Endless Path : Infinite Cosmos

Seeing Siegfried fall from the sky, Vahn released a sigh of relief while slowly descending after him. In retrospect, Vahn realized that his attack was a little petty, as it hadn't been necessary to separate Siegfried's body into two halves. Yet, in much the same way as the Dragon Knight had done, Vahn felt he wouldn't be killed by such a blow. Even now, Vahn could sense a powerful vitality coming from the man's body and, though there was a fair amount of blood, it looked like the wound was trying to close up to preserve his life. After all, even on the low end, Siegfried must have had more than ten-thousand Endurance, with vitality and regeneration to match.Because of their battle, there was now a sink-hole like pit where the forest used to exist and, as nobody had dealt with the fire just yet, the forest in a much larger area had started to burn with a fierce blaze. Vahn wanted to do something about it but, for the time being, he still needed to deal with Siegfried to avoid any future problems. The man seemed trustworthy and, as he had already given his word, Vahn didn't want to breed any resentment amongst Siegfried's comrades by taking his life.Just after he landed, however, a rather diminutive figure appeared in front of him in an instant, giving Vahn the feeling as though she was immovable with her kite shield raised. In a firm tone, with a resolute expression on her face, Jeanne angled her sword against the top of her shield and said, "Forgive me, Vahn, but I cannot allow you to take his life. We may have wronged you, but Siegfried isn't a bad person...please, stand down this time...you've already won." At the same time that Jeanne was buying time, Hera had appeared at Siegfried's side and pulled out an Elixir with a gold hue to it. She began to slowly pour it on his wound and, as if time itself had been reversed, Siegfried's body began to regrow the missing half.Seeing Hera 'waste' such a powerful potion, Vahn shook his head slightly and said, "You seem to have a powerful Alchemist and Artificer on your side...hmm." Vahn was currently in his lightning armament form so, even though his actions were somewhat casual, Jeanne didn't drop her guard for a moment. Then, staring straight into her pale blue eyes, Vahn said, "I didn't see you step in when Siegfried had literally torn my body into more than a hundred fragments. Is this what you consider justice, Jeanne, bully people with power and, if they somehow manage to 'survive', you ask them to take the high road and forgive you...?"Even without the ability to see aura's, Vahn saw a deeply rooted regret within Jeanne's apologetic eyes. The fact that her stance hadn't waved in the slightest, however, told Vahn that she wasn't the type that would let her uncertainty dictate her actions. He was, honestly, a little impressed with her strong sense of duty, even if the people she held loyalty towards seemed to be a group of bullies. In more than one way, she reminded him of Mikoto and, in even more ways, Riveria...her sense of duty seemed to dictate her actions and, even if her heart didn't believe what she was doing to be correct, Jeanne still stood unwaveringly to block his path.Still, though he was impressed, Vahn didn't like the fact that she was trying to make it out that he was in the wrong, even if was because of her loyalty towards Hera. If he had truly wanted to kill Siegfried, he wouldn't have aimed for the stomach and instead targeted the heart or head. There also wouldn't have been any reason to slowly descend from the sky as, in his current form, Vahn could reach nearly 260,000km/h, on the low end. If he didn't try to 'aim' himself, it was possible to reach 357,274km/h, though he would probably destroy his own body upon arrival at his location.Shaking his head, Vahn looked into Jeanne's eyes and said, "Using words to make someone else out to be in the wrong doesn't mean it is the truth of the matter...haaaa-" After releasing a sigh, Vahn completely bypassed Jeanne's position and stepped next to Hera and the still unconscious Siegfried. He noticed that in the split second he had passed by her, Jeanne's sword had found its way into his thigh, cutting the tendon for a short moment before he regenerated once again.Though awed by her sword skills, Vahn ignored that for the time being as his aura radiated out from his body as he addressed Hera, "Let this be a lesson to you, Hera...the next time you intend to have machinations towards me, or my family, be prepared for the consequences. If not for Siegfried's character, I would have struck him down permanently..." Hera, already releasing her divine power to counteract the pressure squeezing on her body, gave a wry smile as she said, "It wa-" Before she could even complete the second word, Vahn had already turned his back and vanished from the surroundings, far outside her perception.Jeanne came to Hera's side in the next instance, holding up her shield in a defensive posture while observing the surroundings. Her ability informed her that Vahn was still nearby and, after seeing how easily he passed by her, Jeanne was certain he could exploit any gaps in her awareness. It seemed that, other than the terrifyingly powerful True Dragon guarding the Hearth Manor, Vahn was also in a league of his own. He was still young and inexperienced yet, as a result of his determination and seemingly endless unique abilities, Vahn had managed to defeat an enemy far stronger than himself. The truly horrific thing was that speed of his as, even Heroes who prided themselves on speed, likely wouldn't be a match for Vahn...At this point, Sigfried's body had resumed its human appearance and, except for a pale complexion, he looked perfectly fine. The potion Hera had used sapped a bit of his vitality, shortening his lifespan, but Siegfried still had a few hundred years of life left in him. For now, he just lay on his back, completely naked, while Hera contemplated what to do about Vahn in the future. When her eyes turned back to Siegfried's body, she frowned slightly seeing his naked figure. Earning a confused look from Jeanne, Hera snorted lightly before noticing her young protege's