Endless Path : Infinite Cosmos

Chapter 1637 Assaul

With her own anxieties growing alongside her Master's, Fenrir was more than willing to vent some of her frustrations on the unsuspecting arms dealers and covert delegations.

Though he was doing his best to keep it hidden, Fenrir knew her Master was reaching the breaking point of his patience. The departure of Eva and the happenings in the world weighed heavily on his mind, as, unlike most, he had more than enough power to influence and outright force change.

Before her Master could fall into his usual pattern of handling everything himself, Fenrir wanted to do everything she could to lessen his burdens. She also wanted to demonstrate, not her power, but the results of her meditative disciplining. The next world they visited might very well be the last, so, in order to alleviate her Master's concerns about taking her along with him, Fenrir was willing to do whatever it took to demonstrate her competence and control. To that end, she was dashing across the terrain, her scarlet eyes glistening as she set her sights on the first of many targets...

Though it was remarkably slow compared to her maximum speed, Fenrir was able to move across the rocky and twisted terrain that surrounded the Dwarven nation of Vulcan with supersonic speed. Despite this, there was no shockwave generated in the wake of her passing. Instead, a bluish-black 'flame' emanated from the point where her paws had come into contact with the ground, seemingly dissolving the surface before fading away several seconds later.

With the same mysterious flames flickering across her body, Fenrir was able to move silently despite her large size. This would normally be attested to Ki, which allowed skill practitioners to effectively 'ignore' physical Laws, but, unlike a traditional shroud, Fenrir's was saturated with Severing, and, at times, Devouring Laws. The combination of these two energies allowed her to move through areas of dense Space and Time unobstructed, and, unless they were inordinately powerful, she could even pierce through most physical and magical barriers with impunity...

---

Due to the uneven terrain surrounding Vulcan, combined with the large number of merchants moving in and out of the country, ambushes and bandit attacks were rather common. To combat this, experienced convoys would travel with an Airfish escort or hire skilled Mercenaries to provide additional protection through the rugged, monster-infested, terrain. The average Magical Beast was exponentially stronger than the common residents of the Magical World, but, so long as they used tactics, strategy, and wit, veteran Mercenaries could quickly dispatch even large groups of enemies with relative ease.

Unfortunately, amongst the Magical Beasts that roamed Mundus Magicus, there was one group in particular that even the most skilled Mercenaries tended to avoid. These were Magical Beasts that demonstrated a keen intellect and an ability to adapt to changing circumstances. These types were far more terrifying than the average beast, as, even if you made all kinds of preparations to counter them, such as setting traps, they could simply avoid them.

Unless they were seeking fame, most groups would stay away from any commissions that pitted them against a sapient magical creature. There were few things more terrifying than a beast that was already more powerful than you using its abilities intelligently.

Intelligence was often the only advantage most people had when it came to contending against magical creatures. When this advantage was removed, even the most famous group of Mercenaries could be wiped out by a single Magical Beast. Thus, over the centuries, countless methods to scout areas, analyze the terrain, and identify magical creatures had been created.

Among the most popular methods available, especially when you were trying to be discreet, was using miniature drones to scout ahead and analyze the terrain in the surroundings. Other methods including using Familiars, and, if you had an exorbitant amount of money to spend, there were also portable magical wards that could detect and repel even weaker Magical Dragons. These came in the form of large black pylons covered in runes, and, so long as they were powered, large arcs of lightning elemental energy would emanate from them whenever a monster got within 300m of the convoy.

Larger versions of the defense pylon existed in most cities, but, unless there was a large group of monsters approaching, colloquially known as a Wave, they generally remained dormant. As for why such artifacts weren't using during times of war, besides being banned by international convention, it was largely due to the fact that the pylons needed a powerful magical signal to lock onto. It was possible to calibrate them to target specific types of enemies, but, if something went wrong, there was a very real chance the pylon could go haywire and start frying anything, allies included, within its proximity.

