Endless Path : Infinite Cosmos

Chapter 2077: Pecking Order

Reaching the ground, Vahn attempted to set Seraphina down only for the latter to, quite literally, wrap her tail around his neck like a leash, or, perhaps, a noose. She didn't seem bothered by the fact that several people were eyeing her. Instead, she linked her arms around his neck, asserting, "I don't care what kind of relationship you had with Vahn. From now on, he's my man. You're free to play around, but never forget who stands at the top of the pecking order. Got it?"

Though most of the girls didn't take what Seraphina said seriously, Sarina was ostensibly triggered by the remark, her face forming into a pout as she shouted, "That isn't your decision to make! Who do you think you are, you-you featherhead!?"

Since Seraphina had a mantle of purple feathers perpetually wrapped around her body, much like an expensive shawl, it was the first thing Sarina gravitated towards. It was only afterward that she noticed what kind of dress Seraphina was wearing. This caused her face to turn bright red, as, due to the former's lack of undergarments, there was absolutely nothing left to the imagination.

Offended by Sarina's outburst, Seraphina was about to introduce herself in her characteristically haughty manner before Vahn whispered, "She is just a kid. If you try to bully her, I will give you a spanking..."

With her butt tensing up in response to Vahn's words, Seraphina instantaneously became mum. She actually didn't mind being spanked. Rather, it was something she enjoyed quite a bit. What she was afraid of was Vahn spanking her in front of others. She wanted to secure her position as his primary squeeze so she couldn't afford to have her dignity degraded in front of the competition...

As Seraphina was struggling with her inner thoughts, Usalia was staring at each of the people that had gathered to greet them. She wasn't particularly impressed by Sarina, Nono, and Shirayukihime but Fenrir and Black Rabbit had caught her attention. The former reminded her a lot of herself due to the voracious aura that surrounded her. As for the latter, she was quite literally a rabbit. Though there were some rather drastic differences between them, Usalia felt a certain kinship towards Black Rabbit. There was a sense of loneliness that surrounded her, a sentiment she was intimately familiar with due to being the last of her own lineage.

"You...how old are you...?"

Though she was taken aback by Usalia's sudden inquiry, Black Rabbit perked up almost instantly, a radiant smile on her face as she replied, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Usalia-chan. My name is Black Rabbit. I recently turned 210-years-old. Why do you ask?"

Nodding her head in affirmation, Usalia gave Black Rabbit an additional surprise by stating, "That makes me the Onee-sama. You will be my imouto from now on. You can call me Usa-ane or Aneue. I will call you Kuro-chan."

Without minding the awkward smile on Black Rabbit's face, Usalia shifted her attention to Fenrir, her carmine eyes meeting the latter's crimson orbs. Rabbits were often the prey of wolves, but, as an Overlord who had stood near the pinnacle of power within her Netherworld, Usalia was able to stand her ground against eldritch monstrosities, much less petite wolf girls.

"My name is Usalia Usagi Toto, Tyrant Overlord of Toto Bunny. Who are you...?"

Crossing her arms in a manner that emphasized her modest yet full chest, a predatory aura exuded from Fenrir's body as she answered, "My name is Fenrir Mason, Queen of the Frozen Abyss and my Master's most trusted companion. You might be stronger than me but I can even freeze your spirit if you attempt to bully others..."

Since even an average Overlord was small-planet level, Fenrir's instincts told her that Usalia was, at least for the time being, out of her league. The latter was strong enough to take on Seraphim and could even survive the point-blank eruption of stars, so, unless Fenrir managed to get close enough to sink her teeth into her, there was a fair chance she might not even be able to damage the current Usalia.

"Don't worry...I'm not a bully, plip..."

Though she could sense that Fenrir was much weaker than she was, the hairs on Usalia's tail had become rigid and pointy in response to the former's aura. This was something that only happened when she faced off against the most powerful Overlords, so, despite the disparity in their strength, she knew better than to underestimate the wolfish woman in front of her. After all, even a Prinny could kill an Overlord if they were patient enough to wait for an opportunity...

Sensing the tensions between the two bestial girls, a wry smile developed across Vahn's face as he set Seraphina on the ground and said, "I prepared quite a bit of food. How about we all sit down and get to know each other over a picnic? We're going to be allies from this point onward so we should do our best to try and get along."

With that said, Vahn manifested several oversized picnic baskets before taking a seat and gesturing for everyone else to do the same. This led to a rather amusing scenario where Black Rabbit, Sarina, and Seraphina attempted to sit next to him. Fortunately for Sarina, Black Rabbit didn't put up much of a fight. She was mature enough not to compete with children, and, despite her relative normalcy, Sarina was still the Sub-Leader of the Sage Dragon's Hearth.

What nobody expected was for Usalia to approach Vahn, a serious expression on her face as she asked, "Is this seat taken, plip?"

After a moment's pause, a wry smile developed across Vahn's face as he said, "That's my lap..." in an amused yet slightly awkward tone of voice.

"I know, plip."

"..."

While Vahn was wondering what might have caused Usalia to make such a request, Seraphina made things easier by glaring at the white-haired bunny and asking, "What are you trying to pull, Usalia? I never expected you, of all people, to betray me..."

