With the strongest among them being around the level of a C-Rank Regular, it took very little effort for Vahn to defeat the boarding party prepared by the Jahad Army. This caused quite a stir among the encircling party, but, compared to the events that followed, the defeat of a few Regulars wasn’t very noteworthy.
Though he could have stayed inside the area assigned to Regulars, Vahn was well aware of the fact that, among Jahad’s forces, specifically within the 1st Army Corps, there were a number of thods they could use to simply ’ignore’ the Tower’s laws. This would result in the unnecessary deaths of a substantial number of Regulars, several of which had fled to the 40th Floor in search of a peaceful life. Thus, rather than turtle up and play the part of a coward, he surprised nearly everyone present by slowly rising into the air, erging from the invisible do enclosing the platform with a relaxed smile on his face.
Demonstrating a remarkable amount of discipline, none of the Rankers present attempted to attack him. Instead, they actually began a gradual retreat as several High Rankers, a surprising number of which were beautiful won, ford a loose encirclent around his aerial position. This included Adori Jahad, and, sowhat surprisingly, two other Princesses...
With his smile turning noticeably wrier, Vahn shifted his gaze from a rather heroic-looking woman with white hair, golden eyes, and a cross-shaped scar running across her nose to a striking beauty with an hourglass figure, pale-blue hair, and electric-blue eyes. The forr was none other than the culprit behind White’s original defeat, the Ranked 36 Arie Hagipherione Jahad. As for the latter, who else could it be if not Khun Maschenny Jahad?
Though there were a number of other beauties present, none stood out in the presence of three of the Tower’s most famous Princesses. The only exception to this was a woman with a bushy tail and rounded ears reminiscent of a Snow Leopard, but, other than sending a cursory glance her way, the majority of Vahn’s attention was on the golden-haired beauty floating at his front. Her beauty was simply on another level compared to everyone else encircling him, but, most importantly, her power made her stand out like a Sun among various lesser Moons.
Doing his best to fix his expression, Vahn’s wry simper gradually relaxed into an amiable smile as he remarked, "I wonder if I should feel honored or concerned that the Jahad Empire has deed my existence worthy of three Princesses of Jahad..."
Demonstrating the confidence expected of soone who had been chosen as the Commander-in-Chief of the entire ard forces, Adori showed little change in expression as she smoothly asserted, "We might have ignored you if you were an ordinary Irregular. It is your ability to veil yourself from both observation and prophecy that have necessitated such an extre response. Your existence is an unknown variable, sothing that cannot be regulated using conventional ans. If you do not surrender here and now, we will have no choice but to eliminate you."
As he might do the sa against perceived threats to his own Empire, Vahn couldn’t help but nod his head in response to Adori’s explanation. Part of him was even tempted to surrender since it was virtually guaranteed that he would be escorted higher up the Tower in Imperial custody. This would drastically reduce the ti taken to reach the top of the Tower, and, depending on how he played things, he might even be able to undermine the Empire from the inside.
Unfortunately, Vahn had been looking forward to battling against the Tower’s strongest, so, while turning himself in was always an option, it wasn’t at the top of his list. Instead, he adopted a teasing smile, eliciting hateful glares from Adori, Maschenny, and even Hagipherione as he asked, "Are you sure this isn’t personal? I know you secretly hold responsible for Ureko’s recent actions. Though I won’t deny my responsibility in the matter, do you genuinely believe I have the ans to control such an unruly woman?"
Answering in Adori’s stead, Hagipherione manifested an inordinately long claymore in her right hand as she said, "Enough. I only agreed to co here for one reason. Tell , what do you know of a man called White?"
Despite Adori representing the greatest danger among those present, Vahn shifted his attention away from her, directing it to the swordswoman hovering in his blindspot before answering, "You already know the answer to that question. The fact your father sent you to inquire should be proof enough. After all, it was his sensing of Hoaqin’s death that brought you here..."
Frowning at the ntion of Hoaqin’s na, a heaven-defying sword intent began to emanate from Hagipherione’s body as she muttered, "I see..." in a surprisingly venomous tone. This caused Vahn’s brows to rise slightly, as, prior to this mont, he believed that Hoaqin had actually been ’lucky’ to escape Hagipherione’s pursuit. Now, even without needing the Law of Identity to confirm, he could see there were ’personal’ reasons behind his survival...
Shaking his head, Vahn’s aura began to surge outward as he said, "It seems the ti for talking has co and gone. Such a sha..."
Punctuating his words, Vahn raised his hand in an attempt to grasp the silvery blade cutting toward him with earth-rending force. To the surprise of many, this actually worked, but, at the sa ti, a thin line of blood began to flow from a shallow cut across his palm. This caused the smile on Vahn’s face to beco even more prominent, an appreciative glimr appearing in his suddenly gold eyes as he said, "Not bad..."
Sensing a trendous threat, Hagipherione instantly darted back at near-light speed, her sword drawing several impeccable sword beams that seed to blend into the surrounding space before coming at him from various angles. These attacks were exponentially stronger than her initial strike, and, thanks to the infusion of Shinsu and Sword Intent, there were very few things they couldn’t cut through.
