Endless Path : Infinite Cosmos

Vahn continued to struggle, willing his body to move while a powerful cold sensation spread through his mind. The warm feeling that had been emanating from his shoulder was driven back while his fear and anger began to compound.

Something snapped in Vahn's mind and his domain, which had been stuck at 99m, ever since he awoke from his coma, immediately increased to 100m. The moment it did so, the cold sensation in Vahn's mind exploded outward and a physical pulse pushed the woman away from his body.

After being pushed away, the woman looked at Vahn with a hint of surprise and intrigue. When she had started sucking his blood, she had immobilized his body after taking advantage of his lowered guard. As she had only ever gotten to taste it in small amounts, she was curious what it would be like to take the blood directly from the source. As she expected, there was an incredible energy contained within the boy's blood which greatly assisted in the recovery of her magical power.

She had a slight smile on her face and was about to commend the boy for being able to escape her spell. But, the moment she was about to speak, the words got stuck in her throat as a twinge of pain spread in her heart. Though she had expected the boy to be rightly angry and had even felt his rage explode outward, she never expected the sight before her. Intermixed within the furrowed brows of the handsome young man and his grim expression, there was an obvious fear in his eyes as tears streamed down his face.

As someone who had been tormented and ostracized by society for hundreds of years, she could empathize with the pain the boy showed on his face. It was very similar to her own from when she had just become immortal, and it made her long-dormant emotions surge a bit. Though she didn't know his past, she realized she had wronged the previously courageous and spirited boy grievously.

Vahn saw the woman vanish and teleport away more than 100m in the air the instant he turned his body. Unfortunately for her, the moment Vahn's domain had expanded to 100m and he felt the snapping sound in his mind, it immediately expanded to 300m. As it was very difficult to determine the dimensions of his domain from with the interior, the woman had misjudged the distance she needed to teleport.

While she was looking around with a bit of interest on her face, the area within the domain suddenly turned a light golden color and she could feel a hint of fear welling up inside her mind. Staring down at the face of the boy, she was once again pained by the depth of emotions on his expression, and she tried to clarify things. However, before she uttered a single syllable, a golden light shined next to her and a resplendent golden chain shot out several times faster than the speed of sound.

The woman was incredibly surprised by the sudden emergence of the chain which she had previously seen the boy use from his palms. She tried to teleport away the moment she sensed the terrifying energy but found that the space around her was now locked. She realized the reason why the domain had turned golden; it was because the boy had somehow merged the properties of the chain into it. In a last-ditch effort, she erected a multi-layer magical barrier to intercept the spear-like chain aimed at her gut.

The chain collided powerfully with the barrier, and she released a short sigh of relief at having reacted in time. She diverted her attention between the barrier and the boy, who was still looking at her with a wrathful expression as tears continued to stream down his face. She could see that, if she didn't stop him, he would genuinely keep trying to kill her. Though the pain and anguish in his eyes seemed deep and profound, she knew that the anger he felt in this moment had trumped both emotions.

A few seconds after the spearhead collided with the barrier, contrary to her expectations, the magical barrier seemed to become completely ineffective as the spearhead tore through with an unstoppable might. However, even if she was marginally focused on Vahn, she still had hundreds of years of combat experience. Creating a small foothold in the air itself, her figure vanished and she appeared next to Vahn in an instant.

Surprisingly, though she knew he hadn't been able to follow her movements, the boy had already tilted his head in the direction she appeared. For a very brief instant, the woman's mind blanked out as she stared at the mixture of emotions contained within his eyes. Since their meeting three days ago, she had never heard his name or understood how he had managed to enter this space with his strange magical system.

Several golden lights flashed in the area around the boy as an additional four chains emerged at super-sonic speeds and tried to coil around her body. As she had experienced this type of attack before, she had been able to move long before they had cut off her path of retreat. She started chanting a spell with the intent to disable the wrathful boy so she could question him.

Suddenly, the boy seemed to release a long and sad sigh as he turned his sights away from her and looked toward the sky. She felt a powerful fear begin to well up in her heart as he raised his hands skyward and began emitting energy in pulses. Every pulse seemed to collide with the void and was slowly but surely beginning to break the space of this pocket dimension. She suddenly realized what he was doing; he was using some kind of strange skill to destroy this space. He had given up on trying to fight her, and would rather throw away the attempt at learning her secrets than continue the fight.

She stopped channeling her magic and shouted, "Wait, boy! That is unnecessary! I didn't intend to harm you!" Though she normally spoke in a cold and disinterested manner, even she wasn't willing to suddenly have the space she inhabited destroyed. Even though she was a construct and not a physical entity, she still had a purpose to achieve. If the boy before her destroyed the space, she might be free of the solitude, but it would have invalidated her purpose.

