Endless Path : Infinite Cosmos

Despite her words, Vahn could see that Arcueid would need a bit of time to truly make up her mind. Fortunately, she would be in the care of the Ivory Castle's residents so it shouldn't take long for her to reconcile her emotions. For now, his main priority was alleviating the symptoms of her curse and, as tantalizing an opportunity as it may be, he needed to deal with her Vampirism without relying on the same ritual performed with Gray.

Vahn had no intention of subordinating himself to Arcueid and, with her status as a True Ancestor and Tier 5 entity, she would need to give up most of her power in order to become his subordinate. This wasn't really something he wanted as, even if she gave him everything, Vahn doubted his power would actually increase. There was no way his body would accept a foreign power so he would have to come up with a way to seal it inside of himself, a tedious affair he simply had no interest in. After all, linking the Records required him to increase his own strength, not rely on power borrowed from others.

With this in mind, Vahn extended his hand toward the suddenly bashful Arcueid, waiting patiently until she grabbed it of her own volition. Then, pulling her to her feet, he gave the lonely woman a gently hug, stroking the back of her head as he whispered, "It will be okay. I promise to make you happy."

When he first hugged her, Arcueid's body trembled slightly but, after hearing Vahn's words, she, ever so slowly, began to relax. She then proceeded to rest her head against his shoulder and, a while after that, returned his hug by wrapping her arms somewhat awkwardly around his body. Her unfamiliarity with even something as simple as a hug forced Vahn to restrain a sigh but, having made up his mind, he wasn't going to go back on his word. Regardless of how things developed, he would help Arcueid find the happiness she deserved...

After embracing each other in the center of the library for several minutes, Vahn slowly removed his hands from Arcueid. She seemed a little reluctant but, realizing they couldn't just stand there forever, she followed suit shortly after. Then, without missing a beat, Vahn looked around the area, saying, "I would like you to come and reside in the Ivory Castle. It may take some getting used to but you'll be able to make some friends there. Before that, we should do something about that malicious energy in your body..."

Arcueid felt fluttery when she heard Vahn's words but, hearing the latter half, a sullen expression marred her beautiful face as she murmured, "My fate as Crimson Moon's heir isn't something that can be dealt with so easily...even if I abandon my status as heiress, the power I possess would then shift to that despicable woman...if that happens, I fear the entire world would become awash in a sea of blood."

Vahn knew that Arcueid was referring to her 'sister', Altrouge Brunestud, but he wasn't particularly worried about the latter. Her time would eventually come and, while Crimson Moon's power may be great, the true secret of Arcueid's strength was her connection to the Counter Force. He had, at his side, one of the literal halves of said force so, while Alaya may not be able to grant him power, she didn't have any problem allowing others to keep it.

Before Arcueid could fall into a depressive state, Vahn ran his fingers through her fringe bang, his voice a soothing yet confident tone as he explained, "Your existence and power are derived from the contract between Gaia and Crimson Moon. However, you are a completely unique entity so there is nothing binding you to the fate others have decided for you. If you trust in me, removing Crimson Moon's influence is a simple matter. Though his power will undoubtedly go to Altrouge, it is nothing compared to the power given to you by Gaia..."

Arcueid was an entity formed in the wake of Crimson Moon's death, not a natural-born existence. In a way, she could be considered a child of Gaia herself, evident by the fact she was a Greater Divine Spirit, not an alien entity. Crimson Moon was simply the Ultimate One of the Moon, making him an existence akin to Type Mercury. This placed him squarely under Vahn's influence so, with Alaya at his side, removing the imprint Crimson Moon had placed on all True Ancestors was a simple feat.

Though she found his words hard to believe, Arcueid had already put all of her hope Vahn. If he couldn't help her, there was truly nothing that could free her from her fate. She was slowly being encroached by the will of Crimson Moon and, if her own ego faded away, she would become an existence integral to the natural order. True Ancestors were given dominion over humanity so, even if something existed that could kill her, all of humanity would be wiped out in the process.

While humans were one of the principal causes of the tragedies she had experienced, Arcueid had come to love them as a species. They had their faults but, more often than not, it was due to being manipulated by others that they strayed from nobler paths. In a way, she could understand how Vahn had decided upon such drastic measures so, deciding to believe in the future he was creating, Arcueid placed her hand over Vahn's and said, "I choose to believe..."

With Arcueid's acquiescence, Vahn's expression softened a bit and, after staring into her eyes for a few seconds longer, he pulled out a [Space-Time Orb]. Since the imprint in her body was a piece of Crimson Moon's Ego, he could be manifested within the spiritual plane of a [Space-Time Orb]. There was a chance this wouldn't work but, as even a Memory Fragment could exist within, Vahn doubted he would have any problems pulling Crimson Moon out of hiding...

---

Since there was a chance Crimson Moon's Ego would automatically protect itself if Arcueid knew his intentions, Vahn couldn't explain his plan. Fortunately, Arcueid showed that she was willing to trust him by placing her hand on the orb and, after a tense moment, their consciousness was pulled into the orb without incident.

