Endless Path : Infinite Cosmos

After spending a few hours liberating the Unnamed from their curse, Vahn departed from the now-abandoned floating island for the larger residence behind it. This was where all the Named Regulars stayed, and, compared to the slum-like residences reserved for the Unnamed, the accommodations here could even rival those prepared for Rankers.

Unsurprisingly, nobody came out to 'greet' Vahn and his party this time around. Instead, the island was eerily silent, as, after the simultaneous defeat of four Bosses, those who remained ordered their subordinates to lay low. They were seized by the mistaken belief that he would 'have' to board the Hell Express before its departure, so, as long as they could remain hidden until then, things would gradually return to 'normal' in his absence.

Unfortunately for the opportunistic despots, Ryun was capable of locating virtually every resident of the Name Hunt Station using her abilities as a Guide. Even without this, however, Vahn could always just spread his senses throughout the entirety of the floating island, locking on and teleporting to his quarry regardless of how well they had hidden.

Though the various different types of spatial compression interfered with his senses, Vahn could extend his domain upwards of 30km in all directions. This allowed him to sense virtually everything occurring within the isle, a capability that was simultaneously a blessing and a curse considering he could also probe the regions where people were being held captive and exploited against their will.

Restraining a sigh, Vahn gestured for the girls' attention, saying, "Give me a few moments...I need to take care of something..."

Without taking the time to explain, Vahn's figure disappeared from the empty corridor, his presence disappearing almost instantaneously. In the very next instant, he found himself in a dark, damp, and foul-smelling underground chamber. There, a large octopus-like woman could be seen seated upon a throne, a sadistic expression on her face as she used her tentacles to tease and torment a number of feminine men while dozens of enslaved Regulars engaged in various licentious acts throughout the low-lit, perfume heavy, chamber.

With his teleportation being soundless and without any flare, Vahn's presence wasn't immediately noticed until a nude woman nearly twice his size snaked her way over, a predatory smile on her face as she attempted to grab him by the neck, saying, "Are you new here? Come and give mama-"

Interrupting the woman's remark, a dark glimmer flashed across Vahn's eyes as he slapped her hand aside, shattering nearly every bone in her hand, wrist, and forearm in an instant. The only thing that prevented the woman from crying out in pain was the excessive amount of narcotics in her system. They allowed her to remain unnaturally calm, and, for a brief moment, she seemed more confused than terrified as she dangled her limp left arm from side-to-side...

Resisting the urge to pet himself in an attempt to remain calm, Vahn extended his hand towards the giant octopus-like woman, catching her attention in the process. Then, before her confusion could turn into recognition, he used his Telekinesis to lift her titanic frame by the neck before forcing her tentacles to extend, liberating everything within her grasp.

As could be expected, the attention of everyone in the chamber immediately shifted to the floating figure of their boss, the 'Octopus Woman' known as Marte. She was nearly twenty meters in length with her tentacles fully extended, so, even if they were higher than a balloon that had escaped the grasp of a child, they were still able to notice the giant floating figure of the woman who had both tormented and corrupted them.

With the rapt attention of everyone present, Vahn was tempted to pull the woman's limbs to their limits before ultimately crushing her into a small ball. Instead, a blue light began to emanate from within his pupils as invisible spheres, visible to him alone, began to expand at the location of the woman's brain and heart. Then, with a quick activation of Oblivion, even the most minute molecule comprising the two vital organs simply ceased to exist, quite literally 'erased' from reality.

Though Marte actually had three hearts and nine brains, the vast majority were vestigial organs that relied on the primary brain and heart to function. As a result, the first of the Ten Bosses was killed in an instant, and, though her tentacles would continue to writhe about for upwards of ten hours, this was largely the result of muscle memory and a deeply ingrained self-preservation instinct.

