Hey!
Quick note.
THIS IS A RE-UPLOAD. Or more like an UPDATE to the chapter.
Read from the beginning again.
I also did some extensive editing to some of the sentences and paragraphs. Not much, the story is the same, just adding more context, or more exaggeration to a few things.
So, if you saw that your "paragraph message" was "deleted, it was not actually deleted by me, but it was "taken out" by the app.
Nothing I can do there.
ALSO, if you have an idea for future chapters, just let me know in the comments.
This is a story that I am writing personally, meaning I could really use "inspiration" here. Sometimes, inspiration is what can keep a chapter from being uploaded or created.
So don't be afraid to give ideas; I could possibly use them in future chapters if I am able to find ways to use them correctly.
Without the need for more yapping, here is the final chapter of this small arc of saving Isha and cooking Vashtorr.
Enjoy!
...
Chapter 13: "Raphael, Did You Just Create a Divine Space?"
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Kardia:（⊙_⊙）
Vashtorr:（⊙_⊙）
The expressions shared between Kardia and Vashtorr spoke volumes as they surveyed the chaos unfolding on the battlefield, a scene far beyond anything they had anticipated.
They were expressions of shock, absurdity, and stupidity as they saw what was happening on the battlefield.
Over the past six months, Kardia had taken a bold approach, permitting his Shadow Soldiers to pursue every means necessary to enhance their abilities.
This included exposing them to dire situations, such as the relentless Tyranid invasions that plagued various planets.
He believed that by allowing his soldiers to engage in combat against such formidable foes, they could gain invaluable experience and strength through battle. After all, Kardia's Shadow Soldiers had the ability to absorb the energy from their enemies, making them stronger.
And that was the right choice.
Not only did it allow him to increase the strength of his Shadow Soldiers, but it also allowed him to get more Shadow Soldiers.
The mastermind behind this operation was none other than Raphael.
Initially, Kardia expected a slow and gradual progression in strength. Still, the reality he witnessed was a stark contrast, leaving him in stunned disbelief at the massacre playing out before him.
The term "massacre" seemed woefully inadequate to describe the sheer scale of devastation.
With each passing moment, waves of millions of Shadow Soldiers surged forward, cutting down the other millions of Daemons with a brutal efficiency that defied logic.
The magnitude of this "massacre," or perhaps the scale of the "domination" by Kardia's Shadow Soldiers, was so overwhelming that even the numerous Daemons serving the four different Chaos Gods felt a sense of worry as they saw the so-called "battle."
After all, the strength that Kardia's Shadow Soldiers demonstrated was better than most of the Greater Daemons' armies.
Also, it was an organized, strong, fast, brutal, and efficient army.
Some of them could even say that this army was a single unit; they moved efficiently, and even when one soldier was being overwhelmed, which did not happen often, others would quickly come to the rescue, defeat the enemy, and continue onward as if nothing had happened.
Yet, this is not what Kardia expected.
Kardia had initially anticipated that his Shadow Soldiers would be able to give a somewhat good fight against the Daemons, and with their ability to regenerate, would cause the fight against the Daemons to be on even ground.
However, he had not foreseen just how powerful even the so-called "Normal" grade Shadow Soldiers would become after the "training" that Kardia made them go through. (Which is to fight monsters.)
In fact, multiple of the so-called "Normal" grade Shadow Soldiers had evolved into "Knight" Grade Shadow Soldiers, meaning they had jumped two levels.
Others like the already "Elite" Grade Shadow soldiers, evolved into "Elite Knight Soldiers." evolved one time. While the other ranks only leveled up once.
Yet.
What truly astounded him, though, was the transformation of Igris, the Shadow General, now turned Shadow "Marshal."
Igris had evolved into a Shadow 'Marshal' alongside fifteen other general rank soldiers he had summoned in episode five.
Yet, in this battle, Igris had surpassed all expectations.
On the battlefield, he emanated an aura of dread, reminiscent of a God of War.
Regardless of the enemy's size or ferocity, whether monstrous Tyranids or agile skirmishers, Igris became an unstoppable tempest.
His inhuman speed was a blur, and his mastery of swordsmanship was nothing short of perfection.
Each swing of his weapon was a testament to his relentless training and singular focus on power, making him a living embodiment of martial prowess.
His cutting strikes were so powerful that even space seemed to be cut right after the cut was sent flying.
And due to this one-sided insane massacre from Kardia's Shadow Soldiers, Vashtorr and Kardia were surprised to death.
This is why the two of them were shocked.
Vashtorr turned to look at Kardia in the eyes.
