Endless Path : Infinite Cosmos

Chapter 1868 Time Heals/Consumes All

With the 'former' members of FUG under control, it wasn't an exaggeration to say that Vahn was now in total control of the Hell Express. Unfortunately, this didn't allow him to simply 'ignore' the rules of the unique testing grounds, so, even with Ryun guiding the way, it generally took several days to seek out and discover each of Hoaqin's siblings. Thus, by the time they reached the 37th Floor Train Station, colloquially known as the 'Wooden Horse', they had only found the youngest of the Arie siblings, a quiet and reserved young lady named Anna.

Like every direct descendent of the Arie Clan, Anna possessed silvery-white hair, matching eyes, and inordinately pale skin. What distinguished her from her kin was the fact that, despite being from the family best known for their swordsmanship, Anna had very little talent for it. Instead, she had been born with an extraordinary talent for sorcery, specifically specializing in the production of doll-like familiars.

Though they were only about as strong as skilled Regulars, Anna was able to create dolls that could learn from and emulate the capabilities of others. Her favorite was the plush rabbit she could often be seen carrying around, but, so long as it had been immersed in her Shinsu for an extended period of time, she could effectively control anything with a humanoid shape. This applied to actual people as well, but, for a variety of reasons, doing so was 'exceptionally' difficult.

Unfortunately, despite possessing a remarkable ability with functionally unlimited potential, Anna had been born into a family that couldn't appreciate her talents. This led to her being ostracized by virtually everyone within the family, and, during her training, she was bullied excessively by her own siblings. The only people who were kind to her during this period were Hoaqin, Vicente, David, and Albelda, the same siblings she would later go on to fuse with for fear of being left alone.

Anna didn't take kindly to the fact that Hoaqin had been killed, but, thanks to some careful coaxing from Vicente, she ultimately gave up on the idea of seeking revenge. After all, she was a remarkably intelligent young lady, so, while she was heartbroken by the loss of her older brother, she was also aware that someone needed to pay for his crimes. Hoaqin had killed billions in the pursuit of power, and, despite having numerous opportunities to confront their father, the purpose of their fusion, he spent thousands of years just idling about in the Outer Tower.

Though he wasn't the only one guilty of such heinous acts, Hoaqin had gone out of his way to raise a Kingdom from the ground up. He united various peoples under a common banner and effectively became a Messiah to more than a hundred million people. Then, once his popularity had reached its peak, allowing him to masquerade as a literal God, he effectively vanished into thin air without selecting a successor.

As could be expected, the power vacuum caused by White's spontaneous disappearance resulted in countless conflicts. There was no end to the number of people trying to seize power in his absence, and, as a result, the Kingdom eventually fragmented into a total of seventy smaller fiefdoms before eventually falling under the banner of a single, tyrannical, Empire.

While his previously established nation was tearing itself apart, White had been busy masquerading as a sword-saint-turned-revolutionary in a distant kingdom. He worked his way up to becoming the leader of a massive revolution that was intended to tear down the nobility and return power to the people. This resulted in the deaths of countless revolutions, but, in the end, they were finally able to establish a Republic founded on principles such as freedom and universal education.

From an objective point of view, White had spent more than a thousand years improving the lives of various people. In reality, his only reason for establishing order within the region was to grow the population and develop two rival superpowers with radically different systems of belief. This would ensure they were constantly at odds, slaughtering each other without end as he put the finishing touches on a massive ritual formation that spanned the entire continent.

By the time White's activities were discovered by the Jahad Empire, his actions had resulted in the deaths of billions, each unwittingly sacrificed for the sake of increasing his power. This allowed his power to increase far beyond the scope of an average High Ranker, and, for a time, he became the public face of FUG, rising to prominence as one of the most prolific Slayers in history. He had even managed to start a number of successful revolutions in the lower floors of the Tower, his popularity exploding to the point that it became common for people to paint red markings around their eyes to indicate their intent to rebel.

Unfortunately for the infamous Slayer, his power was far beyond the level required to defeat the true powerhouses among the Jahad Empire and the Ten Great Families. He was able to defeat the majority of their High Rankers with relative ease, but, hidden away within each of the families were powerful Rankers known as 'Blue Holes'. These were former Higher Rankers, who, for a variety of reasons, had faded into obscurity until they were invariably removed from the rankings entirely.

During his attempt to conquer the 35th Floor and gain possession of the Hell Express, White had the misfortune of encountering one of the most powerful Princesses of Jahad at the time, his own older sister, Arie Hagipherione Zahard. If it were just her, he might have come out ahead, but, as a wielder of the Thirteen Month Series, possessing the Red October, her importance to the family was too high for her to travel alone. As a result, he found himself pitted against a peerless princess and one of the Arie Families three 'Sword Saints', Arie Orion, the former Rank 29.

In the end, White attempted to secure an advantage by remotely activating the ritual formation he had spent more than a thousand years constructing. This was ultimately successful, resulting in the death of billions, but, before he could properly absorb the extraordinary amount of energy, he was struck down by Hagipherione's Red October.

