Endless Path : Infinite Cosmos

Taking Vahn's advice rather seriously, Ais decided to put off fighting against the One-Eyed Black Dragon until she and the others had properly prepared themselves. At the very least, Vahn had estimated that the avatars strength was around the peak of Level 8, which was truly monstrous considering that monsters had much higher parameters than normal people. Their only major advantage was that the size of the One-Eyed Black Dragon would restrain its movements quite a bit, something many of the girls could take advantage of. After all, if Ais decided to enlist the help of Ryuu, whose bow could penetrate it's thick hide relatively easily, they would be able to cripple it early in the fight.

Currently, the people Ais had asked for assistance were Haruhime, Fenrir, Lili, Lefiya, and, though she wouldn't be participating in the battle itself, Shizune. At this point, she had a veritable shadow army under her command and, after helping Chloe deal with matters in Westport, there were few people who could hope to contend against her ability to gather information. Since the Dungeon seemed to ignore normal animals, of which Shizune had a menagerie, she could send insects and small animals into the Dungeon to scout out ahead of her. Because of her propensity to over-plan things, Shizune's capabilities as an assassin had reached a frightening degree in a very short period of time. She had essentially become a ninja at this point, as even her equipment was comprised of darker and non-reflective colors that allowed her to blend in even easier amongst her shadows.

With Shizune's assistance, it shouldn't take the girls too long to find the location of the One-Eyed Black Dragon, even without Vahn leading the way. Since he had mentioned to Ais that it was a good opportunity for them to test themselves, she seemed to have conveyed that to the other girls and they had been treating it very seriously. Though Vahn would be accompanying them, this time his role would be as nothing more than an observer. He would also be bringing Fafnir in his shadow, as it had expressed an interest in seeing how strong 'normal' True Dragons could become, while the entire event would also be streamed to everyone back at the Manor and recorded.

The One-Eyed Black Dragon subjugation was one of the 'Three Great Quests', the first two of which had been completed by the Zeus and Hera Familias. It was their completion of those seemingly impossible Quests that had allowed the two Familia to have such fame, even though they had also caused innumerable issues during their reign. After all, it was widely believed that Calamity-Class monsters like the Behemoth, Leviathan, and the One-Eyed Black Dragon could, quite literally, destroy all life on the Continent. If a Familia was able to subjugate one, this meant that they had a similar level of power, giving them an extreme amount of leeway with how they acted on the surface.

Vahn intended to publicize the subjugation of the One-Eyed Black Dragon after he had risen to the position of Emperor, as it would further cement his claim to power. He had no doubt there would be a fair amount of dissent when he first rose to the position so it was actually rather timely that he learned about the One-Eyed Black Dragon just as things were coming to a head. This very well could be the influence of Fate, a thought that often caused Vahn to fall into deep reflection, but it ultimately didn't matter. It was his decision to become an Emperor and, though it had been pushed up due to various events, Vahn was wholly committed to his vision of a better future. The foundation had already been laid and, though it was still unstable in some areas, Vahn believed in those that supported him just as much as he believed in himself. With so many capable women at his side, he really had no excuse for failure...

In order to make sure things continued to run smoothly, Vahn spent the time during leading up to the One-Eyed Black Dragon doing the thing he hated most, dealing with Nobles and politicians. With his vast information network, he knew that most of the people who would attend his meeting had already arrived in the City and were simply awaiting the day. As for those who had refused his invitation, Vahn had already given his orders to Chloe's ever-increasing Shadow Corps while Loki, Riveria, and Asfi had helped him draft an official missive as a response. Because he hadn't been raised within the Court, Vahn was still learning how to behave as a Noble and tend to other courtly affairs from Riveria and Asfi. Though he didn't really need to go to so much trouble, Vahn wanted to put on the airs of a proper Emperor so he had been doing a lot of private research while spending around two hours each day being lectured by the two taciturn and intelligent Princesses...

As a result, whenever Vahn wasn't at the Manor, he could be seen walking around with his back straight and his chin slightly raised, even though there was almost always a kind smile on his face. He had been increasing his public appearance as of late and made sure to patron various businesses, all while listening to the words of his future people. Since he already enjoyed a great deal of fame, this change in character was noted almost immediately, giving more fuel to the rumors that Vahn was going to rise as a genuine King or Emperor. Many of the Nobles, Famous Merchants, and other foreign dignitaries had been intercepting him during his daily excursions since Vahn was generally hard to get in touch with whenever he was inside the Manor. This led to many long meetings where he listened to the other party try to appeal to him, many simply trying to earn his favor since they were also very perceptive and knew what was at stake.

