Sora hovered back while crossing her legs and sitting in the air; an odd feeling gripped her chest that made her lower her raised hand, condensing the sphere she’d created.
I can do so much more … I’m not this stupid.
Mofupsi watched in fascination as she smiled and reached out to touch the blazing star; it expanded into an array of squares with pyramids branching off of their sides, expanding with her growing strength.
“I must say,” the woman mumbled, cupping her chin and generating three small spheres of her own, “I find your changing attitude the most fascinating. Aren’t you going to keep flying after me?”
“Humph,” Sora snickered, looking down at the alluring woman with a small leer; she flicked her finger into the air, causing the changing shape of the force she was manipulating to follow. “Why should I ever chase you? Running straight in is such a lousy strategy.”
“Strategy?” Mofupsi asked, continuing to work on the glowing orbs in front of her like a master seamstress. “You have been rather brash, I’d say. Hmm … just throwing that destructive stuff around at random.”
Sora rolled her eyes. “No, dropping you into a bullet hell is certainly a fun concept, if nothing else, and it isn’t as if I’m actually using anything but an infinitesimal amount of my stores of resources.”
Focusing on the design she was creating, she reformed the center on an impulse—there was a level of instinctual genius at work within her, much like a surrealist painter, interpreting reality in a unique fashion that shaped the final product of her work.
“You see, everything around us exists … Is that fair to say?” she asked.
Her squares and triangles became eye-shaped, splitting off into various colors as they overlapped each other, and shimmering two-dimensional teardrops circled each one before hollowing out radiant diamonds at their center.
Mofupsi casually worked on her own weave, uniformly stitching the three burning globes together into a spell that would activate when Sora attacked. “I suppose that is a correct assumption,” she mused. “Hmm, you are giving me quite the light show, by the way; is there a point to the theatrics?”
Sora sucked on the roof of her mouth in distaste. “Of course, you couldn’t see it … Well, it’s more of a work in progress, really,” she mumbled. “It’s like putting together a puzzle while blindfolded … Ah, got it!”
The last diamond in the center twisted and changed into a translucent eight-pointed star before spinning rapidly. Out of the center of every eye came a string of spiraling lasers that twinkled in and out of sight, bypassing physics and time as it shifted dimensional planes in a stutter-step.
Mofupsi’s lips parted. “That’s—far more than I expected.” She mumbled, suns erupting with sheens of light to intercept the twisting streaks, her artistic masterpiece, and Sora just watched it come, somehow knowing she’d be fine.
Half of her lasers were intercepted, but the others slipped dimensions to evade, returning to strike the golden barrier Mofupsi created; a third struck it, cracking the spell and nearly causing it to collapse—the rest skipped the shell entirely, passing right through her stunned face.
Sora clapped, slow laughter shaking her chest as her projected solar radiation eradicated her design and the six spheres on her tails—she didn’t even feel the heat of the spiritually charged particles disrupting her form as the new unknown runes on her chakram illuminated, generating an intense burst that protected her actual body.
The interference only lasted so long as the solar wave passed, and she returned to her light mirth, watching the image of the Vulpes fade; the woman appeared to the right outer edge of the barrier. “Not bad, Mofupsi. Not bad.”
The remaining two streaks hit the inside of the field, causing it to shatter; the nine-tailed Vulpes was tapping her lower lip with her thumb. “I—haven’t seen a Vulpes inside the Yellow District ever use a dimensional attack to skirt physical boundaries.”
A sly smirk lifted Sora’s cheeks. “I had a feeling you’d be able to escape it by shifting between the Spiritual and Physical form; not dimensional swapping, but the illusion was a masterful touch—of course, I knew.”
“Of course,” Mofulpsi snickered, pulling around her tails to hide part of her front. “You are becoming stronger, but not quite where I’d like you to be for me to let loose.”
Sora’s smile fell in an instant, and she moved her hands to her lap. “You still aren’t satisfied after seeing that?”
Mofupsi held up a hand in protest. “By no means am I trying to downplay the achievement. You are certainly drawing nearer with this sixth tail, yet it hasn’t fully solidified, as I can see,” she whispered, motioning to the subject matter.
