Endless Path : Infinite Cosmos

Ushering an abrupt end to Yuri's search for Madara and Eve, the voice of Shiroyasha echoed through the ruins of the former Little Garden, stating, "The Hidden Condition, Defeat or Seal the Demon Dragon God, has been achieved by Ha Yuri of the Wolhaiksong Community. All remaining Players will now be given a choice. You can either advance to the final elimination round or abstain. But worry not. Those who choose to forgo the finals can request a stay of one week to continue exploring at their leisure. This is a rare opportunity, so make what you can of it."
"There goes my chance to show off..." said Izayoi, casually evading the serrated edge of a flaming sword more than 300m in length. He was still trapped within the Ginnungagap, undergoing the trials of Aurgelmir, so he wouldn't be able to participate in the finals unless he gave up obtaining the ancient giant's legacy.
"It's probably for the best," contended Seiunn. "As exceptional as you are, it will be some time before you can realistically compete with the entities occupying the lower-digit Gates."
"Don't tempt me..." said Izayoi, catching the massive flaming sword with his palm. Then, with considerable ease, he punched in the direction of the sword's wielder, a fire giant standing more than 500m in height.
Though Izayoi's fist came nowhere near the giant, the shockwave it produced caused the upper half of the colossal being to explode, white-hot magma erupting from what remained of its torso.
Deciding to make use of the giant's sword, Izayoi flipped it through the air as if he were tossing a baton, kicking the rounded pommel with enough force to send it flying through the bodies of several additional giants like a beam of orange-hued light...
Seeing the sword impact the ground, creating an explosion larger than any bomb produced by the humans of his world, the usually confident grin on Izayoi's face diminished slightly. He still had a long way to go to reach the top, but the more powerful he became, the more detached he felt.
Like a much younger version of Vahn, Izayoi had reached the point where raw, destructive power seemed meaningless. His motivation for becoming stronger was to punish the wicked and protect the weak, but with Vahn in the picture, there was only so much he could do without arbitrarily placing the children of his Community in danger.
"Maybe I should pick up forging..." muttered Izayoi, raising his hand over his head to produce a pillar of energy that quickly grew to more than ten kilometers long. His surroundings had abruptly changed from an ancient battlefield to a seemingly endless tundra populated by mountains of ice and snow that quickly revealed themselves to be slumbering giants. The one closest to him exhaled a frigid breath that caused the air to solidify into a solid block of ice, but Izayoi was unaffected by the pervasive chill as he swept the pure white pillar of light through the giant, shattering it like a fragile ice sculpture...
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With a large portion of Players being eliminated by Azi and his clones, fewer than a thousand chose to participate in the Finals, the majority of which represented two and three-digit Communities. There were a few outliers, such as Yuri, Laulau, and Scathach, but they were an exception as most Players understood the futility of trying to compete against even the weakest member of an Inner-gated Community.
Standing near the center of the massive circular platform that would soon serve as a battleground, Kurma wore a conflicted look as she was relieved to be rid of the threat of Azi, at least for a time, but annoyed to have failed in her mission to recover the World Anchor. Now, unless they could collect enough Sun Authorities to produce a new one, half of Creation effectively belonged to Vahn...
Appearing at Kurma's side, Siddhartha wore a comparably relaxed smile as he stood with his hands behind his back, stating, "What you fear will not come to pass. But, even if it did, life will endure. After all, no matter how dark things may appear at dusk, there will always be a new Dawn..."
Instead of responding to Siddhartha's words of wisdom, Kurma raised her head alongside nearly every other Player in the Finals. Everyone expected the final competition to be a free-for-all, but they soon learned the truth as Shiroyasha's voice echoed across the battlefield, stating, "In the spirit of fairness, the event organizers and myself have determined that the final round of the Pandemonium Gift Game will pit all remaining Players against the Representative of the Aldrnari Empire, the Ethereal Queen. Additionally, so long as a single Player remains after the one-minute mark, it will automatically be considered a victory for the majority."
