บท 1689: Precipice
Though it was certainly a peculiar sight to behold, Vahn had a natural smile on his face as an adorable creature with dark skin and white fur clung to his back with two of its four arms. With the other two, it was curiously combed through his hair with blood-red talons, its golden eyes glowing slightly as it meticulously surveyed his scalp.
Failing to find any goodies, the vaguely humanoid female creature began poking Vahn's cheek with her claws, her voice husky and somewhat grating as she asked, "Papa, no bugs?"
Before answering, Vahn held up his left hand, encouraging the curious creature to climb over his shoulder and nestled into his embrace. Then, with a relaxed smile on his face, Vahn lightly mused, "Sorry, Xys, but I always make sure to properly clean and groom my fur."
Hearing her Papa's response, Xysteria adopted a slightly incredulous expression that didn't suit her before curling up into an egg-shaped ball. Her five fluffy tails, which usually fanned out behind her, were capable of becoming a singular mass, and, though her eyes remained visible, the rest of her body was covered in dense white fur that was surprisingly soft despite being harder than virtually any naturally occurring substance.
As he was quite used to Xysteria's pouting, Vahn just cradled the fluffy egg in his arm as he pulled out an amethyst-colored cicada that was slightly larger than his palm. This caused a few seams to appear in the egg-shaped ball, a small gap opening to allow a single three-clawed hand to emerge and snatch the wriggling insectoid from his hand. After that, Xysteria happily munched on the still-living insect, her inordinately sharp teeth tearing through its steel-like carapace with the ease of a normal person eating potato chips.
Though he had tried getting her to eat normal food, Xysteria was pretty adamant about consuming raw minerals and living prey. Her body had the ability to analyze the structure of the things she had eaten, and, after a few hours had passed, a version of herself that roughly resembled the things she had consumed would manifest within a few kilometers from her position. It was a rather terrifying ability, but, despite pouting when she didn't get her way, Xysteria was usually very affectionate and docile.
After enjoying her snack, Xysteria uncurled from her defensive state, smiling wide enough to display her two rows of sharp teeth before saying, "Papa, good. Delicious, koku." After that, she climbed to the top of his head, her body shrinking rapidly until she was small enough to easily curl up and take an impromptu nap.
Ordinarily, Vahn would allow Xysteria to do as she pleased, but, as he had other matters to address, he picked her up by the scruff before placing her into his breast pocket. She was currently around the size of a baby squirrel, so, while it was a little unorthodox, she could easily fit into a pocket or a small container.
Though she didn't like being moved after getting comfortable, Xysteria just released an adorable yawn before nestling in his pocket without a fuss. Around the same time, Vahn turned his attention towards the endless expanse of space just beyond the membrane of light protecting everyone who had decided to attend the event. This included most of the Inner Sanctum's residents, and, as was often the case, Da Vinci and her various 'assistants', Companions who had evolved into humanoid forms.
After spending an additional eight years in his Realm, Vahn had just recently turned 304 years old. This, however, was nothing compared to the entity that was slowly emerging from a massive spatial vortex in the sky, the planetary form of Silva. She was currently around seventeen-million-years-old, and, though she had yet to develop life of her own, she was reaching the point of habitability. As a result, Vahn felt it was time to move her into the system orbiting Amaterasu, the official name of the star orbited by Gaia.
Though there were other candidates for the position, Vahn had given Amaterasu full authority over the Sun. This made her one of the most powerful entities within the Realm, second only to the trio of Vahn, Artoria, and Da Vinci, the latter two sharing the former's authority.
With the assistance of Amaterasu, it was a simple matter of placing Silva into a relatively safe orbit, matching pace with her mother so they could remain close. After that, Xysteria would be given free rein across Silva's surface, releasing her from the sub-texture she had spent most of her life in. This was something Silva herself desired, so, while there were bound to be complications in the future, it would only be a problem if Xysteria felt endangered or ignored.
Despite being one of the most powerful entities within the Realm, Xysteria had always been skittish. There were even times when she would curl up into a defensive ball over something as trivial as a grasshopper jumping. This was extremely adorable to witness, but, considering the majority of her dangerous creations came about as a result of negative emotions, Xysteria spent most of her time in an extremely safe and serene sanctuary. The only time she left was when she accompanied Vahn, one of the few people she felt absolutely safe around...
With Amaterasu reporting that Silva had entered a stable orbit, Vahn lightly pat his chest to awaken the slumbering Xysteria. This caused her to poke her head out of his pocket, a confused expression on her face as she asked, "Papa?". In response, Vahn held up his right hand so she could climb into his palm as he explained, "Your brother and sister are waiting. Let's go explore your new home..."
---
While most people were gathered to witness Silva's emergence as a proper planet, another version of Vahn was sitting atop the head of a mountain-sized dragon. At his side, leaning against him with a smile on her face, Artoria could be seen lightly tapping her tail against the dragon's head. Rather than complain about this, however, the massive dragon had the closest thing approximating a smile on its face as it observed the same scene as the duo sitting atop its head.
Though it had taken an inordinately long period of time, Artoria had finally given birth following the subsuming of the Little Garden into his Realm. As for their child, Arthur Aldrnari Pendragon, he was born with peculiar pink scales covering his arms, legs, and tail. He also had a pair of angelic wings covered in pale-pink feathers that, according to Da Vinci's analysis, were around six-hundred times harder than steel despite being just as light as normal feathers.
At present, Arthur was learning swordsmanship from none other than Merlin as Vahn, Artoria, and the Welsh Dragon watched on with pride visible in their countenances. The latter had actually been named the Godfather of Arthur, much to Merlin's chagrin, so, whenever Artoria needed a babysitter, she would take their son to visit the mountain-sized dragon who spent most of its time peacefully slumbering within Avalon.