gaze.Regaining her seemingly kind and gentle disposition, Hera smiled to Jeanne and said, "I'm afraid I'll have to entrust you with Siegfried's current situation. Please, run along and purchase some clothes for him, Jeanne. It will make our return trip rather awkward otherwise..." Hearing this, Jeanne looked down at Siegfried's body and, without a single change in her expression, nodded her head before asking, "Will you be safe here...?" Her duty this time around had been to protect Hera, thus, leaving her here in this massive pit, wasn't exactly the best idea in her opinion. If Vahn had any second thought about the situation, it wasn't impossible for him to come and claim the lives of both Hera and Siegfried while she was away...Hera laughed in a light tone, calmly stating, "I'm sure you've noticed it as well, Jeanne, but that boy seems to look for reasons to spare people. He won't come and pick off someone that can't defend themselves and, though he is understandably upset with me, I trust that he won't act on those impulses. After all, he even returned Siegfried's weapon to him...not that I can say much about the condition it's in..." As she was speaking, Hera inclined her head to the half melted sword that had been embedded into the ground when Vahn 'blinked' forward earlier.He might not have been aware of it himself, but he had allowed the source-infused lightning to destroy the interior elements of the sword and cause it to break down while holding it previously. It was almost as if he had been 'compelled' to destroy the thing that had caused him so much pain and frustration, even though it hadn't been his intention to do so at all. If not for the fact that one of the Heroes of Legend was a capable blacksmith, Siegfried would be without his treasured sword in the future. As it was something he had carried for nearly five hundred years, the loss of his sword would have been even more impactful than the loss of his lower body, at least to someone like Siegfried.Without waiting around any longer, Jeanne gave a small nod, returning her kite shield to her back so that she would be able to fly. She hadn't been blessed with the capability of flight herself so Jeanne, like many of the residents of the City of Heroes, needed to rely on her equipment in order to achieve the feat. Her's was a functionality provided by the kite shield she carried with her and, as a quirk of its design, she needed to have it on her back in order to activate it. This was because the person who had designed it had a tendency to make equipment as 'sets', each piece serving a specific function. The downside was, many of these functions only worked under specific circumstances, often annoying the users of said items to no end...After watching Jeanne's departure, Hera didn't even spare a second glance to Siegfried and instead looked towards the empty bottle in her hands. It wasn't easy to produce such a high-quality Elixir, with both the ingredients and the production process both being very difficult. If not for Paracelsus' unrivaled skills as an [Alchemist], in conjunction with his rare skills, they wouldn't even be able to produce such a thing in the mortal world. Having wasted a precious Elixir on a task that shouldn't have been this troublesome left a sour taste in Hera's mouth. Then, seeing Siegfried's naked body out of the corner of her eye, Hera's expression turned into a grimace and she tossed the expensive glass container onto the ground and stormed off to sit in a place that didn't 'smell like burning'.---While Jeanne was off running her errand, and Hera was busy throwing a small hissy fit, Vahn was moving through the burning forest at a slow and steady pace. Instead of his lightning armament, Vahn had assumed a new [Magia Erebea], using a water-elemental [Sagitta Magicka] to fuel it. In order to make his work even easier, Vahn transformed into his Xuánwǔ form and was currently manipulating a dome of water nearly 100m in diameter as he 'rolled' it across the burning forest below. Moving such a mass of water took a fair amount of effort but, as long as he kept his focus, there wasn't any real danger of his control slipping at present.It took a few hours, but Vahn managed to put out the fire, preventing even more devastation to the environment. He realized that his battles against powerful foes always left the surrounding area as a 'victim', something that made Vahn feel a little regretful since it was unfair to the animals residing within the forest to have their homes robbed from them. There were undoubtedly numerous deaths as well, which made Vahn feel solemn as he brought his hands together and prayed for their safe passage into the next life.Though monsters didn't possess a soul, as they were simply mana constructs, Vahn knew this wasn't the case for normal animals. Even something as small as a termite had the most fragmentary semblance of a soul and, after several incarnations, it might even become a kind saint that brings salvation to a record. Vahn's understanding of the soul itself was still very shallow, though it was still much greater than most people, so he couldn't be sure how the mechanics behind reincarnation worked. The one thing he did know was that ignoring the loss of life that had been arbitrarily taken as a result of his fight...was simply heartless...By the time he was finished, Hera, Jeanne, and Siegfried had long left the area, disappearing towards the west without making any attempt to initiate further conversation with him. Vahn had allowed them to go without pestering them, but not without giving himself some form of insurance. When he had struck the spot on Siegfried's back the second time, Vahn had placed a ward inside of the Dragon Knight's body. It was functionally harmless and, as a result of being comprised of a form of energy that Siegfried was fundamentally incapable of sensing, the ward had gone unnoticed.Vahn intended to use to track the location of their base in the future as, even without knowing the details, it was very obvious they were some kind of organization. Them knowing where he lived, without revealing their own location, was something Vahn couldn't tolerate. In order to even the playing field, he wanted to know the location of their base of operations so, the next time they tried anything against him and his family, he would know exactly where to go to seek vengeance. He was tired of old organizations, groups, or individuals, who had been consolidating their power and doing whatever they wanted without regards for the consequences. If he needed to, Vahn would 'become' the consequence of their actions...something few people in this record were capable of bearing...(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Jeanne is a tragic existence...','Hera's true colors begin to show...?','Loki's training is showing itself ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)...')https://bit.ly/2XBzAYu &lt;-(p.atreon link)paypal.me/EinlionDiscord Invite: https://discord.gg/Jwa8PKh

