EPIC: Path of Demons and Dragons

'You know, I thought this looked silly through a monitor, but seeing it in person...it's actually kind of cool...' thought Vahn, hovering in the sky over a cartoonish-looking mobile fortress fashioned to resemble a giant green turtle with a three-lane adjustable aircraft catapult on its back. Its length was more than 300m, and though it walked on four colossal legs, it could also hover using massive anti-gravitational boosters.

pewaa

pewaa pewaa

As Vahn watched the fortress slowly trudge forward, it abruptly opened fire at a group of Goblin-like monsters that had spawned nearby, striking them with a series of explosive laserbeams. Immediately after, a series of nine UFO-like drones left the fortress, flew over to the craters created by the laser's explosions, and looted the items that had been dropped before promptly returning.

Noticing Enhancement Crystals among the items looted, Vahn frowned and thought, 'That's odd...Enhancement Crystals shouldn't drop unless the monsters are slain directly...'

(The lasers are powered by Atlas, who is interfaced with the fortress's main systems) revealed Sis, musing (*It's not very sporting, but it's an ingenious solution.*)

'As expected from a Vegapunk...' thought Vahn, exhaling exasperatedly from his nose, briefly closing his eyes, and shaking his head. He couldn't fault Vegapunk and his Satellites for discovering a loophole to the failsafe they had implemented to dissuade the callous slaughter of monsters, but he could never understand the impulse of scientists to regard everything, be it people, animals, monsters, or the environments they called home, as resources to advance their research.

pshaaaaaaa

Hearing the compressive hum of a flight unit accelerating, Vahn turned his attention to a group of five Sisters speeding toward him in long-sleeved crimson flight jackets with fluffy white collars and futuristic-looking visors with six tiny green lenses. Each was equipped with similarly crimson flight units that adorned their waists and conformed to their legs like thigh-high greaves rigged with tiny thrusters at their hips, lower outer thighs, knees, all along their calves, and at the base of their feet. In their hands were an array of magic staffs fashioned to resemble modern firearms, and, as was the trend, they wore white sukumizu without pants.

Coming to an abrupt stop a few meters from Vahn, the Sister at the head of the pack unequipped her SMG-like staff, stood at attention, and gave a flawless military salute as she greeted, "Flight Lieutenant Gemma, 1st Biri-Biri Air Division greets the Dragon God! Welcome to Mobile Fortress Atlas-004, codenamed Aspidochelone Green!"

"It's good to see you, Gemma..." said Vahn, offering a slight nod before shifting his gaze to each Sister in turn, smiling as he added, "And you as well, Fumiko, Erika, Maki, and Aina. I like what each of you has done with your hair. Variety is the spice of life."

Though he had always addressed them by name, faint blushes tinted the cheeks of the four Sisters behind Gemma. The latter exhibited the bearing of a consummate professional, her expression behind her visor remaining unchanged as she asked, "Pardon me for getting to the point, Sir, but are you here to meet with the Young Master or, perhaps, Dr. Atlas? Either way, we would be privileged to escort you."

"I'm mainly here to speak with Millicas, but I wouldn't mind a tour of the fortress..." answered Vahn, shifting his gaze to the megalithic mechanical turtle as he added, "Dr. Atlas has concocted quite the masterful piece of machinery..."

click

Following the sound of a speaker clicking on, a brash, child-like voice echoed loudly, laughing, "Hahahaha~! The Dragon God has a discerning eye! Aspidochelone Green is my greatest masterpiece thus far! Come on in, and I'll give you the grand tour before showing you some of the other inventions I'm working on~!"

"Sounds good," responded Vahn, offering a nod to one of the cameras focused on him before returning his attention to the squad of Sisters and humming, "Well then, shall we...?" while gesturing toward the fortress with his right hand.

