Endless Path : Infinite Cosmos

Though Vahn enjoyed walking alongside Ais (and Lefiya), it wasn't long before the happy atmosphere began to fade. By the time they had reached the stairs, even with Vahn's domain, the mood was beginning to turn grim. When they made it past the 'Wall of Grief', the site where Vahn had recently slain the Goliath, everyone had solemn expressions. However, after Vahn inspected them, he noticed they weren't expressions of helplessness, but conviction and determination.Due to the nature of the 17th floor, it eventually came time for Vahn to release Ais's hand or else it would be difficult traversing through the dungeon. The atmosphere had influenced him as well, and Vahn continued forward without speaking much. Along the way, there were a few monsters that spawned, but they were all instantly annihilated by the vanguard. Each successive kill seemed to increase the atmosphere a bit, so Vahn was thankful for the dungeons 'cooperation'.The group made fast progress through the 17th floor and arrived in the corridor before the stairs that led to the upper floors. Everyone began to break off into their assigned groups, so Vahn had to move ahead of the majority and stand amongst Tiona, Tione, and Riveria. Lefiya ended up joining as well, while Ais continued forward and joined the advance group. Seeing the small party of adventurers, Vahn felt slightly concerned. Ais was still just a very small girl and watching her join the team that was expected to draw the attention of the Juggernaut, Vahn couldn't help but feel worried.Vahn noticed that the sword Ais was carrying wasn't of a very high quality, even though the materials it was made of were very sturdy. Remembering that she seemed to destroy her weapons commonly in the manga, Vahn made his determination and ran up to the vanguard group. Seeing his approach, Finn frowned slightly before saying, "Vahn, I know you are strong, but it would be very difficult for you to fight against the Juggernaut. You should stay with the second group and provide support with your unique skills."Shaking his head, Vahn ignored Finn and walked up to Ais. Pulling out his tamahagane sword from his inventory, Vahn selected the gift function with Ais as the recipient. As he had just recently got her affection to 90, he was able to gift her a single item per month. "Ais, take this with you. It should be much stronger than your current sword." Seeing the concern in his eyes, Ais smiled and received the sword. She was shocked when she felt how light it was, so she gave it a few practice swings and was amazed at how easy the large blade was to handle.Finn also noticed the unique quality of the blade and asked if he could take a look at it. Vahn tried to stop him, but Ais had handed it over without thinking. The moment Finn's hand made contact with the handle, the blade jerked away and spun until it had stuck into the wall of the dungeon. Finn stared in shock at the display before he turned toward Vahn with a questioning look on his face. Vahn said plainly, "The items I have are made with a special technique, and they can only be used by myself and those I gift them to. Right now the sword belongs to Ais, and nobody else can touch it."Finn seemed surprised by the claim as Ais walked over and grabbed the sword from the wall. Vahn quickly explained its uses, "The blade has an enchantment that greatly increases its sharpness while reducing the weight. It might be a bit awkward at first, but I think it is very suitable for your style of combat." Hearing his words, Ais focused her energy into the blade and saw the runes begin to glow. By the time they had spread across the body of the blade, she noticed that the weight had almost disappeared.Ais had the biggest smile on her face that Vahn had ever seen. It was almost like her eyes were glowing as she marveled at the sword's capabilities. Turning towards Vahn, Ais stepped forward and in front of the entire gawking crowd, she kissed Vahn. She held the kiss for a few seconds before pulling away and saying, "Thank you Vahn." She then separated from him and started practicing using the sword a bit away from everyone else.Finn, who had been unaware of the 'progress' that had been made between Vahn and Ais recently stared between the two of him as if he had just witnessed the most unbelievable scene in the world. After a while, when he finally managed to compose himself, he looked toward Vahn and said, "I thought you would end up with Tiona...I never expected Ais to fall for you as well. It hasn't even been a day..." As he spoke the last words, Finn just shook his head and sighed.Motioning