Endless Path : Infinite Cosmos

In an effort to calm down the two hot-headed women, Vahn ultimately bribed the duo with their favorite snacks. For Yuri, this was salted white chocolate truffles. As for Ureko, she didn't actually like sweets all that. Instead, she was fond of spicy foods that had been left in vinegar, her favorites being various types of pickled peppers.

Fortunately, while it was a rather unorthodox 'favorite food', Vahn was able to provide both with relative ease. This immediately put the duo into a better mood that resulted in him having to face off against Ureko in a contest to see who could handle the spiciest food. This was a field in which he had an absolute advantage, however, so it wasn't long before she was using Yuri's lap as a pillow while the latter fanned her face with a handheld paper fan.

Repeating himself for the umpteenth time at this point, Vahn took advantage of the momentary lull to ask, "So, what are your plans after this, Yuri? As I said before, I won't interfere with your decision, but I believe it would be for the best if Team Wolf Pack is able to ascend without the intervention of powerful forces. Your presence is bound to attract a substantial amount of attention, so it would be detrimental if you attempted climbing alongside them."

Rather than actually answering his question, Yuri continued to fan Ureko's face as she asked, "Is it true that Endorsi and that fluffy-eared brat are dating?"

Though he was a little annoyed by the fact she still hadn't answered him, Vahn ultimately nodded his head, explaining, "They started dating a few months back. I'm not sure how serious things have gotten between them, but they often share the same bath and sleep in the same room. That ghost-eyed brat seems pretty determined..."

With what could best be described as an approving look on her face, Yuri nodded her head with a smile before setting her ruby-eyes upon him and asking, "And what about you? I heard you had all kinds of women hidden away somewhere. I also saw the recordings of your little stunt on the 10th Floor. Just how many Irregulars have you brought with you into the Tower...?"

Shaking his head, Vahn adopted a wry smile as he explained, "It isn't that straightforward. All I can tell you at the moment is that I'll be establishing multiple organizations in the future. Now that I've reached the 20th Floor, I'll most likely be climbing the Tower using the 'original' method. Though I'll probably venture into the Inner Tower every now and then, my aim is to draw as much attention to myself as possible in the near future."

Seemingly intrigued by his words, Ureko shifted to a seated position, interrupting Yuri's response by excitedly asking, "Oh? You're not going to keep your status as an Irregular secret? Are you trying to start a war or something~?"

Furrowing his brows, Vahn's countenance became more serious as he answered, "I am not trying to start a war. However, even if I have no interest in the politics of the Tower, it is only a matter of time before Jahad and certain Leaders among the Ten Great Families attempt to interfere with my affairs. There are also various forces that have been seeking to instigate a conflict for the last ten thousand years, so, regardless of the path I choose, it is only a matter of time before war breaks out..."

Having heard something similar from Baek Ryun and the other executives of Wolhaiksong, Ureko could only shake her head in exasperation before remarking, "People are always so eager to resort to violence...well, not that I can really blame them. If those assholes weren't Immortal, I might have eliminated a few of the Great Families myself. Now, my only real goal is to get out of this shithole of a Tower. Is it true you have a method to return to the Outside?"

Though he nodded his head in affirmation, Vahn held his hand up to silence Ureko as he went on to explain, "There are actually a number of ways to exit the Tower. Unfortunately, the method you used to enter the Tower makes it virtually impossible to return to your original universe. The path opened by Phantaminum was destroyed the moment you used it to access the Tower."

Hearing Vahn mention the name of her 'arch-nemesis', a terrifying bloodlust began to radiate from Ureko as she asked in a deep, foreboding, voice, "What is your relationship with that bastard?"

Though it felt like the blood in his body had frozen over, Vahn was able to appear relatively calm as he shook his head and answered, "You're jumping to conclusions. I have never met Phantaminum, nor do I have any connection to the Gods of your universe. I simply have the means to uncover any and all secrets. If it is something I wish to know, there is nothing that can hide it from me."

