Chapter 2124: Publicity
Chapter 2124: Publicity
With the first round of events scheduled around 11 AM, Vahn went through his morning process of waking Sarina and Nono, helping Usalia with the kids, and cooking breakfast.
Though they had expected him to stop helping them prepare in the mornings, Vahn explained that he actually helped all the girls prepare for their day. He sincerely enjoyed caring for them and took pride in bringing out their natural qualities. Thus, even though Sarina felt as though he was treating her like a child at first, Vahn had cleared her doubts by making love to her in front of the bathroom mirror. Since then, he would help her get ready without a single strand of clothing on while Nono, ever-eager to be pampered, would literally doze off while he was brushing her teeth...
"I'm kind of nervous...everyone in the Little Garden is going to be watching me..."
Staring at her reflection's rather sizeable breasts, Sarina made it pretty clear what she was actually concerned about. Recordings of Gift Games could be purchased from the Communities that helped to organize and broadcast the event throughout the Little Garden. She could try to wear a corset to keep them in place but there was a good chance that perverts throughout the Divine Realm would be gawking at her breasts as she bounced atop a horse...
Recalling how envious Sarina had been of large breasts in the past, Vahn couldn't help chuckling at her complaint. Before she could pout, however, he reached around to cup the two flawless mounds of flesh as he said, "There are plenty of solutions to your problem. I can give you a brassier that lets them settle in a sub-dimensional pocket but most of the women who use that method find it to be uncomfortable. The simplest solution is this..."
Just as Sarina was about to get excited from having her breasts fondled, her eyes widened as she noticed her bosom shrinking at a startling rate. It didn't even take three seconds for her to go from the pinnacle of a D-Cup to a pair of breasts that perfectly fit in the palms of Vahn's hands.
Taking advantage of her momentary stupor, Vahn maintained a smile as he said, "Don't worry. They will inflate to their usual size after a few hours. I can also return them to normal now if you want me to. Your body, your rules."
Hearing Vahn's words, Sarina suppressed her words of protest as she eyed herself in the mirror and joked, "Tione and Tiona would be jealous. Both gripe about their breasts being too big or too small. If they knew it was this easy to solve their problems, they would lose it."
Though his version of Tiona had embraced her small yet tantalizing chest, Vahn still nodded his head in approval of Sarina's words. She liked to talk about her friends back in the Lok Familia, and, if he were being honest, Vahn really enjoyed hearing about her experiences. Her words sometimes made him feel a little melancholic but it was never the bad kind. Instead, it was melancholy tinged with reminiscence and longing...the kind that gave you the strength to overcome anything...
Before Sarina could change her mind, Vahn pulled out a cute yet fashional brassier for her, asking, "How's this? It's enchanted so that people won't be able to focus even if they're looking directly at your breasts."
Seeing the paradoxically cute yet sexy bra manifest to cover her breasts, a wry yet bewitching smile developed across Sarina's face as she stood up, wrapped her arms around Vahn's neck, and began to kiss him. She could always do it later, but, now that she had the opportunity, she wanted to see what it was like to have sex with small breasts. She had also heard that small breasts allowed you to feel closer to the one you loved, so, knowing Vahn could control and manipulate time, she decided to confirm it personally...
...
..
.
Though the morning lasted a bit longer than he expected, Vahn was in a fantastic mood by the time the event organizers asked him to come out and give his speech. The Communities participating in the Vahnatus, the name he had decided on for his version of the Olympics, had already made their pledge. However, for the sake of the billions, if not trillions of people watching the event, the Host was still expected to make a speech.
Fortunately, some of Vahn's Templates were highly charismatic individuals. He could give a pretty good speech himself, but, more often than not, his boldest statements came when declaring war, riling up soldiers, or issuing ultimatums. He had never been much of a crowd-pleaser, so, prior to the event's start, he made a pseudo-template of himself with a personality very similar to Ganesha. The elephantine God might have a weird laugh but he was inarguably one of the most charismatic individuals Vahn had ever met.
Thanks to the sacrifice of his Template, Vahn was able to lounge in the waiting area while each of the events were previewed using hyper-realistic illusions. He might have to deal with some backlash due to how silly his Template behaved during the introductions, but, as a Pure-Blooded Dragon, he had every right to be eccentric. He was also entitled to indulging himself at his leisure, so, while the crowd and the contestants were all getting riled up in the massive Colosseum he had prepared, he was kicked back with his feet up on a table as Usalia and Fenrir sat on either side of him.
"Look at how excited all the participants are. This is how a Gift Game should be..."
Since most Gift Games required Communities to wager something of significant value, playbacks of previous high-brow Gift Games showed the players as desperate, anxious, and emotional wrecks. In some cases, they were literally fighting with their lives on the line. This excited some viewers, but, at the same time, it horrified many and deterred weaker Communities from ever participating in such events.
Though the Aldrnari Empire was far from perfect, it was idyllic compared to the vast majority of social structures Vahn had observed. At the very least, children were protected, everyone had the opportunity to learn whatever they wanted, and, while there were a number of hellish sub-textures, things like disease and hunger had been eradicated in every territory under Imperial control.
