A/N:This chapter will be a bit shorter than the last one because it'll only be a general look into other character's reactions to Vasily's revealing his existence. There'll be no fights but he'll show a new Authority and also reveal some of the Heretic Gods he slew.
Chapter 3
,2nd Russian Empire.
"The Demon King with Ten Lives was the most powerful Campione alive, he is said to have had the most Authorities and lived during the Bronze Age." read Vasily in one of the 50 books in the pile beside him."After a summoning rite was performed by some priests, he and all the other Campione of his era, including Uldin, were killed by a mysterious Heretic God of Steel.*sigh*So little information about it."
The sorcerer was now inside a huge circular underground pool, where a strange blue liquid was being poured by dragon-shaped fountains on the walls.
"Hmpf, I need more information about it." said him thoughtfully. He then heard the sound of a door opening and saw Loki coming inside the room carrying a silver plate with a bottle of wine and a glass.
"I brought you a drink, little master." said him as he kneeled down beside Vasily and poured some wine in the glass, before handing it to him.
"You know I'm a child now right?"
"A child mage over 400 years old." answered him before turning to the pile of books."Have you found any information about the Demon King with Ten Lives?"
"Nothing so great." said Vasily taking a sip of the sweet wine on the glass."Bordeaux Wine, always the best. It's strange though, because the only registered Campione of that era were him and Uldin, the hunnic polygamous chief, although I have suspicions on Chandragupta Maurya, Alexander the Great and others."
"Campione tend to be important people in history of their regions, so you can follow that logic." said the green-eyed Divine Ancestor calmly.
"Anyways, I wonder how long do I have to stay inside this bathtub of mana in order to be ready for Verethragna." said Vasily while going even deeper inside the mana.
"Your Dragon's Vein Authority from Hekate is quite a source of mana but" said Loki while waving his hand at the pool. "even this quantity of mana concentrated to the point of being liquid may not be able to refuel your power in short time. Allow me to remind you that you fought Bael, a god who made you spend mana to the point where keeping your adult and real form became impossible, and then Melqart, who made you spend the few remaining mana you had, thus the reason why you didn't have access to most of your Authorities during the fight."
"You didn't answer my question." said Vasily while diving into the mana pool and returning to the surface after some seconds.
"Maybe some hours until you can recover completely, considering you changed the mana flow of the whole Eastern Europe and are forcing it to pass through this place."
"What a pain." said Vasily sighing. "How's the Diavolo Rosso?"
"She went to contact the Copper Black Cross as she said, and will be back on the next days."
"And here goes my secret."
"Exact, now magic organizations will start trying to contact you and buy your favor with lovers, money and other things." said Loki smiling.
"What about Verethragna? Have you managed to track him?"
"The Imperial Magic Academy is taking care of this, although we suspect he is in Mumbai, India, or Yazd, Iran, since those are Zoroastrian sanctuaries." "Great, tell me if you have any results while I plan battle strategies and study about the Persian Warlord."
"Sure, master Vasily." said Loki while giving a bow. "Also, I felt another Heretic god's presence back in Italy and, for the smell it gives, it was an Earth God."
"Metis? No, she was sealed a long time ago. Was it Gaia?"said Vasily with a thoughtful look.
"Unfortunately, I can't tell you any more information as it's signature was very well hidden."
"Very well, this god probably isn't hostile." said Vasily shrugging."What about the History Compilation Committee? Have they accepted my apologies after Izanagi, Izanami and Amaterasu's little incident?"
"Yes, and they invited you to visit Japan later." said the butler while readying himself to leave."I'm leaving now, do you want something else?"
"Yes please, I want some more info about Verethragna's Authorities." said Vasily. Then he rested his back on the pool's wall and relaxed his muscles."But before that, let me sleep a little."
"Yes, my lord." answered the former Heretic God before turning around and leaving with a sly smile on. 'I still have a lot of work to do 'thought him.
(Meanwhile in Rome, Black Copper Cross's Base.)
"So you met the 7th Campione, as expected of you Erica." said Paolo Blandelli, a man on his early 40's who resembled the statue of David of Michelangelo, except he was blond and had the same blue eyes of his niece."How is he?"
"Terribly strong, clever and cold, although he is kind and caring deep inside." said Erica with a slight blush on her cheeks.
"However, Lord Salvatore has issued all the Italian magic organizations an order: Locate the 7th Campione and intercept him, should he step on Italian soil once more."
"What?!" said Erica surprised."Are you going to accept that?"
"There is nothing I can do, but we shouldn't worry too much. If everything goes right, you'll meet the 7th "
Erica nodded in agreement but she had a strange feeling of hesitation towards her uncle's orders.
