1893 Attrition

Not expecting Adori to incorporate 'Arie Swordsmanship' into a wide-range artillery strike, Vahn couldn't help but admire the woman's resourcefulness as he watched the destructive golden beams form a semi-spherical cage that distorted space-time to such an extent that even Enkidu appeared to bend.

Unfortunately, other than forcing Hagipherione, Maschenny, and several others to retreat, Adori's attack didn't accomplish much else. Her attack might have been one of the most destructive Vahn had encountered since arriving in the Tower, but it was fundamentally incapable of 'reaching' him. Her mastery of the Laws was simply too shallow, so, without hitting him with an attack capable of wiping out an entire Realm, this was a battle of attrition she could never hope to win...

Despite directing several attacks their way, Adori was shocked to realize that, even with the Golden November, the golden chains attempting to encircle her remained whole. The realization that she couldn't destroy them caused her scalp to tingle as feelings of anxiety began to surge forward for the first time in thousands of years. Then, as if something inside of her had broken, a sour feeling plagued her nose as she directed the blades of the Golden November toward herself, shouting, "I am the blade that strikes down the Empire's foes. I will not lose...!"

Though he realized her intentions, there wasn't much Vahn could do to prevent Adori from further escalating things. All he could do was stare in fascinated silence as Adori assimilated the Golden November into her body, igniting it from within rather than allowing its energy to diffuse into the environment. This caused a vibrant golden cross to appear at the center of her chest, and, though her eyes and hair already possessed a golden luminescence before, they now emitted a beautiful, breathtaking, iridescence.

As if she could suddenly sense his intent, Adori directed her gaze in the direction where Vahn was viewing her from before blitzing one of the gaps in Enkidu's chains. Under normal circumstances, a Tier 4 would never be able to break free from a region sealed off by Enkidu. Adori, however, didn't seem to care about what others considered to be possible, her body 'compressing' to the size of a child for a brief moment so that she could slip through the gap and stab the area where his intent was emanating.

Unfortunately, as impressive as her attacks were, they were still far from being able to affect Vahn in any meaningful way. To demonstrate this, he manifested his body around the point where Adori had stabbed, an unconcerned smile on his face as he reached out to caress her head and say, "You are certainly very powerful, but I'm afraid that simply isn't enough..."

Surprised by Vahn's ability to touch her head before she could even react, Adori's pupils shrank to the size of pinholes as she darted back at a speed rivaling teleportation. At nearly the exact same moment, her Carrier manifested around Vahn's body, each of the cannons pointing inward as the shielded plates formed a blockade to prevent his escape.

Smiling wryly in response, a runic halo appeared above Vahn's head as the golden light emitted from the carrier's cannons enveloped his body. With the plating forming a barrier, this caused the interior to resemble a small, extremely radiant, golden sun. It was so bright, in fact, that, even with the armored plating blocking most of the light, the surroundings seemed to darken considerably as the temperature for several kilometers began to spike at a terrifying rate.

Ignoring the fact that the golden cross on her chest was gradually spreading, cracking apart her body, Adori took several deep breaths to calm herself as she stared directly at the phenomenon she had created. As for Hagipherione and Maschenny, they had long-since departed the range of Vahn's domain, their expressions masks of calm as they watched the battle play out from atop the Imperial Flagship.

With the light from Adori's attack beginning to fade away, Maschenny took the opportunity to break the silence, half-turning to Hagipherione to remark, "It seems a wave of change is about to sweep across the Tower and the Ten Great Families. What will you do? It's not too late to choose a side. At this rate, you are fated to become little more than a sacrifice...be it for the Empire or your Family..."

Seeing Vahn emerge unscathed from Adori's attack, a deep-set frown appeared on Hagipherione's face as she shifted her gaze to Maschenny, saying, "I have no interest in becoming a pawn in your games. I already told...if you want my Red October, you can pry it from my cold, dead, hands. That is, assuming you have the power..."

Meeting Hagipherione's gaze with her own, an amused smile gradually spread across Maschenny's face as a sadistic glimmer flashed across her eyes. This caused Hagipherione to loosen her grip on the Red October, but, rather than weakening, her aura strengthened considerably as a massive cut appeared across the reinforced hull of the flagship.

Seemingly amused by the display, a light chuckle emanated from Maschenny's as she held up the Yellow May, bands of yellow lightning dancing across its length. Rather than attacking, however, she let it return to its base form, an ornate yellow spear that was eerily reminiscent of the Gáe Buidhe. Then, with a slight roll of the eyes, she shifted her attention to the battle between Vahn and Adori before nonchalantly remarking, "Without absolute power, authority and political mindedness are far more important than individual combat prowess..."

Snorting through her nose, Hagipherione retorted, "Spoken like a weakling..." before storing away her Red October and returning her attention to the fight. At the same time, though she appeared unperturbed on the surface, sparks appeared in Maschenny's eyes as she balled her left hand into a fist...