Exhaling a sigh, a tiny golden flame began to burn at the tip of Vahn's finger as the scene around him quickly descended into a state of utter bedlam. The death of Marte had effectively liberated them from their standing orders, so, while their fate was ultimately up to her killer to decide, they had a brief window of opportunity to enact things like revenge. As a result, several Regulars began attacking each other like feral animals, some even going out of their way to claw and bite at their former oppressors with tears rolling down their faces.

Feeling the waves of resentment and negativity washing over him, Vahn's expression began to dull slightly as he released the tiny golden flame towards the still-floating Marte. Its heat was so intense that it caused even the Shinsu in its path to turn to ash, but, rather than radiate, it actually drew the surrounding heat into itself, drastically chilling the surroundings as the flame burned ever-brighter.

After witnessing the 'overflow phenomenon' that occurred when reducing the temperature below absolute zero, Vahn had started to think about various other ways in which temperature could be influenced by the Laws. He knew there were some flames that burned ice-cold, and, though it was a little strange to consider, there were even water-based flames that caused their surroundings to fill with water vapor rather than smoke. Thus, while it 'made sense' for flames to radiate heat outward, Vahn had created a flame that did the opposite, drawing in heat and effectively freezing everything in its surroundings.

Though it would quickly become unstable without his Source Energy to maintain it, it wasn't an exaggeration to say that the tiny golden flame could effectively cool the entire universe if given enough time. Its interior temperature would gradually increase, and, so long as there was even a moderate temperature differential, it would eventually reduce the surrounding temperature to absolute zero. This was where things got strange, as, the moment the temperature reached such an extreme, the 'overflow phenomenon' would occur, spontaneously increasing the temperature in the surroundings to 1.41×10^32 degrees Kelvin.

As could be expected, an incomprehensibly powerful explosion would occur the moment such an overflow phenomenon occurred, the force of which was more than enough to destabilize space-time in the surroundings. At the same time, the increase in heat would further fuel the growth of the golden flame, and, so long as it had a catalyst to maintain its integrity, it could, theoretically, grow to consume the entire Universe in a cosmologically short period of time.

Fortunately for the people in the surroundings, Vahn had no intention of completely destroying them. His primary reason for using such a flame was that it was the most powerful expression of Yang that he could currently manage. This allowed him to change the nature of the flames at his leisure, as, on their most fundamental level, Yang flames were closely associated with Creation and Purification.

With a small sun spontaneously appearing in their midst, much of the surrounding fighting came to an end in an instant. At the same time, everyone present began to feel as though they were basking in the gentle rays of the morning sun after an exceptionally long, cold, and dark night...

---

Though they felt a strong compulsion to go to where their Master was, Fenrir, Ryun, Jeanne, and Mash did their best to obediently await his return. Fortunately, this was something Fenrir and Ryun were rather accustomed to, so, shortly after his departure, the former began pulling out things like a table and cushions while the latter began preparing snacks procured from within her interspatial ring. This left Jeanne and Mash feeling taken aback, but, once a deck of cards was brought out, they didn't hesitate to sit down and join the more experienced duo in a game of Old Maid.

For a multitude of different reasons, card and board games had always been popular among the residents of Avalon, and, as a result, the Little Garden. This was especially true for those who had spent time in the Menagerie, as, more often than not, such games were what determined the order in which they received their Master's affection.

Jeanne had never been an official resident of the Menagerie, but, shortly after her first union with Vahn, she began spending a fair amount of time within its interior. It was the group she felt most comfortable with, as, even during their first time together, she had asked Vahn to change her into several different species just so she could experience being dominated as every conceivable version of herself. She knew this was rather strange, so, while she wasn't afraid of associating with his more 'normal' women, Jeanne had always gotten along better with the girls who were more 'honest' with themselves and their desires.

Though she had mellowed out considerably since then, Jeanne was easily one of the most devout women in Vahn's rather extensive entourage. This resulted in her mastering a number of different card and board games, and, though she would struggle against monsters like Okita and Altera, she was able to come out ahead against most of the other girls due to her exceptional luck and ability to see through lies...