towards Gareth, who was giving Vahn a 'thumbs up', Finn began to lead the fuming Bete and the 'excited' Ais away. Before she had joined them, Ais removed the sword from her hip and ran over to give it to Vahn. "Here, just in case." Vahn received the sword with a smile before watching her join the rest of the Vanguard team. Seeing her 'happily' move away while carrying his tamahagane blade made Vahn feel a little less worried about what would happen.Rejoining the 'ambush' party, Vahn noticed that Tiona was looking toward him with a smile on her face. Once he got near, she closed the distance before saying, "I am really jealous she got a gift before me~ Make sure you remember that for later, okay~?" Though she was 'acting' mad, Vahn noticed she was very happy for some reason. He decided to ask her, "You seem very happy?"Tiona laughed cheekily before saying, "That's because I realized you're the type that worries about people, even if they are stronger than you. It makes me happy knowing you look at us like girls, instead of just strong warriors. It was my dream to be treated like a princess, ya know~?" Vahn noticed that she mentioned 'was', so he once again spoke. "Was? Why not anymore?"The smile on Tiona's face froze a little as a small amount of melancholy appeared, very briefly, in her eyes before fading away. "I learned when I was very young that you can't always wait for a prince to come and save you. Now, I've become much stronger than I was then...so I guess it just kinda faded away naturally~?" Tiona spoke in a chipper tone, but Vahn understood she was having sad thoughts as he could see her aura flicker slightly with a bluish hue.Vahn reached out his hand to place it on her hair, but before he finished the motion, he changed the trajectory of his hand and placed it on her cheek instead. Tiona stared at him with wide-eyes as Vahn gently stroked her cheek and passed his fingers through her hair in an affectionate manner. "I may not be able to do so now, but I will try to treat you like a princess in the future. Don't be sad, okay?"A red hue began to appear on Tiona's face as her eyes began to slowly build up moisture. Vahn could feel his instincts begin to trigger, and he realized he may have pushed his actions a little too far. Luckily, since everyone seemed to be interested in what Vahn was going to do, Tione had stepped in after noticing the change in her sister. "Alright you two, break it up! We don't have time for your lovey-dovey stuff right now. Stay focused!"Tiona was dragged away by Tione as she stared at Vahn with a somewhat heated expression on her face. Fortunately, she hadn't lost her mind like earlier as she allowed herself to be pulled away without resisting. Vahn just stood there watching as a voice sounded out from his left. "You cheater..." Vahn turned his head and saw Lefiya glaring at him while standing next to Riveria who had a slightly exasperated expression on her face. Seeing Vahn look over, Riveria said, "Vahn, the dungeon isn't the place to pick up girls. Flirt when you get back to town, we have a mission to do."Riveria began giving orders to the 'ambush' team and the group made their way to the area outside the 13th floor. The 'garrison' group split off from the main party and went to their designated area on the 14th floor. Eventually, Vahn's group had caught up and he was able to see the 'vanguard' party acknowledge their presence before entering the 13th floor proper. The 'ambush' group waited outside the door as Riveria listened for the sounds of combat.Everyone remained absolutely silent as they were waiting for the signal to enter the floor. The 'vanguard' was charged with drawing the attention of the Juggernaut before pulling it away if necessary. In the time they were engaging the creature, the 'ambush' group would move to their assigned spot on the 13th floor, an area that connected to the 14th floor through a series of holes.Twenty minutes of soul-crushing silence later, the group was able to feel the reverberations of the dungeon. Riveria's ears twitched slightly as she signaled to the 22 members of the 'ambush' party. "Let's move, we don't have a lot of time!" Before her words even finished, Riveria began leading the charge into the 13th floor. Following closely behind her were Tiona and Tione, while Vahn ran alongside Lefiya slightly ahead of the rest of the group.While they were running, Vahn noticed that Lefiya was holding her staff so tightly that her fingers were turning white. She had a fearful expression on her face, and she looked somewhat out of place amongst all the older adventurers in the party. As she was only 