Though Shiroyasha's words sounded ridiculous to those observing the Pandemonium Gift Game, everyone participating in the Finals thought she was being unreasonable in a different way. They could all see the Ethereal Queen standing in the air with her spear, hovering above the center of the battlefield, and the moment they gazed at her, even the proudest Players understood they had no chance of enduring a full minute.
"Impossible..." muttered Kurma, subsequently dropping to her knees. As a Pure-Blooded Dragon, the thought of facing a powerful opponent should have exhilarated her, but all she felt while looking at the Ethereal Queen was a form of hopelessness beyond despair. It was like she had abruptly become a normal human, staring in awe as the Sun that had watched over her people for eons exploded. She was frightened, but she couldn't help feeling she was witnessing something beautiful and majestic at the same time...
As Shiroyasha announced the start of the final match, no one, not even Yuri, made a move. They were all transfixed by the aura exuding from the Ethereal Queen, who, after fifty-three seconds, adopted a faint smile and said, "There is a certain wisdom in resigning yourselves to your fates..."
Punctuating her words, the Ethereal Queen swept her spear in an overtly casual gesture, producing amethyst-purple flames that swept across the battlefield instantly, consuming everything in their wake. A few with Gifts that influenced causality or made them indestructible tried to resist, but in the presence of one of the few 'absolutes,' no power derived from another could hope to endure more than a moment...
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While the majority of the Little Garden's residents were paralyzed in awe or disbelief after seeing some of the most powerful beings in the Divine Realm reduced to little more than fodder, Vahn abruptly appeared in front of a hooded figure whose visible hands and feet resembled appendages doused in mercury.
"So, you've come..." muttered the figure, raising its head to reveal a hazy mirror instead of a face. Several other mirrors decorated its body, forming a necklace around its neck and shoulders, but its most prominent feature was the tattered, extremely ancient-looking sword in its left hand.
"I am the Fulcrum," said the mirror-faced entity. "The one who maintains the balance between those who stand at the pinnacle and all other beings in Creation. To advance beyond this point, you must relinquish half of your power and authority..."
Shaking his head, Vahn casually attested, "That may be the way things are, but change is one of the fundamental aspects of reality. I shall allow you to continue serving as the Fulcrum, but from this moment forward..."
Taking a seat on the throne that had appeared behind him, a golden light exuded from Vahn's eyes as he stated, "I am the only one that sits on this side..."
Though Fulcrum was initially confused by Vahn's words, it didn't take long for it to realize what the latter had done. If it had eyes, they would have been round as saucers. Instead, after a moment of hesitation, it turned to face the eight entities that had manifested behind it.
"There cannot be a single being that stands above all of Creation..." said a thin, inordinately beautiful, statuesque figure seated atop a thick platform resembling the stalk of a giant lotus. The figure's body appeared to be an emaciated man garbed in the traditional red robes of a Buddhist monk, but the longer you looked at them, the more 'uncertain' that observation became. Conceptual entities changes form based on the expectations of those observing and interacting with them, so when Vahn adopted a smile and prepared to answer, more than half the group looked exactly like him.
"I do not plan to stand above anyone," said Vahn, meeting the gazes of each entity within the group as he added, "Rather, I intend to stand 'with' everyone..."
Owing to their omnipotence, spanning all things within Creation, everyone in the group immediately understood what Vahn was saying as 'memories' predating the First Dawn materialized in their minds. They had thought he was the 'New Dawn,' but as they looked back and reflected on the birth of the current Order, they found him staring back at them with a smile.
For the briefest of moments, a period so small that the concept of time couldn't be applied to it, every single being across all of Creation had the same light exuding from their eyes as Vahn's. This was most apparent to True Buddha, representing the concept of Universal Oneness, but due to Vahn allowing the rest to know, the knowledge was hardcoded into their very existence.
