Author's Notes: Chapter edited and corrected by Scott Fellman.
Serena Pov.
An open, barren desert. A realm of rubble with nothing in sight, only thousands upon thousands of swords, countless swords anchored in the ground. A gray sky filled with giant, slowly turning gears. An empty world made of steel, weapons, and flames.
This was my inner world, and it was horrible to feel. The itch was there, an itch beneath my skin that was impossible to scratch, impossible to soothe. Only one sensation had ever felt like this in my life, in my previous life, and I really didn't like feeling it. Dysphoria.
A world of weapons, a world of swords, was not my world.
I gritted my teeth and focused on Vali.
"W-what, where are we?" Rias asked as she looked around. I looked over my shoulder and saw Rias and her Peerage looking around in confusion. To my surprise, Sona and her Peerage also stayed inside my Reality Marble.
I guess they were approaching the academy when the barrier was destroyed, and they were sucked inside.
"Stay behind me, you'll be safe." I said without fully looking at them. Sona and Rias looked like they wanted to argue, but Vali started talking first.
"A world apart? Am I supposed to be impressed that you took us to the dimensional gap?" Vali asked, almost bored. "Is this what I was supposed to fear?" That question was more for Albion than for me.
"No…" Albion said solemnly. "We're not in the dimensional gap, partner. This… this… this is different. It feels different." Albion said.
"Oh? A different dimension? Dimension Lost?" Vali asked, now sounding more curious, but still unconcerned about his situation.
"Don't compare my world to something as crude as Dimension Lost." I couldn't help but snort. Vali looked at me.
"Something… as crude as a Longinus?" Vali asked, sounding slightly amused. I rolled my eyes.
"This is the embodiment of my inner world. It's a work in progress, I must admit. Everything I am, and everything I stand for, should be here, but for now, I can only summon my swords." I confessed, almost disappointed.
"An… inner world?" Vali asked curiously.
"Be careful Vali, look around you. Those weapons… they're not normal," Albion said in a deep voice.
"Thank you for noticing, White Dragon. My world may be a work in progress, but enough is enough. Let's get this over with." I said simply. Vali snorted.
"Do you think a few weapons will defeat me?" Vali asked mockingly. I didn't even fully raise my hand, only halfway up, and moved two of my fingers. Hundreds of swords trembled in unison and rose into the sky.
"That'll be enough." I repeated to myself. With that, the swords shot out at high speed in Vali's direction. Vali didn't even flinch; he stood still with his arms crossed.
My swords finally reached him, but Vali created small magic circles that stopped all the swords just inches away from him. He then waved his hand, and all the swords shattered before disappearing.
I called out another wave of weapons that headed towards Vali once again. Vali just continued to stand, but this time, when Vali's magic circles collided with the weapons, the first ones shattered like glass.
The Rule Breakers continued on, colliding uselessly against Vali's armor. Although they had no offensive power, this was enough to open the way for the second wave of swords.
"Dodge!" Albion shouted almost urgently as the first wave of swords reached him. To my surprise, he listened to Albion, and Vali dodged to the side. "Those swords are cursed, don't let them hurt you!" Albion shouted.
"Mm, those must be Gae Buidhe? They inhibit regeneration, right?" Vali asked as he looked at the spears that were stuck into the ground. After that, he ducked, dodging other weapons. "And those must be Harpe." He said in recognition of the scythes that flew.
A dozen Hruntings shot out and turned into a red beam of light as they began to chase Vali at high speed. Vali raised his hand.
"Divide! Divide! Divide! Divide! " Albion's voice filled the room, attempting to reduce the power of the swords hurtling towards Vali. But that didn't stop them. The Company's Drain Defense prevented anything that stole, drained, or fed on vitality, magic, or mana from working properly against me.
And this was my inner world, everything inside here, was ME.
Instead of each activation reducing it by half, it was a diminishing return, with all four activations only able to bring the power down to a third of its full power.
So the Hruntings didn't reduce as Vali should have expected, as it took him a fraction of a second longer to defend himself from the swords as they collided and exploded against him. I didn't let him rest; hundreds more swords rose up or were created and rushed towards Vali.