Due to this possibility, most people, including the technicians and Mages required to power and maintain them, felt nervous just being around the crackling black pylons. Though the actual number of incidents were few and far between, there were countless stories involving people being fried by the eerie black artifacts, either by accidentally grazing it or getting caught in between the arc and whatever magical creature it had targetted. There were even incidents of powerful Mages being turned to ash after being mistakenly recognized as a magical creature due to their inordinately high reserves of magical energy. Thus, even if the black pylons provided security against even virtually all magical creatures, most people gave them a wide berth...

Unfortunately, not everyone had the option of steering clear from the malicious black pylon, as, due to their nature as magical artifacts, they generally required a lot of care and maintenance. There was also a technician specifically tasked with deactivating the pylon if it ran wild, so, despite most of her hair standing on end, a young woman with messy auburn hair, thick circular glasses, and an outfit that clearly identified her as a mechanic was stationed near the base.

Every time they pylon would activate, the young woman would tense up considerably as a thick bolt of blue lightning flashed across the surface. A thunderous roar would immediately follow this flash of light, and, though she wore both earplugs and magically enhanced earmuffs, a painful trembling would spread through the woman's body with each activation.

Seeing the tell-tale flicker across the black surface, the auburn-haired woman shrunk her body as much as she could, internally cursing, ("I'm going to apply for Medical Separation after this bullshit job is over. These earmuffs are fucking useless and I'm pretty sure I'll be shell shocked by the time we reach that godforsaken city!")

At nearly the exact same moment as the woman's internal musings, a painful ripple spread through her body as a blinding light completely obscured her vision. Her only comfort was knowing that the creature on the opposite end was faring much worse than her. She had once seen a wyvern explode like a blood-filled balloon after being directly struck by the pylon's lightning, so, while it did little to alleviate the physical and mental duress she was under, the technician was satisfied knowing there was at least one creature having a worse day than her...

Unfortunately, just as she was about to rise to her full height and shake off her jitters, the technician was knocked to the ground when the pylon began emitting several bolts of lighting in sequence. It wasn't just her pylon either. Both the front and back pylons were also going crazy, and, though she couldn't make sense of the situation, the young technician knew something was very wrong when a number of painful vibrations spread through her body. She could feel magical energy surging in the surroundings, and, rather than a potent and mind-numbing heat, a sudden chill had spread through the area in an instant.

Preceded by an even more excruciating feeling of cold, the auburn-haired woman felt a physical wave of energy slam into her body. The air was forced out of her lungs in an instant, and, after a very brief feeling of weightlessness, a sharp pain radiated from her left leg as she impacted the ground and was sent rolling several meters.

If not for her compression suit and the thin magical barrier than protected her body, meant to prevent her from accidentally contacting the pylon, the young woman was pretty sure she would already be dead. She was certain her pylon had exploded, and, after recovering her sight, the first thing she did was stare at the icy pillar that had completely enveloped her workstation.

Rather than display fear or confusion, the young technician couldn't help but issue an unnatural laugh as she pushed up her cracked glasses and mused, "Good riddance, you loud piece of shit..."

Following her musings, the woman began to absentmindedly stare at her surroundings, briefly pausing in her twisted leg before looking toward the massive wolf tearing apart even the most heavily reinforced vehicles within their convoy. The sight of the inordinately large wolf caused her to release another small chuckle, as, like a force of nature, it completely ignored the efforts of the soldiers attempting to stop its rampage. Even the overbearing members of the Armored Knight Squadron, who brazenly harassed any females with a lower ranking than them, were batted aside with a single swipe from the wolf's paw. There was nothing they could do against the terrifyingly powerful magical creature, so, rather than make any efforts to preserve her life, the woman just released another chuckle whenever another vehicle was destroyed...

---

Though Fenrir hadn't expected there to be any powerful foes among the covert convoy, she was still a little disappointed by how disorganized the group was. They had largely ignored her initial approach, a few even pointing in her general direction and laughing as they lazily prepared their defenses.

At first, Fenrir was confused by their complacency, but, the moment she entered within range of the strange black pylons, she understood the source of their hubris. Several thick bolts of blue lightning immediately impacted her body, but, unlike a normal Ki shroud or Magical Barriers, hers provided more than adequate protection against the nigh-instantaneous onslaught.

