Endless Path : Infinite Cosmos

Vahn decided that it would be best to confer with the goddesses back at the Manor before he made a final decision. In truth, he had been struggling with how best to use the [SAS: SSS] since receiving it and, if it could put this matter to rest, Vahn didn’t think it was a bad trade. The only problem with this was the fact that Vahn still lacked a great deal of information, including what Enyo’s actual purpose had been. Even now, he still didn’t know how Ouranos was involved, how Ais’ parents were involved, or how Bell had been expected to kill Enyo in the future...

The manga very well may have had the setting where Bell and his companions managed to ’defeat’ Enyo, only for her true form to be revealed after. She would have then gone deeper into the Dungeon, causing the strength of monsters to gradually increase with time as the original residents of this world desperately resisted. Bell had already reached Level 9 in the Divination so it was very possible he would have grown beyond the restriction of Falna at some point, all while having the potential to reach Tier 4 himself. The final battle could have been the Tier 4 Bell, using his incredibly broken Innates, fighting against Enyo in the very heart of the Dungeon...

Realizing how complicated things had become, Vahn released a sigh, completely ignoring the shaking black egg that seemed to be desperately trying to free itself. It was shortly after this that Vahn realized he actually had no way of moving the egg from this spot, as the chains of [Enkidu] were protruding from the void to lock it in place. If he left the area, the chains would fade away the moment his domain no longer overlapped with them. He had the option of producing [Enkidu] out of his own body but that would still mean he was stuck lugging around a 5m tall egg until he was able to take it back to the surface. He knew [Enkidu] would completely prevent him from being transported with teleportation magic, meaning he was ’stuck’ egg sitting until they could seal her away...

With nothing better to do at the moment, Vahn began absorbing the ambient Fire Elemental energy to rapidly cool down the massive chamber, which now had a teardrop shape. Because of the pillar of flames he had directed into the deeper Floors, the molten crystal lake had drained away, creating a ’funnel’ of sorts that continued for several hundred meters. Vahn noticed that the liquid crystal had also flowed out into some lower passages and could only help that there weren’t any innocent lives claimed during his fight against the errant goddess. His decision to use the [Star Fire Sphere]s had been a spur of the moment thing, prompted by his frustration with Enyo...now, Vahn realized he needed to properly research the best use for some of the emergency weapons he created...

As that thought crossed his mind, Fafnir popped its head out of the shadows before adopting a humanoid appearance and flying over to Vahn’s side. Sensing this, Vahn stated as a precaution, "Be careful, Fafnir, I have her sealed away but there is always a chance something could go wrong..." With how devious Enyo had been, Vahn wouldn’t be surprised if she still had plans that had been put into fruition that didn’t require her oversight. He already suspected that she had a Familia of her own and, with how ’patient’ Enyo had been, the odds of them having infiltrated several sections of society were very high.

Though she likely wouldn’t have been able to bestow her blessing upon people, resulting in her need for corrupting monsters, capturing Xenos, and creating Creatures, Vahn assumed that Enyo hadn’t just been idling about. Just as she had likely manipulated Evilus for her own ends, Enyo had probably planted her pawns within other influential Familia over the centuries. There was even a chance her forces had spread out across the Continent, merely waiting for the day when she would break free so that they could bring about the destruction of the surface world...

Realizing this was very likely to be the case, Vahn released a heavy sigh while his main body back at the Manor had awoken from meditation and was moving to explain the situation and make preparations for what was to come. It was the middle of the night now but almost everyone was still awake while Syr had even been waiting for him to exit his temporary seclusion. Though her expression seemed calm, accented by a beautiful smile, Vahn could tell she was troubled by something, asking, "Is it bad...?" He had anticipated that, other than attacking Haven, Enyo had probably done something to try and divert their focus back to the surface as well.

Confirming his suspicions, Syr nodded her head, explaining, "There have been numerous attacks within the City. The Alliance forces are working to control the damage and deal with the culprits, but the number of fires has proven troublesome..." Vahn nodded his head, saying, "I’ll head out to try and deal with the fires and see if I can’t provide assistance...has anything happened near the Manor...?" As they had already anticipated an attack on the City, Vahn wasn’t surprised by Syr’s words in the least. A few hours after he had ventured into the Dungeon, the ’War Council’ of the Alliance had already started to mobilize forces to deal with any attacks that might befall Orario.

This time, Syr’s smile seemed more genuine as she said, "Though there were some enemies skulking about, they were all swiftly dealt with by Terra. Most of the attackers had tried to target Spero but they were unable to penetrate the barrier. The more troublesome matter is that the enemy had been planting some kind of strange ’seeds’ inside of tamed monsters, turning them into the strange plant-like mutants that you warned about previously. They are able to emit a poisonous miasma that caused a great deal of chaos...fortunately, the [Panacea] that had been prepared in advance has proved effective. Though some of the storage warehouses were compromised, the reserve stock you prepared had gone unnoticed..."

