Capítulo 1936: Conclusion
To say Yura was displeased to learn what had happened to her brother and mother would be the understatement of the century. Had Vahn not been there to intervene, she might have choked the like out of Hwang without a second thought. Fortunately, while she was quite a bit stronger than the average C-Rank Regular, her strength didn't allow her to act with impunity within the confines of the Little Garden.
Though he felt a little guilty about it, Vahn didn't have the heart to let Yura kill Hwang. His only real crime was wanting to live, and, though he had employed underhanded means to guarantee himself the chance at life, his transgressions were not carried out with the intent to do harm. Instead, he did his best to be a filial son for Hyejin, and, had she never learned the truth, he would have supported Yura to the best of his ability.
Simply put, Hwang hadn't actually done anything wrong from a purely objective standpoint. Had he not stepped in, Yura, her unborn brother, and even their mother would have died. She had already been on the run for years at that point, and, after losing her husband aboard the Hell Train, the only thing preventing her from committing suicide was the minuscule possibility that one of her children would survive. Without Hwang's interference, however, the odds of a successful birth were less than 3%, even with the 'blessing' of the Ha Family.
While it wasn't the most ideal solution, Hwang's efforts had ensured that both Hyejin and Yura were able to survive. Had the former not returned to the Ha Family to accept their judgment, both would have been alive and well to this day. There was no room for debate in this regard, so, while he could understand Yura's desire to kill the man who had occupied her twin brother's body, allowing her to kill him was the same as letting her murder the benefactor who had saved the lives of both her, her mother, and, in a way, her brother...
Vahn would never allow someone to be murdered simply because they wanted the opportunity to experience genuine love and affection. He wasn't fond of the method Hwang had employed, but, considering he didn't have any other alternatives, it would be unfair to blame him for circumstances beyond his control. Thus, after separating the two, he had Yura confined to her quarters, forcing her to listen as he revealed everything, the motivations of those involved, and the aspirations they each held for the future.
Needless to say, Yura wasn't at all enthused by how things had developed, but, hearing his pledge to do everything in his power to resurrect her parents, she gradually mellowed out over the course of several weeks. This was aided by the fact he had officially inducted her into his Familia, and, as a result, her strength had been increasing by leaps and bounds. The problem was, despite the efforts and advice of several people, she stubbornly refused to even be in the same room with Hwang. The times they did meet, she pretended like he didn't exist, and, whenever he tried speaking to her, she would invariably give him the silent treatment. This led to Hwang showing signs of depression, but, with a sizable population of Asteria within the Second Layer, there were plenty of people willing to treat him as kin.
A stark contrast to the situation between Hwang and Yura, the matter of Roen had been resolved relatively smoothly. Daniel had once again proven that his love for Roen far eclipsed his personal wants and needs. He had been fully prepared to die for a chance at restoring her to life, so, despite learning about her change in preferences, he was unwavering in his resolve to see her made whole.
This was where the only hiccup in the situation occurred, as, despite spending the better part of six-hundred-years in the Hidden Floor, Roen was still the same kind and caring woman she had always been. Just as Daniel was willing to sacrifice himself for her, she was fully willing to do everything in her power to force herself to fall in love with him. This was vehemently opposed by Daniel, but, just as she had done countless times in the past, Roen was willing to move forward without minding his objections.
It was around this point that Vahn decided to mediate between the two, offering them a number of alternative solutions that ensured neither would have to compromise. First and foremost, he talked about creating a backup of Roen's data and reverting it to the state it had been in prior to the time she had spent in the Hidden Floor. This would allow Data Roen, who had already developed an Ego of her own, to continue living among her people without forcing herself to change. At the same time, the backup data would be superimposed onto the current Roen's fragmented Ego, effectively creating two distinct versions of the same person.
Though they were apprehensive about employing such a method, Vahn managed to convince the duo with relative ease after reminding them that neither version of Roen was the original. There was no reason for them to sacrifice for a version of themselves that was, in many ways, wholly unrelated to them. If they wanted to truly honor her memory, they should be doing everything in their power to live their lives to the fullest, not sacrificing them for the sake of sentiment.