“Humph…”
Eyes narrowing, Sora flicked her tails to the side to observe it lengthening; Mofupsi wasn’t wrong, but it was still aggravating that the Vulpes thought she was on Sora’s level. The sensation made her reflect on her emotional state, though.
When she was becoming a Vulpes, her change happened in momentary bursts through sleep that, with her expanding mind, she figured Frankenstein likely put into place to help her through the intense pain. Every morning, she’d be a little different than who she’d been the day previous, and that had terrified her at the time.
Yet here, she could feel the insane ruptures that clashed with everything her Vulpes side was, and not an ounce of pain filled her Intelligence or spirit.
Mofupsi leaned forward and snapped her fingers, creating a weak, non-lethal magical weave that confused Sora. “In light of what you’ve accomplished, why don’t we change this battlefield to a more, mmh—appropriate locale!”
When the instructional magic struck the walls, their entire environment changed; they were now in a rich valley with towering mountains and a rich, alien plane below them. A vast, snaking river could be seen to their far right with marshes to their left, and everywhere Sora looked were towering gold, blue, and pink petaled trees in bloom.
A warm wind brushed back Mofupsi’s yellow locks, yet Sora’s charged cloak annihilated the very air around her, absorbing the substance as her powers grew.
The Vulpes breathed in the sweet scent that filled the area. “I know what you’re thinking,” she mused, hiding a part of her face with her tails again while snickering, “I just did this to see something beautiful—you’d be right!”
Sora rolled her eyes, causing Mofupsi to actually blush a little.
“You cannot blame me! I’ve been trapped inside this city for seven thousand years; this is the closest I've ever come to escaping this prison!”
“Are you done?” Sora asked, yawning and scratching her flaming left ear. “I’m not making fun of you, really—it’s just your mannerisms remind me of the old me. And this … Mmh, is nice, I suppose; if you’ve been starved of unique beauty for millennia. I’m not all that invested in that scenery, though—I have other things to think about. Speaking of which…”
Sora glanced at the growing tail flickering at her side; she’d never experienced power like this, nor the detached or intense conflict-driven emotional shifts that were entirely opposed to Vulpes Founder nature. Her mind reflected on it with a hint of agitation.
On my fourth tail, I was like living fire, wanting to throw it around and face anyone that so much as looked at me.
My fifth has me enjoying the fight, yet oddly removed from the experience of it—I’m more intrigued by exploring myself than whatever threat Mofupsi is, and I’m not scared of anything, really—why should I be? Maybe I should be more proactive.
Looking up with a slight smirk as several blades of light cut through her, Sora saw Mofupi absently directing the constructs back and forth. “You are still growing, but it has slowed a bit? What is the cause?”
Crossing her legs in the opposite direction, Sora let a small smile lift her expression, increasing her cloak’s potency to feast upon the weaves of magic as they struck her again. “You’ve hyped yourself up quite a bit! Show me how strong a Vulpes can be after seven thousand years of conflict.”
Mofupsi brushed two of her tails out, a calmness returning to her countenance as her yellow eyes moved between the seven pulsating stars Sora generated. “The same trick?”
Sora brought her own tails around to hide part of her face; her sixth was swiftly taking shape. “Maybe.”
The woman rolled around her neck with a low groan. “To be honest, Sora, I am impressed, but what strikes me the most is the powers of your family.”
An indigent heat rose in Sora’s chest; forehead furrowing, she allowed the spheres to die out, glaring at Mofupsi. “My family? You’re killing my mood … Out of all this—unknown force I’m unleashing,” she said, gesturing at herself, “you want to talk about my aunts and grandmother?”
A sharp snort shot through Mofupsi’s nose. “Obviously. Look at this glorious room,” she mumbled, examining the sky, trees, rivers, and mountains. “This isn’t just some illusion—this is an entire dimensional space—an entire world generated by my desire. That they’d have the compassion for someone like me that cannot use the type of magic these—these Vulpes Founders can utilize astonishes me!” she mumbled, voice cracking a little as a tear fell down her cheek.
