Endless Path : Infinite Cosmos

Chapter 2337: Battles Abound

"Why! Won't! You! Stay! Down...!?"

Though she outclassed Pweamma in speed and strength, none of Kefla's hits seemed to inflict any lasting damage on her opponent. Every time her strikes connected with the metallic bindings covering the former's body, a golden pulse would ripple out from the point of contact, nullifying physical and Ki-based attacks.

With six arms at her disposal, Pweamma was able to block the majority of Kefla's attacks, a wry yet taunting smile on her face as she replied, "Sorry, but, even amongst other Asuri, I'm particularly durable. You'll have to do a lot better than this if you want to break-"

Interrupting Pweamma's words, Kefla released a Ki blast directly from her mouth, impacting the burgundy-haired Asuri's face and causing her body to arch backward.

"Got you now...!"

To prevent Pweamma from recovering, Kefla grabbed the much larger woman's left ankle before flicking her body like a whip, slamming her into the firmament of space-time. A sound similar to glass shattering echoed through the area, and, for a brief moment, similar cracks appeared on the surface of Pweamma's armor before instantaneously mending.

Though it was only for the briefest of moments, Kefla didn't fail to notice the cracks on Pweamma's armor. However, before she could even think to repeat her attack, a sound akin to a thunderclap echoed through the area as an invisible force surged from Pweamma's body, forcing the confused Saiyaness back.

Feeling the bones within her body vibrating, Kefla stared at her shaking hands and muttered, "What the hell...?"

Providing some insight into what had propelled Kelfa back, Pweamma righted herself to reveal an ornate drum that vaguely resembled the claw of a sizeable crustacean. She had it tucked under one of her left arms, and the moment she struck it, another imperceptible shockwave radiated outward, accompanied by a peal of thunder.

Feeling the vibrations within her body compound, Kefla immediately used Instant Transmission to teleport far away from Pweamma. She could only guess at the actual effect of the drum, but her bestial instincts told her it wouldn't be wise to stick around.

Surprised that Kefla would actually flee, Pweamma raised her brows and remarked, "I guess she isn't just a muscle-brained monkey..."

Placing away her drum, a mystical instrument known as the ālambara, Pweamma set her sights on the tiered plateau of the Inner Gates. She understood she had no hopes of achieving victory in the Gift Game, so her goal was to obtain relics of the ancient Rakshasa and Asura Tribes.

After waiting several minutes to see if Kefla would return, Pweamma set off toward the plateau like a beam of golden light...

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"God dammit! Why does everyone in this shitty Realm have to rely on bullshit trinkets and armor to fight!?"

As the vibrations within her body exacerbated each time she threw a punch or attempted to take her anger out on her surroundings, Kefla knew running away was her best option. However, while she didn't care about things like 'Saiyan Pride,' being forced to run away before she could go all out caused her blood to boil.

After firing off several Ki blasts at random, devastating her surroundings, Kefla did her best to restrain her frustration with a breathing exercise. The bones in her hands and forearms were vibrating with such intensity that it felt like they were about to fragment into a million pieces, so, even though she 'really' wanted to track down and beat the shit out of Pweamma, she descended into an abandoned building and tried to meditate.

Fortunately, as distracting and painful as the vibrations were, the training Kefla had undergone with Vahn had her endure the temperatures of blue hypergiants and the gravitational forces of supermassive black holes. Her body felt as though it was being invaded by tens of trillions of ants, but it only took a few moments before red markings appeared on Kefla's upper eyelids, the result of her entering Sage Made.

As her anger calmed, the vibrations within Kefla's body gradually waned. It would take hours for them to vanish completely, but Kelfa understood the only penance for hubris was patience...

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Unaware of the setback her ally had suffered, Yuri had a massive grin on her face as she stepped on the chest plate of her opponent, a handsome man with stylish brown hair, blue eyes, and armor befitting a knight.

Undaunted by the man's scowl, Yuri put more weight into her heel as she remarked, "It's no wonder Avalon yielded its position as Floor Master of the South. If this is your limit as their Representative, I can't imagine your Leader being all that great..."

Angered by Yuri's words, the severely beaten knight, Lancelot of the Lake, grabbed her by the ankle, his expression contorted into a fierce yet pained grimace as he said, "Insult me as you will. As the victor, you have that right. However, insulting my King...that I can never allow...!"

Unmoved by Lancelot's words, Yuri flexed the muscles of her remarkably toned legs, unceremoniously stomping him into the ground with enough force to cause a minor earthquake. The internal injuries he sustained were enough to cause Lancelot to lose consciousness immediately, but he was still in the game.

After waiting a few moments to confirm Lancelot was genuinely knocked unconscious, Yuri removed her foot from his chest with the intent to look for her next prey. As she did so, a phantom figure resembling a serpentine dragon appeared next to her. It had a head resembling a seahorse, coral-like antler, and jellyfish-like frills, but it radiated an aura of elegance as it calmly inquired, "Why not finish him off? Without special care, he is bound to be eliminated by the first person who comes across him."

Shrugging her shoulders, Yuri replied, "That's their business. I'm just here to have fun, not kill people. Now, where's our next opponent...?"

