Endless Path : Infinite Cosmos

Seeing Yuri depart without even trying to discuss things with Scathach, a rare frown marred the face of Queen Halloween. Shiroyasha had assured her that everything was in hand and that she could trust Vahn, but it was starting to appear like he didn't have a plan. Unfortunately, even with her power to slip between boundaries, she couldn't enter the Sage Dragon's Hearth to ascertain Vahn's intentions directly.

"How vexing…" muttered Queen Halloween. Azi Dahaka was a threat to all of Creation, so she was troubled by the notion that Vahn wasn't treating the situation with the consideration it deserved.

Fortunately, while Queen Halloween could not trespass the Sage Dragon's Hearth without permission, Vahn was unburdened by such impediments, remarking, "Frowning doesn't suit you." before appearing behind her and placing his hands on her shoulders.

Though she was initially startled, Queen Halloween immediately relaxed, a composed look appearing on her face as she said, "It isn't very polite to sneak in a woman's room without her permission…"

Channeling his Godhand, Vahn began to massage Queen Halloween's shoulders, musing, "I could sense you wanted to speak with me. Should I teleport outside and knock…?"

Leaning back in a way that gave Vahn a clear view of her ample cleavage, Queen Halloween remarked, "You're already here. You may as well take a seat."

Instead of moving around and sitting on the sofa like a normal person, Vahn surprised Queen Halloween by hooking his hands in the pits of her arms and phasing through it, ultimately reseating her atop his lap as he asked, "What did you want to talk about~?"

Swallowing the knot that had formed in her throat, Queen Halloween remarked, "You're such a rogue…" while looking down at Vahn's hands cupping her breasts. She wasn't really in the mood due to the ongoing Pandemonium Gift Game, but the notion of asking Vahn to stop never crossed her mind. Instead, she leaned against his chest and asked, "Do you have a plan to deal with the Demon Dragon God, or have you chosen to play things by ear?"

Blinking in surprise, Vahn asked, "Haven't we already been over this?" while thinking back to his previous 'engagement' with Shiroyasha and Queen Halloween. He was certain he had told them about the Ethereal Queen, but there was a chance the exchange had occurred in a timeline that no longer existed. After accumulating a functionally infinite amount of knowledge and experience across innumerable, ever-increasing timelines, events were starting to blend together in his mind.

Instead of responding to Vahn's question, Queen Halloween watched in silence as he peeled the wing-like coverings over her breasts and began massaging them directly. The warmth flowing from his palms seemed to fill her entire being, spreading through her chest and accumulating in her head like a cloud. She still appeared composed on the surface, but her thoughts were becoming muddled as a thin layer of sweat spread across her body.

Regaining her senses, Queen Halloween grabbed Vahn's hands and asked, "Are you attempting to distract me…?" in a slightly accusatory tone.

Adopting a smile, Vahn replied, "Indeed. Everything is proceeding exactly how it's supposed to, so you need not worry. Let's just enjoy the moment, spoiler free. Things are more interesting that way."

Furrowing her brows, Queen Halloween was tempted to press the issue but quickly decided against it. Her nature was somewhat contrary as she enjoyed surprises yet hated when things happened outside the scope of her knowledge and understanding. Since Vahn was the one telling her to relax, however, she guided one of his hands to her abdomen and said, "I hope you know what you're doing…"

Channeling even more energy into his palm, the corners of Vahn's smile curled upward as he teased, "Trust me…I know exactly what I'm doing…"

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In the wake of her bout with Madara, the blue-haired automaton spent several minutes scanning her surroundings, passively eliminating Players and Azi clones until an area several hundred kilometers in diameter was completely devoid of life.

"…"

Though she hadn't been programmed with complex emotions, a strange sense of incongruity plagued the blue-haired automaton's processes. Her sensors had confirmed the erasure of the being known as Uchiha Madara, but she couldn't suppress the notion she was being watched by an entity that shared the same origin.

Interrupting the blue-haired automaton's silent introspection, a young, bare-chested man with unkempt white hair and blue eyes bearing distinct, cross-shaped pupils appeared a few meters away from her, his expression devoid of emotions as he flatly remarked, "It's been a long time, Eve…"

Turning toward the white-haired youth, the blue-haired automaton's eyes briefly shifted from red to blue as she replied, "Adam…" in a longing tone.

Frowning ever-so-slightly, Adam pulled out an apple from thin air, taking a bite from it before saying, "We've got trouble. Some monster calling itself the Sage Dragon Emperor has appeared in the backup Garden. Based on what we've seen, he's an even greater threat than the Demon Lord of Perpetuity and her Apostle. We'll need your power if we're to have any hope of defeating him."

Regaining her crimson-hued irises, Eve adopted a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes as she replied, "I live to serve. Please, tell me what I must do."

Clicking his tongue, a look of disdain marred Adam's face as he turned his back to Eve. The latter was only a copy of the original, so interacting with her filled him with inexpressable fury. If it weren't for the fact he was the only one that could influence her primary directive, he would never meet with her directly.

