Endless Path : Infinite Cosmos

Chapter 2345: Folly

After retiring from the Pandemonium Gift Game, Kefla was prepared to enter her personalized Hyperbolic Time Chamber for training when a hand grasped her shoulder.

Even without looking behind her, Kefla knew who the hand belonged to, muttering, "I messed up..." in an uncharacteristically dispirited tone. A lot of this mentality came from Kale, but their frequent and prolonged fusions had left both Saiyanesses with characteristics of the other.

Wrapping his arms around Kefla's body, Vahn whispered, "Be happy. Life is more interesting when you still have limits to break and opponents to overcome..."

Leaning her head back, Kefla looked up at Vahn through her spiky bangs, regaining a bit of her edge as she asked, "Does that mean you've grown tired of living? Ever since you defeated that machine-like monster, I can't even fathom the depths of your power..."

Instead of answering Kefla's question, Vahn traced his middle finger around her navel and asked, "Does it frighten you?" in a soft, resonating tone.

Snorting through her nose, Kefla turned around and gave Vahn a push. At his current level, not even someone like Indra would be able to move him, but Kefla's casual nudge knocked him onto his bottom, permitting her to sit atop him, grasping his collar as she replied, "No matter how powerful you become, you're still a push-over..."

Though she could hear Kale sighing in the back of her mind, Kefla, piloted by Caulifla, began to tear away Vahn's clothes. She originally planned to ease her frustrations by destroying a few planet-sized training dummies, but what was the point of that when she had the most durable dummy in the world right in front of her?

Catching Vahn a little off guard, Kefla waited for him to begin slipping off her baggy pants before saying, "I think it's about time I settle down and have a kid. I'm becoming increasingly reliant on outside help to increase my strength, so I think it's about time I pass the buck to someone else..."

Understanding that Caulifla was the one speaking, Vahn asked, "Do both of you feel the same way...?"

Nodding her head, Kefla said, "That's another thing we wanted to discuss. By now, Kale and I have spent more time fused than separated. After a lot of consideration, we've decided to make the fusion permanent..."

Though he had been anticipating such a revelation for quite some time, Vahn was still marginally surprised by Kefla's words. The two spent years at a time fused together, but this was a pretty major step forward for both of them.

Instead of questioning the duo's resolve, Vahn adopted a faint smile and raised Kefla's hips. Her tail curled up as he did so, followed by a powerful shudder as he lowered her onto his waiting erection.

"I said it before, but I don't mind saying it again. No matter what the two of you decide, I will always support you..."

Adopting a somewhat predatory smile, Kelfa began to rock her hips of her own accord as she replied, "Of course, you will. We wouldn't have chosen you if you were weak or inept. Now, you better prepare yourself. I have a lot of pent-up frustrations to alleviate..."

Punctuating her words, Kelfa leaned forward, placing her hands on Vahn's shoulders before raising and lowering her hips like a seismic jackhammer. The ground cracked beneath them, and shockwaves rippled outward, but Vahn just exhaled a light chuckle before grasping Kefla's tail and using his Godhand to feed her excitement...

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In response to Izayoi's arrogant remark, Death, also known as Thanatos, the Pale Rider, rose from a salt pile to reveal a completely different form than the one sent flying. He now resembled a young girl with long white hair, red and purple eyes, and a tattered sundress seemingly formed from pure darkness.

Manifesting a scythe whose handle and blade were several times larger than their body was tall, Thanatos glared back at Izayoi and said, "Death is the final, inescapable truth. You may believe yourself unafraid, but even the most courageous entities can be made to fear..."

Punctuating her words, Death raised her right hand and sent out a wave of black energy that radiated outward at an incomprehensible speed. A sound similar to a banshee's cry pierced Izayoi's ears, causing him to feel as though a blade was piercing the center of his brain, but he managed to shake it off fairly quickly, asking, "What the hell was that?"

Instead of answering Izayoi's question, Death made a gesture over her face, causing a skull-like mask to appear. She then planned to go on the offensive, but the moment the mask formed, Izayoi's kick landed squarely in its center, sending her reeling a second time.

Feeling frustration for the first time in eons, Death's eyes blazed as she swung her scythe, creating a spatial tear more than 300m in length to deter Izayoi from pursuing her. At the same time, an illusory clock face materialized behind her, accompanied by the tolling of a bell.

As her scythe increased in size, becoming larger than even the tallest of skyscrapers, Death's voice echoed from every direction as she said, "Ask not for whom the bell tolls.."

In the midst of her words, Death's eyes ignited, producing red and purple flames as she exclaimed, "It tolls for thee...!"

Slashing her scythe, Death produced a crescent-shaped spatial tear so massive it appeared to divide the former Little Garden in two. The attack lacked the Instant Death property typically afforded by her Authority, but its power was enough to inspire a sense of impending dread in everyone witnessing it. Well, almost everyone...

Catching Death off guard, Izayoi appeared behind her, shouting, "You're not the only one who knows how to teleport...!" before slamming his fist into the back of her head. He liked to joke that his hands were rated E-For Everyone, so he had no qualms about sending a little loli crashing into the ground like a meteor, creating a fountain of debris more than a hundred meters in height.

