Endless Path : Infinite Cosmos

During the stay on the 39th floor, Vahn spent several hours looking around the area in an attempt to find any passageways that could have been used by Enyo's cronies to launch an ambush against them. However, other than some natural pathways, Vahn couldn't find anything remotely resembling a connecting passage to the artificial Dungeon. He wasn't sure how deep the structure went, but Vahn hadn't been able to find any signs of its existence beyond the 27th floor. This was a little strange to Vahn because he knew Enyo was supposed to be beyond the 60th floor and it didn't make sense how they were able to navigate to such a depth unless they had a way to bypass the dangers of the floors...After mapping the area of the 39th floor, Vahn returned to the encampment and began drawing out a detailed layout of the land before preparing for bed. Even if the Dungeon layout changed over time, Vahn didn't think it would be such a drastic change for wide open floors such as this one. Some of the 'secret' passageways were rather thin and Vahn couldn't see how they would be able to maintain their structure if the Dungeon was constantly reshaping itself. Even though the walls, floor, and ceiling, were made out of a very durable bedrock, it was still possible for cave-ins and such to occur during large battles. As the ground was littered with massive stones, Vahn postulated they had fallen from the roof at some point since it didn't make sense why the Dungeon would grow the outcrops on its own. He could see with his [Eyes of Truth] that, other than some ambient mana that could be found it all things, the rocks were relatively normal, at least for the time being.Compared to the previous rest periods, that could last around 10 hours, the expedition had taken a total of 14 hours to prepare for the final push to the 50th floor. Vahn could tell everyone was far more tense than normal and it made it feel like the festive atmosphere from the previous night had been an illusion. As she had often done during the trip, Tione began explaining to appease Vahn's curiosity, "Beyond the 39th floor, it is almost impossible to know what the Dungeon will be throwing at us anymore. Once we reach the 44th floor, we'll even lose most of our visibility and only the fire coming from the walls will be able to guide us forward. In the darkness between those floors, that is when we typically lose the most people..."Hearing Tione's explanation, Vahn furrowed his brows slightly because he expected such moments were ideal if their enemies planned to attack them. The fact more than three days had passed without a single appearance from them had been worrying Vahn a bit, as it was better to know the location of the enemy than have no idea what they were up to. Other than Enyo, the red-haired girl, and the strange earth mage, Vahn didn't even know what other forces they had at their disposal yet. Just the earth mage alone would be a major threat if they caught the expedition in an enclosed corridor...After preparations were finished, Finn gave the order and the expedition continued into the 40th floor, which still had the same white walls, floor, and ceiling as above. Though he wasn't at the furthest point in front, where Ais was commonly found, Vahn stayed relatively close to the main party and maintained his own position in the formation as he scouted for any dangers. With the words of caution from Tione, Vahn had grown somewhat concerned about the members of his own Familia but they had been moved into the interior convoy at this point as it was too dangerous for Level 2's to fight monsters directly at these levels.As a result, Naaza had begun using her bow to fire at any enemy within her range while Lili had been using a crossbow. Mikoto, as part of her training with Take' in the past, was also rather skilled with a bow so the three had made a small formation while Haruhime had been moved closer to the front. Her level-up magic would be a great boon during an emergency so she had been placed near Fenrir and they were surrounded by Riveria, Gareth, and Lefiya. Finn knew the 'importance' of every member of the Hestia Familia, as it had been stressed several times by Loki, so he had arranged for them to have 'relatively' safe positions before the expedition continued forward. Though he knew better than to mention it now, Finn was also concerned that Lili would be killed by a stray monster and this was an outcome he found unacceptable.After nearly seven hours of travel, the expedition arrived at the entrance to the 44th floor and Vahn could feel the tensions of everyone in the convoy increase greatly. Even the stairs led down were much darker than the previous stairwells and Vahn could smell a pungent sulfuric smell rising up from the below. Not only would general visibility be low, but many of the monsters in the new few floors were of the golem class and wouldn't have any discernible scent. Since they often disguised themselves among other rocks, it was difficult to tell them apart from the common backdrop of the Dungeon. It was common, such as it had been on the 25th floor, for parties to simply fire an arrow at any large rocky outcrop in an effort to