Overwhelming

Following a tense standoff that lasted several minutes, Vahn found himself being escorted through the excessively large Senate building by a stone-faced Senator Ricardos. There were also a number of armored magical knights in the surrounding, but, as if they had the presence of air, Vahn ignored them completely as he probed the more secure regions of the building with his intent.

During his stroll through the city, Vahn noticed there was a complex underground network beneath the surface of the city. This was rather common even back on Earth, but, with magical materials and advanced building techniques, several hundred years ahead of 'modern' standards, the complexity of Megalomesembria's underground was simply ridiculous.

Generally speaking, even a simple skyscraper would require an exceptionally stable foundation. This was especially true for buildings over a certain height, and, depending on the conditions of the soil and sub-surface material, some foundations could be nearly half as deep as the buildings were tall.

As an example, the foundation for the Megalomesembrian Senate Building extended nearly three-kilometers deep, but, rather than use a stable raft or solid supports, it was structured to be part of the vast underground network that seemed to span the entire city. This network extended nearly thirteen kilometers beneath the surface in some regions, and, from what Vahn could sense, most of the subsurface city was actually ancient ruins.

It wasn't difficult to imagine a country like Megalomesembria establishing itself atop the ruins of an ancient civilization, but, even after purchasing thousands of historical records related to the Magical World, Vahn had never heard of the ruins located beneath the city. Even Fairy Xuan hadn't informed him of their existence, almost as if they were completely separate from the rest of the world despite the fact he could clearly sense them...

Deciding he would investigate the subterranean ruins later, Vahn entrusted the matter of analyzing the ruins to Sis. He had other matters to focus on right now, but, due to the nature of his domain, it would be easy to go back and 'explore' the ruins from memory alone. There was no need to explore them directly unless they found something of potential import or intrigue...

---

While Vahn had been deliberately making his way through the city, Asuna and Fenrir had remained in their original position. In their surroundings, a palatial structure spanning several hundred meters had gradually taken shape, its structure formed from pure ice elemental energy.

One of the things that distinguished a competent Mage from the general rabble was their ability to affect their surroundings and modify the environment to guarantee themselves greater advantages. This had been true even in the Record of Danmachi, but, after training for nearly a hundred years in the Nasuverse, Fenrir reached a point where her [Aterna Clacies] and [Nihil] were capable of rivaling an EX-Rank [Territory Creation] skill.

Though it took a considerable amount of energy, Fenrir was able to create elaborate architectural structures formed from little more than Ice, Water, Darkness, and Yin Elemental Energies. This was where her sobriquet 'Queen of the Frozen Abyss' came from, as, for a variety of reasons, Fenrir had focused her efforts on developing massive palatial structures. She even had a personal Sub-Space Orb that was filled with more than a thousand different castles, some of which could even rival the Ivory Castle in both scale and beauty.

---

Though she hadn't dropped her guard, Fenrir decided to conserve her energy by laying down in the center of her newly constructed castle. She kept a larger version of the [Pristine Jade Ice Bed] in her collar-turned-interspatial-artifact, so, whenever she had the opportunity, Fenrir would pull it out for the purpose of replenishing her reserves and helping to calm her mind.

If a 'normal' person were to come into contact with the [Pristine Jade Ice Bed], they would instantly freeze as yin-ice toxins invaded their body. Fenrir, however, was completely immune to this effect, and, even if her core temperature inverted, falling into the negatives, she was able to move around without any discomfort.

Asuna lacked Fenrir's constitution, but, with a thin membrane of invisible Ki covering her body, she was able to lay within Fenrir's thick coat of fur, completely disregarding the sub-zero temperatures. Instead, she was focused on the inordinately beautiful gemstone in her hands with a curious and slightly mischievous glimmer in her eyes.

Though he had explained it to her several times, Asuna was very curious regarding Vahn's ability to change form. She had yet to grasp the true nature of the Ego and Intent, so, when Vahn turned into something like 'pure water', Asuna couldn't help but wonder how he was able to move and perceive his surroundings without something physical to process the information. He could even 'feel' things without any nerves whatsoever, a mysterious phenomenon that caused various thoughts to dance across Asuna's mind as she fiddled with the rainbow-hued gemstone...

Unfortunately, with Vahn currently occupied with more important matters, Asuna couldn't conduct any of the experiments that tempted her reasoning. She didn't want to make things too difficult for Vahn, so, even though her mind had been wandering with increasing frequency ever since everyone else left, Asuna was always in control of her actions.

After considering her options for several minutes, Asuna brought the rainbow-hued gemstone to her lips, whispering, "Good luck..." before planting a small kiss on the flattest surface. In response, the gemstone began releasing a gentle pulse, and, though it obviously lacked hands, both Asuna and Fenrir could feel a familiar and comfortable warmth begin to spread through their bodies...

---

With Asuna's words coming just as he was about to enter the Senate Chamber, Vahn couldn't help but issue a wry smile before quickly adopting a more serious expression as Senator Ricardos turned to explain, "You would normally have to relinquish your weapons and have your magic sealed prior to entering this chamber..."