Now that he was developing a production line and had started to personally produce Companions, Vahn was seriously considering spreading his Empire through the Divine Realm. He didn't mind the general structure of the Little Garden. It was the fact that more than 90% of the Realm's inhabitants were relatively normal and powerless people. If the Divine Realm was a place that was supposed to weed out the strong from the weak, there should be a system in place for people who were unable or unwilling to participate to opt-out. Forcing normal people to live in a place dominated by Gods and Demons was utter nonsense.
Fortunately, the only real requirement for establishing an Empire was promoting your Community to 4-Digits. By then, he would have more than enough leeway to extend an invitation to the people living in his personalized Little Garden. They would pounce at the opportunity to help him conquer the 4-7-Digit Gates, so, now that he had decided to become a Floor Master, Vahn figured he might as well become the Overall Floor Master...
"What are you thinking about, plip? Your eyes are even scarier than an Overlord's..."
Raising his brows, Vahn manifested a mirror to take a look at his face whilst answering, "It's nothing bad. I was just thinking the Little Garden could use a bit of restructuring..."
Seeing that his expression appeared normal, Vahn came to the conclusion that Usalia was simply reading his aura. Her instincts were nearly as developed as Fenrir's, and, ever since he was back in Danmachi, it seemed like everyone close to him could understand what he was thinking. Thus, with thoughts of removing a few unsavory Gods dancing across his mind, it was no surprise that Usalia thought his eyes looked scary.
"Mou...so long as it doesn't endanger our kittens, plip..."
Since her children were her only real concern, Usalia was happy so long as they were happy. She knew that Vahn would do everything in his power to protect them, so, even if he waged war and destroyed half the Little Garden, she wouldn't care. Rather, as a former Overlord and General, war was something she was intimately familiar with. If Vahn asked her to raise an army and conquer the entire East Side, she wouldn't even flinch.
Nodding his head in understanding, Vahn drew the presently petite bunny close to him as he said, "Don't worry. I would never place our children in danger..." before planting a kiss atop her head. In response, Usalia rubbed her head and ears against his chest while Fenrir, understanding her Master better than anyone, silently muttered, "Just you wait, Altria..." with a fierce glimmer in her eyes...
...
..
.
Though she didn't approach Vahn's Template, for quite a number of reasons, Seraphina had been accompanying him during the opening ceremony and the explanation of events. Her primary goal in participating in the Vahnatus was to strengthen her image and spread her name throughout the Divine Realm. Some might assume she was aiming to become a God but her ambitions were much higher than that. If Vahn was going to rule over the entire Little Garden one day, she would be right there alongside him as Empress of all Realities.
With this in mind, Seraphina had no qualms about showing up to her event wearing little more than a purple bikini. She was a lot of things but bashful wasn't one of them. In her mind, it was perfectly natural for men to adore her. After all, she was the most beautiful Overlord in all the Netherworlds. If they wanted to look, they were free to do so. However, if any of them even thought about putting their grubby little hands on her, she wouldn't hesitate to shoot them in the face.
Unsurprisingly, the crowd erupted into enthusiastic, borderline violent cheer the moment Seraphina emerged from the waiting area without a modicum of modesty or shame. This earned her a number of glares from the other female contestants but a few had the wherewithal to unzip their blouses or outright strip down to their underwear. This caused the crowd to enter a frenzy, a thunderous cheer echoing through the arena as hundreds of thousands of people, men and women like, hooted and hollered like wild animals.
While others might have been intimidated by such a riot, Seraphina simply puffed out her chest in pride before issuing her characteristic laugh. A few of the other girls tried to compete with her, but, while there were quite a number of beauties participating in the Shooting event, the eyes of billions of men across the Little Garden were wholly focused on Seraphina...
...
..
.
Though he wasn't particularly surprised by Seraphina's behavior, Vahn couldn't help exhaling a sigh. After this kind of display, the number of arrogant and licentious fools 'courting death' was going to increase exponentially. He could already imagine idiots like Zeus threatening to declare war on him if he refused to hand over Seraphina as 'compensation' for borrowing the template of the Olympics or making slights against the Olympians. That man was a greedy and licentious fool in pretty much every Record Vahn had visited, and, based on the rumors, this particular Zeus was no different.
"Maybe I should just steal his Fragment of Origin and give it to a little girl? It would be pretty funny to see a loli running around hurling lightning. If I give her a bashful or earnest nature, the people in the Lower Realms won't have to worry about their wives and daughters getting stolen just because an arrogant old horn dog got a little excited..."
As his Thunderbolt Zanpakuto had actually developed a Spirit resembling a young girl with white hair and electric blue eyes, Vahn was highly tempted to entrust the identity of Zeus to her. In fact, if he really wanted to, he could probably replace a lot of Gods and Heroes with his Zanpakuto Spirits. That would give them something to do other than lounging about in his soul, and, considering he was going to rule over the Record itself, placing his Zanpakuto and Companions in charge wasn't the worst idea he had come up with...
...
..
.
(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Heresy...','The sleeping dragon has begun to stir...','Leave a comment if you'd like to see Zeus-chan bitch slap her predecessor into oblivion xD...')