Endless Path : Infinite Cosmos
chapter-1485

With Raikou, Kintoki, Chang'e, Shirou, and Hou Yi present, the Heroes Faction was only missing one contender. Traditionally, this would be Musashi, but, due to the nature of her 'nothingness', it was all but impossible to detect her before she appeared.

Fortunately, while Musashi might be undetectable through normal means, Vahn had seen her appear within the Flow of Fate. He wasn't exactly sure when she would arrive, but, even if someone else was to take her place during the event, he was confident she would make an appearance near the end...

In an effort to 'trigger' the event, Vahn turned his attention from the new arrivals, directing his gaze to Hou Yi as he asked, "Where is your final contender? We have already decided to wrap things up quickly, so it would be in all of our best interests to proceed to the main event."

Though Vahn's words sounded overbearing, none present doubted the fact he could back up his bravado with results. Thus, rather than show any offense, Hou Yi nodded in understanding, saying, "Had things gone as intended, Lady Musashi would have appeared towards the end, fighting Your Imperial Majesty in your weakened state. We cannot truly fathom Your Imperial Majesty's power, so, as remiss as I am to say, we must rely on underhanded means just to balance the playing field..."

Towards the end of his words, Hou Yi offered an apologetic bow, holding the position for several seconds before raising his head and adding, "In lieu of recent developments, I fear we must rely on another to take her place. As for who...I'm certain Your Imperial Majesty has already foreseen it..."

As he had, indeed, been taking a peek into the near-future, Vahn nodded his head in affirmation to Hou Yi's claim. There was only one other Heroic Spirit present, and, though she was nowhere to be seen, Vahn knew Danzō was lingering within the void. She might be an Artificial Human but, due to her nature as a Heroic Spirit, she could freely transition between her Spiritual and Physical forms. As a result, she could freely conceal herself within the void, taking advantage of her A-Rank [Presence Concealment] to evade his senses.

Deciding it would be more interesting to allow her to surprise him, Vahn stopped sneaking peeks at the future, smiling as he asked, "Shall we begin?"

Without waiting for a response, Vahn activated the [Virtual Reality Marble], creating a projection that perfectly matched even the location of rubble within the real world. If you were to venture above the surface, you would even find the Forbidden City, replicated down the most minute details. You would have to travel nearly 100km from the center of the [Virtual Reality Marble] to find any discrepancies. Beyond that point, the world became a vast and empty wasteland. Eventually, it even became a white plane, extending outward for approximately three light-years before the orb was no longer able to properly 'render' the virtual space.

As there were no other major preparations necessary, Vahn raised his hand towards the ceiling, a mass of swirling energy appearing in his palm as he said, "Let's open things up. It's a little stuffy in here."

Immediately following Vahn's words, black light could be seen spreading within the mass of energy in his hand, an indicator that a singularity had been formed. This caused Hou Yi to draw his bow, but, despite releasing an arrow that seemed to 'teleport' through the void, it wasn't enough to deter the destructive energy gathered within Vahn's palm.

Using the forearm of his left hand in a vain attempt to deflect Hou Yi's arrow, Vahn grimaced slightly before saying, "It's too late. Witness the power we have been cultivating since our ascension. Since it seems you called me here to demonstrate my power, it would be rude of us to hold back!"

Ignoring the fact he was quickly turning into a pincushion, Vahn condensed the Space around him to prevent others from attacking as he shouted, "Fixate! Seize! Load magic, 'Void Emperor'!"

Following Vahn's echoing shout, a vibrant white light seemed to cut through everything, temporarily blinding anyone looking directly at him. Then, accompanied by what sounded like a distant vibration, one which caused people's instincts to scream in protest, the light seemed to rapidly 'retract', rather than fade away. By the time visibility had returned, the eerie vibration had increased exponentially in intensity, to the point of resonating within the hearts and minds of everyone bearing witness to the maddening event before them...