Even before they knew of Enyo’s ability to directly interfere with a person’s mind, the Alliance had already made preparations to deal with inside enemies ever since the ’enemies within’ warning. It likely hadn’t been her intention, but Enyo ended up giving them advance warning for what was to come, allowing them to prepare backup supplies in the event something went wrong. Vahn was tempted to tease the shackled goddess about this fact but decided that talking to her at all would only cause more problems...

Syr gave her report within the Sub-Space orb to save time, allowing Vahn to also update her on matters on his end. Once they were both up to speed, they exited the orb and headed towards the Guest Residence, which was currently the emergency headquarters for dealing with this situation. Syr had already written most of the details into the network, which updated when they exited the orb, so the gathered goddesses were already informed by the time Vahn reached the residence. Currently, Loki, Hephaestus, Minerva, Freya, Alala, and Bast. The latter was a goddess from the Southern Sands who had joined the Alliance over a year ago but only recently became a part of the War Council.

Bast was unique in that, much like Anubis, she had the same olive-colored skin as a member of the Southern Tribe, but was instead of Cat Person. She had short black hair that was neatly trimmed in a straight line while her eyes glimmered between gold and emerald. Though she was a bit of an airhead at times, Bast did have a Divinity related to War and had been good friends with Anubis for a very long time. Contrary to Anubis, however, Bast had a bit of a sadistic and playful personality, even though she could be easily ’bullied’ if she recognized you as being in a higher position...

Upon Vahn’s entry into the room, most of the goddesses shifted their focus to Vahn while Loki craned her head back and said, "There is a bit of chaos, but the situation on the surface is under control for the time being. Syr should have already explained things, but those girls had already dealt with most of the major threats. You don’t have to worry about the fires either, as most of the areas being burned are in low population centers..." Though he gave a curt nod in response, Vahn still asked, "What are we doing to combat the invisible enemies? Is Fels still locked away in the underground...?"

Instead of Loki, Minerva answered rather quickly, "The glasses created by Asfi have allowed our forces to track down some of the invisible enemies. Though some slipped through our grasp, it is very likely they will lay low for a while before drawing more attention to themselves. As for Fels, well..." Loki picked up the sentence, adding in a voice filled with scorn, "That bastard, Ouranos, tried to send Hermes over, asking for Fels to be freed to help deal with the attack on the City. I told him he could shove his feathery hat up his ass...!" The fact Ouranos even thought to request they free an ’enemy’ that had tried to kill Vahn was laughable to Loki. Currently, Fenrir and Alexa were watching over the bound skeletal figure after Loki threatened that, if Hermes tried to free him, she would truly castrate him in both the Mortal World and Heaven...

Hephaestus placed her hand on Loki’s shoulder, a small attempt to get the latter to calm down, as she looked toward Vahn and said, "Hestia, Demeter, and Artemis are taking care of the children. They are all having a big sleepover together tonight..." Though it wasn’t exactly a ’coincidence’, even Hermes wasn’t able to use his movement ability to break into the Manor, so long as Hestia was within. Her Divinity made the Manor an almost inviolable territory while few gods truly wished to antagonize her. Hermes’ strength was actually on the weaker end of the spectrum and, if not for his ability to move about freely, his status as an Olympian wouldn’t have held out for very long.

Though he had already been informed about the sleepover from Syr, Vahn gave a small nod to Hephaestus, a casual smile on his face. In truth, he’d like to just sneak into the room and enjoy a peaceful night’s rest with his children but, as matters stood, he had other duties to tend to. To that end, they began to discuss how to deal with Enyo, what to do with Fels, the future of Orario, the continued development of Haven, and how to deal with the large network of individuals who had been influenced by Enyo’s abilities. Vahn was very tempted to just ’wrangle’ up every god with [Enkidu] just to make sure they were in the clear but that could cause no end to future troubles within the godly community. There was also very little reason as, now that Enyo was sealed away, she shouldn’t be able to influence them further.

Everyone that still acted on Enyo’s behalf, at this point, would be someone who had been fully indoctrinated and manipulated by her. They were those who had been led astray, raised within the darkness and brought up believing in their goddess’ teachings. Though there were some who could be redeemed, such as some Creatures, Xenos, and the captives on the 60th Floor, others would never be able to live a normal life. It was better to simply return them to the reincarnation cycle and pray they are able to live freely in the future. The Alliance would likely take in any young members that were discovered, but that would be on a purely situational basis...

Ultimately, it was decided that, instead of Vahn immediately bringing Enyo out of the Dungeon, he would remain on the 60th Floor. The defense of Haven had gone relatively smoothly and, without Enyo’s influence to guide them, most of the monsters had been defeated without ever breaking through the defensive lines of the Haven Defense Force. Now, Vahn would call some of the Xenos he had subordinated and named to his side so they could establish a forward base within the 60th Floor.

