Chapter 1131 - Inescapable Fate
Finding himself in the bluish-black s.p.a.ce once again, Vahn wasn"t at all surprised to find that Akasha was already waiting for him. Before she could "take" a sample from him, Vahn held out his hand to produce a small, crystal clear ball of liquid that had a subtle silver hue to it. Without needing to ask what he was doing, Akasha extended her hand, replacing the small sphere of liquid with yet another [Divine Energy Cube]. Then, before she could leave, Vahn quickly produced an extra heart from his chest before holding out a second liquid sphere, this one having a milky-pink color. In response to this, Akasha plainly stated, "I have only been given permission to accept one sample at a time. Please return here later if you would like to carry out another exchange." With that said, she vanished into the ground without another word, leaving Vahn sighing as he allowed the bone marrow sphere and still-beating heart to dissipate, returning them to his body.
Since he had already antic.i.p.ated Akasha"s response, as their initial agreement had him carrying out only a single exchange at a time, Vahn didn"t let it bother him too much. It was obvious that her superior"s wanted to prevent him from having too much power without observing how he gains his own. If he carried out all of the transactions, this would give him nearly twenty-five billion OP, an amount that he would be able to exploit quite a bit if given the opportunity. This current agreement allowed them to place a limiter of sorts on his growth, forcing him to put in more effort instead of just relying on what they could provide him. Since he still had access to the Throne of Heroes, however, Vahn didn"t really care all that much since the [Divine Energy Cube]s were just a means to an end for him.
Deciding to focus on why he had come here in the first place, Vahn walked over to the black stone platforms and began sifting through the three different screens. It didn"t take him long to locate Irisviel"s name but, unlike the other Irisviel"s from other timelines, there were two names a.s.sociated with his timeline"s version. Even stranger still was that both names were greyed out, causing Vahn to frown as he asked the Throne of Heroes, "What is going on?". This was the first time Vahn saw such a phenomenon but, fortunately, a synthetic voice answered, *The ent.i.ty known as Irisviel von Einzbern current exists within your present timeline. Her physical body had been converted into the Third Holy Grail before ultimately being destroyed by the ent.i.ty known as Artoria Pendragon. To summon this ent.i.ty, you need to either summon her as a Heroic Spirit or provide a suitable vessel for her soul to inhabit.*
Vahn wasn"t too surprised by the fact that Irisviel"s soul still persisted in his current timeline, as she was closely a.s.sociated with the Heaven"s Feel Ritual, so he didn"t bother asking questions he knew the Throne wouldn"t answer. Instead, he asked, "What const.i.tutes a "suitable vessel"?" In response to this, the synthetic voice answered, *There would be issues with compatibility, but it is possible to use any spiritual object or significantly advanced homunculus as a vessel. It is also possible for the ent.i.ty known as Irisviel von Einzbern to possess the body of a living human, though they would have to be willing."
With the Throne"s answer, Vahn knew it was essentially saying that Irisviel could be sealed within a Mystic Codex, turning it into a "sentient treasure" much like Gray"s Add. This was actually something he was very interested in but, imagining the look Illya would give him if he brought her mother back as a sword or a staff prevented him from giving in to his curiosity. Thus, while thinking about the type of vessel he should prepare, Vahn looked through the displays to see Irisviel"s parameters and skills. Somewhat surprisingly, she qualified for the Caster, Lancer, and Avenger Servant Cla.s.ses. He knew the Avenger version of Irisviel would probably be "very" troublesome but the other two seemed rather interesting. The only downside was that her parameters were even lower than Circe"s, even with the "correction" provided by being summoned as a Heroic Spirit. This was because, while she was indeed present on the Throne of Heroes, Irisviel had no "legend" whatsoever, meaning she was significantly weaker than the standard Heroic Spirit...
Knowing that Irisviel was supposed to be based on the same type of homunculus as Justeaze, Vahn recalled the latter"s appearance as he removed his s.h.i.+rt and focused his mind. Then, in a display that would cause a number of people to feel nauseous, Vahn"s back began to bubble as the body of a fully formed woman began to emerge from his back, supported by his telekinesis until she had been completely separated a few minutes later. Without his soul inside of it, the body was bound to turn to dust after around twenty-four hours but, as existences like Fenrir and Medusa were able to exist as "pure" Source Energy, Vahn felt that infusing Irisviel"s soul into the faux body he had produced would be possible. This was an idea he had come up with after Paracelsus, Illya, and Scáthach all explained that it was impossible to create a Homunculus without "binding" a soul to it from the start. Since Vahn wasn"t willing to "overwrite" the existence of another person, even though they lacked a developed Ego, he had needed to come up with a different solution if he wanted to create bodies for his current Heroic Spirits.