The dust around Vali hadn't settled when the swords pierced through the cloud of dust, only for the entire cloud to explode and move away, leaving me to see Vali slashing and smashing the swords.
"How?" Vali asked simply, I didn't even deign to answer, I raised my fingers once more and pointed at Vali. Hundreds more swords began to fall in Vali's direction.
"Fragments of Excalibur!" Albion said, looking shocked. Yes, hundreds and hundreds of Excalibur fragments and Fused Excalibur were chasing after Vali. Vali flew away while destroying all the swords in his path.
The itching continued all over my body. I urgently need to change UBW, but... how do I change it? Would thinking of another chant help? Mmmm… I am the Mana of my magic?
Eugh, no, it sounds horrible. Did it even use mana?
I created a portal in front of me when Vali tried to hit me head-on, and he flew hundreds of meters away from me. The swords started chasing him again. Vali increased his speed and quickly left them behind. He tried to hit me once more, but a portal opened in front of me again.
Vali reacted quickly, stopping his attack and moving to the side in my direction. Thousands of stakes were created between Vali and me in a split second, thanks to Kazikli Bey's replication. Vali was able to stop in that split second; one of the stakes touched his armor, but he moved away fast enough so that the others didn't touch it.
A shame. It would have been nice to be able to finish quickly. Vali began destroying the swords and stakes with extreme ease as he tried to approach me, but was always blocked by hundreds of weapons.
I attempted to fire a beam of energy from a magic circle, but Rho Aias suddenly appeared before me. The seven-petaled flower and its layers came into view, taking the brunt of the attack, with only the first layer being slightly scratched.
I am the core of all mystery? mmm… no, not again, but… that was better.
Mystery, a type of power, is the source of all supernatural phenomena in the Nasuverse; everything shows signs of Mystery. That… felt right.
Shirou's origin and elemental affinity were Swords and Sword-like weapons, like literally the entire concept of Emiya was SWORD, and it was the reason why it was Emiya's one true specialization. Someone who was saved by a sword, who fused, lived, and acted like a sword his entire life.
I heard Vali activate the power of split once more, absorbing more energy from my swords and launching himself in my direction. He increased his speed even more, frowning. A sword appeared in my hand, and I used it to attack. It met his fist, and a strong shockwave shook the place.
Kanshou couldn't resist and broke down, but the time it resisted for was enough for more swords to arrive and attack Vali once more. Vali took a step back.
Where he was, so… SWORDS. Emiya's origin and affinity.
Invoking UBW brought that origin and that affinity to the surface. And that wasn't me. I wasn't a sword. I didn't like swords. I could appreciate them, I could wield them if necessary, but they didn't define me. I couldn't live as a sword. I hated the idea of that concept. They weren't who I was, what I stood for.
But mystery … all the supernatural, all the magic, and more of the world. That… that's it.
Mystery, that word… that concept… that idea… made everything finally seem to fall into place. Mystery, Magic, everything supernatural. It was just missing a little more, something… something more.
The words flowed from my mouth before I realized it.
"I am the Root of All Mystery."
Oh… that was pretentious, direct, arrogant.
Root, the origin of everything, the metaphysical plane that contains all the information of the universe, past, present, and future, origin of all magic, existence, and absolute truth of the Naruverse.
Mystery is a source of energy that comes from the Root. That phrase implied that I am the origin of all Mystery, the source of all that is occult, arcane, magical, and supernatural. That my soul and very existence is the starting point from which Mystery is born.
That I am a living manifestation of the origin of the magical power of the world… of MY world.
It was just one phrase, I still had no idea about all the others, I still didn't know how this new chant should continue, but with just that phrase... finally, everything fell into place.
The itching under my skin that reminded me of dysphoria disappeared, everything that was wrong inside me every time I used UBW, the discomfort of using all of Emiya's projections, everything negative finally disappeared.
My Reality Marble seemed to react to my new chant, my new 'Origin,' my new truth, and it shook violently. My entire inner world was changing.
