บท 1255: Standing Upon the Precipice of a New Era
After a very refreshing tryst with Circe and Gareth, Vahn helped the two girls freshen up in the bath before escorting the former over to Iris' room. He spent a few minutes talking with Iris while holding his daughter, Penelo, in his arms. After that, Gareth accompanied him to the Workshop so they could pick up Da Vinci and Sophia before heading to the real world to visit the Welsh Dragon's chamber.
Vahn wasn't even surprised to find his daughter wearing a bipedal exoskeleton but, as it wouldn't function properly in the chamber, he made her leave it behind after promising to carry her the rest of the way. At this point, Sophia was close to twenty-two weeks old so, while still an infant, she was already able to speak without too much difficulty. Thus, while he carried her in his arm, she would continually pester him about various things she was interested in, a rather incredible sight if anyone from the outside world were to witness it.
With Sophia in his left arm and Da Vinci clinging to his right, Vahn passed through a large mirror that had been set up for group transfers between the Projection and the outside world. Artoria and Gray were already waiting for him while, at the side, Merlin was leaning against the wall with his staff in hand.
When Vahn appeared, Artoria and Gray immediately adorned cheerful yet elegant smiles, something he had grown accustomed to ever since obtaining his Divinity. In general, everyone in the castle was a lot happier than before, Vahn included, so it was a positive change.
After sharing a few polite words, Vahn led the group into the Welsh Dragon's chamber and, after handing Sophia over to Gray, he wasted no time in activating the summoning system. He was about to summon one of, if not the, most instrumental existences to ensuring the success of his Empire. It wasn't an exaggeration to make this claim as, once Maxwell's Demon reached the requisite level, it was theoretically possible to summon a limitless number of Heroic Spirits. In a way, it also gave him the power to resurrect the dead as, through the use of the Throne of Heroes, he could transplant the person in question just moments before their death, bringing them to the present.
Though Vahn fully expected 'something' to prevent him from using Maxwell's Demon in this manner, just the fact it could power CHALDEAS made it worth summoning. Vahn didn't plan to treat Maxwell like a battery without any rights but, so long as it wouldn't cause the peculiar Conceptual Entity any serious problems, he wanted to convince it to serve him. He didn't know what it would take to entice a Conceptual Entity but, as that was something he could discern after the summoning, Vahn quickly searched for Maxwell's Demon before confirming his selection.
As had been the case in each previous instance, Vahn immediately found himself back in the real world as the mana contained within the summoning system quickly took shape.
To Vahn's surprise, a gentlemanly-looking man with fair skin, a handsome face, and chestnut-brown hair that was neatly parted appeared. He was wearing an olive-green suit of relatively high-quality that looked like it had been produced in the early 1900s, complete with a flowery pocket square and a golden stopwatch neatly tucked away in his vest pocket. What stood out the most, however, were his eyes or, rather, his lack thereof...
For reasons Vahn could only guess at, there were black voids where the eyes of Maxwell's Demon should have been located. Despite this, he didn't seem to have any trouble seeing as, after fixing his black tie, he smiled before saying, "This is quite an unexpected occurrence. I never expected to exist at this point in time. Hey, mind telling me why you brought me here?"
Though Maxwell's Demon was behaving very casually, Vahn wasn't at all bothered by his words as, with what he intended to ask the man, it would be foolish to form any kind of animosity between them. Instead, Vahn adopted a similar smile before answering, "I won't lie to you. If possible, I would like you to become the catalyst to power this summoning circle while simultaneously providing your power to activate an extremely important system. I know it is a lot to ask, but it is important for the purposes of cementing the foundation of my Empire and setting the world on a new course..."
Before Vahn had even finished, Maxwell's Demon had adopted an 'as expected' look on his face as he ran his fingers through his hair and mused, "Sure. That shouldn't be a problem. Every time I make an appearance, it is always for a similar purpose. Some world leader or tyrant always tries to use my power to advance their agenda. I just hope the course you've decided upon is actually for the benefit of everyone, not just yourself."
Vahn felt a little awkward hearing the words of Maxwell's Demon but, as he believed in his cause, he didn't let them influence him too much. Instead, he kept a casual smile on his face as he asked, "So, what should I call you then? Maxwell?"
With a dismissive shrug, Maxwell's Demon, in an increasingly casual manner, simply stated, "Does it really matter? I don't really exist so you can call me Batteryman or Lord Electricity for all I care. I don't have any attachment to my name or my creator so address me however you like, Master."
Hearing Maxwell's words, Vahn released a light-hearted chuckle before saying, "You're an interesting character, Maxwell. Though you might not believe me when I say it, I'd like for us to become friends in the future. While it will make my burden lighter by having your power on my side, I will not force you to use it. My Empire isn't filled with incompetents so, if you give us enough time, we may not even need to rely on your power at all. Please, don't think that I intend to use you without treating you with dignity and respect. Even if you're a Conceptual Entity, I will treat you the same as any of my living friends and allies."
