Though the blue-haired youth gave off the impression of someone who was exceptionally skilled, the difference between him and Scathach was like heaven and earth. After all, while the latter had lost the knowledge attributed to the [Wisdom of the Haunted Ground], she was a Grandmaster in virtually all forms of martial arts. Even this, however, was nothing compared to her mastery over the spear, and, thanks to her 'Slaughter Goddess' Divine Core' providing her functionally infinite energy, it wasn't an overstatement to say she was one of, if not the greatest Spear Bearers in the Tower.
Unfortunately for the youth, Scathach behaved similarly to her original self whenever she dealt with outsiders. She only truly opened up to a small handful of people, and, though her power sometimes lagged behind some of the higher-tiered individuals, her potential was comparable to Asuna's. With the latter being Tier 5, this demonstrated just how monstrous Scathach could be, a prowess derived almost entirely from her steadfast determination to become strong...
Having only ever experienced this kind of suppression when sparring against his father, the blue-haired youth's fair complexion became noticeably pale as he attempted to parry Scathach's attack with a flourish of his staff. This proved to be a successful maneuver, but, as if she had seen through his intentions completely, a second spear, almost like a phantom image of the first, stabbed into his shoulder.
Feeling intense pain radiate through his entire body for the umpteenth time, the youth did his best to retreat backward, his nerves crying out in protest as he forced himself to inquire, "Are you really just a Regular? What Family are you from...?"
Ignoring the youth's question entirely, Scatchah's body seemed to split into a multitude of phantom images, each indistinguishable from the rest. This caused the smile on the youth's face to fade away in its entirety, his expression demonstrating nervous conviction as the ends of his staff fragmented into tiny pieces. From within, two kite-like spear tips emerged, each appearing inordinately sharp as a core of lightning-infused Shinsu pulsated at their center.
Demonstrating a degree of skill that greatly eclipsed most Regulars, the youth proceeded to take evasive maneuvers as he flourished his shattered staff in a series of complex motions. At the same time, the kite-like speartips began to move at extreme speeds, their motion resembling a tempest that seemingly produced countless other speartips.
Completely ignoring the multiplying speartips, the phantom images of Scathach made no attempts to dodge as they charged towards the tempestuous youth. This caused the prodigious member of the Khun Family to mistakenly believe they were illusions, as, even when a speartip passed through their bodies, they didn't so much as flinch. Unfortunately for him, the technique Scathach was using was functionally similar to the State of Nothingness, so, while they appeared somewhat illusory due to the use of several other techniques, each was, unmistakably, real.
Realizing this far too late, the blue-haired youth soon lost the ability to stand as Scathach began an omnidirectional assault that resulted in dozens of precise cuts all across his body. The accuracy of these incisions was so precise that none penetrated more than a single millimeter, yet, in spite of this, each delivered such an extreme degree of pain that most victims would have readily accepted actual torture in its place.
Though his mind wasn't able to process her words, that didn't stop Scathach from stabbed the tip of her spear next to the youth's head as she softly muttered, "One-hundred..." in a cold monotone.
With the blade of Scathach's spear coming dangerously close to the youth's cheek, Vahn used his Telekinesis to alter its trajectory. Fortunately, Scathach recognized his interference and allowed him to modify her otherwise machine-precise attack without so much as a subtle change in expression. Instead, she shifted her attention to a different location, her ruby-red eyes locking with the electric-blues of a young girl with a petite frame and pale-blue hair.
Smiling in response to Scathach's acknowledgment, the dainty-looking girl, garbed in a dark blue blouse and a light-blue skirt that closely resembled a Japanese school uniform, alighted from her perch before pulling out a lance-like sword and remarking, "You're strong. Tell me, are you one of this generation's Princesses of Jahad?"
Rather than answering the girl's questions, Scathach remained silent for several tense moments before ultimately turning her back and walking away. This caused the expectant smile on the girl's face to immediately vanish, her left brow twitching ever-so-slightly as vibrant sparks of radiant blue electricity began to dance around her. Despite this, Scathach didn't even bother to look back as she casually walked to stand beside the spectating Vahn.