Still, when he saw that Kardia had the same expression as himself, and he seemed not to be faking his emotions, Vashtorr was baffled.
"W-why are you surprised? Didn't you expect this from the beginning?" The Greater Daemon Demigod looked at the newly crowned God of the Immaterium with confusion.
Kardia, who was still shocked to the point of being baffled by whatever he was seeing, came back to his senses when he turned and looked at Vashtorr.
He gave Vashtorr an apologetic shrug and a smile.
And this, in turn, made Vashtorr look at Kardia like he was crazy.
"I never thought they would become so strong..."
Kardia admitted quietly, as he looked at how Vashtorr's army was being demolished by Kardia's Shadow Army in pretty much seconds.
In fact, it made Kardia feel like he was a clown. He had planned for his Shadow Army to come to a stalemate with Vashtor's army.
After all, these are demons we are talking about.
Although daemons aren't all the same, as you can clearly see, as some of them belong to different factions, and within those factions, there are different types of Daemons, yet Kardia expected them to be more powerful.
No, they are powerful; it is just that his soldiers are even more powerful.
It made him think of how the Tyranids and the Daemon fight. Out of five times out of ten, the Tyranids win fights.
And the reason some daemons lose to the Tyranids is not that the Tyranids are powerful, but because of the debuff that the "Shadow in the Warp" gives the Daemons.
Without the interference of the "Shadow in the Warp," Daemons could easily destroy the Tyranid forces.
So, when bringing this argument to the table, Kardia thought that the Daemons were going to give his Shadow Soldiers some run for their money as they are not being "nerfed."
Yet, Kardia had received a reality check.
"W-what...?" Vashtorr was perplexed, too, as he heard Kardia murmur to himself.
'This guy truly did not know that his soldiers were that strong? Doesn't he pay attention to his soldiers? Doesn't he fear them overpowering him? Well... he is a God.'
"Man... this was so anticlimactic," Kardia said to himself, leaning over his fist, giving a bored expression. He was now bored. For that same reason, he began to complain.
Asking Vashtorr as to why his army was so weak.
Vashtorr was quiet.
Vashtorr's army is not weak.
Although Vashtorr's army is not the strongest army in the Immaterium, as those armies belong to the Chaos Gods or other factions deep within the Immaterium, Vashtorr knows that his army is decent.
But to call his personal army "weak," Vashtorr couldn't agree with that.
Yet, he had to shut the fuck up, as he saw the "battle" below, if it can be considered one, proved his point wrong.
His army was, in fact, weak.
At least compared to this powerful army.
As Kardia kept complaining like a child who didn't get what he wanted, he was actually having an inside conversation with Raphael.
Kardia had done so because Kardia had received a notification from Raphael inside his mind.
[Master, the rescue of the Goddess of Life Isha has been completed.]
"Great...!"
Kardia felt a wave of happiness wash over him.
He had finally rescued the huzz.
Wait--I mean, he rescued the Goddess who has been calling for help for thousands of years.
Yeah.. right.
But, in reality, he was actually relieved to finally finish this "impossible" rescue mission.
He can finally put an end to this clown show and go back to his little project of space ships, and later start making his future Empire.
Yet, one thing that Kardia learned from this "mission" is that his acting skills were pretty shitty.
Yes, he was dissatisfied with his acting skills; it felt as though he was merely playing the role of a clown.
If he wanted to pursue an acting career in the future, he sure knew that he needed to enroll in acting classes immediately.
"Can you make a video of how you saved Isha? I want to see it, it is much easier than explaining it," he said.
[Sure, Master.] Raphael was happy to comply; after all, to get praise from her Master was the best thing.
[Requesting to upload.]
"Granted," Kardia said.
Raphael was pleased as he analyzed the video he managed to capture of Kardia saving Isha.
To summarize.
When Kardia drew the rune on Isha's hand, that rune hid inside of Isha's soul.
Not the rune did its intended purpose—allowing Kardia and Isha have a connection from a large distance, to successfully execute the plan—but it also created an invisible link that enabled Raphael to perceive what was happening through that mark.
Essentially, Raphael connected to this link created by the rune and formed a separate mental thread to monitor Isha.
This mental thread not only kept an eye on Isha but also calculated the perfect moment for activating the rune to save her.
Moreover, this rune also allowed Raphael to have a certain range of influence, and she used that influence to analyze a specific area within the "Garden of Blight," where Nurgle kept Isha, which is the closest place to the "Mansion of the Plaguelord."
This insight was crucial for developing weapons capable of dealing with Nurgle's plague daemons.
