Endless Path : Infinite Cosmos

From within the cockpit of his personalized mech suit, Vahn reclined lazily with his feet propped up against the console. Though there were analog controls present, there were secondary and tertiary systems that used the pilot's brainwaves and an onboard AI to allow for greater ease of movement and proper restraint. After all, even the most advanced mechanical systems could not properly replicate organic movements once the machine exceeded a certain size.Due to the square-cube law, as the surface area of an object doubled, its volume cubed. As the size of an object increased, the material used in its construction would quickly exceed its tensile and shear strength, leading to catastrophic breakage and collapse. This could be gotten around when it came to architectural marvels, but, when you were designing something meant to move around at high speeds, rather than stay in one spot, size was one of the greatest limiting factors.Fortunately, there were a number of methods to work around physical laws, especially when you had magic at your disposal. Not only was it possible to produce a myriad of unique materials using Alchemy, but, with the use of Artificial Magic Circuits, Reinforcement Magic, and various other Enchantments, producing a mech that defied common sense was a simple matter. Though it required an incredible amount of magical power and control just to operate it, this wasn't much of a restriction to those on the level of Heroic Spirits.Though some people were quite fervent about learning how to pilot mechs, very few people had been able to incorporate magic into the design process. Most people were still relatively new with magic, and, despite having a world where they could master it much faster than normal, the vast majority spent their time just having fun. This was the charm of the Virtual World, as, compared to the stress you faced in reality, living a free and uninhibited life without fear of 'true' death allowed people to do things they would, otherwise, never try.At this point, the Virtual World had nearly six-million active users, not including Companions and other forms of Artificial Intelligence. As for the number of worlds present within, there were seven thematic universes where, depending on your choices, you could basically live a second life. You could accept Quests, complete Objectives, and, depending on your efforts, greatly increase your social status. There was even a global leaderboard that kept track of thousands of different values ranging from mastery in specific Skills to overall 'achievement' score.What made the Virtual World truly captivating, however, was the fact that your efforts within the 'game' were rewarded outside of it. Due to how realistic the simulation was, technical Skills and the comprehension of certain concepts directly translated back to reality. Better yet, you could exchange achievement points for a number of benefits, including actual equipment, elixirs, and even rare treasures. As a result, success within the Virtual World was, slowly but surely, becoming synonymous with success in the real world...Unfortunately, due to the highly competitive nature of the 'game', combined with the relatively greedy nature of humanity, there were a number of people that willfully took advantage of others. The top ranks were almost exclusively dominated by opportunists and descendants from various Magus families. They had a significant advantage against the average player, and, as a result of feeling suppressed in the real world, they used the Virtual World to release stress.Fortunately, due to the restrictions active within the Virtual World, there was no danger of anyone experiencing something truly traumatic. You could even turn off things like pain, and, due to how the Virtual World interfaced with your mind and spirit, it could actively block any kind of stimulus you didn't want to see. This meant, unless you wanted to see it, things like blood and gore would simply be filtered out by your mind. As for more traumatic events, such as sexual assault and ****, this was completely impossible unless you entered a restricted private world. Even then, if you did anything the other party didn't consent to, you would receive a warning. Further action could lead to punitive measures being taken against you in reality, so, while there was an unsurprisingly large community of 'role-players', there had only been a few instances of people pushing their luck and tempting fate...Still, Vahn couldn't help but feel slightly annoyed by the number of people that treated everyone else like stepping stones. Thus, whenever he visited Tamamo or felt like releasing some stress, he would enter the Virtual World, partnering up with a few of the girls in order to 'punish' the players that treated others like sacrificial pawns. This had made them a popular topic of discussion in the community, even if there were also a considerable number of 'influencers' who accused them of cheating and 'ruining' the game.It was amazing