12, Lefiya was the youngest person in the entire group. Though she had the option to join the 'garrison' party, she had resolved herself to join the 'ambush' team so she could be of use. Though attack magic wouldn't work on the Juggernaut, Lefiya was also a capable healer and could case various buffs with the support of her unique skill [Elf Ring]. (A/N: Elf Ring lets Lefiya use ANY elven magic, as long as she knows the chant. Because of this, she is known as the Thousand-Elf in the canon.)Vahn felt Lefiya was very brave, but it was somewhat pitiful to see her current appearance. Without notice, he reached out his hand and channeled the strongest version of [Hands of Nirvana] he could while placing his hand on her shoulder. Lefiya startled a bit at the contact, but after seeing it was Vahn, she actually felt a little relieved. Feeling the calming and warm energies enter her body, the fear that had begun to settle in her mind was rapidly chased away.After a few seconds, Lefiya blushed slightly before knocking Vahn's hand away. She continued to run in silence without making eye contact for a few seconds before whispering in a low voice. "Thank you..." Vahn was still paying attention to Lefiya, so even though she spoke the words very quietly, he was able to hear her. Smiling, Vahn said, "You are very brave Lefiya, but don't try too hard. If things get dangerous, I will try to protect you."Lefiya gave Vahn a sideways glance before sighing in an exasperated manner. She gave Vahn a strange look and asked directly, "Don't tell me you aren't satisfied with Ais and Tiona, now you're aiming for me as well?" Vahn hadn't expected the sudden words, and he nearly lost his footing on the uneven ground of the dungeon.(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Can't a guy be nice to a girl without bad intentions?','Where is the Juggernaut!?','Is it wrong to pick up girls in a dungeon? Probably.','Vahn creating future troubles with his handsy hands')

Vahn found his footing before he looked at Lefiya, who had still been staring at him with her accusatory look. Seeing her expression, Vahn felt like something in the back of his mind was sinking and he thought anything he might say would just sound like an excuse. "Sorry...I just don't like to see people sad." Lefiya's expression softened a bit at his words, but it wasn't long before her brows furrowed again."So why is it that all the people you try to 'comfort' happen to be girls? I'm sure there are plenty of men and women in the rest of the group that could use your 'support'." Lefiya emphasized the important words as she continued to stare at his flustered appearance. Vahn was actually considering her words, and turning his head, he was able to see a number of people that were also worried or scared.Vahn noticed that Lefiya wasn't entirely wrong in her claim, and he had actually been focusing more on the characters he knew from the story instead of the entire group as a whole. Realizing his 'mistake', Vahn frowned and began channeling his [Hands of Nirvana] into his domain with his maximum effort. A gentle, almost imperceptible white aura began to permeate throughout the corridor. The adventurers behind felt all of their stamina recovering, as the dark shadows that had begun to creep their way into their hearts were diffused by the warm energy.Lefiya noticed Vahn's actions and sighed even deeper than she did previously. In a quiet voice, she muttered in a manner that even Vahn wasn't able to hear. "I see, you're just an idiot..." Lefiya thought Vahn was the type to just mislead and chase after women, but recalling all the experiences she had with him up till this point, she realized he was just ignorant regarding a lot of things. He seemed completely devoid of a lot of the common-sense possessed by normal people. Even she, who had grown up in a somewhat sheltered environment, had more awareness than he did.Lefiya felt like, in a lot of ways, Vahn was just a child. Even when he had entered the bath with them earlier, he seemed to be completely immune to the presence of naked women around him. It wasn't until Tiona kissed him afterward that he began to question his actions. She began to wonder what kind of life a person would have to live to be so devoid of common social skills. In a way, she even began to feel pity for Vahn...she felt like, if someone had tried to take advantage of his apparent kindness, he would have suffered a lot if he hadn't met Tiona and Ais first.Vahn continued channeling his [Hands of Nirvana] until the group arrived at their setup location. They could hear the sounds of fighting nearby, and the