flush out anything hiding amongst the rubble.However, with Vahn's inclusion in the party such things were unnecessary and, now that he had seen how the expedition was reacting, Vahn had decided to make a spectacle out of the next few floors. Once they descended the stairs, Vahn felt the temperature had increased by several degrees and there was now a foul smell all throughout the air. The floor, walls, and ceiling, were now constructed of a hazy red bedrock that made people feel hotter just looking at them. Interspaced through the red rocks, there were carbonized black lines, almost as if magma had run through the cracks at some point, and Vahn could see a 'dangerous' light glowing from within them.As Tione had mentioned, the only thing lighting the way forward was the 'fire' contained within the cracks. With his [Eyes of Truth], Vahn could see veins of fire energy that flowed through the wall like an actual volcano so he began to exercise even more caution than previously. There was far too much to take under his personal control since the source was the Dungeon itself and not a monster, but Vahn wanted to avoid areas where the fire veins were closer to walls. Just imagining a geyser of flames erupting and encompassing the convoy made Vahn feel a bit of a chill pass through his body. Unlike the majority of people present, Vahn was 'immune' to fire but that didn't bring him much comfort since he was more concerned about the others.Once the entire convoy had entered the floor, Vahn nodded his head slightly before infusing [Enkidu] into his own domain, without actually summoning the chain itself or locking down the surrounding space. The space around Vahn, reaching outward for more than 487m, became infused with an awe-inspiring golden glow that pierced through the darkness and allowed everyone in the expedition to see. Though only slightly, Vahn also infused a mild stimulating energy through his [Hands of Nirvana] to help everyone overcome any nerves they might have been feeling.Though they were confused at first, some of the people had experienced Vahn's 'aura' before and a small stir quickly passed through the convoy as word spread. Unlike the previous times they had passed through the somewhat nightmarish floors, the expedition now had Vahn in their midst and, just as he had done on the previous floors, he was certain to scout ahead for the safest path for them. Now that he had also started lighting the way, everyone began to feel a bit of excitement welling up inside of them, blissfully unaware that it was provoked by Vahn himself. Seeing the morale of the convoy bolstered, Finn smiled and thanked Vahn for his help before giving the order to move forward.True to expectation, Vahn marked every disguised Flame Rock along the way before they were quickly dealt with by Ais, Tiona, and Tione. Flame Rocks could be anywhere between 200cm tall to 400cm tall and they took on the appearance of red rocks, very similar to the floor itself, there had the same fiery lines drawn across them. When people approached, they would attempt to launch surprise attacks and reveal the fiery core at their head. Since Vahn could easily differentiate them from the normal rocky outcrops, the pace of the expedition had increased by a fair amount. He had originally tried to kill each Flame Rock on his own but, once their numbers began to increase, Vahn simply marked them for the girls to deal with. Naaza had even offered to let him use her [Yi's Bow] but Vahn was actually trying to conserve as much of his source energy as possible since the drain of using [Hands of Nirvana] across the convoy was a little intense.As they passed through the 44th floor, there were more threats than just the Flame Rocks that the expedition had to be aware of. There an 'elite' species of Hellhounds that called the floor home, known as Greater Hellhounds, that would roam in large packs that had speed comparable to a Level 3 Adventurer. Because of their numbers, it was impossible to prevent them from breaking through the vanguard but, since they had seen the group approaching from afar, there was adequate time for Finn to issue orders and, in less than a minute, those at the front of the convoy had made a shield line that spanned the entire corridor as those behind took up spears and bows. Even when the Greater Hellhounds used their flame breath against the defensive line, the Adventurers held their ground without flinching as those with spears deal with anything that got close and crashed against the immovable line. Behind them, those skilled in ranged combat would support and, when the enemies numbers were too great, the mages would step forward and begin their chants.Seeing how well everyone worked together, Vahn could understand why the Loki Familia was considered the current Rank 1. Though they didn't have as many elite forces as the Freya Familia, their cooperation was impeccable and they were, from Vahn's perspective, fearless against the veritable tide of monsters. Even when someone grew tired, there would always be someone else to take up the burden as they retreated to safety and healed up with consumables. Thus, with Vahn's assistance, the expedition had been able to clear through