what people thought they could get away with when they were hidden behind a username and didn't know the true identity of the people they were insulting. The fact that Vahn largely ignored them served to fuel the flames of the more 'passionate' players, but, after getting a temporary ban and a warning from the Mother System, they generally quieted down. After all, slander and rabble-rousing were both outlined within the Common Law, so, if you took things too far and tried to incite an incident, you would face the consequences.Though it was impossible to completely eliminate toxicity, the Virtual World was a relatively stable environment, one enjoyed by nearly every user. This wasn't just limited to humans, either, as, with advancements in the subversion technology, Heroic Spirits, Yokai, and even Fae had been able to enter within. They could experience creating an avatar, exploring the various thematic worlds or simply mingling with the ever-growing community of 'players'.Of the seven thematic worlds, the one Vahn enjoyed the most as the Tamer Universe, a place that sealed off other abilities and forced people to compete using captured monsters that required a considerable amount of time and effort to train. This world could be entered by Companions, so, when people were first exploring the Virtual World, they often gravitated towards it. Because of this, it was the 'safest' of the seven thematic worlds, having restrictions that even prevented the use of foul language.Unfortunately, he didn't get to spend too much time in the Tamer Universe, as, due to how busy he was in the real world, Vahn mainly entered the Virtual World alongside others. Once inside, he was able to teleport to the location of people that had been flagged by Mother, and, after closely observing their behavior, he would determine what measure of punishment they deserved. If he found them irredeemable, at least within the current setting, he would destroy their avatar, forcing them to create a new one from scratch...As if it had nothing to do with him, Vahn continued to laze about within his cockpit, even as his mind piloted his mech to tear apart the Yggdrasillia, destroying it from the inside. He was more interested in what was happening on his shared monitors, as, while he dealt with the Flagship, Tamamo and Tamoe had teamed up to destroy the infamous Freedom Armada. As for Altria and X, the former was cloaked against the backdrop of space, periodically sniping enemies using a pitch-black rail gun. The latter, much like Tamamo and Tomoe, was causing rampant destruction, but, instead of teaming up with others, X took advantage of the fact she had been a mech pilot for years, tearing through enemies with impunity.This wasn't the first time he had seen the girls enjoying themselves a little too much. Rather, they had become somewhat addicted to accessing the Virtual World, often complaining about the fact they were only allowed to spend four hours inside each day. They enjoyed teaming up in most of the thematic worlds, and, as a result, were some of the top-ranked, if not 'the' top-ranked, players in each. Tomoe, in particular, was rather famous, as, not only was she Rank 1 on four of the seven thematic universes, she was also the Rank 1 overall...While thinking about the rankings, Vahn looked at his own profile, seeing his rank had dropped to 517th place. He didn't spend that much time in the Virtual World, and, if not for the fact he had a 100% completion rate in both PvP and PvE content, evening winning a few small tournaments, he would have dropped much further...After briefly considering whether or not he should improve his rank, Vahn dismissed the idea. He had far more important things to attend, and, as interesting as the Virtual World was, it lacked the same charm as reality. Besides, while the gap was slowly closing, the Moon Cell made the current Virtual World pale in comparison.Thinking about the Moon Cell, Vahn began considering whether or not he should make contact with Velber 02. He had already confirmed that she was sealed away in an abyssal prison that was similar in structure to Imaginary Number Space. It was virtually impossible for her to escape, and, at least for the time being, she wasn't even trying. She had even created several barriers around herself, seemingly still in recovery after her battle against Mars nearly fourteen-thousand years prior.Until the Umbral Star returned to the Sol System, Velber 02 would remain completely inactive. If everything went as planned, he would have departed the Nasuverse long before the emergence of Angra Mainyu, much less the return of the Umbral Star. Thus, with Altera gradually beginning to open up to others, Vahn didn't really see the need to approach the alien entity. She was extremely hostile, and, even after peering into thousands of different currents, things always ended with her attacking anyone entering her 'ship'. Since she was a Tier 5 entity, this didn't end well for anyone, including Artoria and Arcueid...With thoughts of the terrifying