Endless Path : Infinite Cosmos
chapter-2009

Though it took a while to sort out all the details, it wasn't long after his conversation with Lo Po Bia that Vahn found himself standing opposite from what could best be described as an exotic beauty comprised entirely of aged bark and faded leaves. Her presence caused everyone in the Lo Po Bia Family to lower their heads in a solemn gesture of respect, and, for a brief moment, it seemed that all the tensions between the branches had simply vanished into thin air.

Noticing the atmosphere that had been created by the woman's presence, Vahn's smile turned into a troubled expression as he stared into the faded green pupils of the woman smiling back at him. Unlike every other World Tree Spirit he had encountered, the Great Mother seemed to be lacking in vitality. Her bark was broken and frayed, and, despite appearing rather remarkable at a glance, her complexion was an amalgamation of yellows, browns, and faded greens. She resembled a tree that had been forced to lay its roots in an inhospitable region, and, despite radiating vitality from every fiber of her being, Vahn could feel her power and life force waning with each passing moment...

Sensing the change in Vahn's mood, the Great Mother's smile softened into a gentle and motherly look as she softly muttered, "Do not lament. I have lived a life more fortunate than most. Besides, death is not the end. It is simply the beginning of a new chapter. Now...shall we begin...?"

To indicate her own preparedness, the Great Mother manifested a branch-like Needle in her left hand as various types of trees, plants, and shrubbery began to spread throughout the arena. The complexion of her face and body also became a healthy shade of green, but, with his ability to sense the flow of energy, Vahn could tell she was burning what remained of her life force in order to sustain her empowered state.

Understanding his opponent didn't have a lot of time, Vahn wasn't going to dally for the sake of sentimentality. Instead, he took a moment to appease Leav-tan before surprising virtually everyone by manifesting a petite young woman with fair skin, dark brown hair, inordinately long and pointed ears, branch-like wooden horns, and, fur-covered legs that ended in hoofed feet. She also had a tail that ended in a tuft, but, before anyone could get a proper grasp of her features, the young woman promptly transformed into a wooden bow carved with the motif of two dryads shrouded in emerald green leaves and vines.

Though it had been some time since he used archery within a fight, Vahn's skill had only matured with time. He also possessed numerous Zanpakuto Spirits in the form of bows, but, unlike the rest, this particular variant had very little combat ability. Her name was Dea, and, while her name could be credited to the Roman Goddess of the same name, what distinguished her among her siblings was her 'compassion'. Arrows loosed from her branches did not leave wounds. Instead, they did the exact opposite, and, though he could use her to stun, paralyze, and put things to sleep, Dea's main function was healing targets from afar.

Without explaining this functionality, Vahn's figure flashed away from the Great Mother, effortlessly evading her vines as he twisted his body in the air and loosed several vibrant green arrows formed of Nature Elemental Energy. This confused the Great Mother's senses, and, for a very brief moment, she was almost tempted to let the arrows hit her before manifesting a root more than thirty meters in diameter to block the approaching arrows. At the same time, a series of plant bulbs erupted from the ground all throughout the arena, many growing to the size of skyscrapers before blooming into a series of beautiful flowers that released a tremendous number of spores.

Under normal circumstances, Vahn would have been tempted to see what the spores were capable of, but, having experienced the terror plants were capable of at the hands of Xysteria, he swept Dea in a horizontal motion that caused every flower within the arena to be bifurcated. This earned him a pouty complaint from the faun that inhabited the bow, but, with a few carefully chosen words, Vahn managed to coax her by promising to fill an entire forest with flowers for her to frolick through...

With the Spirit of his Zanpakuto momentarily pacified, Vahn manipulated the flow of Shinsu in the surroundings to consolidate most of the spores into a centralized location as he continued loosing arrows towards the Great Mother. This caused the latter to feel a tremendous amount of pressure, not because he was inflicting any actual damage, but because the vitality emanating from each of the arrows had already started to suffuse through her body. As a result, she felt mildly intoxicated, and, despite her best efforts to slow the intake, her malnourished cells greedily absorbed each and every micron of natural energy.

Noticing the Great Mother's lack of focus, an amused smile spread across Vahn's face as he easily evaded a series of massive, thorn-covered, vines before teleporting directly in front of the hunched-over beauty with his bow drawn. The very tip of his arrows was pressed to the Great Mother's head, so, even if it was incapable of dealing damage, her vibrant green eyes widened as she instinctually stabbed towards his chest with her Needle.

Adding to the World Tree Spirit's surprise, Vahn made no attempt to evade the momentous attack. Instead, he let it pass harmlessly through his body in a manner similar to Katakuri toying with Luffy during their showdown in canon. At the exact same moment, he loosed one of Dea's vibrant green arrows into the Great Mother's forehead. This would have caused most people's heads to snap back due to whiplash, but, unlike conventional arrows, Dea's didn't carry any actual momentum. Instead, the arrow disappeared into the Great Mother's head, instantaneously robbing her of consciousness as the leaves comprising her hair and clothing practically exploded due to their exponential growth.