The fact that a new 'lake' had appeared to the north of the City had been a big deal, especially with the rumors circulating about how it was created. Siegfried's collapse of the land had caused it to merge together with an aqueduct and, after a bit of rainfall that appeared in the sky later that day, it had quickly turned into a small lake with a steep incline leading down to the crystal clear surface of the water below. Those that showed up in the area to investigate were awed by the sheer size of the sinkhole that had been created, as an attack capable of changing the landscape in a 3km radius was beyond the comprehension of most people. Knowing that the event was somehow related to Vahn, who had returned to the City, seemingly unscathed, left a deep impression on their hearts and minds.As for Vahn himself, his only real concern at the time had been returning home to make good on his promise to spend time with Ina, Vana, Erika, Alexa, and his infant children, Meinya, Anise, and Sakuya. Though he did spend a fair amount of time debriefing with Loki, Hephaestus, Hestia, Anubis, Eina, and Syr, that hadn't taken too long. Loki, being the ever-reliable goddess she had proven herself to be, decided to investigate matters through her own networks but, learning that Vahn had actually managed to place a tracking ward on Siegfried, she had nearly keeled over in laughter. After that, he had been 'freed' to spend time with his children while the Goddesses talked amongst themselves about how to deal with Zeus and Hera.Though Zeus had been very troublesome to deal with, Hera was arguably the worse of the two since she often enabled Zeus' antics. Her Familia had its fair share of capable Adventurers, but it almost existed solely to support the Zeus Familia back during their era. Many of her Familia members had actually been capable female Adventurer's and Supporters, with only a few Elite men as her Executives, many of which had moved into the Hera Familia from Zeus' own. This had been one of the methods they used to 'empower' the mentality of Heroes, as being waited on by the members of the second most powerful Familia was a big ego boost for budding 'Heroes'.As for why Hera supported Zeus' antics so willingly, it was because they were one of the few married couples amongst the gods. With Divinities related to Marriage, Family, and Domesticity, Hera had always supported her husband, regardless of the foolish decisions he made. To counteract his complete lack of regard for consequences, she had put in a serious effort to change her own nature to be calm and calculating. The only time her true nature showed through was during the times Zeus would, inevitably, cheat on her with another woman. It wasn't uncommon for the women that had been favored by Zeus to simply 'disappear' soon after, with the only exceptions being those that miraculously got pregnant. Even so, the mothers always seemed to die during childbirth, or shortly thereafter...It was surprising to any of the goddesses within the Hearth Manor that Hera was supporting Zeus, as it would have been far more surprising to learn she hadn't been. Even so, the fact that she had shown up with two Heroes that had 'died' long ago raised several flags, especially since Vahn speculated that Siegfried had been around Level 9, while Jeanne seemed to be around the peak of Level 8. Currently, other than Vahn and Terra, they didn't have any means to put up meaningful resistance against such powerhouses, especially if there were even more hidden cards held by Zeus and Hera than had been revealed. The fact that Vahn had the insight to mark Siegfried made Loki feel incredibly vindicated for having fallen in love with him...Ultimately, it was decided that a larger focus would be placed on the training of everyone within the Manor, though the main focus would be on the 'core' of the group. This consisted of Ais, Tiona, Tione, Haruhime, Lili, Lefiya, Mikoto, and Arnya. Though the other girls would still become very powerful in their own rights, they didn't have the same level of dedication to the pursuit of strength as aforementioned eight. It was likely that girls like Tina and Shizune might actually exceed the growth of the 'older' girls, but that would take a few years at the earliest. With the Sub-Space orb, this time would be greatly reduced, but it might affect them negatively to hole themselves up in the orb all the time.As for everyone else in the Manor, with the obvious exclusion of Vahn, Terra, Fafnir, Khaos, and Fenrir, they would essentially fall into support roles, at least when it came to fighting against such powerful enemies. Emiru and Maemi, though possessing a strong drive to become stronger, weren't really frontline combatants just yet. They also spent the least amount of time within the orb so, unless their service mentality changed, it wasn't that likely for their strength to increase too much in the interim. Then there were the people like Tsubaki, Lunoire, and Milan, each capable warriors that could become stronger, but fundamentally lacked the resolve to do so in a meaningful way.Tsubaki was a true warrior at heart but, now that she had a daughter of her own, she placed a much bigger focus on her daughter and preparing for her duties at the School. Though she would still live for a very long time, she already had the