Erupting from her personalized crater before the dust had a chance to clear, Death, now appearing as none other than Asuka, screamed, "You arrogant mutt! I was going to team up with you so we could defeat that evil lizard, but now you can die...!"

Seeing Death manifest as his girlfriend, a wry smile developed across Izayoi's face. He wasn't the type of person that would generally hesitate in the face of such tricks, but he knew the actual Asuka would be upset if he punched her doppelganger in the face and embarrassed her in front of the entire Little Garden...

Demonstrating she didn't simply look like Asuka, Death manifested the former's Zanpakuto and even summoned a version of Abyssinian. One of Death's principal powers was embodying 'potential ends.' So long as there was even a small possibility of someone's ally betraying and attempting to kill them, Death could assume their form and emulate the abilities they would have used to accomplish the deed.

Swinging her sword long before she reached Izayoi, Death shouted, "Entangle and Dominate, Queen of Roses...!"

In response to Death's cry, her rapier-like Zanpakuto transformed into a rose-themed whip, its thong resembling a flexible stem covered in faintly purple thorns. At the same time, Abyssinian fused with the whip, covering it in ghostly-blue flames as it cracked toward Izayoi at extreme speeds.

Evading the whip's tip with considerable ease, Izayoi decided to play to the audience and, more importantly, Asuka, ridiculing, "Oh, come on. Not only is your appearance a far cry from the real deal, but your attacks are nothing compared to the actual Asuka. If you're going to cosplay, at least put in a bit of effort..."

Hoping his remark was enough to absolve him of a lecture, Izayoi covered his hand in Seiun's energy, grasping the tip of Death's whip before jerking her toward him. He intended to give Death a firm kick in the stomach but quickly changed his mind when the troublesome Aspect transformed mid-flight.

"Now, that's just cheat-"

Before Izayoi could finish his complaint, Death, now resembling Vahn in his partial Dragon Transformation, grasped his head with a scale-covered arm, declaring, "Death comes for everyone, in one form or another..."

As Izayoi couldn't imagine defeating Vahn, especially after the latter's defeat of the Ethereal Queen, Death's attack was able to crush his head with a fairly casual squeeze.

Expecting Izayoi to disperse into motes of light, Death was somewhat confused when the former's body fell from the sky, steam rising from his neck as he crashed, seemingly lifelessly, into the ground.

Blinking several times, Death inspected his current form, muttering, "I see...so this man truly is exempt from the Central Network's restrictions. What a terrifying individual..."

Taking advantage of the situation, Death attempted to peer into what he believed to be Vahn's thoughts. The moment he did so, however, he just froze in place. Even the clothes he was wearing, which were previously being blown by the wind, ceased moving in their entirety. Almost like time had stopped for him and him alone...

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While a version of himself was getting it on with Kefla, another version of Vahn was still observing the Gift Game alongside Sis, Mikoto, and several others. When Death transformed into him, he actually felt a connection of sorts with the opportunistic Aspect, causing his brows to rise as he softly mused, "How curious..."

Giving voice to Vahn's introspection, Sis postulated, "Perhaps when you recreated this Record, your existence became an essential component of its foundation. It's barely a fraction of your power without Source, but it's fairly impressive that he was able to tap into it..."

As he 'knew' Sis's words to be true, Vahn gave a slight nod, a faint smile adorning his face as he remarked, "It appears this little stunt has given a few troublesome individuals the wrong idea. I was originally just going to ignore it, but it seems I must take action to prevent others from following Death's example..."

Linking with Death's mind, Vahn afforded him a fraction of his knowledge and memories, instantaneously overloading his cognitive faculties. Death may have emulated his form and a fraction of his power, but there was no way he could copy his Innates and the functions of The Path. Without the support of Sis, even Vahn would struggle to navigate the labyrinth of his mind and distinguish his memories from reality. As a result, the over-eager Aspect abruptly found himself trapped in the memory of Vahn's encounter with the Demon Lord of Stagnation, the color of his body gradually fading until he had turned completely grey...

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While Death remained motionless in the sky, the steam rising from Izayoi's neck gradually shifted from white to red before the capillaries, veins, muscles, and vertebrae within began to writhe and elongate. A few seconds later, his head had completely regenerated, complete with shiny golden locks.

Rising to a seated position, Izayoi cradled his aching head, smiling wryly as he groaned, "Well, that answers the question of what would happen if I had my head blown off..."

Shifting his gaze skyward, Izayoi's eyes focused on the monochromatic version of Vahn standing motionless in the sky. Even the Central Network could not affect him at the present moment, so unless Vahn afforded him clemency, Death would remain in his current location and pose even after the final stars in the night sky had burned out.

Understanding that various cameras were focused on him, Izayoi's smile became even wrier as he remarked, "Yeah, that's why you don't fuck with the Sage Dragon Emperor. A picture of the Sun can never hope to emulate its brilliance..."

Raising his hand, Izayoi rematerialized his destroyed headphones and put them on. Then, after taking a quick look around, he once again set out in search of World Dragon Kurma...

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(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Things that can't even be fathomed by the current generation will be easily achievable by future generations...','Death be like, up-up-down-down-left-right-left-right-b-a-start...','You know what they say, fuck around and you're going to find out...')