Endless Path : Infinite Cosmos
chapter-826

When Vahn arrived back at Lil Geirr, he noticed that the number of deaths had far exceeded his expectation. Since more than half of the people residing within the settlement were just 'normal' people, they had no way of protecting themselves at all after an attack occurred from the inside. Most of the Adventurers had been moved to the walls to protect against the monster wave, leaving them exposed at the 'heart'. Vahn realized they had been outmaneuvered quite a bit during this conflict and, if not for the relatively large difference in overall strength, the Alliance would have suffered a far greater loss than they were prepared to shoulder...

Many of the Adventurers had been pulled from the walls at the point and were helping move the injured to the medical ward while others lined up the deceased and covered them with blankets. Gareth and Finn were both present at the site, the latter directing everyone while Gareth was talking with Aisha and a very angry looking Bete. When the rampant Werewolf noticed Vahn and Ais touch down, he came over with great momentum and tried to grab Vahn's collar. Not fond of being 'handled', Vahn grabbed Bete's outstretched wrist and bent it to the side, brows furrowing slightly as he said, "I have other duties to deal with, Bete. If you have a problem, shelve it until later..."

Bete clenched his teeth, obviously dissatisfied with having his arm leveraged against him by Vahn. However, instead of following his instinct to try and kick Vahn, which he knew would end very badly for him, Bete's expression broke slightly as he said, "Please, help Lena..." Vahn let go of Bete's wrist, scanning the area as Gareth and Aisha walked over, the latter clarifying, "We Amazonesses were the closest to the incident and responded to try and help as many people as we could. Lena...she ended up taking a bad hit..." Hearing this, Vahn took a deep breath and communicated with the girls, explaining he would be along shortly before helping Bete stand straight, saying, "Show me. I'll do what I can..."

Ais went off to 'fetch' Alexa for him, as Vahn was feeling slightly anxious without confirming her safety with his own eyes, while Bete and Aisha led the way to a room separate from the larger medical ward. Bete hesitated outside of the door, a pained expression on his face until Vahn 'gently' struck him against the back and said, "This is when a man shows his backbone..." Without waiting for Bete, Vahn made his way into the room and saw that Lena was being nursed by two other Amazonesses while a Chientrhope 'doctor' was tying a tourniquet to the stump where Lena's left arm used to be. They had avoided closing the wound with an Elixir, likely because Bete had intended to ask him for help from the start...

When the girls inside the room saw Vahn, they showed expressions of relief as the Chienthrope woman with dirty-blond hair smiled and said, "I'm glad you showed up...thus far, we've kept her stable by feeding a low potency Elixir directly into her stomach..." Vahn held up his hand, a kind smile on his face and said, "You did well. Leave the rest to me..." He could already see the tube inside Lena's nose that extended all the way into her stomach, an upturned Elixir drip at the side being held by one of the Amazonesses. This world was severely lacking in medical sciences, something Vahn intended to change in the future when there was more time...

Though he could use other means to heal Lena, Vahn didn't really want to spend that much time within the dark room, directly using his [Wounds Transfer] with the unconscious Amazoness as the target. A sharp pain spread through his arm as the limbs 'dissolved' into particles of magical energy and immediately began regrowing Lena's. When she had fully recovered, Vahn moved his 'phantom' arm and allowed his [Magia Erebea] to regenerate the injury, all while everyone in the room watched with expressions of abject shock. Bete had also made his way into the room, witnessing the event and staring slack-jawed as his lover's arm and injuries were completely recovered in just a few seconds.

Vahn flexed his left hand and arm a few times, commenting, "You need to remove the tourniquet to restore the flow of blood before you damage the nerves..." These were his last words as he pat Bete's shoulder and made his way out of the room, Aisha following close behind. Seeing Lena's injuries made Vahn want to move to the actual medical ward and lend a hand as he felt slightly responsible for what had happened, even if that wasn't truly the case. He only made it a few steps down the corridor, however, when Bete burst out of the room, a complex expression on his face as he murmured, "Thank you..."