The enchantments on the Thirteen Month Series were rumored to possess the power to even slay immortals when ignited, so, in an effort to preserve himself, White was forced to flee at the expense of more than 60,000 of his allies. Even this wasn't enough to save him from death, however, so, as a last-ditch effort to preserve his life and escape pursuit, he used up most of his remaining power to undo the ritual binding him and his siblings before hiding within the Hell Express. His intent was to sacrifice the souls onboard to recuperate and further increase his power, but, the moment he tried to activate the ritual, his plans were interrupted and undermined by a group of inordinately brave Regulars.

At the cost of her own life, Roen interfered with the activation of White's ritual, preventing him from absorbing the power of souls onboard the Hell Express. This caused substantial damage to White's own soul, forcing him to flee and ultimately requiring him to use the last remnants of his power to seal himself away for more than five-hundred-years just to heal. It was only after Daniel discovered his chamber that he finally awoke, and, after a brief confrontation, the former agreed to become his proxy, absorbing souls on his behalf in exchange for agreeing to resurrect Roen.

In the single-minded pursuit of this objective, Daniel had spent the last forty-years luring the vilest and most despicable people he could onboard the Hell Express before killing them in secret. It was for this same reason that he joined FUG, effectively selling his soul to the 'devil' in order for a small chance at resurrecting the woman he loved. This was how FUG came to learn of White's awakening, and, as a result, Daniel became a relatively important figure within the organization due to the seal allowing him to locate Hoaqin and his siblings onboard the infamously labyrinthine locomotive.

Unfortunately, after idling about for more than ten-thousand-years, most of the Elders within FUG had become political 'fence-sitters'. They were apprehensive about making any decision that might introduce great change within the organization, so, despite having the opportunity to revive one of their most prolific Slayers, they were hesitant to do so before they could gain leverage against him.

It wasn't a particularly well-known fact, but, due to their propensity to elevate Slayers to the level of Gods within the organization, FUG's Elders had very little control over the rambunctious bunch. The position of Slayer was, by design, the 'highest' within the entire organization, so, unless they could come to a consensus and coordinate with other Slayers, interfering with the actions of another was very difficult.

Of the 'seven' Slayers designated by FUG, three were currently inactive, one was 'dead', another had only recently ascended to his position, and the last was rather famous for not giving a damn about the organization's affairs. This put the Elders of FUG into a difficult position, as, without the support of an active Slayer, 'reclaiming' White would be very difficult due to the rules prohibiting them from taking overt action before the 'prophesied time'.

Since Slayer Yama had absolutely no interest in anything unrelated to his personal enjoyment and the survival of his people, this left only Slayer Karaka as a potential backer. Unfortunately, the latter had only recently become a Slayer in the last 100 years, and, while his power could rival some High Rankers, he would struggle to break into the Top 500 even with the support of three Elders and his Master, the Rank 71 Ha Jinsung.

For these reasons, the 'revival' of White had been stonewalled for decades as Daniel continued his efforts to accumulate souls at Hoaqin's behest. As for why they had chosen to resurrect him at this moment in time, it was largely due to the fact that the 'prophesied time' was fast approaching. This was originally attributed to the emergence of Baam, but, now that the former was 'dead', many of the active Elders within FUG were beginning to latch onto the idea that Vahn was the one they had been waiting for.

Unfortunately for the opportunistic Elders, Vahn wasn't exactly 'cooperative', and, due to their past actions and continuing negligence, they were quickly moving their way up to the top of his list of elements that needed to be removed from the Tower. Their only lifeline at this point was Hwa Ryun, and, to a lesser extent, Vahn's understanding that FUG, despite all their flaws, weren't actually the bad guys. They had just become stagnant and corrupt over the course of thousands of years, and, much like the Heads of the Ten Great Families, the majority of the Elders had become desensitized due to their own longevity.

Though there were exceptions to the rule, most 'mortals' were unprepared for a life that continued into perpetuity. Unless they had something to drive them forward, most people would simply break after a few hundred years. This is what led to most Rankers developing quirky personalities, as, after a while, they simply 'forgot' how to interact with people normally. Instead, their main focus became increasing their rank, expanding the influence of their families, and pursuing various hobbies.

Those who failed to find something they were interested in either took their own lives or ended up latching onto others with a greater drive than themselves. They found meaning in following those who seemed to have a sense of purpose, something most of them had lost even before managing to become Rankers. After all, few people became Rankers without compromising themselves and making countless sacrifices along the way.

During the average Regular's climb, they would experience frequent betrayals, witness the deaths of virtually every single one of their teammates, and, more often than not, just as they were beginning to spread their wings, they would invariably fall victim to the Ten Great Families. This was enough to leave the vast majority of fresh Rankers feeling 'extremely' fatigued. As a result, most spent the first hundred or so years after their ascent trying to justify why they had climbed in the first place. They would meander through the Middle Tower to experience all the things they had missed out on; and, in the end, quite a number chose to become Administrators, many searching for themselves amidst the countless Regulars following the path they had formerly tread...

(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Being born a talented sorceress in a family of sword-machos...oof...','Daniel has ascended 'even further beyond' the realm of Super Simpin...!','The only things that survive the test of time are bureaucracy and sin o_o...')

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