Endless Path : Infinite Cosmos
chapter-2192

After an inaugural ceremony that involved introducing each of the Communities and the various teams of Casters representing them, Vahn and Co found themselves teleported to a vast chamber located near the very center of an artificial planet, six thousand kilometers below the surface.

Taking a seat atop the throne located at the very center of the chamber, Vahn maintained a relaxed, ostensibly amused expression as he leaned against his armrest, head supported by the knuckles of his right hand as he looked around at the nineteen inordinate beauties and said, "Have fun." ——

Though the crowd had been expecting Vahn to give some kind of speech, the girls weren't all that surprised by his casual demeanor. Their triumph was assured even before the Gift Game began, so, while they each had their own objectives, it was most important they enjoyed themselves. With this in mind, each of the girls, many dressed in outfits reminiscent of swimwear, made their way over to the teleportation nexus located in the adjacent antechamber. This left Vahn alone within the throne room, as, rather than protecting him directly, Kusu, Vados, and Marcarita had the duty of guarding the aforementioned nexus…

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Taking advantage of the fact she was aware of everything touched by the Sun's light, an annoyed snort escaped Amaterasu's nose as she witnessed Vahn's casual display from the perspective of a spectator.

"What's wrong, Aneue…?"

Snorting a second time, Amaterasu narrowed her eyes at her younger brother, Susanoo, as she answered, "Concern yourself less with my thoughts and more on your objectives. Your Strongest Storm Division is tasked with the elimination of Onigashima. Do not fail me."

Smiling wryly in response to his sister's words, Susanoo donned his helmet and joined the large group of people waiting to use the teleportation nexus. He knew better than to speak against his sister when she was like this, so, as she suggested, he decided to focus on leading his army rather than dealing with the temperamental Sun Goddess…

Following Susanoo's departure with her fiery purple eyes, Amaterasu waited until the throne room was empty before retracting her scowl. Fortunately, she could tell when Casters were observing her, so, with the vast majority of perspectives focusing on the deployment of each Community's forces, she allowed herself a moment of reprieve as she shifted her attention to the massive sphere of fire and gas dominating the very center of the Game Board…

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"What do you want us to do, Shion? Should we split up and tackle the various satellites or do you want us to focus on eliminating one of the lower-digit Communities as soon as possible?"

Asking the petite, white-haired girl for orders was a kind-looking youth with peculiar, black and white hair. At his side, standing barely half his height was a young girl with similarly colored hair, but, rather than appearing plain, she was among the most eccentric-looking people in the room due to her cat-inspired attire, inordinately large pigtails, and massive, paw-themed hammer.

Shifting her icy blue eyes towards the duo, Shion maintained a completely neutral expression as she answered, "Our priority should be capturing or destroying the offensive satellites…other than that…I don't really care what you do…just don't embarrass us…"

Though she was confident in her ability to defeat pretty much anything, the rules of the Gift Game made the Model Omega out to be a Win Condition. There was a fair chance it was indestructible by conventional means, so, while she was tempted to simply destroy the presumed machine outright, Shion decided to play it safe by personally protecting their control room.

"Right…"

As it was pretty rare for all of them to gather like this, the dichromatic youth, known to his friends and companions as Ryouma, had forgotten how anti-social Shion could be. In the distant past, he had found this aspect of her character to be cute, but, as it quickly became apparent she was even more of a 'main character' than even he was, he eventually gave up trying to add her to his harem.

Understanding that Shion would probably just ignore him if he asked for clearer orders, Ryouma turned to the inordinately petite girl at his side, a loli-baba with a split personality named Cheshire, asking, "You ready to cut loose, Chi-chan…?"

Raising her massive hammer as if it was an inflatable, weightless toy, a mischievous grin spread across the demure Dwarfette's face as she animatedly answered, "Of course~! Chi-chan is always ready to smash some heads! Nyahahaha~"

Returning a smile and a nod, Ryouma extended his hand for the petite girl to grasp before guiding her towards the large group of women waiting at the side. They, like himself and Cheshire, each had black and white hair, as, despite his fondness for their original hair color, Ryouma wanted to make it very clear who they belonged to. When half of your companions were 'Heroes' with harems of their own, precautions against cuckolding were, unfortunately, very necessary…

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Though she was technically a part of the group opposing the Kotoamatsukami, Tomoe, appearing in an outfit resembling a blue and white sports swimsuit, had been designated as her team's pilot. The Model Omega was perfectly capable of taking action autonomously, but, for the sake of preserving it against more powerful foes, it was better to have a skilled pilot in the cockpit. Tomoe was pretty much unbeatable in this regard, so, while Amaterasu, Tamamo, Musashi, and Kenshin invaded the planet of Kotoamatsukami directly, she, alongside Okita and Nobu, assaulted one of the Offensive Satellites.

Unfortunately, while her skills as a pilot were nigh-unmatchable, Tomoe's skills as a combatant had waned with the passage of several decades. She had trained hard in preparation for the Gift Game, but, against opponents on the level of Imperial Dragons, her bow was pretty much useless.

"My apologies, Nobu-dono, Sou-dono…It has been quite some time since I've been active on an actual battlefield…"

Without so much as batting an eyelash, Okita, sporting a stylish black bikini, used her inordinately long sword, Rengokuken, to casually deflect hundreds of powerful lasers as she flatly replied, "It's not an issue…"

Nodding her head in approval, Nobu, appearing as her younger self and sporting an even more revealing black and gold bikini added, "Mochita is correct. Your duty is to pilot the Model Omega and fuck everyone up. Our duty is to get you inside the cockpit. Don't you dare look down on us, you horny nun."

