Endless Path : Infinite Cosmos

As the pawns of the Noble families performed their profane ritual, a spatial tear larger than anything Vahn had ever seen began to form in the sky. It was almost as if the heavens themselves were being twisted as a phenomenal amount of mana began to spread through the atmosphere. The previously darkened sky began to illuminate with a violet hue and, while magical phenomena were generally not visible to normal humans, the world itself trembled in anticipation of the creature bound on the other side of the spatial tear.

Vahn, seeing this phenomenon, felt an overwhelming sense of awe but, at the same time, he felt a familiarity with the unseen entity. It was as if he had known the so-called God of Calamity for a very long period of time thus, while normal humans were brought to their knees by the figure descending from the spatial tear, Vahn teleported directly in front of it.

Originally, Vahn had intended to allow the Noble families to dig themselves even deeper into a hole as the more destruction they caused, the smoother the coming transition would be. If the people of the world saw the Empire defeat some monstrous entity to protect them, they would be a lot more accepting of the changes to come.

Now, however, Vahn's mind had been changed in an instant and, rather than fury, he felt jubilation as a smile spread across his face. At the same time, a woman approximately 160cm in height, bound by black-gold chains stared back at him. She had a shapely hourglass figure but what stood out the most was her hair, eyes, ears, and the two massive horns protruding from the sides of her head.

Unlike a normal person's hair, the bound woman's seemed to be a composite of the finest silk and the very concept of the sea. It had a distinctly aqua-infused luster that started off as pristine and clear blue near her scalp while, extending well beyond her feet, it became gradually darker, much like descending into the abyss of the ocean. It flowed around her body with a natural grace, sometimes moving through itself as if the physical aspects of her hair only mattered when she wanted it to.

Vahn was quite taken with the woman's peculiar hair but his eyes were drawn to the glowing pink irises the woman possessed. If he looked closely, it was like an entire cosmos was contained within while, at the very center, an exploding supernova flickered where a pupil ought to be. Even when her hair flowed across her face, the woman's eyes were still visible, staring back at him unblinkingly. This, combined with her elven ears and her massive curved horns, creating two arcs that reached passed her waist, gave the woman a distinctly exotic and mesmerizing appearance.

While others might be afraid of the woman, Vahn floated gradually closer, the same smile on his face until he was only a few centimeters away. The woman followed his approach with her eyes but, even when Vahn extended his hand out to touch the golden chains wrapping her arms, she showed no signs of hostility. This caused the Magi who had summoned the women to feel extremely alarmed as the 'God of Calamity' was supposed to have the strongest desire to destroy humanity. They couldn't understand why she just stood in the air and allowed Vahn to approach her but, seeing it happen in real-time made them realize they had messed with something beyond their understanding.

With his full focus on the ethereal woman in front of him, Vahn ultimately retracted his hand as there wasn't much he could do about the chains right now. They were on a similar level, if not higher, than [Enkidu]. Even this, however, wasn't enough to keep the woman's power at bay as she was a Tier 5 being, something he couldn't have possibly hoped to face using his own power. Fortunately, at least for the Empire, his enemies had a gross misunderstanding of the entity they had summoned.

Though it wasn't inaccurate to say that the entity before him wanted nothing more than to destroy humanity, this was merely the echo of its self-preservation instinct, something it had inherited from it's original. It wasn't that the entity hated humanity but, fearing its own death at their hands, wanted nothing more than to destroy them. After all, since the advent of the first sapient humans, they had been destroying her body, consuming her resources, and corrupting her very ego...

Understanding the true nature of the entity before him, Vahn smiled affectionately as he whispered in a soft tone, "Gaia...".

Without outright refuting his claim, Alaya detached herself from Vahn's shoulder, remarking, "This is Tiamat, Gaia's empty vessel and one of the principal Beasts of Gaia alongside Cath Palug. What you see before you is only a manifestation of her true body, however, as her true form would endanger the Surface just by its presence alone. Even in a sealed state, she is very dangerous but, with your designation as Type: Omega, there isn't any risk she would run wild."

Hearing Alaya mention the name Tiamat, Vahn's eye twitched against his will and, with the curiosity of a newborn, Tiamat tilted her head slightly while staring back at him. He wasn't sure how she could move around so easily with such massive horns but, considering she was a Tier 5 entity, it was likely they didn't inconvenience her in the slightest...

With his plans suddenly changed, Vahn turned to Alaya and asked, "Would it be possible to contact Gaia through Tiamat? I would feel guilty if she remained in this state..."

The current Tiamat was much like a Companion in the fact that it had the potential to obtain an ego but, at the present moment, it existed only to fulfill an objective. Originally, this was the destruction of humanity and the protection of the planet but, after Vahn appeared, Tiamat now patiently awaited his instructions. She was a weapon that even eclipsed ORT in strength as, unless the planet itself was destroyed, she would continue to exist in one form or another.

Shaking her head, Alaya explained, "A long time ago, Gaia's spiritual manifestation was split from her physical vessel. Tiamat is the fragment that was left behind and, in their greed, early gods used the power given to them by the beliefs of humans to turn against Tiamat. They split her into two halves, using one to serve as the foundation for the World of Man while the other was consumed by the first gods so that they could acquire the blessing of fertility. Prior to the consumption of Tiamat's flesh, it was impossible for the gods to procreate amongst themselves."