White Titan on his mind, Vahn was moderately surprised by the sound of a proximity alarm. Though he still had plenty of time to dodge, the attack had come from an 'enemy' Mech wielding a massive slab of metal that only vaguely resembled a sword. It had a white-hot edge that caused the surrounding space to distort slightly, and, due to a strange grey mist surrounding the mech itself, his sensors hadn't detected the curious craft until it was attacking.After a very brief moment of confusion, Vahn craned his head to the side, musing, "This person has [Presence Concealment]...?"Though he hadn't expected an answer, a gentle voice resonated within his cockpit, stating, "It is the effect of a unique artifact that can only be obtained by being the first player to successfully defeat one-hundred opponents without being detected. Your opponent is the Rank 7 player, Shadow, one of the leaders of the Freedom Armada."Hearing Mother's explanation, Vahn lightly hummed to himself before timing the activation of his thrusters with the lunge of his opponent. He managed to evade the blade with mere centimeters to spare, and, with his arm extended, decapitated the enemy mech with a lariat. Though it was an impressive feat, obtaining a unique artifact, establishing a faction that treated other players and NPCs as resources was 'unpleasant'. Even if they weren't real, grossly mistreating NPCs for your own amusement was largely frowned upon. In fact, if you took things too far and enjoyed it a little too much, you could even be flagged for counseling after a full psychological evaluation...If people wanted to 'experiment' and do cruel things, they had their own private worlds to make use of. The thematic universes, however, were places where players were meant to gather and work together to achieve impossible feats. It ruined the experience for a lot of people when they came across factions that acted without even a small amount of consideration for others. While this wasn't expressly prohibited, as it added to the 'realism' of the simulation, taking things too far was never a good thing...With most visual sensors located within the head of a mech, Vahn's opponent was left blinded by the unavoidable lariat. As a result, they activated their thrusters to full, seemingly intent on trying to run away. Unfortunately, as abilities in the outside world could directly translate into the Virtual World, Vahn was able to freely teleport, cutting off the path of the escaping mech and skewering it with his bident.As there was always a short lag before a player's awareness was completely cut off from their avatar, Vahn used the opportunity to activate his comms, saying, "Try living a less despicable life in the future. You have a lot of skill. Don't squander it being a petty villain."With his words finish, Vahn swept his bident to the side, tearing apart the grim-reaper-like mech and causing it to explode. He didn't even bother to recover the coffin-shaped artifact that was left behind, allowing it to float within the vast expanse of space. It would probably end up in someone else's hands later on, and, while it was pretty cool, he could easily create an artifact that provided even better concealment. In fact, Altria's mech was the best example of this, as, unless you traced the trajectory of her shots, spotting her with scanners and sensors was completely impossible...As if she could sense his thoughts, Altria appeared shortly after Vahn had finished dealing with Shadow. Her mech was a custom model that appeared feminine in structure, albeit without any unnecessary components. What stood out the most, however, were the sensors on her head, which vaguely resembled cat ears, and the long tail that protruded from the back of her mech. It was mainly for cosmetic purposes, but, when her rifle was low on ammunition, she could plug her tail into its side, powering it with her Altereactor Core.Opening her comms, Altria's characteristically cold voice could be heard, asking, "Are we almost done? This is kind of boring. I'm getting hungry."Altria was the type that enjoyed analog games in the real world rather than spending her time in the Virtual World. It was a lot easier to use a controller than it was to move around, straining your body for very little gain. She enjoyed 'idle' games more than those that required an actual effort, so, despite being ranked within the top twenty in almost every thematic universe, Altria cared very little about climbing higher.Nodding his head, Vahn answered, "I'll call back the others. When we return, I'll let you taste the apple pie baked by the Dryads. They gave me nearly a hundred to share with others."Though mechs didn't have 'faces', Vahn imagined the ocular sensors on Altria's widening slightly as she 'pounced' toward him. This caused their two mechs to collide rather violently, but, as if that didn't matter in the slightest, Altria began to 'scrape' her head against his chest plating, emitting a dull, 'Nyaa~' through her comms.As she only acted cutely whenever food was