the 44th floor in a record time of 53 minutes without suffering a single casualty. Vahn had been in his Xuánwǔ form the entire time and had been transferring wounds to his own body whenever someone took a bad hit. His own durability was much higher than most people and his regeneration, especially with the use of [Senzu Beans], would shock anyone that didn't commonly associate with Vahn.Those that had actually suffered the wounds were very confused and word began to spread through the crowd about the 'miracles' they had been experiencing. There had even been a man that took the projectile of a Flame Rock to their chest, which broke several of their ribs and burned their chest, yet, when he rose to his feet and tried to treat his wound with an Elixir, the man found his wound had vanished in its entirety. His companions had quickly arrived at his side to assist him and were confused by his miraculous recovery which quickly disseminated to the rest of the expedition. The more astute Adventurers had seen a similar occurrence when the members of the Hestia Familia were fighting previously so it didn't take long for people to deduce it was another miracle created by Vahn.Finn was constantly paying attention to the state of the expedition and he could see the somewhat fervent gazes many in the convoy were giving Vahn. As for the boy himself, Vahn stood tall at the front of the convoy with a calm look on his face as his glowing blue eyes constantly scanned the surrounding for more danger. He would periodically draw back his bow before loosing an arrow at another hidden enemy before trusting others to deal with it as he maintained his vigilance and looked for even more enemies.Finn had known Vahn would be a great boon to the convoy, even without knowing about the size of his 'storage magic', but he hadn't expected Vahn's impact to be quite so 'drastic'. It was easy to see that Vahn's reputation within the Loki Familia had increased greatly in the short four days they had traveled together and Finn began to suspect that, by the time they returned to the surface, they might even begin to idolize the boy. Though it was a little worrisome, Finn knew it was a good thing since it would increase Vahn's reputation in the City and would likely please Loki...Other than a single instance where one of the walls collapsed and spewed forth lava, the trip between the 44th-48th floors had been relatively uneventful. Even when the wall had collapsed, Vahn had cautioned about its existence so Riveria was able to freeze over the entire thing with her [Vas Windheim]. Avoiding a potential tragedy, the mood in the expedition had improved greatly and, instead of the solemn expressions everyone had previously, most people had smiles and were chatting amiably with each other. This didn't mean they were being complacent, however, as the vast majority of the expedition was populated by veteran Adventurers that took their duties very seriously.At the entrance to the 49th floor, Finn had stopped the convoy before climbing to the top of a cart and addressing everyone. The 49th floor was home to a group of monsters referred to by some as the 'wave' since they would often charge forward like a veritable tide. The monsters themselves were known as Fomoire and they were humanoid goat monsters that formed massive groups similar to actual armies. It wasn't uncommon to encounter an entire battalion of the creatures at a time with several variants among their ranks. They weren't particularly strong, nor did they have any powerful skills, but their numbers and 'suicide' tactics were difficult to deal with.Other than the wave, the biggest threat they needed to be cautious of was the Monster Rex of the 49th floor, which was known as the Balor. It was a giant golem-type creature with a massive glowing eye that was capable of using powerful area magic. Unlike other Monster Rexes, it didn't have a designated spawn area other than the fact that it was always near the entrance to the 50th floor. This meant it was somewhat difficult to deal with since the expedition would have to react to its presence the moment it appeared. With Vahn in the expedition, they shouldn't be caught off guard by its ambush, but they still needed to be careful. There were only three mages capable of casting barrier magic, excluding Vahn, and their coverage was only a 50m area at most. Failure to react to the Balor's attacks in time could quickly shift the momentum of the expedition and it was encounters with the beast that brought many of their expeditions to an early end since their supplies would generally sustain a great amount of damage during the battle...(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Caution', 'Idolatry','Balor's Wrath...')If you'd like to support me as a writer so I can write even more stories in the future, please follow the ******* link below (O,...,O)~! Stay beautiful &lt;3. Since it was requested, I also added a Paypal link if that is preferable~!)https://www.*******.com/user?u=14397149paypal.me/EinlionDiscord Invite: https://discord.gg/Jwa8PKh

