Endless Path : Infinite Cosmos

Ignoring the molten stone gradually hardening around him, Vahn continued to stare up at the sky with an absentminded smile on his face. He seemed oblivious to the fact that he was in the center of a massive crater, his eyes glistening with a cyan reflection as he gazed at the massive spell circle spreading across the sky.

For a moment, it seemed like the inordinately complex series of magic circles would spread to cover the entire Heavens, but, after spreading three kilometers, the edges became wispy before ultimately disappearing entirely. This caused the entire spell circle to temporarily become unstable, but, under the nearly unrivaled control of the caster, it was quickly modified to fit within the confines of Vahn's domain. Then, seemingly without even a hint of mercy, the mature beauty floating near the center of the formation adopted a cruel smile as she softly uttered, "Kosmike Katastrofe..."

Immediately following the utterance, the temperature around Vahn, extending for several hundred meters, instantaneously dropped to absolute zero as jagged pillars of ice erupted from the ground. At the same time, the entirety of Vahn's domain was filled with a hazy white glow, the result of the interior temperature dropping to around -270°C. This gave the battlefield an appearance similar to a snow globe, and, for a brief moment, even time seemed to have been frozen by the catastrophic attack.

Seemingly unaffected by the surrounding temperatures, Vahn slowly rose to a seated position, his movements shattering the icy pillars that had encapsulated him. This subsequently resulted in him being buried by the icy debris, but, as if it had absolutely no mass, he was able to extricate himself from it by simply floating upwards like a balloon through empty air.

Coming to a stop right in front of the mature beauty who had attempted to imprison him, a wry smile spread across Vahn's face as he remarked, "I'll need to conduct additional experiments, but it seems like I've become completely immune to damage within my own domain...how troublesome..."

Rolling her eyes in response to Vahn's complaint, the woman casually closed the remaining distance between them, her arms wrapping around his naked body as she replied, "What meaning is there in taking damage when you can never truly die? The end result remains unchanged, so why would you be upset? Did you become a masochist when I wasn't looking...?"

Chuckling in response to the woman's words, Vahn returned her embrace with his own, cradling her in his arms as he mused, "Only in your dreams..." before planting a kiss on her forehead.

Seemingly interpreting Vahn's words as a challenge, a predatory smile spread across the woman's face as she attempted to grab his exposed member. Before she could, however, Vahn gave her butt a light pinch before phasing through her body and remarking, "There will be plenty of time for that later. Besides, if we're going to play around, I'd much rather keep the real you company. It feels like it's been a while since I last heard you crying out my name..."

With a crimson hue spreading across her face, the woman, Eva, gathered a phenomenal amount of mana into her hand before punching the back of Vahn's head. This caused a massive shockwave to ripple through the atmosphere, shattering the icy particles that continued to permeate the entirety of Vahn's domain. Unfortunately, other than flattening part of his hair with her fist, Eva was unable to deal even a minimal amount of damage with her full-force blow.

Turning to face his assailant, Vahn a similarly wry smile as before, rubbing the back of his head as he said, "I was just joking...besides, you know I like it when you call out my name. There is nothing to be ashamed of..."

With her face turning gradually redder, Eva looked like she was on the verge of exploding due to a combination of rage and embarrassment. This caused Vahn's expression to soften into a somewhat apologetic smile, but, before he could say anything, she just sighed huffily, crossing her arms as she remarked, "I'm not going to argue with you. Just know that I'll have my revenge once we return to the Realm..."

Choosing not to comment on Eva's still-present blush, Vahn nodded his head in response to Eva's words before equipping a new set of clothes. His previous set had been completely obliterated, a surprisingly common occurrence whenever he was involved. He had tried to prevent this numerous times, but, no matter how robust his personal armaments were, they invariably turned to dust the moment he faced off against a powerful foe.

Shaking his head in response to the wayward train of thought, Vahn surprised Eva by spontaneously lifting her into a princess carry. Then, before she could protest, he teleported to the location of an ongoing banquet that was attended by his primary vessel, more than thirty residents of Avalon, and virtually every inhabitant of the Emerald Grove. This included most of his wives, and, though it was a little risky, even Xysteria had been allowed to visit. She wasn't allowed to wander very far, but, at the very least, she was able to interact with others in a way that couldn't be achieved within the Realm...

After a 'very' long celebration, Vahn had most of the central figures within the Realm gather within the facility that had been constructed by the Little Garden's R&D Department. There was still a lot they needed to discuss, and, thanks to Da Vinci, Vahn now had a much better understanding of the current situation. To that end, he gathered everyone's attention by gesturing for silence, a serious expression replacing his usually relaxed smile as he said, "Now that things have developed to this point, everyone here has an important decision to make..."

Picking up where Vahn trailed off, Da Vinci went on to explain, "As it stands, our powers, nay, our very existences, are akin to realistic illusions. The moment we attempt to leave the boundaries of Vahn's domain, we will, quite literally, cease to exist within this world. Though it is safe to assume that Vahn can simply manifest us anew, this places a heavy strain on his power. The more of us he summons, the smaller his domain becomes. In order to stay in this world for any reasonable length of time, the best option seems to be transplanting our souls into physical vessels that are bound by the Laws of this world. This will require us to grow our power from scratch, but, so long as we make use of the Little Garden, it should only take a few years for us to regain our respective powers."