"So that's how it is..." muttered Indra, appearing much like his counterpart in the Outer Gates but with four arms, three eyes, and scarlet hair instead of his traditional purple locks. He had always suspected that Vahn might be their origin, but even if that wasn't the case, it was now an immutable truth.
"I cannot accept this," said a petite, arrogant-looking woman with black and white hair that vaguely resembled horns. Her abyssal-black eyes reflected no light, but they gave the impression they could see through all things as their owner glared at Vahn with a defiant look.
Meeting the petite figure's gaze, Vahn's expression softened as he said, "The desire for change is a good thing. However, if you choose to come at me, there are two things you should know..."
Though the entire group instantaneously knew what he was going to say, Vahn effectively made it a fundamental aspect of reality by stating, "I will neither resist nor step down from my post. You are welcome to stab, slice, seal away, or even devour me. I will endure everything, and once you get tired, I will comfort you as any father should..."
Feeling emotions she hadn't experienced in eons, the dichromatic woman charged toward Vahn with reality-bending speed, her seemingly delicate right hand transforming into the claw of a black dragon as she attempted to rip his head off. Her true identity was that of the Primordial, Chaos, but she had been given a second title to explain the sudden emergence of Pure-Blooded Dragons in the Divine Realm, elevating her to the position of Progenitor Dragon God.
True to his words, Vahn offered no resistance even as Chaos ripped his head from his upper body. Ordinarily, Chaos would have used that as an opportunity to tear him to shreds, but she abruptly stopped, cold sweat running down her face and body as Vahn's memories of being torn apart were transmitted to her. At the same time, she also felt his compassion, love, and boundless tolerance, creating an indescribable sense of conflict within her heart as he rematerialized and casually decreed, "Only those who can empathize with the people they trample upon deserve to stand at the pinnacle of Creation..."
And with those words, Empathy became the 'core' representing all who held and aspired to obtain Divinity...
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(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'The act of creation will always be more meaningful than destruction...','PvP in Diablo Immortal be like...','Vahn, aka, the Dragon God of Consequence...')

"That's enough," said a gentle voice, interrupting Chaos's imminent existential crisis.
Alongside everyone else present, Vahn shifted his attention to the entity that had spoken, an androgynous figure with pearl-like eyes, short black and white hair, large fluffy ears, and a two-toned tail that drooped from a black, gold-trimmed, oversized, high-collared, long-sleeved smock. Their height barely crested 140cm, but they gave anyone who observed them the impression of staring at a boundless, star-filled sky.
"Is..." muttered Vahn, recognizing the diminutive entity as the Progenitor of Poets, a conceptual being that gave form to thought. Their existence was just below the Law of Identity, but without them, there would be no 'stories' and, thus, no fate.
Adopting a faint smile, though it wasn't visible due to the collar obscuring the lower half of their face, Is stunned nearly everyone present by asking, "How have you been, father?"
"It's time for you to rest," replied Vahn, casually making his way over to caress Is's head with his right hand. It had yet to happen but Is was the child of him and Fenrir from a collateral timeline. They wouldn't be born until near the end of time itself, but due to the concepts they represented, their origin could be traced to the beginning, creating the 'closed loop' necessary to ensure a Record's stability.
After narrowing their eyes contentedly, Is's body abruptly disintegrated, returning to Vahn. Afterward, the latter looked around, gazing at Ahura Mazda, True Buddha, Samsara, Chaos, An, Indra, Ame-no-Minakanushi, and Fulcrum.
"You now have a choice," said Vahn. "The Central Network will soon be overhauled, enabling it to handle the Administrative Functions of the Little Garden. I will not strip you of your powers or deprive you of the Gates you occupy, but there is no longer a need for you to serve as the lynchpins of reality."
Raising his right hand, Vahn generated a total of seven spheres, each representing an Actualized World on par with the Transcendental Path to Heaven in terms of scope.
"If you'd like, I can allow you to experience a world outside the bounds of your knowledge. Inversely, you could stay here and try to oppose me, but unless you can obtain a power outside the scope of omnipotence, there is little chance of you succeeding."
