["Alright, the protection is complete. You can continue interacting with Aha. But right now THEY've probably already disappeared, so you'll have to wait right here." Herta chuckles slyly. "If you can smile a bit more, you might wait for THEM more easily."]
[Smile? Stelle tries hard to force one — but that smile looks like a dead fish flipping its white belly, carrying a kind of half-dead ridiculousness.]
[Finally, just as Stelle's eyes are about to roll completely upward, THEY — finally arrive! The moment THEY appear, a massive storm of false data sweeps up, enveloping Stelle within it.]
["Hey, Akivili! You played with that ball pretty well~" Aha switches into full praise mode. "You're a ball-playing expert. Can you tell me who made this ball? Oh… wait, THEY're coming. Let's first make way for the great THEM — applaud, salute!"]
["THEY're coming? What does that mean?" Stelle is momentarily confused by Aha, but Herta beside her makes a shushing gesture. "Quiet! Stelle, the big one's coming!"]
[A beam of light shines into the originally pitch-black world.]
[Stelle feels her vision beginning to decompose — not shattering, but like chords being split apart, each optic nerve starting to receive different spectra. She sees the air crack open into rainbow-patterned fissures. What pours from those cracks is not light, but the embodiment of something far more essential — the "concept of Harmony" itself.]
["It's Harmony… Xipe!" Herta can't help letting out a delighted sound.]
[THEIR body seems pieced together from countless civilization silhouettes: one instant it's tens of thousands of singing lips, the next it becomes a matrix of synchronized swinging pendulums. THEIR fingertips brush up rainbow-colored ripples, and myriad harmonies turn into flowing glazes on the Harmony Aeon's torso.]
["Akivili/Trailblaze, is that you? We thought you were dead/missing. Thousands upon thousands of fates/histories have shaped the growth/direction of the cosmos. We almost believed/judged that you had become its footnote/nourishment."]
["Xipe…! You really do have/multiple faces!"]
["Oh, Mother of the Swarm Stars!" Aha begins praising again, THEIR words making Stelle feel uncomfortable all over. "As long as what you want to do is fun enough — even if it's a relay game! The situation changes in an instant. Last time we were still negotiating, next time Tayzzyronth became you. What a pity… my old friend! But THEY make you look even 'better'."]
["Alright… hold on a second. Order being assimilated by Harmony doesn't surprise me." Herta spreads her hands. "I just don't know when it happened. Could Order's disappearance also be related to the War of the Gods? Sigh, the Family never mentioned a word about this… I actually really wanted to see Tayzzyronth again, even if THEY're a bit rigid. Anyway, Xipe, Aha, and you — all tangled up together for Tayzzyronth!"]
——
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba.
Moonlight filters through the pillars of the Infinity Castle, slicing the long corridor into a prison of alternating light and shadow. Douma approaches Akaza with light steps. Ever since that Lord departed, these two Upper Moons hadn't spoken for decades.
"Akaza-dono~" Douma's voice is sticky sweet like honey. "The true supreme has appeared. That Lord chose Abundance — but judging from the outcome presented in this War of the Gods, it seems there's an existence even more fitting for us than Abundance, no?"
Akaza has his back to him, the cyan tattoos faintly glowing in the darkness. He doesn't turn around, only coldly says: "Get lost."
Douma doesn't mind at all. His golden fan snaps open with a "whoosh." He leaps lightly to Akaza's side, eyes burning with unprecedented fanaticism and excitement. "Harmony… Akaza-dono, this Path suits us quite well too."
He lifts his head to gaze at the screen, pupils dilated to their limit — the moment his gaze touches that sacred "THEM," rainbow vortices begin swirling in Douma's irises, and his fingertips start spasming uncontrollably… that is the purest madness of a believer.
"Did you see it, Akaza-dono!"
Douma begins excitedly scratching at his own cheeks with his fingers. Sharp nails draw bloody lines across his pale face, yet they heal in the next second. "This is ultimate harmony! All voices will ultimately return to a single melody! Even the ancient Order was assimilated by THEM… returning to true eternity."
"What exactly are you trying to say?" Akaza finally turns around, his icy gaze looking at him like he's staring at a pile of trash. "Where exactly do we fit with Harmony?"
"Of course~" Douma happily circles to Akaza's front. "Harmony devoured Order and called it assimilation. And when we devour humans, isn't that also a form of assimilation? We incorporate frail humans into our bodies, merging them into a single harmonious movement — doesn't that count as… Harmony?"
"…Boring." Akaza glances at him sideways. "You believe in Harmony and dare to go against that Lord's will. I could—"
"Oh my~ Akaza-dono, don't be so quick to judge." Douma continues maintaining that innocently disgusting smile. "This time I already reported to the Lord. I plan to reestablish a cult in the name of Harmony, attracting people to join under Harmony's banner. If Akaza-dono is interested, you can come to my side too~"
"I know Akaza-dono doesn't like eating women and children. I'll leave all the adult males for you, how about it?"
In an instant, Akaza's fist punches straight through Douma's jaw.
The sound of shattering bone rings especially crisp in the silent corridor. Douma's head snaps back to an impossible angle, broken jawbone dangling with bloody shreds of flesh. Yet his laughter doesn't change in the slightest — in fact, it becomes even more excited than before.
"Ah la~" Douma's voice squeezes out from his fractured throat cartilage, carrying a bubbly tremor. "You're still as passionate as ever…"
Akaza withdraws his fist. He stares at Douma's shattered yet still-smiling face, eyes full of disgust: "Don't lump your perverted hobbies together with me."
Douma's wounds heal at a visible speed. He tilts his head, a faint flicker of regret in his eyes: "Alright then~ I'll invite you again next time there's a suitable opportunity."
——
["The fight hasn't even started yet, and Order's Tayzzyronth is already gone?" Stelle's eyes widen.]
["Yeah, not just Order — Voracity also disappeared during this period. No one knows the reason, but in any case THEY left this war among the gods." Herta shakes her head. "It's also one of the unsolved mysteries in this stretch of history."]
["Getting full and then leaving — truly got off easy for THEM."]
["After Order disappeared, several worlds sheltered by Qlipoth recorded: their sun once vanished, and a sculpture twisted into the shape of twins manifested from the sky, like an omen of endless long night…"]