"Understood! Squad Alpha, assume Escort Formation...!" ordered Gemma, prompting Fumiko, Erika, Maki, and Aina to respond with curt affirmations before forming around Vahn and surprising him by materializing an ornate floating platform for him to stand on. Then, with Gemma leading the way, they flew down and somewhat humorously entered the fortress through a triple bulkheaded access port located beneath the observation deck and four twin-barreled railguns serving as the turtle's tail and posterior line of defense.

fwoom

Appearing from a crimson-hued Magic Circle just as Vahn was arriving, Millicas, sporting a crimson, gold-trimmed, military-esque top with long tails and gold epaulets above white pants and knee-high leather boots, offered a courteous bow with his right hand over his heart as he greeted, "Millicas Gremory greets the Dragon God, Vahn Mason-sama. Welcome to the mobile fortress, Aspidochelone Green."

"We meet again, my kindred," said a tall and curvaceous woman with long and wavy crimson hair, matching crimson eyes, pointed black horns that flowed away from her scalp, and large breasts. Her unblemished skin was a healthy reddish-brown, garbed in a revealing red dress with tall stiletto heels, and a notably thick tail covered in crimson scales with a pale beige underside protruded from her lower back—a byproduct of her learning it was commonplace for Dragons from other worlds to assume human forms with their tails intact.

"As always, the pleasure is mine, Lady Ignivara," greeted Vahn, offering a slight nod. The woman before him was the Red Dragon Queen and one of the Six Pillar Gods from a world called Restaurant in Another World—one of Rias's favorite slice-of-life, food-themed anime. Her original name was simply Red Queen, but after becoming acquainted with the infinitely more powerful Great Red Dragons of the Tower, she accepted a name vested to her by the Zahir Clan's Elder.

Raising his head, Millicas, appearing to be in his late teens, potentially even his early twenties, adopted a notably tired smile and asked, "Am I correct to presume you're here to discuss the matter concerning Kunou-san?"

"Tangentially," admitted Vahn. "My main reason for being here is to check on you and see how you're doing."

"Ah...did Kaa-san send you...?" asked Millicas, his smile gaining a hint of awkward timidity as he half-turned and gestured to the bulkhead at the far end of the hangar, inviting, "Please, come this way. I will show you to our drawing and conference room. Tea and a light meal are already being prepared."

psh psh psh psh psh

Interrupting Millicas's escort, the bulkhead he was gesturing to abruptly hissed open, followed by a petite, child-like girl with fluffy white and pink hair that was parted at the center and formed long, waist-length curls at the sides of her head. Her large eyes were a bright shade of blue, droopy, beige fur-covered ears adorned the sides of her head, and a long, bushy, slightly rounded tail—beige on top and white on bottom—protruded from her lower back.

Among the girl's features, her single most prominent trait was the fact she was more than seven meters tall. Next were her lower biceps, forearms, and fists, constructed from multi-segmented brown metal with gold bolts on her knuckles. In Vahn's memory, she traditionally wore arm warmers, oversized pink boots, and a fluffy-collared pink smock with a yellow arrow that pointed precariously to the gap between her thighs, so he was a little taken aback to see her wearing a predominately white sukumizu with pink accents and PUNK-05 printed on the front, sleeker knee-high pink boots with thrusters like a flight unit, and a fluffy-sleeved, fluffy-collared, fluffy-hemmed lab coat that was open at the front.

"My world's greatest scientist greets the multiverse's greatest sponsor~!" exclaimed the girl, Atlas, who, despite her innocent appearance and the broad smile adorning her perpetually blush-marked face, represented Dr. Vegapunk's aspect of violence.

Leaping through the air, producing a large shadow that rapidly grew as it descended toward Vahn—implicating everyone near him—Atlas gave the impression she was about to gleefully flatten him with her oversized body before abruptly contracting to the size of an actual child as he caught her by the pits of her arms and spun on his heel.

