Though he couldn’t exactly call their matters resolved, Vahn shifted his attention away from Angel and Elliot, his eyes passing over the other three before settling on the white-haired ‘youth’ named Vicente. This caused the latter to furrow his brows slightly, but, rather than show any fear, his voice was extremely calm as he asked, “Did you really kill Hoaqin?”
Nodding his head without hesitation, Vahn produced a tiny silver crown from his Inventory as he explained, “Your plan to fuse with your siblings and gain control over your combined form would never have worked. The moment you agreed to Hoaqin’s plan all those years ago, you had already become a part of him. He sacrificed the four of you, binding your ‘souls’ to his while superimposing his Ego unto yours. The only reason you were allowed to keep your sense of self was to prevent any hiccups from occurring immediately after the ritual had been performed. Now, it is only a matter of time before Hoaqin overwrites your Ego with his own, becoming the master of your body.”
Showing the first noteworthy change in expression since the start of the encounter, Vicente’s face morphed into a deeply perturbed frown as he asked, “How do you know all of these things? Who, exactly, are you?”
Offering a casual smile in response, Vahn performed a very slight bow as he said, “My name is Vahn Aldrnari Mason, the anomalous entity known as the Sage Dragon Emperor. How I know what I know is completely irrelevant in this matter. What matters most is that I’ll be exorcising Hoaqin from your body. Your options are to cooperate, freeing you from the burden of your brother’s sins, or resisting and joining him in death. What will you choose?”
Since he could hardly even move in the presence of Vahn, Vicente didn’t need much time to weigh the options he had been given. Being forced to ‘sleep’ for thousands of years had been unpleasant, so, now that he had the chance to experience the world beyond the confines of his family’s floating castle, he wasn’t going to squander it in the vain pursuit of a profane power.
Having made up his mind, a resolute glimmer flashed across Vicente’s silvery-white eyes as he said, “I will choose the former. I have come to learn that there are considerably worse things than living a life where I am unable to surpass my father. Even if I am fated to become a failed product, there are still things I wish to see, experience, and obtain through my own efforts. To that end, I ask you with as much sincerity as I can manage…please, free me and my siblings from Hoaqin’s curse…”
Nodding his head in approval, Vahn’s expression morphed into a slightly appreciative smile as he said, “You can leave it to me. I have a surprising amount of experience with things like this so it will be a simple matter to remove Hoaqin’s influence from the four of you. Before that, however, there are a few other small matters that require my attention…”
Shifting his attention to the man with dirty-blond hair, Daniel Hatchid, Vahn’s brows furrowed ever-so-slightly as he said, “Your plan to resurrect White and have him revive Roen was fated to fail from the start. He has never possessed the power to resurrect the dead, even at his peak. The most you could have hoped for was acquiring Roen’s soul, but, without the means to identify it, he could have just given you any soul. Even then, you lack the means to anchor it to a physical vessel or remove it from the Hell Express. In other words, even if White did honor the promise made between you, both you and Roen would have been absorbed shortly thereafter…”
Glaring in response to Vahn’s words, ghostly purple flames began to spread across Daniel’s body as he shouted, “What are you saying!? What, was I supposed to just give up and abandon Roen to her fate!? Do you have any idea what-”
Before the man could continue his tantrum, Vahn appeared right in front of him in an instant, index and middle finger pressed against the former’s head. This caused the ghostly flames to immediately fade away as he calmly stated, “Relax. Just like I told your former colleagues, I will do my best to try and help Roen. Unlike White, I actually possess the power to revive the recently deceased and those strong of spirit. So long as her spirit hasn’t been irreversibly tainted by negativity, reviving Roen is a simple matter.”
Retracting his fingers, Vahn extracted what appeared to be a fetus-like parasite from Daniel’s head. This caused the latter to instantaneously collapse, the tattoos inscribed across his body evaporating as his body seized up from the pain.
Incinerating the ghostly parasite using a combination of the Laws of Fire and Purification, Vahn left Danial to seize upon the ground as he returned his attention to the final member of the group, Ha Yura. Her body tensed up in response to his gaze, complexion paling as she averted her eyes to the side with a mixture of indignation and nervousness visible in her countenance.