As Vahn could be 'very' persuasive when he wanted to be, it didn't take long for Daniel and Roen to agree to his proposition. This resulted in the existence of two different Roen's, neither of which was in love with Daniel. Fortunately, due to the fragments preserved from the original Roen, the version that had been left in Daniel's care did possess a particular fondness for the freckle-faced blond. The only downside was that she had also inherited the memories from the period that Daniel was taking care of her. This included some 'very' embarrassing memories, so, while the seeds of love and trust were there, it would take some time for them to blossom fully.
Fortunately for Daniel, he had a lot of support from the version of Roen formed from the Ego of her data self. She quickly became something of an elder sister for the duo, and, though it was ultimately unnecessary considering Daniel's and Roen's characters, she tried playing matchmaker between the two whenever the opportunity presented itself. The rest of her time was spent doing everything in her power to increase her strength, a common trait among former Data Humans.
Due to being unable to increase their strength for inordinately long periods of time, regardless of their efforts, experiencing actual progress was, for lack of a better descriptive, addicting. The led to many former Data Humans seeking power, and, as a result of her rather unique circumstances, Roen was in a position to receive more benefits than most.
In an effort to distinguish herself from the original, Roen asked that her new body have a number of alterations made to its physical appearance. Vahn not only granted this request but, in the hopes of making things a little easier for her, he asked Kisuke to both reinforce her mana circuits and change her race to Amazoness. This was effectively what she and her eleven followers had become, so, after discussing it with the entire group, the Second Layer gained a small population of Amazons focused on becoming stronger.
At this point, the population of the Second Layer had exploded to more than a hundred thousand residents, but, thanks to the unique properties of the Little Garden, there hadn't been any issues. It was impossible to die from things like starvation, disease, or old age, so, while they did their best to keep up with food production, it wasn't particularly important. The only reason most people ate was that it was 'mandated' they do so, as, at some point, every resident of the Second Layer would have to return to the outside world.
Vahn had made sure that the races in his charge understood from the start that he wasn't going to watch over them indefinitely. As tempting as it was to turn the Little Garden into a multiverse, there were bound to be problems once the population had grown beyond a certain point. The biological immortality provided by the sub-realm was the primary reason for this, but, more so than anything else, it was the 'faith' of the people within the Second Layer that was a problem.
While it wasn't an issue in the present, quite the contrary, Vahn knew it was only a matter of time before a societal divide occurred. Immediately thereafter, the belief that presently supplied him a rather substantial power increase would begin to fluctuate as he was forced to mediate between groups with differing values. This was an inevitability derived from the differences between races, and, while it wouldn't be a problem for quite some time, living within the Little Garden could be 'extremely' boring at times.
Though he could create a system to help alleviate the boredom of those within, Vahn didn't want the interior structure of the Little Garden to become unnecessarily complicated. He already had a number of issues managing the Seventh Layer, so, rather than endanger everything for the sake of people who would inevitably turn against him, it was best to help them as much as possible before leaving them to their own devices. That way, they would always remember what he had done for them, and, while there were bound to be people born who didn't believe in him, the legacy he had left behind would sustain their belief for generations to come.
By introducing new races into the world, Vahn was hoping to increase his power by becoming the progenitor and patron god of various races. This might seem like he was forming a religion of sorts, but, rather than preach a doctrine based on restraint and false promises, the foundational pillars of his belief system included things such as self-mastery, magnanimity, coexistence, and a passionate denial of superiority based on the circumstances of one's birth. He also taught that children were born without sin, and, while some might be born with contentious elemental affinities, intolerance and fear were the nutrients that sustained the seeds of ignorance and corruption.
Vahn didn't know how things would turn out, but, so long as he designed a system that reinforced the importance of education and understanding, he was hoping to prevent the spread of corruption in any civilizations built upon his teachings. Yes, it was only a matter of time before things collapsed in upon themselves, but, even if it was only a few thousand years, the people who lived during that time would be grateful for his efforts. Peace was never pointless, and, even if it invariably led to an equally long period of conflict and strife, that, too, would eventually yield to the forces that kept the universe in balance...
