Head of Albion

Two razor-sharp horns pointed towards the grey sky.

Hollow eyes, with a mask on its face—red linings on it, creating a design of sorts.

A hole in the center of its chest. Its body was completely pale, bearing no resemblance to that of a human.

In the first place, someone with a hole in his chest cannot be called human. The pressure it was releasing was enough to give Masato and Artoria goosebumps.

'I knew this was going to happen... fuck...'

While cursing would have no effect, Bankai might. So, without further ado, he activated his Bankai.

Resita appeared in one of his hands, and Est appeared in the other.

The Hollow did not attack him immediately after he used his Bankai, indicating that he was intelligent.

"Masato…" Artoria's grip on the hilt of her sword tightened as she tensed up in front of the Hollow. She didn't even feel frightened when she was fighting Masato!

The Hollow emitted only negative energy, overpowering both Masato and Artoria.

"You keep your distance, Artoria. Your stats are far too low to take on this monster. For the time being, just sit back and observe."

He could match or even outperform him in strength and agility if he combined Thunder-God War Cry with Physical Enchantment.

Otherwise, he would have bolted with Artoria right away.

"But—"

"It's coming!" Masato cut her and raised Est to his side, a slash coming towards him.

He did a half-spin to the side where the slash came from, parrying the incoming sword to the side before slashing Restia vertically upward in the hope of dividing it in two.

Of course, if it could be killed so easily, it wouldn't be called a Vasto Lorde.

Blip* The sound of a boom resounded, as if a sound barrier had been shattered, and the Hollow in front of him vanished.

"Don't think, bish!"

Boom!

* Clap* Bribribri* Masato released thunder and lightning, his stats skyrocketing once more, and he vanished, appearing in front of Artoria.

The Hollow appeared at the same time and slashed downward.

As the sword made its way downward towards them, the air screamed.

Masato clutched Restia tightly and counter-slashed towards the incoming sword. As he released the slash, black lightning danced around her.

<<Volpar Blast>>

Thunder-Clap* A long ravine was formed, beginning with Masato, as black lightning danced across it from time to time.

Artoria clenched her teeth, knowing she was about to be killed if it weren't for Masato. She simply couldn't keep up with that monster's movements!

It wasn't her fault, after all. Knowing that Ichigo could move at Mach 500 at his peak, speed was one of the worst hacks in Bleach. It was all BS, but it was the truth all the same.

Masato was able to detect its movement because he was also from the Bleachverse, which allowed him to distinguish the spiritual pressure of the being. He was also as fast as, if not faster than, Yoruichi, allowing his eyes to capture things that should normally be impossible.

He could even see it by focusing spiritual energy on his eyes.

Last but not least, he possessed Haki, which allowed him to see everything around him without the use of his eyes—even the speed of light could be felt with it!

But Artoria lacked all of these qualities, making it impossible to track the Hollow's speed, who was using Sonido.

"Artoria, calm down." Masato whispered to her, his gaze fixed on the ravine, "It's not that you're weak, but that thing is just way too powerful for you right now. You just need a few more level ups to reach its peak."

"However, before that..." Before raising his hand, he inserted Est, who was in his right hand, into the ground, and a book appeared.

He threw it at her and said, "Learn this skill. It will allow you to compete with that speed."

As green text appeared in front of Artoria's retina, she grabbed the book.

{

[Haki] – EX

Gives you completely mastery of Haki, and all its three forms.

Do you want to learn this skill?

Y/N

}

He was now able to create skill with the same level he had after his Skill Book Creation had leveled up to the MAX as he continued to use it in his spare time.

Though he cannot copy skills such as Clairvoyance, he can copy minor skills such as Haki. It wasn't difficult for him to do so.

When Artoria clicked Yes, the book disintegrated into golden particles and vanished. The knowledge about the skill quickly filled her mind, providing her with a complete understanding of how to use it.

It astounded her. To be able to learn something she had never learned before with a single click of her finger. It was truly a miraculous ability, she thought as she looked at Masato's back.

She was able to sense everything around her as if another eye had opened within her. Nothing was hidden, and she could feel even the smallest particle of dust moving in the air.

"Roar!" A loud roar came from the ravine as something jumped out of it like an arrow, leaving a dust trail behind it.

It landed on the ground, looked at Masato, and roared once more.

On his body, there was a massive cut that almost cut it in half. Masato, on the other hand, was not overjoyed because...

More and more white mass emerged from it until it completely closed the wound, as if it had never existed in the first place.

It didn't come as a surprise to him. After all, every Hollow possessed an innate ability—Instant Regeneration!

