Battle Across The Omniverse

Jayr POV - Jayr's Soulbound Territory - 2013

A few days passed since I went with Orscar to retrieve his hidden possession, right now, I'm in the kitchen of my newly built home in my Soubound Territory, making the dinner to celebrate Meiru, Orcus, and Miledi's revival, and inaugurating my new home.

This home was built by Oscar using his Transmutation and Creation Magic, while I give him some inputs from time to time, the end result is a mid-sized greco-roman villa, big enough to host me, Saori, Seika, Eri, and our eventual family plus some more.

I choose to go for a more classical outside appearance and structure, mostly because it is the one I've grown most familiar with, after all, I challenge everyone in living most of their lives in the Sanctuary and not make its classical looks grow on you, in fact, I even put a stylized engraving of the Crateris Constellation on the entrance gate.

But while the outside look is classical, the inside is totally modern, with all kinds of magical and technological appliances and commodities, from hot water for the bath to the lighting, to the electric stoves and oven, and every other necessity for a comfortable day-to-day life.

I also built a bigger version of the magic power conversion engine to power the electricity that runs all over the villa at the appliances so that I can power everything with it, a truly safe and clean form of energy, hell, I even installed a Cosmo version of it as backup, and I have to say that Oscar was quite impressed by both and gave him a lot of new ideas for some new artifacts, especially when he saw the almost forgotten Magic-powered Bike.

Back to the dinner I'm preparing, I chose to make for everyone a full course of my home cooking, giving them a taste of Italian cuisine, as an appetizer I choose the classic and delicious Bruschetta (pronunciation for those who'd like to know: brus-KE-tta), a salad of fresh chopped tomatoes and basil laying on a slice of crunchy toasted bread with a topping of olive oil, salt, and garlic, it is quite easy to do, and it doesn't take too much time, once I toasted the slices of bread on the frying pan, I only have to put the tomato salad on top of them and it is ready.

Meanwhile, as the first plate, or main course, I chose the most classic and famous type of pasta, the Lasagna, but not the brick-like shit that you find in the stores, but the homemade one taught by my grandmother, the only downside of this dish is that while it is quite delicious, it is quite a heavy one, because this doesn't follow the classic recipe, but the one that my grandmother's mother used to make during the easter holiday.

It has the normal "sfoglie", sheets of fresh flat pasta, with rich layers of three hours long cooked ragù, béchamel sauce, and Parmigiano cheese oozing between them, but there are also a few other ingredients added to it, one of them are the small meatballs cooked into the ragù, then there are hard-boiled eggs, and thick triangular slices of salami, and while the taste is heavenly after a normal person has eaten this dish, he/she probably can't eat anything else but some light meals until a week pass or he/she reincarnates.

But since everyone here is already past the normal human being, this dish shouldn't be a problem, so I once again check the oven and see that Grandma's Lasagna is almost ready, so I focus back on my second dish or second main course, the Cotolette alla Milanese, one of the most famous cutlets, the only downside of this dish, is that there aren't veals in this world, but luckily I found an animal whose meat taste very similar, it is a strange deer-like animal called Trudgis found in the Heiligh Kingdom with four eyes, and blade-like antlers and a long sharp-tipped tail, and even if the appearance says otherwise it is also quite a peaceful creature.

Anyway, I hunted one of these creatures and butchered it to prepare the right slices of meat with the bone attached, then I bread it first with the bread crumbs, then with the beaten eggs, and after that again with the bread crumbs, then I heat the frying pan and start to fry it in the butter.

While the cutlet is frying, I check the dessert that I made this morning and left in the refrigerator, it lays in a large tray and has a rectangular shape covered in a dark brown powder that is a mix of coffee and chocolate, it is the Tiramisù, a dessert concocted of layers of Savoiardi ladyfinger biscuits dipped one by one in a whipped mixture of mascarpone cream cheese.

This dessert has a quite peculiar origin, the word Tiramisù literally means "pick me up", it comes from the Treviso dialect, "Tireme su", Italianised into Tiramisù in the latter half of the 20th century.