Without a single change in expression, Usalia matched Seraphina's gaze, explaining, "Everyone else is competing. As the strongest, it is my right to take the best seat, plip. Besides, I can smell it. Vahn's cooking is delicious. I told him I would be his mate if he cooked a meal I could enjoy. Don't worry. I won't prevent you from mating with him, plip."

With the exceptions of Fenrir, Shirayukihime, and Vahn, everyone's faces turned various shades of crimson in response to Usalia's rather 'straightforward' words. Then, before Vahn could even think to refuse her, she looked him straight in the eye and said, "Don't worry. This is only my compressed form. I can grow bigger, plip."

Immediately following her words, Usalia's height rapidly increased from 130cm to a modest 165cm. At the same time, her relatively short hair extended past her hips as her bust and bottom inflated like a pair of balloons. There was also a rather substantial change to the thickness of her thighs, the tightness of her waist, and, somewhat surprisingly, the size of her tail. It grew to around the size of a basketball, and, even at a glance, Vahn could tell it was ridiculously soft and fluffy.

"This form consumes a lot of energy but I can maintain it for a few days. Of course, even if you want to do it with my compressed form, I wouldn't mind, plip..."

Exhaling a sigh, Usalia's body instantly reverted back to normal before she promptly plopped down into Vahn's lap. The matter was apparently no longer up for discussion as she concluded her actions by extending her hand like a cartoon character, grasping a picnic basket, and engorging herself on the contents in a single series of movements.

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With even Seraphina at a loss for words, Vahn tried to ease tensions by issuing an awkward chuckle and suggesting, "Why don't we all eat first? We can talk about more complicated matters after the fact..."

Recovering the moment she heard her Master's words, Fenrir nodded her head and said, "If Master is okay with it, I have nothing to say. Just don't take things too far..."

Despite having a tremendous amount of food in her mouth, Usalia managed to swallow it all at once before saying, "Don't worry, plip. Even if rabbits mate a lot, I'm not like a certain someone. I know how to control myself, plip."

Casting an accusatory gaze towards Seraphina, Usalia made it transparently clear who she was talking about. This caused the pink-haired Succubus to immediately flare up, the feathers of her mantle bristling as she shouted, "Usalia...! You're supposed to be my Second-in-Command! What the heck has gotten into you!?"

Without missing a beat, Usalia retorted, "I promised to help you unify the Netherworlds. Now that we've come to the Divine Realm, that promise has become null and void, plip. You know what they say. All's fair in love and war, plip."

Though Vahn was the only one who noticed it, Usalia punctuated her words by squeezing her butt. This was her way of telling him that she wasn't going to back down, so, unless he made things clear from the start, she had every intention of 'eating him up' the first chance she got. She was, after all, a demon...

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After a remarkably long picnic, followed by a detailed explanation about the Little Garden and its features, Vahn took the three girls to register at the Outer Gate before dropping everyone off at his workshop. He still needed to meet with Jin and draft the provisional contracts for everyone to sign, but, before that, he stopped by Shiroyasha's to make sure she wouldn't try anything while he was busy elsewhere.

Fortunately, for the same reasons she couldn't help out the No Names on her own, Shiroyasha was unable to enter the rooms of other people without their permission. The only reason she could do so with Black Rabbit was because she worked for the Thousand Eyes Community. In other words, so long as Black Rabbit wasn't inside, Shiroyasha was unable to teleport into his workshop without a written invitation.

Vahn didn't particularly mind Shiroyasha's intrusions but it would cause him endless headaches if she were to try and tease Fenrir, Seraphina, and Usalia. Fenrir had never gotten along with Loki so Vahn had a hard time imagining her getting along with Shiroyasha. As for the other two, Seraphina was rather prideful while Usalia, as Vahn was quickly beginning to learn, was remarkably aggressive. She probably wouldn't mind if Shiroyasha dropped in, but, depending on how things played out, he could see Usalia harboring a grudge towards the former if she 'got in the way'...

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Since his Unit Management and Quest Systems didn't actually require people to be in his Familia to receive their benefits, Vahn managed to add Jin, Lili, and thirteen other children to his expansive list of suboridnates. This allowed him to view their status, modify their attributes, and, should the need arise, he could link senses with them and teleport them around during a state of emergency.

With the majority of residents in the Little Garden descending from Gods, Heroes, and even Divine Spirits, Vahn was unsurprised to discover that even the weaker children were, at the very least, Tier 2. As for Lily and Jin, the former was Tier 4 while the latter, somewhat surprisingly, possessed a total of five Innates. His actual Soul Tier was only 3 but, so long as he applied himself, it wouldn't be long before he could directly compete with individuals in the 3-4 Digit Gates.

In the end, Vahn handed out a total of thirty-seven Gift Cards before installing a Quest Board on one of the Library's walls. This would allow Jin to keep track of who accepted which Quest, and, more importantly, keep him informed of everyone's progress. He desperately needed to learn how to be an actual Leader. He couldn't keep holing himself up in the Library all day while Lily and the others managed the Community. This was far from an ideal solution, but it was a step in the right direction...

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(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Featherhead...!','Aggroli has made her claim...','Jin has a lot of potential. He just needs to achieve it...')