As Vahn spoke, the seven remaining Primordials saw visions of the future extending to the end of the current Order. They also became aware that he had already created a closed loop of fate, open to change but with the same origin and endpoints. In many ways, it was similar to how advanced computers ran simulations, each Order improving upon the last in a never-ending cycle.
"There is no such thing as perfection," said Vahn. "Even with this kind of structure, there will eventually be an 'end.' All I can do is prolong things for as long as possible."
Adopting a gentle smile, Vahn added, "After all, so long as there is the potential for awareness and the notion of standing at the pinnacle of all things, there will eventually come a time when the person standing at the top grows weary of their burden. This can be offset by sharing the burden with others, but even that has limits..."
Meeting the gazes of the pensive Primordials, Vahn sent the spheres floating toward them. Chaos frowned deeply when a sphere came to rest in front of her, but as an entity that had existed before time, she wasn't oblivious to the 'burden' Vahn spoke of. She once had aspirations of ruling over all of Creation, but after being stuck at Rank 5 for eons, she knew it was impossible to overcome the very Concepts that gave her being.
Interrupting the tense silence, Samsara, a six-armed youth representing the Six Paths and the Cycle of Reincarnation, softly remarked, "It would be interesting to experience the Cycle directly..."
Without waiting for anyone to respond, Samsara placed one of their hands atop the sphere, disappearing in an instant. Fortunately, as both Samsara and the Actualized Worlds were ultimately a part of Vahn, the Concepts of the Six Paths and Reincarnation didn't cease to exist. Rather, they were an integral part of the current Order and inscribed into the foundation of just about every Record, so even if there weren't a being directly representing the process, souls would continue to be repurposed and recycled.
"Anyone else?" asked Vahn, knowing the answer but feeling compelled to ask. Unfortunately, even though they were fully aware of its existence, none of the remaining Primordials deviated from the 'script' he had written and presented to them. Vahn wasn't disappointed by this, but to ensure the existence of concepts such as free will, he had to willfully desire that events outside the scope of his boundless knowledge would occur, even if the chances were slim...
"Then, let's all do our best to make the Little Garden a better place from here on," said Vahn, turning away from the group of Primordials to reclaim his position atop his throne. Chaos eventually made her way over to sit on his lap, but as the 'Mother of Creation' and the 'Primordial Dragon God,' it wasn't an exaggeration to say her place was at his side...
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"How much longer are you planning to stay...?" asked Shiroyasha, staring at the version of Vahn using her lap as a pillow. The Little Garden was in a celebratory mood after the unexpected defeat of Azi Dahaka and the rise of the Aldrnari Empire as a 3-Digit Community, but the atmosphere within her traditional, Japanese-style room was comparably melancholic.
"Forever..." replied Vahn, opening his eyes to meet Shiroyasha's golden, cat-like gaze. In reality, he had already done exactly that, but he forced his consciousness to exist at the moment after his defeat of the Ethereal Queen, intent on playing the part he had assigned himself.
Running her fingers through Vahn's hair, Shiroyasha muttered, "You may very well be the greatest fool in all of Creation..." in a faint, chiding tone.
"So long as even a single person continues to love and have expectations for me, I can live with that..." replied Vahn. He knew that only Sis, Fenrir, and a handful of others would stay with him to the very end, but the fact there was more than one person that could endure eternity alongside him was enough to compel him forward. Shiroyasha herself would eventually leave his side after the final stars disappeared from the night sky, but he didn't fear that inevitably. Rather, he looked forward to meeting her anew, countless times over...
Feeling Vahn's love flow into her from the tips of her fingers, a pang of guilt permeated Shiroyasha's being before disappearing just as quickly. She felt like she had dragged him into his current predicament and was actively preventing him from reuniting with the family he had left behind in the Record of Danmachi. Still, so long as he continued to love her, she felt compelled to do the same.