Historical records state that Tiramisù originated in Treviso in 1800, it is said that this dessert was invented by a clever "maitresse" of a house of pleasure, a brothel in more crude words, in the center of Treviso, the lady who ran the premises developed this aphrodisiac dessert to offer to customers at the end of the evening in order to reinvigorate them and solve the problems they may have had with their conjugal duties on their return to their wives.

This is the origin of the Tiremesù, one of the most famous Italian desserts, a natural Viagra from the 19th century, served to customers in a brothel.

After seeing that everything I fine, I once again close the refrigerator and move back to turn the cutlet to cook the other side, then I hear the ring of the oven, and quickly move and pull out the lasagna from the oven without using the mitts to protect my hand as my body can easily withstand this kind of heat without problem, then I lower the temperature in the oven and put the now ready cutlet in it on a tray to keep it warm, then move to fry another one.

While frying the new cutlet, I realize, "Shit! I forgot the side dish!" and quickly burn my Cosmo to move at the speed of light to prepare a salad to put beside the cutlets, and clapping my hand I say, "Well, the advantages of being supernaturally strong and fast... some problems are quite easy to fix..." then focus back on frying the cutlets, while with my telekinesis I finish seasoning the salad.

After a while everything is ready, and I call everyone to come and have lunch, the first to walk into the dining room and sit on her chair is Eri, that was basically stalking me the whole time, "I'm famished! The aroma coming from the kitchen since this morning was so inviting that my stomach started to rumble in expectation at the first smell."

Soon after Eri, Tio also makes her appearance, she sits next to Eri and says, "This one can finally savor master's cuisine! From the smell alone, this one thinks that it will be the best meal of her life."

She is quickly followed by Meiru, who sits next to her and adds with a laugh, "Well for sure he can cook better than me! Ha, ha, ha!"

But then a beautiful girl with long blonde, almost golden, hair, sky blue eyes, and a petite figure walks in and says, "Everyone in this world can cook better than you, Merumeru! Your cooking is comparable to supreme-rank deadly magic! I remember that your crewmember dreaded your cooking so much that they fell ill before even eating it!" of course, the newcomer is the fully revived Miledi Reisen, and following behind her like a happy puppy is Oscar.

(Image Here - Miledi Reisen)

With a smile, Meiru looks unperturbed at the duo as they sit and says, "Come on! It wasn't so bad! No one ever died from my cooking!" but Oscar quickly counters, "That's because you used Restoration Magic to save their lives. And let's not talk about how much you enjoyed their suffering as you force feed them that deadly mixture..." but still with a smile Meiru says, "You are only bitter because I exchanged the food that Miledi prepared for you with mine before that expedition..."

And while their friendly exchange continues, the last of my guest finally step inside the dining room, still a little awkward about this kind of atmosphere, but even so Freid, walks inside and sits on the chair next to Oscar.

Seeing that everyone is here, I quickly use my telekinesis to pull the trays with the bruschette from the kitchen and move them to the table while saying, "Well, thank you for coming to this dinner, I hope this is one of the many happy memories we will make from now on. Now without further ado, I present you with an appetizer from my home country in my Universe, the bruschette, I'm sure that this plate will whet your appetite for what is to come...Boun appetito!"

Eri simply says the usual, "Itadakimasu~!" while, Miledi, Oscar, Meiru, and even Freid say, "Thanks for the food!" before starting to take their portion, and finally we start to eat, and the typical crunchy sound that comes when someone eats a bruschetta resounds into the dining room, soon I hear Miledi exclaim, "Whoa! It is so crunchy and fresh! I never had something like this!!" and quickly she takes another one and starts eating it, and soon, Eri, Tio, Freid, and Oscar, do the same, everyone is clearly enjoying the food.

