Although Black Rhinos had incredible power and endurance, they were much easier to deal with than Vahn had expected. Even though the two girls had much lower stats than the monsters, their skills, abilities, and general capabilities, made them more than a match for the much stronger enemies. Fenrir's agility, combined with her unstoppable claws and teeth, easily overwhelmed the supposedly durable Black Rhinos, almost as if their hide was nothing but paper mache. As for Haruhime, her [Inari] almost made her untouchable and she gingerly evaded the enemy attacks at the near-zero distance, just like Vahn. Her [Featherfoot] was actually a higher rank than his own and her ability to read the 'tempo' of a fight made Haruhime a deadly opponent. Vahn could tell that, once she became stronger in the future, there would be few people that could actually pose a threat to her...and this was when she just had two tails.
As they progressed deeper into the floor, though not too deep, the trio became increasingly more efficient at dealing with the seemingly endless Black Rhinos that spawned from the floor, walls, and even ceiling. Vahn knew they made up the majority of monsters that spawned on the 51st floor, with the only exceptions being the Cadmus, Deformis Spiders, and any monsters that might have wandered in from other floors. Vahn personally wanted to hunt down a few Deformis Spiders since, even though he had never seen them before, he had a bit of a 'grudge' to settle with the ambush predators.
After defeating the current batch of Black Rhinos, Vahn turned his attention to Haruhime and Fenrir before feeling his body tilt slightly as he saw Fenrir sitting on the back of an incapacitated Black Rhinos as she munched on its arm. Seeing that Vahn had finished his fight, Fenrir showed a big grin as she continued to chomp away at the relatively 'hard' body of the monster. Vahn knew she didn't really care about the taste of things, though she seemed to be mimicking the other girls by having a preference for sweets, so he was almost immune to her antics. He had just gotten caught off guard since it had been a while between the last time he saw her eating monsters. The only reason she would do so these days was that she was getting tired to Vahn walked forward and began cleaning off her body while also channeling his own energy into her.
The moment Vahn began replenishing her energy, Fenrir dropped the limb she had been holding onto as she closed her eyes and enjoyed the warm flow of energy. Haruhime's tails twitched slightly but she didn't say anything as she kept watching their interaction from the side. However, though she was acting 'properly', Haruhime couldn't do much about her flickering and vibrant aura so Vahn waved her over and gave her some head pats to appease her. She walked forward with a small smile on her face before bowing her head slightly to make her ears more readily available. Vahn might have been fooled, if not for the fact he could see her aura blazing as her tails danced about in a mesmerizing arc behind her body. Though she was much better at controlling it these days, Haruhime couldn't completely restrain her abilities and Vahn's actions would typically be the reason.
Haruhime was one of the more 'sensitive' girls within the group as she placed a lot of her attention on 'developing' her feelings for Vahn. As Hephaestus had often done in the past, Haruhime often fell into a daze as she enjoyed the ambient heat that radiated from her own heart. The activation for her [Inari] was her own emotions so Haruhime had allowed them to develop freely while only putting in an effort to restrain herself in order to maintain the image Vahn had of her. Though she wasn't one of the girls he had known the longest, Haruhime's 'Love' Parameter was currently at 11,719 and she had the highest parameter of any girl, with the exception of goddesses.
Vahn did his best to ignore the almost viscous red tendrils that wrapped around his arm until he had completely cleaned off Fenrir. He knew Haruhime became much stronger when her emotional state was heightened so he wasn't too worried about her behavior. Though he wouldn't tell this to her directly, at least for the time being, Vahn had actually been thinking a lot about when their first time would be. He still wanted her to wait until she reached Level 3, as he wasn't fond of breaking his word on things, but he also knew she was well above the base capabilities of most Level 3's. Though she hadn't managed to win yet, Haruhime had even been able to pressure girls like Aki and Ryuu before they inevitably won as a result of the difference in skill, parameters, and experience.
After walking through the same tunnels a few times, which was possible as a result of the labyrinthine qualities of the floor, Vahn noticed a 'flood' of mana that had begun to converge in the corridor they were about to enter. Sending a signal to the two girls, they immediately came to a halt as Fenrir muttered, "Lots of baddies..." and her hair began to stand on end. Haruhime unsheathed her [Sakura Blossom] without any signs of fear at all as she waited for Vahn to make a decision. The largest group of Black Rhinos they had killed so far only had thirteen monsters, which hadn't been enough to pressure them, but Vahn wasn't sure they'd be able to take care of a larger mob. Even though their group only consisted of three people currently, Vahn knew the Monster Party could easily spawn more than a hundred monsters per person...