Once Raphael determined that Nurgle was fully focused on the events transpiring on the other side of the Immaterium, he activated the rune.
Fortunately, this rune didn't require a significant amount of energy to activate; it merely absorbed a small amount of Isha's energy, which was drawn silently and without her knowledge.
This method was the most effective means of rescuing Isha, especially since all logical approaches to the situation were absent.
Moreover, it remained undetected by Nurgle.
Even if Nurgle had sensed a decrease in Isha's power, which he did not—because the rune required so little energy—he would have assumed it was merely Isha using her power to help someone in the galaxy, something he had witnessed before.
Thus, because the energy drawn from Isha was minimal—so subtle that she did not even notice it—Nurgle didn't notice it.
When the time was right, Raphael activated the rune.
Once the rune was activated, it quickly triggered Kardia's well-known skill, "Instant Motion," which teleported Isha's real body into the "Imaginary Space" dimension.
Afterward, Raphael rejoined her separated consciousness and created a safe space for Isha to stay, reminiscent of how Veldora, the Storm Dragon and Sworn-brother of Rimuru Tempest, created his "weeb" sanctuary inside of "Imaginary Space" in the anime "Tensura."
Raphael did not intend to "release" Isha at any point in the short future.
She wanted to analyze and study Isha's godhead of Life.
Additionally, if they were to "release" Isha from the Imaginary Space, she would be noticed by the Chaos Gods almost immediately.
The entire point of the "shit show" that Kardia was making in Vashtorr's territory was to save Isha and to literally make a name for himself in the Immaterium.
Well... They also kinda needed the dominion that Vashtorr owned for other things, but this information that none in the Immaterium needed to know.
...
Kardia, who finally knew that Isha was now safe from Nurgle and was safely inside of his Imaginary Space, knew that it was time to stop acting and simply kill Vashtorr.
"It seems I won, Vashtorr."
Yet he stopped when he looked towards the battlefield.
He looked at how Igris was fighting on the battlefield, and he sighed in exasperation.
'Is he really aura farming, right fucking now? Is that what he learned from Jinwoo?'
Kardia was perplexed as to how Igris was Aura Farming. Doing moves that he normally wouldn't do. Pretty much flexing.
"Motherfucka really began to aura farm when he found out that he was being seen, when I brought him here to perform, not aura farm." Kardia really murmured to himself as he watched everything happening.
Vashtorr, who heard the words of Kardia, began to sweat uncontrollably. He didn't know what Kardia was talking about, but he was scared for what was going to happen next.
It was evident that he was scared of dying, but Kardia was having none of it.
"Well, whatever. I can deal with him later."
Kardia sighed and simply got from his seat, and later looked at Vashtorr.
"Well... it seems it's your turn to join them, Vashtorr. It wasn't great knowing you," Kardia said to the frightened Vashtorr.
In an instant, Kardia appeared in front of Vashtorr. With his hand, which seemed to be covered in white light, shaped like a spear, he swiftly and efficiently pierced through Vashtorr's head, killing him in one motion.
Before Vashtorr's body could disintegrate, Kardia summoned "Azathoth" and consumed the remains.
Those who witnessed this scene fell silent—extremely silent.
This was the most anticlimactic ending possible.
One of the strongest Greater Daemon Demigods had actually perished at Kardia's hands. Well... it was not impressive, the impressive part was the speed and indifference with which Kardia did everything.
For the ones watching, it was... anticlimactic.
....
Kardia wasted no time in surprising everyone around him. With a snap of his fingers, he activated his powerful skill known as "Law Domination," instantly rewriting the control of the Ætheric Dominion.
This Ætheric Dominion once belonged to Vashtorr; now it belongs completely to Kardia.
You might be wondering, what exactly is an Ætheric Dominion? Why does Kardia mention it so often without providing an explanation?
Understanding Ætheric Dominions is relatively simple.
Imagine Ætheric Dominions as continents on a planet. Each continent has its own unique problems, countries, and environmental issues.
Similarly, Ætheric Dominions are regions within the Immaterium, but they are much simpler than in Realspace.
As of now, there are only eight Ætheric Dominions.
In lore, these dominions represent the metaphysical aspects of Chaos. But in reality, it was not that.
For instance, the Ætheric Dominion known as "Heedless Slaughter" belongs to Khorne. It represents the rage and endless slaughter that Khorne represents.
The former Ætheric Dominion of Vashtorr, which is now under Kardia's control, is called Malevolent Artifice.
This region, which once belonged to Vashtorr, reflects Chaos's twisted mockery of humanity and every other mortal species.
