Endless Path : Infinite Cosmos

Around the same time that Sis was locking him out of several systems, a scraggly man with a sickly complexion, sunken features, and a sparse mustache could be found glowering at a stream of data.

With the pinky finger of his left hand digging into his nose, the man used his right to chicken-peck a series of commands into the terminal before him, his expression morphing into one of contempt as a series of 'access denied' messages filled his vision.

Clicking his tongue, the man wiped his hand against his loose-fitting shorts before rising to his feet and cursing, "Jeok! Hwang! Those fucking assholes...! I don't know what they're plotting, but I'm not going to just roll over and let them do whatever the fuck they want! I haven't done anything wrong! They have no right to rob me of my privileges...!"

Since it was 'impossible' for visiting Regulars to meddle with the system, regardless of how powerful they were, the man, better known as 'Big Breeder Chung', never even considered that he was being undermined by the new arrivals. In his mind, the only people capable of something like this were his fellow Big Breeders, neither of which he was on good terms with. They had always disdained him for treating the Hidden Floor like his personal playground, and, as a result, his power and authority had been continuously restricted until he was only able to influence the regions around the First Stage.

Thinking this was their attempt to wholly remove him from power, Chung donned what appeared to be a virtual reality headset as he reclined in a comfortable, albeit sweat-stained, chair. His Avatar had far greater control over the system than his actual self, so, while they were generally prohibited from accessing the Hidden Floor during visitation periods, he wasn't just going to idle about as the last vestiges of his power were stripped away...

A stark contrast to his true self, Chung's avatar appeared confident, healthy, and, most importantly, powerful. His formerly unkempt black hair was neatly styled, and, though he was still exceptionally thin, his Avatar was, at the very least, able to grow what Chung believed to be a manly and dignified mustache. He had also traded his protruding belly for a six-pack of abdominal muscles, and, though he had been insulted by the other Big Breeders for his sense of style, he substituted his usual loose black t-shirt, white shorts, and open-toed sandals for an elaborate outfit that loosely resembled the robes of an aristocrat.

After taking a few moments to admire himself, Chung descended upon the Town of the Wandering Minstrels where several residents had already started singing his praises. Their cries alerted others to his presence, and, by the time he finished his slow and steady descent, more than a hundred of the town's 'mindless' residents had gathered to shower him in admiration and respect. This always brought a smile to his face, not because he cared about the content of their song, but because they would keep singing regardless of the atrocities he performed right in front of them.

Resisting the urge to go on one of his usual sprees, Chung waited until one of his 'favorites', the current Chief of the Town of the Wandering Minstrels, showed up. This was a mature beauty with pink hair, matching eyes, sharp features, and two small beauty marks beneath her right eye. Better yet, she had a shapely figure hidden beneath her thick robes and rose-collared mantle; and, were it not for the fact her voice data had been corrupted during his attempts to make her sound like his childhood crush, she would have been perfect.

Fortunately, while the other Minstrels continued to endless sing his praises, the woman, Rose, had been modified to never sing in his presence. Instead, she walked up to him before kowtowing with her head against the ground as she uttered, "The Town of the Wandering Minstrels welcomes your return, oh great and mighty Big Breeder."

Unable to conceal his giddiness and amusement, Chung habitually curled the trip of his mustache with his fingers as he said, "Very good. Now, join me in your quarters. There are a few questions I need to ask you regarding the current group of warriors..."

Though she didn't fully understand the reasons, Rose always felt extremely nauseous whenever she heard Chung mention speaking in private. She told herself this was due to nerves, but, after several millennia, it didn't make sense that she was still bothered by such things. Unfortunately, no matter how much she contemplated the reasons why, she couldn't think of anything to explain the adverse reaction of her body.

Without anyone batting an eye at the act, including Rose herself, Chung fastened a dark-red collar around her neck before pulling the absentminded beauty along rather forcibly. He had modified her data to be completely oblivious to anything that others might consider out of the ordinary or perverse. This had allowed him to effectively treat her as his pet, and, though there were a number of Data Humans who felt there was 'something' wrong, the majority continued to sing his praises even as he dragged the unaware beauty into her residence...

---

Though he had been enjoying the tear-inducing scene of Batis embracing Medley after she spoke her first words, Vahn's expression darkened considerably the moment he heard Sis' notification. This was immediately noticed by everyone present, not because they could sense his aura, but because a feeling of existential dread had descended upon them as everything in their surroundings began to subtly quake.

Gesturing to Theo that he was okay, Vahn met the frightened gazes of Batis and Medley, his voice stern and commanding as he said, "I will return later today. Send someone to retrieve Yu Hansung before then."

Understanding that Vahn could wipe them out at his leisure, Batis didn't hesitate to respond with a firm nod, stating, "I'll see to it personally." before setting his daughter down and adding, "Stay here. I'll be back in a few hours."