Entering the 49th floor, Vahn looked around and saw that, as Finn had stated previously, the entire floor was one massive room that stretched more than 200km in diameter. The entire floor was desolate with no signs of life and there was a hot wind that blew through the air and caused the rust-colored sand to billow and obstruct the view. Other than massive rock formations, there weren't any walls and, like the floors above, there were several monsters lying in ambush waiting for the expedition to enter their range. However, just as before, Vahn was able to notify them of the presence of most monsters so the group progressed forward with relative ease.Unlike before, however, the convoy was linked together in a tight formation with shieldbearers taking up the outer perimeter as archers readied their bows. Even though it hadn't appeared yet, there was a subtle vibration that could be felt through the ground so everyone knew the 'wave' would be making its appearance. They would only have a few short minutes to prepare the defensive line when the monsters finally showed up so they had to be on high alert.Though Finn was performing his role as Commander of the expedition, Vahn had been the one guiding the way as he could see the flow of mana through the floor and could trace it to the exit. Since there was a Monster Rex like the Balor present, the Dungeon fed a high amount of mana to a specific area and Vahn was able to deduce that the Balor would be found there. He also had the benefit of mapping out the area with his domain and could reference the minimap in his system interface for any upcoming obstacles. As a result, the expedition had been progressing steadily until the rumbling in the floor had increased greatly in magnitude.Finn held his hand up to his face and commented, "My thumb is itching..." before waving his spear up high and shouting, "Form the defensive line! Use the surroundings as a vantage point for our archers! Mages, ready your chants and prepare to target the largest concentration of enemies!" On the low end, a 'wave' of Fomoire would have more than two-thousand monsters with several 'commanders' that would try to sweep over the expedition. Unlike the normal Fomoire, the commander class were generally capable of using magic and would have to be dealt with quickly before things got out of hand.As one of the designated 'archers', Vahn had leaped atop a 14m tall boulder to get a better vantage point and saw a large cloud of dust kicked up by the approaching wave. When they began entering into his domain, Vahn was surprised by the sheer number of enemies and could approximate their numbers to be around 3500. To thin the herd, or at least slow them down, Vahn began using his inventory and placing mines beneath the feet of the Fomoire as they mindlessly charged forward. The explosives weren't enough to deal lethal damage to most Level 3 monsters, but it interrupted their momentum greatly as Vahn began to loose arrows toward what he believed to be the commander class enemies.Ais had followed Vahn's arrows with her eyes and dashed toward the location where his arrows had broken against an invisible barrier before a wall of Fomoire began blocking for the relatively small ashen grey Fomoire behind them. Unlike the normal goat monster, this one was covered in runes and had a crooked staff in its hands as it began to chant a magical spell. Vahn's arrow had been deflected by its barrier earlier, but it also managed to caused the barrier to collapse as a result. The other Fomoire were trying to buy it time but Vahn simply placed explosives around their feet while directly breaking the chant of the mage.Moments later, Ais passed through the group like a humanoid blender as a vortex of blood and gore spun around her body before being discharged away from her. Even though she had killed more than thirty monsters with her charge, Ais was completely unscathed and there wasn't a spot of blood on her body as she leaped up through the air and landed atop one of the large boulders effortlessly. As for Tiona and Tione, they were guarding the flanks and thining the herd that had started to surround the convoy and assault them. Finn was skewering monsters with an elegant precision while Gareth's axe cleaved through large swaths of enemies with a surprising momentum. Even though his Agility was somewhat low, compared to his monstrous Power and Endurance, he was still a Level 6 and could pass through the horde of Fomoire as if he were an unstoppable force.Vahn shook his head with a wry smile on his face as he interrupted the cast of another mage, which was the same as marking it for death by the perceptive sword princess. Eventually, large veins of fire spread through the ground in a giant conal shape and Vahn had to retrieve the waiting Ais using his [Shundo] before the ground erupted in destructive tornadoes as a result of Riveria's [Rea Laevateinn]. Her spell had wiped out the entire group of Fomoire in a single direction while Lefiya, who completed her own version of the chants moments later, targetted the second largest concentration of enemies. Every time Vahn saw their destructive magic, he was always a little jealous since they were able to clear out more than a thousand monsters with a single spell. However, he knew his own magic would one day far outstrip their own so he was