Endless Path : Infinite Cosmos

Chapter 2049: Exception

Emboldened by the fact that Vahn was both alone and without a flag badge to represent the Community he belonged to, the group immediately surrounded him as their presumed Leader stepped forward to ask, "Where is Nono? Why are you-"

Raising his hand, Vahn earned a cold glower from the white-haired man as he said, "This ends one of two ways. You apologize, let Nono go, and never appear in front of me again. Do that and I'll at least pretend today's incident never happened. Refuse and, well, let's just say the Little Garden will have a bit less trash by the end of the day..."

Vahn didn't like labeling people as trash. He liked being surrounded even less, however, so, with his opponents radiating auras of pure arrogance, he punctuated his words by popping his knuckles and rolling his neck. This made it clear what his intentions were, but, rather than exhibiting any fear, the group radiated unadulterated hostility as their Leader loosened the tie of his rather stylish black suit and replied, "You must be confident in your strength to interfere in another Community's affairs like this. Tell me. Which Community do you belong to? Perhaps we should make things more...official?"

Understanding that the man was insinuating starting a war, Vahn just rolled his eyes and said, "Even if my time is unlimited, I'd rather not waste it on rabble such as yourselves. Let's get this over with."

Punctuating his words, Vahn appeared in front of the silver-haired man before he could so much as widen his eyes in response. The Laws of the Little Garden prevented people from sustaining serious injuries outside Gift Games, but there were a number of ways to get around this. The most common among these was to have the opponent injure themselves, so, timing his attack just as the man was about to say something, Vahn ended up forcing him to bite off the tip of his tongue as he sent the man soaring more than twenty meters with a simple uppercut.

Seeing their Leader get sent flying with an attack they hadn't even been able to perceive, the nine other individuals immediately tensed up in disbelief. This afforded Vahn the opportunity to flick his wrist, a violet-purple card appearing between his index and middle fingers as he playfully declared, "You activated my Trap Card. Karmic Inversion!"

[Karmic Inversion]

Rank: B

Function: A unique ability that causes a target to experience all the pain and suffering they had inflicted onto others. Only works against those who have murderous intentions towards the user.

With the exception of the only woman in the group, everyone else immediately dropped to their knees, kicking and screaming as indescribable pain wracked their bodies. As for the woman, she ended up being spared because she didn't possess murderous intent towards him. Rather, due to his physical appearance, she had actually been thinking about methods to try and recruit him into their Community.

"Sorry, but I'm not particularly fond of women who turn a blind eye to the exploitation of children. I'm afraid you'll have to suffer a bit..."

Though she had fallen onto her butt out of fear, the purple-haired woman immediately attempted to flee the moment she heard Vahn's words, screaming, "I'm sorry! Please forgive me...!" as she used a green-colored card to drastically increase her speed.

Shaking his head, a wry and slightly apologetic smile appeared on Vahn's face as he mused, "Sorry, but I don't issue threats idly..."

Performing a simple sleight of hand technique, Vahn caused the violet-purple card to appear as though it had transformed into a deep crimson as he muttered, "Penance Curse..."

[Penance Curse]

Rank: C

Function: An ability that causes the target to experience pain based on how much they have relished in the suffering of others. Has no effect on light-based creatures.

Despite her drastically increased speed, a purple pattern appeared on the woman's back as she attempted to leap over a building. At a glance, it appeared to be a purple heart surrounded by thorns. This indicated she had quite a violent and sadistic personality as the skill generally ranged from pale pink to dark purple. The darker the color, the more she enjoyed the suffering of others, so, while he still felt guilty about punishing someone who had already given up, Vahn got over it pretty quickly.

"Hey! You there! What do you think you're doing in the middle of the street...!?"

Shifting his attention to the person who had called out to him, Vahn found another purple-haired woman rushing over with a judgmental glare on her face. Her clothes, consisting of a fashionable white blouse, frilled black skirt, white stockings, and a peculiar half-apron made her appear to be an Alchemist or a Sorceror. There were potion vials around her waist, and, though it appeared to be a form of scepter at a glance, the object in her hand resembled an inordinately large syringe, albeit without a needle.

Noticing that the woman had a different flag badge than the group writhing about on the ground, Vahn adopted a relaxed smile as he explained, "These people surrounded me with the intention of seeking trouble. I just happened to be a little more than they anticipated..."

Since it was one against nine, the woman had no reason not to believe Vahn's words. Despite this, she maintained a stubborn expression on her face as she approached to within a few meters of him and said, "If you're strong enough to defeat them without injury, you could have just as easily run away. At the very least, you should have settled things with a Gift Game. Fighting in the middle of the street is not only against the Law, it inconveniences everyone trying to go about their business in peace. You also overwrote the protections of the system with the express intent of causing harm so I'm afraid I'll need to take you in. Please come quietly."

Raising his brows, Vahn said, "Sorry, but I'm afraid I'll have to decline. There are people waiting for me and I have no reason to recognize Laws that punish vigilantes but ignore the exploitation and suffering of children. The Gift I used causes people to experience the pain and suffering they have forced onto others. It also only triggers when the other party has murderous intentions towards me, so are you telling me I was simply supposed to ignore them? Ridiculous."

