Chapter 0: Introducing… The Magician Emperor!
Scene 1: At the Secret facility underneath the IS academy…
Chifuyu was brought to her knees at the sight of her brother lying in a pool of his own blood. Tabane was going on about her tangent relating to project mosaic, while Madoka observed patiently, almost waiting for Tabane's killing order to come through.
"Why… TABANE! Why?! Why must you involve him in this!? He.. He didn't deserve any of this! I'm the one you want!" - Chifuyu angrily cried at Tabane, while holding the bloodied and barely-alive Ichika in her hands."Well. What can I say, Chi-chan? I want to see the IS Kurazakura and its legendary pilot finally take up the gauntlet, I'd say. Why won't you fight me yourself? Ichika tried to stop me at every turn in your stead, and look where it ended up. If you want something done, Chi-chan, you need to do it yourself." Tabane said, half-jokingly in her usual oblivious tone.
Immediately, Chifuyu deployed her old second-generation IS and grabbed Tabane by her shirt, with tears overflowing from her eyes. Clearly, she had lost all sense of reason.
"IF you want a fight, then I'll fucking FIGHT you. I'm done with you, Tabane. You took a step too far going after my dear brother. I will have your head!" Chifuyu said, before trying to deliver a rage-filled punch to Tabane directly with blinding speed.
Unfortunately for Chifuyu, Tabane had secretly deployed her own IS, the Shin-Shikimi. It was a golden and white colored IS. Its golden color was as pure as that of God's light. Another name for it was Saintess' Dress, but Tabane preferred to call her Magnum Opus 'Shin-Shikimi.' Its golden glow shone brightly every time she attacked or used her One-Off ability.
"Ruler of Heavens." She coldly stated, and instantly, the attack that Chifuyu had launched on Tabane at blinding speed was turned back onto herself, as well as her IS' heating functions going berserk. This was her One-Off ability, the ability to nullify danger to herself and turn it back onto her opponents while also turning their own IS against them. It was undefeatable. It seemed perfect. It didn't eat up much energy thanks to it utilizing a similar technology to the Kenran Butō.
Chifuyu was on her knees, having forcefully deactivated her IS to protect herself from Tabane's Ruler of Heavens. Her crying having become muted, she tried to limp away from Tabane and Madoka and go towards Ichika…
Elsewhere...
"Say, Katana… What are the odds that I'm back in this Japanese hellhole?" A mysterous, Russian-like voice said over the communications earpiece.
"Well Ilya, you're here for her, aren't you? You couldn't just have lured her to Kazan, right?" Said Tatenashi Sarashiki. She was piloting her IS, Mysterious Lady while talking to Ilya Novikov over the communications device that the IS academy had leased to him, the so-called Magician Emperor. Why had they done this? Well, Novikov Ilya was considered a valuable ally. It'd make sense to give him some avenue of convenient communication.
Scene 2: Introduction!
Novikov Ilya was a legendary IS pilot hailing from Russia, hence his connection to the Sarashiki family. He was a prominent member of the Russian IS society before the Excalibur incident happened. Hailed as the second coming of Christ in many forms, Ilya was mostly unknown in the international IS scene, but he was one of only two men in the world capable of piloting IS'. For this reason, any televised viewings of him are highly illegal and classified. He was figuratively unknown to the outside world, but Ichika Orimura was, in Russia's eyes at least, seen as the inferior Asian copy to Ilya.
That was, until it all crashed down. Ilya had a fiancé, Miyu. The word had is used because she was put into a deep comatose state which she is still unlikely to wake up from, even if he saves her now. The point of the Excalibur incident and why Tabane used it against Ichika and everyone else was not to eliminate them, it was to target Ilya.
Ilya knew this would happen. After all,
Renürion did not take kindly to Artemis' existence. That was his ultimate human nickname. He was the same as Tabane, except for the fact that he was a bit stronger and faster than her. They were equally matched in intelligence, though. That is the one area that Tabane really hated, as lacking strength could always be made up for in the way of IS, but she couldn't just "design" an IS to give her more intelligence. She couldn't squarely outdo him, no matter what she tried. That is why she wanted his head. She'd have to use trickery to do it, which was definitely beneath her. That didn't matter to Tabane, though. He had to go.