mentality of passing on the torch to the next generation. This was somewhat true for Milan as well, who had already retired previously and was now almost fully invested in the growth of her daughter. As for Lunoire, the 'dream' she had held close to her heart for so long had affected her mentality almost irreversibly.Though she was currently working hard to become stronger, the desire to simply have a family of her own, and taking care of the children within the Manor was slowly beginning to drain away her motivation to train. This was a similar mentality to Aki, who had seriously been considering her own retirement and just becoming a 'secretary' for Vahn. To a lesser extent, Riveria and Ryuu were also affected by this mentality, though the latter truly intended to work hard to become stronger after the birth of her daughter. Riveria's focus, however, was on the matters related to the Elven Kingdom and, as Vahn had been privy to hearing about quite often lately, how she planned to try and raise their son.Riveria was too focused on the future and, though her pursuit of knowledge hadn't really diminished, she was more than likely going to end up as just the Department Head of the School before becoming the Headmaster of the Academy that would be built in Haven. At the same time, she would be raising their son to potentially become the King of the Elves, though only if it was a path they chose to walk willingly. With how things had devolved, Riveria wasn't even sure making an Elven 'Kingdom' was even a good idea anymore. Instead, she felt it might be better to just have a council of sorts to manage the affairs of their people, this time without allowing people to selfishly consolidate power based solely on blood purity.Wrapping up the group, there were girls like Naaza, Preasia, Eina, Syr, and, to a lesser extent, Risna. Though they might become strong enough to protect themselves, they were considered non-combatants with a more support oriented role. Naaza wanted to become a capable [Alchemist], while Preasia's dream, for lack of a better descriptive, was to be a physician. She was learning from Vahn personally and had made great strides in her understanding of medicines and herbal remedies by studying with Naaza and Lili.As for Eina, she fell into the category of girls who were more focused on the children than other matters. She would continue her duties as the Guild Liaison, but it would be more of a formality in the future, with most of the matters of the Guild branch being handed over to Rose. Risna, her younger sister, simply wanted to become a prolific novelist in the future and, now that she had the Sub-Space orb to rely on, the efforts she had put into her writing had more than tripled. This left only Syr remaining, amongst the girls currently present in the Manor, and her only desire had been the same as it always had. She wanted to support the man she loved and, in order to make sure things ran smoothly, Syr took her position as the 'Manager' of the Manor's affairs very seriously...---Being the core of everything, Vahn's own power was one of the most important factors that would guarantee any problems that appeared in the future could be resolved without any sacrifices. At the same time that his 'main' body had been fighting against Siegfried, his Avatar had been within the orb using their shared connection to supplement Vahn's source energy reserves. By making use of the dime dilation effect, and the fact that his reserves could be replenished in around twenty minutes by meditating to the [Mantra of Eternity], Vahn's reserves during combat had been almost limitless. On average, it would have only taken him three minutes and twenty seconds to completely recover his reserves, a factor Vahn had exploited with the abundant overuse of his source energy.The largest benefit, which Vahn himself hadn't expected, was that he was able to use his perception of his second body to enhance that of his main body. Since he experienced the passage of time in both worlds simultaneously, Vahn had been able to observe the entire fight from the perspective of his Avatar in slow motion. During the first exchange, it felt like he had synchronized both of his minds and had actually been able to accelerate his own thinking by a factor of six times.With his already enhanced perception, it was almost like time had completely come to a stop during the moments his focus had reached the peak. This was also why, after large and complex movements, Vahn had stalled for a short while. His brain could only make sense of so many stimuli at once so, anything too complex would leave him exposed for a short while thereafter. Siegfried had been able to exploit these 'gaps' with an awe-inspiring degree of ease, something that had deeply impacted both of Vahn's minds. It was very fortunate for him that Siegfried had also been very cautious and observant during the fight, as it had made recovering his senses after taking big hits much easier. Had Siegfried gone all out, it would have taken Vahn a much longer period of time to actually come out ahead in the fight.Now that things had settled down, Vahn was reflecting on the fight itself while teaching Ina how to dance, a request the latter had after his return. She was currently standing on his feet while Vahn walked her through the basics of performing a ballroom waltz. The fact that she was wearing an adorable little princess outfit distracted both of Vahn's mind, though not enough that his body within the orb couldn't keep his focus. He had realized through this fight that his power simply wasn't enough for some of the enemies he might face in the future.With how Karma influenced Fate, it was almost guaranteed that troublesome enemies would eventually find their way to him. Thus, while the goddesses were discussing matters on their own, Vahn was also thinking about how to increase his own power. At the bare minimum, he needed to completely master his [Magia Erebea] form, as he had managed to push the skill to SSS-Rank within the Divination. If he could freely make use of his elemental armaments, it would be possible to deal with most situations. However, even more than