Seven Rays: Rainbow Sword
While searching for the Fourth Horizon Gate, Chaldea receives a transmission from Bridge Gracefield, pointing them to a massive temporal anomaly coming from the year 2200. The message also brings up some concerning details regarding the nature of the Horizon Gate: 1) The Horizon Gate's origin point changed from A.D. 2195 to A.D. 2200 sometime between the destabilization of the second and third Horizon Gates. 2) Nearly all Magical Energy in the world has drained away. 3) What was once a simple successor to the Clock Tower has become a vast aggregate of research facilities that dominates information technology while holding the remains of the world's Magical Energy. Upon Rayshifting, the Chaldeans find themselves in the middle of the Sixth Residential District. While Kadoc and Ritsuka explore the futuristic city, Olga investigates the city's leylines looking for a place to set up a summoning circle. However, it turns out that they arrived in the midst of a terrorist attack on the office building, the roof of which they are using to establish a quick connection to Chaldea; and they are confronted by law enforcers for suspicious behavior. Lou contacts them directly, implying that he actually predicted their arrival, and declares that he will take out two birds with one stone by hitting both Chaldea and the terrorists with one of the academy's "Great Spells". A mysterious girl rushes in to help the Chaldeans fend off the academy's security robots just as Da Vinci and Olga both sense a large surge of magical energy. A ring of clouds and rainbows forms in the sky and fires a large beam of light on the office. As the Chaldeans narrowly escape through a hidden path with the mysterious girl's help, she introduces herself as the rogue Ruler Class Servant René Descartes.
Oracle Academy Irregulars
Descartes leads the Chaldeans through the catacombs beneath the academy, following a route specially created to evade the Oracle Towers' predictive tracking algorithms. Taking refuge in an underground Necropolis, Ruler reveals that she had been foretold of Chaldeas' intervention by Bridge Gracefield, who had stopped by the academy on his journey through the Horizon Gates. Apparently, the Bridge didn't stay for very long, and left after a meeting with Lou Rgisgaia went wrong. Ruler also mentions meeting another time traveler and introduces the Chaldeans to John Titor and Saint Germaine, who seems to have gained a stronger interest in opposing the Elysium Society. She then petitions Chaldea for aid, claiming that the vast power weilded by the academy is spreading her thin, and said power has grown even more since Lou recruited some of the other rogue Servants who were summoned to this time period. Aside from the long-term goal of dismantling the Horizon Gate, Ruler mentions investigating the terrorist attacks, the academy's anomalous weather phenomena, and their connection to the depletion of Magical Energy around the world. The Chaldeans share what they know about the OOPArts, the Horizon Gates, and Elysium's goals as part of deal.
The Witch Hunter's Riddle
The next day, the Chaldeans put on disguises offered to them by Ruler and head out into the Sixth District to investigate the terrorist attack. Everyone in town seems obsessed with the attacks, and the Chaldeans learn that the previous attacks have all shared a certain ostentatious execution to them. Among other things, there seems to be consistent murmurs of some sort of prophecy. While out investigating, Ritsuka and Mash get into a chase with a suspicious Servant in the alleys, where stumble on the corpse of a professor. This turns into a stand-off when the academy's enforcers led by Galileo Galilei arrive to ambush the Servant, who is revealed to be a notorious serial killer that has been targeting the academy's staff. The mysterious Servant declares his intent to execute the academy's "heretical magicians" almost like a practiced performance. While Ritsuka and Mash fight Galileo, Kadoc and Casanova fend off the enigmatic Assassin. Kadoc's anti-beast magecraft proves effective against his opponent who is forced to retreat, but not without issuing a cryptic warning referencing Nostradamus' prophecies.