"I guess we're both fools..." muttered Shiroyasha, bending over to plant a lingering kiss on Vahn's lips. She also knew the fate that awaited them in the distant future, but, much like the other Primordials, she was willing to see things through to the end. That was the 'curse' of beings at their level of existence, but so long as she had someone to share it with, Shiroyasha didn't fear the end...
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With Creation updating retroactively to reflect the changes to the Divine Realm and its structure, most people weren't aware of how the dynamic of power had shifted. When Da Vinci substituted Laplace and upgraded the Central Network to administrate the entirety of the Little Garden, the only people who noticed it were those affiliated with the Aldrnari Empire. From everyone else's perspective, the Central Network had 'always' been in charge.
Similar to how the Central Network had always been in charge, Vahn made good on various promises, such as reuniting Lily with her mother, making it so that Anak's had never died, restoring the Vampire race, and preventing the destruction of the Moon Rabbit tribe by transplanting them into the present at the moment before their destruction. To a similar end, he made it so that anyone who experienced tragedy during their life was given the same opportunity as himself, inheriting a variation of The Path that would allow them to live their next life as they pleased.
As all beings within the Record stemmed from Vahn's Universal Mind and Keeper of the Akashic Tome Innates, providing others a variation of The Path was no different from using it himself. In fact, after his 'awakening,' he realized that his existence as Vahn Aldrnari Masion had come to be in a similar light. Sis informed him that this was one step short of the truth, but until he was ready to abandon his current existence, it was impossible for him to grasp the final piece of the puzzle. All he knew for certain was that his existence was fundamentally linked with the beings of all Records, not just the Transcendental Path to Heaven...
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Name: [Vahn Aldrnari Mason]
Age: Ageless
Race: Aiua's Shadow
Parameters: [Transcendental Path to Heaven]
Strength: &infin;
Agility: &infin;
Dexterity: &infin;
Intelligence: &infin;
Luck: &infin;
Spirit: &infin;
Wisdom: &infin;
Charisma: &infin;
Divinity: [Vahn Aldrnari Mason]
Authority: [Vahn Aldrnari Mason]
Soul Tier: 0
Karma: &infin;
Innate(s): [Will of the Emperor: (-)], [Vessel of the Soul:(-)], [Origin Terminal:(-)], [Rakshasa Body: (-)], [Keeper of the Akashic Tome: (-)], [Eyes of Truth: (-)], [Universal Mind: (-)], [Actualization: (-)]
Gift(s): [Vahn Aldrnari Mason]
Talent(s): [Vahn Aldrnari Mason]
[Vessel of the Soul]
Rank: Innate (-) *Innate Skills cannot be identified. Attempts to do so will result in a backlash.
[Passive]: Allows the user to exist.
[Active]: Allows the user to overwrite the existence of another.
[Origin Terminal]
Rank: Innate (-) *Innate Skills cannot be identified. Attempts to do so will result in a backlash.
[Passive]: Allows the user to access Records.
[Active]: Finalize events within a Record to enable the user to separate themselves from causality.
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Sitting atop an old, dust-covered sofa, lit by the rainbow-hued flames of a hearth, Vahn, sitting next to Sis and absentmindedly caressing Fenrir's fur, watched in silence as the tiny orb representing the Transcendental Path to Heaven lost its light.
"And there it goes..." muttered Vahn, feeling a pang of loneliness as even the fire from the hearth began to wane. Fortunately, even after a span of time beyond comprehension, he was never truly alone. It had been eons since Fenrir opened her eyes, but when he ran his fingers through her fur, her tail would waggle slightly...
"Will you not be starting again?" asked Sis, raising her head from Vahn's shoulder to observe his face.
"That is my purpose," replied Vahn. However, while he infused a trace of Source Energy into the tiny sphere, he didn't enter it. Instead, he used his Origin Terminal to finalize events within the Record before allowing it to float like a bubble into the 'ceiling' above, joining the innumerable points of light representing his Actualized worlds like a tapestry of stars in the night sky.
