Capítulo 825: Rematch
Unlike a normal Juggernaut, the one was around 8m tall while slouched over, having a length of nearly twenty meters with its snaking, whip-like tail. With its black coloration, the strange runes spread across its body, and the bloodthirsty aura radiating from it scarlet red eyes, it gave off a very intimidating presence. Vahn, however, felt a powerful excitement begin to replace the momentary fear that had welled up within him as he sent a telepathic message to the girls, ("Protect Lil Geirr. Haruhime, use your [Uchide no Kozuchi] on Ais, Tiona, Ryuu, and Arnya. Maemi, Emiru, Chloe, take Shizune and Tina back to the central fortification and protect my daughter. Do not let her come out...!")
Vahn knew that magic would almost be useless against even a normal Juggernaut so he wanted Haruhime to boost those that had powerful physical capabilities and ranged attacks. At the same time, he was considering if this would be a chance to push his body to the limits and trigger his Azure Dragon transformation. If Alexa managed to catch sight of that form, Vahn was worried that her body would 'activate' in a similar manner to her Mother's. Since he couldn't give her what she 'needed', there was a chance that Alexa may end up losing her mind as even Terra had barely managed to withstand the anxiety associated with 'failing' to produce a fertilized egg...
At the same time that the girls followed his orders, Vahn pulled out his [Yoichi Bow], nocking a [Yi] arrow onto its string, immediately 'triggering' the Juggernaut to release a terrifyingly shrill howl. In the next moment, Vahn felt color draining from the world as the Juggernaut arched its back before kicking against the ground and making the entire Floor shudder when it moved forward. Vahn's eyes widened and he immediately dropped down to intercept the charging monstrosity, now moving so fast that the entire world seemed stagnant in comparison. This wouldn't have been that bothersome in a direct confrontation, but the fact the Juggernaut was charging towards Lefiya's group made Vahn's brain buzz.
Vahn was immediately regretting that he hadn't taken the time to transform into his 'Lightning Emperor' form, as it felt like he was moving through a super-dense liquid as he moved to try and intercept the seemingly unstoppable monster. It had to be moving more than 20,000km/h and each step caused a pillar of debris to erupt into the sky, long after it had moved away from where it had stepped. From the perspective of a normal person, they could only see a black shadow that left two red trails for its eyes as it barreled towards Lefiya, Chloe, Shizune, and Tina.
Though he wasn't sure when he had formed the thought in his own mind, Vahn extended three links of [Enkidu] to block the Juggernaut's path while practically screaming within the girls' minds to fall back, even though they had already been moving towards Lil Geirr. When he saw the Juggernaut jump through the air, twisting its skeletal frame to completely bypass the three chains, Vahn felt like a bomb had been set off within his mind. The world instantly lost all color, with even the Juggernaut and Vahn himself coming to a stop. However, slowly but surely, Vahn was 'tearing' through space and time in order to intercept the Juggernaut's path, even as his own body was shattered into pieces and regenerating.
By the time color had returned to the world, Vahn had managed to move to the front of the Juggernaut, pulling out a massive shield that was 'literally' named [Aegis] with his [Keeper of the Akashic Tome]. The Juggernaut's body smashed into the shield and caused a powerful shockwave to spread out for hundreds of meters, sending the girls back until Chloe picked up Shizune and Tina, diving into the shadows and moving at an insane speed towards Lil Geirr. Lefiya used [Cantus Bellax] to create a protective membrane around her body and brought out her wings, fleeing with her fastest speed as Vahn stored away [Aegis] and swung [Laevateinn] across the Juggernaut's maw.
As his blade cut through the air in a smooth arc, Vahn felt time slowing to a crawl once again as the Juggernaut 'ducked' under [Laevateinn]'s trajectory before biting forward with its Dragon-like skull. Though he already knew this to be the case, the evasive maneuver and counterattack of the Juggernaut made it very obvious the creature was far faster than his base form. Vahn felt like he was moving in slow motion while the Juggernaut was moving at a normal speed, even though his mind was able to keep up. It was with this clarity that Vahn put away [Laevateinn], pulled out a small golden nail, and allowed the Juggernaut to bite down on his body while driving the anti-immortal tool into the monster's eye.
