Endless Path : Infinite Cosmos-Novel

Chapter 2198: Testing the Waters

Seeing Seraphina lounging atop her amorphous golden Prinny, an exasperated sigh escaped from Chronoa's lips. Vahn had informed them about the existence of his harem outside the Actualized World, but, even with foreknowledge regarding how he came to be associated with each woman, Chronoa couldn't comprehend how certain girls had managed to weasel their way into his life.

"He's simply too kind…" â??â??

Nodding in affirmation of her own statement, Chronoa crossed her arms under her rather large breasts before shifting her attention to the innumerable humanoids and beasts scouring both the surface of the moon-sized satellite and its interior. Seraphina may have a preference for Prinnies but they weren't the only beings she had summoned to carry out her mission. In fact, there were more than fifty different types of creatures roaming about.

"What a terrifying ability…"

Though the creatures she had summoned would dissipate once Seraphina ran out of energy, the versatility of her ability was beyond compare. If she had an adequate amount of spirit energy, she could theoretically spread her influence throughout entire Realms. She was basically a Creator God whose only real weaknesses were her laziness, vanity, and dependence on Vahn…

Were it not for Vahn's overwhelming power and seemingly infinite capacity for empathy, Chronoa may have felt compelled to deal with Seraphina before she could master her ability.

Fortunately, no matter how powerful Seraphina became, the chances of her surpassing Vahn were very near zero. Vahn had survived the erasure ability of the Omni King, and, though it looked to be a close fight, he had even managed to defeat the Grand Priest in a battle of pure martial prowess. The latter possessed the combined power of every being in existence. The notion that he could be defeated had never once crossed the minds of the Angels or the Kai.

By proving himself against the two most powerful beings in creation, Vahn had effectively installed himself as the de facto ruler of every Universe. As a result, Chronoa couldn't even imagine what it would take to actually defeat him. It was for this reason that she decided to accompany him outside of the Actualized World. She wanted to see what kinds of beings could give him trouble, and, more importantly, help him fulfill his objective of reuniting with his family.

After everything Vahn had done for her, Chronoa felt obligated to accompany him to the very end…

"Hmm…?"

Sensing a distortion in the surrounding space-time, Chronoa muttered, "Kai Kai." before vanishing into thin air and reappearing on the opposite side of the defensive satellite. Kai Kai was a technique similar to teleportation, but, instead of requiring an anchor point, the only prerequisite was that the user knows where they wanted to go. So long as you satisfied that very simple requirement, it could transport you to any person, place, or thing within a given realm of influence. In this case, it allowed Chronoa to teleport anywhere Vahn's domain extended.

Finding a trio of ashen-skinned individuals emerging from the center of a complex magical circle, a slight smile developed across Chronoa's face as she looked forward to the opportunity to do battle. This was her chance to begin paying Vahn back, so, while she wasn't particularly fond of Seraphina, Chronoa was determined to keep the frustratingly rambunctious Succubi safe.

With this in mind, Chronoa sent a telepathic message to Seraphina before teleporting all the nearby 'minions' away. At the same time, she descended before the trio, a serious expression on her face as she cautioned, "This satellite has been claimed by the Sage Dragon's Hearth. Depart for the nearest teleportation nexus or prepare to suffer the consequences."

Undaunted by Chronoa's warning, the largest of the ashen-skinned individuals, a mountain of a man with six arms and a height of 364cm, raised a 340cm long sword to his right shoulder as he said, "I'm afraid that isn't how this works. When the Rakshasa Tribe makes an appearance, there are only two options to our opponents. Capitulate or prove your worth."

Having never heard of the Rakshasa Tribe, Chronoa responded to the white-haired man's words by manifesting a cog-like halo behind her back as she said, "Very well then. My name is Chronoa, the Supreme Kai and Goddess of Time. State your names, brave warriors."

Rather than introducing himself, the inordinately tall man shifted his attention to the smallest member of their group, an ashen-skinned woman with six arms, ashen-white hair, grey, fox-like ears, and a ghostly tail. Despite her small stature, a mere 195cm tall, she was the leader and the most powerful member of their group.

Adopting a cutesy pose, two of her six hands pointed towards the dimples in her cheeks, the vaguely vulpine woman answered, "My name is Prurmubhi, daughter of Attutyaptish. Nice to meet'cha~!"

Following his leader's example, the massive, bare-chested man went on to thump his chest with one of his free hands, stating, "My name is Uvashu, son Attutyaptish. It is a great honor to battle against a member of the Sage Dragon's Hearth."

Nodding her head in response to the man's words, Chronoa shifted her attention to the remaining member of their group, an androgynous figure with the same ashen skin as their companions. She half-expected them to introduce themselves as the son or daughter of Attutyaptish. Instead, they opened their mouth to reveal two rows of razor-sharp teeth as they said, "Avhu…daughter of Kili…" before following it up by asking, "Do you bleed…?"

Scrutinizing the exceptionally spikey and heavily belted outfit of the peculiar woman, Chronoa promptly decided against answering Avhu's question. Instead, she directed her attention to the leader of the group, Prurmubhi, asking, "Will the three of you fight as one, or would you prefer to take turns?"

Placing one of her index fingers on her chin, Prurmubhi appeared to be seriously considering Chronoa's question. This gave the latter ample time to better examine her would-be opponents. Prurmubhi wasn't the only one with animalistic features among the three. Two of Uvashu's hands resembled paws, and, rather than humanoid feet, he possessed three-toed, lion-like paws covered in white fur. He lacked the rows of razor-sharp teeth that Avhu possessed but his bottom jaw was affixed with two, large, tusk-like teeth that gave him a rather prominent underbite.

