Endless Path : Infinite Cosmos

Hearing Nobunaga implicitly introducing herself as Vahn's wife, Lotte, Tully, and the rest of her team were, understandably, at a loss for words.

Though there was a lot of discussion regarding the people related to Vahn and the Aldrnari Empire, no substantial information had been regarding any of them. They rarely made public appearances, and, even when people were bold enough to try and approach them, they would either be ignored or assaulted. Thus, with the exception of a few names, nobody knew what status or position each of the people appearing around Vahn held.

Noticing the 'skepticism' contained within the group's gaze, Nobunaga squinted her eyes without losing her predatory smile. This caused Lotte, in particular, to tense up, but, rather than attacking, Nobunaga just shrugged her shoulders before pivoting on her heel and stating, "I don't like being followed." without bothering to look over her shoulder.

Fearing the loss of their only lead, the ground around Lotte collapsed as her figure vanished from view. In the next instant, she was standing in front of Nobunaga, arms spread as she said, "Please, don't go. There are-"

Without waiting for the woman to finish her words, Nobunaga manifested a scarlet tanegashima-style matchlock rifle out of thin air, the tip of its barrel resting on the former's head as she said, "I hate being blocked even more."

Punctuating her words, Nobunaga pulled the trigger without a moment's hesitation. Rather than blowing off Lotte's head, however, the giant woman's body slumped to the ground as a phantom version of herself stumbled backward before plopping onto the ground. This particular version of Nobunaga's rifle had an effect similar to the items used in Bleach to separate a person's spirit from their physical body. Since most people were incapable of interacting with the physical world whilst in a spiritual state, it was one of the most effective ways to deal with troublesome opponents, and, most importantly, it was suitable for revealing the 'true natures' of certain beings.

Though Lotte's form didn't change in the slightest, there was a blood-red tattoo reminiscent of a spined serpent coiling around and covering most of her body. Even more noticeable, however, was the three-eyed symbol engraved beneath her abdomen and the visible cracks present all across her arms, legs, and, most notably, the left side of her face.

Demonstrating comparable surprise to Lotte herself, Nobunaga's brows were raised to an almost comical extent as she remarked, "Wow, you're pretty fucked up, aren't you? Is this the influence of Jahad's Blood Curse?'

Before Lotte could even think to answer, a branching crimson spear attempted to skewer Nobunaga from behind. To the surprise of the person throwing it, however, each of the laser-like points ended up being reflected after contacting a series of invisible swords, spears, and, of course, guns. Then, as a series of explosions erupted in the surroundings, leveling several buildings and sending countless pedestrians fleeing for their lives, a pulse of blood-red energy cleared the area around Nobunaga as she asked, "Are you daft? What kind of idiot fires off an AoE ability in the middle of a population center? Are you trying to piss me off?"

With the upper half of a vicious-looking red skeleton protecting her body and a pattern reminiscent of a six-pointed star replacing her previous cat-like pupils, Nobunaga stepped forward with a sword in hand. If her opponents wanted to fight, there was no way in hell she was going to just walk away, so, depending on their response, she was prepared to cut them down without mercy.

Unfortunately, as soon as that thought crossed her mind, a 'very' familiar figure appeared right in front of her, asking, "What's going on here? Are these people giving you trouble?" with a somber expression on his face.

Feeling as if someone had just blown a hole in her sails, an exasperated sigh escaped Nobunaga's throat as she allowed her variation of the Susanno, aptly designated as the Demon King of the Sixth Heaven, to dissipate whilst explaining, "I think these brats were looking for you. Unfortunately, they have about as much tact and sense as a stone thrown by a rioteer. They tried to block my path, and, even though I attempted to settle things without a loss of life, that amazon-looking chick nuked the place."

With Nobunaga pointing directly at her, the Spearbearer of Lotte's team, a dark-skinned woman with red hair named Leona, exclaimed, "You attacked first!" while readying her oversized spear in hand.

Frowning in response to the moderately muscular woman's words, Vahn immediately took Nobu's side on the matter, as, despite her nature, she didn't go out of her way to start fights. If they were blocking her path, she had every right to take the initiative to defend herself. It didn't matter if the group just wanted to talk. If she wasn't willing to humor them, they had no right to force her to stay and listen.

Before the red-headed woman could even finish brandishing her spear, Vahn appeared right in front of her, seizing it from her hands as he said, "If you continue displaying hostility, I will respond in kind. This is the middle of a city. You're not the one who has to fix things once the battle ends. If you can't control your power and are unwilling to use it responsibly, it can and will be taken away from you..."

Though the indignant look on her face made it pretty clear she wanted to say something, Tully did her best to deescalate things by shouting, "Leona! That's enough! We didn't come here to fight!" in a harsh, chiding, tone. This was surprisingly enough to completely cow the woman, her expression morphing from anger to nervousness as she replied, "But they attacked first..." in a meek tone that didn't suit her rather fierce, warrior-like, appearance in the slightest.