looking forward to the future.After the two destructive spells, there were only small groups of enemies remaining but they continued to charge toward the expedition as if their numbers had never diminished in the slightest. Even compared to the vast majority of crazed monsters, the Fomoire were in a league of their own and many of them were even frothing at the mouth as they charged forward with a suicidal momentum. Vahn pitied the creatures somewhat but his hands never rested as he skillfully executed more than eighty enemies on his own.From start to finish, the entire engagement took less than seven minutes but it was still rather stressful on the convoy. Many Fomoire had broken through to the flanks and had charged headfirst into the linked shields of the Loki Family. Since they were goat monsters, they had powerful horns on their heads and rigid backs that allowed their charging force to reach somewhat terrifying heights. Several people had broken bones, primarily wrists and forearms, while the mages in the group were moderately exhausted from spamming their quick cast magic on any enemies that broke through. Fortunately, even without Vahn using [Wounds Transfer], there weren't any fatalities even though there were several casualties.As the expedition began to regroup and prepare to move forward, many of them were aware of the subtle vibrations that were spreading through the ground and their expressions had become stern and serious. While a single 'wave' wasn't that dangerous, it was the fact that an expedition would have to face multiple of such waves that eventually wore them down. They couldn't simply hunker down and set up a defensive line either, as that would make them sitting ducks and would inevitably result in them being surrounded and overwhelmed.Vahn helped Riveria and Lefiya recover their mana by injecting his own source energy through their backs. It was most ideal to inject it around the navel, but Vahn correctly assumed both girls wouldn't appreciate such contact when there were so many people around. As for himself, he was chugging down a blood-colored potion that he had purchased from the shop known as an [X-Ether]. It was an incredibly expensive consumable item that cost 40,000OP but it had the amazing effect of recovering all of Vahn's current source energy reserves. There was a downside that it could only be consumed every four hours, but it was still a very useful item for such situations.Since they couldn't afford to stay in one spot, the expedition had started moving forward at the same time as they healed the wounded. Vahn had a functionally infinite number of [Senzu Beans], and other recovery items, at his disposal so he absorbed the majority of injuries from the expedition members and earned their thanks as a result. It was no longer a secret that Vahn had a miraculous ability that allowed him to transplant injuries onto his own body, which healed at a phenomenal rate. Knowing that he was willing to bear their pain made their impression of Vahn much stronger than normal and there were more than a few in the expedition that had grown quite fond of the famous 'Sage Aldrnari'. Though some might have questioned if he was worthy of such titles, that was no longer the case for anyone on the current expedition.After progressing for another half hour, another cloud of dust began to appear as the vibrations through the floor increased in intensity. Vahn had been thinking about possible solutions along the way so, after jumping atop another tall rock formation, he looked into the horizon and targetted the largest clumps of enemies that had just reached the periphery of his domain. There were several inert boulders located all over the place and Vahn had the ability to store them within his inventory, as long as they were smaller than 1,000m3. Vahn had seen the efficacy of shrapnel and collapsing rocks on the enemy forces earlier so he wanted to see if he could use the own Dungeon against the monster horde.Instead of wasting his OP to buy explosives, which rarely did fatal damage to the monsters, Vahn collected large boulders and then began to remove them from his inventory several hundred meters above the enemy. When the members of the expedition so 'meteors' rain down from the sky they had been brought to a solemn silence as they watched the massive rocks smash into the defenseless enemies below. Though not every rock was exactly 1,000m3, the average weight of the boulders Vahn dropped on the encroaching army weighted between 2-2.5 million kilograms, more than enough to overwhelm the majority of enemies. It wasn't a tactic that could be easily employed in most areas of the Dungeon but, in an open area like the 49th floor, there was nothing preventing him from doing something 'showy'.Through his efforts, Vahn managed to kill several hundred Fomoire before they got anywhere near the expedition and also managed to disrupt their momentum as they had to re-route around the rocks. Since it actually took a surprising amount of energy to put away such objects, something Vahn had never paid much attention to in the past, he couldn't continue his 'performance' and had to take a knee before using his bow to target nearby