It embodies the darker aspects of creation, perverting the drive to create into a malevolent and destructive force within the Immaterium.
In other words, this region represents the negative side of the drive of creation through technology—the perverse and malevolent impulse to create things that ultimately lead to destruction.
Ironically, the creations within this Ætheric Dominion are destined to self-destruct.
Vashtorr, who ruled the Ætheric Dominion, was a figure of immense importance.
He embodied a perverted interpretation of "technology."
Since technology is utilized by everyone in the galaxy, Vashtorr's ascension as the Fifth Chaos God of technology meant that his power would grow even more rapidly than Slaanesh's.
This prompted the Four Chaos Gods, who enjoyed their delicate balance in the "Great Game," to intervene just as Vashtorr was on the brink of ascension.
Their interference fractured Vashtorr's godhead of technology, leading him to harbor a deep hatred for the Chaos Gods and anyone else capable of achieving Godhood.
This animosity was particularly directed toward Kardia, who had successfully ascended to Godhood three months after his appearance six months ago.
While Kardia is considered a "lesser" God, he still holds divine status and possesses the potential to grow and potentially "match" or even "surpass" the Chaos Gods.
Now that Kardia killed Vashtorr and absorbed him, it is a matter of time before Kardia begins to draw power from the concept of technology.
Kardia knew that Raphael was going to easily be able to repair Vashtorr's once fractured Godhead.
With that out of the way, Kardia began to look at his now "Ætheric Dominion," and he had to say that he didn't like it at all.
Kardia, over the last few months, had begun to love the aesthetic that Raphael had created for his future "Empire."
For that same reason, he started to dislike other things.
He had not become a hater, as he could appreciate the art of other cultures, but now that he was creating his own "culture," he liked his more than the others' cultures.
For this same reason, he disliked the view of his now Ætheric Dominion. For that, Kardia simply did the following.
Using "Instant Motion," Kardia suddenly appeared above, floating over the Ætheric Dominion.
To the surprise of those who were still watching, Kardia began to perform some kind of action. The Ætheric Dominion below started to rapidly disappear.
Normally, this would suggest that Kardia was destroying the Ætheric Dominion, but that was not the case.
In fact, if you took the time to pay attention, you would see that each part that was apparently "vanishing" was actually decomposing and transforming into "energy."
While this capability might not seem particularly extraordinary to some, what was truly remarkable was how Kardia was harnessing the dissolution of the composition and converting it into energy.
In reality, Kardia was employing a technique from the Quincy race in the Bleach universe.
In the Bleach universe, the Quincies are essentially "humans" who are spiritually aware of what lies beyond the material realm.
This is similar to what Psykers are in the Warhammer 40k universe, but Quincies are more complex.
As a special race of humans, Quincies possess a common innate ability: the manipulation of "Reishi."
In Japanese, "Reishi" translates to "spirit particles" or "spiritual particles."
In the Bleach universe, spiritual particles are the essence that constructs "souls" and all forms of "spiritual" matter.
Yes... It is important to note that there is indeed matter even in the spiritual realm; it is considered "Spiritual Matter."
Spiritual particles are the fundamental source of everything spiritual, and they can also be found in real space, as all sentient beings are spiritually aware, with the clear exception of some.
However, there are some clear differences between this world and the Bleach universe.
In the Bleach universe, although it is not specifically explained, it is implied that only the "source" can genuinely destroy anything spiritual.
This means that since spiritual particles are the foundational element of all spiritual things, only spiritual particles can truly annihilate anything spiritual.
This is even more true when you consider that creation and destruction are two sides of the same coin; creation can also lead to destruction, and destruction can lead to creation.
Therefore, what Kardia was doing was using the innate ability of the Quincies—specifically, the "manipulation" or, in his case, the "Domination" of Spiritual Particles—to decompose the "Spiritual Matter" of the Ætheric Dominion back into "Spiritual Particles."
How does this work?
Aren't the Warhammer 40k universe and the Bleach universe two entirely different universes?
So, how do they connect?
Actually, they have quite a few similarities.
Although these universes are separate, Raphael conducted thorough investigations and analyses and found that their operations are surprisingly alike.
However, the Warhammer 40k universe is considerably more disorganized.
The similarities between the Warhammer 40k universe and the Bleach universe are striking.
For example, the Hollows in the Bleach universe can be compared to "Daemons," as both represent corrupted souls. The Quincies in Bleach are analogous to the Grey Knights of Warhammer 40k.
The reason the Warhammer 40k universe doesn't function like the Bleach universe is due to a lack of proper organization.