"It's good to see you're putting the Mini Mini no Mi I gifted you to good use..." remarked Vahn, once again thankful for Tiamat's Aura of Karmic Protection. The Mini Mino no Mi, a Paramecia-type Devil Fruit, allowed its user to reduce their size to as little as five millimeters without any loss in mass or overall strength, so despite shrinking to around 120cm, Atlas still weighed approximately 23,000kg. As such, while he was able to hold her up without visibly straining, he had to keep his elbows bent.

"It's been a significant boon, especially when working with circuits and systems that require a more delicate hand," affirmed Atlas, nodding once before rather abruptly raising her feet, ostensibly to show Vahn the paw-padded thrusters on the soles of her boots as she added, "And check this out. I incorporated the anti-gravity propulsion tech of the Gunmen into my boots. I can't fly with them without additional thrust, but they allow me to avoid plunging through things while I'm small."

"They're also quite cute," noted Vahn, nodding approvingly even as Atlas pushed up his chin and cheeks with her heels. She really liked showing off her inventions—especially to her Sponsors—and as an aspect of violence, the concept of personal space may as well not exist in her head.

Surmising that Vahn was going to be stuck dealing with Atlas for at least an hour or two, Millicas smiled, placed his right hand over his chest, and offered a slight bow as he stated, "I trust you'll be able to find me when you're ready to speak. Until then..."

"Hmmm? You don't want to come with us, Young Master...?" asked Atlas, hooking her feet and calves over Vahn's shoulders and dangling from him to stare at Millicas upside down—her curiosity piqued. She and the other Satellites hadn't been able to gain Ascendee status for reasons similar to Reg, so Millicas had been her personal storage, test subject, and interim Sponsor for the past ten months. There were several things she had been working on that he hadn't seen yet, so if she were giving a tour, she would prefer if all her Sponsors were present.

"I should prepare to receive Vahn-sama properly," stated Millicas. "Until then, I will leave him in Dr. Atlas's powerful and exceptionally able hands."

"Mmm...you know I don't like it when it seems like you're keeping things from me..." remarked Atlas, the color of her body gradually gaining a red hue that extended from her feet to the top of her head. Before she could reach her anger threshold, compelling her to punch or break something, however, Vahn began tickling her sides, causing her to immediately lose her color and start laughing while writhing about like an eel.

'Go ahead. We'll catch up later...' stated Vahn, using telepathy to speak directly into Millicas's mind. In response, the crimson-haired Devil gave him a curt, confirming nod before turning to depart with Ignivara and, in response to Gemma doing so, the remaining Sisters following him.

"That's enough already...!" exclaimed Atlas, crossing her ankles behind Vahn's shoulders before abruptly performing a swift abdominal crunch to headbutt him with her harder-than-armament-haki forehead. She didn't mind being tickled by him, but once she recalled there were other people present, she became embarrassed and, accordingly, violent.

Fortunately for both Vahn and Atlas, her attack potency had yet to reach S-Rank, so neither of them took damage from her headbutt. Instead, they ended up face to face, the oval blush marks on Atlas's cheeks expanding in size as her body rapidly developed a deep crimson hue.

"Why are you looking at me with such an intense gaze? L-L-Let me go already, you-you-you nincompoop...!" stammered Atlas, grinding Vahn's cheeks with her metal fists. Vahn was tempted to point out she was the one keeping herself in place, but since that would undoubtedly make her even more embarrassed and violent, he promptly teleported behind and caught her by her sides before she could fall—guiding her to the metallic floor.

"There. Is that bet—" started Vahn, his words stopping mid-syllable as Atlas abruptly smacked him in the crotch with her tail, which was usually softer than down. Instead, it was harder than steel, and while the pain was brief, it shot up his back and spread through his crown like a bolt of lightning despite Tiamat's protection. Then, with her hands covering her flushed face, Atlas made a new exit to the hangar by running through the port-side wall as if it were made of paper...

'Note to self...be wary of her tail...' thought Vahn, closing his eyes, tilting his head back, and taking a deep breath before following after Atlas with unhurried steps...

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