Seeing the n.a.k.e.d body he had produced, Vahn had to admit that the ancestors of the Einzberns certainly had good taste. Though it might be a little shameless of him to say, the body he had produced for Irisviel was almost "flawless" in every way. She had well-developed proportions, giving her a shapely and mature figure, while her long white hair cascaded down like a waterfall as Vahn slowly turned her through the air. The only thing he wasn"t "sure" about was whether or not Irisviel would have had pubic hair but, considering she was a homunculus, this didn"t seem all that likely. Just in case, however, he left "roots" within the area that could be developed if Irisviel pointed out the discrepancy to him in the future. Besides this, the one thing Vahn was slightly worried about was whether or not he had made her b.u.t.t too big as, even with the small hologram as a reference, it was hard to tell if Justeaze"s b.u.t.t had been big. The only thing he had to go on was Irisviel"s chest which, when considering she was only 158cm tall, was rather large at 85cm. Since she was supposed to be "flawless", Vahn balanced her body out by giving her a waistline of 55cm and full h.i.p.s that matched her bust size at 85cm. Overall, she had an appearance that models could only ever dream of without even reaching the point that they could be directly compared to Irisviel"s beauty...
More than satisfied with his handiwork, Vahn performed a detailed examination of Irisviel"s body, including the structure of her internal organs. He had nothing to go on when it came to her Magic Circuits so he gave her a similar structure to Illya, a.s.suming the latter had inherited her own from her mother. In theory, this meant that Irisviel should be even more powerful in the future, even though she would also need to develop her Od from scratch. With a body comprised of Source Energy, however, she would never have an upward limit on her reserves so Vahn was hopeful she would serve as the first example of a successful "transplant" into a body he had formed for someone else"s use. This was very important as, before he saved Eva, Vahn needed to come up with a method that allowed people to follow him from their Record of Origin. If Irisviel was actually able to inhabit a body he had made for her, there was a good chance she would even be able to accompany him to future Records, not that he had such intentions for her...
After dressing Irisviel in a set of lingerie and a nightgown, as it would be somewhat awkward to carry her back to Illya n.a.k.e.d, Vahn operated the Throne of Heroes once again, specifying, "I will be using the prepared vessel to house the soul of Irisviel von Einzbern." As soon as he said these words, Vahn noticed the two names were no longer greyed out so he selected the one that couldn"t become an Avenger-Cla.s.s Servant, hoping this meant he would get the "good" version of Irisviel. It would be best if he was able to rectify the two halves but, considering the other part had likely been corrupted by Angra Mainyu, Vahn would only look into a "solution" if it turned out to be a problem. Given what he had heard about Irisviel, it was more than a little likely she would be perfectly content working as his Librarian without ever fighting on the frontlines...
When Vahn finalized his selection, he once again found himself standing in the summoning circle with Irisviel"s body laying next to him. Since he still had a connection with the body, Vahn knew that Akasha and her superiors hadn"t tried to pull a fast one on him. Unless they could replicate his Source Energy, something that was entirely beyond their means, the vessel laying on the ground was the same one he had prepared within the Throne of Heroes. Now, however, Vahn could see the same bluish-white energy that normally formed the body of a Hero flowing into Irisviel"s body, causing a powerful vitality to begin emanating from within. At the same time that her heart began beating, Vahn"s connecting with the body was completely severed, meaning it was no longer a "part" of him. This was a good sign and, so long as Irisviel didn"t vanish after twenty-four hours, a rather terrifying thought, he could interpret this as a success.
Since it would be awkward to carry multiple people upstairs at the same time, Vahn picked up Irisviel"s body before ascending the long flight of stairs connecting to his bedroom. Along the way, he made sure there were no abnormalities within Irisviel"s body which, even at this moment, still had a slightly rainbow hue from Vahn"s perspective. Though her mana was predominately gold and silver, there was a discernable rainbow coloration mixed in that showed that Irisviel was undoubtedly still a product of his Source Energy. This was very exciting for Vahn as he couldn"t observe any instabilities within her body whatsoever, something that would become apparent if he "severed" his connection with his blood under normal circ.u.mstances. At the same time, he smiled when he considered that he and Illya were now truly family through her mother, even though this also made it seem like he was her Grandfather given that Irisviel had been created from his own flesh and blood.