In the Bleach universe, the Soul King is responsible for maintaining order in existence.
In the primordial age, the world of Bleach was a singular entity, which led to significant issues, as Hollows would haunt people and cause chaos.
To address this, the Soul King eliminated the primordial Hollows, and he later separated the human realm, which is comparable to the "Materium" of the Warhammer 40k universe, from its spiritual counterpart.
The Soul King also established the "Soul Society" to guide the souls of deceased humans as a resting place for those souls. But it later became the base of operation of "Shinigamis."
Hueco Mundo serves as the realm for "corrupted" souls, while "Hell" is reserved for the truly wicked across all three realms.
So when Kardia started to manipulate the spiritual particles, he was not just bringing the ability of another universe into this one; instead, he was actually doing something that was truly capable of being done here.
Just that nobody actually knew how it worked.
Furthermore, due to Kardia's own power and control over the laws of the universe, this process of "decomposing" the spiritual matter back into Spiritual Particles was pretty much done in the blink of an eye.
The once-Ætheric Dominion that belonged to Vashtorr, the Forger of Souls, was now completely gone, transformed into a massive ball of "spiritual particles."
As Kardia prepared to move it to begin constructing his renewed Ætheric Dominion, he suddenly paused when Raphael called out to him.
[MASTER, STOP!]
At first, Kardia thought Raphael might be warning him of impending danger, perhaps a sneak attack or something equally threatening. But he didn't sense anything.
"What is it, Raphael?" Kardia asked, quickening his thoughts to communicate with her.
He was intrigued by why she wanted him to halt just as he was about to create his new realm in the Immaterium.
[For the following part, may I take control of the soul-reflection avatar briefly, Master?]
This question perplexed Kardia, but when he thought about it, it was better for Raphael to do this part. Maybe she had a more efficient way of doing things.
"Sure, go ahead."
As soon as he said that, Kardia felt that he no longer had control over the "reflection" of his soul in the Immaterium.
However, he was still able to see what was going on.
As soon as Raphael took control over the reflection of Kardia's soul, things began to change. Raphael didn't stop manipulating Spiritual Particles.
Instead, she combined the manipulation of "Spiritual Particles" with Azathoth's sub-skill "Soul-Gluttony" to start intaking and attracting even larger amounts of spiritual energy from the Immaterium.
The ones that were watching were in awe as the amount of energy that Kardia's reflection was attracting was extremely abundant.
So abundant that some of the daemons watching were salivating at the thought of being able to absorb that kind of energy.
Yet, when they start to notice that energy can actually kill them, they stop salivating. Instead, they start to fear Kardia even more.
But Raphael, after taking control, who was busy, barely took notice of anything in the Immaterium. Instead, focused on a small project that she had worked on for her master's.
Raphael, for the last six months, since she began to operate the reflection of her Master's soul, had wanted a place for her Master to call 'territory' in the Immaterium.
After all, while it is cool to see a large figure, who seems to be meditating all day, while the hands of said figure are holding a giant black hole that is constantly absorbing energy, floating in the purple and red waves of energy of the Immaterium, it is not efficient at all.
In fact, this has been bugging Raphael for quite some time. After all, Raphael is someone who likes to do things for her master with the utmost efficiency.
Thankfully, with the death of Vashtorr, Raphael's master, Kardia managed to obtain the ownership of an Ætheric Dominion.
This means that they now own a region of the Immaterium.
This can allow Raphael to finally build the "project" that she was creating to gain further praise from her Master Kardia.
What is this project about?
Something special.
This is something that Raphael has been working on for some time, but it involves skills from the "Fate" franchise and Kardia's skills.
In the world of the Nasuverse, specifically the "Fate" franchise, various powerful skills exist.
These skills are categorized into personal and class skills.
But unlike the Tensura "skill" system, the skills of the Fate Franchise are simple yet also very complex.
Class skills are those that most of the "Servants" summoned share in common.
For example, nearly all Saber Class servants in the Fate universe possess the class skill known as "Magic Resistance."
As you can guess, it allows the Saber-Class servants to have a certain degree of protection and resistance against magic attacks.
Personal skills are skills that are manifestations and representations of the Heroic Spirit's life events or personal talents.
For example, in the Fate Franchise, King Solomon, after God chose him, was later questioned by God on the things that he wanted, and Solomon answered with "Wisdom." God gave him the knowledge and the Ten Rings.
Somehow, in that way, Solomon actually gained the skill "Clairvoyance." And this skill was somehow embedded into his "flesh," making that skill part of him.
