With their penultimate scheme failing, the corrupt Nobles within the Mage's Association began a very rapid dispersion of forces. At this point, they realized contending directly against the Empire was a death wish so, while they couldn't confront Vahn openly, they could still bide time and take by hiding amongst the very same commoners they had always looked down on.
While this mass exodus was occurring behind the scenes, the various Lords and family Heads had gathered together their forces within their Manors, some willing to face the consequences of their actions while others intended to go out fighting. Those in the latter category believed that, if they could at least deal a small blow to the Empire, those that remained would be able to band together to usurp the 'tyrannical' Emperor that was systematically seizing power.
When it came to dealing with these families, Vahn sent the trio of Kenshin, Jeanne, and Okita to deal with the weaker families. Kenshin had her forces surround the estates while she and Okita ventured inside to issue Vahn's ultimatum, 'accept responsibility or be forced to'. Those that surrendered and were willing to be judged would ultimately receive lighter sentences while those who resisted until the bitter end would have their legacy seized and sealed away to prevent the Demons sealed within the oldest Magic Crests from escaping.
Jeanne's purpose in the group was to serve as a guardian protector for the Homunculi while, at the same time, using her [Pure Eyes] to determine whether or not the target was 'evil'. Those that had committed heinous deeds throughout their life would be given no quarter as, in the end, only one member of each family needed to represent them before the Tribunal consisting of Vahn, Scáthach, and Paracelsus. The ultimate decision would always fall to Vahn while Scáthach and Paracelsus were there to provide 'truth' and 'compassion' respectively…
While Kenshin, Okita, and Jeanne were executing his will, Vahn was back within the Hanging Gardens except, now, he had Solon, Zelretch, Merlin and, of all people, Aoko Aozaki present. The latter had seen the news feed on television so, believing something serious had happened, she rushed over to provide assistance. It was fortunate that Merlin had intercepted her as Aoko had intended to invade the Hanging Gardens forcibly prior to understanding the situation.
Now, Vahn was seated around a circular table with two True Mages, the inheritor of Yggdrasil, and one of the most powerful and infamous Wizards in history. Despite this assortment of living legends, the one with the greatest presence in the room was still Vahn as, while they would normally be kept secret, Alaya, ORT, and Tiamat were all currently manifested in some form around him.
Alaya had her usual form, appearing as a diminutive Companion with blue skin, dark blue hair, violet eyes, cat-like ears, and a tail. As for ORT, it took on the form of a tarantula-sized spider while Tiamat, bound to her current form, looked like a tiny doll as she floated silently behind Vahn's right shoulder.
A stark contrast to her usual vibrant and confident self, Aoko currently had a complicated expression on her face as she just learned about the current situation. She empathized with Vahn's plight, as any decent parent would be incensed if their children were in danger, but she still felt that he was going too far, too quickly. The world was not ready to know about the existence of Magic and, if he made it public knowledge, absolute chaos would become the norm.
Before she was able to spew platitudes to try and convince him of a different course, however, Vahn had preempted her attempt, stating in a firm tone, "I am well aware of the consequences my actions have on the world, Aoko. Measures have already been taken to protect as many people as possible. Also, if not for the complacency and corruption of those in power, my hand would not be forced like this. You can't expect me to sit idle as people continually conspire to break my bottom line, all while the planet continues to suffer at the hands of ignorant and wasteful humans. Tiamat's emergence is the final straw in the matter and, for the survival of all species, not just humans, the Empire will seize control of the entire world."
Normally, Aoko would refute such claims on principle alone but, with the presence of Alaya, Tiamat, and ORT, even she was cowed. Vahn's words also contributed to her loss for words as, while extreme, there was an inherent truth and an undeniable logic behind them. The current world wasn't the most pleasant place to live as, if you weren't born into power, you were fated to struggle within a system that, by design, prevented any kind of success without acquiescence to a higher power. She had also seen how wasteful and destructive humanity could be so, while a large part of her wanted to argue against Vahn's words, Aoko ultimately remained silent.
With even the hot-blooded red-head given pause, Zelretch and Solon didn't have much room to make any counterarguments of their own. They both understood Vahn's reasoning and, at least in Solon's case, the latter didn't particularly mind a world with a greater influx of mana and a system that promoted the advancement of all species. This wasn't something they would openly admit but, after 'giving up' on trying to resist the Empire, they had a lot of time to think about the future Vahn sought…
Seeing that trio remain silent, Vahn gave a small nod before relaxing back into his chair, eyes closed as he began explaining his wish and how the Empire would function in the future. Ultimately, ruling over humanity wasn't even in his top ten list of priorities so it didn't matter if, in the interim, existing governments kept some semblance of power.
When everything was said and done, the Empire would have centralized strongholds on all seven continents, each governed by a capable Heroic Spirit that had been summoned through the Throne of Heroes. They would serve as the executors of his will within their respective regions and, while it would take a considerable amount of time to lay the foundation for future infrastructure, such was always the case.
In the future, humanity would not be the so-called masters of the planet as, rather than be at the top of the food chain, they weren't even in the middle. Their only advantages were their intelligence and their willingness to go to any extreme to seize what was never theirs, by right, to claim. This type of behavior would spell, not just their end, but the end of all life on the planet, the planet itself, and any world that was unfortunate to be claimed in their pursuit of immortality as a species.
