Endless Path : Infinite Cosmos

Vahn's penultimate goal within the Nasuverse was to be able to absorb the planet, or, at the very least, Avalon, into his Soul. He had spent a considerable amount of time in this endeavor, studying the Realms of Arcueid, Illya, Aoko, Tiamat, Azathoth, and, most recently, Artoria.

Since the flow of time within a Realm, referred to as a Marble Phantasm in the Nasuverse, could be completely severed from the Time Axis, Vahn had a functionally infinite amount of time to perform his research. As a result, he had already spent years researching the phenomenon further, increasing his age by nearly a decade in the last six months. This brought him infinitely closer to his goal, and, though it often felt like he was still at the starting line, Vahn's understanding of his 'true nature' had allowed him to reach a level of power beyond his past self's comprehension.

The Path was an existence that exceeded the Tier System in its entirety. It was something beyond even 'concept' itself, serving ad the foundation that allowed for such things to exist. There were no limits to The Path's capabilities, it's only restrictions being the comprehension of the user and their willingness to 'discard' everything, becoming something 'more'.

If he sincerely desired it, discarding all other thoughts, Vahn would be able to reach a pinnacle of power that even the most powerful beings within the Records were unable to comprehend. The only thing that held him back was his 'humanity', his desire for freedom, and, most importantly, his family. These were things he would never give up, and, while it would undoubtedly let him become stronger in a short period of time, Vahn believed this was a 'dead-end' path. After all, what was the point of power when your very reason for obtaining it was lost in the process?

As these thoughts crossed his mind, Vahn opened, not his eyes, but his 'awareness' of everything. It was similar to the omniscience he had experienced during his battle against Heracles, a state that, at the time, was so overwhelming that it threatened to sever his connection to the Record. Now, Vahn had reached a point where, unless he willed it so, the only thing that could eject him from a Record was the Quest function, as, even if they tried their hardest, Akasha and her Superior would never be able to 'erase' his existence. This was power only he, as The Path itself, possessed...

Though he no longer had a body to speak from, Vahn's voice seemed to echo through the nebulous 'cosmos' that had come into existence as a result of his [Regula Mundi], stating, "Conscience is not the result of chance. It is not born from the creation of the Universe, rather, the Universe only exists in response to the conscience desire to 'be'. So long as the possibility of existence remains, there are no limits to the ways in which it can be expressed. Eternity is merely the framework. Reality is merely the byproduct...now, 'Awaken'."

One of the most powerful forms of 'Magic' was 'Authority', the ability to manifest your intent, and, at times, shape reality to your expectations. So long as you had a strong enough Willpower, controlling life and fate itself wasn't beyond the realm of possibility. Rather, even when he began to awaken his powers back in Danmachi, Vahn had experienced this power first hand. He had been able to order those with weaker wills to simply 'vanish', turning them to dust and effectively erasing them with, not with the word itself, but with the intent contained within...

Following Vahn's command, particulates seemed to gather from within the void, quickly coalescing into the shape of five naked bodies. This hadn't exactly been his intention, so, immediately after they were given form, Vahn found himself stating, "There is no shame in the form of existence. It is in the pursuit of individuality that we seek to hide, concealing the beauty of creation behind facades, both real and abstract. Free will is the burden placed upon sapient life, laying the foundation of all paths, past, present, and future. To protect that which you hold dear, the right to 'Conceal' has been given."

Before any of the Heroes could even begin to understand what was happening, their bodies became shrouded in garments that appeared to be woven from the fabric of the Cosmos. The only exception to this was Kintoko, who, perhaps as a result of his 'confidence', remained almost completely naked. The only thing covered were his eyes, concealed behind sunglasses that were formed from the same material as everyone else's clothes.

As they had manifested next to each other, Raikou seemed to lose interest in their peculiar situation, staring at Kintoki with an appraising look before smiling as she said, "Kintoki-kun...it seems we need to have a long discussion once we return..."