involved, Vahn could only sigh in exasperation to Altria's behavior. Though he was largely to blame for indulging her, he couldn't help but wonder where she had learned to emulate a spoiled cat. Now, whenever he visited Tamamo, they would sometimes end up in a light spat to determine who got pampered by him. This wasn't necessarily a bad thing, but, when Tomoe and X got involved, things could quickly spiral out of control.Regardless of how 'troublesome' things got, Vahn didn't particularly mind, as, in more ways than one, it was actually kind of refreshing. He enjoyed playing games with the group of shut-ins, and, though she could be somewhat petty at time, Tamamo was still one of his wives. Spending time with her was always worthwhile, and, while not pertinent to his future plans, her cooperation was necessary to eliminate a few troublesome variables...With the integrity of his hull slowly being compromised by Altria's actions, Vahn roughly pat the back of her mech, saying, "The others are already on the way back. Get ready to return. Also...try not to fight with X tonight. I have other things going on, so I won't be able to mediate properly if anything happens."Rather than immediately respond to his words, Altria seemed to enter a thoughtful state before holding up three fingers before quickly changing to two and saying, "Two apple pies..."(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'I can control is with my mind powers~!','RIP tryhard players...','Altria is a master when it comes to negotiating')https://bit.ly/2XBzAYu &lt;-(p.atreon link)paypal.me/EinlionDiscord Invite: https://discord.gg/Jwa8PKh

While the children were enjoying their first taste of 'another world', another version of Vahn slowly ascended a set of winding stone steps. There were massive red tori gates framing the entire path, giving any who ventured forth a feeling as though they were passing into another dimension.If you didn't have an invitation, this peculiar path would lead anyone who ventured inward around in an endlessly looping circle. Even if you tried to backtrack, you would never find yourself back at the entrance, giving the sense of descending indefinitely.Vahn actually found such 'gimmicks' kind of cool, as, if you bounced a ball down the path, it would eventually appear 'behind' you from above. This path was essentially the combination of a powerful illusion and looping multiple spatial points. If you knew the trick behind it, breaking free was actually relatively simple as you needed only find the boundaries of the loop, destroying the Tori responsible for ensnaring you in the first place.Due to the peculiar laws and restrictions governing Yokai, even their most nefarious traps 'required' the inclusion of a failsafe, a means by which those trapped within could free themselves. They were unable to create truly inescapable traps, and, unless their 'victims' met certain conditions, even killing them was off-limits. Thus, so long as you had a proper understanding of the rules, dealing with the majority of Yokai was relatively simple. Rather, they treated their life as little more than a game, one where they took great pleasure in just messing around and enjoying life to the fullest...After reaching the top of the path, Vahn found a familiar figure waiting for him at the entrance of an expansive palatial shrine. They were wearing an outfit reminiscent of a Shrine Maiden, but, instead of a full-length hakama, they wore a skirt that wouldn't even extend past their palms. In a way, this was even worse than Circe's original outfit, as, whenever she moved around, anyone with even a decent level of perception would be privy to quite the sight...As he was already quite used to this, Vahn brought his hand to his chin in a thoughtful manner, his eyes shifting to gold for a brief moment as he commented, "Your skirt is .8 centimeters shorter than the last time I saw you. It seems you haven't given up, eh, Suzuka?"Rather than show any sense of shame, Suzuka smiled mischievously, her fox-like ears twitching as she brought her finger to her lip and mused, "This little one has no idea what Ten'nō-sama is talking about? We are just a lowly handmaiden...how could we ever harbor any intentions~?"Towards the end of her words, Suzuka gave a polite bow before taking a few steps back and turning around. This made her skirt appear even shorter, and, if not for her fox-like tail obstructing the view, it would have been possible to see a lot more than just Suzuka's slightly exposed butt cheeks. She seemed to be going all out this time around, as, when she walked, her tail would sway from side-to-side, almost hypnotically.After dealing with other vulpine women, including Haruhime, Shizune, and Tamamo, Vahn was less affected by their trickery than most. He knew Suzuka was just trying to win his favor in an effort to improve her standing, as, after challenging Tamamo for supremacy, she ended up getting defeated pretty severely. This wasn't because Tamamo was stronger than her, quite the opposite, but due to