Endless Path : Infinite Cosmos
chapter-2068

After waiting for Shirayukihime to calm down, Vahn explained everything he and Shiroyasha had discussed. He wanted her to understand what she was getting herself into, as, from the moment she joined his camp, it would be very difficult for her to change her mind. After all, while he could help her become a Pure-Blooded Dragon, the disparity in their power and authority would compel her to obey him for the rest of her life.

"My Lord...can you truly help me become a Pure-Blooded Dragon...?"

Though she was apprehensive to learn that Shiroyasha would continue her teasing, Shirayukihime had never once believed she could fully escape the diminutive demoness's influence. Thus, rather than allowing herself to be distracted by things she couldn't change, she decided to focus on the benefits she would receive by pledging herself to Vahn.

Nodding his head, Vahn explained, "I'll provide a more detailed explanation later on, but I possess the ability to help people change everything about themselves. Be it their race, physical appearance, talents, preferences, and even gender. If your faith in me was strong enough, I could even help you become a Phoenix, a Qilin, or a normal human being. The only limits to my power are the faith and desires of the person receiving my aid."

"I see..."

Detecting no falsehoods in Vahn's words, Shirayukihime began to feel a bit of excitement in her chest. Back in the Lower Realms, she had even been willing to sacrifice her life in her attempts to become a Pure-Blooded Dragon. Now that she had been given a second chance, she wasn't going to waste it. Thus, despite feeling incomprehensible embarrassment, she pulled at the binding of her dark blue obi, a faint shade of pink spreading through her cheeks as she whispered, "If my Lord is willing to accept someone as lowly as myself...I would be honored to serve you..."

"N-N-Now wait just a minute...!"

Though she had been made aware of the fact that Shirayukihime would likely be joining Vahn's harem, Black Rabbit hadn't anticipated that they would be consummating things so quickly. She thought they were just going to pick her up and take her back with them. Then, after a few days had passed, they would naturally begin to reduce the distance between each other. This was way too fast, almost ridiculously so.

As if she had only just now noticed Black Rabbit's presence, Shirayukihime prevented her kimono from slipping away as she questioned, "Black Rabbit...what is your relationship with my Lord...?"

Not expecting such a question, Black Rabbit's hair turned a vibrant shade of pink as she began to flounder about, wholly unable to respond. She wasn't quite sure how to define her relationship with Vahn. Sure, she knew she would probably be joining his harem, but, at least for the time being, they were more than friends but less than lovers.

Surprising both girls, Black Rabbit most of all, Vahn wrapped his arm around the befuddled bunny's waist before pulling her close and saying, "She is the future mother of my children, and, so long as she desires it, my fiancee and future Empress. I have vowed to do everything in my power to make her happy and I intend to keep that promise."

Hearing Vahn's words, Black Rabbit looked like her head was on the verge of exploding due to the increase in pressure. As for Shirayukihime, she appeared slightly taken aback for a moment before quickly recovering enough of her mental faculties to politely bow her head and state, "My Lady..." in the sincerest tone she could manage.

"Wawawawawawawa-"

Unable to process everything that was happening, Black Rabbit ultimately ended up collapsing into Vahn's embrace, eyes swirling around as illusory rabbits hopped around her head. It was a peculiar sight to behold for someone who was immune to Gag Laws and the Laws of Normalcy. At the same time, however, it was also quite cute.

Raising Black Rabbit into a princess carry, Vahn briefly met Shirayukihime's gaze, asking, "Would you rather I call you Shiro, Yuki, or Hime in the future? I don't mind using your full name, but it's quite long..."

While doing her best to keep her kimono from slipping, Shirayukihime bowed respectfully as she politely replied, "Please, address me as you see fit. I would be honored by any name or title my Lord chooses."

Nodding his head in both approval and understanding, a somewhat teasing smile developed across Vahn's face as he mused, "Let's go with Hime then. I noticed you seemed to enjoy being referred to as Princess..."

Though she was able to prevent a blush from spreading through her cheeks, Hime was powerless to prevent the surroundings from heating up as the water molecules in the air reacted to her flustered state. She, like many of the women Shiroyasha had set her eyes on, was quite weak to teasing. Thus, despite appearing as a cold and intellectual beauty on the outside, she was squealing like a little girl who had just received her crush's confession on the inside...

"I...I would be honored..."

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"I'm surprised you didn't push both of them down on the spot. Your tolerance is surprisingly high for a sex-crazed idiot..."

After returning from their trip to the God's Playground, Vahn allowed Black Rabbit to rest before giving Hime a tour of his workshop and introducing her to Sarina, Nono, and the members of No Name. She had been pretty insistent on becoming his Maid, but, thanks to the enchantments on his workshop, there wasn't really anything for her to clean or look after. Thus, after a bit of deliberation, Vahn assigned her to become the Governess of the two girls. She would be responsible for helping to educate them, and, more importantly, keeping them safe.

"That's pretty rich coming from a Demon Goddess who spread her butt in front of me during our second meeting..."

Snickering in response to Vahn's words, Shiroyasha continued to playfully kick her feet as she turned her head to the side and teased, "I figured you might need a few hints that I was interested. You were acting pretty standoffish after seeing me in this form."

"Hmm..."

Sliding his hands from Shiroyasha's lower back to her legs, Vahn prevented her from kicking before proceeding to massage her calves and say, "I try not to make assumptions. Even after hundreds of years, women can be remarkably difficult to understand. I've never been fond of using my abilities to woo women so there are times when even brazen actions fly over my head..."