With the existence of the Observation Room alone, the Alliance had more than enough justification to establish a large presence on the Floor. Vahn would be creating a teleportation ward with Terra’s assistance later while they systematically wiped out the remnants of Enyo’s forces and rescue her victims. He hadn’t been able to save them earlier but Vahn had already verified the existence of thirteen ’birthing chambers’ after reading through the notes of the skeletal entity, ’Ein’. She had been serving at Enyo’s side for more than 800 years and, from her notes, Vahn was able to get a few answers regarding some of the questions he had...

Though further investigations would be necessary, Ein had recorded that Enyo had been one of the gods to descend into the world alongside Ouranos nearly a thousand years ago. Unlike the other gods, who had been drawn to the mortal world out of general curiosity, Enyo’s goal had been the Dungeon the entire time. She had even formed a cooperative alliance with the forces of Albert Waldstein, who was then leading a Mercenary organization called ’Wings of Freedom’. It wasn’t just her Familia who ventured alongside the legendary Hero’s party, however, as several other gods that would one day make up the member of Evilus had been present...

The Dungeon had long been considered a threat to the survival of the surface races and, with existences like the Black Dragon King, it was paramount that they were able to seal it away. As a result, more than ten Familia had banded together to probe into the Dungeon’s depths, trying to unlock its secrets. Enyo was one of the few gods that accompanied the party and, by continually upgraded her Familia’s Status Boards, they had become one of the mainstays in the Alliance. Being a Goddess of War, many proud warriors answered the call to arms and, fighting alongside the other members of the Alliance, the ’Wings of Freedom’ had slowly made headway into the Dungeon...

After several hard-fought battles, the group finally arrived at the 60th Floor of the Dungeon and, though it was not recorded in History, they battled against a monstrous entity named Typhon. Ein’s records stated that the creature was more than 300m long, possessing the upper body of a winged giant and the lower body of a massive serpentine creature. By the end of the battle, the layout of the Dungeon itself had been fundamentally changed, causing almost every Floor to collapse as a result of the climactic battle. Even with this level of destruction, and almost every member of the ’Wings of Freedom’ falling, they still came out victorious. However, it was also this battle that allowed creatures like the Black Dragon King, the Behemoth and, spawning from the corpse of Typhon, the Leviathan to break free...

With no other choice, the Wings of Freedom retreated from the Dungeon to give chase to these cataclysmic threats. To prevent further monsters from escaping, Ouranos, supposedly inspired by the fervor and heroism of Albert’s party, made the rare decision to create a large seal on the Dungeon, using the emergent Tower of Babel as the foundation.

The real reason for this action, however, was to prevent what he and many of the other gods had seen during the conflict between the Wings of Freedom and Typhon from leaking out. Not only was the creature nearly as strong as a god, but they could sense there were even more dangerous entities contained deeper within the Dungeon. They watched helplessly as Enyo entered into a secret chamber, followed by the emergence of a dreadfully powerful aura...However, instead of confronting the enemy then and there, Ouranos, being the ’observer’ he had been since time immemorial, chose to seal it away, waiting for a ’True Hero’ to rise up one day and deal with the threat.

Ouranos had believed that Albert would be the one to uncover the secrets of the Dungeon and open the way towards the future, even going so far as the bestow the first blessing upon the young Hero. As a result, Albert made an Eternal Vow that, so long as the Dungeon exists, he would dedicate all of his lives to subjugating it...all so that the surface world could one day be free from the impending threat of destruction that even gods were powerless to protect them from...

As for how Ein knew of these things, it wasn’t exactly clear from the doc.u.ments that Vahn had discovered, only that she had compiled excerpts from several journals and texts that had still existed on the 59th and 60th Floors. When the Wings of Freedom had been wiped out, they had thousands of members and Vahn suspected it was the compilation of their own expedition reports that had allowed Ein to make her deductions. After all, they were events had taken place more than two hundred years before she came under Enyo’s influence while the matters related to Ouranos seemed grossly out of place...almost as if they had been added later.

Vahn suspected it was Fels, who had come to serve under Ouranos, who had been feeding information to Ein. Though there was nothing showing they were brother and sister, the fact that Fels still had a pure aura, while still choosing to interact with such malicious entities, showed there had to be ’some’ kind of relation. Ein had probably come under Enyo’s influence at some point and, unable to leave his sister to suffer alone, Fels had been doing his best to act as support...at least, that is what Vahn would like to believe. In truth, unless Fels and Ouranos gave them the answers, it was impossible to know the truth...

(A/N: I’m going to be busy for the next couple of days and can’t really guarantee how many chapters will be coming out. Also, I’m moving apartments very soon and will be leaving for work around June 14th. At the very least, I will be releasing a chapter every single day and, so long as I can make time, you can expect around 4 chapters other than when I’m moving. Today should still have one or two more, though they may not be until later. I’ll keep everyone posted as things continue to develop (UwU)~!)

(A/N: Alternate Titles: ’Vahn should just make Bell into a powerhouse and then lock him in a room with Enyo xD...’,’Enyo’s schemes echo throughout History...’,’You know nothing, Vahn Mason...’)