Though his expression didn't change, Maxwell tilted his head slightly in response to Vahn's words. His abyss-like eyes looked directly at him for several seconds before he ultimately gave a small nod and stated, "Well, it would be a nice change of pace if that were the case. It really doesn't matter to me how you want to use my power so you don't have to come up with any excuses to convince me to give you a hand. Still, its better than being strapped up and locked away in a room with a bunch of cables plugged into my body. I look forward to working with you."
Vahn nearly winced when he heard Maxwell mention having a bunch of cables plugged into him as, for a brief moment, it reminded him of his own past. Though he had gotten over the trauma at this point, it still allowed him to empathize with those who had similar experiences. Thus, even though it had been his intention from the get-go, he intended to befriend Maxwell and give the Conceptual Entity the freedom he deserved.
---
After a long discussion regarding the function of Maxwell's Noble Phantasm, chiefly moderated by Da Vinci, Vahn bestowed the title of Count upon the man before making a request to the Dwarves to build him a personal residence. He didn't want Maxwell to feel like he was just waiting to be used so, as often as possible, he wanted to let the man do whatever he wanted. So long as he followed the laws of the Empire, he was free to roam about the island and, though it would take a bit of time, he would also be able to freely roam the world later on.
Fortunately, Maxwell's Noble Phantasm, aptly named [Maxwell's Demon], worked just about the way they had expected. It took on the form of his actual heart which, much like Artoria and Siegfried, had a functionally limitless capacity for mana. The primary difference was, Artoria's heart provided her a seemingly infinite amount of mana, albeit with limited output. As for Maxwell, his heart had no such limit but, unless Magical Energy was stored within, it could not produce any mana of its own.
The most curious, and most important, aspect of [Maxwell's Demon] was, by continually channeling more Magical Energy into it, the maximum output was constantly increasing. Even if they only gave him a stable supply of 100 mana per day, his output would have been increased to 36,500 by the end of the year. This wasn't like a battery, however, as he would continually be able to output the same amount of mana, regardless of how much he expended.
As far as they could tell, the greatest restriction to [Maxwell's Demon] was that he couldn't use the energy for himself, nor could he feed it into a system that returned the magical energy back to him. He could only accept external energy and, should he try to make use of it himself, he would, quite literally, cease to exist. He also had a Skill called [Devil's Proof] which, much to Da Vinci's chagrin, meant that his Noble Phantasm would cease to function if anyone truly understood how it worked.
Since it was an abstract concept based on contradictions, any attempt to try and ascertain how it worked would ultimately invalidate the existence of the Noble Phantasm entirely. It was because of this that Maxwell didn't really care how Vahn referred to him as, if the latter was 'smart', he would never let others know he had been summoned. If his enemies put in the effort to try and 'prove' his existence and verify how his Noble Phantasm worked, it would simply stop working. Because of this, everyone that has ever summoned him always kept his existence a closely guarded secret, often by imprisoning or locking him away.
Despite this revelation, Vahn didn't change his treatment of Maxwell, saying confidently, "Your power is not absolutely necessary for the success of the Empire. If your Noble Phantasm stopped working, I would still treat you as a friend and allow you to live your life however you like."
While it was certainly convenient to have an infinite source of energy, there were actually a number of ways in which they could achieve the same result. Da Vinci had already made several important breakthroughs in the technology she had developed to convert Magical Energy into Divine Energy so it wouldn't set them back too much if Maxwell lost his power. He could already use the Throne of Heroes every two weeks, which was, admittedly, a little ridiculous. So complaining about not having infinite energy would be extremely petty of him.
Maxwell was largely dismissive of anything Vahn said as, from his perspective, he only existed to serve a very specific purpose. If he was treated well, that just made his job easier so he just went with the flow of things, just as he always had. This mainly involved him sitting in a chair for a few hours a day to absorb an ever-increasing amount of Magical Power, enough that he would be able to power the entire summoning system in as little as two months, Projection-time. With this equating to little more than a week in the outside world, it wouldn't be long before the Empire simply built too much momentum to be stopped.
Though it was possible to just brute force everything when they had indomitable power, Vahn still intended to keep his promise to Artoria. He didn't want to become a true tyrant so, as much as his enemies allowed, he would use dialogue and political maneuvering to build up his Empire. The first step towards this was winning the duel against Barthomeloi Lorelei so, in the final few days leading up to the climactic battle, Vahn spent the vast majority of his time helping Artoria polish her skills.
---
Ever since she became more 'proactive' in the bedroom, Vahn's relationship with Artoria had taken a strange turn as, for various reasons, she felt 'responsible' for everything that had happened. Because of this, she had become a lot more open about showing affection and, when they were alone, or at least with Gray, she was even a little 'perverted'. He liked to tease her by whispering this into her ear but, compared to her past self, Artoria made no effort to refute his words. Instead, she was often the one to come up with new and refreshing ways for them to spend time together, causing Vahn's heart to gradually soften.
