Endless Path : Infinite Cosmos-Novel

Chapter 2218: Teetering on the Edge

After destroying the planet occupied by the Onigashima Community, Kefla, the combined form of Kale and Caulifla, found themselves in a bit of a predicament.

Due to the rules of the Gift Game, space became 'off limits' until the awakening of a Model Omega. Thus, shortly after destroying Onigashima's planet, the fused Saiyaness found herself floating in an ocean of debris without any means to transfer to another planet.

Thanks to their monstrous vitality and Caulifla's training, Kefla was more than capable of surviving in space for months, perhaps even years at a time. The larger problem was her boredom. She didn't want to wait for space to open up, but, at the same time, she, or, more specifically, Kale didn't want to ask Vahn for help.

Sighing in a synthetic-sounding voice reminiscent of two women speaking at the same time, Kefla lounged lazily atop a spinning piece of debris. Every now and then, she would raise her left hand to fire off a laser-like beam of destruction towards distant lights she believed to be planets.

"We should really learn how to use Kai Kai when we get back…"

Unlike Mikoto, Kefla lacked the means to forcibly teleport through restricted and blocked space. She could use Instant Transmission, but, due to the restrictions of the Gift Game, the furthest she could teleport was the boundaries of the debris field.

It was incredibly annoying…

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Though there were a few hiccups along the way, Seraphina, wearing an irrationally form-fitting, butterfly-themed gown had finally managed to reach the core of the defensive satellite. This was entirely the result of her minions, but, as if she had scoured every inch of the satellite herself, an exceptionally haughty smile had developed across her face as she sauntered over to the core and inserted one of the Sage Dragon's Hearth's keys.

Seeing the machine whirring to life, rune-like circuits lighting up along the length of a branching pillar, Seraphina held the back of her hand up to her mouth and issued her characteristically shrill, "Oh-hohohoho~" type laughter.

Staring at the voluptuous Succubi's back, Chronoa, the former Supreme Kai of Time, couldn't help shaking her head in exasperation. She couldn't deny that Seraphina was the reason they had been able to reach the core in such an expedient manner. The thing that bothered her was the fact that Seraphina had basically spent the entire time lazing about and sleeping…

Just as Chronoa was about to tell Seraphina they should hurry and return, a large display lit up in front of the boisterous Succubi. It showed the entire structure of the defensive satellite, and, more importantly, the location of each and every entity within. This included the thousands of 'minions' that Seraphina's had summoned, and, somewhat surprisingly, a fair number of red dots that clearly denoted enemies.

"Hmmm~? What's this~?"

Having never been known for her intelligence, Seraphina was a bit slow when it came to grasping new things. Chronoa was the complete opposite in this regard as she had spent the better part of one-hundred million years simply observing various forms of data. She immediately understood the meaning of the red dots, stating, "It would appear a number of enemy Communities have managed to slip past my observation and your minions. You should send a few Ninjas or Scouts to-"

Giving Chronoa what could best be described as a 'stink eye', Seraphina's tone sounded cold and distant as she stated, "Do not presume to tell me, Lady Seraphina, what to do. You may have been picked up by Vahn when he was off playing around but I was personally summoned to accompany him. It was basically love at first sight so don't go thinking you can give me orders. Understood…?"

Deadpanning in response to Seraphina's words, Chronoa found herself, once again, questioning how Vahn could have fallen for such an intolerable woman. Sure, Seraphina might not be evil, but she was one of the most selfish women Chronoa ever had the displeasure of interacting with.

Understanding the futility of trying to argue, Chronoa took a deep, steadying breath before forcing a smile and saying, "We were given the task of securing and protecting this defensive satellite. Vahn may be able to handle all the enemies on his own but I still want to try and meet his expectations. If you won't help, I'll deal with the intruders myself."

Without waiting for Seraphina's response, Chronoa manifested her Chrono Dial, the glowing golden halo that resembled the hands of a clock, before using Kai Kai to reach the nearest intruder. She felt it was a waste of time to speak with Seraphina, so, rather than exhaust her mental energies trying to make the airheaded woman see reason, Chronoa decided to focus on eliminating the enemy.

Unaware of Chronoa's thoughts, Seraphina simply snorted in response to the buxom Kai's behavior before calling her personalized golden-skinned Prinny over and making herself comfortable atop its head. A blue-skinned, zombie-like Maid immediately made her way over with a tray containing two glasses while a short, blue-skinned Prinny followed behind her with an ice bucket and a large bottle of glistening, golden champagne.

Prior to Chronoa's departure, Seraphina was fully intent on cracking open a bottle of champagne and celebrating with the pink-skinned Kai. Unlike Chronoa, she felt no particular enmity towards any of the women in Vahn's ever-growing entourage. All that truly mattered to her was that Vahn cared for and continued to pamper her until the end of time.

The one thing Seraphina couldn't tolerate was people telling her what to do. She would even pout when Vahn tried to order her around, so, with Chronoa demonstrating signs of hostility toward her, there was no well in Hell Seraphina was going to let her get away with telling her what to do.

Filling both glasses of champagne, Seraphina poured the contents of one glass into her Prinny's mouth before making herself comfortable and nursing her own. For the better part of the minutes, she simply observed the dot representing Chronoa eliminating various intruders.

