Chapter 2024: Absolute
"Jahad Style Secret Technique - Billion Fold Universe - Great Trichiliocosm...!"
Though the celestial bodies he had produced previously were great in number, it was nothing compared to the amount of quality-infused Baangs that manifested in response to Jahad's call. It was like the entire Floor had filled with an infinite number of black holes, stars, planets, asteroids, and gaseous mist. At the center of it all, encircled by nine golden rings, each delineating the orbit of planets, was none other than Jahad.
While his heavily outfitted appearance hadn't changed all that much, Jahad's hair was now glowing with resplendent golden light. Complex runes had appeared on the left side of his face, and, though his left still shone with a brilliant golden hue, his right eye had turned crimson as the eye-like tattoo covering it began to writhe about like a chain being pulled along a path.
With what could best be described as an excited grin on his face, Jahad raised his right hand and stated, "All the world revolves around me..."
As if responding to his words, the countless celestial bodies began to orbit around him, slowly at first but quickly building speed. Far stranger was the fact that even the terrain of the Floor began to follow suit, seemingly pulled along by the nigh-infinite gravitational forces acting upon it.
Like a scene out of a disaster film, the entirety of the 134th Floor was reduced to rubble as even the largest mountains turned into little more than loose debris. Were it not for the fact Vahn had shown mercy by teleporting them to safety, most of the people overlooked during the previous evacuation would have been in danger of losing their lives.
Still, Vahn had to give credit to Jahad for the cinematic nature of the attack. He had even managed to influence the massive wall of watery Shinsu stalled under his previous command. Because of this, the ten or so kilometer region encompassing them now resembled the eye of a truly awe-inspiring typhoon, one capable of rending stars and planets from the sky.
Seemingly unfished with his theatrics, Jahad lowered his right before raising his left hand and bringing his thumb and middle fingers together. Then, in a voice that caused the void around them to tremble, he uttered a surprisingly familiar line, "I am become death, destroyer of worlds..."
*Snap*
As the sound of the snap seemed to echo across space and time, each of the fast-moving celestial bodies produced by Jahad suddenly exploded. A phenomenal amount of energy was released from their interior, and, due to the rotation provoked by Jahad's previous statement, the entirety of the 134th Floor became a sea of destructive energy and light. Within this seemingly endless torrent, the black holes he had produced began to steadily increase in size, greedily consuming everything that came near...
...
..
.
Understanding the energy would never dissipate of its own accord, Vahn raised Laev-tan as if she were a lighter being held in front of an aerosol can. As his power flowed into her, brackish flames erupted along her length. Immediately thereafter, the chaotic energy swirling around him caught fire, as, despite being comprised of a truly tremendous amount of Yin, Yang, and other Elemental Energies, there was, implicitly, nothing Laev-tan's flames couldn't burn.
Similar to setting a piece of steel wool aflame, Laev-tan's spread quickly. The speed and rotation of the energy actually worked in his favor, as, shortly after he held Laev-tan aloft, a 'ring-like' void had formed within the tempest. This gave Vahn a bit of breathing room, an amused smile appearing on his face as he muttered, "This kind of reminds me of woodworking...or perhaps pottery...?"
Likening the phenomenon to what might happen if he held a chisel to a piece of rapidly spinning wood, Vahn was briefly tempted to see if he could 'shape' the energy around Jahad into a specific form. This would be showing off a little too much, however, so, after a moment of consideration, he relaxed his stance, eyes closed as he thought, "Maybe I should demonstrate my own Trichiliocosm? I bet Suzuka would be happy if she learned I used her technique to defeat a 'boss'..."
Recalling the somewhat brash yet easily teased Kitsune, a smile developed across Vahn's face as he made a mental note to visit his Realm. It had been a while, and, now that he had found a solution to the problem of inadvertently limiting his loved ones' freedom, it was probably time to start merging his Realm with the Little Garden. Keeping them separate served no real purpose at this point, and, while they were technically safer within his Realm, Vahn wanted his children to be able to play, grow up, and even venture into different worlds together.
As that thought crossed his mind, the world around Vahn slowed to a crawl as the edge of Laev-tan's blade began releasing a thin white light. If you were to magnify this light with an extremely powerful microscope, you would find a veritable universe of stars, planets, and even life contained within. If you somehow possessed the ability to enter within, you could even be able to witness the birth and inevitable destruction of countless parallel worlds, all of space and time compressed into a single moment.
"Enter the infinite...Trichiliocosm...!"
...
..
.
Though he didn't expect Vahn to actually succumb to his attack, Jahad's pupils shrank to the size of pinholes as every single instinct he possessed screamed at him to evade. Unfortunately, before his brain could even begin to process these signals, a paper-thin ripple instantaneously passed through his body. His senses had failed to perceive this, and, as a result, he ended up teleporting away from the lower half of his body and everything beneath his right elbow.
Discerning the state of his body immediately after his nigh-instantaneous spatial transference, an incredulous look replaced Jahad's previous glee as he whispered, "What just happened? How did his attack ignore my curse...?"
"The simple answer is: easily. A more involved explanation would require you to have an advanced understanding of the Laws. Unfortunately, I have better things to do so I'm afraid you'll have to be content with the former."
Looking behind him, Jahad was surprised to discover that Vahn was less than five meters away from him. Since he hadn't been able to sense any spatial ripples, this implied that the latter had reached this location even before him. For this to be possible, Vahn's spatial transference would either need to exceed the speed of thought or, far more likely, he possessed the ability to peer into the future...