The gears of the sky seemed to merge as they began to disappear. The gray sky filled with gears was replaced by a night sky. The arid, desert-like ground began to be replaced by a long, green prairie. A flat, expansive terrain covered in grass.
Then a massive Gate fell from the sky, seemingly hundreds of meters high and just as wide. And there it was, a sterilized version of all my flame alchemy, along with vast amounts of sterilized text and relief all over the Gate.
My Gate of Truth, the Gate that represented all my alchemy.
The Gate was slightly open, just a thin line representing my connection to The Truth. I could feel it. I could bring it into my world. I could perform all the alchemy I wanted, any way I wanted. No circles, no applause, just a formula in my head and intention.
From the other end, what appeared to be a cocoon of malevolence, no… Lust, quickly formed. A cocoon that began to float in the air, it seemed to be made entirely of black tar that absorbed all light.
The source of my Baiser Magic power. No, not just Baiser, my entire being as a devil, as a succubus, my demonic power is also in that cocoon, slowly seeping out.
Then the sky lit up, and hundreds of stars slowly began to appear. The stars weren't even real; if I looked closely, they were shaped like four-pointed stars. The stars that plagued my skin, my eyes, and my entire being.
I understood what they were immediately. Every spell, every enchantment, every curse, every magic I had mastered was there. Each star was its own magic, everything they were, their entire concept.
Each star had its own color, shape, and illumination; its very existence was different from each other, unique.
There were even slightly larger stars or… small constellations? Or so they seemed, it seemed like a single star, but if you looked at it closely, they appeared like clustered stars that seemed to be interconnected, each 16? 20? They seemed to flicker slightly, and they were so close together that it was hard to count their numbers straight.
There were three small constellations or giant stars; they seemed almost glued together, as if they were connected and defied the other stars. My metal arts. My Allomancy, Feruchemy, and Hemalurgy.
On the other side of the sky, a fire star appeared. My pyrokinesis ability was also present, even though I hadn't had much time to use it. It had manifested in my inner world, showing that it was already a part of me, as much as everything else.
There were even stars for my potions. Oh, I'm sure most of the Mysteries in the world could be inside my Reality Marble by now, but it seems the huge exception was living beings.
There were no fantastic plants or animals in here. But the potions were processed ingredients, like any weapon made from animal parts, so there were hundreds, almost thousands of stars dedicated to each of the potions I had mastered.
I could feel that with one pull, I could replicate every potion I'd ever made, that I had inside my mind. And that seemed fantastic, although I wished I knew what the limit was, because now I seemed to be able to replicate Felix Felicis almost infinitely.
Finally, the entire RM was illuminated by a moon. It wasn't a big moon that obscured the entire night sky; it was simply there, but it brightly illuminated everything around it and represented my magic and my connection to ancient magic.
I thought my magic was fused entirely with my demonic power, but no, now it was always present.
And finally, there were the swords, stuck all over the grassland. All the mysteries were within my inner world, and the Noble Phantasms were crystallized mysteries, just like the sacred or elemental weapons I had copied in this world.
I could see that there was no 'simple' sword; something as normal as a sword did not exist in this world, this world was no longer governed by the SWORD origin, but by MYSTERY, and a regular sword was not a mystery, so they were not reflected here.
I thought this world would be different, that I would only have aftershocks of... of something, I really didn't know what to expect, but I didn't expect everything to be in here.
Oh… this was wonderful. It was like feeling whole again. I smiled slightly as I drank in my entire inner world.
I could feel it… I couldn't summon this world again, at least not completely, until I finished the chant, but for now, it was enough. I now knew what to look for and how far I should go.
I smiled slightly, raised my hand, and brought it down in Vali's direction. Half of the stars lit up and began firing off magic in large quantities. Fire, ice, thunder, water, invisible blades, explosive curses, slashing curses, various alchemies I used to attack—anything remotely harmful—shot out from the stars in Vali's direction like turrets.
"Divide! Divide! Divide! Divide! Divide! Divide! " Vali reduced the power of all the magic and created a shield in front of him. My eyes shone slightly.
Judging the concept of creation.
Laying out the basic structure.
Duplicating the composition material.
Imitating the skill of its elaboration.