Ghosts Under Moonlight
With Galileo forced to retreat from low magical energy supply, the Chaldeans contact Ruler to share their findings. She deduces that the Rider Servant may be the culprit behind a recent string of serial killings targeting the academy's staff. Ruler mentions that the nature of these murders are unique due to how the academy have been unable to predict the deaths. Ruler chalks it up to the way contradictory manner in which the murders are framed by the culprit which confuses the academy's divination. With confirmation that the serial killer is a Servant, Mash connects similarities between the terrorist attacks and the serial killings. Advised by Ruler, the Chaldeans split into two groups: Kadoc, Casanova, John Titor, and Saint Germaine go to investigate the abandoned Second District while Ritsuka, Mash, Olga, and Descartes go to the Fourth District to check the academy's data library for records of the terrorist attacks as to not alert the enemy through the use of the Oracle Towers and Observation Spheres. The first group travels to the Second District through the catacombs and emerge from the nearby ruins of an ancient Greek city. The streets have been infested by wraiths and after setting up a portable workshop, Saint Germaine discovers irregularities in the Leylines that are causing unrest among the spirits of the dead burried beneath the ruins. The Chaldeans would make several trips to the Second District to investigate these hauntings, which leads to a confrontation with a group of suspicious robed individuals performing some sort of ritual during a evening thunderstorm. This sinister assembly is led by the mysterious Rider Servant who introduces himself as the king of Werewolves. He doesn't elaborate much on his reason for being here, but jokes about the irony of being the leader of notorious witch hunters while leading around a band of suspicious mages. The fight eventually escalates into a chase through the catacombs until it causes a cave-in when a combination of the storm causing a flood and Rider's werewolf transformation.
Concealed Law of the Gods
Meanwhile, the second group is travelling using a more mundane but inconspicuous method, a pick-truck. On the way, Ritsuka picks up a pamphlet from a passing student which ties the prophecies of Nostradamus with some sort of cataclysmic event that will manifest in the academy sometime in the near future. Upon arriving in the Fourth District, the Chaldeans are forced to spend several days infiltrating the Information Faculty as students with Descartes' help with the goal of getting into the data center at the top of Mount Olympus. Through the data center's main computer, the Chaldeans are able to get a brief glimpse of the next Horizon Gate's "coordinates" and allusions to a special research project that Lou is working on as well has his connections with the Wandering Sea's Gate of Ellen. The documents summarize the Gate of Ellen as the gate of Advancement which seeks to replicate the knowledge from the Age of Gods through science and discover an power that can enact miracles to replace True Ether. The Concealed Laws they study is the Tabula Smaragdina. Before they can learn more about Lou's plans, the Chaldeans are discovered by Galileo Galilei and a small army of attack drones, which breaks out into a fight. With much effort, the Chaldeans manage to push the fight in their favor despite Galileo's use of Astromancy and Mystic Codes to control the battlefield.
Two-Faced Detective
Just when things look hopeful, reinforcements arrive for Galileo arrive in the form of a familiar face, the Great Detective Sherlock Holmes. He reveals that Chaldeas' extreme caution in avoiding the Oracle Towers and their infiltration of the Information Faculty caught his attention, helping him predict their next actions. His deduction was only further confirmed when Olga used her Noble Phantasm to infiltrate the data center's security. Holmes says that he can't keep up his detective disguise like he used to and reintroduces himself as the mage Hermes Trismegistus, claiming to be a Caster Class Servant. Having traded his baritsu for a varied repertoire of magecraft, Hermes Trismegistus proves to be a deadly foe. As the fight escalates, Trismegistus activates his Noble Phantasm to siphon more magical energy from his surroundings; which causes a blackout in the Fourth District before Lou finally interferes with a command seal, allowing Chaldea to escape without. Unfortunately, they were unable to retrieve any data amidst the chaos and only have what little information they were able to glean from the data center's main computer. During the blackout, a massive surge of magical energy radiates from somewhere on the outskirts of the Fourth District, and that night, the Academy's citizens witness a passing meteor shower.
The Black Zodiac
After spending the night hiding in a section of the catacombs beneath the Fourth District, the Chaldeans try to make their way out of the city only to get caught in the middle of a confrontation between the academy's enforcers led by the Ruler Servant Francis Bacon and a mysterious group calling themselves the Esoteric Order of Black Zodiac led by the blonde haired man who is revealed to be the Caster Servant Count Cagliostro. It turns out that the Fourth District has been placed on temporary lockdown after a patient from a nearby asylum escaped, or so Ruler claims; but the Order's members refuse to accept this explanation and demand answers about a place called the Psyche Brain Lab where experiments on humans with extrasensory powers are conducted. Francis Bacon proceeds to disect and break down The Order's arguments which further sparks tensions. Cagliostro makes another ominous warning, citing Nostradamus' 1999 prophecy. The Chaldeans try to break up the fighting in hopes of gaining assistance from the Black Zodiac, who seem like an eccentric but well meaning group at first glance. This attracts the attention of Galileo and Voltair who join in, hoping to subdue the Chaldeans and the Black Zodiac at the same time. Galileo tries to use on of his Noble Phantasms to launch an orbital strike on the Chaldeans but his attack his deflected by a newcomer who interrupts the battle: a Rider Servant claiming to be Edmond Halley. Rider's immense magical power tips the scales in favor of Chaldea and the Black Zodiac, allowing them to escape as Lou orders Voltair to make a tactical retreat.