Though he knew it wasn't the 'wisest' course of action, Vahn's expression hardened into one filled with resolve as he said, "We're going to fight them...I'll take care of the vanguard while Fenrir will deal with anything that gets beyond my range. Haruhime, this is a good opportunity for you to improve your magic parameter so boost our levels before providing covering fire from the rear. If I start to get overwhelmed, both of you need to back away as quickly as possible before I use [Shundo] to catch up. Don't delude yourself into thinking you would be able to extricate me from a dangerous situation with your current capabilities. I will be able to escape easily as long as the two of you are safe..."
Without questioning Vahn's orders, Haruhime began chanting her [Uchide no Kozuchi] as Fenrir crouched low to the ground and began to breathe heavily. She was letting her own anger and frustration increase since it would directly influence her combat abilities in the coming battle. Once things began, she would activate her [Blood Moon] ability and likely go on a rampage on anything that managed to break through Vahn's defensive line. It wasn't an exaggeration to say that her parameters could easily double if she managed to develop the moon on her forehead into a scarlet state that matched the color of her glowing eyes.
Though it wasn't normally reflected in the system, Vahn knew how much of an increase Haruhime's buff gave him so he was able to infer his approximate strength with relative accuracy. Her [Uchide no Kozuchi] was a 30% increase to all of his parameters for up to an hour which meant that his stats had increased to more than 20,000 total, which gave him an equivalent status nearing Level 6, though the majority of it was in his Magic. Even his lowest parameter, ironically his Power, was currently at around 3,017, which was only around 800 points lower than a physical specialist like Tiona.
(A/N: I didn't originally plan to add this, but I expect people would want to know...)
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[[Stats]]
Name: [Vahn Mason]
Age: 15
Race: Human, *sealed*
Parameter: [Danmachi: 1-4]
-Level:3(3)
-Power: 1906+(F308)->(E415) Boosted: 3,017
-Endurance: 2221+(C694)->(B733) Boosted: 3,840
-Dexterity: 1807+(D540)->D597) Boosted: 3,125
-Agility: 1959+(F387)->(E460) Boosted: 3,144
-Magic: 3562+(SSS1989)->(SSS2019) Boosted: 7,255 (A/N: Ai caramba!)
Total:11455+(3918)->(4224) Boosted: 20,383
Soul Tier: 3 (Lord Soul)
[Karma]: 9014->9023
[OP]: 4,848,758->4,693,728
[Valis]: 643,884,901
Skills: [Will of the Emperor:SSS], [Rakshasa Body:E], [Keeper of the Akashic Tome:B], [Eyes of Truth: B],[Bow Mastery:S], [Stealth:B], [Chainbreaker:S], [Heart of the Eternal Flame:SS], [Prometheus:A], [Call of the Reaper:A],[Yggdrasil's Favor:S], [Veil of the Traveler: S], [Featherfoot:B], [Hands of Nirvana:S], [Metallurgy:B], [Fist Strike:B], [Friend of Spirits:A]
Magic: [Thria*Mimos:C], [Shundo:B]
Development Skills: [Wound Transfer:S], [Spirit Healing:A], [Swordsman:A], [Master Smith:H], [Mixing:C], [Mentor:A], [Petting:E], [Mage:C]
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Under the influence of Haruhime's magic, Vahn could feel his own confidence welling up in conjunction with the increase in his power so he pulled out his [Lævateinn] and said, "Let's go, Fenrir, Haruhime!" before willingly stepping into the Dungeon's trap. Soon after he advanced forward, cracks began to emerge from every surface of the Dungeon so Vahn brandished his [Lævateinn] and sent out a wave of flames the spread in front of him, encompassing the entirety of the corridor. He had already changed into 'moderately' fire-proof equipment so Vahn stepped forward like a fearless god of war directly into the encroaching flames.