Sensing Vahn's actions, a mechanical doll, perfectly emulating Eva in her prime, opened its eyes and looked over, asking, "Have you finally formed your resolve...?"
Without waiting for Vahn's response, a faint light spread across the doll's body, restoring its complexion to that of a living being. Then, while Vahn silently observed her actions, she made her way over to a wall lined with dozens of crystalline capsules, inputting a series of commands that would awaken those slumbering within.
Emerging from the first capsule, Medusa covered her mouth to stifle a cute yawn before directing her gaze to Vahn, ignoring Sis and Fenrir as she adopted a cheeky smile and asked, "Did you miss me~?"
Reacting to Medusa's voice, Fenrir's ashen fur abruptly regained its cobalt blue luster, followed by her opening her crimson eyes and remarking, "You should go back to sleep..." in an irritable tone. The thought of returning 'home' caused her once-still heart to palpitate with excitement, but she was saddened that her eternity of snuggling with her Master had come to an end. Fortunately, even if it took countless epochs, Fenrir was confident she would outlast even Sis as his final companion...
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(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Is, Is Not...','Fading Twilight...','Fenrir, Goddess of Good Girls...')

"Did Kurma-chan offend you in some way...?" asked Queen Halloween, running her fingers through the hair of the Vahn resting his head atop her naked thighs.
"Even if she had, do you think me a petty man?" asked Vahn, opening his eyes to observe Queen's reaction directly.
"Not that I'm aware," replied Queen. "However, even if this is the path she chose for herself, it wouldn't take much for you to ally her concerns..."
"You're not wrong," conceded Vahn, closing his eyes and adding, "But I'm not the only one capable of clarifying the situation. Siddhartha discovered the truth fairly early on, but he continues going through the motions since it is our experiences that give meaning to life. As someone burdened with omnipresence, omnipotence, and omniscience, you know the importance of 'verifying' things for yourself..."
Furrowing her brows, Queen wanted to refute Vahn's words but knew there was no argument to make against them. Encompassing concepts such as omnipresence, omnipotence, and omniscience were intrinsically paradoxical due to the duality 'hardcoded' into Creation. A strong enough will could change the course of history and reshape destiny, so the true purpose of those with limitless power and knowledge was observing and comparing events that transpired in the present to how they were 'meant' to be. The problem was that the current Order allowed for contradicting interpretations of the same events. As a result, the structure of reality came down to a simple game of he-said-she-said based on the views of select entities and the Authority granted to them by their followers...
"Don't worry," said Vahn, opening his eyes just enough to let his usually aquamarine, currently rainbow-hued pupils shine through as he stated, "The changes you, Shiroyasha, and many others desire have either been introduced or set into motion. Rather than worrying about the future, you should focus on the present and make the most of every single moment..."
Grasping Queen's hand, Vahn planted kisses on her fingers until her smile gradually returned. She was used to being in control, but for the first time in her exceptionally long life, she felt it might not be so bad to entrust her fate to another...
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"You're one tough bastard..." remarked Yuri, spitting out a mouthful of blood and one of her molars after suffering a devastating right hook from Azi's largely destroyed fist. The one-eyed, now one-armed Demon Dragon God looked like a porcupine due to the number of sealing stakes piercing his body, but even his grazing blows were powerful enough to strip away a planet's magnetic field.
Removing the stake that Yuri had stabbed into the side of his neck, Azi replied, "All you're doing is delaying the inevitable. Those who sealed me in the past did so at the expense of their life, power, and Authority. Your unwillingness to make a similar sacrifice makes your seals useless..."
Directing his gaze to the other battles, Azi added, "Also...no one person can hope to conquer 'absolute evil' alone. Those Spirits are powerful, but without companions willing to share your burden and sacrifice alongside you, even a pyrrhic victory is impossible. Unless..."