2 Minutes 2 Midnight
After making their way out of the Fourth District, Ritsuka attempts to ask for Cagliostro's help; but the latter declines, stating that he and his group have very important mission that they must complete. Before he parts ways with Ritsuka, he reveals that he has knowledge about Chaldea and wishes them good luck in destabilizing the Horizon Gate, stating that he'll do his best to hasten their goal just a bit. Once Ritsuka's group meets reunite with Kadoc's group at the Necropolis, they exchange stories. Olga shares the fragment of data that was retrieved from the Data Center before they were forced to escape, which fortunately included bits of information about the OOPArt. With knowledge that the Antikythera Mechanism has become a component in Lou's ultimate Mystic Code, Casanova speculates that the stabilization condition of the Horizon Gate is likely unrelated to the construction of the Mystic Code directly but rather to some sort of groundbreaking discovery that will be made with its capabilities. Descartes adds that whatever is going on might relate to Lou's former ties to the Wandering Sea's Gate of Advancement, and consequently, might be the reason he continues to promote the use of Magecraft in secret despite portraying the academy as purely mundane. That evening, the Chaldeans recieve a transmission from Da Vinci and Wells that a "major destabilizing factor" will hit occur in about a week. At the same, the Necropolis gets a visit from Edmond Halley carrying a girl wearing dark robes. She awkwardly introduces herself as the Delphic oracle Pythia, a Caster Servant who is close friends with Descartes. She reveals that a month before Chaldea's arrival, her prophetic visions had begun to malfunction, with her final prophecy involving the birth of a "Wishing Star", the Wise Man's departure, and arrival of "The Star Gazers" on when the Rainbow Sword strikes. She hasn't been able to use her ability since, until this morning when she received a vision of the academy engulphed in flames and the sky turning blood red. She then uses one of her Noble Phantasms to share the vision with those present, and the prophecy she speaks is nearly a word-for-word match with Michelle Nostradamus' 1999 prophecy.
█ █ █ █At the dawn of the century, in the coming months...
A Great King of Terror will descend from the sky, a pitch black sun.
With the Wishing Star's birth, the seer's eyes awaken to a crimson sky.
The great new city burns and the twin jesters dance on the final stage.
Conspiracy of Black and White
During the coming days, the Chaldeans begin encountering more of the strange robed people who reveal themselves as the Benandanti, disillusioned scientists and intellectuals who dislike the academy's obscurantism and practice of Magecraft which they believe will bring about dangerous superstition and chaos if spared. While Kadoc and Descartes begin securing a battle plan for the invasion of the First District's Grand Celestial Observatory, Ritsuka and Titor's continue investigating the Benandanti's scheme. While investigating an attempted attack on the third district's cargo ships, Chaldea discovers that the Benandanti is at odds with the Order of the Black Zodiac which consists of radical mages who wish to control the acadmey's scientific progress in the name of preserving Mystery. While the Benandanti were behind the serial killings, the Black Zodiac were behind the terrorist attacks. Because of this, the Chaldeans get into a fight with both Cagliostro and Laignech, where upon the latter reveal that they were rogue Servants summoned by the Counter Force to destabilize the Horizon Gate. Cagliostro also hints at having met Foreigner of the End. Another point of similarity seems to be both Servants' obsession with the prophecy of Nostradamus. After returning from this battle, the Chaldeans draw up their invasion plan of the First District with added contingencies against the interference of the two secret orders.
