Today's my birthday, so here's a chapter.
Flame enveloped Gilgamesh, and he evaporated. Edward calmly saved the Clairvoyant Eyes before quickly stepping out of the Reality Marble.
"You won?" asked Tohsaka.
"Of course," said Edward with a smile. "You said you wanted to see the floating city? This is your chance."
"Really?"
"Hurry up, we don't have much time." Keeping the Reality Marble functioning takes a lot of mana, and his current avatar cannot do so for very long. Edward looked at Illya, "You come to."
"W-why?"
"I need to remove the grail from your body without killing you."
"I-is that possible?"
"He's the Arcane Emperor. If someone can do it, it's him," said Tohsaka, and Illya finally agreed. Edward took them inside the Reality Marble to a lab in his floating city. He tasked a golem to give Tohsaka a tour as he helped Illya.
"Don't be scared," he reassured as she lay on a table with a magic circle drawn at the bottom. "Although you're a homunculus born from natural birth, this does not change your genetic makeup's defects. As such, you would not live past 30, and that's not considering the burden the grail has on your body and soul."
Ilya, this child, looked calm despite hearing these devastating words. That's because she knew and was prepared for an early death.
"Such a brave child," sighed Edward. No children should live with death looming over their heads. "After I remove the grail, I will construct a normal and healthy body for you. I will also heal the injuries to your soul that the grail caused."
Illya just nodded, so Edward asked, "Do you have any questions?"
"Will it hurt?"
"No. It will feel like a regular nap." With the state-of-the-art laboratory in the city, Edward can easily manage the pain.
"Okay."
Edward immediately started. Illya fell asleep, and soon after, an eerie aura in the shape of dark lightning emanated from her body. A golden cup tattered in a black goo slowly rose from her body: the corrupted grail. With a wave of his hand, Edward led the grail to another room. Meanwhile, Illya's body disintegrated before being rebuilt just the way it was. From now on, she will be just an ordinary girl.
Edward was rapidly analyzing the grail. The thing was a large mana source and contained the magic of Wish Granting. Edward and the Empire have studied Wish Granting Magic, which they found in relics of the Lemurian Civilization. There were two conclusions about this type of magic: the first one was that higher dimensional beings (including Gods and Cronai) were the ones granting the wish, and the other was Wish Granting Spells was a form of pure reality manipulation.
With his knowledge, Edward started to work. He isolated the corruption from the grail, learning from Gilgamesh's mistake and ensuring his personality was not secretly affected. Then, with the immense mana and its ability to grant wishes, Edward broke his limitations as a Servant/Heroic Spirit and finally acquired a natural body.
"Still nothing compared to the main body, but better than being a spirit," commented Edward, who felt a lot of restrictions had been removed from him. The grail dispersed, and he did not interfere. He then canceled the Reality Marble, and the three returned to Illya's mansion.
"That was more exciting than I thought," said Tohsaka. "Couldn't you wait longer?"
"Even with a new body, I don't have the mana to keep such a Noble Phantasm going for so long," replied Edward.
"So, you've succeeded?"
"Of course," he replied before looking at Illya. "Do you want to stay with your brother?"
"Can I?"
"I'm sure he would love that." Although Edward does not like Shirou, he knows he would do his best to care for his adopted sister, even risking his life to ensure her safety. So, he took her to Shirou's house and explained their relationship.
"I didn't think you could do anything nice for Shirou," commented Tohsaka after they returned home.
"I did it for Illya," he replied. He would have revived her mother if it were up to him because she deserved better than what happened in Fate/Zero. However, Edward did not want to face the complications of finding her soul in this complicated world.
"if you say so. So, what's next?" asked Tohsaka.
"I'll keep my word and teach you magic. I also need to borrow your mansion's basement for research. After that, I should leave."
"You're…leaving?"
"Although it will take some time, yes," nodded Edward, looking in the distance. The room suddenly became somber until Edward talked again:
"Don't you have to report to the Clock Tower that you're the final winner?"
"I don't have to, but I must. This is a perfect opportunity to increase the influence of the Tohsaka Clan."
"You can tell them that your wish was to increase your strength and show them your new Magic Circuit."
"That's a good idea."
Tohsaka left for the Clock Tower, the Mage Association's headquarters. Meanwhile, Edward turned the mansion's basement into a Bounded Field for his research. His floating city cannot exist without the Reality Marble, which takes too much mana. So, he had to build a new laboratory to study Ea and the Chains of Heaven.
Three days later, Tohsaka returned and headed for the basement. "Done?" Edward asked as he put the final touch on the lab.
"Yeah. The Tohsaka Clan is officially one of the most powerful magic families in the world." Edward nodded but did not comment, knowing that this title meant very little since this world was complex and full of hidden secrets.
"I'm guessing all these families wanted to marry you?" he said, adding a new enchantment. "I bet some were even willing to allow their clan members to marry into the Tohsaka Clan as long as you agree to give your second child to them."
Tohsaka's mouth twitched, "Yeah, and they were insufferable."
"You should be more careful when dealing with these people. Some desperate families will do anything to ensure a talented successor."
"I know," she replied with gritted teeth.
"So, someone already tried?"
"They put something in my drink. I almost beat them to a pulp," said Tohsaka.
"At least you displayed your true power; that should scare most people."
"True."
"Alright, let's get started with the training," said Edward. "While teaching you Arcane Rune, I will also train you on controlling mana. It pains me every time I watch you cast a spell."
"It's not that bad."
"I have prepared a Virtual Reality helmet for you and the necessary potions. Don't expect much sleep in the following months. We don't have much time and plenty to learn."
Tohsaka suddenly paused before walking to the designated machine. The training lasted three months before Edward agreed she was an accepted mage. However, in the first month, she did not sleep a wink or eat, surviving only on potion. Luckily, in the second month, he allowed her to attend school and live a normal life.
Edward looked at his findings and could not help but frown. He had made the right decision to come to this world just because of the existence of the Chain of Heaven. This artifact was an Anti-Divinity Weapon, just like Asta's magic was Anti-Magic. Furthermore, the thing had almost no limit (Edward hadn't found it); the stronger a god, the more binding its effect was.
With it, he was confident to at least imprison the Time Guardian if he could catch him off guard. However, he has not entirely reverse-engineered this artifact yet and does not know whether he could leave this world with it.
Ea was the weapon of destruction he believed it was, and like the chain, he's missing one final piece to build his own: he must find the Root, and the only way to do so is through the True Magics.
'So, that's how it is,' thought Edward. 'Akasha allowed me to enter this world because it wants me to create the Sixth True Magic, adding more possibilities to this universe. No, if I think from a larger perspective, maybe Akash already knows of the war and wishes to prepare her world for the upcoming chaos.'
