CHAPTER 345: EVOLUTION

"Oh, my...I had heard this place was beautiful, but seeing it for myself is quite something..." remarked Akeno, wearing her Shrine Maiden attire as she stood next to Vahn in the air. Before them was a vast stretch of pink-hued, reef-like terrain pockmarked by choral pools of luminous blue and amethyst-purple liquid. In place of conventional flora, there were crystal bushes and massive crystalline structures that looked like buildings from a high-fantasy representation of a utopia.

"Hmmm? I hadn’t noticed..." hummed Vahn, his smiling gaze focused on Akeno, making it apparent that he was suggesting that she was far more beautiful than the glistening expanse below.

"Someone’s in a playful mood..." hummed Akeno, grabbing Vahn’s right arm with narrowed eyes and leaning into it with her large and pillowy left breast conforming around his outer bicep.

"Is that not always the case when I’m with a beautiful woman...?" asked Vahn, slipping his hand around Akeno’s backside and giving her ass a firm squeeze with his middle finger slipping between her ass cheeks to caress her slit.

"I suppose it is..." affirmed Akeno, her voice low and husky as she kissed Vahn’s cheek. Since they weren’t there to have aerial sex, however, that’s where she stopped.

"Well, then, shall we go down and take a look around~?" asked Akeno, prompting Vahn to nod affirmingly before he lowered them to the ground, which crunched like shards of grass underfoot. From there, he lent her his right arm and escorted her like a gentleman, enjoying the scenic view and the pleasant sound of crystalline chimes that filled the air as they walked along a natural path toward their destination...

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"Bandah(Welcome)~!"

"Bandah(Welcome)~!"

"Banda-hai(Welcome back)~!

"Mmn. It’s good to see you all again," said Vahn, nodding approvingly and presenting a handful of crstayl necklaces to a group of stubby, adorable, crystalline-adorned, roughly 100cm-tall creatures that resembled chubby, anthropomorphic badgers that stood on two legs.

"Ara ara...I had heard that the Banda-kin were an endearing race, but they’re even more adorable than I imagined..." hummed Akeno, kneeling and kneading the squishy facial pouches of the Banda that had waddled over to greet her.

"Dondana monka cheeka chi(This huma has even bigger breasts than the last)..." remarked the Banda in question, his words sounding like nonsense to Akeno but fully audible to Vahn.

"Is the Great Sage here...?" asked Vahn, ignoring the Banda’s remarks as they were simply a straightforward race, openly making observations that most would keep in their heads.

"Chulla Chu brava proka sajj(The Great Sage is expecting you)" affirmed a female Banda, indistinguishable from her male counterparts except for the fact that she wore a colorful mantle and markedly more crystalline jewelry than her mostly naked kin.

Without waiting for Vahn’s response, the female Banda began leading the way, expecting him to follow. As such, he and Akeno did just that, trailing behind her as the Banda that had welcomed them at the entrance formed their escort through a spacious, crystalline burrow populated by a number of shops and smaller tunnel entrances that led to the creatures’ dwellings, inaccessible to outsiders.

"Shu Shu! Dona brava Chulla Chu!(Stay away! This one has business with the Great Sage!)" exclaimed one of the escorts, waving his hands to shoo away a group of children who recognized Vahn and hurried over in pursuit of delicious sweets and headpats.

"It’s not a pressing matter..." reassured Vahn, taking a knee with Akeno kneeling next to him to receive a pair of Banda children that pounced on her while he ensured each received a spherical sweet that would melt in their mouths. The older Banda complained about him spoiling them, but when Vahn offered them candy as well, they readily accepted without a moment’s hesitation...

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"Aaah...so the Dragon God doth returneth..." hummed a particularly large, almost humanoid Banda, encircled by females and smoking a long pipe he had acquired from one of the many Ascendees that frequented the small but growing settlement of sapient monsters.

"Great Sage..." responded Vahn, offering a slow nod that Akeno promptly emulated with greater deference.

"And thus you arrive, accompanied by yet another fair maiden. Truly, the life of a Dragon God is great, indeed..." hummed the Great Sage, gazing at Akeno and nodding appreciatively as he casually caressed the butt of the Banda snuggled up to him on his left side.

"I have few complaints, and none about the company I keep," affirmed Vahn, rising to his full height before revealing, "As for why I’ve come, it’s the same as before—to treat any sick or suffering you may have and ask how things have been since my last visit."

"Ah, of course, of course~" hummed the Great Sage, giving the fluffy butt of his companion a few light smacks to prompt her and his other six wives to move so he could rise. Initially, the Banda, like other monsters native to the biomes, didn’t breed or form pairings. But after gaining sentience and coming into contact with the Pavilion, the Great Sage had followed Vahn’s example by forming a sizeable harem of his own.

Following after the Great Sage, who, alongside his wives, began heading in the direction of what he knew to be the Banda’s medical burrow, Vahn and Akeno eventually found themselves in a warm, fragrant, and notably humid chamber with many sick and injured. As the Banda steadily evolved past their programming, the monsters native to their biome began to treat them as they would Ascendees. And while the original Banda were able to fend for themselves, there was a moderate disconnect between them and their young, who had to learn how to fight and survive without the benefit of pre-programmed knowledge and Skills.

"Aah! Vahn! Akeno...!" exclaimed the primary source of much of the Great Sage’s knowledge, Faputa, ceasing grooming the head of a young Banda with her tongue to rush over and leap into Vahn’s arms. She had been the one to discover the Banda while searching for interesting things to eat, so she had taken it upon herself to oversee their development and to protect them.

