บท 2225: Reaction : Clemency
Covering the distance between him and Amaterasu's avatar in an instant, Vahn took advantage of the fact she had reared back her head to grab her throat. His claws immediately extended to form solid bands around her neck as his two, free right hands sank into the massive fox's abdomen and chest.
"Kuh-! You-"
Though her true body was located near the center of the fox, Amaterasu could still feel the impact of Vahn's fist. Unfortunately, the moment she opened her mouth to try and curse him, he released a soul-shaking roar directly into her face. Her vision became completely obstructed by his maw, and, for a brief moment, the terrifying notion that he was about to devour her whole briefly crossed her mind.
Without waiting for Amaterasu to recover from her stupor, Vahn hooked one of his claws under her left arm as his remaining two hands sank deep into the gaseous flesh of her abdomen. Then, with a second roar echoing throughout the entirety of the Divine Realm, he promptly ripped her avatar in two...
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"Holy shit! Is that Vahn...?"
With space opening up, Kefla was no longer forced to sit and wait for a chance to rampage. She was originally planning to charge towards Amaterasu, but, seeing a massive dragon appear shortly after the massive fox took form, she correctly assumed it was Vahn. He had done something very similar during his battle against the Grand Priest.
From the back of Kefla's mind, the voice of Kale could be heard grumbling, ("Grrrrrr...how dare he steal my Ane-san's spotlight...!?")
Responding with her own inner voice, Caulifla stated, ("Don't get worked up over nothing. We just need to find some other place to wreak havoc.")
("H-Hai...!")
Feeling marginally more 'complete' after Kale's response, Kefla took off like a golden meteor towards one of the distant specks of light she believed to be a planet. She had already made a name for herself by facing off against the Onigashima Community and destroying their planet. In spite of this, Kefla was nowhere near satisfied. She was someone who had once aspired to be the absolute strongest. Vahn knocking her up had caused her to mellow out a bit, but, now that she had a chance to show off, there was no way in hell she was going to pass it up...
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Hearing her Master's roar wash over her like a warm shower, a smile developed across Fenrir's face as she angled her head towards the heavens with her eyes closed. Mikoto and Usalia had also taken notice of the battle occurring in space, but, compared to Fenrir, their reactions were markedly more grounded.
Though she had seen Vahn go full-blown Eldritch God in his battles against the Magic Gods and the being known as The Beginning, Mikoto never enjoyed watching it. She genuinely believed that Vahn was the type that hated violence. He may enjoy showing off every now and again, but, whenever he was forced to take action and cause harm, he would subsequently fall into a depressive state.
Someone that cared so deeply about the happiness of others shouldn't be forced to subjugate their enemies through fear...
While Fenrir and Mikoto were lost in their thoughts, Usalia's mind had wandered in a very different direction. She was one of Rindo's biggest fans, so, seeing Vahn in his dragon transformation, Usalia was practically drooling as she imagined what it would be like to engorge herself upon a mountain-sized dragon tail steak...
Liberating the trio from their reverie, a massive explosion rocked the very foundation of the planet they were currently standing on. The trio immediately came back to their senses with Mikoto being the first to speak, asking, "Was that Kefla...?"
Spreading her AIM Field across the planet, Mikoto was able to confirm her suspicions even before Fenrir had nodded in affirmation. This left her with a wry smile on her face as Kefla's arrival was one of the biggest possible wrenches that could have been thrown into their plans.
"We should hurry, plip. Vahn doesn't want this planet to be destroyed until the others have been taken care of. I'm not sure how powerful this Indra fellow is, but I don't think he can defeat Kefla in her current state."
Though Kale, Caulifla, and even Kefla would have been powerless near the beginning of the Gift Game, their performance against the Onigashima Community had earned them quite a bit of favor within the Little Garden. It was also well known that Indra had bequeathed the majority of his power to his son after the previous war, so, even though he was one of the Gods credited with the creation of the current Little Garden, his power was a mere fraction of his original self's.
Exhaling a sigh, Fenrir attempted to contact Kefla via telepathy, but, due to Kale's cheering, she was unable to get a clear message through to Caulifla. The latter was fully focused on breaking through a defensive formation maintained by members of the Rakshasa and Asura Tribes.
In truth, Caulifla was fully aware of the fact that Fenrir was trying to speak to her. She simply had no intention of backing down after crashing into a planet and discovering a massive army awaiting her. Had they been using a standard means of communication, she would have pretended the reception was bad before subsequently dropping the call.
Understanding exactly what Kefla was up to, an icy expression developed across Fenrir's face as she shifted her attention to Usalia, asking, "Can you deal with that monkey-brained idiot for me? I can't fight her in her current state."
Though her power had increased by leaps and bounds ever since her 'awakening' during Zao Shin's Immortal Banquet, Fenrir was still a lot weaker than Mikoto and Usalia. The former wasn't all that far behind Vahn in terms of actual Tier while the latter was durable enough to survive the collapse of a universe. If anyone could make Kefla feel as though she had hit a wall, it was Usalia.