There was a protective membrane that tried to prevent Vahn's attack from driving forward, but it did absolutely nothing to stop the relatively simply looking nail. The Juggernaut's teeth clamped down around his body, but Vahn just began laughing as it howled in pain, thrashing about and trying to tear his body apart. Even when Vahn's upper body was separated from his goody bits, the light in his eyes didn't fade in the slightest, instead, growing much more powerful as his blood swirled and regenerated his form in milliseconds. He had already pulled out his [Laevateinn] again and cut forward, intending to chop off the Juggernaut's head as the monster's razor sharp claws cut towards him.
Vahn was beginning to get annoyed with the Juggernaut's speed and tried to defend himself with his Xuanwu form while contracting his domain in an attempt to pressure the enraged monster. Though this did have an effect, it was negligible in the long run as the four blade-like claws of the Juggernaut still diced through his body as if his transformation offered him no benefits. Following behind this attack, the Juggernaut's tail cut forward with such speed that it left a black trail behind it, cutting through the void. Vahn hadn't fully regenerated as a black 'blade' of energy separated his body once again, this time followed up by the Juggernaut's overhead sweep as it tried to crush his mangled body into the ground. (A/N: Fast boi.)
Unable to resist the difference in speed and power, Vahn was smashed into the ground with enough force to lodge him nearly 30m into the durable bedrock of the Dungeon's Floor. This surrounding area was devastated, sinking several meters like a meteor had struck the ground as a large dust explosion reached hundreds of meters into the air. Following this, the Juggernaut released another blood-curdling howl that dispersed the cloud in an instant before he balled up its fists and began to beat at the Dungeon's Floor, intent on completely crushing Vahn to paste. It could sense that Vahn was still alive and was determined to destroy him completely, the shared memories of its kin playing through its mind. Unlike normal monsters, Juggernauts had a shared consciousness that allowed them to better protect the Dungeon from destructive forces. It could still 'remember' having its head blown apart, and the indignation it had felt during their last encounter...
In the midst of the Juggernaut's enraged assault, a resplendent column of light tore through the sky, impacting the monster's body before it had any time to react at all. Even with its ultrasonic speed, dodging and attack that could reach nearly a third the speed of light was nearly impossible. As a result, this column struck true, smashing into the Juggernaut's body as it released a shrill groan and did its best to protect itself. The durable black carapace-like skin began to fracture and tear away, revealing a scarlet red interior that began to sizzle under the influence of the powerful energy. By the time the beam had cleared away, nearly a third of the Juggernaut's body was now shimmering with a red light as a look of absolute hatred was directed towards the source of the light, none other than Ryuu and her artifact, 'Meteoron Imber'.
Just as it was about to charge towards the brave Elven woman, the Juggernaut was impacted on its blind side as Ais shouted, "Lil Ragna~!" Appearing very similar to Ryuu's attack, Ais was like a focused tempest as her Spiritual Wind tore into the left side of the Juggernaut's face, tearing away the bone-like structure of its head and revealing even more bloody scarlet below. As for its eye, it had been turned into a wispy paste that was completely disintegrated by Ais' attack as her [Gram] tried to destroy the head in its entirety.
Instead of resisting against the attack, the Juggernaut twisted its body and only lost a portion of its skull as Ais barreled forward and carved a large scar across the land. She brandished her sword, shifting her weight to make a second attack as her wings of light kept her stabilized within the air. By the time she had turned back, however, there was a massive red beam completely filling her vision, barely giving her enough time to shield herself with the sword in her hands. The beam collided against the tempestuous energy around Ais' body, the majority of it being deflected away from her body and causing deep crevasses to decimate the landscape. As for the rest of the energy, it crashed against the indestructible [Gram] while also being broken down by the magical aura protecting Ais' body.
