Endless Path : Infinite Cosmos

Having resumed his Headon persona, Gluttony stared at Vahn, cerulean eyes blazing as he asked, "How much longer do you intend to remain in the Tower? I’m not in any particular hurry, but I’d rather get this over and done with. Ever since that upstart declared himself King, my children and I have been starving. In ancient times, I would be allowed to devour the bodies of those who ascend and use their energy to expand the Tower. As it stands, the Shinsu in the Tower is expected to dry up within the next seventeen million years."

Amused by the enigmatic rabbit’s concerns, a chuckle emanated from Vahn’s throat as he resisted the urge to pat Headon’s head, saying, "No worries. I can assure you that I will resolve everything before then. Heck, at this rate, I might be out of the Tower within the year. Just don’t do anything crazy while I’m not looking. I’m able to free you from your contract. The only thing preventing me from violating the terms we agreed upon is your ’sincerity’. Even if it’s in your nature to do so, you should avoid testing me as much as possible..."

Snorting through his non-existent nose, Headon twirled his staff to create a small door reminiscent of the gate used to transport potential Regulars to the Floor of Tests. Then, just as he was about to step through, he looked back over his shoulder, the blue of his eyes briefly gaining a silver luster as he asserted, "I have reigned over this Tower for billions of years. If either of us is to violate the terms of our agreement, it will be you..."

Having said what he intended to say, Headon passed through the gate without another world. By the time the gate closed behind him, the flow of time in the surroundings had returned to normal, and, as a result, the phenomenal amount of Shinsu that had built within the suite exploded outward with catastrophic force. Fortunately, in accordance with his request, the Lo Po Bia Family had left the Floating Palace containing Vahn’s suite completely empty.

Emerging unscathed from the violent whirlpool of Shinsu, a wry smile developed across Vahn’s face as he watched the city-sized ruins descending towards the ground like an apocalyptic meteor. If left unchecked, it would assuredly wipe out most terrestrial life on the continent below, so, long before it could complete it’s 13,000m descent, he opted to reverse the order of entropy before teleporting near the shellshocked members of the Lo Po Bia Family who had come to investigate. Being caught in a ’time-reversal’ was a surprisingly terrifying experience, so, while it wasn’t absolutely necessary, Vahn did his best to relieve their anxieties before informing them he no longer needed the Floating Palace as a residence...

As one of the most important facilities belonging to the Lo Po Bia Family, the Nest was located in one of the most isolated regions of the 50th Floor. It also had three nigh-indestructible walls, tens of thousands of Shinheuh, several branches of the Lo Po Bia Family, and an entire Division of the Jahad Army protecting it, so, as could be expected of a facility referred to as the ’Vault of Jahad’, it was one of the most secure places in the entire Tower.

Demonstrating a complete lack of regard for the inordinately large constructs reputation, Vahn was currently lazing about atop one of the countless skyscraper-sized stone bricks comprising the ’Sea of Debris’ surrounding the Nest like an asteroid field. These were remnants of the impossibly large structure’s construction, and, thanks to the Frozen Waterfall, the Suspendium Crystal located at the very center of the 1,000km wide construct, they were able to float without the aid of any crystals of their own.

With his brick about to collide with one of the thousands littering the surroundings, Vahn resisted the urge to yawn as he moved to a seated position and lightly tapped the air. This caused a small ripple to appear within the void before a spell circle more than fifty-meters across spontaneously manifested out of thin air. Rather than producing any kind of energy beam, however, the few people observing Vahn were left speechless as a grid-like pattern appeared across the inbound brick before the entire thing simply vanished.

Though he had already possessed knowledge related to the 106,000 grimoires comprising Index’s Innate, Vahn took the initiative to absorb the actual grimoires during his three-and-a-half-year stay in the Unified Toaruverse. He couldn’t stand to see any version of Index suffer, so, shortly after his and Mikoto’s entrance into the Actualized World, they ended up confiscating the entire collection, much to the chagrin of the Catholic Church and the organization known as Necessarius.

With forbidden spells capable of restructuring the heavens and using stars to form magic circles, it wasn’t an exaggeration to say that Vahn’s magical capabilities had increased to an extreme degree in a relatively short period of time. The only conceivable limitation to his abilities was the Authority he had over reality itself, but, thanks to his contract with Headon, this was no longer a factor within the confines of the Tower.

Satisfied with the results of his experiment, a smile spread across Vahn’s face as he linked his fingers together, palms pointed outward to pop them. Then, after shaking the tensions out of his wrists, he decided to pass the remaining time by making a few quick adjustments to the Nest. It looked rather droll from the outside, so, in order to encourage the Lo Po Bia Family to hurry things along, he took it upon himself to beautify the structure. This included manipulating the impossibly large flowering plants covering parts of its exterior to encompass the entire structure, and, most notably, adjusting the actual color of the Nest to be an energetic shade of turquoise...

Having never witnessed anything even remotely comparable to what Vahn was currently doing, the Scouts tasked with monitoring the exterior of the Nest were completely gobsmacked by what they were seeing. Some even thought they had succumbed to an illusion, but, after hearing confirmation from the Light Bearers coordinating their patrols, they had no choice but to accept the reality right in front of them.