By the time the secret pa.s.sage had opened up, Illya was already standing on the opposite side with a nervous expression. When she saw her mother in Vahn"s arms, her face formed into a whimpering frown as tears began to well up in her eyes. Vahn"s own expression softened when he saw this but, as his hands were full at the moment, he walked over to the bed to lay Irisviel down before rubbing Illya"s head as she jumped into the bed and began crying next to her mother"s unconscious body. Though she was going on twenty-nine years old, Illya became like the child she appeared to be as she tightly hugged Irisviel"s body, rubbing her face against the mother she hadn"t seen for twenty years...
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After Illya calmed down a bit, Vahn explained the situation to her, including the possibility that Irisviel"s current body might break down. To her credit, she took this information very well and, instead of blaming him for his "failure", she began offering potential solutions. If Irisviel"s soul could be bound to a Mystic Codex, it wasn"t impossible to transplant it into a synthetic body latter on. Placing her into the body of a homunculus would pose various problems but that didn"t mean they were unable to give her a bio-mechanical form, much like a Sentient Golem or an Artificial Human. Since Vahn was intending to summon Da Vinci next, the chances of producing a high-quality body for Irisviel, a.s.suming her current one broke down, were extremely high. Merlin talked about the man as if he could weave gold from thin air and pull clouds from the sky to create ma.s.sive skyscr.a.p.ers. For someone with a ridiculous powerset like Merlin to speak so highly of another person, they had to be "extremely" abnormal...
With that in mind, Vahn went down the long flight of stairs for the second time in a single day before pulling out a [Divine Energy Cube] and using it as a catalyst to power the summoning system. In the next moment, he was within the Throne of Heroes once again, greeted by the presence of Akasha who was already waiting to complete their exchange. Vahn turned over a liquid sphere of his bone marrow before stowing his new [Divine Energy Cube] into his Inventory. When Akasha vanished, he made his way over to the stone pillars before searching for Leonardo da Vinci"s name. He was a little curious about what kind of man Da Vinci was but, more than anything else, Vahn was just happy to have a fellow researcher that he could just talk with without having to worry about developing an intimate relations.h.i.+p with them...
As Vahn was looking forward to meeting Da Vinci, he isolated the search parameters to only include the version from his own timeline. When he did this, however, Vahn"s face formed into a deep frown as, even after designating his own timeline, there were tens of thousands of people named Leonardo da Vinci within the list. Though he was able to narrow things down by selecting the [Pioneer of the Stars:EX] skill but there were still more than a hundred people with comparable parameters and skills. This was rather confusing as one person shouldn"t be able to exist as multiple people within the same timeline. However, considering that even Irisviel had been split into two, Vahn found it strangely easy to believe that someone touted as an "omnipotent genius" by Merlin would be able to do something others couldn"t even comprehend...
Since he couldn"t know which Da Vinci was the "correct" one, Vahn picked the one with the highest rank of [Item Construction] and an EX-Ranked n.o.ble Phantasm. This actually meant Leonardo"s n.o.ble Phantasm was stronger than Scáthach"s but, considering his parameters were some of the lowest Vahn had ever seen, the only exception being his Magic Power and Luck, he had no delusions that the Genius Innovator would be able to defeat n.o.bunaga"s feared "Purple Monster". Though he might be able to "invent" something that was capable of defeating Scáthach, it wasn"t actually all that difficult to create powerful weapons that could even skill G.o.ds. This wasn"t the actual skill of the user, however, so Vahn discredited such things since the reliance on such weapons would always prevent people from growing beyond their current Soul Tier...
After confirming his selection, Vahn found himself within the Welsh Dragon"s chamber once again as the bluish-white light from the summoning circle began to coalesce into a body. In hindsight, he realized summoning Da Vinci around the time of his death may not have been the wisest decision as, according to the history books, he had been sixty-seven years old at the time of death. Though he would be able to preserve his life with relative ease, Vahn felt somewhat apologetic knowing that he had pulled "History"s Greatest Genius" from his death bed before bringing him into the present. This sentiment almost immediately vanished, however, as Vahn"s expression formed into a complex frown as he watched the light coalesce into the very obvious figure of a woman.