Though the attack had forced her back until she had slammed into the far wall, several kilometers away, Ais was ultimately unscathed and immediately darted forward at a speed much greater than the Juggernaut's. If not for the fact that this speed relied on her to move in a single direction, Ais would have been able to get a big advantage against the massive creature. Unfortunately, the Juggernaut's speed wasn't the type based on momentum and was just pure agility, giving it greater flexibility as it dodged the second strike from the seemingly unstoppable Sword Goddess. It then tried to whip her with its tail but ultimately hit nothing but air as Ais was already long gone from that spot and preparing her third strike.
Since it couldn't fly, the Juggernaut released an indignant roar and began to channel energy from its mouth once again, only to find another star-powered, meteor-like arrow impacting its body. This time, the Juggernaut rolled to try and get under the attack but ended up losing an arm in the process as it began to rage about, using a massive slab of the Dungeon Floor to try and shield itself. Its arm had already started to regenerate mere moments later and it wanted to buy enough time to completely recover before destroying the annoying insects that brought it so much pain. The fact that no attacks came during the time it was recovering made the Juggernaut feel a sadistic glee, even though it was still very annoyed that it's left eye, stabbed through by Vahn, hadn't recovered.
Using its senses, which enabled it to detect almost everything on the Floor, the Juggernaut pushed against the massive bedrock slab and used it as a shield to plow towards Lil Geirr. It didn't get far, however, as golden chains barred its passage and completely halted its momentum. Recognizing these chains, a moment of clarity passed through the Juggernaut's mind, almost at the same time that its head was completely separated from its body. It could see itself still pushing against the stone as the world spun around, at least until a flash of brilliant whitish blue light appeared in the periphery of its vision.
Vahn grabbed the tumbling head out of the air and buried his fingers into its harder-than-Adamantine flesh, staring into the remaining eye as he said, "I feel like I owe you a great debt...the next time you are reborn, let's settle it in full...!" Then, just as the Juggernaut seemed like it was going to howl out once again, even though it didn't even have a windpipe anymore, the light faded from its eyes and it nearly burst into dust before Vahn tossed the head into his Inventory. Ais had buried her [Gram] into the exposed core of the Juggernaut and Vahn wanted to see what would happen to a monster part that was kept for an extended period of time in stasis. He had already noticed that there was something very 'wrong' about the Juggernaut this time around and also wanted to see if the system could analyze it...
What was left after the Juggernaut faded away was an assortment of monster cores but, Vahn noticed there was an encroaching yellow coloration on many of them. This helped to confirm his suspicions somewhat and he was certain everything had all been a plan executed by Enyo's forces. The fact that the crystals had fallen and nearly crushed Lil Geirr were enough 'damage' to the Dungeon to trigger the spawn of a Juggernaut. Though it was still serving the purpose of the Dungeon's 'cleaner', it was very obvious that the monster had come under the partial influence of Enyo using a method that had yet come to light. She seemed to have the ability to mutate and produce plant-like monsters that were far more powerful than normal. At the same time, there were several strange variants beginning to pop up, showing that their methods were beginning to influence normal monsters...or, as Vahn was beginning to fear, Xenos...
After dropping down next to Ais, Vahn gave the beautiful girl a loving embrace, holding her tightly against his chest and stroking her silky golden hair. Unlike normal, however, Ais had a slightly complex expression as she said, "Vahn, we have to return to Lil Geirr..." These words set something off in Vahn's mind and he had to release Ais before he put too much power into his grip, asking, "What happened...?" Ais held up her hands in a placating manner before a very different voice answered his question, entering into Vahn's mind as the synchronous voice of Maemiru, ("Master, we captured an enemy who tried to attack Rufina. Alexa protected her and we managed to subdue him.")
Vahn took a deep breath to calm himself when he heard this, asking, ("Did anyone get hurt...?"). This question was followed by a moderately terrifying period of silence before Maemiru replied, ("There were several people killed, but Alexa, Rufina, and Shakti are all okay...") Vahn could hear an apologetic tone in Maemiru's voice and he knew she was probably blaming herself for their deaths. At the same time, however, Vahn felt greatly relieved as he informed the girls he was on his way back, looting all of the Juggernaut's drops before flying along with Ais. Since the Juggernaut couldn't actually answer his questions, Vahn was hoping the person they had captured was slightly more 'understanding' when it came time for questioning...though, even if they weren't, Vahn was confident they would eventually talk...he was quite sure of it...