that, Vahn realized he needed to focus on mastering his own Innate abilities.Had he not caught Siegfried by surprise with his Xuánwǔ form, the fight would have gone on for a much greater length of time. Just the fact that it was an Innate made it inarguably more powerful than [Magia Erebea] itself, with the only limit of the ability being Vahn's understanding of its true capabilities. It was the same for all of his Innates and, now that it was apparent there were more than a few entities within this record that could threaten him and his family, Vahn wanted to seriously begin working towards mastering these abilities. After all, this mastery would follow him through all future records and, as he been revealed by Sis, mastering them was necessary to increase his Soul Tier.Currently, Vahn had four Innates awakened meaning, if he was able to master them all, his Soul Tier would naturally be at Tier 4. He had already 'mastered' [Will of the Emperor], though he was still discovering its uses as his own perception of the world changed, so his next focus should be on his [Rakshasa Body]. Though his [Eyes of Truth] were very powerful, Vahn felt their utility wouldn't be nearly as useful as the combat prowess provided by his [Rakshasa Body], at least for now. As for his [Keeper of the Akashic Tome], that was a difficult skill to master with his current understanding of things, as the cooldown of the ability made it hard to make use of.Vahn had already learned a fair amount about the ability, but it would generally take around thirty days, on the low end, just to use it once. Fortunately, his naming didn't seem 'entirely' dependent on this cooldown as, without a shadow of a doubt, the effects he was able to imbue into items through his intent were related to the ability. This meant he needed to create a bunch of items to increase his mastery quickly, something that would slow the development of his personal strength in the interim.Thus, by process of elimination, [Rakshasa Body] needed to become his priority until he was able to at least maintain his Zhūquè form without consuming a massive amount of source energy, or burning apart all of his equipment. If possible, Vahn also wanted to be able to awaken his Azure Dragon form, as it seemed very powerful, but he wasn't too sure if it was a good idea within this record. Each of the forms seemed to have an association with an elemental law, and a higher tiered law he didn't fully understand.The capabilities of the Azure Dragon seemed to be tied to Space and Lightning, but there was undoubtedly a greater potential hidden away in the form. With how Eva and Terra had reacted to his change, Vahn was certain this was the case. Still, having it as a trump card would undoubtedly be beneficial if he 'needed' to make use of it. If even the record itself was strained by the influence of that form, it wasn't likely many enemies would be able to last against it...Making his way towards the rest area where the girls usually took their breaks, Vahn found the person he was looking for, currently teasing Lili and playing with the latter's exposed stomach. Lili had a red face as she swatted away Tiona's hands, exclaiming, "Stop messing around, Tiona! If you end up harming my babies...I'll...!" Though Lili had been in the middle of lashing out at Tiona, she immediately stopped when she saw his arrival within the rest area. Seemingly without any regard for the fact she was supposed to be pregnant, Lili ran over and leaped into his arms.Because it hadn't been 'confirmed' previously, Lili had still been making use of the Sub-Space orb, at least for the time being. Very soon, she would have to stay in the real world because, as most of the girls were aware at this point, Lili was undoubtedly pregnant. Vahn, of course, had been the first to notice the change but had waited for Lili to make the announcement herself, as it was a very meaningful thing for most women. Even so, now that her state had been confirmed, Vahn stroked her chestnut brown hair and lightly reprimanded, "You're not supposed to be in here, Lili..."Seemingly disregarding his words, Lili just laughed lightly and continued to squeeze him tightly around the waist. She had been in a very bubbly and clingy mood as of late, not that Vahn could really blame her. Naaza was handling things much better, having already started learning from the more experienced women what she needed to prepare for during her pregnancy. Much like Aki, she had already started to 'transform' from a young woman into that of a mother, practically glowing whenever Vahn saw her. The fact that her tail would lightly wag whenever they crossed paths, as if she were very happy to see him, always filled Vahn with a blissful contentedness.Though he wouldn't mind spending time with Lili, Vahn had come here with a different purpose so he gave her a kiss on the forehead and said, "You should return to the Manor and spend more time with Naaza. I have things to take care of right now, but I'll come find you after I'm finished playing with the younglings..." Lili looked as though she wanted to argue at first but, hearing the latter half of Vahn's words, a smile spread across her youthful face as she said, "I'll be waiting~!" and disappeared from the space. Vahn issued a light chuckle before looking toward Tiona, currently sitting amongst Tione, Ais, and Lefiya. Noticing the look in his eyes, Tiona's expression turned radiant as she pointed to herself and exclaimed, "You came here for me~? Ehehehehe~."Even without Vahn explaining his purpose, Tiona had bounded up to her feet and immediately transitioned into her [Pactio] form while Tione, Ais, and even Lefiya, gave her slightly envious looks. Vahn sent a wink towards them after being momentarily distracted by Tiona's sudden 'lack' of clothing. He would never get used to the fact that her [Pactio] was essentially just two thin pieces of cloth that barely even covered the sensitive bits. Though she pulled it off with her amazingly athletic figure, Vahn felt like he would have to 'punish' any men that observed Tiona while she was in this form...After stretching her body for a bit, Tiona smiled excitedly and said, "Let's do this~!" in a chipper voice. Immediately thereafter, however, her eyes become somewhat fierce and playful as she launched herself towards him, tackling him away from the building as their spar began. Ais, Tione, and Lefiya followed after them, curious to see how the fight would progress and moderately hopeful they would have their own turn after the fact. At the very least, they would be able to learn the reasons for why Vahn had suddenly shown up to fight Tiona, though seeing him immediately transition into his White Tiger form gave them some insight into the matter.(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Beyond the peak, there are always greater heights to reach~!','If only Vahn had an Innate that made him think gud','Baihu vs. Queen of Beasts')https://bit.ly/2XBzAYu &lt;-(p.atreon link)paypal.me/EinlionDiscord Invite: https://discord.gg/Jwa8PKh