By the time Vahn turned around, Bete had already ducked back into the room, causing Aisha to release a small laugh as she said, "I'll never truly understand what Lena sees in that boy...well, it isn't really my business..." As she spoke, Aisha leaned into Vahn and rested her head on his shoulder, a thoughtful look in her eyes. Vahn brought his hand up, stroking her long black hair as he said, "Thank you, Aisha...you and the other Amazonesses...well, I can imagine things would have gone much worse if you hadn't been present..." Though he wasn't sure what would follow in the next couple of hours, Vahn gently caressed Aisha's face and added, "I can't promise you my full attention, but I'm certain the girls wouldn't mind if you stayed with us tonight."

Since they would need to release their tensions, Vahn expected that he wouldn't be getting much sleep, even though he had yet to come up with a 'plan' to have Alexa and Tina stay elsewhere. Then again, Tina probably wouldn't want to be left out after fighting so hard and nearly getting injured by the Variant Juggernaut...realizing this, Vahn knew it was going to be a very chaotic evening. Aisha seemed to understand this as well, tracing her hand along his chest as she muttered, "Take care of those girls properly, Vahn...when you have time, just come visit me at the Amazoness compound..." Punctuating her words, Aisha tiptoed and gave Vahn a kiss, continuing even when a group of Adventurers ran through to go provide aid at another location...

When Aisha finally pulled away, or, more specifically, when Vahn let her pull away, she had a slight blush on her face and habitually licked her lips. With a somewhat regretful smile, she pushed against his chest and said, "I have to go help my people...stop by after you finish up at the ward. We have our own means for dealing with injuries, but I'm certain none of them will complain if you make an appearance...ufufufu~." Aisha ran her finger through the part of her bangs covering her right eye, producing a 'teasing' expression that didn't quite reach her eyes as she turned away, hips swaying with a natural seduction that was hard to pull your eyes from...

Vahn watched Aisha until she had turned a corner, following her lonely back instead of focusing on her rather plump and toned butt. He knew she actually wanted to stay with him for the evening but, being the representative of the Amazons within Lil Geirr, she had other duties to attend to. She had always been a very responsible and caring woman, even sacrificing her own happiness at times if it meant she could help others. Even when she had helped Haruhime in the past, to the point of being forced to become a prostitute, Aisha never made a single complaint. Vahn knew he should treat her better and, when he visited the Amazoness Compound later, intended to help her ease the burdens on her heart and mind...

While making his way to the medical ward, Vahn was nearly tackled to the ground by his daughter, Alexa, who buried her face into his chest and nuzzled against him. Vahn hugged her tightly, even as her wings flittered about excitedly and stroked the back of her head as he said, "You did very well, Alexa...I am proud of you..." This caused the young dragonling to smile radiantly before a strangely condescending look appeared in her eyes as she said, "That weakling actually tried to target people that Papa wanted to protect. I broke all of the bones in his arms and legs to teach him a lesson...!" Behind her, Maemi and Emiru had apologetic expressions on their faces as they bowed low and said, "Forgive us, Master, we didn't think an enemy would be able to get so close to Miss Alexa..."

Vahn just shook his head, mentally telling the girls he knew they did their best and that it wasn't their fault. This caused them to show gratified smiles as Vahn shifted Alexa to his back before asking, "Where is the prisoner being kept? I want to help out at the medical ward but I can go there first if he is in critical condition." The two girls looked at each other for a brief moment before shaking their heads in a perfect mirror as they said, "He seems to have very high vitality and Lady Chloe has him bound with her shadow for the time being. We don't think it will be a problem if you go to the medical ward first, Master..."

While the two were speaking, Vahn also got confirmation from Chloe, saying there were no chances of him escaping or even killing himself. Since most of the other girls were present, with only Lefiya and Lili going around to help the wounded, there shouldn't be any issues delaying things for a short while. It wasn't as if he intended to spend a lot of time at the ward as, even though it would be very painful, Vahn could heal the majority of injuries with [Wounds Transfer]. Since these were people who had trusted the Alliance with their protection, it was the least he could do to make amends for their failure to do so...