After some time, we are done with the appetizer as nothing is left not even a crumble, and so I once again use my telekinesis to take away the dirty plates and bring the clean ones together with the try with Grandma's Lasagna, then I start to make the portion while explaining, "This is the main course... My Grandma's Lasagna, is one of the dishes she is most proud of, but be careful with it. It is as delicious as it is heavy."

And as soon as I give everyone their slice, they start to dig in, and for a moment, I almost thought that I went to the wrong universe, as all of a sudden, as soon as they had their first bite, it seems that everyone is having multiple foodgasms at the same time as they shiver and close their eyes as they are all loudly moaning in pleasure, ""Soo gooood~"" luckily no clothes exploded.

Soon they recover and start to eat once again while commenting from time to time, things like, " Is this haven!?", "This is the food of gods!", and more disturbing things like, "I found the true god." and, "This one will dedicate her soul and body to master~", meanwhile while eating my lasagna I think, 'It is good enough... but it is missing something, my grandma's one is still better than this one...'

After the lasagna, it is time for the cutlets, and while they still enjoy the food their reaction isn't as good nor exaggerated as before, but still they have nothing but praise for it, even Freid says, "I have eaten the food of some of the best chefs of Garland and nothing comes even close to the taste of these dishes..." then Oscar asks, "Is the food culture of your world truly this good or is just that our is really bad?", to which Eri replies, "Well from what I have tasted, the food culture of this place isn't so bad, in fact, some tastes are quite similar to the ones from my country and are quite good... It is just that the cuisine of the country that Jayr used is recognized as one of the world's greatest, some even say that is the greatest in the world together with the French and Chinese cuisine".

Hearing that Oscar takes another bite of the cutlets and after swallowing it, he says, "I see... so this type of cuisine is recognized as one of the best of your world..." and I nod and add, "While that is true, there are some Universes out there that are centered around food, and where there are even greater cuisine and chefs, that are able to reach levels that not even I can imagine..."

Done with eating the cutlets and the side dishes, it is finally time for the dessert, and once everyone has their slice of tiramisù, they do not hesitate to dig in, and eat that soft, creamy, delicious dish, and once again I feel very happy seeing that everyone is truly enjoying what they are eating, and enjoying this time spent together without thinking about any distateful topic, like Ehit and what he has done to this world and what he plans to do.

At the end of the dinner, we decide to pass the remaining day relaxing and start our journey toward the Haltina Sea of Trees tomorrow.

Jayr POV - Tortus, Haltina Sea of Trees - 2013

We are now standing in front of the entrance of the Haltina Sea of Trees which is located on the far east of Tortus' northern continent.

It's a large forest that is surrounded by an impenetrable fog barrier that only Beastmen can properly navigate around, basically, it is their safe haven, and inside one will the Beastman Nation of Verbergen, in addition, it also houses many smaller Beastman settlements.

Although the Sea of Trees' fog protects Beastmen from being attacked by other races, it is home to a multitude of dangerous monsters, so it isn't completely safe for them to navigate this forest.

But the most important location is in the center of the Sea of Trees, where we will find the Grand Tree Uralt that contains the Labyrinth built by Lyutillis Haltina.

As we stand in front of the foggy forest, Oscar looks at it and says, "The Pale Forest, huh... I kind of miss this place, it is the only place where Ehit was unable to spread his influence back then..."

Then Meiru says, "Talk for yourself, I always had a hard time in this place..." and Miledi adds, "That is because Meru-nee spent most of the time trying to get away or restrain Lyutillis as she chased after her begging to be insulted, tortured, and humiliated something that greatly disturbed her...".

Hearing that Tio asks, "And what is wrong with that? Do you know the joy of submitting your everything to another being? The painful pleasure that he can inflict you with his rough ca-" but Meiru interrupts her yelling, "I knew it! You are cut from the same cloth of Lyutillis! I saw your sparring sessions with Jayr, and noticed that you enjoyed them a little too much!"

Reaching this point, I decide to intervene before the discussion takes another turn and say, "Well, should we step inside now?" but Oscar looks at me and asks, "Do you know and can contact any Beastmen? Because it is a fact that only the Beastmen race can navigate through this thick fog... Well, I had an artifact that can help with this situation, but I left it in the care of Lyutillis to put it into her Labyrinth as proof of conquest...".