(A/N: Lightning Emperor [Magia Erebea] is just too OP xD...)
(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Breaking through space, time, and limits...!','Haruhime, Ryuu, and Ais MVP. Vahn is just a Kill-Stealer...','Don't anger the calm boi o_o...!')
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Capítulo 826: Recovery
When Vahn arrived back at Lil Geirr, he noticed that the number of deaths had far exceeded his expectation. Since more than half of the people residing within the settlement were just 'normal' people, they had no way of protecting themselves at all after an attack occurred from the inside. Most of the Adventurers had been moved to the walls to protect against the monster wave, leaving them exposed at the 'heart'. Vahn realized they had been outmaneuvered quite a bit during this conflict and, if not for the relatively large difference in overall strength, the Alliance would have suffered a far greater loss than they were prepared to shoulder...
Many of the Adventurers had been pulled from the walls at the point and were helping move the injured to the medical ward while others lined up the deceased and covered them with blankets. Gareth and Finn were both present at the site, the latter directing everyone while Gareth was talking with Aisha and a very angry looking Bete. When the rampant Werewolf noticed Vahn and Ais touch down, he came over with great momentum and tried to grab Vahn's collar. Not fond of being 'handled', Vahn grabbed Bete's outstretched wrist and bent it to the side, brows furrowing slightly as he said, "I have other duties to deal with, Bete. If you have a problem, shelve it until later..."
Bete clenched his teeth, obviously dissatisfied with having his arm leveraged against him by Vahn. However, instead of following his instinct to try and kick Vahn, which he knew would end very badly for him, Bete's expression broke slightly as he said, "Please, help Lena..." Vahn let go of Bete's wrist, scanning the area as Gareth and Aisha walked over, the latter clarifying, "We Amazonesses were the closest to the incident and responded to try and help as many people as we could. Lena...she ended up taking a bad hit..." Hearing this, Vahn took a deep breath and communicated with the girls, explaining he would be along shortly before helping Bete stand straight, saying, "Show me. I'll do what I can..."
Ais went off to 'fetch' Alexa for him, as Vahn was feeling slightly anxious without confirming her safety with his own eyes, while Bete and Aisha led the way to a room separate from the larger medical ward. Bete hesitated outside of the door, a pained expression on his face until Vahn 'gently' struck him against the back and said, "This is when a man shows his backbone..." Without waiting for Bete, Vahn made his way into the room and saw that Lena was being nursed by two other Amazonesses while a Chientrhope 'doctor' was tying a tourniquet to the stump where Lena's left arm used to be. They had avoided closing the wound with an Elixir, likely because Bete had intended to ask him for help from the start...
When the girls inside the room saw Vahn, they showed expressions of relief as the Chienthrope woman with dirty-blond hair smiled and said, "I'm glad you showed up...thus far, we've kept her stable by feeding a low potency Elixir directly into her stomach..." Vahn held up his hand, a kind smile on his face and said, "You did well. Leave the rest to me..." He could already see the tube inside Lena's nose that extended all the way into her stomach, an upturned Elixir drip at the side being held by one of the Amazonesses. This world was severely lacking in medical sciences, something Vahn intended to change in the future when there was more time...
Though he could use other means to heal Lena, Vahn didn't really want to spend that much time within the dark room, directly using his [Wounds Transfer] with the unconscious Amazoness as the target. A sharp pain spread through his arm as the limbs 'dissolved' into particles of magical energy and immediately began regrowing Lena's. When she had fully recovered, Vahn moved his 'phantom' arm and allowed his [Magia Erebea] to regenerate the injury, all while everyone in the room watched with expressions of abject shock. Bete had also made his way into the room, witnessing the event and staring slack-jawed as his lover's arm and injuries were completely recovered in just a few seconds.