[Lævateinn]'s firepower wasn't enough to overwhelm the defenses of the Black Rhinos, but it was still enough to cause them to writhe about in an attempt to extinguish the blood-colored fire. Vahn began sweeping the evil-looking blade in large arcs that left the bodies of several monsters split into pieces as their limbs danced around to mark his passing. Though Ais would still win in a duel, Vahn's current parameters outstripped her's by nearly 3,500 points so he was like an unstoppable force within the crowd of Level 4 monsters. He could feel his blood pumping like molten iron through his body as he easily evaded the enraged attacks of the Black Rhinos and awarded their efforts with a red-hot sword that cut through their bodies as if they were nothing more than an illusion. Not only the sword, but Vahn's own body had become an orangish-red like super-heated metal and even his punches were enough to leave fiery craters in the bodies of the unfortunate creatures.
Haruhime watched Vahn's image from the backline with wide eyes that reflected Vahn's heroic figure dancing within the flames. She wanted nothing more than to join his dance of death and didn't even care if the flames would devour her as a result. The only thing that prevented her from moving forward was Vahn's previous words and the value she placed in each precious syllable. Just like Fenrir, who was charging at the few monsters that managed to free themselves from the flames, the only thing she could do was obediently follow Vahn's orders. After bringing both of her hands together, almost as if she were praying, Haruhime muttered, "Piercing Chill, Icicle Edge~!" as two large spears of ice formed in the air around her. Once they reached around 2m in length, they shot forward faster than the speed of sound as Haruhime chained together her chants. As soon as the spears of ice were preparing to shoot forward, she had already completed her chant once again which resulted in two more icy projectiles to take the place of the ones that had just pierced through her targets...
The visage of the moon affixed to Fenrir's forehead continued to grow in intensity as she swiped her claws with enough force that she managed to decapitate her most recent victim. Though her range was seemingly lacking, as her claws were rather short, Fenrir's attacks were so swift that the carried severing laws that greatly extended the apparent range of her attacks. Even when she grazed her claws near the stomach of one of the Black Rhinos, without actually making contact with it, four 15cm deep gashes appeared across its abdomen that caused it's steaming bowels to pour out onto the Dungeon floor as it writhed in pain. Each victim that fell to her claws made Fenrir's own excitement increase, but it was the image of her Master cutting through dozens of enemies at a time that caused her emotions to reach a critical level. In Fenrir's mind, her Master was at the level of a 'supreme' being and she looked forward to the eternity they would share together as each progressively grew stronger...
Vahn wasn't sure when it happened, but it felt like his own excitement had reached an extreme before his [Will of the Emperor] completely dashed it away with its icy chill. In an instant, the crazed smile on his face faded and was replaced by an expression of absolute confidence. He had instinctually converged his domain to the point where it became a visible substance that created so much pressure on the Black Rhinos that each of their actions seems to slow to a crawl. Even the flames that danced around their battlefield seemed to lazily dance about in the ebb and flow of time. Each of his movements carried an unstoppable momentum and it was almost like he could feel the fear of the seemingly mindless creatures. Their red eyes, which once seemed fierce and full of madness, now flickered with the light of terror as they began to hesitate to take action against him.
As if compelled by an unknown force, Vahn turned his head and happened to match gazes with both Haruhime and Fenrir. Though he was subtly aware of it in the past, Vahn could now distinctly feel the devotion both girls had toward him and he knew it was feeding into his own power. His parameters didn't change within the system, but Vahn felt like his capabilities had undergone a qualitative change as a gentle voice whispered in his mind, (*Though an Emperor may possess incomparable individual might, it is only through the devotion of their followers that they are able to obtain true power...*). After Sis's voice passed through his mind, Vahn's intent was drawn to the description of [Will of the Emperor] for the first time in several months...
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[Will of the Emperor]
Rank: Innate (SSS) *Innate skills cannot be identified. Attempts to do so will result in a backlash.*
[Passive]: Transcend all limitations and boundaries. Increases growth based on the conviction of the wielder and their followers.
[Active]: Only those who stand above the ranks of all creatures are privy to the 'Will of the Emperor'!
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As it stated in the passive, Vahn was capable of breaking through all limits, but the most important factor was that his growth was based, not only on his own convictions, but those of his 'followers' as well. At this moment, filled with a clarity unlike anything Vahn had ever experienced, he could feel the bonds he shared, not just with Haruhime and Fenrir, but all of the people he had grown close to after coming to this record. Though they were separated by a great distance, Vahn could still feel their presence almost as if they had been at his side the entire time. However, though this realization was incredibly important, it was the active component of [Will of the Emperor] that drew Vahn's attention presently...