Tossing aside the remnants of his apple, the crosses in Adam's eyes burned with holy light as he said, "Come, there are a few insects we must crush before leaving this place…"

Maintaining her somewhat uncanny smile, Eve replied, "Understood." before flying closer to Adam. The reduced proximity caused the latter's body to tense, but he managed to restrain himself, bottling his fury with the intention of unleashing it in the upcoming battle…

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With his Divine-Ranked Gift, [Fiery Eyes of the Buddha], Siddhartha could perceive the origin of all things. Kurma possessed a similar Gift, but Sidd's was in a league of its own ever since his name had become synonymous with the concept of Enlightenment.

Opening his eyes, Siddhartha calmly remarked, "I've found what I believe to be the remains of the Ouroboros Cycle…"

Furrowing her brows, Kurma couldn't help stating, "You must be mistaken. When the Demon Dragon God devoured her essence, the Demon Lord of Perpetuity's body was said to have vaporized into a shadowy mist. There shouldn't be any 'remains' for us to discover…"

Raising his left hand, a projection of the battlefield that he, Kurma, and Conquest were standing on appeared atop Siddhartha's palm. Moments later, it zoomed in to an area where a black-skinned titan could be seen, its colossal and rotund body riddled with massive spears of golden light.

Recognizing the entity in an instant, Kurma's pupils shrank to the size of pinholes as she muttered, "The Demon Lord of Gluttony…"

Nodding in affirmation, Siddhartha stated, "It would appear that the Demon Dragon God was not the only one to devour the Demon Lord of Perpetuity's essence. Fortunately, these spears of light appear to be the byproduct of Lord Murugan's Astra, the Divine Spear Vel. As an Avatara of Lord Vishnu, you should have no trouble removing them."

As Sidd wasn't the type to lie, a massive smile plastered itself across Kurma's face. Extracting the Ouroboros Cycle's essence from the corpses littering the ancient battlefield would have taken considerable time. With a piece of her original body functioning as a vessel and catalyst, they would be able to locate and extract her essence with significantly less difficulty.

"Get down…!"

Surprised by Conquest's outburst, Kurma's mind failed to process his warning as timely as it should have. She managed to teleport away, but a hand pierced through her back and emerged from her chest just before she apparated.

Fortunately, while the Laws of the Little Garden dictated that even the most powerful beings in Creation obey the limitations of their vessels, meaning Kurma should have died, such restrictions didn't exist within the Pandemonium Gift Game's battlefield. Thus, despite having a gaping hole running clean through her body, Kurma appeared relatively unaffected as she glared at her would-be assassin, a white-haired youth with a thin yet muscular build.

Immediately recognizing the man, Kurma mustered every ounce of scorn she could manage, growling, "Adam…" as the antler-like horns protruding from her head began increasing in size, followed by pristine white scales appearing around her eyes.

Flicking Kurma's blood from his hand, Adam's expression appeared cold and emotionless as he said, "Withdraw now, and I'll spare you. Without the power of Authority and the protection of your pagan gods, you have no hope of winning…"

Snorting through her nose, Kurma began gathering luminous energy in her palms as she declared, "No matter how desperately you try, you will never be able to supplant the current Order with your 'Truth.' Creation does not support a singular, all-powerful being. Your would-be Creator had to split itself into three parts and abandon their name just to avoid being brought to ruin by Poets…"

With Kurma's words sounding like a series of censored beeps in his ears, the fury within Adam's heart began to show on his face, manifesting as a scowl. Beings who ascribed to the 'Truth' were fundamentally incapable of perceiving anything that contradicted their programmed beliefs, so he didn't even know who he was fighting, only that there were two people in his way.

Spreading his hands, Adam shouted, "Domain of Man…!" as the crosses in his eyes exploded in size, intersecting to form a diamond shape in front of his face. At the same time, a spherical force spread out from him, 'erasing' the battlefield littered with the corpses of countless Gods and replacing it with a relatively modern but ruined cityscape.

Crossing his hands in front of his body, Adam manifested a pair of black and white pistols before leaping into the air and losing a flurry of bullets onto Kurma and Siddhartha. Conquest had also recognized Adam, so he elected to teleport away shortly after warning Kurma, sparing them from having to fight him as well…

Contrasting Adam's expectations, the sanctified bullets fired from his twin pistols impacted powerlessly against the barrier produced by Kurma. His Domain of Man was supposed to restrict the power of Divine entities and Gifts, much like Enkidu, but he couldn't utilize it fully due to the rules and restrictions of the Pandemonium Gift Game.

While Kurma provided a nearly unbreakable defense, Siddhartha slowly brought his hands together as if he were about to pray. In reality, his movements were far beyond the speed of light, but even a blind man would have been able to perceive them due to the influence of various Laws.

Adopting a faint smile, Siddhartha muttered, "True Thousand-Armed Bodhisattva," causing a golden Buddha statue with a thousand arms to appear behind him. Then, while Adam was still in the middle of his leap, one of the hands reached out, slapping him out of the air and sending him crashing through numerous skyscrapers.

Gritting his teeth, Adam attempted to right himself and retaliate, but the column he impacted ended up being a giant golden finger, appearing as golden static within his vision. Then, before he kick off against it, the hand closed, trapping him within as Siddhartha gazed down at his right hand in unveiled amusement. There was a reason he was regarded as one of the favorites to win the entire event…

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(A/N: Sorry for the super delayed post. I was contracted to do some story work on a mobile game and have been busy the past few weeks. I'll try to release extra chapters in the coming days to make up for it.)