As could be expected from the child of two Dragon Gods, Arthur was immensely powerful despite appearing to be little more than two-years-old. He also lacked the temperament of a True Dragon, but, considering neither Vahn nor Artoria wanted him to be bound by such instincts, this wasn't too surprising. Instead, he was a very kind and caring boy, rarely showing hostility to others and always keep to learn new things.
Had the Empire been 'normal', it wasn't difficult to imagine Arthur growing up to be an incredible Emperor in Vahn's stead. Even Mordred seemed to acknowledge this fact, never missing a chance to fawn over the young prince; similar to how she used to behave around Kamiya. This made Mordred one of Arthur's favorite people, but, more than anyone else, the young True Dragon was most fond of Yggdrillia. She had been present during his birth, and, though he imagined she wouldn't hesitate to join the Menagerie, Vahn had decided to wait a few years to see if anything developed between his youngest son and the nature dragon.
Though there was a drastic difference in age between Yggdrillia and Arthur, Vahn didn't consider it much of a problem. He had wives who were, quite literally, millions of years older than him, so, with Artoria and even Yggdrillia in support of the idea, Arthur spent an increasing amount of time within the Garden of Avalon...
While watching their son trade blows with Merlin, Artoria lightly caressed Vahn's hand as she asked, "How soon will you be leaving? Now that you've transplanted Silva, I can't imagine you idling within the Realm much longer..."
Returning her caress with his own, Vahn nodded his head, admitting, "I have been working with Da Vinci to finalize my plans and intend to depart in the next few days...as tempting as it is to just stay in here for all eternity, I cannot abandon my family. Don't worry, it won't be much longer before we finish developing a method to allow those within the Realm to manifest externally. When that time comes, I will be relying on you once again..."
Hearing Vahn's words, Artoria's smile became more prominent as she leaned against his shoulder and muttered, "I'm looking forward to that day...though these tranquil times fill my heart with calm serenity, my place will always be at your side. It pains me to know you are experiencing hardship in a world beyond my reach..."
Understanding that Artoria's sentiments were shared by many within the Realm, Vahn adopted a solemn and determined expression as he pulled her closer to him and said, "I promise...it won't be much longer..."
To punctuate his words, Vahn planted a kiss on Artoria's lips. At the same time, however, he felt a pang of guilt, as, despite the honesty of his claim, there were a few key details he was leaving out. This included the fact that he intended to slow the flow of time within the Realm upon arriving in the next Record. He was currently too reliant on it, and, considering how much time it would take him to climb up the Tiers, Vahn didn't want his family and friends within the Realm to be waiting on him for hundreds, or even thousands, of years.
After his various discussions with Da Vinci, Vahn had actually been considering stopping the flow of time within his Realm. His experience in the Akamatsuverse how demonstrated just how much of a crutch it was, and, while he didn't regret any of the time he spent inside, Vahn couldn't help but feel that everything 'outside' was simply irrelevant. This was exacerbated by the fact he spent more than ninety percent of his time within various sub-spaces, separate from any real danger or tension.
When Vahn originally entered the Akamatsuverse, he had just turned two-hundred-years-old. Now, he was already over three-hundred, and, while this was still remarkably young for both a God and a True Dragon, the fact of the matter was that he had been in the Akamatsuverse proper for just over thirteen months. Most of his time was spent within the Realm, training, and preparing for various events that ultimately never even took place. This left him feeling more than a little suffocated, and, if not for Eva acquiescing to his desire to leave, Vahn knew he would have spent decades longer just cleaning up various messes...
Ever since he first arrived in the Nasuverse many years ago, Vahn felt he had always spent too much time simply preparing. As a result, he always ended up training to a point where there was no actual danger, transcending most threats in a very short period of time due to his unrestricted growth and the fact most influential entities had a finite or 'predestined' amount of power. This was a common trait within the Records, as, without such a power dynamic, it would be impossible for heroes and protagonists to overcome entities who had lived for millions, if not billions, of years.
Though he was able to increase his power without any real limits, Vahn knew it took more than raw power to raise your Soul Tier. This was demonstrable by the fact that, even at Tier 1, Fenrir had the potential to devour reality itself. In much the same way, it was possible for him to eventually reach a point where he could kill even Tier 6 beings without exceeding Tier 4. This would be difficult under normal circumstances, but, with the endless boons provided by Source Energy, Vahn knew he would be able to pull it off if he spent a few decades within a sub-space orb.
Since there was no sense in arbitrarily inflating his power to defeat all foes that barred his passage, Vahn was prepared to experience a bit of suffering in the coming Record. Because of this, he didn't actually want anyone else to accompany him, as, so long as there was something for him to protect, Vahn felt compelled to grow stronger at an exponential rate. The only reason he was going to take Fenrir with him was that, regardless of the circumstances, there would always be 'something' in the Records that he wanted to protect. This was unavoidable, so, rather than force himself to be alone, Vahn intended to venture through the next Record with nothing but himself and his ever-reliable companion at his side. As for his promise with Artoria...truth be told, he already had a method to allow them to manifest externally. It just required 'very' specific conditions to execute...
While thinking of the future, Vahn continued to hold Artoria close as they continued to look down on their son. This was probably the greatest reason behind Vahn's desire to slow down the flow of time within the Realm, as, rather than spend a bunch of time inside, he intended to do the opposite in order to reduce the strain he placed upon his family, friends, and loved ones...
(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Koku, koku, where are the bugs~?','Arthur would get along with Natsu','Vahn has a lot of burdens. Stay strong, 'young' Emperor...')
(A/N: This is the end of the Akamatsuverse Arc.)
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