Where Vahn had previously stood, an amorphous blob of what appeared to be 'pure void' could be seen attempting to form a human shape. It seemed to be struggling greatly to accomplish this, but, despite the rather awkward movements, it caused catastrophic damage to the surrounding Space. It was like a living spatial tear, representing a gravitational singularity that, against common sense, was slowly gaining physical form...

Despite the cracks spreading through the area, causing reddish-black lightning to tear through the surrounding arena, Hou Yi leaped high into the sky, shouting, "We must stop him before he finishes his transformation! That is not a power that should exist in this world...!"

Immediately after shouting, Hou Hi began to charge a phenomenal amount of energy into a single arrow, his muscles straining with enough force to spontaneously 'annihilate' his tunic. This left his muscular body exposed, allowing those with enhanced perception to see a dragon pattern lighting up across his body. It quickly coiled around his torso before making its way along his left arm and flowing into the ornate wooden bow, causing vibrant golden light to spread across its surface as the drawn arrow began to distort the already chaotic Space.

While Hou Yi was preparing his Noble Phantasm, the other members of the Heroes Faction hadn't been sitting idle. Shirou had attempted to overwrite the surrounding Space by releasing his Reality Marble, but, before he could even finish his incantation, blood spurted from his arms, the result of his muscles rupturing due to a backlash. Fortunately, Chang'e was there to heal him, mending his wounds while Kintoki used his physical body to try and shield them.

Entrusting Shirou to Chang'e and Kintoki, Raikou had followed the example of Hou Yi, leaping into the air. Instead of charging her attack from a distance, however, she propelled herself directly toward the expanding singularity, a fearless look reflected in her dark-purple eyes as she incanted, "A strong foe stands before us. Come forth, Divine Messenger of the Ox-Head King. Become a manifestation of my memories, the echo of my beloved allies. Together, we will strike at the heart of our fated enemy, purging sin from this world! Ox-King Storm Call - The Inescapable Net of Heaven! Burn my foe until not even ashes remain...!"

Though her incantation contained several verses, Raikou was able to complete it before she neared the spatial anomaly that had appeared. In response to her call, vibrant purple lighting tore through the area, culminating into four identical copies of Raikou, the only exception being their individual weapons. Each wielded a weapon representative of the Four Heavenly Kings, being a naginata, bow, ax, and zanmato, respectively...

While her doppelgangers unleashed powerful attacks against the anomalous blob, Raikou began to build up even more purple lightning, this time infusing it directly into her katana. The blade turned a vibrant purple that was hard to look at, its force strong enough to rupture Space and Time as she unleashed it towards the mass presumed to be Vahn. As a result, a veritable 'pillar' of anti-demonic purple lightning, more than ten meters in diameter, smashed into the nebulous void, forcing it to lose its form but ultimately proving ineffective at destroying it.

Though it might have seemed like her attack simply wasn't strong enough, Raikou had felt more than ninety percent of its power 'siphoned' away in an instant. This was even more troublesome, as, from what they had gathered, Vahn should be relatively weak against elements such as Lightning. If even her Ox-King Storm Call was unable to affect him, despite being able to seal away entities such as Shuten and Ibaraki with ease, they were in for a tough battle...

Just as this thought crossed her mind, Raikou felt her body forcibly pulled away back, two muscular arms hugging her body mere moments before she was sucked into the rapidly growing gravitational well. When she turned her head, she saw Kintoki with an awkward smile on his face, his sunglasses no longer present as they had been sucked in by the expanding gravity. This allowed Raikou to see the concern in his eyes, causing her heart to melt as they were both pulled to safety by a tether that had been produced by Shirou.

With Raikou cleared from the blast area, Hou Yi wasted no time in finishing his own incantation, his voice sounding unnaturally calm as he stated, "Vestige of Divine Authority. Remnants of the God of Archery. Strike down those whose pride has victimized the innocent. I offer all that I am in the name of peace. Behold the arrow that darkened the Eight Blessed Suns. Solar Devastation...!"