---
Having completed most of his objectives on the Hidden Floor, Vahn spent the rest of his time watching over the Town of the Wandering Minstrels. Jahad had made a half-hearted attempt to share information with him, but, after refusing his advice the first time, the would-be King never broached the subject again. Instead, he waited until the very last day to invite Vahn to the Hidden Hidden Floor. There, he expressed his desire to format the entire thing, but, as his programming prevented him from doing so, he ultimately left it up to Vahn to decide the virtual floor's fate.
Since the only resident of the Hidden Hidden Floor at this point was Jahad himself, Vahn agreed to destroy it once he departed. As for the original Hidden Floor, he intended to transplant it into the Little Garden so that the R&D Division could study and preserve it. There, it would remain until the Laws within his Realm could be fully reconciled with those of the current Record. After that, it was a relatively simple matter to incorporate the Hidden Floor into the Moon Cell or convert it into one of Gaia's Textures. This would allow the natives of the Hidden Floor to grow and develop on their own, wholly unaware of the fact they were originally nothing more than programs within a system...
(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'The important takeaway from this is that Yura had to exposed her back to Vahn (O w O)...','Daniel is a good guy...','Getting some Eternal Sphere vibes...')
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Capítulo 1937: Loose Ends
Following his meeting with Jahad, Vahn only had two small matters to attend to before departing the Hidden Floor. This included transplanting Data Eduan's Ego, and, most importantly, fulfilling his promise to delete the data of Ureko's Sworn Enemy.
Under normal circumstances, a person's Sworn Enemy would vanish the moment the person they were linked to departed the Hidden Floor. In Ureko's case, however, she had been so upset by the fact that the Mirror at the End couldn't record her character data that she ended up destroying it with a punch. This resulted in the near destruction of the Hidden Floor, and, as a result, her Sworn Enemy persisted even after her departure.
Since Ureko couldn't be bothered to wait around a year just to enter the Hidden Floor a second time, she decided to leave behind her Sworn Enemy as a test of sorts for people she had taken an interest in. Vahn was well aware of this fact, so, once everything else was taken care of, he used the mirror provided to him by Jahad to enter the space between the Hidden and Hidden Hidden Floors. This was a region known as the Bug Room, and, had he discovered it sooner, Vahn would have been able to use it to freely trespass both floors at his leisure.
Due to its unique structure, the Bug Room was almost impossible to access for anyone who didn't possess a 'real' body. This meant it was inaccessible to Data Humans such as Data Jahad, but, more importantly, it could be used as a thoroughfare for outsiders seeking to interfere with the Hidden Floors.
In the past, King Jahad had used the space that eventually became the foundation of the Bug Room to make contact with his data self and create the Hidden Hidden Floor. The failsafes installed by the Workshop made it nigh-impossible for even someone at his level to interfere with the Hidden Floor from the outside, so, with no other options available to him, he could only bait his data self into an environment where he had greater control. This was the true reason for the creation of the Hidden Hidden Floor, and, had things gone according to plan, Jahad would have been able to destroy both once the prophesied time had come.
Now, the intervening space between the two Hidden Floors had become little more than a trash bin for data that could not be deleted through conventional means. It was also the place where Hwang had been spending most of his time while conspiring to betray Jahad and escape the Hidden Floor. Part of this plan included using the Ureko's Sworn Enemy to destroy the Mirror of the Past, but, with the original mirror being located in the real world, the only thing this would have accomplished was triggering the trap left behind by the real Jahad.
Fortunately, things had never developed to that point, so, after roaming the labyrinth-like halls with the Law of Identity acting as his guide, Vahn eventually chanced upon the room containing Ureko's Sworn Enemy.
Sensing the presence of a foreign smell, Ureko's nose twitched a few times before she paused her game console and half-turned to glance over her shoulder. This allowed Vahn to see the massive scar-like birthmark covering her right eye, but, more surprising than this was the fact that Ureko's Sworn Enemy looked like a much younger version of herself...