Though it had only been a few minutes, Vahn knew the insincere Idol had been ruminating over his earlier words. She had no easy way to refute them, and, after seeing what he was capable of, a small amount of guilt had been seeded within her heart. At the very least, she realized it was wrong of her to try and justify sacrificing the people who had supported her over many years. From an objective point of view, this was an inarguably monstrous thing to do; and, had she gone through with it, she would have become inseparable from FUG since nobody in their right mind would ever place their trust in her again…
Understanding that Yura’s hatred toward the Ha Family was primarily due to her mother, it was very difficult for Vahn to stay mad at her. She was a product of her environment, and, due to her unique heritage, she had been ostracized, pressured, and coerced countless times. She was forced to make countless sacrifices during her ascent, and, were it not for the power she inherited as a member of the Ha Family and the Asterian people, she would have been consumed by the Tower’s degeneracy and corruption long ago…
Suppressing a sigh, Vahn maintained a largely neutral expression as he said, “I have some powerful connections within the Ha Family and Wolhaiksong. I will try and smooth things over with them so that you and your mother no longer have to live in fear. You also have the option of retiring from your life as a Regular and living amongst your people, the Asteria Tribe. I have removed their curse and arranged a place for them to live out the rest of their days alongside other Native Tribes…”
Having learned about her father’s tribe from her mother, Yura couldn’t help but feel taken aback by Vahn’s sudden mention of the ‘formerly’ Cursed People. She found it difficult to believe that he had managed to both remove their curse and move them to a secure location without causing massive ripples throughout the Tower. As for his mention of powerful connections within the Ha Family and Wolhaiksong, his status as an Irregular made the former sound completely nonsensical…
With the Law of Identity revealing Yura’s rude thoughts, Vahn’s expression morphed into a deadpan as he explained in a dull monotone, “Unlike FUG, I can prove the veracity of my claims with extreme ease. If you want, I can let you meet with your people here and now. Seriously, what reason would I have to lie about such things?”
Though he had asked the question rather offhandedly, Vahn’s deadpan became even more potent as the Law of Identity revealed, “She thinks you’re trying to deceive her so that you can get into her pants. By the way, she is currently wearing baby-blue panties with a star pattern on them~.”
As if to prove her point, the Law of Identity attempted to lift her skirt, but, by shifting his attention away from her, Vahn was able to make her momentarily disappear as he said, “I won’t deny that you are a beautiful woman, but, as you can see, I’m not exactly wanting in that regard…”
Reacting to Vahn’s words, Eva’s brows perked up as she asked, “Did this brat think you were trying to hit on her?”
Gesturing for Eva to remain calm, a wry smile developed across Vahn’s face as he explained, “Just as any other, her expectations have been shaped by the life she has lived. It is difficult for those born within the Tower to believe that there are people willing to help them without expecting something in return. Don’t worry, even if I allow them to enter the Little Garden, I have no intention of allowing either of them to stay within the Emerald Grove.”
Though she wasn’t fond of being silenced, Eva just rolled her eyes in response to Vahn’s words before crossing her arms under her breasts and muttering, “The women in this Tower are all thirsty little minxes…”
Hearing Eva’s remark, Yura’s already ruddy complexion became even redder as she balled her hands into fists and bit her bottom lip. She realized that the rumors regarding Vahn’s ability to read minds were true, so, with a somewhat indignant glimmer in her eyes, she attempted to mentally admonish him. Unfortunately, he was currently ignoring the Law of Identity, so, despite her best efforts, Yura’s words ultimately went unheard as Vahn manifested the Little Garden and explained the basics of its functionality…
—
Without anything to mark the passage of time, Mordred couldn’t be sure how long she had been in the Rice Pot. Her best guess was that a month or so had passed, but, without something like a day-night cycle, it was hard to be sure. All she knew for certain was that her boredom had exceeded her usual tolerance, and, though she was still making slow progress, she was starting to wonder if there was a reason to be tearing through the foundation of her own potential. After all, there was nothing preventing her from increasing her potential in the outside world. Rather, with the guidance of her Papa and the presence of several powerhouses in the Little Garden, there had never been a limit to her growth…
As this thought crossed her mind, Mordred entered her ‘low-power’ state, sprawling out across the cold metal foundation before calling out, “How long are you going to keep spying on me? Do you enjoy watching me struggle…?”
Reacting to Mordred’s words, a juvenile lioness with eagle-like wings appeared out of thin air, its face fixed into a very humanoid expression of annoyance as it replied, “We’re one and the same. How can I be spying on you? You’re really beginning to lose it, aren’t you?”
Rather than immediately reply to the lioness’ words, Mordred yawned rather loudly before looking over at the golden-furred creature and saying, “Even if we’re the same person, the fact we can talk like this is proof enough that there is ‘something’ separating us. If I had to guess, you inherited my willfulness. You refuse to become a part of me and simply disappear. I certainly wouldn’t be able to accept such a thing, so I imagine we’ll eventually become two distinct entities. Who knows, you might even become my Zanpakuto? If that happens, try and become a greatsword or something…”
Feeling inordinately sleepy, Mordred punctuated her statement with another yawn before folding her hands behind her head and closing her eyes. This left the lioness staring at her with a rather helpless expression, her voice failing to reach the former’s ears as she grumbled, “Selfish brat…just you wait and see. If I do become a Zanpakuto, I’ll be so massive that you can’t even hope to wield me…hmph…!”
(A/N: Alternate Titles: ‘*Casually plucks demonic parasite*’,’Thirsty little minxes xD…’,’Poor lioness-chan…that would just make Mordred even happier…’)
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