(Somewhere in Hungary)
Sasha Dejanstahl Voban,a somewhat vampiric old man with glowing green eyes, consequence of one of his authorities and pointed ears, also known as Marquis Voban, rested his back on his throne, deep in thoughts. The wolves and undead servants surrounding him tensed up as he looked back at the white-haired knight in front of him.
"So Liliana." said him coldly."You're telling me the 7th Campione has been hiding in the shadows until now and that he has defeated Melqart."
"Yes, King Voban, our spies in Copper Black Cross told us Erica Blandelli met the 7th and became his sworn knight." answered Liliana Kranjcar, a beautiful girl of the same age of Erica with blue eyes and long white hair tied in a ponytail, although she didn't have Erica's full bosom.
"Interesting, investigate him Liliana." said the old man in commanding tone."Soon I'll be hunting him personally."
"Yes,my lord." said her as she flash stepped out of the room in fear of the oldest Campione .'Just how is this Winter Tyrant to even capture that fox's attention ?'thought her 'I hope he cans at least satisfy Voban's bloodthirst otherwise...'
(At the Royal Arsenal's Headquarters, London)
"So, Alice." said Alexander Gascoigne, a black haired young man with black eyes, Campione and chief of the Royal Arsenal magical organization, also known as Black Prince Alec, while looking at his rival, Princess Alice, a young blond haired woman on her early twenties with green eyes and leader of the Witengamot, an organization which rivaled his own. "You're telling me the 7th Campione of the rumors revealed himself in Italy and is a great sorcerer."
"Yes, according to our agents, he slew Melqart using mostly sorcery and takes the form of a blue-haired child. He is also accompanied by a mysterious black-haired butler with green eyes and a short blond young girl with also green eyes" answered the blond girl seriously."All we can tell is that he is dangerous, that's why I came to alert you."
"One more Campione for this world..." said the Black Prince "I hope he has some interesting items for my studies."
"Geez, you are weird." commented Alice while thinking. 'Although he may be a good ally against the Black Prince.'
(Mount Lu, Jianxi Province, Martial Realm of China)
"High Priestess Hao." said Li Yinghua kneeling in front of the Campione's throne."A herald from Italy has brought us the information that the 7th Campione revealed himself in Italy."
The priestess Luo Hao, an extremely beautiful young chinese woman with long black hair, green eyes,a pale skin, thin body and a really full bosom just yawned in complete disinterest.
"Maybe he is able to at least soil my clothes with dust, unlike the others." said her arrogantly."Is he at least strong?"
"There are some theories saying that he defeated Hyperion, Alcyoneus, and the own Tartarus, only to list some of the Heretic Gods, during the years he kept hidden so he looks strong, High Priestess."
"Very well, I shall test him personally when the time comes." said Luo Hao dismissingly. "Now then, have you found the Sun Wukong?"
(Los Angeles)
Annie Charlton, the redhead real identity of John Pluto Smith, the superhero, looked over her apartment's window and saw the city bellow.
'A 7th Campione exists, maybe he is noble and protects his people.' thought her worriedly. 'But if he isn't...'
"I need to get stronger." muttered her clenching her fists with the letter from Bronze Black Cross still in them."For the sake of my people."
(Adoration Monastery of the sisters of , India)
Madame Aisha, a girl in her late teens with short brown hair, a more than sexy body and tanned skin was in the middle of her prayers when one of the monastery's nuns came for her.
"Holy Maiden." said the nun in a devoted tone."The Marquis Voban sent you a message."
"And what would it be, Sister Maria?"asked Aisha, turning from the altar.
"The 7th King revealed himself in Italy and slew a powerful Heretic God,the Marquis asks you to not get in his way while he hunts this new Campione, who is rumored to be a terrible Dark Sorcerer."
"Oh my!" said Aisha worriedly."I need to help the new king immediately, he's just a poor soul who needed love and care and has turned to darkness instead."
She then disappeared from the monastery in the blink of an eye, traveling in space and time on her quest for the 7th Campione.
(Back in Russia)
"Atchoo!*sneeze* "Maybe some girl is talking about me now." said Vasily in the bathtub. "But strange...it's been seven times already."
He then heard someone knocking on the door.
"Come in." said him from the mana pool and he saw a young woman opening the door. She had raven black hair, black eyes and a slim, but beautiful body, and wore an Imperial Magic Ministry Witch Division uniform, which consisted of a loose blue and purple mage robe and a witch hat.
"Master Vasily, how's your mana refuel going?"asked her.