reverberations of the powerful attacks were shaking the very dungeon itself. The party split into small groups and began forming a concave formation surrounding the corridor that the 'vanguard' would be pulling the Juggernaut through. Tensions began to rise as everyone prepared various long-range weapons and defensive spells.Vahn was assigned the role of acting as a support unit, so he was at the back of the group with Lefiya and Riveria. Tione and Tiona waited at the flanks near the corridor's entrance and were preparing to blindside the Juggernaut the moment it entered the room. Riveria began chanting a powerful one-way defensive magic that would be able to protect the party while still allowing them to attack. She then began chanting various area-of-effect buffs while targeting the various adventurers in the group.Lefiya, who was also supposed to be using support magic, looked toward Vahn before she performed her duties. "Vahn, no matter what, make sure you survive. Not just here, but no matter what happens in the future." Lefiya, like Tiona, believed that Vahn had the makings of a hero. His naive personality, combined with his desire to grow stronger and protect others, meant that, as long as he was able to survive, he would likely save countless lives in the future. Even if his relationship with Ais bothered her, she didn't want him to die just because he was currently weak.Vahn gave a bright smile toward Lefiya as his form rapidly changed into that of his Báihǔ transformation. "Thank you Lefiya. I promise I will survive." Vahn then pulled out his bow and knocked a mithril arrow onto the string. Lefiya was a bit surprised seeing his transformation up close, even though she had seen it during his previous fight. The transformation seemed to enhance his features a bit and gave him a 'wild' aura and a confident demeanor. It was almost like, with his physical transformation, his mentality also underwent a drastic change."Lefiya, I need your help with the preparations. We are short on time." Riveria was slowly beginning to become annoyed with how Vahn seemed to distract all the girls in the party since his arrival. She agreed that he had some fascinating aspects to him, but she didn't expect him to so drastically influence 'experienced' adventurers. She felt like, if she hadn't said anything, she would have had to buff the entire party on her own while Lefiya just stared toward Vahn.Lefiya jumped after hearing the cold words of Riveria. She began to quickly cast her buff magic on the groups starting from the left, the opposite side of where Riveria had started. Within a few minutes, everyone was ready and the shaking of the dungeon grew in intensity. At this point, the 'ambush' party could feel the individual explosions of the attacks and the powerful impacts that resulted from the collisions.A few moments later, Ais exited from the corridor, and everyone could see she was slightly covered in blood with a few bruises. Vahn, seeing her state, almost ran out to help her, but Riveria shouted, "Wait, Vahn. Stick to the plan or you'll only make things worse!" Riveria's command was sharp, and the words seemed to cut straight into him, making Vahn unable to move forward. Moments after Ais's appearance, Bete and Finn also exited the corridor in a somewhat worse-for-wear state.Finn was marginally less injured, and he immediately shouted out to the 'ambush' party, "Prepare yourselves!" After his shout, Finn spun around and held his spear low to the ground while waiting for the thundering creature to make its appearance. Bete and Ais retreated and began applying potions to their wounds so they could rejoin the fight. After another twenty seconds, a somewhat small figure came launching out of corridor at a fast speed. Sliding about 15m, Vahn recognized the figure as Gareth, who was in a much worse state than everyone that previously appeared.Almost immediately after Gareth was launched into the room, an incredibly fast moving monster emerged from the corridor. Vahn immediately recognized it as the 10m long, skeletal, Juggernaut. Like before, it was missing half of its face, and it now seemed to be covered in a variety of other wounds. The atmosphere in the room became intense in an instant as the two amazon sisters immediately attack from the sides of the creature.Tiona, wielding her massive Urga, landed a powerful blow into the torso of the Juggernaut, while her sister, Tione, tried to sever ones of its seemingly frail-looking limbs. Unfortunately, almost as if to make a mockery of the fierce attacks, Tione's daggers barely left a scratch on the thin arms, while Tiona's Urga only