Sympathizing with the experience of their growth.
Reproducing the accumulated years.
Surpassing every manufacturing process.
Trace On had just been activated for Vali's defensive magic. I looked up at the sky as a new star emerged in the night sky. The defensive magic Vali had just used was available. Although the star seemed slightly dull, I could tell it was a simple replica, unlike all the other stars.
Even so, I shuddered with excitement at that. That… was incredible. It still works exactly as it should; every step was followed as it should, only adapted for magic, for the supernatural.
Understanding the fundamental idea behind magic involves grasping its essential purpose. Recreating the logical form of the spell. Reproducing the energy and nature of the components. Imitating the skill of its original creation.
Replicate and relive the spell's evolution—its use, its perfection, its degradation, everything. Reproduction of the accumulated years. Optimize magic.
Everything was the same; it worked just like the original Trace On, but somehow it had changed, it had adapted, it was no longer just Projection sorcery as it had originally been, at least not entirely. It was still in part, for the more physical Mystery spells. For weapons, potions, and other similar things.
Mystery's Origin and Affinity were mutated. Trace On now worked with magic and other supernatural things in some way. I didn't know the limits of what it could replicate, but… it was incredible. I bit my lip hard.
I guess it's time to finish this. I had a lot to study right now, and Vali was interfering. A sword flew from somewhere and placed itself in my hand. I no longer felt the discomfort of using my swords; now they were part of me, of my origin, they were my Mystery.
I smiled slightly as I tightened my grip on the hilt. Let's see if it was worth the purchase. I placed the sword in front of me and raised it.
"The evil dragon shall fall,
And the world will reach its sunset.
I will bring you down --" my chant echoed throughout the Reality Marble.
"Vali, match it!!!" Albion shouted almost desperately. A massive beam of white-blue light rose into the sky, emanating a tremendous amount of magic.
"-Balmung!" I swung the sword towards Vali, and turned it diagonally. Vali couldn't move fast enough.
"Divide! Divide! Divide! Divide! Divide! Divide! Divide! Divide! Divide! Divide! Divide! Divide! Divide! Divide! Divide! Divide! Divide! Divide! " The successive activation of Divine Dividing did not discourage me, I just put more power into Balmung at the same time as it was drained.
A large amount of energy was drained, yet a tenth of Balmung's original power still hit Vali, and it was enough to cause damage. Vali screamed in pain as the explosion engulfed him. The replica of Balmung in my hand shattered and disappeared. I waved my hand, and the dust around Vali immediately vanished.
"You have Balmung?!" Vali shouted angrily as he stood up.
"That… wasn't Balmung. I've seen Balmung, my hosts fought Balmung, that… that wasn't the original Balmung, but… it felt like it was, it even has a compelling anti-dragon attribute." Albion tried to say, though he sounded confused. I just laughed lightly.
"Balmung: Phantasmal Greatsword - Felling of the Sky Demon. The greatsword wielded by Siegfried, given to him by the Nibelungen family in exchange for a task. It was used in every battle after that and served to slay the evil dragon Fafnir ." I commented lightly.
"No…" Albion muttered. " Fafnir was killed by Sigurd, who wielded Gram." Albion replied. I just laughed.
"Siegfried, Sigurd, they are the same and at the same time different. One is the German hero of the Niebelungenlied, while the other is the hero in the Norse version of the myth. Both have the same origin, even though their legends differ slightly." I smiled.
"Ah… I understand," Albion said. "I heard Azazel ramble about you, about your ability to create legendary weapons by replicating the history of weapons and their legends… but… that's only partially true, isn't it? You're taking a collection of legends, myths, and stories that best suit your taste, and molding them into a weapon."
"A weapon that crystallizes that specific set of legends, I suppose it has to have coherence, it can't be an easy thing, but myths and legends always enhance or exaggerate the truths, in some way, those myths give power to your weapons, and that's the reason why Balmung is so strong."
"With the legend of killing Fafnir hanging over his story… yeah, I see that. Truly incredible." Albion said, sounding really impressed, and I laughed lightly.
"Wow, I'm glad the White Dragon of Supremacy is impressed by my skill," I said amusedly.