the 'authority' possessed by the former. The duel had also forbidden the use of killing techniques, so, despite possessing enough skill to even rival Musashi, Suzuka was ultimately suppressed by the three-tailed Tamamo.Though he couldn't deny it was tempting, as Suzuka was an incredibly beautiful woman, Vahn had a considerable amount of resistance to those who 'only' saw him as a way to increase their standing. If her feelings were more sincere, he probably would have pushed her down long ago. Instead, she still looked down on him quite a bit, believing he would ultimately relent to her charms. This hadn't won her any favors amongst the women in the Inner Sanctum, but, as she quickly realized the danger of opponents like Artoria, Suzuka set her sights on ruling over the Yokai District...As Vahn was 'absentmindedly' following along, he noticed a very small fluctuation in the surrounding space. Immediately thereafter, a small statuette fell off a display stand, causing Suzuka's ears to perk up as if she were surprised. At the same time, her tail also raised in alert, exposing her relatively small yet perfectly sculpted butt. More noticeable, however, was the pristine, seemingly untouched mound that bisected the two immaculate cheeks, forming a 'perfect line' crested with a chrysanthemum.Vahn raised his brow slightly at the sight, not simply due to the fact she was exposing herself to him, but because of how she picked up the statuette. Rather than squatting down, she elected to bend at the waist, presenting her exposed bottom and holding the position for several seconds. For a brief moment, she even sneaked a peek at him through her legs before waggling her butt slightly in an effort to entice him further...Rather than push her down, Vahn had a sudden urge to smack Suzuka's backside. As a result, a light chuckle escaped his lips before he adopted a look similar to an Art Critic, saying, "Exquisite...almost like a pure, shaven, peach..."While speaking, Vahn had started to approach Suzuka, causing her breath to quicken as she began to tense up in anticipation. Unfortunately, just as she was searching for the words to further entice him, she felt a surge of electricity run through her body, preempted by an impact and the sound of something hard striking flesh.With her balance disrupted, Suzuka fell forward while exclaiming, "Eeei...!?" in a surprisingly girlish tone. Her hands instinctually moved to protect her butt from further abuse, nearly causing her to fall face-first only the hardwood floor. Fortunately, Vahn spared her this fate, but, rather than thank him, Suzuka had tears building up in her eyes as she shouted, "You brute! Even my father never spanked me before...!"Hearing Suzuka's outburst, Vahn lightly rolled his eyes before remarking, "I'm not your father. I am your Emperor. Have you forgotten...?"Though she could still feel her butt pulsing due to the pain, Suzuka's expression immediately shifted from a look of blame to a demure blush as she lowered her eyes and answered, "This little one could never forget her Master's, Ten'nō-sama's, greatness. If...if it pleases Ten'nō-sama, this little one would be happy to receive another punishment..."Following her statement, Suzuka pulled up her skirt to reveal a red handprint on her left butt cheek. Then, with a heavy blush on her face, she clenched her teeth and closed her eyes in anticipation of her 'punishment'.Seeing his handprint, Vahn felt a little guilty, so, after releasing a tired sigh, he lined his hand up with the mark, using [Hands of Nirvana] to heal it almost instantaneously. This caused Suzuka to open her eyes in confusion, finding her Master staring directly at her, exasperation visible in his countenance as he said, "Sorry...I got a little out of hand. For now, return to your room or attend to your duties. I know the way."Finishing healing Suzuka's butt, Vahn let her stand normally as he walked past her without looking back. This left the vulpine woman staring at his back, her golden eyes glimmering thoughtfully even after he vanished around the corner. Then, with a small frown on her face, she rubbed her still tender butt before muttering, "Damnit. So close...!" as she turned away and retreated toward her room with uneven steps...---After escaping Suzuka's vulpine temptations, Vahn made his way towards one of the larger rooms at the back of the shrine. Then, after taking a breath to steady himself, he opened the sliding bamboo door to find an increasingly familiar sight waiting for him on the other side...In the past, Tamamo had been exceptionally clingy, but, after spending time in the Menagerie, she mellowed out quite a bit. When he asked her to serve as a counterbalance for Shuten, she had gladly accepted the responsibility, establishing a sizeable territory for herself in a single evening. Afterward, she spent most of her time cooped up within her shrine, basically living the life of a 'shut-in'. Though she still took her duties very seriously, most matters were resolved by her Shikigami, beings