Fortunately, Vahn didn't have any arrogant and abrasive Nobles seeking him out as the rumors about what he did to such people had already widely circulated. It was people like that who had refused his invitation, something Vahn found both annoying and mildly humorous since they had effectively drawn a target on themselves in the process. When his missive reached them, after his rise to the seat of Emperor and the subjugation of the One-Eyed Black Dragon, Vahn could easily imagine their facial expressions growing pale while some may even choose to flee their nations and try to lay roots elsewhere. Even that would be impossible, however, as Chloe's Shadow Corps was constantly trailing them in order to doc.u.ment their crimes. The existence of Magical Items like the [Shadow Visor Mk. 3], the latest version created by Asfi, had truly turned the tide of any information wars in Vahn's favor...

It was with such thoughts in mind that Vahn found himself sitting in a Cafe with the leader of that very same Corps, Chloe. She had just returned from a secret mission he had assigned her, this time venturing across the sea with Fafnir to investigate the affairs of the Maritime Kingdom of Aethiopia. Vahn always made sure to meet with Chloe before and after every mission, partially due to the guilt he felt with entrusting such tasks to her, but mostly because Chloe claimed she didn't feel at home until Vahn pampered her a bit. As a result, Chloe was laying across Vahn's lap as he fed her strawberries with one hand and fiddled with her ears using his other. Even though there was some service staff that came by, she was happily purring away without regards to her surroundings as the two had a telepathic conversation with each other.

Though it might hurt his 'image' a bit to act this way in public, it was already widely accepted by everyone, to an almost scary extent, that Vahn treated the women around him 'very' well. Some looked at this as if it was a weakness but, if they were to every openly make such claims, others would look at them as if they had said something absolutely ridiculous. As for the reasons why, it was because even the weakest person that was officially recognized as part of Vahn's 'Flower Garden' was Level 4. The only exceptions were non-combatants like Syr and Eina but they almost always had an escort of powerful Valkyrie's following them whenever they were out in public. This meant that, if you actually did come across one of Vahn's women without an escort, odds were they were far stronger than you and could easily take care of themselves. If that wasn't the case, it meant Vahn was either in close proximity to that person or they had the terrifying Fafnir lurking around in the shadows, both terrifying realities that few enemies wanted to face...

After giving her official report, Chloe was nibbling on just the tip of a strawberry as she telepathically communicated, ("That mother of Asfi's is a truly wicked woman..."). Though Asfi's father, King Cepheus, had originally intended to accept Vahn's invitation, her mother, Queen Cassiopeia, had convinced him otherwise. According to Chloe's report, Cassiopeia had already gained more power and authority within the Aethiopian Kingdom than its official Monarch. There were even some who claimed her to be a Saintess as, after the disappearance of Asfi, she had apparently 'offered to sacrifice herself' to pay for her daughter's transgressions. As a result, the 'enraged' Poseidon, finding Cassiopeia's sacrifice as truly noble, decided not to destroy the island and had allowed them to live in peace ever since...

As a result of her twisted manipulation of the true events, Cassiopeia had gained an incredible standing within their small country and there was little King Cepheus could do about it. He had always considered himself a fortunate man for marrying such a beautiful woman, as he himself had a rather sorry appearance, so he often gave way to his wife's commands instead of taking a stand. The truth of the matter, however, was that Cassiopeia simply married Cepheus because of her own vanity and desire for power, both having been developed to ghastly extremes. Chloe's report showed that she wasn't simply a concubine to Poseidon but also had the habit of sleeping with many of the men that were supposed to be loyal to the King, all while 'collecting' a small harem of her own amongst the servant boys that she fancied...

Vahn was truly awed by how twisted Cassiopeia had become but, as this was his time to relax with Chloe, he pinched the white tuft hairs in her ears, causing them to twitch as he replied, ("The end of her tyranny is already in sight. Asfi will make a far better Queen and I'll personally deal with Poseidon if he refuses to see reason. For now, let's just enjoy this moment...tell me, how long will you stay this time...?") Even without him asking her to do anything, Chloe had installed herself as the Commander of the Shadow Corps and often took the initiative to deal with things that she didn't want to trouble him with. It was her way of taking responsibility for the life she had pulled the other members of the Shadow Corps into, something that made them extremely reverential towards their rather adorable and mischevious leader...

In response to his inquiry, Chloe opened her mouth wide and took the entire strawberry into her mouth, her moist lips and characteristically rough tongue twinging around Vahn's fingers as she answered, ("I've seen the reports and know there are issues in the Land of no Sun so I'll be going there to deal with a few things after you become an Emperor. Until then, I'll just be helping to train the new recruits at Haven so you'll have to spend a lot of money to come visit me, okay~?") Since not everyone treated money like air, most of the girls didn't exploit the teleportation wards to move in and out of the Dungeon daily as Vahn did. This was essentially Chloe's way of teasing Vahn, roughly translating to, 'If you want me, come and get me'.