Vahn had history books from various timelines and, while there were periods of peace and moments of species-wide reflection, nearly every tale of humanity ended the same way. They would spread out like locusts throughout the galaxy, harvesting planets of their resources while engaging in an endless cycle of war. Then, as their Civilization continued to spread, the systems designed to keep them from spreading throughout the entire Universe would step in, annihilating entire worlds to purge the last remnants of humanity from the galaxy.
In order to avoid this outcome, Vahn would change, not just humanity, but every species of Gaia at their very foundation. He would change the perception humans had of other races and, rather than take over planets and continue feeding a self-destructive cycle, he would negotiate with the planets themselves to create environments suitable for life. They were living creatures so they deserved to be treated with due respect. If humanity couldn't sustain itself without the endless slaughter of other sapient species, then they were the problem, not the crises they created for themselves.
Famine, disease, water shortages, energy requirements, global warming, pollution, and war, were all constructs created by humans as part of a grand scheme to elevate a few individuals at the expense of everyone else. They were a few egotistical humans vain attempts to play the part of gods among members of their own species as, from the very beginning, the only thing separating them from their kin were the conditions they were born into.
Had those in power sought to elevate their entire species, not just themselves, all of the crises that had plagued humanity for millennia would have been dealt with early on. The existence of mana and the knowledge of how to use it made the production of food relatively simple. Clean water was so easily obtained that, merely using the proper sequences of runes, you could enchant virtually any container to produce a functionally infinite supply of the 'precious' resource. As for disease, even the current governments had cures for nearly everything but, for the sake of profit, they pretended the research was ongoing while silencing those like Paracelsus who wanted to treat everyone, not just those who could pay exorbitant fees.
In the end, humanity was the root cause for all their problems and, now that Vahn was aware of the greater truths of the world, he would not allow their ignorance to serve as an excuse. Now, humanity as a whole would be held accountable for their own existence and, if they could not survive without harming themselves and other species, they could only resist until the bitter end as, with the Surface and Reverse Side moving ever closer to a transition period, they were all but fated to die.
—
After hearing Vahn's long diatribe about humanity, Zelretch and Aoko were both a little taken aback but, considering his wish, they knew he wasn't as heartless as his words made him sound. Rather, the biggest weakness of Vahn seemed to be that he cared too much about things, especially if they were an exploited party. What humanity had done to Gaia was a sin all humans had inherited since a time long before recorded history. Until they began making proactive changes to protect the planet and improve their civilization for the better, even a newborn infant carried the sins of the past due to the rampant fundamentalism that restrained their path and kept them obedient to the system.
In Vahn's vision of the future, wealth was based entirely on merit and everyone, regardless of where they were born, had the same opportunities for success. So long as you worked hard, becoming the Captain of an interstellar ship was a feat anyone could achieve. The only limiting factor was the effort people wanted to put into their future as, without inherited wealth, status, and authority, rising to the top without being qualified for the position was impossible.
The biggest selling point of Vahn's argument was the fact that the Empire would not directly rule over the people. Vahn fundamentally believed that people were incapable of ruling over others so, in order to avoid becoming the very thing he hated, creating the closest thing to an objective system of government was necessary. This was where the trinity of Da Vinci's systems came into play as, with Ark, Mother, and Shadow working in conjunction with each other, they could observe, analyze, and regulate all of humanity simultaneously.
Some people would argue that this was an invasion of their privacy but, when broken down at its most basic level, the very concept of privacy was something that had never really existed. It was a notion derived from an instinctual desire to protect secrets and prevent people that coveted what you had from taking advantage of you.
Realizing this, those that sought to elevate themselves above others did everything they could to convince 'laymen' that the illusion of privacy was a real thing. They did everything in their power to monitor the people through one form of another. Now, in the modern era, only those born with an extreme amount of wealth and power had any real privacy as, with innovations in telecommunication technology, satellites, the internet, and a comprehensive network of hidden surveillance cameras, it was virtually impossible to avoid detection. It didn't matter if you were a hermit living in the woods or a homeless person living under a bridge as, by the mere act of living, you were under constant surveillance, be it your parent government or Alaya herself.
Ultimately, Vahn's vision of the future was simply more transparent as, no matter who was in charge, those in power kept tabs on those they were charged to rule over. If they didn't know what was going on with their people, they wouldn't exactly be capable leaders. Thus, Vahn would introduce an objective system, preventing most crimes from occurring and promoting a social structure with no upper limits to a person's growth. It would even be possible to become immortal, obtain godhood, or, if such pursuits were not to your liking, you could exist within a virtual world as an avatar in any fictional world you found interesting. There were no limits, so long as your aspiration wasn't to be the world's greatest serial murderer or terrorist…
(A/N: I managed to write this one without much of a cliff so I'm releasing it early. Also, I know some people don't like hearing these negative sentiments mentioned so much so rest easy knowing that it won't be long before the story shifts to an entirely new focus. I trust that, if you read until this point, you know that Vahn has a preference for non-human/exotic species as, despite having overcome his past trauma, humans were still the ones who contributed to his own suffering. Just remember how he treated the Dwarves and Elves, however, and you'll notice he isn't specifically targetting humans. Rather, he dislikes anyone that tries to exploit others all so that they can elevate themselves for one arbitrary reason or another.)
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