“It’s only by things like this that I’ve survived … And to know that it was your family that created this … The thoughtfulness of it all—I can’t express how I feel,” she laughed, rubbing away the tears wetting her cheek.
Sora’s expression dulled, slowly sucking on her lower lip. “I’m mildly insulted. My father could eat everything—erase all of this … My mother, bless her soul,” she grumbled, rolling her eyes again, “can’t even look at a map to know where I live, apparently! My father stayed with me until he was taken away.”
She gestured at the sky with a growl. “My mother—with all this compassion,” she spat, “has chosen to live in the clouds! Who needs a mother, right? No, I’m not sold on your whole compassion bit, and my aunt didn’t have anything to do with this place! I don’t even know my grandma or what she’s like because she was weak and died. Story of my life, huh?”
Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
Her flaming cloak erupted, sending fallout around her and causing white flames to spread below; everything that burned was devoured and transferred to her as raw power to be used however she wished.
“I’m … sensing some animosity and bitterness,” Mofupsi hissed, pulling back a little while eyeing the inferno.
Several fist-sized balls from her outburst were inches away from assaulting her when Mofupsi faded, slipping through space in a spiritual state rather than teleporting to a new location, and a warm golden hue illuminated her frame.
“Hmm … I think we can have a little fun now.”
The Vulpes clapped her hands, sending out a magical wave that was powerful enough to disrupt the flames; Sora fell a little before reforming. Her consciousness within her chakram, Sora watched the scene renew itself from Mofupsi’s actions.
“Oh, are you actually coming after me now? Two of us can snap and clap,” Sora said with a slight snicker; snapping her fingers, she recreated the shifting dimensional lasers in an instant.
The beams annihilate every tree, rock, and section of ground they touched in a volley of destruction that devastated the landscape Mofupsi loved so much and attributed to her family.
Mofupsi frowned. “I can recreate it whenever I want.”
She sent the command below, causing Sora to grin.
“Are you sure?”
New knowledge was flooding Sora’s brain about her father’s abilities.
The teardrop shapes combined, pulling apart before instantly changing locations to the valley floor, bypassing dimensional boundaries to generate a flat ray more than a mile wide that moved from the ground up, absorbing everything it touched.
Mofupsi’s jaw locked, eyes flying open before rushing away in her spiritual state, yet Sora expected it, manipulating the energy to eat through physics itself.
Somewhat impressed, she watched her power eat through even a few dimensional boundaries in the process. Mofupsi abandoned the escape and used a blast of magically laced foxfire to cut a small line in the surprise attack, creating an opening for her to pass through.
The world rumbled as magma rushed up from the opening she’d caused in the crust to the mantle; it would take a bit of time, considering the distance, but the released pressure was forcing it into an upward jet.
“He-he-he,” Sora watched it rise with interest; it wasn’t hazardous to her or Mofupsi at this level, but was something she’d thought about in science class once. “I’m a little surprised you blocked that.”
Mofupsi was nibbling on her lower lip, looking somewhat concerned. “I wonder what your aim is at this point? You certainly aren’t the same Sora I came into this place with, but I will continue to honor our agreement.”
Sora’s lips fell a little; time seemed to slow as her mind expanded again; her sixth tail finishing its course. She could grasp metaphysical phenomena that she’d never fully experienced until now.
Unlike her Vulpes transformation that had happened so fast, it was an incomprehensible rush; this gradual, ramping metamorphosis was allowing her Intelligence room to observe things it shouldn’t and wouldn’t once her father’s change completed—she could see Mofupsi’s actions before they happened and finally understood a portion of her father’s abilities.
A small smile lightened Mofupsi’s features as she folded her right arm under her ample bosom, still showing a considerable amount of cleavage by how she wore her kimono-like apparel. “Your floating spheres certainly were fun little distractions, and these dimensional breaking attacks are—new, and far more dangerous than I think even the other Council Members could accomplish.”
The woman’s head tilted to the left, resting on her hand before a sharp snap of her fingers rippled through the air.