"Enough! That doesn't change anything! " Vali exclaimed, finally reaching the end of his patience.
"Very well…" I said slowly as another sword came in my direction. "…try not to die," I said amusedly as I gripped the new sword tightly in my hand.
" EX-" A massive pillar of holy energy erupted from the sword. I could feel it burning me slightly, even if it wasn't directed at me. Even as I wielded it, the amount of holy power emanating from the sword, as a devil, was enough to hurt me.
"Run away, Vali!" Albion's instincts were as sharp as ever.
" - calibur!!!!" My second destructive light beam struck down.
"Divide! Divide! Divide! Divide! Divide! Divide! Divide! Divide! Divide! Divide! Divide! Divide! Divide! Divide! Divide! Divi -" apparently reaching its drain limit halfway, Vali created large shields that were destroyed like paper by Excalibur's lightning. The resulting explosion shook the entire Reality Marble.
It was more powerful than I expected. More so for an Excalibur Image, I quickly looked at Excalibur and realized something. Oh, the legends were merging. Maybe something subconscious, or just the very nature of Excalibur.
Excalibur couldn't be replicated normally, leaving many empty gaps in my replica. These significant gaps were filled by my power, which was bolstered by the Excalibur fragments. Although it was far from a divine construct, the Excalibur fragments did an excellent job of enhancing the power and stability of the hollow Excalibur.
The fragments of Excalibur, and the Excalibur of Fate, overlapped; Arthurian legends almost always remained similar across all worlds. So it is not surprising that there were great similarities between one Excalibur and another.
This caused them to overlap into one.
That was new.
"What kind of legends did you use to turn Excalibur into a damn lightning bolt of destruction!" Vali growled as the smoke disappeared from around him. His demonic power surged, even though he was injured.
"Please, Excalibur is the strongest holy sword; it's the least it should be able to do." I snorted mockingly. Vali just grunted.
"Okay, enough!" Vali shouted. I could quickly hear voices coming from Vali, voices that were sad, angry, furious, and crazed. " I, who am about to wake up," really!? Juggernaut Drive? He was so desperate to win every fight? I drew another sword.
" Balmung !!!" attack with another anti-dragon destruction beam.
"Divide! Divide! Divide! Divide! Divide! Divide! Divide! Divide! Divide! Divide! Divide! Divide! Divide! Divide! Divide! " He tried again to reduce my attack while defending himself with his shields, but the same thing kept happening, the explosion engulfed him.
" Am the Heavenly Dra-" "Excalibur !!!" I interrupted Vali's chant with another Excalibur attack.
"- gon , who lost all to the-" "Balmung!!!" I interrupted him once again, how insistent!
"Divide! Divide! Divide! Divide! Divide! Divide! Divide! Divide! Divide! Divide! Divide! Divide! Divide! Divide! Divide! "
"p- principles of s-suprema-" "Excalibur!!!"
"Divide! Divide! Divide! Divide! Divide! Divide! Divide! Divide! Divide! Divide!"
"-cy. III Envy" "Balmung!!!"
"Divide! Divide! Divide! Divide!" Divide! Divide! "
"The 'infinite'-" "Excalibur!!!"
"Divide! Divide! Divide! "
" Balm -"
"Lady Prince!" I stopped at Draig's voice and frowned. "The target has fainted; if you continue, you might end up killing him," said Draig's deep voice. I blinked and looked over at Vali; he was on the ground, his Scale Mail completely shattered and in tatters, disappearing.
Vali was completely unconscious and bleeding all over. I grimaced, really, damn battle maniac. Wanting to use something like Juggernaut Drive when he's losing. Reckless.
I'd used about eight energy blasts. My demonic power reserves were down 70%. Seriously, it's the first time I've wasted so much magic in a fight. It's ridiculous. Although... it was fun to fire destructive beams over and over again. Still, I just sighed.
"Good." I grunted as Balmung disappeared from my hands. This was a great victory.
Author's Notes: Was it good? Was it bad? It's hard to create a chant and a Reality Marble! I hope I didn't ruin or forget anything.