Unfortunately, the Excalibur was not fully taken down after Exia Blackett was saved from it. Tabane remote-controlled the Excalibur to force it to fire one more shot before it self-destructed. It was aimed at Miyu. If she could break that, then even his willpower would falter in the face of such overwhelming power... Right?
Ilya barely noticed the attack coming before it was too late. He stepped in between the powerful blast and his fiancé, with his then-IS, 'Rural Forest', a second-generation mass-manufactured IS in Russia. But, they were both in Japan for an audience with the prime minister, and not expecting this sort of attack, which is exactly why the Excalibur could attack him at all.
He tried his damndest, but he was blown back by the blast and his IS completely destroyed. Though, his efforts had not been totally in vain. The amount of stoppage he performed did weaken the impact considerably, as he was immediately put into a comatose state himself from having tried to tank the blast so Miyu wouldn't be hurt. This in turn meant that she was not vaporized as Tabane had hoped for, but she was still rendered comatose all the same.
When he had awoken from his own coma, the first thing he did was try to locate Miyu.
"Doctor… Where is my Sakaki Miyu?" He worriedly asked his physician who had been watching over him all this time while he layed comatose for a very long time, ever since the end of the Excalibur incident up until a week before the "killing" of Orimura Ichika.
"I regret to inform you, Novikov Ilya, that she has been rendered comatose, the same way as you. I'm surprised you came out alive out of that. I have examined your body and I know a lot about you courtesy of the Russian government. The same way Japan's pride and joy Tabane Shinonono, you are a sort of higher creature but that still doesn't explain how you survived a blast from that behemoth, the Excalibur, with a trashy IS that has no safety features." The doctor paused, before he gulped.
"WHAT? That Excalibur? The orbital weapon that the US and UK are in charge of? That was what striked us down? I am going to go over right now and destroy them myself, just tell me Miyu's fine-"He said, before yelping in pain from trying to hurriedly sprint off.
"We no longer are in care of Miyu Sakaki, as she has been stolen from under our nose by an organization calling themselves the Phantom Task. We suspect that Tabane Shinonono is behind both the Excalibur going rogue and the kidnapping of your fiancé, Mr Ilya." The doctor nervously replied.
"Tell me the immediate location of this "Shinonono Tabane". I will have her head on a silver platter by the afternoon, regardless of if she's an ultimate like me or not." Ilya said, clearly in pain and unable to continue the charade of pretending he's okay."
We cannot discharge you at this point, Mr Ilya. You risk the collapse of several of your organs if you were to strain yourself anymore now. You must properly recover. We know about both your powers and your personal IS, the Dawnbreaker Rafaele. Using either of those now would mean certain death." The doctor assertively explained.
"But… She's in danger! As her fiancé, I cannot overlook this danger to my soon-to-be wife!" He angrily shouted. She was a priority before himself. In any case, he could continuously use Zero Reboot on himself to buy time for his body.
He just needed his IS, which was in the custody of his assistant, who had thankfully equipped the IS (briefly, before being rejected by the IS itself as only Ilya could wield it without the IS itself disobeying the pilot.) and protected herself from the blast.
"We will be delivering your IS to you shortly. Your assistant and the Russian Republic are already in contact with us, I recommend you rest for at least a week to ensure physiological recovery, lest you risk the aforementioned organ collapse." The doctor said, ushering Ilya to recover his stamina at the very least.
"Ugh. Okay. But after the recommended time, I am off. That bitch Tabane and her phony crew will be killed, one way or another. That much I promise." Ilya said, collapsing onto his hospital bed, as alarms started blaring across the ICU he was in.
"Of course, Mr Ilya. VITALS DROPPING! I need a nurse here, QUICKLY! Russia will be on our asses if we let him die!" The doctor said, noticing his rapidly dropping vital signs.