Answering in response to Leona's mutterings, it was Lotte who stated, "I'm fine, Leo. Please stand down. Tully is right. We didn't come here to fight. We came here to ask for help. How can we expect the Sage Dragon Emperor to lend his assistance if we're insistent on attacking his wife? Please don't make things any more complicated than they already are..."

Hanging her head in response to Lotte's words, a depressive atmosphere immediately descended upon Leo as she exclaimed, "I'm sorry! Please forgive me!" before bowing so hastily that she nearly headbutt Vahn in the chest. Fortunately for the befuddled redhead, Vahn was easily able to evade this, and, shortly thereafter, tensions between the two groups began to settle as he opted to hear Lotte's explanation of the circumstances...

As tempting as the proposal was, Vahn ended up agreeing to Lotte's request while concurrently refusing her 'services'. She was a remarkably beautiful woman, sure, but, the moment he started treating people on the premise that he expected 'favors' in return, he would doubtlessly begin to accrue negative karma. Healing people was something he genuinely enjoyed, so, while there were times when he had made exceptions, specifically related to events in Danmachi, the gratitude of his patients was more than enough as payment.

Fortunately for Lotte's group, Vahn did allow them to stay within the Little Garden for a short while, and, as part of playing host, he afforded them the opportunity to sample foods provided courtesy of Rindo. He enjoyed seeing the reactions of people who were eating Rindo's cooking for the first time, and, though some of their responses inspired lascivious thoughts, it was a truly eye-opening experience for all parties involved. After all, even though it was relatively simple-looking food, the meals prepared by Rindo had the potential of, quite literally, increasing the power and potential of the beneficiary. The only downside was, after eating such a delicious meal, other food would taste comparably bland for upwards of three months...

After experiencing Rindo's food for themselves, Lotte's team genuinely considered whether or not they should request permission to stay in the Little Garden. They didn't really have anything going on in the Tower, and, due to her status as the only main-line descendant chosen as a Princess in the last five-thousand-years, Lotte was generally disallowed to participate in any major conflicts. Her life and status were of paramount importance to the Hendo Lok Family, so, while it was bound to result in a number of rumors proliferating through the Tower, there were a lot of justifications for why she should stay in the Little Garden. It might very well be the most secure place in the entire Tower, and, most importantly, everyone who had spent any considerable length of time with Vahn had emerged noticeably stronger.

The only issue, at least from their perspective, was that they had no legitimate reason to make such a request. Vahn had already refused Lotte's 'services', so, with nothing to really offer him in the way of payment, asking to stay in the Little Garden was the same as asking Vahn to protect and provide for them without receiving any benefits. This was inconceivable in the minds of the group that had lived for a combined 11,318 years, so, for the better part of their week-long stay, each of them had been looking for anything that could be used as leverage in their favor. Tully even floated the idea of joining the research team, but, after learning that the majority of their members had an ongoing physical relationship with Vahn, asking to join could be misunderstood as them trying to force their way into his bed...

Fortunately, while the rest of her team was searching for justifications that might allow her to reside within the Little Garden, Lotte had been getting along rather splendidly with several residents of the Emerald Grove. In particular, she felt a certain kinship towards Mash, and, though their training was what some would refer to as hellish, Lotte had been having a little too much fun strengthening her body using the unique cultivation technique Vahn had bequeathed unto her. As for why he would give her such a thing, it was partly due to the sincerity she had shown after he treated her eye and removed the curse from her body. As for the actual reason, it was because the blemish on her eye and the tears she shed after the fact reminded him a lot of Hephaestus...

As more and more time passed since his departure from Danmachi, Vahn's sentiments towards the family he had left behind only became stronger. This resulted in moments where he was completely overwhelmed by nostalgia, and, more often than not, this was more than enough reason for him to change how he viewed particular people. In this regard, Lotte had hit the proverbial lottery, as, not only did her reaction remind him of Hephaestus, the situation she had been born into and the life she lived till now was rife with tragedy. Despite this, she forced herself to stay positive, and, though she had lashed out at Yuri when the latter had just become a Ranker, she had never harbored any actual hatred towards her. Rather, she was envious of Yuri's freedom, as, despite being a Defender, she had been forced to live an extremely sheltered life from the moment she became a Princess of Jahad.

With all these factors liking up like sevens on a slot machine, Lotte had found herself in the rather enviable position of receiving Vahn's favor without the latter having any expectations from her. If anything, he just wanted her to be happy, so, even if she chose to spend the remainder of her days resting peacefully within the Little Garden, he wouldn't mind at all. Instead, she chose to make the most of her remaining time within his realm, constantly forcing her body beyond its limits before she and Mash bonded like sisters within a pool of literal magma...

(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Boom, headshot~!','Vahn is like a father taking away a disobedient child's toys xD...','Lotte's Luck stat must be through the roof...')