Nodding in affirmation of Fenrir's request, the hair on Usalia's body began to flare outward as it became noticeably spikier. Her tail, in particular, seemed to inflate like a balloon, quickly increasing to the size of a large melon as red electricity crackled across her body.
Believing that time was of the essence, Usalia followed her transformation by squatting down onto all fours and practically teleporting in the direction of the conflict. A massive explosion crashed into the bodies of Fenrir and Mikoto, but, thanks to their magical barriers, the dust flowed around them as they began to discuss changes to their original plan...
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Amaterasu was afraid.
For the first time since her encounter with the Demon God, Amaterasu knew what it meant to feel completely powerless. Her body vehemently refused to listen to her, and, no matter what kind of defenses she tried to put up, Vahn would tear through them as though they were paper. To make matters worse, each of his attacks was followed by a period of calm. He was, quite literally, giving her the chance to regenerate and retaliate just to demonstrate the futility of her actions...
"Please...no more..."
After experiencing the pain of having her avatar ripped limb from limb more than a dozen times, Amaterasu had already lost the will to fight. Vahn had even managed to punch clean through her Sacred Mirror, the Yata no Kagami. It was supposed to be able to reflect any attack, but, as if there was no force in creation capable of stopping his blow, Vahn managed to smash through it before piercing through her avatar's chest with such precision that the tip of his claw nearly grazed her true self.
Stopping just as his claws were about to tear out the avatar's throat, Vahn retracted his hand long enough to say, "Those that willfully endanger children and try to leverage the lives of the innocent against their opponents have no right to clemency. As beings that stand above countless others, we have an obligation to set an example. If we don't care, why should anyone else...?"
Despite his words, Vahn didn't immediately continue his assault on Amaterasu's avatar. Instead, he shifted his gaze toward one of the cameras focusing on the action. This prompted the majority of displays to show the same image as he declared, "The Little Garden may be a crucible to determine who has the right to govern reality, but it is also a place for entertainment and fun. The existence of Gift Games was supposed to allow us to compete without causing harm. Instead, it has become a tool used by the strong and opportunistic to oppress and take advantage of the weak. Most of the current residents of the Little Garden lack even the most basic qualifications to participate in a Gift Game yet their lives and living conditions are decided through them..."
Shaking his head, Vahn raised one of his massive, clawed hands before forming it into a fist as he said, "No more. Soon enough, my Aldrnari Empire will spread its influence through all four districts of the Little Garden. If I find there are people exploiting the Gift Game system to take advantage of others, the only mercy they should expect from me is a quick death..."
Manifesting a star-sized version of Laev-tan, Vahn swept it through Amaterasu and her foxy avatar before she could even blink. She was instantaneously ejected from the Game Board but the image that was burned into the hearts and minds of the spectators wasn't the defeat of one of the most prominent Sun Goddesses. It was the sight of a massive, abyssal black rift dividing the Game Board in two...
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Rising with a start, Amaterasu found herself searching her body in a panic. The attack Vahn had used against her was empowered by the Law of Destruction, so, even though the Central Network had protected her, cold sweat had developed across her body as the fear she might break down at any moment persisted in the back of her mind.
Fortunately, while Laev-tan did, in fact, carry the Law of Destruction within her, Vahn controlled it so that it only affected Amaterasu's physical vessel. He could even cut through fate at his current level so controlling the power of destruction to 'spare' her mental and spiritual energies was remarkably simple.
After confirming that she wasn't going to spontaneously dissolve into dust, a sigh of extreme relief departed Amaterasu's lips as she collapsed against the throne-like chair in her private waiting room. For several minutes after that, she just stared off into space, her eyes periodically shifting in and out of focus as she replaced the battle over and over within her mind.
Though he had ripped her limb from limb, Amaterasu recalled that there was never a moment when Vahn showed a genuine desire to kill her.
"Was he trying to break me...?"
Shaking her head in response to her own question, Amaterasu reasoned that if Vahn had wanted to break her, she wouldn't be sitting in her Community's waiting room right now. It was far more likely that Vahn had acted with the intention of teaching her a lesson and illustrating the fate that awaited those who opposed him...
Recalling the moment Vahn had grabbed her throat, Amaterasu's fingers subconsciously moved to her neck. She became keenly aware that her heart was beating far faster than usual, but, instead of feeling discomfort, she felt relief. If Vahn had wanted to kill or replace her, Amaterasu had no doubt he could have done exactly that. He had even prepared an Amaterasu of his own, but, from start to finish, she never appeared. She didn't know what had changed his mind, but, feeling that Vahn had given her the clemency she had been looking for, Amaterasu decided to carve his final warning into her heart as she began to reflect on her past actions...
(A/N: So many buts in that last paragraph...also, since there is a good chance that people have forgotten, Vahn keeps the true bodies of his family/friends/lovers in his personalized LG. Those appearing 'outside' are basically just avatars. Caulifla and Kale are actually a few months preggers atm.)
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(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Vahn really knows how to split a girl in two...','Kefla is a naughty girl...','A very one-sided affair o_o...')
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