Vahn flexed his left hand and arm a few times, commenting, "You need to remove the tourniquet to restore the flow of blood before you damage the nerves..." These were his last words as he pat Bete's shoulder and made his way out of the room, Aisha following close behind. Seeing Lena's injuries made Vahn want to move to the actual medical ward and lend a hand as he felt slightly responsible for what had happened, even if that wasn't truly the case. He only made it a few steps down the corridor, however, when Bete burst out of the room, a complex expression on his face as he murmured, "Thank you..."
By the time Vahn turned around, Bete had already ducked back into the room, causing Aisha to release a small laugh as she said, "I'll never truly understand what Lena sees in that boy...well, it isn't really my business..." As she spoke, Aisha leaned into Vahn and rested her head on his shoulder, a thoughtful look in her eyes. Vahn brought his hand up, stroking her long black hair as he said, "Thank you, Aisha...you and the other Amazonesses...well, I can imagine things would have gone much worse if you hadn't been present..." Though he wasn't sure what would follow in the next couple of hours, Vahn gently caressed Aisha's face and added, "I can't promise you my full attention, but I'm certain the girls wouldn't mind if you stayed with us tonight."
Since they would need to release their tensions, Vahn expected that he wouldn't be getting much sleep, even though he had yet to come up with a 'plan' to have Alexa and Tina stay elsewhere. Then again, Tina probably wouldn't want to be left out after fighting so hard and nearly getting injured by the Variant Juggernaut...realizing this, Vahn knew it was going to be a very chaotic evening. Aisha seemed to understand this as well, tracing her hand along his chest as she muttered, "Take care of those girls properly, Vahn...when you have time, just come visit me at the Amazoness compound..." Punctuating her words, Aisha tiptoed and gave Vahn a kiss, continuing even when a group of Adventurers ran through to go provide aid at another location...
When Aisha finally pulled away, or, more specifically, when Vahn let her pull away, she had a slight blush on her face and habitually licked her lips. With a somewhat regretful smile, she pushed against his chest and said, "I have to go help my people...stop by after you finish up at the ward. We have our own means for dealing with injuries, but I'm certain none of them will complain if you make an appearance...ufufufu~." Aisha ran her finger through the part of her bangs covering her right eye, producing a 'teasing' expression that didn't quite reach her eyes as she turned away, hips swaying with a natural seduction that was hard to pull your eyes from...
Vahn watched Aisha until she had turned a corner, following her lonely back instead of focusing on her rather plump and toned butt. He knew she actually wanted to stay with him for the evening but, being the representative of the Amazons within Lil Geirr, she had other duties to attend to. She had always been a very responsible and caring woman, even sacrificing her own happiness at times if it meant she could help others. Even when she had helped Haruhime in the past, to the point of being forced to become a prostitute, Aisha never made a single complaint. Vahn knew he should treat her better and, when he visited the Amazoness Compound later, intended to help her ease the burdens on her heart and mind...
While making his way to the medical ward, Vahn was nearly tackled to the ground by his daughter, Alexa, who buried her face into his chest and nuzzled against him. Vahn hugged her tightly, even as her wings flittered about excitedly and stroked the back of her head as he said, "You did very well, Alexa...I am proud of you..." This caused the young dragonling to smile radiantly before a strangely condescending look appeared in her eyes as she said, "That weakling actually tried to target people that Papa wanted to protect. I broke all of the bones in his arms and legs to teach him a lesson...!" Behind her, Maemi and Emiru had apologetic expressions on their faces as they bowed low and said, "Forgive us, Master, we didn't think an enemy would be able to get so close to Miss Alexa..."
Vahn just shook his head, mentally telling the girls he knew they did their best and that it wasn't their fault. This caused them to show gratified smiles as Vahn shifted Alexa to his back before asking, "Where is the prisoner being kept? I want to help out at the medical ward but I can go there first if he is in critical condition." The two girls looked at each other for a brief moment before shaking their heads in a perfect mirror as they said, "He seems to have very high vitality and Lady Chloe has him bound with her shadow for the time being. We don't think it will be a problem if you go to the medical ward first, Master..."