Easing up on her bloodlust, albeit only a little, Ureko craned her head to the side as she asked, "Are you for real? Is that how you knew what kind of food I liked...?"

Adopting a wry smile, Vahn nodded his head as he went on to explain, "I'm not going to go into any details, but that is, indeed, the case. And no, it has nothing to do with being about to read your thoughts. They are just another thing I am privy to when I want to know. As for your other question, it's not that I don't know a method to reach your original universe, it's just that the connection can only be established from the Outside. Unfortunately, Phantaminum opened a completely random path, so, even though there have been a substantial number of people looking for you, discovering the correct path is like locating a specific atom in the cosmos..."

Frowning deeply in response to Vahn's words, Ureko's bloodlust began to increase exponentially, moisture accumulating at the corners of her eyes as she cursed, "Damn you Phantaminum...I swear, I'm going to kill you someday..."

Hearing Ureko's utterance, a tired sigh escaped Vahn's lips, earning the resentful blonde's attention as he explained, "That person's pettiness knows no bounds. Though they left a remnant in order to taunt you, the actual Phantaminum is already long gone. They made a deal with Headon to spare Jahad in exchange for passage up the Tower. The Phantaminum you are searching for has already been reborn after clearing the trial at the top of the Tower..."

With her bloodlust skyrocketing to levels that caused the entire population of the Middle Tower to feel an impending sense of dread, Ureko balled her hands so tightly that the void began to tremble as she muttered, "I see...so the rumors about the Tower connecting to a higher realm are true...?"

Nodding his head in affirmation, Vahn went on to give a brief summary of the Five Major Realms and the original purpose of the Towers. This came as a tremendous surprise to everyone present, but, demonstrating her own pettiness and desire for revenge, Ureko followed up by asking, "Can you locate that bastard's reincarnation for me? Even if I have to reincarnate a thousand times, I'll find that bastard and make them pay for this..."

Feeling a little sorry for her, Vahn released another tired sigh before going on to explain, "First and foremost, you need to calm down. Secondly, I also have business in the higher realms, so, when the time comes, I'll help you ascend without the need to reincarnate. I can't go into any specifics unless you agree to join my Familia, but the restrictions of this world don't really apply to me. When I tell people I'm just passing through, it's not an exaggeration."

While Ureko was exhibiting a considerable amount of confusion, Yuri took this as her opportunity to chime in, smiling excitedly as she said, "I heard about that! Are members of your Familia really able to accept Quests and stuff!?"

Though he was growing a little weary of explaining things, Vahn nodded his head in response to Yuri's exclamation before going on to explain the benefits of joining his Familia. This caused Yuri to grow increasingly excited, as, despite her nature as a battle junkie, she was also a closet gamer. Her favorite genre was simulation games, specifically those that involved rearing princes and idols, but she was also quite fond of hack'n'slash and beat'em'up games. She had even been doing dailies on a gacha game for more than ten years so it wasn't an exaggeration to say she was very experienced with the concept of Quests.

With her excitement reaching palpable levels, Yuri seemed primed and ready to join Vahn's Familia without hesitation. Before she could express this, however, Evan, who had been observing silently for quite a while, stepped in to say, "Princess! You need to properly consider this! Even if that man's words are the truth, you are still a Princess of Jahad! If people-!"

Before Evan could continue, Yuri held up her hand to silence him, eyes gleaming with a vibrant red hue as she said, "If Vahn's words are the truth, it means he already knows about our plans. Besides, now that things have reached this point, I've lost interest in interfering with the relationships of my cute little sister and niece. Why play around with pups when I have the alpha sitting right in front of me?"

With Yuri's final few words directed toward Vahn, the latter couldn't help but respond with a dry laugh. Even if he had expected something like this to happen, having a woman stare at him like a predator eyeing its prey always filled him with an indescribable emotion. He knew the momentum would shift in his favor the moment he took decisive action, but it was still a little uncomfortable to know that he couldn't actually resist if she got serious.