Understanding Chloe's intentions, Vahn's eyes squinted as a result of his smile and, this time aloud, said, "I wonder if you'll be able to keep your voice down this time..." These words caused Chloe's face to turn slightly ruddy as she peered around to make sure there wasn't anyone who had heard what he said. Confirming they were indeed alone, Chloe lightly 'pawed' Vahn's face as she said, "You're a real scoundrel these days, Vahn, nyafuu~." She could, very vividly, remember the last time Vahn had actually paid her a visit down at her impromptu headquarters. Even though they had installed soundproofing to the room, there were many in the Shadow Corps who had 'very' sensitive ears, some even having Innates related to them, so she had gotten strange looks from some of the members after the fact...

Vahn found Chloe's actions adorable so he sn.a.k.e.d his hand to her stomach, causing her to tense up for a bit before relaxing. Cat People didn't like to have anyone touch their stomachs unless it was something they genuinely trusted. This was because it was one of the fastest methods to turn them docile, which could be 'extremely' embarrassing in a public scenario. Vahn was very aware of this but, much like their earlier behavior, he didn't really care if anyone saw him and Chloe being affectionate with each other, so long as they didn't interrupt. Thus, for a few minutes after the fact, Vahn lightly rubbed Chloe's stomach as a contended purr sounded out from her throat until she inhaled rather sharply and said, "Feed me, nya~!"

---

After his rendezvous with Chloe, Vahn escorted her down to Haven and met with the current and future Shadow Corps members to see how they were progressing. Many of their core members were already Level 4, each becoming Squad Captains, while the new recruits were all around the peak of Level 1 or low Level 2. Vahn noticed that, as was often the case, most of the members were Cat People, Pallums, or Dark Elves. The basic requirement of being a member of the Shadow Corps was either having an affinity with Darkness and Shadow magic or, at the very least, a natural talent towards Stealth, Concealment, or Information Gathering. It was the latter that allowed a few Chienthropes into the mix, as their hearing and sense of smell made them excellent additions to every squad.

One other thing Vahn noticed was that most of the members of the Shadow Corps were almost all uncomfortably young. This was because, according to Chloe, anyone that had the 'talent' to be in the Shadow Corps would need to be developed before they became 'deviant'. If she recruited people who were older, who already had a disposition towards assassination and the like, it meant they were almost undoubtedly criminals or outright murderers. She didn't want anyone that enjoyed killing to be part of their Corps as, even though they were often required to kill, it was because of the 'mission', not for entertainment. This ideology was much easier to instill in the minds of younger people and, as they were often isolated from others because of various 'quirks', these same youths found a home amongst the Shadow Corps, filled with people that understood them.

Knowing that every member scouted by Chloe had chosen to become part of the Shadow Corps of their own volition, Vahn didn't have much to say about how she ran things. After all, he also allowed Shizune, who he had then treated as a child, to undergo similar training. Even Tina, who was only eleven at the time, had studied under Chloe a bit while most of the girls at least knew enough to identify traps and assassins. Since there was a 'very' high chance they would be targets in the future, Chloe had taught them how to stay safe and become a 'hard' target for assassins, as strength didn't always matter when things like poison and stealth were involved. It only took one well-placed dagger to end the life of even someone as capable as Ais, though the odds of that dagger ever finding purchase were almost negligible...

After parting ways with Chloe, though not before promising to pay her a visit the following evening, Vahn made his way over to Haven to meet up with Finn. He was also planning to head down to the 60th Floor to check on Enyo's seal a bit later but, along the way, Vahn encountered someone rather unexpected. At this point, there were nearly 40,000 people living and working on the 50th Floor, many of which were his subordinates. Because of this, they often became something akin to background noise that Vahn didn't fully pay attention to. This time, however, Vahn's awareness had completely shifted to the perspective of his avatar as he had just crossed paths with a rather fierce looking Aisha. She was wielding what looked like a giant cleaver that was made out of blackened wood, a weapon he had personally made for her in the past. Her eyes reflected a cold yet hungry light as she hunched down slightly, weapon resting on her shoulders as she said, "You finally show your face...let me punch it a few times...!"

(A/N: I'm back at work now, so there will only be 1 chapter a day unless I have free time. I noticed a lot of people pointing out that I shouldn't promise more chapters, as it can get people's hopes up, so I'll try to keep that information to myself and simply post when I can. Keep in mind that I'll be working until around mid-August before returning to my full release schedule so please be patient with me. Know that I'm doing my best and, if not for the need to have enough money to support my already frugal lifestyle, EPIC would always be my primary focus. It is because I need this money to support me for the next few months of writing that I have to treat my job as seriously as possible...!)

(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Preparing to fight the Raid Boss','Shizune is a spooky girl...','Chloe's Happy Mofu-Mofu Time~!','Oh shit, you better run, boi~!')

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