Fate/EXTELLA: In Veneficus In Mundo Eidos Re

Novus Ideocentrism
Chapter 1: Victor of the Moon - Hakuno Kishinami

The Great Collapse of 1970.

It was an event that the whole world wasn't aware of, and only those magicians of ancient lineage have knowledge of such great catastrophe. In 1970 a ritual was performed in a rural city in England. This ritual set off the depletion of the Earth's magic, Mana, that filled the atmosphere.

Mana, the energy required to carry out large-scale magic, has dried up, and real magic has been lost from Earth. Thus, the era of "magic" has drawn to a complete close. The magicians of old, having cut off from their mana and fearing their demise from center stage, turned to modern science in order to survive. In 1973, a magician discovered the existence of Information Dimension, a concept that was first introduced by a mathematician in 1959, and a new form of magic called "Eidos Rewriting" was founded.

The ability to modify a target's phenomena by modifying its Eidos—the information body of a phenomenon—through the use of old casting methods through spell chants, magic tomes, magic circles, hand seals, and talismans became what is known as Ancient Magic and the magicians of the old who adopted the magical theory of Information Bodies hence were christened as Ancient Magicians.

The new form of magic was kept a secret to the entire world until an incident in 1999 made the entire populace and various governments of other countries aware of this supernatural phenomenon. Hence, it gave birth to a worldwide race between nations to procure individuals that would have the abilities to execute such supernatural phenomenon through science.

Modern Magic and their practitioners, Modern Magicians, then came into light. Since then magicians were then integrated into society after magic was introduced to the whole world. With Magicians ushering in their respective societies in modern times, the meaning of Magic became synonymous with Technology.

This is only one of the infinite possibilities of the world where the Great Collapse of 1970 refers solely to mana depletion and the disastrous pole shift didn't occur at that time for reasons unknown.

This was a world defined as "a world within the stability" despite the ongoing crisis littered on its surface caused by humanity themselves. As the humans of Earth were busy indulging themselves in their petty squabbles for power and prestige through the use of magic, a sudden, instant, and unprecedented event stirred within the Moon...

XXX

— So it is said.

Holding a small, weak sword, he broke a large, strong wall. The crown of victory is beyond the end of the seven seas. With uncounted rewards and punishments in hand, he fought to the end to survive.

That process itself is his chief proof.

He runs, traverses, and break his way through everything to succeed. He looks fondly on the destruction that is his last repose.

— The night of his end had come.

"I wish to live."

His journey had already come to an end. The one who whispered his own human wish is quietly breaking into pieces. The Moon Cell, the Eye of God, transform the future according to the wish of the one who obtains it. That function wasn't available for someone as an irregularity as him.

It was inevitable. Yet, he expelled his yearning that dwells in his heart despite knowing that nothing will change.

A smile graced his boring face. His Servant would surely chide him for his decision. Well at least, he can reminisce about the bond he had shared with her even with his short, short life of his.

Good night — the sound of eyelids closing.

Sleep well — the sound of light going out.

…Please, be at peace. The observational device is again becoming the dreaming device it once was.

— Thus, everything end—

XXX

In the beginning, there was darkness.

And then God said, "Let there be light", and there was light.

The luminosity was too bright, too intense for one Hakuno Kishinami that he can't help himself but let out a whimper of discomfort as he tried to open his hurting eyes. He felt...sluggish as if his entire body had been thrown around like a rag, and the pain that accompanied it was that he was being torn into pieces, forcing him to grit his teeth while trying to wash away the cramped sensation through sheer will.

Not to mention that his ears hurt a lot as if the air in his eardrums had been sucked out.

After a moment, the pain that coursed through his body then subsided along with the blurriness that hindered his vision. The image of an unusual white-painted ceiling was the first thing that came to his view before the sensation of a cold yet rough texture against his back greeted him. The cold yet breezy air began to caress his skin, sending some slight shivers that made his tiny hairs stood up from the sudden chill.

A pair of hands then pushed themselves up as Hakuno forced himself upright, prompting him to sit square on what looks like to be some kind of a mat. Looking around, it appears to be that he was inside an aircraft cabin, judging from the cabin sidewalls, overhead luggage bins, and airline seats covered in some extravagant leather covers.

The next thing he did was to check himself: a black T-shirt with a white smiley face pattern on the front and a pair of short brown pants garbed his body thoroughly, and a pair of black socks and leather shoes encased his feet. Strange, since when did he change his long pants for shorter ones?

A pair of brown eyes glimmered in confusion as Hakuno Kishinami investigated his hands. The red tattoo that was supposedly etched on the back of his left hand, the Command Seals—the proof of him being a Master—was now gone without a trace. Yet on his right hand, a strange white golden ornate lay attached to his ring finger.

The Regalia.

The lad had to blink, how did he have knowledge of the name of the ring that adorned his finger? He had to blink once more when it dawned on him that his hands were small than the last time he saw them. And why is that he feel lighter than usual?

Did he lose weight or something?

"What in the world...!?" A male voice filled with disbelief erupted from behind, prompting the brunette to turn his head in response.

He immediately recognized it as Mandarin. Wait...how did he know he was speaking in Mandarin? And why is it that he easily understand him as if he knew the language like the back of his hand?

A few meters away from where he stood was a middle-aged man with slanted eyes angled upwards with a beer belly clothed in shady clothes; formal and tidy. His face was portraying a scowl that was borderline antagonistic, furious, yet bewildered. The man wasn't alone though. There were other men, all having heights that towered his own and builds that made him look scrawny, staring at his direction from there respective seats.

Some of them have beards while some were bald.