And with a confident smile, I pull out my Mana Compass from my purse and say, "There is no need for that, I have my own solution...", Oscar quickly focuses on the Mana Compass, at the same time, his glasses shine, giving off a bright reflection that obscures his eyes, making me almost have a Vietnam flashback, as it reminds me of anime characters like Aizen and the others.

After studying the compass for a few seconds he says, "I see... Quite an ingenuous combination of spells and materials, a little too mana intensive as not many can constantly use it without draining themselves to death after a few seconds, and quite limited without prior knowledge of what you are searching for, but even with all these defects it is a quite good and useful artifact..."

Hearing what Oscar said, Miledi comments in surprise, "Wait that means that it is a downgraded version of the Compass of Eternal Paths we made! A compass that is imbued with the power of concept magic, which can be used to find any place, person, or object in any world!!" to which Oscar nods and adds, "Yes, but the range of Jayr's compass is quite shorter, with it he can only find anything he has knowledge of, and only if it resides in the world he is currently staying..." at the same time, Meiru looks at the compass with clear greed in her eyes and says, "It is still a good artifact for me, I know of many treasures in this world that I'd like to find and free from their owner's hands...".

I look at Meiru and say, "After we are done with Ehit, I can easily build you another one if you want, maybe with Oscar's help we can also improve it...", and as she hears my words, she looks at my with an excited expression and asks, "Really!?", and Oscar adjusts his glasses and says, "Please no.., You do not know how many treasures she has "freed" in the past, her greed for riches knows no bound..."

Hearing Oscar's accusation, Meiru pouts and says, "It wasn't so bad!" but Miledi decides to poke some more fun at her expense and says, "Did you forget that time you forced your crew member to crossdress and seduce a member of the church so that you could take the key to the treasury and free them from the hand of the Church and took also some kind of shitty relic? You ended up being relentlessly chased for almost a month by countless angry worshippers..."

And while the duo continue to poke fun at their fellow liberator, we step inside the foggy forest moving toward our target, the center of the forest, of course, using the Mana Compass as our guide.

While walking through the thick fog, I notice that my senses still function as usual, only my sight is impaired by the fog, but all the others work as usual, still, this doesn't help me in finding the right path that leads to the Haltina Great Labyrinth built under the Grand Tree Uralt, so we still have to rely on the Mana Compass.

After moving through the forest for a few minutes, we start being attacked by the monsters inhabiting the Sea of Trees, but of course, they aren't a problem for our group as Oscar is easily able to dispatch them with his Disposable Throw Weapons, artifacts in the form of throw weapons with various effects enchanted on them, including gravity magic for free control in mid-air, these ones exploded as soon as they came into contact with the ambushing insect type monsters that live in this forest.

Seeing how easily he took care of the monsters, I think, 'As expected of the Liberators, after all, Meiru, Oscar, and Miledi, can be considered one of the strongest people in this Universe, only Hajime and Ehit are above them, in fact, only Ehit is truly stronger than them, as the current Hajime still didn't reach the peak of his power...'

At the same time, Oscar explains to a curious Freid, "These are the weakest artifact I have on me, the name is Disposable Throw Weapons, and they come mainly in four types. Combustion Blade, that explodes with considerable force, like the one from before".

Then he pulls out three more from his Treasure Trove and explains, "The Heater Knives, which gets heated up to high temperature upon thrown and are easily able to melt heavy armor and flesh. The Ice Daggers, enchanted with ice magic, are able to freeze an area to a certain distance starting from the point they struck. And the Lightning Daggers, enchanted with Lightning Field, are capable of electrifying and binding enemies with electricity."

