As he woke up from his latest round of Blessings, Aleister was confused for a few seconds, pushing himself out of his bed (To the disagreement to a still half-asleep Medea), he held out his hand, a single guitar emerging from the Gate of Babylon.
"Lumino-Calibur? What the fuck is this thing...?". It was from the Servant-Verse, which automatically made him hesitant to use it. Parody and joke as much as you want, but there was no denying just how dangerous the Servant-Verse was. But even so, that wasn't as strange as his other Noble Phantasm. With a flex of will, a body manifested in front of him.
Oryou floated in the air, her pink eyes seeming to stare at nothing. Despite being a picture perfect recreation of the dragon, this one lacked any personality.
"Its a puppet...". Medea noted as she fully woke up, her eyes taking in the false Oryou. "As powerful as the real deal, but lacking in any personality or soul. I'm surprised Gaia didn't just make her see you as her partner".
"Maybe it was just beyond her? I have no idea what her limits are, but Oryou is certainly a power house". Aleister fully stood up, watching as the living Noble Phantasm transformed into a black shadow that hide in his own. Okaay, he wasn't sure if that was a modification or apart of her abilities naturally, but he wasn't questioning it. "A guitar and a dragon, what an odd combination".
Weapon gained.
- Lumino Calibur - Dominating Sword of Dazzling, Illusionary Song.
The Noble Phantasm of Mysterious Idol X Alter, a forbidden guitar blade called the 'Calibur of Evil Strings' that is only be playable by those who have a contract with the Demon of Music.
With Lumino Caliber, the user can use it to manipulate cultivated super emotional particles called Idolium, causing the area to change into a stage of wavering light. By charging mana into the guitar, the user can preform a devastating slashing attack.
Currently, no contract has been made with the Demon of Music, so its true powers are sealed.
Power gained.
- Like a Soaring Dragon.
The Noble Phantasm as Ryouma Sakamoto as a Rider, the being known as Oryou. Oryou possesses power equaling and surpassing many Servants, her body so durable many would struggle to leave even a scratch, her saliva has healing properties, and as a last resort she can transform into a creature similar to dragon kind, boasting Mystery equal to the Age of Gods.
This Oryou however is just a puppet, completely lacking in any personality or will.
Perks gained.
Blank (Immunity to Precogs, Thinkers, and being simulated by Shards).
Mad Scientist - Botany (With both flesh and machine under your thump, now only nature evaded your grasp! But no longer!... Yea I really couldn't think of anything neat to put here).
Aleister frowned as he read through reports from his AI's, he'd been checking over the castle for anything left behind, but so far? Nothing. He'd still need to perform a more intense check, but right now it seemed everything was alright.
"FB, how goes the research into what the letter said?". He'd had the Digital Human checking the validity of the Demi-Servant identities, using some drones repurposed from Dragon to detect mana.
"We were already aware of Sere and Shock, but I can confirm Epoch is the Demi-Servant of Caster Gilgamesh, I also suspect his group have another Demi-Servant among their ranks, but I cannot figure out who it is with all of them carrying Mystic Codes containing so much mana". FB brought up holographic images of the Demi-Servants, quickly joined by two vaguely human shadows. "Investigations into Barrow's Cult have confirmed dozens of puppets controlled by mana, and the church we were told about definitely has a large mana source living in it".
"I see, research both further. It wouldn't be to hard to deal with a single cult or break into a church". He was very confident in dealing with a measly cult, what even was Barrow's power? Some kind of Master? Easily dealt with, and he very much doubted anyone would be protecting a Church.
"However... I have bad news". FB drew her creator's attention, a holographic map appearing, with a long red line from New York heading towards Brockton Bay. "The PRT have found evidence of something large and metallic traveling under the sea, with what they call 'Energy B' but what we know as mana radiating off it. I believe Humbaba is heading towards us, likely attracted by the large amount of mana in Brockton Bay".
"Thats... not good, but not bad ether". One of his targets coming right to him was good, but Humbaba was a calamity, it could produce even more devastation then an Endbringer if he didn't stop it quickly. "How long?".
"Roughly 74 hours, 81 if we're lucky and some rough waves slow it down".
That wasn't bad, that was good, Aleister could prepare multiple defenses against the Berserker, in fact... Perhaps it was time for him to hand out some Devil Fruits. Speaking of Devil Fruits...
"Meltryllis, have you got the files on the Kori siblings?". He asked, instantly a collection of nano-machines formed into the files he wanted. "Get any recordings you can of them during the Endbringer fight, I want to see how effective the Regi's are".