"It's doing great...somewhat as I feel I can already use Hyperion and Amaterasu's Authorities, although the others, like Tartarus' or Marzanna's, will require some more time to recharge." answered him sighing.
"Have you seen the Authorities you got from Melqart, Vasily-sama?"
"Oh, I have even forgotten about them." said Vasily as he then focused deep on his mind.
Initially, there was only white but then he could see three items floating in front of him. Two of them were war clubs and he supposed they were the weapons Melqart used while the other was some kind of blue kingly mantle.
"A mantle and two clubs huh?"said him as he then noticed the girl was still there."Do you have any news?"
"Yes, Vasily-sama." answered her bowing."We have tracked the Heretic God Verethragna. He is located at Yazd ,Iran, one of the last Zoroastrian sanctuaries in Persia."
"Very well." said him as he got up from the pool and put his clothes on and opened the door."Let's go to my office, Sophie."
He then opened the door and climbed the set of stairs leading to the surface, before pressing a secret switch and creating an opening at the wall.
The opening led to a well illuminated corridor of a very fancy residence. The wall on his side was decorated with paintings of all artistic periods, from Medieval to Modern arts, while the wall he faced had large windows giving view to a huge plaza and the capital city beyond(A/N:Google:Winter Palace, Saint Petesburg.).
"Let's go." said Vasily as he walked through the corridors of his residence and also headquarters of the Imperial Magic Ministery and Academy of Russia, one of the world's most powerful and influent magical organizations created during Peter the Great's reign but grew more powerful and influent under Vasily's shadow, when he moved it's headquarters from Moscow to , used his own house as a base and founded the Magic Academy in order to train young mages for the Ministry.
"Good night, your majesty." greeted some of the magician apprentices as they passed by the duo.
"I got a bit lost in time while I stood in the bath huh?" said Vasily relaxedly while waving his hands to the students.
Then they arrived at his office, which had golden doors decorated with a two-headed eagle pattern, the symbol of the Russian Tsardom, and Vasily pressed his hand at the door's surface before releasing a strong pulse of divine power through it, causing the doors to immediately open after recognizing his magic signature.
"This door requires a huge amount of magic power to move, we mages needed to act in group in order to open it before you returned from your trip, headmaster." said the witch as both walked inside and she looked around the place in surprise, although she had been there several times already.
Vasily's office was a giant room with view to the Winter Palace's Embankment at the Neva River. Instead of walls, however,the office had bookshelves full of history books, magic tomes of all kinds and ages, grimoires and results of Vasily's century-long magic research. Should one look up, he/she would see there the bookshelves extended themselves much taller than the own palace, so high that a person with good eyesight wouldn't even be able to see the roof. An incredible way to use space-time magic to create a pocket space.
By the room's large window there was a large wooden table, which was where Vasily spent most of his days working or planning his battles against Heretic Gods and in the middle of the room there was a painting depicting the world map, but indicating the Campione's territories(including Vasily's immense empire) and mythological regions where Heretic Gods tended to appear.
Standing by one of the bookshelves reading one of the tomes written by Vasily when he was a Dark Mage was Loki and Lissa sat over the map painting playing with some toys she found in the house.
"So you left the bathtub already." commented Loki closing the book he was reading and sending it back floating to one of the bookshelves.
"Is your mana fully restored?"
"Somewhat, I still have some to recover." commented Vasily while going for his chair and sitting."Now, we need to act now while Verethragna is still in Yazd, otherwise he will escape our mages."
"Vasy's going to fight again?"asked Lissa tilting her head.
"Surely." said him as he raised his hand and a book came flying to him."I need to consume any information about Verethragna in order to have the most avantage in our battle."
"Be careful though, the Persian Warlord is even more dangerous as an opponent than me when I was still a Heretic God, I heard his sword can cut through a god's divinity."
"Don't worry. Sophie, please." said the Campione and she handed them three flight tickets."We are flying to Iran in two days, I could use Transportal, but that would bring Verethragna's undesirable attention towards us way too much."
"Is that all, headmaster Vasily?"asked Sophie.
"Yes please, dismissed." said him and the girl saluted before leaving the room.
"And what about Lord Salvatore?" asked Loki."Do you want me to handle him?"
"I'll personally deal with the 6th Campione later." said Vasily while getting up and looking through the window. 'I hope Erica had no problems in Italy.' thought him.
"Very well, little master, but now." said him as he pointed the piles of documents and reports from all over the Russian Empire."We have some paperwork to do before you have to go back to the pool."
"Very well." said him sighing while readying himself for another normal day of paperwork, something he wouldn't have for a long time after this day.
A/N: Next chapter: Verethragna vs Supreme Sorcerer, a clash between warrior and mage.