Just as Siegfried had been surprised by the fact that Vahn hadn't dodged, Vahn was experiencing a similar degree of shock when, instead of twisting and moving away, Siegfried instead leaned 'into' the blow. At the same time, Siegfried began to jerk his wings, which had been buried into Vahn's body, 'open', attempting to strain them inside the body of Vahn so that he wouldn't be able to move. Since he was certain Vahn could have dodged, Siegfried knew that Vahn must have had a way to stave off the seemingly fatal blow, especially since the aura radiating off of Vahn's body hadn't diminished at all.Pressing forward with his knife-hand, glowing white hot with the infusion of fire elemental energy, Vahn's fingers touched against Siegfried's back...and broke. As if he had hit an indestructible piece of Adamantine, Vahn's hand buckled under the force of Siegfried's moment as the wings that had pierced through his body, already causing him a great deal of pain, became taught within his flesh. It felt like he was about to be torn apart but, instead of backing away, Vahn infused his source energy into his crushed hand, causing Siegfried to sharply inhale before opening his wings completely, tearing Vahn's body apart in the same movement.Without assuming that Vahn had been defeated, Siegfried opened up a distance of more than 200m in a single movement, observing Vahn while brandishing his sword, eyes staring unblinkingly towards what would have been the corpse of a normal person. As for Vahn himself, he was beginning to realize how difficult it was to fight against someone that had a lot of battle experience, especially if they had fought against others with unique abilities. The words of Eva echoed through his mind as the wounds on his body healed almost completely in just under two seconds.Just as he had risen to his feet, Vahn wasn't surprised by the fact that Siegfried was already in front of him, golden eyes trained with intense focus as he buried the dark blue claymore deep into Vahn's chest. Unable to resist the secondary pulse that spread through his body from the ridiculous force, Vahn coughed up a mouthful of blood onto Siegfried's face before placing his white-hot hands against the blade piercing his body. Having learned his lesson previously, Vahn infused source energy into the flames and attempted to destroy Siegfried's weapon, even if it was an S-Grade piece of equipment.Things didn't go as planned, however, as the blue blade began to change shape, much like Fafnir's scales. In an instant, Vahn felt the blades tear through his body, branching through his organs as Siegfried muttered, "That is quite a fearsome ability, kid...I hope it holds up..." Though he normally wouldn't spare his opponents any words during a fight, Siegfried was impressed by the regenerative ability of Vahn. At this point, he was confident that he had identified all of Vahn's rare skills, being the strange light in his eyes, the speed at which Vahn could move, and his regeneration. It was well documented that people, regardless of how much they trained, could only develop three rare skills. Many battles between people at the peak revolved around identifying your opponent's abilities so, now that he had figured out Vahn's, Siegfried was confident in his victory.Feeling the blades coil around and embed into his flesh, Vahn clenched his teeth to resist the pain while his [Will of the Emperor] went into overdrive. The problem was, even though he wouldn't be defeated by such an attack, Vahn couldn't move anymore. Turning off his [Magia Erebea] would put him in a compromising position, with his body being torn apart and only slowly regenerating, but Vahn was struggling to come up with a solution. He didn't want to reveal the existence of [Enkidu] during a fight against a powerful opponent with close ties to gods, nor did he want to use his true trump cards unless he was pushed into a corner...Fortunately, as he resisted the blades tearing through his body, Vahn felt a powerful energy begin to stir within him, bringing with it memories that had long been buried in his mind. Thus, though it was very painful to do so, Vahn began to laugh in an eerie and uninhibited manner, causing Siegfried to lift his body before pinning it into the ground. Then, doing something beyond the pain threshold of anything Vahn had ever experienced, Siegfried twisted his blade, and all the branching blades attached to it. Vahn felt like his body had been 'blended' in an instant as his head separated from the rest of his body.Siegfried watched as the 'pieces' of Vahn immediately gathered towards him at an incredible speed, moving even faster than he would have been able to manage. He was awed by the existence of an ability that would allow a person to regenerate, even if their body was turned into paste and their head was separated from their body. His assumption was that Vahn's head was the 'key' but, as he didn't truly wish to kill Vahn, Siegried had avoided hitting the head. A part of him was also worried that, even if he smashed Vahn's head, it wouldn't be effective...Though he couldn't keep up with the larger flow of Sage bits, Siegfried grabbed a small part of Vahn as he once again opened up a distance to observe. He could feel the piece wiggling around in his palm, trying to