Even before Raikou had finished her words, clothes manifested to cover Kintoki's body. At the same time, he rubbed the back of his head, saying in an awkward tone, "Don't blame me for this, Ma. Even I know better than to walk around completely naked..."

Seeing the interaction between the two, everyone else was in a slight stupor, unable to understand the situation they were in. They seemed to be floating in outer space, but, despite an apparent lack of atmosphere, they were able to breathe with relative ease. Chang'e and Hou Yi even felt like they had returned to the Heavenly Jade Realm. There was such an extreme amount of Heavenly Energy, also known as Divine Energy, that their Divinity seemed to be gradually increasing in purity.

As if sensing their thoughts, a majestic voice that seemed to emanate from 'everywhere' stated, "The various Heavens are Realms given shape by the Intention of powerful beings. This is not Heaven. It is a Realm of Possibility, a blank slate by which Infinite Potentials can be realized. Here, the influence of the Laws has no meaning. Even Space, Time, and Fate did not exist before they were observed. Here, Expectation and Intent reign supreme, fueled by Willpower and empowered by the Soul..."

Following his explanation, Vahn willed himself into existence, further stunning everyone present by appearing as a being that dwarfed even planets. His skin no longer possessed the nebulous quality from before. Instead, his upper body was left bare, gentle golden light radiating a calm and peaceful aura that seemed to stretch outward without limit. As for his lower body, it was veiled by the fabric of Space, sewn together by runic constellations and patterned with distant Nebulas. Atop his head, a nine-pointed symbol formed of golden light appeared like a halo, while, behind his back, a dharmic wheel, formed from pale-gold and covered in countless runes, appeared to slowly revolve.

Seeing Vahn's appearance, even Shirou couldn't shake the feeling he was standing before an all-powerful God. There was a greater disparity between the current Vahn and all of them combined than the disparity that would exist between a normal human and a single ant. The human would be able to kill the ant with ease, but, depending on the circumstances, the ant could still sting or bite before its death. Even if they combined all of their powers, however, they would be unable to cause even a small amount of damage to the current Vahn, as, despite appearing right before them, they would need to travel more than five-hundred-thousand kilometers just to reach him...

While everyone was still stunned, Vahn explained, "This entire space exists within me. What you see before you is nothing more than an Avatar, a physical manifestation of my Will. All things, including Time and Space, are relative. In truth, I can only maintain this ability for three seconds in reality. Yet, due to the relative nature of all things, an eternity could pass within this place before my energy runs out. If I so desired, it would be possible to seal you within this place for Eternity. Unfortunately, that would require that I stay within, as, much like reality itself, it must be observed to maintain its form..."

Hearing Vahn's explanation, Hou Yi decided to speak out, asking in a hesitant tone, "Is this place truly another Universe? Have you reached the level of the Primordial Creation...?"

As deception was 'meaningless' in this state, Vahn shook his head in response to Hou Yi's question, answering, "Not yet." in a decisive tone.

Though it wasn't wrong to say he was capable of creating a nascent Universe, his understanding of the Laws was severely lacking. He would not be able to create life from scratch, and, unless he closely observed those within, they could cease to exist at any given moment. To make matters even worse, there was a chance that any reasonably powerful entity sealed within would simply be able to escape, endangering the entire 'Universe' by targetting his body back in the 'real' world.

Ultimately, unless he could reach Tier 5, Vahn was limited to 'emulating' their capabilities. Actual Tier 5s were able to maintain their Realms without any actual effort. Rather, it was a natural part of their existence, and, while it was possible for others to influence the form of their Realm, destroying it was virtually impossible. As for his, it was closer in form and function to a Reality Marble, albeit infinitely more powerful...

