Before the Dawn

Though Soo-Yun and Tarou had attempted to convince him to depart sooner, Vahn ultimately chose to remain on the 76th Floor for the entire 72 hours. He knew that, soon enough, his time within the Tower would come to an end. Thus, while he was looking forward to his reunion with Ureko and Yuri, he was also feeling slightly apprehensive due to the significance of such an event.

Even with countless contracts to protect them, Jahad and the Great Warriors were only around the pinnacle of Tier 4. If she really wanted to, Ureko would be able to defeat most of them without any issues. The only reason she elected not to was that, despite her character, she had a pretty strong sense of responsibility. She had no desire to rule over the Tower, so, on the premise that they left her alone, she generally did her best not to intervene with the Empire and its affairs.

Though there would undoubtedly be a period where she went hunting for panties, Vahn was well aware of the fact that Ureko wouldn't simply sit still after their reunion. Dragons were immensely prideful creatures, so, the moment he defeated her, or vice-versa, their fates would be intertwined. She would not just sit back as he ascended the Tower and opened the way forward for everyone in the Tower. Rather, if he tried to convince her to travel independently of each other, there was a very real possibility that she would ascend the Tower ahead of him and simply clear out all the obstacles in his path.

Simply put, the moment he reunited with Ureko and Yuri, Vahn's already ridiculous progress would become even faster. There was simply no reason to delay things, and, no matter how anyone tried to spin it, the current situation would only benefit from some expediting. There were still countless people suffering, and, while some were beginning to implement changes, the majority of people in power were simply biding their time and lying low. Such individuals couldn't simply be ignored, so, while the aftermath could always be left to a Template to resolve, Vahn felt obligated to handle the more troublesome matters personally.

With such thoughts on his mind, Vahn, appearing as a taller-than-average male Dwelfling, stared up at the ceiling of his abode with an absentminded look on his face. To his right, face still rosy after a fair amount of exertion, Marble could be seen sleeping peacefully, a contented smile on her face as she tightly clung to his arm. This was unbelievably adorable, but, as was often the case whenever he slept with inordinately petite women, Vahn couldn't help using the subsequent moment of clarity to reflect...

Fortunately, just as his thoughts had started to wander to Lili, Kali, and even Amaterasu, Vahn was interrupted by the voice of Soo-Yun remarking, "You look like a death row inmate who just finished his final meal. Do you not like the taste of Marble Cake and Strawberry Ice Cream~?"

Amused by Soo-Yun's reference to Marble's name and her own alias, a light chuckle emanated from Vahn's throat as pulled her a little closer and whispered, "Nonsense. I'm just feeling a little nostalgic. Pretty soon, my time in the Tower will come to an end. The thought of 'moving on' reminds me of a mistake I made in the distant past, but, no matter what, I must continue pressing forward...there are a lot of people relying on me..."

Seeing the sad yet resolute glimmer in Vahn's eyes, Soo-Yun resisted the urge to ask if he wanted to talk about it. Instead, she planted a kiss on his cheek before snuggling a little closer to him, face nestling in the nook of his neck as she whispered, "You're strong..." before promptly returning to his dreamscape. This caused Vahn's smile to soften considerably, and, though he couldn't help feeling a little awkward being sandwiched between two inordinately petite women, that didn't stop him from planting kisses on their foreheads before joining them in his unconscious mind...

---

With only a few minutes remaining until their scheduled departure, Vahn began recalling everyone using his Unit Management. This time, however, he recalled them to the Little Garden, as, unlike the previous Floors, the 77th was a single, massive, forest. There wasn't really anything to explore, so, as a precaution against Ureko attacking him the moment they arrived, Vahn decided it would be safer if everyone returned to the Emerald Grove to begin making preparations for a grand banquet. The only exception to this was Artoria, who, as a result of her draconic lineage and status as a Tier 5, felt compelled to challenge Ureko herself.

Though he would have liked to settle things peacefully, Vahn had come to accept that the hierarchy between True Dragons wasn't so easily circumvented. There were undoubtedly Records where such instincts didn't exist, but, more often than not, the need for True Dragons to determine who among them was the strongest simply couldn't be suppressed. This even applied to siblings from the same brood, so, while he would prefer it if they could simply talk things out, Vahn knew that the only way forward was to make Ureko submit to him or accept a station beneath her.

With his own instincts preventing him from submitting to another, for a variety of reasons, the only outcome Vahn could accept was an absolute victory. He would do his best to avoid 'cheating', but, if it came down to it, he wasn't against taking advantage of his Actualization Innate to accumulate strength and experience in other worlds.

Letting Ureko win would threaten everything he had built, and, depending on the circumstances, she might not approve of certain members of his harem. This would introduce all kinds of needless drama, so, even if it was a little underhanded, Vahn intended to use everything in his arsenal to secure victory. He was also willing to help Artoria, but, knowing her, she would most likely accept defeat before doing everything in her power to surpass Ureko on her own terms.

Indicative of this, Artoria, now in her fully matured form, stood patiently at Vahn's side in full, ivory-white, armor. She, like most of the girls who had opted to become True Dragons, had the ability to freely adjust her size and shape to conserve energy. This allowed her to appear young and adorable at normal times, but, when the time for battle came, her body would automatically adjust to a form better suited for combat. Most opponents didn't merit such measures, but, out of consideration for Ureko's strength, Artoria was prepared to go all out from the very start.