Judgement Day
On the planned day, before Chaldea can even process what happened, the Necropolis is attacked by the academy's governing body, consisting of four Pseudo-Servants: Galileo Galilei, Pliny the Elder, Francis Bacon, and Isaac Newton. With their plans derailed, the Chaldeans improvise and take advantage of their large numbers to accomplish their main objective. John Titor and Saint Germaine, Kadoc and Casanova, Xiang Yu, Edmond Halley, and Pythia help keep the enemy preoccupied. Meanwhile, Ritsuka, Mash, Paracelsus, Olga, and Descartes sneak through the catacombs in an attempt to reach the First District as soon as possible. Newton faces off against Edmond Halley, who doesn't seem to behave or act at all like the Edmond Halley he was familiar with; similarly, Francis Bacon has trouble predicting the abilities of the scientist whom inspired him so much. As the fight draws out, however, Pliny notices something odd about her abilities with his incredibly trained observation skills. Meanwhile, Ritsuka's group take an empty shuttle to get to the First District. On the way, he recieves a direct call from Lou Rgisgaia, taunting him and casually how he has predicted this encounter since the incident at the Data Center. Without warning, a spike in magical energy surges throughout the First District's Oracle Towers as Lou prepares a Great Spell that begins causing a freak thunder storm Ritsuka, Mash, Olga, and Descartes scale the government building to reach the Grand Celestial Observatory while fighting off security robots and enforcers until they reach their final opponent in the Observatory's main hall: Lou Rgisgaia and his Servant Trismegistus Voltair. As an opponent who specializes in Divination and a Servant who is very familiar with Chaldeas' combat capabilities, Lou and Voltair make for some of the toughest opponents that Ritsuka have faced that wasn't some sort world ending calamity. Just when things are looking their worst and Voltair is ready to strike them with a counter attack made of magical energy absorbed by his Noble Phantasm during the fight, his attack is blocked by Edmond Halley rocketing towards him like a shooting star. The Rider Servant explains that their group was able to push back the Planespheric council far back enough that Rider was able to make her way to join Ritsuka. It's at this moment that she reveals her true name, Halley's Comet.
The Great King of Terror
In a final bid to defeat the Chaldeans, Lou channels all his remaining magical energy into activating one last Great Spell, starting a powerful chain reaction. The Oracle Towers all over the academy begin synchronizing and forming a giant magic circuit using the magical energy within the land's leylines and to cast a powerful astromancy spell
Celestial Luster: Blue Moon. Before the spell's effects could be actualized though, something hijacks the magical circuit as a giant pyramid of light appears over the academy. A trio of voices echo across the academy through speakers, announcing the arrival of the
Great King of Terror. The source of the voices introduce themselves as Cagliostro, Laignech, and the Foreigner Servant
Michelle Nostradamus, the true mastermind behind both the Benandanti and the Black Zodiac. While their members where in heated conflict, the Servants at the top of the two organizations were secretly in collaboration to undermine the academy. The giant pyramid in the sky, a part of Cagliostro's Noble Phantasm
Lost Rites of Egypt
Grand Kopt
, a vast temple structure that amplifies the connection between the spiritual and physical realms. With a combination of this and Nostradamus' Noble Phantasm, a giant hole opens in the sky, summoning forth a large sphere of darkness with a single glowing red eye; The Outer God Ghroth, manifesting as the Great King of Terror from the prophecy. As Ghroth begins descending towards the Earth, it unleashes a rain of fire everywhere and sucking buildings towards it like a blackhole. Back in the present, Da Vinci announces that the Horizon Gate is beginning to destabilize at an increasing rate, but that the presence of the Great King of Terror may also cause lasting damage to Proper Human History.
Oracles' Burning Metropolis
As the Outer God Ghroth descends on the academy in form of the Great King of Terror, Lou Rgisgaia uses his Mystic Code to peer into the future but can only prophesy either a flaming world thrown back into the dark ages under the control of a maddened Nostradamus OR a post-apocalypse world covered in lush greenery. On the verge of death, Lou curses the Counter Force for "betraying" him and the Chaldeans for their rejection of his perfect future. He orders Voltair to avenge him and salvage whatever remains of the Horizon Gate's magical energy and the power of the Outer God using Prisca Theologia, but the latter is conflicted both out of a desire to honor Chaldea's victory over the two of them and due to the prophetic visions shown by Lou's Mystic Eyes. Seeking the most favorable outcome for humanity's survival, Voltair chooses to put Lou's contingency aside until Ghroth is incapacitated. Meanwhile, the Chaldeans are forced to ally with the Planispheric Council to stop the ongoing crisis. Fortunately, the governing body is more eager to put aside their conflict with Chaldea in favor of directly protecting their home. And so, the the newly formed alliance fight their way through hordes of Benandanti/Black Zodiac members and eldritch horrors. Sir Francis Bacon uses his Noble Phantasm to analyze the components of the ritual maintaining Ghroth and pinpoints Nostradamus' workshop protected within the Grand Koft as the focus point of the ritual. In response, Isaac Newton uses his control over the force of gravity to propel the Chaldeans and the council up to the Koft. There is a gauntlet of battles against Laignech and Cagliostro who guard the outer walls and inner temple of the pyramid respectively. Descartes briefly manifests in his true form due to the conditions within the Grand Koft and takes a fatal blow for his host. Casanova duels against Cagliostro, exchanging both physical attacks and insults due to being contemporaries involved in the Diamond Affair. Casanova exposes a weakness in Cagliostro through the latter's Innocent Monster. The penultimate boss waiting in the depths of the Grand Koft is Nostradamus who faces off against Pythia in some bizarre form of "Oracle's duel" seemingly involves pitting familiars summoned through divination implements against each other.