Surprised by Vahn's 'sudden' appearance, the pale-haired youth adopted a look of caution as she held up her peculiar sword and said, "You must have come here for a reason. This isn't a place just anyone can reach. Tell me, what is your aim?"
Rather than answering the girl's question, Vahn gave Scathach's head a gentle caress before using his Unit Management to recall her to the Town of the Wandering Minstrel. This caused the look on the young woman's face to darken considerably, not because she was being ignored, but because she believed she was being looked down upon.
Deciding she would get her answers after the fight had ended, a tremendous amount of lightning began to flow from the youthful-looking girl's body as she charged forward with speed comparable to a Ranker. Her intention was to skewer Vahn's insides so that she could paralyze and electrify him over an extended period of time, her method of choice whenever she had to deal with people who annoyed her.
Recognizing the sadistic glimmer in the girl's eyes, Vahn fought against the urge to roll his eyes as he allowed her spear to impale his gut. This caused a hint of excitement to appear within the girl's expression, but, almost immediately thereafter, her eyes rounded as she attempted to retract her weapon and flee backward.
Preventing this from happening, Vahn's left hand tightened around the one she used to hold her sword as his right hand impacted the crown of her head in a chopping motion. This caused all the electricity emanating from her body to short out in an instant as her legs buckled, forcing her to fall flat on her bottom. Then, with moisture building in her eyes, she began rubbing the top of her head while looking up at him with a hateful expression on her face.
Realizing why Maschenny would want to destroy her younger counterpart, a wry smile developed across Vahn's face as he released the teary-eyed girl's hand and said, "I'll fight you as much as you want later. For now, take me to your-"
Before he could finish speaking, the young girl, unquestionably the Data of Maschenny Jahad in her youth, adopted an even more hateful pout as she said, "Fuck you. If you're that eager to die, go find him yourself. You think I'm going to obey you just because you struck my head? If you're not going to take this seriously, you can just fuck off...!"
Punctuating her words, Maschenny released a violent explosion of lightning-infused Shinsu as she threw a vicious haymaker towards his crotch. This caused the wry smile on Vahn's face to become even more prominent, and, though she wasn't his child to discipline, he was suddenly seized by an urge to follow Ureko's example and give the violent youth a spanking. Instead, he sidestepped the attack, lightly smacking Maschenny's outstretched hand in the process.
Annoyed by the fact she was still being looked down upon, Maschenny's hair began to float upward as she threw a series of surprisingly sharp blows aimed at various vital points. It was almost like her hands had become spears, and, though she had formed them into fists, Vahn could still feel the tell-tale influence of Spear Laws contained within each strike. Were it not for his nigh-invulnerability, her strikes might have even left small puncture wounds in his palms.
Undeterred by the ease in which Vahn received and deflected her strikes, the speed of Maschenny's punches continued to increase as an instinctual war cry emanated from her throat. This caused the lightning emitting from her body to become even more violent, the bands increasing in strength to the point that they began to carve deep trenches through the solidified ice-cream structure. This, in turn, caused the interior to begin melting, as, on the low end, the temperature of each vibrant band was close to 5,000 degrees Celsius.
To prevent the lightning from going out of control, Vahn quickly purchased a few copper rods from the system shop before littering them around the battlefield. These acted as improvised lightning rods, and, though they did little to prevent the temperature from increasing, they drastically helped to reduce the amount of collateral damage.
Noticing the strange rods appearing in her periphery, Maschenny promptly ceased her assault in an attempt to get a better grasp of the situation. The moment she attempted to leap back, however, a second chop impacted the crown of her head, once again dispersing her accumulated electricity. To make matters even worse, it impacted the exact same spot as the first time, and, due to her attempt to jump backward, she ended up sliding across the partially melted ice cream on her rump.
Though he knew the Data was more than eleven-hundred-years-old, Vahn couldn't help feeling a little awkward when the younger version of Maschenny liberated her ice cream covered figure from the channel carved by her butt. It was fortunate she wore dark-blue tights and a similarly blue cape, as, if she was anything like her older counterpart, a t-back wouldn't have provided much protection against the chilled and exceptionally sticky substance...