For that reason, the "Clairvoyance" of King Solomon is classified as a "Personal Skill."
But are there skills that can be both classified as "Class Skills" and "Personal Skills"?
Yes. In fact, the most noticeable skill that fits this criteria is the "Charisma" skill.
The "Charisma" skill is a composite Skill consisting of a person's charm as well as the natural talent to command or unify an army or country.
This skill for a servant allows them to increase the ability of allies during group battles.
Of course, the personal and class skill "Charisma" doesn't just limit to that. "Charisma" can also work in different ways.
In fact, this personal and class skill is a "passive" skill that Kardia has that is later further enhanced by the Ultimate Skill "True Hero, Lord of Heroes."
Too much yap.
Raphael was discussing the Fate Skills because of Kardia's skill, "Territory Creation."
What is the skill "Territory Creation"?
Similar to the Personal and Class Skill "Charisma," "Territory Creation" is a skill that most Caster-Class servants possess. Still, it can also be acquired through study.
This skill enables the user to construct a specialized terrain that offers advantages for a "magus." These advantages may include gathering mana, creating magical objects, or performing various tasks.
As mentioned, these skills allow users to create a space that provides specific benefits. For example, a territory created with this skill can "absorb" and collect energy for the user to utilize in any way they choose.
Raphael was motivated to develop this particular skill, as well as several others.
Kardia, having integrated the "King Solomon" template, who is the Grand Caster in the Fate Universe. This means that Kardia also inherited King Solomon's second noble phantasm, Ars Paulina.
What is the second Noble Phantasm of King Solomon, Ars Paulina?
Ars Paulina is a Reality Marble.
But what is a Reality Marble?
A Reality Marble, also known as an "Innate Bounded Field," is a mechanism that allows individuals to materialize and project their Inner World onto reality.
Isn't this concept similar to a Domain Expansion in Jujutsu Kaisen?
While there are some similarities, they are fundamentally different.
To explain this, we need to go on a bit on the scientific side of things and explain some things.
Reality, as everyone knows it, has four dimensions.
The best way to imagine it is to look for a picture of a tesseract.
If you don't know what a "tesseract" is, it is a cube that "seems" to have another cube inside of it.
But in reality, that another "cube" inside the outside cube is not a cube, but just "lines."
These lines represent how time seems to interact with the three dimensions of space at all times.
And what are these three dimensions of space?
Length.
Width.
Height.
In other words, a tesseract is a four-dimensional analog of a cube that is meant to represent how the three dimensions of space and the one dimension of time interact.
The length part of the dimensions is how we go from right to left.
The width part is how we go forward and back, and the height is how we go up and down.
Time is what interacts with these dimensions constantly, allowing us to choose when to move forward and back, or when to go from left to right, and so on.
These are the four dimensions of reality.
So what does the Domain Expansion do?
In the universe of Jujutsu Kaisen, a Domain Expansion also involves projecting one's Inner World onto reality.
Simple as that, but the way of doing it differs from how a Reality Marble works.
To create a Domain Expansion, a sorcerer typically needs to learn techniques about Spatial Manipulation.
Once the sorcerer is able to understand the fundamentals of space, using that manipulation, the sorcerer is able to create a "territory," or more like a space, within a certain area of the three dimensions of reality, where they can enforce and manifest their Inner Domain world.
That is how a "Domain Expansion" works.
In a more visual description, take a "Tesseract" as an example, and a domain expansion is practically creating a small "sphere" within these four dimensions.
But because that sphere is a created "territory" by the sorcerer, the sorcerer who creates it has complete control over it.
The combination of the complete control over a certain "territory' created within reality, and the projection of their Inner World, their soul, onto it, allows the Sorcerers to practically create a place where there is always a guaranteed effect.
And that "guaranteed" effect is pretty much the Sorcerer's Curse Technique.
That is how a Domain Expansion truly works, using metaphysical and scientific methods.
...
Conversely, a Reality Marble operates similarly, but it does so in a completely different manner.
The same as before.
The four dimensions of reality.
Three dimensions of space and one dimension of time.
But the process of executing is different.
Instead of the sorcerer simply creating a space to impose their Inner World onto, like in a Domain Expansion, what a 'Reality Marble' does is that instead of placing their Inner World inside of it, their force "Reality," in other words, only the three dimensions of Space, inside of that "Territory."
As "Reality" is being trapped inside of another space, the Sorcerer is able to literally overwrite reality with their Inner World.
In the words of Fate fans, a Reality Marble is the forced projection of one's inner world (mental landscape/soul texture) onto external reality, temporarily overwriting the World's texture (reality) within a bounded region (space).