Resembling a boyish young girl between the ages of 12-14, Ureko's Sworn Enemy gave off the impression of a bratty middle-schooler who liked to get into fights. She was even wearing a leather jacket with her name stitched on the back, and, rather than the shorts preferred by her real-world counterpart, she was tattered, form-fitting, jeans with numerous holes cut in them.
At the same time that Vahn was inspecting her, S.E. Ureko was returning the favor with her rather scary-looking red eyes. She gave off the impression of a far more unhinged version of the actual Ureko, and, though her aura was remarkably docile, her expression was reminiscent of a deranged killer that had just found a new victim. Were it not for the persistent error messages blinking in and out of existence around her, she would have cut quite the intimidating figure despite her diminutive frame.
Setting down her controller, S.E. Ureko lazily rose to her feet before dusting off her backside and asking, "Did the real me send you? I can smell her scent all over you. She must think pretty highly of you to mark you in such a thorough manner..."
Fully aware of what S.E. Ureko was talking about, Vahn's smile became wry as he remarked, "Yeah...it certainly seems that way..."
Smiling in a manner that resembled baring her fangs, S.E. Ureko began to roll her right arm as if she was warming up the throw a punch. This left Vahn feeling helpless, as, despite yearning for her own deletion, it seemed that Ureko's Sworn Enemy didn't mind evaluating him on behalf of her true self. In her mind, it must have been infinitely better than going down without a fight, so, after finishing a few light stretches, a tremendous aura spontaneously erupted from her body as she vanished from view.
Though he could have ended the battle one-sidedly, much as he had done with Jahad, Vahn felt he owed it to Ureko to put her Sworn Enemy down with dignity. Thus, rather than relying on the many exploits he had recently developed, he decided to receive her telephone punch while matching her strength as best he could. This caused a massive shockwave to tear through the Bug Room, and, as a result, streams of data and quite a number of errors appeared as even the space around them was destroyed.
Grinning like a madwoman in response to Vahn catching her fist with his bare hand, S.E. Ureko took advantage of her small size and ridiculous flexibility to send a kick towards his head reminiscent of a reaper's scythe. This attack was exponentially faster than her telegraphed punch, and, as a result of exceeding the speed of light without manipulating space-time, her foot released a phenomenal amount of golden light as it smashed into his guard with enough force to instantaneously vaporize a small island.
Emerging from within the golden plume, S.E. Ureko licked away the trail of blood trickling from her lips as her right leg, momentarily missing from the knee down, rapidly regenerated using the same golden light produced during her attack. She was effectively infusing her cells with Light Elemental Energy, and, though the effect was incomparable to the Magia Erebea, Vahn suspected this was due to the Hidden Floor's inability to faithfully replicate abilities beyond the limitations of the system...
Waving his hand to the side, Vahn dispersed the remnants of the golden plume to reveal that he was completely unharmed. This caused S.E. Ureko's smile to become even more prominent, her teeth appearing slightly sharper than before as she excitedly exclaimed, "Hell! You ain't bad at all!"
Immediately following this outburst, S.E. Ureko's body began to emit a radiant golden aura as she ascended higher into the sky. Then, after crossing her feet and spreading out her arms in a manner reminiscent of someone bound to a crucifix, she descended towards him like a spinning ax loosed at the speed of light. This made it appear as though she were going to perform an ax kick, but, just as she was about to impact his guard, she spontaneously arrested her momentum to land feet first against his forearm.
Just as Vahn was thinking about what she was going to do, the aura around Ureko's body vanished as the bottoms of her exposed feet began releasing a far more intense golden light. Then, showing a complete disregard for her own body, strange cracks formed along her legs as a massive pillar of light enveloped his body. The intensity of this light was so great that, for a brief moment, Vahn felt as though it has pervaded every cell in his body as his defenses utterly collapsed under its might. It was like being hit by the energy discharge of a quasar, and, were it not for the fact they were in a virtual space of functionally infinite size, it wasn't difficult to imagine such an attack annihilating all life within a Floor.
In the wake of her own attack, everything beneath S.E. Ureko's navel had been completely erased along with her left arm. The number of errors around her body had also increased exponentially, but, without paying them any mind, she allowed her body to regenerate while looking around the area for any traces of her would-be suitor.