With Lightning being one of the more popular elements among powerful Mages, Eva and Arika included, Fenrir was very familiar with its uses. Her status as an Archmage wasn't just for show, and, though she was most proficient with Ice, Darkness, and Water elemental magic, she could use easily use most other elements. The only thing she really struggled with was fire, but, even if it wasn't her most proficient element, she could still use Ultimate-Grade Fire Magic so long as she had a catalyst.

Though she had worked hard to become a competent Mage, Fenrir's primary motivation, excluding her Master, was simply increasing her comprehension. Her [Heaven Devouring Wolf] allowed her to increase her proficiency and comprehension in things she already had a solid foundation in, and, at times, she could even copy the techniques of creatures she had devoured. There was no limit to this ability, so, even if it took her thousands of years, Fenrir was determined to master every element so that she could freely consume and convert even concepts into power.

As dozens of magic circles appeared in the air behind her, Fenrir opened her massive maw without regard for the bolts of lightning singing her fur. A visible twisting of Space began to appear almost instantly, and, by the time she had opened her mouth fully, all of the lightning targetting her body had converged towards Fenrir's maw.

Feeling power surging through her body, the magic circles behind Fenrir's body began to revolve at a high speed, her scarlet eyes glistening as massive spears of ice manifested around her. Then, as if the barriers surrounding the convoy simply didn't exist, Fenrir's spears of ice were released, twisting at high speeds as they tore through the thin membrane and slammed into all three pylons.

Without waiting for her enemies to recover, Fenrir stopped absorbing the surrounding energy, her figure turning into a slight blur as she descended upon the convoy in an instant. She wasn't used to fighting against groups in her wolf form, but, with most attacks impacting powerlessly against the bluish-black flames enveloping her body, Fenrir could feel her excitement grow alongside her thirst for battle.

Rather than give into the siren's call that was her own battle lust, Fenrir forced herself to remain calm, an icy sensation washing over her mind as she swat aside a man trying to spear her side with a javelin-like magical weapon. There were close to eighty people using similar weapons, and, while their movements weren't particularly swift, they were able to buzz around her like flies using their faux-magical wings.

Despite feeling a little annoyed, Fenrir continued to systematically destroy each vehicle within the convoy. At the same time, she forced the surrounding temperature to rapidly decrease, her magical energy spreading for hundreds of meters and causing the world around her to appear as if it was moving in slow motion.

Ice Elemental Energy had a unique quality in the Akamatsuverse, as, rather than simply freeze things, it actually decreased movement speed, reaction time, and, when the user was proficient enough, it could even slow the passage of time.

With the exception of Eva, who was an incomprehensible monster when it came to manipulating Ice Elemental Energy, Fenrir was confident even the Great Spirit of Ice couldn't compare to her. She was even able to reduce the temperature in her surroundings to -270 degrees Celsius without the use of a single spell. If she got serious, she could even reach a state beyond 'Absolute Zero', a point where even quantum mechanical movement ceased. This effectively forced an object into a dualistic state of both 'infinite heat' and 'absolute cold', anchoring them within Space-Time and causing them to atomize the movement any external forces acted upon them.

The theory of 'negative-infinity' was something that had been postulated by Da Vinci, and, after a series of experiments correlating Yin Elemental Energy with Space and Time, transcending Absolute Zero was no longer impossible. Instead of reaching 0 degrees Kelvin, however, the objects affected reached a temperature exceeding any natural state of matter. In Da Vinci's words, it was similar to assigning a value of negative one in a looping system that traditionally only accounted for values between zero and infinity. As a result, cooling something 'beyond' Absolute Zero effectively placed it at the upper end of the spectrum, registering close to four-trillion degrees Celsius before simply breaking the tools used to record the temperature.

Though she would obviously never use such an ability against such weak opponents, Fenrir couldn't help but feel a slight urge to do so every time one of the armored knights attempted to stab her in the eye. There was even a bold individual who had fired a powerful magical spell towards her butt, seemingly attempting to exploit a 'weakness' in her defenses. This caused her to feel a great deal of shame and indignation, so, before she even realized it, the man had become one of the few people turned to meat paste during her assault...

(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'For Master (O,...,O)...!','RIP Technician-chan','YOU DARE!?')

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