Crazy, right?
This is why Reality Marbles, in the Fate universe, are considered taboo and dangerous.
This is because, effectively, a Reality Marble is forcing the "Texture" of the world to be changed with the "Soul Texture" of a "Magus."
As we know, every person is different; this means that every Inner World is different.
And because certain individuals can be extremely "dangerous," some Reality Marbles can be extremely dangerous.
..
The other difference between a Domain Expansion and a Reality Marble is the duration.
A reality marble is constantly being "rejected" by reality, meaning that to maintain it, you need to constantly pour energy into it.
A Domain Expansion is when you create a "territory" within the already established four dimensions of reality. And as long as you have energy, you can maintain that Domain Expansion for as long as you want.
...
Raphael understood all of this through her extensive study, analysis, and her own powerful skills.
When she began to fuse concepts together, she managed to create something that could only be described as "divine."
How does this "divine feat" work?
How did she make it?
And what is it?
The first step that Raphael took was to create, or "design," the Inner World of her Master.
This task is particularly challenging for Kardia, as he is someone who literally possesses four Reality Marbles.
This is due to his integrated template of Shirou Emiya and his various versions, each linked to a distinct Reality Marble, including King Solomon's Reality Marble, Ars Paulina.
Ultimately, Raphael managed to combine one of Shirou Emiya's Reality Marbles with King Solomon's Reality Marble, Ars Paulina, and her Master's own soul to create Kardia's Inner World.
However, the buildings of this "Reality Marble" were recreated using the Skill "Territory Creation," with the purpose of giving a clear advantage in absorbing energy, creating weapons, and many other things.
This is why Raphael said it was the combination of multiple skills.
When that was done, it was time to enter phase two.
The second phase involves "creating" the same "Reality Marble" as a separate "Domain Expansion.
Thankfully, this step is much simpler than the previous one; the concept is already established, you just need to copy and paste.
The final part is "applying" this to reality, but how does this work?
But wait...?
This sounds too simple, isn't it a hard part?
Actually, no.
Actually, yes, but this is a big no for Raphael.
The actual hard part is the explanation.
Now...
Now that Kardia has obtained the "Ætheric Dominion" that once belonged to Vashtorr, there is a bounded region (space).
So, Raphael seized this region (space), and with a simple gesture, the newly designed Reality Marble manifested within it.
This means that the once "Ætheric Dominion" was now locked inside of a different space, and the "Inner World," or Reality Marble, was expressing itself to the world.
Those who witnessed the event were confused but shocked, as they saw out of nowhere, a large portion of the Ætheric Dominion simply... changed. In an instant.
But this was far from over.
By "dominating" the laws of the universe through the skill "Law Domination," Raphael interchanged the "territories" of the "Reality Marble" with the territory of the "Domain Expansion."
Wait!
Wait..?!
What?
That is right.
As you now know, a Reality Marble forces "reality" to be put inside of a different "territory," and that is what happened, but now... the projected "Reality Marble" is being changed by the "Domain Expansion."
But how does this work?
Pretty easy from Raphael's point of view, but from a normal person, it is quite confusing.
So let's go slow.
In a simple way to explain it, all that Raphael did was simply swap the positions of reality.
Think of this situation as similar to what happened in One Piece during the "Punk Hazard" arc, where Law changed the hearts of Nami, Sanji, Chopper, and Franky.
But instead of being so simple like hearts, it is about "reality" in a specific bounded region.
So, through the "domination" of the laws, what Raphael did was to practically "swap" places.
The "ORIGINAL" reality, the area of the Ætheric Dominion, is being changed by another "reality," in other words, the Reality Marble.
Now... the projected "Reality Marble" is being "swapped" by another, and this other is the Domain Expansion.
It is as simple as that.
You can think of this situation like having three marbles in a "triangle" like position.
The first marble is the "Original" reality that was overwritten by the "Reality Marble."
The second marble is the "Domain Expansion."
And the third marble is the "Reality Marble."
So what is happening is that the "First" marble is changing positions with the "third" marble. And after that, the now "changed" First Marble, which is now the "THIRD" marble, is switching with the second.
This creates a "triangle."
Where every "marble" practically needs the others, or is connected to them.
This means that the FIRST Marble is connected to the "THIRD Marble," as things changed. And now the Third Marble, which used to be the First, is connected to the second.
This phenomenon occurs because reality says, "We are open at three locations" simultaneously.
However, what makes this "project" actually work is the "Second Marble," which is the "Domain Expansion."