As the space within a [Space-Time Orb] was governed by completely different Laws, Arcueid couldn't help but feel terrified. It took Vahn pulling her into his embrace a second time to help her calm down and, after clarity returned to her, Arcueid realized that her connection with the World was still active. After all, her body still existed back in reality so, while the Laws inside the [Space-Time Orb] may be a little different, they fundamentally lacked the capabilities of separating her from her physical vessel.

Once Arcueid had calmed down, Vahn slowly released her again, a gentle smile on his face as he reminded, "I promised I would make you happy. Don't go doubting my intentions so quickly, okay?"

Hearing Vahn's words, Arcueid felt her face heat up a bit. She wanted to say something to defend her actions but, even after several seconds had passed, nothing came to mind. Instead, she used her monstrous strength, still present within the [Space-Time Orb], to twist the tender flesh of Vahn's side. This caused his left eye to twitch a bit but, despite the pain, he continued to smile back at Arcueid until she ultimately lowered her head and muttered, "Sorry..."

Vahn had the distinct impression he would be hearing Arcueid apologize a lot in the future but, for now, there were more pressing matters to attend. He slowly drifted away from her, startling her a bit but, after shaking his head slightly, she ultimately stayed in place. Then, once a few meters had been opened between them, Vahn closed his eyes to focus his senses. He had actually been able to sense four distinctly different auras within Arcueid's body so he wanted to identify each of them within the [Space-Time Orb].

It didn't take long for Vahn to find an aura that was nearly as powerful as Arcueid's own clinging to her aura, much like a shadow follows its owner. If he didn't know to look for it, finding this presence would be nigh-impossible, even with his senses. As for the other two, they stuck out like stars in a moonless night as they were literally twining around and restraining Arcueid's power. One was pitch black in coloration, reminding Vahn of the corruption affection Sakura, while the other was blazing red, despite a powerful Yin-Elemental Energy emanating from within.

After identifying each of these energies, Vahn decided to eliminate the two weaker ones first since there was a chance they would try to harm Arcueid when he got rid of the infinitely more powerful one. He had already pulled them all into the [Space-Time Orb] so, even if Crimson Moon tried to protect itself, Vahn would be able to seal it away. After all, this particular orb only had a 1:1 time dilation so it was easy for him to maintain his awareness back in the real world. He could deal with the problem on both fronts simultaneously so, without any hesitation, Vahn extended his hand with a resolute look on his face...

Arcueid felt incredibly nervous watching Vahn's actions but, having placed her trust in him, she grit her teeth and prepared for whatever he was going to throw at her. This ended up being the correct choice as, the moment he began to retract his hand, almost as if he was pulling something, it felt like every blood vessel in her body exploded simultaneously. It was a truly excruciating amount of pain but, compared to the loneliness she had experienced, Arcueid convinced herself it was negligible...

Moments after he had started, blood-red energy began to surge from Arcueid's pores while her hair, previously an unblemished gold, became black as ink. This phenomenon didn't stop at just her hair, however, as her eyes, ears, nose, mouth, and a few unmentionable areas began to drip with the same inky liquid. At a glance, it looked like she was bleeding from every opening in her body but, instead of blood, literal darkness flowed from her body and began pooling on the ground.

Before he could deal with the expanding pool of corruption, Vahn manifested [Enkidu] in front of his body just as what appeared to be a little girl attempted to tear out his throat. At a glance, she had the appearance of a fourteen-year-old girl of European descent, complete with fair skin, raven-black hair, and ruby-red eyes. She actually looked like a mischievous and playful girl based on appearances but, rather than innocence, Vahn could only see cruelty reflected in her eyes...

Despite the little girl's best efforts, she was only a fragment of the original so, after coming into contact with an artifact like [Enkidu], the phantom's hand actually burst apart. In the next moment, the chains wrapped around her body, restricting the girl and her gothic-style garb in an instant.

Seeing the appearance of his assailant, Vahn couldn't help but shake his head while wondering what kind of person would create such a contrary existence. The flow of Fate around Arcueid made it very clear she was an important existence to the Record so Altrouge's existence was undoubtedly that of an antagonist, one hand-crafted by the creator of the Nasuverse. He couldn't imagine what kind of person would pit a buxom golden-haired beauty and a raven-haired gothic-lolita against each other in a setting where they both viciously tore each other apart.

Since there was no sense in mulling over the matter, Vahn ultimately just shook his head before placing his hand on the phantom's head. He was grateful that it didn't seem capable of speech as it made destroying the murderous young girl a lot easier. She even tried to bite at his hand but, with [Enkidu] restricting her body, Vahn was able to place his hand on her forehead without too much trouble. The tissue of his palm turned into the same metallic black substance that appeared during his battle with Arcueid and, after enveloping the entirety of Altrouge's body, the malicious energy was forcibly destroyed as a result of his unique constitution...

(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Vahn is a real casanova at times...','The views and opinions of characters within EPIC does not represent the views and opinions of the Author o3o...','RIP eclipse-loli fragment')

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