Ilya could feel how he was on death's door. He had encountered this feeling two times already. One time when he was stockpiling power while trading his willpower to live, his willpower to love Miyu and to protect her all at once. The second time, it was when he was struck by Excalibur's power. The time he had entered into a coma. Both times, his IS' standby mode, the Sword of Ruin, had called out to him.
"Do you want power, Novikov? Do you wish for the greatest power man has? If you do, then, take me as your IS. I shall bring you perpetual victory and never betray you. You are the only one who could become my master. I have acknowledged you as worthy to rule the world, Novikov Ilya." It called out to him once again, in an echoey voice.
"Yes. Rafaele, I need power. I need so much more power if I am to protect Miyu Sa- no. Miyu Novikov from the dangers this evil world has to offer. I wish to tear down the very framework of the world itself! For that, I need power. Power greater than Tabane. Than entire countries. I need your power, Rafaele." He replied, with determination this time. The other times, he had said a plain yes. But this time, he had gone all out with his confession of needing power to overpower the world.
"Then, master. It is what you shall get. Power. All the power that you could reach in your life, the power to get back the woman you love and live out your dream, with her taking your last name." Rafaele said, as it manifested itself inside of his consciousness. Maybe this was the effect the dream-core had on him?
Rafaele's manifested form was a cute but yet memorable girl. Was that his Mi-? No… That couldn't be right. Maybe the cute white hair and the red cross found within her hair was an aspect taken from her? That was probably it. But he had to ask anyway.
"Master. This form is the one I have specifically chosen to be as close of a copy of Miyu Sakaki as possible. It is to ease you, as your newfound abilities that have been granted in accordance with your wish to be the strongest and most dominating force in the world will heavily rely on Miyu Sakaki's memory in your head to fuel your determination. Your power is that of willpower. The more of it you have, the more powerful you become." The IS said, before taking a small pause.
"If you are too stressed out, your immortal armor in your new One-Off ability will be rendered useless if the mental burden on you is too strong. That, of course, goes for most of your other abilities too. I don't intend to replace Miyu Sakaki, just ease you until she is at your side again." It finished.
Ilya audibly gulped. It sounded… Awful. But this was the price he had to pay.
"I see. Well, I think I'll give you a name, Rafaele-Girl. I'll call you Yume, but your actual IS form will still be called Dawnbreaker Rafaele, if that makes sense." Ilya excitedly said, with a hint of dread in his voice being faintly present."But, don't you ever call my Miyu 'Sakaki' ever again. She is to be referred to as Miyu Novikov." He smugly said, as he hugged the girl who was also his IS, in his consciousness.
Shortly after this, he woke up. The doctors around him were astonished, as he was fully healed and ready to go confront the terrible Tabane. He was filled with rage. How dare they harm Miyu?
"If you'll excuse me, I will be meeting with my assistant, the prime minister and the guys from Russia outside. I'm discharged, right? I mean, there's nothing wrong with me… Right?" He said, worriedly checking himself and touching all of his former wounds, finding himself to be quite refreshed and definitely healed.
"Yes, you may go now. Just one little tidbit of information you should know, though. That Tabane… I was able to witness her personal IS in action. It's… It's too much for you. With your current powers, you will easily succumb to her and her One-Off ability, Ruler of Heavens." The doctor said, trying to throw Ilya a bone. It was to save Tabane the effort of fighting him, after all. He couldn't let Japan's idol be inconvenienced by some guy way in over his head.
"Well, that's why I leveled up, no?" Ilya smiled, while looking patiently at the doctor. He knew that he was trying intimidation tactics, but with the unparalleled power of his upgrades, which he could view due to Yume's modifications to his body and to itself just prior. His new abilities were even more otherworldly than before…
"I can't stop you, but if Sakaki ever shows up again, I don't want her fiance to be in a casket. I sympathize with you, but I can't say it's a good idea." He nervously said.
"Well, that's okay. I won't be long regardless of what happens. You know my brain's computational statistics that you received from the Russian government, right? If I'm this absolutely confident in myself, there's a reason for it." Ilya said, walking off. He had enough of the timid doctor. He was gonna finish it himself.