Using said ability, Jeanne's sapphire-blue eyes were fixed upon Fenrir's scarlet-reds, her expression reminiscent of a warrior ready to face death as her fingers hovered over the hand of the latter. This caused Fenrir to adopt the closest thing to a perfect deadpan she could manage, but, in the depths of her eyes, a tiny light would flicker whenever Jeanne hovered over a specific card.

With her exceptional perception, Jeanne was easily able to notice this subtle flickering, but, knowing Fenrir was surprisingly competent when it came to fooling others, she didn't immediately go for the other cards. This was especially true when 'coveted' prizes were on the line, so, with the prize being an extended session of brushing, neither could afford to lose.

Though they could be 'very' inconvenient at times, Jeanne had become rather fond of her angelic wings due to her Master's meticulous care and grooming. She also enjoyed being able to envelop him whenever he had forced her onto her back, so, even if it was bound to earn her the ire of her senior, she 'needed' to win this hand. As for Fenrir, there were few things she enjoyed more than having her ears and tail brushed, so, the longer Jeanne stalled, the harder it was for her to remain calm...

In an effort to prevent people from stalling, a ten-second time limit had established to prevent the game from lasting more than a few minutes at a time. Unfortunately, their heightened perception made these ten seconds seem like several minutes, and, for a brief moment, it was almost like time had come to a stop when Jeanne's fingers had graced the centermost card.

After offering up a silent prayer to her 'God', Jeanne committed to pulling the card that responsible for the flicker in Fenrir's eyes. Under normal circumstances, this would have been the Old Maid, and, as a result, she would be guaranteed to lose the game. Fortunately, Jeanne's instincts had been on point, so, despite Fenrir's best efforts at deceiving her, the end result was her absolute victory.

Unable to contain her excitement, Jeanne hopped up to her feet, wings spreading instinctually as a large banner manifested in her left hand. Said banner was then raised triumphantly towards the sky as Fenrir, like a defeated general, slumped forward, head and ears drooping as she silently cursed the winged woman under her breath...

Seemingly oblivious to Fenrir's mutterings, Jeanne continued to wave around the banner of the Aldrnari Empire with extreme vigor, laughing all the while. This earned her a pointed look from Ryun and a wry smile from Mash, but, having secured victory, Jeanne didn't particularly mind their gazes as she continued to bask in the reverie of her triumph. It was only when a massive sphere of golden Shinsu began to barrel towards her that the smile on her face faded away, replaced by the resolution of a warrior as she stabbed through the projectile with the speartip located at the end of the banner...

(A/N: I'm honestly a little taken aback by some of the comments in the previous chapter. It amazes me how senseless people can be at times; completely ignoring the actual context in the novel just because it contradicts one of their own personal biases. I mean, seriously, Vahn had never enjoyed killing people so why do some of you asshats keep acting like it is the only fucking solution to every goddamn problem in the novel? Even when he literally curses people to become cripples in a world where virtually everyone has superpowers, you act like every enemy he lets walk away is actually the reincarnated MC of a wuxia novel. There are even people making completely arbitrary claims about Vahn being a hypocrite for arbitrary reasons, none of which have anything to do with the context of the actual novel. Seriously, how is Vahn being 'hypocritical' when, from the very start of the fucking novel, he is always shown being depressed or remorseful after killing? It is something he genuinely hates to do, yet, as if he is some Chad Thundercock with a perpetual murder boner, you completely ignore this to say thoughtless remarks that completely ignore more than 1800 chapters of evidence contradicting your claims. Vahn has almost always killed as a mercy or to save the people he wants to protect. Stop pretending like he walks around with rosary beads filled with the eternally suffering souls of his enemies while wearing clothes sewn together from their still-living flesh. Seriously. This is the kind of shit that makes some authors want to drop their novels.)

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