---

With several hours having passed, the golden cross spreading across Adori's chest had expanded to encroach upon her neck, shoulders, and diaphragm. She felt as though her body was about to shatter like glass, yet, in spite of this, she continued to press forward with ever-increasing intensity. It had gotten to the point that a casual sweep of her sword left a massive rift within the void, and, though it placed a heavy strain on her body, her movement speed had increased to the point that the terrain for several kilometers visibly shifted every time she performed an evasive or offensive maneuver.

Though he wasn't all that surprised by Adori's power, Vahn was beginning to feel a little helpless in the face of the woman's tenacity. There was no reason for things to have developed to this extent, yet, as if she was fighting for the sake of the entire world, she continued drawing out more power from her body. She had pushed herself so far beyond her limits that it was a little ridiculous, and, were it not for his general immunity to her attacks, combined with the fact he simply couldn't be killed, Vahn knew he would have fallen long ago.

As per usual, Vahn was beginning to feel a little guilty about the current situation. Adori was doing her best to defeat him, yet, in spite of all her efforts, the nature of his existence made it impossible for her to succeed. Had their situations been reversed, Vahn knew he would have felt unbelievably frustrated, so, rather than feel any enjoyment from the battle, his mood had become progressively more melancholic...

Blocking Adori's meteoric blow with his scale-covered arm, Vahn couldn't help but grimace as he asked, "How long do you intend to keep this up? Can't you see that your body is on the verge of breaking down? What are you hoping to achieve by pushing yourself to such extremes...!?"

Rather than immediately answering his question, Adori replied by slipping her hand past Vahn's guard, her fingers now resembling golden crystals as she grasped his throat and said, "My life is inconsequential compared to the survival of the Empire and the perpetuation of peace. Even if it does little more than give you a reason to pause when considering your future actions, I am more than willing to sacrifice everything in order to protect the people who depend on the Empire...!"

Punctuating her words, an explosion that seemed to cover the heavens illuminated the entirety of the 40th Floor as Adori sacrificed her left arm as the catalyst for a spell. Had they not retreated to a safe distance long ago, the entire 1st Army Corps would have been wiped out in the explosion to follow as virtually all the Shinsu within several hundred kilometers seemed to ignite in response to the sacrificial attack.

When the light began to fade away several minutes later, Adori, now missing half her cloak and the entirety of her left arm could be seen standing stoically within the air. To make matters even worse, the stump of her arm, now resembling the same golden crystal that comprised much of her body, began to flake away as the Golden November continued to ignite within her chest.

Detecting no traces of Vahn or his intent, a slight frown marred Adori's face as she began to look around the area for any traces of his existence. She didn't believe for a moment that he had died, as, ever since the strange runic halo appeared above his head, he seemed to become completely immune to Shinsu. This included Shinsu infused into spells, so, while they had proven marginally more effective than most other forms of attack, it was difficult to imagine him being defeated in such a manner...

Sensing an almost imperceptible fluctuation in the space to her right, Adori whirled around with the force of a typhoon, sword tracing a magnificent golden arc that seemed to bisect the horizon. To her surprise, what greeted her blade wasn't Vahn but a section of the immaculate golden chains that had caused her countless headaches during their previous exchanges. This caused her scalp to tingle in frustration, not because the chain had impeded her attack but because there was a Pocket floating next to it with the message, 'This is your win. See you around, Princess.' in light blue text.

Realizing that Vahn was running away, Adori tore through space at a speed that made the speed of light seem leisurely in comparison. This caused a large 'crack' to appear across her body, but, rather than concern herself with this, Adori pulled out her own Pocket, asking, "What happened to the Hell Express?" in a calm tone that didn't match her current mental state.

Upon hearing that the Hell Express had departed in accordance with its original schedule, Adori paused for several minutes to consider whether or not Vahn had somehow returned to its interior or escaped elsewhere. Even High Rankers couldn't enter the Express while it was in motion, and, as far as she knew, Vahn still needed to pass the Tests of each Floor to continue on to the next. Thus, unless he had the ability to be in two places at once, the obvious assumption was that he was still on the 40th Floor.

Were it anyone else, Adori would have abided by common sense, ordering the 1st Army Corps to search the 40th Floor for signs of his presence. Instead, she directed her eyes towards an empty point in space, the location where the Hell Express had disappeared between the boundaries of the 40th and 41st Floors. Unfortunately, even she lacked the capacity to trespass the boundary between Floors, so, while it was possible to blockade the station on the 41st Floor, chasing after the train was impossible.

Exhaling a sigh, Adori inspected the state of her broken body before shaking her head and saying, "I will let you go this time...if it turns out you were lying to me, I will spare no expense in my efforts to hunt you down...". Then, with her Pocket reappearing next to her, she connected to her Flagship, ordering, "Gather all parties responsible for reports related to the Sage Dragon Emperor..."

(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Adori got no chill...','Maschenny be scheming...','Vahn's greatest weakness is a persistent and sincere woman xD...')

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