After arriving at the ward, Vahn entrusted Alexa to the twins and told her to behave as he began systematically healing everyone within. There were a few hundred people with moderate to severe injuries but, with Vahn's assistance, they were completely healed and would recover after a proper night's sleep. The staff and Adventurers that had been triaging and tending to the patients were extremely relieved when they saw Vahn show up, knowing their only job was to keep people stable until he got around to healing them. As a result, several people that would have had to retire from their careers, or spend exorbitant amounts of Valis for powerful medicines, were back to their default condition with only mental fatigue as their remaining symptom.

By the time he had finished, only six minutes of time had passed, causing the atmosphere within the war to become solemn and reverential. Those that had still be conscious during their treatments had tried to express their gratitude but they were urged to stay out of the way by the medical professionals so Vahn could continue treating others. When he healed the last patient, Vahn released a sigh of relief and rolled his shoulders without sticking around any longer. He made his way over to Alexa, Maemi, and Emiru, rubbing the twins' heads before picking up Alexa and leaving behind the still-silent ward. This silence persisted for several minutes after he departed, many still awed by the 'miracle' they had witnessed take place in a very short period of time...

Vahn made his way over to where the others were waiting, sending Emiru and Maemi to deliver a message to Finn before going to assist Lefiya and Lili. They hadn't been in the ward and had instead gone to the defensive line where a few people with minor injuries remained. Though the monsters hadn't been able to breach through the defenses, there were some who had embarrassingly injured themselves during the chaotic situation. These were mostly bumps and bruises, but there were a few who had also been injured during misfires of magic or from falling awkwardly off the tall walls...

Upon reaching the location where the man was kept bound, Vahn saw that Rufina was being consoled by Shakti as the two waited outside with Haruhime watching over them. Her ears perked up when she saw him, drawing the attention of the other two girls who looked over with slightly startled expressions. Rufina's quickly turned into an apologetic one as she stood up shakily and said, "Vahn...I'm sorry...I should have never come here...I..." As he had already set Alexa down, Vahn walked over to Rufina and gave her a firm hug, sending a 'flood' of calming energy into her body as he brought her face to rest in the nook of his neck and shoulder. At the same time, he stroked her back in a comforting manner, saying, "We must not blame ourselves for the actions of those that wish to bring harm to others...even if you weren't here, they would never stop trying to destroy the Alliance. If you're truly bothered by this outcome, just focus on becoming strong enough that, even if they came at you with ten times the forces, you would be able to divert them away with ease..."

Though she might not have been comforted by these words under normal circumstances, Rufina was stunned silly by how much 'comfort' she felt in Vahn's embrace. She had also witnessed the prowess of the other girls, especially when Alexa and Maemiru had torn about dozens of monsters in an instant. Alexa had even beaten the arrogant man who tried to force them to eat strange yellow magic cores, breaking all of his limbs and tossing him around like a broken doll. Even when she spent time playing with Vahn's children, Rufina had never seen people with such power before...now, after becoming Vahn's subordinate, Rufina knew it was possible for her to become much stronger, if she really wanted it...

Feeling Rufina begin to calm down, Vahn waited until her trembling stopped, giving her back one last comforting rub as he slowly pulled away and stared into her green eyes. He produced a small smile on his face, stroking her cheek with the back of his fingers as he said, "You can become much stronger, Rufina...I believe in you..." This action and words caused Rufina's face to become red as she turned away in a huff and made her way back to Shakti's side without making eye contact with him again. Both Haruhime and Shakti laughed, causing Rufina's body to twitch as she hung her head, clearly embarrassed but still managing to say, "You have to help me...I'm...weaker than you think...I will need a lot of help..."

(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Bete is slowly learning...','Aisha is a good girl','Miracles...','There are a lot of Tsunderes this chapter...')