The brunette's body tensed, his fingers twitching in instinct upon noticing the metallic tubular objects holstered on the men's waist. Danger... His mind was telling him and Hakuno's demeanor suddenly turned a hundred eighty degrees. Gone was the physiognomy of one who was distraught, only a gaze of preparedness, stern, cold and yet calm plastered all over his countenance.

His fair share in the Holy Grail War and the experience that he had accumulated over the course of the death game somehow taught him to be on high alert in face of danger. He wasn't sure of himself whether he was inside Moon Cell's SERAPH or not, but what he was sure of was that the malevolent presence known as "peril" was now currently staring at him, face to face.

Then from the side, a man wearing a fedora hat who was carrying some kind of a sack on his left shoulder immediately stood in front of his Mandarin comrades, his right arm already stretched while muttering something with his mouth...

"Wait, what are you—!?"

Hakuno was cut off from his reply when he felt something trying to nudge him like an ocean wave walloping his entire body. But to his surprise, his frame then in emitted a sudden brightness in response putting the people in front of him in a stupefaction beyond recognition.

While his mind was still plagued by such puzzlement, he chooses to push those thoughts aside as he closed his eyes. He focused inward, his entire focal point diving deeper within himself trying to discern something that was a core part of him ever since he became aware of it.

「Magic Circuits」.

It was akin to a nervous system, residing in his soul and given physical expression through the body as it stretched outward. They are pipelines used to convert his Od—his Life Force— into magical energy or Prana which then acts as fuel to enact mysteries or spells. Through his inspection, Hakuno found out that there was nothing wrong with them and were in perfect condition.

It appears to be that his「Magic Circuits」reacted immediately when some kind of energy tried to invade his build...

...Then, did that mean that man just assaulted him with a magic spell?

"It did not work!?"

"Oi, you're an Ancient Magician right? Then how can your magic did not affect him!?"

Hakuno raised his brow upon hearing an unfamiliar term while the men in front of him were in portraying faces of incredulity.

Ancient Magician?

"Tch."

"We're not dealing with a human here. You're guns won't work!"

One of the men had already reached for his firearm, picking it up from his holster and aim the damn thing in front of him in a blink of an eye. However such movement was too sedate, too lead-footed for someone like Hakuno, who had been in front lines where people in myths and legends duke it out in blinding speed that surpasses the realm of men for too long, that before the guy could pull the trigger the brunette had already cast「Shock」from his fingertips. A yellow burst of electric-like sparks encapsulated the man, making him convulse violently as if he was experiencing an epilepsy attack.

His voice of pain escaped from his mouth in an incoherent manner which resonated within the entire cabin. The man's body went slump, plummeting down towards the carpet floor. A loud thud echoed, followed by roaring gunshot and Hakuno, having caught the path of the bullet with eyesight, slightly moved his head to the side. He heard the bullet hitting the wall behind him and went pass through said wall.

Brown irises immediately spun, tracing the surface where the projectile landed and the brunette could only click his tongue when he realized that he was standing right in front where the pilot's chamber was.

"Hey, wait!" Hakuno tried to reason out but was forced himself to cross his arms up in a guarded manner and invoke「Gain Constitution」which made the hail of bullets like pieces of paper being thrown towards his reinforced build, bouncing off as if his whole body turned into a suit of armor fortified with magical energy.

He could've just dodged the bullets if only if it wasn't for the fact that the cockpit was right behind him, the area responsible for the operation of the entire aircraft, and if the chamber was heavily compromised then every one of them will dive below towards who knows where. Heck, even the brunette has no idea whether it was ocean or land below them. Crashing into either isn't even an enticing idea at all!

Some of the live slugs that bounced off from his magically enhanced body ricocheted all around the cabin, turning all those projectiles in a fancy as it wreaks havoc in the entire cabin. Windows were being broken and the compressed air inside the compartment suddenly rushes towards the broken gaps. Despite that, one of the gunners let out a grunt as he picked up a Gatling gun out of nowhere.

"Out of the way you bastards!"

"Is this man out of his mind...!?" Hakuno thought to himself loudly as the man tried to aim the barrels of the rapid-fire spring loaded, hand cranked weapon at him.

"Then I have no choice...!" The brown haired lad vocally expelled as he activated a Code Cast he was very familiar with.

"「Release Magic」!"

In an instant, a powerful surge of magical energy was released around him sending all the men as if they were being rammed by a truck and successfully knocking them out.

Seeing that the men who tried to harm was fully incapacitated, he let out a sigh of relief.

"What the hell is going on?" He muttered with a slight confusion.

The first thing thing he remembered was his entire existence being snuffed out then in the next second, he found himself inside a plane with men who somehow want to rain bullets on him with no damn reason.

It does not make any sense!

"Pondering on such thoughts won't help. First I need to know how exactly I got in this place and why this men tried to kill me?"

Though Hakuno had an inkling that they must be terrified when he appeared out of nowhere judging on the faces that the men portrayed upon seeing him, still it did not warrant any violence action against him whatsoever. He walked over to the unconscious men with extracting any valuable information that would help him get a clear answer to his predicament with a certain magic spell in mind.

Positioning himself, he was about to use a Code Cast when something caught his eyes.

It was a girl with jet-black wavy hair dressed in some fancy outfit, floating within the cabin with her back almost arched as if gasping for air to breathe. What stood out, however, was the state that the said girl was in; hands tied at the back with black metallic cuffs and also her feet, and a gag covering her mouth. It didn't take a while for Hakuno to realize what the men had done through the girl.

It was an outright kidnapping.

Seeing the anguished state of the female, the brunette then rushed immediately to her side.