Gravitational pressure greater than the planet’s mantle exerted closed around Sora, causing a small degree of concern to form within her chest.
Blinking, she saw Mofupsi beginning her speech again. I … can see the future? No, is this what it’s like for Aunt Inari when she sees possible futures? This is available with my fourth tail—my Intelligence is just beginning to catch up to that portion of my transformation.
In stunned fascination, Sora smiled as she manifested her aura into a solidified egg, condensing the power into a concentrated form. Looking down at her naked and foreign spiritual body, Sora shook her head. I’m so much more than I thought … There’s so much more to everything! No wonder Aunt Inari couldn’t show me things like this … You have to experience it.
Running her hands across her chest and down to her stomach, she licked her lips. “I’m composed of Void … Null Force—the predator of that which exists.”
Willing her egg to return to its original shape, Sora let waves of harmless spatial tears rip into her frame while keeping her chakram away from danger. She was swiftly building in power on the way to her seventh tail, though.
Sora now stood in a white room—it wasn’t the one she’d come from; in fact, she wasn’t even in the same Vulpes Realm, and it was at this point, she realized her family had created eight Dimensional Realms adjacent to this one, yet none of them shared the same fate as what befell the one they’d entered.
Looking around, she giggled; just as her attack went out, the City Core in each of the Realms had teleported anyone inside away as a safety precaution, yet allowed her strike to happen; clearly, battles on this scale were woven into the magical weave of the dimensions.
One thing became crystal clear as her awareness continued to build at an exponential rate; there was no Sora in these eight other dimensions—since there was only one of her in all of existence.
Founders were truly unique by that very fact. She’d entered an entirely different timeline where Kari, Aiden, and her never existed, and Wendy went on to live her life in a completely different manner. The exciting part was that her fourth tail gave her this new dimensional traveling ability while her third gave her some degree of future sight.
Mofupsi joined her after several seconds, looking somewhat annoyed. “Sora, it is not easy to transfer dimensions like this—even when broken, and considering the possible consequences of dimensional sharding if…”
“I’m not affected,” Sora laughed. “I’m the only me—don’t you get it! I’m the only Sora Moore—ever … that will ever be; that has ever been! Ha-ha-ha! I’m the only one! I can see it…”
“What?” Mofupsi asked, ears twitching a little.
Sora licked her lips while studying the Vulpes; waves of unique energy radiated out of her. “Is that … I see your spirit … I can practically taste it with everything else around me.”
“I … don’t follow,” Mofupsi mumbled, causing Sora to sigh and rub the back of her neck.
“It won’t work, you know,” Sora mumbled, suddenly feeling somewhat pitiful toward the Vulpes. “You waited too long.”
“Oh?” she asked with an innocent smile, looking away while scratching her open neck. “I don’t know; maybe you’re right.”
The emotional surge inside her was swiftly being replaced again. Sora slowly shook her head, watching a future version of the Vulpes send torrents of magically laced thread that she’d been carefully weaving over the last minute to bind the chakram around her hair, but it was already too late.
“You figured out my chakram is my main body! Congratulations on that,” Sora cheered, sitting down in the air again. “Umm, but you see, really, the moment you should have sprung your trap was the second time I damaged the dimensional boundary—ah, it’s about to reform, actually,” she mumbled, glancing around.
Mofupsi sucked on her lower lip, studying her sudden change in demeanor. “Are you even trying to fight me anymore? You were so dedicated to finding new ways to attack me before.”
Sora sighed, rubbing her left arm. “I hate to say this, but … I know everything you’re going to do—every way you’ll try to attack me is opening in front of me—all at once. Your current method of choice is actually a perfect one!” she chimed.
The woman’s eyes creased with uncertainty as she looked to the left and then back at her. “What … do you think I’m going to do? Certainly, you have grown very powerful, but I believe I can still win.”
Brushing through her hair, Sora realized it was practically as thick as Kari’s now and just as long. Was I internally jealous? Oh, no … I made this body based on my jealousy of other women … wonderful.
“Sora?” Mofupsi tentatively asked.