Returning his gaze to Yuri, Azi's ghastly voice sounded amused as he asked, "Are you trying to buy time for someone else? Those cowards in the Inner Gates would never permit someone to enter this place if they didn't have a plan..."
Adopting a cheeky smile, Yuri replied, "Who knows? I'm sure they're scheming something, but I'm here, fighting you, of my own accord. Now, stop chattering and fight...!"
Holding her gauntleted hand in front of her face, Yuri manifested a silver blade from its end before charging forward and slicing at Azi with reckless abandon. His left arm had fallen off during their previous exchanges, so she attacked the left side of his body, intending to slick through his torso in a single go.
Contrasting Yuri's expectations, Azi didn't attempt to evade her attack. Instead, he raised what remained of his left shoulder and bicep as if he were inviting her attack.
Undaunted by Azi's actions, Yuri sliced through his ribs and nearly half his torso before her blade was stopped by his spine. The Laws infused in the attack prevented Azi's flesh from closing and regenerating, but that didn't seem to be what he had in mind. Instead, shadowy tendrils erupted from the wound, piercing Yuri's body before exploding to resemble sea urchins with thousands of tiny spines.
Sensing that something was off, a distinct grimace marred Azi's draconic visage as Yuri's body faded into pink mist. He was certain he had stabbed the real Yuri, but another version of the grinning beauty appeared behind him as the one he stabbed faded without a trace.
Swinging his arm to intercept the newly formed Yuri, impacting her ribs with the back of his hand, Azi confirmed his suspicions as she promptly disappeared. He had definitely struck something solid, so the two most likely explanations were that Yuri was manipulating causality or exploiting a form of superposition.
Perfectly capable of causal manipulation, Azi intended to test his theory by rushing to meet Yuri's attacks directly. His Authority 'had' to be greater than some unknown woman without an established legacy, so he willed the phenomenon of his fist drilling into Yuri's head, causing it to explode like a watermelon.
Though Azi's attack found purchase, obliterating the upper half of Yuri's body, the same disappearing phenomenon as before occurred, allowing her to land a meteoric dropkick between his shoulders. The attack barely nudged him, but Azi had the distinct impression something was wrong as the flow of fate hadn't changed. He was 'certain' he had destroyed Yuri's body, but a greater power or Authority had instantaneously overwritten his influence...
Ignoring Yuri's subsequent blows, even as she pierced his body with dozens of additional stakes, Azi's mind raced to understand and come up with a countermeasure to his present circumstances. As the manifestation of absolute evil, he should have been able to do so intuitively, but no matter how far into the future he attempted to peer, he couldn't envision a reality where he put Yuri down permanently. It was as though the more he desired to kill her, the more assured her survival became...
Catching Yuri off guard, Azi abruptly caught her fist with his remaining hand, allowing the stake protruding from the end to pierce his palm. This wasn't the first time he had intercepted her attack, but instead of trying to retaliate, he looked at her and stated, "Our battle has concluded. Seal me away if you'd like, but I won't fight you any longer."
Furrowing her brows, Yuri pulled her fist free of Azi's grip, sneering as she asked, "What kind of bullshit are you spouting now?"
"It's the truth," replied Azi, appearing utterly disinterested as he looked to his other selves, mentally commanding them to stand down. He realized that the entity protecting Yuri would not permit him to kill her, so the best thing to do was bide his time and absorb his Master's power. It might take eons, but there would eventually come a time when he was able to break free from the mysterious entity's influence.
Disagreeing with Azi's decision, the fleshy Verethraghna glared at him with empty eye sockets, screaming, "Have you lost your fucking mind!? We've been waiting a fucking eternity to enact our revenge! If you want to-"
Before Verethraghna could conclude his outburst, a pair of spear-like, bone-white forelegs pierced through his body from behind, courtesy of his multi-armed, multi-legged counterpart.
"You...bitch..." croaked Verethraghna. He then tried to engulf both himself and his multi-limbed counterpart in the all-consuming 'flames of war,' but as an entity born from the power Gluttony had absorbed from the Demon Lord of Perpetuity, even Verethraghna's flames were devoured as his form disappeared in the eldritch abomination's chest.