This is because a Domain Expansion can literally be "expanded" anywhere. And because the "reality marble" changed places with "reality," there is technically a world to expand from.
Since Raphael has managed to create a "barrierless" Domain Expansion, which is like drawing on reality, similar to those possessed by Kenjaku and Sukuna, when it is projected on reality, it essentially forces the original reality back, but under a different set of rules that benefit Kardia.
How does that make sense?
This is because, through the manipulation of the "laws" of the universe, Raphael managed to create a link between these three marbles and made them work perfectly and in synergy. So the rules of the "original" reality are being shown through the Domain Expansion
So when the "Domain Expansion," which is the one filling the hole of reality, is projected, "reality" thinks that the Domain Expansion is part of it itself and allows the Domain Expansion to become part of "Immaterium."
You can think of all of this as grabbing reality, and through various complicated means and processes, you are putting back the reality that was missing, but with some slightly different rules. But because the original rules are still somewhat working, reality is not actively rejecting them.
This is why Raphael considers this creation a truly divine feat—only achievable by someone of her caliber.
So, this "Reality Marble-Domain Expansion" that now has completely fused with the "normal" reality of the Immaterium has the effects of the Skill "Territory Creation" through the buildings and soil.
And using this with Azathoth's sub-skills literally allows for Kardia to constantly absorb energy from the Immaterium and later purify it. Of course, Raphael didn't go for all of this trouble without increasing the "efficiency" of the absorption of energy.
And because this "Reality Marble-Domain Expansion" was considered part of the "original" fabric of reality, due to its connection to the reality that was forced inside another space, it does not need energy to maintain itself, meaning all the energy absorbed is for Kardia and Kardia alone.
And this also means that Kardia is not necessarily bound to stay inside the "domain" to maintain it, because that "reality marble- domain expansion" is now part of reality, meaning that reality will "maintain it" for him.
And because it is also a domain expansion, when someone enters his domain, he has a one-hundred percent guaranteed hit effect.
And because Kardia has all kinds of abilities, pretty much all of Kardia's abilities work here with a guaranteed "hit" effect.
This is why this is a divine feat.
It is combining concepts that normally would't work together, and making them work together.
A divine construction of a space.
No one in the Immaterium has figured out what Kardia just did. Still, if someone actually knew about it, they would be freaking out.
In fact, Kardia, who had the entire process explained to him by Raphael, was shocked to death, and he was freaking out at what was just happening.
"No fucking way."
"RAPHALE, YOU ARE FUCKING GENIUS! EVEN MORE THAN ME!"
"I LOVE FUCKING LOVE YOU!"
Kardia was impressed, and he couldn't help but say those words to Raphael.
Raphael, who worked extremely hard on this project (not really, it took a few hours to do), felt extremely happy to finally get what she wanted.
She wanted praise from her Master.
"Holy shit."
"I never knew this could happen. This is crazy..."
"With this, we have a constant and more efficient way of absorbing energy. Raphael... you have outplayed yourself. You did amazing."
Kardia truly didn't actually know how to express himself.
What he just witnessed was something that he didn't think was possible at all.
Well... it is possible.
After what felt like an eternity praising Raphael, who took the praise like a good girl she is, Kardia took back control over the body after Raphael did everything that was needed.
(The explanation was that she was doing this in real time.)
"Well... We are done here, aren't we?"
Kardia asked as he saw that multiple other entities in the Immaterium had kept their eyes away from him. Even the Five gazes of the "Gods" of the Immaterium: Khorne, Tzeentch, Nurgle, Slaanesh, and the Emperor, had gone away.
Although he could feel the Emperor's gaze burning with some emotion.
[Yes, Master. All objectives have been completed. You can return your consciousness to "real space," Master. I'll have a mental thread taking a look at things here.] Raphael replied, and Kardia was happy to hear that.
He truly didn't like the Immaterium, but it was the source of his psychic energy.
Maybe in the future, he can create his own "dimension," and that dimension would only be made for his psychic energy.
"Yeah, let's do that. I still got stuff to do in the materium," Kardia smiled at Raphael as he finally calmed down, but he was extremely happy.
All objectives were completed.
Including saving Isha.
"Raphael, be on guard in case something happens. In case Nurgles comes here, let me know immediately." Kardia ordered, but he had a big smile on his face.
With that in mind, Kardia, who regained control over his spiritual body, simply teleported his soul-reflection into the "throne" room that Raphael designed inside of this new "dominion."
He later simply closed his eyes and allowed himself to go back to the materium.
....
End of chapter 13.