Vahn turned his head toward the woman and saw she had an almost frantic look in her eyes as she held out one of her hands toward him. He continued channeling his [Chainbreaker] skill as he spoke in a dull and hate-filled tone, "Not just giving up the chance to learn your techniques, I would rather die than become another tool to be used for my blood at someone else's convenience. Selfish and cruel people like you...I cannot feel anything but hatred for. I don't know what caused you to have so much loneliness in your heart, but I have no reason to put in an effort to try and help you anymore."

Though she didn't know the reason, the woman felt anguish in her heart after hearing his words. Even though they hadn't known each other for long, he was able to see through her facade and notice her loneliness. All she had done since their meeting was continually test him, but now she seemed to have overstepped her bounds greatly. Like her, the boy must have suffered greatly in the past, and it likely had something to do with his blood.

Cracks began to spread out in the sky, and the woman could see that space would likely be destroyed in the next few minutes. Though she could forcibly send him out of the space, he would likely destroy the orb the moment he left. She didn't want to kill him, but she also didn't want to vanish without completing her purpose. Gritting her teeth, she did the last thing she thought might work against the boy who seemed to have thrown away his emotions.

Vahn felt a pulse of magical energy from the woman as he continued to stare at her in an almost dead-pan manner after giving up the fight. The figure in the elegant dress disappeared in a puff of smoke, and what remained of the mature beauty was now just a small doll-like girl hugging the remnants of her clothing to conceal her n.a.k.e.d form underneath. Though Vahn was surprised by her sudden change, he wasn't interested in her tricks so he turned his focus back toward the sky and continued to channel his [Chainbreaker] skill.

Seeing that her plan had failed, the little girl screamed out, "You idiot! I don't want to kill you, but if you destroy this space, I will disappear! Don't make me do something we'll both regret!!!" The girl cast a spell and the black dress turned into particles which formed into a black gothic-style dress on her body. She pulled out a large bluish purple sword as she aimed it toward Vahn with a 'warning' look in her eyes.

Vahn slowly turned his head and made eye contact with her as he spoke in a dull tone, "I said, I would rather die...Kill me if you must, but I will escape this space and never return to this cruel world." The moment his words ended, the small girl disappeared before reappearing in front of Vahn with the sword in hand. She swept it in a diagonal motion like she was going to bisect Vahn shoulder to hip. However, before the sword made contact with his skin, she stayed her hand and Vahn could feel the ambient energy from the blade tickle his neck.

Though she had intended to kill Vahn at that moment, his dull expression and voice had overlapped with her own memories of the past. She remembered there was a time, not long after she became immortal and traveled the world, where she had completely given up. If she had the opportunity at that time to die, she would have accepted death with open arms. After having been made a tool and experiment of that hateful man, she had lost any semblance of emotion for several hundred years.

Seeing the look on the boy's face, she realized that she had now taken the place of the person she hated the most. Because she had been interested in the boy and his blood, she plotted against him for her own convenience and even took advantage of him when he was unprepared. He was just like her at the time, a helpless child at the mercy of something far more powerful than he could hope to overcome...

The young girl in front of Vahn dispersed her sword, but Vahn continued to channel his [Chainbreaker] without cease as he stared down at her small figure. She looked almost pitiful in her current form, far different from the mature beauty she had been before. But, even if she looked like a child, Vahn knew she was anything but. In his mind, she was the same as the people that had tormented him for the fourteen years of his previous life. He had literally died and fled to another world to escape that kind of torment. Now that he had been met with a similar situation, he felt completely apathetic to whatever situation might have resulted in her sadness.

The girl looked into his eyes and the two continued to stare at each other as space around began to destabilize with chaotic energy. After a few seconds, the girl spoke in a quiet voice, "I'm Evangeline A.K. McDowell, a vampire that has lived for hundreds of years. Even if you destroy this space, I want you to know who I am, and know that I am sorry for having wronged you." She had a very sad expression on her face as she looked into Vahn's cold and dead eyes.

Vahn continued to channel his [Chainbreaker], but he couldn't help but feel a bit sad after the arrogant woman's sudden change. He didn't know which form was her real figure, but he could see clearly that she was very saddened by everything that was happening. Her aura, which had previously been very powerful and a deep icy blue, was now small and slowly beginning to diminish. Instead of the icy blue color, it had become a watery blue tinged with purple hues. Vahn knew that, if nothing else, she was incredibly sad at the moment.

Releasing a long and frustrated sigh, Vahn slowly retracted the energy he had put into his [Chainbreaker] skill before plopping down onto his butt. Though space was still cracking around them, it was slowly beginning to heal at a visible rate as the small doll-like girl stared at Vahn with a mixture of relief and sadness. Vahn looked into her eyes as the cold sensation in his mind began to melt. His domain shrank until it had dispersed entirely and Vahn said, "My name is Vahn Mason, and I think we need to talk."

(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'F.u.c.k this shit, I'm out. -Vahn Mason, Ch 147','It was a trap! That's not a mature beauty!','Vahn is a big softie')