Seeing nothing but destabilized space for as far as the eye could see, S.E. Ureko was beginning to feel greatly disappointed until Vahn, having manifested out of thin air behind her, made a show of clearing his throat before saying, "You should probably fix your clothes..."
With everything but the upper half of her jacket destroyed, S.E. Ureko was completely exposed from below her ribs to the soles of her feet. Despite this, she showed no indications of embarrassment or bashfulness. Instead, she waggled her butt towards him, saying, "Get used to it, lover boy. If you are the man my true self has chosen, you'll need to get over that cherry boy mentality of yours sooner rather than later. If seeing a woman's naked body bothers you so, you're going to have a hard time in the future."
Deadpanning in response to S.E. Ureko's remarkably ignorant remark, Vahn fought hard to resist the urge to give her a spanking before explaining to her just how many women he was involved with. His instincts told him that if he were to spank her, the real Ureko would somehow find out about it, and, as a result, he would bound to receive a rather severe spanking of his own. She was tens of thousands of years his senior in regards to being a Tier 5 entity, so, while he wouldn't go down without a fight, it was difficult to imagine defeating her at his current level.
Fortunately, S.E. Ureko couldn't even qualify as a shadow of her true self, so, after recovering from his momentary stupor, Vahn promptly decided it was his turn to attack. This caught the half-naked blonde by surprise, as, unlike her own movements, there were no signs forecasting he was about to attack. It was a completely seamless transition without any wasted movements, and, as a result, she found herself being sent flying before her brain had even processed the change in his expression.
Generating wings of light that helped to stabilize her tumbling form, S.E. Ureko released a massive explosion reminiscent of a supernova as she clutched her head in an attempt to stop her brain from bouncing around in her skull. She felt like her head had been rung like a bell, and, though she was able to remain upright, it felt like she was spinning around uncontrollably due to the cochlea in her ears vibrating.
Though he had been hit by S.E. Ureko's sudden release of energy, Vahn had little trouble breaking through it to stand right in front of the disoriented half-dragoness. Then, before she could react to his presence, he extended his hand to caress the top of her head. This helped to alleviate her head trauma, but, more importantly, it allowed him to clothe her in a nigh-indestructible [Aegis Mk XIV].
Demonstrating considerable confusion, S.E. Ureko opened her eyes to briefly inspect the state of her body before looking up at Vahn and asking, "Do you have any idea how many people would die for a chance to see me naked?"
Without retracting his hand from the disgruntled girl's head, Vahn casually replied, "I've seen the real you naked quite a number of times. At this point, it's actually harder to get her to wear clothes than take them off. Don't get me wrong, you're certainly very cute, but I'd rather we treat this fight seriously. This is your last battle. Do you really want to spend your final moments messing around?"
Detecting no falsehoods in Vahn's words, S.E. Ureko blinked several times, her expression showing considerable confusion as she questioned, "You've seen the real me naked and are still alive? Who, no, what the hell are you...?"
Though he didn't expect her to want to sit down and talk, Vahn decided to humor S.E. Ureko by revealing the Tower's function and explaining the realms that lay beyond. He also revealed a few things about Phantaminum, and, once everything else was touched upon, they briefly discussed his relationship with her true self. This last part caused her to burst out laughing, but, considering the smile didn't fully reach her eyes, it was pretty obvious she was shaken by the prior revelations.
With their conversation lasting the better part of two hours, Vahn nearly allowed himself to believe that S.E. Ureko would no longer want to battle. Instead, his words seemed to rile her up even more. As a result, they ended up fighting until mere moments before his forceful ejection from the Hidden Floor. This was her attempt to pull out as much of his power as possible, not because she wanted to enjoy the fight, but because she wanted him to progress even a little more before his reunion with her true self. After all, based on the things he had told her, it wouldn't be long before the real Ureko came seeking him out with the intention of claiming her prize...one way or another...
(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Ureko got that gamer rage on lock...','*waggling intensifies*','Ureko is the real final boss...')
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