Fortunately, even in her fully matured form, Artoria was only 171cm tall, so, despite appearing regal and untouchable, Vahn could still freely caress her head. This would generally result in her staring at him with an apathetic, 'can't this wait?', kind of look on her face, but, no matter how much she tried to suppress it, she couldn't prevent the tip of her tail from wiggling in response to his touch.

Taking advantage of this, Vahn caressed the space between and around Artoria's pure white horns until the exact moment when they were scheduled to depart. This might seem 'pointless' to some, but, as a result of a now deeply-ingrained instinct, Artoria's body began to release pheromones as a matter of course. Ureko was bound to be able to detect this, so, while it was a little underhanded of him, Vahn was intending to create a gap in her mental state by forcing her to redirect a bit of focus to Artoria. If he could get her to pick a fight with Artoria before engaging him, there was a chance that everything could be resolved without him needing to lift a finger. If Artoria was actually able to win, this would drastically strengthen her position, and, most importantly, it would allow him to get a better grasp of Ureko's strength so he could end the fight as quickly and safely as possible.

Fully aware of this, Artoria allowed Vahn to continue petting her head even as an uncomfortable itch spread through her abdomen and near the base of her tail. This caused her to feel more than a little frustrated, but, understanding how important it was for Ureko to be the one to challenge her, she tolerated it with a calm and proud expression on her face. It was only when Soo-Yun said, "I'm pretty sure that's 72 hours." that she pulled her head away from his palm, tail smacking him in the process of turning around to enter the gate.

Despite his general imperviousness, Artoria's 'attack' resulted in a sharp pain radiating from Vahn's knee and throughout the rest of his leg. At their level, nature and affinity went a 'very' long way, so, as a Holy Elemental True Dragon with an Anti-Dragon attribute, Artoria effectively dealt unmitigable damage to him. Her [Phoenix Dragon Empress] Innate also provided her comparable authority and status to his own, so, even if he were exponentially more powerful than her, Artoria was one of the only people who could consistently defeat him if they both went all out.

Fortunately, while her abilities were most useful against him, Artoria's advantage against other True Dragon's bordered on the absolute. Had Ureko been a pure-blooded True Dragon, a battle between the two wouldn't even be a contest. Luckily, at least for the half-blooded princess, the other half of her lineage came from the Lunarian people, a species colloquially known as the Moon Rabbit Tribe. Since her father was a Heavenly Star Dragon, Yin and Yang had perfectly melded within her body to give her an unbelievably powerful constitution, and, most importantly, resistance to both Holy and Darkness Elemental Energies.

Simply put, while Artoria's attacks would normally be 'super-effective' against someone like Ureko, the latter's constitution provided her a form of immunity against them. She also possessed no less than three SSS-Ranked Innates, so, without a miracle occurring, the actual odds of Artoria's victory were only around 1.336% in a direct contest and 7.291% if Ureko wasn't treating the fight seriously. If Ureko decided to use the 'Light of Origin', however, the odds shifted in such an extreme manner that it was impossible to quantify Artoria's chances of victory. Rather, unless she held back, it wasn't an exaggeration to say that the entire Tower might be destroyed, as, according to the Sacred Tome, the Light of Origin, at its absolute weakest, was about as powerful as the energy released during the creation of a Universe.

Vahn doubted Ureko would be brazen enough to employ such a powerful artifact, but, at times like this, it was better to be safe than sorry. Thus, in preparation for this event, he had previously helped Artoria transplant the entirety of Avalon into her body, or, more specifically, her Soul. It now existed as her own Internalized Realm, much like Ilya's 'Slaughter Dimension', so, unless they had the ability to annihilate a Realm where their power had very little influence, she was immune to most forms of damage. The only downside was, due to the nature of Avalon, she couldn't really invite anyone into its interior. It now served as the foundation for her Soul Realm, so, unless they were a 'very' specific type of entity, Vahn being the obvious exception, only her Zanpakuto Spirit and exceptionally pure creatures could reside there.

For most Tier 5's, trapping a target within their personal Realm was a victory condition, as, bar a few exceptions, their opponent would, effectively, be powerless. This was especially true for people who were entirely reliant on a specific form of energy, as, depending on the circumstances, the energy they use might not even exist in the Realm of their opponent. Even if it did, they might not have the authority to wield it, so, while it all but guaranteed her impregnability, Artoria was at a disadvantage compared to most Tier 5s. On the plus side, she had multiple sources of functionally infinite energy within her own body, so, even if another Tier 5 was able to trap her, they wouldn't be able to restrict her power. Thus, so long as Ureko didn't become impatient, there was always a chance that Artoria would come out ahead...albeit a very small one...

(A/N: As people on Discord were made aware, I ended up getting sick due to a cold snap hitting my hometown. It got down to 11 degrees in my apartment and turning on the heater just made the fire alarm go off. Fortunately, I'm already recovering so I'll be doing my best to increase the number of chapters. At the very least, there will be three chapters released tomorrow, potentially concurrently. I know how much you all hate cliffs so I'll try and spare you the suspense of having to wait an entire day just to see the continuation of a single battle xD...)

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