Standing out even amongst the other ashen-skinned individuals, Avhu possessed four, antennae-like horns that vaguely resembled the horns of a nudibranch, a type of sea slug. There were also tiny gills on the side of her neck, but, due to the black leather choker biting into her skin, Chronoa wasn't sure if she actually used them to breathe. Her razor-sharp teeth gave off a rather dangerous vibe, and, unlike her two counterparts, she hadn't blinked once since appearing. Judging by the size and structure of her eyes, there was a very real chance she couldn't…

Seemingly incapable of coming up with an answer, Prurmubhi tilted her head adorably to the side before asking, "Are you strong~?" in a sing-song tone.

With a power level exceeding ten-quintillion, Chronoa was relatively confident in her strength. Thus, even though her instincts were warning her that the trio in front of her was exceptionally powerful, she didn't hesitate to nod her head, answering, "Of course." with a confident smile on her face.

Instead of acknowledging Chronoa's response, Prurmubhi shifted her gaze to the unblinking Avhu. In response, the 222cm tall woman promptly launched herself forward with terrifying momentum, kunai-like knives appearing in her hands as she attempted to simultaneously stab, slice, and skewer Chronoa's vitals. The latter's pupils immediately shrunk to the size of pinholes, but, long before the attack could connect, pointers reminiscent of the hands of a clock appeared on Chronoa's golden halo.

With Avhu's daggers mere centimeters away from her neck, chest, and ribs, Time for all but a few participants of the Gift Game promptly ceased. At the same time, a mildly offended look developed across Chronoa's face as one of the things she hated most were surprise attacks. She had given the trio a chance to flee and even discussed terms with them. Sneak attacking after she had shown such consideration was simply rude.

Intending to teach the trio a lesson, Chronoa balled her right hand into a fist before teleporting to the side of Avhu and striking forward with all her might. She didn't particularly excel in terms of raw physical strength, but, when your attacks exceeded time itself, the amount of force contained within was very near infinite. The only reason it wasn't was because she would destroy her own body if she attempted to strike someone while time was stopped. Instead, she unpaused it the moment her fist was about to make contact.

Though Avhu was more than a little surprised by Chronoa's counter, the look of stupefaction on the latter's face when her first barely deformed the monochromatic girl's cheek made it pretty obvious who was most shaken by the incident. As nonsensical as it sounded, Chronoa felt as though she had just punched a cotton ball the size of a planet. There was virtually no feedback.

Recovering before the befuddled Supreme Kai, Avhu opened her mouth wide, her jaw stretching to a terrifying degree as she attempted to bite Chronoa's hand. Instead, a golden sphere erupted from the latter's fist, blasting the seemingly indestructible slug girl several hundred meters as Prurmubhi and Uvashu watched on with a mixture of intrigue and excitement.

Seeing that presumed brother and sister had no intention of interfering, a golden aura surrounded Chronoa's body as she charged towards the downed Avhu. She wanted to confirm her suspicion, so, at the exact moment the expressionless girl pushed herself to her feet, Chronoa landed a lightspeed dropkick on her opponent's face. A massive shockwave erupted from the point of contact as a smell reminiscent of ozone spread through the area. In spite of this, Avhu neither blinked nor recoiled as she attempted to grab Chronoa's ankles and stab her legs…

Having confirmed her suspicions, the minute hand on Chronoa's halo began to move in a counter-clockwise fashion. She didn't want her opponents having any information on her abilities, so, rather than stopping time, she reversed it to the point when Prurmubhi was still in the midst of making her decision. Against a normal opponent, this was an absolute advantage.

What Chronoa never could have expected, even though Vahn had cautioned her against it, was for Prurmubhi to promptly raise her brows, a teasing smile developing across the vulpine woman's face as she remarked, "You really are a Goddess of Time. Interesting."

Before Chronoa could respond to the woman's words, Avhu revealed that she was also aware of what had transpired, a faint snort emanating from her nose as she remarked, "Annoying…" in her strangely soft and delicate tone. This left Uvashu as the only person seemingly unaware of what had transpired, a look of confusion marring his relatively simple-looking face as he used one of his free hands to scratch his head.

Though she was tempted to ask for confirmation, Chronoa's immediate response was to stop Time. She still needed to confirm whether or not Prurmubhi and Uvashu were also impervious to physical attacks. If that was the case, her only means of dealing with the trio would be blasting them with Ki or freezing them in Time. The latter would severely weaken her for the remainder of the Gift Game, so, unless it was absolutely necessary, she wanted to avoid it.

With this in mind, Chronoa teleported next to Prurmubhi, her right hand clasping one of the ashen-skinned woman's wrists before unfreezing time and flinging her into Uvashu. To absolutely no one's surprise, the vulpine woman was able to effortlessly react to the assault, seamlessly righting herself before using Uvashu's unmoving figure as a foothold to launch herself towards Chronoa. This was a little annoying, but, considering the force in which Prurmubhi was sent flying into Uvashu, Chronoa could all but confirm one of her suspicions regarding the trio.

For all intents and purposes, members of the Rakshasa Tribe were impervious to physical damage. If not, their bodies were so adept at dispersing shockwaves that they may as well be…

…

…

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(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Seems to me that someone is jealous…','Never underestimate people that travel alone or in small groups…','The solution is simple. You just need to go PLUSU ULTRAAA…!')