Endless Path : Infinite Cosmos

Chapter 2202: Power vs. Utility

Chapter 2202: Power vs. Utility

Reacting to the increase in tensions, Kusu, Vados, and Marcarita promptly appeared between Vahn and the six Rakshasa Tribe members. This was the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back, as, the moment the trio appeared, the more mature of the vulpine women, Hantemu, charged toward Kusu with a massive club in hand.

Extending his paw, Attutyaptish was prepared to call his daughter back but elected not to when Vahn suddenly stated, "Try not to injure them." in a completely relaxed tone. â??â??

In an effort to respect Vahn's decision, Kusu dodged Hantemu's attack at a hair's breadth before darting around the six-armed woman's back and chopping her neck. When she felt virtually no feedback from the strike, a marginally surprised expression colored her face, but, thanks to her Autonomous Sovereign, she was easily able to avoid Hantemu's tempestuous follow-up.

Though it offered a number of inconveniences, especially for those with large breasts, one of the benefits of possessing six arms was that you could string together combos that the majority of two-armed individuals had no hope of defending against. Hantemu, despite being one of the Sages of Wisdom, was one of the Warrior Class members of her tribe. Her specialty was hammers and maces, but, like every physically inclined member of her species, she was also gifted in the art of grappling.

Realizing that she would never hit the nimble Kusu with her hammer, Hantemu promptly lobbed it into the air before pouncing on the comparably petite, blue-skinned woman. She believed that, so long as she could get a single hand on Kusu, the battle would swing in her favor.

Amused by Hantemu's efforts, Kusu allowed her staff to blink out of existence before placing her hands behind her back. Then, much to the Rakshasa woman's chagrin, she began narrowly evading each attempt to grab her with a completely relaxed smile on her face. This was a good opportunity to strengthen the notion that the Angels were an untouchable existence. More importantly, it was an opportunity to show off in front of Vahn, so, while everyone else was reluctant to start fighting, Kusu happily performed her evasive dance.

"My, you're quite spirited, aren't you~?"

Clicking her tongue, Hantemu ceased her torrential attempts to grasp Kusu's before breaking away and performing a series of hand signs. Unfortunately, while this was enough to earn her a curious stare from Vahn, Kusu wasn't particularly fond of sharing her spotlight. The moment she felt Vahn's attention shift to her opponent, the carefree smile on her face suddenly appeared remarkably frigid as she flickered into Hantemu's range and promptly planted her fist in the grey-skinned woman's gut.

Confident in her durability, Hantemu made no effort to defend herself from Kusu's relatively plain attack. Instead, a ridiculing smile developed across her face as she spread her arms like a trap ready to spring shut.

To Hantemu's credit, such a tactic would have worked against most opponents. Unfortunately, the Angels didn't stand at the pinnacle of their verse by resting on their laurels. They were among the most skilled martial artists that Vahn had ever encountered. Thus, while her punch appeared normal at a glance, those with enhanced perception would be able to see her fist vibrating at a remarkably high speed.

Resonant Frequency was a concept that denoted everything in existence, even space and time, as having a natural frequency where the medium vibrates the highest possible amplitude. Anything beyond that maximum threshold would result in the catastrophic failure of the medium.

Having gotten a basic understanding of Hantemu's body during their initial exchange, Kusu had managed to approximate the frequency needed to overcome a Rakshasa's apparent immunity to physical attacks. As a result, the moment her fist made contact with the much larger woman's body, Hantemu simply froze in place, her half-lidded eyes widening for the first time as an overwhelming numbness seized her entire body.

"It's time for you to go to sleep."

Without giving Hantemu a chance to respond, Kusu stepped away from the statuesque woman before manifesting her staff and pointing it towards her opponent's head. Vahn's order to avoid injuring them left her with very few options, so, similar to how Vados dealt with Ahirani's Grudge-based attack, Kusu was intending to seal Hantemu off in a closed space.

Just as a ring-shaped portal appeared over Hantemu's head, a flash of light briefly obscured the throne room as the largest of Attutyaptish's daughters, a woman with wolf-like ears but no tail, pressed the shutter of an old, magnesium-flash camera. When the light faded away, Kusu, Vados, and Marcarita had lost all color, their appearances reminiscent of people found in old, black and white photos.

Undaunted by the sudden flash and the change in her body, Kusu guided the ring-shaped portal to envelop Hantemu's body before directing her gaze towards the remarkably tall woman wielding a variety of different cameras. In response, the woman pressed the shutter-release of her handheld camera, her voice a cool monotone as she said, "Freeze Frame…"

Though it was invisible to others, Vahn was aware of a hazy grey cube manifesting the moment the camera's shutter clicked. Immediately thereafter, everything within the viewfinder of her camera was promptly frozen in time.

Pointing her second camera towards Vahn, the remarkably tall photographer briefly paused when she found him smiling at her and making a peace sign. For the briefest of moments, her camera felt a lot heavier than usual, a look of confusion marring her otherwise innocent-looking expression as she reluctantly snapped his, Vados's, and Marcarita's picture…

Seeing his daughter successfully capture the images of Vahn, Kusu, Vados, and Marcarita, a smile developed across Attutyaptish's face as he remarked, "Excellent work, Shaanti. The Queen-Mother is bound to be pleased with this result. Once we return to the forest, expect an ample reward."