After it had finished healing itself, it lowered its head and pointed at Masato and Artoria. Before it extended and created a small red ball in the center of both of its horns, a small red ball was created from highly condensed spiritual energy.

"Che!" Masato clicked his tongue before pointing his index finger in its direction, resulting in the formation of the same ball at the tip of his finger.

Only difference was that, unlike Hollow, he was emitting a dark greenish color.

<<Cero>>

Both Ceros were released at the same time, resulting in a massive mushroom in the center of them.

Masato clenched Artoria's hand and Skipped a five-kilometer distance. His Skip only allowed him to skip 1000 meters at a time, so he had to use it five before he was out of range of the destruction Cero had caused.

Artoria was wide-eyed, her mouth wide open, as she watched the nuke going off in front of her.

Masato did not sit as idly as she did. Restia and Est were in his hands as he raised both of his hands.

'Let's go, girls.'

''Yes!''

Both of them responded at the same time before Masato drew them closer together. They transformed into pure energy before merging into a single sword with a white hilt and a dark blade.

Ignoring Artoria's stares, he assumed a sword drawing stance as the lightning intensified around him.

<<Raikiri>

The mushroom produced by the explosion five kilometers away was split in two, as if time had stopped.

The Hollow stood behind it, tightly gripping Masato's sword in its hand and staring at Masato.

'Fuck…' With wide eyes, he cursed within his mind. Even Yamamoto couldn't stop his strike, and this Hollow appears to see right through it!

Crack*

"Hm?" Masato narrowed his eyes as he noticed a small crack forming at one of its horns and spreading to its face.

Suddenly, Hollow's mask shattered, revealing a human face. Its entire body soon shone and it vanished.

{

Ding! You've slain a Vasto Lorde!

+98, 094, 4o3 EXP

You've Leveled up!

}

"Sigh…" Masato sighed and said, "Damn. I almost thought it had me there."

He truly believed he was doomed when he saw it clenching his sword. Fortunately, the Hollow does not appear to have plot armor like Ichigo.

"Are you okay?!" Arotira rushed to catch him before he fell and inquired worriedly.

"Almost." Masato said this before clapping his hand, and a field appeared around him, with various ruins emerging on it, completely shielding them from outside interference.

"No one should be able to find us inside here as long as we don't take the initiative." He stated.

He didn't want to take any chances. Especially since he was already having a "difficult" time dealing with the mob. What if ten of them appear? He was simply requesting death at the time.

"Did you gain a level?" He inquired, leaning against her. Unfortunately, she was wearing armor, so he couldn't enjoy it as much as he had hoped.

"Yes. I've leveled up a total of ten times." She replied, her gaze fixed on the screen in front of her.

'10? Hmmmm.'

"Then you should distribute those points within your status,"Artoria nodded before beginning to distribute the points she had earned within her status.

She didn't need Masato to explain what the points did because it was self-explanatory to her.

Masato was lost in his own thoughts as she distributed the points.

'If I want others to level up with me, I should first unlock the Tier system. It appears that only then will they be able to grow stronger than they are now.'

{

[Premonition] has leveled up!

[Premonition F -> E]

}

'Well... that pretty much simplifies things...'

"We're leaving, Artoria." Looking back at her, he said something that added to her confusion.

"I believe we should enter this dungeon later; for the time being, I need to do something else."

He'll bring them back here once he's unlocked the Tier system.

'If only I could use my eyes... I could have easily handled this dungeon on my own.'

With his ability to kill anyone with a single glance, if he could use his eyes here, he would have had no trouble conquering this dungeon.

When he entered the dungeon, however, the system threw this prompt in his face...

{

Ding! You are entering Nightmare Mode Dungeon!

All forms of instant kill methods have been sealed!

}

He couldn't use his eyes here because they were sealed, much to his chagrin.

"Have you distributed the points?" He inquired.

"Yes." Artoria nodded, surprised by the increase in her strength, and marveling at his ability to increase someone's strength simply by fighting and killing monsters once more.

Masato nodded before exiting the dungeon with ID Escape.

When he came out, he didn't stay long and told Irisviel, "I have some things to take care of. Irisviel nodded, then worriedly said, "Please take care of yourself."

Masato smiled and petted her head, making her blush, "I will. Don't worry, Artoria will remain to protect you and others."

She nodded.

Masato said the same thing to Sakura, who was clinging to him and saying things like she wanted to come with him. But, after some persuasion and promises from Masato, he finally left the island.

After leaving the Island, he used <<Clairvoyance>> to look at London so he could easily teleport there.

After all, he didn't want to accidentally teleport into a wall. After determining the coordinates, he performed a space jump and appeared in the skies over London.