similar in structure to the masked entities that had appeared in the Moon Cell.With little to do, Tamamo spent most of her time holed up inside her room, either playing games, viewing his memories, or eating various sweets. She even had a Virtual World Terminal installed, so, half the time he visited, Vahn found her sleeping inside the protective capsule with a rather lascivious smile on her face. What made matters even worse was the fact that, by some twist of fate, she wasn't the only one who had given in to such a 'depraved' lifestyle...Despite having already announced his presence, Vahn was left standing in the doorway with a wry smile on his face as he saw four figures engaged in an intense battle. Other than Tamamo giving a quick, "Ah, one moment!" none of the others even acknowledged his presence. This caused Vahn to release a small sigh as he pulled a plush beanbag-style chair out of his Inventory and plopped down.While the battle between the four girls was certainly intense, it wasn't as if they were fighting in the real world. Rather, they were playing a game called Street Tournament 5, a fighting game that had been quite popular before The Fall. It had even developed an international following, coinciding in the development of a Championship Series to determine the best players from around the world...If said 'best players' were to see the current scene, they would have been completely captivated by the sight of four world-class beauties. When their eyes eventually turned to the screen, however, any thoughts of trying to impress the four would fade away, replaced by sheer incredulity. After all, due to the nature of Heroic Spirits, playing the game 'normally' would be impossible. Instead, they were playing a version of the game that ran at 20x normal speed, rebalanced by Ark so that the characters had massive health pools and balanced hitboxes.In order to withstand the inputs of Heroic Spirits, arcade controllers that qualified as B-Rank Artifacts had been developed. Anything weaker wouldn't be able to 'survive' a heated match, as, when things got tense, controllers were sometimes sent flying. There had even been an incident where Tamamo transformed into a giant fox after suffering defeat one-hundred times in a row, destroying half of her shrine before she was finally pacified. As for her opponent, it was none other than Tomoe Gozen, the Yokai woman who had, in the past, refused to live within the Yokai District.A stark contrast to her proud and noble self from the past, the current Tomoe was wearing a loose white t-shirt, a partially unzipped black hoodie, and, of all things, black spats. She currently had an expression of intense focus as her hands dexterously manipulated the controls, their trajector nearly invisible to the naked eye. She had lost the countenance of a warrior committed to dying on the field of battle, instead, becoming a person who enjoyed experiencing hundreds of different lives through the characters in video games.Seeing how much fun Tomoe was having, Vahn didn't really have much to say about her unexpected kinship, not with Tamamo, but the other two girls flanking her...As had become a bad habit of his, Vahn turned his eyes to the two pert mounds covered in glossy black material. Tomoe wasn't the only one in the room wearing spats, as, to her left, laying on her stomach and creating quite the sight to behold, Altria could be seen absentmindedly eating pocky as her hands danced across her own controller. She had arrived in Avalon merely three weeks after the first conflict with the Heroes Faction, claiming it was 'too troublesome' to help clean up the mess in China.Vahn had always felt a little guilty about bribing Altria to fight on the side of the Heroes Faction, so, when she began to randomly appear around Avalon, he had gone out to meet her. There, he came across an even more troublesome sight, as, by happenstance, the other Altria had been conducting some kind of field test in the area. As a result, the two near-identical women began fighting it out in the middle of the sea, their attacks sending shockwaves that caused minor damage to a few nearby fishing vessels.After intervening in the fight, and mediating a very long discussion, Vahn agreed to let the taciturn glutton reside within Avalon. As a result, her counterpart, who now simply went by 'X', also decided she would stay, purported to 'keep watch and make sure Altria didn't do anything wicked'. This had caused Vahn a few headaches around the time, but, with Artoria having already 'dealt' with X prior to the incident, things had been 'relatively' calm.Now, seated to the right of Tomoe, wearing a blue cap, blue windbreaker, and spats of her own, X could be seen furiously mashing the buttons of her controller. She had an extremely frustrated look on her face, her eyes tearing up slightly, as, on the screen, her character was being caught in what appeared to be an 'infinite combo' by Tomoe's. She was trying to break out of it by button mashing, but, with a look of absolute focus, Tomoe