With the Great Mother now resembling a clump of vibrant green grass, Vahn allowed Dea to return to her faun form before sending her on her way after a healthy amount of petting. This earned him a fair number of complaints from his other Zanpaktuo, but, as was often the case, Vahn managed to pacify them with promises of maintenance. This was one of the downsides to possessing well over a hundred Zanpakuto, but, as needy as they could be at times, Vahn felt genuinely blessed to have so many adorable, versatile, and powerful Spirits to dote upon. They were also a part of him, so, even if he did have any complaints, the only person he could really blame was himself...

As that thought crossed his mind, Vahn's body tensed up as the Great Mother's eyes spontaneously rolled forward. Their previous exchange had actually been his attempts to treat her condition, so, in a way, it was basically the warm-up heralding the actual battle. After all, the original agreement was that he would fight her in his Sage Dragon Emperor Transformation. Their goal was to eliminate any future dissent, so, while he could easily defeat her in a few swift exchanges, it would take something more 'theatrical' to convince the naysayers of his superiority.

With this in mind, Vahn smiled towards the Great Mother before teleporting a few kilometers away in an effort to evade the spores she had sneakily released. Then, in front of the stunned eyes of the entire Lo Po Bia Family, his body began to rapidly increase in size, quickly exceeding five-hundred-meters in height and more than twice that in length. Unlike his past transformations, however, gold scales were not his most prominent features. Rather, since this was supposed to be his Sage Dragon Emperor Transformation, he elected to emulate Artoria's ivory scales in order to give himself a more regal appearance. This helped the golden accents of his body stand out even more, but, at a glance, it was his fiery blue eyes, the blade-like horn protruding from his head, and the shimmering golden glaive attached to the end of his tail that drew the eyes of the crowd.

Since this was far larger than his previous transformations, Vahn was forced to adopt a quadrupedal stance just to support his own weight. If not for his contract with Gluttony, even half this size would have been too much for him, as, despite his breakthroughs in the Toaruverse, his ability to bend the laws 'outside' was still limited by his comprehension and authority. This restriction was waning with each passing day, but, the moment he departed the Tower and trespassed a higher realm, he would, once again, be at the mercy of the Laws.

Dismissing such thoughts from his mind, Vahn waited patiently as the Great Mother attempted to create a Spiritual Avatar that could rival his current form. This ended up being a mistake, as, rather than settling on a construct of similar size, she created a behemoth of organic matter that towered over him several times over. Since her 'true body' was the inordinately large briar bush surrounding them, this wasn't particularly surprising. Still, with his own limit barely eclipsing 500m, Vahn couldn't help frowning as he noticed her head grazing the ceiling of the arena...

Fortunately, prior to the battle beginning, Vahn had tasked Lo Po Bia with making sure there were no audience members on the western section of the arena. He also made sure most of the Floating Palaces had moved out of the way, as, the moment he released his attack, everything in front of him was bound to 'vanish'. The Great Mother's size meant very little in the fact of true power, so, before her impossibly large fist could squash him like a bug, golden light began emanating from the scales in his chest, rapidly spreading through his body before gathering in his spread wings.

Just as people began to squint from the intense light, the atmosphere within the arena seemed to darken as the flow of time slowed to a crawl. Then, in a voice that shook the very souls of everyone present, Vahn's could be heard stating, "Sage Dragon Emperor's Majestic Roar." as a relatively thin beam of golden energy erupted from his maw. Said beam passed through the Great Mother's Spirit Avatar as if it was little more than an illusion before continuing on until it impacting the distant wall of the 113th Floor. Then, despite the beam rapidly contracting into nothingness, the hole produced continued to expand until it had formed a passageway more than three-kilometers in diameter...

Satisfied with the result, an uncanny smile developed across Vahn's draconic maw as he tapped his glaive-like tail against the ground. This caused a series of golden ripples to emanate from the point of contact, rapidly spreading through the arena before crawling up the nearly destroyed barrier and producing countless shimmering runes. Shortly thereafter, the barrier was completely repaired, and, as a result, the audience was finally able to exhale the breath they had been holding. His aura was a little too potent in this particular form, so, from the moment he transformed, most of the audience members had turned completely statuesque, their minds wholly incapable of processing what they had just witnessed.

Passing his gaze over the stunned onlookers, Vahn did his best to control the egotistical urges he felt whenever he transformed into a dragon, asking, "Is anyone not convinced...?" in as calm a tone as he could manage. In response, most of the Elders immediately averted their eyes, as, even if they were from one of the feline families, they only had one life. None were foolish enough to speak out against the indescribably powerful being staring down at them as if they were little more than weak and powerless children...

(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Leaf-bae getting bullied...','A Zanpakuto for every occassion~!','Blaaargh...!')