"Ah, as usual, our Queen is very fond of the Dragon God," noted the Great Sage, nodding approvingly despite trying numerous times to woo Faputa and get her to join his harem.

"I tend to have that effect," responded Vahn, offering a relaxed smile as Faputa snaked around his body and habitually bit his right cheek, pulling on it rather forcibly. Residing with the Banda had caused her behavior to regress slightly, but as she seemed more comfortable living in the burrow and heeding her instincts, Vahn had given up trying to fix her and allowed her to be herself.

"Salty and sweet..." noted Faputa, licking the place she had bitten Vahn before proceeding to groom him, licking the thinner hairs comprising his sideburns and framing his temples with her rough tongue. Akeno covered her mouth and giggled when she saw this, but as there were quite a few Banda who needed treatment, she took the initiative to begin making the rounds while Vahn, conducted by the Great Sage and with Faputa riding on his back, goggling curiously over his shoulders, took care of the more serious injuries...

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After promising to return within a week, Vahn and Akeno departed the Banda’s subterranean settlement and took the scenic route, choosing to fly to their Church appointment rather than teleporting. The Sisters had relocated and renovated their cathedral to accommodate the many who had come to revere Vahn as their God, but that particular evening, only a select few of his most faithful were allowed inside.

"Vahn! Akeno! You’re here~!" exclaimed Asia, adopting a smile that lit up the cathedral’s main hall as she raced over and gave Vahn an increasingly forceful hug. Diligent training and a nutritious diet of stat-enhancing crops and crystals had caused her Strength to increase from F to C, so not only had her body fleshed out and become more toned, but if she were bored, she could crush and compact a car with her bare hands.

"I would never pass on an opportunity to see my favorite Pontiff in the flesh..." hummed Vahn, firmly squeezing Asia’s toned ass and raising her from the marbled floor for a deep kiss. She was wearing her usual Papal vestments without her white and gold mantle, so he was able to slip his hands into her open robes and fondle her butt directly, bound in a white, gold-trimmed, bikini-like garment that similarly allowed him to press his bulge directly to her thinly veiled crotch.

"Please use me in tonight’s demonstration..." panted Asia, gazing up at Vahn with her large and luminous green eyes as he ended their kiss and set her down.

"Mmn...alright, then..." affirmed Vahn, offering a curt, approving nod that caused light to emit from Asia’s body as she beamed from ear to ear and gave him another tight squeeze. He still wasn’t accustomed to Asia being the Supreme Pontiff and Archbishop of his Church, but as long as she was happy, he was happy to support her...

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As his other selves were tying Asia up in shibari, making love to Kushina, soaking in a bath with Tsunade, sharing a bed with Jack-O and Dizzy, and playing naked feline twister with Carla, Millianna, and Ghislaine, one Vahn was enjoying a comparably wholesome moment with Yasaka, Kunou, and his gold-haired, gold-eyed, unbelievably precious kyuubi daughter, Yaeko. He would have preferred if Kunou were wearing more than a thin camisole and pink side-tie panties, but he was used to it.

"It’s hard to imagine I was once this small..." remarked Kunou, snuggled up to Vahn on his left side, and wiggling her left index finger in front of her half-sister’s face. On the opposite side of him, Yasaka, borrowing his right shoulder and sporting a sleepy-eyed smile full of love, remarked, "In fact, you were significantly smaller. Your father, may he rest in peace, was only human. He readily gave his life to complete the ceremony that allowed me to conceive you, but even with the nourishment of Kyoto’s Spiritual Veins, you were small and frail—fitting in the palms of my hands. It took a great many sacrifices and spiritual treasures to ensure you grew up as healthily as you did..."

"Even so..." muttered Kunou, gently booping her sister’s nose, causing Yaeko to giggle and flail her arms happily as she added, "I will continue to grow stronger and become a big sister that Yae-chan can look up to. And when I have a child of my own, I’m sure they’ll be good friends and rivals who push each other to surpass their limits..."

With Kunou staring directly at him as she mentioned having a child of her own, Vahn’s smile gained a hint of awkwardness, but he didn’t refute her. She had made up her mind, started a special diet, and even went as far as cutting ties with practically every boy close to her in age, so it wouldn’t be long before she joined her mother in his harem. And based on the pillowy softness pressing into him, it wouldn’t be long before she caught up to her mother in other ways as well...

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With time continuing to pass, Vahn found himself attending a rather risque baby shower with Jack-O, Erza, Xenovia, Sona, and Ravel as the guests of honor. Everyone in attendance was wearing lace lingerie in their preferred colors, making it a veritable feast for the eyes for the six copies of himself attending the event—sandwiched between buxom beauties or lending his lap to his more petite lovers.

"That could be you, you know..." muttered Vahn, running the fingers of his right hand along Sui-Feng’s inner thigh as he sat with her near a corner of the spacious, festively decorated, predominantly red and gold room. She wasn’t particularly sociable, but since Venelana had invited her to attend and Yoruichi prevented her from declining, she had arrived in scant white lingerie and spent most of the party on his lap.

"If that is what Master desires..." responded Sui-Feng, her face flushed as Vahn had been doing much more than caressing her inner thigh. He would bounce and cause the leg she was sitting on to vibrate, and using a small remote, he would periodically adjust the strength of the seven vibrators in her ass and pussy.

"I want you to want it..." asserted Vahn, causing Sui-Feng’s expression to become thoughtful as she considered whether he was asking her to beg him to impregnate her. It had been four months since he first asked if she was prepared to bear his child, so after glancing listlessly at the bellies of those who were already expecting, she looked up at Vahn, placed her left hand on his shoulder, and muttered, "I want one..." with her cheeks a fiery shade of red...

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