With much of her body covered in sticky goop, Maschenny's anger had increased inversely to her desire to continue fighting within the ice cream cone. She hadn't thought about it in the beginning, but, now that things had developed to this point, she realized fighting on this particular battlefield wasn't the smartest decision she had ever made. Her opponent was far more powerful than she had anticipated, and, thanks to the unique structure of the battlefield, her own was limited considerably.
Resisting the urge to massage the swelling bump on her head, Maschenny glared at Vahn, her blue eyes crackling with electricity as she said, "I will never forget this shame...even if it costs me my life, I swear to do everything within my power to end you..."
Since he had actually been intending to recruit her in order to spite the real Maschenny, the corner of Vahn's smile began to twitch as he extended his hand and said, "Come now...there is no need to say things like that. I mean, I haven't actually done anything other than defending myself and giving you two light chops to the head. Is that any reason to hold a life and death grudge...?"
Though she was initially going to retort, Maschenny momentarily paused as a warm and slightly ticklish sensation enveloped her body. Almost immediately thereafter, the sticky residue coating much of her body began to dissolve away, replaced by a clean and remarkably refreshing feeling. Unfortunately, the same sensation also affected the more sensitive regions of her body, so, rather than expressing even a hint of gratitude, Maschenny's brows began to twitch violently as a not-so-subtle blush colored her otherwise fair complexion.
Restraining herself until the sticky feeling had completely disappeared, a fresh layer of moisture developed across Maschenny's eyes as she charged toward's Vahn with a hate-filled expression, shouting, "You damned pervert...!" as a circular mirror appeared behind his back. This caused the smile on Vahn's face to completely freeze, and, though he could have easily evaded her charge, he allowed Maschenny to effectively drop kick him since he could sense the presence of someone far more powerful on the other side...
(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Shishou don't play around...','Vahn be like, "Be still, my right hand..."','Some lessons just don't stick...')
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Despite his face being used as a springboard, Vahn's expression remained largely unchanged as he shifted his attention from the aggrieved Maschenny to view the inordinately handsome man with the characteristic features of the Khun Family sitting on an ornate stone throne. This resulted in Maschenny gritting her teeth, and, though she knew it was ultimately futile, that didn't stop her from condensing a phenomenal amount of lightning-infused Shinsu into a tiny spherical pill.
With the handsome man silently observing the battle with a smile, even as sparks danced around his body, Vahn couldn't help but shake his head, saying, "Even if she was born outside, she is still your daughter. Are you just going to watch as she destroys her body...?"
Frowning in response to Vahn's words, the inordinately handsome man, famous throughout the Tower for his heaven-sent appearance, adopted a slight frown as he coldly replied, "I would be an even worse father if I intervened in a battle she did not wish me to partake in. Besides, the girl you see before you is merely a collection of data. So long as the Hidden Floor persists, she will respawn indefinitely. If I intervened, she would only come to resent me for robbing her of a powerful foe..."
Adopting a frown of his own, for a variety of reasons, Vahn returned his attention to Maschenny to find that most of her cells had been completely saturated with lightning. In a way, it was almost like a version of Magia Erebea, but, compared to the completed spell that had made Eva into a legend, the 'Lightning Pill' consumed by members of the Khun Family was a pale imitation.
Deciding to teach both of them a lesson, a sigh escaped Vahn's throat as bands of golden lightning began to emit from his body. This caused the man's eyes to widen slightly, his fingers digging into the material of his throne as the vibrant blue lightning around his body increased in intensity.
At the same time that Maschenny charged towards him, her figure completely shrouded in a cloak of lightning, a far more intense variety erupted from Vahn's body as he deftly snatched her fist out of the air. This resulted in her unhesitantly sacrificing her wrist, but, with a reaction speed that saw everything the temperamental youth did in slow motion, Vahn was able to effectively 'walk' around her during the motion of her spinning kick.