escape his grasp before, to Siegfried's exasperation, it 'dissolved' before completely disappearing. It had been one of Vahn's fingers and, seeing that it had regrown on the boy in question, Siegfried knew this was going to be a troublesome fight. He needed to find out the mechanic behind what made Vahn's regeneration possible, with his first assumptions being that it relied on the boy's internal mana. However, since Vahn had been able to regenerate from having his body annihilated, Seigfried knew it was more complicated than that.Deciding that he needed to test the limits of Vahn's regeneration, Siegfried revealed one of his own trump cards. Blue scales began to sprout from his face, neck, and ears as he leaned forward and released a powerful flame breath that was reminiscent of a welding torch. The blue flame created a conical shape that turned caused all the nearby trees to immediately catch fire as the ground below melted into glass. To his surprise, however, Vahn just jumped towards him with a strange fiery claymore appearing in his right hand. Siegfried's eyes widened when he saw the blade, but not nearly as much as they did when he saw Vahn moved 'through' his flames. It was as if they had no effect on him whatsoever, only burning away the layer of clothes he had been wearing without a single burn anywhere on his body. (A/N: I know some people will recall that Lefiya had managed to 'burn' Vahn with her magic, but you have to remember that was Light-based, not actual Fire.)Swinging his [Laevateinn] forward, Vahn felt a very powerful urge to let Siegfried feel what it was like to have his body cut apart. He didn't consider himself a vengeful person by nature, but Siegfried's attacks had shaken Vahn's heart and mind a little, making him somewhat resentful of the powerful Dragon Knight before him. Unfortunately, Siegfried parried his blow with ease, causing Vahn to feel helpless as the blue claymore bisected his body in two. Before he attached back together, Siegfried grabbed his face and jumped away from the lower half of his body. Vahn felt like he was being pulled like the anchor of a ship before Siegfried tossed him forward like a ragdoll, far away from the other half of his body.After throwing Vahn, Siegfried looked back to watch the naked lower body begin to 'evaporate' into black particles. He wanted to see if there was an effective range to Vahn's regeneration but, after throwing the boy a few kilometers, it didn't seem to be the case. Releasing a sigh, Siegfried tore away his shirt to reveal that his body muscular body had started to sprout dense blue scales. The longer he fought, the more his body would transform into that of a True Dragon, the result of his own rare skill [Tyrant Dragon's Body]. He could also control the transformation himself, which had been what enabled him to produce his wings and block Vahn's attempt to attack his spine. Still, with his body now laid bare, there was a small burn mark on his scales that irritated him even now.Flapping his wings, Siegfried took to the sky to get a better vantage point, only to see several flashes of light as arrows flew towards his position. Normally, Siegfried wouldn't have even bothered dodging such attacks but, with his powerful instincts, he immediately knew these weren't simple arrows. Swiftly evading each of them, Siegfried then swept back with his sword as a trail of blue flames spread through the sky, burning the dangerous projectile.The moment his flames contact them, however, the arrows seemed to 'morph' into black spheres that began to twist and distort space around them. Seeing this, Siegfried felt his scalp tingle, as space magic was one of the most difficult to deal with. No matter how tough his body was, there were some magic attacks that simply couldn't be resisted with physical durability alone. Gravity magic was in that category and, even though it was his first time seeing such a phenomenon, Siegfried understood those small orbs used powerful gravity to tear apart the target.Accompanying the tingling of his scalp, two sapphire-like horns branched out of Siegfried's head and he charged toward the now clothed Vahn. Keeping a distance would potentially disadvantage him and, as he had already identified that Vahn's strength couldn't match his, Siegried intended to use close combat to suppress the boy. He realized he would need to completely seal Vahn's movements if he wanted this fight to end as, even though Vahn had been using his ability for a long time, Siegfried hadn't seen any indicator that it was taxing his energy to do so. In fact, Vahn's energy seemed to replenish almost as quickly as it was used up, something that made Siegfried feel like he was trying to fight against the tides of the ocean. No matter how hard he struck them, the water would eventually beat back against him, to the point where the resultant tidal wave would even devastate the land where he had previously stood...Placing away his bow, Vahn then brought his palms together, mentally chanting, ("Come from the void, oh thunder, cut down my enemy! Axe of God! Fixate. Seize. Load magic, 'Armament'~!"). Just as Siegfried created a 'prison' of swords to try and capture him, Vahn's body became infused with the lightning magic, [Dios Tukos], meaning 'Lightning Axe'. Without the assistance of Fenrir or Terra, this as one of his most powerful [Magia Erebea] forms, which he referred to as 'Lightning Armament'. In the future, he wanted to be able to shift into the form just by calling the spell's name, but that would have to wait until he dealt with the foe in front of him.Using [Koku Shundo], without restraining his momentum, Vahn moved through the blades, allowing his body to split freely before it converged back together behind Siegfried's body. Part of the energy had actually arced into the Dragon Knight's body, as his metallic scales had acted like a lightning rod, allowing Vahn to stun him long enough to strike the same spot as he had burned earlier. This time, however, Vahn was using his [Vis Maxima] to the fullest, further amplifying his speed to the point that Siegfried couldn't keep up with him. Though it could be seen that Siegfried