Vahn was a little surprised by how much information Alaya was providing as she would sometimes go weeks, or even months, without saying a word. He reasoned that it was due to the fact that this situation directly related to her as, if he wasn't wrong, Alaya came into existence shortly after Gaia was split from Tiamat. He knew a little bit about the mythos related to the ancient Mesopotamian Goddess so it was obvious that, in the beginning, Gaia deeply cared about humans under the guise of Tiamat.

It was only after her own children betrayed her that her love was twisted into hatred. Even then, she couldn't completely distance herself from her past feelings so, as a result, Alaya came into existence. Since then, Gaia had hidden away in the planet's core while her former vessel, Tiamat, was used to lay the foundation for the Surface itself. Her body made the land fertile and allowed for the gods to split and form the various pantheons around the world, each benefitting from that initial betrayal against an entity that loved them unconditionally.

Even Vahn didn't understand how he knew this information so intimately but, after meditating in front of CHALDEAS and meeting Tiamat in person, he was beginning to realize that the feeling he had been plagued by was empathy. He could feel Gaia's loneliness and fear, the fear that the very children she had cared for so deeply would continue to violate her body until nothing remained but a lifeless husk. She was much like the past him, in a way, as she was the victim of an experiment that left her with no means to protect herself, a prisoner in her own body as external forces acted upon her with impunity...

Though he didn't voice his thoughts, Vahn became even more determined than ever to help Alaya, Gaia, and all entities within the Root System, break free from its control. He understood the purpose of the Root System but, knowing a functionally infinite number of beings such as Gaia were made to suffer as a result, he couldn't help but want to destroy it. To be forced to live an infinite number of lives where your only purpose is to suffer while ignorant beings consumed your very essence wasn't something he could tolerate...not in the slightest...

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//Main Quest Chain Triggered//

[Main Quest: Path of the Liberator I]

Rank: Zenith

Objective: Ascend to Tier 5, Break free from the restraints of the Root System: Akasha (0/1), Negotiate with or Destroy Termina Nasu (0/1)

Optional Objectives: Destroy or reprogram other Root Systems (-)

Rewards: 1,000,000,000,000OP, 1x[Record Breaker], 1x[Page of the Akashic Tome]

Failure Conditions: Forfeiture of the Main Quest Chain

Penalty: Expulsion from the Record, Root System: Akasha terminated

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Vahn wasn't at all surprised by the new Quest he had received but, understanding he was under very strict observation, he didn't allow it to show on his face. The moment Akasha and her Superiors got wind of his intentions, they would likely extract him from the Root System or destroy the entire thing just to keep him under control. It was their complacency and desire to gather data that allowed him to have as much freedom as he currently possessed so, until he was strong enough to break free on his own, he would need to be very patient.

For now, Vahn had other matters to attend so, after marveling at Tiamat for a short while, he stated in a calm yet commanding tone, "Shrink your body down and hide your presence. I'm actually quite fond of a violet sky but the mana you are leaking will cause a lot of problems."

As a Tier 5 being whose actual size could very easily rival the planet itself, it wasn't a difficult matter for Tiamat to comply to Vahn's orders. Her body quickly shrunk until she was small enough to fit in the palm of his hand but, unlike Alaya, she kept her proportions instead of trying to emulate the basic structure of a Companion. If he wasn't wrong, the bindings placed on her body prevented her from altering her current appearance as, if she could change so easily, such bindings would serve no purpose.

With a third Tier 5 being latched to his body, Vahn returned to the Hanging Gardens to find Merlin waiting for him, his usual smile nowhere to be seen. As a being infinitely close to being a Beast of Gaia himself, he was very sensitive to the presence of Alaya and Tiamat so, while they were hidden from almost everyone else, Merlin was able to see both clearly.

After staring for a few seconds, Merlin released a tired sigh before rubbing his hand across his face in exasperation and saying, "I can't say I'm surprised by this outcome...well, I suppose it doesn't really matter. What will you do now, Your Majesty? Without an enemy to face, the Empire has no means to ingratiate itself to the rest of the world. At this rate, the chaos will be even worse as the mana given off by Tiamat has already increased the global saturation to nearly 2%. Now, Magecraft will become even stronger while, all over the planet, people will begin to awaken supernatural abilities in large numbers.

Everything mentioned by Merlin was something they both knew he was aware of but, understanding how easily he could be distracted, Vahn listened attentively before saying, "We're already linked to the global Bounded Field through CHALDEAS. With Tiamat on our side, we should be able to absorb the ambient mana and, at the very least, concentrate it in a single location. As for those that awaken powers, we'll monitor the data through CHALDEAS and try to mitigate as much damage as possible. I will address the world in the coming hours but, before that, we need to deal with the monsters that tried to force Tiamat to annihilate humanity...seriously, I've grown tired of these ignoble fools."

Vahn had already been in a rage from the onset of the current plot but, with everything else that had happened, he was completely incensed. He had originally wanted to forge alliances and make a few compromises in the short term as regulating each country with what few people he had was not an easy feat. Now, however, Vahn was going to claim the world itself as his dominion and, while others could live as they pleased, the moment anyone began to act in a vile or tyrannical manner, he would come down upon them like divine retribution. Eventually, the world would learn that their fates were now in his hands...at least until they were competent enough to live without corrupting everything they came into contact with.

(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'The horniest of women','TFW you play your trump card and it triggers the enemy's win condition...','Vahn is so done xD...')

(A/N: I had a relapse of fever/weakness yesterday so I took more medicine and crashed for like eleven hours. Now, I'm feeling a lot better so I'll be returning to the normal schedule tomorrow. Also, the link for Tiamat's appearance can be found in the comments section.)

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