endless path, infinite cosmos

chapter 192

As the goddess was dangling the 'antidote' in front of him, Vahn was just staring at her coldly as he got a better look at who he believed to be the mastermind behind the events that had transpired. She was a relatively small goddess, only around 140cm tall, and had a very slim, almost featureless, body. Like her eyes purple and blue eyes, her hair was also two different colors where it was predominantly black with strands of white that was cut short with two spiked pigtails. On her face, she wore a white, featureless, mask that concealed her eyes and curved around her nose.

Her attire was a black, sleeveless, hoodie with an almost comically oversized zipper running down the length of the garment. From what Vahn could see, she had next to no breasts since the zipper was partially down and revealed the fair white skin underneath. She wore a pair of black shorts that could barely be seen under her hoodie so, if you weren't paying attention, it would almost look like she was wearing just the hoodie alone. She had long black stockings that ran to the middle of her thighs and a pair of grey-ish black combat boot that extended about halfway up her calves.

Noticing that Vahn hadn't started panicking, the goddess tilted her head sideways with a crooked smile and asked, "Do you have the [Abnormal Status Resistance] skill~? Well, it won't matter since you won't be able to last long without the antidote~. I would suggest you give up before things start to get painful~!" She seemed to think that Vahn was just resisting the poison when, the fact was, he was actually entirely resistant due to the unique qualities of his blood. This was the reason Vahn couldn't get drunk and even things like drugs that got within the bloodstream would have no effect on him.

Vahn furrowed his brows as he lowered [Lvateinn] and asked in a cold voice, "Who are you? Why did you do all this? I want answers." Vahn was still weighing whether or not to injure the goddess in front of him since she appeared to be a non-combatant. Even her aura was an amiable yellow, but Vahn didn't care about her impression of him in the slightest. After dealing with Loki, Vahn knew that there were gods that could change the aura and, even if she genuinely had some kind of interest toward him, Vahn could never trust her since her interest was likely distorted due to her Divinity.

Seeing Vahn lower his weapon, the goddess smiled widely and began to laugh like a child that just got away with a prank. She looked at him with her odd-colored eyes and said, "I'm Laverna~! From now on, you'll be working for me, so let's get along well~!" Vahn shook his head as if to refute her claim and asked, "What is the purpose behind you kidnapping the two girls and torturing Milan? If you were trying to use them as leverage against me, it doesn't make sense for you to harm them."

In response to his question, Laverna tilted her head as if she was considering how to respond. After a few seconds, she shrugged her shoulders before giving a dismissal laugh and saying, "I never ordered them to torture, anyone. I only told them to take that little cat person hostage since you seemed to be fond of her. If they captured someone else, it had nothing to do with my orders at all~!"

Vahn furrowed his brows deeply and asked in a deathly cold tone, "Aren't they members of your Familia!? How can you let them do such monstrous things!?" Knowing that Milan wasn't even part of the plan, Vahn felt like she had been lucky to survive at all given the circumstances. If he had shown up just a few minutes later, he might have failed to save her life and ended up leaving Tina orphaned.

Laverna frowned and said, "Booo~What kind of reasoning is that? As long as they pay my tribute and do what I tell them, why should I stop them from doing other things? The only thing that matters to me is having fun and making money, why should I care about what other people do?" She seemed to be genuinely confused by Vahn's outburst and started 'pouting' as she fiddled with the zipper on her hoodie.

The cold sensation in Vahn's mind began to spread and grow deeper as he glared at the irresponsible goddess in front of him. He asked through gritted teeth, "What do you mean by 'having fun and making money'? What part of your sick plan has anything to do with either of those things!?" As he asked the question, Vahn had a sudden realization which made his ferocious eyes widen slightly.