Unable to perceive Vahn's movements due to his complete and utter lack of a presence, a look of panic briefly appeared across Maschenny's face before a sharp pain erupted from the back of her neck. She could feel the connection between her brain and body momentarily severed, but, rather than accepting the sweet embrace of unconsciousness, she forcibly re-established the connection before issuing a loud war cry as she twisted around and attempted to stab Vahn with her bare hand. Unfortunately, by the time she turned around, her target was nowhere to be found, as, in relation to her perception, Vahn's movement speed might as well be teleportation.
With his previous effort causing Maschenny to push her body even further beyond its limits, Vahn decided it was time to bring the battle to its conclusion. Thus, before she could further exacerbate the situation, he placed his palm against her back, surging his source energy into her body before retracting it along with all the lightning elemental energy saturating her cells. This would have been very dangerous in the 'real' world, but, thanks to her form being almost entirely comprised of data, he could cut a surprising number of corners.
Like a marionette that had its strings unceremoniously cut, Maschenny collapsed forward with the whites of her eyes showing. Fortunately, rather than the cold hard ground, her face collided with an exceptionally plush beanbag, her form sinking into the soft yet durable material before becoming completely limp.
Feeling mildly exasperated, a tired sigh escaped Vahn's throat as he shifted his attention away from Maschenny's unconscious form to find the inordinately handsome man from before observing him with an intrigued glimmer in his eyes. Then, nearly causing him to fall over, the man unashamedly inquired, "Are you another one of my brats? Did you come here to see how you measure up against me in my youth...?"
Though he had never really cared all that much about the identity of his father, Vahn couldn't help by feel annoyed by the ridiculous question. Unfortunately, this seemed to give the man the wrong idea, his smile becoming even more prominent as he added, "Very well then. Come to papa." while rising to his feet.
Under normal circumstances, Vahn liked to think of himself as a relatively easy-going person. Sure, he got mad whenever people performed violent and profane acts, but, more often than not, he did his best to just go with the flow. This was not the case when he heard the man's remark. Instead, he felt as though something in the back of his mind had shattered, and, were it not for his [Will of the Emperor] kicking into overdrive, Vahn felt as though he might have activated his Bankai then and there...
Taking advantage of the fact that the man had too much pride to throw the first blow, Vahn did his best to calm down by combing back his pale-golden, inordinately spiky, hair. Then, with a textbook example of a deadpan, he looked towards the smiling man and said, "Utterly ridiculous. If my father was half as despicable as your real-world counterpart, I would have died from shame long ago..."
Shaking his head in response to his own words, Vahn decided there was no sense in discussing such things. Instead, he adopted a loose stance with countless openings as he muttered, "Whatever...let's get this over with. Show me the strength of one of the so-called Great Warriors..."
Having grown rather accustomed to his children hating him, the man simply shrugged in response to Vahn's words before manifesting a circular mirror and saying, "Let's change locations. It might be reset after you leave, but I'd rather not destroy my home. Besides, you seem to possess an irrational concern for my daughter's data. I don't want you to get distracted trying to protect her."
Resisting the urge to snort through his nose, Vahn stepped through the circular mirror without any fear or hesitation. He knew the man wouldn't be able to resist a good fight, and, while there was a small chance the mirror might lead to some kind of prison, it didn't really matter.
Smiling in response to Vahn's daring behavior, the handsome man briefly shifted his gaze to the unconscious form of his daughter, muttering, "I hope you don't resent me too much for taking away your toy...." before stepping through the mirror's surface. There, he found Vahn standing in the air a few hundred meters away, golden lightning shrouding his onyx-colored body.
With the corners of his smile curling upward, the man couldn't help but muse, "Are you enjoying the opportunity to look down on the future leader of the Khun Family? Careful. If you inflate your ego too much, you might break once you experience defeat."
Raising his right hand towards the sky, Vahn allowed his Lightning Emperor form to dissipate as he replied in a dull tone, "Let's put that theory to the test...I wonder which will break first, your body, or your pride. Either way, it's time you experienced what true power looks like. Don't worry, even the real Khun Eduan might not fare much better..."