"I expected you to draw this out a little longer...did you lose interest?"
Shaking his head, Vahn spread his arms as if to gesture to the ongoing storm encircling them as he answered, "You escalated things a bit faster than I anticipated. I was originally intending to counter all of your techniques before ripping that little parasite out of your body and sending you on your way. This life has nothing meaningful left for you to accomplish. You let yourself stray too far from the path your younger self originally set upon. It's time for you to move on and start over."
Having regained his apathetic appearance, Jahad muttered, "I see..." in a somber tone before raising his severed right arm and adding, "Then show me. Allow me to witness the power I failed to achieve even after all these years. Show me what it means to live freely, unbound by fate...!"
Punctuating his words, crimson tendrils reminiscent of ribbed horn spears erupted from the stump of Jahad's right arm. Their speed was far beyond the reaction speed of most High Rankers, greatly exceeding the speed of light as they covered hundreds of kilometers in what most would quantify as an instant.
"Not bad for a borrowed power..."
Though Jahad's tendrils had failed to push him back, the small puncture holes in the shield Vahn was wielding demonstrated the attack was nothing to scoff at. Unfortunately, this would ultimately accelerate Jahad's defeat as the Zanpakuto Spirit residing within the rather futuristic-looking shield, Hyaku-chan, groaned, ("Papa...it hurts...")
Hearing the demure and pain-filled voice, the smile on Vahn's face immediately vanished as he whispered, "Sorry...I'll be sure to make it up to you when we return home..."
("Nn...okay...")
As if motivated by his words, winged formed from pure energy radiated from Hyaku-chan's sides, instantaneously severing the tendrils. Then, activating her special ability, a complex magical circle resembling a cross manifested across her surface as Vahn shouted, "Divine Retribution...!"
Since Jahad had previously reflected an attack back at him, Vahn decided to return the favor using one of his three shield-inspired Zanpakuto. The other two, Aegis and Svalinn, were better suited for mitigating damage, but, when it came to pure destructive power, Hyaku-chan even exceeded many of his offense-oriented Zanpakuto...
Unable to resist the cross-shaped beam of light, Jahad's tendrils shattered like broken glass as the half-transformed man was sent spiraling into the ongoing energy storm. He had been attempting to fuse with the artificial demon sealed within his body. This would have made it marginally more difficult to purify his Ego after death, so, rather than allowing the metamorphosis to complete, Vahn figured he might as well save himself a bit of trouble by nipping the problem in the bud.
"This energy storm is starting to get on my nerves...hmmm..."
Though he was keeping a watchful eye on Jahad to make sure the man didn't attempt anything too troublesome, Vahn had more than enough room to consider his options. Thus, after returning Laev-tan and Hyaku-chan, he opened his Unit Management and summoned a very startled yet pleasantly surprised Fenrir.
Habitually petting the lovable Vanargandr's ears, Vahn explained, "I want you to try and absorb the energy rampaging on this Floor. Everyone has already been evacuated so feel free to go all out. I'll deal with Jahad."
Squinting her eyes from both pleasure and glee, Fenrir could hardly contain her excitement as she replied, "Understood! Leave it to me...!"
Amused by her vigor, Vahn gave Fenrir's bottom an affectionate smack, spurring her transformation into a massive wolf. This caused her cheeks to flush red, but, thanks to the layer of fur covering her entire body, it was indiscernible to the naked eye.
Though the smack might have resembled a playful love tap, those with enhanced perception would have been able to witness a complex magical formation appearing the moment Vahn's palm sent a ripple through Fenrir's soft and incredibly pliant bottom. What made this formation unique was the fact that it was actually comprised entirely of Source Energy.
While this might sound completely ludicrous considering Source Energy couldn't exist outside his body, Vahn's recent change in mentality had caused him to experiment with a number of ways to get around. Thus, drawing inspiration from the phenomenon he had witnessed during Yuri's battle against Han, Vahn came up with an outlandish yet surprisingly simple solution to the problem of keeping the people fighting alongside him safe: he would simply become a magic circle.
As an entity that could literally exist without a physical or spiritual vessel, completely transcending the definition limiting creatures bound to the Axis of Reality, there were no limits to the forms Vahn could take. He could exist as a part of the void itself, and, even when he was emulating a physical form, the truth of the matter was that each of the trillions of cells comprising his body was, on the most fundamental level, the byproduct of Source Energy emulating actual cells.
In essence, Vahn was a Conceptual Entity comprised entirely of pure energy. Magical formations were similar in this regard, so, while it was certainly an abstract way to manifest, there was nothing preventing him from materializing as a magic formation or even a single molecule within a person's body. This was all that was necessary for him to channel every ounce of the truly limitless energy at his disposal, and, as long as he maintained the connection, Vahn could both empower and protect the people around him without limit. There was no longer anything that could take away the people he loved...not even death...
(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Things just went from 0 to infinity real fast...','Vahn be like, "You call that a Trichiliocosm?"','The Legendary SSS-Rank Special Ability: Love Tap of Protection')
(A/N: For those wondering where the chapters are. It's not that I'm not writing. I was just doing a mass release of NOICE in order to get it into the rankings xD. I'm really enjoying that story and it is helping me get back into the groove of writing 3+ chapters a day. In other words, even if it appears I'm writing less, I'm actually improving on my word count with each passing day :P.)
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