Manifesting the Gift Card in question, Vahn flicked it towards the befuddled woman so that she could read its description for herself. Gift Cards couldn't actually be stolen, and, even if they were somehow misplaced, they could be brought back with a simple thought.

Confirming the description on the card, the woman's expression immediately became troubled as she looked around at the people writhing on the ground. They had clearly caused great suffering based on their current appearance, so, even though she was duty-bound to arrest all of them, she couldn't exactly refute Vahn's words.

Furrowing her brows into a surprisingly adorable pout, the purple-haired woman eyed up Vahn with a scrutinizing gaze before asking, "Which Community do you belong to? You don't appear to have a flag badge..."

Realizing that the woman was considering letting him go, Vahn's smile became more friendly as he crossed his hand over his heart and performed a slight bow, saying, "Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Vahn, Vahn Aldrnari Mason. To answer your question, I do not currently belong to any Community. I am, however, intending to create one in the very near future. Perhaps even as soon as the end of today."

Blinking in surprise, the woman immediately replied, "That's impossible. Without the backing of a Community, you shouldn't be able to use your Gifts outside of a Gift Game. If people could freely use their abilities, the Little Garden would never have peace..."

Though the woman's words caught him by surprise, it didn't take long for Vahn to find a solution. This involved drawing an obsidian-black card tinged with ornate golden embossing as he said, "I'm a bit of an exception to the rules..."

[Champion of Inanna]

Rank: A

Function: A Blessing bestowed upon those who have won the favor of Inanna, Goddess of Sex, Love, Justice, and Political Power. Allows the user to mete out justice against sinners. Twice as effective on women. Three times as effective against other Goddesses.

While the color of most Gift Cards didn't matter, that concept flew out the window when the color was black. This signified that the card possessed a Fragment of Divinity, and, more often than not, indicated that the person in question had the favor of a Patron God or Goddess.

Seeing the name Inanna attached to the card, the purple-haired girl promptly tossed it like a hot potato. Inanna was a relatively famous Goddess from a 2-Digit Community. She was known to be 'very' antagonistic towards other women, so, the moment she saw Inanna's name on the card, the purple-haired woman began floundering nervously as she stammered, "P-P-P-Please forgive me. I had n-n-no idea you were affiliated with the Garden of Venus."

Not expecting such an overreaction, a wry smile developed across Vahn's face as he made a mental note not to borrow the names of Gods and Goddesses he hadn't met. The [Champion of Inanna] he possessed was something he had received due to his relationship with Ishtar and Ereshkigal. It had nothing to do with any Goddess in the Divine Realm, but, just as Shiroyasha had been able to sense Rimuru's Innate, Vahn suspected the Gods near the pinnacle would be able to sense it the moment he invoked their names or made use of Gifts related to their myths.

Returning the cards to his body, Vahn adopted a disarming smile as he stated, "Relax. You haven't done anything wrong. Rather, I should commend you for being open-minded enough to consider letting me go. By the way, I never got your name...?"

Though she was more than a little perturbed by the idea of giving her name to someone affiliated with the Goddess Inanna, the purple-haired woman didn't hesitate to cross her hands over her lap, bowing as she said, "My name is Dorothea. Dorothea Abysswalker. It's a p-p-pleasure to make your acquaintance, Mr. Mason."

As it had been quite some time since someone referred to him as Mister, Vahn couldn't help issuing a light chuckle as he resisted the urge to close the distance and caress Dorothea's head. There was actually a rather sizeable ahoge atop her head, and, though it didn't draw nearly as much attention as the glistening golden ornament fastened to her bangs, it filled people with the urge to reach out and grasp it.

Feeling a strange shift in the atmosphere exuding from Vahn's body, Dorothea's instincts told her to get as far away from his as possible. To this end, she manifested an object similar to a Rubix Cube in her left hand, saying, "I-I-If you don't mind, can you please deactivate your Gift? I'm going to collect these people and escort them back to my Community. I'm the Rank 5 member of Twice Twilight, the Community in charge of this particular Gate. We do our best to maintain peace and order within the Gate so your cooperation would be greatly appreciated..."

Since he had no reason to interfere with Dorothea's duties, Vahn just nodded his head, saying, "No problem. I'm currently staying at that Cafe over there. The one called La Papillon. I'll go ahead and extend my stay to a few days so feel free to stop by if you have any questions. I might not be willing to follow you back to your Community but I have no problems cooperating with authorities. Unless, of course, they have a problem with me..."

With that said, Vahn waved his hand in a casual gesture of farewell before promptly turning around and placing his hands into his pockets. This left Dorothea standing stationary for several seconds, a concerned glimmer in her bluish-purple eyes as she seriously considered not even mentioning him in her report...

...

..

.

(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Just imagine Vahn walking around with a duel disc and only making use of the Gifts he draws...','Inanna be like, "OwO...?"','Dorothea has good instincts...')