Frowning in response to Batis' words, Vahn was briefly tempted to have Scathach accompany the man since it was all but guaranteed that he had just raised a flag. Unfortunately, with three Sworn Enemy versions of himself running around, separating his forces was an even bigger flag. Thus, with the knowledge that he could always respawn Batis after gaining control over the system, he left the man to coax his daughter as he turned to Theo and said, "Let's go." before grabbing her hand and teleporting the three of them directly to the Town of the Wandering Minstrels. There, he used Unit Management to summon Musashi and Scathach to his side, surprising the former as she was in the middle of downing sake from a 10oz guinomi cup.

With no time to explain the situation, Vahn extended his hand towards one of the larger residences in the city, his senses pervading every nail, board, rivet, and tile before ripping the entire thing apart in slow-motion, gravity-defying, fashion. This revealed the scene of a startled Chung sitting topless on a sofa as Rose, with a distant look in her eyes, continued to perform a striptease, wholly unaware of her surroundings.

Before the man could utter so much as a single syllable, Vahn appeared right in front of him, scale-covered hand closing around his throat as he venomously uttered, "You should have stayed holed up inside your room. Did you seriously think you could get away with this kind of shit right under my nose!?"

Having absolutely no idea who Vahn was, Chung attempted to speak, but, as could be expected, his words got stuck in his throat. This frightened him considerably, as, due to the benefits provided by the system, his Avatar's parameters were comparable to a lesser Ranker's. He also had the authority of a Floor Ruler within the boundaries of the First Stage, so, while it wasn't impossible for someone to overwhelm him, they would need to be a peerless prodigy from one of the Ten Great Families or an inordinately talented Princess of Jahad.

Though he wouldn't die if his Avatar was destroyed, a mortified expression appeared on Chung's face as his arms and body began to swell with muscles. Losing your Avatar meant being locked out of the Hidden Floor's systems until the next reset. The only way around this was to enter the Hidden Floor directly, but, unlike Jeok and Hwang, his true self was significantly weaker than the average D-Rank Regular. He had also been under house arrest several hundred years prior, so, even if he did have the resolution to enter the Hidden Floor directly, doing so was effectively a death sentence...

Fearing that everything he had 'painstakingly built' over the years was about to be taken away from him, Chung mustered willpower he didn't know he possessed in an attempt to break Vahn's hold. At the same time, he extended his right hand to summon a blue spear with an arrowhead-like tip, the physical manifestation of his power and authority within the Hidden Floor. Unfortunately, Vahn had been waiting for this exact moment, so, once the spear had been summoned, a loud crack could be heard as the head of Chung's Avatar separated from his body.

Without sparing the man's twitching figure a second glance, Vahn wrested the scepter-like spear from his hands, instantaneously turning it a vibrant golden hue as Sis transferred Chung's authority as a Big Breeder to him. This provided him access to a number of files that Chung had gone out of his way to secure and encrypt, specifically those related to his many victims.

Turning his attention to the nearly-naked Rose Vahn's expression darkened as he noticed the many scars and piercings across her body. The fact she was still absentmindedly performing her striptease also incensed him to a dangerous extent, but, rather than lashing out, he felt unnervingly calm as a cold and seething sensation washed over his mind and spread throughout his body.

Shifting his attention to his surroundings, filled with data humans who didn't even bat an eye at the scene playing out before them, Vahn's anger momentarily skyrocketed before rapidly stabilizing as he reminded himself they had no control over their own programming. This notion allowed him to gradually calm down, but, far more helpful than even his [Will of the Emperor], it was Index asking, "Are you okay...?" that brought him back to his senses.

Having completely forgotten about the Jirachi strapped to his back, Vahn loosened the clasp that kept the harness in place, liberating her from its confines in order to gently caress her head as he answered, "I'll be okay. Thanks for your concern..."

Since it was awkward having her head caressed in her Jirachi form, Index promptly transformed into her adorably petite human form, smiling radiantly as she said, "You're welcome~! Now, how about we finish things up here before returning home for a little while? I bet Rindo-sama will cook you up something special if you explain what happened~!"

Amused by the fact that Index's brain revolved around food, even when she was trying to cheer him up, Vahn couldn't help chuckling as he ruffled her perpetually glossy silver hair and said, "Sure. Why don't you go on ahead and tell her to prepare a feast? Though the circumstances are a little unique, the fall of a tyrant is always worthy of celebration..."

With the word 'feast' serving as a trigger, illusory stars appeared within Index's eyes as her salivary glands kicked into overdrive. This resulted in Vahn pulling out a white cloth to wipe her mouth, his smile becoming somewhat wry as he manifested the Little Garden to provide her access. Then, with a far more sober expression on his face, he returned his attention to the still-dancing Rose, his grip tightening around the golden spear as Sis worked to decrypt and undo everything Chung had done over the last sixteen-hundred-years...

(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'It'S aLrIgHt BeCaUsE iT's A gAmE...','Vahn is an angry boi...','Index's one-track mind xD...')

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