Though he doubted it would hold them for long, Attutyaptish felt the tensions drain from his body when he saw Vahn sitting statuesque atop his throne. Shaanti was actually the weakest member of the Seven Sages of Wisdom as she possessed no martial or magical talent. Fortunately, fate hadn't been completely cruel to her. While it prevented her from speaking above a whisper, Shaanti's Gift, Silent Documentarian, possessed incredible utility. The smaller cameras allowed her to temporarily freeze her opponents in time. As for the larger camera, it possessed an even more terrifying ability, as, once processed, any damage or alterations made to the photos would directly affect reality, or, more specifically, the subjects captured within the image.

Just as Attutyaptish was preparing to reward his tallest daughter with some additional praise, the smaller cameras in her hands suddenly fell to pieces. A look of unbridled panic developed across Shaanti's face, as, even compared to enthusiasts and extreme voyeurs, she cherished her cameras and equipment more than her life. Photography was how she interacted with the world around her. Without the means to capture images, she wouldn't know what to do with herself.

Fortunately, while the cameras disassembled themselves into their constituent pieces, none of the extremely delicate components crashed to the ground. Instead, they neatly arranged themselves on a cloth that had appeared out of nowhere. The only exception to this were the rolls of film, which, at the present moment, orbited around each other atop Vahn's outstretched hand.

"Neat trick. If your father and sisters had coordinated with you, you may have been able to get off a spell or two before I…broke free…?"

Seeing Shaanti tear up as she stared unblinkingly at the rolls of film orbiting above his palm, Vahn's desire to tease her rapidly diminished. He hated seeing people cry. He also had a weakness towards women with fluffy, wolf-like ears, so, after quickly splicing out the images she had captured of Kusu, Vados, and Marcarita, he softly muttered, "Don't cry…" before returning the rolls of film to her using telekinesis.

Not expecting her film to be returned, Shaanti's ears promptly stood erect as she hurriedly donned a pair of pristine white gloves. Direct contact with film could irreversibly damage the medium upon which the images were captured, so, while she wanted nothing more than to snatch the rolls out of the air, Shaanti made sure to follow proper procedure as she carefully placed each roll into a small, briefcase-like storage container.

While that was going on, Attutyaptish and his remaining three daughters stared at Vahn and the Angels with a wide range of expressions on their faces. Attutyaptish looked as though he had just swallowed a bug, but, undoubtedly as a result of the prolonged petting she had received earlier, an appreciative smile had developed across the face of Prurmubhi. Similar expressions could be seen on the faces of her other two sisters, but, rather than appreciation, their smiles revealed a mixture of curiosity and chicanerous intrigue.

Representing the 'most intelligent' of Attutyaptish's daughters, Eshavi was a bespectacled woman with the same ashen-grey skin as the vast majority of the Rakshasa Tribe. What truly distinguished her, at least as far as appearances were concerned, was the fact she elected to wear sophisticated black and white robes rather than the tribal garments typically associated with her people. She also kept her pristine white hair short and neatly styled, a stark contrast to the free-flowing, carelessly groomed styles sported by the vast majority of her sisters.

Pushing up her square-rimmed glasses, a smile remarkably similar to the one often sported by Loki developed across Eshavi as she turned towards the last of Attutyaptish's most prominent children, a comparably petite woman with a reputation for being the greatest chef in the entire Rakshasa Tribe. Her outfit wasn't particularly sophisticated, but, with a remarkably voluptuous figure, fringe pigtails that framed her face, and a large black hat reminiscent of an upturned saucer, she stood out quite a bit even among the other members of their tribe.

"I believe it is our turn, Vahida. Would you like to go first…?"

Turning to meet her sister's gaze, a playful yet distorted smile developed across Vahida's face as she retorted, "You know my abilities aren't suited to direct combat. If you're too afraid to act, however, I suppose I'll have no choice but to take action…"

Though she didn't lose her crafty smile, Eshavi squinted her eyes ever so slightly in response to her sister's words. Their group, like many groups of seven, was loosely based on the Seven Deadly Sins. In that regard, she represented the Sin of Pride while Vahida, as could be expected of the greatest chef in their tribe, represented the Sin of Gluttony. The latter's skills might not be suited to fighting, but, when it came to stalling for time, she was nearly as gifted as Shaanti.

Out of consideration for their mission, Eshavi responded to Vahida's words by turning towards the repositioned Kusu, Vados, and Marcarita. Before stepping forward, however, she made sure to hit the rim of Vahida's wide-brimmed hat using the tip of her long, thick, crystal-tipped tail. This earned her a murderous glower from the much smaller Rakshasa, but, pretending she didn't notice, Eshavi took a few slow and graceful steps forward before manifesting a black and white grimoire in one of her right hands.

"Before we begin, I believe introductions are in order? My name is Eshavi, daughter of Attutyaptish. May I have each of your names~?"

While a look of realization flashed across Vahn's eyes, Kusu, Vados, and Marcarita still had the habit of looking down on their opponents. They were used to being the most powerful individuals in their respective Universes, so, in response to Eshavi's words, they readily introduced themselves.

Though she was a little disappointed that Vahn had remained silent, his look of realization hadn't escaped Eshavi's notice. Thus, before he could inform the trio of the trap they had just walked into, she replied with a teasing, "Thank you." before snapping her grimoire shut and manifesting a very familiar staff in her left hand.

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(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Kusu has the makings of a yandere…','Unfortunately, Vahn…','Mega Oof…')