Endless Path : Infinite Cosmos

Chapter 2140: A Not-so-Brief Interlude

Though he was the one that gave them a five-hour deadline, Vahn's perception of time made it feel like a much longer period of time had passed. As a result, he was starting to feel a little bored as he considered whether or not it would be considered cheating if he made a copy of himself to go have some fun...

Fortunately, while he was technically stuck in place, there were still plenty of things Vahn could do to pass the time. His internalized realm still existed, and, if he wanted to, he could always visit his personalized Little Garden to let the girls know what he had in mind.

In the end, Vahn decided to do both.

Since it had been quite some time, at least from his own perspective, the first place Vahn visited was the Actualized World of Dog Days. Leo had given birth quite some time ago, and, despite his efforts to keep things platonic between them, it hadn't taken long for him to sink his teeth into Milhi and quite a number of other girls.

Though he sometimes felt guilty about turning the world of Flognarde into his personal relaxation paradise, such sentiments faded away the moment Vahn stopped by to visit. The way the people of Flognarde showed affection was simply infectious. He had also sired eleven children, who, alongside Zhuque, Xiao Bai, Lady Xuan, and Grandpa Qin, made up the Godly Pantheon of that world.

Now that he was planning to spread his Empire into the Divine Realm, Vahn decided he might as well incorporate Flognarde into his plans. The people of that world were already familiar with the concept of settling disputes with games and competitions so they would fit in splendidly among the Little Garden's residents.

What Vahn had planned was making Zhuque, Xiao Bai, Lady Xuan, and Grandpa Qin the Leaders of their own Communities. They had worked hard to protect Flognarde at his behest, so, now that he was in the highest of Realms, he wanted to give them the chance to fight alongside him. They were, after all, an intrinsic part of the person he had become. If he was serious about ascending to Tier 7, he would need them at his side, not watching over people who had become more than capable of protecting themselves.

When everything was said and done, Vahn intended the Aldrnari Empire to be comprised of more than a hundred different Communities, each led by someone he trusted. Most of the people living within his personalize Little Garden could go toe-to-toe with beings in the 4-Digit Gates. With the support of the Alliance and a functionally infinite amount of resources, it was only a matter of time before the Aldrnari Empire became one of the most powerful factions in the Divine Realm.

Fortunately, the Gods that governed the Divine Realm had created a protocol that would aid him in this endeavor.

No matter which Pantheon of Gods you looked into, each and every one of them had some kind of reference to an 'End of Days'. The reason for this was simple: the moment they became the Leaders of 4-Digit Communities, each and every one of them had been made aware of the requirements for becoming a 3-Digit Community.

Though they were quite a number of non-destructive methods, the 'simplest' way to earn a 3-Digit classification was to secure at least six Gates between the Ranks of 1000-1010. Then, so long as you possessed at least ten Fragments of Origin, you could wager your very existence to trigger the most infamous Gift Game in the Divine Realm: Last Embryo.

While each of the Cardinal Districts had their own name for the event, ie: Ragnarok, Armageddon, Li Hong, and Frashokereti, they all represented the same eschatological concept. Simply put, the event was one of the Last Trials of Humanity, a Gift Game so cataclysmic in nature that it could lead to the complete destruction of Pantheons and utter annihilation of countless metaversal structures.

From the perspective of the people who knew about them, Last Embryos were considered to be evil and profane. In actuality, they were simply trials that humanity would need to overcome in order to avoid extinction.

One such example of a Last Embryo was Shiroyasha herself. She represented a concept known as the Endless White Night. To some, this represented the inevitable death of a planet's parent star. If they were not able to expand beyond the stars, they would inevitably be destroyed along with it.

The true nature of the Endless White Night was the reversal of entropy and the collapse of the universe to its larval state. It was what many scientists and scholars referred to as the Big Crunch, the antithesis of the Big Bang that served as the catalyst of countless universes.

Though he would invariably earn himself the designation of a Demon God, Vahn didn't particularly mind. He was aiming to become the literal foundation of the Record so he couldn't really afford to be concerned about the views of others. The only thing that truly mattered was that he stayed true to himself and the people who believed in the ideals he represented...

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"Even though I'm basically the one who taught you how to manipulate time, it's still hard to wrap my head around the fact that eighteen months have passed for you despite only three and a half hours passing for us..."

"Mmm..."

Since he had already explained everything in detail, Vahn was no longer interested in talking about the events that had transpired outside. Instead, he just hummed a curt response while continuing to nestle his face into Eva's inordinately soft and full breasts...

"Geez...you're acting like a baby..."

In spite of her words, Eva continued to caress Vahn's head with a complacent smile on her face. She enjoyed moments like this as they made Vahn seem a lot more vulnerable than he actually was. The fact she was among of the first people he came to after returning to the Little Garden also filled her with an inkling of pride, so, while she fully intended to nag him at some point, it could wait...

