Endless Path : Infinite Cosmos
chapter-2010

With none of the Elders stepping out to contest his victory, Vahn's time in the spotlight had come to an end. He still needed to remove the Great Mother's curse, but, with the assent of Gluttony, this wasn't particularly difficult. Other than that, his only business with the Lo Po Bia Family was taking in the remnants of the Grey Wolf Family, a total of thirteen females and six males, so that Elaine would no longer feel obligated to restore the entire family on her own. He was also intending to meet with the Lo Po Bia Family's Princesses of Jahad, but, understanding he could always deal with them after taking care of Jahad, the only two he was 'obligated' to meet with were Lilial and Shilial.

Ever since Jeanne had accidentally purified the blood curse on Lilial, she and her twin sister, Shilial, had ceased climbing the Tower. Their sudden disappearance had caused quite a stir, but, thanks to Maschenny sheltering them, they had managed to escape the Royal Enforcement Division's pursuit. This was made easier by the fact neither had received a 13 Month Series, so, even if their death was mandated by Imperial Law, Jahad had never bothered to issue an official kill order.

Though the twins' circumstances were the result of their bloodthirsty natures and poor decision making, they, like every other Princess of Jahad, were ultimately the victims of a system designed to turn impressionable young girls into weapons. Their instincts and conditioned loyalty actually made them even more susceptible than other Princesses, so, while he could simply ignore them, it simply wasn't in Vahn's nature to do so. Thus, in the days following his exhibition match against the Great Mother, he easily resolved the matter of her curse before observing the transition of power from Lo Po Bia to Genzo. Then, when everything else was said and done, he tracked down the burgundy and blonde-haired Princesses to a remote location on the outskirts of the recently vacated 77th Floor.

With the disappearance of Baek Ryun and the bulk of Wolhaiksong, the 77th Floor had become yet another haven for refugees and criminals fleeing the Jahad Empire. The other Floor Rulers had tried to install a proxy in Baek's absence, but, due to the contract between Ureko and Hon, the Floor was ultimately the possession of the tomboyish blonde. They fundamentally lacked the authority to strip ownership away from her, and, even if they tried, doing so would be akin to assigning themselves a death sentence.

Though it was technically considered a lawless territory, the fear that Ureko would rain down justice upon them caused most of the people fleeing to the 77th Floor to behave. It was no secret that she disdained people who broke the law and exploited others, so, even though there were a number of opportunistic individuals who migrated to the Floor, very few attempted to establish themselves as a 'power' within the region. Those that did were Merchants or Rankers attempting to establish their roots in a territory outside the Empire's control. For many, this was an opportunity to start their own organization, so, even if the chances of success were slim, they, at the very least, wanted to try...

A stark contrast to this sentiment, Shilial and Lilial had 'retired' to a frontier village located on the very outskirts of the 77th Floor. There, Vahn found the younger of the two sisters, Shilial, tending to a potato garden with a very disgruntled expression on her face. Long gone were the days where she could doll herself up in lavish and expensive clothing. Instead, she was reduced to wearing relatively simple clothes that were as easy to dirty as they were to clean. This included a simple blue sundress, patched-up blue trousers, dirty rubber boots, gardening gloves, and a simple yet fashionable straw hat.

With her attention fully focused on the potatoes she was unearthing from the soil, Shilial failed to sense Vahn until his shadow was lingering over her. This caused her eyes to widen, and, though she was supposed to be trying to remain low key, that didn't prevent her from performing an acrobatic somersault and raising her gardening trowel as if it were a weapon.

Raising his hand in a casual manner, Vahn ignored the hateful glimmer in Shilial's eyes as he smiled and said, "Long time no see. How's life as a farm girl treating you...?"

Though she had always been known as an outwardly respectful woman, Shilial teared up slightly in response to Vahn's words, gritting her teeth as she asked, "Have you come here to make fun of us? If so, get it out of your system and leave. My sister and I have enough problems without your stupid face to remind us of the past...!"

Restraining his urge to lecture the not-so-young-lady, Vahn adopted a far more serious expression as he explained, "It would appear you are unaware of the happenings within the Tower. Ownership of the Lo Po Bia Family has exchanged hands within the last couple of days. So long as you promise not to cause trouble, I have made arrangements for you and your sister to attend the Great Mother. I have removed her curse, so, now that she no longer has to conserve her energy, she is looking for suitable candidates to train as Guardians and Priestesses of the Lo Po Bia Family. I'm not sure what she has in mind, but I imagine it beats growing potatoes here on the 77th Floor..."

Blinking in response to Vahn's words, Shilial slowly lowered her gardening trowel as she asked, "Are you for real? Have you truly taken over the Lo Po Bia Family...?"