knocked the Juggernaut into the ground while leaving a small crack on its shell.Finn tried to use the moment when it was pressed to the ground to impale its head with his spear, but the blade only penetrated a few inches before the Juggernaut flailed and sent him flying with its spinning motion. Using its incredible speed, the Juggernaut tried to attack toward the nearby Tiona, but it was awarded for its efforts by a powerful body slam by Gareth. Though he hadn't fully recovered yet, Gareth wasn't the type to stand by and watch his companions get injured.The Juggernaut sent Gareth flying as Tiona opened up the distance and tried to lose it's aggro. At this point, there was nobody around the Juggernaut, so a barrage of attacks from the 'ambush' party came raining in on it. Though they were predominately ineffective, there were a few lucky attacks that managed to leave light wounds on the creature. Vahn had also loosed an arrow toward the remaining eye of the Juggernaut, but there seemed to be a strange force preventing it from penetrating the eye-socket.Screaming in rage, the Juggernaut released a powerful aura that knocked many of the projectiles from the sky. Almost as if had realized something in the attack, the Juggernaut turned its gaze before leaning forward in a crouching position. The arrow that had almost penetrated its eye reminded it of a previous encounter, and it turned towards the source and saw the enemy that had escaped it previously. A hazy steam began to build up around the Juggernaut as it began to enter a berserker state.At the end of its vision, Vahn suddenly felt as if he had been gripped by an imaginary force. The moment his arrow had landed, it was almost like the Juggernaut had locked onto him amongst all the adventurers present. He could see a seething hatred in its eye as his instincts began ringing alarms in his head. Vahn's pupils shrunk to the size of pinholes as the figure of the Juggernaut began accelerating toward him in slow motion.Unfortunately, no matter how slow the Juggernaut seemed to be moving, Vahn's body didn't seem to be listening to him. He stood there in the motion of just have loosed an arrow as the Juggernauts figure began to approach. All the sounds in the area seemed to become muted as the colors started fading from the vision he was seeing. The only thought passing through Vahn's mind was that of his impending death.As the enraged Juggernaut lurched forward to attack, it slammed heavily into the shield Riveria had formed to protect the 'ambush' party. She began to frown as she continued channeling her mana to sustain the shield. Finn, who had seen the strange actions of the Juggernaut, was incredibly confused by the turn of events. Though monsters sometimes displayed intelligence, Finn had never seen one completely ignore the people close to it and try to eliminate the weaker opponents first.Jumping to attack the enraged creature, Finn tried to follow its gaze and noticed that it seemed entirely focused on Vahn who was standing behind the rest of the party with Riveria and Lefiya. Finn thought, ("Could the Juggernaut remember Vahn having escaped its grasp previously? But, even if that was the case, there is no reason for it to act in such a ferocious manner..."). Suddenly, Finn remembered the green arrow that had collided against the shadowy substance of the Juggernaut's eye. Seeing the bow in Vahn's hand, Finn realized it must have become enraged after nearly losing its only remaining eye.Seeing the Juggernaut smash into the shield, Vahn was finally broken from the spell he was under. The moment of his demise that he had anticipated never came, and now he was able to see the Juggernaut smashing its claws into the shield in a rage. Finn, Tiona, Tione, Gareth, and Ais all began attacking its exposed back with heavy attacks. However, the Juggernaut just flailed and pushed them away with its arms and legs as it continued trying to destroy the barrier. The only thing on its feeble mind was destroying the accursed boy that had destroyed half of its face.Riveria's shield began showing cracks, but Lefiya began chanting a spell that enforced its structure. Every time new cracks would appear, they would rapidly heal which caused the Juggernaut to rage even more. Vahn, believing the barrier may not hold, repositioned himself behind Lefiya and Riveria and placed his palms on their backs. Though they were curious about his actions, they couldn't interrupt their chanting to question him. However, their concerns were soon blown away when they felt a powerful energy seeping into their bodies. Their diminishing mana reserves were