In stark contrast to how she behaved when they were alone, the current Artoria had blazing silver eyes as she wielded, not her [Excalibur], but the Holy Spear, [Rhongomyniad]. She was unable to use its full power, as there were thirteen restraints placed on it, but it was still one of the most powerful weapons in the entire world. Vahn could feel his instincts screaming at him to flee as, regardless of whether or not he had the power of a God, it seemed hopeless to even try and confront the awe-inspiring spear.
When Vahn first saw [Rhongomyniad], he had been shaken to his core as, compared to any other weapon he had laid eyes upon, it was an indisputable masterpiece. It had an ivory white body that was obscured by thirteen bands that wrapped around it like metallic bandages. Towards the handle,
these bands formed a guard of sorts that spiraled in a crisscrossing helical pattern that gave it a strangely noble appearance. Though these bands obscured the true appearance of [Rhongomyniad], Vahn was still very impressed since even his [Enkidu] seemed to pale in comparison to the seemingly limitless Holy Energy radiating off of it...
Without giving him any time to admire the impossibly beautiful spear, Artoria had bent her legs ever so slightly before kicking off from the ground with enough force to rupture the hard white stone. In response to this, Vahn palmed forward with both hands, compressing the space between them with enough force to cause the void to fracture. Artoria, however, was completely undaunted by this and, with a look of absolute confidence in her silver eyes, time seemed to slow down as she shouted, "Let light be released from the Ends of the World. It shall split the heavens, and connect the land. Anchor of the Storm! Rhongomyniad~!"
For a brief moment, Vahn could see seven of the bands around [Rhongomyniad] loosen as a pillar of bluish-white light smashed into his body, far faster than light should be able to travel. It was a nigh-instantaneous, impossible to avoid, attack that seemed to ignore causality altogether to strike the opponent directly. If not for the fact he had other bodies, Vahn wouldn't have even known what had happened as, the moment Artoria released her attack, the vessel he had prepared to fight her had ceased to exist. He had even been holding on to an [Effigy of the Hero] but, as if it simply did not allow its attack to be undone, even that had been destroyed by [Rhongomyniad]'s holy light.
In the immediate aftermath of Artoria's attack, Vahn's main body collapsed to the ground as, for a brief moment, it felt like his existence itself had been erased. Fortunately, he had developed a bit of a resistance to this and, while his body had been destroyed in its entirety, there was a bit of ambient Source Energy left behind in the wake of the attack. If he put in an effort, Vahn knew he could reform his destroyed body but, as he had only created it for the purpose of the duel, he allowed it to slowly dissipate in order to further strengthen the Laws within the Training Orb.
By the time Vahn came to, he was staring up at Artoria as she used her lap to provide a pillow for him. It had taken him a few minutes to collect himself so she, Gray, and Gareth had been having a rather heated discussion about their nightly activities. Since this was something Artoria never would have mentioned in the past, Vahn couldn't help but smile when he realized what the topic they were discussing. This brought the attention of the girls to him, bringing an end to the conversation as Artoria asked, "Are you okay...?" with concern in her voice.
Vahn was tempted to tease her by asking if she had those same concerns before blasting his body away but, before the words could escape his lips, he began to laugh in a light-hearted manner. This caused Gray and Gareth to release a sigh of relief but, for a brief moment, Artoria puffed out her cheeks before lightly poking Vahn's. As a result, Vahn adopted a slightly apologetic expression but, rather than voice an unnecessary apology, he returned the smile to Artoria's face by saying, "You are really amazing. I almost feel bad for Lorelei...hahaha..."
Though she had a smile on her face, Artoria had a serious look in her eyes as she confidently stated, "Those like Lorelei are undeserving of our empathy. They have done nothing deserving of our mercy so, in order to create the world you have envisioned, I will not hesitate to strike her down. I may be your Empress, but I am also your Knight...it is my duty..."
Toward the end of her words, Artoria began to flush slightly as, while she started off strong, Vahn's smile had become progressively more pronounced. By the time she had finished, he had reached his hand up to cup her cheek and, almost as if to spite her serious words, her heart began to beat much faster than normal as Vahn stated with equal severity, "I love you, Artoria. Thank you...for being the amazing woman you are..."
It hadn't been his intention but Vahn saw a flash of pink spread, not just across Artoria's eyes, but Gray's and Gareth's as well. This was the passive synchronicity his Divinity brought to him as, if there were multiple people nearby with similar emotions, they would simultaneously be heightened. In the bedroom, this was perhaps his most valuable skill as, much like when he used to benefit from Syr's presence, he could now emulate the effect on his own. Since he was a bit riled up after experiencing the 'nothingness' that followed Artoria's attack, Vahn decided to spend the rest of the evening just cutting loose...not that he had been spending them in any other way as of late.
(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Maxwell be like, "It is what it is, fam"','Holy Rhongomyniad, Batman!','RIP Self-Restraint')
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