enemies. Vahn typically only placed small objects into his inventory and he hadn't expected it to take so much of his energy to 'drop' the twenty large boulders onto the enemy. After he thought about it, however, Vahn realized that it made sense for there to be a 'conversion' based on the volume of objects or there would be no need for him to have individual 'slots'. His inventory grew along with him so, if he could truly make use of it without restrictions, Vahn could theoretically store away entire oceans in the future. If such a feat didn't have a 'cost', Vahn would have had some serious questions regarding the laws governing the records that allowed such things...After a much shorter fight than the previous engagement, Vahn returned to the convoy and sat on one of the carts after he helped replenish the mana of Riveria, Lefiya, and Haruhime. Riveria had a complicated expression on her face when she had asked him about the giant boulders he had used against the enemies but Vahn just explained it away as using his storage magic to 'displace' objects using his domain as a medium. As she had seen Vahn 'materialize' objects far away from his body in the past, Riveria knew such things should be possible but it had still been a bit of a surprise to see it actually implemented. (A/N: To put it in perspective, imagine rocks the size of an Olympic swimming pool being dropped on the enemies. Not nearly as impressive as Grandpa Madara stacking meteors, but still pretty awe-inspiring if you don't expect such a scene.)---After dealing with three waves of Fomoire, the expedition had arrived at an area where the rock formations had started to increase in density. As the majority of the members were veterans of previous expeditions, they knew this was indicative of the fact they were nearing the entrance to the 50th floor. The Balor had yet to make an appearance thus far so everyone was on high alert as Finn considered trying to break through the region in one push and 'escaping' into the passageway leading down. Unlike the 39th floor, which would become sealed off during the fight with Udaeus, there was no such restriction on the 49th floor so it was very possible to bypass the Monster Rex and then deal with it later.Since his [Shundo] allowed him to move relatively uninhibited, Vahn volunteered to scout ahead and find the exact location of the Balor while also looking for the entrance to the 50th floor. Even if he managed to trigger the aggro of the Monster Rex, there would be plenty of time for the expedition to react to the impending attack once they knew of its existence. Finn had agreed to Vahn's reasoning but had him take Ais with him since there was no way of knowing what might happen. Ais might only be Level 5, but she was one of the most agile and capable fighters in the entire Loki Familia. She would be able to buy time for the expedition to reach the entrance of the 50th floor while the main members of the Loki Familia congregated to defeat the Balor.Vahn agreed to take Ais, who had an excited smile on her face, along with him since he knew it was better to travel together than alone at times. Unlike Finn, however, Vahn didn't think the Balor would prove as great a threat as they thought. Just like the Udaeus, Vahn was confident he would be able to restrain the Monster Rex with his [Enkidu] if it wasn't fast enough to evade the chains. The Balor was a large golem monster and it was even possible that, while it was waiting in ambush, Vahn would be able to get the jump on it and 'capture' it without incident. He had even stored away five large boulders into his inventory and was planning to smash them into the titanic creature to see if they could do enough damage.After grabbing Ais around the waist, which wasn't really necessary, Vahn disappeared from the sight of onlookers before reappearing near the periphery of his domain and getting his bearings. Ais had gotten a bit caught up in the mood as well and rested her head against Vahn's chest as she hugged around his back and enjoyed the brief moment of togetherness. Other than the rough outlines of her armor, Vahn found Ais's presence to be very comfortable so he held her close as he passed his perception over the area before using [Shundo] once again. Using his [Eyes of Truth], Vahn was following the flow of mana within the Dungeon until he eventually arrived at a point where it had reached a critical level. Though it looked like a large rock from the distance, Vahn could tell that the amalgamation of chaotic energy belonged to the floor boss. Since he had been concealing his own presence with [Stealth], the Balor had yet to react to their arrival nearby and this brought a smile to Vahn's face...(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Hot and Steamy Dungeon Time~!','Raining fire and brimstone~!','You aint sneaky...!')If you'd like to support me as a writer so I can write even more stories in the future, please follow the ******* link below (O,...,O)~! Stay beautiful &lt;3. Since it was requested, I also added a Paypal link if that is preferable~!)https://www.*******.com/user?u=14397149paypal.me/EinlionDiscord Invite: https://discord.gg/Jwa8PKh

Chapter 461: Light Within the Darkness