“Hmm? Oh! Heh, just reflecting,” Sora mumbled, observing her spiritual responses; it was like watching an endless amount of cooking shows across timelines with every dish that could possibly be crafted being fashioned before her eyes.
Allowing her to try, Sora calmly waited in her sitting position until the moment came when the subatomic thread reached the very limit of her Null Cloak. Flooding every ounce of magic she could summon into the weave, Mofupsi grinned as it shot like the head of a pin at her hairpiece.
Sora closed her eyes, and when she opened them, everything within the space was gone but Mofupsi and her, causing the woman’s vision to bug out. Mofupsi gasped, unable to breathe; stuck in place, without any motion or senses, including spiritual—even the all-encompassing backdoor to the Spiritual Plane had been cut in the little space they were in.
“Indeed. Nothing,” Sora whispered, projecting her voice through her own personal Null Void energy without space or time—as if it had always been there. “I’ve actually consumed everything inside a fifty-meter radius over a minute ago; well, except for you and I—you just couldn’t comprehend it.”
Able to navigate perfectly well in the area, she felt entirely comfortable in a place without form, shape, dimension, time, matter, energy, distance, sound, motion, and concepts—her seventh tail was forming, which was a product of that.
“We are currently traveling through existence at a rate that honestly, you could not comprehend, nor fathom … A bubble of Null Void in the expanse of this infinitesimally small plane of existence.”
Without motion, Sora transported Mofupsi back into their version of the Vulpes Realm, leaving Existence to fill in the spot she’d taken them from. The woman collapsed on the floor, sweat leaking out of her naked pores as she grasped her neck, shivering uncontrollably for half a second before her mind receded to not shatter from the experience.
Null Void didn’t allow a person to pass out while within it, which was a horrific state for anyone born in Existence to experience; a place that absorbed everything you were, are, and could be, converting it to itself.
Sora had protected her from the leeching affix of its effects, but it didn’t help with the unfathomable sense of total loss of the very fabric of what the concept of things was.
Her seventh tail had solidified, moving onto her eighth.
“We won,” she softly muttered, passing through Existence without movement to sit in space beside the passed-out Vulpes; she talked to herself just to have someone to experience this overwhelming moment with—a future version of her would understand.
“Sad. Mofupsi should have tried stopping us the moment we started transforming. The one advantage she had was the fusing of Dad’s properties with Mom’s in our intelligence. Aunt Inari’s so smart … To think she’d plan so far ahead—it’s gonna be so tough, though … I fell for us—for everyone.”
Glancing around as countless timelines passed before her eyes, she shook her head. “We can’t even see it all at this point—well, maybe you can since you’re at a different point,” she sighed, speaking to her future self, but something else snagged her mind like a hook in her mouth.
Pulling back from numberless infinities on top of infinities, Sora’s eyes widened as a copper-haired gorgeous woman suddenly stood before her with an awkward smile.
“Hmm … Mom?”
Her mother hesitantly brushed back her long locks and scratched the back of her neck. “Hello, Sora … he-he-he, eh, it seems you’ve pierced the multiversal veil and entered its omniverse now—you’re a tenth-dimensional being and on your way up! Wooh!” she said, throwing a hand in the air as her nine tails twisted around each other.
“Well, not for long,” she mumbled, talking way faster than she needed to. “I mean, you’ve only got another few minutes until you forget almost all of this. Your aunt and I haven’t even reached our mother’s level yet—we’re only on the twelfth level. Oh, and who can say how high you’ll go … but yeah, so you’ll be the first to reach the thirteenth … Even if only momentarily. Ugh…”
Out of everything that Sora now knew, everything she’d seen with countless possibilities, this was not one of them. Her mother might have even beat her aunt in beauty—she couldn’t even think of the infinite infinities that were passing around them as everything faded away but the two of them; nothing else mattered.
Mia trailed off, trying not to look at her daughter’s disbelieving face. “Uh, so, umm … I’ve been thinking about this meeting for a while and—oh, this is so much harder than it should be. Uh … yeah, Emilia’s a happy surprise,” she clapped, trying to look cheerful. “I’m a grandma … yay.”