Endless Path : Infinite Cosmos

Though she had a lot of misgivings about what was happening, Musashi didn’t hesitate to cut free Caenis who, due to her hostile nature, needed to be bound and gagged. The trigger for her ability required her to release a loud war cry, so, while it wasn’t something Vahn would generally resort to, it ultimately authorized the countermeasure.

With Musashi cutting her free, Caenis ripped the gag free, liberating a large amount of saliva before wiping her mouth and saying, "I know you would be able to break free. What’s the plan?"

As she spoke, Caenis manifested her shield and spear, ready to immediately throw herself back into battle despite her rather one-sided loss. This was something Musashi could appreciate, but, knowing the futility of trying to fight against even Vahn alone, much less the strange blue woman at his side, she shook her head and said, "I didn’t escape. Come on, let’s get out of here before something else goes wrong."

Hearing Musashi’s words, Caenis’ serious expression turned skeptical for a brief moment before she solemnly stated, "I am not afraid of a fight. You can run away like a beaten dog if you prefer. I won’t withdraw before punishing the bastards that thought they could shackle and muzzle me without repercussions...!"

Musashi wasn’t really in the mood to deal with Caenis, so, after slicing open a spatial vortex, she smacked the latter’s backside with her sheath. As a result, Caenis was sent tumbling forward, her olive-brown skin taking on a reddish hue as she spat, "Musashi, you...!" before disappearing through the spatial rift.

Without delaying, Musashi also leaped through the spatial tear, exiting out in one of the Bounded Fields they had previously conquered. As Vahn pointed out, they had actually killed quite a number of people just to keep them from exposing the location of their actual base. Though Musashi had only ever struck down the ones targetting her, choosing to leave the rest to Caenis and Cú Chulainn, it didn’t change the fact she had a hand in their deaths...

Though she was moderately distracted, Musashi swept her katana to the side, using the back of the blade to strike Caenis in the neck as the latter’s spear passed harmlessly through her body. This was the usual result when her ’Nothingness’ came into play, as, for a brief moment in time, she basically didn’t exist.

Since Musashi hadn’t hit her hard enough to do any real damage, Caenis was only sent sliding a few meters, a feral expression on her face as she shouted, "What do you think you’re doing, Musashi!?"

Without waiting for a response, Caenis lunged forward, the tip of her spear glimmering with lethal intent. This time, however, Musashi didn’t allow it to touch her, using her sheath to smack the spear aside before whacking Caenis on the head. As could be expected, this only further incensed the white-haired woman, but, before she could shout out, Musashi’s sheath began tracing dozens of impossible to trace trajectories, striking at her head, neck, and joints until, moments later, Caenis was beaten and bloody on the ground.

Brandishing her sheath to discard the blood caking it, Musashi glowered as she looked down at Caenis and said, "Don’t lash out at me for preventing you from doing something stupid. The enemy is far stronger than we ever expected! You won’t accomplish anything by rushing at them without a plan! Seriously, do you think having a horse’s ears gives you the liberty to act like an animal...?"

In response to Musashi’s barb, Caenis’ ears twitched in frustration as she clenched her teeth and tried to sweep the former’s legs. Unfortunately, this only had the result of Musashi using her sheath to intercept her ankle with a precision strike, shattering the joint painfully. Even this wasn’t enough to deter Caenis, though, as she used the momentum of her sweep to attempt a grapple, passing straight through Musashi’s body and earning a painful whack on top of her head.

Feeling she was getting nowhere, Musashi considered opening another spatial tear and tossing Caenis inside, but, knowing the latter, this would likely have an adverse effect. Thus, after taking a deep breath and releasing a tired sigh, she kicked over Caenis’ spear, saying, "Pick it up..." while adopting a drawing stance.

Seeing her spear within arm’s reach, Caenis looked between it and Musashi, feeling a moment of trepidation before she grabbed her weapon and released a loud war cry. As a result, her wounds instantly healed, but, before she was even able to take a single step, Musashi appeared behind her, casually taking a few steps as she resheathed her katana.

For a brief moment, Caenis froze in place like a statue before, several seconds later, she began coughing up mouthfuls of blood in a vain attempt to draw breath. Immediately after, she fell to the ground, her upper body separated from her lower half, leaving a steamy pile of entrails between the two halves.

Without so much as a twitch of her eyelashes, Musashi stared back at Caenis, stating, "I defeated you in single combat, so, in accordance with your traditions, your life and death are mine to decide. Now, pull yourself together and let’s talk about our options..."

Though she felt a considerable amount of indignation, Caenis, like a monster out of a horror movie, began to rapidly regenerate her body. Her entrails sought each other out like a group of entwined eels, and, after a few seconds had passed, her upper and lower body began to pull together. By the time twenty seconds had passed, she was able to stand on her feet, her body and armor still stained with her own blood as she hefted her shield and spear, falling in step behind Musashi...

While the drama was taking place between Musashi and Caenis, Vahn was seated in a comfortable chair with Da Vinci’s faux-body sitting in his lap. His eyes glimmered with golden light and, much like how he had been able to send his intent around after awakening his Qīnglóng form, he could follow the String of Fate connecting him and Musashi, using it to track her location through both space and time.