Shaking his head, Vahn created a three-dimensional projection of Genzo's visage as he explained, "I battled against the Great Mother, but ownership of the Lo Po Bia Family has been transferred to this man, Genzo Shibata. His passion regarding animals and people with animalistic features can be said to be second to none. His power is also comparable to my own, so, after dominating more than half of the Elders, Lo Po Bia willingly transferred his status and authority."

Seeing the projection shift to Genzo's battle against several famous Elders, Shilial promptly decided to trust in Vahn's words. There was a chance he was attempting to deceive her, but, considering the vast disparity in their respective powers, there was little she could do even if he decided to have his way with her. She was also bored out of her mind living in the outskirts of the 77th Floor, so, even if his intent was to deceive her, she didn't really care.

Having made up her mind, Shilial inhaled a deep breath before shouting, "Lilial! Get your lazy butt out here! We're going home...!" at the top of her voice.

Hearing her sister's shout, Lilial, appearing somewhat worse for wear, came to the window of the small cottage she shared with her young sibling. She was about to shout something about Shilial having lost her mind, but, seeing Vahn standing a few meters away, her expression briefly paled before quickly returning to normal as she asked, "Are we really...going home?"

Being the more ambitious of the two sisters, Lilial had taken their fall from grace much harder than her twin. After all, she was technically the reason they were forced to flee, so, for the last year or so, most of her time had been spent brooding over what could have been. Now, however, a tiny flame had reignited from the smoldering ashes of her aspirations, and, even if she had to sell her soul to a lecherous dragon, she was willing to do whatever it took to recover and transcend her past glory.

Instantly jumping to the wrong conclusion, Lilial didn't bother waiting for her sister's reply before looking towards Vahn as if he were a piece of choice meat. She seemed to forget she was wearing rather plain pajamas, and, for a brief moment, her haughty expression returned as she mistakenly believed Vahn had fallen for her charms. Unfortunately, the moment she crossed her arms and was preparing to speak, the person in question promptly stated, "I'm not into spoiled brats..."

Both stunned and confused, Lilial stared at Vahn as if he had said something nonsensical, the light from her vibrant blue eyes gradually faded as realization donned upon her. Immediately thereafter, a remarkably painful sensation spread through her heart, but, fearing she might compromise their chances of returning home, she swallowed her grievances and asked for an explanation...

After purifying Shilial's blood and leaving both she and Lilial in the care of the Great Mother, Vahn's business with the Lo Po Bia Family had effectively come to an end. His plan to create Templates for each of the branch families had been scrapped a long time ago, so, with Genzo in charge, everyone had effectively become part of the same family. This should help to ease tensions between previous rivals, as, unlike before, the only person with any authority in the entire Lo Po Bia Family was Genzo himself. Though he would never use this power with malicious intent, the former Elders had no way of knowing this, so, for the time being, they had no choice but to obey.

Fortunately, despite numerous differences, such as some branches being born cold-blooded, there were few limitations on who members of the Lo Po Bia Family could breed with. In fact, their unique genes allowed for a certain degree of 'variability' in mating pairs, so, even if someone from the Boa Family was to breed with a member of the Snow Leopard Family, they could produce offspring with traits of both. In the past, such chimeric mixes were considered forbidden, but, now that Genzo was in charge, such restrictions no longer applied. The members of the Lo Po Bia Family were allowed to love whoever they wanted, and, even if their preferences leaned towards members of the same sex, anyone who wanted to complain would promptly find themselves on the receiving end of Genzo's german suplex.

Though there was a chance that someone with the power to rival Genzo would appear, that was an event for the far future. For the time being, even Jahad couldn't do anything about him, and, due to the protections granted to the Great Mother, the Lo Po Bia Family was basically untouchable within the 113th Floor. This meant they had, at the very least, a few tens-of-thousands-of-years to resolve their interpersonal affairs, as, with the exception of Vahn's other Templates, the only people with the potential to surpass Genzo were his own offspring.

Confident in this assertation, Vahn decided to leave the affairs of the Lo Po Bia Family to the Lo Po Bia Family. They were no longer his concern, so, after tying up a few loose ends related to the Snow Leopard Family, he decided to temporarily retire to the 199th Floor in order to watch over Pram and help her control her newly awakened Innate. Death Energy was no joke, and, unless they were born with it, mastering the extreme form of Yin Energy was remarkably difficult. There was even a chance it would consume the user, so, while he was tempted to wrap things up within the Tower, Vahn had never considered helping those who were willing to die for him a waste of time. Pram might have a lot of issues to work out, but, were she incapable or unwilling to change, breaking through to Tier 4 would have been impossible. Thus, much as he had in the wake of events on the 100th Floor, Vahn afforded the Tower three weeks to adapt while splitting his time between watching over Pram and investigating what, exactly, had transpired within the Po Bidau Family...

(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'This is some advanced form of bullying...','Oof...','Vahn be like, "Taking care of floof is infinitely more important than dealing with a Chuuni Emperor..."')