rapidly restoring at a rate faster than they were being consumed.Instead of focusing on inputting the energy into his domain, Vahn imbued the entirety of his energy into his [Hands of Nirvana] with the support of his [Yggdrasil's Blessing]. He was converting his pure 'source' energy into mana, and it was easily able to replenish the mana stores of the two girls. The barrier that had been struggling to maintain itself now became solid and even glowed more brightly than it previously had.Seeing the barrier restored, the tensions in the room exploded as everyone began to shout out with loud war cries. The ambush party began focusing their attacks on the damaged areas of the Juggernaut as the Level 5-6 members continued to land heavy blows on the creatures frame. Slowly but surely, the Juggernauts actions began to slow as blood was dripping from the wounds all over its body. In its last moments of life, just as Finn channeled his strongest attack in a leaping lunge toward its core, the Juggernaut stared at Vahn with a hate-filled expression.Vahn felt a mental attack hit his mind as a powerful and corrosive energy tried to destroy his brain. His [Will of the Emperor] immediately exploded and resisted the attack, but Vahn still took a heavy amount of damage. A nauseous filling immediately overwhelmed him and it seemed like all the energy was draining from his body. Falling between the gap of the two elves, Vahn made contact with the ground at the exact same time as the Juggernaut did.The two stared at each other one last time before both falling into different forms of unconsciousness. Before Vahn completely blacked out, he mouthed the words that he had used to previously part with the Juggernaut. 'Fuck you'

Vahn felt something poking at his cheek, and he was slowly awakened from his unconscious state. While he was worrying about the future, he had finally managed to fall asleep and get some rest. Opening his eyes, Vahn froze up a bit as he saw Tiona smiling at him while poking his cheek. "Wake up sleepy head. It's time for us to go~" Tiona no longer had her amorous, and mad appearance, from earlier. Instead, she had returned to her normal and cheerful state which allowed Vahn's body to relax a bit.Accepting the hand she had offered, Vahn was raised to his feet and noticed that all the tents that were previously in the area had vanished. Now there was a large group of people being briefed and split into groups as they made their way toward the stairs. "Were you able to rest any?" Tiona, who was standing to his right, seemed to be overly concerned about the state of his body. Since she was unable to control herself earlier, she worried she may have injured Vahn.Vahn stretched his body before smiling toward her. "I feel great. Turns out I just needed a bit of rest after being high-strung for so long." Tiona nodded and showed a cheerful smile, and just as she was about to say something, Vahn placed his hand on her head. "Don't worry about it Tiona, I don't blame you for anything. I'd rather we put everything behind us and look toward the future from now on." Vahn had noticed she was acting down, and he wanted to cheer her up a bit.Tiona rubbed her hair against his palm and let out a satisfied laugh as she nestled herself closer toward him. Vahn didn't shy away from her affection, but he could see people giving them stares from the distance. Amongst the group of onlookers, Vahn saw Finn sighing with his hand on his forehead. Next to Finn, Riveria and Ais both looked over with their blank expressions, while Lefiya seemed to have calmed down a lot as she looked toward him with a small smile on her face.Though everyone had different reactions, there was one person who seemed to be genuinely upset by the show of affection. Bete, who was standing amongst the elite members of the Loki Familia, looked at Vahn with a glare and a grimace. "You two gonna keep acting like idiots, or are you ready to do some actual work?" Tiona, who had been enjoying the moment, looked at Bete with a fierce expression. Ais also seemed offended as she muttered in a low and cold voice. "Jerk."Bete's hair seemed to rise a bit as his expression turned very sour. It looked like he had just swallowed a bug, but instead of saying anything, he just glared toward Vahn with a dark expression in his eyes. "Really, a manly man. Hiding behind women suits you..." He spoke the words in a cruel and condescending manner which caused Vahn to frown deeply. Vahn didn't know what Bete had against him; there hadn't been anything between them, but Bete seemed adamant about trying to pick a fight with him.Looking directly into