was able to maintain the combo without dropping it for even a moment.With her character trapped in an inescapable combo, X tossed her controller with enough force to embed it in the ceiling, exclaiming, "This isn't fair at all! How are you able to do so much damage with a handicap!?"Without a single change in her expression, Tomoe began engaging Tamamo's character while plainly answering, "You fought well. I am simply better at this game than you are."Hearing Tomoe's response, X mussed her hair in frustration, knocking her cap off and exposing a full head of silky golden locks. Then, with an exasperated sigh, she fell backward, laying on the floor and only just then noticing Vahn seated behind them. Her mental faculties seemed to have shut down completely as her sapphire-blue eyes, still moist from her whining, quickly began to dry out due to her unblinking gaze...Since the others were still focused on the game, Vahn lifted his hand in a greeting gesture, stating, "Yo." in a casual tone. This seemed to liberate her from the stupor she had found herself in, causing her to instinctually zip up her windbreaker as she adopted an awkward smile and asked, "How long have you been sitting there...?"As X was still laying on the ground, looking 'up' at him, Vahn couldn't resist the urge to tease her, answering, "Since before you got wrecked by Tomoe's combo. What did I tell you about breaking controllers? You haven't even worked off your debt for the previous seventy...or was it eighty?"Though the Empire had functionally inexhaustible resources, that didn't mean they could be used and squandered arbitrarily. Rather, most things were created with a specific purpose in mind, and, unless it was something you naturally produced, all materials and requests were handled by Ark. If you were unqualified to work with the materials requested, the would simply be denied to you. As for instances where people destroyed or damaged the goods they were supplied, there were various penalties, mostly resulting in the offender having to pay off their 'debt' by either assisting in research projects or performing manual labor.Hearing Vahn's words, X's face paled slightly as her eyes began swimming around for some kind of excuse. Then, causing him to deadpan, she adopted an awkward smile before lowly unzipping the upper half of her windbreaker...Causing X to nearly jump due to her surprise, a cold monotone echoed through the area as Altria, without even turning to look, commented, "Lewd..."Now in a seated position, X had tears in her eyes as she glared towards Altria and said, "Don't call me lewd! Aren't you the one who behaves like a cat!?"Due to X's distraction, Altria ended up suffering a swift defeat at the hands of the opportunistic Tomoe. This caused a very small change in her expression, her amber-eyes glimmering slightly as she pushed her controller forward and sat up. Then, seemingly egged on by X's words, she languidly crawled toward Vahn on her hands and knees, stopping just short to raise her hand like a cat's paw and dully intone, "Nyaaa..."Since their appearances were very similar, albeit with variations to skin, hair, and eye color, X always took critical damage when she saw Altria behaving 'shamelessly'. This was further exacerbated by the fact that Vahn unhesitantly extended his hand, lightly caressing the underside of Altria's neck as he said, "Good kitty~."With a victorious glimmer in her eyes, Altria made a 'v' sign with her fingers before taking things a step further by crawling forward and laying with her back against Vahn's lap. This wasn't the first time she had done something similar, so, without showing any real surprise, Vahn pulled out a few snacks from his inventory and began feeding her as if it was perfectly natural...Seeing the shameless duo, X looked like she was on the verge of pulling out her Rhongomyniad and eliminating evil from the Universe. Before she could act, however, Tamamo suddenly shouted, "No! I can still aim for a reversal...!" just as her character was KO'd by Tomoe. This caused her to turn into a living statue for a brief moment, while, at the side, Tomoe just giggled before saying, "It was a good match. As expected of my greatest rival."Though she was still deflated by her loss, Tamamo's ears perked up in response to Tomoe's comment about being her rival. This caused a small smile to develop across her face, but, rather than challenge the undefeated Oni to another match, she turned towards the sight of her Master coddling another woman. For a brief moment, a flame of envy began to burn in her chest, but, seeing her Master smile back at her, Tamamo's negative feelings melted away in an instant as she mused, "It seems a new challenger has appeared~."(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Someone get this woman a drink...!','Bunch of degenerate gamers xD...','Some say Heaven is a place on Earth (UwU)...')https://bit.ly/2XBzAYu &lt;-(p.atreon link)paypal.me/EinlionDiscord Invite: https://discord.gg/Jwa8PKh

Chapter 1504: Stardate 1803.15