Despite this feeling of discomfort, Vahn eventually managed a wry smile as he said, "I don't really mind so long as you agree not to interfere with my ascent up the Tower. Evan makes a good point. It might not matter in the grand scheme of things, but it will complicate things tremendously if our relationship is discovered. As for the thing you're most concerned about, just know there is no need to worry. Even if my body is completely destroyed, I can't actually die so there is no reason to worry. Rather, the more I am defeated, the stronger I will become..."

Seemingly taking an interest in his final statement, most of Ureko's previous bloodlust faded away as she asked, "You get stronger whenever you're defeated? Are you some kind of super masochist or something? Does that mean I can just keep beating you until you're stronger than Jahad?"

Understanding she would really continue beating him until he became the strongest, Vahn held his hands up in a placating gesture as he said, "That won't be necessary. I'm already stronger than most threats, and, by the time I reach the top of the Tower, the Leaders of the Ten Great Families won't be a threat to me. Besides, if I really wanted to, it would only take a day or two for me to become one of the strongest beings in the Tower. It would just defeat the purpose of my journey in its entirety..."

As someone who was already near the absolute pinnacle in terms of strength, Ureko could easily empathize with what Vahn was trying to say. One of the reasons she hated being stuck in the Tower was the complete lack of worthy opponents.

Even if she completely sealed her Shinsu and limited herself to using a mere 10% of her raw power, every single High Ranker who wasn't protected by an Immortality Contract would be defeated in a single blow. Her only real fight in the last couple of thousand years was her duel against Arie Hon, the current Rank 5 and the strongest Leader of the Ten Great Families. Even that, however, wasn't able to get her blood pumping as none of her attacks were able to deal any lasting damage to the Immortal swordsman. In the end, it turned into a war of attrition that neither of them could actually win since both had a functionally unlimited amount of stamina and energy...

Remembering the frustration she felt at that time, an exasperated sigh escaped Ureko's throat as she pulled her feet up to the sofa, sitting in a manner reminiscent of Tiona as she asked, "So, what's the deal with becoming a member of your Familia? I don't need to let you bone me or anything like that, right? You're totally my type, don't get me wrong, but I don't like the idea of getting fucked by someone weaker than me. If you want to be the one to claim my chastity, you'll need to be a hell of a lot stronger than you currently are. Even if I restricted myself to using just 1% of my power, you'd be lucky to last more than three minutes. Heck, even this monkey can only tolerate about 5% of my power. As far as I can tell, she is about a million times stronger than you."

Hearing Ureko refer to her as a monkey, a visible tick mark appeared on Yuri's head as she punched the former and shouted, "Don't just casually call me a monkey you...you banana-haired baboon...!"

Without even flinching from Yuri's attack, Ureko began laughing in a carefree manner as the former cradled her swollen left fist with her right hand. Even with the ability to lift an entire mountain with relative ease, Yuri always found hitting Ureko to be like striking an immovable object. She also had a unique constitution that passively dispersed the Shinsu fields of others, so, whenever you hit her, it was like striking without any reinforcement whatsoever...

Seeing the somewhat comical interaction between the two, Vahn's wry expression relaxed into a more natural smile as he proceeded to explain the specifics regarding his Familia Crest. He didn't think he would actually be able to inscribe it onto the two ridiculously powerful women, but there was always a small possibility it would take effect. After all, he might be weaker than both of them, but his Soul Tier had increased substantially since his arrival in the 'Transcendental Path to Heaven'. His comprehension of various Laws had also increased exponentially, so, while it was impossible to know for certain, he had to be nearing Tier 5...

(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Pacifying beasts with food offerings (OwO)...','Vahn really is drawing all the attention away from Team Wolf Pack~','I imagine recruiting Ureko and Yuri is like getting a limited time SSR in a gacha game...')(A/N: BTW, give out Hero Cantare a try if you're looking for a relatively idle phone game. Any game with 'unlimited re-rolls' for your first SSR is worth playing in my book~)

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