Bete's face, Vahn asked, "What do you have against me? I have never done anything to you." Even if it was his 'normal' personality, Vahn was dissatisfied with the common poor treatment he received from Bete. Hearing Vahn's question, Bete smiled and said snidely, "It is because you're weak, yet you have people building expectations for you. Without strength, what can you do!? How can you protect anyone!?" Bete's voice cracked a bit as he shouted out.Vahn hadn't known at the time, but Bete had lost most of the people he cared about due to his own selfishness and weakness. Nearly three years prior, Bete had been the Captain of the Vidar Familia. After he had obtained level 3 and became confident in his strength, he left the City to seek revenge against a fierce monster that had wiped out his clan. Unfortunately, when he should have returned back to the City in glory, he was instead met with tragedy. The majority of his Familia had been killed or injured while on an expedition, and to make matters worse, his Vice-Captain and lover had also died. Devastated, Bete spent the next few months squandering away all of his money while wasting away in pubs. It wasn't until he had picked a fight with Finn and Gareth in a drunken stupor that he was torn away from his cycle of self-destruction.After those events, Bete's personality had changed a great deal. He was now focused entirely on increasing his strength, and whenever he saw those weaker than him, especially other males, he became irritated seeing how complacent they were. He couldn't tolerate how they went about seemingly without a care, unaware that a single moment of carelessness could cost them everything they loved.Though Vahn didn't understand the reason, he could see Bete's aura fluctuate as a deep blue color began to spread until it encompassed the green that had been present till now. He understood that, though Bete was trying to hide it behind his anger, he was suffering inside as he lashed out at Vahn.It was very frustrating seeing how complex people could be, but he still didn't think Bete had any right to take out his emotions on him.Staring into the light-grey, pain-filled eyes of Bete, Vahn spoke, "Two years." Bete frowned after hearing the low voice of Vahn. He screamed out, "What 'two years', huh!?" Vahn held the eye-contact as he continued in a firm voice, "In two years, I will prove to you that I am not the weakling you think. I will become stronger than you, strong enough to protect everything! Just because you failed, doesn't mean I will fail!" The longer Vahn spoke, the more his emotions began to build, so by the end of his words, he had practically shouted.Bete gnashed his teeth and looked like he was about to charge at Vahn. He had anger in his eyes and the onlookers thought he wanted to tear the brave dark-haired boy apart. Ais, Tiona, and Tione became alert and prepared to intercept if he tried to attack. However, contrary to expectations, Bete spoke through clenched teeth, "Don't fuck it up." With those parting words, Bete spit onto the ground and went to stand next to Gareth.The moment he stood next to him, Gareth reached his hand over and patted Bete on the shoulder with a proud look on his face. Bete saw the look and clicked his tongue as he looked away from everyone. As nobody had expected Bete to suddenly stand down, there was a moment of silence among the entire group until Gareth loudly 'harumphed'. Finn, who was also among the stunned onlookers, immediately clapped his hands to get everyone's attention."Okay, it's time for us to move out. We don't have long to get everything set up, so we need to make haste to the 14th floor. Everyone keep your wits about you and stay safe." Everyone in the area nodded toward Finn while some made small cheers and tried to psyche themselves up. Vahn could see that the morale of the group was actually pretty low, as most people had little to no confidence when it came to fighting something like a Juggernaut.Vahn wanted to do something to change the atmosphere, so he let his domain expand until it covered the majority of the expedition party. Most people didn't notice, but he got a few curious looks from some within the crowd. The one who was most interested was obviously Riveria, as she began to wonder what he was trying to do 'this' time. Reaching out his hands, Vahn tried channeling his [Hands of Nirvana] and infusing the effects into the domain. As he had been able to infuse almost all of his previous skills, Vahn was hoping he would be able to do so this time as well.The gentle white light in his palms slowly dispersed as an almost imperceptible wave passed