Though she didn't appreciate being called a horny nun, Tomoe nodded her head in response to Nobu's words. At the same time, however, an accusatory glimmer flashed across her ruby-red eyes as she stared at the petite, raven-haired woman currently squatting behind Okita, clearly admiring her butt. She presumed Nobu was doing it just to garner additional attention from the Casters, but, at the same time, Tomoe couldn't help condemning the woman for her shamelessness…

In truth, Nobu simply couldn't help admiring Okita's pert, shapely, and remarkably tanned bottom. Her bisexuality wasn't exactly a secret among the members of Vahn's harem. She had always had a certain fondness for women, and, thanks to Vahn's 'accepting' nature, she had basically established a harem of her own among the girls with eastern origins. This included Okita, who, feeling Nobu's breath against her bottom, developed a faint blush as she allowed a beam of energy to slip past her guard…

Deflecting the beam with a wave of her hand, a moderately annoyed expression developed across Nobu's face as she rose to her feet and said, "That does it. You can all go to hell."

Manifesting a military-style cap with the emblem of the Oda Clan emblazoned on the front like a luminous sun, a vicious smile developed across Nobu's face as she placed it atop her head. At the same time, a vibrant red cloak manifested across her shoulders, golden flames decorating the edge as the sky overhead shifted from a crystal clear nightscape to a hazy, blood-red atmosphere.

Realizing what Nobu was about to do, Okita sheathed her sword faster than the 'cameras' could perceive before unleashing a sword beam that seemed to separate the heavens and earth. Each of the Imperial Dragons affected by the unfathomably swift beam had their torsos cleanly separated from their lower bodies, but, unlike normal machines, there was nothing like an explosion to mark their destruction. Instead, the torsos continued forward in defiance of gravity, mindlessly launching forth volley after volley of penetrating energy beams as the openings in their waists quickly sealed themselves.

Clicking her tongue, Okita swept her sword in a half-crescent that produced a curtain-like veil of light. Each of the energy beams that impacted it was subsequently nullified, so, taking advantage of the opportunity she had created, Okita promptly moved behind Nobu as the latter pulled down her cap, an even larger grin developing across her face as she said, "Bankai…!"

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Though the spectators had previously been focusing on Nobu's, Okita's, and Tomoe's swimsuits, the tensions in the crowd shifted once the two-syllable word echoed throughout the Little Garden. Even though it was just an image on the screen, everyone witnessing the event felt a chill spread through their body, as, rather than simply unleashing her Bankai, a functionally infinite number of malicious-looking rifles, Nobu also activated her Mangekyou Sharingan. More accurately, she activated one of the most powerful abilities associated with the Mangekyou, the Susanoo.

While all Susanoo's were intimidating to look at, Nobu's took on the form of a blood-red skeleton with a demonic visage and four arms. The aura exuding from it resembled mist formed from blood, and, due to the energies of Destruction contained within, it eroded everything in her surroundings like an unfathomably corrosive acid…

Had it just been the skeletal visage and the countless rifles that had manifested behind her, the crowd wouldn't have cared about Nobu's ability. What shook them to the core were the tens of thousands of blood-red skeletons that manifested from the unceasing tide of corrosive, carmine mist. It was like witnessing a scene out of hell, as, even when an energy beam passed through their head or chest, the monstrous skeletons would instantaneously regenerate as they took up the rifles produced by Nobu's Bankai and surged forth like an unstoppable tide…

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Witnessing Nobu's performance from the relative comfort of his throne, a wry smile developed across Vahn's face as he remarked, "I should have known Nobu would be the first to activate her Bankai…"

(*She always was a bit of a show-off…*)

Nodding his head in response to Sis's words, Vahn shifted his attention away from the swimsuit-clad trio to focus on other matters. Now that Nobu had activated her Bankai, the only thing that could stop her from taking over one of the offensive satellites was enemy interference. Even then, the odds of them breaking through her Susanoo were pretty slim, as, the moment a dangerous foe appeared, Okita would invariably take action.

"Hmm…?"

Though it had nothing to do with the members of the Sage Dragon's Hearth, Vahn's intrigue was piqued when he noticed the members of the Araki Community, the Community led by Johnathan, invading the planet of Wu. He didn't know if it was a coincidence or if the group of inordinately muscular men had intentionally targetted her, as, rather than defending his control/throne room, Johnathan was leading the attack directly.

Reacting to the invasion, hundreds of demonic beasts, ranging from palm-sized marmosets to hill-sized apes, charged towards the inordinately muscular group. These were the inhabitants of Mount Huaguo, so, despite their animalistic appearances, many within the monstrous horde were able to contend against the Gods of the Heavenly Domain.

At first glance, it was easy to imagine Johnathan and his allies being defeated by the swarm of demonic beasts. Instead, they unhesitantly threw themselves against the seemingly unstoppable horde, illusory figures manifesting behind and around their bodies as they mowed through the tide of monkey-like beasts in a manner reminiscent of bulls in a china shop…

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(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'The danger of teaming up with other isekai protagonists…','Nobu is a woman of culture…','*Rock music plays in the background*')