Completely ignoring Senator Ricardos' words, Vahn made his way past the man, blasting apart the ornate wooden doors with a burst of Ki before saying, "You're free to try whatever you like. I have no obligation to play along, however..."

Without waiting for the man's response, Vahn walked into the circular chamber filled with nothing but projections. None of the Senators had deigned to show up personally, for obvious reasons, so he had no interest in playing games. Instead, he sauntered into the room with a somewhat bored look on his face as he lazily inspected the complex magical formations hidden within the chamber.

As a measure to prevent people from misusing their magical power within the Senate Chamber, a modified Inverse Sealing Formation covered the entire room. Any attempt to cast external magic would trigger the formation, and, unless you were able to complete the spell instantly, your magic power would be 'forced' back into your body, seriously injuring or even crippling you.

Vahn was actually a little impressed by the magic formation, but, as he would have been able to create something similar nearly two-hundred years prior, it didn't hold his interest for long. After memorizing its structure, he turned his attention to the large podium that overlooked the rest of the Senate Chamber. There, a projection of the same man who had been observing him could be seen, his expression a perfect mask of calm as he looked down with peculiar purple eyes...

Ignoring the outbursts of and remarks from several Senators, Vahn smiled up at the man, eyes blazing with a golden light as he plainly stated, "Judgement has come to Megalomesembria. If you want to avoid a catastrophe, you will begin making the necessary changes to fix this broken nation. Here, let me point you in the right direction..."

Without waiting for anyone to argue against him, Vahn raised his left hand, and, without taking his eyes away from the Dictator and the Consuls surrounding him, snapped his fingers. In response to this simple gesture, nearly a third of the Senators present collapsed, their projections blinking out of existence. At the same time, two of the Consuls seated in their throne-like chairs showed pained expressions, and, much like their Senatorial counterparts, they too collapsed in their seats, this time without flickering out.

Witnessing the rather incredulous sight, even the Dictator was unable to conceal his shock. As for the rest of the assembly, complete chaos erupted within the chamber as the surviving Consuls rose to their feet, shouting various expletives as armored knights and spider-like tanks appeared from a series of transport magic circles that had appeared out of thin air.

Feeling his blood beginning to boil, a battle-hungry look flashed across Vahn's eyes as he pulled out the sealed version of Laev-tan and shouted, "Come! Let me show you the cost of corruption and the interest your actions have accrued...!"

Following his outburst, Vahn's aura surged outward like an explosion, repelling the knights who had attempted to surround him. In the next moment, before even a single one of them could crash into the surrounding walls, Space within the chamber rapidly condensed. Empty air gained a consistency similar to water, greatly reducing the speed of everyone sent flying as Vahn, seemingly immune to the effects, created hundreds of afterimages as his sword glided seamlessly through the reinforced armored plating of the surrounding knights.

Though people within the affected area could have counted several seconds, the actual passage of time, at least from the outside, was only a fraction of a second. Vahn was a God of Space, Time, and Creation, so, while it was a bit cost-intensive, he could freely manipulate Space and Time within his domain. He could even create a 'reference point' to freely reverse Time, and, so long as their Egos hadn't been fractured, he could effectively 'resurrect' the dead by reversing the order of entropy.

The most useful aspect of this 'time-reversal' was the fact that it affected Vahn himself, so, even if he was on the verge of losing, he could basically 'reset' the battle at will. This wouldn't remove any of the mental fatigue, but, unless they had the means to do spiritual damage, he would be able to repeat the battle as many times as it took to ensure the most optimal outcome.

Confident in his abilities, Vahn was unable to hide the excitement in his eyes as Senator Ricardos, unable to just stand idle, attacked from behind. His body was shrouded in a lightning-like aura that caused the robes covering his body to evaporate, revealing an exceptionally toned physique marred with various wounds.

Though not quite the speed of lightning, Senator Ricardos was able to enhance both his speed and reaction time by saturating his cells with lightning elemental energy. This was eerily similar to how the Magia Erebea worked, but, considering the man had Demonic Blood flowing through his veins, Vahn wasn't too surprised.

Demonstrating the vast disparity between their speeds, Vahn was able to deflect or dodge most of Senator Ricardos' attacks with minimal movements as he explained, "That technique is going to ruin your body. Even if your regeneration is better than a normal human, lightning elemental energy has an inherent purification effect. The deterioration of your cells will increase exponentially the longer you keep this ability active..."

As he was well aware of his own weakness, Senator Ricardos didn't show any surprise in response to Vahn's words. Instead, his expression became even more serious as he jumped back and attempted to increase the output of his technique, a dauntless expression on his face as he said, "You're no-"

Without affording the man the opportunity to power up, Vahn's figure seemed to 'glitch' for a brief moment. The surroundings seemed to dim considerably, and, for an almost imperceptible moment, it appeared as though he had eight right arms, each swinging his sword at a different angle without him having to move from his starting position.

Before Senator Ricardos could fully process what had just transpired, an overwhelmingly nauseous feeling spread through his body. Then, preceding complete darkness, his vision began to gradually split, the focal point of his eyes shifting away from each other as his body was split into a series of small chunks.

(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Mundus Magicus has many secrets...','Fenrir takes after Eva; very artistic','One does not become a deterrent through passive action')

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