章 1863: Leisure : Intrigue : Overwhelming
After an extended stay within the Emerald Grove, courtesy of his ability to control the flow of time within, Vahn, accompanied by Fenrir, Ryun, Illya, Eva, Asuna, Artoria, Gray, and Karin, reemerged within the confines of their room aboard the Hell Express. With the exception of Karin, who was primarily around to accompany Eva, the other seven, accounting for Mordred, had officially become the main members of 'Team Aldrnari'.
Though he could easily clear most Special Tests and events on his own, there was quite a number that required a full party just to register. He had originally intended to have people like Arusha and Arryn fill in during these moments. Now, he was spoiled for choice, and, even if the members of his current party decided to take a break, he still had Musashi, Kenshin, Altera, Okita, and several others who were more than willing to journey alongside him.
Comforted by the thought of traveling alongside his family and loved ones, Vahn was all smiles as he turned toward his entourage of beautiful women and said, "Though there are still three months until we reach the Name Hunt Station, I would rather resolve this matter as soon as possible. Ryun, you will lead the way using the ring provided by the God of Guardians. The rest of us will focus on eliminating any enemies who appear along the way. Any questions?"
Raising her hand without hesitation, a fiery glint appeared within Asuna's heterochromatic eyes as she asked, "When we encounter this White person, can I be the one to fight against them? I mean, they were defeated by a bunch of Regulars in the past. I'm pretty confident I can wipe the floor with them."
Though he had originally intended to deal with White himself, Vahn didn't see any harm in allowing Asuna to face him. His current parameters were still listed as a bunch of [Errors] so it was difficult to know exactly how strong he had become. It was like he had broken the system used to quantify the power of people within the Tower. There was even a chance that, much like an actual Axis User, the common residents of the Tower, High Rankers included, wouldn't even be able to touch him...
Resisting the urge to shake his head and sigh in exasperation, Vahn maintained a casual smile as he answered, "Sure. I don't see any problems with that. Just make sure you don't underestimate them. While it is true they were defeated by a group of Regulars, it isn't difficult to imagine their fall being the result of hubris. Objectively speaking, they are a sword prodigy who has lived for thousands of years. During that time, they defeated innumerable opponents and harvested the lives of billions of people. They might be significantly weaker in the present, but you should never underestimate the depravity and craftiness of those who consume 'souls' to enhance their strength...even if it is a short battle, you should treat them as a threat from start to finish."
Happy to have the opportunity to face off against a potentially powerful foe, Asuna's face bloomed into an excited smile as she nodded her head and said, "Leave it to me! I'll cut apart that bastard's techniques and then beat them until their face looks like a pig...!"
Though she was significantly weaker than her peak self, Vahn could easily imagine Asuna defeating opponents far more powerful than she was. She still had a Mitigation-type Innate that provided her an effective immunity against long-ranged attacks, and, while her [Child of Destiny] had faded away the moment she departed her Record of origin, her [Beloved Disciple of the Sage Dragon Emperor] seemed to provide her a number of benefits. She was also Tier 5, so, unless she encountered a High Ranker, she should be able to defeat most foes before they even understood what was happening...
---
With the combination of the ring provided by the God of Guardians and Ryun's guidance, choosing a path that would lead to the location of White was a simple matter. Unfortunately, they still had to spend a total of ten days clearing rooms and passing a very specific number of sections in order to reach their destination. The routes aboard the Hell Express were constantly changing depending on the pace of the people clearing them, so, in order to ensure their path intersected with White, they had little choice but to pace themselves accordingly.
Fortunately, while there weren't any particularly dangerous or interesting foes to face, it was still an opportunity for the girls to practice their teamwork and improve their individual combat skills. This left Vahn with very little to do, but, much like a spectator enjoying a game of women's volleyball, he wasn't particularly bored. Rather, now that the girls each possessed adorably animalistic or draconic features, it was quite the sight to behold. Illya, in particular, looked especially adorable as she tried to emulate Fenrir's combat style, her ears and tail flopping around as she did her best to fight like a wild animal...
In the end, Vahn's duties during the ten-day period primarily revolved around complimenting the girls, pampering those who sought his affection, and preparing meals to keep their bellies full. They actually had a lot of free time on their hands due to the lax difficulty of the individual chambers so there was also a fair amount of waiting around, cuddling, and, despite the intermittent appearance of Shinheuh, they also found ample time to lounge about and watch anime.
Ever since the awakening of his [Actualization] Innate, Vahn's intrigue in animated movies and other related media had increased exponentially. After all, he could literally enter into the world by simply placing his hand against the screen, dropping himself into the story, and influencing the outcome at his leisure. This made the viewing experience far more exciting, not just because he could jump into the worlds whenever he wanted, but because he could see a representation of himself in a myriad of different art and animation styles.
One of the more intriguing aspects of [Actualization] was how the fictional world would appear just as real as any other the moment he entered into it. This allowed him to personally witness what the characters would look like in 'reality', and, inversely, it allowed him the opportunity to view himself as a 'character'. The best part about this was that he could 'tweak' how realistic the worlds seemed when he entered them, effectively allowing himself to experience the anime version of the world or a realistic representation that could then be linked to the ever-growing population or worlds within his Internal Reality.