Rather than feel any kind of 'relief' at the fact that Vahn wasn't yet at the level of Primordial Creation, Hou Yi was shaken by the confidence contained in his voice when stating 'Not yet'. Vahn seemed to possess no doubts that he would eventually reach that point, and, after witnessing this incident, both Hou Yi and Chang'e believed this was the case. This meant, at some point in the future, Vahn would even exceed the Jade Emperor and reach the level of 'Tao', rivaling the Three Pure Ones to become a manifestation of the myriad paths in which people take in life.

As he was aware of all things within his domain, Vahn could sense Hou Yi's thoughts, finding them to be rather interesting. After all, he was, quite literally, The Path. His existence already transcended the Three Pure Ones mentioned in Taoist Philosophy and Mythos. Once his Soul Tier advanced, it wasn't an exaggeration to say that he could become the Creator of his own Universe. By the time he neared the peak of Tier 5, even creating a Multiversal System wasn't beyond the realm of possibility.

Comforted by the thought he was slowly beginning to comprehend the path he was walking, Vahn adopted a smile as he said, "Trying to comprehend the nature of my being would require being near the same level. I am not bound by the pinnacles in which you can imagine, as, much like this space itself, I represent infinite possibilities...not just for myself, but for all things. There are no limitations, only the restrictions placed upon us by Fate, Karma, and ourselves..."

Toward the end of his words, Vahn manifested a small star in his hand, smiling 'benevolently' as he sent it hurling toward the unsuspecting group. This caused them to panic quite a bit, but, with the exception of Chang'e and Hou Yi, the others weren't able to freely move in an environment without gravity. As a result, the [Elemental Star], traveling nearly a third the speed of light, enveloped Raikou, Kintoki, and Shirou. Then, before Chang'e and Hou Yi could retreat to a safe distance, the star began to expand, growing from 30,000km to nearly 3,000,000km in diameter in an instant, enveloping them before they could even embrace each other one final time...

Though it wouldn't have been impossible for them to resist, only Innate abilities and those that had been cultivated through a concerted effort could be used within Vahn's [Regula Mundi]. Things such as Divinity had no effect as, within the nascent Universe, the Laws themselves had yet to be defined. The majority of Gods couldn't even use their Divinity beyond the boundaries of the Global Bounded Field, so, here, in a place where Gaia and Alaya simply didn't exist, they would have to rely on their own powers, not those granted to them.

Content with the results of his 'experiment', Vahn gave a curt nod, internally stating, ("It seems even power and authority are a matter of perspective...at this rate, my plans will be complete long before Akasha and her Superiors begin to suspect anything...")

In response to his musing, Sis gave an amused chuckle before adopting a slightly serious voice and stating, (*You still need to be careful. They may be none-the-wiser within the Virtual World, but, who knows what will happen if you attempt to meddle with reality? There are several Tier 5 entities that are bound to Gaia. You need to earn her cooperation if you want to avoid any future troubles.*)

As his thoughts coincided with Sis', Vahn was well aware of what he had to do in order to ensure his plan was a success. Fortunately, the wish he had made nearly two-months prior had set the stage, so, after taking care of a few loose strings, he was ready to carry out his plan. The most important part was increasing his own power, but, with the assistance of Artoria and the rest, he had a functionally infinite amount of time to cover that particular issue.

With his thoughts organized, Vahn's smile began to slowly fade away as he looked around at the nascent universe is had created. It was vast and infinite in scope, but, while it was possible to find a myriad and planets and stars, it was completely barren of life. Since he could sense 'everything', it was a rather disheartening realization that allowed him to understand why Gods were so eager to create life.

Shaking his head, Vahn cleared away any sentiments he had for his creation, his golden irises taking on a pitch-black, abyssal, coloration as he extended his arms and declared, "Interim Mundi...Return to Oblivion..."

The moment Vahn's 'words' fell, it was almost like an analog television had been shut off, causing all of reality to simply 'blink' out of existence. The only thing that remained was a single, infinitesimally small, point of light, but, without anything there to observe its existence, it, too, slowly faded from existence...

(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Is this Heaven's Will...!?','The biggest of bois...','All things originate from and return to Oblivion...')