Fortunately for the onlookers, Vahn didn’t invest too much time in shattering their world views, as, moments after he had started his redesign, several high-ranking members of the Lo Po Bia Family promptly teleported to his location. This included Pram, who, after gawking at the flower-covered Nest for several seconds, adopted a wry smile as she turned to Vahn and mused, "Had you notified us, we would have gladly prepared something to relieve the Sage Dragon Emperor’s boredom..."

After shrugging his shoulders with an ’it is what it is’ kind of smile on his face, Vahn levitated to his feet and asked, "Have you finished your preparations? I know it’s a little early, but I’d rather get this over and done with. There are quite a number of things I need to take care of in the upper floors so I’d rather not be delayed here for too long."

Seemingly offended by Vahn’s words, a dark-skinned man garbed in fashionable robes reminiscent of a bird attempted to take a step forward and admonish him, but, the moment his aura began to surge outward, Pram promptly spun around, her foot connecting with the bird-like mask covering his head. This sent the man smashing through several floating bricks, but, rather than paying him any mind, Pram turned her attention back to Vahn, a hint of anxiety visible in her silvery eyes as she explained, "Please, don’t take this matter to heart. The members of the Windbird and Golden Eagle families have never been known for their mental acuity..."

Annoyed by Pram’s remark, a rather attractive woman with golden-blonde hair and vibrant yellow eyes, characteristics of the Golden Eagle family, adopted a potent frown. Due to the vast disparity between hers and Pram’s strengths, however, she opted to remain silent. The more feline families had never been on good terms with those of avian descent, so, if she managed to offend someone on the level of an Elder, she wouldn’t be the only one to suffer.

As this thought crossed the woman’s mind, both she and the other representatives present found themselves at a loss for words when Vahn promptly chopped Pram’s head, his expression stern as he said, "I am more than capable of speaking for and defending myself. Don’t use pandering to me as an excuse to carry out violence against the other families..."

Rubbing the spot where Vahn had hit her, a small amount of moisture appeared in the corners of Pram’s eyes as she answered, "I understand..." in an insincere tone. Fortunately for the members of the Windbird and Golden Eagle Families, this resulted in Vahn’s countenance becoming noticeably more severe. This caused Pram to turn noticeably pale, and, though she couldn’t help feeling a fair amount of resentment towards her family’s long-time rivals, she managed to momentarily suppress the deeply-ingrained sentiment as she bowed her head and said, "Please forgive me." in a far more sincere tone.

Resisting the urge to shake his head and sigh, Vahn extended his hand towards the top of Pram’s, gently caressing the space between her ears as he said, "Once we’re done here, let’s return to the Little Garden. I won’t force you, but I think you would benefit from spending some more time with Fenrir..."

Though she understood he was basically saying she needed to receive a bit of ’discipline’, Pram still perked up quite a bit in response to Vahn’s words. Everything about the Little Garden was amazing, but, most importantly, it was an opportunity to grow stronger while simultaneously receiving Vahn’s affection. His caress had allowed her to discern what had been missing from her father’s, and, while it was somewhat difficult to believe, her instincts were telling her that Vahn was the stronger of the two...

Following the rather awkward incident that had occurred outside the Nest, Vahn was granted free passage into the Nest. This wasn’t particularly well-received by those tasked with supervising the rather ancient facility, but, with permission from Lord Lo Po Bia and absolute silence on behalf of Jahad, it was impossible for them to do anything about it. The only resistance they could manage was offering him an ’escort’ and inconveniencing him by extending the time it took to pass each checkpoint.

Unfortunately, even this didn’t work in their favor, as, shortly after receiving the ’go-ahead’, Vahn performed a number of spatial transferences in order to directly access the Frozen Waterfall. This was considered ’impossible’ in the eyes of many, but, as a Tier 5 with an advanced mastery over both Space and Time, the instabilities surrounding the massive chunk of Suspendium were little more than a minor inconvenience.

While the administrators of the Nest were freaking out over his sudden disappearance, Vahn was staring into the eyes of an impossibly large cobra. This was one of the twenty-three Guardian Beasts representing the Lo Po Bia Family, and, while it was tiny compared to an actual Floor Guardian, Vahn couldn’t help but marvel at the existence of a snake more than twenty kilometers in length.

With the inordinately large creature flicking its massive tongue toward him in an attempt to capture his scent and sample his Shinsu, a smile spread across Vahn’s face as he said, "Sorry, but I’ve moved on from that outdated concept. If you’re hungry, why not try this?"

Just as he had with several actual Guardians, Vahn manifested a crystalline sphere before tossing it towards the aptly named Ancient Odd-Eyed Giant Cobra. Rather than eating it, however, the giant snake promptly snorted through its nostrils, diverting the sphere before asserting in a surprisingly feminine tone, "I have no need for your offerings. Now, state your business. If I am not satisfied with your answer, you will, personally, serve as my meal."

Rolling his eyes, Vahn teleported right above the snake as color faded from the world around him. In response, the Ancient Odd-Eyed Giant Cobra showed absolutely no reaction, it’s gaze still fixed on the spot where he had previously stood. Then, with a functionally infinite amount of time to kill, Vahn found a nice spot on its head to relax before lying on his side and lazily scrutinizing the giant chunk of Suspendium it was coiled around...

(A/N: Alternate Titles: ’*Casually Reverses Time*’,’Vahn discovered the real life tilde key...’,’Never mess with someone who can control time...’)