While the two were speaking, Vahn also got confirmation from Chloe, saying there were no chances of him escaping or even killing himself. Since most of the other girls were present, with only Lefiya and Lili going around to help the wounded, there shouldn't be any issues delaying things for a short while. It wasn't as if he intended to spend a lot of time at the ward as, even though it would be very painful, Vahn could heal the majority of injuries with [Wounds Transfer]. Since these were people who had trusted the Alliance with their protection, it was the least he could do to make amends for their failure to do so...
After arriving at the ward, Vahn entrusted Alexa to the twins and told her to behave as he began systematically healing everyone within. There were a few hundred people with moderate to severe injuries but, with Vahn's assistance, they were completely healed and would recover after a proper night's sleep. The staff and Adventurers that had been triaging and tending to the patients were extremely relieved when they saw Vahn show up, knowing their only job was to keep people stable until he got around to healing them. As a result, several people that would have had to retire from their careers, or spend exorbitant amounts of Valis for powerful medicines, were back to their default condition with only mental fatigue as their remaining symptom.
By the time he had finished, only six minutes of time had passed, causing the atmosphere within the war to become solemn and reverential. Those that had still be conscious during their treatments had tried to express their gratitude but they were urged to stay out of the way by the medical professionals so Vahn could continue treating others. When he healed the last patient, Vahn released a sigh of relief and rolled his shoulders without sticking around any longer. He made his way over to Alexa, Maemi, and Emiru, rubbing the twins' heads before picking up Alexa and leaving behind the still-silent ward. This silence persisted for several minutes after he departed, many still awed by the 'miracle' they had witnessed take place in a very short period of time...
Vahn made his way over to where the others were waiting, sending Emiru and Maemi to deliver a message to Finn before going to assist Lefiya and Lili. They hadn't been in the ward and had instead gone to the defensive line where a few people with minor injuries remained. Though the monsters hadn't been able to breach through the defenses, there were some who had embarrassingly injured themselves during the chaotic situation. These were mostly bumps and bruises, but there were a few who had also been injured during misfires of magic or from falling awkwardly off the tall walls...
Upon reaching the location where the man was kept bound, Vahn saw that Rufina was being consoled by Shakti as the two waited outside with Haruhime watching over them. Her ears perked up when she saw him, drawing the attention of the other two girls who looked over with slightly startled expressions. Rufina's quickly turned into an apologetic one as she stood up shakily and said, "Vahn...I'm sorry...I should have never come here...I..." As he had already set Alexa down, Vahn walked over to Rufina and gave her a firm hug, sending a 'flood' of calming energy into her body as he brought her face to rest in the nook of his neck and shoulder. At the same time, he stroked her back in a comforting manner, saying, "We must not blame ourselves for the actions of those that wish to bring harm to others...even if you weren't here, they would never stop trying to destroy the Alliance. If you're truly bothered by this outcome, just focus on becoming strong enough that, even if they came at you with ten times the forces, you would be able to divert them away with ease..."
Though she might not have been comforted by these words under normal circumstances, Rufina was stunned silly by how much 'comfort' she felt in Vahn's embrace. She had also witnessed the prowess of the other girls, especially when Alexa and Maemiru had torn about dozens of monsters in an instant. Alexa had even beaten the arrogant man who tried to force them to eat strange yellow magic cores, breaking all of his limbs and tossing him around like a broken doll. Even when she spent time playing with Vahn's children, Rufina had never seen people with such power before...now, after becoming Vahn's subordinate, Rufina knew it was possible for her to become much stronger, if she really wanted it...
Feeling Rufina begin to calm down, Vahn waited until her trembling stopped, giving her back one last comforting rub as he slowly pulled away and stared into her green eyes. He produced a small smile on his face, stroking her cheek with the back of his fingers as he said, "You can become much stronger, Rufina...I believe in you..." This action and words caused Rufina's face to become red as she turned away in a huff and made her way back to Shakti's side without making eye contact with him again. Both Haruhime and Shakti laughed, causing Rufina's body to twitch as she hung her head, clearly embarrassed but still managing to say, "You have to help me...I'm...weaker than you think...I will need a lot of help..."
(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Bete is slowly learning...','Aisha is a good girl','Miracles...','There are a lot of Tsunderes this chapter...')
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