Endless Path : Infinite Cosmos

Though there were a few issues with people freaking out or thinking they had died and gone to Heaven, it didn’t take too long for the Regulars resurrected by Vahn to be brought under control. The calming effects of the Little Garden went a long way, but, most importantly, the presence of incomprehensibly powerful people was enough to deter any legitimate dissent.

While Team Wolf Pack and his Templates were dealing with the revived Regulars, Vahn was seated in a relatively cozy with Phae standing next to him. Across from them, seated in a chair that made him appear even smaller than he actually was, a youth with pale skin and burgundy eyes stared back at them with an unfocused gaze.

Thanks to the Law of Identity, Vahn knew what the youth had experienced even without having him relive everything through an explanation. This was one of the most beneficial aspects of the Law of Identity, and, though her bubbly personality sometimes made things a little complicated, she would happily expose a person’s most intimate secrets with a happy smile on her face.

Vahn had also used the Law of Identity to get a better grasp of the quartet’s motivations, but, while it was understandable for some of them to act the way they did, that didn’t excuse their crimes. He could empathize with their plight, especially the werewolf woman who had been hunted most of her life, but no amount of suffering afforded anyone the right to mete out even greater suffering to people that had nothing to do with their plight. Blaming an entire race of people for the actions of a few individuals was never a rational response.

Since the youth across from him was the human-hating group’s primary victims, Vahn decided to discuss the matter of their fate with him. Unsurprisingly, the boy wanted nothing more than to see the four women beaten and violated in the most horrible ways imaginable. He didn’t want them to die, he wanted them to suffer far worse than himself. At one point, he had even suggested letting the resurrected Regulars ’have their way’ with the group with a rather vicious smile on his face...

Vahn had tried to reason with the youth, discussing the concept of the ’Cycle of Hatred’ and the importance of empathy, but the eleven-year-old was completely unphased by his arguments. He just continued to stare back with emotionless eyes, his aura turning progressively darker the longer the conversation continued. This made Vahn feel a little helpless, so, after failing to convince him for the better part of three hours, he had Phae escort him to a comfortable room before departing the study to meet with the four wrongdoers, each held in separate quarters, directly...

Hearing a light knock, the scarred-woman, revealed to be Tasha Adalwolf by the Law of Identity, snarled in disdain before throwing one of the destroyed pieces of furniture towards the door. She had been allowed to move around freely within the fully furnished room, but, after trying and failing to break through the surrounding floor, walls, and ceiling, she ended up trashing the interior in her wolf form before curling up in the corner of the room once the transformation had worn off. There were few things she hated and feared more than being caged up and locked away so her hatred for the group that had defeated her had been increasing by the minute.

Noticing the door opening, Tasha’s right arm became more muscular and elongated as her body half-transformed into that of a wolf. She couldn’t maintain her transformation for very long, so, after tiring herself out during her tantrum, a partial transformation was the most she could manage. Despite this, she was determined to cut the neck of the person entering the room before escaping outside and taking a hostage.

What Tasha never anticipated was that she would be ’frozen’ in mid-air, arm and claws extended as a man with kind features entered the room. Then, much her to her surprise, dismay, and a host of other emotions, he actually reached out his hand to pat the top of her head as he adopted a casual smile and said, "You shouldn’t be so quick to violence, little pup. I am neither your enemy nor your captor. Once this matter has been settled, you will be free to leave at your leisure."

Though she initially wanted nothing more than to bite the man’s hand before tearing out his throat, Tasha was surprised to find that her usual anger was nowhere to be found. Instead, she felt relaxed, calm, and, most frustratingly, she even felt a little happy to have her head pat. This made her feel an overwhelming amount of embarrassment, her face turning red as the invisible force suspending her in the air gradually lowered her to the ground.

Seeing the woman calm down much faster than anticipated, Vahn gave an approving nod before retracting his hand and pulling out a coat. Her transformation wasn’t very kind to her clothes, so, with the exception of the elastic pants that hugged her figure, she was completely naked. She didn’t seem too bothered by this fact, likely the result of experiencing similar situations countless times in the past, but it was still better to have her cover herself if they were going to have a conversation.

Noticing the man politely avert his eyes after handing her the coat, Tasha briefly considered tearing out his throat before promptly deciding against it. Her instincts told her that the man in front of her was incomprehensibly powerful, so much so that she actually had to resist the urge to go belly-up...

Hearing the rustling of clothes cease, Vahn turned around to find that Tasha was still seated on the ground. He suspected she was actually more used to this than sitting atop furniture, as, according to the Law of Identity, she had spent much of her life wandering the wilds of the Outer Tower. She had also been part of a pack with just two males, one being the man who had turned her and the other being his younger brother. They had a penchant for kidnapping and converting young girls into werewolves, rearing them from a young age to be submissive and obedient.