During Hou Yi's chant, a phenomenal amount of energy had torn through the surroundings, ripping apart much of the arena and obliterating it. If not for Chang'e's Jade Rabbit protecting the Xiantian Elders, they would have been destroyed by the ambient energy. Fortunately, their lives were briefly extended, allowing them to witness one of their greatest Ancestors perform a feat immortalized in legend...

Without paying any attention to his surroundings, Hou Yi became one, not with his bow, but the arrow he had fired. Time seemed to slow to a crawl, his perception of his surroundings fading to the point only he and Vahn existed. He could feel himself tear through the condensed Space as if it was a thin vapor, the tumultuous energy having no effect on him as he approached a state infinitely close to enlightenment...

After what felt like an inordinately long period of time, Hou Yi felt 'himself' pierce into the nebulous void, his perception nearly being snuffed out in the process. Before this could happen, however, he felt his mind expand, extending far beyond Vahn and the Forbidden City. For a brief moment, it felt like he had become one with the Universe itself, but, just as quickly as it came, this sensation faded into obscurity, replaced by what appeared to be a Sun, albeit only 30m in diameter.

As stars weren't exactly things that could be stared at, nearly everyone present was forced to either avert their eyes or shield them. It wasn't until the nascent star began to shift into an iridescent black that they were finally able to see a phenomenon similar to a solar eclipse. It was pitch black in the center, but, along the periphery, vibrant white light could be seen cascading in wisps. Then, as if a switch had been flipped, the star simply 'collapsed', shrinking to the size of a marble before blinking out of existence in an instant...

Though they weren't foolish enough to believe Vahn was dead, as his 'real' body was still outside of the [Virtual Reality Marble], nearly everyone present was surprised to see his nebulous form vanish. It was completely beyond their expectations, Vahn's 'confidence' still fresh on their minds. Though he had a propensity for showing off, he almost always had the means to back it up, often in ways they couldn't even comprehend prior to witnessing them...

As if to meet this expectation, an impossibly small black 'dot' appeared in the area where Vahn had been standing previously. By the time anyone even noticed it was there, a ghostly voice could be heard echoing through the surroundings, sounding slightly amused as it said, "The Void is eternal. It cannot be destroyed. Even when the Universes fades to nothingness, the Void will remain, patiently awaiting the formation of a new Universe and the endless possibilities represented within. Witness one of the few absolute truths..."

Following the soul-shaking voice, the tiny black 'dot' quickly expanded, growing to the size of an adult male. Though it lacked the fine details, such as individual fingers, toes, and facial features, everyone present knew the anomalous figure was Vahn. Instead of being pitch-black, however, he now appeared to be formed from the fabric of the Universe itself, swirling galaxies and countless stars visible 'within' his body.

Witnessing the scene, even the members of the Heroes Faction were stunned to silence. Even Hou Yi and Chang'e felt like they were gazing into Eternity itself, a vast and unfathomable power that simply transcended everything else. They couldn't even sense Vahn, only an existential dread that promised absolute destruction if they attempted to oppose it. After all, even if you were a True Immortal, able to survive for billions of years without expiration, you would still expire an infinite number of years before Eternity came to pass...

Without speaking further, Vahn extended his 'hands' outward, breaking those with stronger wills free from their stupor. Ultimately, it didn't matter what they tried to do, however, as, from the perspective of Vahn, they had stopped moving completely. You would need to be Tier 5, able to exist outside the Time Axis, to have any hope of confronting his current form. Thus, before lightning could even begin to flicker across Raikou's body, light capable of causing existential dread began to emerge from the center of his being as he muttered, "Regula Mundi...Birth of the Universe..."

(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Vahn low-key wanting to spend time with Musashi...','What kind of boss fight starts at the final phase!?','O____________________O')