Endless Path : Infinite Cosmos

Chapter 2306: Simmering Calm

Understanding that Verðandi wasn't entirely at fault, Vahn slowly reined in his anger as he turned to face the group of Doppelgangers. Their ranks included Sis, Fenrir, Mikoto, Usalia, Seraphina, Sarina, Nono, Leticia, and Shiroyukihime, pretty much everyone that had assisted in the formation of the Sage Dragon's Hearth.

If it were just the founding members of his Community, Vahn wouldn't have been that upset. He knew what kind of games the Central Network played, so it wasn't too surprising to encounter replicas of the people he cared about. He had even forewarned Yo, Asuka, and the rest of the No Names of this very possibility.

What annoyed Vahn was that the Central Network had included Xysteria among the ranks of Doppelgangers. When he was first transferring people from his Little Garden into the Divine Realm, there was a period where she would accompany him pretty much 24/7. He had been especially cautious around that time, evidently leading to the Central Network flagging her as a potential weakness.

It wasn't entirely wrong.

Combing his fingers through his hair, Vahn forced himself to calm down as he flatly inquired, "What are the clear conditions of the Trial?"

Sensing that the surrounding space had been sealed, prohibiting spatial movements such as teleportation, Verðandi swallowed nervously before answering, "It's similar to the previous Trial…you need to get past them if you want to advance further. However, you need not resort to violence. It is but one of many paths towards the future…"

Turning to stare back at the lavender-haired giantess, Vahn squinted his eyes and growled, "Lucky for you…"

With Verðandi making it clear he didn't 'need' to fight, Vahn returned his gaze to the group of Doppelgangers as potent, rainbow-hued light began to exude from his palms. The moment he stepped forward, Mikoto led the charge against him, her body becoming shrouded in Tribulation Lightning as she attempted to stab through his neck with her fingers.

Ignoring the non-existent threat to his life, Vahn allowed Mikoto's hand to slip through him, subsequently catching her waist with his left arm. Then, before she could even attempt to wriggle free, he ran his right palm from her shoulders to the small of her back in a swift yet extremely practiced manner.

"Hwaaaaaah~!?"

Grasping the structure of the faux-Mikoto's body in an instant, Vahn gave her bottom a firm smack as he said, "Bad girl." in a chiding tone. When he did, her body burst into a cloud of yellow smoke before reappearing as a very defeated-looking Pikachu.

Nodding his head in approval, Vahn was about to set the Pikachu aside when a flurry of bright pink lasers impacted his position. He was able to sweep them away with a wave of his hand, but that ultimately created an opening for the feral-looking bunny girl charging toward him with razor-sharp teeth.

As a furrow marred Vahn's face, a series of golden chains erupted from the void in an attempt to bind him. When he looked towards the culprit, he found the faux-Sis smiling at him with a mischievous smile on her face.

Adopting a stone-faced expression, Vahn remained unmoving as the chains entangled his body and the faux-Usalia opened her mouth wide enough to try and bite off his head. From his perspective, everything had suddenly slowed to an imperceptibly slow crawl as his eyes glistened with a fierce golden glow.

Instead of shrugging off the chains, Vahn allowed them to sink into his body, instantaneously absorbing them as he reached up to poke the area just below the faux-Usalia's navel. Then, while everyone else appeared to be frozen in time, he slipped past the faux-Usalia's charging figure to pat the similarly fake Sis on the head, muttering, "You're lucky I'm keeping the actual Sis at bay…"

As if stimulated by Vahn's words, the world around him appeared to move again as the faux-Usalia tore through his previous position before curling up in the fetal position. At the same time, the faux-Sis's legs gave out, a low and sonorous mewl escaping from her throat as she fell onto her side with an enraptured look on her face…

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Seeing how Vahn had elected to deal with the Doppelgangers, a stupefied expression developed across Verðandi's face. She had heard some of the rumors regarding his 'prowess' but never anticipated that he could bring women to their knees with a simple touch.

Looking towards the downed Usalia, a shiver ran through Verðandi's body as she sensed the ambient pleasure exuding from the former.

"Did he trap them in some kind of illusion…?"

Suppressing the urge to glimpse into the Doppelganger's mind, Verðandi returned her attention to Vahn, her golden eyes reflecting the scene of him making short work of Seraphina, Leticia, Shiroyukihime, Sarina, and Nono. It was one of the most one-sided Trials she had ever witnessed as none of the Doppelgangers' attacks appeared to have even a minor effect while Vahn simply needed to touch them.

"Wait a moment…what's this…?"

Noticing that two of the Doppelgangers weren't even attempting to fight, Verðandi's eyes locked on the faux-Fenrir and the 'creature' she assumed to be the cause of his previous fury. While the other Doppelgangers were doing everything in their power to fight back, the peculiar duo was simply watching from the sidelines…

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After laying Nono next to Sarina in a bed he had manifested, Vahn shifted his attention to the final two Doppelgangers: Fenrir and Xysteria. When he did, the former stood a little straighter while the latter just stared blankly with her amber eyes.

"Hmmm…"

Extending his right hand, Vahn said, "Come." in a commanding tone. The moment he did, the faux-Fenrir rushed over and placed her paw into his hand, her thick and bushy tail swishing excitedly behind her.