Thinking about Chronoa's parting words, a sigh invariably escaped Seraphina's throat as she sat up and pulled out an oversized key. Upon stabbing it into empty air, a massive, vault-like door with the words 'Dark Assembly' engraved on the top appeared. Shortly after that, an exceptionally thin and petite mage with an oversized, rabbit-eared cloak popped out with a flustered expression on their face, asking, "W-Welcome to the D-Dark Assembly. What can I d-d-do for you, L-Lady Seraphina…?"

Resisting the urge to make the 134cm tall mage grovel on his hands and knees, a smile developed across Seraphina's face as she mused, "I would like to pass a bill…"

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Upon teleporting to the location of her first target, Chronoa was surprised to find what appeared to be an empty room. Beforehand, the display had shown a total of thirteen life signs in this particular section of the defensive satellite. There was a chance they had sensed her coming before promptly teleporting away, but, believing something was amiss, Chronoa pulled out a pair of square-rimmed glasses that functioned similarly to a Scouter.

Immediately after donning the glasses, Chronoa was able to detect multiple life signs hiding within the shadows of various pieces of debris. The thing that confused her was the fact that the highest power level among them was a startling 0.0003.

Using her version of Telekinesis, Chronoa mentally seized each of the exceptionally small creatures before pulling them toward her. Seeing them caused her expression to immediately become sullen, as, even after a hundred million years, she still hated insects. Cockroaches, in particular, were one of Chronoa's least favorite organisms.

Crushing twelve of the figures, Chronoa grumbled, "Disgusting…" as she pulled the last remaining insect close enough to observe.

"Hmm? Is this…dirt…?"

Though the diminutive insect resembled a cockroach, its body was a dark, earthen brown. From a distance, it resembled a completely ordinary insect, but, from a few centimeters away, Chronoa was able to tell it was comprised entirely of dirt, stone, and a granule-sized piece of red crystal.

Sensing a powerful magical trace within the fragment of red crystal, a glimmer of intrigue flashed across Chronoa's golden irises as she muttered, "Is this a golem…?" ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ꜰʀᴏᴍ ɴoᴠel ꜰɪre.nᴇt

Seemingly in response to her words, the cockroach-shaped golem promptly self-destructed along with the remnants of the previous twelve. The person that created them clearly didn't want people analyzing their structure in greater detail.

Snorting through her nose, Chronoa reversed the order of entropy around the previously intact roach before placing it in a temporal lock. It would take a hell of a lot more than a self-destruct mechanism to deter her from discovering the truth…

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Located far from the defensive satellite Seraphina and Chronoa had conquered, a young man with short, dirt-brown hair and grass green eyes could be seen furrowing his brows. He was the one that had created cockroach golems that Chronoa had discovered, and, while he was unable to ascertain what she had done, he was able to sense that she had restored one of his golems before promptly sealing it away.

Believing she was going to try and reverse engineer his golem production method, a scowl marred the otherwise handsome man's face as he groaned, "That's IP infringement, you know…?"

Punctuating his words, the young man rose from the workbench he had been seated at before donning a stylish trenchcoat that vaguely resembled a lab coat. Then, upon removing the goggles he had been wearing, he donned a pair of half-moon glasses before reaching into a blue panel of light that only he could see. From within the panel, he managed to pull out a pair of headphones, an oversized mechanical gauntlet, and a massive, weaponized wrench.

Shouldering the massive wrench, the young man turned towards a rather heroic-looking woman with wheat-colored hair, silver eyes, dark skin, and armor that appeared to be carved from stone. From a distance, people would assume the scantily clad beauty was wearing said armor, but, upon closer inspection, they would quickly notice it was a part of her body. She, like many of the man's creations, was a type of golem.

A very, very advanced type.

"Come, Gaia, we have pests to eliminate."

Responding to the man's words, the busty and voluptuous woman sprouted three pairs of wings, but, instead of being comprised of feathers, they were formed of leaves and vines. She was a golem templated from a Great Earth Spirit, so, be it stone or plant, she had dominion over all things that originated from or grew upon the planet.

With six wings exuding a pale green light behind her body, Gaia, who was much, much taller than the young man promptly picked him up in a bridal carry. Others might be embarrassed by such a development, but, as someone who absolutely adored strong and dominant women, the youthful-looking mage adopted a smile as he rested his head against Gaia's voluminous chest. While other members of Akuma were desperate to accumulate women like trophies, he was perfectly content with the bride and family he had created for himself…

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After observing the owl-like woman for the better part of a full day, Sarina had gradually come to terms with the fact she wasn't the former's opponent. The cloaked figure had managed to shrug off the attacks of dozens of dragons, and, despite numerous attempts to seal her away, she just walked out of formations as though they didn't exist. It was like nothing could affect her, so, after watching others try and fail for hours on end, Sarina decided to retreat.

What Sarina didn't realize was the moment she turned away, the petite, owl-like figure immediately looked towards her. Ghostly blue eyes glowed from within the pitch-black interior of her hood, and, moments later, thirty-three different owls, each possessing matching blue eyes, tilted their heads in Sarina's direction. They didn't attack or pursue her, but, deep within their ghostly blue eyes, a sense of existential dread radiated like an icy chill…

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(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Instant Transmission go brrrr…','Ah, a man of culture…','Always watching…')