Though it didn't have a visible mouth, the illusory serpent exhaled a sigh before using the tip of its tail to tap empty air. As it did so, a watery ripple spread outward, starting off fairly slowly before quickly accelerating to an imperceptible speed.

"There are 137,292 targets within range of my senses. The most vigorous aura belongs to a woman with one of my kin residing within her."

Raising her brows, Yuri asked, "Seriously? Did Vahn go around passing out Companions to try and make things more interesting...?"

As it didn't have any shoulders to shrug with, Yuri's Companion, Mirage, had to imagine itself doing so as it replied, "I can only imagine what goes through the head of my Creator. All I can say for certain is that this would be a bad matchup for us, given our water-related abilities. The Companion I am sensing is the Lord of Ice, Gelid."

Undaunted by Mirage's warning, Yuri exhaled a curious, "Hoooooo~?" as the face of Maschenny appeared within her mind. She also possessed a Companion with dominion over Ice, so Yuri had first-hand experience with how annoying they could be.

Annoying, yes, but far from unbeatable.

Sensing Yuri's thought, Mirage exhaled another sigh before disappearing like her namesake. She knew Yuri couldn't be dissuaded once she made up her mind, so, rather than making a fuss, Mirage steeled herself for the coming battle. She might be at a disadvantage, but that wouldn't prevent her from trying to prove her superiority...

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Sensing his sister spirit's intent, Gelid promptly manifested next to Laulau, stating, "Be alert, a powerful foe approaches."

Before Laulau could ask any follow-up questions, the finer hairs on her body immediately stood on end as strange, emerald-green bubbles began manifesting in her surroundings. She couldn't actually sense them, almost like they were a bunch of illusions, but her instincts were screaming at her to evade.

Trusting her instincts, Laulau leaped into the sky, her body appearing to teleport just as the bubbles closest to her exploded soundlessly. It was a peculiar sight to behold, but what came after caused an involuntary shiver to run through Laulau's body.

Upon reaching their maximum size, the emerald-green bubbles promptly burst, unstable, pitch-black voids appearing in their place. Then, as if the silence from before was the calm before the storm, the foundation of the Little Garden trembled with the cacophonous sound of more than a million violent implosions.

Just as Laulau was about to cover her ears, Gelid provided relief to her by overlapping with her body and materializing into a black, blue, and white fur-lined outfit that resembled the attire worn by the Southern Water Tribe of Avatar. This included a pair of thick, fur-lined earmuffs that filtered out sound above a certain decibel level, so Laulau wasn't completely divested of her ability to hear.

As there was a small amount of blood leaking from her ears, Laulau was about to thank Gelid for his assistance when the latter warned, "They are coming."

Immediately following Gelid's warning, Yuri, wearing a casual outfit, not at all suited for combat, appeared a few meters away, smiling in amusement as she taunted, "Fluffy ears and a tail? It's no wonder Vahn entrusted one of his Companions to you~."

Without waiting for Laulau's response, Yuri released a shockwave from her palm that took on the form of a red flower more than ten kilometers across. Laulau generated a massive wall of ice to try and block it, but it promptly disappeared the moment the two forces overlapped, teleported to one of the many bubbles littering the battlefield.

"What the-"

Before Laulau could finish her exclamation, Yuri emerged from the bud at the center of the flower with a needle-like sword in hand, teasing, "I see you have yet to master cooperating with your Companion. What a shame."

Punctuating her words, Yuri stabbed her sword at the center of Laulau's chest. However, instead of piercing her befuddled feline opponent, she stopped less than three millimeters away, unleashing an oceanic torrent of water that sent Laulau crashing to the ground...

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Observing the match between Yuri and Laulau alongside Sis, Fenrir, and Mikoto, the latter in their Vanargandr and Pikachu forms, Vahn couldn't help smiling wryly as he remarked, "I should have warned everyone to steer clear of Laulau in the earl game. If she loses against her very first opponent, her status as Floor Master is going to be called into question..."

Though she could definitely see people calling Laulau's qualifications into question, Sis allayed Vahn's concerns by stating, "It won't be much longer until you challenge the Inner Gates. Once you've achieved your goal, Yuri and the rest will doubtlessly want to accompany you wherever you might end up. With less competition, Laulau should be able to secure her status easily...at least until someone like Yvonne steps forward to contest it..."

While gently caressing Mikoto's head, Vahn softly muttered, "Nn...you're probably right..."

Rolling her eyes, Sis playfully mused, "When am I not~?" before resting her head against Vahn's shoulder. In response, Vahn just exhaled a light chuckle before willing his holographic display to shift to another ongoing battle. The battle between Yuri and Laulau was far from a conclusion, but Vahn had no delusions about how things would end. Yuri had the benefit of training alongside Mirage in an Actualized World, so, while Laulau had grown tremendously in just a few short hours(years within the coliseum), the difference between them was like night and day.

"Speaking of one-sided battles..."

With the display now reflecting Madara's moon-sized Susanoo, the smile on Vahn's face became even wrier. Several famous Heroes from the West were doing their best to take her down, but it was like observing a bunch of fleas trying to take down a fully grown adult...

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(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'When the bonk just isn't strong enough...','Even when pitted against a Lord of Ice, Yuri has no chill xD...','Madara be like, "Hmph...pathetic..."')