn bore the brunt of her assault with a grimace while pulling out three links of [Enkidu] to lock down her movements. Almost as soon as the chains began appearing, a loud explosion spread through the area as Heracles had broken free from his battle with Scáthach and charged towards him with a phenomenal momentum. Before he could get anywhere close to Vahn, however, a pinpoint beam of reddish-black light slammed into Heracles' temple and sent him stumbling off course. Immediately following that, Ereshkigal stabbed the coiled end of her spear into Heracles' body, causing it to extend in a helical pattern that corkscrewed through his body before piercing into the ground below.

With Heracles' strength being absorbed by Ereshkigal's domain, the red light surrounding his body began to die down as he tightly gripped the spear in an attempt to shatter it with brute strength. This attempt didn't last too long, however, as Vahn, in a rather exasperated voice, said, "If you don't want your Master to be harmed, stop trying to fight..." By now, Vahn had one long link of [Enkidu] wrapping up the little girl's body as she writhed around, teeth snapping at the air as she never gave up trying to attack him. Since the chain was protruding from his palm, Vahn was holding her up by what could have been considered her scruff so that Heracles could see clearly. As a result, the giant Servant's movements immediately ceased as he stared back at Vahn with fiery red eyes...

Now that Heracles had stopped fighting, Vahn released a sigh of relief as he dangled the little girl at his side, looking towards Ereshkigal as he asked, "Does Rin know anything about this...?" Though he could tell that the little girl was 'possessed' by a Servant, much the same as Rin, she almost seemed like a Berserker-Class herself. The animalistic traits indicated there was something special about her transformation but, as Asterios also had similar traits, Vahn didn't want to make any assumptions. In order to stop her from trying to bite into his side, however, Vahn ignored this awkward feeling in his heart as he used [Enkidu] to gag the thrashing little girl. Even though she lacked the ability to break free from the chains, just the fact she was able to move at all made Vahn feel that his [Enkidu] was losing its effectiveness...

In response to Vahn's inquiry, Ereshkigal closed her eyes for a few seconds before answering, "Rin says her name is Illyasviel von Einzbern, the former head of the Einzbern family. She had lost her life in the previous war after the King of Heroes slew her...Rin does not know how she is still alive, nor what being has possessed her..." After saying this, Ereshkigal opened her eyes before directing them towards Scáthach, much like Vahn. Seeing everyone looking at her, Scáthach answered, there is a veil of mystery surrounding this girl that makes it impossible to see through her identity. All I can say for certain is that she is still in a sealed state, or else even our combined power may not be enough to restrain her..."

Since Scáthach wasn't the type to embellish things, Vahn suddenly felt like the little girl thrashing around at his side was far more dangerous than he expected. He didn't doubt that she was the same Illya that Rin mentioned as, across her eyes and chest, there were two serious scars present. The first looked as if a blade had cut through her eyes, including the bridge of her nose, while the latter was a messy scar that extended all the way through her body. It was obvious that something had pierced her heart in the past but, much like Scáthach couldn't see through her, even Vahn's [Eyes of Truth] could only see an amalgamation of mana obscuring the girl's internals. It was almost like she was one giant magic circuit and, if not for the ridiculous amount of vitality radiating from around her chest, Vahn would have assumed she was an artificial existence, not a living being...

As Vahn was thinking about what they ought to do with Illya, Heracles, and Saber, a soft voice suddenly spread through the area as a massive wave of pressure washed over everyone present. Vahn hadn't even sensed the arrival of the voice's owner before the words, "I'm afraid I will have to ask you to release that girl..." reached his ears. By the time Vahn had even processed these words, he, and everyone else present, found themselves bound in silvery-white chains. It felt like the majority of his power was instantly suppressed, to the point that the [Enkidu] binding Saber and Illya vanished entirely. This caused the former to immediately lunge towards the bound Fenrir while the latter, as if to get revenge for being tied up, took a huge chunk out of Vahn's thigh as she clung to his leg like a koala.

The same voice that had sounded out previously, now sounding somewhat amused, stated, "Now, now, let's all get along..." As these words fell, Saber was sent flying upward as if she was no longer bound by gravity while Illya was pulled free from Vahn's leg, left to dangle in the air as she reached out her hands in an attempt to grab him once again. It seemed as if she had developed a bit of resentment towards him but, after a small white light entered into her head, the young girl passed out in an instant before limply floating next to a man wearing flowing white robes, a white mantle, and black pants. He had one of the most complex staves Vahn had ever seen, complete with a dozen different trinkets and baubles that had been precariously attached to a twisted piece of wood that had been dyed black by means he was unable to deduce...

With everyone else bound, unable to even utter a word, the floating man allowed an amused smile to adorn his surprisingly handsome face, set with a pair of amethyst eyes that were framed by windswept white hair. He didn't give off the aura of an enemy but, as if everything in the world was beneath him, the man held almost absolute disregard in his gaze as it passed over everyone present. When he looked at Vahn, he suddenly asked, "Are you the anomaly...? How very curious...hmmm, I suppose I owe you a minor debt of gratitude. Seeing as this should have been your victory, I will allow you to take that girl with you. When she comes back to her senses, tell her I am sorry for what she had to experience..."

Before the man's words even finished, he had already vanished into thin air, taking Illya and Heracles with him. At the same time, Saber's body was just now on its downward arc as the chains that had bound everyone dissolved into nothingness. Since the latter was unconscious, Vahn reached out to try and use telekinesis to grab her, only to realize that her [Magic Resistance] negated it completely. As a result, Vahn used [Shundo] to catch her surprisingly light body just before she slammed into the ground. It was only when he had the surprisingly beautiful Knight in his arms that Vahn had started to recover his senses enough to mutter, "What the f.u.c.k just happened...?"

(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Fenrir gets a minor victory?','*Bullying Intensifies*','Vahn gets a taste of his own medicine...')

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