Then a curious Eri asks, "And what's up with that umbrella?" which makes Meiru groans and say, "Please do not make him start talking about that umbrella! His obsession with it is almost at the same level as his stupid glasses" and outraged Oscar says, "Do not talk like Vandre! My Obsidian Spectacles are a work of art! An artifact that has various spells and features enchanted into it, ranging from Heat Vision, Night Vision, Mana Tracking, Magnification, Flash Bang, Farsight, immunity to dark magic, heightened perception, and Soul Sight, they also have the ability to analyze all information I saw into them." at the same time, I hear Miledi mutter as she lets out a sigh, "Here we go again...".

And with even more vigor he continues his introduction, "Furthermore, I enchanted the frames into a storage device to hold light and heat and fire it as a type of laser called Super Glasses Beam, the only downside is that it can only be used once..." hearing that and seeing how proud of his work he is, I think, 'Isn't that a little too much!? What is next? Making the glasses manipulate reality!?' but while I was thinking that, Eri asks, "Do you have another pair? And if so can I have one?".

Oscar looks closely at Eri, more specifically her glasses, and declares, "Those are purely aesthetic, you do not need them to see better...", and Eri nods and says, "Un... At first, I used them to keep my facade... but then I have grown very fond of them especially since Jayr says I look very cute in them..." Oscar nods and says, "Yes, he is a man that understands the greatness of glasses... And I can clearly feel the care you have for them, very well!", then from the Treasure Trove, he brings out a familiar case, and says, "Luckily I always bring at least 10 pairs with me, as you'll never know what will happen..."

Then he pulls out a pair of glasses identical to the one he is wearing, but before giving it to Eri, a magic circle appears between his hand as he uses his Transmutation Magic to change the shape of the glasses to a more rectangular one, he also makes them smaller so that they conform Eri's face, the end result is a pair of glasses identical to the ones that Eri is currently wearing then he offers them to Eri and says, "Take care of them..." and without hesitation, Eri takes them and says her thanks, then she exchanges her normal glasses for the super enchanted ones, and start to fiddle with them to get used to all the new functions under Oscar's tutelage.

After walking through this thick fog for almost an hour while dealing with the ambushes from the various monsters living in this forest, I finally pick up something different with my sense and quickly warn everyone by raising my hand and saying, "Everyone, stop! Something strange is going on!" then I close my eyes, and focus even more on my senses.

After a few seconds, I finally have a clearer picture of what is going on and say, "The Demons are attacking the various Beastmen settlements and even the capital of Verbergen... They are using groups of monsters unaffected by this thick fog, right now the situation is in a stall, but anything can happen..."

Hearing what I just said, Freid clenches his fist and says, "It's all my fault! I used Metamorphosis Magic to create these monsters for my nation! My objective was to get the exact location of the Labyrinth from one of the Beastmen tribes so that I could gain another Age of God Magic! Then I just left them in the hands of Ehit's followers! How stupid!!"

Then he starts to chant his Spatial Magic so that he can summon his familiars, but Miledi bonks him on his head and says, "You can't go there and fight your people! Leave that to us!" and Meiru with a smile adds, "After all, I, Oscar, and Miledi can't enter the Labyrinth to help you guys..." and Oscar explains, "We know too much about the Labyrinth, some of us even helped in building it, our presence alone will make you guys unable to gain the Age of Gods Magic, we arranged the magic formations that way so that we can't be forced to help others to gain access to the Age of Gods Magic... So we naturally can't be with you guys when you start your conquest."

Then with a smile, Miledi says, "Leave this problem to us, you four continue toward the Labyrinth, even without your Magic Compass we are still quite familiar with the Sea of Trees..."

Hearing that Freid nods, then he is about to say something, but it seems that Meiru already knows what he is about to say, as she declares, "Don't worry, we will only kill the monsters and incapacitate the one controlling them, we will keep damage and loss of life to the minimum!" but then with a sadistic smile she adds, "But can't say the same for their minds... after all, they need a little punishment for what they are doing."

Then Miledi starts to use her Gravity Magic and soon the three Liberators start to float, then without hesitation, they fly off in the direction of the fighting, while we resume our journey toward the center of the forest.