Fortunately, London was close to the Island where they were staying, so he didn't have to use Clairvoyance for an extended period of time.

{

[Clairvoyance]-EX

Allows the user to see the world's past, present, and future. However, the user is actually peering into the Root of the world and reading to see everything.

Warning: Using this to see the past and future without caution may result in the user losing his head if he is unable to bear the burden of knowledge from the Root of the World.

1 MP/s point to see 1 m of present around the user.

}

Even with his massive Mana, keeping Clairvoyance active for extended periods of time was risky.

Masato looked around as he flew into the air of London, taking in the scenery from above. He vanished once more and reappeared at the top of Mage Tower.

If he wanted to raise his status through Consumption, where better to go than the Mage Association?

"I'd consume every living being here, which should be enough to raise my state to EX... Just kidding," he said with an evil grin on his face.

'Isn't this the part where Masters says something like: Cringe...'

He actually cringed when he heard his dark sword spirit's remark.

'That was impolite, Restia.'

'Did you happen to hear me? Forgive me, Master; I didn't realize I was thinking about it aloud.'

'... it appears that I need to spank you on the buttocks.'

'So you want to get your hands on my buttocks? Continue. Regardless of what society thinks, I wouldn't mind it. Because,' she said, her voice trying to imitate a man's as she said, 'I am King, Restia. The rules imposed by the powerless—'

'Stooop! Right there! Don't say it!' He screams internally, seeing his dark spirit as dark as ever, and swears he can see his sword spirit's smug face. He promised himself that he would fuck her senseless sooner or later.

Shaking his head to clear his mind of any unnecessary thoughts, he looked down at the Clock Tower and used Clairvoyance to see the labyrinth beneath.

'Damn, it's huge.'

Everyone should have been able to tell what his goal was at this point—Head of Albion! Even though it is only the head, it is filled with magical energy and dragon attributes.

Masato was certain that after absorbing it, he would easily surpass EX rank.

The underground labyrinth was 80 kilometers deep, and Albion's head was deep within it, still digging or at least attempting to reach the other side of the world.

Masato's objective this time was to use Consumption on his head to obtain True Dragon essence, Draconic Attribute, and magical energy!

He teleported directly to the deepest part of the labyrinth, wasting no time. What about the bounded field, one might ask?

To begin with, as the Champion of both Alaya and Gaia, he was exempt from most of the world's constraints. He could easily travel to the other side of the world if he so desired.

Second, because he has a cheat-like ability called The Almighty, the future can be whatever he desires... as long as it goes the way he planned and no unknown element appears out of nowhere.

He was certain, at the very least, that no such element was currently present in the Clock Tower, particularly Zelretch.That dude was the only person Masato didn't want to meet currently.

Who knows, what if he yeeted him out of the world? And Masato wasn't sure if his eyes would work on him or not.

After all, Mystic eyes indicated the potential 'end' of anything. If the person detaches himself from the 'end,' he can easily save himself from the attack of his eyes.

And if he can't use his eyes on him, then defeating him with his current abilities will be difficult.

Masato appeared 80 kilometers underground in the blink of an eye.

What he saw in front of him was a room, an extremely old room. If his memory serves him correctly, this was the Clock Tower's oldest room—Carillon Observatory.

This was the location where the Sealing Designation was determined.

"This…" He examined everything around him, from the ground up. He used Sneak to completely erase his presence from the area, thinking that he should avoid any trouble if he could.

He let out a sigh. He was very disappointed when his Sneak did not evolve when he arrived in this world and instead changed to Presence Concealment. He reasoned that he should have learned to sneak in his previous life.

"But… It's quite ironic that I'm currently stealing from my own country." He couldn't stop laughing at the thought.

He vanished with another teleportation before reappearing inside the room where the Head of Albion was present, 'alive' because of the magical energy within its eyes.

Masato looked at the massive head for a moment before using Consumption on it. He'd rather not waste time admiring its beauty for fear of something bad happening. He didn't want to follow the current trend of cliché novels.

He sat there, admiring the head's beauty and majesty. Someone approaches from behind, most likely someone capable of defeating him and escaping his future sight, and claps his hand: "Well, well, if it isn't the esteemed King of Britain! I was anticipating your arrival."

And the shit goes down—while thinking such things, he continued to use Consumption on the head. After all, he needed to do something to pass the time.

If someone saw the head currently, they would notice that it was covered in a black shadowy substance that, like a vicious beast, kept chewing on the head and slowly eating it away.

Unfortunately, no one can because he has dedicated the future in this manner.