was able to keep track of his movements, there was a big difference between someone that could move several thousand kilometers per hour, and someone that could move hundreds of thousands of kilometers per hour.Though his body resisted the physical blow almost completely, Siegfried felt the lightning elemental energy wreak havoc inside of his body. He couldn't make any move to regain his footing and, as a result of Vahn's lightning-fast blow, Siegfried smashed into the ground with enough force to cause the land to upheave around him. Stones weighted thousands of tonnes were displaced by the force and, instead of making a crater outright, Siegfried's body was buried nearly 300m into the ground, like a stake that had been driven by a hammer. Vahn had infused his source energy into the blow so, regardless of how resistant Siegfried might have been, there was little he could do about the lightning energy until it dissipated naturally into the earth below.Even so, Vahn didn't believe for a moment that Siegfried would have been defeated so easily. When his blow had landed, Vahn's hand had actually shattered into lightning particles. Not only did his scales seem to increase his defensive might, but they apparently had a repelling effect on attacks as well. Vahn's mind started racing for solutions to come out ahead without going all out but, seeing how things were developing, it would turn into a long fight of attrition unless he kicked things up a notch. The only thing that prevented him from doing so was, even though Siegfried's attacks had seemed ruthless, Vahn knew he had still been holding back. Still, there was a limit to his tolerance and Vahn was beginning to get very frustrated with having his body cut into ribbons...Suddenly, the ground in a 3km radius seemed to 'sink' slightly before huge cracks appeared, originating from the hole where Siegfried had been buried. In the next instant, blue flames erupted from those cracks, causing the ground to sink even further into molten stone, dirt, and composite minerals. Vahn didn't have any time to marvel at this scene, however, as a massive pillar of blue flames came straight towards him. Being completely resistant to such attacks, Vahn ignored it completely as his [Eyes of Truth] focused on the figure contained within the flames themselves.Moving forward at nearly 6,000km/h, Siegfried attempted to grab Vahn with his claws, now glimmering with the same sapphire glow as his horns. Instead of a normal human, he now had the appearance of a 280cm tall Dragonic Knight that was completely covered in blue scales. There were almost no human features remaining, other than the fact that Siegfried's anatomy more closely resembled a human's than a Dragon's. Vahn didn't have time to inspect him completely, however, as his evasive maneuvers to avoid being grabbed got rewarded by a sweeping blue tail crashing into his body. It felt like he had been hit by an unstoppable force that caused his abdomen to literally disintegrate.Siegfried moved to grab Vahn's upper body once again but this time he was more than prepared to react, easily moving to avoid the blow and counterattacking. He had only been hit by Siegfried previously because he had been stationary and observing the phenomenon below. In truth, Vahn's reaction timing couldn't actually keep up with his own movements so, with Siegfried's enhanced speed, the Dragon Knight had managed to catch him off guard. Now, however, Vahn went on the full offensive.Ignoring the fact that each of his blows caused his arms to shatter into oblivion, Vahn continued to strike forward in an effort to wear Sigfried down. Siegfried had also noticed that Vahn's speed was impossible to contend with so, instead of defending himself proactively, he tried to use the fact that Vahn was striking him haphazardly to his advantage. Completely forgoing any defensive actions, Siegfried began to rain his own blows forward, each fist carrying enough momentum to turn boulders into powder. Unfortunately, though he managed to 'disperse' Vahn several times, it took less than the blink of an eye for the boy to reform. All the while this was occurring, a larger amount of lightning energy began to flow into his body, causing smoke to begin rising from cracks in the surface of his body.Though he was slowly getting an advantage, Vahn's frustrations had started to peak and, unable to tolerate to internecine blows any further, he transitioned into his Xuánwǔ form. Siegfried immediately tried to open distance between them, something he would soon regret since the difference in their speed meant such actions were pointless. Vahn's onyx-black skin grew black scales that made Siegfried feel as though the boy before him had a similar rare ability as his own. Then, several times faster than he could even blink, Vahn was already burying both of his palms into his lower body. Though such attacks would normally have no effect on him whatsoever, Siegfried paled as he observed Vahn somehow redirect the energy of his natural reflection ability into his own body...along with the terrifying momentum of Vahn's actual blow.In an instant, their roles had been reversed and, instead of having his own body ripped asunder, Siegfried was now falling from the sky, both halves of his body tracing separate arcs since Vahn's attack had parted the once whole body in twain. As a last desperate blow, though he knew it wouldn't have any effect, Siegfried hurled his sword towards Vahn's like a spear. The last thing he saw before darkness claimed his vision was Vahn 'blinking' to the side and catching the hilt of his prized sword with the ease of a cat catching a mouse it had been hunting...(A/N: Let me know if you thought the action was conveyed well. I know I need to improve how I write out 'fast' segments, so feel free to let me know where you thought I could have done better!)(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Battle of Innates','Siegfried's Experience Vs. Vahn's Immortality','Fuck Force Lightning, Vahn's over here using SOURCE Lightning &gt;:D')https://bit.ly/2XBzAYu &lt;-(p.atreon link)paypal.me/EinlionDiscord Invite: https://discord.gg/Jwa8PKh

Chapter 730: Right