Without altering the flow of ti, a difficult feat due to the number of powerful entities within his domain, Vahn couldn’t actually dodge Hagipherione’s attacks. He could perceive them rather easily, but, due to her mastery of the Arie Family’s sword techniques, combined with the fact she was ’very’ close to the level of a Grandmaster, each of the sword beams actively responded to his movents. As a result, several ended up passing cleanly through his body, confusing Hagipherione quite a bit due to the expectations she had ford during their initial exchange.
Under normal circumstances, Vahn would have gladly explained the State of Nothingness to aid in Hagipherione’s understanding of what had happened, but, before either of them could react, the latter found herself teleported away as a spiraling vortex of Shinsu several hundred ters across enveloped the forr’s body.
Realizing what had happened, Hagipherione’s expression beca unbelievably cold as she shifted her attention from the red Suspsend Ship hovering high in the sky to the golden-haired woman at her side, saying, "I did not require nor ask for your assistance. How could you deploy the El Robina for sothing like this?"
With very little change in her own expression, Adori glanced at Hagipherione from the corner of her eyes as she said, "This is not a private matter for you to resolve as a mber of the Arie Family. Our mission is to capture or kill the man known as Vahn Aldrnari Mason before he can beco a threat to the Empire. I’m not fond of these kinds of asures either, but, for the sake of peace, I am willing to do whatever it takes. If we fail to deal with him here and now, billions could die in the war that is to co..."
Though she felt guilty about the Regulars that would inevitably perish due to the El Robina’s attack, Adori did her best to harden her heart and remain composed. The fact Vahn could block the attack of a Top 50 Ranker with his bare hands was all the evidence she needed to ascertain he was a threat to the Empire. Dealing with Ureko was already troubleso enough. The last thing they needed was a second monster roaming around the Tower with utter disregard for the Empire and its policies...
Clicking her tongue in response to Adori’s explanation, Hagipherione shifted her attention back to the peculiar Suspend Ship designed specifically to eliminate High Rankers. There were only ten of the eerie red weapon platform in the entire Tower, and, due to the contract established during their construction, they were one of the few weapons capable of firing upon areas reserved for Regulars. This functionality was originally intended to deal with High Rankers attempting to hide within areas reserved for Regulars. Now, however, its purpose had been profaned in order to eliminate a single Regular, sacrificing countless others in the process...
Feeling severely disappointed with the outco, Hagipherione was preparing to leave the mont El Robina finished firing. She greatly despised this way of doing things, and, though she understood Adori’s reasoning, she couldn’t help thinking it was a waste of ti to congregate three Princess of Jahad and more than a dozen High Rankers if they were just going to let a machine do all the work.
For a brief mont, Hagipherione was hoping to see Vahn erge unscathed from the El Robina’s attack. She was confident in her own ability to withstand its might, so, considering he was able to catch her blade, there was a very real chance he would be able to survive. In her mind, this made the firing of the El Robina even more foolish, as, based on Vahn’s behavior, he had been more than willing to face them without requiring any sacrifices to be made.
With the El Robina’s massive beam of Shinsu gradually fading away, Hagipherione couldn’t help frowning when she noticed the massive spiraling crater where the train platform once stood. Vahn was nowhere to be seen, and, as could be expected, all of the Regulars they had prepared in order to board the Hell Express had vanished alongside him. The only thing virtually unscathed was the Hell Express itself, but, considering it was one of the greatest masterpieces of the Workshop, that was never really a concern.
While everyone else’s attention was focused on the devastation caused by the El Robina’s attack, Adori took a mont to exhale an inaudible sigh of relief, eyes closed as she quietly remarked, "I pray each of you finds happiness in the next life. May your souls find peace beyond the confines of this nightmarish Tower..."
Though she had never seen it for herself, Adori had heard countless tales of the world that existed beyond the Tower. Many of these stories ended in tragedy due to the remarkably short lifespans of those who lived outside, but, after living for more than five-thousand-years, Adori found the idea of a short lifespan rather novel. Immortality was not without its shortcomings, and, were it not for her commitnt to preventing war and helping to maintain order within the Tower, she might have lost herself like countless other Rankers...
Taking a deep breath to help steady her heart, Adori was preparing to issue the order to withdraw when a peculiar green hue seed to saturate the surrounding space for several tens of kiloters. This caused her pupils to contract, her aura exploding outward as two blades ford from golden crystal manifested behind her like a pair of wings. This wasn’t her first ti witnessing an ability that could influence the flow of ti, so, even though she felt no particular threat, it didn’t stop her from igniting her Golden November, the only S-Rank weapon among the 13 Month Series.
Before Adori could do sothing troubleso, Vahn manifested a few ters behind her, his voice calm yet firm as he said, "I will fight you in a mont. For now, you should behave until I’ve finished restoring this place to its original form. Unless your remorse exists solely to help justify your actions, you will not intervene. I’m being serious here...you don’t want to piss off..."
Though it was like resisting the pressure of a mountain range, Adori turned her head to face Vahn without any discernible difficulties, her expression unchanging as she said, "Very well...once you are finished, we will move this battle elsewhere. I trust you have no problems with that...?"
Offering a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes, Vahn nodded his head in affirmation, saying, "Of course. Would I be able to call myself man if I could refuse the invitation of such a beauty? I’ll keep you company for as long as you want...Princess..."
(A/N: Alternate Titles: ’The Empire ca out to play...’,’*insert Ea sound effect*’,’Oh my (O w O)...’)
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