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Though he was the one that had made the decision, Vahn couldn't help clicking his tongue at the version of himself that was sleeping in Eva's embrace. They were one and the same person, literally linked through thought and sense, but, in spite of this, he was still envious of his counterpart's luck.

Just a little bit.

Smacking the remarkably toned bottom pushing against his hips, a teasing smile developed across Vahn's face as he mused, "For you, it's only been a few hours since the last time we had sex. You're behaving even more like a cat than usual..."

Ignoring Vahn's words, Yoruichi continued to bite her bottom lip, a glazed look in her eyes as she proactively slammed her pert, creamy brown bottom against his hips. It didn't matter that only a few hours had passed from her perspective. Knowing more than eighteen months had passed for Vahn, she was determined to make up for lost time.

As much as he appreciated Yoruichi's concerns, the problem Vahn was facing was that nearly every woman in his harem had a similar train of thought. It had only been a few hours since his return to the Littel Garden and he had already had sex a grand total of 293 times between thirteen different versions of himself. If not for his limitless stamina and the fact he could manipulate time, he would have been having sex for four days straight.

Fortunately for the girls, limitless stamina and time manipulation were only the tip of the iceberg in regard to Vahn's capabilities. He was also just as excited as they were to be back together, so, using his recently regained Sex Divinity, Vahn made sure each and every one of his women were satisfied. It was, quite literally, the least he could do...

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A stark contrast to the regal attire she usually wore, Artoria, now appearing as her more mature self, was sitting atop Vahn's lap in a pair of form-fitting jeans and a long-sleeved sweater. She also had a mug of fragrant black coffee in her hands, as, despite her nigh-unlimited stamina, she was feeling a little muddleheaded after going at it for the better part of thirty hours.

"I thought you were through with expanding the Empire? I'm not complaining, I just don't want you pushing yourself in an effort to appease us."

With an affectionate smile on his face, Vahn tilted his head ever so slightly to the side as he picked a few strands of loose hair from Artoria's face, stating, "You should know by now how selfish I am...I created the Yggdrasil Network to provide everyone freedom. In spite of this, I can't help wanting to keep each of you near me. Simply coming to visit whenever I have free time isn't enough. I want to occupy the same space as everyone... to smell their fragrance when I enter a room...to breathe the same air...I want it all..."

Though even Vahn found his words to be a bit creepy, Artoria didn't seem to think that way. Rather, a carnivorous smile developed across her face as she leaned into him, silvery eyes glistening as she sensually whispered, "Then take me with you...I've said it countless times before, and I'll keep saying it as many times as it takes. I may be your Empress, but, first and foremost, I am your Knight. Even if you were to raise your banner against all of creation, I would forever stand at your side..."

"..."

Seeing the resolution contained in Artoria's eyes, Vahn was moments away from pushing her down an umpteenth time. Unfortunately, he was well aware of the fact their son was currently looking for them. Artoria was easily among one of his most loyal women. However, if she were to learn he put off meeting with their son just to fool around, she would invariably give him a very stern talking to.

Even if she wouldn't stay mad at him, Vahn hated seeing Artoria push herself to be angry. Thus, in response to her words, he just nestled his forehead against hers, saying, "I love you..." in the most sincere tone he could manage.

Squinting her eyes, Artoria playfully snapped her teeth before adopting one of her characteristically radiant smiles and musing, "Good. If you didn't, the other girls and I might have to lock you up until you returned to your senses..."

Since she could also sense Arthur's approach, Artoria willfully placed Vahn's palm against her lower abdomen so he could help her calm down. Arthur was very young but he was still a True Dragon. If he smelled her pheromones, it might cause a reaction in his body. It might be remarkably common for the children of True Dragons to lust after their parents. In fact, a whelp's first partner was almost always one of their parents. Artoria just had no interest in such things. She was absolutely faithful to Vahn, so, unless he directly ordered her to attend their son, she would never even consider it.

Unaware of Artoria's rather dangerous line of thinking, Vahn sent several pulses of cleaning magic through the interior of the room. By the time he was finished, it had been cleaned and sterilized to the point that even an electron microscope wouldn't be able to find an iota of dust. This gave the room a smell reminiscent of ozone, but, unless you had a remarkably overturned sense of smell, it was largely unnoticeable...

Following a polite knock, a young boy with faint golden hair, red eyes, and a perpetual smile on his boyishly handsome face made his way into the room. When he saw Vahn, his eyes began to sparkle as he placed his hand over his heart, bowing as he said, "Welcome back, Father. I came as soon as I heard of your safe return."

Unable to contain himself, a prideful smile developed across Vahn's face as he blinked across the room to pat his son on the head. This caused a happy smile to develop across Arthur's face, but, as a 'proper' Knight, he did his best to appear calm and composed even as his father showered him with praises...

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(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Vahn casually claiming entire worlds...','Yoruichi is a naughty kitten...','Artoria be like, "Ride or die till the end of time."')