through the crowd. Suddenly, everyone felt warm energy penetrating their bodies, and all of their anxieties were slowly dissipating. Looking toward the boy who was standing with his arms outstretched toward them, they realized he was trying to help cheer everyone up. Some of the people in the crowd recognized Vahn from the earlier 'events', while others knew about him from the images that had circulated in the Hephaestus Familia recently.Vahn noticed his attempt was a success, so he began trying to infuse the energy with greater efficiency this time around. The white light began to spread from his palms, as some people in the crowd began to get riled up due to his efforts. Some of them began laughing while others looked toward their comrades and saw the conviction in each other's eyes. Nobody wanted to die, but it didn't mean they had to go into the situation expecting to. Seeing such a small boy working so hard was a powerful motivation for a lot of the veteran adventurers.Finn gave Vahn an appreciative smile as he loudly shouted out, "Let's go kill ourselves a Juggernaut! Nothing can stop us if we work together~!" This time, instead of a dismissive acknowledgment of his orders, everyone in the camp loudly cheered, "Oooooooou~! Kill the Juggernaut!!" They loudly began making their way toward the stairs in much higher spirits.Tiona, who had been standing next to Vahn, gave him a hug from behind and laughed in his ears. "Ahahaha, you really are a hero~! Just a casual wave of your hands and everyone became so much braver!" Feeling Tiona on his back, Vahn noticed there was a soft, yet very subtle-feeling pressing into him. His emotions began to rise a bit as a notification sounded in his mind.//[Hands of Nirvana] increased to rank: B//Suddenly, the light glow from his hands intensified as his emotions seemed to be conveyed into the area of his domain. Accompanying the 'healing' light, now people felt an excitement begin to well up inside of them. They began to cheer even louder, and Vahn felt like the entire atmosphere began to shift toward a peculiar direction. Tiona, who had been leaning on his back began to laugh out loud as she gave Vahn a big kiss on his cheek.Releasing his neck, she lifted up the huge weapon she had left on the side and hefted it onto her shoulder. "Let's go, let's go~! Onwards to victory~!!" Tiona was in incredibly high spirits as she flailed her left arm about and practically danced while following along with the marching party. Vahn was in a slight daze as he watched her figure, and it wasn't until the main group of the Loki Familia passed by him that he snapped out of it.Ais approached him and stared at the light emitting from his hands. Reaching out her own, she traced her fingers through the light before she issued a small smile on her face. "It is a good feeling. Is this what you used on Lefiya?" Hearing Ais mention her name, Lefiya, who was standing behind her began to blush after recalling the earlier events. She had been the first to notice that the 'light' was what had 'healed' her earlier, but hearing Ais mention things made her blush slightly.Vahn nodded his head at Ais's question which prompted her to grab his hand and place it on top of her head. She closed her eyes and opened her mouth slightly as she enjoyed the sensation coming from his palms. "Nnn, it is very comfortable." Vahn was shocked at her actions, and his energy fluctuated a bit and almost dispersed.Sensing his struggles, Ais blushed a bit before removing his hand. She began to follow along with the rest of the group before looking back toward Vahn. "Let's go Vahn..." She extended her hand out and Vahn walked forward to grab it. Ais had only intended to motion for him to follow, but seeing Vahn grab her hand and feeling the warm energy, she decided to keep her mouth shut. She walked alongside Vahn as they trailed slightly behind the main group. Lefiya, who was not much further behind them had a befuddled expression and looked like she was suffering from conflicting emotions.Vahn and Ais noticed the writing elf, and after a brief hesitation, Ais extended her other hand. "Lefiya, come..." Lefiya, who had been losing herself in her own delusions, immediately snapped out of it. Seeing the extended hand, her face beamed and a slight blush appeared on her cheeks. She quickly closed the distance and grabbed the outstretched hand. She now had a content smile on her face as she walked side-by-side with Ais...and Vahn.(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Hand holding? Lewd!','The Lonely Elf','Will of the Emperor is bae')

Chapter 104: Juggernaut Subjugation(1/2)