Though he would have normally offered a rebuttal, the inordinately handsome man, none other than the data of Khun Eduan, went on high alert the moment he sensed the phenomenal energy circulating around Vahn's hand. This caused the vibrant blue lightning around his body to increase in magnitude, thick bands tearing through the surrounding landscape as he generated two highly compressed Baangs at his fingertips.
Ignoring Eduan's reaction completely, Vahn allowed his eyes to close as the flow of time around his body slowed to a crawl. Moments later, without any actual time passing, a petite figure with short brown hair, aquamarine eyes, fiery horns, a similarly flaming tail, and red-hot heels manifested in front of him. Then, as if a chain reaction had been set off, several other petite, exotic, and adorable figures began to appear around him as Vahn opened his eyes and said, "Remember...I can't use all of you at once. Don't rampage just because you're feeling left out..."
Like a bunch of elementary and middle schoolers who had just received a light warning from their favorite teacher, the collection of more than a hundred peculiar entities each chorused, "Hai~!" in a happy tone. This left Vahn feeling a little exasperated, but, understanding the need to master each and every one of them, he began to ruffle the hair of those within reach as his true self opened his eyes and exclaimed, "Bankai...! Senjin Kōshin, March of a Thousand Blades...!"
Following the exclamation, the sky around Vahn resembled a volcanic eruption as a veritable wall of magma-like flames exploded outward, enveloping everything for tens of kilometers. In the wake of this explosion, the surrounding environment resembled a hellish landscape of fire and brimstone as more than a hundred flaming swords hovered in the air behind a now-armored Vahn.
With armor resembling still-cooling obsidian, complete with a helmet set with flaming horns, Vahn knew he looked like a textbook example of an Evil or Demonic Dragon God. Despite this, he was rather fond of the armor as it was actually the form Laev-tan took when he awakened his Bankai. She seemed to realize that he wouldn't be able to wield her against most of his foes, and, perhaps as a result of his armor generally melting down or breaking, she ultimately decided to become his armor so that he could freely use other weapons.
Unfortunately, perhaps as a result of her jealousy, the gauntlets of said armor emitted such extreme heat that it was nearly impossible to hold onto another weapon without melting it. The inclusion of Destruction Laws all but guaranteed this, so, while it wasn't his original reason for using Telekinesis, Vahn's mastery over the psychokinetic art allowed him to wield dozens of weapons without needing to actually hold them. Unfortunately, this had the rather disadvantageous consequence of making his growing number of Zanpakuto Spirits rather...disorderly...
Despite his prior warning, Vahn was forced to proactively use his Telekinesis to rein in a few of the Laevatein-looking blades as they attempted to stab to understandably surprised Eduan. This caused the blades to release frustrated, sulky, and pouty hums, but, with a firm, "Patience..." Vahn was able to silence most of them before turning his attention to Eduan and saying, "Though my appearance might lead you to believe otherwise, I'm not particularly fond of bullying the weak. These weapons you see around me are the greatest masterpieces I have forged over the years. In many ways, they are similar to my children. Since you chose not to intervene during my battle with Maschenny, I will afford you a similar opportunity. For the following one-hundred-and-thirty-eight minutes, I will not attack you. Instead, with the passage of each additional minute, one of my creations will enter the fray. If you can move me from this position before each has had their turn, you will have the right to proclaim yourself the victor..."
Though he had been utterly gobsmacked by Vahn's display of power, Eduan's brow began to twitch ever more violently with each word spoken by the former. It had been a long time since he endured such insults, so, while he was actually looking forward to the fight quite a bit, that didn't stop him from raising the middle finger of his right hand and exclaiming, "Fuck you...!" in a manner similar to his daughter. Then, with a phenomenal amount of lightning elemental energy gathering around his body, he exploded into the air like a reverse meteor...
(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Cozy beanbag (O w O)...','We've come full circle. Now it is the loli who protec Vahn...!','We're reaching levels of Chuuni that shouldn't be possible...!')
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