Vahn found the notion of appearing as a character within an anime very novel, and, though he was infinitely more attached to his women in 'reality', he could still greatly appreciate the aesthetics of certain female characters. It sometimes made him feel like he was witnessing the Avatars of other people in the Virtual World, but, unlike the latter, everything felt infinitely more realistic within the fictional worlds he had [Actualized] into reality. He also enjoyed experiencing 'cartoon physics', and, though it had earned him a fair amount of teasing from some of the girls, he was quite fond of the toon versions of himself.
Thus far, Vahn's two favorite worlds to enter were based on an anime known as 'Pokemon Universe' and a video game series known as the Star Ocean Anthology. The former allowed him to experience the wider world of Pokemon, viewing the creatures in their natural environment, and observing how various cultures interacted with them. He could even take his own Pokemon along with him, as, due to the nature of his Templates being extensions of himself, they could freely enter any world so long as he summoned them using his Unit Management. This had allowed Arceus to make considerable progress in the formation of her own world, and, most importantly, it allowed his other Pokemon to experience roaming freely in a world filled with their own kind.
At the present moment, many of Vahn's Templates were actually exploring worlds based on their Record of Origin. This included Nami, who, benefitting from her experiences in the Imperial Fleet, combined with the fact she was a Tier 4, managed to flip her personalized version of One Piece on its head. She had even learned how to use all three types of Haki, but, more so than anything else, it was her ability to manipulate the weather and cast water-elemental magic that provided her a nigh-absolute advantage in the oceanic world.
Vahn was actually a little envious of his own Templates for having the free time to explore various worlds, but, knowing he could literally spend years within one before a single second passed in the outside, he couldn't actually complain. He just had other things to focus on, and, while he was often tempted to idle about in certain worlds for months on end, his desire to reunite with his family kept him largely rooted to 'reality'. He would have a functionally infinite amount of time to explore other worlds once he linked the Records, so, while he couldn't completely resist the urge, he rarely spent more than a few days within a fictional world before returning.
The only real exceptions to this rule were the worlds based on the Pokemon Universe and the Star Ocean Anthology. The former was due to his love of the world and his desire to allow his Pokemon to roam freely. The latter, however, was entirely due to the existence of the Ethereal Queen, a being he was bound to face once he reached the pinnacle of Tier 6. She was an existence that represented the pinnacle, and, though he was the 'creator' of her world, Vahn had been soundly defeated during each of their engagements.
Though they had only fought a total of three times, Vahn had been completely overwhelmed by the inordinately beautiful Ethereal Queen mere moments after their battle began. She possessed speed and power on a level he couldn't even begin to comprehend, and, unless he used his [Actualization] to basically cheat, Vahn couldn't imagine defeating her at his current level. Her power was basically identical to his own, but, due to the concepts she represented, it felt like there was an unbridgeable gulf separating them. Thus, as part of his training, he would periodically appear before the Ethereal Queen; much to the amusement of the angelic beauty, who, similar to Tsubaki, had a penchant for reminding him of the number of times he had failed...
---
With ten days passing in what felt like the blink of an eye, Vahn and Co found themselves in a large chamber inhabited by a mountainous man with a bald head and a colossal figure covered in various tattoos. Even while he was lying down, he towered over everyone present, the distance between his chest and back roughly the same size as a two-story building. As for his actual height, he was about half the size of the God of Guardians, roughly twenty-five to thirty-meters from the top of his bald head to the soles of his massive feet.
Seeing the massive figure from the entrance of the chamber, Eva couldn't help but retort, "Are all the Guardians going to be this gigantic? Seriously, don't they understand that increased size just makes them a bigger target...?"
Chuckling in response to the blonde bombshell's middling complaint, Vahn went on to explain, "It probably has the ability to compress its body into a much smaller form. The spatial laws within the Tower are surprisingly advanced for a dimensional plane that seems to be capped at the pinnacle of Tier 4. Yuri even possesses a Needle that can compress to a mere two meters despite its true form being more than three kilometers in length."
Rolling her eyes in response to Vahn's words, Eva's heels clicked against the metal plates covering the floor as she took several steps forward. This caused the colossal figure sleeping on the ground to rouse from its rest, grumbling unintelligently as it's piercing grey eyes locked onto the person who had interrupted its slumber. In response, Eva's expression morphed into a taunting sneer as she raised her hand and mused, "Let's see if this technique has any actual value in combat...Shinsu Black Hole Sphere...!"
Though the giant Guardian attempted to raise its body before Eva could finish her 'incantation', it's large size made its movements exceptionally slow. As a result, it was unable to evade the spherical vortex that appeared right in front of its head. This particular Baang was formed from the elements of Ice, Darkness, and Space, so, while it was a beautiful sight to behold, its capacity for destruction would leave most people feeling horrified. As for the Guardian, the upper half of its body was eaten away by the expanding sphere in a matter of seconds, it's movements ceasing almost immediately thereafter as the temperature in the room quickly dropped to more than a hundred degrees below zero...
(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'White is so fucked xD...','Vahn scoping out future waifus...','Eva don't play...')
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