It could be due to her cautious nature, but, Musashi didn’t immediately return to their base. Instead, she spent a considerable amount of time just traversing between various Bounded Fields, sometimes jumping back to a previous location. She seemed reluctant to even try and contact her allies and, as a result of her incredible intuition, it was obvious from her behavior that she could feel something was wrong, even if she couldn’t ascertain what it was.

Since he didn’t actually need Musashi to locate the enemy base any longer, Vahn only spent a little over an hour watching her before blinking his eyes and returning to his senses. When he opened his eyes again, he found Da Vinci’s face only a few centimeters away from his own, and, seeing he had returned, she couldn’t help but ask "She didn’t return to their base, did she?"

Unable to resist the temptation, Vahn lightly kissed Da Vinci’s nose, causing her to flare her nostrils playfully as she tried, and failed, to bite his chin. This brought a smile to Vahn’s face and, in response to her question, he answered, "It doesn’t matter. From the moment we captured them, the location of their base became known..."

Though he wasn’t nearly as proficient as Merlin, or even Da Vinci herself, Vahn manipulated the energy within his domain, creating a three-dimensional projection of the moon. This caused Da Vinci’s brows to rise slightly, followed by her muttering, "It’s no wonder they’ve been able to hide away without slipping up. They aren’t even on the planet..."

After nodding his head in affirmation, Vahn turned his eyes skyward, his intent passing through all obstacles in its path, traveling nearly at the speed of thought as he shortly found himself staring at the moon. Since he already knew of the existence of the Moon Cell, it wasn’t all that surprising to him that Archimedes had chosen it as the place to hide. Musashi’s mentioning of the fact his world lacked mana made it pretty clear that Archimedes didn’t rely on any particular Bounded Field, but, much like Da Vinci’s tech, he exploited various Laws to achieve feats similar to Magecraft.

Rushing up to the moon and dealing with Archimedes directly seemed like the most efficient course of action, but, knowing he had Administrative Access to the Moon Cell, part of Vahn was tempted to crush the man’s plans the moment he thought success within arm’s length. It was beginning to seem like Archimedes was anything but a Hero, so, with Musashi carrying his ’message’, Vahn expected a considerable amount of discourse in their group.

Ideally, Archimedes would take his words at face value, but, if he opted to continue with his schemes, Vahn would make good on his promise of crushing them. Since Musashi knew his capabilities better than most, she would undoubtedly try to deter Archimedes and, as a result, he would be able to take advantage of the rift formed between them. Vahn really didn’t want to kill Heroes, so, if Musashi was able to convince others to face him directly, he didn’t mind beating them down a few times, forcing them to see reason.

At the very least, Vahn could ascertain whether or not Archimedes was holding onto a trump card more powerful than Musashi. If she began to oppose his plans, he would undoubtedly move to try and eliminate her before she could interfere. Vahn had the distinct impression Archimedes wasn’t the type to tolerate people undermining his authority, so, with Musashi giving off the impression of a genuinely good person, albeit with a few troublesome quirks, it was impossible he didn’t have a bigger card to play.

Regardless of how things developed, Vahn would prepare countermeasures for anything the so-called Heroes would throw at him. They had already touched his bottom line several times, so, if they didn’t reveal themselves after three days, he would treat their silence as a declaration of war. He had given them a chance to do things in an above-board manner and, even if he had to tear apart their plans a thousand times, he wouldn’t particularly care so long as they didn’t resort to underhanded means. This was one of the ’quirks’ of his character, so, if they were true Heroes, they would actually be able to exploit it to their advantage...

Vahn was the type that expected hardship and setbacks, using them as opportunities to increase his strength and temper his resolve. If he didn’t have this type of personality, he would have never been able to withstand his Shishou’s teachings, fill his stomach with Circe’s food, and quenched his thirst with Semiramis’ poison. He wouldn’t even care if a thousand assassins targetted him, so long as they informed him of the occasion and made sure not to involve his loved ones.

It may seem like a strange quirk to have, one that worried his loved ones to no end, but, compared to cultivating a mentality of fear, it was the lesser of many evils. In a way, it allowed him to accept a bit of responsibility for the wrongdoings he had committed in his life, as, despite often having the best of intentions, Vahn knew his actions were often extreme. He would not deny people a chance at vengeance, but, from the moment they shifted their focus to his loved ones, Vahn would completely annihilate them.

Though his actions may have resulted in the loss of many innocent lives, Vahn had never proactively done so for personal reasons. The moment you began targetting people unrelated to revenge, for the sole purpose of causing mental anguish or a feeling of loss in your actual target, you become irredeemably evil. Vahn would never tolerate such underhanded and unjustifiable acts, so, if Musashi didn’t convey his intentions properly, she, alongside her entire group, would be annihilated...

(A/N: Alternate Titles: ’I kinda feel bad for Caenis...’,’That’s no Moon...!’,’Vahn is basically Korosensei at this point. Feel free to try and assassinate him as much as you want, but, if you target the people he wants to protect...there is literally nothing that can save you’)