He couldn't tell the time in the underground room and had no idea how much time had passed. He just sat in the air, letting Consumption do its thing while thinking random thoughts.

He was already planning on staying for an extended period of time. After all, Consumption time varies according to the being Consumed.

Albion was thankfully 'dead,' with only his head 'alive,' so it shouldn't take long—he reasoned.

He wasn't using Clairvoyance in the outside world either, as most of his mana was spent seeing the future over and over again—it was better to be cautious than never be.

Masato finally consumed the head and left nothing behind after perhaps a week or so. A notification appeared as soon as he finished his Consuming it.

{

Ding! You used [Consumption] on Albion's head!

You have absorbed the great essence of True Dragon. You can completely merge it with yourself if you want to gain True Dragon Bloodline!

You now have Dragon Attribute!

[Dragon Attribute: F]

Gives you draconic characteristics. While using it, Endurance, Strength and Mana is greatly increased!

Level dependent.

1000 SP has been gained and randomly distributed within your status!

+247 STR, +254 END, +245 AGI, +254 MANA

[Status]

Name/True Name: Masato Oosuki/Aster Pendragon

Class/Servant Class: The Gamer/Grand Saber

Alignment: Chaotic Neutral

Race: Human/Demi-Servant/Divine Spirit

Level: 33

HP: 29000

MP: 105500

SP: 14500

Strength | EX | 606

Endurance | EX | 580

Agility | EX | 591

Mana | EX | 1055

Luck | A | 65

SP: 2

All stats have hit EX rank. Integrating Tier system…

Integration complete!

Now, every time The Gamer levels up, 6 points would be randomly distributed within his state!

To upgrade your Tier, you need to hit EX rank in the current Tier.

Luck is an independent state and it will not affect how Tier works.

(AN: I forgot to add it last time, so I thought I'll add it now.)

[Status]

Name/True Name: Masato Oosuki/Aster Pendragon

Class/Servant Class: The Gamer/Grand Saber

Alignment: Chaotic Neutral

Race: Human/Demi-Servant/Divine Spirit

Level: 33

Tier: 2

HP: 29000

MP: 105500

SP: 14500

Strength | SS++ | 246

Endurance | A++ | 220

Agility | A++ | 231

Mana | EX | 695

Luck | A | 65

SP: 2

}

---

So… I thought I'd explain a few things. First, the Tier system differs slightly from the VS Battle Tier System. If you want to be more specific, it corresponds to the EER—Everyone Else is a Returnee—class system.

1st Class, 2nd Class, 3rd Class, and 4th Class; after that, every being is included as Higher Existence—those beings who have transcended mortal constraints.

Normally, crossing the boundary between 4th and 5th would require the assistance of another transcended being, but The Gamer has no such boundaries available to him.

He will eventually cross the said boundary as long as he can Consume or Kill.

The list will continue until Tier 9, which is equivalent to Creation God from Against the Gods, as a reference.

Obviously, after reaching Tier 6, the system's leveling and exp generation would be useless to him because leveling up in Tier 6 is extremely difficult—it already becomes difficult when you reach Tier 3. You could argue that even if he killed 100,000 Tier 6 beings, he might not level up.

So, once you reach Tier 6, the only way to become stronger is to either consume higher beings, as he would (Forgive us, Soul King), or kill beings much stronger than him.

Those who have read EER may have guessed that after leaving EER, he would be at least Tier 6. And, unlike Illhan—MC of EER—he would not become a God there.

The reason for this is that God's power will only last as long as he is in EER, because God's power comes from Akasha there, so it is essentially useless and a waste of time for him. He would rather go on a spree of Consuming higher existences.

Another thing, did you know that the MC of EER has the ability to jump universes? In the epilogue, he left his Universe to avoid any future 'problems,' such as other Gods—God of Smith, God of Love, God of Beauty; they live outside the universe—and may, might, or have chances of entering the anime world?

Masato's desired skill, Wrap, allows him to jump from one world to another as long as he has a clear idea of where he wants to go.

Anyway, the pool has arrived. I've decided to allow MC to enter at the beginning of the forgotten millennium, so he has a CHANCE (I'm talking about 200 in the forgotten millennium) of meeting Lita—the main FL of EER.

Now comes the question of whether Masato should accept her or not. I mean, I'm against taking a troupe, but I can't say the same for the other girls or Erta.

—Yes

—No

That's it! This chapter is longer than usual, excluding this long ass author shit, because I didn't upload yesterday. So have fun with it! ... I hope...

Also, thank you to @Darkstar for the idea of absorbing Albion (I was seriously considering absorbing the entire Clock Tower and everyone inside).

ADIOS.