Witnessing the gruesome sight alongside Yuri, Mirage, and Veil, a peculiar smile developed across Azi's face as he muttered, "I see...so that's how it is. I thought I had consumed you, but as the manifestation of the serpent that consumes itself, it is only natural that I will be consumed in turn..."
Instead of responding to Azi with words, the dark-skinned abomination returned a smile as she charged toward him like a spider pouncing on a fly in its web. Azi could have resisted, but as his most heartfelt desire was to be reunited with his Master, he burst out laughing as what remained of his body was skewered, torn apart, and ultimately consumed.
Believing she was next, Yuri recalled Mirage and Veil, the former forming clothes around her body while the latter took the form of an inordinately long, pink, hook-shaped weapon. Unfortunately, just as she was getting excited, her would-be foe formed into a sphere, all traces of its terrifying energy fading away as it fell from the sky like an inert white stone.
"..."
As the perfectly spherical object plummeted into the sea of lava produced by Azi's use of Khvarenah, disappearing beneath its surface, a thick layer of abyssal black ice formed across its surface, turning nearly a third of the former Little Garden into a glassy plane resembling obsidian. At the same time, the previously sun-like temperatures abruptly vanished, replaced by an invasive chill approaching absolute zero.
Feeling slightly aggrieved, Yuri looked to the sky and asked, "What the fuck, Vahn?" as if he were responsible for denying her a good challenge. In response, Vahn's voice echoed in her mind, responding, ("You sensed it yourself. The Demon Dragon God had already given up the fight, and the remnants of the Ouroboros Cycle had no desire to continue it. I may have the power to force the matter, but that's a line I refuse to cross...")
Understanding there was no point in trying to argue, Yuri exhaled a tired sigh before looking in the direction Madara had departed with Eve a few minutes prior. The former was just as much a battle junkie as she was, so after a moment of deliberation, a pink aura burst from Yuri's body as she disappeared in search of her next target...
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Contrasting his expectations, Azi's consciousness didn't fade after his Master devoured him. There was a brief moment when he thought it had, but it was immediately followed by him waking in a grassy field, staring up at a beautiful, star-filled sky.
Rising to a seated position, the first thing Azi noticed was the change in his appearance. In place of bone-white flesh and powerful claws suited for slaughter, his hands and body were small, child-like, and covered in healthy brown skin.
Though it had been an eternity since he was human, Azi immediately recognized the hands as his own...long before he bore the weight of all sins.
Before Azi could make sense of his situation, specifically his lack of power and Authority, a delicate voice echoed from behind him like a bell, musing, "What a shame. Had you slept a few minutes longer, I would have placed a beetle up your nose."
Recognizing the mischievous voice, goosebumps spread across Azi's body as he turned to find a young girl with similarly brown skin, dark hair extending past the small of her back, and vibrant green eyes that seemed to glow even in the darkness. His own emanated a faint pink hue, earning him the label of a demon from his parents and subjects, but one person always called them beautiful...
"Ava..." muttered Azi, a wave of anguish washing over him, causing his voice to break slightly.
Adopting a heartbreakingly kind smile, Ava moved over to Azi, cradling his slightly chubby cheeks with her hands as she said, "Your eyes glisten like gemstones when you cry, but they're even more beautiful when you smile. Can you smile for me...?"
Catching Ava slightly off-guard, Azi abruptly tackle-hugged her, sobbing into her chest as he cried, "My smile has always been yours..." while no longer caring about the circumstances that led to his apparent loss of power, the gap in his memories, or his return to the past. All he knew was that he was where he was supposed to be. And this time, he wouldn't let anyone take it from him...
...
..
.
(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Paradoxes Abound...','How does the unstoppable force overcome the immovable object? It finds another path o3o...','There are no such things as absolutes...')

Chapter 2353: Tipping the Scales