With a very strong urge to punch Merlin when he got back, Vahn watched as the "old man" he had expected formed into the body of a 160cm tall woman with one of the most perfectly balanced bodies he had ever seen. He had thought that Irisviel was a rare beauty but, even though this current woman seemed a little "plump" around the b.r.e.a.s.ts, b.u.t.t, and thighs, they all came together to form a breathtaking image that even caused Vahn to feel somewhat "lucky". Since he had studied quite a bit about Da Vinci prior to this summoning, Vahn was able to tell that the woman present before him was actually the same Mona Lisa that Leonardo Da Vinci had painted in the past. History recorded her as a "mystery woman" who some claimed to be La Gioconda, the wife of Francesco del Giocondo who had been an a.s.sociate of Da Vinci"s. Now, however, it seemed like Da Vinci had been painting a self-portrait as there was "literally" nothing in common between this inordinately beautiful woman and the old man in Da Vinci"s biography...
Since Vahn had chosen the [Transmigrator] perk after selecting what he believed to be the "correct" Leonardo Da Vinci, he knew the woman before him was a flesh and blood body. When he activated his [Eyes of Truth], however, Vahn"s face formed into one of genuine confusion as he was unable to see "anything" within Da Vinci"s body. Though he could feel a powerful vitality radiating from her body, there seemed to be something blocking his view as it appeared like a "void" within his vision. The only thing he "knew" was that her face was a perfect balance between beauty, motherly appeal, and seductiveness. It almost felt like you could measure her features and they would all be the "ideal" size and shape, making other beauties seem like a pale imitation, the only exception perhaps being G.o.ddesses. Her glossy, dark brown hair, tinged with a slight maroon hue, fell around her neck and shoulders in gentle curls that seemed to be in the peak of health due to the natural gloss present. As for her body, Vahn found it hard not to gawk so he chose not to look directly at her figure that was covered in a loose black gown and a blue shawl that had the patterns of stars sewn into it...
Unlike the others he had summoned at the time of their death, Da Vinci seemed to be the picture of perfect health and, instead of toppling over after being summoned, she just stood there like a statue that was to be admired. Then, just as Vahn was thinking about carrying her up stairs to rest, Da Vinci slowly peeled open her eyelids to reveal a pair of eyes that looked like a masterpiece that had been painstakingly painted by the most skilled painter in the world with all their pa.s.sion. Though they had a base color that was resplendent like sapphires, there was a mix of subtle greens, purples, and just the smallest touch of pink that seemed to swirl around in her fiercely intelligent eyes. Vahn felt like he had been completely seen through the moment she looked at him, making him tense up like a deer caught under the unwavering gaze of a Master Huntsman...
As if she found his reaction amusing, Da Vinci smiled in a subtle yet expressive way that caused Vahn"s mind to momentarily blank as she stated in a soft voice tinged with intrigue, "How curious. I never expected to be transported through time at the moment I shut down my consciousness. What a peculiar phenomenon..." Then, taking slow and measured steps that left no room to even question whether or not the person in front of him was a Lady, Da Vinci walked until she was right in front of Vahn, her eyes reflecting his image in their depths. Her eyes began to glimmer slightly as she mused, "I never thought I would meet an existence I could not comprehend. So, what shall I call you then? I do not mind calling you Master...or Husband? I will not fault you for being attracted to this body; just know that I was originally a man. If you believe the soul is a genderless construct, however, I do not mind playing the part of a maiden..."
Since one of the things she could understand from seeing Vahn was that he was "very" interested in her body, Da Vinci reached out her hands to frame his face with the same gentle smile on her face. She already understood the situation just from seeing the summoning formation beneath her so the only things left to uncover was the "purpose" behind why this unfathomable man had summoned her. He obviously had a reason to allocate a small nation"s worth of mana just to pull her through time so, believing there was a chance that he had discovered her "secret", Da Vinci didn"t mind humoring him for a bit. She was interested in trying out this body"s reproductive functions so this was a good opportunity to confirm whether or not she was capable of bringing a child to term.
(A/N: Alternate t.i.tles: "I made this so it"s okay to look...right?","A mother and daughter reunited","Vahn broke") (A/N: Da Vinci, the "perfect" MILF: imgur.com/a/mnTOZV5)
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