Seemingly in response to the words brazen, Shiroyasha rolled over onto her back, a mischievous smile on her face as she pulled up her legs to create a tantalizingly deviant m shape, teasing, "Is that so~?"

Rolling his eyes, Vahn made Shiroyasha lay flat on her back before placing the palm of his left hand on her abdomen, rainbow-hued energy flowing from his hand and into her body as he warned, "If you're going to continue being disobedient, I'm going to stop..."

Though her jaw briefly trembled due to the sudden influx of energy, Shiroyasha managed to appear calm as she folded her hands behind her head in a lackadaisical manner as she replied, "Yeah, yeah. I know..."

Shaking his head in mild exasperation, Vahn continued to gently caress Shiroyasha's abdomen as his right hand ran along the length of her thigh. She was still genderless in her current form, and, even if he spread his senses through her body, she was basically just an amalgamation of energy without anything like organs. Thus, while it still felt a little risque, he didn't particularly mind where his hands wandered as he continued to massage her body.

Understanding that he really would stop if she pressed him too far, Shiroyasha decided to focus on what he had said previously, asking, "I'm assuming you can use your powers to know all of a girl's deepest and darkest secrets, huh? That would be a pretty scary ability in the hands of someone with malicious intent..."

Shifting his gaze to meet Shiroyasha's, Vahn appeared calm and relaxed as he said, "If I needed to rely on such things, I wouldn't be much of a man. Don't get me wrong. There was a time when I was obsessed with knowing as much as I could about a person so I that could make them happy. Now, I have the confidence to do so even without relying on such abilities..."

Though it was imperceptible to others, a teasing smile developed across Vahn's face as the energy from his palm flowed to form what appeared to be a tree that quickly spread its branches through Shiroyasha's body. This caused the diminutive demoness to swallow the words she had been about to speak, her cat-like pupils expanding and contracting as her fingers and toes curled against her will.

Seemingly by instinct, Shiroyasha's spontaneously disappeared from beneath Vahn's palm before subsequently reappearing behind him and asking, "What the hell was that?"

Chuckling in amusement, Vahn pulled out a towel to wipe his hands as he explained, "It's a little trick I learned to deal with conceptual entities who lack conventional nerves and neurons. To put it simply, I created branching pathways through your body that are capable of resonating with your unique energy signature. Then, using an assortment of Laws capable of bestowing pleasure, I made them do exactly that."

"It's no wonder you have such a ridiculous Fragment of Origin..."

Despite appearing calm on the surface, Shiroyasha was more than a little shaken by Vahn's words. It shouldn't be possible for him to affect her in such a manner without her realizing it. Her body was also sealed in a state of perpetuity after she received Divinity from the Buddhist Faction, so, even if he was able to mold people like soft clay, Vahn's powers shouldn't have any effect on her...

Understanding Shiroyasha's thoughts, even without Loi-chan's assistance, Vahn wriggled the fingers of his right hand as he said, "God of Infinite Possibilities. Remember?"

"So it would seem..."

Deciding not to press the matter, Shiroyasha flourished her arms to produce a set of clothes for herself before asking, "How soon can you start taking clients? I was originally going to procrastinate until those brats arrived but an old friend of mine has been having some trouble as of late. I figured you could lend a hand if you've nothing better to do."

Raising his brows, Vahn asked, "How are you able to make this request if you're supposed to remain unbiased? Also, I'm not your personal gofer. I don't mind lending a hand, but my original intent was to remain neutral. If I go around helping the people you want me to help, that doesn't exactly come across as unprejudiced and fair."

Pulling out her favorite fan, Shiroyasha used it to cool her surprisingly warm face as she confidently explained, "My impartiality is restricted to the East Side. The person I want you to meet with just so happens to reside in the South. She is also one of the women I've been keeping a close eye on, so I believe it's in both of our interests to have you meet. Don't worry. I'm not asking you to sweep her off her feet or anything. I just want to lay the groundwork for future cooperation between the East and the South. Besides..."

Having observed Vahn's behavior in the Tower, Shiroyasha was fairly confident she had, at the very least, a basic understanding of his character. Thus, the moment she had his interest, a mischievous smile developed across her face as she revealed, "The South has the largest population of mythical creatures, beast people, and hybrids. It's also the location of the Avalon, Mount Olympus, Yggdrasil, and the Garden of the Gods Communities. I figured you would want to make your presence known to them sooner, rather than later."

Though the notion had certainly crossed his mind, Vahn ultimately shook his head in response to Shiroyasha's suggestion, saying, "No. I'll worry about them once I've settled things here. For now, I want to focus on training Jin, Lily, Sarina, and Nono. The No Names are still recovering as well, so, unless your friend is in imminent danger, I'd rather wait. You might be eager to increase the size of my harem for your own benefit, but such concerns are only tertiary in my point of view."

Clicking her tongue, Shiroyasha crossed her arms in a somewhat defiant manner as she said, "You're being a little presumptuous, don't you think? Sure, I might be a pervert, but you make it sound like I'm desperate. Do you honestly believe I would be bringing this up right now if I didn't think it was important?"

Resisting the almost instinctual urge to apologize, Vahn's tone softened as he shook his head and said, "Very well then. I can, at the very least, hear them out."

Adopting the closest thing she could manage to a sincere smile, Shiroyasha's golden eyes gleamed as she happily replied, "Thanks, Vahn. I knew I could rely on you..."

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(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'RIP Black Rabbit xD...','*Confused FBI noises*','Shiroyasha and Loki really do have a lot in common...')