To make matters even worse, Tasha grew up in an area of the Tower where humans, vampires, and werewolves were constantly at war with each other. Being turned into a werewolf forced her to fight on the side of her captors as humans disdained, tortured, and killed anyone who had been turned. This filled her with despair when she was younger, but, after more than twenty years of being held captive and forced to fight a war, she eventually gained a resentment towards humans before fully succumbing to the mentality of a werewolf.

Simply put, the woman suffered from a severe case of Stockholm Syndrome after being kidnapped, sexually assaulted, and tormented for years. Her only way to ’free’ herself from the suffering was to become obedient and willfully lower herself to the people she should have resented more than any other. She had even helped to kidnap other young girls in order to expand their pack, perpetuating the cycle despite empathizing with and even pitying the victims.

Restraining the urge to sigh, Vahn maintained a calm smile as he explained Tasha’s situation, the fates of the Regulars she had previously killed, and the options she had moving forward. He even gave her the option of becoming human once again, but, in exchange, she would need to live out the rest of her days in the Middle Tower. Regardless of what she chose, however, he would never allow her to fulfill her dream of becoming a Ranker just so that she could return to the Outer Tower and kill all the Vampires and Humans who had persecuted and hunted her.

Had Vahn informed her that she wouldn’t be allowed to complete her objective at the very start of her journey, Tasha would have resented him greatly. Fortunately, climbing the Tower had taught her that there were a lot of people who simply didn’t care that she was a werewolf. There were even a number of races that were far stranger than her own, beings she had never even imagined during her time living in the Forest of Death. This taught her that the world was a much bigger place than she ever imagined, so, while she had continued to climb the Tower, her dream of getting ’revenge’ had already started to diminish.

In the end, Tasha surprised Vahn quite a bit by looking up at him and spontaneously asking, "When I woke up, there was a red cloth on my body...what happened to the Fisherman who defeated me?"

Understanding she was asking about Hatsu, Vahn showed traces of amusement in his smile as he explained, "Hatsu isn’t a Fisherman. He is one of the Scouts belonging to Team Wolf Pack..."

Hearing the name of the team that had defeated her, Tasha adopted a potent frown as she replied, "What a tasteless name...do you even know what it means to be part of a pack?"

Before the woman could go on forcing her views onto others, Vahn preempted Tasha’s ’lesson’ by plopping his hand down onto her head and saying, "You are hundreds of years too young to start lecturing me about such things, little pup. Your experiences cannot be applied to every situation so stop trying to force everything through the filter of your trauma. There are as many types of packs as there are races in the Tower. The sooner you accept there is more to life than the circumstances you were forced into, the sooner you will be able to move forward and obtain true happiness..."

Though she wanted to protest and argue that Vahn didn’t know what he was talking about, Tasha found herself sitting silently as he continued to caress her head. She didn’t understand the reasons, but she felt there was a certain surety within his words, almost as if they were an inviolable truth. He also had a very calm and pleasant aura, and, most importantly, there wasn’t even a trace of the foul-smelling pheromones that caused her to disdain and resent most men.

Feeling increasingly confused by the current situation, Tasha couldn’t help but lightly furrow her brows as she asked, "What are you...?" in an uncharacteristically demure tone. In response, Vahn adopted a slightly amused smile as he retracted his hand from her head and mused, "I am just a God passing through..."

After calming down Tasha and reaching an agreement with her other two companions, a Light Elf named Alea Faris and a Red Oni simply named Ohta, Vahn moved on to meet with the final member of the quartet, a Dhampir named Nezera Nyx.

Nezera was easily the most troublesome of the four, as, despite a shared hatred towards humans, specifically men, she was the only one who reveled in slaughter. Her race also needed fresh blood every few hours just to avoid going into a frenzy, so, as could be expected, they were disdained and feared virtually everywhere within the Tower.

Vahn had never been the type to judge someone based on their racial traits. He also had a distinct fondness for Vampires and their descendants so he wasn’t against trying to help both Nezera and her people. Unfortunately, though he already suspected as much after learning about her from the Law of Identity, Nezera had absolutely no interest in reforming herself.

The only thing Nezera enjoyed more than killing people was tormenting them before they died. She even affirmed that she would rather die than stop killing and tormenting others, so, after failing to reach a compromise, Vahn put her on the spot by producing a vial of pale purple liquid that would end her life painlessly. This caused her to hesitate for more than a minute, but, seemingly with the intention to spite him, she ultimately downed the vial’s contents before spending the final moments of her life smiling viciously back at him...

(A/N: Alternate Titles: ’Don’t tell the Republicans...(this is a joke btw)’,’The Godhand can no longer be stopped’,’No ragrets’)