And there appeared a Star
While the alliance is fighting Nostradamus & co. Ritsuka, Mash, and Halley's Comet finish their battle against Voltair and Lou. Ghroth descends onto the academy as Lou is on the verge of death, diverting Ritsuka's attention who is somewhat hesitant to strike down the Wandering Sea Mage who seems to have been violently protecting the "nation" he founded. As Ritsuka prepares to leave the observatory to catch up with the alliance, Voltair approaches the former and offers his help, stating that he doesn't entirely trust the risks involved in Lou's final gambit and that he feels the need to incapacitate the Outer God before preparing any follow-up schemes on behalf of Elysium. While he cannot act directly in order to preserve what little magical energy he has left, Voltair does explain to Halley's Comet how to use her Noble Phantasm to its fullest extent; all while dropping a subtle hint about Lou's study of the Sixth Imaginary Factor and the true purpose of the Horizon Gates to Ritsuka in a familiarly Holmes-like manner. Taking that last piece of advice to heart, Ritsuka goes back up to the observatory in order to get within an acceptable height to attack the falling Outer God before informing the rest of Chaldea about his plan. Once the alliance disables Cagliostro's Noble Phantasm and defeat Nostradamus, Halley's Comet takes the opportunity to strike at the weakened Outer God with Isti Mirantu Stella fully powered by the academy denizens' desire to live and see the future. This attack barely makes a dent in Ghroth, although it does manage to push the Outer God back through the tear in reality from which it was summoned.
Epilogue / Chaldea Aquarius
Due to the timely defeat of Ghroth and the isolated location of the First District, major damage to the rest of the academy was averted. Aside from the ruined capital, the only trace of the Outer God's visit are small surface samples that broke off from the living planet upon impact with Halley's Noble Phantasm. In the aftermath of the averted apocalypse, the city starts rebuilding and any terrorists involved with Nostradamus' group is arrested. That night, a bright pillar of light emerges from the Grand Observatory, a temporal anomaly, signaling fractures in the Horizon Gate reaching its peak. Voltair quietly slips through the temporal anomaly after gathering a small sample of Ghroth. Due to the high level of stability the Horizon Gate had, Da Vinci theorizes that this "peak" may last a few days to retrieve some data from the Fourth District that could help in pinpoint the next Horizon Gate and figure out just what was going on. Without Lou and Voltair around to enforce hostilities, the Planispheric Council was amenable to negotiations for relevant data once misunderstandings were cleared. And so, on the last day of their stay, the Chaldeans used Olga Marie's Disentanglement Cannon on the OOPart to complete the Horizon Gate's "collapse" into multiple possibilities once more. Major supernatural damage to the world left in the wake of the Second Great Occult War alongside the draining of the world's magical energy by Prisca Theologia is mostly fixed. As the Chaldeans are about to leave, Ritsuka decides to satiate his curiosity and asks John Titor about the mysterious friend he's been chasing and whether he's found them yet. Whether its from having grown to trust Ritsuka and company or from being caught off guard, John answers:
"The enemy I'm chasing, and the friend I lost years ago is Cartwright Animusphere director of the Organization for the Restoration of Humanity: Aquarius Chaldea, whom I now believe to be collaborating with Elysium."
And with these ominous final words, John Titor leaves. The Chaldeans return to base in silence, still processing the information they just recieved. Several days later, Da Vinci and Wells announce the discovery of the next Horizon Gate: The sole Quantum Timelock looming over humanity's future, the judgement day for the Age of Man and the cut-off point of mankind's childhood, doomsday theorists among the world of Magecraft call it "Overcount".
Horizon Gate cleared! Possibilities Restored.
Originally Posted by PA270
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