Flechette was nervous about meeting the new Wards, there always seemed to be a wave of them after an Endbringer fight, and... And with Adam's death, her team was receiving two new teammates, one a fresh Trigger and the other-
"Woooah! This place is so shiny!". Mika Kori, Registeel smiled brightly as she poked at a computer, a part of Flechette was honestly jealous of the other girl, she never had to suffer a Trigger event to get her powers, but it was quickly squashed.
"It really is!". Alicia Harloawn was a fresh Trigger, but had adapted quickly to her powers, she went with White Dove for her Cape name, although the PR agents had tried playing up her cutesy angle in order to-
Flechette blinked, shaking her head, trying to banish that line of thought from her mind. Ever since Adam's death, she'd been looking at the PRT from a negative angle, her therapist had said it would fade in time and it was just her own way of grieving for her lost friend.
But glancing to Jess, the other Demi-Servant Ward had dealt with her grief by becoming silent and recluse, she was still a fantastic Ward, but she felt so... Empty. Flechette missed when her friend would smile, when was the last time she'd seen it?
"An all girl team huh? Its nice to meet you all". Their current handler, an older Cape called Prism smiled at the younger girls. "I'll be your handler and trainer, if you have any problems come to me".
Flechette observed her leader's costume, noticing a pair of daggers on her belt that-
Daggers belonging to the Hassan of Hundred Faces.
- She hissed, a flash of history showing itself into her head. It had been happening more and more often lately, were her Demi-Servant powers getting stronger? She wondered for a second who the Hassan of Hundred Faces were, she'd never heard of a hero with that name before, assuming they were a hand me down to Prism, but maybe they were a trophy from a defeated villain?
Shaking her head, Flechette focused on listening to her handler explain their patrol route for the day.
Aleister Crowley no longer appeared in the Path.
Contessa paused for a second, before returning to modifying the team plans for New York Wards. With the rate he was growing, it was only expected that Aleiser somehow become a blind spot, but she'd already learned all she needed to know, Operation Utopia was closer to completion.
But... Now she had to make her own plans for ensuring Aleister moved where she wanted him to go, she couldn't trust in her near absolute power anymore. She could Path others around him, but not the one she truly needed.
Finishing up with ensuring Prism, Flechette, Protector, Registeel, and White Dove would stay as a team for a few months at least, the Boogeyman checked her watch. She wasn't sure if Aleister would capture all of them at once, or simply use the android he'd created to keep an eye on them, but she had ensured the group would patrol lightly populated areas, making a kidnapping all the easier.
Checking the file for Raiden, Contessa updated it to ensure the android would be forced into working alongside Sere for a few patrols. Now only Shock, Saint Maiden, Alchemist, Epoch, the serial killer, puppet Tinker, and the Black Mist were left unaccounted for in New York.
It was so, so close, the creation of their Golden Bullet to end Scion was nearing competition. She just needed to keep pushing Aleister.
With her task done, Contessa stood up and quickly left the PRT office, nobody the wiser to what she had done.
Aleister twitched, looking around in confusion before returning to his lunch. Honestly, he was feeling pretty good about things, the Apocrypha War was likely to boil over and cause some serious conflict, he had an eye on dozens of targets of interest, and with the knowledge he was completely immune to Shards trying to predict him, he was feeling great.
Although... That didn't prevent them from taking knowledge from his Parahuman allies, he really needed to get to hacking their Shards. Keramon was so close to reaching Mega, he could feel it, he just needed a powerful opponent and a bit stronger bond. Speaking of Digimon, DemiMeramon was showing signs of greater intelligence, perhaps he'd Digivolve into a Rookie soon? Medea having a powerful protector certainly set his mind at ease.
"So many things to do, so little time...". The master leaned back into his chair, taking a few minutes to think of what'd happened over the last few months.
He'd become the champion of some unknown and powerful entity, was going steady with two beautiful girls, his parents were murdered (Must resist urge to rage), his sisters kidnapped (RAGE RISING), he'd acquired power close to the gods, he'd created dozens of beautiful android woman willing to serve him hand and feet, and he'd even managed to do the most recorded damage in history to an Endbringer.
"My life has certainly become interesting, huh?". Aleister smirked, there were some downs yes, but things were finally looking up for him. A beep coming from his phone drew his attention, and as he read a message from Alicia, his smirk began to widen.
Contessa plotting, but actually being helpful to us? Humbaba heading towards Brockton Bay (You'll have a few chapters to prepare), and some... Decent Noble Phantasms.