Vahn had awakened his domain at the same time as [Will of the Emperor], but it obviously had more uses than simply allowing him to exercise control over elemental energies and detect presences. He had been able to use it to subjugate monsters in the past, while also using it to glean insights into other system functions he hadn't previously been privy to. Now, however, Vahn felt like there was a powerful compulsion spreading through his body as he saw the fear expressed through the eyes of the remaining monsters.
Though he enjoyed fighting, Vahn didn't consider himself the type of person that reveled in the suffering of others. Even though they were constructs created by the Dungeon to repel invaders, Vahn saw their fear and took pity on the seemingly insignificant creatures. It wasn't by their own volition that they were set on their current paths, but something that had been arbitrarily decided by forces Vahn was not yet aware of. It may not be 'wrong' for him to slaughter them, but Vahn decided that, at this moment when he stood far above their meager existences, to spare them from suffering. With this intent surfacing from his consciousness, Vahn's jade-green eyes began to glow with a profound light as the elemental energy under his control began to resonate with his domain.
Vahn felt the chill in his mind reach a frigid level as a warmth spread from his chest to oppose it. Though they were contrasting energies, the two opposing forces intermixed with each other without any chaotic fluctuations at all before a feeling as though ice was melting appeared within his mind. The smile that had previously faded from his face reappeared but this time it was infinitely more gentle than the crazed expression from before. However, the domineering aura that was radiating from Vahn's body didn't diminish in the slightest as he raised his right hand and muttered, "Vanish..."
A wave of energy spread from Vahn's body and passed through everything that stood before him within the corridor. The elemental energies contained within the air intermixed with the vital energies within the bodies of the monsters. Other than a select few individuals, which hadn't lost the will to fight, the rest of the Black Rhinos turned statuesque as the color began to fade from their bodies. Almost as if they had been turned into pillars of salt, the bodies of the monsters began to erode away as the breeze flowing through the corridor touched their figures. When Vahn pulled back his hand, the pulse of energy retracted and his domain returned to normal. As for the monsters, however, the receding pulse had caused their bodies to completely break down and, other than their cores and drop items, there was nothing left of their previous existence.
Of the 143 Black Rhinos that had been present before his seemingly casual action, only 29 remained. Unlike their weaker brethren, these monsters were slightly stronger and there was a fair chance they could have even become variants in the future. Now, however, they had decided to walk a path that inevitably resulted in their suffering. Vahn's previous action really was an act of 'mercy' that instantly killed the other monsters without any pain at all. The only thing they experienced was a warm pulse spreading through their body and a feeling of release as the mana in their bodies was dispersed into the atmosphere. Without any energy to sustain them, the molecules that constituted their bodies previous completely broke down into their constituent parts before their bodies ceased to exist in their entirety.
As for the remaining twenty-nine, Vahn would have felt genuine respect for their resolve if not for the fact they were still mindlessly charging toward him. Now, he instead felt a small amount of disgust, not at the monsters themselves, but the entity that forced them to exist in such a 'pathetic' state. Though their brethren were killed earlier, they at least showed signs of individuality when they learned to feel fear. As for these surviving few, they were completely caught up in the compulsion hard-coded into them by the Dungeon. Even though they were heading directly toward their deaths, they showed no semblance of awareness on their faces and didn't react at all even when their 'companions' had died.
After brandishing [Lævateinn], the flames around Vahn began to disappear as a red and blue shadow passed by his flanks and charged at the surviving monsters. Even without him giving them direct orders, Haruhime and Fenrir had an almost 'instinctual' understanding of Vahn's current state and immediately took action. With an almost melancholic smile on his face, Vahn pulled out his bow and began firing arrows into the joints of the Black Rhinos as Haruhime and Fenrir cut through them with a commendable display of skill. In her current state, Vahn knew that Fenrir's parameters had more than doubled since the scarlet moon on her forehead cut through the low light of the Dungeon like a shining gemstone. As for Haruhime, though she might not have been aware of it herself, Vahn had seen the strange giant fox enter her body once again as an illusory third tail danced around, echoing the movements of her other two...
(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Rising Emotions...','It's over...20,000!?','Bye Felicia...')
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