Without even a moment's hesitation, Mordred slammed the table with enough force to splinter it as she shouted, "I want to fight alongside Chichiue! Even if I have to be reborn and remade a thousand times, my decision won't change...!"

Though he felt a sense of vindication hearing Mordred's exclamation, Vahn still gestured for her to calm down as a wry yet prideful smile developed across his face. This caused the fiery tomboy's face to turn slightly red, but, even after plopping back onto her seat, an excited light continued to burn within her eyes. She was happy to be the first to speak out, and, seeing the appreciation contained within Vahn's gaze, it was difficult to prevent a toothy grin from spreading across her face...

Following Mordred's outburst, virtually everyone present expressed their desire to be reborn within the Transcendental Path to Heaven. They wanted to be of use to him, and, though they enjoyed life within the Realm, possessing 'absolute power' in a world that didn't require such extremes made it difficult to focus on things like training and research. The flow of time within the Realm could also be stopped at Vahn's leisure, so, even if they spent thousands of years helping him pursue his goal, no harm would befall the Empire in their absence.

In the end, the only person adamant about remaining in the Realm was Da Vinci. She, like any other Tier 5, could easily continue her research so long as Vahn allowed her to exist outside the Principle Axis of Time. There were a number of projects she wanted to complete, and, more importantly, she still wanted to help reconcile the Laws within the Realm with those of the Outside world. She knew it was only a matter of time before travel between the two became possible, so, rather than give up her power and abandon all her projects, she was determined to continue making headway until the inevitable moment when the Transcendental Path to Heaven became just another part of Vahn...

After what felt like months within the Little Garden, Vahn emerged to find himself within his room aboard the Hell Train. This caused him to pause for several minutes, his mind momentarily drawing a blank as memories of the events preceding his most recent awakening gradually resurfaced. Now, however, his rage had dulled considerably, and, after conducting a number of experiments with his [Actualization] Innate, the affairs of the Tower suddenly seemed distant and mundane...

Giving himself a few light pats on the cheeks, similar to someone trying to psyche themselves up in front of a mirror, Vahn extricated himself from the bed before summoning, not just Fenrir and Ryun, but Illya, Artoria, Gray, Mordred, Eva, Asuna, and Karin to his side. He had agreed to let them travel alongside him whenever he was inside of a Regular area, so, for the last five months, they had been training themselves tirelessly to master their chosen Positions.

As could be expected, Illya and Eva had both chosen to become Wave Controllers while Artoria and Asuna had dutifully selected Fisherman as their primary Positions. Far more surprising was the fact that Mordred, Karin, and Gray had all chosen to become Scouts, but, considering they could just as easily fill every other Position, it didn't really matter. Mordred just wanted the opportunity to charge ahead of everyone else, and, thanks to her experience leading shock troops, she was 'very' skilled at catching enemies by surprise...

Unable to contain himself, a natural smile spread across Vahn's face the moment he summoned the girls from within the Little Garden. He always felt happier whenever they were around, but, more so than that, it was the appearance of the girls that brought a smile to his face. With the exception of Karin, who currently sported a pair of perky cat ears and a tail, each of the other girls had adopted marginally more youthful, slightly draconic, features.

Though they had always greatly resembled each other, Artoria, Mordred, and Gray could now be mistaken as triplets. The only differences between them were their individual styles, and, as could be expected, their hair, eye, horn, and tail colors. Artoria and Mordred still possessed their golden locks, but, out of consideration for their original selves, the former's draconic features were white while the latter's were red. As for Gray, she was the most unique amongst the three due to her left horn being black while her right horn was white. This feature also appeared in her tail, but, rather than being split down the center, the exterior was covered in pitch-black scales while the underside was covered in a contrasting white.

Since Artoria and Mordred had already been dragons prior to their 'rebirth', they had a much easier time adapting to their new forms. Gray had a marginally more difficult time, but, after some 'careful' guidance from her senior dragons, she was eventually able to get her emotions and instincts under control. As for Asuna and Eva, neither had any particular issues due to their inordinate mastery over their own emotions. Asuna had even remastered the State of Nothingness in a very short period of time, and, though she had momentarily become a lot more 'fierce' during their lovemaking, it only took a few weeks for Eva to mellow out.

Understanding that the girls simply wanted to feel closer to him, Vahn had no problems recreating them as True Dragons. He had always been weak against such sentiments, and, though it resulted in him suffering quite a number of bites and bruises, he didn't particularly mind. Rather, he had always been rather fond of girls with tails, and, more than any other, dragon girls had thick, muscular, and pleasantly squishy tails. The only sensation he enjoyed more was fluffing up and snuggling Fenrir's ears and tail, traits that were now possessed by both Ryun and Illya...

(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Now he is almost indistinguishable from an Axis User...','It is difficult being a warrior in a Realm of perpetual peace...','RIP Tower-chan...')