"I guess even the Central Network couldn't turn my most loyal companion against me, huh? Good girl."

Exhibiting rows of razor-sharp teeth, the faux-Fenrir adopted an uncannily wide grin as Vahn caressed her head and fluffed up her oversized, almost rabbit-like ears.

While continuing to fluff up his loyal pup, Vahn shifted his attention to the faux-Xysteria before activating his Eyes of Truth.

"Ah…so that's how it is…"

Since Xysteria had never participated in a Gift Game and Vahn had taken extra precautions to keep her safe, the Central Network hadn't been able to emulate her skills and abilities. All it knew about her was that she could transform and that she was very timid around other people. It had no way of knowing just how 'terrifying' she could be.

Taking a seat on the ground, Vahn allowed the faux-Fenrir to snuggle up to him as he extended his hand towards the faux-Xysteria and whispered, "Come to Papa…"

Rather than listening to Vahn's words, the Xysteria Doppelganger hissed before turning into a wispy white phantom and darting to the roof. There, she metamorphosed into a veritable ball of fluff that stared back at him with caution.

"…"

Though it wasn't 'his' Xysteria, Vahn couldn't help feeling a little hurt by the Doppelganger's response. Even after all this time, he never had the experience of being shunned by any of his children. There were instances where he had been at odds with his sons, particularly Kamiya, but he had never tried to avoid him.

Suppressing the frustration he felt towards the Central Network, Vahn exuded an aura of calming energy as he manifested a series of gem-like beetles and bugs. If the Central Network had 'faithfully' reproduced some of Xysteria's behavior, she wouldn't be able to resist her favorite food.

With Vahn's presence suddenly disappearing, the faux-Xysteria spun her head around like an owl, seemingly oblivious to the fact he hadn't moved from his seated position. This was a trick Vahn had picked up a very long time ago, the ability to blend his aura into his environment so that animals and people alike would feel at ease. From the faux-Xysteria's perspective, he may as well be a tree right now.

After a prolonged period of hesitation, Xysteria began scuttling across the ceiling like a spider. Upon lining up with one of the gem-like beetles, she adhered one of her tails to the roof before pouncing down, snatching the beetle with her teeth, and returning to the ceiling like a yoyo rebounding to a hand.

Though a wry smile had developed across his face, Vahn couldn't help commenting, "Clever girl…" as he watched the faux-Xysteria scarf down her prey. She was unable to resist the allure of her favorite food, but she was smart or, at the very least, cautious enough not to simply trust in the fact she could no longer sense him…

Upon finishing with the first beetle, faux-Xysteria took a moment to take in her surroundings before lining up with her second target. Like before, she repelled down from the roof with incredible speed. However, before she could snatch up the beetle in question, it promptly moved out of the way in a zig-zagging pattern.

Though she allowed herself to be bungeed back to the roof, a very discontent look developed across faux-Xysteria's face as she eyed her missed quarry. The pupils of her eyes became like a cat's as she arched her body in the precursor to a pounce before launching herself with even greater velocity towards her target.

Instantly angering the bronze-skinned huntress, the beetle once again dodged her attack. When it did, she immediately broke her tether to the roof in order to pounce after it, much like a cat pursuing a laser pointer.

Despite possessing supernatural speed and agility, faux-Xysteria found herself unable to catch the emerald-hued beetle. Adding insult to injury, each successive beetle she attempted to catch seemed to move even faster than the last.

Feeling increasingly frustrated, faux-Xysteria's body became increasingly more animalistic as she began snarling through razor-sharp teeth. It was drastically different than the actual Xysteria, but the Central Network had no way of knowing what she looked like when angry.

Seeing several beetles gathering in the same spot, faux-Xysteria's pupils became thin slits as she sprang toward them with all four arms stretched outward. What she never expected was to collide with something invisible halfway through her leap.

"Gotcha~"

Before faux-Xysteria could make sense of the situation, warmth filled her body as a pair of arms wrapped around her. Her first instinct was to break away, but it was quickly suppressed by a feeling of contentment as Vahn scratched under her chin and said, "Behave." in a calm yet resonant tone.

Though he would never use his Authority against his actual children, Vahn made an exception for the discordant Doppelganger. Fortunately, it didn't take long for the faux-Xysteria to calm down as she lay across his lap and stared up at him with a curious expression on her face.

"There you go. Good girl."

Knowing how much the actual Xysteria enjoyed it, Vahn gently caressed the fake's smooth and pliable stomach. She immediately grasped his hand with two of her three-clawed hands but made no actual attempts to stop his actions.

Evidently recognizing Vahn's success in the Trial, the gate on the far side of the room promptly opened. However, instead of getting up and passing through it, Vahn continued petting the faux-Fenrir with his left hand while creating beetles to feed the faux-Xysteria with his right. At the same time, another version of himself manifested behind Verðandi, startling her as he said, "Sorry, but you deserve a bit of punishment."

Without giving the lavender-haired giantess the chance to protest, Vahn ran his index finger along the line of her back. As he did, her pitch-black wings promptly extended to their full width as a very loud yelp emanated from the giantess' throat…

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(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Woosah…','Fenrir is the goodest of girls (U w U)…','Vahn is an expert when it comes to luring young girls…')